I’m so tired of talking regular waivers with folks. It’s so – I have a 27-inch flat screen television and it’s dope. It’s the second decade of the 21st century. I can order porn on my cell phone while I wait in the parking lot for my girlfriend to return from picking up our dinner at the pizza parlor (never let it be said that I’m not classy). I can punch a few buttons on my computer screen and within 48 hours, 24 rolls of toilet paper will be delivered to my front door. I can get bombed any Wednesday night I want and order a ride on my phone to be my DD and not even have to pay at the time (just bill me Uber). With all of that truth, here’s one more indisputable fact:

The regular waiver wire is dead.

Long live FAAB!

FAAB, or Free Agent Acquisition Budget, is the way all leagues should run their waiver wire. Most of you likely know what this setup is about, but if you don’t, here’s a quick intro.

You can use either $100 or $1,000 dollars as the benchmark (I prefer $1,000 since there are simply more units to differentiate oneself with). Really, it’s up to your league, though, to set this one.

This isn’t real money we’re talking about either, so don’t worry about that.

Each team is presented, let’s say $1,000. That’s 1,000 units to spend over the course of the season. You can spend all $1,000 until it’s all gone (I don’t think players should be able to be added for $0, meaning the minimum to add a player should be $1). You can spend all the money in the first waiver period. You can spend none of it. You can spend 25-percent this week, 10-percent next week, one percent the week following that. Bottom line is you can spend the “money” any way you want until you are out of it.

Let’s say you have a $1,000 budget to work with for the year. You own Wade Davis. He hurts his arm and you’re now in the market for another closer. You look to Hector Rondon who the Cubs seem likely to turn to until Davis is ready to return. You decide you’re willing to spend $75 dollars on Rondon because you just aren’t sold that Davis will be out more than a couple of weeks. However, what if the scenario had Davis tearing his UCL meaning his season was over. In that instance, maybe you bid $375 to add Rondon, figuring he will be the closer for the best team in baseball so it’s worth spending big to add him. You not only have to identify the players you want in the FAAB setup, you also have to identify how much is an appropriate amount to spend. Yes, that’s another level of skill, another challenge, that if you can master gives you a big advantage over your competition. To me, adding another skill component is rarely a bad thing.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate the FAAB setup.

Don’t spend round or big numbers.

The easiest thing is to say ‘the guy is worth $100.’ He might be worth $100, but you would be foolish and bid $100. Always go a few extra bucks. Bid $107 or $111, something like that. You obviously have to be more careful about cavalierly throwing your FAAB around if you have a $100 budget, but the same idea still applies. Don’t bid $5, bid $6. Don’t bid $10. Bid $12. Don’t bid $1. Bid $2. You get what I’m talking about.

Track previous FAAB spending, either earlier in 2017 or previously if you’re in a keeper league.

This one has become increasingly easy to do since sites store this data even if you personally don’t. You can look at general data – drops/adds or what others are spending on guys – and that is certainly valuable data. It’s even more interesting if you can get your hands on the spending patterns of the folks in your league. Even if you can’t get that, pay attention in-season to how folks spend. You might be able to detect a pattern (like a guy in your league always spending $16-23 on players each week, never going above that level, opening up an option for you to snag guys for $26 or whatever).

Keep an eye on how people spend for positions. What do folks generally spend when they are looking to add a middle reliver or a starting pitcher?

Some folks are always prospecting middle relievers. Others are always taking shots on rookies. Pay attention to those spending patterns of folks. Also, do yourself a favor and glance at the rosters of your opponents. If someone just lost Albert Pujols, and you lost Freddie Freeman, you know there might be a bidding war for C.J. Cron forcing you to jack up your bid a bit. If you don’t know another owner is shooting for Cron maybe you go in with a low bid and miss out on the player you need.

Be aggressive early.

Having a good player for 130 games is likely going to help your team out a lot more than having an excellent one for 75 games. Most folks, fresh off the draft, also pay a bit more attention early on cause they haven’t fallen behind in the standings. That means there might be more, by volume, of folks bidding early in the year. They are also likely to be aggressive early in the year if they feel that they have a need they didn’t address at the draft (or if a star player goes down with injury). It never hurts to put a strong foot forward early on.

Pay close attention during holiday time.

Around July 4th, and then the All-Star Break, lots of folks tune out as they are busy dealing with family time. Even if you have a family tell them to pound sand for 30 minutes so you can diligently sift through the waiver-wire to gain an advantage that others are losing cause they had to take Betsy to the park. Do people name their kids Betsy anymore? When I see the name Betsy, I think of an 84 year old woman with blue hair.

Keep a list each week of the players who were released the previous week.

This is a Jeff Mans favorite. Keep a record of the players others let go since they might be great adds during the next period. Someone’s garbage could be your gold.

Move to the FAAB setup. It’s way more fun, and fair for that matter.