Mike Lombardo from Wise Guy Baseball is this week's Tout Wars guest columnist

Committing your FAAB monies to the acquisition of players to bolster your team over the course of the season is probably the most important post auction/draft activity that you can pursue without a trading partner. It's a combination of art, science and gut feel.

In mixed leagues, you have little incentive to preserve your FAAB dollars since a rookie callup that isn't already on someone's reserve squad that is likely to have a major impact is a rare bird. The only ongoing issue is exactly how much to bid for the players you're pursuing. In my experience, teams tend to OVERBID on players early on, and that trend tends to reverse itself as the season progresses and FAAB dollars dwindle. In fact, as the number of potential useful players dwindles, it makes sense to bid more conservatively in April and May, and more aggressively later in the season.

Overbidding is somewhat less of a problem in leagues using Vickrey Rules. In essence, Vickrey awards players for the second highest bid, plus an additional dollar. If team A bids $36 on a player, and Team B bids $25, Team A gets the player for $26, ($25 + $1). While it does protect overbidders from themselves, it is also leads to some useful strategies. I highly endorse Vickrey for all forms of FAAB bidding.

One fairly popular FAAB strategy is to bid a buck on players just called up in the hope of catching lightning in a bottle. I call this strategy, churning. The Tout Wars constitution states that any player acquired via FAAB must be on your active roster for the week following his acquisition. This is an excellent rule and does much to counter churners.

AL/NL only leagues present a different scenario, assuming that league rules make available as FAs, those players coming over from one league to the other. If so, there's a case to be made for preserving one's FAAB in hopes of snagging a big time talent, especially as the trading deadline (July 31) approaches. Followers of that strategy in NL only leagues have been highly rewarded this year as an amazing parade of talent has crossed over from the junior to the senior circuit. Using NL Tout Wars as a case in point, here's a summary of the action that has transpired in July ($100 FAAB to start): C.C. Sabathia to Scott Wilderman for $82 (bid $88) outbidding Colton ($81) who had to settle for Rich Harden, $78. Note that Wilderman saved $6 because of Vickrey. Joe Blanton, an obviously less desirable arm went for $17 to Team Becker.

Thursday night, July 31, all teams were invited to attend a Toutsfabaganza, where the latest FAs to cross over became available via live chat to the highest bidders. Since it was a live auction, Vickrey Rules were suspended. Team Collette outbid Pianowski for the services of Manny, $58-$57. Scott had to settle for Casey Kotchman at $57. Team Becker was then able to claim Casey Blake for $56, and Anibal Sanchez, Brandon Moss went to Van Riper, Ask Rotoman, respectively at $46/$44. Craig Hansen ($11, Melnick), Kory Casto ($4, Colton/Wolf) and Jeff Karstens ($3, Van Riper) rounded out the evening's significant action. Using a live chatroom to conduct trading deadline FAAB auctions is another great idea from the Tout Wars constitution.

Unlike last year, when I snagged Luis Castillo for $56, I was essentially shut out of obtaining any players thus far because I did not endeavor to save my FAAB. I will admit that I could not have won NL Tout Wars last year without Luis, but, each year is different. Instead, I bid aggressively earlier this season to obtain the services of Clint Barmes ($27) and Ryan Franklin ($45), two players that I felt could have a major impact on my stats.

So, the issue, in AL/NL only leagues, is to FAAB or not to FAAB? There's no doubt that players of the caliber of CC, Manny and Harden can have a huge impact on a team's fortunes. But their price precludes any team from obtaining more than one of these difference makers, and therein lies the rub. Of the successful bidders, Colette, Pianowski and Colton are the only teams that have a realistic chance at winning, so Wilderman's acquisition of Sabathia serves no direct purpose except as a spoiler. Then too, this year's crop of NL FAs was extremely abundant, something that cannot be counted on in the future.

My decision to spend early on was predicated on the fact that I had a solid team already and I felt that I didn't need to add much to make it the team to beat. By acquiring the players I did, I felt that I could build a lead that no team could challenge, regardless of how they used their FAAB later on. At about the time I acquired Franklin, I had built an astonishing 38 point lead, one that was totally unsustainable of course. And despite a rash of injuries, and losing several key players for the season, I hold a 12 point lead as I write.

A realistic assessment of your team and what it takes to win should be your guide for the productive use of your precious FAAB.

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