Auction strategy... what to anticipate

[Chadgo5]

After 15 years of draft, our league is going to an auction. The auction is this Saturday. I've been in a football auction the last two years, so I have some familiarity with the process.

We all declared our six keepers. One team dropped out from last year putting some notable players back into the pool. After the keepers were declared there are a lot of very good players left.

Howard
Hamels
Rollins
Peavy
Bay
Soriano
Vlad
A. Gonzalez
Roberts
Arod
Ichiro
Kemp
Rios
Ordonez
Ara. Ramirez
Fielder
Eithier
Victorino
DiceK
AJ Burnett
etc...

My keepers were:
3B - Wright - $39
1B - Davis - $1
OF - Markakis - $13
SP - Oswalt - $19
SP - Liriano - $10
RP - Broxton - $3

11 teams - roto 6x6 (OBP and BAA added) - $260 cap - 1-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 4-OF, 2-UT, 5-SP, 3-RP

I have $175 left to bid on 13 players. I have the 5th highest $ amount left to spend. The team with the most money left has $228! The team with the least has $107.

I'm loosely going with $170 for hitting and $90 for pitching.

I know this is a very general question, but how would you approach this auction if you were me? Be aggressive and grab one or more of the big names - Rollins, Hamels, Peavy, Howard or Fielder - and look for bargains later? Have a balanced approach and grab as many $20ish players as I can, letting other teams spend big $ on big names? How do you think this will all play out from a league perspective? DO you think teams will be cautious early and aggressive later - based on your auction experiences?

Any general thoughts would be helpful.

[crapshooter]

After 15 years of draft, our league is going to an auction. The auction is this Saturday. I've been in a football auction the last two years, so I have some familiarity with the process.

We all declared our six keepers. One team dropped out from last year putting some notable players back into the pool. After the keepers were declared there are a lot of very good players left.

Howard
Hamels
Rollins
Peavy
Bay
Soriano
Vlad
A. Gonzalez
Roberts
Arod
Ichiro
Kemp
Rios
Ordonez
Ara. Ramirez
Fielder
Eithier
Victorino
DiceK
AJ Burnett
etc...

My keepers were:
3B - Wright - $39
1B - Davis - $1
OF - Markakis - $13
SP - Oswalt - $19
SP - Liriano - $10
RP - Broxton - $3

11 teams - roto 6x6 (OBP and BAA added) - $260 cap - 1-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 4-OF, 2-UT, 5-SP, 3-RP

I have $175 left to bid on 13 players. I have the 5th highest $ amount left to spend. The team with the most money left has $228! The team with the least has $107.

I'm loosely going with $170 for hitting and $90 for pitching.

I know this is a very general question, but how would you approach this auction if you were me? Be aggressive and grab one or more of the big names - Rollins, Hamels, Peavy, Howard or Fielder - and look for bargains later? Have a balanced approach and grab as many $20ish players as I can, letting other teams spend big $ on big names? How do you think this will all play out from a league perspective? DO you think teams will be cautious early and aggressive later - based on your auction experiences?

Any general thoughts would be helpful.

I only play auction leagues, however I play one straight AL and one straight NL. However, the advice should fit a mixed league. Don't overpay for anyone early in the draft. The big names will go for more than they are worth. If you sit back an hour or so you'll get plenty of good solid players at a good price.