The 2026 FBBL Auction Draft Recap: Stars, Scrubs, and One Man's Love Affair With Shohei Ohtani

The dust has settled. The war room spreadsheets have been closed. The regret has begun to set in. Last night, the FBBL managers gathered at Forgy's place for what was, by all accounts, a fantastic draft night — Garrett was a gracious host from start to finish. Neate showed up with the chips... eventually. Better late than never, Neate — though the timing did raise some questions about your commitment to the league snack ecosystem.

... and then there was the bacon spinach dip. A classic. A crowd favourite. Served, inexplicably, in a paper coffee cup. We're not going to name names. We're just going to say that whoever was responsible for the bacon spinach dip presentation owes this league a proper dip, no TWO proper dips at next years draft.

The pizzas arrived and were atomized within minutes, which tells you everything you need to know about the crowd. Hungry for pizza, hungry for wins.

Between the food chaos and the financial chaos, 12 managers did what they do every year: dramatically overpaid for players they love, dramatically underpaid for players they don't, and made a handful of decisions they'll be explaining to themselves by June.

Let's break it down.

💸 The Biggest Swing of the Night: Forgy Goes Absolutely Supernova

We need to talk about Ricky Vaughn (Forgy). The man walked into draft night with the highest budget in the league at $275, already holding Lindor ($44), Harper ($35), Peralta ($15), Pete Crow-Armstrong ($8), and Keaschall ($1). By any reasonable measure, that's already a top-tier keeper core.

And then Forge said: hold my beer.

José Ramírez. $90.

Ninety. Dollars. For one player. In a $260 league.

Let that sink in. Forgy now has Francisco Lindor ($44), Bryce Harper ($35), and José Ramírez ($90) as the spine of his roster. That's $169 committed to three players before we even talk about pitching. The only question now is whether the universe will reward this level of audacity or humble Forgy by Week 6. There is no in-between outcome here. This roster either wins the league or it implodes in the most spectacular fashion possible. No pressure, Forgey. 👀

🎯 The Commish's Big Swings: $170 on Two Players

chicksDigtheLongball (your humble commish) walked in with a plan: stars-and-scrubs anchored by Vlad and Witt. And he got his guys. The question is what he paid for them.

Bobby Witt Jr. (KC-SS) — $94
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR-1B) — $76

That's $170 on two players. Combined with the keeper core of Kwan, Arozarena, Joe Ryan, and Rasmussen, the commish essentially had gas money left over for the rest of the roster. Witt at $94 is a number that demands your team be really, really good — and the $1 army assembled around him had better show up. Dylan Cease and Logan Gilbert give the rotation some legitimacy, but this is unquestionably a high-wire act. If Vlad and Witt are both top-5 players, the commish is a genius. If either one disappoints? Well, there won't be anyone to write the Dumpster Fire award because he writes the blog. Convenient. 😏

🏆 The Defending Champ Goes Full "Hold My Trophy"

Staff Infection (Turg) won it all last year as a #7 seed. You'd think that would inspire some humility. It did not.

The defending champion re-entered the building this year and constructed what might be the most expensive roster in FBBL history:

Aaron Judge (kept) — $76
Jazz Chisholm — $61
Julio Rodríguez (kept) — $27
Mookie Betts — $37
James Wood (kept) — $16
Tarik Skubal (kept) — $16

That's $233 committed to six players. Six. Turg essentially bought a Ferrari dealership and then tried to furnish the rest of his house with IKEA furniture. Spencer Strider at $1 (!) and Andrew Painter at $1 round out a pitching staff that is either going to be a masterstroke or an absolute disaster. The man is fearless. Or reckless. The line between those two things is a hamstring.

🤯 Zach Bought Both Ohtanis

You read that correctly.

Bro Bichette (Zach) — a manager who came into this draft having kept Junior Caminero ($16), Brent Rooker ($11), and a handful of affordable pieces — walked up to the auction block, looked at the entire assembled field of 300+ eligible players, and decided the answer was Shohei Ohtani. Twice.

Shohei Ohtani (Hitter/DH) — $91
Shohei Ohtani (Pitcher/SP) — $28

$119 on one human being. In fairness, Ohtani is not a normal human being. But $119 is also nearly half of a standard $260 budget. Combined with his keeper costs, Zach is running a roster built almost entirely around the 2024 and 2025 MVP with a patchwork crew of supporting pieces. It's bold. It's unhinged. It's exactly the kind of move that either wins you a ring or earns you a Dumpster Fire retrospective in next year's Week 1 post.

We're all going to be watching this one very closely. 🍿

😅 JOBU Survives... Somehow

Against all odds, JOBU (Jojo) entered the auction (from afar) with just $97 to spend after committing $139 to Acuña ($52), Skenes ($33), Chourio ($36), Oneil Cruz ($15), and Emmet Sheehan ($3). The man had the auction budget of a college student trying to furnish a first apartment.

And yet — Corey Seager ($16), Salvador Perez ($10), and a scrappy collection of contributors got assembled. Jojo is leaning hard on his keepers to carry this thing. If Acuña stays healthy and Skenes takes another step forward, this is a playoff roster. If anything goes sideways on those three anchors, Jojo will be shopping the waiver wire in May and calling it a "rebuild."

The floor here is incredibly low. The ceiling is legitimately championship-caliber (editor's note: I am not sure about AI anymore). That's peak fantasy baseball chaos. Welcome to your own personal prison, Jordy. 😬

💰 Beetle Deploys the War Chest

Coming in with one of the best keeper groups in the league, The Beetle Bunch (Benny) spread the wealth with characteristic discipline. Juan Soto at $86 headlines a group that includes Wyatt Langford ($34), Mason Miller ($25), and Caleb Durbin ($14) — layered on top of a keeper list that already had Roman Anthony ($5), Cole Ragans ($11), and a bag full of flexibility.

No single earth-shattering move. No $90 panic buy. Just a methodically constructed roster that looks dangerous top-to-bottom. The runner-up from 2025 is quietly loading up for another run. Don't say you weren't warned.

🎲 Around the Auction Room

BaseOnBalls (Joel) — Kyle Tucker at $60 and Austin Riley at $42 are a legitimate 1-2 offensive punch. The bar is set high early. Sink or swim, Joel.

Raleigh Caps (G) — Trea Turner at $39 is a nice get. Whether G can finally string together a consistent season after years of near-misses is the eternal question. We believe in you, buddy. We also believe you'll find a way to make it interesting. 👀

Bronx Bombers (Doug) — Yordán Álvarez at a big number anchors a quietly solid roster. Doug does what Doug does — builds carefully, stays quiet, and shows up in September. Classic Doug.

Handsy McNasty (Ads) — Crochet on a 4-year deal, Tatis, Yamamoto, and deGrom as the keeper spine, then a focused auction to fill gaps. Ads built a pitching fortress. The offense just needs to hold up its end.

Welcome to the Jungle (Neate) — Corbin Carroll at $79 is a big swing for a team that finished in the basement last year. If Carroll bounces back, Neate's in the mix. If not, beer and chips duty calls again.

TNTNT (The Thompson Boys) — The Thompsons came in quiet and left with a roster that deserves more respect than it'll probably get. Matt Olson at $44 anchors the offense alongside Altuve ($16), Bregman ($15), and Teoscar Hernández ($12). The pitching is deep and diverse — Sale ($23), Muñoz ($19), Michael King ($10), Blake Snell ($12), Woodruff ($5), Alcantara ($3), Lodolo ($7). They spent their whole budget to the tune of just $16 unspent. That's a well-constructed, balanced roster that doesn't have a superstar but has very few holes. Like people always say, TNTNT — boring on paper, dangerous in practice. Don't sleep on the Thompsons.

🔮 Post-Draft Power Rankings (Completely Unscientific)

Forgy — If Ramírez, Lindor, and Harper all stay healthy, this is the best roster on paper. Big if.
Turg — Judge, Chisholm, Mookie, and Julio is terrifying. The $1 pitching is terrifying for different reasons.
Beetle — Deep, smart, and dangerous. Roman Anthony could be the steal of the league.
Jojo — Skenes, Acuña, Chourio are top-5 players. If they perform, Jojo is a contender. Full stop.
Dew — Vlad and Witt are a great foundation. The $1 army needs to produce.
Zach — Ohtani times two is a moonshot strategy. Respect the chaos.
Ads — Pitching monster. Needs offense to show up.
Doug — Quietly dangerous, as always.
G — Trea Turner and solid pitching. Middle of the pack ceiling.
Joel — Tucker and Riley are great. Depth will be the question.
Neate — Carroll-or-bust. We've seen this movie.
TNTNT — Actually scratch that. Olson, Altuve, Sale, Snell — this team is built to grind. Bumping them up mentally even as I write this.

The season is almost here. Lineups are set. Delusions are at an all-time high. And somewhere out there, Turg is already planning his victory speech.

Good luck, Managers! ⚾🍀