Archive for the ‘Darkhorses’ Category

DTBL All Star Awards Outlook

Monday, July 27th, 2015


Welcome to a slightly delayed version of the All Star awards outlook.  These numbers are all culled from stats as of the All Star break, as the season’s midpoint is always a good time to look back on how the season has gone and look forward to exciting pennant races.  Well, perhaps not in DTBL itself, but one never knows!

Without further ado, here are your category leaders at the break.

»Batting Average: Miguel Cabrera, Naturals, .350
»Home Runs: Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope: 27
»RBI: Nolan Arenado, Naturals and Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope: 70
»Runs: Mike Trout, Mavericks: 68
»Stolen Bases: Billy Hamilton, Naturals: 44
»ERA: Zack Greinke, Moonshiners: 1.39
»WHIP: Max Scherzer, Kings: .780
»Wins: Gerrit Cole, Jackalope: 13
»Saves: Mark Melancon, Jackalope: 29
»Strikeouts: Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks: 160

On to the awards!

Rookie of the Year:

Dallas Keuchel, Moonshiners – 0.997 WHIP, 2.34 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 107 K, 6.8 PAR
Jake Arrieta, Jackalope – 0.986 WHIP, 2.66 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 123 K, 6.7 PAR
Jacob deGrom, Darkhorses – 0.924 WHIP, 2.14 ERA, 9 W, 0 SV, 112 K, 6.6 PAR

As with the Memorial Day outlook, the Rookie of the Year category is dominated by pitchers.  All three of Keuchel, Arrieta, and deGrom sat in the top 10 of pitching related PAR at the break.  And, really, a case could be made for any of these pitchers to be the front runner for the award.  deGrom holds a slight edge in WHIP and ERA; Arrieta and Keuchel are tied in wins;  Arrieta holds the edge in strikeouts; and PAR gives Keuchel the slight edge.  I don’t think anyone would be truly surprised if these three are at the top of the ballot come the postseason.

Honorable mention goes to a trio of outfielders, Charlie Blackmon of the Cougars (who cracked the top 10 of hitter PAR at the break), Mookie Betts of the Kings, and George Springer of the Darkhorses.

Cy Young:

Max Scherzer, Kings – 0.780 WHIP, 2.11 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 150 K, 9.6 PAR
Zack Greinke, Moonshiners – 0.843 WHIP, 1.39 ERA, 8 W, 0 SV, 106 K, 7.6 PAR

Once again, Max Scherzer reigns supreme at the top of the Cy Young list.  A ridiculous WHIP and strikeout total lead to a PAR that’s two full points above Zack Greinke.  However, Greinke’s pre All Star break performance was nothing short of extraordinary in its own right, and makes him a worthy companion for Scherzer.  Greinke hurled 35 and 2/3 scoreless innings going into the break, dropping his ERA to a ridiculous 1.39.  With all the great pitchers in baseball this year, it remains to be seen if Scherzer and Greinke can stay on top of this list, or if any of the pitchers listed below can join the truly elite.

Honorable mention goes to Gerrit Cole of the Jackalope, Sonny Gray of the Jackalope, Chris Archer of the Cougars, and the trio of ROY candidates discussed above.

Most Valuable Player:

Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope – .340 BA, 60 R, 21 HR, 70 RBI, 16 SB, 6.4 PAR
Mike Trout, Mavericks – .312 BA, 68 R, 26 HR, 55 RBI, 9 SB, 5.4 PAR

Given Bryce Harper’s otherworldly season, it’s a bit strange not seeing him at the top of the MVP race.  However, in fantasy baseball, stolen bases still matter, and while Harper mashes the cover off the ball, the speed simply isn’t there.  In contract, the speed is there for the two leaders at the midway point, Paul Goldschmidt and Mike Trout.  Surprisingly, Trout features the bigger power numbers, coming in at 26 homers to Goldschmidt’s 21.  Unsurprisingly, Trout also leads the league in runs with 68  However, Goldschmidt dominates most of the other categories, with a sparkling .340 batting average, a league leading 70 RBI, and a remarkable 16 stolen bases (to Trout’s 9).  In fact, the 16 steals for Goldschmidt are only two off his career DTBL high.  Trout is an amazing player, and it will take a lot for Goldschmidt to hold him off, but as of now, this MVP nod is well deserved, for both Goldschmidt and the Jackalope as a team.

Honorable mention goes to Bryce Harper of the Darkhorses, Giancarlo Stanton of the Jackalope, and the surprising Todd Frazier of the Darkhorses.

 

Pair of Nats Win May Honors

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015


The season’s second month saw the Jackalope open a small lead over several close pursuers into a gigantic lead which could take an extended run of good fortune for other teams to close.  When the calendar turned to June yesterday, the Jackalope lead was 18 points over the Darkhorses.  Incredibly, no other team was within 28 points of first place.  Obviously, there is more than enough time for other teams to get back into the race.  But for now, the Jackalope are sitting pretty.

Since I still haven’t gotten around to putting together the new awards pages where all of the weekly and monthly winners will be listed, here are the players who have been named the batters and pitchers of the week since last month’s update:

Batters of the Week:

Week 4 (4/27 – 5/3) – Josh Reddick, Naturals
Week 5 (5/4 – 5/10) – Bryce Harper, Darkhorses
Week 6 (5/11 – 5/17) – Bryce Harper, Darkhorses
Week 7 (5/18 – 5/24) – A.J. Pollock, Kings
Week 8 (5/25 – 5/31) – Josh Donaldson, Jackalope

Pitchers of the Week:

Week 4 (4/27 - 5/3) – Sonny Gray, Jackalope
Week 5 (5/4 - 5/10) – Michael Pineda, Darkhorses
Week 6 (5/11 - 5/17) – Max Scherzer, Kings
Week 7 (5/18 – 5/24) – Cole Hamels, Demigods
Week 8 (5/25 – 5/31) – Carlos Martinez, Mavericks

Unlike last month, the award winners from May do appear on the lists above.  Here are the best of May 2015.

Batter of the Month:

Bryce Harper, Darkhorses
.360 AVG, 13 HR, 28 RBI, 24 R, 2 SB, 2.87 PAR

Pitcher of the Month:

Max Scherzer, Kings
1.67 ERA, 0.907 WHIP, 5 W, 0 SV, 56 K, 4.07 PAR

Besides the Jackalope, there were two other unstoppable forces in the month of May, and both play for the Washington Nationals.  Darkhorses outfielder Bryce Harper had the best month of his young career on the way to winning Player of the Month.  Meanwhile, Kings ace Max Scherzer seems to be adjusting well in his return to the National League.  He is the Pitcher of the Month.  Neither of these awards were very closely contested.  Harper and Scherzer were almost indisputably the best two players in baseball in May and are certainly among the favorites for the MVP and Cy Young awards too.

Only two players in DTBL history have met or exceeded Harper’s five monthly stat totals from above:  Barry Bonds in May of 2001 and Jeff Bagwell in June of 1994.  That’s some pretty exclusive company.

 

Memorial Day Awards Outlook

Monday, May 25th, 2015


Welcome to a slightly amended version of the 2015 DTBL Awards Outlook.  So as to differentiate the numbers and players I’m examining with what Kevin is doing, there will be three Awards Outlook articles this season.  This is the first; the second will follow at the All Star break, with the third at Labor Day.  These seem like reasonable benchmarks for the baseball season, landing on big holidays and milestones rather than doing it monthly.  Plus, this will allow Kevin to focus more on monthly aspects with his postings.

That being said, these articles will focus on three things.  First, in a new addition, I’ll be listing the individual category leaders in all the hitting and pitching categories.  In this way, we can better track who’s been on point for an entire season, or if they’re more of a flash in the pan.  Second, I’ll be visiting the awards categories in the same fashion as last year, but instead of a top 5 ballot style listing, this year will focus only on the top two for each category.  Honorable mentions will go to players who are on the cusp, but can only knock on the door of being truly elite.  PAR and ESPN’s player rater will be relied upon as main benchmarks to set the awards leaders.

Here are the DTBL category leaders through Memorial Day, 2015.

  • Batting Average: Dee Gordon, Gators – .376
  • Home Runs: Nelson Cruz, Gators – 17
  • Runs Batted In: Bryce Harper, Darkhorses – 41
  • Runs Scored: Bryce Harper, Darkhorses – 39
  • Stolen Bases: Dee Gordon, Gators – 17
  • Earned Run Average: Zack Greinke, Moonshiners – 1.48
  • WHIP Ratio: Zack Greinke, Moonshiners – .869
  • Wins: Felix Hernandez, Moonshiners – 7
  • Saves: Glen Perkins, Naturals – 16
  • Strikeouts: Corey Klueber, Demigods – 83

Rookie of the Year:

  • Dallas Keuchel, Starting Pitcher, Moonshiners – .947 WHIP, 1.78 ERA, 5 W, 0 Sv, 39 Ks, 3.2 PAR
  • Jacob DeGrom, Starting Pitcher, Darkhorses – 1.114 WHIP, 2.75 ERA, 5 W, 0 Sv, 54Ks, 2.7 PAR

Unlike last year, this year’s rookie crop doesn’t seem to be quite as strong overall.  Rookie pitchers definitely have an edge in this category over hitters, however, as exemplified by Dallas Keuchel and Jacob DeGrom.  DeGrom was a high draft pick, taken by the Darkhorses in the second round.  His stellar numbers were to be expected, and he is certainly not disappointing.  He adds another fine young arm to Darkhorses growing stable of them.  Keuchel, on the other hand, went undrafted.  He was the subject of a fierce free agent bidding battle after the first week of the season, and he has not disappointed the Moonshiners since, spinning a 9th overall pitching PAR after missing two starts during his time as a free agent.  He has settled in nicely as a very worthy third starter on the Moonshiners staff.

Apologies go to Jake Arrieta of the Jackalope, Dellin Betances of the Mavericks, Marcus Semien of the Gators, and Brad Boxberger of the Darkhorses.

Cy Young:

  • Max Scherzer, Starting Pitcher, Kings – .881 WHIP, 1.67 ERA, 5 W, 0 Sv, 72 Ks, 4.7 PAR
  • Felix Hernandez, Starting Pitcher, Moonshiners – .941 WHIP, 2.19 ERA, 7 W, 0 Sv, 63Ks, 4.6 PAR

Cy Young is an extremely tight category at the top.  There’s separation between these two pitchers and the rest of the field, but very little separates Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez.  King Felix has been everything the Moonshiners could ask for after a draft day trade, combining his usually stellar ratios with wins, unlike in seasons past.  He looks to maintain his place as the ace of a revamped Moonshiners staff for years to come.  Meanwhile Scherzer has rebounded from a “slow” start to the season, where a lack of run support led to some hard luck losses.  However, a move to the National League has worked wonders for his overall numbers, as the usual filthy strikeout numbers are now combined with ridiculous ratios.  This race will be one to watch for the entire season.

Apologies go to Zack Greinke of the Moonshiners, Sonny Gray of the Jackalope, and Shelby Miller of the Kings.

Most Valuable Player

  • Bryce Harper, Outfielder, Darkhorses – .333 Avg, 39 R, 16 HR, 41 RBI, 2 SB, 3.7 PAR
  • Paul Goldschmidt, First Baseman, Jackalope – .333 Avg, 34 R, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 8 SB, 3.6 PAR

MVP may be an even tighter category between first and second place than even Cy Young.  Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt do it all.  Goldschmidt provides a great blend of power (12 homers), speed (8 steals) and high average.  His continued journey into baseball’s elite is certainly a reason why the Jackalope felt comfortable parting with long time stalwart Albert Pujols during the draft.  Harper is finally tapping into his vast talent, playing at a level that finally meets the hype and Sports Illustrated covers.  He leads DTBL in runs and RBI, is one short in the home run category, and is also providing elite average.  Both players provide numbers that can carry any offense, have the Jackalope and Darkhorses sitting at the top of the DTBL standings, and can keep them there throughout the season.  Definitely the elite production that teams are looking for out of their superstars.

Apologies go to Nelson Cruz of the Gators, Justin Upton of the Naturals, and Mike Trout of the Mavericks.

2015 Season Preview: Part III

Monday, April 6th, 2015


Happy Opening Day!  The season kicked off last night in Chicago, but things get started for real across the country today.  This is the third of my four part preview of the 2015 DTBL season.  I hope to finish up the last part on Tuesday evening.  This third part takes a look at a pair of teams that have quietly been building very strong teams and should definitely be championship contenders this year.  But much like the teams covered in part two, these squads have an obvious strength and an apparent weakness which is keeping them a little bit behind the projected top two teams.  They will probably need to improve upon these projected numbers in those areas of weakness to win the league.  But they are close enough where that is a very realistic possibility.  Here are the teams predicted to finish in fourth and third place this season.

Charlie’s Thunder Choppers

Category – Projected Rank (2014 Rank)

  • Batting Average – 7th (6th)
  • Home Runs – 7th (3rd)
  • Runs Batted In – 9th (4th)
  • Runs Scored – 7th (2nd)
  • Stolen Bases – 9th (7th)
  • Earned Run Average – 2nd (6th)
  • WHIP Ratio – 2nd (6th)
  • Wins – 4th (2nd)
  • Saves – 3rd (8th)
  • Strike Outs – 2nd (5th)
  • Total Batting Points – 9th (4th)
  • Total Pitching Points – 2nd (5th)
  • Total Points – 4th (4th)

Summary:

Two years ago, the Choppers surprised a lot of people by finishing in third place.  Last year, they proved they belonged among the top teams in the league, despite falling to a fourth place finish.  This year’s projection shows more of the same, but also indicates this is a much different team than the one that finished fourth a year ago.  For one thing, it is strange to see a team that is projected to finish in the bottom four of all five offensive categories to still finish in the top half of the standings.  But the Choppers pitching staff appears to be one of the league’s best.  This was clearly the plan as they took pitchers with their first four picks in the draft.  Tyson Ross and Masahiro Tanaka are great additions to a staff that already included Chris Sale, Jon Lester and Alex Cobb.  There are some serious health concerns in this group, but if healthy, they will be one of the league’s best rotations.  The bullpen took a big hit yesterday when the Braves dealt Craig Kimbrel to the Padres, costing Joaquin Benoit his closer gig.  So don’t expect them to finish third in saves.  On offense, the numbers aren’t pretty, but this is still a very talented, veteran group.  Look for Anthony Rizzo to be the team’s MVP.  Jose Bautista should have another great year too.  Really, not a lot has changed from the team that finished fourth in offensive points a year ago.  They just don’t have the shiny new additions that some other teams do.  There are plenty of reasons for optimism in the Choppers camp this year.

David’s Darkhorses

Category – Projected Rank (2014 Rank)

  • Batting Average – 6th (7th)
  • Home Runs – 3rd (6th)
  • Runs Batted In – 3rd (6th)
  • Runs Scored – 2nd (6th)
  • Stolen Bases – 3rd (4th)
  • Earned Run Average – 5th (8th)
  • WHIP Ratio – 9th (9th)
  • Wins – 6th (6th-T)
  • Saves – 7th (10th)
  • Strike Outs – 6th (9th)
  • Total Batting Points – 4th (7th)
  • Total Pitching Points – 7th (10th)
  • Total Points – 3rd (8th)

Summary:

Probably the biggest surprise of these projections in the positive direction is the Darkhorses coming in third.  But these numbers are pretty good indicators of just how close all of these teams appear to be.  The Darkhorses somehow place third despite being fourth and seventh in projected batting and pitching points, respectively.  But all of those rankings would be significant improvements for the team that finished in eighth place a year ago and hasn’t finished in the top half of the league since winning the championship in 2010.  The Darkhorses look especially strong on offense.  The additions of Edwin Encarnacion (trade) and George Springer (3rd overall pick of the draft) gives them a pair of sluggers that they lacked in 2014.  Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich and Xander Bogaerts are three young returning players who could be primed for huge seasons too.  The pitching staff is still the weakness, but should definitely be better than last year’s squad which finished with the fewest pitching points in the league.  Jacob deGrom is the key newcomer.  Julio Teheran, James Shields and Lance Lynn are the best holdovers.  Not the most impressive staff on paper, of course, but this group should be good enough to put them into contention with their impressive offense.  Sorry about the terrible pun, but if you are looking for a darkhorse pick to win the 2015 DTBL championship, this is definitely your team.

Blockbuster Trades Steal Show

Saturday, March 21st, 2015


The 23rd annual DTBL Draft began a week ago Thursday. The beginning of the draft always brings plenty of intrigue. But this year, the early rounds were mostly overshadowed by a string of trades that were completed over the first few days of the draft. In total, seven trades were made in four days involving six different teams. And for the most part, these weren’t minor deals involving role players and draft pick swaps. Several of the league’s biggest stars are now on new teams. Some of these trades indicate new philosophical directions for entire franchises.  But before I get to the details of all of those trades, I don’t want the first round picks to feel left out.  So I’m going to do my usual first round recap first.  There were plenty of interesting picks made there too.

Some years there is a fairly obvious player available for the team with the first pick in the draft.  Other years, there are several strong candidates for that slot.  This year was the former.  In what should have been a surprise to nobody, the Cougars used the first pick in the draft to select White Sox slugging first baseman Jose Abreu.  The Cuban star made his MLB presence felt immediately in the MLB.  He slugged 36 homers with 107 RBI and a .317 average on his way to winning the AL Rookie of the Year award.  Not bad for a guy adapting to a new league, not to mention a new country.  Abreu is the second straight Cuban player to be picked first in the DTBL Draft, following Yasiel Puig a year ago.  The Cougars badly needed an offensive boost after finishing last in all five categories a year ago, further making Abreu the obvious choice.  Really the only slight negative about him is that he is 28 years old.  That makes him the oldest first overall pick since the expansion Naturals took Jeff Bagwell back in 2002.  Curtis Granderson was just a couple months younger when the Choppers picked him in 2009.  Nonetheless, Abreu profiles as a guy who should help the Cougars for many years to come.

After Abreu came a string of four straight young outfielders with big upside.  With the second pick, the Gators selected the most established of the four when they picked up Corey Dickerson.  The Rockies slugger hit .312 with 24 home runs in his breakout season of 2014.  Playing half his games in Coors Field makes it easy to believe those numbers could get even better with a full season of playing every day.  Next, the Darkhorses selected George Springer of the Astros who displayed his immense power by hitting 20 home runs in his rookie year in fewer than 300 at bats.  He has five tool potential if he can cut down on his strikeouts a bit.  With the fourth pick, the Moonshiners took one of the bevy of up-and-coming Cubs superstars, Jorge Soler.  Somewhat overshadowed by a couple of those other Cubs prospects, Soler is the one who has already proven his worth at the big league level putting up solid numbers after his late season promotion last year.  Finally, the Kings used the fifth pick on another outfielder with big potential, Mookie Betts.  Betts can do it all.  His only current obstacle is a crowded Red Sox outfield, but you would think they will find a way to get him in the lineup one way or another.

The Jackalope ended the string of outfielders by going with the draft’s first pitcher with pick number six.  They selected Cubs hurler Jake Arrieta, who broke out in a big way last season.  This was not a surprising selection on the heels of the trade the Jackalope made immediately prior to the pick, which I will get to in a bit. Arrieta figures to be a major part of their rebuilt rotation.  The Choppers also took a pitcher in the seventh spot, selecting Tyson Ross.  The Padres pitcher had an outstanding season a year ago, but didn’t garner a ton of attention.  That should change this year thanks to the revamped Padres lineup.

As is their custom, the Mavericks were able to pick up an extra first round selection in a deal with the Demigods.  So they had two consecutive picks late in the first round.  They used those picks to draft Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances and Cubs shortstop Javier Baez.  These were both high risk/reward picks.  Betances put up ridiculously strong numbers out of the bullpen last year, but his value in fantasy depends largely on whether or not he will be a closer this year.  That seems likely, but he hasn’t been officially handed the job.  He can help the Mavericks in ERA, WHIP and K’s though, even if they go a different route (especially since they picked the other leading Yankees closer candidate later, Andrew Miller).  Baez is about as big of a risk/reward pick as you can get.  On one hand, he has immense power that could blow away all other middle infielders on the board.  But on the other, he has shown no plate discipline at all at the big league level and could easily wind up in AAA.  Of course, the Mavs have plenty of other players ready to fill that spot if Baez doesn’t pan out.  Finally, the defending champion Naturals finished the first round by selecting another good, young pitcher in Carlos Carrasco.  Slightly overshadowed by Indians teammate Corey Kluber last year, Carrasco could become a Cy Young candidate himself this year if he pitches like he did in ’14.

So that first round was all well and good, but it was most certainly NOT the biggest story of the past ten days.  There were four huge trades made on the first day of the draft before Abreu was selected with the first pick.  Then three more major deals were completed before two rounds were in the books.  These trades range from championship contenders looking to solidify their rosters, to second tier teams trying to plug major holes, to major franchise overhauls.  It is difficult to pinpoint which teams will be the big winners and losers from these deals, but one thing is for sure:  the players/picks involved in these trades will play a major role in determining how teams finish this year.

The first domino to fall was the Naturals trading Zack Greinke and their fifth round pick to the Moonshiners for Wilson Ramos and a second round pick.  Star pitchers being dealt was a big theme of the week and Greinke was the first.  The Moonshiners badly needed an ace to anchor a rotation that hasn’t really had a standout performer in recent years.  Greinke held that ace title for the Moonshiners for about a day.  The Naturals needed a catcher to fill the crucial spot held by Victor Martinez last year.  They used that early second round pick to select Garrett Richards, who they will count on to replace Greinke.  This is the second time Greinke has been involved in a major March trade.  The Naturals acquired him from the Jackalope in 2011 in a deal that saw Ryan Howard go the other way.  Greinke had four tremendous seasons for the Naturals and should be a major piece of the future for the Moonshiners as well.

The next trade was something you don’t usually see in March:  a one-for-one trade of star pitchers with no other picks or pieces involved.  The Mavericks traded their first round pick from a year ago, young starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, to the Jackalope for one of the best closers in the league, Aroldis Chapman.  This was the first of many changes for the Jackalope, who felt the need to get younger, particularly in the rotation with ailing veteran Cliff Lee’s season being in jeopardy.  Meanwhile, Chapman (along with first round pick Betances) give the Mavericks an almost unfair bullpen full of fireballers.  Their rotation isn’t too shaby either.  If I had to pick one team as a lock to win one category this year, it would be the Mavericks and strikeouts.  Barring injury, they look pretty solid in the other four pitching categories too.

As it turns out, the Cole/Chapman deal was just a precursor to a couple more one-for-one deals involving superstars.  The Jackalope immediately turned around and dealt their first overall pick from a year ago, Yasiel Puig, to the Naturals for third baseman Anthony Rendon.  This would have looked like an insane trade a year ago considering the Naturals nabbed Rendon in the sixth round.  But he was quietly one of the most valuable players in the league last year and plays a much more difficult position to fill.  Of course, his switch from second to third created a bit of a problem for the Naturals who were already loaded at the corners.  Unfortunately for the Jackalope, Rendon wound up injuring his knee right around the time this deal was made, which was part of a pretty tough week of injury news for their squad.  However, Rendon’s injury isn’t considered to be too serious, but will be worth watching as the season approaches.  Meanwhile, the Naturals are happy to have Puig and hope he can bounce back from a slightly disappointing season a year ago.  He clearly has major talent and big upside at his young age.

The final pre-draft trade skewed a little older.  The Mavericks dealt slugging first baseman Edwin Encarnacion to the Darkhorses for shortstop Hanley Ramirez.  The Darkhorses acquired one of the most consistent power sources in recent years while the Mavericks picked up a power source of their own at a premium position.  This figures to be Ramirez’s last year at shortstop though since the Red Sox plan to play him in the outfield.  Only Marc knows for sure, but I’m not positive this deal would have happened had they known they would be able to pick Baez in the draft.  As it currently stands, the Mavericks have five middle infielders and dealing Encarnacion temporarily left them without a first baseman.  But that is a much easier position to fill than 2B/SS.  The Darkhorses are hoping two ex-Mavs players will help boost their power output.  They also drafted former Maverick Carlos Santana.

The start of the draft did not end the flurry of trades.  Halfway through the first round, a deal was made that somehow managed to exceed the four I just detailed in terms of star power.  The Jackalope traded arguably the second best pitcher in baseball, Felix Hernandez, along with Ian Kennedy to the Moonshiners for third baseman Josh Donaldson and a fourth round pick.  Suddenly, the Moonshiners pitching problems were a thing of the past.  The additions of Hernandez, Greinke and Kennedy is about as big of a rotation upgrade as a team can realistically make.  Despite only being 28 years old, King Felix is already 10th on the DTBL’s all-time strikeout list.  He was a workhorse for the Jackalope in his nine seasons with them, pitching at least 180 innings every season and has struck out over 200 batters in six consecutive seasons.  He will be reunited with two other former Jackalope rotation-mates with the Moonshiners:  Greinke and Jered Weaver.  This signals a huge overhaul for the Jackalope who have been slightly burned in recent years by deteriorating health of their once invincible pitching staff.  Roy Halladay and now Cliff Lee seem to have been lost without getting anything in return.  They elected to make sure the same thing didn’t happen with Hernandez.  The Jackalope rotations of about five years ago were some of the best collection of pitchers this league has ever seen.  But now all are gone, except for Lee, who may never pitch again.  Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that the Jackalope acquired Donaldson who was the Moonshiners first round pick a year ago.  Donaldson had a huge DTBL rookie campaign and could be in for even more now that he has moved to hitter friendly Toronto.

The next trade was of the more traditional draft day variety.  The Mavericks did what they do best, acquired an extra first round pick from the Demigods in exchange for second and third round picks.  As already mentioned, the Mavericks used that extra pick to acquire Javier Baez following their own selection of Dellin Betances.  As for the Demigods who probably had as few holes to fill as any team entering this draft, they moved down and took outfielder J.D. Martinez with that pick acquired from the Mavericks.  The third round pick turned into relief pitcher Santiago Casilla.  Interestingly, that second round slot was actually a pick they had previously traded to the Mavericks in a deal last May.

Finally, the Jackalope had one more superstar to trade away.  They dealt franchise icon Albert Pujols to the Mavericks along with a third round pick for Adam Jones.  A couple years ago, trading away Pujols AND a pick for Jones would have been preposterous.  But Pujols is clearly on the downside of his career and is not the perennial MVP candidate that he was for most of his career.  He is the Jackalope franchise leader in home runs, RBI and runs, all by very comfortable margins.  He spent 13 remarkable seasons with the franchise.  So trading him away couldn’t have been easy.  The Jackalope will have a much different look in 2015 without Prince Albert and King Felix.  Adam Jones is no slouch though.  He has hit 25+ homers each of the past four years and has become one of the most consistent outfield contributors in the league.  As for the Mavericks, this deal was mostly about plugging that hole left by the departure of Encarnacion.  Although Pujols isn’t the hitter he once was, by normal standards of judging players, he’s still one of the better first basemen in the league.  If he stays healthy, he should have several more big seasons in him.

So that sums up the first round of the draft and the seven deals that have been made so far this month.  It has been a well paced draft as we currently sit at the end of the eighth round with still two full weeks before the start of the season.  Thanks to everyone for keeping it moving and good luck with the remainder of the draft.

The Forgettable Five

Thursday, November 6th, 2014


With two teams breaking point records at the top of the standings, one could assume that records in futility may have been in danger as well. That wasn’t exactly the case for any one team in the 2014 DTBL season, but collectively, five teams did manage to make some history. It was a season to forget for the Kings, Moonshiners, Darkhorses, Gators and Cougars.

Those five teams were essentially out of the race before the All-Star break. The only real question was which bottom half position would each team wind up in. These five were separated by just a handful of points almost the entire season and frequently shuffled standings places. In the end, none came close to breaking any low water mark records. All five finished with point totals between 32 and 43. But the distance they were behind the champion Naturals is where records were broken.

It is common for one or two teams to finish miles behind the champions. But five teams is unheard of. The sixth place Kings finished an astonishing 46 points behind the Naturals. In the league’s history, never have more than three teams finished that far out of first place. And the only times when three teams did it (1998 and 2000) were expansion years where two of the bottom three were expansion teams and the third bottom-feeder was a team that folded following that season. To have five teams finish so far out of the hunt this year is really quite amazing.

The biggest disappointment of the bottom five has to be the Kings. They just barely avoided the worst finish ever for a defending champion, coming in one spot higher than the 2011 Darkhorses. However, a sixth place finish for a team that was considered a favorite coming into the year is pretty embarrassing, particularly when you look at just how far they were from being a contender. It was sort of a Murphy’s Law season for the Kings with everything imaginable going wrong. They were absolutely decimated by injuries, particularly early in the year. At one point in May, literally half of the players who were on their Opening Day roster were either on the disabled list or nursing some sort of injury. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Even the healthy players failed to meet the most modest of expectations. In one year, the Kings have fallen from a juggernaut squad with hopes of establishing a new dynasty to a team full of washed up players with a seemingly bleak future. Not one Kings player figures to receive strong consideration for the post-season awards. Only Max Scherzer, Ian Desmond, Jonathen LuCroy and a couple relief pitchers could be considered bright spots.

Expectations weren’t as high for the Moonshiners, but 2014 will still go down as a disappointing season for them too. Their problem entering the season appeared to be a lack of superstar players who could carry the squad in multiple categories. That remains their main weakness today. No Moonshiners appeared in the top ten in batting or pitching PAR. The early season loss of Prince Fielder was a dagger and David Wright was a disappointment all year. Two of their better offensive players were a pair of rookies: Josh Donaldson and Brian Dozier. Donaldson was a pleasant surprise out of a first round draft class which included a whole bunch of busts. Jared Weaver led the pitching staff with 18 wins, but didn’t get much help from anyone else in the rotation. Next year, they will try once again to acquire top level players to push them back into contender status.

The Darkhorses offense was respectable, but their pitching staff really let them down, leading to an eighth place finish. Veterans Adrian Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury were joined by younger players like Todd Frazier and Christian Yelich to form a pretty decent offense. But they are still waiting to get a full, healthy, superstar season out of Bryce Harper. And this year’s first round pick, Xander Bogaerts was a huge disappointment this year. They did strike gold with their second round pick though. Julio Teheran was their best pitcher this season. James Shields and Lance Lynn were solid too. The rest of the starters were not and the bullpen finished dead last in saves. Since completing their four-peat in 2010, the Darkhorses have now finished in the bottom half of the standings four years in a row. But they probably have a better stable of young players than any of the other four teams covered in this article. Also worth noting, the Demigods finished in this eighth place slot just a year ago. Perhaps next year the Darkhorses will make a similar leap.

The Gators have this ninth place thing figured out. For the fourth consecutive year, they finished in that same dreaded spot.  Part of their problem was a very disappointing DTBL rookie campaign for second overall draft choice Wil Myers who struggled through an injury plagued and ineffective season.  Also, losing their longtime ace C.C. Sabathia for most of the season was a huge blow considering how heavily they have relied on him to carry their pitching staff in the past.  On a more positive note, Nelson Cruz bounced back from his PED suspension in a big way, leading the league with 40 home runs.  Scott Kazmir and Alex Wood were shrewd mid/late round draft picks who were solid, but unable to completely fill the void left by Sabathia.  The bullpen was once again a team strength, although it took a bit of a blow towards the end of the season when Rafael Soriano and even Koji Uehara lost their closer roles.  One of these years, the Gators will put it together and avoid another ninth place finish.  Maybe next year.

This was an extremely disappointing season for the Cougars coming off a very solid fifth place finish in 2013.  Their last place finish was very surprising, especially for a team with such a solid pitching staff.  The offense was not solid though.  In fact, it couldn’t have been much worse.  They finished dead last in all five offensive categories, earning the minimum five batting points.  They are the second team in league history to earn the minimum batting points, joining the 1997 Tidal Wave.  The strange thing is that they actually had one of the best offensive players in the league as Michael Brantley burst into superstar status with his .327, 20 HR, 23 SB season.  Alexei Ramirez and Denard Span were decent.  The rest of their hitters really struggled, led by last year’s team MVP Chris Davis.  Davis hit an awful .193 before having his season popped short due to a drug suspension.  The pitching staff was actually quite good though.  Adam Wainwright won 20 games and was among the league leaders in ERA (2.38) and WHIP (1.03) too.  Madison Bumgarner, before cementing his legacy as a post-season hero, had another great regular season as well.  The bullpen was pretty good too.  Even a slight improvement to the offense next year to complment this very talented pitching staff should make this last place finish a distant memory a year from now.

We are well into awards season now with MLB announcing winners of some of the lesser awards this week.  The big ones will come next week.  So we better get our own award voting done soon too.  The awards ballot is now available on the main page.  Please take some time this weekend to complete your ballot.  I will begin announcing the winners next week.

DTBL August Awards

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014


As we head into the home stretch, it’s time to take another look into the DTBL award leaders for August.  The races are starting to heat up as season totals begin to look more and more impressive, so for this month, I plan on making some loose predictions as to who I think has the best chance to win each award.

So as to not potentially influence end of year ballots, this will be my last look at the award categories for this season.  For my end of the season article, I plan on taking a look at something I’ve found interesting through the year, so hopefully you’ll all take a look again then.

Without further delay, here are the DTBL August Awards.  All stats are through August 31.

ROY:

1. Josh Donaldson, Moonshiners – .259 BA, 81 R, 26 HR, 88 RBI, 8 SB
2. Corey Kluber, Demigods – 1.094 WHIP, 2.47 ERA, 11 W, 0 SV, 185 K
3. Anthony Rendon, Naturals – .279 BA, 97 R, 18 HR, 72 RBI, 13 SB
4. Billy Hamilton, Naturals – .267 BA, 70 R, 6 HR, 46 RBI, 54 SB
5. Julio Teheran, Darkhorses – 1.069 WHIP, 2.90 ERA, 13 W, 0 SV, 160 K

The ROY list through August features four familiar faces in Donaldson, Kluber, Hamilton, and Teheran, and one new one in Anthony Rendon. Rendon has been on fire lately and was leading DTBL in runs scored while putting up solid all around numbers through August. It is interesting to look back and see where these players were drafted. Donaldson and Hamilton were no brainer first round picks. Teheran went a bit later in the middle of the second round. Rendon is a bit of a surprise here, being a middle of the 6th round pick by the Naturals. However, the real surprise is Kluber, an early 10th round selection of the Demigods.

If Kluber had spent the entire season in the Demigods rotation, he’d be likely to win the award in a walk. In spite of having to play catch up, though, he is definitely in the running, as any of he, Donaldson, and Rendon would make a fine ROY for 2014.

Cy Young:

1. Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks – 0.837 WHIP, 1.73 ERA, 16 W, 0 SV, 194 K
2. Felix Hernandez, Jackalope – 0.909 WHIP, 2.23 ERA, 13 W, 0 SV, 205 K
3. Johnny Cueto, Demigods – 0.971 WHIP, 2.26 ERA, 16 W, 0 SV, 205 K
4. Madison Bumgarner, Cougars – 1.084 WHIP, 2.97 ERA, 16 W, 0 SV, 199 K
5. Max Scherzer, Kings – 1.151 WHIP, 3.26 ERA, 15 W, 0 SV, 220 K

The top three of this list, Kershaw, Hernandez, and Cueto, have been on this list most of the season. Miniscule ratios, big win and strikeout totals; they have it all, and could highlight any pitching staff. However, showing the volatility of pitching this year, the last two names on the list, Madison Bumgarner and Max Scherzer, both make their awards debuts. Like the rest of the pitchers, they feature great win and strikeout totals, even if their ratios aren’t quite up to par with the top three.

That being said, this is Kershaw’s award to lose. Hernandez and Cueto have put up great numbers all year, but Kershaw has been on another level since his return from injury. One can only wonder what his year would have been like if he hadn’t missed all of April.

MVP:

1. Mike Trout, Mavericks – .290 BA, 92 R, 31 HR, 97 RBI, 13 SB
2. Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope – .292 BA, 83 R, 33 HR, 98 RBI, 10 SB
3. Jose Altuve, Demigods – .336 BA, 73 R, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 49 SB
4. Michael Brantley, Cougars – .310 BA, 81 R, 18 HR, 85 RBI, 17 SB
5. Carlos Gomez, Demigods – .282 BA, 85 R, 21 HR, 65 RBI, 29 SB

Arriving in the MVP discussion for the first time is Carlos Gomez, the only 20/20 player on this list. There’s a good chance he’ll share that distinction with Michael Brantley, who only needs 2 homers and 3 steals to join the club. Both players are here after the unfortunate injuries to Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew McCutchen who find themselves out of the top 5 as a result. Jose Altuve continues to quietly put together an amazing season, hitting for average, stealing loads of bases, and providing a bit of pop to go with it.

In the end, though, the MVP should come down to two of the best young players in the game today. Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout. If Trout stole bases as often as he did when he first broke in to the majors, he’d be running away with this award. However, slowing down on the bases has left the door open for Stanton. The power, RBI, and batting average edge slightly Stanton, while the runs scored and speed slightly favor Trout. If the numbers remain this close at the end of September as they were at the end of August, we may be looking at the closest MVP vote since Albert Pujols squeaked out the victory over Carlos Gonzalez in 2010.

DTBL July Awards

Saturday, August 9th, 2014


Perhaps it is a bit late for this article, seeing as how it’s already the second weekend of August, but it’s time to look back at the best of the best for July in DTBL. A lot has changed in the past ten days, so there’s a good chance of seeing a shakeup on this list at the end of the month. But, as all stats are through July 31, 2014, it will be good to acknowledge solid play before seasons were ruined by beanballs.

Also, for this month, the focus will be on where the players’ stats rank in the DTBL leaders at each applicable category, to check in on just how dominant these players have been.

Rookie of the Year:

Julio Teheran, Darkhorses: 1.042 WHIP, 2.69 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 141 K
Corey Kluber, Demigods: 1.067 WHIP, 2.57 ERA, 9 W, 0 SV, 142 K
Josh Donaldson, Moonshiners: .247 BA, 72 R, 23 HR, 76 RBI, 4 SB
Billy Hamilton, Naturals: .270 BA, 53 R, 6 HR, 40 RBI, 42 SB
Sonny Gray, Jackalope: 1.180 WHIP, 2.65 ERA, 12 W, 0 SV, 121 K

Teheran continues his rookie dominance, posting a 7th place WHIP, with ERA, win, and strikeout totals just missing out on the Top 10. Kluber marks the first appearance of a partial season player here, but he has been utterly dominant since arriving in the Demigods rotation. A 10th place WHIP, 9th place ERA, and one strikeout out of the Top 10 makes for quite the partial season performance. Josh Donaldson’s consistency sees him in a tie for 7th in home runs, a tie for 3rd in RBI, and a tie for 5th in runs scored, while Billy Hamilton’s otherworldly speed places him in a tie for 1st in that category to go with solid all around numbers for a speedster. Finally, Sonny Gray checks in in a 5 way tie for 4th in wins, while barely missing the leaderboard for ERA. Just missing from this list is Anthony Rendon, who was tied for the DTBL lead in runs scored with 75 at the end of July while also putting up solid numbers in all categories.

Cy Young:

Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks: .824 WHIP, 1.71 ERA, 13 W, 0 SV, 150 K
Felix Hernandez, Jackalope: .889 WHIP, 2.01 ERA, 11, W, 0 SV, 178 K
Johnny Cueto, Demigods: .916 WHIP, 2.05 ERA, 12 W, 0 SV, 166 K
David Price, Naturals: 1.049 WHIP, 3.11 ERA, 11 W, 0 SV, 189 K
Adam Wainwright, Cougars: .962 WHIP, 1.92 ERA, 13 W, 0 SV, 122 K

These pitchers continue to light up radar guns and keep opposing players swinging and missing at incredible rates. Kershaw ranks first most everywhere – WHIP, ERA, and wins, and is 8th in strikeouts, a number that is a casualty of his time on the DL this spring. King Felix rates 2nd in WHIP, 4th in ERA, a tie for 9th in wins, and is 2nd in strikeouts. More of the same follows for the rest of these guys: Cueto ranks 4th in WHIP, 5th in ERA, tie for 4th in wins, and 5th in strikeouts; Price has turned things around to the tune of 8th in WHIP, tie for 9th in wins, and first in strikeouts; Wainwright checks in at 5th in WHIP, 2nd in ERA, and tied for first in wins. Honorable mention goes to Chris Sale, who ranks 3rd in both ERA and WHIP, like Kershaw, is hurt by being injured for part of the season.

MVP:

Mike Trout, Mavericks: .300 BA, 74 R, 24 HR, 76 RBI, 10 SB
Jose Altuve, Demigods: .339 BA, 56 R, 4 HR, 33 RBI, 42 SB
Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope: .293 BA, 69 R, 25 HR, 73 RBI, 10 SB
Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope: .300 BA, 75 R, 19 HR, 69 RBI, 9 SB
Andrew McCutchen, Naturals: .305 BA, 60 R, 17 HR, 64 RBI, 17 SB

A thing to note about the MVP candidates this month is that they generally produce in all 5 categories. While the steal totals may not place all of them in the Top 10, they do provide that 5 tool fantasy output that all owners crave. Trout comes in at 3rd in runs scored, a tie for 3rd in RBI, and 6th in home runs. Altuve is tied for 1st in steals to go along with a 2nd place batting average. Stanton is tied for 10th in runs, 6th in RBI, and tied for 3rd in homers. Paul Goldschmidt, the first hit by pitch casualty of this list, was tied for first in runs scored and 10th in RBI, while Andrew McCutchen, the other hit by pitch casualty (or beaning casualty, if you prefer), while missing out on the top 10 in any category, has the best power/speed balance in DTBL. The hardest decision of the month, however, came down to McCutchen and Michael Brantley for the 5th spot, as his solid all around numbers (.316 BA, 71 R, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 12 SB) are definitely worthy of consideration.

Comments? Disagreements? Have at it in the comment section.

Hall Welcomes Six Legends

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014


On Sunday afternoon, the National Baseball Hall of Fame enshrined six new members:  a trio of all-time great players and three legendary managers.  The three players, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas were all elected into the Hall in their first year of eligibility.  And the three managers, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre are almost indisputably the three most accomplished skippers of the past 30 years.  The full class has been lauded as one of the greatest induction classes of all time.  What makes this class noteworthy for our league is that the three players are probably the first full class of inductees who would all be certain DTBL Hall of Famers as well, if such a thing existed.  Although Glavine, Maddux and Thomas made their MLB debuts prior to the formation of this league, the primes of their careers took place while on DTBL rosters.

The connection between Maddux and Glavine is obvious as long time teammates in Atlanta.  But it’s Glavine and Thomas who spent many years as teammates in the DTBL with the Kings.  Thomas and Maddux also have close ties in DTBL lore as both were first round draft picks in the inaugural DTBL Draft, making them the first official players for their respective franchises.  The Choppers picked Maddux with the second selection in that 1993 draft, following the Gators’ pick of Kirby Puckett.  So Maddux was the league’s first selected pitcher.  Two picks later, the Kings drafted the slugging first baseman Thomas.  As 13 year-olds at the time, Charlie and I may have let our personal fandoms of Maddux and Thomas sway our decisions, but neither of us would ever regret those picks.  In the seventh round of that same draft, the Kings grabbed Glavine.  He and Thomas would be Kings teammates for the first seven years of the DTBL.

Tom Glavine probably has the weakest DTBL Hall of Fame case (again, if there actually was such a thing) of these three.  However, he is one of only four players to record 200 wins in this league.  He won a total of 204 games for the Kings, Gators and Darkhorses.  He won 13+ games 10 times, a feat only accomplished more often by two other pitchers (Maddux and Mike Mussina).  Nobody has more 20 win seasons.  He did that three times (1993, 1998, 2000 – 4 others also have 3 20+ win seasons).  Glavine’s career ERA of 3.46 and WHIP of 1.317 may not seem terribly impressive by 2014 standards, but keep in mind that he was still going strong in the steroid era of the late 90′s and early 00′s.  His 1,724 career strikeouts isn’t quite enough to put him in the top 10 all-time.  When it comes to the Kings franchise record book, he’s #2 behind Randy Johnson in wins (115) and third in ERA (3.22) and strikeouts (1,048).

Glavine spent the first seven years of the DTBL with the Kings before being traded to the Gators late in the 1999 season for J.D. Drew.  15 years later, that sounds like an awful trade for the Kings, but it actually worked out quite well for both sides.  Drew wound up being a key contributor for the Kings first three championship teams while Glavine arguably recorded the best season of his career for the Gators in 2000 as he won 21 games.  He remained with the Gators until the end of the 2003 season.  The Kings reacquired him the following year as a free agent.  Finally, the Darkhorses also signed him as a free agent for the twilight of his career.  In his final DTBL season of 2007, he won his first and only league title with the Darkhorses.

There is a reasonable case to be made that Greg Maddux is the greatest pitcher in league history.  He’s certainly on the very short list.  He holds the league record for most wins with 240.  Only three retired starting pitchers have better career ERAs and WHIPs compared to Maddux’s 3.00 and 1.095.  But those numbers are slightly inflated because of mediocre numbers late in his career.  Nobody can match Maddux’s prime (well, maybe some guys in today’s pitching dominated game, but certainly not in Maddux’s era).  Even though he wasn’t thought of as a strikeout pitcher, only five have a higher career total in that category.  He is the Choppers career leader in wins and is basically tied with current Choppers’ ace Chris Sale in ERA and WHIP.  Only Mussina struck out more hitters while a member of the Choppers.

The numbers Maddux posted in 1994 and 1995 were easily the two best consecutive seasons by a pitcher in league history and, alone, were the two lowest individual ERA seasons in the books.  He had a preposterous 1.56 ERA in the strike-shortened 1994 season and followed that up with an absurd 1.63 ERA in 1995.  Oh, and his WHIP was under 0.9 both of those years as well.  Maddux won at least 15 games for 12 consecutive seasons, all with the Choppers.  That will be a tall order for anyone else to ever reproduce.  After 13 remarkable seasons with the Choppers, they finally released him after the 2005 season.  He had mediocre stints with the Naturals, Mavericks and Darkhorses (twice) to close out his remarkable career.  He was a member of four DTBL championship teams (’97 and ’99 Choppers, ’07 and ’08 Darkhorses).  So he teamed up with his Hall of Fame buddy Glavine for that ’07 title, although neither were particularly key reasons why the Darkhorses won.

The career numbers of Frank Thomas speak volumes about what kind of a hitter he was.  However, they were somewhat overshadowed by other players of his generation who would later become tarnished by connections to performance enhancing drugs.  But never mind that.  There still may not have been a better pure hitter in the 90′s than the Big Hurt.  Thomas hit 412 home runs in his DTBL career, which ranks 10th all time.  But more than half of the players ahead of him on that list have been tied to PEDs in one way or another.  Along with the home runs, Thomas had a career average of .297 with 1,323 RBI and 1,045 runs scored.  The full list of players with better career numbers in all four of those categories:  Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols and Vladimir Guerrero.  Thomas trails only the very tainted Alex Rodriguez in HR, RBI and R in Kings franchise history.

Thomas was a machine for the first five seasons of this league.  Each year, he hit over .300 with at least 35 HR and 100+ RBI and runs.  He even managed to reach those numbers in the strike shortened 1994 season.  He hit over .340 in three different seasons.  It wasn’t until very late in his career when the averages started to fall, bringing his career mark just below .300.  Unfortunately, a series of injuries in the second decade of his career really kept him from putting up numbers to rival anyone who has ever played the game.  But the Kings kept him on their roster for 13 incredible seasons.  He was a member of all four of the Kings four-peat championships (2000-2003).  He had a brief stint on the Mavericks roster in early 2006, but never recorded any playing time with them.  He did play for the Jackalope later that season.  Finally, the Kings picked him back up for his final two DTBL seasons.

Unfortunately, my historical records on awards and such from the early years of this league are a little disjointed.  So I don’t have an easy way of telling you about some of the honors these three players received during their DTBL careers.  However, I know for a fact that Thomas was the league MVP at least once and Maddux won several Cy Young awards.  Hopefully I’ll be able to fill in these blanks at some point, because this information is available somewhere on old hard drives and printed newsletters.

Finally, I want to wrap this up by mentioning a little bit about another Hall of Famer.  Sadly, the great Tony Gwynn passed away last month at the much too young age of 54.  Unlike the three players I just chronicled, the prime of Gwynn’s career was a little before this league started.  However, he also holds a special place in DTBL history.  He is the league’s all-time leading hitter (in terms of batting average) with an amazing .357 mark.  That is almost 30 points higher than any other player this league has ever seen and it is hard to imagine anyone ever breaking this record.  Despite that, Gwynn was not always an automatic starter for all of his teams in this league and bounced around to six different teams in nine years.  Of course, part of that was simply circumstances.  He wound up playing on three teams that folded while he was on the roster (Troopers, Titans and Panthers).  He played for the Gators in his first two DTBL seasons, followed by two years with the Choppers.  Despite ridiculous batting averages every season, he wasn’t a sure starter back in those days.  Because there were so few teams in the league, it was hard for some teams to dedicate a spot for a guy with below average power.  Had he put up those same numbers today, he’d be one of the most valuable players in the league.  But as it stands, he just wasn’t able to accumulate enough stats to appear in the record books for anything other than batting average.  His ability to get hits and avoid strikeouts may never be seen again in a player.  Guys who are thought of as good contact hitters today will still strike out more often the next two months than Gwynn did most full seasons.  He was a legendary hitter and will truly be missed by the baseball community.

DTBL June Awards

Thursday, July 3rd, 2014

We’re finally at the halfway point of the DTBL season, and it’s time to look at the best players up to this point. While a couple of players had ridiculous months that almost placed them in my top 5 list, I’ve decided to focus a bit more on consistency with my rankings. Sorry, Jose Altuve. I’ve again used ESPN’s Player Rater to help sort selections, particularly with Rookie of the Year. However, thanks to Kevin’s hard work with Points Above Replacement (PAR), I’ve used this stat to help with Cy Young and MVP ranks as well.To spice up the column a bit, and without giving away my entire ballot, you’ll find at the end my picks for All Star starters at every position, along with a closer. At the halfway point, it seems appropriate to recognize solid players who aren’t quite good enough to crack the top 5 at the end of year awards positions.

ROY:

1. Julio Teheran, Darkhorses – 0.950 WHIP, 2.34 ERA, 7 W, 0 SV, 103 Ks
2. Josh Donaldson, Moonshiners – .248 BA, 57 R, 18 HR, 61 RBI, 3 SB
3. Anthony Rendon, Naturals – .281 BA, 53 R, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 6 SB
4. Yaisel Puig, Jackalope – .311 BA, 44 R, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 7 SB
5. Billy Hamilton, Naturals – .281 BA, 40 R, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 34 SB

The top three from May still reside here in the Rookie of the Year rankings. Julio Teheran has continued his stellar rookie season here in DTBL; more on him to come. Josh Donaldson and Yasiel Puig continue to put up big numbers. Anthony Rendon returns to this list after falling off in May, with 6 homers, 19 RBI, 18 runs, and a .310 batting average making up for a lackluster May.

Unfortunately, Michael Wacha (injury) and Sonny Gray have fallen off this list for now. Brian Dozier and Corey Kluber’s full season numbers would easily be worthy of Top 5 consideration; however, their late entries to their team’s major league rosters continue to keep them off. Finally, Evan Gattis had a ridiculous June with a long hitting streak and 6 homers of his own, but he, too, has fallen victim to the injury bug.

Cy Young:

1. Felix Hernandez, Jackalope – 0.919 WHIP, 2.10 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 137 Ks
2. Johnny Cueto, Demigods – 0.836 WHIP, 1.88 ERA, 8 W, 0 SV, 122 Ks
3. Adam Wainwright, Cougars – 0.903 WHIP, 2.01 ERA, 10 W, 0 SV, 105 Ks
4. Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks – 0.920 WHIP, 2.04 ERA, 9 W, 0 SV, 107 Ks
5. Julio Teheran, Darkhorses – 0.950 WHIP, 2.34 ERA, 7 W, 0 SV, 103 Ks

This list is largely unchanged from May, only seeing Clayton Kershaw’s utter dominance since returning from the DL replacing Zack Greinke. The superlatives of this group run long – top 5 in ERA. 5 of the top 6 in WHIP. Fantastic strikeout totals. Solid win amounts. Anyone in DTBL would be thrilled to have any of this quintet heading their rotation.

That being said, there is no shortage of pitchers knocking on the door of this group. Greinke. Madison Bumgarner. Jon Lester. David Price. Max Scherzer. Yu Darvish. The overall pitching talent in DTBL may never have been better than it is now.

MVP:

1. Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope – .313 BA, 57 R, 21 HR, 60 RBI, 7 SB
2. Mike Trout, Mavericks – .314 BA, 54 R, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 10 SB
3. Edwin Encarnacion, Mavericks – .278 BA, 55 R, 25 HR, 65 RBI, 2 SB
4. Nelson Cruz, Gators – .281 BA, 48 R, 25 HR, 66 RBI, 1 SB
5. Troy Tulowitzki, Naturals – .353 BA, 65 R, 18 HR, 47 RBI, 1 SB

Another month, another top two finish for Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout. These two players have almost identical numbers; Stanton’s slight power edge gives him the nod here over Trout’s speed. Edwin Encarnacion, after just missing in May, rightfully shows up here with his prodigious power numbers; better counting stats gives him the edge over Nelson Cruz. Finally, Troy Tulowitzki, who’s been here from the beginning, continues to ride his Coors Field numbers to an outstanding season. Hard to argue with a .353 batting average in June.

As I mentioned above, Jose Altuve raked in June. A .411 batting average. 17 steals. 11 runs and 9 RBI. He even missed three games. It was hard to leave him off this list, but consistency for the existing top 5 allowed them to hold on to their spots. If Altuve has a July even close to his June, he has a good chance of jumping into best of the best. Rounding out the just missed it group are Carlos Gomez, Michael Brantley, Paul Goldschmidt, and Victor Martinez. And, yeah, I’m still wondering when Miguel Cabrera will show up.

Here are my All Star starters.

American Divison:
C: Victor Martinez, Naturals
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Jackalope
2B: Ian Kinsler, Moonshiners
3B: Josh Donaldson, Moonshiners
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Naturals
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Jackalope
OF: Nelson Cruz, Gators
OF: Jose Bautista, Choppers
SP: Felix Hernandez, Jackalope
CL: Craig Kimbrel, Choppers
National Division:
C: Jonathan LuCroy, Kings
1B: Edwin Encarnacion, Mavericks
2B: Jose Altuve, Demigods
3B: Todd Frazier, Darkhorses
SS: Hanley Ramirez, Darkhorses
OF: Mike Trout, Mavericks
OF: Carlos Gomez, Demigods
OF: Michael Brantley, Cougars
SP: Adam Wainright, Cougars
CL: Trevor Rosenthal, Demigods

Comments? Disagreements? Have at it in the comment section.