DTBL News

Category: Naturals

  • Fit To Be Tied

    In what turned out to be the wildest finish in league history, six months of thrilling baseball action was not enough to distinguish one team as being the league’s best.  Instead, for the first time ever, two teams will share the title.  When the regular season ended a week ago, David’s Darkhorses and Nick’s Naturals both finished with 76 points, making them the 2010 Dream Team Baseball League Co-Champions.

    Besides the tie at the top, this season becomes quite historic for another reason as well.  With the shared title, the Darkhorses captured their fourth consecutive DTBL Championship.  Kevin’s Kings accomplished the same feat in 2000-2003.  The Darkhorses fourth title ties them with the Kings for the most championships in DTBL history.  This was definitely the least dominating Darkhorses championship team, but that takes nothing away from what they have accomplished.

    Meanwhile, the Naturals captured their second DTBL crown.  They also won back in 2005.  For most of the seasons since then, they have been a consistent contender, but haven’t quite been able to run down the Darkhorses.  This second title matches the Naturals with the Mavericks, Gators and Choppers as two time champions.  Only the Darkhorses, Kings and Cougars have won more.

    The Naturals made some history of their own with this championship.  They captured all 50 possible batting points.  No team has ever reached 50 points in total batting or pitching, although the 1994 Cougars did obtain the maximum 30 batting points (there were only six teams in the league at that time).  Not surprisingly, the Naturals 26 pitching points is the fewest ever for a champion since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1998.  The Darkhorses reached 76 points in a much more conventional manner:  40 batting and 36 pitching.  So while the Naturals were dominating the league with offense and mediocre pitching, the Darkhorses proved to be the most balanced team, just like they have been in all of their championship seasons.

    Obviously, this was the closest finish in league history, but not only because the top two teams finished with identical point totals.  Two other teams came within five points of the title.  Jay’s Jackalope finished three points behind the leaders for a third place finish while the Kings came in fourth, just five points back.  The only other comparable season where the race came down to four teams was in 1999 when the Choppers won by two points with three teams tying for second place.  Since 2001, only three teams have finished within five points of first and those were in different seasons.  In fact, the league has completely lacked pennant races in recent years.  The closest margin of victory in the past four years was 8 1/2 points.  So to have four teams well within that margin is quite remarkable.

    The race was tight all season.  The Darkhorses held the top spot for a majority of the season and even seemed to be distancing themselves from the pack in the late summer.  But the Naturals put on a late season charge and even appeared headed to the consensus title in the final week of the season.  The Darkhorses put forth one final gasp and tied the Naturals with two days remaining.  Surprisingly, despite some extremely tight races in individual categories, the standings remained the same through the final weekend.  The prospect of a couple National League tie-breaking games loomed large, but it turned out the playoff spots were clinched in the final day of the regular season and no additional games were necessary.  So with that, the Darkhorses and Naturals each claimed a piece of the title.

    So how did each team do it?  As mentioned, the Darkhorses were the more balanced team.  They really didn’t have any players with MVP caliber seasons, but instead had a roster full of quality players.  Perhaps not quite to the extreme as their past championship clubs, but this squad didn’t have many weaknesses.  Adrian Gonzalez was probably their top offensive player, but Darkhorses were shockingly absent from the offensive league leaders list.   Gonzalez clubbed a team high 31 home runs.  Matt Holliday had a very good season as well with a .312 average and a team high 103 RBIs.  Hanley Ramirez had another typically solid season too.  But other than that, not a lot of guys stand out.  On the pitching side, Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter and Roy Oswalt once again helped make up one of the league’s best pitching staffs.  Although they were overshadowed by the Jackalope rotation this year.  The bullpen, led by Brian Wilson and Francisco Cordero, led the league in saves.  Oswalt won the league WHIP title (1.00) and Wilson recorded more saves than any other DTBL closer (48).

    The Naturals were led by offense, offense and more offense.  Two of the leading MVP candidates are Naturals.  First basemen Miguel Cabrera and Joey Votto will both garner strong MVP consideration.  Cabrera finished in the top four of the league in every offensive category except stolen bases.  He hit .329 with 38 home runs, a DTBL leading 126 RBIs and 111 runs scored.  Votto also finished among the league leaders in all of those categories, slightly behind Cabrera in each.  Votto hit .324, 37 home runs, 113 RBIs and 106 runs scored.  While those guys were awesome for the entire season, it was the late season tear of Troy Tulowitzki which may have pushed the Naturals over the top.  Tulo finished with 27 home runs, almost all of which seemed to be in the last month and a half of the season.  Although the Naturals pitching points were on the low side, they did have a few guys who had tremendous seasons.  David Price and Jon Lester carried the starting rotation and Joakim Soria had another solid season out of the bullpen.

    The Darkhorses and Naturals earned the league’s ultimate prize, but a few other teams have to be happy with their season as well.  The Jackalope had their best finish (3rd) since 2006 and were in the race the entire season.  Led by the league’s best pitching staff, if they can improve their offense a bit, they will be a favorite in 2011.  The Kings rebounded from an absolutely dreadful last place finish in 2009 to finish fourth this year.  An improved pitching staff in the second half of the season bodes well for the future too.  The Moonshiners and Gators saw modest improvement, moving up one spot each to finish fifth and sixth respectively.  And although a seventh place finish isn’t much to get excited about, it was the best finish for the Choppers since 2006.

    Then there were the rest.  The Mavericks took the honor of the league’s most disappointing team.  Ravaged by injuries and out of the race early, they made a bunch of trades with an eye to the future.  This left them with a very thin roster for the last couple months of the season.  Just like this year, they will have two of the first three picks in the draft next year though.  Hopefully it turns out better for them this next time around.  The Cougars fell to ninth place despite a surprisingly good offense led by MVP candidate Josh Hamilton.  However, their league worst nine pitching points removed any hopes of being a contender.  Finally, the Demigods had their worst season ever, finishing dead last.  For a while, last place looked like it was going to be an extremely coveted position.  However, Stephen Strasburg’s injury put a bit of a damper on that.  Next year’s draft still figures to be quite loaded though, so these bottom finishing teams will have an opportunity for immediate improvement.

    Speaking of next year’s draft, a coin toss will be performed to determine which team will pick 10th in the draft.  The first tie-breaker for determining draft position is a head-to-head stat category comparison.  However, the Darkhorses and Naturals each bested the other in five categories, so the coin toss will be necessary.  I will wait until I have another DTBL member present to witness it and will let you know how it turns out.

    That’s all for the 2010 DTBL season.  Thanks to everyone for yet another exciting year.  18 seasons are in the books!  This was one of our most active seasons in terms of activity too, which always helps keep things interesting.  I will be in touch about the post season awards voting soon.  Congratulations to Dave and Nick on their well deserved titles!

  • Co-Champions!

    It’s official.  The Darkhorses and Naturals will share the 2010 DTBL Championship.  Much more to come later, but I thought I would post this so you know the standings and stats were updated this morning and the season is officially over.  Congrats to Dave and Nick!

  • A Real Pennant Race

    After three years of Darkhorses domination, it appears we finally have an exciting race on our hands.  With two weeks remaining in the season, the championship is very much up for grabs.  Of course, the three time defending champs are one of the top contenders, but they are not running away with it like they have the last three years.  Through Sunday, the Darkhorses find themselves one point out of first, trailing the Naturals.  Those two have swapped the top spot several times the last couple weeks with neither team holding more than a couple point edge.

    The Naturals currently hold the top spot thanks to an incredible offense that leads the league in all five batting categories.  No team has ever come close to doing that before, so that will be an interesting thing to watch down the stretch.  They just may need to hang onto those 50 points to win the league because their pitching staff has been a little disappointing.  Their current 27 pitching points would be the lowest total ever for a league champion.

    The Darkhorses are a much more balanced team.  They rank third in the league in both batting and pitching points.  However, their total of 76 points is quite a bit below the pace they set the last few years.  The last team to win the league with fewer than 80 points was the Mavericks in 2006, but that could be the case this year.

    While mostly a two team race, the Jackalope and Kings are technically still alive as well.  The Kings were the story of the league in August, moving from the bottom half of the standings all the way up to second place at one point.  They did so thanks to a resurgent pitching staff.  They have fallen back a bit the last couple weeks and are currently 11 1/2 points out of first.  No matter how things turn out, this will be a successful season for the once proud franchise that finished dead last a year ago.

    Meanwhile, the Jackalope are keeping hope alive in their quest for a first DTBL championship.  They are in third place, 8 1/2 points behind.  However, close inspection of the standings shows several categories where they have an opportunity to pick up points.  It will take an incredible two week run and will probably require the top two teams to fall back a bit, but the Jackalope are certainly still in the running.

    Looking at the different categories, both the Naturals and Darkhorses are in pretty good shape with few worries about losing ground.  There aren’t a lot of points to be gained either though, so I would be very surprised if either team shifted more than a couple points up or down.  So with the current margin being just a single point, this is almost certainly going to wind up being one of the closest races in league history.  The Jackalope have several categories where they have an opportunity to pick up points, so it will be very interesting to see if this turns into a three team sprint to the finish.

    Perhaps not as exciting, the race is equally tight at the bottom of the standings.  The Cougars currently sit in last place, but just one half point behind the Demigods.  Meanwhile, the Mavericks, playing with barely more than half a roster, are four points out of last.  The Choppers have put on a nice late season run to move up to 7th place.

    Will the Darkhorses make it four in a row and tie the Kings for the most titles in league history?  Will the underdog Naturals hang on to win their second championship?  Or will the Jackalope put on a furious run to win their first title?  Stay tuned!

  • National Pitchers Prevail

    In a baseball season with headlines dominated by pitchers, it was quite appropriate that the pitching staff for the National Division was primarily responsible for a 4-1 victory in the 17th annual Dream Team Baseball League All-Star Game.  The game took place last Monday night, a day later that originally scheduled due to travel problems for yours truly.  But fortunately we were able to get the game in a day later.  A three run seventh inning proved to be the difference in the game as the National All-Stars picked up the victory at Cougar Coliseum, home of Kelly’s Cougars.

    Only two players from the host team made the National All-Star squad, but both played significant roles in the victory, including staff ace Adam Wainwright who got the start on the mound.  He was opposed by early Cy Young Award candidate, Ubaldo Jimenez of the Gators.  Both starters were sharp in this one, pitching a pair of scoreless innings.  Jimenez did get into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the second though.  Justin Morneau touched him up with a one out triple.  However,  successive strike outs of Robinson Cano and Hanley Ramirez ended the threat.  The Ramirez at bat was especially dominating as Ramirez whiffed at three consecutive pitches.

    Chris Carpenter took the mound for the National Division in the third and was rudely greeted with a lead-off home run by Ryan Braun, giving the American All-Stars an early 1-0 lead.  The National squad quickly answered in the bottom half.  Cougars outfielder Josh Hamilton knocked a two out single to right-center scoring Joe Mauer who had singled to lead off the inning.  The National team recorded three singles in the inning off league ERA leader Josh Johnson.

    The score remained tied until the bottom of the seventh.  Neither team recorded more than one hit in an inning during the middle frames.  Rafael Soriano took the mound for the American Division in the seventh and quickly retired the first two batters he faced.  But it started to unravel after that.  Soriano hit Torii Hunter and uncorked a pair of wild pitches on his way to walking Alex Rios.  Billy Wagner then relieved Soriano with runners on the corners.  An Adam Dunn single scored Hunter.  Then Kevin Youkilis reached on an error by third baseman David Wright to load the bases.  A bases loaded walk to Morneau increased the lead to 3-1.  Then Cano followed with another single to score the third run of the inning.  When the inning finally ended, the National All-Stars had built a 4-1 lead.

    The American Division never really had an opportunity to get back in the game after the big seventh inning.  Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Brian Wilson retired the American hitters in order in the ninth, including a pair of strike outs.  The game ended on a Wilson strike out of Albert Pujols after a lengthy nine pitch at bat.  Jonathan Broxton picked up the victory for the National Division while Soriano took the loss and Wilson recorded the save.

    There was a small controversy regarding the selection of the game’s Most Valuable Player.  OOTP chose Ryan Braun, but Dave and I immediately overruled that selection since not only was he on the losing team, but his solo home run was his only hit of the game.  There were a number of candidates, including Dunn and Cano, but we went with Kings first baseman Justin Morneau.  Morneau was one for two with a triple and two walks in four plate appearances.  One of his walks was with the bases loaded, so he also had an RBI.

    National pitchers were completely dominating in this one.  Not only did they surrender just the one run on a solo home run, but they gave up only four hits to a very impressive American lineup.  National pitchers also recorded 10 strike outs with just one walk.  American pitchers were not quite as dominant, but they gave up just two earned runs and struck out nine.

    Thanks to Dave and Nick for the time they spent making the final roster selections, setting their lineups and then showing up to manage the game.  It was a well played game and a great way to kick off the second half of the season.  Now we will just have to see if someone is going to make a run at the Darkhorses who appear primed to make it four in a row.

  • 2010 DTBL All-Stars

    Thanks to everyone for voting for the 2010 DTBL All-Stars.  The 17th annual DTBL All-Star Game is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, July 18 at 9 p.m EDT / 6 p.m. PDT.  Nick will be managing the American Division while Dave will be calling the shots for the National Division.  The two of them were responsible for breaking all ties in the voting and for selecting the 23rd player for each roster.  And now, here are your 2010 DTBL All-Stars.  The final voting results are posted below the rosters.

    American Division

    Starters:
    P – Ubaldo Jimenez, Gators
    C – Mike Napoli, Moonshiners
    1B – Miguel Cabrera, Naturals
    2B – Rickie Weeks, Naturals
    3B – David Wright, Moonshiners
    SS – Elvis Andrus, Jackalope
    OF – Carl Crawford, Naturals
    OF – Vladimir Guerrero, Choppers
    OF – Ryan Braun, Jackalope

    Reserves:
    C – Victor Martinez, Naturals
    1B – Albert Pujols, Jackalope
    1B – Paul Konerko, Moonshiners
    2B – Dan Uggla, Gators
    OF – Vernon Wells, Jackalope
    OF – Shin-Soo Choo, Moonshiners
    P – Roy Halladay, Jackalope
    P – Josh Johnson, Gators
    P – Yovani Gallardo, Moonshiners
    P – Jon Lester, Naturals
    RP – Rafael Soriano, Moonshiners
    RP – Heath Bell, Jackalope
    RP – Phil Hughes, Choppers
    RP – Billy Wagner, Gators

    National Division

    Starters:
    P – Adam Wainwright, Cougars
    C – Joe Mauer, Demigods
    1B – Justin Morneau, Kings
    2B – Robinson Cano, Kings
    3B – Evan Longoria, Demigods
    SS – Hanley Ramirez, Darkhorses
    OF – Josh Hamilton, Cougars
    OF – Carlos Gonzalez, Kings
    OF – Alex Rios, Kings

    Reserves:
    C – Jorge Posada, Mavericks
    1B – Kevin Youkilis, Mavericks
    2B – Dustin Pedroia, Demigods
    2B – Martin Prado, Darkhorses
    OF – Torii Hunter, Darkhorses
    OF – Adam Dunn, Mavericks
    P – Chris Carpenter, Darkhorses
    P – Tim Lincecum, Darkhorses
    P – Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks
    P – Clay Buchholz, Kings
    RP – Neftali Feliz, Mavericks
    RP – Jonathan Broxton, Darkhorses
    RP – Mariano Rivera, Mavericks
    RP – Brian Wilson, Darkhorses

    Players by team:
    7 – Darkhorses
    6 – Jackalope, Mavericks, Moonshiners
    5 – Kings, Naturals
    4 – Gators
    3 – Demigods
    2 – Choppers, Cougars

    Voting Results

    American Division

    Catchers

    10 – Mike Napoli, Moonshiners
    8 – Victor Martinez, Naturals
    2 – Kurt Suzuki, Gators

    First Basemen/Third Basemen

    10 – Miguel Cabrera, Naturals
    8 – Albert Pujols, Jackalope
    7 – Paul Konerko, Moonshiners
    6 – David Wright, Moonshiners
    5 – Joey Votto, Naturals
    3 – Adrian Beltre, Choppers
    1 – Scott Rolen, Naturals

    Second Basemen/Shortstops

    8 – Dan Uggla, Gators
    8 – Rickie Weeks, Naturals
    5 – Elvis Andrus, Jackalope
    4 – Derek Jeter, Gators
    3 – Troy Tulowitzki, Naturals
    1 – Howie Kendrick, Naturals
    1 – Chase Utley, Choppers

    Outfielders

    10 – Carl Crawford, Naturals
    10 – Vladimir Guerrero, Choppers
    9 – Ryan Braun, Jackalope
    8 – Vernon Wells, Jackalope
    5 – Shin-Soo Choo, Moonshiners
    4 – Jayson Werth, Choppers
    3 – Andrew McCutchen, Naturals
    1 – Justin Upton, Naturals

    Starting Pitchers

    10 – Ubaldo Jimenez, Gators
    8 – Roy Halladay, Jackalope
    7 – Josh Johnson, Gators
    6 – Yovani Gallardo, Moonshiners
    6 – Jon Lester, Naturals
    4 – Jered Weaver, Jackalope
    3 – Felix Hernandez, Jackalope
    3 – David Price, Naturals
    2 – Cliff Lee, Jackalope
    1 – C.C. Sabathia, Gators

    Relief Pitchers

    9 – Rafael Soriano, Moonshiners
    7 – Heath Bell, Jackalope
    6 – Phil Hughes, Choppers
    6 – Billy Wagner, Gators
    5 – Jose Valverde, Naturals
    3 – Francisco Rodriguez, Moonshiners
    2 – Carlos Marmol, Choppers
    1 – Matt Capps, Jackalope
    1 – Joakim Soria, Naturals

    National Division

    Catchers

    9 – Joe Mauer, Demigods
    7 – Jorge Posada, Mavericks
    2 – John Buck, Cougars
    2 – Geovany Soto, Darkhorses

    First Basemen/Third Basemen

    9 – Evan Longoria, Demigods
    9 – Justin Morneau, Kings
    7 – Adrian Gonzalez, Darkhorses
    7 – Kevin Youkilis, Mavericks
    4 – Alex Rodriguez, Kings
    4 – Michael Young, Darkhorses

    Second Basemen/Shortstops

    10 – Robinson Cano, Kings
    10 – Hanley Ramirez, Darkhorses
    7 – Dustin Pedroia, Demigods
    2 – Martin Prado, Darkhorses
    1 – Rafael Furcal, Darkhorses

    Outfielders

    10 – Josh Hamilton, Cougars
    9 – Carlos Gonzalez, Kings
    9 – Alex Rios, Kings
    6 – Torii Hunter, Darkhorses
    4 – Adam Dunn, Mavericks
    3 – Matt Kemp, Demigods
    3 – Ichiro Suzuki, Demigods
    2 – Andre Ethier, Darkhorses
    2 – Magglio Ordonez, Mavericks
    1 – Matt Holliday, Darkhorses
    1 – Shane Victorino, Cougars

    Starting Pitchers

    10 – Chris Carpenter, Darkhorses
    10 – Tim Lincecum, Darkhorses
    10 – Adam Wainwright, Cougars
    9 – Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks
    8 – Clay Buchholz, Kings
    2 – Justin Verlander, Kings
    1 – Roy Oswalt, Darkhorses

    Relief Pitchers

    9 – Neftali Feliz, Mavericks
    8 – Jonathan Broxton, Darkhorses
    8 – Mariano Rivera, Mavericks
    6 – Brian Wilson, Darkhorses
    5 – Andrew Bailey, Cougars
    2 – Francisco Cordero, Darkhorses
    1 – Matt Lindstrom, Demigods
    1 – Leo Nunez, Kings

  • DTBL News Returns!

    After a longer than expected break, DTBL News is back!  I have set up this new WordPress blog to serve as the host for the DTBL News.  Since WordPress is an extremely well supported and highly used blogging software product, I anticipate this will be a great tool for our league.  On the flip side, the old blog software I used on the previous web site was a mod to the phpBB message board system, which had not been supported or updated in several years.  I was hoping to find something similar to use on the new site, which would automatically tie into the existing web site and message board user system.  However, I decided WordPress would be a much better alternative.

    There is a tool available that can be used to integrate WordPress with phpBB so we can continue to use a single sign-on for all web site functions.  I have had some issues getting this to work though.  As you may recall from back in March, I temporarily messed up the entire site login/logout functionality when I was trying to get this to work.  I haven’t touched it since, but this is definitely something I want to implement sooner rather than later.  But in the mean time, I will be the only one who is able to post blog entries.  Of course, I will let you know when I have it set up for any user to create new posts.  In the mean time, if you have anything you feel is DTBL News worthy, just send it to me and I’ll post it for you.  Unlike the old site, I don’t plan on setting up unique blogs for each person.  Instead, once this is completely set up, all of you will have the ability to create/edit/reply to all posts in this single blog.

    Another blog related task I need to complete is an import of all the entries from the old site.  WordPress has a pretty robust import feature, however the old blogging system didn’t exactly comply to standards necessary to get this to work automatically.  I should be able to work around this and get all the old news over here though.  I doubt anyone really cares about this, but it is nice to have that stuff for historical purposes.

    But enough about the blog.  Let’s get to the news since we’re about a quarter of the way into the season already.  First, the latest news is the first trade of the regular season.  The Mavericks and Naturals completed yet another trade between the league’s two most common trade partners.  Some of you may have seen this transaction earlier today and thought the Naturals acquired something for nothing.  That is not the case.  The Mavericks dealt closer Jose Valverde to the Naturals for their second round pick in 2011.  Valverde has already recorded 10 saves with a minuscule 0.51 ERA and 0.792 WHIP.  This trade should help shore up the Naturals bullpen which has been a little bit of a disappointment, but already ranks in the top half of the league in saves.  Meanwhile, this trade could be interpreted as a bit of a surrender for the Mavericks who find themselves in a disappointing eighth place.  Losing one closer isn’t going to have a devastating effect on the team, however, this trade clearly has no upside for the Mavericks in 2010 since they did not receive a player in return.  More about both of these teams in a bit.

    Perhaps the two most news worthy stories I missed so far this season is a pair of no-hitters, including a perfect game.  The perfect game was thrown just a week ago by Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s.  It was the second consecutive perfect game thrown against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Mark Buehrle did the same against the Rays last July.  Braden’s perfect game was the sixth thrown since the DTBL began in 1993, however Braden is not a DTBL player.  In fact, he’s the first player in the DTBL era to throw a perfect game prior to his DTBL debut (assuming he will be in the league in the future).  Kenny Rogers was not in the DTBL when he threw his perfect game in 1994, but he had been in the league the year before and returned in 1995.

    The other no-hitter was thrown by a DTBL pitcher.  Ubaldo Jimenez pitched nine hitless innings against the Braves on April 17.  He was the first Colorado Rockies pitcher to throw a no-hitter.  It was just one of many dominating performances by Jimenez this season.  The Gators hurler has already accumulated a league high 7 wins and league best 1.12 ERA.  His sub 1.00 WHIP and 54 strike outs also place him among the league leaders.  Jimenez has been carrying the Gators pitching staff so far and is one of the front runners for the Cy Young Award.

    As for team accomplishments so far, the Jackalope have been the lead story.  With the exception of a couple days at the very beginning of the season, the Jackalope have held the top spot in the league standings the entire season.  They have been led by their thoroughly dominating pitching staff.  Roy Halladay pitching in the National League is almost unfair.  Felix Hernandez, Zack Greinke and Jared Weaver have been their usual dominating selves, although they have been a bit unlucky in the wins department.  Meanwhile, Cliff Lee came off the disabled list a few weeks ago to give the Jackalope as good of a starting five as you will ever see.  Even their bullpen has been better than expected with Matt Capps leading the league in saves.  The Jackalope offense has been solid too, although they have slipped a bit in recent weeks to allow the field to close the gap.  What was a double digit lead for a good portion of April is now just four points over the three time defending champion Darkhorses.

    The Darkhorses are lurking once again.  While they have not dominated the league quite the same as they have in recent years, they are still right near the top of the league in both batting and pitching.  The Jackalope certainly have to be concerned that their lead may not last long.  The other closest contender is the Kings.  After an absolutely miserable 2009, the Kings have rebounded back into a more familiar position near the top of the standings.  The improvement of their offense from last year is almost unbelievable.  They currently have 48 of the possible 50 batting points.  Unfortunately, their pitching staff has not been very good, which keeps them seven points behind the Jackalope.

    The Naturals, Demigods, Gators and Choppers find themselves in the middle of the pack.  All four teams are very much alive and well.  The Naturals figure to get a boost from the Valverde deal.  The Demigods and Gators are in similar positions needing more offense to move up the standings.  The Choppers are only in sixth place, but should be pretty happy with where they stand.  After several years of having one of the worst pitching staffs in the league, they have improved in that area thanks to a couple of relievers who are actually starters.  C.J. Wilson and Phil Hughes have not only provided bonus wins and strike outs, but they are arguably the Choppers best two pitchers.

    The Mavericks, Moonshiners and Cougars bring up the rear.  The Mavericks have not had a lot go their way so far this season.  Their three first round picks have been a little disappointing.  Second overall pick Matt Wieters has put up pedestrian numbers thus far,  Gordon Beckham has been brutal and Billy Butler has been solid but could never be considered a great draft pick considering the Mavericks had just released him a few months prior to the draft.  The Moonshiners have also been the victim of some extremely under-performing players, including first round pick Ben Zobrist.  The Cougars offense was about as bad as you could get a few weeks ago.  They have picked up a few points since then though and are on the verge of climbing out of last place for the first time in quite a while.

    Now that I have this blog up and running, hopefully I’ll be able to keep it fresh with somewhat regular updates.  My next post will almost certainly be an update on where I stand with new features and a web site re-design that I hinted at during the offseason.  Don’t expect the latter to happen anytime soon, but I’ll share my plan with you soon enough.