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The Chaos Ends, Naturally

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Naturals first baseman Miguel Cabrera

In the two decades this league has existed, we’ve had our fair share of exciting finishes to DTBL seasons, but nothing quite like this year.  The final week of the 2012 season featured five teams within at least two points of first place at some point in the week.  In fact, if you count incremental progress within each date, most of the five found themselves in first place at some point.  For a brief moment on Wednesday night, it looked like we may have been headed to an absurd three way tie for the league championship.  However, when the dust settled, only one team came out on top.  Congratulations to Nick’s Naturals, the 2012 Dream Team Baseball League Champions!

As usual, I intend to write about the league champion with a full recap of how they earned the title.  But that is going to have to wait until next week.  Tonight, I want to focus on the absurdity of the title race, describe just how things went down on the final night, and describe just how close we were to the most unlikely result in any fantasy league I have ever been a part of.

As the summer progressed, it seemed quite likely that we were headed towards an exciting finish.  At no point in the season had any team run away from the pack; at least not for more than a few days at a time.  The lead constantly changed hands.  Seven teams looked like legitimate title contenders.  The Cougars and Choppers faded a bit in July and August, setting up a five team race to the finish.  With exactly one week to go, here is how the top five looked:

  1. Moonshiners, 73.5 points
  2. Kings, 72.5 (-1)
  3. Naturals, 67 (-6.5)
  4. Jackalope, 66.5 (-7)
  5. Mavericks, 65 (-8.5)

It was fairly noteworthy that the top two teams had separated themselves from the others by more than five points, because that was rarely the case in September.  But it was clear when analyzing the standings that more change was likely to come.  There was also a great deal of uncertainty heading into the final transaction deadline.  Would the teams who had already clinched MLB playoff spots rest their starters?  Skip spots in the rotation?  Or even completely shut down some guys?  This was particularly troubling for teams worried about getting as many starts from their starting pitchers as possible.  The Moonshiners appeared to be in very good shape, not only because they held the top spot, but they had most of their starting pitchers slated to start twice in the final week.  Meanwhile, the Kings were dealing with several nagging injuries to their outfielders and uncertainty about Max Scherzer’s availability in the final week.  The other three challengers were just trying to hang on.

Three days later, the Moonshiners lead grew to four points.  The four challengers were all within a point of each other, but needed to make up ground quickly.  By the next morning (Monday), the lead was down to 1 1/2 points and the sprint to the finish was on.  On the second to last day of the season, the Moonshiners lost the lead completely as the Kings and Naturals moved into a tie for first entering the final day.  The Moonshiners slipped to 1 1/2 points back.  The Jackalope’s dream of a repeat seemed unlikely, 3 1/2 points behind.  And finally, the Mavericks looked to be in big trouble, 5 1/2 points off the pace.  But the Mavericks had one thing going for them that the other challengers did not:  multiple starting pitchers scheduled to take the mound, including their ace, Clayton Kershaw.  Actually, that’s not quite true.  The Moonshiners were also supposed to get three starts on the final day of the season.  However, the Brewers elected to scratch Yovani Gallardo and the Angels pulled Jered Weaver after just one inning.  This essentially ended the Moonshiners hopes of gaining a point in strike outs and decreased their movement possibilities in ERA and WHIP.

I won’t rehash all of the events of the final day, as most of them can be found in my live blog from yesterday.  But one part of the story must be repeated.  During the 10 o’clock hour, I was frantically updating my spreadsheet with all of the stats from the completed 7 p.m. games as well as most of the stats from the last batch of games.  At one point, I calculated a three way tie for first place.  Had the season ended at that instant, the Kings, Mavericks and Naturals would have shared the title.  But some later shifts in RBI and saves moved the Naturals back into the final position they claimed.

The three way tie scenario was actually a lot closer to happening than I realized last night.  The WHIP category was the craziest to follow on the last day.  Only three of the league’s ten teams ended the day where they started in that category.  The margins between most of the teams were miniscule, but especially between the Gators and Naturals.  When it was all said and done, the Naturals edged out the Gators for second place in WHIP by two ten-thousandths of a point.  To put that in perspective, had any Naturals pitcher finished the season with one more base runner allowed via hit or walk, the Gators would have finished ahead of them and we would be talking about three co-champions.  I bet I wouldn’t have to try very hard to find a questionable scoring decision somewhere over the course of the season where a Naturals pitcher benefited from an error rather than a hit.  But that’s not to say the Naturals got lucky.  In fact, they were well positioned to gain points in a whole host of other categories.  They were one offensive hit away from passing the Kings in batting average, for example.  I only illustrate this to show you just how ridiculously close this race was.

Of the ten categories, all but two of them saw points change hands during the final day.  This is incredibly unusual at the six month mark of the season, especially in high value counting categories like RBI and runs.  Based on what we saw yesterday, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that we would have had four or five different leaders if the season had extended a few more days, just as we saw the lead change hands several times over the final weeks.  But the season has to end sometime, and the Naturals were fortunate enough to come out on top.

I’m sure all four of the teams who came up just short have been thinking about decisions they made that may have cost them a title.  With the way things ended up, it wouldn’t be very hard to point to a single transaction each team made (or could have made, but didn’t), which would have shifted the standings in their favor.  But such is life when a season ends as this one did.  There is always next year for the rest of us!

What is it with the finishes in Naturals championship seasons?  They earned their third DTBL title this year, and the two most recent ones have come in the two craziest finishes in league history.  Of course, the other season I speak of was 2010 when they shared the title with the Darkhorses.  It certainly makes their 3 1/2 point victory in 2005 look like a cakewalk.

Look for a full review of the Naturals championship season next week, as well as a glimpse at the other contenders who fell just short.

Posted in Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

Live Blog: Season Finale

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Mavericks pitcher Clayton Kershaw

After sending the email to the group list last night, I realized that it can be difficult to fully describe what is going on with just 140 characters at a time, so I’ve decided to start a running blog post to summarize the championship race this evening.  I will continue to tweet updates as well, but feel free to keep refreshing this post to see my updates throughout the night.

With one day remaining on the schedule, we have five teams within three points of first place.  It doesn’t get any better than this.  There are points to be gained or lost in almost every category.  I will let you know every change as close to real-time as possible, via Twitter, and with occasional updates here.

Time for me to get caught up on the afternoon games.  There were some very interesting developments, but it remains to be seen if there were any changes to the standings.  I’ll have an update shortly.  Stay tuned!

7:50 pm

Well, I’ve finished updating things through the completed afternoon games.  Thanks to a rough outing by Jonathan Papelbon, the Kings dropped a point in ERA, falling behind the Choppers.  Meanwhile, the Jackalope also fell one further down as the Choppers passed them in WHIP.  Plenty of categories tightened as well.  The Kings picked up two home runs (Zimmerman and Morse) and are now just one behind the Mavericks for the league lead.  However, the standings are now as follows:  Naturals (71 points), Moonshiners (70), Kings and Mavericks tied (69), Jackalope (67).  Not looking good for the defending champs.  Now I’ll work on updating the games in progress.

8:40 pm

Okay, trying to keep this “live” is virtually impossible, but one thing is starting to become clear.  It appears the Naturals will win the 2012 DTBL Championship.  They now lead the league with 72 1/2 points.  The Mavericks have moved up to 2nd place, but are 3 points back.  Moonshiners have dropped to 3rd (69).  Kings and Jackalope are 4th and 5th respectively, and are leaking points all over the place.  Still way too many close categories to call this thing, but not looking good for anyone other than the Naturals.

9:00 pm

Did they really have to schedule this Presidential Debate on the last night of the MLB season?  Don’t they know there are fantasy league titles on the line tonight?  May not be many updates from me for a while…  Still looking good for the Naturals, though Robinson Cano’s big night has pushed the Kings into the league lead in HR and has them back into 2nd place overall.  2 1/2 point lead for the Naturals though.

10:51 pm

Way too many changes since my last update to list, but we have a major development.  I now have the Kings, Mavericks and Naturals in a three way tie for first at 69.5 points, with the Moonshiners 1/2 point back and the Jackalope 2 points behind the leader.  The main reasons for the change:  great start by Clayton Kershaw gave the Mavericks a boost, especially since another Mavericks pitcher (Ryan Vogelsong) also had a good outing in that same game.  Robinson Cano went 4 for 4 with a pair of home runs, boosting the Kings in HR and batting average.   Finally, I have the Naturals and Jackalope tied in RBIs now, which also cost the Naturals 1/2 point.  Needless to say, it is way too close to call right now.

11:11 pm

Jason Motte’s save puts the Naturals back into the lead.  Ironically, it was another Naturals pitcher that helped set up the save opportunity.  Jonathan Broxton gave up a run and took the loss.  He didn’t cost the Naturals in the WHIP category, yet.  They are thousandths of a point ahead of the Gators at the moment, according to my calculations.  Kings, Mavericks and Moonshiners are all within a point, so a change in any category could tip the title in a different direction.

11:47 pm

The 2012 season is now over.  I have compiled all of today’s results.  The gap between teams in almost every category is so small that I do not trust my final results and sort of wish I hadn’t chosen to do this “live” updating because the chances I have it wrong are quite high.  Anyway, according to my numbers the 2012 DTBL Champions are Nick’s Naturals!

The Naturals have 70 1/2 points.  The Kings and Mavericks tied for second place, just one point behind.  The Moonshiners fell to fourth place with 69 points and the Jackalope came in 5th with 67.

I urge you to check in again tomorrow morning around 8:15 a.m. EDT when I will post the official results.  This could be a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment, but if not, congratulations Nick!

Posted in Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

Mad Dash to the Finish

Friday, September 28th, 2012

Moonshiners first baseman Prince Fielder

For most of the month of September, as many as five teams have been within a couple points of first place, setting up the potential for one of the craziest finishes in league history.  I wish I had taken the time to write this article a few days ago when all five of the contenders were within two points of each other.  In the last couple days, the gap has widened a bit.  But the fluctuation in those couple days just goes to show you how quickly things could change again.  With less than a week to go in the 2012 DTBL season, the league title isn’t even close to being decided.

Here is a team-by-team overview of the five contenders, looking at the state of each team and what needs to happen for them to finish on top.

Jackalope

Although at no point this season have the defending champions held a commanding lead, I really felt they were the team to beat in the late summer.  They were showing signs of the same form that led them to the title last year.  But their offense has been a huge disappointment most of the season, and especially lately.  Ryan Braun has been trying to carry the load, but he has had virtually no help.  The injury to Giancarlo Stanton couldn’t have come at a worse time, although he is back in the lineup tonight.  The Jackalope’s nine point deficit may be too much to make up in such a short period of time, especially since the offense has shown no signs of life.  It would seem likely that we will have a new champion in 2012, but don’t count the Jackalope out just yet.

Mavericks

The surprise team of the year appears to be running out of gas.  It is a pretty notable accomplishment for them to have remained in the race this long.  Due to exhausting all of their free agent signings well over a month ago, they have been unable to field replacements for players who have been injured/shelved in recent weeks.  Prior to Clayton Kershaw’s return earlier this week, the Mavericks were stuck with just three healthy/active starting pitchers.  The Stephen Strasburg shutdown was expected, but the Johan Santana and Kershaw injuries were not.  Perhaps their strategy of burning through their free agent signings could be questioned, but I think the Mavericks figured their rebuilding plan was at least a year ahead of schedule, so they were playing with house money.  This will be a tough team to beat in 2013.

Naturals

Many of the things stated in the Jackalope section also apply here.  The Naturals have remained in the title chase despite a slightly disappointing offense.  Miguel Cabrera and Andrew McCutchen have been doing their part, but the Naturals still find themselves in the middle of the pack in batting points.  The good news is they are situated in striking distance of their nearest competitor in a whole bunch of categories.  They have a decent shot at picking up as many as three points in home runs alone.  In fact, I believe they have the best chance of anyone to catch the Moonshiners.  Their pitching staff is the best in the league right now.  If the Moonshiners slip up at all, expect the Naturals to be right there on the final day of the season.

Kings

The second half turnaround of the Kings pitching staff has been extremely impressive and season saving.  Burried in 9th place in ERA most of the season, their deficit appeared to be too much to make up.  But the Tigers’ duo of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer has propelled them up to a more respectable spot.  However, the Kings title hopes may have been dashed when news came out that Scherzer would miss his start this weekend and may not pitch again in the regular season.  Kings management learned of this just hours after the final transactions of the year had been processed.  So if Anibal Sanchez winds up throwing another gem this weekend, the failure to keep him in the lineup could be the dagger to the Kings.  The other problem is that they have pretty much reached their point ceiling.  Most likely, the only way they will make up the current 3 1/2 point deficit is if the Moonshiners fall back a bit.

Moonshiners

Usually, a team would feel pretty good about a 3 1/2 point lead with less than a week to go.  But considering the Moonshiners weren’t even in first place earlier this week, obviously a lot can happen in just a couple days.  Unlike the other four title contenders, the Moonshiners don’t have an obvious weakness.  They are the only team in the league with 30+ batting and pitching points.  In fact, they are over 35 in both.  It’s pretty simple for the Moonshiners.  All they need to do is hold serve.  No other team is going to reach the mid-70′s point mark.  So as long as they don’t start dropping points, they will win their first DTBL title.  However, that’s not exactly a sure thing.  They are in danger of losing points in home runs, WHIP, wins, strike outs and possibly even batting average.  The fat lady hasn’t even started warming up her vocal chords.

Posted in Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

American Dominance

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

All-Star Game MVP Carlos Ruiz

Just like the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, there was little drama in the DTBL All-Star Game on Thursday evening.  In the 19th annual mid-summer game, the American Division cruised to a 12-1 victory over their National Division counterparts.  The game even started eerily similar to the MLB game with Justin Verlander getting torched in the top of the first.  The National All-Stars didn’t record their first hit until the fifth inning.  Gators catcher Carlos Ruiz was named the MVP, going 3 for 3 with a home run and four runs knocked in.  The game was played at the Demidome, home of Dom’s Demigods.

The game got off to an ominous start for the National Division with Verlander hitting Andrew McCutchen with the first pitch of the game.  McCutchen came around to score on a base hit by Jose Bautista.  David Wright followed with another RBI single.  Later in the inning, Ruiz got his big night started with a two run single to give the American team a quick 4-0 lead in the first.

The American starting pitcher, Matt Cain, was far more effective.  He pitched two scoreless, hitless innings and was followed by David Price who pitched two innings without giving up a hit either.  Stephen Strasburg was the second pitcher into the game for the National squad, but he was only slightly more effective than Verlander.  He gave up a two run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the top of the second, which increased the American lead to six.  They were on cruise control from there, but were definitely not done scoring.

In the top of the fifth, Cole Hamels came in to pitch for the National Division and promptly gave up extra base hits to the first three hitters he faced.  Doubles by Mark Trumbo and Ian Kinsler proceeded a two run home run by Ruiz.  Half way through the game, it was 9-0 American with the National All-Stars still looking for their first hit.  That hit finally came in the bottom of the fifth when Buster Posey hit a solo home run to end the no-hitter and shutout.

The American Division still had more runs in them.  They scored three more in the top of the seventh to push the score to 12-1.  The big hit of the inning was a bases clearing three run double by Ryan Braun.  Neither team scored the rest of the way.  Craig Kimbrel finished things off in the ninth with a pair of strike outs, including one of A.J. Pierzynski to end mercifully end the game.

There were plenty of offensive stars for the American Division, but Ruiz was the obvious choice for MVP.  Ruiz and Braun both had three hits and at least three RBIs (four for Ruiz).  Cabrera, Bautista and Kinsler each had multiple hits as well.  All told, the American All-Stars recorded 12 runs on 16 hits.  Meanwhile, the National team only recorded four hits, with Posey’s home run being the only hit by a National starter.  Jason Kipnis had a pair of hits off the bench.

Cain and Price were the pitching stars of the game.  Although the OOTP box score credits Price with the win, that distinction actually belongs to Cain since we don’t have a minimum inning requirement for earning a victory in an All-Star Game.  Verlander took the loss.  The defensive star of the game was probably McCutchen.  He had six putouts in six innings in center field.  Interestingly, he made catches to end five of the six innings he played.

As usual, the game was played using the Out of the Park Baseball simulation game.  For the second straight year, there was a live webcast of the game on LiveStream.  Check out the link below if you would like to watch the archived video.  Congrats to Jay for managing his team to an easy win and thanks for taking the time to take part in the game.  Here’s to an exciting second half!

Box Score

LiveStream Channel (with archived video)

Posted in All-Star Game, Choppers, Cougars, Demigods, Gators, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

Around the League

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Moonshiners savior R.A. Dickey

We’re only in the last week of June, but I’m ready to declare that we have quite a pennant race brewing.  At no point has any team in the league asserted its dominance, thus leaving us with a situation where seven out of the ten teams are in a very good position to win the championship.  Those seven teams are all within 10 points of first place, with the top five separated by just four points.  Somehow, the Mavericks have managed to hold the top spot most of the year, but it has been by the thinnest of margins at most times, including today when they are just 1/2 point clear of the Jackalope.

As we near the half way point of the season, I’m going to take a quick look at each of the ten teams, highlighting some of the key stories for each team.  I will start with the three teams who are not currently in the thick of the race and then work my way up to the top of the standings.

Darkhorses

Only a year and a half removed from four consecutive championships, it would be fair to say things have gone downhill since then.  While last year was a shocking disappointment for the Darkhorses, this season has been an absolute nightmare.  Injuries have been the story of the league this season, but no team has had their season completely ruined by injuries like the Darkhorses.  They sit in last place with just 18.5 points, so they are in serious jeopardy of breaking the league’s all time low water mark of 20 points since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1998.  If you look at their roster, there is no way they should be this bad.  Besides the injuries, incredibly disappointing seasons from Adrian Gonzalez and Tim Lincecum haven’t helped either.  If those guys can turn it around and Chris Carpenter, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner return soon, maybe they can gain a little momentum and avoid a historically bad season.

Gators

Still a work in progress, and not really a threat this year, but things are looking up for the Gators.  Their ridiculously bad offense from ’11 has improved a bit and their pitching staff is respectable.  But there is still a lot of work to do.  Their huge pre-draft trade with the Mavericks hasn’t really worked out.  Nelson Cruz has been so-so and Mark Reynolds has provided virtually nothing.  They could have used those picks to improve in other areas, but what’s done is done.  The first draft pick they did make, Melky Cabrera in round three, has been a huge surprise, currently third in the league with a .355 average.  The Gators appear to be headed for another high draft slot next season.  With some exciting young players coming into the league again next year, maybe they will have an opportunity to grab one of them.

Demigods

The third team not currently in the title race is the Demigods.  At the beginning of the year, they looked like a team ready to make a run at the championship.  But like the Darkhorses, the Demigods have been sabotaged by injuries.  One in particular:  Matt Kemp.  In April, Kemp appeared to be a shoe-in for his second straight DTBL MVP award and a possible Triple Crown.  But since then, he has missed the better part of the last two months.  Who knows what he will provide when he returns?  But a healthy Kemp and Evan Longoria could get the Demigods back into contention.

Cougars

Although they are only in seventh place, this is the best Cougars team in a long time.  They are just 9.5 points behind the Mavericks and could get even closer if a couple of their pitchers turn things around.  Josh Hamilton has carried the offense, despite slowing down a bit of late.  Jason Kipnis has been one of the biggest steals of the draft, providing big time power and speed at a weak second base position.  Many were surprised when the Cougars passed on Stephen Strasburg with the first pick of the draft.  That may not have been a wise decision, but the Cougars made up for it by grabbing his Nationals teammate Gio Gonzalez in the second round.  Gonzalez’s numbers are pretty similar to Strasburg’s and you have to figure the Cougars would not have taken Gonzalez if they had gone with Strasburg in round one.

Choppers

The transformation of the Choppers has been quite remarkable.  Last year they were all offense with a questionable pitching staff.  This year, it is just the opposite.  They are second in the league with 40 pitching points, but only have 20 batting points.  One player is mostly responsible for the pitching turnaround:  Chris Sale.  Over the years, many teams have benefited from an extra starting pitcher in a relief pitching slot.  But normally, that pitcher doesn’t put up All-Star caliber stats like Sale is doing this year.  He’s keeping together a staff whose starting rotation is bandaged up with a bunch of free agent signings to fill in for other injured starters.  The injuries to the Choppers rotation could be a huge problem in the upcoming weeks/months.  But there is certainly reason to believe the offense will pick it up.  Jose Bautista is heating up, now in a tie for the league lead in home runs.  He could help the Choppers pick up some offensive points to move even closer to first place.

Kings

It is hard to say that a team four points out of first has been a huge disappointment, but to some degree, I think that can be said about the Kings.  The pitching staff has been atrocious as a whole.  They are ninth in the league in ERA and near the bottom in WHIP and wins too.  Justin Verlander needs some help.  Recently, the Kings have done a poor job of rotating their extra starting pitchers into the lineup.  In the last eight days, they missed out on a one hit shutout by Ervin Santana and seven great innings from Edwin Jackson last night.  If they could ever start picking the right five starting pitchers for a given week, they could be on to something.  For the most part, the offense has been great, leading the league in batting points.  But the lack of production from two Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse, has been troubling.  The Kings are still in pretty good shape despite being in fifth place though.

Naturals

Much of what I wrote about the Choppers also applies to the Naturals.  They have transformed from an offensive juggernaut with a mediocre pitching staff to a team with a disappointing offense and the best pitching staff in the league.  Matt Cain, Zack Greinke and David Price have been outstanding for the Naturals rotation.  Jordan Zimmermann would be right there too if he would ever get run support and win some games.  The Naturals have to be considered one of the most dangerous teams heading into the second half because you  have to figure their offense will improve.  Having said that, the recent injury to Troy Tulowitzki could be extremely costly.  He’s expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks and they don’t have an obvious candidate to pick up the slack.

Moonshiners

The Moonshiners are perhaps the league’s most intriguing team right now.  They have suffered some very costly injuries to their pitching staff, with the most devastating one coming this past week when Brandon Beachy was lost for the season with a torn UCL.  Beachy was leading the league in ERA and had a sub 1.00 WHIP.  But one free agent signing may have saved their season.  Since joining the Moonshiners a month ago, R.A. Dickey has not allowed an earned run.  Read that again.  Dickey has a 0.00 ERA, 0.495 WHIP, four wins and 42 strike outs in just 34.1 innings with the Moonshiners.  The 37 year old knuckleballer has been the league’s best story this year and may have a huge say in determining if the Moonshiners can win their first DTBL championship.

Jackalope

It really can’t get any tighter at the top of the standings.  As of today, the defending champions sit one half point behind the Mavericks.  Batting points:  35.5 for the Mavericks, 35.0 for the Jackalope.  Pitching points:  both have 33.  So both teams are holding their own in batting and pitching.  The Jackalope got off to a bit of a slow start, but ever since their two biggest stars, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun, have started to heat up, so has this team.  I think they have to be considered the favorites at this point, especially if they are able to get anything out of Ryan Howard in the second half.  Their dominating rotation from last year hasn’t been quite the same this season.  But Felix Hernandez has been better of late, Cliff Lee will eventually win a game and Roy Halladay should provide he boost when he gets healthy.  As long as they keep it close, I like their chances down the stretch.

Mavericks

This has been a pretty remarkable season for the Mavericks, following two consecutive eighth place finishes.  Despite the incredible tightness of the race, they have managed to hold onto first place most of the year.  Their strategy of stockpiling draft picks is paying off.  Their pre-draft trade with the Gators may alter the course of this league for years to come.  The two players they acquired with the draft picks they received in that trade:  Stephen Strasburg and Mike Trout.  Strasburg leads the league in strike outs and is not far behind in ERA, WHIP and wins too.  What the Nationals decide to do with him when he reaches that magical 160 IP mark could have a dramatic impact on this league.  I’ll probably write about this more when that date gets closer because I have a strong opinion on the matter.  Meanwhile, I’ll be honest, I thought Trout was a bit of a gamble in the early second round because I wasn’t so sure the Angels would be able to make room for him this season.  Boy was I wrong.  He is hitting .351 and will probably be leading the league in stolen bases before June is over.  If Adam Dunn, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Jones keep hitting home runs at their current rates, the Mavericks are going to be tough to catch, despite all the teams nipping on their heels.

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Darkhorses, Demigods, Gators, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

A Crowded Infirmary

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

Choppers relief pitcher Mariano Rivera

Memorial Day is usually a good point in the season to take stock in how the baseball season is going and examine where it may be headed.  As usual, there are hitters and pitchers who are vastly exceeding expectations, and have done so for long enough to make you think it may not be a fluke.  Some of those players are helping to put their DTBL teams at or near the top of the standings.  However, there seems to be a much bigger factor in determining a team’s success (or lack there of) this season:  injuries.

Almost daily, there is another key player going down to an injury, whether it be a minor day-to-day issue, or one that has the player headed to season ending surgery.  We’ve had torn ACLs, torn UCLs, sprained knees, torn hamstrings, broken hands, blurred vision, chronic illness, you name it.  It started in spring training when two closers were lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery (Naturals’ Joakim Soria, Jackalope Ryan Madson).  Two DTBL first round draft picks are yet to play a game this season (Kings’ Michael Morse, Choppers’ Michael Pineda).  It is never a good sign when two of the most mentioned names in baseball are Tommy John and Dr. James Andrews.

Even the previously indestructible players are falling victim to this plague.  The surest thing in baseball, Choppers’ Mariano Rivera, tore his ACL while shagging fly balls.  And just yesterday, the always reliable Roy Halladay (Jackalope) was lost for 6-8 weeks due to a lat strain.  Halladay wasn’t the only ace to go down yesterday either.  Jered Weaver (Moonshiners) was pulled from his start in the first inning with a back problem.  Fellow Moonshiner starting pitcher Ted Lilly hit the DL as well, as did red hot Kings catcher Jonathan LuCroy who suffered the freakiest injury of the season, breaking his hand due to a falling suitcase in a hotel room.

In those last two paragraphs, I named nine different players, and that didn’t even begin to scratch the surface.  Every DTBL team has been affected, some more than others.  I probably need to take a closer look at each roster to see if this is still the case, but prior to this most recent string of injuries, there were three teams in particular who had been absolutely decimated:  the Darkhorses, Choppers and Demigods.  All three are around the double digit mark in total number of players who have spent time on the DL, including some very critical losses.  I suspect the Moonshiners are moving close to this list as well after losing 40% of their rotation yesterday.  The Darkhorses injury problems were so bad, for a while they were fielding a major league roster with at least three disabled players.  The Choppers and Demigods minors are/were filled with virtually nothing but injured players.

The Mavericks have been in first place virtually the entire season.  In large part, that is because they had been the healthiest team in the league.  Until about a week ago, their only injured player was 12th round draft pick, and projected bench player, Lorenzo Cain.  But now the Mavericks have joined the rest of the league after having lost Neftali Feliz and Austin Jackson.  Still, they are in better shape than most.  With the exception of two pre-season injuries (Madson and Ryan Howard), the Jackalope had been relatively healthy as well, which helped guide them past the Mavericks for a couple days last week.  But now this Halladay injury could be a major problem for the defending champions.

On a positive note, these injuries have certainly restrained any one team from running out to a huge lead, keeping most of the league very much in the mix.  Half of the league is within 10 points of first place and two others are within 20.  So if any of these teams can get relatively healthy, there are plenty of points to be gained.  But that “healthy” term seems inconceivable for some teams at this point.

It was suggested to me by one league member that we look into adding additional DL slot(s) to our rosters in the future.  I am not necessarily opposed to this idea, but keep in mind that such a change would require a number of other adjustments as well, like the total number of players on the league roster and maybe a change to the free agent signing limit too.  This is a conversation I’m willing to have though if the consensus is that change is needed.  Obviously, no change will be made for this season though.  In the mean time, hopefully some of this madness will come to an end and we’ll be able to determine a champion based on player performance rather than healthy body tallies.

Hopefully my next article will be about player(s) who are actually contributing to their DTBL squads!

Posted in Choppers, Darkhorses, Demigods, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | 4 Comments »

Jackalope remain, Darkhorses return to elite status

Monday, April 30th, 2012

Mike Moustakas, 3B

Jackalope

Projected Finish: Third

2011 Finish: First

AVG: C … HR: A … R: C … RBI: B … SB: B … W: A … ERA: F … WHIP: F … K: B … SV: A

Marc’s favorite draft pick: Sean Marshall, Round 12 – Mr. Irrelevant could be a gem with the injury to Ryan Madson

Jay’s favorite draft picks: Mike Moustakas, Round 3 / Paul Goldschmidt, Round 4 – A pair to tidy up the corners as well as provide some pop while Ryan Howard nurses his Achilles.

Overview: The Jackalope broke through last year from being a team with a great SP staff to simply a great team. The addition of Mike Stanton provided a much-needed power boost to move the Jackalope to the fourth-best offense and top overall team in the league in 2011.

The 2012 Jackalope are ready to pick up where the 2011 squad left off. Howie Kendrick (Round 1) and Chris Young (Round 2) were among the best veteran DTBL players in the draft pool. By drafting every RP with ties to the Reds, the Jackalope ensured they will get any save opportunity to emerge from the Queen City – unless the Red lose, of course.

Darkhorses

Projected Finish: Second

2011 Finish: Seventh

AVG: A … HR: D … R: B … RBI: C … SB: A … W: B … ERA: A … WHIP: C … K: C … SV: A

Marc’s favorite draft pick: Zack Cozart, Round 10 – seemed like a lot of publications were down on him following surgery on his non-throwing arm

Dave’s favorite draft pick: Matt Moore, Round 1 – An expected ace who could help drive the Darkhorses’ SP staff back to prominence; Moore and Strasburg stood a tier above the rest of the SP pool

Overview: After four consecutive DTBL titles (including one tie), the Darkhorses finally took a step back in 2011.

Other than in the first round, the 2012 draft saw the Darkhorses follow their regular blueprint of drafting more established players rather than splurging on DTBL rookies. Among the rookies drafted by the D’horses, Jordan Walden entered the year looking like one of the top up-and-coming firemen in the league.

(note: Injuries have taken a serious toll on the Darkhorses already this year, with the losses of Jacoby Ellsbury, Chris Carpenter and Brian Wilson)

Posted in Darkhorses, Draft, Jackalope, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Jackalope Win First Title

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Jackalope outfielder Ryan Braun

Two bold moves in March may have changed the course of history for one franchise.  Over the past several seasons, Jay’s Jackalope have had the league’s best starting pitching staff.  If you put together a list of the top ten starting pitchers over the past three years, the list would probably contain all five primary starters from the ’09-’10 Jackalope.  However, a below-average offense kept them from being a serious championship contender in those seasons.  So the Jackalope decided to do something about that.  Two premier starting pitchers were traded away for one of the game’s biggest sluggers and a coveted draft pick which turned into another young slugger.  These two moves, along with a couple other sly draft picks, directly led to a near perfect season.  Jay’s Jackalope are the 2011 Dream Team Baseball League Champions.

Entering the 2011 season, the Jackalope were the longest tenured DTBL franchise without a championship.  They entered the league as an expansion team in 1998 and had some immediate success, finishing a very respectable sixth.  Since then, no franchise has had more ups and downs than this one.  In 2002, they finished in second place, but fell all the way to ninth the following season and tenth the year after that.  They made it back up to second again in 2006, but plummeted to last place again the next year.  It has been a steady climb to the top since then.  Last season, they finished in third place, but were just three points behind the co-champions.  In retrospect, the disaster of ’07 may have been the turning point for the franchise.  It allowed them to draft Ryan Braun with the first pick of the 2008 draft, giving them a second legitimate star on offense to compliment Albert Pujols.  Hunter Pence was their second pick in ’08 too, a draft which, by the way, Jay did not take part in due to an overseas deployment.  So a little bit of credit is also due to my friend Jeff who filled in for Jay in both the ’08 and ’10 drafts.

While it was that 2008 draft which got things moving in the right direction, it was the two moves made this past March that turned the Jackalope into champions.  In the middle of the first round of the 2011 DTBL Draft, the Jackalope made two enormous trades within minutes of each other.  First, they dealt stud starting pitcher, and eventual Cy Young candidate, Jered Weaver and a fifth round pick to the Moonshiners for the sixth overall pick in the draft.  This trade came to be when a young slugging outfielder named Mike Stanton happened to slip through the first five picks of the draft.  The Jackalope immediately used the acquired pick to grab Stanton, giving them a much needed power boost.  But they were hardly done improving their team in that area.  They traded another one of their elite pitchers, Zack Greinke, to the Naturals for a proven power source in first baseman Ryan Howard.  These two trades should go down as two of the best win/win trades this league has ever seen, but I’ll get to that some more when I review the Moonshiners and Naturals seasons.  These three teams all managed to improve themselves, and the result was a top three finish for each.

With two newly created holes in the rotation, the Jackalope had little concern because the staff still figured to be as good as any in the league considering Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez were still around.  But someone had to fill those two open slots, and boy did the Jackalope hit home runs with those selections.  They picked three starting pitchers in the draft, and all three wound up being major contributors.  Steady Shaun Marcum was the third round selection and stuck with the Jackalope rotation all season.  Then they picked Jhoulys Chacin in the sixth round.  Chacin proceeded to have an All-Star caliber first half.  But the biggest steal of the 2011 DTBL Draft came when the Jackalope selected Ian Kennedy in the eleventh round.  This NL Cy Young candidate won 21 games, but amazingly, the Jackalope had nowhere to put him for the first half of the season, so only 11 of those wins were recorded to his Jackalope stat line.

Despite trading away Weaver and Greinke, the Jackalope somehow wound up with a better rotation in 2011 than the incredible crew from 2010.  They set a new DTBL record with a team total of 49 pitching points.  They finished in first place in every pitching category except wins, which they probably would have won as well had the Kings not been working with an extra starting pitcher in a RP slot.  So obviously it wasn’t just the starting pitching that was good.  The bullpen led the league in saves, thanks mostly to John Axford and Heath Bell.  Even Ryan Madson (10th round pick) added an unexpected 32 saves.  Axford’s 46 saves were the second most in the league.  It is hard to pick the best starting pitcher for the Jackalope since they were all so good.  Halladay was second in the league in ERA at 2.35, and won 19 games (3rd in league).  Lee was right behind Halladay in ERA (2.40), but had more strike outs (238, 3rd in league).

It didn’t take much of an offense to ride along with that pitching staff for a title run, and honestly the Jackalope offense wasn’t spectacular.  They finished with 32 batting points, good for fourth in the league.  But that was a big step up from the past few years and was the Jackalope’s highest total since ’08.  The key to winning the title was to have a respectable offense, instead of one of the league’s worst like they were in ’09 and ’10.  They finished in the middle of the pack in every offensive category except stolen bases, which they finished on top.  As usual, the Jackalope offense was led by Pujols, but it was actually a bit of a down year by his standards.  He failed to drive in 100 for the first time in his career (98 DTBL RBIs).  He hit .300 with a team high 37 home runs, despite missing time with a broken wrist.  Actually, the offense was really led by Braun who had a MVP caliber season.  Braun hit .332 and made it to the 30/30 club with 33 home runs and stolen bases.  He drove in 111 and scored 109 times.  In addition to those two, the two players acquired via the March trades (Stanton and Howard) hit 30+ home runs as well (33 for Howard, 34 for Stanton).  Meanwhile, the Jackalope’s other first round pick, outfielder Michael Bourn, paid dividends too, leading the league with 61 stolen bases.  Basically, every draft pick the Jackalope made this year turned to gold.

It was pretty smooth sailing for the Jackalope.  After the usual April/May fluctuation of the standings, the Jackalope had a firm grasp on first place by Memorial Day and never gave it up.  The Naturals made a nice run in August, at one time closing the gap to 1/2 point.  But the Jackalope remained steady in September while the Naturals went on a bit of a slide.  The Jackalope finished the season with 81 points and a 10 1/2 point margin of victory.  It was the largest margin of victory since 2008, and quite a contrast from 2010 when the top four teams finished within five points of each other.  There were a lot of tight races further down the standings, but I will get to that in my next article.

As mentioned, this was the first DTBL championship for the Jackalope, leaving the Moonshiners and Demigods as the only active franchises without a title.  It ended an amazing four year title run for the Darkhorses, who remain tied with the Kings for the most championships.

This was part one of what will be a three part review of the 2011 season.  In part two, which will hopefully come later this weekend, I will recap the season for the other nine franchises, covering what went right and what went wrong for each.  Finally, next week, I will delve into the numbers to show what a truly remarkable, and record breaking, season this was.  All year, I have been writing about what a pitching dominated season this has been.  But I want to gather some numbers to prove it.  Here is a bit of a preview.

Congratulations, Jay!

Posted in Jackalope | No Comments »

A Two Team Race

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Naturals outfielder Justin Upton

With just over two weeks remaining in the 2011 season, the DTBL Championship race is fairly clear:  either Jay’s Jackalope or Nick’s Naturals will be the 2011 champions (and thanks to last year, I have to add the caveat that they BOTH could win the title).  The Jackalope have been at the top of the standings most of the season.  About a month ago, the Naturals made things very interesting, getting as close as one half point behind.  They currently sit four points back.  The next five teams are closely bunched with each other, but are at least 14 points behind the Jackalope.

I don’t have a good mathematical formula to figure this out, but I would put the Jackalope odds of winning the championship at close to 85%.  While four points can be made up in no time, the Jackalope are in an envious position because they have a fair amount of space between them and the nearest competitor in most categories.  Barring a collapse, the only categories in which I could see them losing ground are wins and strike outs, with strike outs being very unlikely since the chasing Kings pitching staff has fallen apart in recent weeks.  Wins is a little more likely, with just two points separating them from the Moonshiners.  The interesting thing there though is that the Naturals really need to hold off the Moonshiners in strike outs and perhaps catch them in WHIP.  So they somehow need that to happen and have the Moonshiners catch the Jackalope in wins at the same time.

I would be shocked if the Jackalope finished with fewer than 79 points.  That leaves a tall order for the defending co-champion Naturals.  It is doable though.  There are 1 1/2 points to be gained in the batting categories if they can pass up the Demigods for the batting average lead and break their current tie with the Kings in stolen bases.  But the best path to the title would be two spectacular weeks from their pitching staff.  They have an outside shot at gaining points in ERA and WHIP, but that would depend on other teams faltering as well.  Wins and saves are possibilities too.  Keep an eye on all four of these categories over the final weeks.

If the Jackalope can stay right where they are, at 80 points, they can rest easy.  Not only for the reasons I mentioned above, but history will be on their side.  Only one team has ever reached that plateau and not won the title:  the 1998 Kings.  And that was an expansion season, so there were several really awful teams claiming very few of the available points.  Interestingly enough, the Jackalope were one of the expansion teams that year, but they finished a very respectable 6th.  13 years later, they are on the verge of their first DTBL Championship.

Posted in Jackalope, Naturals | No Comments »

Trade Deadline Recap

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Demigods outfielder Carlos Beltran

Here is my review of the trades involving one or more DTBL players which were made in the weeks/days leading up to today’s MLB trade deadline.  Since I’m not too knowledgeable about prospects, my take will focus mostly on the DTBL players and the impact these guys will have on their new teams as well as the DTBL implications.

July 12 – Brewers/Mets

  • Brewers get:  RP Francisco Rodriguez (Moonshiners)
  • Mets get:  2 PTBNL
  • MLB impact:  The Brewers made a significant improvement to their bullpen without giving up any players of note.  When this deal was initially completed, it wasn’t clear what this would mean to their closer situation.  However, John Axford has continued to save games for the Brewers, so Rodriguez appears to have been acquired strictly for set-up duties.  Meanwhile, the Mets were able to unload a potentially enormous payroll drag had K-Rod finished enough games to kick in his guaranteed player option for 2012.  This appears to have been a win-win deal for everyone but Rodriguez.
  • DTBL impact:  This was a costly trade for the Moonshiners, leaving them with just two closers.  Fortunately, another rumored trade of Drew Storen to the Twins never happened, or they could have been left with a single closer.  They still rank third in saves, but that position could be in jeopardy.

July 26 – Nationals/Reds

  • Nationals get:  OF Johnny Gomes (Cougars)
  • Reds get:  LHP Chris Manno, OF Bill Rhinehart
  • MLB impact:  Not much point in discussing this one too much.  This was simply a dump trade by the Reds to make room for a rookie.  I don’t really know why the Nats were interested in Gomes though, as they clearly aren’t going anywhere this season.
  • DTBL impact:  Gomes has been on the Cougars bench since May.  Since he figures to remain a platoon player in DC, it is unlikely he’ll give the Cougars much of a boost from here on out.

July 27 – Cardinals/Blue Jays/White Sox

  • Cardinals get:  SP Edwin Jackson (free agent), RP Octavio Dotel (free agent), RP Marc Rzepczynski, OF Corey Patterson, 3 PTBNL
  • Blue Jays get:  OF Colby Rasmus (Naturals), 3B Mark Teahen, RP Brian Tallet, RP Trevor Miller, RHP P.J. Walters
  • White Sox get:  RP Jason Frasor, RHP Zach Stewart
  • MLB impact:  This was one of the strangest trades of the week in that it featured two teams in tight division races selling off pieces while a non-contender acquired the biggest impact player.  Rasmus had lost favor in St. Louis and had been relegated to the bench.  So the Cardinals getting rid of him wasn’t terribly surprising, but they certainly sold low on a talented player.  They did acquire some much needed help for their rotation with Jackson though.  The 27 year old Jackson has already been traded 7 times in his career!  He’s a free agent after this season too, so it is likely he’ll be in yet another uniform next year.  The White Sox got a nice reliever in Frasor, but this trade was mostly done to shed some payroll.  Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are probably the big winners in this trade, getting Rasmus for hardly anything.
  • DTBL impact:  Jackson and Dotel are free agents.  The Kings dumped Jackson about a month ago.  It is possible some other team will give him a shot now that he is pitching for a NL team that can score some runs.  This was a great trade for the Naturals since Rasmus will return to being an everyday player.  Also, he could see a big spike in his numbers playing in a good hitters park and as part of a strong lineup.

July 28 – Giants/Mets

  • Giants get:  OF Carlos Beltran (Demigods)
  • Mets get:  RHP Zach Wheeler
  • MLB impact:  Beltran was considered the premier offensive player on the market, and the Giants definitely needed some offensive help.  Beltran should give the Giants a significant boost as they attempt to defend their World Series title.  He will be a free agent following this season, so it made sense for the Mets to trade him.  Apparently, Wheeler is a very highly regarded pitching prospect, so this should be a good trade for both teams.
  • DTBL impact:  Even though this was one of the biggest trades of the week, it will probably have a minimal effect on the Demigods.  Beltran is moving from one pitchers park to another and probably a weaker supporting cast.  Beltran is also not the fantasy player he used to be since his power numbers are down and he doesn’t steal a lot of bases any more.

July 29 – Phillies/Astros

  • Phillies get:  OF Hunter Pence (Jackalope)
  • Astros get:  RHP Jarred Cosart, 1B/OF Jonathan Singleton, RHP Josh Zeid, PTBNL
  • MLB impact:  This is a huge trade for the Phillies who have had a bit of a black hole in right field this season.  It makes their already impressive lineup just a bit stronger, further strengthening their resume as the best team in the National League.  The Giants are still a threat due to their pitching, but the Phillies are the team to beat in October.  Meanwhile, this was phase one in the Astros fire sale.  They acquired some very good prospects, but the near term future is not bright.
  • DTBL impact:  I would call this deal a big win for the Jackalope, who have had almost nothing but positive developments all season.  Pence figures to get a lot more RBI opportunities in Philly and is going to a great hitters park.  The Jacaklope lead has shrunk a bit in recent days, but this trade should give their offense a boost.

July 30 – Red Sox/Royals

  • Red Sox get:  2B Mike Aviles (free agent)
  • Royals get:  INF Yamaico Navarro, RHP Kendal Volz
  • MLB impact:  Not much to this deal.  Aviles was simply a utility player in Kansas City and that will continue to be the case in Boston.
  • DTBL impact:  It is unlikely the DTBL free agent Aviles will attract much attention following this deal.  His playing time will be severely limited.

July 30 – Rangers/Orioles

  • Rangers get:  RP Koji Uehera (Gators)
  • Orioles get:  P Tommy Hunter, 1B/3B Chris Davis
  • MLB impact:  The Rangers picked up a setup man who has some of the best numbers in the league this season.  Uehera has incredible 64/8 strike out/walk numbers in 48 IP.  They gave up a pair of players who they didn’t have much use for either, so this has to be viewed as a good deal for them.  On the Orioles side, not receiving any legitimate prospects was surprising, but they did get two MLB ready players.  They didn’t appear to have anywhere to put Davis when the trade was made, but the Lee trade a few hours later opened up 1B for him.
  • DTBL impact:  Minimal.  The Gators have used Uehera almost all year, but unless he’s going to start getting save opportunities (very unlikely), this trade doesn’t change his value at all.

July 30 – Indians/Rockies

  • Indians get:  SP Ubaldo Jimenez (Gators)
  • Rockies get:  RHP Alex White, RHP Joseph Gardner, IF/OF Matt McBride, LHP Drew Pomeranz
  • MLB impact:  I don’t like to criticize teams for trying to go for it all when the opportunity presents itself, but I think this may be a bit of a short-sighted trade by the Indians.  Yes, they are only a couple games out of first right now, but I believe they have overachieved to this point and are unlikely to win the division even with Jimenez.  Meanwhile, they traded away two of their best pitching prospects.  Jimenez should benefit by no longer pitching in Coors Field.  Also, the NL to AL switch is less significant in this case since he is going to pitch in a very mediocre AL Central.  He is not a free agent to-be, so this trade could be an important building block for the Indians, but call me skeptical.  Great deal for the Rockies, IMO.
  • DTBL impact:  It will be very interesting to see how Jimenez pitches in Cleveland.  He hasn’t been a truly elite pitcher in well over a year now.  The Gators need him to return to his early 2010 form in order to help revive their middle-of-the-road pitching staff.  It’s all about how well he pitches.  This trade probably won’t affect his numbers that much one way or the other.

July 30 – Giants/Indians

  • Giants get:  SS Orlando Cabrera (Moonshiners)
  • Indians get:  OF Thomas Neal
  • MLB impact:  I was a little surprised by this trade on the Indians side.  On the heals of their Jimenez deal, they sold off a valuable veteran in Cabrera.  Apparently, they are very comfortable with Jason Kipnis as their everyday 2B, even though he just made his MLB debut earlier this week.  I think it came down to Cabrera requesting to go somewhere he was wanted.  The Giants are a perfect fit.  He has a wealth of playoff experience and can help fill a number of roles for the Giants.
  • DTBL impact:  The Moonshiners have been shuffling Cabrera in and out of their lineup.  That doesn’t figure to change much, but this is still a good trade for them because Cabrera was seeing his role diminish in Cleveland.  He could still provide some value for the Moonshiners before this season ends.

July 30 – Pirates/Orioles

  • Pirates get:  1B Derrek Lee (Choppers)
  • Orioles get:  1B Aaron Baker
  • MLB impact:  The Lyle Overbay era as the Pirates starting 1B is mercifully over.  The Pirates got so little production from that position, it is a miracle they are still in contention.  Lee provides a significant upgrade at that position.  I doubt it will be enough for them to hang with the Cardinals and Brewers, but it was the right move to make.  Obviously, getting rid of the veteran Lee made sense for the Orioles who are going nowhere fast.
  • DTBL impact:  The Choppers haven’t used Lee since May.  I don’t see this trade changing his role too much since he is probably in a worse hitting situation in Pittsburgh.  He is a capable replacement though, should they need to call on him.

July 31 – Cardinals/Dodgers

  • Cardinals get:  SS Rafael Furcal (Moonshiners)
  • Dodgers get:  OF Alex Castellanos
  • MLB impact:  Furcal is clearly a big upgrade over Ryan Theriot at shortstop for the Cardinals.  This all comes down to him staying healthy.  If he is able to stick in the lineup, he will be a nice addition to the highest scoring team in the NL.  This is pretty much just a dump for the Dodgers.
  • DTBL impact:  Pretty much the same as the impact for the Cardinals.  If Furcal can actually stay healthy, he will be a valuable contributor for the Moonshiners.  This trade doesn’t change his value too much, though he will probably have a chance to score more runs with the likes of Pujols, Holliday and Berkman hitting behind him.

July 31 – Braves/Astros

  • Braves get:  OF Michael Bourn (Jackalope)
  • Astros get:  OF Jordan Schafer, RHP Juan Abreu, RHP Paul Clemens, LHP Brett Oberholtzer
  • MLB impact:  Big addition for the Braves.  They are trying to piece things together with all their recent injuries.  Two obvious needs were center field and leadoff hitter.  Bourn fills both holes.  I think the Braves could have used another power hitter too, but Bourn will certainly improve the offense.  This was part two of the Astros fire sale.  Of course it makes sense for them to get as many decent prospects as they can, but boy are they going to struggle to win games the rest of this year and probably next season too.
  • DTBL impact:  Once again, the Jackalope benefit from the Astros upheaval.  Bourn was putting up great numbers for a pathetic team.  I doubt he will be able to improve upon his current stats too much, but getting out of Houston is definitely a net positive for him and the Jackalope.

July 31 – Rangers/Padres

  • Rangers get:  Mike Adams (Cougars)
  • Padres get:  LHP Robbie Erlin, RHP Joe Wieland
  • MLB impact:  You can pretty much read everything I wrote about the Uehera trade and repeat it here.  In fact, Adams’ stats are almost identical to Uehera’s too.  They have been two of the best setup men in baseball this year.  So Adams is a very nice addition to the Rangers bullpen.  Unlike the Uehera deal though, the Rangers actually gave up prospects to get Adams.  Therefore, I would say this is a good trade for the Padres too.  The Rangers are going to have an awfully strong bullpen.
  • DTBL impact:  Again, a non-closing reliever changing teams doesn’t really change his value much.  Neftali Feliz has struggled at times this season, so Adams could be next in line to get saves if that continues.  But for now, Adams fantasy value is unchanged by this deal.  Perhaps a slight downgrade based on going from a great pitchers park to a hitters paradise.  The Cougars will no doubt continue to use him though.

July 31 – Pirates/Padres

  • Pirates get:  OF Ryan Ludwick (Moonshiners)
  • Padres get:  PTBNL
  • MLB impact:  The Pirates need all the help they can get to improve their offense.  Although I doubt he will make a major splash, Ludwick should help.  Remember, he is only a couple years removed from being a big time power hitter for the Cardinals.  Getting out of PETCO could be just what the doctor ordered.  On the flip side, the dreadful Padres offense will only get worse without Ludwick.  Hard to judge this trade for the Padres though since all they got was a player to be named later.
  • DTBL impact:  This wasn’t one of the big deadline trades, but it has the potential to be one of the biggest in terms of fantasy implications.  The Moonshiners haven’t gotten much out of Ludwick since signing him in early June, but he could be a major contributor the rest of the way.  This deal is a big win for them.

Just a reminder that the DTBL trade deadline is still a couple weeks away.  Trades must be completed by August 15.  We haven’t had a trade since the draft, but this could certainly change in the upcoming weeks.  I think the reason for the lack of trades is two-fold:  a lot of teams have had their hands tied due to a rash of injuries, leaving few healthy bodies to deal.  Also, it seems a lot of teams have needs at the same positions (3B and OF in particular).  But now that the race is starting to heat up, perhaps some teams will get creative to make a deal.

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Demigods, Gators, Jackalope, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

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