Montezuma’s Revenge receives:
SP Tim Hudson ATL
Billy Chapel receives:
SP Jarrod Parker OAK
OF Jordan Schafer HOU
With recent good performance, I succumbed to my pining for Colby Rasmus on Monday and just went without a catcher. With that, I decided to move on from Schafer as my fourth OF since I was getting SBs elsewhere. But he’s been too good on the basepaths to just drop, so I put some offers out there and found one that made sense with Troy. Parker is an excellent prospect who has pitched better than Hudson so far, but has had some control problems and is likely to be limited in terms of innings he pitches. I was looking for a solid rates guy who can churn up the QS without much volatility and Hudson is the perfect candidate when healthy. He’ll team with a group of very good-to-solid starters to hopefully create the most dominating staff in the league – though that is obviously contingent on some of my preseason breakout picks (Peavy, Capuano, JMcDonald) continuing their domination. If Oswalt comes back in the near future, it could be an incredible staff.
Not much has gone right for Troy so far this season, so it makes sense to go with upside like Parker and a speedster like Schafer. If both perform as they are capable, they could net a good return with picks later in the season. Parker has the potential to work his way up to keeper status, but it will take more Ks than he’s currently producing. He had good K numbers in the minors and improvement – rather than regression – could be in his future as well. He definitely has shown he belongs in the bigs to stay and may ultimately end up outpitching Hudson.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Week 8 Power Rankings
2. One Nut Wonders – That Konerko/CJWilson/14th rounder for Bonifacio/HAlvarez/8th rounder looks more ridiculous all the time. The trades for BPhillips and JBeckett have also squarely been put in the win column for Jason and have fueled this resurgence, while the picks of Melky and AJones continue to pay dividends. The convincing 9-1 drubbing of Lars must have felt nice and has Jason atop both standings. I still like Casten’s team better due to pitching depth, but that could change.
3. Clayton & The King – The pitching was better this week, but also limited in terms of volume with only seven starts. The rates would’ve looked worse had Holland, Nova, and Minor started. The offense has been magnificent and Russ’ picks of De Aza, Kipnis, Trout and Freese have more than made up for the Crawford/Berkman debacle. As with Casten though, you have to wonder whether the pitching will ever stabilize to the point where it turns great offensive displays like last week into a sweep rather than a split.
4. Montezuma’s Revenge – Yes, 8-2 is a nice score, but it very well could’ve been a 2-8 loss as Pierce seemed to use up all his luck last season. Averaging 2.2 in pitching categories, the additions of Sale, THudson, and eventually Oswalt could make this staff even more dominant. But, in direction opposition to other top teams, the Revenge offense has been very weak (13th HR, 14th RBI, 9th OBP). The names are still good though and the numbers next to the names are starting to reflect that as Hosmer has started to come to life, as has JUpton. Recent acquisition ARam seems to enjoy his new surroundings, so the pieces are here to make for a very balanced team.
5. Ring of Fire – Dagan was solid all around this week, though he had an exceptionally low RBI output (20) compared to his 8 HR and 33 R. The pitching numbers were pretty good, lead by improving performance from Masterson, Hughes, and Latos, while mainstays ASanchez and JCueto faltered. But I like his staff overall (liked the ACobb pickup) and the pending return of MKemp to go with improving numbers from Youk, Goldy, and Espinosa (not to mention AJ Pierz seems to playing out of his mind) makes this one of the more balanced teams. So Dagan gets the slight nod over his bro here.
6. Prestige Worldwide – I don’t rely heavily on actually standings, but the underlying problem with this week’s 1-9 loss is that it wasn’t really close and Lars would’ve had a tough time beating a lot of teams. With an average rank of 8th, pitching has been the problem all season and is exacerbated with Detweiler’s move to the pen and Feliz’s injury, which will ultimately put him back in the bullpen – a place where Lars needs no help (#1 in saves). DHudson is back, so perhaps that will help. As has been the case all season, Lars’ very good overall statistical performance thus far has not been reflected in his place in the standings as he sits a distant seventh, 9.5 games out of playoff contention.
7. Moose is Loose – As with several of the other top teams with dominant offenses, it comes down to pitching. 16 HR in a week is spectacular, but its only one category. The 5-4-1 win against the Angry Pirates could’ve easily been 4-5-1 as Brian managed to win WHIP 1.54 vs. 1.56 for Kyle. EJax, Kuroda, Ubaldo, Saunders, ESantana and recent pickup Nolasco are all up and down guys, meaning some weeks will be very good and some, like this one, will be very bad.
8. Donkey Punchers – Chris gets some verbal love this week – as opposed to actual improvement in the rankings – due to resurgence of players on the offensive side. He’s had great pitching to this point, but the offense has slacked (second worst average rank at 10.6) to start 2012. But welcome back Tex, Joey Bats, Lowrie, and Holliday. And Viciedo was a great pickup (16 rbis in the past two weeks). There could be issues with pitching if Halladay is really hurt and Lord knows Scott Diamond and Alex White aren’t the best options, but Worley and McCarthy are due back soon. For now, let’s say the progress is noted and we could see a push here soon.
9. Keepin It Real – OK, perhaps now Pierce gets some sympathy. Really came down to the last day and a few changes here and there could’ve given Pierce a much-needed 8-2 win. Instead he lost 2-8 and is sitting at 13th, despite stats showing a much better team overall. The hits (ie, injuries) just keep on coming too as his roster is beginning to look like a morgue. With my sympathies though, comes an observation (only noted because I played him and was paying attention): had he checked in earlier on Sunday and saw that DYoung wasn’t playing and then start SRod instead, the record for the week would’ve been 5-3-2. The little things can make a big difference.
10. Cowhide Joyride – The good: the offensive pickups of JReddick, ASoriano, ARios, and Cheadley. The bad: the pitching. Nevermind the gruesome 5.13/1.47, no team devoting six of its 11 pitching spots to relievers should ever lose the saves category. But Dave’s guys (perhaps the best foursome of closers in the league with Kimbrel, Jensen, Motte, and AReed) only mustered 3 the entire week (and one came from Frieri!). That’s why its so hard to rely on performance in the saves category. It’s too bad the pitching has been so bad (thanks in large part to Timmy) because the picks of JSantana, Bumgarner, and Darvish have all proven excellent. There’s just nothing behind them, or, as is the case with Lincecum, in front of them.
11. Urban Achievers – Dan’s strong work on the wire (Francoeur looks like another good one) may start to pay off as his team starts to get healthy. Reynolds and CYoung can be big contributors when healthy and DJennings will be back at some point, while Gio and CC are more than capable of leading a staff. A lot needs to work out in terms of the upstarts continuing their strong performance throughout the year, but the pieces are potentially there to make a playoff push.
12. The Angry Pirates – No sense beating a dead horse. The pitching is terrible and that really hasn’t changed all season. Trading a bit of the offense could make a difference, but I’m not sure it’d be enough. Tough break for Kyle with his absence from the draft as I have to believe his team would be stronger in this department, but there have still been FAs out there that could’ve helped the team and he’s passed. So you can’t feel too bad, particularly given the fact that Jeremy Guthrie is still rostered.
13. Anal Hershiser – Not sure what he plans to do with Haren, but it should definitely be for an offensive keeper or two. The top candidates for offensive keepers on the team currently are Bourn, Morse, Bonifacio, and WMyers, which should not instill confidence. A rare off-week in terms of pitching rates (4.42/1.37) still dominated the competition (we’ll get to Troy’s pitching last week in a moment). It would behoove any team looking to next year to stay involved this year, try to find potential keepers on the waivers or disabled lists, and pickup players they can deal later for picks (closers, for example, were bringing in around a 4-round upgrade at the deadline last year). It pays to look ahead.
14. Billy Chapel – Well, it got uglier. The 9.63/1.93 output for the week is historically bad, lowlighted by Drabek and Lowe (27.00 and 30.00 ERAs). There’s plenty of good parts left in Kennedy, SSantos, Fister, Axford, Pence, Victorino, Beltre, ARod, Willingham, and Aviles, so whenever Troy decides to wrap it up for 2012, he’s got some parts to play with in preparation for 2013. But it looks to be a long summer.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Trade Review: Montezumas and Angry
Montezuma’s Revenge receives:
SP Chris Sale CHW
SS Ian Desmond WAS
17th rounder
19th rounder
The Angry Pirates receives:
13th rounder
16th rounder
Kyle and I went back and forth over pick swap and ultimately settled on seven rounds total upgrade. Earlier in the season, Sale would probably have been worth much more, but the White Sox decision to make him the closer due to injury concern, then back to the rotation, makes me question whether he’ll be there for me in the long run. But for now, he’s there and very productive, with a 2.91/1.13/4 qs/40 k in 43 innings. Meanwhile, Desmond has just been too productive to ignore anymore (24/8/21/5/.305) and could be a serious threat to go 20/20, which is excellent from the SS position. Still, I hesitated because the wire has suddenly had a flux of SS talent (Aybar, Alexei, Alcedes, Yunel) and Desmond doesn’t have a great track record. But its worth a shot since he’s put up far superior numbers to Yunel and the price only goes up if that continues.
Desmond was expendable with SCastro on board and a pretty good offense overall. As far as Sale goes, his value was highest about a month ago and could’ve got worse if Kyle waited, but it could get better as well. Either way, pick upgrades are helpful. With the 16th and 17th round swap pretty much a wash, the real value is the move up from the 19th to the 13th. In the most recent draft, the 13th round was a pretty good round with guys like CLewis, DGordon, DFister, Putz, Jensen, and Prado (and a lot of injured closers – Bailey, Storen, Madson) with a few underperformers like HBell, Kuroda, and Alexei (and Coco, whose been injured). The 19th was probably the worst round in the draft overall. VWorley and CZambrano are the only success stories (TBauer is a potential success); the rest have either been dropped at point or should have been (RWolf, BRever, JSanchez, JVazquez, Danks, ASoriano, BPeacock, NWalker, CQuentin, JBay, YEscobar). Looking at that on face value, it’s a pretty significant upgrade. However, rounds 14 and 15 were better, turning up finds like EBedard, JMorneau, CCapuano, HAlvarez, JPeavy, JKbel, ACraig, YMolina, and MBuehrle. Time will tell who made out better here.
SP Chris Sale CHW
SS Ian Desmond WAS
17th rounder
19th rounder
The Angry Pirates receives:
13th rounder
16th rounder
Kyle and I went back and forth over pick swap and ultimately settled on seven rounds total upgrade. Earlier in the season, Sale would probably have been worth much more, but the White Sox decision to make him the closer due to injury concern, then back to the rotation, makes me question whether he’ll be there for me in the long run. But for now, he’s there and very productive, with a 2.91/1.13/4 qs/40 k in 43 innings. Meanwhile, Desmond has just been too productive to ignore anymore (24/8/21/5/.305) and could be a serious threat to go 20/20, which is excellent from the SS position. Still, I hesitated because the wire has suddenly had a flux of SS talent (Aybar, Alexei, Alcedes, Yunel) and Desmond doesn’t have a great track record. But its worth a shot since he’s put up far superior numbers to Yunel and the price only goes up if that continues.
Desmond was expendable with SCastro on board and a pretty good offense overall. As far as Sale goes, his value was highest about a month ago and could’ve got worse if Kyle waited, but it could get better as well. Either way, pick upgrades are helpful. With the 16th and 17th round swap pretty much a wash, the real value is the move up from the 19th to the 13th. In the most recent draft, the 13th round was a pretty good round with guys like CLewis, DGordon, DFister, Putz, Jensen, and Prado (and a lot of injured closers – Bailey, Storen, Madson) with a few underperformers like HBell, Kuroda, and Alexei (and Coco, whose been injured). The 19th was probably the worst round in the draft overall. VWorley and CZambrano are the only success stories (TBauer is a potential success); the rest have either been dropped at point or should have been (RWolf, BRever, JSanchez, JVazquez, Danks, ASoriano, BPeacock, NWalker, CQuentin, JBay, YEscobar). Looking at that on face value, it’s a pretty significant upgrade. However, rounds 14 and 15 were better, turning up finds like EBedard, JMorneau, CCapuano, HAlvarez, JPeavy, JKbel, ACraig, YMolina, and MBuehrle. Time will tell who made out better here.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Trade Review: Montezuma's and Billy Chapel
Billy Chapel receives:
SP Aaron Harang LAD
SP Kyle Drabek TOR
Montezuma’s Revenge receives:
3B Aramis Ramirez MIL
I don’t really like doing reviews of my own trades, namely because its impossible to be objective. Obviously, in the immediate aftermath of a trade, I always think I win. Otherwise I would do the trade. If anyone care to take over reviews when I’m involved in a trade, just let me know. It’d be much appreciated. Without further ado…
Troy and I had been going back and forth for a week or so on a much larger deal, but ultimately settled on a swap of the more minor elements. n the wake of the Beckett trade, Troy was in need of some pitching help and received it in the trade with Drabek and Harang, each of whom has had better seasons thus far than Ramirez. Drabek has been particularly impressive; even though he’s got a 1.43 WHIP, that 3.27 ERA is very good and he’s tallied five QS and had really only one bad game (5 IP, 5 ER @ LAA). And he’s been going against some of the best offenses and producing well – BOS, TEX, NYY, TAM, BAL (twice). While sabermetrics will tell you some regression is coming, he’s got the pedigree to be an excellent addition. Meanwhile, Harang has been quite valuable as well with a 3.83 ERA and 1.30 WHIP to go along with 5 QS. He too has been good throughout, minus one real stinker at COL and has very good K potential (struck out 13 Padres in 6 IP Apr 13th). Harang had a good year last year (3.64/1.37) in a big park and is pitching in another big park in the same division this year, so no reason why that success can’t continue.
Aramis, meanwhile, has started slow with a 25/3/22/2/.294 line, but he’s a notoriously slow starter, so he could easily turn it around and prove to be very valuable UTIL option for my team (or a fill in at 3B in case Lawrie decides to peg another ump with his helmet). ARam was a key addition to my team last year and contributed 22 HR and 67 RBI in 325 ABs on my way to regular season championship last year after Casten gave up on him (Boesch, JJohnson, BMcCarthy for Aram, Masterson, Oswalt, and AHill). Hopefully he will provide some of the power my team is currently lacking. It does create a couple holes in the rotation though and it’s unclear who might fill that void and whether they can provide the returns Drabek and Harang had so far.
SP Aaron Harang LAD
SP Kyle Drabek TOR
Montezuma’s Revenge receives:
3B Aramis Ramirez MIL
I don’t really like doing reviews of my own trades, namely because its impossible to be objective. Obviously, in the immediate aftermath of a trade, I always think I win. Otherwise I would do the trade. If anyone care to take over reviews when I’m involved in a trade, just let me know. It’d be much appreciated. Without further ado…
Troy and I had been going back and forth for a week or so on a much larger deal, but ultimately settled on a swap of the more minor elements. n the wake of the Beckett trade, Troy was in need of some pitching help and received it in the trade with Drabek and Harang, each of whom has had better seasons thus far than Ramirez. Drabek has been particularly impressive; even though he’s got a 1.43 WHIP, that 3.27 ERA is very good and he’s tallied five QS and had really only one bad game (5 IP, 5 ER @ LAA). And he’s been going against some of the best offenses and producing well – BOS, TEX, NYY, TAM, BAL (twice). While sabermetrics will tell you some regression is coming, he’s got the pedigree to be an excellent addition. Meanwhile, Harang has been quite valuable as well with a 3.83 ERA and 1.30 WHIP to go along with 5 QS. He too has been good throughout, minus one real stinker at COL and has very good K potential (struck out 13 Padres in 6 IP Apr 13th). Harang had a good year last year (3.64/1.37) in a big park and is pitching in another big park in the same division this year, so no reason why that success can’t continue.
Aramis, meanwhile, has started slow with a 25/3/22/2/.294 line, but he’s a notoriously slow starter, so he could easily turn it around and prove to be very valuable UTIL option for my team (or a fill in at 3B in case Lawrie decides to peg another ump with his helmet). ARam was a key addition to my team last year and contributed 22 HR and 67 RBI in 325 ABs on my way to regular season championship last year after Casten gave up on him (Boesch, JJohnson, BMcCarthy for Aram, Masterson, Oswalt, and AHill). Hopefully he will provide some of the power my team is currently lacking. It does create a couple holes in the rotation though and it’s unclear who might fill that void and whether they can provide the returns Drabek and Harang had so far.
Trade Review: One Nut and Billy Chapel
Billy Chapel receives:
2B Omar Infante MIA
20th rounder
One Nut receives:
SP Josh Beckett BOS
18th rounder
No beating around the bush here – this was a clear win for Jason, adding to his list of drubbings so far in 2012. Maligned as he may be, Beckett had an excellent 2011 even with the late season meltdown. The early season returns weren’t great and there’s that whole every-other-season thing with Beckett, but he absolutely should’ve demanded something greater in return. Really, Beckett has had two stinkers and the test have been quality starts. His last two starts brought his ERA down from 5.97 to 4.38 and he’s got a nice 1.28 WHIP to go along with nearly 9 k/9. I know he’s not the most popular player, but this is another situation where it made sense to put this out to the league and see what you could get back. The most ridiculous part of the deal is the pick – really? Couldn’t get this one done without upgrading the pick as well as the player?
Overall, yes, Infante is having a good season at 21/6/20/4/.357 but AHill, who was Troy’s previous 2B and is currently on the roster, is not slouch either 17/5/15/4/.320 and will ultimately have better numbers. Infante is 30 and has been mostly a utility guy in his career; in 2011 he posted 55/7/49/4/.315 (ie, waiver wire material – big time). He had 16 homers eight years ago in Detroit, but hasn’t gotten more than 9 in a year since then and he has a .320 career OBP. In other words, regression is coming and I’m willing to bet he’ll take his familiar spot on the waiver wire before the year is over.
2B Omar Infante MIA
20th rounder
One Nut receives:
SP Josh Beckett BOS
18th rounder
No beating around the bush here – this was a clear win for Jason, adding to his list of drubbings so far in 2012. Maligned as he may be, Beckett had an excellent 2011 even with the late season meltdown. The early season returns weren’t great and there’s that whole every-other-season thing with Beckett, but he absolutely should’ve demanded something greater in return. Really, Beckett has had two stinkers and the test have been quality starts. His last two starts brought his ERA down from 5.97 to 4.38 and he’s got a nice 1.28 WHIP to go along with nearly 9 k/9. I know he’s not the most popular player, but this is another situation where it made sense to put this out to the league and see what you could get back. The most ridiculous part of the deal is the pick – really? Couldn’t get this one done without upgrading the pick as well as the player?
Overall, yes, Infante is having a good season at 21/6/20/4/.357 but AHill, who was Troy’s previous 2B and is currently on the roster, is not slouch either 17/5/15/4/.320 and will ultimately have better numbers. Infante is 30 and has been mostly a utility guy in his career; in 2011 he posted 55/7/49/4/.315 (ie, waiver wire material – big time). He had 16 homers eight years ago in Detroit, but hasn’t gotten more than 9 in a year since then and he has a .320 career OBP. In other words, regression is coming and I’m willing to bet he’ll take his familiar spot on the waiver wire before the year is over.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Week 7 Power Rankings
2. One Nut Wonders – Jason gets the bump this week as Russ’ pitching continues to flounder and the team took a serious hit with the loss of Berkman. One Nut’s average rank is still slightly better (4.6 to 4.8) with ERA (8th) his worst category. Pitching was mediocre this week with only 4 QS and 3 saves, but the offense is clicking on all cylinders, lead by Pacman Jones and Braun.
3. Clayton & The King – Looks like Berkman is done, possibly for the season, laying waste to what seemed to be like two quality early picks in Berkman and CCrawford (Avila, obviously, also didn’t work out). But Trout has been phenomenal and JHardy has picked up where he left off last year. The problem is pitching; and four regular starters (Nova, Wainright, Harrison, and Minor) with ERAs over 5.00 is a big problem.
4. Prestige Worldwide – Troy’s team came to play this week and Lars was lucky to escape with a split, as it took a 7 rbi Sunday from Lucroy to hold off a loss to the last place Billy Chapel. The closers produced, but some of the top producers to this point (Lynn, Bedard, Detweiler) didn’t perform. Lars stays at 4th this week, but his average rank in pitching went from 7.6 to 8.2; further decline will force him down this list as well.
5. Ring of Fire – Tough week for Dagan with Anal giving him a thorough probing 2-6-2 and it could’ve been worse. Still in playoff position at third, but he fell two spots in the statistical rankings with an overall rank of 7.2 – down from 6.0 last week (in part due to fluctuations in the cluster of six teams with a 1.17-1.25 overall WHIP). The team is the most balanced in the league statistically, with only a 0.4 difference in offense and pitching.
6. Montezuma’s Revenge – Two weeks and two homers. My statistical ranking may be higher than some of the aforementioned teams, but my team certainly did nothing this week to deserve a move up. Pitching was supposed to be my greatest challenge, but right now I’m averaging 2.8th while offense is at 9.6, making my team the least balanced in the league. But the names are still good, the team is mostly healthy, and hopefully for me the reversion to the mean will be as fruitful as this two-week period has been shitful.
7. Moose is Loose – Brian took down Jason with some great pitching, as Ervin has bounced back, Grienke was dominant again, and the EJax for Balfour trade is squarely in the win category for Moose. Kuroda and Danks, though, don’t look like their former selves and Ubaldo may never look like the 2010 version. Plenty to like on offense though going forward, which should improve his average rank of 8th.
8. Donkey Punchers – Still a little baffled that Chris’ team hasn’t performed better and I expect good things will come. Pitching has been stellar (minus saves of course) but the offense is second worst. Not sure IDavis will ever turn it around, which is too bad because I thought he was going to be a good one, but LoMo, Napoli, and Teix should all do better and help push Chris into playoff contention.
9. Cowhide Joyride – Nice win over a quality team last week and a slight improvement to his average rank moves Dave up a bit. His offense was tremendous and he picked up Soriano at the right time (hit his first 3 HR of the year after Dave grabbed him) and Reddick has been incredible. That pitching though…Bumgarner will be better and Johan should continue to be good, but Dave got a taste of the real Westbrook, Zito, and Nolasco this week and that might be a challenge going forward.
10. Urban Achievers – Dan continues his move up the ranks with a 7-3 finish for the week and some particularly great pitching. Really, the savvy pickups over the course of the season have made all the difference (ABass has been amazing and I was apparently wrong about Vogelsong) and that’s without CC being his typical self. Get DJennings back and MReynolds healthy and hot and we might just have a sleeper playoff team.
11. Keepin It Real – Pierce would’ve done much better than his 3-7 record indicated had he played other teams this week, but it seems like it was a week for the bottom dwellers to show they’re not giving up yet. Looks like I was wrong on Aroldis; not only was he a great setup man, he’s evolved into the closer and, with his K ability, he might be right up there with Kimbrel. The key for this team will be the offense maintaining status quo while Panda and Jacoby rest up, and the middle-of-the-road starters staying on the road.
12. The Angry Pirates – Hard to tell where this team is going, if anywhere. Seems like the offense is more than capable, but the pitching is the worst in the league. And it isn’t like there’s an easy fix as each of the pitchers have some sort of question mark, notably the health of JJ and Sale. If Blanton and WChen are who we thought they were, this team will need a minor miracle to compete.
13. Anal Hershiser – The all old guy team (Chipper, Raul, Helton) could really use MMorse right about now. Andrew beat Dagan, but it was pretty close across the board and the sixth place pitching is really holding the team’s head above water. But you have to wonder how long HAlvarez, Colon, JWilliams, and DSmyly will be adequate flanks to VerlHarenBurg.
14. Billy Chapel – Troy rounded out the Revenge of the Bottom Dwellers with a 5-5 tie with Lars, a sign of progress with an incredible 11 QSs (He almost had WHIP and Ks too). He also nailed 12 homers (that’s more than I’ve had in like a month) thanks in large part to super pickup MAviles and HPence. Kennedy, Hudson and Fister can help bring the staff toward respectability, but more help is needed.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Week 6 Power Rankings
1. Grumpy Munchkins – Casten’s place in the standings caught up to his power ranking during the two week hiatus. There’s just no weak spots, though he could do better in saves (eighth – his worst category), but has been unlucky with Madson and Robertson. Most of his picks are panning out, including ADunn, who is back to monster status (and who I hate even more now).
2. Clayton & The King – With Jason nipping at his heals, Russ gets the nod here with his thoroughly dominating offense, which ranks first in R, HR, and RBI (Thank you, Mr. Hamilton). If Berkman is healthy and productive, it makes him even better. Pitching has been more of an issue than I expected, but I expect Wainright and Minor to be OK. Still, there are enough questions marks to no longer consider this a strength, especially with his bullpen.
3. One Nut Wonders – Beleaguered yes, but Beckett is absolutely an excellent return for Infante, whose really is just not good. Smart move that could improve a team that already ranks top 8 in every category. AJones has proven to be excellent and Middlebrooks was a good part-time pickup. The pitching staff is still sort of duct-taped together at the moment, but there's some great quality at the top.
4. Prestige Worldwide – Opposite of his brother, Lars’ team has played well enough to be a top team but is currently out of the top six playoff spots. Encarnacion has just been a monster and he has an average offensive rank of 3.2 even with AGon yet to produce and Longo hurt, so offense is not a problem. But there's a lot of names in that rotation of guys having a good first month and a half, so this could get ugly quick.
5. Ring of Fire – In first in the standings and fifth in statistical production, Dagan has two rather extreme points of weakness, as his total SB and K are 13th in the league and he’s top 6 in the rest (with the exception of 10th in QS). But he’s making it work with some major injuries to Kemp, Werth, and Youk, while enduring underproduction from guys like Walden, Hughes, Latos, and Masterson. Weeks 9-11 he’ll go against myself, Casten, and Russ, so we’ll see where he is in the standings at that point.
6. Montezuma’s Revenge – An entire week without a home run... sigh. I’m just grateful it was the week I was on vacation or I may have put a bullet in my laptop. It’s caused me to fall to 13th in HR and RBI, while I’m holding up quite well elsewhere. Should Hosmer, Upton, and Kinsler come back to life soon, this rank will change, but for now the drop is warranted.
7. Moose is Loose – Brian’s group is pretty middle of the pack in terms of totals, with the second place rankings in RBI and saves being the outliers. His SPs are all guys who have had good years before, but tend to be very volatile (with the exception of Grienke). He’s got some offensive guys who haven’t come about as well, primarily Tulo.
8. Keepin It Real – While you can feel bad for Pierce with the unfortunate injuries to Panda and Ellsbury, he hasn’t really managed his roster in a way that can make up for those losses. DL’d guys like SDrew, JSanchez, and Bay could all be dropped and provide three additional slots to boost those woeful counting categories (13th saves,11th in Ks, 10th in HR, 10th in steals). My guess is those three would still be available when healthy.
9. Donkey Punchers – Chris has suffered from a lot of underperformance with guys like Gallardo, IDavis, LoMo, JWeeks, Napoli, Tabata, and Tex, but pitching has been very good (with the obvious exception of saves). If you take out the 14th ranking in saves, he has easily the top pitching with a 3.0 average (7.1 overall – 7th total). His luck could change organically, but if it doesn’t Chris may have to deal off some of that pitching to supplement the O.
10.Cowhide Joyride – Things just haven’t gone as planned for Dave. He’s 3rd in saves, then the next best total is a 6th place showing in SB. Tough to take for a team that made some good moves late last year to try to compete this year. The keepers (Posey, Weeks, Fielder, Zimmerman, Andrus and particularly Lincecum) have been weak or just OK. There’s still time and talent to turn this around though.
11. Urban Achievers – Dan’s team is actually better than the standings indicates. There’s some sneaky good moves that have paid dividends like taking on BLahair after Lars gave up on him, Alutve has been very good, ACraig sat on the DL a while but has been very productive upon return, Ruiz has been basically the best fantasy catcher, LScott has had his moments, Mous has been better than I expected, while Paulino, Bass and Burnett (minus one start) have also surprised. Good example of how active management can help a downtrodden team.
12. The Angry Pirates – The offense really hasn’t been bad, but the pitching has just been dreadful with an average rank of 12th – that’s not good. WChen was a nice find and Kyle’s lucky Sale is staying in the rotation, but everyone else has been pretty crappy. If anyone needed to trade for some balance, it’s Kyle, and he’s got the offense parts to do it.
13. Anal Hershiser – Andrew has the exact opposite problem of Kyle, with both teams having a 4.8 point difference in the average rank of their offense and pitching. However, Anal’s numbers are banking on that tidy ERA and WHIP, but the pitching counting categories aren’t so hot (12th in saves, 10th in Ks, 9th in QS). He’s started to address this by dropping Oswalt (finally) and now has 10 starters, including the surprising DSmyly and HAlvarez.
14.Billy Chapel – Mama said if you ain’t got nothing nice to say, don’t say nothin at all. But I don’t have to listen to her anymore. There are still parts that are good, but Aram, ARod, Morales, Beckett, Axford, and Kennedy have all underperformed and dragged down the rest of the team. Last in the statistical and actual rankings, Troy already has a deep hole to climb out of as he’s currently 18.5 games out of a playoff spot.
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