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.
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