1. Clayton & King (Russ) – Cumulative Rank (CR): 1st (2.3), Real Rank (RR): 1st (4.6), Standings (STND): 4th
What went right:
Umm, everything? If his Real Ranking wasn’t impressive enough, the
Cumulative Ranking is 2.3 – he’s averaging nearly second place in every
category according to total stats at this point. He’s performing across the
board and already has 5 guys with 10 homers. The keepers are acting as the
stars they are and his draft picks are remarkably good, highlighted by 12th
rounder Reynolds, 7th rounder Shelby Miller, 9th rounder
Fowler, and 13th rounder E. Santana, but early picks Swisher, Mauer,
Samardzija and Mo have all also been excellent. And the guys he’s picked up
have all performed well also, from Pettibone to Peralta. Just call him Midas. Hard
to see this team slowing down.
What went wrong: Revere, James McDonald, and Puig were all
swing and misses, but the real issue with Russ’ squad has been matchup luck.
Given his statistical output at this point, he should be in first by quite a
lot. There’s just not much that has gone wrong for Russ so far this year – even
Nolasco is pitching well. He’s only got 25 saves on his roster currently, so
that’s a weakness.
Outlook: This is the undisputed best team in the league
right now by quite a significant margin, and I expect this will be reflected in
the standings soon. This roster has the chance to run away with it, but it will
require volatile guys of the past like Santana and Reynolds to keep it up.
2. One Nut Wonders (Jason) – CR: 7th (7.6), RR: 6th
(7.2), STND: 5th
What went right: I loved Rizzo with his first round pick and
Jason now has what appears to be a keeper for years to come. Jason has
withstood a slew of injuries to major players, including keepers Weaver,
Hanley, and Headley, thanks to some solid production from guys like Lorenzo
Cain, Duda, and Morse and some solid middle-of-the-rotation draft picks in
Cashner, Holland, De La Rosa, and Ogando, who are providing surprisingly steady
production. Ubaldo could be a
good, albeit volatile, pickup as well
What went wrong: Well, VMart’s struggles are perplexing and
Prado has been barely rosterable at this point. Jason’s long-time binky Utley
has just been OK and is now injured, while Dickey hasn’t been able to
rediscover last year’s magic. It’s
all about health though as he has productive players who have just been hurt a
lot. Hanley in place of D. Gordon,
Utley for Prado, and Weaver (now Moore) joining the now healthy Garza will make
a big difference. The talent of this roster is not reflected in the rankings.
Outlook: Jason and Russ have did a great job balancing
success last year without sacrificing this year and it’s paying off. Obviously, I like this team more than
the ranking, in large part due to the emergence of his middle rotation guys
behind a solid threesome of Moore, Garza and Dickey as well as the injuries
he’s withstood. I also think VMart, Dickey, and Prado will come around. This is
a good team to look out for.
3. Keepin it Real (Pierce) – CR: 3rd (5.8), RR: 2nd
(6.0), STND: 1st
What went right: For a team that sits first in the
standings, there are an awful lot of underperformers on the roster: Ellsbury,
Gardner, Desmond, Kennedy, Lincecum, Lucroy, Putz, JJ. But a deeper dive into the overall
numbers shows he’s worthy of the ranking. Scherzer, Sale, Anibal (fourth
rounder!), and Dempster make up the rest of the entire starting staff at the
moment (6 total), but they’re racking up the Ks and keeping him competitive in
the cumulative pitching categories. The Ortiz pick was brilliant as he’s come
back blazing, leading Pierce’s squad in RBIs with 90 less abs than most
regulars. Rios was also an excellent selection and is building off last year’s
across-the-board great numbers. He’s got speed up and down the roster and
really has no competition in that category. Reed and Soriano have been great
closing out games as well.
Outlook: With only two transactions and relative silence,
one has to wonder if its apathy or strategy. At this point, it’s working. If
Hart comes back productive and he can balance his roster a bit better, perhaps
we could see a revival for this former champ.
4. Montezuma’s Revenge (Adam) – CR: 4th (6.5),
RR: 5th (6.7), STND: 9th
What went right:
Upton got things started with a bang, while Santana, Kinsler, and Pence
(traded away for the equally impressive Choo) got off to nice starts as
well. Dunn has come around lately.
But the real player pacing this club so far has been 14th rounder
Segura, who is performing like a sure fire keeper. Meanwhile, 13th
rounder Masterson has been my best pitcher, not Hamels. The additions of Peavy
and Gallardo should help address what ails this club most. The Valverde trade
for a two-round upgrade late in next year’s draft is obviously working out
well. The young guys I’ve picked up have all shown nice signs of future
production.
What went wrong: The top pitchers I was counting on either
struggled mightily (Niese, Parker, EJax) or got injured (Billingsley, Garcia).
My team is worst in both ERA and WHIP, which is uncharacteristic of my past
teams. Meanwhile, SB and OBP have been great, but the rest of the cumulative
offensive numbers have just been mediocre and poor in the case of RBIs. Hosmer
has been a big disappointment, while the team is counting on production from
several rookies: Arenado, Fernandez, Gyorko, Gausman, and Segura (not quite a
rookie), so the volatility on offense should not be a surprise.
Outlook: Two weeks ago I would never have put myself this
high due to the depth of the pitching problems, but I believe that has been
largely corrected. I really like my roster at the moment when I consider what
it will look like once Youk and Kinsler are back, and dream about a productive
and healthy Chris Carpenter. The youngins need to perform like they have the
potential to and Upton, Santana, Choo, Dunn and Segura need to be more
consistent. There’s hope here.
5. Sexual Napalm (Mike) – CR: 8th (7.7), RR: 9th
(7.4), STND: 3rd
What went right: Brandon Phillips has been a surprising
source of RBIs, Beltre and Gomez both have continued last year’s production,
and Choo and Crawford were both very good before being traded. Willingham has
also come around lately. The biggest key for Gay Santa is Matt Harvey, who
showed glimpses last season, and Darvish, who was inconsistent last year. Both are now certifiable aces.
Meanwhile, Kyle Kendrick has been a please surprise. Cuddyer has also proven to
be one hell of a last round pick. His keepers haven’t been great, but Mike drafted
very well.
Outlook: Mike has played much of the season with a number of
unproductive spots in order to hold on to Profar, Tex, Beachy, Bundy, and
others, so the fact that he’s sitting pretty in third in the standings is
promising for Mike. If Tex, Grandal, and Beachy come back even close to what
they were when they left, Mike will be a contender for a top seed in the
playoffs. Despite his seemingly unorthodox approach at times, it’s been quite
the remarkable turnaround for this team given what Mike inherited nine months
ago.
6. Ring of Fire (Dagan) – CR: 6th (7.3), RR: 7th
(7.3), STND: 7th
What went right: Napoli start the season on fire, Votto’s
OBP is still near .500 and
Goldschmidt established himself as one of the top
fantasy players in the game. Latos has performed like a stud and Kuroda keeps
holding off father time to perform like an ace for the cost of a middle
rounder. The backend of the staff has been solid with a number of shrewd
pickups, albeit not great upside. First rounder Austin Jackson was doing fine
before falling to injuries. With eight guys over seven homers, there’s plenty
of power there. 15th
rounder Chris Carter seems like he belongs and has been a valuable late draft
pick.
What went wrong: Underperforming keepers have really kept
Ring from being in the top tier. Votto’s power and RBIs leave something to be
desired, Jay Bruce started very slow but has come on lately, while Dagan is
still waiting for Matt Kemp to be the guy he enjoyed two years ago. Zobrist’s
production has been steady but three homers and three steals isn’t the type of
stats we’ve become accustomed to. While Latos and Kuroda have been great, he’s
settled on a bunch of middle of the road types behind them in Vargas, Tillman,
Leake and Colon, who cannot be expected to be as reliable as they’ve been.
Volatility is coming. The bullpen of Betancourt/Brothers and Holland is shallow
and unremarkable. Dagan gave up on 14th rounder Kelly Johnson too
early.
Outlook: With
identical averages of 7.3 in both rankings and being 6th in CR, 7th
in RR, and 7th in the standings, it’s pretty clear Dagan is squarely
above the middle of the pack and below the top tier at his point. A healthy and
productive Middlebrooks, Reddick, and Dan Hudson could go a long way to taking
this team to the next level.
7. Anal Hershiser (Andrew) – CR: 2nd (5.7), RR: 4th
(6.0), STND: 6th
What went right: Pitching was a strong point heading into
the season and it still is, highlighted but the team’s best pitcher -- no, not
Strasburger, Verlander, or MadBum, but 10th rounder Hisashi Iwakuma,
who is incredibly a Cy Young contender at this point. Meanwhile, Miley, Wandy
and Pettite have all filled in well behind the stars to make one of the top
pitching staffs in the league. The
offseason deal for Fielder looks like it was just what the team needed as
there’s a lack of power elsewhere. Donaldson, McLouth, and Jim Henderson have
all been excellent wire pickups.
Outlook: All the numbers show Andrew is doing pretty well,
but as good as he is in the average rankings and standings, there’s an
imbalance here that could be exposed at some point. I think the team needs a
power upgrade to be considered for the top tier.
8. Donkey Punchers (Chris) – CR: 5th (7.2), RR: 3rd
(6.4), STND: 2nd
What went right: Simple, pitching. Though keepers Cain and
Gio have been bad and only pretty good, respectively, everyone else has been
superb, even McCarthy is coming around. Lynn, Cobb, Shields, Wilson, Cueto, and
keeper Wainright have all been great to excellent. And no one is touching his
relievers (besides maybe Dave), which have an incredible 53 saves between the
four of them -- almost unnecessarily dominant. The pitching is reflective of how great his draft board was
going into the year and his selections were on point.
What went wrong: Simple, hitting. Early picks Asdrubal,
Konerko, and P. Alvarez have all been awful. It’s time to realize Cabrera’s
2011 numbers are clearly an outlier and he’s just simply not worthy of a high
pick (drafted in 2nd round this year). Meanwhile, Chris’ keeper
hitters have had a tough go of it, with the well-documented lackluster result
from Hamilton, middle-of-the-road production from Holliday and a tough start
for Kipnis, who has come on lately.
Jesus Montero was an obvious whiff and Belt hasn’t been the mainstay I’m
sure Chris envisioned. The names still look OK, it’s the numbers next to them
that are reason for concern. As great as his pitching selection were, his
offensive picks leave much to be desired.
Outlook: Tough call here and Chris will have a tough call
going forward. Do you maintain a staff that could roll people over throughout
the year and hope for the best for the offense? Or take advantage one of those
chips like Shields and the universal desperation for quality starters and try to
add some offensive firepower? I have a hard time putting him higher given that
many of his struggling offensive players showed glimpses of problems in 2013
and the overall lack of balance.
9. Urban Achievers (Dan) – CR: 13th (9.5), RR: 13th (8.2), STND: 8th
What went right: Harper and Machado are beasts and building
blocks for Dan to build around, while 14th rounder Starling Marte
has played up to keeper consideration. Frazier got off to a nice start and
Kelly Johnson could end up being a key pickup. Moore has been stellar and
helped Dan acquire another ace and top notch closer in Weaver/Janssen. Buchholz
may end up being the pick of the draft as he’s not only been productive in the
rate and QS departments, but he’s also K’ing people in bunches. H. Bailey was
another nice pick and recent wire pickup Wheeler may ultimately contribute.
Outlook: There’s enough bright spots that I have to give Dan
a fighting chance to overcome what rankings suggest will be future regression.
It’ll be a matter of how he fills in around the surprises. He’s in good shape in the standings
despite the challenges. Seems like a potential playoff team to me.
10. Angry Pirates (Kyle) – CR: 9th (7.9), RR: 8th
(7.4), STD: 13th
What went right:
McCutchen has been as advertised while Rosario and Cespedes have shown
big power. Jordan Zimmerman is just an automatic QS and has an incredible
1.71/0.87 line, despite the low K number. Fister has also pitched well and 13th
rounder Quintana, last rounder Arroyo, and wire pickup Lackey made it possible
to deal Peavy for some offensive help in Aramis. Craig and LaRoche have picked
it up as of late and Seager and Morales have contributed as well. He’s got a pretty good balance of names
that just need to produce at their capabilities.
What went wrong: Its all about the keepers -- the struggles
of Starlin, health of Cespedes, slow start by Craig, and lack of power from
AGon have all really hurt Kyle’s promising initial roster. Meanwhile, injuries
to Hanrahan, Ludwick, and Viciedo didn’t help his cause. Dealing for Aramis was
a good move because Michael Young is barely rosterable at this point. Adding
Crawford ultimately hurt because he lost Beltre, but there’s very little speed
outside of Crawford and Cutch, so its understandable.
Outlook: It’s hard to look at this team, which has been largely
healthy, and look at it as anything more than middle of the pack at this point.
There’s potential for much more, but Cespedes and Castro need to improve. An
iffy backend of the rotation (Hammel, M. Gonzalez, Tepesch, Harrell, Diamond)
has been a headwind that doesn’t have much upside.
11. GRUMPY MUNCHKINS (Brandon) – CR: 14th (10.6),
RR: 14th (9.6), STND: 10th
What went right: Despite his rankings status, Brandon still
has the top player in the league in Miguel Cabrera. He’s just an absolute
monster. Moreland was quite the pick with double digit homers already. And
Pujols, while not vintage Pujols, is putting up decent counting stats. He also
found Guthrie on the wire and drafted Patrick Corbin, who is probably the pick
of the year at this point, in the 16th round. Burnett and Cahill
have played like legit #2 and #3 starters. Grabbing McCann in the 17th
may ultimately prove to be a stroke of genius.
What went wrong: With the hole he dug himself into with the
trades last year, two things needed to happen for Brandon to remain in the top
tier: his keepers had to play like keepers and he needed to nail his early
picks. Neither happened and he’s struggling. I have a real problem with having
four dead spots, especially if it includes two guys who haven’t pitched and are
coming off arm surgery and a rookie who hasn’t been discussed for a promotion.
By doing so, he’s missed out on some opportunities that have come across the
wire. Heyward had appendicitis, Stanton was ineffective and then hurt, Reyes is
hurt, and Lawrie just hasn’t been that good. Meanwhile his early picks included
Morrow, Haren, Weeks, and Ethier – all underperforming veterans. You can have
the biggest stars (Cabrera) and the best pick (Corbin), but if you don’t have
guys around them, you’re screwed.
Outlook: The usually outspoken Brandon has been something
less than his former self this year, with good reason I suppose. It appears as
though his strategy was to tread water initially and draft injured guys with
the hope of them coming back effective and squeaking in to the playoffs. Not
sure if that’s the best strategy, but obviously I think this team is more than
it has become.
12. Moose is Loose (Brian) – CR: 9th (7.9), RR:
12th (7.7), STND: 14th
What went right: Chris Davis. Whoa. The guy is a beast.
Regression is coming, but he’s performing like an obvious keeper. 13th
rounder Everth Cabrera has been a revelation of sorts as well -- after a tough
start to 2012, he’s been a force to be reckoned with on the base paths since,
and he’s a good OBP guy too. Beltran has been healthy and productive, while
Cliff Lee, Medlen, and Maholm have been very productive. Slowey was a good
pickup and Greinke has been good when healthy. And, of course, there’s Tulo.
Outlook: There’s a lot to like, but he needs Freese and M.
Montero to be who they were last year for the offense, which lacks massive
firepower, to keep the team in matchups. Meanwhile, having only seven pitchers
without any high K guys makes it hard to compete in the cumulative stat
categories. He’s in the basement in the standings, but this is a correctable
situation.
13. Cowhide Joyride (Dave) – CR: 12th (9.1), RR:
10th (7.5), STND: 13th
What went right: 17th rounder Vernon Wells could
end up being the pick of the year, while 13th rounder Matt Carpenter
has been a steady force in runs and OBP.
Lester and Ryu proved worthy of being one of the limited early picks
Dave had. Travis Wood was an early pickup who has been stellar with 9 QS. Dave
also has a stellar bullpen with Grilli joining keepers Chapman and Kimbrel.
Last rounder Francisco Liriano may end up being a tremendous find.
What went wrong: A lot. Its too bad because I thought he
drafted well, but outside of Posey, his keepers haven’t been terribly
productive. Chapman’s move to the bullpen limited his upside and relegated two
of his keepers (Kimbrel, the other) to only being part of a dominant bullpen
and nothing more. Ryan Zimmerman
has been frustrating, Andrus has been runs and steals and nothing else, and
Price stunk and then got injured.
Meanwhile, “early” picks Howard and Teheran have just been OK. That leaves a bunch of late rounders
who have failed to pickup the slack. Hunter, N. Walker, Beckett, and Ichiro are
all veterans you’d expect more out of, while Hanson has been hurt.
Outlook: Tough to give Dave a chance at the playoffs until
some of these guys start producing the way they’re supposed to. Really, it’ll
come down to Zimm, Price, Hanson, Beckett, Hunter, and Howard. It’s tough to
look at those guys and say with confidence that things will turn around.
14. Prestige Worldwide (Lars) – CR: 11th (8.4),
RR: 11th (7.7), STND: 9th
What went right: Lars has found some nice middle rotations
guys in Minor, Griffin and Milone, while Feldman and Kazmir have had their
moments. Top picks Gordon and Cruz
have been solid contributors, Buck was a smart early pickup that paid off
(though his regression has began), and he’s gotten nice output from keepers CC,
EE, Longo, and Trumbo. Nava has been very good, but he hasn’t been on Lars’
roster for very long.
What went wrong:
Halladay was a bad trade. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but there were
questions in the preseason about his velocity but Lars still dealt 22 rounds of
upgrade for CC and Doc. There isn’t much of a bullpen here with three potential
closers (Axford, Marmol, Peralta) and one iffy (Frieri). Granderson’s latest
injury is obviously a big disappointment, but really the biggest problem has
been Lars’ draft: Rollins, Moose, Werth, Estrada, Vogelsong, S. Perez,
Rutledge, Porcello were all among the first 100 choices in the draft. It looks
like the Commish squandered an opportunity there.
Outlook: If Grandy is healthy and Rollins is productive, his
offense should be fine. But he could really use a boost in the pitching
department. It’s tough to look at Lars’ staff and see it being championship
level – unless Doc comes back as his old self. By then, it might be too late.
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