Week 17 Real Rankings

In a ferocious heavyweight match, the league’s top two teams went head to head, with Montezumas beating out One Nut 6-3-1. The matchup could’ve ended much worse for Jason, who was down 1-9 late Sunday before taking the lead in pitching rates. In fact, the Justin Turner HR late Sunday off Price caused the final score to swing 1.5 games. Still, Montezumas made up three games and is closing in with four weeks left and an easier schedule based on current standings. With 25% of the pot on the line, it could get really interesting.

 

The 2.8 Real Ranking for Montezumas this week was only the second sub-3.0 score for one week this season. One Nut accomplished this back in Week 2.

 

In case you’re keeping score, that’s the third straight week Montezumas has been atop the RR leaderboard. The last four weeks have been good to the Revenge, even if that’s not reflected in the standings:

 

	Last 4 Weeks
1	Montezuma's Revenge	3.88
2	One Nut Wonders	5.00
3	Cowhide Joyride	6.28
4	Anal Hershiser	6.73
5	Sexual Napalm	6.90
6	Moose is Loose!	7.20
7	Urban Achievers	7.65
8	Thor's Hammered	7.88
9	Donkey Punchers	7.88
10	Brokeback Moundmen	7.98
11	Ring of Fire	8.15
12	Stroman my Cobb Odor	8.15
13	Keepin it REAL...	8.38
14	The Angry Pirates	8.88

 

There’s a group of teams that have been up and down all season, those nine teams between the top four and the Pirates have winning percentages between .506 and .424. All have the chance to make the playoffs and make some noise. Even 13^th place Urban Achievers are only nine games out of 8^th – an amount that is certainly surmountable over a four-week period. Given that Dagan brought a sixth ranked team to within a Stephen Piscotty homer of a championship, it would be advisable for teams to stick this one out til the very end. Even if you’re selling, there’s ways to sell without giving up. Teams like Anal and Moose have had solid showings the past four weeks, so keep that in mind.

 

Pity Thor and Urban are facing the reality of having to sell. Their Actual vs. Real rankings just haven’t evened out over the course of the year. Both could still make noise in the playoffs, but the reality should be much sweeter for both teams.

 

But really, no one will be giving up. There will be fines and potentially teams being overtaken if I see lineups not being set. You can be apathetic with your roster if you want, but we’re not going to let a championship be decided because someone couldn’t be bothered to hit the “Start Active Players” button.

 

Besides, don’t forget – 9^th place get the first pick AUTOMATICALLY. So don’t let up!

 

REMINDER: we all have 60 transactions to use during the regular season. You do not need to save any for the playoffs.

 

In case you haven’t been keeping up with things, current sellers include The Angry Pirates, Urban Achievers, Thor’s Hammered, and Donkey Punchers. Brokeback is entertaining offers, even if has yet to act. There’s suddenly an influx of assets available.

 

Buyers? Well, that’s not so clear. One Nut, Montezumas, S. Napalm, and Cowhide have all been quite active. Anal has made a trade for the future, but have been performing very well and are 8 games up on the nearest non-playoff team. Keeping it Real, Ring of Fire, and Moose is Loose have been silent (Dagan got married last weekend, so we’ll give him a pass). Then there’s Stroman my Cobb Odor (or just “Odor” now” who has talked a lot but acted little and has a three game lead on the last playoff spot.

 

There has been surprisingly few early picks dealt so far and only one in the first two rounds. Napalm sent his 7^th in the Kershaw/Stras deal, but since then Cowhide, Montezumas and One Nut have dispatched their 9^th rounders and nothing else. This is certain to change in the next few days.

 

There will be no trades after midnight on Sunday. There are no exceptions. Just get the deals done ahead of time. If it’s not clear if you’re selling, buying, or sitting, let it be known. Got an interesting asset to put on the block? Announce it!

 

Again, please pay if you have not already. I’ll be contacting managers individually starting next week. As always, just let me know if this is a problem.