Week 17 Real Rankings

NOTES

We're going to start off the notes this week with a bit more of a sense of urgency. I know a bunch of you will start tuning out after Sunday, so please pay if you haven't yet. I'll be contacting you individually if I don't hear soon: Kyle ($130), Dan ($115), Brian, Dagan, Dave, Shomphe, Justin ($100 each) all still owe. Paypal is adrok71@yahoo.com. Checks are fine too.

On that note, do not tune out. I will fine owners for missed lineups after the trading deadline. It disrupts the legitimacy of the league when you even miss one day, so stick with it or the fines will be coming. If it becomes a big problem, you won't be invited back.

And on that note, please help me police this. It is for the good of the league. Just send me a text or email and it will remain anonymous.

Donkey, Livin on Correa and Cowhide have used all of their protected picks and Montezumas has one left. That still leaves a bunch of playoff teams who have yet to use this valuable tool. It's already been a very exciting first week, so let's keep it up. 11 trades so in the first week!

With four weeks to go, the playoff picture is getting interesting. Look no further than the top 4 for the last four weeks to see what I'm talking about:

1	Donkey Punchers	5.85
2	One Nut Wonders	6.13
3	Stroman my Cobb Odor	6.25
4	Montezuma's Revenge	6.28
5	Anal Hershiser	6.73
6	Thor's Hammered	6.85
7	The Angry Pirates	6.88
8	Sexual Napalm	6.90
9	Cowhide Joyride	7.48
10	Ring of Fire	7.50
11	Keep Off Groin	7.75
12	Brokeback Moundmen	7.93
13	Livin' on a Correa	8.40
14	Moose is Loose!	9.38

Yes that is: (1) Donkey's dominance sliding a bit, (2) the once lowly One Nut taking an identity as a winner, (3) a nearly fully divested Stroman my Cobb crushing skulls, (4) the once mighty Livin on Correa near the rear, well behind the midseason plunger Brokeback, (5) multi-champion Ring of Fire, the one-time clear leader and thoroughly unlucky manager, coming back to the reality of the actual standings.

I tried to create some remaining scheduling difficulty ranks, but it was honestly very difficult to decide on the metric to judge teams by. Is the last four weeks to small of a sample? Is the winning % even a useful stat given the roster turnover? I settled on opponents average Real Ranking for past six weeks.

1	Donkey Punchers	7.61
2	Sexual Napalm	7.54
3	Brokeback Moundmen	7.53
4	Angry Pirates	7.52
5	Ring of Fire	7.26
6	Thors Hammered	7.20
6	Stroman my Cobb	7.20
8	Cowhide Joyride	7.05
9	Montezumas	7.00
10	Moose is Loose	6.89
11	Anal Hershiser	6.87
12	Livin on Correa	6.86
13	Keep Off Groin	6.82
14	One Nut	6.57

Donkey has a tough matchup with Cowhide (#5) before ending with Anal (#10), Moose (#14), and One Nut (#8).  Meanwhile, One Nut has to deal with the aforementioned Donkey (#1), Montezumas (#2), and Cowhide (#5) mixed in with perhaps some reprieve from Brokeback (#13).  Though given their past dustups, wouldn't be surprised to see Watson try to make Jason's life miserable that week.  So while it appears the rich get richer, poor Jason will have to continue his uphill battle.

Eight teams make the playoffs, which is more than half the league. But part of the reason we do that is to make things interesting this time of year - sell or buy or sit?

Another big thing to look out for is the fight for ninth and the first overall pick in next year's draft! We decided to select the draft order based on best standing among non-playoff teams in an effort to incentivize teams to continue to compete for wins, free agents, and waiver pickups.  A few wins can make the difference between you selecting Jacob DeGrom with the (real) first overall or Stephen Piscotty at six overall. Don't give up!