Its week 16 and we are just a week and a half from the start of the open trading period, so I thought it would be a good time to do an update on the league. It's been amazing to have a pretty normal season. COVID is still here, but it hasn't shut down teams for weeks at a time and hopefully you too have been able to catch a live game this season. Hopefully collective bargaining doesn't cause a hiccup in 2022 because that could be disastrous for long-term interest in MLB.
It's really been a great season with some amazing, historical performances - whether it s the record number of no hitters, Shohei Fever, or the emergence of young players and surprises like Adolis Garcia. Doesn't hurt that the Sox are amazing and a lot of fun to watch. What a difference a year makes.
Fees
Most people have not paid. So far, Dave and Chad are all set. Please everyone else pay via Paypal in the next week or so - adrok71@yahoo.com.
Everyone owes $100 beside Gibby ($130) and Jason ($115) due to last and second to last place finishes in 2020.
Rankings
Sorry for the lack of Real Rankings. It's been particularly challenging to find time for everything Id like to. I hope that will change before next season.
See above. There's some very interesting and considerable differences between performance and their place in the actual standings. The most prominent is Jason, who is on the outside looking in at the playoffs right now, but who has produced the second best stats of any team. That's quite a bit of bad luck. This stuff tends to even out over the course of a season, but we have had teams be way off for one reason or another. Chad also has a much worse record than performance suggests. That is a little more palatable when you look at the average performance in total as Chad is the first in a massive group of teams comprising half the league with an average between 6.0 and 6.9. This has played out in real life too as the standings behind Montezumas has fluctuated considerably all season.
So, who is selling and who is buying? Gibby has been working on his rebuild for a while now and has accumulated a nice group of young players. Dagan is talking deals too. Shomphe is in the middle of building a house and selling a house with 4 kids, but seems primed to go into rebuild mode too when trading opens up. Everyone else has a shot to be in the top 8. But open trading can be appealing.
Open Trading
The trade deadline is Thurs 8/19. I have no clue why I only had Thursdays as options, but that's what we have (it's usually a Sunday) and I can't change it. So that mean open trading period start on Thurs 8/5 at 12:01 am -- 10 days from now.
Reminder: "The open trading period will take place two weeks prior to the trading deadline, when teams may trade up to two future picks in Rounds 7-10. There is no limit on the number of picks a team may receive."
If you're selling a top performer, it may behoove you to announce on Slack or on the Yahoo message board.
Chat Forums
Will be interested in looking at changing the messaging platforms. I have two leagues that use GroupMe and they tend to be a lot more active. It's a bit more logical and user friendly than Slack I think, but would be interest in hearing others opinions.
Payout
Regular season champion: 25% of total prize pool
Playoff champion: 50% of total prize pool
2nd place (playoffs): 25% of total prize pool
2nd place (regular season): $100
Reminders
Please continue to playout the season even after Open Trading. If you see someone not setting lineups on a regular basis, please reach out. Repeat offenders will be fined.
We are limited to 60 free agent/wire pickups during the regular season. Some people are getting up there, so plan accordingly. You get 3 pickups/week during the playoffs.
Trades are processed the morning after they are executed by the teams. I cannot execute a trade immediately, even if you ask nice.
