POW Period 8

by Calvin

Scoring Period 8: May 21-27, 2013

Players of the Week

• Jeff Samardzija (Heaters) - 17.2 IP, 2 W, 14 K-BB, 0.509 ERA, 0.566 WHIP
• Andrew McCutchen (Perpetual IR) - 0.357 BA, .902 OPS, HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, 5 SB

Worthless of the Week

• Michael Young (Slumpbusters) - 1-for-26, 2 R, .113 OPS in the #3 hole

POW Period 7

by Calvin

Scoring Period 7: May 14-20, 2013

All Slumpbusters as they swept the Toques:

Players of the Week

1. Clayton Kershaw (Slumpbusters) - 17.2 IP, 2 W, 14 K-BB, 0.509 ERA, 0.566 WHIP
2. Carlos Gonzalez (Slumpbusters) - .375 BA, 1.36 OPS, 8 RBI, 8 R, 3 HR, 3 SB
3. Everth Cabrera (Slumpbusters) - .387 BA, .909 OPS, 6 RBI, 5 R, 7 SB

Worthless of the Week

• Dee Gordon (Slumpbusters) - 0-for-17, 0 R, 8 K, CS: 3rd base for the 3rd out

POW Week 3

Sorry for the delay.  I'm blaming the newborn. 

Player of the Week for week 3 goes to....

 

Tim Lincecum SP - FKAky.

 

In a week that had little to choose from and I may be a little bias here but Timmy looked amazing this week.  6.2 INN, 4 HA, 2 BBI, 8 K, 0.900 WHIP, W, 6 K-BB.  Far from his typical outings as he didn't give up one big inning.  I'll take three double-doubles, two orders of fries and a chocolate-strawberry milkshake, please!  PS...Timmy...grow your hair out please! The Giants are losing millions of dollars in marketing since you trimmed your beautiful locks.

 

Nominees will only be from teams that had a winning record for the period.

 

Noteworthy:

Shelby Miller SP - Matt's Perpetual IR

12.2 INN, 9 HA, 3 BBI, 14 K, 2 ER, 1.421 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, W, L, 11 K-BB

This guy is looking like the new ace for the St Louis.  I did not see that coming.

 

AJ Burnett SP - Adam's Home Runs 4 Jesus

12 INN, 6 HA, 3 BBI, 15 K, 2 ER, 1.500 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, W, 12 K-BB

AJ leading the NL in strikeouts...INSANE you're INSANE! (Usain Bolt Insane commercial drop)

 

Worthless of the Week:

 

Mitchell Boggs RP - Dustin's Chicken Strips

1.1 INN, 5 HA, 4 ER, 27.000 ERA, 3.750 WHIP, L

I hope you're enjoying the minors!

 

John Lannan SP - Calvin's Slumpbusters

1.1 INN, 5 HA, 4 ER, 27.000 ERA, 3.750 WHIP, L

It could've been worse...

 

Nominees will only be from teams that had a losing record for the period.

 

POW Week 2

First I would like to announce a new equity member for Team FKAky.  On Tuesday, April 16th, Sierra Lin Rice became was born.  Mother and baby are beautiful and doing well.  It's my hopes that she will take over GM roles upon her 18th birthday.

Now to the Player Of the Week for Week 2:

Adam Wainwright - Dustin's Naga Pete Chikin Peeps
I have no clue what Dustin's team name means but I am sure it's not political correct.  Wainwright pitched by far the best gem of the early season thus he is receiving the award for POW.

9 INN, 4 HA, 12 K, 0.444 WHIP, W, 12 K-BB Worthless of the Week Dave's relief pitching staff...they gave up 18 earned runs in a little over 12 innings pitched (12.1) for an outstanding 13.13 ERA.  His relievers won negative four games (trying to put a positive spin on 4 loses).  They did get one save so things are looking up.

Dustin's Draft Rankings

First of all this draft was a draft of crazy high bids. This year will be really close down the stretch; some teams did a really good job of drafting while others made a few to a lot of draft mistakes.

My darkhorse in this Race is Matt. He has a real chance do do well this year.

Part 1 of the analysis will be a letter grade and a projected finish for each team. The second part will be a breakdown of the Good the Bad and Ugly.

Projected finish

Adam 1st
Jason 2nd
Kelley 3rd
Dave 4th
Calvin 5th
Dan 6th
Matt 7th
Todd 8th
Trevor 9th
Naga Pete 10th


Adam

Hitting: A
Pitching: B
Relievers: A
New Keepers: B

Jason

Hitting: A
Pitching: B
Relievers: B+
New Keepers: B+

Kelley

Hitting: B+
Pitching: B+
Relievers: C-
New Keepers: C

Dave

Hitting: B
Pitching: A
Relievers: A
New Keepers: B

Calvin

Hitting: B+
Pitching: B
Relievers: A
New Keepers: B

Dan

Hitting: B
Pitching: B
Relievers: B+
New Keepers: C+

Todd

Hitting: C
Pitching: A
Relievers: C
New Keepers: B+

Matt

Hitting: B+
Pitching: C+
Relievers: B
New Keepers: B

Trevor

Hitting: B-
Pitching: C+
Relievers: A
New Keepers: D+

Naga Pete

Hitting: C
Pitching: A-
Relievers: A
New Keepers: D+

Dustin's Draft Review

The draft was very interesting, high prices, different draft strategies (Jay right at you) and the most used phrase….one more!

So here we go with what I thought of everyone’s draft.

Home runs 4 Jesus

Hitting: It has a good mix of power and speed. Adam probably needs a little more power down the road to win, but enough to finish in the top 4.

Over pay was Heyward for 36. Good buy was Ruggiano at 8.

Sleeper was Chris Johnson at 3.

Pitching: This is what I believe he did the best at. Getting Maholm and Garcia both at 2 is an absolute steal. His starting 6 is legit, along with Corbin for the sixth. Two closers will help him stay in the game.

Finish: 1^st. Very complete team. But Garcia does have to stay healthy and Adam has to grab some HR’s the right time.

Dan’s Duffers

Hitting: Old man Helton leading this team in Age and DUI’s with Placido riding shot gun and they will eventually be bailing out Gallardo to go to the Slumpbusters.

I do like some of the hitters, but the Duffers need some POP, big time. This team does have speed to burn. Over pay-Nobody (maybe Weeks, but his wrists are unbreakable this year) Good buy was A-Gon. Sleeper was Yelich (Once they trade Stanton, they will call this dude up)

Pitching: Duffers have Two aces, Two mid-range (Miley and Lohse) and then Two decent low dollar flyers, not bad. I do like this pitching staff and it will have to carry this team until some POP is acquired. The relievers are very good. Romo is a stud, with Rosey being a long shot on saves or spot starts.

Finish: 3rd.

Dave's Pine Riders- Champions Bitch!!!!!! High Steppin’

Hitting: A lot of Mets and to no one’s surprise. I see most 10-15 Home run dudes on this team (Rizzo, Desmond, Wright and maybe Buck are the exceptions).  Steals seem to be mid table maybe ranging to upper table. I do see Average though and that could be the strength of this team.

Good buy was Buck (can he keep it up?) Over pay was Walker. Sleeper was Castillo.

Pitching: Dude, 4 starting pitchers!!!!! WTF? I don’t know where to start. Cain, Harvey and Cueto are very good for starting a repeat, but then it stops there. Arroyo? Ok for a 5^th or 6^th, but your 4^th. Maybe wheeler gets a call up, but in June? Then your poor relievers, there were already question marks on Axford and Motte coming into the draft and you got them anyway. Long story short; trade some Hitters with Average to a team that needs it for some SP’s . You need to try and repeat, you walked all the way to grocery store, buy the damn groceries Dave!!! Good Buy was nobody. Over pay was in order Jansen at 12 (too high, the starting closer of the dodgers went for 4), Axdaddy at 15 and Cain at 37 (great pitcher no doubt, but at that price he needs to strike out at least 200, he never has. Career high was 193 last year, he will settle back at 180 this year. Sleeper was Wheeler (In a trade of course)

Finish: No back to back champion this year-8^th

Kelley's FKAky

Hitting: Stars and Scrubs, FKAKY style.  Best Catchers on team so far. Tulo, Kemp, Braun and Bruce are the top 4 off any team, hands down. Again this team needs to have their low dollar dudes to rake to be successful …….Gattis!!. The batting average on this team will be peaks and valleys. Holy smokes, Pedro and the Uggles on the same team!!!! How many 0-4’s can a team take in a week? Also Bruce is not going to win a batting title any time soon. FKAKY’s should do a trade with the Pine Riders. Speed seems adequate, enough to compete. Good buy was Gattis. Over pay was probably the Kempers, but we will wait to see if his swing comes back. Sleeper buy again was Gattis.

Pitching: Wheeler for Detwiler at a draft day trade was decent. Which pitcher will pan out the best this year, if not for the future? Solid starting staff, but the whole pitching staff still has question marks. Good buy Buzzsaw for 1. Over pay was Lincecum. Sleeper was Detwiler.

Finish: 4^th. Needs some average to make a move upwards.

Matt's Perpetual IR

Hitting: Awesome keepers probably could have the MVP in Harper. But the hitters in the draft came up short. I do like Dat Dude, Mccutchen and Prado. They are Good hitters with minimal to mid-range pop. Gyorko has shown flashes in the minors with the big fly’s, but he needs to prove it in the bigs before I believe.  A-Ram and Mccan are injured and at this point what do they have left when they come back? There are pieces here, but can they come together?

Good buy was Adams (he needs to find a place to play though) Over pay was Prado at 24, I do like that guy, but 24?  Sleeper was Heisey

Pitching: I do like Beckett at this price, but do not like the drunkard in Gallardo at 35.

Latos is good and Haren is bad. Miller is very good and Wood is not good at all. This team will have great weeks at pitching and then very bad weeks, Up and Down and all over the place. His 1 closer is Ok as long as he is not traded. Good buy was Beckett. Over pay was Gallardo. Sleeper was Latos via trade (I like him and think he could be a very good price for his results)

Finish: I hate to do this to Matt; a 7th place finish is my Prediction. Now he has the talent to move up and I believe he could, but will he?

Naga Pete's Chikin Scrips

Hitting: A small fail on this part, it started with very good keepers and then ended with a draft that even my own daughter Josie could do better at. Jesus, too many HR’s by older, trade bait and injury prone players. No SB’s on this team. It seems that the hitters can survive, but for this team to make any noise would have to trade to get something going.

Good buy was Rosario. Over pay were Hill and Howard. Sleeper was nobody

Pitching: Nothing to write home about, Two aces and then 6 interchangeable parts. No closers that are going to make an impact. Pretty much drafted like the hitters, like….a child did it.   Good buy was Lee. Over pay was Niese. Sleeper was Fernandez

Finish: A solid 9^th place finish is in the cards. There is no doubt to me that this team will be dealing by the all-star break.

Proj's Poppers

Hitting: Solid Hitting to go with a different roto strategy, I like it. I do see some low average dudes to mix with some higher average guys. Ike Davis does need to come through though for the good of this team. Good buy was Crawford (I feel a big year in the making) Over pay was Either. Sleeper was Valdespin.

Pitching: What can I say, taking Dan’s strategy and fine tuning it. Get the three best closers and mix it with some DL’d starters. It is working now, but what happens when they come off the DL? Trade them for hitting? Or drop them for minor leaguers that never see the light of day? It will happen sooner than later. Maybe go with an all reliever strategy?

Good buy was Beachy. Over pay was maybe Paplebon. Sleeper was Hudson.

Finish: 6th

Calvin's Slumpbusters

Hitting: I like the Hitting. It looks solid. I don’t know if the Homeruns will stay at this rate, but solid none the less. It has Sb’s and Average taken care of. There is no reason why this offense cannot carry the weight.

Good buy was Simmons. Over pay was Cuddyer (maybe trade bait?). Sleeper was Cabrera.

Pitching: Pitching is not as strong as in years past and don’t get me wrong it does have its strengths, but also has some weaknesses. Kennedy looks to regress and I love Minor, but he allowed 26 hr’s last year in a pitchers park. I’m not sold on Teheran just yet.

Good buy was Ryu. Over pay was Minor. Sleeper was Cole.

Finish: 2^nd place and will fight for the Championship.

Todd's Heaters

Hitting: Too many injuries on draft day in the starting lineup, the Heaters need bodies to compete in the beginning so they don’t get too far behind. There are some low average dudes along with quite a bit of speed. Home run power is below average and will need to get some bats in the lineup. A Trade! Trade! Trade! is in the cards.

Good buy was Segura. Over pay was Belt (can he take the next step?) Sleeper was Venable (I have a soft spot for him)

Pitching: The pitching needs some help, Zimmerman and Samardzija are solid. Some others were reached forand probably will fail flat on their faces. Good buy was Nobody.

Over pay was Halladay. Sleeper was Cashner.

Finish: 10^th. Someone has to finish last and it is always the nice guys.

Trevor's Toques

Hitting: I love the hitters; you got Votto and J-UP leading the way. How can you go wrong?

There is power, speed to go along with average. This team will battle with any other team’s offense in the league.

Good buy was J-UP (My call as the MVP.)  Over pay was Utley (Injury in the future).

Sleeper was Duda

Pitching: The pitching will be the downfall of the Toques this year. It is ok, but again average pitching can’t win a championship. Bailey is good, but as your ace? You need an upgrade and can do it by trading some hitters. Closer (s) is ok, but Marmol is sooooo bad and Putz is old, but steady. Good buy was Hudson.  Over pay was nobody. Sleeper was Wandy.

Finish: This year will be a 5^th place end to the season. Better pitching will bring a top 4 finish.

POW Week 1

This site has been dormant forever...I thought that it would be fun to revive the Player of the Week (POW) section.  Nominees will only be from teams that had a winning record for the period.  Here are week one's player of the week.

Justin Upton OF ATL- Trevors Toques
Someone is pissed that he got traded during the off season and that person is Justin Upton.  Justin went off during week one to the tune of 5 homeruns and a .4545 avg.  His was 1.7073 OPS is insane!  He scored 8 runs and drove in 7.  Justin looks at home in Atlanta and could have a career year for them. 

Noteworthy
Paul Maholm P ATL - Adam's Homerun 4 Jesus
I never ever thought that I would type Paul Maholm's name here.  This will be short and sweet because it's Paul Maholm. 
2-0, 12.7 IP, 0.00 ERA and a whip of .8684.

Shin-Soo Choo OF CIN - Adam's Homerun 4 Jesus
It took me four tries to spell his name right.  Adam had an impressive 12-0 line for week one and Choo had an impressive line (.375', 3 HR's, 9 R's 6 RBI's, 1 SB).  Hopefully this doesn't become a trend.

Worthless of the Week
Jason's SP - ALL ON THE DL!

POTW: Pitching - Week 1

I have to give this to my boy Roy Halladay for pitching the first complete game of the season.
2 W's - 16 IP - 17 K's - 2 BB's - 0.56 Era - 0.94 Whip

Noteworthy
Jorge De La Rosa - Round Face
1 W - 7 IP - 9 K's - O BB's - 0.00 Era - 0.29 Whip

Tim Lincecum - Slumpbusters
2 W - 14 IP - 17 K's - 1 BB - 1.29 Era - 0.71 Whip

Worthless of the Week:
Trevor Hoffman for blowing two saves. His age might be finally catching up to him.

POTW: Hitting - Week 1

Player of the Week: Hitting

There wasn't anyone better than Albert Pujols last week in the hitting categories so I am not going to waste any of our time with other player nominations.

Albert Pujols - Beaners
5 Hr's - 14 Rbi's - 8 R's - .407 Avg - .4839 OBP - .963 SLG - 1.4469 OPS

Worthless of the Week:
The Slumpbusters catchers (JR Towles and Chris Iannetta) combing for a 2 for 28 (.071 avg) for the week.

Noteworthy Worthless of the week
Martin Prado - Toques
for hitting .5185 and only driving in one rbi.

Trevor's link to Bill Simmons' stats article

I liked this a lot:


Finally joining the revolution - Bill Simmons - ESPN

- Trev

Let the Season begin!

The draft is done, rosters are set, lets play ball!

To see the draft results, go here:

http://beaverrotoleague.wetpaint.com/page/2010+Draft+Central

2010 Draft Date Set

We're drafting April 10th at ProWorks.

Get you keepers in here: http://beaverrotoleague.wetpaint.com/page/2010+Keepers

Old Style Roto Standings

Here's the old style roto standings for the first four weeks. Its good to help figure out where you need some help and where your strength is.

One of the more interesting things going on is that (unless I did something horribly wrong) Trevor's team has gotten very unlucky. Every other team is fairly close to the standings after four weeks of head to head.

Todd's team is ridiculous pitching-wise. And Vic team is clearly playing very well all around.

What do you think? Comment below!

Player  Batting Pitching Total
VIC     48      42.5     90.5
TREV    35      43       78.0
TODD    17.5    57.5     75.0
JIM     37.5    36       73.5
CK      39.5    31.5     71.0
FKAky   43.5    24       67.5
DUST    43      21.5     64.5
JAS     33      25.5     58.5
MATT    14      33.5     47.5
DAN     19      15       34.0

Dustin's Draft Analysis, Part 4

The final installment of Dustin's Draft analysis. Add some comments and let us know how you think everyone else did!


Toques
This team looks to be above average. Three good starters and three closers are not a bad way to start. The out field has some pop and rbi machines but the rest of the hitting squad is lacking. I mean I like Lee but his years of domination are over. Good old Racky Wacky Weeks. This dude still has not learned how to hit major league pitching.

Bad- There is too many holes in the hitting lineup. Fukudome will slow down and wear down throughout the season. Last year Fukudome’s average went down every month from the start of a red hot opening day.

Ugly- Barry Zito, enough said.

Good- Getting Werth as a keeper for a dollar seems to be a pretty good deal if he can stay healthy. Marmol for nine was a good deal if he can regain the closer role.

Final Prediction- 10th


Juicers
First of all I want to say Vic did well for his first draft. He took a lot of heat from some real asshole owners (I won’t say the names but you know who you are) during the draft and stuck with his plan. I do like this team.

Bad- This isn’t really the worst but I think Gallardo went for a little too much. It could have been the part of the draft where players’ salaries were inflated. Or Gallardo was wanted by a majority of the owners. Anyway , a good young pitcher at a high price.

Ugly- Your pitchers walk a lot of guys and are not huge K pitchers. More walks mean higher whip and worse era. Now I like Maholm, but pirate’s pitchers will not get wins.

Now Vic has two pirates, not a good mix.

Good- There is a lot of good pickups for the future. I love Stewart and Rasmus.

Howard will bang out HR’s and having the number one catcher in our league is not bad either.

Final Prediction- 8th. If I was a betting man I would say it is more likely the juicers will finish in the top 6. The only downside is his pitching for the latter of the season.



Now that Dusty is done, what do you think?

Dustin's Draft Analysis, Part 3

Poppers

This team your are looking at right now is odds on favorites to win the whole thing. I like the hitting and the pitching is solid when healthy. I think the only thing that holds this team back; injuries. Also there is a couple of dudes in particular (Ludwick and Delgado for his age) that had career seasons last year, but can they do it again?

Bad - Matsui is a 100 game a year guy. I know he isn’t really that important, but he is a guy Jay needs to steal bases. Bad back equals no steals.

Ugly - This might be a reach, Huston Street closing for the Rockies. Velocity is down, Corpas behind you and the crappy ballpark. I think that equals not a good chance to succeed in your profession.

Good - Getting Rowand and Molina for 2 dollars a piece is very good. I know Molina will have a breakout year and Rowand is just a smoking deal.

Projected finish - 1st, but there are three other teams that are going to challenge you hard.

Cross your fingers and hope no one else gets injured.


Heaters

This is a very interesting team. How can you predict how this team will play out? The Heaters could finish in the top four or the bottom four just as easy. Can the hitting on this team help the Pitching win categories?

Bad - The heaters have a lot of low dollar hitters. I have heard of a nine dollar pitching staff but not a low hitting lineup. Granted there is a couple of hitting standouts on this team. But can they overcome hitters that are rebounding from poor seasons and are rookies?

Ugly - Honestly, I can’t find a really ugly draft pick. I would say LaRoche, because that guy has burned me more than ever. But for fourteen dollars you can’t expect the world.

Good - The best pitching on the planet, bar none. Two good closers and a bunch of top tier starters. I also like Fowler for one dollar. Fowler is my type of player.

Projected Finish - 6th. This is a very, very conservative 6th pick. This team could surprise and finish in the top four with a trade down the line for more hitting.

Dustin's Draft Analysis, Part 2

Azzuri - I believe this team to be well rounded. The hitting is solid; The Azzuri won’t lead the league in any hitting stat but will contend every week in each. I believe they have enough to get them into the playoff’s and possibly deep into the postseason. I’m weary of the semi old/injury plagued pitchers pitching in HR ballparks. They have a shot, but remember the Azzuri have never won a playoff series. They fold underneath the pressure.

Bad- Gonzales, Mike that is. I don’t think an erratic closer can give the Azzuri many category wins in saves, especially when the braves have Soriano backing Gonzales up. One false move by Mike and he is outta here.G-unit.

Ugly- I don’t know if drafting three pitchers who like to give up the long ball in homeru ballparks; Harang, Oswalt and Myers. And then you add an injury waiting to happen in carpenter. It might not look good.

Good- Like I said before the hitting is very solid. If the pitchers pitch like they are supposed to this team will challenge for the title. Getting Hanson for 2 dollars might end up as a great steal. But again I don’t have much faith in young pitchers.

Projected Finish- I would like to say 2nd, but anywhere in the top 4 would be more like it.


Fkaky’s- Dude, a back to back to back championship is not out of the question for the cup holders of last year. This team has one or two holes on offense that need to be sewn up before a serious title run is made late in the season. The pitching has a few good starters, but the saves situation needs some attention badly.

Bad- I know this is really nit picking, buy I would have to say Gamel and Monroe starting on your hitting team when both of those guys don’t even play. That is already giving the opposition two guys ahead of you (even if the two dudes are bad).I know your hitting is stacked in some areas, but you too many steals. Trade some to get a couple every day all around players.

Ugly- No closers!!! You do have one, but he is ancient and injured. It is like sending my brothers little kids out there to shut the door on the opposition.

Good- Here there is a few stand outs. Bonifacio for two is already getting votes for the steal of the draft. Three good pitchers and a flyer on Zimmerman, I hope he can make a contribution this season.

Projected finish- I would say 4th, but a top 3 finish could be in the cards or even a third championship.

Dustin's Draft Analysis, Part 1

Okay, sorry for being a little late on this analysis of the draft. Let us get to the story. As usual I will give the good, the bad and the ugly to each team and I will give a prediction on how their season will pan out. I will be sending these in three installments.

Average Joes - This team seems balanced on pitching and on offense with the standouts being Headley and Bruce. Ethier will have a breakout season.
Bad- Chris young the hitter, this dude has to learn to hit for average and for 20 bucks I think his average will hurt more than his speed and power will help you.
Ugly- I would throw Arroyo off a train right now, ditch him. He has so many problems.
Good- It seems everybody is in the same price range, so I don’t have a real standout. But you had good young keepers and I think Dickerson will prove his worth if baker gives him PT. Projected finish 5th.

Barca Beaners - Jim has the best hitter in the league hands down. But will that be enough to win the title, I don’t know. You will get definite pop from Pujols, Wright and Ibanez, but where else?
Ross? Or Hall? Not this year. Pitching would be a stronger point if Hamels elbow wasn’t so tender.
Bad- Hamels, if his elbow cannot hold up.
Ugly- Cueto, flash in the pan or young promising stud?
Good- There is three guys I really like; Fontenot for 7, he is ready for a good year in a stacked lineup. Lewis, I really wanted him. He is a 15-20 hr dude with wheels in an improving lineup. Ibanez is who will have a monster year, no doubt. Projected finish it is hard to say. Maybe the Beaners will end up as high as fourth or as low as 8th or 9th. 7th is my suggestion.

Slumpbusters - The hitting for this team will carry it through the season and deep into the playoffs.
And at this time I’m writing this Calvin has two-three starters from the OF on his bench. That tells you his OF is deep. His pitching is not as good as it may seem. Lincecum and Billinsley are studs, no which way about it. Then the rest of the staff has to pick up the slack. I’m not sold on Kershaw just yet, give him time and he might be good. Sanchez and Perez are lefties with mental or past injury problems, no thanks. Wellemeyer is the wildcard, He could help the two go to guys or he could just lie down. Franklin could be a great pickup if C.Perez doesn’t get healthy.
Bad- Perez, I know he was only 8 dollars, but he is in mental distress right now.
Ugly- It has to be Milton Bradley; Mix a head case with an injury past and it adds up to a troubling season on a great team.
He could prove me wrong though.
Good- Calvin has three great keepers in Russell, Cantu and Lincecum, but I really like Billingsley for 25. This dude will battle for the CY if he keeps his walks under control. Projected finish 3rd.

Duffers - Where to start. Dan went with the reliever approach instead of being starter heavy. I don’t think there is any middle ground here. Either the Duffer’s rock with the pitching or his starters blow up and ruin his precious era, whip, and k-bb. His hitting will carry him through the season much like the Slumpbuster’s. But I don’t think the duffer’s can go as deep into the playoffs without better starters. The Duffer’s have two young hitters in Pence and Kemp that I really think will thrive. These two will provide some spark to this team.
Bad- Volquez, You ask really? I saw him pitch in WBC and he didn’t look good. I brushed it off thinking he was just rusty. Now I think this guy was over pitched last year, No doubt Dusty Baker is managing. Just ask Prior how he is doing of late.
Ugly- The three left handed pitchers’s on the staff. Johnson might rebound but I doubt it, He is old and old. Olsen is young enough to turn it around but his whip and k-bb is atrocious. I like Parra in about two years when he has developed as a pitcher in a hitter’s ballpark.
Good- It is the hitting. I think two or thee guys will have career years; Encarnacion, K . Johnson and Tulo. Projected finish 9th.

Answering Baseball’s What-Ifs

Fun article about running baseball simulations:

Answering Baseball’s What-Ifs

One game has little meaning. A thousand seasons can take a while. Thank goodness for quad-core processors.

“Computer simulations work pretty well in baseball for two reasons,” said Carl Morris, a professor of statistics at Harvard University who has written several papers that commingled baseball and formal statistical theory. “In general, they allow you to study fairly complicated processes that you can’t really get at with pure mathematics. But also, sports are great for simulations — you can play 10,000 seasons overnight.”

2009 Season

OK, the draft date is tentatively set for April 5th, 2009

Here's the Draft Info: 2009 Draft Central

Here's the keeper list:

2009 Keeper List

Final Bracket

The finals

Period 25

FKAky at Slumpbusters 8-3-1


Period 26

FKAky at Slumpbusters 6-3-3


Congrats to Kelley!

Round 3, Week 2

Period 24: 9/9/08 - 9/15/08 (Playoffs)


Todd's Heaters at Slumpbusters 2-10-0
FKAky at Proj's Poppers 8-4-0

Round 3, Week 1

Period 23: 9/2/08 - 9/8/08 (Playoffs)

Todd's Heaters at Slumpbusters 1-11-0
FKAky at Proj's Poppers 8-3-1

Round 2, Week 2

Todd's Heaters at The White Flag Army 8-2-2
FKAky at DonQuioxte of Donkey Dookie 9-2-1
Slumpbusters at Matt's 60-Day DL's 9-2-1
Proj's Poppers at Jim's Beaners 7-3-2

So the Round 2 results:

Todd beats Dustin 11-9-4
Kelley beats Dan 17-6-1
Calvin beats Matt 13-8-3
Jason beats Jim 14-7-3

Nice comeback from Calvin after the first week loss. And a minor upset from Todd over Dustin.

Round 3 looks like this:

Calvin vs. Todd
Jason vs. Kelley

Round 2, week 1

The first leg of the playoffs is complete. Looks like the top seed is in a little trouble. Nothing he can't come back from, but if Matt goes off its anybodies championship to win!

Todd's Heaters at The White Flag Army 3-7-2
FKAky at DonQuioxte of Donkey Dookie 8-4-0
Slumpbusters at Matt's 60-Day DL's 4-6-2
Proj's Poppers at Jim's Beaners 7-4-1

Round 1 results

Jim pulls off the upset with an 8-4 win in week 2 over Trevor.

Matt holds on to a 6-6- tie and moves on.

Playoffs Round 1

Matt beat Andy 7-2-3

It's going to be a tough road for Andy in week 2. He's going to need at least 8 wins and maybe more depending on the tie situation.

BOX SCORE

Matt's 60-Day DL's Full Flanull
Result Value  Cat    Value  Result
W      0.3022 BA     0.2714 L
T      11     HR     11     T
W      45     RBI    36     L
W      41     R      35     L
T      3      SB     3      T
W      0.8465 OPS    0.8323 L
W      77.33  INN    47.67  L
W      4.1897 ERA    5.8531 L
W      1.2802 WHIP   1.6783 L
T      3      W      3      T
L      1      S      3      W
L      21     K-BB   24     W
7-2-3         Total         2-7-3

Trevor ties Jim 6-6

Well, it all comes down to week 2 for these guys!

BOX SCORE

Trevor's Toques Jim's Beaners
Result Value   Cat     Value   Result
L      0.2802  BA      0.3086  W
W      6       HR      5       L
W      29      RBI     21      L
W      31      R       21      L
W      4       SB      3       L
L      0.8085  OPS     0.8876  W
L      48.33   INN     50      W
L      3.9103  ERA     2.1600  W
L      1.3034  WHIP    1.2000  W
W      3       W       1       L
L      0       S       2       W
W      20      K-BB    19      L
6-6-0          Total           6-6-0

Playoff Bracket 2008

Its playoff time!



Click to make bigger...

Earl Weaver goes off

Wow. Put the headphones on for this one...

April Player of the Month Poll Results

Lance Berkman, Jason - 8 HR, 23 RBI, 1.12 OPS, 4 SB, 23 R
1

Chase Utley, Dustin, 10 HR, 21 RBI, 1.19 OPS, 2 SB, 23 R
6

Pat Burrell, Dan, 8 HR, 25 RBI, 1.18 OPS, 18 R
1

Chipper Jones, Matt, .442 AVE, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 1.19 OPS, 22 R, 1 injury
0

Brad Lidge, Trevor, 6 SV, 11 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6 K-BB
0

Jake Peavy, Kelley, 2.09 ERA, 43.0 IP, 3 W, 24 K-BB, 1.00 WHIP
1

Carlos Zambrano, Calvin, 2.21 ERA, 40.7 IP, 4 W, 23 K-BB, 1.13 WHIP
0

Billy Wagner, Todd, 6 SV, 10 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.30 WHIP, 8 K-BB
0

Miguel Tejada,
0

Free Agent Wars

4/28

Dusty went off! He's down to $43 and spent a whopping $46 this week alone! Wow. Lots of activity these first 3 weeks. I think Todd should rename his team to Second place by a $1. He missed out on Acosta by $1 last week and Sanchez this week.

We also had the first trade of the year from Jim and Dusty. Looks like Dustin isn't waiting around to make changes.

Clint Barmes
$17 Dustin's Dancing Burrows
$12 Furry Killer Arse Kicking Yetis
$8 Kelley's FKAKY
$5 Matt's 15-Day DL's
$1 Proj's Poppers

Jonathan O. Sanchez
$17 Dustin's Dancing Burrows
$16 Todd's Heaters
$9 Proj's Poppers
$8 Kelley's FKAKY
$5 Matt's 15-Day DL's
$5 Matt's 15-Day DL's
$2 Slumpbusters

John Lannan
$12 Dustin's Dancing Burrows
$4 Furry Killer Arse Kicking Yetis
$3 Matt's 15-Day DL's

Paul McAnulty
$2 Kelley's FKAKY
$1 Trevor's Toques

Jeff Salazar
$1 Trevor's Toques

Brian Bocock
$1 Kelley's FKAKY

Shawn Chacon
$1 Kelley's FKAKY

Draft Poll Results

Who had the best overall draft roster?

44% Jason

22% Kelley

0% Matt

0% Jim

0% Calvin

0% Dustin

0% Dan

22% Todd

0% Trevor

11% Andy

Total Votes: 9

Red Sox Batting Stances Video

Yea, we are an NL league, but this is pretty funny:

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor