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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Week 22

Last week of the regular season and the heat is on!

We'll start with the most meaningful storyline, as two Grafton Ave natives battle for the final playoff spot. Greg is currently 3 games up on Brad for the 6 seed and will try to coast into the playoffs with a win over Andy. The magic number for Greg is 7, if he can find a way to take 7 categories from Andy, he's playoff bound. Brad will go head to head against Pflanz in a matchup where he needs to win at least 4 categories to stay in it. However to actually have a shot, I think Brad needs to take 7 or more categories this week.

The wrench thrown into all of this is Pflanz, who is only 4 games behind Greg and also fighting for the 6 seed. If Pflanz can beat Brad by a significant margin, and Greg takes a beat down at the hands of Andy, Pflanz could see yet another Franchise playoff berth.

So these three teams will be battling, Although none of them have looked overly impressive lately:

Greg is ice cold, just 4-15 in his last two weeks, but keep in mind that was against Mark and Russ, he should have an easier time with Andy, who is 6-10 in his last two weeks against lesser opponents.

Brad hasn't won since week 14, but has forced ties in the last two weeks to keep him in the hunt. He's been sliding down a slippery slope since The All-Star Break, yet he still has a shot at this.

Pflanz has looked the best out of the three as of late, but 16-13 over the last three weeks isn't exactly scaring anyone. Plus, at 4 games, he's the furthest out of the three, and would need the biggest break to get in.

If I'm making  prediction, I'm sticking with my Greg choice. I don't think he will even win this week, but Brad and Pflanz will play each other close enough to negate each other and Greg will get in thanks to his red hot July/beginning of August, despite losing the last three weeks of the season. As exciting as this race has become however, we should face facts, the  seed is NOT making it out of round 1.

I say that because there is a true clear-cut denomination between the top 5 this year and the rest of the league. I Started writing these short weekly recaps in week 17, and since then, the top 5 has never even been in question. Finally, next week we get to start taking each other out, this week will determine who gets first dibs at the guillotine.

The second most meaningful storyline this week is the battle for the 3 seed. Whoever can emerge victorious will have the good fortune of playing Greg, Brad, or Pflanz (not quite terrifying opponents, see above) in round one. And as long as they don't screw that up, they will go on to play Mark in round 2, which is no cakewalk, but who wants to play Russ right now? He's 5 wins away from having the best record of all time!

Right now John sits at #3, but Keeves is just 1.5 games behind him, and Dan is only 2 behind that. Dan may be the furthest out of the 3 seed, but he has the easiest opponent this week in Perka, a team that's totally out of it. Perka has lost 5 out of 6 weeks, but Dan has only been 11-18 in his last three, coughing up the semi-tight hold he had on third just weeks ago.

This may leave the door open for the winner of the Keeves-Johnny matchup to slide into third. John is 14-6 in his last two and has only lost once since week 14, this team has been hot. All he has to do is keep this a one point game, just stay within one category and he has the three seed.

Matt is coming off a big 10-0 shutout and is making a beeline to the third seed. A week ago I wrote him off as a lock for the 4 or 5, now, I think he's taking the third seed and clinching the garaunteed weaker first round opponent.

The final storyline this week is my shot at the record books. 4-5-1 and I tie the record, anything better than that and the best regular season ever will be in the books. Did I mention I'm playing the last place team?

Some other things to point out: Richie has the #1 lottery pick slot locked up by 9 games, with Andy at #2, then Bart and Perka half a game apart for the #3 spot.

Good luck to everyone with something to play for this week! Get some smack talk started for the playoffs!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Week 21

14 days remaining in The Franchise regular season! Let's jump right into last week's results and what they mean going forward:

Commish became the first manager to record three shutouts in the same season when he rolled over Greg 9-0. This also puts Russ 11 wins away from clinching the regular season all-time wins record, with two weeks to go! For Greg, it only proved what I mentioned last week; his crazy run was the result of a padded schedule. He's still in sixth, but his lead has been sliced to just 4 games. Fortunately for him, the clock may run out before he can be caught, more on this later.

 Mark became the second team to clinch a playoff spot as he blew out Perk 7-2. Mark is now 7.5 games up on third place and looks to be locked into the second bye week spot, just his second bye week spot in 5 career playoff appearances. Perka was still able to gain ground on Thompson despite the loss, but is still 8.5 out of the playoffs. Perka has had a dissappointing second half, and has now lost 5 in a row.

In one of the biggest surprises of the week, John took down Dan 8-2, and pulled him out of third place for the first time in a long time. John now clings to a very small 2.5 game lead over Dan in fourth. This may seem like non-news, but the third spot is actually going to end up being pretty valuable this year. Of the three managers battling for #3 (John, Dan, Keeves), the two losers will end up having to play each other, leaing the winner to play whoever stumbles into the 6 seed. At this point the drop off between Keeves/John/Dan and Greg/Brad/Pflanz is enormous, so this tight race for the 3 seed is HUGE.

Some life from Brad this week! For the first time in 6 weeks Brad didn't take a loss, playing Andy to a 4-4 tie. It's not perfect, but he'll take it. Four games, that's all that separates Brad from his 4th career playoff appearance. Meanwhile Andy has played such a great spoiler role this year, it's more fun when he's in the race, I want his team to be fantasy relvant again, I'm buying stock in 2014 Musto!

The snoozer of the week actually may have made Bryan Bart fantasy relvant again. I laid into him at our fantasy football draft last night and all of a sudden he wants the playoffs! This season's biggest disappointment decided last night that he wanted to make a push for the playoffs, but is it too little too late? After the 7-1 defeat, Richie's team is 17 games out, however I went to make a spot start last week and realized my target had already been picked up....BY RICHIE. He's still making moves, and trying to keep it competitive?? Take notes, this is how you manage a last place team folks!!! Fantasy karma off the charts!

The final game was also a surprise, as Pflanz upended Keeves 7-3 in an upset special. Keeves really couldn't afford to lose this one, and has now dropped 5.5 games out of the 3 spot. He's obviously still safely in the playoff picture, but as I mentioned earlier, that 3 seed puts you in a far better position than 4 or 5. Pflanz is now poised to jump into the last playoff spot, trailing by just 4 games. He's doing what he always does and capitalizing on opportunities; this win was huge and he has managed to win 2 weeks in a row while his competitors have struggled.


Looking ahead to the final two weeks...

Russ (1st) vs. Bart (6.0 games out of the playoffs) - This game is becoming bigger than when it first appeared on the schedule. Russ is chasing the record books, and winning at least 1 category off Bart will put him in range of breaking his own 3 year old wins record. Bryan, on the other hand, wants to prove he still deserves a spot in this league next year. However, next week he will play Mark, and as hot as his team may be right now (24-14 in the last 4 weeks), I don't think he goes over .500 in the remaining weeks.

Mark (2nd) vs. Greg (6th) - This game means far more to Greg than it does for Mark. After the shutout, Greg desperately needs a bounceback win, but I don't think he gets it here. Mark has only lost once since week 11 and seems poised for another deep playoff run in 2013. Greg will have a chance to salvage when he plays Andy next week. His magic number right now is 16, but I think he'll be safe if he can take 8 categories from Mark and Andy.

Dan (4th) vs. Brad (4.0 games out of the playoffs) - Dan is battling for the 3 seed, Brad is keeping his playoff hopes alive! This has real MoW potential. Looking ahead, we see that John and Keeves face off in week 22, giving Dan a prime opportunity to clinch the 3 seed and an easier first round matchup, it all starts with this week, he's gotta stay in contention. Brad will have to keep up with Dan, but keep in mind that Greg is playing Mark, so as long as Brad keeps it close, I think he will be able to make up some ground for the playoffs.

John (3rd) vs. Pflanz (4.0 games out) - Here's an opportunity for Pflanz to really turn things around. He came up with the big win over a playoff team last week, can he do it again? Meanwhile John is looking to build up a bigger lead over Dan, because the week 22 matchup with Keeves is looming, and could end up being a round 1 playoff preview.

Keeves (5th) vs. Richie (out of it) - Speaking of opportunities, can Keeves get a big win over the league's worst team and jump into third? This would really mix things up going into the final week. Really looking forward to the week 22 matchups of Keeves-Johnny and Pflanz-Brad, both could have MAJOR playoff implications.

Irrelevant game of the week: Andy vs. Perka

BOTTOM LINE: Russ has #1 locked up, Mark essentially has #2 locked up, John and Dan are battling for #3, Keeves has an outside shot at #3 but is pretty much garaunteed #4 or #5. Greg, Brad, and Pflanz all have legit shots at #6, Bart has a long shot at #6, Perka has a very long shot at #6. Andy & Richie thanks for playing.

MY THOUGHTS: Looking closer at the schedules for the last two weeks, Pflanz and Brad have it tough, playing a top 4 team, then battling each other. Greg has it slightly easier facing Mark then Andy. Because Greg already has the 4 games lead, and the easier schedule, I think he will barely hang on to the last playoff spot (with Brad missing by .5 games)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Week 20

Finally on to week 20, but things are actually cooling off as the tight bye week and playoff races have become mountainous leads. Amidst all the big rankings swings and surprises of the last few weeks, this week provides us all a chance to catch our breath as we gear up for the final 6 weeks of 2013 fantasy baseball.

There was no movement this week within the top 6, but as we all know, there are always fun narratives to be discovered in this league. Let's start with yours truly. The first pace lead has become comical, at a whopping 14.5 games, in addiiton, the Commish was able to become the first manager to officially clinch a 2013 playoff spot. So the race for the number one seed is all but over, but the race for the record books is still very much in play. The most regular season wins ever was 140-72 set by Russ in 2009. The mark for best winning percentage ever was set by John's 2011 season, when he finished at 139-71, for a record .661%. Currently, Russ sits at  121-63, with three weeks to go. He's 20 wins away from setting the new wins record, and he needs to go at least 21-9 (.700) in the final 3 weeks to complete the winningest regular season in Franchise history.

Russ got closer to the record books last week with a 7-2 victory over Perk. The loss was a bad one for Eddie,who now finds himself double digit games out of the 6th and final playoff spot. However, he's still very much in it (more on this later). The only battle of the top 6 was a good one, as Keeves edged out Dan 5-4. If you've been reading these recaps for the last few weeks, you've noticed I stay pretty high level, and rarely mention specific players (usually because I try to write these in less than an hour, and don't have time to actually look into every match-up and analyze). However, I have to call attention to Keeves' Alfonso Soriano who finished this week with a .484 average, 9 runs scored, 5 homers, 18 rbi's (!!!!!), AND 2 steals! Take Soriano out of this match-up and Dan wins 8-2, even if we plug in Josh Willingham, Keeves' replacement OF, Dan wins 6-3. But Keeves (really just Soriano) was able to end Dan's 3 week winning streak and close the gap between them to a mere 4 games.

Keeves made up some ground on dan, but neither were able to cut into Mark's hold on the second and final bye week spot. Chirokas defeated Brad 6-4 this week as he regained his footing and direction, while Brad continued his free fall, losing his 5th straight week.The biggest surprise this week was Andy taking down John 7-3. John was coming off a big win over Mark that put him just 5 games out of bye week contention, now he's left to pick up the pieces, now 8 back of second place. Meanwhile Andy's last 5 weeks have been all or nothing, with scores of 9-1, 1-8, 7-3, 1-8, and 7-3, he's been out of the running all year, and remains 15 games out.

The Cinderella story continues for Greg! An 8-2 victory over Bart puts him in a great spot with 3 weeks to go. He now owns the last playoff spot, with an 8.5 game lead ovr Brad in seventh. Greg has won 4 straight weeks posting a remarkable 30-7 categorical record, and if he stays hot we could see an upset or two at the big dance.

In this week's NyQuil sponsored match-up, Pflanz snapped a 5 game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over Richie. Richie has now dropped 3 in a row and 8 of his last 10. Both of these teams are all but out of it, and seem to have already set their sights on the 2014 campaign.

Now let's look ahead to this week's match-ups, where all 12 teams are participating with meaningful results for the just the third to last time this season...

Greg's improbable rise to the 6th playoff spot has been fun, but we have to keep in mind that Brad, Eddie, Richie and Bart were the competition during his incredible 30-7 stretch. Those teams have a combined winning percentage of 43.7%. In the next two weeks, Greg will play Russ and Mark, two teams with a combined winning percentage of 61.9%. So the real test begins this week against Russ, the undisputed #1 seed. Is Greg a legit playoff team? Or has he enjoyed the benefits of a padded schedule down the stretch? In two weeks, we will have our answer.

Although Eddie may be happy about Greg's difficult next two weeks, he doesn't have a cakewalk either. He plays 2nd place Mark this week and finishes the season against 3rd place Dan. He will have a matchup against Andy in between, but he HAS to beat Mark or Dan to have a shot at the playoffs, thee are MUST win games if he wants to play into late September. Meanwhile, Mark has told me that despite having such a hot/cold roster, he's confident that the #2 seed is his, and it's tough to argue with him, as he won't play any of the big 5 teams again until the playoffs.

The only match-up between the big 5 this week is John vs. Dan. A blowout either way would impact the standings, but I don;t see that happening. I think this one will be close, giving Mark a chance to build on his second place lead and giving Keeves a good chance to sneak into the top 4.

Keeves plays Pflanz this week, a team who's only win in the last 6 weeks was against the last place team. Keeves has looked sharp recently and still has the hottest hitter in baseball to bolster his statline. With Dan and John playing each other, Matt will most certainly be able to move up one, if not two spots in the standings if he takes care of business the way he should.

Despite being the coldest team in the league, Brad's window is not quite shut. He plays Andy this week, then Dan, then Pflanz. If he can rack up some big scores against Andy and Pflanz, and stay close with Dan in week 21, he may be able to catch Greg, who is battling a tougher part of his schedule. It starts this week however, with this MUST WIN game for Brad (an active buyer at the deadline), and Musto is coming off a big win over John so this one should be good.

Time for the Nyquil Match-up of the week! zzzzzzz Richie vs. Bryan zzzzzz

Three weeks to go, and yet things are cooling off! I think this week will turn the league on it's head. If Greg loses big, Perka and Brad can jump back into it, and this is a moving week for Keeves, I'm curious to see where he will be heading into week 21.



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Week 19

Although this wasn't quite a "moving" week, it set the stage for what is sure to be a fantastic pennant race. Some big blowouts this week put some guys in position to make some serious moves! Four weeks left, then it's all on the line, $800 up for grabs this year at first place, $300 ain't bad in second place either...

In the top 5, Johnny threw a wrench into everyone's plans with a HUGE 7-1 victory over Mark. John is now just 5 games out of the by week! Chirokas, who had a 6.5 game separation from Dan in third place, now holds a mere three game lead after Dan defeated Pflanz 5-4. Don't sleep on Dan, he hasn't lost in 8 weeks! If you remember, he was everyone's favorite going into this year, and he has quietly become the hottest team in the league right now, with just 4 weeks until the big dance. Keeves got a huge 8-1 win over Andy to keep the pace, but he remains 8 games out of the bye. Russ' 7-3 win over Brad puts him 13 games ahead of #2 in first place (yawn).

As for the race to 6th place, Greg just keeps on winning, with an 8-1 victory over Richie to put him into the 6 spot by 4.5 games. Greg is now 25-12 in the last 4 weeks, and is now wishing he hadn't sold off so much talent at the deadline, amazing that his team has been so good despite the recent moves. 

Perka took a bad 8-2 loss to Bryan, this knocked him all the way back to 8th, and is just 2.5 up on Bryan in 9th. Don't look now, but Bart has strung together two big wins, and is just 7.5 games out of a playoff spot, could we be witnessing the first rookie to make the playoffs in league history? 


Now let's look ahead to this week's games:

Perka faces an uphill battle, as he's 5 games out of the playoffs and has the toughest schedule to finish the season. This week he'll play Russ (1st place), next week he plays Mark (2nd place), and after a lighter matchup in week 21 against Andy, he finishes the season against Dan (3rd place), Even if Miggy wins a second triple crown, Eddie could be changing gears to football season a little earlier than the rest of us.

In one of the best matchups all week, Keeves will take on Dan in a battle for the bye week. As I mentioned, Keeves is a long shot for the bye, but 4 weeks is a long time, and the bloopers have won 4 weeks in a row against opponents not named Russ or Mark. Dan's chances are more realistic, as just 3 games separate him from grabbing his second bye week in three years.

Brad is trying desperately to stop this free fall, as he has lost 4 weeks in a row (a record of 10-28), and 6 of his last 8.  He's only 4.5 back, but it's not going to get easier for him as he takes on Mark this week with his playoff hopes dwindling. Mark on the other hand, has to come out and make a statement after getting his ass handed to him by Johnny last week. John, Dan, and Keeves all smell blood in the water, Mark has to reassert himself at the #2 spot.

I am loving the Cinderella story that is Greg Thompson right now. 3 wins in a row, and now playing Bart, the #9 team in the league, while his closest 2 competitors are playing the top 2! It's all laid out for him! A self-proclaimed "seller" who is now the frontrunner for the last playoff spot! And don't forget I called him out earlier this season for being the only veteran manager to have never made it to round 2 of the playoffs! If you're not on the bandwagon I'll move over for you! Let's go Greg!...Oh what's that? He's playing me next week? then Mark?...oh...

John will play Andy, who has not fared well against the upper echelon teams lately. Throw in the fact that John is 25-12 in his last four, and Mark and Dan had better watch out, Johnny is making a bee line for his fourth straight bye week spot. Fourth straight! Pretty damn good track record.

In the most boring game on the slate this week, Pflanz and Richie will slap fight. Pflanz has a chance to make up some ground, but unless we see a shutout, nothing good to report on here.

Four weeks to go! Every at-bat counts!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Week 18



The playoff race is officially on! The trade deadline has passed and it was definitely one of the most active in Franchise history. We had a record deals in the 7 days between the barbeque and midnight Sunday night. My Breakdown of the trades will come later this weekend, just wanted to give an update on what’s at stake this week.
The trade deadline has turned into one of the most entertaining periods of the year for this league, but don’t lose focus, the real show begins now, it’s a race to the playoffs followed by a sprint to the championship, and the pace is starting to pick up.
The top 5 remains the top 5, although 4 of the top 5 faced off against each other in week 17. Commish continues to hold off all challengers to the #1 spot, battling Johnny to a 5-5 tie and keeping 8 games between him and second place. However, Mark was able to significantly narrow the gap (which was 12 games last week) after trouncing Keeves 9-1. Mark is now firmly entrenched in the second bye week spot with a 6.5 game lead over Dan in third, but Dan has not taken his foot off the gas, with an 8-2 victory in week 17 over the rebuilding Richie. Because of the big wins for Mark and Dan, John’s draw hurt him more than it should have, and he now finds himself well out of the bye week (11 games) in fourth place. Keeves is still in good shape in 5th place, but after the big loss to Mark, he is now within striking distance of the 4 teams battling for the #6 seed, holding a 5.5 game lead over Eddie.
As for the rest of the league, the 6th spot remains wide open. Perka, Brad, Greg, and Pflanz are within 5 games of each other, all battling for that one spot. Greg continued his hot streak by defeating Perk 5-4 and picking up half a game, while Brad and Pflanz fell at the hands of the two of the league’s bottom 3 teams, losing to Bryan and Andy respectively, both by a 7-3 margin.
Richie, Bryan, and Andy, the league’s basement dwellers, actually still have a shot at the last playoff slot, albeit a long one. Bryan and Andy are 8 back of 6th place, and Richie is 9 back. There is still hope, but Richie and Andy were heavy sellers at the break, and Bryan inexplicably made no moves at all (which shouldn’t be a big surprise, as he hasn’t made a move since June. Some are questioning the rookies commitment to the league, the Commish has been notified, and Bryan’s activity has now been placed under close watch).
On to this week’s slate, Russell and his new look offense takes on Brad’s re-vamped roster. Russ isn’t in much danger here but Brad has to avoid a big loss, he can’t afford to keep declining like this, especially after dealing so many picks at the break.
In the only matchup between two of the top 5 teams, Mark will try to stay hot against Johnny D. Mark has been on a roll lately while John has been in close battles for the last two weeks. John has a chance to close the growing gap between his team and the bye week so his new pieces have got to step up here. Meanwhile, Mark is creeping closer and closer to fantasy rival Russell, and if he keeps up these winning ways, he could usurp the top spot before season end.
Dan has a chance to knock Pflanz out of playoff contention while furthering himself in a quest for the #2 bye week spot. At this point however, the notion of a bye week seems improbable for Dan, as he needs the two winningest managers in Franchise history to squander the leads they have built up. Pflanz has a lot at stake this week, as he is the farthest out of the teams who have a realistic shot at the 6 seed. This could be his last meaningful week if he ends up on the wrong end of a blowout.
Keeves, on a two week losing streak, is facing off against Andy, who has lost just once since week 11. Read that again. Andy, currently in 11th, has lost just once since week 11. That really speaks to what an awful start he got off to this season, but it also says a lot about what direction he’s going – or “was” going, until he started selling at the break. Keeves should be able to capitalize on Andy’s newly depleted roster, but I’m not so sure he’s the same team that he was two weeks ago. The fact that he stood pat at the deadline, despite the two week losing streak does not give me confidence in his squad down the stretch, Keeves need this win badly to keep the distance.
The last two match-ups this week are very similar, a couple opf fringe playoff teams will battle teams in the basement. Eddie will try to stay atop the race for the 6th playoff spot against Bart, while Greg will try to catch him against Richie. Bryan’s team has played tough lately, while Perka is struggling along. Eddie made just one move at the break, and normally that wouldn’t seem like enough, but none of the teams in the hunt for the last playoff spot look overly impressive right now. He could theoretically and plausibly lose to Bart and still retain the 6th spot at this point.
Greg has been hot lately, but no one made more deals at the deadline, and all were rebuilding moves. He has all but packed it in this season, then again, Richie made the second most deals and his team too has gone into full rebuilding mode, so a win for Greg is very plausible, and would keep in the hunt, for now at least.
Last 5 weeks of the regular season! plenty of good story lines. Stay tuned for the trade deadline review. Hopefully I can get that going over the weekend.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Week 17

Last week we had a good idea of who was battling for a bye week (Russ, Mark, Keeves, Dan, John), and who was battling for the 6th playoff spot (Brad, Perka). But two match-ups this week totally destroyed the latter of the two assumptions, now that 6th playoff spot is WIDE open.

The top 5 are still the top 5, as Russ, Mark, Dan, and John all won this week and Keeves was on the losing end of a close (6-4) battle with Russ. The commish still has a vice grip on the #1 seed, holding a double digit lead over Mark in second place. The gap between 2nd and 3rd place also remains quite large, as Dan trails Mark by 5.5 games. Keeves and John are both within 1.5 games of Dan but unless one of them catches Mark for the bye week they are only jostling to play one another in round 1.

Then things get interesting. Greg shut out, that’s right, SHUT OUT Brad 9-0 last week, and Richie crushed Perk 8-2! Now we have 5 teams all within 8 games for the 6th and final playoff spot. Of the five teams we have 2 declared buyers AND 2 declared sellers, so we should expect Brad and Perka to straighten out and continue the fight for 6th while Richie and Greg fall off the trail, but who knows?

So what should we be looking at this week? John has a good chance to pull Russ back to Earth with his new additions and Pujols hitting the DL. Keeves, who has been quiet on the trade front thus far, continues the tough part of his schedule as he faces off against Mark, a big win could put him back in the hunt for a bye week. Dan has the best chance at catching #2, as he faces off against Richie, who is having a fire! (sale).  Perka and Brad should be able to bounce back after their tough losses last week, as Brad takes on last place Bart and Perka plays Greg, who is shipping off players for picks faster than any of the other sellers. The last matchup is the Pflanz-Andy matchup; Pflanz is the only manager undecided as to whether he’s making a push for a playoff spot or not, I think we may see him make a decision on the fly. If he’s up big by Thursday/Friday, you can count on him trying to get that last playoff spot, otherwise, start making some offers.

Regarding the trade deadline on August 4th! Get on the horn and make some deals, I know people are still looking. Fill out the google doc that I put up on the web and get active. Once again everyone who made it to the bbq got at least 1 deal done. We have a clear idea of the buyers and sellers (except for the undecided Pflanz). I’m selling Jose Fernandez and Alex Cobb, offer me a catcher or shortstop or some draft picks. John and Brad have been very generous with draft picks already and I’m getting the same vibes from Perka, Mark, and myself. For those teams at the bottom this is your chance, answer my god damn texts! 

Monday, June 3, 2013

Commish's Power Rankings - Week 10




Almost halfway through the regular season, the weeks really fly by when you're #1. Mark has finally been booted from the #2 spot, John, Brad, and Eddie are starting to climb, and Pflanz and Greg are falling back to reality.




Sunday, June 2, 2013

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Week 9 Roto Ranks


Last week I called this a "Statistical Power Rankings" while Mark pointed out in the comments what it really was. This would be the standings if we were playing in a rotisserie league rather than head to head.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Keeping it Real - Vol. 1



Just before keepers were due, I posted an article on this blog predicting everyone's keepers and then ranking them to determine who would have the best and worst. Now, more than six weeks into the season, I thought it would be fun to actually look at the performance of these keepers and see who made the right decisions and who got burned by the promise of another year of fantastic (or in some cases, decent) fantasy keeper production.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Statistical Power Rankings - Week 8


Yesterday you got Commish's power rankings, which have all the faults and flaws of a human bias. Although I do look at stats, I am ultimately ranking the teams based on how much I would rather not play them. These rankings are different. There is no biaas here, they are based solely on the numbers. It's a simple formula, if you are leading the league in a category, you get 12 points, second gets 11 points, 3rd gets 10 and so on. This can give us an idea of who is overperforming or underperforming this season in the standings. Credit goes to Richie for this idea.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Commish's Power Rankings - Week 8








Sorry for the delay, but the power rankings are back! More importantly, I'm back, so blog posts can be expected on a more regular basis. Thank you Keeves for keeping the blog afloat! You guys know I go through phases with this thing, and it would be way better if some of you stepped up and did some write-ups (because like 8 of you asked to be authors...).

 I've missed 3 weeks of rankings, so I'll include those in these week's ranks. There's obviously been a lot of movement since week 5, I was just waiting until I could be ranked number 1....

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Top Five Reasons Fenway Park Sucks


I guess my analogy last week of letting loose the floodgates was a little overstated, as only I was able to valiantly answer the Commish’s call to the masses. Come on guys step up your game, while I know that you will never be able to match what I can put out in terms of general awesomeness and pure baseball knowledge, every little bit of chatter and writing helps.

I will step off the soapbox now and get down to brass tacks. Fenway Park, a place where memories are made, dreams come true, and a place every Bostonian can call home. What a crock of shit. This may have been true a hundred years ago, but is not the case anymore. People for too long have been steeped in the lore of Fenway Park and have not stopped and looked around. So gather round, and hear the truth, here are the Top Five Reasons Why Fenway Park Sucks.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Opening the Flood Gates


The people's thirst for fantasy and baseball chatter and news was great, but the Commish's vast oceans of baseball knowledge and time was not enough to satisfy. So he chose to open the flood gates, let us peons loose, and give us the power to write blogs.

Here I go then, while in the past I have relied purely on the incomparable Doug Mirabelli for almost all of my baseball humor and blog posts, I thought I would start some sort of weekly Top 5 list. While not the most original idea of all time I know I can stick to this for a weekly blog.

In this weeks addition I am going to list the Top 5 Ways to Make Baseball More Watchable:

Travers, Pflanz Discuss Blockbuster Trade

???/


We've seen a lot of big trades in April, could another early deal go down?

Monday, April 29, 2013

Week 5 Power Rankings




This week we saw 5 three-game streaks come to an end. Brad, Pflanz, and Dan had their 3 winning streaks snapped while Andy and Perka notched their first wins of the season, breaking up their 3 game losing streaks. There is still a clear separation between the top 5 teams in this league and the rest of the field, but the gap has closed slightly due to some impressive (and record breaking) week 4 showings. Biggest jumps this week were Russ from 5th to 2nd and Keeves from 10th to 7th, biggest drops were Bryan from 7th to 10th and Richie from 9th to 12th, and with Dan's loss there is a new #1...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Top Performers and Scapegoats



Week 3 MVP: Carlos Gonzalez!!!!!



Worst of Week 3: Josh Hamilton

Click through for the rest of the best and worst of week 3...

Monday, April 22, 2013

Week 4 Power Rankings



It was a good week for competition as four of the six matchups this week were decided by 2 points or less. Dan continues his reign as number 1, and while the next 4 names stayed the same, their order has changed. Right now the top 5 teams are looking miles ahead of the rest of the league, but it's a long season as we know. Biggest jump this week was John from 9th to 6th, biggest drop was Russ from 2nd to 5th.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Matchup of the Week

A 2011 Championship rematch takes center stage as this week's MoW

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Top Performers and Scapegoats



Week 2 MVP: Prince Fielder


Worst of Week 2: Jonathan Broxton

Click through for the rest of the best and worst of week 2...

Monday, April 15, 2013

Week 3 Power Rankings


The closest finish this week was 7-3, so there were a lot of blowouts, but surprisingly, the power rankings didn't shift too much. Dan and Russ remain at #1 and #2 respectively, and there was only 1 new member of the top 5. Biggest jump this week was Pflanz from 9th to 5th, biggest drop was Bryan from 3rd to 6th.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Top Performers & Scapegoats




Week 1 MVP: Chris Davis


Worst of Week 1: Adam LaRoche

Click through for the best and worst of week 1...


Monday, April 8, 2013

Week 2 Power Rankings



Early season power rankings are going to change a lot, so be prepared for some big jumps or big drops in these first few weeks. Number 1 will stay number 1 as Dan got the win over Greg this week. However, the rest of the top 5 has changed significantly. The biggest jump this week was Richie (12th to 6th), and the biggest drop was Keeves (6th to 11th). Click through for the full rankings...

Friday, April 5, 2013

The Mega Season Preview

I won't bore you guys with a long intro, I stuck to the same basic formula of years past: ranking every team by giving report card grades for each category, then writing a summary where usually I'll make you feel really good and then really bad within the same paragraph.

What makes this preview different is that I took some of my favorite quotes from baseball movies and gave one to each team. Some of them fit really well, others don't but I kinda sorta made it work. It's a pretty lengthy read so you may want to wait 'til you're punishing some porcelain to dive in, and possibly bring a snack.

Click through to see your fate...

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

John's Wicked Biased Pre-Season Rankings


by John “Johnny Champion” DeMovellan



The 2013 baseball season is finally upon us!  Thank you Andy for the best draft location around and to Keeves for all the pizza.  The draft went extremely well (except for Eddie taking forever), the weather was beautiful, and everyone was actually there. As for improvements to the league I suggest we get a wicked awesome trophy, preferably, something like the Stanley Cup so I can obnoxiously drink out of it whenever around league members.  Before I continue with my pre-season rankings I will say that this year was more difficult than usual as pretty much everyone has a legitimate chance in making the playoffs (we all know its luck from there).  Anyway, welcome Richie and Bryan to the Franchise and just so you have some background as to what has happened in the past…here is a brief recap (sorry Russ).

CHAMPIONSHIPS/REGULAR SEASON WINNERS
2008-Mark beat Russ 7-3 in championship…Russ had 1st seed with 132-79-9 record.
2009-Mark beats Zack 10-0…Russ had 1st seed with 140-72-8 record.
2010-Mark beats Russ with use of a questionable tiebreaker…John had 1st seed with a 128-84-8 record.
2011-Dan beats Russ 6-4…John had 1st seed with 139-71-10 record.
2012-John beats Zhou 6-4…John had 1st seed with 124-84-12 record.

PFLANZ TRADES-See Russell’s post “Some Keeper Facts” for other keeper trades
(2008) Pflanz trades Albert Pujols* and Tom Gorzelanny to Russell for Corey Hart and Nick Swisher…                                                        *Russ has kept Pujols since

(2008) Pflanz trades Ryan Braun* to Mark for Carlos Beltran…
*Mark has kept Braun since

(2008) Planz trades Cliff Lee* to Eddie for James Loney…
*Cliff Lee won AL Cy Young that year going 22-3

(2008) Pflanz trades Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher to Matt Pru for CC Sabathia!*…
            *Pflanz has kept CC since

(2009) Pflanz trades Rickie Weeks and Zack Greinke to Mark for Mike Aviles and Jonathan Sanchez   …*Greinke won Cy Young that year with a 2.16 ERA

 Ranks after the jump...

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Matchup of the Week


MoW is back! This year on Tuesdays! Plenty of tantalizing opening round match-ups to choose from this week, but there can only be one MoW. First a few matchups that are intruiging, but didn't quite peak my interest enough:
  • Bryan vs. Andy - The rookie tries to take down a seasoned veteran for his first win.
  • Russ vs. Mark - The league's best rivalry hasn't been what it used to be in the last couple of years.
  • Perka vs. Pflanz - The  "homeroom rivalry" is always good for providing message board fodder.
But there can only be one, so week one's MoW is...

Monday, April 1, 2013

Monday Power Rankings





From now on, I'm going to stick to a weekly format for the blog, with something to put up each day. I'll try to stay on top of it, but that's always easy to say in the first week of the season. I'd like to do weekly segments like add of the week, who's hot/not, matchup of the week, etc.

Monday is going to be power rankings day. These are based off of last year's finish and general feeling of the league after the draft, these are not my pre-season predictions, which will be posted here on Friday (column day). Click through for week 1 Power Rankings...


Friday, March 29, 2013

Rules Issues to be Voted on at the Draft

Before the draft begins, we will have to discuss some rule changes, so think about some of these issues before tomorrow and we'll vote on them before the draft:

1. Eliminate pitcher streaming - We can't have it so that someone can pick up as many pitchers as they want in order to take wins and K's. Well, we can, but I think it's kind of unfair. There are a few different ways to salve this problem. One would be a category change: changing K's to K/9 and changing W's to quality starts or adding losses. This keeps you from piling up starters to get the highest totals, but you may also be able to stream for quality starts and I'm not a fan of adding an extra pitching category (losses).

Another solution is enforcing an innings pitched limit or a moves limit. By creating a season lone moves limit or a weekly moves limit, you would have to choose you pick-ups wisely and you couldn't really "stream" as much as spot start.

We could also use a free agent acquisition budget with no $0 bids allowed, this would limit everyone to less than 100 moves on the season (a mark only a handful have passed over 5 seasons), and they would have to place the highest bids for the players they want.

There's also the option to change nothing. In five years we've only had a couple of minor accusations and for the most part everyone is trustworthy. I'm just trying to eliminate gray areas.

Personally I'm a fan of the moves limit. It doesn't change the landscape of the league too much but will keep someone in check if they are doing too much streaming. I would set it around 4 or 5 per week but that's something we can vote on as well.


2. Money - It's going to be $50, $75, or $100. Bring $100, prepare to vote on it.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Commish Says: Bring a Laptop to the Draft!

Hey everyone,

         So to avoid the usual problems involved with having a giant poster board to write all of the names on, I think we are going to switch up the format. I have created a google document to keep track of the draft, (much like what I did for the fantasy football playoffs). If everyone brings their computer then they will be able to open up the document and see me type in the picks as they are made.

         This will eliminate the following problems/inconveniences:
                  1. I don't have to buy/ fill out a draft board with the selection order including traded draft picks
                  2. No one will have to write in every pick at the draft
                  3. No one will complain bout having to write in every pick at the draft
                  4. You can use ctrl+f to see if the player you are about to draft has already been taken
                  5. It will be easier for me to enter picks post draft when there is no poor handwriting to read or                       weird spellings to figure out


If people still want the draft board we can arrange that, I just feel like this will be easier and more convenient.  It's live cyber drafting! It's the way of the future! embrace it!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Lottery Results: Dan Alber is #1

The lottery results are in! The results are as follows:

1. Dan (22%)
2. Brad (17%)
3. Andy (9%)
4. Eric (33%)
5. Perka (5%)
6. Greg (14%)


Friday, March 22, 2013

Breaking News: Rose/Travers Joint Venture for Last Spot


             Finally, the position has been filled. After 7 days of back and forth, complete with long discussions and rigorous interviews, the 12th manager spot has finally been filled. Commissioner Russell Travers, his older brother Richie Travers, and friend of The Franchise Eric Rose came to an agreement late last night that would allow for both managers to get in on the league in the form of a 90/10 split.

          “Eric Rose will be there at the draft to select the team, but Richie will be the manager” Russ Travers said in an interview, “Eric wasn’t comfortable putting up the money to take on such a crappy team, and Richie wanted the team but couldn’t make the draft, so this is a perfect compromise.” Richie will also put up 90% of the funding while Eric will cover the rest and will take home 10% of the winnings if by some miracle they finish in the top 3. 

          Once again, commish shows everyone why they pay him the big bucks. despite two managers quitting without a lot of notice, the spots have been filled with time to spare and we should have full attendance at the draft.

          “I’d like to be able to draft but still, I’m excited, I like building a team from the ground up” said Richie, who will be on a plane to Texas for business while the draft is taking place. The older Travers brother is no stranger to fantasy baseball, as he has spent the last ten seasons managing a team in the Diamond Dynasty, another Westwood based fantasy league.

          Rose is also a fantasy baseball vet and has spent two years playing the The Franchise fantasy football league. The combination of Rose drafting and Travers managing should add a formidable new look team into the league.
The agreement also brought upon a very important change. Eric & Richie are changing their keepers. They have switched out Carlos Gomez in favor of Mark Trumbo, so plan accordingly in your draft preparation.

Monday, March 18, 2013

McCauley Closing in on Manager Position


The latest word from the league front office is that Tom McCauley is the front runner for the new manager position. McCauley, who was recommended by The Franchise’s newly hired manager Bryan Bart, has confirmed an interest in the league, stating, “I could def fuck with fantasy baseball."

The response around the league has been enthusiastic towards the possible new hire, 
“I’d say good fit, another kid who loves his sports and would always pay attention I feel” one manager said in a private conference.

“I think the new crop of managers is adding a lot of personality and excitement” said another. 

The possible addition of Tom along with the addition of Bart could certainly inject some energy into a league that usually goes on life support from early June to late July.

“I’ve played in fantasy leagues with Tom, he’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind, you can’t have enough of that attitude” Commissioner Russ Travers said in a Monday interview, “I’m going to be thankful to whoever takes this job on short notice with subpar keepers."

As far as the state of the team is concerned, there has also been a discussion among league officials to provide some sort of “compensation package” to the newest manager including draft picks and a possible amnesty clause. Stay tuned for further developments.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Some Keeper Facts


One Club Men
          Since the inaugural draft in 2008, these 4 players have played for one team and one team only, always kept, never traded, and never released from the roster*:
-David Wright, 5th overall pick, Brad Calandrella
-Miguel Cabrera, 10th overall pick, Eddie Perkins
-Tim Lincecum, 65th overall pick, Ryan Fitzgibbon/Dan Alber
-Evan Longoria, 182nd pick, Russ Travers
*Knocked off the list this year: Alex Rodriguez (Mark), Jose Reyes (Greg), Ichiro Suzuki (Roland), Mark Teixeira (Pru/Andy)
         
Five other players drafted in 2008 have never been released back out into the draft. They have been kept every year, but not by the manager who drafted them.
-Hanley Ramirez, 2nd overall pick, Zack Hanrahan, TRADED in
2010 to John DeMovellan

-Albert Pujols, 7th overall pick, Chris Pflanz, TRADED in
2008 to Russ Travers

-Ryan Braun, 18th overall pick, Chris Pflanz, TRADED in 2008
to Mark Chirokas

-C.C. Sabathia, 19th overall pick, Matt Pru, TRADED in 2008
to Chris Pflanz

-Dustin Pedroia, 85th overallpick, Zack Hanrahan, TRADED in
2011 to Greg Thompson


Face of the Team
Of the nine keepers listed above, all of them have been kept for the maximum 5 years. Maybe you didn’t end up with one of these sure things, but there was also a handful of guys taken in the 2009 draft who have stayed with the team that drafted them for four years, never dropped or traded*:
-Prince Fielder, 17th overall pick, Brad Calandrella
-Jacoby Ellsbury, 20th overall pick, Ryan Fitzgibbon/Dan Alber**
-Justin Verlander, 153rd overall pick, Eddie Perkins**

*knocked off this list this year: Roy Halladay (Roland), Carl Crawford (Johnny), Joe Mauer (Greg)

**Although these players haven’t been kept every year, they have played for only one team over four years.

Two other players drafted in 2009 have never been released back out into the draft. They have been kept every year but not by the manager who drafted them.

-Felix Hernandez, 
68th overall pick, Gibbon/Dan Alber TRADED in 2010 to Matt Keaveney 


-Justin Upton, 112th 
overall pick, Eddie Perkins TRADED in 2009 to John DeMovellan

Team Vets
If you haven’t guessed what’s coming next, this next category is for players drafted in 2010 who have stayed with their respective team, never dropped or traded:
-Robinson Cano, 27th overall pick, Russ Travers
-Carlos Gonzalez, 75th overall pick, Russ Travers
-Josh Hamilton, 55th overall pick, Andy Musto
-Jose Bautista, free agent, Andy Musto
-Jered Weaver, 63rd overall pick, Brad Calandrella
-Joey Votto, 19th overall pick, Chris Pflanz
-Andrew McCutchen, 33rd overall pick, Matt Keaveney
-Ian Kinsler, 8th overall pick, Eddie Perkins


Two other players drafted in 2010 have never been released back out into the draft. They have been kept every year but not by the manager who drafted them.

-Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Keaveney, TRADED to Dan Alber 2010

-Troy Tulowitzki, Russ Travers, TRADED to John DeMovellan in 2010


How Did We Get Our Keepers?




There are three ways to obtain a player in this league,
drafting, trading, and free agent acquisitions. This year, we had keepers come
from all three methods, here’s a team by team breakdown:

Andy
Draft: Hamilton ’10, Hamels ’11, Heyward ‘12
Free Agency: Bautista ‘10

Brad
Draft: Wright ’08, Fielder ’09, Weaver ’10, Encarnacion ‘12

Bryan
Draft: Strasburg ’11, Kershaw ’11, Cain ’12, Bourn ‘12

Dan
Draft: Lincecum ’08, Ellsbury ’09, Stanton ‘11
Trade: Gonzalez ‘10

Eddie
Draft: Cabrera ’08, Verlander ’09, Kinsler ’10, Kemp ‘11

Greg
Draft: Bumgarner ’12, Jones ’12, Harper ‘12
Trade: Pedroia ‘11

John
Draft: M. Trout ‘12
Trade: Upton ’09, Ramirez ’10, Tulowitzki ‘10

Matt
Draft: McCutchen ’10, Beltre ’12, Butler ‘12
Trade: Hernandez ‘09

Mark
Draft: Braun ’08, Bruce ’12, Posey ‘12, Price ‘12

Pflanz
Draft: Votto ’10, Castro ’12, Zobrist ‘12
Trade: Sabathia ‘08

Russ
Draft: Longoria ’08, Cano ’10, Gonzalez ‘10
Trade: Pujols ‘08

???
Draft: Andrus ’11, Gomez ’12, Scherzer ‘12
Trade: Granderson ‘10


79% Drafted, 19% traded for, 2% acquired off FA


Other stats

Average Age of Keepers: 28

7 Under 25 (15%) vs. 15 over 30 (31%)

Youngest keepers: Greg, avg. age = 24.75
Youngest -B. Harper, 20

Oldest keepers: Brad, avg. age = 29.5
                   Oldest -Pujols/Beltre, 33

24 AL keepers vs. 24 NL keepers

16 new keepers vs. 32 kept in years past

1 C, 6 1B, 3 2B, 5 3B, 4 SS, 16 OF, 12 SP

36 hitters (75%) vs. 12 pitchers (25%)

Russ, Dan, and Perka have the exact same keepers as last year (three straight years for the Commish)

Jose Bautista is the only 2013 keeper to have never been drafted in The Franchise.