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 6^th playoff spot (Brad, Perka). But two match-ups this week totally destroyed the latter of the two assumptions, now that 6^th 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 2^nd and 3^rd 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 6^th 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 6^th 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 4^th! 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!