Tight Race in Last Two Weeks

We are nearing the finish line to the 2016 fantasy baseball regular season and the playoff picture is becoming more clear.  The top three teams are separated by a game and a half in the race for the top two playoff spots, which would result in a bye.  The top four teams in The League have clinched a playoff spot, which means the race is on between the next five teams for only two playoff spots.  Lets take a look at the teams that are still in the race and the key match ups they face over the next two weeks.

Week 20
Dick N Trout v. In Pence, I Trust: This will be a crucial match up as both teams are vying for a bye in the first round of the playoffs.  In Pence, I Trust is looking for redemption after a 2-9-1 loss to Dick N Trout in back in week 9.  The winner of this match up will be in the driver seat for one of the top two spots.

Team Reints v. PED User:  In a way, this is a must win for both teams for very different reasons.  If Team Reints loses this battle, he could find himself on the outside looking in for a post season bye.  Meanwhile, PED User is on the brink of elimination as he needs to win out and needs Just Here So I Don't Get Find to lose out.  We call that a long shot in the business.  The two tied back in week 4, but PED User got destroyed in week 15 by a score of 11-0-1.

Well Played Mauer v. Team Pup N Suds: Well Played Mauer sits comfortably in the 5th playoff spot for now and can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Team Pup N Suds.  After an abysmal start, Team Pup N Suds has had a strong second half to crawl back into playoff contention.  He is in a must win situation this week.  Two years ago this team was the last team to clinch the 6th seed and ended up tying in the championship game, so although its a long shot his teams experience in this situation could prove to be beneficial.  Well Played Mauer won the first match up between these two 7-5 back in week 9.

Week 21
Every match up in the final week will be crucial for at least one of teams in each head to head.  Each match up consists of a team, or two, that is fighting for a spot in the playoffs or to better their playoff seed.  Week 20 will go a long way to see exactly which teams need to win in that final week.

Newlyweds
Big shout out to Minnesota Twins owner, Brian Michaud, who wed is college sweetheart, Katie Rineck, on Saturday in St. Michael, Minnesota.  Baseball fans might say that he hit one out of the park with the woman he married.  The two met as freshmen at the University of Minnesota Duluth and never looked back.  Way to go, bud.  We're pulling for ya!

Til Death Do Us Part,
Lenz

Numbers Never Lie: Trade Deadline Edition

With about 5 days until the trade deadline and 5 weeks left until the post season, it's time for our 2nd edition of Numbers Never Lie.  We've seen a lot of trades over the past couple weeks and are assuredly going to see more this week as teams bolster their team for a post season run.  Here is a live link to the data below, which may help you figure out your strengths and weaknesses.

Data Summaries for The League 

Standardized Scores for Each Team

After looking at this data and the standings, we still have 10 teams in the playoff hunt.  The only team that can stand pat and feel completely confident is Team Reints, while Minnesota Twins and I'm Never Gonna Win Now are sellers.  Everyone else is in a buying mode which should make the next week interest!

The playoff standings and money chart will be updated late tonight or tomorrow after this week is done!

'Merica, Fantasy Baseball, and Playoff Races

Can you believe that we are almost 2/3 of the way through the season?  After this week, we will be at that exact mark and looking forward to 7 more weeks of competition.  Before we get an update about the league, it would be irresponsible to not give a shout out to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice which allow us to enjoy things like fantasy baseball.

4th of July

We all know someone who has served or is currently serving in the military, and without those men and women we wouldn't have the freedoms that we take for granted each day.  As I was making the standard 4th of July Facebook post, I came across one that said something different than the rest.  The person who posted, Ben Weaver, is a Captain in the United States Army and a friend of those of us who went to Apple Valley.  In the Army, his job is to detect and disassemble explosive devices and he also trains others in this area as well.  Anyway, this isn't about what one person does, but it's about what he said:

"Don't celebrate the day, celebrate the meaning".  I don't know about you, but I have never thought of it that way.  I think this is often forgotten about holidays.  This holiday, and others, isn't about getting the day off from work, drinking more than you should, or being a grill master.  This holiday is about separating from Great Britain, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, establishing 13 colonies as a new nation, and about those who have worked their assess off to make sure that this country is GREAT.  That's right Trump supporters, this country always has been and always will be GREAT.  So today, I challenge you to celebrate the meaning of the day.  If that means putting up your feet, having a few beers, and mastering the grill then so bet it.  But while you are enjoying the festivities, take a step back and remember why you can enjoy the day.  Remember there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers who aren't enjoying the same festivities today for one reason or another.  Lastly, take the time out of your day to call/text/facebook/etc. someone who is serving or has served and thank them for their service.  I will just leave this here for all your patriotic needs:

Fantasy Baseball - League Update

It's been a while since we last overviewed the league, so here is a quick look at what is happening. In Pence, I Trust continues to sit atop the League Standings with a 10-2-1 record.  Team Reints and Dick N Trout are tied for the 2nd playoff spot with the advantage going to Dick N Trout after a week 13 victory of Team Reints.  KING OF THE NORTH (Chris Musser) is surging up the standings as he is currently riding a 3 game win streak, but hasn't made up much ground as the teams above him are winning as well.  We have a bottle neck in the middle of the standings as spots 5 - 11 are separated by only 3.5 games.  That being said, we could see some separation in the coming weeks:

• Well Played Mauer continues to surprise
• I'm Just Here So I Won't Get Fined traded many 2017 draft picks but has a solid 2016 team
• PED User has "forfeited the season";
• TCBM (3 games), **JP** (4 games), I'm Never Gonna Win Now (4 games) are all riding multi-game losing streaks.
• Team Pup 'N Suds is surging with three consecutive wins.

Then there is the 12th guy, Minnesota Twins, who hasn't checked his roster in months.  I did get the back story at his bachelor party last week:  He couldn't draft so his 12 year old cousin drafted for him, hence all the Twins picks.  He has been way too busy for fantasy baseball this summer.  I tried to get him to log in for just a few seconds, but to no avail.  All that being said, the bachelor party was fantastic and he's getting married in a month and a half!

Team Owners: Far Left (Brian Michaud - Minnesota Twins); Bottom Row, 2nd from left (Tyler Starr - Dick N Trout); Bottom Row, 3rd from left with red shorts (Jack Pederson - **JP**), and Bottom row, 2nd from Right not looking at camera (Matt Lenz - In Pence, I Trust.  Former Owner Brendan LaVallee is also pictured (Bald guy in middle).

Playoff Races

Here is the first version of the playoff race for the season.  This is just a picture, but you can find a live link on the right side that will always be updated.  As always, we are in for an exciting end to the season.

Mid Season Awards

It's been a quick 10 weeks, but the end of the day Wednesday will mark the conclusion of the 1st half of the season.  The 2nd half of the season is looking to be another good one as 11/12 teams are currently in a playoff spot or within 2 games of a playoff spot.  It's been a few weeks since the last update, so lets take a chance to look back on the 1st half of the season.

Team Head Lines:
1st: In Pence, I Trust (8-1-1): Starts 7-0-1 despite losing namesake player for extended period of time.
2nd - Team Reints (6-1-3): Another year, another championship caliber team.
3rd - Dick N Trout (5-3-2): Goes into 2nd half hot; 4-1-2 since 1-2 start as he looks to defend his title.
4th - TCBM (5-4-1): Young superstars lead the way as Copas looks for consistency.
5th - Well Played Mauer (5-5-0): Key trades put Geary into playoff spot despite autodraft
6th - PED User (4-4-2): Stumbles into 2nd half after 2-0 start; Looks to Profar to fill Gordon void
7th - Team X Bladz (4-4-2): Can't find consistency, including in his team name.
8th - Just Here So I Won't Get Fined (4-5-1): Better softball manager or fantasy baseball manager?
9th - **JP** (3-4-3): Has gone 1-1-1 in every 3 week cycle this season; Can he find consistency?
10th - I'm Never Gonna Win Now (4-6-0): "Never going to win now" implies that he has once won...
11th - Team Pup N' Suds (2-6-2): Doing his best Timberwolves impression by screwing up his draft.
12th -  Minnesota Twins (1-8-1): Hello?  Anyone there?

Manager Money Leader and Losers:
Colin Reints has won the categories three different times this season.  In week 2 he won RBI's with 48, in week 9 he won K's with 88, and in week 10 he won Saves with 8.

Cameron Stelljes, Colin Regis, DJ Lemmage, Jack Pederson, and Max Geary have yet to win a category this year.

1st Half MVP and LVP:
MVP: Jonathan Villar (Team X Bladz) was added in free agency on May 4th by manager Chris Musser.  He has since become the 11th best hitter on our leagues player rater, and the 2nd rated shortstop.  He just edged out Eduardo Nunez (Just Here So I Won't Get Fined).

LVP: Andrew McCutchen (Team Pup N' Suds) was kept with the 1st overall pick.  He is currently rated as the 53rd outfielder (their are 36 starting OF spots).  Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Sano both finished in a tie for 2nd.

1st Half Cy Young and Un-Cy Young:
Cy Young: Aaron Nola (PED User) was added from free agency on March 22nd by manager Ryan Roberts.  He has since become the 11th best pitcher according on our leagues player rater.  John Lackey (Just Here So I Won't Get Fined) was a close 2nd.

Un-Cy Young: Matt Harvey (Dick N Trout) was drafted 36th overall, yet is currently ranked as the 84th Starting Pitcher.

1st Half Rolaids Reliever and Receiver:
Reliever: Alex Colome (Team X Bladz) was added and dropped multiple times before sticking with his current squad on March 28th.  He is the 2nd rater reliever on our leagues player rater.  Aaron Sanchez (Team Reints) was a distant 2nd.

Receiver: Although a late round selection, Kevin Jepsen (I'm Never Gonna Win Now) has received the most damage of this group.  His 19th round selection makes this hurt less for manager DJ Lemmage, but he has nonetheless been awful.  The real-life Minnesota Twins finished in a tie for first here.

1st Half Manager of the Year and Non Manager of the Year:
Manager: Max Geary for his impressive comeback from an auto draft roster to a current playoff team.  He has made key trades and worked the waiver wire to put his team in a successful spot.  Matt Lenz finished 2nd, as he has only lost a single game while working full time, taking 12 grad school credits, coaching a baseball team, and playing softball 2 nights a week.

Non-Manager: Brian Michaud :(

It has been a great first 10.5 weeks and I look forward to the next 10.5 as we gear up for the 2nd half.  In the coming weeks we will have the release of the 1st edition of the playoff standings, constant reminders about getting your league fees in, pictures from Brian Michaud's bachelor party (!!!!), an update to the data from my last post, and (hopefully) the release of the 2016 League Handbook.  Until then, keep on keepin' on everybody!

Commish.

Numbers Never Lie: Strengths and Weaknesses

On this episode of Numbers Never Lie we will look at the strengths and weaknesses of each team in the League.  We are just under a quarter of the way through the season, which means some teams may be looking to make moves as they season is still young enough to no discount them from a championship run.

#1 In Pence, I Trust (5-0-1)
Strengths:  Offensive and pitching rates, runs, and SB's.
Weaknesses: QS
Comments:  This team could be looking to swap a power pitcher for a power hitter.  He leads the league in K/9 by 2.25, but his power counting stats (HR and RBI) are about league average.  At the same time, you know the saying:

#2 Team Reints (3-1-2)
Strengths: Offense (top 2 in ever category), saves, and right hooks (see below).
Weaknesses: Relatively speaking, WHIP (his lowest category ranking...6/12)
Comments:  Theoretically speaking, this team isn't running away with any category and is, per usual, solid all across the board.  That being said, the owner loves trading just to trade.  We'll see if he gets in his own way again this year.

#3 TCBM (3-2-1)
Strengths: Offense
Weaknesses: Relief Pitching (Saves), Pitching Rates
Comments:  He's gotta make a decision...boot saves or no?  He's got 2 closers, which puts him in an awkward spot.  That's not really enough to win the saves category most weeks, but he's only one (or two) closers away from making it a strength.

#4 PED User (3-2-1)
Strengths: Starting Pitching
Weaknesses: Offense and Pitching Rates
Comments: I don't know how he's in 4th, but he is...for now.  With Dee Gordon out for most the year and Logan Forsythe out indefinitely, it may be better to build for next year.  His line up begs one question..do you purposely look for guys who are on the DL and/or suspended?  Here's a hint Berts: Having red text next to a players name makes your roster more colorful, but doesn't actually provide any value to your team.

#5 Just Here so I Won't Get Fined (3-3-0)
Strengths: Runs, Saves, and WHIP
Weaknesses: Starting Pitching and Power Hitting
Comments: Outside of Robinson Cano and Giancarlo Stanton he has very limited power. Cam would say that Trevor Story is the best power hitter since Babe Ruth, but I say he will be a free agent by the time the season is over.  May need to ditch an elite closer to fill other gaps.

#6 **JP** (2-2-2)
Strengths: Starting pitching
Weaknesses: Power hitting
Comments: I see a couple guys on his roster he may want to sell high on.  He's in a similar position as TCBM...needs at least one more closer for it to help him or he could ditch both to find some power hitters.

#7 Well Played Mauer (3-3-0)
Strengths: Relatively speaking, Saves
Weaknesses: Everything else and time management
Comments: For the last 3 consecutive seasons, Max has needed a reminder in the middle of his 1st pick that the draft has started.  This year, he wasn't around a computer and auto-drafted.  Might be time to trade what you have and start looking towards next year.  Also, invest in a calendar.

#8 Dick N Trout (3-3-0)
Strengths: Power pitching and power hitting
Weaknesses: Saves, SB, and Runs
Comments: His line up seems like it should be producing a better record than 3-3-0.  Maybe he has just faced the cream of the crop so far this season.  I can tell you this, I've heard from many sources that he is not fielding trade offers.  Or, they are just so bad that he is just ignoring them.

#9 Hakuna Machado (2-3-1)
Strengths: Relatively speaking, runs and stolen bases, and of course offering trades
Weaknesses: Pitching, and of course offering *good* trades
Comments: On paper, he looks like he has a solid team.  Unfortunately, the numbers just aren't adding up.  You can never count him out though...he could trade his way into the playoffs.  Speaking of, he has already made 10 trades going back to February.  Unfortunately, there is no record of how many trades he has offered.

#10 Team Pup 'N Suds (2-3-1)
Strengths: ERA and WHIP
Weaknesses: Everything else (except QS), and drafting
Comments: This dude had 5 picks in the first 4 rounds and 12 picks in the first 10, yet he finds himself in a familiar place....bottom of the league.  Last year it took him until week 16 to register two victories, so at least he has that going for him.

#11 I'm Never Gonna Win Now (2-4-0)
Strengths: Power hitting
Weaknesses: K and OBP
Comments: 6 weeks in and he still is actively checking his team.  Doesn't seem to be helping, but you know...baby steps.  He was already talking about building for next year, and after another week or two that might not be a bad idea.

#12 Minnesota Twins - Real Life Version (10-26-0)
Strengths: Something called Juan Centeno and blowing leads
Weaknesses: Everything else, except Joe Mauer and Tyler Duffey
Comments: The only thing that could make this season worse is if our pets heads started falling off.  The highlight of the year so far has come from someone who is not even on the active roster.

#13 Minnesota Twins - Fantasy Version (0-5-1)
Strengths: Relatively speaking, OBP, WHIP, and ERA
Weaknesses: Everything else and regularly checking his line up
Comments:  Lets see, Glen Perkins has been on the DL for well over a month yet he still has him starting at RP and Aroldis Chapman (who has been back for a week or two now).  Also, Byron Buxton is still in his starting line up.  Looks like he is already looking forward to next season.

Below is our league data summarized through 6 weeks.  I will keep up with this periodically.  If you are a math person it is kind of interesting, if not, then just ignore it.  Here is a link to the data.

Data Summaries for the League

Standardized Scores for Each Team

Have a good week, gentlemen!

RIP Prince (and RIP Prince Fielder), Twins Send Buxton Down, #CrimeDogDown’ed by ‘In Pence, I Trust’, and ‘Play of the Week’ sponsored by DraftKings

RIP Prince (and RIP Prince Fielder)

For me to be an honest blogger, I have to admit: I couldn’t name one Prince song before this weekend.  I became quickly accustomed to his many hits after blaring Channel 50 of Sirius XM Radio (…yes they pay me to throw in ads into the blog) all day while on the beach sipping Pina Colladas on vacation in Turks and Caicos (….google it, you non-geographic heathen), with my favorite hit being “Little Red Corvette” even though the most popular hit was probably “Purple Rain.”  While on vaca, I also found out that Prince has/had a $12M mansion in Turks and Caicos see below.   May he forever Rest in Peace.

When I think of Prince, all I can think about is Prince Fielder.  What happened to him man?  He went from hitting 30-50 bombs a year, to no longer being able to play 1^st base because of the fear that he may fall asleep on the job (Fielder was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea prior to the season, which is unrelated to narcolepsy but poses a little funnier edge to the argument of the regression that this 31 year old has seen the past three years).  Fielder is hitting .184 with 4 runs, 2 HR’s, and 14 RBI’s over the past 75 AB’s this season (14 total hits on the year, only 4 extra base hits and 7 walks).  In comparison to 2013 (arguably career year before he got the insane Contract from the Tigers), he hit .417 with 15 runs, 7 HR’s, and 27 RBI’s through the month of April (28/93 with 13 extra base hits and 19 walks).  Now is your time to buy low on this guy, see Hakuna Machado for a possible trade.  

#LongLivePrince #PrinceFielderIsDead

/rant

Twins Send Buxton Down

As of April 26, 2016, the Twins are 6-14, and already 8 games back of the division leading White Sox (14-6).  But are the Twins really this bad?  No.  If I were to invest in the Twins, now is the time I would buy (on Sano, Nunez, and Dozier).  Over the past 10 games, the Twins are 5-5.  That may not sound that great for a team that started off 0’er 7 or 8 or 9, unless you dig into the stats.  Of the 5 previous losses, they have lost by a combined 13 runs.  However, 2 of those games were by a run or less, and 1 was by 2 runs late in the game.  So in lamest terms, they either have gotten blown out (Loss to Brewers 5-10 and Loss to Nations 4-8 and 0-2), or played tough ball and lost by a run. 

The Bad?  You called it, the over speculated, high risk high reward, the “pay me my dividend for drafting you in the 10^th round” or “I almost kept you” type of guy, Byron Buxton who was sent down to the minors this past weekend after starting the year going 7/45 with 5 runs, 2 RBI’s and 5 extra base hits.  Let’s face it, they needed a scapegoat to blame the poor start to the season, and Buxton was the fall guy.  Every mafia and big time celeb needs a fall guy (see Aaron Hernadez Case) and Buxton was that guy for the Twins.  The biggest factors for his demotion were that he couldn’t put the ball in play, striking out 24 times while only having walked twice.  This would lead to his atrocious OBP of .208.  Dude needs to figure his stuff out in Triple A before getting called back up again probably by June or July when the Twins are 15 games back of the Royals and out of contention for the division. 

The Good?  Not “Average Joe” Mauer who leads the team with an .329 average, it’s that Miguel Sano is finally producing for that 3^rd round pick that he was anticipated to have, and Eduardo Nunez (who is that?).  Sano is batting .315 over the last 10 games (12/38 with 8 walks, 3 HR’s and 6 RBI’s).  Sano has been a force to be reckoned with and is likely to get on base at least once or even twice a game.  The real story is breakout candidate of the year that no one is talking about is Eduardo Nunez who is batting a team leading .404 on the year (19/47) with 9 runs and 8 RBI’s and 4 stolen bases.  He has a .453 OBP, just a hair behind Average Joe’s .455.  Now, if leadoff man, Brian Dozier could figure out how to get on base, Bung Hole Park might actually have some base runners on so he can stop hitting all these solo shots homers.  The bullpen has been decent with the loss to Glen Perkins, but the promotion of Kevin Jepsen to interim close has opened the door for Fernando Abad (30 year old RP) who holds a 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 13 K’s in 9 innings and leads the team with 4 holds.  He has been able to come in pitching additional frames as needed and is as reliable as they get.

Twins have a tough few home games against the Indians and Tigers and should be back to .500 by May 11^th (my prediction). 

The Ugly?  There is no longer Facebook posts from @MattLenz regarding firing Gardy, the Twins already did that.  IT DID NOTHING.  When will @MattLenz  start to blame it on Molitor?  If the Twins don’t figure it out soon, expect them to call up the prospect manager @MattLenz from JV West Tonka High School in the near future to the Show. 

The team just needs to sit back on the workhorse and money eater, Ricky Nolasco, and continue to call up young prospects in hopes that one turns into the next Mike Trout or Carlos Correa to rejuvenate a morally defeated team who relies on the $23 Million Dollar Man Joe Mauer to hit bloop singles up the middle.

/rant

#CrimeDogDown’ed by ‘In Pence, I Trust’

Everyone loves an underdog, but what everyone loves more than that is the good guy prevails over the evil gremlin.  In this case, ‘In Pence, I Trust’ squeaked by to beat ‘Team Reints’ whose team name still displays his lack of creativity that should have been exhibited in 2^nd grade Art Class. 

However huge the win might have been for Lenz, he lost a key member of his pitching staff in Carlos Carrasco over the weekend who tore a hammy (or something like that) and is out 4-6 weeks, if not months.

‘In Pence, I Trust (‘IPIT’)’ conquered the notorious “King Joffrey” type of fantasy player, ‘Team Reints’ by a score of 6-5-1.  ‘IPIT’ managed to win 5/6 pitching categories (K,QS,ERA,WHIP,K/9), 1 hitting category (HR’s), and tied in steals.  ‘IPIT’ managed to slug 12 homers last week, getting 5 from Wellington Castillo, Catcher from the D-Backs.  I bet Castillo was “slugging his gf” every night that week after the games.  Aside from his one hitting category that he won, his pitching staff was superb, led by Drew Smyly who went 15 innings, with 17 K’s, 0.60 ERA, and a 0.67 WHIP.  Now, if I can’t find a better guy to “sell high” on and trade to Hakuna Machado, it would be that guy.  Outside of Smyly, ‘IPIT’s’ pitching staff did not perform to its best.  A struggling Jose Fernadez (when I say struggling, I mean he hasn’t gone more than 6 IP, 7K’s in a game yet, still a very solid pitcher, just not “NITE NITE” lights out as last year) and a Carlos Carrasco big time injury to his vaginal region will haunt ‘IPIT’ for the next 4-6 weeks. 

‘Team Reints’ was referenced as the “King Joffrey” in the likes of, nobody likes playing him.  Year after year, he has a very solid squad, which you are just waiting for a huge season ending injury to leave a gaping hole in his lineup (just like everyone jumped for joy when King Joffrey died in Season 4).  Long story short, Reints’ hitting dominated, while pitching seemed to be a soft point for him getting four poor starts from Juan Nicasio (whom Reints dropped), Henry Owens (RedSox SP, 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4K), Aaron Sanchez (Blue Jay’s SP – 4.1 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), and Adam Conley (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K).

Other Notable Scores of the Week:

‘Hakuna Machado’ pounds ‘Just Here So I Don’t Get Fined’ 9-3.  Cam got no help from his hitters outside of Stanton (6/22 with 2 bombs), and it was a one start week for his two aces in Arrietta and Kuechel who posted a combined 15 IP, 6 ER, 4 BB, 11 K, 1 QS. 

‘I’m Never Gonna Win Now’ beat ‘**JP**’ 9-3 as well.    DJ got 4 bombs from the likes of Colby Rasmus (which team is he on now?....) and solid starts from his excellent pitching staff in Greinke, Sale, and Sherzer, not to mention picking up Ryan Madson (RP – Oakland A’s) who got him 3 Saves.

Minnesota Twins lost to Team Pup ‘N Suds lead by soul skater, Andy Brink Brinker 5-7.  Long story short for “Go Big or Go Home” Team Pup N Suds, Jordan Zimmerman is going to win the Cy Young, CarMart is a god, Correa is bouncing back, and Billy Hamilton STILL SUCKS.  The Minnesota Twins, well the team name says it all.

Well Played Mauer beat Dick N Trout 8-4.  Dick N Trout got unlucky by starting guys who either aren’t playing, suck, or are benched by the actual team and only pinch hit, such as Brock Holt (3/7 all week), Wong (1/3 all week who is going to lose the starting job to Jed Gerko), Billy the kid Burns  (1/5 all week), Realmuto (1/14 all week), and Hoover (6 ER, no longer the closer for the Reds).  Well Played Mauer got big weeks from Big Papi (gotta LOVE PAPI), Sano (How can you Sano to loving Papi?), Heyward, Quintana and Iglesias.

TCBM managed by Joe Copas beat down the guy who gave up all his draft picks last year, Disabled List owned by Ryan Roberts 8-3-1.  The score is very misleading, as TCBM barely won 3 of the categories over DL such as QS 4-3, ERA 4.74 – 4.82, WHIP 1.28 – 1.35 but did lead the week in Homers with 16.

‘Play of the Week’ sponsored by DraftKings

This is an easy choice.  Has to be Wellington Castillo. 

Here’s ‘Team Reints’ take on him:

YOU MAD BRO??

PEACE.

Written By:

Hakuna Machado - 4/27/16

Edited By:

In Pence, I Trust - 4/28/16

Approved By:

In Pence, I Trust - 4/28/16

Annnnnd we're off!

After revving our engines at the draft, our fantasy baseball season is finally underway.  If we just look at box scores, it appears that "Team Reints" is in the lead as he absolutely destroys "I'm Just Here so I Won't Get Fined" (Cameron Stelljes ) by a score of 1-11-0.  Colin Reints is the first manager to win 11 categories in a single week, and Cameron Stelljes is the first manager ever to text "Are you scared of my team yet" in the same week he loses by 10 categories.  But hey, if you don't have confidence in your team then who else is going to??

Defending champ, "Dick N Trout", defeats "TCBM" by a score of 7-4-1.  "Dick N Trout" was lead by the 2014 version of Yasiel Puig (.500 OBP, .654 SLG) and Roberto Osuna (3 saves).  "TCBM" didn't get the power from Bryant or Gonzalez in week 1, and Jean Segura lead his team in home runs with 2 this week...first time for everything I guess!

"**JP**" also won 7-4-1 over "Well Played Mauer" in a very tight battle. HR, OBP, K, SV, and K/9 were all categories that could have easily gone one way or another at the end of the week.  "**JP**" had a monster week from Anthony Rizzo (2 HR, 10 RBI), while Well Played Mauer found solid production from LeMahieu, Abreu, and Ortiz (2 HR each).  Both teams had a bad Sunday, but "**JP**" found a way to be a little bit better and win the first week of the season.

"Hakuna Machado" defeated "I'm Never Gonna Win Now" (8-4), and also broke the record for most trades offered in a single week.  Maybe a win will convince him to stick with his squad and we can all stop receiving the daily emails?  Only time will tell.  "Hakuna Machado" was the benfeiciary of the historical week for Rockies rookie Trevor Story who hit 6 bomb and had 11 RBI.  A pace that he surely cannot maintain.  "I'm Never Gonna Win Now" brought some power of his own, but only managed 23 RBI on 11 Homeruns.   Sounds like he had his power hitters leading off and hitting solo bombs all year.  Does that story line sound familiar to anyone else? #BrianDozier

"Disabled List" beat "Team Pup N Suds" (8-4), who must be disappointed in his start to the fantasy season.  Not only did he lose week one after having a great draft, but then one of his top picks ends up being done for the year by breaking his elbow during spring training. "Team Pup N Suds" must have left he bats at home as he only managed 5 homeruns and a .2885 OBP, but he did have 7 more RBI than "I'm Never Gonna Win Now" despite less than half the homeruns.  Meanwhile, Matt Kemp gave Disabled List a reason to be hopeful as he 3 homers and had 10 RBI in the first week of play.

Last but not least, we have the first tie of the season between "In Pence, I Trust" and the "Minnesota Twins".  "In Pence, I Trust" was close to taking a lead late on Sunday before James Shields gave up a solo homerun to Ryan Raburn (wtf???) in the 7th inning to lose the quality start.  If you tell me you knew Raburn was still in the league you're a liar.  "Minnesota Twins" had a solid week from a variety of players, despite the team he is named after.

While we're on that point.  The Twins are now 0-7.  Have lost 5 consecutive home openers.  This is the first 0-7 start in franchise history.  They have scored the least runs in the league (12; 1.7 per game).  Our bullpen has blown 3 leads and Buxton looks terrible so far.  Efffff.

Good luck in week two!

Let the preparation begin!

Guys! It's already here!  Fantasy baseball is already here!  Like every year, the first post needs to address the nuts and bolts of the season, including what to take care of as soon as you can.  In no particular order, I will remind you of a few things to better prepare you for success in the 2016 season.

1. Draft: Date and time is TBD.  The goal is always to get everyone at the draft, so we will continue to discuss draft dates until we find one that works for everyone or at least as many people as possible.
2. League Fee: $50 due ASAP . Please don't make me harass you (ahem, Colin Regis).  
• You can send it to me via paypal account: lenzx071@d.umn.edu
• You can send it to me directly: 4350 Brookside Ct, Apt 114, Edina, MN 55436
• You can send it to me via venmo: @Lenzy2108
3. Payouts: $600 will be distributed in the following ways
• $10/week for weekly category winner = $210
• $200 for league champion
• $140 for runner up
• $50 for 3rd place
4. Draft Order: Picks 1-6 are determined by the reverse order of positions 7-12 in the 2015 final regular season standings.  Picks 7-12 are determined by the reverse order of positions 1-6 in the 2015 winners bracket.
1. Team Pup 'N Suds (Colin Regis) finished 12th place in Regular Season Standings
2. Chaw Big Chief (Cameron Stelljes) finished 11th place in Regular Season Standings
3. Well Played Mauer (Max Geary) finished 10th place in Regular Season Standings
4. You Mad Bum? (DJ Lemmage) finished 9th place in Regular Season Standings
• Will receive 1st pick in 3rd round for winning 2015 Consolation Bracket
5. Puig City (Brian Michaud) finished 8th place in Regular Season Standings
6. Disabled List (Ryan Roberts) finished 7th place in Regular Season Standings
7. ** JP ** (Jack Pederson) finished 6th place in Winners Bracket
8. Tits, Clits, and Baseball Mitts (Juan Copas) finished 5th place in Winners Bracket
9. In Pence, I Trust (Matt Lenz) finished 4th place in Winners Bracket
10. No Ragrets (Chris Musser) finished 3rd place in Winners Bracket
11. Team Reints (Colin Reints) finished 2nd place in Winners Bracket
12. Dick N Trout (Tyler Starr) finished 1st place in Winner Bracket
5. Keepers: This is the first year of our new keeper rule being put into effect.  On the right side of this blog, you will see a section for "Useful Links" within that section you will see "Yearly Keepers".  Keepers are due one week prior to the draft.  This will be updated to reflect who has been kept in previous years, as well as who has been kept prior to the draft.  This new rule is best described in the handbook.  You can keep one player 5 times (6 seasons) and the other player 1 time (2 seasons).  The 5 time designation can change from year to year.
   1. The 5 time and 1 time designations follows that player in a trade.
   2. You can switch a 5 time keeper at any point...you do not have to keep him 5 times.
   
   
6. Contact Information: This information will be kept on the ESPN League Homepage, because this blog is visible to the public. Please double check to make sure that the information is up to date.

Keeper Rule Revisited

Hello boys,
With the conclusion of the fantasy football season, it's never too early to start thinking fantasy baseball!  Prior to the 2014 draft, most of us (8, if I remember correctly) had brainstormed a keeper rule that stated, "you can keep one player up to 5 times, a second player only one time, and the years kept follows a player through trades".  This was voted one by the rest of the league and passed with flying colors to take affect prior to the 2015 season.  Since then we have had one person leave the league and two others join the league.  Furthermore, I have had various discussions with other owners who have said one of two things:

1. We basically changed it from a two keeper league to a single keeper league.
2. Our keeper rule makes things more complicated than they need to be.

With those reasons in mind, I would like to open the vote again on the keeper rule before it truly goes into affect for the first time for the upcoming 2016 season.  Now, I have reviewed the trades that were made this past season, and in my opinion, there weren't any trades made with this new keeper rule in mind.  Thus, I do believe that to this point our current rule hasn't changed anyones drafting/trading/waiver wire/etc strategy.  

I will be the first to admit that this seems weird, to go back and vote on something that had already been passed by the league.  That being said, our current keeper rule (or any keeper rule for that matter) will really change the strategy and layout of the league, so it's very important to me that the right rule is being implemented.  To be clear, I am not biased towards either rule we decide to run with, but it does make me concerned that there is already hesitation on a rule that hasn't officially been implemented.

Anyway, I have the poll above closing on February 21st at 11:59pm...that's when Twins Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training.  The sooner you vote the better!  Thanks!  I believe the comments below can be left "anonymously", so if you want to share thoughts please do so!