Two Spots for Three Teams

Entering the final week of the regular season, we still don't have a perfectly clear playoff picture.  The top 4 teams in the league have clinched a playoff spot although the order could vary greatly.  Here is a quick look at that:

• KK Kluber and Team Reints have clinched a bye, although they could flip flop for the #1 and #2 seeds.  They tied the season series, but ESPN has KK Kluber in the top spot.
• Washed Up AF  - who of course is Musser - is sitting in the 3 spot, but could fall to the 4 spot.
• I'm Never Gonna Win Now sits in the 4 spot, but could fall to the 5th spot.  He owns the tiebreaker over **JP** and Trout's Back Bitches, so he wouldn't fall as low as the 6th spot.

That leaves Team Pup 'N Suds, Trout's Back Bitches, and **JP** fighting for the final two playoff spots.  Here are those scenarios:

• Team Pup 'N Suds and Trout's Back Bitches sit in the driver seat as they lead **JP** by a game, which means they win and they are in.
• If all three lose or just **JP** loses, than Team Pup 'N Suds and Trout's Back Bitches are in.
• If **JP** and Team Pup 'N Suds wins, than Trout's Back Bitches would lose the tiebreaker to **JP** and be eliminated from playoff contention.
• There are two scenarios where the first tiebreaker (H2H) wouldn't work, and ESPN would use the second tiebreaker (I don't know what that is).  For these two situations, I don't know what would happen:
• If **JP** and Trout's Back Bitches win, that would leave **JP** and Pup 'N Suds in a tie. They tied in their season series.
• If **JP** wins but Trout's Back Bitches and Pup 'N Suds lose, than we have a three way tie for the two playoff spots.  

So Let's get a preview of the match ups that these three teams face in the final week:

• #5 Team Pup 'N Suds v. #8 Seager Bro's, Inc. - Seager Bro's was just eliminated after a weekend collapse in his week 20 match up.  Nonetheless, he'd love to play spoiler.  In week 10, Team Pup 'N Suds won handedly 4-7-1 and Seager is currently on a four game winless streak including losing three in a row.  Team Pup 'N Suds should win easily. #jinx
• #6 Trout's Back Bitches v. #1 KK Kluber - Uf-dah.  What a hard draw when you need win for Trout's Back Bitches.  That said, he crushed KK Kluber in week 10 by a score of 1-9-2.  As you might expect, KK Kluber had arguably the worst week of his season.  It's going to take another week like that for Trout to hold on as Kluber out-ranks him in every category over the whole season. #goodluck #youneedit
• #7 **JP** v. #12 Mookie Monster - Need I say anything?  In a must win week, what a great match up for **JP**.  Mookie hasn't won since mid July and his match ups haven't even been close.  **JP** should have no problem here.  #dontchoke

Here are my predictions:

• Seager over Pup.  Pup still makes playoffs as the 5 seed.
• Kluber over Trout.  Kluber clinches #1 and Trout misses playoffs.
• **JP** over Mookie.  **JP** clinches playoff spot as the 6 seed.

Good luck to everyone this week!

With Love,

Commish

Two Weeks and Two Spots

Two weeks and Two spots are all the remain for the season and the playoffs, respectively.  This week saw Team Reints, Murdered Da Beat (formerly like 12 other team names), and I'm Never Gonna Win Now clinch a playoff berth.  With KK Kluber clinching last week, four of the six playoff spots are spoken for.  Neither top seed, which gives a bye, has been clinched although KK Kluber, Team Reints, and Murdered Da Beat are all within a half game of the top 2 spots.

Unfortunately, this week also ended the dream for the Minnesota Twins (fantasy version) while the Minnesota Twins (real version) surge towards the playoffs.

Key Match Ups for week 20:

#6 Trout's Back Bitches v. #8 Seager Bro's, Inc.: This is a must win for both teams.  From the perspective of TBB, he is surrounded by teams that own the tiebreaker over him which could be fateful if he finishes with the same number of "points" (see playoff standings doc) as one of them.  For Seager, he literally needs to win out to stay alive in the race as he is two games back with two games left.

#2 Team Reints v. #3 Murdered Da Beat: For obvious reasons, this matchup has huge implications for each team respectively.  A win for Team Reints means clinching a first round bye in the playoffs.  A win for Murdered Da Beat and he moves into the #2 spot and owns the tiebreaker over Team Reints, which could be important if they finish with the same number of points.

All other match ups feature a contender versus a team out of contention.  Although there are only two teams weeks left, there is a lot of time left for movement in the standings.  A reminder to those of you who are out of contention...the consolation champion gets the 1st pick in the 3rd round (1st pick after keepers) in next years draft!  So, keep setting your lineups and participating!

With Love,
Commish

KK Kluber clinches and two more teams eliminated with 3 weeks left

As previewed in the previous post, week 18 was going to be a big week for our league.  The top three teams found a way to win which lead to KK Kluber being the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the 2018 BGT Fantasy Baseball League.  There is still a lot at stake for him as he only holds a half game lead for a first round bye in the playoffs.

On the other side of the standings, losses ended Thor's Hammer and Well Played Mauer.  The Minnesota Twins are on the brink of elimination as they find themselves three games out, but could possibly sneak in because of tiebreakers.  All in all, the only change in the standings was **JP** jumping over Seager Bros, Inc. after winning head to head in the week 7 and week 18 matchups.

With that, lets preview key matchups for week 19:

#5 Team Pup 'N Suds v. #6 Trout's Back Bitches - in week 8 Team Pup 'N Suds won 8-3-1 despite a mediocre offensive output and a pretty bad pitching.  All that mattered was that he did better offensively than his opponent by sweeping all categories, which gave him the advantage in a close pitching matchup.  They are currently tied for 5th/6th, so whoever wins will have sole possession of the 5th playoff spot.  This is the only matchup this week between two teams currently in the playoffs.

#1 KK Kluber v. #7 **JP** - in week 8 **JP** upset KK Kluber 8-3-1 behind one of the better pitching performances of the season getting solid starting pitching and relief pitching.  Overall, KK Kluber is doing better in most categories throughout the season include all pitching categories.  This is a big week for **JP** who will need another phenomenal week of pitching to hang with the best team in the league and avoid being on the brink of elimination.

#4 I'm Never Gonna Win Now v. #8 Minnesota Twins - in week 8 I'm Never Gonna Win Now won handedly 2-9-1 and that was when the Minnesota Twins was updating his line up.  As I said before, the Minnesota Twins are in must win mode and will need some sort of miracle to win this week if he continues to ignore his line up.

-Seager Bro's, Inc., along with **JP**, are pretty much in must win mode as one more loss this season will put them on the brink of elimination.
-Team Reints looks to secure a playoff spot in a matchup versus Well Played Mauer who was just eliminated from playoff contention.
-Gerry Bertier finds himself in a similar position with a victory, although it isn't totally clear if he will clinch because of tiebreakers.  To be safe, he should needs to win two more matchups in the last three weeks.

Good luck to all.
With Love,
Commish

Week 18 Could Paint a Clearer Picture

The trade deadline has come and gone.  Seventeen weeks have come and gone.  Four weeks is all the remains before the playoffs.  We are heading towards an exciting finish as nine of the twelve teams in the league are within 2 games of a playoff spot.  Technically, only one (Mookie Monster) time has been eliminated from contention but Well Played Mauer and Thor's Hammer are already looking towards 2018 as they were big sellers at the deadline.  On the other side of the standings, nobody has clinched a playoff spot although the top three teams are as close to guaranteed as you can get with I'm Never Gonna Win Now and Team Pup 'N Suds not too far behind.  It looks like a tiebreaker could play a pivotal role in the playoff seeding this year.  With that said, lets preview the key match ups for week 18:

#2 Team Reints v. #5 Team Pup 'N Suds - Andy Brinker and Co. narrowly edged a victory in their week 7 match up with a 5-4-3 victory.  It really doesn't get much closer than that.  Corey Dickerson had a monster week with 5 HR's which lead to a 4-0-1 sweep of the offensive categories.  Only one question remiains...will Crime Dogg get "dick"-ed again in week 18? #CrimeDawgDown

#7 Seager Bros, Inc. v. #8 **JP** - **JP* won their first match up, also in week 7, by a score of 7-5-0.  Seager Bros offense was dreadful while **JP**'s surged.  Seager Bros pitching was superb while *JP**'s was weak.  The two teams are the yin to the others yang.  One values closers while the others values starters, so this will most likely come down to the offense. Can the bash brothers put some room between him and **JP** for the 6th playoff spot?  Time will tell.

#3 Gerry Bertier v. #9 Minnesota Twins - this could be a viewed as a must win for the Minnesota Twins. They currently sit 2 games back of the 6th seed with 4 weeks remaining, which isn't an impossible climb but a difficult one to say the least.  Oddly enough, they also played in week 7 with Gerry Bertier squeaking by 6-5-1.  This matchup doesn't have tiebreaker implications, but a loss for the Twins ends their season and a loss for Mr. Bertier makes a playoff bye improbable.  #leftside #strongside

#1KK Kluber v. #4 I'm Never Gonna Win Now - I think I am noticing a scheduling trend here...I wasn't smart enough to realize this until now, but the match ups that happened in week 7 are happening again now.  Anyway, back then KK Kluber won 7-5-0 thanks to an awful pitching week from I'm never Gonna Win Now.  To be fair, KK Kluber wasn't much better, but all that matters was that he was better.  I'm Never Gonna Win Now dominated the offensive categories, but it wasn't enough.  Neither team has changed much although they are both dealing with a significant injury or two.  Can I'm Never Gonna Win Now win now? That question hurts my head.

Other matchups - #6 Trout's Back Bitches goes up against Thor's Hammer who just got done with a fire sale.  Should be an easy win.  Mookie Monster and Well Played Mauer, who have also mailed it in, will battle.  Sorry boys, that's all the recognition you get.

Good luck!  With Love,
Commish