I understand that reading about someone else's league is right up there with watching paint dry in the 'exciting activities' category, but since RDB has a representative in each of the major bloggers' challenge leagues, I feel obligated to provide a general league update, along with the status of my own team. If it's not your bag, move right along. I won't be offended, I promise.
First let's talk about how we've gotten to where we've gotten. In the early goings of the season, up until mid-May or so, I was cemented into the 14th and 15th position in the standings. My team was full of guys who either started slow, got injured, or flat out busted, and I couldn't help but think to myself, 'Great, they're gonna think last year (when I finished 2nd in this same league) was a fluke.' By April 17th I had already flipped a hot starting Mike Cameron for Kevin Gregg, who despite having given up a load of Earned Runs at that point, had Sweet Lou's full backing as closer for the Cubbies, so I thought that was a pretty good Buy Low, in the classical sense, just two weeks into the season. Gregg continued to be pretty bad in the following weeks, but has really come around (despite no longer being on my team, more on that later). On May 2nd, I sent Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, and John Lannan away in exchange for Alex Rios, Melky Cabrera, and Jon Lester. Hamilton hasn't been able to stay healthy, Bradley's manager has had it up to here with him, and Lannan's come on strong since June, while Rios has continued to disappoint, save a few glimmers of hope, Melky has been surprisingly reliable, and while Lester's ratios were really ugly for some time, he's back to pitching lights out in Boston. Just 20 days later, I swapped Orlando Cabrera, Jose Lopez, and Kevin Gregg for Alberto Callaspo and Magglio Ordonez. Gregg has really turned around, notching Saves left and right while not surrenduring Runs, while Magg Pipes has been benched for stretches and has seemingly forgotten how to hit. Thanksfully Callaspo has maintained a near-.300 AVG, not hurting me anywhere, while O-Cab has continued to hit .250. At this point I've got a maximum of 2 or 3 points in every single hitting category except Stolen Bases, where I had 12 pts, so I then flipped Chone Figgins for Dan Uggla with Mr. Behrens himself on May 27. Since then it's been all quiet on the trade front. Now, I won't go through Adds and the like, with the exception of one...
On June 7th Javier Vazquez was dropped from his roster. A short while later his owner posted on the league boards saying it was a mistake, asking Andy for a mulligan. A number of owners, myself included, posted in reply citing we had no problem with this. Commissioner Behrens declined said request, leaving Javier to be picked up to the lucky team with #1 Waiver Priority. By now maybe you can guess who it was. So I claimed Vazquez, adding to an already stacked up staff of Starting Pitchers. I took a little heat for it, since I had already stated I didn't mind if the original owner got the player back, but after the Commissioner's ruling, I felt it was open season, and I'm trying to win here (feel free to post your thoughts and/or lambast me on this, if you wish).
So that brings us to today, July 3rd. Just one day shy of Independence Day. I currently sit in 5th Place in the standings, with 96 Total Points (full break down later), atop a cluster of five teams that have bounced between 5th and 9th for the last month or so (I have owned each one of those positions in that time). I am maintaining my patience as my bats continue to finally hit, attempting to claw away at the hitting categories while maintaining my elite marks in pitching. While I'm 30 or so innings ahead of the 1300 limit pace, the teams with higher point totals in Wins and Strikeouts are each over 100 innings over pace, so I feel good about that. Anyway, I've talked enough. I'll just let the standings and my roster tell the rest of the story...
Standings
Overall Points
|
Batting
|
Pitching
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|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rank
|
Team
|
R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | W | SV | K | ERA | WHIP | Total |
| 1. | Manny's Sex Drive | 14 | 11 | 12 | 11.5 | 13 | 8.5 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 13.5 | 118.5 |
| 2. | Razzball | 12 | 16 | 14 | 5.5 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 13.5 | 113 |
| 3. | FBC Big Pimpin | 16 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 6 | 10.5 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 111.5 |
| 4. | WillieMayesHayes | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13.5 | 10 | 2.5 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 102 |
| 5. | Rotodatabase.com ECB | 3 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 96 |
| 6. | FanHouse Finaglers | 9 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 14.5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 95.5 |
| 7. | FBC raiders_umpire | 13 | 15 | 16 | 7 | 16 | 8.5 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 1.5 | 94 |
| 8. | ForWhomJayBellTolls | 7 | 10 | 8 | 5.5 | 5 | 12 | 8.5 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 93 |
| 9. | Oscar Meyer Wieters | 8 | 8.5 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 14.5 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 90 |
| 10. | Secret Treasure Loaf | 10 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 11.5 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 10 | 79 |
| 11. | Dirty Scottsdale | 6 | 2 | 2 | 13.5 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 78.5 |
| 12. | The Sherpa (Swanay) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7.5 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 76.5 |
| 13. | The Amazing Tulos | 11 | 12 | 4 | 11.5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 1.5 | 73 |
| 14. | FBC Mugrila | 5 | 8.5 | 7 | 3 | 11.5 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 63 |
| 15. | EWC | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 43.5 |
| 16. | Knife - FB Geeks | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2.5 | 11 | 2 | 3.5 | 3 | 33 |
Overall Stats
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Batting
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Pitching
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Rank
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Team
|
Total GP | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | IP | W | SV | K | ERA | WHIP |
| 1. | Manny's Sex Drive | 1004 | 546 | 128 | 510 | 85 | .274 | 639.1 | 40 | 43 | 537 | 3.67 | 1.28 |
| 2. | Razzball | 1023 | 535 | 147 | 531 | 69 | .279 | 682.1 | 38 | 36 | 523 | 3.63 | 1.28 |
| 3. | FBC Big Pimpin | 1037 | 566 | 125 | 495 | 95 | .267 | 674.0 | 41 | 27 | 561 | 3.38 | 1.18 |
| 4. | WillieMayesHayes | 1014 | 547 | 139 | 535 | 90 | .271 | 573.0 | 31 | 42 | 509 | 4.19 | 1.36 |
| 5. | Rotodatabase.com ECB | 974 | 459 | 117 | 459 | 81 | .262 | 661.0 | 43 | 43 | 597 | 3.61 | 1.24 |
| 6. | FanHouse Finaglers | 1057 | 531 | 134 | 506 | 101 | .270 | 659.0 | 44 | 34 | 492 | 4.21 | 1.39 |
| 7. | FBC raiders_umpire | 1029 | 542 | 142 | 563 | 73 | .281 | 622.1 | 40 | 20 | 571 | 4.53 | 1.45 |
| 8. | ForWhomJayBellTolls | 983 | 510 | 127 | 490 | 69 | .266 | 740.0 | 42 | 35 | 624 | 3.86 | 1.31 |
| 9. | Oscar Meyer Wieters | 1017 | 524 | 126 | 503 | 74 | .278 | 742.2 | 44 | 24 | 603 | 4.30 | 1.40 |
| 10. | Secret Treasure Loaf | 984 | 532 | 115 | 516 | 62 | .273 | 643.2 | 41 | 35 | 486 | 4.38 | 1.31 |
| 11. | Dirty Scottsdale | 970 | 506 | 104 | 444 | 90 | .260 | 599.2 | 37 | 49 | 502 | 3.62 | 1.29 |
| 12. | The Sherpa (Swanay) | 998 | 463 | 114 | 479 | 78 | .269 | 656.1 | 45 | 8 | 563 | 3.92 | 1.32 |
| 13. | The Amazing Tulos | 1003 | 534 | 131 | 474 | 85 | .265 | 623.2 | 32 | 43 | 547 | 4.62 | 1.45 |
| 14. | FBC Mugrila | 920 | 500 | 126 | 486 | 50 | .273 | 687.2 | 29 | 28 | 533 | 4.23 | 1.35 |
| 15. | EWC | 812 | 415 | 110 | 420 | 41 | .269 | 533.0 | 33 | 25 | 456 | 3.88 | 1.31 |
| 16. | Knife - FB Geeks | 949 | 450 | 100 | 477 | 45 | .258 | 559.0 | 31 | 41 | 460 | 4.38 | 1.43 |
Roster
|
Pos
|
|
Batters
|
H/AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jason Varitek (Bos - C)  |
48/205 | 31 | 11 | 32 | 0 | .234 | |
| C | Miguel Olivo (KC - C)  |
49/190 | 23 | 12 | 32 | 2 | .258 | |
| 1B | Ryan Howard (Phi - 1B)  |
77/301 | 47 | 20 | 60 | 3 | .256 | |
| 2B | Dan Uggla (Fla - 2B) |
61/271 | 38 | 15 | 45 | 1 | .225 | |
| 3B | Andy LaRoche (Pit - 3B) |
71/259 | 36 | 3 | 33 | 2 | .274 | |
| SS | Alberto Callaspo (KC - 2B,SS) |
79/265 | 35 | 5 | 28 | 1 | .298 | |
| CI | Greg Dobbs (Phi - 3B,OF) |
20/82 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 1 | .244 | |
| MI | Martín Prado (Atl - 1B,2B,3B) |
44/144 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 0 | .306 | |
| OF | Nolan Reimold (Bal - OF) |
41/143 | 21 | 9 | 20 | 1 | .287 | |
| OF | Garret Anderson (Atl - OF) |
56/195 | 18 | 5 | 29 | 1 | .287 | |
| OF | Nate Schierholtz (SF - OF) |
39/127 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 2 | .307 | |
| OF | Melky Cabrera (NYY - OF) |
62/220 | 32 | 8 | 32 | 5 | .282 | |
| OF | Jacoby Ellsbury (Bos - OF) |
91/299 | 41 | 4 | 26 | 33 | .304 | |
| Util | Ronny Paulino (Fla - C) |
32/121 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 1 | .264 | |
| BN | Hideki Matsui (NYY - OF) |
53/209 | 24 | 11 | 31 | 0 | .254 | |
| BN | Álex Ríos (Tor - OF) |
83/319 | 38 | 9 | 37 | 13 | .260 | |
| BN | Magglio Ordóñez (Det - OF) |
64/246 | 29 | 3 | 24 | 3 | .260 | |
| BN | Yuniesky Betancourt (Sea - SS) DL |
56/224 | 15 | 2 | 22 | 3 | .250 | |
| DL | Mike Lowell (Bos - 3B) DL |
75/266 | 30 | 10 | 41 | 0 | .282 | |
| DL | Alex Gordon (KC - 3B) DL |
2/21 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | .095 |
|
Pos
|
Pitchers
|
IP | W | SV | K | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Mariano Rivera (NYY - P) |
32.2 | 1 | 20 | 40 | 2.76 | 0.95 |
| P | Zack Greinke (KC - P) |
115.1 | 10 | 0 | 114 | 1.95 | 1.02 |
| P | Trevor Hoffman (Mil - P) |
23.1 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 1.93 | 0.94 |
| P | Ted Lilly (ChC - P) |
104.2 | 7 | 0 | 88 | 3.35 | 1.13 |
| P | Jon Lester (Bos - P) |
99.1 | 7 | 0 | 114 | 4.35 | 1.31 |
| P | Javier Vázquez (Atl - P) |
112.0 | 5 | 0 | 130 | 3.05 | 1.07 |
| P | Scott Richmond (Tor - P) |
85.1 | 6 | 0 | 71 | 3.69 | 1.20 |
| P | J.A. Happ (Phi - P) |
73.0 | 5 | 0 | 50 | 2.96 | 1.23 |
| P | Scott Kazmir (TB - P) |
50.2 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 7.28 | 1.86 |
| DL | Jake Peavy (SD - P) DL |
81.2 | 6 | 0 | 92 | 3.97 | 1.19 |
| DL | Oliver Pérez (NYM - P) DL |
21.2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 9.97 | 2.26 |
Until next update...
I think you were put in an impossible position by what, IMO, was a poor ruling by the commissioner. After the owner posted soon afterwards that the drop was a mistake, and several owners expressed their willingness to allow it to be reversed, the smart call would have been to allow the reverse.
After it was refused, what did the other owners expect you to do? Sit back and trust that no one else would pick him up, so that the guy who dropped him could pick him up again? You knew that wasn't going to happen. The commish made the ruling, and your decision on whether or not to put in a claim came in after that ruling. Therefore, any debate before the ruling was made is, IMO, irrelevant to decisions made after the ruling. I'm sure you expected a bit of flack for it, but are you supposed to pass up a good player because of it? No, I think you were fully justified in making that claim.
Nice work in climbing up to 5th, by the way!
After it was refused, what did the other owners expect you to do? Sit back and trust that no one else would pick him up, so that the guy who dropped him could pick him up again? You knew that wasn't going to happen. The commish made the ruling, and your decision on whether or not to put in a claim came in after that ruling. Therefore, any debate before the ruling was made is, IMO, irrelevant to decisions made after the ruling. I'm sure you expected a bit of flack for it, but are you supposed to pass up a good player because of it? No, I think you were fully justified in making that claim.
Nice work in climbing up to 5th, by the way!
This was pretty much how I felt, as well. Strangely enough, we had a similar situation in H2H WS USA East back in April where another owner accidentally dropped Rich Harden instead of Ervin Santana, and immediately posted saying it was a mistake. Low and behold, I had #1 priority at the time, as well. We had the commissioner talk directly with wrs, who ruled that the change should be allowed. I said I would have picked up Ervin anyway, so what I did was use my #1 to claim Harden, and simply traded him for Ervin back to the original owner. In no way do I ever try to be anything other than fair in this game.
As for the pickle I was in with Vaz, I felt like I would be doing myself an injustice to not put a claim in and look like a stiff when the guy with the #2, 3, or whatever priority scooped him up. After the ruling was made, as far as I was concerned, he was open season. Most of the people agreed with me. Nobody has any ill will towards each other or anything; it was just a crappy situation to be in, that ultimately has given me an additional Ace for free. Usually I'm on the other end of these type of things, so it was nice to have something fall into my lap for once, especially since it was about the time Peavy hit the DL.
How are you doing in your Experts Blog League, chris??
I posted an update in the other thread, but to save you looking for it, here it is!
Basically, I'm fighting with a couple of other teams for the top spot, with a healthy gap to 4th place as it stands. I've had an incredibly consistent run - won every match-up except one so far, but none of them by a massive margin! (8-2 has been my biggest win).
There's a 4-move per week limit, which obviously cuts down on streaming, but I've saved one roster spot for the best-looking 2-start week available (it's Jeff Niemann this week - had a good 1st outing, which was nice!)
Here's my roster as it stands today:
C: V Mart
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Blake
SS: Hardy
OF: Kemp
OF: Hart
OF: Hunter
Utl: Thome
Bn: Rasmus
DL: Ramirez
SP: Billingsley, Garza, Wainwright, Jered Weaver, Jiminez, Arroyo, Andrew Miller, Niemann
RP: Wilson, Andrew Bailey, Hawkins
Considering I've been without ARam for most of the year (who I took in the 2nd Rd, 31st overall), and have had to put up with the likes of Hardy & Hart struggling, I've not done too badly. Of course, Albert has something to do with that!
15 of the 21 guys I drafted are still on my team, including all of the first 13 picks. I did try to trade Hunter fairly early on, but no one sent any decent offers, or were willing to negotiate, so nothing ended up happening there.
Best thing about the league is that everyone is still active!
Nice, I remember reading you being in 2nd, I just couldn't remember how long ago it was. Grab that top spot, amigo!!
The Roto Arcade Pro-Am
Currently sitting at 111.0, just 2 points out of first at 113.0, in 3rd Place. I've reached my IP limit, but it's going to be a photo finish!!
Hope you manage to pull it off!
Tied for first at 112.0!!! Somehow need to gain a half a point in the next two days...
go hort go!