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Week 16 (All Star Week) Review

Blog is now officially 2 reviews behind, and is upset about it. Blog will post the week 16 review today (if it costs him his job) and the week 17 review will be up by Wednesday. Lo Siento.

Short Week… Short Reviews…

Legends DEF Papi’s Space Cadets (Blog digs Reclamations though), 7-3

Legend swept the pitching categories while batting .331 and stealing a few bags to take the win. Legends has now won 4 weeks in a row and has only one loss in the past 9 weeks. It will take a monumental collapse for Legends to lose the #2 seed. This was Papi’s 3rd loss in the past 4 weeks, and if they’re not careful, their playoff hopes could be slip sliding away.

> Semi-Stud of the Short Week: Dan Haren: 1/0/0.00/0.86/9.00
> Semi-Dud of the Short Week: Aramis Ramirez 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/.00000

Regulators DEF BOB’Z GIRLY MEN 6-4

Even though the ladies were convinced on Friday that they’d be sweeping Regs, reality came down hard on the fair maidens in the form of a terrific offensive weekend for the Regs. Regs also won saves for the first time this season! After getting all of 10 saves through the first 12 weeks, Regs now has 13 saves over the past 4 weeks: more than 5 other teams during that span. Of course, Regs also had a 7.55era, which we hear isn’t very good. Stupid short weeks…

> Semi-Stud of the Short Week: Mark Teixeira 4/2/3/0/.556
> Semi-Dud of the Short Week: Mike Lowell had a rough Anaheim trip… 0/0/1/0/.077


L.L. Longball DEF Snot on the Ball 7-3

Snot continued their consistently inconsistent ways as they followed up their 10-0 win with their 4th loss in the last 7 weeks. Next thing you know, Snot will go out in week 17 and defeat Slump Chumps (aka Karma Kameleons) 7-3! Longball saw himself jump all the way to the #4 seed. Longball took saves 4-1, but with 3 of his 4 closers in trade talks to contenders (and the 4th one just not being very good), Longball better watch the waiver wire for guys like Hanrahan and Rodney.

> Semi-Stud of the Short Week: Pat Burrell’s a Beast: 4/2/2/0/.417
> Semi-Dud of the Short Week: Jacoby Ellsbury is ‘ruining my summah!’ 0/0/0/0/.077 (you don’t get that joke if live south of Hartford, CT).

Jobu’s Hats for Bats TIED Slump Chumps 5-5

These 2 franchises tied for their 2nd straight meeting. That shouldn’t surprise anyone since between them; they have 10 ties this season. Jobu’s streak of weeks without a loss was extended to 12, but Blog has a feeling that 13 will be unlucky for Jobu. Although… Jobu is playing Swine Nine, who clearly is playing for 2009, so there’s no way they could drop a week to them, right? The fun thing about Slumps ties is that they’ve all happened since June 1. 5 of the last 7 weeks have ended quite boringly for the Slumpers. Blog doesn’t see week 17 improving any…

> Semi-Stud of the Short Week: Rick Ankiel… Blog is so happy for Slump…2/2/6/0/.412
> Semi-Dud of the Short Week: Brandon Lyon and Jar-Jar Cordero, but Lyons was just a bit awfuller: 0/1/23.63/3.38/0.00

Swine Nine DEF Bounty Hunters 4-3-3

Swine broke a 7 week winless streak against the slumping Hunters, who continued to see their playoff hopes slipping away, as they lost their 4th week in a row. They were able to set a record in tying 3 categories in one week (Runs, Wins, Saves). Swine took all the other offensive categories, and BH took the rest of the pitching. Swine could potentially be forever known as the 08 spoiler as they face 5 playoff contenders in their last 6 weeks, or, if the firesale slows down… Swine could even sneak into the playoffs with a strong finish.

> Semi-Stud of the Short Week: Blog wishes this could go to Raul Ibanez, but since Swine took 4 hitting categories, it has to go to the stolen one, David Wright: 5/2/6/1/.385
> Semi-Dud of the Short Week: One run… that’s all BH needed from Milton Bradley… 0/0/0/0/.200.

Manager of the Week: Legends beat down a playoff team in their own division and continues to roll.

Player of the Week: Mark Teixeira. Blog really tried to avoid homerism, but no blogy is perfect.

Pitcher of the Week: Snot’s still wrong. Dan Haren.

Calm Down!

The review of week 16 will be late. Blog must put food on his table for his baby blogs. Blog dares you to complain about it. It may be done today, it may not be done until Saturday. Blog expects you to refresh Blog without ceasing until the time the review is posted. In the meantime, Blog dispenses tidbits to calm your nerves.

Blog may start to kind of sort of be drawn to fantasy football in the next few weeks. Are there any CPL managers interested in doing a low-key, free yahoo football league? If we can get 6 teams, Blog will put something together.

If only Matt Holliday could play 162 games in Colorado...

Blog can't decide if Chipper Jones is tough for fighting through so many injuries, or more fragile than Bounty Hunters playoff chances.

Anyone seen 1st Half All-Star Dan Uggla? Anyone?

Blog can't wait for Papi to come back against the Yankees this weekend.

Obama is a communist. And an inexperienced one at that. If Blog is going to have to give all his hard earned $$ to a communist, can't it at least be an experienced one?

Christian Guzman, Aubrey Huff, Ryan Dempster, Seth McLung, Ryan Ludwick, Jose Lopez... Papi's Space Cadets should change their name to The Reclamations.

Here are 2 stat lines to think about:

Player A: 37/14/45/7/.259

Player B: 53/13/48/7/.234

One is a free agent, one is owned and was actually a keeper. WHO ARE THEY?!?!

All-Star Draft Value Review (Part 3 of 3)

Continued from Part 2. No kidding.

#3 Legends (-211 Average Player Value)

Aramis Ramirez, Dan Haren, Jermaine Dye and Jason Bay. 4 players drafted that are ranked in the top 50. That’s tops in the league, and the reason Legends grabs the #3 ranking. (Keep in mind that these numbers are as of the All-Star break, so the fact that Ramirez doesn’t have a hit since the all-star game and is now ranked 59 is irrelative.) Troy Glaus has also ended up being a very valuable pick in the 19th round, even though he got whacked pretty early. Here also is another weird yahoo ranking quirk. Kelvim Escobar, taken in the 10th round, is done for the year without throwing one pitch, yet his value is only -572?!? I don’t get it. Poor Jason Varitek at least had a dinger or 2, yet his value is -901!! That Eric Byrnes pick in round one was brutal too, continuing the weak first round that this league had overall, but Phil Hughes wins ‘worst value pick by Legends’ as he posts a solid -805. Go Yankee Youth Movement!

#2 Regulators (-132 Average Player Value)


In keeping with his record this year, Regs had a very average draft. He only took 3 guys who have rankings above 500 right now, and that is the reason the Regs are #2: not because they were that good, but because they were not that bad. Look at all the average pitchers taken in the middle of the draft. Booooring. Between the 9th and 20th rounds, Regs took 10 starting pitchers. He connected on 2 of them. that’s some lousy drafting right there. Why Weaver, Perez or McGowan instead been Lee, Volquez or Dempster? Sigh… The Ian Kinsler pick was really brilliant, considering that there were 29 (!!) players taken over the #2 overall ranked player (Hello Fausto!). Blog of course has no idea how Andrew Millers value (-737) is 500 points worse than Homer Bailey’s (-281). Is it because, even though they both stink, Bailey stinks in fewer starts? Sure… At least, it now cannot be said that Regs didn’t draft a closer. Thank you Takashi Saito!

#1 Jobu’s Hats for Bats (-128 Average Player Value)


Pretty much hands down, Jobu had the best value draft this year. 12 value picks. 6 over 50. 4 over 100. 6 players drafted in the top 100 rankings. Only 7 non-value picks. There was one team to have less than 12 non-value picks. Jobu only had 7. The only reason Jobu didn’t lap the field was because in those 7 non-value picks were some doozies. Jobu made most of his $$ grabbing closers: Cordero, Soria, Ryan, Wood and Lyon are all in positive numbers. Lyon and Soria are both over 100. Even Heath Bell posted a 131 value number from the 19th round (of course, his 2IP, 7ER since the AS Break may have adjusted that number south). As for the mistakes, Smoltz, Neshek, and Pedro have dealt with booboo’s, and well, we all know Khalil Greene sucks by now. Liriano was a bit of a gamble in the 3rd round, but Blog doesn’t think he’d have lasted much longer. Corey Hart was a solid first rounder, and Matt ‘the running fool’ Kemp’s a steal (get it?) in the 4th round. Even Jim Thome’s been productive. To top it off, grabbing a rookie catcher in the 15th round who ends up the potential ROY in the NL is never a bad thing. Blog highly recommends it. Basically, it’s not a huge surprise that this team hasn’t lost since April.

All-Star Draft Value Review (Part 2 of 3)

Part 2 of 3 Draft Value Review

# 6 – Slump Chump (-230 Average Player Value)

Slump came in 2nd with 9 value picks, but 2 other numbers show why he sits here in 6th place: 10 non-value picks over 100, and ZERO value picks over 100 (the only team to pull off the goose egg). Damon was close at 98, but Blog doesn’t think Damon will be at 98 come September. Blog also has no idea how Chris Ray, despite not playing one game this year, can be ranked 478 by Yahoo. No clue. Blog still loves the Dave Weathers pick as well. You can never have enough set up guys who don’t strike people out (Rheal Cormier anyone?) If you can grab one in the 12th round, instead of say, Youkilis, Kerry Wood or Rich Harden, you have to pull that trigger. Slump may have taken some ribbing on draft night for grabbing Sox kids Ellsbury (16) and Pedroia (84) so early, but both have panned out as very nice value picks. Pedroia’s been one of fantasy’s big surprises, proved by his 37 overall ranking. Not bad at all for an 8th rounder.

#5 Swine Nine (-223 Average Player Value)

One number sticks out for Swine above all others: 4.76%. That’s what happens when you have 1 player that you drafted left on your roster. Super Impressive. Swine has shipped out 11 players via trade though, so he must have acquired some value in the draft. In fact the reason for Swine being kept out of the top 3 can be blamed on 2 players. They just happen to be the worst and 3rd worst value picks of the draft: Andruw Jones (-1106) and Josh Fields (-1024). Jones seemed like a good value pick at the time. Potential 40 homerun power in the 10th round? Sure! No one, especially not the Dodgers, foresaw Jones putting together the worst hitting season in the history of baseball. Blog understands Jones’s ranking. He stinks. He hurts your team just by being in the lineup. You might as well leave that spot open. However, Blog just doesn’t get Josh Fields’ ranking. How can Josh Fields be 1200, but Chris Ray is only 478?? Blog hates randomness, and this seems incredibly arbitrary. Boo Yahoo. Blog does have to point out Nate McLouth’s 214 value. That’s #2 overall. He and Quentin are the only picks with 200+ value. Blog highly recommends getting the 11th ranked player in the 18th round. McLouth, of course, was eventually traded.

#4 Snot on the Ball (-221 Average Player Value)

The current #1 seeded team started out with 7 pretty elite players before a pick was made, which explains why he can still be #1 with such an average draft. Of course, finding a first half MVP candidate in the 11th round never hurts either. Josh Hamilton has driven in more than a run per game so far, and appears to be the most gifted ball player since that kid Griffey showed up 18ish years ago. If Hamilton can stay healthy (still a valid question mark), he probably won’t be drafted for several years, as he’ll find his name on the pre-season keeper list somewhere. For a first place team though, there are some really painful numbers here. Injuries have derailed two pitchers in Young (-605) and Gallardo (-384). Saito’s injury now will also drive his number down. All things being equal, Snot had only one player with positive value in the first 10 rounds! Things turned right around in the 11th though, as Snot put together 3 great value picks in Hamilton (153), Gregg (82) and Rich Harden (116). Blog would certainly be amiss if Snot’s 15th round pick wasn’t mentioned. Ian Snell is currently the 2nd worst value pick in the draft, with a swollen number of -1065. Put this draft with average keepers, and you’re probably looking at an average team.

Part 3 Tomorrow.

All-Star Draft Value Review (Part 1 of 3)

It’s now time for a fairly irrelevant review of the 2008 CPL Draft. It’s irrelevant because of the 200 players who were drafted, only 84 (42%) have been on the roster of the team that originally drafted them without any interruptions. Swine Nine has a whopping one player left that he drafted, and he’s on the DL (Putz). If he weren’t injured, he’d probably be traded to BOB’Z BOYZ straight up for Sabathia and a 2nd.

Regardless, here’s a review of how each owner performed at the draft, based primarily on the current Yahoo rankings of the players selected. This isn’t a perfect system, as we’ll explain later, but it is a means to judge others, which Blog thoroughly enjoys.

The general purpose of this review is to determine value in a draft pick. Blog developed a simple formula to determine value called the Adjusted Draft Value via Current Yahoo Rankings Quotient or ADVvCYRQ for short. For typing purposes, we’ll simply call the number the players value. If a players value is a positive number, than that is good value. If it’s a negative number, than his draft position was higher than his actual performance should have warranted. Let’s use the #1 pick in the draft, Russell Martin as an example.

Papi’s Space Cadets picked Martin #1. Blog took his draft number (1), added 50 to account for the 50 players that were kept and got his Adjusted Draft Position (51). Blog then found Martin’s Yahoo Ranking at the All-Star break (88), and subtracted it from his ADP. The math reveals that Russell Martin’s value is -37. As we’ll discover, -37 is not a terrible number, but it does show in a general way that Martin has not lived up completely to his draft position. Now obviously, this doesn’t take things like position scarcity or drafting for a specific category need (steals, saves), but it does seem to accurately reflect those that are meeting/exceeding expectations based on their draft position, and those that are most certainly not. We’ll look at each team, working our way from bottom to top. Some other clarifications:

Highlighted players have been on the roster since the draft.
Top 50 is the # of players drafted who moved into the top 50 Yahoo ranking.
Top 100 is the # of players drafted who are in the top 100 Yahoo ranking.
Value Picks is the # of players who have positive value
Value over 50/100 shows the number of players with high value
Non-Value picks are any players who have negative value
Non-Value picks over 100 show players with negative value over 100.
Non-Value picks over 500 shows draft busts.

Now that Blog’s put you to sleep…

#10 – BOB’Z GIRLIE MEN (-344 average value)






















Blog has a tendency to pick on BB a little, since they are firmly entrenched in last place, but these numbers clearly show that BB had the worst draft in the league, and it really wasn’t close. The average current yahoo ranking of all players drafted is 502. 502!! The average value of the players drafted is -344. That is really not good. The 9 players with values worse than -500 is a league high. Three of the 10 worst value picks in the draft show up here (Tulowitzki, Sheffield, Maybin). It could certainly be argued that Tulowitzki was a more damaging pick than Maybin, simply because he went 2nd, but we’re sticking with the numbers here. One of the top 10 value picks was JD Drew in the 13th round, but alas, he was cut right before his numbers took off. Lowell, Shields and Percival have been the only other players who have lived up to their draft position. By September, Matt Garza will probably replace Percival on that list. There were injuries (Tulo, Sheffield, Cuddyer) ineffective rookies (Maybin, Buchholz, Butler) and disappointing veterans (Vazquez, Francis, RJ). It’s been a long rookie season for BB, who hopefully will be able to snag some extra picks for 2009, because for next years draft, there’s no where to go but up.


#9 – Bounty Hunters (-254 average value)






















BB at least has cut his losses with his poor value picks. Bounty Hunters, on the other hand, has more drafted player still on his roster than any other team. Pretty gutsy for the 2nd worst draft performance. (Even though Milton Bradley was drafted here, he was cut and then traded for, so he doesn’t count here). BH still has 12 of his first 14 picks, even though 7 have values worse than -100. In fact, the hunters set the mark with 17 picks with a negative value, and 12 picks with a -100 or worse mark (this tied Longball). Milton Bradley was the 3rd best value pick in the draft (164). This increased value greatly benefited the Swine Nine though, as BH had to give up a keeper (Soriano) to reacquire Bradley from Swine after cutting him in March. Injuries have hurt the value for generally dependable players (Konerko, Harang, Wang, Wainwright), but if not for the great years of Rivera and Bradley, BH might have given BB a run for their #10 money.


#8 LL Longball (-246 average value)























Longball come in 8th place, despite having the most valuable pick in the draft. Carlos Quentin was taken 3rd to last in the main draft. 198th. The 248th player accounted for, yet there he sits, ranked at #14 overall after an MVP caliber first half. Of course, since Carla was cut on 3/17 for Aaron Hill, Longball gets credit for drafting him, but no benefits from him at all. (FYI, Snot owns the top 2 value draft picks, though he didn’t pick either of them). Blog finds it fascinating that Brad Penny still has a roster spot. Yahoo says that there are 964 better players than him out there, and many of those aren’t even active! Kenny Lofton’s number could increase, if he could ever find a team to play on. In fact, there were 5 players drafted who have yet to take the field in ’08: Lofton, Josh Fields, Cameron Maybin, Kelvim Escobar and Chris Ray. Longball is still getting benefits from 3 of his value picks: Derek Lee, Michael Young and Dan Uggla. All 3 are playing keeper-level ball. But Longball’s averages are killed by the 12 non-value picks worse than -100, including 07 studs Roy Oswalt (-305) and Edgar Renteria (-552!). As a Sox fan, Blog is glad to see the old Rentawreck is back in the AL. Edgar is almost creeping into waiver-wire territory (If Longball ever believed in cutting players). And Longball’s got no love from this years Philly sleeper, Kyle Kendrick. At least he wasn’t snagged in the 1st round.

#7 Papi’s Space Cadets (-245 average value)























Selecting Russell Martin #1 over guys like Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez, Corey Hart or Derek Lee can be criticized, but not much. Papi could have grabbed Tulowitzki, Pence or Byrnes and been toast. Though Martin technically isn’t a value pick, he’s not far off, and in a position of scarcity. As noted above, and as you can see from some of the other numbers, a team can live with players valued at -37. His next 3 picks are even better. Had Lackey been healthy all year, all 3 would have positive value. Zimmerman has been injured, and then there are several more ok value picks, with Longoria potentially being a top 50 value guy. Two very solid picks later on stand out: Youkilis and Lowe. Lowe was cut back in May, and his ranking has only gone up in recent weeks. Youk, on the other hand, has been a steal in the 14th round. A top 35 performer taken after 189 players are off the board is always good value. Willingham was on pace early to be a value pick, but his bad back start a streak of 5 straight picks with values worse than -500. That string keeps Papi from showing up later in the rankings.

(Part 2 – to be posted tomorrow).

Spewings by Snot

(Note from Blog - from time to time Blog will allow other members of the CPL / VAFL to contribute to Blog's awesomness. Here is the first submission from Snot on the Ball. If anyone would like to be heard, please let Blog know and submit away)

Well, we’ve arrived at the 3 most boring sports days of the year. A time when we can literally feel the fantasy withdrawal in our blood. I can’t tell you how upsetting it is to check my team and see nothing but empty space next to all my guys. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from still checking my team 12 times a day. Anyway, I thought I’d throw in my 2¢ about some random stuff.

▪ There is no “cents” key on the keyboard. You need to open the Character Map to find the symbol. I would have never have guessed. Have we become a nation opposed to “change”?

▪ I’m re-watching “Band of Brothers” with the wife this week. So far I’ve noticed Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), James McAvoy (The Chronicles of Narnia, Wanted) and Tom Hanks (If you pause at the 31:47 mark of “Crossroads” you can see him in the upper left of the screen) show up at random times. This is still the greatest thing that has ever been put to film.

▪ Terry Francona is the coolest guy in Boston sports today. He deserves so much credit for all he does. Class.

▪ It’s great how much you can goof off when your boss is in another state for the day (he he he).

▪ Why is it that all of today’s sports writers present their articles in bullet-point format? Oh, wait…

▪ 15-inning all star games should be exciting to watch. 15-inning all star games that end after 1:30 in the morning are not exciting to watch. Start. At. 7:00.

▪ Seriously… how can this not give you chills…
2nd Lt. George Rice: Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded…Richard Winters: We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded.

▪ Chris Berman, really, please… go away. Go talk football. If I have to hear, “Back, Back, Back” one more time we may have another “oooohhhh nooooo” moment.

▪ How the hell did the AL win that game last night? Go back and look at the starting lineups for each team and tell me how the NL did not win by 15 runs.

▪ Without further adieu, I present the official CPL all star rosters. 8 position players. 1 DH. 2 SP and 2 RP for each of the 2 divisions. And in accordance with one of the most ridiculous all star traditions, each team must have at least 1 fantasy all star.

Those Who Can

C – Geovany Soto (Jobu’s Hats For Bats). It’s been a terrific season for the Jobu’s rookie catcher and one of the best steals of this year’s draft. 16 HR and 56 RBI make his a valuable fantasy player at any position.
1B – Lance Berkman (Jobu’s Hats For Bats). Berkman seems to always be underrated, but this year he is showing everyone just how good he can be. 22 HR, 73 RBI and a .347 AVG are all incredible numbers, but it’s the 79 Runs and 15 SB that make the Big Puma the #1 guy in the game.
2B – Ian Kinsler (Regulators). As much as it pains me to not start Mr. Utley here, I’ve gotta give it up for the beneficiary of Josh Hamilton’s success, err… I mean Kinsler. Seriously though, a .337 AVG, 84 Runs and 23 SB make him the #2 rated player in the game. A potential franchise-keeper for Regs.
SS – Hanley Ramirez (Snot on the Ball). A 40-40 pace, .311 AVG and 80 Runs scored from the SS position prove that the #3 player in FLB will be a franchise-keeper for many years. And just think, Regs coulda traded for him last year if he wanted…
3B – Chipper Jones (Slump Chumps). Larry J has suffered through some injuries this season, but the chase for .400 has certainly been one of the best stories of the baseball season. A .376 AVG and solid peripherals (56 R, 18 HR, 51 RBI) placed him in the top 5 for much of season.
OF – Josh Hamilton (Snot on the Ball). The feel-good story of the year. 21 HR and 95 RBI so far, plus another 28 HR in round 1 of the HR derby. No one has driven in 170 Runs in a season since Jimmie Foxx in 1938. Could this be the year?
OF – Grady Sizemore (The Swine Nine). Grady and Hanley are the only 40-40 candidates out there. The peripheral numbers are down a bit (60 Runs is good, but not what we hoped for) and the AVG isn’t where you want it (.273), but the Indians leadoff guy just keeps getting better and better.
OF – Nate McClouth (Snot on the Ball). McClouth has hovered around the top 10 on the player rater for most of the season, and it pays off with his 1st CPL all star appearance. A terrific, balanced attack (69 R,19 HR,65 RBI,11 SB,.288) has made him a legitimate keeper candidate.
DH – Jose Reyes (The Swine Nine). Relegated to DH duties thanks to that other SS in the “Can” division, the speedy Reyes is still having a terrific season in his own rite. The #9 player on the rater has seen his SB totals drop a bit (32), but his .302 AVG and 10 HR have been a pleasant surprise.
SP – Cliff Lee (Slump Chumps). Sent to minors last season and now one of the best pitchers in the game? Baseball can be funny sometimes. People keep waiting for Lee to drop-off from his dominant start, but it never happens. 12 Wins, a 2.31 ERA and increased K/9 totals. He is certainly deserving of the Those Who Can starting nod.
SP – Tim Lincecum (Snot on the Ball). Lincecum has entered the elite SP realm this season by posting a 2.57 ERA, 9.37 K/9 and a surprising 11 wins. If he can stay healthy, look for this youngster to dominate the pitching categories for a long time.
RP – Joakim Soria (Jobu’s Hats For Bats). This years “where the hell did he come from” closer has been dominant all season, racking up 25 SV and a microscopic 1.47 ERA. Throw in a great WHIP (0.72) and K/9 (9.63) and you have one of the few closers that could realistically be considered “keeper-level”.
RP – Brad Lidge (Snot on the Ball). Narrowly selected over Jobu’s other dominant RP Kerry Wood, Lidge has been blowing opposing hitters away this season. His 12.38 K/9 is tops among closers with at least 10 Saves, and his 1.12 ERA proves that he can dominate the best hitters in the game.


Those Who Can’t

C – Brian McCann (Bounty Hunters). The highest rated catcher in Yahoo! (#75) has bounced back nicely from his disappointing 2007 season, already matching his 18 HR total. Throw in a .302 AVG and 53 RBI and you have the only “Cann” on the “Can’t” roster. (Hello? Is this thing on?)
1B – Derek Lee (LL Longball). The first member of the “Longball Infield” is having himself another terrific season. Anyone who thought his 22 HR in 2007 was a sign for decline was most certainly wrong. 15 HR, 63 Runs and a .306 AVG place him among the best first basemen in the game; though he may only be the second best on his own team (see DH).
2B – Dan Uggla (LL Longball). Uggla’s 23 HR and 59 RBIs are second only to Chase Utley at the 2B position. Throw in a .286 AVG and 58 Runs and you have 3rd ranked player at a position that has traditionally been viewed as weak. Certainly a keeper if he can get over the emotional trauma of making 3 errors in the MLB all star game.
SS – Michael Young (LL Longball). While the drop-off in the SS position between the 2 division is substantial, Young has put together a solid season as usual. Ranked #59 in the game, he has a .302 AVG and a solid 63 Runs. Throw in a double digit pace for HR and SB and you have a valuable member to any fantasy infield.
3B – Alex Rodriguez (Legends). The numbers are down a bit (although, not really) because he missed some time to the DL, but AROD will continue to dominate FLB for years to come. Expect a huge second half in the power numbers and probably a few strippers as well (Dude. Madonna? Really?)
OF – Carlos Beltran (BOB’Z BOYZ). The lone representative from the cellar dweller of the Can’t division, Beltran has steadily had himself a terrific season. The fact that he hasn’t been traded to The Swine Nine is actually quite amazing. The only offensive keeper on his team has 15 HR and 15 SB to go along with 67 Runs and 66 RBI. Definitely a keeper.
OF – Ryan Ludwick (Papi’s Space Cadets). Maybe the biggest offensive shock of the FLB season, Ludwick has thrived on a diet of meatballs for most of the season. His 60 Runs, 21 HR and 65 RBI have helped carry PSC to the #4 seed at the break.
OF – Jermaine Dye (Legends). Dye is very quietly having yet another terrific season. So quiet that there is really not much more to say about him. 21 HR, 56 RBI and a .306 AVG put him in the top 30 in the game.
DH – Ryan Howard (LL Longball). Talk about a 2nd half player. Howard started the season looking lost, but has fought back to be one of the best run-producers in the game. 28 HR and 84 RBI more than compensate for the .234 AVG, but even that has been climbing slowly these past few months. Oh yeah, he’s also on pace to break the all time single-season strikeout record, so here’s hoping!
SP – Roy Halladay (Papi’s Space Cadets). The incredibly talented “Doc” Halladay has always been overlooked in the fantasy game because his strikeout totals could actually hurt a team. No more. A healthy 7.44 K/9 very nicely completes the best pitching performance of the first half. 11 Wins, a 2.71 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP are fantastic numbers, but it is Halladay’s inning-pitched totals that allow him be such a force in a league with 3 quality-rate categories (ERA, WHIP and K/9).
SP – Dan Haren (Legends). Underrated by many (including yours truly) because of a poor second half in 2007 and a new hitter-friendly ballpark, Haren has been nothing short of awesome this season. His 8 Wins and 2.72 ERA perfectly complement a 0.95 WHIP and 8.02 K/9. Ranked #13 overall.
RP – Mariano Rivera (Bounty Hunters). Is it possible for one of the all-time greats to have his best season at the age of 38 (and not be juiced)? Mo has been nothing short of incredible this season as evident by his 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and 10.63 K/9. When a closer is ranked #17 overall, he is certainly doing something special.
RP – Joe Nathan (Bounty Hunters). Nathan narrowly edges his BH teammate Jonathan Pabelbon for the final roster spot on the TWC’t team. A 1.13 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 10.44 K/9 complete what may be the most dominant bullpen the CPL will ever see.

Week 15 Review

Snot on the Ball SKUNKED BOB’Z GIRLY MEN 10-0, zip, zilch, nada etc…

Snot on the Ball brutally grabbed momentum away from Jobu by becoming the 3rd team in CPL history to sweep all 10 categories in a week. (The first team? Here’s a hint. It starts with R, and rhymes with ‘egulators’). Snot had 9 categories wrapped up pretty early in the week, and was able to secure wins late Sunday thanks to another brilliant start from Tilt-a-Whirl Lincecum. Based on records and rosters, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise, but there have been 185 contests in the past 2 years, and only 3 sweeps. It is the equivalent of throwing a no-hitter, and Blog must acknowledge it. As for the newly crowned Girly Men, this puts them at 50-92-8. There are 7 weeks left in the regular season (wow). That’s 70 categories. For Bobbie to finish at .500, she’ll have to post a record no worse than 56-14. yeah… no kidding… especially after Regulators slap 8 losses on them this week alone. Good luck rebuilding BGM. That process should begin in earnest, well, 5 weeks ago, but definitely now. As for Snot, they have a pretty favorable schedule the next few weeks, and could just about put the #1 seed out of reach before their huge week 20 showdown with Jobu. They have a 7 game lead right now, and if they can go 30-10 over the next 4 weeks (and they could go 30-10 over the next 4 weeks), we might see more drama around the 4-6 seeds than the 1-3 seeds as the playoffs rapidly approach.
> Stud of the Week: 4 members of Snot’s OF went 22/11/38/5/.345 combined this week. 2 of them weren’t even drafted. Blog is breaking precedent this week and awarding co-Studs: Josh Hamilton 4/2/11/3/.323 and Nate McLouth 9/4/9/2/.290
> Dud of the Week: Even though Mark Ellis was really, really bad, Carlos Gomez was really, really worse. 0/0/1/0/.038. As you can see from the numbers above, he certainly wasn’t missed.

Legends DEF Bounty Hunters 7-2-1

Bounty Hunters continued their mid-season struggles and now for the first time this year find themselves out of the playoffs as the 7th seed. Legends saw their division lead swell to 9.5 games as they began to separate themselves from the rest of the CAN’TS and moved closer towards the coveted #2 seed. Legends was also able, once again, to make a big comeback in the K/9 category, though this comeback wasn’t so dramatic. The offensive categories were all fairly close as Legends won runs by 2, HR by 1, and RBI by 4. Bounty Hunters also continued to be slammed by injuries as Aaron Harang went down with an arm injury. He certainly hadn’t lived up to his draft spot (#24) and now BH can only hope he gets right for the 2nd half. BH has had only one week with over 40 RBI this year. Slump Chump has the next fewest weeks of 40 RBI, but he at least has 6. Blog simply finds this interesting. Blog would also like to remind all Dan Haren haters out there (you know who you are, right Snot?) that Blog liked Haren last year, and liked him this year, so his 13th!! overall ranking doesn’t surprise Blog at all.
> Stud of the Week: Johnny Peralta had a very good offensive week, but offense on both sides was fairly weak, and Haren had a great start but wasn’t credited with the W, so we’ll go with another waiver-wire steal in Edison Volquez: 1/0/1.29/1.14/12.86.
> Dud of the Week: Kosuke Fukudome is Chicagoan for “Do not trade Alfonso Soriano for me”. 1/0/1/0/.158. The Pork Pilferer strikes again…

Jobu’s Hats for Bats DEF Papi’s Space Cadets 7-3

Blog would like to remind Jobu that Blog ‘hoses’ no one. Blog simply pontificates on Blog’s own observations. If Blog says Francisco Cordero is a fan of Jar-Jar Binks, it means that there is a “Jar-Jar Fan Club President” card in Mr. Cordero’s wallet. Never question Blog in that manner; Blog doesn’t care how long your unbeaten streak is now (11). Jobu had 9 steals from 3 people, but what Blog finds amusing is that 3 of those were from Big Fat Lance Berkman, who now has 15 on the year. This is, of course, way beyond Berkman’s career high, because as we’ve already established, Berkman is a big fat guy. Generally, as a rule, big fat guys don’t project to 25 steals, so physicists may want to look a bit closer at this. Blog would also like to pass along best wishes to Chone Figgins, who’s father had a stroke on Friday. Blog would also like to quickly point out that Figgins was kept for his speed, and he has 16 steals so far. Figgins, small fast guy, 16 steals, Berkman, big fat guy, 15 steals. Weird.
> Stud of the Week: Honestly, not a whole lot of super goodness to choose from here. If Papi had been a bit closer, this would be Youk’s, but instead it goes to Matt Kemp for his overall effectiveness: 5/2/6/3/.290
> Dud of the Week: Jeff Kent was the epitome of Super Badness this week. and in the cool, Superbad way: 0/0/1/0/.056. Can you say ‘snip snip’?

L.L. Longball DEF Swine Nine 6-3-1

Longball swapped spots with Bounty Hunters and took over the #5. (Regs sat motionless at #6). Longball had their best over-all week of the season, as they posted season highs in HR (15 – tied week 1) and WHIP (1.09), and flashed their highest average (.306) since week 4. The only thing keeping this from being a major route was some continued solid pitching from Swine. Even though they’ve moved Webb, Lincecum, K-Rod, Kazmir, Nathan, Valverde, Chamberlain, and the phenomenal Rich Hill, Swine is still posting sick pitching numbers (2.24era, .98whip). In fact, that .98 whip would have set the season low, if not for the ridiculous pitching numbers we’ll get to next. (grrrr…). His rotation is a who’s who of spot starters and waiver locks, but for some reason, bacon is the magic meat for guys like Mussina, Wakfield, Lowe, Pelfry, and friggin Cliff Lee.
> Stud of the Week: Apparantly, Ryan Howard starts Spring Training on May 15: 7/5/8/0/.370
> Dud of the Week: Blog isn’t sure if Coco Crisp was in the lineup for Swine, but he stinks anyway: 1/0/0/0/.000

Regulators TIED Slump Chumps 5-5

Blog had previously pointed out Slump Chumps notorious ability to be mediocre and end up with a tie, however, Slump is not the season leader in ties. That distinction belongs to the Regulators, who have seen the dreaded 5-5 score show up 5 times this year. How stinking ironic. The most fun part is that this has happened 3 of the past 4 weeks (interrupted by a 6-4 week). This may be the most unenthusiastic 4 week stint that didn’t involve a loss OF ALL TIME. Anyway, this was the 2nd rematch of last years championship (Slump took week 7, 7-3). Slump, being a chicken coward fraidy cat, ran away and hid mid-week after his stupid pitchers put up record numbers in era and whip (.95 and .80, but they were even lower on Thursday after 44IP). Regulators, in the meantime, had 9 starting pitchers fail to get one victory all week, and posted a big goose egg in that category. Slump is only 1 ½ games out of the #6 spot (help by Regs), so neither team was really able to help themselves in the playoff push. These two franchises will meet one more time, in week 21, the 2nd to last week, in a game that may have huge post-season implications, provided Slump doesn’t chicken out, being the fraidy cat that he is…
> Stud of the week: Chris Davis! Who you ask? The uber-prospect from Texas went: 8/3/6/0/.321. He now has 6 homers in 58 AB! You should all be offering Regs multiple picks and players for this superstar in the making.
> Dud of the week: Didn’t you used to be Carl Crawford?? 0-25?? Really? Jerk. 1/0/0/1/.038.

Manager of the Week: Has to be Snot. A Skunk is a Skunk is a Skunk.

Player of the Week: Ryan Howard is bad man…

Pitcher of the Week: Webb, Santana, Hudson, Buehrle, Nolasco, and Duchscherer. Jerks.

Week 14 Review

Blog is going to be a tad abbreviated with its review this week, because it’s already Friday and contrary to Bounty Hunters’ assertion, Blog does still need to work. Blog has mouths to feed. (Speaking of feeds, Blog now has RSS availability for those so inclined!)

Regulators TIED Jobu’s Hats for Bats 5-5

Someday the Cubs will win a world series. Someday BOB’Z BOYZ will make a good trade. Someday Jobu will lose. Unfortunately for Blog’s prediction, the latter (ladder?) did not happen this week. But, Regs will take the tie over an 8-1 beat down any day (way to look on the bright side). This battle went down to the wire on Sunday. One hour, Regs would be up 5-4, 20 minutes later, they’d be down 4-6. Ultimately though, it was a pretty decent comeback for Regs as they were down big early in the week. These 2 franchises will wrap up the season against each other (Blog would like to smack the schedule makers) in a match that could have enormous playoff implications. Or it could have none if Regs doesn’t stop playing .500 ball every stinking week. Blog would now like to take this opportunity to ask someone to PLEASE BEAT THIS TEAM. Thank you.
> Stud of the week: Even though Francisco Cordero got 2 wins and 3 saves this week, Blog cannot award him stud of the week because Blog has heard that Mr. Cordero is pro-cancer and thinks Jar-Jar Binks is a film icon. Therefore, Blog awards Matt “All-American Hero” Holliday: 8/3/10/2/.435. Blog does play favorites, and Blog is very fond of Matt… almost like the son Blog never had…
> Wandy Rodriquez’s one start cost Regs WHIP and possibly ERA. Jerk. 0/0/9.00/2.00/9.00.

Papi’s Space Cadets UPSET Snot on the Ball 7-2-1

Don’t look now, but after starting the first 9 weeks undefeated and posting a 59-27-4 record, Snot has gone 20-29-1 over the past 5 weeks, and has seen his lead in the CAN division slip to 4 games (Blog does acknowledge that Snot is knocking the Snot out of BOB’Z BOYZ in week 15, but Blog is pretending this is Monday). Papi had been on a roll before week 13, but they regained their winning ways and also grabbed the 4th playoff spot by weeks end. Papi had a very solid Sunday and got primo offensive numbers all week despite having their 2 big bats on the DL. Snot swore vengeance on Papi’s father, and BOB’Z BOYZ may pay for Papi’s insolence, but with Ortiz and Magglio healing up, Papi may be a force to be dealt with as the playoffs creep ever closer.
> Stud of the Week: Aubrey Huff is having the season of his life. 5/3/9/0/.345
> Dud of the Week: Carla, Carla, Carla… if you don’t get it, check yo’ self befo you wreck yo’self homes… 2/0/0/0/.111

BOB’Z BOYZ DEF MC Incognito 5-4

Congratulations to BB for winning their 3rd week in ownership history. Now, only 32 games below .500, they are poised to contend in 2010. MC Take it Easy is still in the hunt for low seed in the playoffs, and is certainly looking forward to the Orioles trading George Sherrill to a contender so he can set up and not get anymore saves. That’s worth Justin Verlander, right? Just for Blog’s own amusement, here are Sherrill’s stats since 6/29: 6 games, 4 1/3IP, 12.46ERA, 2.77WHIP, 14.5 K/9, 1 save, 3 blown saves. Blog’s just saying…
> Stud of the Week: Ryan Howard is exploding into his typical 2nd half, but James Shields had himself a week: 2/0/2.70/.83/8.78
> Dud of the Week: Now that’s the Edgar Sox fans remember: 1/0/0/0/.038

Slump Chumps DEF Bounty Hunters 8-1-1

Heading into this matchup, these 2 squads had won a combined total of ONE time since week 8. Shockingly, they didn’t tie. Slump broke out of their slump in a big way, as the hunters put up one of the all around worst offensive weeks on record: 26 (a record low)/7/28/2/.248 is going 0-5 most weeks, but luckily for the hunters… Slump can’t hit either. Surprisingly, the dynamic duo of closers Ryan Franklin and Jose Valverde weren’t enough for Slump to overcome BH’s 5 saves. Bounty Hunters week was so bad, they had to send their 7th round pick (64) down to the minors to get his confidence back. Blog won’t rub it in too bad, but here are 5 outfielders BH could have taken over Jeff Francoeur: Jason Bay, Carlos Quentin, Nate McLouth, Josh Hamilton, JD Drew.
> Stud of the Week: Gavin Phloyd was fenomenal. 2/0/2.03/1.13/10.80
> Michael Bourn was absolutely not: 2/0/0/0/.042

Legends DEF Swine Nine 6-4

Legends received a huge strikeout boost on Sunday (10.45) to keep their K/9 record in tact. Legends with K/9, and Jobu with saves remain the only franchises yet to lose a category. After 14 weeks, Blog’s starting to be a little impressed. Legends is still clinging to the #2 seed, and Swine is still clinging to the 2009 #1 seed. Of the 4 major active players he acquired recently, David Wright had the lowest average last week, a measly .296, and Sizemore and Phillips were contenders for stud of the week. But it looks like no one was topping…
> Stud of the Week: JJ Hardy… Blog can’t believe Regs grabbed Mike Aviles over Hardy… 4/4/8/0/.619!!
> Dud of the Week: Even though Jay Bruce was invisible, we’re going with Joe Crede: 2/0/1/0/.143.

Manager of the Week: Papi’s Space Cadets handled the Snot and set themselves up nicely for the stretch run.

Player of the Week: It has to be Hardy. Blog gets excited about .600 averages…

Pitcher of the Week: Blog appreciates Cordero, Morrow and Shields, but this has to go to Floyd. Blog wishes Floyd's first name was Floyd. That would be awesome…

Keeping it Real, Yo...

Yesterday, Brett Myers was sent to AAA to re-learn how to start a baseball game. Blog found this interesting for 3 reasons:

1. Brett Myers is a wife-beating neanderthal and Blog giggles when bad things happen to him.

2. Brett Myers is currently on the roster of MC Longball, continuing that franchise's "Week of punishment".

3. Brett Myers was a keeper.

This prompted Blog to wonder about the other 49 keepers, and how they're performing in the CPL this year. What franchise did the best job keeping players? The worst? What players definitely should not have been kept? Some of the following analysis will be of the utmost scientific quality, some will be even better: Blog's opinion.

First, let's look at the numbers. Blog used the Actual Yahoo Ranks and statistics as of today, 7/2.

Out of the 50 players kept:

* 19 are ranked in the top 50. Of those 19, 7 are on 2 teams. Not coincidentally, these are the current top 2 teams in the league. One team used to have 3 ranked in the top 50, but traded 2 of them... without asking Blog's opinion...

* 32 are ranked in the top 100

* 7 are ranked OUT of the top 200; 6 are ranked higher than 375; 3 higher than 736

* 15 have spent time on the DL

* 3 are ranked in the top 10

* 9 are ranked in the top 20

Of the 13 pitchers kept:

* 5 are ranked out of the top 100

* 2 are ranked higher than 394 (and were kept by the same team)

* the worst ranked keeper is a pitcher. (Need a hint? 2 letters... N...A...)

* 3 pitchers are ranked in the top 50

* One is a closer

Now, time for Blog's opinion. Here, from 10-1, is how Blog would rank the franchises based SOLELY on the players kept. Blog understands several have been traded/cut/cursed/deported, but Blog is not taking that into consideration in his rankings. The keepers will be listed with their rankings as of 7/2. Also, Blog will look at the 07 roster and using his 20/20 hindsight, will give a do-over for each roster if necessary (If a guy on the 07 roster is in the 08 top 50 and wasn't kept, than he's a do-over).

10. MC Longball (Ryan Howard 55, Miguel Cabrera 134, Justin Verlander 394, Cole Hamels 39, Brett Myers 956!).
Do Over: Dan Uggla 6; Milton Bradley 23

9. Papi's Space Cadets (Vladimir Guerrero 101, David Ortiz 184, Chone Figgins 736, Magglio Ordonez 70, Nick Markakis 66)
Do Over: Blog probably wouldn't change much here (Carlos Guillen? Oswalt?). 3 big injuries aren't helping, but this ranking could easily change come September.

8. Slump Chumps (Prince Fielder 81, Jake Peavy 100, Carlos Lee 31, Carlos Pena 375)
Do Over: Corey Hart 36; Dan Haren 15;

7. Legends (A-Rod 27, Jimmy Rollins 191, Josh Beckett 75, Manny Ramirez 54)
Do Over: John Lackey 35; Shaun Marcum 46

6. Bounty Hunters (Ichiro 45, Alfonso Soriano 92, Jonathan Papelbon 41, Carlos Zambrano 165)
Do Over: Adrian Gonzalez 9

5. Regulators (Carl Crawford 44; BJ Upton 48; Mark Teixeira 50; Matt Holliday 51; Alex Rios 138; Victor Friggin Martinez 879)
Do Over: Ian Kinsler 2; Jermaine Dye 26

4. Swine Nine (Jose Reyes 12, Brandon Webb 33, Scott Kazmir 52, Joe Nathan 64, Curtis Granderson 149)
Do Over: Chipper Jones 8; Roy Halladay 13; Derrek Lee 22

3. BOB'Z BOYZ (David Wright 11, Brandon Phillips 19, Carlos Beltran 30, CC Sabathia 118, Travis Hafner 878)
Do Over: KEEP WRIGHT AND PHILLIPS.. oh wait... wrong do over...
Josh Hamilton 5; Mariano Rivera 25

2. Jobu's Hats for Bats (Lance Berkman 1, Ryan Braun 18, Albert Pujols 20, Brian Roberts 58, Adam Dunn 112, Chris Young 154)
Do Over: JD Drew!! 24!!!; Jacoby Ellsbury 49; Aramis Ramirez 42; Jonathan Papelbon 41

1. Snot on the Ball (Hanley Ramirez 3, Chase Utley 4, Grady Sizemore 16, Justin Morneau 34, Johan Santana 73, Erik Bedard 228)
Do Over: Blog might prefer King Felix over Bedard, but this core group is the reason the #1 playoff seed is covered in Snot.

Comment away!!! Blog demands it...

MC Longball's Case of the Mondays

Yesterday, June 30th, may have been the worst day in the short and playoff-less history of the MC Longball franchise. Blog would like to review MC Longball's misery, mostly to aleviate it's own anxiety over the 9-1 hole Blog finds itself in after one day of scoring... anywho... there were 5 specific events that made 6-30-08 Black Monday for Longball.

1. Miguel Cabrera left the game with a hip flexor strain. Blog is well aware of the difficulty a bum hip can lead to (as opposed to a hip bum). Cabrera has already been a huge disappointment for the Tigers and MC Longball, but now he's lame. The official word is day-to-day, but a nice little stint on the DL isn't out of the question.

2. Juan Pierre went on the DL Monday with a sprained ligament in his knee. Pierre swiped 6 bags last week! Blog hears that's a lot, but Blog is also fairly confindent he'll equal Pierre's steal total through the all-star break, if not longer.

3. Roy Oswalt left his start with a strained left hip abductor. He did get a W and a quality start, but his injury has to be cause for concern from Longball, since Oswalt's been solid the past month.

4. Fireman of the Year Candidate Brian Fuentes posted an ERA just slightly less than the price of a barrell of oil. Anytime a pitcher can go 1/3 of an inning and put up a 135.00ERA and a 15.00 WHIP... Blog is certainly impressed. Fuentes past 2 outings: 2/3 of an inning, 7 hits, 7 runs 1 walk, no strikeouts, 14 trade rumors.

5. MC Longball now trails BOB'Z BOYZ 7-1... just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...