Newsletter for games of 5/25/2011

Rules update:  The overwhelming consensus is for the rules changes, although a discernible number (5) are uncomfortable making the change after the season has started.  Although I do appreciate that, since we’re not to June yet it’s hard to imagine that there is any overuse issue that can’t be resolved by September, nor will continually over-using a player for the next 4 months likely produce a playoff strategy.  There is certainly something to setting the precedent that we should NEVER change a rule after the season starts, but in this instance that seems to be outweighed by (a) the fact that the rule change is happening early enough that everyone has a fair and equal chance to adapt to it, and (b) the obviousness of the problem the rule will definitively fix.    So, this should not set a precedent for allowing rules changes at any point where they will advantage some teams over others.  We’ll go for the rules change and make it for this year.  I will clarify that playoff stats will NOT affect the over-use numbers; they will be frozen at whatever point they are on the last day of the season.  Essentially, playoff AB and IP will NOT count toward over-use.  The strategy issue will be to enter the playoffs without substantial player over-use.

FEAT OF THE WEEK: Brett Lawrie of TOR hit for the cycle against DET on 5/17/2011

COMMENTS: No NL division leader is up by more than 1.5 games…8 NL teams are within 2.5 games of first, and no AL 2nd-place team is closer than 4.5…The trade that made both teams better?  The Mets and Giants swapped 10 players and had a combined record of 13-1…Houston is a ridiculous +10 WOR and making noise in the NL central after a 6-1 week…Baltimore and Boston made moves in the AL East…4 of the 5 NL West teams have positive WOR…Ramon Hernandez of Cincinnati had 5 HR but only 8 RBI last week, perhaps because teammate Scott Rolen knocked in 11, keeping the bases relatively clear…Cleveland leads the ASFBL with 77 HR, 11 more than the nearest competitor…St. Louis leads the ASFBL with a team BA of .292…Oakland has a fantasy team ERA of 3.02, which is very good and very close to the actual team ERA, but in the ASFBL the Angels are even better at 2.76…The fantasy Angels now have both players named Francisco Rodriguez…The San Diego bullpen has allowed a miniscule 5% of inherited runners to score.

FEATS AND FAILURES: Scott Rolen of CIN had 5 hits against CHC on 5/17/2011…Jason Vargas of NYM had 12 strikeouts against WAS on 5/18/2011…Tim Lincecum of BOS had 12 strikeouts against DET on 5/18/2011…Alex Avila of DET struck out 4 times against BOS on 5/18/2011…Omar Vizquel of CWS had 5 hits against CLE on 5/19/2011…Nate Schierholtz of HOU robbed 3 hits against TOR on 5/20/2011…Nate Schierholtz of HOU struck out 4 times against TOR on 5/21/2011

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Newsletter for games through 5-18

COMMENTS: Nobody posted a perfect week, but Houston and San Francisco both went 5-1 in the NL to move back into contention…Cleveland went 5-1 in the AL to solidify their postion atop the central…The Twins had a tough 1-5 week but are still +1 WOR…Toronto is up 7 games in the AL East, and it’s almost all due to Hugh Brown, who’s +6.5 WOR…Jorge Posada did not bat this week for the fantasy Yanks; the fantasy club took 2 of 3 from Boston while the real team was swept…Martin Prado hit 5 HR for the Braves last week, although Jorge Cantu had more RBI (11 to 10)…Homer Bailey of Cincinnati struck out 29 in 17 innings last week…Vinnie Pestano, a former CSUF Titan acquired by the fantasy Mets, faced 6 batters last week and struck them all out…Atlanta and Florida rank 2 and 3 in the overall power ratings, making for an interesting divisional race…Anaheim and Texas are 4 and 5….Cleveland is #1….All fantasy teams are within 14 points of their actual team batting averages.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  We’ll keep the trade rules as they are; Leo has volunteered to track the waivers post the deadline.  We WILL go with the 10-team playoff format; it seems inevitable in the bigs for next year, and it gets more fantasy owners into the post-season.  MAJOR CHANGE:  We will NOT reset the stats for the playoffs, and pitcher fatigue will follow a running schedule.  So, if a guy is overused in the season, he’s overused for the playoffs.  We’ll adjust the caps; details to follow in August.

FEATS AND FAILURES:  Cliff Pennington of OAK had 5 hits against TEX on 5/9/2011…Michael Young of TEX struck out 4 times against OAK on 5/9/2011..Jonathan Lucroy of MIL hit 3 home runs against SDP on 5/9/2011…Adrian Gonzalez of BOS had 5 hits against TOR on 5/10/2011…Todd Helton of COL had 5 hits against NYM on 5/11/2011…Justin Wilson of PIT had 15 strikeouts against LAD on 5/11/2011…Albert Pujols of STL hit 3 home runs against CHC on 5/12/2011…Alex Presley of PIT had 5 hits against MIL on 5/13/2011

Newsletter for games through 5/9/2011

TWO NO-HITTERS THIS WEEK!  Tom Gorzelanny of the Nationals against Florida on the 8th, and Vance Worley of the Phils against Washington on the 5th…Two no-hitters in one week is, of course, a rarity…And surely the first time we’ve had the same team throw a no-hitter and be no-hit in the same week…Worley added 20 strikeouts for good measure…Who the crap is Vance Worley?  He has a 1.20 ERA in 15 real innings, numbers eerily identical to his 2010 figures (1.38 ERA in 13 innings)…like the Phillies need more starting pitching…You can check out both games off the box scores link.

STANDINGS: The big news in the AL is that Toronto posted a perfect 6-0 record and, although it’s early, has already posted a 6 and 1/2 game lead in the AL East…the surge was engineered with 2 trades that exchanged 18 players…surprisingly, one of the trades was with Houston, who has the worst real record in the NL…The trade may have made both teams better; Houston is +3 WOR…Boston went 6-1 and lost a half game in the standings…In the NL the Braves had the best week at 6-1 and are making it look like they aren’t conceding anything to Philadelphia…No team in the NL East has a positive WOR…The Angels lead the AL West and are posting great numbers, but the footsteps pounding behind them belong to the Rangers (managed by Rick Wynne, who has never finished with a negative WOR and made the playoffs every year since 2001) and Mariners (managed by Adam Symonds, who has made the playoffs in 6 of 8 years and holds the all-time WOR record)…On the other hand, the Angels have the top power rating in the league…Cleveland is #2….Neither team has made a trade this year…You gotta know when to hold ’em…The Twins have robbed 63 hits this year, tops in the ASFBL.

29 of 30 owners submitted lineups this week, and for the first time I can remember not a single lineup required any adjustment…thanks to all of you for keeping this league so active!

FEATS AND FAILURES: Tim Lincecum of BOS had 13 strikeouts against LAA on 5/2/2011…Adam Lind of SDP had 6 RBI against PIT on 5/3/2011…Bud Norris of HOU had 19 strikeouts against CIN on 5/4/2011…Jason Pridie of NYM robbed 3 hits against SFG on 5/4/2011…Mike Wilson of SEA had 7 RBI against TEX on 5/4/2011…Adam Kennedy of SEA robbed 3 hits against CWS on 5/8/2011

Newsletter for games through 5-1-11

The Phillies posted the best record in the NL this week and took first place in NL East…The Cubs had the second-best record at 5-2, making it clear that the NL Central is anybody’s ballgame…No team leads their division by more than 3 games…Toronto also moved into first place this week…The Chisox crept a game closer in the AL Central…Sam Fuld and Jose Tabata lead the AFBL with 12 stolen bases…I’m not sure what it is about Chicago, but both the Cubs and the Sox are more than half a run higher in fantasy ERA than in real-life; look for them both to adjust down…Adjustments are unimportant to the Angels, who have real ERA of 2.45.

RULES ANNOUNCEMENT: We WILL go with the 2012 MLB playoff format in 2011.  The trade rules remain unchanged.

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Jered Weaver of LAA had 11 strikeouts against OAK on 4/25/201111
Sean Marshall of CHC had 11 strikeouts against COL on 4/26/2011
Alex Avila of DET had 5 hits against SEA on 4/27/2011
Brett Lawrie of TOR had 5 hits against TEX on 4/27/2011
Alexi Ogando of TEX had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 4/28/2011
Jason Bourgeois of HOU stole 4 bases against STL on 4/28/2011
Lance Berkman of STL had 5 hits against HOU on 4/28/2011
Bud Norris of HOU had 14 strikeouts against MIL on 4/29/2011
Rickie Weeks of MIL struck out 4 times against HOU on 4/29/2011
Mike Napoli of TEX hit 3 home runs against OAK on 4/29/2011
Jeff Larish of PHI had 9 RBI against NYM on 4/30/2011
Erik Kratz of PHI struck out 4 times against NYM on 4/30/2011
Sean O’Sullivan of KCR had 13 strikeouts against MIN on 4/30/2011
Will Venable of SDP struck out 4 times against LAD on 4/30/2011
Rickie Weeks of MIL struck out 4 times against HOU on 5/1/2011
Kevin Youkilis of BOS struck out 4 times against SEA on 5/1/2011