Final Rankings and a Look Back

With the fantasy regular season over, it seems a good time to look back at some comments made in this blog in argument with those made in the ODFB blog and see how they turned out.

April:

Week 2

Huapaya’s Playas stingy GM, Corey Huapaya, has taken a liking to...Kurt Suzuki(Shoppach and Inge are on the waiver wire)

While I would agree there are better catching options available (Yadier Molina perhaps?), I don't see why Shoppach was one of the two you chose here. His season rank is pretty bad so far (663 compared to Suzuki's 729) and Suzuki has had nearly twice as many at bats (45 to 24). I don't see a line of zeroes to be better than what Suzuki can give him on any given day.

So how did this one turn out?

Inge rank: 184 (6th among catchers)
Suzuki rank: 219 (7th among catchers)
Molina rank: 395 (13th among catchers)
Shoppach rank: 998 (28th among catchers)

While the original author was right about Inge (although I never disputed that part), he was badly off about Suzuki and Shoppach. Suzuki ended up being one of the better fantasy catchers in the league this year. Shoppach, on the other hand, struggled mightily, hitting only .209 and slugging only .387. In other words, he was terrible.

Led by extra base machine Nick Swisher

He has been an extra base hit machine so far, but then again, so has Freddy Sanchez. Does anyone expect either one to keep it up?

Swisher is now 41st in XBH with 54 behind such noted powerhouses as Cody Ross and Marlon Byrd. It isn't bad, but he isn't exactly a machine. Speaking of machines, Albert Pujols (who else?) leads the majors with 80 XBH. Sanchez, by the way, has 39 XBH at this point, which does not put him in the top 100 in MLB. Considering he already had double digit XBH in week 2 when this was originally posted (as did Swisher), I'd say he's fallen off a bit.

Here’s your random hitter [Brandon Phillips]...that sucked, even though [he's] really good in reality.

Is he though? He put up a .261/.312/.442 last year, when he was only the 8th best fantasy 2B by Yahoo rank. That doesn't seem "really good" to me.

This year, Phillips's line has been .273/.330/.459, which is only a small uptick from last year. Also, he is still only the 8th best 2B by Yahoo rank this year. I'm probably more bearish on him than most would be, but I still don't see how this could be considered "really good."


Week 3

Huapaya looks as if he’s playing to get Aztecs pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Strasburg has a pretty good shot at pitching in the majors this year, which means he will be ineligible for the minor league draft next year. If you meant the rights to draft him first in the majors draft, I don't feel he would be anything close to a slam dunk #1 pick in that draft (as he would be in the minors one).

This one goes in the miss column for me. I really thought the Nats would bring Strasburg up in September to keep a little interest in the team among the fans. I'm quite disappointed they didn't as well, since the Alliance has been holding onto the #1 waiver priority for months, waiting to pounce as soon as he is added to the Yahoo system. But now, without a call-up to the majors this year, his being added seems highly unlikely.

Huapaya mentioned to some of his fellow GM’s that “he’s just off to a slow start.” Well Corey, you better figure out something quick.

Huapaya is currently in 10th place (not even last) and is only 4 games back from a playoff spot and 6.5 back of first place. Maybe it is just a slow start. It seems a little early to be writing anyone off.

As it turns out, it was just a slow start. Huapaya finished the regular season in 5th place and is currently in the playoffs. (Update: As it turns out, Huapaya finished second in the ODFB playoffs, barely being edged out by The Alliance in the finals)

They’ve also pulled the first “rape” trade of the year

Is anyone else offended? Rape? This is almost as offensive as the Adenhart incident.

But seriously, is this trade as bad as it's being made out to be? Can Brandon Webb really help a team if he is injured and not pitching?

To refresh your memory, in this trade, So Cho sent Jake Peavy to Huapaya for Brandon Webb and Dan Uggla. The quoted comment was saying that So Cho was raping Huapaya in this trade. I disagreed due to the fact that Webb was hurt. Since then, the following has happened:

Peavy: 8 games started, 4 wins, 39 K, 2.86 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, on DL since June 9
Webb: 0 games started, never returned from DL, out for season
Uggla: 407 AB, 21 HR, 56 RBI, 1 SB, .243 AVG (19th ranked 2B in Yahoo for the season)

So for this season, it became a trade of 50.1 excellent innings of pitching from Peavy for a middle of the pack second baseman. This one could go either way, depending upon what you value, but I could argue that Huapaya got the better of this deal. Of course, that is without considering these guys as keepers, which may be tougher for Peavy as he has been traded to the AL, but even if Webb turns out to be better next year, this is nowhere near the brutal rape it was made out to be. In fact, looking at the numbers, it seems downright consensual.

Whenever you can cut a “worst-case” 15/75 guy [Mark DeRosa], to add a “best-case” 15/75 guy, you gotta do it.

Mark DeRosa has been in the major leagues for at least part of every season since 1998. In that time, he has had exactly ONE 15/75 season, which of course was last year, when it was 21/87. That makes a 15/75 season seem far more like a "best-case" for him than a "worst-case."

While it is odd for a guy to have a career year at age 33 (as DeRosa did last year) and then follow it up with a pretty good year the following year (as he has this year), I will admit I was (probably) wrong about this one. I did not expect him to reach those numbers again, but he has 21 HR and 69 RBI as of this writing, so it is likely he will once again reach 15/75 by the end of the season.


May:

Week 4

Jared Mercuri, who earlier in the year was ready to trade Nick Markakis and Howie Kendrick for a handful of scrubs

This seems to imply that Howie Kendrick is good. I'm confused.

Kendrick is the 27th ranked second baseman in Yahoo this year. I think I got this one right.


Week 6

Hopefully the return of Soria and Valverde will give [the Alliance] a much needed boost.

Seeing as how they have won saves in five of the six weeks, the addition of two closers will likely not give as much of a boost as some of the other injured players, such as Aramis Ramirez, Chris Carpenter (back this Wednesday), Hiroki Kuroda, or Justin Duchscherer, should. It can be noted, however, that the closers might provide a small amount of help in the ERA and WHIP categories.

The biggest boost has come from Carpenter, who has been his usual dominant self since making that return from the DL and, perhaps more importantly, has not returned to the DL since. Hiroki Kuroda, on the other hand, did not provide much of a boost at all. And Justin Duchcherer was too busy continually getting injured and crying himself to sleep to bother even pitching this season.

Valverde and Soria both returned a few weeks after this was written. While they didn't provide a real boost, they have been consistently good, so I'd call this argument more of a wash.


June:

Week 10

Even the “streamers” in this league will think twice before adding such an inconsistent pitcher [Snell]

Clearly you don't know streamers too well. They are a desperate group, grasping for straws in hopes that one will turn into a diamond in the rough. Some of them even use split stats to justify their pick-ups. With that said, if Snell has an indoor start this year, I'd say there's a good chance he'll get picked up, as he has a 2.84 ERA in 19.0 indoor innings this year and a 3.42 ERA in 50.0 career indoor innings. But even if he doesn't start another game indoors all year, I'd still put money on his being added to a roster again. Desperation can lead sane men to do insane things, and I'm not so sure that all the streamers are even sane.

Snell has been added to a team twice since this was posted. The first time was a mere 5 days later, on June 22, by Georgia. The second time he was added was when WallaWalla hit that little green plus sign on August 24. Interestingly enough, that second time was not a stream, as he was added on a day he was starting, so that he would not be available to WallaWalla until the following day. Even stranger was the fact that WallaWalla then waived him 3 days later, prior to his next start, making the addition completely pointless.


August:

Week 17

They also receive Tampa Ace James Shields to help solidify their starting rotation for the stretch run.

Shields has 6 wins this year, with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. His overall rank is 729. His numbers are actually quite similar to SCF's season pitching stats of a 3.84 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. While he has been decent, he seems more par for the course than a solidifying force. For his career, however, he does have a 3.16 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in August and September, so we'll see how this turns out.

Since then, Shields has 6 starts, 3 wins, a 5.07 ERA, and a 1.49 WHIP. He has put up worse numbers than both he and the Force had previously put up on the season. In other words, we've seen how this has turned out, and it hasn't been good.

When healthy, Bedard has been stellar, regularly surrendering less than 2 ER per start, while K’ing more than a batter per inning.

Bedard has allowed less than 2 ER in 5 of the 15 games he has started, which I would not consider regularly. He has, however, surrendered less than 3 ER in 13 starts, and surrendered only 3 ER in the other 2 starts (which both occurred in April). While this appears impressive (and it is quite good), it is also misleading. The fact is that only 6 of his 15 starts have been quality starts, for the simple reason that those were the only games in which he pitched 6+ innings. In 4 of his starts, he hasn't even reached the 5 inning minimum for a win, and in 4 others, he pitched exactly 5 innings. This also affects the strikeout numbers, so while the per inning ratio is good, the overall strikeouts (which is the fantasy category) are not overly impressive. While Bedard would be a good pickup who would certainly help ERA, WHIP, and Ks, he has not been quite as "stellar" as the quoted statement would have you believe.

Nobody was right here, as Bedard didn't get traded, and wouldn't have been a good pickup if he had been, as he never returned from that DL stint.

The Force are making their run in 2009, and that has Milltown and San Diego shitting themselves.

Entire cities are shitting themselves? Did you make a fantasy trade or discover the brown note? And no mention of the Alliance or the Cottonpickers, who both are still ahead of the Force in the standings?

I'm still not sure anybody is shitting themselves, but this trade did seem to greatly improve the Force, who have not lost since it was made. In other words, they went from being a fringe playoff team to being a legitimate contender.

And finally, without further adieu, the final power rankings of the year:

Week 22 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.69	2
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.49	1
3	-	The Alliance	1.55	5
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.88	7
5	-	Huapaya Players	0.25	5
6	-	South Carolina Force	0.15	3
7	-	GA Cottonpickers	-0.44	4
8	-	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-1.09	8
9	-	So Cho Guiney's	-1.53	10
10	-	Arlington Templars	-1.86	8
11	-	Lima Time	-2.04	11
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.04	12

For the first time all season, there was no movement in the rankings at all. San Diego went wire to wire in the #1 spot, and was never really even close to losing it. Milltown similarly went wire to wire at #2 and was comfortable there. Pretty clearly, I think San Diego is the favorite to win in the playoffs (despite their rank in the actual standings), although one week is a small enough sample size that anything is possible. I guess it's time to sit back and see what happens.

Until next year?

Week 21 Rankings

Week 21 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.32	2
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.73	1
3	-	The Alliance	1.72	4
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.85	7
5	-	Huapaya Players	0.16	6
6	+1	South Carolina Force	0.04	3
7	-1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.05	4
8	-	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-0.91	9
9	-	So Cho Guiney's	-1.55	10
10	-	Arlington Templars	-1.62	8
11	-	Lima Time	-2.41	11
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.27	12

Week 20 Rankings

I missed last week, but here are this week's standings:

Week 20 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.13	2
2	-	Milltown Monsters	3.04	1
3	-	The Alliance	1.69	5
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.65	7
5	-	Huapaya Players	0.59	3
6	+1	GA Cottonpickers	0.03	5
7	-1	South Carolina Force	-0.09	3
8	+1	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-1.01	8
9	-1	So Cho Guiney's	-1.42	10
10	-	Arlington Templars	-2.06	9
11	-	Lima Time	-2.29	11
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.26	12

Not a whole lot of movement anymore as we get close to the end of the season. Interesting to note is that despite the fact that San Diego has led the power rankings from wire to wire, Milltown has pulled away from the pack in the actual standings, now 13.5 games ahead of the Stingers, who are in second place. It also looks likely that Ohio will miss the playoffs despite their strong power ranking, although a lot can change in the two weeks before the playoffs.

Week 18 Rankings

Week 18 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.52	2	14
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.91	1	14
3	-	The Alliance	1.97	3	14
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.57	6	12
5	-	Huapaya Players	0.14	7	13
6	+1	South Carolina Force	-0.34	4	1
7	-1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.36	5	7
8	-	So Cho Guiney's	-1.13	10	6
9	-	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.23	9	0
10	-	Arlington Templars	-1.45	8	0
11	-	Lima Time	-2.10	11	3
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.51	12	0

Week 17: Return of the Blog

There was a new post over at ODFB for the first time in about a month an a half, so we're back.

Let's Make A Deal

After bargaining back and forth, their mid-morning conversation dragged into the night hours.

Apparently there is someone else in the league who has more free time than I do. Much more free time.

So Cho gets a headstart on rebuilding, acquiring pre-season #2 (Matt Wieters) and #9 (Feliz) prospects

No snarky comment here, I just thought I'd point out that Keith Law had them ranked #1 and #4 respectively, so yeah, not a bad haul for a rebuilding team. While I'd normally question giving up a catcher (Martinez) when good ones are so rare in fantasy, the Wieters return should make up for that. That is, of course, assuming he lives up to the hype.

SCF receives some much needed punch to their lineup with Victor Martinez (18 HR) and Mark DeRosa (20 HR).

Apparently they received so much punch that it improved V-Mart's HR total. It is actually 16, just the way McCarthy likes it.

They also receive Tampa Ace James Shields to help solidify their starting rotation for the stretch run.

Shields has 6 wins this year, with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. His overall rank is 729. His numbers are actually quite similar to SCF's season pitching stats of a 3.84 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. While he has been decent, he seems more par for the course than a solidifying force. For his career, however, he does have a 3.16 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in August and September, so we'll see how this turns out.

When healthy, Bedard has been stellar, regularly surrendering less than 2 ER per start, while K’ing more than a batter per inning.

Bedard has allowed less than 2 ER in 5 of the 15 games he has started, which I would not consider regularly. He has, however, surrendered less than 3 ER in 13 starts, and surrendered only 3 ER in the other 2 starts (which both occurred in April). While this appears impressive (and it is quite good), it is also misleading. The fact is that only 6 of his 15 starts have been quality starts, for the simple reason that those were the only games in which he pitched 6+ innings. In 4 of his starts, he hasn't even reached the 5 inning minimum for a win, and in 4 others, he pitched exactly 5 innings. This also affects the strikeout numbers, so while the per inning ratio is good, the overall strikeouts (which is the fantasy category) are not overly impressive. While Bedard would be a good pickup who would certainly help ERA, WHIP, and Ks, he has not been quite as "stellar" as the quoted statement would have you believe.

The Force are making their run in 2009, and that has Milltown and San Diego shitting themselves.

Entire cities are shitting themselves? Did you make a fantasy trade or discover the brown note? And no mention of the Alliance or the Cottonpickers, who both are still ahead of the Force in the standings?

Well, maybe not Milltown after they recently made SCF look like Rihanna after an encounter with Chris Brown (9-1 week 16 beating).

So this is ok, but I get shit for the Nick Adenhart incident?


Week 17 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.43	2	13
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.71	1	13
3	-	The Alliance	2.09	3	13
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.71	6	11
5	+1	Huapaya Players	0.18	7	12
6	-1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.13	4	7
7	-	South Carolina Force	-0.40	5	0
8	-	So Cho Guiney's	-1.04	10	6
9	+1	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.36	9	0
10	+1	Arlington Templars	-1.86	8	0
11	-2	Lima Time	-2.03	11	3
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.29	12	0

Week 16 Rankings

Week 16 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.49	2	12
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.80	1	12
3	-	The Alliance	2.01	4	12
4	+1	Ohio Hustlers	0.59	6	10
5	+1	GA Cottonpickers	0.31	3	6
6	-2	Huapaya Players	0.14	7	11
7	-	South Carolina Force	-0.91	5	0
8	-	So Cho Guiney's	-1.06	9	6
9	-	Lima Time	-1.55	11	3
10	+1	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.69	10	0
11	-1	Arlington Templars	-1.93	8	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.21	12	0

Week 15 Rankings

Week 15 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.57	2	11
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.35	1	11
3	-	The Alliance	2.30	3	11
4	+1	Huapaya Players	0.41	6	10
5	+1	Ohio Hustlers	0.34	6	9
6	-2	GA Cottonpickers	0.06	5	5
7	+1	South Carolina Force	-0.64	4	0
8	-1	So Cho Guiney's	-0.99	9	6
9	+1	Lima Time	-1.74	11	3
10	+1	Arlington Templars	-1.76	8	0
11	-2	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.80	10	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.10	12	0

Week 14 Rankings - No Witty Title

Week 14 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.66	1	10
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.58	2	10
3	-	The Alliance	1.81	4	10
4	+2	GA Cottonpickers	0.29	3	4
5	-	Huapaya Players	0.26	6	9
6	-2	Ohio Hustlers	0.22	7	8
7	-	So Cho Guiney's	-0.63	9	6
8	-	South Carolina Force	-0.66	5	0
9	+2	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.82	10	0
10	-1	Lima Time	-1.85	11	3
11	-1	Arlington Templars	-1.97	8	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-2.89	12	0

Georgia continues to climb the rankings toward their actual rank. South Carolina.....doesn't.

That's all for this week.

Trisk-on-deck-aphobia: Fear of Week 13

With no other posts over at ODFB, time for just another quick rankings update

Week 13 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.59	2	9
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.77	1	9
3	-	The Alliance	1.92	5	9
4	+3	Ohio Hustlers	0.56	6	7
5	-1	Huapaya Players	0.34	7	8
6	-	GA Cottonpickers	-0.54	3	3
7	-2	So Cho Guiney's	-0.71	9	6
8	-	South Carolina Force	-0.78	4	0
9	-	Lima Time	-1.54	10	3
10	-	Arlington Templars	-1.67	8	0
11	-	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-2.00	11	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-2.93	12	0

Not a whole lot of changes this week, although there was a big jump by the Hustlers. Will it last?

12 Steps......I Mean Weeks

Just a quick update this week with the power rankings.

Week 12 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.01	2	8
2	-	Milltown Monsters	3.01	1	8
3	-	The Alliance	1.89	5	8
4	-	Huapaya Players	0.84	6	7
5	-	So Cho Guiney's	-0.21	8	6
6	+1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.35	3	2
7	-1	Ohio Hustlers	-0.45	7	6
8	-	South Carolina Force	-0.62	4	0
9	-	Lima Time	-0.96	10	3
10	+1	Arlington Templars	-1.76	9	0
11	-1	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.97	11	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.42	12	0

That is all for this week.

Week 11: The Midway Point

There are no new posts over at ODFB this week, but I have a few things to get to before we jump into the power rankings.

First, referencing last week's post, Ian Snell has already been added (and dropped) again, as the desperation of streamers never ceases to amaze me. Following that start, the Pirates -- his real team -- sent him down to the minors. Now I think it might be safe to bet that nobody is going to add him. Until he's called up again, that is. I might bet on his being added for that first start back though...

I would also like to congratulate Lima Time for making Sports Illustrated this week, although I question why they chose to feature a tenth place team...

Week 11 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	SOS	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.17	12	2	7
2	-	Milltown Monsters	3.05	11	1	7
3	-	The Alliance	1.40	10	5	7
4	-	Huapaya Players	0.72	9	6	6
5	-	So Cho Guiney's	0.47	8	6	5
6	-	Ohio Hustlers	-0.35	7	8	6
7	+1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.65	6	3	1
8	-1	South Carolina Force	-0.73	5	4	0
9	-	Lima Time	-0.77	4	10	3
10	+1	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.90	3	9	0
11	-1	Arlington Templars	-1.94	2	11	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.46	1	12	0

With this being the halfway point of a 22 week season with 12 teams, that means that each team has played each of the other 11 teams once. Due to how I determine the strength of schedule (adding opponents' scores), this leads to the SOS being the inverse of the actual rank this week.

There were not a whole lot of changes this week in the power rankings, although the Cottonpickers continue to climb, closing the gap between their power ranking and their actual ranking every week. They may actually be in the top six soon.

That's all for this week.

Week 10: A Newcomer Enters the Fray

After much anticipation and sleepless nights, a new post has finally been put up over at ODFB. It's from a new writer and it's pretty entertaining. But it's time to check it.

The So Cho Guy's Mailbag: First Edition

This is a tough question to answer. This is like asking, “Why did Mark Wahlberg do ‘The Happening’ after having so much success in badass roles such as Bob Lee Swagger from Shooter or Bobby Mercer in Four Brothers?”

I'm gonna say it's one of three reasons:
1) Because he didn't want to get typecast
2) Because he was sick of playing characters named Bob
3) Because he got paid $10-15 million

Chris Young is a good pitcher overall who clearly benefits from pitching in Petco

On the year, Chris Young has pitched a total of 38.0 innings at home (Petco) and 38.0 innings on the road. At home, he is 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 31 K and 12 BB. On the road, he is 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 19 K and 28 BB. While I obviously agree with the second part of the statement, I'm not sure that Chris Young is even a good pitcher.

Angelica Snell, WallaWalla

Kudos for actually doing the research to find Ian Snell's wife's name. It's nice to see there is someone else who has as much useless free time as I do.

Recently, GM Neville rewarded fragile starting pitcher Carl Pavano with a 10-day contract and “ace” status as well

Apparently this was one of those special 10-day contracts that only lasts 6 days.

Jun 15 10:05pm	Carl Pavano (Cle - SP)	Drop	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	Waivers	kevin N
Jun 9 2:17pm	Carl Pavano (Cle - SP)	Add	Free Agents	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	kevin N

Even the “streamers” in this league will think twice before adding such an inconsistent pitcher [Snell]

Clearly you don't know streamers too well. They are a desperate group, grasping for straws in hopes that one will turn into a diamond in the rough. Some of them even use split stats to justify their pick-ups. With that said, if Snell has an indoor start this year, I'd say there's a good chance he'll get picked up, as he has a 2.84 ERA in 19.0 indoor innings this year and a 3.42 ERA in 50.0 career indoor innings. But even if he doesn't start another game indoors all year, I'd still put money on his being added to a roster again. Desperation can lead sane men to do insane things, and I'm not so sure that all the streamers are even sane.

He also leads the league in OBP%, which makes it even more impressive that he is a top 50 talent in a league that doesn’t account for walks at all.

The P in OBP stands for percentage, so the % is redundant. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go spend some of Mark Wahlberg's $15 million dollars.

Chase Utley/Brian McCann (Arlington Templars) - With two all-stars in two very thin positions, it may benefit Arlington greatly by receiving some of the nations top prospects or up-and-coming allstars by shopping these two on the market.

If I was Arlington, I would do exactly the opposite: these guys would be my untouchables. It could be argued that catcher and second base are the two hardest positions to fill, so why trade premier players at both positions?

(Gonzalez is only 27 and may be traded from Petco a few years down the line if the Padres continue to blow) but if WallaWalla continues to spiral downhill, you may see Gonzalez moving from his pad up in the Northwest sooner rather than later.

Ok, I understand the whole "these guys play for the fantasy teams and live where that team is" thing, but now you're combining that with reality. Pick one or the other. Gonzalez isn't living in the Northwest area and commuting to Petco for home games. Choose a side of the fence and stick with it.

For all I know, you are probably some unemployed loser who sits around in his boxers all day still living with his parents while they wait on him hand and foot.

I prefer sitting around in a bedazzled thong all day, but maybe that's just me.


Week 10 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	SOS	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.04	9	2	6
2	-	Milltown Monsters	3.18	11	1	6
3	-	The Alliance	0.88	7	5	6
4	-	Huapaya Players	0.74	11	4	5
5	+1	So Cho Guiney's	0.11	7	7	4
6	-1	Ohio Hustlers	-0.29	5	8	5
7	+1	South Carolina Force	-0.62	1	5	0
8	+1	GA Cottonpickers	-0.78	3	3	1
9	-2	Lima Time	-0.85	9	10	3
10	+1	Arlington Templars	-1.57	5	11	0
11	-1	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-1.63	3	9	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-3.19	1	12	0

That's it for this week.

Week 9: One is the Loneliest Number

With no other posts to work off of again this week (is it over? I hope not), we've got just a quick post this week of the power rankings.

Week 9 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	SOS	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.59	11	1	5
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.78	10	1	5
3	-	The Alliance	0.87	7	8	5
4	+1	Huapaya Players	0.68	9	5	4
5	-1	Ohio Hustlers	0.15	5	6	4
6	-	So Cho Guiney's	0.14	6	6	3
7	+3	Lima Time	-0.90	12	9	3
8	-1	South Carolina Force	-0.94	3	4	0
9	-	GA Cottonpickers	-1.36	4	3	1
10	+1	WallaWallaDirtDawgs	-1.47	8	10	0
11	-3	Arlington Templars	-1.93	2	12	0
12	-	Cape Cod Cods	-2.61	1	11	0

Not a whole lot of changes this week. San Diego continues to dominate, the Cottonpickers continue to confuse me, and the Cods continue to struggle. I should also note that for the first time all year, six of the teams are considered to be above average. This is the most there has been all year.

Ok, that's all for this week.

Week 8: The Silence is Deafening

Much as they did last year, the ODFB blog posts have ceased, leaving me with little to no material to work off of. With nothing to write about this week, I will explain the power rankings a bit more.

The power rankings are, as I have said previously, like a more complicated rotisserie rankings. I use two numbers to determine the final score.

The first comes from the normal run-of-the-mill rotisserie ranking. In regular rotisserie scoring, the stat total does not matter, it is only the rank of that stat among the other teams that matters. For example, lets say the leading team has 60 SB and the second place team has 45, that large difference does not matter. The scoring in this case is the same as if the top team had 51 and the second had 50.

The second number I use focuses more on the total than the rank. Using the previous example, the team with 60 SB would get a much higher score than the one with 45, but if it was just 51 and 50, the score difference would be minimal.

It should also be pointed out that the total score of all twelve teams should be zero. Due to rounding, this is not always exactly the case, but the non-rounded scores do end up that way. Also, using this system, a score of zero is league average. Similarly, a positive score is above league average and a negative score is below league average.

This week I have also added a new wrinkle this week. The column labeled "Weeks" is number of weeks (from the weeks that I have compiled the rankings, so starting in Week 5) that the team has been ranked in the top 6 spots (i.e. playoff spots). I am hoping this will help predict the actual playoff teams as the season goes on, although I really have no clue how accurate it will be.

Week 8 Power Rankings

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	SOS	Actual	Weeks
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.25	9	1	4
2	-	Milltown Monsters	2.75	7	2	4
3	+2	The Alliance	0.75	5	9	4
4	-	Ohio Hustlers	0.62	6	7	3
5	-2	Huapaya Players	0.41	8	4	3
6	+1	So Cho Guiney's	-0.31	10	5	2
7	+1	SC Force	-0.50	1	6	0
8	+2	Arlington Templars	-1.26	2	12	0
9	-	GA Cottonpickers	-1.39	4	2	1
10	-4	Lima Time	-1.39	12	9	3
11	+1	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-1.45	11	8	0
12	-1	Cape Cod Cods	-2.47	3	11	0

That's all I've got for this week. But hey, at least someone is still writing stuff.