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.

Week 7: All Quiet on the On Deck Front

Neither the "5 Things Learned" nor the "Power Rankings" were posted over at ODFB this week, so there isn't a whole lot to write about. There was something written this week, however.

Cincinnati Courier - Manny Cheats, Ohio Retools

Now I could write about how this article uses many of the aspects I have brought up in the past about the suspended reality of this league. Or I could point out how "El Caballo" is spelled differently in two places (the cover image has it right). Or I could even question why the May issue on the "Cincinnati Courier" wasn't released until May 27. But really, I'm only going to take issue with one point in the article:

“From this day going forward, if it is not a Flintstone vitamin, it is not allowed in this clubhouse. Look at Fred and Barney, dude’s were large and in charge. No reason why our players would need any other boost to see those results.”

Not a bad point, but you forget, those guys weren't just taking vitamins. They were also moving cars -- made out of stone mind you -- with their bare feet. Seriously, those things must have weighed a few tons. Unless Ohio has some radical new (very old-school) travel plans, I think the players on the team might need a little more than chewable vitamins.

Ok, enough kidding around with that, time for the updated Power Rankings.

Rank	Change	Team Name	Score	SOS Rank	Actual
1	-	San Diego Stingers	4.09	8	2
2	-	Milltown Monsters	3.16	6	1
3	+1	Huapaya Players	1.21	7	3
4	+1	Ohio Hustlers	0.47	9	8
5	-2	The Alliance	0.38	3	9
6	-	Lima Time	-0.73	12	7
7	+2	So Cho Guiney's	-0.87	11	6
8	-	South Carolina Force	-0.93	4	5
9	-2	GA Cottonpickers	-1.46	1	3
10	+1	Arlington Templars	-1.53	5	12
11	+1	Cape Cod Cods	-1.84	2	11
12	-2	WallaWalla DirtDawgs	-1.94	10	10

The Alliance finally drops from the #3 spot, despite beating Arlington. Arlington rises for the second straight week, despite losing to the Alliance. Sand Diego and Milltown remain 1 and 2, but the gap between them closes further. And Huapaya continues to shock everyone by actually having a good team. Will it continue in Week 8? Stay tuned.