Self Editor

Forum: base
Page 17625
Subject: RIBC 2005 - Regular Season Discussion #1

Posted by: Guru - [330592710] Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 11:54

I have released the draft results and activated the league. All undrafted players are on waivers until March 31.

Toral
ID: 5529286
Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 15:25

Are you doing a spreadsheet run this year, Guru?

Toral

Guru
ID: 330592710
Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 16:47

No, I didn't set it up that way this year.

Toral
ID: 5529286
Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 16:50

Crap. There must be 3 or 4 other spreadsheet people who can do a prediction run?

Toral

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 17:03

I only tracked my own team this year.

Toral
ID: 5529286
Mon, Mar 28, 2005, 17:22

Bit o' fun here. My old friend Chris, whose baseball savvy I admire as much as anyone else's I know, is big on Bedard, partly because of what his record last year portends for this year.

I went to baseball-reference.com and looked for the most similar pitchers in MLB history to Bedard at his age. They are:

Doug Capilla (984)
Scott Sanders (981)
Bert Cole (980)
Danny McDevitt (978)
Mickey Mahler (978)
Al Leiter (976)
Roy Meeker (975)
Snipe Hansen (975)
Chris Capuano (975)
Joe Sullivan (975)

Their records the following year:

(W-L, IP, K, ERA)
0-1, 11, 9, 9.82
5-5. 90. 88. 3.38
13-5, 163, 32, 4.69
8-4, 145, 106, 3.97
5-11, 100, 71, 5.85
0-0, 1, 0, 0.00
Did Not Play Again
6-14, 169, 47, 4.44
[Capuano -- Don't Know]
Did not Play
----------------------------
I suspect the baseball reference people aren't taking enough notice of K totals in doing similarity scores, but -- these are the(ir) facts!

Toral

Chris
ID: 4708114
Tue, Mar 29, 2005, 00:06

The similarity method is horribly flawed. ERA, winning %, wins, losses are all component statistics(they are basically derived from performances in other categories), yet they count for many many times that of the predictive stats. For instance, the difference in 0.50 ERA(which can be attributed to luck at times) is equal to 750 strikeouts!

Besides, why would you lump rate stats and counting stats all together? I'm just not seeing the logic of this argument from you, a person whose arguments are usually based on logic and statistics.

There are a number of arguments you can use to detract from Bedard(his home ballpark, his 5 IP at the AAA level, his age...even possible Matt Clement Syndrome), but player similarity has huge holes in it that make it impossible to even argue for or against it in depth.

Couple thoughts to leave you with...

Before last season, the most similar pitcher to Jake Peavy was Brett Myers(there's no way in hell Myers ends up with nearly as good of a career as Peavy, and he was much more hyped as a prospect)

Before last season, the most similar pitcher to Ben Sheets was Jeff Weaver(Weaver, while a solid big league pitcher, has nowhere near the ceiling or the ability to dominate as Sheets)

Before last season, the most similar pitcher to Oliver Perez was David Clyde(David Clyde???)

The thing that the former pitchers all have that the latter pitchers lack is dominance in the majors(in the form of K/9) and minor league track records of dominance(in the form of both K/9 and BB/9).

I'll bank on a pitcher lowering his walk rate and raising his strikeout rate if he's proven in the past that he's likely to do so. Especially when it's way out of line with past performance. Bedard had a 4.65 BB/9 last year, when he's shown in the past that he's a 3 BB/9 pitcher.

Look for that to improve...

Toral
ID: 5529286
Tue, Mar 29, 2005, 01:04

Chris, that wasn't an argument, just as I said, a bit o' fun. Good luck with Bedard.

Toral

Chris
ID: 4708114
Tue, Mar 29, 2005, 01:07

Well, arguments aren't necessarily acrimonious, just meant argument from the standpoint of your point of contention.

And if your point was simply to have fun, I am not amused! ;)

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 12:35

I happened to see that we have hitter max at 162 now. Guess I forgot that we had changed it to that. Again, I disagree with that as we should have the best team win it all rather than the best starters, but apparently I was outvoted. Still doubt if I'd have changed much with my draft.

Chris
ID: 4708114
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 13:30

Let's review this timeline, shall we?

March 13 - Dave Roberts might miss a game or two because of a ''very, very slight tweak of his groin,'' manager Bruce Bochy said.

March 17 - Dave Roberts was a late scratch Wednesday because of a sore groin.

March 19 - Dave Roberts was scratched once again today, this time due to wet field conditions.

March 20 - Dave Roberts returned to action today and went 2-for-3 with a double.

March 31 - Dave Roberts is getting another day off today because of his strained groin. The Padres hope he'll play on Saturday.

March 31 - Dave Roberts said today he'll probably start the season on the 15-day disabled list because of a lingering groin injury.

Bah! I'm very, very slightly tweaked by all this information :)

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:05

I learned a lesson today: always check the news in the (european) morning so that I can adjust my roster accordingly. today it was the possibility that Kim may be the Rockies closer (with Tsao on the DL). After lunch I found the time to get up to date and checked if he is still available, only to find out that rfs got him already. I hope he sucks.

today it is the first day I am really considering punting the saves category. at least I can only lose 11 points there.

holt
ID: 3035711
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:16

I thought about picking him up, but holy crap - kim pitching in colorado? too risky. I had chacon as a closer on some team last year and it was a nightmare. no amount of saves are worth such damage to era and whip.

holt
ID: 3035711
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:17

imagine a sidearmer flipping one to the plate at 84 mph in colorado. lol.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:24

holt - he cannot be worse than Mantei last year. He killed my ERA and WHIP early and I needed the whole season to recover from that debacle. maybe it is better to not have him. he would cost me more in ERA/WHIP then the 1 or 2 points I could gain in SV.

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:37

re: 11...how can you only lose 11 points...wouldn't it be 15?

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 14:40

darkside - I was still think about RIHC, of course that are 15 points

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 15:00

Kim is not very good and he will not be the closer. He was dangerous when he threw mid-90's+ but low 80's, it's like BP. Of course that delivery motion is deceptive so who knows what he will do. Still, I doubt if he closes games anytime soon--esp. with their top prospect expected to only miss three games.

loki
ID: 541122112
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 16:56

Please pardon my intrusion on this board. I was wondering if your league had made any special consideratons for players such as Brandon Lyon who are not yet in Yahoo's data base? I drafted him in RIBC AAA as did Toral in RIBC. THANKS!!

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 17:15

Yep, I took a chance on Kim. Who knows, maybe I'll only start him as a closer on the road... wouldn't that be wierd. Of course with the number of c-loser I have, I'm open to trade offers.

I believe we allowed Lyon to be drafted an put a retired player on that owner's team as a placed holder, IIRC.

holt
ID: 3035711
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 17:15

toral is using tim salmon as a placeholder.

in leagues where he wasn't drafted, we'll go through waivers after yahoo adds him.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Apr 01, 2005, 20:08

rfs, Kim is not the closer in Colorado. Fuentes will be used if needed for the first three games and then they are planning to bring Tsao off the DL and go to him on April 9th. By not using Tsao, they backdated his DL trip so he only had to miss three games. He's throwing in the minors again after the MRI confirmed that it was only tendonitis and nothing to do with the labrum. He got a shot and feels good now from what I've been reading.

Matt S in Jax, FL
ID: 332273021
Sat, Apr 02, 2005, 12:25

Losing Gagne early is going to hurt. I'm going to have to get lucky with one of my other relievers and pick up a few saves to compensate for what I miss with my first round pick. Too bad I wasn't able to pick up Brazoban in the draft. I would have taken him with my 16.01 pick instead of Donnelly. Hopefully he won't miss much time.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Apr 02, 2005, 12:49

Kim was so bad in is performance yesterday that he's talking about retirement. I guess 8 runs in 1/3 of an inning is enough to get anyone down.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sun, Apr 03, 2005, 04:01

Chris - add this to your list:

Apr 2 - The San Diego Padres placed center fielder Dave Roberts on the 15-day disabled list Saturday as they finalized their roster for opening day.
The move is retroactive to March 29. Roberts, an experienced leadoff hitter acquired from Boston, has a lingering groin injury.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Apr 03, 2005, 12:15

Yeah with Roberts, at least he can't be labled with one ailment. Maybe we can call him Dave "Hamstring-Groin" Roberts. I have him in another league and he was a big part of my strategy. All I wanted was his steals. Oh well.

Athletics Guy
ID: 422542515
Sun, Apr 03, 2005, 18:36

Looks like Chris' team is starting out the same way it did last season.

First Roberts and Lilly ended up on the DL...
Now Atkins and Escobar...

He's cursed!

Chris
ID: 4708114
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 06:20

Yikes, no kidding. Plus Foppert and Strickland were sent to AAA.

Last year it was Bay, Reyes and Schmidt(followed shortly by Vidro, Delgado, Piazza).

I'm just hoping Atkins turns out like Bay(900+ OPS, ROY) and not like Reyes(650 OPS, 50 games played).

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 13:09

Bob Melvin is an idiot.

I knew I shouldn't have let Lyon slide too far - I have every intention of handcuffing him to Aquino.

What was Aquino supposed to do but throw 4 straight scoreless innings? Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez.

Guru
ID: 3033648
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 16:28

Tentative standings page

Pretty much a carbon copy of last year's page. This will be updated daily, and linked to the league icon on the Blurb page as well.

Let me know if you notice any glitches.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 16:31

While I'm at it, I has probably better capture the screen that shows I'm in first as it may not happen again this year. Heck, after Brazleton pitches tonight, I could go from first to...I don't even want to think about it.

Toral
ID: 14263120
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 16:37

Bob Melvin is an idiot.

Yes, but he's my kind of idiot.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 18:41

Nate Robertson WHO? Xavier Nady with 2 bombs.

Ref running away with the league on the first day!!

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Apr 04, 2005, 19:19

ROFL. RIBC year #2 - 2nd year in a row of devastating relief pitching just KILLING me (Aquino, Cormier). Geeeeeeez.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 11:48

Chad Fox has been added to Yahoo but is on waivers. I have Danny Bautista as my placeholder.

Any chance our Commish can speed up waivers and I can add him to my roster immediately?

Pretty please?

Guru
ID: 330592710
Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 18:59

I tried. I dropped Bautista. Then I tried to add Fox directly. Nothing happened. So I tried to release him from waivers. Couldn't do it. Most players on waivers had the option, be he did not. Best I could do was change his waiver date to April 6.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 19:04

Thanks for trying.

I cancelled the waiver so I don't lose my waiver rights on a drafted player. I will pick him up tomorrow as soon as I notice he's a free agent. Note to league (NOT that anyone is clamoring for Chad Fox of course, but....): please let Fox clear waivers as I own his rights. Thanks.

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 22:36

Sexy and now Vlad.... love those west coast guys. plenty o westcoasters in the starting lineup.

Guru
ID: 330592710
Tue, Apr 05, 2005, 23:34

Species - it was your outstanding waiver claim that was preventing me from being able to release him to free agency!

Once you released your claim, I was able to put him on your roster.

Dumbass!

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 00:24

Corrections are warranted! See parentheses.

It was (MY) outstanding waiver claim that was preventing me from being able to release him to free agency!

Once you (ever so brilliantly) released (the) claim (I stupidly put on), I was able to put him on your roster.

(I'm such a) Dumbass!

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 00:25

Context to post 39: I never put a waiver claim on him. When Guru tried to add him, it resulted in a waiver claim....that I released upon noticing it.

Dumbass!

Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 09:52

Hmmm... Point taken!

The system never told me I was putting in a waiver claim, and I even checked around to make sure that hadn't inadvertantly happened. Apparently the system is willing to let me put in a waiver claim for another team without ever providing any confirmation or evidence.

I think the real dumbass is some Yahoo! programmer. But, I'll not totally dismiss the possibility that Species has the finger pointed in the right direction.

Note to self: In the future, release a waiver player into free agency first, then put him on the roster. (Seems obvious now, but it usually helps to screw something up the first time in order to learn how to do it right.)

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 10:04

Guru: if it's not too much of a pain, could you do the same thing for Huston Street...I currently have Francis Beltran as a placeholder. It's not a huge deal if I wait it out, but figured why wait if it's easily remedied. Either way, thanks.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 10:34

Man, what a difference a day makes. If I could only get a save. Heck, if I could only have gotten a hit!

Guru
ID: 330592710
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 11:31

darkside: Huston Street added. You'll find him on your April 7 roster.

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 11:34

Great. Thanks very much!

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Wed, Apr 06, 2005, 23:25

Out of curiosity, does anyone (Guru) have links to last year's final standings-- better yet, alink that shows the splits by dates. I'm curious about how the league progresses month by month.

Guru
ID: 330592710
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 09:39

Each 2004 daily standings snapshot is still available. For the final standings (10/03/04), the URL is
http://rotoguru1.com/base/RIBC/2004/RIBC100304.html

For any other date, you need to substitute the 6-digit date in the URL. For example, for the standings through April 7, the URL would be
http://rotoguru1.com/base/RIBC/2004/RIBC040704.html

These pages show the YTD standings through games on the "as of" date. You can no longer automatically generate split standings between two dates in 2004. For example, you can't run the splits from July 4 through August 14. However, I could easily configure the split program to allow that if someone is interested in doing it. (The program just needs to be trained to look for the 2004 files. Currently, it looks only for 2005.)

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 09:49

I think April 6 is a day Species would rather forget:

Drop A. Béltre (LA - 3B) Species Waivers Apr 6 8:27am

At least his pickup of Biggio turned out to be a good one...that's hindsight for ya!

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 11:21

Yeap! I remember it well. All the news was that with the Bradley trade, Beltre would bat as low as 7th in the order. I drafted him after reading he'd bad 3rd.....seemed like a big difference.

What's worse though? That I dropped him and still finished 6th, or J got him and is in AAA! ;-)

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 14:10

I was afraid to shart Loiaza, Washburn and Hampton this early... mistake. Of course, I DID start Glavine. Bring Prior back, and I could have a nice SP staff if 2 of the above mentioned 4 maintain their ST and early season form.

holt
ID: 12331515
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 16:59

IP H R ER BB K HR Season ERA
J. Contreras 6.0 4 1 1 2 4 0 1.50

I'm gutless. I had contreras set to start but benched him. thought it would be better to watch him a couple of games first. he should get the win as long as takatsu doesn't blow it (HR casey blake).

meanwhile I have wolf and worrell getting together to lose to the nationals.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 17:12

holt - don't fret! I had Cormier blow it instead of Worrell for you.

Takatsu DID blow it.....feel better?

In a bigger league I chickened out on Colon vs. Tex the other night. If only I was smart enough to bench my entire relief corps instead I'd be way ahead.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 17:59

I F*&^#$(*&-ING GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR ERA
L. Vizcaino 2.1 5 6 6 3 1 0 17.18

holt
ID: 12331515
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 18:02

takatsu really did blow it! 3 dingers in 2/3 ip. then vizcaino gives up 5 in the 11th. I don't feel so bad now.
oh wait - my hitters are 2/20 so far today. : (

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 07, 2005, 18:11

This is a nightmare. Who do these freakin' idiots think they are, Matt Herges and Billy Koch?!?!?!?!?

holt
ID: 5133984
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 02:35

after wimping out on the contreras start yesterday, I started el duque and it paid off. go cuba!
missed out on a Putz win though.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 07:58

looks like I am competing with Chris for the most players on DL award. my thanks will go out to Schilling, Tsao, Alou and Cameron. Durham and Lopez could be the next 2, after they missed a game this week due to injury. my hitting is a nightmare at the moment: 9 runs, .303 OBP, .308 SLG. Ouch!

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 12:21

Tsao is due to join the team on Monday and come off the DL. Word is that he will immediately get a chance to close.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 12:32

I hope that Tsao, Schilling and Cameron will be back next week.

interesting that I got the most wins (4) with the fewest innings pitched (29).

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 12:49

I don't have the wins I should have, but except for a couple abd relief appearances, my pitching has been as good, if not better, than expected. With Penny's return looking more like a reality within 10 days, I have high hopes. Just wish Choi would do something...anything.

Peter N.
ID: 7359713
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 14:17

First Vazquez, then Mulder......and now Westbrook. Ugh, pitching staff is getting off to a rough start. I was going to bench Vazquez today to be conservative, but screw it, I can't get any worse. ;-) I'm still in search of that first win!!!

Matt S at Home
ID: 57340919
Sat, Apr 09, 2005, 22:33

Finally back from my travels.

Nice to see I've been holding down the top spot for a few days. Hopefully I can stay at least near the top while Gagne is out. Might have to get creative on the WW.

Matt S at Home
ID: 57340919
Sun, Apr 10, 2005, 15:45

My hitters are 5/25 with a run scored so far today. Gonna need big outings from Colon, Ortiz and Buehrle in order to prevent myself from nosediving in the standings. :(

Athletics Guy
ID: 422542515
Sun, Apr 10, 2005, 16:38

My team's pitching has improved tremendously the past few days. As of now, I have a 7.06 ERA and 1.76 WHIP. Watch out for Oaktown!

Matt S
ID: 57340919
Sun, Apr 10, 2005, 23:28

And let the nosedive begin!

holt
ID: 63221021
Sun, Apr 10, 2005, 23:41

you and me both. carpenter really blew chunks today. glad to see drew finally get a couple hits though.

Guru
ID: 330592710
Tue, Apr 12, 2005, 12:06

When I picked Bonds in round 1, I didn't expect to be ranked last in OBP. OF course, Bonds hasn't contributed a lick. But I still expected the rest of my team to average better than .306. I still do.

Perhaps the good news is that my runs, RBI, and steals are holding up, even if my hitting averages (.306/.382) are off to t-..., err..., horrid start.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Tue, Apr 12, 2005, 13:31

Guru - I am with you. I finally got a higher SLG (.321) than OBP (.318). my additional problem is that these guys are stealing bases but don't get runs. I hope that its only bad luck for both of us.

Matt S
ID: 57340919
Wed, Apr 13, 2005, 03:43

Gagne! I need you!

holt
ID: 193141315
Wed, Apr 13, 2005, 21:20

another great day from my "hitters". 3 for 21 today (1 double). did they all fall off the steroid wagon or what? this is starting to look like the "year of the slump".

not just complaining about my ribc team. I'm seeing baffling things on all my roto teams.

does someone have total mlb stats for this time period from recent years so we can compare some numbers?

Matt S
ID: 57340919
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 00:31

Man, the A's put up more runs in the 8th and take away Dotel's 1st save op, again! I'm never going to catch up to the pack in that category unless something happens quick!

holt
ID: 193141315
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 02:20

somehow I manage to pull out of the day with my hitters going 10 for 33 with 5 doubles. hopefully that keeps me from slipping any further.

holt
ID: 193141315
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 04:28

how long does it take for a players position eligibility to kick in? mackowiak has 6 games at 2b (5 starts).

Toral
ID: 14263120
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 09:20

Not long. He's eligible now on Yahoo!.

Toral

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 12:00

I know it is early, but I cannot catch a break in pitching. They've either done well and not got a win or just got hammered. That's what you get when you get fringe pitchers. I know they will turn it around, but they have a lot to overcome already.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 13:44

I am wondering how yahoo counts the percentage stats? it seems that they are inaccurate.

an example is my WHIP:
72 1/3 IP and 102 walks and hits should result in a 1.410138 WHIP. yahoo has me with 1.40

ERA is correct, I haven't checked OBP and SLG yet.

Guru
ID: 330592710
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 13:58

According to my calcs, yr, you have only 101 walks + hits.

That produces a WHIP of 1.396.

Here's my breakdown:
Johnson 16
Zito 19
Clement 19
Shields 8
Marte 6
Riske 3
Ohka 16
Floyd 3
Tsao 1
Schilling 10

(I did it by hand, so I may have erred somewhere.)

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 14:20

you are right Guru - I calculated the walks and hits yesterday for the early games and this morning for the late games and it seems that I added Tsao's hit twice.

now I have time to complain that my hitting sucks, my pitching sucks, nearly my whole team sucks. it can only get better. only my win-category is where it should be and surprisingly I am better than I thought in SB. Thanks to the league leader that gets 38 next week, that I drafted in round 22. who would have thought that Vizquel gets finally the green light. Should I say: Thanks Barry?

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 14, 2005, 19:40

Alex Sanchez not only displaces Gathright, but is inserted into the #3 spot in the batting order?!?!?

Not that I'm complaining, but I don't think Pineilla got the memo that he's never slugged .400 in his life!

WEIRD!

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Apr 15, 2005, 20:10

There is a VMART sighting! Usually it's the pitchers that start slow, but I have a few hitters that haven't done squat. Once all of my hitters do what they are supposed to do, I'm going to be tough to catch up in the hitting stats. Unfortunately. my pitchers are going to weigh me down so much it may not matter. Things will turn around there too.

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Sat, Apr 16, 2005, 12:51

I'd like to see Mr Mia Hamm pick it up a bit-- speaking of underperformers. Nomar has easily been my worst player, and likley going to the bench today.

Matt S
ID: 30353190
Tue, Apr 19, 2005, 03:02

Noooooo!!!! How can a player who lifetime hasn't hit over .200 against a pitcher in 30+ at bats put up 3R 3RBI HR 2B BB out of nowhere. I benched Darrin Erstad today thinking his poor trend against Moyer would continue. My matchup playing so far this year has really backfired.

On the bright side. Erstad has turned out to be a nice little FA pickup. Thanks rfs! ;-)

Matt S

Matt S
ID: 30353190
Tue, Apr 19, 2005, 03:08

vs. Sele that is. However, he has an equally bad record vs. Moyer who he faces tomorrow. NOW I'm faced with a bigger dilemma. Grrrr...

holt
ID: 543292018
Wed, Apr 20, 2005, 20:40

finally my team is starting to heat up. picked up 14 points yesterday, and in the early innings of tonight's games my hitters are 5 for 7 with a hr and 3 walks. 8 for 12 with a double and 2 dingers if you include my bench. hopefully this means the clouds are parting! I've had too many days with a roster full of 0 for 4's.

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Thu, Apr 21, 2005, 10:45

I think my team just had "an addition by subtraction" kinda night.... Mr Mia Hamm.

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Apr 21, 2005, 12:38

The thing I am most surprised at are the top hitters on my team that are struggling. My pitchers are not getting the wins even when the pitch well and a couple have blown up my era and whip in a couple outings--esp closers.

I still feel good about the makeup of my hitters. My pitchers need to be tweaked a smidge, but I knew that going in. Not doing too poorly in saves considering I skipped the closer run altogether. Just am not getting the hitter bounce from those guys I took instead as of yet.

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Thu, Apr 21, 2005, 13:27

Does the person who finishes last in RIBC get the 1st pick in AAA the following year? Gawd I hope so! Ughhhhhhhh.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Thu, Apr 21, 2005, 15:46

Species - I'll try compete with you for that 1st pick in AAA next year. exact a year ago in AAA I had my lowest points total with 69 and managed to raise that by 40 points within a month. I hope I can repeat that, but I doubt that will happen this year.

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Thu, Apr 21, 2005, 15:47

Well, my 8+9 round picks aren't doing all that bad. Colon and Buehrle combined:

59.2IP, 2.61 ERA, 43K, 0.92 WHIP, 6 Wins

I'll take it. :-)

Gagne should be back in a few weeks, and my team full of leadoff hitters (6 of em) have gotta start stealing some bases. I've gotta be happy with the way things have gone so far. Considering Matsui has bombed, and I don't have a 3B yet, my hitting numbers are pretty good.

Matt S

Toral
ID: 14263120
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 01:12

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! I just went to release Matt LeCroy and pick up Brian Bruney, went to my team to set tomorrow's lineu and found that I had cut Mike Piazza instead.

The fault is mine, I went right through the "Are you sure?" page and must have clicked Yes.

Needless to say, I would like him back. If the decision is that I have to pay for my own mistakes, so be it. I throw myself on the mercy of the league.

Toral

Guru
ID: 330592710
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 10:04

I was just on Yahoo, and noticed the Piazza for Bruney swap. I thought that one seemed odd, so I came here to see if there was an explanation.

I added Piazza back, and dropped LeCroy. Piazza was then insterted into your Saturday lineup as catcher. (The change didn't impact the Friday rosters.)

Toral
ID: 14263120
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 11:04

Thank you very much, Guru.

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 16:33

Hey, has anyone else noticed that the rest of this league is getting it's ass kicked by a couple of Canadians? Come on, pull up yer socks, eh. ;-)

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 17:44

It's way too early to be spewing that garbage just yet, my friend. ;)

Peter N.
ID: 543482012
Fri, Apr 22, 2005, 21:20

Welcome back Justin Morneau!!! :-)

holt
ID: 33311233
Sat, Apr 23, 2005, 14:17

anyone know if yahoo has updated points from yesterday? I was trying to look at my stats for friday but it's still blank. and on the main page it's got "pts change=0" for everyone.

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sat, Apr 23, 2005, 14:22

holt - still no update yet. I hope that will not get a regular delay on weekends.

maybe yahoo wants to convert us buying their stat-tracker addon.

holt
ID: 33311233
Sat, Apr 23, 2005, 14:25

strange. I just looked under stat corrections and that's where all of yesterday's stats are. says they'll be updated on sunday.

Chris
ID: 0317128
Sun, Apr 24, 2005, 12:57

I'm definitely in no man's land with my 1 closer, so I'd be interested in a trade that would bring me another closer. Alternately, if anybody else needs a closer, I'm willing to look at offers FOR Benitez.

100

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Apr 24, 2005, 13:54

I'm getting some of these gurupie names and their team names messed up. Chris, what is your team name again?

101

Guru
ID: 330592710
Sun, Apr 24, 2005, 14:30

Chris = Odalis Perez Express
Species = The big IF

I think the other team names are inherently indentifiable.

102

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Mon, Apr 25, 2005, 11:58

Thanks for the addition of ABs on the standings pages, Guru. Is that new, or did I just not notice it before?

Lucked into Turnbow as the c-loser for MIL (well, we'll see how lucky it is... but in theory...)

103

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Apr 25, 2005, 12:13

Yeah nice job rfs. Now I need closers in both leagues so when I heard Adams could be losing his job soon, I raced to get turnbow but you had beat me to him in BOTH leagues.

I'm known as a slow starter in roto leagues, but this is getting ridiculous in this league. I said to myself, I can't believe I'm hurting in the same areas in both league for the most part, then realized I have a lot of the same players! I never did like to hedge my bets, it's all or nothing. Just hope it doesn't take too long for my players to start coming around.

104

Guru
ID: 330592710
Mon, Apr 25, 2005, 12:15

AB has been on the standings page all season. All last season too.

105

Matt S
ID: 273562510
Mon, Apr 25, 2005, 12:56

Standings page?

106

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Apr 25, 2005, 13:25

Matt -- look for the RIBC link under Guru's blurb page. Guru keeps a public version of the standings that includes some additional info, such as # of AB's.

107

holt
ID: 1935281
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 03:49

just saw that someone in RIBC-AA #2 dropped Morneau, and the guy that got him was #15 on the waiver list.
amazing. if someone dropped morneau in RIBC I'm guessing that 15 (or even 16) of us would put in waiver claims on him.

108

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 09:16

Not necessarily. We normally make so many transactions in one day that he'd be off the first page of transactions before some people even logged on.

109

Bandos
ID: 41348287
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 10:03

holt - how did you see that?

110

Chris
ID: 0317128
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 11:21

I put Benitez on the trading block, and 2 days later he tears his hamstring to shreds out of spite. I better be careful before upsetting my team chemistry again :)

111

Bandos
ID: 167221614
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 12:06

nevermind - i see that it was discussed in a thread.

112

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 14:11

Chris, that's why you don't shuffle your feet. He was on the block in G20 as well, but that manager also hesitated. I've been in the same boat before. Now if I can afford to trade a commodity that someone else wants and what he's offering will help me, I move on it. Of course, I've traded for a guy that gets lost for the season too, so go figure.

113

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 15:15

What was the logical argunent that was made against a DL slot again?

114

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 16:20

Because you wouldn't be having all that fun trying to decide whether to put Nomar on waivers or not. ;-)

115

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 16:29

I'm offering Kevin Brown for a 3B.

116

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 16:44

rfs, deep leagues need wiggle room. Since the rules are so conservative (and got even more conservative this year), the choice is clear. Let your team suffer with one less roster spot, or cut him loose. Is Nomar worth it? Glad I don't have to make that choice!

I still like having another bench spot rather than a DL at the expense of a P or MI/CI, but I think everyone is pretty clear about that position by now. ;) I think it's a good league--not knocking its quality whatsoever. Just hard to juggle things. The draft is everything. That said, managers seem to be a LOT more active on the wire this year. Guru, do you keep track from year to year on add/drops?

I look at my team and scratch my head why I'm so far down, but have been gaining as my players are starting to pick it up. I think I will be fine when all is said and done.

Species, perhaps you should change your team name to the "Big What If" ;)

117

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 17:15

My MI, specifically SS, is a diasaster. Big decision on holding/dropping Nomar for me.

I'd be willing to move Shea Hillenbrand for a mid level SS or either of Turnbow/Herges for a servicable SS. Yes, i know Turnbow/Herges are not high end closers, but they will provide a very had to get stat for at least a few months. I'm not looking for a "Jeter" in return.

If I cannot make a deal, I'll just play musical SS for as long as it takes....

118

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Thu, Apr 28, 2005, 17:37

Good luck finding a SS. I already looked and there aren't any teams hording them. That position just plain sucks this year. Berroa(though he is 2-2 with 2 HBP's today) and Eric Chavez are doing their best to kill my %'s.

119

holt
ID: 1935281
Fri, Apr 29, 2005, 00:09

holy cow. now someone in AA#2 has traded Rolen for Lyons, B.Williams, and Crede. yikes.

120

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 12:50

Well, finally dropped Nomar. It was tough to lose such a high pick at such a rare position. I decided my hitters were holding their own across the board with a reasonable # of ABs so far, but I need them to keep that up. ow, if only COL could keep Gonz/Relaford somehwere in the lineup 2 out of 3 days, I'd be OK.

I'm hoping this stockpile of RPs I have will lower my ERA/WHIP to gain some points and/or provide some trade bait as time progresses (hint, hint)

121

Guru
ID: 330592710
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 12:56

That was probably the right decision for Nomar. Last season, I had a similar dilemma with Preston Wilson, but held him. In hindsight, I should have dumped him. He never rounded into form, and the loss of a productive bench slot was damaging.

122

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 20:33

I sent out several trade offers. Feel free to counter, but I will only have limited access until Monday night as I will be travelling to sunny (ugh!) Detroit so I may be slow to reply.

123

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 20:35

I would have dumped nomar as well.

124

holt
ID: 73443015
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 21:18

rfs. what are you looking for?
I've been looking at rosters to see if I can find any good trade possibilities. it just seems difficult in this league because no one has a lot of depth anywhere.

125

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Sat, Apr 30, 2005, 21:43

holt, I'm looking for a SS. What would be your asking price for J. Valentín -- shoot me an email if interested.

126

Peter N.
ID: 45411323
Wed, May 04, 2005, 02:29

I left two pretty good pitching performances(Westbrook and Capuano) on the bench tonight. Dangit!

127

Matt S
ID: 273562510
Wed, May 04, 2005, 02:39

What came over me to start Kevin Brown tonight?

I need to find my fantasy baseball instincts. They're clearly not working very well right now. ;-)

Matt S

128

holt
ID: 543334
Wed, May 04, 2005, 21:10

just catching up on the games today.
thought I was having a good day. my hitters are doing great - but then I see the oak-tex box score. park gives up 8 hits, 5 walks, and 5 earned in only 3 2/3 ip, and to make it even worse, calero gets shelled for 4 hits, a walk, and 5 earned in only 1/3rd!
that's gonna destroy my era and whip. holy crap!

looks like I'll have to let calero go. I guess something's up with his elbow.

129

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, May 05, 2005, 18:18

If I had to analyze my draft right now from the first month, I'd say my draft flat out stunk. Albeit, so many guys have done zip and I just can't believe it will continue for long. We shall see. By the time they do something, I may be in such a hole, it will be darn near impossible to crawl out.

130

beastiemiked
ID: 262411016
Mon, May 09, 2005, 20:01

I officially hate Eric Chavez. He never gets a hit or scores a run when he's in my lineup but the 1 night I bench him he actually gets on base.

131

Trip
Sustainer
ID: 13961611
Tue, May 10, 2005, 14:25

Holt (128) - From the A's website:

Kiko Calero, post-injury. Discuss.
-- Lonnie G., Oakland, Calif.

That might be the best mailbag submission of the year. Brevity is good, especially when you can make your point as clearly as you do. So I'll try to follow suit.

The team thinks Calero's elbow problem was caused by his sidearm slider, so they don't want him throwing it. Problem: It's his best pitch.

Now I need to find out if Lonnie G is really Blue Hen.

132

holt
ID: 44414106
Tue, May 10, 2005, 14:32

lol.
yeah - I think calero is damaged goods now. I already dropped him.
and thanks to Lonnie BH G for sniffing out the intel.
:D

133

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Tue, May 10, 2005, 16:30

my team is finally moving up, at least in points. it seems that Mike Cameron was the spark plug for that feet. Thanks to him, and I hope he stays healthy.

I also looked at the Yahoo ranking system and decided that I will never look at it again. take these 3 pitchers stats from last week:
(1) 2.1 IP, 1 SV, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
(2) 4.0 IP, 1 SV, 2 K, 4.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
(3) 0.0 IP, DL

how would you rank those 3? for me (1) and (2) should be very similiar and (3) should be last. for yahoo (1) Marte is ranked 998th, (2) Tsao is ranked 138th and (3) Schilling is ranked 844th. can someone explain this to me?

134

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Tue, May 10, 2005, 16:50

That is weird. I've got no idea. I do use the rankings sometimes to look at the wire, but hadn't ever noticed anything as off as that.

135

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Tue, May 10, 2005, 22:30

Wow. I think I've really gotten lucky with catchers (bang for the buck anyway).

I drafted Molina in the 25th round he turned out to be servicable. When he got hurt, I went to Zaun who got hot, when he got hurt, I picked up Toby hall who homered tonight. Considering 2 FAs and a last round draft pick, I'll bet I have "above average" #s from that slot.

Wait, my guys keep getting hurt-- maybe I'm not lucky.

I know Guru has the stats downoaded into his site, but I wonder if anyone else is interested in seeing what kind of production that have from a particular slot... IE maybe you went strong and hard at SS & MIs... did it pay off? If someone banked heavily of RPs, is there ERA/WHIP/S where they expected? We all had a startegy... I'm happy with my game plan this early in the season. I notice I have less ABs that I'd have thought, yet my SLG is a bit low. And... I hate Short Stops!

136

Toral
ID: 53422511
Tue, May 10, 2005, 22:42

I'm not talking, so I don't jinx myself...but Hall was a great pickup. He wouldn't have been sitting out there long.

Toral

137

Ref
ID: 51445421
Wed, May 11, 2005, 00:56

Well, I've been using my 2nd catcher as my Util and has paid off well. Of course my 3rd rounder in VMart has been a total flop.

138

Matt S
ID: 273562510
Wed, May 11, 2005, 03:24

I've got Pettite or Redman available to anyone who can spare a servicable outfielder.

139

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, May 11, 2005, 09:37

My "Bench" can now officially be renamed my "Disabled List."

Geez, it's rough trying to manage when you have no active players to move in and out of your lineup. Then again, maybe it'll keep me from shooting myself in the foot with a dumb move. ;)

140

holt
ID: 25428113
Wed, May 11, 2005, 18:01

thanks a lot womack! 2 sb for me in over 100 AB, then I dump him and within a week he swipes 4 in one game. roast in hades tony!

141

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, May 11, 2005, 18:08

I may be on the road to the poorest showing ever in my fantasy games life.

Late breaking news: I SUCK!!!!

142

Athletics Guy
ID: 303382413
Wed, May 11, 2005, 18:10

Foulke doing his best to sabotage my team! It's like he turned into Billy Koch!

143

Athletics Guy
ID: 303382413
Wed, May 11, 2005, 18:11

Species, at least your team can't drop any lower. It only gets better from here on out. :)

144

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Wed, May 11, 2005, 18:15

my 2 "closers" destroyed my ERA and WHIP today too. Thanks to Chihuahua and Asterix.

145

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, May 11, 2005, 19:19

LOL AG.

Actually I think my low in points is 25! Pathetic!

146

Matt S
ID: 273562510
Wed, May 11, 2005, 19:57

Well, while we're bitching about closers. Not that I needed it with my lofty 6 saves thus far, Octavio Dotel has blown 2 chances in 2 days for me. By the time Gagne gets back, it may be too late for me in that category.

You'd think taking two of the top five closers in the game would be a safe bet.

Matt S

147

Ref
ID: 51445421
Wed, May 11, 2005, 21:34

at least you have closers. my one current closer is wickman. don't really care. I don't have the time to rush to the computer and it's nearly impossible to trade for one. I'll see if my hitters can come around and even if percival comes back and assumes his role, will he do better than the two saves he's gotten all year?

148

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Fri, May 13, 2005, 19:48

I have Shea Hilly in every leage this year. he's still hotting .370+ with 1B/3B eligibility.

I am 1B/3B heavy in all my leagues and have shpped Hilly as what i thought was decent trade bait (tried to trade him for a SS in this league).

I haven't sat him out of my lineup a single day yet, but is evryone just thinking is over-valued? in RIBC he leads ny team in Rs, OBP and 2nd in SLG (To Vlad).

Why can't I give this guy away (for fair value)?

149

biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Fri, May 13, 2005, 20:01

Pardon my butting in.

I guess it depends on what you consider fair value. Are you talking about his torrid start, where he's hitting almost 200 pts above career OPS, or fair value for what he will likely decline to as the season wears on?

He's actually sitting as a FA in one my leagues. People just don't believe he's any good.

150

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Fri, May 13, 2005, 20:07

bili-- I think I have tried to shop him at somewhere between what he is doing now (too high) and his career stats (too low). I was hoping to get middle ground in trade for him.

Let me put you on the spot, if I may, we are in a league together where your offense is struggling relatively speaking [so far]. IF you were to offer me a trade, who on your team would you offer? :)

151

biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Fri, May 13, 2005, 20:21

In the poli league at this point in time, it's much too early to give up, so I would need a solid A-level pitcher.

I would be willing to bet my offense won't continue to struggle like it has, so I would trade bats for arms.

Unfortunately, because they are all struggling to start the season (the reason why my offense isn't doing so hot - yet), I likely wouldn't recieve fair value (career avg value) for any of my bats except for Vlad and Tejada. For one of those guys, I would need Johan Santana. You got Johan Santana? ;)

I've made a few fair offers using the struggling guys for other struggling guys, to no avail.

152

biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Fri, May 13, 2005, 20:25

Dang. You sure do have a lot of 1st basemen.

153

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, May 13, 2005, 23:56

It all goes back to being hard to trade because lack of depth. Also good MIs are hard to come by.

154

holt
ID: 36451156
Sun, May 15, 2005, 19:19

dear tony womack,

burn. burn. burn.

sincerely, holt

155

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Mon, May 16, 2005, 08:56

During my draft, I kept wondering if I was taking too many guys with 1B eligibility. In the end, I had Bagwell, Green, and C. Wilson all with 1B eligibility. Well, now that C. Wilson is on the DL and Bagwell is set to have surgery that will have him out until September (at the earliest), I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad to have Green's 1B eligibility.

And grabbing Teahen has certainly helped fill in the CI void.

rfs, I might need your number soon if my 1B keep dropping like flies. ;)

156

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, May 16, 2005, 21:21

Speaking of burn, burn, burn...can VMart play any worse?!?! Thank goodness I also drafted Phillips.

157

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Fri, May 20, 2005, 20:09

I funny thing happened to me on my quest for a SS.

Not only did I shop Hilly around, I tried to shop Freel. I got rejections based on Freel not being a regular [and a fair assessment]. Well, according to Rotowire:

Ryan Freel (OF) CIN 5/20/2005
With D'Angelo Jimenez designated for assignment, Freel now becomes the Reds' starting second basemen. Freel had been playing at a number of different positions, but hopefully this gives him a little stability.

Sometimes the best trades are the ones you never make. With his speed and 3-position flexibility, I think my team got a little bit better. Oddly, however, Bergolla started at 2B for Cincy tonight. Huh?

I'm not sure my MR / closer-wannabe strategy is getting me anywhere. Welcome back Tommy Glvie. Please pitch we WHILE I start you. Kolb anyone?

158

holt
ID: 584142120
Sat, May 21, 2005, 21:21

that's the thing about freel. even with pena, jimenez, and aurilia out of the picture you still don't know if he'll be in the line-up or not. he didn't start last night or tonight.

159

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Sat, May 21, 2005, 22:08

Watch out everyone! I'm nearing the mid-30's and climbing! ;-)

160

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Sun, May 22, 2005, 14:10

Inuries!

My top 3 picks spending DL time. Vlad. Prior. Nomar (had to drop). Now my best SP [to date] in Hampton. Add to that nagging injuries for guys have to no choice except to bench (GA, Freel, Guillen, Loretta). Why didn't we have a DL slot again? (yes, this is a rhetorical quation). Anyway, I doubt I will be able to use all my hitter GPs this year... disadvanatge in the accumulation categories.

The real reason for this post.... I'll be on the road Sun-Tues, likely very little access if anyone wants to trade me the 'deal-of-the-century'

Viva Las Vegas!

161

holt
ID: 584142120
Sun, May 22, 2005, 15:16

News
Reds second baseman Ryan Freel did not start in Sunday's game against the Indians. He has not played since May 18 due to tightness in his lower back. William Bergolla is starting in his place.

162

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Mon, May 23, 2005, 07:46

I've been mad at myself for about a month that I dropped Street...now I'm really paying. Same thing as last year--too impatient with some guys, not patient enough with others.

163

holt
ID: 584512317
Mon, May 23, 2005, 19:15

hey darkside - any chance you'd be willing to deal zambrano? look at my roster and let me know if you see anything. I doubt that you'd deal pujols but obviously I'd be interested in that. me and everyone else in the league.

actually - there's several teams in the league I wouldn't mind opening up trade talks with. seems difficult to get anything done though.

doesn't have to be a blockbuster trade. I'm willing to deal for some low end players as well.

164

holt
ID: 584512317
Mon, May 23, 2005, 19:53

KKB - any chance you'd be interested in dealing furcal?

165

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Mon, May 23, 2005, 20:02

Depends on what for. Send me a deal and I'll consider it.

166

holt
ID: 584512317
Mon, May 23, 2005, 20:29

k - I'll see if I can come up with something.
easier said than done. maybe tomorrow before I get a chance to take a good look at it.

167

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Tue, May 24, 2005, 02:44

My recent surge back to the top quarter will not last very long, so I better enjoy it while it lasts. Vidro, Wilkerson and Crisp all out for quite a while it looks like. Add to that the frustrating loss of Dotel. Injuries to Sweeney, Pudge, Matos, my two SS getting injured in ONE GAME (albeit not for long). Things are not looking up for my hitting numbers.

I'm also willing to look at any trade offers. Gagne and Dotel are on the table.

Matt S

168

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Tue, May 24, 2005, 10:29

holt - it's doubtful right now. With the rest of my pitching staff performing so poorly, I'm reluctant to give up my one good pitcher until some of the others come around as I feel like it'd put me out of contention for W and SO and definitely hurt my chance of improving my ERA and WHIP.

smartone and I tried to trade about a dozen times last year and we could never come to an agreement. This is a very hard league to trade in.

169

holt
ID: 13414243
Tue, May 24, 2005, 16:28

darkside - no prob. I was thinking one of my starters and a hitter for him but I understand. he's one of the top starters right now.

170

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Tue, May 24, 2005, 17:14

so long as Baker keeps him off the computer.

how absurd is that? they've now suggested it's tennis elbow and/or a possible 'computer related' injury and ignored things like a pitch count of 136. brilliant. how can the cubs GM keep baker around all these young studs knowing he's going to ruin them????

171

holt
ID: 13414243
Tue, May 24, 2005, 17:37

yeah - I figured you might not wanna gamble on a guy with a bad typing habit. the risk is yours!
:D

172

biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Tue, May 24, 2005, 17:40

Chatting with his brother. Yeah, right.

Get the dude a girlfriend. ;)

173

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Tue, May 24, 2005, 18:16

lol biliruben.

Is Baker just dense or is he too old school? I agree that pitchers these days, for some reason, aren't like the horses of yesteryear when 110 pitch outings were more the norm vs. now when that is a point of contention. I just don't understand how the Cubs and Baker can't learn from the tattered shoulders and elbows in their wake?!?

174

holt
ID: 13414243
Tue, May 24, 2005, 19:32

yeah - I've been meaning to start a "how long til dusty is canned" pool for some time now.

maybe those old-school pitchers knew how to pace themselves a little better. if you know ahead of time that you'll be pitching 8-9 innings you probably know to ease up on the elbow and shoulder a bit. maybe.

175

Toral
ID: 53422511
Wed, May 25, 2005, 06:32

I'm starting to drift downward, being punished for my misbegotten fancy for Jeff Weaver. Now that I'm out of first it's safe to talk without jinxing myself.

Closers are weird. After all the agony I went through during and after the draft, missing the run and coming out of it with only Looper as a reigning closer, I never thought I'd be in first in that category!

In my draft I kida looked at runs and rbi as a proxy for obp and slg a bit, and that's showing itself in the standings.

Taveras is killing my OBP but I need those steals.

Toral

176

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, May 25, 2005, 08:51

maybe those old-school pitchers knew how to pace themselves a little better.

Evidence: Roger Clemens

I was listening to a game a few days ago where they talked about Clemens coming to the realization some years ago that he didn't have to throw every pitch to every batter. They said that he now is more selective about what pitches he throws so that he can still have new pitches for batters later in the game. Seems to be working and it would seem to contradict what most young pitchers do ("I have to use everything to get this guy out").

As far as the Cubs go, I think the problem is bigger than Dusty. They had arm (and pitch count) problems with their young pitchers before Dusty got there. At least as far as I recall.

177

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, May 25, 2005, 11:45

..........and Larry Rothschild was a moron with pitch counts, too

178

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, May 25, 2005, 12:15

All this talk about this league being so hard to trade in...there were several options presented in the preseason that would have helped with this problem but they were all soundly defeated. To make matters worse, a hitter game limit was established. So unless you were one of the few who votes to change this, I don't want to hear it! ;)

I still have faith in who I drafted, albeit, several of them have lost their luster. We all know about VMart, but taking Patterson over Kent has smarted thus far. Losing two closers really messed with me.

The hardest part about this league is being able to actively manage your team. If you find yourself needing help in a particular area, there just isn't much room to do that. Trading is all but impossible and injuries can simply destroy you. Still, through all of that, we are able to find players that make an impact from time to time. I love the strategy of these roto leagues. Just have holes to fill that I can't do much with. Gotta have to hope my current guys not only get back to the level they were expected to be at but go way beyond that. A hope that looks pretty bleak.

179

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Wed, May 25, 2005, 14:49

Thank goodness I picked up Bengie Molina a few weeks ago in case Javy Lopez gets a day off. looks like Javy gets 6 weeks off. I just looked at the available catchers and they are all horrible. good call.

that said, I am still waiting for my first day this season where I have a full roster of active players. who's next? RJ? Edmonds?

finding trades is really hard, because you can't afford to get too thin at a position and with my bunch over underperformers I can only get greater stinkers in return. you can prove me that I'm wrong, but I doubt that.

Ref - now that all the rule problems are in your mind, lets point out some possible solutions to talk about:
(1) add 1 or 2 DL-slots
(2) remove the GP-limit. would that really change something? looking at current +/- in yahoo nobody has a real problem with that because we all are far behind in almost every position

180

Toral
ID: 53422511
Wed, May 25, 2005, 15:02

How do y'all know that it's so hard to make trades? Nobody's made me an offer!

Although my last year's experience was in RIBC-AAA. It was very diificult to make trades there too, because no-one there gave up something for nothing. The other, lesser, AAA leagues seemed to be trading just for the Hell of it every day.

Toral

181

blue hen
ID: 34342811
Wed, May 25, 2005, 15:20

I hate DL slots. I'd rather see an extra bench slot if you're really that annoyed. All DL slots do is allow some people to find loopholes.

182

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Wed, May 25, 2005, 15:24

If everyone gets an extra bench slot (14 more player on rosters).

A DL slot only provised for a replacement player once someone is on the MLB DL officially. The way you eliminiate the loophole is require owers to activate "DL" players with x days (2?) of MLB doing so.

What's the downside?

183

blue hen
ID: 34342811
Wed, May 25, 2005, 15:44

That's complicated.

And what if someone doesn't activate their DL player within X days? Beat them with a cat o' nine tails?

184

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Wed, May 25, 2005, 16:02

an additional bench-slot would benefit the players with no injured players even more, because they have one additional slot to gamble with. this gambling helped me a lot last year to qualify for this league. I would take both options (DL or bench) any time. at the moment I have a list of 4 possible hitters that would be worth a gamble with an additional slot.

on the trade-thing, for me a trade offer needs a few things:
(a) a player that performs as expected or better (this eliminats 2/3 of my team)
(b) a particular need in some areas like position or stat category (for me too many weak positions and categories at the moment)
(c) a 2nd manager that also matches (a) and has a need at a different area in (b) that I can supply

at the moment I am looking for an upgrade at 1B or SS, but have nothing special to give. reason enough to not offer a trade at the moment.

185

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, May 25, 2005, 16:10

Precisely. If we could have eliminated say a pitcher spot or two or the MI and CI spot and added a couple bench spots, we wouldn't have had to add any more players and managers would be flexible to do things other than basically put your guys in the lineup and leave them there.

Like I said last year and in preseason, this league is filled with so many talented managers, it would have been nice to see what we could have done without being so handcuffed, but like I also said, we all have the same rules to play under. It's just frustrating for the guys at the bottom when it is absolutely futile to try and do much as there is really no hope. The only reason I have any hope whatsover is because I feel I have some studlike players who are vastly underachieving. Otherwise, I'd be done too just 1/4 of the way into the season.

186

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Wed, May 25, 2005, 16:10

Easiest way to increase trade activity would be to eliminate the MI and CI spots. This in turn would give managers 2 extra bench slots to work with and would help replenish the thinnest positions on the wire(2nd and SS).

187

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, May 25, 2005, 16:16

I asked for that but was bitchslapped! ;) bmd, you must have been one of the few to vote with me.

188

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, May 25, 2005, 16:29

blue hen #183 - we don't call them cat o'nines these days. It's called a flogger. Get it right.

189

Toral
ID: 53422511
Wed, May 25, 2005, 17:15

MI position is essential to this league, IMO. It makes it tougher. It's a real challenge, and brain-buster, to figure out what to do with the MI position in the draft, and afterwards.

Toral

190

blue hen
ID: 34342811
Wed, May 25, 2005, 17:37

Actually, I like the MI position. I was real torn between Jeff Kent and Justin Morneau at the AAA draft. But I remembered last year, with a lot of Alex Gonzalez in my lineup, and opted for Kent.

191

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Wed, May 25, 2005, 18:37

I agree with Toral. It does make it a lot tougher and places a very high value on a good draft.

Sure, if you have a bad draft you may have no hope at all, but it's still fun. I spend a lot of time trying to improve my team and I don't think I have much hope of winning. My only goal right now is to stay out of the cellar and I think I may have a tough time doing that!

There are plenty of other leagues with more flexibility...this is what sets this one apart, IMO.

192

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Wed, May 25, 2005, 18:45

I had MI and SS addressed fairly nicely in the draft, then Nomar is done and now Loretta is out for most of the year. So much for drafting.

193

holt
ID: 154282518
Wed, May 25, 2005, 19:47

I think the trade difficulty is a little exaggerated. there just isn't much effort put into it. lack of depth is an issue, but to me what makes it hard is that we all tend to over-value our own players a bit. also, there's not much room for error in this league so we are cautious when it comes to shipping off players. but anyway, trading is not exactly common in real baseball either - especially blockbuster trades. I don't personally feel it's a big enough issue to warrant rule changes.

I like the CI and MI positions. this is by far the most fun of all the roto leagues I'm in and I wouldn't want to change any of the rules in a significant way.
I don't really don't find any fun in leagues where you can find great players available as free agents because every roster is loaded.

194

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Wed, May 25, 2005, 20:06

Ouch! Peter N with Joe Blanton in the line up tonight! Ouch.

195

holt
ID: 154282518
Wed, May 25, 2005, 20:26

yeah - when I saw that boxscore i immediately went to see if someone had him starting in this league.

7 earned in 1/3rd. holy crap. the A's are imploding. 12-0 after two. whaaaaa.

196

Peter N.
ID: 51428252
Wed, May 25, 2005, 20:58

Yeah, reminded me of Vazquez's 1st start of the year...only this Blanton start was even worse than that!!!....ugh

197

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, May 25, 2005, 21:17

First Clemens, now Millwood. Both get very little run support and now they both get a groin injury. Great. Just great.

198

holt
ID: 154282518
Wed, May 25, 2005, 22:30

thankfully I left washburn benched. I looked up his splits and he totally sucks at home. sure enough, 3-run shot to konerko in the 1st. time to go check free agents again.

199

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, May 26, 2005, 02:50

there were other alternatives that would have included keeping a mi/ci. it doesn't matter anyway now. i really thought we'd vote to change the rule after last year, but i was wrong. still surprised i'm so low right now but i can still finish top half, but, barring a miracle, i'm already eliminated from contention to win it.

200

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Thu, May 26, 2005, 09:43

Speaking of MI, anybody interested in Cano? If so, let me know. I'm looking for some R and/or OBP in exchange.

201

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Thu, May 26, 2005, 09:53

What really aggravates me is when you have 4 middle infielders that all suck yet when one of them breaks out he's sitting on the bench.

202

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, May 26, 2005, 12:22

KKB, obp? what's that? ;) I haven't had any of that all year!

203

Chris
ID: 114153
Thu, May 26, 2005, 12:28

If we could have eliminated say a pitcher spot or two or the MI and CI spot and added a couple bench spots, we wouldn't have had to add any more players and managers would be flexible to do things other than basically put your guys in the lineup and leave them there.

I don't understand that assertion, mainly because the average team in our league has made 20 roster moves. I also can't speak for anybody else, but I change my lineup around daily based on matchups. Choi, Roberts and Sizemore sit against lefties, Holliday sits on the road. Get to choose between Antonio Perez and Jerry Hairston based on who has an easier opponent.

As for trading, I personally don't think it would be hard for me to trade a pitcher for a hitter, but right now I'm waiting to see where my biggest weakness is(sure seems like OF...thanks Jason Lane). My lack of offers is mainly because I'm in evaluation mode right now.

I wouldn't give up hope. There are still useful players going into the FA pool almost daily. The key is in grabbing the ones that will help you. Around this time last year, I think I was in 11th or so, and the only thing between me and a championship was a great week from Jose Reyes.

204

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, May 26, 2005, 17:19

Chris, it's easier said than done. You don't understand the assertion because you are still in observation mode.

I've had three offers this year and I commented and explained why that wouldn't work for me and countered all of them. Every counter I made was finally rejected and without comment. Even in a league that was condusive to trades, it wouldn't be easy to trade when the person won't explain why that wouldn't work--esp. when they made the first deal prompting me to research both teams lineups and cat. standings to even be able to make a counter.

And you can trade a pitcher for a hitter? Well good luck unless he's studly because with so many pitchers and a low IP limit, most aren't in need of a pitcher that will put them over the limit if they have to give up any sort of hitter with value.

Anyhow, we should move on as you cna't do anything about the current setup this year. I thought after last year that most would be in agreement with some of the suggestions to have more flexibility. Boy was I wrong. Unfortunately, the players aren't playing as planned and there is very little that can be done unless you find a diamond in the rough. We all are trying as can be seen on the FA wire, but we are all just fishing and hoping to catch the big 124 lb catfish so ESPN will show it over and over again! ;)

205

Matt S
ID: 13450122
Fri, May 27, 2005, 00:35

I don't know what all you guys are whining about. I've picked up 3 quality middle infielders in the last 3 weeks. Maybe if you didn't give up on them so quick, you wouldn't be having problems. ;-)

Seriously though, Mueller, Mackowiak and Hall have been hitting the hell out of the ball for me since Vidro went down, and even better in the last week since I lost Matsui. They are keeping me respectable.

Frustrated mad about my closer situation

Matt S

206

Chris
ID: 114153
Fri, May 27, 2005, 13:13

What I don't understand is the assertion that we just basically plug our players into the lineup and leave them there. The examples I illustrated definitely show that it's not the case.

As has been said before, trading is hard in any league, because we all over-value our players. If you don't think so, try trading me for Bedard(whose injury leaves me with Haren as my only SP that I've drafted to avoid injury so far this year) ;)

As for nobody trading for a starter because it would push them further over the IP limit, I notice that 10 of the 16 teams are projected under the IP limit, and picking up an extra pitcher will allow even a manager that's over the IP limit to be more selective about the starts they choose(thus raising the rate stats, including wins and k's).

The point about the FA wire is you don't HAVE to find a diamond in the rough, you just need a few players that perform better than average. Small upgrades at multiple positions make a BIG difference in the long run. Already I've picked up Choi(who you dropped) who has an 860 OPS and Antonio Perez(who you also dropped) who had an 890 OPS in AAA last year and has big league experience. Maybe neither of them represents much of an upgrade over a replacement player, and maybe Huston Street and Rudy Seanez aren't huge upgrades either, but all 4 were FA pickups, and I haven't even been one of the more active managers in that regard.

I think it's more than luck, some players have better track records than others. The difference between picking up a 750 OPS MI and a 700 OPS MI on the FA wire can make a difference in the standings. They aren't all a crapshoot.

There are certainly managers who have had a much bigger impact from FA's than even I have, with Toral pretty much heading that list. I doubt you'll hear him argue that we are completely handcuffed by our draft.

Some players work out and some don't, but it's not all luck(though a lot of baseball can be), and the heads up manager can definitely improve his team as the season goes on, even without a single trade.

Just my 2 cents.

207

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, May 28, 2005, 00:52

Chris, it's pretty hard to hold onto underperforming or unproven players when you need help in other positions/cats. You gotta work the FA pool or continue the status quo and hope something changes.

208

rockafellerskank
ID: 180352016
Sat, May 28, 2005, 11:25

It sounds like I am using this thread to vent, but really I'm not. It's frustrating to face so many key injuries. I really thought I'd be a contender, but now I just hope to hang on to an invitation next year.

Prior (1-2 months, maybe more + start of season on DL)
Nomar (DL so long I dropped him)
Loretta (ditto)
Vlad (15-DL so far)
Hampton (15-DL so far)
And I'm not evenering mentioning that 2 of my c-losers lost their jobs.

Bad luck, or poor drafting on my part? Probably some of both.

Anyone want to take a risk on Prior. Make me an offer (no, I don't want to hold him thru the DL and trade him in late July) I realize his value is hard to peg right now, but shoot me any ideas you may have.

209

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, May 28, 2005, 12:27

rfs, your posts make me feel wonderful since I'm like 6 places behind you! ;) You've had horrible luck but still not doing that bad. Nice job in the face of all this adversity.

210

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sun, May 29, 2005, 07:41

I am finally moving up because nearly my whole team went nuts the last 3 days. I got wins, I got Ks, I got the homers to help my hitting stats.

If only Randy could pitch like the Unit he was the last years and Curt can get off the DL to lower his ERA of 8.15 and WHIP of 1.81.
It hurts seeing your top 2 picks pitching that bad, if they pitch.

211

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Tue, May 31, 2005, 20:09

... bit of a flyer tonight on Nomo. He's going for his 200th professional W against an OAK team he beat last week. I may end up regrettin this call.

212

holt
ID: 104583117
Tue, May 31, 2005, 20:12

oof - I'd be afraid. very afraid.

213

Toral
ID: 53422511
Tue, May 31, 2005, 22:40

C-losers Available

Grab one or two of these c-losers for an outfield bat:

Dempster
Hermanson
Looper
Walker + Hawkins for handcuff

Toral

214

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Wed, Jun 01, 2005, 00:14

The A's are so bad that wasn't a bad flyer, IMO. The A's are almost like the 2003 Tigers in terms of an 'Anti-A's' strategy right now.

Didn't work out tonight, but I'm sure the numbers bear it out as Oakland being amongst the worst in the league.

215

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, Jun 01, 2005, 00:51

Stop the Presses!! There is a VMART sighting yet again!!!

216

holt
ID: 104583117
Wed, Jun 01, 2005, 03:52

I was just thinking that Nomo against anyone sounds scary. I'm not even sure how he'd do in AAA now.

217

Toral
ID: 53422511
Wed, Jun 01, 2005, 05:23

About my trade inquiry above:

1) I said an outfield bat, but thinking it over I'll consider any offensive player at any position.

2) Strength in OBP and runs preferred, but I'll consider any productive player.

Thanx for the offers so far. I wait until later tonight to get back to people making offers to give everyone a chance.

Toral

218

Guru
ID: 3143299
Thu, Jun 02, 2005, 11:53

We have our first trade of the year, with Toral offering Hermanson and Looper in return for Crawford (from Species).

Just to confirm our league's trade process, every manager has 24 hours to protest the trade. If there are less than 4 protests within 24 hours, then I will approve and process the trade ASAP thereafter.

If there are 4 or more protests, then all managers will vote over the next 24 hours, and 8 votes will be required to overturn the trade.

All protests should be sent to me via email, or else posted here. Since the trade was announced shortly before 11pm ET last night, I'll process it sometime after 11pm tonight (assuming a lack of sufficient protests). I would expect the players to be listed on their new teams for Friday's games.

219

Chris
ID: 114153
Sat, Jun 04, 2005, 05:34

With Huston Street's emergence as a full-time closer, I'm again in Closer Limbo. I am looking either to deal Huston, or to acquire a 2nd closer to complement him.

Feel free to send an offer.

220

holt
ID: 31557518
Sun, Jun 05, 2005, 22:56

hope my hitters can keep this up a while longer.
19 hits with 3 HR's yesterday.
today - 20 for 41, 7 walks, 4 2b's, a triple, and 3 HR. 15 runs scored today. floyd may still have one ab left. maybe another dinger!

I swear - some days you feel lucky just to get 7 or 8 hits and maybe a double or two, then some days the whole team is on fire.
keep it up boys! lot of ground to make up!

221

holt
ID: 31557518
Sun, Jun 05, 2005, 23:02

HE DID IT! HOMERUN FLOYD! hahahhaha - woo-hoo!

222

Athletics Guy
ID: 11558516
Sun, Jun 05, 2005, 23:03

And another HR from Floyd!

223

Toral
ID: 53422511
Sun, Jun 05, 2005, 23:10

12 runs today...and I fall behind in the category. What's the use :(

Toral

224

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Jun 06, 2005, 12:35

Wooo hooooo! I'm over 40 points now!

There is still flexibility on the waiver wire. If I continue to get performances like I have from these waiver wire pickups I might have a chance of slipping out of last and keeping a spot in AAA:

(stats for the past month - not necessarily the stats ON my team:)
Pos Pitchers Edit Opp Status IP W SV K ERA WHIP
SP K. Rogers (Tex - SP) SPPBench @Phi 4:05 pm 45.0 6 0 17 1.20 1.02
P B. Fuentes (Col - RP) RPPBench CWS 6:05 pm 14.2 1 5 15 1.84 1.02
P V. Santos (Mil - SP) SPPBench NYY 5:05 pm 35.1 1 0 29 2.55 1.39
P K. Wells (Pit - SP) SPPBench Bal 4:05 pm 38.2 2 0 31 2.33 1.24
P B. Tomko (SF - SP) SPPBench KC 7:15 pm 40.2 3 0 29 2.88 1.16

Now that I've posted this it'll probably jinx it, but hope springs eternal!

225

holt
ID: 16550715
Tue, Jun 07, 2005, 16:51

Jun. 5 Edgar Renteria (SS) Bos was given a routine day off on Saturday, according to the Boston Globe. "He's OK," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He looked a little, I don't want to say ragged [Friday] night. He looked like he needed to be able to come to the ballpark and get a blow."

Get a blow??? Does their trainer get paid extra for that?

226

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Tue, Jun 07, 2005, 20:57

Not sure about the trainer, but i think they drug test for that stuff!

227

holt
ID: 54531719
Wed, Jun 08, 2005, 02:56

lol, well that's not the kind of blow I was thinking of.
I'm still wondering what Francona thinks the term "get a blow" means.

anyway, I was gutless again and left contreras on the bench at colorado. I also had morris benched for his cg 1 run victory last night. both made sense, but still, it's painful.

228

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Thu, Jun 09, 2005, 12:18

I made a decent jump up in the standings last night, despite leaving 7 hits and 7 RBI on the bench. Mackowiak hasn't started against a lefty all year (that I know of). I bench him, and he comes out blazing. Grrr...

229

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Thu, Jun 09, 2005, 13:42

Same thing w/ me last night...I left David Wells on the bench agains the formidable StL. lineup and he throws 8 shutout innings with only 4 hits. Very frustrating!

230

Matt S
ID: 55381912
Thu, Jun 09, 2005, 17:37

I thought I made a great spot start this afternoon. Noah Lowry started off going 5 innings, allowing 5 baserunners, no runs and striking out 7. Then after throwing over 90 pitches, they don't pinch hit for him, and he proceeds to load the bases in the 6th, before handing things over to the formidable Scott Munter. Munter allows a baserunner, throws a wild pitch, then gives up a double to take Lowry out of line for the win and charge him with 3 runs to boot.

I'll be the first to join the "I hate Scott Munter Club".

Matt S

231

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Thu, Jun 09, 2005, 17:46

Lowry always made me think, 'if only this wouldn't have happened', or 'if only he got some run support'. But, he just wasn't catching any breaks. Maybe he used up all his good karma going 6-0 last year.

232

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Jun 12, 2005, 15:00

Oh sure holt. I'm hyping up Doumit in the today's games thread and started to think, 'you know what, I'm following him and have him in G20 where he isn't even eligible at anything other than DH yet, but in RIBC, he's automatically available at C...I have two catchers already, but he can still play Util..I better go get him.'

So I go back to the site and see that he's gone. Just a little while before when I got another player Doumit was still there (didn't think I needed 3 catchers!) So I look and Holt nabbed him less than 5 mins earlier. He must have read my post!!! ;) While he may not play everyday, he destroyed AAA pitching and got the C start today and his perfect with two doubles thus far.

I've actually gotten a couple decent trade offers in the past two or three days, just very hard to match up needs and positions but I'm hopeful I can make a trade if nothing else for the sake of making one! ;)

233

holt
ID: 57540115
Sun, Jun 12, 2005, 22:17

actually I think I picked up doumit sometime yesterday. I had my eye on him for a few days. didn't want to use waiver priority on him though. mauer gets a lot of days off so I figured I could find some ab's for him.

nice to see thome finally breaking out of his season long slump. at least I hope that's what's happening.
i also got excited when beltre started out with 2 doubles today, but then the bum left with a tight hamstring and will apparently be out at least a few days. I checked the FA's out to find someone to pick up his ab's but there's just hardly anything there. I may be better off just leaving that spot empty.
crosby also sat today. some quad problem. these injuries are scary in this league. hope he's ok and back in the lineup on tuesday.

234

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Jun 13, 2005, 10:50

Yep, like I said you picked him up a few mins before I went to get him on Sat.

235

Matt S
ID: 59521013
Wed, Jun 15, 2005, 15:39

begin rant.

And there goes Gagne...again. Dotel and Gagne. I hate c-losers. I'm punting that category next year. The world is against me. The Angels bullpen has been killing me. Got screwed out of a Washburn win on saturday, screwed out of a Santana win yesterday. Hermanson killed my Buerhle win on saturday too. Did I mention I hate c-losers. I should be leading the W category right now.

end rant.

236

holt
ID: 10559144
Wed, Jun 15, 2005, 16:47

so does that mean you wanna trade gagne? :D

237

holt
ID: 10559144
Wed, Jun 15, 2005, 16:54

nm - looks like he may be headed for TJ surgery.

238

Chris
ID: 465201010
Wed, Jun 15, 2005, 17:02

I feel ya Matt. Not that I have it as bad as you do, but with Benitez' injury, and my inability to get wins despite good pitching performances, plus injuries to Escobar and Bedard...well, those categories can be frustrating.

I'm just hoping that the Jermainiacs slow down some, because I'm not sure I can catch them while punting saves if they keep up the pace. Obviously, the one area I can make up ground in is wins, so I just have to hope some breaks come my way.

Peter N...good pickup of Loretta, I was going to get him as soon as Holliday came off the DL, was hoping he'd stay there :)

239

darkside
Dude
ID: 3590317
Wed, Jun 15, 2005, 17:55

I was going to get Loretta in the next couple of days, so not sure it would have made it to you, Chris. I was very unhappy with myself when I saw Peter N. had already grabbed him.

240

Chris
ID: 465201010
Thu, Jun 16, 2005, 04:19

What a fool I am! Can't believe I sat Lilly against St Louis! Now, you may question my sanity that Lilly is still in my roster on the first place(and you'd be absolutely right), but if he's on my roster, that's just a can't miss start ;)

Honestly though, that's Lilly's 4th win, and I have 1 of them. I can't figure that guy out!

241

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Thu, Jun 16, 2005, 08:46

Looking at his splits, I'd say start him at home. Well, at least until he remembers that he's Ted Lilly. ;)

242

Chris
ID: 465201010
Thu, Jun 16, 2005, 11:22

True, that's never a bad idea, but last year, 7 of his 12 wins came on the road.

I'm getting desperate. Last week, Tony Armas, this week, Sidney Ponson.

After drafting Ponson last year, I thought it would take a complete mental breakdown for me to want to put him on my roster again. Now I'm hoping he can beat the Rockies at home.

243

Peter N.
ID: 53520161
Thu, Jun 16, 2005, 15:32

Thanks for the kudos. Glad I went ahead and made the move. I contemplated on waiting a few more days, but I needed to drop Barmes anyway and Loretta was a nice fit with him expected back after the All-Star break.(better than Barmes' 3 months at least!)

244

holt
ID: 10559144
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 03:17

speaking of barmes, I read that he actually fell down the stairs while carrying deer meat that todd helton had given him. also, for some reason, helton was denying that the accident happened when he, barmes, and another player were riding 4-wheelers. either way it won't affect barmes contract. kinda amusing that he claimed to be carrying groceries though.

245

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 14:06

Guru, something is wacky with the split stats. Apparently, I've lost 78.5 points since June 1st.

246

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 14:16

holt #244 -- it was funny, I read some link a day or so after the "groceries" excuse where it had come out that he was carrying deer meat. There was this big denial that he was hurt riding the ATV's.....and Barmes sort of hung his hat on the fact that deer meat could be considered groceries while saying: (paraphrasing) "It's not as if anyone asked me exactly what kind of groceries I was carrying". Hilarious.

The ghosts of Jeff Kent (saying he fell washing his truck when he was really motorcycling), magnified by the Kellen Winslow Jr. issue are haunting these poor professional athletes and their off-field pursuits!

247

Guru
ID: 330592710
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 14:32

bmd[145] - Evidentlly, ref changed his team name a few days ago. I failed to notice that, and it is throwing things off in my tracking program.

I'll adjust going forward, but splits using 6/14 thru 6/16 will probably be botched forever.

248

beastiemiked
ID: 4310501610
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 14:45

Wow, Ref can manage to screw up a league even when he isn't commissioner ;)

249

Guru
ID: 330592710
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 14:58

I think I have compensated for the name change.

In the future, if anyone changes their team name at the Yahoo site, please let me know so that I can adjust the tracking program as well. The tracking program will revert to the original team name, since that is what is used to match up stats vs. prior dates.

250

holt
ID: 10559144
Fri, Jun 17, 2005, 19:32

doumit doubles in 2, then steals 3rd and home!
and...
he is on my bench.
: (

251

holt
ID: 52556181
Sat, Jun 18, 2005, 18:09

huston street has pitched 1 time in the last 8 days.
so why does duchsherer get sent out for the save?
i have both of them so not a huge deal to me, but it makes me pretty curious.

252

rockafellerskank
Dude
ID: 27652109
Sun, Jun 19, 2005, 11:30

How many automatic invites are their to return to RIBC next year?

253

Guru
ID: 330592710
Sun, Jun 19, 2005, 13:28

The best plan that I saw proposed was along the lines of by JeffG's outline in post 156. This approach assumes that there is sufficient interest next year for two AAA leagues.

The top six RIBC teams (excluding me) would automatically return. The 2006 RIBC would be comprised of 7 returning teams (6 + me), the winners of each of the three AA leagues, and 5-6 teams moving up from AAA.

Each 2006 AAA league would include 4 RIBC teams, 4 returning AAA teams, and 8 teams moving up from AA.

The AA leagues would include the last place RIBC team, plus the AAA teams that were not promoted or retained in the AAA, plus anyone else who wants to join.

There will be some latitude for adjustments, based on the closeness of the standings in each league. For example, if the 6th and 7th team in the RIBC are virtually tied, they might both get invited back. There will also probably be some non-returning teams, so other adjustments will be necessary.

I think it is safe to say that the top 6 RIBC finishers will get invited back (or top 7 if I finish in the top 6), and that the top 5 AAA teams will move up. Teams on the border of those breakpoints will be "on the bubble".

I am still open to alternatives.

254

Matt S
ID: 5658523
Sun, Jun 19, 2005, 22:57

With Vidro coming back sometime soon, I will have a logjam at MI/3B.

Derek Jeter, SS
Jose Vidro, 2B
Bill Mueller, 2B, 3B
Rob Mackowiak, 2B, 3B, OF
Bill Hall 2B, SS, 3B
Kaz Matsui 2B, SS

All of them (except Matsui) are hitting the crap out of the ball right now, and all of them need to fit into 3 roster spots.

I would like to unload one of them for help with K's or SB. Mark Redman is also available to anyone needing help with their pitching ratios.

Send me offers...all will be considered.
Matt S

255

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Jun 20, 2005, 18:07

street is injured.

i jsut traded away my best player but at least i made a trade! ;)

i have a ton of pitching available to those that need it.

256

holt
ID: 18516206
Tue, Jun 21, 2005, 17:38

anyone want to deal a starting pitcher for a hitter?
if so, shoot me an offer with the guy you want to trade. if i'm interested in the pitcher i'll accept or counter. if not - I'll just reject it. easy as that.
I'll include my e-mail here in case you want a multi-player deal and need to contact me.

257

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Tue, Jun 21, 2005, 17:45

holt, i'm heading out, but that's exactly the deal i'm looking for. you can see the standings to see what I need. I have a plethora of talented pitching.

258

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, Jun 22, 2005, 21:59

of course carlos lee goes nuts the first day he's not on my team. egads.

259

holt
ID: 18516206
Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 01:37

ref - I'm kinda mulling over a possible counter-offer. and also waiting for any other offers. not holding my breath though.

260

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 14:59

holt, np. Again, I would have made that a one for one but would have left you short in that position. If you can figure something out that works for you, cool.

261

Matt S
ID: 385432222
Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 17:50

I would just like to chime in and say that Bill Hall is amazing.

That sound you hear is me knocking on wood...
Matt S

262

holt
ID: 405422316
Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 20:13

ref - walker and drew are both day to day now. I gotta hold off on working out a trade til I find out how serious their problems are.

263

beastiemiked
ID: 262411016
Thu, Jun 23, 2005, 21:34

Aren't those two always day to day?

264

holt
ID: 405422316
Fri, Jun 24, 2005, 05:41

ha - well surprisingly drew has been good to go all season long until now, and walker's days off have been pretty predictable.

unfortunately:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Larry Walker (OF) StL will have an MRI taken today to determine the severity of a herniated disc in his neck. He received an injection earlier this season to relieve the pain, but it has increased the past two weeks.

A sore knee sidelined J.D. Drew (OF) LAD yesterday and could keep him out of action for several more days, according to the LA Times. An MRI revealed he has chondromalacia, a softening of the tissue in the kneecap. Trainer Stan Johnston said a small piece of cartilage dislodged from the kneecap, exacerbating the condition.

to be safe - I'm assuming they're both out for the season.
:D

265

holt
ID: 28522515
Sat, Jun 25, 2005, 17:43

argh - somehow I made the decision to start contreras and bench chris young today. contreras is sucking. gave up a grand slam in the 1st.
young has a no-hitter through the 5th.
should have gone with my gut instead of all the splits and trends and other garbage. frustrating.
feel like I should have seen this coming.

266

holt
ID: 28522515
Sat, Jun 25, 2005, 18:02

ahh - now young gives up homers to berkman and ensberg. that's pretty much what i was expecting. now i don't feel so bad.

267

Matt S
ID: 385432222
Sun, Jun 26, 2005, 14:17

Regardless of that, you gained 9 points last night. Who thinks we should test holt for steroids?

268

holt
ID: 40552264
Sun, Jun 26, 2005, 15:15

haha -not me - test cliff floyd and felipe lopez!

269

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Fri, Jul 01, 2005, 15:07

now that another month ended it is time for me to write a recap over the last month: injuries, injuries, injuries. to be more specific, here a list

missed more than 5 games witout DL:
Mora (still out)
Edmonds
Cameron
Bengie Molina (still out)

went to DL this month:
Surhoff
Finley (out 1 more week)
Marte

still on DL:
Schilling (out 1 more week)
Javy Lopez (out 2-4 more weeks)
Lyon (out 3-4 more weeks)

the positive things are:
- I have not lost much ground over the last month and it is still possible to reach 7th and get a re-invite. that will be my goal for the 2nd half of the season
- now that the NBA season is over and the soccer season is one month away, I get 3 live MLB games on tv every week (2 of them in european prime-time + sunday night baseball).

270

holt
ID: 406635
Sun, Jul 03, 2005, 07:10

good lord. I'm just gonna enjoy this ride while it lasts. 50 total bases on 24 hits yesterday. can't count on days like that to come around too often.

272

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sat, Jul 09, 2005, 05:56

info: Ref changed his team-name to "Just Ref"

273

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 09, 2005, 09:46

Well, my Bull Durham reference sure wasn't working, so trying to go back to the basics--you know fundamentals! ;)

274

Guru
ID: 330592710
Sat, Jul 09, 2005, 11:41

YR[250]: Thanks for the alert.

Ref (and everyone else): Whenever you change your team name at Yahoo, please send me an email notification. I need to make a compensating change so that the standings splits program continues to work.

275

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 09, 2005, 12:09

Ugh! Sorry about that. Will leave it alone. Forgot all about your running the standings.

276

Athletics Guy
ID: 43525254
Sat, Jul 09, 2005, 13:42

[JYNX]A whopping 138.5 points for Holt, there's no way he loses this thing now. Crosby's obviously going to keep up his .950 OPS. And Floyd & Walker are going to stay injury-free for the rest of the season. Congrats Holt! Well done man.[/JYNX]

277

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Jul 10, 2005, 10:35

"...another day older and a deeper in debt..."

This has to be the most frustrating season ever. No matter what I do or how well it goes and how many points I climb...slowly but surely, two or three points here or there for three or four straight days, then I lose all of that and then some in a couple days.

If ever there were a time to use Murphy's Law, this would be the time. All those "top-flight" hitters I supposedly had that many of you were saying you liked, they have turned out to be pretenders!!! My pitchers...just absolutely stink. They are some actually decent players that have played so bad at times that I've had to constantly attack the FA wire just to piece my team together by category. The only thing I'm doing truly decent in is Saves and if you need a closer, come calling with a player that can help me in one of my many needs and positions. I have some pitchers--yet I need those SP cats--go figure. All I know is a couple weeks ago I was within just a handful of points of 8th place. A couple days later I was way back and down toward the bottom. Everytime I think this is a lost cause, my team actually does something and gives me renewed false hope. Then when I've put together those good days, it all falls apart. Oh well, the life of a roto team filled with underachievers.

278

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sun, Jul 10, 2005, 11:09

Ref - I couldn't say it better. these are my thoughts too. one week my SP do great, one week they stink, one week my hitters go crazy, one week they stink. at least I have 4 players on DL that should return shortly after the ASB. I hope they can get me the boost to not fall again after 3 days of climbing in the standings. I still see me finishing in 7th place. there is a lot of ground I can gain with the IP I am behind.

279

holt
ID: 406635
Mon, Jul 11, 2005, 20:32

crap - I was just going to pick up garciaparra, but a's guy just beat me to it.
of course, if he hits anything like earlier this year then I'm better off without him.

280

Toral
ID: 53422511
Mon, Jul 11, 2005, 20:39

Me too, looking for Nomar.

In this league you have to move fast. I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

Toral

281

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Tue, Jul 12, 2005, 16:29

Keep it up Ref, you're actually giving me hope that I could climb out of the cellar!

No matter what happens, I'm pretty shocked that I took my horrible team from something like a low of 21 rotisserie points to over 50 at the ASB.....although I'm not sure what is more telling about my managerial skills - that I drafted a team bad enough to only garner 21 points in a 16 team league or that I could take a team that bad and move it into the 50's. lol

282

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Tue, Jul 12, 2005, 17:44

I'm just sandbagging so I can say I went from worst to first after the ASG! ;)

Just liked I talked about in my previous post, I have a few days of nice gains then wipe all of them out PLUS SOME in one day.

283

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Jul 15, 2005, 12:24

OK, now that I hit last, I'm ready to amaze everyone and be the first team ever to go from worst to first in the 2nd half of the season! OK, maybe I'll wake up soon!

I've gotten your trade offers. I've rejected two and sitting on two more trying to see if they help me. Hopefully, I can have an answer for you two by tonight. Thanks for the offers. If anyone else sees a fit let me know.

284

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 16, 2005, 12:16

My studs are on the block--like Tejada. I don't even care who you want--you can have them. But, I need multiple players who can play to upgrade my woeful team.

285

Matt S
ID: 17626103
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 10:37

My team has been in a terrible slump. My team batting average has been .222 over the last week with a dismal 23 RBI. I'm gonna need my boys to pull out of this soon, as I see other teams inching towards my 5th spot. So far this year guys have been doing a pretty good job of at least doing SOMETHING in a game - drawing a walk, or a sac fly RBI - but lately it's just been a bunch of 0-fers!

Time to turn it around!

286

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 11:42

Sorry about Sanders, Ref. Tough break - literally and figuratively.

287

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 14:39

no problem. I've had it pretty tough with injuries. can't avoid those. but what really stinks are the players that aren't playing anywhere close to what they were supposed to. Seems like I have more than my share of those. Losing my best hitter for Sanders who will have a cast on for 4 to 6 weeks and Hermy who has a bad back and will have to go on the DL isn't helping either. Swisher hasn't been the answer either. Oh well, I've tried to right the ship but it's pretty much sunk. Still bailing water but just delaing the inevitable.

288

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 16:51

Just for clarification purposes, how is it that I dropped Benoit yesterday and he was picked up today as a FA instead of going through waivers. I like him as a RP, but he stinks as a starter. I dropped him when I found out he was starting, and against the hot Yanks at that, just yesterday.

289

Trip
Sustainer
ID: 13961611
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 16:55

If you picked him up and dropped him in the same day, he doesn't go to the waivers and goes back in the FA pool.

290

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Tue, Jul 19, 2005, 17:14

Oh that is a great code improvement. I like that a lot! Thanks for the knowledge Trip!

291

holt
ID: 2672122
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 23:14

well zach duke didn't help my whip today but he got the W and 0 runs in 7 innings. rock on rookie! 0.93 ERA!

292

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 33636239
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 10:40

Hey whippersnapper (Duke), you still have some things to learn...

20 starts (135.0 IP), 123 K, 1.40 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .187 BAA

Rock on old-timer! I love you Clemens!

;)

293

holt
ID: 566352314
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 16:22

hey ref - sent you some offers. if swisher is on the block - feel free to counter offer if you don't like my offers.
a 1b/of is what I'm looking for. swisher fits the bill.

294

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 16:28

holt, i responded to all of those. The league would veto any of those offers if I would accept them. I'm in last place looking to move up, not down! ;) Got some juicy ones out though. Could be a blockbuster or two coming.

295

holt
ID: 566352314
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 16:45

maybe you're over-valuing swisher a bit then. I take it you're not interested in counter-offering. I'll look elsewhere.

296

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 17:11

swisher or tejada or both?

Let me see, linebrink and pena for swisher or linebrink, pena and crosby for tejada, man there were like 5 other offers that were similar in nature. Please tell me I'm not overvaluing my players that much. I don't need three players who don't even play much for stud-like players. I'd also have to figure out two more players to drop for those guys making it even worse.

I think you will see how much others value the players you're after if one of these deals go through that have been coming in and going out on my trade desk lately. I don't have a problem being low-balled as that actually leads to some nice deals at times, but when we're that far apart and you're not addressing any of my needs (and boy that is hard to do), I can't even begin to counter. Every single player on my team is on the block right now.

297

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 17:21

actually holt, looking at your team, there are things that can help us both, surprised you didn't look at my team a little more before sending out the offers. anyhow, i sent the first counter.

298

holt
ID: 566352314
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 18:19

actually I think it was young, linebrink and pena for swisher, but anyway - I don't have tons of depth to work with anywhere. I didn't think rowand/swisher was unreasonable. not saying you should be interested in rowand but I'm not trying to low-ball. swisher has been hot the past month which makes him more costly in a trade - but I'm not willing to give up players based only on his july stats. I don't really expect him to continue to hit at that pace (he might). I'm just looking for someone to pick up some slack. thome and hafner are hurt. walker is hurt. I lost drew. just need a short-term fix.
hope I didn't offend. I don't think young, linebrink, pena, rowand, etc. are without value. I still carry them on my roster.
anyway - I'll take a look at the offer you sent now.

299

holt
ID: 566352314
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 18:26

interesting offer.
I need to consider this one for a while.

300

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 20:19

you didn't offend, just though i was being punk'd. this is fantasy sports--not real life. it's all good.

301

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Jul 24, 2005, 11:49

Trying to understand some of the conservative responses. If you keep playing the same players, how do you expect to get significantly better results?

I've had tejada, ichiro, swisher and other studs offered and countered in deals, normally for one very good player, yet some of the responses have been, man I need your guys but not giving up so and so--even though the net some is far greater. Oh well, maybe it's my thinking that is flawed or a desperate act to jump start my team--who knows, but I might as well have some fun trading and seeing where I can improve. I know I've got to give to get. Holt, I pulled the latest trade as I had to counter another trade that overlapped players. I'll see if I can't work it so it still can't help us both. If this other trade doesn't fly I'll take another look at it.

302

holt
ID: 566352314
Sun, Jul 24, 2005, 14:00

ok ref. I may make a counter-offer that you can look at in the mean-time.

303

holt
ID: 566352314
Mon, Jul 25, 2005, 19:31

from fanball.com:
____________

Jul 25 Athletics shortstop Bobby Crosby went 3-for-5 with two doubles and drove in one against the Rangers Sunday.

Views: Although Crosby almost missed the first two months of the season, he's still drove in 40 runs and scored 37 times. It appears as if he'll have a productive second half.
____________

lol.
crosby has 24 RBI.
I WISH he had 40.

304

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Jul 25, 2005, 20:19

I'm going to be gone for the week, so picked the best offer on my desk. Sorry Pete! ARod was tempting, but needed more combined stats. If anyone needs steals, hit me up! I'll be back this weekend. Hey Guru, can you use your commish abilities and get these guys in my lineup. Only put Nevin in if he goes to Balt. and is playing. Put Lugo in for Tejada and Crawford at Util for Teahan. Thanks. Have a great week everyone!

305

Guru
ID: 330592710
Mon, Jul 25, 2005, 20:34

Will do my best to remember.

306

darkside
SuperDude
ID: 3590317
Wed, Jul 27, 2005, 15:25

Pujols is available.

I've been looking at teams for the past 2 days, though, and can't figure a trade that would satisfy my value for Pujols while still being a trade the other manager would do. So, I figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone felt like making an offer.

I've no interest in SLG or RBI. That's why I figured I should try to move him, he's big in those (and every other) category (including 9 SB) and figured I'd trade him and a weak player, pitcher or hitter, and get 2 good players.

Obviously I value him a lot, so if I reject what you think is a fair trade, please don't take it personally. I don't feel I must move him as he contributes to the categories I still care about, so I'll only take what I consider to be fair value. Just throwing it out there.

I'll be off line from about 5pm est until tomorrow morning. You can also feel free to email me and I'll respond tomorrow.

307

holt
ID: 566352314
Thu, Jul 28, 2005, 21:35

ahhhhhh!
all these injuries. hafner and drew hit by pitches. walker and thome on DL with pain (thome news today that he is still having elbow pain!).
my lineup is stuck together with wet duct tape now.
the FA pile is barren. argh.

308

darkside
SuperDude
ID: 3590317
Fri, Jul 29, 2005, 09:37

beastiemiked

Thanks for the trade offer. I completely agree with everything you said in your reply to my offer and am not surprised...your OBP would've taken a big hit. It is amazing what a few months can do to a first rounder's trade value. If I was a little less risk-averse I would have done it. The potential upside on my end would be huge, but I just don't have the faith in Beltran right now. Anyway, good luck down the stretch.

309

Peter N.
ID: 27602422
Fri, Jul 29, 2005, 19:20

Might as well....I need to shake things up.

Alex Rodriguez is on the trading block. Send me an offer or e-mail if you are interested.

310

Guru
ID: 330592710
Sat, Jul 30, 2005, 13:12

Ugh. Both Trot Nixon and Torii Hunter get disabled this week. It sure would be nice if Barry Bonds would decide to return!

I have one more starting pitcher than I need, and I could use a better hitter. IF anyone wants any of my starters - Dontrelle, H. Ramirez, B. Arroyo, Lackey, Bonderman, or Kazmir - make an offer. I'd prefer a hitter with decent averages.

311

Slackjawed Yokel
Leader
ID: 052347519
Sat, Aug 06, 2005, 01:36

woohoo- I finally had a decent night and was surprised to see you could still gain 8.5 points in a day. But, more importantly, I'm still preserving the runs=rbi 'symmetry'.

312

Hubble
ID: 59562922
Mon, Aug 15, 2005, 22:27

I'm actually curious to see the standings in RIBC... anyone care to post them here?

313

Athletics Guy
ID: 43525254
Mon, Aug 15, 2005, 22:29

RIBC Standings (from the link on the front page)

314

Toral
ID: 53422511
Mon, Aug 15, 2005, 22:29

holt -- you there ;)

315

holt
ID: 4776157
Tue, Aug 16, 2005, 22:45

i'm hangin on tight.
my lineup has been so scrapped together this past month it's not even funny.

316

holt
ID: 1878177
Sat, Aug 20, 2005, 09:51

where'd you go toral?
: )

i think I may have my team stabilized now. I was starting to nose-dive there for a while.
i've still got some hitters in the lineup that I think are a little weak (payton - werth - aurilia at util? - t.clark sits some days), but walker and barmes are right on the horizon, and possibly drew too.
I may also get a push from benitez. I expect he'll have the closer job again pretty soon.

I'm a little amused by how many points I have in the pitching categories. carpenter, morris, nathan, and batista are all I have left from the draft.

about 75% of the way through the season now. just gotta hang on. there are some tough looking rosters in this league. never know what will happen.

317

Toral
ID: 53422511
Sat, Aug 20, 2005, 10:05

The horror of my pitching continues to amaze me. I don't think I've had a good pitching day this year. When one guy puts in a good start, there's always another guy going who gets torched.

Odalis Perez is on my enemies list.

Toral

318

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Aug 20, 2005, 10:16

You're preaching to the choir, Toral!!!

319

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sat, Aug 20, 2005, 11:23

my last 3 pitching weeks were horrible until yesterday (19.1 IP, 2 ER). today it is Zito's turn, tomorrow Randy has to prove it and I can't wait for Curt to get back to the rotation.
it is good to have Jae Seo on my roster who has a stunning 0.39 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, over his last 23.1 innings (3 starts, 3 wins). can you say NL pitcher of the month?

320

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sat, Aug 20, 2005, 11:48

I dunno, C. Vargas has been pretty good too.

321

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Sun, Aug 21, 2005, 10:11

Thanks Barry but the win is missing. 2nd streight day with good pitching for my team. today it is RJs turn and Curt is back in the rotation on Thursday against KC. it can only get better than my current 4.05 ERA.

322

FRICK
ID: 3410101718
Tue, Aug 23, 2005, 23:10

What happens if a manager doesn't have the minimum of 800 innings pitched?

I looked through the old RIBC threads and see where there is a 800 IP minimum, but I couldn't find out what happens if a manager does not reach this number.

323

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Wed, Aug 24, 2005, 06:11

usually in such a situation you get the last position in every pitching category

324

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Wed, Aug 24, 2005, 19:01

availability history of the players I drafted:
1 RJ - 2 missed starts
2 Curt - DL for 14 weeks
3 J Edmonds
4 M Mora - out 2 weeks, avoided DL
5 J Lopez - DL for 9 weeks
6 B Giles
7 M Clement - missed 1 start due to injury
8 R Durham
9 B Zito
10 M Alou - DL for 4 weeks
11 C Tsao - DL for 16 weeks and out for season
12 C Burke - AAA after 1 month
13 S Finley - DL for 4 weeks
14 K Millar
15 S Shields
16 M Cameron - DL for 6 weeks and out for season
17 D Marte - DL for 3 weeks
18 R Palmeiro - 10 game suspension, avoids DL since then (1 week)
19 JT Snow
20 A Everett
21 D Riske - currently suspended for the 2nd time this season (total 8 days I think)
22 O Vizquel
23 R Gotay - AAA after 2 months
24 G Floyd - AAA after 2 weeks
25 T Ohka

only 5+ games missed are counted.

summary:
my drafted players have been 59 weeks on DL and will add another 10 until the end of the season. I have not counted all the players that got on DL while on my roster.
3 got demoted to AAA, 2 were suspended for a total of 18 days and my regular starting pitchers missed 3 scheduled starts due to injury without an DL-trip.

can anyone top this or will I be this years RIBC injury crown winner? anyone still wondering why I am in the last third all year?

325

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, Aug 24, 2005, 19:09

WhooHoo! I hope guys don't hit their minimums as that may be the only way I get more than a point in some of the pitching cats! ;)

326

MattS in Switzerland
ID: 46730258
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 09:34

Man, I'm holding on to 7th spot for dear life. It's not going to get any easier, as I'm now in Europe and can't really follow things much. September I'll be in southeast asia, so I don't know what internet access will be like while there. Hopefully some of my boys can pick things up.

Matt S

327

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 09:59

Matt S - how are the conditions in Switzerland after the flooding this week. here in Austria the conditions are still worse but not as bad as in 2002.

328

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 10:09

WhooHoo! I hope guys don't hit their minimums as that may be the only way I get more than a point in some of the pitching cats! ;)

Sorry Ref. Everybody's already passed the minimum. It's likely more of an issue in the lower leagues.

329

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 12:06

Ya know, I haven't had too much to cheer about this year and the minute I do, you go and dash my hopes. Crushed. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound or kicking me while I'm down. You should be ashamed of yourself!!

ok, it's not like I actually believed it would happen!!! ;) I am pretty stoked about coming from a half point down in era though and knocking on Species' door in that cat. That trade backfired as he went from low to top in RBIs and I went from top to low there. Oh well, I wasn't going anywhere the way I was, so tried to change the chemistry. May have worked if Sanders wouldn't have gotten hurt but that's the breaks. At least I know I've done everything I could possible think of thia year and it's still not worked. Injuries and ungodly underachievers have crippled me.

330

holt
ID: 16735225
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 12:08

youngroman - all that DL time may not be so unusual. either that or we both ran into some trouble.
12 of my drafted players ended up on the DL.
4 others missed 5 games due to injury.
I only have 11 of my original draft still on my roster.
I've also had players that I picked up during the season go to the DL while they were on my roster (pena, werth, punto, street) and now duke will miss at least a start.

2.13 Jim Thome DL - out for season
2.15 Marcus Giles missed 5/knee
3.02 Adrian Beltre missed 5/hamstring
4.02 Joe Nathan
5.04 Travis Hafner DL
5.15 J.d. Drew DL - had to cut
7.15 Joe Mauer missed 4 or 5/groin
8.02 Chris Carpenter
9.15 Aaron Rowand
10.02 Miguel Batista
11.15 Luis Gonzalez
12.02 Larry Walker DL/cut/picked back up
13.15 Matt Morris DL
14.02 Randy Wolf DL - out for season
15.15 Cliff Floyd missed 5/ribs
16.02 Tony Womack
17.15 Jose Valentin DL - cut
18.02 J.j. Putz
19.15 Kiko Calero DL - cut
20.02 Tim Worrell DL- cut
21.15 Dustan Mohr DL - cut
22.02 John Buck
23.15 Orlando Hernandez DL - cut
24.02 Jose Contreras
25.15 Jerry Hairston DL

331

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 12:23

holt - somehow you managed to get better value for all your cutted DL'lers. that's why it seems you will win it this year and I will be back at AAA. I'm fully deserving it.

332

Peter N.
ID: 27602422
Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 13:11

Guru, Any chance winner from last year gets immunity for this year????? ;-)

333

MattS in Switzerland
ID: 16738265
Fri, Aug 26, 2005, 06:41

Youngroman,

I'm in Basel, so the flooding hasn't been bad here. I was planning on going to Vienna next but heard some trains aren't running on time, so will be heading to Brussels tomorrow.

Tschüss
Matt S

334

youngroman
ID: 298482214
Fri, Aug 26, 2005, 07:08

Matt S - the train connections between Switzerland and eastern Austria will be through Munich the next few weeks. if you need current informations look at Austrian Bundesbahn (german only)

Basel - Vienna has a duration of 13h 40min at the moment. I don't know how long it is usually but that seems very long. now I know why I take the plane even for "short" distances (Vienna-Munich, Vienna-Stuttgart)

have fun in Brussels.

335

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 08:57

ARGH!

I didn't have an internet connection yesterday, so I managed to miss the wins from Moyer and Westbrook.

ARGH!

336

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 12:43

Immunity? Pete's been watching too many reality shows!!!

337

holt
ID: 16735225
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 13:09

unfortunately I did have internet access yesterday and started Padilla.

338

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 13:14

Figured it would be fun to take a trip down Disaster Lane (as opposed to Memory Lane - a much nicer journey, IMO):

Species
Rd.Pk Player Name Pos Team
1.13 Jason Schmidt SP SFO - did not live up to billing
2.04 Carl Crawford OF TAM - bad pick, but I would've taken Rolen, so not so bad
3.13 Francisco Rodriguez RP ANA -
4.04 Kerry Wood SP CHC - Disaster
5.13 Hideki Matsui OF NYY - Steal
6.04 Mike Lowell 3B FLA - Disaster
7.13 Khalil Greene SS SDG - Mediocre - didn't improve like I thought he would
8.04 Bret Boone 2B SEA - Disaster
9.13 Zack Greinke SP KAN - DISASTER!
10.04 Jason Giambi 1B NYY - Dumped him just before getting back on the juice :(
11.13 Greg Aquino RP ARI - DISASTER
12.04 Erubiel Durazo 1B OAK - DISASTER!
13.13 Bill Mueller 2B BOS - sucked, then got hot after dumping him
14.04 Preston Wilson OF COL
15.13 Kris Benson SP NYM
16.04 Reggie Sanders OF STL
17.13 Morgan Ensberg 3B HOU - Steal
18.04 Mike Lieberthal C PHI
19.13 Jay Gibbons OF BAL
20.04 Luis Vizcaino RP CWS
21.13 Nate Robertson SP DET
22.04 Vicente Padilla SP PHI
23.13 Wily Mo Pena OF CIN
24.04 Chad Fox RP CHC
25.13 Rheal Cormier RP PHI

Basically when 10 out of your first 13 draft picks bomb, you're in for a lousy year! lmfao! At least I've escaped the cellar at the present time after having as low as 21 rotisserie points.

339

Guru
ID: 330592710
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 14:01

1.07 Barry Bonds OF SFO - OOPS
2.10 Adam Dunn 1B CIN - OK, although steals never materialized
3.07 Jimmy Rollins SS PHI - hot and cold, but good SB
4.10 Billy Wagner RP PHI - solid
5.07 Edgar Renteria SS BOS - OK for a SS
6.10 Johnny Damon OF BOS - worked out very well, subseq traded
7.07 Eddie Guardado RP SEA - very satisfied
8.10 Mark Bellhorn 2B BOS inconsistent (but playable), then dropped upon injury
9.07 Corey Koskie 3B TOR - injured early and dropped
10.10 Torii Hunter OF MIN - inconsistent, but OK until injury
11.07 Jeremy Bonderman SP DET - great value
12.10 Casey Blake 3B CLE - slow start, but respectable
13.07 Dontrelle Willis SP FLA - WOW!
14.10 Trot Nixon OF BOS - used in a platoon, so better than raw numbers would suggest
15.07 Ben Broussard 1B CLE - inconsistent, often benched
16.10 Orlando Hudson 2B TOR - serviceable, especially with Bellhorn disappointments
17.07 Bronson Arroyo SP BOS - inconsistent but still hanging around
18.10 Jacque Jones OF MIN - about what you'd expect for 18th rounder
19.07 Michael Barrett C CHC - great value after deferring catcher for a long time
20.10 Scott Kazmir SP TAM - would have liked a better WHIP and a few more wins, but not a complete flop
21.07 Horacio Ramirez SP ATL - hot and cold
22.10 Jerome Williams SP SFO - dropped early
23.07 Wilson Alvarez RP LOS - dud
24.10 Joe Crede 3B CWS - got more out of him than expected
25.07 Kevin Gregg RP ANA - dropped early

Best F/A pickups:
Chacin - but then dropped him too soon!
Lackey - subseq traded with Damon for Burrell/Bradley
Mark Ellis - has been surprisingly strong for the past month

In spite of missing Bonds, I started out strong, and then slid to 5th-6th, where I've been hanging around for quite awhile. Could have been a much better season if I'd have taken Abreu instead of Bonds. But I'm generally happy with my decisions to defer on pitching until later rounds, getting esapecially good value from Bonderman and Willis.

340

Athletics Guy
ID: 227112521
Mon, Aug 29, 2005, 15:06

1.08 Bobby Abreu OF PHI - Stud, still performing a tad below my expectations though
2.09 Roy Oswalt SP HOU - No complaints here
3.08 Gary Sheffield OF NYY - 3rd stud in 3 rounds
4.09 Keith Foulke RP BOS - Huge disappointment here, so bad I'm hoping Timlin just closes the rest of the way
5.08 Derrek Lee 1B CHC - An MVP candidate with Triple Crown-type numbers in the 5th round, huge steal!!!
6.09 Jose Reyes 2B NYM - The gamble paid off, Reyes looking like he'll be healthy enough for possibly 50 SBs
7.08 Magglio Ordonez OF DET - Missed too many games to really be good value here
8.09 Chad Cordero RP WAS - Great pick, sort of makes up for Foulke
9.08 Bobby Crosby SS OAK - Dumped him after injury, great value (for Holt)
10.09 Greg Maddux SP CHC - Too inconsistent
11.08 Livan Hernandez SP WAS - One of my better pitcher picks
12.03 Pedro Feliz 3B SFO - Good pick here
13.14 Brandon Webb SP ARI - Pretty solid season, much better than 2004
14.09 David Eckstein SS STL - Although he's slowed down in the second half, I'm pleased with what I got from him
15.08 Yhency Brazoban RP LOS - Despite his implosion, I think the saves make him a steal in round 15
16.09 Ty Wigginton 3B PIT - Dud, dropped early
17.08 Jose Cruz OF ARI - Had a nice start, nothing much after that
18.09 Jermaine Dye OF CWS - Pretty solid
19.08 Jeff Francis SP COL - Had a bad start and dumped him, should have saved him for his home starts :)
20.09 Jesus Colome RP TAM - Dud, dumped after he got injured
21.08 Adam Laroche 1B ATL - Dropped
22.09 David Bush SP TOR - Dud (when he was on my team anyway), dropped early
23.08 Wade Miller SP BOS - Dud, didn't drop early enough
24.09 Brian Schneider C WAS - Pretty good value, counting stats are low, but he has OPS near .800
25.08 Adam Kennedy 2B ANA - Another nice late round pick

Best FA Pickups:
David Dellucci OF TEX - .385 OBP/.507 SLG right now, where did that come from?!
Brett Myers, Picked him after his amazing start, still been solid
Felix Hernandez - So far so good

341

holt
ID: 33703118
Thu, Sep 01, 2005, 03:14

the bad news - Crosby is out with a broken ankle.
the good news - Barmes will be activated on friday.

this may be a good thing. I really need to pick up another pitcher and didn't have anyone I really wanted to cut til now.

342

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Thu, Sep 01, 2005, 08:29

My guys are dropping like flies in the winter.

Ramirez - 15-day DL
Furcal - Sore Knee (missed DH)
Dejesus - Out 2 weeks (no DL though)
Patterson - Left game with stomach cramps

Great timing by all of them.

343

Matt S in Germany
ID: 5483619
Thu, Sep 01, 2005, 11:02

Damn, I´ve been overtaken. It´s gonna take all I got to stave off a streaking yokel. ;-)

Matt S

344

darkside
SuperDude
ID: 3590317
Thu, Sep 01, 2005, 11:15

I'm sure part of it is the fact you've been traveling, so don't worry...I'll be on my honeymoon in Greece for the last 3 weeks of the season. I can't imagine I won't slip some over that period, but I'll do my best to keep that 7 spot.

Good luck to everyone down the stretch

345

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 87143119
Sat, Sep 03, 2005, 08:54

+13.5?!?!

You gotta be frickin' kidding me! Sweet jump there, um, jumpball. :)

346

darkside
ID: 9819117
Sat, Sep 03, 2005, 11:06

Seriously. I didn't think anything near 13.5 was still possible. That's amazing. Wish I could have one of those nights!

347

Slackjawed Yokel
Leader
ID: 052347519
Sat, Sep 03, 2005, 12:00

yeah, his bench nearly outperformed my whole team last night.

348

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 3785049
Sun, Sep 04, 2005, 10:52

Must be on the verge of a lot of place movements because he went -5.5 last night and didn't have TOO bad of a night... well, excluding Luke "Why can't I be more like Tim" Hudson.

349

holt
ID: 26810414
Mon, Sep 05, 2005, 10:03

crap - kinda thought I'd get Cain on waivers. oh well.

350

Chris
ID: 116333114
Tue, Sep 06, 2005, 09:23

Look on the bright side holt...

I need Cain to win 14 games in September for me to catch you :)

132.5? Give the rest of us a chance!

351

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 57848818
Thu, Sep 08, 2005, 19:52

I can't buy a frickin' Win this year. I see CLE wins 4-2 and think, "Yes, a W for Millwood." Too bad he had 110 pitches after 5 IP and he got pulled 1 INNING TOO EARLY! Ugh!

352

holt
ID: 1181585
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 03:36

another gem from carpenter tonight, but my hitters lay a huge egg. 0 for 15, 4 walks. yikes.

353

beastiemiked
ID: 03531815
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 10:09

I'm starting Marquis tonight after missing his previous 2 gems. I had started him every game up until those games so I fully expect him to revert to his old self, 5ip 5er 8 hits 3 bb's 1k.

354

Ref
ID: 539581218
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 10:50

Agreed about Marquis, bmd. I love to see him against one of my hitters so I'm sure to start them.

355

darkside
ID: 3590317
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 11:38

The waiver wire sure is getting thin. With everyone dropping their DL guys there's not much left to choose from. Every single player on my radar (Torres, Murton, Teahan and Clark) have been picked up in the last 2 days. It's going to be tough to replace an injured guy from here on out (not that it's been a joyride doing it thus far).

356

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 517553018
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 13:05

I was worried I might be pulling the trigger a bit early on Murton. Good to know that I wasn't. :)

357

darkside
ID: 3590317
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 13:11

No, definitely not. It's getting tough to find an OF'er who starts even semi-regularly and doesn't go 0-fer every night.

358

holt
ID: 1686918
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 20:15

speaking of 0-fers. after going 0-15 last night, my hitters have started out 0-10 tonight.
I wonder what the odds are of having about a 28% chance of doing something, and then failing 25 times in a row. stop the bleeding.

359

holt
ID: 1686918
Fri, Sep 09, 2005, 20:30

make that 0-14 tonight.
just pathetic.

360

holt
ID: 1686918
Sat, Sep 10, 2005, 02:42

HOLY CRAP.
i've never seen so many 0 for 5's in one night.
now my hitters are a whopping 16 for 110 over the last three nights, and carpenter seems to be the only guy who remembers how to pitch.
I'm gonna drop like a stone if this holds up much longer.

361

Chris
ID: 116333114
Sat, Sep 10, 2005, 03:35

My team is not letting me take advantage of your sudden lack of hitting. With 4 starters going, only Cain won, and none of the other 3 made it into the 6th inning, with Burnett being especially painful.

362

Toral
ID: 10858715
Sat, Sep 10, 2005, 08:41

Wow! It looks like we have a race after all.

363

youngroman
ID: 50818914
Sat, Sep 10, 2005, 09:31

we have 2 races: one for 1st and one for last. my team is doing their worst to finish last - unbelievable.

364

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 6841920
Sat, Sep 10, 2005, 18:32

So much for Murton helping out. No starts since I picked him up. Granted, that's only 2 days, but still...

365

Ref
ID: 539581218
Sun, Sep 11, 2005, 00:35

I'm just seeing if I can play spoiler anywhere. And if I can grab 13th place, well that will give me some solace.

366

Chris
ID: 116333114
Mon, Sep 12, 2005, 04:00

I love the competitiveness of this league. Even this late in the season, everybody from the top to the bottom is still scratching and clawing to make up as many points as possible. The top 5 in the year-to-date standings rank 8th, 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th in the month of September as everybody else pushes their way towards the top.

In addition, every month so far has had a different "winner" according to Guru's sartible standings.

April - Toral (122.5 points)
May - A's Guy (131.5 points)
June - Holt (137 points)
July - KKB (116.5 points)
August - Chris (121.5 points)
September - jumpball (114.5 points)

Awesome league top to bottom, and regardless of how this finishes up, it was a pleasure to compete with you all this year. I look forward to (hopefully) playing again in this league next year!

367

Matt S in Malaysia
ID: 39852140
Wed, Sep 14, 2005, 02:06

Woohoo! I hadn't looked at my team in 4 days and I moved up 3 spots back into 7th. Still it's gonna take a miracle for me to keep myself there.

I'm so clueless, I was looking at David DeJesus' last 10 game performance Aug 27, 28, etc. Seeing he'd been playing well lately, I picked him up. Wake up call!!!! It's the middle of frickin September!!!

Matt S

368

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, Sep 14, 2005, 09:46

Matt S,
All you had to do was ask me, "Why the heck did you drop this guy?!?!" and I would have told you. ;)

369

holt
ID: 50829194
Tue, Sep 20, 2005, 19:45

So Beltre hasn't hit a homer since august 19.
facing a decent right-hander in Towers.
Beltre's split vs. righties = .687 OPS/11 HR in 423 AB.
so finally I relent and bench him. I don't think I've benched him all year. maybe once or twice but I don't remember.
what does he do?
2 run shot his first AB tonight.
bleh.

370

holt
ID: 50829194
Tue, Sep 20, 2005, 21:07

2-run shot Crede. now I feel better.
: )

371

Matt S in Malaysia
ID: 20829242
Sat, Sep 24, 2005, 03:30

Attn: yokel,

I want 7th spot.

yours truly,
Matt S

372

Toral
ID: 10858715
Sat, Sep 24, 2005, 06:55

The Odalis Perez Express has its namesake and good luck charm now. Could be hard to stop.

373

Chris
ID: 318112118
Sat, Sep 24, 2005, 13:35

Unfortunately(Fortunately?), I got him about 30 minutes too late to be able to start him today.

Should be a close run to the finish.

374

Slackjawed Yokel
Leader
ID: 052347519
Sat, Sep 24, 2005, 19:08

Attn: Matt S,

Thank you for the correspondence. Let it be known that your request was put under serious consideration. However, I'm not going to be able to accomodate you at this time. Perhaps you can contact one of our other colleagues like the esteemed jumpball or kkb.

Best regards,
yokel

375

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 158202318
Sun, Sep 25, 2005, 00:07

Dear Dustin Hermanson,
Could you please contact a great masseuse and get me one frickin' save?!?!

:)

376

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Sep 25, 2005, 11:18

KKB, perhaps you didn't catch this awhile back, but Hermy has been removed as the White Sox closer. Marte will go against lefties and Jenks against righties.

377

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 158202318
Sun, Sep 25, 2005, 20:16

Ref, I caught it all right, but the way Jenks has pitched (2 BS's and a L in last 3 appearances) and with how close things are with the Tribe, I'm hoping Guillen gets put in a situation where he just has to use Hermanson. It wouldn't be the first time a manager "removed" a guy from a position only to have to go back to him. Plus, he's about my only outside shot of getting that one save. There's really nobody else out there on the FA market that would have a more likely chance.

378

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Sep 26, 2005, 21:08

KKB, you've got to be kidding me? Managers make statements then go against what they announced? Man that would be the case if say, oh I don't know, Frank Robinson would say none of his regulars would play for the rest of the year and then turn around and continue to start Wilkerson and Johnson every single day or something. Man I just don't see something like that happening. ;)

379

holt
ID: 208142616
Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 04:18

holy crap.
was just checking box scores and saw that hernandez had 7 rbi on a triple and a dinger.
seeing that he was on my bench, I think I'd rather just see an 0 for 4 there.
ouch.

380

KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 17:06

I LOVE YOU MIKE GONZALEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!

;)

Still a fair amount of baseball to play, but that 0.5 points can't hurt. Now I just have to root against Shields, Riske, and Marte (particularly).

381

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 17:33

Hernandez has been amazing this past month. I took a flyer on him on G20 as Piazza came back and I had to throw back Castro and of the starting catchers playing that day, he had the best matchup. He also had a series in Coors coming. Well immediately he went nuts and has been one of the reasons my team skyrocketed. Needless to say, I never threw him back!

382

youngroman
ID: 50818914
Wed, Sep 28, 2005, 17:50

will be interesting the last 5 days if I may regain that half point. the possibility is out there. Marte may close against lefties and if K-Rod needs to save the 3rd game in a row today, there is a chance that Shields may get an opportunity tomorrow.

overall my team still sucks. at least my current lineup is seeing regular playing time. 5 days, 4.5 (now 5) points behind 12th and only 5 (now 4.5) points away from being last. still a close race at the bottom.

383

Chris
ID: 358212618
Thu, Sep 29, 2005, 13:58

re post #5:

Bedard: 6-7, 139.2 IP, 3.74 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 7.86 K/9, 3.48 BB/9

Can't say I'm too happy with that, and I can't help but wonder what would've been if he'd stayed healthy...

Pre-Injury: 5-1, 60.2 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 7.71 K/9, 2.08 BB/9
Post-Injury: 1-6, 79.0 IP, 5.01 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 7.97 K/9, 4.60 BB/9

So, in essence, after his injury, he reverted back to how he pitched last year with regards to his control.

I also must say that I didn't get as much out of Atkins as I expected. A 903 OPS at home and a 649 OPS on the road is something I would expect from Matt Holliday(who ended up 1002 and 729), but I expected more from Atkins on the road. My 2 biggest sleepers were both misfires, to a degree.

My biggest surprise this year was Grady Sizemore. He's far exceeded what I thought he was capable of this year. I kind of lucked into that one.

4 days left! This is going to be a close race to the finish.

384

Slackjawed Yokel
Leader
ID: 052347519
Thu, Sep 29, 2005, 23:52

I'm thinking yahoo needs one more significant digit for the WHIP and ERA categories. We've got 5 teams tied at 1.27 WHIP means a huge swing should a team eek over to 1.26 (or 1.28...)

385

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Sep 30, 2005, 21:54

Marte in for the save...

386

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Sep 30, 2005, 21:58

LOL, he gives up a single to hafner and a double to VMart and with men on 2nd and 3rd, in comes Hermy for the save. What a twist of fate for you two.

387

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Fri, Sep 30, 2005, 22:01

UGH, Hermy blows the save so I guess you're all even again.

388

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 30833018
Fri, Sep 30, 2005, 22:12

Yeah, but at least Hermy's getting consideration for the closers role again. :)

389

Matt S in Thailand
ID: 98383023
Sat, Oct 01, 2005, 01:55

Dammit, missed my opportunity. Had I played Gathright today, I would have caught Yokel in steals. Grrr...looks like I'm settling for 8th if I can stave off Guru and darkside.

Matt S

390

Matt S in Thailand
ID: 5593823
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 05:43

Or maybe not...

One day left. Can it be possible? Could the unthinkable happen?

391

jumpball
Sustainer
ID: 33050298
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 09:05

A month ago, I was preparing to congratulate the managers who qualified to be invited back next year and starting the process of deciding whether to play AAA next year or retire.

Then my team took off.

I'd like to thank Todd Helton for getting it all together (and then some) in the 2nd half.
I'd like to thank Ken Griffey, Jr for staying healthy through the beginning of September.
I'd like to thank Charlie Manuel for finally playing Chase Utley every day.
I'd like to thank all the managers in the top half of the draft who passed on Jorge Cantu twice after Robbie Alomar retired.
I'd also like to thank:
-- C.C.Sabathia for having a terrific August & September.
-- Josh Beckett for keeping the blisters down to a minimum.
-- Paul Byrd for having a very good season for a 25th round pick.

On August 12th, I was in 14th place with 57 measly points . . . I was wondering if I was going to be able to stay out of the basement, especially with my 2nd round pick, Scott Rolen, out for the season. The following day, Jose Mesa got his last save of the year. I was writing concession speeches the rest of the month as he started getting bombed. Amazingly though, my point total was going up a little bit at a time.
On the 1st of September, I had 79 points and was in 10th place. I was beginning to think that I had an outside chance to get in the first division. The next morning, I fell out of my chair . . . I was +13.5 for the day and in 6th place! (see KKB's post #354 on the 2nd). I never thought it was possible to move that much in one day -- that's an average of 1.5 points for EACH of the 9 categories (I punted steals way back in the draft) The details of that day were 2 very good games from CC and Byrd to get me 2 wins (no relievers pitched), and 5 home runs with 13 runs scored and 12 RBIs from my hitters. Interestingly enough, Brady Clark was active and did not play and Jose Uribe and Neifi Perez, who were on my bench, went a combined 4 for 7 with 3 runs scored, 3 RBIs, an OBP of .667 and a SLG of 1.143!

Two days later Griff plays his last game and I figured that if I can go +13.5 for a day, it's certainly possible to go -13.5 too. But it never happened. I've even added to those 92.5 points somehow and reached into triple digits a couple of times

Now it's the last day of the regular season and I think I’ve qualified to be invited back next year.

And I'm not planning to retire! :-)

392

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 3895626
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 09:14

jumpball, definite congrats on the big jump, but let's just hope that you finish where you're at right now. ;)

393

youngroman
ID: 50818914
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 16:47

there goes my last chance for a save this year. Hernandez gets the save for the Chi-Sox and now K-Rod saves the game for the Angels after Shields pitches a perfect 8th. nice fight with KKB for half a point in the saves category.

on another front it seems that I'll get another 2 wins today to sneak half a point in that category from bmd.

394

KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 3895626
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 18:39

youngroman, I have to admit that I was pretty caught up in that "battle." Funny how a half a point can make me watch the CWS and ANA games like I was one of their die-hard fans. :)

395

holt
ID: 5192217
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 19:17

does anyone have live-scoring?
from what I can tell the Odalis Perez Express lost half a point in RBI, and I gained a point in K's.
that would put me behind 125.5-124.5.
I have no idea how whip and ERA will shake out.

396

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Sun, Oct 02, 2005, 19:40

At least I was in first place after the first day of the season!

397

Chris
ID: 318112118
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 00:00

re: 395

It's hard to say. Your team had a .326 OBP and a .477 SLG today. Seems very reasonable that you would gain a half point in SLG(though I've haven't checked the other teams). Depends on rounding to see what happens in those cats.

In ERA, you went up .018, while Athletics Guy went up .007. No matter the rounding, it does seem that he will gain a half point on you in ERA.

In WHIP, you went up .003, which may or may not be enough to move your WHIP from 1.27 to 1.28(again, depends on rounding)

Hard to say if anybody will move off that giant 1.27 dogpile, as it could mean precious half points in either direction.

Other than the changes you mentioned(which brings the gap down to 1), it seems like the counting stats will all stay as they are.

For you to win(assuming I lose half a point in RBI, as you say), it seems like you'd need to gain a half in OBP, gain a half in SLG and have your WHIP stay at 1.27, while 2 other managers drop .01 in WHIP. That would give you a half point win.

Basically, unless your WHIP jumps to 1.28, it's going to be REAL close. Most likely within a half-point. I'm just hoping that .003 WHIP is enough to round you up!

Now I get to wait anxiously for the results ;)

398

youngroman
ID: 50818914
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 02:52

Ref - and I was in first after the 2nd day of the season (4/4)

399

Matt S in Thailand
ID: 292330
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 03:02

The tension is killing me. I think I made it. Big homers from Sanders, Mueller and Gibbons (all waiver pickups) and a solid performance by my pitching should be enough to keep me afloat.

400

Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 11:07

Too bad your namesake isn't as good as you!

Thank goodness this misery for me is over. At least I didn't finish in the basement.

No excuses. I had waht turned out to be a horrible draft. Then felt compelled to be aggressive to trade to try and create something and it backfired. Just couldn't overcome injuries and underachievers. Taking Corey Patterson over Kent sure didn't help matters, but wouldn't have won it for me no matter what.

Thanks for having me. Sorry I couldn't give you more of a run.

401

Toral
ID: 10858715
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 11:16

Salute on sticking with it 100% all the way Ref. Many times late in the season I looked for a player on the WW only to find that you had snapped him up. Inspiring -- if annoying ;)

Toral

402

Species
Leader
ID: 07724916
Mon, Oct 03, 2005, 11:31

Congratulations to everyone. It was a good season.....and I didn't finish last! Woo hoo! I get to stay in AAA next year! Hoorah!

403

holt
ID: 3394637
Tue, Oct 04, 2005, 02:49

congrats chris! I knew it was gonna be tough to get the lead back. there was getting to be too much separation in most of the categories for you to lose any points. winning the league while only scoring 3 points in W's and Sv's is quite a feat. good job man. looking forward to next season, and thanks again to Guru for putting these invitational leagues together.

404

Matt S in Thailand
ID: 3994041
Tue, Oct 04, 2005, 03:42

Well, all things considered, I'm happy to finish where I have and earn an invite back next year. Drafting my team while in Central America, and finishing the season while in Europe and Southeast Asia proved to be difficult, but I managed.

What worked:
- Derek Jeter at 17th overall (122 runs...but was expecting more than 14 SB)
- Starting pitching (Colon, Buehrle, Pettite at 9th, 10th, 14th rounds respectively) Those 3 won 54 games for me, while posting killer ERA and WHIP #s.
- Donnelly and Ayala, as hoped, accumulated 17 wins.
- Kotsay and Crisp put up decent numbers for me all year.
- Bill Mueller, Bill Hall, and Aaron Harang were all good pickups for me.

What didn't work:
- My first six rounds of drafting. Gagne and Dotel did nothing for me. Pudge, Wilkerson and Vidro were all bitter dissapointments.
- Kaz Matsui in the 8th round didn't help either.
- I knew this was Lackey's breakout year, and I listened to one of the Rotoworld guys after his first two bad starts and dumped him. Had I stuck with him, instead of screwing around with Mark Redman, I would have been competitive in the K category.

I think the only thing that saved me was punting the Save category after Gagne and Dotel went down. Had I tried to scrape up a few points there, I'd have lost lots more in others, I'm sure. All of my players posted less than expected SB #s. Bill Hall chipped in with a few as a waiver pickup, but that was far away from keeping me competetive. Considering I was so low in so many categories, I think I'm lucky to be coming back next year.

Matt S

Forum: basePage 17625Subject: RIBC 2005 - Regular Season Discussion #1

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Page 17625
Subject: RIBC 2005 - Regular Season Discussion #1