The Doctor Main Event Blog

[Doctor Who]

Dustin,

Try not to lose much sleep from NOT getting Carlos Ruiz!!

When you have Tuffy, you will understand Dobies!

[Doctor Who]

Love the write-ups Dustin, good stuff.
The fact that you and I are fighting over Carlos Ruiz probably makes the other 13 teams in our league pretty excited!

I'm sure next week it will be me and someone else fighting for one of these excellent catchers left on the WW.

I'm sure KJ will be greedy again and churn through all the catchers I will try to get. Lol.

[KJ Duke]

Love the write-ups Dustin, good stuff.
The fact that you and I are fighting over Carlos Ruiz probably makes the other 13 teams in our league pretty excited!

I'm sure next week it will be me and someone else fighting for one of these excellent catchers left on the WW.

I'm sure KJ will be greedy again and churn through all the catchers I will try to get. Lol.

You've figured out my strategy! Two catchers go down every week so there's always fresh inventory ...

[Doctor Who]

Love the write-ups Dustin, good stuff.
The fact that you and I are fighting over Carlos Ruiz probably makes the other 13 teams in our league pretty excited!

I'm sure next week it will be me and someone else fighting for one of these excellent catchers left on the WW.

I'm sure KJ will be greedy again and churn through all the catchers I will try to get. Lol.

You've figured out my strategy! Two catchers go down every week so there's always fresh inventory ...

I'm just asking for one is all. Or Jaso can get healthy and you can have Tuffy! You know you like cool names...

[Doctor Who]

My fan favorite pitcher Bartolo will also make it in with another good start last week and gets the Braves this week. I know Wayne can’t wait to go see him pitch and get a hit!

Bartolo Colon swings...IT'S A HIT...wait, he is reading something he wrote on his forearm...can we get a close up of that? It says...

1) Drop the bat.
2) Drop the triple bean and chicken fat burrito.
3) Run down the right hand side of the diamond along the white powder line.
4) Do NOT under any circumstances say "Hey, Hey, Hey!"

I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you hating. I was finishing eating.

[Doctor Who]

The weekly decision making for MI bites me in the butt again. Valbuena on the bench for two homers. Looks like I'll be here all year having the wrong one on the bench at the wrong time.

[Edwards Kings]

The weekly decision making for MI bites me in the butt again. Valbuena on the bench for two homers. Looks like I'll be here all year having the wrong one on the bench at the wrong time.

Yup. I have him on my bench in my auction league for some DA reason (started Brad Freakin Miller over him). Dumb on my part.

[Doctor Who]

This was a very peculiar week. Every time I looked at what my guys were doing, it seemed that there were a ton of 0-4’s and some average starts from my pitchers. This week for whatever reason just seemed to be blah. One of “my guys” that I have on pretty much every team in Ben Zobrist went down at the start of the week and it looks like he will miss 6-8 weeks. That injury hurts this team more than my others because I was solely dependent on him manning the SS position. After that news, my team seemed to have a rain cloud over it the rest of the week. No offensive player really stood out this week to have a MVP, yet the team somehow was able to get two out of the 5 goals, and almost 3 or 4 if not for a horrible Sunday. With Zobrist not playing the entire week and nobody to replace him, 288 AB’s for the week was short, but not entirely bad, down a roster spot. For the week, the group batted .236, 41 Runs, 11 HR’s, 33 RBI’s, and 2 SB. At this point, I really have no clue how I will compete in SB’s. I won’t punt the position on purpose early, but it is becoming a desperate time very quickly going forward.

The pitching really was good this week minus two bad starts by the newly acquired pitchers. A De La Rosa and CC blowup each really stopped me from having an excellent week. My 3 aces seem to be gathering themselves to get on a nice roll, that is, when they aren’t trying to beat people up on their off days. Samardzija seems like he finally has settled down (Relative term I know), the king is back, and Gray is turning out to be a blessing in disguise. Shelby Miller keeps chugging along as a solid back end guy, as well as Jimmy Nelson, who looks like he will be the guy I envisioned this season. Even Perkins chimed in with 3 saves this week. And the cherry on top this week was another Bartolo win! It doesn’t get any better than seeing the big man become the next Tim Tebow, where all he does is WIN, WIN, WIN! For the week, the group got 2 of the 5 goals, and just like batting missed out on the other two goals just barely. 5 wins, 3 saves, 52 K’s, along with a 3.444 ERA and 1.087 WHIP isn’t bad considering the blowups combined for 7 IP of 18.00 ERA and a 2.71 WHIP.



I’m also not going to give out a Cy Young for this group for the exact opposite reason that I gave for the batters. 7 out of the 9 guys chipped in with quality performances this week. The two blowups is what kept the rain cloud over this group from really excelling this week. My CDM ways of grabbing double starters for this team might be coming to an end quickly after this week.

FINALLY! You ask and you shall receive! Finally KJ only picks up one catcher this week and I was able to grab one. Funny thing is, 7 catchers were added this period. I ended up grabbing Brayan Pena ($3), who has looked somewhat alive compared to Tuffy and his non-existent bat. Mesoraco doesn’t look like he will be able to start soon, so I’m hoping to get at least a week from Pena while Jaso continues to work his way back. He was my third choice. Another need for this team was the need to grab a SS for the Zobrist injury. I bid, what I deemed to be aggressively, on Hechavarria (Bid $38, went for $82), and once again KJ stole a guy I needed. I’m starting to think he is stalking my team (More like, he could care less about this mosquito’s needs…). I ended up with Freddy Galvis ($3), which I’m sure will start the revolving door there as well. My last pickup was Eric Campell, which for 6 bucks; I could do worse as a matchup play. All in all, $770 total FAAB money was spent this week with Kevin Plawecki garnering a week leading $128 bid. 23% of the total FAAB money is gone going into the 4th full week, and with another cheap week in FAAB, has me in the top 4 for money left.

My lineup decisions were pretty easy this week. The new guys are basically plug and play and LeMahieu gets the nod over Valbuena. Leake goes in for CC on the pitching side, but that group stays intact for another week. My fill for double starters were already on the squad this week, as Nelson, Gray, and Samardzija (hopefully) all will have 2 starts this week. This team has yet to really start clicking offensively, and once the anchors start to get going for this team, it will be really fun to see how high this team can go. It will also be fun to see how high this team can go as well!



Overall though, this week, while having this supposed rain cloud over it, were able to have the 5th best week out of the league, and for the season are hanging in there in 4th place with 100.5 points.

[Doctor Who]

With Napoli on the bench, another last minute decision was made. Luis Valbuena will take his spot. Now I'm guaranteed not to have the wrong MI this week!

[Doctor Who]

I think I have mentioned this before, but I hate closers. I. HATE. THEM. That is why years ago I came up with an Elite Dual Closers theory on paring two elite guys to make up your second ace. My theory also included saving your FAAB dollars for something useful during the year instead of chasing one category. This year though I went back to being a regular. I grabbed an extra closer (3) just because I wanted the insurance. Well, 1 day into the season, I was down to one. Benoit lost his job to one of the best closers in baseball (still pissed about that, as loved Benoit this year), Nathan lost his arm after his first save, so that left me with the dependable, yet unspectacular Glen Perkins. Somehow this year, through 4 full weeks, I have 9 saves good for 4 points. Even more astonishing is that I’m only 5 saves total behind 3rd place in this league. That is a ton, especially with one closer, but it can be made up with the right moves. So let’s fast forward to this week’s FAAB.

Cecil and Axford both were on the waiver wire this week to be had. After looking at my team, the only thing I am really missing in my eyes, is a way to compete in saves; and speed, but hey we will get to that later. This team has a solid core in pitching and hitting, and has settled into third place in this league. It is in the money, but we are only one month in, and without either competing in saves or speed, I can’t really see this team moving any further up. There are points in the season that you have to decide to go for it. Some come back to haunt you, some come back as some of the best decisions you could have ever made. Well this week, I looked at the cards in my hand, looked at the community cards, and decided I would say it… I’M ALL IN (Sorry Dobies, hopefully this doesn’t qualify as copyright or trademark infringement).



I made two buys this week. My first was for $337. You guessed it. A closer. John Axford. The second bid was for $212. I decided Axford would be a target this week, not just because I’m that desperate for saves, but that Ottavino looks like he will be out longer than expected (confirmed TJ today), and Latroy can possibly screw this team and me twice in the same season. Just kidding on the last part. Axford had a good week to give him some leash in that role, has done it before, and is a gut play that he will be good enough to last the rest of the year in that role.

My second buy this week was for $337. You guessed it. A closer. Brett Cecil. No I didn’t copy this paragraph twice. That’s right boys and girls, I wasn’t lying about being all in. 2/3 of the FAAB budget, gone in one week. The second bid for Cecil was for $333, so at least I can feel comfortable knowing that I didn’t overspend on him. LOL. I decided that I would go for it with 3 closers. Castro got sent down and Cecil has to have a leash, only because Gibbons has to stick with someone sometime. With all the things he has said this year about the role, at least it sounds like he wants Cecil in that role. Even when he removed him earlier in the year, he only called it a break. So in one week, saves was my shortfall, but I could have just gained an edge in the category that I needed to make up the most. Some will call these two moves desperate and just cost my team the summer in moves, which will cost me in the end. Those critics may be right, but I decided that I would not let this team just bleed out slowly, withering away as more time went on, where it couldn’t be saved later. At least with these two moves, I can either give it a jolt and save it, or I can call The Doctor (see what I did there?) in so he can pronounce the time of death.



This past week definitely had some ups and downs, and I was happy to somehow get 7th for the week with the start I had. First the good. My team continues to hit the AB threshold getting 317 AB’s this week. That is a main reason why I was able to collect 56, yes 56 runs this week. I also hit my RBI mark for the first time this year with 39, and just eeked under my HR and SB total (8 and 4). My catchers continue to give me nothing, and there is no long term fix here other than I need a miracle. Trumbo, Dozier, and EE look like they might be heating up. Carpenter, AGone, and the surprising Will Myers have continued to carry this team offensively. With everything that went on this week, it wasn’t the best, but somehow quietly put up a decent week in the end.

The pitching on the other hand was half good and half bad. Side note here- Is it just me or do I get more pissed about a pitcher blowing up than a guy batting .100 for the week? Am I the only one there? I can’t explain it, but just ruins my day when I see 6 runs against my guy, not so much if my guy goes 0-4. Nelson, Samardzija, Colon, and De la Rosa all stunk it up. My saving grace was Leake (one of my favorites every year), The King, My Shelby, and my Sonny. That pick continues to reap rewards for me and keep me in the game. For the week, I missed the mark in ERA and WHIP but was able to get my targets in the other 3. Perkins got me 3 saves, while the 4 above were able to get me the 4 wins I needed along with 56 K’s for the week. The 4.15 ERA and 1.30 WHIP could have been a ton worse if not for those guys stepping up when I needed them.

This week’s lineup decisions were once again the same. Valbuena hits the bench with 3 lefties and DJ in Coors. The two new acquisitions get inserted into the lineup for Colon and De La Rosa. My gut play of the week was to leave CC in against Toronto instead of Jimmy Nelson at home against the Cubs. We will see if this gut of mine gets another doughnut or I make it run the rest of the week after a terrible CC start. This team is still hanging around in 3rd place with 102.5 points on the year. I’m hoping that this is the week that helps me make a difference, not only in my league but the overall. Until next week, boys and girls, try to get along.

[KJ Duke]

That was a bold move Dustin, can't fault you for going for it even though the Axford seemed very rich to me and I'll be surprised if he is worth anything close to that bid, if anything. In my second main event I am in a similar position with closers, I paid $55 for Hatcher this week but unlike you I am leaning more towards punting and building points elsewhere rather than deploy the ALL-IN budget-busting strategy on marginal closers. You've set me up for a comp to compare and contrast strategies, something fun to keep an eye on.

[King of Queens]

No catcher update?

[Doctor Who]

No catcher update?

Yea, both mine suck. Enough of an update for you? Or would you like me to dissect the misery more?

That was a bold move Dustin, can't fault you for going for it even though the Axford seemed very rich to me and I'll be surprised if he is worth anything close to that bid, if anything. In my second main event I am in a similar position with closers, I paid $55 for Hatcher this week but unlike you I am leaning more towards punting and building points elsewhere rather than deploy the ALL-IN budget-busting strategy on marginal closers. You've set me up for a comp to compare and contrast strategies, something fun to keep an eye on.

KJ, I knew what I was doing was stupid when I did it. But sometimes you really need to super-aggressive with a group like this, especially if going for an overall. I know I have really handicapped my FAAB going forward, but for one of the first times ever, I decided to play for the Overall rather than just my league. It could very well have been a mistake and I might have been better off playing it safe and just trying to get in the money, but sometimes my gut wins out over my head. It is very rare, but when it does, it has given me some of the most memorable journeys.

[King of Queens]

KJ, I knew what I was doing was stupid when I did it. But sometimes you really need to super-aggressive with a group like this, especially if going for an overall. I know I have really handicapped my FAAB going forward, but for one of the first times ever, I decided to play for the Overall rather than just my league. It could very well have been a mistake and I might have been better off playing it safe and just trying to get in the money, but sometimes my gut wins out over my head. It is very rare, but when it does, it has given me some of the most memorable journeys.

No mistake -- you're playing it correctly.

[headhunters]

forget about the catchers and closers- i hate both. did i read you started cc sabathia against TORONTO ahead of FAT BART. you gotta be a yankee fan. one guy loses 50 pounds the other guys head weighs 50 pounds- should be easy.. plus- every time he swings his helmet falls off. how can they even find a helmet that is too loose for that head? good luck today against TORONTO and enjoy the blog.

[Doctor Who]

Bingo! Blamo! Pew! Pew! Pew! (Well this week went great! For those of you that don’t speak Texan) I moved up a whopping 17.5 points in this league to second place behind the Main Event overall leader. That’s the good news anyways. Bad news is I still have 14 points to go to tie him! He is having an incredible year and really has held onto it most of the year, you know, except for those first two days!

This team will go into this week in 16th overall place and we are already a little less than ¼ of the way through this season. While this week was great and I won’t complain too much, two things irked me this week and these are the things that start to add up over the course of the year. The first was CC of course did not have a good start, but on top of that, somehow I missed that my fat man was going to have two starts last week! He of course ended up getting two wins and 15 k’s. Secondly, Axford didn’t pitch once because of that great weather up in Coors all week, but this team was still able to get 4 saves and jumped almost a third of the league without him. Thanks mother nature! It is May right?



So enough bitching about a second place team. One thing this team has had all year is health. I know now that I’ve said this I’ve just jinxed myself. Zobrist and Jaso did get hurt, but everyone else has relatively stayed in the same spot they have been in since the start of the year. The other part is that my 4-6th pitchers have been better than expected and have covered up some bad starts by the back end of the staff. One thing I will have to keep an eye on going forward though carrying 3 closers to make up ground is K’s. This week should help as I have 4 double starters, but every week won’t be like that. The offense has started to shown some life starting this week as they batted .305, 41 Runs, 11 HR’s, 45 RBI’s, and 4 SB. Dozier and EE have started to hit the ball, while everyone else has stayed consistent to what they have been doing. And for your catcher update… They are alive! You wouldn’t know it by the stat sheet, but I checked around and some inside sources still told me they were breathing, so there is that.



The pitching this week was insanely good and could have been that much better with the fat man in. Shelby and Leake gave me a combined 17IP of shutout ball. The King was what you want from your ace in a double start week, while Samardzija and Gray both continue to compile stats this team needs. Perkins continues to carry the team in saves and Cecil looks like he has finally calmed down since his early season troubles. For the week this team got 5 Wins, 4 Saves, 51 K’s, a 1.90 ERA, and 1.04 WHIP. Now only if I can stop going on my gut feels every week! This team is really deep in SP as the aforementioned Colon sat the bench, and Nelson even had a good start with 11 K’s. Ryu should be back sooner rather than later and if he can be a #3 or #4 type guy, this pitching staff will be that much better. This pitching staff is really set up for long term as long as they can remain healthy, and with no FA budget, it is a blessing if they can continue on their torrid pace.

In FAAB this week we had two 100+ bids on free agents. Kang went for 137 and Syndergaard went for a whopping 565. Glad other people are starting to spend that money quicker! Believe it or not, but even after my huge FAAB week last week, three teams have less money than me already, with one of them being the team ahead of me. 40% of the total FAAB money is gone already, with the mean left being 603 after this week, so I’m still behind the 8 ball there. I only made one small move this week for $3. It could end up paying big dividends if an injury occurs, but Delino Deshields Jr. could be the speed that this team needs if he can get the playing time. So I’ll play the waiting game with him for a while. If it doesn’t happen, it will be an easy drop in coming weeks. And by the way headhunters, my only reply to your above insult of being a Yankees fan is…

[Edwards Kings]

Wow! With so many of the same players, we may as well be writing the same blog. I guess it is true...



Congrats on the great start...

[King of Queens]

Really enjoying the blog, Dustin. Believe me, I'm watching your moves [MTM font] VERY CLOSELY [/MTM font]

[Oaktown]

Loving the blog, you and King of Queens are making the league very tough to hang with.

[Edwards Kings]

Up to 12th overall...must of had a good night! Way to bust a move...

[Doctor Who]

It has been one hell of a ride thus far with this team. I thought since we are closing in on Memorial Day, I would look back at the draft to look at the base of this team and how they have helped me get to where I am today. I believe that Memorial Day weekend is a good starting point to really start looking at your team and is enough of a sample size to see some strengths and weaknesses of your team. One of the things that I talked about with a few people this week is pitching seems to really be where it is at this year in making teams good to great. It feels like there are less useful FA pitchers than normal this year, maybe because the NFBC covets SP so it has been sucked dry? I don’t know, but something to keep in mind for next year I think, as that trend continues to grow. This is going to be a long-winded post today so I’ll try not to bore you… (You will see why that will make sense later.)

With that being said, my first round pick has really been a stabilizer for me this year. King Felix has done everything that I knew he would do this year. He really is a difference maker and keeps a staff stable with his numbers week in, week out. He was a target for a reason.

My second round pick was EE. Before this week, I would have said he hasn’t lived up at all to what I thought he would do. With the big week though, he is back on pace to start making a difference. Everything is there right now minus the average but I think that will come around. What excites me even more is that this team has done very well without EE, so if EE starts to get it going… Watch out. I might start to get too excited then.



The third round gave me a gift in Adrian Gonzalez. Sure I wanted Springer or Marte here, but AGone has been nothing but a blessing, a sure reason why I’m in the spot today and a testament that you really do have to go best available in a draft even if it ties up a position early.

In the 4th round, my decision was between Seager and Dozier. I wasn’t a believer in Dozier really last year in the daily games at the end of the year as I faded him quite a bit. And then got killed quite a bit. I decided to be a believer this year, fading my own instinct, and going with position scarcity and the fact I coveted a 3B later in the draft. It was my first right decision of the draft that so far has worked out in my advantage.

Round 5 I went with Heyward. This one is kind of funny. When I looked back and saw I was looking at Ryan Zimmerman here, I was ready to say that this was my first mistake. Heyward though hasn’t been amazing, but surprisingly he hasn’t been as bad as I thought he has been. While I think he can do more, and don’t like the fact St. Louis is moving him around the lineup just like the Braves did last year, I’m not going to give up on him yet. Let’s just call this a work in progress still. Wait, isn’t that what the Braves have been saying for years too?



Round 6 finally was supposed to be my second ace in Samardzija. I was high on him coming into Chicago and he just hasn’t been able to hit his stride. Another guy I’m not giving up on yet, and gives me hope that he hasn’t been good, yet the staff in whole has done well. Even more room for improvement for this team.

Trumbo was my 7th round pick and has been decent. He was on fire for a while, but has started to cool down. I’m definitely not mad though as to what he has done so far. As long as he stays healthy, the stats will be there at the end of the year.

Round 8. This is my money round in my opinion right now. I grabbed Sonny Gray as a guy that I thought should have been off the board and was best available by far. Two things that are funny about this pick. Round 4 I go position scarcity, but round 8 I go best available again? Make up your mind man! The other funny thing about it is, I was visibly upset that KJ took Pedroia on the turn as he would have been my pick here, and even told him so during one of the breaks in the draft. Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good. Card is in the mail KJ… Thank You!


Been wanting to fill one of these out… I’m usually the one receiving them!

Round 9 was my first hiccup. I loved Benoit this year. That was all blown up day 1 when the Padres decided they wanted Kimbrel. Eh. Can’t be too mad looking back. Can’t predict that, and I got EE and Gray to drop to me when I wasn’t counting on them too.

Round 10 brought me Zobrist. He was having his typical boring year before his injury, but with his rehab stint starting this week, should be a welcoming stable for the rest of the year if can stay healthy at SS for me. Another ray of hope on the horizon for this team to even get better.

Round 11 might be another money pick too. Like I have said many times before, I have a man crush on him. I’ve had him for the past 2.5 years, and all the guy does is hit and play every day. Still don’t know why he doesn’t get the respect still. And he even added the juice this year as he is somehow on pace for 30 homers. Even I wasn’t expecting that! Do I even have to mention his name at this point?

Round 12 was another boring pick that has turned out great. Perkins was supposed to be my second closer, but has been a tier one closer thus far this year. He kept me in the realm of everyone else by himself and allowed me to make a move a few weeks ago that could have long-term dividends in the future.

Like I said, I’d rather be lucky than good. My favorite number brought me some luck. Round 13 was kind to me this year as Wil Myers has been a stud thus far. Who knew I could bore myself into a good pick. I wasn’t really into his hype last year as you saw in my first post about the draft, but this pick was more of a need pick than anything else. Hopefully his wrist injury isn’t serious and doesn’t linger on as he really has been a catalyst for that Padres team.

Round 14 and 15 I got caught up in my own hype. Zunino and the Grandy man are the same guys as they were last year. Not going to make those steps like I thought both would, but still useful in this format so not bad picks, just could have been better ones.

Again, funny how things work out sometimes. Loved my Napoli pick and he just hasn’t hit, continuing from last season. I’m hoping he can turn it around as he would be another guy that could help this team take off, but it just hasn’t been seen this year. Round 17 though brought another boring pick to the team in Shelby Miller. He has been my ace in the hole and a huge reason where I am. My strategy (unbeknownst to myself at the time) of going after the boring guys has worked perfectly so far this year!

The next two picks haven’t worked out like I thought they would. Jaso was supposed to be another boring pick, but got hurt before he could record his first AB. It doesn’t look like he will get that full time DH gig back again this year. The other was a gamble in Ryu who has been out longer than I expected with no real timetable to return, and that has not turned to IF he will return this year. I’m still holding on to that lottery ticket hoping to cash it.

Round 20 I grabbed by third closer. I’ll just laugh at myself now at what I wrote about him when I drafted him.

“I didn’t plan on adding a third closer and actually hate Nathan. But Ausmus is the type of player/manager that trusts his veterans and will have a longer leash than most. Hell, look at the leash he had last year! I’ll try to get as much out of him as I can to give me that half closer you need to really make a push with saves throughout the year and won’t have to spend 300 FAAB dollars to do it.”

I guess I can put two checkmarks next to that, lol. I still hate Nathan and I still will spend 300+ FAAB dollars on a closer… or two.



The next 3 rounds are guys that are still on this team and haven’t been spectacular, but haven’t been dead weight and contributed in their own little way. Leake, Nelson, and Markakis have all just been a guy for this team, but in the 21-23rd rounds, what more could you ask for really?

Ah, the weekly decision rounds for me. Valbuena and LaMehieu actually have made a good combo at MI for me this year with their combined stats. Valbuena has given me the power, while DJ has helped with the average, even though he has struggled as of late, he has been riding the bench lately. Not too shabby to combine these two in the latter part of the draft to make a good combo for the MI slot.

Brown was my first easy drop that I picked next as he still isn’t back, which says something since the Phillies aren’t that great this year. My favorite pick of the draft has really turned out to be one of my top 3 picks of the draft in reality. Bartolo Colon has been fun to watch this year for so many reasons. Having him has really been a key for me stabilizing that back end of the pitching staff. Good job Bartolo! Give yourself a round of applause!



My last 3 picks were all lottery tickets as most picks are in this territory are. Worley was dropped. Buxton is my second lottery ticket I’m waiting to cash and like that the Twins are better than expected and still have a hole in CF that he could instantly upgrade. Him coming up sooner rather than later would give this OF another huge push for the overall. I was right about Swihart getting called up sooner than expected, but dropped him before he did come up. But so far, he has looked a bit overwhelmed at the plate, so not a huge loss on that ticket.

After going through this team, two things stood out to me as to why this team has been decent. The first reason being that it has stayed relatively healthy all year long. Health sometimes can be an underrated part of our game. Yes it makes the most sense, but it is sometimes forgotten. Secondly, the pitching staff has been so good that I haven’t needed the WW fodder that usually helps destroy pitching staffs. Especially this year where there seems to be even less supply for those same pitchers. While I did hit on some picks, I did miss on a couple too, which everyone is going to do. Yes some guys have had insanely hot starts they can’t possibly keep up, but looking through most of the guys, you can see that I have more guys that are just now starting to heat up rather than just starting to slow down.

Next week I’ll take a look at some of the key FAAB guys that have helped this team, as well as delve into the stats as a team a bit more. Don’t want to have you guys read a book every week so I will leave this as a to be continued for next week.


(Bonus points to whoever can guess what show that is from. Shouldn’t be too hard if you are a long-term reader!)

[Doctor Who]

The answer to the above question I left you with was… The X-Files.

I was a bit delayed this week getting this out due to a couple of small reasons. First was Memorial Day. Then the next two days have been filled with work at my job concerning the flood. We had 2 levels of our garage under water, and even half a floor into the first floor of the hotel I work at. Crazy last couple of days, as we had so much water interstates were shut down! Working 16+ hour days doesn’t leave too much time for baseball, but we will try and get back on track today. Below are just some of the crazy photos of Houston.



This 90 second video below pretty much sums it up as they show multiple interstates and major highways completely under water.

http://abc13.com/weather/raw-video-floo ... on/742564/

Okay now back to your scheduled programming…

I wanted to go through the pickups that this team has seen this year, to show the weekly turnover with teams like this and how they have an impact on your team. I have my own ranking system, which I’m sure some of you use as well.

1- POS
2- Bum
3- Eh
4- Serviceable
5- Yahtzee!


Week 1

David Buchanon $6- Luckily for me, he never saw the light of day on this roster. (Incomplete)

Gregor Blanco $1- Only saw one week of playing time, got 1 run and batted .231. (1)

Week 2

Chris Heston $7- Double start week resulted in a win, 11 K’s, 1.22 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP, and was the only week I carried him. (5)

Tom Koehler $4- Double start week was horrible. Got a win somehow with a 9.34 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. (1)

Tuffy Gosewhich $1- 37 AB .189 2 runs and 3 RBI’s. Not exactly inspiring even from a C. (1)

Week 3

CC Sabathia $37- First player that is still on the team and starting to wonder why. In 35 IP, have gotten 2 wins, a 5.80 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and 29 K’s. (1)

Jorge De La Rosa $8- Weird double start week. 12 IP, 9.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP but 19 K’s? How does that happen? (1)

Week 4

Eric Campbell $6- Never got in the lineup and a very good thing he didn’t. (Incomplete)

Bryan Pena $3- In 70 AB, has a .300 AVG, but only 6 runs and 3 RBI’s. Catchers suck this year. (3)

Freddy Galvis $3-Filled in for the Zobrist injury, and got 91 AB, .275, 13 Runs, 3 RBI’s and 5 SB. Not bad for $3! (4)

Week 5

John Axford $337- 5 saves in 7 IP. Locked down the job. Only 2 K’s but a 1.28 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. (Obviously verdict still is out, but now it is a 5)

Brett Cecil $337- 1 save in 8 IP. Illusion because he has been good, just no chances. 10 K’s, 1.12 ERA, and 1.00 WHIP. Has a good handle on the job in the 9th (Verdict still out, now it is a 4)

Week 6

Delino Deshields $3- 42 AB’s .238 AVG, 8 runs, 2 RBI’s and 2 SB. Felt like he should have been better. (3)

Week 7

No pickups.

Week 8

John Danks $1- Didn’t make it into the lineup and thank goodness he didn’t. (Incomplete)

Week 9

HA! I bet you wish I typed in who I was going after and for how much! You silly competitors! I know I’m not the smartest peanut in the poop but give me some credit!

Just a quick overview shows that I haven’t been too active in FAAB this year. Only 14 pickups in 8 weeks once again shows that the roster has been relatively healthy. It also shows that I don’t typically go after the big FA of the week, but am not afraid to spend when I have too. I talked about it a few weeks ago, but FAAB is its own beast in this game we love. You need to master it along with the draft to win an overall. I think it is a huge learning curve, as you don’t want to waste money, want to make impact pickups, yet want to conserve so you aren’t left with nothing at the end of the year. You have to be conservative, yet selectively aggressive with the shark invested waters in the NFBC. Basically, it comes down to things. Luck and timing. If you have one of those, you are in good shape. Get both? And you start to have a magical season.

Going into week 9, this team has $246 left to spend with 2/3 of the season left. FAAB money among the top 5 teams in our league shows a bit of concern, but some hope as well. King of Queens, our first place team has less than me at 214. Oaktown, our second place team has a crazy $841 left. Probable Cause, our 4th place team has $645, and Hell Bent for Leather rounds out the top 5 with only $282. This league has been amazing, as our top 3 teams are all in the top 13 overall, and is still anyone’s game. KOQ and I have both taken our shots already, while Oaktown still has a few bullets left. I wonder if he will loan some out to me. I don’t mind paying some points on it!

[KJ Duke]

Been wanting to fill one of these out… I’m usually the one receiving them!

Well Peds is finally starting to prove he's worth something, up to 7 HRs and getting close to .300. But Sonny has definitely been way better. My pitching has been a nightmare, one blowup after another from guys with really good stuff (thanks Anibal and Taijuan, among others). Hopefully I can turn that around and get into the race from a deep, deep hole. In the meantime enjoy Dustin, it's been an impressive showing by you, Glenn and Scott!

[Edwards Kings]

Below are just some of the crazy photos of Houston.

Yikes! Man that is rough.

NOTE TO SELF: Do not buy any used cars for a while....

I wanted to go through the pickups that this team has seen this year, to show the weekly turnover with teams like this and how they have an impact on your team. I have my own ranking system, which I’m sure some of you use as well.

1- POS
2- Bum
3- Eh
4- Serviceable
5- Yahtzee!


Week 1

David Buchanon $6- Luckily for me, he never saw the light of day on this roster. (Incomplete)

Gregor Blanco $1- Only saw one week of playing time, got 1 run and batted .231. (1)

Week 2

Chris Heston $7- Double start week resulted in a win, 11 K’s, 1.22 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP, and was the only week I carried him. (5)

Tom Koehler $4- Double start week was horrible. Got a win somehow with a 9.34 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. (1)

Tuffy Gosewhich $1- 37 AB .189 2 runs and 3 RBI’s. Not exactly inspiring even from a C. (1)

Week 3

CC Sabathia $37- First player that is still on the team and starting to wonder why. In 35 IP, have gotten 2 wins, a 5.80 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and 29 K’s. (1)

Jorge De La Rosa $8- Weird double start week. 12 IP, 9.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP but 19 K’s? How does that happen? (1)

Week 4

Eric Campbell $6- Never got in the lineup and a very good thing he didn’t. (Incomplete)

Bryan Pena $3- In 70 AB, has a .300 AVG, but only 6 runs and 3 RBI’s. Catchers suck this year. (3)

Freddy Galvis $3-Filled in for the Zobrist injury, and got 91 AB, .275, 13 Runs, 3 RBI’s and 5 SB. Not bad for $3! (4)

Week 5

John Axford $337- 5 saves in 7 IP. Locked down the job. Only 2 K’s but a 1.28 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. (Obviously verdict still is out, but now it is a 5)

Brett Cecil $337- 1 save in 8 IP. Illusion because he has been good, just no chances. 10 K’s, 1.12 ERA, and 1.00 WHIP. Has a good handle on the job in the 9th (Verdict still out, now it is a 4)

Week 6

Delino Deshields $3- 42 AB’s .238 AVG, 8 runs, 2 RBI’s and 2 SB. Felt like he should have been better. (3)

Week 7

No pickups.

Week 8

John Danks $1- Didn’t make it into the lineup and thank goodness he didn’t. (Incomplete)

Week 9

HA! I bet you wish I typed in who I was going after and for how much! You silly competitors! I know I’m not the smartest peanut in the poop but give me some credit!

Good info. I may just steal this format for my blog!

This league has been amazing, as our top 3 teams are all in the top 13 overall, and is still anyone’s game. KOQ and I have both taken our shots already, while Oaktown still has a few bullets left. I wonder if he will loan some out to me. I don’t mind paying some points on it!

Wow! And here I was bitching to myself that there were two from my league in the top 20! Gonna be a dog fight for you all year, brother. Glenn Schroter and Scott Jenstad are without a doubt two of the best. You want to hate the scoundrels, but they are too nice...

[Doctor Who]

Going into tonight, I dropped a bit this week to 17th overall, as this team starts to fade just a tad off its incredible start. It has been an awesome ride for most of the season, and just like Wayne, it is time to see how this start has happened stat wise and what to look for going forward. The goal is to be in the top 80% in each category and overall if a category isn’t in the top 80% (top 90 entries), then you better be even better in the other categories (why punting a category is so hard to win an overall). Below I’ll go through what is needed so far this season, where I sit at and my worry level on attaining my goal.

Worry level grading system (Since I live next to a beach, and beach weather is here…)

1- Sitting pretty on the beach.



2- Looking good, but my ice-cream is melting.



3- It’s okay here; a breeze would help make this better.



4- Is that a rain cloud?



5- Uh, oh. I’m screwed.




BA- top 90 = .2684 or better (I sit at 157 at .2645)

Off the pace just a bit here, but a hot week or two will jump that average where I need it, which this team needs a good offensive week soon. AGone, Markakis, Carpenter, and LeMahieu have been keeping the ship from sinking.

Worry level- 3

Runs- top 90 = 320 or better (I sit at 4th overall at 363)

This has been the best category on this team, even if they aren’t hitting, they are still finding a way to score runs. Really has been incredible, and what has helped keep this team afloat. Pretty much everyone has contributed to this as 11 out of the 14 spots are filled with players with 20 runs or more.

Worry level- 1

HR- top 90 = 82 or better (I sit at 49th overall with 87)

This is a category that is still squeezed a bit from top to bottom. A good week can jump me in the standings, and a bad one can bounce me out of the top 90. Wish I was a bit better in this category as I based this team off power. AGone, EE, and Trumbo have held their own, but this team needs more from the OF spots.

Worry level- 2

RBI- top 90 = 309 or better (I sit at 210th with 288)

This has been the exact opposite as runs; my guys can score, but aren’t getting the opportunities to drive in runs, even when they hit some bombs. Only EE, AGone, and Carpenter really have done anything. Once again, I need to find an OF that can start to do this better as that is where it needs to come from.

Worry level- 5

SB- top 90 = 49 or better (I sit at 380th with 31)

SB’s for this team was a worry going in and still is. The top guys on this team have 5 SB and really have nowhere to get any SB from going forward. At this point, I’m almost punting this category even though I’m not trying to. If this team can somehow find a treasure in speed, it might have a chance going forward to make up some ground.

Worry level- 5

ERA- top 90 = 3.428 or better (I sit at 3.040 in 18th overall)

Outside of Sabathia, Koehler, and De La Rosa, this team has avoided the blow ups all season long. Felix, Gray, and Miller have provided this team an insanely good base.

Worry level- 1

Wins- top 90 = 31 or better (I sit at 18th overall with 36)

Once again, my big three have carried me in this category as well as the greatest fat man I know, Bartolo Colon pitching in with 5 himself.

Worry level- 2 (only because wins are so hit or miss)

WHIP- top 90 = 1.189 or better (I sit at 9th overall with 1.102)

Once again, avoiding the blowups has done wonders for this team and really carried this team all year. Will that continue? Will I continue to play battleship and avoid getting hit?

Worry level- 1

Saves- top 90 = 31 or better (I sit at 166 overall with 27)

Perkins has been amazing, as has the Twins, if they can continue; he may end up the league leader in saves. After buying Cecil and Axford, this team has the ability to make a move up the standings in this category if they can all stay healthy and keep their jobs.

Worry level- 3

K’s- top 90 = 435 or better (I sit at 122 overall with 429)

This is another category that is so bunched up it changes by the day. With 3 closers though, I need to keep an eye on this category and find a balance somewhere. I have started to pay more attention to this and may have to gamble some in the coming weeks to stay ahead of the problem that looms.

Worry level- 3

As everyone talks about, there are 25-27 sprints to reach the full season depending on who you talk to. This team has shown that if it is hitting on all cylinders, it can go after an overall title. But even during the off weeks, you need to be in shouting range of that top 90, and the past week was my worse one yet, which I hope isn’t the start of this teams decline. Below is how this team has done the past 9 weeks in the overall.

1- 8
2- 40
3- 142
4- 113
5- 135
6- 18
7- 26
8- 53
9- 175

As you can see, 5 weeks have been amazing, 3 have been in the top third, and I have yet to be in the bottom half during a week. But to win an overall, you need to keep pushing forward, and strengthen your weaknesses without taking away from your strengths too much. The grind continues, and the mistakes will start to prove more costly as the season wears on. For this mosquito, it is about to be summer in Texas, which means only one thing…