Bill Phipps/Eric Kesselman Win NFBC Diamond & $75,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

The team of Bill Phipps & Eric Kesselman completed the sweep of our high-stakes private leagues in 2017 by winning the NFBC Diamond Draft League. It was a battle to the top spot, but once they took the lead with two weeks of the season left there was no turning back. Phipps & Kesselman won the $75,000 league prize with 118 points, edging defending champion Joe Berg by three points.

Berg won $35,000 for his runnerup finish, while Derek Pierson won $20,000 for finishing third. Pierson finished one point ahead of Dan Semsel/Gaetan Lavoie as that duo won $10,000 for finishing fourth. Like all of these leagues, the final money positions went right down to the final games of the season.

Here's a look at the final standings:

NFBC Diamond Draft League Final Standings:
Schadengimps2 118
Money 115
MustSeeTV314{DMD} 102.5
A Cow Always Pays Her Debts 101.5
Team Ferrari 96.5
Team Roberts 93

The winning draft spot for this league was No. 8 as Phipps & Kesselman started with Trea Turner and followed him Corey Kluber and Edwin Encarnacion. Elvis Andrus again graced this winning roster as he was selected in the 10th round, while Mike Moustakas was a good pick in Round 13 and Justin Smoak was a bargain in Round 30. There really wasn't a game-changing FAAB bid in this league as they picked up enough potential closers and depth players to stay in the hunt for the title.

Great job everyone and let's do it again next year.