Is it September or am I just the most dedicated Commissioner/Blogger who writes about the In's and Out's of their league on a weekly basis? I set my alarm this morning for 3AM, not to stream the best available arm but to bring you this wonderful little pamphlet of knowledge. Minus the page indentions of course. Been a rough week at the Coleman household as the stomach virus has been volleyed around. The lingering stinch of Arbys chicken tenders blended with formula fill the air. Trust me it's not as appealing as it sounds. Anyway a battled tested warrior such as myself isn't going to let something like life get in the way. So for those of you who have been refreshing this page every 5 minutes on the dot, Junior, heres to you.
Game Recaps
Whitley 9 vs. Fenney 1. A week after questioning the ability of the Free Hat's to dominate opposition he responds with the most lopsided victory of week one. As expected the offense was spectacular. Free Hat posted a Top 5 Run Week, was second in RBI, tied for second in HR, and posted league best in AVG and OPS by a rather large margin. The pitching as expected wasn't spectacular but it was good enough, which is the beauty of the H2H format. Combine a potent offense with the unexpected impolosions of David Price and expected implosions of Edinson Volguez from the Deathsquad and lopsided W's will find you. Fly the flag Todd, fly the flag.
MVP- Choo .375/3/8/3/1/1.308
Lee 9 vs. Ward 3. Jesse was in high spirits early in the week. I fielded a few phone calls on potential strategery Mr. Ward had in store however the late week push by the Ding of Dong forced Jesso to keep them in his pocket for another day. I'm not gonna lie the world is a better place when Chris loses but sometime I find myself rooting for him with the hope that another season will be ended in the playoffs with the blood on my hands. Good speed week for Bopp as his 12 lead the league. Power was decent with 14 bombs, certainly didn't match the output of Chris's feats as a 12 year old playing in the Minor leagues against the 7's and 8's, but who can be elite every week? Pitching paved the way for the landslide victory. The PEDophile's took 5 of 6 and posted very good ratio's along the way. On a side note I noticed a Stien in the Tri-State Jailed release that had a shocking resembelence to Em's. For the record it wasn't her the age of 27 was much too old for Bopp's taste. He's not doing the Senior Circuit quite yet.
MVP- Reynolds .300/4/6/7/02/1.314
Jr McClung 8 vs. Sr. McClung 3. So much for a Civil War. It's one thing to attempt to protect your son from weekly scrutiny, see below, but to come out Opening Week and lay a egg. A week after I praise Senior as a Playoff team his offense post league worst numbers in 3 of 6 spots and was runner up in 2 more. While I would love to just throw Mike repeatedly under the bus and not give Junior praise it's too early to hurt peoples feelings. So Junior way to go. You got the best week of Justin Upton's life. Yes I realize he's been better than Bautista but let's let a month of the season play out at least before I'm getting bombarded with text advising me of this. Much like Free Hat the Maniac's were lead by the offense, winning 6 of 6 with a couple of weekly highs. The pitching wasn't good but leave it to Dad to be worse.
MVP- Upton .318/5/7/7/0/1.405
Burt 7 vs. Butch 5. To quote Butch, "Order was restored.", Sunday Night as the BCFP claimed Victory and bettered Lemaster. Certainly wasn't the week I wanted as I'm sure Butch would say the same. My pitching was good but offensively only Runs and HR were good enough to win typically. Butchie claimed 5 of 6 offensive stats and had a stellar week. He like Fenney was doomed in by presumed aces in Cain, Weaver, and Scherezer and for the love of God quit believing in Julio Teheran. At some point enough is enough.
MVP- Wainwright 2/12/3.46/1.38/8.31
GRC3 6 vs. Bowe 6. The wheels are already starting to fall off for Bowe. You may as well pack up that Trophy and send it back to the league offices. One week in the book and Bowe has yet to claim Victory. Will the drought ever end. Will this be the first winless season in the history of the 64/60. For Christ sakes, Andy Clark managed to win a few yet the returning Champ can't even get to the plus side of .500. I can't believe the Trophy has your name on it, and Richard's for that matter. The panic may be a bit premature but Bowe certainly can't be happy about the offense in Week 1. Thankfully you the Stars saved you from complete mockery. The classic 6/6 split divided 50/50 in pitching and hitting. I would be interested in knowing how frequently this happens because it sure seems to be a common trend. GRC posted good offensive stats and had respectable K and K ratio numbers. However Bowe's excellent pitching week robbed GRC3 or a W despite Bowe not getting the Bat's out of the bag this week. Interesting Note Richard rostered Halladay, Marmol and Axford likely 3 of the Top 5 worst pitching performances of Week 1.
MVP- Samardziga 1/22/2.63/.80/14.49
Rice 7 vs. Holland 4. The battle of expansion teams earns Nate Rice his first career 64/60 victory. Have one on me. There not easy to come by. To no suprise the Pitching was superb for the HGH. League best ERA and WHIP by a landslide. Those could hold up for the year as well which will earn you a big pat on the back at the year end banquet. The biggest suprise for me was his offense posting very stellar numbers in the counting stats and a little bit of luck with the .259 mark earning the stat. Really a tough luck loss for Holland in his debut. While some of it was ugly the overall numbers typically net you more than 4 spots. Here's to many more weeks of Yahoo scoring updates Mr. Rice. Between the Win and the Roster moves (see below) we have a stir that shakes the drink. Holland chin up buddy, chin up.
Pickup Of The Week
Paul Maholm- Free Hat, Todd Whitley. After a rough start critically, Mr. Whitley has redeemed himself in my eyes. Make no mistake Maholm isn't a fantasy #1 or #2 but he is a guy who you feel pretty good about regardless of matchup. He won't net you 200 K's but he has developed some punch out potential and a high GB rate makes him a rather safe bet in avoiding the 3IP 7ER outburst.
Head Scratcher Of The Week
Cody Ross dropped for Barry Zito- Barboursville Stars, Mike McClung. For those of you new to the In-N-Out get used to a McClung occupying this spot. In all fairness to Senior it's typically Junior. I'll assume this is nothing more than a father shielding his son from mockery. Moving on. The addition of Zito, outside a spot start, in a 12 Team League deserves ridicule. Dropping Ross only days before his return from the Disabled List when your OF includes Franklin Gutierrez, Justin Ruggiano, Lucas Duda, and Dayan Viciedo, all of whom would rank under Ross, wins you this award. Congrats Mike!
Trade Evaluation
Free Hat, Todd Whitley sends Matt Wieters to HGH Factory, Nate Rice for Justin Verlander. Consider this the first point of controversy during the regular season. While I only heard from one owner I am sure many were somewhat suprised to see this transaction hit the wire. Let me first defend or rather explain my stance regarding trade approval. It's quite simple I do enough critiquing of others roster in these breakdowns who am I to determine how others want to build their rosters. Point being, unless I feel strongly that two owners are colluding to the detriment of the league then the trade will be approved. As for the trade I can't help but feeling HGH could have landed more in return. While Wieters is a borderline top 100 player at a scarce position it was not a position that the HGH was particularly weak at. Perhaps a OF option such as Gordon, Morse, or Choo would have made a better compliment to the needs of the HGH. As I stated last week in the preview I felt Free Hat was one big arm away from being a very good team. On paper Verlander is about as big as they get. While knee jerk reaction is to believe Free Hat ran away with this deal let's keep two things in our memory banks for further review. 1. Not long ago Wieters was thought to be this Catcher that would transcend into Top 10 Player status not because of his position but because of the numbers. Mauer with Power was the saying I believe. 2. Ace type Pitchers who have guided there teams to the World Series have had issues the following season. Cole Hammels and Tim Lincecum both come to mind. I don't subscribe two either of those scenarios at this point but certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
1 comment:
great read. i agree with the assessment of the trade but i did turn this trade down once before and did have to consider it for a few days before pulling the trigger. i think wieters is a top 5 catcher and he still hasnt had that "year" yet. i, like the majority of the 64/60, value offense over pitching and i think this is the year that wieters has a year that puts him in the conversation as top overall C. i think both teams are better because of the trade and i can assure that no collusion is going on. with the football playoffs and week one of the mlb im on a four game winning streak in the 64/60.
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