Diamond Dynasty: The month that was…
JUNE
News
We had a mini arms race at the end of May as both Richie and Alex stopped by Kurt’s fantasy yard sale to pick off some valuable assets. Richie added some much needed speed in Rajai Davis, Alex nabbed Gio Gonzalez and Jurickson Profar, and Kurt stocked up with some 2015 draft picks so he can pick more guys I’ve never heard of that end up in the top 100. The trade market is still simmering, but has cooled off after what seemed to be the beginning of a run.
Standings Analysis
As in previous years, three distinct tiers have started to form. The difference, though, is that one of the tiers is falling between 6-7, which is making for an uninspiring playoff chase. Richie has sat atop the standings for eight weeks in a row, with Alex lurking in the second-place shadows. The second tier is turning into a 4-team dogfight. Since the last update, Jarrett (34-14-2) and James (30-16-4) have played great ball while Colin and Ben (each 22-23-5) have been treading water. And the final tier, currently 11 games out of the playoff picture, has TJ, Adrian, Kurt, and Drew all playing sub-.500 over the last month. Drew is on pace to set DD record worsts in winning percentage and wins.
Shutout Watch
Three teams put up 7 wins in week 9 but the shutouts were out of reach. The closest was probably Jarrett in a 7-2 victory over Kurt. Jarrett lost home runs 7-4 and wins 4-3, but pulled even with a 5-5 tie in saves.
History was made in week 10 as James became the first manager to tap the shutout pool with a 10-0 evisceration of Drew (who else). There were some close categories; James edged Drew by one home run and one save – but Maimonis got the job done. Drew could have thwarted James’ shutout bid but he left Casey Janssen and his 3 saves on his DL all week (Toronto activated Janssen on May 12, week 10 started on June 2). So whether that money should have gone toward the next shutout or the end of the year payouts, you can thank Drew for costing you an additional $100. Entering Saturday, both Richie and James were shutting out their opponents and it looked for a minute like the first ever shutout payout would be shared. Richie faded with a .177 avg over the weekend but Jarrett came out of nowhere to reapply the pressure. Jarrett came within .07 WHIP of shutting out second-place Alex but had to settle for the 9-1 upset. Richie finished with an 8-2 win over Adrian (ERA “tied” at 3.78, I want a recount).
The closest call we had in Week 11 was Alex’s 7-1 victory over Drew. Alex missed the $10 shutout prize by one stolen base, one win, and less than .10 WHIP…s. Colin hung a 7 spot on Kurt, but lost Wins by 4. The most surprising result of the week was James’ 8-1 drubbing of Richie, who captured the strikeouts category by a wide margin. The result ended Richie’s 9 week win streak.
Week 12 had two shut-out bids that narrowly missed. It’s debatable which was closer, so I’ll be a gentleman and give Jarrett the nod with his 8-2 win over Drew. Jarrett was 2 home runs and 2 RBI’s away from tapping the shutout pool. It’s the fourth time Drew has made it on the Shutout Watch, all for the wrong reasons. The other close call was Richie’s 9-1 win over Alex. Gentilli deserved better, as all 10 categories could have gone either way. Richie fell short of the shutout by 11 strikeouts.
Week 13 was probably our most competitive week yet, with 9 managers failing to win more than 6 categories. But Alex came so damn close to shutting out Ben, a shocker considering both teams’ success thus far. Entering Sunday night, Alex needed a Brock Holt HR - something totally in play considering the crazy season that guy is having. But he could not muscle one out, which left Alex one home run shy of the 10-0 payday.
Battle for the Belt
Belt holders were much more successful this month, as Alex and Jarrett went a combined 4-1 in defenses. We’re rapidly approaching the first payday, an $80 bonus for whoever holds the belt entering week 16. Jarrett plays Richie this week, the only manager yet to play for the belt. In the All-Star-break-extended week 15, Richie plays Ben and Jarrett plays Adrian. One of these four managers will take home the first ever WWE Belt payday.
2 Team Spotlight
This week: 2014’s unexpected performances
Richie – Cashing His Chips In
Richie began the 2014 season on May 26, 2013 when he traded Felix Hernandez to Alex for David Wright but more importantly, Alex’s 2014 14th round draft pick. Richie acquired Jarrett’s and Ben’s 10th round picks in two more trade deadline deals. And while not all of the extra picks worked out (Jim Johnson), the freedom to take chances and pick some riskier propositions (Masahiro Tanaka) could not have gone better. He had more wins by week 12 this year than all of last year and now, halfway through the 2014 campaign, has a chance at one of the best seasons in DD history.
Richie has been remarkably healthy on both sides of the ball through the first 13 weeks. In a season where big names are spending bigger time on DL’s, Richie has only lost one – Prince Fielder – to an extended DL stint. Despite losing the long-time keeper for the season, Travers leads the league in RBI’s and is second in runs and home runs. He has 4 of the top 20 ranked hitters, led by 14th-round flex-kept Carlos Gomez (13th). Richie also has two rookie of the year candidates in Jose Abreu (who covered for Prince’s woeful season just too perfectly) and George Springer, who are 1-2 in rookie HR’s. Early-season acquisition Brian Dozier (15 HR, 15 SB) has been a top-30 player all season, and the dependable plug in guys like Hunter Pence and Alex Gordon have come as advertised. All of these players have helped to cover the slightly underperforming Hanley Ramirez and David Wright, the only offensive keepers not yet mentioned. And believe it or not, this offense is the “bad” side of the ball for the league’s only best blogger.
After James McDonald, Roy Halladay, and the mess that was his 2013 Staaf, Richie put more focus in this year’s attempt and thus far, it’s worked big-time. The league’s best staff (by Roto measures) is led by yet another rookie of the year candidate, the aforementioned Tanaka (ranked 6th). His three closers are battling each other for the league-lead in saves. At one point, Richie lead the league in W, K, ERA, and WHIP and is currently top-3 in each category. His team record on defense is 46-15-4 (.738). Before a slight slump in weeks 11-13 (14-15-1), Richie was on pace for a .685 team winning percentage and a projected 145 wins, both of which would best Ben O’Connor’s league-record marks set back in 2005 (.666 and 144 wins). With the playoffs in clear sight and a bye week within reach, Richie is praying to God, Zeus, Buddha, Durga, and every other spiritual being in the universe that his good fortune and excellent play will continue throughout the season and deep into the postseason so that he can pay rent finally get his name on the Diamond Dynasty Chalice.
Kurt – BefudDLing Results
By any measure, Kurt is the most consistently successful managers in league history. He’s the only manager with ten 100-win seasons. His worst season was a 94-win campaign that landed him in seventh place, one game out of the playoffs (it’s the only season he’s failed to reach the playoffs). He has more playoff wins than anyone and, most importantly, two DD Chalices in his trophy case. But when Richie is in first place, you know this isn’t your typical season. The Commissioner’s 86-win pace would be his lowest total in DD history. The .427 winning percentage would be a nearly 100 points below his career average. Let’s take a look at what the hell is going on here.
Offensively, Kurt is no better than 6th in any one category and is bottom two in three of them. The keepers have been a huge disappointment in both quantity and quality of games played. Joey Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, and Bryce Harper have played in just over half of their teams’ games. On the flip side, Evan Longoria has started all 84 games for the Rays but has managed only 10 homers and sits outside the top 100 ranked. Anthony Rendon (22nd round) and Corey Dickerson (FA, June 4) are his only hitters in the top 100, while top 100 O-Rankers like Shin-Soo Choo, Brett Lawrie, and Carlos Santana can’t crack the top 200. “Whenever someone starts performing well they go on the DL,” Kurt explained. “But they stay healthy when they suck. My team is Clay Buchholz.” He pointed to Brett Lawrie as a microcosm of his season thus far who, after a good stretch of baseball will miss 3-6 weeks with a broken finger after being hit by a pitch. And the bad news? Kurt’s offense looks downright competitive compared to his Staaf.
Jered Weaver is Kurt’s best drafted pitcher at 97th. He grabbed Dallas Keuchel on May 2nd and is his only other formidable arm on the staff. His only other pitcher inside the top 200 is Mike Leake. Everything else is uglier than...something really ugly. He traded Gio Gonzalez to Alex earlier this month, Matt Cain has been an enormous disappointment, Jason Grilli has been lifted as the closer and Joe Nathan doesn’t seem far behind. Alex Cobb hasn’t been a factor since coming off the DL. I understand ranks aren’t everything and can sometimes be misleading; for instance, Zack Wheeler is a K per IP guy and Chase Anderson is challenging a sub-3 ERA, but neither have the wins to bump up their numbers. But at the moment there’s just very little here that scares you as an opponent, and I don’t see who steps up to turn it around. Frankly, Kurt is way overdue for a clunker season; to reiterate, he missed the playoffs exactly once. By one game. He’s already pulled the trigger on a couple trades that look geared to next season. But if you think he’s waving the white flag, you’re dead wrong. “Only ever missed the playoffs once,” Kurt said. “I will still make it this year, you can take that to the bank.”
Roto Power Rankings
Offense
1. Colin (41)
2. Alex (36)
2. Richie (36)
4. Jarrett (31)
5. Ben (29)
5. James (29)
7. Drew (25)
8. TJ (21)
9. Adrian (14)
10. Kurt (13)
Defense
1. Richie (45)
2. Alex (41)
3. Ben (40)
4. Jarrett (27)
5. Colin (26)
6. TJ (25)
7. Adrian (22)
8. James (18)
9. Drew (17)
10 Kurt (14)
Overall
1. Richie (81)
2. Alex (77)
3. Ben (69)
4. Colin (67)
5. Jarrett (58)
6. James (47)
7. TJ (46)
8. Drew (42)
9. Adrian (36)
10. Kurt (27)
June’s All-Stars (as of Monday June 30)
C – J. Lucroy (James)
1B – A. Rizzo (Ben)
2B – A. Rendon (Kurt)
3B – T. Frazier (Jarrett)
SS – H. Ramirez (Richie)
CI – J. Abreu (Richie)
MI – J. Altuve (Colin)
OF – B. Hamilton (Jarrett)
OF – A. McCutchen (Alex)
OF – M. Trout (Colin)
OF – Y. Cespedes (Drew)
UTIL – C. Dickerson (Kurt)
SP – C. Kershaw (Jarrett)
SP – F. Hernandez (Alex)
SP – M. Tanaka (Richie)
SP – G. Richards (TJ)
SP – J. Zimmerman (Ben)
RP – S. Doolittle (Jarrett)
RP –K. Uehara (Adrian)
P – J. Arrieta (James)
P – D. Price (Drew)
P – J. Cueto (Adrian)
