Week 2 Power Rankings

A lot of moving around this week, as to be expected this early. Here's how everyone stands after two weeks:

1. TJ - 76.  (+3)
2. Ben - 64.5   (+22.5)
3. Jarrett - 63.5 (-1.5)
4. Alex - 59. (-18.5)
5. Colin - 56.  (+16.5)
6. Adrian - 55.  (+1.5)
7.  Kurt - 51.  (+3)
8.  James - 46.   (-7)
9.  Drew - 39.5.  (-11)
10. Richie - 39.5. (-8.5)

Notes:
-Ben needed just one week to go from (second to) last to (second to) first.
-Drew hilariously has the worst ERA and WHIP in the league. That probably won't last but it can't be pointed out enough.
-Justin Upton, errr.. I mean, TJ's team is looking very strong offensively. His all closer strategy looks good so far, but the inevitable mass spot-starts should level out the pitching numbers. That said, looks like the all around best team going forward.
-Colin's team gets out of last place, but the panic trade of Trout and Cabrera should catapult him to the top spot. He is currently fielding offers for the two packaged in exchange for a good-but-not-great MI.

Weekly Matchups - Week 3

Hey boys, I was gonna get this up yesterday but got distracted...hope everyone, and everyone you know, is alright.

Week 3's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – Blowouts abound with the league's first shutout of the year and two other teams putting up only one win.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Alex (10^th) vs Richie (9^th)

Yikes, what a start. These two schmucks accounted for the two biggest blowouts last week and are bringing up the rear to start the season. Richie fell last week to TJ, 1-8-1 behind another poor offensive week. He only managed 6 homeruns, 1 stolen base, and a .231 average despite Prince Fielders big week (2 HR, 11 RBI, .632 Avg). His pitching was equally inept, posting 4 wins, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Richie was able to throw up 10 saves but still lost the category to TJ's 12! (record check?) He's suffering from slow starts from everyone but Fielder, who is the only drafted offensive player on his roster to crack the top 122. And now we shift to the ever humble Alex Gentilli, who posted this smack talk in his match up with Ben:

April 8, 10:18pm: Before this matchup is over, my teams dick will penetrate your teams ass

Nailed it.

Ben turned the tables on Nostradamus in a big way, posting the first shutout win of the season. Alex only had one .300 hitter (Wilin Rosario) and no multi-HR guys. He posted a .213 team average. His pitching was even worse, with 2 wins, 3 saves, and a whopping 5.91/1.53 ERA and WHIP. A 10-0 loss, especially this early in the season, will obviously skew the numbers wildly (He was ranked #1 in the Power Rankings following week 1, so these numbers early on have to be taken with a grain of salt.) I don't expect Alex to spend too much time in the basement.

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel" – Kurt (8^th) vs Drew (7^th)

Drew was a hard luck loser last week, getting edged out in a number of categories en route to a 2-6 loss. He came up short by 4 runs, 3 RBI's and 2 SB's. But Drew's team is built on pitching and those arms did not show up last week. He was able to win K's but put up only 2 wins, 4 saves, and very pedestrian ERA/WHIP numbers. He looks to rebound this week against Kurt, who was another victim of the head-to-head scoring process. I counted 6 categories that could have gone either way, and Kurt went 1-4-1 in those areas. But, horseshoes and hand grenades my friends. He got good production across the board but it wasn't enough to prevent a 7-1 loss against Colin. Interesting that neither of these guys tried to pick up a cheap closer to steal the saves category as they both settled for the 0-0 tie.

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Ben (2^nd) vs Jarrett (6^th)

What a difference a week makes. Ben faltered in week 1, losing 7-2-1 to TJ and had the dubious honor of the first team to be in last place. But now, after a dominating 10-0 victory over Alex he finds himself launched into second place! Robbie Cano blasted 3 taters and delivered as many hits as outs (.500 avg) during the week. On the pitching side, Ben got double digit strikeouts from 5 starters, and posted a team 2.23 ERA and microscopic 0.97 WHIP. He'll look to keep it rolling this week against Jarrett, who finds himself in the middle of the pack thus far. Last week Jarrett tied James 5-5. Jarrett was able to hold on to some tight offensive categories thanks to level contributions from his entire roster, but lost three categories due to some tricky managing from James. About that....

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – James (5^th) vs Colin (3^rd)

As I was looking at last week's results, I finally get to James-Jarrett and see that James puts up a 0.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Um...what? Then it starts to sink in...2 wins, 10 k's, 1 save...Mams is a tricky bitch. With Jarrett's all-starter pitching staff, Mams got his one save with Tom Wilhelmsen, hit the innings limit with Alexi Ogando and Clay Buchholz, and then benched all his guys for the rest of the week. With his ERA, WHIP, and saves locked up, he let K's and W's go (he didn't have a shot anyway) and tried to grab as many offensive categories as he could. He ended up only winning 2 offensive categories so it didn't totally work, but I'm kind of interested in what the league thinks about this move – I think I remember my brother's fantasy football league running into this and there was some grumbling. For the record, I have no issues with this and think it's actually pretty smart – if you think it gives you the best chance to win, why wouldn't you do it? Anyway, James tied Jarrett 5-5 and now has to face Colin, who had a great week last week against Kurt and won 7-1. The win jumps him up to the top 3 in the early season. Paul Konerko, Miguel Cabrera, and Hunter Pence all had good weeks offensively and Paul Maholm posted two good starts to pace the staff.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – TJ (1^st) vs Adrian (4^th)

Adrian put up a very average effort last week but still managed to beat Drew 6-2. He rode big weeks from Brandon Phillips (4/3/9/.318), Austin Jackson (10/1/5/.394), and Torii Hunter (7/1/6/.423). He's one of two teams to go 2-0 on the year thus far. The other? That would be his opponent and leader of the pack, Mr. TJ Geers. I fear I have unleashed a monster on the league with my last-place prediction a couple weeks ago. Two big wins have him comfortably pacing the DD thus far. Richie was the latest victim, falling 8-1-1. Justin Upton hits a homer every time I turn on Sportscenter and is 2^nd ranked in Yahoo! TJ also has the number one ranked player in Matt Harvey, who's now 3-0 with a sub-1 ERA. He's carrying 4 closers and spot starting to make up for the K's and W's. He's getting great production right now and there doesn't seem to be any reason why it won't continue.

(season series 0-0)

Week 1 Power Rankings

1. Alex (77.5)
2. TJ (73)
3. Jarrett (65)
4. Adrian (53.5)
5. James (53)
6. Drew (50.5)
7. Kurt (48)
7. Richie (48)
9. Ben (42)
10. Colin (39.5)

Weekly Matchups - Week 2

Week 2's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – After a long, snowy winter the first week is in the books.  Tightly contested battles all around (only one team with 7 wins!) as no one wanted to start off on the wrong foot.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" - James (T-4th) vs Jarrett (9th)

It's early in the season and none of these games really count as snoozers but we can't afford to pass up the sponsor funding.  Last week, Mams battled the 2 time defending champ to a tie behind great performances from Michael Morse (5 HR's) and Troy Tulowitzki (.421 avg).  It's doubtful Morse will be able to repeat his big week so he'll need someone else to step up to Jarrett's potent outfield.   Jarrett had a tough offensive week last week, losing all 5 categories to Alex (and none were all that close).  He did however get the all-pitching-category-no-closer-shutout which netted him 4 wins.  Kershaw and Bumgarner were magnificient, posting 3 wins and a 0.00 ERA.  His team ERA was a paltry 1.30 and his WHIP was under 1.  

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel" - Drew (T-4th) vs Adrian (3rd)

This is one of two matchups that features two .500-or-better squads.  Adrian took care of business last week against Colin, beating him 5-4 behind Todd Frazier (3/9/.480) and first overall pick Cliff Lee (W, 8 K's, 0.00 ERA).  Fun fact - my girlfriend's mom's coworker is Todd Frazier's aunt!  Drew went up against Richie last week and tied him 5-5 thanks to 7 HR's and 16 RBI's on Sunday.  Leading the charge was Will Middlebrooks (3 bombs on Sunday, 4 on the week) who has quickly become this writers' least-favorite-yet-still-favorite Red Sox prospect.  Surprisingly, Drew's staff got knocked around this week to the tune of a 4.82 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, but the strikeouts were still there (94).

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's - Ben (10th) vs Alex (2nd)

Alex was one of the few teams last week to post a win as he took out Jarrett 6-4 and taking all 5 batting categories.  The unlikely hero was Jed Lowrie, who teed off for 3 dingers and a .500 average.  He got expected production from his staff but Jarrett was too much to handle on the pitching end.  Gentilli will be squaring off again Ben, who could not keep up with TJ's strong offensive week despite Chris Davis's monster week (4/17/.455).  Dexter Fowler also had 4 home runs.  Ben's staff had some issues, with 3 players posting double-digit ERA's.  Ben certainly doesn't want to fall behind in the standings early but he's got a tough matchup this week as Alex is my early pick to hoist the trophy in September.

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" - Richie (T-4th) vs TJ (1st)

TJ boasts the number one offense coming out of week one.  Justin Upton lead the way with 5 homers and 7 runs scored, but he got at least one round-tripper out of every one in his lineup except Jay Bruce and Ryan Howard (go figure).  Overall, his pitching wasn't record breaking (3 wins and 49 K's) but his ratio's were excellent (1.66 ERA and 0.85 WHIP).  He draws Richie this week, who is one of the four teams with a 5-5 mark.  Travers's squad struggled at the dish, hitting just .217 with 7 homers.  His pitching was slightly better, posting a mid 3 ERA and a WHIP just over 1.  If TJ puts up another week like last week, this matchup could be over by Friday.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" - Kurt (T-4th) vs Colin (8th)

The back-to-back champion is once again in the spotlight as he takes on Colin's loaded squad.  Kurt squared off against James last week and played him to a 5-5 tie despite 8 home runs from his outfielders and 22 strikeouts from Jeff Samardzija.  Colin struggled against Adrian last week, dropping the matchup 4-5-1.  Mr. Lancey had the worst offensive week in the league, getting up on 5 homers, 18 RBI's, and a .199 team average.  Is it time to panic-trade Trout and Cabrera to Richie for Emilio Bonifacio? Yes, yes it is Colin.  Chris Davis almost did that by himself! 2 wins, 20 K's, and a near-perfect game from Yu Darvish helped to snag some of the pitching categories and even out the score.  Trade me Trout and Cabrera for Emilio Bonifacio.

(season series 0-0)

Pre-Season Power Rankings

The Diamond Dynasty Writer's Association of America (DDWAA) have pooled together their thoughts in order to provide you all with the Pre-season Ranking of Power Based on the Projections of the People Drafting With You.  The findings were as follows:

1. Colin-  Really solid offense led by Cabrera and Trout, the top two players according to every ranking everywhere. Seven players hit .290 or better in 2012. Above average speed and Trout could go for 60+. Nice top three with Hamels, Darvish, and Medlen, good mid-level guys in Wilson and Lohse, and contributing players on the back end. If Medlen takes the leap everyone is projecting and Hyun-Jin Ryu does well this could be an excellent staff.  Colin is one of three teams with no closers, and drafted/kept player well enough to take the spot start over...

2. Kurt- The two-time defending champion.  Offense is strong once again. "Tough to see Posey duplicating that monster year" says one bitter writer. Getting Votto and Longoria for a full year is a trade off anyone would take. The rest of the infield on the whole is good. The outfield could feature three 20/20 guys in CarGo, Choo, and Harper. No true number 1 pitching options but still a deep staff filled with 2's and 3's where everyone will need to contribute. If Alex Cobb and A.J. Griffin make a leap, this pitching staff can be very solid but never elite.  Most of the pitcher's on his roster will probably be spot started by mid-April, rendering this analysis relatively useless.

3. Power across the board including some elite options mixed in, with six players hitting 28 or more HR's in 2012. Only one elite speed option in Desmond Jennings. Couple of red flag players with Jeter, Hart (regression) and Utley/Ortiz/Granderson (injuries and old age).  Alex is giving a lot of his past players second chances, which isn't necessarily a bad idea.  His team last year was the second consecutive contender to fall to the power of Evan Longoria's Last Day Dick Swings.  Alex could be set with keepers for a long, long, loooooong time with McCutchen, Stanton, and Rizzo. Another solid 1-2 punch with Sale and Greinke (seems like a trend in the league) and he backs that up with Matt Moore, James Shields, and (gulp) Josh Johnson, who has been tearing up spring training. 4 closers will have him competing for saves week in and week out. If Julio Teheran can break out this year. "I can definitely see this team making a deep playoff run." Says one contributor. 
"This team will lose to me again" Says the other contributor.

4. Jarrett – Extremely thin on infield power but will burn up the basepaths with double digit SB's at almost every position, infield and outfield (and just for good measure, has Billy Hamilton stashed on the bench). Same exact outfield as last year, and for good reason (Braun, Hamilton, Cespedes, even Milky is back!) If things break right, which seems very likely, he might have the best staff in the league. Kershaw, Bumgarner, and Latos will be great. "Fucking asshole who I needed last year Lester is a prime bounce back candidate." - says one of our experts. 
According to one expert: "I fucked over Richie with Lester, then I fucked over Jarrett with Lincecum. Now Jarrett has both and I hope they're good, just to piss off Richie"  
Brett Anderson and Shelby Miller are good mid-tier options. And if Lincecum could ever figure it out, yikes. But he has Lackey so he automatically has the worst staff in the league. No closers.
 

5. Ben – Might have the best infield in the league, power and speed well represented. Outfield might be a little suspect but if Ellsbury can return to top-10 form, watch out. Matt Cain leads a pitching staff that has potential but definitely has some question marks. Wainwright and Scherzer (2 and 3 for Ben) were much improved after the all-star break last year but will they start slow again? Might be hard for Kuroda to duplicate last year's numbers with an improved AL East. Beckett might be the wild card, had a good early spring.  "Ben's team is pretty uninteresting.  It will be good, not great, and make the playoffs probably" -ESPN's Matthew Berry.

"Matthew Berry sucks.  I think Ben's team is interesting." -Kurt

 

6. Richie – Richie comes in on the list pretty low because he put Kurt at #3 in his power rankings.  Two time defending champ listed third in the preseason rankings?!  Anyways...

Could get 20+ HR's from every position – including the CI/MI/UTIL spots (once Hanley gets back) and should be at least competitive with SB's. Might lose AVG every week this season. "Pitching staff is extremely top-heavy with Felix and Strasburg, huge drop off after that. Relying on bizarro Roy Halladay, Tommy Hansen, and James McDonald hasn't won anyone a championship." says one contributor, which basically translates to "He has two good pitchers" Lots of saves opportunities.

7. Drew – Kid has the same team every year. Infield definitely has some potential but overall, too many question marks to give good grades here. He'll need big years from Middlebrooks, Asdrubal Cabrera, Eric Hosmer and Jurickson Profar, who's starting the year in AAA. The outfield is a little bit better but this will ultimately be one of the weakest hitting teams in the league. Pitching is once again the backbone with Verlander, CC, and David Price. Gallardo is a 4th option despite being a 2nd option on pretty much everyone else's roster. Back end of the staff is not ideal (Hughes, Dempster, Burnett, Kennedy) but there's enough there to all but guarantee the best pitching staff in the DD this year. Mixes in 3 to 4 closers depending on the decision with Chapman.

8. James – One of the few team that can call the MI positions a strength (Tulo, Reyes, Kipnis) but overall, below average team speed. Should get close to 30+ HR's from Trumbo, Holliday, and Alvarez, and might get a couple others to chip in with low 20's. If Adam Jones comes crashing back down to earth this is an average offense at best.. One anonymous writer said "Pitching staff features three 20 game winners from 2012 in Gio, Weaver, and Dickey, but I have to be honest – I think Dickey's going to have issues in the American League."  Vogelson and Ogando are good depth pieces. Only two closers with limited save opportunities, they won't be too much help.  However, with only 7 teams having closers, the two will get him a victory every third week. Lastly, a scout for the Cleveland Indians says "James has two many Mariners.  The only way you can win with four members of your favorite team is if your favorite team is Kurt's team from last year." 

 

9. TJ-  A few elite power hitters (Bruce, Pujols, Bautista) but it's mediocre after that. Might be tough to carry the HR/RBI categories. Average to below average speed. He'll need a resurgent year from Ryan Howard and career years from Justin Upton and Freddie Freeman to compete consistently on offense. To be honest, I don't really know the people on his pitching staff very well. No true ace of the staff (top 2012 win totals are 13, 13, 11, 10) and no one with more than 168 K's. If Craig Kimbrel can throw 300 innings, TJ should be fine.

10. Adrian – Healthier, slower Kemp leads the way with newly acquired Beltre, but this team won't lead the league in homers. Headley is missing at least the first month of the season and is due to regress on top of that. Needs breakout seasons from Wieters, Ike Davis, and Yasiel Puig to really be a threat on offense. Solid 1-2 punch with Cueto and Lee, but is only average after that. 3 very good to excellent closers should net him a good 5-10 saves a week.  When asked why he ranked Adrian so low, one contributor said "My iPad was running out of battery and I just threw the last part together."  Sorry Adrian.

Weekly Matchups are back!

Week 1's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – Richie hits 5 home runs in beer baseball in one of the most impressive showings of all time and is truly a legend, Alex laments drafting Josh Johnson, and Jarrett's beard wins the draft.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" - Richie vs Drew

Drew goes pitching heavy again in 2013 as Richie starts another season without a ring.

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel of the Week" - Colin vs Adrian

A jaded Colin who narrowly missed out on a spot in the 2012 finals features two of the best keepers in the game against Adrian who is happy to put last season behind him.

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's - Alex vs Jarrett

Alex starts the long road to get back to the finals after falling short to Kurt in 2012. Jarrett prays Ryan Braun doesn't get suspended.

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up of the Week" - Ben vs TJ

In a rematch of the 2012 5^th place game, Ben squares off against TJ who predictably showed everyone his penis at the draft.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" - Kurt vs James 

James squares off against the two-time defending champion and commissioner extraordinaire Kurt in the Sunday Night Baseball match-up of the week.

(season series 0-0)

2012 Diamond Dynasty Mid-Season Review Spectatular

Helloooooo Dyamond Dynasty! I hope you've all had a wonderful first half of the season. It's been great to get together for the Red Sox game, Sunday Night Baseball, a cookout, our golf outing. A little note on the following information you are about to enjoy. I wrote most of this information over the last week, so I might have some of my information crossed up or whatever. You probably won't even notice anything unless it's your team, and if you do see anything, just shut up and keep it to yourself. The power rankings that I list in each team's individual breakdown is their rank within the Diamond Dynasty. The Keeper Delta thing is basically the difference between the player's projected value vs their actual value. And for those of you who say “well, that guy wouldn't be so badly ranked if he wasn't injured all year,” this may be true. But their rank is the value that they've given to their owners, and you make selections based on projected value. Ergo, all season on the DL is shitty return on investment.

Offense

1. Kurt (46)

2. Jarrett (38)

3. Colin (36)

4. Richie (35)

5. James (26)

6. TJ (23)

7. Alex (21)

8. Drew (19)

T-9. Ben (16)

T-9. Adrian (16)

Pitching

1. Drew (42)

2. Ben (40)

3. TJ (35)

4. Kurt (32)

5. James (27)

6. Alex (25)

7. Colin (23)

8. Jarrett (22)

9. Richie (18)

10. Adrian (11)

Overall

1. Kurt (78)

2. Drew (61)

3. Jarrett (60)

4. Colin (59)

5. TJ (58)

6. Ben (56)

7. Richie (53)

T-7. James (53)

9. Alex (46)

DFL. Adrian (27)

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Adrian “Snake Skin” Macdonald, 10^th

2012 draft pick: 6

Last 4 weeks: 0-3-1

Best streak: 2-0-1

Worst streak: 0-6-1 (current)

Power Rankings: 10-10-10

Keeper Delta: -454

- Matt Kemp: 2 (77) = -75

- Dustin Pedroia: 17 (205) = -188

- Alex Rodriguez: 42 (89) = -47

- Jeremy Hellickson: 169 (313) = -144

Adrian started off smokin' hot last year but stumbled during the playoff push and finished the year in the middle of the pack. His struggles have continued into this year, as he is bringing up the rear in the 2012 Diamond Dynasty standings. It's tough to put all the blame on Adrian though, as many of his key contributors have spent significant time on the DL. Matt Kemp, arguably the best fantasy option in the game, has missed roughly half the season with a hamstring injury (and STILL ranks in the top 100, scary). Other notable offensive injuries include Jason Werth (half the season), Pablo Sandoval (26 games played) Lance Berkman (13 games played), and Dustin Pedroia (lingering thumb injury). A-Rod has played only slightly below market value, and Paul Konerko continues to defy father time (or Mother Nature) but their performances haven't been nearly enough to keep Adrian from the bottom of the offensive power rankings.

If the injury bug hampered his offense, it wiped out his pitching. Brian Wilson was out before the season started. Mariano Rivera is gone. Jair Jurrjens and Daniel Bard have been sent to the minors, and they're both struggling. Jeremy Hellickson, his lone pitching keeper, has pitched well (4-3, 3.45 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) and Aroldis Chapman has been fantastic. Jason Motte has held up his end of the bargain as well, but pitching staffs need to go more than three deep. Matt Moore has been garbage. Dan Haren has underperformed. And guys like Wandy Rodriguez and Hiroki Kuroda have performed like Wandy Rodriguez and Hideki Kuroda – good fill in pieces for the back of the rotation, but right now they're two of his better starters.

When everyone was healthy, Adrian got off to a good start losing only one week in April (2-1-1). But he's riding a 7 week winless streak, and looking for his first win since week 4. If the pitchers start living up to their potential and he can get healthy, Adrian might be able to sneak into the playoffs as a low seed.

Ben “Ziggy” O'Connor, 9^th

2012 draft pick: 9

Last 4 weeks: 0-3-1

Best streak: 2-0

Worst streak: 0-4-1 (current)

Power Rankings: 9-2-6

Keeper Delta: -1297

- Jacoby Ellsbury: 13 (1094) = -1081

- Adrian Gonzalez: 9 (229) = -220

- Robinson Cano: 8 (52) = -44

- CJ Wilson: 81 (33) = +48

After suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the 2011 DD Finals on the last at-bat of the regular season, Ben has stumbled out of the gate in 2012. His offensive has struggled in particular, tied for last in the league. Jacoby Ellsbury has missed the majority of the season with a shoulder injury, Adrian Gonzalez has no power stroke, and Alex Avila has been an overall disappointment. Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz have been decent, but the real MVP's have been Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Willingham. I'd write more about Ben's offense but I don't know who any of these people are. Wilin Rosario? Dayan Vicideo? Ben, do yourself a favor and go get Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu – proven players, no matter how old, always get the job done. Do my rings lie?

Ben  is manning yet another team that has major deficiencies on one side of the ball but dominates the other. He's in the top half of every pitching category and has a very top-heavy staff. Mr. Perfect, Matt Cain is the highest ranked starter this year and CJ Wilson has been almost as good. Brett Meyers, Fernando Rodney, and Joe Nathan have all been very good in their closer roles, and Heath Bell is starting to round back into form. Losing Cory Luebke was a tough blow, but the closers are really helping to keep the ERA and WHIP down.  Clay Buchholz is finally starting to turn it around in his last 5 starts, and if Mat Latos ever shows up that will really fill out a great pitching staff. Ben had pretty much been treading water before his recent struggles (0-4-1).  He's still very much in the race.

Colin “Fancy” Lancey, 8^th

2012 draft pick: 5

Last 4 weeks: 2-2

Best streak: 2-0

Worst streak: 0-4-3

Power Rankings: 3-7-4

Keeper Delta: -288

- Miguel Cabrera: 1 (11) = -10

- Brett Lawrie: 45 (118) = -73

- Roy Halladay: 16 (218) = -202

- Cole Hamels: 34 (37) = -3

Colin finished 5^th last year and had some tough keeper decisions to make. He parted ways with Paul Konerko, Elvis Andrus, Pablo Sandoval, Asdrubal Cabrera, and James Shields (how did he finish 5^th?). He made the right choices for the most part, with Konerko the only one who hasn't regressed this year. Colin's had very good offensive production this year, as he has 6 of the top 57 players. Miguel Cabrera has been great (surprise surprise), and Starlin Castro, Dan Uggla, and Shane Victorino have been very good. Jose Altuve and Alejandro De Aza have well exceeded expectations, and Mike Trout looks like a stud in the making (number 5 ranked player over the last 30 days!!). Brett Lawrie is the only player that is noticeably under performing, but he hasn't been an albatross.

As good as his offense has been, his pitching has been just as bad. Cole Hamels and Ryan Vogelsong are his only two pitchers that are ranked inside the top 128 players this year. Roy Halladay is on the shelf, although he wasn't his normal self when healthy. Andrew Bailey and Sergio Santos occupy two other DL spots. Pretty much everyone on his staff has disappointed, from starters (Jarrod Parker, Ian Kennedy, Matt Garza, Daniel Hudson, Tim Hudson) to closers (J.J. Putz). Anibal Sanchez has been pretty good, and Andy Pettitte was as clutch a pick-up for Colin as he was for the Yankees. Colin hit a really rough stretch in the middle of the season, racking up an 0-4-3 record in weeks 2-8, though he's come back a little bit as of late. It's hard to tell where this team is going to end up in September.

TJ “Don't Grind My” Geers, 7^th

2012 draft pick: 8

Last 4 weeks: 2-2

Best streak: 4-1

Worst streak: 0-2-1

Power Rankings: 6-3-5

Keeper Delta: -217

- Jose Bautista: 4 (32) = -28

- Albert Pujols: 3 (111) = -108

- Justin Upton: 10 (138) = -128

- Ian Kinsler: 18 (27) = -9

After a third place finish last year, TJ has struggled through the first half of 2012. But while his head to head record is poor, his power rankings suggest that he's just been snake-bitten. He's in the middle of the pack offensively, and in the top third in pitching. That being said, Albert Pujols' struggles have been well documented (although he's turned it on over the past month, 13^th overall). Asdrubal Cabrera has experienced some regression as well, playing well below his projected value. Kinsler and Bautista have been justifiable keepers, although they're not dominating like they should be. Ryan Zimmerman has missed time on the DL, and Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips have been sputtering. On the flip side, Adam Dunn has returned to form, Drew Stubbs has come as advertised, Jordan Schafer has been a pleasant surprise, and Jonathan Lucroy (DL) and J.P. Arencibia have provided good production from the catcher spot. If Pujols, Kinsler, and Bautista can fulfill their top-20 talent, that might be enough to carry TJ through the playoff race.

TJ has benefited from some key pitching acquisitions early on. Ryan Dempster and Chris Capuano have been his two best pitchers and they both went undrafted, and spot starts from Barry Zito and Andy Pettitte have been frequent. Chris Perez has been one of the best closers all year, and Frank Francisco and Brandon League have provided saves, albeit with an inflated ERA. That being said, his high-end pitching talent has mostly underperformed. He took James Shields, Yu Darvish, Michael Pineda, and Ubaldo Jimenez within the first 8 rounds after keepers. Shields and Darvish have started slow, Pineda's out for the year, and Jimenez is a free agent (initially, that sentence was the most offensive thing I've ever typed. I refuse to put it in print, but I will tell it to you in person if you want to hear it). Despite keeping 4 offensive players and not getting a good return on early round investment, TJ's pitching has been above league average. TJ started slow (0-2-1), then picked it up (4-1) before slumping again (0-2). Expect his head to head record to improve and match his rotisserie scoring in the second half.

Drew “Double D” Donovan, 6^th

2012 draft pick: 7

Last 4 weeks: 1-3

Best streak: 1-0-1

Worst streak: 1-5-1

Power Rankings: 8-1-2

Keeper Delta: -354

- Yovani Gallardo: 58 (332) = -274

- CC Sabathia: 32 (100) = -68

- Jered Weaver: 36 (53) = -17

- Justin Verlander: 19 (14) = +5

After dominating the regular season last year, Drew was edged out by Kurt, the eventual champion, in the semi-finals. He was smoked in the third place game and failed to finish in the money. Drew continued with his pitcher heavy strategy this year, keeping four pitchers – no one else kept more than 2, and the rest of the league kept 9 pitchers total. Starved for offense, Drew obviously took David Price with the 7^th pick in the 2012 draft, and he officially ran out of excuses if he didn't finish first in every pitching category. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, Drew's gang of aces have pitched well and by my calculations, he has the best pitching numbers in the league. With his slew of pitching, he needed several of his offensive selections to have career years, and he's getting just that. My once beloved Joe Mauer is back to his days of old, hitting .300+ with an astounding lack of power. Mark Trumbo, Angel Pegan, and Rafael Furcal are having career years. Michael Bourn has already set a career high in homers (6) and he's still burning up the base paths. Derek Jeter has come back down to earth after his hot start, although he's still even with his projected stats. And despite the production, Drew is still in the bottom half of the league offensively.

With all that pitching, Drew can bring in some major bats without losing his fastball (ha!) on the pitching side. He's been involved in the only trade we've seen this season, sending under achieving starters Yovani Gallardo and Ricky Nolasco for Matt Capps, Will Middlebrooks, and Chase Utley. In other words, Drew has not done anything as of yet to improve his offense. Despite trading a keeper (Gallardo), Drew's pitching is still the best in the league. C.C. Sabathia, Jered Weaver, David Price, Colby Lewis and Justin Verlander, are all ranked in the top 100, and the latter two are in the top 50. The rest of the rotation is solid. Matt Capps, Alfredo Aceves, and Craig Kimbrel solidify the back end of the rotation, and Kyle Farnsworth and Drew Storen should be back around the all-star break. Drew only won two of the first nine weeks, but his losses have been small and his wins have been big so he's still in it. It'll be interesting to see if his pitching can carry him back to the postseason.

Alex “The Gentle Giant” Gentilli, 5^th

2012 draft pick: 4

Last 4 weeks: 0-3-1

Best streak: 3-0-1

Worst streak: 0-3-1 (current)

Power Rankings: 7-6-9

Keeper Delta: +1

- Curtis Granderson: 22 (19) = +3

- Giancarlo Stanton: 26 (59) = -33

- Andrew McCutchen: 25 (13) = +12

- David Wright: 31 (12) = +19

The new poster child (and what a good looking poster child he is) of the crazy Yahoo! scoring system, Alex missed the 2011 DD postseason by mere percentage points. Despite keeping 4 hitters and stocking up on offense in the draft (5 of his first 7 picks were position players), Alex has one of the least productive offenses in the league. All 4 keepers have had a great first half, ranking in the top 60 and three in the top 20, but he's had mediocre production from his other starters. He cut ties with Adam Dunn in mid April, who is back to being one of the best home run hitters in the game. Brian McCann, Elvis Andrus and Desmond Jennings haven't played to their abilities, and he can't seem to find a reliable 2B/MI. All in all, his line up doesn't look all that bad. The wild card might be Ryan Howard, though there is still no timetable for his return.

Alex is in a slightly better situation on the bump. Zack Greinke, Brandon Morrow, Chris Sale, and a resurgent Josh Johnson lead the way, while solid years from Mark Buehrle and Erik Bedard round out his rotation. He's rolling with a lot of closing options too, with Joel Hanrahan, Santiago Castilla, and Ernesto Frieri all ranking in the top 100, and Huston Street and Jonathan Broxton sitting at about the 150 mark. If Max Scherzer could ever put it together, he'd have arguably the best top 7 starters in the league. Tight losses and comfortable wins have propelled him in the top half of the league to this point. Alex's team has rounded out nicely, and I fully expect him to be in contention in the fall.

James “Greek” Maimonis, 4^th

2012 draft pick: 1

Last 4 weeks: 3-1

Best streak: 2-0-1

Worst streak: 0-2-1

Power Rankings: 5-5-8

Keeper Delta: -1223

- Troy Tulowitzki: 5 (134) = -129

- Cliff Lee: 24 (208) = -184

- Mark Teixeira: 23 (115) = -92

- Rickie Weeks: 80 (898) = -818

Mams had a rough season last year, finishing in last place. With the first pick he took Jose Reyes over Stephen Strasburg, and I never formally thanked him for that. Thank you Mams! Reyes is struggling in his first season in Miami, playing way below his projected value. His keepers haven't helped any either; Tulo is on the DL, Cliff Lee hasn't won a game yet (repeat: HASN'T WON A GAME), Mark Teixeira has been very pedestrian, and Rickie Weeks has been the worst injury-free keeper this year.  And yet, James is in the middle of the pack offensively. Adam Jones is a top-5 player, David Ortiz is dominating, and Matt Holliday has been damn good. Once Tulo and Bonifacio come off the DL Mams should be able to put up bigger offensive numbers, but he'll never be leading the league.

Mams is also 5^th in pitching power rankings, despite Lee's win-less start (3.48 ERA, 1.12 WHIP – it's not his fault. Just for funsies, Clay Buchholz is 7-2, 5.38 ERA, 1.53 WHIP. Sorry you had to see that James). I don't think anyone could have predicted that Jim Johnson and James McDonald were going to be so good, but they along with Gio Gonzalez form a top 50 three-headed monster for John Corey's former neighbor. The rest of his staff is full of mid-tier guys playing slightly above their heads like Kyle Loshe, Jeff Samardzija, Tom Wilhelmsen (who?), Wade Miley, Franklin Morales, and Jose Quintana. Even if these guys regress a bit, Drew Smyly will be able to contribute again once off the DL, and Ervin Santana, after a VERY rough start to the season, is coming off a one-hit shutout of the D-Backs (baseball makes no sense sometimes). Unfortunately, it looks like Jaime Garcia might miss the rest of the year with a shoulder injury. Mams has been pretty much win 2, lose 2 year. He'll have to keep his foot on the gas if he wants to make it to the post-season.

Jarrett “Wizard” Staaf, 3^rd

2012 draft pick: 3

Last 4 weeks: 4-0

Best streak: 6-1 (current)

Worst streak: 1-2-1

Power Rankings: 2-8-3

Keeper Delta: -992

- Ryan Braun: 6 (3) = +3

- Josh Hamilton: 33 (1) = +32

- Tim Lincecum: 28 (1021) = -993

- Clayton Kershaw: 15 (49) = -34

Jarrett's having a great bounce back season this year after failing to make the playoffs last year. His offense is off the charts, and he's one of only two teams to be ranked in the top three in the overall power rankings and head to head record. He has a fantastic offensive Keeper Delta, with Josh Hamilton and Ryan Braun ranking first and third overall, respectively. He rounds out his stellar outfield with Melky Cabrera, who is the seventh best offensive player through the first half of the year. I can't imagine that we've seen a better outfield in the Diamond Dynasty's decade of existence. He also has Josh Reddick in his Utility spot, which makes for 4 outfielders in the top 40. He's also getting good production from David Freese and Michael Cuddyer. All these guys have been so good that it's easy to overlook those who haven't been carrying their weight. Carlos has been a huge disappointment, Paul Goldschmidt has been below average, and Michael Young, Dee Gordon, and Ben Zobrist have all performed as men of lower stock. His historic outfield is just that good.

His pitching, on the other hand, hasn't been as good. Let's just get this one out of the way – Tim Lincecum. WTF Tim? Jarrett shells out a first-round-after-keepers draft pick for his rights, and he lays a huge dump on him. I mentioned that Rickie Weeks was the worst non-injured keeper this year...not true. Timmy stinks bigtime. On the flip side Clayton Kershaw, his other pitching keeper, has played only slightly worse than his projection which was damn high to begin with. He's getting good seasons out of Jonathan Papelbon, Kenley Jansen, Johan Santana, and Lance Lynn. Arguably his best pitcher, Brandon Beachy, is sitting on the DL along with Neftali Feliz and Brett Anderson. Overall, it's not a bad staff but he still sits 8^th in the pitching power rankings. I'm guessing this is coming from his lack of mid-level talent. He's got all this top-100-or-thereabouts talent, but then it really drops off. If he can find a couple of mid-tier guys, he'll be a very tough beat. Jarrett started off the season mediocre but is on an absolutely beastly tear right now, winning 6 of his last 7. Jarrett will be a major player for the rest of the year.

Richie “The Chosen One” Travers, 2^nd

2012 draft pick: 2

Last 4 weeks: 3-1

Best streak: 4-1 (current)

Worst streak: 0-2

Power Rankings: 4-9-7

Keeper Delta: -632

- Prince Fielder: 14 (45) = -31

- Hanley Ramirez: 21 (66) = -45

- Jon Lester: 60 (465) = -405

- Felix Hernandez: 29 (180) = -151

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, yours truly. Y'all probably just skipped to this section anyway, and I don't blame you. Richie's offensive has been solid all year, thanks to late round steals. Carlos Beltran and Andre Ethier were taken in the 14^th and 16^th rounds after keepers. Beltran is a top-10 talent and Ethier is leading the NL in RBI's. Prince Fielder and Hanley Ramirez, while not quite living up to their lofty expectations, are contributing to the offensive output. Richie's done a good job of surrounding his top level talent with mid-level guys like Corey Hart and Billy Butler. He's been patient, probably to a fault, on his second-basemen Dustin Ackley and Neil Walker, and he hasn't quite gotten return on investment from Mike Napoli (although he basically single-handedly won him week 2). 

Richie's pitching has cooled off as of late. At one point, Stephen Strasburg, Jake Peavy, and Felix Hernandez were all top 5 pitchers. Strasburg (first round pick) and Peavy (last round pick!) are still dealing and ranked in the top 35, but Felix has fallen off the wagon. Lester has sucked, Beckett has been ok, and John Axford and Jose Valverde have been pretty dang disappointing. Overall, he ranks near the bottom in pitching power rankings. Aside from his top 2 or 3 guys, there just isn't much there. His overall power ranking suggests a big downturn in the second half. Ever the optimist, he has no fear of a potential regression and looks to his recent performance for reassurance. Richie will make the playoffs. Interesting to note, Richie sits in second place and has made the least moves this year (10). Who has the most moves, you should ask?

Kurt “The Champion” Gottschalk, 1^st

2012 draft pick: 10

Last 4 weeks: 3-0-1

Best streak: 8-0-1 (current)

Worst streak: 0-2

Power Rankings: 1-4-1

Keeper Delta: -456

- Evan Longoria: 12 (446) = -434

- Jay Bruce: 50 (62) = -12

- Carlos Gonzalez: 11 (2) = -9

- Joey Votto: 7 (8) = -1

Why, Senior Kurt would have the most moves! Pretty interesting that both strategies seem to work out well. So yeah, Kurt's been doing okay this year. First place in head to head. First place in power rankings. First place in offensive power rankings. And his DL? Evan Longoria, Brett Gardner, and Carl Crawford. He's leading 4 of the 5 offense categories, and he's 6^th in stolen bases (again, Gardner and Crawford on the DL). Joey Votto is hitting .500 – no shit – over his last 23 games. Jason Kipnis is a top-10 player (what?). Cargo is retarded. Adrian Beltre, Jay Bruce, Ian Desmond, and Austin Jackson have been damn good also. All told, Kurt has 3 players in the top 10 (4 if you count R.A. Dickey), and he's getting arguably the best 3B back sometime in the next month. Downright scary offense.

Pitching hasn't been much worse for The Commish, who's riding Dickey's phenomenal year (as I type this, he's finishing up his second consecutive CG 1-hit shutout). Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto have been awesome too, both ranked in the top 40. The rest of his staff – all starters – are middle to low tier guys, though many of those options I'm assuming are spot starters. If he can successfully sell off some of his potent offensive pieces for stud pitchers, he's going to run away with the regular season. Hell, he's probably already there. Kurt lost the first two weeks of the season, and he's still waiting for his third loss. A tie in week 8 (tip of the cap to Ben) is the only thing standing in his way of a 9 week winning streak, highlighted by 3 non-closer shutouts. Can anyone bring his reign of terror to an end? Side note: his worst rank in any of the 10 scoring categories, except for saves in which he is last due to his non-closer strategy, is 6^th place. Adrian's best rank in any category is 6^th.

But all this gets wiped out after 22 weeks. And therein lies the importance of head to head vs rotisserie; much like the NFL playoffs, it just takes one week for the mighty to fall in the playoffs. 22 weeks of hard work, all dashed away in a mere 7 days. It can be a cruel fate, but I'll be damned if it doesn't make it interesting!