TMTW - May

Diamond Dynasty:  The month that was…

MAY

News

With a third of the season in the books, we had enough of a sample size to get a feel on the new roster regulations.  While there are some lingering issues on the table, the adjustments have seemed to go off without a hitch.  Also, Kurt really hates closers.

May also saw the first trade of the season as Richie shipped off then-Mets-closer du-jour Kyle Farnsworth to James for his 2015 22^nd round pick.  A week later, Farnsworth was cut from the roster.  For James, it looked like just another sign that his 2014 campaign may be doomed.  Richie was able to nab a pick while clearing space for Doug Fister, who was coming off the DL.  Click here for more in-depth analysis on the trade.

Finally, the DD has started the ball rolling on a baseball trip later in the summer.  Potential targets are Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and either of the New York teams.  Richie is happy to host any and all who wish to attend.  Richie’s girlfriend is probably less happy, but still willing, to host any and all who wish to attend.

Standings Analysis

As expected, there was more consistency to the standings in the second month of the season.  Richie’s had pole position for 4 of the last 5 weeks (woo hoo!) thanks to a 7 week winning streak.  Richie, Alex, Ben, and Colin have musical-chaired the top four spots since week 4 and have a comfortable 7-game lead on the next tier of competitors.  James, TJ, and Adrian have been fighting over the middle positions nearly all season and May was no different as the 3 men of questionable sexuality are separated by only 1.5 games.  Jarrett and (am I really typing this?) Kurt sit 3 games behind them and are in 8^th and 9^th respectively, and Drew occupies 10^th for the second week in a row.

Shutout Watch

In week 5, Ben narrowly missed cashing in against Drew in a 9-1 drubbing, but fell short by 10 strikeouts.  It was the second time this season Ben posted a 9-1 score (the first was in week 2), and the second week in a row that Drew was almost shut out (1-17-2 record in weeks 4 & 5).  We also had a really funky 4-2 game between Adrian (winner) and Colin.  I’m assuming that ties/sets a record for ties in a week?

Week 6 had one kind-of-sort-of-close shutout bid and one genuinely close shutout bid.  Richie beat Ben 7-3 (in a battle between 1^st and 2^nd) and most of the categories were close across the board.  In the end, Richie fell short of the shutout by 2 saves, less than half a run in ERA, and .19 points in batting average.  Not terribly close, but in the honorable mentions (though I suspect the writer of this article might be a bit biased).  The Gilette ® close shave of the week came from Alex’s 9-1 beat down of TJ.  Despite logging 96.2 innings, Alex could only muster 2 wins from his Staaf and lost the category 3-2.

In week 7, Richie posted a 9-1, wire to wire victory over Kurt.  Richie trailed by just one stolen base entering Sunday, but could not close the deal and lost by 2.  The 9 categories set a season-high for Richie, but the third time he’s lost 1 category or less in just 7 weeks.  He’s totally peaking too early. 

Week 8 had two close calls.  The first Colin’s 7-3 win over Drew – Colin fell short by 3 runs, 6 RBI’s, and 2 SB.  Alex went to work on Adrian and fell 2 RBI’s and 3 SB short of of the 10-0 victory.  With no cashouts in April or May, the pool continues to grow and would reach triple digits by June.

Battle for the Belt

 It looks like all James needed was something to play for!  After starting the year on a three-week losing streak, he had the Belt going into May.  He successfully defended it in week 5 against TJ, but could not stave off defeat for long.  Colin bettered him by .002 in average to take the 6-4 victory and made DD history by being the first person to regain possession of the WWE Belt after losing it earlier in the season.  Colin had it for a whole 7 days before Alex took it away with a 7-3 win.  Alex dominated Adrian last week and will hold the belt when the calendar turns to June.  He has James, Jarrett, Drew, and Richie in the next 4 weeks.  Belt owners are now just 3-5 in belt defenses this season.

2 Team Spotlight

This week:  Don't Judge A Team By Their Draft Picks

TJ – The Tank…is Half-Full

TJ had lots of keeper decisions to make for 2014 following his second-place finish last year, none more difficult than Matt Harvey.  But TJ made the difficult decision and went with the injured New York fireballer while passing on some 2014 standouts like Josh Donaldson, Ian Kinsler, and Albert Pujols.  TJ then shocked the league by trading away his first and second round picks to Drew, effectively raising the white flag on the season before first pitch.  But despite his attempts at tanking, TJ has managed to field a competitive roster thus far.  I denounced the trade when it happened and I’m sticking to it.  Imagine if he had those first two rounds back?  He’d probably be challenging for a top-3 position.  I still think it’s silly to give up on an entire year and $200 just because one keeper is out for the year, but obviously TJ has been able to make it work. 

With 5 of the top 21 home run hitters, TJ has built his team around the long ball.  His 102 team HRs lead the league by a wide margin and is responsible for almost 15 % of the league’s dingers thus far.  Unsurprisingly, he leads the league in RBIs too.  The rest of the offense is downright ugly (last in runs and stolen bases, 9^th in average) which puts him 6^th overall in roto offensively.  His keepers have been excellent – Freedie Freeman, Justin Upton, and Jose Bautista are all top-40 players.  Michael Morse has been damn solid in the CI spot and Nelson Cruz – the 189^th player taken in the draft – is leading the league in home runs.  He’s had his share of injuries; Mark Trumbo, Jay Bruce, an Curtis Granderson have missed roughly 40% of the season. 

The pitching staff is above average, 3^rd in wins and 5^th in ERA and K’s.  His 6^th place roto ranking is skewed due to his lack of closers and thus, lack of saves.  Mark Buehrle, Lester, Jesse Chavez, Garrett Richards, Wily Peralta are all ranked in the top 100.  Jon Lester and Michael Pineda could be keys to a second-half surge.  And if Matt Harvey is allowed to make 4 or 5 starts as the end of the year as he hopes, it could be just enough to spark a run to the playoffs.  On the whole, TJ’s team has its flaws but there should be enough in the tank to get to the playoffs.

Drew – What Difference does a Year Make?

He’s in last place despite holding 5 of the first 21 draft picks.  He’s made one FA pick-up since March 31^st.  He has the least moves in the league.  He left Wilin Rosario in his starting lineup for his entire 15 day DL stint.  He left two healthy contributors in DL spots - Casey Janssen and RYAN BRAUN – for over a week.  He has Josh Johnson (Tommy John) occupying a DL spot.  And forget about managing his starters (As I type this, I’m watching Hyun-jin Ryu no-hit the Reds thruough7 and he’s on Drew’s bench).  Good job, good effort.

Roto Power Rankings

Offense

1. Colin (40)

2. Alex (38)

3. Richie (35)

4. James (33)

5. Jarrett (30)

6. Drew (24)

6. TJ (24)

8. Ben (20)

9. Adrian (18)

10. Kurt (13)

Defense

1. Richie (49)

2. Alex (41)

3. Ben (36)

4. Colin (32)

5. Drew (27)

6. TJ (24)

7. Adrian (19)

8. Kurt (18)

9. James (15)

10. Jarrett (14)

Overall

1. Richie (84)

2. Alex (79)

3. Colin (72)

4. Ben (56)

5. Drew (51)

6. TJ (48)

6. James (48)

8. Jarrett (44)

9. Adrian (37)

10. Kurt (31)

May’s All-Stars (as of Monday 5/26)

C – Y. Gomes (FA)

1B – E. Encarnacion (Ben)

2B – J. Altuve (Colin)

3B – M. Cabrera (Colin)

SS – T. Tulowitzki (James)

CI – V. Martinez (Alex)

MI – D. Gordon (James)

OF – Y. Puig (Alex)

OF – G. Stanton (Alex)

OF – B. Moss (Colin)

OF – N. Cruz (TJ)

UTIL – M. Brantley (Ben)

SP – A. Wainwright (Drew)

SP – D. Keuchel (Kurt)

SP – P. Hughes (TJ)

SP – J. Cueto (Adrian)

SP – R. Vogelsong (James)

RP – S. Romo (Richie)

RP – S. Cishek (Adrian)

P – J. Weaver (Kurt)

P – J. Teheran (Jarrett)

P – M. Tanaka (Richie)

1st trade means first trade analysis!

The first trade of the season is officially in the books. Richie traded Kyle Farnsworth to James late last night straight up for his 22^nd round pick next year. I have taken a couple things from this trade so far…first of all, James is in desperate need of closers and will pretty much take anyone at this point, hence Kyle Farnsworth. Secondly, Richie might be trying to copy his strategy from this year of stocking up on draft picks so he can finally have a good team.  And if so, he’s getting a head start early, in case his team decides to lay an egg mid-season.

With 3 ½ closers already (Romo, Holland, K-Rod and Jim Johnson), Richie was looking to deal Farnsworth, and for good reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few weeks he gets booted from the closer’s role, either if Valverde starts pitching well again or if by some miracle Dice-K fits there…or if he just realizes he’s Kyle Farnsworth. And that’s probably why Richie was looking to part ways with the ancient, Mormon (yes he is) Kyle Farnsworth.

All James is looking to get out of him is a little boost in saves to maybe steal a week or two from someone with injured closers, and for a 22^nd pick, he might be able to get that.

Overall, both teams came away winners in this trade, with Richie essentially getting a free draft pick next year in a round that saw steals like Michael Brantly, Corey Kluber and Danny Haren, and James essentially getting a heavily discounted short-term temporary closer.

The Month That Was Series

Diamond Dynasty:  The month that was…

APRIL

News

It takes big news to overshadow the excitement of the start of a season.  But Alex [redacted] managed to do just that, proposing to longtime girlfriend Jillian [redacted].  Alex, I want to personally thank you for giving my girlfriend yet another bullet of marriage ammunition; I think you’re the 10^th or 11^th person we know to be engaged.  But seriously, congratulations man, great stuff.  Glad to have my first fantasy sister-in-law.  By the way, is the Chalice of Fantasy Baseball Excellence now the Alex [redacted] Memorial Cup?

Standings Analysis

As expected, there was plenty of shuffling in the standings over the first month of the season.  Richie moved up from 10^th to 1^st, Adrian slipped all the way down to 8^th after a hot start, and Ben found his way back to 1^st place (and now sits in 2^nd) after starting the year in the bottom half.  Colin has steadily climbed the ranks and finds himself in the top 3, and Alex hasn’t fallen lower than 4^th all season.  TJ and Kurt have been bouncing around the middle of the pack (5^th and 7^th respectively), but Drew is moving in the wrong direction (now 9^th).  James leapfrogged 4 managers following his first win of the season to put him in 6^th, which leaves Jarrett, the only manager who’s failed to crack the top 8 in 2014.  There should be another month of jockeying for position until the standings become just a bit more static.

Shutout watch

In week 1, Adrian beat Richie 8-2 but did not challenge Travers for saves or strikeouts.  The closest we came in week 1 was probably Alex’s 7-2 victory over Jarrett, where Alex missed the shutout by 7 runs and 3 stolen bases.  They tied in homers.

Week 2 also had some close calls as Ben fell 2 saves short of tapping the shutout pool bank.  His consolation prize was a 9-1 win over Adrian.  After being on the wrong end of a near-shutout the previous week, Richie narrowly missed cashing in after an 8-1 win over James.  But by Sunday night, the stolen bases were out of reach and James tacked on a late save to tie saves.

Week 3 had competitive matches across the board and no real shutout threats.

There was a shutout resurgence in week 4.  Richie led 8-0 heading into Sunday Night Baseball and needed a win from Masahito Tanaka and a steal from Brian McCann for the elusive 10-0 victory, but both Yankees failed him.  James was finally able to stop the losing streak at 3 with the same 8-0 tally over Kurt, drawing no blood in wins or saves.  And what good timing it was for Maimonis, who now holds the WWE Championshit Belt!

Battle for the Belt

What a segue!  The WWE Belt can’t seem to find a home after changing hands for 3 of the first 4 weeks in 2014.  Ben barely got his fingerprints on it before handing it off to Colin after a week 1 defeat.  Colin puff puff passed it after week 2 to Kurt, who was finally able to give this poor foster-child of a belt a home to stay after beating Adrian in week 3.  But Kurt grew tired of the little bugger and gave it to Mams in week 4.  TJ will have the next crack at the belt when he faces James in week 5.  You know that website, wheresgeorge.com?  We need to register a domain for this belt. 

Ok, we don’t need to. 

2 Team Spotlight

Ben – The Champ Returns for More

After his second championship run in 2013, Ben clearly had a lot of keeper choices.  While they haven’t been bad, I’m sure Ben was looking for a little more pop out of the bats he kept.  Robbie Cano, Chris Davis, and Edwin Encarnacion each had 24 or more home runs last season**, but have only combined for 4 this year.  Jacoby Ellsbury is still searching for his first home run but has been excellent otherwise, burning up the basepaths and hitting .312.  The infield is pretty weak, with the best-ranked player falling in at 168 (Anthony Rizzo).  The outfield features three players at 61^st or better (Ellsbury, Jayson Werth, and Michael Brantley) but this team is struggling offensively overall, falling to last place in homers and runs.  It all adds up to the worst-performing offense in April, racking up a measly 14 roto points. 

The pitching has been markedly better, led by Scott Kazmir of all people.  After moving to pitcher-friendly Oakland, Kazmir boasts a 1.62 ERA and sub-1 WHIP, to go along with a 3-0 record and almost a strikeout per inning.  Max Scherzer and James Shields have been extremely reliable veterans out of the gate, putting up 40+ K’s each with great ratios.  Younger arms like Yordano Ventura and Andrew Cashner have been almost as good to round out a really strong front 5.  Ben is also a top-5 saves team getting contributions from Glen Perkins, Fernando Rodney, and Joakim Soria, newly-crowned Angels closer Joe Smith (what’s your middle name, America?)  will only help to boost the numbers.  The staff checks in at third place on the roto rankings.

Despite the dragging overall roto numbers (O’Connor is firmly in 6^th), Ben has played above his statistics and sits in second place.  Ben started with the WWE Title Belt but immediately lost it after week 1.  He’s riding a 3 week winning streak and has scored at least 4 points in each match up this year.  Considering his offense is still asleep, I’d say Ben is poised for another playoff run.

James – April's Walking Wounded

After a third-place finish in 2013, James stumbled out of the gate this year.  But after a big victory against Kurt in week 4, he’s right back in the thick of it.  Other than Tulo, his keepers have been largely absent.  Jason Kipnis, Adam Jones, and Starling Marte are all batting under .265, but have managed contributed in other categories.  James has been riding the bats of Adrian Gonzalez and Carlos Beltran, who are responsible for 13 of the club’s home runs.  James is in the middle of the pack offensively with 29 roto points thanks to his league-leading 29 SB’s**.  If he can get guys like Allen Craig and Billy Butler to pick up the slack, his offense should be just fine.

No pitching staff has been hit harder with the injury bug early on than this one.  Mike Minor and Hisashi Iwakuma are on track to join their big league clubs in early May after starting the season on the DL.  Whoever James Paxton is, James has him too and he’s on the DL.  But the biggest blow thus far is the loss of Matt Moore, who is one of the latest to fall victim to the dreaded Tommy John surgery (I think I heard something like 15 pitchers have elected for TJ surgery already this season).  With all those injuries, and an already shaky bullpen (see the pre-season power rankings), Maimonis had one of the worst roto staffs in the league through April. 

After spending the first 3 weeks in the cellar, James almost captured a 10-0 shutout in week 4.  The win bumped him up to 6^th place, but it was especially timely as he now has the WWE Title Belt!  He’s the fourth manager to hold the belt in as many weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see if this sends him onto a prolonged winning streak.  With reinforcements on the horizon, James looks to be headed in the right direction. 

**Educated guesses at these stats

Roto Power Rankings

Offense

1. Colin (41)

2. Alex (34)

3. TJ (31)

4. Jarrett (30)

5. Richie (30)

6. James (29)

7. Drew (28)

8. Kurt (22)

9. Adrian (16)

10. Ben (14)

Defense

1. Richie (41)

2. Alex (40)

3. Ben (36)

4. Drew (35)

5. TJ (26)

6. Colin (26)

7. Adrian (25)

8. Kurt (21)

9. James (15)

10. Jarrett (10)

Overall

1. Alex (74)

2. Richie (71)

3. Colin (67)

4. Drew (63)

5. TJ (57)

6. Ben (50)

7. James (44)

8. Kurt (43)

9. Adrian (41)

10. Jarrett (40)

April’s All-Stars (as of Monday 4/28)

C – D. Mesoraco (FA)

1B – J. Abreu (Richie)

2B – B. Dozier (Richie)

3B – J. Donaldson (Richie)

SS – A. Ramirez (Drew)

CI – A. Gonzalez (James)

MI – T. Tulowitzki (James)

OF – C. Blackmon (Colin)

OF – G. Stanton (Alex)

OF – J. Upton (TJ)

OF – N. Cruz (TJ)

UTIL – A. Pujols (Colin)

SP – A. Wainwright (Drew)

SP – J. Cueto (Adrian)

SP – J. Hammel (FA)

SP – A. Harang (Colin)

SP – F. Hernandez (Alex)

RP – F. Rodriguez (Richie)

RP – A. Wood (James)

P – J. Fernandez (James)

P – M. Perez (Kurt)

P – M. Tanaka (Richie)

2014 Power Rankings

Fellow members,

As we embark on this, our 12th season of fantasy baseball excellence, we should first congratulate Ben O'Connor on his 2013 championship over TJ Geers.  After coming so close in recent memory, I'm sure that everyone except TJ could find some small measure of happiness in his victory.

It was a tumultuous twelve off-season, and the league that we return to looks only vaguely familiar than the one that we left.  The rosters are bigger, but less flexible; new incentives installed to keep Drew and Adrian managers active every week regardless of the standings.  There is only one thing that could truly cement this year as a landmark season - a Richie-Jarrett final.

This is the time of year when dreams like those are vibrant and alive; the time when everyone is in first place and has a shot at the Chalice.  It's the time of year when idiots make 2013 power rankings that predict 2 of the 3 teams who finished in the money would miss the playoffs entirely.  And it's the time where those mistakes will be made all over again.  May I present to you fine gentlemen, Richie's 2014 power rankings.

Rank	Manager	’13 Rank	Actual	Analysis
1	Alex	1	4	A star-studded outfield leads the charge for Alex as Stanton, Puig, and McCutchen could all be top-10 OF.  The infield is a nice blend of power and speed featuring Weiters, Victor Martinez, Pablo Sandoval, Jean Segura, Everth Cabrera, and Aramis Ramirez.  No Gentilli team would be complete without Chase Utley, of course.  The pitching has the potential to be a little thin up front, but the staff as a whole should complement the offense nicely.  Felix, Gerritt Cole, Michael Wacha, and Jeff Samardzija are the featured starters, with Cole Hamels waiting on the DL.  2 elite closers, 1 mid-tier and 1 back end will help to buff up the numbers.
2	Ben	5	1	The reigning champion leads with the strongest infield in the league; Salvador Perez, Chris Davis, Robinson Cano, Encarnacion, Rizzo, Brad Miller and Aaron Hill.  The outfield is just OK though, as Ellsbury and Jayson Werth as the only players above average.  The Staaf is deep – Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez,  Jordan Zimmerman, James Shields, and Andrew Cashner might be the best top 5 in the league.  3 average closers will keep the saves competitive.
3	Richie	4	9	Richie should find the majority of his power this year in his infield behind McCann, Fielder, Wright, Hanley, and Josh Donaldson.  Hunter Pence, Alex Gordon, Carlos Gomez, and Crawford/Victorino isn’t the strongest outfield in the league but it’s certainly respectable.  The big wildcard is Jose Abreu, who could take this offense to the next level.  Richie rolls out what should be a really nice trio of Strasburg-Greinke-Fister, but he’ll be relying on unproven talents like Tanaka and  Sonny Gray to round out the rotation.  1 elite and 2 solid closers project to make a competitive staff week in and week out.
4	Kurt	3	5	Year after year Kurt proves he can build an offense, and this year is no different.  Carlos Santana and Joey Votto are projected to perform at the top of their positions, and Brett Lawrie’s 2B eligibility (news to me) will hopefully give corner infield power at a thin position.  Kurt boasts one of the best outfields in the league with Harper/Cargo/Choo/Heyward.  The pitching will be boom or bust with some high-risk hurlers; Gio Gonzalez is the safest, but Jered Weaver and Matt Cain are huge question marks.  Cobb should continue to develop and might be a solid 2 by the end of the year.  3 mid-level closers round out the staff
5	James	8	3	I think James was able to build a really nice all-around offense this year, which is a really bad thing for James.  Just like last year, he’ll lean on another solid outfield in Adam Jones, Starling Marte, Carlos Beltran, and Leonys Martin.  The infield can pack a punch too, with Lucroy, KiPenis, Tulo, and Allen Craig.  The Staaf is led by Jose Fernandez and Matt Moore.  He starts the year with Iwakuma and Minor on the DL, so it might be a slow start for Maimonis.  The closers are a little scary, though.  He’s relying on Robin Ventura to actually choose Nate Jones to close, and Latroy Hawkins in Coors Field is frightening.  This could be the area that holds him back.
6	Drew	7	10	Drew will look to his outfield of Braun, Cespedes, Rios, Holliday, and Coco to put up big numbers.  The infield should be good not great (Rosario, Ortiz, Kinsler, Andrus, Hosmer, and Alexi Ramirez.)  Manny Machado could bump this team up another 2 notches when he gets back from the DL.  As usual, Drew rolls deep on the mound with Price, Verlander, Wainwright, Ryu and Kuroda, with break-out potentials like Josh Johnson and Ervin Santana rounding out the list.  He has a few average closers, but it’s probably the best staff overall.
7	Colin	2	6	Colin should find himself in the middle of the pack offensively with Molina, Pujols, Altuve, Zobrist, Zimmerman, Phillips, and of course Trout and Cabrera (Colin’s payroll also just went up $430 million in the offseason).  If one of the duo miss any time though, this offense sinks quickly to below average.  On defense, Sale, Darvish, and Bailey is one of the best trio’s going, with Shelby Miller and R.A. Dickey rounding out the top 5.  3 average closers put him in the middle of the pack.
8	Jarrett	6	8	Jarrett’s outfield has changed drastically from last year.  He went from a Barun-Hamilton-Cespedes power trio to lighter hitting Yelich, Billy Hamilton, and Michael Bourn.  The biggest stick in the outfield is probably Alfonso Soriano, who will be battling the other Yankee outfielders for AB’s.  The infield is solid with Posey, Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter and Ian Desmond, with break-out candidates like Middlebrooks and Matt Adams plugging the holes.  The Staaf could prove a little top heavy, with Kershaw and Bumgarner leading the charge followed by Julio Teheran, Danny Salazar, Justin Masterson and Tim Lincecum.  Jarrett boasts 2 elite closers which might help to close that gap.
9	TJ	10	2	I couldn’t have been further off in my analysis of TJ’s team last year.  Well, I could have if he won.  Either way, by now you should all realize that these power rankings are ultimately an enormous waste of time.  Ever the competitor, TJ started waving the white flag a month before the season started, trading his picks in the first two rounds to Drew for some future draft picks.  The best word for the offense is “thick”.  He very well could lead the league in homers with Trumbo, Bruce, Bautista, Granderson, Cruz, Hardy, Gyorko, Alvarez, and Freeman.  Actually not terrible.  The pitching leaves much to be desired, with a dangerous mix of young and unprovens like Cingrani, Buchholz, and Pineda.  Lester and Lynn are the safest options, but not very exciting ones.
10	Adrian	9	7	There is a glaring lack of power on this team.  Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton are the only locks for 20+ homers.  The team average and stolen bases should be reliable categories with guys like Mauer, Belt, Pedroia, Reyes, Jennings, and Gardner.  Matt Kemp could be the savior this team needs, but it’s a risky proposition.  The staff is fairly solid but unexciting with Cliff Lee, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Liriano and C.C. Sabathia.  Adrian should get some help with 3 very good closers in Koji and Paps, but he’ll have to wait and hope that Chapman is the same guy when he comes back.

Weekly Match Ups - Week 23

Week 23's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE – PE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence – PLAYOFF EDITION)

Last week – Ben and James hold on to the byes, TJ leapfrogs Alex for third (and changes the playoff picture in the process). Jarrett fizzles down the stretch and finishes on the outside looking in, Adrian's late season push falls short, and Drew out-sucks Richie for the 2013 Paul French Award.

After 22 weeks of fierce competition, the Diamond Dynasty finally has it's 6 playoff contestants in 2013. I first want to thank Sleepy's, Dell, Not You Average Joe's, Post-It, and Diamond for sponsoring the regular season match ups this year, and we look forward to continuing a mutually beneficial business relationship in the years ahead. I would also like to extend a congratulatory salute to Ben and James, who secured the bye weeks after a season-long showing of dominance. So without further adieu, the 2013 first round playoff match ups brought to you by:

                                      Destiny's Auto Sales – Fulfill Your Destiny!

TJ (3^rd) vs Kurt (6^th) – The DL All-Stars vs the 6 win kid. To be honest, both teams are kind of limping into the playoffs. TJ was no worse than third place for essentially the entire year so he's proven that he's no fluke. But he's heading into the playoffs with Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, and Matt Harvey on the DL. At this point in his career, Pujols is replacement level – the absence of the other two will be felt. TJ was 9-1-2 in the first 12 weeks but just 5-5 in the final 10 weeks with a 1-1 record against first round opponent Kurt. Despite his .486 winning percentage, The Commissioner had an 11-8-3 weekly record. He's only 2-6 in the last 8 weeks but the 10-week unbeaten streak should not be forgotten. His ability to squeak by, coupled with TJ's walking wounded, should make for a very close game. TJ beat Kurt 7-3 last week, but it easily could have been a 6-4 win for Kurt.

Season series: TJ 2-1 (17-12)

OFFENSE:

TJ finished in the top three in Runs, HR, and RBI but struggled in SB (10^th) and BA (9^th). The subtraction of Jose Bautista and Albert Pujols would presumably have the greatest effect in the three aforementioned strengths. Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson have been top 40 players over the past month but it's hard to say how long they'll be able to keep that pace up. Jay Bruce is approaching 30 homers and seems to be heating up, if only a little. Kurt finished the year first in Runs and third in Average, but bottom third in RBI and SB. He is also facing some injury issues with Carlos Gonzalez unable to swing a bat and Bryce Harper at less than 100%. Recently, Shin Soo-Choo and Ian Desmond have been the leaders of the club and they have the talent to continue their level of play.

Edge – Kurt

PITCHING:

This is where it gets interesting. One man's strength is another man's weakness in most categories here. Kurt led the league in Wins and K's, but was last or second to last in Saves, ERA, and WHIP. TJ was top three in the latter three categories, but just middle of the pack in Wins and K's. TJ is already up 1-0 automatically as Kurt carries no closers, and he only needs to win 4 more categories as he possesses the tie breaker via home field advantage. A rotation without Matt Harvey is much less imposing (and those once strong ratios start to creep up as well). Even still, TJ has a guaranteed win and a big edge in two other categories.

Edge – TJ

Prediction: Really, really close one. But thanks to the home field advantage, TJ advances on a 4-4 tie.

Alex (4^th) vs Colin (5^th) – These two gentlemen were my pre-season first and second place picks, so I'm not surprised that they're battling for the 2013 crown. Alex is searching for his first win in three weeks (0-1-2), though he did have a four week winning streak before that. Conversely, Colin has played fairly well recently (3-2) following a 4 week losing streak. Gentilli is coming into the playoffs remarkably healthy, with no players on the DL. Colin cannot say the same, as Joe Mauer and Jason Heyward will not be able to go this week. But as we all know, Colin will sink or swim with the production of Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. Alex has the deeper team, but Colin's stars are a threat to outshine the competition.

P.S. - While I appreciate the humor, the team names “Please Cabrera” and “Cabrera Please” make this write-up extremely confusing. I am not smart enough to remember who is who.

Season series: Alex 2-0 (14-5)

OFFENSE:

Alex is a top four team in Runs, HR, RBI, and SB. He also has the odds-on favorite to win the NL MVP in Andrew McCutchen, who is one home run away from his third consecutive 20-20 season. It's tough to find even one under-performer in Alex's lineup as most of his players are ranked in the top 140. Colin, on the other hand, is more top-heavy than Pam Anderson. It's Cabrera and Trout, and then....Pablo Sandoval? Wil Myers? Now just a few weeks ago we saw Crout (I think I like Trabrera better) go off for 22/11/32/5/.400 in a two week span. If Colin can get that production, he has a chance. But Cabrera is hobbled and the Tigers are taking it easy with him down the stretch. At this time, Colin's top-heavy fantasy bosom consists of a DD and a B cup.

Edge – Alex

PITCHING:

Reviewing the team totals for the season, these guys are neck and neck right down the line. And with Colin picking up a few closers mid-way through the season, the Saves gap is wiped out for this week. You could argue Alex has slightly better elite talent, but Colin definitely has the deeper staff overall. Alex will be depending on Zack Greinke to keep the mojo working (top 10 in the last 30 days) to lead the staff. Beyond that he'll be looking to Francisco Liriano and Matt Moore to pick up the slack for an injured Felix Hernandez. Yahoo! says Felix will throw this weekend before the Mariners determine when he next start might be, which takes him out of Alex's match against Colin. Finally, Gentilli boasts a solid closer squad with Addison Reed, Edward Mujica, and Mark Melancon, who has apparently stolen the closer role from All-Star Jason Grilli since Grilli was forced to the DL. Colin has a great two-headed monster in Yu Darvish and Chris Sale, and Cole Hamels has bounced back in a huge way after a slow start (top 6 in the last 30 days). He fills in the rest of the rotation with solid arms and his closers (Koji Uehara, Glen Perkins, and Steve Cishek) are all dependable. A really interesting sub-plot of this match up will be the trade between these two managers on July 28, where Jean Segura and Kyle Lohse went to Alex for Chris Sale and Glen Perkins. In my opinion, it just fortified the strengths of each team. Colin's depth should win out here.

Edge – Colin

Prediction – The loss of Felix Hernandez handcuff's Alex's ability to compete on the rubber, but with a hobbled Miguel Cabrera, Colin can't keep up offensively. Alex takes this one, 6-4.

Nice Knowin' Ya

And now, a salute to the managers eliminated from their quest for the 2013 Diamond Dynasty Chalice for Fantasy Baseball Excellence:

Drew Donovan (10^th) – Injuries to keepers and high draft picks is excusable. Bad adds and drops are expected. But what Drew did this year is the stuff that ruins fantasy leagues. Donovan failed to check (let alone update) his roster for DL's and under-performers. From May 9^th to July 3^rd – a stretch spanning and affecting 10 weeks – he failed to make any moves as he plunged deeper and deeper into last place. And when he finally did update his roster, he fucking won! Considering two teams made the playoffs with sub-.500 records, his 3-5-1 record in the last 9 weeks makes you think that had he not checked out in May he might have had a shot at the playoffs. Hope you enjoy the first pick next year, because you damn well don't deserve it.

Weeks 1-7: 0-6-1

Weeks 8-15: 2-5-1

Weeks 16-22: 1-5-1

Streaks:

    Wins: 2

    Unbeaten: 2

    Losses: 8

    Win-less: 13

Richie Travers (9^th) – Richie has to be honest. Richie is dumbfounded that his team didn't challenge for a bye. Richie felt so good about his team and it just...ah....he doesn't know. Looking back on it, there's probably a reason why the phrase “career year” exists, and there's definitely a reason why you're not supposed to expect those guys to do it back to back. Richie's season effectively ended 8 picks into the 2013 draft, taking B.J. Upton in the first round. His offensive keepers were injured most of the year (Hanley Ramirez and Aramis Ramirez) or performed below expectations (Prince Fielder). His draft was riddled with mediocre picks like Ben Zobrist and Adam LaRoche as well as bad picks like Roy Halladay and Danny Espinosa. He hung in there as best he could but he fell out of contention by early August. Richie picked up three extra draft picks for next year but lost Felix Hernandez in the process, which makes his keeper situation a little cloudy.

Weeks 1-7: 0-5-2

Weeks 8-15: 2-5-1

Weeks 16-22: 1-3-3

Streaks:

    Wins: 2

    Unbeaten: 2

    Losses: 4

    Win-less: 8

Jarrett Staaf (8^th) – Jarrett pushed harder than anyone this year to make the playoffs, trying to strike a deal with a number of managers to bolster his roster for the final weeks. He unfortunately dug himself too deep a hole in the middle of the season to get out of. The bottom line is 2013 Jarrett was nothing but a big bully. Check this out:

Record vs first-fourth place: 1-9-1

Record vs fifth-tenth place: 6-3-2

Record vs playoff teams: 3-11-2

Record vs non-playoff teams: 4-1-1

Now I would expect most of the teams to have good records against the non-playoff teams, but for a team to finish outside the playoffs despite dominating the bottom of the league is peculiar. Jarrett made a decent push toward the end of the year but just couldn't string wins together as he followed a win with a loss from weeks 13-21. He had a chance in the final week of the year as he played Colin straight up, but a 7-3 loss was the final nail in the coffin of Jarrett's 2013 season.

Weeks 1-7: 3-2-2

Weeks 8-15: 1-6-1

Weeks 16-22: 3-4

Streaks:

    Wins: 3

    Unbeaten: 4

    Losses: 4

    Win-less: 7

Adrian Macdonald (7^th) – If memory serves me correctly (and I'm not too drunk yet), Adrian sat between 6^th and 8^th pretty much all year. He was never a big threat to anyone, but he was always within a few games of a playoff spot if he wasn't already in. A late-season 5 week win-less streak turned out to be a back breaker despite closing the year on a 3 week winning streak. He finished the year with only one pitcher in the top 100 (Cliff Lee, 30). A healthy Matt Kemp would have probably made up the 2.5 games that he needed to get to the playoffs, but Kemp was essentially useless all year.

Weeks 1-7: 3-2-2

Weeks 8-15: 2-5-1

Weeks 16-22: 3-3-1

Streaks:

    Wins: 3

    Unbeaten: 3

    Losses: 3

    Win-less: 5

Weekly Matchups - Week 22

Week 22's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week –Ben solidifies his hold on the regular season title, Adrian wins again to put himself on the brink of the playoffs,and Richie and Drew fight for first pick. Alex and TJ officially qualify for the playoffs, and heading into the last week of the regular season we have 4 teams (separated by just 5 games) battle for the final two playoff spots in a fantastic race to the finish.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Richie (10^th) vs Ben (1^st)

It can't get more lopsided than this as last battles first in a mostly meaningless match-up. Barring a 10-0 loss, Ben will grab the regular season title and one of two coveted bye weeks. As everyone knows, anything can happen in head to head, so the less exposure in the playoffs the better. Ben was only one of two top-5 teams to win last week which gave him some breathing room on the bye. This does have some implications for the 2014 draft as Richie has a half game lead over Drew for last god damn place. After winning most of the week against Alex, Travers fell back to a 5-5 tie – not the worst outcome for a no lottery league.

(season series Ben 11-5)

Dell's® "Dull Duel" –James (2^nd) vs Drew (9^th)

Slightly less lopsided, James takes on Drew in another probable bloodbath. James has less of a hold on the second bye, with just a 3.5 game lead over Alex and a 5 game lead over TJ. A 6-4 win should guarantee an off week next week for Maimonis. Drew, like Richie, has a good shot at first pick next year as he is totally over matched in this one. He managed a 6-3 win over Kurt, hurting his chances for that first pick next year but keeping the integrity of the 2013 season in check (though he did much to ruin that integrity for basically the entire first half of the year). It's another match up that effects two races at once.

(season series James 14-4)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Alex (3^rd) vs Adrian (7^th)

Shifting the focus completely to the 2013 finale, the last three match ups this week will go a long way in shaping the playoff picture. The first look is at Alex and Adrian, two teams that have come on very strong in the past month and are fighting for spots that seemed an impossibility just a month ago. Most impressive (for me) is Adrian's rise to the playoff discussion after dropping out of the top 6 over two months ago. He's 16-4 in the last fortnight and now sits just two games out of the playoffs! I all but wrote him off a few weeks ago after a 9-1 loss to Colin in week 19, but he has come storming back. He'll have a tough go of it this week though, as his opponent is proving to be one of the best teams in the league. Alex hasn't lost in 7 weeks, posting a 4-0-3 record over that span (albeit with a Kurt-like dominance). In his last lap through the league he's 5-1-3. The good play puts him 3.5 games behind James for the second bye but with Adrian playing so well (and James playing Drew) it's hard to imagine Alex being able to leapfrog James for second place. Adrian only needs Kurt or Colin to slip up to open the door for an improbable backdoor playoff spot, though that season series record against Alex does not bode well for the Marathon Man.

(season series Alex 16-2)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – Kurt (5^th) vs TJ (4^th)

TJ can't finish worse than 4^th, and might slide up to 3^rd with a good week. Either way, he's probably the most boring team this week (sorry bro). Kurt's season has been one of the strangest in recent memory. After getting burned by some seemingly bad luck early on, he ripped off a 10-week unbeaten streak and looked like one of the better teams in the league. Since then, he's just 2-5 with losses to Richie AND Drew (last week). Looking back on the aforementioned streak, he never posted more than 6 wins – in fact, he's only won 7 or more once all season. He still remains a threat with his consistent ability to take 6 categories, but his recent struggles have put his playoff spot in jeopardy.

(season series TJ 10-9)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – Colin (6^th) vs Jarrett (8^th)

I didn't expect Adrian to push his way into the discussion and he might steal the spotlight here but this is the marquee match up of the week, and probably the season. With everything on the line in week 22, Colin and Jarrett square off in a win-or-go-home (sort of ) battle. Jarrett has gone win-loss-win-loss for 8 weeks in a row now...but he's due for a win after a loss last week! And after two huge wins over Richie and Adrian, Colin has dropped two in a row but retained the 6^th spot. Jarrett starts this match up 2 games back and is the only non-playoff team that controls his own destiny (what more could you ask for, Jarrett!) And look at the previous two meetings between these two; a 9-0 win by Jarrett in week 4 and an 8-2 win by Colin in week 13. Apparently it's go big or go home with these two, which is exactly how it should be. Another great finish to another solid Diamond Dynasty regular season awaits! Playoff breakdown next week!

(season series Jarrett 11-8)