Tale of the Tape

Sheehan Bulldogs Richie Travers James Maimonis Jarrett Staaf TJ Geers Ben O’Connor		Downey Dragons Kurt Gottschalk Alex Gentilli Colin Lancey Adrian Macdonald Drew Donovan
Regular Season* *excludes 2002 and acknowledges the Dragons having 3 less seasons of stats due to Drew’s late arrival
6328	Regular season wins	5865
6138	Regular season losses	5917
734	Regular season ties	758
.507	Regular season winning %	.495
5	Regular season crowns	7
13	Total bye weeks	11
4	Last place finishes	7
Post-Season* *excludes 2002 post-season
37	Playoff Appearances	34
42	Playoff wins	42
43	Playoff losses	39
5	Championships	7
8	Runner-ups	4
5	Third place finishes	7
1	Inter-conference finals victories	4
1	Commissioners	2

Keeper predictinos for Tim

Here are the keepers in the keeper pool for Tim broken down by team and 2014 player rank. I didn't do Adrian's team, because I didn't have all week to look up players.

TJ:

None

Colin:

22- Albert Pujols
108- Ryan Braun

Kurt:

88- Evan Longoria

835- Carlos Gonzalez
1043- Joey Votto
1164- Oscar Taveras

James:

23- Dee Gordon

24- Adrian Gonzalez
59- Kyle Seager

Alex:

7- Victor Martinez
44- Yasiel Puig
72- Cole Hamels

Ben:

34- Edwin Encarnacion

40- Jordan Zimmerman
46- Max Scherzer

47- Jayson Werth
123- James Shields

147- Leonys Martin
175- Yordano Ventura
190- Andrew Cashner
432- Xander Bogaerts

Richie:

31- Josh Donaldson

39- Zack Greinke
54- Stephen Strasburg

83- Masahiro Tanaka
114- Sonny Gray
120- Hanley Ramirez

Jarrett:

41- Buster Posey

Adrian:

Joe Mauer
David Ortiz
Arismendy Alcántara
Starlin Castro
Trevor Plouffe
José Reyes
Matt Kemp
Torii Hunter
Josh Hamilton
Brett Gardner
Billy Butler
Dustin Pedroia
Brandon Belt
Rick Porcello
Francisco Liriano
Tyson Ross
Jorge De La Rosa
Koji Uehara
Jonathan Papelbon
Zach Britton
Aroldis Chapman
Chris Young
Héctor Santiago
Shelby Miller
Wade Miley
Cliff Lee

Colin- Has the 2^nd best ranked player (Pujols) and the most Jewish player (Braun).

Kurt- Definitely has the biggest names to offer, and the least mobile players, heck, most of them are always injured…practically dead. His average player rank comes out to a whopping 782.5.

James- James has the lowest average rank of players, averaging out to a rank of 35.3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333…and that includes the No. 3 and 4 lowest ranked players in this pool respectively (Gordon and A-Gon). 

Alex- Has the top ranked player in this pool (V-Mart), the hitter with arguably the highest upside (Puig) and the pitcher with the shittiest contract (Hamels).

Ben- Has an interesting stash of players he's putting up. Encarnacion I thought was a keeper for sure, and arguable the best power hitter in this group. Scherzer and Zimmerman are great options as well, but then Ben pulled a semi-Adrian and threw Xander Bogaerts and  Leonys Martin in the pot. 

Richie- Lots of keepers on other teams, but his team was stacked last year so he can afford to give away the former "future" of his team (Strasburg), Donaldson, Tanaka and Hanley.

Jarrett- Really putting a lot out there this year, Jarrett is offering up tons of his players like Posey, ___, ___, ___ and ___. Tim has a solid list to choose from there...

Adrian- Just from skimming over practically Adrian's entire roster, I can see why he missed the playoffs...again. I guess Castro is a solid option being a SS and all, but other than that, no one really seems worthwhile, that is except Plouffe, who has the punniest name in baseball. i.e. Plouffe is in the pudding, 100 plouffe vodka, plouffe decay, show me the plouffe, plouffe fairy, innocent until plouffen guilty, etc.

Overall, I think with Price and Wainwright already, Tim will go more hitter heavy, but you never know, looking at his potential floaters, Blackmon in the last round looks like the best option.

Here is my prediction as to who Tim will keep assuming he'll flex Blackmon...keep in mind, this isn't who I think are the best players, but my guess as to how he's choosing. Obviously the top two are who I believe he'll take.

5. A-Gon




4. Encarnacion




3. Strasburg




2. Puig




1. Car-Go

2014 Wrap-Up

Exciting.  Disappointing.  Amazing.  Frustrating.  Incredible.  Angering.  Condescending.  Record-setting.  Agonizing.  Elating.   History-making.  Relieving.  I don't have enough adjectives in my vocabulary to sum up this season, but 2014 was all that and more.  We had new rosters.  New rules.  An engagement!  Trades - whoa boy, did we have trades.  Historical streaks.  Improbable victories.  We had Drew.  We had unusual faces making deep playoff runs while post-season stalwarts sat idle.  We had a first time champion in a 13-year old league.  And it was all capped off with the first Commissioner resignation in a decade.  We had some unforgettable moments this season, but here are the wrinkles that you may have a harder time holding onto:

Richie finished in 1st for the 1st time

Jarrett finished in 2nd for the 2nd time

Alex finished in 3rd for the 1st time

Colin finished in 4th for the 1st time

James finished in 5th for the 1st time

Ben finished in 6th for the 3rd time

Kurt finished in 7th for the 2nd time

Adrian finished in 8th place for the 3rd time

TJ finished in 9th place for the 1st time

Drew finished in 10th place for the 5th time

- Drew hit for the triple crown of futility, setting Diamond Dynasty record lows with 70 wins (eclipsing Adrian’s 73 in 2010), 135 losses (eclipsing Adrian’s 134 in 2010) and .352 winning percentage (eclipsing Adrian’s .361 in 2010).

- Before this year’s 9th place finish, TJ had never been worse than 8th.

- TJ’s .418 season winning percentage is his worst in franchise history.

- TJ’s consecutive playoff appearance streak was snapped at seven seasons; Ben is now the active leader with six.

- TJ and Adrian were the only managers to be involved in at least three WWE Belt match-ups without ever defending it.

- Adrian has not won a playoff match since his 2008 championship season.

- Kurt’s .468 season winning percentage was his worst in franchise history.  Everyone else's worst season is no better than .427.  Basically, everyone else’s worst year is way worse than Kurt’s worst year.

- Kurt’s .468 winning percentage is 30 points higher than Drew’s .436 career winning percentage.

- Despite his sub-par regular season, Ben still has the most career regular-season wins (1318), 30 more than the next closest competitor (Alex, 1288).

- In the first half of the season, Ben was in second place with a 64-41-5 (.605) record.  In the second half of the season, Ben slipped all the way down to 6th place behind a 36-63-11 (.377) record and won only one week (week 14).  He then beat an historically good #3 seed (more on that later) and a #2 seed that had only lost once in his last 15 contests to make it to the finals.

- Ben was and will always be the only manager to hold the WWE Belt without beating a current belt holder.

- Ben’s made the post-season for six years running.  In five of those six years, he’s been either the #1 seed or the #6 seed.

- James's 101 wins is the lowest win total by a fifth place team in league history.

- James is the only manager ever to win the shutout pool.

- James has only one playoff win in his last four seasons; he had nine wins in his first eight seasons.

- Colin was 3-1 against WWE belt holders; no one else had more than 1 win.

- Colin spent the entire year between third and sixth place, and spent 14 of the final 18 weeks in fourth place, where he would eventually finish the season.

- Colin made the playoffs for the fourth straight season, a franchise-best.

- Alex never fell below fourth place the entire season.

- Alex's regular season (121 wins, .584 winning percentage) is the best by a #3 seed in Diamond Dynasty history.  In fact, it's a better season than four previous first place teams.

- Alex is the only manager in league history to win at least one playoff match in every post-season he's appeared in.

- Alex appeared in the 5v6 playoff game for the first time in his history.  He made the finals or runner up match in his previous seven post-season appearances.

- Jarrett's 127 wins as a #2 seed is tied for best all time (Richie 2004, James 2013). 

- Jarrett only lost three match-ups from May 6th to September 28th - a span of 20 weeks.  They were: The final week of the season (with WWE Belt in hand), the semi-finals, and the consolation game.

- Richie won the regular season crown for the first time in franchise history. His 128 wins are third best all-time.

- Richie joins Ben as the only managers to have multiple entries into the 600 club (teams with regular season winning percentages at or above .600).  Ben has done it three times; Colin, Adrian, and Alex (as a #2 seed) have done it once.

- Richie won his first Diamond Dynasty Chalice for Fantasy Baseball Excellence.



http://www.springtrainingcountdown.com/

Looking forward to autumn greetings and winter meetings,

- The Commissioner

Playoff Probabilities

Congratulations!  You made it to the playoffs.  It was a long hard road filled with adversity and struggle, but you drafted and managed your way into a chance at the Chalice.  As we all know, the Head to Head matchup style can be cruel and unforgiving.  In 2005, Ben put on the greatest display of managing in league history.  His 144 wins and .666 winning percentage still stand as the greatest display of prolonged dominance this league has seen.  And despite finishing 34.5 games ahead of his first round opponent, he went 0-2 in the playoffs and didn't even cash.  It may not be fair, but god damnit it’s exciting.  As you would expect, Ben’s experience is not typical.  In the 11 years of Yahoo! documented league history…….

The #1 seed has gone on to win the Chalice five times (Adrian ‘03, Colin ‘04, James ‘07, Kurt ‘12, Ben ‘13), while no other seed has done it more than twice.  And with only two losses (Adrian ‘06, Ben ‘10), the #1 seed has by far the best record in the title game.  With the most championships, you could argue that the #1 seed has been the most successful seed.  An argument could be made for…….

The #2 seed, but with only one championship (Adrian ‘08), it’s easy to discount them.  If you’re in it for the money, however, this is where you want to be.  With a disappointing four losses in championship games (Alex ‘03, James ‘05, Ben ‘07, Alex ‘12) but a dominating 6-0 record in the consolation game (Richie ‘04, Jarrett ‘06, Colin ‘09, Alex ‘10, TJ ‘11, James ‘13), the #2 seed has cashed in every single season.  Overall, 73% of the teams that earned a bye have finished in the money, which is a figure that declines sharply once you hit………..

The #3 seed, where less than half (45%) have cashed.  Finishing in every position at least once, but never more than three times, the #3 seed is the most lucrative non-bye seed.  We've seen two champions come out of this starting gate (Ben ‘06, Drew ‘09), which is tied for second-most. The numbers are similar for…………….

The #4 seed, who has gotten paid 36% of the time.  This seed represents the most non-bye championship appearances (four); two winners (Alex ‘05, Kurt ‘11) and two losers (Richie ‘08, James ‘09).  But it’s been title-game-or-bust for #4 seeds, with no wins and three losses (Richie ‘03, TJ ‘10, Alex ‘13) in the consolation game.  The seed you must avoid at all costs is…………..

The #5 seed, who’s 9% cash rate makes it by far and away the least lucrative playoff seed in history.  With zero trips to the finals and one third place finish (Kurt ‘07), there’s no doubt this is the cement-shoe seed.  #5 seeds are 4-7 in the first round of the playoffs, meaning more than half of their seasons (64%) end in the dreaded, pointless double consolation game.  It’s amazing how much better it’s been to be…………..

The #6 seed, who’s one championship (James ‘10) and 36% cash rate is far more attractive.  Sure, they've taken their lumps; they've come in last more than any other seed has done anything (55%), but with two second-place finishes (Alex ‘04, Ben ‘11) and a cash back third (Colin '03), it’s not all that bad.  Plus, you’re automatically the Cinderella story that everyone roots for.  Sot you got that goin’ for you, which is nice.  But of course if you can’t read, there’s always this:

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	$$$
1 Seed	45%	18%	9%	27%	NA	NA	64%
2 Seed	9%	36%	55%	0%	NA	NA	100%
3 Seed	18%	9%	18%	18%	27%	9%	45%
4 Seed	18%	18%	0%	27%	27%	9%	36%
5 Seed	0%	0%	9%	27%	36%	27%	9%
6 Seed	9%	18%	9%	0%	9%	55%	36%

TWTS - Week 22!

*SPECIAL EDITION*

Diamond Dynasty:  The month week that was…

WEEK 22

News

We made it!  The 2014 post-season is finally upon us.  I think some of you may have checked out/were watching football like a good God Damn American, but going into Sunday Night Baseball the playoff seeding was still very much in the air (more on that later).  For those of you that made it, please stop trying so I can win.  For those of you that didn’t, try your best to sabotage the other teams in the playoffs so that I can win.  We’ve never had these six managers make the playoffs in the same year, and we have a boatload of storylines to follow:

- Ben could become the second manager ever to win back-to-back championships (Kurt 2011, 2012)  

- We have probably the most dangerous #5 and #6 seeds ever.  James has a 71% post-season winning percentage (best all-time) and Ben has the most finals appearances (five).  If either win, they would become the first three-time Diamond Dynasty champion.

- Alex’s 2005 championship represents the most recent championship season among the top four seeds (Colin won in 2004).  The top four seeds have only made two appearances in the championship game in the last eight years.

- Richie and Jarrett captured the byes after combining for two byes in the previous 11 seasons.

- Jarrett has never played in the championship game

- Jarrett and Richie have never won a championship

Standings Analysis

As I mentioned, the seeding was very much up in the air by Sunday night.  Richie and Jarrett shared identical records heading into the final week.  Travers scraped by with a 5-4 victory over Drew and finished 1.5 games ahead of Jarrett.  Staaf needed a quiet night from Miguel Cabrera and a big night from Buster Posey, but got the opposite and lost for the first time since May (more on THAT in a moment).  The tight match-up between Alex and Ben heavily affected the seedings on both ends.  If Gentilli won runs, RBI, and SB on Sunday night, he could have jumped up to 2nd.  If Ben won, he could have taken 5th.  The managers ended up tying RBI and SB, so Alex stayed at 3rd and Ben at 6th, setting up a great rematch of the 4-4 tie between the two in week 22.  Colin has been locked into the four-spot since July and will draw James in the first round.

Shutout Watch

No shutouts in week 22.  Congratulations to James, who’s 10-0 shutout in week 10 over Drew was the only winner this year.  While it never would have happened if we had a competent manager, this was a great idea and a lot of fun.  I’m looking forward to it next year.

Battle for the Belt

No way did that happen!  No fucking way! Colin, you beast!  You did it!  You conquered the juggernaut that was ripping through the league!  Truly amazing.  As much as I liked the shutout watch, the Battle for the Belt was the coolest thing we did this year.  Congratulations to Jarrett and Colin, the two winners of the Battle of the Belt contest.  Thanks to Jarrett’s historic streak, belt holders went 15-7 in belt defenses.

Final Roto Power Rankings

Offense

1. Alex (40)

2. Richie (38)

3. Colin (37)

4. Jarrett (35)

5.  Ben (29)

6. James (23)

7. TJ (21)

8. Kurt (20)

9. Drew (17)

9. Adrian (16)

Defense

1. Richie (45)

2. Alex (41)

3. Colin (33)

4. Ben (32)

5. Jarrett (31)

6. TJ (29)

7. Adrian (25)

8. James (22)

9. Drew (11)

9. Kurt (11)

Overall

1. Richie (83)

2. Alex (81)

3. Colin (70)

4. Jarrett (65)

5. Ben (61)

6. TJ (50)

7. James (45)

8. Adrian (41)

9. Kurt (31)

10. Drew (28)

2014 Ultimate Lineup (as of 9/8)

C – B. Posey (Jarrett)

1B –  V. Martinez (Alex)

2B – J. Altuve (Colin)

3B –  M. Cabrera (Colin)

SS – D. Gordon (James)

CI – J. Abreu (Richie)

MI – A. Rendon (Jarrett)

OF – M. Trout (Colin)

OF – G. Stanton (Alex)

OF – M. Brantley (Ben)

OF – N. Cruz (TJ)

UTIL – J. Bautista (TJ)

SP – C. Kershaw (Jarrett)

SP – F. Hernandez (Alex)

SP – J. Cueto (Adrian)

SP – C. Sale (Colin)

SP – C. Kluber (Richie)

RP –D. Betances (Jarrett)

RP – T. Ross (Adrian)

P – A. Wainwright (Richie)

P – J. Lester (Richie)

P – M. Bumgarner (Jarrett)