I’m waiting on a JAM starter (Gallardo $32 OPT) and a CLUTCH outfield bat with B+ range and a -3 arm (Cespedes $33 OPT).
Would change draft day considerably for me if all of a sudden I had $65 more to spend. Gallardo’s card not worth $32, but with the jam it’d be my third for the rotation which has never happened in my franchise before. Cespedes still takes a dump versus lefties but makes up for it in the field.
Never forget.
Apologies to Brad for the lateness of this post on the site (I did get something on Facebook right away!) but congrats to Brad for guiding his Shiner Bock Rams to win the 2015 BLB title!
In the Ale League, the playoffs are set:
Edmonton (1) vs Bridgeport (4)
Fargo (2) vs Shiner (3)
Even if Fargo loses their last 6 games, they win the tiebreaker as they have won the season series vs Shiner. Head to head tiebreakers apply only when both teams would make the playoffs…
In the Lager League, things are a bit unsettled as we head into the final few days of the season:
Guadalajara (1) vs Naptown (4)
Woodbury (2) vs Ottawa (3)
The above can change in 2 ways: First of all, if Ottawa sweeps the final series vs Guadalajara, they will win the division on the basis of winning the season series (they are down 8-7 right now but would finish ahead 10-8 with a sweep).
Secondly, Norm’s Toronto Beavers continue their hot play and can pull into a tie with Naptown for the final wild card berth if Sudbury can sweep Naptown. Toronto plays Sudbury while Naptown plays Woodbury in their respective final series of the season. As a reminder, if Toronto and Naptown end up tied for the wildcard spot, there would be a one game playoff to determine who makes the playoffs.
Ale League
IPA Division – Edmonton has a 22 game lead, on the strength of a 15 (!!) game winning streak that’s still ongoing (which coincides with the arrival of new ace Madison Bumgarner, who is 4-0 with 4 CG and a 1.22 ERA in 37 IP).
Stout Division – Shiner has a 3 game lead over Fargo, as both teams are hot (8-2 in their last 10 games). It may come down to head to head play to determine the winner, as these two teams play each other 6 more times down the stretch (the season series is tied, 6-6).
Wildcard – Fargo has a commanding lead for the top wildcard slot, leaving the following teams to fight for the 2nd wildcard:
http://www.fangraphs.com/community/devon-travis-sign-stealer-2/
Well, not really famous, but cool that I was able to get the above published by the community blog section on Fangraphs.
Perusing the leaderboards and I couldn’t help but notice that Danny Santana’s batting average currently sits at .402! WIth only 1/3 of the season left, Santana is making a run at hitting .400. Of note, the current BLB single season record for batting average his shared by Miguel Cabrera (2014, Newcastle) and Ryan Braun (2012, Jackson Park) so even if he doesn’t hit .400, Santana has a good chance to set the all time mark this year.
Albert Pujols managed to hit for the cycle in game 3 against Sudbury, as he went 4 for 5 in an 11-0 win. Pujols managed a double in the first inning (range play I believe), homer in the 3rd, triple (off his card) in the 5th before hitting the easiest one, a single, in his final at bat in the top of the 9th inning.
Pujols, who has seen his name mentioned in BLB trade rumours of late, is hitting .261/.309/.455 with 18 HR and 76 batted in over 108 games for the Trappers this season.
With less than a month to the BLB trade deadline, many contenders and sellers have already hooked up on some big trades. Naptown put the rest of the Pilsner Division on notice as they acquired big upgrades at 2B (Cano), DH (Ortiz) CF (Span) and the rotation (Gio). In that same deal Sudbury cleared a staggering $86 in salary commitments for 2017.
Sudbury has also made a few other smaller deals, sending Ian Kennedy to Woodbury, Melky Cabrera to Ottawa, and Darwin Barney to Edmonton (in a deal barely worth mentioning, but it’s my blog post so I’m mentioning it!).
Meanwhile, Payette had the league wondering what direction they would take at the deadline, but after their deal with Fargo they’ve committed to selling and building for 2017. That deal sent stud hitting catcher/DH(?) Devin Mesoraco, along with Andrew Cashner and Danny Farquhar to Fargo in exchange for injured but talented Jose Fernandez, Jason Grilli and enigmatic Cubs prospect Javier Baez. Fargo’s still looking to buy in order to try to close the gap on Shiner who currently have a 6 game lead on the Stout Division.
Remaining questions that this Commish has leading up to the deadline include:
So, if any of you are on the DLB group in facebook, you may have seen Jamie lose his cool at a customer earlier in the week who claimed that the dice roller was bias. One interesting tidbit that came out of this is that Jamie shared a page on DLB online that he’s been using since mid-May to keep track of ALL the dice rolls in the online game. That page is updated every 10 minutes, and linked here:
Hey all,
Sorry for the “all quiet” around here the past while, but I’ve been quite busy at work these days. Figured I’d throw a post up here for people to discuss the first half, both in MLB and BLB, since we are at or near the halfway point now.
If the playoffs started today, here’s how the matchups would look:
SHI (1) vs BRI (4)
EDM (2) vs FAR (3)
GUAD (1) vs NAP (4)
WOO (2) vs OTT (3)
So, some interesting stuff in the playoff races. The wildcard in the Ale continues to be a mess, as there are essentially 4 teams battling for the last spot behind Fargo. Bridgeport holds a slim 0.5 game lead over Allegheny, with Payette (1.5) and Newcastle (4) right there as well.
Even more interesting, the Lager League could feature a division winner at or below .500 as Woodbury currently has a half game lead (at 41-40) over Naptown for the Pilsner Division. That would result in the interesting scenario of Ottawa not having home field advantage in the first round despite a much higher record. The Wildcard race is similar in the Lager League, as you have one team (Ottawa) running away with the top spot then several teams (Naptown, Sudbury, Dakota, Granite City and even Toronto) within spitting distance of the 2nd slot.
So to open some discussion up, I’ll ask a few questions:
1) Who on your BLB team has most overperformed this DLB online season, relative to expecations? Who’s underperformed?
2) Who on your BLB team has most overperformed in MLB (ie looking surprisingly good for next season)? Underperformed?
For me, in DLB online RA DIckey has been the biggest pleasant surprise (though he has regressed of late) as he’s got a 2.47 ERA. Biggest bust for me in DLB relative to expectations was Strasburg, but now that he’s gone I’ll highlight the back of my rotation disaster performance of Keuchel (6.71 ERA). Brett Gardner (.675 OPS) and Jason Heyward (.637 OPS) have also disappointed.
For MLB performances, most pleasant surprise out of the players I have control on next year has to be Albert Pujols’ resurgence. Gardner’s been hot of late too and looks to have a nice card for next year. Biggest disappointments include Rollins, Lucroy (hurt, but back and playing better of late), Tulo to some degree (possible buyout?) and Dickey.
BEER LEAGUE BASEBALL 