Now we get down to the heart of the matter...potential Championship Playoff teams. Spots 3-8 are all damn close which tells me that this season is shaping up to be one for the ages. Checking in at
#6---Dallas Redbirds
Strengths--SB/WHIP
Weaknesses--HR/RBI
One of the most maligned managers in eMLB history is about to field one of his stronger teams in recent history. The question is and always has been, will this be the year that Steve puts on his big boy pants and makes that trade or two at the deadline to get his team over the top or will it be business as usual? Already losing Tex appears to hurt but I think that Jones will have numbers just about equal to Tex's. So I don't think it hurts all that much. Just shortens his bench a bit. Certainly nobody knows why he drafted so much speed throughout the draft since you can only win a category once per week but it is what it is. He will have a difficult time trading speed for power which is where he is deficient. Really only two guys with 20+ HR potential now that Tex is laid up for awhile. He will probably be a third once he returns. As usual the Redbirds strength is in his pitching. A solid relief corp is flanked by Cain, Bumgarner, and Hellickson who should all win 10 or more but he has another half dozen that could close in on 10 wins as well. It helps that he is in the East where the competition is not as hazardous as in a couple of the other divisions. Overall with the exception of power he has a well balanced team.
#5--Michigan Miracles
Strengths--ERA/Saves/WHIP
Weaknesses--NONE
The Miracles are #5 in the rankings but I know we are #1 in your hearts. I went with a slightly different approach last year in my draft and it turned into my first championship. This year I tried to follow roughly the same script and was overall very happy with the outcome. I always try to field a well balanced team and this one will be no exception. Early moves were done in order to move up and draft Carlos Gonzalez since OF was by far my weakest area pre draft. I have six starters on offense who should hit 20+ HR and the rest should go 10 or more. Very good but no huge guns. On the pitching side I'm very happy with my closers and MRP's. Very good up and down the list. RA Dickey leads my starters and I should have six with 10 or more wins. Most all should have very good ERA's and WHIPs. and three of them should have 175+ K's. Now all we have to do is get the games started. If everything works as planned I will be in a trading mood at the deadline in order to shoot for back to back titles.
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The saying "A blind Squirrel finds a nut occasionally" Fits you Renner. Think you need to figure out will your players once again repeat career years?? Probably not all. Will CarGo stay healthy and reverse his 3 year trend in wrong direction? Will Markakis play 150? Will your super utility guys hold H2H value in our weekly setup if they play 3-4 times a week? LOTS AND LOTS of things have to fall right for you to get back in. You can only rip the new guys once..
ReplyDeleteIs it my imagination or do you NEVER have anything good to say about anyone. Don't worry initial discussions are in the works to bring back your minor league team and manager Storlie.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, why have you put so much emphasis on wins? Out of the 12 categories its the only one that's pretty much impossible to project and I know you're one of the biggest supporters of QS. Every team you set the bench mark for how many will get 10 wins but barely hear mention of the other more telling stats like Ks and WHIP.
ReplyDeleteOh and if we ever do realignment you two should be in same division :-)
Hey Larry I always need more lottery teams in my division :). BTW Renner I gave some props to teams that did a good job drafting. Reread my division run down again.
ReplyDeleteI do prefer Quality Starts for sure but Wins seem to be what people are looking for at least this year so I thought I'd drop those in. I do mention K's WHIP and ERA in strength/weakness categories as well.
ReplyDeleteIn 2011, I dealt Brett Gardner to get Hanrahan and Storen. Last year I picked up Matt Cain. In 2010, I didn't make a trade yet made the eSeries. This lack of trading stuff is a myth.
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