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| The Reavers came to play this year. |
The Billy Beane Award
Similar to last year, I simply added up the end-of-season ranks for all drafted players, and divided by the number of roster spots (23) to arrive at the average ranking of drafted players for each of the NoJR teams. It's a bit inelegant, but it's the best I can offer with limited time (more like effort). Without further ado, the title of 2012 NoJR Best Draft and the Billy Beane Award go to...
- Teltec's Bunters - 228.2
- Rip City Reavers - 267.6
- Analog Kid - 268.6
- Nuckin' Futz - 278.3
- The Night's Watch - 288.9
- Alliance Federals - 329.7
- Adrian Gonzalez - 329.9
- Lloyd's Christmas - 337.1
- Nickel Blitz - 359.6
- Hughes Drubbers - 406.4
Hughes Drubbers gets the infamous Ruben Amaro Award for worst investments this year, but he made up for it with some clutch grabs in free agency. Nuckin' Futz's record for worst draft from last year (487) remains secure.
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| I will not rest until every starter on this team earns $20 million per! |
Your 2012 All-Bargain Team
Let's see how this matches up with my preseason predictions...
Catcher: Yadier Molina - Adrian Gonzalez
$2 - Ranked 75 - 150
- Y'know what they say in fantasy: Mo-lina, mo winz. He delivered another .300+ BA, but the real added value was how he slugged a career high 22 homers (8 more than last year) and even reached double-digits in steals. His improvement was so great that you almost have to wonder if he's not done increasing his skill sets yet. Based on his progression over three years, it's hard to say with confidence that 2012 was a fluke.
Honorable mention: Buster Posey at $15 (Nickel Blitz)
First Base: Mark Trumbo - Teltec's Bunters
$1 - Ranked 97 - 97
- If you want to add 30 homers to your lineup, go Trumbo. His production fell off after the All-Star break (pre OPS: .965; post OPS: .630), but you've got to like his situation: young, surrounded by other dangerous hitters, and he's got a name that's really fun to yell loudly. When it's time to name your keepers, holla TRUMBOOOOOOOOOO.
Honorable mention: Nick Swisher at $1 (Teltec's Bunters)
$1 - Ranked 86 - 86
- Kipper gets the Ace Rimmer Award for all-around universe-saving goodness after a breakout campaign this year. There is still room for improvement - he hit 11 of his 14 homers in the first 3 months of the season - but he possesses solid speed and the tools to grow into a regular "category juice" guy.
Honorable mention: Neil Walker at $1 (Lloyd's Christmas)
$1 - Ranked 49 - 49
- When it comes to old Yankees, you can usually rely on Nuckin' Futz to drop the coin to get them. And since there are quite a few Red Sox fans in this league, it's typically a paltry sum. All the better for the Futzers as Jeter put together one heck of a season at age 38, batting .316 (216 hits!) with 99 runs while regaining a little pop with 15 home runs. I'd be remiss in not mentioning young National Ian Desmond's 20-20 campaign - he'll be an intriguing draft day option in 2013.
Honorable mention: Ian Desmond at $1 (Analog Kid)
Third Base: Edwin Encarnacion - Adrian Gonzalez
$1 - Ranked 10 - 10
- Easy E was the best value on draft day, producing elite power numbers in addition to a solid BA and SB total (for a corner infielder). This makes E-5 the second Blue Jay in recent history to have a suspiciously sharp uptick in home runs, but at least he didn't abandon fantasy owners in infamy like Melky Cabrera did to me.
Honorable mention: David Freese at $1 (Analog Kid)
$1 - Ranked 16 - 16
- One year removed from BABIP hell, Rios bounced back nicely for a top-20 Yahoo ranking. As those in the fantasy sports biz say, Rios has "category juice," including a BA over .300, 20-20 power and speed, and 90+ runs and RBI. If he walked a bit more, he'd be the total package for our league. Unfortunately Futz didn't hold on to him and Teltec reaped the benefits... including a win over Futz for third place.
Honorable mention: Ryan Braun at $40 (Hughes Drubbers)
Outfield: Torii Hunter - Alliance Federals
$1 - Ranked 48 - 48
- Amidst all the hoopla surrounding Mike Trout and Albert Pujols joining the host of Angels, veteran Torii Hunter put together a very solid year, hitting for a solid BA (.313) without any glaring deficiencies in power or run production categories. With a BABIP of .389, though, in addition to turning 38 next year, you can count on some serious regression in 2013.
Honorable mention: Angel Pagan at $1 (Nickel Blitz)
Outfield: Yoenis Cespedes - Alliance Federals
$1 - Ranked 69 - 69
- While he's not that young, you have to give it up to the Cuban defector for putting together a great rookie campaign. I got the pleasure of watching him play in Baltimore this summer, and I just marvel at how much power he charges into every piece of contact. He reminds me of Wily Mo Pena, but with baseball skills.
Honorable mention: Adam Jones at $4 (Nuckin' Futz)
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| Bash Brothers: 2K12 Edition. PS: come back, Reddick. |
Johnny Cueto - Rip City Reavers - $2 - Ranked 29 - 58
Hiroki Kuroda - Alliance Federals - $1 - Ranked 66 - 66
Max Scherzer - Teltec's Bunters - $1 - Ranked 103 - 103
Doug Fister - Adrian Gonzalez - $1 - Ranked 142 - 142
Tim Hudson - Teltec's Bunters - $1 - Ranked 150 - 150
- This is the second year in a row that Cueto was in the All-Bargain rotation, which makes you wonder why people think he's so flukey. My guess is that it's his stature and somewhat lower K-rate, but you've got to like back-to-back years with a sub 3 ERA. Speaking of K-rate, holy Max Scherzer, Batman! He looks like the only pitcher in the league who could rival Strasburg in K/9 in the future.
Relief Pitchers:
Jason Motte - Rip City Reavers - $2 - Ranked 44 - 88
Joe Nathan - Alliance Federals - $1 - Ranked 94 - 94
Huston Street - Teltec's Bunters - $1 - Ranked 126 - 126
- Motte got a full year of work in as the closer for the Cards this year and got plenty of save opportunities to emerge as the best value in the group. However, Nathan deserves major props for re-emerging as an elite closer, especially after a couple rocky appearances to open the year. Street struggled with injuries again, but was utterly lights out when he did play - just as TDZ predicted.
The All-Bust Team
Catcher: Mike Napoli - Adrian Gonzalez
$21 - Ranked 392 - 8232
- In contrast to Rios, the BABIP fairy left Napoli, setting his BA tumbling after an improbable .320 mark last year. With plus pop and eligibility at 1B, Napoli was a player in demand, but his struggle to put the bat on the ball made him a bust based on his draft day value.
Honorable mention: Alex Avila at $6 (Hughes Drubbers)
First Base: Lance Berkman - Hughes Drubbers
$9 - Ranked 1153 - 10377
- Berky had a tough go of it after a renaissance in 2011. A sore right knee sidelined him, allowing Allen Craig to take over at first and in the cleanup spot. With a career OPS of .953, he was probably worth a sub-$10 flyer. Votto is worth mentioning for also succumbing to a knee problem, nearly costing the Reavers big-time after a blockbuster trade with Analog Kid. Fortunately he returned down the stretch, albeit with zero power.
Honorable mention: Joey Votto at $44 (Analog Kid)
Second Base: Emilio Bonifacio - Nuckin' Futz
$9 - Ranked 892 - 8028
- Elite speed and a solid BA in 2011 had Futz being like "EMILIOOO!" but he played less than half a year due to injury. Surprising that he was still able to amass 30 steals during that time frame despite a lower BA and leg problems.
Honorable mention: Michael Young at $17 (Nuckin' Futz)
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki - Nuckin' Futz
$48 - Ranked 930 - 44640
- Generally considered to be the best power-hitting shortstop in the game, Tulo went for primo dollars at auction. Unfortunately for the Futz, he played less than 50 games, never even playing after the month of May. Given his injury history, I wonder if the price for Tulo will be too low in 2013 - could be a bargain if he rebounds to health.
Honorable mention: Asdrubal Cabrera at $13 (The Night's Watch)
Third Base: Evan Longoria - Adrian Gonzalez
$37 - Ranked 380 - 14060
- Longoria is one of those top dollar players that I just cannot get excited about. First off, he's a Ray, which immediately makes him an odious commodity. Second, he seems to miss time with injuries that I perceive to be ticky tack (whether or not that's true). Third, I just hate his face.
Honorable mention: Jose Bautista at $48 (The Night's Watch)
Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury - Rip City Reavers
$40 - Ranked 795 - 31800
- Tacoby bounces from the Bargain to the Bust roster this year after struggling with injuries all season. With an ability to contribute in all categories, I felt great when I initially made this homer pick, but I don't think I'll be willing to keep him at $40 given his growing injury history.
Honorable mention: Chris Young at $4 (The Night's Watch)
Outfield: Carl Crawford - Nickel Blitz
$6 - Ranked 1033 - 6198
- A second straight year on the bust list, and this one was even more spectacularly bad than the first. He was injured to start the year and didn't even get going until after the All-Star Break, allowing for just about a month's worth of playing time before succumbing to an injured elbow and Tommy John surgery. I can't name another position player who has required Tommy John surgery, that's how abnormally disappointing Crawford is.
Honorable mention: Desmond Jennings at $21 (Nuckin' Futz)
$49 - Ranked 101 - 4949
- There's nothing bad you can really say about Kemp this year other than he got hurt. He's still an elite player, and I'm intrigued how he'll perform with Gonzo in the middle of that lineup.
Honorable mention: Michael Morse at $11 (Adrian Gonzalez)
Starting Pitchers:
Tim Lincecum - Analog Kid - $31 - Ranked 947 - 29357
Jon Lester - Lloyd's Christmas - $26 - Ranked 879 - 22854
Ricky Romero - Hughes Drubbers - $7 - Ranked 1489 - 10423
Roy Halladay - Rip City Reavers - $34 - Ranked 286 - 9724
Dan Haren - Alliance Federals - $25 - Ranked 322 - 8050
- What a precipitous fall for the multi-Cy Young Award winner. Looking at Timmay's numbers, I think it's really just a matter of control: higher BB/9, and higher HR-rate, suggesting that he's just not on point with his pitches, either walking batters or hanging them over the plate. Combined with 2 ticks off his fastball, and you've got problems, because his killer change is dependent on a strong fastball.
Relief Pitchers:
Mariano Rivera - Lloyd's Christmas - $25 - Ranked 414 - 10350
Brian Wilson - Nickel Blitz - $13 - Ranked 721 - 9373
Andrew Bailey - Alliance Federals - $7 - Ranked 757 - 5299
- Tough luck for the first two closers on this list, but Bailey was just a disappointing ellipsis of failure on the (death) sentence that was the Red Sox's season. At least that sentence ended with Bobby Valentine getting fired. Now if the team could just listen to me and HIRE VARITEK.
All-Free Agent Team
Unlike last year, I truly believe the All-FA Team could have won the league if one team had picked up all of these players. This list includes the #1 position player and pitcher in fantasy this year - incredible. And many of these other players are top 5 at their position. Either we're getting worse at drafting, or there were a lot of surprises this year in MLB.
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| If only defense counted in fantasy, or MVP voting. |
1B - Adam LaRoche - 65
2B - Aaron Hill - 26
SS - Marco Scutaro - 104
3B - Chase Headley - 12
OF - Mike Trout - 1
OF - Josh Willingham - 41
OF - Austin Jackson - 53
Util - Allen Craig - 70
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| Crazy faces win games. |
SP - Kyle Lohse - 35
RP - Fernando Rodney - 17
RP - Aroldis Chapman - 21
P - Kris Medlen - 20
P - Jake Peavy - 56
P - Jim Johnson - 71
P - Ernesto Frieri - 79
Odd and Ends
- There were 3 players who were on both of the final championship rosters the past two years: Allen Craig, Curtis Granderson, and Joel Hanrahan.
- Adrian Gonzalez led the league in trades made with 3.
- Rip City led the league in free agent/waiver transactions with 52, edging out The Night's Watch with 47. Rip City holds the record for such transactions with 69 last year.
- While the Reavers led the league in regular season win percentage this year at .616, the Drubbers hold the record for best record with a .621 mark last year.
- In both years, the top seed won it all.
Thanks to all for a great season, and I look forward to competing with you next year!
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