Tight Races Down The Stretch

[Teenwolf]

I'm having a tough time deciding between $60 Kimbrel and $32 Moustakas today. With a $340 daily salary cap, I can only afford 1. I'm 2 saves back, but also have Melancon, Hader, and Iglesias to his Yates and W. Smith.

HR and RBI are locked, but I'm 6 runs back of a pt...

I'm benching Kimbrel to get Moustakas into the lineup.

[Teenwolf]

I'm sitting in 2nd, 100.5 to 96, but I have multiple pts to gain all over. I can leapfrog him in a few, 2 saves back, 1 Win back, 3.99 to 4.00 ERA... also 2 possible BA pts (.274-.273-.272(me)... 6 runs back of a pt... 2 pts in SB within 2-3 of me.

So many paths to win, but so little time left! Feels like those machines at the fair where you pump quarters into a slot to push the stack teetering over the edge, dangling goodies (sweet victory), but somehow never paying off... I still have a few quarters.

Greinke and Samardzija starting tonight for me will decide a lot. I also have Velazquez vs MIA, and Scherzer vs CLE. Opponent has starts left from Lester tonight, Strasburg, Thor, Corbin, Matz, Hendricks, Musgrove.

[Judge Jude]

how much will Scherzer pitch on Sunday, if at all, with the wild card game coming Wednesday?
or has he been dethroned as ace? hmm, could be. I hope so. I need him to pitch and win Sunday as well.

[Teenwolf]

3 days of games left. I've cut my deficit to 100--98.5.

Some of my paths to pts are shrinking, but I'm 1 save back of the leader, so passing him would be a huge 2 pt swing. I should grab 0.5 from SB. I could get 0.5 in W if I'm lucky... Could gain 1 pt in ERA, but only 0.02 ahead of the leader. A negative flip in ERA would nearly doom my chances. Lineup went 5-30 last night, increasing difficulty to gain a BA pt.

I give myself a 40% likelihood of winning. Really unsure whether to start Velazquez vs. MIA. He got thrashed for 7 ER in 2.1 IP his last start against the fish. I could use the win, but a blowup kills me. I'm up 17 K, unlikely to lose a pt there... so the odds Velazquez gets a W seem small. But he's an emotional guy. I could see him dominating the Marlins in the final weekend.

[Judge Jude]

Scherzer announced as the wild-card starter Tuesday, alas. at this point I'll likely wish for his W and Ratio that aren't happening.

our race is now 105 to 103. leader is the insurgent who just grabbed his first slice of first place a few days ago.

I have killed the 7th-place team tonight, and passed a team - probably for good - who is now 6th. so I'm in the (modest) money for 4th or 5th, it appears.

[onejayhawk]

I did not make the top two this year, but with two days left...

FT 20 20 20 18 14 15 10 11 13.5 11.5 153

WW 19 13 17 20 19 17.5 9 12 16 9 151.5

J

[Ken]

114.5
114
113
112
110.5

Can easily move from 1 to 5 in the last day

[onejayhawk]

Going into the final day.

FT 20 20 20 16 14 15 10 11 13.5 12 151.5

WW 19 13 17 20 19 18 8 12 16 9 151

FT picked up a half point from me, :grouse: :grouse:

J

[cleo]

I am in a 12 team mixed league that allows daily moves (75 moves max per season). I am one of the few teams that had 35+ moves left, so about 3 weeks ago I started to use 2-3 of my pitcher spots to stream a SP each day and have moved up from 5th place in K to 2nd. I had a chance to move into 1st place in K over the last 3 days, but the team that is in 1st place in K has started to stream 5-6 SP as well by using the last of their available moves. What I don't get is this other team is currently in 6th place overall and we only pay top 3 spots. They can't move up in K or W as they are already in 1st in those 2 spots. I get the feeling that this owner is just doing this to try to block me from moving up into 1st place in K which would probably get me into 2nd place in the league which would be a $400 payout. I dont really know the other owners as this is a new league, but I wanted to know if this would be considered collusion or am I making too much of this. I would think some could say that they paid their $ and can run their team as well as it is within the rules of the league, but this team has offensive players on the DL in active spots so it is oblivious to me that they are only doing these moves to keep me from getting either 2 or 3 place. I have no proof, but that is how it looks to me. Thoughts?

[Teenwolf]

I am in a 12 team mixed league that allows daily moves (75 moves max per season). I am one of the few teams that had 35+ moves left, so about 3 weeks ago I started to use 2-3 of my pitcher spots to stream a SP each day and have moved up from 5th place in K to 2nd. I had a chance to move into 1st place in K over the last 3 days, but the team that is in 1st place in K has started to stream 5-6 SP as well by using the last of their available moves. What I don't get is this other team is currently in 6th place overall and we only pay top 3 spots. They can't move up in K or W as they are already in 1st in those 2 spots. I get the feeling that this owner is just doing this to try to block me from moving up into 1st place in K which would probably get me into 2nd place in the league which would be a $400 payout. I dont really know the other owners as this is a new league, but I wanted to know if this would be considered collusion or am I making too much of this. I would think some could say that they paid their $ and can run their team as well as it is within the rules of the league, but this team has offensive players on the DL in active spots so it is oblivious to me that they are only doing these moves to keep me from getting either 2 or 3 place. I have no proof, but that is how it looks to me. Thoughts?

I know it's frustrating to have non-contenders deny you points. But it's not collusion. Just like the Rockies beating the Brewers in the 10th inning last night. Why did they do it? They're not in the playoffs, and the Brewers could have made it in. Are the Rockies colluding with the Cards to keep the Brewers out of the playoffs? Seems silly to put it that way.

I have a couple of non-contenders that could decide my 12 team NL Only championship. Leaderboard is 100--98.5--90 (I'm 2nd). The team with 90 has no shot at 2nd, but he's 10 K behind me, with 1 start from Jack Flaherty tonight (thankfully his T. Bauer is sick and not starting), he's closed the gap from down 80 K (6 weeks ago) to 10 on the final day. He has very diligently streamed his SP, gained huge in W and K, but fell to 11th in ERA putting him out of contention. If he steals this K point from me, it likely confines me to 2nd, but he's earned it.

For me to win, I need 2 saves to leapfrog the leader, without his 3 closers getting one... if I tie in saves, I need other help, .5 pt from SB, 1 pt from BA is a tough reach, 8 runs back is likely out of reach, or he could lose a BA pt... My odds to win are slim, needing 2 saves. I'd say 5-10% chance at this point. Blown saves from Iglesias on friday, Hader on saturday, sure hurt my chances to win. At least I might get another game from the Brewers, as I'm desperate for that save lead.

[Judge Jude]

mine is a little different.

we have 6 'free' moves all season to waive an active player.
many had none left, but I saved one and dumped Mike Leake (week starts Thursday and he is done for season) for Austin Voth, who picked up the W that cost one contender a half-point so he trails 105 to 104.5. oops.

but different because I am chasing 3rd, 4th, or 5th place money.

the 'collusion' would be if he is doing this to try to benefit a specific rival. but if he wants to run up the score in K, that's basically his business. if he's a little mad that you stockpiled so many moves, that's not great but it's still not collusion. maybe you can send him a polite note saying you are pretty new to the league and can he (or she, lol) help you understand the strategy involved.

streaming in general strays very, very far from the original spirit of Rotisserie baseball. your season stats will look nothing like an MLB team's or a traditional Rotisserie League's team's - with perhaps 15 or 16 players on the roster all season, maybe 4 or 5 newcomers based on trades, a waiver acquisition or two, and a couple of callups from the minors.

but it's just a game - if league owners like a different version, enjoy it.

[cleo]

thanks for the replies. I do tell myself this is just a game and I do it because I love baseball.

[Sharky]

Down to the wire in our AL 5x5 league. I’ve been in first most of the season, was tied yesterday, and am now in second. It is not a done deal but I’m likely going to be beaten.

Tough part: I had a 20 point lead at the deadline, when my competitor pulled off this 7 for 1 trade....

Yordan Alvarez $8/year 1 and absolute garbage for

Alex Bregman $18 / contract through 2020
Jon Villar $34
Tom Murphy $10
Alex Colome $9
Brandon Workman $10
Domingo German $7
Michael Pineda $10

The prices are irrelevant except for Bregman, but it was a 7 for 1. I can’t really fault the guy for taking the deal, but I’m pretty steamed at the other owner for offering it. Historically the worst we’ve seen is 4 for 1. This one gave him so many players he turned over a third of his roster.

Oh well. Rules don’t prevent it. What are you gonna do except bellyache?

[Judge Jude]

entering the day Mr. "Has Not Won in 25 Years of Trying" led Mr. "Had Not Won In 26 Years of Trying Until Last Year" by 105 to 104.5.

that margin proved steady most of the day, but things broke late for the latter. he went 11 for 26 and the team just ahead of him was 4 for 29, so we have a back-to-back champion.

Mr. "Never Won" didn't want to make deals at the mid-August trading deadline, said he didn't think he could catch the comfortable leader. well, he caught him anyway - he just didn't stay caught.

- 7th-place team 12 K today, with two others idle. so one of them lost a point and finished tied for 3rd. the other who lost a point still beat me by 1 pt for 5th and the last prize money.

- I settle for the 1st pick in the farm draft next spring by placing 6th. The real loser was the 11th-place team. huh? he owned the pick of the team that salvaged 5th. and finishing 5th gets you money - but also the 8th pick in the farm draft. ouch!

[Sharky]

Interesting JJ. Similar in our NL league. The second place team could have caught the leader but didn’t want to take the risk. Shame.

Elvis Andrus delivered 2SB on the final day to seal the deal for my rival in the AL. Tough loss.

Hope everyone fared well. Enjoy the offseason and thanks for all the good and helpful exchanges this past season.

Jason, might want to do the hat pass in spring. Some of us hibernate until February.