From The Commissioner's Office
World Series End Brings 2008 Season to a Close
[30-Oct] The rain-suspended game is over, the World Series has ended and our post season and Team/ MVP competitions have come to their conclusions!
In the post season, Rick added to his gargantuan lead and won the post season going away. I guess we have to give the self-proclaimed "genius" label to him with his brilliant picks of Phillies. Keith was a very distant second, but he did distance himself from third place in the process. Tom claimed third place as he stumbled home with a slumping Burrell. Jay couldn't close on Tom as the series wound down, but he did manage fourth place. Bob landed just out of the money in fifth as he held off a fast-charging Brian. Brian ran out of time, but finished a solid sixth. Ron settled for seventh place and Rod ended up in eighth ahead of the owners who ran out of players before the World Series.
[2-Oct] The stats are all in and compiled and the ninth inning results show Jay winning decisively to end the season on an up note. In at second is Rick with a strong finish. Keith maintained his third place position by a scarce margin. Mike claimed fourth place money in the last inning. Tom fell from the top spot and landed just out of the money in fifth place.
"Rookie" Chadwick Wins Season Championship
The season results are now available, and our big winner is Rookie Ray who edged out Brian by a mere 3 points even while finishing in tenth place in the last inning. That means Brian slipped to second for the season by finishing even lower than Ray in the last inning. Keith managed to squeeze into third place for the season by maintaining his position in the last week. Rod grabbed the last money spot for the season by holding on to fourth place. Rick and Mike finished in a dead heat for fifth place and just out of the money. It was really close from top to bottom all season and a very competitive league all year.
Download the final Stat Sheet for the 2008 regular season, here (.xls).
Mid Season Report #2
[12-Aug] We have now reached the 2/3 point of the season with the completion of the 6th inning, and I thought I would summarize the standings for the season as we head into the crucial last 3 innings. Now is the time to put on that final push to get yourself into the money or position yourself for next season's early draft picks, but not finish in no-man's land in the middle of the pack.
Bottom Dwellers:
11. David Wilson occupies this hopeless position for money winnings, but prime spot for first draft pick next year. He held the same position after the first three innings, but he has shown life lately as his team has gotten healthy and is starting to break into the money spots in recent innings. David shows signs of vacating the cellar which might land him in the upper levels of the bottom dwellers to salvage some pride and still get a very high draft pick next year.
10. Jay McAllister resides in tenth place after the 6th inning and seems to be stuck in a downward spiral since his position at the bottom of the middle-of-the-pack after the 3rd inning. A slew of critical injuries destroyed Jay's chances of finishing much higher even with some brilliant re-draft picks. Jay did snag a third place finish in the 5th inning after leading after the second week, so the potential is there to break out of the bottom dwellers and still have a high draft pick next year.
9. Bob Beltrami has tumbled from his position of lurking in 4th place and waiting to make a move on the leaders to 9th place due to a couple of disastrous innings lately. Once again, critical injuries wrecked his team and he had only David and Jay to break his fall to the bottom of the season standings. However, Bob has regrouped and has come out with a vengeance in the 7th inning and looks to improve his standing for the season. It will be a long shot to get into the season money, but he will still have a very high draft pick for next season while salvaging some pride.
Middle-of-the-Packers:
8. Keith Tiemann has squandered his position at the top of the middle pack to fall all the way to the bottom of the middle pack with some dismal finishes lately. He doesn't have a lot of points to make up to get back in the race, but he is running out of time. He showed some signs of desperation at the last re-draft by going for numbers over substance, and that may be a short term fix, but it seldom holds up for the long run. He is 70 points out of the money which is a lot of ground to make up in 3 innings. His worst scenario is to fall just short of the money and have the lowest draft pick of the rest of the field.
7. Tom Mason hasn't changed position much from the 3rd inning in spite of a series of mediocre finishes. That probably owes more to the fortunes of those below him than anything else. Tom has had consistent scoring all year, but never enough to jolt him into contention. His re-draft picks have been solid, and one good inning would go a long way to erasing the 61 points separating him from a money finish in the season. Tom needs to press his expert assistants for advice that will get him over the hump.
6. Ron Hallman was riding high at the first third of the season as he was poised near the top and looked ready to charge. Then a low finish followed by a disastrous 6th inning following the All-Star game landed him in 6th place and headed downward. He has been very active in re-drafting to try to turn it around, but so far it isn't working. Injuries have also been instrumental in Ron's demise. The good news is that only 29 points separate Ron from a money finish, and that is still very reachable.
5. Rick Allan has had a very up and down season in his rookie year and currently finds himself at the top of the middle pack with a very good chance of finishing well up the standings. Rick has generally escaped the injury bug which is a big reason for his relative success. Rick finds himself only 16 points out of the money for the season and only 87 points out of the top spot. That would be a tall order, but he has to like his chances of knocking down some season money with a strong finish.
Cream of the Crop:
4. Mike Spencer won the first inning, but followed that up with two dismal finishes to be near the bottom after the first third if the year. Since then he has had three solid innings to vault himself into fourth place for the season and in position to contend for the whole enchilada. Mike has 71 points to make up to get to the top spot, which is a lot to make up in 3 innings, but he is already in a money spot and looks to be in good position to hold onto that, especially with his good showings recently. Mike is moving in the right direction and he is looking strong.
3. Rod Logan has demonstrated phenomenal improvement in the last three innings and finds himself solidly in third place for the season. He was languishing in tenth place only three innings ago and he is the poster child for self-improvement in this league. His surge is mostly attributable to people getting healthy and others coming alive at the right time. Rod still has a lot of ground to make up being 59 points out of the lead, but he is proving to be a steady plodder. I'd be looking over my shoulder if I was one of the leaders.
2. Brian Miller has positioned himself near the top in spite of devastating injuries that he has managed to work through. He is now getting those injured players back in time for a stretch run, and we should all be worried that he will once again work his magic. Brian won the last inning going away and closed to within 10 points of the lead. I wouldn't feel very comfortable with him breathing down my neck from that close. On top of that, Brian continues to improve his team through the re-draft and he looks as strong as ever. Watch out for the king.
1. Ray Chadwick is having an incredible year for anyone, let alone a rookie. After starting out with an eighth place finish in the first inning and drawing all our sympathy, he has rolled off 3 second place finishes among the next five innings to take over the top spot for the season. He has held that for the last two innings and he is looking strong as he has the lead and someone will have to take it from him. He looks like a lock to finish in the season money which would be the best finish by a rookie ever. I might also point out that Ray has accomplished first place without winning even a single inning - quite a feat! It doesn't look like the last pick in the draft hurt him at all, and he's going for it again.
Good luck to everyone in the race to the finish! Remember, the draft order for the post season is determined by the season standings after the 8th inning, and the draft starts over with last place every round instead of going up and back like we do at the season draft. Here's your chance, bottom dwellers, to clean up and have a satisfying end to your year!!
Mid-season Report #1
[7-Jun] The season is three innings old, and I thought it would be a good chance to take advantage of our web site and give a one-third season status report. The standings can be broken up into three divisions, the bottom feeders, the middle-of-the-pack and the cream (which always rises to the top.) The bottom feeders have mixed feelings because they are probably not going to make up the ground to get into any season money, but they are in a good position to have a high draft pick in both the post season competition and next season as well as a chance to win a few bucks in the remaining innings this year. The middle-of-the-packers may have the worst situation as they aren't low enough down to get a good draft pick and they will miss out on any season money. The cream teams are jockeying for position to get the maximum pay out for the season and will take their chances with future draft positions. Read on to find yourself at the third point of the season.
Bottom Feeders:
11. David Wilson - David is trolling new territory in GUAMRL as we have never had an 11th place before. He has yet to break 400 points for an inning, but he is trending upward. He's waiting patiently for Vlad the Impaler to produce to go along with other good players who are erratic to date with the exception of A-Gon. He is off to a good start in the 4th inning and has Jay Bruce Almighty in his stable now, so watch out! Also, he is back from his annual pilgrimage to Kansas and fighting off some illness but is ready to devote full attention to his team.
10. Rod Logan - Rod has been unable to parlay his first draft position into much of an advantage, but he had to endure some down time from A-Rod. Xavier Nady (The Untier) has been a good waiver wire pick up who looks like he may finally be ready to put a good season together. If A-Rod gets on a roll and the underachievers in the bottom half of his main draft get hot, he could make some serious headway with the rest of his players who have been solid and consistent. Rod is also looking to break the 400 barrier for the first time, and he is getting close.
9. Mike Spencer - Mike is on the upper cusp of the bottom feeders and has really had an up and down season so far. After a win in the first inning, he fell all the way to the bottom in the next two innings. Hanley Ramirez has been his rock, but even he stumbled this last inning. Mike has been working hard in the free agent market, and I'm sure he will be heard from again. The first order of business is to turn around that downward trend he has going, but at least we know it can't go any lower.
Middle-of-the-Packers:
8. Jay McAllister - Jay is suffering a power outage from his catching position, but he is getting remarkable production from Brandon Phillips and Derek Lee. He has also suffered some key injuries (his third pick, Tulowitzki, is down for the count) and some substandard production resulting in two very low finishes. He is leading the league in free agent acquisitions, so we know he is trying his best to right the ship. Most of the picks have been very helpful, but some do have the look of desperation (Denker?). He has a lot of bodies to climb over to get into the money, but it is still early in the game.
7. Rick Allan - Rick finds himself in this position only because of one last place finish. His other two finishes were in the money and only one point out of the money. He has to feel good about that. It's a little like avoiding that big number hole in golf, eh, Rick? David Wright has been very solid for him except in the second inning when his whole team took a vacation. Carlos Quentin has been an outstanding pick up from the free agent pool that we are all going to wonder what we were thinking when we let him slip away. Look for Rick to rise if he figures out how to avoid another meltdown.
6. Tom Mason - The wily veteran and GUAMRL charter member started off with a second place finish, but has slipped a little the last two innings. His top pick (Rollins) getting hurt and missing parts of two innings hasn't helped. I think Tom is getting quality help from his baseball-mad boys in his quest to win his first GUAMRL season in a while. He has a veteran team, but he has been active in the free agent market getting some young blood in there for a nice mix. He seems to have the catchers position nailed with solidity at both players. He's shown he can finish in the money, so keep an eye on him.
5. Keith Tiemann - Keith is sitting in the unenviable position of having the lowest draft pick on anyone not in the money. He has put up some pretty good numbers and even has a money finish, but he may have the curse of a fifth place team. He is trying desperately to improve it through the free agent market with his usual shotgun approach, but he has been hit pretty hard by injuries. Josh Hamilton has been a pleasant surprise and has been keeping his boat afloat through the lean times. If he can get everyone healthy, you may see him moving into the cream.
Cream:
4. Bob Beltrami - Bob has been lurking around the fringes of the money all season long and he is showing consistency with all three finishes over 400 points. He hasn't seen any reason to panic and join the free agent feeding frenzy as he has only made one move to replace an injured catcher. He is being led by Blue-Chipper Jones and albert Pujols which are two good ones to be led by. He is getting good contributions from most of the rest of his roster and doesn't really need to make wholesale changes. I think Bob will be content to hang around the top most of the season and look for an opening among the leaders to slip into the cat bird seat.
3. Ron Hallman - Ron lulled us all to sleep with a mediocre first inning and then burst into the cream with a win and another money finish. He has been getting unreal production from Lance Berkman and Dan Uggla which has propelled him into his current position. His catcher (Russell Martin) is coming alive big time as are many others, but he just got a bad break when he lost his top draft pick (Big Papi) to injury. If he can overcome that, he will play with the big boys all year long. Knowing Ron's track record in winning this league, I'm thinking he will be in it at the end.
2. Ray Chadwick - Ray has been the surprise of the season so far by playing this game like he has been doing it for years. After a modest start in the first inning, he has put together two straight second place finishes to put him within shouting distance of the season lead. His production is coming from three from his initial draft (Crawford, Kinsler and Tejada) and an outstanding free agent pick up in Nate McLouth - who saw that coming? Ray is even doing it with a weak catching corps, but he is trying to do something about that. And, his first pick of the draft, Miguel Cabrera, hasn't even hit his stride yet. I'm afraid Ray is no fluke and he promises to be around for the long haul.
1. Brian Miller - Brian took a little while to get warmed up and was hit by huge injuries early on, but he came on big time in the third inning to record the biggest winning score of the year so far (466) and land in first place overall. Chase Utley has been golden for him and there doesn't appear any slow down any time soon. Ryan Braun is also heating up to his usual production and will be there for him to the end, I'm sure. Then there is Alfonso Soriano who scored way more in his third inning than in the first two innings combined. Brian also has a knack for picking up help off the waiver wire that sustains him through injuries. Look for Brian to be at or near the top all the way to the end as we all pursue him.
Now we enter into the middle innings where we all need to make baby steps upward so we are in position at the start of the last third of the season to see who has closer stuff. Good luck to everyone and thanks for playing the game.
- The Commissioner