Monthly Archives: July 2014

BGB Fantasy League 2014 Week 16

Week 16 of the BaseballGB Fantasy League showed that there is still plenty to play for in the competition as we head towards August.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
NE Riverkings	32	13	36	3	.299	.928	3	2	44	3	2.83	0.99	9
Bits & Bytes	30	6	23	1	.273	.800	1	6	31	0	2.33	0.81	3

The Riverkings are reaping the rewards of their recent trades, finishing the week as the biggest winners. The 9-3 victory against Bit & Bytes included a six-homer, 10 RBI week for Santana, while new boy Cespedes belted three homers in an offensive sweep. Sale’s 12-strikeout scoreless start made him the pick of the pitchers. Bits & bytes salvaged saves, ERA and WHIP thanks to Cishek (five saves), Kershaw and King Felix. Holliday hit three homers.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	26	5	19	4	.227	.638	3	3	49	0	3.76	1.22	4
Enfield Butchers	19	3	16	5	.249	.605	4	4	56	4	2.28	1.06	8

Enfield are now just one game off top spot after their 8-4 win against Batteries Essential. A pitching sweep included good starts by Skaggs and Stroman while David Price;s fortunes could improve if he is dealt to a stronger team. Holland had two saves and Clippard pick up a trio of holds. Yelich helped take average and steals. Batteries essential had the better of the offense, with Jennings, scoring five times, homering and knocking in four.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	30	9	39	3	.230	.709	5	3	54	1	2.23	1.04	7
Angels of Ash Vale	19	5	28	3	.301	.794	2	3	54	0	3.82	1.32	2

The Chasers stay top after a 7-2 win against the Angels. Big Papi hit five homers and knocked in 12, while Miggy went deep twice and Pence knocked in seven. Ryu won both his starts and struck out 12, while Ross helped take ERA and WHIP. The angels took average and OPS thanks to Prado, Heyward and Daniel Murphy.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Mighty Slugs	30	6	21	5	.284	.796	4	8	53	2	3.69	1.27	7
Jesmond Dennings	21	5	25	2	.233	.679	4	3	52	2	3.33	1.20	3

The Slugs picked up a 7-3 win against Jesmond as the offense took five categories. Carpenter hit .429 and homered twice, while Gomez scored seven times and swiped a pair of bases. McGee, Uehara, Mejia and Casilla combined for eight saves while deGrom had a pair of wins and struck out 11. Arenado’s three-homer week helped Jesmond take RBIs while Fister (two wins), Tillman and Teheran helped nab ERA and WHIP.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	21	5	21	1	.274	.785	2	4	38	2	3.76	1.35	4
Norwich No II	25	4	21	3	.249	.687	3	6	49	1	2.40	0.93	7

My Isotopes were defeated 7-4 by Norwich, whose pitchers took five categories. Cobb picked upa Â win and didn’t allow an earned run, Porcello struck out 11 and Britton collected three saves. Freeman and Rendon helped take runs and steals. My team were hampered by injuries to Puig, Hanley and Machado, but at least Duda had a four-homer week and Howell had a pair of holds.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Northfleet Knights	27	6	23	4	.271	.766	1	2	35	3	4.35	1.40	4
Weston-Super-Sox	25	7	23	2	.310	.853	3	3	23	0	0.39	0.74	7

The Sox put up incredible pitching stats against the Knights. No, those ERA and WHIP stats are not typos as Bumgarner, Greinke and Street (three saves) did not allow an earned run while just making it over the 20-inning minimum. Rizzo and Brauin had multi-homer weeks while Altuve’s hot streak saw him take average and OPS. Joey Bats hit three homers, scored seven and drove in seven for the Knights, and was one of four players to steal. Wilson had two holds.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Iron Men	18	4	28	0	.279	.766	4	1	53	2	3.51	1.40	5
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	21	7	23	1	.290	.819	1	0	34	3	4.14	1.03	7

Beck ‘Nams hit their way to a 7-5 win against Iron Men, taking five categories. Willingham hit two homers, Reyes scored six times and had the lone steal and Kemp batted .409 for the week. Kluber and Shelby Miller helped take WHIP while Machi, Warren and Tazawa each had a hold. Iron Men had two wins from Salazar, while Samardzija and Quintana helped claim ERA. Adrian Gonzalez knocked in seven runs.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Richie’s RBI’s	21	6	32	4	.226	.686	3	0	41	4	1.75	1.00	6
London Bananas	21	5	19	2	.291	.799	4	5	52	0	3.60	1.24	5

Finally, the RBIs just got the better of the Bananas 6-5. A pair of catchers did the damage, as Posey homered twice and Jaso knocked in seven runs. Burnett, Young, Roark and De La Rosa helped post great ERA and WHIP totals, while Will Smith (no, not that one) had three holds. Ackley, Span and Howard helped the bananas take average and OPS, Hamels had a win and 10 strikeouts and Janssen and K-Rod each had a pair of saves.

The week 17 matchups are as follows and the first one should be fun!:

Chasers (1st) v Butchers (2nd)

Norwich (3rd) v Jesmond (9th)

Batteries Essential (4th) v Isotopes (5th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v Riverkings (11th)

Bananas (7th) v Knights (8th)

Slugs (10th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Iron Men (12th) v Sox (14th)

RBIs (13th) v Angels (15th)

MLB this Week: David Price scheduled to start on Wednesday

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The MLB trade deadline on Thursday will dominate the headlines this week and it could have a bearing on at least one of the pitching match-ups in the 10 games scheduled to start before midnight UK time this working week.

David Price is the probable pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays’ game at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday and he is at the very top of the list of the most desirable potential trade targets. The Rays’ excellent recent form over the past months has turned them from being certain sellers into possible contenders for a Wild Card and the rumours tend to be leaning towards them holding onto their ace until the offseason.

However, Tampa Bay’s success in recent years primarily has been built on trading away established players at the right time and if a team such as the Dodgers puts forward a suitably enticing package of players, Price could be on his way. One thing’s for sure, if he is still a Tampa Bay player on Wednesday then the commentators will be spending a lot of time talking about his potential departure and that it may be his final start in a Rays uniform. BT Sport 1 will be covering the game in the UK.

Elsewhere this week, an oblique injury means that Ian Kennedy will not make his scheduled start on Monday against the Atlanta Braves, with converted outfielder Jason Lane being called up from Triple-A to take his place. No doubt the Braves’ commentators will be reflecting on the Hall of Fame ceremony from the day before where Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux were elected into Cooperstown. Hopefully BT Sport 1 takes the Braves’ TV feed for that one.

Tim Lincecum’s start for the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday will also be one worth watching. It marks the final game of an important three-game series against fellow playoff contenders the Pittsburgh Pirates, especially as the Giants go into it on the back of being swept at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lincecum was knocked around for six runs over 4.1 innings in the series opener against the Dodgers on Friday and he’ll be looking to bounce back at AT&T Park.

All times are in BST.

Monday 28 July

17.10. San Diego at Atlanta (Lane – Santana) *BT Sport1

Tuesday 29 July

No early games

Wednesday 30 July

17:10 Philadelphia at NY Mets (KendrickÂ -Â Wheeler)
17:10 Milwaukee at Tampa Bay (GallardoÂ -Â Price)Â Â *BT Sport1
17:35 Arizona at Cincinnati (MileyÂ -Â Simon)
17:40 Washington at Miami (RoarkÂ -Â Hand)
19:10 Oakland at Houston (HammelÂ -Â Keuchel)
20:45 Pittsburgh at San Francisco (MortonÂ -Â Lincecum) *ESPN

Thursday 31 July

18:08 Chicago White Sox at Detroit (DanksÂ -Â Smyly) *ESPN
19:20 Colorado at Chicago Cubs (MatzekÂ -Â Arrieta)
20:40 St. Louis at San Diego (MillerÂ -Â Despaigne)Â *ESPN

Friday 1 August

No early games

All of these games are available to watch live via theÂ MLB.TV subscriptionÂ atÂ MLB.com. The early games being shown on BT Sport or ESPN are highlighted above. The complete schedule for this weekâ€™s MLB games can be found onÂ MLB.com

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Over to the ‘Era Committee’

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You would have thought this was a weekend in which the Baseball Hall of Fame could do no wrong.

Cooperstown promises to be the host to one of the most memorable induction ceremonies of recent times, in which the careers of well-respected greats in managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, and players Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas will all be honoured.

However, Saturday’s announcement regarding changes to the Hall of Fame voting process have needlessly created a distraction from what should be a completely positive celebration of baseball’s history and all the good that the Hall should represent.

The controversy was created by a press release that was quickly thrown under the harsh spotlight of modern day social media:

“The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museumâ€™s Board of Directors today announced changes to the rules for election for recently retired players, reducing the length of stay on the ballot for players from a maximum of 15 to 10 years, while installing a new balloting and registration process for Baseball Writersâ€™ Association of America voting members.

The changes, effective immediately and to be reflected in 2015 Hall of Fame voting, are the first made by the Hall of Fame to the voting process since 1991 and just the second time the Baseball Hall of Fame has amended the rules for election since 1985”.

I’ve long been of the opinion that for the Major Leagues, where everything is documented and covered in so much detail, the 15-year ballot rule was a nonsense.

The Hall of Fame should be there to celebrate the elite, the select group who stood out from the rest. Opinions are the lifeblood of sport and so there will never be complete agreement on every player defined as a ‘great’, but if it takes 15 years of debate for 75 per cent of the voters to be convinced that someone deserves to be in the Hall of Fame then – unless the voting process is either completely inept or completely corrupt – designating them as such makes a mockery of the entire process.

The decision to reduce this period is welcome and whilst I would still consider ten years to be on the long side, it’s a sizeable step-change in the right direction.

However, there is deep suspicion surrounding the reasoning behind making this decision now and it is this that has caused the ensuing controversy.

A player remains on the ballot each year if they receive support from at least five per cent of the voters. If they go through the now-reduced balloting period yet don’t cross the 75 per cent threshold to be elected, they then move on to another process. As the Hall of Fame puts it: “Candidates would then move to the Era Committee system for review in perpetuity”.

The naming of the group as an “Era Committee” is instructive for our purposes and the kicker then comes in how the Hall of Fame has decided to implement the changes with regard to those currently eligible for election.

“Three candidates presently on the BBWAA ballot in years 10-15 will be grandfathered into this system and remain under consideration by the BBWAA for up to the full 15 years. Don Mattingly (15th year in 2015), Alan Trammell (14th year in 2015) and Lee Smith (13th year in 2015) will be eligible to remain on the BBWAA ballot for a maximum of 15 years of consideration”.

There is a clear and simple logic to ‘grandfathering’ those candidates who currently exceed the new ten year cut-off mark, but by doing so the Hall has very specifically excluded a lot of other players from the new system.

And they are the very players for whom the passage of time is currently seen as being crucial to evaluating their place in Cooperstown.

From Barry Bonds to Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire to Mike Piazza, the players of the so-called ‘steroid era’ are now more likely than ever to spend a decade in isolation. There’s no question that the issue of drug-taking – who did and who didn’t, what effect it had on their performances and whether ‘cheating’ by a little or a lot makes a difference anyway – is an extremely difficult one for those wanting to evaluate the best players.

The easiest approach of ignoring rumours and simply voting based on performances is attractive in some ways, especially as many were happy to turn a blind-eye to suspicions of drug use when it suited all to enjoy the ride and not to be the one to potentially kill the golden goose in the post-1994/95 player strike period. However, you sense that those who played the game without resorting to any drug-use would feel betrayed by such an approach.

So instead voters are left pondering a series of difficult questions to deal with, and it seems like the Hall has come to their rescue by making theirÂ ‘get out of jail free’ card easier to play. Let the debates play out over ten years, keeping players on the ballot without ever making a firm decision on them, and then leave it to the ‘steroid era committee’ to sort it all out for you.

That will be better for the voters, but will be a travesty to those players who deserve to be in Cooperstown but may now be condemned to a long wait and then a suggestion of gaining entry by the back door.

BGB Fantasy League Week 15

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The All-Star break meant an extended week 15 in the BaseballGB Fantasy baseball League. As well as a change at the top, there was another trade involving the eventual Home Run Derby champion.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Richie’s RBI’s	37	10	43	6	.310	.820	4	0	63	7	4.03	1.33	8
Weston-Super-Sox	36	12	39	7	.295	.868	3	1	40	0	4.27	1.40	4

The highest scorers of the week were the RBIs, who defeated the Sox 8-4. The pitching staff took five out of six categories, with Roark winning twice and the trio of Belisario, Axford and Joel Peralta combining for seven holds. Posey (nine RBIs), Granderson (seven runs) and Cano (.462) helped take three offensive categories. The Sox had power from Rizzo (six homers) and Rollins (four homers), with Jimmy joining Altuve in swiping three bases. New AngelÂ HustonÂ Street had the lone save.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	44	9	39	6	.261	.731	5	8	76	3	5.19	1.47	3
Enfield Butchers	46	9	36	6	.288	.763	7	7	88	1	2.54	1.00	7

The Butchers are in second after their 7-3 win against Norwich in a matchup which was a fair bit closer than the final score suggests. Wong (eight runs, three homers, three steals), Gennett (seven runs, two homers) and Kalhoun (nine runs, two homers) did a lot of the offensive damage, while Price (two wins, 16 strikeouts) was the pick of the pitchers, with Garrett Richards and Odorizzi each striking out 15. McCutchen (four homers, eight RBIs) had a great week for Norwich, as did Seager (three homers) while Chapman had four saves and All-Star Neshek collected a pair of holds.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	44	8	46	10	.275	.741	6	7	90	1	3.01	1.20	7
London Bananas	38	12	44	6	.258	.801	7	5	68	1	3.12	1.13	4

The Chasers go top after their 7-4 win against the Bananas. Kipnis was the main threat, scoring and driving in seven, belting two homers and stealing five bases. Ortiz only hit .150 but drove in nine. On the mound, Smith had five saves before the arrival of Street, Lester and Ross each struck out 20 or more and took ERA with help from Scherzer. A pair of Nats had monster weeks for London, with Werth homering four times, scoring 10 runs and driving in 11, while Zimmerman had 10 RBIs and two homers. Hamels and Lynn each had two wins.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	35	10	32	7	.273	.786	6	2	72	2	5.23	1.33	4
Jesmond Dennings	47	10	50	3	.278	.749	2	4	40	5	3.35	1.17	7

Jesmond gor the better of my Isotopes 7-4. Trout (11 runs, three homers, 11 RBIs) and Pujols (eight runs, a homer, eight RBIs) were in unstoppable form, while Hawkins, Perkins, Broxton and O’Day took saves and holds while Tillman and Fister claimed ERA and WHIP comfortably. Machado homered three times for my team, as didf Frazier, who joined Rios and Utley in swiping two bases. Six different pitchers won games, with Leake striking out 14.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
NE Riverkings	40	10	44	4	.262	.745	1	7	61	3	4.52	1.49	5
Mighty Slugs	46	7	32	5	.260	.677	4	11	84	2	3.42	1.22	7

The Slugs’ pitchers got the job done against the Riverkings, winning fiver categories in a 7-5 score. Chavez picked up a win and led the team with 15 strikeouts, while five different pitchers racked up a total of 11 saves – a position of strength which could be useful for trades. Moss homered three times for the Riverkings, while Goldschmidt helped take average and joined Santana and Desmond in driving in seven. Balfour had three holds.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Iron Men	35	5	47	5	.245	.652	3	4	97	4	3.41	1.09	4
Bits & Bytes	28	8	34	6	.270	.766	3	3	50	4	2.96	1.03	6

Bits & Bytes caused an upset by defeating Iron Men 6-4. Chris Johnson (four homers) and Holliday (two) found their power stroke while Bourjos hit .556 and swiped three bases. Once again, King Felix and Kershaw helped take ERA and WHIP. Hamilton and Kinsler helped Iron Men take runs and RBIs, while Strasburg struck out 27 and Rodney and Loup had two saves a piece.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Northfleet Knights	41	11	34	2	.252	.764	5	0	79	1	3.80	1.29	5
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	35	9	38	3	.284	.780	4	0	100	2	3.83	1.31	6

In the battle between ex-Croydon Pirates, it was JJ who came out on top 6-5. Hosmer, Beltre and Reyes helped take four offensive categories while the staff notched an incredible 100 strikeouts, thanks to Kennedy, Darvish and Kluber among others. Gomes homered three times for the Knights, while Wright, Hardy and Harper each went deep twice. Sonny Gray picked up three wins all by himself.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	45	13	43	5	.258	.767	6	4	78	6	4.70	1.37	5
Angels of Ash Vale	41	7	38	5	.277	.738	9	4	90	0	2.42	1.01	5

Finally, Batteries Essential and the Angels couldn’t be separated, ending 5-5. Davis, walker, Brantley and Billy Hamilton helped Batteies essential have the better of the offense, while ChenÂ won both his starts. The Angels had multi-win weeks from Iwakuma, Bauer and Buchholz, who struck out at least 15 batters each.

Riverkings Active In Trade Market

A week after a blockbuster with the Knights, the Riverkings made another deal, acquiring Yoenis Cespedes from Batteries Essential for Alex Wood. The deal gives the Riverkings another power option who can play CF, albeit the average may take a hit. Batteries Essential were trading from a position of depth to nab a much-needed arm. We’ll see if Wood can boost the rotation as the Braves race for the playoffs.

The week 16 matchups are as follows

Chasers (1st) v Angels (15th)

Butchers (2nd) v Batteries Essential (3rd)

Isotopes (4th) v Norwich (5th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v Iron Men (10th)

Bananas (7th) v RBIs (12th)

Jesmond (8th) v Slugs (11th)

Knights (9th) v Sox (14th)

Riverkings (13th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

MLB this Week: Post All-Star Break

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After the All-Star week lull we’re right back into the MLB regular season action this working week with live games available to watch during the British evening on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Arguably the most intriguing series this week takes place in Milwaukee where the Brewers host NL Central rivals the Cincinnati Reds. The third and final game of the series is a day-game on Wednesday and on the current schedule would see Mike Leake and Kyle Lohse toeing the rubber. The game will be shown in the UK on BT Sport 1.

Elsewhere, Trevor Bauer has seemed to settle in well to life with the Indians and he should start on Wednesday against Kyle Gibson and the Twins, whilst Stephen Strasburg starts for the Nationals against the Rockies and Bartolo Colon gets a start in Seattle in an interleague match-up that sadly denies us the always funny sight of watching him in the batter’s box.

On Thursday, the Blue Jays’ exciting young pitcher Marcus Stroman takes on the Red Sox, with Tim Hudson and Cole Hamels lining up for what should be a strong pitching match-up in Philadelphia (provided Hamels hasn’t been traded by then, of course) and Jeff Samardzija should make his fourth start for the A’s after his recent trade from the Cubs.

The Cubs are in action at Wrigley Field in the lone early game on Friday, taking on the St. Louis Cardinals.

The MLB.com Free Game of the Day schedule hadn’t been published at time of writing, so any applicable games will be added in below when the details are available.

All times are in BST.

Monday 21 July

No early games

Tuesday 22 July

No early games

Wednesday 23 July

18:10. Cleveland at Minnesota (Bauer – Gibson)
19:10. Kansas City at Chicago White Sox (Shields – Quintana)
19:10. Cincinnati at Milwaukee (Leake – Lohse) *BT Sport 1
20:10. Washington at Colorado (Strasburg – De La Rosa)
20:40. NY Mets at Seattle (Colon – Iwakuma)
20:40. Detroit at Arizona (Sanchez – Cahill)

Thursday 24 July

17:37. Boston at Toronto (De La Rosa – Stroman)
18:05. Texas at NY Yankees (Lewis – McCarthy)
18:05. San Francisco at Philadelphia (Hudson – Hamels) *BT Sport 2
20:35. Houston at Oakland (Feldman – Samardzija) *ESPN

Friday 24 July

21:05. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs (Kelly – Arrieta) *ESPN

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Second half begins

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With the All-Star festivities behind us, we move into the unofficial ‘second half’ of the MLB season and a six-week period where teams compete – on the field and off it – to get themselves into a promising position before September and the final month of the regular season.

The off-field competition comes in the form of the battle for reinforcements, as teams look to add an extra piece or two that could make the difference between a playoff spot or sitting at home throughout October.

Trades on the way?

So far the trade market has been quiet besides the Oakland A’s two-pitcher swoop at the beginning of July. The A’s AL West rivals the Los Angeles Angels are the only other team to make a notable move of late in signing Huston Street (who started his career in Oakland) from the San Diego Padres on Friday.

Talk continues to surround the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitcher David Price as the most lusted after potential prize. The Rays have found a bit of form of late – winning 14 of their last 19 games prior to Saturday – to keep alive some vague hopes of staying in the playoff hunt in what’s been a very trying season, yet realistically they are firm outsiders to get back to the postseason.

Whether Price stays with the Rays will be determined by another team’s willingness to part with a couple of leading prospects and a useful Major League player. Seattle, in part with the A’s and Angels in mind, are the team most frequently linked with Price at the moment, although doubts over Price’s desire to sign long-term in Seattle could be a determining factor on the Mariners’ confidence in giving up the necessary package of players to acquire him.

Mariners moves?

Seattle are an interesting team to keep an eye on in the stick-or-twist stakes.

There’s a measure of pressure on them to reinforce their extravagant off-season capture of Robinson Cano. Whilst the long-term nature of that deal means 2014 isn’t the be-all and end-all, the second Wild Card gives them an opportunity to immediately put a big mark on the plus side of the ‘Cano gamble’ ledger.

Heading into Saturday’s games, the Mariners sat third in AL West, nine games behind the division-leading A’s, but their 51-45 record was good enough to see them sitting in the second Wild Card seat, 2.5 games ahead of a gang of four competitors. It took a glance at their section on the Baseball-Reference website to remind me that the M’s haven’t made it to the postseason since their great 116-win campaign of 2001.

They don’t appear to have a particularly deep roster when you search far past the leading lights of Cano, Kyle Seager, Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, yet strong performances from those players and decent contributions from the supporting cast could be enough to keep ahead of a pack of teams that also have their share of weaknesses, if Seattle could add one extra significant player.

Having waited since 2001 to get back to the playoffs, it’s not unreasonable to expect a bit of impulsiveness to creep in and for the Mariners’ Front Office to decide now is the time to take a shot.Â Whether they do or not, and whether it works out for them, will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow as the 31 July trade deadline quickly approaches.

All-Star action

The American League representative in this yearâ€™s World Series will benefit from home field advantage this year after the ALâ€™s 5-3 victory in the All-Star game at Target Field.

Much of the event was dominated by Derek Jeter as many took the opportunity to celebrate his career before he retires at the end of this season. It was an enjoyable moment seeing the fans, and the players, applauding Jeter as he came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

We can all take our own view on the â€˜groove-gateâ€™ saga, both on whether Adam Wainwright did deliberately give Jeter a good pitch to hit and â€“ if so â€“ whether that was the right thing to do, but it did reinforce the point that the All-Star game is an exhibition and thatâ€™s how it should be.

The idea of â€˜making the game countâ€™ to reduce the number of players that opted out may have been well-intentioned, but when we get to October the fact that home-field advantage was decided by the game will once again feel wrong. I would revert back to it going to which of the two teams had the best win-loss record of the regular season, although the emerging idea of using the overall interleague play record could work too.

The long goodbye

Keeping on the Jeter theme, the Yankees announced that they will be holding a special pre-game ceremony on 9 September to honour the Captain. With CC Sabathia done for the season due to a knee injury and Masahiro Tanaka landing on the Disabled List with a dreaded elbow problem, it may be that the â€˜long goodbyeâ€™ will be the central focus for Yankee fans by the time we get to the end of September in the Bronx.

BGB Fantasy League 2014 Week 14

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It really couldn’t be much closer at the top of the BaseballGB Fantasy League, with the top five teams just two games apart. There’s been another change at the top as well …

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	36	4	29	2	.322	.857	3	3	42	3	1.84	0.65	11
Weston-Super-Sox	14	1	9	6	.241	.635	2	2	28	0	2.41	1.10	1

We begin with the biggest winner of the week, as Matt’s Chasers dealt the Sox an 11-1 loss. Tyson Ross collected a win, did not allow an earned run and struck out nine, while Joe Smith had a win and three saves and Benoit notched three holds. Simmons hit .458 for the week, driving in seven while Miggy scored eight runs. Altuve and Rollins swiped two bases each for the Sox, whose shallow pitching staff pitched pretty well but had nothing to show for it.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	38	4	34	7	.276	.797	4	7	32	2	3.12	1.02	8
Angels of Ash Vale	17	5	24	5	.217	.592	4	3	36	0	2.73	1.27	3

Norwich are just two games off the top after defeating the Angels 8-3. Rendon, McCutchen and Freeman helped take five offensive categories, while it was another monster week for the bullpen, with Britton saving four on his own. Hunter and Springer had multi-homer weeks for the Angels, while Kazmir struck out 15 and helped take ERA.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	19	3	18	5	.222	.596	7	2	43	1	1.57	1.03	3
London Bananas	30	4	32	5	.300	.843	3	2	54	2	3.77	1.32	7

The Bananas handed Batteries Essential a 7-3 loss, coming a steal away from an offensive sweep. A pair of Nats – Werth (seven runs, two homers, nine RBIs) and Zimmerman (.524, six RBIs) – did most of the damage. McHugh struck out 12 and Gregerson had two holds. Batteries Essential had the benefit of more Lincecum magic, as Timmy’s two wins and stellar ERA and WHIP saw them salvage three categories.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Northfleet Knights	22	6	28	2	.286	.783	3	1	31	0	4.54	1.62	7
Bits & Bytes	17	1	18	2	.250	.625	1	1	19	2	2.01	0.72	3

Another matchup, another 7-3. This time it was the Knights who emerged victorious against Bits & Bytes, again a steal shy of an offensive sweep. The inspired pickup of Steve Pearce really paid off, as the Oriole hit two homers, drove in seven, stole two bases and hit .360. Gray and Haren each had a win and five strikeouts. Bits & Bytes had a seven-RBI week from Kendrick while Ziegler had two holds and Kershaw and Hernandez took ERA and WHIP for the umpteenth week in a row.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Richie’s RBI’s	29	6	25	2	.249	.759	1	0	41	2	5.82	1.34	6
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	20	6	17	2	.216	.616	3	0	49	1	3.99	1.52	3

The RBIs ran out 6-3 winners against Beck ‘Nams as big weeks from Cano and Granderson saw them take four offensive categories. Peralata had two holds and Burnett struck out 17. Beck ‘Nams had a stingy week from Kluber, who struck out 15 and helped take wins and ERA while Beltre posted a multi-homer week.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	27	6	28	6	.291	.802	5	4	44	0	3.67	1.32	6
Enfield Butchers	22	5	19	1	.277	.753	6	4	78	2	2.62	0.98	5

Despite being heavily behind early in the week, my Isotopes not only beat the Butchers 6-5 but went top in the process. The offense did all of the work with a sweep, as Cruz homered twice, scored five times and drove in five while hitting .345. Puig scored six times and the belated returns of Hanley (injury) and Machado (suspension) did help. Soriano’s save on Sunday proved vital to the win. The Butchers saw Richards, Price and Hahn combine for five wins and 49 strikeouts and Kalhoun homered twice.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
NE Riverkings	19	4	26	4	.296	.768	4	6	61	0	2.43	1.11	6
Jesmond Dennings	29	8	20	4	.252	.723	2	2	38	3	2.05	1.05	5

The second 6-5 saw the Riverkings get the better of Jesmond. Desmond, Goldschmidt and Alcdes Escobar helped take RBIs, average and OPS while Sale had a win and 12 strikeouts and Robertson had three saves and nine strikeouts. Jesmond had runs (seven) and homers (three) from Pujols while Trout went deep twice. Fister and Bailey helped take ERA and WHIP while O’Day had two holds.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Iron Men	29	11	25	3	.263	.793	3	2	42	0	2.82	1.21	5
Mighty Slugs	21	7	20	5	.276	.789	5	2	56	4	3.38	1.19	6

Finally, the Slugs edged out Iron Men 6-5. Gordon, JD Martinez and Byrd helped the Slugs take steals and average, while Arrieta was in superb form again, striking out 15 and posting ERA and WHIP stats of 0.66 with a win. McGee had two saves and two holds. Joners, Choo, Josh Hamilton and Jose Abreu all went deep twice for Iron Men while Adrian Gonzalez drove in eight. Starsburg, Wheeler and new A Samardzija helped take ERA.

The week 15 matchups are as follows:

Isotopes (1st) v Jesmond (9th)

Chasers (2nd) v Bananas (6th)

Batteries Essential (3rd) v Angels (15th)

Butchers (4th) v Norwich (5th)

Beck ‘Nams (7th) v Knights (8th)

Iron Men (10th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Slugs (11th) v Riverkings (12th)

Sox (13th) v RBIs (14th)

MLB this Week: Potential classic on Wednesday

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We have MLB games live during four of the five evenings this working week.

Whilst there are a number of good pitchers on show, it’s the Dodgers-Tigers Interleague match-up on Wednesday that really catches the eye.

Provided that there are no rain-outs, injuries or other events that change the two teams’ pitching schedules, Zack Greinke and Max Scherzer should be on the mound for a potential classic pitching duel.

As it starts at just gone six o’clock British time, it should fall neatly in line with the 21.00 kick off for the Argentina v Netherlands World Cup semi-final too.

What more could you want from a Wednesday evening?!

All times are in BST.

Monday 7 July

No early games

Tuesday 8 July

18.10. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati (Wood – Cueto) *ESPN

Wednesday 9 July

18:08. LA Dodgers at Detroit (Greinke – Scherzer) *ESPN
20:10. San Diego at Colorado (Stults – Jurrjens)
20:35. Toronto at LA Angels (Stroman – Shoemaker) *MLB.com Free Game, BT Sport 1
20:40. Miami at ArizonaÂ (Eovaldi – Collmenter)

Thursday 10 July

17:35. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati (TBA – Bailey) *BT Sport 2
19:10. Philadelphia at Milwaukee (Buchanan – Garza)
20:45. Oakland at San Francisco (Kazmir – Hudson) *ESPN
21:05. Chicago White Sox at Boston (Quintana – Lester)

Friday 11 July

21:05. Atlanta at Chicago Cubs (Wood – Arrieta) *ESPN

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Making a choice

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We normally have to wait until later in July before the trade deadline begins to loom large and teams are prepared to pull the trigger on a trade that could make the difference between making the playoffs and waiting for another year.

The Oakland A’s are not afraid to buck the trend and they did just that on Friday evening in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Cubs.

I was completely out of the baseball-loop at the time so it was only when I woke on Saturday morning and checked my Inbox that I first heard any news. It came via fellow BGB writer Mark George:

“Oakland may be ready to deal for a Cub SP (according to FOX) @MattBaseballGB – Samardzija or Hammel?”

Hmm, I thought, that would be interesting move depending on who we (‘we’ declaring my A’s allegiance) give up in return. Just as I was about to head to MLBTradeRumors to catch up on the latest gossip, I realised there was another message from Mark …

“Ah, wait @MattBaseballGB, looks like you may have traded for both!”

I couldn’t get to MLBTradeRumors quickly enough to confirm the news that, yes, the A’s had added not one but two starting pitchers to their roster.

My first reaction focused on the other side of the trade, most notably the name ‘Addison Russell’. Russell was the A’s top prospect, a talented shortstop who had been drafted in the first round of the 2012 amateur draft. Oakland have not had much luck in bringing through position players in recent years, made all the more stark by the strong careers of Andre Ethier and Carlos Gonzalez who had been traded away. The trend continued over the winter when Michael Choice, a much-touted outfielder in the A’s farm system, was traded to the Texas Rangers.

Addison Russell represented an enticing change, a position player at last that A’s fans could get excited about. The news that he was now headed to the prospect-laden Cubs was therefore a bit of a kick to the gut, added to by the knowledge that Oakland’s first round selection from 2013, Billy McKinney, was part of the deal too.

As Russell moves through the Cubs’ farm system and ultimately makes his Major League debut later this season or next, it will be difficult not to cast an envious eye in Chicago’s direction and think about ‘what could have been’.

And yet once the initial emotional reaction had moved to quiet contemplation, the trade could only fill me with excitement.

After two division titles in a row, both leading to devastating playoff defeats in close series against the Detroit Tigers, the A’s are going for it. It’s not quite ‘World Series or bust’, but it’s somewhere close to it.

Quality young players are very valuable to a team so it is always a risk to give up a talented prospect like Russell; however for the A’s Front Office it is all about the team, seeing an opportunity to have some success and increasing the odds of making that happen.

Russell may well develop into a good player, yet there’s no guarantee the next four or five years of his career would have played out on a contender in Oakland. Whilst fantasy owners or baseball analysts could look at his performance on an individual basis if that occurred, for the A’s it would very much be a case of an opportunity missed. Of course it would be fun to watch him playing well, but if he wasn’t doing it whilst the team was competitive then it wouldn’t add up to quite so much.

Despite being reigning two-time AL West champs, they once again came into the season with many expecting the big bucks of the LA Angels and Texas Rangers to take away their crown. The current A’s are a wonderful example of getting the most out of every player, from batting platoons to infield shifts, and – accepting that I’m biased in this case – that makes them an easy team to get behind.

Still, if a few players move on and a few more injuries come the A’s way – it’s doubtful the team would have made this move had Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin not been lost for the season before it had even started – then it’s quite possible that they could slip back into the pack once more for a few years.

The A’s had a choice of keeping Russell, hoping he would live up to expectations and that he could do so on a winning team, or adding two good, experienced Major League pitchers to a team that currently has the best record in MLB and should have a real chance to get back to the playoffs once again.

History will be the ultimate judge. For now, it looks to me like a slight gamble that is well worth taking.

Although if Samardzija walks off the mound shaking his arm in discomfort during his A’s debut this evening, I’ll reserve the right to be a fickle fan and to state that I always thought it was a bad idea.

BGB Fantasy League 2014 Week 13

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Another no-hitter, a blockbuster trade and more movement at the top of the standings – just another week for the BaseballGB fantasy league!

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	24	8	27	5	.262	.743	1	3	57	1	3.38	0.98	11
Angels of Ash Vale	22	4	23	3	.237	.673	3	2	47	0	5.88	1.56	1

We start with the biggest winners of the week, who turned out to be my Isotopes. They defeated the Angels 11-1, including an offensive sweep thanks to Duda (six RBIs), Frazier (four steals) and Machado (three homers). Leake struck out 12 and helped take ERA and WHIP with Simon and Verlander, while Soriano and Howell took care of saves and holds. It was a tough week for the Angels’ pitching staff, with several starters roughed up, but Harang picked up two wins and Springer had a nice week with the bat.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	42	12	40	9	.326	.953	3	6	31	1	2.87	1.12	9
London Bananas	23	2	16	2	.250	.662	5	4	62	1	4.10	1.13	2

Norwich picked up a big win, defeating the Bananas 9-2 with a monster offensive week leading to a sweep. Seager (.583) and Justin Upton each had two homers and eight RBIs, while Aybar and Polanco swiped three bases. Chapman and Jansen combined for five saves, while Porcello and Eovaldi helped take ERA and WHIP. The Bananas salvaged wins and strikeouts thanks to Latos and Cain.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Northfleet Knights	27	6	25	0	.279	.836	0	0	31	1	6.86	1.55	2
Mighty Slugs	24	6	29	7	.284	.773	3	6	46	1	4.02	1.15	8

The Slugs’ pitching staff took five categories in the 8-2 win against the Knights. A pair of Cubs, Arrieta and Hammel each had wins and helped take strikeouts, ERA and WHIP while Uehara had three saves. JD Martinez homered twice, Josh Harrison swiped two bases and dee Gordon hit .481 for the week. The Knights took runs and OPS thanks to V-Mart and Zobrist.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	32	3	25	4	.277	.753	2	2	35	3	4.74	1.28	8
Weston-Super-Sox	28	5	25	15	.278	.749	1	1	29	0	6.91	1.53	3

Batteries Essential are top after defeating the Sox 8-3 thanks to a pitching sweep. Rosenthal and Brothers took care of saves and holds and Garza struck out 11, but the start of the show was Lincecum, who hurled his second career no-no against the Padres last week, taking ERA and WHIP as you’d imagine. The Sox had two homers from Rizzo, Braun hit .400 for the week while Altuve batted .481 and ran wild on the bases, swiping 10 on his own… against the team with Billy Hamilton.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Enfield Butchers	31	4	16	7	.277	.753	5	9	56	3	1.58	0.93	5
Jesmond Dennings	34	8	35	4	.301	.837	6	1	36	1	1.97	0.75	7

Jesmond are inching closer to .500 after defeating the Butchers 7-5, taking five offensive categories along the way. Matt Adams had a three-homer week and drove in eight while Trout hit .421 and homered twice. Broxton picked up two wins and Teheran and Tillman helped post a ridiculously good team WHIP and probably would have won ERA in most other weeks too. Stroman and Price racked up the strikeouts for the Butchers, while it was a monster week for the bullpen with three saves for Kimbrel and Melancon while Clippard had a win, a save and a hold. Beckett’s scoreless start helped take ERA.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Iron Men	35	11	38	1	.321	.918	1	2	50	0	5.24	1.24	7
NE Riverkings	16	2	19	7	.271	.701	4	1	42	3	1.65	1.02	5

Iron Men got the better of the Riverkings 7-5 as the offense took five categories. Abreu belted four homers, while Kinsler hit .478 and joined Mesoraco in hitting a pair. Rodney had two saves and Colon struck out 10. Gio Ginzalez won both his starts fort the Riverkings, striking out 12 and not allowing an earned run, taking ERA and WHIP with helped from Alex Wood. Balfour had two holds while Desmond and Revere stole three bases each.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
The Cheddar Chasers	24	6	27	1	.237	.683	1	4	56	1	3.44	1.18	6
Beck ‘Nams (GB)	23	7	25	2	.284	.794	2	0	27	2	5.23	1.74	6

The Chasers and Beck ‘Nams couldn’t be separated, finishing in a 6-6 tie. Scherzer and Hudson racked up the strikeouts for the Chasers, who took ERA and WHIP with help from Lester while Nathan and Smith each had two saves. For Beck’nams, Beltre hit a ridiculous .600 for the week while Navarro homered twice and Darvish was the difference in wins.

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Richie’s RBI’s	27	7	32	2	.266	.765	1	1	35	4	6.00	1.67	5
Bits & Bytes	13	1	12	3	.231	.548	4	1	44	4	1.41	0.86	5

Finally, it was a matchup of two halves as the RBIs and Bits & Bytes ended 5-5. The RBIs dominated offensively, with LaRoche homering three times and joining Lind in driving in seven. Bits & Bytes had a pair of wins from Kershaw and King Felix, who also combined for 36 strikeouts and took ERA and WHIP by some distance.

WHEELERS AND DEALERS

The first trade of the season has taken place, with the Knights dealing Goldschmidt and Moss to the Riverkings for Harper and Wright. It an interesting trade for both teams, with four big bats involved.

The Knights are banking on a big second half from Harper now he’s back from injury, while Wright fills the problem position of 3B. For the Riverkings, they can switch Carlos Santana to 3B and acquire one of the NL’s best players in Goldy and add a power bat in Moss to make up for Harper’s departure. We’ll see how it pans out and if it gets the wheels turning on other trades.

Week 14 matchups

Batteries Essential (1st) v Bananas (7th)

Isotopes (2nd) v Butchers (3rd)

Norwich (4th) v Angels (15th)

Chasers (5th) v Sox (11th)

Beck ‘Nams (6th) v RBIs (14th)

Jesmnond (8th) v Riverkings (13th)

Knights (9th) v Bits & Bytes (16th)

Iron Men (10th) v Slugs (12th)