Tristan Cockcroft has led Tout NL by nine points or so for a week or so, but he says his position is not so safe, in this story at ESPN.com.
All Schechter for All Shandler: No news is bad news, and other FAAB news
Mastersball chronicles a slow FAAB week. In the NL a total of $2 was spent. But the inside commentaries of Todd and company are never slow.
In other news, Schechter and Shandler didn’t make a trade.
All Shandler for All Schechter Trade Update!
Friday’s big news became a big snooze over the weekend, as Larry went up by four and a half points on Saturday and withdrew, then fell back into a dead heat on Sunday. Larry said it was like the Universe speaking that the time is right, but at that point Shandler wasn’t so sure.
By the time the two reconnected on it the midnight trading deadline had passed, and the two will have until next Sunday to come to an agreement.
Today, before Tuesday’s games, Schechter leads Shandler by two games. Here are their rosters:
Mastersball.com FAAB Roundup August 18, 2014
A relatively quiet week in FAAB, but lots to talk about, as three leagues (not Tout AL) have active pennant races going on.
The boys from Mastersball.com give you the scoop.
Breaking News! All Shandler for All Schechter Trade?
The wires started rumbling earlier today. With Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf’s Tout Wars AL team lapping the field more times than, um, Mario Andretti, Larry Schechter proposed to Ron Shandler—one point and place behind him in the standings—a swap of their entire teams. Ron says he rejected the proposal as ridiculous, but then found the possibilities gnawed at him.
He’ll explain why he liked the deal, whether or not he does it, later, I’m sure. One of his reasons, however, was surely the possibility of turning things upside down, and having something novel to write about.
Support for a deal from members of the LLC and some tout owners has been immediate. Larry tweated:
@FredZinkie @ToutWars @RonShandler Would it be awesome + historic…or just make a mockery of the league + set a bad precedent?
— Larry Schechter (@LarrySchechter) August 16, 2014
Fred Zinkie, not a shy one when it comes to trading tweated back:
@LarrySchechter @ToutWars @RonShandler Definitely not a mockery. You are both smart owners, and side-by-side in standings.
— Fred Zinkie (@FredZinkie) August 16, 2014
Ron is thinking about it. Tweet your views @ronshandler @LarrySchechter @toutwars @kroyte!
Mastersball.com’s Latest Tout Wars Faab Report: August 11, 2014
The boys look at this week’s FAAB bidding and strategies in the four Tout Wars leagues.
Rotoman’s FAAB Story: Cue Tiny Violins
On Saturday Brian Walton published his tale of FAAB Woe in Tout NL the week of August 4. I didn’t read it until after I posted the following, but the two stories are of a piece. Â
Sometime around the beginning of July my Tout Wars NL team was in second place, about five points behind Seth Trachtman’s team. At least for a few moments. But since then things have gone terribly wrong.
My Stars and Scrubs squad was built on seven $20+ dollar players. Since the beginning of July Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Ryan Zimmerman have gone on the DL, and Andrew McCutchen has been sidelined for more than a week with injury, though he may avoid the DL.
Earlier I lost Joey Votto to injury, in June, but was able to swap him for Jay Bruce. Otherwise things would be worse, though Bruce continues to be a shadow of his former self.
As does Martin Prado, the last of my $20 hitters, who along with Madison Bumgarner (who has been exactly fine) rounds out my tale of woe and fifth place team of injured stars.
With all these injuries, one would think there would be replacements available. And this week in the NL there were.
Jake Lamb is Arizona’s third basemen until he proves otherwise. Hardly a star but maybe a viable regular, he will get at bats for a while, at least.
Rhymer Liriano is being called up to the Padres tomorrow. He’s been a fine minor league hitter who has some pedigree.
Michael Fiers had a great ML season in 2012, bombed last year and has been excellent in Triple A this year. I rostered him early this year, but he was passed by a phenom. Now, with Matt Garza tanked, he has a shot at a few starts. His first one was wonderful. Alas, I let him go in June, so I bid on him.
I also bid on Brad Penny, he’s been pitching well in New Orleans, and Alfredo Marte, who is getting (weak) at bats in Arizona’s outfield.
I had a total of $36 FAAB to spend. The outcome this week?
In Tout Wars we use the Vickery bidding system, which gives the bid to the highest bidder, at $1 more than the second highest bidder. This week’s results are personally painful:
Jake Lamb: Trachtman $36. Next: Rotoman $18. Result: Trachtman $19.
Rhymer Liriano: Walton $50. Next: Trachtman $26, Rotoman $13. Result: Walton $27.
Michael Fiers: Hertz $50. Next: Rotoman $14. Result: Hertz $15.
Alfredo Marte: Trachtman $7. Next: Rotoman $5. Result: Trachtman $6
Brad Penny: Wilderman $8. Next: Rotoman $3. Result: Wilderman $4.
At least I’m enforcing.
August 4 Mastersball.com FAAB report
Lot’s of action in the post-trading deadline FAAB period. Todd Zola and the lads at mastersball.com have all the bids and commentary about what went down.