Sunday, July 18, 2010

Team PC

As of July 17th, PC LOAD LETTER?!?!? holds a 16.5 point lead over the second place Roughnecks. At one point, Bret Jenkins' squad had over 200 rotisserie points. How is he doing it? Well, 194 transactions shows he's working hard, but it looks like his successful draft is really what has kept this ballclub in first place almost all year.

You can start with PC's firstbasemen; first round pick, Miguel Cabrera and eighth round pick, James Loney. The Tigers' firstbaseman has posted 65 R, 67 RBI, 205 TB, and a .419 OB% for team PC and is currently ranked as Yahoo!'s best offensive player in 2010. Loney has put up 47 R, 60 RBI, 144 TB, and a .360 OB% for the LETTER.

Next, go to the outfield, where Bret has capitalized, probably more than any other fantasy team in the country, on the first half success of two Toronto Blue Jays, Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista. Wells was a guy I wouldn't have drafted at all this year, but Bret went out and got him in the 9th round. Wells has responded by posting a 40 R, 48 RBI, 162 TB, .305 OB% line. And while Bautista wasn't technically drafted by Bret, Bautista was acquired in the first run of post-draft waivers on April 3rd. Bautista has put up 51 R, 48 RBI, 147 TB, .354 OB% totals. On the basepaths, Bret has shuffled between Scott Podsednik and Nyger Morgan and gotten 13 SB out of each of them.

On the hill, Jered Weaver (9 W, 142 K, 3.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP), Dan Haren (7 W, 133 K, 4.60 ERA, 1.35 WHIP), and Jeff Niemann (8 W, 90 K, 2.92 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) have carried the load. Max Scherzer and Doug Fister have also put up significant numbers for the LETTER. Fourth and fifth round draft picks, Jonathan Papelbon (20 SV) and Heath Bell (25 SV) have piled on saves, while free agent pickup John Axford has chipped in with seven of his own. Middle man, Mike Adams leads all of MLB in holds, racking up 22 for Bret's squad.

What's gone wrong? Sitting in first place and having two of the most surprising players in baseball on your squad, it's hard to imagine that anything has gone wrong with this team. But Jenkins can point at second round pick, Pablo Sandoval, as being a disappointment so far. Sandoval's counting stats are pathetic, and he's only produced a .316 OB% for team PC. Bret also drafted Jermaine Dye, who didn't and still doesn't have a team, in the 16th round, just a couple slots before Jon Rauch and Kevin Gregg got picked. Oops.

The second half should be interesting for PC LOAD LETTER?!?!?. Can his Blue Jays outfielders continue to produce? Will Sandoval finally start to hit like it's 2009? Will Bret find some middle relief help to make up for DL'd Mike Adams? Can he keep the surging Roughnecks, Chumps, and Thons at bay?