Inside the WBL
Hello and welcome to the second named edition of Inside the WBL. I’m mixing it up a bit this week in many different ways. First, the points are going to Enrique, and second there will be a bunch of new articles. The first one will be how a deal gets done, an inside look how a deal between Cancun and Dublin happened. The next will be the “writers” voting for all the big time awards. Finally, we’ll have the usual March Madness, Build-A-Team and Mail Bag. Enjoy.
How A Deal Gets Done
Before this whole conversation got started, it’s best to understand a little background info. On the 27th of April, after the huge “Trade Me” thread of Dice Jackson, Aaron Naiditch, my co-owner, talked to Cancun about acquiring Dice for Joe Demayo. When learning about this the next morning, the following pm summed up my thoughts:
1) Where are we getting our 5th starter from? they offered Blair
to me, but I don't like Blair. 15+ ERA's don’t thrill me
2) What to do with Lionel? He's still around, not batting that bad
However, I was still fairly interested. Dublin was in an incredibly tight race, and the extra bat could make the difference. I had a chat or two with Ryan before originally talking to Kobbs. When I first talked to Ryan, the immediate thing we noticed is that a Jackson for Demayo deal was not possible. Dice was 8 million and Joe 13. Neither of us had cap room, so the great offering was on. Each of us was trying to figure out a way not to screw our teams while still getting the best possible deal. On that Friday night, Ryan and I basically hammered out a deal sending Wesley, Demayo, MacDonalds and the Prodigy to Cancun for Dice and other hitters totaling to 25 million dollars, having Cancun over by 500k. When presented to Kobbs, he said it was “too big”.
On May 1st, Dice Jackson was traded to Caracas for Mike Smirnoff and 2 points. I was very disappointed at that time, considering they didn’t seem terribly interested in trading Jalen Montgomery or Scott Travers. I sent a pm to Nolan that day; maybe they were still interested in Demayo for someone else.
im still interested in getting a power hitter from you guys,
please talk to me on aim sometime today
I even told my co-gm’s my intentions in the following pm:
these are the hitters I have "targeted". There might
be more, but here is a short list
AC- Beep
CR- Montgomery/Travers
Guys who you are looking to deal with are guys who are out this year.
Anyways, late Saturday night Kobbs
got on, and the deal started to flow…
jetsfan1mets: how bout this trade
jetsfan1mets: Dublin receives- Travers, Jarvis
jetsfan1mets: Cancun receives- Mayo and Kip
First one offered to me, I
rejected for obvious reasons, and I can not trade myself.
jetsfan1mets: Kip and Demayo for Jalen
Again, I feel I am getting ripped
off, besides for the fact I would lose a starter.
I then offer this deal, stupid now
looking back on it, but it shows how desperate I was to get both of the guys on
my wish list, and how much Kobbs would change
nycguy2662: tell me how close we are
with this deal: trav+monty for demayo, domas, whispers and the prodigy
jetsfan1mets: brb
jetsfan1mets: back
nycguy2662: lol that was fast
nycguy2662: whaddya think?
jetsfan1mets: hold up
jetsfan1mets: ill see, im not too crazy about giving up both, but ill
keep u in mind, im still talking w/ other team
jetsfan1mets: Monty for Kip and
LaBriola
Again, this deal doesn’t please
me. Labriola is doing great and is a huge asset to my bullpen.
Finally, we get the break of the
conversation, and it only gets better from there
jetsfan1mets: kip and demayo for Monty
and travers
jetsfan1mets: kip, demayo for fink and monty
nycguy2662: I like the first one better...
This next part makes me wonder if
this was a random blurt out of his head
jetsfan1mets: 2nd one
jetsfan1mets: u want pts
nycguy2662: I would prefer the first one, because I need the left
fielder to replace Wesley
jetsfan1mets: please!
nycguy2662: I don’t need the starter
jetsfan1mets: Fink >Demyo
jetsfan1mets: Monty>Kip
jetsfan1mets: great deal for u
jetsfan1mets: plus u get pts
nycguy2662: I don’t need the pitcher!
nycguy2662: I could use the right/left fielder
jetsfan1mets: u can sign a good right/left
Finally, we compromise and go off
to a 3-way chat, which I forgot to save…
nycguy2662: the whole point of this
deal is to make the playoffs now
jetsfan1mets: ok
jetsfan1mets: kip demayo and pts
jetsfan1mets: for monty and travers
nycguy2662: how many points
jetsfan1mets: how much will u give, ur team got 9!
nycguy2662: 4 of them are going to either inactively update Shipal/give
starter duration to labriola
jetsfan1mets: then u give 4
nycguy2662: im giving you two guys who you can hold onto for a while
nycguy2662: while I'm getting one who might stay 15 games and the
other a year
nycguy2662: and you're telling me 4 points?
jetsfan1mets: ok then how many
nycguy2662: let's talk with weisfield in a chat room, and see what he
thinks
We end out hammering a deal that
sends Jalen and Travers to the Irish for Wesley, Demayo and 3 points. This deal
works nicely for both sides. Joe is a good pitcher that I wasn’t going to need
past this year, and they have Wesley for 30 years. While Monty is a free agent
after this year, I’ll make a go at him to sign. That is how you get a deal
done, WBL style!
Voting
In
the MLB, NFL, almost every sport I know, the writers decide who wins the major
awards. I have decided to take that to the WBL. However, since there are few
writers this year for Weekly, it was basically an open poll. Here are the
results, along with my picks
|
WH MVP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Name |
|
|
|
|
|
Josh Andrews |
|
4 |
1 |
|
14 |
Joe Slugga |
|
1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
Shawn Baig |
|
1 |
|
3 |
6 |
A NX |
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
Kal Jordan |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
The
vote says that Josh Andrews should win his first MVP award. I tend to agree.
Andrews had an awesome season, leading the Menace to the World Series. He had a
power bat, hit very nicely for average, and played a solid first base. Runner
up was Joe Slugga. Joe had one of his best years in his career. Again, I agree
with Slugga being the runner up. His stats were good, bit not as good as Andrews.
Third place was Shawn Baig. While Shawn had another tremendous season, I did
not vote for him. My vote went to Kal Jordan. Kal is your true MVP. His average
was ricdicously high, he steals bases, plays the field well, etc. He is very
valuable to the Menace and my choice for third.
|
WH Cy Young |
|
|
|
|
Name |
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
T-Dawg |
|
6 |
|
|
18 |
Shirley |
|
|
3 |
2 |
8 |
Strikeout |
|
|
2 |
2 |
6 |
Halladay |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
This
one went exactly how I voted for. T-Dawg is the hottest pitcher in the Western
Hemisphere. He obliverates strong hitting teams, striking out 15 guys a game,
which is sick. Combine that with giving up 20 runs all year, you got your Cy
Young. Jeremy Shirley finishes 2nd, great pitcher but behind Dawg in
every major category. Finishing 3rd was Imagonna Strikeout. Imagonna
still counts here because he spent most of his time in the Western Hemisphere,
and was probably the third best pitcher
|
WH ROY |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
|
Name |
|
|
|
|
|
Bear Fields |
|
7 |
|
|
21 |
Stealth Biggie |
|
|
2 |
|
4 |
Jesse Sneller |
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
Any surprise? I think not…
|
EH MVP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name |
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Tony Kobbs |
|
3 |
2 |
|
13 |
Blake Roberts |
|
2 |
3 |
|
12 |
Richard Amato |
|
|
|
3 |
3 |
Marc Southworth |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
Shawn Walker |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
This
was probably the tightest race of them all. My 1st place vote went
to Blake Roberts. I thought his higher batting average countered out Kobbs 11
more homers. He leads Tony in nearly every other category, that’s why he got my
1st place vote, Kobbs 2nd. My third place vote went to
Richard Amato. Rich had an awesome, MVP worthy season this year. Problem is he
is over-shadowed by Blake and Tony, finishing 3rd.
|
EH Cy Young |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Name |
|
|
|
|
|
Chad Slugga |
|
6 |
|
|
18 |
Paul Levesque |
|
|
5 |
|
10 |
Max Powers |
|
1 |
|
5 |
8 |
Another vote just how I picked it.
Chad is obviously the pitcher in the East, leading in most major categories.
Paul is 2nd; he could have been first but faded off in the latter
part of the year. Max Powers had a tremendous year; he just got burned by a low
win number.
|
EH ROY |
|
|
|
|
Name |
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Alex Addler |
|
4 |
2 |
|
16 |
Dave Thomas |
|
1 |
|
1 |
4 |
Joe Labriola |
|
1 |
|
|
3 |
Steve Sollman |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
This is the only one I totally
disagree with. Addler’s stats are: .292, 14 homers, 53 RBI, 16 steals, kind of
like my first year with GB. Labriola was lights out as closer this year, making
him my 1st place pick. He won 9 games, lost 10, had a decent ERA,
and saved a whopping 22 games, beating the record set by Enrique Gonzalez in
’09. My 2nd place vote went to Addler, because he deserved that
vote. My third place vote went to DT. While having a pitiful average, he did
provide some pop in his bat.
March Madness
The
sweet 16 has come! Who will face off in the final rounds? Let’s see. We’ll
start with the WH (pitching), then the EH (pitching) Hope you enjoy. In the
sweet 16, 2011 stats come into play; can the top players hold on?
WH Pitching
The matchup: 1. Jeremy Shirley
(MON) vs. 4. Imagonna Strikeout (STL/GB)
The facts: Imagonna, recently
traded to GB to help with their playoff push, had a great season this year. He
was 11-3 with a 2.09 ERA. He walked 5, struck out 317, and allowed 79 hits in
159 innings. His opponent is Jeremy Shirley. Jeremy was 12-5 with a 2.30 ERA.
He walked 15 and struck out 326. He allowed 85 hits in 168 innings.
The winner: Jeremy Shirley
Why: It is a tie with all
statistical categories. If I am a manager in game 7 of a World Series, I want
Shirley on the mound; he’ll get the job done.
The matchup: 2. T-Dawg (STL) vs.
6. Chris Prior (MON)
The facts: Dawg is unstoppable. He
had another monstrous season. He went 12-2 with a 1.07 ERA. He walked 10 while
striking out 362. He allowed 48 hits in 169 innings. His opponent is Chris
Prior. Chris had a very good year on Montreal. He went 13-3 with a 4.05 ERA. He
walked 4 and struck out 174. He allowed 122 hits in 160 innings.
The winner: T-Dawg
Why: He’s Dawg, an unstoppable
force of unstoppableness.
WH Hitting
The matchup: 1. A NX (MON/SDR) vs.
5. Jason Rhiner (AC/SS)
The facts: Jason is one of the
greatest players ever. He batted .324 with 78 homers and 144 rbi’s. Never known
for being a base-stealer, he stole 10 bases this year. He walked 51 times while
striking out 15. His opponent is A NX. A NX, while not hitting his monstrous
numbers of Montreal, still had a fabulous year. He batted .384 with 69 homers
and 144 rbi’s. He stole 11 bases, walked 44 times and struck out 13 times.
The winner: A NX
Why: .60 in batting average
cancels out 9 homers.
The matchup: 2. Shammond Guzman
(STL) vs 6. Smitty Springfield (STL/FF)
The facts: Shammond had a great
year on the Stallions. He batted .304 with 78 homers and 124 rbi’s. He stole 9
bases, walked 52 times and struck out 21 times. Smitty Springfield batted .256
with 76 homers and 119 rbi’s. He stole 7 bases, walked 47 times and struck out
21 times.
The winner: Shammond Guzman
Why: .256 average does not qualify
you as a top 2 hitter.
EH Pitching
The matchup: 1. Paul Levesque (SS)
vs. 12. Chad Slugga (GBR)
The facts: This is probably the
best matchup yet. Both are top-notch pitchers. Paul went 12-3 with a 2.14 ERA.
He walked 11 and struck out 283. He allowed 79 hits inn 173 innings. Chad, who
has come from incredible odds in the tournament, had a magical 2012 season. He
was 14-3 with a 2.08 ERA. He walked 13 and struck out 304. He allowed 92 hits
in 173 innings.
The winner: Chad Slugga
Why: In the main categories, Chad
is better.
The matchup: 2. DP (GB/STL) vs. 6.
Max Powers (SAL)
The facts: Spread the word: Dustin
has fallen. The best pitcher in the WBL had his worst season ever, going 10-9
with a 5.12 ERA. He walked 9 while striking out 128. He gave up 153 hits in 154
innings. His opponent is Max Powers. Max went 8-12 with a 2.73 ERA. He walked
11 while striking out 346. He allowed 78 hits in 155 innings.
The winner: Max Powers
Why: Better stat line
EH Hitting
The matchup: 1. Richard Amato
(GBR) vs. 4. Ken Griff (GBR)
The facts: Richard has remained
low this year due to the fact of Roberts and Kobbs great season. He batted .324
with 99 homers and 139 rbi’s. He stole 5 bases, walked 28 times, and struck out
20 times. Griff batted .260 with 84 homers and 121 rbi’s. He stole no bases,
walked 48 times, and struck out 43.
The winner: Richard Amato
Why: Like Smitty, you are not a
top 2 hitter with an average under .300
The matchup: 3. Vin Distasio (GBR)
vs. 7. Blake Roberts (SS)
The facts: Blake had another great
year. He batted .382 with 101 homers and 189 rbi’s. He walked 37 times and
struck out 45. Vin batted .319 with 85 homers and 134 rbi’s. He stole 15 bases,
walked 57 times and struck out 31 times.
The winner: Blake Roberts
Why: Awesome average + power
This makes the matchups for the
elite eight as follows
1. Richard Amato vs. 7. Blake
Roberts (EH Hitting)
6. Max Powers vs. 12. Chad Slugga
(EH Pitching)
1. A NX vs. 2. Shammond Guzman (WH
Hitting)
1. Jeremy Shirley vs. 2. T-Dawg
(WH Pitching)
Build-a-Team
As promised, here is your
EX-Stallion and EX-Force team. There were a lot of trades between them, so some
players may count twice, and some players might be the same but play different
positions. There will be three pinch hitters this time
Ex Force
C- Gerald Schultz
1B- Dice Jackson
2B- Shammond Guzman
3B- Ruben Weisfield
SS- Josh Andrews
LF- Kip Wesley
CF- Ken Griff
RF- Sam Baig
SP- Paul Levesque
SP- Francisco Rodriguez
SP- Marc Southworth II
SP- Mujuri Shipal
SP- Nolan Ryan
RP- Dirk Halladay
PH- JD Boom, Vin Distasio, Jalen
Montgomery
Ex Stallion
C-
Alex Zito
1B- Josh Andrews
2B- Smitty Springfield
3B- James Sirbeepalot Jr
SS- Vin Distasio
LF- Kip Wesley
CF- Robert Crombie
RF- Sam Baig
SP- Imagonna Strikeout
SP- Chris Prior
SP- Nolan Ryan
SP- Johan Guzman
SP- Justin Hinkley
RP- Cleveland Dawg
PH- Samuel Polly
C- Alex Zito vs. Gerald Schultz
Alex is an incredible hitter. He
can hit for power and average, as well as play two positions. Gerald can do the
same thing, but play three positions. I like the Force here
1-0 FF
1B- Josh Andrews vs. Dice Jackson
Josh was a Stallion, involved in
one of the worst trades in Stallion history (Going to FF: P D. Yaffe, P A.
Eldridge, SS J. Andrews, 3B C. Sorensen, SS V. Distasio. Going to STL: P S.
Wallace). He finally blossomed this year as a great hitter. Dice had a good
year, but I don’t think he is a great hitter. Win to Andrews
1-1 tie
2B- Shammond Guzman vs. Smitty
Springfield
Both guys are great 2nd
basemen. When you look at the stats though, Smitty has an embarrassing average.
Shammond wins
2-1 FF
SS- Vin Distasio vs. Josh Andrews
They had very even stats this
year, so I would look at whom I would rather have, Distasio or Andrews.
Distasio has been more consistent, so I say him.
2-2 tie
3B- Reuben Weisfield
Reuben is a good player, but
under-performs tremendously. James has over-performed in recent years. Win to
James
3-2 STL
LF- Kip vs. Kip
Obviously a tie, they are the same
player…
3-2 STL
CF- Robert Crombie vs. Ken Griff
While Ken Griff never played a
game for the Force, he’s one of the better hitters in the game. Crombie will be
eventually, but not now. Win to Griff
3-3 tie
RF- Baig vs. Baig
Baig will be an ex-Force very
soon, tie
3-3 tie
SP1- Imagonna Strikeout vs. Paul
Levesque
This is an interesting one. Paul
was the most dominant pitcher for a year and a half. Imagonna has been a
dominant pitcher is whole career. I think Paul is better, because he has been
doing it as a #1 starter.
4-3 FF
SP2- Chris Prior vs. K-Rod
Chris is a great pitcher who flies
under the radar. So is K-Rod, but Prior has put up much better stats recently
4-4 tie
SP3- Marc Southworth II vs. Nolan
Ryan
Nolan is a pitcher who has had one
good year. Marc has never really had a great year, but I find him the better
pitcher
5-4 FF
SP4- Johan Guzman vs. Mujuri
Shipal
Funny, both these guys count for
both teams. Mujuri was involved in a bad deal in Stallion history (Shipal for
Eldridge) and the worst deal in Frankfurt history (Dice, Shipal and Ryan to
Montreal for Reynolds, Peter and Ebner) Mujuri had a horrible year, but he has
won a CY, so Mujuri wins.
6-4 FF
SP5- Justin Hinkley vs. Nolan Ryan
Justin bounced back from a bad
season, Nolan was god-awful as usual. Win to Hinkley
6-5 FF
RP- Dirk Halladay vs. Cleveland
Dawg
Both are fabulous pitchers, about
even. I would want Halladay, he is better in the clutch
7-5 FF
Bench- Boom and CO. vs. Samuel
Polly
BOOM. Nuff said
8-5 FF wins
Next week, well I’m not sure
Mailbag
Dear Mayo,
I’m
a big fan of Moneyball, and I was wondering if a strategy could be used like
Beane’s to succeed?
Arthur
O’Boyle
Oakland,
California
Dear Arthur,
Nah,
not a chance. WBL Players are very multi-dimensional, and the better the
player, the more expensive he is. With salary caps and everything, it’s very
unlikely
Dear Mayo,
Does
Great Britain have a chance in the World Series? Montreal looks really good
this year.
Patrick
Maller
Liverpool
England
Dear Patrick,
Yes,
they have a very good chance. I like their game 1 matchup, along with the fact
they can hit Shirley. Their problem in ’08 was Shipal, not Shirley. With that
being said, it will be close, but neither would come as a shock.
That’s it for this week, happy
birthday to me tomorrow! (May 9th if this does not get posted when I
am writing it)