Master Standings are here.
The Pesky Pole Dancers (Trippin Baseballs) had a rough week, losing 5 points and dropping to third place in the overall standings. That opened the door for the hard-charging Better Lucky Than Good (Partially Torn RCL) and Random ItalicizedVoice (RCL 5) to move into a tie for first.
Better Lucky now has an incredible 114 league points, and an adjusted total of 111. They have begun their ascent in the strikeout category, moving from scoring 5 to 8 points by streaming pitchers, as they have used fewer starts than the teams with more strikeouts. So far, it has not hurt them in the ratio categories. This week they picked up Mike Leake (twice), Freddy Garcia, Joe Saunders, Jeff Niemann, and Chris Narveson. For the week, they recorded 96 strikeouts with an ERA of 2.88 and WHIP of 1.06. Better Lucky’s hitting star this week was Joey Votto, who hit .385 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI.
Random ItalicizedVoice now has 108 league points, and, with a stronger league index, also adjusts to 111 points. The Voice also has room to gain in strikeouts, having used 121 starts. They currently are scoring 8 points in the category. The leader, 59 ahead of RIV, has used 151 starts, while the second place team in strikeouts has already reached the start limit. Random ItalicizedVoice was also led by Votto, along with David Freese (.381 with 3 HR and 7 RBI) and Alex Gordon (.345/3/6).
Bucket of Steam (Empire of the Razz) made the biggest jump this week, gaining 12 points to 78 and moving from 216th to 110th in the standings. Freese, Dustin Pedroia (.433/2/7), and Raul Ibanez (.296/3/9) led the Bucket, with help from Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez.
Simply Fred (ECFBL) jumped 16 spots to reach the Top 20, while Team Beefcake (Too Drunk To Call a Cabrera) moved up 26 spots to sit 23rd overall.
The ECFBL has joined The Dread Pirate Rides Again as the most competitive with a 104 index. Technically, Dread Pirate is percentage points ahead, but the ECFBL has vowed to overtake them!
The RCL reached the trade deadline Friday with a flurry of activity. 15 deals were completed in the last 5 days, with Epic Beardmen Division leading the way with 4 trades. Your Mom’s a Schmohawk added 3 to the list. As usual in fantasy, a lot of big names changed teams. Cole Hamels (twice), Hunter Pence, Ryan Braun, CC Sabathia (twice), Evan Longoria, Tim Lincecum, Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, and Carlos Gonzalez were all moved.
The biggest deal of the week came in Patrons of Poonhoundery, where the DC Dong Punchers traded Evan Longoria, Adam Jones, & CC Sabathia to The Machine for Adrian Gonzalez, Mike Stanton, & Jair Jurrjens. In Matthew Berry Is A Tool, Baltimore Domination (160 starts) sent Halladay and Sabathia, along with Michael Young, to @ Rhombencephalon (96 starts) for Prince Fielder, Dan Uggla, and Leo Nunez.
In all, there were a total of 192 trades in the RCLs this season involving 614 players. 258 different players were traded, with the struggling Adam Dunn the most dealt at 9 times. Alex Gordon, Cole Hamels, and Roy Halladay were each traded 8 times. The ECFBL made the most trades with 46. Next was RCL 34 at 14 trades. 3 leagues made no trades, while 5 more made 1 trade for the season. The average was 5 trades per league; 4 if you exclude the ECFBL. The team making the most trades was Retro Vertigo. They completed 16 trades, which was more than any other LEAGUE completed!
So, no more trading, but still lots of important decisions to be made. With the season 2/3 completed, it looks like the battle for the RCL title will go down to the wire. Good luck, everyone!
