7.08.2006

Deuces Wild II

Back in March, I had posted about an "electronic baseball league" (I can't think of a better 3 words to describe it) called Deuces Wild. If you want to recall the rules you can check out the other post but assuming you just want the synopsis: 15 guys get 2 teams each: add the total wins of your 2 teams and whoever has the most wins. Pretty simple really.

Anyway, in the original draft I had the Red Sox and the Tigers which I was quite happy with. As it turned out: I should have been. Both teams are in first in very tough divisions and I've got a pretty healthy lead in our competition.

So, the other day we had our mid-point draft. Last year we learned that in something like this you really need to re-draft at the halfway point. Otherwise, someone can get two terrible teams and have an entire season of no fun. This way everyone at least has a chance to get back into it.

First, let's go back to what I said after the first one:

The worst picks in my mind were the Mets (3), Cubs (13), and Giants (15). The Mets clearly taking the cake as the consensus "what the heck was that?" pick of the draft. Best picks, I have to like Bos (9) as the biggest steal. Twins (19) is also a pretty good one, I think.

It seems that I was mostly right... The Cubs and Giants were too high. Boston was the almost the biggest steal - luckily for me the Tigers (BY FAR) were the biggest steal of the draft... the Twins were a pretty good one as well. Where I really missed the boat was rating the Mets as the worst pick of the draft. They came into the midway point with the 4th best record in baseball - better than the #1 pick Yankees.

Now on to the midseason results:

My picks in green

Well, this time the draft went like this:
1 Chicago White Sox
2 New York Mets
3 Boston Red Sox
4 Detroit Tigers
5 Houston Astros
6 New York Yankees
7 Toronto Blue Jays
8 St. Louis Cardinals
9 Los Angeles Dodgers
10Minnesota Twins
11 Cincinnati Reds
12 Milwaukee Brewers
13 Oakland A's
14 Texas Rangers
15 San Diego Padres
16 Los Angeles Angels
17 Colorado Rockies
18 San Francisco Giants
19 Philadelphia Phillies
20 Seattle Mariners
21 Cleveland Indians
22 Arizona Diamondbacks
23 Atlanta Braves
24 Florida Marlins
25 Washington Nationals
26 Baltimore Orioles
27 Tampa Bay Devil Rays
28 Chicago Cubs
29 Pittsburgh Pirates
30 Kansas City Royals

Again, I am very happy with my picks. The Cardinals at #8 is better than I was hoping for. The Braves at #23 is a pick I really like too. To me they're a team with a lot of upside and a chance to really have a great second half. They won't be looking to trade any of their big names and are really only a couple of young relievers stepping it up away from making a nice run. Of course, they could really stink it up too, but when you're picking a team this low... you're not going to get a sure thing.

My best/worst picks this time?

I think this draft went pretty well along the lines that I am thinking on. There are a bunch that I'm not a huge fan of but aren't way off either: Mets (again) at #2, Tigers at #4, Reds at #11, and the Rockies (even at #17). After looking at the list a bit more though, I have to say the one I disagree most with though is (sorry Geer): the Astros at #5. Other than my man-crush on Lance Berkman, I really don't think they have what it takes to be #5.

The best picks? Of course mine are always the ones that are perfect, but other than myself I 'll go with the Twins at #10, Mariners #20, and the Orioles (Geer redeems himself) at #26. As for the steal of this draft... this really pains me to say... The Cubs at #28. I'm certainly not predicting great things for the Cubs but they _will_ be #20 or better in the second half.

2 comments:

jimhalberg said...

I'll definitely give you that the Astros have the potential to be the 5th best team in the second half... I just don't think they'll pull it off!

You have to pitch pretty well to win a game where your offense scores 0 runs!

In your favor though: first half I thought the Mets were the bad pick, so really... I've guaranteed that your pick will be gold.

michael said...

I haven't watched a baseball game yet this year, but I wouldn't pick the Tigers or Blue Jays in the second half. I think the Yankees will turn it on, and Cards will finish strong.