Season 6 Fantasy Game Standings #2

Season 6 Fantasy Fantasy Game Standings #1

Hi all,

Here is the first installment of the standings in the Fantasy Fantasy game.  $100 prize money is on the line!  Everyone looks to still be in the running,  remember there are lots of points up for grabs in the playoffs.

Updated Standings going into league CS

Here is the updated standings:

There are 8 potential outcomes - 5 are won by darrenpv, 2 by bigmattr, 1 by oakman310

Standings after end of regular season

Here is the standings at the end of the regular season.  Remember there is still many points up for grabs, 20pts for each playoff series win.

Rebuild Challenge update

For those of you who don't know, there is another side game going on right now.  Four teams entered season 4 competing in the Raines Rebuild Challenge.  Only 2 of the 4 original owners remain but the new owners have taken over the challenge.  The team who wins the most games in season 7 will win the challenge and win $30 in WIS credits.

Here is update on the four teams:

Team #1:  Anaheim Avengers
Owner:  gregor199
Current record: 32-31

Summary:  gregor199 is a veteran owner and he quickly has turned around the team and winning over 50% of his games this season.  He also has some serious prospects that are nearly ML ready.

Pete Drew
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6732253

Juan Valentin
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7448196

Las Vegas Handicapping:  25% chance of winning

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Team #2:  Arizona Aztecs
Owner:  purplehaze54
Current record:  37-26

Summary:   purplehaze54  wasted no time with his rebuild.  He took a team that had won 47 games and is now on pace to win 95 games this year.  The future looks bright as his top 5-6 players at the ML level are under 28 years old.  If he can resign all these players he will have a solid core for many years.

He also has the #1 draft pick, Neifi Veras developing in the minors, who should be ready by season 7.  https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7298051

Las Vegas Handicapping:  30% chance of winning

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Team #3:   Washington DC
Owner:  rquin9
Current record:  25-38

Summary:  rquin9 is taking a more patient approach.  He managed down his salary to less than $35 is loading up on prospects through the draft and IFA market.  But he will become a major force one his prospects come up or fully develop:

Benji Diaz:
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6662703

Naoto Chang
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6904796

Wally Neil
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7101341

Branden Leonard
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6732300

Mendy Ma
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7297352

Las Vegas Handicapping:  35% chance of winning

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Team #4:  New Orleans Stars
Owner:  johnboy5
Current record:  16-47

Summary:  johnboy 5 took over for manutdfan7 who started the rebuild.  The team is definitely building for the future and playing aggressively in the draft and IFA market.  However, with only 16 wins, the team is at risk of missing the 52 game minimum win requirement.  If the team can meet the mark and gain the top draft pick, it could be a big boost.

Top prospects include:

William Suzuki
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7254431

Fernando De La Rosa
https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7062829

Las Vegas Handicapping:  10% chance of winning

Updated standings.

Updated standings

Here is updated standings.  I doubled checked everything and found a couple errors.  Should be good now.

Fantasy Fantasy After 1 game

Hi guys,

Here is the entries for the Fantasy Fantasy game and standings after the first game. Should be interesting as 22 of the 32 teams were chosen.   Louisville and Houston were the top choices.

The winner will receive $70 in credits and I will put $60 towards our recruiting fund.

If anyone else is interested in joining, I'll accept late entries for another 24 hours.

Good luck everyone!

Hi guys -  I am really hoping you guys will agree to participate in my latest concoction of a side game - the $10 Fantasy Fantasy Baseball game.

The Crystal Ball Challenge last year raised $30 that was absolutely critical.  We were sitting on 6 openings and the $30 encouraged 3 people to join over 2 days and get us to manageable number.  Given how difficult it is to recruit new owners these days, we would probably still be waiting.

Here is how the new game works:

For a $10 entry fee, you have $10 to spend on Raines HBD teams.  Each team comes at a different cost based on their performance last season with a few adjustments based on my best guess of predicted performance this season.

For each team you pick, you get:
- 1 point for each regular season win that your teams accumulate
- 20 points for each division title your teams win
- 20 points for for each playoff series your teams win including World Series
- 40 additional points if one of your teams wins the World Series

Your point total is the cumulative total of each of teams you buy with your $10.  You can spend less than $10 but not more than $10.  You can pick your own team!

The winner earns 50% of the pot and the other 50% goes to the recruiting fund for next season.

Here is the cost of each team:

Ottawa                   $2.75
Sioux Falls             $2.50
Toledo                   $1.50
Madison                 $1.50

Louisville               $4.25
Columbus               $1.50
Syracuse                 $1.50
San Juan                  $1.00

Tampa Bay              $2.75
Texas                       $2.00
New Orleans           $1.75
Charlotte                 $1.50

Sacramento             $2.00
Arizona                   $1.50
Las Vegas                $1.50
Anaheim                   $1.25

Vancouver                  $3.75
Kansas City                $2.00
Chicago                     $1.75
Cleveland                  $1.00

Pittsburgh                 $2.50
Baltimore                  $1.75
Washington DC        $1.50
Boston                       $1.25

Houston                     $3.00
Mexico City              $1.75
San Antonio              $1.50
Richmond                  $1.00

Portland                     $2.25
San Francisco            $2.25
Oklahoma City          $1.50
Iowa City                   $1.50

To enter: trade chat me your teams and send me a WIS gift certificate for $10 (I'll give you instructions)

Please, please, please join!  The more people that enter the more fun and more money we will have to ensure a quick turnover next season.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Here is update on the Crystal Ball Challenge.  Littlejim, jfuchs31, and the bigdogs look to be in the best shape. Good luck everyone!

		Prediction		Pace		Differential
Team	Owner	Wins	Runs	Wins	Runs	Wins	Runs
Houston Inner Strength	aisosa212	115	1020	110	1026	-5	6
Louisville Lugnuts	bigmattr	112		122	1075	10
Texas Apocalypse	oakman310	98	900	91	849	-7	-51
San Francisco Alpha Flight	goldgreen	93	800	78	664	-15	-136
Sioux Falls Cyclones	thebigdogs	92	730	90	795	-2	65
Ottawa Onslaught	aaronbrown99	88	795	95	801	7	6
Atlanta Braves	txvbcoach	88	770	81	791	-7	21
Sacramento Sabercats	tomcecil	88	800	75	848	-13	48
Columbus Carnage	littlejim	80	760	81	675	1	-85
Baltimore Flash	jfuchs31	80	700	81	737	1	37
Durham Bulls	bradriddell	78	711	53	653	-25	-58
Cincinnati Hamilton Flyers	redsfan24	72	730	51	866	-21	136
Arizona Aztecs	purplehaze54	65	683	76	718	11	35
Average		88	783	83	807	-5	2

Hi all,

Here is an update on the Crystal Ball Challenge.  We are a little over a third of the way through the season.

		Prediction		Pace		Differential
Team	Owner	Wins	Runs	Wins	Runs	Wins	Runs
Houston Inner Strength	aisosa212	115	1020	114	1059	-1	39
Louisville Lugnuts	bigmattr	112		123	1063	11
Texas Apocalypse	oakman310	98	900	102	841	4	-59
San Francisco Alpha Flight	goldgreen	93	800	69	712	-24	-88
Sioux Falls Cyclones	thebigdogs	92	730	92	788	0	58
Ottawa Onslaught	aaronbrown99	88	795	104	883	16	88
Atlanta Braves	txvbcoach	88	770	77	820	-11	50
Sacramento Sabercats	tomcecil	88	800	71	1063	-17	263
Columbus Carnage	littlejim	80	760	83	893	3	133
Baltimore Flash	jfuchs31	80	700	88	859	8	159
Durham Bulls	bradriddell	78	711	48	692	-30	-19
Cincinnati Hamilton Flyers	redsfan24	72	730	46	670	-26	-60
Arizona Aztecs	purplehaze54	65	683	74	739	9	56
Average		88	783	84	852	-4	52

So far, as a group, we were a little too optimistic.   On average, our teams are on pace to generate 4 fewer wins than we expected.

Here are some mid-season awards:

Mr. Accurate:  thebigdogs  -- His team is exactly on pace for his prediction of 92 wins.  Aisosa212 is right behind him with only a 1 game difference.

Mr. Disappointed:  bradriddell.  Brad expected his team to win 78 but, thus far, his team is only pace to 48 games. Goldgreen and Redsfan24 are not far behind.

Mr. Pleasantly Surprised:  aaronbrown99.    He expected only 88 wins the season but his team is on pace to 104. 

There is a long way to go yet so ... don't go spending all the money quite yet, thebigdogs.

Crystal Ball Challenge

You guys are awesome.  I'm really excited we were able to get 13 people in on the fun.  So with $65 in pool money, the winner will get $32.50 and we have $32.50 in incentives to recruit new owners.

Here is the summary of everyone's entries.  Good luck!

Team	Owner	Wins	Runs
Houston Inner Strength	aisosa212	115	1020
Louisville Lugnuts	bigmattr	112	0
Texas Apocalypse	oakman310	98	900
San Francisco Alpha Flight	goldgreen	93	800
Sioux Falls Cyclones	thebigdogs	92	730
Ottawa Onslaught	aaronbrown99	88	795
Atlanta Braves	txvbcoach	88	770
Sacramento Sabercats	tomcecil	88	800
Columbus Carnage	littlejim	80	760
Baltimore Flash	jfuchs31	80	700
Durham Bulls	bradriddell	78	711
Cincinnati Hamilton Flyers	redsfan24	72	730
Arizona Aztecs	purplehaze54	65	683

Introducing the "Raines Rebuild Challenge"  We have 4 new owners competing for the title of master rebuilder.   I offered up the four worst available teams and offered a challenge:  the owner with the best record in season 7 will win a $30 gift certificate.   The teams were snatched up quickly with really good new owners eager to take on the challenge.  

He are your challengers:

Little Rock Red Devils (manutdfan7)

Scott takes over a franchise that won 71 games last year.  He is hoping for a strong draft to utilize his #7 overall pick and 14 million in scouting for both college and high school.

He added some pretty significant free agents during the offseason including:
- Omar Avecedo (http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6659340)
- Davy Adams (http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6659388),
- Felipe Rodriquez (http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6660414)

These guys also came relatively cheap allowing Scott to manage his payroll down to $55M. With a player budget of $83M, he has plenty of room to sign international free agents or make some trades.

He also has a couple good pieces to start with including Pete Drew, 20 year old RF who should project to be close to an 80 OVR.  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6732253

Also  John Woo.  Fresh off his Hong Kong action film directing career, he is now a future All-star at LF.  Should reach 80s or 90s in all major hitting categories.   http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6687956

Las Vegas Death Start (gdfan)

Rick takes over the old Oakland franchise which won 70 games last year.  He joined before rollover which meant he was able to maintain budgets and invest 20 in HS scout and 20 in international scouting.  With only $36M in salary and a $71M budget, plus the #6 pick, he should be able to pick up some strong players in both the draft and IFA market.

He also started with a roster that had some really strong players.

- Dave Arnold, a 23 year old ML 3B with great defensive and suitable bat.  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6661676

- Hulk Conti, as 21 year old AAA 2B with great defensive and ML-ready bat.  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6662698

- Angel Garrido, a 2^nd year AA player who projects to be a bullpen inning horse.  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6864757

- Daymon Maybin, a first year Low A player at LF who was the #3 overall pick and projects to be an all-star player  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6904130

- Francisco  DaSilva, a $10M international signing who projects to be a strong setup guy, http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6864741

- Denny Morgan, #15 overall pick this season in RF,http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7101159

Arizona Aztecs (purplehaze54)

Rich takes over a team that has 43,54, and 47 wins in the last three seasons.   He will have the #1 draft pick this year to really kick-star the rebuild.  But he certainly has a lot of pieces to work with given the remnants of past high draft picks:

- Wandy Molina http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6904088

The #1 draft pick in season 2.  Total stud.

- Arthur Riggan http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6661827  23 year old starting pitcher with 90 vR split

- Fred McDonald http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6661827  23 year old shortstop with good balance of offense/defensive

- Tom Pose http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6663281

22 year old starting pitcher with SP2/3 potential

- Darly Rotschild http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6661730

23 year old catcher with high defense and strong bat.

Washington DC Senators (rquin9)

Rquin9 jumped into replace the old coach before the rollover and was able to gear up his team for the rebuild.   He has the #2 overall pick and $18M in high school scouting.   He also has managed to invest $16M in international scouting and manage his payroll down to $40M.  So if he plays his cards right, he should end up with one of top international free agents and 1 of the top 2 players in the draft.

Rquin9 has also been active in the trading market, trading away all-star 1B Dean Warden  http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6659975 for a slew of good prospects including the #1 overall pick in season 3, Wally Neill http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7101341

He also acquired: Paxton Lambert http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=7101969

You add this to the mix of good 21-24 year old talent …

- David Rodriguez http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6660704 24 year old 2B who is ready for the ML

- Benji Diaz http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6662703

21 year old 3B with 80 OVR rating sitting in AA

- Junior Lin http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6662547

22 year good defensive 2B with a ML capable bat

- Neifi Taverez http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=6661841

22 year old starting pitcher with strong splits and pitches

… and you have the making of a future dynasty here.