And we're back from break. As we keep moving forward in the lottery, some thoughts related to the major news that the '90 Reds have beat the odds and will be selecting in the top 3 of the drafts: Who's going to be unkept? Where does someone like Stephen Strasburg (who's eligible to be drafted) go? What sort of strategy will we see in the first couple rounds? Obviously, we'll have more to say about this once keepers are announced in a few weeks. But until then...
The 11th pick in the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft goes to:
Westy's Sluggers
History: Traditionally a top-half UPL franchise, but a relative lack of success, with 4 podium finishes (one 2nd and three 3rd place finishes).
Tendencies: Westy's Pawn Shop was an early UPL comedy device that has stood the test of time, due to the lowball offers that keep coming from Westy (and draw some amusing responses).
2009 Result: 3rd place
Likely Keepers:
Offense Locks: Chase Utley, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Raul Ibanez, Russell Branyan, Nate McLouth
Pitching Locks: John Lackey, Jon Lester, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, Jair Jurrjens
Probable Keepers: Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Alex Rios, Stephen Drew, Howie Kendrick, Leo Nunez, Matt Garza, Scott Baker
Strengths and Question Marks:
Offensive Strengths: Utley, Berkman, and Holliday give you a lot of certainty on offense, and should combine for something like .395/.510, and on the low end, give you 80HR, 285 R, 285 RBI and 30 SB. Strong depth in OF, which should provide trade fodder. Bobby Abreu had a very nice 2009, despite his power being off, and contributed 30 SB.
Offensive Question Marks: Nate McLouth and Alex Rios were really off last season. Bounce back seasons from these guys will be helpful since... Torii Hunter, Raul Ibanez and Russell Branyan duplicating their numbers from is a big question. There should be enough depth so that the offense will stay strong, and if everyone comes through, this team will have a lot of pieces to trade. As with most teams, there is a lack of quality at SS and C. And if Branyan doesn't replicate his 2009, and instead plays to his career average, 3B could be a problem area.
Pitching Strengths: Depth at SP. The names of the SP all sound really good. But each of them has questions surrounding them...
Pitching Question Marks: How will Lackey adjust to Boston? Has Lester made The Leap? How will Webb come back from injury? Is Big Z's drop off the last couple years the new reality? Can Jurrjens replicate his success year-to-year? If the results are more good than bad, then the starting pitching will be strong. However, if it's more bad then good, then it will be tough - it's hard to give up on these sorts of names, and you can easily keep trotting these guys out for 4 or 5 more starts than you should. And these are the "lock" keepers. How do Garza and Baker develop? Garza appears to have a high ceiling, but had a bad 2009. Baker doesn't have as high a ceiling as Garza, but was good enough last year. And we haven't even gotten to the major issue. This team has no closers, save for Leo Nunez. Fernando Rodney managed to get 37 SV last year, but he'll be setting up Fuentes with LAA this year.
2010 Outlook: The decision to either a) give up on SV, or to b) try to trade for SV should be made early, and will influence early season moves. This team overachieved on offense last year, so expecting that level of performance again may be a bit of a stretch. But the offense should be good in 2010. Westy managed to make some solid moves to improve the SP, and if everything falls right, this will be a top 3 team. However, if things don't all fall right, something like a 7th place finish isn't out of the question. Best guess? We'll split the difference, and predict a 4th place finish.
When we come back, we'll announce the 10th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
UPL Baseball Draft Lottery and 2010 Preview - Picks 13 and 12
This year, I'm going to combine the baseball preview and the lottery announcements, and put out a series of posts, counting down the lottery results. Currently, the plan is to have the UPL Draft on or around March 27, and it's looking like it's going to be an evening draft so as to accommodate the 17 hour time difference for our first international franchise: The Seoul Benver Droncos. And we are adding our first expansion team, the Milwaukee Whiffers. As a result, the keeper schedule will change slightly.
March 13 - All teams must submit 12 keepers from last year's final rosters.
March 17 - The Milwaukee Whiffers must submit a list of 12 players, one from each of last year's teams, who was not kept in the March 13 round of keepers.
March 20 - All teams must submit 6 more keepers, from last year's final rosters.
March 24 - The Milwaukee Whiffers must submit a list of 6 more players, from the remaining unkept players from last year's final rosters, with no more than 1 from each team.
March 27 - 8-round draft.
So without further ado, the results of the UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, with season previews.
The 13th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball goes to:
Milwaukee Whiffers
History: Traditionally a middle of the pack UPL franchise, with a top finish of 4th place in 2007.
Tendencies: Not afraid to make trades to shake things up, but often trades work out poorly (and draw the ire of the Commish).
2009 Result: DNP - Wedding Planning
Likely Keepers: N/A
Strengths and Question Marks: N/A
2010 Outlook: Basically, it appears that the Whiffers will start off with twelve 13th round picks, and six 19th round picks... which doesn't sound all that great, but if you look at the players that were available beyond the 13th and 18th rounds last year, there is talent available. Top end result looks to be maybe 4th place? And 7th or above would be considered a win. The goal should be to compete by year 3, which is entirely possible.
This takes us to the results of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, where immediately, you see a major shakeup. The 12th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft goes to:
IAmJabrone
History: Traditionally a top-end UPL franchise, with 6 podium finishes, including a win and two 2nd place finishes.
Tendencies: Can be a feast or famine team, as they typically rely on draft and free agency, rather than trades to round out rosters.
2009 Result: 2nd place
Likely Keepers:
Offense Locks: Albert Pujols, Mark Reynolds, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hill, Dan Uggla
Pitching Locks: C.C. Sabathia, Josh Johnson, Cole Hamels, Jonathon Broxton, Huston Street
Probable Keepers: Jay Bruce, Johnny Damon, Ian Stewart, Jason Kubel, Clay Buchholz, Ryan Dempster, Ricky Nolasco, Billy Wagner, Matt Capps, Jorge de la Rosa
Strengths and Question Marks:
Offensive Strengths: Albert Pujols. You can live with Ellsbury never making contact when you have The Machine doing what he does. Power appears to be good, with a couple 20+ HR guys (Uggla, Damon) offering stability to go with Pujols' all-world numbers.
Offensive Question Marks: Major questions for players coming off of career years - Mark Reynolds, Aaron Hill, and Jason Kubel. The odds of that trio replicating their 2009 numbers would seem to be low, and those three played a major role in the 2nd place finish last year. Also looking for Jay Bruce to take a step forward. Needs an upgrade at SS, C, and perhaps UTIL2. The OBP looks like it will be weak, when you trot out a couple guys at .330. Could compete in SB, if one more speed guy is picked up.
Pitching Strengths: Top end SP; RP. Sabathia and Johnson are a stabilizing force for ERA, WHIP, and K. Broxton and Street are legit options.
Pitching Question Marks: After Sabathia and Johnson, the SP all has question marks. A bounce back season from Cole Hamels, a huge 2009 disappointment, and a continuation of the 2009 2nd half Ricky Nolasco will go a long way. Jorge de la Rosa seems to have good stuff, but isn't consistently dominant. Who knows what Buchholz and Dempster will get you. The Francisco Liriano Experiment should be officially over for IAmJabrone, and Westy should get his rightful place as the next experimenter. A little more certainty with SV will also be helpful, since we're not sure what Capps will look like in WAS or what Wagner's role in ATL will be.
2010 Outlook: Should probably try to send one of the SP question marks out to a team with excess at C or SS, since help in the draft or free agency is unlikely at those thin positions. Any time you send out Albert Pujols, you'll compete on offense, and you don't have to be perfect drafting or in free agency. More question marks will show up on the pitching side of things, and will decide if this team is a 5th place team or a title contender. Best guess? We'll go with history and guess that IAmJabrone is a top 3 team.
What's interesting is that this means that the defending champion '90 Reds have defied the lottery odds and moved into the top 3 of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft... when we return, we'll announce the 11th pick of the draft.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
March 13 - All teams must submit 12 keepers from last year's final rosters.
March 17 - The Milwaukee Whiffers must submit a list of 12 players, one from each of last year's teams, who was not kept in the March 13 round of keepers.
March 20 - All teams must submit 6 more keepers, from last year's final rosters.
March 24 - The Milwaukee Whiffers must submit a list of 6 more players, from the remaining unkept players from last year's final rosters, with no more than 1 from each team.
March 27 - 8-round draft.
So without further ado, the results of the UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, with season previews.
The 13th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball goes to:
Milwaukee Whiffers
History: Traditionally a middle of the pack UPL franchise, with a top finish of 4th place in 2007.
Tendencies: Not afraid to make trades to shake things up, but often trades work out poorly (and draw the ire of the Commish).
2009 Result: DNP - Wedding Planning
Likely Keepers: N/A
Strengths and Question Marks: N/A
2010 Outlook: Basically, it appears that the Whiffers will start off with twelve 13th round picks, and six 19th round picks... which doesn't sound all that great, but if you look at the players that were available beyond the 13th and 18th rounds last year, there is talent available. Top end result looks to be maybe 4th place? And 7th or above would be considered a win. The goal should be to compete by year 3, which is entirely possible.
This takes us to the results of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, where immediately, you see a major shakeup. The 12th pick of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft goes to:
IAmJabrone
History: Traditionally a top-end UPL franchise, with 6 podium finishes, including a win and two 2nd place finishes.
Tendencies: Can be a feast or famine team, as they typically rely on draft and free agency, rather than trades to round out rosters.
2009 Result: 2nd place
Likely Keepers:
Offense Locks: Albert Pujols, Mark Reynolds, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hill, Dan Uggla
Pitching Locks: C.C. Sabathia, Josh Johnson, Cole Hamels, Jonathon Broxton, Huston Street
Probable Keepers: Jay Bruce, Johnny Damon, Ian Stewart, Jason Kubel, Clay Buchholz, Ryan Dempster, Ricky Nolasco, Billy Wagner, Matt Capps, Jorge de la Rosa
Strengths and Question Marks:
Offensive Strengths: Albert Pujols. You can live with Ellsbury never making contact when you have The Machine doing what he does. Power appears to be good, with a couple 20+ HR guys (Uggla, Damon) offering stability to go with Pujols' all-world numbers.
Offensive Question Marks: Major questions for players coming off of career years - Mark Reynolds, Aaron Hill, and Jason Kubel. The odds of that trio replicating their 2009 numbers would seem to be low, and those three played a major role in the 2nd place finish last year. Also looking for Jay Bruce to take a step forward. Needs an upgrade at SS, C, and perhaps UTIL2. The OBP looks like it will be weak, when you trot out a couple guys at .330. Could compete in SB, if one more speed guy is picked up.
Pitching Strengths: Top end SP; RP. Sabathia and Johnson are a stabilizing force for ERA, WHIP, and K. Broxton and Street are legit options.
Pitching Question Marks: After Sabathia and Johnson, the SP all has question marks. A bounce back season from Cole Hamels, a huge 2009 disappointment, and a continuation of the 2009 2nd half Ricky Nolasco will go a long way. Jorge de la Rosa seems to have good stuff, but isn't consistently dominant. Who knows what Buchholz and Dempster will get you. The Francisco Liriano Experiment should be officially over for IAmJabrone, and Westy should get his rightful place as the next experimenter. A little more certainty with SV will also be helpful, since we're not sure what Capps will look like in WAS or what Wagner's role in ATL will be.
2010 Outlook: Should probably try to send one of the SP question marks out to a team with excess at C or SS, since help in the draft or free agency is unlikely at those thin positions. Any time you send out Albert Pujols, you'll compete on offense, and you don't have to be perfect drafting or in free agency. More question marks will show up on the pitching side of things, and will decide if this team is a 5th place team or a title contender. Best guess? We'll go with history and guess that IAmJabrone is a top 3 team.
What's interesting is that this means that the defending champion '90 Reds have defied the lottery odds and moved into the top 3 of the 2010 UPL Baseball Draft... when we return, we'll announce the 11th pick of the draft.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
More UPL Voices
Hey folks. In addition to Greg's musings, we have another place to hear about sports/fantasy thoughts:
Pauly's Fantasy Hoops and Baseball Corner
We may have to talk to Pauly about the name of the blog - not the sexiest name out there :-)
But in any case, anytime we get to hear from more folks, it's a W.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Pauly's Fantasy Hoops and Baseball Corner
We may have to talk to Pauly about the name of the blog - not the sexiest name out there :-)
But in any case, anytime we get to hear from more folks, it's a W.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Announcement: 2010 UPL Baseball Draft Lottery
Alright folks. Just like what we did with UPL Basketball, we're going to have a draft lottery. And following the NBA tradition, as well as the UPL Baseball tradition, everyone's eligible for the first pick.
Top 3 draft positions go via lottery, and then the remaining slots (4 through 11) will go in reverse order of finish. Tiebreakers will be settled by reverse order of finish the prior UPL Baseball season, with the team finishing lower getting preference. If needed, further tiebreakers will look back at prior UPL Basketball seasons.
Here's how the lottery works. I've given each team a set number of "lottery tickets," each of which correspond to one of the 10,000 possible 4-digit combinations (i.e., 0000 through 9999). Each team received an allotment of numerical combinations, corresponding to their order of finish. Specifically, their final rank was divided by 78, and then multiplied by 10,000.
Here's a reminder of the order of finish from last season, and the corresponding "tickets" assigned to each team.
Just like in UPL Basketball, each team receives a number of lottery tickets, according to their order of finish. The number received is equal to their rank, divided by the total number of ranking points. Last year we had 12 teams, so the 1st place '90 Reds receive a 1 in 78 chance to win lottery, 7th place Phatsnapper receives a 7 in 78 chance, and 12th place Benver Droncos receive a 12 in 78 chance.
The specific number on each lottery ticket was randomly assigned. I will send out this master list to all of the UPL owners as a .pdf file that is password protected, and will provide the password to everyone once the lottery is completed. This ensures that no one gets to see the results beforehand, and also that whatever results I report are on the up and up.
The next step is to figure out which number combinations. Obviously, since I'm the only one who knows the list, I can't have anything to do with the number combinations. I will ask OD, Westy, CJ, and C-Lauff to randomly generate 30 digits between 0 and 9, (http://www.random.org), and e-mail them to me. The first digit that each one sends will make up the winner of the lottery. Specifically, the first digit will be OD's number, the 2nd digit will be Westy's number, the 3rd digit will be CJ's number, and the 4th digit will be C-Lauff's number.
The next number in each person's list of numbers will be used to determine the 2nd and 3rd overall picks, with repeat winners discarded (i.e., if the recipient of the 1st overall pick is selected, their winning combinations are then discarded, and replaced with the next number on the list).
If there are expansion teams, they will be assigned a slot at the end of the first round.
In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone sign up, and announcing the draft lottery results.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Top 3 draft positions go via lottery, and then the remaining slots (4 through 11) will go in reverse order of finish. Tiebreakers will be settled by reverse order of finish the prior UPL Baseball season, with the team finishing lower getting preference. If needed, further tiebreakers will look back at prior UPL Basketball seasons.
Here's how the lottery works. I've given each team a set number of "lottery tickets," each of which correspond to one of the 10,000 possible 4-digit combinations (i.e., 0000 through 9999). Each team received an allotment of numerical combinations, corresponding to their order of finish. Specifically, their final rank was divided by 78, and then multiplied by 10,000.
Here's a reminder of the order of finish from last season, and the corresponding "tickets" assigned to each team.
| Rank | Team | Tickets |
| 1 | '90 Reds | 128 |
| 2 | IamJabrone | 256 |
| 3 | Westy's Sluggers | 385 |
| 4 | O.N. Thugs | 513 |
| 5 | SuckMyknuckleballs | 641 |
| 6 | Cheeseheads | 769 |
| 7 | Phatsnapper | 897 |
| 8 | Black Sox | 1026 |
| 9 | Muddy Mush Heads | 1154 |
| 10.5 | TheJimmyDixLongballs | 1346 |
| 10.5 | Hats for Bats | 1346 |
| 12 | Benver Droncos | 1539 |
| 78 | TOTAL | 10000 |
Just like in UPL Basketball, each team receives a number of lottery tickets, according to their order of finish. The number received is equal to their rank, divided by the total number of ranking points. Last year we had 12 teams, so the 1st place '90 Reds receive a 1 in 78 chance to win lottery, 7th place Phatsnapper receives a 7 in 78 chance, and 12th place Benver Droncos receive a 12 in 78 chance.
The specific number on each lottery ticket was randomly assigned. I will send out this master list to all of the UPL owners as a .pdf file that is password protected, and will provide the password to everyone once the lottery is completed. This ensures that no one gets to see the results beforehand, and also that whatever results I report are on the up and up.
The next step is to figure out which number combinations. Obviously, since I'm the only one who knows the list, I can't have anything to do with the number combinations. I will ask OD, Westy, CJ, and C-Lauff to randomly generate 30 digits between 0 and 9, (http://www.random.org), and e-mail them to me. The first digit that each one sends will make up the winner of the lottery. Specifically, the first digit will be OD's number, the 2nd digit will be Westy's number, the 3rd digit will be CJ's number, and the 4th digit will be C-Lauff's number.
The next number in each person's list of numbers will be used to determine the 2nd and 3rd overall picks, with repeat winners discarded (i.e., if the recipient of the 1st overall pick is selected, their winning combinations are then discarded, and replaced with the next number on the list).
If there are expansion teams, they will be assigned a slot at the end of the first round.
In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone sign up, and announcing the draft lottery results.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Pitchers and Catchers (finally) Report
2010 UPL Baseball is here! UPL: Fighting Jose Offerman is going to be our first examination of how our baseball keepers will affect our franchises long term fortunes.
In the coming weeks we'll be conducting our 1st Annual UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, announcing the 1st edition of the UPL Baseball Keepers (due on March 20th), and finally conduct our UPL Baseball Draft on March 27th.
In the meantime, if you are curious about what players are on each team's rosters, click here:
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/archive/mlb/2009/172426/rosters
Be on the lookout for more announcements in the coming weeks!
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
In the coming weeks we'll be conducting our 1st Annual UPL Baseball Draft Lottery, announcing the 1st edition of the UPL Baseball Keepers (due on March 20th), and finally conduct our UPL Baseball Draft on March 27th.
In the meantime, if you are curious about what players are on each team's rosters, click here:
http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/archive/mlb/2009/172426/rosters
Be on the lookout for more announcements in the coming weeks!
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
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