Wheelin' Toward the Finish Line

There were three trades this week which will have a big effect on this amazing race in BABI. First, let’s recap the standings from this morning:

Any 9 & Pickled Pecklers are tied for 1st with 66.5
Cappers & Busch Leaguers are tied for 3rd with 64.0
Resurgent 300 Pounders are 5th at 63.0
Lickers are 6th at 60.0
Bats are 7th at 58.5

Hobo is fading at 53, and with the trades this weekend, can be said to have officially dumped.

This race really has been astounding. In the past couple of weeks, first place has been held by Any 9, Pecklers, Cappers, Leaguers and Lickers, who have faded. The Pounders have come from nowhere with a big drive in pitching, and in particular, saves.

Here are the three trades from this weekend:

The Busch Leaguers traded Matt Holliday and Glendon Rusch to Hobo for Austin Kearns and Ryan Dempster (tied to Gavin Floyd). The Leaguers get a closer, get rid of the volatile Rusch, and give up some hitting. Hobo gets some keepable pieces.

.300 Pounders traded Willy Taveras, John Mabry and Jose Valentin to Hobo for Corey Patterson, Troy Glaus and Mark Loretta. The Pounders give up their stolen base king for more hitting and the volatile Patterson. Hobo gets some more keepable pieces.

Finally, Any 9 sent Paul LoDuca and Roberto Hernandez to the Pounders for Johnny Estrada (might be coming off the DL today) and Dave Weathers. The Pounders get a little hitting and Any 9 gets another closer.

The saves category is extraordinarily close, and could have a great bearing on the final outcome:

All Tease and Pecklers have 50
Hobo has 49
Lickers have 48
Cappers have 46
Pounders have 44
Leaguers have 43
Any 9 has 39

The Pecklers have caught the Falkuhns, and the Falkuhns will be fading downward in the category. Any and possibly all of these teams could pick up that point for passing them.

The Pecklers have 2 bona fide closers, Wagner and Looper. We lost Walker this weekend, but have hopes that Farnsworth is going to steal the job in Atlanta. If he does, we should finish first in the category. If not, it’s going to be a race, but we're probably in the top 2 or 3.

Hobo is back down to a single closer (Cordero), and should be passed by most of the teams. Since the Pecklers already passed Hobo, we don’t have this potential upside point.

The Lickers have only Mesa as a closer. They are going to lose a few saves points to their rivals. Again, we already have this point.

The Cappers have only Hoffman, having traded away Lyon this week. They are going to lose two and possibly three saves points, and they may not pass Hobo (or who knows, the Falkuhns) while their rivals are doing so. Once again, we already have this point.

The Pounders suddenly became closer rich, with Duaner Sanchez (originally purchased at the auction by the Pecklers for $2) and Turnbow, and occasionally Valverde. Trading Weathers means that they probably won’t pass the Pecklers, but they should get the Falkuhns, Hobo, the Lickers and the Cappers.

The Busch Leaguers had only Todd Jones coming into the weekend, but have now added Dempster via trade, and lest we forget, Armando Benitez, back from oblivion. The deal for Dempster suddenly puts the Busch Leaguers in position to finish 1st or 2nd in the category, representing a 5 or 6 point pickup. Depending on how Kearns hits for the next 6 weeks, the Leaguers may not have sacrificed any hitting points. On the other hand, beware batting average downside. BTW, Kearns cannot be waived (on a contract).

Finally, Any 9 had Isringhausen, and was flailing with Brazoban and Belisle. Ken has now picked up Weathers, but it might not generate many saves points. He’s not likely to pass either the Pounders or the Leaguers. He’s 7 behind the Cappers, 9 behind the Lickers, 10 behind Hobo and 11 behind the Falkuhns. Any 9 might not pick up all of those points, rendering this trade useless.

Each team is targeting some other category, and of course everyone is hoping beyond hope for a couple of extra wins points. I think the end result of these deals, but the return of Benitez has made the Busch Leaguers the odds on favorite to three peat. Bastards.