HARL Baseball

Checks are in the Mail!

2008-10-30T12:46:00.001-04:00

Hi Gang,

This morning (OCT 30), I wrote out and mailed the HARL prize checks. So your roto-baseball winnings are on their way!

Congratulations to everyone for another fine HARL season. 22 years in the books is hard to imagine. I sincerely hope to see everyone participating again in 2009. Sometime during the offseason, I'm going to ponder and propose some significant changes to the rules for next year with the aim of keeping things fresh after all these years of play. So it could be a very different league in 2009. Feel free to share any ideas that you have with me this winter.

For all you life-long Phillies fans out there..... as the t-shirts say: PHINALLY!!! Now I can die a happy man.

PS: Dougie Fresh, I included your Hershey Bears hockey tickets in your envelope, so be on the lookout for those.

Talk to you guys later.

-SEVY-

A Champion Is Crowned!

2008-10-01T15:48:00.002-04:00

The long wait is finally over. The HARL Champion for 2008 has been crowned. Who won?

Did the JOKERS hang on to their skinny lead? Or did the ASSASSINS sneak up from behind and give them the old shiv in the back? Or did the COBRAS strike from below? Or maybe just maybe, the GRILLERS turned up the heat? Or could it be that the RHINOS (gulp gulp) made a frantic last-week comeback to claim their 8th HARL title?

Well? Well?

Well... it was a very close points race, for everyone except the eventual winner. Three teams were separated by less than 1.5 points! But the champs won comfortably.

So who won? The suspense is killing me dammit!

Cue the medieval fanfare music and send in the clowns! The 2008 HARL Championship wears pointy shoes and a silly hat, and hails from the Great White North region of Pennsylvania.

Hail hail to the 2008 Champs... the JOKERS!

The Final Playoff Standings were as follows:

45.32 = Jokers
35.40 = Grillers
32.18 = Cobras
32.08 = Rhinos
30.88 = Assassins

You can check out more details by perusing the league reports. I'm uploading the PSR reports as we speak. I haven't edited the web-reports yet, but will try to squeeze that in soon when I've got some extra free time (perhaps tomorrow morning or night). So hang loose.

FOR NOW... Please join me in congratulating JACK SOLTIS and the JOKERS on their 1st ever HARL Championship!

Kudos to Joker Jack for a great season. It was well deserved.

Until we meet again.... Enjoy the MLB Playoffs... and GO PHILS!

Final 2008 Stats

2008-09-29T11:30:00.001-04:00

This snippet (which I just posted on my business website) also applies to us. So I've posted it here to alert you guys as well.

STATS ALERT (9/29):

The Final Stats for 2008 will not be posted until the AL Central winner has been determined. The outcome of the Tigers/W-Sox makeup game on 9/29 could determine a winner, or else a 1-game regular season playoff game between the Twins/W-Sox will be played on Tuesday 9/30 to determine the winner. Since the stats from these games count as Regular Season stats, we cannot publish the final stats until these games are complete.

As a result, the final set of player stats for 2008 won't be published until Tuesday (1 PM) or Wednesday (1 PM), depending on the outcome of the AL games that are still to be played.

Note that the FINAL STATS will be dated 9/28/2008, although they WILL include those AL stats from 9/29 (and 9/30 game if applicable). Users of Rhino Baseball should use 9/28/2008 as the date of these final stats.

Jokers Wild

2008-09-23T19:26:00.005-04:00

Can the Jokers pull off their first-ever HARL Championship?

After 3 weeks of a crazy playoffs which have seen three lead-changes, Joker Jack's boys are currently holding down the top-spot. That will teach me to overlook anyone's 1st-place chances ever again! If you recall, at the halfway mark of the playoffs I predicted it would come down to a 2-horse race between the Assassins and Cobras. I was wrong.

At this point, anything could happen. In hot pursuit of the Jokers are the Assassins and Grillers, and even the Cobras are within striking distance if they can get red-hot this final week. This is exciting!

About the only thing I feel sure of is that my injury-riddled and pitching-poor Rhinos club has virtually no chance of bringing home an 8th HARL Championship. Yes, I realize that nobody but me is boo-hooing about that!

So good luck to all the contenders and have fun watching SportsCenter this week! There's really nothing to do at this point other than sit back, pop a cold one, and pray that your sluggers hit, steal, and field the ball cleanly, and that your hurlers record outs, rack up the K's, and snag some Wins and Saves. It sounds so simple doesn't it?

By the way... Stat reports (both web-stuff and PSR) are now available at HARL Central.

Week #3 Playoff Standings

2008-09-22T15:51:00.001-04:00

HARL Playoff Standings thru Week #3 are available on the HARL stats site. I haven't posted any of the reports yet; just the Standings.

PS: Looks like we've got a NEW leader! Hint: Think Worst to First!

-Sevy-

Halfway to the Finish!

2008-09-17T20:17:00.002-04:00

Two weeks are gone in the 2008 HARL playoff race. We're halfway to deciding a champ. Who's it gonna be this season? Here's the quickie point-score rundown at the SEP 14 checkpoint:

Assassins = 43.2 pts
Grillers = 37.6 pts
Cobras = 35.4 pts
Rhinos = 31.1 pts
Jokers = 29.8 pts

Pretty amazing to see the Assassins holding down the top-spot eh? In the history of the HARL Playoffs, no 5th Seed playoff team has ever managed to win the playoffs and secure the league championship. Dougie Fresh is doing his best to make history, that's for sure.

I'm also surprised to see the Jokers languishing in the basement. What gives? Is this really the same club that took 1st Place in the Regular Season standings after 22 weeks?

The Grillers offense nosedived big-time this week, while the Spitting Cobras slithered their way up the standings and crawled out of the basement. The Rhinos sort of held steady. With the sudden spate of key injuries to the Rhinos and Grillers, those two teams will be very hard pressed to win another championship this season.

There are still lots of really close categories stats-wise, so it's too early to make any surefire predictions as to who will reign victorious. The upstart Assassins are in the driver's seat, but I'm expecting the Cobras to make a 2nd-half playoff run and battle them hard for the title.

So buckle your seatbelts baseball fans, it's gonna be a wild finish!

You can check out the full set of stats reports at HARL CENTRAL (http://www.rhinosoftware.com/harl/harl_main.htm).

HARL -- Playoff Stats/Reports Posted

2008-09-10T10:03:00.001-04:00

Both PSR and Web Reports have been posted for Week-1 of the HARL Playoffs.

I don't really have too much to say about who's leading the playoff point-standings at this point, since experience shows us that in the immortal words of Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn, "1-week does not a playoff champion make."

Still... GRILLERS SUCK!

;-)

PSR Reports Posted

2008-09-03T09:37:00.001-04:00

PSR reports through Week-22 have been posted and are ready to download from the HARL CENTRAL website.

I probably won't get to create the web reports until later tonight.

-SEVY-

Who Made the HARL Playoffs?

2008-09-01T19:16:00.001-04:00

Want to know who made the 2008 HARL Playoffs?

Check out HARL CENTRAL or go here http://www.rhinosoftware.com/harl/scor-y22.htm to see the final, regular season standings thru Week-22.

-Sevy-

Final FAD Results (AUG 31)

2008-09-01T08:42:00.001-04:00

Results from the Final FAD of 2008:

MATT STAIRS OF-PHI .05 MUDHENS
DAVID ECKSTEIN MI-ARZ .05 GRILLERS
CHRIS DUNCAN OF-STL .05 GRILLERS
KHALIL GREENE SS-SD .05 JOKERS
JEFF SAMARDZIJA RP-CHC .05 JOKERS

-SEVY-

Saturday Waiver Claims

2008-08-31T13:02:00.001-04:00

Waiver claims from Saturday (AUG 30):

Corey Patterson OF-CIN Mudhens
Daniel Murphy OF-NYM Rhinos

HARL Stats Posted!

2008-08-27T21:56:00.001-04:00

Stats thru Week-21 have been posted. Phew... I'll be glad when the baseball season is over and my "fall vacation" arrives. I'm really getting burned out doing the stats every week. It happens to the best of us.

NEWS...

The HARL STANDINGS didn't change very much from last week. Looks like we have a nip/tuck race for 1st Place between the JOKERS and COBRAS over the final week of the Regular Season. The Jokers have the edge right now, but with only 1-point separating the teams, anything can happen.

The GRILLERS remain entrenched in 3rd Place and are a lock to remain there heading into Labor Day. The RHINOS are holding down the 4th spot and things look solid for them playoff-wise. The final playoff spot looks like it's going to come down either the MUDHENS or ASSASSINS, although the BREWSKIS could surprise if they get red hot this week and the Hens & Assassins falter. Stay tuned.

LAST FAD...

This Sunday's FAD is the LAST ONE of the 2008 season. So if you have any remaining dough left to spend, you better spend it while you can!

PLAYOFF TEAMS and ROSTER EXPANSION...

As you're well aware by now, the TOP FIVE finishers through WEEK #22 make the HARL Playoffs. They also win some prize money in the process. Once LABOR DAY is upon us, the rosters of the non-playoff teams are FROZEN. That means those teams don't make any more roster moves for the rest of the season, and cannot pickup anyone off the Waiver Wire.

The five playoff teams may EXPAND their Active Rosters to 26 players on Labor Day by adding 1 HITTER and 1 PITCHER to their lineup (position does not matter, so your hitter could be a 2B, C, OF, or whatever, and your pitcher could be a SP or RP).

SEPTEMBER WAIVER CLAIMS...

During the month of September, only teams participating in the HARL playoffs can claim players off the Waiver Wire. These players are TEMPORARY PICKUPS and will be automatically force-waived after the season ends.

That's all for now... Enjoy the final week of the REGULAR SEASON. Best of luck to all those who are fighting for a playoff spot.

-Sevy-

FAD Results from Sunday

2008-08-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

FAD Results from SUNDAY... Only 2 picks:

Andy Tracy 1B/OF-PHI .05 MAYGAMERS
Josh Bard C-SD .05 RHINOS

Sevy out!

Two Weeks and Counting!

2008-08-19T23:00:00.001-04:00

There's only 2 weeks left in the HARL Regular Season. My oh my how times flies! Once September 1st rolls around, the top-5 teams will compete in the HARL playoffs to determine who will be crowned this year's league champion. For everyone else, it's time to pack up the rotisserie stuff and say "better luck next year". Truth be told, the bottom four clubs are so far down the points-rung that they probably packed it in some time ago.

So who's PLAYOFF BOUND?

Well, it's currently a 7-team race for five playoff spots. There's a really tight race for 1st Place going on right now between the JOKERS and SPITTING COBRAS. A mere 2 points is all that separates Joker Jack from his good friend Cobra Mike in the standings. It appears that the race for 1st Place regular season prize money will go right down to the Labor Day wire. Fortunately for both of these clubs, they don't have to worry about making the playoffs. They're playoff shoo-ins. But neither team has ever won a HARL title, so it's assuredly exciting, nail-biting, bed-wetting times around those two clubhouses right now.

With 85 points, the GAS HOUSE GRILLERS also look like shoo-ins for the playoffs. It would take a Herculean effort for them to catch the Jokers and/or Cobras in the point standings, as they trail that duo by more than 15 points. But barring a late-August collapse, the Gas House gang will be cooking playoff-dogs come September. Their July trade acquisitions of Ryan Howard and Andre Ethier are paying huge dividends offensively.

Lurking in 4th place are the ever-dangerous SEVY RHINOS. The Rhinos have been treading water for a couple of weeks, thanks to a mix of injuries and slumps that have zapped the offense of its usual strength. The Rhinos need to weather the storm from the hungry teams clawing at them from below (Hens, Assassins, and Brewskis). If the Rhinos can hang on and make the playoffs, they present an interesting team to deal with. They've got one of the best offenses in HARL, but their year-to-date pitching stats (with the exception of Saves) have been atrocious. But over the past month, the Rhinos staff has improved somewhat, thanks to surges from Oliver Perez and The Big Unit. A clean stats-slate would do them a world of good come September.

Fighting for the 5th and final playoff spot are the NORTH MARKET MUDHENS, ASSASSINS, and BREWSKIS. Right now, the HENS are in the driver's seat, holding down 5th place with 75 points (4 behind the Rhinos). They have the luxury of complete health (nobody on the Disabled List) and a starting rotation that looks as strong as anyone's on paper. They're kind of the anti-Rhinos in many respects (weak offense, strong starting staff, so-so bullpen). After tasting the playoffs for the first time last year, Judge Mike and the boys are hankering for a return to glory.

At 71 points, the ASSASSINS need to make a late-season run in order to push themselves into the playoffs. Without Justin Upton, Ryan Church, and Jonathan Sanchez in the lineup, that could be a tall order. Rental superstar Manny Ramirez has been worth every penny, but he's going to need hot streaks from Wright, Holliday, and Kouzmanoff to bolster the offense. And Ben Sheets really needs to step it up and carry this staff if they're going to reach the postseason.

Although 7 points out of 5th place, the BREWSKIS are still in this thing. They've got Chipper back and the Atkins-Hawpe-Stewart-Baker-Iannetta contingent on offense. Chris Dickerson was also a great late-season free agent pick who is playing regularly. JJ Hardy is hot, Mike Cameron is solid, and we all know the streaky Cody Ross can get red-hot on occasion. So if the offense can tear the cover off the ball, the Zambrano-Maine-Myers starting trio can hurl some gems, the beermakers could make a surprising rally.

So stay tuned... we'll know how it all turns out in 2 weeks!

-SEVY-

FAD Results of AUG 17

2008-08-18T10:17:00.001-04:00

Sunday's FAD Results...

CHRIS DICKERSON OF-CIN 1.10 BREWSKIS (TOP=1.45, NEXT=1.05 MAYGAMERS)
MIKE FONTENOT 2B-CHC .05 COBRAS
WIL OHMAN RP-ATL .05 LEMMINGS
PEDRO ALVAREZ 3B-PIT .55 LEMMINGS (TOP=.55, NEXT=.50 GRILLERS)
TRAVIS ISHIKAWA 1B-SF .50 BREWSKIS (TOP=.55, NEXT=.45 ASSASSINS)
LIVAN HERNANDEZ SP-COL .05 ASSASSINS
HUMBERTO QUINTERO C-HOU .05 ASSASSINS
TOM GORZELANNY SP-PIT .05 GRILLERS
CRAIG COUNSELL UT-MIL .05 ASSASSINS
DAN DORN OF-CIN .05 RHINOS

IMPORTANT NOTE: This past weekend's FAD was the last chance for anyone to pickup Minor Leaguers (rookies) in the FAD for the rest of this season. From today going forward, you CANNOT draft rookies in the remaining weekly FADs (those of AUG 24 and AUG 31).

ALSO... as a friendly reminder to those who need to perform roster moves, here's a recap of the ROSTER POLICE note that I sent out earlier this week:

ASSASSINS

David Ross was designated for assignment on 8/10 and needs replaced.

BREWSKIS

Elijah Dukes went on DL on 8/07 and needs replaced.
Chipper Jones came off the DL on 8/08.
John Maine came off the DL on 8/13.

COBRAS

Orlando Hudson went on DL on 8/10 and needs replaced.

GAMBLERS

Paul Loduca was released on 8/01 and needs replaced.
Blake Dewitt was sent to the minors on 7/26 and needs replaced.
Tim Hudson went on DL on 7/28 and needs replaced.
Micah Owings was sent to the minors on 7/29 and needs replaced.
Chris Carpenter came off the DL on 7/30 and needs to be activated/reserved or waived.

JOKERS

1 too many Veteran players on your RESERVE LIST. You can have 7 max. Must drop 1 Veteran player from the group of: Abercrombie, Burke, Hairston, Montero, Velez, Hendrickson, Howry, and Morales.

LEMMINGS

Billy Wagner went on DL on 8/05 and needs replaced.

-SEVY-

Saturday's Waiver Claims

2008-08-17T12:10:00.001-04:00

WAIVER claims from Saturday:

AARON HARANG SP-CIN LEMMINGS
BRAD THOMPSON P-STL ASSASSINS
JOEL PINEIRO SP-STL JOKERS

Updates to ROSTERS and WAIVER WIRE reports

2008-08-15T13:07:00.000-04:00

Guys,

Looks like one of Stampeder Dave's emails got lost in the shuffle and I overlooked his moves for the week as a result. I updated that today and have posted new ROSTERS online, as well as a new WAIVER WIRE report (because he waived a bunch of guys).

So take a look at that.

SEVY

Stats Done

2008-08-14T13:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay with the HARL stats... They're out now.

I'm having a really hard time getting motivated to do any baseball crap right now. It's been a long season, my team is just so-so, and all the other non-baseball stuff going on is starting to wear on my nerves and tire me out. Oh well, I doubt that you guys really care anyway.

C'est la vie.

-Sevy-

HARL Roster Police

2008-08-14T12:31:00.001-04:00

Looks like people are getting lazy with roster management and have a case of the "August Blues".

The mid-August edition of HARL Roster Police brings the following things...

ASSASSINS

David Ross was designated for assignment on 8/10 and needs replaced.

BREWSKIS

Elijah Dukes went on DL on 8/07 and needs replaced.
Chipper Jones came off the DL on 8/08.
John Maine came off the DL on 8/13.

COBRAS

Orlando Hudson went on DL on 8/10 and needs replaced.

GAMBLERS

Paul Loduca was released on 8/01 and needs replaced.
Blake Dewitt was sent to the minors on 7/26 and needs replaced.
Tim Hudson went on DL on 7/28 and needs replaced.
Micah Owings was sent to the minors on 7/29 and needs replaced.
Chris Carpenter came off the DL on 7/30 and needs to be activated/reserved or waived.

JOKERS

1 too many Veteran players on your RESERVE LIST. You can have 7 max. Must drop 1 Veteran player from the group of: Abercrombie, Burke, Hairston, Montero, Velez, Hendrickson, Howry, and Morales.

LEMMINGS

Billy Wagner went on DL on 8/05 and needs replaced.

STAMPEDERS

1 extra guy on your RESERVE LIST. You can have 10 max. Must drop 1 player from the group of: Antonelli, B. Jones, Ruiz, Rodriguez, Backe, Balester, Burton, An. Miller, Jar. Parker, G. Reynolds, Scherzer.
Khalil Greene went on DL on 8/01 and needs replaced.
Josh Bard went on DL on 8/09 and needs replaced.

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Weekend FAD and Waiver Results

2008-08-11T09:26:00.001-04:00

Hi Gang,

WAIVER CLAIMS from Saturday... Just one claim:

FELIPE LOPEZ 2B/OF-STL RHINOS

FAD results from Sunday:

REGGIE ABERCROMBIE OF-HOU .05 JOKERS
JASON DAVIS SP-PIT .60 ASSASSINS (TOP=.95, NEXT=.55 MAYGAMERS)
LUIS RODRIGUEZ SS-SD .15 STAMPEDERS

-SEVY-

Dallas McPherson

2008-08-09T11:25:00.000-04:00

Due to a correction with the Grillers roster moves, please note that Dallas McPherson is NOT on the Waiver Wire any longer.

-Steve-

HARL Reports and News (AUG 8)

2008-08-08T16:21:00.001-04:00

Hi Guys,

This is really the first chance I've had to breathe and focus on other stuff since last Saturday (8/02). Anna and I were hosting and entertaining 6 visitors at our house (4 adults and 2 little kids ages 3 & 7) since Monday and spent a good chunk of yesterday in Philly. Needless to say, HARL wasn't anywhere in the picture during that time.

I did the HARL moves & stats this afternoon. The PSR reports are now posted online for download. I'll get to the web-stuff in a little bit, although it's going to be bare-bones since everything is way late this week.

There were two trades to report from last week....

1) STAMPEDERS traded 1B-Albert Pujols to the JOKERS for SP-Mike Pelfrey, 2B-Matt Antonelli, the Jokers 1st Round Farm Pick next season (2009), and $2.00 of FAD money.

2) BREWSKIS traded 2B-Ray Durham to the GRILLERS for RP-Heath Bell.

Remember that this coming MONDAY (AUG 11) is the HARL Trading Deadline. No trades are allowed after the deadline passes until the offseason begins (after conclusion of the MLB World Series).

A couple of teams left out some roster changes this week, so I had to make some forced moves to get your roster in order. Please check your roster PSR report to see what happened. ALWAYS doublecheck your roster move email before you send it to me each week, so you don't overlook anything (ie: make sure all positions are filled on your ACTIVE ROSTER, you're under the $18 salary cap, and you don't have more than 10 reserves and 15 bench-guys total (combo of 10 resv max + 5 DL).

That's all... Hoping life returns to normal soon!

SEVY

FAD -- Addition to Posted Results

2008-08-04T19:45:00.000-04:00

Hi Guys.... Forgot to include Greg Dobbs in the FAD results list. Here's the updated list:

As expected during most post MLB Trade Deadline FADs, there was insane bidding this week on lotsa new players.

Trying to get as creative as I could and still use Manny, I didn't get him. I didn't get any of the big guys. Dammit! Who got them? Here's what transpired:

MANNY RAMIREZ OF-LA 3.65 ASSASSINS (TOP=4.10, NEXT=3.60 RHINOS)
BRANDON MOSS OF-PIT 2.10 GRILLERS (TOP=3.40, NEXT=2.05 RHINOS & JOKERS)
CASEY KOTCHMAN 1B-ATL 2.95 MUDHENS (TOP=3.00, NEXT=2.90 RHINOS)
CHRIS BURKE OF-ARZ .05 JOKERS (TOP=2.05, NEXT=NONE)
EMILIO BONAFACIO 2B-WAS 1.50 RHINOS (TOP=1.50, NEXT=1.50 MUDHENS)
CRAIG HANSEN RP-PIT .40 MUDHENS (TOP=1.50, NEXT= .35 RHINOS)
JOE MATHER OF-STL .40 GRILLERS (TOP=1.40, NEXT= .35 RHINOS)
GREG DOBBS 3B-PHI .05 COBRAS (TOP=1.35, NEXT=NONE)
JEFF KARSTENS SP-PIT .30 RHINOS (TOP= .75, NEXT= .25 MAYGAMERS)
ALBERTO GONZALEZ SS-WAS .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .65, NEXT=NONE)
GREG NORTON OF-ATL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .45, NEXT=NONE)
J.A HAPP P-PHI .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .45, NEXT=NONE)
GEOFF BLUM 3B-HOU .10 JOKERS (TOP= .40, NEXT= .05 LEMMINGS)
JORGE DE LA ROSA SP-COL .05 JOKERS (TOP= .50, NEXT=NONE)
DAN MURPHY OF-NYM .05 RHINOS (TOP= .35, NEXT=NONE)
HENRY BLANCO C-CHC .05 COBRAS (TOP= .15, NEXT=NONE)
LARRY BROADWAY 1B-WAS .05 COBRAS (TOP= .05, NEXT=NONE)

-SEVY-

Manny & Friends Bidding Extravaganza!

2008-08-04T14:22:00.001-04:00

As expected during most post MLB Trade Deadline FADs, there was insane bidding this week on lotsa new players.

Trying to get as creative as I could and still use Manny, I didn't get him. I didn't get any of the big guys. Dammit! Who got them? Here's what transpired:

MANNY RAMIREZ OF-LA 3.65 ASSASSINS (TOP=4.10, NEXT=3.60 RHINOS)
BRANDON MOSS OF-PIT 2.10 GRILLERS (TOP=3.40, NEXT=2.05 RHINOS & JOKERS)
CASEY KOTCHMAN 1B-ATL 2.95 MUDHENS (TOP=3.00, NEXT=2.90 RHINOS)
CHRIS BURKE OF-ARZ .05 JOKERS (TOP=2.05, NEXT=NONE)
EMILIO BONAFACIO 2B-WAS 1.50 RHINOS (TOP=1.50, NEXT=1.50 MUDHENS)
CRAIG HANSEN RP-PIT .40 MUDHENS (TOP=1.50, NEXT= .35 RHINOS)
JOE MATHER OF-STL .40 GRILLERS (TOP=1.40, NEXT= .35 RHINOS)
JEFF KARSTENS SP-PIT .30 RHINOS (TOP= .75, NEXT= .25 MAYGAMERS)
ALBERTO GONZALEZ SS-WAS .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .65, NEXT=NONE)
GREG NORTON OF-ATL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .45, NEXT=NONE)
J.A HAPP P-PHI .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .45, NEXT=NONE)
GEOFF BLUM 3B-HOU .10 JOKERS (TOP= .40, NEXT= .05 LEMMINGS)
JORGE DE LA ROSA SP-COL .05 JOKERS (TOP= .50, NEXT=NONE)
DAN MURPHY OF-NYM .05 RHINOS (TOP= .35, NEXT=NONE)
HENRY BLANCO C-CHC .05 COBRAS (TOP= .15, NEXT=NONE)
LARRY BROADWAY 1B-WAS .05 COBRAS (TOP= .05, NEXT=NONE)

-SEVY-

FAB Balance Adjustments

2008-08-02T21:04:00.001-04:00

Just an FYI for everyone...

This week, I suddenly realized that I have NOT made any adjustments to the Remaining FAD Balances for HARL teams that have lost players to the American League.

I will try to remember and play catch-up with those adjustments when I do next week's stats (whenever that is, since we're entertaining visitors who are staying at our house for the first-half of next week).

Anyway... Here's a quick rundown of players who were traded to the American League and the associated COMPENSATION (in terms of extra FAD money) that HARL teams will receive for those traded players:

MARK TEIXEIRA ASSASSINS to ANA team gets $1.75
ERIC PATTERSON ASSASSINS to OAK team gets $ .05
JASON BAY MAYGAMERS to BOS team gets $1.25
XAVIER NADY MAYGAMERS to NYY team gets $ .75
KEN GRIFFEY JR MUDHENS to CHW team gets $ .75
DAMASO MARTE MUDHENS to NYY team gets $ .50
GABE GROSS MUDHENS to TAM team gets $ .10
MATT LAPORTA COBRAS to CLE team gets $ .05
JONATHAN MELOAN COBRAS to CLE team gets $ .05
SEAN GALLAGHER GRILLERS to OAK team gets $ .50

That means the adjusted FAD Balances for the affected HARL teams should now be:

ASSASSINS: $4.75 + $1.80 compensation = $6.55 current balance
MAYGAMERS: $2.85 + $2.00 compensation = $4.85 current balance
MUDHENS: $6.30 + $1.35 compensation = $7.65 current balance
COBRAS: $4.70 + $0.10 compensation = $4.80 current balance
GRILLERS: $4.60 + $0.50 compensation = $5.10 current balance

The remaining clubs current balances are:

BREWSKIS ($5.40), JOKERS ($5.20), LEMMINGS ($1.35), GAMBLERS ($4.00), RHINOS ($5.60), STAMPEDERS ($0.75)

-Sevy-

HARL Stats for 7/27 are now Online

2008-07-29T23:02:00.001-04:00

Hi Gang,

The HARL stats reports for 7/27 (stat period 17) are now online. Enjoy them! This week's reports include IMPACT RATINGS for hitters and pitchers, Team Stats for the month of July (from 6/30 thru 7/27 to be precise), and a corresponding Team Points Comparison over that same timeframe. Some interesting stuff to peruse to be sure.

STRETCH DRIVE

It's hard to conceive, but there's only 5 weeks left in the HARL Regular Season (including this one). That means:

The HARL Trading Deadline approaches. It falls on AUGUST 11 this year. That gives you just 2 more weeks to swing any late season fantasy trades. It's been a very quiet year trade-wise. I'm not sure if it's just extreme conservatism due to a year where the point standings are pretty tight, with 7-8 teams battling for FIVE playoff spots. Or maybe it's simply owner apathy or mistrust of the other guys trying to screw you! Perhaps there just haven't been enough "good matches" between teams -- roster makeup, injuries, and what's available in the free agent pool all have a significant effect on trading. Whatever it is, I'm not clairvoyant enough to put my finger on the exact reason.
The HARL Playoffs begin on SEPTEMBER 1st (Labor Day). The top 5 finishers as of the 8/31 stats will make the playoffs. At that point, the stats slate is wiped clean and it's a 4-week race to see who can accumulate the most points and win the coveted HARL Championship. Unless disaster strikes, I've gotta believe that the Cobras and Jokers will be 2 of those 5 teams. The rest is up in the air right now, coming down to a 5-week push through the Dog Days of August to see who plays in September and who sits on their couch and turns their attention to football and other pursuits.

FEELINGS... NOTHING MORE THAN FEELINGS...

It has been quite a strange year in many respects. I've had an extremely busy summer and baseball (among other things) has moved by me like a blur. I haven't watched as many games as I've liked, although I've been fortunate enough to attend a handful of Phillies games this season (got another one coming up in early August). I've followed my team's stats via the box scores religiously, but I really haven't spent any appreciable time analyzing my strengths/weaknesses and formulating trades. It shows too.

My offense has been pretty good (I expected it to be better though as Beltran and Weeks have really underperformed, and Andruw Jones has been a monumental bust). But my pitching has sucked more than a giant sponge in the Atlantic Ocean. Hindsights shows that I was too patient hoping for a statistical rebound from key starters like Francis and Gorzelanny, and now I've dug myself a huge hole in ERA and WHIP that I cannot possibly recover from. Pitching has been my Achilles Heel all season long, although my Fielding is starting to catch up with it!

So I've sort of had a laissez faire attitude to my roster in some regards (although I have still mined for free agents, but have been outbid on several key ones). Perhaps 22 years of continual play and running the league has caught up to me? I still enjoy rotisserie baseball and want to win, but the excitement hasn't been as palpable for me this season for several reasons (I'll spare you the details). Part of it might just be frustration with my team as well. Life is always more exciting when you're contending for 1st Place.

Speaking of 1st Place, it's unusual to see the COBRAS and JOKERS sitting 1-2 in the standings. I think it's good to see new faces atop the leaderboard. I'm pretty sure that Jack is enjoying his success. I'm not sure what's up with Cobra Mike. His wife is expecting in September and I believe it's been another busy year for him preparing his home for the new arrival. I'm not sure baseball is at the top of his mind right now. He's fortunate that his team has been fairly healthy most of the year and that his cheap holdover guys have played extremely well (hello Ryan Braun and Tim Lincecum). Getting Fred Lewis off the free agent heap early in the season was also a super move. It will be interesting to see if Mike can hold onto 1st Place thru Labor Day. I'm sure he'd like that prize money. Baby needs some new shoes!

That's all for now.... Talk to ya later.

FAD Results for the Night of JULY 27

2008-07-28T09:55:00.001-04:00

Sunday Night FAD Results:

CASEY BLAKE 3B-LA 3.20 MAYGAMERS (TOP=4.55, NEXT=3.15 RHINOS)
JOEL HANRAHAN RP-WAS .05 GRILLERS (TOP=1.30)
MIKE HAMPTON SP-ATL .05 RHINOS (TOP=1.00)
RYAN LANGERHANS OF-WAS .05 ASSASSINS (TOP= .80)
TYLER YATES RP-ATL .10 MUDHENS (TOP= .50, NEXT=.05 STAMPEDERS)
JOE NELSON RP-FLA .05 MUDHENS (TOP= .50)
JOSE TABATA OF-PIT .25 GRILLERS (TOP= .30, NEXT=.20 RHINOS)
MICAH HOFFPAIUR 1B-CHC .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .05)

Lotsa bids on Casey Blake this week...

$4.55 = MAYGAMERS
$3.15 = RHINOS
$2.55 = GAMBLERS
$2.50 = MUDHENS
$2.50 = GRILLERS
$2.15 = BREWSKIS
$2.15 = JOKERS

MLB Trading Deadline is this coming THURSDAY. Send us some more good AL players to bid on!!!

-Sevy-

Brewskis Additional Drops

2008-07-25T11:59:00.001-04:00

The BREWSKIS had to drop 2 guys to get down to the 15-man Reserve/DL limit.

They dropped:

John Smoltz
John Lieber

These guys are now available on the WAIVER WIRE

HARL Stats Posted!

2008-07-23T21:56:00.001-04:00

Hi Guys...

HARL Stats thru 7/21 have been posted. I kept to just the basic stuff this week (so there's only 10 web reports) since last week was only a HALF WEEK due to the All Star Break and there wasn't a lot of stats accumulated.

Anyway, there ya have it. It's been a hectic past 2 weeks for me, and I really haven't had any time to focus on rotisserie baseball. Soooo... I really have nothing to write this week. These are the times when I wish we had a "communal blog" and someone else (or several other team owners) could step in and write commentary instead of me. Maybe some day...

Anyway.... COBRAS are in 1st Place!!! Although Head Snake Boy Mike Hughes hasn't said a peep lately. I suppose he's full blown into "baby prep" as his wife Karen is expecting fairly soon. Let me know what's up MIKE!

Later....

Sunday Night's FAD Results

2008-07-20T21:49:00.001-04:00

FAD Results for Sunday, JULY 20:

JOE BLANTON SP-PHI 2.20 ASSASSINS (TOP=2.45, NEXT=2.15 RHINOS)
GLENDON RUSCH SP-COL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .95)
IVAN OCHOA 2B-SF .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .25)

Everyone else bid on Joe Blanton and was outbid. Bids included Rhinos @ $2.15, Grillers @ $1.95, Jokers @ $1.10, and

Maygamers @ .95.

-SEVY-

Saturday Waiver Claims

2008-07-20T12:49:00.001-04:00

Waiver Claims from Saturday:

Scott Podsednik OF-COL BREWSKIS
Johnny Estrada C-WAS RHINOS

Commissioner... Out!

Rule Change Proposals

2008-07-19T12:11:00.001-04:00

Guys,

I'm not sure when I'll get to revisiting my proposed ideas for HARL rule changes. I've just been too busy with other things over the past month (especially game design work) to really give it any additional thought. So it's being put on the backburner until I have enough free time to address it. That's sure not going to be this week (got playtesting and a wargame convention coming up).

Anyway, just wanted you guys to know what's happening on that front. It's weird, but my usually relaxing summer doesn't feel relaxing at all this year. Guess that's just life in 2008!

Later....

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

HARL Web Reports Posted

2008-07-19T12:03:00.000-04:00

HARL web reports for the All Star Break have now been posted.

All-Star Break PSR Reports

2008-07-18T11:07:00.001-04:00

The PSR reports set for the ALL STAR BREAK have been posted for download at HARL Central.

The reports include YTD Dollar Values for all HARL batters and pitchers.

WEB reports will be posted later on (either FRI Night or SAT morning).

-Steve-

HARL FAD Results -- JULY 14

2008-07-14T16:46:00.001-04:00

All-Star Break FAD Results:

CC SABATHIA SP-MIL 4.20 LEMMINGS (HIGH=4.50, 2ND=4.15 STAMPEDERS)
RICH HARDEN SP-CHC 4.10 STAMPEDERS (HIGH=4.15, 2ND=4.05 GAMBLERS)
FERNANDO TATIS OF-NYM 1.60 STAMPEDERS (HIGH=2.00, 2ND=1.55 RHINOS)
JAMIE GARCIA SP-STL .15 BREWSKIS (HIGH= .85, 2ND= .10 ASSASSINS)
CHAD GAUDIN RP-CHC .15 RHINOS (HIGH= .80, 2ND= .10 GAMBLERS)
JOHN BAKER C-FLA .15 LEMMINGS (HIGH= .55, 2ND= .10 MAYGAMERS)
NICK EVANS OF-NYM .05 GAMBLERS (HIGH= .15)
MARTIN PRADO MI-ATL .05 ASSASSINS (HIGH= .10)
ALEX ROMERO OF-ARZ .05 ASSASSINS (HIGH= .10)

As expected, lots of bids on the 2 AL import pitchers this week, and some solid bidding on Fernando Tatis as well.

SABATHIA = $4.50 (Lemmings), $4.15 (Stampeders), $4.05 (Gamblers), $2.75 (Assassins), $2.45 (Maygamers),

$2.10 (Jokers), $2.05 (Rhinos), $2.00 (Grillers).

HARDEN = $4.20 (Lemmings), $4.15 (Stampeders), $4.05 (Gamblers), $3.00 (Assassins), $2.50 (Jokers),

$2.45 (Maygamers), $2.05 (Rhinos), $2.00 (Grillers).

Enjoy the ALL STAR break! Remember, your roster moves are not due until THURSDAY NITE (7 PM) this week.

All- Star Break Deadlines

2008-07-13T22:14:00.000-04:00

Since it's the ALL STAR BREAK, there are 2 things I wanted to make note of:

I will do the FAD results on MONDAY afternoon (once I complete my morning stats service work and after lunch).
You do NOT need to send your ROSTER MOVES in for this week until THURSDAY NIGHT at 7 PM. That's because there are no NL games on Mon/Tue/Wed due to the All-Star Break.

-SEVY-

Stats N Stuff

2008-07-09T22:47:00.001-04:00

About 40 minutes ago, I was crunching numbers & editing web reports and babbling all kinds of really interesting stuff about HARL to myself while I was at it. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks... MENTAL FATIGUE.... BURNOUT.... TIREDNESS.... You know, that sudden yawning feeling that follows the 15 minutes of utter ephoria you feel after you've slept with the entire squad of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Okay, maybe you don't know that feeling. I'm not a MAN WHORE either. But at least you get the general idea.

Geoff and I spent the whole day creatively playing with numbers trying to devise a sensible point value system for the wargame me and the guys have been developing for the last few years. Yeah years. So it wasn't a simple task. I'm starting to see tiny yellow octal digits (0 to 8) float across my field of vision when I close my eyes. I'd rather see boobies. But then, that's just me.

Anyway, I'll save any meaty commentary for another time and just leave you with some dribs & drabs of random thoughts before I go doze off for the night. My pillow is looking good right about now.

I hate CODY ROSS. I drafted him because I predicted he'd be semi-decent; a nice low-cost power source. Then I dumped him just a few weeks into the season when he wasn't getting to play and seemed basically worthless. Kev scarfed him up. Last week he went nuts and had 15 RBI. FIFTEEN. Not a typo. He's sitting at around 15 dingers and 45+ RBI for the season. And I dumped him like a complete jackass. I HATE YOU CODY ROSS!

Speaking of Cody Ross and Kevin's association with him, the BREWSKIS offense went FRICKIN BONKERS last week. Absolutely crazy nuts. I looked at the team stats after clicking the button and letting the magic sabermetric computer elves generate the results for me. I saw 71 Runs, 26 HR, 86 RBI. Crikey I said, those look like 2 weeks worth of stats!!! Weird. But then I studied the individual team results for the Brewskis from last week. Everyone had monster weeks. Kev has lots of Rockies and Marlins hitters, and they had a supernatural weekend series filled with scoring, scoring, and more scoring. It was a MIRACLE WEEK sent from Heaven itself. That vaulted the Brewskis 10 points ahead of their prior offensive points total. That's almost impossible to do in early-July. Crazy, but awesome all the same time. Now if I could just get 2 miracle week's worth of PITCHING like that!!!

Hey Dave, stop trading with Geoff dammit! The newly acquired Griller trio of HOWARD-ETHIER-BAUTISTA had a great week. Geoff's team would have led the league in offense quite easily last week had it not been for the God-sent Hitting Mana from Heaven that drifted down and showered its golden beauty across the Brewskis dugout last week. Meanwhile Michael Bourn is still trying to figure out how to steal 1st Base, and Brandon Jones and Max Scherzer are still toiling away in the minors waiting for a second chance to make a splash on the major league scene. Yeah, this could be a very good Next Year trade for Dave, but I hate when my closest competitors get something that will beat me THIS YEAR! As they say... DAT'S LIFE! I shoulda tried to snag Howard and/or Ethier first!

All Star selection time always creates some controversy. David Wright not on the team? WOW. Soriano and Fukudome as STARTERS over Pat Burrell, Corey Hart, and Carlos Lee? LUDICROUS. Do we really need 12 Pitchers? Wouldn't TEN be more than enough? Jeez. Christian Guzman made the team? REALLY? Over Jose Reyes or Brandon Phillips? SAD.

And as for C.C Sabathia.... Okie dokie... Ain't touching that one again.

LATER...

HARL stuff coming WED Night

2008-07-08T17:32:00.001-04:00

Since I'm working OT tonight to prepare for a daytime project meeting with Geoff tomorrow, HARL stats and reports will be done on WED Night rather than tonight.

Sorry, but work comes first.

SEVY

REVISED FAD Results for JULY 6

2008-07-07T13:59:00.001-04:00

Here are the REVISED FAD Results from JULY 6. The Sabathia pickup was disallowed since his trade to the Brewers did not become official until this morning according to MLB.com. Also, I made a typo on Chan Ho Park's draft salary (thanks to Mayer for catching that and giving me the heads-up).

DAMIAN EASLEY 2B-NYM .05 LEMMINGS (TOP=1.10)
CHAD DURBIN RP-PHI .05 RHINOS (TOP= .75)
CHAN HO PARK P-LA .20 GRILLERS (TOP= .75, 2ND=.15 BREWSKIS)
MITCHELL BOGGS SP-STL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .25)
GEOFF GEARY RP-HOU .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .25)
ROGER BERNADINA OF-WAS .05 JOKERS (TOP= .25)
JASON PERRY OF-ATL .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .10)
BRYAN ANDERSON C-STL .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .05)
YUSMEIRO PETIT SP-ARZ .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .05)

Two things to note regarding bids on players that are already on someone else's team.

<> Omar Infante = is on the Rhinos reserve list

<> Collin Balester = is on the Stampeders active roster

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Commissioner Ruling on SABATHIA

2008-07-07T13:54:00.001-04:00

HI Guys,

After some further investigation this afternoon, I have made a Commissioner's ruling against the pickup of CC Sabathia in this weekend's FAD. Sabathia is still a free agent, and remains in the HARL free agent pool. Let me explain...

When I was doing the FAD results this morning, I really wasn't sure if the Sabathia to the Brewers trade was really OFFICIAL or not. Like many of you probably did, I read on RotoWorld last night that Sabathia was being traded to the Brewers for Matt LaPorta and several other prospects. So I put in a bid for him in the FAD. But nothing said the trade was "official" or not. It was an inside scoop that the trade was about to be completed.

I was thinking about that issue this morning when I did the FAD. I rushed through everything because I had to start work, and I probably should have investigated it thoroughly more before sending out the FAD results.

Looking at the news on MLB.com a few minutes ago, it appears that the Sabathia trade really didn't become official until this morning. The RotoWorld info was a premature announcement -- they are always looking to give you the inside scoop, and their heads-up was another example of that. So considering that the trade didn't officially go down until MONDAY MORNING, I must make the correct ruling and disallow anyone from picking up Sabathia in Sunday night's FAD. Sorry to Gambler Joe for the reversal of my earlier FAD posting, but it's not fair to break the rules and I want to get this right as it was confusing to several other owners (not just me).

ALSO, since folks asked me to clarify this: Our official deadline for submitting FAD bids is 9:00 PM (it was published in an earlier note regarding the 1st FAD of the season this year). The deadline used to be 7:00 PM in previous years, but so many people sent stuff in late (and I never processed the FAD until late Sunday night anyway), that I pushed the deadline back to make it easier on everyone.

Any players who come over from the AMERICAN LEAGUE into the NL, must be officially on an NL team BEFORE 9:00 PM on Sunday Night's FAD deadline. Guys that don't officially sign or get traded by that deadline, are not allowed to be picked up until next week. Jacque Jones was a good example of this from earlier in the year --- he was rumored to be signed by FLA on Saturday/Sunday, but didn't officially sign until Monday morning, so he wasn't eligible for the FAD as quickly as some folks had thought (because they read RotoWorld again!).

Anyway I will re-post the revised FAD results in a minute.

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

FAD Results for Independence Weekend

2008-07-07T10:22:00.001-04:00

Guys,

Here are the FAD Results from "Independence Weekend". Sorry that I didn't get to these last night; I was watching the Fireworks downtown with Anna and my Mom.

As suspected, there were lots of crazy bids on new AL-import, CC Sabathia. It took a wacked-out bid to fetch him!

C.C. SABATHIA SP-MIL 2.75 GAMBLERS (TOP=4.05 OTHER=2.70 2.55 1.80 1.05)
DAMIAN EASLEY 2B-NYM .05 LEMMINGS (TOP=1.10)
CHAD DURBIN RP-PHI .05 RHINOS (TOP= .75)
CHAN HO PARK P-LA .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .75, 2ND=.15 BREWSKIS)
MITCHELL BOGGS SP-STL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .25)
GEOFF GEARY RP-HOU .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .25)
ROGER BERNADINA OF-WAS .05 JOKERS (TOP= .25)
JASON PERRY OF-ATL .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .10)
BRYAN ANDERSON C-STL .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .05)
YUSMEIRO PETIT SP-ARZ .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .05)

Two things to note regarding bids on players that are already on someone else's team.

<> Omar Infante = is on the Rhinos reserve list

<> Colin Balester = is on the Stampeders active roster

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!

Saturday Waiver Claim

2008-07-06T12:14:00.001-04:00

One waiver claim from Saturday:

AUGIE OJEDA MID-ARZ MUDHENS

I Am a True Patriot

2008-07-02T20:54:00.006-04:00

Alrighty then on to the.... Wait a minute....

Is that our nation's flag I see over there on the right-hand side of the blog-post? Well, I'll be damned.

In times like these, with July 4th around the corner, who cares about HARL? All I can say is this....

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Oh and by the way, the JOKERS are still in 1st place. For those who can pull themselves away from staring at Miss Liberty over there, here are the standings as of June 30th:

101.1 = JOKERS

92.8 = COBRAS

87.4 = GRILLERS

82.9 = RHINOS

82.8 = ASSASSINS

81.3 = MUDHENS

71.7 = GAMBLERS

68.4 = BREWSKIS

63.1 = STAMPEDERS

50.7 = MAYGAMERS

42.5 = LEMMINGS

I SMELL TRADING!

There was one blockbuster trade to report this week, which happened while I was away in Gaming Heaven. It was between the GRILLERS and STAMPEDERS.

GRILLERS swapped 1B-John Bowker, OF-Michael Bourn, OF-Brandon Jones, P-Max Scherzer, and SP-Anibal Sanchez to the Stampeders.

STAMPEDERS swapped 1B-Ryan Howard, 3B-Jose Bautista, and OF-Andre Ethier to the Grillers.

On the surface, this is very good "THIS YEAR" trade for Griller Geoff, who adds some much needed offensive pop to his lineup and finally fills his weak-link at 3B. For the Wild Horsemen, they got a windfall of inexpensive and up & coming talent for 2009. I'm especially high on the upside of Brandon Jones and Max Scherzer, and Bowker has done well as an out-of-nowhere rookies this year (showing good power). If Bourn could ever grow to hit around .270 or so, he could easily lead the league in Stolen Bases with his blazing speed. He's the next Wily Taveras, and that's not a bad guy to have for rotisserie purposes. Sanchez flashed his potential prior to getting injured, and may be back for a 2nd-half audition this year.

Interesting trade guys!

2ND-HALF TRADES

Now that June has passed, any players you acquire in trades will get that extra "Option to Extend" clause added into their contracts. So if you trade for a PF1 guy, he'll become AO1 for you. If you acquire a MY2 guy, he becomes an OE2 guy for you.

TAKING THE PULSE

Pretty soon, I'm going to followup on last week's overview of prospective rule changes to shake-up and re-energize the league. HARL isn't as vibrant as it used to be years ago. There are lots of reasons for that.

For starters, many of us have been playing rotisserie baseball for a very LONG time, and like anything else in life, enthusiasm tends to wane over time when things become too familiar and too routine. So I'm certain that change would be a very good thing for us. Bring back the excitement of new challenges and new twists to our favorite game.

Secondly, all of our lives have gotten busier as we've gotten older. Whether it's caring for kids, marriage commitments, job stress, or other extracurricular activities, none of us seem to have as much free time as we used to. Things change, that's life, and we all must learn to deal with it. While some members of HARL wish there was more trading activity, more interleague banter, and more roster changeover, I just don't forsee things returning to the way they were years ago (rule changes can improve this a little bit, but they can only do so much). I'm very accepting of all of this. With the current group of people in HARL, the days of rabid, uber-competition are probably not going to be seen again anytime soon. I think that everyone wants to win, and tries to dedicate time & effort to get there (as much as they can spare with everything else that's going on). And I'm well aware that the amount of time and effort spent on HARL varies from person to person. But hey, you pay your money to play, and you'll get out of it what you put into it. I've been in a lot of fantasy sports leagues, and not a single one was perfect from a team owner perspective.

Thirdly, I think the social dynamics of fantasy sports has greatly changed with the advent of internet-based leagues. There's much less face-to-face contact and verbal communication than in the old days when owners chatted over the phone and got together to talk shop. That tangible communication has been replaced by cold, impersonal emails. I feel that all rotisserie leagues have suffered somewhat from a social perspective as a result of that. Technology is great in many ways, but it's no replacement for live, human contact.

So what do we do to recapture the magic so to speak? Is it even doable? Your input and ideas are always welcomed.

I would still like to play in HARL next year. I've committed so much time and energy into doing this (making it part of my business even), that I can't imagine NOT playing. I've been playing ever since I graduated from college!

But what about you? Is there anyone who is seriously considering dropping out next season? If so, could you let me know fairly soon? Finding new people that we know to join HARL has become harder & harder each year, so I would really appreciate any heads-up if you're planning to bail out for whatever reason. Before I undertake a lot of work refurbishing HARL into something new & shiny, I want to be certain we'll have enough people to play in 2009.

So let me hear from you. I'm taking the pulse of the league. Your time to speak is NOW.

CORRECTION -- FAD Results for JUNE 29

2008-06-30T18:19:00.001-04:00

CORRECTION to my earlier post...

I got home last night after my weekend in Columbus and was totally zonked from the 6-hour drive (plus, we had to go to Palmyra to feed Rob's cat while he's away, which took another 80-90 minutes). Anyway, to make a long story short, this is the first time I've been on the computer since Thursday of last week.

So anyway... Here are the FAD results from Sunday:

DARYL THOMPSON SP-CIN .05 ASSASSINS
DALLAS MCPHERSON 3B-FLA .05 GRILLERS
ERIC BRUNTLETT SS-PHI .05 JOKERS
COLIN BALESTER SP-WAS .05 STAMPEDERS

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

--
Posted By Steve Severino to HARL Baseball at 6/30/2008 09:38:00 AM

HARL -- FAD Results for JUNE 29

2008-06-30T09:38:00.001-04:00

Hi Guys,

So anyway... Here are the FAD results from Sunday:

DARYL THOMPSON SP-CIN .05 ASSASSINS
DALLAS MCPHERSON 3B-FLA .05 GRILLERS
ERIC BRUNTLETT SS-PHI .05 GRILLERS
COLIN BALESTER SP-WAS .05 STAMPEDERS

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

It's Alive!

2008-06-25T20:10:00.009-04:00

What's alive? The MONSTER packet that is this week's set of PSR reports, that's what.

There are 30 reports in the file-set, including year-to-date HARL player values. So open up that monster and dig in!

Current HARL Dollar Values have also been posted online along with the regular stuff (rosters, team stats, point standings, HARL player stats, free agent list, waiver wire, etc.). You can find everything at HARL Central (www.rhinosoftware.com/harl/harl_main.htm).

Speaking of monsters, sometime next week I'm planning on publishing a survey regarding possible HARL rule changes & new additions.

Keeping the game fresh is a major challenge when you're talking about a rotisserie league that's 22 years old. But I think we really need to do something to spur excitement. While I believe everyone is still having fun, my Spidey Sense has detected a palpable degree of apathy amongst the team owners that concerns me. Joey calls it a general malaise. Perhaps folks are just squeezed for free time in this increasingly hectic world that we live in? Life certainly isn't the same as it was 15 or 20 years ago.

Anyway, my goal is to try and inject some new life into HARL, and spur more interaction among the group. Here's a quick rundown on some of the ideas I'll be sharing with you:

Two Halves of the Season = Play a 13-week mini season and count your Points (the top 5 teams win prize money). Then play another 13-week mini season during the 2nd-half of the major league season (the top 5 teams win money).

At the end of 26 weeks, each team adds its Points together from both halves to determine the Final Order of Finish (the top 5 teams win end-of-year prize money).

Mid-Season Reserve Re-Draft = At midseason (All-Star Break), we all get-together to hold a live draft called the Reserve Re-Draft. Prior to this draft, each HARL team is given the chance to protect 4 bench guys (this total includes both Reserve and DL guys). Everyone else from your Reserve/DL that was not protected gets thrown back into the Free Agent Pool.

The Reserve Re-Draft is then held to restock your bench. Teams get $5 to draft 8 free agents in an auction-style draft. This gives us some midseason draft action, which is nice since everyone really enjoys live drafts.

Trade Meetings = Schedule two (2) Trade Meetings during the regular season. The first one is held around May 15, and the second is held around August 15. The purpose of the meetings is to get-together, eat some munchies, talk trade, and hopefully spur some deals.

Franchise Players = On May 1st, teams may designate up to 2 players with MY2 contracts as "Franchise Players". You may only have 3 Franchise Players on your HARL roster (you could have players leftover from the prior year).

The contracts of these Franchise Players changes to MY3 -- so you are getting an extra keeper year out of them. In exchange for the longer contract, you must keep that player for all 3 years of his contract. If you waive him anytime during those 3 years, his Salary gets deducted from your FAD Balance and you lose 1 Farm Pick next season.

Trader Award = I'm still thinking about the specifics here, but the idea is to award a $50 prize at the end of the year to the team owner who made the most trades or best quality trades (with trades rated on 1 to 3 point scale as determined by a simple formula). The gist of this award is to spur trading since it will pay to deal!

Rookies Signed to 3 Year Contracts = This is Rich's idea. Any rookies signed by your club automatically get ML3 contracts.

New Definition of Rookie = To improve the quality of the Farm Draft, the definition of a rookie (Minor Leaguer) is someone who has never exceeded 100 AB or 40 IP during any previous season. In effect, we're doubling the AB and IP from their current values.

Expand the Player Pool with 4 AL Teams = In addition to the National League, players from 4 AL teams are now available to be drafted and used on HARL rosters. The teams would probably be the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, and 1 other AL club to be decided. I would like to stick with historically good, high-payroll teams, or teams that are close by (eg: it's easy to go see the Orioles play).

While this is certainly a radical idea for HARL, the free agent pool isn't as interesting when it's comprised mostly of scrubs. So beefing up the available players pool would increase the talent level, but HARL still would not become an "all-star league" -- something I strongly dislike.

Two New Stat Categories = Add 2 additional stat categories: Total Bases (TB) for hitters, and Quality Starts (QS) for pitchers.

These categories are readily available for us to use (they're included in the weekly stats data that I generate for the Rhino Stats Service), and I'm currently showing them on the HARL reports as extra statistics.

Total Bases is a worthy offensive stat because it incorporates 2B and 3B which we currently ignore, represents slugging ability well without being another ratio-style stat, and counter-balances OBA (ie: it's good to have a high OBA, but you also need guys that rack up the bases on a cumulative basis). Quality Starts is a solid way to evaluate Starting Pitching and this helps give good starters their just due (relievers are always a bit overrated in fantasy terms).

So there you have it. Some bold new ideas to chew on and seriously consider. I'll followup on these later. For now, if anyone has any comments, suggestions, or questions about any of these things, feel free to shoot me an email or leave you comments on this blog (just click on the Comment link at the end of this post and write whatever is on your mind).

ONE LAST THING.... Since I'm away at the Origins game convention in Columbus, Ohio this weekend, I won't be home to handle the Waiver Wire process. So please send you waiver claims to Joey this Saturday. Thanks!

This Saturday's Waivers

2008-06-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

Since I'll be in Columbus this weekend with no access to a computer, please send any Waiver Wire claim emails to Joey.

He's handling the HARL stuff while I'm away.

Thanks!

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

FAD Results

2008-06-22T21:49:00.001-04:00

FAD Results from Sunday (JUNE 22):

SETH MCCLUNG SP-MIL .50 LEMMINGS (HIGH=2.10, OTHER=.45 BREWSKIS)
SEAN MARSHALL SP-CHC .05 BREWSKIS (HIGH=.55)
CHAN HO PARK SP-LA .05 BREWSKIS (HIGH=.45)
RAUL CHAVEZ C-PIT .05 MAYGAMERS (HIGH=.30)
RUNELVYS HERNANDEZ SP-HOU .05 STAMPEDERS (HIGH=.05)
JARED BURTON RP-CIN .05 STAMPEDERS (HIGH=.05)

One thing that I wanted to make note of...

A couple of people put in FAD bids for Wily Mo Pena and Jeff Salazar this week. They are still on waivers, so you cannot bid on them. For those of you have forgotten about the rules, whenever a player is dropped by a HARL team and goes on the WAIVER WIRE, he stays there for 2 weeks unless he's claimed during that period (on one of the Saturday Waiver Claim days).

For example, Wily Mo Pena was dropped by the Grillers last week (6/16). Nobody claimed Wily Mo this Saturday. So, that means Wily Mo is still on waivers. If nobody claims him next Saturday (6/28), then he becomes a free agent and you can bid on him during the FAD. Of course the smart thing to do is just claim him in the first place (it's free and costs you zero FAD money).

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Halfway to the Playoffs!

2008-06-18T23:23:00.001-04:00

Eleven weeks of regular season play are in the books. Only 11 more to go. Yep, you read that right; we're halfway to the HARL Playoffs already!

It's been a really weird year. The standings were in extreme flux for the first 8 weeks or so. There are still teams experiencing significant point-swings each week, but the view from the top has settled down of late. Here's the current scoop:

98.4 = JOKERS
93.2 = COBRAS
87.9 = ASSASSINS
85.3 = MUDHENS
79.2 = GRILLERS
78.2 = RHINOS
78.1 = GAMBLERS
67.8 = BREWSKIS
58.9 = STAMPEDERS
52.3 = MAYGAMERS
42.9 = LEMMINGS

The Jokers and Cobras are currently 1-2, while the Assassins and Mudhens sit roughly 8-10 points behind the leaders and round-out the Top-4 teams in the HARL standings.

Without a doubt, the loss of Alfonso Soriano for 4-6 weeks with a broken hand is going to hurt the Joker's offense. But Jack's club has one-hell of an offense, so he can absorb this blow a lot better than most clubs. Still, the Jesters have to be feeling a wee bit uncomfy with the Snakes striking at their heels.

Can the Cobras catch Joker Jack's team? Well, they've certainly weathered some major injuries already (Tulowitzki, Gallardo, and Dave Roberts have all hit the DL for very long stretches), so it looks like they have the staying power to remain a bonafide contender for 1st Place. If they could just address their holes at SS (Gomez is a bum) and Catcher (Paulino got sent to the minors), they would have a legitimate shot at overtaking the bell-jangling Jesters.

The Assassins need to ride out boo-boo's to Ryan Church, Tad Iguchi, and Nick Johnson. So far, so good, as they've still got the 3rd best offensive output in HARL right now. Their pitching is middle-of-the-road, and they could probably use another solid SP and a valuable middle reliever -- but then, can't we all!

The Hens seem poised for a big push, especially now that Jake Peavy and Pedro Martinez are healthy, and Jim Edmonds has finally started to put things together and garner more playing time. They look like a team on the rise from where I'm sitting. The only thing that might come back to bite them in the tookus is AGE. Six of their key players (Delgado, Kent, Griffey, Edmonds, Pedro, and Izzy) are 35 years old or older. Guys at that age are more prone to injury and time off. When your team is built like that, you pray a lot.

The race for 5th place is WIDE with three teams (Grillers, Rhinos, and Gamblers) all within a gnat's eyelash of each other. Things could change here in a hurry, and you can bet that injuries and trades will play a huge factor in the 2nd-half as these three clubs try to climb up the point standings ladder.

Despite Gasser Geoff's griping about how lousy his team has been, the Grillers are still in the hunt. Sure, they've got some infield issues and the bullpen isn't going to blow anyone's socks off, but they're pretty solid elsewhere. A little more run production (Runs and RBI), another power bat in the OF, and a viable Closer would do them a world of good. And we all know Geoff likes to trade, so I'm sure some deals will be coming. I got snookered a bit on my earlier Sean Gallagher / Odalis Perez -for- JR Towles swap with him. Towles has been an utter bust so far this season. Maybe he''l turn it around, but it sure hurts to see Gallagher throwing well for another club when my pitching staff blows more than the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading squad.

I've got to be honest, I'm flummoxed, bedazzled, and stupefied all at the same time. Several short days after analyzing post-draft rosters in early April, I thought my beloved Rhinos were poised to go all the way this year. But a combination of key injuries, underachivement, and unexpectedly god-awful pitching has me stuck in the middle of the pack. Hitting-wise, the Horned Ones are just fine. The 2007 NL MVP, J-Roll, is back. Ryan Doumit, Jayson Werth, and Ty Wigginton have recently returned to action. But just when you think all is well, Rickie Weeks goes down with a knee injury. Weeks wasn't doing as well as I had hoped, but was still a key contributor in Runs and SB. And Andruw Jones... don't get me started. He flat out stinks and now his fat ass is on the DL. But the #1 problem in Rhinoland has been a horrid starting rotation. My projected top-3 starters (Jeff Francis, Oliver Perez, Tom Gorzelanny) are nowhere close to repeating their successes of 2007. And that has really killed me. Couple that with the absence of Noah Lowry, a fragile Joel Pineiro, and a somewhat mediocre Big Unit who is nearing the end of a great career, and you've got nothing to cheer about. Bottomline, I need to put a sign in the front-yard that says WILL WORK FOR PITCHING.

My rascally brother and his Gamblers team is keeping me company in the middle-standings logjam. It's not a spot that he's used to being in most seasons. Much like the Rhinos, the Gamblers bugaboo has been pitching. Edinson Volquez has been lights out (damn, if I just would have gone another few cents at the draft!) and is surefire All-Star. Tim Hudson and Greg Maddux have been reliable, and so was Adam Wainwright before he landed on the DL. Everyone else has either been bad (Snell, Jimenez) or too marginal to make much of a fantasy impact. I'm also not sure why Joey traded a power-hitting, everyday 3B in Kevin Kouzmanoff for a platoon OF in Skip Schumaker. Skip has been surprisingly decent, but I still think Joe got the short-end of that deal. Maybe it's just not the Severino's year this year?

Nobody else is out of the running yet, but everyone is certainly facing a real uphill battle.

The Brewskis still have hope, but they desperately need their good young prospects (Maybin and Rasmus) to come up in the 2nd-half and boost a moribund offense. Ian Stewart also appears to be getting a shot at the Rox 2B job, so maybe he'll stick and Kev will call him up soon to fill the Utility slot. Where would this club be without Chipper Jones and his .400 batting average? I think it's high time to deal one of the Closers and perhaps a good Starting Pitcher like John Maine in return for some top quality bashers at 1B and OF. Sure that's scary. Sure, people can be unreasonable in their trade demands. But it pays to knock on as many doors as possible when you're dead last in Hitting or Pitching and don't have anywhere to go but up.

As for the Stampeders, their outfield is a total mess. Maybe swapping Ryan Howard could yield 2 pretty good guys? The call-up of phenom Chase Headley should also help. Maybe trading a Closer would also be a good way to bolster the offense? Just sayin...

Much as I suspected, it has been a re-learning year for the Maygamers. You just can't step away from rotisserie baseball for a decade, then come back in and be intimately familiar with all the players like you were years ago. That said, Mayer found several surprise performers this year, and for that he can be very proud. Mike Jacobs, Xavier Nady, and Jorge Cantu have been excellent underappreciated power sources. Cantu is a major sleeper that flew beneath most of our radars. I was very high on Nate McLouth prior to the draft, and he has certainly justified that enthusiasm with an All-Star quality 1st-half. As Geoff and I discussed earlier, we figured he would have more SB's than HR's at this point, but the flip-flop isn't anything to be disappointed about. And I simply love Johnny Cueto. His excellent control coupled with a strikeout arm gives him Volquez-like potential to be sure. If I was Mayer, I'd start analyzing the potential core pieces of my 2009 club (Jacobs, Cantu, Ramirez, Kendall, Bay, McLouth, Nady, Cain, and Cueto), and consider trading away anyone else for another inexpensive, good quality keeper.

Richie Lemming, where have you gone? Off a cliff with the rest of your little furry friends perhaps? The last 2 years have not been very kind to the younger of the Hetrick clan. On paper and when healthy, the Lemmings appear to have a solid lineup. But take a look at that Disabled List. It's hard to compete when Furcal, Zimmerman, Alou, Willingham, Freel, Estrada, and Chad Cordero are in the roto infirmary. I won't mention Nomar, because, well you simply expect to see Nomar here. To make matters even worse, Rich has had a Sevy-like experience with his top hurlers. Roy Oswalt, Brad Penny, and Barry Zito have all collapsed into relative suckitude compared to their usual fine selves. At least there's uber-phenom Jay Bruce to make a little lemming smile. That's something.

-SEVY-

HARL Free Agent Draft Results = JUNE 15

2008-06-15T23:00:00.001-04:00

This Sunday's FAD results:

TROT NIXON OF-NYM .90 GRILLERS (TOP=2.00, .85 RHINOS and .75 BREWSKIS)
GREG NORTON OF-ATL .05 JOKERS (TOP=1.10)
CHARLIE MORTON SP-ATL .35 BREWSKIS (TOP= .35, .35 GAMBLERS and .15 MAYGAMERS)
PHIL DUMATRAIT SP-PIT .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .30)
JOSH JOHNSON SP-FLA .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .25)
ANIBAL SANCHEZ SP-FLA .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .25)
SO TAGUCHI OF-PHI .05 JOKERS (TOP= .10)

Waiver Claims from June 14

2008-06-15T11:10:00.001-04:00

Hi Guys,

Yesterday's Waiver Claims:

FELIX PIE OF-CHC RHINOS
DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ COR-PIT ASSASSINS

That's all she wrote.

Waiver Wire -- with 2 new Gamblers Drops

2008-06-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

UPDATED -- Waivers for JUNE 14

Waiver Wire: Jun-11-08
Player	Pos	Team	Date Released	Dropped By
ARDOIN, D.	C	LA	Jun-9	Stampede
BENNETT, JEFF	RP	ATL	Jun-2	Rhinos
CASANOVA, R.	C	NYM	Jun-9	Rhinos
EVANS, NICK	OF	NYM	Jun-2	Maygamer
FIGUEROA, NEL.	P	NYM	Jun-2	Stampede
HATTEBERG, S.	1B	CIN	Jun-9	Maygamer
LEDEZMA, W.	RP	SD	Jun-9	Lemmings
MIENTKIEWICZ, D.	1B	PIT	Jun-2	Lemmings
MULDER, M.	SP	STL	Jun-9	Gamblers
PIE, F.	OF	CHC	Jun-9	Grillers
PRIOR, M.	SP	SD	Jun-9	Mudhens
RISKE, D.	RP	MIL	Jun-9	Gamblers
SOSA, JORGE	RP	HOU	Jun-2	Stampede
VILLONE, R.	RP	STL	Jun-9	Lemmings
WISE, MATT	RP	NYM	Jun-2	Lemmings

And Then It Was Ten

2008-06-10T23:25:00.002-04:00

Week #10 stats reports have been posted to HARL CENTRAL. Go check them out!

FAD Results -- June 8

2008-06-08T22:36:00.001-04:00

June 8th FAD Results:

KORY CASTO 3B-WAS 1.30 LEMMINGS (TOP=2.05, 2ND=1.25 GRILLERS)
BRIAN MOEHLER SP-HOU .05 LEMMINGS (TOP=1.05)
EDGAR GONZALEZ 2B-SD .05 ASSASSINS (TOP=1.05)
CS. BAEK SP-SD .05 RHINOS (TOP= .95)
EMMANUEL BURRIS MI-SF .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .50)
JOSH ANDERSON OF-ATL .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .35)
RYAN TUCKER SP-FLA .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .10)
BRAD AUSMUS C-HOU .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .05)

That's all she wrote!

Waiver Claims from SAT (6/07)

2008-06-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

Waiver Claims for June 7:

CARLOS VILLANUEVA SP-MIL LEMMINGS
CHRIS BURKE OF-ARZ RHINOS

JUNE 4 -- Stats Reports Available

2008-06-04T11:15:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the slight delay in HARL stats reporting/posting. Today (June 4) is Anna's birthday, and we celebrate birthdays for an entire week in the Sevy household. The celebration began last night. So I don't bother with much else during the week I pamper my wife!!

See you later!

FAD Results -- June 1

2008-06-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

FAD Results for the first Sunday in June:

JORGE CAMPILLO SP-ATL .70 RHINOS (TOP=1.65, 2ND=.65 BREWSKIS)
BRIAN HORWITZ OF-SF .05 ASSASSINS (TOP=1.10)
JOSH BANKS SP-SD .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .65)
MAT GAMELS 3B-MIL .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .25)
WES HELMS COR-FLA .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .05)
DANNY ARDOIN C-HOU .05 STAMPEDER (TOP= .05)
DUANER SANCHEZ RP-NYM .05 STAMPEDER (TOP= .05)

HARL Roster Alerts

2008-06-01T13:57:00.000-04:00

The following players need to be addressed in this week's (June 2) roster moves:

ASSASSINS = Matt Holliday (DL)

LEMMINGS = Rafael Furcal (DL)

RHINOS = Jayson Werth (DL)

COBRAS = Kevin Correia (DL), Doug Davis (off DL), Michael Barrett (off DL)

STAMPEDERS = Ronnie Belliard (DL), Josh Bard (DL), Jorge Sosa (Minors w/ Astros)

Here's a Heads-up on players who must be handled by next week (June 9):

BREWSKIS = Corey Patterson (to Minors), Rafael Soriano (off DL)

GRILLERS = Wandy Rodriguez (off DL)

JOKERS = Matt Diaz (DL), Jack Wilson (off DL)

LEMMINGS = Matt Wise (DL)

GAMBLERS = Eric Byrnes (DL)

MUDHENS = Mark Kotsay (DL)

RHINOS = Joel Pineiro (DL)

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Saturday's Waiver Claims

2008-06-01T09:08:00.001-04:00

CRAIG COUNSELL MID-MIL LEMMINGS
CLA MEREDITH RP-SD GAMBLERS

That's all...

5/27 -- Stat Reports Posted

2008-05-27T21:31:00.001-04:00

Hello Roto Geeks...

The online reports and PSR files for Week 8 (stats thru 5/25) have been posted to HARL Central. Get 'em while they're hot!

-Sevy-

FAD Results for May 25

2008-05-25T23:30:00.001-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! Hope that you guys enjoy your day off on Monday.

Here are the results of Sunday Night's FAD. I thought there would be more activity with all the sudden injuries, but then maybe it's just my team with all the boo-boos. Anyway, on to the results...

JACQUE JONES OF-FLA 2.15 GAMBLERS (HIGH=2.35, 2ND=2.10 RHINOS)
SETH SMITH OF-COL 1.10 GAMBLERS (HIGH=1.65, 2ND=1.05 RHINOS)
RUSS BRANYAN 3B-MIL .05 RHINOS (HIGH=1.05, 2ND=NONE)
OMAR INFANTE MI-ATL .05 RHINOS (HIGH=1.05, 2ND=NONE)
NICK EVANS OF-NYM .05 MAYGAMERS (HIGH= .30, 2ND=NONE)
LOGAN KENSING RP-FLA .05 MAYGAMERS (HIGH= .25, 2ND=NONE)
CLAY CONDREY RP-PHI .05 MUDHENS (HIGH= .25, 2ND=NONE)

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Waiver Claims from MAY 24

2008-05-25T10:55:00.001-04:00

Saturday's Waiver Claims...

MANNY CORPAS RP-COL GAMBLERS
ENDY CHAVEZ OF-NYM RHINOS

Who's In First?

2008-05-22T11:05:00.005-04:00

While Abbott and Costello could never quite agree "who's ON first", the fantasy baseball gods governing HARL can't seem to decide "who's IN first". After 7 weeks of baseball, we have had five different teams sitting in 1st Place (Maygamers, Mudhens, Assassins, Gamblers, and Jokers). That's both amazing and refreshing. I can't recall any prior examples in our 22-year history where there's been so much flux atop the leaderboard during any part of the season.

It's even hard to tell which teams really suck this year. Just like the top of the standings, there have been 5 different teams in Last Place this season (Jokers, Lemmings, Rhinos, Brewskis, and Maygamers). In fact, after 7 weeks of play, the teams that started out in 1st and 11th place after one week have officially swapped places with each other. How weird is that?

Perhaps then, it's appropriate that Joker Jack is currently at the top of the class at the Week-7 mark. Trying to predict who is going to win HARL this season has become a mind-bending, head-scratcher. Who else but a court jester could even make sense of it all?

So it's time to put on the silly jester hat with the dangling bells, prance around and act goofy, and babble idiotic nonsense to everyone within earshot. It's Joker Time. So how, you may ask, did the Jokers move all the way from LAST PLACE after Week-1, into FIRST PLACE after Week-7? Good question. For me it boils down to these 3 things:

The best power hitting in HARL to-date. Last week the Jokers slugged a whopping 23 HR and drove in 60 runners. That was so damn good I had to doublecheck the stats and make sure that I didn't make a mistake in recording the transactions somewhere. It was not a mistake, it was just stellar offensive production. Alfonso Soriano smacked 7 HR with 14 RBI last week all by himself. Only 32 of 252 NL players to post stats this year (roughly 13%) have 7 or more HR for the entire season. Dan Uggla and Ryan Ludwick have also been red-hot of late in the power department. All of this has lead the Jokers to have the 2nd most hitting points in HARL this year.
This team has nice balance. The Jokers are currently 2nd in Hitting points and 4th in Pitching points, and in the middle in Fielding Ratio. You know that I always preach balance, balance, balance. Trust me, it keeps you in the hunt and can take you a long way in the playoffs.
Bang-for-the-buck. If you can get star-level statistical production out of your cheap guys, your team is destined for great things. Of the top dozen HARL players in terms of Profit (Actual YTD Dollar Value - Salary), the Jokers have 3 players in that list -- more than any other team in HARL. Ryan Ludwick ($1.50 profit), Dan Uggla ($1.40 profit), and Geovany Soto ($1.40 profit) have been top-notch producers for Joker Jack's club this season. And not a single one of them cost more than 60 cents.

Kudos to Jack for his fast start. I like to see new faces atop the HARL standings. With all the crazy movement going on in the standings, I can't really predict how things will shake out with any certainty. But I do think that the Jokers have pretty good team and aren't a fluke. Once Adam Laroche starts hitting and Jose Reyes starts playing up to his ability , their offense will get even better. That's a scary thought for the rest of us.

Later!

HARL FAD: May 18

2008-05-19T14:08:00.001-04:00

Hi Guys,

Thanks for being patient. Got back late last night and was experiencing some email problems this morning (could receive email but could not send anything out) that I believe are related to a computer virus (mostly killed it, but am still dealing with last remnants).

Anyway... here are the FAD results...

CLAUDIO VARGAS SP-NYM .10 ASSASSINS (TOP=2.10, 2ND= .05 GRILLERS)
PAUL JANISH SS-CIN .05 GAMBLERS (TOP=1.45, 2ND=NONE)
GREG REYNOLDS SP-COL .05 GAMBLERS (TOP=1.05, 2ND=NONE)
BRIAN SHOUSE RP-MIL .05 ASSASSINS (TOP= .95, 2ND=NONE)
AARON MILES 2B-STL .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .75, 2ND=NONE)
BRAD AUSMUS C-HOU .05 RHINOS (TOP= .65, 2ND=NONE)
TAYLOR BUCHHOLZ RP-COL .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .05, 2ND=NONE)

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

HARL This Week

2008-05-14T09:57:00.001-04:00

Quick and Dirty...

HARL reports (both PSR and Online reports) were published last night (May 13).
There will be no HARL news & notes posting this week, as I simply don't have the free time to do it.
If you're going to claim someone off Waivers this Saturday, please send your claims to JOEY -- I'm on vacation and out of the state for several days with no access to email.

See you next week.

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Submitting WAIVER CLAIMS on Saturday, MAY 17

2008-05-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

FYI: Please submit your WAIVER CLAIMS to Joey Severino (gamblerjoe@verizon.net) on this Saturday, MAY 17.

Joe has offered to take over my duties for that day while I'm away on vacation.

-Steve-

FAD Results: May 11

2008-05-11T23:19:00.000-04:00

FAD results for Sunday, May 11:

JASON MICHAELS OF-PIT 1.40 MUDHENS (TOP=2.50, 2ND=1.35 LEMMINGS)
RYAN FRANKLIN RP-STL .70 JOKERS (TOP=1.90, 2ND= .65 MAYGAMERS, GAMBLERS)
MATT TREANOR C-FLA .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .55)
WIL LEDEZMA RP-SD .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .80)
SHAWN ESTES SP-SD .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .45)
RON VILLONE RP-STL .05 LEMMINGS (TOP= .35)
MANNY ACOSTA RP-ATL .05 BREWSKIS (TOP= .25)
JEFF BENNETT RP-ATL .05 RHINOS (TOP= .25)
JEFF WEAVER SP-MIL .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .15)

Waiver Wire Claims -- May 10

2008-05-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's Waiver Wire pickups... As expected, several people wanted Gonzo (including me!).

Luis Gonzalez OF-FLA Lemmings
Dan Ortmeier 1B/OF-SF Grillers

That's all.

Online Reports for Week #5 are Available!

2008-05-07T08:37:00.001-04:00

The web reports for Week #5 are now available at HARL Central (http://www.rhinosoftware.com/harl/harl_main.htm). Please stop by and take a look!

In other HARL news.... Don't have the time to write much right now as I'm swamped with work today (just like yesterday). The basics are this:

STANDINGS:

Things are getting pretty darn tight. The difference between 1st place and Last place is around 25 points. That's not much compared to previous years. There are still teams making 10-12 point swings every week. That's just crazy. The Mudhens are still hanging on to 1st Place by their beaks, but the Gamblers are a lucky dice throw away from overtaking them. Both teams look solid to me, with the Hens sporting a terrific pitching staff and the Lucky 7 having a nice balance between hitting & hurling. Speaking of hurling, that's what I want to do when I saw Joey was in 2nd Place!

The Cobras are sitting in 3rd, but after suffering two devastating injuries to Tulowitzki and Gallardo last week, they may find it tough to gain round, let along stay there. The Assassins, like the Rhinos, are experiencing some pitching woes which have conspired to knock them down a few pegs from where they stood (1st Place) just a few weeks ago. Rounding out the top-5 is the Jokers, who will assuredly get a nice boost in coming weeks from the return of Alfonso Soriano.

In the lower-half of the standings, we see the Rhinos (strong offense and sucky pitching) and the Grillers (struggling offense) duking it out for possession of 6th place and riding the cusp of the 5th spot occupied by Joker Jack. I'm getting J-Roll back soon, which is a major boon, but jeez, what I desperately need is someone who can friggin pitch!

It's nice to see the Lemmings catapult themselves out of 11th and shoot all the way up to 8th place and the mid-60's point range. Moises Alou is ready to return which should help the offense, and if Barry Zito can finally get his stuff together, it would be a huge help in rounding out the rotation (Germano and Loaiza are scuffling). The Stampeders aren't far behind the Lemms. If only Ryan Howard was hitting, what a HUGE difference that would be for this offense.

The Brewskis (awful hitting) and Maygamers (weak pitching) are bringing up the rear. Both teams have obvious needs to address in key areas if they are to rebound and move back up the standings. The Brewskis need a legitimate 1B and two more solid OF's. They're way overstocked in quality relievers (rumor is that Smoltz might return from his DL trip as a closer), so it wouldn't be surprising to see them deal a closer for a slugger. The Maygamers are in search of a better starting rotation. They only have 4 worthy starters right now (Cain, Cueto, Maholm, and Kendrick), and that's not enough to generate decent numbers in Wins, Innings Pitched, and Strikeouts. They need to keep trolling the waters for any SP's with a pulse and hope to catch lightning in a bottle somewhere.

STAMPEDERS DROPS:

The horsemen waived two guys from their fringe this morning: SP-Matt Chico and SP-Colin Balester. That's reflected in the online Waiver Wire report.

Sevy.... OUT!

Reports for Week #5

2008-05-06T23:00:00.001-04:00

A couple of quick things to report:

The PSR reports for Week #5 are available for download from HARL Central.
I didn't get the Online Reports done tonight. I will squeeze them in early Wednesday morning.
A couple of roster transaction notes... The STAMPEDERS will be dropping 2 players from their Reserve List since they're two men over the 10-man reserve limit. Also, Gabe Gross was force-waived from the MUDHENS since he was traded to the American League two weeks ago. And finally, I had to guess at who the COBRAS demoted to make room for Shane Victorino who was activated off the DL. I demoted Amezaga, but if Mike wishes to change that, he should let me know ASAP so I can make a correction.

That's it for now. I'm heading off to bed after I scan the boxscores. See Ya!

FAD Results: MAY 4

2008-05-05T00:20:00.001-04:00

FAD Results for MAY 4

JO JO REYES SP-ATL .60 BREWSKIS (TOP=.95, 2ND=.55 RHINOS)
CHRIS GOMEZ MI-PIT .05 COBRAS (TOP=.95, 2ND=NONE)
JEFF BAKER 2B-COL .10 BREWSKIS (TOP=.85, 2ND=.05 STAMPEDERS)
JOSE CRUZ OF-HOU .05 MUDHENS (TOP=.50, 2ND=NONE)
PAT MISCH SP-SF .05 MUDHENS (TOP=.50, 2ND=NONE)
DEXTER FOWLER OF-COL .05 GRILLERS (TOP=.35, 2ND=NONE)
JODY GERUT OF-SD .05 GRILLERS (TOP=.25, 2ND=NONE)
JOE BEIMEL RP-LA .10 MAYGAMERS (TOP=.15, 2ND=.05 GRILLERS)
TONY CLARK 1B-SD .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP=.15, 2ND=NONE)
AUGIE OJEDA MI-ARZ .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP=.05, 2ND=NONE)
O. QUINTANILLA SS-COL .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP=.05, 2ND=NONE)
MATT CLEMENT SP-STL .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP=.05, 2ND=NONE)
GEOFF GEARY RP-HOU .05 GRILLERS (TOP=.05, 2ND=NONE)

Waiver Claims: May 3

2008-05-04T10:36:00.001-04:00

Two teams submitted claims for Cody Ross. The Brewskis got him since they're currently lower in the standings.

CODY ROSS OF-FLA BREWSKIS

That's it.. Fort Pitt.

David Riske

2008-04-30T13:13:00.001-04:00

One roster-transaction update for you guys to make note of. I forgot that the Gamblers picked up RP-David Riske on waivers last Saturday. So I added him to the Gamblers roster. That means he is NO LONGER on the Waiver Wire.

By the way... This goes out to everyone. If you get a player off the Waiver Wire or via the FAD, please make sure to list what you're doing with him as part of your Weekly Roster Moves email that you send me on Monday. People forget to do that sometimes. While I usually catch these omissions by reviewing the FAD and Waiver roundup emails, sometimes they slip by. Including them in your weekly roster moves will ensure that they don't escape my sight. Thanks.

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Hallelujah!

2008-04-29T21:15:00.009-04:00

Glory, glory, hallelujah... the Sevy Rhinos aren't in last place anymore! After a three week slumber, the Horned Ones finally woke up and rampaged ahead with a turbocharged performance during Week-4 of the regular season. Their 12 point gain jumped them all the way up to 7th place. What's more, they're now only 4 points removed from a playoff spot. My faith in humanity (and baseball) has been restored.

Meanwhile at the top of the standings... The Assassins one-week hold on 1st Place didn't last, as the killers suffered a sudden 16-point drop. Consequently, they were passed by the Mudhens and Cobras. Clucky rises again! But our fine feathered friend can't get too comfortable, because those sneaky spitting cobras are poised to strike at their heels, lurking a mere 1.37 points behind the leader.

Here's how things sit with 4 weeks worth of statistics in the books:

Things look pretty tight don't they? Less than 10 points separate the 3rd place Assassins from the 8th place Maygamers. That's close.

And while it sucks to be trolling around the sub-basement of the standings, the Jokers and Lemmings can take comfort in my 1-week rise up the HARL standings as proof positive that there's still plenty of room for movement at this early stage of the season. If the Rhinos can do it, well then, why can't they?

As April comes to a close, I thought now would be a good time to examine our first Team Points Graph of the 2008 season. Remember, if your colored bars are rising over time, your team is headed in the right direction (up the point standings). For instance, the Cobras have been making steady gains since the first stat period.

Conversely, if your colored bars are decreasing over time, your team is in a downward spiral points-wise. The Maygamers are an example of this, bleeding off points since they sat atop the standings after Week-1.

Sorry for the smallish graphic, but you can't post a full-sized screen shot here due to the limited layout space.

I'm beat and that's all I feel like writing for now. I'm thinking about starting to post snippets of fun stuff (like stats analysis, quirky comments, etc.) later in the week, rather than writing one big news-post every Tuesday Night. Spreading things out into smaller chunks may feel like less of a burden for me, while keeping the content of the blog fresh. We'll see how things go.

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

FAD Results: April 27

2008-04-27T21:57:00.001-04:00

HARL FAD Results for April 27:

JERRY HAIRSTON OF-CIN 1.90 JOKERS (TOP=2.10, 2ND=1.85 STAMPEDERS)
ESTEBAN LOAIZA SP-LA .05 LEMMINGS (TOP=1.05, 2ND=NONE)
GREG DOBBS 3B-PHI .05 RHINOS (TOP= .45, 2ND=NONE)
RAUL CASANOVA C-NYM .05 RHINOS (TOP= .40, 2ND=NONE)
DARIN ERSTAD OF-HOU .15 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .30, 2ND= .10 STAMPEDERS)
WIL NIEVES C-WAS .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .25, 2ND=NONE)
MIKE O'CONNOR SP-WAS .05 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .20, 2ND=NONE)
JUSTIN HUBER OF-SD .05 STAMPEDERS TOP= .10, 2ND=NONE)

Holy smokes! A buck ninety for Jerry Hairston? Stop the insanity!!!

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

Waiver Claims: April 26

2008-04-27T08:48:00.001-04:00

Only one waiver claim yesterday:

David Riske RP-MIL GAMBLERS

So let it be written...

New Week, New Leader

2008-04-22T23:01:00.007-04:00

Uh oh, another one bites the dust!

Sneaky little bastards! Those cloaked killers, the Abingdon Assassins, have sliced and diced their way into 1st Place, cutting down all who oppose them in the process. Dougie Fresh's boys have put a disappointing 2007 season behind them and are making a statement that this year they'll be a team to be reckoned with.

Three weeks into the season and we've had 3 different teams leading the pack. This has all the early earmarks of a very wild year in HARL country.

To be honest, I can see more lead changes in the rotisserie crystal ball which I keep hidden in a secret chamber deep within the bowels of HARL Central. Why do I say that?

Well, for starters, just look at the Week #3 HARL standings:

While the Assassins and Mudhens have gotten off to fast starts, there are a whole bunch of teams huddled tightly together in the 70-point band. It would only take a hot week or two for the 9th place Brewskis to vault themselves all the way up to 3rd place. Things may settle down a bit standings-wise in another 2-3 weeks, but right now, things are in a huge state of flux. Everyone is still legitimately in the race, although the Lemmings and Rhinos need to bounce back soon because they're off to a sucky start.

I honestly can't recall the last time I found my beloved Sevy Rhinos in last place. I'm sure that the rest of you are cheering. I mean really, who doesn't want to beat the hell out of the team with the most HARL championships to its credit? But guys, I'm not giving up! I actually like my team this year. But jeez, the combination of poor starts from several key players (Francis, Gorzelanny, and Valverde on the pitching side, and Weeks, Beltran, and Andruw Jones on the hitting side), and some injuries woes (J-Roll, Matsui, Wigginton, zero stats from my 2nd Catcher for 3 weeks, and a back-half of the rotation that's been DL bound for a good chunk of the early season), and you have a recipe for a crap start. The horned ones really need to right the pitching ship, because 18 points just ain't gonna cut it.

Another thing that I find fascinating about the teams so far, is the great imbalance between batting and pitching points for most teams. The Gamblers and Grillers seem nicely balanced in the early going. The Maygamers, while tilted towards the offensive side of the ledger, are not grossly imbalanced. But every other HARL team has a difference of 14 or more points between its Batting and Pitching numbers. That can only mean two things: (1) lots of free agent action, and (2) much more trading activity to remedy these weaknesses. At least that seems logical. Whether our more conservative owners actually pull the trigger on deals or not remains to be seen.

All I know is there ain't no way in Hell that I'm finishing dead LAST! And you can suck that down, monkey boy!

HARL FAD Results: April 20

2008-04-20T21:40:00.001-04:00

There was much less FAD activity this week as compared to last week. But perhaps that's because the free agent talent was thinned out tremendously after last week's 20-player cherry picking bonanza? Here's who was taken this Sunday:

CLINT BARMES SS/2B-COL .15 RHINOS (TOP=2.00, 2ND= .10 STAMPEDERS)
NELSON FIGUEROA SP-NYM .35 STAMPEDERS (TOP=2.00, 2ND= .30 GAMBLERS)
NORRIS HOPPER OF-CIN .55 MAYGAMERS (TOP=1.00, 2ND= .50 STAMPEDERS)
JOHN LANNAN SP-WAS .60 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .85, 2ND= .55 RHINOS)
ODALIS PEREZ SP-WAS .05 RHINOS (TOP= .75, 2ND=NONE)
KIP WELLS P-COL .60 MAYGAMERS (TOP= .60, 2ND= .55 GRILLERS)
GUILLERMO MOTA RP-MIL .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .55, 2ND=NONE)
MIKE GONZALEZ RP-ATL .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .50, 2ND=NONE)
DOUG BROCAIL RP-HOU .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .45, 2ND=NONE)
JASON LARUE C-STL .05 RHINOS (TOP= .35, 2ND=NONE)
GREG GOLSON OF-PHI .05 GAMBLERS (TOP= .35, 2ND=NONE)
RICKY NOLASCO SP-FLA .05 GRILLERS (TOP= .15, 2ND=NONE)
ALEXIS GOMEZ OF-FLA .05 STAMPEDERS (TOP= .05, 2ND=NONE)

Kennesaw Mountain BigHorn
HARL Commissioner

HARL -- Waiver Claims (APR 19)

2008-04-20T10:43:00.001-04:00

As expected, several people put in claims for Jon Rauch (RP-WAS) this week. He could very well be the new closer for Washington if Chad Cordero's injury is worse than expected or Cordero gets traded (which has been rumoured lately).

WAIVER CLAIMS: 4/19

JON RAUCH RP-WAS LEMMINGS
JEREMY AFFELDT RP-CIN JOKERS

That's all she wrote.

Revenge of Clucky

2008-04-16T13:49:00.004-04:00

Well guys, it appears that you just can't keep Clucky down!

Rising from the ashes of a disappointing September, which put a damper on an otherwise fantastic 2007 HARL season, the Mudhens have taken over 1st Place after 2 weeks of the baseball season. Can they ride the momentum all the way to the playoffs? Umm, to be frank, I HAVE NO FRIGGIN IDEA! Two weeks does not a season make.

Plus, I haven't had the free time to sit down and run my top secret post-draft team projections yet using Rhino Baseball.

In my view, April is much like September from a roster management perspective. You go ahead and take care of your injuries and obvious roster problems and tweak here & there, but April is mostly an observation month. You can't afford to panic and make rash decisions about your key players.

For instance, two weeks of stats tells me that Shawn Chacon is far better than Jeff Francis right now. Anyone with 2 rotisserie-branded brain cells to rub together knows better. Chacon is back of the rotation roster filler, while Francis is a top-3 member of most fantasy starting staffs. Jeff Keppinger is not going to outproduce Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins. For countless players, their stats are a mirage right now. Water will reach it's own level. Patience grasshopper.... patience.

Still, it's frustrating to be way down in 10th place. After my pitching was totally torched last week to the tune of a 7.71 ERA and 1.75 WHIP, I figured that I'd be bringing up the rear for sure. But Richie Lemming is keeping me company and is sitting in 11th place. Meanwhile, our damn older brothers (Joey and Mike) are kicking our asses. But we shall have our day! The season is young!

Anyway... enough babbling. Here are this week's snapshot standings:

Waiver Wire

I'm pretty sure that everyone knows how the Waiver Wire process works. But to help out Mayer, I'll say a few words about it here to reinforce how everything works.

Whenever a HARL team waives (drops) a player from its roster, that player immediately goes on the Waiver Wire. These players can be picked up for FREE every SATURDAY night by whoever claims them. But there are rules in place regarding how picks are submitted and awarded, how many guys you can claim, and how long a player stays on the wire.

Each HARL team may put in as many claims as it wants on waiver players (e.g. you could put in claims for 5 different guys), but can only acquire ONE (1) player off the waiver wire during any given week. So if you put in multiple claims, you must rank them from 1 to X in the order that you most want those players.
Claims are awarded based on the REVERSE ORDER of the current HARL standings. So if two teams put in a claim for the same player, the one ranked lowest in the standings gets that player.
You may submit a claim for a player that YOUR TEAM DROPPED. When awarding players in that case, you can only acquire that player if no other team in the league claims that player.
It costs NOTHING to claim a player off waivers.
The Salary of a player claimed off the waiver wire is 25 cents and his Contract Status is set at MY2.
If a player goes unclaimed during his 1st week on the waiver wire, he remains there for a 2nd week. If he remains unclaimed after the second week, he returns to the Free Agent Pool.
Waiver Claims must be submitted to the league commissioner via email by 8 PM on Saturday Night.

And that's the scoop. If you want to see who is on Waivers this week, check the online report or PSR report (http://www.rhinosoftware.com/harl/linkrpts.htm) starting with the word waive.

Until next week... Sayonara!

HARL FAD Results for 4/13

2008-04-13T22:18:00.001-04:00

HARL FAD Results: April 13

FRED LEWIS OF-SF 1.90 COBRAS (2.00, 2ND=1.85 GAMBLERS)
KEVIN CORREIA SP-SF 1.30 COBRAS (1.50, 2ND=1.25 ASSASSINS)
GEOFF BLUM UTL-HOU .60 GRILLERS (1.25, 2ND= .55 LEMMINGS)
JOHN BOWKER OF-SF .85 GRILLERS (1.25, 2ND= .80 LEMMINGS)
CLA MEREDITH RP-SD .05 ASSASSINS (1.20, 2ND=NONE)
CHRIS SAMPSON SP-HOU .50 ASSASSINS (1.15, 2ND= .45 BREWSKIS)
EDGAR GONZALEZ SP-ARZ .05 ASSASSINS (1.05, 2ND=NONE)
BRIAN BARTON OF-STL .60 BREWSKIS (.95, 2ND= .55 GAMBLERS)
PETER MOYLAN RP-ATL .70 RHINOS (.90, 2ND= .65 GAMBLERS)
PAUL BAKO C-CIN .05 COBRAS (.80, 2ND=NONE)
JOHN GRABOW RP-PIT .15 GAMBLERS (.60, 2ND= .10 LEMMINGS)
JOHN LIEBER SP-CHC .45 BREWSKIS (.45, 2ND= .45 MAYGAMERS)
SO TAGUCHI OF-PHI .05 BREWSKIS (.50, 2ND=NONE)
DUANER SANCHEZ RP-NYM .05 RHINOS (.40, 2ND=NONE)
BURKE BADENHOP SP-FLA .05 MAYGAMERS (.40, 2ND=NONE)
ALEX GONZALEZ SS-CIN .10 RHINOS (.35, 2ND= .05 GAMBLERS)
D. MIENTKIEWICZ 1B-PIT .05 LEMMINGS (.30, 2ND=NONE)
TONY GWYNN JR OF-MIL .05 GRILLERS (.25, 2ND=NONE)
JACK TASCHNER RP-SF .05 LEMMINGS (.05, 2ND=NONE)
JOSH FOGG SP-CIN .05 GAMBLERS (.05, 2ND=NONE)

Wow! Lotsa picks this week. Way to start the first FAD of the year off with a bang!

FAD Refresher

2008-04-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

For the sake of Mayer (our new team owner) and those forgetful souls, I wanted to take a moment to provide a quick little refresher about our weekly FAD (Free Agent Draft) process.

What is the FAD?

The FAD is our weekly Free Agent Draft. The purpose of the FAD is to enable HARL teams to pickup new players from the current free agent pool of unowned players. These players can be added to your Reserve List, Disabled List (if they're injured and on the MLB disabled list), or inserted into your Active Roster to replace another player who you wish to reserve, DL, trade, or waive.

When is the FAD held?

The FAD is held every SUNDAY night at 8 PM. The FAD is NOT a live event. Rather, FAD Picks are submitted to the commissioner (me) via email by the HARL team owners. Your picks remain confidential until I process the FAD Results on Sunday Night.

How does the FAD work?

Each week, you may attempt to acquire up to 3 free agents during the FAD. You do this by making a pick-list (or multiple lists -- up to 3 of them) of players that you want to acquire. Beside the name of each player on your picklist, you write a BID PRICE. This bid is the highest price you are willing to pay to acquire that free agent player.

Players on your picklist must be ranked in the order that you want them, and players must be ordered from the HIGHEST BID to the LOWEST BID. For example, here's a sample list:

LIST-A (want 1 hitter from this list)

Fred Lewis OF-SF .75
Darren Erstad OF-HOU .55
Aaron Miles 2B-STL .45
Jose Cruz OF-HOU .40
Mike Fontenot 2B-CHC .35
Damian Easley 2B-NYM .25
Josh Phelps 1B-STL .05

During the FAD process, you will be awarded the first player on your list for which you have the highest bid price.

If you want multiple players from your pick list, you must specify how many you want (1, 2, or 3). If you fail to specify how many players you want from a list, the commissioner will assume that you only want 1 player.

If you want, you may submit multiple picklists. For instance, if you wanted an Outfielder first and then a 2B next, you could submit two lists as in the following example:

LIST-A (want 1 OF from this list)

Fred Lewis OF-SF .75
Darren Erstad OF-HOU .55
Jose Cruz OF-HOU .40
Nyjer Morgan OF-PIT .40

LIST-B (want 1 2B from this list)

Aaron Miles 2B-STL .40
Mike Fontenot 2B-CHC .35
Damian Easley 2B-NYM .25

The commissioner will process LIST-A first. Once you get a player from LIST-A, or run out picks because all those players have already been taken by other bidders, the commissioner will then move on to your LIST-B.

How Bid Prices work?

The final sale price of a player taken in the FAD works much like eBay. The person who submitted the HIGHEST BID for a given drafted player wins that player. The final sale price is 5 cents higher than the bid of the runnerup bidder. For instance, if the three people bid on Aaron Miles with bids of 55, 40, and 20 cents, Miles would go to the person who bid 55 cents, and his final sale price would be 45 cents (5 cents more than the 2nd highest bidder).

There are 2 special cases:

If two people TIE on the high bid on a given player, the HARL team ranked lower in the current standings wins the bid. And in this case, the final sale price of the player simply equals the high bid price.
If you have the high bid on a given player and nobody else bid on that player, you get him for a nickel.

When are FAD Results published?

In most cases, the weekly FAD results are published late on Sunday Night. In rare cases, such as when I'm out-of-town, away on vacation, or tied up with an emergency, results will be posted on Monday morning. Trust me, I do my best to get the results out on Sundays if at all possible, because I'm typically very very busy on Monday mornings.

And that's the scoop. If you need more information about the FADs, please refer to the current HARL Rulebook.

Unusual Statistics

2008-04-10T11:28:00.005-04:00

Mayer recently asked me a good question about some of the more unusual statistics that are carried on our weekly HARL player and team stats reports such as OPS, RBR, PSP, BAA, XERA, etc.

I thought this would serve as a nice little blog post for everyone to enjoy.

None of these oddball stat categories count as Scoring Categories in our league. They're just included on the stat reports for analysis' sake. They're something else to look at and chew on when you evaluate players and HARL teams.

Here's what they mean:

OPS = On-Base Plus Slugging

The formula simply adds a player's/team's On-Base Average to its Slugging Percentage

to get an overall value. It's a nice overall indicator of hitting quality since it combines ability

to get on base with ability to hit for power/extra-bases.

SEC = Secondary Average

The formula is (total_bases - hits + bases_on_balls + stolen_bases) / at_bats

A Bill James creation which basically looks at a batter's ability to take extra bases

as a function of At Bats. A good way to identify players who hit for power, steal, and walk a lot.

RBR = Roto Batter Rating

This is a rotisserie baseball Points Rating for batters devised by me.

It's a good overall indicator of a player's value. The formula is fairly complex:

runs_scored + runs_batted_in + (home_runs * 3) + (stolen_bases * 3) +

(((at_bats + bases_on_balls) / 625) * (on_base_average - .300) * 1000)

PSP = Power/Speed Points

This is a simple Points Rating for batters also devised by me used to identify players

with a good mix of Power/Speed.

The formula is ((home_runs + stolen_bases) * 3) + runs_batted_in + runs_scored

BAA = Batting Average Against

This Ron Shandler formula is an approximation of how well opposing batters hit a given pitcher

(sometimes also called Opponent's Batting Avge).

The formula is hits_allowed / ((innings_pitched * 2.82) + hits_allowed)

QSR = Quality Start Ratio

The proportion of a pitcher's Quality Starts to all the games he has Started this season.

The formula is quality_starts / games_started

XERA = Expected ERA

This is also a formula used by Bill James and Ron Shandler.

It approximates what a pitcher's ERA should be based on his base performance indicators.

So a pitcher with a lower XERA than his actual ERA has been pitching in some bad luck.

The formula is very complex: (.575 * hits_allowed / innings_pitched * 9)

+ (.94 * homers_allowed / innings_pitched * 9) + (.28 * walks / innings_pitched * 9)

- (.01 * strikeouts / innings_pitched * 9) - 2.77

RPR = Roto Pitcher Rating

This is a rotisserie baseball Points Rating for pitchers devised by me.

It's a good overall indicator of a pitcher's value. The formula is fairly complex:

(strikeouts + (wins * 10) + (saves * 5) + (innings_pitched / 1.33) +

((4.50 - earned_run_average) * (innings_pitched / 200) * 100) +

((1.50 - pitching_ratio) * (innings_pitched / 200) * 500)) * 0.5

So there you have it. These are neat little stats categories for "looking outside the box" and analyzing players and fantasy teams using other indicators that aren't as obvious as the basic 12 stats we use for scoring purposes.

The Bearded Pirate is Riding High!

2008-04-08T21:00:00.011-04:00

By now, most of you know that tired old rotisserie mantra that falls from the lips of wily veteran fantasy baseball players the world over: It's Still Early.

One look at my Rhinos horrendous pitching stats from Week-1 and you can be sure that I'm going to be reciting that classic phrase a helluva lot. Someone has to start off slow, and that someone appears to be me right now (along with Joker Jack).

Conversely, someone usually starts off red hot, and no team was better in Week-1 than the Maygamers. Yes guys, that's an expansion team in 1st Place!

HARL's gray bearded elder and diehard Pittsburgh Pirates lover, Mayer Foner, is certainly riding a wave of statistical goodness right now.

Xavier Nady was just named player of the week. Nate McLouth is smoking hot. Jeff Keppinger is hitting so well that he may very well become a super-sub who gets 350-400 ABs playing a variety of positions this season. Johnny Cueto had a dominant pitching debut, and 4 different guys in the bullpen registered Saves in Week-1. Welcome back to HARL Mayer.

Here's the Reader's Digest bite-sized look at the current standings:

What can you tell from these standings? To be honest, I never put much weight into these things until 4 or 5 weeks of the season have passed. Once you have a bigger sample size of stats, you have a much better idea of who has a good team and who might struggle. Still, I'd much rather be near the top of the standings than the bottom. Nobody can takes those good "counting stats" (HR, RBI, SB, Wins, Saves, K, etc.) away from you.

It's pretty obvious that the Stampeders and Lemmings need to start hitting better, and the Rhinos need to starting hurling some gems. Aside from that, talk to me in a few weeks.

GETTING WEBBY

I fooled around with a bunch of reports tonight, in an effort to see what kind of work I would need to do to for our fledgling HARL Central reports website. I ended up creating a whole bunch of reports, and I did a LOT of editing to make things look prettier. A few observations are worth sharing:

Generating HTML reports from Rhino Baseball isn't very hard or time consuming for me, so that's a major plus.
Unfortunately, the HTML reports in their standard format are pretty homely looking when compared to their much more colorful PSR brethren. I may put some tweaks into the baseball software over the summer to reduce the default font-size of HTML reports (because the reports packed with lots of data seem too wide to fit comfortably on most screens). There are several basic reports (eg: Rosters, Team Stats, Team Scores) that look fairly decent as-is. I still ended up doing tweaks to a bunch of them, just to add color here and there and cut off excess/straggling info. Call me anal retentive.
I need to avoid getting EDITING HAPPY. Editing the HTML reports is very time consuming. I already do enough work for HARL, so there's no way I'm adding another 2-3 hours of work to my plate each week to duplicate a bunch of PSR reports online. So I'm going to stick with the key reports on Stat Night, and perhaps add in some bonus reports during "off-hours" throughout the weeks. We'll see how it goes.
Without a shred of doubt in my mind, PSR reports still kick the poop out of HTML reports. Not only do the PSR reports look better, but you can sort, filter, and search them in the Rhino Viewer. You cannot do that with static HTML reports; you can only view them. So don't plan on dumping the Viewer, unless you're just too plain lazy to analyze any stats/ratings and simply want to see the quick & dirty stuff (standings, rosters, waivers) each week.
Scrolling thru HTML (web page) reports online can be dicey when the reports are BIG. For example, scrolling down thru scads of players in the NL Batting and NL Pitching stats reports isn't nearly as nice as doing it in the Viewer because the HEADINGS don't stay put!

Some of these issues should spur me on to look into making PSR reports available through a web browser. I've done a little bit with that quite some time ago, but need to revisit it. I know that you can get it to work using the OPERA web browser. Internet Explorer won't support it because it got rid of support of Netscape plug-ins (an older technology). Not sure about how it would work in Firefox or Safari (for the Mac). You guys using those browsers would need to test it for me once I get something ready to test. Or you could just download and install Opera on your PC -- it's free (and happens to be my browser of choice, although I also use IE sometimes).

THE PLACE for NEWS

This will probably take some getting used to for the Old Guard, but this blog will now serve as the place for HARL News. I will slowly be weaning everyone off the regular EMAILS you used to receive.

So that means the weekly FAD Results will be posted here. League commentary will be posted here. Trade announcements will go here. And so on and so forth. So be sure to bookmark this blog (http://harlbaseball.blogspot.com/) and visit it on a regular basis.

Another nice thing about the blog is that YOU GUYS can LEAVE COMMENTS on any blog post (article) that I write here. So 2-way communication over the web is now possible. Everyone can read whatever you post (including outside site visitors), so don't post anything you don't want a stranger to read.

That's about it for now. I'll have a review of the FAD process and Waiver Wire picking process later this week, so look for that.

And so it begins!

2008-04-03T15:43:00.007-04:00

After 21 seasons of communicating entirely by phone, email, and PSR software reports, HARL finally has a web presence in Season #22. Pretty cool huh?

Creating our own home on the web has been something I've thought about for a long time, but I never took the time to make it happen. Why? Mostly because our mix of email communication and PSR reporting methods worked just fine. They still do, really.

Secondly, I've always been a little leery of the time required to maintain pages on the web. Many a league website has been abandoned due to the burden of maintaining it and keeping the information fresh. That's something that still concerns me, but at least I'm going to give this the old college try and see how it all works out.

I'm still going to generate PSR Reports each week from Rhino Baseball. You guys will be able to download the ZIP file containing those reports from HARL Central and view them in the Rhino Viewer like you've done before. Eventually, I may test out incorporating the use of a PowerBuilder plug-in on RhinoSoftware.com so you can view full-color PSR reports online thru your web browser. That won't happen right away, but it's on my things-to-try list.

I will also post a series of online reports as well such as the current Rosters, Waiver Wire, Team Standings, Weekly Roster Moves, and so forth (pretty much the same stuff you came to expect in the body of the weekly emails from the past couple of years). I may also post some additional stats/analysis reports as well, provided it's not overly time consuming.

An archive of the major news/events is also being included on HARL Central, so you'll have a handy way to reference old important news items that you previously received via email.

Most of the weekly newsy notes and league banter & comments will now appear on this Blog, rather than be sent via email each week. So we'll slowly be transitioning from regular email communication to heading to this Blog to get your HARL news.

You'll notice in the lefthand margin there are lots of links. The HARL Stuff section takes you to HARL Central (where you can view online reports, download PSR reports, and read archived news articles). You can also check out the Mega Links to go to a directory which lists every online report that has been posted this year. Clicking on a report name will take you right to that online report.

There's also a helpful collection of links to Baseball News (for daily news/chat and boxscores), Baseball Stats (for player stats), Baseball Blogs (sites where people talk about baseball and fantasy baseball), and Baseball Podcasts (where you can download MP3 audio files and listen to shows on baseball).

I'm sure that our website will grow and improve over time. Your suggestions on helping to mold this blog and the HARL Central site are always welcomed.

Until next time, see you on the web!