Week 8 Newsletter

June 2, 2009

Vol. 25, No. 8
Season Week No. 8
June 2, 2009

PHONY LEAGUE BASEBALL
popculture.incompetech.com/baseball/
Newsletter Editor: Mark S Zimmer

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“Lo, the heavens shook and the earth trembled,
For a giant walked the earth.
And his name was called Matt Wieters.”

----Deuterium 3:24

The Instigators make a bold move, buying into the hype about Matt Wieters and promoting him from the farm system mid-season, before he has his first major league at-bat. Of course, going 0 for 4 that first day was not exactly what was being counted upon, but His Wieterliness quickly righted the ship after that. And certainly bold moves may be called upon for the Instigators to hold onto first place, with other teams making their moves as we approach the one-third mark. But while many teams had a good week on either offense or defense, only the Instigators managed a good week in both. Maybe there is something to the Cult of Wieters. Where can I get a rosary?

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:
Team………. Player……………….. BA.. OP….. OA.. Special Achievement
Scapegoats. Luke Scott………….. .409. 45…… 2.045. 6 HR
Instigators…. Ichiro Suzuki……….. .461. 36…… 1.385. 12 Hits, 5 Doubles
Foxes……… Mark Teixeira………. .333. 34…… 1.259. 3 HR
Tradewinds.. Derek Jeter…………. .500. 33…… 1.269. 13 Hits
Scapegoats.. Ben Francisco……… .375. 30…… 1.250
Scapegoats. Marco Scutaro…….. .500. 30…… 1.250

Team………. Pitcher………………. ERA OOBA. PP.. Special Achievement
Ghost Riders Zack Greinke……….. 2.25. 0.88…. 11
Instigators…. Edwin Jackson……... 1.26. 0.77…. 9.2

The Player of the Week is Luke Scott.

The Scapegoats have an embarrassment of riches this week, with three PoW nominees, and Player of the Week on the Bench Hideki Matsui, hitting .421, with 30 OP and a 1.579 OA. But when you have a week like Luke Scott’s, who needs such fripperies? Honorable Benchable Mention to the Tradewinds’ Carl Pavano, with a 2.51 ERA, 0.91 OOBA and 10.2 Pitching Points. No doubt Dave is still miffed that he’s not doing that for the Yankees….

Only three teams were active in the transaction market this week; the BoSox continue their wheeling and dealing ways, the Ghost Riders throw a sizable chunk of their team over the side of their sinking ship, and the Instigators celebrate Wietersday. By, um, drafting Bartolo Colon.

TRANSACTIONS:

May 27:
GHOST RIDERS acquire free agents Gregg Zaun and Josh Outman releasing Kenji Johjima and Matt Harrison.

May 29:
GHOST RIDERS acquire free agent Anthony Swarzak releasing Andy Sonnanstine.

May 30:
INSTIGATORS activate Matt Wieters from their farm system releasing Rajai Davis to make room for Wieters.
BOVINE SOCKS acquire free agent Jason Vargas releasing Michael Wuertz.

June 1:
BOVINE SOCKS acquire free agents Matt Joyce and Joel Zumaya releasing Rick Hill and Juan Cruz.

June 2:
GHOST RIDERS acquire free agent Ramon Castro releasing Gregg Zaun.
BOVINE SOCKS acquire free agent Kelvim Escobar releasing Matt Joyce.
INSTIGATORS acquire free agent Bartolo Colon releasing Mark Kotsay.

The last day to postmark or deliver a waiver claim for the players released in this newsletter is Monday, June 8, 2009. If a claim for one or more of those players is postmarked or delivered on or before that date and does not specify whether it is a waiver claim or a free agent claim, it will be considered a waiver claim. Announcements of all free agent and waiver acquisitions are subject to change if a late arriving letter or postcard is received from a team with a superior claim.

REMINDER ABOUT FREE AGENT CLAIMS: When claiming a free agent, you must specify whether the player being released is in the lineup or not. The status of the released player is the status on the day before the claim goes into effect, which means in most cases it is the status on the day you send the claim. If the released player is not in the lineup on the day you send the claim, you can just note NIL, which, of course, means not in lineup. If the released player is in your lineup on the day you send the claim, you must report who will replace that player in your lineup. I do not care if you already reported a sub to your “checker.” You must also report the sub in the free agent claim. If it makes it easier to understand, when you make the claim just forget that you have a “checker” for your lineup and pretend that all your substitutions are reported to the person receiving the player claim. Then, report the substitution in the free agent claim.

Questions? E-mail Steve