Announcement From The Chairman

Yesterday, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt interviewed Chairman Christopher Quevedo on the changes of Managerial philosophy within the Quevedo F.B.C. organization...

"Obviously my team needs points and I need to gain as many of them in any form. Since I'm the middle of the pack for W's and K's and in the lower half of the league in ERA with 7 moves made all year, I might as well use all the available resources that the waiver wire has to provide in order for me to get some extra points."

SVP: Are you talking about the pitch and ditch method?

"I don't want to show my cards just yet. You would have to watch the waiver wire and see."

Sunday: Kevin Correia (vs. Ari) - 6.0 IP, 9 K's, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP - Win
Monday: Wade Davis (vs. Bal) - 8.0 IP, 3 K's, 1.13 ERA, 1.00 WHIP - Win

Inside Look - Luscious

Luscious - Roster

C - Mike Napoli (Ana)
1B - Lance Berkman (Hou)
2B - Ian Stewart (Col)
3B - Pablo Sandoval (SF)
SS - Erick Aybar (Ana)
OF - Nick Swisher (NYY)
OF - Ryan Braun (Mil)
OF - Grady Sizemore (Cle)
Util - Scott Rolen (Cin)
BN - Todd Helton (Col)
BN - Adam Kennedy (Was)
BN - A.J. Pierzynski (CWS)
DL - Shin Soo Choo (Cle)
SP - Dan Haren (Ari)
SP - John Danks (Chi)
P - Javier Vazquez (NYY)
P - James Shields (TB)
P - Ubaldo Jiminez (Col)
RP - Michael Wuertz (Oak)
RP - Kenshin Kawakami (Atl)
BN - Randy Wolf (Mil)

Stats: 2-R, 6-HR, 4-RBI, 4-SB, 3.5-AVG, 12.5-W, 1-SV, 11-K, 2.5-ERA, 6-WHIP... Total - 52 (13 of 14) Taken as of July 11th, 2010

• First 3 Draft Picks: Ryan Braun (1st), Ian Kinsler (2nd), and Ryan Braun (3rd)
• Traded Ian Kinsler for Pablo Sandoval and Ian Stewart to Stunna on May 11th
• Best Move: Drafting Ubaldo Jiminez in the 6th Round
  
• Worst Move: Drafting Nate McClouth in the 9th Round

With 4 transactions made so far this year, there hasn't been much movement going on in Lush's clubhouse. Either Grady Sizemore is giving complimentary pregame-handjobs around the locker room or Lush is a HUGE Cleveland Indians fan, I don't know why Sizemore, who is out for the year with undergoing season ending knee surgery, is taking up a roster in his squad. Same goes for Todd Helton. Only belting 2 HRs and hitting .246, Todd Helton (the last living MLB player to play with Mickey Mantle) is also certainly worthy of a seat in the waiver wire.

In trying to gauge who won between Stunna and Lush, the argument can go either way but in my opinion, Lush got the better end of the stick. Yes, Lush gave Sal a great 2B in Kinsler who's hitting .311 but Stewart is a decent producer in that Rockie lineup driving 44 RBIs and belting 11 HRs (Kinsler - 2 HR) and of course, Kung Fu Panda is... Kung Fu Panda. Although KFP is having a low year compared to last, he's an everyday player who projects to do better numbers in the 2nd half.

The only bright side to Lush's team and possibly a bargaining chip in the 2nd half of the season is his Starting Pitching... With a gem in Ubaldo Jiminez, I would hope Lush is proposing some help that would garner some solid hitting and an everyday closer for a winning team. Just like Big Time, Lush needs to make a little more moves than unloading Jiminez for a blockbuster trade... And unfortunately, just like Big Time, I can't see Lush breaking past the bottom 4 teams in the league.

Inside Look - Big Time Jimmy Tims

To start this website, I'm going to do a little something that Kanks does but a little more in depth. In the upcoming posts are going to be inside looks of the respective teams in The Pretzel League... Some commentary may be worshiping and some may be... flattering... I don't know many of yall but I mean these comments with the greatest of respect (if that even means anything).

Big Time Jimmy Tims - Roster

C - Carlos Santana (Ind)
1B - Carlos Pena (TB)
2B - Gordon Beckham (CWS)
3B - Jose Lopez (Sea)
SS - Jose Reyes (NYM)
OF - Justin Upton (Ari)
OF - Adam Lind (Tor)
OF - B.J. Upton (TB)
UTIL - Aramis Ramirez (Cubs)
BN - Stephen Drew (Ari)
BN - Jason Heyard (Atl)
BN - Miguel Montero (Ari)
SP - Jamie Garcia (Stl)
SP - Colby Lewis (Tex)
P - Jose Contreras (Phi)
P - Tim Lincecum (SF)
P - Will Ohman (Bal)
RP - Chris Perez (Cle)
RP - David Aardsma (Sea)
BN - Johnny Cueto (Cin)
BN - Jason Vargas (Sea)
DL - Brett Anderson (Oak)
DL - Michael Gonzalez (Bal)

Stats: 1-R, 4-HR, 1-RBI, 12.5-SB, 1-AVG, 7.5-W, 2-SV, 7-Ks, 8-ERA, 4-WHIP... Total - 48 (14 of 14)

• First 3 Draft Picks: Justin Upton (1st), Tim Lincecum (2nd), and Adam Lind (3rd)
• Traded Adam Jones (Bal) for Max Scherzer (Det) and David Aardsma (Sea) on May 3rd
• Best Move: Carlos Santana - Waiver Wire Pick Up
• Worst Move: Mat Latos - Drop

After analyzing Big Time's transactions, draft, and where he's at now, I could sense the frustration from here. I know hindsight being 20/20, with Matt Holiday, Adrian Gonzalez, and MVP candidate Joey Votto picked in the 2nd round, the selection of Justin Upton (14 HR, 11 SBs, .256 Avg) comes out to be a so-so choice. Another crushing decision was letting Mat Latos go. Sure no one could have seen this coming but Latos has started 10-4, 2.45 ERA, and a WHIP below 1, thinking about the possibility of "what could be" if Big Time held onto him is tough. Lastly, with a lot invested on Adam Lind being drafted in the 3rd round, the 11 HR .207 Avg must be agonizing.

I liked Big Time's pick up of Carlos Santana nearly a month ago. With beginning the 2010 campaign without drafting a Catcher and scrambling to find stability in the position right after Miguel Montero was lost for almost 6 weeks for a right knee injury, Carlos Santana was a really solid pick up.

One of the bright spots in Big Time's roster is obviously his ability to steal bases. With BJ Upton (25) and Jose Reyes (19) leading the way, they may provide some trade bait for later in the season.

Teams Who Need SBs AND Has Run Support: Badonkadonks (14) and UR Not The Father (10)
Teams Who Need SBS AND Has a High AVG: The Reigning Champ (8.5) and Butter (11.5)

Final Projection: Obviously Big Time has a lot of work to do in order to crack the top half of the league but with the right trade, he may improve his chances. Although Adam Lind had a break out year in 2009, I don't think Big Time should hold his breath for him to get past .250 (.207 right now). Unfortunately, improving Rs and AVG will not be enough for him to compete. Big Time must improve by getting a couple of stable closers and power hitting (Hayward may not be enough). With the amount of work that needs to be done, I can't imagine Big Time Jimmy Tims breaking past 10th.

Next Inside Look - Luscious (13th place)

LeBron-A-Thon 2010

I know this doesn't fall into the heart of this site but it wouldn't be right without a small tidbit on Decision 2010, LeBron-A-Palooza, whatever you wanna call it... Inspired from this article/rant from Deadspin.com, I can't help but feeling the same way that the big 3 of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh are all a bunch of cocksuckers (link is NSFW).

Even if we see this picture tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, I will be ecstatic that the Bulls may potentially win not just win 1, 2, or 3 but maybe 7 championships if LeBron comes but I can't help feeling dirty that we are now housing this attention whore at the UC (Yes Haroon and PDC, I retract the statement I said last night that LeBron ISN'T an attention whore).

Thanks to Gar and Pax signing Carlos Boozer this afternoon, this decision LeBron has to make SHOULD be a slam dunk; despite the other two whores of Wade and Bosh signing together in Miami. Without Boozer, the Bulls still had the better roster out of all the teams in the running and now they are without a doubt the best team to win now. If Bron Bron picks a team other than the Bulls tomorrow night at 8:10 PM, you can't help but think LeBron is making his decision outside of basketball.

Yes, LeBron hasn't spoken a word to the media, hasn't taken updated his Twitter status on Free Agency, taken pictures at a Chicago restaurant, and given ANY indication about his feelings but a 1 hour long special on where he's gonna go isn't necessary. Be prepared for LeBron to pick Miami on Thursday night, creating a team that will probably be hated more than the Yankees.

Hottest Team In The League - Stunna or The Reigning Champ?

They say you can't win a Fantasy League in July but you can certainly put yourself in a favorable position for a push in the 2nd half. I can't help but notice that The Reigning Champ has been sitting in the cellar for almost the entire season until his bats started to heat up this month of June and early part of July... So far his stats in the standings read...

Runs - 6 Points
Home Runs - 10 Points
RBI's - 12 Points
Stolen Bases - 2 Points
AVG - 7.5 Points
Wins - 7 Points
Saves - 7 Points
K's - 12 Points
ERA - 7.5 Points
WHIP - 10 Points

I guess gaining A-Rod, Ichiro, Johnny Damon, and Jon Lester (for Aramis Ramirez, Jose Guillen, Alex Rios, Matt Capps, and Ian Kennedy) might have something to do with it...

You might not wanna fall asleep on Amit but Sal could be running away with the league... With Rollins finally healthy and Kemp improving his power numbers, Sal's at 114 points and doesn't seem to fall anytime soon....

Welcome Pretzel Nation

In one of the most interesting Fantasy Leagues I've par-taken on, creating a website or another form of communication to voice out bullshit trades (thanks "Reigning Champ"), possible trade rumors, teams free-falling from the standings (my blog on my respective team will come soon), analysis on trades, and players who are hot or not around the league... If possible, we can put Senior Analyst, Kanky Lacson's power rankings.

Or if we're bored, we can start a rant against PDC or The Reigning Champ... More will soon follow