2009 SBL Rosters (Updated)

Here's an updated version of the rosters for each SBL team, thanks to commissioner Mike Davis and his roster monkey, Derek Rich.

MIKE
C: Napoli (118), YMolina (261)
1B: Ortiz (27), Branyan (S)
2B: Kendrick (131), Schumaker (287)
SS: Zobrist (S), Andrus (T)
3B: Reynolds (183), An.LaRoche (S)
OF: ASoriano (14), Ludwick (40), Span (196), Thames (274), Granderson, (T), Wells (T)
SP: Harden (79), Lester (144), Lohse (24 taxi), UJimenez (T), JShields (T)
Taxi: OPerez (1), Escobar (209)
RP: Soria (66), FCordero (92), Rodney (222), MacDougal (S)

DAMIAN
C: VMartinez (106), Barajas (288)
1B: Berkman (15), Huff (133)
2B: KJohnson (171), Kennedy (S)
SS: Furcal (54), OCabrera (210)
3B: DWright (2), Glaus (197)
OF: Quentin (41), Hunter (119), Hawpe (158), Dukes (223), JGuillen (249), Ethier (T)
SP: Lincecum (28), ClLee (93), Kazmir (146), Saunders (236), Nolasco (S)
Taxi: Penny (23), Volstad (T)
RP: FRodriguez (67), Fuentes (80), Hanrahan (184), Wheeler (T)
DL: SP Matsuzaka (146)

GREGG
C: BMolina (159), Varitek (S)
1B: CPena (94), Helton (237)
2B: Uggla (29), Callaspo (S)
SS: AlRamirez (68), YBetancourt (276)
3B: Figgins (120), DeRosa (185)
OF: Sizemore (3), Hamilton (16), BUpton (42), Choo (224), Fukudome (290), Reimold (S)
SP: Price (107), Cain (121), Kershaw (172), Scherzer (211), Davies (S)
Taxi: Kawakami (3), Richmond (S)
RP: Lidge (55), Jenks (81), Capps (134), Marmol (147)

PAUL
C: Ianetta (109), KSuzuki (264)
1B: Pujols (4), Giambi (173)
2B: Hudson (225), Castillo (S)
SS: Renteria (212), HaRamirez (T)
3B: Kouzmanoff (199), Blalock (251)
OF: Markakis (17), Ordonez (56), Cameron (278), Lind (291), Pierre (S), Sheffield (S)
SP: FHernandez (95), Gallardo (135), RJohnson (186), Kuroda (265), JerWeaver (4 taxi)
Taxi: Liriano (82), Hughes (S)
RP: Papelbon (30) MRivera (69), Street (122), Bell (148)
DL: 2B Weeks (108), OF Nady (T)

DEREK
C: McCann (57), Pierzynski (226)
1B: Howard (5), Votto (70)
2B: Pedroia (18), Barmes (213)
SS: Hardy (96), Guzman (S)
3B: Lowell (187), Stewart (S)
OF: Rios (44), Burrell (110), Bruce (136), Werth (161), Griffey (239), Willingham (S)
SP: JSantana (31), Chamberlain (83), Danks (149), Jurrjens (174), Blackburn (S)
Taxi: Meche (5), Carmona (253)
RP: Morrow (97), Downs (200), SShields (252), Hawkins (S)
DL: 3B Gordon (123), RP Kuo (266)

DENNIS
C: Saltalamacchia (254), Buck (S)
1B: Fielder (32), Butler (S)
2B: Cano (84), FSanchez (227)
SS: JReyes (6), Theriot (188)
3B: RZimmerman (124), Crede (240)
OF: Holliday (19), Ellsbury (58), Bradley (85), JUpton (162), Cuddyer (S), Morgan (S)
SP: Halladay (45), Haren (71), Wainwright (137), Verlander (175), Floyd (6 taxi)
Taxi: Wang (241), Glavine (19)
RP: Sherrill (150), Arredondo (214), Saito (280), CWilson (S)
DL: C Doumit (111), 1B Delgado (98)

BRIAN
C: IRodriguez (242), Bard (S)
1B: Cantu (176), Ad.LaRoche (S)
2B: JLopez (86), FLopez (229)
SS: Hairston (S), Scutaro (T)
3B: Longoria (20), Rolen (294)
OF: Braun (7), Bay (33), Dye (112), Damon (151), Francoeur (215),
Spilborghs (268)
SP: Hamels (72), Beckett (72), Carpenter (138) JJohnson (163),
Millwood (S)
Taxi: CYoung (T), WRodriguez (228)
RP: Broxton (99), MGonzalez (125), Putz (202), Zumaya (S)

DAVID
C: Mauer (100), Jaramillo (S)
1B: MiCabrera (8), NJohnson (S)
2B: BRoberts (47), Getz (295)
SS: Jeter (87), Bartlett (256)
3B: Beltre (113), Mora (190)
OF: CaLee (21), Guerrero (60), Pence (126), Crisp (203), Winn (217), CRoss (S)
SP: Sabathia (34), Webb (61), SBaker (139), Harang (216), RHill (S)
Taxi: Lowe (164), Wolf (17)
RP: Valverde (74), FFrancisco (152), Franklin (S), Bailey (S)

ANDY
C: Soto (62), Flores (270)
1B: Teixeira (9), Konerko (205)
2B: Polanco (178), AHill (S)
SS: SDrew (49), Tulowitzki (S)
3B: CJones (48), Sandoval (88)
OF: Beltran (22), ISuzuki (35), Ibanez (101), AdJones (218), Cust (T), McCutchen (S)
SP: Greinke (114), Burnett (165), Porcello (191), Hanson (T), Romero (S)
Taxi: Anderson (9), Buchholz (244)
RP: BWilson (75), Motte (127), Qualls (140), Aardsma (T)

JP
C: Martin (37), Wieters (193)
1B: Morneau (23), Thome (166)
2B: Utley (10), Cabrera (S)
SS: YEscobar (128), Aybar (S)
3B: MYoung (63), Blake (284)
OF: Abreu (50), Victorino (76), Kubel (245), JDrew (271), Bourn (S), Scott (S)
SP: Slowey (179), Garza (219), Bedard (258), EJackson (S), Cueto (10 taxi)
Taxi: ESantana (192), Maholm (15)
RP: Nathan (36), Gregg (89), Ziegler (141), Meyer (S)
DL: OF CGuillen (102), RP Lindstrom (154)

VIC
C: RHernandez (194), Navarro (272)
1B: AdGonzalez (77), DLee (129)
2B: BPhillips (51) KMatsui (233)
SS: Rollins (11), Greene (259)
3B: ARodriguez (24), Inge (S)
OF: Kemp (25), Crawford (38), Hart (90), Ankiel (207), JRivera (285), Duncan (S)
SP: Oswalt (103), Lackey (116), JVazquez (155), Duke (S), Bush (S)
Taxi: Maine (11), JSanchez (14)
RP: Ryan (142), Balfour (246), Villanueva (298), Soriano (S)
DL: SP Peavy (64), 3B Encarnacion (181)

DAN
C: Posada (234), Laird (286)
1B: Youkilis (39), KMorales (299)
2B: Kinsler (13), Teahen (221)
SS: Peralta (65), Tejada (208)
3B: Fields (247), Feliz (S)
OF: MRamirez (12), McLouth (52), Dunn (78), CYoung (130), NCruz (156), Swisher (S)
SP: Dempster (104), Billingsley (117), Zambrano (156), Lilly (168), Lannan (13 taxi)
Taxi: Smoltz (12), Volquez (143)
RP: Wood (91), Hoffman (182), Howell (S), Nunez (S)
DL: 3B ArRamirez (26)

Badgers need a catcher

The Badgers, befallen by backstop woes, are looking for a warm body to occupy the tools of ignorance.

Andy's e-mail:

"Geovany Soto got hurt today and Jesus Flores is out for the season, so I need to acquire a catcher with my draft pick. Perhaps you have a lightly used backup and you could make use of a second draft pick? Let me know, thanks."

The Badgers have had something of a revolving-door roster policy this season though it hasn't seemed to hurt them too badly thus far. The Badgers (41-40) currently sit in 3rd place in the American Division, 14 games behind the first place Zero's.

SBL Notebook, Week 13

Our arrival at the season’s midpoint is as good a time as any to disperse into the atmosphere our seemingly annual rumination/screed on the sadly diminished state of offense in the SBL. Two or three years ago, back when ’roids were still the rage, the kind of hitting numbers we’re seeing these days, and have been for some weeks, would’ve gotten you laughed out of the league by some of our less charitable owners -- not to mention a virtually guaranteed losing week. No more. Today, you can post minuscule (by traditional standards) numbers across the board and still cobble together a winning or even damn-near-unbeaten week. This week’s Exhibit A of this phenomenon -- and we deploy this example only because it involves the commissioner’s favorite (and, paradoxically, often most-hated) team -- would be Mikee’s Moaners, who got small to the tune of 5 HRs, 28 RBIs, 24 TB, 30 runs and 3 SBs . . . and still went 5-1. Seven saves, a 1.05 K-rat and .360 OBP certainly didn’t hurt their cause, but overall their pitching was nothing special (3.48 ERA, 1.29 BR, 3-3 WL) -– meaning that to a significant degree their diminutive offense carried them to those five wins. In other words, they may have been bad, but others were worse. But that’s nothing new this year -– no matter how bad your team’s stats might look on paper/computer screen, you can often count on somebody else being even tinier. Used to be, double-digit home-run counts and run, RBI and TB totals in the high 30s to low-mid 40s were pretty much the baseline you needed to get to if you wanted to be competitive. Now, low 30s and, increasingly, even the mid-20s are enough to get the job done. With apologies to Jimmy Carter, welcome to the SBL’s Era of Limits. Even as recently as last season, it seemed the league’s fallow periods of offense were always ephemeral, lasting no more than a couple-three weeks. This season is different. We crunched a few numbers and found that over the last seven weeks -– a little more than half the season to date –- the league’s 12 teams have averaged a puny 29.6 RBIs and 30.2 runs. Seven weeks -- that’s not a temporary blip on the screen, that’s a full-blown trend. What’s particularly odd is that teams have been averaging more runs than RBIs (consider that a player can accumulate as many as four RBIs with a single swing, while runs can be accrued only one at a time and usually require help from teammates), and that the average number of home runs during our sample period has actually been a fairly respectable 8.3 per team. So what does this mean –- that 80% to 90% of SBL players’ home runs are solo shots? Who knows? This ain’t the Elias Bureau we’re running over here. All we know is that homers and RBIs usually go together like ballpark franks and beer, but this year there’s a disconnect –- witness Dennis’ Puny Pontiffs’ incongruous totals of 10 HRs and 21 RBIs this week, or the Moaners’ 10 and 24 last week. What we also know: offense, in general, has fallen off a cliff. The steroid era may have been a stain on baseball that won’t wash out, but we in the fantasy world sure do miss it. . . . Meanwhile, in the SBL pennant chases (oh yeah, those), there was significant movement in the American division, where Paulo’s Zeros blew the race open a little bit, executing on 5-and-1-to-0-and-6 pirouette on the second-place BGoff Bammers’ heads and nearly tripling their lead, which leapt from three games to eight. The NL race was static, with Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers and runners-up JP’s Whiteskins still separated by three games after both went 5-1.

Week 13 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (5-1).........55...26....679....--
Brian (0-6)........47...34....580....8
Andy (5-1)........41...40....506...14
Dennis (3-3)......39...42....481...16
Mike (5-1)........38...43....469...17
David (1-5).......36...45....444...19
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Dan (5-1).........47...34....580....--
JP (5-1)...........44...37....543....3
Damian (1-5).....38...43....469....9
Gregg (3-3).......37...44....457...10
Vic (3-3)..........35...46....432...12
Derek (0-6).......28...53....346...19

SBL Notebook, Week 12

The races in both divisions grow curiouser and curiouser, with Paulo’s Zero’s assuming a controlling interest in the AL corporate hierarchy, and aspirants to the NL throne bunching up like rush-hour traffic behind the faltering but still standing division leaders, Dan’s Cherry Valley Bombers. The Zero’s, a good team throughout most of their SBL residency that for whatever reason has rarely been able to reach the top of the mountain, may be standing on the doorstep of something approaching greatness, now that they employ perhaps the two most productive hitters in ball, Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez, the latter generously donated by the defending champion Moaners. Those two superstars, plus a lights-out rotation and the league’s best bullpen, have made the Z’s the BTIB and fueled a 7-0 Week 12 that lifted them three games ahead of the runner-up BGoff Bammers. Zero’s pitchers definitely lived up to the name on the front of their jerseys this week, putting up goose egg after goose egg while allowing a mere seven earned runs in 43 IP for a glossy 1.47 ERA. Then there were the 4-0 WL, the .93 BR stat, the 1.05 K-rat and the 10 (!) saves . . . who’s gonna beat that? Nobody, this week, though Andy’s Badgers gave it a run, posting a 1.96 ERA and 5-2 WL to complement the week’s biggest offense (14 HR, 45 runs, 35 TB, 8 SBs, .372 OBP) in a 6-1 performance marred only by their 7-4, swept-in-pitching loss to the Zero’s. . . . Over in the National division, the Bombers’ 1-6 slip compounded a slide that has reached 3-16 over the last three weeks, a clear indication that they are missing the offensive punch provided early in the season by the Ramirez boys, the suspended Manny and the still-injured Aramis. Perhaps Manny’s return this week will re-energize the CVBs, who nonetheless continue to cling to a three-game lead in a division with only one other winning team (that would be JP’s Whiteskins, who missed another opportunity to make up serious ground, going 2-5). But look out for the Patton Inmates, whose 6-1 ledger made them 17-2 over that same three-week stretch. The WTIB with a 17-39 record after Week 9, the ’Mates have taken a meat cleaver to what was then a 22-game deficit – they now trail the CVBs by eight, and are only five out of the No. 2 playoff spot occupied by the ’Skins. . . . Special citation of the week goes to Vic’s Godfathers, whose pitchers allowed only four earned runs – one week after they gave up 34. The 0.83 ERA helped the Daddies go 4-3.

Week 12 standings

AMERICAN
Team, LW........W....L....PCT....GB
Paul (7-0).........50....25....667....--
Brian (4-3)........47....28....627.....3
Andy (6-1)........36....39....480....14
Dennis (2-5)......36....39....480....14
David (0-7).......35....40....467....15
Mike (3-4)........33....42....440....17
NATIONAL
Team, LW........W....L....PCT.....GB
Dan (1-6).........42....33....560....--
JP (2-5)...........39....36....520.....3
Damian (5-2).....37....38....493.....5
Gregg (6-1).......34....41....453.....8
Vic (4-3)..........32....43....427....10
Derek (2-5).......28....47....373....14

Free agent draft No. 6

Pre-draft DL moves:
Damian: activates Kazmir, Matsuzaka to DL
Gregg: activates Sizemore and Lidge, drops Hermida, Madson, Ellis

1. Derek: takes 3B Stewart, drops Barden; taxi: Danks up, Meche down
2. Vic: no response
3. Gregg: takes C Varitek, drops Snyder
4. Mike: takes RP MacDougal, drops Percival
5. Andy: takes SP Romero, drops Cecil; taxi: Romero up, Anderson down
6. Damian: takes SP Nolasco, drops Galarraga; taxi: Nolasco up, Volstad down, Penny No. 1 taxi
7. Dennis: takes OF Morgan, drops Jackson
8. David: takes SP R. Hill, drops Sonnanstine; taxi: Hill up, Lowe down
9. JP: takes RP Meyer, Lindstrom to DL
10. Dan: takes RP Nunez, drops Baez; taxi: Lannan up, Volquez down
11. Brian: takes C Bard, drops Baker; taxi: Millwood up, CYoung down
12. Paul: takes OF Sheffield, drops Nix; taxi: Kuroda up, Hughes down