SUMMER NEWSLTTER

Summer Newsletter 2017

(insert snappy subtitle here)

VOL. XXV1II No. 2

August 16, 2017

Home away records and new records

Playoffs (Constantinople vs Smoking Loons)

Playoffs (Future Wax vs Oceanus)

World Series (Constantinople vs Oceanus)

Minutes of Annual Meeting

Summer Study #1 - Salaries in the SOMBILLA

Summer Study #2 - Whoe (does the computer think) are the best players this year?

Summer Study #3 - How the teams were built

Summer Study #4 - Rule change proposals

Summer Study #5 - 2013 Draft Analysis

All-Star Count

HOME AWAY

Jed   18-10 .643        Tom    19- 9 .679
Tom   18-10 .643 Randy 17-11 .607
Eric 17-11 .607 Jed   15-13 .536
Randy 17-11 .607 Eric   13-15 .464
Harold 16-12 .571 Arnie 12-16 .429

Arnie 15-13 .536 Robin 11-17 .393
Robin 10-18 .357 Harold 10-18 .357
Jeff 6-22 .214 Jeff 10-18 .357
TOTALS 117-107 .522 107-117 .478

New SOMBILLA Records set this year:

· Best post-season record – Constantinople 8-1 (old record Gawd B 8-2, 2004; Area 51 8-2, 2003; Future Wax 8-2, 1998; Shithead 7-1, 1984)

· Best team ERA: Future Wax 2.71 Old record Yoknapatawpha '89-90 2.74

· Highest % of hits as homers: .846, Mahtook, OC (13 hits 11 homers)

· Most pitchers with a save, one series, N. Dakota 3 11/19/16 (A. Miller, Osuna, Herrera)

Playoffs

Constantinople vs. Smoking Loons (at Mansfield, March 4, 2017)

Background:  Picked 2nd in the preseason standings, Tom starts out a respectable 7-5 in November, but an 8-4 December capped by a sweep of perennial disappointment, North Dakota, on 12/22 has him sitting pretty in 2nd place at 15-9 at the break.  He notches his 3rd consecutive > .500 month (7-5) in January to cement 2nd place at 22-14, but is still 2 games behind front-running FW.  With stunning closing speed, Tom turns it on when it counts, going 15-5 in February (sweeping Robin on the 4th) to pass a fading FW and finish in 1st place by three games.

Meanwhile, Smoking Loons have a chip on their shoulder after finishing 7th in the pre-season poll, and Eric jumps out to a 5-3 start in November.  At the halfway mark he is 16-12 in the thick of the playoff race, and a steady if unspectacular 4-4 January at the bash has him at 24-20 with a tenuous 2-game hold on 4th place. Another .500 month in February is enough to hold off a fast charging (too-little too-late) North Dakota, and Eric has secured a playoff berth.

In the season series Eric had his way with Tom, winning 6 out of 8 games

Game 1:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Smoking Loons	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	3	8	14	0
CN Manatees	0	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	4	9	14	1

W: Carlos Martinez (1-0)

L: Jepsen (0-1)

HR (Smoking Loons): Zimmerman (1), Pollack(1)

HR (CN Manatees): Sano (1), Harper (1), Trout (1)

Loons came out strong against Arrieta as they took advantage of an error by Donaldson to get 2 runs on a homer by surprise starter Ryan Zimmerman in the 2^nd.

Arrieta settled down through 5 as the CN bats came back with a 4^th inning solo shot by Sano and then Kipnis chased Loon Ace Garrett Richards with an RBI triple tying the game at 2 with 1 out in the 5^th. Trout then greeted Hahn with a walk, which was followed by a single by Harper to give CN a 3-2 lead after 5.

Arrieta started the sixth by giving up a single, homer (Pollock) and single (Pitcher x) to the top of the order and then settled in again to hold them with the Loons up 4-3.

Bottom of the 7^th, Trout leads off with a Ballpark Single and Harper follows with a Ballpark Homer – and a CN 5-4 lead after 7.

The Loons finally knocked Arrieta out with two singles to start the 8^th and the CN bullpen gives up the tying run to make it 5-5.

Both teams have quiet 9^th and 10^th innings getting runners on but failing to get the big hit. With CN’s Betances on the mound in the 11^th, the Loons strike out twice but follow up with five straight long singles and score 3 runs.

Trout leads off the bottom of the 11^th with a ballpark homer to cut the lead to 2, so SL’s Jepsen comes in to seal the victory but gives up a single, gets an out and then gives up 3 walks to bring the game to 8-7 with Martin at the plate. He strikes outm setting up the rookie Seager to come up with 2 outs and the bases loaded. He hits an open double for the walk off.

Seager had 4 plate appearances leaving him only 3 left and (SS-4) he fortunately did not get a chance in the field.

Both managers took a deep breath and decided that this was one of the best playoff games they have played and Eric feared that it might be determinative….

Game 2:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Smoking Loons	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	3	0	8	19	0
CN Manatees	4	0	3	0	0	1	1	0	-	9	13	0

W: Rondon (1)

L: Verlander (1)

SV: Thornton (1)

HR (Smoking Loons): Pollack (2, 3)

HR (CN Manatees): Trout (2), Martin (1)

Verlander gave up 4 in the first including a Trout 3 run shot, but he came back for a 1-2-3 second inning. But it was not Verlander’s day as the 3^rd inning started with 5 straight hits for CN including a 2 run shot for Martin with a caught stealing to mitigate the damage as he was tired and Eric considered having him take the hit for the team.

CN’s Garcia could not make the game easy, as he gave up 9 hits and 3 runs to be chased for Carlos Martinez who gave up 2 to make it a game (7-5 in the 6^th) and Eric started using his bullpen.

CN scratched out two runs to bring the game to 9-5 and both were needed as the Loons came back in the 8^th as Action Jackson Pollack hit his second homer of the game (5 RBIs) to bring them within 1 at 9-8.

CN held on to take game 2 by the same score as game 1.

Game 3:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	0	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	0	7	13	0
Smoking Loons	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	0

W: Carrasco (1-0)

L: Syndergaard (0-1)

HR (CN Manatees): Kipnis (1), Harper (2, 3)

CN traveled well to the Smokehouse and in the 3^rd solo shots by Kipnis and Harper gave them the 2-0 lead.

SL’s Thor left the game after 5 for Watson who gave up a double, K, walk and single to load the bases and leave the game tired. Blazek came in and was greeted by a 3 run double by Kipnis. Trout struck out and Harper hit a ballpark homer (1-3 getting a 1) to bring CN up 7-0. Blazek then gave up two singles and then struck out Sano to end the inning.

CN’s Carrasco was chased after giving up 2 baserunners in the 7^th followed by a 2 run scoring triple by Xander. Melancon came in to face Gonzalez and Eric brought in Zimmerman “in the clutch” and he ended the inning.

No more scoring and CN was up 3-0 in the series.

Doing innings check, Tom discovered that there was an issue with the number of outs in the 7th. So the game was reset to 7-2 with 1 out in the 7^th with Xander standing on 3^rd. CN brings the infield in and strikes out Zimmerman. Melancon and Harris hold Eric to one hit and the game ends again 7-2 and CN is still up 3-0.

Game 4:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	0	6	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	11	11	0
Smoking Loons	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	2

W: Arrieta (1-0)

L: Richards (0-1)

HR (CN Manatees): Martin (2), Harper (4)

The game started well for CN as Kipnis walked, Trout hit a ballpark homer out, and Harper hit into the double play on a 2Bx roll.

CN was not to be denied in the 2^nd as Donaldson found Zimmerman playing LF and got a single and 2 base error. He was followed by a single, walk, single and grand slam for Martin.

SL’s G. Richards was tired and they turned to Hendricks but he was not ready as he was greeted by a single, rbi double and a second Trout ballpark homer out. A walk and out later and the 2^nd is over but CN is up 6-0 with their Ace dealing.

Things settled down for a bit as Hendricks pitched until he was tired (4 innings) and Jepsen came in to hold CN. CN greeted him with a walk, single, ballpark homer out (Russel Martin) and then Escobar hit into a 3Bx to the 1 with many errors Arenado. He booted it and CN has the bases loaded for Kipnis who gets the catcher X and rare play - Molina interferes with Kipnis allowing him to go to first and a run to score. Trout pops out and Harper comes to the plate and hits the second CN grand slam of the game to put it out of reach.

Arrieta gave up a run in the bottom of the 6^th, but settled down to get the complete game 5 hitter, 10 K win and series final 4-0.

In the series, Martin was clutch and hit .313/.389/.750 with 2 homers and 8 RBIs but Harper took the MVP going 6 for 17 for 4 homers and 10 RBIs with a slash line of .353/.450/1.059.

CN hit .327 as a team with an on base of .407 and slugging of .615 as they had all the breaks and answered every bit of good luck for the Loons with timely hitting and pitching.

It was the first game that set the tone. The aces could not do it, the game went back and forth and then in extra innings with CN’s best on the mound Eric just kept hitting long singles to go up 3. But CN came out against Eric’s best reliever and had 8 men bat with an open bases loaded double that might have plated more than what was needed.

It was all downhill from there as Eric played from behind the rest of the series.

Constantinople wins series 4 games to 0

Playoffs:

Oceanus vs. Future Wax (Internet March 17, 2017)

Background:

Perennial bridesmaid Oceanus is picked 5th in the preseason poll. Undeterred, Jed jumps out to an 8-4 start and a share of first place at Thanksgiving. A 7-5 December puts him in 4th, 5 games behind at 15-13 in the middle of the playoff scramble. A spectacular 11-5 January (helped by a sweep of hapless WES) has him at 26-18 tied for 2nd with CN just 2 games out. He finishes strong (7-5) to claim 3rd place and his 2nd consecutive post-season appearance.

Pre-season favorite FW goes wire to almost wire. Randy begins 8-4, sweeps Harold and Robin in a productive December (12-4), and despite a 6-6 January, heads into the final month with a solid 2 game lead at 26-14. But another mediocre finish (8-8) in February allows a red hot CN to catch FW and smoke past him, leading to whispers heading into the playoffs.

The teams split their season series 4-4.

In a surprising result, Oceanus took the SOMBILLA playoff series from Future Wax 4-0. Below are the game summaries. Note that neither team committed an error, not to say that X chances didn't have an impact....

Game 1

In a game at Wax Works the Oceanus Assholes got by Future Wax in 11 innings by the score of 6 to 3.

Both teams had scored 3 runs after nine full innings. Oceanus ended up winning it in the 11th inning. Shin-Soo Choo got things going when he doubled. Joey Votto, next to the plate and he stroked a base-hit bringing in a run. Mark Teixeira then drew a walk. Joe Panik followed next and he drew a walk to load the bases. Mike Moustakas came to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly scoring another baserunner. Travis D'Arnaud was next to bat, but he was a strikeout victim. Mike Mahtook stepped into the batter's box and he doubled, scoring the final run of the inning. Both teams finished the game with 9 hits.

Jose Quintana got credit for the victory, pitching 3 innings and allowing no runs. Carson Smith was tagged with the loss in relief. He pitched 2/3 of an inning allowing 2 hits (on two 5-7 rolls in a row) and no walks.

Game 2

Oh no - no computer-generated story??? OK, what happened in game 2 is that Oceanus jumped on Max Scherzer for 3 runs in the top of the first inning. A double by Choo, a double by Votto, a Teixeira HBP, a BB to Moustakas and a 2-RBI single by Panik. And that was pretty much that. Future Wax scored a singleton run in the bottom of the 4th, matched by an Oceanus run in the top of the 7th. No homers in this game. Stanton had a triple and scored for Future Wax. Price got the win, allowing one run in 5 innings pitched. Tanaka, Uehara and O'Day pitched 4 innings of scoreless relief (O'Day getting the save). Scherzer struck out 8 Assholes and Bumgarner added 4 more K's. Oceanus had 6 hits, Future Wax 4. Final score: Oceanus 4, Future Wax 1.

Game 3

Again, I have no computer version of the story. As the series moved to Rehoboth, Future Wax hoped to take advantage of the Kershaw versus Kluber matchup. Ultimately, though, this game ended up a lopsided victory for the Assholes - 7 to 1.

Once again Oceanus struck in the first inning, getting 2 runs on a Panik walk and a Moustakas homer (off of Kershaw's card, I believe). Future Wax countered with a run in the top of the 2nd as Stanton singled and scored on a Seager double. But Oceanus counter-countered with a run in the bottom of the 2nd on a Heyward double and an Altuve single.

In the bottom of the 4th the Assholes padded the lead to 4-1 as Altuve singled, Votto walked and Moustakas singled Altuve home. Oceanus added two more runs in the bottom of the 7th and 1 in the bottom of the 8th as Future Wax just couldn't get untracked against the mediocre tandem of Jose Quintana and Adam Warren (4.1 innings of scoreless relief).

Moustakas and Crawford hit homers for Oceanus and Altuve went 3-5. Kershaw just didn't have it, allowing 7 hits and walking 5 in 6 innings. Future Wax had 8 hits - Upton and leadoff man Goins had 2 each - but no walks.

Game 4

Oceanus once again jumped ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first on a Teixeira bomb off of Greinke, But Future Wax fought back valiantly to make it 3-2 after 2 innings on a Schoop HR. And that's the way things stayed until the bottom of the 7th.

Oceanus left Keuchel in for 5 innings and he settled down after giving up the dinger to Schoop. Likewise, Greinke shut down the Assholes after his rocky beginning. But Randy left Greinke in to start the 7th and the best starter in the 2015 Strat-O-Matic set lost his stuff. He walked Choo, who was replaced by Jason Heyward. Heyward promptly stole 2nd, which was pointless when Votto walked. At this point Randy went to the pen, bringing in the lefty McGee to face Teixeira. Mutant Mike Mahtook replaced Teixeira and smacked a 3-run HR. To add insult to injury, after Randy brought in Ryan Madson, Joltin' Joe Panik hit a HR.

In the top of the 9th, with 2 outs, Brian McCann came to the plate. I said "it's all up to McCann" and Randy pointed out that he couldn't "hit a 5-run HR." Well, McCann DID hit a HR, but Seager stuck out to end the series. Final score: Oceanus 7, Future Wax 3.

Keuchel got the win and Greinke the loss - his stat line looking worse than he really pitched.

Oceanus wins series 4 games to 0

World Series

Constantinople vs. Oceanus (Internet, March 20, 2017)

Background: It is the first ever post-season meeting between rivals CN and OC. Tom won the season series 5-3.

World Series March 2017 (Cards 2015)

CN vs Oceanus

CN Manatees took the series 4-1, but only by relentless timely hitting late in games. CN won both of the first 2 games in the 9^th in 4-3 walk offs as they were just relentless in coming back after slow starts. Leaving the offensive ballpark allowed both teams to relax and blow each other out – 8-2 for Oceanus and 7-0 for CN to get them to Game 5 in Oceanus. Both teams settled down as CN scored 3 early and then Oceanus came for 2 runs in the middle of the game. CN held on for the win and the series without returning to their band box of a park.

CN needed to have Arrieta pitch deep into games to allow CN pitching to work and he did so going 2-0 in 2 complete games. Oceanus just could not overcome this advantage. MVP Arrieta.

Game 1:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oceanus	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	8	0
CN Manatees	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4	9	0

W: Arrieta (1-0)

L: O’Day (0-1)

HR (Oceanus): Abreu (1), Grichuk (1)

HR (CN Manatees): Forsythe (1)

Battle of the aces, Arrieta versus Keuchel round 1. Top of the fourth, Votto hit a RFx that ends up a double on the 2 (Harper) and then Abreu launched a ballpark homer (in either park) out of the stadium for a 2-0 lead. Forsythe answered with a solo shot of his own.

Oceanus went to the pen in the 7^th. Warren was faced with a pinch hitting Seager (for Escobar) to lead off the 8^th and he singled and stole second. Harper knocked him over to 3^rd and Trout came to the plate. Uehara came out and gave up the game tying single. Next thing you know a walk, Cx for an out, and then a IBB to Gordon brings up Martin in the clutch. He strikes out and it is tied going into the ninth.

Showing supreme confidence in their ace, CN sent Arrieta out to be greeted by a Grichuk homer. After which he struck out the next two batters and got a grounder to end the top of the ninth.

Oceanus brings in their best reliever in O’Day who promptly strikes out Sano but then hits Rizzo and walks Seager. Harper singles in the tying run and then Trout comes to the plate again in a big spot and singles in the walk off.

This was a pivotal game, being behind by 1 or tied allowed CN to keep Arrieta in for a complete game win and Oceanus did everything right and needed to beat Arrieta at least once but came up doubly short. A real old fashioned nail biter.

Game 2:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oceanus	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	10	1
CN Manatees	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	11	0

W: Capps (1-0)

L: Gregerson (0-1)

HR (Oceanus): Moustakas (1)

HR (CN Manatees): Harper (1)

Errors (Oceanus): Moustakas

Both teams came out using their bullpens early and often as each used 6 pitchers in this seesaw battle.

Cervelli cleared the bases in the first with a 2 RBI triple with two outs plating Votto and Moustakas.

CN came back in the bottom of the second after Alex Gordon was thrown out trying to steal; then Martin doubled and was plated with a single by Escobar but the CS was the story as CN could not tie the game.

Betances came in to calm things down in the top of the 5^th and his team responded by plating 2 with the bases loaded Rizzo single, but Quintana bore down to keep the game CN 3-2.

Betances coughed up a Moustakas ballpark homer and it was 3-3.

All was more or less quiet as the bullpens held. In the bottom of the 8^th, Donaldson led off with a single followed by a strikeout to Gordon. Martin stepped in and on an open double Donaldson makes for home (1-11 or 12) and is gunned down at the plate. Vizcaino comes in with Martin at third and gets Escobar out.

Vizcaino struck out Forsythe and Trout to start the ninth and then left the game for Gregerson. Harper stood in and hit the walk off homer (clean shot against any handedness of pitcher) to put CN up 2-0 and going on the road.

Game 3:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	2
Oceanus	0	0	0	3	5	0	0	0	0	8	9	1

W: Price (1-0)

L: Carrasco (0-1)

HR (CN Manatees): Rasmus (1)

Errors (Oceanus): Votto

Errors (CN Manatees): Harper, Martin

Oceanus needed a change of scenery. CN tried to end it early with a 2 run shot in the first by Rasmus. But then their bats went silent and Oceanus opened up a whole can of whip ass on Carrasco, knocking him out and by scoring 6 runs (eventually 7) in 2 innings including 3 unearned runs.

Game note – Cervelli had his second triple of the series.

Game 4:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	6	13	0
Oceanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0

W: Arrieta (2-0)

L: Keuchel (0-1)

HR (CN Manatees): Trout (1), Raburn (1)

Like so many times in the year, CN looked to its ace to set the tone and he did coming out pitching a complete game 3 singles and 8 strikeout shut out.

The offense contributed with back to back first inning doubles to score 2 runs. Then two solo shots by Trout and Raburn to bring the score to 4-0.

The ninth inning was the strangest inning in that Rizzo singled to be followed by a bunt that became a hit for Escobar which was followed by a Harper double to score 2.

Game 5:

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CN Manatees	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	1
Oceanus	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	5	1

W: Betances (1-0)

L: Kluber (0-1)

HR (CN Manatees): Rizzo (1)

HR (Oceanus): Brantley (1)

Both teams decided it was time to let their mutants start a game. Mahtook, who only homered in the season series, went 1 for 2 with 2 walks including an intentional walk.

Manatees went up early on a solo shot by Rizzo in the 2^nd inning. The third inning saw Gordon, Seager and Harper reaching to load the bases with one out. Kipnis hit a short double scoring two runs, but Kluber settled down to get the next two batters and it was 3-0.

Kelley relieved Liriano in the fifth but gave up a single and error to Moustakas to score a run-closing the deficit to 3-1 with a man on second and the mutant Mahtook up. Rondon was summoned from the pen and intentionally walked Mahtook. Teixeira came in to pinch hit for D’Arnaud. Thornton was summoned to face him and he grounded out to end the inning.

Harris came in to start the 6^th and gave up a homer to Brantley to bring the game to 3-2 after 6.

Betances came in to start the 7^th and struck out 5-giving up a walk and single but allowing no runs - holding the game and series for a 4-1 CN WS victory.

With all the firepower for CN, the team spread out its heroes and contributions. Harper had probably the best series at .318/.328/.545 scoring 4 runs and hitting 1 homer and 4 RBIs. But Trout also had a walk off hit and the big hit in game 5 was delivered by Kipnis. So the MVP has to go to Arrieta and his 2 wins over 2 complete games with an ERA of 1.50 and WHIP of .889.

Constantinople wins series 4 games to 1

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THOUGHTS WHILE REDOING 2/3 OF THE SUMMER NEWSLETTER AFTER LAPTOP FRIED

Minutes of Annual Meeting and Draft April 1, 2017

1. Dues. Everyone is paid up! This may be a first

2. Awards Voting - 5 points for 1st place, 3 for 2nd place, 1 for 3rd place. Since managers cannot vote for their own players, 7 votes would be a unanimous vote.

MVP 1 2 3 Tot

Donaldson, CN 8 40

Votto, OC 5 1 16

D. Gordon, NO 1 1 4

McCann, FW 1 1 4

Lindor, ND 1 3

Trout, CN 3 3

Harper, Cn 2 2

Cy Young 1 2 3 Tot

C. Martinez, CN 4 2 1 27

Arrieta, CN 3 1 18

O’Day, OC 3 9

Greinke, FW 1 4 7

Syndergaard, SL 1 5

Scherzer, FW 1 3

deGrom, ND 1 1

Kershaw, FW 1 1

Price, OC 1 1

Manager of the Year 1 2 3 Tot

Tom 5 2 31

Jed 1 4 2 19

Eric 2 1 3 16

Randy 1 3 6

3. Presentation of the Richman Cup by last year's champion, Jeff, to this year’s champion, Tom. Despite only having possession of the trophy for about half the year, Jeff continued the sometime tradition of having the trophy engraved with Tom’s championship noted. Jeff, however, forgot (or was not aware) of the tradition to donate one player from his championship team to the cup.

4. Rule change proposals

a. Agreement on cutting players and waiver draft. We spent a few minutes agreeing to the time for the waiver draft and cutting of players. We also agreed to allow each team to make up to 2 changes to their cut list after it was published right up until the waiver draft.

b. Bylaws clarification that HBP count (along with BB) and AB toward a limited player’s 42% limit.

I will rewrite the bylaws as follows:

Non-pitchers:

Players with > 399 plate appearances are unlimited.

· Calculating whether someone has > 399 plate appearances and is unlimited: Player limits are calculated based on plate appearances. For this purpose, plate appearances equal AB+BB+HBP+SF (sac flies) + SH (sacrifice bunts).

· If a player has < 400 plate appearances as defined in the previous bullet:
Their SOMBILLA season plate appearances are limited to 42% of their AB + BB as shown on the front of the player's card, rounded down. (Note that the BB shown on the front of the player's card already includes IBB).

· Once you have determined how many SOMBILLA plate appearances your player has during the regular season, AB + BB + HBP will count toward that limit. Example:

· Doof Snodgrass has 300 plate appearances in real life. He is limited. On his Strat-O card, we see 275 at bats and 22 walks. This means he has 124 SOMBILLA (AB + BB+HBP) plate appearances available to him = (.42 x 297, rounded down).

c. New Optional Strat-O rule: Defensive shifts

We debated this new optional rule. Jed’s argument that ‘real-life’ shifts against players were already built into their real life results and Strat-O-cards was persuasive enough for four others of us against it (Harold, Randy, Robin and I) that we didn’t even get to a formal vote. Proposal defeated.

d. From Jed: Allow Pitchers to Hit, e.g. allow NL Style Baseball. The idea is if you want to play with a DH in your park or pitchers hitting it's up to you.

This proposal’s been made for many years, going back to Matt’s annual proposal. It was defeated 5-3 this year.

e. From Jed: Allow Starting Pitchers to Relieve, i.e. treat all Starters as Starter / Relievers

The league applauded Jed for his creativity, then decisively rejected this one 7-1.

Tom then proposed an alternate version, namely that managers must declare a starter as a reliever before the season. This was defeated 6-2.

f. From Jed: After 12 innings, declare a tie.

Another intriguing and creative proposal. There was some concern about collusion –where a tie could favor both teams. The league voted this down 6-2.

g. From Eric: More off days.

Eric did not have a specific proposal for when such off days would be taken but threw open the general concept for discussion. We kicked it around and came up with a concrete proposal for two additional off days (beyond the current 28 game day of rest which will remain). The two new off days will be after game 20 and game 40. This proposal passed 5-3 (Jed, Eric, Tom, Robin, Harold).

Randy proposed an amendment that the extra days off do not count toward injuries (just relief rest). This amendment failed to pass 4-4, so the days off will count for both injuries and relief rest.

Finally, the league clarified, over Arnie’s objection, that there will no longer be an off day on New Year’s Eve; it is after game 28 for all teams (Arnie insists he will still celebrate his team’s off day on New Year’s Eve assuming ND has played 28 games by then).

h. From Eric: Allow limited hitters as post-season additions (this proposal is in addition to the current rule allowing as many unlimited hitters as had been on the roster during the season). The Hunter Pence rule. The league voted this down 6-2, but agreed to review again next year

i. From Eric: Playoff teams allowed to drop a pitcher and add a hitter, or vice versa, before each series. After a lot of discussion, half the rule passed: Teams will be allowed to drop a hitter for a pitcher before each series. This passed with 5 votes (plus Robin ‘leaning’ toward it). In passing this rule, we clarified:

1 The new pitcher added had to have pitched 45 or more innings in real life.

2. After the first series, the 25-man roster reverts back to the original 25-man roster, so that any new swap before the World Series is against the original 25-man roster, not the 1^st playoff round roster.

j. From Tsuan: IBB count toward plate appearances.

The best argument against this came from Tsuan’s co-owner, Randy, who characterized the proposal as ‘mutant neutering’. The proposal was voted down 6 ½ - 1 ½.

Interestingly in researching past rule change proposals for Study No. 4, Tom proposed this very rule back in 2008 and it was rejected 5-3.

k. New rule for this year (Reminder). Mutant pitchers are allowed! A reminder – we voted this in last year:

“Do away with pitcher pro-ration of innings when a team is changing the number of pitchers on their active roster except for September (game 46) roster expansion or injury call up.” Basically we are treating pitchers like hitters. We can call them up and send them down like hitters.

· For pitchers being used as the September roster expansion or injury call up they are limited to the greater of

o Series proration or

o Starter point of weakness plus 2 innings or

o (Reliever point of weakness + 2) x 3 innings.

· These pitchers are still limited by their yearly allocation of innings based on the normal rules -- .42*IP or .5*IP (for starred starters).

· Basically, in real baseball if you have a player on the DL, the team can bring up a minor league pitcher for a spot start. It then makes sense that he would be able to pitch his inning of weakness plus 2 at least. (Unless he is too limited to allow that.)

l. Robin (via Eric) proposed that managers be compensated for when players die. The league laughed collectively. Eric then proposed to laminate my head and the meeting had clearly run its course.

5. Card burning. As A-Rod was not usable, Tom finally let us burn him,

6. Draft Notes –

This was the first year of our new draft rules. Jeff had 16 20-sided die, Robin 10, Harold 4, and Arnie 1. We all rolled. The best Jeff could do with his 16 die was a “2”. Robin and Harold each rolled a ‘1’ (Arnie rolled a “6”). Jeff said he felt a little like the Celtics (at least before the 2017 NBA lottery). So, Robin and Harold were in a rolloff for the top pick in the draft with each manager rolling just one die. Robin rolled a “1” again (!) to gain the top pick while Harold rolled a ‘2’ (!). An impressive bit of karma when it counted.

Retread report:

The first player drafted who has been in the league previously was Daniel Murphy, taken 6^th overall by RAT. He was once drafted as a 21-year old prospect by North Dakota.
In the 3^rd round, Eric took Tanner Roark, who was just cut by Robin last year.
Mark Trumbo, Eric 4^th rounder, was drafted by RAT in 2013.
Steve Pearce, drafted by Jed in the 6^th, was once drafted by North Dakota and then traded to RAT.
Eric redrafted Joe Blanton in the 8^th round.
Robin redrafted Melvin Upton in the 9^th round. Back when he was BJ Upton, she made him the 2^nd pick of the 2005 draft.
Tom picked up Ervin Santana in the 9^th round, a couple of years after Jeff drafted him.
Harold redrafted JA Happ in the 10^th round, whom he originally drafted in the 3^rd round in 2010.
In the 11^th Tom drafted Jed’s former farmhand Matt Belisle.

SUMMER STUDY NO. 1 – Salaries in the SOMBILLA

It’s been awhile since we looked into each owner’s payroll. Who are the SOMBILLA’s big market teams, for whom money is no object? Who is trying to buy the Championship? In other words, who are the Dodgers of the SOMBILLA (I wanted to say Yankees, but alas LA has surpassed New Yuck for highest payroll now.)

Conversely, who are the league’s small market cheapskate owners, operating on a shoestring budget?

For this study, I let the computer choose each person’s 25-man roster as that was the most expedient. The computer always makes a few questionable choices (more on that in another study), but it was good enough for this. I used the 2017 MLB data that is readily available on a few websites. Note that there are two players on 25-man rosters this year with no salary – for two very different reasons: David Ortiz and Jose Fernandez. For these two I used their final 2016 salary.

The results:

1. “What Eric Said”? - $259,172,381

This team’s whopping payroll is far and away the highest in the league, more than $50,000,000 over the 2^nd place team. Unlike the Dodgers though, Jeff has little to show for this largesse, coming off a last place finish in ’16-17, and his prospects for this year aren’t great. But the players do love playing for him, and he did win the championship two years ago, so he may be on to something. He has the highest salaried pitching staff and infield. How soon until fans revolt for paying outrageous ticket prices?

Here are his five highest paid players:

1. Jon Lester $25,000,000

2. Freddie Freeman $20,859,375

3. Carlos Gonzalez $20,428,571

4. Rick Porcello $20,125,000

5. Jeremy Hellickson $17,200,000

5. Aroldis Chapman $17,200,000

Total players over $10,000,000: 14

2. Constantinople - $206,893,076

No big surprise here, although Tom is definitely a distant 2^nd. His payroll is higher than all MLB teams except the Dodgers (which says more about the Dodgers than about Tom’s team). Note that while Istanbul has about 15,000,000 people, Constantinople’s peak population was about 400,000, about the size of Oakland, in the 1100’s. So it’s a small-market team with deep pockets. No surprise that he has the highest paid outfield. His five highest paid players:

1. Jason Werth $21,571,4292

2. Mike Trout $20,083,333

3. Russell Martin $20,000,000

4. Josh Donaldson $17,000,000

5. Jake Arrieta $15,637,500

Total players over $10,000,000: 9

3. Bay City - $206,518,417

Surprise! Always known for her generous clubhouse benefits (and death benefits for dependents of deceased players), Robin has no problem showering her players with money. Like Jeff, that does not seem to help this big market team in the win column. The uniforms may be a little tight, especially the pants, but the players don’t complain. Buster and Sal constitute the highest paid catching tandem in the league. Her five highest paid players:

1. Miguel Cabrera $28,000,000

2. Cole Hamels $22,500,000

3. Buster Posey $22, 177,778

4. M. Upton, Jr $22,125,000

5. Chris Davis $21,233,006

Total players over $10,000,000: 9

4. Oceanus - $198,824,888

A mid-market team, Jed studiously avoids spending over $200M and has gotten pretty good mileage. But like the Boston Bruins in the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, he puts out a competitive product to get the fans into seats, but he’s just too cheap to get the one or two players to put them over the top. Will Robinson Cano be that guy? Has the cheapest outfield in the league. His five highest paid players:

1. David Price $30,000,000

2. Robinson Cano $24,000,000

3. Masahiro Tanaka $22,000,000

4. Joey Votto $22,000,000

5. Stephen Strasburg $16,428,571

Total players over $10,000,000: 7

5. Future Wax - $189,922,205

Six years ago, in the last SOMBILLA Salary study, the cheap bastards of RAT had the league’s lowest payroll. They’re not as cheap as they were, moving up to be a mid-market team . They do pay the league’s highest individual salary (Kershaw). RAT’s five highest paid players:

1. Clayton Kershaw $33,000,000

2. Max Scherzer $22,142,857

3. Matt Kemp $21,500,000

4. Ryan Braun $19,199,365

5. Jay Bruce $13,000,000

Total players over $10,000,000: 9

6. North Dakota - $187,849,915

No surprise to see that a team that plays in Gackle Park, a ballpark with a capacity (300) greater than the population of the town of Gackle (291), struggles to keep up with its large-market competitors. But the team still manages to attract top talent with its laid-back prairie lifestyle and fun winters. Their five highest paid players:

1. Johnny Cueto $23,500,000

2. Dexter Fowler $16,500,000

3. David Ortiz $16,000,000 (still on payroll for the upcoming SOMBILLA season)

4. Dustin Pedroia $14,642,348

5. Marco Estrada $14,500,000

Total players over $10,000,000: 9

7. New Orleans - $170,137,153

Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans management is still struggling to fill seats and land a TV contract. Easy to see why Harold is fond of trading highly paid players to stockpile cheaply paid draft picks. Has the cheapest infield in the league. His five highest paid players:

1. Albert Pujols $26,000,000

2. Yoenis Cespedes $22,500,000

3. John Lackey $16,000,000

4. Gio Gonzalez $12,000,000

5. Chris Sale $12,000,000

Total players over $10,000,000: 8

8. Smoking Loons - $160,895,392

A distant last in payroll, this team is an embarrassment. The cheapest of cheap bastards, the owner spends way too much money on owner ‘amenities’ instead of on his loyal players. 13 major league clubs have higher payrolls than this deadbeat. Spends the least amount of any team on pitching. His five highest paid players:

1. Justin Verlander $28,000,000

2. Adrian Gonzalez $22,357,142

3. Neal Walker $17,200,000

4. Yadier Molina $14,200,000

5. Nolan Arenado $11,750,000

Total players over $10,000,000: Only 6!

SUMMER STUDY NO. 2 – Who (does the computer think) are the best players this year?

I took all the major leaguers with 2016 cards and let the computer draft a 25-man roster. Who are the best 25 players in the league, at least according to the computer? Below is the roster, along with the round that the computer drafted the player in. The first puck overall? Bay City’s Zach Britton. Don’t get me wrong – he has a great card, but really? A lefty reliever over Mike Trout or a starting pitcher? The computer is weird.

Still, it’s hard to argue too much with this All-SOMBILLA first team, except for the fact that one player – Nick Frankin – is not even in the league this year. While it may not be exactly the team that you (or Lamana) would draft, it would still kick some serious butt in the SOMBILLA. And I’m not just saying that because 7 North Dakota players are on the team (most in the league). “What Eric Said”? has just one.

Player	Computer Draft Position	SOMBILLA Team
Mike Trout	2	Constantinople
Brian Dozier	4	Future Wax
Nolan Arenado	5	Smoking Loons
Mookie Betts	6	North Dakota
Khris Davis	7	North Dakota
David Ortiz	8	North Dakota
Gary Sanchez	9	New Orleans
Corey Seager	12	Constantinople
Wilson Ramos	15	North Dakota
Miguel Cabrera	19	Bay City
Charlie Blackmon	22	Future Wax
Nick Franklin	21	---------
Robinson Cano	23	Oceanus
Kris Bryant	24	New Orleans
Trevor Story	25	Oceanus

Zach Britton	1	Bay City
Clayton Kershaw	3	Future Wax
Kyle Hendricks	10	Smoking Loons
Rich Hill	11	North Dakota
Chris Devenski	14	Bay City
Johnny Cueto	13	North Dakota
Kenley Jansen	16	New Orleans
Aroldis Chapman	17	“What Eric Said”?
Andrew Miller	18	North Dakota
Mark Melancon	20	Constantinople

I then had the computer draft a 2^nd team – the all SOMBILLA 2^nd team. Or the Washington Generals of the SOMBILLA. As with the first team, the computer found a guy – Hernan Perez – who is not in the league. A few eyebrow raising choices. This team would be a likely SOMBILLA playoff team, but not a shoo-in for the championship.

Player	Computer Draft Position	SOMBILLA Team
Jose Altuve	1	Oceanus
Josh Donaldson	2	Constantinople
Joey Votto	3	Oceanus
Mark Trumbo	4	Smoking Loons
Ryan Braun	5	Future Wax
Jackie Bradley Jr	7	New Orleans
Evan Gattis	9	Oceanus
Carlos Correa	11	Bay City
Jonathan Lucroy	17	Smoking Loons
Yoenis Cespedes	20	New Orleans
Edwin Encarnacion	21	North Dakota
Hernan Perez	22	-----------
Nelson Cruz	23	North Dakota
Joc Pederson	24	Smoking Loons
Jonathan Villar	25	North Dakota

Max Scherzer	6	Future Wax
Seung Hwan Oh	8	Smoking Loons
Madison Bumgarner	10	Future Wax
Jon Lester	12	“What Eric Said”?
Addison Reed	13	North Dakota
Jeurys Familia	14	New Orleans
Tyler Thornburg	15	“What Eric Said”?
Jake Arrieta	16	Constantinople
Dan Otero	18	Constantinople
Craig Kimbrel	19	North Dakota

Combining these two teams, here are the totals of players in the computer’s top 50:

North Dakota – 12

Constantinople – 6

Future Wax – 6

New Orleans - 6

Smoking Loons – 6

Oceanus – 5

Bay City – 4

“What Eric Said”? – 3

SUMMER STUDY NO. 3 – HOW THE TEAMS WERE BUILT

Which teams rely on their farm systems? Who has the most active front office? Who signs the free agents? This summer, I analyzed each team's current 45-man roster and reviewed how every player ended up on the roster. I divided them up into three categories:

Farm system – Players who were originally drafted by the team and are still on the roster. In essence, these players are those who have spent their entire SOMBILLA career with one team.

Trade – Self-explanatory.

Free agents – Drafted players who previously played for another team, were cut, and then picked up as free agents, even if redrafted by the same team.

Team	Farm System	Trade	Free Agent
North Dakota	39	4	2
Bay City	39	4	2
Future Wax	38	5	2
Smoking Loons	36	2	7
“What Eric Said”?	35	6	4
Constantinople	34	4	7
New Orleans	33	5	7
Oceanus	28	12	5

One team stands out as different from the others – Oceanus. Jed has twice as many players on his roster acquired via trade than any other team. And fewer players (62%) on his team that he actually drafted when first available. Other than outlier Jed, the other teams are all fairly similar. Another interesting fact: North Dakota and Bay City have identical stats here. Marital collusion?

Finally, it’s interesting to compare how the league compares to nine years ago, the last time I did this study:

Team	Farm system	Trade	Free agents
Future Wax	42	1	2
Bay City	43	0	2
Constantinople	43	0	2
Area 51	40	1	4
New Orleans	40	2	3
North Dakota	41	2	2
Knuckle Sandwiches	41	1	3
Hibernia	43	2	0

The SOMBILLA certainly trades much more frequently than it did in 2008. Hard to say if that’s an actual trend or not, as these studies are both just snapshots in time. You’d have to look at every year’s 45 man roster to see if there is an upward trend in trading, or we are just in a frenzied period. Free agents are also up - from 18 to 38. I think the new waiver draft has accounted for some of that, but certainly not all of it.

SUMMER STUDY NO. 4 – RULE CHANGE PROPOSALS

Thanks to Robin for suggesting this one. She knew she would be last; she prefers to focus on choosing who to burn. Who proposes the most rule changes? What are the most significant proposals people have come up with? For this study, I went back to 2000 and summarized everyone’s proposals as well as the results. No “Strat-O initiated changes” included.

GM	# Proposals passed	#Proposals voted down	Total Proposals	Most significant proposal
Tom	23	7	30	Eliminate cutting players at the draft, followed by a waiver draft (2009)
Arnie	14	10	24	Begin the season at the end of October instead of at the beginning of October (2002)
Randy	10	8	18	Post-season pitchers innings are 1/15 (same as limited batters) (2002)
Eric	7	10	17	Roll for rainout (2004)
Jed	2	7	9	Each team can design their own ballpark (2000)
Matt		6	6	All six were proposals to eliminate the DH
Harold	2	3	5	Call up a 26^th man (2001)
Tsuan	2	1	3	12 round draft instead of 10 (2001)
Jeff		1	1	Eliminate the DH in honor of Matt (2010)
Robin		½	½	Compensation for dead players (2017)

It should not come as a shock that Tom is the most prolific. Most of my proposals are various clarifications of the bylaws, although I tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the rainout rule 6 times and designing ballparks 4 times. Rediscovered this from 2006: A proposal by Randy to rename the "thing-off" to the "Phelps-off" passed 6-2.

Draft Analysis – 2013

It is time for the 4-year draft retrospective analysis of the 2013 (Cards 2012) draft.

We have 4 SOMBILLA Seasons, but note that we have partial or no data for the following seasons:

Eric did not report any stats for 2014 (cards 2013) and only 28 games for 2016 (2015 cards – 28 games)
Harold reported for 2015 (48 games) and 2012 (44 games).

As a result, some of these teams players may lose out in the counting statistics (Wins, Saves, HRs, RBIs, SBs) and be more maligned that they deserve.

Round 1:

1. Tom - Bryce Harper	0.279 / 0.356 / 0.469 / 0.825 (590 PA), 33 HR, 93 RBI, 6 SB	Still Owned
2. Harold - Yoenis Cespedes	0.255 / 0.288 / 0.412 / 0.700 (483 PA), 16 HR, 58 RBI, 4 SB	Still Owned
3. Robin - Yu Darvish	9-15, 0 SV, 5.04 ERA, 293 K (234 IPS)	Still Owned
4. Jeff - Kyle Lohse	12-15, 0 SV, 4.30 ERA, 132 K (257.67 IPS)	Waived
5. Jed - Kris Medlen	6-6, 8 SV, 4.63 ERA, 122 K (149.667 IPS)	Traded Waived
6. RAT - Manny Machado	0.247 / 0.335 / 0.369 / 0.704 (179 PA), 7 HR, 21 RBI, 4 SB	Still Owned
7. Eric - Andrelton Simmons	0.209 / 0.247 / 0.271 / 0.518 (166 PA), 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB	Still Owned
8. Harold - Matt Harvey	13-10, 0 SV, 4.51 ERA, 157 K (159.67 IPS)	Still Owned

Best Pick: Bryce Harper has been one of the most hyped, young players and as such a no brainer number 1 overall pick. He has a MLB NL MVP and even in his off years he is still a top 5 player at his position. After a strong comeback year, he is still the best pick in the round.

Worst Picks: This is a tough call, but I am going to put Andrelton Simmons as the choice. He is putting up an excellent year and might make himself usable. He is one of the best glove men to play at the premier position but with the crop of new shortstops that can hit he may never start consistently in the SOMBILLA. He was a player that I wanted to pick up in the second round.

Other:..Manny Machado was my second choice of the round and he has been a better major league player than SOMBILLA player. If he becomes a shortstop with a good enough rating he could push his way into contention. Either way he is good enough to put together an MVP season and after a monster second half he looks to be on his way to becoming a consistent Strat player.

Round 2:

1. Harold -Yasmani Grandal	0.234 / 0.311 / 0.361 / 0.672 (357 PA), 16 HR, 46 RBI, 1 SB	Still Owned
2. Robin - A.J. Griffin	2-2, 0 SV, 2.91 ERA, 22 K (34 IPS)	Waived
3. Tom - Fernando Rodney	3-2, 9 SV, 2.43 ERA, 31 K (29.67 IPS)	Cut After One Year
4. Jeff - Ryan Cook	5-0, 4 SV, 3.00 ERA, 83 K (63 IPS)	Waived
5. Jed - Justin Ruggiano	0.169 / 0.256 / 0.314 / 0.57 (86 PA), 3 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB	Cut After One Year
6. RAT - Brandon Moss	0.263 / 0.338 / 0.500 / 0.838 (390 PA), 27 HR, 86 RBI, 0 SB	Still Owned
7. Eric - Jarrod Parker	3-4, 0 SV, 3.97 ERA, 54 K (68 IPS)	Waived
8. Arnie - Will Middlebrooks		Waived, Claimed, …

Best Pick: Brandon Moss just pulls ahead of Grandal and Rodney. Moss has been one of those players that has been dangerous in a fearsome Wax lineup. Moss’s value has declined and may not be long for the SOMBILLA and Grandal could become the better pick by then end of his career. Rodney was the best reliever in the set and helped propel CN to the World Series.

Worst Pick: Tommy John surgery has ended the career of the two prospect starters in this round but Will Middlebrooks takes the prize as the worst player of the round. Arnie cut him immediately and he had some hope for Jeff but never made it into a game.

Round 3:

1. Tom - Matt Moore	0-0, 0 SV, 6.23 ERA, 6 K (4.33 IPS)	Waived
2. Harold - Jeff Samardzija	8-9, 0 SV, 3.40 ERA, 113 K (153.33 IPS)	Traded Still Owned
3. Jeff - Jean Segura	0.248 / 0.295 / 0.336 / 0.631 (220 PA), 3 HR, 21 RBI, 16 SB	Traded Still Owned
4. Robin - Marco Scutero	0.217 / 0.263 / 0.283 / 0.546 (152 PA), 2 HR, 11 RBI, 1 SB	Cut After One Year
5. Jed - Jon Jay	0.276 / 0.309 / 0.366 / 0.675 (194 PA), 2 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB	Cut After One Year
6. RAT - Jake McGee	2-3, 5 SV, 2.18 ERA, 65 K (57.67 IPS)	Still Owned
7. Eric - Jonathon Lucroy	0.255 / 0.297 / 0.390 / 0.687 (333 PA), 7 HR, 36 RBI, 0 SB	Still Owned
8. Arnie - Jim Johnson	0-0, 0 SV, 1.12 ERA, 10 K (24 IPS)	Traded Waived

Best Pick: Jonathon Lucroy pulls ahead on the basis of having a top 4 Catchers card for the coming season. He has been a better major league player than Strat player and he looked mediocre this year in real life so it is yet to be seen if he can put it together a future group of cards after this one.

Worst Pick: Matt Moore is one of these touted left handers that was downgraded out of the first two rounds, but never lived up to his hype. Had several no hit bids and looked dominant at times but could not remain healthy or consistent.

Other: Jeff Samardzija has had a surprisingly good under the radar career in the SOMBILLA for Harold who has moved him on to Jeff. Jake McGee is the classic best left handed reliever available pick and has had a solid career and continues to pitch adequately even in Colorado.

Round 4:

1. Harold - Scott Atchison	1-0, 3 SV, 1.12 ERA, 10 K (16 IPS)	Traded Cut After One Year
2. Jeff - George Kontos	1-2, 0 SV, 7.36 ERA, 22 K (18.333 IPS)	Cut After One Year
3. Tom - John Jaso	0.312 / 0.417 / 0.442 / 0.859 (163 PA), 8 HR, 23 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
4. Robin - Ronald Belisario	4-0, 2 SV, 1.37 ERA, 27 K (26.333 IPS)	Cut After One Year
5. Jed - Darwin Barney	0.291 / 0.325 / 0.366 / 0.691 (123 PA), 1 HR, 11 RBI, 1 SB	Cut After One Year
6. RAT - Wilton Lopez	1-3, 4 SV, 3.16 ERA, 17 K (25.67 IPS)	Waived
7. Eric - Chris Tillman	2-6, 0 SV, 4.59 ERA, 46 K (86.33 IPS)	Traded Waived Still Owned
8. Arnie - David Murphy	0.177 / 0.295 / 0.235 / 0.53 (132 PA), 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB	Traded Waived

Best Pick: This round was all about short term needs, except maybe Chris Tilman who has settled into the occasional 4^th SOMBILLA starter. John Jaso gets the nod as he got CN to the World Series and was the lead off hitter in many of the games and had a 400+ OBP and 859 Slugging plus OBP.

Worst Pick: George Kontos and David Murphy tie for two short term players that never contributed much to their teams.

Round 5:

1. Tom - Everth Cabrera	0.253 / 0.309 / 0.320 / 0.629 (175 PA), 2 HR, 12 RBI, 12 SB	Waived
2. Harold - Koji Uehara	1-2, 15 SV, 2.37 ERA, 33 K (38 IPS)	Waived
3. Robin - Jason Hammel	3-2, 0 SV, 4.41 ERA, 44 K (49 IPS)	Cut After One Year
4. Jeff - Casey Fien	1-1, 3 SV, 1.23 ERA, 12 K (14.67 IPS)	Cut After One Year
5. Jed - Junichi Tazawa	2-1, 7 SV, 1.33 ERA, 18 K (20.33 IPS)	Waived
6. RAT - David Hernandez	0-1, 3 SV, 1.87 ERA, 24 K (24 IPS)	Cut After One Year
7. Eric - Matt Dominguez		Waived
8. Arnie - Mitchell Boggs	3-0, 0 SV, 1.86 ERA, 17 K (29 IPS)	Traded Cut After One Year

Best Pick: None of these players survived being cut at some point, but Koji Uehara gets the nod as he had the most leveraged innings and was just redrafted by Harold the relief pitcher expert.

Worst Pick: Matt Dominguez gets the worse pick of the round as he never got close to making a SOMBILLA team.

Round 6:

1. Harold - Wade Miley	3-1, 0 SV, 4.36 ERA, 34 K (33 IPS)	Traded Cut After One Year
2. Robin - Starling Marte	0.261 / 0.302 / 0.347 / 0.649 (504 PA), 5 HR, 43 RBI, 19 SB	Still Owned
3. Tom - Adam LaRoche	0.242 / 0.324 / 0.486 / 0.81 (148 PA), 11 HR, 30 RBI, 0 SB	Cut After One Year
4. Jeff - Jared Burton	1-0, 3 SV, 5.68 ERA, 16 K (19 IPS)	Cut After One Year
5. Jed - Chris Carter	0.218 / 0.307 / 0.429 / 0.736 (254 PA), 15 HR, 48 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
6. RAT - Bobby Parnell	5-2, 6 SV, 4.15 ERA, 35 K (47.66 IPS)	Waived
7. Eric - Tom Wilhelmsen	3-4, 4 SV, 2.89 ERA, 73 K (71.67 IPS)	Still Owned
8. Arnie - Raul Valdes	1-0, 0 SV, 1.42 ERA, 12 K (12.67 IPS)	Cut After One Year

Best Pick: Starling Marte gets the nod even with his recent drug suspension. He is a 1 in any outfield position and has the future potential to become a top outfield hitter. He edges out Wilhelmsen who has been a consistent reliever throughout even if he cannot keep the closer job in real life. LaRoche was a one year mutant who did his job for a contender but not worth more of a nod.

Worst Pick: Chris Carter will get the nod because he just did not make it over replacement value at his best position -- hitter. Everyone else was at least replacement for what they were drafted for.

Round 7:

1. Tom - Stephen Drew	0.284 / 0.364 / 0.417 / 0.781 (242 PA), 8 HR, 20 RBI, 4 SB	Waived
2. Harold - Luis Avilan	0-3, 1 SV, 2.38 ERA, 7 K (11.33 IPS)	Waived
3. Jeff - Aaron Harang	4-6, 0 SV, 5.30 ERA, 46 K (74. 7 IPS)	Cut After One Year
4. Robin - Josh Rutledge		Cut After One Year
5. Jed - Joe Nathan	1-5, 10 SV, 3.86 ERA, 44 K (46.67 IPS)	Waived
6. RAT - Darren O'Day	3-3, 5 SV, 2.77 ERA, 68 K (68.33 IPS)	Waived
7. Eric - Andy Dirks	0.281 / 0.312 / 0.348 / 0.66 (141 PA), 0 HR, 11 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
8. Arnie - Marco Estrada	3-3, 0 SV, 4.30 ERA, 75 K (90 IPS)	Waived

Best Pick: Darren O’Day has been a consistent right handed hitter killer for more than one team. Longevity and quality gives him the nod.

Worst Pick: Josh Rutledge was the next power hitting middle infielder for the Rockies but he never really caught on and they traded him and then Robin cut him.

Round 8:

1. Harold - Wade Davis	1-2, 0 SV, 2.78 ERA, 24 K (22.67 IPS)	Cut After One Year
2. Jeff - Juan Castro	0.294 / 0.321 / 0.509 / 0.83 (212 PA), 8 HR, 28 RBI, 0 SB	Still Owned
3. Tom - Kelvin Herrera	3-1, 2 SV, 6.39 ERA, 19 K (25.33 IPS)	Stupid Cut Claimed Still Own
4. Robin - Adam Eaton	0.258 / 0.312 / 0.346 / 0.658 (263 PA), 3 HR, 17 RBI, 3 SB	Still Owned
5. Jed - Todd Frazier	0.247 / 0.302 / 0.406 / 0.708 (192 PA), 8 HR, 22 RBI, 4 SB	Still Owned
6. RAT - Rob Brantly	0.226 / 0.351 / 0.243 / 0.594 (37 PA), 0 HR, 5 RBI, 0 SB	Cut After One Year
7. Eric - Jonny Gomes		Waived
8. - Arnie - Matt Carpenter	0.225 / 0.308 / 0.328 / 0.636 (574 PA), 10 HR, 56 RBI, 1 SB	Still Owned

Best Pick: This round has a surprisingly large number of players that are still in the SOMBILLA. Juan Castro has the best statistics in a limited number of ABs, but Matt Carpenter has held a spot on one of the best teams over the last 4 years and is developing power in the majors and has a bright future as a cornerstone to the Cardinals. Herrera got the closer job and looks to have a future better than the idiot who cut him …

Worst Pick: Most regretted cut was Wade Davis, who remade himself as a quality reliever. Johnny Gomes was the worse pick since he was waived and had no reported stats.

Round 9:

1. Tom - Sean Doolittle	5-1, 3 SV, 2.78 ERA, 49 K (45.333 IPS)	Still Owned
2. Harold - A.J. Ellis	0.262 / 0.328 / 0.344 / 0.672 (180 PA), 4 HR, 15 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
3. Robin - Erasmo Ramirez		Waived
4. Jeff - Casey Kelly		Cut immediately
5. Eirc* - Franklin Morales		Cut immediately
6. RAT - Mark Trumbo	0.231 / 0.286 / 0.310 / 0.596 (42 PA), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
7. Eric - Avisail Garcia	0.250 / 0.354 / 0.446 / 0.8 (65 PA), 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB	Waived
8. Arnie - Addison Reed	0-3, 0 SV, 5.90 ERA, 25 K (29 IPS)	Still Owned

Best Pick: Sean Dolittle has been a closer and a lefty specialist that gets right handers out as well. He is a Jake Magee but several rounds later. Only downside has been his lack of consistent health.

Worst Pick: Four players were cut before or during the waiver draft a week after being drafted. Casey Kelly and Franklin Morales included in these four makes them the worst picks of the round.

Round 10-13:

1. Harold - Charlie Furbush	0-2, 1 SV, 6.11 ERA, 18 K (17.6666666666667 IPS)	Traded Waived
2. Robin - Norichika Aoki	0.284 / 0.336 / 0.404 / 0.74 (307 PA), 8 HR, 28 RBI, 8 SB	Waived
3. Tom - Anthony Gose	/ / / 0 ( PA), HR, RBI, SB	Cut After One Year
4. Jeff - A.J. Pierzynski	0.201 / 0.247 / 0.342 / 0.589 (158 PA), 6 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
5. Jed - Carlos Gomez	0.247 / 0.300 / 0.377 / 0.677 (414 PA), 12 HR, 38 RBI, 20 SB	Cut After One YearWaivedStill Owned
6. RAT - Octavio Dotel	0-0, 0 SV, 0.000 ERA, 0 K (0.333333333333333 IPS)	Cut After One Year
7. Eric - Cody Ross	0.154 / 0.241 / 0.241 / 0.482 (58 PA), 2 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB	Waived
8. Arnie - Pete Kozma	0.259 / 0.333 / 0.500 / 0.833 (30 PA), 1 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB	Cut After One Year
1. Tom - Aaron Crow	2-1, 0 SV, 6.29 ERA, 24 K (24.3333333333333 IPS)	Cut After One Year
2. Harold - David Phelps	0-1, 0 SV, 4.82 ERA, 10 K (9.33333333333333 IPS)	Waived
3. Jeff - Brett Jackson	/ / / 0 ( PA), HR, RBI, SB	Cut After One Year
4. Robin - Alex Cobb	8-12, 0 SV, 5.77 ERA, 121 K (128 IPS)	Still Owned
5. Jed - Lance Lynn	5-6, 0 SV, 4.51 ERA, 90 K (101.67 IPS)	Waived
6. RAT - Pedro Ciriaco	/ / / 0 ( PA), HR, RBI, SB	Cut After One Year
7. Eric - DJ LeMahieu	0.240 / 0.327 / 0.257 / 0.584 (113 PA), 0 HR, 9 RBI, 4 SB	Still Owned
8. Arnie - Andrew Cashner	4-8, 0 SV, 5.96 ERA, 84 K (99.67 IPS)	Waived
1. Jeff - Tanner Scheppers	4-1, 6 SV, 2.14 ERA, 19 K (21 IPS)	Waived
2. Tom - Dan Straily		Cut at Waiver Draft
3. Robin - Jose Iglesias	0.289 / 0.350 / 0.336 / 0.686 (220 PA), 0 HR, 16 RBI, 3 SB	Still Owned
4. Jed - Brandon Crawford	0.202 / 0.260 / 0.316 / 0.576 (288 PA), 8 HR, 22 RBI, 4 SB	Still Owned
5. RAT - Freddy Galvis		Cut at Waiver Draft
6. Eric - Miguel Gonzalez		Cut After One Year
7. Arnie - Patrick Corbin		Still Owned
1. Arnie - Felix Doubront

Best Pick: Two players stand out – DJ LaMehieu who surprised us all maybe most of all Eric to become a solid contributor in the middle of the Rockies’ infield. Alex Cobb is a solid starter that looks to have a future still after being picked amongst players long since waived.

2012 Card Set Results:

Team	Stats
Arnie	0.213 / 0.319 / 0.319 / 0.638 (276 PA), 5 HR, 27 RBI, 2 SB
Eric	0.258 / 0.302 / 0.361 / 0.663 (288 PA), 4 HR, 34 RBI, 0 SB
Harold	0.276 / 0.340 / 0.391 / 0.731 (353 PA), 12 HR, 38 RBI, 1 SB
Jed	0.203 / 0.248 / 0.344 / 0.592 (157 PA), 6 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB
Jeff	0.242 / 0.294 / 0.336 / 0.63 (541 PA), 9 HR, 55 RBI, 9 SB
Robin	0.251 / 0.306 / 0.360 / 0.666 (386 PA), 8 HR, 36 RBI, 9 SB
Tom	0.279 / 0.354 / 0.444 / 0.798 (619 PA), 31 HR, 90 RBI, 11 SB
Wax	0.260 / 0.348 / 0.438 / 0.786 (201 PA), 11 HR, 37 RBI, 0 SB

Team	Stats
Arnie	6-1, 0 SV, 3.01 ERA, 77 K (107.67 IPS)
Eric	4-6, 3 SV, 3.75 ERA, 93 K (100.67 IPS)
Harold	8-15, 10 SV, 4.01 ERA, 170 K (197.33 IPS)
Jed	17-14, 9 SV, 3.83 ERA, 177 K (256.333 IPS)
Jeff	3-6, 15 SV, 2.73 ERA, 81 K (99 IPS)
Robin	14-8, 2 SV, 4.09 ERA, 166 K (178.333 IPS)
Tom	5-3, 9 SV, 4.17 ERA, 55 K (54 IPS)
Wax	4-6, 14 SV, 2.68 ERA, 96 K (117.33 IPS)

Total Reported SOMBILLA Statistics:

Team	Stats
Arnie	0.218 / 0.307 / 0.318 / 0.625 (736 PA), 13 HR, 70 RBI, 3 SB
Eric	0.242 / 0.295 / 0.338 / 0.633 (876 PA), 14 HR, 79 RBI, 6 SB
Harold	0.249 / 0.303 / 0.382 / 0.685 (1020 PA), 36 HR, 119 RBI, 5 SB
Jed	0.252 / 0.292 / 0.400 / 0.692 (590 PA), 17 HR, 62 RBI, 16 SB
Jeff	0.237 / 0.295 / 0.372 / 0.667 (1551 PA), 49 HR, 167 RBI, 36 SB
Robin	0.265 / 0.314 / 0.351 / 0.665 (1446 PA), 18 HR, 115 RBI, 34 SB
Tom	0.276 / 0.355 / 0.439 / 0.794 (1318 PA), 62 HR, 178 RBI, 22 SB
Wax	0.254 / 0.335 / 0.437 / 0.772 (648 PA), 35 HR, 116 RBI, 4 SB

Team	Stats
Arnie	11-14, 0 SV, 4.40 ERA, 223 K (284.333 IPS)
Eric	8-14, 4 SV, 3.86 ERA, 173 K (226 IPS)
Harold	27-30, 20 SV, 3.77 ERA, 406 K (461 IPS)
Jed	28-25, 16 SV, 4.27 ERA, 330 K (468.333 IPS)
Jeff	14-18, 25 SV, 4.27 ERA, 274 K (318.333 IPS)
Robin	26-31, 2 SV, 4.81 ERA, 507 K (471.333 IPS)
Tom	13-5, 14 SV, 4.19 ERA, 129 K (129 IPS)
Wax	11-12, 23 SV, 2.86 ERA, 209 K (223.667 IPS)

Best Draft (Short Term): This goes to the Manatees who drafted an offense to get them into the World Series while picking up the best player of the draft. Also the best offense over the 4 years so far is the Manatees with Harold, Jed and Robin having the best results for the pitching they picked up.

Best Draft (Overall): If you think Matt Harvey is going to be great, then Harold wins. If you think having the most players still on your roster headed by Darvish, Marte and Cobb then you pick Robin. But after much thought I pick Robin to hold the trophy by having the most possible lottery tickets going forward. Robin drafted: Yu Darvish, A.J. Griffin, Marco Scutero. Ronald Belisario, Jason Hammel, Starling Marte, Josh Rutledge, Adam Eaton, Erasmo Ramirez, Norichika Aoki, Alex Cobb, and finally Jose Iglesias.

Worst Draft: Jeff had a tough draft with only Juan Castro still on his team from this draft class. He drafted for short term pitching problems and got Samardzija in a trade later but just not enough in the short or long term of this draft for them. Jeff drafted: Kyle Lohse, Ryan Cook, Jean Segura, George Kontos, Casey Fien, Jared Burton, Aaron Harang, Juan Castro, Casey Kelly, A.J. Pierzynski, Brett Jackson and Tanner Scheppers

HOW IS YOUR TEAM DOING?

Here is our first unscientific look ahead to the 2017 cards (due out in January).

THE 2017 SOMBILLA/FOX SPORTS ALL-STAR COUNT

Arnie (9) – Archer, Betts, Cruz, Fulmer, Goldschmidt, Kimbrel, Lamb, A. Miller, R. Osuna

RAT (9) – Blackmon, Greinke, Kershaw, D. Murphy, Scherzer, Schoop, Springer, Stanton, Upton

Jed (9) – Altuve, Brantley, Cano, Inciarte, Keuchel, Kluber, Moustakas, J. Ramirez, Votto

Robin (8) – Correa, Darvish, W. Davis, Devenski, Harrison, McCullers, Perez, Posey

Eric (8) – Arenado, Dickerson, LeMahieu, Molina, Ozuna, Severino, A. Wood, Zimmerman

Tom (6) – Betances, Harper, C. Martinez, Rizzo, Sano, Seager, Trout

Harold (6) – Hand, K. Jansen, Judge, Sale, G. Sanchez, Strasburg

Jeff (4) – S. Castro, Conforto, Cozart, Turner

SOMBILLA Opening Day: Sunday, November 5!