Lineup Change / Standings Thru Tuesday, July 24

Kevin has replaced the injured Big Papi with Baltimore's Adam Jones. Big week for Cabrera. Texiera still hot. Granderson is apparently not going to go away ...

1) (1) Kevin: Bautista (HR) 27 DL; Jones (HR) 23; Gonzalez (RBI) 58 [29] = 79

Ortiz out and Jones in without a loss of points. Kevin's sticking with the injured Bautista for the moment, though. Interesting to see how this all will play out.


2) (3) Bill: Cabrera (HR) 24; Uggla (HR) 12; Cabrera (RBI) 81 [40.5] = 76.5

Cabrera's dragging Uggla's under-performing ass along. Can he drag it all the way to the top?
 

3) (2) Eric: Trumbo (HR) 27; Pena (HR) 14; Fielder (RBI) 68 [34] = 75

Flat week here scuttles (for the time being) the Rawhide Raconteur's prediction of true greatness for this team. Pena has gone back to sleep.


4) (4) Fielder (HR) 15; Granderson (HR) 27; Pujols (RBI) 61 [30.5] = 72.5

It's become apparent that Fielder's the issue here - he's having a good season overall, but isn't hitting that many HRs. This squad's hopes ride on his last couple months.


5) (5) Vic: Pujols (HR) 18; Reynolds (HR) 8; Texiera (RBI) 67 [33.5] = 59.5

Without a Reynold's surge this team can't make the jump up to the big boys. Everything else is slowly falling into place, though.


6) (6) Bonnie: Braun (HR) 27; Konerko (HR) 16; Nieuwenhuis (RBI) 28 [14] = 57

Nieuwenwhat? Nuieuwenwho? Enough said.


7) (7) Mark: Texiera (HR) 19; Utley (HR) 4; Jeter (RBI) 27 [13.5] = 36.5

The fat lady isn't yet singing, but she's warming up her voice back stage ...

Injury Update - Ortiz on DL

Since my last post David Ortiz has been placed on the 2-week DL.

Standings Thru Tuesday, July 17 / Injury Report

Big injury news this week. Juan Bautista went on the DL and could be gone a long time. Ortiz is hurt as well, though is not yet officially on the DL. (Wow, I was just joking about that Nancy Kerrigan thing). Kevin has at least one big choice to make. Suddenly his grip on 1st is beginning to look very shaky. The heartbreak of Power Derby ...


Things are still very tight among the top four. Eric's looking very strong. Vic's moved into the five slot.



1) (1) Kevin: Bautista (HR) 27 DL; Ortiz (HR) 23; Gonzalez (RBI) 51 [25.5] = 75.5

A solid week by Gonzo might be negated by the injuries in the HR slots. Things are now looking murky for this once mighty squad.


2) (2) Eric: Trumbo (HR) 26; Pena (RBI) 14; Fielder (RBI) 65 [32.5] = 72.5

Trumbo's a beast and Fielder is now tied for 3rd in the American League in RBIs. Even Pena's HRs are creeping up there. This team's looking scary. The Rawhide Raconteur predicts this group will take over first by next update.


3) (3) Bill: Cabrera (HR) 20; Uggla (HR) 12; Cabrera (RBI) 74 [37] = 69

The Cabrera express is still rolling over everything in its path. The Uggla anchor is becoming more and more apparent, though. Hard to see this team moving up or down much in the coming weeks.


4) (4) Rob: Fielder (HR) 15; Granderson (HR) 25; Pujols (RBI) 56 [28] = 68

The R.R.'s squad is somehow hanging on, despite two under performers. This team could go either way.


5) (6) Vic: Pujols (HR) 16; Reynolds (HR) 8; Texiera (RBI) 65 [32.5] = 56.5

Watch out for these guys. Thanks to a big week by Texiera, they're moving out of the shadows. The R.R. predicts them to be a factor by the time August rolls a round.


6) (5): Bonnie: Braun (HR) 26; Konerko (HR) 14; Nieuwenhuis (RBI) 27 [13.5] = 53.5

Tough times in Bonnie town. Kemp's loss was this team's demise.


7) (7) Mark: Texiera (HR) 18; Utley (HR) 2; Jeter (RBI) 27 [13.5] = 33.5

Nice to see a few points finally being added here. Hard to see much happening for this team in the long run, though.

Standings Thru Tuesday July 10 / Mid-Season Predictions

Like I mentioned in my email, sorry for the lack of updates recently. There's been some interesting movement in the standings since the last update, with Eric suddenly looking very strong. 

This roundup includes the Rawhide Raconteur's mid-season predictions. Just calling 'em as I see 'em ...


1) (1) Kevin: Bautista (HR) 27; Ortiz (HR) 22; Gonzales (RBI) 45 [22.5] = 71.5

Gonzo's poor first half is the only thing keeping this squad from ascending into the stratosphere. There's no reason to think that Bautista or Ortiz will slow down, so it really comes down to Gonzo's 2nd half. Baring major injury, this is the team to beat (did someone say Nancy Kerrigan?). 


2) (4) Eric: Trumbo (HR) 22; Pena (HR) 13; Fielder (RBI) 63 [31.5] = 66.5

Eric's Trumbo move has paid off nicely and could be the season's pivotal moment. The R.R. predicts an even better 2nd half for Jumbo. This combined with a surging Fielder could win it all for this team. Pena's a BIG issue, though. He may be done. If so, this team will struggle to stay in the top three.


3) (2/3) Bill: Cabrera (HR) 18; Uggla (HR) 12; Cabrera (RBI) 71 [35.5] = 65.5

Cabrera almost guarantees this group a top-three finish. Uggla, though, appears to be faltering badly (his not-overly-high HR total is a bit of a fluke, given his low average and slugging percentage--he could easily have only, say, 5 at this point). Unless he has a good 2nd half this team probably won't be able to take over the top spot. Still a very tough squad.
 

4) (2/3) Rob: Fielder (HR) 15; Granderson (HR) 23; Pujols (RBI) 51 [25.5] = 63.5

The R.R's squad is a bit of a puzzle. Pujols and Fielder are both good 2nd half players and should end with solid numbers. Pujols, though, needs to become the beast he once was for this team to have a legit shot at the number 1 slot. Granderson is worrisome too. His numbers look great, but he's really slowed down of late--he may not truly belong up there with the big boys. Top three finish likely. Higher than that? Well ...


5) Bonnie: Braun (HR) 24; Konerko (HR) 14; Nieuwenhuis (RBI) 25 [12.5] = 50.5

Kemp's loss may have done this team in. If he would have been replaced earlier this squad could be in much better shape. Braun's looking great, but Konerko's high average isn't translating into a ton of HRs. Nieuwenhuis will really have to surprise for these folks to be something other than 2nd tier.


6) (6) Vic: Pujols (HR) 14; Reynolds (HR) 7; Texiera (RBI) [27] = 48

The R.R.'s dark-horse pick for the top 3. Though they've been languishing in 6th seemingly forever, this squad has slowly been climbing up to respectability point wise. Tex is a great 2nd halfer, as is Pujols. Reynolds injuries seem to be behind him and his HR numbers should rise considerably. Look for these guys to move up. How far is the only question.


7) (7) Mark: Texiera (HR) 15; Utley (HR) 2; Jeter (RBI) 12.5 = 29.5

This team was devastated by injuries out of the gate, to the point where the R.R. is thinking of proposing a rule change for next season so this can't happen again. This group could possibly move out of the cellar, but it's hard to see them doing much beyond that. This is a classic case of truly bad luck that could have happened to any of us.