Trade Announcement

A trade has been made between Ken and Chris. Both teams have submitted official documentation to the Commissioner's Office.

Ken receives: Robinson Cano & a 1st-round draft pick (No. 2 overall)
Chris receives: Prince Fielder & a 1st-round draft pick (No. 1 overall)

Both teams will lose their 15th-round (18) draft pick in the upcoming draft due to the rules applied for offseason keeper trades (http://mtlkeeperleague.blogspot.com/2009/06/league-rules_22.html)

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Hal the favorite to win Home-Run Derby

With David Ortiz, Jose Bautista and Matt Holliday, the PROHIBITIVE favorite to win the Home-Run Derby tonight is undoubtedly Hal.

Bautista and Ortiz are probably the two overall favorites. Holliday has participated in this event before as well.

No surprise that Hal has three guys in here, either. All his team does is hit homers. Odds of winning after the jump.


The other participants: Chris with Adrian Gonzalez and Robinson Cano; Dave with Matt Kemp; Ken with Prince Fielder; and Jack, the longshot, with Rickie Weeks (Lolz).

Call us boring, but we're going with Hal.

Official odds of winning the Home-Run Derby:

Hal ..... 2/1
Chris ..... 9/2
Ken ..... 6/1
Dave ..... 10/1
Jack ..... 15/1

Place your bets now.
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Wrapping up Bob's second championship

Bob has established himself as the premier team of the Keeper League. If not already, it's likely all teams will be gunning for him next year.

After a shaky 0-2 start (again), Bob rebounded true to form and simply dominated the league, going 18-4 from that point forward. He had a five-game winning streak and an eight-game winning streak.

He blew out his playoff opponents. He was unquestionably the top team and deserved the title this year.


"It was a season for the ages," said Bob, who set the best regular-season mark in league history. "I started out slow again, but I didn't have any doubts that I would be back in the same place at the end of the year again."

Bob's midseason trade wasn't as big as in past years. He got Jayson Werth, Placido Polanco and John Danks for Jon Lester, Johnny Damon and Delmon Young. Still, Werth was excellent in the playoffs, a big reason why Bob won.

"I would like to thank Mike for giving my team that extra push it needed at midseason," Bob said. "He got a really good pitcher in Lester, but I got a really nice balance to my offense and a consistent pitcher."

Maybe the league should take a cue from this quote and just simply not trade with Bob anymore. If you have any interest in winning, that is.

We raised the question before of whether this is a dynasty. Bob feels it is.

"I've had the best record in the league now for three out of four years," he said. "I'm the only team in the league to win three division titles, along with being the only team to repeat as division champion and to repeat as league champion. ... Even with time constraints, I've been able to put a good club on the field."

He loses Ryan Bruan and Prince Fielder this offseason. It won't matter. He has the players to keep to make up for the losses.

"I'm not thinking ahead to next year just yet, I want to let my guys take in this championship and let them enjoy the parade," Bob said. "It's the first time around for some of these guys, let's not forget. But come November, it will be back to business in trying to figure out how to construct this club going forward in the wake of Braun and Prince's departure."

Bob will go into next season once again as the favorite. Whether the league can catch up to him remains to be seen.

"I'm just entering my prime of fantasy domination and I don't see that changing anytime soon," Bob said. "I'll believe I can be beaten, when someone actually unseats me, but until then I am unstoppable."

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Cole Miners: A season to remember

By now, you know that Bob has won our league championship. He becomes the third champ in as many years in league existent.

Ricky will be happy, knowing Joe has not upped him in league titles. As for Bob, he clearly had the best team in the league from the time he made the trade for Prince Fielder. It will be interesting to see whether Dave will get some of his playoff share for the trade.

"This one is for the players," Bob said Sunday night. "They played their heart out week in and week out and they never gave up. Even when they were scuffling at times, it seemed like they always performed well enough to gut out the win."

More after the jump.


We all knew Bob had great hitting, but it was his pitching that stole the show in the playoffs.

Simply put, it was lights fucking out. Anyone with an ERA under 3 and a WHIP at 1.10 in 150+ innings deserves to win.

"They might not all be stars, but they really carried me through last round and they held their own again this week," Bob said of the pitching. "It seemed like they really responded well to the (James) Shields outright release."

Bob will go into next season the clear favorite, with Fielder and Ryan Braun returning.

"I want to give Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun Co-MVPs for their playoffs and season play," Bob said. "They were my most consistent guys and they picked us up when we really needed them."

Congrats to Bob, who has joined the ranks of the fantasy baseball keeper league elites.
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Championship manager breakdown: Bob

Bob is on the verge of completing a remarkable turnaround this season.

After starting the year 3-6, he even renamed his team a few times and seemed to be looking toward the offseason. But after a brilliant trade to acquire Prince Fielder, Bob went on his current streak.

He has won 13 out of 14 matches, including the league's first-ever shutout. He looks unstoppable right now.


"This year I feel like the Phils the year they won the World Series," Bob said. "I started off very slow, but then my team woke up and we haven't looked back, and we don't plan on looking back these next two weeks."

Bob had made the playoffs all three years, one of two managers to do so (Ricky is the only other one). But for the first time, he won a playoff game. Bob was a high seed before and lost in his first playoff game. This year, however, his fans didn't have a breakdown with an early playoff lost.

So, has he shed the label as a playoff choker?

"I do feel like I've shed my label of playoff choker," Bob said. "I had a hell of a year, much different than years in the past. I usually start off fast and by the end of the year, my team doesn't wanna play."

Bob has gone all out this year to win. He has admittedly stayed in on a weekend to stiff late at night, showing a true commitment to fantasy baseball.

For that, we salute you.

"This upcoming week will be tough," Joe said. "I think the best two overall teams in the league are going at it. And Bob is a great manager, he goes above and beyond."
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Playoff preview: (1) Bob vs. (3) Joe

No. 1 Bob (16-7) vs. No. 3 Joe (16-7-1)
Line: Bob -1.5
A breakdown after the jump


Season series: Tied 1-1 (Week 6 Joe 13-5; Week 19 Bob 14-4)
Career playoff records: Bob 1-2, Joe 4-0
All-time head-to-head: Bob 4-2
Playoffs head-to-head: Never met

Hitting
Both offenses have pop, and lots of it. The two-week timespan should allow us a true indicator of the best team. No flukes. And if that's the case, Bob definitely has the better hitting, led by Ryan Bruan and Prince Fielder.
Advantage: Bob

Pitching
Bob's pitching was lights-out last year, but Joe's has been lights out all year. Much like Bob's hitting, Joe gets the edge here because of his year-long consistency in the category.
Advantage: Joe

Managing
Both managers pulled the right strings last week - Bob with Freddy Garcia, Joe with Kurt Suzuki. The stiffing should not be as essential this week. Both teams have their four moves to make, and I'm sure both will. Will they use it on pitching or hitting, though, especially if key players don't play down the stretch. Bob has been the better manager throughout the year, but Joe has been the best playoff manager in league history.
Advantage: Even

Prediction (2-2 record): 11-9 Bob
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