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Tout Daily by FanDuel Finals! An Update!

There aren’t many innings left to play, but this thing is far from over. Here are the current standings. You can follow the real results at FanDuel.

Adam Ronis has a small lead, but it is tight! Key number is in the next to last column. That’s how many innings are left.

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UPDATE: Charlie Wiegert has 14 innings left to play. Other contending teams have players playing, but only Wiegert has Clayton Kershaw. A win for Kershaw catapults GodfatherCharlie to victory. And the Dodgers just went ahead, thanks to Chases Utley (who Charlie has, too).

ANOTHER UPDATE: Wiegert got more from Danny Valencia and has moved into the lead, even before Kershaw wins his game. Adam Ronis needs a miracle, a Kolten Wong homer and a Dodgers collapse to regain the lead.

NOTE: Of the Top Six teams, all started different pitchers.

 

Tout Daily by FanDuel Finals Are Tonight!

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And then there were 15.

Tonight, at 7:05pm ET, the 15 Tout Daily by FanDuel Finalists will compete for $2,000 in prices.  That’s $1,000 for the player with the highest score tonight. Second place is $500. Third place is $250. Fourth is $150. And Fifth place is $100.

The names are familiar. See the leaderboard here. Three players, Scott Engel, Adam Ronis and Scott Pianowski, have two entries each. How big an advantage does that give them? And how will they handle their two chances? We’ll find out tonight!

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FAAB Reports for August 24!

Mastersball.com surveys a surprisingly active week and notes one of the invidious effects of the Vickrey auction system.

In Tout NL, there were a number of interesting hitters available, and a number of bidders:

Steve Gardner: Domingo Santana 30 (27)

Brian Walton: Domingo Santana 26, Aaron Altherr 26 (25), Travis Jankowski 26, D Sweeney 26, Tommy Pham 2. Travis Jankowski 0

Phil Hertz: Domingo Santana 22, Aaron Altherr 22, Darin Ruf 22 (1), Travis Jankowski 22, D Sweeney 0.

Gene McCaffrey: Aaron Altherr 24

Scott Wilderman: Aaron Altherr 13,Tommy Pham 7 (1), Travis Jankowski 6, Darin Ruf 0

Tristan Cockcroft: Travis Jankowski 15 (1), Aaron Altherr 11, Jason Bourgeois 5 (2)

The bolds are the guys who bought the player, and the number in parentheses is the Vickrey reduced price. The issue here, I think, is the way Vickrey distorts the market, rather than reflect it. Clearly Domingo Santana and Aaron Altherr were preferred over Travis Jankowski, but in terms of pricing, the difference as set by Walton, Hertz and Wilderman is slight. But because of Vickrey, Santana and Altherr went for full price, while Jankowski’s price was cut from $15 to $1. It seems arbitrary, though it is worth noting that Jankowski was Cockcroft’s highest ranked hitter for the week, so it is fitting he got him.

I just think reducing big bids down to $1 demeans the process, making the reduction lucky rather than a reading of the market.

Mike Gianella discusses the week’s Tout AL and NL moves at Baseball Prospectus.

The Tout X Horse Race, Down To The Wire!

toutwarsXlogoFive months, five games, and Bret Sayre leads Patrick Mayo by 14.5 points in the race for the 2015 Tout X championship.

That happens to be identical to the 14.5 point lead that Sayre had over Mayo at the end of Game 1. The two have, ever since, traded blows from month to month, playing it even overall.

In fact, the high scorer in the four games since the opening draft on Tout Weekend has been Doug Anderson, who has managed to climb up into third place despite a disastrous opening frame. His 213.5 points over the last four games edges the 211.5 that Sayre and Mayo have posted.

You can see the whole leaderboard here.

Anderson trails Sayre by 31 points, slightly less than the lead Sayre opened up over Anderson in Game 1. It’s hard to see Anderson being able to close that gap in the final contest, especially since he also has to pass Mayo, whom he trails by 16.5 points. But that’s why they play the game.

Here is a link to the September Game standings.

One interesting aspect to this year’s Tout X Monthly Game is that MLB players can be owned by multiple teams. Who did the Top 3 pick this time round?

DOUG ANDERSON’S TEAM

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PATRICK MAYO’S TEAM

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BRET SAYRE’S SQUAD

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Head To Head for the 15th Ticket! UPDATE: Moyer Wins!

Steve Moyer and Rudy Gamble tied for the third ticket to the Tout Daily by FanDuel Finals, and face off today in a head to head match, winner gets the ticket.

Steve Moyer’s team leads, 30 to 25.5, but has nine fewer innings left to play. The only player shared by both teams is Clayton Kershaw.

Here are the teams as of 4:15pm ET. Click to Enlarge. Follow the action here.

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UPDATE: Right now, Moyer leads Gamble by 38.5 to 34. Moyer has Michael Conforto, who is 2 for 2 with a run in the Colorado/NY Mets game. Gamble has Ben Paulsen, who is 0-2. But home run from Paulsen puts these two teams perilously close to a tie.

UPDATE: Moyer Wins! Paulsen struck out to end the game, with a runner on second. If he’d hit a homer he would have scored seven points (4 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI), which would have moved Gamble ahead of Moyer by a quarter of a point. But that didn’t happen. Congratulations to Steve Moyer for winning the 15th ticket. See you all next Friday for the finals!

THE PLAYOFF RESULTS (click to enlarge):
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The Final Ticket! Head to Head Playoff Comes on Sunday!

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In Phase Five of Tout Daily, the unthinkable happened. Two teams, after four grueling weeks, tied for third place with 165.99 points. Neither, amazingly enough, finished in the Top 10 in Week 4 of Phase Five.

Meet Rudy Gamble and Steve Moyer.

We hadn’t anticipated this happening, which is no doubt why it did, but after much consideration and consultation, it was decided that a Head to Head playoff on Sunday would settle matters. Unless these very equally matched teams tie again, in which case they’ll go at it again on Tuesday.

How essential is this head to head playoff? One team, the winner, will earn a ticket to the Tout Daily Finals, on August 28th. $2,000 in prizes will be awarded to the top five finishers in the field of 15.

The other team, the loser, will go home.

Check in on Sunday for updates, and the final results (probably) Sunday night.

The Final 15! Engel and Pianowski Earn Second Tickets! Third Ticket in Dispute!

Scott Engel did not have a stellar week 4 of Phase Five of Tout Daily, but his lead going into the last week was so big he finished first easily overall, winning his second ticket to the finals.

Scott Pianowski had the seventh best finish for the week, which elevated him into second place for the Phase, and earned him his second ticket to the finals.

As for the Phase’s third ticket, Rudy Gamble and Steve Moyer have tied for the four weeks, each generating exactly 165.99 points. A fair and appropriate tiebreaker is being devised, to determine which of these teams will win the 15th ticket to the finals, the results to be announced soon.

stevegardnerAs for the week 20 contest, Steve Gardner rode Carlos Carrasco’s arm, and a big night from AJ Pollock, as well as solid performances from Joey Votto and Alcides Escobar, to a 10 point victory over Michael Beller. Gardner finished just 11 points out of third place, despite a disastrous week 3 in which his team totalled just two points.

Michael Beller overcame a weak performance from Wei-yin Chen, riding the thundering bats of Pollock, Marlon Byrd and Carlos Gonzalez to second place for the week.

Third place for the week went to Patrick Mayo, who had only one hitter finish with five or more points. That was the newly de-beareded Ben Paulsen, because Chris Sale’s big game and some smaller hitting was enough.

Here’s how Gardner did it for the week:

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One final bit of whimsy. The Top 3 finishers overall who did not win tickets to the finals:
Seth Trachtman, Brian Walton, and Jake Ciely. See the entire leaderboard here.

The Final Picks! Touts Swing For the Fences in Tout Daily’s Final Qualifying Week!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 20 contest. This is the last week of the last qualifying phase. The top three finishers in this phase will win tickets to the Finals, which will be held next Friday, August 28th. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Scott Engel has a huge lead in Phase 5, looking for his second ticket in the finals, but there are more than 20 teams within striking distance of second and third places. All it takes is one bad week to fall out of contention, as last week’s leaders, Paul Sporer and Steve Gardner, learned.

The leaderboard is here.

Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Adam Ronis (has two!), Lenny Melnick, Lawr Michaels, Tom Kessenich, Michael Beller, Jeff Boggis, Ray Murphy, Scott Engel, and Charlie Wiegert have tickets to the finals already.

Here are this week’s picks!

PHIL HERTZ

Brett Anderson ($7,200 at Houston) I’m eschewing the aces.

Miguel Sano ($4,000 at Baltimore) I like Sano’s matchup in Baltimore versus Wei-Yin Chen.

GENE MCCAFFREY

Chris Bassitt ($7,600 vs. Tampa Bay) Maybe the hardest night yet for the pitching with all the aces going, but they’re all on the road except for the lately-volatile Felix. I think that Bassitt has almost as good a chance to put up 15 points as any of them @ $7600.

Paul Goldschmidt ($4,400 at Cincinnati) At the same time it’s a great night for hitters and I’ll start at the top with relative bargain Paul Goldschmidt @ $4400 against a stiff lefty in a bandbox.

AL MELCHIOR

Jimmy Nelson ($8,000 at Washington) Nelson has been close to untouchable against right-handed hitters with a .191/.267/.278 slash line allowed. Bryce Harper and Jose Lobaton could be the only lefties in the Nationals’ lineup. Nelson should be able to extend his recent run of strong starts, as he has compiled a 1.70 ERA in seven outings with a 45/14 K/BB over 47 2/3 innings. Oh, and he’s limited batters to a .279 SLG over that period, too.

Jay Bruce ($2,900 vs. Arizona) Bruce has been a reliable power bat against righties, putting up a .232 Iso against them. The Diamondbacks starter, Rubby De La Rosa, has allowed a .306 batting average and 17 home runs against lefty batters over 69 1/3 innings this season.

ENO SARRIS

Andrew Cashner ($7,000 vs. St. Louis) Yes, Cashner has had some issues this year with the home run, and the ball in play. But he still throws in the upper nineties, and more importantly he’s in cold San Diego, where he has a career ERA of 2.67 and a home run rate that’s two thirds of his away home run rate. Only two games will be colder tonight, and the wind is blowing in for the Padres’ mulleted ace. Add in the fact that he’s up against the Cardinals—only three NL teams have hit fewer home runs for the Cards, and they recently lost Matt Holliday and Randall Grichuk to injury—and this is a great way to stack your lineup with studs.

Matt Wieters ($2,500 vs. Minnesota)Research by Jeff Zimmerman has shown that Tommy John surgery doesn’t affect position players at the plate, and Wieters is within a good week of his career numbers in most categories right now. Wieters is 40% better against lefties than righties over his career, and he faces a soft-tossing lefty in Tommy Milone… in a homer-happy park that will see temperatures better than all but four open-air parks tonight. In fact, Wieters is part of a double play for me, as I love righty Adam Jones enough to pony up.

MICHAEL BELLER

Wei-yin Chen ($8,100 vs. Minnesota) I’m going with Wei-yin Chen tonight. I love the matchup with the Twins, and I think the ownership will be awfully low with all the other options available. He stood out when I first saw the slate before I knew any prices, and the $8,100 tag made him a no-brainer for me.

A.J. Pollock ($4,200 at Cincinnati) He has been hot, he had a plus matchup, the diamondbacks are at the Great American Ball Park for power hitters, and $4,200 is a perfectly acceptable price. Count me in.

JEFF BOGGIS

Madison Bumgarner ($12,800 at Pittsburgh) I am in 10th place for phase 5, but I am only 10 points out of 3rd place for the elusive Golden Ticket for phase 5, so I can’t afford another lackluster week. There are a lot of aces to choose from tonight, but unfortunately they are facing each other. Bumgarner has been pitching lights out recently and is on the road in Pitcher-friendly PNC Park tonight against a beatable opponent in Jeff Locke. As much as I would like to save a little cash and start either King Felix Hernandez or Chris Sale, I don’t want to take on the added risk in the win category. Rostering Bumgarner leaves me with only $2,775 on average to roster 8 hitters.

Adam Jones ($3,900 vs. Minnesota) Jones has been hot as the weather here in Atlanta over the past week. In the past seven days, Jones is 10 for 27 (.370) with 6 runs scored, 4 home runs and 8 RBIs. He has a favorable matchup tonight against lefty Tommy Milone. Since I rostered Madison Bumgarner, this is a great value play with Jones having a salary under $4,000.

BRIAN WALTON

John Lackey ($9,000 at San Diego) There are aces galore available, but I am passing on them all to drop down to the number eight pitcher, John Lackey. The veteran right-hander has quietly posted a 2.87 ERA this season, stepping into the leadership gap for MLB’s top pitching staff vacated by injured Adam Wainwright. Lackey draws the Padres Friday night in spacious Petco Park.

Paul Goldschmidt ($4400 at Cincinnati) Goldschmidt is good anywhere, but looks even better against lefty David Holmberg at Cincinnati. Holmberg’s 5.95 ERA, coupled with Goldy’s 1.082 OPS against left-handed pitching this season, topped off by Great American Ball Park, where the first baseman has two home runs and eight RBI in 11 career games, makes for my recommended hitter play.

RAY MURPHY

Justin Verlander ($7700 vs. Texas) He hasn’t quite pushed his velocity back to peak levels yet, but he’s throwing harder in August than he has all year. That uptick seems to have crossed some sort of critical threshold for him, because his results have looked positively vintage for the last month: five straight dominant outings on our BaseballHQ Pure Quality Start scale, with a net of 5 BB/32 K in 36 innings over that span. Tonight’s opponent (TEX) is by no means a doormat, but at least the game is in Comerica.
Joey Votto ($4200 vs. Arizona) He never comes cheap, but rostering Verlander will allow me to afford him comfortably. Facing Rubby de la Rosa, who has struggled with LH batters all year, in hitter-friendly GABP, is a great building block for my lineup. Spoiler: I’ll very likely be using Jay Bruce ($2900) as well.

JAKE CIELY

Chris Sale ($12,200 at Seattle) 
Charlie Blackmon ($4,500 vs. NY Mets)

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Carlos Carrasco ($9600 at NY Yankees)  The Tribe has been a thorn in the Yankees side the past couple weeks, so I’m going out on a limb they can put up a good effort against Tanaka.  His last game was a complete game, so I’m hoping for lingering effects of all those pitches!  Hopefully Carlos will go deep into the game and continue throwing his K ball.

I like the match up of Rockies hitters against Bartolo Colon in the mile high city.  Carlos Gonzalez ($5,000 vs NY Mets), Jose Reyes ($3,600 vs NY Mets) and DJ LeMahieu ($3,500 vs NY Mets) will find a way into my roster.

STEVE MOYER

Chris Davis ($5000 vs Minnesota) This odd, occasional lefty/lefty matchup (Tommy Milone) tops the Inside Edge hitter board for tonight. Davis is hot and due for a dinger.
David Price ($11,700 at LA Angels) The top Inside Edge starter must be champing at the bit after seeing his bullpen blow what looked like a sure win a week ago.

TODD ZOLA

Chris Bassitt ($7,600 vs. Tampa Bay) LOADS of talented arms but I need to find a latent one with the ability to excel
Nolan Reimold ($2,200 vs Minnesota)— double dong potential with platoon edge on hittable Tommy Milone.

SCOTT SWANAY

John Lackey ($9,000 at San Diego) Most weeks I find at least one pitcher’s match-up that I can get excited about; tonight, I can’t.  So, I’ll go with the unspectacular but steady Mr. Lackey and hope for the best against an anemic Padres’ offense.  Others considered were Gio Gonzalez vs Mil (ruled him out because Jimmy Nelson has been pitching well lately) and Chris Sale @ Sea (ruled him out because King Felix is opposing him, and I doubt he’ll give up eight runs in a third of an inning tonight).
Jay Bruce ($2,900 vs. Arizona) Since I have a lot of ground to make up this week if I want to grab one of the final Golden Tickets, and home runs are the quickest way to the winner’s circle, you’re not getting into my lineup tonight unless you have a good deal of power and/or are facing a pitcher prone to give up the gopher ball.  Bruce qualifies on both counts.