Category: About Tout Wars

Down to the Wire: The Tout Wars AL Pennant Race

Joe Sheehan, down many points but with a glint of hope, wrote:

What has to go right for you to win?

 I have to, at minimum, steal points from Larry where I’m directly behind him — WHIP (I trail by .012) and runs (I trail by 19). That means getting a couple of starts from Felix Hernandez, it means maximizing playing time that last week. Honestly, I need Larry to have another bad week, and there aren’t that many places for him to lose points with a week to go.

 What could go wrong that would cause you to lose?

 Lack of save opportunities. I can make up ground if Frieri, Balfour and Rivera can finish big.

Larry Schechter wasn’t taking anything for granted:

As I write this, I’m ahead by 12 points with 11 days to go. Not much has to go right for me to win, I just need to avoid an epic collapse. It’s not over, because Joe Sheehan (and possibly even Wolf/Colton) theoretically could win. There are enough points they can gain, and I can lose, in the various categories, that it could happen. But it’s highly unlikely, almost everything would have to be great for one of them and everything awful for me, in almost every category, for the last 11 days.

But being a Red Sox fan, and having watched their collapse two September’s ago, I’m not celebrating anything yet.

Doubt Wars Mixed! Looking backward.

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Top 10 12 Most Coveted Tout Wars Mixed Buys

Josh Johnson ($9): Thirteen teams jumped on the Josh Johnson bandwagon for less than a dime, and paid the price. BUST

Salvador Perez ($11): Thirteen teams thought Salvador Perez would beat expectations, but he has slowly risen to meet them. MEH

Ernesto Frieri ($8): Theoretically supplanted out of spring training, nine teams saw in Frieri’s low price and Madson’s fragility the makings of a bargain. Instead they got par support and a little agita. MEH

Julio Teheran ($6): Nine teams said the Tout Price was too low, and have been rewarded solidly by Teheran’s emergence. HIT

Casey Janssen ($7): More closer indecision led to eight teams jumping on Janssen, and scoring big for less. HIT

Jon Lester ($13): Eight teams had a feeling about Lester, call it an itch they weren’t able to scratch. MEH

Emilio Bonifacio ($7): Any of the eight teams in mixed leagues that snatched up this bargain-priced Bonifacio would have bailed long ago, though since his trade to Kansas City he’s run as was hoped and is starting to approach expectations for the year as a whole. BUST MEH

Mike Moustakas ($10): The low batting average last year scared down his Tout Wars price, and those who seized on the fire of his power potential in Doubt Wars got burned. BUST

Paul Konerko ($14): Sometimes a player looks like he’ll never get old, and eight teams see a falling price and buy. In this case, appearances were deceiving. BUST

Alcides Escobar ($7): Inexpensive middle infielders were valued, and eight teams took a chance on Escobar, whose 2012 BA was a big surprise. This year there was a correction. BUST

Domonic Brown ($7): A hot spring was the tip off and eight Doubt Wars teams jumped. While he’s missed time because of injuries, and he started slowly, when he’s been hot he’s been one of the top power hitters in the National League. BIG HIT

Matt Harvey ($8): He was consistently the best pitcher in the National League for the first four months of the season, delighting his eight Doubt Wars Mixed owners. GIANT HIT