TheBaseballStars

That’s the AC/DC tune stuck in my head today as I think about my positioning in each of my four leagues. I’m resting comfortably in second in the State League (TBS Home League), ninth in the SLO League, seventh in the Roto League, and in sixth in the Card League.

I’ve all but conceded defeat in SLO, and have actually gone into the seller’s market, dealing CC Sabathia, Carlos Lee and Adam Dunn for a pair of first-round picks, a couple of roster slugs, and a pair of young players, Evan Longoria and Jay Bruce. I’m not a huge Sabathia fan, and neither Carlos Lee nor Adam Dunn were keepers for me, so it made sense to “get younger.” The odd part about it is that I’ve also dropped some dead weight and picked up some nice players with value. I’m still competitive. More on that later.

But I want to spend the majority of this piece discussing the State League, and the dynamic of such lopsided standings. FreeSanJose currently has a stranglehold on first place leading me by 18 games, and third place by 24 games.

But this is all too familiar to me. In fact, during the prior two seasons, I was in FSJ’s shoes. I’ve led the league by nearly 30s games at the ALL-Star Break and managed to enter the post season as the top seed only to have my championship dreams ripped away from me by TheJon two straight years. So while I am thrilled in my weekly victories, I am also humbled by the overall standings.

Had this been a roto league (where there are no playoffs), the lead would appear insurmountable and some players would stop playing, or be a complete tool and drop all of their players, destroying all credibility in the league. But this is precisely why head-to-head is a more enjoyable format. Just like real-life baseball, the league’s champion is not always the best team or the guy with the best record at the end of the season — even though I do think that is a major accomplishment. The champion is the last man standing, the way it should be.

Our playoff format pits the top six teams against each other with the first and second seeds getting first-round byes. And while those byes give the top seeds an advantage, anyone who makes the playoffs has a shot at victory. This is why the guy in third through six place cannot rest on their laurels and figure they’ve got no shot because they’re more than 30 games behind the leader. And this is why everyone in the league should be active all the way through the end of the season.

In the right situation, a team in ninth of tenth place could come from nowhere, hurdle the bottom of the pack, grab the last playoff spot and then find itself marching through the hypothetical streets of title town.

This of course takes me back to the situation in SLO where I’ve seemingly all but given up. The key to dumping players when you’re out of contention is to get players in return that will keep you somewhat competitive. While I do not expect to add a third championship banner this season to Casa de Pedriodico, I know that if my guys get hot, anything can happen. Just do the league a favor and don’t start adding scrubs who are still in the minors or on the disabled list. Even if you’ve got no shot in the last week, see yourself as a possible spoiler — go ruin someone’s season.