August 29, 2009

The Mets' loss of Johan Santana for the remainder of the season probably means much less to their dismal 2009 campaign as it does to the pool's standings. Despite the fact that most of our current contenders lost a point since the last full update due to Santana's falling out of the NL wins lead, 4 of the top 11--including 5th place Aaron Smith--benefited from this development.

Defending champion Jon Pauley is back on top, primarily on the strength of Joe Mauer's run at the AL batting title. Or, at least that's the reason he's moved from top 10 to #1. Aaron's ascension into the top five is aided by Mark Teixeira's move into the AL RBI lead. With a low HBP total, Aaron will have to win outright, though.

With just over a month to go in the season, it seems that more people have a chance to win this thing than has ever been the case this late. I could be wrong, but with 11 of 33 participants holding either four or five categories, and an additional 11 with three, the big prize is still up for grabs. We'll be providing a little more in-depth analysis during a final month that looks like it's going to be pretty interesting.

August 22, 2009

This Day in Pool History: August 17, 2007

August 16, 2009

August 12, 2009

August 9. 2009

August 5, 2009

August 2, 2009

Due to the ever-shifting nature, and all-or-nothing rewards system, of the pool, we've seen quite the turnaround in just a few days time. With Jacoby Ellsbury re-taking the AL stolen base lead, Johan Santana moving into a tie for the NL lead in wins, and Tim Lincecum temporarily--that is, until Adam Wainwright pitches today--claiming the NL innings pitched lead, our collective performance has been elevated from pitiful to respectable.

Despite losing any hope that Cliff Lee will take the AL innings pitched category, Ali Armstrong jumps three points in four days to claim the lead with six categories, while Rob LaColla, Tony Wight, Joe Williams and Frank Gatland all improve by two or three each to round out the top five.

With Roy Halladay staying put, Lee turns out to be the only significant league jumper at the July 31 trade deadline. Jake Peavy also makes our league jumpers list (see right-hand column), but his injury troubles this year had already wiped away any chance he had to lead the NL in any categories. Note that, since the pool is about who leads their respective leagues in individual categories, HBP totals are the only statistic that carries over. So, Ryan Garko's shift to the NL has no impact on the pool, but unless Lee gets traded back to the AL, his chances of winning any categories are dead.