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.