If you've ever run a fantasy league, you can appreciate the idea that a commissioner's worst fear is that things may not work out as expected; the structure turns out to be a mess, the league bombs, and owners don't enjoy themselves. I'm happy to say that I don't think that was the case for anyone in our inaugural season of fantasy baseball.
Did some owners struggle? Sure. Did they checkout early? In some cases, yes. But I hope that they'll look back on their season, make adjustments to their strategy and try again.
One of the great things that happened in our first year as a league is that the World Series matchup came down to the final day - something you always hope for as a commissioner, but doesn't always work out. Fortunately, in our league, the Los Perros Locos and Akes and Pain gifted us an exciting finale.
Over the first few days of the World Series, each team appeared to be playing to their strengths; the Perros' hitters were solid, and Pain's pitchers were tossing gems. Through the first 7 frames of the series, the Perros hitters had scored 158 with their pitchers contributing 71 while Akes and Pains hitters tallied 122 to support their pitcher's 158.
Midway through the game, Akes and Pain appeared to have the upper hand behind a quality pitching staff that helped them jump out to a 51-run lead, 280-229.
Realizing they needed to do something a bit drastic to avoid defeat, the Los Perros Locos did what any cornered dog would do: they hit the waiver wire and reinvented their pitching staff.
Signing a slew of two-start pitchers to their roster, the Perros featured a rotation of 7 SPs for the second half of the match. This strategy was two-fold: it gave them the opportunity to earn extra runs by capitalizing on points for Ws and Ks, and it caught Pain off guard, leaving them with fewer two-start pitchers to add to their lineup...something they've been very effective at doing all season.
And it worked.
Through the final 7 innings, the Perros' pitchers more than doubled their output, scoring 156 while their hitters continued to impress, scoring 189, for a total of 345 runs.
It also affected Akes and Pain in the way they intended. Over the second half of the game, without as many quality SP options, Pain's pitchers tallied 141...17 less than the first half of the contest. And without Ohtani in their lineup, Pain's hitters continued to struggle, putting up a mediocre 126, for a final score of 267 on the back nine.
In the end, the dogs had their day as the Los Perros Locos defeated Akes and Pain, 574-547 and claimed the first Sagebrush Cactus Baseball League Championship. Congratulations.
The 3rd place game - if you want to call it that - between You're Killing Me Smalls and the Tallahassee Tator Tots was a complete blowout with Smalls claiming the bronze, 690-448. That was surprising to me because the Tots were certainly one of the best teams for much of the season and I thought we would be treated to a close contest.
I don't know if it was exhaustion from a long season or the disappointment of playing for anything other than a title, but the Tots were flat out of the gate. Their hitters delivered some of their worst games of the season and their pitchers were even worse.
But let's not allow that to distract from the show that Smalls' players put on. Wow...690! What a strong finish to a good season. Congratulations.
And finally, let's not forget to congratulate our Consolation Bracket Champion, the Myrtle Beach Mermen. The Mermen put together a nice season and came very close to receiving an invite to the big dance. It's not surprising to me that they made light work of their opponents in the Consolation Bracket and I expect we'll see them in the playoffs next season.
Beside the fact that they're a quality team, I expect the Mermen will be contenders next season because we're expanding the playoffs to the top 3 teams from each division and changing each playoff round to last 1 week instead of 2. It just makes much more sense and I don't know that I can tolerate another postseason of 2-week contests...they were gruelingly slow.
Other changes we'll be considering during the off-season involve our scoring system...particularly regarding pitching. A balanced scoring system is important and I feel like we can do things to make it better.
There's no doubt pitchers like Spencer Strider throw a wrench in the works with ESPN allowing him to be used at a RP when, clearly, he should exclusively be a SP. To be sure, I don't fault anyone for taking advantage of loopholes like that in the format...I would do it too. In fact, you're an idiot if you didn't.
But unless ESPN were to regularly evaluate and adjust positional availability on a consistent basis, we will need to figure out a league structure that reduces these types of unintentional opportunities. Players shouldn't be available to be used at positions they haven't played all season, it's a flaw in my opinion.
I should also clarify that Strider is an extreme example...a unicorn. Rarely, if ever, will there be another SP as dominant as he is available to use as a RP. But certainly there are things we can do to make true RPs more valuable so that there is little-to-no incentive for almost any SP to be used in the RP spot.
When I find the time, I'll be reviewing a lot of season data to help guide us through considering changes and adjustments. And, as always, owners will be consulted - probably in the form of a survey or questionnaire - for their input before anything is done.
Thanks again for playing and I sincerely appreciate your efforts in helping us launch this league. I look forward to seeing you all again next season!
-- Commish
Thanks again! It was a blast. I know of a couple others who would be interested in a spot next year if someone doesn’t return… or if there’s an expansion.