Economists talk about the law of declining marginal value. The first donut on your plate is more valuable to you than the second one, even though both donuts have essentially the same value in the marketplace. Declining marginal value (along with comparative advantage in production and differences in taste) are the keys to why markets can provide potentially inexhaustible opportunities for positive sum consensual exchanges. If I have two donuts and you have two bananas, we’re both better off making a trade even though at the end the market valuation of our assets hasn’t changed.
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Declining marginal value explains why some people throw pop bottles out of their cars and other people pick them up. It also helps explain some curious moves we make in the EFL.
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EFL Standings for 2017
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 88 | 42 | .678 | — | 733.4 | 502.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 86 | 45 | .653 | 3.1 | 680.0 | 494.6 |
| Haviland Dragons | 84 | 46 | .647 | 4 | 772.3 | 569.4 |
| Cottage Cheese | 83 | 47 | .638 | 5.3 | 701.0 | 523.4 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 76 | 53 | .593 | 11.2 | 742.1 | 604.2 |
| Kaline Drive | 74 | 56 | .566 | 14.6 | 654.1 | 571.1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 72 | 57 | .559 | 15.5 | 636.1 | 571.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 71 | 60 | .538 | 18.1 | 658.8 | 596.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 63 | 67 | .481 | 25.6 | 621.4 | 647.3 |
| D.C. Balk | 51 | 79 | .390 | 37.5 | 640.0 | 805.8 |
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Pittsburgh:W, 3 – 2. (.273, .394, ,409; 8 ip, 2 er). So this is how the elites live. The other day the Dragons sent Kevin Gausman to the minors mere hours before he went 7.7 scoreless innings. Those of us huddled masses in the lower reaches of the league were agog at such conspicuous consumption, where entire brilliant starts are tossed in the trash untasted! Now here some the Alleghenys, intent on proving that they, too, can toss away riches without batting an eye: they sent Daniel Gossett to the minors just before he pitched 6.7 innings with just 2 earned runs. But they one-upped the Dragons, because they showed they had no use for merely excellent pitching because they have Corey Kluber (8 ip, 2 er). Never mind that they used to have Kluber and tossed him aside when he wasn’t pitching like an absolute ace, leaving it to the Wolverines to provide him a place to blossom into the second-best pitcher on the planet (according to Bill James). (May require a $3 per month subscription. You should pay for it.) And when the W’s could no longer give Kluber the pennant-race showcase he deserves, they unselfishly arranged for him to find a venue suited to his skills, which is how the A’s got a chance to get him back, even though their motive is to beat up the pennant race and leave it in the ditch.
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But I digress. My point is this: the rich and famous throw away perfectly good pitchers the rest of us would treasure. I can see why some people are socialists.
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Flint Hill: W 2, L (-1); 4 – (-1). (.214, .290, .286; 10 ip, 0 er). Jeff Samardzija is only the 22nd best pitcher on the planet, according to Bill James. But his 9 inning, 3-hit complete-game shutout was the best in baseball yesterday. Keynan Middleton added a scoreless inning just for show. Of all the EFL teams, the Tornados are doing the most lately to sustain a pennant race.
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Haviland: DNP, (-4) – 0. (.150, .182, .200; 0 ip, 0 er). It takes a special effort to lose runs on a day off. The Dragons made that effort, going 3 for 20 with a double, a walk, and a hit-erasing GDP.
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Cottage: W, 5 – 4. (.304, .360, .304; 9 ip, 4 er). Luis Severino is the 49th best pitcher, but he may have been just a shade off his game yesterday: 6.7 ip, 3 er. Martin Maldonado is the 169th most valuable position player (according to Fangraphs). He went 3 for 3 to lead the Cottage attack.
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Portland: DNP, 3 – 2. (.250, .344, .536; 4.7 ip, 4 er). Antonio Senzatella is the 131st best pitcher. He went 3.7 ip, 4 er. Logan Morrison is the 49th most valuable position player, and Manny Machado is the 5oth: they went 2 for 4 (with a double, homer, and a walk) and 3 for 5 with a double, respectively.
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Kaline: W 2, L (-2); 6 – (-5). (.485, .541, .848; 11 ip, 2 er). Wow! What a great day to be a Drive! Marcus Stroman (#29) and Jhoulys Chacin (#67) combined to complete 11 ip with only 2 earned runs. Christian Vazquez (#159) went 4 for 4 with a double and a homer (plus a stolen base!) to lead the indomitable Drive attack.
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Peshastin: DNP: (-2) – (-3). (.240, .367, .400; 12.7 ip, 3 er). Like the Drive, only on a more moderate scale. Kevin Kiermaier (#98) led the Pear attack (ha ha! A pear attack! Who’s afraid of Pears?), going 2 for 2 with 2 walks and a 2b, and scoring 2 runs. But the key here was Max Scherzer (7 ip, 1 er). Can you guess where Scherzer ranks on Bill James’ list of best pitchers? Hint: it’s 111 places higher than Trevor Williams ( 5 ip, 2 er).
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Old Detroit: W, 3 – 1. (.188, .278, .375; 7 ip, 1 er). We have been waiting for almost 3 years to get something out of Andrew Heaney. He has been injured for 2 of those years. He finally emerged on an EFL mound a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday was his third start of the season. Even after his brilliant 6 ip, 1 er, 10 k outing, Heaney is only the 206th best pitcher in the world, per Bill James. I expect that rating to ascend. The Wolverine offense was almost entirely Christian Yelich (#31 most valuable position player, best on the W’s): 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk.
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Canberra: W, 10 – 7. (.545, .615, .909; no pitching). If you are only going to send three batters to the plate, it would be hard to do better than Tim Beckham (#45, 1 for 4 with a HBP), Chris Davis (#228, 2 for 3 with a double and a walk) and Jonathan Lucroy (#223, 3 for 4 with a homer). Hmmm. Maybe Davis and Lucroy have been underperforming all this time. Also, it’s such a pity: Daniel Gossett would have been a hero if he was a Kangaroo.
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DC: “W”, 5 – 6. (.313, .333, .438; 1.7 ip, 0 er). The Balkan offensive leader yesterday was Eduardo Nunez (#117): 2 for 4 with a homer and a walk. He got help from #102 Welington Castillo (3 for 4) and #100 Andrew Benintendi (2 for 5 with a double).
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 86 | 45 | .653 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 74 | 57 | .565 | 11.6 |
| New York Yankees | 70 | 60 | .538 | 15.1 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 71 | 60 | .538 | 15.1 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 66 | 65 | .504 | 19.6 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 66 | 67 | .496 | 20.6 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 61 | 70 | .466 | 24.6 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Washington Nationals | 79 | 51 | .608 | — |
| Miami Marlins | 66 | 64 | .508 | 13 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 63 | 67 | .481 | 16.5 |
| Atlanta Braves | 57 | 72 | .442 | 21.5 |
| New York Mets | 57 | 73 | .438 | 22 |
| D.C. Balk | 51 | 79 | .390 | 28.3 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 49 | 81 | .377 | 30 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 88 | 42 | .678 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 74 | 56 | .569 | 14.2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 67 | 63 | .515 | 21.2 |
| Kansas City Royals | 64 | 66 | .492 | 24.2 |
| Detroit Tigers | 57 | 73 | .438 | 31.2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 52 | 77 | .403 | 35.7 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cottage Cheese | 83 | 47 | .638 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 70 | 60 | .538 | 12.9 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 63 | .519 | 15.4 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 65 | 65 | .500 | 17.9 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 63 | 69 | .477 | 20.9 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 55 | 76 | .420 | 28.4 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 84 | 46 | .647 | — |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 51 | .608 | 5.1 |
| Kaline Drive | 74 | 56 | .566 | 10.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 67 | 65 | .508 | 18.1 |
| Seattle Mariners | 66 | 66 | .500 | 19.1 |
| Texas Rangers | 64 | 66 | .492 | 20.1 |
| Oakland A’s | 58 | 73 | .443 | 26.6 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 91 | 38 | .705 | — |
| Portland Rosebuds | 76 | 53 | .593 | 14.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 72 | 57 | .559 | 18.8 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 73 | 58 | .557 | 19 |
| Colorado Rockies | 71 | 60 | .542 | 21 |
| San Diego Padres | 57 | 74 | .435 | 35 |
| San Francisco Giants | 53 | 80 | .398 | 40 |