Hooray for the Rosebuds!

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Portland Rosebuds	105	57	.651	—	1018.7	745.6
Flint Hill Tornadoes	104	58	.642	1.5	1002.6	746.1
Old Detroit Wolverines	95	67	.586	10.5	947.6	792.8
Peshastin Pears	90	72	.556	15.3	849.6	763.4
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	86	76	.533	19	841.0	771.4
Haviland Dragons	83	79	.515	22	908.7	875.8
Canberra Kangaroos	82	80	.503	23.9	904.7	902.8
Kaline Drive	80	82	.495	25.3	782.8	793.4
Cottage Cheese	77	85	.474	28.6	901.3	949.9
Bellingham Cascades	67	95	.413	38.5	725.7	874.5
D.C. Balk	65	97	.404	40	703.8	860.7
Brookland Outs	65	97	.404	40	760.2	921.8

      It was a nice gesture to avoid recording another win. This allows the Tornados to sort of pretend they ended up only 1 game out, when it was actually at least 1.46.

      Mookie Betts played what might be his last game for the Rosebuds, with his rookie status expiring.  He went 2 for 4 with a walk.  Yordan Alvarez and, somehow, Aristides Aquino also ended their briefer Rosebud tenures.  Alvarez went 0 for 4, probably overwhelmed with emotion.  But Aquino coolly walked twice and homered in three trips.  JD Davis homered and singled in his final two Rosebud at-bats, while Carlos Santana only managed a walk in three plate appearances, and Myles Straw bowed out of Portland with a double in four trips.  Nick Wittgren’s final Rosebud appearance was a scoreless inning despite allowing 2 hits.

      Brett Anderson, Matt Andriese, Brock Burke, Brad Hand, Merrill Kelly, John Means, Charlie Morton, Jacob Waguespack, Alex Avila, JT Realmuto, Eric Sogard and Fernando Tatis will also be available either as free agents or rookies next spring. That will leave the Rosebuds with 11 players on the roster, costing a total of $50,500,000. They will have the 28th or 29th draft pick, since they let the Astros and the Dodger end with better records.

      Flint Hill finished their best season ever, winning over 100 games, coming at least as close as 0.1 games behind in the last week, and pushing over the 1000 runs scored mark on the last day of the season.  For that they can thank homers by Yasmani Grandal and Teoscar Hernandez.

      Matt Barnes, Trevor Cahill, Aaron Civale, Taylor Clarke, Emmanuel Clase, Robert Dugger, Jacob Faria, Jace Fry, Zac Gallen, Zack Godley, Tony Gonsolin, JD Hammer, Joe Jimenez, Wade LeBlanc, and James Paxton will be available to the rest of us in either the rookie or the free agent draft.  And that’s just the pitchers!  Joining them will be Jose Abreu, Luis Arraez, Javier Baez, Travis d’Arnaud, Keston Hiura, JD Martinez, and Cameron Maybin —  22 in all. That will leave 11 big league players (only 3 of them pitchers) on the Tornado roster, costing $40,500,000.

              Plus one all-time great, costing another $25,000,000.

      Will Smith had his best day as a  Wolverine, also his last: 2 for 3 with a homer. Rafael Devers had a good day, but not his best, and also not his last, either: 3 for 5 with a double. Kind of like Trea Turner: 2 for 3 ith a stolen base.  Devers at 3rd, Turner at ss… Urias at 2b? He did a nice .300, .371, .425 in September.  Maybe Josh Bell will be the good Josh Bell now that the Pirates are dealing with their dysfunctions.  With Will Contreras back, that completes a pretty nice infield.

       The outfield will feature Eloy Jimenez (1.093 OPS in September), Kyle Schwarber (1.100), and… I don’t know! Maybe not, alas, Jorge Soler (48 HR, 1.136 in September) nor Bryan Reynolds (.880 on the season). Almost certainly not Lewis Brinson — he’s on sale remarkably cheap for a guy I traded Christian Yelich to get.  Walker Buehler and Robbie Ray will anchor the rotation, with Eric Lauer and maybe Jonathan Loaisiga also candidates, and Raisel Iglesias and Josh James in the bullpen. That’s 6 pitchers, so I’m ahead of the Tornados there.

      Bumgarner, Harper, Heaney, Keller, Kikuchi, Paddack, Plesac and Stroman will be available pitchers next spring. Ahmed (alas), Hanson, B. McCann, Muncy (sob), Reynolds (sigh), Riley, D. Smith Jr., W. Smith, and Soler (rats) will be available hitters. The Wolverines will go into the offseason with 17 players costing $26,000,000, more than 1/3 of it going to one player (Robbie Ray).

     Hmm.  My 17 players costing $26,000,000, or the Tornados’ one all-time great player costing a million less? If he makes the offer, what should I do? Would he trade Trout for Robbie Ray?

      The Pears ended up far closer to third than the W’s are to second place.  Jack Flaherty threw 7 more shutout innings to finish a great season. Flaherty is a Pear for three more years.

      The Pears are loaded with youth.  They lose only Bedrosian, Guilbeau, N. Ramirez, Wisler (again, for good this time you would think) among their pitchers.  They lose hitters Eaton, Fosythe, Solak, and C. Vazquez.  That leaves the Pears with a whopping 24 players and a payroll of $52,000,000. But $12,750,000 of that is owed to two veterans no longer on the Peshastin roster — Tyson Ross and Yangervis Solarte — who might not cost the Pears so much if they sign on with other teams this off-season.

      Not a stellar end to what will seem to spoiled Allegheny fans as a pedestrian year. But they were never in danger of falling to .500, they showed their usual skills at picking up great bargains in our drafts, and they have some clear strengths going forward.  I never count out the Alleghenys until the gossamer cords of math have finally pinned them down. Like today, for 2019.  Like nothing, yet, for 2020.

     Pittsburgh loses the following 5 pitchers to free agency or the rookie draft: Shaun Anderson, Tevor Gott, Cal Quantrill, Logan Webb, Alex Young.  Among batters they lose Pete Alonso (!), Bo Bichette, Seth Brown, Michael Chavis, Tyler Flowers, Brian Goodwin, Ender Inciarte, James McCann, Juirckson Profar, and Kirt Suzuki. That’s 15 players gone, leaving 18 behind costing $72,750,000.

      Good pitching rescued subpar hitting on the last day of 2019 for the Dragons.  The Dragons will lose pitchers Brennan, Del Posos, Duplantier, J. Fernandez, H. Harvey, and M. Perez from their pitching staff.  Hitters Bader, Hilliard, Lamb, N. Lowe, and P. Severino will also perforce dip into free agency.

       That’s only 10 players lost. So 24 remain at a cost of  $43,500,000.

       The Kangaroos got the win they needed to be clearly finish above .500.  Also, they squeezed past the 900 runs-scored mark on the last day of the season — and the 900 runs allowed, too, but they ended up with more runs scored than allowed on the season.   Blake Parker ended his Kangaroo tenure on a sour note, coughing up three earned runs in his one inning, but fellow Canexiter Dustin May repaired some of the damage with a scoreless inning. The only departing ‘Roo to bat, Tommy Edman, went 0 for 4, kindly making it just a little easier to say goodbye.

       Players leaving Canberra today on their long flights back home: pitchers May,  Parker, Poche, Puk, J. Suarez, Wieck, Yamamoto; plus batters  T. Beckham, Edman, A Mondesi, Senzel. Those 11 leave behind 24 players costing a total of $41,250,000.  However, the ‘Roos are on the hook to Corey Kluber for $13,000,000 per year through 2022. If the Indians exercise their club options for those years, Canberra’s obligation will be covered by Cleveland.  If the Indians don’t use those options, Canberra’s obligation will be reduced by any salary Kluber earns from a new contract.  So the total Kangaroo salary load going forward has a good chance of looking better.

      Unfortunately, the Drive had slipped off the .500 mark a little too far. Despite a nice win they finished 1.9 games off the .500 pace.

      Drives taking the exit ramp today include Agrazal, Littell, Milone, Wainwright, A. Garcia, O Mercado, Pollock, and Puello.  23 players remain, costing a total of $33,500,000 in 2020. The Drive also currently owe Mike Zunino $5,500,000 in 2020, which would make their total payroll $39,000,000, but if Zunino gets a new contract, or goes through arbitration or gets and extension, Kaline’s obligation will be reduced by whatever Zunino gets next year.

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       It appears the Cheese reached their sell-by date a day too soon, given the way they stank it up on closing day.  Three hits was all the offense could muster. Yonny Chirinos nearly chulked (2.7 ip, 4 er).*

       Those on their way out the Cottage door today include pitchers Allen, C. Anderson, Kela, and B. McKay.  Batters battering down the doors to get out were Ford, J. Polanco and Ramos.  Since they only lose 7 players, the Cheese will have 23 left on the roster at a total cost of  $48,500,000.

* By the way, Jamie, a chulk occurs anytime a pitcher allows twice as many earned runs as innings completed.  It is named after the immortal Vinnie Chulk, who had a marked affinity for pitching like this.  If the pitcher allows 3 times as many earned runs as innings pitched, it’s a triple chulk;  a multiple of 4 produces a quadruple chulk, and so on.  If the pitcher allows 10 times as many runs as innings pitched, it’s a Royal Chulk (always capitalized).  If the pitcher allows earned runs without getting any outs, it’s an infinite chulk, although if this is 1 or 2 runs with no outs we might go a little easy on the poor sap.

      It was a quiet closing day in the Cascades Sunday. The highest OPSing batter, former Wolverine Jacob Nottingham, got hit by a pitch in his only plate appearance. Nottingham’s entire September line is 0 for 1 with that HBP. He left a truly minimal footprint for the entire season: 2 for 6 with a homer, a single, and that HBP.  On the other hand, the man I traded him for, Brian McCann, was inactive (by my choice) all month, after providing me with 7 for 34 production with no extra bases in August. But now I have nothing, and Andre has Nottingham for four more seasons. I think I will end up regretting this deal.

      The Cascades end their maiden season, bidding farewell to pitchers Bailey, Boxberger, Delgado, Hellickson, Miley, and Stammen.  Hitters departing for the lowlands include Alberto, Bour, Culberson, R Davis, J Dyson, Gattis, Kozma, LaStella, Szczur, and Vogt.  Unfortunately these are mostly cheap players.  The remaining 16 players will cost $64,750,000.

     The Balk pulled it off.  They gained the 0.2 games they needed to catch the Outs.  And not a bit more.  This is one of the glories of the EFL:  there are no ties.  Sure, when Rob next sees Brooks, he can talk about how great it was that they tied at the end, since they have identical records, identical games-behind the Rosebuds (and, if you check, are an identical distance off the normal games behind in the MLB standings). There is nothing visible to identify which of them might be ahead of the other… except the math in Dave’s database, which apparently calculates the Balk’s winning percentage and/or games behind to be ever so slightly ahead of the Outs, when taken out beyond the three decimal points we can see.  So when Brooks isn’t around, Rob can say to himself “Yes, but I actually left you in the cellar, Mr. Lampe.”**

       Balks walking away today include pitchers D. Hudson, Sampson, and Walden, and hitters Holt, Kieboom, Kiermaier, Richie Martin, T Murphy, Naylor, A. Nola, and Yastrzemski (Mike, not Carl). This leaves 21 Balks costing $54,250,000.

       ** To which Brooks can reply (to himself), “Sure, but I get the first EFL pick in the draft, Mr. Bohall.” And smug he might rightfully be, since his team has mastered the art of simplicity, perfected so well that he only used on the last day of the season batters who would OPS 1.000 or better and pitchers who would allow no earned runs. Sure, he fell well short of a full game’s worth of players, but that’s the next step now that he has discovered what perfection looks like and how to attain it.

      This would be more impressive if the Outs were keeping their “perfect” players. But both pitchers (Swanson and Vincent) will be available in next spring’s draft, along with colleagues N. Anderson, Canning, Lovelady, and Smeltzer.  Of the five perfected hitters, Cron and Dozier will be leaving the Outs along with A Jones, G Polanco, and Juniors Guerrero and Gurriel. After they’re gone, 19 Outs will be left trying to remember how perfection is done, earning a total of $38,750,000.

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Finally, as an appetizer of what will be our primary diet for the next six months, here is the first VERY rough attempt to assess which team is in first place for the 2020 EFL championship:  the average cost of the players each franchise has as of today, the day after the 2019 season:

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This chart is clearly of almost zero significance.  It says nothing about the quality of the players we retain, nor does it mention our draft order. It doesn’t even reflect how many slots we have yet to fill. So maybe the Tornados are closer to a complete roster than the Wolverines, and only need a couple of players to have another 100+ win team next year.

Or maybe not.

It doesn’t matter today, anyway, because today we are celebrating the Portland Rosebuds, whose name will be etched forever, again, on the trophy they already have.

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AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes	104	58	.642	—
New York Yankees	103	59	.636	1
Tampa Bay Rays	96	66	.593	8
Old Detroit Wolverines	95	67	.586	9
Boston Red Sox	84	78	.519	20
Toronto Blue Jays	67	95	.414	37
Baltimore Orioles	54	108	.333	50

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Atlanta Braves	97	65	.599	—
Washington Nationals	93	69	.574	4
New York Mets	86	76	.531	11
Canberra Kangaroos	82	80	.503	15.5
Philadelphia Phillies	81	81	.500	16
D.C. Balk	65	97	.404	31.6
Miami Marlins	57	105	.352	40

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Minnesota Twins	101	61	.623	—
Cleveland Indians	93	69	.574	8
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	86	76	.533	14.6
Chicago White Sox	72	88	.450	28
Bellingham Cascades	67	95	.413	34.1
Kansas City Royals	59	103	.364	42
Detroit Tigers	47	114	.292	53.5

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
St. Louis Cardinals	91	71	.562	—
Milwaukee Brewers	89	73	.549	2
Chicago Cubs	84	78	.519	7
Cottage Cheese	77	85	.474	14.2
Cincinnati Reds	75	87	.463	16
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	.426	22
Brookland Outs	65	97	.404	25.6

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Houston Astros	107	55	.660	—
Oakland A’s	97	65	.599	10
Haviland Dragons	83	79	.515	23.6
Kaline Drive	80	82	.495	26.9
Texas Rangers	78	84	.481	29
Los Angeles Angels	72	90	.444	35
Seattle Mariners	68	94	.420	39

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	106	56	.654	—
Portland Rosebuds	105	57	.651	0.6
Peshastin Pears	90	72	.556	15.9
Arizona Diamondbacks	85	77	.525	21
San Francisco Giants	77	85	.475	29
Colorado Rockies	71	91	.438	35
San Diego Padres	70	92	.432	36