Week 17 MLB Power Rankings
Week 17 Power Rankings
Tier 1
1- Win’s Up Doc (13-3) [-]
Tier 2
2- Sporty Strauss (10-6) [-]
3- Wait ‘ Til Next Year (10-6) [-]
4- $traight Cash Homie (9-7) [+1]
5- Cooper Troopers (10-6) [+2]
6- Ornery Otters (8-8) [-2]
7- The Pullies (9-7) [-1]
Tier 3
8- The BamO’s (7-9) [-]
9- Las Cabras (7-9) [-1]
10- Minnesota Moose Knuckles (6-10) [-]
11- DTC Porkchop Express (3-13) [-]
12- Shepherd Goods Choppers (4-12) [-]
(Tier 1) Despite somehow having some trouble with DTC Porkchop Express, there is only one team in Tier 1 – Win’s Up Doc (1). Oat’s team is the strong presumptive favorite to win it all, but he’s not getting the draws that he wanted in the playoffs below him (outlined later). Still, his team was near the tops in the league this week in points, and he’s going to have an excellent chance to win MLB. Now it just depends on what happens with Sporty Strauss.
(Tier 2) Sporty Strauss (2) clinches a playoff berth, but he also gets something even more enticing – a playoff date with the Cooper Troopers, the dream Round 1 opponent. This means that Sporty Strauss will be (heavily) favored to make it to Round 2 where the League of Leagues will be decided. Just by making Round 2, Sporty Strauss forces Win’s Up Doc to win MLB outright if Oat wants to be the League of Leagues champion. And if Sporty Strauss wins in Round 2, he clinches a LEAGUE OF LEAGUES victory!
Sporty Strauss’ ideal Round 2 opponent is Wait ‘Til Next Year (3), who has been somewhat faltering of late. He’s entirely beatable, and Strauss will hope that the 6-seed (likely the Ornery Otters) beats the 3-seed so that Strauss can play Wait ‘Til Next Year to make the championship game. However, if the 3-seed beats the 6-seed, Strauss would head to Win’s Up Doc in a matchup of absolutely epic proportions.
The Cooper Troopers (5) and Wait ‘Til Next Year (2) were mentioned above, and it’s worth acknowledging that the #Fhima’s Division is still up for grabs. But the Cooper Troopers would need to win and Wait ‘Til Next Year would need to lose for this to happen. Then Coop, absurdly, would draw a BYE. In general, by making the playoffs, the Cooper Troopers have practically clinched not getting last place based on the current construct of points, tanking teams and what would need to go wrong in order for it to happen.
The Ornery Otters (6) take on DTC this week in a must-win game, but they will make the playoffs with a win by virtue of having tiebreakers vs all of the other playoff hopefuls. Korey can practically punch his ticket now.
Last in Tier 3 are $traight Cash Homie (4) and The Pullies (7) who play a win-or-go-home matchup this week. Whoever wins takes the division (and the gift card) and whoever loses goes into the Consolation Bracket (unless the Otters somehow lose). It’s a hilarious matchup of hapless teams that is highlighted in detail in the MATCHUP OF THE WEEK.
(Tier 3) The BamO’s (8) are officially out of contention for placing. It’s time for methodical lineup setting to avoid the MN Moose Knuckles (9) from getting higher first round draft picks. The Moose Knuckles themselves are trying to lose, but they’ll likely be stuck playing in the 9th/10th place game against Las Cabras or a Consolation BYE team.
That’s because the SG Choppers (12) are the Moose Knuckles’ likely first-round opponent, and they are a DISASTER! Dye should be the hands-on favorite to lose MLB right now, and it could get him last place in the entire league.
Las Cabras (9) will hopefully be on their game in the playoffs. With Wait ‘Til Next Year floundering, Las Cabras could EASILY get 3rd place if Kyle and Korey lose in the 2nd round (or 1st round). That’s a $1000 payday split between both Jordan and Trev and a welcome reward despite tanking.
Then there is the DTC Porkchop Express (12) who have tried hard to tank, but could end up being in the middle of the LoL Standings. Those two points between last-place and second-to-last could mean everything for Craig.
Current Playoff Seeding
Win’s Up Doc (13-3) *BYE
Wait ‘Til Next Year (10-6) *BYE
The Pullies (9-7)
Sporty Strauss (10-6)
Cooper Troopers (10-6)
$traight Cash Homie (9-7)
Consolation Bracket
Ornery Otters (8-8) *BYE
The BamO’s (7-9) *BYE
Las Cabras (7-9)
MN Moose Knuckles (6-10)
SG Choppers (4-12)
DTC Porkchop Express (3-13)
PROJECTED Playoff Seeding
Win’s Up Doc (14-3) *BYE
Wait ‘Til Next Year (11-6) *BYE
The Pullies (10-7)
Cooper Troopers (11-6)
Sporty Strauss (10-7)
Ornery Otters (9-8)
PROJECTED Consolation Bracket
$traight Cash Homie (9-8) *BYE
The BamO’s (8-9) *BYE
Las Cabras (7-10)
MN Moose Knuckles (6-11)
SG Choppers (4-13)
DTC Porkchop Express (3-14)
Week 16 High Score
$traight Cash Homie (Jack)
750+ points points
Notes: $traight Cash Homie does this annoying thing where he has his best weeks against terrible teams (Choppers) and struggles against good ones. Still, it has to feel good to bend a team over this much. That won’t matter if Jack can’t continue this performance and make the playoffs to try to avoid last place.
Week 16 Low Score
SG Choppers (Dye)
520+ points
Notes: The Choppers are the ones that got bended. This ends up being a 200+ point victory, an absolute pounding. Dye has the worst team in the league, and his team is falling apart at the right time.
Week 16 MVP
Justin Verlander (Sporty Strauss)
69.5 points
Notes: With .5 points over a #nice score, JV comes in clutch for Sporty Struass. In a game he absolutely HAD to win, Strauss comes out on top. If he had lost, he would have had to beat top-seeded Win’s Up Doc just to make the playoffs. Now, he’s in and can start looking ahead to mounting a defense of his top-pointed team in the League of Leagues from Thanos’ fury-filled obsession with infinity points.
Week 16 LVP
Robbie Ray (Ornery Otters)
-13 points
Notes: On the flip-side, the Ornery Otters’ loss puts them at jeopardy of missing the playoffs thanks to Robbie Ray’s AWFUL performances. More of these and Korey could drop his game to the DTC Porkchop Express of suckiness. But Korey has openly stated he’s willing to lose to get a better draft pick and make sure he can get a running back in football.
Week 17 Matchups
Nolo’s Division
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs Sporty Strauss (2)
Ornery Otters (6) vs DTC Porkchop Express (11)
Fhima’s Division
Wait ’Til Next Year (3) vs Las Cabras (9)
Cooper Troopers (5) vs MN Moose Knuckles (10)
Shepherd Goods Division
$traight Cash Homie (4) vs The Pullies (7)
The BamO’s (8) vs Shepherd Goods Choppers (12)
Week 17 MATCHUP of the WEEK
$traight Cash Homie (4) vs The Pullies (7)
Notes: The winner of this game takes the #Shepherd Goods Division. The loser misses the playoffs. These are the highest stakes for two sorry franchises, both of whom are playing to avoid last place.
It’s unlikely, but The Pullies could still procure last place. Though they have a Consolation BYE locked up with a loss and their MLB point minimum is 3, that’d put them at a grand total of 13 points. If Jack inched up to 4th place overall, they could be either sharing last place. Even if The Pullies ended up in 8th place for 15 points total, Jack could still get 2nd overall in MLB and stick The Pullies with the last place penalty (unless Dye lost MLB).
If $traight Cash Homie loses this game, they OFFICIALLY clinch last place, and we can start planning the last place penalty. He’d be on the clock for the Strauss Draft too and can start fielding calls for the #1 overall pick in the League of Leagues.
For the matchup itself, this is another oil-vs-water type of game. $traight Cash Homie has the dynamic hitting lineup with 10 out of 12 of his hitters being better than respective Pullies hitters. But The Pullies have the pitching. In a MASSIVE stroke of luck, The Pullies get to put Corbin Burnes, the 4th-highest scoring player in the entire league, out there TWICE against the Pirates and the Reds – two A++ matchups. Corbin Burnes could be on pace for a 70+ point week, dooming $traight Cash Homie to last place in the League of Leagues unless his hitting is ridiculous.
Jack elected NOT to add another starter at the trade deadline, and it shows here. If Luis Castillo doesn’t get a start for his new team in Seattle, he’ll have to stream. Even if he does, Frankie Montas is likely getting traded mid-week and shouldn’t be counted on for a rotation start. This staff could get MESSY in a hurry.
With the strength of The Pullies’ pitching and the messiness of $traight Cash Homies, expect The Pullies to take this division crown, a $200 Shepherd Goods gift card and a much lower Strauss Pick by beating $traight Cash Homie, who has a superior team. This is a fateful matchup matchup between two teams who have struggled all year long.
LINEUPS:
C - Keibert Ruiz vs Christian Vazquez
1B - Vlad Guerrero Jr. vs Trey Mancini
2B - Gleyber Torres vs Tommy Edman
3B - Austin Riley vs Kris Bryant
SS - Christopher Morel vs Francisco Lindor
CF - Aaron Judge vs Byron Buxton
CO - Yordan Alvarez vs Whit Merrifield
CO - Anthony Santander vs Mitch Haniger
DH - Austin Hays vs Shohei Ohtani
UTIL - Brendan Rodgers vs Patrick Wisdom
UTIL - Andres Gimenez vs Tyler O’Neill
UTIL - Christian Walker vs Jeff McNeil
UTIL - Lourdes Gurrel vs Eugenio Suarez
SP1 - Martin Perez (BAL) vs Corbin Burnes (@PIT)
SP2 - Luis Castillo (LAA??) vs Corbin Burnes (CIN)
SP3 - Sean Manaea (@LAD) vs Alek Manoah (@MIN)
SP4 - Zac Gallen (@CLE) vs Framber Valdez (@CLE)
SP5 - Frankie Montas (@LAA) vs Logan Gilbert (@NYY)
SP6 - Nick Pivetta (@KC) vs Logan Gilbert (LAA)
SP7 - Patrick Sandoval (@SEA) vs Jordan Montgomery (@STL)
SP8 - Andrew Heaney (@SF) vs Brad Keller (@CHW)
SP9 - Andrew Heaney (SD) vs Brad Keller (BOS)
SP10 - Dane Dunning (CHW) vs Jose Suarez (OAK)
$traight Cash Homie: Advantage at 10/20 positions
The Pullies: Advantage at 10/20 positions