Baseball Board Bets: Those Foolish Enough To Challenge DME

Because we all know these are the bets that count...

David "MVP" Eckstein v. The Bright One (7 bets)
WINNER: DME (5-2)

1) Will DME's fantasy team have a WHIP under 1.20?
DME: Of course! Why do you doubt my fantasy skills?
TBO: Absolutely not. Not two years in a row.
WINNER: DME -- Won it on the last day, courtesy of Beach Boy Brian Wilson.

2) Max Scherzer or Justin Masterson?
TBO: Dirty Scherzer
DME: Masterson, even though Lefties kill him
Winner: TBO, and it wasn't close.

3) Does Kendry Morales have 25 HR power?
DME: Barely (25 or less)
TBO: Nope (26 or more)
Winner: DME -- Morales ended the season (prematurely) with 11

4) Does Kelly Johnson reach the 20 HR plateau?
DME:Yerp
TBO: Nerp
Bill James: 14 (total)
WINNER: DME -- Johnson dinged 26.

5) Yahoo End of Season Player Rater: Evan Longoria or David Wright?
DME:Wright!
TBO: Longoria!
WINNER: DME -- Wright was the No. 3 man at the hot corner (#21 overall), behind Jose Bautisa (#8 overall) and Adrian Beltre (#18 overall). It was close, however, as Longoria, the #24 player in fantasy, was the fourth best third basemen in 2010.

6) Yahoo End of Season Player Rater: Jose Guillen or Vernon Wells
DME: Jose Guillen
TBO: Vernon Wells
WINNER: TBO -- Guillen was #270, Wells was #70

7) Unlisted Bet: Over Under Jose Bautista Home Runs: 29.
DME: Over
TBO: Under
WINNER: DME -- 54!


David "MVP" Eckstein v. Sexy Rexy (25 bets)
WINNER: SEXY REXY (15-9-1)
You can check out each of the DME vs Sexy Rexy bets and outcomes by clicking here


David "MVP" Eckstein v. Cubsfan4ever (6 bets)
WINNER: PUSH (3-3)
You can check out each of the DME vs Sexy Rexy bets and outcomes by clicking here

David "MVP" Eckstein's THT Board Bets (21 bets)
WINNER: DME (3-1)

1) Dan Haren vs. Zack Greinke (July-September numbers).

DME: Haren -- improved peripherals plus unlucky HR/FB rate plus top 5 MLB-defense = Haren is bound to turn his season around. Greinke's F-Strike% and Swinging Strike rate, on the other hand, have regressed from last year.
andrewakamds (Twitter): Greinke: He did not start the season sharp, but numbers are much improved in June.
WINNER: DME -- Haren put up a 3.34 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 105 IP, 5 W, 91:28 K/BB line in the second half, where as Greinke put up a 4.72 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 101 IP, 5 W, 80:33 K/BB

2) Bud Norris v. Manny Parra (July-September numbers).
DME: Bud Norris -- the wins will be sparse, as the Astros are one of the major's worst offensive teams, but Norris has is the MLB-leader in K/9 amongst starters and his control peripherals are not nearly as bad as his ugly 5.36 BB/9 indicates (mlb-avg F-strike%, for instance). I will concede, however, that his extreme FB ways are quite concerning.
Josh Shepardson: Manny Parra -- Consider me guilty of being a sucker for Manny Parra the last two seasons, but this year he appears to be turning the corner to some degree. My interest in Parra seemingly every season is the result of two things—namely, his decent strikeout rate (which is even better this year than in the past) and his solid groundball rate (which again is even better this year than in the past). Parra's biggest problem throughout his career has been his propensity to issue walks (4.38 BB/9 for his career) and this season has seen Parra post a BB/9 of 4.00, still higher than owners would hope for, but better than his career mark.
WINNER: DME -- and it wasn't even close.

3) Who will have a better second half: Johan Santana or Cole Hamels? (as determined by being better in more of the standard pitching categories)
DME: Cole Hamels. Santana's not the pitcher of old and the poor whiff numbers will inflate his expected ERA. Also, the Mets do not hit nearly as much as the Phillies. xFIP numbers are not particularly fond of Johan anymore. Hamels, on the other hand, gets tons of whiffs and walks very few batters. The xFIP gods smile fondly upon him
D. Kerstein: Johan Santana. He's a beast!
WINNER: DME -- Hamels blew Santana away in ERA, K-totals, K/9, and WHIP. He had more Wins too. Santana had a lower BB/9, however.

4) Who will have a better season: Victor Martinez or Ryan Doumit?
DME: Ryan Doumit. So long as the injuries are behind him, this guy can hit (at least for a catcher). I'm predicting a classic .275/15 HR/5 SB/60 RBI season. On the other hand, Martinez is old, hitting less line drives and has overrated power. I see his ceiling as .280/15 HR/0 SB/70 RBI. The numbers will be close, but I got my catcher in the last round.
D. Kerstein: Victor Martinez. It's V-Mart.
WINNER: D. Kerstein. Ryan Doumit got injured and utterly sucked in the second half, whereas Martinez turned his whole season around.