Hacking Mass 2009

[NCCubFan]

Time to assemble your dream team of stiffs. Enter here and post your team in this thread. Winner gets $399 plus a signed, framed reproduction of a photo of Bud Selig. Top 10 finishers get a one-year subscription to Baseball Prospectus Premium. As in the past you can't actually set up a group, so we'll have to keep track by periodically posting results in here. My team is Stiffs 'R' Us:

 

C--Jason Kendall

1B--Billy Butler

2B--Mark Ellis

3B--Billy Hall

SS--Cesar Izturis

LF--Wladimir Balentien

CF--Willy Taveras

RF--Austin Kearns

P--Adam Eaton

P--Barry Zito

 

You have until midnight Pacific time Sunday, April 12 (Easter) to enter or to change your picks. After that rosters are locked for the season.

[Prior4CyYoung]

Team name Stifler's mom

 

C Jason Varitek

1b Kevin Millar

2b Bobby Crosby

3b Andy Laroche

ss jack wilson

lf erik byrnes

cf willy tavares

rf Jeff Francouer

 

Pitchers

Ian Snell

Jarrod Washburn

[ISUCubsFan]

I almost forgot about this, thanks for reminding me.

 

Manatee Community College

 

C - Kenji Johjima

1B - Kendry Morales

2B - Emmanuel Burriss

3B - Chone Figgins

SS - Cesar Isturis

LF - Wladimir Balentien

CF - Michael Bourn

RF - Ichiro Suzuki

P - Carlos Silva

P - Adam Eaton

[Clem Fandango]

The Big City Sliders

 

C Nick Hundley

1B Casey Kotchman

2B Freddy Sanchez

3B Brandon Inge

SS Marco Scutaro

LF Felix Pie (sorry, Felix)

CF Michael Bourn

RF Jeff Francouer

SP Kris Benson

SP Daniel Cabrera

[NCCubFan]

If yesterday was any indication I may need to reconsider Izturis as my shortstop. Perhaps I should also consider putting Fukudome on my team.

[bukie]

G.R.I.T.

 

C - Jason Varitek

1B - Daric Barton

2B - Akinori Iwamura

3B - Chone Figgins

SS - Jason Bartlett

LF - Garret Anderson

CF - Michael Bourn

RF - Jeff Francoeur

P - Justin Verlander

P - Livan Hernandez

[Clem Fandango]

G.R.I.T.

 

C - Jason Varitek

1B - Daric Barton

2B - Akinori Iwamura

3B - Chone Figgins

SS - Jason Bartlett

LF - Garret Anderson

CF - Michael Bourn

RF - Jeff Francoeur

P - Justin Verlander

P - Livan Hernandez

 

You might wanna change Barton con sidering he's not on the 25-man right now. Also he's buried behind Giambi and Garciaparra on the 1B depth chart this year so even if he was on the team he probably wouldn't get playing time.

 

Unless I'm reading the rules wrong. You're supposed to pick the worst players who get continual playing time right?

[NCCubFan]

You're supposed to pick the worst players who get continual playing time right?

Yes. You want hitters with a low batting average and pitchers with a high ERA, but combined with a lot of at-bats for hitters and innings pitched for pitchers, because they are weighting factors in the scoring system.

[ISUCubsFan]

You're supposed to pick the worst players who get continual playing time right?

Yes. You want hitters with a low batting average and pitchers with a high ERA, but combined with a lot of at-bats for hitters and innings pitched for pitchers, because they are weighting factors in the scoring system.

 

Yep, except they use OPS instead of batting average (so don't take Jack Cust). Here's the exact formula:

 

Simply pick the players who you think will be the stiffest at each position. A team's aggregate stiffness is measured by summing the ESPN (Exuded Stiff Points, Net) of all of the players on your team. For hitters, ESPN is 0.800, minus his OBP, minus his SLG, and multiplied by plate appearances - i.e., (.8-OPS)*PA. For pitchers, the formula is the pitcher's ERA, minus 4.5, times his innings pitched, divided by three, or (ERA-4.5)*IP/3. This results in similar Stiffness scores for the firmest hitters and pitchers.

[SouthSideRyan]

The Washington Nationals

 

C Pierzynski

1B Jason Michaels

2B Craig Counsell

3B Chone Figgins

SS Jason Bartlett

LF Eric Byrnes

CF Wily Taveras

RF Jose Guillen

P Carlos Silva

P Micah Owings

[CubbieBum]

Scrubaholics

 

Catcher Jason Varitek

First Base Rich Aurilia

Second Base Mark Ellis

Third Base Brandon Inge

Shortstop Cesar Izturis

Left Field Endy Chavez

Center Field Michael Bourn

Right Field Jose Guillen

Pitcher 1 Zach Duke

Pitcher 2 Daniel Cabrera

[treebird]

these guys here are dead

 

C Jason Varitek

1B Jason Michaels

2B Luis Castillo

3B Brandon Inge

SS Cesar Izturis

LF Wladimir Balentien

CF Michael Bourn

RF Jose Guillen

P1 Barry Zito

P2 Justin Verlander

[rocket]

Honey Nut Theriots

 

C: Jason Kendall

1B: Mike Jacobs

2B: Freddy Sanchez

3B: Chone Figgins

SS: Cesar Izturis

LF: Jerry Hairston

CF: Willy Taveras

RF: Austin Kearns

P: Livan Hernandez

P: Carlos Silva

[sneakypower]

if you don't have 6 padres on your team you're going to lose

[NCCubFan]

Just a reminder that you have until midnight Pacific time today (or tomorrow, depending on your time zone) to enter or make changes to your existing roster. After that you're stuck with your roster, for better or worse, for the rest of the season.

[CubbieBum]

After Duke's impressive pitching so far I decided to swap him for Suppan.

[TruffleShuffle]

well they seem to have forgotten to lock the rosters, just like last year. so anyway here's what i've got:

 

C Jason Kendall

1B Travis Ishikawa

2B Alexi Casilla

3B Andy Laroche

SS Cesar Izturis

LF Wladimir Balentien

CF Willy Taveras

RF Austin Kearns

P Ian Snell

P Daniel Cabrera

[NCCubFan]

Kendall should be in the Hacking Mass Hall of Fame. He seems to be the consensus choice for catcher year after year.

[TruffleShuffle]

Kendall should be in the Hacking Mass Hall of Fame. He seems to be the consensus choice for catcher year after year.

 

no way. brad ausmus was the true pioneer among Hacking Mass catchers. reliable playing time and reliable horrendous offensive performance. 7 straight years of .682 OPS or worse, with more than 400 PAs each of those years. money in the bank.

[CubbieBum]

295th currently with 44 points. No one really killing me right now. I got two players at -5 and one at -1. Everyone else is positive.

[Clem Fandango]

Marco Scutaro and Freddy Sanchez need to stop being good. They're ucrrently sitting at -13 and -11. MY two best (or worst, hwoever you choose to look at it) are Kris Benson, with +17 and (sadly) Felix Pie with +10

[rocket]

i immediately regret picking mike jacobs

[NCCubFan]

Tied for 17th with 90 ESPN. Five of my players are in double digits, led by my pitchers (19 for Suppan and 17 for Zito). My worst performer is Kearns with 0 points; I don't have any negative at the moment.

[NCCubFan]

BTW, the perfect Hacking Mass team at this point:

 

C--Jason Kendall (15 ESPN)

1B--Big Papi (19)

2B--Alexi Casilla (16)

3B--Adrian Beltre (15)

SS--Alexei Ramirez (21)

LF--David Murphy or Carlos Guillen (14)

CF--Jacoby Ellsbury (14)

RF--Brian Giles (23)

P--Chien-Ming Wang (60) and Brian Moehler (30)

Total--227

 

The actual leader has 144.

 

Wang is completely lapping the field. He has twice as many points as the next highest score at any position.

[TruffleShuffle]

once again my pitching is hurting me. last year i would've finished 3rd if i'd stuck with my original pitchers. this year i have:

 

danny cabrera: he's been awful, giving up 34 hits + walks and striking out only 7 in 18 1/3 innings of work, but he was fortunate to have given up 7 unearned runs, so his ERA is a decent 4.42.

 

ian snell: has also been worse than his ERA, giving up 38 hits + walks and 4 HRs in just 22 IP, but he did toss a shutout (or at least gave up no earned runs in a start) and his ERA is 4.50.