Money Money Money....Money!

 Jessica Fletcher - contributing reporter

With $185M to spend, what do you do? Do you save that last penny hoping to sign a big name International Free Agent or do you splurge it all early on Free Agents? Is your coaching staff top of the line? Does your medical staff know more about medicine than Dr Fauci? Are you a good Canadian like daubs and spend it all on maple syrup and Tim Horton's? 

Here's a look at the payrolls pre-arbitration:

Rumor Mill

 Catherine Trammell - Contributing Reporter

Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but....

With Season 46 coming to a close, we look ahead to Season 47. If the rumor mill is correct, and it rarely is; here are a few rumors we've heard over the last few days:

• In Hall of Fame news, err rumors; it's been said Dizzy Leonard is paying anyone that will listen to his case for the Hall. It's a $5 gift card to Applebee's, which is why he must not be getting much reaction. Come on Dizzy, at least do McDonald's so people can get a McRib!!
• The commissioner has been spending a lot of time playing golf in Augusta, and some owners are starting to worry that he'll start playing favorites to the hometown Squeeze. 
• We expect to see a new team in the mix for big spending this offseason, but who will it be? Of the bottom 10 payrolls, Columbus, Vancouver, and Iowa City were close to a playoff spot. While Jackson actually made the playoffs with a low payroll. This writer expects to see them spend big in hopes to get past the first round next year. 
• A certain 33 yr old NY lead-off hitter and 1B is expected to hit the open market and looking to sign one final long term deal. He's coming off a max contract, but will New York owner alexng6888 be able to resign him?  
• Reports have numerous players being seen in Miami. Could this mean Florida is ready to make a run or are these players just on vacation in South Beach after a long season? The latter has the better odds in Vegas. 
• Cobbfather executives are rumored to be discussing forcing Vancouver to move to a US city due to the dispute of Bacon vs Canadian Bacon. Players seem excited as they are tired of making it rain with Loonie and Toonies. Just doesn't have the same effect and causes more injuries. Tim Horton himself is said to have been in contact with daubs2334 in an effort to keep them in Canada. Could that extra money translate to a big signing this offseason? 

If you have any future rumors that you'd like to be considered, please site mail then to minihouston. 

S46 Final Power Rankings

 Richard Castle - contributing reporter

Final Season 46 Power Rankings

Our computers have been offline since Season 37, I blame ERCOT; you can too! Future releases will have additional information provided, but for the time being here are the final rankings. 

The Record Books

Jack Torrance - Contributing Reporter

Winner Winner....Chicken Dinner. 

Congratulations to alanharwell and the Helena Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dogs claiming the Season 46 ML World Series championship! Amazing run that saw them only lose 2 playoff games and a stellar .186 OAV, 1.00 WHIP, 1.71 ERA. Their bats were no slumps, hitting 18 HRs in 13 games and scoring a playoff most 59 runs. 

In minor league news:
AAA: Anaheim over Florida 4-1
AA: Jackson over Buffalo 4-1
A+: Florida over Houston 4-1
A-: Philadelphia over Florida 4-0
Rookie: Tucson over Florida 4-0

Appears to be some great playoff runs by Florida but not able to close out. Seems to be the running theme considering their draft pick this year didn't sign. 

Hitting the Record Books

We've had many storied franchises over the years here in Cobbfather, but which ones have been the best? The record books usually focus on the individual, but let's check out the best teams over the years. Current hitting team records:

Current pitching team records:

Current fielding team records:

 

Judging Hall worthy

 Eli Cash w/ contributions by Jill Bames (w/ maybe some help from her cousin Bill James) 

Long overdue but as promised, here is the new way Jill Bames and I will be monitoring and testing the validity of a players Hall of Fame worth. Ms Bames and I hope that one day the longball fans will open their eyes in their voting for the Hall. 

The Systems

The Monitor by Jill Bames
    By the monitor, 100 means that players stands a possibility of making the Hall while scoring a 130+ is a virtual clinch. The monitor takes into account each of players season, their overall career, position played, and awards over the course of their career. Among the 18 hitters in the Hall, only 4 of them play a position other than 1B/LF/RF. That's 77% of our Hall made up of 3 positions. Not an awful thing, but surely we can expand on that a bit. In Cobbfather's competition's Hall of Fame, those same three positions only make up 40% of the hitters in their Hall of Fame. 

Examples where their players rank, you might recognize a few names:
Top Name - Stan Musial ranks at the top with a 452.
~400: Babe Ruth (411) and Alex Rodriguez (390).
~300: Micky Mantle (301) and Tony Gwynn (279)
~200: Mike Piazza (207) and Roberto Alomar (194).
~150: Jeff Bagwell (150) and Larry Walker (148).
~130: Robin Yount (132) and Sam Rice (127).
It's harder to find HoFers down at the 100 level, but there you have Pee Wee Reese (100) and Jim Bottomley (99). A few names who have missed out include: Albert Belle (135), Don Mattingly (134), Juan Gonzalez (123), Shoeless Joe Jackson (121), Andres Galarraga (114). There are a lot of names below Senior Galarraga that are too many to list. As mentioned above, the virtual clinch sits at the 130 mark.  

The Test by Jill Bames 
    The Test scores players 0-100, the average Hall of Famer should fall around the 50 mark. This system uses the quality of a player's career numbers. One downside to this system, it does now rate relief pitchers very well and as much as they are underrated in our Hall, they will be excluded from the Test. For a few comparisons in Cobbfather's competitor's Hall:

Top Name - Babe Ruth tops the chart at 79, with Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez shortly behind with a score of 77. 
~70: Loy Gehrig, Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, and Derek Jeter.
~60: Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, and Joe DiMaggio.
~50: Roberto Clemente, Edgar Martinez, Yogi Berra, and Carlton Fisk.
~40: John McGraw, Enos Slaughter, Joe Torre, Alan Trammell, and Kirby Puckett.
Some notable names not in the Hall that scored above average include: Gary Sheffield (61), Todd Helton (59), Rafael Palmeiro (57), Pete Rose (55), and Bobby Abreu (54). The notable names that fell just short of the 50 include: Luis Gonzalez (48), Johnny Damon (45), Lance Berkman (44), Carlos Delgado (44), and Kenny Loften (43). A score of 50 is definitely score where it's debatable if they belong. At 60 points, they appear to be a sure thing. 

The Cash System by Eli Cash
    Eli covered The Cash System that is used by numerous fantasy websites in order to provide their users with a ranking system and was covered in depth during his initial Hall of Fame coverage. It averages the total points a player created over the number of seasons played. This system has to be weighed with the number of seasons played, but is a good outlook on what effect they had those seasons compared to their peers.
    For hitters they need to score 430 to be considered and 500 to clinch. Starting pitchers need 390 to be considered and 420 to clinch. Hard to gauge Relievers because we only have 1 in the Hall currently, but for comparison I'd say 200 to be considered and 250 to clinch. (Relievers number may change with more data). 

The Future Famers of (Cobb)Father?

Let's take a look at those retired Cobbfather players who received votes in last year's voting to see where they stand. Bold scores denotes secure things according to similar players. 

By these measures it appears Edinson Hernandez scores the only sure thing according to all systems. I see easy arguments to include Ernie McEnerney, Don Sparks, and Wandy Guillen. The debatable players include Haywood Swann and Rubby Javier. With a 'Thanks for playing' to Dorssys Tatis and Alving Palmeiro. 

Armando Merced tops all three categories as the only pitcher to do so and should be a sure bet to make the Hall. Braeden Abercrombie barely misses the clinch in two systems while clearing the third. Very easy argument to have him included in the Hall. Tavarez, Leonard, and Gonzalez all hover around the debatable mark, with Tavarez and Gonzalez meeting the Test system requirements. Far behind is Ryan Fisher, though he might have similar stats to Leonard his Monitor score shows he's a step behind him. 

This one is a little harder to gauge, but I tip my hat to Yeico Miranda as a clinch for the Hall with Balentien very close by behind and an easy argument to be included. 

Of those who received votes last year, Edinson Hernandez, Armando Merced, and Yeico Miranda should all be included on the majority of ballets. As we move into the Cobbfather playoffs, best of luck to those teams still in the playoffs and to those players with a chance at the Hall of Fame next year. Remember: Vote early, vote often!