Season review: Misfits

Points, placing: 4545 points, 3rd place

Drafted team: 1B Ryan Howard; 2B Skip Schumaker; SS Yunel Escobar; 3B Pablo Sandoval; C ivan Rodriguez; OF Andre Ethier; OF Rick Ankiel; OF Ryan Spilborghs; SP Dan Haren; SP Roy Oswalt; SP Ryan Dempster; SP John Maine; RP Brad Lidge; B: Cameron Maybin, Todd Wellemeyer, Clint Barmes

Players added (17): SP Luis Castillo (W3), SP Braden Looper (W4), 3B Pedro Feliz (W5), OF Juan Pierre (W6), RP Trevor Hoffman (W7), OF Gary Sheffield (W9), OF Andrew McCutchen (W11), SP Aaron Cook (W11), SS Edgar Renteria (W13), SP Jonathan Sanchez (W15), OF Garrett Jones (W16), OF Eugenio Velez (W19), SP Livan Hernandez (W20), OF Jake Fox (W22), SP Vicente Padilla (W23), RP Carlos Marmol (W24), C Geovany Soto (W25)

Players dumped (16): SS Clint Barmes (W3), SP Todd Wellemeyer (W4), 2B Luis Castillo (W5), OF Cameron Maybin (W7), OF Ryan Spilborghs (W8), 3B Pedro Feliz (W9), RP Trevor Hoffman (W13), OF Juan Pierre (W13), OF Gary Sheffield (W16), OF Rick Ankiel (W18), SS Edgar Renteria (W19), SP Aaron Cook (W20), SP Livan Hernandez (W22), SP John Maine (W23), OF Jake Fox (W24), C Ivan Rodriguez (W25)

Players on DL: OF Rick Ankiel (W5-7), RP Brad Lidge (W10-12), SP John Maine (W11-22), SP Ryan Dempster (W14-17)

Time lost by players on DL: 22 weeks

Points/ranking by position: 1B-475/3; 2B-301/7; SS-334/6; 3B-396/2; C-228/6; OF-367/5; SP-367/4; RP-168/9.

Final analysis: If there was one team we thought would be best suited to challenge the Chuggers for the top spot in the second half, it was the Misfits. They were a picture of consistency. They finished third overall after having the third-best hitting and third-best pitching. And they had some shrewd moves like picking up Juan Pierre when Manny Ramirez was suspended and snatching up the Pirates Andrew McCutchen when Nate McLouth was traded to Atlanta. Yet the pitching strength they had in the first half of the season faded in the second half. Haren was not quite as good. Oswalt battled injuries. And Dempster and Maine had stints on the DL. Their inability to find suitable replacements kept the Misfits from taking advantage of the fact that their players spent a league-low 22 weeks on the DL. Still, they were able to reach the head-to-head finals for a second year in a row.

Season review: Triple-A's

Owner: Ken Martinez

Points/ranking: 4400, 4th place

Players drafted: 1B Connor Jackson; 2B Chase Utley; SS Stephen Drew; 3B Mark Reynolds; C Chris Snyder; OF Nate McLouth; OF Raul Ibanez; OF Randy Winn; SP Ricky Nolasco; SP Rich Harden; SP Bronson Arroyo; SP Randy Wolf; RP Jason Motte. B: James Loney, Max Scherzer, John Baker

Players added (11): RP Matt Lindstrom (W2), SS Ryan Theriot (W4), RP Ryan Franklin (W4), SP Andrew Miller (W8), SP Ross Detwiller (W8), C Rudy Paulino (W11), OF Gerardo Parra (W11), OF Nate Schierholtz (W13), C John Baker (W14), SP Charlie Morton (W17), SP Gerardo Parra (W20)

Players dumped (11): RP Jason Motte (W2), SP Matt Lindstrom (W4), C Chris Snyder (W8), SP Ross Detwiller (W10), C John Baker (W11), OF Gerardo Parra (W13), C Rudy Paulino (W14), OF Nate Schierholtz (W15), SP Andrew Miller (W17), SP Charlie Morton (W20), OF Connor Jackson (W26)

Players on DL: SS Stephen Drew (W4-8), SP Rich Harden (W8-9), 1B Connor Jackson (W9-26), OF Raul Ibanez (W11-14), OF Nate McLouth (W20-22)

Time lost by players on DL: 32 weeks

Points/ranking by position: 1B-347/7; 2B-431/1; SS-346/5; 3B-393/7; C-207/9; OF-380/5; SP-337/6; RP-187/8

Final analysis: Other than leading at 2B with Chase Utley, the Triple-A's did not excel at any one position. But the positions they ranked low at -- catcher and reliever -- are low-scoring positions. So the net result was a fourth-place finish. They got lucky with a low time on DL (32 weeks), but they were key injuries to key players (Drew, Harden, Ibanez and McLouth). Still, the T-A's found the right replacements to remain in the money mix.

Season review: Arbitration Losers

Owner: Tim Martinez

Points, ranking: 4348, 5th place

Drafted team: 1B Adrian Gonzalez; 2B Kelly Johnson; SS Miguel Tejada; 3B Garret Atkins; C Ryan Doumit; OF Ryan Braun; OF Ryan Ludwick; OF Mike Cameron; SP Tim Lincecum; SP Edison Volquez; SP Randy Johnson; SP Manny Parra; RP Brian Wilson; B: Jordan Zimmermann, Brian Giles, Jon Garland

Players added (17): SP Zach Duke (W3), C Nick Hundley (W3), OF Justin Upton (W4), 2B Clint Barmes (W4), SP Manny Parra (W6), 2B Luis Castillo (W6 and W12), 3B Andy LaRoche (W7), C Jason Jaramillo (W10), SP Antonio Bastardo (W10), SP Chad Gaudin (W13), SP Randy Wells (W14), SP Kenshin Kawakami (W16), 3B Scott Rolen (W18), SP Bud Norris (W19), SP Pedro Martinez (W20), SP Nelson Figueroa (W22)

Players dumped (16): SP Jon Garland (W3), SP Manny Parra (W4 and W11), OF Brian Giles (W4), 2B Clint Barmes (W6), SP Zach Duke (W6), 2B Luis Castillo (W11), C Jason Jaramillo (W17), 3B Garrett Atkins (W18), SP Chad Gaudin (W19), SP Edinson Volquez (W19-x), SP Jordan Zimmermann (W19-x), 2B Kelly Johnson (W21), SP Bud Norris (W22), SP Antonio Bastardo (W23), SP Randy Johnson (W25)

Players on DL: C Ryan Doumit (W3-14), OF Ryan Ludwick (W6-10), SP Edinson Volquez (W7-8 and W9-18), C Nick Hundley (W11-19), SP Antonio Bastardo (W13-22), SP Randy Johnson (W14-25), 2B Kelly Johnson (W14-16), SP Jordan Zimmermann (W16-18), OF Justin Upton (W18-20), 3B Scott Rolen (W20)

Time lost by players on DL: 84 weeks

Points/ranking by position: 1B-399/6; 2B-280/10; SS-392/4; 3B-299/7; C-215/7; OF-426/1; SP-309/8; RP-247/3.

Final analysis: The Losers managed a top-division finish despite suffering through a second-highest 84 weeks of players on the DL. Two of the five pitchers they drafted had their season ended by Tommy John surgery. A third pitcher suffered a torn rotator cuff. One-third of their 1484 pitching points were scored by one guy -- Tim Lincecum. Nine of their 17 free-agent acquisitions were pitchers, including 7 of their last 8. But they did have the league's best outfield, aided by the Week 3 acquistion of Justin Upton (thanks, Scott!).