Obviously It's Time for Some Changes...

As teams around the league are starting to mock up their Spring Training list of invitees, one league owner has unveiled a team name change. Formerly the Colorado Tumbleweed has announced they will now be known as the North Colorado Tumbleweed.

Matt Carpenter: Colorado Tumbleweed 1st Half MVP

While the Colorado Tumbleweed have several all-star caliber players, the 1st half MVP of the team is Matt Carpenter. An undrafted free agent acquisition during spring training, Carpenter was originally picked up to provide depth at the second base position to Chase Utley, while being able to cover quite a bit of ground with his multiple-position eligibility. Carpenter quickly worked his way into the lineup as an everyday player, netting 284 points on the season (269 points while in the Tumbleweed lineup).

Carpenter was also named to the National League All-Star team. His point value comes from his ability to get on base, hit for extra bases, score, as well as drive in runs. He is a true all-around player, even flashing the leather on occasion. According to Baseball Reference, at the break Carpenter has posted 3.9 WAR and a 30.6 RE24.

That time John Hirschbeck went all Enrico Pallazzo...

On Sunday afternoon I had just settled into my recliner, excited to watch the Washington Nationals. Two members of the Colorado Tumbleweed were in the starting lineup, Bryce Harper and starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez. However, little did I know John Hirschbeck was the starting third base umpire, and he was intent on making that fact well known.

After Bryce Harper flopped his arms in disgust at Hirschbeck who called him out on a checked swing (a clown call if I've ever seen one), Hirschbeck then tossed Harper from the game when he then took off his helmet and dropped it on the ground in disgust. (animated gifs here)

Happy Birthday, Jefe!

He looks so excited, doesn't he?

Have some fun today, bro!

Nothing Like Cramming for a Test...

We are officially less than 24 hours from draft time. Here's an inside look at the offices of the Colorado Tumbleweed, as the finishing touches are being applied to the Hunchmaster.

Draft Prep

Introducing the Colorado Tumbleweed 2013 Keepers

I'm sure this announcement will be of no surprise to any readers who read this post and were able to piece the code together. What I had been agonizing over for weeks, really boiled down to quite a simple decision. After following the numbers and the Colorado Tumbleweed have elected to keep the 3 players with the highest KV (Keeper Value) off of last year's roster.

Player                  Keeper Value
Stephen Strasburg       16.40737411
Bryce Harper            15.11660453
Troy Tulowitzki         13.94095904

Sure, there were several close 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths rounding out the top 10 players to choose from, but they'll just have to wait for draft day. It's hard to believe that the Colorado Tumbleweed are just a few short years removed from this gem, diamond in the rough if you will, of a keeper.

Crowning the Champion

This weekend, the Percell Family Baseball League crowned its 2012 champion:


Half of the league was present for the ceremony, well sort of:

A Tumbleweed's view from right field

It's a wet one. #rockies twitter.com/jefe_13/status…

— Jeff Percell (@jefe_13) September 26, 2012

Follow @jefe_13

Colorado Tumbleweed First Half MVP

While there are several honorable mentions - Stephen Strasburg and the Derek Jeter-Gio Gonzalez roster slot come to mind, the Colorado Tumbleweed would like to celebrate Melky Cabrera as the 1st half MVP. 

There's a 1st for everything & Looking back at the PFBL draft

The "I homered before Albert Pujols" club closed it's door to new membership on Sunday afternoon with 272 players homering ahead of Pujols this season (according to baseballmusings.com). Perhaps the best part of the 2-run dinger was the the Angels dugout celebration.

Only the Bizarro Royals can hope that this means bright days ahead for the Halos slugger, as the first round pick had only 34 points heading into Sunday. However, Pujols was not alone in the "I'm a first round pick and I've only scored 34 points so far this year" club. He's joined by Colorado Tumbleweed's Cliff Lee. Though Lee has somewhat more of a solid alibi having been sidelined  on the DL for the last few weeks. After the jump we'll take a deeper look back at breaking down the PFBL draft just over a month into the season.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

The owner of the highly touted Colorado TumbleWeed turns thirty-something today. Congrats!!

An Apple a Day Keeps the DL Away?

If it were only that simple...

I'm sure everyone remembers the scene from the movie Major League where Manager Lou Brown is arguing with Owner Rachel Phelps about the clubhouse equipment (or lack thereof). For those of you who didn't have the movie lines instantly pop into your head, here's a little refresher:

Lou Brown: How am I supposed to take care of my players with no hot water and no therapy equipment?
Rachel Phelps: Your players have to get a little tougher. What are they a bunch of pansies?
Lou Brown: Over 162 games and even tough guys get strained, a soar arm or a muscle pull.

We have just barely begun the 162-game journey and many of us fantasy baseball owners are already finding ourselves struggling to keep guys off the Disabled List. I'm sure every fantasy owner would gladly pay Edible Arrangements to deliver an apple a day to their fantasy standouts, if it only meant keeping them off the DL. In the 10-team Percell Fantasy Baseball League, each team is allotted 2 DL spots. Of the 20 spots across the league, 14 are currently filled, with 4-5 injured players occupying active roster spots either due to already full infirmaries or lackadaisical owners.