KG Capital City Goofballs (14-8-2) vs.  LK Armadillos (14-6-4)

After a tumultuous season that saw five teams in the title hunt until Week 24, a champion has been crowned.  The Lannisters overtook the Lasershow while the Goofballs ended the Armadillo’s dreams in the last week of the year.  Heading into Week 25, the Armadillos controlled their own fate.  If they won, they would claim the title.  Meanwhile, the Lannisters were heavy favorites against the Lasershow.  The Goofballs were still in play, but needed a Lannisters’ loss and a victory to claim the title.  A Lannister loss and Goofballs win would have caused a three-way tie.  However, given the Lannisters’ edge against the Lasershow, the Armadillos had the best chance to earn the trophy directly with a win.  However, the Lasershow crushed the Lannisters in Week 25 last year, so anything was possible.

The Armadillos were let down by a combination of poor performances and strange usage patterns.  The final week of the season sees pitchers throwing shortened games, players getting days off, and playoff positioning dictate bullpen usage.  Larry used eight starting pitchers but only one was able to throw more than 6.0 innings.  Four pitchers threw less than 5.0 innings.  Carlos Carrasco put on an heroic effort, striking out 14 and not allowing an earned run in 8.1 innings pitched.  His work was undone by nightmare outings from Zack Godley and Drew Pomeranz.  The pair allowed 10 earned runs in just 6.1 innings.  Kevin had an even worse pitcher – Luke Weaver.  He allowed an astounding 14 earned runs over 7.2 innings.  Neither team produced acceptable ERA or WHIP totals, but Kevin had a bit more consistency and a solid Blake Snell outing.  Each of Kevin’s pitchers threw a few more innings than their Armadillos’ counterparts.  This gave Kevin an edge in all five pitching categories.

Both teams’ starters for the final week show how unpredictable Week 25 can be.  The Armadillos tried to rely on their offense and they posted good home run, RBI, and SLG totals.  Six Armadillos players had SLG numbers over 0.550.  This secured three categories, but the Goofballs took OBP and steals.  This was more than enough to secure the victory for the week.  The win gave Kevin a shot at the title, and ended the Armadillos’ hopes of an outright championship.  The two teams ended up with equal records and tied in the head-to-head tiebreaker.  This meant that a Lannister loss would result in a shared title and a Lannister tie would cause a three-way deadlock.

SM Lasershow (2-19-3)  vs.  JK Lannisters (15-8-1)

Unfortunately for the Goofballs and Armadillos, the Lasershow were not able to recapture their magic from Week 25 last year.  Sean’s squad was overwhelmed on offense and pitching didn’t break well enough for the club to contend for the week.  A series of pitching meltdowns left the categories open to the Lannisters.  Rich Hill delivered a fine start and essentially secured the rate stats.  On offense, Marcell Ozuna had ten hits for the week and Mike Trout added four home runs.  Byron Buxton, Mookie Betts, and Justin Upton had two steals each.  This was more than enough for the Lannisters to win in a convincing week.

The win gave the Lannisters the title after a brutal season of competition.  Despite losing key stars for months at a time, the team’s depth proved to be too much.  Good in-season acquisitions like Byron Buxton and Wellington Castillo were paired with big years from draftees Upton and Ozuna.  The team found just enough pitching to get by, particularly with a great year from Stephen Strasburg.  The bullpen remained dominant and at least one pitcher out of Jon Lester, Rich Hill, and Jose Quintana would step up each week and give the team a chance to win.  Jose Abreu filled the years-long hole at first base, and reliable veterans like Buster Posey and Kenley Jansen offered great production.

The Lannisters win means the Armadillos and Goofballs tie for second place.  The two teams are even head-to-head, so both share the second place distinction.  Each team had chances against the Lannisters.  The Goofballs fell just short in Week 22, when Strasburg delivered two monster starts to save multiple categories and the victory.  The Armadillos managed a draw in Week 12 against the Lannisters but lost their other two match-ups by wider margins.  The Lannisters themselves left a victory on the bench in Week 23 against the Possums.  The margins of victory this season were the smallest ever.  The Lannisters managed to hang on to the championship, but only just barely.  The level of competition in the league continues to grow each season, and having five teams in the running to the very end shows that with a little bit better luck, it could be the Goofballs, Armadillos, Legion, or Possums at the top.

RK Possums (11-6-7) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (11-12-1)

The Possums and Thunderwolves ended their seasons on high notes.  Rick closed his campaign with a solid win against the PhoeGnomes.  After a great week to defeat the Lannisters, Heather’s team seemed to run out of gas.  Rick enjoyed great weeks from Josh Donaldson and Joey Gallo in route to a convincing victory.

In one bizarre note, Josh Tomlin made a nice start for the Possums early in the week.  He was cut, and later had another good start for the Goofballs.  Tomlin was last seen in Week 23, in which he made a good start for the Lannisters against the Possums!  Tomlin somehow floated between three contenders and helped them all at the most critical part of the season.

The Possums end their season with a nice win and an interesting roster.  Rick was second in the league in total home runs and near the top in RBI and SLG.  He also had the second best ERA and strikeout numbers and top wins and WHIP in the league thanks to big years from Kluber, Verlander, and Scherzer.  Can more depth supplement this core and to make another run next year?

The PhoeGnomes finished a season in which the team’s talent just didn’t seem to translate from week to week.  There was early-season hype that the PhoeGnomes might be the team to beat after a series of offseason acquisitions.  However, Heather floated near the middle of the pack in most categories.  The team lacked consistency for whatever reason.  The core roster is strong, and will likely be refined in the offseason.

CP Legion (12-8-4) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (4-16-4)

The Thunderwolves upset the Legion in the last game of the week.  Kyle ends his year with a win and some nice stats from Yu Darvish and Aaron Nola.  Neither team had much to play for, and Chris ends the year in fifth place.  Kyle struggled to a disappointing seventh place finish.  The Legion are probably disappointed in their finish, but some around the league felt this was a rebuilding year for Chris.  He was in the mix up until the last week and has a younger team and fewer draft picks missing.  With great pitching stats, Chris needs to build more of a consistent offensive threat.

The Thunderwolves will need to do some reevaluation after this year, but the team did show flashes of strong play.  Kyle needs to improve across the board and add depth.  However, he was more competitive than his record indicated this season.  The Thunderwolves were not an automatic win and were a threat each week.  The Lasershow made some good roster decisions after the ownership transition.  Both Sean and Kyle can look toward the draft with the first two picks and plenty of needs.

Next Week

Now that the season is over, the Lannisters can celebrate a win in the most difficult, draining campaign the league has seen.  The team persevered through injuries, slumps, and disappointing performances.  New heroes emerged from week to week.  The Armadillos’ unexpected rise to the top was built on solid management.  The team overachieved all season despite injuries and trades that didn’t work out as planned.  They can take pride in coming just one win away from the title.

The Goofballs did more to improve their roster with quality players than any other team.  Kevin’s skillful management has transformed a bad team into a contender.  Despite coming up just short, the Goofballs will be a favorite entering next year.  The same can be said for the Legion and PhoeGnomes.  Both teams have enough talent to compete, and Chris was just a couple of small breaks away from being near the top.  The Thunderwolves and Lasershow struggled, but both had their strong moments.  Sean will work hard in the offseason and Kyle will seek answers as well.

Over the next few weeks, we will start prepping for the offseason.  With an additional three freezes (for a total of 18), feel free to pick up, drop, and trade players until the post season is over.  Eventually we will freeze rosters and start preparations for the draft.  Until then, thanks to everyone for another exciting season.  Now is the time to start building for next year as a whole new series of battles and drama begin.