It’s down to the wire in UmpBump’s fantasy league. Paul continues to run away with first place, but can Sarah and Alejandro hang on long enough to make the playoffs? And is there any hope for Coley’s team?

Sarah: This is one of those sad weeks where you’re happy just to escape with a 7-4 loss. My team had probably its worst week of the entire season. The really annoying thing is, I could have picked up at least one more category if I hadn’t spent most of yesterday in the car. Xavier Nady was on my bench, and ended up going 4 for 5 with 6 RBI, a homer, and 8 total bases. JD Drew was on my roster, but didn’t play. D’oh. On the bright side, I’m still hanging in there in the standings. Hot: Xavier Nady, JD Drew, Stephen Drew, David Murphy, Matt Kemp, Matt Cain, Carlos Marmol, Brian Wilson. Not: Cody Ross (who I dropped to take Roy Oswalt off the DL), Jacoby Ellsbury, Ian Kinsler, Andy Pettitte, Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya.

Paul: If you have an offensive explosion but your opponent hasn’t been paying any attention for weeks, did it actually happen? I’m not much for rhetorical questions but I did find myself wondering how humiliating it would be if I had lost my match-up this week against caitlin grace, who I’m convinced hasn’t changed her lineup or roster since the Taft administration. Her team currently consists of six players who are on the DL but remain active on her team. And that doesn’t even include Franklin Morales, who’s currently in AAA but is sitting on this team’s bench anyway. Yet, she had me worried. Thanks to sparkling outings from Chris Young and Matt Garza on Caitlin’s side, and the Singaporean caning that Cliff Lee, Jered Weaver, Hiroki Kuroda and Scott Baker received for me this week, I was not exactly sitting pretty. But a good offense always beats good pitching. Or was it the other way around? Either way, these old axioms are stupid. My team slugged out 17 HRs, knocked in 48 RBIs, scored 48 runs, and had 151 TBs to win the week 8-4. Hot: Kevin Youkilis, Matt Holliday, and pretty much every hitter not named David Wright or Marcus Thames. Not: David Wright, Marcus Thames, and pitchers weighing under 300lbs (you done good, C.C.).

Coley: I think it’s getting close to time to throw in the towel. I love my team, but even when the Crunkball All-Stars play well, they still find ways to lose (Josh Beckett, what happened to you, bro?). There’s only one thing left to do – a team name change. It’s a desperate move, sure, but this is a pretty desperate situation. So, without further ado, let me introduce my new fantasy team: St. Jude’s Club – Jude being the patron saint of lost causes who is often pictured holding a club. Hot: Alfonso Soriano, Chone Figgins, Rich Harden. Not: Josh Beckett, CJ Wilson.

Alejandro: It never fails. Every year I make a flurry of blockbuster moves to solidify my position and boost my performance down the stretch, and it never works. The difference this year is that the Center Field Stud was actually moving up the standings in relentless fashion – until, of course, all the trades. Because of that, croutchyoldman handed me a whipping, spanking the Stud 11-1. My lone victory came in the form of saves. And really, I wasn’t even close in the other categories, the offense slumped, Josh Hamilton (the big RBI guy) only had 3 (three!!), Chipper Jones went back on the DL, Aaron Rowand is in a funk, and the rest are just average. And don’t get me started on the pitching; 6 out of the 8 active pitchers posted ERAs over 3.50, which is dreadful in fantasy baseball. Ugh. Hot: Tim Lincecum, Gavin Floyd, Alexei Ramirez, Josh Hamilton (sure, no RBI, but homeruns, TBs, Runs), Dan Uggla (HIS NAME IS DAAN UGGLA!). Not: Magglio Ordoñez, Aaron Rowand, Josh Fields, Manny Parra, Mike Pelfrey.

Standings (games behind):

1. Paul - ElDuquesInjuryReport ( - )
2. Scott - Utley’s Firm Quads ( 10 )
3. Kirk - Montefusco’s Revenge ( 20.5 )
4. Doug - Swamp Dragons ( 22 )
5. Alejandro - Center Field Stud ( 24 )
6. Sarah - Somerville Green Sox ( 25 )
7. Ania - Box89RowKKSeat14 ( 28.5 )
8. Larry - croutchyoldman ( 34.5 )
9. Bryan - Pirates in ‘08! ( 45.5 )
10. Coley - St. Jude’s Club ( 49.5 )
11. Caitlin - caitlin grace ( 55 )
12. Sooze - freebase my balls ( 63.5 )

Averaging 4.84 runs scored per game, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense has been better than what many had expected going into 2008. In fact, their starting OF has been stellar, averaging an adjusted OPS of 138, which is tops in MLB*. You read that correctly. You could easily make the argument that the 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates have the best offensive outfield in Major League Baseball. I’m going to give you a second to let that sink in.

That’s better than Boston (Manny-Ellsbury-Drew = 127), St. Louis (Schumaker-Ankiel-Ludwick = 126), White Sox (Quentin-Swisher-Dye = 129), and even Detroit (Thames-Granderson-Maggs = 136).

Consisting of Jason Bay, Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady, each member of this Pittsburgh outfield trio have OBPs north of .350 and slug at least .510.

Which is why it’s really too bad that the Pirates are still pretty far out in the playoff hunt, 11.5 games behind the Cubs for the division lead. And the long-term outlook for the Bucs would be improved if they broke up their outfield in preparation for 2009 and beyond.

With all three players performing at such a high level, any of them should interest teams looking for an offensive boost for the stretch run. Xavier Nady is the one who will most likely get dealt, which makes sense. He’s a 29-year old in the last year of his contract. Based on his current performance this season, he’s going to get quite the raise from his $3.35MM salary. In addition, with a very strong .284/.387/.531 line and a pretty budget friendly contract ($5.75MM in ‘08, $7.5MM in ‘09), Jason Bay will most likely be among the top names we’ll be hearing about as we approach the trade deadline. There’s been word that Pittsburgh intends on keeping Bay for now, and if this is their sincere intent, then I think they’re making a mistake. Not only will the Pirates still be near the basement in 2009 with or without him, this is the perfect sell-high moment. With one more year left on his contract, teams would be more inclined to make an offer, much like the Rangers were able to do last year with Mark Teixeira.

The only one that the Pirates ought to keep for 2009 is McLouth and they ought to ink him to a long-term contract extension very soon (arbitration eligible at the end of the year), despite the fact that Pittsburgh management seems very wary of committing financially to players over the long haul. Although many small market teams have been quick to lock up their young talent in recent months, the Pirates have been late to that party. In fact, the only player on the roster with a guaranteed Major League contract two seasons from now (in 2010) is Ian Snell. To be fair, they haven’t exactly had the kind of young talent that’s really worth locking up, but I think McLouth’s bat is worth the risk.

And if Bay and/or Nady can be dealt, the Bucs have a pretty good prospect waiting in the wings named Andrew McCutchen. Currently playing for AAA-Indianapolis, McCutchen is a five-tool centerfielder whose skills at the position should allow the team to move McLouth over to left (Nate currently sports a pretty ugly .866 RZR in center). But since he’s only 21 years old, I’d understand it if the Pirates waited just a bit longer to call him up.

Now if they could only figure out this “pitching” thing, they’d be going somewhere…

*One caveat so that Rangers fans won’t jump me - on those days when Texas goes with the trio of Milton Bradley-Josh Hamilton-David Murphy, they’re better (OPS-Plus of 142). But Bradley’s mostly a DH these days (48 games at DH, 17 in OF).

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