KenG, its nice that you are defending a guy because of his history. And its good to maintain a balanced view, perhaps everything is just a bad accident. But it is you who is out-of-line when you suggest DaveE "doesn't know what he is talking about".

Take a good look at the box score to see if they can be explained within the assumption that the manager was trying to win. First of all, a manager playing with his roster, and accidently benching all his good players? That's suspect, but heck, we can all screw up now and then. But then, look at the Game 1 lineup. Why put a pitcher in the leadoff spot? His expected OPB: 0.00 -- well, actually, he has less than 10 PA, so he would perform "below average major league offensive production for his position (ie, pitcher)". Why is LoDuca not in the lineup? Why does he sit vs the only LH SP, but play vs RHs? Why is the batting order the way it is; do you think its a defensible lineup?

I do sincerely value the charactor witnessing. It did make me wonder whether I'd been too harsh. But your critism of DaveE made me go look again -- and too much is just unexplainable.

What makes it all so suspect, especially with an experienced and knowlegeable manager, is that the first pick in this monthly draft is more valuable than the first Rookie or FA draft. With such a cherry opportunity, there is so much incentive to race for that first pick. And I think Tim took the bait.

Whether he just screwed-up, or whether he purposefully tanked, I think its a scar on the game if he is rewarded with that pick. What it means, and what I am experiencing, is that tanking is the ONLY way to build a crumbling team. I've had a team in that league for two years, that has been one of the weakest in the league (I think last year it finished with the 2nd lowest PB). Yet, I've won one division, and finished above .500 last year. Because I win, I get high picks and the team just gets older and worse. If Tim gets the first pick, it will distastefully illuminate that his route is the only way to repair a bad team -- you must lose lose lose first. Personally, I don't see the fun in that, and I don't see any reason to hang on to bad teams. This is an important issue, crucial to the success of the leagues.