Current Roto Standings for the Majors

I was wondering which major league teams would be atop the standings if, instead of wins and losses, the traditional roto categories determined each team's place in their division. That is to say, would anything change if R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA and WHIP counted the way they do in our fantasy leagues? The short answer is 'no', or, at least 'barely', but there are a few interesting things behind the standings.

The totals are as of this morning. Like any roto league, the teams received one point for finishing last in the league, two for second-last, and so on. The totals are higher in the National League because, of course, there are two more teams in the senior circuit. I should mention that I have the complete chart and I'd be happy to send it to anyone who'd like to take a closer look. To fit it on here, I would have had to make the numbers pretty tiny.

Not surprisingly, the American League standings (how about this for a true AL only league, by the way) feature the AL East, but the Red Sox far surpass their counterparts in the traditional fantasy categories. Theo's managed his team the way any good fantasy GM might. He's got the power bats, the big closer, the strikeout artists and the speedsters. He's made big deals when he's had to and, even though his team is stacked with high upside youngsters, Epstein hasn't been afraid to bench them when they haven't performed.

Philly does a little better in the fantasy standings than they do in the real life ones, but it's hardly surprising when you consider that they have three 2008 first rounders. And the Nationals are pathetic. My slo-pitch softball team would have 10 points. Seriously, you're given 10 points no matter what and the Nats have only tacked on 19 points on top of that!

Still, I'm not trying to say that this changes about the way I manage my teams, since this chart doesn't mean a thing for real baseball or for fantasy baseball!