With six weeks remaining of the fantasy baseball season, it’s time for another Fantasy Baseball UK update.
Could there be an unprecedented quadruple celebration on the cards for one fantasy manager at the end of the season? At the time of writing, René Becker is leading in four competitions: dominant in the two salary cap leagues, he also currently leads the limited trade game and is ranked first in his head-to-head league. In the past, there were times when a manager won two FBUK competitions in a single season, albeit for most of that time there were at most two or three available formats. It is certainly notable for someone to be leading in four of the five formats now available.
Elsewhere, the situation at the top of the FBUK League has changed considerably since the previous update in July. The two pacesetters during the first half of the season have dropped away in recent weeks, allowing the way for a new leader in what is now a close title race with the top three teams separated by fewer than 100 points.
All the divisional and overall standings from the various leagues can be viewed in the Standings section of the website. It also includes an area for archived season standings since FBUK relaunched in 2020. Keep your eyes on the FBUK website for more update articles from now until after the conclusion of the fantasy baseball season on 28 September.
Scroll down for the full round-up!
Fantasy League Standings (top): 14 August
In all formats except the $6m Game and Head-to-Head, fantasy teams are grouped into roughly regional divisions that are also combined to give overall standings. As the $6m Game is a smaller group of teams, they are all in one division. Here is the overall Top 10 in each league at the time of writing.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | British Redbirds | 9465 |
| 2 | Cupar Red Sox | 9452 |
| 3 | JoGarza Mavericks | 9390 |
| 4 | Kentucky Chickens | 9259 |
| 5 | Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me | 9225 |
| 6 | Pain in Yoenis | 9162 |
| 7 | Beat Gould&Lengl | 9157 |
| 8 | It’s Shohei Time | 9130 |
| 9 | But Vladdy I Love Him | 9126 |
| 10 | All Betts Are Off | 9084 |
At the previous update in early July, debutant team But Vladdy I Love Him (Alfie Parsons) had spent the first half of the season in first position in the combined FBUK League standings, at one point opening up a lead of over 1300 points more than the second placed team. Another newcomer, The Stable (Nick Fruin) had risen from mid-table at the end of April to second place at the start of July and was closing the gap. However, both teams had already used around three quarters of the total 1400 innings pitched (IP) available for the season by about the halfway point of the season. Later in the month, The Stable caught and overtook Vladdy but hit the IP limit on 23 July, from which point the team would no longer score pitching points.
Fast-forward to the middle of August and The Stable has descended down the overall standings. But Vladdy I Love Him appears to be using its small amount of remaining IP sparingly to avoid reaching the limit, and has dropped down to ninth. Whether a bold strategy or perhaps only belatedly realising the IP limit, it certainly set a challenge in the first part of the season to the chasing pack, led by British Redbirds (Malcolm Gittoes) and Cupar Red Sox (Brent Bentley), who have now moved up in close competition in the top two spots.
Making a return to FBUK after last playing in the old format in 2019, Brent Bentley has extended his lead in his regional division over the past month or so. In the North division, his team Cupar Red Sox has widened the gap to nearly 350 points between itself and the second-placed team, It’s Shohei Time (Simon Middleton), the reigning three-peat division champion from 2022 to 2024.
Despite losing the lead in the combined standings, But Vladdy I Love Him is currently holding on to top spot in the South East division, although the lead has been reduced from 500 points in early July to 129 points at the time of writing.
Looking at other managers either debuting or returning after some time away, Charlie’s Walkers (Charlie Selwood) has maintained a steady lead of over 300 points in the South West in their debut season in FBUK. In the South division, Spirit of Comerica (Tim Found) — a manager returning to FBUK for the first time since our relaunch on the Yahoo platform in 2020 — is currently just 19 points behind Haughey Monsters (Matthew Sutton) in a tight contest for the division title.
Due to an increase in the number of participating managers in the FBUK League, the Central division was expanded to two separate divisions for the 2025 season. In the Central East, Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me (Derek Cole) was the highest-scoring team across the whole FBUK League during the month of July. In doing so, the team has overtaken the previous top two in the Central East, Ready Eddie Go (John Borthwick) and No Itchy Row (Steve King), and established a commanding lead of 241 points at the top of the division. The strong July also helped Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me up to fifth in the overall FBUK League standings by mid-August.
The Central West remains a fairly close three-way race led by Beat Gould&Lengl (John Steele), who was the 2023 champion of the Central division and runner-up in 2024. All Betts Are Off (Stephen Murray) is 95 points back in second place, followed closely by Eagle Fang (Mark Doody), who was the runner-up to Beat Gould&Lengl in the Central division in 2023 and took third place last season. In fourth place is Cunning Stunts (Wayne Mason). Although 261 points back from the division lead, it was the second-highest scoring team across the FBUK League in July, and will be aiming to maintain that momentum to try to get involved in the division race.
A close divisional race is occurring in the North East where The Baseball Furies (Paul Laycock) is 34 points behind the leader Rothesay Reds (Robert Jackson), with BayJays (Kenny Chapman) 114 points behind in third.
In FBUK North West, whereas just 41 points separated first to third at the start of July, now Kentucky Chickens (Paul Dearnley) has opened up a gap of 308 points in first place while the rest of the pack has shuffled positions behind the leader.
In the remaining two divisions of the FBUK League, the teams in pole position have maintained their sizeable leads since the previous update at the start of July. The East is led by 204 points by JoGarza Mavericks (Matt Bone), who has risen to third place in the combined FBUK League standings. The overall FBUK League leader at the time of writing, British Redbirds (Malcolm Gittoes), tops the West division by 550 points.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Abreu’s Bombers | 8082 |
| 2 | Masters of Merriment | 8004 |
| 3 | Flying Fish 2 | 7958 |
| 4 | Science Maniacs UK Ltd | 7861 |
| 5 | Welly BJs | 7855 |
| 6 | Michael’s Fireballs | 7839 |
| 7 | 2 Limited | 7833 |
| 8 | Mookie the Cat | 7797 |
| 9 | A-Frican Elephant | 7771 |
| 10 | No Trade Clause | 7753 |
In FBUK LTD, where the number of player trades and acquisitions is limited, the top three teams has remained consistent in a fairly close championship race since the previous update in early July but Jose Abreu’s Bombers (René Becker) has risen from third to first place. Flying Fish 2 (Martin Fisher) and Masters of Merriment (Blythe Robertson) are competing for the North division title as well as the overall championship.
Science Maniacs UK Ltd (Maurice Savage) was the highest-scoring team across FBUK LTD in July, which saw them rise to second in the South division behind Jose Abreu’s Bombers and fourth in the overall standings.
Due to an increase in the number of teams participating in FBUK LTD, the Central division was replaced with East and West divisions for 2025. In the West division, the top four teams are separated by fewer than 100 points in a close divisional battle. A-Frican Elephant (Wayne Mason) currently leads the pack, followed by Ich Liebe Helene Fischer (John Steele), Bat Breakers LTD (Richard Hayward) and the 2023 FBUK LTD Champion, Coldfield Cardinals (Tony Fellows).
Michael’s Fireballs (Michael Hatch) has a narrow 38-point lead over No Trade Clause (John Borthwick) in the East division.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secret Agents Too | 9816 |
| 2 | Milkybar24 | 9585 |
| 3 | Disposable Heroes | 9357 |
| 4 | tiggerrrrr | 9240 |
| 5 | Secret Agents | 9032 |
| 6 | Ready Eddie Go | 8784 |
| 7 | Bleacher Creatures | 8710 |
| 8 | BILKO | 8534 |
| 9 | Boys of Summer | 8534 |
| 10 | Moonshot Cardinals | 8454 |
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Abreu Bombers | 8099 |
| 2 | Cray River Crawfish | 7238 |
| 3 | Ready Eddie Go $5m | 7099 |
| 4 | The Turtle Said | 7042 |
| 5 | Freeway Express | 6845 |
| 6 | Jeff1903 | 6389 |
| 7 | Norfolk Enchants | 6091 |
| 8 | Sultans of Swat | 5380 |
In the salary cap leagues — where managers build a roster within a budget for player salaries, run on the Fantrax platform — René Becker’s teams continue to have healthy leads in FBUK Classic and the limited budget $6m Game — Secret Agents Too and Jose Abreu Bombers, respectively. In the $6m Game, Jose Abreu Bombers has doubled its lead to over 800 points since the start of July. In FBUK Classic, the pursuing pack remains the same, although it is looking unlikely that one of them will be able to erase the steady deficit of several hundred points back from pole position. Milkybar24 (Brent Bentley) remains in second place — making a debut in this version of the salary cap league — followed by last year’s fifth-place Disposable Heroes (Glen Marsland) and the back-to-back champion in 2023 and 2024, Tigerrrrr (Matt Farley).
National League
| Rank | Team | W-L |
|---|---|---|
| Group A | ||
| 1 | CF Giants | 16-2 |
| 3 | Yes Ndidi | 13-5 |
| 4 | H’Pool Huskies | 13-5 |
| 7 | The Waves | 6-12 |
| 9 | BayJays | 3-15 |
| Group B | ||
| 2 | Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me | 14-4 |
| 5 | Sonoran Desert Experience | 10-8 |
| 6 | TROOPERscrat !!athletics!! | 9-9 |
| 8 | Mark63’s Magnificent Team | 5-13 |
| 10 | Sea Dogs | 1-17 |
In the second season of the FBUK Head-to-Head (H2H) competition there are again two separate leagues running and each will have a champion crowned. The H2H league features weekly matchups between fantasy teams. At the end of each week, the higher-scoring team in each matchup earns the win in the standings.
In both the National League and the Atlantic League, the two group winners and the next four top ranked teams (ranked 1-6) progress to the championship playoffs beginning 8 September, with the two group winners securing a bye in the first playoff round to head directly to the semi-finals. The championship playoffs will decide 1st to 6th place. The remaining four teams in the regular season standings will go into consolation playoffs to decide 7th to 10th place.
In the National League, last year’s group winners have been leading their groups again throughout the season: in Group A, CF Giants (Andy Quinton), the runner-up in the 2024 championship final; in Group B, Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me (Derek Cole), who finished in third place overall last year. Both have already secured spots in the championship playoffs. They lead their groups by three games and four games respectively so, with only four weekly matchups remaining of the regular season, they are both in a strong position to secure the top two seeds and byes through to the semi-finals.
Two other teams have secured a spot in the championship playoffs: Yes Ndidi (John Borthwick) and H’Pool Huskies (Christopher Lennon), one of four new teams that joined the National League this season. Sonoran Desert Experience (Keith Jeffery) and TROOPERscrat !!athletics!! (Peter Hollaway), another debut, are close to making up the top six teams that go into the championship playoffs as they both have several wins more than the seventh and eighth ranked teams. Although not yet mathematically confirmed, it looks like last year’s National League Champion, Mark63’s Magnificent Team (Mark Finbow) will miss out on the championship playoffs.
Atlantic League
| Rank | Team | W-L-T |
|---|---|---|
| Group A | ||
| 1 | Secret Agents Too | 13-5-0 |
| 3 | London Queens | 11-7-0 |
| 4 | Han Soto | 11-7-0 |
| 9 | Acuña maTatis | 6-12-0 |
| 10 | Ruth’s Bambinos | 5-13-0 |
| Group B | ||
| 2 | The Roki Cokeys | 12-6-0 |
| 5 | Teddy’s Wellies | 9-9-0 |
| 6 | Silver State 51s | 8-10-0 |
| 7 | AZ Doublebacks | 7-10-1 |
| 8 | Wasteland Eskimos | 7-10-1 |
Newcomer to the Atlantic League, The Roki Cokeys (Paul Dearnley) has secured a place in the championship playoffs along with one of last season’s semi-finalists, Secret Agents Too (René Becker). Another newcomer, London Queens (Em Dean) and another of last season’s semi-finalists, Han Soto (Dan Perrin), are both 11-7 and look set to follow soon.
The battle for the final two championship playoff places is an open one as the teams ranked fifth to eighth are separated by just two wins and the ninth-ranked team is currently only two games back from a championship playoff spot. The occupiers of the final two coveted spots could change on a weekly basis from now until the end of the regular season. It is possible that neither of the 2024 championship finalists, Acuña maTatis (Dave Perrin) and reigning Atlantic League Champion Silver State 51s (Tim Stride), will make it into this year’s championship playoffs.
Touch base
We will back with further updates from now until after the conclusion of the fantasy baseball season on 28 September. In the meantime, the forums on the FBUK website are open and you can also follow Fantasy Baseball UK on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Threads.
Thanks for playing, and good luck for the rest of the season!
Fantasy Baseball UK
