First time owner needs help

[Wade77]

Any help would be appreciated. Playing in Fenway,2 other pitching friendly parks in division.

http://members.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team.html?stats=sim

[LMBombers]

Link doesn't work. click on League and then on Statistics. click on your team name which will bring up your roster again. Copy URL (web address) from that page and paste it here. We can see your roster then.

[Wade77]

I feel stupid.Thanks for patience

http://members.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=7113

[fred_1_15301]

Hey Wade. Good luck with your first team. I notice that 12 of your 14 hitters cost more than 1.5 million. Considering you can only start 9 players at a time, that is way too much money spent on your bench. Can you tell me what your projected starting lineup is against righties and lefties? I think you can also

[Terry101]

Starting pitching looks good. Maybe a little light on relief, maybe not -it is a preference thing. Probably too much spent on bench. Maybe too many lefties for your ballpark. These are just thoughts and , really, you need to experiment and see how things work out for yourself, Anyway, good luck.

[Jerlins]

Wade, I'm in your division but glad to offer some thoughts as well. We have a Dolphins Stadium team spiced with lefty hitters, so it might be wise to either get a LH SP, or at least a decent reverse RH SP for when you face that team. I'm also not a big fan of Drew, because of his injury rating, and not a great fit in your ballpark. If you keep him, you best get a GOOD backup as he'll most likely miss a good amount of games. Again, at this price tag and the park you're in, I'd just let him go and find a better option.

Good luck and we'll chat more on the league message boards.

Jerry

[Minoso Express]

Hi, Wade. I am no Fenway expert, and certainly not a Strat expert, so please bear that in mind. But a couple of things seem to jump out at me from looking at your roster. Yours is an especially slow team, which I guess can be fine in certain circumstances if you are putting together a monster bomber team, but in Fenway I would have thought a certain consistency of speed would go a long way. Sizemore, Freel and to a lesser extent Tejada are your only every day players with any zip and it looks like you're going to platoon Freel? If it is at all possible (I don't seem able to call up your free agent list, so can't say who's out there), I would try to assemble a bunch of guys who mostly have speed ratings of no less than 1-14. Having a slower catcher is fine-- not a lot of speed at that position!

A number of your players carry a 15-game injury risk. Not a good idea when you don't have really sharp backups. I agree with all who suggested to drop Drew-- not a great fit for your park and that injury risk seems too great.

The OF defense worries me a little, especially as Drew gets hurt so much, but maybe it doesn't matter too much in Fenway? I usually try to get guys with no worse than 2 ratings, with their range factor being the most important consideration, especially in RF and CF.

Your overall OBP seems low to me for Fenway. That, combined with the lack of speed, might result in a long season. And maybe not. Strange things happen in Strat!

I think Sizemore is a keeper, no matter what, given your team's current makeup, as are Freel (suspect glove at 2B notwithstanding) and Tejada. Though watch Tejada against lefties. For me, he's been very inconsistent against them.

I have a hunch a couple of your starters are going to get touched for beaucoup de homers v. righties at Fenway. Zambrano is a significant culprit in that regard, but be patient and don't start dropping players-- especially pricey players-- once the season begins. Try trading guys like Zambrano first if they are not performing up to expectations.

Good luck and hope you stick around for more Strat seasons.

:)