Comments on my first Petco team

[kimkrichbaum2]

My firat petco team is in the post-waiver, pre-season. I'd like your comments on the team.
http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=7043
My division has all pitchers parks, the only hitters parks in the league are two MM's. There are 4 Lefty starters in my division. The hitters in the division - one team with mostly lefties, one mostly righties, one mixed. All three teams slant have alot of R slants, and very few L's. I'd love general comments on my team, and specific advice on how to get HAL to use Fultz a lot. he should especially rock against two of the teams in my division.
Thanks!

[durantjerry]

Going by your description of the league parks, you should grab Radke(or maybe Weaver) if he is still there. I don't like Fultz there and I don't see him used much as he cost a lot. If you are going to be playing 120+ games where the #HR is close to irrelevent, you should choose your pitchers to take advantage of it. I don't think you need to spend the big $$$ on Fultz to get the results you are looking for. I like Clark and Haffner, as they give you great natural power that few others will be able too match. I would only carry ten pitchers with all the pitching parks and grab another OF. You may want to do something about replacing some of the injury guys you could live without with some 600 AB guys, as your whole team seems like it could go down for 15 games.

[kimkrichbaum2]

Thanks for the comments, I have also been questioning Fultz, but my division has a lot of R hitters that are slanted R, and Fultz is the best against them. Also if i save 4 mil and get a cheaper replacement, where do i spend it? I havebeen looking at A Rod, as my infield D is not what I'd like, but where do i get the other 7 mil? I looked for 600ab outfileders, and the pickins are slim, no one i see as a fit for my park, all guys with a medium to large number of BPHR's but not enough natural power to hit in Petco. I don't want to drop francouer. He has great natural power vs. Lefties, and without him, I think I am vulnerable to lefties.
The low whip pitchers with high BPHR are mostly gone, that's what we get for having lots of Petcos and Kaufmanns.
I actually considered going after Clemens, would he be overkill?
I'm still considering dropping fultz if I can find something worth spending the money on.
Also, what type of cheap outfielder would you get? I now have one extra quality outfielder to back up my injury guys in OF and dh,

[LANCEBOUSLEY]

i don't like franceuor here.

[durantjerry]

I would rather have Clemens than Fultz and your lefty whose name escapes me. Saves you from starting him in MM. Clemens would be dominant with those parks. It's hard to believe he's still available. Starters are more important than relievers in pitching parks in DH leagues IMO. Less runs are scored, therefore less comebacks. You want the other guy to be trying to come back, not you.

[kimkrichbaum2]

OK, I looked at it and trusted your wisdom. I dropped Francouer, Fultz abd Capuano, and picked up Clemens, Perez, and Ohman. Let's see how that works!

[Jerlins]

Despite being in both your league AND in your division, I'll give what I hope you take are honest comments. Clemens is good, no doubt, but perhaps a bit of an overkill in this league, but the main factor in why Clemens would be average at best for you:

1st- 3
2nd-3
SS-3
3rd-4
LF-2
CF-3
RF-4

No way are you going to survive 10 pitchers parks with a defense like this. The $ spent on Clemens could be better spent on getting some decent hitters with better defense. So I am not repeating myself at 3am EST (I'm lazy), take a look at what I wrote in the "Patterson or Burnett" thread written earlier this week. In a nutshell, unlike the 05 set, I'm putting my coin on good hitters with good D, and leaving the overpriced plus $5 *SP's to everyone else.

[durantjerry]

Defense is weak, but I have a Tour team in the finals that went 3/3/2/4/3/3/4 and had the best record with a second place showing in pitching. I also have a LOTO tourney team with a 3 at second and CF(Lofton also) that has the best record. My pitchers are pretty good, of course. Your error ratings are very good, which will help. I still think you could do better at 3B. At this point, I think Clemens is your best chance to be good. Too many players gone and your team was probably average. Clemens is one of the few wildcards you could throw in the mix to spice it up. I still think you could do better at 3B, or even a better 2B and play Polanco at 3B. A cheaper defensive SS could work or you could play Pods fulltime in LF or grab a Lenny Harris type for DH. Pods and Eckstein could be flip-flopped from the top of the order to the ninth spot vs LHP & RHP. Rodriguez is no good IMO. Too much #HR for your league. Clark and Haffner are really plenty of punch vs rhp's. You could maybe use the extra $$$ for a better defensive CF. I would also cheat more in the pen. If the league is as extreme as you say, you can get by with less relief. I would dump one of the set up men. That's how I play pitchers parks, anyway. You see guys using Wickman as closer being successful as an extreme example of the same philosophy. I do think you need one or two better players, and those are some ideas to free up $$$.

[kimkrichbaum2]

Well, it just so happened that someone just dropped Bill Mueller, so I exchanged him for Youkillis. That helps both in D and Inj numbers. That was very gracious of you Jerlins, to give me feedback, even though I am in your division. I want to stay with my pen, I had negative experiences with losing games in the pen with a team with strong starters.
I really like my team, that however does not mean they will actually win!

[Rant]

Good move picking up Ohman. He's fabulous in pitchers parks. I'm not crazy about C. Lee personally. I think you can get more value from someone else and therefore not need so much $ in your bullpen. No reason Clemens, Blanton and Patterson can't go deep into every game -- except maybe that your defense is weak.

You have good natural power in your hitting. Pods underperformed for me big time, despite swiping a bunch of bases. Both he and Lofton seem to lose a lot in Petco. You seem to be spending a lot on your reserves. Even with high INJ chances, you may be able to squeeze some more value out -- particularly more high OBP guys.