Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Here's my first team in US Cellular (and third 2005 team-- usually I'm an 80's guy).

It's got Guerrero, Rolen, Tejada, and Carlos Lee, but little sock from the left side. Is it too right-handed? Can my pitching stand up? Rest of the league is a mixture of pitchers and hitters parks-- two Shea's, two Petco's, PNC, Yankee, etc., with Citizens Bank, Fenway, and Bank One in my division.

One note: Figgins is in LF, Lee's the DH, Chavez and Cruz platoon in CF.

Any advice or comments?

Thanks.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=19942

Your team looks great! I think you are going to do well in your league. You selected SP with very few BPHR which is needed at US Cell. I suppose you are going to start Rusch in your rotation. If so dump Dontrelle as you won't need him and replace him with Atchison, Parrish, Hammond or Grybowski. They all have no BPHR on their cards. If you plan on starting Dontrelle and using Rusch as a RP then you have way too much money tied up in your pen. You would really need to rethink that.

Most of your big hitters are slanted towards LHP (Vlad, Tejada & Rolen). That being said they still hit RHP pretty darn well so I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you could trade Vlad for JD Drew then sure I would do that. I would help balance your lineup and improve your defense. I would make that trade offer to whoever has Drew.

I would not start a 3 in CF. Dump Jose Cruz no matter what. You just don't need his little bit of offense with your mashers. His defense in CF will really hurt you more than the offense he can provide IMO. Endy can get by vs LHP with that lineup you have and still provide great defense. If you really want to platoon look for Nook Logan who may actually be able to start both ways for you instead of Chavez.

After making these moves you may have some cash left over. I am not a huge Shawn Green fan but he would be ok to use. If you have leftover cash I would drop Green for Huff right away if Huff is available. If not you might look at a platoon at 1B from any of the below guys depending on who might be available. Against RHP you might consider: Easley, Bagwell, Sledge or Choi. Against LHP you might consider: Phelps, Cabrera or Merloni. If you could get a Phelps/Bagwell platoon at the Cell that would be awesome!

Good Luck

Guerrero and Rolen are the only guys on the team with max BPHRs both ways. This is not enough for the Cell. Figgins is not a great Cell player. Green, Lee, Tejada, Polanco are okay, but you have too many guys in this bunch without enough BPHRs. Look at Lee again and see his HR card is not that great.

Cruz is a complete waste on this team. So is Chavez. Schneider is not necessary. SBs do not win or lose games in the Cell, HRs do. Win the HR battle and don't concern yourself with such trivialities as sbs, clutch, and singles.

Your staff has the right idea. Very few BPHRs here. Much better than the offense.

Gas Cruz, Chavez and Schneider and find some BPHRs, even if you have to sacrifice batting average and D. Snyder is a good Cell catcher, so is Buck. I love Marcus Thames as a DH. Crosby is a good value at SS. There are many CF options with good BPHRs. Wilkerson is my favorite, but Finley, A Jones, T Hunter are all decent options with good D. One of them is always available after waivers.

Get some HRs and good luck

I agree with alot of what worrierking says...you picked a HR park to hit HR's! So, you need alot of bphr type guys. I play in cell a fair bit, and have had some success. I think you have spent too much on your pitching, esp your starters. Although I agree with LM about needing pitchers with few or no bphrs, you can accomplish this much cheaper than you have done. Guys like ledzema, benson, Lowry, etc...will work, and will save you alot of $$.

This is my last cell team, won 92 games, best record in the league full of vets, and led the league in runs scored and hrs...

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=14011

Agree with above, get some HR hitters, and good luck! :)