Help from vet, what would you do??

[ashliz]

making a move w/my team as they are taking a dive.
option# 1 dump Penny, Bonderman, sele, Sheffield
pick up Overbay who could play 1st (and get needed lefty bat) then I can have Hafner as steady dh or get Frank Thomas to get more hr's and rbi's. Then pick up to decent pichers like Escobar, Kelvim and Gorzelanny, Tom or Nate Robinson.

option# 2 dump all of the above but keep Sheffield to platoon as DH against l h batters w/Huff, Aubrey against rh batter's and play 1st for Hafner then
pick up an ace like Weaver, Jered and take a chance w/a 1 mil$$ picher.


my team http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=1764

[geekor]

am I right that you are playing a 5 at 1b, a 3 at 2b and SS, a 4 at 3b, a 5 in Lf, a 3 in Cf and a 4 in RF?

No wonder your pitching is doing bad....

I don't mind an occasional 3 up the middle, but all 3's? a 5 in Lf and at 1b? You are just asking for trouble.

I would look to find a trading partner first, and get some people to play def as well as offense. Even though Vileneuva is doing great, I'd still see if you could package Lee + Lugo + Vila for a mid range * sp and a decent SS. Then get whatever you can for a LF and a 1b. That's just me though....

[Palmtana]

Dumping the pitchers isn't going to make a bit of difference. They are not the problem. Haven't you noticed the glares you've been getting from the mound. Your defense is ........... indefensible. In the future turn those 3's, 4's and 5's into 1's, 2's and 3's. If you have 4 *SP's, your 5th SP(Penny in your case) should be a 50 cent scrub to save money. You don't need two R-XR closers. One will suffice. And...... aaah just read the [url=http://forums.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=9842]Newbie Advice Thread[/url] and use this team as a learning experience.

[MEAT]

echo the above, but not a lost cause, it's early yet, you're not buried, and you have some VERY tradeable properties. sele is useless to you, and you're not likely to get anything for him, so he you may want to just pick up the cash for. doubt there's much market for penny, but with villanueva, you need a regular 5th starter. villanueva might be tradeable, see if you can get someone who can start every 4th day for him in the low 3m range like westbrook.schmidt/schilling etc...robertson is solid, and worth going after if he's a free agent...i'd be tempted to cash villanueva, pick robertson up, then have the extra cash plus sele's bankroll to help. atleast one, maybe two have to go from c. lee/hafner/sheffield/escobar/cjones. all are attractive to other owners who need a dh. i would probably keep sheff of that group since he's the cheapest. get yourself some defense up the middle...cf/2b or ss. kotsay or duffy are cheap and play good cf d. also, you MUST dump fick or nevin, I'd say both, and get a decent, CHEAP, defensive catcher to backup loduca. carrying three catchers, (if you can even call nevin and fitch catchers!) means loduca's not only more prone to get hurt, but when he does, you've got an horrendous backup. put hafner and escobar and or c. lee on the market in your league mail, or send an offer to a team that's weak offensively for someone solid up the middle and see what happens...

[MEAT]

oh, and you could use some lh bullpen help.
okay, looking at some other rosters in your league, seems alot of people went for offense over defense, and 5-man rotations. best matchup I see is hillsboro, which plays in the cell so would like all your sluggging. he's got some defense that could help...the three I'd go after on his team are ivan rodriguez, adrian gonzales and tori hunter...all a downgrade for you offensively, but haffner, c. lee and escobar could be very attractive to him. try packaging say c. lee or hafner, escobar and maybe loduca for i.rodriguez hunter and gonzales, and possibly one of his * rated starting pitchers..

[geekor]

man you have soooo mamy good players in the FA list, jees why can't I get in a league like this?

anyways trades should always be first, as you don't lose $$ by trading. Honestly I disagree with meat, if you HAD to play a 5 in the field, 1b would e the best spot, as it only has 2 x chances. Still, not something I would do either, but he is you best (and 1 of 2) LH hitter...... but Lee is killing you in LF, and Lugo, at 3e36, is basically a 4e14 (roughly) and inexcusable at the position that has the MOST x chances for def. LF and SS HAVE to get better Def, in LF you can pass with a 3, but SS you need at least a 2. Since your def is bad everywhere, I'd suggest A Gon, even though his offense stinks, he's a 1e10 at the most important def position. And I persaonlly play Escobar in CF, but then I don't play 4's next to him..... I think moving Vlad to DH, Ditching Lee (preferably via trade) and moving Escobar to RF (his bat is just too good for the price) and getting a decent CF would also help. Matthews, Ichiro are both our there, Matthews has the better bat, Ichiro the much better glove and arm.

and like Meat said, you have to carry 2 catchers, but once the first is hurt the 2nd wont get hurt at all, if he is your last catcher. So carrying 3 catchers, 2 very bad def, mean you will spend more time without a good C. Ditch Nevin at least, if not both him and Fick and get 1 under 1 mil C backup.

so if you can't make any trades, the very least would be drop Villaneuva, Penny, Sele, Lee, Nevin, Lugo, Shef, Fick, for a cheap bakcup catcher, 3 .50 players (2 pitchers), A Gon, Robertson, and a decent LF and CF (about 9.4 mil for both left). Or go even cheaper on the pitching, with Moyer, and grab E Chavez for LF and MAtthews for CF.

But try to trade first, your cap will thank you for it!

[MEAT]

good advise from the geek, (especially where he agrees with me :D )
ofcourse you're not gonna lose ALL your sluggers, and yes, if you keep one, hafner's the most usuable in the field, sort of, but with escobar, i'd be leery to have both since hafner has less than 600p.a. and has a tendency to go down for chunks. escobar could miss as much as half the season with the wrong rolls. didn't see the free agent list, but DEFINETLY get matthews somehow. almost injury proof, solid defensively, switch hitter who also has plenty of offense. anything you do after that is gravy. getting him AND ichiro, and upgradiing defensively at ss, and resolving the catcher circus would take you a LONG way. castro's a great option at catcher if he's out there...cheap, injury prone, but hits decently and plays ok defense. if he's hurt, loduca CAN'T be, and vice versa.

[ashliz]

Thanks guy's, I am soaking in all the advise waiting to make a move, I was also thinking trying a small move 1st like dh Lee, put Lugo in left and picking up McDonald, John, for ss he is a 2 rated fielder, this could be my righty line up and against left piching I go back to the scary Def lineup w/Shef as DH, also dumping loduca and nevin for Varitak, who is a S hitter and decent D. I would love Matthews and ichiro but don't think I could pull it off w/the $$$$

[MEAT]

ash,,,you CAN get matthews, or atleast ichiro. you've got WAAAY too many dh's. c.lee, guerrero, sheffield, hafner. you can play hafner at 1b, ideally you would slide escobar to rf and get matthews or ichiro for cf. sheff is pretty one sided, and extremely innjury prone, so not an everyday dh option, but he's your best bargain. if you can't trade lee, which is likely, maybe vlad. but get the cash for leee which will be over 4m depending on what your drop penalties are, now you just need a lil over a millionmore. still don't need penny AND sele, and really neither, duump both for an under 1m starter/reliever who's extreme against rh or lh so you can spot start him and pitch him for an out or two in relief, otherwise burying him. nate snell is the type of guy to look for there. otherwise a straight .50 start only pitcher who you NEVER use, but meets the 5 sp requirements. that gives you plenty of cash to get matthews and start assembling some kind of defense. lugo is NOT an option at lf, only slightly more o an adventure than c. lee. I like phillips as a ss option. probably keep loduca and just junk nevin and fitch for a defensive catcher, preferably with an N power rating. try to deal escobar or vlad, even dumping lee, your still a DH team and both can only play rf. it's a bit of a mess, but quite fixable.

[ashliz]

Thanks again guy's and meat I know you are down on Lee and the reat of my outfield but he only has 3 errors al,most halfway into the season, the other's have 2, my prob is the infield w/errors, Lugo & Jones w/10 Hafner w/ 9 , also at catcher Loduca has 7 and he has givin up a league leading 75 steals, so at halfway point I am thinking what do I have to loose at this point and dumping Nathn and Street to get some cash and pick up a good fielding 1st basemen and use Hfner as every day DH and getting at least a #2 def Short stop, catcher, and picking up J Weaver as a sp.