Need help breaking .500 winning pct

[JOHNPHILLIPS 2]

I haven't been able to have a team break the .500 winning pct mark all season. Will this team be my first?
Any advice would be great. Thanks!!!

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=7146

[generationm1]

Your team looks pretty decent, your hitters look solid, I might be a little worried about your starting putching if I were you, and you have over 10 million in relivers, dump some relivers to upgrade at sp.

[the splinter]

I have to disagree..

1) Your D is the pits. You will not win with a 5 at 1b a 4 at 3b and a 4 c with a plus arm. You will not win with 2 4's in ther OF and a CF with a + arm. Defensively Cabrerra, Castillo and Abreu are the only 3 I'd put in the field. You could get a way with a 4 LF and a 5 1b if most other positions were 1's.

2) You starting pitching is bad for your park. With the exception of Jennings they all allow too many BP homers. The issue with Jennings is he gives up alot of hits that stay in the park and your D won't be able to catch them.

3) I think you have overspent and poorly drafted your pen. Hoffman(has done real well for me) Zumaya (you can do as good cheaper) and Valverde( there are some similar RP who i like better) are good but the rest suck....IMO. Lugo can/should be good but I have'nt seen it yet. You can cut McBride and Pena so that Zumaya can get the bulk of the innings.

[generationm1]

I didnt think your defense is going to kill you because you have twos at the three key positions ss, cf, and 2b. I would be worried with a 4 at catcher because of all the stolen bases, also a 4 at 3b isn`t exactly good. And usually a 5 at 1b wouldn`t matter, but Ortiz makes alot of errors for a 1b. Your defense and your sp are your concerns. dump your expensive relivers, except hoffman, he`s very good, and get help at defense and sp.

[geekor]

It appears that Norton (3e8) in playing 1b with Ortiz DHing, so def is fine (if Soriano in Lf is fine). VMart's def is so bad that HAl prefers to play Barajas for him at any given chance...... that's how bad it is.

Anyways, I don't particularly like norton, I've seen some decent seasons, bu some bad stinkers as well. Especially with Morneau available, he is an obvious big upgrade.

You have some really god pieces, Abreu, ortiz, Soriano (wish he was DHing, but you can't have 2)

I agree with splinter 100% on your pitching though. you have a few decent pieces, but many are loaded wiht BP Hr's and will end up getting shelled often. I usually only run with 1 set of specialists, 2 is ok I guess. Zuy can be setup, would love to see Ryan there as closer,and get a cheaper mopup then Lugo (Kuo is about what you want and available).

Jennings and Bonderman are ok for SP, but the rest are pretty iffy. the only thing going for you is reverse pitchers (ie Garcia) fit in well in your division. Though I like Gorzelanny, Ledzema, Suppan, Contreras as cheap sp in your park.

I hope this makes sense, time for bed.

[genevajack]

Other than Zumaya you have too many cheap skewed pitchers and should get at least one cheapie (less than $1) who is balanced to handle mop-up situations-as you will have a lot of them given the number of BPs out of 3 of your 4 SPs.

[LA Bear]

Is the C (4) really the issue or is the + arm the issue? I thought the general train of thought was that catcher range was not a big concern.

[JOHNPHILLIPS 2]

Thanks for all the replys. I have made a few changes to my team. I hope for the better.

Geeker, I took some of your advise on the SP and also dropped Lugo and picked up Kuo.

I also dropped Norton but that will mean playing Ortiz at 1b. I picked up Jason Bay so now I can DH Soriano.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=7146

[visick]

Thought I would chime in...

You really need to DH Big Papi rather than Soriano.

Keep either Soriano or Bay, not both.

Martinez needs to DH or play 1B. Seeing that Big Papi should be your DH, that would mean he's @ 1B. When Navarro goes down and HAL moves Martinez, who BTW should never catch, you'll then have a terrible defensive situation.

[the splinter]

[quote:3c8cc72d0d]Is the C (4) really the issue or is the + arm the issue? I thought the general train of thought was that catcher range was not a big concern. [/quote:3c8cc72d0d]

In general a 4C ain't so bad...but combined with the 7 E's and plus arm he ain't fit for the position. Combine that with the other 4's and 5's and that team would have spent most of the season running to the warning track to retreive batted balls. Plus...IMO ...VMart hits into way too many DP's without bringing enough plusses(power,D,speed etc) to counter the extra outs he creates to play for one of my teams.