Pierre in centerfield?

[sousa]

I have a Safeco team with decent starting pitching (Sheets, Madritsch, Rusch, Radke) a solid pen headed by Wagner and good LH power (Safeco is the new HR Shea for 2005 thanks to the Ms horrific pitching that year). I have Pierre in CF, however, and this makes me very nervous. Over the course of a season how badly does that scary +3 in CF hurt? Has anybody figured out a way to estimate this? I know it would be tough given all of the variables involved. Sadly I don't have him paired with any strong arms to cut down aggressive running by the opposition.

Best LH option I can afford in free agency at this point is Patterson; there are no other decent fielders in my price range...

[JOELKING]

david.
I am safeco expert , i think after 14 teams there, i think its safe to say it,

anyways I used patterson there, didnt like his numbers at all, infact i know few ppl that had very bad luck with patterson in safeco and shea, not sure about his hrs totals they might be abit higher. but his arm is well worth it to consider IF there isnt anyone else around, even Randy winn is better then patterson, regardless patterson arm, .. anyways, pierre will hit there no question and perfect lead -off hitter for your park and that something you really need in safeco, a decent lead off hitter. If you could trade pierre for Damon or kotsay, that be alot better, however keep in mind you really need somone on base that could come home with a single in safeco.

[JdEarly]

Devilrage has had 14 teams in Safeco, sure, but he never said how well those teams faired. :P

I've heard people say that you can put good arms on either side of Pierre in center, two strong arms in the same outfield with a weak arm (Pierre, Damon, Bonds all throw like little sissy girls), and other managers will be less likely to run on you aggressively.

I saw someone trying to add all of the arm strengths together, divide by three, count three ticks from a monkey's butt and try to make that equation mean something, but all that will do is confuse you. Pierre's +3 arm with, say, Vlad (-4) in right and Dustan Mohr (-1) in left will make people hesitate a little before letting their guys run on you all day. You just don't want Pierre out there if you have average (or worse) arms out there manning the other two positions - that's where you get "Operation: Green Light."

Hope that made sense, and helps at least a little bit.

[cummings2]

I have gone with Pierre in CF for parts of the season with not much noticeable trouble, the CF arm's is the most important obviously, but JD is right, having good arms around him will help, also having pitchers that have good HLD ratings will keep the runners on base from getting a good lead and that can help pierre's arm a bit, your SP will most likely hold runners but check your relievers. He IS a 2e2 so as long as there are no runners on base he's pretty decent defensively...just another thing to keep in mind...the +3 arm will work quite against you if the other teams (in your division especially) have high speedsters, you know if the other three teams have a bunch of 1-17s all over then you can be certain they won't have much trouble scoring from 2nd, if on top of that your catcher is poor defensively then you could have some trouble if there is a play at home and your catcher's D is challenged. I am sure you know all of this though...If you still feel uneasy,you can always try a defensive switch late in games. Glanville or Matos should do alright. Basically what i am trying to say is that I'd keep him over patterson EVERY time, just my point of view.

[JOELKING]

2 went to the playoffs JD, both teams didnt have pierre either. :)

[bleacher_creature]

I don't know how many that play SOM here at TSN actually have played much "real" SOM. Either computer or table top.

I can tell you this though, a +3 arm is death to your defense. As you can see on the cards, there are more single (CF) results than to the other outfield positions, thereby making the CFs arm more important.

I have seen too many close games affected by a poor CF arm rating. You WILL lose games over this, which offset the offensive production of Pierre.

[wavygravy2k]

I agree with bleacher creature. I used Damon one season and it was painful. I ended up moving Damon to DH and used a Patterson/Endy Chavez centerfield.

This was in SOM Online version.

[tersignf]

Regardless of the arm, you'd want your lefty bats to have N power at SAFECO, otherwise you're not taking advantage of that +6 differential (vs RHBs) on BPHRs.

But if you must, pairing him up with Berkman and Drew would be nice...

[Play By The Rules]

[quote:25a94482f4]Pierre's +3 arm with, say, Vlad (-4) in right and Dustan Mohr (-1) in left will make people hesitate a little before letting their guys run on you all day. [/quote:25a94482f4]

Not me. Set steal on aggressive vs. this OF.

With Pierre only Suzuki in right plus Guillen in left will make me even THINK of easing the baserunning setting off of aggressive with Pierre in CF. CF gets twice the chances of a corner OF.

[JdEarly]

Point taken. Maybe I will stop worrying about changing my baserunner settings!