1st Small Ball Team - help?

[ed1447]

This is only 2nd ATG team, so I thought that I'd give a forbes team a try.
Post waivers , pre-season. Any comments appreaciated.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=111530

[JUMA]

:arrow:

[crackerjaxon]

I'd lose Bishop. Otherwise, your team looks really good. Bishop will clog up your base paths.

[Palanion]

I won't address the bullpen, but I love the SP.

Offensively, I wonder if Dawson is the right guy for CF. I will just assume you could not get/afford Speaker and Dom DiMaggio was unavailable.
Dawson won't kill you and his glove is great, but he will struggle vs. RHP particularly at home.

I prefer Peckinpaugh or Bowa over Concepcion - both for production and for health - Davey is a 15-game risk.

Bishop's obp looks great, but jaxon is right. All Bishop does is walk. You'll be lucky if he hits .230, but he'll get 120 bb and make his obp look dandy. Since he does not actually hit the ball, Bishop is best used at the bottom of the order and thus a huge candidate to be doubled up.

I certainly would never pretend to say he is the answer, but if you can spend the extra $1 to step up from Bishop to Doran, that is an improvement. Doran's obp will be less, but his avg will be up, he's got better glove and won't clog the basepaths with his speed.

My .02.

[Minoso Express]

66 games into a current Forbes season, here are Dawson's stats:

.310 BA, .483 SLG., .355 OBP, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 16 Doubles, 17 BB.

Against righties only: .291 BA, .430 SLG., .333 OBP, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 12 doubles, 10 BB.

There's a Fenway and a Tigers in the league, otherwise purely pitching parks.

[ed1447]

Thanks for comments. Re: Bishop, what if I bat him 8th, have him walk in front of the pitcher, so the pitcher can sac or make last out of an inning. Should I keep him then?

Doran is unavailable. Evers is available.

Any other thoughts on Peckinpaugh v. Concepcion?

[Minoso Express]

I'm pretty new to this game, so take that into consideration.

I agree with Palanion. Peckinpaugh over Concepion. Concepion may be speedier and has fewer E's than Peck, but Peck has it all over him on OB from both sides (he walks a lot more than Concepion, and is the more balanced hitter), is the better bunter and will help on H & R. He's reasonably quick, too.

Good luck with your season.

[egvrich]

On a smallball team, I would definitely pickup Evers over Bishop. (Other options would be Frey or Gilliam.

At SS in order I would take Chapman, Bush or Peckinpaugh over Concepcion. I would also take Trammell, but he is pricey.

Your relief pitching leaves much to be desired. You've got 2 good ones and some junk that will end up getting into more games than you desire and hurt you in the long run.

Your starters are a solid group.

In CF, Dawson will be fine. But you could save $3.00 mill and pick up Wilson who will give you a similar performance (albeit with lots less power).

[balk19]

I've used both Peckingpaugh and Conception and neither impressed me. I actually dropped Conception after he missed 20 of my first 50 games and only batted .212 when he was around. I'd recommend Reese, Bowa, or a platoon. As for 2B, GANTNER! GANTNER! I've run across some haters, but he performs everywhere, even pitcher parks. Plug him in at 2/7/8 set him to bunt more, hit 'n run more, don't steal. He's currently .292 @ Griffith for me.

[Palanion]

Rich,
Enlighten me about Bush. His errors scare me off. Would he really generate enough runs to offset his D? In basic math, he would allow 48 more baserunners than Concepcion. Not that I would play Davey, but would the 50 point increase in obp be better than 48 less opposing base runners?

And in comparison to Peck... Bush has 40 more E's and only a 20 point increase in obp.... seems like Peck in a dunk between these two.

Bill