Advice for a Newbie on my first team.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=80866

This is my first ever ATG2 team and I would like a bit of general advice concerning my team. I am a very new convert to baseabll so do not know too much about some of these players. So when drafting my team I stuck to what I usually do when building a 2005 team and I didn't have too much time post waivers to change too many players. Obviously some of the players will not fit my park or others but any constructive advice would be very welcome.

[MtheB]

Some initial thoughts:

Starting pitching:
Alexander and Morris are not good cards. In that park, you want pitchers with low/no BP HRs and low WHIP. Hard to find at this point with the cash you could free up but take a look at the FA list and do diamondope.
The Pen:
Relief is strong but way overkill, too much money spent here, Lyle is not a popular pick and just doesn't seem to pitch his card. Best is to get one stud closer, and then the rest high value low cost relievers. Too late now probably, as with the season started, most likely those pitchers are no FAs.
If anything, look to dump Lyle to create some cash.

Hitting:
Delancy just doesn't hit his card, not a good value, and here is where you should look to generate some cash by dumping him for a decent low cost LH catcher such as Gedman, Whitt etc.
Then use the cash From that and from Lyle and cut Hall and upgrade LF or CF--as Alou can play either)--preferrably a stong LH low injury risk hitter. Check to see if there are any "1"s at CF
You do have quite a few injury risk hitters: MacDougal, Hall, Alou, Chapman are all injury risks.
If Chapman gets hurt, you can move Mac to SS, but then you need a decent 2B backup.

[Free Radicals]

For a 1st try its not to bad . There are problems but nothing that's not managable .

Pitching : Morris is hit or miss , he may be ok for you but then again maybe not . Agree with previous post , Alexander could go . You spent all that money on Schultz and he hasn't pitched an inning . Put him as your set up man and utilize him and the money .

Hitting : One never knows about these things . Cooper doesn't get hurt so Doc is kind of a waste . Delancy could be a Crandall , Gedman , Porter, Fosse , Ellie Howard type and free up some dough . Rose has never done well for me but works out for others . Hall is hit ot miss .

All in all for a 1st try its not that bad . Seen alot worse ( from when I started ) . Wait til after a week at least to make any moves .Try to make moves to correct the ship then let them go . Trading is always the preferred route but can be difficult to pull off sometimes . Patience is the keyword . Don't freak to early . Good luck .

[MICHAELEVANS]

I, for one, am not a fan of "neutral" ballparks, but I have seen others be very successful there. One key for any neutral or pitching team is to have good defense at SS and 2B (1's) and to have strong arms (-3 or better) in CF and RF. Also, a 1 in CF is a big help. A hitting catcher is not a requirement, but he should be a 1 or 2, with a strong arm (-3 or better). I agree that your SP are not all fitted to your park, and you have too much money in your bullpen.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I wanted to ditch Delancey but kept him in the end as I wanted a LH catcher and wasn't too sure about the others. As for the pitching, I probably have spent too much on the Pen and I may ditch or trade Lyle for someone cheaper.

Steep learning curve coming up I think!

[GREGGZILIANI]

OK here are my thoughts...

[b:3c36c4bda3]Pitching [/b:3c36c4bda3]- You have two pitcher parks in your division and only one bomber park (Yankee '56). And Yankee really favors LH batters. You always want to look at the other teams in your division when planning out your team. I wouldnt stress AS much about #s on your card against RHs, but I would be concerned with them on the LH side. You have to figure with 1-12 ratings for both LH and RH, each batter should has a 60% chance for a HR on a dice roll with a #. For the record, Ive used Lyle before in balanced parks with success, so I wouldnt stress too much about using him. I think, however, that if you are going to go with two stud relievers, you should go complementary (one strong against LH and one against RH ie Tincup/Humphreys.). I wont rehash the Alexander/Morris cards, because you see they are already getting chewed. I would say to think about this, however, IMHO - If you are going with a 4-man rotation, I would rather have 1 supersucky [b:3c36c4bda3]cheap[/b:3c36c4bda3] starter and 3 solid starters, especially if you have a solid pen.

[b:3c36c4bda3]Hitting[/b:3c36c4bda3]- OK, a few things I can tell you. Im a firm believer in defense up the middle (2b/ss) and BIG arms in the OF (regardless of park). So you did a pretty nice job in that regard. Aaron and Alou are a nice fit for you (Im currently using them myself on an Ebbets team). And I like your 3-4-5 (im guessing with those batting positions) of Aaron, Alou, Cooper. Hall isnt bad as long as you are playing him in LF. A good arm behind the plate is great, but there are better values out there than Delancy (i.e. Lollar). I also dont worry as much about injury risks as long as I hedge my bets with solid backups. Since you have pitcher parks in your division, it is good to have guys with good Avg/OBP, because you wont be able to slug your way around those parks.

Overall, balanced parks provide the biggest challenge, but can be the most fun teams to put together. A little tweaking your staff next time around and I think you will have some nice success in balanced parks.

Just be REAL careful before you go dumping your guys. There is that nasty 20% hit on salary, so make sure you plan carefully before making your moves, or it could prove REAL costly.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

I always try to get good D up the middle. Never less than a 2 range wise. I will see how this team goes for a while before I start to change anything and I will try and address the pitching situation then.

[Free Radicals]

I agree with alot that major has said . As for catchers though , there's only 3 that are 3 games injury risk . Everyone else can go down for 15 possible games . So spending big bucks on a player who can continually get hurt ( like catchers do ) is a waste somewhat . There are alot of cheap catchers that put up the same type numbers as a 4M+ and the injury risk is similar . I always try to get players who are minimal or no injury risk at all . Sometimes you give up something for the playing time but to me at least its worth it to know your players are going to be playing and not in the whirlpool for 15 games . Since its your 1st ATGII team and not knowing if you are aware of the injury risk ratings , here they are :

680 Plate Appearances (AB+BB=PA) no injury or rest of game only
600-679 P.A. 3 games tops
under 600 15 games possible .