My first ATGII team--Bobbing Back to the Surface....

[Outta Leftfield]

[Edit] Report below on how this first team is doing...

After several seasons of "Back to the '80s" (which I highly recommend), I've just created my first ATGII team. This is in Yankee '27 and is pre-waivers. I decided to try a 5-man rotation and go for a basically balanced attack. I got most of the players I drafted, so I have the last waiver pick. Lots of HR parks in the division and league. I have been reading the forum a lot, checking out teams, and looking at Diamond Dope, so I think I have at least the basic idea. Here's the team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=102486

I know I'm going to have to get a leftfielder--I have two RFs in Furillo and Barfield. I'm planning to cash Barfield in for somebody either in LF or CF, since Haas can play anywhere. I'm hoping to find a lefty hitter, since my division has a strong RHP tilt, but there are not a lot of them out there who can play LF/CF. Goslin is available but I don't want to take the defensive hit. McCosky is there but I hate his clutch performance. Maybe Selkirk--assuming somebody ahead of me doesn't grab him? The other option is to get a RH CF like Gorman Thomas--giving me 1s across the outfield-- and upgrade one of my SP's. Gomez, who is available, seems lethal in Y27.

Any advice/comment would be helpful. Do I have more bullpen than I need? Or not enough? Both Richert and McMahon look pretty good in Y27, so I'm reluctant to trade down at this point.

[JUMA]

Not a Y27 devotee by any means, but your most glaring weakness IMO is lack of a leadoff man. Selkirk could fill that role in an unconventional sense (great OBP but lack of speed.)
Doby deserves a look in CF.
Best of luck. Really nice looking team for a first effort. Your homework shows.

Randy

[modmark46]

Don't disdain McCosky as another guy who good leadoff for you. Excellent on base and sufficient speed. His clutch won't come in to effect that often in the leadoff spot. There are others better than McCosky to lead off, but you could do much worse, IMO. Plus, McCosky is only a 3 game injury risk. Dickey, Rosen and Furillo are all 15 game injury risks. Don't know that I'd want too many of those walking wounded types on a slugging team. :) And, you don't need those two back up 1b, since Ripper can't be hurt. I'd dump them for money and/or more useful bench guys. Wera would make a good RH PH for you in Yankee 27, and act as a backup vs LHs for Rosen when he goes down with an injury. Or, if available, consider dumping Rosen for Walling, and platoon him with Wera (or a Prothro/Knight vs RHs) for a more expensive, but a very good 3b platoon in Yankee 27. Walling would also give you another LH bat with some pop.

[Outta Leftfield]

Thanks for the kind words about the team and the helpful advice.

Maybe McCosky really does make the most sense for leadoff/LF. I saw that Ripper was bulletproof only after I drafted (still learning) so will get rid of the 1B backups. I'm planning to keep just 13 players.

Dickey, Furillo and Rosen all really kill the ball in Y27, so I'm tempted to keep them--and getting McCoskey would reduce my injury risk somewhat. At least in the OF, Shuba and Wood would seem to give a decent replacement platoon if somebody (esp Furillo) goes down. I'll look at the C situation in particular, since Dickey's injury risk does worry me. I could afford to upgrade to Berra, who has lower risk, though still below 600 PA. Doby is tempting but for some reason his Diamond Dope numbers in Y27 are not very impressive. :D

[Moriarity]

I'm in your division and there really isn't much for leadoff hitters available. You might just fine tune the rest of your team and see what shows up after waivers. McCoskey is OK, but Snodgrass has AA stealing and isn't bad either, also better defense. Team looks good. My .02.

[Sykes25]

I'm a little crazy, but...

I'd drop Furrillo and swing Mule to LF if there is a decent CF with high OBP. You could also leave Mule in CF and throw Jim Rice in LF if he is available. Then go out and buy an expensive platoon at 2B. Lopes vs LHP rocks in the leadoff spot.

Team looks good though.

I've never seen Rice do badly in ATG2 and he is cheap. Gordon has dissappointed me before.

[raslavens]

Grab Doby for CF and dump Haas. Doby is no great hitter, but he should do 30 HRs, 90 RBIs easy in Yankee '27.

Definitely look at Rosen as a #2 hitter in this lineup. He doesn't have many DPs and usually posts a decent OBP.

[JUMA]

May can give you Dickey's power & save some bucks in the process.

[cplake]

Agree with Randy. I just started a '27 Yankee team and also drafted Dickey to catch. I dropped him for May and saved about 3.5M to upgrade elsewhere. His arm isn't as good but that's not as important in a hitter's park.

Welcome to ATGII OL. Good luck!

[Outta Leftfield]

Wow! My head is spinning from all of the options!

May does look like good value for the money, and aside from th +1 arm offers good D.

Jim Rice is gone. Not much in CF short of Dimaggio on the higher end but two LF's still on the table are Stargell and Rickey H, who I might be able to afford if I say money elsewhere. But I'm picking last on waivers. Any chance these guys would be left by the end of round 1? And is either guy worth the big bucks? Rickey would certainly solve the leadoff problem and Stargell seems to eat RHP for breakfast. :D

By the way, Gerhringer is available at 2B as is Collins. Maybe I should trade Gordon in for one of those as my leadoff guy--Gerhinger would be better?-- and then load up on power in the OF?