Gooden, Carlton or Drabek

[AdamKatz]

are these guys pretty fungible considering their relative salaries?

[Ducky]

I'm not quite sure about their personal hygiene, but to be fungible wouldn't the salaries have to be the same?

Since you are in my division in the league that formed last night, I'd say go for Gooden. If you weren't in my division, I'd tell you to grab Carlton.

:P :P :D :!:

[Jablowmi]

Re: Gooden and Carlton, you are paying for outstanding years vs. overall consistency. Gooden has one ridiculous year, one great year, one pretty good year and a couple of really weak years. Carlton has one great year, one/two pretty good years and one/two weak years. I've never tried to get Gooden (although I've had him), I always try to get Carlton (whatever that means). Note that Gooden can't hold a guy on, so it's tough to pair him with a + throwing catcher.

I think Drabek is a notch below each.

[seanreflex]

Drabek may be a notch below the other two, but that is reflected in his price. Drabek is one of my "go to" $5 mill pitchers. He has been more consistent than any other SP that I play on a regular basis, so I go for him. He doesn't have a "bad" card.

Reuss always performs too. Reuss and Drabek instead of Carlton and Gooden saves you $4mill to spend on another top position player.

Browning, Gullickson, Witt, Sanderson, John, Hoyt, Clancy all make up a decent 3-4 starter position.

I don't think I have ever drafted any pitcher over $6.12 mill (Reuss) except for Clemens and Hershiser. Those are the only two that I will ever pay more than Reuss for. I've never had luck with Key, Higgy, Valenzuela, Carlton, Guidry, etc.

[nycalderon]

A lot of what people say about their experiences is moderated by the sample size of their experience - which is small and unreliable statistically. For instance I have tried Scott and Sutton about 3 times each and they have sucked every time and dropped. Does that mean that they stink? No because each can have a killer season with the right one or two cards. Any given 80's season Steve Comer (who was a mediocrity) can be much, much better than Doc Gooden (who was basically the best pitcher of the era). Having said that I do agree with the comment that some pitchers are priced based on one or 2 great years and some are priced based on consistency. Sutton and Scott seem like guys who are less consistent than Higuera or Blyleven for instance. I think Higgy and Bly are 2 of the best high-priced pitchers in the set and a much safer gamble than Reuss (who I have released about half the time in my experience). All of this also depends on the stadium you play in.

I have never had Carlton but he does seem to be a crap shoot.. rated for great years rather than consistent performance. For a lefty I would rather have Higuera (who I have only dropped once in about 5 tries). Gooden is a notorious underperformer in this game. I have had him only once.. in an all-Jack Murphy league. I had his best year (1985) and he was real real good... but even in that league he gave up over 50 dingers (and there is no way there are 50 dingers on that card - no matter the theme.) Without scrutinizing the card I would say he will fail about 50% of the time - or more. Drabek does seem like a pretty consistent performer overall. If I had to guess I think he will be decent at least 60% of the time, but perhaps not reach the heights of the other two.

The game is a crap shoot which is why it is fun...

[Sykes25]

Gooden rarely performs to his stat line. Carlton is closer, but not perfectly priced by any means. Drabek is likely the most consistent of the group if for no other reason than being the most balanced across his years in terms of expected performance.

Ballpark plays a huge factor as well. Always keep in mind where they are pitching. I don't worry about the hold as much unless my team is playing small ball and every single run counts.

[YountFan]

I agree about Drabek. I have used Carlton with mixed results. His cards looks better than they are as save some cash and go with Drabek

[cplake]

I generally try to have two lefties in my 4 man rotation and have tried Carlton, John and Guidry and have had them all underperform.

I've used Drabek once and he did pretty well for the $:
D Drabek 202 IP 200 HA W 16 L 10 3.70 ERA 1.37 WHIP

Teddy Higuera always seems to do well and I've failed to get him twice. I'd say pick Higgy up if you need a LHP. He seems to perform consistantly well.

Good luck! :D

[cplake]

Here is Guidry and Drabek in the same rotation (Cleveland Stadium):

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=51779

If you are in a pitchers park you might take a chance on Leonard. As you can see from my link, he didn't do too bad for me.

Hope that helps.

[Outta Leftfield]

I find that my feelings about pitchers are a lot more subjective than my feelings about hitters. This may be because on the whole hitters are easier to read? We have more data in the form of injuries, HBP, triples, etc. to point us to a given year. Reading pitchers in terms of what year they have is a lot harder. And when a pitcher has gotten hammered in 6 to 8 outings and is, say, 0-5 with a 6.71 ERA, it's awfully hard to hang on to him. I find I can't do it myself. And yet, given the good hitting in the 80's, it's quite possible that that pitcher is in a good year and has just had a series of bad rolls. This has become clear to me "now that we know the years." For example, one year Sutton went 12-12 for me with a scary 5.46 ERA and I only kept him because of theme league rules, yet he was actually in his best year, 1980 (2.20 ERA; .99 WHIP). On the other hand, once Sutton went 21-10 for me with a 3.57 ERA (1.29 WHIP) in what turned out to be his worst year (4.08 ERA).
Anyway, I find myself drawn back to pitchers who have given me a solid year more often than not (and this includes Sutton), while I tend to avoid pitchers who have given me one or two bad years and no good ones. Still, it might be worth giving some of these shunned pitchers another try. For example, I've had bad luck with Vida Blue in the past, but in a new season, just 15 games old, I have had 3 starts out of Vida and he has a 2-1 record with 1.40 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. This includes a one-hitter and a 2-1 loss. Obviously, there are no guarantees for the rest of the season, but giving another try to a pitcher who has previously burned you can be a good thing.