My first team... any advice or pointers?

[Mashunga]

[url]http://members.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=81748[/url]

I'm thinking of going with:
C:Parrish
1B:Baylor
2B:Ray
SS: TBA (working on trades/waivers)
3B:Jacoby
LF:Bonnel
CF:Aramas
RF:Barfeild vs L Maldonado vs R

Rotation:
Storm davis
Jim Clancy
Mike Moore
Pete Vuckovich
Scott McGregor

Any pointers,ideas, or flaws to point out?

Any response appreciated.

Peace.

Thinking of tradeing/letting go:
Krueger
Valentine
Bochete

[LMBombers]

Before anyone can give you specific suggestions you need to make some drastic changes. You need to have as much of your salary cap money in your starting players and not sitting on the bench. Your bench players should all cost under 1M IMO. Keep your 3 RP's and drop every other pitcher you have. Get two 75¢ RPs, one 75¢ SP of some sort and the best 4 *SP you can get for the money. You will then have a 4 man rotation.

Most people go with a 1 or a 2 defensively at 2B, SS and CF. I would drop Ray. Your backup C should cost 75¢. Barfield is way too expensive to platoon only vs LHP. Either use him full time or replace him with a less expensive option. You will face about 75% RHP so keep your money on that side of any platoons you plan to use.

There is a post titled advice for newbies or something like that. You should read through it for many more great suggestions.

[YountFan]

I have to agree with LMB. You bench guys need to be LOW cost options. You can then use this money to upgrade else where.

I suggest you use your waiver picks for a stud like Winfield, Sandberg or Gary Carter. Carter has been the backbone of many top teams.

OBP is still the king and playing on County you'll need it. Try for Downing in LF he always hits his card by the end of the season. Winfield/Strawberry for RF. Sandberg! and Winfield will be the top waiver picks. Conceipcion at SS (or even Schofield to save $)

Marinez, and Browning are good starters for your ballpark.

You have some work to do my friend, but with some solid OBP and better use of your money you can do OK

[Mashunga]

I'm last to go on the waiver list :x

Only lost 2-3 picks from my draft list if I'm remembering right.

So from your point of veiw my only good pitchers are my releivers?

And

My bench needs to be priced like a bench?

One question.

Injuries.

How often do they actually happen and last in terms of time?

I really appreciate the advice and criticism because I myself really thought I did pretty good but I guess I should look at it as a "buisness" and not a "family"(picking/drafting some of my favorites"Unsung Hereos") if I'm going to be competetive and win.

Peace.

[YountFan]

Dont worry about injuries.

If you want to win limit the 'family' and go more for 'business'.

But you need to compete or the game is less fun because even your family won't like to lose. I may take you 3 season to get the hang of things, but they guy on the boards love to help.

With your low waivers most of the top dogs will be gone, but Von Hayes (for LF or RF) will be there and Dennis Martines and Tom Browing too.

My top pics would be Hayes and Cocepcion and then Martinez and Browing

[Mashunga]

It takes about 3 seasons to learn the ins and outs huh?

Sounds pretty routine did'nt win my first ribbon/award till this go around my 2nd season and feel I got lucky so 3 seasons sounds about right.

Now all I have to do is swallow my pride and listen... :oops:

Thanks

Peace.

[JIMDAKE]

Welcome Mashunga, this is really a lot of fun, and the 'mystery card' format makes this more like GM-ing a real team (where you know your approximate talent level but don't know how things will play out) than anything else I've tried. I got totally lucky with a championship in my 2nd 80s season -- playing against these vets on the board no less -- but getting lucky on some GREAT cards had a lot to do with it. Haven't returned to the playoffs since (although led division all season in another but choked in the final week).

There's a few levels of advice going on here and that you'll need to work with. All are very good and important to the Strat games (and some more-so to the mystery card format). I think they shake out kind of like this, and most of the advice you'll see will fit into one concept or other:

1) Roster strategy -- EG, how much to invest in starting pitching & bullpen, having good 'D' up the middle).

2) Beyond that, matching your roster to your ballpark's tendencies (especially those that are significantly more or less hostile to pitching, BA and HRs). Also, look at the stadiums in your division (where you play half of your games).

3) Fallout of typical draft strategy (IE, some pitchers always go high and other good ones are often available). You'll note that Yount is almost always #1 on multiple draft cards and is always used as a SS, there are very few good hit/good field SS's in the 80s, and a lot of good CFs. The distribution of talent by position is different in the 80s than in current fantasy rosters.

4) Recognizing how cards can be best used -- some great platoons can be made from cheaper players, especially if you get the right years. This makes some cards far more valuable to 80s players than their prices suggest. Some will perform much better simply because Strat managers will use them differently (L/R percentages) than they were used in a particular year.

5) Keeping track of injury clues. A must, otherwise you run the risk of one of us in a weak moment attempting to fleece you in a trade. Adjust your strategy & roles once you figure out what you have. You might drop some, platoon some , or even make a Fireman of the Year out of Don Carman.

6) Add/drop strategy -- most people recommend 100 ABs or 25 IPs before concluding you got a bum card, but you'll see little add/drop frenzies a couple of days before each ratchet in the drop penalty.

7) Card values. SOM hadn't gotten their pricing formulas quite right when they did 80s so there are some cards that are great values (a number of the "favorite .75s" for example) and some that are just overpriced even though they're decent players (EG Dave Stewart, Dusty Baker) -- a lot of the posts will be along these lines.

Have Fun & Good Luck!!

[Mashunga]

[quote:510ee050c7="MRMS1970"]

2) Beyond that, matching your roster to your ballpark's tendencies (especially those that are significantly more or less hostile to pitching, BA and HRs). Also, look at the stadiums in your division (where you play half of your games).[color=green:510ee050c7] What should I look for in stadiums? I have no clue as to what to look for :oops: [/color:510ee050c7]



5) Keeping track of injury clues.[color=green:510ee050c7] What kind of clues? What should I be on the look out for?[/color:510ee050c7]

6) Add/drop strategy -- most people recommend 100 ABs or 25 IPs before concluding you got a bum card, but you'll see little add/drop frenzies a couple of days before each ratchet in the drop penalty.
[color=green:510ee050c7]Drop penalty? What do you mean?[/color:510ee050c7] [/quote:510ee050c7]

There are 2 other "Newbies" in my league then the rest are seasoned vets(Jimmy C who I play first and Fletch are 2 that I recogonize from this board) Jimmy has been given me a great amout of help but has to hold back a little because we are in the same division and I respect that. Hes a good man and has answered every question I have asked him(probably is hoping this "noob" would leave him alone by now :oops: :P )

Thanks for your advice as well as all the others that have responded to this thread.

Peace.

[Jimmy_C]

No prob helping answer these questions Mashunga:

1. WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN STADIUMS?: Click on the stadium name that you are in (County Stadium). Check the numbers underneath:

Ballpark Effects:
Singles Homeruns
L R------- L R
1-9 1-9 1-8 1-8

That means on any hitters or pitchers card where a # is rolled on then it goes to the ballpark effect for homeruns which in your stadium is a 1-8 roll on a 20 sided dice. Any roll on a > goes to ballpark effect for singles which is 1-9 in your ballpark. We refer to the park your in as a neutral park because it neither favors hitters or pitchers. Then go click on my park (Dodger Stadium). You'll see it is a park favoring pitchers as the ballpark effect is very low for homeruns.

2) INJURY CLUES: A batter can only be injured on his card. Therefore, if your catcher Lance Parrish gets injured on a fly out...check to see if the pitcher on the mound at the time was a lefty or righty. If it was Tudor pitching (a lefty) look at Parrish's vs lefty side of the card. Check each of the 5 years. You'll see that only in '88 can he be injured on a fly ball. You then DUMP THAT CARD because it's his worst card. Hitters can only be HBP on their card so check the cards each morning and see if the HBP helps you narrow down your years.

3)ADD/DROP PENALTY: It cost you money to add/drop. There is a 5% "fee" for any add/drop up to game 42. A 10% "fee" up to game 81. Then a 20% "fee" after that.

Thers a rules/FAQ link on the sidebar of your team page. Click and read.

[rutkap]

any lefty beef out there. You need some in a bad way. there has to be a LH first baseman that can hit a bit (oh yeah and maybe field a bit better than Al and Don) Darryl Evans wouldn't be a bad pick for a DH. Kemp or greenwell are also nice options for cheap. Wally joyner wouldn't be a bad option and he is usually sitting out there at this time.

Frank white is good, Garcia is overkill and can be cut immediately. same thing for gruber and jacoby they do the same thing. tray a Jim morrison, or Steve Buechele, tom brookens, or jim presley will do the trick and save your team another 2 Mil to spend on pitching.

Trim your bench to 13 or 14. you are spending a lot of money on things that are unnecessary. Try a danny heap, randy ready, or Carmelo Martinez. they can all at least Pinch Hit and fill in for a day or two if need be. Todd Benzinger is a nice bench option, he can play first or a corner, switch hit and not totally suck at the plate.

Jody davis is repetitive for a catcher. If you want the right half of a platoon, go for Ernie Whitt, Mike Lavalliere, Terry Kennedy or mark salas are decent options.

Who is playing shortstop? At this point in the game the really good players will be gone. you have 2 options. Offense or Defense. Thon, Franco Smalley or Oquendo would be the offensive variety. Larry bowa would be a decent Defense first selection.

You have too many starters. Davis, Moore, Clancy, and Rasmussen are last ditch options for pitchers. once you have thinned out your roster a bit you should have a few million to play with - there have to be options out there in the 5-7M dollar range. I cannot stress enough that you should have 2 relievers making under a Million on your team. the rest is a waste of good money, as they will be used for the most part as mopup guys. If you give me 10 names that are available in the 4.5-6.5 range I can lead you in the right direction.