When to take a chance on "used" free agents?

[JONCHUCKERY]

Here was my best example of picking up a "used" FA...

Mike Schmidt on his 80 card...
Yr Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA SLG OBP OPS
SIM PIN 134 493 101 145 27 13 39 111 81 111 13 13 .294 .639 .395 1.033
SIM LAB 18 68 12 12 2 1 4 5 12 18 1 1 .177 .412 .300 .712

The team that was using him was playing in County Std. It seemed like he had hit a lot of HR in only 68ABs playing in that STD and I was playing in Ful Co. That is one stat I look at is how is a power hitter doing in say a "non-friendly" std. I will also look at triples, BA splits, K/IP ratio. I think many times that mgrs draft a guy thinking he will perform no matter what in their std and it turns out to not be a good fit.

[The Senators]

I also look for SPs with ERAs of 4.50 in Atlanta, Jarry, Wrigley, and so on. It's easy to go back and see where the runs were given up or if one horrific game (ex: 7 ERs in 1 1/3 inn.) skewed the overall numbers. Most good managers do that too and won't let go of a pitcher base on one or two horrendous starts.

[Jimmy_C]

Soooo...how has Stieb worked out so far for you?

[voovits]

His first start was decent, then in his second start he got destroyed. I had to make a keep/drop decision immediately after that as the FA drop penalty was going to 90%, so I dropped him. He ended for me with a 5.40 ERA and 1.95 WHIP in 2 starts, overall numbers in 4 starts 5.96 ERA 1.71 WHIP. He was getting absolutely trashed by left handed hitters.
I picked up Pascual Perez in his stead and he has not faired much better.

Beware the curse of Stieb!

I now remember why I hate playing in the Kingdome. Highest scoring offense in the league, even after dropping Mattingly (who was performing reasonably well) so I could get a good pitcher, and the second worst pitching team. Record so far is 22-26.

I have an interesting decision to make though, which could help my staff more. I picked up Thornton to replace Mattingly. He got injured for 6 games after having played only 5. I wanted him out and he came back, played 4 more and got hurt for 8 more games.
The long injuries mean it's 1983, that's not a whole lot of power, yet it is still a good card.
The thing is, Franklin Stubbs has been tearing the cover off the ball in Thornton's absence so far (.351 avg 6HRs 4 doubles 2 triples in 74ABs). I'm considering banking on Stubbs 1990 card and dropping Thornton for more pitching.

[Jimmy_C]

Sometimes you have to go with the "hot-hand". '83 is only Thorntons 4th best OPS card...why not take a chance?

As far as Mattingly...why did you drop him? You should have been able to trade him for a good pitcher. :roll:

[voovits]

I tried trading Mattingly, nobody wanted him. Looking back at his stats I could see why. He was only hitting .311 with 7 doubles and 1 homerun through 151 AB's. When I tried trading him he was hitting around .330 but the avg started to drop. I think he got depressed when he found out nobody wanted him and he decided to shut it down. It could have been his bad year, but at the time when his avg was higher I had no reason to believe it other than his lack of power, but with a good average and less power, it still could have been 84. That's probably why people were shying away from him.

[Jimmy_C]

[quote:1ae8ddffbc]I tried trading Mattingly, nobody wanted him.[/quote:1ae8ddffbc]
I wish I was in your League...

[Semper Gumby]

I'm glad I didn't pull the plug on the Captain

[url]http://forums.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=4338787#4338787[/url]

[voovits]

I like Mattingly a lot and try to get him most of the time, problem is, I usually don't get him. I would certainly not part ways with him unless I felt I could do without.
The good thing is, as expected I'm not missing his presence in my lineup. The bad thing is, my pitching has not performed any better yet.
I did drop Thornton, now I have to figure out which SP to grab.