Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Have you ever noticed that, while there are several $5M position players who are unpopular (because overpriced?) and almost never get drafted, virtually all of the $6M position players are very popular and much sought after. People build their draft strategies around getting as many of these guys as possible. The same goes for the $7M guys too, for that matter. The one exception is Dusty Baker. (For example, I'm starting a new league now, post-waivers, and Dusty is the only player costing 6M or more on the free agent table.)

It seems like there's a consensus that these 6M and 7M players, despite their high price tags, offer good value. Yet, the TSN system seems to get is wrong far more often at the 5M range and below. There one finds several players who never get drafted, though people may try them later in the season when desperation sets in. Mostly, I think, it's a matter of pricing. If Dusty B cost 5.2 M he'd be pretty popular. The same might go for some of the 5M guys who rarely get drafted. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

In the pitching realm there seem to be a few more dogs at the 6M and 7M level (notably Langston), but most of the other guys get tried sooner or later during the course of a season.

Baker gets a bad rap. We will put up the numbers, but so will someone for 5 mill. If we was a 2 in RF he would be used more.

One problem with $5M players is they aren't as balanced. Do you want to spend that much on a player who only produces after LHPs.
Bradley, D. Henderson, Hendrick all come to mind.

There are some great 4M players, as well. Glenn Davis, if you ask me, is a consistent bargain, since he's going to hit in ANY park (his numbers were accrued in the dome). Luzinski is a very good run producer at below 4M, though you can't hide his glove anywhere. Pitching wise, I've almost always had solid seasons from guys like Hudson, CYoung, Clear and even Kern (lucky, I guess). It all has to do with risk-reward, of course. Youn spend less on a player, so you don't fret as much when he fails.

I dunno...I've got Trammell (6.24M) on my current March Madness bracket 3 team - he was my first pick in the draft. I unfortunately got stuck with his worst card year, but have kept him because of his glove and my overall pitching & defense approach. But it sure grates on me, pouring so much $$ into that position with so little offensive return. Puckett's the only position player I have who costs more, and he's been golden for me. Trammell's got the gold glove so far (as does Puckett), so defensively I can't complain. But I wish I had Trammell's D for a lot less money.

[quote:7149ee5f8f]But I wish I had Trammell's D for a lot less money. [/quote:7149ee5f8f]Their names are T Fernandez & O Smith

Well, each of those guys is presently serving their respective masters well. I can't think that either manager would willingly part with them in a deal involving their getting Trammell! Not with the production he isn't creating! So, I'll just muddle through...in first place.

I'm having a weird experience with Trammell in one league. He got dropped after produinc very low numbers. I picked him up for the 1 on D, and because his K-W ration indicated something other than his worst year. After getting him, however, he is hitting RH's much better than elfties (indicating, yes, his worst year). He is somehow batting .290+ (consistently), with some pop. He should be much worse (since I am in the dome), but he somehow isn't. Perhaps the Astrodome's BP singles are helping, since they're better than Tiger.