Help me win a championship!!! (with your lineup advice!)

[JOHNMADDEN]

Ok, guys, it has been many moons since I have played SN SOM. Can you give me some feedback on how to set my lineup and what you would recommend for my team? My league starts tomorrow. Here goes:

Home park: RFK Stadium (I like pitcher's parks). Others in division: 2 with US Cellular (bombs away!), and one with Ameriquest.

Starters:
Zambrano (R)
Willis (L)
K. Rogers (L)
Daniel Cabrera (R)
Mike Maroth (L)

Closer:
Wagner (L)

Relievers:
Paronto (R)
Belisle (R)
Bray (L)
Grabow (L)

Lineup vs. LHP

1. Freel, R. (R) LF 3(-1)e9 2L .271 .363 .399
2. Abreu, B. (L) RF 3(-3)e4 1R .297 .424 .462
3. Rodriguez, A. (R) 3B 3e27 1L .290 .392 .523
4. Beltran, C. (S) CF 1(-3)e2 4R .275 .388 .594
5. Giambi, J. (L) DH - 2R .253 .413 .558
6. Thome, J. (L) 1B 4e7 8R .288 .416 .598
7. Scutaro, M. (R) 2B 2e5 3R .266 .350 .397
8. Schneider, B. (L) C 2(-2)e2 1L .256 .320 .329
9. Everett, A. (R) SS 1e8 1L .239 .290 .352


Lineup vs. RHP
1. Abreu, B. (L) RF 3(-3)e4 1R .297 .424 .462
2. Rodriguez, A. (R) 3B 3e27 1L .290 .392 .523
3. Beltran, C. (S) CF 1(-3)e2 4R .275 .388 .594
4. Thome, J. (L) 1B 4e7 8R .288 .416 .598
5. Giambi, J. (L) DH - 2R .253 .413 .558
6. Scutaro, M. (R) 2B 2e5 3R .266 .350 .397
7. Freel, R. (R) LF 3(-1)e9 2L .271 .363 .399
8. Schneider, B. (L) C 2(-2)e2 1L .256 .320 .329
9. Everett, A. (R) SS 1e8 1L .239 .290 .352

Anything stand out that I need to tweak? Thanks for any and all advice!!!

[LMBombers]

A link to your team would be helpful. Go to league statistics and click on your team. Copy the URL and paste here. You know you did it right if there is a number at the end instead of .html.

[JOHNMADDEN]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team.html

I copied and pasted. I do see .html on the end, so I hope it works. Thanks.

[Jerlins]

In pitcher's parks I prefer obp from batting average as opposed to walks, so I'm not a big fan of Thome, Giambi or ARod on this team. Actually, with the exception of Abreu, I'm not thrilled with your lineup at all. Beltran's defense will come in handy in this ballpark, but not sure it justifies the $12 price tag that offensively, you'll get out of him, at least in your ballpark. Versus LH's, your team is severely weak. At home, vs lefties, I don't see too many runs in your future. In all seriousness, a pitcher like John Rheinecker will feast on your lineup, at least when they face you at home. Overall, the team is too dependant on the long ball to be playing in RFK. If Overbay or Helton is available, replace Thome or Giambi with one of them. A link to your team will be helpful.

[Palmtana]

[quote:9c13b5c03f]You know you did it right if there is a [i:9c13b5c03f]number[/i:9c13b5c03f] at the end [b:9c13b5c03f]instead of[/b:9c13b5c03f] [i:9c13b5c03f].html[/i:9c13b5c03f].[/quote:9c13b5c03f]

[LMBombers]

You can't just copy the URL from the Your Team page. You have to go to Statistics and then click your team to get the team number at the end of the URL. We can not see your team with the .html at the end.

[JOHNMADDEN]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=6000

Awesome. Thanks for the "how to" on the paste. Hopefully we should be set now. Thanks again for any advice.

[Coffeeholic]

I'd have to agree with Jerlins... you've got a load of salary tied up in playersa who will under-perform in RFK. Thome, Giambi, ARod, Beltran, Zambrano could be converted into the correct players for your park.

It looks like the FA list has some great options for you, and perhaps you could trade 1 or 2 of those high-priced guys for some needed help.

I'd drop Giambi, 'cuz I think he'll be the hardest to get a decent trade for, and immediately upgrade 2B to Hudson. In CF, Kotsay or even Duffy will be decent options for the $. There is a very good 5 man rotation on the FA Wire waiting for you to pluck (Sanchez, Harden, Sabathia, Pedro, Sowers, Maine, Hill, Cain are all good options), and it appears that since most of the higher priced hitters who will work for you are taken, your, best bet may be to go with a strong pitching/defense type team. ARod should generate some interest on the trade market... maybe you could get a good 1B guy (AGonz, Helton types). A Lowell/Punto platoon at 3B might work, if not Beltre provides good "D" with some extra base power. Victorino is a great value in LF, and there a great DH options in Matsui/Cano/Davanon/Escobar (all high injury risks, but great hitters... just make sure to have decent back-up options).

[geekor]

I agree with most of the points placed.

I do have a difference in that you still need some HR power, even if you lose some due to BP Hr's. Thome did this for me in Fenway:

Thome, Jim L 1B 4e7 596 106 157 37 0 [b:75ad770e22]44 119[/b:75ad770e22] 103 192 0 0 3 .263 .373 .547

I'd say he kills Righties, but so does Beltran. You could keep one, maybe 2, but not a lineup full of high BP HR guys. Escobar is a personal favorite of mine. Yea he'll only play in 480-540 ab's, but they'll be great ab's!!

[JOHNMADDEN]

Thanks for all your advice. Man, it helped out a lot. Here is what I did:
Rearranged my staff for a five man rotation utilizing starters from your list (Coffeeholic)- Sabathia, Maine, and Cain, and tagged them with O'Connor and Maroth. Dropped Giambi and Scutaro and picked up Hudson and Lowell. That gives me 1's at 2b, SS, and 3b, along with a 1 in CF. I dropped ARod and then was looking for a good DH to use vs. righties and lefties, and decided to pick him back up. All of the other options just had too much downside (injuries, only strong vs. R or L). I know that BP homeruns were mentioned, but for the most part those will show up on 5 & 9, not 6-8, and I do play in a division with 2 teams having US Cellular and one at Ameriquest, so Thome, Beltran and ARod should do some damage on the road and hopefully enough at home. Here is my updated team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=6000

And my lineups:
Lineup vs. LHP

1. Freel, R. (R) LF 3(-1)e9 2L .271 .363 .399
2. Abreu, B. (L) RF 3(-3)e4 1R .297 .424 .462
3. Rodriguez, A. (R) DH - 1L .290 .392 .523
4. Beltran, C. (S) CF 1(-3)e2 4R .275 .388 .594
5. Hudson, O. (S) 2B 1e14 2L .287 .354 .454
6. Thome, J. (L) 1B 4e7 8R .288 .416 .598
7. Lowell, M. (R) 3B 1e6 4R .284 .339 .475
8. Schneider, B. (L) C 2(-2)e2 1L .256 .320 .329
9. Everett, A. (R) SS 1e8 1L .239 .290 .352


Lineup vs. RHP

1. Abreu, B. (L) RF 3(-3)e4 1R .297 .424 .462
2. Rodriguez, A. (R) DH - 1L .290 .392 .523
3. Beltran, C. (S) CF 1(-3)e2 4R .275 .388 .594
4. Thome, J. (L) 1B 4e7 8R .288 .416 .598
5. Lowell, M. (R) 3B 1e6 4R .284 .339 .475
6. Freel, R. (R) LF 3(-1)e9 2L .271 .363 .399
7. Hudson, O. (S) 2B 1e14 2L .287 .354 .454
8. Schneider, B. (L) C 2(-2)e2 1L .256 .320 .329
9. Everett, A. (R) SS 1e8 1L .239 .290 .352

I am happier with Lowell in the 5 hole now. I am definitely open to ideas on tweaking the lineups, so any suggestions please let me know. Thanks for all your help. My goal is to minimize as much as possible my bullpen use and maximize my closer (Wagner). I have that option set but anything else I can do to make this happen, I am all ears. Thanks again!