Can someone help me overcome mediocrity in '06?

[Terry101]

State the obvious, but look at your opponents- all of them. Adjust accordingly. can't just pick a stadium and players and forget who you are playing. Matchups are important. Two cents.

[durantjerry]

Glad to see someone feels the same way about Shields as me. I just don't see where the infatuation comes from. There are many comparable options to him and I've seen him post mediocre stats. Don't see how you could spend a top 5 pick on him.

[Coffeeholic]

Yup Fatty... Shields has also dis-appointed me a few times already. But, I'm trying to be open minded to any and all suggestions here, so...

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=11594

I missed out on Mauer, Moyer, Carrara, and Roberts and ended up with the 10th pick in waivers.

I'd say that I need to fix my catching (Redmond is available), grab another SP (loads of nice options), and find another LH bat?


Made a couple of moves which I think should strengthen my team. Got Burns (for Mackowiak, who should be irrelevant post waivers)) to be my mop-up innings eater out of the pen and in the big move swapped Ellis for Crawford. Gonna mean I need a 2Bman, but I'm hoping that I can get a good option from waivers.

[MARCPELLETIER]

Coffee,

Shield is great for Coors, but for Kauffman, I would definitively rely on a reliever with less whip. Similar price (consider your weak SPs).

I love Lugo at Kauffman. I would play him in the field, if you can pick up Izturis to back-him up...

That would give you lots of dollars to spend on a lefty dh.

[Coffeeholic]

Luckyman, would it matter that I have divisional opponents playing in US Cell and Bank One, and other parks in the league include 2 Coors, Minute Maid and another US Cell?

If not then available Relievers (cheaper than Shields) would include:

Rincon, Juan MIN R R1/C0 1L 3.76M
Spurling, Chris DET R R2 E 2.91M
Qualls, Chad HOU R R2 5L 2.87M
Betancourt, Rafael CLE R R2/C0 4R 2.69M
Williams, Todd BAL R R2/C0 1L 2.66M
Ohman, Will CHC L R1 2L 2.56M
Mateo, Julio SEA R R2 6L 2.51M
Santana, Julio MIL R R2/C0 2R 2.47M
Mecir, Jim FLA R R1/C0 2L 2.45M
Urbina, Ugueth PHI R R1/C4 3R 2.44M
Torres, Salomon PIT R R2/C2 4R 2.42M
Wuertz, Mike CHC R R2 4R 2.40M
Otsuka, Akinori SD R R1/C0 5L 2.33M
Baez, Danys TB R R1/C6 3R 2.08M
Geary, Geoff PHI R R2 4L 2.07M
Hoffman, Trevor SD R R1/C6 6R 2.07M
Majewski, Gary WAS R R2/C0 E 2.06M
Hasegawa, Shigetoshi SEA R R2 1R 2.05M
Cortes, David COL R R2/C1 2R 2.00M
Frasor, Jason TOR R R1/C0 6L 1.98M
Springer, Russ HOU R R1/C0 1L 1.93M
Walker, Jamie DET L R1 E 1.84M
Ray, Chris BAL R R1 5R 1.73M
Lehr, Justin MIL R R2 8L 1.54M
Dejean, Mike COL R R1 2L 1.51M
Grabow, John PIT L R1 1R 1.41M
Guerrier, Matt MIN R R2 1R 1.33M
Sturtze, Tanyon NYY R R2/C0 4L 1.33M
Baldwin, James BAL R R3/C0 8L 1.20M
Hammond, Chris SD L R2 4L 1.13M
Bell, Heath NYM R R2 E 1.05M
Boyer, Blaine ATL R R1 5R 1.04M
Dingman, Craig DET R R1/C3 7L .96M

[geekor]

Coffee,

nice team, but now I think you got too much in the wya of leadoff guys :shock:

With Lugo, Ichiro, Taveras, Figgins, Pods... these are all guys I bat in the 1 or 2 hole. I have never been able to get ALL of them like you!!

Anyways, Redmond is definetly the pickup, and I'd reccomend Maddux as a cheap SP.

If you keep Lugo, I'd play him the field as well, then again, I have only played strat here (never the actual board game) do Def isn't as high of a priority as to some! :P

I have twice used shields as my setup AND closer not before 8th, with good numbers around, except an inordinant high number of blown saves (probably due to only being a C3 and using him both ways). Eddie could close at home and use Shield to close away and then use the Ryan $$ to upgrade elswhere? I only see maybe 10 mil in usuable salary to dump if your team stays as is (your catchers, Reyes, and Ryan) to get another RP, a SP, a 2b and a DH?

Though I don't have much time right now, let me actually look at my ratings later and I'll give you more than a quick once over.

[Coffeeholic]

I had Lee and Roberts very low on my draft list... hence all those top of the order guys. Think I had:

Pedro
Ichiro
Figgins
Ryan
Shields
Mauer
etc....

It was for that very reason (a team full of #1 and #2 hitters) that I swapped Ellis for Crawford? This make Pods extra weight however (think I need more slugging from my DH).

I have Maddux as my third SP option right now. If you look at my divisional opponents, I think you'll see them to be succestible to a reverse Left Hander (Cliff Lee and Bruce Chen are both on the waiver wire)?

[MARCPELLETIER]

Coffee,

To your question: yes, playing a lot in homerun stadiums must be taken in the equation, as your relievers will be more taxed in offensive stadiums than in pitching stadiums. Still, there is not so much offense in your division, with Comerica and BankOne pretty much balancing each other. Furthermore, considering you already have Ryan, and assuming that you will be aggressive in using Ryan (150 innings, with a few save opportunities left to Guardardo), I would definitively rely on a less whip reliever.

Seanez is not a bad choice, but he has no double-plays, which sucks evenmore in Kaufmann, where there is so many singles. Plus, relievers always come up with men on base in leagues coached by Hal, so I think it's a huge advantage to have a stopper with high gbA numbers. I saw Spurling available, a bit more expensive, but tons of gbA. I think you can grab him with a few shuffling on the bench.

One more thought: looks to me as if your best cf vs lhp (considering that Bell is playing third) is Figgins.

Also, with Bell playing, you definitively need a strong pinch-hit vs rhp on the bench.

[Coffeeholic]

Luckyman, I'm really trying to stretch beyond my comfort zone with this team, but Spurling? All those BP HR's really look frightening when outside Kaufmann! However, I could go from Seanez to Spurling if I downgrade Haren to Maddux?

What about Hasegawa? I'd like to free up a few $ so that I can get Davis back instead of Schilling, and I'd be able to keep Haren.

Um, I was planning on platooning Figgins and Bell at 3B?

I did upgrade Traveras to Taguchi per your suggestion. Sorry Geekor, just looked like I could use a CF'er with more run producing capability since I'm pretty well coverred at the top of the order?

Any thoughts on Lopez/Anderson platoon at DH?

Here's the team post waivers:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=11594

Line-ups will look something like this:

vs. RHP
Lugo
Figgins
Lopez
Lee
Crawford
Taguchi
Kennedy
Redmond
Ichiro

vs LHP
Lugo
Suzuki
Bell
Lee
Anderson
Redmond
Kennedy
Taguchi
Crawford

[MARCPELLETIER]

Actually, Spurling's BP vs rh is not so bad: it's bad vs lh only.

But more importantly, there is no absolute answer whether you should go with this one or that one as your second or third reliever. This answer is relative to how you manage your bullpen.

If you plan to use Ryan as both set-up man and closer, and keep Guardardo fresh only for the 8th inning or thereafter, then the use of your third reliever is likely to come in when your team is losing, but still not too far behind (if it's a wash-out, then a mop-up will be used; if you're leading, Ryan will get the call). What you want, then, is a reliever who will give the best chance to win, but might from times to times give the 3-run homerun. Spurling is the perfect guy for this situation. If he allows the big homerun, who cares? The game is already lost. His low whip is your best bet to keeping the game close.

You could have another thinking though. Given that Ryan is your best reliever, you could wish to use him the most innings possible, regardless of the situation (mop-up excepted). You would then turn all other relievers either in mop-up or in "don't come before the 7th or 8th". In that scenario, Ryan is the one who is gonna receive the call if your team trails but still gives a good fight. Unless, of course, Ryan is not available. In that scenario, your second reliever has to be the an all-around reliever: he is likely to come and protect a lead when Ryan is not available, and he's likely to come when Ryan gets in trouble. Bottom-line: that third reliever is likely to come and save a lead much more frequently. You might then want a player with a higher whip, and lower power, to hold the games you still have the lead. Hasegawa would then be a good candidate for this role.

Finally, you could opt to choose Ryan as your set-up/closer, but emphasizing on closing situations (for example, have Ryan as set-up and closer, don't come before the 8th). In that scenario, Ryan will likely pitch the most important 100 innings of the team. But that would leave you out of a set-up man, a solid set-up who will lead the league in holds . In that case, I would advise to free both Spurling and Guardardo and buy the best R1 set-up man money can buy. A reliever like Howry would be the perfect candidate for that role.