Help needed before it gets too late!

[LANCEBOUSLEY]

the question is.. are the lefties hard or reverse or neutral???

how many of each?

[JdEarly]

I will start by saying that it's 12 games into the season. I know you don't want to fall too far out of the race, no matter how early, but I generally don't even worry about making any sort of roster moves until around the 1/4 marker in the season (the night when game 42 is played is my usual). At that point, if you're still floundering, you might even look into cutting your losses with Zambrano or Oswalt. Until then, here are my thoughts on your current roster:

1. Justin Morneau is a huge hitter in the right situation. This is not that situation. If you have so many lefties in your division, and he's going to be sitting when they pitch, that's $4.62M in dead money on most night. Marcus Thames would be a good option against lefties with a cheaper platoon mate, or if the other player was getting more playing time, but benching Morneau for Thames is only going to hurt you. I would drop Thames (look to trade him, first) and play Morneau every day, or move them both and have that money to make moves on your roster.

2. Ben Broussard is a good left handed bat, don't get me wrong. But playing in a very neutral park like Yankee Stadium, when the other teams have a ton of left handed pitchers, doesn't not play to his strengths at all. J.T. Snow, even with his injury rating, would have been a better option for you in this situation, even though he is a little costly. The guy can flat out rake against righties, and gets on base well against lefties, too.

3. Your catcher platoon isn't going to do you any favors. Again, you have the more expensive player in the platoon set up to get less playing time over the course of the season. I would look to move John Buck as soon as possible, because he's not going to be worth that cap number by the time all is said and done. Torrealba, on the other hand, should easily surpass the value placed on his card.

Okay, personally, I would cut ties with Morneau, Thames, Broussard, and Buck. With the money you save from them, I would recommend picking up Lyle Overbay and Jason Varitek. Those two can play every day, hit lefties well, and both get on base and knock runners in. And that's what you're looking for, right?

Hope this helps at least a little.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I was contemplating Overbay early in the season but I saw Broussards better TB against LHP and went with him. It was a close thing though. I also wanted Varitek as well but could not afford him with the team as I had it. He has done OK for me in previous Yankee Stadium teams.

I think one of my problems when I draft a team or pick up FA's before the season starts is that I look too much for the long ball on their card. I'm never sure how to go about drafting. Do I look for HR's or better to look for TB or OB? That is why I picked up Morneau and Thames to replace Lamb on my roster; the simple fact that combined they had lots of BP and Natural HR's.

As things are, Tuesday, I am now 11-13, so have done a lot better recently. I have managed to win a few games against RHP, but I do need to do better against righties. Vs LHP in the past 4 days I have gone 3-2
(losing to Santana and Perez). I do want to make some changes though as neither Thames or Morneau have exactly set the world alight, although neither has Burnitz, currently under .200.

[ANDREWLAITURI]

Shankly,

When it comes to drafting you always have to keep your potential line-ups in mind. Where does the player you're looking at fit into the LU?
Work it 1-9 and look at it both ways...Do you have enough OBP up top? Do you have the horses in the middle to drive them in? Is the defense strong enough? How strong is your potential LUs versus LHPs and RHPs.

Just some random thoughts for you from my own approach to drafting.

Tyber

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

Did a few changes today based on some of the advice given to me by all of you. I lost Thames, Broussard, Morneau, BUck and Torrealba and bought in Varitek and Overbay, along with a couple of role players. I now have a bit more OB and TB rather than just BP guys with few hits.

Vs LHP
Castillo
Freel
ARod
Burnitz
Guillen
Varitek
Overbay
Sierra
Crede

VS RHP
Castillo
Freel
Overbay
Burnitz
Guillen
ARod
Varitek
Sierra
Crede

I'm not sure whether to put Freel bottom vs LHP for his OBP but I don't really have anone who fits the bill for #2. Varitek and Overbay could be moved around vs LH as they are quite similar.

On balance then, is it better when building a team to have more players with OB and TB and less with BPHR chances, even if this means less BP chances overall? (Given a neutral park of course) Provided of course #3-5 have good BP chances?