Rank most important keys to success:

[mbrake]

A. Pre-waiver draft strategy
B. Stadium choice
C. Day to day game mgmt./strategy
D. HAL's love! :lol:
E. Poor strategy/decisions/experience level of your opponents
F. In-season transactions and cap mgmt.
G. Post draft waivers/pre-season free-agency

[Mean Dean]

E, A, G, F, D, C, B

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

I think A,B,G all go hand in hand.....if you screw this up, your only chance is .....E,F,D,C

I put weight on Stadium because if you don't draft well for your stadium and fill holes during FA/Waivers, you will be in trouble unless your other division mates have done worse than you.

[Jerlins]

Or none of the above!!! I'll rank consistency of your lineup as the #1. While teams get off to great starts with the Hafners, ARams, Chippers, and Thomses of the world in this set, I'll continue to muddle along and eventually pass them all while Devi Cruz and Rob Mackowiak are in their lineup manning the lineup waiting for these guys to get off the dl.

[maligned]

You just have to be more creative than Mackowiak with your backup system. I disagree that you can't win with injury guys. I've had a couple strong teams that had injury guys on them, but I intentionally had them at two outfield position or two infield positions that could intermix between them and a 1.5-2M backup. If you just plan on having two guys with 500-550 plate appearances and a third with another 300-400 plate appearances, you can plan your lineup and roster well and be successful.

On a separate note, I've long thought that the following three items will make you a winner more times than not. If you don't follow one of them, there's a good chance you won't win.
1.Make sure your team fits your park.
2.Make sure your team is designed to do well against your opponents.
3.Have a plan and stick to it. (i.e. if you know cheap matchup starting pitching, a solid bullpen, and a ton of offense will win in Coors, don't abandon it and start trading or dumping if you're 20-20 after 40 games)

[Jerlins]

I'm not saying you can't win with these type players, just that you'll need a whole lot of luck to do so. Lets take a few examples for argument sake, at different levels:

High $-Hafner vs Ortiz: I'll take my chances for the same $ I'll get more production out of the DH slot. Heck, for $2 less and in the right park, I'll get more production out of Dunn than Hafner and still have $2 plus to spend on another hitter, $4 more when taking into account Hafner needs a backup.

Mid High $-You can have N. Johnson, I'll take Konerko and another $2 for not needing a backup. While you have Chipper as your 3rd baseman, with Atkins as your backup, I'll be content with Wright.

Low Mid $-Rowand or Damon will patrol CF, while Tori Hunter looks on from the bench on the DL watching whatever backup is patrolling CF. And chances are, another $2 saved for not needing a strong backup.

Low $-I'll get by just fine with Brady Clark, while my opponent has Lofton as his DH.

Granted, these might be extreme examples, but positions aside, not having injury risk players and the need of a backup might afford me a nice $4 to $5 pitcher or hitter that one needing backups can ill afford.

Different philosophies, different results. It's why we play the games.

[Jerlins]

By the way, and as a disclaimer, we are talking about $80 leagues. The scenario changes once we move to $100 leagues where you can have injury risk players with more frequency. $80 is just too little of a buffer to have more than one or two of these guys on your team.