New Team Looking for Help!!!!

[thisisray]

I haven't played in a few years and the league doesn't start until the 22nd. I tried my team with Pujols and don't know if everyone around him is good enough. Let me know what you think of the team. I have plenty of time to make changes.

[thisisray]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=10292

[DHowser]

you might be right about Pujols taking up too much salary. I've had him in a hitters park and he was a monster, but I'm not sure you'll be getting value for him here. If you drop him you could better your middle D, which is really bad right now. Also, with having no * SPs, having Lieber and Lopez start 40% of your games is scary. You might want to upgrade Lopez and get a good middle man. Manny is great, but will get hurt at some point. I think he's maybe the best 07 hitter when healthy. Reed Johnson is also decent, probably as your leadoff from what I can see. Good luck, and hopefully this helps a bit.

[DHowser]

sorry, didn't see you had Walker as a middle man. Maybe get a bit better of a guy for the right side to go with him and your pen should be fine.

[thisisray]

I made a few changes. Here is what the team looks like now.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=10292&stats=actual

[STEVEPONEDAL]

Shouldn't there be some concerns over the defensive ratings at catcher?

sponedal

[JdEarly]

I've had a couple of teams in AT&T Park that I can show you. I'll give you links, and then let you know what I think.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=3921

That team went 97-65, and relied heavily on Albert Pujols, Travis Hafner, and middle relief.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2007/team/team_other.html?user_id=7907

And that team was built a little bit differently, with the finances spread out a little bit more.

I do see a couple of glaring holes on your roster in its current form.

1. Carlos Guillen will do you no favors as a shortstop in a pitcher's park. He might have 2-range, but those 33 errors are going to have you ripping your hair out. I would downgrade Guillen to a guy like Adam Everett (SS-1e8) or even Jimmy Rollins. Rollins would give you similar production, minus the on-base percentage.

2. Pat Burrell is going to draw a lot of walks in AT&T Park... and that's about it. His power is going to be seriously sapped by the fact that not many homers are hit in that park. I would see what you can do about getting a defensive centerfielder and switching Reed Johnson over to left. A guy like Dave Roberts, if you can get a reasonably priced back up, could work. He's got a weak arm, but having a guy like Johnson next to him will keep other teams honest.

3. Ryan Freel might be a better fit for you in rightfield than Melky Cabrera. He's got better range, a better arm, better speed... all of which is understandable with the $1 million or so price difference. I've just found that when I have runners flying all over the place, I score more runs. Freel would definitely help you to manufacture runs.

4. I like Kevin Youkilis's card a lot. That OBP and those doubles and the glove... I don't see much not to like, especially at that price. Normally, I think he would be a very good player to have in your lineup. With no real balance between righties and lefties, however, I think Lyle Overbay might fit your needs a little better with this team. Just a thought. They're priced similiarly, and Overbay actually hits more homers and is rated 3R.

5. As previously mentioned, Manny is going to go down at some point in the season. Where is your offense going to come from when that happens? Your pitching doesn't look like it'll be strong enough to overcome any periods without Manny in the lineup... at least not to me. Is Matt Holliday available? You would save about a million dollars, and have a DH that you can depend on being in there most every game. His .334 batting average will help greatly in your pitcher's park, too.

6. Your bullpen needs some work. I really like Scott Downs in AT&T Park. Over the course of two seasons, he won me 17 games with a 2.90 ERA. Those are numbers I will certainly take from a guy who costs $1.29 million. He's also a three inning reliever who pitches a TON.

7. You might be allocating your money in the starting rotation in ways that aren't the most beneficial to you. I've had success with a combo of Chris Young, Matt Cain, and Felix Hernandez as my right handed starters. Cain is going to strikeout a ton of batters, and the park will keep him from giving up too many homers. Young (7L) and Hernandez (6R) will also both strikeout a lot of batter, keeping the ball out of play, but the difference in who they're most effective against will keep other managers from stacking the lineup against them, one way or the other. I would see what you can do about replacing Pedro Martinez, John Maine, and Ben Sheets with those three, and possibly downgrade Joe Saunders to a reverse lefty like Chuck James because righties fair better in your park. You could then use those savings and upgrade your bullpen and anything else that might need fixing.

I haven't busted out a calculator to see how all of these ideas might work in terms of money spent, but I'm pretty sure the model I've laid out for you is cheaper than what you've got right now. It might be enough to bring Pujols back into the mix. Maybe you could have David Wright or Miguel Cabrera at 3B instead of Ryan Zimmerman (Zimmerman's glove and doubles are huge, but Wright and Cabrera make up for their shortcomings in the field by knocking in more runs). Again, these are just my thoughts on what you can do differently. I hope that you find my park-relevant experience to be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.