Newbie advice thread

[jcr54]

Obviously not. I am relatively new to the message boards as well as the game itself, and noticed all of the entries in this thread that simply read "bump," so I figured there was no harm in asking.

I mentioned that I just drafted my second team, so if anyone wants to offer a gentle, constructive critique of my inexperienced efforts, I'd certainly be grateful for that:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=13785

[durantjerry]

Pitchers are OK. You only need 4 starters when they have the "*" rating, so exchange Perez for a $.50 SP you won't use except in mopup or never. Seems like most new guys don't get good enough top of the order hitters. None of your current roster is good enough to bat 1st or 2nd except maybe in a platoon, and they really aren't too good vs the other side(Wilkerson for example). Get some OBP, which is tough if you can't use DH because most of it goes in the draft. How about Lugo at SS for Cabrera, who can field but can't hit a lick.

[jcr54]

I wondered about Cabrera at shortstop; I originally went for Vizquel in the autodraft, got Eckstein instead, and thought seriously about keeping him to lead off. Then I remembered everything I had read about the importance of middle infield (and CF) defense, and how the SS has more fielding chances than any other position, so I got Cabrera instead. On your advice (and a little of my own instinct), I just cashed him in for Lugo. The FA market is pretty well picked over, so assuming I stick with the current roster, which would be the best batting order:

Lugo
Martinez
Giambi
Konerko
Mueller
Belliard ...

... or Mueller in the #2 slot and Martinez #5? Is it something I would juggle depending on whether I was facing a RHSP or LHSP?

One last question: I got rid of Perez and got Leiter as a fifth starter, but I don't understand how HAL handles relievers. Would it be better to get a "pure" SP as the fifth starter, so there is no chance he could be inserted in relief? But can a pure starter also be a mop-up man? And given the rest of my staff, would it matter if he was LH or RH?

Too many questions, I realize, but this is the only way I know to learn the specifics of the game I haven't been able to pick up from reading all of the general advice here in the forums.

Thanks.

[cummings2]

[quote:c53c74fcd2]One last question: I got rid of Perez and got Leiter as a fifth starter, but I don't understand how HAL handles relievers. Would it be better to get a "pure" SP as the fifth starter, so there is no chance he could be inserted in relief? But can a pure starter also be a mop-up man? And given the rest of my staff, would it matter if he was LH or RH?[/quote:c53c74fcd2]

If you have a 5th starter not rated as an RP then only in cases when HAL runs out of pitchers will he be used, as an example a game that goes into the 15th inning and you have no more RPs in the Pen HAL will use the 5th SP and if needed will continue to use the other SPs, but those cases are extreme and don't happen all that often.

A non RP rated pitcher can not be used as a mopper.

Given your park I don't think it matters all that much if your 5th SP is a lefty or a righty.

Your pitching seems fine.

Your division seems fairly neutral, PNC IS lefty slanted but I think you match well against that team.

Main problem I see with Mueller #2 (or Martinez for that matter) is the GbAs.

Welcome to strat and GL!

[jcr54]

Thanks. I feel pretty comfortable about the pitching, but began to worry a bit about the offense after durantjerry's observations. Being new, uncertain of things, and contantly fighting an impulse to tinker with the team, I gave up some outfield defense for more power and OBP. Whether I made things better or worse, I don't know, but all of the players I cut were snapped up instantly by other teams, which may not be a good sign. The team is extraordinarily slow (five starters did not have a single stolen base) and defensively mediocre, but I remembered what one poster wrote here about trying to have nine guys in the starting lineup with OBPs over .350. Seven of my starters meet that criteria, although they may be too heavily weighted toward right-handed pitching. It seems the more I read and learn about this game, the more variables there are to the equation and the more trouble I have mentally juggling them all. Given that it is probably too late to make any substantial changes to the current roster, does this seem like a reasonable batting order?

Lugo
V. Martinez
Delgado
Konerko
Burrell
S. Green
Mueller
Belliard
Rowand

[Palmtana]

3 month bump

[palacekillers]

Bump. Every newbie needs to read this.

[LA Bear]

Bump

[Proverbial Psalms]

Awesome thread