Cheating

[RICHARDMILTER]

Does anyone out there feel like it is possible that certain SOM players buy two teams in the same division so they have one doormat that they can pile up the wins against.The reason I ask this of the experts that monitor these message boards is:some teams do counter productive moves right before the division games are played.They will drop stars and pick up lesser players over and over.Anyone with any intelligence knows; that the more a team is turned over the weaker it will usually become(especially in the 2007 game).I do realize some of these teams may be "filler" teams run by the computer or Hal.However there are some teams making some pretty strange moves.Are these just really bad General Managers.Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject?I am not calling anyone in particular a cheater,I am just wondering; what is going on? :shock: Also in a similar subject have any of you really good players made a couple moves during the season and still made the playoffs?The only time I have won a Championship I made a minor move and still won it all.Thank you in advance to all who play and reply!

Richard

[IrishJoe]

I've seen a lot of strange moves, but never, ok rarely, attributed it to more than frustration or inexperience. That being said, I haven't played in too many $200m leagues where there would be a greater advantage to having two teams.

With respect to dropping players: I don't present myself as an expert by any means but I have won my share of championships. When I have the time to properly monitor the team, I will usually make a few, not a lot of, moves during the season.

joe

[RICHARDMILTER]

Joe,
I have been told that you should not make any moves during the season.But I agree with you; sometimes due to injury or something else,minor moves are important.And you can still make the playoffs even if you change your roster a little bit!
Richard

[KEVINSMITH 2]

what's the fun in playing if you cannot change or "manage" your team during the season. I refuse to come in every day and check my teams just to see if someone has broke .200 or has their ERA under 5.00====I will cut bait no problem, and while my record is not the best in the world, I have won 5 championships and playoffs numerous times. I am not sure but I believe the lowest $$$$ team I had to win it all was $72 m after moves, but YES it can be done. I would not make a habit of cutting 8mil + players over and over, but if you have someone tanking it and someone better is available and you can "make it work" somehow, go for it!!! That's what makes it fun:)

[the splinter]

True...this had been a problem in the past(several seasons ago).

TSN has taken measures to stop multiple team ownership in the same league. It can be done but I believe is set an clearly identifible option at the time of league creation. I have not been in a league that exersiced this option but I would imagine that all G.M's are notified before entering the league that there is/maybe 1 or more owners wiith 2 teams.

[cpowers62]

I`m new here and haven`t done that well adjusting to the online part of the game. I don`t know about how people would cheat. I do know that if my team is sinking like a rock it makes sense to shake things up. I have had some success with making alot of transactions ( free agents in the 80 million standard league. )By success I mean my team played marginally better. I have also had teams that continued to fall through the floor no matter what I did.
If the ship is on fire and there`s no getting off then you do what you can and hope for the best.
Chris.

[maligned]

All I know is...the top managers invest all their time in making their team as solid as possible from the start, then rarely, if ever, make changes amounting to more than replacing a role player or two. You can be decent while making significant changes, but you can't be great.
There are always random situations where changes have led to success for someone; but over the long haul, the 80M mathematical rule of thumb is this: -1M salary equals slightly more than 1 extra loss per 162 games. Thus, a 70M salary will cost you more than 10 games in a season or 5 games in a half season.

[FAaron]

I've had some luck with in-season moves. In a 2002 league, I had a team that got off to a terrible start pitching-wise. I cut two of my 4 starters and picked up 3 starters whom I interchanged with the remaining two starters from my original team. This team ended up rallying, winning its division and came within one game of a championship. The team that won the league changed almost half of his original roster!

Similarly, I recently had a 60 mill. 70s team that got off to a slow start. I swapped out Hank Aaron, Bobby Murcer, Jim Kern and Rick Rhoden for Reggie Jackson, Rick Monday, Tom House and Jim Bibby. Dollar wise, this was about 1/3 of my payroll! My team turned its season around and made the playoffs as a wild card. While this was in a mystery card league, it still shows how in-season moves can help.

Making in-season can payoff. The key is looking at your opponents (especially division), seeing where your weaknesses lie and what is costing your team games. Then, you adjust based on the data. Sometimes players get off to slow starts. But in general, if your team isn't doing it after the first or second week, you need to make an adjustment.

[IrishJoe]

Mystery Card games (e.g. 70's) is a whole different story. There tend to be many more moves as people figure out (or guess) what year player they have and if they are over/under paying.

Joe

[FAaron]

Joe, I agree. But I have also seen calculated, in-season moves in non-mystery games payoff. I think the key is assessing your team and in your in-division opponents, and then making sure you don't make mistakes with calculations or panic, and become a Smelly Sox situation.