Brett vs Schmidt

[PaddyLanePounders]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=67520

After getting swept, yet again, and losing 9 of their last 10 series [size=18:bae98e1a7c][color=blue:bae98e1a7c]Krazy Keeshond [/color:bae98e1a7c][/size:bae98e1a7c]top brass signed the previously discarded Mike Schmidt (76 ab, 2 hr, .158 BA, .303 SLG, .281 OB%).

Schmidt: "I was at home laying on the couch eating cheetos, drinking Keystone Light, watching Jerry Springer reruns, and feeling sorry for myself cause I didn't have a job. Unfortunately, my wife was getting sick of coming home from work everyday to that and demanded, "GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIND A JOB!!!". So, when I seen Brett go down for 3 games on that lineout against Steve Rogers, when his hemrroids flared up again, I put in a call to Fitch. That type of injury can linger!"

Fitch: "We believe Mike still has IT. Just not sure who should play 3rd and who first. Brett is still hobbling a bit, so we are leaning towards keeping him at 1st where he won't have to be as mobile.

[seanreflex]

Brett at 1B, Schmidt at 3B --- play the "1" where he's rated a "1". Brett's 4e20 at 1B isn't too bad.

Might be time to get rid of Gedman and Randolph. Benedict is hitting righties and lefties, so get a .75 catcher to meet roster requirements. Get the best rated 2B you can (Garcia's done extremely well at Royals for me in the past).

Pick up someone with some natural power (Glenn Davis or similar) if you can afford it. Cowens can only hit LHP well, and Sheridan doesn't give quite enough SLG to score runs for you.

Find a way to play only the Squares for the rest of the season, you'll be all set !!

You've put together a good team, it should win. A stud SP and/or a stud RP might help your cause, 4.59 ERA 1.48 WHIP in Royals doesn't help you a whole lot.

Not sure what else to suggest at this point ... shuffle the lineups, set your relief pitchers to "avoid LHP" and "avoid RHP" based on their splits -- that might help. Forsch and Hoyt may need to be upgraded too ... I tend to try and do one change at a time ... I'll mess with my settings before I drop a guy, but Randolph just AIN'T gettin' her done...

good luck Fitch

[PaddyLanePounders]

Thanks for all the feedback. When losing big, like my squad is, it provides reason for hope. The following moves were recently made:

1) Forsch dropped for Tommy John

2) Gedman dropped for Buck Martinez

Another team just dropped Don Mattingly due to an injury revealing his worst year of 1992, which doesn't seem to be that bad a year. I could drop Cowens (who could be in his best or worst year) and put Mattingly at 1B and Brett at DH. Would leave a productive Danny Tartabull available for trade for a pitcher. No trades in this league so far though. All moves have been add/drop. Or, Mattingly could play RF and keep Tartabull at DH.

Objective with Randolph has been to hang onto him regardless of poor stats, cause all 5 of his years look productive. I'm expecting him to start producing big eventually, to make up for his underperformance the first 60 games. Maybe that thinking is flawed though? Does Randolph sometimes go all year producing horribly like this? Maybe playing on the same team as UL Washington is the problem?!

Despite the losing record I'm having a blast playing 80's, and definitely plan on purchasing a 2nd team. :D

[Ducky]

It is panic time :cry: . I hate to say it, but hot starts really make managing much easier. :D At 22-38, your team will need to play .667 (68-34) ball to win 90. I always figure if you can win 90 you have a shot at a playoff spot. Use this team to hone your skills and try a few players you may want to use in future leagues. If you like the 80's as you mention, and would like to try a theme league, sign up for my American League Theme. I am guessing if I get some interest, we would have a start date sometime in February.

Mike

[seanreflex]

Fitch,

I like both those moves. Buck is a great .75 catcher. And John is a solid starter who should be okay in Royals. He lets up alot of hits in a singles park, but he doesn't walk too many. He might be pretty good.

I don't think I would be inclined to grab Mattingly. If Glenn Davis is out there, he can be big in Royals. I had Willie Upshaw play 1B for me on my Royals championship team. He hit .280 with 20 HR and 85 RBI and .800 OPS. I also had Damaso Garcia at 2B. He hit .301 with 17 steals.

I understand your philosophy with Randolph; I've done that with SS and 2B before -- kept them entire seasons even though they've done no hitting. I kept Frank White an entire season, and he hit .210, but he only had 9 errors all season. You could give him another 20 games and drop him before the 80% hit occurs.

It is a little bit of a panic time, but Schmidt, John and whatever the next move is gives you hope. Also, you have ALOT of other players (Tartabull, Brett, Puckett, Singleton, Ozzie, Cowens and Sheridan) hitting the ball well.

Watch Hoyt in the rotation; don't be afraid to change him out if he doesn't improve. Also, set your lefty/righty settings for your relief pitchers, and if you see a bad trend with one of them (pitching better vs LHP when their "3L" year has a 5.50 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP, for example), drop him and go get that stud reliever. The guys who've done well for me in Royals are Clear, Mohorcic, Lefferts, Agosto, Aase, Guante and a few others.

Hope this helps. Just have fun. If you get to the point your season is in the toilet, experiment with new players and learn as much as you can.

And, JOIN A THEME LEAGUE, YOU'LL LOVE IT !!! :P

Sean

[PaddyLanePounders]

Sean,
I'm very interested in playing theme leagues, but since I'm getting crushed by fellow rookies in this autoleague I'll wait until I have more experience and can provide some competition. It's painful enough losing at the current rate! :lol:

Evans was just released, possibly in his worst year. He had been killing the ball early in the season. I'm quite sure that I have Singleton's 5R 1981, based on injury and splits. He's platooning well vs RHP, Ron Jackson. Would Evans be worth exchanging Singleton for based on his glove and possibility that he is not in a bad year?

Schmidt did well last night, with 2 HR! Unfortunatley, we lost 2 games by 1 run. :(

[seanreflex]

Fitch,

I would definitely NOT NOT NOT drop ANY player that is hitting over .300 with a .396 OBP. Keep Singleton would be my advice.

Schmidt will definitely help your team SLG. Give the offense a chance. Spend your money on the best relief you can find; don't hang onto guys that suck night in night out.

Hang in, keep the faith. Look for the bargain players that can really help ... guys like Upshaw, Chili Davis, Aikens, and the like. There's alot of players between $3 and $4 mill that can help a ton.

Good luck,

sean

[yak1407]

Can Randolph under-produce all season long, absolutely.

Randolph, W. '82 BA- .251 OBP - .329

Based on his card, he should have been BA - .280 OBP - .366

I used Randolph for one season because I had always admired him as a player. But I think the fact he is an RHB who tends to hit LHPs better limits his usefulness.

Anyone else with a Randolph experience to share?

[honestiago1]

With Randolph it's always about getting on base. I suppose he's something of a RH Whitaker, in that he hits the other side much better (albeit without Whit's power). He's got a good glove, can run, handle the bat, doesn't K much -- seems to me he's a good player to toss in the lineup (near the top or at the bottom) all year long. He's not overly expensive, gets on base, makes relatively few errors -- I've never used him, personally, but having looked very hard at his cards recently he seems like someone that won't hurt anyone's lineup. His OBP, as reported above, was 70 points higher than average -- not up to card specs, but the ratio is about the same. How many runs did he score for you?

[Jablowmi]

Like many players who favor the left side, he's hit or miss. When I've had his '82 card (366 OBP), he has underperformed and I've dumped him. I've also had his '84 card (382 OBP, but 3L) and his numbers suffer b/c he'll face a lot of RHP.

Two anecdotal examples:

1980 card - 252 BA, 396 OBP, 112 R (batted him 1 or 2 the whole year)

1980 or 1984 (current season - he's out for game 5 of the semis!) - 232 BA, 359 OBP, 88 R, but 11 HR! Probably '84 b/c of splits.

I'd take both seasons again if I could.