Advice Needed w/2006 PNC team

[fredpaii]

I'm not sure about Gonzalez as my closer. We're still preseason. My home Park is PNC and I play in a division with a Shea, Fenway, and Kauffman. The rest of the league however has three [b:3f049da6e4]Minute Maid's[/b:3f049da6e4], two US Cell's, a Coors, a Petco, and a Busch.

With Wagner available it's very tempting for me to just cut Gonzalez and Delgado and make Wagner my Closer and pick a DH (vs. RHP's) among John Rodriguez (may be ideal for my team with his combo of OBP and BA that I seem to be missing) and Jorge Piedra (excellent PNC numbers but not so good at most of the teams Parks in my league). I would miss Delgado but my team seems to have enough power without him, agree?

What would you do? Leave as is or go for Wagner and one of the premo left-handed hitters (specify which one please)? Or would you do something else entirely?

Here's my team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=27664

And here are the available Closers of note:

Wagner, Billy PHI L R1/C6 3L 6.50M
Carrasco, Hector WAS R R3/C1 2R 5.52M
Turnbow, Derrick MIL R R1/C6 2R 5.49M
Duchscherer, Justin OAK R R2/C3 1R 5.28M
Crain, Jesse MIN R R2/C0 1L 4.97M
Farnsworth, Kyle ATL R R1/C4 4R 4.79M
Gordon, Tom NYY R R1/C1 4L 4.73M
Cordero, Chad WAS R R1/C6 3L 4.72M
Linebrink, Scott SD R R2/C0 2L 4.71M
Howry, Bob CLE R R1/C2 2L 4.68M
Shields, Scot LAA R R2/C3 E 3.89M
Rincon, Juan MIN R R1/C0 1L 3.76M
Dempster, Ryan CHC R S6/R3/C6 4R 3.58M
Wasdin, John TEX R S5/R3/C3 6L 3.24M
Rodriguez, Francisco LAA R R1/C6 3R 3.23M
Loe, Kameron TEX R S6/R3/C0 4R 3.00M
Foster, John ATL L R1/C0 E 2.94M
Jenks, Bobby CHW R R2/C4 9L 2.75M
Santana, Julio MIL R R2/C0 2R 2.47M
Mecir, Jim FLA R R1/C0 2L 2.45M
Otsuka, Akinori SD R R1/C0 5L 2.33M
Weathers, David CIN R R2/C4 2R 2.20M

[fredpaii]

[quote:7631f3f987="Aray0113"]First: remember the #1 rule of Strat: Build YOUR team for YOUR park.
Even if the other MM's were in your division, you'd have an advantage because their teams would be fighting for the same players.

That being said, here's my .02:

First: While Fuentes would fit your park, if Wags is available; TAKE HIM.
He got 64 saves for me as the closer on a Minute Maid team, so that should answer any questions about his effectiveness.

Second: Keep Delgado! You can get rid of the following players instead:
Garret Anderson, Pete Orr, Eric Young, Mike Hampton, Jamie Moyer (get a reverse righty instead of these two), Jacque Jones, Chris Singleton. You can pick up a few .50 placeholders until you get Wags, then you can get back to building your bench.

Matsui and Tejada don't get injured, and therefore don't need backups. Dunn is your DH/1B along with Delgado. Bubba Crosby is usually available as a 4th OF. However you are almost too lefthanded; get a few players who are RH but hit LHP better. A guy like Francoeur in RF or A-Ram at 3B will balance your team.

Good luck with your team![/quote:7631f3f987]

Francoeur and ARam are on another team. David Bell and Wes Helms are available but I'd probably have to cut Harang and go with someone like Victor Zambrano as my 4th SP. I cut Gibbons for Mench. Not sure that's a wise idea with three total Lefties in my division (all on one team). And two of the lefties are reverse lefties (Santana and Lee). Which is why Garret Anderson was a good player for me. But I might as well use Delgado vs. the lefties too I suppose.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=27664

Would you take any of these FA 3Bmen over Chavez at PNC?

Easley, Damion FLA R 3B 4e22 267 19 9 30 26 4 .240 .312 .419 1 6L 3.50M
Mora, Melvin BAL R 3B 3e20 593 30 27 88 50 7 .283 .348 .474 1 2R 3.39M
Youkilis, Kevin BOS R 3B 4e12 79 7 1 9 14 0 .278 .400 .405 2 1L 3.19M
Cirillo, Jeff MIL R 3B 3e20 185 15 4 23 23 4 .281 .373 .427 5 4L 2.99M
Lowell, Mike FLA R 3B 1e8 500 36 8 58 46 4 .236 .298 .360 1 4L 2.98M
Perez, Eduardo TB R 3B 4e37 161 6 11 28 26 0 .255 .368 .497 1 3L 2.74M
Helms, Wes MIL R 3B 4e16 168 13 4 24 14 0 .298 .356 .458 1 3L 2.72M
Aurilia, Rich CIN R 3B 4e11 426 23 14 68 37 2 .282 .338 .444 2 1R 2.67M
Sanchez, Freddy PIT R 3B 2e12 453 26 5 35 27 2 .291 .336 .400 1 2L 2.67M
Beltre, Adrian SEA R 3B 1e15 603 36 19 87 38 3 .255 .303 .413 1 2L 2.62M
Saenz, Olmedo LAD R 3B 5e24 319 24 15 63 27 0 .263 .325 .480 3 2L 2.59M
Hill, Aaron TOR R 3B 3e25 361 25 3 40 34 2 .274 .342 .385 1 2L 2.41M
Nady, Xavier SD R 3B 5e37 326 15 13 43 22 2 .261 .321 .439 1 2L 2.36M
Woodward, Chris NYM R 3B 4e28 173 10 3 18 13 0 .283 .337 .393 1 2R 2.22M
Wigginton, Ty PIT R 3B 4e41 155 9 7 25 14 0 .258 .324 .465 1 E 2.17M
Loretta, Mark SD R 3B 4e6 404 16 3 38 45 8 .280 .360 .347 3 1L 2.10M
Bell, David PHI R 3B 2e23 557 31 10 61 47 0 .248 .310 .361 1 8L 2.07M
Crede, Joe CHW R 3B 2e13 432 21 22 62 25 1 .252 .303 .454 2 1L 1.99M
Gonzalez, Alex TB R 3B 2e26 349 20 9 38 26 2 .269 .323 .410 2 1R 1.92M
Inge, Brandon DET R 3B 3e24 616 31 16 72 63 7 .261 .330 .419 1 2L 1.87M
Blake, Casey CLE R 3B 4e37 523 32 23 58 43 4 .241 .308 .438 1 2L 1.81M
Castilla, Vinny WAS R 3B 3e14 494 36 12 66 43 4 .253 .319 .403 1 2L 1.77M
Castro, Juan MIN R 3B 2e47 272 18 5 33 9 0 .257 .279 .386 3 1R 1.56M
Green, Nick TB R 3B 4e41 318 15 5 29 33 3 .239 .329 .346 1 3L 1.53M
Cuddyer, Mike MIN R 3B 4e27 422 25 12 42 41 3 .263 .330 .422 2 1L 1.50M

[fredpaii]

[quote:16d38b54e3="Aray0113"]The pickings is slim at 3B... best to keep Chavez in this case.

Gibbons will surprisingly underperform for you here ... I know others love this guy, but someone who probably will do just as well, and is usually available, is Aaron Guiel (4.01M). If you can somehow swing it, take a flyer on Juan Encarnacion (5.03M), someone who seems to be available in most of the leagues I'm in, btw.[/quote:16d38b54e3]

I got Encarnacion. His diamond dope #'s are good. And nothing is taken away with clutch performance. Thank you for the advice.

I hope Romero for Jaime Walker won't hurt too much as I already have Schilling poised to be a healthy part of my relief corps. One free agent SS who is now available is Rollins. His BA and OBP are similar enough to Tejada's (at a substantially lesser price) vs. RHP's but the other numbers (SLG and Runs Created & Batting Runs aren't as favorable). Maybe the stability of RP Jaime Walker over Jason Romero would balance out the deficit of Tejada to Rollins? And Rollins is better defensively (2e12 to 2e23 for Tejada). Go ahead and cut Tejada for Rollins?

I also changed to Joe Blanton from Harang. I like Blanton's card vs. lefty hitters. Chacon was also available (even cheaper). What's your experience been with those three SP's at PNC? I've seen Blanton finish with a sub-three era on one PNC team. I can afford one of those SP's.

Thanks

[fredpaii]

[quote:3d4ddbe41d="Aray0113"]Blanton v Harang has usually been a pick-em situation for me. Chacon is slightly better than Blanton, but is a 5-game starter; if that doesn't matter to you, grab him. Zero HR vs LHB plus the R3 makes him pretty versatile!

Schilling is a surprisingly good pick-up that most people neglect; he became my closer on a MM team in the finals v an Ameriquest team, and saved all 4 wins in my championship!

Rollins is a better value than Tejada in that he's a switch-hitter who'll steal bases. Not really a leadoff hitter, bat him 7th, for best effect, with a weak hitter who can hit-and-run behind him. His defensive e-rating (e12 to Tejada's e23) will save you probably 20 runs over the course of the season. His 700+ PA also means he can only be injured through the end of a game, so no real loss there, either! Take him and use the $ saved to get Walker back.

Grudzielaniek is a great pickup for this park, btw![/quote:3d4ddbe41d]

You're making sense! Helping me see through the trees or something like that. :)