Ummmm... I stink

[mbalsdon44]

This is only the second time I have played the strat-o-matic baseball game and I love it! However, I apparently stink at it. Last season I had a 75-87 record and it was a balanced team. This time I though I had a decent team but for some reason I don't think I do. I am off to a 1-2 start and I thought I would try to get some feedback to my team before it is too late. Have I done anything right with this lineup? All constructive critisism is appreciated. Even you 1crazycanuk can help me out.. lol.

Just so you know what I was trying to do was build a good hitting lineup in a hitting ballpark but have some to help out.

Link: [url]http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=8111498[/url]

I have no idea if this link will work and I am not sure how to do it. If it doesn't work, le tme know and if you can, tell me how to do it properly. Thanks guys,
Mike

[LMBombers]

Link doesn't work. Go to League and select Statistics. Click on your team. Right click on the URL (internet address) at the top and select Copy. Come back to this post, right click and Paste in the white area of your reply to this message

[mbalsdon44]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=53381

[MICHAELTARBELL]

First, good to have you on board! It is a GREAT game, and with the help of this community, you will be winning in no time!

I would address your hitting...

You say this is a "hitters Park", when in essence it is a "singles" park. It is also a "slanted" power park, meaning that for lefties, hr's are only 1-3, while righties have a much better chance at 1-9.You need Power guys in fenway that are right handed, have high obp, lots of clean hits, and ARE NOT ball park dependent (meaning that for power they do not rely on the "roll of the dice" for the park they are in to generate their power).

Guys like Thome, Teixeira, and beltran are VERY dependent on bphr's for their success, so they will all struggle in Fenway. For power , guys like Bonds (of course!), Beltre, Glaus, etc....that have alot of hr's non reliant on the ball park is what you want here.

Jeter seems to be a bust this year, but ESPECIALLY in a pitchers park (which i would call fenway, even tho it has high singles ratings, it has low HR ratings). Also, 4's at 2b is something I personally would never do.

I am not sure what you are thinking at catcher, it looks like a platoon, but they are both better vs righties. I would think you would want a guy like estrade, castilla, or someone that has a high obp at catcher in fenway.

Just a start, but i think you are going to struggle here. For your next team, i would post pre-season, so you can get advice on add/drops without incurring a penalty for doing so (like you would now). As I say, lots of people here willing to help!

Good luck! :)

[worrierking]

Depending on your league, I think there are some issues that should be addressed. I don't see the need for Carpenter to be on the squad. He's an every fifth day starter and you have four respectable * or fourth-day starters. Mixing them decreases your efficiency.

Carpenters dollars should be spent on an R2 middle reliever who can eat up middle innings. I think you're short of pitchers there. I hate to make changes during the season due to 20% cash loss, but I would make that move.

[geekor]

a) you don't stink. If you do your homework, build a pefect team, even then sometimes the rolls just don't go your way.

b) Overall your team is ok. the defense is pretty bad in some areas. To answer your first questions (you've hopefully already read this) go here and read up:

http://forums-beta.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=9842

You'll notice you are playing a 4 at 2b, something most vets here would never do, save for theme teams. That let's more hits through every game, in turn giving up more runs.

Overall, your approach is nicely thought out, but missing a few things.

The ony other thing I notice is, as you've gotten many RH hitters, they are all stronger vs lefties. For a Fenway (wrigley) team, I'd prefer to have some righties that are stronger vs righties (A Ramirez, M Cabrera). Usually most team face around 70% RH pitchers through the season, so being able to hit them better than lefties is usually very important.

Oh and I am in no way saying your team is bad, I think is has many nice pieces. Some things you also understand from playing a lot of season, like how Castilla never seems to hit even half his card for some reason :roll:

[LMBombers]

Tiexiera playing RF? youch.

Try trading Tiexiera for something else that can help you. It is tough trying to make a lot of changes after a season starts without incurring crippling losses to your salary cap from the 20% hits you take in dropping someone. Just play this one out and see what works well and what doesn't for your next team. It is still fun to play! No one is an "expert" at first.

[milezd]

first off, don't judge a team on 1 series, hell, don't judge a team on 5 series

as for team design:

always design your team according to your ballpark, you play 50% of your games there, you choose fenway as your park, which is singles friendly, expect all of your pitchers to have a higher whip because of it, given that, you should pick pitchers who have low whips, you seem to have done "ok" in that department

fenway isn't a great homerun friendly park so you should be picking up players who hit HRs without BP ratings, you seem to have done an "ok" job there as well

you have carpenter on the bench and 4 other * starters, carpenter is a waste of money that could be used elsewhere, your 5th starter (required by TSN) should be a cheap starter/reliever, someone that becomes part of your relief staff, if it were me I keep lima (he would qualify as the required 5th starter) and drop carpenter for another middle relief pitcher, you have ayala who would be your middle relief versus lefties, you now need someone who is good middle relief versus righties, with the money from carpenter you could take someone like jesus colome or travis harper (colome is decent in fenway partly because he does not have any ballpark singles on either side of his card)

and to reiterate what geekor said, defense is important at a few key positions, SS, 2B, CF, these positions have the most chances for errors, you can play lesser defense elsewhere as long as the player playing that position can make up for the defensive liability with his offensive play

overall the team looks pretty solid

[mbalsdon44]

Yep, based on all comments, I am a dead man this season! LOL

You are all right but geez, I didn't think there were so many things to consider here. I agree with them all but I had no idea that this strat-o-matic game was this advanced. I will elarn to post on here the next time I have doubts about my team.

Well I have some options now and it would probably be best to get rid of carpenter and get Horacio Ramirez to chew up some middle innings if required. He has decent stats and I know I am taking 20% hit but worth it right? I was alos thinking of dropping Texiera from RF (don't know what I was thinking there) to grab Giles who apparently bats well against righties. Now how am I doing? LOL

[STEPHENANDERSON 2]

Try to trade Tex or Thome to a team that needs a first baseman before you drop him. Maybe you will be able to get a little of what you are looking for before you get smashed in early season with the 20%.

Good luck