Makeover for a wildcard run: Knocked Out!

[Outta Leftfield]

This is my first Fenway team and it's not exactly a runaway success. However, at 53-52 it's still got a shot at the wildcard. Each division in this league has a dominant leader--and about six or seven of the rest of us are bobbing around at about .500. Only one or two teams are completely out of the wildcard race. I wonder if anyone has thoughts or advice about moves to make as I gear up for the final wildcard run.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=68599

My offense is basically OK, but my pitching has stunk all year--with the exception of three guys: Dravecky, Candelaria (12-0!), and the amazing Roy Lee Jackson. I'm in the midst of a pitching staff makeover, having picked up Lea and Alexander, who are about to get a trial. I've also picked up several cast-off .75M RPs (Garber, Mahorcic and Tippy) and am hoping to get lucky with a couple of those.

So, I guess my question is--what about Trammell and/or Will Clark? I think Trammell must be in his worst year, not just for the low OPS, but also because of his triples and platoon data. Should I cut Trammell for, say, Smalley, and use the extra cash for more pitching? I would hate to lose the defense but would gain cash and probably improve my hitting, too. Will Clark, who usually hits like a house afire for me, has been OK but not great. I'm not getting a clear read on his year, but he would also be another possible source of cash. Trading in both Trammell and Clark for cheaper players might not hurt my offense and would give me lots of cash for pitching. Does that seem to make sense? There are some tempting high-priced pitchers on the FA table.

Does anyone have any other thoughts? In case you're wondering, Kruk is platooning with Bailor in LF and Tartabull is the fulltime DH. The team is ranked 4th in runs scored but next to last in ERA. If I could turn the pitching around the team would have some possibilities. Any thoughts would be welcome.... :wink:

[Sykes25]

I absolutely hate teams like this. I get them more than I like to admidt where I play .500 ball all year and I know that I am 1-2 cards away from a 90 win squad.

I'd keep Trammell for his defense alone. Whitaker is not exactally lighting it up either.

If there is any move to make, I'd get rid of Tartabull (Looks like 1986) and find a cheaper platoon, maybe even with Boggs at DH, Kruk/Bailor in LF, Buechele at 3B and find a cheap platoon for 3B against RH. Play Whitaker (smells like 1985) full time at 2B. Walling would be perfect at 3B if he hasn't revealed an injury.

I'd be curious to see the FA pitchers left.

Larry Anderson should be set-up vs RH, avoid RH, slow hook, 1-2 max. Looks like 1986 or 1987 and it will force HAL to think. I know the splits don't support that role for him, but try it for 2-3 series and you will see some results to better his use.

Wonder if Vern Rhule or Jim Beattie is available. They might work well for you. Going to assume all the *SP have been used under Clancy's salary.

[Jimmy_C]

Hey Outta...tough pickle your in. I'd have a rough time cutting Clark or Trammel too.

So this is coming from the "It's better to burn out than to fade away" department. There is a nice assortment of cheapie shortstops that have 2-range and decent error ratings that can supply the same or better OBP that Trammel is. I would go for it. The guy just needs to get on base so the hitters can knock him in, and hopefully he doesn't throw a lot of easy outs into the stands. Clark...gone. Then...can you find a full-time outtaleft-fielder and let Kruk play 1st? Or maybe there is a good 1st basemen on FA you want to try? Give it a look. Sykes is correct...your 1-2 players away from a 90 win team...their names appear to be Trammel and Clark.

Invest the new-found wealth into pitching. Your team is averaging 5.2 runs per game (not stellar for a hitting park), but the pitching is letting up just slightly under that...you need to get some seperation between those two averages to git-r-done.

Just my opinion...good luck...it's a tough one. By the way...nice performance from '82 Candelaria!!

[Outta Leftfield]

Well, I won a sweep last night, which puts me one game behind the leader in the wildcard race--but in a tie with another team and yet another right on my tail. It looks like it may be down to those four teams unless somebody else steps up. "It's better to burn out than to fade away" is right. I figure that to win out in a group of four teams, I have to do something to step up, even if it entails some risk. And as Sykes say, the team is close to being a 90 win team--my good players are really good, so if I can solve some problems, the team could win down the stretch.

Trammell, Clark and Tartabull must have heard us talking about them, because they got 7, 5 and 6 hits respectively in the sweep. I still think Trammell should go. Smalley may be the best option out there, but I will check it closely. I'm less certain about Clark and Tartabull, but dumping all three would generate a lot of cash. Tartabull is hitting RHP quite well (.887 OPS), so maybe I should find a RH hitter to platoon with him? Kruk can definitely play 1b if I replace Clark. There are some good *SPs and SPs out there. Recent pickups Lea and D. Alexander had good games last night, and my new cheap RPs are pitching well so far, so maybe Burris is the next target for replacment?

I'm pasting in page one of the available pitchers, sorted by WHIP. I picked up Doyle A. because, although he had a 4.85 ERA in 42 IP, he had only a 1.25 WHIP, which seemed to point to one of the good years. Schatz, Reuschel, Blue, Swan and Boyd have all bombed out for me. I've had a hard time finding pitching, as you can see. Ruhle is available and has only pitched 11 innings--the least trial of anyone on the page who has actually pitched. He might be worth a try, since he's a cheap option. DeLeon, Ojeda, Wegman, and Hammaker are (I think) the only untried cards. I'm going to juggle some numbers and see what I can come up with.

Soto, M. R S8* 15 11 0 240.0 186 84 84 213 3.18 1.12 1R 7.77M
Sutton, D. R S7* 13 10 0 211.0 190 74 49 137 3.14 1.13 E 6.91M
Saberhagen, B. R S7* 16 10 0 234.1 220 83 44 159 3.27 1.14 3L 6.29M
Hershiser, O. R S7*/R3 17 11 0 252.0 215 75 76 171 2.70 1.15 2R 9.12M
Blyleven, B. R S8* 16 10 0 242.1 220 85 58 166 3.13 1.15 2L 7.62M
Scott, M. R S7* 15 10 0 225.2 187 79 67 186 3.30 1.16 E 6.60M
Gooden, D. R S7* 18 8 0 243.0 213 79 69 202 3.01 1.17 1L 8.15M
Hammaker, A. L S6/R3 9 10 1 166.1 158 64 41 100 3.48 1.20 3L 5.58M
Hoyt, L. R S7* 16 12 0 221.0 222 98 42 113 4.06 1.21 2R 4.09M
Browning, T. L S7* 15 10 0 237.2 223 99 66 132 3.84 1.23 2R 5.12M
Reuschel, R. R S7* 11 11 0 210.0 207 75 52 117 3.17 1.23 2R 5.21M
Wegman, B. R S7* 12 11 0 215.1 216 93 48 97 3.91 1.23 4L 5.37M
Ojeda, B. L S7 12 10 0 195.0 180 73 61 123 3.38 1.24 1L 5.92M
Rogers, S. R S8* 14 11 0 232.1 214 81 69 125 3.27 1.24 1L 6.59M
Swan, C. R S6 8 9 0 170.0 160 64 45 92 3.63 1.24 1R 2.37M
Schatzeder, D. L S7/R4 7 8 0 133.1 120 54 43 75 3.88 1.24 2L 3.83M
Blue, V. L S7 13 10 0 189.0 166 64 68 113 3.05 1.25 E 5.11M
Viola, F. L S7* 17 11 0 236.0 231 93 64 171 3.59 1.25 2R 5.25M
Boyd, O. R S7 11 10 0 195.0 194 79 48 115 3.61 1.25 2L 4.13M
Forsch, B. R S7* 12 11 0 216.0 214 91 56 90 3.82 1.25 1L 4.08M
DeLeon, J. R S7*/R3 10 13 1 206.1 167 86 89 173 3.84 1.25 5R 6.25M
Valenzuela, F. L S8* 17 12 0 267.0 237 95 98 206 3.24 1.26 1R 7.19M
Welch, B. R S7* 15 11 0 215.1 196 80 74 151 3.34 1.26 1R 6.86M
Deshaies, J. L S6* 10 11 0 191.0 167 79 73 120 3.86 1.27 4R 3.63M
Ruhle, V. R S6/R3 7 7 1 123.0 127 47 28 51 3.50 1.27 1L 3.26M

[Ducky]

Outta,

You have to grab Soto. I have nabbed Soto 3 times now mid way or so through the season and have had tremendous results. Soto gets dropped quite often, I have no idea why. I have had real good success with Soto in Fenway.

Mike

[Outta Leftfield]

I missed mrmdoetkott's post while making my moves. If these don't work out, I'll definitely think about make Soto my next priority. I can see how he would be good in Fenway. He was dropped after 46 IP with a high WHIP--which he shouldn't really have in any year.

What I actually did was:
I kept Tartabull as DH vs RHP, since he's hitting them well. Set Boggs as DH vs LHP. Put Buechele in as 3B vs LHP.

I dropped W. Clark. Replace him with Alvin Davis (He was dropped by somebody after just 24 AB). This gave me enough cash to replace Burris with Ruhle. In some years Davis--a favorite of mine-- hits LHP as well as righty, so he might eliminate the need for a platoon.

For now, Kruk and Bailor will continue to platoon in LF. I've kept Trammell after all for now, but will consider dropping him if I need more cash for pitching help--e.g Soto.

Thanks for all the advice. This is still a work in progress and I'll keep you posted. :D

[Sykes25]

Ugh. Even if Clark was not producing, he does not have a bad year. He shoudl never be dropped in any league by anybody.

Also, that defense at SS will hurt you if you trade Trammell for Smalley. I think you are making a mistake by keeping Tartabull.

Let me know when the season is over and tell me I was wrong on Whitaker and Tartabull's years.

Ruhle and Deshaies should have been enough. Taking a flier on Soto this late in the year will be a costly mistake. Although he does not have a bad year WHIP wise himself, those stats speak to the hitting he has been facing from opponents and speaks more to the competition and what they do to a RHP who is in an off year.

I make a habit of never giving up during a season and generally do a better job at getting back to .500 than I do at running the table from start to finish. Unfortunately for me, I start every year with a record of 10 games under .500 after the first week. :wink:

[Outta Leftfield]

Well, let's see how it works out.... :wink: :D

The only roster moves I actually made were to drop Will Clark for A Davis and pick up Ruhle for Burris. In any of his best four years, Davis is better than Clark would be in his worst year, so this could work out, and if so would cause less defensive sacrifice than if I dropped Trammell. The fact that Davis has only had 24 AB means I'm dealing with virtually a fresh card.

I was reluctant to drop Tartabull because he's hitting RHP so well, which means he's performing well 70% of the time in this league. It's hard to throw away an OBP of .381 and SLG of .506, which is what he's doing against RHP. He might be in his 86 year but he might also be underperforming his 87 year (.933 2R), given his high OBP and righty platoon tilt. Either is possible based on injury. By playing Whitaker full time, shifting Buechele (who is hitting lefties well) to 3B (as suggested), and DHing Boggs (.400 OBP vs LHP), I've improved my defense vs LHP at 2B and 3B and maybe my hitting as well, without having to generate any extra cash.

Ruhle may solve my pitching problem--assuming he does well, and assuming my recent additions--Doyle and Lea and the RPs--pitch as well as they have so far. If not, I can cash in Trammell for more $$. I only have one SP left from my starting five--Dravecky--so the pitching staff has been a continuing saga.I checked on the ERA of the SP's I've dropped so far this year. In 265 IP, these guys gave up 182 ERs for an ERA of 6.25. Ouch! Including relievers, the dropped pitchers posted a 6.06 ERA in 549.1 IP--more than half my season. Talk about ugly. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! :shock:

If I can solidify the pitching staff now, the team might just turn around. The remaining pitchers on my staff (including newbies) have an ERA of 2.96 and a W-L of 32-12, which means the dropped guys were 24-40. Soto may really be a stretch at this point. I'd have to cash in an awful lot of my roster in order to afford him. Maybe Ruhle, Lea and Alex are the answer.

Anyway, I'll let you know how the moves turn out and what seasons I got at the end. :wink:

[Jimmy_C]

I like the move Outta...not too drastic, got a player that can perform as well or better than Clarks worst year, a pitcher that may help you, and a game plan in place in case that doesn't git-r-done. You of course noticed that you have '89 Kruk. :(

I'd rather go down fightin and a bitin, kickin and a screamin, and saying nasty things about the other team's Mothers than to...sorta quietly...piff.

[Outta Leftfield]

Thanks, Jimmy_C. I was trying to leverage what I now know about the players to get the maximum possible value out of the minimum number of changes (which are expensive this late in the season), and still have room for a backup plan. Only time will tell if it works. I'm just lucky the wildcard isn't out of reach, which it might easily be at this stage.

And yes, I did see it was Kruk's 89 year (he's been injured several times, unfortunately). It's a good year, if he's platooned and can avoid a LONG injury. :wink: