Makeover for a wildcard run: Knocked Out!

[Outta Leftfield]

The team managed another sweep last night, with good performances by A Davis and recent pickup Doyle Alexander.

On the other hand, Vern Ruhle, my new pitching "savior," was knocked out after four batters without recording an out: single, single, single, GRAND SLAM! Cats4 hung on to win 18-10 (with a 9 run top of the 10th), but Vern has yet to prove that he's the answer to my pitching quest. :D

Anyway, I'm still in the hunt. We'll see how it all turns out.

[Outta Leftfield]

The Cats4 have been [b:dd58c6b393]hot, hot, hot[/b:dd58c6b393] lately, going 20-4 after their 48-51 start. Recent pickups Ruhle and Davis have been a bit iffy at best, but most of the rest of the team is playing quite well.

Trammell, one of my initial problems, is still not really hitting--and top tier SS have been raining out of the sky. Somebody dropped Ripken with at.729 OPS, then somebody dropped Yount, with an .826 OPS on three different teams. I'm tempted to trade in Trammell (.639) for one of these guys. I"m pretty sure Trammell's in his bad year. Yount's performance looks like 83 to me (.888), partly because of the 8 triples in 442 AB. The one "off" year seems to be ruled out. But I'd have to do some serious trading in of other talent to afford him.

Ripken would be more affordable, but he's tracking his off-year pretty closely. It might be one of his better years, but even the off year is more than I'm getting from Trammell. The real issue is the cost of getting these guys at the 80% late season trade in cost. I do have .80M in spare cash, but I'd have to trade in a pitcher (maybe Doyle A--not pitching great right now; 7.79 ERA in 17 IP) for somebody cheap to get Ripken, and probably more to get Yount.

It seems like a tough call to me--especially since it means rocking the boat when the team is playing well. But Yount in particular is tempting to add for the stretch run. Anyone have any ideas?

[Jablowmi]

Tough call. Couple of questions - where are you in the wild card race? I guess you'd drop Alexander, Ruhle and/or A.Davis. Is there a $2M SP around (Rozema, Bankhead)? If so, I'd be tempted to make the move for Trammell.

[AdamKatz]

As opposed to dumping a pitcher and being forced to find a decent .75-2mill pitcher this late in the season, have you considered dumping Davis and trying to find a cheap LH DH against RH pitching? Againgt Lefties, Boggs could play first and Buechelle third and DH Bailor while you bench Kruk. That is better defense than Kruk and Boggs anyway. Bailors not doing too bad against RH either. I wouldn't go for Ripken at this point. Yount, on the other hand....overrated but still the right move here I think.
Yount and Bailor may be better than Trammel and Davis. I dont think Doyle Alexander has a terrible enough year that is worth dumping and taking the 80% cut this point in the year. Righties are only hitting 214 against him!-looks like bad luck aaginst lefties and with the ERA.

[Panzer ace]

If you are SURE that you have Trammells worst and Yount does not have his worst, then you should make the moves needed.
You are on a 5-man staff so Ruhle and Alexander would be going in games 4 & 5. Is that what you want to settle for? You want to make a move there anyway so why not get Yount while doing it? If you want to free up more cash by dropping Davis you could take a look at D. James, Gross, Heep, Leach, Riles, bush or Perry. Some SPs to look at could be Smithson, Terry or Whitson. Good luck.

[Semper Gumby]

Outta,

Are you sure the answer is putting effort into getting more hitting?

According to the league stats, your pitching is ranked #11 - your ERA / WHIP exceeds the league average by a healthy margin. Of course, your hitting is #2 with the [b:5d26806473]Phantics [/b:5d26806473]running right behind you.

Assuming you see the [b:5d26806473]Phantics[/b:5d26806473] as your main WC threat, I'd focus on winning the close battle @ hand.

Dropping Trammell will not only cost you 10% but you still need to raise another $2m - (not including your $800k).

If anything, I'd look to grab another pitcher first before cutting loose Alan. I presume most of the usual cheap pitchers have been tried and dropped. So, I can't imagine who is left to try unless you can discern from the box scores which one had a few bad dice rolls.

Otherwise, your team has improved since your 13 February posting. I think you've turned the corner - for now.

Me? I'd look at the pitching crew first and then your offense second.

[Jablowmi]

See, to me, dumping a good Yount for a bad Trammell is a no-brainer unless you don't have anybody to dump. If Alex and Ruhle were pitching well and A Davis was hitting, then you don't make the move - it would hurt worse than it would help. In this case, Alex, Ruhle and A Davis have nothing to do with your 20-4 run. I'd rather have Alexander's replacement pitching in game 4 of the semis with Yount at SS than Alexander with Trammell.

[Outta Leftfield]

Lots of good thoughts here--in short order, too, after posing my question. I'm going to chew on them and see what I come up with.

I AM 90% sure Trammell's in his bad year and Yount isn't. No Trammell injuries so far, but 511 AB at .639 OPS is a pretty strong indicator. I have thought about the .75 route at 1B/OF. We're down to the Meyer/Stubbs/Howell/Putnam/Bergman level of talent, but one of those guys might be worth a try. But trading in Davis for one of those makes me fall just short of getting Yount. I'd need to cash in a pitcher as well.

Both Ruhle and Doyle A are giving me unclear messages so far. I'm up against the Phanatics (my main WC competition) tonight and both are pitching. I think I'll give them one more outing each to help me decide what to do. If both of those guys can actually pitch, I might be better off with keeping the team as it presently is. As Semper suggests, pitching is more of a problem for me than hitting and if I can solidify my 4 & 5 SP spots (after much improving my RPs), the whole staff will have gelled at last. On the other hand, if either Alex or Ruhle is really no good, then I might as well grab Yount while I explore other options. :wink:

[Outta Leftfield]

Partly spurred by Jablowmi's comment, which came in while I was typing mine, above, I changed my mind about waiting and grabbed Yount before the 10 PM deadline. I found I couldn't rest easy knowing he was just sitting there in a good year and anybody else might grab him. While his good year is fairly certain (along with OPS, triples are one indicator--eight already in this season and only three in his bad year), I have no clue about Davis or Alexander who were not performing well. At this stage of the year, it seems worthwhile to invest in certainty, or near certainty. So I replaced Davis and Doyle with Putnam (new card) and Schmidt (1.15 WHIP, 4.40 ERA in 28 IP). We'll see how it works.

Interestingly, this will be Yount's fourth team. I'm not sure why he keeps getting dropped, since he's hitting well. :wink:

[Semper Gumby]

Outta -

We'll see if your hitting focused improvements work soon enough.

Unfortunately, your pitching staff is didn't get the memo. :roll:

I'd left Yount on the wire and located one or two better arms using the cash from Davis's retirement. I know it would have been hard given the season's duration but hitting your way to the top didn't seem like the prudent tract to me.