My First ATG II team - Am I crazy?

[JOHNSCHINGEL]

I haven't had a strat team in a while and this is my first in ATG 2. Has anybody tried this strategy and had success with it? I could always back out and pick up from a variety of high priced hitters left. Any advice would be appreciated. A similar team gave me a 100-62 record back in the old days of historical.


[url]http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=107617[/url]

[boss_of_um]

Personally, I would turn Zachary into Kaat. Zachary was used a lot in ATG I but not so much so in ATG II. Either him or Wilson no doubt. I would use that money and get a better OF like Alou or Canseco. I am guessing you have Harry Steinfeldt to be leadoff. In general I guess I would try and upgrade your corner OF by sacrificing Zachary for someone who will do just as well for less money.
To answer your question I think you can win with this approach in a hitting park like Polo.

[MICHAELEVANS]

I have not often seen a pitching team do well in a bomber park, nor vice versa. I didn't look at all your hitters to see how many BP homeruns they had, but it seems to me counter-intuitive to have all that high-priced pitching in a park that your hitters may not be able to take advantage (but opposing teams could).

[The Last Druid]

I've advocated winning with such teams for a long time. I could append several examples of successful teams with your pitching theme in hr parks.

I agree with Boss about Zachary, but disagree completely with his choices to replace him. I also think you have overspent a bit on starters, given that your bullpen is pretty thin. My choices for the 4th starter would be a committee of scrubs. I prefer Frock, Speer, Cvengros. Ruether has served me well and is available much more often. Hunter, Sanderson, Harris and Loes are reasonable choices for committee members for when you play on the road in pitchers parks. If you can't get a cheap, viable committee for the 4th starter, then I would try to get Mogridge or Demaree.

I love Oglivie as a platoon in your park. Thomas is great there too. Parrish is perfect there. Cepeda works as well. As for the rest... Crosetti is a good value and may knock in 60. I have no use for Allison and am not fond of Gordon unless there are other bomber parks in your division. I'm a minority of one here, but I often use Bishop to lead off on such teams and save money. Obviously he sucks but he should get OBP enough to score 80-90 runs and the price is right.

I'll try and find a few sample teams that reflect my approach to your general concept. Hope they help. I've had a lot of success with such teams using Schmidt in the two slot, for what that is worth.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=35268
This was the first time I tried my version of your concept with three solid but not great starters. They lost in the finals. It was my 8th team with TSN and is an early and rather primitive effort. For example the Parrish/Gedman platoon was a really dumb idea.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=78371

This team is included to show how good Thomas and Schmidt can be and also a bad year from Bishop that is still productive.
http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=74066

Here's an example that I like. My idea is to get two great starters and a bunch of filler guys for the 3rd and 4th starters. Idea is the top two guys should have awesome records as the offense should be very solid with the money saved on the 3 and 4 pitchers.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/atg2/team/team_other.html?user_id=60867

[JOHNSCHINGEL]

The idea behind the strategy is to keep runners off the bases and shorten the innings of the opposition in the hitters park. With the addition of Canseco, my hitters do take full 8 bp advantage of polo besides steiny, crosetti, and oglivie vs. lefties(6). I was worried about the righty slant of my lineup but none of my division opponents have matchup pitchers anyway. Having four hitters above 5 mil does make me feel better on the three days I have a stud going.

[boss_of_um]

Many people like to use Brouhard as a platoon mate with Oglivie.

I'd listen to Petrosian over me, though. He has played almost 5x as many teams as me. He is one of the best overall, too.