Newbie needs Advice.

[AdamKatz]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=54099&stats=actual

Comments sought for second team.

Lineup: Dykstra, Gwynn, Boggs, Ryno, Joyner, J. Cruz, Pettis, Templeton, Wynegar

Problem 1-thats a lot of left handers. Lezcano and Baker are still free agents. Should I drop Cruz or Dykstra for either one. I am in Royals stadium so I normally wouldn't but... thats a lot of LH. I know Joyner is great value but I was thinking of switching him as well but I read somewhere that he was good in Royals.

Problem 2- No LH in the pitching staff.


Any suggestions to these questions or any other problems you see with my team?

[honestiago1]

You pegged it already yourself -- no LH pitching. I can see possibly sticking with an all RH rotation (I'd never do it, but others might). However, not a single lefty in the pen is asking for trouble, unless you have great starters, and go conservative, using only a couple of top notch relievers. Being in a pitcher's park will help your staff, whatever you decide to do (esp. Sanderson, who always did give up taters on that looping curveball). BTW, you don't need 5 starter*'s. Get a S/R for your fifth spot. I

And deinitely need another RH hitter in the lineup, unless you're gonna platoon Benedict/Wynegar (though Wynegar appears to hit LH's equally well or better than RH on most of his cards).

Dump Pettis -- he only plays CF, and you have Dykstra already. Dump Cruz and get a RH-hitting outfielder. I'd also suggest dumping Boggs for more power at 3B, but you're in a pitcher's park.

My suggestions:
Drop Pettis and Cruz. Get a RH hitting LF (or even another switchie, if you want).
Drop a couple of pitchers. Get a LH for rotation and pen (or two LH's for pen, if you. I'm not a Gullickson fan at all, so I'd dump him. I'd also drop Cox. I'd find a good LH starter and a decent LH reliever. I'd also drop one of your RH reliever 2's for a rleief 3 (but that's just me -- I like to have a long reliever somewhere).

I like your team, btw. You have good DEF and speed. When you go on the road, Sandberg's and Joyner'sc power should kick in.

[AdamKatz]

I dont think there are any decent LHP left under 2 million. I can get Schatzer (close to 4 million) or dump Eckersly for Orosco.

As far as hitters go- there is Lezcano and Baker. However if I get rid of Cox and Pettis and Cruz, I only have 10 mill to wrk with, if I blow 3-4 million on LHP, the best RH hitters I can get are Seitzer, G. Matthews and Billy Hatcher. Are any of those any good?

[moodinator123]

Damaso Garcia is great in Royals and much less expensive. Trade Sandberg to get Garcia and use the savings to get a pitcher :wink:

[LMBombers]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=51199

Check out my Royals Stadium team above which is also a pitcher's park. I have been pleased with Gary Matthew's stats. He has decent power vs LHP and OBP vs RHP. Check out the number of walks he has and his overall OBP. He is playing full time.

[AdamKatz]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=54099&stats=actual

thanks for the help

I dropped Pettis for Seitzer - he plays more positions and allows me to afford Lezcano.

So I have 2 choices- stick with Stanley and Lezcano or get G.Matthews and upgrade Stanley to Schatzer

Dravecky or Hammacker are open but cost 2 million more.

My only other source of funds would be to trade/dump Eckersly.

Any suggestions?

[honestiago1]

That's tough. Eck can be damned near automatic. If you can substantially improve your team overall, bite the bullet and do it. I would NEVER get rid of Sandberg, but considering that my son is named after him (Ryne, not Sandberg), I may be biased. :wink:

Seitzer's a very good stick. Lezcano's got a couple of bad years, and some monster ones. A great fielder, too. I'm not sure Schatzaer's worth the dough. See if you can get anything out of Shirley and VandeBerg before you move on. I'd still like to see a lefty SP* for you, but if there aren't any you can fit in without nuking your team, don't do it (my brother always had spotty luck with Hammaker; Dravecky always pitched well for me).

All this aside, go with your gut. Maybe your LH hitters won't be stiffs against LH pitchers. Check the other teams in your league. Maybe there's a whole buncha righty pitchers. The best pitchers (Clemens, Ryan, for example) are righties. Check your division. If it's overstacked RH starting pitching, try your lefty lineup out for awhile. The pitcher's park certainly won't bother Cruz, who played in the 'Dome all thos years. Who knows? You might get the .300 Templeton, or Jose's .318 year. Only in '77 was Jose not very good against LHP (and that year, he slaughtered righties).

Give it a shot. It might work.

[bjs73]

[quote:3feaef6422]I can get Schatzer (close to 4 million) or dump Eckersly for Orosco.[/quote:3feaef6422]

It is [u:3feaef6422]never[/u:3feaef6422] a good idea to dump Eck for Orosco. Period. If you paid retail for Eck's services, you may as well keep him. There isn't a more dominant or consistent RH reliever in the game through all 5 years.

It's easy not to like his salary but if you've already paid retail for him, you may as well keep him.

[AdamKatz]

the big question is still whether I dump Cruz for Lezcano. I am in Royals and Cruz is more consistent but here are the 2 possible line-ups (generally)

Dykstra (L), Gwynn (L), Boggs(L), Sandberg(R), Joyner(L), Cruz (L), Seitzer(R), Templeton(S), Wynegar(S)

or

Gwynn (L), Boggs(L), Sandberg(R), Lezcano(R), Joyner (L), Dykstra (L), Seitzer (R), Templeton (S), Wynegar (S)


Any opinions?

[bjs73]

[quote:0abd701f02="AdamKatz"]the big question is still whether I dump Cruz for Lezcano. I am in Royals and Cruz is more consistent but here are the 2 possible line-ups (generally)

Dykstra (L), Gwynn (L), Boggs(L), Sandberg(R), Joyner(L), Cruz (L), Seitzer(R), Templeton(S), Wynegar(S)

or

Gwynn (L), Boggs(L), Sandberg(R), Lezcano(R), Joyner (L), Dykstra (L), Seitzer (R), Templeton (S), Wynegar (S)


Any opinions?[/quote:0abd701f02]

My personal opinion is that good left handed hitters are very hard to come by, especially in the corner OF positions. You won't find too many of these type of players around in the FA pool. You will find plenty of RH bats for the corner OF positions though and for cheap.

Since you're playing at Royals (one of my favorite ballparks) I'd say keep Cruz because I've seen him over perform his card in his good years and play above his card slightly in his average years.

Problem is that Sixto has that *1* card that if you land it, it's like hitting the jackpot. But he's got some down side to him in his other years. If you like good, consistent performance, stick with Cruz. If you like to gamble, take Sixto.

If you are worried about your Lefty lineup, start making cheap pickups to start platooning. A fair and cheap LF platoon mate is Felder for .88 cents. He's fair and won't astonish you but you'd be surprised what he can do in his good years. And who's to say that you're going to need to platoon Cruz anyway?

Personally, I'd find a platoon mate for Dykstra in CF myself. The other guys in your lineup should be able to hold their own. Lastly, most 80's vets, when they draft LH pitching, will look for guys that have decent reverse splits, making them more vulnerable to LH hitting. You have a chance to take advantage of that. But mostly, you'll be facing RH pitching at least 60% of the time or better:

[b:0abd701f02]So, No Worries![/b:0abd701f02]

:D