Freel at 2nd

[Drewdogs]

Hey there,

First posting here on the forum and it relates to Ryan Freel.

Here's my team: http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=50782
I'm nearing the trading deadline and I'm debating whether i should replace Freel with a better defensive 2nd baseman while giving up his offense. He's been pretty successful for me and has one of the higher on OBP in the league. While my team is not great defensively, it's pretty decent, the exception being 2nd base. My ability to fix a trade does not look good, so if i were to drop him, i'd replace him with someone like Juan Castro or Jose Castillo, neither of whom will frighten even the weakest pitcher. So the question is, do I stick with Freel and give up a few hits in the field or take a better fielding 2nd baseman and give up significant offense? I doubt this is a major move, but i keep going back and forth on it. Thoughts?

[exwallman]

I am amazed that he only has 4 errors for the whole season.

It almost seems like your pitchers don't have many 2B chances on their card and/or the hitters you are facing don't.

If so, I would keep Freel if that is the case.

[Drewdogs]

well, his rating at second base is 4e11, so it's more the range i'm thinking about. With such bad range i'm guessing there are a lot of gb's he just isn't getting to and end up as hits. There's no way to figure out how many such hits there are though, or am i wrong?

[visick]

There is no way to tell, BUT guaranteed he's letting a ton go through.

AND, you're probably not turning many DP's to kill a rally.

He's a good value guy and he's hitting well for you. Plus you're in 1st. place, so I wouldn't do anything too drastic. But the fact is Freel is NOT a 2B. I'd keep him and either find a spot for him where he's not gonna hurt you defensively.

There are a few no-hit 2B that give you good D that can help.

[1crazycanuk]

Maybe get rid of Inge or someone, DH Freel and get a 2Bman. Unless you have someone like Pierre at DH?

[Drewdogs]

well, i currently have Cabrera going as DH and Inge is my catcher. I could drop someone like Byrnes and stick Freel in LF. I could then pick up a guy like Alex Cora or Orlando Hudson at 2nd. Freel's not a great fielding LF but Cora/Hudson would be an upgrade defensively. The question is basically would i come out ahead by losing some pop for some glove. Tough call or?

[1crazycanuk]

Hey sorry, I didn't look at your catchers cuz I didn't realize you had Inge there. I'm used to him at 3B now cuz I'm a Tigers fan. That sounds like a good idea to do. Don't just take my opinion though...see if someone who's been here longer than me would agree as well.

[Drewdogs]

SoCal (but for anyone else who knows)
You mention that i'm probably not turning a lot of double plays with Freel. Correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't we only looking at gb(2b)X plays with regards to whether Freel's fielding comes into play? I thought infield double plays only occur (with the exceptions of lineouts) with a rolls of gb(1b/2b/3b/SS)A , in which case the fielding rating doesn't matter. If i'm wrong let me know, I am still pretty new to this, so it's possible I am off.

While i'm asking questions, time for an easy stupid one: On all cards, pitchers and hitters, at the top of the box with all the outcomes, there is a % number ie above John Franco's lefty results, it shows "42% VS.LEFTY BATTERS" and above righty results it shows "58% VS.RIGHTY BATTERS." What do those percentages represent? is it the amount of righties versus lefties they faced during the actual season? thanks for help with both Freel and this issue.

cheers

[CHARLESBELL]

Yes, the percent on the card is the actual percentage of the time facing lefties or righties (both batter and pitcher cards).

The X chart for 2b is where you are losing a lot of doubleplays with a 2b-4. Since you have the cards my guess is that you also have a copy of the X-chart? Compare the columns for a 1/2 2b vs a 3/4. A 2b-4 makes your pitching staff have to work a lot harder. Also note that all pitchers have the same chance for 2b(x) (and for every other fielding position) on their cards.

Frankly I wouldn't change anything since it seems to be working for you. But if someone like amazaga or vina is available, you could pick one of them up for matsui and use him as a late inning defensive replacement. that would at least help your pen/closer finish out the game.

[Drewdogs]

Hey Charlie,
Don't have the charts, just looking at the cards available from the tsn online game itself. Hadn't thought about late inning defensive replacement, might be something to go for, but vina and amazaga are both taken. :( not much else is available either, a couple 3e10-12's but nothing else that is cheap.