First timer looking for some opinions

[Marotta007]

[url]http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=190481[/url]

It's my first time with Strat-O-Matic so I was just wondering how I did with my team. It's a 12 team league and at first look I couldn't be happier with my team. I think it's incredibly deep in both the starting rotation & bullpen while having a great lineup with a nice balance of speed & power.

I know that my defense is average at best but with each of my 5 starters having decent to high K/IP rates I figured that should mitigate some of the possible definsive issues.

Seeing as my home park is Yankee Stadium I would have liked to have another LH starter but with Mussina & Lackey so strong against lefties, I think I should be ok. The same thing goes for my lineup. I have a ton of power but only 2 Lefties in my starting lineup. The way I see it, guys like A-Rod, Braun and Cabrera shouldn't really be affected very much by ballpark. They're gonna hit 35+ HR regardless of where they play. I just don't know how much the park is taken into consideration when it comes to the sims.

On the bench, I thought Miles was a great pickup since he can play solid defense at 2B, 3B & SS and hold his own offensively should I have an injury at any of those spots. I have Gload as a defensive replacement for Howard and he should also be serviceable offensively should he need to pick up some AB's. Right now I have Kotsay set as my defensive replacement for Guillen in RF but I'm considering platooning him. Kotsay would play against RH & Guillen against LH.

It would be great if Garret Anderson was eligible for RF but since he's not I have little need for him aside for being a PH off the bench or insurance in case Braun gets injured. Even though I have $1million in cap room left over, I'm not sure whether spending 1.68 on Anderson to sit on my bench getting only the occasional AB.

Does anyone see any glaring mistakes that I've missed?

[Sknsfan]

You need to fix the link.

I can't remember how to do it correctly off the top of my head, but I'm sure one of the nice regulars out here can help.

[Marotta007]

Yeah, I didn't think that link would let you guys access my team but I figured I'd give it a shot. If anyone could help out with some instructions I'd appreciate it.

[askaufman]

1. Go to the "Your League" button. Highlight it.
2. Click on the "statistics" button on the next line.
3. Go to blue colored "Team" button on the next line and click on it.
4. Click on your team name in the columns and use that link to post. Should look like this.


http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=184920

[Marotta007]

Awesome, thanks. Original link has been corrected.

[AeroDave10]

This team needs lots of work.


You should have a lot more lefties in your lineup. Ryan Howard is the only real lefty in your lineup, and your stadium is definitely slanted to favor lefties. I'd scrap nearly everyone in the lineup except for maybe ARod at 3B or Miggy (@ DH only).

As you mentioned, you also should have at least one more lefty starting pitcher, particularly one who's good against righties, since he would probably face 70-80% righties.

With 4 SP*, you don't need a 5th starter that costs more than .50M. Overall, you don't need more than 24 players, so drop some of those scrubby relievers (e.g. Burton and Reyes).

Ramon Hernandez is horrible on defense and doesn't hit much better either. Available hitters who I would highly recommend for your squad:
Chris Davis
J.D. Drew
Jody Gerut
Joe Mauer or Brian McCann

The bullpen looks ok. Keep K-Rod, Okajima, Shields, and Beimel. Get Jose Arredondo right now and lean on him heavily in the bullpen. That should be good enough. Maybe another cheap righty who can get righties out.

Billingsley is a solid guy, Lester's a solid lefty, and Burnett might be worth keeping (Ubaldo Jimenez instead?), but I don't like Mussina. He's too extreme as a 9L. Try to deal him with your hitters to get a stud like Lincecum, Lee, or Sabathia.


That should give you something to do before the season starts tonight! ;)

[Marotta007]

It took some creativity but I managed to get Arrendondo as well as significantly upgrade my OF defense by getting Sizemore. That pushes Kemp to RF and gives me solid range and a strong arm there. Best of all I think I made those changes without hurting my offense. It's also nice to get another Lefty (Sizemore) in the lineup.

I swapped Mussina for Lohse which gives me 4 starters who can go on 3 days rest. I dropped Lackey for Arroyo who I think is actually a solid value for .50. I think Cano is also a great value for just over 1M so I'm going to keep him b/c it gave me the flexibility to do lots of other things. Besides, at 2L he's not relying to heavily on LHP to do well.

I couldn't get a defensive replacement for Ramirez at SS b/c I just don't have the funds. I suppose I could swing it if I cut Kotsay but the best defensive SS is 2e17 for .50. Is that really THAT much better than Hanley?

[chasenally]

Dear Morotta007,
You put out a very positive post with veteran like information. You explained your strat-o-gee and how you expected to win with your team on all levels. You were ripped to shreds (not a complaint to the posts as all help was great) by the posts on what to do to fix your team to make it a winner. You took the advice and ran with it instead of complaining and stuck to your guns on a few. You will find out on your own if Cano was worth it. So what I am saying to make a short story longer is I believe you will not only succeed at this game you will florish. Good luck to you and let the rolls go your way. 2-1 is a good start and I perdict big things for your franchise as you move along in this game. I will post on this site every once in awhile just to keep track on how you do with this team. Very nice post if I haven't said that already. Mike 8-)