First timer looking for some opinions

[askaufman]

Ditto that. No team advice but the strat rules I live by:

1. Stick with high-priced talent even though they might be sucking wind. I had Howard and Sizemore last year and through 100 games they both were hitting around .220. Howard hit 20 homers in the last 60 games while I dropped Sizemore. I won the division but losing Sizemore hurt my defense. I think he is overpriced but you won't be able to replace him.

2. HAL will do what it wants so live with it. Don't overthink your strategy or get caught up with the minutia of this game. Remember it still is a game of chance with dice. I came from the board game so it was frustrating at first but just accept HAL will do things you wouldn't do in a game situation.

3. Making the playoffs with every fourth team is success. I play four teams a year for the enjoyment of the game, not because I expect to win credits. There are a lot more serious players than me and that's just fine.

4. You may flop with a team that you thought was a sure winner. Welcome to Strat and good luck.

[Marotta007]

Thanks for all the positive replies and well wishes guys. I've been playing fantasy baseball for 10 years now but I'm loving Strato so far. I've always been a huge stats guy so this is right up my alley for sure. I enjoy also having to manage defense, an actual bullpen and ballpark attributes in addition to the manager strategy settings. For the most part, these are types of things are absent from your normal fantasy league.

P.S. Just before the games got simmed last night I was able to swing a trade that I think should help my lineup. I traded Miuel Cabrera for Carlos Delgado. Their stats were almost identical, I saved $200k and I swapped a RH power bat for a LH power bat who should do nicely in Yankee Stadium. I now have Howard, Delgado, Sizemore and Cano as my LH bats.

Ther other parks in my division are Shea, Fenway and the Rangers Ballpark.

[joethejet]

I know it's a little late, but here are some comments on your team.

It rates at 2056 which isn't bad. Not top notch, but should compete.

LHP will give you trouble.

You would have been better off with a 2 at 2b. Cano doesn't give you much O and he's brutal on D. Your D is pretty bad and won't help your pitching.

Sizemore was a good pick up.

K Rod isn't a great fit for the park, but all your other guys are LH or backwards so you needed to have at least one hard guy.

You're very solid from an injury perspective.

I would have like to have seen a platoon guy for Howard or Delgado and you had some cap to get it.

gotta go!

Jet
www.angelfire.com/games5/joethejet

[chasenally]

7 for 14 very nice and 2 out if 3. 5-4 second place, 3 days in and you are still in it. Nice start. I am a fan and following the season. 8-)

[Marotta007]

Big 3 game sweep for the Evil Empire Friday night. I picked up 2 games on the division leader who had been 11-1. Even with the 3 game sweep, there were some things I was just plain unhappy with. The first was Jon Lester and his 4 starts with a combined 11 2/3 IP, 11.58 ERA and 2.40 WHIP. He's been replaced with Mark Buehrle.

The second move was to cut Ryan Braun and his .200 Avg and 1 HR through 55 AB's. He's been replaced with Jayson Werth which was also a huge defensive upgrade for LF (4, -1 to 2, -2).

I ALMOST made a third move but since he's my cleanup hitter I'll give him 1 or 2 more series to turn it around. However, Ryan Howard is on notice. The 5 HR through 15 games are nice. The .140 batting average is unacceptable.

[Marotta007]

The more I looked at it, the more I couldn't live with it. Ryan Howard and Delgado are out as my 1B/DH combo. Adrian Gonzalez will now be manning 1B (huge defensive upgrade from a 4e9 to 1e6) and Carlos Lee is my new DH. My home park is Yankee Stadium so I wasn't thrilled to lose 2 power LH bats and only get 1, but left handed or not, those guys weren't hitting a lick.

I also dropped Kyle Lohse for Mike Pelfrey to help fit things under the cap. Lohse had an ERA over 10 and a 2.31 WHIP in 3 starts so it wasn't to hard to make that cut.

[theClaw]

STOP!!! dropping players.....the 20% cap hit will kill you eventually. Even in real life players have slumps through the year. Dice rolls have a way of evening out. A good rule of thumb is wait at least until the half way point to evaluate any add drops. Trades are another story as their is no penalty.

Dave[/b]

[chasenally]

RELAX! You won 3 in a row against a team that went 11-1. What more can you ask for. Always look for a trade first. Put out a message "Ryan Howard on trade block, looking for a (whatever) for him." Someone would have made you a deal for him and you wouldn't have lost any cap. :shock:

[daxstryd]

Fortunately, Mike, the owner of the Empire is a RL friend and we are playing this game for the 1st time together, so I can say at 11-1 it was not me that he played but he did gain 2 games on me cuz I only went 1-2 last night.

We are playing in a weighted penalty league which is why I believe Mike is making the moves he is, we are still in the relatively low 5% penalty phase.

Just to add a little jab to my friend, I swept him Thursday night.....you get your shot at redemption tonight though!

[chasenally]

Always better to look for a trade first. 12 x 24 =288. That is 288 players taken before the Free Agents he is looking at. Someone probably has something better and you lose no cap. Everyone settles for something they did'nt want that might fit your team better. Ryan Howard, come on it is really hard to find a power lefty against RHP after the draft. Let me know if he has been pick up off of waviers yet.