RE: Should this team be this bad?

[SGTD]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=242702

Should this team be this bad? I thought the SP and RP was set for Dodger Stadium along with the Defense and OBP. I know Howard is not a great fit, but I never thought this team would tank this bad. SGT D

[AeroDave10]

Actually, Howard isn't that bad of a fit. I think Dodger Stadium is geared towards lefty power hitters, and you have only two (Howard and McLouth). I would also be trying to get more innings out of Papelbon and cutting one or two of those bullpen guys loose to help out the offense. Webb and Lilly are also bad fits for the park. So, in short, yes, I would not expect the team as it stands now to do very well.

[Jerlins]

Team is not as bad as its record, but I'll add a couple of thoughts.

1. Never "waste" a spot for a #5 SP, unless you need to keep a specific one from pitching against you (ie, keeping Pettite on a team which you have a stacked LH'd lineup). I'm sure there is some useful SP/RP that you can use as a specialist, mop up, or against some team Lilly is not suited to pitch against. Garland is just tying up a spot.

2. Too many so so (at best) RP's. You basically have $5.5 million wasting away on RP's after Papelbon and Oliver. You could have had one more ok RP and saved the extra $2 or so on a better hitter.

3. League is filled with pitcher's parks, making Howard somewhat useless.

4. Why is D. Lee batting 8th vs LH's? He's arguably your best hitter vs LH's.

[SGTD]

In 81 games I have 591 AB's against LHP and 2154 AB's against RHP. SGT D

[J-Pav]

[b:811dc4d37f]Sarge[/b:811dc4d37f]:

It's a tour semis league.

For perspective, I played against [b:811dc4d37f]cristano[/b:811dc4d37f] four or five months ago w/ him managing a team nearly identical to the [i:811dc4d37f]weinberg t09-06[/i:811dc4d37f] team you see in the West. He won 100 plus games and cruised through the playoffs. In your league, his team is just above .500.

I don't want to diminish the managers with overperforming teams, but don't be too hard on yourself. If you ran the season five times, you'd likely see everybody take a turn in each of the five 20 percentile ranges, top to bottom. That's just the nature of being in a league with 12 exceptional teams.

Second-guessing everything here is really just 20/20 hindsight. More than anything else, HAL is just keeping you down in this round. :x

[TomSiebert]

Well, since J-Pav is a Master of this game and brought up its randomness, I'd like to join SGT D in a duet of gnashing teeth regarding my Tour team that seems to be underperforming.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=237991

I really thought I built a team suited for my park that could complete on the road. Started 7-14, then went 24-12, now on a 8-19 skid. Bullpen complete disaster....had Jensen Lewis for mopup garbage, but he was getting way too many innings so I dumped him, but Jenks -- despite having minimal BPHR -- is getting rocked regularly and giving away wins.

I know it's random, but this is maddening. Sorry for the amateurish rant. If anybody really thinks this team just sucks, I'd welcome the input for maybe how to change it.

tws

[SGTD]

That is comforting in know the HAL is keeping me down in the wrong round. I checked my L/R splits for my pitching staff and all of the pitchers except for Paplebon are doing well number wise just not in the most important stat: WINS :( . Lilly is doing well against RH hitters. It seems like I need some rolls. Howard is seeing so many RH pitchers you would think he would be doing better than .197 BA. Oh well, here is to looking forward to the new cards. SGT D

[edgecitytx]

Sarge and Tom: two things that playing in the Tour and in vet leagues like GBBR have taught me:

1. Dice rolls really do have a lot to do with it when everyone knows how to play the game.

2. and: everyone in those Tour Semis knows how to play the game.

A lot is randomness, and not just HAL's. What parks are picked, especially in your division? Who's in your division? When everybody's good, those things make a big difference and they're things you have no control over.

But the other side is that the game (like all games) is about exploiting weaknesses while hiding your own. Because of the salary cap, there is no one way to win (even J-Pav's Secret Formula :) ), no way to build a Perfect Team. So it's not enough just to build a good team, it's how can you take of your opponents and how can they take advantage of you?

Sometimes at that level, the the things that have worked all year don't work anymore. And even the slightest mistake is magnified.

As they say: Tough League!

[edgecitytx]

Oh, forgot to mention the draft as a big factor too that (right now) you have no control over.

[SGTD]

Made some moves did not help, season is lost, had fun though, time to look forard to the new set. SGT D