2009 2nd Ballclub: Any Pointers to improve the roster?

[LA Bear]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=284575

Any sage or humerous advice for the Turtles?

I'm really struggling at ss...Is Rollins really worth the investment?

[visick]

I'm no expert by any means, but here goes...

What other parks are in your division?
How many LHSP's/RHSP's are there?

Your starting rotation is good, but your BP is kinda weak. Lester and Buerhle, while are fine are kinda susceptible to a lefty that hits leties well. There aren't many of them, ie. Matsui. But in your home park, it "could" mean trouble. You might be better off with a lefty that is tougher on lefties, ie. Lee or Wolf.

You've got 2 high injury guys, Beltran/Delgado. When they go down, it's gonna hurt you bad.

Rollins has that price tag because of the defense. You can save alot of money and use Vizquel.

[mbrake]

Biggest concerns would be the very injury prone Beltran & Delgado. Personally, I can't deal with the injuries, but that's just me. When healthy, they mash, but you either had better have solid, cheap back-ups for each of them or a strong stomach to weather the coming storm. A second lefty in the bullpen wouldn't hurt either. I think your SPs will be fine depending on the rest of your division & league ball park make-up. Good luck.

[artie4121]

Isolated from knowing the rest of the league or division:

Echoing Socal and mbrake, on some points:

1. You seem to have far too many Lefty SPs. I'd swap out Lester or Buehrle for a strong, balanced RH SP*

2. Lyon and Francisco give up far too many HRs. Is Heath Bell or Neftali Feliz available to swap out?

3. I was never a Posada fan, and with his 4(+2) rating, the rabbits will be running you ragged. Get a cheaper catcher who gives 1 or 2 defense with a negative arm.

4. You are very vulnerable to LH pitching. While you have a few switch hitters, they won't make up for two solid balanced RH hitters.

5. I agreen on the injury vulnerability.[/list]

[LA Bear]

Thanks for the pointers.

Here's some some of the details you asked for:

Division Opponent 1: Yankee Stadium, 4 RH SPs, 1 LH SP Santana

Division Opponent 2: Kauffman Stadium, 4 RH SPs, 1 LH SP Maholm

Division Opponent 3: Chase Field, 3 RH SP* and 2 LH SP*, Pettite and Hamels

[visick]

Not that it won't work, but with a park like Dodgers stadium, it's slanted to lefty HR's.

Heath Bell is your closer and he simple kills righties.

While not mandatory, I kinda prefer my closer to be a little better suited to my park.

ie. I don't want him coming in to close out a game at home facing some lefty sluggers.

[LA Bear]

[quote:525f2c1132="socalchiro"]Not that it won't work, but with a park like Dodgers stadium, it's slanted to lefty HR's.

Heath Bell is your closer and he simple kills righties.

While not mandatory, I kinda prefer my closer to be a little better suited to my park.

ie. I don't want him coming in to close out a game at home facing some lefty sluggers.[/quote:525f2c1132]

I totally understand...

I had him as a placeholder. The closer situation is pretty bleak unless I go off and spend north of $5M. What's the danger of not having an established closer? Is that a strat no-no?

I like Laffey for Mop-up
Choate as a lefty specialist
Comfortable with Boyer and Arias to eat up innings
and I'm thinking of Feliz as my featured RP

Herges is a placeholder for now. I'm thinking of freeing up dollars and gettim Gonzalez as my closer by downgrading at SP, C or SS.

Would Gonzalez be sufficient?

[visick]

He "could" work.

Problem is he's a R1/C3.

Closer Rule

Each reliever is given a second rating next to his Relief Endurance rating which we will refer to as his "Closer Endurance". For example, a pitcher who is rated "relief (2/3) has a Relief Endurance of 2 and a Closer Endurance of 3. The Closer Endurance rating is a measure of how many outs a pitcher can maintain his effectiveness in "Closer situations". The rating ranges between 0 and 6, or "N" which means he is not used as a closer.

Closer Situation
A "closer situation" occurs whenever the defensive team has the lead and the tying run is at-bat or on-base from the 9th inning on. When this situation occurs then observe the following rule changes:

Reliever being brought into the game
When bringing a relief pitcher into the game in a closer situation ignore his Relief Endurance rating. Instead use his Closer Endurance rating to determine the number of outs he can record before he loses his effectiveness.

Once this number of outs have been recorded, the pitcher will lose his effectiveness as soon as he allows a hit or a walk. If a pitcher is rated 0, then he loses his effectiveness as soon as he allows a hit or a walk. When a pitcher loses his effectiveness, he has reached his POW.

If the pitcher being brought into the game in a closer situation has a Closer Endurance rating of "N", then he enters the game with the loss effectiveness penalty already in affect (he has reached his POW). For pitchers rated as a "N", this penalty is always in effect starting with the first batter they face in a closer situation.

Reliever currently in the game
If the pitcher in the game has a Closer Endurance rating of "N", then he immediately loses his effectiveness (he reaches his POW.)

If the pitcher in the game has a Closer Endurance rating of 0 to 6, you should subtract the number of outs that he has already recorded in this game from his closer rating. This number becomes his Closer Endurance for this game. If the computed number is less than 0, then accept 0 as his Closer Endurance for this game.

[LA Bear]

Thank you very much. I'm going to be patient and see what pops up. The Closer pickings are pretty slim at the moment, unless I spend big.

[apolivka]

I'm not a huge fan of Feliz at Dodger. He's got 3 BPHRs vs. lefties where you are 1-11, and zero vs. righties where they are 1-5. Gonzalez would be a better fit if paired with a really good R2 that can soak middle innings and close too. I've seen Gonzalez put up some really good seasons, even though I am often leery of a lefty closer, and Dodger is a pretty good place for one.

I wouldn't hesitate to use Lyon at Dodger despite the HRs vs. righties where they are only 1-5. He's better balanced for your stadium there then Feliz. I think Lyon+Gonzlez+cheapie matchup guys would work well. You might even be able to downgrade one of your S7 starters to an S6. Sean White might be a good option too.

You have three key guys with really high injury ratings, and pretty iffy backups. I would certainly address that too.