Why do we have settings?

[Essex Moosemen]

[quote="bernieh"] If you want to avoid having Wuertz, your setup guy vs. righties, come in such a situation, you can set him to avoid being used before the 8th inning, which you did not set.

Ok maybe here is where my ignorance of the game shows. What if I want Weurtz to be used in the 7th inning vs. righties--just not vs. lefties. Setting as you suggest would prevent that would it not? My concerns was not that he was brought in in the 6th so much as the fact that he was brought in to face three lefties.

[bernieh]

Clearing one thing up - that post you responded to was by me, not by abnerdoubleday. It only said "abnerdoubleday" because I had just been investigating a league that he was in and forgot to switch back to my name.

I don't know if you saw a second post I had posted, but I removed it because yeah, I suppose I was "dressing you down" (assuming that means what I think it means), and you're right, you sure have the right to rant/vent. I guess I don't have as much of a problem with a "HAL screwed me in this game!" as I do with "HAL is broken." I understand that you were a bit riled up about your bad night - just as I'm a bit defensive about sweeping attacks on the computer.

Essex, we appreciate your loyalty and I respect your opinion. if you have future examples of what you think are poor managerial decisions, I invite you to PM them to me and I'll give them personal attention.

Oh, and I think setting Wuertz to "avoid lefties" would help you achieve what you want.

[PAULMINICUCCI]

Thanks Mooseman. I guess it is frustration that leads to so much passion. For the record, I think the system works pretty well most of the time, better for offense switches than relief choices in my book, but there are things which are not well explained. they may well be well thought out, I just do not understand them. Like I have a team now in 2006 where I have Politte as my designated closer from both sides. I think he is a good reliever for most situations because like IZZY in 2005 he has an even rating so he isn't thrown off by pinch hitters or switch hitters. Trouble is in nine games he has yet to appear although I have two saved games, one by K-Rod who is also a good reliever and is my set-up guy. In the second case Fernando Rodney got a save, in a weird save situation. In both cases the relievers had pitched in the prior game, as I said Politte has yet to appear. I am just trying to figure it out. My settings are "Maximize" closer, Politte is also set at avoid bringing in prior to 8th inning and max for 1-2 innings. It seems reasonable to expect that in a save in the 8th or 9th he will be used.

I have a theory that maybe it is his C0 rating versus K-Rod's C6 rating or Fernando's C3 rating that tricks up HAL especially in the 8th (which is why the avoid before the 9th is a good setting). Could that be it?

You know we take heat for not having a deep enough pen, so in this case I have six relievers that are pure relievers, and spent $12 million on the pen. Asking an owner to invest more than that is unreasonable. I say that because if you have a five man rotation and have at least one stud at $7 million your rotation has to cost $19-20 million, with $12 in the pen you have the spent $30-32 million on pitching which is near the optimal range as best as the consensus of the owner's comments indicate.

So with that much invested in pitching I guess I would like to see that HAL use the tools he has. I just want to understand what he is doing so I can work with it. If it turns out that the coding does not like a closer with an even "E" rating or that the closer rating should be 3 or better then I will know hey Politte is not a good choice. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

I would very much appreciate a comment Bernie if you have time. Are their other characteristics that sway HAL? Is the closer rating a factor(a C6 is always better than a C0 or C1) which would supercede the owner's choice of closer? If I want Politte to close out games in save situations in the 8th or 9th are there settings other than the ones I use work better? Thanks as always.

[Essex Moosemen]

Bernie--


Yeah-sorry about the name mix-up. I wasn't sure what the deal was.

(I think "dressing me down" means exactly what you think it does. It's not dirty I swear. :oops:)

You can fit what I know about computer related matters in a thimble and have room left over. Maybe I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, and I certainly did not mean my post as an indictment of you or a sweeping attack on the system. Truthfully, I am not that sophisticated about how the whole thing works and maybe I really don't have my settings right.


I have definitley noted that a deeper staff results in better decision making, and I did not check the avoid lefties on Weurtz to try to stay away from "over managing" and limiting my options. I still don't see why Geary wasn't th elogical way to go.

Anyway--thanks for the input. I appreciate everything that you do and I hope there are no hard feelings.

This game is my life--just ask my wife. :wink:

[Essex Moosemen]

Thanks for your input Sacremento Yank.

[bleacher_creature]

[quote:ab20c792f0]I have a theory that maybe it is his C0 rating versus K-Rod's C6 rating or Fernando's C3 rating that tricks up HAL especially in the 8th (which is why the avoid before the 9th is a good setting). Could that be it? [/quote:ab20c792f0]

That would be it.

[b:ab20c792f0]Pop Quiz: Do you know EXACTLY why this is the case?[/b:ab20c792f0]

$12M is plenty of not too much to spend on the pen. And for the record, a "deep pen" does not necessarily mean an expensive one.

By no means am I "Mr. Championship", but my pens are almost always effective. This comes down to settings plus bargain personnel IMO. Give HAL the proper tools (and settings) and he will amaze you. Otherwise he will piss you off.

Don't ask me for offense advice. That is my nemesis.

[cummings2]

Well, I certainly feel for anyone whose had 6 teams get swept in one go. We're with you Moose, here's hoping for a quick bounce back.

On the topic of HAL's bullpen management I am actually pro-HAL, I know it's not too fashionable to say, but what can I say, I have no qualms whatsoever. When the whole thread for qustionable Bullpen management started I came up with three different bullpens using different strategies but all relying on good management from HAL they have all been used very, very effectively. HALs settings are actually quite simple and effective, I have found it useful to not try to "trick" HAL, simply "communicate" my preferences and it's as good as asked for. Remember that the settings for the pen are interconnected, even if a specialists is tagged to avoid the weak side, if HAL has no other options for pitching due to restrictions to other pitchers you are bound to get some unfavorable matchups. I do believe, as much as I like HAL's management, that you do have to help a bit by stating your preferences by the correct combo of settings in the player's cards and the manager settings.

If you want to moose we can start a thread in the strategy forum aimed to adress some of these issues, not with the intent of going over what is seemingly broken but to see what has worked for different players.

Good luck and hope you get 6 sweeps to get you back to .500

[bleacher_creature]

[quote:82ed20b158="Cummings2"]Well, I certainly feel for anyone whose had 6 teams get swept in one go. We're with you Moose, here's hoping for a quick bounce back.

On the topic of HAL's bullpen management I am actually pro-HAL, I know it's not too fashionable to say, but what can I say, I have no qualms whatsoever. When the whole thread for qustionable Bullpen management started I came up with three different bullpens using different strategies but all relying on good management from HAL they have all been used very, very effectively. HALs settings are actually quite simple and effective, I have found it useful to not try to "trick" HAL, simply "communicate" my preferences and it's as good as asked for. Remember that the settings for the pen are interconnected, even if a specialists is tagged to avoid the weak side, if HAL has no other options for pitching due to restrictions to other pitchers you are bound to get some unfavorable matchups. I do believe, as much as I like HAL's management, that you do have to help a bit by stating your preferences by the correct combo of settings in the player's cards and the manager settings.

If you want to moose we can start a thread in the strategy forum aimed to adress some of these issues, not with the intent of going over what is seemingly broken but to see what has worked for different players.

Good luck and hope you get 6 sweeps to get you back to .500[/quote:82ed20b158]

There is no way to say it better than this.

[PAULMINICUCCI]

As usual Cummings speaks with wisdom. Really I enjoy the comments. My point is I do not know what to think about the decisions. I have heard everything from put six guys in a pen and do not put manager settings on them to try and set everything under the sun. I do not know which of these or anything in between works. I think those of us who are in the dark would love to have a guide on just what each setting does or does not do. that's all.

That would include advice from folks who have had success on what is a good pen.

I guess I shouldn't complain since most of my teams lately finish in the top five in picthing its offense thathas been my nemesis. I do think that this community is the best one I have seen at helping one another and it would be helpful to understand the decisions.

[LANCEBOUSLEY]

I have a theory that when faced with two fairly equal RP's HAL has a preference for the one with the most innings pitched in the underlying season.

I have performed a limited test on this with the CDROM game:

bullpen of

sturtze 78 ip in 05
wheeler 73.1
chulk 72
wickman 62
grabow 52
flores 41.2

without any setting in manager or individually

sturtze 69
wheeler 43.1
chulk 73.1
wickman 60.1
grabow 56.2
flores 19

limiting chulk and flores to strong side

sturtze 112
wheeler 59
chulk 11.2
wickman 98.1
grabow 49.1
flores 3

just a limited test.... so if HAL is forced to choose between two "equal" alternatives...