Smalley or no?

[Paul5757]

Off the top of my head:

1. Yount
2. Smith (don't have to cut him if he has a bad offense card)
3. Trammell
4. Ripken
5. Fernandez
6. Larkin
7. Burleson
8. Bowa
9. Smalley
10. Franco
11. Oquendo
12. Any of the sub-$1 million 2's.

[bjs73]

1. Yount - Stud
2. Ripken - Frees up .75-.95 in cash. No backup needed.
3. Trammell - Nice D. Lower 5 card OPS than Ripken.
4. Fernandez - Better slugging than smith. Low injury risk. Cheaper.
5. Smith - Speedy with good D.
6. Larkin - 1 chance for Trammell like production.
7. Smalley
8. Burleson
9. Oquendo
10. Franco

I tweak this list depending on which ballpark I call home.

I consider Ripken's injury free status a definite bonus. I never draft a backup at SS when I have him so I can allocate money elsewhere. In my mind's eye, it's like getting a discount of .75-.95 off of his $6.76 price tag any time you get him.

His '86 card is pretty decent actually. He'll punish LH pitching for you and gives you fair numbers against righties also. His worst card is better than the worst cards of anyone else below him too.

I rank Fernandez ahead of Smith also for some of the same reasons as Ripken. He's a really low injury risk and really only loses to Smith in base stealing and OBP. The differential between their "e" numbers is nothing. I'd rather have the extra slugging, hitting, and cheaper price with Fernandez. I don't worry about the OBP differential with these two guys because it's rare that I'm using them in the top of the order anymore.

[AdamKatz]

you think upgrading Smaley to Ripken is worth giving up singleton?

[bjs73]

Everyone has different opinions on player rankings in this game. I really do think Ripken is pretty sweet to own. The depth at SS isn't all that sweet however.

You can find an assortment of decent LF'ers in this game on the waiver wire, platoon or not.

This doesn't mean I think that Singleton is terrible. I just think that getting an upgrade @ SS for D and OPS is the way to go. Singleton is good 3 out of 5 times. Ripken is an all star 3 times out of 5 and could legitamately slug .500 plus 4 out of 5 times; especially at Wrigley.

If it was my team, I would do it. And I'd pick up either George Foster or Greg Luzinksi to put in LF and make my opponents suffer.

Ripken has hit 214 HR's in 6 completed seasons for me. .302/.543/.352 and averages 15 errors a season. I've had '83 twice, '91 twice, '84 once, and '86 once.

[hechojazz]

What's your opinion on this one...I traded Singleton for Larkin pre-waivers in my Bracket 3 team (from an owner who wound up with both Yount and Larkin). I'd tried for Fernandez in the draft, and wound up with Dickie Thon! I had 10th pick in waivers, and there was little on the waiver wire except maybe Dunston, and I wasn't convinced I'd get him. The good sub-1mil guys were all gone of course. I see the opinion above that a Singleton for Ripken deal was a good idea. How about for Larkin?

The deal was a little sweeter than that straight up, but not in any major way I guess, by my also getting Berryhill as backup to Bob Boone instead of Dave Valle - something I requested. How badly was I snared? (Was I snared?) I saw with mixed reactions HAL's starting Berryhill in 2 of the initial 3 games last night(vs a lefty and one of the two righties I faced - what's up with that?), and HAL's failure to start Larkin at all - putting Buddy Bell at SS instead in all three games - I was left feeling a little queasy...

:)

[bjs73]

HAL isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, bottom line. You cannot trust him to fill an entire lineup card. The logic in the engine is really, really bad. Here is my best example of this:

[url=http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=69639]All Natural Synthetics[/url]

I left my lineup card blank for this team so that I could "get a read" on what cards I had at the season start. HAL refused to start Lonnie Smith at any position for 6 games straight and pinch ran once. LOL

Instead he chose Collins for DH duty every single time. (And Collins started off the season hot too!) It wasn't until that Collins got cold in game 15 or so that I gave Lonnie Smith a shot. Glad I didn't cut him based on HAL's hints.

Hmmm '83 L. Smith vs. '86 Collins. C'mon HAL! :?: :?: :!: :!:

Don't make a judement on that crap. Set your lineups the way you want them and should be and let it rip for a while.

As far as if your move into Larkin was a good one..... I'm inclined to say you overpaid for his services unless of course you were already plenty deep in LF/RF then I'd say that overpaying for services isn't a problem. It also depends on the scope of how you are molding your team.

Who's in LF for you now?

I ended up with Templeton in one of my previous leagues and I traded him and Bruce Sutter for Larkin. It was a win/win situation since Sutter had a great year and I got Larkin's .343 year also.

In that same league, I tried to trade Puckett for Trammell straight up (I had Lemon) first. The Trammell owner also had Yount. He declined. He countered with Trammell/Grich for Puckett/Sandberg and I declined. He ended up keeping both and putting Yount in CF I think.

I don't know why I'm bringing it up except to give you an idea how I value certain players. I'm also watching the Cubs/Dodgers game so I'm a little distracted and rambling. LOL

So, I guess that I probably wouldn't have done it unless I was already deep in LF. (Rice, Raines, Henderson, etc.) The good news is that his final season puts up Trammell numbers and his middle season puts up Carew-like numbers (with a big injury risk.) You never know until you play him.

[hechojazz]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=74119

That's the link. Thing was, I had to go after someone I could plug into LF after making that trade. I initially got Lezcano, and then decided on Von Hayes. Neither is of the caliber you suggested, and I've also gone with Devon White in CF so OF production probably will be less than ideal, even with Winfield in RF...I felt I needed Larkin's D, plus he'll hopefully serve well leading off, where before I had no real leadoff hitter...

[AdamKatz]

Kept Smalley. Concepcion is available but I think based on what everyone said I will stick with Smalley-particularly because my division has a wrigleys and 2riverfronts (and an Anneheim).

How good is Barfield? I have him to play RF and Reggie to DH. Am I better off putting Reggie in RF and getting Mitchell (or someone similar) to DH?


http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=73244

[Outta Leftfield]

Barfield is a tough call. He's an excellent defensive player who has two very good offensive years on his card, 85 and 86. His 83 year (.803) could be outstanding in Wrigley--there are a LOT of BPHR on the card.

I don't think you can expect too much offense out of the other two years, which are low OPS and 3L. He isn't going to hit RHP much.

So the question is, do you want to try for one of Barfield's good years--or go straight to Mitchell, if he's available. I don't think that Reggie is really that bad in RF and I think I would go with Mitchell if I could afford him, but I can see an argument the other way as well.

By the way, I really LIKE this team. I think you're going to score a carload of runs, and it's hard to argue with that pitching staff! You might just try to get a cheap 2B who can hit LHP (e.g. Buechele, J Cruz, Fletcher, B Wills, Duncan). All of your 2B's tend to hit RHP better, and you'll probably want to platoon at this position.