Trying something different...

[Sknsfan]

I've never been a big platoon guy. In fact I try to have as many 600 PA guys as possible, but I wanted to try something new.

This is a team based mainly on Platoons with some solid everyday players to help anchor my bats.

Parks range the complete spectrum - Citizen's (mine), Yankee, Turner, and Petco in my division.

Just looking for some thoughts on my lineups.

Here is the team: (let me know if the link is broken I always seem to have trouble with them)
[url]http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=5555[/url]

Here are my projected lineups:
Vs Righties:
Taveras - cf
Young - ss
Piedra - DH
Konerko - 1b
Kent - 2b
Blaylock - 3b
Lane - rf
Church - cf
Schneider - c

Vs Lefties:
Kotsay - cf
Young - ss
Bell - 3b
Monroe - lf
Konerko - 1b
Kent - 2b
Mench - rf
Derosa - DH
Buck - c[/code]

[visick]

I'm not so sure you're gonna get enough OB with Tavares leading off.
He's got 39.4 OB chances vs. RH's while Young has 43.8 chances.

Same goes for Kotsay vs. LH's. I'd like his + clutch to bring some runs in rather than Leading off.

Young "could" be you lead-off man.

With a team like this (platoons), you gotta watch for reverse pitchers. They could hurt you.

[rgimbel]

3b Bell- Blaylock
I have used Bell with Betamit twice and both times they have been terrific

DH- Piedra- Derosa

Piedra was fine for me but Derosa was awful
I had better sucess with Mohr or E Perez Helms was mediocre for me but way better than Derosa

I used Tavaras with Cameron and he was terrible hit .200 .260 obp and Cameron kept getting hurt thing that gets me is I see him have good seasons for others where he plays everyday

[worrierking]

I use platoons fairly frequently, but I have not had success with teams full of platoons. I think you may have a problem or two with this team that you might look into addressing. First is the reverse pitcher issue. I like to platoon with guys who bat the same way, so that your balance does not get thrown off.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, I think you have a problem with efficiency with some of the guys you are platooning with. For instance, Kotsay is great against lefties and a large portion of his salary is based on his ability to hit them. At the same time, he is a good defender, with strong clutch and some value against righties. You pay for that, even when not using him. How much of his salary is from those things that you will not be using him for when he sits against right-handers? 30%? 40%? I'm not sure, but I know it's there. Same for Tavares. How much are you paying for his skills against the wrong side? It's not much for each player, but cumulatively it can add up to a significant amount of wasted cash.

That's why I prefer only a platoon or two and only in ways that don't have a significant impact on efficiency. For instance, I have Mark Sweeney on a couple of teams. On one, he is the DH and he platoons with Olivo, who is also my backup catcher (and who has almost no value against RH). I would need a backup catcher anyway. On another team, Sweeney platoons with Jose Hernandez at 1b. Hernandez is also a multi-purpose backup at several positions, which I would have on my team anyway (so I don't lose efficiency).

You can platoon at many different positions without paying for what you won't use players for by using guys who are extremely one-sided. For instance you could put Branyan and Bell together at third. Neither has any value for what you won't use them for (Branyan is worthless against LH and Bell is worthless against RH). This strategy is efficient, but it can leave you very vulnerable to a team with a deep bullpen that goes lefty/righty/lefty if you go overboard.

Good luck and keep us posted. Lots of people are looking for a winning strategy in 06 and perhaps mass platooning will end up being the hot trend (or maybe you'll show us what not to do :lol: . Either way we're closer to knowing!)

[hendrix08]

Here's my take.

Platoon Rule #1: The platoon must save money. The combined salary of the platoon must be less than the cost of a single player with similar production.

Example: Your Blalock/Bell platoon cost $5.27M. For $4.9M you could use Glaus who is way better than Blalock and as good as Bell. I'd replace Bell with Boone for total of $4.09M. Look at Lane/Mench @ almost $7M. You could just use Encanacion for $5M with similar production and save $2M.

Platoon Rule #2: Spend the money the RHP hitting side of the platoon.

First the RH side will get more ABs than the LH side. There are tons of cheap hitters that hit lefties very well and very few cheap hitters that hit RHP well. Eg. Kotsay is just as good as Tavares vs RHP (not in OBP though), so I'd either keep Kotsay as my full time CF or replace Kotsay with someone cheaper such as Finely or Elison.

Platoon Rule #3: Use the money saved on the platoon to upgrade other players or pitching.

This really follows rule 1. If you don't save money by platooning then you've have not gained any advantage by doing so. This is time to go for Clemens, ARod, Roberts etc. Platoons make it easier for you to afford the high priced stars.

[visick]

Not to start a big argument but with your platoon rule #2:

Kotsay brings to the table (vs. RH's): 25.2 OB chances and 30.1 TB's

whereas

Tavares (vs. RH's) has 39.4 OB chances and 40.8 TB's.

IMO the #'s don't lie. Kotsay is not as good vs. RH's as Tavares.

[Sknsfan]

Wow!

Thanks for the input guys. Now I remember why I try not to platoon. I'm not smart enough.

I'm going to take a quick look see at what's out there and maybe re-tool a couple of them, but this is a non PLayer's Championship league, and so I still am going to fight through my season to see what I get.

I'll keep updating this one over the course of the season.

[hendrix08]

What I was saying with Kotsay is that he is about as good as Tavarez. In pure OB and TB, Tavares is better. Kotsay hits into more DP, but Tavarez is -17 clutch versus Kotsay's +12. More importantly Kotsay has 3 BHR, whereas Tavares is a W, which is fairly significant since he's playing in Citizens.

I'll agree the Tavarez is definetly better at the top of the line up than Kotsay. Otherwise I have them rated about the same vs RHP at playing at Citizens.