Who leads off? 1st attempt at US Cellular

[Minoso Express]

This is my third 2006 team and the others, still in progress, are in pitching parks.

Picked up Beltre in favor of Mueller. Hillebrand and Blalock are still out there.

The others parks in my division are another US Cellular, Coors and Busch.

The weird thing about my division vs. the rest of the league is that I will face a total of five lefties in my division-- 4 starters and 2 relievers. That's less than 10%. But the rest of the league, particularly in one division, is 35% lefties. One of the divisions has two teams that seem to have virtually all lefty SPs. (A Shea and a SAFECO.)

So I guess my other question is, will my team hold up against this kind of makeup?

Any insights muchly appreciated.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2006/team/team_other.html?user_id=7050

[MICHAELTARBELL]

Without question, Brian Giles leads off.... :wink:

Team looks pretty solid :)

[LARRYLANG]

I don't really like Giles as a lead off guy...I prefer to have him down a little in the lineup...As a leadoff guy he'll hit alot of 1 run hrs instead of 3 run Hr's..........However, with this team I agree with mtrbell...You have plenty of power guys behind him and he will definately be on base ALOT more than Beltran who I'm sure is the other option you are considering....Go with Giles for sure :D

[JdEarly]

Saying Giles will hit a lot of solo homers from the lead off spot when they would be three run shots further down the order is like saying the same about Adam Everett. Brian Giles does have a little bit of pop, sure, but it's not like you're sticking Abreu in the leadoff spot and losing out on his numbers. Giles will get on base with walks, he'll hit some doubles to give you an immediate runner in scoring position, and he's pretty equal against lefties and righties. Great choice to lead off, in any park.

[Minoso Express]

Thanks, guys. Giles was a last-minute pickup from the FA wire, happily. I had the OTHER Giles in the lineup; hence, the question, as I was in a quandary. So I picked up Brian, dumped Marcus and will cross my fingers with Chase Utley playing 2B. :)

[NFLed1]

US Cell is my specialty. The lineup looks great and Giles at leadoff is ideal. The starting pitching is ideal also except that Loaiza gives up too many ballpark homers against righties -- a whopping 4/216 -- so I would try to find another; with most of the other parks in the division being homerun parks Loaiza won't be appropriate for most situations.

[Minoso Express]

Yeah, the Loaiza situation worries me. I have about 2.1M to play with now if I dump him, otherwise I'm forced to overhaul the pitching staff. Is there any starter out there at that price, preferably with a *, that you would recommend?

Thanks for the heads up!

[MARCPELLETIER]

I usually always back-up nfled, but this time I have to disagree.

Loazia has no homerun vs lhp. So on average he has like 2 BP hr/216 ab, which is a good ratio at this price level. Without even considering the 20% penalty, I don't see a fitter pitcher for USCell among *SP in that price level except perhaps Lackey.

If I were you, I would give Loazia his start every four days, and I would hurry up and put Vargas in the long-relief (that is, I would select "don't come before the 6th" to all my relievers except Vargas, and perhaps Boyer, so that Vargas gets the ball if your starter takes an early shower. Vargas is the best bet to give your offense a better chance to come back and win the game. Looking at your 17-3 loss, Madison and Murton are currently the relievers picked by Hal for the long relief, and I doubt they will succed in giving you an extra chance to win.

[Minoso Express]

Thank you for that, Marcus. I could not figure out why Madson/Munter were HAL's go to guys and I was trying out different settings to avoid this. I have not put Vargas in the rotation, so I don't know why HAL hasn't used him. I will try these settings and see what happens. Since I already have Lackey, I suppose I can't do better than having Loaiza.

[NFLed1]

2 BP HR on average is somewhat too much for my tastes in US Cell. I haven't looked at the situation in detail -- and detail is what is important -- but unless there is no-one else available and/or unless the season has begun and there is the 20% penalty I'd go for someone else. Lackey is perfect for US Cell as he has no BP HR on his card and for his somewhat modest salary his on base given up is not too bad. If Loaiza is the best available then he's not at all terrible.