The resource the John listed for offense vs. defense is tremendous! Particularly in ATG where the card set spans seasons/eras and the cards aren't normalized.
http://www.mfooz.com/bblog/wp-content/uploads/offense-vs-defense.pdfThe analysis Dean put together is great, and very applicable. I've been using it for many years. I know that there are different camps in the community regarding ratings disks and breaking the game down into a giant math problem, but with any board game (or computer sim of a board game), being successful means developing a strategy that takes advantage of the rules of the game. Combining the offense/defense theory from Dean with the ratings guide is a terrific tool to get the most out of your salary cap.
If anyone wants a summarized level of Deans theory, PM me, I will be glad to share what I've learned.
FWIW, when I play C&D, I only play basic and go by actual player stats, it's a lot more fun! When I swim with the sharks in the online game, I need all of the numerical and statistical shark repellant I can put into a spreadsheet!!!