Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:42 pm
I agree with Druid's request for updated pricing. At the very least, just from a supply-and-demand standpoint, the addition of 200 new cards (roughly a 5% increase in the player pool) should affect pricing. More importantly, given some of the player usage trends, it is apparent that some cards are significantly underpriced (and thus disproportionately used in $80M/ $100M), while others are overpriced and rarely used outside of theme leagues. Otherwise, why is John Tamargo used more than, say, Carlton Fisk or Roy Campanella at $80M? Or Kirby Higbe compared to Robin Roberts and Early Wynn? In any event, some teasers would be appreciated.
As far as the super-reliever strategy, I'd like to see some type of correction (and not merely a price increase, though that would likely be the simplest to implement). While a 110% innings limit (as someone suggested) seems a bit narrow, I'd be happy with a 140% or 150% usage cap. The real-life record for relief innings in a season is 208, yet the likes of Dale Murray often exceed that by 50%. (And in his case, it's based on a season where he was only in the majors for half the year!) To me, that's more egregious than the Milt May example, because hitters are still constrained by normal usage pattern. Getting 300 innings out of Murray would be like getting 1,000 plate appearances in a season from Gates Brown-- completely beyond any player's normal usage, and based on a partial season that is unrepresentative of their career as a whole.
As far as the new cards go, my guess is that most will be from active and recently-active players. I'd like to see some more options on some of the older team rosters-- particularly for use in franchise and era theme leagues. Of course, from a marketing standpoint, I could see why a Justin Verlander card might be more exciting than an upgraded Rabbit Maranville...
