Auto League 346589

How about a link to the league?

How about a link to the league?

Here ya go Big M, it's defintely a different team for me as you'll see.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/league/346589

Well, you can get an idea of our start by looking at this:

Your Current Injuries
Trout, Mike, through Game 13
Wright, David, through Game 15

Recently Off the Injured List
Marte, Starling, healthy for Game 7
Hill, Aaron, healthy for Game 10
Castro, Jason, healthy for Game 10



We're lucky to by 5-7 at this point.

Yeah, I'm the guy with the 4 at SS (platoon actually) :}

I love to break rules, apparently hehe

ACTUALLY, I disagree with "the secret formula" posted every year...the math doesn't necessarily back it up...to me, it's all about VALUE...finding cards that fit your particular park, team and style of play, and are therefore "underpriced"...I also don't have much of a bullpen, as I still haven't figured out HAL in that regard...I put my money on the field -- in the starting nine and the 4-5 man starting pitching staff (and then set "relief" for "conservative")...

I love the idea of different styles competing...as far as the 4 at SS (he hasn't seemed to have been a handicap in the real world for Oakland, BTW), it's based on this thinking: the game (a dice game really) is 50% hitter (1-2-3 rolls) and 50% pitcher (4-5-6 rolls)...X rolls are actually a subset of the pitcher's card...what I'm experimenting with is "is defense worth as much as Strat thinks?"...so I got the cheap SS with the brick glove but a sweet bat for .87 and put the money I saved straight into starting pitching...so my pitchers may get hosed by Lowrie now and then, but they have better cards than they otherwise would if I was paying 7 mil for a SS...so it's basically a wash...

Maybe it's because I grew up watching Hal Lanier and Johnny LeMaster as a young Giants fan...a couple of automatic outs, indeed :}

On offense, for me it's about 1) fitting the park; and 2) turning the lineup over. So I like to have a strong nine, particularly OBP at the 8-9...no automatic outs for me...I want those 8-9 hitters, instead of being automatic outs, to turn the lineup over for the sluggers...and it's all the better if there's runners on when my lineup turns over, giving the studs more RBI ops (and more at-bats over the course of a season)...

I know I've got the oddest looking team out there, but we'll do okay...might not win anything against such sterling competition...but in 18 leagues with this set I've hit the playoffs 12 times and have four titles...so we'll keep showing up and giving it our best shot :}

I love that all of us employ different strategies, it makes the game much more interesting. And you never know what Hal will do for you...lol. I have a L slugging team and Citizens thats 30 games over 500, a R slugging team at rogers thats 15 games under 500, and this pitching team thats holding its own so far. Loving it.

It looks like an interesting season, at least in our division, so far. Haven't really looked at the rest of the league so far, and maybe that's a good thing, judging from last night's results. I felt pretty mediocre in my own division, waiting for Joe's injuries to let up and him catch up and move past me. I'm a little disappointed by my hitting so far, and pleasantly surprised by my pitching, but it's early, and we'll see what happens when everything evens out. I still like my team, so far.

Yeah, super early. Injuries will happen, just put us off to a slow start. Hopefully they'll settle down!

Playing a 4 at SS isn't a very good idea. At least he's only an e14, but you're adding 13 points to the opponent BA on your pitcher's card (vis-a-vis playing a 2). Mathematically it's not a great idea. That said, if he hits *enough* you can over come that. Hence the need for ratings that evaluate the math of the D versus the extra hitting.

By my ratings Lowrie is the 22nd best SS v RHp (not taking injuries into account). That's in the average park. He's slightly behind Quintanilla, but slightly ahead of the no bat/good glove Ryan. At home he's going to be better than that (closer to 15), but on the road, in a pitcher's park or a non-LH park he's going to drop. A better bargain guy might be Pennington or E Cabrera.

You can't look at just the bat of your 7 mil SS versus Lowrie, but the whole package of what it does to your team makeup. Your pitching might be the same, but you might have a cheap DH instead, for example, you might choose to play LOWRIE at DH and have someone who can actually pick the ball up at SS!

You're right in saying it's all tradeoffs, but I'm pretty sure you're underestimating the value of a glove at SS and also, the logic behind TSF.

You're going to hit, that's for sure (at least when you have your guys on the field) and in this league with all the hitter's parks, that might work. Whether you can hold leads in the late innings will depend on how well Hal matches up your pen to the hitters they are facing. You also have a TON of injury guys and only 2 players on your entire roster that have a max 3 game injury. You'll have to be fortunate in that regard also I would think becase your bench isn't especially deep and is also injury prone. For example, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lowrie and Furcal out at the same time and then you'll have Hal picking a SS for you. Interestingly enough, you spent more than the average on pitching. You were able to do this by taking a bunch of injury prone hitters.

Time will tell.

I've been lectured many times (every time, really) about my cheap middle infielders. And yet they keep winning. Lucky, I guess. I currently have a Lowrie/Furcal platoon in two other leagues. One team (2012 UDSLB) is 86-67 (1st) and the other (346436) is 44-25 (1st). I'm intentionally going against the "secret formula" to demonstrate that there are indeed a multitude of ways to assemble a winning team. That's my last word on the matter.

As to injuries, my theory is that having multiple injury-prone players allows me to invest in a couple of more expensive bench players. Again, to me it's about value. So basically I have 11 pretty good hitters, and I try and go three deep at the injury positions (in this case DH, 1st and 3B).

Again, we'll keep showing up...:}

So far, Bomp, you've been showing up pretty well.

I've been lectured many times (every time, really) about my cheap middle infielders. And yet they keep winning. Lucky, I guess. I currently have a Lowrie/Furcal platoon in two other leagues. One team (2012 UDSLB) is 86-67 (1st) and the other (346436) is 44-25 (1st). I'm intentionally going against the "secret formula" to demonstrate that there are indeed a multitude of ways to assemble a winning team. That's my last word on the matter.

As to injuries, my theory is that having multiple injury-prone players allows me to invest in a couple of more expensive bench players. Again, to me it's about value. So basically I have 11 pretty good hitters, and I try and go three deep at the injury positions (in this case DH, 1st and 3B).

Again, we'll keep showing up...:}

Fielding is, indeed, the most variable part of the equation. When you get your erros and hits, and what kind of impact they will have is very variable. Is it mathematically smart to play a 4 at SS? Well, as you point out, it depends on what else you have to go with it and whther the O can overcome the lack of D. In your case, you have spent more on SPs to over come your lousy D. That'll help some. You should score runs so if you win a lot of games by big margins and then lose the close ones you'll not perform well. So far you've been lucky to be 3 over with a -2 run differential. You probably have been more healthy than expected too. Your team is VERY injury prone and should probably play very few games with everyone available. Given that your bench isn't all that great (with the exception of Beltran) you'll have to get lucky with injuries. Your O agains LHP is up and down so it will rely on the top 5 carrying the bottom 3-4. You have more injury positions than you state, C, 1b, 3b, ss, RF, DH are all 3 or greater and LF and CF are both subject too 15 game injuries. Kipnis and Beltran are teh only players with any kind of injury security. In addition, your "deep bench" is also injury prone.

In short, you'll have to have good timing from you D and your O and your injuries. Can you win with that team? Sure, is it going to be a mathematically consistent team? Nope. Way too many variables in play.

Is the TSF the only way? Certainly not. First of all, it's only a compilation from one guy's leagues. Secondly it only rates the teams that win the finals. The playoffs are a complete crap shoot and frequently the team with best record (and probably the best team) doesn't win in the playoffs. So, you're right in that there are many ways, it doesn't mean that the TSF doesn't have some good ideas and guidelines. I sure hope TSF isn't the only way because my team also varies significantly from it!