The Secret Formula: Theory in Action: Update - CHAMPS!

I agree, it's all about the settings in that situation.

My take is that you should pay more for the innings and not the situational aspect of the innings. If Verlander pitches six and Fien pitches two, then the cheapo guy can come in and finish the 9th. To me this is ideal. As an added bonus, I've found the set-up guy to stay in for an out or two in the 9th (or even close it out) while the cheapo guy gets one batter to the strong side for the last out. These are all good outcomes to me.

In a face to face game, I would probably want the big closer, which is why in the STAR Tournaments there is a very large premium on the big C6. But it's different when you personally control the "game engine" in that situation. You can bring the big gun in for the one big out, where HAL might not do things the same way in SOM Online. In our world, I just want to pay for overall innings pitched.

Context is everything though. If you have high dollar S6 starters going deep into the game, then maybe all you need is the last six outs. That guy might go with a big C6 and four cheapy spot relievers and be successful.

Just finished up a couple of strikeout pitcher teams and I'm not sure I saw any edge to trying this. A better option might have been the stud *SPs, but $7-9 mil starters aren't much of a hidden strategery.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1114690

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1114445

I thought I read somewhere where somebody had some luck with this...

I have had more success with lesser starters and a good hitting team generally in a more or less pitchers park--good long reliving with a so-so closers. I am making the playoffs about 1/3 of the time, but mostly with these types of teams.

The first team in the list is closer to a traditional 30/50 team in a 100m version, but even most of my near miss 82-86 win teams are more like the bottom two teams.

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1113144

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1112608

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1110342

I like to see my teams closer to 650 runs allowed, rather than 750. You can off-set that some with more offense, but there's no reason not to keep the runs allowed down a bit more. I was hoping to see the strikeouts (esp 1600+ strikeouts) have more of an impact than they actually did. That's a lot of balls not put in play, and you'd think the results of that would be a little more tangible.

One more way not to build a maybe?

Gotta ask... What's your fascination with Bud Norris He's on A LOT of your squads...

Just value for the dollar. I also like Leblanc, Nolasco, Floyd, Iwakuma, etc, etc as well. It depends on the opposing lineups some, too. When you can spot start guys like Drabek and Straily, even better. Even though a lot of my teams aren't fully up to The Secret Formula specs, I still put full emphasis on the low dollar guys.

I think I've written something like this before, but tangotiger (the By The Book guy) writes that a perfect lineup is nine equally capable hitters, not a couple of superstars mixed in among a bunch of "role players". Using this type of balance, imagine your team with nine $5 mil batters (once in a while you can actually do this and it often works out pretty well). Now account for the at bats, and the SOM Online lineup starts to look more 6-6-6, 5-5-5, 4-4-4. Now account for the salaries of players available, and very often you end up with 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (TSF!)

The pitching works out the same way, only you have to account for how you spend your dollars on the total innings pitched. You can't spend $3 mil on 10 guys each, because the 8-9-10 reliever guys might only pitch 10-30 innings while the 1-2-3 starters get over 200 innings each. Ideally you might go with five $4 mil SPs (or four $5 mil *SPs). But one thing I try and account for is that in pitching, you pretty much get what you pay for, so the more you pay the more you benefit (up to a point). So my TSF model looks more like $6-5-4 for three solid starters, and then depending on what I have left over after everything else is accounted for, I might only have two bucks left for the 4th and 5th starters. That's how I end up with Bud Norris.

One last thing to consider: if you're going for rings, you also need to be aware of how your starting pitchers will be used in the playoffs. In two seven-game series (with two rest days in between) you have SP1 - SP2 - SP3 - SP4 - SP5 - SP1 - SP2 for the first series, and now you just lost a start for your second best pitcher for the Finals. Having a higher dollar #1 starter helps here, because he really needs to win both starts. However, most series don't go the full seven games, so then the dollar value of the second best starter is equally important, because now he'll start twice in each series. The next priority becomes the third starter, because if you split the first four games, you really really need to win game five and get the last game or two over to your top guys.

There really is something to all this salary construction stuff!

Just wanted to say thanks to all for this amazing post and ongoing thread. Makes for great, smart, entertaining reading, as it does every year!

tws

You're welcome.

What TWS said!!! Great, fascinating stuff. Thanks, as always.