The Big Post for 2016

No offense, but isn't that when you have to go with a different strategy.

No offense taken; I should have done a better job clarifying that statement. What I was specifically referring to was strategies based on extreme ballparks such as Camden Yards. The strategy was extreme lefty power hitters and LH starting pitchers. My draft list included Chris Davis, Ortiz, Cargo, Price, Sale, etc. However, the draft only netted me Ortiz and Price. At that point I was unable to change the basic strategy because I was committed to Camden Yards. I had to scramble to acquire lesser players who still fit the ballpark.

That particular strategy didn't work out for me in that league. But I think it was more to with the players I had than the actual strategy itself. Had I done a better job ranking my players I may have found more success. I tried the strategy again in a different league and had much more success drafting players. That team ended up making it to game 7 of the finals.

And that's the point I was attempting to make when I wrote the comment I did.

I had to scramble to acquire lesser players who still fit the ballpark.

Is the ballpark tendency enough to sway you from the better players? I think this is what Jeep's asking...why take a C player who has some lefty power when you could take an A-B quality righty doubles hitter or a high batting average/strong defender?

Is the ballpark tendency enough to sway you from the better players?

Yes and no. In Camden Yards I may choose a player like Adam Lind over Ed E even though Lind is clearly the inferior player. In a park that favors LH hitters I feel like I get a better bang for my buck from Lind. I also look at which parks the other teams in my division are using. If they favor RH over LH I am less inclined to have as much of a LH bias.

I tend to be swayed even more when it comes to pitching. Staying with the Camden Yards example, I'd be much more inclined to take Jose Quintana over a pitcher like Corey Kluber. Kluber is a better pitcher but, like Adam Lind, I feel that Quintana provides more value in this particular park.

That being said- there are certain players that I will use in any ballpark, regardless of their dexterity. Players with high OBP, doubles, and/or strong defense are always my preference. Extreme ballpark ratings are a useful tool in finding value to supplement a core group of stud players.

Thank you for clarifying Jeep's question. After writing this response I have a better understanding of what he was getting at. Instead of sticking with the original strategy of LH power bats I may have been better off changing course and picking up doubles hitters with higher OBP. I guess at the time I was so set on a particular strategy that I lost the forest through trees.

I appreciate both questions that were posed in regards to my post. They helped me rethink some decisions I've made and opened up new solutions that will undoubtedly improve my future roster construction.

What do you guys think of the player pricing this year as compared to other years? Do you understand how it's done and what goes into it?

I became more aware of how that all works when I was fortunate to find myself in a league with our SOM pricing guy, Mark (childsmwc, or bbrool to you Old Guarders).

Just curious as to what others thought about it and what the opinions were...

What do you guys think of the player pricing this year as compared to other years? Do you understand how it's done and what goes into it?

Never understood it and probably never will--that's why some of the prominent managers dominate.

I mean the pricing is obvious in league leaders, but I'll never figure out why a guy like Choo is higher priced than Betts.

1 Fielders seem overpriced--especially infielders--since super-advanced rules were implemented--Double-plays off the fielding charts are a good bit down for 1 fielders so the premium seems steep to me.

Pricing seemed different to me this season than the last three seasons (my time online)--3m to 5M starting pitchers were uniformly overpriced to me.

If you couldn't get a +6M * Starter might as well go cheap in 2015 and try to outhit the other guy. I couldn't draft an expensive starter at all until one recent team that is still early--missed them all the time and always fell to that dreaded high 4M, low 5M guy that wasn't worth the money.

Never understood it and probably never will--that's why some of the prominent managers dominate.

I don't think there's necessarily an edge in understanding precisely how the salaries are built. You don't need to be a mechanic to drive the car. In fact, my own understanding was so far from reality that it was actually sort of funny when I learned what actually goes into it.

My rudimentary mental picture was something to the effect of RC27 per card. I figured that if a $5 guy and an $8 guy had a similar RC27, there was value in choosing the $5 guy. (You can substitute Runs Produced or WAR or whatever for RC27). There is some merit to that kind of crude method, and I have actually done okay not knowing one bit of the actual player pricing model. The goal is finding "value", and there are more ways to do that than there is room to print about doing it.

Great take on the pitching. I'm curious for more opinions about the player pricing and the unique "personalities" of individual card sets...

Just to throw out an FYI, SOM reserves the right to have the final say in a player's price. So once Mark submits the salaries, SOM can make it's own changes, randomly disrupting the the factors which go into the "model".

Value is created and/or destroyed without rhyme or reason.

So while we don't always understand the salaries, sometimes the guy who submits the salaries doesn't understand the salaries!

To me, it seemed right from the beginning earlier this season that the pricetag of the top 4-5 players and pitchers in this year's set had been lowered artificially---that is, not in line with the salary structure of players in the 7M-9M range (or pitchers in the 6M-8M range). They seemed to me below their real value, but this was obvious in particular for Harper, Arrieta, and Grienke.

And I take it as a proof of my initial perception the way SOM set the prices for those three players in ATG.

Folks who don't follow ATG should know that Harper, Arrieta and Grienke were introduced earlier this year in the ATG set. Since the ATG holds only the best all-time players, and since a roster of 80M is also the default in ATG, SOM must modify the pricing structure and downgrade the salary of players introduced in ATG from 20XX. In short, players in the 10M market in the 20XX are typically setback by 1.5M-2M in ATG. Trout's 2013 card is priced 10,51M not 12.25M, McClutchen's 2013 is priced 8.75 in ATG not 10.58. Donaldson's ATG salary was lowered by more than 2M from the 2015 pricetag.

In contrast, Harper's salary was reduced by less than 1M. Arrieta's price was set almost identifically and Greinke's salary was even raised.

I can't say why I know, but SOM has a committee who reviews and finalizes the Salaries for a new set. There is a lot of 'human' intervention that goes on. They do an OK job. It's up to us managers to bob and weave as we go along and recognize those overpriced vs. underpriced guys and take advantage.

To me, it seemed right from the beginning earlier this season that the pricetag of the top 4-5 players and pitchers in this year's set had been lowered artificially---that is, not in line with the salary structure of players in the 7M-9M range (or pitchers in the 6M-8M range). They seemed to me below their real value, but this was obvious in particular for Harper, Arrieta, and Grienke.

And I take it as a proof of my initial perception the way SOM set the prices for those three players in ATG.

Folks who don't follow ATG should know that Harper, Arrieta and Grienke were introduced earlier this year in the ATG set. Since the ATG holds only the best all-time players, and since a roster of 80M is also the default in ATG, SOM must modify the pricing structure and downgrade the salary of players introduced in ATG from 20XX. In short, players in the 10M market in the 20XX are typically setback by 1.5M-2M in ATG. Trout's 2013 card is priced 10,51M not 12.25M, McClutchen's 2013 is priced 8.75 in ATG not 10.58. Donaldson's ATG salary was lowered by more than 2M from the 2015 pricetag.

In contrast, Harper's salary was reduced by less than 1M. Arrieta's price was set almost identifically and Greinke's salary was even raised.

That was new to me (I don't do ATG but VERY rarely). Thanks for the info, good idea to look at that side once in a while.

IMHO, it shows even more the strategy of the high priced * SP cards being the best value.