Thoughts on this team? (87 games in, hovering around .500)

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/806079

I had a horrible auto draft with this league, and I really had to change things up. Thoughts on if this team has a chance at the playoffs?
I'm not feeling too happy about it, because of the low OBP and the slumping SP

I wouldn't sweat your position right now. I don't if you can do anything now, but I think planning for the next time is helpful, too. Your division has a lot of HR friendly stadiums, so I would be loading on bpHRs in my lineup. You might want one or two non-HR hitters at the top of the lineup to get on base, but no more than that.

You don't have a lot of team speed, so that hurts you somewhat (only attempting to advance a base 42% of the time). However, if you build a real power hitting team, they should be doing a lot of jogging around the bases.

C: Jesus Montero behind the dish is really struggling, giving up a lot of steals and committing a lot of errors. While he has 8 bpHRs vs. righties, he has 0 bpHRs vs. lefties, so not really an ideal fit. He should be relegated to a DH role, though I'm not sure I'd even keep him for that since there are other Cs and DHs with more bpHRs.

1B: Goldschmidt is a good value at 1B. I like him.

2B: Espinosa only has 5/3 (L/R) bpHRs. Not great for the ballpark, and he isn't an OBP guy at all.

3B: Beltre is great and a perfect fit.

SS: Ramirez is the same but worse as Espinosa's story. I would have gone for at least one "1" defensively at either 2B or SS, particularly if they won't be a big part of the offense.

LF: Lillibridge is adequate (8/3), but Joyce was better (except that you would be playing Joyce out of position in LF). I don't really like that the team seems to have more BAL L guys than BAL R, though you do seem to be facing a greater % of lefties than normal. Maybe that's fine then.

CF: Ellsbury is solid. Would probably prefer Kemp in CF to maximize bpHRs, but Jacoby is very reliable as your team's superstar. However, your lineup is definitely missing some major pop for the left side. Ellsbury and Espinosa are not enough, especially when bpHRs are practically automatic HRs from the left side in Yankee Stadium.

RF: Just like Beltre, Upton is a very good choice.

DH: Hairston is a great cheap solution at DH. Again, a cheap lefty solution would work well here, too.


As for pitching, the staff looks pretty reliable, though it could be a bit better if you could really limit the bpHRs on the starters. I might have also considered getting a second lefty instead of Lindstrom. It should make Rzepczynski's role as a lefty specialist even more effective.

Hang in there!

I agree that a couple more high BP guys would have helped out quite a bit. It's not a bad team and it seems like you are still in the playoff race. Your team as it's currently built would probably have a better record in a different home park.

Do you have a designated closer? I would choose Sanchez.
Espinosa is a stiff. Good defense but his bat is a killer. He is no Neal Walker
Lillibridge underperforms, but I would stick with him.

I wouldn't sweat your position right now. I don't if you can do anything now, but I think planning for the next time is helpful, too. Your division has a lot of HR friendly stadiums, so I would be loading on bpHRs in my lineup. You might want one or two non-HR hitters at the top of the lineup to get on base, but no more than that.

You don't have a lot of team speed, so that hurts you somewhat (only attempting to advance a base 42% of the time). However, if you build a real power hitting team, they should be doing a lot of jogging around the bases.

C: Jesus Montero behind the dish is really struggling, giving up a lot of steals and committing a lot of errors. While he has 8 bpHRs vs. righties, he has 0 bpHRs vs. lefties, so not really an ideal fit. He should be relegated to a DH role, though I'm not sure I'd even keep him for that since there are other Cs and DHs with more bpHRs.

1B: Goldschmidt is a good value at 1B. I like him.

2B: Espinosa only has 5/3 (L/R) bpHRs. Not great for the ballpark, and he isn't an OBP guy at all.

3B: Beltre is great and a perfect fit.

SS: Ramirez is the same but worse as Espinosa's story. I would have gone for at least one "1" defensively at either 2B or SS, particularly if they won't be a big part of the offense.

LF: Lillibridge is adequate (8/3), but Joyce was better (except that you would be playing Joyce out of position in LF). I don't really like that the team seems to have more BAL L guys than BAL R, though you do seem to be facing a greater % of lefties than normal. Maybe that's fine then.

CF: Ellsbury is solid. Would probably prefer Kemp in CF to maximize bpHRs, but Jacoby is very reliable as your team's superstar. However, your lineup is definitely missing some major pop for the left side. Ellsbury and Espinosa are not enough, especially when bpHRs are practically automatic HRs from the left side in Yankee Stadium.

RF: Just like Beltre, Upton is a very good choice.

DH: Hairston is a great cheap solution at DH. Again, a cheap lefty solution would work well here, too.


As for pitching, the staff looks pretty reliable, though it could be a bit better if you could really limit the bpHRs on the starters. I might have also considered getting a second lefty instead of Lindstrom. It should make Rzepczynski's role as a lefty specialist even more effective.

Hang in there!

C: I had a really tough time picking between Avila and Montero, but eventually went with Montero (and a bullpen upgrade), for the OBP that Montero has. I knew whoever I picked would be the wrong choice.
2B-SS: I thought Alexei-Espinosa would be really solid as a defensive pair and also get solid power numbers, but I was wrong. I also like their low injuries, but R. Tejada and Carrol and guys like that were available, so I should have gone with one of those guys.
LF: Joyce was awful, I needed to get rid of him

I'm pretty happy with my pitching, but Kennedy in particular has been blown up recently.

Do you have a designated closer? I would choose Sanchez.
Espinosa is a stiff. Good defense but his bat is a killer. He is no Neal Walker
Lillibridge underperforms, but I would stick with him.

I've had a lot of success with Walden in some leagues, so he is my closer and he's done a fine job. Sanchez does everything else.
Walker is available, and probably would have been a better choice.

I agree that a couple more high BP guys would have helped out quite a bit. It's not a bad team and it seems like you are still in the playoff race. Your team as it's currently built would probably have a better record in a different home park.

My team is actually 26-19 at home, and 19-23 on the road

i think your team is kind of where it should be. if hudson was overachieving instead of underachieving, you would be good to go. the guys who have decent obp's are decent obp guys and the guys that don't are just that type of player. you are getting good pop from a few guys. a team like that will just never be great but with a little luck you can make the postseason and with a lot of luck win it all. with that type of team who doesn't get on base that well, it's tough to be real good on the road. i think your team is fine for your park and would be worse in most other parks.