Great rotation but

[Assmeriten]

This team plays in Shea. Lots of the lefty bats I didn't get wound up getting rigthy bats autodrafted. Got all 4 of the starting pitchers that I wanted. :shock:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=49241

[1crazycanuk]

I just think that's amazing man. lol Hey I'll trade you a couple lefty or switch hitters for Santana or RJ. :twisted:

[goredsox33]

id dump a starter or 2 and get some hitting and bullpen help

[MARCPELLETIER]

I would recommend that you go with:

3 TOP GUN (dump Oswalt)

3 cheap (and I mean cheap top: 1M) for the 4th spot, including one *SP (perhaps a lefty for your stadium)

1 top closer

3 cheap relievers

With the right settings, I think you could have 100 wins.

[1crazycanuk]

I hope he don't have 100 wins. :)

I'm not worried too much about RJ. I had a sub-.500 team beat him at least three times. I'm worried about Santana though.

I may be willing to trade one of my better hitters for Santana since I know RJ will not be on the trade market.

[Roscodog]

I had a team with a rotation of Johnson, Schmidt, Clemens, and Martinez. I thought I was on my way to an easy playoff berth, only won 85 games. Hope it works out better for you

[MARCPELLETIER]

oh! I've seen teams with 4 top notch starters playing under .500. You can easily overspent on pitching. It is actually my belief that having four top notch starters might not be the best scenario--that is why I suggest to get down to three and to drop Oswalt.

If you have a look at the teams with the best era (in the record book section), you can see that none of them needed 4 top notch starters in order to maintain exceptional era. Fatty won 99 games with Madduz as his #4 slot, another team won 103 with Marquis, and jamie won 98 games with Vazquez on the mound every four games. That being said, I've also seen one team with Oswalt as #4 finishing with 96 wins (though Oswalt finished with a 15-14 record).

In this case, RJ AND Santana in Shea is about the best ideal scenario one can imagine.

What is absolutely certain though is that I would spend on an established closer well before spending on a 4th starter. With quality pitching, there is just too many tight games, in my opinion, to rely on cheapies as Julio or Putz (I used them both with great success, but with offensive teams that made sure I had several runs in bank before using them).

Plus, given that you have to have 10 pitchers, and 5 starters, there are a whole bunch of people who won't see many action with 4 top notch starters. That's a lot of money to waste. By using a platoon at #4 spot, you at least try to get some payback to your investments.


It will be fun to see, though, how the division rivals will adjust to this.

[1crazycanuk]

I think they'll adjust to it by getting hitters that are great against lefties. :)

[MARCPELLETIER]

Just to add: everyone should have a deep look at the teams available through the record book. As yogi would put it: you observe many things just by looking a lot.

Anyone who wonders about the impact of stolen bases in a winning strategy should have a look at the teams that lead the record for stolen bases.

[J-Pav]

I agree w/ [b:ae9692e431]luckyman[/b:ae9692e431] on this topic.

This was my first 2005 team. Wouldn't dream of a chance to see three starters and a closer like this again. 7-0 in the playoffs, 0.99 ERA, 0.67 WHIP.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=1391

For a time was on pace to win like 125 games before HAL said "no." I actually ended up being the Wildcard from the same division guy (by one less win)!

However you decide to do it, good luck! A chance like this is pretty rare in 2005.

J