2010 WISC Team Building Process (38 owners posted) - Page 5 - WIS Championship

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$120M - Power/Speed (Shots on Me 3-2)

     `I never play in high cap leagues so I saved this team and the 140M teams for last and I hope this isn't where my tournament falls apart. I don't typically play them because it doesn't feel like there's a strategy involved because every team has stacked lineups and pitching staffs. It seems to lend itself to luck and sparky being kind moreso than anything I did.
     As fate would have it I was out of town when the deadline approached to get this team in so I used my girlfriends phone to select guys in 20 minutes with the idea of entering the team and when I got home pulling them back out and entering the team I wanted. Oops, it didn't happen. So I'm stuck with these guys.
     I chose a few guys on purpose in Klein, Bonds, and Mays but the rest with spur of the moment selections without any research. Klein is a beast but a terrible OF so I couldn't pass on him as a DH. I've won the sim triple crown with him 2 or 3 times so I know he will perform. Can't say I know if the rest will do anything.
     For the pitching I knew I wanted to use Roger, Pedro, and RJ as guys who give up HRs but typically have great seasons anyway. The bullpen I again stuck with Eck, Meredith, and Jackson but at 120M it's likely their effectiveness will be curtailed. Early on it looks like this team will be hard to follow at times, I just hope they float around .500 and my division lets me hang around.

$140 M - Across the Decades (Pray for Rain 5-3)

     As stated previously I don't play high cap leagues so my strategy wasn't very consistent. Offensively I chose guys who were solid on D, had high OBP and could steal so as to swipe a few extra runs with everyone having a staff of aces. I again went with Klein and surrendered to his Defensive lapses which will cost me 5-6 runs a week. I'm a huge Giants fan so I went with Mays even though I personally haven't had a lot of success with him so that might end up being a dumb decision.
     When it came to the pitching staff I consulted MLB Networks Prime 9's top 10 pitching seasons. Walter Johnson, Pedro, Bob Gibson, and Greg Maddux were 4 of the top 5 seasons and just happened to be in different decades so it worked out. The bullpen was pretty much using what years I had left to use.

So here's hoping my 70M-100M teams perform well and my high cap teams stay afloat and get me into the top 24.

8/7/2010 6:58 PM

schwarze

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Well, jdh... as of today, your total W-L record is 37-14 (including 4-2 in the 120M theme). Nice job!

8/7/2010 7:50 PM

footballmm11

Posts: 4129 (7)

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Veteran

$70M - Going Going Caught

Put the team in AT&T Park so I could ignore the HR aspect and focus on the other things for both hitting and pitching. I started with my 5 150+ IP starters and decided to go with 3 studs and 2 good-but-not-great guys to put in the bullpen. I always try to go with the smallest rotation possible and put the other "starters" at Long A. I ended up with 95 Nomo, 90 Nolan Ryan, and 85 Sid Fernandez. My other two "starters" are 83 Berenguer and 08 Marcum. I got Carlos Marmol and Mitch Williams to anchor my bullpen. Again, I ignored the HR aspect and focused on the rest.

Offensively, I have 4 starters under $3M (C 96 Kendall, RF 99 Kotsay, LF 82 Gene Richards, and SS 91 Spike Owen). My two best hitters are 81 Hargrove and 81 Brett, with 94 Bip Roberts and 83 Brett Butler at the top of the lineup. My biggest HR hitter is Kotsay with 8 HRs in 495 ABs.

Conclusion: No idea how to win low-cap leagues. I should however, league the lead in fewest HRs hit and fewest HRs allowed.

Prediction: 81-81

***
1st Half Update
44-37
DIV: 3rd, 2 GB
WC: 2nd, 1 GB

What I meant to say: This team will fight fatigue but will be in position to make the playoffs.

On offense, Hargrove has been a disappointment mostly due to his paltry .339 SLG. Butler's .336 OBP has also been a bit disappointing. Of my 4 below-$3m starters, Kendall has been a pleasant surprise, and the other 3 have held their own. We rank 4th in runs, thanks to a solid OBP and a league-leading 53 triples.

We are below average in pitching (16th in runs allowed), and mostly our 390 BBs are to blame. The staff has been battling fatigue with my starters mostly starting at below 100%. Nomo has been good, Ryan has been above average, and Sid Fernandez has struggled. The other two "starters", Berenguer and Marcum, have been good out of the pen. Mitch Williams has been a walk machine (51 in 56 IP) and Marmol has had his ups and downs, but they have been adequate.

Let's hope this team can keep it together and somehow escape from a tough division (all above .500 and within 3 games of each other).
***

$80M - A-MAYS-ing, CY-onara!
Cy Williams (22, 23, 27) and Carl Mays (21, 24-27)

I started with Cy Williams and decided to build a HR team. I ended up slightly disappointed because the best park I could find that one of my clones played in was Redlands Field, which was just +1 for HR. However, I like the team.

I started with 23 and 27 Cy Williams, with their great HR# numbers, and then grabbed the 22 year who had a lot of PA, good OBP, and solid defense. All of my starters have 25+ HRs and 5+ HR/100AB#, except for my leadoff hitter 49 Eddie Joost, and he's at 23 and 4. Hank Greenberg slots in between the 3 Cys and 71 Earl Williams, 80 Bob Horner, and 38 Joe Gordon round out the bottom of the order.

After choosing Cy, I had to find a pitcher with 3+ seasons of low HR numbers. Not being able to dip into the deadball pool, I found Carl Mays and went with him. What was great about him was he had 3 high quality SP years (21, 24, and 26) but also 2 very good relief years in between (25 and 27). In fact, he gave up 0 HRs in his 25 year, which makes those 55 innings all the more valuable to this team. I filled out my bullpen with similar relievers.

Conclusion: Happy with how this team turned out. Hope to lead the league in HR differential.

Prediction: 88-74

***
1st Half Update
53-25
DIV: 1st, 9 games ahead

What I meant to say: This team will dominate teams by crushing home runs and keeping the opponents hitters in the park. Cy Williams and Carl Mays are a perfect complement.

On offense, we are 50 runs clear of the field. Our 189 HRs are over 100 ahead of every team except one other at 130. The average OBP is easily being offset by the sheer power. The entire starting lineup has reached double digits in HRs, with the 3 Cy's combining for 81 (that's 1 per game). 23 Cy has been an absolute moster, with a .404 OBP, .806 SLG, 41 HRs, and 91 RBIs. Hank Greenberg has rebounded from a slow start and the rest of the lineup has supported the big 4 well.

7th in runs allowed thanks to the pitching staff's unbelievable knack for keeping the ball in the park, just 17 HRs allowed, less than half the next best team. My most expensive Mays, 1921, has actually been a bit of a disappointment. He has allowed 11 of our 17 HRs and despite strong OAV and OBP against, his ERA is 4.74. However, my other 4 Mays (2 SP, 2 RP) have allowed a comined 3 HRs and all have an ERA below 2.80.

Hoping this team coasts to the finish line. Really need a WS appearance out of this squad.
***

$90M - 65 3eeing Red
1965 Cincinnati Reds (+ Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, and Hoyt Wilhelm)

The smaller the player pool, the better I tend to do. I have to do well in the $90M and $100M leagues to have a shot. I struggled to find a good team this year after I quickly found and loved the 77 Mets last season.

Eventually, I came across the 65 Reds and they were easily the best team I found. I'm always looking first for top-tier talent, second for enough coverage of the rest of the roster, and third for free agent fit.

The top-tier talent was there with Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson, and Pete Rose enjoying productive seasons plus Jim Maloney on the mound. Second, they had solid players around the diamond, as well as Sammy Ellis and productive RPs. Finally, 1965 had an oustanding Sandy Koufax year ($14M). I finally settled on Willie Mays to replace mediocre OF Tommy Harper and Hoyt Wilhelm to be my stopper. I also considered Juan Marichal, but opted for the stud OF and closer.

Conclusion: If this team does not do well, I'll be very surprised. The top half of my lineup should score a lot of runs and Koufax/Maloney/Wilhelm should be good enough to win a lot of games.

Prediction: 95-67

***
1st Half Update
45-36
DIV: 1st, 1 game ahead

What I meant to say: This team will be extremely streaky and drive me crazy.

Offensively, we've been very good, a close 2nd in runs scored and well ahead of the rest of the league. We lead the league in AVG, OBP, SLG, HR, and 2B. Mays has carried the offense with his .322/.411/.566 line which includes 20 HR. The rest of the lineup has ranged from good to great, with part-timer Tony Perez the lone exception.

Right around average in run prevention, it just hasn't been what I thought. Koufax has been outstanding and should win the Cy Young. Wilhelm has been very good, and we can utilize him more heavily in the 2nd half as he's well below his IP limit. Ellis has been about expected, but Jim Maloney has been the disappointment in the rotation with a 4.84 ERA and 9-10 record. Setup men Bill Henry and Ted Davidson have also struggled.

This team should win the division, or at least the wild card, but they are unpredictable enough to make me wonder.
***

$100M - 77 Big Red Time Machine
1977 Cincinnati Reds

I actually created this Reds team before the Reds team I picked for the $90M league. I usually prefer offense to pitching when first scouting these teams, so I looked around the 70s Reds and the mid-to-late part of the decade was ripe.

On offense, you had great years from 75 Joe Morgan and 77 George Foster, plus very good years from 79 Rose, 76 Griffey Sr., 75 Bench, and 79 Concepcion. I knew I needed 75-79, so the last question was whether to use 76, 77, or 78 as my twist year. After I looked at my pitching (more on that later), I quickly settled on 77. I took 76 Cesar Geronimo to be my high OBP, good fielding CF. The last decision on offense was whether to take 79 Ray Knight at 3B and put Rose at 1B or take one of Dan Driessen's years at 1B and put Rose at 3B. I settled on Knight if for no other reason than that Driessen had a better partial year to use on the bench.

Why did pitching tell me to choose 77? Two words: Seaver and Soto. Seaver joined the Reds in 77 and had a fantastic year. Soto meanwhile, was a rookie in 77 and his first usable year was 80. The final straw was Dale Murray's fantastic 74 season which meant 77 not 78 was my year. In addition to Soto and Seaver, 78 Mike Caldwell had a good starting season. There were also plenty of solid relief years to pair with Murray in the bullpen.

Conclusion: This and my $90M team should be my two best. This team will be especially dangerous in the playoffs with Seaver and Soto starting most games.

Prediction: 94-68

***
1st Half Update
47-34
DIV: 1st, 3 games ahead

What I meant to say: The hitting will produce but the pitching won't be as good as expected.

We lead the league in runs scored, though the gap is less than it appears thanks to a 52-1 massacre. We still lead the league in 2B and SLG and are near the top in OBP and HR. The star has been George Foster, who has belted 33 HRs, driven in 110 RBIs, and hit .329. His .681 SLG is easily leading the league. Rose and Morgan have also been fantastic. Griffey Sr.'s .348 OBP is a bit of a letdown and the bottom half of the lineup needs to pick it up a little bit.

Pitching has just been league average. Oddly, it has been Mike Caldwell leading the 3-headed rotation. His 18-6 record, 3.58 ERA, and 1.21 WHIP far outpace Soto and Seaver, and his 153 IP have been a huge help. Soto and Seaver are being hurt by their BB (58 in 90 IP for Soto) and their HR allowed (12 for Soto, 9 for Seaver in 82 IP). The bullpen has been good, especially the back end where setup men Eastwick and Fryman and closers Murray and Sarmiento all have impressive numbers.

This team should hold on to the divison, but Soto and Seaver need to round into form for the playoff outlook to brighten.
***

$120M - The BaseBurglars
853 SB / 75 HR

Obviously, I went the steals route. Why? Mostly because I'd never done it before. I just had 62 Maury Wills in a progressive and he stole 120+ bases, which might have been the first time I've had a player steal more than 20 (I almost always set all my guys to 0). In any case, I decided to give it a whirl.

I searched first for guys with high SB/100SBO rates and minimum 70-75% success rate, and then looked for at least decent OBP. I wanted not just guys who would be successful but also guys who would steal frequently. I somtimes lowered my SB% threshold in favor of SB/100SBO since I figured the poor arms would struggle to contain even stealers with success rates in the 60s. I ended up with 87 Bid McPhee and 65 Maury Wills as my middle infield/top of the lineup combo. I'm not thrilled to have such low OBP guys, but I just couldn't manage to balance my lineup like I prefer and was running out of time.

I of course grabbed a Rickey, the 83 version, and he hits 3rd. 11 Ty Cobb ($12.6M) was my splurge when it was late and I felt my lineup had no hitters. 86 Harry Stovey, 81 Tim Raines, and 86 Doggie Miller are my bottom of the order guys. I did take 86 Eric Davis, who was by far the most unique combination of speed and power at my thresholds; he'll provide the lone source of pop in my lineup. I also grabbed 95 John McGraw and his ridiculous OBP.

Because my hitting is so poor and I didn't have time to completely revamp my team, I just decided to make sure I had the best pitching staff in the entire theme. I grabbed literally the best seasons I could find with HR/9 over the threshold. My starters: 00 Pedro, 04 Randy Johnson, 68 Tiant, and 64 Koufax had better be the best in the league. I then have 6 super closers (07 Saito, 99 Wagner, 06 Meredith, 07 Putz, 89 Eck, and 08 Rivera) in the bullpen with the lone non-stud in 80 Randy Jones. Finally, I put these guys in Petco.

Conclusion: I will lead the league in pitching and stolen bases. Whether or not that translates into wins, I have no idea.

Prediction: 75-87

***
1st Half Update
51-30
DIV: 1st, 9 games ahead

What I meant to say: I will lead the league in stolen bases and pitching, and that will translate into wins.

Just 21st in runs scored, but between a decent OBP and a league-oblilterating 670 SBs, we get just enough. Our 670 steals are against just 162 CS. The one guy we seem to have trouble against, however, is 09 Mauer. Besides catcher Doggie Miller, the entire starting lineup is over 50 steals each, including 4 (McPhee, Wills, Rickey, Raines) over 85. By far our best hitter has been Eric Davis, whose 16 HRs are nearly as many as the rest of the team combined. His .385 OBP, .533 SLG, and 77/81 steal rate are a deadly combination. Ricky and Raines have solid OBP but fantastic steal rates. Rickey has 86 steals and just 3 CS. THREE! Ty Cobb has 75 steals and a team-leading .407 OBP. his .467 SLG is the only other one on the team above .400.

The pitching has been everything we thought and needed. Nearly 50 runs clear of the field, the staff has allowed an OAV of just .215. Pedro and Randy have been an impossible 1-2 punch for opponents, with a combined 23-6 record and both are in the top 4 in ERA. Koufax and Tiant are also both in the top 25 in ERA, though they have not been as dominant as the other 2. Besides Randy Jones, an inning-eating long man, the bullpen has been ridiculous. Rivera, Saito, Meredith, Eck, and Putz all have WHIPs below 1. Wagner has also been good, though his 26 BB in 39 IP puts him a step below the others.

My 2nd best team. Running into an 09 Joe Mauer team in the playoffs could be our kryptonite, however.
***

$140M - Hit Brigade of the Decades

Not only my least favorite team but also my least favorite team name. I was leaving for vacation and had to get my team in. Let's just hope this team doesn't kill me.

I decided to go with a super offense team, in honor of my first ever championship which I won with a $100M lineup in a $160M cap league. Clearly, this meant starting with Ruth (26) and Bonds (04), which I did. I then went with 98 McGwire to hit cleanup and 99 John McGraw (.547 OBP) to leadoff around the big two (I almost always hit my best hitters 2nd and 3rd, instead of 3rd and 4th).

I grabbed 75 Joe Morgan (couldn't take Hornsby since Ruth was my 20s guy) and 08 Honus Wagner for my MIF spots. I settled on 56 Mantle since I needed a CF, then 66 Torre as my C from the remaining decades. My super-subs are 85 Cesar Cedeno, 42 Roy Cullenbine, 36 Shanty Hogan, and 10 Joe Jackson. All have OBPs over .420.

For pitching, I knew I'd have to stretch some guys. The uncapped 1880s decade was enticing, and I eventually settled on 85 Tim Keefe (579 IP, $19.55M) as I have had trouble getting the most out of guys like Silver King who have over 600 IP. 11 walter Johnson and 72 Pat Dobson are my other 2 starters, as I was restricted to certain decades by the big salaries of some of my hitters. My bullpen is a slew of short inning relievers, headed by 88 Bob Milacki and 09 Mike Adams.

I actually had to change a couple guys around as I violated the $3M minimum in one decade and the $20M maximum in another.

Conclusion: My worst team, I just threw it together. I have the most lopsided hitting/pitching split in the league. I hope they just win 70 games and don't murder my Round 2 chances.

Prediction: 70-92

***
1st Half Update
39-42
DIV: 4th, 10 GB
WC: 5th, 4 GB

What I meant to say: Walter Johnson won't be able to pitch and we'll be begging for .500.

The offense is carrying its weight, 2nd in the league in runs scored. Bonds and McGraw both have OBPs over .475 at the top of the lineup. Bonds only has 10 HR, but has picked his power up lately. Ruth has been the lone slugger living up to his name with 30 HR and a .557 SLG but just a .341 OBP. McGwire (18) and Mantle (17) have been decent in the power department, and Morgan and Wagner have been able to get on base. Joe Torre has really struggled, wiht just a .304 OBP and .363 SLG. The bench has also been fantastic in about 200 PA.

The pitching has been exactly what I feared. Trying to skimp on it has proven disastrous, as we are 3rd from the bottom in runs. Keefe has been a steadying force pitching every other game, but Walter Johnson and Pat Dobson have been disaster. Walter currently has an ERA over 9, meaning he gives up more than a run an inning. Ouch. The bullpen has some good and some bad. Mike Adamas has been absolutely lights out in his 18 innings, nothing 8 saves and allowing a .100 OAV.

My worst team, by far. Anything near .500 would be a fantastic result. If Walter Johnson can win some games, a wild card run could be a possibility but is unlikely.
***

9/1/2010 12:25 AM (edited)

mildnhazy

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Rookie

Like many of you I also look forward to this tournament every year.....in fact it is the only time I play WIS – this tourney has ruined me for all other types of leagues.

70mil – (Mod Men)

Modern players are a bit out of my comfort zone as I usually like sticking to pre-1950’s players if I can. I started by building my pitching staff, which is where I almost always start. I am comfortable using a 5 man rotation and figured I could get away with 4 relievers as the starting staff can be used in relief to help out the pen when needed. The only thing I really knew as a starting point was that I didn’t want to spend much more than 35k on pitching so that I had enough money to be somewhat comfortable with my bats. This meant I was spending about 25-27k on my staff and getting cheap bullpen guys after. I ended up with ’92 Rijo as my ace and 4 guys I’ve never used but fit my search criteria of good ERC+, WHIP+, HR/9+ and BB/9 < 3 – the others are ’02 Maddux, ’08 Danks, ’87 Gooden and ’88 Magrane. My bullpen comprises about 280 innings with 4 guys with better numbers than my starters.....we’ll see how they fare though as I always find that my bullpen is a crapshoot. 1244 quality IP in total - I am perfectly comfortable with this at this cap and given the 5 man starting staff. I stuck them in Safeco just to be “safe”. On offense I went with my usual walks and doubles with a bit of pop added by Kevin Mitchell (’90) and Mike Schmidt (’85). No speed to speak of and no attention to defence. I have the usual suspects – Boggs, Weiss, Phillips, Randolph and Piazza – also have (’88) Rafael Palmeiro although I have no idea why. My low cap teams usually end up with 75-85 wins...nothing to see here.

80mil – (Rickey and the Meal Ticket)

I don’t like clones...never have, and it is one of the main reasons I stopped playing open leagues years ago. Nevertheless, in this type of tournament the format can be interesting. I made a list much like Shaybee of potential pitchers and hitters I thought would fit the parameters and work at this cap. It was a while ago but I think my choice for pitcher came down to Hubbell, Clemens and Brown. I went with Hubbell because I have had success with him in the past and at this cap I could afford his top 3 seasons. He normalizes extremely well and his raw numbers are very good also so I figured he would dominate at the 80mil cap. I went with a 4 man bullpen which I am regretting. Not a lot of innings there so Hubbell will have to go deep into most games – yet ’34 Hubbell has a 6.5ip/g which I somehow overlooked so that’s troubling. I have them playing in Safeco to help. In fact I chose Safeco for 4 of my teams which is strange considering I don’t think I’ve ever had a team play there. On offence I only looked at OFs for my clones, never thinking to try a guy like Phillips or Rose who could play infield as well. I ended up with Henderson or Raines and took Henderson as the seasons I was comfortable using with him were cheaper than the ones I wanted to use with Raines. Raines is a better hitter though and looking back I should have probably taken him. To fill out my lineup I knew I wanted an A+ catcher arm – I took Johnny Roseboro – didn’t mind that he had just under 500PAs as it seems one of the biggest values out there are low PA catchers who can’t throw – you can get some really good ones for 400k and lower. I will use them against the teams without speed. I went really cheap with Heinie Sand at SS who has 80+ walks and decent defence so that I could spend more on the other positions where I am using players I’ve never used before. AROD (’08 version) – he seems of great value for what you get in terms of OPS – just hope he normalizes well. I also have ’26 Hornsby who will likely stink (but I’m a sucker for bigger names) and ’00 Mark Grace who I’ve always thought is very boring but given his high walks and doubles he could impress. I am pretty confident about this team – I am expecting a playoff spot and 90+ wins. Due to this confidence my team will likely end up shitting the bed.

90mil – (1910 Washington Ringers)

For the life of me I couldn’t remember which teams I liked that I didn’t end up going with in last year’s tourney. So I started by checking the team building process forum from last year to see what other people’s 2^nd and 3^rd choices were. I believe the ’44 Phillies, ’28 Sens and ’23 White Sox were common second choices and I also found a couple of “new” teams namely the ’09 Pirates and ’10 Senators (I’m writing them all down in case schwarze wants to do yet another blacklisted iteration of this league next year). I simply didn’t like the pitching staffs enough to go with anyone other than the Pirates or Senators and ended up choosing the Senators because of the awesome staff I could assemble. The 1910 Sens allow for 5 free agents – I used 2 at pitcher so my 3 man rotation is Johnson, Walsh and Ford. They should throw the bulk of my innings and they are going to need to be lights out given this offence. I get some help with Lajoie, Speaker and Konetchy but after them and Clyde Milan it is pretty ugly at the plate. I have never had luck with the ’10 Lajoie either so this may have been a mistake as he is going to have to be a stud for this team to compete. The home park of American League Park with -2 for singles should only help my staff and assure a lot of low scoring games. I usually don’t go with a pitching dominant team so I really have no idea how this team will finish. In all honesty I wouldn’t be surprised if they won anywhere from 70-95 games. If it wins closer to 70 I’ll be sure never to go this route again. They have started off slow so I am a little concerned.

100mil – (1909 Chicago Cubs)

Like others, I thought this was a great theme. Endless possibilities. I always liked the 40’s era Cardinals teams so I started there but couldn’t get the good Cooper and good Brecheen on the same team and their pitching wasn’t good enough at this cap to use. I assembled a ’40 Yanks team as many others did and obviously loved the hitting. I chose ’40 over ’39 sacrificing Gehrig in favour of Chandler and was somewhat satisfied by the staff but was concerned enough that I kept looking. Since the options were so vast I tried to limit them by trying to group stud pitchers together. I tried to get an early 2000’s Red Sox team to work but couldn’t. I looked at the Yankees but didn’t think the pitching was good enough. I put together a 1911 Pirates team to get Hendrix, Adams and Camnitz all together but I couldn’t get close enough to the 100 million cap to be satisfied. Finally I found the ’09 Cubs and was obviously very happy with the pitching staff (although the pen is a little suspect). What sealed the deal was how the lineup came together. It seemed every piece fell into place nicely – enough walks, average, a little pop, decent defence for the era and some names I’ve never had a chance to use. This will be the first time in years that I don’t get to use a Philly A’s team in this championship – they were just too pitching heavy at this cap for my liking. I am actually quite shocked at the amount of hitting heavy teams out there at this cap. They were chosen by some very good owners though so I am a little concerned that I made the wrong decision. Nevertheless, I keep looking at this team and can’t see how they win less than 85-90 games. This is the team I am most confident about.

120mil – (Bombers and Thieves)

I thought this was a fun theme even though I don’t think I constructed a good one looking back. I started with pitching and took some common names – ’63 Koufax, ’97 Pedro, ’00 Brown, ’03 Schmidt. I focused on low whip#, low bb/9 and good hr/9+. These guys seemed to be the best of the bunch (other than ’00 Pedro but I took ’97 for more IP) and I coupled them with 5 solid relievers. We have 1400+ quality innings and I am using Safeco again to help out the staff. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t short on innings for a 120mil DH league as I’ve seen it kill teams in this tourney. I didn’t put the thought into a SB team vs a HR team that others did (and certainly didn’t smartly think of pairing them with an appropriate park). I just figured it would be good to have a bit of both and leaned a little more on the homerun side as I thought they would be plentiful given the pitcher restrictions (never thinking of facing a bunch of astrodome teams!). My lineup consists of ’86 Raines, ’91 Ozzie (always been good for me and cheap) and ’76 Morgan for steals. From a power perspective I went with the obligatory ’23 Cy Williams, ’33 Foxx, ’32 Ruth, ’22 Ken Williams, and ’80 Schmidt all of whom led or were 2^nd in the majors in homeruns in their respective years – so we should compete from a power perspective. I suppose I will be outmatched at home by the pure speed teams...I really should have thought about my home park more and that will likely prove the downfall of this team.

140mil – (MNH’s Decadent All-Stars)

Another theme I liked as I enjoyed the puzzle aspect to it. I started off with pitching again. I wanted to make sure I had the top pitchers I could get and then fill in the hitting around them. So I went with ’95 Maddux and ’00 Pedro – they seemed obvious choices although Pedro has never been excellent for me (and he’s stinking it up again so far). I also decided on the ’13 Johnson who I thought was another easy choice. I relented and took ’08 Joss as my final starter figuring his raw numbers were too good to pass up. I rounded out the pen with some of the same choices as everyone else – Blue, Niggeling, Carlos, Latman, etc....I was concerned that 1440 quality innings may be a bit on the low end at this cap so I chose Safeco again as my home park. My lineup consists of a lot of guys I’ve never used before (a consistent theme this year....a bad sign). I focused on walks, extra base hits and a bit of homer potential. I didn’t look at speed or pay much attention to defence. I am unsure about this team – probably slot them in for 85 wins or so.

Well that’s that – and shaybee thought he was long-winded. I have a bad feeling about my teams this year, usually I am much more confident. I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t make the 2^nd round. Thanks to schwarze for another great tournament – it is always a pleasure.

8/8/2010 11:40 PM (edited)

schwarze

Posts: 38104 (15)

Hall of Famer

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Hall of Famer

I'd still like to get more comments on team building. We still haven't heard from wildthings1 (pre-season rank #1), mensu1954 (#2), ballantine (#9), sford (#10), yjbsports (#17), sgsmith (#18), etc...

8/11/2010 4:38 PM

Rose 4D Hall

Posts: 46 (0)

Hall of Famer

87

Prospect

I'll weigh in this weekend when I get a chance. Gotta admit I made 5 of the 6 teams within 2 days of getting the themes and kinda forgot some of my thinking...

8/12/2010 12:03 PM

Rose 4D Hall

Posts: 46 (0)

Hall of Famer

87

Prospect

Really looking forward to this tourney, I almost never have more than 1 or 2 teams running at a time so juggling 6 is gonna be a challenge. I also tend to favor 80MM and lower so playing at these high caps will be different.

70 Million – 5 man rotation

Given the 150 plus inns, 900 min restriction I tried to tackle the SP’s 1^st figuring it would be the biggest obstacle. I figured I could back fill after that with a much bigger pool of players. I knew I didn’t want a 6 man rotation soooo ….900 divided by 5 is 180. I knew I wanted to spend a little more than ½ my 70MM on pitching which meant 25 to 26 MM on SP, 9 to 10MM on bullpen. I set my search parameters to find the best SP’s in the 170 – 210 inns range that cost 4.5 to 6.5MM concentrating on low BB/9. The resulting rotation is unspectacular but solid (Smoltz ’99, Wells & Padilla ’02, K Brown ’95 & Kuroda ’08) & should keep me in games. On the bullpen side I went with as few inns as I thought I could get away at low WHIP#. For offense I went for guys with high OBP, good not great fielding & a smattering of HR’s. Knowing that AB’s & IP’s are at a premium because of budget I always pick a negative park in these caps so I went w/ Safeco.

80 Million – Clone (Yount & Martinez)

When I saw this I thought that while an outfielder would be easy to choose it would limit my choices of finding the right mix of AB’s I was looking for. As well I have always had luck w/ Robin Yount and I figured he had a lot of seasons to choose from so that was the direction I went in right from the start. I was surprised that not more owners took Yount. Again I tried to make the best of the limitations placed on the league so I picked solid but not crazy seasons of his (83, 85 & 89). I think it is easier to fill in the remainder of the lineup as you have the rest of the baseball universe to choose from. At this cap & what I had to spend on my clone already I just tried to find solid offensive production in the 3.5-4MM range w/ a prejudice towards higher OBP guys.

Choosing a pitcher was much tougher but once I saw I could take 5 P. Martinez to make the 900 inns requirement the rest of the guys clicked into place. I may have gotten too cute here and screwed myself on Ab’s (4700 total) and IP’s (1220), I can only hope that Shea (.93) suppresses enough to help me through the season w/out too much fatigue.

90 Million – GM Challenge

This was tough. My strategy here was to find a team that did well but not great thinking that these teams were just 2 or 3 guys away from winning it all & by adding 2 or 3 FA’s they would have. I also shy away from pre-1940’s teams when I know I am limited to my roster choices – there were fewer players then hence fewer to choose from and thereby limited the possibility of maximizing your AB’s/Inns. I started by looking for teams that finished as close to .550 and then seeing where the holes were. The ’65 Braves were an above average hitting, good fielding team with a spattering of quality pitching. In adding Mays on offense and Koufax & Marichal to anchor the rotation I think they should be pretty solid. Of course if I run into a big HR/Ab team I will be in trouble. I see that a couple other guys went with ’65 teams as well. I really like this team for its balance but there may be too many wasted Ab’s to win it all here.

100 Million – Limited Seasons

I will admit to being lazy on this one. Given the amount of permutations the + or – 3yrs gives to current teams with all the modern player movement, I automatically disqualified any team post 1980. Just too much to choose from. Once I did that my next step was to look to see which teams made the playoffs the most times in a 6 year period thinking that they would have the best players. That lead me to the Yankees and from there I liked the mix of guys from the ‘39 team the best in terms of Ab’s. The bullpen is weak but hey you can’t have everything & if I come across a strong LH SP team I’m in trouble. I feel this is my poorest of the 6 teams.

120 Million - Power/Speed

It seems like most folks in WIS love the longball so I figured I’d zig when everyone else zagged and went for a balanced but weighted SB team. I also figured it would be easier to exploit the restriction on the catcher arm than the HR/9 >= 0.50 by the pitchers. At this cap you can buy great WHIP guys who just happen to give up the dongs now and then. Keep the walks and hits down & the occasional solo shot won’t kill you. However those pesky SB guys always seem to be on 2b or 3b with 1 out or less & rack up the runs scored. I also picked AT & T to help my SP’s keep the balls in the yard and figured since my guys are not hitting them out it really didn’t matter as much to my offense.

140 Million – Decades

Also very tough team to choose as I rarely play at this high a cap and the restrictions gave us a ton of choices. I started with the player that I thought would be the hardest to pick and that was the “1880’s and may be any salary” guy. I didn’t want to find myself stuck at the end of my draft trying to fill a hole and only had guys from that decade to choose from. Once that was done I went with the highest OPS guys that fit both my AB slots and the decade slots. I like 3 man rotations so this cap gave me the leeway to go out and get 3 studs who had low HR/9 and low BB/9 and then combine them w/ some bullpen studs. I agree with what I have read my other owners that this will be a crapshoot – so many good players.

8/15/2010 4:19 AM

Jtpsops

Posts: 14038 (2)

Hall of Famer

633 1 2 2 139

Prospect

"Like many of you I also look forward to this tournament every year.....in fact it is the only time I play WIS – this tourney has ruined me for all other types of leagues."

Actually, I think this tournament has improved me. If I start researching all of my leagues the way I researched these, I'll be laughing

8/17/2010 4:35 PM

mildnhazy

Posts: 760 (0)

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My point is that I no longer enjoy playing wis under any other format.

8/17/2010 6:58 PM

odalisgagne

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OK, I've been on vacation so now I can weigh in at the quarter-pole and accurately assess the smart and stupid things that I did putting these teams together. Right now I'm sitting precariously in a tie for 23rd...so this will probably just jinx the hell out of me. We'll go from best to worst:

100 mil Twist: 2005 Yankees (28-13)

It's no surprise that this is my best team because this is a salary and theme that I'm most comfortable with. Other than progressives, twist leagues are pretty much the only other WIS league I do right now. I looked at a lot of teams here...the 27 Yanks, but didn't like the pitching, the early 70s O's, but didn't like the hitting. Tinkered with the early 40s Cardinals and an 02 Red Sox team to get the beloved 2000 Pedro, but I felt (as did many) that this Yankee team offered the most complete package. The rotation is strong, headed by the 04 Unit and the bullpen is outstanding. Strong hitting at each position...and I even had to downgrade from Cano to Tony Womack. Hopefully, we can keep up this pace, because we're gonna need it.

140 Mil: Two Lous or Not to Lose (24-17)

I never play high cap leagues, so I was surprised that my 140 team (which lost in the LCS) was my best WISC team last year. Being non-creative, I tried the same "strategy" again. I played in a pitchers park, with pitchers with very low bb/9 and hr/9 numbers. Of course, I have 95 maddux and 00 pedro and also added 09 mathewson and tiny bonham. The usual names in the pen although i took a couple longer IP guys (88 Elton, 18 Toney) to avoid fatigue...although it hasn't been a problem b/c my league has skewed towards pitching. Big bats throughout the lineup, headed by 27 Gehrig and 56 Mantle. So far, so good.

120 mil: A Bunch of Mauer-ons (22-16)

I have always preferred HR to SB, so I picked an HR park and loaded up on power. I went for power-speed guys who hit lots of HR and have very high SB%...so I have A-Rod, Utley and Abreu. Added a Raines to head the order and took Mauer as my C as he was the best bat with a D arm. Since I'm in an HR park, I wanted pitchers with HR/9 under 0.6...I ended up with Clemens, Scott, and Teddy Higuera. This team has been in a number of high scoring games so far. I'll be psyched if it makes the postseason.

90 Mil: 1966 Cubs (22-19)

I found this team first and even though I looked around a bit more, I ended up coming back to the Cubbies. I wanted a team that gave me a lot of FA options, as opposed to taking a strong team and plugging a few holes. This Cubbie team gave me 6 FAs and already had some solid pieces including Billy Williams, a 7 mil Santo and good seasons from Holtzman and Fergie Jenkins (however, this was before I realized that Fergie was a coked-up piece of crap...I think his ERA for me is 11). Regardless, it gave me a lot of flexibility to add two great front-line starters (Koufax/Marichal), a top closer (Wilhelm) and three good hitters...Torre, Frank Robinson and Rose. We're weak at SS and are relying on a Bryon Browne/Adolpho Phillips platoon for our 3rd OF slot, but the team looks good on paper. My biggest concern is the 'pen (which sucks) and worries that the 60s just don't normalize well.

70 mil: A Disaster in the Making (18-20)

I have no idea how to play low caps so I figured I'd try something completely different. Since D and speed are relatively expensive compared to power, I thought I'd play in Coors and get guys who can slug well for relatively cheap. The defense sucks, but I figure that matters less in 10-8 games. I did make sure to get a catcher with a good arm in case other owners went the speed route so I have 84 Jody Davis. An assortment of good slugging hitters in my lineup (Horner, J.Dye, J.Kent, C.Guillen) and they are scoring runs. I took pitchers with very low OAVs and high K/9 to counteract Coors in the hopes that walks won't cost me too much (remains to be seen)...of course, they are getting shelled but we're still hanging around .500.

80 mil: El Sid Rose (15-26)

Ugh. I really f'ed this one up. I was looking for a relatively cheap pitcher with lots of good seasons to choose from...looked at Red Lucas and Jerry Reuss but then settled on El Sid because I liked the low OAV/high K/9 combo. Sticking with that theme, I took low OAV guys (Mitch Williams, Marmol, Benoit) to round out the pen. The walks are killing me though...I hoped at low cap they wouldn't be a huge issue but we are 24th in that category and it is hurting. I picked a hitters park to play to the low OAV staff...ended up in Olympic Stadium...wanted a better one, but that was the best I could come up with based on the theme. With that in mind, I wanted high average hitters across the board, so Pete Rose was the logical fit. I rounded out the lineup with high AVG+ hitters, including George Burns, Matty Alou and Glenn Beckert. Also wanted a good arm catcher who could hit so have Tony Pena behind the dish. We're near the league leaders in average but don't have the power to score enough runs (and we don't draw walks). Just hoping to get back to .500.

8/18/2010 2:09 PM

footballmm11

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Edited my post with a 1st half update for all my teams.

9/1/2010 12:26 AM

Jtpsops

Posts: 14038 (2)

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I think my "Clone Me" strategy paid off. I made sure to draft enough PA and IP to last the year without any fatigue issues. So far, all my Rickeys are at 99, but that's it on offense...everyone else at 100. Pitching, I have 2-3 relievers who are slow to recover, but everyone else is in top shape. I think the fatigue advantage has helped me and will continue to going forward.

My other 5 teams are so streaky right now, it's unbelievable. All are .500 are better, but all are hanging around .500 as much as possible. 2 get hot while 3 slump, then the first 2 slump while the next three get hot again. I just had my 70mil team lose 7 straight, followed by a 7 game win streak. My 120mil team went from 2 out in the WC race to 8 back, and are now 3 back again.

9/1/2010 1:02 AM

schwarze

Posts: 38104 (15)

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Let's do some retrospective analysis on my teams as we pass the halfway point.

70M Theme (Bargain .300 Hitters)
I initially wanted to construct my low-cap team based solely on speed and defense (specifically infield range). But it's really hard to find that particular type of player under $4 million that doesn't totally suck on offense. I've had defensive-oriented teams that can't hit in low cap leagues before and it's painful to continually watch them lose 2-1 all the time. So I changed my mind half-way through. I decided to get the best hitting team (avg, obp) that I could afford. Except for catcher (Wynegar, A+ arm), my other 7 batters have a combined .307 avg, .375 obp, .427 slug. with an avg of 606 PA/162 per player. My best hitter is '95 Wade Boggs (.324, .412 obp), my slugger is 2001 Dmitri Young (.302, .350, .481). I did draft one speedster - 1988 Henderson (93 SBs). The defensive range is sub-par though, but I shouldn't give up a lot of errors.

For pitching, I drafted five SPs with A+ range (I think this is undervalued). I also wanted pitchers with an average of 7 IP per start (which isn't easy for SPs < 200 IPs). Of course, I try to keep down the HRs allowed. The five pitchers I chose are: '03 Tim Hudson (240 IP), '97 K.Brown (237), Rick Reuschel (177), Joe Magrane (165) and Mike Dunne (163) for a total of 982 IPs. I added three 75-85 RPs - all with better stats than my SPs. I should be able to come from behind to win some games. Overall, my non 200K pitchers have the following stats: 1250 IP, 1.12 whip, 2.63 ERA, .230 OAV, 0.48 HR/9, all A+ range.

I've not really tried a team like this before at a low cap, so I really don't know what to expect. My A+ catcher should keep other speed teams in check. My pitchers aren't great but don't give up a ton of HRs. If my hitters can put together a couple of "crooked-number" innings per game, that might be enough to win 87-90 games. I'll take that.

Mid-Season Record: 46-36 .561 (1st in division by 2 games)
Luck Factor: 14-8 in 1-run games, but .595 expected win % (11-2 in blowouts, games decided by 7+ runs)
Offense Rank: 9th in RUNS (3rd in average)
Pitching Rank: 2nd in ERA (10th in whip, 2nd in HR allowed)

Comments:
Well, we're on a 90-win pace, so I can't complain. I'm hitting about what I expected to hit as my 7 "good" hitters are all hitting between .292 and .340. My pitching has far exceeded my expectations, especially considering that I'm below average in defense (fielding, "-" plays). I am a bit above average in "+" plays, as 22 of my 28 "+" plays are from my pitching staff (the other 6 by 200K defensive replacements). I told you A+ range pitchers were underrated. My weak-hitting catcher (Wynegar A+) has thrown out only 25% of potential base stealers, but that ranks 8th in the league and the 96 SBAs allowed is 2nd lowest, so he's doing his part. Hudson has been my best SP (10-5, 1.09 whip, 2.57 ERA). Fatigue is going to start coming into play as Magrane (8-4, 2.06 ERA) has already thrown 105 out of his 166 IPs. Luckily, 200K phenom Kevin Coffman has been doing his part (2-1, 2.96 ERA, 2 CGs).

80M Theme (Raines x3, Brown x4)
To me, there's not much difference between a 70M league and a 80M league. I wanted pitching, speed and defense. Well, for speed, the best choices at this cap are Willie Wilson, Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines. I went with Raines because I liked his combination of high-average and high-walks and that he's a switch hitter. I then decided to get A+ range in the infield (B.Terry .322, O.Hudson .270, O.Smith .288). At third base, I'm saving salary by running a 7-man platoon of <300K players. And at catcher, I have an A+ arm (G.Carter). The offense isn't great (.283, .354, .400) but with Raines, Raines and Raines (.334) at the top of the order, I anticipate close to 300 SBs - which should translate into runs. The defensive range at 1b, 2b, ss, should net me 70-80 "+" plays.

At pitcher, I kept with the strategy of A+ range and 7+ IP/G and selected four versions of Kevin Brown (whips of 0.94, 1.07, 1.07, 1.18). These four versions should add another 20-25 "+" plays. The bullpen is decent with short-IP studs Latman and Tiefenauer. Miljus and T.Martinez should keep things close till the 9th. I grabbed some 200K scrubs to help with fatigue because I only drafted 1216 good innings... Stats: 1.06 whip, 2.39 ERA, .225 OAV, 0.35 HR/9.

Just for fun, I threw this team into an open league (right after I had opened my 80M theme) just to see how they'd play out. They finished 92-70, won a tie-breaker game, then lost in the first round. K.Brown combined to go 72-58 in 1164 IPs.with a 2.85 ERA. Raines finished with 303 SBs at 83% rate. The team finished first in ERA but near the bottom in runs scored. Of course, it was an open league

Mid-Season Record: 57-25 .695 (1st in division by 4 games)
Luck Factor: 15-10 in 1-run games, 700 expected win % (11-1 in blowouts, games decided by 7+ runs)
Offense Rank: 5th in RUNS (3rd in steals)
Pitching Rank: 1st in ERA (2nd in HR allowed, 1st in slug by large margin)

Comments:
This is playing out even better than the open league experiment. My three Raines are on a pace for 320 SBs (82%). They are also hitting .297, .311 and .399 ('86 Raines)! The other four hitters are averaging around .285 cumulatively. The seven 200K third basemen are all gassed (<50% fatigue) but I expected that. I'm winning because of the defense. I'm first in the league by a long shot with 60 "+" plays, including 10 by Kevin Brown(s). Thanks to Gary Carter, I'm also second in CS% and first in fewest SBs allowed. This has made my pitching #1 in the league. '96 and '98 Brown have been crazy good (10-1, 2.02 ERA & 14-1, 2.30 ERA, respectively). The bullpen (T.Martinez, Miljus, Latman) all have ERAs in the twos. Fatigue is playing less of a role for this team than my 70M team which has more IPs.

More to come later

9/1/2010 10:54 AM

schwarze

Posts: 38104 (15)

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90M Theme (99 Royals + Stud Staff)
I went through every season of baseball-reference looking for real-life teams that underachieved relative to their runs scored hoping to find a gem. Having so much success with the 1924 White Sox last year, I started by trying to make 1924 Cardinals work (tried to add Ruth, Vance, W.,Johnson) to a putrid team with Hornsby. But I couldn't get all three guys in to fit under the cap. I tried the 1920 Giants and the 1928 Senators but didn't like either team. There was also a 30's Giants team and 50's Indians team that I tinkered with (it was so long ago, I can't remember the exact years).

Then, I stumbled across the 1999 KC Royals (.398). They had a -11 luck factor that season. Their offense was ranked 9th in all of baseball (their pitching was ranked 2nd to last). 1999 has some really good SP options, so I was able to build a pitching rotation of Randy Johnson (1.02 whip), Kevin Brown (1.07 whip) and Pedro Martinez (0.92 whip) to go along with relievers Derek Lowe (1.00 whip) and Mariano Rivera (0.88 whip). The KC offense is very solid with Sweeney (.322), Randa (.314), Sanchez (.294), Beltran (.293), Dye (.294), Damon (.307). I added Mike Lieberthal (.300) to the mix. Even the defense is above average. I really feel strongly that this team will do well.

Mid-Season Record: 44-39 .530 (2nd in division, 6 games back of another 99 Royals team, 1 game ahead in WC race)
Luck Factor: 13-15 in 1-run games, .561 expected win % (6-5 in blowouts, games decided by 7+ runs)
Offense Rank: 19th in RUNS
Pitching Rank: 5th in ERA (3rd in whip)

Comments:
This team has been very frustrating. They started 2-11 and it took a long time to reach .500. Pedro Martinez (0.92 whip) was my worse pitcher for a long time. His ERA is no longer the worst on the team, but he still leads my team in losses (he's up to 7-8 now). My hitting has mostly underachieved (guys hitting 70+ points below their real life avg). What really frosts me is that most of the '99 Royals teams are kicking azz so I know the potential is there. Both the division and league I am in is very tough. There's a very realistic chance that 11 of 12 teams in my league finish .500 or better (including all 4 teams in my division). Four teams in the other league are at or below .400 (six below .440). I still have hope that things turn around and this team goes on a run.

More to come

9/1/2010 6:06 PM

Jtpsops

Posts: 14038 (2)

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Prospect

$70mil

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever done a league below $80 (and I’ve only done like 2 at $80mil in my last 20 teams). For this one, I did a little forum reading and got some insights from other owners.

I decided to focus on getting as much pop and OBP as I could. I sacrificed a little on D, but I don’t think so much that it’ll kill me. I’m confident I’ll outslug most teams and hopefully my pitching staff can temper the damage. I went with Henderson and Morgan at the top for walks and SB, and followed with Ramirez, Clark, Gant and Ensberg – lots of low average pop. I took Loretta and McDonald on my bench for their versatility, as I’ll be flirting with the fatigue strategy a bit.

I went with ’90 Stieb as my ace, a fairly good and relatively cheap 200+ IP. I actually spent more on my #2, ’81 Guidry. ’91 Wegman, ’88 Rasmussen and ’90 King round out my rotation, and I think my bullpen will more than get the job done. I went with the Oakland Coliseum to help my pitchers a bit and stretch out my ABs.

This team is about where I expected (57-54, 13 back in division, one back in WC). They took a crazy route getting here though. I wrote them off after they started well under .500 (12-13 games, I think), but they've fought back hard. I think a key has been my fatigue management. I've kept all my starters at 97+, all my relievers at 94+ and all my hitters above 90.

$80mil – Clone Me (Henderson and Knepper)

Oddly, my hitter never changed in all my drafts. I knew I wanted Henderson from the get-go. Speed, OBP and solid D for a relatively low price. As I said, I’m interested to see how other owners made guys like Ruth work – I suspect the rest of their lineups will be somewhat bare, but we’ll see.

My pitchers changed constantly...I tried Pedro but it left me to short for the rest of my roster. I just wasn’t comfortable. I set a cap of $24mil for my rotation and tried guys like Stieb, Drabek, Bonham and others. I eventually found Knepper by setting some desired specs in the draftcenter. I liked what he gave me and his price, which allowed me to come up with a good ‘pen and some decent surrounding pieces.

The rest of my lineup again focuses on walks, with Randolph, Pena and Killebrew (with Pena and Killer giving me 40+ HR each). Went with the Coliseum in Oakland again, to stretch out the ABs and innings.

This team has been perfect for me (currently 69-42), and turned out exactly was I expected. The Knepper's are solid, efficient pitchers and the Rickey's have given me the speed and defense I needed. I drafted well for fatigue, as no one in my starting lineup has dropped below 97 at all this season and my starting pitchers have all remained at 98-100. My 'pen is becoming an issue, but manageable. The only drawback is that, while being 7 games up on the WC, I'm 9 back of schwarze in the division.

$90mil – GM Challenge (1992 Expos).

I came up with many teams I was satisfied with, but none that really stood out head and shoulders above the rest. I had 2-3 teams I liked better than this one, but they were in fairly extreme hitters parks (Kaufman, etc.) and I didn’t feel comfortable.

This team had a good pitching staff already in place, to which I added ’92 Maddux. I then added Bonds and Thomas to the offense. They’ll have to carry the load though, as my 6-8 hitters are a bit of a black hole. I’m in a fairly neutral park (1.00 park factor) that limits singles and HR a bit, so we’ll see how it all works out. This, to me, is a feast or famine team.

This team has drastically underperformed, in my view (but I guess we all feel that way). Bonds and Thomas are getting on base and slugging, but their averages are terrible. My starters have done as well as expected and my 'pen, after a horrific start by Wetteland, has settled in nicely. Valdez has been an amazing bargain at closer. These guys started well, fell way back, but thanks to an L7 by our division leader and a 5-1 run through the league's two best teams, we're back tied for first (57-51), one game back of the WC team.

$100mil – Limited Twist (2003 Yankees)

I’ve never used a Yankee team in the SIM, but I had to put my hatred aside for the cause. When I went through all my drafts, this team cried out at me. A very good mix of power, speed and average, with a solid pitching staff led by ’05 Clemens and anchored by ’05 Rivera. Once again, ballpark factored in, as I felt this team was also the one that lined up best with the park they were in.

At the risk of a jinx, I think this is the team I feel best about.

This team frustrated the crap out of me, though they seem to be hitting their stride now. The majority of individual players are performing well, but we found a way to lose a lot of close games. Matsui has been a COMPLETE bust and Mussina is underperforming, but that's about it. We fell well back, but again, thanks to a 9-1 surge and a few slumps from other teams, are sitting three up in the division now. The WC is 11 games ahead of me, so I have to hold on to the division at all costs.

$120mil – Power + Speed

I went with a ballpark strategy on this one. I noticed there aren’t many parks with a HR RF rating significantly higher (2 or more) than HR LF. So I decided to take Robison Field (-1 LF/+2 RF) and stock my lineup with lefty power hitters.

I have Morgan, Ruth, Bonds, Williams, Mauer and Mantle (switch). I also have McGwire and Yost for some righty pop on the road. I focused on walks as well and put a premium on defense and range up the middle (Mauer/Trammell/Morgan/Mantle).

I went with a three-man rotation of ’71 Wood/’63 Koufax/’65 Short. Not as many K’s as I’d like, but the walks are fairly low and the HR/9 are fairly close to the .50 minimum.

This is a pure strategy team. I’m not sure how road games will work out but I fully expect with my ballpark and my lefty-heavy lineup, that I’ll really clobber a lot of teams at home.

I thought I built this team perfectly for the park, but it's been a rollercoaster. The -1 in singles has hurt my guys more than I thought it would. The offense is mashing HR as well as I expected, but it seems my pitching staff is giving up more. Koufax has about half the ERA of my other two starters, but is only .500. If run support was swapped, I may have 5 more wins. We're currently 5 back of the WC at 55-56, so hopefully we can make a run. It's feast or famine with these guys.

$140 – Through the Decades

This was a crapshoot in my eyes. I find that management becomes a lot more of a priority at higher caps, so we’ll see what happens.

I focused on some guys I really wanted (Mathewson, Joss, Maddux, Ruth, Mantle, Bonds, Roseboro) and then filled in the gaps around them.

I tried to use a bit of ballpark factor again. I chose Cleveland Stadium to give my HR guys a bit of a boost, as well as singles, and cut down on doubles and triples, which I don’t have many of.

I put a huge premium on low walks and HR and did a very successful job at it (though I’m sure many others did too). I also have solid D, so hopefully I can pull the right strings and make this team a success.

I never know what to expect at this cap, so it's a crap shoot. I'm pleasently surprised (58-53, 5 back of division and one back of WC), though we're slumping a bit and just got swept by a last place team. Alexander started hot, while Maddux and Joss struggled, now the latter two have found their footing and Alexander is getting knocked around a bit. The offense has been steady and consistent and Wagner has been absolutely lights out at closer. My 'pen could be a lot better, but we're still in it and hopefully can pick it up a bit more here.

All in all, very pleased with my performance and hope to be able to sustain it across the board as we come into the home stretch

9/10/2010 8:09 PM

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