60M: Good Moon Rising
Stadium: Astrodome
Had a lot of fun with this build; it probably helps that I enjoy 60-70M more than any other caps. At this level finding cookies is even more important because it can be such a significant percentage of your salary cap. The differential of having a 60M team play more like a 65M roster should be huge. So I wanted to find a combination of underpriced players with a secondary position and/or 2017-2022 players without the salary adjustment. Focused on the hitters to start, as I wasn’t going to be rostering any superstar pitchers at this cap…
The anchor of my team was a bit of a splurge but I wanted to make sure that I could make 1956 Wally Moon (Cards) and his 4.7M salary work. He will be one of the MVP candidates with his .302#/.394#/.459# slash line and A+ range at 1B hopefully good for 25 or so positive plays. 2021 Whit Merrifield (Royals) and his 720 PA at 2B will be a net positive in the field (A-/A), hit a bunch of doubles, and steal a ton of bases from the leadoff spot, all for under 4M. And I plan on shutting down opposing base stealers with the two headed catcher of 2014 Brayan Pena (Reds, switch hitter with an A+ arm) and 1983 John Wockenfuss (1983 Tigers, B+ arm, sneaky power). With the rest of my hitters, I just tried to fill in what I could for limited salary; there is some speed, some power, some decent fielding. Feels like a pretty decent lineup for just over 30M:
Lineup:
C: Brayan Pena (2014 Reds) & John Wockenfuss (1983 Tigers)
1B: Wally Moon (1956 Cards)
2B: Whit Merrifield (2021 Royals): also with 86 speed
SS: Wander Franco (2022 Rays) & Johan Camargo (2017 Braves): both are A fielders (not so much their range)
3B: Don Money (1973 Brewers): .286#/.348#/.402#, A/D, 77 speed, 22/27 SB
OF: David Fletcher (2019 Angels): .295#/.353#/.357#, A+/C+, will play CF by default
OF: Cody Bellinger (2018 Dodgers): .268#/.349#/.459#, 76 speed, 14/15 SB
OF: Andrew Benintendi (2019 Red Sox): .271#/.346#/.402#, 75 speed, 7 2B/100#
Went low with 1,236 IP, but that has been fine for me at this cap before (plus it is spread out over 13 arms). Going with a three and a half man rotation of Gaylord Perry (1976 Rangers), Preacher Roe (1945 Pirates), Mike Moore (1985 Mariners), and Thornton Lee (1944 White Sox, pitching every other turn in the rotation). Filled in the bullpen with some underpriced arms, several of which were low inning starters to boot. This includes Pat Combs (1989 Phillies, 39 IP, 895K), Gil Heredia (1998 A’s, 50 IP, 1.02M), Bill Short (1966 Orioles, 39 IP, 843K), and Paul Toth (1962 Cubs, 34 IP, 738K).
Hitting: 5,299 PA, .276 / .340 / .415, $30.8M
Pitching: 1,236 IP, 0.254 OAV, 1.19 WHIP, 0.55 HR/9, $29.2M
80M: Old Arms & Young(er) Legs
Stadium: Riverfront Stadium
Went back and forth on which pairing to use before settling on the old time pitchers and (relatively) recent hitters. Admittedly, I was leaning the opposite way when I first started looking at the choice, but in the end I wasn’t crazy about my potential 1985-1999 starting pitchers. So here we go…
For the 1885-1899 pitchers, I found there was just enough “relief” pitching to make three starters work. 1888 Charlie Buffinton and his 499 IP will be my workhorse (.225 OAV#/1.05 WHIP#). He will be supported by nearly 300 IP each from 1885 Ed Cushman (.225 OAV# / 1.08 WHIP#) and 1888 Henry Gruber (.225 OAV# / 1.09 WHIP#) respectively. Combined the three starters account for close to 1,100 IP and both Buffinton and Cushman strike out batters more like modern pitchers (Gruber not so much). Throw in 1898 Jack Taylor, 1886 Phenomenal Smith, 1898 Sam Leever, 1899 Kid Carsey, 1899 Patsy Flaherty, and 1899 Tom Thomas, and we have ~1,300 non mop-up IPs.
As for the hitters, I realized that my successful open league teams when I first started playing WIS tended to have a lot of speed and numerous players from the 1985-1999 era. Couldn’t use all of my faves (sorry Tim Raines), but I tried for a nice combination of speed, high OBP and power figuring I’d be going up against a good number of modern staffs. Lineup and highlights are below:
Lineup:
C: Four headed 1992 Jim Leyritz (A arm) / 1992 Dave Cochrane / 1987 Ted Simmons (B+ arm) / 1994 BJ Surhoff (all for a cool 3.7M)
1B: 1998 Dmitri Young (S): .310#/.363#/.467#, 8 2B/100#
2B: 1990 Bill Doran (S): .304#/.415#/.434#, 7 2B/100#, 78 speed, 23/32 SB + 1990 Ron Oester (S) as backup
SS: 1998 Barry Larkin: .309#/.396#/.489#, 78 speed, 26/29 SB, A/D
3B: 1997 Ken Caminiti (S): .290#/.386#/.494#, 4 HR/100#, C/A-, 11/13 SB
OF: 1985 Willie McGee (S): .328#/.377#/.418#, D/A+, 90 speed, 31/40 SB
OF: 1988 Kirk Gibson: .297#/.387#/.494#, 4 HR/100#, 84 speed, 31/35 SB
OF: 1985 Mike Marshall: .299#/.347#/.520#, 5 HR/100#
Went with Riverfront, as it should amplify the doubles and homers I should hit and also suppress singles which I am less reliant on. Fingers crossed…
Hitting: 5,247 PA, .293 / .368 / .458, $37.4M
Pitching: 1,363 IP, 0.222 OAV, 1.02 WHIP, 0.17 HR/9, $42.6M
100M: 2019 Jacobs Field
Stadium: Jacobs Field (of course)
My goal for this cap was to maximize the modern starting pitchers (preferably those with a bit lower HR/9# rate) in a relatively homer friendly park and go from there. With no 2020 All-Star game and the 2021 game at Coors Field, I found that 2019 had the best combination of ballpark and great usable starting seasons.
Starting rotation: Kershaw (2015), deGrom (2018), Bieber (2020), Verlander (2022)
Key relivers: Liam Hendriks (2019), Scherzer (2021), Brad Hand (2020), Kirby Yates (2019), Felipe Vazquez (2019), Ryan Pressly (2021), Marcus Stroman (2015)
Note that the hardest thing regarding the pitching was finding a back of the bullpen guy (thank you 2018 Brandon Woodruff) and a mop-up guy (thank you 2010 Mike Minor).
Spent 55M+ on the pitching staff, so I was a bit more economical with the lineup. Hopefully they will hit just enough:
Lineup:
C: 2022 JT Realmuto: .286#/.349#/.470# (A+ arm), 69 speed for a catcher!, 21/22 SB
1B: 2013 Freddy Freeman: .326#/.403#/.498#, B-/A-
2B: 2019 DJ LeMahieu: .333#/.378#/.489#
SS: 2021 Xander Bogaerts: .304#/.377#/.476#, A/D
3B: 2017 Anthony Rendon: .306#/.405#/.512#, 7 2B/100#, A/C-
OF: 2019 Ketel Marte (S): .335#/.392#/.568#, 75 speed, 10/12 SB
OF: 2018 Whit Merrifield: .311#/.373#/.421#, B+/A-, 86 speed, 45/55 SB
OF: 2019 David Dahl: .308#/.356#/.499#, 77 speed + 2011 Hunter Pence: .329#/.399#/.556#
Hitting: 5,301 PA, .306 / .374 / .505, $45.1M
Pitching: 1,340 IP, 0.194 OAV, 0.91 WHIP, 0.60 HR/9 (much lower normalized), $55.9M
110M: 1914 Red Sox and Friends
Stadium: Fenway Park
Given that few actual teams have a full roster beyond 80M and that you have to use at least 17 players, my goal for this theme were to:
- Get as close to 55M with the selected team
- Maximize the value of such players (while there will be some scrubs)
- Find a season that has excellent free agents for 110M but not too expensive
In thinking about this, I gravitated immediately to the deadball era. Figured it would be easier to find a team with a couple of good position players and starting pitching and then build around this. Also, you can find free agent pitchers that potentially get you 300+ IPs (can’t do with the modern teams). Yet, finding the right balance of strong pitching seasons versus strong hitting years is a challenge. First thought about 1909, and built teams around the A’s, Cubs, and Pirates. They were ok, but I felt there was quite a bit of inefficiency.
Then I looked at the 1914 season, and it had exactly what I was looking for – several strong starting pitchers and lots of great bats. This of course was amplified by the Federal League teams, which also provided a larger pot of potential free agent teams. And then I looked at the Red Sox roster, and I had my team. 17 players for just a hair under 59M, including the following:
Tris Speaker OF: 708 PA, .347#/.428#/535# (8/2/1), C+/A+ (really A+++, as his range factor is an off the charts 3.37)
Duffy Lewis OF: 632 PA, .286#/.362#/.429# (8/1/0), C-/B-
Larry Gardner 3B: 635 PA, .266#/.308#/.416# (4/2/0), C+/A
Steve Yerkes SS: 508 PA, .265#/.306#/.393# (6/1/0), A/B+
Dick Hoblitzel 1B: 277 PA, .327# /.391#/.419# (4/1/0), C-/A-
Three headed catcher, who for the most part hit and throw well
Dutch Leonard: 238 IP, .188 OAV# / 0.94 WHIP#
Rube Foster: 225 IP, .226 OAV# / 1.08 WHIP#
Ernie Shore: 148 IP, .212 OAV# / 1.04 WHIP#
Fritz Coumbe: 66 IP, .230 OAV# / 1.10 WHIP#
So from the Red Sox, I was able to get fantastic fielding at SS/3B/CF/C and close to 700 good to great IP. What this did was allowed me to tailor the free agents to meet the remaining needs:
Steve Evans 1B [Brooklyn Feds]: 611 PA, .348#/.417#/.571# (8/2/3), D-/A (amazing that a D- fielder can be a net positive in the field!)
Bill Kenworthy 2B [Kansas City Packers]: 656 PA, .317#/.372#/.539# (7/2/3), C-/B+
Benny Kauff OF [Indianapolis Hoosier-Feds]: 707 PA, .369#/.448#/.549# (7/1/2), C-/B+
Sherry Magee DH/SS/OF [Phillies]: 648 PA, .321#/.386#/.535# (7/1/4)
Claude Hendrix [Chicago Whales]: 381 IP, .196 OAV# / 0.96 WHIP#
Ray Caldwell [Yankees]: 225 IP, .214 OAV# / 1.01 WHIP#
Red Oldham [Tigers]: 48 IP, .251 OAV# / 1.16 WHIP# (pretty decent for under 1M)
Harry Hoch [Browns]: 58 IP, .291 OAV# / 1.58 WHIP# (mop up extraordinaire)
All in all, 6661 PA and 1416 PA with <5K left over. Feel really good about the efficiency and quality of this team, particularly playing in Fenway. They will hit a ton of doubles (for which the park is +4) and make a lot of + plays.
Hitting (w/DH): 6,661 PA, .297 / .369 / .438, $58.3M
Pitching: 1,416 IP, 0.209 OAV, 0.99 WHIP, 0.13 HR/9, $51.7M
120M: Hey (Card) Nineteen
Stadium: Target Field
Since this was a round 1 & 2 combo theme, I knew from the start that I wanted 2020 right away in round 2 (assuming I made the cage). Well here we are, and I have my roster that I came up with months ago and sat on. Went with the diagonal of 1930, 1939, 1962, 2002, and 2020 which allowed for a mainly modern pitching staff with extremely low OAVs and WHIPs. Mitigated against the home run by playing in Target Field. Went with a couple of platoons and found just enough bench guys to fill in the remaining PAs:
Lineup:
C: Smokey Burgess (1962) & Don Padgett (1939) – susceptible to the stolen base, but man will they hit
1B: Johnny Mize (1939)
2B: Frankie Frisch (1930)
SS: Joe Cronin (1930)
3B: DJ LeMahieu (2020)
OF: Frank Robinson (1962)
OF: Larry Walker (2002)
OF: Heinie Manush (1930) & Showboat Fisher (1930)
Starting rotation: Bieber, Lamet, Bauer, Maeda (all 2020), Pedro (2002)
Relievers: Arthur Rhodes, Buddy Groom, Octavio Dotel (all 2002), Jim Umbricht (1962), Max Lanier (1939)
Hitting: 5,575 PA, .348 / .415 / .561, $61.7M
Pitching: 1,371 IP, 0.186 OAV, 0.91 WHIP, 0.79 HR/9 (much lower normalized), $58.3M
160M: The Babe in Coors Field!
Stadium: Coors Field (of course)
Just hoping that Babe Ruth hits about 100 home runs, Tris Speaker (CF), Hughie Jennings (SS), and Nap Lajoie (2B) make a bunch of great plays, and the pitching staff led by Ed Walsh, Mordecai Brown, Pedro, and a bunch of stud relievers does just enough to compete for a playoff spot.
Hitting (w/DH): 6,395 PA, .356 / .442 / .579, $84.1M
Pitching: 1,644 IP, 0.193 OAV, 0.89 WHIP, 0.16 HR/9, $75.9M
Good luck to everyone - should be a really fun Round 2!