I have a few general questions about SimLeague Baseball. Any responses will be greatly appreciated. I have played around 40 seasons of SLB and I have only made the Playoffs one time. You read that correctly...ONCE! I have tried all sorts of different teams and strategies.

1. What is the most important stat to look at when drafting hitters. Is it AVG or OBP? Or something else that I have overlooked?

2. What is the most important stay to look at when drafting pitchers? ERA, OAV, or WHIP?

3. What have you had more success with....a team focused on offense or a team focused on pitching?

I've just really struggled to put together competitive teams and I'm
at a loss about what to do and how to move forward with some good teams. I know there are a lot of you out there that will say it's all about learning on my own. I've played quite a bit so it's not like I'm brand new and haven't tried a ton of different approaches.

Any other tips you want to offer up are welcome as well. Thanks in advance for the responses and help.

1. I use OPS# but remember that OPS probably weights power a little too much and OBP a little too little

2. ERA doesn't really matter. WHIP and HR/9 are king. 

For both 1 and 2, though, you have to match what you're drafting to your park. HRs are a lot more important in Yankee 3 than they are in the Astrodome.

1. I use OPS# but remember that OPS probably weights power a little too much and OBP a little too little

2. ERA doesn't really matter. WHIP and HR/9 are king. 

For both 1 and 2, though, you have to match what you're drafting to your park. HRs are a lot more important in Yankee 3 than they are in the Astrodome.

depends on the ballpark I'm building my team around (e.g., if playing at Dodger, I'll look for guys with good 1b/100# compared to RL 1b/100, with speed, and few walks). If I'm at AFC, I look at the HR/100AB# vs. RL HR/100AB and couple that with nice 1b numbers...   Really, it's tough to say I weigh just a couple items as you have to build a line up.   At AFC, you need a couple of high OBP# guys at the top of the lineup.    I sacrifice a lot of power, OPS at Dodger.    I also like to use the AVG+ numbers.

Pitching, like jfranco says with the HR/9.  I also go with lower walk guys with OAV under .235 at most parks.   When it's close, I use ERC# as a tie breaker of sorts (even though that statistic isn't used in the SIM directly, it means something to me).       I can usually cobble together some sort of offense around a park, so lean more heavily towards building a strong pitching staff.

A bit off topic, but...

Most of your teams have too many PA and IP.  Remember that every player you draft, you're paying for two things: quality and quantity.  If you draft too much of the latter, you're sacrificing the former.  

Your best current team is 21-14, and has under 6000 PA and 1500 IP (most of your other teams are well over those totals).   Unless you're playing in very high cap leagues, there's really no reason to ever draft more than 6000 PA and 1500 IP.  And if you're a hands-on manager, you can certainly get by with much less than that.

I just copied a Ligepelota team and made the playoffs.

lol

Posted by crazystengel on 10/5/2011 3:35:00 PM (view original):
A bit off topic, but...

Most of your teams have too many PA and IP.  Remember that every player you draft, you're paying for two things: quality and quantity.  If you draft too much of the latter, you're sacrificing the former.  

Your best current team is 21-14, and has under 6000 PA and 1500 IP (most of your other teams are well over those totals).   Unless you're playing in very high cap leagues, there's really no reason to ever draft more than 6000 PA and 1500 IP.  And if you're a hands-on manager, you can certainly get by with much less than that.

A HOFMC of 0.9508 isn't helping him either.

Good point (or should I say another succinct Zubinsummation?).  He needs to buy a lot more teams and try some Progressives and themes. 

I dunno, as soon as I posted about the HOFMC my team has gone under losing like 12 out of 13. The fix is in! 

Posted by chisox378 on 10/6/2011 10:59:00 AM (view original):
I dunno, as soon as I posted about the HOFMC my team has gone under losing like 12 out of 13. The fix is in! 

To paraphrase, "The greatest trick the HOFMC creators pulled off was....."

Posted by johnkoe555 on 10/5/2011 4:42:00 PM (view original):
I just copied a Ligepelota team and made the playoffs.

That works too. He seems to understand what makes a cookie a cookie without actually having to draft the cookie. If you know what I mean.

I am only a begginer but I have been looking at AVG, OBP and then 1b/100ab#, 2b/100ab#, 3b/100ab#, hr/100ab#?

Posted by chisox378 on 10/6/2011 10:57:00 PM (view original):
I am only a begginer but I have been looking at AVG, OBP and then 1b/100ab#, 2b/100ab#, 3b/100ab#, hr/100ab#?

IMHO, for hitters avg#, and obp# are the most important stats.  slg#, 1b#, 2b#, 3b# and hr# follow depending on the park.  Note that 3b# will over estimate 3b production by old-timers (pre-1930s) while hr# over estimate hrs by modern players, especially post-1990.