Until I get busy checking rosters or fixing the league alignment, I suppose I could use the time to talk through my team.
At C, I lost my cheapest option Corrales to a dagger, and felt I needed to pay for Bench over Crandall. Hs defense is really impressive - you might want to adjust our SB settings. But, Tresh plays for the White Sox, which is probably worth the 350k upcharge. If Tresh ends up starting against you, I like your chances. One of my friends might even bet on you, but I know nothing about that.
The IF is a mixed bag - the SS options in our field were particularly limited. Torre is cheap but the AB could be a problem. I might like Ruiz as a backup over the "not cheap enough" Marshall. I will put Torre near the bottom of the order and see what happens. I was happy to see 2B Helms survive dagger #1. Before r4, I was assuming I would have to roster Schoendienst, mostly useful for defense. I was impressed with how unremarkable my 2B options were - some great screw choices. At 3B, I am paying solid money for Appling as well as Perez. Appling's ability to flex at SS where my options were terrible is the primary reason I denied Beernoser access to the White Sox for dagger #2, which I think he figured out based on his write-up. Castleman and Miranda will compete for defensive replaement opportunities.
The OF, however, has more solid hitters. Hammering Hank is clearly among the greatest to ever walk the field. Alex Johnson will be a great leadoff hitter, and Nieman's stats are great but his PA were not as muh so. Hopefully Taylor was double as cheap backup and occasional starter, because Hanebrink will not do. This does give me the option to put a slugger in the 8 slot, whch I have not tried in WIS yet. It seems like my hitters will be above average and sometimes very good, until the P slot at least. I should usually have one viable PH for pitching transition innings, assuming I can control Sparky better than Brad Pitt could.
I think SP options are strong - not off the charts, but the worst ERA of the trio was Spahn at 3.07. Portocarrero was a great dagger given affordablity, but without him I think I can manage a 3 SP rotation including Burdette and Harshman. Or go down in flames trying. That saves enough money to put four solid options in the bullpen. Jay setting up Robinson should end strong, and Gumpert and Carroll should be enough to handle the 6th/7th as needed. I am counting on nothing from Caldwell and Pearson - but Judson will probably have to cover some non-MOP innings to make the whole ensemble work.
If anyone cares, the Peckham Rose was not an actual flower, but a brand of cheap matches that worked in the rhyming scheme of the song "River of Orchids" to imply a "smells like sulfur" joke about London (which might apply to any MLB sized city). But none of the prior Peckham named teams made the playoffs, so I guess I am hoping a wild card can make the difference. Like Beernoser, I know my optimism is probably misplaced - especially after I went through midknght's roster....
Peckham Roses
Memorial Stadium - Baltimore
$79,806,149
48 White Sox
C Mike Tresh $815,824
3B Luke Appling $4,859,475 (playing SS)
P Howie Judson $2,214,526
P Earl Caldwell $375,577
P Randy Gumpert $2,375,084
P Ike Pearson $660,079
58 Orioles
1B Jim Marshall $845,636
SS Foster Castleman $676,771
SS Willy Miranda $726,428
OF Bob Nieman $3,479,029
OF Joe Taylor $429,885
P Jack Harshman $7,411,988
58 Braves
1B Frank Torre $3,121,973
OF Hank Aaron $6,561,558
OF Harry Hanebrink $530,544
P Humberto Robinson $1,221,726
P Joey Jay $3,457,228
P Lew Burdette $7,817,728
P Warren Spahn $9,991,929
68 Reds
C Johnny Bench $5,082,441
2B Tommy Helms $4,221,116
2B Chico Ruiz $686,929
3B Tony Perez $4,941,838
OF Alex Johnson $4,004,033
P Clay Carroll $3,296,804
4/15/2024 12:13 PM (edited)