Posted by DoctorKz on 2/20/2019 10:54:00 PM (view original):
I agree with Mike, but the walks don't scare me quite as much. A guy like Cy Morgan as a SP works for me, even though he's a tad over 3 BB/9. Perhaps in Petco i may pass on him, but in a neutral or hitters park I won't hesitate to use him...
I think what flies under the radar a lot is how much are you spending on your pitching? Do you have a $/IP in mind? In an open league, I can build a darn good staff for under $27K/IP. Now I might spend north of that for 1 or 2 starters, and a few relievers, but I try to stay under a certain number overall. It is because I want to be able to afford an offense that will produce enough runs. And I don't need to spend 55-60% of my money on pitching. Not even close...
$32k per IP x 1,250 innings =$40k
In an OL i can stay WAY under that. That gives me tons of cap space to put a very good offense out there...and not a whole lot of that is paying for great range...
As far as a closer goes, I don't see the need for a $50K/IP closer. At $255M, money isn't a concern, so get a bunch of them. In any other league I say spend your money elsewhere ...until I get near the higher caps, I can do just fine closing with Bystrom, Roger Mason or Rasmussen. Shop under $35k/ip. 2014 Huston Street is just one of many available. ..
I certainly look at $/IP but I put my own twist on it. I use the spreadsheets (this started because I just find Excel easier to filter by my parameters than the site search tool) and I sort by ($/ip)*ERC# (likewise I use ($/PA)*RC27# for offense). I don't have a specific target in mind for this metric, but I think there is good value in paying up for a closer and a setup guy or two that will serve in high leverage spots. A Mike Adams or Jeff Manship type (studs but any filter) is usually great for me in setup, and I love George Dumont for the 9th (higher bb but 0 HR and low oav). my other relievers are still good but I don't reach nearly as much for them $-wise. ($/ip)*erc# is my starting point and then I play with the peripherals depending on my park and the role I envision each guy in. My whole team is very specialized which can hurt (especially early in seasons when relievers tire easily...a reason I may have a few early TOC flame-outs) and they aren't all plug-and-pkay into every situation, but overall it seems to work well.
The $/range component is something I've tried to figure out but it's still a work in progress. I always have A+ range Steve Evans and Dummy Hoy but that's more a function of their offense. I'll do some work on paying for range vs paying for OAV in hitters' parks. Philosophically I try to get both, but haven't figured out the #'s yet to see where the better value is and typically defer to OAV, which might be wrong. This is a great point you've made about reverse-engineering OAV# without costing you $/ip.
This is all great stuff guys - I'm still relatively new (<20 full season teams) and mostly stick to OLs but I'm starting to branch out. It's a learning process and varying the league parameters can teach you a lot. I've cooked up a good recipe for OLs but only time will tell if the strategies hold true at higher $ caps.