Durham Bulls - 15-37 (5-20 at home and 10-17 on the road) - Minor Leagues


I picked this team up last season and I am having a terrible time trying to figure out what to do for this season. I have several pitchers that apparently think a high ERA is good and no immediate fix to solve that problem. This team is giving up more runs per game than any other in the league - and being a league that seems to have weak pitchers and lots of offense, that is bad.

I have what I think is a good long term strategy - collect high gb/fb pitchers and focus on defensive guys with high contact. This draft I have the #1 and #19 picks coming my way, so I want to keep my $11 mil I have in prospect for that. I'm even contemplating shooting for an aggressive first pick that may not sign, in order to roll it over to a #2 pick next season - giving me #1 and #2 in a hopefully better draft. Along with that I have two potential Type A's leaving that don't fit my strategy. The draft prospects this season are somewhat weak for what I need - and if I could have 4 first round picks next season I feel like I could maximize the number of guys that hit the majors at one time and turn this team around.

My question for all of you is this: what do I do about this season? I am well on my way to 120 losses and seeing as that is unacceptable in my book - I need to fix it somehow.

Any ideas?

I'd go with mashers and defense in Durham. Mashers to take advantage of the 3/4 HR rating. And defense to cut back on the hits that stay in the park. You could probably acquire the 90/90 power/eye guys with 40 splits to play in the corners and big D players who don't hit much to play the CF/MIF. That's not ideal but, 1/3 of the way thru the season, you aren't getting good players all around on the cheap.

Offset the terrible pitching with more offense?

My initial thought so far is the opposite of that - try to reign in the pitching and hope the offense produces.

You aren't going to get good pitching this deep into the season. So, the only way to go, is to get what people will give up. Owners will give up mashers with poor splits and good defenders who can't hit. Both would work well in Durham. Next season, go after pitchers who don't give up walks or homers. They're going to get hit in Durham but you want to give your fielders a chance to catch them.

You could do a lot to tighten up your defense which would help a bit on the runs allowed. If you move your SS Dawkins to 3b, move your 3b to RF, your back up 2b Sable to LF, and the LF to 1b, you would improve your defense at 4 positions, especially if Larry Walker is playing SS every day. Having an above average defense would be a good start.

Then, I'd agree with what Mike said. Try to make incremental improvements at any position, but focus on pitching.

I've had some success in parks like Hartford and Durham.

First, a focus on defense to take away hits. High OBP offensive approach because everyone can hit homers in a tard park and a preference for RH pull hitters (when appropriate) with good RH split.

Groundball, and/or strikeout pitchers - the hardest thing to find. Guys who can strike guys out but have a gb/fb of 50 or below give up too many homers to be effective - better to have soft-tossing junk ballers and let the defense work.