Just wondering what others think would be the best strategy (If you don't want to answer bc you think I should figure out my own strategy then I understand but i'm just curious as to what others would do/have done).  So anyways with all my teams I just about always draft 88' Milacki and 87' McDowell.  Here are the things I've done with them, just wondering what others think is the best use for them....

1.  Since they have limited IP but are usually very good, i'll set one as Closer A and the other as Closer B.
2.  I'll have someone like a Joey Devine type or Mike Adams type as my Closer A and then set them (Milacki/McDowell) Both as Closer B limiting their IP that way to use them as spot starters in big games.
3.  Have them on my bench all the way up until the playoffs then use them as needed.
4.  Use them as normal Set up guys. 

Here was an idea, use them both early in the season as starters and as soon as they hit the 30IP mark, drop them both and with the 2.2m they will give me pick someone up off the waiver wire.   

Ok so have at it....I know the Milacki is a favorite of many...what are some others ideas or are there ones that I haven't even thought of?

Also are there any other pitchers like those 2 that are out there w/ the low IP but shut down status as starters? (Now that question, I can def. see people not wanting to answer)

Thanx ahead of time for any answers...

Here was an idea, use them both early in the season as starters and as soon as they hit the 30IP mark, drop them both and with the 2.2m they will give me pick someone up off the waiver wire.   

Fatigue doesn't work that way; it's incremental, game to game.  If you gave either of those pitchers a start early on, you'd be using up about a quarter of their pitch allotment for the entire season -- meaning they wouldn't get to 100% again until around the 40th game.  If you gave them another start at that point, you wouldn't get them to 100% again until maybe the all-star break.  Etc.

I don't often draft pitchers with so few innings, but when I have a Milacki-type he almost never sees action except against division rivals (and, when warranted, wild card rivals).
 
As for saving them for the playoffs, you can no longer "bank" a lot of innings from those guys for the post-season.  That's been amended so that pitchers who are underused automatically go up to 95% of their season pitch allotment. 
 
Also are there any other pitchers like those 2 that are out there w/ the low IP but shut down status as starters? (Now that question, I can def. see people not wanting to answer)

Easy enough to find out in the draft center.  For example, use the parameters 25-30 IP, 5 IP/G, and search by ERC#.

i've used both of them (using up their 25-30 ip) prior to the transaction deadline.  They aren't always pitching at 100percent obviously but I have come to notice that i can pitch most good pitchers at anywhere from 100 (obviously) to 82 percent and still be fairly successful.  

I actually have a Milacki right now who's thrown 31IP and is back up to 88percent....

It's pitches that determine pitcher fatigue, not IP. 

But still -- 31 IP and 88%, and not yet at the transaction deadline?  Do you have a link?

The last post I didn't mean it was before the deadline, its right before the playoffs...sorry if that was unclear

If you used Adams/Devine, and Milacki and McDowelll as closers, you'd be spending more than necessary to have good closing. For that strategy, I'd just have Adams and one of Milacki/McDowell. One or the other would be available for closing most of the time, and you can manage them when needed for best effect.

I think using either of those guys a lot early in the season is pretty much a waste of good pitching because div races are often decided AFTER the transaction deadline.  And a lot of times, given enough time and opportunity, some owners will panic and spend themselves out of a race via the WW.  And in accord with what Crazystengel noted, when I drafted Milacki and/or Blackjack, they get very little action prior to the deadline, inasmuch that I usually draft 2 $1mil guys to close for me such as 06 Wickman, etc.  IMO, Milacki and McDowell's maximum value is at the end of the season and the playoffs, which is what I draft them for.

Posted by mixtroy on 6/23/2011 1:13:00 PM (view original):
I think using either of those guys a lot early in the season is pretty much a waste of good pitching because div races are often decided AFTER the transaction deadline.  And a lot of times, given enough time and opportunity, some owners will panic and spend themselves out of a race via the WW.  And in accord with what Crazystengel noted, when I drafted Milacki and/or Blackjack, they get very little action prior to the deadline, inasmuch that I usually draft 2 $1mil guys to close for me such as 06 Wickman, etc.  IMO, Milacki and McDowell's maximum value is at the end of the season and the playoffs, which is what I draft them for.

This is a common but fallacious argument.  Obviously the race is ultimately decided at the end of the season, but if you have one more win early in the season you need one less win to clinch.  A win is a win is a win in the standings, and when it comes isn't really relevant.  Who it comes against is obviously important.  But a win early in the season against a close divisional opponent is more valuable to you in the standings than a win late in the season against a non-divisional opponent, even if that late-season win feels more important as the race comes down to the wire.

Respectfully speaking, I think it all depends on the particular owner's strategy. Picture a jockey in a horserace where his horse is the favorite, or one of the favorites. He doesn't always go for the early lead and try to stay there from start to finish, because a lot of times, he'll burn the hourse out and will have nothing left for the stretch run. Instead, he'll hang back and stay within striking distance and see how things develop during the course of the race. And as the race gets closer and closer to the end, you'll see him make his move.

That's the approach that I take in leagues that I join.  Aside from throwing the first 2-3 games to take a little sting out of  the early season dampening factor, I tend to hang back a little by using my backups and AAA guys a lot at the beginning, which means that my teams are often middle of the pack types until about the 30th game or so when I start playing my regulars everyday. This way, at the end of the season when potential playoff teams are running out lineups where everybody is in the low 90s or less, my guys are at 100% which allows me to push them if need be, and I'd want guys like Milacki and McDowell at full strength (and preferably underused) down the stretch. 

But again, I think it varies depending on the owner's strategy and how he (or her) goes about the regular season.  But me, personally, I manage my teams with an eye to the postseason and having my bread and butter guys at 100% when the that time comes.