Just finished up my first season and loved it and I'm looking forward to diving in again. I did well, lost the WS (granted there were a lot of us first timers in that league, so it's not a true open league) but the one thing I think I need to work on before I draft a second team is bullpen construction. I went through the newbie threads and ended up going with a 3 man rotation (Catfish Hunter 72, Juan Marichal 69 and Vida Blue 76). I got 1001 innings from them, which seems great to me, but my pen usage was a mess. I used my 2 AAA players as pen arms and 6 other arms. Until I started paying a high cost using the waiver wire to get some people with over 60 innings pitched that seasons, I was finding that my guys were very often fatigued and getting abused. I remember from the newbie thread to look for a 40-50 inning closer, but what would you suggest I look for in set up arms and long relief? Should I be using a spot 4th starter or a tandem 4th starters to try to lengthen out the pen a bit?

I am not expert by any means, you have already been in more World Series than. Me. I usually go with 4 real starters, a mop up- (low cost, bad, but lots of IP) 2 long relievers around 100 innings apiece, then 4 or 5 short men.


i want my mop up.to absorb as many innings as possible when I m getting beat.

Having a reliever or two that has a decent IP/G that can spot start is an asset. Looks like you will need 300 innings or a bit more. There is no one right answer as to how many innings each guy needs to have. Sometimes I pick up a few guys that can close. A '15 or '16 Rich Hill gets used a lot, as does '92 Rasmussen types. Determine what you have to spend and how many innings you need, determine an average $/IP you are willing to spend, then do your searching. Some cheap innings can be beneficial too. I stash a cheap guy like '74 Kline that can make an emergency start or do mop up.

Look for value. You don't need a $4-5M closer...

Posted by DoctorKz on 6/22/2020 12:22:00 PM (view original):
Having a reliever or two that has a decent IP/G that can spot start is an asset. Looks like you will need 300 innings or a bit more. There is no one right answer as to how many innings each guy needs to have. Sometimes I pick up a few guys that can close. A '15 or '16 Rich Hill gets used a lot, as does '92 Rasmussen types. Determine what you have to spend and how many innings you need, determine an average $/IP you are willing to spend, then do your searching. Some cheap innings can be beneficial too. I stash a cheap guy like '74 Kline that can make an emergency start or do mop up.

Look for value. You don't need a $4-5M closer...

Heck, my closers are rarely over $2m

Posted by chargingryno on 6/22/2020 12:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by DoctorKz on 6/22/2020 12:22:00 PM (view original):
Having a reliever or two that has a decent IP/G that can spot start is an asset. Looks like you will need 300 innings or a bit more. There is no one right answer as to how many innings each guy needs to have. Sometimes I pick up a few guys that can close. A '15 or '16 Rich Hill gets used a lot, as does '92 Rasmussen types. Determine what you have to spend and how many innings you need, determine an average $/IP you are willing to spend, then do your searching. Some cheap innings can be beneficial too. I stash a cheap guy like '74 Kline that can make an emergency start or do mop up.

Look for value. You don't need a $4-5M closer...

Heck, my closers are rarely over $2m

I use '99 Kid Carsey more often than not... generally get 40 IP of sub 2.00 ERA for less than $1m

My point was simply to not overspend...

Yeah budgeting is something else entirely that I think I can figure out, just haven’t found the sweet spot
for general rule of how many innings you should be looking at for your set up guys

Posted by Mikemarino1 on 6/22/2020 1:41:00 PM (view original):
Yeah budgeting is something else entirely that I think I can figure out, just haven’t found the sweet spot
for general rule of how many innings you should be looking at for your set up guys

As a general rule of thumb, you should use a consistent $/IP for your whole pitching staff. Or at least a consistent range. I'm different than most on here in that I don't worry about role almost at all, I just focus on drafting the right amount of IP within my budget and stat parameters. I can use PC settings to get proper use out of them regardless of role.

Posted by just4me on 6/22/2020 2:00:00 PM (view original):

Posted by Mikemarino1 on 6/22/2020 1:41:00 PM (view original):
Yeah budgeting is something else entirely that I think I can figure out, just haven’t found the sweet spot
for general rule of how many innings you should be looking at for your set up guys

As a general rule of thumb, you should use a consistent $/IP for your whole pitching staff. Or at least a consistent range. I'm different than most on here in that I don't worry about role almost at all, I just focus on drafting the right amount of IP within my budget and stat parameters. I can use PC settings to get proper use out of them regardless of role.

Oh that's great advice I hadn't thought about! Thank you, that's a really helpful idea I never would've considered.

The biggest thing I haven't seen mentioned here is to watch out for IP/G. Guys with less than 1 IP/G can be tough to manage. If you have too many guys with really short IP/G, it's easy to run through a bunch of them in one game and end up with a whole bullpen that is fatigued--especially if your starter gets pulled early. This is why the quality short-time starters (guys with 5+ IP/G, but less than 100 IP) are pretty popular. They are flexible and can play any role you need - spot starter, long relief, setup, or closer.

True dat

I like the 65 inning Rigney when I can afford him.

1992 Dennis Rasmussen has to be on every team you create. He is money!!

My favorite closer is 1987 Dave Smith. High K/9, very low OAV, WHIP, and ERA, but most importantly, didn't allow any HR's. Salary just under $3 million for 60 IP.