My Hartford team is currently hovering around .500 thanks to an above average offense, capable defense and below average pitching and is tied for the division lead with about 50 games to go. Since we are hovering around .500, I find it very doubtful that we will get a Wild Card spot and therefore my focus is going to be on the division title.

Obviously, I'd like to improve the below average pitching if the opportunity presents itself, but my real question is how soon is too soon to start treating this like a playoff race? Do I go full playoff mode now? Wait until Roster Expansion? Wait a little longer than Roster Expansion? Is there a one size fits all answer to this question or is it another one of the case-by-case things? Thanks in advance for your help!

It is a case-by-case basis because it depends on the standings. As of this moment (110 games), you are tied with torrone (I'm sure he will collapse, lol) and 3 games up on the third-place team. You can afford to wait a bit longer (maybe until around Game 130) before committing to playoff mode. You can't afford to fall more than a couple games behind, though. If the third-place team goes on a run to make it a three-way battle, then I would shift into playoff mode.

Of course, you can go for it now, hope to pull away and then hang on. Depends on how you can improve your circumstances.

My thought has always been if you have a chance to go for it....go for it. After looking at your roster.....I don't think I would go for it. I definitely wouldn't trade good prospects to try to make a run. If you somehow manage to squeak into the playoffs, you team just isn't set up to do much. I would almost argue your offense isn't as good as you would expect since you are playing in a hitters park. I would think you should be closer to 250-300 hr for the season in Hartford if your offense is humming.

Posted by bigbucks07 on 11/21/2021 8:49:00 AM (view original):
My thought has always been if you have a chance to go for it....go for it. After looking at your roster.....I don't think I would go for it. I definitely wouldn't trade good prospects to try to make a run. If you somehow manage to squeak into the playoffs, you team just isn't set up to do much. I would almost argue your offense isn't as good as you would expect since you are playing in a hitters park. I would think you should be closer to 250-300 hr for the season in Hartford if your offense is humming.

I guess I should clarify a bit: what I meant by "going into playoff mode" was to start doing things like not worrying about resting the better players, micromanaging player settings etc. rather than making a big splash via trade or other such roster moves. In other words, at what point in the season do you start making the best of the hand that you're dealt rather than trying to get new cards?