$80 Mil - Bernhard & Career Years ... Kinda
With the lower cap and the tight restrictions, I kept the strategy relatively simple: Value, OBP for hitting, WHIP and low HR/9 for pitching. Could not afford much power or speed (Mitchell Page is my leadr in both), and 4 mopup pitchers will make maintaining the pitching staff very interesting. My pitching goal was at least 1400 IP. Bernhard was my obvious choice as my stud SP. Dennis Martinez is responsible for nearly a third of my HR given up in RL.
1421 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 39 HRs
5714 PA's, .297/.391/.431, 84 HRs
$90 Mil - Deadball & No D
Considering the theme involves no fielding, I went for range while maintaining my OBP philosophy. I tend to think that deadball pitching has better value, which is required under this salary cap. I avoided power hitters as much as possible, and picked a ballpark that further suppresses HR's. I added Cangelosi and Moreno just to keep C's honest with the SB potential. The lineup feels like singles and triples will be their thing. I kept HR in LF slightly more even just in case Cravath and Weeks can do some damage vs modern day pitchers. I am just now noticing that with deadball pitching, RP seems to be weaker. We'll see.
1482 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 36 HR's
5961 PA's, .297/.399/.425, 72 HR's
$110 Mil - Hitmen Shift 2
At this cap, I adjusted my hitting strategy just a bit: I went for as much switch-hitters as possible. Seeking only switch-hitters for hitting and my usual picks for P's, I just made a list of possible hitter seasons I liked, and marked what the ideal X would be for a second season. It turned out that X=2 came up more than even X=1, so I went with it. The third SP spot was the toughest to come up with. I am hoping I can use a lesser Mike Scott season for now, and keep his stud season for the second round. 2 stud deadball SP's and mostly modern day RP's. The lineup contains 8 switch-hitters and Eddie collins, meaning more HR potential. My main SB guy is mopup OF Otis Nixon, at least for Season 1. I needed a ballpark to keep hitting down since my IP are lower than ideal. Fortunately, Chipper Jones gave me access to Turner Field.
6128 PA's, .309/.412/.482, 168 HR's
1427 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 48 HR's
$120 Mil - Hitmen ... And Furcal
Well, this theme is basically a handful of studs, then the equivalent of a $70 millon roster. In picking my pitchers, I basically just went with as many IP as I could get, I think. Joss/Toney/Uehara give me 430 of them. Toney may have been because he was the cheapest of the setup guys available as well. I picked Furcal because I generally have a tougher time getting SS anyways, so might as well use my cash on a speed/D guy there. I think I originally had Nap as my stud hitter, but changed my mind when I found a cheap enough Eddie Collins I liked. Cobb fills the CF slot, and allows me to find value hitting at the corner OF's. I'm pretty sure it was here where I realized my C's always suck in the SIM, so I might as well go with a cheap switch-hitter in Schang. Picked a pitcher-friendly ballpark due to the relatively low IP.
5865 PA's, .306/.404/.437, 73 HR's, 5 SB threats on the roster
1403 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 28 HR
$140 Mil – Twin Indian Cubs
This theme, I just made a list of all potential starters for all teams, trying to find at least close to $40 in options. The SP made things easier. The Indians gave me Joss and Bernhard. The Cubs gave me Mordecai and Arrieta. The Twins gave me Walter Johnson. (Once I crunched numbers, Joss and Bernhard were out, Kluber in). The only other real pitching option I liked was Mathewson and Walsh, but the Giants and White Sox really didn't give me any considerable hitting I liked. Checking combinations for the hitting lineup, my trio gave me the best overall blend with Delahanty at 1B, Nap at 2B, Boudreau at SS, Mauer at C, and an OF of Sheckard/Speaker/Hofman. 3B is covered by Steinfeldt, who is ok, and helps get the Cubs salary over $40 million. I'm pretty sure for the bullpen and bench, I only needed to cover salary for the Twins. Nathan/Thielbar/Reboulet/Bush helped clinch my $40 million. The only real speed is on my bench. With no real power to speak of, Target Field was the obvious choice. Hopefully the extra doubles and triples do not tire out my pitching too quick. Riding the line with innings again, with 2 mopup guys. Kluber's HR/9 will be a real test.
6161 PA's, .331/.417/.474, 71 HR's
1445 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 56 HR's
Variable: National Martini Day, #171
My final strategies were: A) Get as many elite hitters with 400-500 PA's as possible, and B) As few SP's as possible, with a ton of RP's. For hitting, I only took 3 full timers (Cobb/Speaker/Wagner) to potentially take the top 3 spots in the lineup. Keeping HR's low helped creating value, and rostered 8 players with between 350-500 PA's to mix and match. The only real HR threat is the 411 PA Ted Williams. Speed is minimal. For SP, Silver King and Walter Johnson gives me over 1000 stud IP. The only other pitchers with RL starts are the 149 IP Kershaw and my mopup guy, Harry Weaver. The innings and quality is fine. My concern is I honestly don't know how to set this rotation without alot of mixing and matching. I might tandem Johnson and Kershaw. I might start King every game for 4-5 IP. I have a little more studying to do before this league starts.
6631 PA's, .354/.439/.555, 163 HR's
1650 IP, 0.82 WHIP, 38 HR