All - 

Anyone out there have a good formula for not only building a great bullpen, but optimizing the settings once it's created?  

For instance, should you define each player in your bullpen with a title (i.e. SetupA, Closer, LH Specialist) or should you make your best pitchers SetupA, and the rest SetupB.  

Would love to hear from the experts on how they build their Bullpens, and then how they manage them with settings.

Thanks!

My formula:
1 LRA who could fill in as a spot starter or for a long time in case of injury
3 Setup A  - the 3 best RPs I have all set available for 7th inning and pitch counts depend on Sta/Dur
1 Closer - usually a good RP with low Sta/Dur.  If no such player exists, then I won't use a closer and my 3 SuA will be closer by committee
The other 2 positions are some combination of SuB, LRB, or Mopup, depending on their splits/control and Sta/Dur.

My typical bullpen is similar to jimmystick's.

1 LRA who can double as an occasional spot starter.
4 SU relievers.  Often all set as SUA, but if one is noticibly weaker than the others, he'll be a SUB.
1 Mopup - usually the weakest of my SP/LR type pitchers; somebody who will eat innings and save the rest of my bullpen in blowouts.

If my SU relievers have an overall low STA/DUR, or I notice as the season goes by that my pen seems to be chronically fatigued (maybe my SPs don't give me as many IPs as I need), then I might have a 5th SU reliever in my pen.

Also notice that I do not use a closer.  I go with the committee approach.

As for settings . . . I start with simmy's recs and adjust as needed as the season progresses.  One consistent "override" I go with is I have the pull setting for everybody in my bullpen set to 4.

my bullpens are usually similar in that my best reliever will always be my setup a, set to 7th inning availability, with a 1 pull rating.

1 closer: my second best reliever, available in the 8th (7th with very high stam/dur)
2-3 setup b: they will be my next best relievers with availability and pitch counts depending on stam/dur (if one of them doesn't seem to be getting it done ill move him into the mopup role but, i give it until after the amateur draft before i start making any changes like that).
the rest of my guys are usually mopup

if i have 1-2 who are a cut above the mopup types and have good stam then ill put them in a long relief role but, i don't use the long relief spot much

Ditto what Mike said.  That is almost exactly how I work it, although I always have a closer.  Best reliever is always a Setup A guy, unless I have a great staff and that guy has a pitch count of 20 or less.  Then I usually close with him.

I normally do:

2-3 Long Relievers.  1 Who spot starts, 1 normally a <60 Stamina guy who is an aging vet with good other stats.

2-3 Set-up guys

1 LHS

1 Closer

I like to have everyone except my closer available from Inning 5 and on, and have their pitch count set accounting to stam / dur.

1 Spot starter. 5 Long A's. Simmy sorts it out nicely. If I have a really good guy I will set him as closer or a really not so good guy gets mop up. In my experience, it doesn't really make much of a difference as to results.

So, I had a guy that was set to mop up, but the simulator put him in when the game was tied 0-0. I had plenty of other good adequate relievers that were available and set to LRA or LRB or SUA, but the sim put in a mopup. Any ideas why?

Availability settings?

I ask because the default is 4th inning for LR, 6th for SU. Mop up is "any".

If it was the game where Slocumb came in to start the 2nd inning, I'm sure that's it. Just not sure why starter was pulled.

S. Friend	100	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	4.50
G. Slocumb, L (0-7)	100	0.1	0	1	1	1	1	0	11	4.31
J. Valentine	100	3.0	4	4	4	5	2	1	82	8.31
D. Meng	100	2.2	4	3	3	1	2	1	53	8.00
J. Erickson	97	0.2	1	2	2	1	1	0	16	6.69
D. Benitez	92	1.1	1	1	0	1	0	0	24	4.31

Sorry, I copied the game to the clipboard, but it didn't work when I tried to paste it into the body of the message.

Friend started the game, but I had him set to LRA so I could put him on a short appearance 15 pitches
Slocumb (10 pitches) and Erickson (15 pitches) were set to LRA so they would be the first to come in after Friend. They were set to Avl in any inning.
Benitez (125 pitches) was set to LRB with hopes that he would finish the game
Meng (50 pitches) was set to SuA and was put as available in the 8th inning. I was hoping that he wouldn't even be needed.
Valentine (80 pitches) was set as mopup and set as Avl in any inning.

I am experimenting at the end of the season so I can use trial and error to hopefully learn more about how the simulation works.

I am really trying to understand how the sim uses the mopup role. That way I can actually use some of the guys I called up at the end of the year. They are not good pitchers (Valentine, Friend, & Lincoln). But, I was hoping to use them in low leverage situations. I spent a lot of money on relief pitching during this current season. I am trying to prevent that next year.

For me I usually like a leftie and a rightie at each spot. So 2 Long relievers that can be a starting pitcher (as everyone has mentioned)

I'll have 2 or 3 setup A guys. Only 3 if I have 3 guys with VsL or VsR over 80. Again, at least 1 leftie. 1 rightie. The 3rd best of these guys is set to come in inning 6 or later, second best is inning 7, best is inning 8.

Then i have 3-4 setup B guys. At least 1 leftie and 1 rightie each. All set to come in at inning 6.

Now this is the big one for me. All bullpen guys on my team have a pull rating of 4 or 5.

Nothing worse then being up 3 plus runs in the 8th inning and watching 1 single guy ruin your game. With a pull rating of 4 or 5 unless something strange happens a reliever will typically give up a run or two before the new guy comes in.