Bribar,

Although I understand your frustration, there is nothing illegal about using such strategies. And in RL, teams do similar things all the time. Compare the Sunday day game line-up following a Saturday night game. Teams have to rest players in RL,and obviously we know how many PA/IP we get out of them going in. So if you are going to play a lesser player...what's wrong with playing all of your lesser players at once...get it out of the way.  Think of it as having all your wisdom teeth pulled at once rather than spreading it out over four trips to the dentist.  How many ML teams throw AAA pitchers into an emergency start over the course of a year? Are they tanking? Of course not.

No argument from me that the sim is need of an overhaul...but calling out Schwarze for using a strategy that is open to all of us??? And I am not sure why the color of his hair is relevant to the discussion...he might be bald for all I know   :-)

I agree wholeheartedly with seamar.  While I respect your position on the issue, the truth of the matter is that so-called "game throwing" is, has been, and will always be, part of this game, and I see nothing wrong with owners running out $200k pitchers.  Whether out of necessity or simply to rest their starters, it's their team and can run it however they see fit. Me personally, I ALWAYS use a $200K scrub for the first game of the season, and sometimes two or three times in the first five games due to the 'damp' factor which, as we all know, can ruin your pitching staff at the start of a season.

There's a big difference in starting 200k pitchers set to a proper pitch count versus starting a 200k pitcher who is in the red (fatigue), and/or setting it up to where he throws 260 pitches.  With anyone who ranks realism at the top of the list of what they want to get out of this game, starting 200k pitchers a handful of times a season (with the previously mentioned caveats) isn't unrealistic.  

First and foremost, this is a computer game and not real baseball; ergo, there will always be loopholes to be exploited.  That's one of the first hard lessons of WIS.  With that as a given, many owners have responded by exploiting those loopholes (I've done so at times, my favorite being the 1894 Pitching Glitch that enabled me to win a couple WS with a $13m pitching staff).  Others have responded by forming theme leagues specifically designed to prohibit use of the loopholes.  I choose neither to castigate those who play the game as it is written, nor laud those who eschew exploitation of loopholes.  Rather, I seek out leagues that reflect the way I prefer to play the game.

Fair points Bribar. Is there anyone who does not want to see the Sim updated? I assume that the council and TZ and the rest would love to see it happen too. I imagine that this is an issue further up the corporate ladder about allocation of resources. But as pinotfan said, find leagues that discourage that strategy. I am in a couple of progs in which we use a draft formula in which losing is never an advantage.

There's also a BIG difference between using burnt out $200K scrubs as starting pitchers on a regular basis and using them out of necessity.  As I previously mentioned, I only use the within the first 5 games of the season, and then only as mopups (sometimes) and as a one-time starter (and immediately cut) if extra inning games have wrecked my bullpen and it needs a game of complete rest.    

I understand your concern Bribar and also see your point to the entire game throwing strategy, however I'm not sure that what schwarze is doing is intentional to the point that he is trying to help 1 team over another. It is probably more coincidence than anything that it involves those teams. My guess is it is being done at a time to benefit his team verses helping or hurting other teams. I am in agreement with you that I don't like seeing it done but is it any different than someone who wins their division with say 10 games left in the season and then they rest some of their major players during those last 10 games to get them to 100% for the playoffs? Really, anytime you don't put your best players in the lineup everyday you could be accused of throwing games.

i agree completely with bheid408 in this game like real life you have to throw a few games, recently i was playing my mentor cwillis802 and i never want to use a scrub against him of all people but gibson was at 90/91 i was 7 games up with about 15 to play and gibson needed to rest.  i had to throw a scrub with a none pitch count and i pulled his PH and PR settings, and i rested gibson again 10 games later so my team could get ready for the playoffs

And btw...I wouldn't necessarily call it "throwing games" when an owner uses inferior pitchers or hitters to start games.  It's just that their chances of winning that particular game are vastly decreased.  However, those $200K pitchers sometimes WIN games, and sometimes even throw COMPLETE games in doing so. So when that happens, can it be said that the owner tried to "throw" the game?  It sounds like your beef is only when the team with the $200K pitcher LOSES, or loses to teams that you may be in competition with.  And just as we all know, sometimes real life major league managers out of necessity have to start a AAA pitcher whom they KNOW really has very little chance of winning the game.

Is that really that much different than starting a $200K pitcher?

I notice you made reference to owners "underdrafting" IP.  Well, most successful owners draft the bare minimum of 1,200 IP for OLs, and that certainly doens't mean that they "underdrafted".  Sometimes you run into a stretch where you have several extra inning games in a short period of time which can definitely cause severe fatigue on your pitching staff.  And most times, when that happens, you have to start a AAA pitcher or a $200K scrub to allow your regulars to get back to 100%.  If you don't do that, your pitching staff will be ruined for the rest of the season.

A few years I had an owner blast me for resting my starters at the end of the season, which impacted the wild card race he was in. I did a little digging and noticed that HE had thrown away a series at the beginning of the season to the same owner who was currently beating him in the wild card race. People are funny that way.