I have played only two OL seasons, with one season done and one halfway through. I signed up for a theme league for newbies for my 3rd team.

The league has a $120M cap, with 12-4 AAA players average level.

My questions have to do with PA and IP to draft. It is very hard to gauge as a new player the appropriate amount.

I know that with a higher cap, the talent will be better across the board. So does that average out, and therefore affect pitchers and hitters evenly and keep PA/IP about the same? Or do you need to plan for more than usual of one or both?

Also, I only expect to get bench/mop up/spot starts out of the AAA players, but they will still play an important role in the calculation.

My current roster has 1291 IP and 5635 PA. Any guidance on whether those are on target would be helpful to a new player trying to figure out how to plan for a first go at a theme league. Thanks!
12/18/2016 4:43 PM
You probably don't want to rely on random AAA players for much. There is a thread about AAA players in the forums.

1291 probably isn't enough IP at 120m, particularly if that includes the $200k players that you are going to swap out with AAA guys. But there are a lot of variables (e.g., ballparks, fielding, how well everyone else drafted, how effectively you can actually use the IP). It may be better to be safe than sorry, as one of the easiest ways to lose a lot of games is to end up in the pitching fatigue death spiral of doom. I think that is probably heaps of PA.
12/18/2016 9:22 PM
I say get at least 1400 IP even with the mopup
12/19/2016 12:18 AM
Ignore the AAA. At 120M, Average AAA won't do much except take up space.
12/19/2016 12:25 AM
No DH right? You can swap out some of your PA's (which are excessive) and upgrade your staff and remaining position players. Use your AAA PA's to fill in frequently low in the order. Get 1375 quality IPs
12/19/2016 1:12 AM
Thank you all for the advice. I'll work on the IP. Now just have to figure out where to cut down the PA ... and how much.

Got it at 1356 IP and 5490 PA with a roster I'm happy with ... But it seems I'm still a bit off.
12/19/2016 2:36 AM (edited)
I disagree that AAA should be ignored, using the best of them for a few hundred PA is worth it for the upgraded players you can afford and you'll have a better playoff team. AAA pitching will probably be terrible but it will save you a couple roster spots.
The higher the cap the more innings you need because you'll be facing tougher hitters.The same is not true for hitters until you get into the mega-high caps. In general you need 1450-1480 IP at $120M no DH depending on ballpark choice and team makeup. not including triple AAA. Having AAA allows you to skip a mopup and to cut it close with total IP because you have somebody available to burn a couple spot starts if needed and 1 out of 4 may even be usable at Long B so 1400ip might be more than enough. Also consider the level of competition. If it's a rookie league you'll probably be facing some weak teams, requiring a few less IP and few more PA.
12/19/2016 2:25 AM (edited)
Posted by redcped on 12/19/2016 2:36:00 AM (view original):
Thank you all for the advice. I'll work on the IP. Now just have to figure out where to cut down the PA ... and how much.

Got it at 1356 IP and 5490 PA with a roster I'm happy with ... But it seems I'm still a bit off.
I think you still need more quality IPs at $120m... 1375 will translate to ~1500 with the 10% kicker, but at this cap level you'll be facing quality hitting and that's where you'll need your presumably awful AAA guys to get rocked around occasionally. IMO, you don't want your staff to pitch too far under 100% Meanwhile, and to reiterate with I said earlier and rbow agrees with, DO NOT disregard the AAA bench strength. I would still be drafting far fewer PAs (again, presuming no DH slot) than 5490. I'm also willing to use quality hitters down to about 95% fatigue level. It may impact their fielding a bit, but the general consensus among experienced players is hitting doesn't drop off appreciably. Even if you want to be 100% all the time, you can do so by subbing in AAA here and there. After all, you'd only be doing so on a relatively infrequent basis for one low level batting spot per game.

If you want to site mail me your prospective roster (player year and name and what defensive position they'll be playing), I can offer better alternatives.
12/19/2016 1:04 PM
Listen to him, he's a Red Wings fan. He's smart
12/19/2016 4:30 PM
OK. I mostly used very durable hitters, so I'll try to find similar production with fewer ABs and then upgrade a couple pitching spots to try to get at least to 1425 and maybe higher on the IP.

Thanks for the feedback!
12/19/2016 8:00 PM

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