Hi all, I expected this team to be slightly above .500 or so, and they are 10 games under .500 as the season draws to a close. The expected win (advanced standings) is .472, but I'm seeking advice- how good do you think this team should have been? Were my expectations unrealistic? What is the biggest flaw?

Thanks for any and all help!

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/FranchiseRatings.aspx?fid=1489

Without looking at ratings, only looking at stats, the first thing that jumps out as a huge problem is the fact that you're playing in a strong hitters park (Coors), and you've been out-homered at home by a 139-111 margin. If you're going to be playing in an extreme park, you need those kinds of stats to be in your favor.

At a glance, SS/3B are bad defensively and your defense is suspect overall(you have to be near the league bottom in errors). If you weren't in Colorado, you offense would be suspect with only two hitters above 70 VR. Your pitching looks like it would be around league average anywhere but a heavy hitter's park and would benefit greatly from a better D.

So, if you intend to stay in Colorado, you can probably get way with the offense you have. But you're going to have to greatly improve the D(less errors, more + plays) and upgrade your SP. Otherwise, you're probably looking a string of 85-90 loss seasons.

Thanks guys, much appreciated insights!

That was all doom and gloom. You don't need a complete overhaul just some tweaks. Could be as simple as finding a legit SS and moving the others around to downgraded positions. But you do need to work on pitching. You really can't give up 139 homers at home regardless of the field.

No one liked defense for some reason in most leagues. Look for a gold glove type SS (very very high 80's to low 90's across the board). Don't even look at the hitting ratings and start him every game. Easy way to make a noticeable difference. Surprisingly you can usually sign these guys for <5 million or get them in a trade for a couple of mid round picks.

If you can get 2 of those type of guys, get 2. Having an extra one on the bench as a defensive replacement can be really helpful. You'll find your bullpen will blow less games when one of these guys comes in for the 8th or the 9th.

Everyone thinks they need more hitting. (They do.) But the most expensive thing to buy - in trade, IFA, or in losses to get top draft picks - is great hitting. Defense is much cheaper to buy and draft.

my short answer is that your team simply isn't as good as you think, you have lots of flaws and weak links.

longer answer--
pitching: as a team,

.291

.348

.476

1.52

5.38

That's not going to get it done. Of your 7 pitchers with 100+ IP, 6 have ERAs 4.50 or higher, three have ERAs 6.50 or higher. Elevate the pull rating for all your SPs to 4 (Charlton and Alexander can be 3) and elevate all your RP pull ratings to 5. Roster 14 pitchers instead of 12. This gives simmy the opportunity to play LvL and RvR more frequently in key spots and saves runs over the long haul. Don't use a ClA, set your best 2-3 relievers to SuA

defense: 67-28 ratio, .983%
Your only 3 players consistently generating + plays are your 1B LF and CF. CF defense is super important but you're going to want to see if you can find guys who will consistently save runs at all 7 positions (P and C don't really generate + plays). Your SS 3B RF and 2B are all generating - plays, I think you're actually getting a few of the +/- where they make errors on the same play as a + ...
Wallace is useless, bench him. Spehr should probably be on the bench too esp vRHP. Good shortstops (85-85-90-90 with a .700+ OPS) can be quite hard to acquire.
Playing the incorrect defensive alignment is losing you games. Alonso would be best at 2B, Costilla would be best in LF, Bernadina would be best at 1B, Fister would be best at RF, you don't really have a true 3B on your roster at all. By trading away a few of Alonso's plus plays in LF, you're erasing the negative plays at three other positions. And Costilla will still get his share of + plays in LF himself so it's not a huge loss. Those runs seriously add up,

offense:

.291

.351

.460

.811

Is actually quite good, I can't say too many bad things about that. 80 caught stealings is probably way too many, maybe consider stealing less aggressively. At coors you can afford to play more station-to-station because your hitters are so productive on their own, you don't really have to manufacture like you would in a cave like Seattle

Posted by pjfoster13 on 1/4/2017 5:25:00 PM (view original):
my short answer is that your team simply isn't as good as you think, you have lots of flaws and weak links.

longer answer--
pitching: as a team,

.291

.348

.476

1.52

5.38

That's not going to get it done. Of your 7 pitchers with 100+ IP, 6 have ERAs 4.50 or higher, three have ERAs 6.50 or higher. Elevate the pull rating for all your SPs to 4 (Charlton and Alexander can be 3) and elevate all your RP pull ratings to 5. Roster 14 pitchers instead of 12. This gives simmy the opportunity to play LvL and RvR more frequently in key spots and saves runs over the long haul. Don't use a ClA, set your best 2-3 relievers to SuA

defense: 67-28 ratio, .983%
Your only 3 players consistently generating + plays are your 1B LF and CF. CF defense is super important but you're going to want to see if you can find guys who will consistently save runs at all 7 positions (P and C don't really generate + plays). Your SS 3B RF and 2B are all generating - plays, I think you're actually getting a few of the +/- where they make errors on the same play as a + ...
Wallace is useless, bench him. Spehr should probably be on the bench too esp vRHP. Good shortstops (85-85-90-90 with a .700+ OPS) can be quite hard to acquire.
Playing the incorrect defensive alignment is losing you games. Alonso would be best at 2B, Costilla would be best in LF, Bernadina would be best at 1B, Fister would be best at RF, you don't really have a true 3B on your roster at all. By trading away a few of Alonso's plus plays in LF, you're erasing the negative plays at three other positions. And Costilla will still get his share of + plays in LF himself so it's not a huge loss. Those runs seriously add up,

offense:

.291

.351

.460

.811

Is actually quite good, I can't say too many bad things about that. 80 caught stealings is probably way too many, maybe consider stealing less aggressively. At coors you can afford to play more station-to-station because your hitters are so productive on their own, you don't really have to manufacture like you would in a cave like Seattle

Thank you for the feedback! Very appreciated.

I can explain more poor logic (not defending it, just making it clear so others hopefully don't do the same thing)- but it is clearly flawed as I'm finding. I was working hard to shield DUR (Alonso was playing left because of his 78), and Fister is playing 3B because as you said, I don't really have one. I finally used a closer halfway through the season because the pitching was so bad, just trying anything different.

My thoughts with this team are still pure rebuild (IMO, which may be wrong, this team was a dumpster fire when I took it over midseason, I still have something like 25 million this season and next tied up in minor leaguers/released guys from the previous owner.) The pitching is developing in the minors, so most of these guys are stop-gap type guys. I will try to build a bigger pen next season and get the guys out quicker. (I know how to use pitchers is the part of the game I understand the least)

Last question- you mention true 3B- in general, would you sacrifice hitting for defense at 3B? (Of course, the goal it so find a guy who can do both)

(thanks again to all of you for your time)

If you can, your corners should hit (1B, 3B, LF, RF) then your middle should be defense first (2B, CF, SS). I hate 3B because I never feel like I have a guy that I like there. I'll usually run a field of at least 3 guys who can play SS, the worst of the 3 goes to 3B. Unfortunately, a lot of the guys who play this position will be SS dropouts with a decent bat that ask for 7+ million in salary in my opinion. You could play Spehr there currently, but the bat really isn't what you want.

Also, if you can help it, never get rid of Stump Leetch. Wish I had a guy like that on all of my squads.

3B is usually a "swing player" for me. If I'm strong defensively but could you another bat, I go hitter. Which means I'll take a 65/72/66/64 D from him. If I have plenty of hitters, I shore up D over there with 70+ across the board.

This guy is a good example. He's never been a "quality" 3B but keeps cranking out .800 OPS on a team that needs hitting due to ballpark. He'd be better served in RF but I just haven't been able to make room.

Player Profile: Kendry Merced - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports