$80M – The Chain
’90 Pfeffer to ‘17 Jansen
The Astrodome
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I built this team last because I wanted to get all the other teams out of the way so I could focus 100% of my efforts on this team. I started about 3 weeks before the deadline and worked a couple of hours on it every day. My strategy was to grab some A++ defenders and other offensive players from the 1800’s and early 1900’s and build my pitching staff from the modern years. This way, I could help my bad defense with modern pitching while increasing the errors from the opponents' deadball pitching. At $80M, I knew I would need to save salary so I started with 1890 Fred Pfeffer and his .319 OBP. But he’s an A+++ defender at 2B and only cost $3.7 million. He led me to my starting catcher, 1891 Duke Farrell (“A” arm, .384 obp, switch hitter). He got me a reasonably priced 1897 Bill Joyce at 3B (A+++, .441 obp for only $4.7 million). So far, so good. The next step on the chain was 1902 George Davis. He’s only a B/C fielder but I added another switch hitter with a .387 obp. I was stuck on the next pick, so I pivoted to a pinch hitter, 1908 Sammy Strang (.385 obp for 239K). This led me to two short inning SP’s that I can use in the bullpen, 1915 Hooks Wiltse and 1917 Tom Seaton. I got stuck again and needed two more scrubs (1922 Max Flack $202K & 1940 Gabby Hartnett $447K) to get me to another favorite of mine, 1945 Augie Galan (.423 obp). His $6.2 million salary makes him my most expensive hitter, but he always does well for me.
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This is the point where I first targeted a specific hitter. I wanted to add Wally Moon’s 1956 A+++ at 1B season (.390 obp). I needed two more scrubs to get this done (1952 Eddie Stanky .373 obp at $434K and 1954 Peanuts Lowry at $200K). I got 1956 Moon, and now have 6 starting batters and 2 relievers but have already burned 5 scrub spots. This is where things got tough and where I spent most of my time trying to complete the roster. Moon got me to 1964 Stu Miller, a nice reliever (1.14 whip, 97 IPs for only $2.7M). But every time I pivoted to another Baltimore Orioles player, I got stuck. I had one chain (which took many hours) that I really liked (Stu Miller, Drabowsky, Buford, J.Palmer, D.Martinez, B.Smith, R.Johnson, B.Wagner, B.Abreu…) but I ran out of salary before I could complete it. Back to the drawing board. I finally had to get off the Orioles and went with 1965 Robin Roberts (his great 0.93 whip, 76-IP Astros season). This led me to my 7th starting batter, 1967 Rusty Staub (.333/.398/.473) at a decent $5.1M salary. I still don’t have any starting pitchers yet. I focused on getting four 220+ IP starters with whips in the 1.05 to 1.20 range that cost less than $6.5 million. I knew I would be playing in the Astrodome, so HR’s didn’t matter so much. I grabbed 1971 Don Wilson (242 IP, 1.15 whip). He led me to 1981 Jerry Reuss (220 IP, 1.08 whip). I forgot to mention, at one point around this time, I had a nice chain of Jose Cruz, Joaquin Andujar, Willie McGee, Bob Tewksbury, Bryn Smith but again, it stalled out.
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At this point, I focused on adding another specific player, 2006 Roy Halladay (220 IP, 1.10 whip for $6.1M). I spent at least 10 hours trying to figure out a link to get me there. I finally hit a breakthrough when I discovered the following chain. Jerry Reuss to 1990 Bob Welch (238 IP, 1.22 whip, $5.4M) to 1991 Felix Jose (.305/.360/.438 for $4.5M) to 1993 Bryn Smith (226K) to 2001 Lance Painter (201K) to Halladay. At this point, I had my entire offense and starting pitching rotation, but I needed a couple more relievers. 2012 Brandon League (27 IP, 1.15 whip, 960K) and 2017 Kenley Jansen (68 IP, 0.75 whip, $3.4M) and I am done with 53K to spare. I can’t ever remember feeling more relieved after building a roster.
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Hitting (excluding scrubs): 5212 PA, .301, .388, .437, $39.6 million
Pitching (excluding scrubs): 1337 IP, 1.10 whip, 0.59 hr/9, $38.4 million
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$90M – Best of the Rest
’02 Pirates & ‘69 Orioles
Exposition Park
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Using the salary spreadsheet, I removed the highest salaried hitter and pitcher from each team and summed up the various teams hitting and pitching salaries (only including the top players measured by OBP# and WHIP#). I then started researching those teams that were near the top in either hitting salary or pitching salary or both. Some of the teams I tried included 1894 Orioles, 1896 Orioles, 1897 Orioles, 1902 Pirates, 1905 White Sox, 1906 Cubs, 1907 Cubs, 1927 Yankees, 1930 Yankees, 1969 Orioles, 1981 Astros, 2016 Cubs. I finally submitted a team early using 1897 Orioles (great hitting + Al Maul) & the 1902 Pirates (great pitching + Beaumont & F.Clark). After I completed all six teams, I went back and changed my mind on this team. The defense of those 1890’s Orioles teams combined with my 1902 pitching staff was going to be a disaster. Plus, I only had 5 usable pitchers.
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So I tinkered some more. I built a 69 Orioles / 81 Astros team that seemed ok, but their hitting was not strong enough. I also tried an 1894 Orioles & 1906 Cubs team that I really liked a lot, but again, how bad will the defense be? I also toyed around with some 1905 White Sox combinations (great pitching + George Davis at SS) but couldn’t find a fit a liked. I finally determined that 1902 Pirates was a must own as they provide 1131 solid innings plus four hitters that I can live with (G.Beaumont, F.Clark, T.Leach, C.Ritchey). So now I needed to find a team with C, 1B, SS, OF plus about 200-300 good innings. So I went back to my spreadsheet and adjusted the search criteria. Wouldn’t you know it, but those 1969 Orioles were a good fit. I added Boog Powell, their catching platoon (Etchebarren/Hendricks), Mark Belanger and chose Don Buford over Frank Robinson (I expect HRs to get muted in this theme). But the real bonus is adding Jim Palmer, Dick Hall and Eddie Watt to an already strong pitching staff. I now have 7 usable pitchers and although the offense is downgraded a bit when compared to those 1897 Orioles, the defensive improvement is huge.
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Hitting (excluding scrubs): 5298 PA, .295, .374, .418, $44.7 million
Pitching (excluding scrubs): 1449 IP, 1.07 whip, 0.15 hr/9, $43.8 million
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$100M – Catchy Title Theme
Catfish, Gaylord & Carl
The Astrodome
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When I first started working on this theme, I quickly realized that I needed to use the lower $/IP ranges on my starting pitchers and save those high $/IP on short inning relievers or else I would not have enough innings (assuming I was going to spend roughly $50 million on pitching). I also made sure to gravitate toward the lower end of these ranges. Also, I knew I would play in the Astrodome, so I wasn’t worried about HR/9. So, I started things off by find the best valued 300+ inning pitchers I could find at the three lowest ranges... I grabbed 1933 Carl Hubbell, 1972 Gaylord Perry & 1974 Catfish Hunter. So that works out to 1004 innings at $33.9 million (or 33,784 $/IP). I wanted another 400 or so (non mop-up) innings. I essentially grabbed the best values I could find to get me up to 1400 IPs…1944 Joe Berry, 1994 Steve Howe, 1958 Hoyt Wilhelm, 1958 Barry Latman, 1943 Johnny Niggeling, plus three ok guys between $350K-$500K.
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In building my hitting, I started from the lowest $/IP range. I wanted decent OBP but not terrible defense. I ended up with 1910 Clyde Milan (OF, .379 obp, D/B+). The next two lowest ranges were filled with 1894 Bill Lange (OF, .405 obp, D/A-) and 1897 Bill Joyce (3B, .441 obp, D/A+). 1886 John Kerins is my catcher (.360 obp, A+ arm). My last four batters are 1887 Sam Wise (SS, .390 obp, D/A+), 1916 Joe Jackson (OF, .393 obp), 1903 Nap Lajoie (2B, .344/.379/.518, C/A+) and 1914 Tris Speaker (1B, .338/.423/.503, C-/A+). I know the fielding ratings aren't so good, but with no deadball pitchers, I'm hoping I don't commit too many errors.
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Hitting (excluding scrubs): 5243 PA, .318, .396, .453, $48.7 million
Pitching (excluding scrubs): 1410 IP, 0.97 whip, 0.44 hr/9, $49.7 million
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$110M – Stale Cookie Whitelist
The Extra 2%
The Astrodome
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Since a lot of the eligible players are way overpriced, I made an effort to grab as many players who’s salary has only gone up 2-3%, while still finding good sim players (i.e., high on-base switch hitters with some A+++ fielders). I also decided against using any scrubs so all 25 of my players will contribute. This starts with a 4-man platoon at catcher (’26 Schang, ’72 Sims, ’00 Ortiz and ’02 Pratt). That’s 712 PA at .333/.424/.497. The rest of the roster includes ’14 Speaker (.338/.423/.503, A++ range), ’96 Alomar (.328/.411/.527), ’13 F.Baker (.337/.413/.493, A+++ range), ’94 Dahlen (.357/.444/.566 A+++ range), ’44 Galan (.318/.426/.495), ’02 Ch.Jones (.327/.435/.536) and ’73 K.Singleton (.302/.425/.479). Since I spent big on the infielders, I saved money on the OFs by not paying for the great range. I grabbed two great pinch hitters with ’18 Bescher (.333/.487) and ’90 Griffey Sr. (.377/.443/.519). Overall, I spent $59 million on my hitting.
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On the pitching side, I figured most folks would not spend on power hitting, so I decided to grab a couple of guys who do give up the long ball but were reasonably priced. Bill Bernhard will be the most popular player taken, in my opinion as his price is still too cheap. He’s my only deadball SP. The other starters include ’05 J.Santana, ’03 T.Hudson and ’81 D.Sutton. I do have two deadball RPs (’16 Benz and ’15 Wolfgang). The rest of the bullpen includes ’87 P.Perez, ’64 B.Shantz, ’91 S.Howe, ’27 J.Miljus, ’73 D.McMahon and ’93 D.Boucher. I wonder if I drafted too many innings.
Hitting: 5754 PA, .330, .426, .510, $59.1 million
Pitching: 1475 IP, 0.99 whip, 0.38 hr/9, $50.9 million
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$120M – Choose Your Soup
Franchise & Decade Puzzle
Pacific Bell Park
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I built this team first and basically forgot about it. I don’t really remember what my strategy was. For some reason, I spent only $54M on offense and $65M on pitching. Why did I draft 1563 innings? I drafted a bunch of platoon players. Why? I don’t usually do that. I have two pitchers with 380+ innings and my next highest is 149 IPs. Why? This is going to be a nightmare to manage. Crap, this team is doomed.
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Roster: ’91 D.Farrell ( C), ’03 F.Chance (1B), ’29 Grantham/’56 Schoendienst (2B), ’42 Cullenbine/’88 Jefferies (3B), ’13 E.Cabrera/’97 Larkin (SS), ’15 Cobb (OF), ’86 Stovey (OF), ’62 Mantle/’31 Fonseca (OF). ’70 G.Thomas / ’01 Raines (PH).
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SP: ’08 Walsh, ’14 Hendrix, ’16 Kershaw
Long RP: ’44 Berry, ’50 Hearn, ’85 Ramsey
Short RP: ’81 Butcher, ’63 Tiefenauer, ’72 Busby, ’30 Braxton, ’96 Helling
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Hitting: 5552 PA, .315, .423, .469, $54.9 million
Pitching: 1563 IP, 0.88 whip, 0.22 hr/9, $65.1 million
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No Cap – D.E.A.L. Redux
Shuffle Up & Deal
Robison Field
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During the draft, it was all about position scarcity. There were a ton a great SP, so with the first overall pick, I grabbed Rogers Hornsby. I was hoping to get Mantle or Delahanty coming back, but both went right in front of me (along with Mathewson, Seward, M.Brown, E.Morris). I grabbed Sisler and Babe Adams (wanted at least one stud SP). Grabbed the top hitter remaining next (Norm Cash, who will play DH for me) along with super-stud RP – Ferdie Schupp. I was hoping Ed Reulbach would make it back, but alas, he didn’t so I went more offense. Mickey Cochrane and Carl Yastrzemski. OF was pretty deep so I gambled on H.Manush coming back, but he didn’t (it was always mildnhazy taking my guys – we’ll get even later in the draft). Grabbed my second SP with Jack Pfeister (I probably could have waited, but Horlen went right in front of me so I panicked a bit). Couldn’t pass up Edd Roush and his great defense (I know, I already have two 1B). With pick 10, I grabbed my third SP, Frank Smith (I told you SP was deep). And while others grabbed modern day RPs (like Burke, T.Gordon, B.Ryan, W.Davis), I was happy to select a favorite of mine, Johnny Niggeling. Unfortunately, Barry Latman went before I could grab him next (dammit mildnhazy). So I grabbed another OF, George Gore and my starting SS, Robin Yount. I should point out that SS was not very deep. Garciparra and E.Banks each went in the fourth round. The next best SS’s were Yount, Ripken and W.English and then a huge dropoff. I grabbed Yount because I didn’t want somebody to screw me later (this is an unlimited cap league remember). I thought for sure mildnhazy would grab Ripken with one of his next two picks. Nope, he grabbed two more RPs (his sixth straight – I only have two RPs). My next two picks are Ron Santo and Harry Brecheen. Surely, mildnhazy will take a SS now. Nope - he does not. So now it’s round 16-17 and I have everything I need, so I take both Ripken and English. Needless to say, this did not sit well with mildnhazy. He eventually settled on Mike Bordick and his A/A defense. My last few picks are pinch hitters / spot starters (Wally Schang / Baby Doll Jacobson / Daniel Murphy) and a bunch of starting pitchers who I like a lot at lower caps who might get some spot starts and/or long relief appearances (D.Vance, F.Owen, G.Peters, D.Luque, E.Rixey). Should be interesting.
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Hitting (Top 9 batters): 6133 PA, .353, .431, .580, $89.5 million
Pitching (Top 7 pitchers): 1747 IP, 0.94 whip, 0.08 hr/9, $68.4 million
12/16/2017 9:59 AM (edited)