$70M - The Wrath of Kang
Dodger Stadium
The only time I ever play in low cap leagues (<80M) is in this tournament. I have learned a few things though. I do not waste any roster spots with 200K players. Every player has to contribute. As usual, I start with pitching. Although there is a minimum of 1.0 HR/9, I can still get better normalization by taking modern day pitchers. Eleven of my thirteen pitchers played in 1997 and later. My four starters (02 Moyer, 97 Mussina, 00 Schilling & 16 Sale) all have low walk totals to prevent multiple-run HRs. Eight of my nine relievers have between 25 and 50 innings. I drafted Dodger stadium to help me manage my 1279 innings.
Offensively, I tried to get as close to .260 as possible (every batter is between .250 and .260). In order to not waste roster spots, I am platooning at a couple of positions. I did not draft speed, but did roster a total of 242 HRs, including 2019 Pete Alonso, although I expect 63 Killebrew to lead my team in HRs. The batting lineup includes 'C: 73 Tenace (.259, 24 HRs), 1B: '19 Alonso (.260, 53), 2B: '89 Whitaker (.251, 28), 3B: '16 Kang (.255, 21) & '04 Youkals (.260, 7), SS: '76 Smalley (.259, 3), OF: '63 Killebrew (.258, 45), '89 V.Hayes (.259, 26), '65 Mantle (.255, 19) & '19 McCutcheon (.256, 10). The defense isn't great. Oh, the team name obviously references Star Trek, plus the fact before this theme, I never even head of Jung Ho Kang.
Hitting: 5379 PA, .257 avg, .366 obp, .467 slug, 242 HRs, $36.5 million
Pitching: 1279 IP, .236 oav, 1.11 whip, 1.10 hr/9, 6.9 k/9, 2.0 bb/9, $33.5 million
$90M - 1930s Pitches, 1950s Hitters
Yankee Stadium I
I always start with starting pitching and I wanted to maximize the normalization by loading up on the good 1930's pitchers, so I rostered '36 Hubbell, '31 Grove, '39 Lyons & '37 Stratton. That means Giants, A's & White Sox were locked in to the 1930's. Other than '38 Dizzy Dean, I didn't really like the 1930's relievers, so I did go 50's on the rest of my pitching ('58 Wilhelm, '57 Muffett, '55 Rogovin, '57 Lehman, '52 Fornieles).
Since we need to have at least $40 million from each decade, I knew I would be loading up on 1950;'s hitters. Not wanting to waste on home runs, I focused on AVG and/or OBP. The starting lineup includes C: '52 Burgess (.296 avg, .380 obp) / '54 W.Cooper (.301, .389), 1B: '56 W.Moon (.298, .390, A+++), 2B: '53 Gilliam (.278, .383), 3B: '51 Minoso (.326, .422), SS: '37 Cronin (.307, .402), OF: '52 Mantle (.311, .394), '52 Slaughter (.300, .386) & '39 A.Galan (.304, .392). I was able to get two 1930's hitters. I am weaker at defense than I normally like (except for Moon).
Hitting: 5641 PA, .302 avg, .393 obp, .461 slug, 242 HRs, $43.4 million
Pitching*: 1333 IP, .230 oav, 1.06 whip, 0.29 hr/9, 4.2 k/9, 1.9 bb/9, $46.1 million
* excluding two scrubs
$110M - Worst Theme Ever (05 NYY)
Yankee Stadium II
As I mentioned in the forum, this theme almost caused me to give up my spot in Round 2. I completed my team a week before the deadline but didn't learn until a week after the deadline I was illegal. I misinterpreted the rules and a quick fix was not possible. My base team is the 2005 Yankees and I didn't want to start from scratch. Prior to the notification of an illegal roster, I was heavy on players from Embree ('04 Red Sox) and Sheffield ('02 Braves), but those guys caused problems with a number of players. I was fortunate to pivot to Bellhorn ('04 Red Sox) and J.Wright ('04 Braves) and keep many of the same players. So it was a matter of putting the puzzle together while staying legal. Here is how it fits together (only important players listed)...
'04 Red Sox (Bellhorn) - 03 Pedro, 02 Lowe, 07 V.Martinez, 01 Foulke
'04 Braves (J.Wright) - 07 Chipper, 03 Furcal, 02 Smoltz
'04 Cardinals (Womack) - 05 Pujols, 01 Edmonds, 09 Carpenter, 09 Calero, '07 Sanders
'04 Astros (Redding) - '05 Clemens, '05 Pettitte, '03 Beltran, '01 Berkman, '05 Kent
'03 Indians (Lawton) - '10 C.Lee, '09 Betancourt, '06 Escobar, 05 Gerut
Hitting*: 5650 PA, .310 avg, .397 obp, .538 slug, 237 HRs, $56.6 million
Pitching*: 1387 IP, .214 oav, 1.01 whip, 0.44 hr/9, 7.6 k/9, 2.1 bb/9, $52.7 million
*excludes scrubs
$130M - Try Hitting HRs in the Astrodome
The Astrodome
I probably like this team the best. I went so low on HRs and HRs allowed in round, that I expect to lead the league in fewest HRs allowed in round 2. Anybody that drafted a lot of HRs will have a tough time scoring runs when playing me. With $130M to spend, I loaded up on on high-average offense while still getting low HR, low WHIP pitchers. The starting pitching staff includes '36 Hubbell (1.06 whip, 0.21 hr/9), '99 Pedro (0.92, 0.38), '15 Arrieta (0.86, 0.39) and '18 deGrom (0.93, 0.41). Overall, we allow only 0.32 hr/9 with a 0.93 whip.
The offense was fun to draft and I did spend for great defense as well. I didn't want to waste too much money on HRs (due to my home park) but wanted to be able to score when I play teams in HR parks. So, my eight regulars had between 9 and 15 HRs (and most normalize very well). C: '91 D.Farrell (.302, .384, .474), 1B: '90 R.Connor (.349, .450, .548), 2B: '20 Hornsby (.370, .431, .559), 3B: '13 F.Baker (.331, .413, .493), SS: '94 B.Dahlen (.357, .444, .566), OF: '22 Speaker (.378, .474, .606), OF: '15 Kauff (.342, .446, .509), OF: '25 Cobb (.378, .468, .598). I also added '63 Mantle (215 pa, .314, .441, .622) to spell some of my short-PA outfielders. '42 Cullenbine (.364, .484, .532), '18 Bescher (.333, .487, .400) and '46 J.Schultz (.386, .485, .456) will make great pinch hitters as well.
Hitting: 5614 PA, .350 avg, .440 obp, .542 slug, $65.8 million
Pitching: 1446 IP, .201 oav, 0.93 whip, 0.32 hr/9, 8.1 k/9, 1.9 bb/9, $64.2 million
$140M - It's Pronounced "Lazhoway"
Tiger Stadium
It feels like an eternity since this draft ended, so I can't really go into detail about why I picked every player when I did. However, I did originally consider going with two high-priced offensive studs in the first two rounds. But thinking it about some more... overspending for '27 Gehrig when so many good 1B are available just didn't make sense. With my first pick, Ed Reulbach, I would get a decently high second round pick and add 300 innings of low HR pitching. After adding Carl Mays, Noodles Hahn (super low HR pitchers), along with Alomar and Joost (middle infielders with some HR pop), I kind of knew what my strategy was going to be.... Draft high HR hitters and minimize HR pitchers at all costs. I wanted to make sure to get some walks on offense so any HRs I hit will be with men on base. So here is my roster:
SP: '05 Reulbach (0.96 whip, 0.03 hr/9), '18 Mays (1.06, 0.06), '04 Hahn (0.98, 0.09)
RP: '10 Kuo (0.78, 0.15), '81 Saucier (0.96, 0.18), '07 Berger (1.08, 0.00), '17 Seaton (1.11, 0.00), '17 Syndergaard (1.05, 0.00), '09 L.Wright (1.00, 0.00), '20 E.Myers (1.18, 0.09), '11 S.Downs (1.01, 0.50)
I also have '16 Kluber (1.06, 0.92) who I may pitch in pitchers parks.
My offense has lots of walks and power (except for catcher):
C: '22 S.O'Neill (.311, .423, .416) / '11 Lapp (.353, .435, .467)
1B: '02 Giambi (.314, .435, .598)
2B: '96 R.Alomar (.328, .411, ..527)
3B: '91 D.Lyons (.315, .445, ..455) / '99 M.Williams (.303, .344, .536)
SS: '49 Joost (.263, .429, .453)
OF: ''77 R.Smith (.307, .427, ..576) / S.Spencer (.373, .411, 910)
OF: '71 Stargell (.295 ,.398, .628) / '83 Mumphrey (.336, .425, .455)
OF: '43 B.Nicholson (.309, .386, .531) / Plantier (.331, .420, 615)
Hitting: 6514 PA, .309 avg, .411 obp, .532 slug, $65.0 million
Pitching*: 1526 IP, .216 oav, 1.02 whip, 0.08 hr/9, 4.2 k/9, 2.1 bb/9, $54.1 million
* Excluding Kluber
If you remove unnecessary innings and plate appearances, this is essentially a $105M team.
$180M - Why Wouldn't I use $180M?
The Astrodome
This theme wasn't all that exciting to build, but I was ok with an easy one, after that $110M headache. I essentially just built a standard 180M team, while keep an eye on franchises and seasons used to make sure I could add up X+Y= 30. We spent almost $100 million on offense so we should be able to score runs. Our ballpark should keep any opponents' HRs down (I'm sure there are a few Babe Ruths out there).
C: '86 King Kelly (.388, .483, .534)
1B: '85 Roger Connor (.371, .435, .495)
2B: '21 Rogers Hornsby (.397, .458, .639)
3B: '12 Frank Baker (.347, .404, ..541)
SS: '08 Honus Wagner (..354, .415, .542)
OF: '12 Tris Speaker (.383, .464, .567)
OF: '96 Ed Delahanty (.397, .472, .631)
OF: '12 Ty Cobb (.409, .456, .584)
Pinch hitters: Cedeno, Corkhill, Haney
I only drafted one deadball pitcher, since I would imagine most people have the typical batters that can beat deadball pitching.
SP: '08 M.Brown, '15 Arrieta, '15 Greinke, '99 Pedro, '16 Kershaw plus all the usual modern day relievers with whips below 0.85.
Hitting: 5158 PA, .383 avg, .448 obp, .572 slug, $98.2 million
Pitching: 1507 IP, .185 oav, 0.83 whip, 0.31 hr/9, 8.4 k/9, 1.6 bb/9, $81.4 million
12/19/2019 9:47 PM (edited)