How much value is there in having a good bench? (fantasy)

[hot4tx]

The only scheduled catcher is Varitek, when Wakefield pitches he's off. Back a couple years ago this was very helpfull to have a backup C if you owned Varitek.

[samjerky]

No because these things arent on a schedule except for the players like piazza as i mentioned earlier. its all up to the manager and its usually only known to the public when the lineup card is written out. if you really really feel the need to protect yourself form your cathcer getting his routine day off i would suggest sitting a guy on a day game if they played last night but even then most guys play anyway

OK, so in that case it really doesn't make any sense to have two catchers and try to get a full season's worth of ABs at the position, is there?

Another thought: Piazza seems to gain a lot of advantage, especially in H2H since he'll give you more each week consistently.

[SignGuy]

No because these things arent on a schedule except for the players like piazza as i mentioned earlier. its all up to the manager and its usually only known to the public when the lineup card is written out. if you really really feel the need to protect yourself form your cathcer getting his routine day off i would suggest sitting a guy on a day game if they played last night but even then most guys play anyway

OK, so in that case it really doesn't make any sense to have two catchers and try to get a full season's worth of ABs at the position, is there?

Another thought: Piazza seems to gain a lot of advantage, especially in H2H since he'll give you more each week consistently.

Not really IMO. its too hard to predict their days off.

i was just using Piazza as an example of catchers who were on strict catching schedules. now that he is full time DH in the AL, he doesnt pertain to this really.

[samjerky]

Well, I'm actually saying that since Piazza is now DH, he won't get that many days off. As a result, he should get more stats, and they should be spread more evenly across your weeks in H2H. So you'd definitely want to move him up a bit and wait on catchers until you can get him, no?

Thanks for the reply.

[Mortician]

Best tool I ever bought for my daily H2H fantasy leagues by far: Pocket PC

Lineups are generally posted about a 1/2 hour before game time. I check the lineups before every game on the pocket PC and make changes accordingly. I usually only keep 2-3 guys on my bench even though we use 25 man rosters, but most people in the league tend to carry between 9-12 SP's. This year I have aurilia(1b,2b,ss,3b), reed johnson(LF,CF,RF), and R. Martin(C) on my bench. I try to get a utility infielder, utility outfielder, and a catcher. I try to draft backups for AVG first, so even if they dont add much to your offensive totals, they wont hurt you in any way by throwing them in. The pocket PC is golden if you have backups and check the lineups for every game.

BTW: I was curious last year as to the advantage of having the backups in my league so at the end of last year, I figured out the avg help they gave me across the cats each week. This is what they usually added each week:

5.1 R 0.7 HR 4.2 RBI 1.4 SB

and 2 of the 3 backups finished with a higher BA then my team's BA for the year.

Those numbers can really make an impact in a H2H league. It Can sometimes mean the difference between just losing a category and just winning a category or two.

[hot4tx]

Mortician, I can do all of this for my Yahoo leagues from my T-Mobile phone. ...and the phone is 3+ years old. I went internet instead of camera and I'm loving it.


...back to the topic, I will say that in leagues with very shallow benches there comes a point where you aren't getting much difference between most backups and the guys on the WW, also if you play with 17-man rosters or so, you don't really have more than 1 actual bench spot if you start 7 pitchers. So I guess my thoughts are coming from playing my "main" league with large benches.

[swyck]

I like having at least one start quality bat, at least one OF (may be the same player), and a sleeper.

Your starters will get hurt and go on the DL sometime during the season. That is a fact. If you have a quality bat on the bench you can just sub right in without having to chance the FA list. You need 3 OF so they are the most likely to get hurt. OF also gives you some flexibility with the DH slot. I dont like having no bats on my bench.

I've never into bought having extra pitchers on my bench if they are the typical drek at the end of the draft, especially in roto with IP limits. In H2H extra pitchers helps, but not by sacrificing my rate cats. I generally fill out my P with MRs so I usually have 2-3 SP on my bench, depending on how many SP slots there are.

This all depends on the league size, the settings, and the roster makeup. I dont think there is a one size fits all for bench make up.

[zevon]

D Sheppard, in your case I would recommend a backup catcher, as was previously stated, Varitek never catches Wake. You're going to lose all his team days off plus his days of rest (day game after night game) plus all Wake's starts.
I love Cap'n J, probably my favorite player (as a FAN!) , but I'm seriously thinking of cutting him on the one team I have him on because I don't like having 2 C's. Also, his bat seems to be headed south rather quickly...
I do like having a couple multiposition guys on the bench, but stress quality here - my faves are Lugo and Figgins , this year I also like Youk as I love his run scoring potential batting 2 in that lineup, plus he is 1B,3B, and OF eligible.

[itodd]

i use my Bench to keep a couple highrisk/massivereward type young players, if they get hot, they're trade-fodder, if they dont, no loss to me. I also keep MR-that-may-become-closers there too.

[NikkiSixx]

last year I drafted players like Corey Patterson and Austin Kearns and plyaers like Gary Sheffield got injured, so I made a nice platoon and it turned out almost as good as what Sheffield might have done if not better.