Starting A Catcher

[niner03]

Just trying to get some outside input.... my 12 team league is having a huge debate/argument. We have one team not starting a catcher. He dropped his, (Pudge), about 2 weeks ago and doesnt have a replacement because: "theres not one worthy of a roster spot." I personally dont see a problem but others are claiming illegal roster, cheating, etc. The league is split 50/50

Anyone ever come across this??? Any solutions/recommendations??

Thanks in advance for the insight.

[Knights]

It's a valid strategy to play without a catcher if you feel that playing one would hurt your team more than it would help you. Nothing wrong with that.

[Danger]

I would say its strategy rather than "cheating." It's like starting 7 SP's who are RP eligible.

[JTWood]

Is there a rule that says you have to start a catcher? Usually, the rules just say you have to have one on your roster.

[shawngee03]

if there is nothing set up to call his roster illegal(CBS does this), then it is well within the rules. i personally would rather have him do this. unless this is a real shallow league not getting stats, while they will be minimal, from a catcher should hurt him in the long run.

i dont feel its worth it just to have another SP. if he needs to keep more than everyone else then taht means his arent that good. so i say let him do it and laugh in the background

[greenjd]

Sounds legal to me. It may come back to bite him in the long run, but if he feels it's a good strategy and the rules allow for it, why not?

[UFB Commish]

Other than losing the roster spot, which he could use elsewhere, what would stop him from simply adding a catcher who will never play like Mike Lieberthal or Humberto Cota? If he wants to play a spot short that should be his choice. Probably not a smart choice as he gives up all category help in order to maintain AVG, but his choice none the less.

[Bloody Sox]

There is nothing wrong with not having a catcher on his roster. He's the one valuing an extra bench player that he can strategically use at his discretion over a catcher that will give him minimal value. I do this all the time. He'll miss out on 120 games of stats, which will be 50-60 runs, 50-60 RBIs, 10 HRs, and a .260 batting average. If he thinks he can make up those losses in other ways, power to him.

[MTUCache]

He'll miss out on 120 games of stats, which will be 50-60 runs, 50-60 RBIs, 10 HRs, and a .260 batting average. If he thinks he can make up those losses in other ways, tell him to enjoy his crack.

Fixed your post.

Seriously... why wouldn't you want this guy to do this if you were playing against him? He's improving the depth of the position for everyone else by not carrying any catchers, and he's playing with one less roster spot than everybody else.

This is idiotic on his part. I agree that most catchers completely suck when compared to the rest of the team, but you're throwing away just about every counting stat (R,2B,3B,HR,RBI,SB) in favor of one averaging stat (AVG/OPS/SLG/whatever). It's moronic.

In spot times I can definitely understand this (you're already leading in several categories and don't want to sacrifice your AVG), or you want to keep an extra player on your roster for a few days and your C is the first reasonable cut option... but doing this over the course of a long season is just crazy.

Honestly, the only thing dumber than actually doing it is complaining about it when your opponent is doing it.

[RJ24VC15]

The only problem I see is bad strategy, but it's not cheating.