Looking for suggestions WHIR

[livinginarizona]

5x5 Roto 12-team league

I'm currently in 2nd place, just looking for suggestions as to areas I should improve or advice on trade offers I should make:

C: Molina and Towles (yes, I like having both:I've been putting Towles in my UTIL spot lately)
1B: Butler
2B: Kendrick
SS: Carlos Guillen
3B: David Wright
OF: Carlos Lee, Nick Swisher, Corey Hart, Willy Taveras, (DL: Granderson)

SP: Hamels, Smoltz, Brett Myers, McGowan, Cueto
RP: Kerry Wood, Sherrill, Moylan, (BN: Soriano), BJ Ryan

I lead in AVG, SVS, and I'm pretty high in K and SB. I am low on Runs and Wins.

Any suggestions on how to improve are most welcome.

[pokerplaya]

I don't see a glaring weakness. You are very well rounded for a 12 team league. You could use a top closer, but I thin BJ Ryan will come back strong and be that guy so I wouldn't panic there yet either. I'd stay put for a while and only make a move if you suffer an injury or it becomes clear that you are deficient in that area.

[aplviper]

Thanks for your help on mine.

Your team looks pretty good. I think it will look even better as the season goes on. When Guillen and Granderson are totally healthy. Your runs total will greatly improve when Granderson is back. When Soriano returns (or possibly before), I would drop Moylan and look for a decent starter to rack up some wins.

[EverybodyHits]

RPs are good. myers and mcgowan have been bad - but they should come around. Hamels, smoltz, and cueto is fantastic.

offense looks bad. i think you'll be short on homers and runs. and its compounded by using taveras - who you need or youre short on steals.

having 2 catchers is one of these things like the phillies moving brett myers to the bullpen. even if it works, it's still a bad idea.

kendrick is requires a backup at this point. you have a catcher in utility and your're falling behind in games played at 2B and SS. why?

can you trade a pitcher for y.escobar? he is awesome and he'll back you up at 2B and SS.

[LiveRock27]

Thanks for the help.
The main weakness I see is in your starting pitching. If Smoltz continues to have arm trouble. He struggled to get through 5 innings this weekend and he has missed two starts this weaked. I would add a SP for insurance.
I would also look to move one of your catchers. All catchers take days off, so everyone in your league will have days without anyone in that position.

[livinginarizona]

RPs are good. myers and mcgowan have been bad - but they should come around. Hamels, smoltz, and cueto is fantastic.

offense looks bad. i think you'll be short on homers and runs. and its compounded by using taveras - who you need or youre short on steals.

having 2 catchers is one of these things like the phillies moving brett myers to the bullpen. even if it works, it's still a bad idea.

kendrick is requires a backup at this point. you have a catcher in utility and your're falling behind in games played at 2B and SS. why?

can you trade a pitcher for y.escobar? he is awesome and he'll back you up at 2B and SS.

Short on homers? I've got Power all over, just waiting for them to break out: Molina, Butler, Guillen, Wright, Lee, and Hart should supply more than enough. Add Towles in there and I'm fine. I can afford one spot on speed.

I don't like having two catchers either, I plan to sell high on Molina down the road when I see that Towles is not hurt (hand) and plays every day (he sits with Oswalt pitching)[see later comment].
I have some excess garbage because of injury situations (Kendrick,Guillen, Soriano and Granderson, we only get 1 DL spot), which I hope to use to get better versatility.

Escobar is ranked SUPER high right now (Ranked 36th), I'm not going to sacrifice to get that. I'm thinking that I might flip Molina for Aaron Hill if the owner goes for it. Unfortunately I might have to wait for Cano to come back, as Hill is his only 2b.

[livinginarizona]

Thanks for the help.
The main weakness I see is in your starting pitching. If Smoltz continues to have arm trouble. He struggled to get through 5 innings this weekend and he has missed two starts this weaked. I would add a SP for insurance.
I would also look to move one of your catchers. All catchers take days off, so everyone in your league will have days without anyone in that position.

Because my league only has 1 DL spot, I've put Granderson in that spot. Once Soriano returns back, I'm planning on returning Moylan back and hopefully pick up a better SP. I really am not worried about Smoltz at this juncture, I figure with Hamels at #1, Smoltz at #2, Myers at #3, and Cueto/McGowan filling out my rotation I'll be just fine. There are still quite a few gems on the WW for me currently, if Smoltz is gonna go down, I'm sure Myers will be able to fit nicely into the #2 role if I need.

Smoltz only missed 1 start (to start the year), he has pitched the last two scheduled starts and has gotten 2 wins in the process. Smoltz pitched 6 innings last time and felt fine afterwards. I think he'll be fine this year truthfully.

[EverybodyHits]

i dont know how many homers you think you need. but molina, guillen, kendrick, granderson, and butler - i can see all of them under 20. you dont have anyone who will get 40. and you are using taveras. you are going to get smoked in that category. period.

no one trades for middle tier catchers. there's more then enough to go around in a 12-team league. the most important thing a roto owner needs to do is not fall behind at 2B and SS. and you are ignoring this to "sell high on Molina down the road". get with the program!!

[LiveRock27]

Smoltz only missed 1 start (to start the year), he has pitched the last two scheduled starts and has gotten 2 wins in the process. Smoltz pitched 6 innings last time and felt fine afterwards. I think he'll be fine this year truthfully.

You are right about only missing one start. The rain out caused him to be moved from his Sunday start against Santana to Monday. I hope you are right about his arm holding up with every other pitcher going down.

[livinginarizona]

i dont know how many homers you think you need. but molina, guillen, and butler - i can see all of them under 20. you dont have anyone who will get 40. and you are using taveras. you are going to get smoked in that category. period.

no one trades for middle tier catchers. there's more then enough to go around in a 12-team league. the most important thing a roto owner needs to do is not fall behind at 2B and SS. and you are ignoring this to "sell high on Molina down the road". get with the program!!

Here are my projections for Home Run production on my team:

TOP TIER(30+): David Wright and Carlos Lee
MID TIER(25-30): Corey Hart, Swisher
LOW TIER(15-25): Molina, Guillen, Granderson, Butler
GRAVY(taken for average, runs and sbs): Kendrick and Taveras(will go to bench when Grandy returns)

FWIW, I'm tied for fourth in HR(14) and the leader has 17....I figure 170 HRs at a MINIMUM. And my calculation is based on 30 for top tier, 25 for mid-tier and 15 at low tier. Anything more than that is whipped cream on the ice cream. Thinking that Butler will hit 15 is just outright absurd, as is Swisher and Hart hitting 25. I'm projecting around 200 Hrs from my team.