EDIT: Thought I would give an update as to how this is going.
I'm currently 21-18 and in fourth place. Started bad at first, but with Lee and lincecum turning it around, I've been able to win the last 2 weeks. Just need Hamels to get it going. On a lighter note, I actually manage to win HR this week with my team somehow managing 6 dingers.
Another Edit:
I'm now in 2nd place, only 2.5 games behind the leader. Seems like this is working out pretty well. ------------------------------------ This is a H2H 5x5 Yahoo league. So I decided to try out this strategy just for fun. I did this before in a custom league where speed was overvalued and I won using this strategy. I wanted to test it out in a regular league to see how it would work. Basically I would punt HR and RBI and create an offense of speedy leadoff men that would automatically win me SB every week while also giving me an advantage in AVG and R. This means that I wouldn't have to spend many early picks on offense, which would let me spend more picks on the aces for my pitching staff. This was the result:
After Hanley trade:
C Ryan Doumit 1B Russell Branyan 2B Brian Roberts 3B Chone Figgins SS Derek Jeter OF Ichiro Suzuki OF Johnny Damon OF Shane Victorino Util Asrubal Cabrera BN Mike Napoli BN Scott Podsednik
SP Cole Hamels SP Tim Lincecum RP Jonathan Broxton RP Jim Johnson P Cliff Lee P Jason Frasor P Rich Harden BN Tommy Hanson BN Dan Haren BN David Price
Unfortunately, I had the first pick in the draft which although I get hanley, means I'm going to miss out on Santana and Lincecum. The guy before me also took Sabathia and Peavy right before I was going to or else my pitching would be Sabathia/Peavy at the top instead of Hamels/Haren which I would have been much happier with. Depending on Lee to retain his 2008 form and Harden/Bedard to stay healthy is also risky. My biggest hole is closer I guess, but I always fill that up quite well through the waiver wire as the season progresses. Should I try to get another top tier starter?
Last edited by shmolex on Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
I don't mind strategies like this, but to me it was a case of going in with a fixed strategy and not adjusting. I think once I had the first pick I would have passed on this strategy. I see what you wanted to do, but if part of your strategy was to allow yourself to have a killer rotation, a 1-2 of Hamels/Haren is not that terrifying.
That being said, I like to see how strategies like these play out so keep us posted!
Well I signed up for this league with the sole purpose of trying out this strategy so going back to a "normal" draft would have been kinda pointless. I'll try to keep you guys posted on how it goes.
with hanley moving down to the 3rd spot I dont think I'm taking much of a hit in Runs downgrading to Jeter. I had plenty of SB to spare and they should be about the same in AVG. I like my SP a lot more now with Lince/Hamels at the top.
Wow moving Hanley for Lincecum and jeter, I don't think was a good move, I don't see anyone now on your staff hitting more than 20 hrs, Hanley gave speed and Power which helped your previous lineup, your Starters were A+
please comment on mine viewtopic.php?f=29&t=369605
If you bothered to read the opening paragraph, you would have seen that power is not something I'm worried about. In fact, I dont want power on my team. I want to see if it's possible to win without power. And speed? I'm still going to blow away everyone in the league every week in SB without hanley.
I like the idea, but i think the execution falls a little flat. You'll dominate runs and SBs, and have a good pitching staff, but i think this strategy, if played in this pure from, hamstrings your team. The biggest problem is that your steals are beyond a point of diminishing returns. you will likley win steals almost every weeks, but that'd still be true even if you had grabed, say Ankiel instead of Taveras. Allot of your steals will go to waste, piling up winning margins but not helping your team, while you fall behind in other categories. I'd love to see how this turns out, and i like that your trying new things, but I can't see this strategy being consistently sucessful when power is completely shunned, instead of being merely an afterthought
I definitely agree with the previous post. After a certain point the steal becomes irrelevant. It doesnt matter if you win by 1 or 100...also, I think by trying to build around your pitching, you also got the short end of the stick in the reliever department and as it stands may not win too many weeks with one top closer and another injury prone guy. Its true that scouring the waiver wire is easier with closers, but I have a feeling that grabbing a few other closers earlier would have enabled you to still draft some of your speed guys later while bolstering the bullpen. Im very skeptical with the team you have currently, but you did it just for fun, so good luck.
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by shmolex » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:06 pm 
