Rate My Team

[soundcheck70]

Hi, first post here. My team plays in a 10-team league with keepers. I finished last on last year's league (quite sadly), and am looking to step my game up this year. Here's my team, I think it's pretty solid except for my pitchers, but I have some trade-valuable players that might come in handy later in the season. Also, I'm not to sure whether I should keep Carlos Pena or Gaby Sanchez as an alternate...

C
Matt Wieters

1B
Eric Hosmer

2B
Brandon Phillips

3B
David Wright

SS
Troy Tulowitzki

OF
Justin Upton

OF
Hunter Pence

OF
Nelson Cruz

Util
Shane Victorino

BN
Ryan Roberts
(2B,3B)
BN
Brett Gardner
(OF)
BN
Gaby Sanchez
(1B)
BN
Jayson Werth
(OF)
BN
Kurt Suzuki
(C)
BN
Carlos Pena
(1B)

SP
Stephen Strasburg

SP
Madison Bumgarner

RP
Mariano Rivera

RP
Cory Luebke

P
Brandon Morrow

P
Francisco Liriano

P
Trevor Cahill

P
Sean Marshall

BN
Alexi Ogando
BN
Josh Tomlin
DL
Michael Pineda


Any help is appreciated really, this is my 2nd year playing. Top FA pitchers are Bud Norris (worth adding?), Edinson Volquez, John Danks, Jim Johnson, Chris Sale, Erik Bedard, Matt Thornton (worth adding?), Gavin Floyd, Ricky Nolasco, Tim Stauffer, and Matt Capps (worth adding?). My league counts points by R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, L, SHO, SV, R, K, & ERA on a weekly basis.

Thanks in advance!!

[JayStro]

Hey dude, is your league roto or points? If it is roto I'm not very familiar, but if it's strictly points versus points each week, then it may not be necessary to acquire a pitcher if your team has enough muscle at the plate. In such a league, you just need to get as many points as possible, indiscriminately (regardless of how you get them). Your offense seems fairly potent and while your pitching isn't hurting you, it just might pale in comparison to some of the more dominant staffs you are up against. However, I do think you can make some adjustments...

I believe you have too many batters on your bench. It's good to have 2 or 3 versatile players that can regularly fill-in, but 5 or 6 is taking away extra points you could earn through pitching. There just aren't enough situations in the season where you will be able to play all 5/6 subs regularly enough to gain any value. Whereas, you have 8 pitcher spots on your starting roster (2SP, 2RP, 4P), and those starting pitchers will only start 1.5 or so games per week. Because of those 4P spots, you will never have to worry about too many pitchers starting on the same day. So many of those bench hitters are going to earn points that you will never use, while you will be able to take every point from EACH pitcher!

I recommend keeping three of your bench players; Ryan Roberts because of his dual position versatility, one outfielder, and one 1B. You do not need Suzuki as although catchers tend to take many games off, Wieters does not, as he had around 900+ AB's (not including walks) in the last two seasons. Before you drop those guys, dangle them out there as trade bait for some pitching. But don't try too hard, because the waiver players mentioned are suitable. Definitely add Bud Norris, as a power strikeout guy that has the potential to win a few games by himself, despite the Astro's offense. Matt Capps and Jim Johnson would be fine as well, while Thornton could potentially give up the closer roll at any time. I'd also recommend taking a shot with Volquez over Tomlin until further notice, as likely few people would pick Tomlin up off waivers even if he comes out of the gate strong. Volquez will be on people's radar as he has the pitcher friendly park behind him and flashes of brilliance in his past.

If anything doesn't make sense, feel free to post a question. I'm also curious who your keepers were? And I would also advise you to keep an eye on David Robertson, in the event that Mariano has any stumbles in his last season, as he will likely be next in line and will be a capable replacement and potential keeper for the next season.

[soundcheck70]

Thank you so much for that post, JayStro, especially on the tip about Matt Wieters!! I already dropped Cahill and added Volquez, and might propose to trade Nelson Cruz for John Lester since my OF is pretty solid. You're completely right about my bench players, I'll definitely need to drop a few on offense, I need more pitchers to keep earning points for me...

I think I'll be keeping Ryan Roberts, Brett Gardner (I'm guessing he'll have a better year than Jayson Werth?), and am still torn between Carlos Pena and Gaby Sanchez for the 1B spot because they seem to rack up the same amount of points somewhat. Decisions, decisions...

My keepers were Brandon Phillips, Troy Tulowitzki, David Wright, Nelson Cruz, and Mariano RIvera.

[JayStro]

No problem dude! Glad it helped out with some decisions. Keep an eye on Cahill if someone hasn't picked him up, as the D'backs could become a team to reckon with since the NL is wide open this year. He is also transitioning from a dreary Oakland A's team to a playoff contender in the NL where the offense has all but left the building for the AL since last season.

Here's a good way to analyze your players... use the stats that players had from last year etc. Focus on how many points are earned either per At-Bat or per Inning's Pitched. When you compare the best players to the average players you will notice a difference in production. The average players may score around .5-.6 points per AB, excellent players around .75 points per AB, and the studs approach almost 1 point per AB or more. This way you can compare players that may have different amounts of AB's in a season. Like Allen Craig only scored around 190 points last year in my league... but he only had around 200 AB's, which is an amazing stat line. Do the same thing with your starting pitchers and then relievers and you will discover similar patterns!

Excellent keepers by the way, and nice job snagging Justin Upton! He can easily be one of your top keepers for years. It is also likely you will be able to hold on to Strasburg as well.