Why do I (and the Mariners) suck?

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by megamanmatt

This is the primary reason I play in leagues with fictional players. People too often get hung up on the name without remembering to OOTP that player is just id#xxxxx

Tell that to Ross Gload.

[ThePretender]

How is the M's defence in your league? Could have a big impact on the pitching staff. I know in another league I'm in SS/CF aren't particularly special, and with Smith in RF it's 3 below average guys and 2 of them at key spots. 3B/LF/2B are good but it's not enough.

The Seattle offence doesn't look good to begin with. Abreu should help but I'm not sure it's enough.

[Syd Thrift]

The M's offense IRL is masked a bit by Safeco, but actually, yeah, it's not actually all that bad. Second is manned by Cano and third and short are both operated by "plus" players. The corner outfield slots might look weak if you're not platooning Ackley/Weeks and Smith/Ruggiano. The only position I'd say has little chance to be at least average is first base, and even there if Logan Morrison is too bad then Jesus Montero is there (Montero is probably underrated by OOTP/PECOTA but that could just be my fandom speaking). Otherwise, I've seen some weak M's offenses in the past and I don't think this is one of them.

If you're playing Nelson Cruz in the field, though, you should expect him to get hurt.

[ThePretender]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

The M's offense IRL is masked a bit by Safeco, but actually, yeah, it's not actually all that bad. Second is manned by Cano and third and short are both operated by "plus" players. The corner outfield slots might look weak if you're not platooning Ackley/Weeks and Smith/Ruggiano. The only position I'd say has little chance to be at least average is first base, and even there if Logan Morrison is too bad then Jesus Montero is there (Montero is probably underrated by OOTP/PECOTA but that could just be my fandom speaking). Otherwise, I've seen some weak M's offenses in the past and I don't think this is one of them.

If you're playing Nelson Cruz in the field, though, you should expect him to get hurt.

He said he has no Cano. I agree with you IRL it's a solid offence, but I'm not as impressed with the OOTP ratings.

[bzumeta]

I forgot about the "old man gets hurt every time when he has to run 30 yards 3 times a day" percentage in this game is high.

[sansterre]

A few thoughts:


1) The prognostications of baseball pundits mean very little. Everyone picked Boston to do well last year, they didn't. Everyone picked Boston to suck two years ago; they did great. Seriously, don't take what they say as meaning much of anything.

2) Baseball is a random, freaking, game. Washington is pegged by most to win the NL East. In my league they finished last. But they had the best pythagorean wins in the division, underperforming it by a whopping 13 games. So they actually were the best in the division and were simply incredibly unlucky.

3) Figure that the random variation for a baseball team is somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 wins in either direction, possibly more. One year I had a team with 95 wins. The next year I had the exact same team, plus two high-end free agents (and all young players.) I won 83 games. Anything can happen. Injuries change a lot of things, players have up years or down years, who knows these things?

4) Who hasn't seen a great player (15/14/15 at SS out of 20) bat 230/310/420 over an entire season. Heck, I've seen it over three seasons. And yet there's no doubt that the player is actually a 290/385/490 4-5 WAR hitter. And if this can happen with one player in a year it can happen to multiple players in the same year.

5) Don't get too wrapped up in a single season; the variation in one season is just too high. If you have good players, a solid farm system and sound finances you'll do fine, don't overthink it.

[The Wolf]

Why is it always the Mariners?

[wsucougs]

I had the same issues. Felix, Paxton and Walker with ERA in the 5s. My best pitcher us actually Happ. Seager and Cruz are hitting in the 210 range.

I am in last place, with a 100 loss team. I kept the team as is.

[bzumeta]

Man, Cougs and M's, you are a masochistic fan

Interesting that you had bad pitching as well. Felix is at a 2.9 era and Paxton 2.5, but Iwakuma is 6+ and Walker 5+. Bullpen is solid, it is just a similar hitting year to 2012 with nothing going on with RISP. I agree bad luck is part of the game but isn't that why we turn to simulations?

[longball]

bzumeta, if it makes you feel any better, I've started a season with the M's and I haven't made any moves... I'm off to a 13-22 start.

King Felix is 0-4 with a 5.01ERA
Seager grounds out every time he's up to bat
Cruz is a strikeout machine (30)
Zunino is leading my team in HR (7) and RBIs (20)

All in all it feels like typical M's baseball... nearly every time I have RISP there's a ground out to end the inning :-/

[dnlwrd]

I must have had great luck. First season in Seattle, lost to the Dodgers in the World Series, did have a ton of injuries that made the post season a bit of a limp, managed to finish 1st in the AL West on the final day of the regular season with a win over 2nd place Oakland.

Only really made 1 move which was to acquire Lucas Duda at 1B.

Had the same issues with King Felix and Cano, thinking about ditching Cano due to his huge contract but the fear is holding me back, it would free up a lot of cash if I can.

Looking to upgrade for next year now but I'm pretty stuck with where to start, Logan Morrison and Duda both want more money than I'd like to pay them so I'll probably let them walk.

[longball]

Originally Posted by dnlwrd

I must have had great luck. First season in Seattle, lost to the Dodgers in the World Series, did have a ton of injuries that made the post season a bit of a limp, managed to finish 1st in the AL West on the final day of the regular season with a win over 2nd place Oakland.

Only really made 1 move which was to acquire Lucas Duda at 1B.

Had the same issues with King Felix and Cano, thinking about ditching Cano due to his huge contract but the fear is holding me back, it would free up a lot of cash if I can.

Looking to upgrade for next year now but I'm pretty stuck with where to start, Logan Morrison and Duda both want more money than I'd like to pay them so I'll probably let them walk.

you could always go after Morales or Smoak

[IsaacR]

Originally Posted by longball

you could always go after Morales or Smoak

Smoak hit 36 homers in 2016 in my sim so that might not be a bad idea.


Then again he played in Colorado.

[dnlwrd]

Originally Posted by IsaacR

Smoak hit 36 homers in 2016 in my sim so that might not be a bad idea.


Then again he played in Colorado.

Hmm he might be worth exploring then. Made the decision to let Logan Morrison go, he signed with the Yankees for the extortionate (in my eyes at least) sum of $12m a year for 4 years.

[IsaacR]

Originally Posted by dnlwrd

Hmm he might be worth exploring then. Made the decision to let Logan Morrison go, he signed with the Yankees for the extortionate (in my eyes at least) sum of $12m a year for 4 years.

LoMo got $17 million per 7 years from the Red Sox in mine, and was demanding $23 million. Thought that was a bit high. He had a good season, but not even close to that level.

[dnlwrd]

Originally Posted by IsaacR

LoMo got $17 million per 7 years from the Red Sox in mine, and was demanding $23 million. Thought that was a bit high. He had a good season, but not even close to that level.

He had a pretty great season for me too, I don't have the figures in front of me but he lead the team in batting avg. over the season if I remember rightly. I just couldn't risk that much money on someone who is distinctly average based on one good season, I'll be keeping an eye on him mind you.

I have bought Ichiro back though, $1.2m for a year. Only 1 star but some great stats and caused a surge in fan interest (I need to get attendances up in 2016)