Where to upgrade first?

[acclaim99]

Last season I won 114 games but stayed in bronze with a first round loss. Here is my team, what should I focus on upgrading first:

Rotation
James Paxton 95
Roy Halladay 89
Trevor Bauer 89
Walker Buehler 85
Aaron Nola 84

Pen
CL Aroldis Chapman 98
SU Dellin Betances 89
SU Edwin Diaz 87
Charlie Kerfeld 77
Kenley Jansen 74
Josh Hader 75
Cody Allen 75

Lineup - starter/backup

C- Gary Sanchez 92 / Mike Piazza 88
1B- Max Muncy 82 / Mule Suttles 83
2B- Gleybar Torres 88 / Muncy
3B- Freddie Lindstrom 85 / Von Hayes 72
SS- Carlos Correa 92 / Hayes
LF- JD Martinez 88 / Joc Pederson 86
CF- Dale Murphy 82 / Harper
RF- Bryce Harper 99 / Suttles
DH- Jose Altuve 89 / Suttles

I can auction off JT Realmuto and Joey Votto to get extra points to spend. Which direction do you recommend I start trying to upgrade? I also have a lot of other silvers and bronzes...

[OMGPuppies]

Originally Posted by acclaim99

Last season I won 114 games but stayed in bronze with a first round loss. Here is my team, what should I focus on upgrading first:

Rotation
James Paxton 95
Roy Halladay 89
Trevor Bauer 89
Walker Buehler 85
Aaron Nola 84

Pen
CL Aroldis Chapman 98
SU Dellin Betances 89
SU Edwin Diaz 87
Charlie Kerfeld 77
Kenley Jansen 74
Josh Hader 75
Cody Allen 75

Lineup - starter/backup

C- Gary Sanchez 92 / Mike Piazza 88
1B- Max Muncy 82 / Mule Suttles 83
2B- Gleybar Torres 88 / Muncy
3B- Freddie Lindstrom 85 / Von Hayes 72
SS- Carlos Correa 92 / Hayes
LF- JD Martinez 88 / Joc Pederson 86
CF- Dale Murphy 82 / Harper
RF- Bryce Harper 99 / Suttles
DH- Jose Altuve 89 / Suttles

I can auction off JT Realmuto and Joey Votto to get extra points to spend. Which direction do you recommend I start trying to upgrade? I also have a lot of other silvers and bronzes...

Your defense seems kinda bad

[Findest2001]

Originally Posted by acclaim99

Last season I won 114 games but stayed in bronze with a first round loss. Here is my team, what should I focus on upgrading first:

Rotation
James Paxton 95
Roy Halladay 89
Trevor Bauer 89
Walker Buehler 85
Aaron Nola 84

Pen
CL Aroldis Chapman 98
SU Dellin Betances 89
SU Edwin Diaz 87
Charlie Kerfeld 77
Kenley Jansen 74
Josh Hader 75
Cody Allen 75

Lineup - starter/backup

C- Gary Sanchez 92 / Mike Piazza 88
1B- Max Muncy 82 / Mule Suttles 83
2B- Gleybar Torres 88 / Muncy
3B- Freddie Lindstrom 85 / Von Hayes 72
SS- Carlos Correa 92 / Hayes
LF- JD Martinez 88 / Joc Pederson 86
CF- Dale Murphy 82 / Harper
RF- Bryce Harper 99 / Suttles
DH- Jose Altuve 89 / Suttles

I can auction off JT Realmuto and Joey Votto to get extra points to spend. Which direction do you recommend I start trying to upgrade? I also have a lot of other silvers and bronzes...

JD Martinez is one of the worst OF defenders. He should be a DH only.
Also get a better platoon guy than muncy (again, terrible defense).
Also try to upgrade your pen with pitchers with more STA. That way you can run a pen with 1 less guy, so you can tailor your platoons better, as it seems like you like running platoons. That gives you an extra roster spot for a hitter. Someone like Adelberto Mondesi is great for backing up every position except catcher, and he is already 10HR and 20 SB in silver for me and it's not even halfway through this season yet (and he is my super utility guy).

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by acclaim99

Last season I won 114 games but stayed in bronze with a first round loss. Here is my team, what should I focus on upgrading first:

Rotation
James Paxton 95
Roy Halladay 89
Trevor Bauer 89
Walker Buehler 85
Aaron Nola 84

Pen
CL Aroldis Chapman 98
SU Dellin Betances 89
SU Edwin Diaz 87
Charlie Kerfeld 77
Kenley Jansen 74
Josh Hader 75
Cody Allen 75

Lineup - starter/backup

C- Gary Sanchez 92 / Mike Piazza 88
1B- Max Muncy 82 / Mule Suttles 83
2B- Gleybar Torres 88 / Muncy
3B- Freddie Lindstrom 85 / Von Hayes 72
SS- Carlos Correa 92 / Hayes
LF- JD Martinez 88 / Joc Pederson 86
CF- Dale Murphy 82 / Harper
RF- Bryce Harper 99 / Suttles
DH- Jose Altuve 89 / Suttles

I can auction off JT Realmuto and Joey Votto to get extra points to spend. Which direction do you recommend I start trying to upgrade? I also have a lot of other silvers and bronzes...

First thing would just be using your personnel a little better. DH'ing Altuve while playing J.D. Martinez in LF doesn't make a lot of sense--I'd swap them and Altuve will train up to be decent at LF.

At catcher, you have some wasted PP there with 2 right-handed sluggers. I'd actually sell Sanchez now while he's hot, and sell Piazza also. I think keeping Realmuto there is the best play because he's the most well-rounded and there's a chance he goes diamond again later. You can get a left-handed hitter to platoon with him. Mike LaValliere and 79 Yogi Berra can both be had for less than 2000 PP (ignore the joker that keeps listing Berra for 4999 PP). You could really keep whichever of Sanchez/Realmuto/Piazza that's your favorite but the others are redundant to have on the active roster unless you want to use Piazza as DH or something.

I'd recommend picking up a better defensive CF. You can find ones that hit about as well as Dale Murphy but are much more helpful to your defense. I'd recommend picking up a Victor Robles or gold Richie Ashburn (this card can be hard to find) for about 3000 PP. Or if you want to go a little pricier, the gold Ken Griffey Jr. can be had for about 7500 PP and his left-handed bat would fit your right-handed team better. Andy Van Slyke, Chris Singleton, and Harry Walker are also good options for bronze level and usually cheaper than 2500 PP.

I'd probably start Suttles at 1B against both LHP and RHP--Muncy is really not worth a roster spot in my opinion. Suttles may win you more PP this way by getting enough at bats to win season awards or an All-Star spot. Either that or splurge on a left-handed 1B to play instead of Muncy. There are tons of options here. Anthony Rizzo would work. Josh Bell is an emerging card right now. Daniel Murphy can be had for cheap now that he dropped to silver. I'm a big fan of the 77 Keith Hernandez card because that card always plays better than its OVR for me. I'd hold onto Joey Votto for now because you'd be selling ultra low--unless you're desperate for the PP. And even then you'd barely get above the gold quick-sell price.

Your pitching is mostly fine for bronze. You have a few starters with relatively low stamina, so maybe putting a pitch count on Bauer, Buehler, and Paxton would help--say 100 pitches? You have some good and some bad in the bullpen. The Chapman/Betances/Kerfeld part is fine, but I'd look to swap out the others because they are a bit too homer prone. Look for guys like Trevor Gott or Roberto Osuna (both silvers on the cusp of gold) or James Pazos. If you can get a Jeff Montgomery or Ryan Pressly or Ty Buttrey for about 2000 PP, that would also be a good investment. A Blake Treinen for about 4500 PP would be a good get for your bullpen as well.

[GlassGuyBob]

Others have already mentioned your defense, which is a mild issue, but nothing that should be keeping you in bronze.

Looks like you aren't making any use of potential platoons, which I would consider your biggest problem. My FTP Diamond League team has much worse overall ratings than this team but is still contending.

Don't just look at overalls, but look into ratings and platoon splits. I also like to put an extra SP in the bullpen as a longman (or stopper if he's good) because it helps to keep your other guys better rested when you have someone who can easily soak up 3 innings in a blowout.

[JanesAddctn]

Acclaim, have you adjusted your ballpark settings?

Also I will voice the same sentiment about defense as those above.