An Experiment of 3 Teams

[waittilnextyear]

What is your Ichiro's success rate like stealing bases? I've seen a lot of gold Ichiros on various teams with poor SB% and negative BSR/UBR, which I assume is due to managers being too aggressive with him.

For almost all of my players, even with good baserunning/stealing abilities, I find that more conservative tends to result in better baserunning stats.

[chazzycat]

His first season was around 45 SB with 15 CS if I remember correctly. So, positive value but not a TON or anything. My stolen base sliders are fairly conservative. I generally agree with you - trying to steal too many bases is probably one of the biggest mistakes a lot of owners make IMO.

[chazzycat]

I made a bonehead mistake this morning while doing some roster management, and accidentally quick-sold one of my active relievers. It was live Will Harris, so not a huge loss or anything. Anyways, my PP bank was sitting at 27,000 and so I figured I'd grab the best available reliever. And there in the auction house...what is this I see? ...Could it be? 97 rated Tom Gordon. Good fit for the team. Last seven price: 35k. BIN price: 27k. Almost like it was a sign. So, welcome Flash to the SmallBallers.

The team is playing pretty well so far this year, not quite like last year though. They do have the best run differential in the division (+57...pretty much on pace with last year), but their pythag luck has been much worse. The division is pretty tightly bunched up still, and I'm right in the thick of it (1 GB). Too early to say how it'll end up.

The SaberCats, so far, are holding their own. They've got a neutral run differential, which is certainly a LOT better than I expected in a perfect division including two full-on whales. Even with -4 pythag luck, they are still a good 8 spots above relegation territory. I'm just hoping they can keep it up and I can keep improving. I'm getting fairly close to affording my next acquisition. I've decided: if they can stick around in perfect until the end of the month (survive 3 rounds of relegation) I will spend $100 like I did for the SmallBallers.

[chazzycat]

I love the way the SmallBallers are playing right now. Their run differential is well over 100 already, and they're in a close, exciting division race. This is exactly what I was hoping for, so kudos to the devs for making sure it's fun to spend money

All the new acquisitions are working out pretty well. Spahn has been the ace I hoped for, throwing 430 innings of 2.7 ERA ball for 11 WAR. Scherzer has also been useful with his 3.8 ERA in 470 innings for 7 WAR.

Lloyd has batted .315 with .361 OBP and 7 WAR in 1250 PAs. Defense averages about -5 ZR per season so yeah, not quite ideal, but also really not that big of a deal. His excellent range seems to make him adequate for my needs, I think. Despite his just 78 rating at shortstop, I have still led my league in ZR both seasons. And that's putting it mildly...I currently have the best ZR by more than 20. I think my pitching staff being tilted more towards flyballers is a big factor of course.

And that brings me to Ichiro. I love watching him on my replays, because he never walks nor strikes out...always making contact...but offensively his OBP leaves something to be desired (.316 for me so far). The best thing about him is clearly the defense, where he's saved 60 runs already, and so his WAR is also healthy. But I ended up moving him down the lineup.

Both new DHs have been excellent, on pace to add a combined 4 WAR between them, and contributing fairly equally. Solid production at a reasonable price for both those cards, IMO (Heilman & Gwynn).

Kaz Sasaki has been great too, with a 2.9 ERA / 1.4 WAR. So yeah - pretty much all of them are working out fine so far. The only one who hasn't (yet) is Flash Gordon, but that's just 16 innings. Actually as I was typing this up he just lost another game. Get it together Flash.

[chazzycat]

Well, the SmallBallers lost the division race by 1 game on the final days of the season. This matched them up with the dreaded Collingwood Magpies in the wild card game, where my poor boys were unceremoniously snuffed out, 6-0.

Such is life in the perfect leagues. But at least I made the playoffs two weeks in a row. I still really like my team. The team that beat me for the division race was of course much more talented...6 perfects and 6 more 95+ cards, compared to my 2 and 3, respectively. This is very common in my experience...the strategy and park factors consistently have me punching well above my weight class. My team also plays over .650 at home (.500 on the road) the past two seasons.

Can also confirm the SaberCats survived the first round of relegation

[chazzycat]

Haha. The Balancers did the thing again:



They've been pretty close to .500 for six straight seasons now, but this is the first time hitting it right on the dot.

[chazzycat]

Of course as soon as I get that Ichiro card I had been coveting for months, they introduce a better one that costs twice as much...

Anyways, the SmallBallers are stuck in a division with the Bronx Bombers (capital-M megawhale) so the wild card is definitely the goal this week.

The Sabercats ended up in one of those funky leagues with just 14 teams this time around. Seems kinda unfair 4 still get relegated...but at least there's no whales in my division, so maybe I'll have a chance to survive another week.

I'm doing a bit of an experiment with the Balancers this week, since I am pretty bored with that team. Six seasons of .500 ball in diamond should be a pretty decent baseline, I think. So this season I moved all my strategy sliders from the middle, to the extreme "worst" option. Maximum sacrifice bunts, don't care about L/R matchups, no shifts, etc. I didn't change anything else, make any roster moves, put pitch counts on my pitchers. The idea is to see how much the strategy sliders alone can possibly affect the team.

[chazzycat]

Wow...the SmallBallers have started the season 15-0 at home. Crazy! Don't let anyone tell you park factors aren't important.

[chazzycat]

The SmallBallers excellent start extended through May, with my record currently sitting at 37-16, and 26-2 at home. The offense is really clicking - hitting .314 overall with a .354 OBP. I'm guessing that probably isn't totally sustainable, but it's still pretty fun to watch for now.

And of course despite one of my best seasons so far, I'm still 9 games back in the division. The Bronx Bombers have lost literally just one series so far...and it was to me (at home of course). At least I can feel good about that. I do have a 5 game lead in the #1 wild card spot, but it's still super early.

The SaberCats continue playing below-average perfect level ball, but they are generally good enough to avoid relegation. Run differential is currently -13. However with just 14 teams in their league this season, that puts them only a couple spots above relegation. There are six teams with differentials worse than -50, so I generally like my chances, but still just a little bad luck could be enough to get relegated. I've also been tantalizingly close to affording my next impact upgrade...but I've been struggling the last few days to close the gap and get those last few hundred PP I need. Could really use some dingers today.

The Balancers are 29-27 so far, with a +28 run differential. So there hasn't been any obvious impact from the strategy sliders, as of yet. Still early.

[chazzycat]

Thank you to whoever had been selling Cisco Carlos for 29k the past week, and just today decided to drop it down to 28k. Really did me a solid. He should be an excellent fit for this team. It couldn't come soon enough, as the SaberCats are currently in line for relegation...

[chazzycat]

The SmallBallers ended up having their best regular season ever this week. They won 115 games, with a +282 run differential, both all-time highs.

Everything kind of clicked this season. The offense stayed hot all year, hitting .308 as a team, with a .353 OBP. My league leading defense (+70 ZR) helped my pitching to a 3.3 ERA, the 3rd best run prevention unit in the league. Truly it was an amazing season.

Unfortunately for the team, I was out last night and by the time I woke up this morning, the playoffs were already in full swing. So I didn't get to set anything up properly...my rotation was all wrong...plus the wild card game went 14 innings and burned my bullpen. It would be a miracle if I escape this division series (down 0-2 to perfect Cy and perfect Walter so far).

[chazzycat]

Yep. The SmallBallers Lost game 3 to perfect Walsh, and I'm swept out by the Bronx Bombers. That was a pretty sad ending to such a great season. Oh well, try again next week.

I made one key acquisition this week - I completed the Twins/Senators collection and got the 100 Johan Santana. That wasn't until Friday night though, so it was hardly a major impact on the season overall. He did pitch very well for me in September (5-1, ERA of 2.8) so I'm curious to see how he does in a full season. If he can sustain that, he would be on the same level with my Warren Spahn (around 7 WAR/season). Catfish Hunter has replaced 93 Santana as the long man in the bullpen, with 100 Santana taking the #2 spot in the rotation, and everyone else moving down.

One thing I'd like to note, which may seem surprising, is that my starting shortstop is rated just 78 at the position, and yet I led my perfect league in overall defense. That is in terms of both defensive efficiency and zone rating.

I feel pretty strongly that my focus on outfield defense, and especially corner outfield defense, is the key. I'm not even running a staff of extreme flyball pitchers or anything...they are mostly "neutral" guys. But all three of my outfielders are regularly putting up +15 ZR per season, or more. In the corners, Richie Ashburn (LF) and 82 Ichiro (RF) don't quite fit the profiles the conventional wisdom dictates for those positions, namely due to a lack of power and eye. And yet, they are both extremely solid 5 WAR/162 contributors on my team. Along with Lenny in center putting up 7, I would say they form the core of my team. While I love my infielders too, they are contributing more in the 3-4 WAR range.

The SaberCats unfortunately are getting relegated

The tiny league combined with poor Pythag luck was enough of a combination to send them back to diamond. Their run differential was just -60, so this was just a below-average perfect team with bad luck, not a terrible team. I am sure they will be back.

The Balancers...I have no explanation for this. After six straight seasons of playing .500 ball, I set all the strategy sliders to be as bad as possible - and what happened? They put up a +100 run differential and won their division. They lost in the division series and will remain in diamond, but I was definitely not expecting that kind of performance. I'm going to leave the sliders as-is for another week.

[X3NEIZE]

Originally Posted by chazzycat

Yep. The SmallBallers Lost game 3 to perfect Walsh, and I'm swept out by the Bronx Bombers. That was a pretty sad ending to such a great season. Oh well, try again next week.

I made one key acquisition this week - I completed the Twins/Senators collection and got the 100 Johan Santana. That wasn't until Friday night though, so it was hardly a major impact on the season overall. He did pitch very well for me in September (5-1, ERA of 2.8) so I'm curious to see how he does in a full season. If he can sustain that, he would be on the same level with my Warren Spahn (around 7 WAR/season). Catfish Hunter has replaced 93 Santana as the long man in the bullpen, with 100 Santana taking the #2 spot in the rotation, and everyone else moving down.

One thing I'd like to note, which may seem surprising, is that my starting shortstop is rated just 78 at the position, and yet I led my perfect league in overall defense. That is in terms of both defensive efficiency and zone rating.

I feel pretty strongly that my focus on outfield defense, and especially corner outfield defense, is the key. I'm not even running a staff of extreme flyball pitchers or anything...they are mostly "neutral" guys. But all three of my outfielders are regularly putting up +15 ZR per season, or more. In the corners, Richie Ashburn (LF) and 82 Ichiro (RF) don't quite fit the profiles the conventional wisdom dictates for those positions, namely due to a lack of power and eye. And yet, they are both extremely solid 5 WAR/162 contributors on my team. Along with Lenny in center putting up 7, I would say they form the core of my team. While I love my infielders too, they are contributing more in the 3-4 WAR range.

The SaberCats unfortunately are getting relegated

The tiny league combined with poor Pythag luck was enough of a combination to send them back to diamond. Their run differential was just -60, so this was just a below-average perfect team with bad luck, not a terrible team. I am sure they will be back.

The Balancers...I have no explanation for this. After six straight seasons of playing .500 ball, I set all the strategy sliders to be as bad as possible - and what happened? They put up a +100 run differential and won their division. They lost in the division series and will remain in diamond, but I was definitely not expecting that kind of performance. I'm going to leave the sliders as-is for another week.

I wasn't crazy when your team sounded so familiar, I remember following this thread for a while.

Was very impressed with your SmallBallers team, you're absolutely right, it you had an amazing season. I really think your team is incredibly well built... I would seriously consider upgrading your catcher to a more defensive catcher, I'm thinking Buck Ewing would fit perfectly well in that lineup.

Also, a great card for you would be the new PEAK Ichiro.

Good luck next season with all your teams.

[chazzycat]

Originally Posted by X3NEIZE

I wasn't crazy when your team sounded so familiar, I remember following this thread for a while.

Was very impressed with your SmallBallers team, you're absolutely right, it you had an amazing season. I really think your team is incredibly well built... I would seriously consider upgrading your catcher to a more defensive catcher, I'm thinking Buck Ewing would fit perfectly well in that lineup.

Also, a great card for you would be the new PEAK Ichiro.

Good luck next season with all your teams.

Hey, thanks! Your team's not so bad yourself...did you end up taking home the trophy last night?


Man I've had my eyes on Buck Ewing for so long...I would absolutely love to get that card. He's just a bit expensive for my current spending, but if I do drop some more $$$ at some point, he's near the top of my list. I love the new Ichiro card too...it's a great fit for me. It would improve my corner outfield defense even further, and the eye rating I think would give him enough OBP to put him back in the top half of the lineup (currently he bats 8th for me). So yeah...I want that card. It's just a similar situation with the price being a bit out of reach. Some day, though.

[chazzycat]

The SmallBallers started out somewhat bumpy in the early goings this season, going just 15-12 in April. However after a glance through the schedule, I am not worried about it at all. I literally got all of my road series vs. whales out of the way for the entire season. Still went 10-2 at home. I'm sure things will be looking up from here.

The SaberCats are playing well so far too, as I expect from them when they drop to diamond. It's still super early, but from the looks of it, might end up being a fun division race.

Finally made an acquisition for the Balancers. I have been so bored of them lately I let about 30k PP build up. Anthony Rizzo was my lowest performing player so I upgraded at 1B to 96 Lou Gehrig, who definitely fits the bill of balanced hitter, with all five main ratings over 70. I figured I should keep the "control group" (unscientific as it may be) chugging along by spending my PP on players that fit the concept.

[chazzycat]

Yep the SmallBallers got things back on track after April, going 17-10 in May and 19-7 in June. 3-0 so far in July too. On the pace for about 100 wins and a run differential over +200. Playing over .700 at home and around .500 on the road. There is one other really good (non whale) team in the division (the Perugia Warriors) who are having a better year though. I'm still 7 games back even with the very solid play recently, so it's looking like a wild card may be in the cards again.

The SaberCats are on track for a +200 season as well in diamond, as I would expect. Cisco Carlos has been great. The division race would be super close, if not for my -6 pythag record so far. They've got the 2nd best run diff in the league, but may have to settle for a wild card as well if that luck doesn't turn around pronto (7 games back in the division).

[chazzycat]

The SmallBallers are still 10 games back in the division at this point, so it's definitely looking like another wild card year, despite being on track for 100 wins. Great team @Moalkha you've got there.

The SaberCats are getting absolutely destroyed by Pythagoras this year (-10). They just lost five one-run games in a row...just brutal. It's looking like they won't even make the playoffs (7 back in wild card now).

The Balancers are playing a bit over .500 again with a +30 run diff. Funny how my drastic changes to the strategy sliders hasn't seemed to have any noticeable overall effect. When I have time, I want to take a closer look at some stats, because that is really surprising.

[moalkha]

Originally Posted by chazzycat

The SmallBallers are still 10 games back in the division at this point, so it's definitely looking like another wild card year, despite being on track for 100 wins. Great team @Moalkha you've got there.

Thanks, I have been away from the game while on holiday and in that span Perugia won a title and lost a WS all by themselves.
I will be back tomorrow, just in time to screw this week’s playoffs

[chazzycat]

Originally Posted by moalkha

I will be back tomorrow, just in time to screw this week’s playoffs

My team will be on autopilot this weekend...good luck in the playoffs!

[moalkha]

Originally Posted by chazzycat

My team will be on autopilot this weekend...good luck in the playoffs!

In case you are wondering, your team won the wild card game 4-0 against the Burlington Bisons and you'll face the Spearfish Blackhawks in the DS.
I'm going against the Bearsville Bears