An Experiment of 3 Teams - Page 8

Cheesehead1964 · 05-03-2019, 05:01 PM

He's been solid so far for my Mammoths, who like the only team that will qualify for the playoffs this week....

chazzycat · 05-03-2019, 09:09 PM

The SmallBallers are still playing incredibly well, but I couldn't resist spending the rest of my PP. I picked up that top starter in Justin Verlander, and Joe Sambito to upgrade my last bronze guy out of the bullpen. The team currently leads the league in both runs scored and allowed, and in batting average by 27 points. Not to get too far ahead of myself, but I think these guys are ready for diamond. Just gotta win one series, the right one, on Sunday.

The SaberCats, while nowhere near as dominant, actually look like they should win their division too. But the race is still really close, still due mostly to pythag luck (my run diff is 90 runs better). This team is still dependent on its run prevention (2nd best in runs allowed, behind just a megawhale) as opposed to offense (22nd best). They do lead the league in homers though, which is kind of interesting with that whale in the league. The fact they spent their money on defense and contact and stuff, not pure power, probably helped me out a bit this season, leaving more homers for me.

The Balancers look most likely to be destined for the wild card spot at this point. This increases the odds they will stay in silver a third week...they would have to win that WC game and another round to get promoted. On the plus side, Tim Raines is having a monster year, might win some awards. He's hitting .330, closing in on 60 SB, and 6+ WAR with a full month left. Not bad at all.

chazzycat · 05-04-2019, 08:18 PM

It looks like all three teams will be in the playoffs this year. The SaberCats finally pulled away with their division, while the Balancers remain in a tight race, where the loser will be the wild card team.

Here are the current rosters:

SmallBallers

SaberCats

Balancers

neugey · 05-04-2019, 10:21 PM

IMO you have to make quite a PP investment to play Sabermetric properly. I see other people do well with it but it hasn't worked out for me when I've tried. I have the occasional 5 HR 14-2 rout followed by four games where my power is nowhere to be found and my guys strikeout and can't walk enough against good pitching. I'd much rather take my chances will Smallball and good defense and hope I get the breaks and the pitching does enough.

chazzycat · 05-05-2019, 12:50 PM

Whelp, the Balancers lost their wild card game by 1 run and will be staying in silver yet again. Bit of a shame, winning 96 games they seemed ready for gold level, but oh well. Try again next week.

The SmallBallers continue looking great - they finished with 111 wins, Rod Carew won his second straight batting title, and they have opened their series 2-0 already. So they are just 1 win away from diamond. Not that anything is a lock, but I would be OK with a promotion. They are ready.

The SaberCats are 1-1 so far. Honestly they are lucky to have a win, because they have hit zero homers over those two games, which they rely quite heavily on. Speaking of homers, Mark McGwire ended up leading the league in the regular season with 43, which is pretty cool. I'm hoping he along with the others can get their bats going in the next couple games - it should be possible, because my opponents staff has pretty bad movement ratings.

Though to be honest, it would not be the end of the world if we lose this series. The SaberCats are currently an above-average gold team, not a dominant one, and I don't think they are really ready for diamond. I would probably be better off staying in gold and saving up for Trout. Still trying my hardest to win of course. My opponent had fairly noticeable splits (much worse vs RHP) so I tinkered my rotation to put the two righties first. That didn't really work out, as I wasn't able to win both games at home. Now I have two straight lefties going in games 3-4, on the road.

chazzycat · 05-05-2019, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neugey

IMO you have to make quite a PP investment to play Sabermetric properly. I see other people do well with it but it hasn't worked out for me when I've tried. I have the occasional 5 HR 14-2 rout followed by four games where my power is nowhere to be found and my guys strikeout and can't walk enough against good pitching. I'd much rather take my chances will Smallball and good defense and hope I get the breaks and the pitching does enough.

Yeah, based on my results so far, I would generally agree with that. There just aren't as many choices of solid, affordable cards with the HR+Eye+Defense skillset. To guarantee 5+ WAR I would basically need Mike Trout, who costs over 40k PP. On my SmallBall team, three guys put up 5+ WAR this season (Carew, Gilliam,and Ashburn). None of them cost more than 8.5k.

JasonC23 · 05-05-2019, 01:48 PM

Chazzycat, my Huntley Red Raiders will be facing your San Francisco Sabercats in the Gold .310 Sub-League Series. It's Huntley's first time getting through the Division Series in 3 years (3 straight game-5 losses across 3 levels), so it's a thrill to match wits with you. Good luck!

chazzycat · 05-05-2019, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonC23

Chazzycat, my Huntley Red Raiders will be facing your San Francisco Sabercats in the Gold .310 Sub-League Series. It's Huntley's first time getting through the Division Series in 3 years (3 straight game-5 losses across 3 levels), so it's a thrill to match wits with you. Good luck!

Oh nice, haha...I was just scouting your team. Not gonna lie, it looks pretty strong. Your offense is definitely way more balanced. I think I'll need to hit a few timely dingers, to have a chance. I don't know how on Earth I escaped the first round hitting just 1 HR.

Good luck to you too!

Dogberry99 · 05-05-2019, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

Yeah, based on my results so far, I would generally agree with that. There just aren't as many choices of solid, affordable cards with the HR+Eye+Defense skillset. To guarantee 5+ WAR I would basically need Mike Trout, who costs over 40k PP. On my SmallBall team, three guys put up 5+ WAR this season (Carew, Gilliam,and Ashburn). None of them cost more than 8.5k.

It seems that those traits (especially eye in particular) have quite a large effect upon a card's OVR as well. In this regard, its the game mechanics pushing the price up just as much as (or maybe even more than) the market demand. Lower rated cards with great power, eye, and defense are going to have much larger holes in other aspects of their game than players with, for example, high gap power and avoid k.

JasonC23 · 05-05-2019, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

I think I'll need to hit a few timely dingers, to have a chance.

And that's working out well for you guys so far! The SaberCats are up 2 games to 1. In the just-completed game 3, after Huntley rocked Tommy John for 5 runs in the first, the SaberCats mounted an impressive comeback with 4 runs in the 5th inning that included one of those timely homers--a 2-out, 3-run shot by Aaron Judge. Then the SaberCats took the lead in the 6th with 4 runs that scored with only one hit--a measly single--because the Huntley pitchers walked the bases loaded (!), then walked in 2 runs (!!), and finally forced in another run with a hit-by-pitch (!!!). That was...not the finest pitching display I've ever seen.

Here's hoping the plate stops jumping around on my guys in game 4!

Charlatan · 05-05-2019, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

Yeah, based on my results so far, I would generally agree with that. There just aren't as many choices of solid, affordable cards with the HR+Eye+Defense skillset. To guarantee 5+ WAR I would basically need Mike Trout, who costs over 40k PP. On my SmallBall team, three guys put up 5+ WAR this season (Carew, Gilliam,and Ashburn). None of them cost more than 8.5k.

I think you're right about the difficulty in finding those kind of elite sluggers.

My SaberCats team did well in Diamond this year and qualified for the WC in my league. It was a strange year in that our pitching did pretty well all year, while the batting was terrible until the latter half of the year. Nevertheless, we led the league with 222 HR (second-place team had 220 and the third place had 186). Even though we hit a lot of homers, we were just under league average in OBP and SLG. And my top 2 WAR guys were... Pee Wee Reese and Lonny Frey!

JasonC23 · 05-05-2019, 10:05 PM

Well, the Red Raiders managed to get their pitching act together and knock off the SaberCats in 6, but we've run into an absolute buzzsaw in the Gold Series. The B.C. Blizzard, which earlier knocked off a 96-game winner and then, shockingly, a 121-game winner to make the series, has won the first 3 games of the Gold Series by the scores of 3-2, 2-1, and 3-0. Barring a miracle, Huntley's first title will have to wait 'til next year.

JasonC23 · 05-06-2019, 12:39 AM

Holy cow!

chazzycat · 05-06-2019, 01:40 PM

That's awesome, congrats!!

I ended up going out yesterday and missed all the action. All I know is both my teams lost in the 2nd round. I'm glad you won it.

Thornbreaker · 05-07-2019, 12:40 PM

Mic Check...1...2

chazzycat · 05-07-2019, 01:44 PM

LOL. I usually try to wait until late on Tuesday to assess how the teams are doing. Crazy stuff can happen in April, but 2 months is a better sample size. I'll have an update this evening.

chazzycat · 05-07-2019, 08:53 PM

Well so far, the SmallBallers are handling Diamond like they've handled the previous levels. They lead their league in runs scored and AVG, and are looking like either the second or third best team in the league overall. As I was writing this, they won a game 19-3. The best team so far though, is also in my division. This looks like a pretty strong team with 5 perfects and 12 diamonds - and good, historical ones. So my ceiling is most likely a wild card berth. There are several other whales-on-paper type teams in the league, much more talented overall than mine, so I am not taking anything for granted. But so far they have not had my results. The team is playing well, and my PP bank is back up to 15k or so.

The SaberCats are showing they belong in diamond, but also why I didn't want them to be promoted quite yet. They are playing just around .500 so far. I do think they are getting unlucky on homers (I'm just 5th in the league in HR, but I checked the top 4 rosters and they all have less power) so maybe if that luck turns around they might make a run at a wild card spot. But I'm not holding my breath. The Mike Trout piggybank sits at 24k.

The Balancers are doing what they should be doing their 4th week in silver. They are the best team in their league so far by run differential, and 2nd best by record. I hope they can make it to gold level next week...I'm very curious what the ceiling of this team actually is. One silver lining to staying in the same level so long, is that my players have had a chance to put up some nice stats. For example Frank Thomas, my DH and 4-hitter has put up 30+ HR and 100+ RBI for three straight years, and on pace to do it again. That's pretty cool. My best player though has to be Tim Raines. He's been an absolute beast with 5+ WAR every season and the MVP last year.

Charlatan · 05-08-2019, 12:10 PM

Hey Chazzycat:

I started a team last week that's running the SmallBallers model and they've been a lot of fun so far. I've pretty much ignored pitching aside from a few bullpen upgrades - my top starter is a 71 OVR and I don't even recall his name right now.... but the offense, it's crazy. They did really well in the Entry Pool and are somehow playing .600+ ball in Iron, leading the league in AVG and 3rd or so in Runs. I'm using a number of the usual Bronze suspects (Carew, Sax, Parker, Madlock). I'm also using a 73 OVR Pete Rose and that card's been doing great too. Don't understand why the pitching is doing so well but I guess I won't argue with success.

chazzycat · 05-08-2019, 08:39 PM

Finally upgraded my DH on the SmallBallers. Steve Sax has been truly awesome, and I have been waiting to find a card I really love to replace him. Today I found this guy for just 4,200 PP:

dat gap power

Hopefully the improvements across the board in hitting ratings will be enough to offset the loss of speed compared to Sax. But I am pretty confident it should.

Charlatan · 05-09-2019, 12:02 PM

Remind me - do the Future Legends cards get updated or is it only the LIVE ones? I would hate to buy this card and then have the guy come to the majors and end up with a SLG of .150!

05-04-2019, 08:18 PM	#143
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	It looks like all three teams will be in the playoffs this year. The SaberCats finally pulled away with their division, while the Balancers remain in a tight race, where the loser will be the wild card team. Here are the current rosters: SmallBallers SaberCats Balancers Last edited by chazzycat; 05-04-2019 at 08:20 PM.

05-04-2019, 10:21 PM	#144
neugey All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 805 Blog Entries: 39	IMO you have to make quite a PP investment to play Sabermetric properly. I see other people do well with it but it hasn't worked out for me when I've tried. I have the occasional 5 HR 14-2 rout followed by four games where my power is nowhere to be found and my guys strikeout and can't walk enough against good pitching. I'd much rather take my chances will Smallball and good defense and hope I get the breaks and the pitching does enough. __________________ Online OOTP League Play: PBA - Cincinnati Reds MLM - Baltimore Orioles

05-05-2019, 01:48 PM	#147
JasonC23 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Huntley, IL Posts: 865	Chazzycat, my Huntley Red Raiders will be facing your San Francisco Sabercats in the Gold .310 Sub-League Series. It's Huntley's first time getting through the Division Series in 3 years (3 straight game-5 losses across 3 levels), so it's a thrill to match wits with you. Good luck! __________________

05-05-2019, 10:05 PM	#152
JasonC23 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Huntley, IL Posts: 865	Well, the Red Raiders managed to get their pitching act together and knock off the SaberCats in 6, but we've run into an absolute buzzsaw in the Gold Series. The B.C. Blizzard, which earlier knocked off a 96-game winner and then, shockingly, a 121-game winner to make the series, has won the first 3 games of the Gold Series by the scores of 3-2, 2-1, and 3-0. Barring a miracle, Huntley's first title will have to wait 'til next year. __________________

05-06-2019, 12:39 AM	#153
JasonC23 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Huntley, IL Posts: 865	Do you believe in miracles? Yes! Holy cow! Attached Images __________________

05-03-2019, 05:01 PM	#141
Cheesehead1964 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 427	He's been solid so far for my Mammoths, who like the only team that will qualify for the playoffs this week....

05-03-2019, 09:09 PM	#142
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	The SmallBallers are still playing incredibly well, but I couldn't resist spending the rest of my PP. I picked up that top starter in Justin Verlander, and Joe Sambito to upgrade my last bronze guy out of the bullpen. The team currently leads the league in both runs scored and allowed, and in batting average by 27 points. Not to get too far ahead of myself, but I think these guys are ready for diamond. Just gotta win one series, the right one, on Sunday. The SaberCats, while nowhere near as dominant, actually look like they should win their division too. But the race is still really close, still due mostly to pythag luck (my run diff is 90 runs better). This team is still dependent on its run prevention (2nd best in runs allowed, behind just a megawhale) as opposed to offense (22nd best). They do lead the league in homers though, which is kind of interesting with that whale in the league. The fact they spent their money on defense and contact and stuff, not pure power, probably helped me out a bit this season, leaving more homers for me. The Balancers look most likely to be destined for the wild card spot at this point. This increases the odds they will stay in silver a third week...they would have to win that WC game and another round to get promoted. On the plus side, Tim Raines is having a monster year, might win some awards. He's hitting .330, closing in on 60 SB, and 6+ WAR with a full month left. Not bad at all.

05-05-2019, 12:50 PM	#145
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Whelp, the Balancers lost their wild card game by 1 run and will be staying in silver yet again. Bit of a shame, winning 96 games they seemed ready for gold level, but oh well. Try again next week. The SmallBallers continue looking great - they finished with 111 wins, Rod Carew won his second straight batting title, and they have opened their series 2-0 already. So they are just 1 win away from diamond. Not that anything is a lock, but I would be OK with a promotion. They are ready. The SaberCats are 1-1 so far. Honestly they are lucky to have a win, because they have hit zero homers over those two games, which they rely quite heavily on. Speaking of homers, Mark McGwire ended up leading the league in the regular season with 43, which is pretty cool. I'm hoping he along with the others can get their bats going in the next couple games - it should be possible, because my opponents staff has pretty bad movement ratings. Though to be honest, it would not be the end of the world if we lose this series. The SaberCats are currently an above-average gold team, not a dominant one, and I don't think they are really ready for diamond. I would probably be better off staying in gold and saving up for Trout. Still trying my hardest to win of course. My opponent had fairly noticeable splits (much worse vs RHP) so I tinkered my rotation to put the two righties first. That didn't really work out, as I wasn't able to win both games at home. Now I have two straight lefties going in games 3-4, on the road.

05-06-2019, 01:40 PM	#154
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	That's awesome, congrats!! I ended up going out yesterday and missed all the action. All I know is both my teams lost in the 2nd round. I'm glad you won it.

05-07-2019, 12:40 PM	#155
Thornbreaker Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Mississippi Posts: 155	Mic Check...1...2 __________________

05-07-2019, 01:44 PM	#156
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	LOL. I usually try to wait until late on Tuesday to assess how the teams are doing. Crazy stuff can happen in April, but 2 months is a better sample size. I'll have an update this evening.

05-07-2019, 08:53 PM	#157
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Well so far, the SmallBallers are handling Diamond like they've handled the previous levels. They lead their league in runs scored and AVG, and are looking like either the second or third best team in the league overall. As I was writing this, they won a game 19-3. The best team so far though, is also in my division. This looks like a pretty strong team with 5 perfects and 12 diamonds - and good, historical ones. So my ceiling is most likely a wild card berth. There are several other whales-on-paper type teams in the league, much more talented overall than mine, so I am not taking anything for granted. But so far they have not had my results. The team is playing well, and my PP bank is back up to 15k or so. The SaberCats are showing they belong in diamond, but also why I didn't want them to be promoted quite yet. They are playing just around .500 so far. I do think they are getting unlucky on homers (I'm just 5th in the league in HR, but I checked the top 4 rosters and they all have less power) so maybe if that luck turns around they might make a run at a wild card spot. But I'm not holding my breath. The Mike Trout piggybank sits at 24k. The Balancers are doing what they should be doing their 4th week in silver. They are the best team in their league so far by run differential, and 2nd best by record. I hope they can make it to gold level next week...I'm very curious what the ceiling of this team actually is. One silver lining to staying in the same level so long, is that my players have had a chance to put up some nice stats. For example Frank Thomas, my DH and 4-hitter has put up 30+ HR and 100+ RBI for three straight years, and on pace to do it again. That's pretty cool. My best player though has to be Tim Raines. He's been an absolute beast with 5+ WAR every season and the MVP last year.

05-08-2019, 12:10 PM	#158
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	Hey Chazzycat: I started a team last week that's running the SmallBallers model and they've been a lot of fun so far. I've pretty much ignored pitching aside from a few bullpen upgrades - my top starter is a 71 OVR and I don't even recall his name right now.... but the offense, it's crazy. They did really well in the Entry Pool and are somehow playing .600+ ball in Iron, leading the league in AVG and 3rd or so in Runs. I'm using a number of the usual Bronze suspects (Carew, Sax, Parker, Madlock). I'm also using a 73 OVR Pete Rose and that card's been doing great too. Don't understand why the pitching is doing so well but I guess I won't argue with success.

05-08-2019, 08:39 PM	#159
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Finally upgraded my DH on the SmallBallers. Steve Sax has been truly awesome, and I have been waiting to find a card I really love to replace him. Today I found this guy for just 4,200 PP: dat gap power Hopefully the improvements across the board in hitting ratings will be enough to offset the loss of speed compared to Sax. But I am pretty confident it should.

05-09-2019, 12:02 PM	#160
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	Remind me - do the Future Legends cards get updated or is it only the LIVE ones? I would hate to buy this card and then have the guy come to the majors and end up with a SLG of .150!