A. The rotation in Philly is among the league's finest. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are undeniable frontline starters. In a short playoff series they would create nightmares for any opposing manager. The issue here is whether the team can make the playoffs. Matt Garza and Ricky Nolasco are good complimentary arms to Halladay and Lee. Both have the potential to win double digit games, make 30 plus starts while logging 190+ innings, and approach a K/IP. Yet, who knows who the fifth starter will be. Again, the Melkonian has taken the approach of the best players at any given position at any given cost. Consequently, there is NO depth at all on this pitching staff.
B. The bullpen is fairly good as well with some unheralded arms. John Axford was a one hit wonder that the Melkonian will soon realize. There are veteran late inning relievers, Motte, Rauch, Putz and Valverde, but the question remains as to who will bridge the game to the late guys. Unless the strategy is to allow each arm to pitch one inning, it could take forever to finish these games. Either way this is a bullpen that relies on its starters pitching late into games to create favorable matchups. May need to acquire lefty reliever or three to stop Yuma's stud Votto.
C. The lineup is as intriguing as the rest of the team. First, two tremendous sluggers in Adrian Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez anchor the lineup that MUST get power from these two. Andre Either provides 20 homers and 90 rbi with a consistent batting approach. In right, Ichiro will also likely leadoff and provide a must sparkplug to the lineup. I am guessing that a combination of small ball and balanced approach will be the strategy here. Adam Jones, Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, and Matt Weiters/Miguel Montero must supplementary seasons for this offense to work. Defense and defensive range looks to be an added bonus in this lineup. It could really bail out some relievers and starters.
D. Intangibles are limited. By limited I mean there are not many players in the organization. This will greatly affect the organization's effort to acquire needed pieces, like a lefty reliever. The matchups in the bullpen are great if the matchup is not against Votto and company. I like the potential for speed and the great range of the defense. If the sluggers are slugging this lineup should consistently score a few runs to aid the pitching staff. Overall this team could easily challenge for a spot in the postseason as a wildcard but simply does not have enough power, depth, or tradability to contend for division crown.
7 comments:
This review left out these details:
- John Lackey is the #5 in the rotation...
- Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran have been added to the lineup
- Depth will be added weekly with the surplus of money we have
will have my blog updated with fresh information soon.. you also left out guys I have in my pen who make a difference, such as Belise who threw the most innings of any reliever as well as holds.
Ok I have three things to mention:
1. I don't understand why you guys have such a fascination with IP. The simulation shouldn't take into account innings pitched after a certain point, because I know for a fact it doesn't take into account for PA. I used this to my advantage a couple years ago with Mike Napoli's bloated stats due to low PA's. High IP should demonstrate reliability and consistency, which should be attractive to a prospective drafting team, but once in the simulation, I don't see how the sim could account for a low number (30IP+ for relivers) and then break them down accordingly.
2. If I'm reading this correctly, you are placing the defending Central champions at least 3rd in the division, which is a slap in the face. I love it.
3. Ron according to my rosters your salary is at 117 mil. I don't think 3 million is going to allow for much depth. I have about 35 million to kick around though this year. Should be interesting.
I'm loving these articles. You have a different approach. I look forward to more, hope you get around to every team!
Landon:
1. The issues with PA or IP are compounded only with low totals in those categories. With a full season from a player, it is more likely they will approach their "seed" by the end of the season. But with limited IP or PA, there would be more variation in their BARB stats. You caught lightning in a bottle with Napoli that year, but in another year, with the same seed, he might have hit around .150 over a full BARB season.
2. Yuma and Philadelphia are not in the same division, so it doesn't appear as if Eric is doing this by division.
That previous comment was made by me (Andrew). I was accidentally signed in to a different account.
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