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Hatleyville
Joined: 04/05/2016
Posts: 37

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Ok, so I enjoy the independent nature of this game and trying to rebuild my team from the ground up, and I feel I've taken pretty decent strides the past few seasons. But, now I am getting a little overwhelmed and would appreciate a second set of eyes on a few aspects of my team. Mainly my minors.

Problems I foresee: No true SS in majors or minors. Too many OF. No true 1B in majors, possibly minors as well. Too many similar P prospects. The team lacks power - not sure if there are enough power prospects in minors. Majors pitching is thin to say the least, but not sure what I can do about that other than throw out claims during offseason.

Are there any obvious cuts in the majors or minors? There are a couple of projects I'm playing with that are/have been underdeveloped. Should I just cut my losses? I just drafted a 20yo 13pot in Rookie ball that has 18 range and arm. What the heck do I do with that??

I'm pretty much just thinking out loud, but if anybody has the time to take a look and give some advice it would be much appreciated.

Cheers!
AssumedPseudonym
Joined: 10/26/2016
Posts: 1130

Deerfield Beach Rats
V.7

Broken Bat Baseball
 Oh hey, I thought that name looked familiar. You were the unlikely sweep I suffered that I was grumping about not that long ago when talking about stadium configuration. ^.~

 First things first, a disclaimer: I took over Shreveport just before the All-Star Break. I have just over three weeks of experience under my belt. Here, have a salt shaker, since just a grain of salt might not quite be enough.

 I don’t think your pitching in the minors is really a huge issue, to be honest (at least going by what I’ve been being told by one of the LL2 guys on chat in the morning). You have some good looking talent for both the starting rotation and bullpen, from what it looks like. You actually look to have a reasonably solid pitching staff in the Majors, too, though the beefy defense stats on Cody Delaney and Andres Archuleta are taking away from what they should have in pitching stats. Something to keep in mind when you go shopping in the off-season.

 Shortstop is definitely your Achilles Heel right now, though, no question there. To me, your best option there from the minors is probably Robert Mantle, down in AAA, even with the whole left handed thing. If either Walt Davidson or Morimichi Kobayashi were younger, I might have suggested getting them set up to play there — and it might be worth starting one of them there the rest of the season, given how far out of the race you are, and giving them the spring training games (and I’d probably recommend Kobayashi, given your surplus of outfielders). If you can get one of them to at least get a lowercase “ss” by next year, they might be able to hold the fort as a stopgap until you can find or promote someone better suited to the position.

 Herman Cavalli looks like he should be serviceable enough at first base for a this season, and probably even the next couple. You may need a short term answer once he gets past his prime until the likes of Craig Landry or James Coughlin (who both look to have been being groomed in that direction) can come up to fill his shoes, but that’s what the free agent market is for.

 As for Juan Carlos Iglesias, I kinda hate to say it with as many outfielders as you have, but those defensive numbers basically have right field written all over them.

 Also, keep in mind that you are in a nasty division, at least in terms of who’s at the top of it. You’d have a fighting chance for the pennant over here in the East, but pretty much the entirety of VI.7 is outclassed by Burnsville. You should fare a lot better next season once they’re out of the league.
Hatleyville
Joined: 04/05/2016
Posts: 37

Inactive

Broken Bat Baseball
Hey bud. Yeah, that sweep a few weeks ago was surprising to me as well. You've been doing a lot of good work on that Shreeveport team.

I'm not unhappy with my pitching, just know that I am thin and probably 2 other solid guys away from really being satisfied with it - for LL6 anyway. As of now, I have my pitch counts pretty high for starters to limit damage out of the pen. The bullpen had a terrible start to the season and I've been gun shy since.

At SS, Kobayashi is kind of my fielding ace in the hole for all infield positions. I pretty much just plug and place him all over depending on the situation. His bat leaves much to be desired however. Regarding Mantle, he is actually one of those projects I referred to above. He was misused before I took over the team and called up to the majors way too early. I dropped him to the minors for development and he got the "doesn't have much room for improvement" tag at 89SI. He's progressed to 97SI since then, but who knows if he will go any further. It's hard for me to let him go though, because his build would be awesome.

Cavalli is OK at 1B. Wish I saw a little more out of his bat this year though.

Juan Carlos Iglesias is interesting to me. His arm says RF, but his range says CF (which is probably where I would play him), but he could also catch. It would be fun placing him in the OF, but I would have to get pretty lucky with his hitting profile progression.

As far as our league, it has been pretty competitive since I joined and it's fun seeing the progression from teams, what's worked, what didn't, etc. Burnsville was my pick to win the West last year because their hitting has always been top notch, but then the whole league ran into Colton's superior pitching staff (which they are riding to the top of their current league looking to advance again to LL4). It would be neat to mix up the divisions and see what happens, but I've also enjoyed the challenge.

Anyway, thanks for the input and good luck the rest of the season!

Updated Friday, November 18 2016 @ 8:07:43 am PST
amalric7
Joined: 01/20/2016
Posts: 2235

New York Lancers
IV.2

Broken Bat Baseball
Kobayashi was one of my draft picks, but he's been a bit of a tease. He was a 13 pot who popped to 14 last year, didn't he? I gave him some 60+ games at SS and he has the abilities for it, but not that (all-important) position rating. It was also obvious he wasn't going to be much of a hitter (and he had no hit report), and I didn't need a defensive OFer so I let him go.

Iglesias looks like a defensive CF to me, fielding isn't hugely important and the Range and Arm are ideal. You don't appear to have any prospects for 3B or SS, but at least you're playing the guys you have in the right spots. I'd say these are your best fits:-

DeLeon, Navarette, Robinson, Rivera - C
Jo, Iglesias, Wharton - OF
Mantle, Wagoner, Landry, Coughlin - 1B
Neal - DH
Powell - 2B

I like Range 14+ for the OF but you can play guys with lower scores, just remember Range is the most important defensive stat for the OF. You have a few candidates for 1B as I see it - Mantle has the perfect build for it, such a pity he was mis-handled. I'd never play him at SS though, from everything Steve says the penalty for lefty MI is so punitive as to really not be worth it, unless the guy's skills are really high (and perhaps not even then). You have a good minors system though, no reason to change anything there.

Hadn't looked at your majors until now, let's see...

I'd cut George and go with Davidson and Nishimura at C, no need to carry all three.
Thompson is a 1B/DH type, NEVER play him in the OF, no range or arm for it.
Cavalli has been poor but at least he's still gaining SI.
Lee is borderline at 2B, has just enough fielding & range to get by.
Chacon should be your 3B, no range for SS.
I'd play Batista at SS, skills aren't good but at least he has the big SS. Mota is a cut, you don't need to carry a 31-yo guy who should be a C, who won't improve and who will take AB away from developing youngsters - you're not contending (as you may have noticed), so move on.
You have way too many OF. Quinones and Barber should stick around, but I'd cut Sakei and one of Bowers or Kobayashi.
Weber and Vinson are C/1B types, and Livingston is 1B only. These three guys all need to play all day, every day to maximise their development, but TBH I'd probably cut Livingston.

Few things to remember - anyone with even an average glove can play 1B, you just need someone who can hit.
The most important attribute at C is Arm, nothing else really matters.
And you want high Range players in the OF, don't have to have an of skill rating.
Your best defenders belong at SS, 2B and 3B.


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