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Subject: SW has created a monster - runaway hitter gains Posted by: The Pink Pimp - [36423223] Sat, Apr 28, 02:14 IMHO Smallworld has completely blown this season as far as cash gains are concerned. Before the season started much speculation was made about how the cash gains would be made in this years split market with "dampened" pitcher swings. Don Mathis said in his post from Smallworld, " hitters will become a far more significant part of money making than they ever have been before, since their trade frequency relative to one another will be much more significant than it was relative to the huge pitching rotations of years past. Just like in other Small World games, finding the hot players at all positions at bargain prices will be key." Little did we know how true this statement would turn out to be. I'm going to repost a small part of message number 24 from my Pulling it all together - How to start the season thread as that is where I first ventured to guess what this year's hitter market would look like. The subject of how much faster hitters are going to go up is one that also vexes me. I do not have the statistical training that others on this board have but let me throw something out there for everyone to chew on and rip apart. Because I have not been able to figure this one out. Several other Gurupies, notably Gary and Madman, continued this line of thought (if you want the whole arguement just reread the post) and eventually we all came to the conclusion that Smallworld must have lowered the sensitivity of the market for hitters. Why would they lower player prices overall and then double the gains for hitters we asked? Surely they must have seen that hitter gains would be doubled in the new split market and that this would lead to runaway gains and roster values. But in words that would prove to be prophetic Madman said, "it's very dangerous to assume that SW is rational." Last years runaway gainers were Kennedy and Long in the field. Except for a few days of "odd trading" that produced huge gains before Smallworld changed the formula around 4/08 of last year, most of the daily gains were small. Look at last years price change histories for Kennedy and Long compared to this years for Sanders and Quinn LY Adam Kennedy $1,700 in gains over 30 days with a max daily gain of $100 LY Terrance Long $2,020 in gains over 31 days with a max daily gain of $130 TY Mark Quinn $1,860 in gains over 17 days with a max daily gain of $270 TY Reggie Sanders $1,590 in gains over 11 days with a max daily gain of $210 IMHO Smallworld has blown it big time. They failed to adjust the hitter market to keep gains in line with the rest of the game. The gains this year appear to be near doubled. I know that 2 examples do not prove a case but I defy anybody to find an instance in ALL OF LAST YEAR where any hitter (after 4/08) went up in price the way Quinn and Sanders (not to mention Pujol, Walker, Gonzalez etc) have so far. All of these examples are from the beginning of the season so the effect of new team formations should be about the same. This years game has been reduced to "hop on the cheap fielder trains" Last year I finished with the highest reported roster value of any Gurupie so I'd like to think I at least know how to make money. IIRC I had about $126 million at the end of the season, but this year some managers are going to make $20 million in the first month of play! That means that rosters could be over $100 and near $110 million by the All Star Break!!! The gains this year are making last year seem puny and weak. Even the "dampened" pitcher market has seen gains of a magnitude not witnessed this early in the season last year. (actually the topic of how Smallworld has blown the pitcher market situation is worthy of another thread) And all of these increased gains come in a year in which the price of players has been reduced!!! Its a shame really because the game could be so good. But it looks like we'll all have to settle for having All Star rosters by the break. | ||||||
| 1 | KM ID: 4882237 Sat, Apr 28, 02:35 |
While I'll admit the swings are probably a little too much, you really shouldn't make this out to be a season that is down the tubes. You can still differentiate with all-stars as well.... Hell, I prefer having maybe 10 OFs to choose from for my all-star roster over having to go through Randro every damned week... | |||||
| 2 | The Pink Pimp ID: 36423223 Sat, Apr 28, 02:45 |
KM, By the end of last year I hated the Randro just as much as anybody else but it was what it was, the best way to make money. This year the best way to make money is to see which cheap hitter has risen near the top of his position and then pounce on him. If you accept the idea that you have to raise cash to be competitive... forced to Randro or forced to get Sanders, Quinn, Pujol...what's the difference? The season is not a total wash of course because all can still play by the same rules so its even in that sense, but there is NO balance between the price of players and the rate of cash accumulation like there was last year. AND THIS YEAR THERE IS EVEN LESS OF A TRADE OFF AT STAKE. Hop on a train for two weeks this year to make over a million vs stick with a train last year for twice as long? TY you get cash gains faster so the "penalty" of taking a player who will go up in cash but not produce as many points is reduced as you only have to hold the gainer half as long. As for Randro.... It may yet rear its ugly head as an unintended result of Smallworld's tinkering. But that remains to be seen. | |||||
| 3 | KM ID: 4882237 Sat, Apr 28, 02:57 |
Well Randro was a cut and dry move... only one pitcher position... At least with this..you have more than one position becoming a big train that is almost a "must" to have...and at the same time, have some that don't wash out. This comes back to what is the value of a hitting trade... maybe what was considered great gains last year on hitting..isn't so great now...plenty of people didn't get on quinn early and decided to stay off. Others went to Hillebrand, but maybe he's coming to a halt, and the gains he made, aren't enough in comparison to other hitters' gains to warrant his being bought. If I'm going to be forced to spend a trade to get a certain guy...I'd rather have this chance of Reggie going cold, or alou having a bad hair day, or menechino slacking off. I can save my trade, hold Todd Walker, and stay off menechino..wait for a bigger better train. No sane man last year was routinely holding off on Randro. Randro didn't involve choice or chance nearly as much. | |||||
| 4 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 3505622 Sat, Apr 28, 03:02 | IIRC jumping on the hitters was no different last year. There were many "trains" last year that aren't even in the Bigs this year. How about Bubba? Pujols, Quinn, and Sanders are all talented players and there is no reason they shouldn't be on someones team as long as they are getting points. The hitter price gains might be higher or it might just be the pitcher gains are less so they seem higher. I honestly don't remember the magnitude. | |||||
| 5 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 3505622 Sat, Apr 28, 03:09 | OK, I just reread the post more thouroghly and I agree the price sensitivity obviously should have been dampened. The comparison you made seems a fair one to me, and I agree with your conclusion. Hitter gains are much larger. Last year there was no choice but to Randro or be left behind and I guess the same is true this year of the hitter train. As money becomes less of an issue later in the year everyone will jump on the studs so maybe pitching will be the difference. Better get high effeciency from the rotation. | |||||
| 6 | The Left Wings ID: 1528170 Sat, Apr 28, 04:41 |
I think Don Mathis was right on that one: hitter gains are actually a larger part this season. So they dampened Randro, and increased hitter gains. These two are exactly what it takes to make hitter gains larger. And for the RV estimation, don't forget that RV always go up way faster in the first month or so. It'll become much slower as the season goes on. That's what I realized from Hockey and Hoops. For the first month, I almost gained $600k everyday. But I ended up with around $100M at the end. And hey, it's not like there is no skill involved the way this season took place. I don't think SW blew it that badly, although they could have done a better (and more educated) job on the supposed dampening of ALL pitching trades. | |||||
| 7 | Catfish Sustainer ID: 20557322 Sat, Apr 28, 08:22 |
As always, Pink, a well thought out argument and well crafted post. If it is generally easier to make cash this year, then the points side of the game becomes more challenging. Not just packing your team with All-Stars, because locking in your fave big-name players is often a big mistake because you start to neglect the position. But picking streaks and riding breakout players for an edge on points. I think that's a lot more enjoyable than putting your frontal lobes on autopilot and chanting "Randro ... Randro ..." for six months. | |||||
| 8 | Guru ID: 330592710 Sat, Apr 28, 08:57 |
There are a few issues here. One is how they might have changed the formulas to better accomplish the intended results. The other is how to manage under the current framework. It seems that SW took a rather peculiar route toward eliminating the easy money from "Randro", apparently adjusting for movement between those two pitchers without adjusting for others. Even if this isn't exactly what they've done, the results vary so much from start to start that it's difficult to anticipate what's going on. I haven't done any modeling, but it seems to me that a better approach would have been to base pitcher pricing on an average of trades over a trailing 5 day period. For hitters, buy/sell decisions are generally based on an assessment of relative value. For starting pitchers, there is a heavy overlay of "rotation" trading. There is no reason why Pedro should be fundamentally cheaper the day after he starts. If a five day averaging of trades were used for pitchers, the rotation-based buys & sells would largely cancel out, leaving only the residual net buys and sells to influence price. Pitchers who are fundamentally cheap would continue to appreciate over time, but pitchers who are appropriately priced (and traded mostly for rotation purposes) would see little net trade activity. Wouldn't this have been a much more sensible solution? (Or am I missing something important)? On a side note, I'm also disappointed that they went ahead with these changes without asking for some advance opinions. In the past, I have been occasionally consulted in advance about issues such as this, for which I've freely provided my confidential opinions. This year, with staffing reduced and finances strained, it seems even more ludicrous that they would totally ignore any free insights. At worst, they could have ignored my advice. At best, they would have had an important outside advocate. But I guess they are either too busy or too proud to solicit outside advice. That's a shame. Now, how to deal with the current situation. I'm not sure whether the biggest issue is the enhanced hitter gains, or the generally low prices. But either way, it seems likely that many of us will be able to afford all-star rosters pretty early this year. The most expensive roster possible only costs $107 million today, and there are several positions where you can save substantial $ without much sacrifice in points. So we'll quickly reach the point where the marginal dollar gain isn't of much utility in generating additional points. If that's true, then chasing gains at all costs seems like a wasteful strategy. I see a lot of comments at this forum such as "I can't afford to take the price hit" or "So-and-so is a must have for the gains". While building value is still important, is it going to make much difference if it requires an extra few weeks to reach all-star worth? Probably not - especially if you have to sacrifice a lot of current flexibility to accomplish it. My advice would be to take a patient, long-term value building approach. You don't need to chase every "train" that starts to toot, especially if you have reservations about the longer term prognosis. Recently, there have been a few posts along the lines of "I need to get Alou/Sanders, but I don't know who to sell, because all of my current outfielders are doing well." If that's the case, maybe you should consider passing. If you are tempted to chase a hot hitter, remember that it takes two trades to make money - one to buy, and one to sell. Unless you think the hitter is a long term keeper, then you need to think about an exit strategy. One of the primary reasons that roster value increases slow down in May is that teams don't have the trades to "unwind" all of their early gainers. Picking up a "slow and steady" gainer can be a much more profitable approach than jumping on the next quick buck. | |||||
| 9 | Perm Dude Donor ID: 582521316 Sat, Apr 28, 09:24 |
Good stuff here. PP, I'm not so sure that your conclusions are all that alarming, IMO. The fact that hitter gains are so much more important this year is clear just in reading Don's statements about the changes. Perhaps you are surprised that they went through with it in the manner they laid out? I've posted this elsewhere, but with dampened player prices overall, there is less of a need to make money. Even without the larger hitter gains we are seeing, we're all going to be able to afford whatever players we want by the ASB anyway. And while I'm still looking for underpriced players rather than loading up on All Stars, I haven't felt financially pinched in some time. Your analysis, then, is right on the mark, but its effect is muted. I'm far more alarmed that SW has dampened the Randro trades but no others. Seems a simpler, and more equitable, solution would have dampened all trades above a certain percentage. Or (call me a radical) the best way to even out the trades and make managers pick up pitchers who are good buys over the longer term is to switch pitcher price changes to weekly. pd | |||||
| 10 | Guru ID: 330592710 Sat, Apr 28, 10:14 |
pd - we had weekly changes a few years ago, and that still provided a lot of obvious rotations gains. Back then the key was to pick up studs with 2 starts during the trade week. And drop those coming off of two start weeks. It was less controversial only because it didn't involve just two pitchers. But the general result was the same. | |||||
| 11 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 3505622 Sat, Apr 28, 11:49 | Any idea how Pujols compared to pitcher price movement last year, for example Kile? | |||||
| 12 | Guru ID: 330592710 Sat, Apr 28, 12:13 |
Kile started last year at $1.77m, and rose to $3.3m over the first two weeks, when he had his Coors implosion. He spent the next several months cycling within the upper $2-lower$3m range. In mid-June, he had a a couple of 150 SWP starts, and moved to the upper $3s, where he remained for another few months. So far, Pujols is up about $1.6m in his first 17 days. As an IPO, he's had the benefit of no embedded sells (since no one could have drafted him. Everyone who owns him has directly contributed to his price increase. | |||||
| 13 | miguel p ID: 43142812 Sat, Apr 28, 13:14 |
I thought I'd chime in with some thoughts from an SW basbeall rookie (sw hoops this year was my first online fantasy league). On the one hand, maybe I can't really judge, because I don't have a good sense of how the game has worked in past years. But at the same time, that gives me more of an unbiased perspective. I sense from a lot of the posts (in other threads as well) discussing various changes that many people have a propensity for aversion to almost change in the game. It's understandable; if you had a lot of fun last year, why should they change something that wasn't causing any problems, like the hitter price market? But from my point of view, even though some may prefer last year's system, money making this year has demanded strategy, has led to people chasing different trains at the same position at the same time, has made each trade extremely valuable, and has generally been a lot of fun. And when the time comes that we can afford All-Star rosters, even if that's relatively soon, there will still be a lot of strategy involved. Compared to hoops, there are way more stud options at almost any position at a given time (partly because you don't have to be too concerned with scheds, avoiding those with 2-game-weeks, for example; and partly because there is much more deviation in the day-to-day or week-to-week production in a baseball player versus a hoops player -- Piazza might be an obvious stud at C, but Johnson has outproduced him by a significant margin this month). Regardless of how it compares to past systems, the hitter pricing this year has helped make the game fun and interesting, at least for this rookie. I agree with PP's reasoning in his intial post, but I think the extremely negative overtones aboot the quality of the game this season are excessive. Maybe it was better last year, but I don't think sw has "blown this season" in terms of $ gains. | |||||
| 14 | ChicagoTRS Sustainer ID: 24339419 Sat, Apr 28, 13:57 |
The one good thing about having to make hitter trades to make money is I think it weeds out the weak players. Sure it may be easier for someone who can manage trades and can spot the trains as they leave the station to make money. But for those who are not as good players they tend to jump on the trains too late and then use up all their trades and can't get off the trains that are crashing. No longer can Joe Average Smallworld player simply pick any hitters and then simply "randro" all year and upgrade their roster with their randro money. I think it takes more strategy and planning now... I watch the people in my division and they use all of their hitter trades on Thursday...jumping on all of the current trains but by the following Thursday they are losing money because they could not trade out of the losers (Quinn, LoDuca, Soriano, etc...). They still randro but the money gains aren't there in that strategy. I am starting to think it might be better off just holding the THM and saving as many pitcher trades as possible and just try and make all your money through the hitters. You should still have an all-star roster by the ASB and you will have many pitcher trades banked for later in the season when you can make a huge pitcher rotation run at the WWR. | |||||
| 15 | Pond Scum Leader ID: 54420321 Sat, Apr 28, 14:11 | I agree with Miguel and several of the other posts in that direction. I think the "bottom line" here is that baseball performance has become more important and this is as it should be. prices are lower, it's pretty easy to make money, ergo, the points become more of the focus. I'm probably missing some money opportunities by going to C Johnson a while ago and Chipper more recently, but I felt that paying a premium in money and forgoing some cheap gains would pay off where it counts. As a result, I have avoided my usual slow start and am happy with how things have unfolded so far. | |||||
| 16 | StLCards Sustainer ID: 3505622 Sat, Apr 28, 14:48 | SW has changed its game every year that I've played. The problem is not in the change it is in the consistency within a year as Guru has stated. Specifically targeting Randro in whatever fashion SW has done has not been consistent. How can you plan a strategy with this haphazard pricing system? If the rules are changing week to week then that takes something away from the game. | |||||
| 17 | COAST2COAST ID: 23625310 Sat, Apr 28, 15:18 |
Just a random rant or two. The intricate pricing philosophies needed to maintain and increase one's roster value leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I completely understand that part of the game is to make as much $$$$ as possible early in the season in order to create an All-star type roster as soon as possible. Whether it's by taking advantage of hitters or pitchers is arguably irrelevant as long as you get to your goal as fast as you can. Riding trains is obviously the fastest way to get where you want to go. But with the limited number of trades that we all have it seemingly becomes a matter of everybody following what everybody else is doing. Ethically, I detest that! Take Shannon Stewart for example. (I use him because I don't own him) Why has he lost money for 8 straight days now? Panic! He got a little banged up, missed one game and then some owners started to sell him. Once he appeared on the money loser list, others followed suit. And he's not done losing money yet! Has he lost this money because he wasn't playing well? No! He lost it because people panicked, decided to cash in their gains and obtain another person who one day they will end up selling because they will panic again. Is there no sanity to this madness? Whatever happened to the days where you picked up a player and barring a serious injury or slump, you stuck with him and saved a multitude of trades in the process? But I suppose this love-hate relationship with one's players is the only way to garner the big bucks. But to me that doesn't seem right. Other than that, great post Pink Pimp et al! | |||||
| 18 | Guru ID: 330592710 Sat, Apr 28, 15:44 |
C2C - it's all perspective, I guess. I owned Stewart on one of my teams. When Sanders emerged as a cheap option, I swapped from Stewart to Sanders. This was just before Sanders had his back-to-back monster games, and just as Stewart's injury began. I didn't sell Stewart as a panic move. I just figured he had appreciated quite a bit, his injury situation created some additional risk, and Sanders looked like a comparable producer at about one-third the price. Stewart seemed like the best candidate to swap. I'm not sure I'd equate this with "madness" or "insanity". And with only three hitters trades per week, there are limits to the number of similar opportunities one can take advantage of - so we have to pick our spots. Stewart has dropped $300K so far, but in the large scheme of things, that's chump change. If he continues to produce, he'll stabilize, and those who held on will do OK. The game requires a balancing act. If you don't like this element of the game, there are plenty of other games which remove the "herd" issues. In Swirve's game, price changes are primarily a function of performance. In the Progressive Sports Challenge game, prices are fixed. I guess the bottom line is that you seem to be ranting about the primary issue that makes the SW game distinctive. There are plenty of alternatives. | |||||
| 19 | COAST2COAST ID: 23625310 Sat, Apr 28, 15:57 |
Touche' Guru! I don't neccesarily unlike the "distinctiveness" of SW for its quality (or lack of it ;) ) make it interesting to those who play the game right. The rules are all the same for everyone. It's the mindnumbing, headscratching, nonsensical actions of the alleged "herds". I don't mind seeing a player getting dumped when he's worthy to be dumped--for whatever reason, as long as that reason isn't because everybody is doing it. To transfer your allegiance from Stewart to Sanders, I don't think anybody would have a problem with that, simply because the statements you made concerning that action was based upon common sense. It'll be those that dump Sanders simply because he has maxed out financially, not performance-wise that'll drive me crazy. | |||||
| 20 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Sat, Apr 28, 16:15 |
I have no problems with large hitting gains. In the end, the skill is to turn a profit, and not to simply go up in cash the following day or two by buying the obvious stud. Witness Mark Quinn. If Sanders goes 0 for the next series he will give back much of his change. No matter how large the gains, as has been pointed out, the money is made when the SECOND trade is made. What makes Randro money making different than making cash through hitters is that the second Randro trade is made instantly. You sell Pedro the day after his start, buy Randy, sell him a few days later, and bam, within 5 days, and 2 trades, you have 500K or more to use on hitters. The profit is made right away. This takes much less skill to do. Overall, I wish the complaining about SW would subside a bit. They have many flaws, but all things considered, I think they have the best game on the net. In the end, its all relative since everyone must deal with the same price changes, etc. | |||||
| 21 | stinkypuff ID: 932269 Sat, Apr 28, 17:48 | As someone who hasn't participated in SW in 3 years, I couldn't be happier. I came in to the season not knowing what a "randro" was. I'm sorry the people who had it all figured out last year have had to rethink things year, but it sure has leveled the playing field for people like me. I picked up on the "hitters for money; pitchers for points" concept early and am in position for a good overall season. One man's meat ... as they say. | |||||
| 22 | The Pink Pimp ID: 36423223 Sun, Apr 29, 01:46 |
I'd like to revisit this thread to thank those who posted here for bringing up some good points for all. Guru's post that steered the topic towards how to manage in a climate of runaway hitter gains was especially timely. I'd also like to make a clarification or two on why I feel that this year's game will be far inferior to last year's game. Please note, while the points I made about hitters are concrete and real, my feelings about the game are my own opinions and you should treat them as such. One of the things that I enjoyed last year was the tension caused by trading. Do I take a low point producer just because I know he'll go up in cash? How long should I hold him? How much of a sacrifice can I make in points in order to make money? etc. This tension of cash gains vs points was present in the game until perhaps mid August by which time money gains were near insignificant and the focus shifted to points for the stretch run. But this year, that tension of cash gains or points (which is a part of the game that I particularly enjoy), will be gone much, much, sooner. The rapid hitter gains that we have this year, coupled with lower overall player prices, will quickly allow us to build roster value at our conveinence, hopping on fast moving hitter trains whenever we need a cash fix. Last year it was possible to adopt a strategy of "build roster value first, then buy better players and catch up in points." This year that strategy is gone as it is so easy for other teams to build roster value rapidly. The only real strategy that has any chance of success this year is "manage for points, ride a few trains, & let roster value take care of itself." Personally I liked it better last year where you could at least make the case for two divergant strategies. This year I think its pretty clear that there is one dominant strategy we'll have to stick pretty close to to have any real chance. Since we'll all have all star teams by mid season if we want them, we'll be free fom the need to make cash. And then we can all manage just for points. That means that he second half of the season will likley degenerate into trading for Bagwell and Helton and other Rockies or Astros depending on who has the best homestand coming up. And for the pitchers it will be exploiting matchups like Atlanta vs. San Diego or Yankees vs Twins. I for one can hardly wait. | |||||
| 23 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Sun, Apr 29, 09:05 |
I kind of disagree with you PP. Maybe I am wrong, but I simply do not see this year being that much of a change from the usual SW game. The top managers will still have to get the most points, not the most $$. This is done not by hopping on every hitter train, but rather by getting points from hitters and using piching trades effectively. Perhaps we will all have all star teams by June, but when people say this they make it sound like there is ONE all star team. Sure, certain studs will be more popular, but those who can find the right ones at the right time will be rewarded. I can recall at 1B last year, Bagwell went on a tear late in the year while many had Helton. Kent was the popular 2B choice but had a huge slump. Every year a pack of managers builds RV and eventually separates themselves from the low RV players. At some point, these teams can field all studs. Just because we achieve that point sooner this year doers not mean that it takes skill out of the game. Hitting points are still tough to get. Long term hitting gains are tough to get. Pitching points are very tough to get. PP says, "Personally I liked it better last year where you could at least make the case for two divergant strategies. This year I think its pretty clear that there is one dominant strategy we'll have to stick pretty close to to have any real chance." I don't see this as true. There are a ton of strategies in SW. I hope you try one of them and I wish you luck in having success with that. I will understand your opinion of course, but I think you are mistaken when you think there is one strategy. Just like any SW year, there are many aspects of the game, and just because one of them changes a bit, the way the game is won and lost remains the same. | |||||
| 24 | JKaye Sustainer ID: 4711592917 Sun, Apr 29, 09:22 |
One other interesting note: I dug up an old Excel file, and found that last April 29 I had 66 million dollars. I don't have that much this year, and neither do most people. I will make one following point that relates to that. Last season, Randro took control of everyone's team. It was VERY easy to make money off Randro because within a few days you could make a profit and upgrade hitters. But when hitters are making cash, the profit takes longer to pocket, and it is harder to upgrade hitters as quickly as Randro allowed. I'd be curious if we can dig up the "Movers and Shakers" threads from last season and compare team's RV. | |||||
| 25 | Valkyrie Leader ID: 9047923 Sun, Apr 29, 10:52 |
First I have to agree with Guru- it's almost unbelieveable that SW did not consult with him (for free) before initiating game changes. I agree the pitcher situation could have been handled much better with a 5-day rolling average or even a weekly price change for pitchers only although that would get us back to the old scheduling considerations. An interesting thought is how a 5 day rolling average would effect hitters as well. i think it might make the game much more "playable" for neophytes however I think dampening hitter movements in this manner would take too much of the "skill" away from predicting "lemming-think" and take too much of the uncertainty away from price movements but it is a thought. Secondly although I agree in many respects with C2C , in that "lemming-think" is very difficult to comprehend, especially when you try to apply logic to it, I also have to agree with guru that this is what distinguishes SW from many otherwise similar games. By the way i am not very good at "lemming-think" while the Guru is the acknowledged master so we all might have some personnal agendas here (g). Finally I agree with JKaye-even if everyone has an all-star lineup by mid-July there are still a myriad of strategies- incorporating a modified randro in your current pitching rotation vs. trying to bank pitcher starts is one, a relatively unexplored strategy is the enhanced effect of closers under the current scoring system. Regarding hitters certainly the timing of upgrades is now much more critical especially when early points may be much more important this year. And as always the selection of hitter 'trains' is still quite critical. At any rate i think the SW game is much better now than two years ago when the winning mid-season stategy was to use all your trades on pitcher rotation and essentially ignore your hitters or last year's blind Randro. It is maddening not to be able to figure what SW is doing especially with randro, but then again that maddening aspect is also the intriguing aspect of the competition. I for one am quite happy that i don't have to blindly randro this year (although it is still difficult to give up even the dampened $600-700K a week price gains still achieved w/o commensurate point production) This is a very interesting thread- I have enjoyed reading all your opinions. Thank you. | |||||
| 26 | The Pink Pimp ID: 36423223 Sun, Apr 29, 11:31 |
Jkaye, I did not mean to imply that there aren't as you said, "a ton of strategies in SW." There are in fact many. What I was trying to say is that I feel that there is one strategy that in my opinion now has the drop on all others. Managing your pitchers from a points perspective, while managing your hitters the same way with an occasional hitter train or two mixed in when cash is needed. I truly believe that the top teams will follow this path or only deviate slightly from it. In my opinion there is only a very low, low probability that a "Cash first, points later" or even a "Points always and ignore the cash" strategy can carry one to the top this year. I still maintain that the hitter gains this year are out of control in comparison to the cost of players and that this will cause teams to have higher roster values earlier than last year. Does this make the game unfair? No. Does this end competitiveness in the game? No. But I still feel that it will make the game less interesting for me this year than it was last year. And don't go thinking that Randro is dead. I think the jury is still out on that one although we should have a clearer idea soon. | |||||
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