2038.17 Roster Flexibility

GM: Ben Heuring

Moderator: lordtoffee

User avatar
ae37jr
BBA GM
Posts: 2980
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:37 pm
Location: Davenport, FL
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 645 times

2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by ae37jr » Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:23 pm

Image
Roster Flexibility

Here is a topic that I often mention in passing during draft and trade wrap ups. I think it's worthy enough for a chapter here. I'm talking about roster flexibility.

Roster flexibility is the process of building a system that is self sustainable through unforeseen circumstances. In an ideal world, you draft 9 amazing hitters, 8 great pitchers and win a bunch of Landis titles. But this league is far too competitive for that. Plus advanced "realism" efforts on the part of OOTP itself has a way of dampening those plans. Not only do you need a backup plan. But you often need a backup plan to the backup plan. If you do not plan to cover all your losses internally, you will be short sided.

Catchers
Catcher is a unique position. For the most part, catchers only catch and catchers are the only players who can catch. They are all alone on an island in their market value. So it's important to cover yourself by having at least 3 capable catchers that you are comfortable with ready to play in the BBA. 1 starter, 1 backup, and one backup to the backup.

I just heard someone from the back of the class mumble something about trading for one when injury happens. You CAN do that... but your exposing yourself to the volatile world of supply and demand. If you HAVE to trade for a certain type of player, it could be a messy process. For starters, everyone can see you have no other viable options and could use that against you in negotiations. Now, if you already have a halfway decent backup in house. You can play poker and use said player as a decoy. Maybe your backup to the backup isn't really someone you want to play. But he is good enough that you can convince potential sellers that you are as desperate as you really are. There other thing to think about here is that there may simply not be any decent catchers available at the time. So end line on catchers. Build up a depth here because they are unique and could be hard to come by.

First Base/DH
I've talked about them a lot in this book already. So just to briefly touch on it. Brooklyn tends to avoid these players as much as possible. First base/DH types are a dime a dozen. Unless they are extraordinary hitters they are very easily interchangeable. You can often find them for a bargain on the waiver wire, free agency, and trades. They literally fall into your lap. They also really hurt your overall roster flexibility due to their limited defensive skills.

Infield
Here is where things can get hairy. Personally I like to only acquire infielders who I feel are capable of playing shortstop. It makes things a lot easier as you move on and need to fill out lineup cards. Capable shortstops only get better when you move them to other infield positions. There is no ifs, ands or buts about that. A 9/8/8/8 can play anywhere on the dirt. But a second baseman 8/8/3/10 can't really play the left side and a 5/8/10/2 third baseman is likely limited to a corner. The goal here is really to have players that can play as many positions as possible. If they can play outfield too, even better.

Outfield
Same philosophy as infielders here, but using CF instead of SS. Those along with Catcher are IMO the hardest to fill. So to strip this philosophy to it's purest form.... keep a health supply of C,SS, and CF and it will make your life easier and save you assets in the long run.

Hitter Wrap Up
So the point of all of this is not to build a BBA team with 7 shortstops 5 centerfielders, 4 catchers and nothing else. It's to build up a depth at premium positions that will make future decisions both easier and more cost effective. How many times has a star player hit the trade block and you've said, "I want that player really bad....but.... I already have a good 1B. Damn!" Under this system, that is not an issue. You simply slide players around till you can fit in the new guy.

It's also valuable to process players at premium positions to trade away. Like I mentioned before. If you are trying to win and are caught without a backup plan, injury comes and teams are stuck overpaying for a viable option. Having a stockpile to deal from can enable a lopsided trade in your favor.

Keep in mind that acquiring defensively gifted players and calling it a day doesn't do much. You need to put in the effort to cross train them. A player can be 10/10/10 and 10/10/10/10 but if they are 24 and only have 10 CF experience and nothing else, they may as well be a 1/1/1/1 infielder.

Brooklyn is in the process of utilizing this system for our rebuild. Once it becomes a win now situation we will then shift away from being ultra versatile. Trading away many versatile players in deals for stars. We'll still keep enough versatility to cover our ass, but the excess will be shipped away as they will be sought after by just about any trade suiter. Even if only as a throw in.

Pitchers
I don't want to say it's less important to be versatile with pitching, but it's a lot easier. I typical try to draft more starters then RP. Sort of the same philosophy as hitters. A good starter can be a very good RP, but a good RP probably isn't a starter. Especially with our RP convert reward it almost makes no sense to view RP as equal to starters unless it's a large talent gap.

At the same time though, you roster more RP then SP. So I really don't have any epiphany for you here. As far as roster flexibility goes, carry a lot more starters then you need to cover injuries and lumping.

One point I want to make here that may not be relative to the topic, but might get lost and never heard. So I'll throw it here. Stamina is very important for pitching staffs. Let's go extreme just to prove a point. All 5 of your starters have 5 stamina, all 6 of your RP have 2 stamina or less. Our sims go 7 days. The starter on day one is injury prone and goes down in the first innings. You'll likely have to burn every RP in that one game. Then for the next 4 days your manager will be juggling nothing but tired pitchers .Then on day 6 you need to have a bullpen game to make matters worse.

Throwing tired pitchers severely stunts their talents. I have no proof or scope of the actual penalty size. But maybe if you pitch a pitcher at 97% then his numbers are only 97% of his actuals? Then at 60% he's 60% of actuals? It sounds legit at least. I know tired pitchers are not equal to themselves, so whatever the penalty is. It makes sense to get as much stamina on your roster as possible. I highly suggest having a true long man/spot starter in the pen and have at least a couple of high stamina RP.

Ok, so before I ramble on some more, I'm going to wrap this up. Roster flexibility is building a system that can handle anything thrown at you. Whether it's injury, lumping or escalading contracts, you'll have the depth and position flexibility to cover everything with adequate or better replacement players until a better solution is found. It helps you avoid spending too much in free agency or a high cost trade haul. nd that in a nutshell is what I consider roster flexibility.
If you found this chapter interesting and would like to read more. Check out The Ultimate BBA Rebuild for Dummies table of contents for more chapters in this ongoing book chronicling the rebuild of a BBA franchise.
Alan Ehlers
GM of the Twin Cities River Monster
Image

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19813
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by RonCo » Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:00 pm

Advanced realism efforts. Heh.

Another great chapter.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by HoosierVic » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:24 pm

Yeah, this is very good advice across the board. One thing I’d be interested in your take on: does the rise of the opener (and your own cyclone strategy) ease the necessity of stockpiling starters? Would it make as much sense to go after good relievers with decent stamina to pair with closer types who can open a game, pitch an inning or two, and then yield to the high stamina bullpen guys? Or are there not enough of those high stamina relievers to make it a viable strategy?

Thanks for this, Alan. Another thought-provoking chapter.

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19813
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by RonCo » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:38 pm

I'm interested in Alan's take on this, too. My only real note is to suggest that one of the issues with the "opener" in OOTP (at least in 19), is that pitchers who "open" don't pitch like relievers. Instead, the game treats them like starters who intend to go 100 pitches. I haven't messed with 20 enough to know how this has changed.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by HoosierVic » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:42 pm

In 19, though, could you put your opener on a pitch count - say, 40, to limit their exposure?

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19813
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by RonCo » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:46 pm

Yes.

I'm sure Alan is doing that. I've been doing it with Edgardo Llauro often when I need a spot start outside the rotation. I should write a TN around him.
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by HoosierVic » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:47 pm

I say this as someone who’s been trying to stockpile starters on my Mumbai club. But so many of them are terribly flawed, I’m interested in alternatives. The starting pool in the UMEBA is as shallow as a backyard slip ‘n slide ...

User avatar
HoosierVic
Ex-GM
Posts: 3106
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:16 pm
Has thanked: 472 times
Been thanked: 1020 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by HoosierVic » Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:49 pm

RonCo wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:46 pm
Yes.

I'm sure Alan is doing that. I've been doing it with Edgardo Llauro often when I need a spot start outside the rotation. I should write a TN around him.
I would read that!

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19813
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1982 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by RonCo » Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:30 pm

Done.:)
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

User avatar
ae37jr
BBA GM
Posts: 2980
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:37 pm
Location: Davenport, FL
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 645 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by ae37jr » Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:54 pm

I have not played the newest version of OOTP yet. I know they have an opener, and I beleive a follower? I'll surely play around with it when the time comes.

The cyclone was born out of necessity. Every version of OOTP has some unique changes. During one switch it seemed every pitcher with a change up could not develop that pitch. Since OOTP penalizes pitchers with just two pitches, and I had a bunch of two pitch starters, I figured it was best to start a short rp for an inning or two then use the two pitch starters in relief.
Alan Ehlers
GM of the Twin Cities River Monster
Image

User avatar
handaspencer
GBC GM
Posts: 449
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 4:17 pm
Has thanked: 66 times
Been thanked: 81 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by handaspencer » Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:17 pm

Enjoyed the read Alan. I try to also build somewhat similar but a few minor differences. On a personal level I think proper team construction can really separate you from the pack if properly done. At one point this season I had (4) 1B drives me nuts, have not had enough time to build it the way I want.

Ted
Ex-GM
Posts: 5630
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 2:50 pm
Has thanked: 368 times
Been thanked: 378 times

Re: 2038.17 Roster Flexibility

Post by Ted » Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:43 pm

Well, you pretty much said everything I was going to say when I got to roster flexibility in by series. Maybe people will have forgotten by then. Nice work.
Ted Schmidt
Twin Cities Typing Nightmares(2044-present)
California Crusaders (2021-2038)
Image

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Brooklyn Robins”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests