What If? Teams

[Kelric]

One of my favorite activities with OOTP when I don't have any serious leagues going is to draft a specific type of team with real players (current or historical, doesn't matter), turning injuries off and seeing how they perform over a couple of seasons (real players simply for the name recognition factor).

Sometimes I'll draft all-field no-hit guys and a pitching staff of the highest groundball pitchers I can find whether they are any good or not (though I try not to take dreadfully bad ones). Sometimes I'll take the worst fielders money can buy and do the same thing with the pitching staff.

I've drafted my entire pitching staff without taking a single batter, just to get the best hurlers I could. I've done the opposite, too, and taken all hitters like the draft I just ran. While the game doesn't know names, you guys do, so if you've played Darkcloud's '07 roster set you should have an idea of how these guys are rated. My RHP + DH lineup looks like this:

1. Derrek Lee (DH)
2. Freddy Sanchez (2B)
3. Eric Chavez (3B)
4. Alex Rodriguez (SS)
5. Mark Teixeira (1B)
6. Adam Dunn (RF)
7. Andruw Jones (CF)
8. Hideki Matsui (LF)
9. Kenji Johjima (C)

It'll be fun to see how many runs these guys score.

I've drafted all speed teams and tried to get everyone over 50+ steals by running as often as possible and not caring if they are thrown out. I've drafted all 35+ YOs in a 'win-now' team scenario. I've taken all teenage teams, teams where I tried to get one player for each letter of the alphabet (so I'd have Bobby Abreu, Josh Barfield, Kiko Calero and so on and so forth), teams where I've tried to get position players who can play at least three positions well (6+ rating out of 10), etc., etc., etc.

Anyone else do the same sort of thing?

[voxpoptart]

I haven't done this, no, but it sounds like a fascinating idea. Feel welcome to tell us how some of your experiments came out.

In terms of the all-speed team, btw, the Riga Technics from my fictional league are a natural experiment: their GM has the Power/Speed slider at the extreme limit of Speed. In my first year, they stole 383 bases; 93 games into my second year, they're on a pace to smash the 400 mark. They're also on pace to win the division after going 86-76 last year, which makes me smile; whatever the Baseball Prospectus gang argues (with evidence) about cost/benefit, I _like_ stolen bases because they're exciting....

[Kelric]

On the SB subject, I realize that statistically they aren't worth it unless you're over 75% succesful. In OOTP I'm generally happy with a 60% success rate and on certain teams in MLB I think that'd be fine too. But there are teams with enough offensive firepower behind the speedsters that unless you're pretty damn sure you're going to be safe, it just isn't worth the out.

I actually deleted the team whose lineup I posted above before I played any games. I wound up with an excellent bullpen, a few strong prospects and a decent rotation that had a lot of upside in a season or two. Don't know why I deleted the league, I just wanted to run another draft I guess and I don't like having more than a couple of saved leagues at once (or else I just get confused as to which is which).

[Jordan]

This sounds like fun. I may have to try it too

[Kelric]

I don't recommend the all teenager team unless you're a severe masochist.

Or a Cubs fan, but that's really the same thing anyways.

[Curtis]

I haven't tried this in OotP, since my machine's not capable of simming seasons, but I did do something similar with the old Longball card game back in the late 70s.

I had one team based around starting pitching, on base percentage and the hit and run, which finished first in the regular season (twelve team league) and won the two round playoffs.

Another was based on power and speed with decent pitching. They finished third overall and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

The third team was based on fielding, relief pitching and good intangibles (the OotP equivalent of leadership and work ethic). They finished sixth, missing the playoffs, but were the second best team over the final third of the schedule.

[Kelric]

I just drafted an all teenager team again. 195 rounds of players 19 and younger. It's a surprisingly weak minor league system, mostly 1 stars. All of the good players are in the majors. I'm also going to stick to a system of developing my own players and only working trades that the computer proposes to me.

We're going to be dreadful. I love it.