Here are the questions I have for the upcoming year/random thoughts post...
1. 11-man staff?
I've been thinking about going with an 11-man pitching staff. The main reason is my SPs usually go deep into games so I have sims where certain guys in my bullpen don't pitch. I see other teams have MRs who throw 75-85 innings and mine are closer to 55-60.
The other side is this allows me more specialists on my bench which IMO should help late in close games.
I'm thinking about sim by sim looking at how tired my bullpen is and promoting/demoting accordingly. Also thinking about puttig Kahl or other SP in the pen for certain sims (like the first) where there are extra days rest. Will depend on how much time I want to spend on the game.
2. Who to extend? Who to walk?
One of the big questions for my team as the season goes on is which guys to extend and which to let walk. I have possible FAs at backup C, UTIL, 2B, LF, RF, DH, SP5, CL, SU8, MR, MR. That's a lot. But I also have (as of now) $68m in extension space.
As the year goes, I rather evaluate guys than sign them at the start of the year. My attitude has always been I rather overpay by $3m/year on a guy I want than spend money on a guy I don't want. I learned my lesson from the moronic $6m signing of Phil Thomas last year and won't make that mistake again. I don't imagine extending the back up C, Berrios in LF, Ooort at DH.
But Rivera at 2B is a guy I want to extend because of the lack of good players there. I just checked and he wants 6/105 so that isn't happening yet. Duan I might re-sign if he proves useful enough. Townsend the CL wants about 3/20 right now and I might re-sign him. Professor Hung wants about 2/20 which is too much but I might take him. Franchini is a maybe. Kahl the #5 SP I wouldn't sign for more than a year extension. His skills have diminished and there are tons of great SPs in FA every year.
DLS is the one to really watch. He wants a monster deal and I have space for a monster deal. But is he worth it? Do I roll the dice and see if I can get him cheaper in FA?
3. Not last in SB?
Every year I'm usually last in SB in my league. This year with guys like Sanchez, DLS, Klattenberg, McHeshi and even Oort I have players who can actually run. I also think this team isn't as good hitting as my Winnipeg teams so they need SBs more than I used to.
It goes against my ideas on how to build a team but these are the cards I was dealt.
4. SOS to Farm System (still)
I still need to find a way to get some talent into my system. Maybe trade away pieces or something but it seems like no one wants to trade prospects in the league.
5. The "Window" Closing?
Right now I'm set up perfectly for a run. All my SPs are pre-FA and I have players who are pre-arb at SP2, C, 1B, 3B, CF, three RP who are all key to my team too. Salary wise I have to pay a lot of people in the upcoming years so I'll have to make decisions.