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- Posts: 2160
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:53 pm
- Location: Earth
Link to team: http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1116254
Even though I'm not doing The Secret Formula annual post any more, largely because there are only so many creative ways to keep saying the same things over and over, I'm posting my Theory in Action team here to provide a forum and something of a newbie primer. My season starts on Monday, so this is real time, not a "well chosen sample" from my completed leagues.
Here is how I submitted my autodraft card. The players I missed are in red.
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Brandon Moss
3. Prince Fielder
4. Ben Zobrist
5. Chase Headley
6. Adam Laroche
7. Travis Snider (WTF!)
8. Asdrubal Cabrera
9. Neil Walker
10. Everth Cabrera
11. Yasmani Grandal
12. Wade Miley
13. Sean Marshall
14. Eric O'Flaherty
15. Evan Scribner
16. Nate Jones
17. Randy Choate
18. Andrew Miller
19. Joe Kelly
20. Elliot Johnson
21. Chris Snyder
22. Joe Saunders
23. Rafael Furcal
24. Kyle Drabek
25. Jon Lester
This draft earned me the number one waiver pick. Yikes.
Here was my waiver card:
1. Gio Gonzalez
2. Josh Willingham
3. Chase Utley
4. Ian Kinsler
5. Brandon Morrow
6. DeWayne Wise
7. Franklin Gutierrez
8. Eric Young Jr.
9. Travis Wood
10. Wade Leblanc
11. Casey Fien
Once the waiver period had passed, it was time to set up The Secret Formula salary structure. Column one is the results from 17 of my $80 mil DH leagues using best pythag records. Column two is the results from the 11 Championship teams in Event One of The Player's Championship. Column three is my team here, rounded out from the FA pool. My original autodraft picks are in green, the waiver and FA picks are in black.
SP $6.60 $6.29 $6.75 Gio Gonzalez
SP $4.69 $4.53 $5.13 Brandon Morrow
SP $3.99 $3.53 $3.69 Wade Miley
SP $2.45 $2.33 $2.64 Travis Wood
SP $1.43 $1.47 $1.49 Wade Leblanc
SP $0.98 $0.58 $0.58 Joe Kelly
RP $4.62 $3.86 $4.50 Scott Atchison
RP $2.28 $2.14 $1.21 Sean Marshall
RP $1.19 $1.34 $1.00 Nate Jones
RP $0.88 $0.97 $1.00 Evan Scribner
RP $0.70 $0.73 $0.59 Andrew Miller
RP $0.50 $0.71 XX
BA $9.20 $9.59 $10.07 Chase Headley
BA $7.52 $8.04 $7.37 Ben Zobrist
BA $6.75 $6.91 $6.91 Adam Laroche
BA $5.49 $5.78 $5.62 Yasmani Grandal
BA $4.30 $5.00 $4.18 Josh Willingham
BA $3.86 $3.79 $4.11 Chase Utley
BA $3.29 $2.95 $3.74 Michael Saunders
BA $2.79 $2.44 $3.09 Asdrubal Cabrera
BA $1.99 $1.99 $1.83 Franklin Gutierrez
BA $1.54 $1.63 $1.62 Omar Infante
BA $1.29 $1.29 $1.57 Colby Rasmus
BA $1.00 $1.02 $0.64 Chris Snyder
BA $0.78 $0.73 $0.54 Elliot Johnson
BA $0.63 $0.63 XX
It's not a perfect match, but I think one could argue it keeps pretty close to the spirit of the thing. I did opt for the less conventional 11 pitchers/13 hitters instead of the more traditional 10 pitchers/14 hitters. I provided the two columns (from my own leagues and the tour teams) simply to demonstrate how much good teams have in common when it comes to salary structure and middle defense. Back in the day we just referred to this as "veteran best practices", but there is something tangible about the evidence, wouldn't you say?
Some short observations: the general breakdown is $20 mil for SPs, $10 mil for RPs and $50 mil for batters. The use of star SPs versus non-star SPs tends toward the non-star guys, but I don't think it's a significant distinction. Watching this player set unfold with regard to pitching was somewhat odd this year. After five or so leagues, it seemed the best pitchers were ordered inversely according to salary. That is, spending money on top pitching appeared to be a GIGANTIC waste of money. However, as more leagues rolled in, the law of averages evened things out. In the end, starting pitching largely follows the cost of the pitcher's salary: i.e., you get what you pay for (more or less).
Some more Secret Formula fundamentals: 2s at 2B (Utley/Infante platoon), SS (Cabrera) and CF (Rasmus/Gutierrez platoon). Out of the 28 observed teams (84 total middle fielders) I think there were only 3-4 instances when a 1 or 2 was not used, as per the usual.
I chose Progressive Field, as this represents the most obvious ballpark advantage. Three other managers did the same, not unusual for this card set. But like the card sets of the recent past, there does not appear to be a tendency toward any one type of park, as the 28 observed teams cover the entire range of pitchers to hitters parks, from Petco to Coors. Lots of unique stadiums.
Anyway, there it is. I hesitated to post any of this, but every now and then someone asks about autodraft strategy and ordering the waiver card and what not, so if anyone wants to chat about that stuff, here is a place where we can do it.
Or if you want to discuss salary structure and the benefit of not forfeiting salary cap to dropped players, I'll be happy to throw in my $0.02.
GL all -
Even though I'm not doing The Secret Formula annual post any more, largely because there are only so many creative ways to keep saying the same things over and over, I'm posting my Theory in Action team here to provide a forum and something of a newbie primer. My season starts on Monday, so this is real time, not a "well chosen sample" from my completed leagues.
Here is how I submitted my autodraft card. The players I missed are in red.
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Brandon Moss
3. Prince Fielder
4. Ben Zobrist
5. Chase Headley
6. Adam Laroche
7. Travis Snider (WTF!)
8. Asdrubal Cabrera
9. Neil Walker
10. Everth Cabrera
11. Yasmani Grandal
12. Wade Miley
13. Sean Marshall
14. Eric O'Flaherty
15. Evan Scribner
16. Nate Jones
17. Randy Choate
18. Andrew Miller
19. Joe Kelly
20. Elliot Johnson
21. Chris Snyder
22. Joe Saunders
23. Rafael Furcal
24. Kyle Drabek
25. Jon Lester
This draft earned me the number one waiver pick. Yikes.
Here was my waiver card:
1. Gio Gonzalez
2. Josh Willingham
3. Chase Utley
4. Ian Kinsler
5. Brandon Morrow
6. DeWayne Wise
7. Franklin Gutierrez
8. Eric Young Jr.
9. Travis Wood
10. Wade Leblanc
11. Casey Fien
Once the waiver period had passed, it was time to set up The Secret Formula salary structure. Column one is the results from 17 of my $80 mil DH leagues using best pythag records. Column two is the results from the 11 Championship teams in Event One of The Player's Championship. Column three is my team here, rounded out from the FA pool. My original autodraft picks are in green, the waiver and FA picks are in black.
SP $6.60 $6.29 $6.75 Gio Gonzalez
SP $4.69 $4.53 $5.13 Brandon Morrow
SP $3.99 $3.53 $3.69 Wade Miley
SP $2.45 $2.33 $2.64 Travis Wood
SP $1.43 $1.47 $1.49 Wade Leblanc
SP $0.98 $0.58 $0.58 Joe Kelly
RP $4.62 $3.86 $4.50 Scott Atchison
RP $2.28 $2.14 $1.21 Sean Marshall
RP $1.19 $1.34 $1.00 Nate Jones
RP $0.88 $0.97 $1.00 Evan Scribner
RP $0.70 $0.73 $0.59 Andrew Miller
RP $0.50 $0.71 XX
BA $9.20 $9.59 $10.07 Chase Headley
BA $7.52 $8.04 $7.37 Ben Zobrist
BA $6.75 $6.91 $6.91 Adam Laroche
BA $5.49 $5.78 $5.62 Yasmani Grandal
BA $4.30 $5.00 $4.18 Josh Willingham
BA $3.86 $3.79 $4.11 Chase Utley
BA $3.29 $2.95 $3.74 Michael Saunders
BA $2.79 $2.44 $3.09 Asdrubal Cabrera
BA $1.99 $1.99 $1.83 Franklin Gutierrez
BA $1.54 $1.63 $1.62 Omar Infante
BA $1.29 $1.29 $1.57 Colby Rasmus
BA $1.00 $1.02 $0.64 Chris Snyder
BA $0.78 $0.73 $0.54 Elliot Johnson
BA $0.63 $0.63 XX
It's not a perfect match, but I think one could argue it keeps pretty close to the spirit of the thing. I did opt for the less conventional 11 pitchers/13 hitters instead of the more traditional 10 pitchers/14 hitters. I provided the two columns (from my own leagues and the tour teams) simply to demonstrate how much good teams have in common when it comes to salary structure and middle defense. Back in the day we just referred to this as "veteran best practices", but there is something tangible about the evidence, wouldn't you say?
Some short observations: the general breakdown is $20 mil for SPs, $10 mil for RPs and $50 mil for batters. The use of star SPs versus non-star SPs tends toward the non-star guys, but I don't think it's a significant distinction. Watching this player set unfold with regard to pitching was somewhat odd this year. After five or so leagues, it seemed the best pitchers were ordered inversely according to salary. That is, spending money on top pitching appeared to be a GIGANTIC waste of money. However, as more leagues rolled in, the law of averages evened things out. In the end, starting pitching largely follows the cost of the pitcher's salary: i.e., you get what you pay for (more or less).
Some more Secret Formula fundamentals: 2s at 2B (Utley/Infante platoon), SS (Cabrera) and CF (Rasmus/Gutierrez platoon). Out of the 28 observed teams (84 total middle fielders) I think there were only 3-4 instances when a 1 or 2 was not used, as per the usual.
I chose Progressive Field, as this represents the most obvious ballpark advantage. Three other managers did the same, not unusual for this card set. But like the card sets of the recent past, there does not appear to be a tendency toward any one type of park, as the 28 observed teams cover the entire range of pitchers to hitters parks, from Petco to Coors. Lots of unique stadiums.
Anyway, there it is. I hesitated to post any of this, but every now and then someone asks about autodraft strategy and ordering the waiver card and what not, so if anyone wants to chat about that stuff, here is a place where we can do it.
Or if you want to discuss salary structure and the benefit of not forfeiting salary cap to dropped players, I'll be happy to throw in my $0.02.
GL all -
Last edited by J-Pav on Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:35 am, edited 2 times in total.