I read your last set of questions and answers (at mlb.com) and it raised another
question I have for you. You said in 4×4 (nl only) that it is smart to
have as few starters as possible, but in a 5×5 league you would fill your
staff with starters. I am in a 5×5 league with 13 teams with $260 to spend
and have Jose. Mesa ($11) going into the draft. I was thinking about filling
the rest of my staff with low dollar guys, possibly 5 starters and 3 middle
relievers that have a chance to get a few saves here and there. I feel I
can finish in the middle of the pack in saves (7 points), toward the top in
era and ratio (11 points each), and possibly pull about 4 points each for
strikeouts and wins. That would give me about 37 points for pitching. I
am only planning on spending about $70 on pitching and $190 on hitting.
Hopefully spending that much on hitting will put me in the top 5 in every
hitting category and give me a total of about 50 points. Do you think I
would need more starters to compete or do you think I might have a shot
with this strategy?
The point I was making in the article at mlb.com about 5×5 and starters is that the closest correlation between strikeouts and more strikeouts is innings and more innings. While there are some exceptions, if you want to avoid high priced pitchers in 5×5, to compete in strikeouts you’re going to have to accumulate innings pitched.
Meanwhile, good qualitative middle relievers, who are quite valuable in 4×4, don’t usually contribute much of anything in 5×5 because they don’t pitch enough innings. Again, there are exceptions, but I don’t think it’s a good idea build a 5×5 strategy around middle relievers.
Get all the starters you can. Look for guys who had good ERA and WHIP but bad results last year, or guys with good K/BB and HR/9 ratios. Don’t be afraid of third or fourth starters, if they’re underlying skills are sound. There is safety in numbers and you want to throw as much pitching stuff at the wall as you can, then collect the good stuff that sticks. Pardon my bowdlerization.
The goal, I think, has to be to finish in the middle in saves if possible, high in wins and strikeouts, while maintaining a middle of the pack rank in the qualitatives. That should give you 35-40 pitching points while spending less than $70 on pitching.
Obviously this strategy isn’t going to work for everyone if everyone tries it, but I don’t think there’s another approach that better deals with the problems 5×5 play raises.