Three SP Strategy Follow-up

bkharr wanted to know more about the possibility of a three-SP strategy.

...both leagues are 4x4 old school...I presume this makes the strategy even more attractive? What happens in league 1 if another team is pursuing this?

Indeed, a three-SP, low IP strategy would be difficult to pull off in a 5x5 league. In all likelihood, you would be dumping three categories (wins, strikeouts and saves) as opposed to just two categories (wins and saves). Your maximum point total would probably be 87 points. This might win some very competitive 5x5 leagues, but it's more likely that you would simply finish in the money and not win - assuming everything worked out.

If two owners in one league are trying this strategy, it shouldn't have much of an impact on the hitters that you buy but it could have a significant impact on who your ace is you get depending on who is available in the free agent pool.

Remember, it doesn't matter so much which hitters you get as much as it does how much value you pick up during your auction. If the other owner trying this strategy is pushing for stars, you're more likely to wind up with a balanced squad. If, on the other hand, this owner is trying to put together a more balanced team, you might wind up getting a couple of stars at inflation par. How your roster is comprised isn't as relevant as how much hitting value you walk away with on offense.

This doesn't apply on the pitching side, since part of your plan should be to walk away with a bonafide ace, and there aren't that many left in the American League. Roy Halladay is the only pitcher I'd truly classify as a "safe" ace at this point; the rest of the top pitchers in the American League pool are very good, but have enough blemishes that they might not make the strategy work.

And unlike other category dump strategies, you don't want to chase someone like Halladay too far past his price since your goal is to spend about $60 on pitching. Chasing Halladay to $40 might make sense. Going too far past this makes it hard to put together a top offense, unless you have enough high quality freezes so it doesn't matter. Of course if your freezes are this strong, the larger issue is "why are you dumping any categories?"

If you're 100% certain that another owner is going to pursue this strategy, you want to ask yourself if your can live with a back-up plan to your primary target or targets. If Halladay sails to $45, can you live with CC Sabathia at $41? If Sabathia also goes for $45, are you willing to roll the dice on Josh Beckett or John Lackey?

I like category dumping strategies, but bkharr is correct that you do have to be aware of what else is going on in your league before dipping both feet in the water. Getting pushed to $50 on an ace pitcher because another owner is trying the same thing won't win you any titles. If this happens, you might want to have a back-up plan, even if that back-up plan is playing it straight across all eight categories.