Three SP Strategy Question

bkharr is considering trying out the three SP strategy I talked about earlier this week.

I am thinking of trying this in 2 leagues. League 1 pitching freezes Lee 3, Litsch 3, bj ryan 17. League 2 freezes Litsch 8, Devine 1, Ray 5, Rodney 1. If I try this should I pursue a balanced attack or studs & duds?

From a value standpoint, it isn't relevant whether bk pursues top tier hitters or tries to buy a balanced squad. If hitters are going under inflation par value early, then buy those hitters. If the bargains are showing up in the middle of the auction, buy a balanced team. With this strategy, it doesn't matter how your offense is comprised, as long as you make sure that you're buying more offense than the rest of your league.

What matters is the adjustment you'll need to make to your hitting bids so that you make sure you buy a $200 offense - or whatever amount of money you plan to budget on offense. The biggest mistake you can make is to simply take your bids, bump them up by 14% (200/175, assuming you're using a $175/$85 hitting/pitching split like I do) and bid that way. If you do this, you're going to negate a good portion of your tactical advantage.

Your assumption should be that your league is going to spend $175 per team for hitters and $85 per team for pitchers - or whatever it is that your league spends per team for hitters and pitchers.

For a $10 hitter, a 14% adjustment is virtually irrelevant; you would only be bumping him up to $11. But for a $35 hitter, you'd be pushing him to a $40 bid limit pre-inflation. Factor in a 20% inflation rate, and your $35 hitter has become a $48 hitter, not the $42 hitter he would have been without your additional 14% pay increase. You might be able to afford this $6 loss on one player, but if you do this more than once, your offense will suddenly look pedestrian.

You are more likely to want to push players right up against their inflation bids or $1 over or under, depending on how much fluctuation there is in your league on player prices. If you haven't completed an auction with a "radical" allocation of hitting and pitching dollars, this might make you nervous. "How am I going to buy a $200 offense without overspending by more than that on hitters?" you are probably asking yourself.

Don't fret. I've done it before and it works. Not only are the other owners in your league likely budgeting against a $175/$85 split, but also there are typically enough differences of opinion on player values that you will be able to buy $200 worth of hitters without radically tweaking your bid limits.

Budgeting your money this way means that you are more likely to dominate offense. Since you're willing to pay inflation par, the $30 that a 20% inflation rate would eat away at is almost completely negated if you're spending $200 on your hitters. If you have any freezes at all, the 20% inflation disappears completely, and that's where your real advantage is with this strategy combined with the broad bidding guidelines I outlined above.