Friday, February 19, 2010

Sportsline N.L. Results - Rotowire (Erik Siegrist)

Team: Rotowire (Erik Siegrist)
Year in League -
6th
Previous Finishes - 7th, 1st, 11th, 5th, 3rd
Projected 2010 Finish (Sportsline Projections):
6th (tie)
The Roster

Catchers: Miguel Montero $11, John Baker $5.

Corner Infield: Joey Votto $34, Mark DeRosa $15, Gaby Sanchez $2.

Middle Infield: Orlando Cabrera $14, Kelly Johnson $7, Ronny Cedeno $2.

Outfield: Matt Kemp $41, Nate McLouth $19, Chris Coghlan $15, Josh Willingham $6, Angel Pagan $1, Allen Craig $1.

Pitchers: Roy Halladay $34, Tim Lincecum $37, Jason Motte $4, Mike Pelfrey $4, Aaron Cook $2, Paul Maholm $2, Jon Niese $1, Charlie Morton $1, Andrew Miller $1.

Reserves: Logan Morrison, Matt Maloney, Omar Infante, Evan Meek, Domonic Brown, Jordan Schafer, Nick Masset.

Hitting/Pitching Split: $173/$86

Categorical Strengths: Runs, wins.
Categorical Weaknesses: Saves, ERA.

Erik Siegrist's auction is a tale of two auctions, and a good illustration of how a team can adhere to a fairly "standard" hitting/pitching split and still spin a strategy out of that split.

The goal on offense seemed to be to buy a balanced offense, and Siegrist did exactly that. He's middle-of-the-pack in just about every offensive category except runs, where he projects out to 2nd. He may have overpaid a little for Kemp and more than a little for Votto, but the rest of this team lines up as a fairly decent exercise in a Stage Three push for stats over names. I'm not as high on Morrison as John Sickels is, but the Sanchez/Morrison play is a good hedge (unless the Marlins bring in a free agent). The other prices here are fairly reasonable. If there's a drawback to this offense, it's that there isn't a lot of upside outside of the Marlins' 1B tandem, but there should be enough production here that Siegrist shouldn't have to worry about it.

On the mound, Siegrist went with the two aces/no closer strategy in a big way. Lincecum and Halladay were the two most expensive starting pitchers in the room, and only two of three starters who cracked $30 (Dan Haren, at $33, was the other one). Everyone else - with the exception of Motte - is a roll-the-dice starter who may or may not work out. This team projects middle-of-the-pack in strikeouts, but if some of the cheaper starting pitchers work out that won't be the case. This is the kind of pitching staff that requires a lot of churning, but will also outdo the projections if Siegrist is active with his starters beyond his two aces. Of course, the other key with a staff like this is that Lincecum and Halladay have to stay healthy/be productive, but that's true of any Roto staff's ace.

I like this team better than its projected finish. John Hunt did something similar to this in LABR years ago and also outdid his pitching projection. I can see the same thing happening here.

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