Broken Bat - Discussion Forum: A Plague of 2Bs

Forum >> Discussions >> A Plague of 2B's

Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#44178	01/21/2017 11:47:17 am
GrizzlyDan Joined: 06/30/2016 Posts: 199 Atlanta Braves IV.2	This team continues to be a long-term project. It looks like I'll be dropping back to VI again while I get it built up. The weird part is the profile that the draft keeps handing me: the high-fielding, low arm, decent range guys that scream 2B. I've looked at my minors and their projected arrival dates, and here's what it looks like. Next season, 2031: Lazaro De La Rosa. We are his fifth organization. A lot of people lost patience with this guy. He's the leading edge. 2032: Lee Strickland. Speed and defense. He mashes at A-ball, anybody's guess what he'll be like. 2033, the mob: Marty Newby, Kenny Tang, and Donnie Wadsworth They all have various balances of speed, power, and sparkling defense. They are not all going to fit on the team. Who gets dropped so I can continue to roll the draft dice?

#44179	01/21/2017 12:31:24 pm
5L1NK Joined: 06/10/2015 Posts: 291 Farmington Hills Cardinals Legends	I'm a huge believer in hitting ratings, so i would drop all those guys except for Newby. I'd keep Tang for his switch hitting. Drop Strickland and wadsworth. Keep De La Rosa for now unless your current 2B is better than him

#44181	01/21/2017 12:51:15 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	I don't like any of them... De La Rosa won't be ready next year. He needs ~2 more years in AAA. Which means he should be ready ~25. Nothing wrong with that, but he looks like a horrible hitter. Of the bunch he has the best defensive build for 2B, but his lack of hitting ability would get him cut from my team. Strickland is a LONG ways away from the majors. Absolutely no chance he will be ready in 2032. Probably more like 2036. 2035 at best. He has a lot of positives. Lefty, base stealer, decent 2B build, hits better than his ratings. But even though he is killing the ball right now, his scouting report isn't too good. I still like him the best of the bunch because he has some upside. I wouldn't allow a guy without a hit rating on my team, but if you get lucky and he turns out to be under-scouted, then maybe he will work out. If nothing else he can be a backup/pinch runner. Newby could be a pretty good hitter. He doesn't have a great defensive build. Its hard to find a place to put a guy like this. Still probably worth keeping around to see how his bat turns out. I wouldn't be happy with that range at 2B, but he doesn't really have any good position. Tang has an even worse defensive build. I don't think he is worth keeping. He is young and a switch hitter, but his build isn't great. He hasn't played enough to really judge him on his stats. Wadsworth has a decent 2B build. Again, I don't like the lack of a hitting rating. But he is pretty young. Not as promising as Strickland, but a reasonable 2B prospect. I'd rank them: 1) Strickland 2) Wadsworth 3) Newby (not really a 2B) 4) De La Rosa (best defensive build) 5) Tang (youngest) But before making cuts, you should also consider your current team, and whether or not you will need another 2B within the next few years.

#44186	01/21/2017 1:34:53 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	Completely agree with Rock, though I give slightly more leeway on the hitting for outstanding defensive players. I had Bentley as my 2B (at the time he had 20 speed, 18 range, 18 power, and 16 fielding but the hitting skills haven't really declined) while I was promoting from the lower leagues.

#44200	01/22/2017 6:59:13 am
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	I'm more optimistic about De La Rosa than the others. He could be a premium defensive 2B, which (IMO) means you don't need as much offense from him. And I think he does have some offensive potential. Given his speed and apparent base stealing ability, if his PD fills out you could have a bottom of the order BB-SB guy setting the table for the top. You could make a somewhat similar argument for Strickland, tho at 15 range you aren't getting top end defense at the position. Little harder to justify. None of the mob look like 2B to me.

#44212	01/22/2017 1:22:38 pm
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	Gonna agree with Seca here. De La Rosa is great defensively and that's the most important thing to me at middle infield. 2B and SS are the only positions where I'm ok playing guys without hitting scouts personally. I figure if I have 9 guys hitting, I can afford to have 2 of them be offensive duds. That's still 7 solid hitters to carry me offensively and the 2 weak hitters are keeping me in games defensively. So yeah, I'd definitely trade offense for defense at 2B... ideally you get both, but you can't always be lucky enough to have perfect players at all positions all the time. Add on to the fact that none of those guys can actually hit AND have the defensive ability to be good at 2B... I think De La Rosa is the only real good player in the bunch. It would be another story if you had someone with slightly less defense (say Strickland's numbers) but with a positive hitting scout... then you might wanna consider going that route... but with all of the good 2B builds being bad hitters anyway, just take the best defender and let him help your groundball pitchers.

#44215	01/22/2017 2:29:53 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	SS requires 3 defensive categories. So its pretty hard to get a SS who can hit well. 2B is basically the same difficulty as 3B. Its not that hard to get a 2B who can hit, especially if you forget about power. De La Rosa has been pretty miserable in the minors. At least Wadsworth and Strickland haven't failed at the minor league level yet (mostly because they haven't had a chance to yet). I my mind a guy with no Bat Control and no Hitting doesn't belong anywhere near a field unless he is pitching.

#44216	01/22/2017 2:34:37 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	Besides, you didn't trade defense for offense. Your 2B looks just like Wadsworth and Strickland defensively and has a Very Good Hitting rating. Seca also has a Good hitting 2B.

#44218	01/22/2017 4:00:37 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	The big problem with De La Rosa is that he has 75 SI at 23 in AAA. Thats quite poor for a defense first player that is loaded with speed and range already. Seca also has a Good hitting 2B. You think Sims is going to be an offensive dynamo? Really? Sims is the best option I've managed to acquire. I'm encouraging the OP to go with the best option he's managed to acquire. Should a Cummings slide onto the waiver wire then absolutely the OP should put in a claim.

#44219	01/22/2017 4:34:11 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	I meant literally. He has the scouting report of Good Hitter. He also has good BC. Plus he is hitting better than half the guys on my squad anyhow, so yeah, he is a good hitter. De La Rosa looks like a real dud. I think the guys with 15 range both at least have the potential to be mediocre hitters.

#44221	01/22/2017 4:57:25 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5202 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Sims has an OPS of .510 at the moment. Of the 18 guys on your stat page, 15 of them have an OPS better than .510. If De La Rosa were to fill out (and that is a really big if) he could be a better OPS player than Sims. I suspect De La Rosa will get more out of his power than Sims does. He should walk quite a bit more than Sims and his 5 PD. That really big if does mean OP should keep eyes open for an upgrade.

#44222	01/22/2017 5:23:56 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	De La Rosa hasn't hit well since A ball. He is hopeless in my opinion. With no hitting and no bat control, there is really no way he will get anything out of his power. Sims hit 14 HRs last year in AAA. No way De La Rosa does that. De La Rosa hasn't even been good with walks in the minors. He is striking out like crazy. I don't see any upside. The other guys aren't very good either, but Strickland has been impressive in his limited appearances. He may be better than he is scouted. He is also a lefty, and a base stealer. I think he is the better bet. But I agree that none of these guys are great.

#44233	01/23/2017 12:58:09 am
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	Rock, I was saying I would trade offense for defense at 2B. I just haven't been fortunate enough to find a guy who could play 2B as well as I like right now. Like literally if I had the choice between no hitting scout + "outstanding in the field" vs. say "very good hitter" + "solid in the field", equal range for example... I'd take the former, not the latter. You can't try to tell me what I aim for when building a team based on what I have at the moment. How many people have the perfect prototype player of their vision at every position at all times? I'm serious when I say I would elect to give up a good hitter for a good fielder at 2B. I obviously want both, but if I hypothetically had to pick between the two, that's where I'd go. One of the reasons I'm training Irwin right now at 2nd is because he has better range than Lee for the same fielding report (which I'd still prefer to be higher but not so lucky there). His hitting report is lower than Lee's, but I'm trying to get a defensive option ready. I've also signed various vets with good fielding/range combos in case training youngsters at 2B would hurt my team too much... luckily, I'm doing so well this season, that the vets are needed and I can take the risk of playing developing guys full time.

#44248	01/23/2017 8:11:28 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2238 New York Lancers V.4	I'll take the hitter every time. When your team goes on a season-long slump at the plate every AB is worth its weight in gold. Al Dorsey was my 2B when I took over for 2026, and his 17 Hit, Power and Fielding (at the time) were huge for me. Vallejo was meant to be his replacement but lost a point of Range and gained one in Arm, which is less than ideal, and just couldn't hit enough despite a "very good" hit report (14 Hit/16 BC). In desperation I threw money out the window and picked up Fisher, who has been terrific with the bat (badly needed) and an absolute magnet for the ball at 2B despite 8 Range and a 6 Arm. Olivas was meant to be Vallejo's no-hit backup but couldn't do much of anything, and I acquired Gaytan as a 3rd (and now 2nd) option: his Range is borderline but if the bat plays I'll be happy. The only position I'll now consider having no hit report is SS. Updated Monday, January 23 2017 @ 8:12:02 am PST

#44337	01/25/2017 4:13:00 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9604 Haverhill Halflings III.1	Same for me. SS is the only position I consider guys with no Hitting report, and usually only if they are prolific sluggers with promising BC and PD. I would definitely not trade Fielding for Hitting myself. I would trade Range to a point, but 15 range is enough for me to start looking at hitting ability.

#44343	01/25/2017 5:18:33 pm
Crazy Li Joined: 01/25/2015 Posts: 879 Inactive	That's the great thing about this game... everyone has their own philosophy and multiple contradicting styles of team-building can still potentially be successful as long as the owner executes their personal strategy properly.