2012 Position Analysis: Long Relievers
Some players
love the 2 IP relievers and others seem to have no use for them. Many teams in
the majors use their long relievers more than they wish. It is the dream of
every manager to have a starter go 6 or 7 and then single innings out of each
bullpen guy for the win. Teams with bad starters need to have bullpens who can
carry the load. This is true in the majors as well as Showdown. There are 10
long men in this years class. Each one with value in the right situation.
Alfredo
Aceves is the first one alphabetically and in control. He is a 6, 1-15 out with
16-17 BB, 18-19 1B and 20 2B. Two identical relievers would cost 150 points a
piece. Aceves cost 270 giving a small discount. His out chart is very
pedestrian with 1-6 none advancing out and only a 7-8 GB. However, he is a
horse. He can just absolutely gobble up innings like no reliever I can
remember. He may give up tallies but He will be tough to blow up.
If you want
a 2 inning closer like the old Kieth Foulke the Jim Johnson is that guy. 5,
1-16 out with no double and no walk. 7-13 GB will let him erase people who do
get on with singles. His 5 control neutralizes power. His relatively low out
makes him somewhat susceptible to stacking. Know you league rules for stacking
and how rolls above 20 work. At his 350 point price he only makes sense as a 2
inning closer.
There are 2
options with 4 control for long relievers. Daniel McCutchen at 270 points with
a 1-16 out and 1-5 none advancing out makes very little sense at the price. I
think going up to Aceves makes more sense or just paying less for Guillermo
Mota makes more sense. Guillermo Mota is a 1-15 out but cost 70 points less. He
has a 1-7 none advancing out which is decent. He is a good cheap innings eater
who will get hurt a little but not destroyed.
For 3
control pitchers there are a lot of options. I do not want to like Chris Sale
but I do. For 240 points you get a 1-17 out with a 1-9 none advancing out. If
your bullpen has enough lights out high controls this may be your long man of
choice. For 30 points less Burke Badenhop is a completely unuseable player. One
less out on the chart and it is a single. For 30 points less then him you have
Jeff Grey with the same problem. The out turns into a walk instead. At 130
points Chris Jakubauskas is 130 point mob up guy. He is a 1-14 out which I can
see being punished in relief. That is fine for a mop up guy but not for
anything else. For 10 points less you can get 1 more out and give up a homer
with Tim Wakefield. I think he is a better mop up guy then Jakubauskas. That is
pure preference. The most interesting play may be Darren Oliver. He is a 1-18
out for 300 points. He may serve as a discount 2 inning closer. His chart can
survive the stack only giving up a single. I do not see a lot of people
actually pulling the trigger on this guy but he may do well for some brave
soul.
The thing
with long relievers is you are going to get a bit of a discount on the guys
compared to buying 2 clones of a single inning version. You should not even be
reading this for anything more then entertainment unless you see yourself
throwing 10 innings or more in a 4 game series with the bullpen. These players
need to be throwing 4 innings a series to be worth the price. You also open up
the roster for more options off the bench or to the newest type of player added
which we will talk about next week the 1/3 IP relievers. How will the
specialists effect the game? No one ever seems to know but we will look into
it.
No comments:
Post a Comment