Hitting/Pitching Split

[Mr. Bad Advice]

I'm confused by the concept of selecting the Hitting/Pitching Split when doing the custom league evaluator. Im in a 5x5 mixed league, 5 pitching 5 hitting categories. We have daily transactions, so we can move starting pitchers and relief pitchers (if you like) in and out of the lineup daily.

Anyway, it would seem to me that the "split" is 50/50. Am I missing something here? Any help would be appreciated!

[NICK@HQ]

Re: Hitting/Pitching Split

Originally posted by Mr. Bad Advice
I'm confused by the concept of selecting the Hitting/Pitching Split when doing the custom league evaluator. Im in a 5x5 mixed league, 5 pitching 5 hitting categories. We have daily transactions, so we can move starting pitchers and relief pitchers (if you like) in and out of the lineup daily.

Anyway, it would seem to me that the "split" is 50/50. Am I missing something here? Any help would be appreciated!

The split refers not to the number of scoring categories but to the amount each owner tends to spend on batters versus pitchers. Out of $260, does the average owner in your league tend to spend $170 on hitters and $90 on pitchers? Then that's the split you should use. This way the valuator can approximate how players will actually be valued in your league.

[Mr. Bad Advice]

Thanks for the response. On one level, I grasp that. But in my league (which does not use dollar values, but a snake draft, I am just trying to get a feel for who goes where), it seems to me that pitchers are worth just as much as hitters, that I need to "spend" in my draft equally on pitching and hitting.

I mean, why would players be likely to value hitting over pitching if the hitting and pitching categories are weighed equally? Is this simply a function of wanting to invest more in hitters because they are more predictable or more neccesary to remain competative in the hitting categories?

[SteveL]

Most of us would rather emphasize hitting over pitching, simply because offensive players are more predictable. Pitchers break down, and change roles, more frequently.

You can still use the Custom Valuator for a straight draft because it will at least list the players by position. The real skill in a straight draft is to go into the draft with a plan of attack for when to draft certain POSITIONS, and not just focus on the players. Jeff Howard has given some great guidance on this in the past. Hopefully, he'll have another article this spring.

[Mr. Bad Advice]

Thanks, that is very helpful. It sounds like I was on the right track at least!

[miduncan]

And let's not forget math, even though I was an English major.

The traditional 60/40 split is logical based on an average value of $11.30 for each of the 23 players in a 14/9 hitter/pitcher league. Assuming all players to be of average value (which is never the case, of course), our nine pitchers would cost $101.73; our 14 hitters $158.26. That would give us a percentage split of 39.1% pitching to 60.9% hitting.

So perhaps the LIMA plan is a logical expression of the idea of truly placing a higher value on hitting; otherwise the 60/40 split is really an equal valuation on a per player basis.

[PD@HQ]

Mike is right: A big part of the 60-40 derives from the fact that 14 of your 23 players (ie 60.8%) are hitters. Other have pointed out the valid reasoning that we can generally be more confident of hitters' valuations because they tend to be more consistent over time (and less vulnerable to spectacular, disastrous flame-out).

Another factor is that it is relatively easier to find replacement-level pitchers in the post-draft Free Agent pool than it is to find hitters.

By the way, this thinking also applies in Straight-draft theory. Your draft slots are very much like "dollars" in an auction setting. You need to spend those early picks on hitters at scarce positions, both to prevent having to take real harmful duds later, and to force your opponents to accept those duds themselves.