How do you build the foundation of a quality team?

There are many teams that boast and gloat about their "amazing average" or their "excellent ERA". But does an outstanding average propel a team, or does a very low ERA propel a team? Or is it a balance of both? Well today, I am going to share my thoughts based on statistics, team success, and a whole lot of other factors.

Lets start with the top 3 teams. Through 28 games, the Peace Sharks, the Deadly sins, and the Tacoma Fury (me) are the only 3 teams in FB that are 24-4 or better. Now, if we look at batting average, Peace Sharks are 2nd, Fury are 12th, and the Deadly sins are 6th. Now, on the pitching side. There are a grand total of 0 of those 3 teams that have a top 50 ERA in the league. Wow. So why are each of these teams the top 3 teams in FB?

Before we answer that, lets look at 1 more team, the FISH TOWN. The have the best offense in FB by a longshot. However, despite efforts to improve, their pitching is the 11th WORST in FB, with a horrible 7.870 ERA. They are still 20-8 though, which is weird.

So, why do some teams bolster a top 25 offense but it doesn't mean anything without a top tier pitching staff? Or why do some teams have the worst offense in baseball but manage to get by? Why do some teams have a top tier batting staff, shit pitching, but still manage to put up good records?

There are some theories to that. One could be the sim, which acts up sometimes. Like when the Cotton Pickers went 0-60. That is either skill or dumb luck, and I choose the second option (still support their efforts, nice job). Or when the Mad Antz beat the Terrace Ice. And that is pretty much it. The sim.

However, we are going to record more experiments. Like who is the absolute best team in FB (based on batting and pitching records)? That goes to the jimmies. They are the only team that I could find that is top 50 in pitching and top 50 in batting. So this confirms my myth about team building.

Teams are utterly defined by one thing. The Warriors are defined by the best pitching, and the FISH TOWN are determined by batting. The Reds are the team with the best players, the ObZen has the best pitching scout ratings, etc. And the jimmies are good, but they are not great. So teams usually gather success around one side of the ball. However, when a team finds a way to crack both sides, then we will see a new team rise to domination.

The sim, however, might not let us do that. And the only evidence that I need to use to support my theory - the Reds have never gone 60-0. Nor the Bombers. Nor Shima. Nor the ObZen. Nobody has gone 60-0, and based on the sim, there might never be any team that will. But the best we can do is at least try.

Lastly, I need to answer the title question - what builds a quality team exactly. The answer to that is to build a high contact offense, a high control pitching, but to also look for patterns in performance. If a player with bad scout ratings on a dead team that is over 90 day old is #1 in the world, then go bid on him, and use him. The streak might carry on.

I think that FB today has been so obsessed with scout ratings, but not obsessed about performance. I have had at least 3 right fielders with better scout ratings than Maynard. But Maynard has hit incredibly, so of course I am not going to replace him. I actually put Jaron Holloway to replace Maynard for a season, and lets just say that I regretted that. Not that Holloway didn't put up good numbers (because he did), but I could have been so much better with Maynard in, especially in my worst season.

Also, change your game plan if needed. The Cranberries let go of their best batters and replaced them with high contact players, and that worked well for them. Their offense was better, and even though Cooksey has done well on my team, I will still give them immense credit for their smart switch.

So to sum it up, there is no real formula to build a quality team. You can have a good offense, good performance players, high contact, high control, good pitching, but the sim controls the game. So if you cannot get better, never tell yourself you can't win. Just change up your game plan, and maybe the sim will go in your favor.

Tacoma Fury :)