Earlier, I wrote about using the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online: All-Time Records to help with player selection.  Studying the team records section (Team 80) can help in determining what makes a successful team.

First, take a look at the Most Wins section.  Looks like you might need to go extreme when deciding on a park to play.  Two teams chose hitter parks and three teams went for pitcher parks.

You probably can’t really determine what makes a winning team by going through these other categories.  The leaders under Team Errors – Fewest, however, showed quite a bit of success.  These teams averaged 88 wins.

Defense

Looking back in the Most Wins section, it looks like you must have at least 3 or 4 starting 1′s in your lineups.  These record holding teams averaged 4.5 starting ’1′ position players.  A team called The Wrong Stuff 441 had 8 1′s in their starting lineup!

All teams have a ’1′ at second base.  This is no surprise as there appears to be plenty ’1′s in the player set.  At short stop, however, there’s only 10 players with a ’1′ range so you will see more 2′s being used at shortstop.  The bottom line is that you need good defense up the middle.  No 3′s or 4′s.

Hitting

In outfield, you will see that Frank Robinson was used a couple times.  It’s quite a solid card.  He hits for power, has good OBP, has speed.

Tony Gwynn, Tris Speaker, and Bobby Bonds also appear on at least 2 teams.

Pitching

These top $80 million dollar salary teams averaged about 24M for their pitching staffs.

Of the 6 teams, there were only 5 pitchers over $5M.  3 out of the 6 teams didn’t have a pitcher over 5M.  Using a staff with pitchers who can pitch on 3 days rest is the way to go.  John Clarkson was picked up twice as well as Fred Norman.

It looks like the key to winning is to not spend much on relief pitching.  Of the 6 teams, there’s not one relief pitcher over 4M.  I see Ron Perranoski appearing a couple times.  Firpo Marberry had success a couple times.

1.  Defense up the middle is key.  Even if it costs runs at the plate, the defense will more than make up for it.  I almost always try to have a ’1′ or ’2′ at SS and 2B.  If there are any 1′s available that are under 3-4M I’d seriously consider grabbing them.

2.  Platoons, if used moderately, can be a better way to maximize your lineup and efficently utilize your budget.  Make sure you aren’t using too many platoons because when a reliever comes in your batting order may suffer.

3. Build your roster to your ballpark. While having a star player is beneficial, finding a hitter or pitcher with the right BPSI/BPHR for half the money could pay huge dividends.

4.  When building a team, do not ignore clutch ratings, GBDP chances, and strikeout chances.  Having a great hitter in the 5 hole is great, but if he has a terrible clutch rating, that can cost dearly in crunch time.  Having a lineup full of hitters who frequently ground into double plays is a rally killer.  Don’t have too many high strikeout hitters.  You need a few batters who can put the ball into play and move runners over.

5.  Have a versatile lineup.  Give yourself some flexibility in the lineup and on the bench to adapt to any injury.  But, be wary not to spend too much money on the bench.

6.  Follow the 50/30 batting and pitching balance rule as close as possible.  For 80M leagues this would mean having a pitching staff worth about 30M.

Sporting News officially announced the launching of 2008 Stratomatic season set! Here’s a list of 10 clutch hitters that I would consider drafting. I based my picks on my preference of contact hitters with low walks and strikeouts who are less prone to injury.

1. David DeJesus 5.75M 12 clutch - Perhaps the one of the best clutch ratings in the set. Has a good OBP vs right handed pitchers and will hit a lot of triples.

2. Bengie Molina 4.57M 8 clutch – Had a solid defensive card c-2(-1)e1, T-5(pb-0) this year. He’ll put the ball in play, zero walks and zero strikeouts, but will also ground into double plays (27 DP chances).

3. Ian Kinsler 5.75M 7 clutch – If drafted, he’ll most likely need to become the DH because of his defense at second base 3e24. He has a solid OBP against right handed pitchers and will hit a lot of doubles. Kinsler also has a lot of speed (1-17) and can steal bases (A steal rating).

4. Pablo Sandoval 4.91M 6 clutch – Another Giants catcher. He can also play 3B and 1B. Has 29 single chances against right handed pitchers! Zero walks and very low strikeouts. Will have a lot of double opportunities. He is a high risk for hitting into the double play (30 DP chances), however.

5. Justin Morneau 7.04M 4 clutch – Morneau always seems to have solid years. This year, he’s an ‘Iron Man’ – zero injury chances. He had 47 doubles during the regular season – 8 2B chances on each side.

6. Denard Span 5.68M 3 clutch - I never heard of this guy until now. Maybe I’ll add him to my Yahoo Fantasy Sports team. This is another Minnesota Twin who will play well defensively 2(0)e7 in RF or CF. Has a very good OBP against both sides and will produce a lot of triples. He will walk quite a bit against left handers but he’s a good base stealer.

7. Derek Jeter 5.77M 3 clutch – Jeter will get on base and hit a lot of singles. He does have a low OPS (.771) but good defense at shortstop seems to be a little thin this year. Jeter has a 1-16 rating on the base paths.

8. Andre Ethier 6.22M 2 clutch – I always prefer outfielders with good arms. Either has a -2 arm and can play either LF or RF. Another hitter with high double chances against right handers.