So in a $110million 2 team twist league I’m in, the subject of ‘71 Vida Blue came up. He’s on two different rosters and he’s underperforming on both. Someone said he doesn’t usually give you even close to his real numbers in leagues of $100 million plus caps. I thought about it and I’ve used him a few times and he’s been meh at best, even once in an open league.

That got me to thinking of other players I’ve used at least a few times that always seem to underperform. One that definitely came to mind is Eckersley as a closer. I’ve used a bunch of different seasons, ‘’85, 88, ‘89, ‘90 and ‘92 and other than a couple good seasons when I had him in a progressive league, he always WAY underperforms. Gives up too many homers and for some reason just sucks when I’ve used him.

For position players I’d have to say Ryne Sandberg has always disappointed me. I loved him growing up but in the sim I used him a lot when I first started playing and he never did much at the plate. His fielding was always decent though.

So who are some of you guys worst underperformers? Gotta be somebody you used more than once.

Rickey Henderson. He's my favorite player so I keep drafting him and very rarely does he perform on par with his actual numbers.
You'd think a player who hits around .300 with an OBP around .400, a good fielder with good range and that speed and crazy SB numbers would be a can't miss player but no...
Not saying he always sucks, which he often does, but I very rarely have him perform on par.
Even when I give him home Coors advantage he can't get it going.
The only times I've had good numbers from him is when I draft the very expensive seasons in OLs, 1981, 1985, 1990 all $8mil+
His 1983 season which looks really awesome on paper, .292 .414 OBP, 108/19 85%, A/A- for $6.7mil always fails for me.

'21 DeGrom and '88 Elton Chamberlain. Amazing stats but I've used them in higher caps and they aren't even close to the best pitcher on my team.

Posted by BillyMartin1 on 6/15/2025 5:56:00 AM (view original):
Rickey Henderson. He's my favorite player so I keep drafting him and very rarely does he perform on par with his actual numbers.
You'd think a player who hits around .300 with an OBP around .400, a good fielder with good range and that speed and crazy SB numbers would be a can't miss player but no...
Not saying he always sucks, which he often does, but I very rarely have him perform on par.
Even when I give him home Coors advantage he can't get it going.
The only times I've had good numbers from him is when I draft the very expensive seasons in OLs, 1981, 1985, 1990 all $8mil+
His 1983 season which looks really awesome on paper, .292 .414 OBP, 108/19 85%, A/A- for $6.7mil always fails for me.

I agree with Rickey. I’ve used him at least 5 or 6 times and he always hits .240-260, at least he walks a lot and you get good range in the outfield

Its been a long time since I played in an OL, but what are the expected outcomes for hitters? I remember OLs as each team basically an all-star team. I would not expect Rickey, or any hitter, to reach his actual numbers. I think .240-.260 would be a pretty good outcome.

Posted by profcake on 6/17/2025 2:23:00 PM (view original):
Its been a long time since I played in an OL, but what are the expected outcomes for hitters? I remember OLs as each team basically an all-star team. I would not expect Rickey, or any hitter, to reach his actual numbers. I think .240-.260 would be a pretty good outcome.

That's my general thinking for high cap theme leagues, that no matter who you draft, pitchers or batters, they will generally cancel each other out. The higher the cap the lower the stats will be.
I don't expect a .400 hitter to hit anywhere near .400 if he's going to face the best pitchers in history routinely.
Both batter and pitcher stats will suffer.

But for $80 mil OLs, I usually have players giving me what I expect from them, that is close to their actual stats or better. Especially if they have positive # stats, I will usually expect better than actual stats and most of the time get them.
Of course the ballpark factor will weigh in rather heavily.

Mike Trout. Sadly, usually Ichiro too.

Willy Mays.

Drysdale and Koufax in progressives. They're not facing scrubs.

1970 Vida Blue performs much better than the '71 version.

Maybe I just thought they were better than they actually were but the 1970s guys...many of them were dominant in RL but you NEVER see them in even an OL or Theme.
Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, Keith Hernandez (79), Agree...Rickey Henderson a lot of years, Jim Rice, Mike Schmidt in many years except 81, Steve Carlton other than 1972 and I actually NEVER get anywhere close on Ted Williams....he walks but has no power....except for the 1953 Cookie. That dude is good for at least 10 Wins a year off the bench....seen it many times.

Posted by jfranco77 on 6/18/2025 9:15:00 AM (view original):
Mike Trout. Sadly, usually Ichiro too.

I'll see your Ichiro and raise you Joe Morgan. Never get expected value out of either of them.

Ernie Banks has to be near the top of the list for me...

Doesn't anybody see these results as a horrid (and unrealistic) flaw to the programming behind the algorithm that decides every AB in this game we play?

I sure do, however I don't do this pastime the same as other users, I expect. For me, it's just an exercise in tinkering with lineups. I don't try and build "winning" teams full of over-achieving (to R/L) PC facsimiles. I just enjoy swapping around "ordinary" players. Tinkering with pitch counts, etc.

As a former player, I never got to actually "manage" a team. This gives me that opportunity, however flawed it is!

Posted by ML_dad on 6/16/2025 6:50:00 PM (view original):

Posted by BillyMartin1 on 6/15/2025 5:56:00 AM (view original):
Rickey Henderson. He's my favorite player so I keep drafting him and very rarely does he perform on par with his actual numbers.
You'd think a player who hits around .300 with an OBP around .400, a good fielder with good range and that speed and crazy SB numbers would be a can't miss player but no...
Not saying he always sucks, which he often does, but I very rarely have him perform on par.
Even when I give him home Coors advantage he can't get it going.
The only times I've had good numbers from him is when I draft the very expensive seasons in OLs, 1981, 1985, 1990 all $8mil+
His 1983 season which looks really awesome on paper, .292 .414 OBP, 108/19 85%, A/A- for $6.7mil always fails for me.

I agree with Rickey. I’ve used him at least 5 or 6 times and he always hits .240-260, at least he walks a lot and you get good range in the outfield

He’s always been great for me in roster twist leagues, but I use the power Rickeys like ‘85 and ‘90