Resting Pitchers For Playoffs

[Clay Dreslough]

What is the best way to handle the subject of resting starting pitchers for the playoffs?

Note that the computer manager currently rests any of the top 3 starting pitchers on a team that has clinched a playoff spot by replacing them with a starting pitcher from the AAA list (aka "the 40-man roster). This only occurs during the last 5 days of the season (to allow top starters to miss a start and thus be fresh for the playoffs as needed).

Clay

[Cipster]

I know it requires more work for the owners but it would be great to be able to manually choose the option we like.
Personally I would chose the "do not rest anyone" option and manually move up some AAA pitchers into the rotation.
One year I actually sent my entire lineup down to AAA and replaced them, with scrubs (signed some 1 pt. FA to fill out the roster) in order to avoid injury. I saw teams lose star players to injury in the last week of the season so I figured I'd avoid that. I did finish with a 0-9 flourish but everyone was healthy. It would be nice too to get bench players some starts the last week of the season to avoid injuries. The easy solution would be that everyone on the bench gets to start at their primary position for the last week. The only problem would be for people having unbalanced benches.

[drew]

I would like it if the top three starters rest after a playoff spot has been clinched and your top three minor leaguers take their place, like September call-ups.

[sudden]

The computer manager should rest your top three starters if:
a) your team has clinched a playoff spot
b) the division winner has been determined

If it was otherwise, you could have a situation where two teams in the same division were going to win 100+ games. The wild card would fall to whichever team did not win the division title. However, the division title is still important in terms of playoff seeding and mogul points. Therefore, the computer manager should not rest your pitchers if the division title is still on the line.

The other situation could be where you have clinched the wild card but you cannot win your division as the leader is so far ahead of you. In that case you probably want to rest your top three starters in the last week.

[Schaefling]

I mistakenly voted for option one or two when I wanted to vote for the option allowing players to choose between one, two, and three. Giving managers more to do is always the best way to go.

Not only does giving managers the choice improve game play it will keep them playing longer.

[takaplan]

Schaefling,
I changed your vote :)

Tom