Dell Rides Again
A Review of Dell’s 2006 Strato Guide

 It’s another Strat-O-Matic baseball season and Terry Dell and his 2006 Strato report dive deep to find the best and worst cards of the set.

Getting the guide is a lot easier this year.  Dell has changed the guide from a print format to a .pdf document delivered via email after purchase.   This move reduces the cost of the guide but also lets you get your hands on his material much faster.  Plus, the cost of the guide has dropped dramatically without the printing and shipping costs.   $11.00 is the price of admission to Dell’s guide.

Here’s how the guide breaks down.   It starts with the 2005 card set trends and then it moves into a positional analysis.   Here’s where you pick up a number of tidbits of wisdom and golden nuggets from Dell.   He provides advice on what positions to hit first in a start-up or tournament draft.   He also tells you what factors should be of importance for each position.   For right fielder, Dell says to look for power, then on-base, and finally speed on the bases.  

Next we move to specific draft strategies.  Getting lopsided relievers serves as a critical Strat drafting strategy not noticed by a lot of managers.  Dell has a section on situational lefties and when to take them in a draft.  Those cards may not work in all situations but Dell says they can come up big with Barry Bonds at the plate.

The “quirks” and “spanked” sections offer interesting insights into some of the more bizarre ratings in the 2005 card set.   Dell lists 4 pitchers that have the “Strato Death Card” in this set.

The middle of the guide brings Dell’s comments on the undervalued players in the set, whether for the 2005 or 2006 season.   Dell really likes Adrian Beltre and Curt Schilling and thinks they’re worth going after in your league.

Then we move to the position ratings and analysis.  Dell ranks the cards according to the criteria of average, OB, TB, HR, speed, range, and throwing arm (for outfielders).  Then he offers commentary on the player cards.  This is a useful section for anyone who plays Strat-O-Matic. 

Dell’s Top Player by Position

C – Victor Martinez
1B – Derrek Lee
2B – Brian Roberts
3B – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Alex Rodriguez
LF – Miguel Cabrera
CF – Andruw Jones
RF – Vladimir Guerrero
SP – Roger Clemens
RRP – Mariano Rivera
LRP – Billy Wagner

The final part of the guide contains a Q/A session with subscribers, a draft-day planning sheet, and his mock draft board.   The latter is particularly valuable for the start-up and tournament drafts.  You also get Dell’s list of “Freak Show” cards, the limited AB players with fantastic performances in certain areas like Jeff Francoeur and Mike Jacobs.  

While you can’t cram everything into 61 pages, Dell does a good job of hitting the highs and lows of the new card set as well as providing sound drafting/playing advice for managers of all levels and styles.  

Dell’s guide includes many baseball cartoons and colorful, acerbic comments.  These things almost make the price of the guide worthwhile in and of itself.  

You can learn more about the 2006 Strato Guide by visiting Dell’s website at www.stratostrategy.com