No escape from the treadmill

I was pleasantly surprised  to take one game out of three from Pete and his Pilots. Dierker lost the first game 4-6, and it wasn't even really that close; the Pilots took a four-run lead in the first inning and added two more later, and that was that. Marichal won the second game 2-0 against Steve Blass, who had beaten him in a previous series, with Drabowsky getting the save, and Joe Coleman got raped in the third game, which we wound up losing 11-0. It was the same old story. Pete has a lineup full of .300 hitters, mostly with A and B power, and while theoretically we should pound lefties, it never seems to work out that way. 

So I am seriously thinking about giving next season a pass, whether it's 1971 or 1973, because I simply don't have the offensive core to compete in this league, and I'm never going to acquire enough of one to be competitive. Most of the stronger teams have a lineup like Pete's, plus decent starters and multiple tough relievers...and I don't. The best hitters in my lineup are Cepeda and Cannizzaro, with Northrup, Unser, and Kelly all hitting in the .270 range. And that just doesn't seem to be enough. It's definitely not enough to build on, while teams like Pete's can pick up all manner of good players in their draft rounds before I can get to them. Sure, I'll add one or two studs, but it's not enough to make up for (for example) the Yankees having four closers in their bullpen.  

I suppose I could shrug it off as just bad luck, but I'm halfway through the season and I'm not even at .333, much less .500. It's just not very much fun.