Welcome.
Like you, I'm a noob. I've only been playing for a few days. It's a tough game. Very fun though. My biggest weakness is I know little about baseball to begin with so I'm having to learn about that as well as the actual game.
I downloaded the demo then just ended up buying the game. I started a Fictional player league, simmed three seasons to establish some stats, and then took the team with the worst record. I've played two seasons, finished 67-95, 74-88, and so far in my third season I'm at 58-73 with barely 30 games left, I might not even fare as well as I did last season. Bummer. But I'm learning a lot.
I live in Northern California by the way, north of Sacramento (you live in Modesto?).