OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Surprise Success: The story of the (fictional) Houston Astros

edddgar · 12-21-2009, 08:09 PM

Welcome to Houston, home of the biggest surprise and most disappointing season in baseball. Despite a sweep in the Wild Card Round, this Houston team came from nowhere and won 113 games, a league record edging the Angels 2012 108-54 campaign. After a disapointing playoff appearance, the first in team history, it's hard to forget how amazing this team really was. Here's some numbers for you to consider. The team payroll totaled $28,303,800, lowest in the league by a staggering $26,108,092. The team's 5 year existance before this season showed 3 6th place finishes, one 5th place, and a third place finish all totaling a 377-433 win-loss record. Only 3 players have compiled enough service time to have a non-league minimum salary. New GM Gabe Freimund came into this broken franchise and said they were going to win now and win in the future. Everyone in Houston rolled their eyes, but now, Houston not only is winning but clearly have the brightest future in Major League Baseball. So with this, it's onto a review of the roster.
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Catcher
Derek Martin
One of Freimund's first acquistions and a sign of things to come. Scout Yoriyuki Kouno raved about him to Freimund, claiming Houston was making a grave mistake in playing him off the bench for a far less talented player. Freimund agreed, parlayed his own catcher and a minor league prospect for Martin and fellow Padres benchmate and potential Astro starter Hector Ramirez. Scouts rate Martin with an 18/20 catcher arm and a 16/20 ability behind the plate. He's a pure contact hitter (17/20) but his other skills leave a lot to be desired. In 575 at bats he put up a triple slash of .285/.335/.384. Not exactly what Freimund was hoping for when he acquired him but is an upgrade over what Houston had before.
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Ryan Rose
A favorite in Houston. At 23 the left handed hitter, righty thrower, projects as an below-average to average hitter. However, his bat isn't where his value is. He's a rare speedster at the catcher position, scouts rating him at 16 speed, his ability to steal at an unbelievable 21/20, and his instincts on the bases at 19. What else? While he has a lot of experience at catcher, scouts rave about the ability he has to play other positions putting his infield range at 14, his ability to avoid errors at 17 and his arm at 21. In the outfield, he is given a range of 13, ability to avoid errors at 18 and a true 20/20 arm. He doesn't have much experience at any positions other than catcher, but the Astros will look to work him into some other positions in Spring Training this year.
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First Base
Tilmao Hagen mans firstbase and is without a doubt, the best player in the majors right now. He's coming off a season in which he put up a triple slash of .411/.521/.744, hitting 43 homers, 43 doubles, managing 9 triples despite a complete lack of speed and walked an outstanding 139 times while striking out only 49 times. The former 1037th pick in the inaugural draft was exchanged in a package that included Willie Cox going to Reds who was no slouch himself, putting up a .332/.399/.623 line and hitting 40 homers. At the time of the trade Cox and Hagen were considered essentially even players, the Astros preferred Hagen's age and contract status to that of Cox's and took a risk that clearly paid of greatly. Hagen thrived in Houston and shown dramatic improvements the coaching staff raved about all off-season and in Spring Training. Hagen didn't disappoint and started hot from the start and never really slowed down. He's a virtual lock for the MVP trophy, if he doesn't win it'll be an absolute travesty.
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Second Base
Hector Ramirez came over in the Derek Martin trade and it was all but set in stone that he'd be given every chance to start at second. Ramirez was nothing special with the bat, but he had an American Cup ring from his days with the Angels and fit in great with the Astros' defensive mentality. Ramirez was putting up less than stellar numbers in Spring Training and to make matters worse, late in Spring he went down with a torn quad which would force him to miss nearly all of the first two months of the season. Without a viable candidate, the Astros went into full panic mode, first pursuing trade targets, but to no avail, then turned their attention to free agency and the waiver wire. The Astros found the answer to their desperation in the form of Li-Zhu Hsiao, a 28 year old middle infielder who once had won a Glove Wizard award at shortstop had seemily lost any shot at another ML job after never having success with the bat. The Blue Jays had traded for him a year earlier, decided he wasn't even worth the $688,000 he would receive in arbitration and released him in December. Without a job and Opening Day nearing, he instantly accepted the Astros 1 year $500,000 offer. Now we sit here on October 11, 2014, almost 7 months from the Hsiao signing and the former cast off is boasting about his .307/.359/.477 season in which he had 200 hits, 33 of those doubles, 22 of them homers and a whopping 137 RBI's. Even better, he looks like he'll be returning next year as he has another season of arbitration.
> >
Third Base
Nobody came into their own more this season than rookie thirdbaseman Ottavio Bassano. He came over in a trade in which the Astros sent out their original superstar Mike McGinnis to Cinci for what appeared to be a bunch of players with little to no major league experience, who may have been talented players, had obvious flaws in their game. Still, the Astros went with Bassano, naming him as their starter at third the day of the trade and sticking with him through early season struggles despite a strong outcry from the fans to demote the struggling player. The Astros clearly took note, picking up nearly every ML caliber 3rd baseman on the waiver wire. Something clicked in July for the pre-season #67 prospect in baseball and he become a major part of the line-up, eventually be rewarded with the National Conference Player of the Week in the second week of the month and the National Conference Rookie of the Month for July. Bassano would finish at .327/.374/.494 with 41 doubles and 16 homers and just managed 100 RBI's. Strikeouts and a lack of walks remain a problem, but he will most certainly return at third for Astros next season.
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Shortstop
Shortstop is the first position that's probably a major question mark, although an arguement could be made at catcher. 23 year old Joe Whittier is in the conversation for the best fielding shortstop in baseball, but doesn't contribute much with the bat. He's a pure contact hitter, but fails to hit the ball in the gap or for any power. He struck out more than the Astros would like and doesn't walk nearly enough to off-set the strikeouts. A .669 OPS just isn't acceptable for anyone and clearly, the only reason he stuck in the line-up all year was the fact that his defense is unmatched. Look for some acquisitions to be made in the off-season, but expect Whittier to still be in the mix come Spring Training.
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Leftfield
The platoon of Javier Ibarra and Ron Crowley couldn't have worked any better. Ibarra led off against right-handers and hit .363/.419/.489, his .363 average was second in the National Conference behind Hagen's .411. Fans are still talking about his 6-6 4 double game in August and he remains a favorite for Rookie of the Year. Ron Crowley, also in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, hit against left-handers and was also the primary pinch-hitter for the 'Stros. He was one of the 'spare parts' in the McGinnis trade, but showed a Hagen-esque improvement in skills and scouts all around baseball have been raving about him and begging the Astros to move him. However, the 'Stros are happy with the current left field situation and neither Crowley or Ibarra are unhappy sharing time in LF, so it would take a massive offer to snag either of these guys.

Center Field
Nobody covers the outfield like John Butler, his range and speed are simply unmatched. One veteran scout says nobody has been as good as Butler defensively, ever. Turns out he can also hit, putting up .332/.406/.530 line and hitting a stupid 52 doubles, 13 triples and a solid 16 homers. Oh yeah, he only stuck out 24 times in 636 at-bats. He's the third most valuable player on this roster behind Hagen and ace pitcher Theodore Joyce. The Astros want to try and wrap him up for the long term and soon. The only negative on the season came and the worst possible. Butler tore a rib cage muscle making the third out in the first inning of the first game of the Wild Card Round. His absence from the line-up was a huge reason the Astros weren't able to put it together offensively, especially with Ron Crowley already out.
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Right Field
In right, Justin Smith is almost a clone of John Butler. The all-star was awesome defensively and equally impressive offensively putting up a .346/.431/.558 line with 46 doubles, 15 triples, and 19 homers. The only skills he lacks in relation to Butler is despite blazing speed, is still quite a bit slower than Butler and doesn't match his ability to avoid strikeouts. Like Butler he'll patrol the OF for years to come.
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Starting Pitching
22 year old Theodore Joyce is the Hagen of pitching. Winning 19 games, striking out 272 and putting up a 2.95 ERA, he just barely won the pitching triple crown. GM Gabe Freimund calls him the stereotypical young, immature ace. He's got outstanding talent, but constantly struggled when he wasn't winning and gave up 36 homers in 228.2 innings. Still, he's 22, has won a triple crown and is about to win the Pitcher of the Year Award. Aside from Joyce, there's 26 year old Lou Harvey who finally discovered his true talent and put up a 3.41 ERA, winning 17 games and striking out 184. Adam Hines (13/11/10) was an awesome story, pitching in dominating fashion for the first 3 months of his career, came back to life and finished with a 3.21 ERA with 17 wins and 131 strikeouts in 160 innings. Rumors have been the 'Stros will attempt to trade him, thinking his performance was an outlier, not true talent, but we'll see what his market looks like. Manuel Cruz, 22 put a 4.71 ERA and struck out 148 and he should return in the #3 or 4 role. Edgardo Mendoza, 26, put up a 4.66 ERA and struck out only 79. He is the highest paid Astro and a favorite to get non-tendered.
> >
Relief Pitching
A bunch of young guys that strike you out. Judson Emery, 21, anchored the bullpen as the closer and got 32 saves with a 2.59 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 66 innings. Miguel 'Cabfare' Martinez and Emmanuel Rios handles righties in the 7th and 8th innings while Oscar Hughes and and Jeff Holloway handled the lefties. Bob Brown handled long relief, but his struggles had him on the hot seat, prompting Kunimatsu 'Kiwi' Kichikawa to get most of the long relief innings. The bullpen was the youngest and most talented in baseball and with the possible exception of Brown, will be exactly the same next season.

12-21-2009, 08:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
edddgar Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 253 Thanks: 6 Thanked 4x in 2 posts	Surprise Success: The story of the (fictional) Houston Astros Welcome to Houston, home of the biggest surprise and most disappointing season in baseball. Despite a sweep in the Wild Card Round, this Houston team came from nowhere and won 113 games, a league record edging the Angels 2012 108-54 campaign. After a disapointing playoff appearance, the first in team history, it's hard to forget how amazing this team really was. Here's some numbers for you to consider. The team payroll totaled $28,303,800, lowest in the league by a staggering $26,108,092. The team's 5 year existance before this season showed 3 6th place finishes, one 5th place, and a third place finish all totaling a 377-433 win-loss record. Only 3 players have compiled enough service time to have a non-league minimum salary. New GM Gabe Freimund came into this broken franchise and said they were going to win now and win in the future. Everyone in Houston rolled their eyes, but now, Houston not only is winning but clearly have the brightest future in Major League Baseball. So with this, it's onto a review of the roster. > > Catcher Derek Martin One of Freimund's first acquistions and a sign of things to come. Scout Yoriyuki Kouno raved about him to Freimund, claiming Houston was making a grave mistake in playing him off the bench for a far less talented player. Freimund agreed, parlayed his own catcher and a minor league prospect for Martin and fellow Padres benchmate and potential Astro starter Hector Ramirez. Scouts rate Martin with an 18/20 catcher arm and a 16/20 ability behind the plate. He's a pure contact hitter (17/20) but his other skills leave a lot to be desired. In 575 at bats he put up a triple slash of .285/.335/.384. Not exactly what Freimund was hoping for when he acquired him but is an upgrade over what Houston had before. > > Ryan Rose A favorite in Houston. At 23 the left handed hitter, righty thrower, projects as an below-average to average hitter. However, his bat isn't where his value is. He's a rare speedster at the catcher position, scouts rating him at 16 speed, his ability to steal at an unbelievable 21/20, and his instincts on the bases at 19. What else? While he has a lot of experience at catcher, scouts rave about the ability he has to play other positions putting his infield range at 14, his ability to avoid errors at 17 and his arm at 21. In the outfield, he is given a range of 13, ability to avoid errors at 18 and a true 20/20 arm. He doesn't have much experience at any positions other than catcher, but the Astros will look to work him into some other positions in Spring Training this year. > > First Base Tilmao Hagen mans firstbase and is without a doubt, the best player in the majors right now. He's coming off a season in which he put up a triple slash of .411/.521/.744, hitting 43 homers, 43 doubles, managing 9 triples despite a complete lack of speed and walked an outstanding 139 times while striking out only 49 times. The former 1037th pick in the inaugural draft was exchanged in a package that included Willie Cox going to Reds who was no slouch himself, putting up a .332/.399/.623 line and hitting 40 homers. At the time of the trade Cox and Hagen were considered essentially even players, the Astros preferred Hagen's age and contract status to that of Cox's and took a risk that clearly paid of greatly. Hagen thrived in Houston and shown dramatic improvements the coaching staff raved about all off-season and in Spring Training. Hagen didn't disappoint and started hot from the start and never really slowed down. He's a virtual lock for the MVP trophy, if he doesn't win it'll be an absolute travesty. > > Second Base Hector Ramirez came over in the Derek Martin trade and it was all but set in stone that he'd be given every chance to start at second. Ramirez was nothing special with the bat, but he had an American Cup ring from his days with the Angels and fit in great with the Astros' defensive mentality. Ramirez was putting up less than stellar numbers in Spring Training and to make matters worse, late in Spring he went down with a torn quad which would force him to miss nearly all of the first two months of the season. Without a viable candidate, the Astros went into full panic mode, first pursuing trade targets, but to no avail, then turned their attention to free agency and the waiver wire. The Astros found the answer to their desperation in the form of Li-Zhu Hsiao, a 28 year old middle infielder who once had won a Glove Wizard award at shortstop had seemily lost any shot at another ML job after never having success with the bat. The Blue Jays had traded for him a year earlier, decided he wasn't even worth the $688,000 he would receive in arbitration and released him in December. Without a job and Opening Day nearing, he instantly accepted the Astros 1 year $500,000 offer. Now we sit here on October 11, 2014, almost 7 months from the Hsiao signing and the former cast off is boasting about his .307/.359/.477 season in which he had 200 hits, 33 of those doubles, 22 of them homers and a whopping 137 RBI's. Even better, he looks like he'll be returning next year as he has another season of arbitration. > > Third Base Nobody came into their own more this season than rookie thirdbaseman Ottavio Bassano. He came over in a trade in which the Astros sent out their original superstar Mike McGinnis to Cinci for what appeared to be a bunch of players with little to no major league experience, who may have been talented players, had obvious flaws in their game. Still, the Astros went with Bassano, naming him as their starter at third the day of the trade and sticking with him through early season struggles despite a strong outcry from the fans to demote the struggling player. The Astros clearly took note, picking up nearly every ML caliber 3rd baseman on the waiver wire. Something clicked in July for the pre-season #67 prospect in baseball and he become a major part of the line-up, eventually be rewarded with the National Conference Player of the Week in the second week of the month and the National Conference Rookie of the Month for July. Bassano would finish at .327/.374/.494 with 41 doubles and 16 homers and just managed 100 RBI's. Strikeouts and a lack of walks remain a problem, but he will most certainly return at third for Astros next season. > > Shortstop Shortstop is the first position that's probably a major question mark, although an arguement could be made at catcher. 23 year old Joe Whittier is in the conversation for the best fielding shortstop in baseball, but doesn't contribute much with the bat. He's a pure contact hitter, but fails to hit the ball in the gap or for any power. He struck out more than the Astros would like and doesn't walk nearly enough to off-set the strikeouts. A .669 OPS just isn't acceptable for anyone and clearly, the only reason he stuck in the line-up all year was the fact that his defense is unmatched. Look for some acquisitions to be made in the off-season, but expect Whittier to still be in the mix come Spring Training. > > Leftfield The platoon of Javier Ibarra and Ron Crowley couldn't have worked any better. Ibarra led off against right-handers and hit .363/.419/.489, his .363 average was second in the National Conference behind Hagen's .411. Fans are still talking about his 6-6 4 double game in August and he remains a favorite for Rookie of the Year. Ron Crowley, also in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, hit against left-handers and was also the primary pinch-hitter for the 'Stros. He was one of the 'spare parts' in the McGinnis trade, but showed a Hagen-esque improvement in skills and scouts all around baseball have been raving about him and begging the Astros to move him. However, the 'Stros are happy with the current left field situation and neither Crowley or Ibarra are unhappy sharing time in LF, so it would take a massive offer to snag either of these guys. Center Field Nobody covers the outfield like John Butler, his range and speed are simply unmatched. One veteran scout says nobody has been as good as Butler defensively, ever. Turns out he can also hit, putting up .332/.406/.530 line and hitting a stupid 52 doubles, 13 triples and a solid 16 homers. Oh yeah, he only stuck out 24 times in 636 at-bats. He's the third most valuable player on this roster behind Hagen and ace pitcher Theodore Joyce. The Astros want to try and wrap him up for the long term and soon. The only negative on the season came and the worst possible. Butler tore a rib cage muscle making the third out in the first inning of the first game of the Wild Card Round. His absence from the line-up was a huge reason the Astros weren't able to put it together offensively, especially with Ron Crowley already out. > > Right Field In right, Justin Smith is almost a clone of John Butler. The all-star was awesome defensively and equally impressive offensively putting up a .346/.431/.558 line with 46 doubles, 15 triples, and 19 homers. The only skills he lacks in relation to Butler is despite blazing speed, is still quite a bit slower than Butler and doesn't match his ability to avoid strikeouts. Like Butler he'll patrol the OF for years to come. > > Starting Pitching 22 year old Theodore Joyce is the Hagen of pitching. Winning 19 games, striking out 272 and putting up a 2.95 ERA, he just barely won the pitching triple crown. GM Gabe Freimund calls him the stereotypical young, immature ace. He's got outstanding talent, but constantly struggled when he wasn't winning and gave up 36 homers in 228.2 innings. Still, he's 22, has won a triple crown and is about to win the Pitcher of the Year Award. Aside from Joyce, there's 26 year old Lou Harvey who finally discovered his true talent and put up a 3.41 ERA, winning 17 games and striking out 184. Adam Hines (13/11/10) was an awesome story, pitching in dominating fashion for the first 3 months of his career, came back to life and finished with a 3.21 ERA with 17 wins and 131 strikeouts in 160 innings. Rumors have been the 'Stros will attempt to trade him, thinking his performance was an outlier, not true talent, but we'll see what his market looks like. Manuel Cruz, 22 put a 4.71 ERA and struck out 148 and he should return in the #3 or 4 role. Edgardo Mendoza, 26, put up a 4.66 ERA and struck out only 79. He is the highest paid Astro and a favorite to get non-tendered. > > Relief Pitching A bunch of young guys that strike you out. Judson Emery, 21, anchored the bullpen as the closer and got 32 saves with a 2.59 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 66 innings. Miguel 'Cabfare' Martinez and Emmanuel Rios handles righties in the 7th and 8th innings while Oscar Hughes and and Jeff Holloway handled the lefties. Bob Brown handled long relief, but his struggles had him on the hot seat, prompting Kunimatsu 'Kiwi' Kichikawa to get most of the long relief innings. The bullpen was the youngest and most talented in baseball and with the possible exception of Brown, will be exactly the same next season.