A New Kind of Brew

[cochrane]

It's about time Sabes got the ol' heave-ho. He was vet happy and sacrificed too many good prospects like Accardo and Nathan.

-- ZC

[jaykno14]

2006 Season Awards

 
American League Gold Glove Awards
Pitcher: Mike Wood, KCA - 14 Put Outs, 27 Assists, 41 Total Chances
Catcher: Joe Mauer, MIN - 39/93 CS, 41.9 CS%
First Base: Kevin Youkilis, BOS - 8 errors, 8.79 Range Factor
Second Base: Mark Grudzielanek, KCA - 5.02 Range Factor (Best in AL), .987 Fielding PCT
Third Base: Brandon Inge, DET - 2.78 Range Factor, .984 Fielding PCT (Best in AL), 26 DP (Best in AL)
Short Stop: Yuniesky Betancourt, SEA - 4.50 Range Factor
Left Fielder: Scott Podsednik, CHA - .992 Fielding PCT, 2.57 Range Factor, 5 Assists
Center Fielder: Vernon Wells, TOR - .991 Fielding PCT, 515 Put Outs (Best in AL), 13 Assists (Best in AL), 3.37 Range Factor
Right Fielder: Nick Swisher, OAK - .987 Fielding PCT, 14 Assists (Best in AL), 2.50 Range Factor
 
National League Gold Glove Awards
Pitcher: Carlos Zambrano, CHI - 1 Error, 12 Put Outs, 34 Assists, 47 Total Chances
Catcher: Ryan Doumit, PIT - .998 Fielding PCT, 35/76 CS, 46.1 CS%
First Base: Albert Pujols, STL - 9.29 Range Factor, 103 Double Plays, .993 Fielding PCT
Second Base: Orlando Hudson, NYN - 4.86 Range Factor, 10 Errors
Third Base: Scott Rolen, STL - .987 Fielding PCT, 27 DP, 2.89 Range Factor
Short Stop: Khalil Greene, SDN - 15 Errors, 82 Double Plays, 4.91 Range Factor
Left Fielder: Preston Wilson, HOU - 7 Assists, .996 Fielding PCT, 2.51 Range Factor
Center Fielder: Marlon Byrd, WAS - 3.48 Range Factor, .995 Fielding PCT
Right Fielder: Austin Kearns, CIN - .989 Fielding PCT, 11 Assists, 4 Errors, 2.55 Range Factor
 
American League Rookie of the Year
SP Matthew Garza, MIN: 10-1, 2.01 ERA, 94.0 IP, 110 Ks, 70 HA, 16 BB
 
National League Rookie of the Year
RF Jeremy Hermida, FLO: 163 G, 549 AB, 96 R, 159 H, 31 2B, 22 HR, 71 RBI, 12 SB, 84 BB, .290/.380/.470
 
American League Cy Young
SP Johan Santana, MIN: 15-5, 2.47 ERA, 219.0 IP, 191 HA, 41 BB, 224 Ks
 
National League Cy Young
CL Billy Wagner, NYN: 59 G, 8-3, 25 SVs, 2.32 ERA, 93.0 IP, 87 Ks
 
American League Most Valuable Player
RF Vladimir Guerrero, LAA: 643 AB, 207 H, 30 2B, 11 3B, 39 HR, 117 RBIs, 128 R, .322/.403/.585, 29 SB
 
National League Most Valuable Player
1B Ryan Howard, PHI: 629 AB, 179 H, 37 2B, 2 3B, 55 HR, 134 RBI, 124 R, .285/.375/.612

My question for you, is who do you say had a better year out of those two MVPs?

[cochrane]

Vlad had more hits, but "Howerd" was more productive with 134 RBIs and 55 HRs.

-- ZC

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by cochrane

Vlad had more hits, but "Howerd" was more productive with 134 RBIs and 55 HRs.

-- ZC

Ya caught me. I changed it. I get the feeling that you responded and said that just to point out that I had spelled that wrong.

[majormet]

Didn't Tom Glavine win a World Series in 1995 with that team I hate down South.

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by jaykno14

Ya caught me. I changed it. I get the feeling that you responded and said that just to point out that I had spelled that wrong.

LOL, not really, but I noticed it when I was checking to answer your question.

-- ZC

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by majormet

Didn't Tom Glavine win a World Series in 1995 with that team I hate down South.

You're right he did. That is my fault, I guess I'm just all full of mistakes lately. Sorry about that.

[jaykno14]

Right now the things I feel I need most are a set-up type guy out of the bullpen, a possible lefty out of the pen to bring in against left handed batters, and a backup catcher.

The first thing we did after the awards was go out and find a bench coach for Ned Yost. I wanted a guy that had some experience in managing for late into the season, and a guy that would bring in some good fielding ratings. Well, the first guy that I saw was Larry Bowa, the third base coach for the Yankees. He was asking for a lot of money to be a bench coach (470K for four years), but I decided I would take the risk, and brought him on.

With arbitration coming up, I decided to take a look at the guys that were eligible.

MR Kiko Calero
MR Jason Kershner
C Mike Rivera
3B Bill Hall

With all these guys I decided that it wasn't worth signing a contract that would avoid arbitration and thought it'd be best to just take the risk of going through arby.

Another trade that took place in this young offseason, is the deal between the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins traded 27-year old Ben Julianel and another minor leaguer for Phillie Catcher Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz is a league average catcher, and can hit some, but struggles defensively. Meanwhile, Julianel is one of the better pitchers in the game, and was 4-7 with a 2.72 ERA last season.

Arbitration Hearings
The following people have been awarded new salaries for the 2007 season:

3B Bill Hall - $5,825,400 for one year.
MR Kiko Calero - $680,000 for one year.
C Mike Rivera - $350,000 for one year.
MR Jason Kershner - $350,000 for one year.

I am a bit surprised by Hall's price, and not to happy to be honest. I don't feel he is worth that money after the year he had, and I am debating what to do with him now. The rest of the guys came as no surprise, and I was expecting Calero's to be a little higher so that was a nice surprise.

Free Agent Filings
Dan Kolb was the only player that filed from Milwaukee, which is disappointing considering we have 27 guys still on our 25-man roster. Some other guys that filed that will be contested this offseason are Livan Hernandez, Jeff Suppan, Victor Zambrano, Kenny Rogers, Joe Borowski, Bob Wickman, Jason Isringhausen, Francisco Cordero, Trot Nixon, Moises Alou, Joe Crede, Jose Cruz Jr., Dmitri Young, Barry Bonds, Aubrey Huff, and Todd Walker. I am not going to say if we will be interested in any of these guys, but I will say we are searching for a couple relivers, and possibly some bench guys for next season. We feel that we need some depth position wise.

I am going to update the offseason halfway through each month, so it may move a little more slowly than usual. I will give you trades also, and other things of that sort. With that said, I am going to finish the month of November and inform you of any happenings in this post.

TRADE!
We made a very big deal today, that really might have shored up our bullpen. I wanted to wait and see if I could get any better offers for the guy I wanted to trade, but upon seeing that the Nationals and Joe Crede were hot in free agency talks, I decided to pull the trigger. We traded away Bill Hall, Nelson Cruz, and minor league first basemen Brad Nelson to Washington for 3B Brendan Harris, 26 year old MR Gary Majewski, 28 year old MR John Patterson, and 25 year old minor league RF Brandon Watson. The big guy in this deal was Gary Majewski, who I feel can hold down that set-up spot in our bullpen for a few years at least. Patterson will most likely be the mop-up guy out of the pen, and a spot starter for when players get injured and such. Majewski had a 0-1 record, two saves, and a 2.95 ERA with the Nationals last season. Brendan Harris hit 25 home runs and played very good defense, but will come off the bench and Vinny Rottino will start at third base. This trade was made on November 27th. In other news, we began negotiations with a handful of serviceable major leaguers, but no one earthshattering.

That about sums up the first few weeks of the offseason. I promise you that through December it should get more exciting, and I will hopefully have more to inform you of.

[RoyalsBlue]

Hall got a pretty good bump in pay for his sub-par season. Just like real arbitration!

Nice trade for you. Getting Harris and the relievers will certainly bolster the Brew Crew for years to come, plus you get rid of Hall's contract. Granted it was a one year deal, but still it never hurts to get rid of overpriced players and replace them with younger, cheaper, better alternatives.

Don't know that I would've brought in Bowa, but since there's no real "attitude/personality" ratings that impact things, it shouldn't be a big deal. I do look forward to see how you write him into some "disagreements" with players during the season though! j/k.

KUTGW, jaykno! Look forward to the next installment.

[jtb]

This Dynasty gets better and better!
I like the details from the team's perspective.

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by RoyalsBlue

Hall got a pretty good bump in pay for his sub-par season. Just like real arbitration!

Nice trade for you. Getting Harris and the relievers will certainly bolster the Brew Crew for years to come, plus you get rid of Hall's contract. Granted it was a one year deal, but still it never hurts to get rid of overpriced players and replace them with younger, cheaper, better alternatives.

Don't know that I would've brought in Bowa, but since there's no real "attitude/personality" ratings that impact things, it shouldn't be a big deal. I do look forward to see how you write him into some "disagreements" with players during the season though! j/k.

KUTGW, jaykno! Look forward to the next installment.

Yeah I was planning on dealing Hall even since the end of the offseason, the arbitration deal just sealed the deal. I hope he can do well in Washington, but I am excited to get Rottino into the lineup to see what he can do. If he doesn't pull it off then I can revert back to either Harris or Figgins to play there, both of which can do it probably better than maybe half the third basemen in the league currently. I really like my depth after this deal. I hope Majewski can keep up his production in the bullpen because that may make or break this deal.

We'll see what we can do with the Larry Bowa aquisition into the dugout. Offers some more opportunities for the dynasty author.

Thanks for the encouragement, and that next installment is coming up.

Originally Posted by jtb

This Dynasty gets better and better!
I like the details from the team's perspective.

Happy to know you're enjoying it! Let me know if there is anything I can improve on.

I have realized that the offseason moves a little slower in this version of the game, than in for example, OOTP 6.5. I didn't know this was the case.

[jaykno14]

We decided to fire Dr. William Jefferson, the team doctor, because we felt that he just wasn't doing his job (aka he had DREADFUL ratings). We then began the search for his replacement, which should announced in a few days. I know that that firing is very important to you guys.

On the second of December we were able to agree to terms with LHP Steve Kline on a one year deal that is worth $500,000. I am excited about this signing as I think he can really hold down the lefties we face, and he brings some playoff experience to this team. He will not pitch much more against righties and will be strictly a LOOGY for us.

It should also be noted that we have a new doctor on the team, Dr. Russ Poulin, who is based out of Chicago. He is particularly good at healing the fatigued and the legs of our runners.

On the fourth the Los Angeles Angels, fresh off a World Series win, dealt former Brewer Carlos Lee to the Blue Jays for 26 year old 2B Ryan Roberts. I don't get this deal at all. Roberts has a lot of speed, however he does not have any real hitting potential, specifically contact, which is necessary for a guy like him who can run. Lee will go to Left Field and bat third in the Blue Jays' lineup, and that team isn't looking to shabby with his addition.

Winter Meetings
The Cubs made a very good deal on the first day of Winter Meetings, sending a 26-year old minor league second basemen to the Marlins for 1B Josh Willingham, who will be very serviceable off of the bench, and could take over first base in a few years. Hey the Cubs took the first basemen from the Marlins once, why not do it again?

TRADE!
On the second day of Winter Meetings after long talks, we agreed to a trade with the Indians. Because of all the starting pitching we have, we decided to part with David Bush, LF Gabe Gross, and minor league closer Chris Perez. In return we received a very highly touted outfield prospect named John Drennen, who is 20 and will be at AAA, 25-year old Javy Herrera, who in the future could give the declining status of Jeff Mathis a run for his money. At best he will be the backup for a few years, and a very servicable one at that. The third player we received is another minor leaguer who will be at AAA, closer Fausto Carmona. We feel that he could turn into a pretty good reliever someday, and gives us depth in the bullpen. It was hard to part with Bush, who I think is a very serviceable starter, but we just didn't have any spots for him. With Gross, he could possibly find a starting position in the Indians' struggling outfield, and we have plenty of left handed outfielders already. Perez was the guy in the deal that got them to accept.

In other deals during the winter meetings, the Cardinals acuired Nationals' middle reliever David Gil, who is mediocre at best. In return they gave up left fielder John Rodriguez who has gotten some pretty good PT in St. Louis.

On the final day of the Winter Meetings two deals were made. The Rockies and Rangers made a deal that sent Colorado SP Jason Jennings to Texas for minor leaguer Edgardo Baez. The Rangers picked up a pitcher that has pitched well in a hitters park, which should help in Texas. Jennings was 14-7 with a 3.43 ERA in 2006.

The other deal was the Pittsburgh Pirates sending 23-year old Zach Duke to the Royals for two minor leaguers. Last season in Pittsburgh Duke was 8-10 with a 3.90 ERA. The two minor leaguers the Pirates received in return was 18-year old SP Dave Johnston and 23-year old C Jeffery Howell. I definitely think the Royals got the better deal out of this one.

Stay tuned for the next installment, as the day after this particular period of the offseason ended, a huge deal happened, that all of you will be interested in.

[jaykno14]

Well the first signing that I told you of was a big one.

Barry Bonds has signed a $25,710,000 deal with the Boston Red Sox for the next two years. It looks as if he has found the team he will be able to DH with. Bonds currently has 727 career home runs. He may need to play two more years to get to 756. David Ortiz tore his back muscle last season and was out for eight months and is currently rehabbing that injury. I don't know if he'll be able to come back from this one unscathed. Unfortunate.

In another deal the Devil Rays have traded 23-year old SP Jeff Neimann to the busy Nationals for 24-year old minor league SP Brad Knox. Niemann looks to have a lot of potential, but struggled with Tampa last season. Knox appears to have average potential, and seems to be a control pitcher in the future.

The Twins have agreed to an extension with closer Joe Nathan, who struggled last year with a 4.95 ERA, and 29 saves. The deal is worth $15,750,000 over the next three years. At 32, Nathan has 117 saves and a 39-22 career record.

After rumors had him going to the White Sox and Yankees, Nomar Garciaparra has ended up where he was last season, and that is Los Angeles. Garciaparra received the biggest contract given out this offseason so far. Over the next three years the 33-year old will be earning $75,690,000. For a guy who hasn't had a double digit home run season since 2003, I don't know if I like that contract, but I guess we'll find out what happens.

FREE AGENT SIGNING
We have our backup catcher for the 2007 season, and agreed to a $650,000 contract with Bengie Molina, who may even get to start more often than he expects if Mathis struggles early on. I am very happy with this signing, and he will take the last spot on the team, as it appears we have our 25-man roster set now, barring any big developments.

Roger Clemens has finally decided to call it quits after 22 years as a major league starter. His final totals include a 341 wins, a 3.12 ERA, and six 20+ win season. He has spent time with Boston, Toronto, New York, and Houston in his career. He will be inducted into this "League Hall of Fame" thing we've got going on.

In other news, Clemens first team, the Red Sox have now signed ANOTHER outfielder. So far this offseason they have signed David Dellucci (13 HR, 40 RBI last season), Barry Bonds of course (19 HR, 68 RBI last season), and now CF Milton Bradley, who will hit leadoff against lefties and platoon with Coco Crisp in Center next season. Bradley garnered in $11.7M for the next two years, and hit 15 HR with 53 RBI with Oakland last season.

Now that we have come to the end of December, I am going to give you a list (pasted right from the game) of all the signings that have happened so far this season. I made a mistake with that I guess, and I will be sure to pay more attention to the log after everyday from now on. So here is an unorginized list of the signings this month:

Boston Red Sox: Signed free agent CF M. Bradley to a 2-year contract worth a total of $11,700,000.
Texas Rangers: Signed free agent MR R. Choate to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,780,000.
San Diego Padres: Signed free agent C D. Mirabelli to a 3-year contract worth a total of $50,310,000.
Milwaukee Brewers: Signed free agent C B. Molina to a 1-year contract worth a total of $650,000.
Los Angeles (N) Dodgers: Signed free agent 1B N. Garciaparra to a 3-year contract worth a total of $75,690,000.
New York (N) Mets: Signed free agent C R. Castro to a 1-year contract worth a total of $750,000.
Baltimore Orioles: Signed free agent 3B C. Koskie to a 1-year contract worth a total of $730,000.
New York (A) Yankees: Signed free agent 3B A. Huff to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,990,000.
Minnesota Twins: Signed CL J. Nathan to a 3-year contract extension worth a total of $15,750,000.
Boston Red Sox: Signed MR J. Tavarez to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $380,000.
Boston Red Sox: Signed free agent LF B. Bonds to a 2-year contract worth a total of $51,420,000.
Houston Astros: Signed free agent MR E. Guardado to a 2-year contract worth a total of $4,440,000.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Signed free agent SS J. Lugo to a 2-year contract worth a total of $6,540,000.
Milwaukee Brewers: Signed team doctor R. Poulin to a 4-year, $340,000 per year contract.
San Diego Padres: Signed MR S. Linebrink to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $500,000.
Chicago (A) White Sox: Signed MR J. Vazquez to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $390,000.
Baltimore Orioles: Signed free agent RF J. Cruz Jr. to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,870,000.
Toronto Blue Jays: Signed free agent MR M. Ginter to a 1-year contract worth a total of $350,000.
Oakland Athletics: Signed free agent MR F. Rodriguez to a 1-year contract worth a total of $520,000.
Chicago (N) Cubs: Signed free agent 3B J. Crede to a 1-year contract worth a total of $2,340,000.
Boston Red Sox: Signed free agent LF D. Dellucci to a 3-year contract worth a total of $10,200,000.
Milwaukee Brewers: Signed free agent MR S. Kline to a 1-year contract worth a total of $500,000.

The rest of the offseason might not be very productive, but I am still going to go one more half month with two updates and then we'll see where we were at. Again, sorry for the mistake on missing these other free agent signings.

[majormet]

Geez, the Red Sox overpaid for Dellucci, he is underrated but 10 million a year, that is nuts.

Who is this Castro guy the Mets got?

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by jaykno14

Boston Red Sox: Signed free agent LF B. Bonds to a 2-year contract worth a total of $51,420,000.

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, over. Neither Boston nor Bonds would ever sign that deal. No way Sox fans would ever let them spend $51 million on him, when they hate him so much

-- ZC

[jaykno14]

Originally Posted by cochrane

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, over. Neither Boston nor Bonds would ever sign that deal. No way Sox fans would ever let them spend $51 million on him, when they hate him so much

-- ZC

Yeah the source from the new story I got about Bonds signing must have been quite mistaken.

Originally Posted by majormet

Geez, the Red Sox overpaid for Dellucci, he is underrated but 10 million a year, that is nuts.

Who is this Castro guy the Mets got?

Agreed on Dellucci. The Castro guy is Ramon Castro the journeyman catcher. He's pretty good defensively but struggles offensively, so your typical catcher. I want to say he is backing up someone there in New York, but I can't be positive. I'll let you know other wise.

[majormet]

Yep, the same Castro who backs up LoDuca right now.

[jaykno14]

I just posted an overview of the history of this dynasty in the first post. You guys can let me know what you think, and be honest. I want to do something that is sort of unique and will kind of organize the league and team history. That is one thing I really want to do with this dynasty, and focus on the history of what happens each year. Let me know what you guys think!

[jaykno14]

I decided to go out and simulate the rest of January to get to the so called "Pre-Season," which begins February 1st.

On the first few days alot didn't happen. The Royals signed to guys off the scrap heap that could be O.K. for the year that they signed. These two guys were Jerry Hairston Jr. and Adam Kennedy. Hairston signed for a $610K deal, and Kennedy signed for a $630K deal. Hairston, who is 30-years old, hit .240 with the Cubs last year, and Kennedy, who won his second ring with the Angels last year, hit .254.

A few days later the Athletics signed 22-year old SP Justin Jones to a two year deal worth $1,040,000. Jones has pitched well in AAA, but has only pitched one game in the majors in his career! I don't know if I really get this signing.

A couple more signings that took place in the month of January was the San Diego Padres signing relief pitcher Dan Wheeler to a one year deal worth $1,630,000. Wheeler made 64 appearances last season with Houston last season and recorded a save with a 5.14 ERA. The big signing came a day later by the evil empire, who signed 1B Todd Helton to a three year contract worth $56,430,000. Helton hit .266 with 32 homers and 93 RBI last season with Colorado. He will play first base with Giambi in the DH spot. The Orioles, upon seeing the Yankees do this, went out and signed Rich Aurilia, who hit .258 with the Reds last season.

A week later the Yankees then went out and signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a one year contract. Last season, Matthews struggled mightily in Texas hitting only .237 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. He will come off the bench for the time being.

The Tigers made a big deal. They signed RF Trot Nixon to a four year deal that would garner him $60.12M. Last season the 31-year old hit .284 with 30 home runs and 104 RBIs with the Red Sox. While he may perform pretty well for the first two years of that contract, but I don't know if I would have made it as long as it is. He will play DH for the Tigers.

33-year old Dmitri Young was signed to a three year deal by the Florida Marlins that will pay him $14.49M. Last season Young hit 16 home runs and drove in 61 with a .279 average. For the Marlins, Young will play left field and bat seventh in the order.

The Diamondbacks signed a multi-year deal with Todd Walker, who hit .304 with 69 RBIs for the Cubs last season at second base.
Well that about raps up the offseason portion. I am not quite sure what the "Pre-season" is. I guess it is just when the schedule is released, and you begin scouting the teams you are going to face early on in the season.

I'm getting hungry for some baseball!!!