California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

Is This Some Kind Of Cruel OOTP Joke?

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it gets worse.
This team is apparently cursed this year, or every year, or something. I dunno.

You may recall Carlos Mora and his season ending injury. His replacement David Esquivel? Injured last sim. 4 weeks, hamstring strain. Awesome!

Well, at least we finally made a trade. We went out and aquired left fielder Alfonso Inigo from Buffalo, so we've got a guy that can slot into the order and play some solid D and swipe some bags.
Wait, what? Oh, Inigo got hurt for 2 weeks during the ****ing sim? **** me.

I can look forward to Bernal coming back in 2 weeks, at least. Some 3B production would be nice.

Uh...

07-23-2019 Suffered setback in recovery from injury, will miss another 3-4 weeks.

What the hell is going on here? I'm stuck with Lopez for another month now, apparently?

Nope.

07-27-2019 Injured (fractured rib), out for 6 weeks.

Okay. The only 2 infielders left on the 40 man roster are him and him, both have been torn to goddamn shreds by the OOTP Random Number Generat.... ERRRRRRR... Development Engine.

I don't even know what the hell to do at this point. Clearly I'm not supposed to compete this season.

Oh yeah and we went 5-4 and are 1 game back in the division now.

**** this.

[mikev]

Crusaders Swing A Pair Of Deadline Deals

Frantically trying to fill the holes left by injuries to not one, but two big league third baseman, and [url=http://www.theguba.net/news/html/players/player_15509.html]one,[/url two, count-em, three starting caliber outfielders, the Crusaders basically had no choice but to go after bodies at the trade deadline.



Enter Brian Beard.

Beard, 35, has enjoyed a solid 12 year GUBA career so far. At one point he could well have been considered one of the two or three best shortstops in the league. While not at that level of performance any longer, Beard has been having a solid season with Dublin, however was not likely to be given a contract extension.
With the trade deadline fast approaching, the Crusaders and Shamrocks were able to come to a relatively quick agreement on a trade, sending California's 4th round draft pick as well as Jesus Campos to the Shamrocks. Campos, 22, a switch hitting outfielder who was (auto)picked in last season's compensation round of the draft, has plenty of potential and could well be a solid outfielder in 3 or 4 seasons. Beard was immediately inserted into the Crusaders lineup at third base, and proceeded to hit .308/.400/.462 in his first 10 games. Thanks, Beard!



GARICA!

Okay, no, not that Garica. Not even this one. We're talking about Miguel Garcia, the outfielder from the Jackson Gators. A 2011 1st round draft pick, Garcia demolished the GUBA in his first season with Manhattan in 2014, hitting .317/.359/.460 and driving in 85 runs. He's never duplicated that rookie season, but has been a solid contributor year in and year out.

With, literally, nobody left on the 40 man roster capable of playing outfield at what could even be called replacement level, as well as the broken ass OOTP waiver system awarding waived outfielder Mike Hargrove to Auckland after informing the Crusaders that our wavier claim was invalid becauase Vancouver had pulled the player from waivers, the Crusaders had basically no choice but to go after the only guy on the trade block who was being offered at a reasonable price.

The team sent pitching prospects Bob Gamble and Jose Guentes to the Gators and received GARICA and the Los Angeles Quakes' 3rd round draft pick next season.

Sure, 2 decent prospects might be a bit much to give up, but Garcia hit .270/.400/.568 with the Crusaders in his first sim. That's a whole lot better than running out some scrub to put up a negative VORP.

[mikev]

A Sim Is Not A Sim Without A Crusaders Long Term Injury

I think Millsy pretty much summed it up after last sim.

[quote author=Millsy link=topic=27133.msg267833#msg267833 date=1253875582]
Ping Mikey: You have to admit, all those injuries now borders on the comical.

:wub:
[/quote]

What was it this time?

California Crusaders: LF M. García was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: strained groin. He's expected to miss about 6 weeks.

I don't even know what to say anymore.

I guess Inigo is back, so at least there is a big league caliber guy to take Garcia's place, but it's pretty much just a complete joke at this point. A 4-5 sim left us 3 games out, which is probably a death blow in the Pacific with the way it is.

Hey, at least we signed Garcia to an extension right before he was injured for basically the rest of the season.

Yay.

[mikev]

And The Wind Is Sucked Out Of My Sails

or something.

So, basically, that's it. 6 out of the Division, 5 out of the wild card, our season is over.

Inigo got hurt again, he's out the rest of the year. Sure glad I gave up 3 solid prospects to get him for 13 games.

So 80 wins right now and little chance at the playoffs. Great.

Oh and to make things worse, Bernal had his contact talent drop from 4 to 3, even though he's hitting .288 on the season with California. However, as we all know, performance dictates ratings changes, and let's face it, hitting .288 just isn't worthy of a 4 contact talent.

Oh well. Wait till next year, I guess.

Or not. I don't remember the last time I was a playoff team.

[mikev]

2019? That's A Wrap

That's it. See ya next season. We went 6-4 last sim and dropped a half game in the standings.

So we're looking at probably another 90 win, no playoff year. Pretty good considering all the injuries, but the team just isn't good enough to get over the hump and get by Vegas or Long Beach.

I'm not gonna blow it up and rebuild, because that's not what I do. I'll be in the playoffs next year (along with everybody else in the league) so who knows what will happen.

I'll just wait and hope that Garcia stays healthy. And Mora. And Inigo. And the other Garcia. And Bernal.

See you in 2020.

Out.

[mikev]

2019 Offense In Review

Just a quick look at the final numbers for the Crusaders, who finished with 90 wins and ended up 3rd in the Pacific.

Nick Woods - .300/.333/.399, 31 SB

Woods played a solid SS and was solid as the Crusaders leadoff hitter. I'd like to see a bit higher OBP, but I'm not complaining.

Ruben Velez - .312/.356/.463, 17 HR

Everything we could ask for in a #2 hitter. He'll probably drop his numbers next year since his contact lumped.

Tommy Aucoin - .323/.386/.496, 61.6 VORP, 67 BB, 21K

Team MVP, hands down. Led the league with 56 doubles.

Jakob Forest - .291/.410/.496, 21 HR, 48.5 VORP

Can anybody explain the power dropoff? I can't believe he's a FA after next season. God I hope he takes a 50% pay cut as a favor to me.

Robinson Leyva - .287/.373/.454, 22 HR, 32.8 VORP

Nothing but red development all year long. Wonderful.

David Esquivel - .325/.398/.496, 25 2B, 24.3 VORP

Esquivel was nothing short of awesome as an injury replacemnt, until he got injured himself.

Salvador Bernal - .266/.335./390, 30 BB

Stop getting hurt. This is ridiculous.

Kenkichi Sugiyama - .251/.286/.361, 7 HR, 2.3 VORP

Somebody explain why he hit so bad please?

Ricardo Soto - .273/.323/.396, 37 2B, 23.8 VORP

He'll be at the top of the order if he steals bases a little more efficiently. 15 SB, 10 CS? Really?

Carlos Mora - .277/.352/.442, 28 2B, 18.3 VORP

Solid 1/2 season, even though it was nothing near his rookie campaign. Injury shelved him after 88 games, but we'll need him in a big way next year.

Alfonso Inigo - .275/.302/.372, 26 SB, 6.1 VORP

Another top of the order threat if he can get his OBP to a respectable figure next year. OH, and stop ****ing getting hurt.

Rafael Lopez - .236/.312/.337, 4 HR, 13 2B

Sorry OOTPX ****ing destroyed you, dude. You were awesome for us for 8 seasons. :wub:

Brian Beard - .250/.331/.383, 35 SB

Thanks for 42 unspectacular games. GTFO.

[mikev]

2019 Starting Pitching Review

Just a quick look at the final numbers for the Crusaders, who finished with 90 wins and ended up 3rd in the Pacific.

Starting Pitching In Review

Crawford Tetreault - 13-10, 3.54, 1.17 WHIP

The 27 year old lefty came into his own this year, improving his ERA, and WHIP from last year and walking less guys.

Luigi Kennelly - 15-7, 3.05, 1.13 WHIP

Torn down by OOTP, the former 4/4/4 talent monster is now, simply, pretty good. Led the team in W, ERA, and Ks.

Carlos Guzman - 10-9, 4.04, 1.27 WHIP

Guzman was stellar in a rotation hampered by injury all season. His numbers dropped off in the second half, but he was still very good.

Francisco Perez - 10-10, 3.4, 1.10 WHIP

Stellar first half, all star selection, 7 complete games. Makes me think I made the right move to give him the nod this year despite just OK ratings.

Rolando Salinas - 9-5, 3.96, 1.22 WHIP

Pushed into the rotation again because of injury, Salinas made 20 pretty good starts, but gets destroyed by lefties.

Belchyor Gramachoto - 4-4, 5.68, 1.56 WHIP

How can a guy be so ****ing dominant in AAA and suck so bad in the big leagues? Anybody?

Mario Garcia 9-3, 2.92, 1.06 WHIP

Hey, would you mind staying healthy please? I need an ace next year, kthxbye.

[mikev]

2019 Relief Pitching in Review

Just a quick look at the final numbers for the Crusaders, who finished with 90 wins and ended up 3rd in the Pacific.

Relief Pitching In Review

Angel Sandoval - 5-6, 2.85, 42 SV, 1.31 WHIP

Talent swings like crazy, ratings changes, and Sandoval just keeps putting up numbers for me. He's been an above average/elite reliever for 10 years now. HOF? Probably not, but damned if he won't have his number retired in California.

Ismael Enriquez - 5-11, 5.68, 4 SV, 1.56 WHIP

**** you. At least Cortez was ass this year, too, I guess.

Lewis Kramer - 9-6, 4.15, 1.32 WHIP, 102 IP

I needed a replacement for Ken cameron, and I got one. Dude's gonna get paid in arbitration though, I'm afraid.

Cary Lind - 1-1, 2.80, 1.09 WHIP

Had no business being as good as he was this season, but I'll take it.

Olaf Kuhnt - 0-0, 2.33, 1.03, 19.1 IP

Another guy who put up much better numbers than his ratings would indicate, but he only threw 20 innings.

Jorge Cisneros - 0-0, 4.91, 1.64 WHIP

Filler. Injury replacement. I think I released him actually.

Salinas and Gramachoto also saw bullpen time in 2019, but were covered in the Starting Pitching review.

[mikev]

Arbitration Awards For 2020

Arbitration.

In the former MLB, historically, it's something that a small amount of players go through. A much more common occurance was for teams and players to settle on a one year contract and avoid arbitration, as neither side really wanted to argue why their dollar amount was worthy, for obvious reasons.

Not true in the GUBA. Tons of guys go to arbitration, and that's the case with the Crusaders. Here's how the figures ended up:

Luis Sanchez - $570K

I thought I released him. Eh. Essentially league minimum for a replacement level hitter and good infield defense. Whatever.

Jorge Cisneros - $570K

Thought I released him too. Damn.

Lewis Kramer - $3M

Kramer was very good for us, tossing 100 innings of 4.15 ERA relief for us. He's got 4 stamina, too. I wonder how he'd fare as a starter?

Carlos Guzman - $2.2M

Guzman was basically Lewis Kramer for 200 innings. Yes, we'll take that for sure at the back of the rotation.

Cary Lind - $950K

Lind was, IMO, smoke and mirros last year. 45 innings, 26 strikeouts, 14 walks, but a 2.80 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. He'll make just under a million bucks next year, but I don't expect him to be better than Kramer.

Crawford Tetreault - $4M

I think I won this one. Tetreault was fantastic last season, and at 28 is awfully cheap. I gotta try and sign him for a couple more years, he's gonna get expensive next year.

Mario GARICA - $5M

He was asking for 7.5M if I recall, so we won this deal. He's our ace, but he missed half the year. Like Tetreault, he's about to get expensive.

Ruben Velez - $7M

The 25 year old hit .312/.356/.463, 17 homers, 28 doubles. Yeha, he filled up the stat sheet pretty well. He also lumped. Twice. Contact AND gap. Now he's expensive and average. ****.

David Esquivel - $6M

69 games. 234 ABs. Yes, he put up an .894 OPS, but it was A THIRD OF A SEASON. We'd offered him 2.2M and he made 3x that much. Ridiculous.

Rolando Salinas - $570K

Salinas was good in limited time, but there's value in a guy who can go eat up innings and not get shelled. That is, as long as he NEVER faces lefties. .914 OPS against? OUCH.

Romain Combes - $570K

Backup catcher. Nuff said.

[mikev]

So Long, Raffy. You'll Be Missed

At the end of the season, as the 6'4" infielder came toward the dugout, fans stood and cheered. Loudly. They didn't stop, and didn't let him duck into the dugout, for nearly 15 minutes. After countless tips of the cap, applauding back to the fans, and a mini victory lap up and down the baseline complete with handshakes, high fives, and even a couple of hugs from female fans, he disappeared into the dugout to head into the locker room.

Everybody knew it was coming. Rafael Lopez had played his last game as a California Crusader.

The 33 year old infielder, former all star, and two time member of Crusader playoff teams, knew that when his contract was up, he would not be offered an extension. He'd moved from shortstop to third base as his career in red pinstripes moved into his early 30s, and was then moved to a backup position in his final season.

"Hard feelings? Hell no, man." said Lopez. "We had a good run, yeah. It's time to move on, that's OK. Maybe I sign somewhere, maybe I don't. I can be realistic, you know? I'm thirty three years old, I've been a big leaguer for 10 seasons. I'm not letting one season show who I am. I know it's a business, I know they still have Nicky and Bernal is coming back. Time to move on, but man, California is always gonna be home."

Along with Lopez, Brian Beard will be leaving the team and testing free agency. Beard, acquired at the trade deadline from Dublin, had been having a bit of a career resurgence with the Shamrocks this year but saw his numbers suffer with the Crusaders. His final numbers on the season combined were .250/.331/.383, with 16 homers and 16 doubles.

Aside from those two and a few random minor leaguers, the Crusaders aren't losing any notable free agents this offseason.

[mikev]

Esquivel Dealt To Brauers

A press release draft has been leaked, and it's been determined that the California Crusaders have traded 30 year old outfielder David Esquivel.

If the rumors are correct, Esquivel is headed to the FIBB Euro, specifically to the Munchen Brauers.

Coming to the Crusaders (allegedly) is shortstop prospect Keneki Kapuaula, a 20 year old who spent the 2019 season in Short A.

There had been word from the Crusaders that the front office was largely disappointed with the recent $6,000,000 arbitration salary awarded to Esquivel, given that the outfielder appeared in less than 70 games in the 2019 season.

Given that Ricardo Soto, Miguel GARICA, Ruben Velez, Alfonso Inigo, and Carlos Mora figured to get the bulk of playing time, Esquivel was to be the odd man out, and paying $6M for a SIXTH outfielder was probably not the best idea.

Esquivel figures to get a starting job in Munchen, while Kapuaula is likely to be groomed as the next Crusaders shortstop once Nick Woods leaves town.

[mikev]

All Quiet On The Free Agent Front

Quiet free agency. That's been the norm for the Crusaders the past few seasons, anyway.

Some teams have success building through free agency, but it's never really been my preferred method of assembling a team.

That's nothing new in the 2019/2020 offseason, as the Crusaders have signed precisely zero free agents.

The only offer we had on the table was a two year deal to former Crusader Jorge Enriquez, though he elected to sign with the London Spitfires.

However two potential free agents were inked to contract extensions.

Shortstop Nick Woods was signed to a 3 year extension worht $24,960,000. With no middle infield prospects in the pipeline, retaining Woods was of utmost importance for the team.

Woods batted .300/.333/.399 in 2019 for California, in his first full season after being acquired from Jackson.

Just two days after Woods signed, closer Angel Sandoval also signed an extension. The deal is for two years at $6,500,000 per year, a significant discount from the $8,350,000 he was making previously. In 70 games, Sandoval finished 2019 with a 5-6 record, 42 saves, a 2.85 ERA, and a 1.31 WHIP.

There has been nothing newsworthy regarding the status of Jakob Forest, Robinson Leyva, or Tommy Aucoin, who are all in the final year of their contracts as well.

[mikev]

Forest, Aucoin Negotiating Extensions?



Jakob Forest

Everybody knows who he is. Pretty simple, he's one of the best first baseman in the history of the GUBA.

He's immensely popular, both locally and around the GUBA. He's also one of the highest paid players in the league, currently making a tick over $19.5 Million.

He's also in the final year of his contract, but after hitting .291/.410/.496 in 2019, is'nt really showing any signs of slowing down at age 38.

Rumors that Forest has been asking for a deal worth over $20M per season have been floating around. There was also an unnamed source in the California front office who confirmed that the team did tender Forest a two year extension, albeit at a slightly reduced salary compared to what he is making in 2020.

"I don't really bother with that stuff," said Forest. "I let my agent take care of it. I have a season to get ready for. Look, I love it here. Never played anywhere else, never really wanted to. I'm sure it'll get settled."

The latest rumors from the Forest camp is that the slugger would be willing to extend at his current salary for two more seasons. The Crusaders may be hard pressed to let that deal pass.

The other major free agent is Tommy Aucoin. Coming off the best year of his career (.323/.386/.496), the 31 year Aucoin is reportedly seeking a 5 year contract approaching the $100M range. The Crusaders have not released anything saying whether or not they would be willing to pony up for that type of deal, bu sources say that the team and the player have exchanged figures and are still a ways away from each other.

[mikev]

Crusaders Announce Trio Of Extensions

The Crusaders today announced that three major components of the team had been signed to contract extensions.

First up was Jakob Forest. The 38 year old slugger extended his contract for 2 more seasons, at the same $19,580,000 dollar amount he's been making the last several seasons.

"Really, we had no issue here. Letting Jakob walk was just not in the cards for us," said Crusaders GM Mike Voelker. "He /is/ the California Crusaders. He's never played anywhere else, and we don't ever want him to."

Forest is comin goff a season in which he hit .291/.410/.496, although his low (21) home run figure led some GMs around the league to think he was tailing off. Well, you don't slug .500 without having some pop left in your bat.

Also inking a huge extension was C/1B/DH Tommy Aucoin. Aucoin's deal is a 3 year extension totalling just over $55 million, about $18.5 Million annually. Comin off the best season of his career (.323/.386/.496) and quickly adapting to playing first base, the 31 year old Aucoin inked the deal after he'd been rumored to demand a 5 year extension of nearly 100 million dollars. The deal is short term enough to not be crippling if Aucoin gets hurt or otherwise suffers a performance hit, yet was also enough for Aucoin to go ahead and agree to the deal.

Finally, starter Mario Garcia agreed to a two year contract extension paying him $8.4 Million per season. After being awarded $5 Million via arbitration for making 15 starts, and with Garcia looking at becoming a free agent after the season, we figured that number was a lot better than what we could find on the open market next offseason, and buys us another season on top of that. Yesplz, GARICA.

[mikev]

We're Getting The Band Back Together!

With the rapid, unexplaniable decline of 27 year old "should be in the middle of his goddamn prime" Salvador Bernal, who has been shedding talent points and ratings points like, I dunno, like something that sheds /a lot/, the Crusaders needed to do something to shore up the third base situation.

Enter Jason Pope, former Crusader dealt away to Greenville in the Carlos Mora deal.

Well, we're getting the band back together. Pope is returning to California for the final season of his contract, and he is penciled in as the starting third baseman again for the Crusaders. As stated by several other GMs in the league, Pope's had a knack for outperforming his fairly pedestrian ratings through the course of his career, and we're hoping a return to his old stomping grounds and a starting job are just what he needs.

In exchange for Pope, the Crusaders gave up the Seven Million Dollar Man, Ruben Velez. After the 25 year old tore through the league last season to the tune of a .312 average with 17 homers and 26 doubles, the OOTP gods saw fit for Velez to start shedding both contact AND gap talents, and to shed ratings accordingly. Relegated to a reserve role with the Crusaders, the power-starved Moonshiners jumped at the chance to give Velez the chance to start.

Both sides seemed reasonably pleased with the deal, as the Crusaders move a high priced backup player, while Greenville adds a starter at a position of need while dealing a backup of their own.

The best part? Pope's player picture doesn't even need to be updated now!

[mikev]

Crusaders Make Wise Selection In Draft



With the 25th pick in the GUBA first year player draft, the California Crusaders select Donegal Wise, shortstop, Longford, Ireland.

Just like that, the Crusaders had a legitimate top prospect in the infield.

Wise, 22, features blazing speed and solid defense. He could probably play third base in the GUBA /right now/ and hold his own defensively.

With the bat, Wise should be able to put up good numbers. He projects to hit for a decent average with a little pop. He won't strike out often. Best case scenario is probably a .300/.375/.425 line with 15 homers or so.

From a top defensive shortstop, though? Sign me the **** up.

No indications of what direction the Crusaders will go with the rest of their draft picks, though they are not due to make another selection until pick number 97, in round three.

[mikev]

Crusaders Off To Hot Start

After a short 2-2 first sim, the season "really" got underway last night. The Crusaders started off with a three game sweep of Vancouver, lost two of three to Long Beach, and then put together another three game sweep, this time against Manhattan.

Fresh off his contract extension, Jakob Forest decided he'd go ahead and /wreck ****ing shop/ to the tune of .394/.475/.606 last sim. He popped a couple homers, drove in ten runs, and drew five walks with six strikeouts. Yesplz. Tommy Aucoin (.889 OPS), Carlos Mora (.885 OPS), and Robinson Leyva (.891 OPS) were also big contributors offensively for the Crusaders.

On the mound, Crawford Tetreault is off to a hot start. He's made 3 starts, thrown 23 innings, struck out 12, walked 6, and allowed only 4 runs. A 1.11 WHIP and a 1.54 ERA works for me.

The other issue so far? Nick Woods is continuing to get on base at a below average (.303) rate. As a certain hippie pointed out, he shouldn't be leading off with an OBP that low. Last year's .333 was a bit more acceptable, but I'm really hoping that a guy like Ricardo Soto will step up and do something deserving of a top of the order spot. So far, that's not been the case.

The Next Crusade

4/21 - @ Greenville
4/22 - @ Greenville
4/23 - @ Greenville

4/24 - v. Des Moines
4/25 - v. Des Moines
4/26 - v. Des Moines

4/27 - @ Vancouver
4/28 - @ Vancouver
4/29 - @ Vancouver

[mikev]

GARICA!!!!!!

Due to a strange roster discrepancy, Mario Garcia was not actually slotted into the Crusader's rotation until last sim.

"I'm really not sure what happened," stated Garcia. "I was ready to pitch, ready to start, but they held me out or something."

As a result, Garcia only appeared in two games for the Crusaders over the first three weeks of 2020.

After his second appearance, Garcia asked why he wasn't starting.

"Can you?"

"Of course. I am a starter, that's what I do."

"Fine then. You're starting day after tomorrow."

That start was against Greenville. Garcia ****ing /dominated/ going 8.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk. A pair of back to back solo home runs in the first inning were the only runs Garcia allowed.

Five days later, Garcia was even better against Vancouver. 8 innings, one hit, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts, and he didn't allow a run.

"I told them. I am a starter. I don't know why they weren't letting me start before."

Crusaders GM Mike Voelker has addressed the oversight internally.

[mikev]

Wrapping Up April

The Crusaders only managed a 5-4 sim over the last 10 days.

First up was Greenville, and we punted the first game, losing 11-7. However we whipped those ****ing bitches 8-2 and 4-1 the next couple games, **** you very much Reggie Ryan you whore. Nice 2-2 record, bitch.


Up next, losing 2 of 3 to Des Moines. I think this is the sim in which Perez loses his rotation spot. I mean really, 0-3, 7.94, 1.85 WHIP? That's Corosi-esque. Clearly his first half last year wasa mirage, as was his complete dominance of the minor leagues in 2018. Makes sense.

Anyway, the last 3 was Vancouver, and we also took 2 of 3 from them.

GARICA and The Pitcher Of The Month were the stars on the mound, both going 2-0 with ERA's around 1, and WHIP below that. The two of them along with Tetreault give us a solid front 3, but Guzman has disapointed as a 4th starter so far. Salinas has actually been solid and may well keep a starting job, but we need to get some more quality on the mound.

Offensively, it was a bit of a down sim, but Forest keeps on hitting. Ricardo Soto had a solid sim, hitting .284/.351/.618. Um, please keep doing that. Thanks.

In short, the offense is Top 3 right now behind the usual suspects Vegas and Chicago, at least as far as runs scored. I'm fine with that, though I'd still like another big HR hitter somewhere. The pitching is pretty middle of the pack, though I suspect adding Garcia in place of Perez will fix that up a bit.

Oh and one last thing. Welcome back Jason Pope, we missed having an .850 OPS at third base. (Yes, I know it's because he's destroying lefties and hasn't hit righties yet. Shut up and let me enjoy it.)

The Next Crusade

5/1 - v. Las Vegas
5/2 - v. Las Vegas
5/3 - v. Las Vegas

5/4 - @ Los Angeles
5/5 - @ Los Angeles

5/6 - @ Valencia
5/7 - @ Valencia

5/8 - @ Long Beach
5/9 - @ Long Beach
5/10 - @ Long Beach

[mikev]

Pair Of Third Round Picks

Somehow, the Crusaders ended up with a pair of third round picks. I'm assuming I made a trade along the way somewhere.

Anyway, here are the last few guys we think will be relevant in the '20 draft for us, barring MAJOR development bumps from guys drafted in the 4th or later.



MR Mohamed Sanchez

Taken #91 overall, Sanchez is pegged as a relief pitcher, who currently has 7/3/5 talents. He was the highest Stuff guy left on the board, and has two potential plus pitches - fastball and curveball. I'm not a huge fan of a 36% groundball pitcher, as I've always trended toward guys who keep the ball in the park, and his low movement isn't going to help. What I /do/ like is his 8 endurance, meaning I can try and put him into the rotation in the low minors and see what shakes out.

Perfect World? Sanchez' control bumps, and he becomes a poor mans version of Alejandro Aragon.



MR Constanzo Zaretti

Selected #97, Zaretti is almost a carbon copy of Sanchez. He's got 7/2/5 talents, but only a 4 endurance compared to Sanchez' 8. The good thing about Zaretti is his 10 work ethic, which gives him a good probability of developing into his existing talent. I'm considering dumping some PPT into his intelligence, to see if he can maybe develop another pitch or bump his movement or something. He may be a bit of a reach, but any time you can draft a reliever that throws 95, it's worth the gamble.

That's pretty much it for the 2020 Crusaders draft. Our Rd4 pick was traded away, meaning we don't come back onto the clock until pick #169, when it'll probably be some 5/4/3/5/5 corner outfielder who can't run or throw.

Till next year.