California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

Woods Traded To Greenville

After being rumored to be dealt for some time now, reports are surfacing that Crusaders infielder Nick WOods will be traded to the Greenville Moonshiners.

Woods, 31, is in the midst of another solid campaign, batting .301 and anchoring the California defense. Unfortunately, at 24-37, the Crusaders aren't really going anywhere in 2022 and have looked to swing deals in order to reload the team for 2023, when they're going to have nearly $50M in free agency money to play with.

The gem of the deal for California is 21 year old pitcher Franck Berthier, currently in Triple A. Berthier sports 6/7/8 ratings, but throws 95mph and has fantastic endurance. Currently in 11 starts this year he's 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 78 innings. Berthier instantly becomes the team's #1 prospect.

Along with Berthier, the Crusaders will receive infielders Juan Mena and Ricardo Contreras. The 31 year old Contreras has, in short, sucked this year, and is included in the deal simply to give Greenville a bit of salary relief this year. Mena, a Rule V draftee, is a plus defender at first, second, and shortstop. His offensive talents aren't spectacular, and he'll be thrown to the wolves at age 24 as the new starting shortstop.

In addition to Woods, infielder Hans Wirtz was sent to Greenville.

[mikev]

Blockbuster Deal Lands Bennett

The Crusaders and the Bogota Toros have just completed an earth shattering deal, the magnitude of which has likely never been seen in the GUBA.

Robbie Ware? Peanuts. Ito? Poppycock. BOB ****ING REED? Hogwash.

No, this is big time.

Andy Bennett will be joining the Crusaders, folks.

Yes, /the/ Andy Bennett.

The standing-room-only press conference was a madhouse. Crusaders GM Voelker had to quiet the crowd in order to make his opening statement.

"Yes, we know the team's been in a funk this season, but you have to always be on the lookout. When you have the chance to acquire an Andy Bennett, you have to jump on it."

The flurry of questions came with an alarming fury, and seemingly didn't stop or differentiate from each other.

"Okay, let's all slow it down. I heard someone ask what we gave up, and that will be in the official press release coming shortly. However, I'll go ahead and say that after a lot of weighing the cost/benefit, we decided to go ahead and give up the fourth round pick that Bogota was asking. I've dealt with Ryan (Scott, Bogota GM) quite a bit in the past, and he certainly knew what he wanted and drove a hard bargain with this deal, but I think we both walk away satisfied with the outcome. I think that's the main thing for any trade, and when it's a guy of Bennett's caliber, you can't expect to get something for nothing."

This season Bennett is hitting .220/.250/.280, but he is expected to start holding the bat with both hands once he comes to California.

[mikev]

GUTHRIE!



Byron Guthrie was named as the only representative for the Crusaders in the 2022 All-Star Game.

Guthrie, currently hitting .312/.340/.476 this season, was voted in as the starter at second base.

"Yeah man, it's a nice way to be acknowledged by the league. It's an honor," said Guthrie. "We're not having the best season, but I think we've got some good guys and I hope that we can turn things around and that I can be a part of it."

The 26 year old was acquired from Vancouver in the 2020 season, and has seen his hitting stats get better every year. His current .815 OPS is a career best, as is his .312 batting average. To top it off, he's got a .991 fielding percentage at second base, just a tick off his best ever.

Incidentally, Guthrie just inked a contract extension for the next 3 seasons. The deal will pay him $5.5 million per year, and bought out his 3 remaining arbitration seasons (as a Super Two, Guthrie was eligibile for the first of four arbitration years in the 2022 season).

"Hey, I love playing here. The Crusaders wanted me, they believed in me and put me in the lineup every day, no questions asked. There's something to be said for that, and it's no lie that nobody wants to actually go through arbitration. It's kind of a bummer, and being able to avoid it is really a cool thing for everybody, I think."

Guthrie can also make an extra $1 Million in any season he wins the hitter of the year award.

[mikev]

Garcia Staying Home... For Now(?)



Mario Garcia has been one of the better Crusaders pitchers in recent times. The 28 year old sports a career 3.52 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in his eight seasons with California.

In the second year of a two year extension, Garcia has been -- like most Crusaders pitchers -- the victim of several injuries and talent lumps. At the height of his talents, he was an 8/8/6 rated monster with three above average pitches and a "show me" changeup, he's topped the 200 strikeout mark a couple times in his career, etc.

He's a shadow of that now, with 6/7/6 talents sporting 12/13/12 ratings overall. On a good team, he's probably a #3 starter, but we are not a good team.

Still, when he says he wants to sign a contract extension for a total of just under $14 Million for the next three years, we had to pull the trigger.

There were rumors that Garcia was on the verge of being traded, as a 28 year old starter may not have the most value on a team that's in last place, but whether a deal is consumated remains to be seen. Some inside sources have said the team is just as happy moving forward with Garcia in the hopes that he can mentor 21 year old Franck Berthier within the next few seasons.

[mikev]

A Blah End To A Blah Season

So our worst season ever is in the books. 61-101, worse than our 64-98 season in the inaugural GUBA campaign.

Our best pitcher was Mario Garcia, who finished the year 14-14 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He signed an extension during the year to keep him in town for 3 more seasons at a discounted rate, so we'll be happy to keep him around if we need to. While he was on the trading block this year at hte deadline, interest in him was rather slim.

The best hitter for the Crusaders was undoubtedly Byron Guthrie, the all star starter, who finished the year with a .773 OPS, 41.5 VORP, and 23 steals. Another guy who was added to the trade block, Guthrie had absolutely no interest because there are tons of .800 OPS second basemen around the league.

Alfonso Inigo was another interesting player for the hapless Crusaders this year. A guy who is always battling some sort of injury, yet is only 25 years old, Inigo saw his contact bump back up to an 8 this year and managed a .270 average, 35 stolen bases, and only 5 caught stealing. He could be a legitimate leadoff hitter for somebody and has an above average rating on defense, to boot.

In all, there's not much to write about. The team was set up to make a nice run for a few years, which resulted in a World Series ring, but injuries and lumps tore through the roster and basically forced my hand. The squad needed to be blown up, but unfortunately every decent piece ended up hurt or lumped, and I'm now in the position where I have to just wait and hope some prospects pan out. There's about $50 Million coming off the books, though, so financially we'll be okay.

On to a pretty quiet offseason, I'd assume.

[mikev]

Crusaders To Appoint Assistant GM?

Citing various clubhouse and/or personal issues, the California Crusaders have announced that they will take on renowned hippie Jeremy Reinholt as Assistant General Manager in order to alleviate some of the pressure on current GM Mike Voelker.

Reinholt recently stepped down after leading Pago Pago out of the ashes and into a trifecta of playoff appearances. Renowned in the GUBA as both a rebuilding genius and a master at pulling off trades, the expectations are that Reinholt will assist in the rebuild of the once mighty Crusaders, who lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history in 2022.

"Well, sure, I have no problem saying that I need some help," remarked Voelker. "When you have the chance to get a guy that's one of the best at rebuilding, and to get that sort of guidance, yeah I think you're a fool not to welcome that help."

"Also, I've never had a pair of Birkenstocks, so I'm looking forward to changing things up a bit here. I could probably stand to eat a little healthier, so we'll be bringing in a whole slew of new food vendors and carts around the stadium. Soy, tofu, free range beef, cage free chicken, granola, and microbrews everywhere. We're from California, and by god we're going to embrace that. Jeremy can help that."

No offical numbers on compensation as Assistant GM have been released, however some sources around the front office have said they heard the terms "rainbows and hashish" floated around the big office in the corner.

The 2023 Crusaders: The Rebuild just got a little more interesting.

[mikev]

Guthrie Dealt To Taipei

REBUILD

Frankly, I hate the word. Other than the inaugural GUBA season (by design), I've had competitive teams. Well, that's not the case any longer, and my hand was essentially forced by injuries and lumps to key players, culminating in a 100 loss season and the realization that it's time.

So after announcing that we hired an Assistant GM who happens to be the master at tearing down teams and rebuilding, we dealt away probably our best trade chip:

CAL receives:

2023 Taipei 1st Round
2024 Taipei 1st Round
C Rafael Gomez (AA)

TAI receives:

2B Byron Guthrie (GUBA)

Guthrie had been on the block for a good portion of last season, and we'd gotten limited interest in the 26 year old. Strange given the fact that he's coming off a .300 season and repeat 41 VORP seasons, and he's signed at a very team friendly rate for several more years. Anyway, not the point..

Guthrie was sent to the Far East in exchange for a pair of #1 picks and Gomez, a reasonable C/1B prospect coming off a decent AA campaign at age 23. He projects out as a big leaguer, likely a backup, but his ability to play two positions will help him keep a roster spot once he's fully developed.

The draft picks were the bigger piece, one being the #9 overall selection in this year's draft, the other being Taipei's #1 next year. Now don't get me wrong, I love Foolinc, but I'm hoping that Taipei is a cellar dweller again this year.

[mikev]

Bennett Traded To Vegas

Andy Bennett never really had any idea that he was on the trade block, especially after being traded for less than a season ago.

"It's something that we don't think about." said the outfielder, who broke out in 2022 with a .298/.343/.442 line after being acquired from Bogota. "People talk about us rebuilding, and hey, I'm 30 this year. Sure, I suppose a trade could happen, but I try not to listen to any rumors or anything. I get my workouts in and figure the offseason will take care of itself."

So when he was called in and informed that he was going to be traded to the Las Vegas Hustlers, Bennett was mostly on the surprised side, yet also figured that it was a possibility.

[i]"Sure, it's a business. We never get TOO settled in, I mean I only played like 100 games with the Crusaders, but I thought I fit in well here. Vegas, though, huh.. I could learn to live with that. It's pretty close to here, too, which is nice." Bennett's hometown is in nearby Tucson, Arizona.

Coming to the Crusaders organization are SS Claudio Garcia and 1B Christian Melton, as well as a draft pick in next year's 5th round.

Garcia, 21, is a slick defending shortstop who will never hit for much power. In fact, he slugged under .400 in Short Season A ball in 2022. However, his glove could play in the GUBA right now and if he can manage to keep getting on base at a decent clip through all levels of the minors, he could be a useful infielder in the future.

Melton is a year younger than Garcia, but has a higher upside with the bat. He will probably max out at 20hr in a season as his career high, and that's if he develops, but if he does it could also come with 50 or 60 doubles. It's not particularly likely, but we've got to acquire as many prospects as we can get our hands on if we're going to rebuild and do it the right way.

[mikev]

Filling Out A Rebuilding Roster

In a flurry of moves to somewhat fill out the 2023 roster, the Crusaders signed no less than 11 players to contracts during the start of Spring Training. Here's a recap:

2B Jim Harrison - 1 year, $4.68M - Harrison was viewed as one of the best remaining hitters in what was a pretty barren Free Agent market this offseason. He'll be the primary second basemen this season this year, after a .251/.327/.443 campaign in 2022.

SP Mohamed Brault - 1 year, $570K - oh how the mighty have fallen. Brault in his heyday was a mid 3s ERA 1.20 WIHP pitcher. That was a long time ago, and the 36 year old will just be invited to Spring Training and perhaps given a back of the rotation spot.

SP BillY Gray - 1 year, $620K - Another guy who was pretty good awhile back, but has struggled recently. 10/11/15 ratings, lots of groundballs, and six pitches for the 31 year old junkballer. We'll see if he's got anything left in our pitchers' park.

SS Todd Smith - 1 year, $620K - DE-FENSE... *clap claP*... DE-FENSE... *Clap clap* We're not expecting any offense whatsoever from Smith. I would be an upset if he broke the .600 OPS mark, but that's now what we got him for. He's an absolute wizard with the glove and will anchor the infield defense.

CF Shoichi Fukuda - 1 year, $1M - A million dollars for a guy capable of playing center field with like 20 or 30 doubles. Sign me up.

LF Mark Edwards - 1 year, $4.5M - The prodigal son returns. At 35, Edwards has seen time in Greenville, Santo Domingo, Taipei, and most recently Jackson since being a Crusader to start his career. He'll mostly be a platoon with Jose Miranda at this point in his career, but we still expect him to obliterate left handed pitching.

CL Wing Liu - MLC - A shadow of what he was in his early 20s, Liu was offered a minor league deal to see if he can't get back some of what made him a great closer in the beginning of his career.

SP Vecdi Raif - MLC - The 28 year old with 10/13/10 ratings will be given a shot to earn either a rotation spot or a long relief role with the team.

SP Lorenzo Apodaca - MLC - See Raif. He'll be given the chance to earn a spot, nothing more and nothing less.

[mikev]

Salary Dumps!

Part of a rebuild is acquiring future assets, no matter how little chance of succeeding they have. This was the idea behind our most recent deal, which looks like this:

LA sends
LF Jaime Jiménez (GUBA)
C Luke St. John (AAA)
2023 4th round pick (from Toronto - 23rd in round)
2023 5th round pick (LA - 6th in round)
2023 5th round pick (from Bogota - 7th in round)

California sends
a tax refund check

So, for a total of less than 3 million dollars in salary relief, we walk away with this...

Jimenez, after a season of pretty awful development, is borderline useless after a couple 20+ VORP seasons awhile back. He's the primary salary dump in the deal but he still might hit a couple home runs for us.

Luke St. John is simply an insurance policy in the event that we trade Kenkichi Sugiyama, who has been on the trade block for some time as he likely won't be around next time we're competitive. He's nothing special, but can be a backup catcher and he's cheap. He was thrown into the deal and we didn't care one way or another if he was included.

The draft picks are just more assets, plain and simple. With the crazy development some players have seen, what's the chance that one of those 3 picks ends up a big leaguer? I don't know, but there are 3 more chances than we had before. Works for me, maximize your chances.

[mikev]

First Round Draft Pick, 1 of 2

With the fifth selection in the 2023 GUBA draft, the California Crusaders select...

Domenic Voigt, Pitcher, New Zealand

Just like that, we made the highest draft pick we've had since the 2007 season.

Voigt is a 6'3", 200lb flamethrower, able to touch 99 on the radar gun with his fastball, and also features a devestaing splitfinger.

The 21 year old is already reasonably developed, with 10/12/4 ratings, but his talents are an otherworldly 10/8/8 and he's got starter potential. He's got the work ethic to do it, but unless he develops a third pitch it's more likely that his future is a 120 inning reliever. Voigt immediately tops the Crusaders prospect list, and he'll likely be joined by whoever California takes with the 9th selection acquired from Taipei.

It may be the worst draft class we've had in the GUBA, maybe ever, but still having a pair of top 10 picks goes a long way toward helping a rebuild.

[mikev]

More Draft Picks....

"With the ninth pick in the 2023 GUBA Amateur Draft, The California Crusaders select..."

Craig Knapp, Shortstop, London England

and bam, the second of our pair of top 10 picks was made.

Knapp possesses four of the "five tool player" tools. He can hit for average. He can run the bases. He can field. He's got a cannon attached to his right shoulder. The only skill that's lacking in his game is home run power, but frankly he's got a good enough gap power rating that he could hit enough doubles to make up for it.

The 5'11" 185lb Englander is 19 and has a ways to go before he'd be considered a GUBA caliber player, but his potential is up with some of the best prospects out there. He will start his career in Rookie Ball Fremont in the hopes that his development will get underway sooner rather than later.

The Crusaders had also been rumored to covet infielder Erjan de Beeld and outfielder Felipe Reyes at some point, and there were several trade rumors floated around as the first round of the draft continued, but in the end no deals were consumated and Knapp remains in the Crusader organization.

"Yeah, we had some contact about Knapp after we selected him, he's a quality talent and I'm sure plenty of teams would love to have him." Said GM Mike Voelker. "The truth is we had a potential deal in place, not because we weren't thrilled to have Craig Knapp with our selection, but because we were in the position to accumlate a larger quantity of talent that was almost at the level of Knapp. In the end, it didn't happen and I'm perfectly okay with that. As I said, it wasn't anything at all to do with us not wanting him, because that couldn't be further from the truth. We look forward to seeing him in California."

With their second round pick, the Crusaders selected pitcher Paco Ramos, a 21 year old lefty from Columbia. With 7/4/8 ratings, he doesn't currently project to be more than a bullpen arm, but he's got a potentially above average fastball/slider combo and has a reasonable amount of ratings development.

Without another pick until the third round, I've got a feeling that those two picks are likely to be the end of the decent talent we'll acquire through this draft, but it's likely that we've got 3 guys who will be in our top 5 prospects out of it. That works.

[mikev]

Wow, We Suck. (But Not As Much As I Thought)

OK so we're almost through May, and the Cursaders are 18-25, last in the Pacific.

I thought we were going to be a lot worse. A .419 winning percentage and we're not even a lottery team, as we have more wins than nine other GUBA teams.

Man, talk about some ****ing tankers.

Anyway, the offense basically begins and ends with Inigo this year. He's hitting .352, swiping bags, playing a solid left field, oh and he's only making /$750k/ for the next 3 years. He's on the trade block, and I've had ONE inquiry about him, and no reply back after the initial contact. Really?

The pitching is basically GARICA (2-2, 2.80, 1.21 WHIP) and [url=http://www.theguba.net/news/html/players/player_8995.html]Guzman[/url, and actually Billy Gray has been a nice little pickup at the back of the rotation.

Oh, and kudos to Bruno for finally deciding to hit like your ratings say you should. 3 years late, dick.

Realistically, I expect to be able to deal Inigo and Garcia at some point and time, but I'm really trying hard to figure out what the hell is up with the trade market in the GUBA these days. Nobody wants to give up anything, ever.

[mikev]

Still A Lottery Team

Heading toward the end of June, and we're pretty bad as expected. 27-45, to be exact.

Jim Harrison is out for 2 more weeks after suffering a setback with his back problems, we called up Juan Mena to take his place at 2B.

THere's really not much to talk about. Garcia is still solid, he's got a 3.74 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP so far this season. Billy Gray has also been impressive, with a 3.52/1.18 line after being an afterthought signing during spring training. Bernardo Roman and Ismael Enriquez have both been solid in the bullpen, and could very well help out contending teams as we inch closer to the trade deadline.

We've had several trade negotiations, but nothing has come to fruition so far. The main hitters being talked about have been Inigo and Sugiyama. Inigio's average is still hovering around .300 and his OBP is .350, plus he's got 15 stolen bases. The losing is taking it's toll on him, though, and the 26 year old's numbers are declining with the team's poor performance. Sugiyama, on the other hand, is just maddenlingly frustrating. Great ratings, but the numbers don't back them up. He's very popular though and has good power, but teams are keying in on his stats and ignoring his ratings in order to get a better deal in a trade.

In an admittedly punted season, the only thing to really wait on is the trades. Who knows if they'll happen or not at this point, but we'll keep waiting.

[mikev]

Smith To Hang Em Up



It's not going to be met with huge amounts of fanfare. There will be no Hall of Fame induction. Still, Todd Smith felt it was time to notify the Crusaders that he would be retiring at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

"The passion isn't there like it used to be," said Smith. "I'm 36 years old. I've had a good run. Not a lot of people can say that they played in the big leagues, and I've been at this for 15 years now. It's time. Let the young kids take over."

Smith is widely known for his slick defensive skills over his hitting abilities, possessing a meager .224 batting average over his GUBA career.

The Las Vegas native is set to head back to his hometown after the season is over, though he has not ruled out a position with the Crusaders organization in the future.

"Yeah, I think I can give something back," he said. "Punch-and-judy hitter like me, though? Hah. I'm not talkin to anybody about their swing. Infield coach, though, that's something I could see myself doing one day. Sure. Who knows though, right now I'm going to finish out the season and then take some time off. It'll be kinda nice not havin to bust my ass all offseason to get ready for next year. I'll get to be a fan again."

Currently this season Smith is hitting .195/.254/.231. He has driven in 18 runs.

[mikev]

Sugiyama Selected As All Star - Trade Coming Next?



The controversy surrounding Kenkichi Sugiyama has mostly been rumors of his trade, his perceived value, and whether or not he will remain a Crusader.

The 29 year old righty was just named to the 2023 All Star Team, and will serve as the backup catcher behind Conrad "There is no way these ratings should mean I have a .900 OPS" Turbull of the Austin Riverbats.

When asked to comment, through an interpreter Sugiyama simply stated, "I do not pay attention to rumors. I just play, and whatever is going to happen is how it will be. I can not control it so I just play."

SO far this season Sugiyama has hit a disappointing .237, but his power has buoyed his game and his offensive stats look okay due to the 5 doubles and 15 home runs, putting him on about a 35 homer pace this season.

Overvalued? Perhaps. Underrated? Who knows. What's clear is there are multiple teams who could benefit from 30 homer production behind the plate coupled with good defense (15 of 41 runners thrown out) and a wildly popular player who is signed to a very reasonable deal for 3 more years.

[mikev]

Sugiyama Finally Dealt...

Well, it finally happened.

Fan favorite Kenkichi Sugiyama was finally traded by the Crusaders. He ends up moving to Des Moines, in exchange for IF/OF Kurt Flowers and OF Heinrich Moller.

Flowers, 26, has been somewhat the opposite of Sugiyama, in that his numbers have exceeded his ratings. However, he's only in his second year of service, which is important for a rebuilding team. He will take over the everyday center field job in the hopes that we'll be able to actually build something back up.

Moller is a 21 year old outfielder who had 7/7/4/1/6 ratings up until the sim ran, and he promptly lumped his contact and gap talents to 6. He is now a pile of **** prospect that will be lucky to make the big leagues, and that is why I ****ing hate this goddamn game.

Wanna know the best part, though? Here's Moller's dev since the season ended last year:

September 1, 2022
Contact versus Lefties Increases from 4 to 5
Contact versus Righties Increases from 5 to 6

September 11, 2022
Overall Contact Increases from 5 to 6
Strikeouts versus Lefties Increases from 4 to 5
Power Talent Increases from 3 to 4

September 21, 2022
Overall Gap Power Increases from 8 to 9
Gap Power versus Lefties Increases from 6 to 7

November 21, 2022
Contact Talent Increases from 6 to 7

December 17, 2022
Power versus Lefties Increases from 1 to 2

April 21, 2023
Power versus Righties Increases from 2 to 3
Contact versus Righties Increases from 6 to 7
Overall Gap Power Increases from 9 to 10
Overall Power Increases from 2 to 3
Gap Power versus Lefties Increases from 7 to 8
Gap Power versus Righties Increases from 9 to 10

May 21, 2023
Overall Contact Increases from 6 to 7
Contact versus Lefties Increases from 5 to 6

June 1, 2023
Contact versus Righties Increases from 7 to 8

June 11, 2023
Right Field Rating Increases from 11 to 12

So for an entire offseason and all of this season, his ratings have done nothing but go up.

[mikev]

Inigo Heading To Chicago

Another move in the selloff of Crusaders big leaguers --

This time it's outfielder Alfonso Inigo, who's been on the trade block for what seems like the past few seasons.

The Crusaders sent Inigo to the Chicago Black Sox in exchange for a pair of outfield prospects: Don Southam and Enrique Suarez.

Southam is a 23 year old left fielder who bats left and throws right. He's hitting .280 so far in AAA this season with 21 doubles, 4 triples, and 4 homers in 97 games. He's already a big league caliber defender with a cannon arm and will be assigned to Triple A Oakland in the Crusaders system and will be the primary center fielder in an attempt to utilize his good range and strong arm. Southam spent most of the season in the Vancouver Mounties organization before he was dealt to Chicago as part of a package for second baseman Carlos Medina.

Suarez, 24, is a righty who is on the underdeveloped side, but still has good contact potential. Ironically, his upside is probably Inigo with a few more extra base hits but less stolen bases. He will also report to Oakland, where he will be the primary left fielder. So far he's hitting a meager .269/.308.332 in Triple A, and will need to show improvement.

So far in 2023 Inigo has hit .297/357/.388 with 13 doubles, 8 triples, and 18 stolen bases in the leadoff spot.

There are several players remaining on the Crusaders trade block as we approach the deadline, and it's expected that more of them will be dealt away if possible.

[Nez477]

I just read this whole thread over the past 2 days and it was freaking awesome. Great writing, good rants, very fun to follow. Sad to see Jacob is finally on his last leg, he had a great run.

It also has made me quite interested in GUBA, but I don't have OOTP X (just 9 and 11). I've never done an OOTP league before so not sure if y'all would even accept me but I'm going to read the constitution and probably at the very least put my name into the hat to join in the future. I just started playing my first fictional league and am writing notes on each player, getting immersed and more or less it's exactly what y'all do over at GUBA.

Anyway, good luck rebuilding and keep up the good work.

[mikev]

Nice -- glad you joined up on the boards. The GUBA, for all its faults, is the most fun I've ever had with OOTP.