California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

Crusaders Ink Two Free Agents

Going into the offseason, the Crusaders had one major hole in the lineup that needed to be filled: shortstop.

After making a small offer to free agent Pierre-Luc St-Louis, who team scouts thought was the best free agent option - albeit nothing spectacular - and eventually losing out on him to the Bogota Toros, the Crusaders looked to the trade market to make a middle infield aquisition. A multitude of negotiations took place with several teams, most notably Brian Beard, who eventually was traded from Pago Pago to Mexico City. Several other talks, some for marquee players and others for lesser known guys, all mostly stalled.

With an announcement released on January 25, 2010, the Crusaders announced that a 2-year contract with infielder Carl Hollingsworth had been signed earlier that day. Hollingsworth, the 36 year old second baseman who spent the 2009 season with the Warsaw Falcons and the previous two with the Jackson Gators, is to be paid 5.7 million dollars each season. In the press conference, Crusaders GM Mike Voelker announced that Hollingsworth will be penciled in as the opening day starter and incumbent Pedro Vargas would take over shortstop. "Pedro actually came to me with the offer to switch positions if it would help the team, that if we couldn't find a shortstop he would play there and give us the ability to look for a second baseman as well as a shortstop. Pedro is a gamer and he does what it takes to help the team, and his willingness to play short along with Carl's availabilty was a pretty good fit."

The only other notable signing for the Crusaders was inking 1B/DH Kinnosuke Sasaki to a 4-year, 21 million dollar deal. The signing was questioned by some, the Crusaders think that they've got themselves another big power threat. Last year's home run leader Jakob Forest set the team pace with 25 dingers. Sasaki is projected to at least hit that mark, if not be a 30/100 type of guy, at least according to our head scout who absolutely *loves* his talent. The move was looked at as a slight improvement over Enrique DeJesus, but for a 102 win team that finished 2 games behind Los Angeles for the MBBA Pacific division as well as 2 games behind Des Moines in the Wild Card, a couple slight improvements are really all that should be needed.

Word has it that the Crusaders still have negotiations in process for another player, though talks have stalled slightly over the past day or two.

[mikev]

Spring Training: Down goes Avila! Down goes Mendez! Down goes Hollingsworth!

Ahh, Spring Training.

It's a wonderful time in baseball when March rolls around. Every team is still in the race, everybody has hope. Established veterans looking to break a sweat, get in a few at bats, and take a few grounders are out there, as well as youngsters trying to make their mark on the game, trying to become the next great player, one that kids talk about and trade cards for.

For several key members of the California Crusaders, this won't happen.

It started with center fielder Jose Avila. In a game against Chicago, Avila was hit in the head by a Joe Wilson fastball. Upon being hit, Avila instantly fell to the ground, unconscious. Emergency responders took Avila to the local hospital, and later in the day it was revealed that his skull had been fractured from the impact of the pitch. Before it had even started, Avila's 2010 season was over. Doctors stated that Avila could probably play again, but nothing was for sure. As Avila is in the last year of his contract, fans have questioned whether the wildly popular Argentina native will ever don the red pinstripes of the Crusaders again.

The next Crusader to go down was none other than star outfielder Francisco Mendez. Mendez took himself out of a game against Vancouver after making a throw, complaining that he'd felt a pop in his elbow. Several hours later, X-Rays had revealed that bone chips in Mendez' elbow had been floating around, and he would need season-ending surgery in order to remove them.

Finally, newly signed free agent infielder Carl Hollingsworth was injured while throwing a ball in a victory over Jackson. In the top of the seventh, Hollingsworth fielded a grounder off the bat of Mark Perry, and immediately after throwing the ball to first base grabbed his elbow and summoned trainers onto the diamond. Hollingsworth complained that his elbow had somehow bent the wrong way when he made the diving stop, and throwing to first had made it even worse. The on-field trainer suspected that the elbow had been hyperextended, and was proven correct after the game when medical examinations were completed. Hollingsworth was to miss at least a month, if not six weeks, to enusure that his elbow had time to heal.

Just like that, over the course of 10 days, three players expected to be major contributors towards a Crusaders playoff run in 2010 are all gone for signifigant time. Crusaders GM Mike Voelker was certainly, well, "displeased" with the situation. "****ING ****, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REPLACE MENDEZ AND AVILA BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS?" was pretty much all that was heard behind the closed doors of the GM's office.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the team manages to replace a combined 80 points of VORP in the outfield, indeed.

[mikev]

Forest Inks Long Term Deal

In an announcement issued by the California Crusaders front office, it was revealed that first baseman and two-time reigning Batter of The Year Jakob Forest had signed a contract extension that will keep the superstar in red pinstripes through the 2014 season.

"Honestly, this is what I wanted. We got the deal taken care of before the season started, so it's not going to bother me or be in the press or anything. Get it done with and let's concentrate on beating L.A." said Forest.

Crusaders GM Mike Voelker was equally pleased. "Really, what could I do? I had made sure there was going to be budget room, and then I just kinda went to Jakob with a blank check. It's not like he hasn't earned it, right? Truthfully, I'm glad he didn't ask for more!"

The deal will pay Forest the same rate each season, $18.3 million. It's a 50% increase from the 12.2M he's making this year, and it's the second time the slugger has signed an extension with California.

Last season, Forest led the GUBA with a VORP of 101.1, a .456 OBP, 104 walks, and a 1.015 OPS. Only 28 years old, the GUBA's premiere first baseman is in the prime of his career and will remain in California as long as he wants to be around.

[mikev]

Crusaders Aquire Centerfielder Before Opening Day

In what was undoubtedly a move prompted by the injuries to outfielders Jose Avila and Francisco Mendez for the entire 2010 season, the Crusaders announced a trade had been finalized with the Warsaw Falcons just before Opening Day of the 2010 season.

The deal sends starting pitcher Jeff Ladner and left fielder Jorge Villalobos - who was aquired by the Crusaders only 4 days earlier from Las Vegas for a 3rd round pick - to the Falcons in exchange for South African pitcher Chadili "Six Pack" Tengelei, Japanese center fielder Tagashashi (I need a nickname!) Takahashi, and third base prospect Alfonso Encarnacion. As part of the deal, Ladner was signed to a 5 year contract extension.

"Well, I think it was pretty apparent that we were going to need some outfield help," said Crusaders GM Mike Voelker. "We'd actually been negotating a deal involving Ladner and Avila, but obviously the injury keeps us from doing anything involving Jose at this point. We really like the players we're getting back though."

Takahashi is an above average defensive outfielder with no power to speak of. In 122 games with Warsaw last year, the 25 year old hit two home runs - the only two of his career in the GUBA. Still, if the team can get a .700-.750 OPS from him along with solid center field defense, that's got to be considered a plus.

In Tengelei, the team gets a replacement for Ladner who will basically be a #4/#5 type of pitcher who can eat up a lot of innings if needed. In his first full campaign last year, he made 31 starts and tossed 187 innings for Warsaw.

Encarnacion, 20, spent the 2009 season with the Short Season A ball affiliate of Warsaw, batting .312 in 31 games as a 19 year old. He'll likely spend 2010 in Single A, though the Crusaders now find themselves with a trio of high ceiling third base prospects, with Menkir Kipanga and Fergus Gaselee already in the Crusaders system.

[mikev]

Pitching Preview, 2010 Edition

Heading into the 2010 season, California's pitching staff boasts one of the strongest 1-2 punches in the GUBA. The rotation is rounded out by a few youngsters, but could prove to be a force to be reckoned with in the MBBA Pacific this season. Along with a highly talented yet fairly unheralded bullpen, the Crusaders are expecting that their pitching will be enough to get them past the Los Angeles Quakes and into the postseason for the first time in 2010.

Starting Rotation

1. Henry McHaney, RHP
2009: 21-8, 1.78, 237.2 IP, 207K, 0.90 WHIP, 84.5 VORP

I think you may have heard of this guy. After a shaky 10-start 2007 and a solid if unspectacular 2008, McHaney put together what was probably the most dominant season by a starting pitcher the GUBA has seen so far. It's not likely that he'll replicate his out of this world numbers from last season, but he is a bona fide ace and one of the top pitchers in the league.

2. Jorge Enriquez, RHP
2009: 10-6, 2.91, 160.2 IP, 138K, 1.16 WHIP, 35.8 VORP

Enriquez would be the staff ace on a majority of teams in the league. He's more of a 1a than a 2, and as stated previously he goes with McHaney to make what might be the best 1-2 in baseball. They're in the discussion at least.

3. Masahiko "Griz" Hayagawa, RHP
2009: 17-7, 3.07, 205.1 IP, 170K, 1.11 WHIP, 42.0 VORP

After a poor 2008 campaign which saw Griz actually pulled from the Crusaders rotation for a short time, the soft-tossing Hayagawa came back in 2009 and had an amazing year. The Japan native set career bests in strikeouts, innings pitched, wins, and VORP. At age 28, he's the old man of the starting rotation, and the other starters regularly give him a hard time and ask him what it was like to play alongside Sadaharo Oh.

4. Arturo "Big Time" Fernandez, RHP
2009 (AAA): 13-3, 1.90, 147 IP, 96K, 1.03 WHIP, 45.5 VORP

Fernandez, the former 3rd overall pick, suffered a torn tricep muscle that affected him fairly signifigantly. The 8-month layoff was enough to erode his talents from "Hall of Fame lock" caliber to "innings eating 3rd or 4th starter" status. Still, the 23 year old has proven that he's returned from his injury, is healthy, and ready to contribute to the Crusaders.

5. Chadili "Six Pack" Tengelei, RHP
2009: 10-15, 5.33, 187.1 IP, 128K, 1.49 WHIP, -1.3 VORP

Tengelei, aquired from Warsaw in the Jeff Ladner trade, will round out the California starting staff. Crusaders team scouts feel that the gigantic (6'5, 235lb) South African is signifigantly better than his numbers from 2009 suggest, and aquiring him in the deal was equally as important as centerfielder Takahashi was. Tengelei can touch 93 with his fastball, gets more groundballs (55%) than flyballs, and has the endurance to go 9 innings. We think that he's a lot closer to the 2008 version of himself than last season (4.02 ERA, 1.29 WHIP). If we can get that out of our fifth starter, we'll be doing just fine.

The Bullpen

CL Hsin-ta Jin, LHP
2009: 2-0, 3.05, 59 IP, 53K, 1.17 WHIP, 11.9 VORP

Jin returns to the closing role to begin the 2009 season. Signed through 2011, there have been some whispers around the clubhouse that giving the left handed flamethrower the closer job is a move meant to showcase him for a possible trade later in the season, but so far the front office has maintained that he won't be moved.

SU Luis "Beast Of Burden" Vargas, RHP
2009: 5-2, 1.80, 35 IP, 19K, 1.31 WHIP, 12.4 VORP

Vargas, an 18 year old phenom who burst onto the GUBA scene last season as a 17 year old, did nothing if not hold his own at an age when most kids are still trying to figure out if they want to go to college or not. Needless to say, Vargas is basically penciled is as the closer of the future, but for now the youngster is content with pitching dominant 8th innings and handing the ball over to Jin.

SU Angel "Dog" Sandoval, RHP
2009: 8-3, 5.28, 58 IP, 32K, 1.21 WHIP, -3.1 VORP

The 21 year old Sandoval had a bit of a rough inaguration to the GUBA in 2009, and likely should have spent some time in AAA. However, the team felt that the rest of the bullpen was talented enough that Sandoval could learn on the fly, and expectations for the immensely talented Mexican are very high for 2010.

MR Jesus Diaz, RHP
2009: 9-4, 2.30, 97.2 IP, 79K, 1.24 WHIP, 28.7 VORP

Diaz, quietly one of the better relievers in the MBBA in 2009, is exactly what the Crusaders need to bridge the gap between the starters and the Jin/Vargas/Sandoval three headed monster. He's got the endurance to go multiple innings, keeps the ball in the park (4 career HR in 241.1 IP), and doesn't complain about his role on the team. As expected, Diaz will continue to take the ball when needed and not complain one bit.

MR Lorenzo Diaz, RHP
2009: 8-3, 3.90, 64.2 IP, 46K, 1.44 WHIP, 6.9 VORP

Once a promising starter expected to spend the better part of his career in the California rotation, a fractured elbow during 2008 knocked Diaz' talent level down to that of a spot starter and mopup relief role. His job on the pitching staff will be to soak up the junk innings in blowouts, where high-leverage guys will be able to rest their arms.

MR Matt Albury, RHP
2009: 7-7, 3.75, 120 IP, 99K, 1.38 WHIP, 15.0 VORP

The Australian youngster returns for his first full season in the GUBA, after spending some time in the rotation and some time in the bullpen last season he's primarily a 6th starter and long reliever for the 2010 season. He's probably been pitching over his head for two years, but we're not going to complain if he continues to do so.

MR Juan Davila, RHP
2009: 9-9, 4.15, 178 IP, 79K, 1.36 WHIP, 15.9 VORP

The 36 year old Davila was offered a 2 year extension, essentially as insurance in case one of the starting staff goes down with long term injury. It's likely that his playing time will be slim, but he was content with being a part of the team and lending a helping hand to all the young pitchers on the team.

[BoofBonser26]

Originally Posted by mikev

It will definitely be interesting to see how the team manages to replace a combined 80 points of VORP in the outfield, indeed.

Ow. Just ow, man.

[mikev]

2010 Crusaders Offense

The Crusaders 2010 offense returns a megastar, added a couple pieces, and suffered a few absolutely signifigant losses. The team finished #6 in the MBBA in 2009 according to runs scored (806 total), and at least being equal to that will likely be necessary for a playoff run.

Starting Lineup

1. Tagashashi Takahashi, CF
2009: .295/.335/.377, 2HR, 21RBI, 20 2B, 14.4 VORP

Takahashi, one of the central pieces in the Jeff Ladner trade, was aquired by the team in response to the spring training injuries suffered by incumbent Jose Avila as well as standout left fielder Francisco Mendez, both of whom are lost for the entire 2010 season. Takahashi, currently in search of a nickname according to teammates, is a speedster with good range and a cannon for an arm. He'll take Mendez' leadoff spot and Avila's center field position for 2010.

2. Pedro Cruz, 3B
2009: .280/.340/.434, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 29 2B, 39.4 VORP

The receipient of a hefty contract extension keeping him in California until 2013, Cruz will be asked to play a bigger role in the offense with the loss of Avila and Mendez for the year. He posted career bests in several categories last year, and will need to duplicate some of that again.

3. Jakob Forest, 1B
2009: .352/.456/.559, 25 HR, 113 RBI, 38 2B, 101.1 VORP

This guy's okay I guess.

4. Kinnosuke Sasaki, DH
2009: .247/.301/.428, 9 HR, 27 RBI, 12 2B, 3.1 VORP

Sake-bomb (credit JQ for the nickname) was a free agent pickup who some seemed to think wasn't much of an upgrade over Enrique DeJesus. Our scouts think he's got immense power, possibly 30 home run potential, and he's shown flashes of that potential before.

5. Tony Reyes, RF
2009: .263/.335/.423, 13 HR, 74 RBI, 30 2B, 14.4 VORP

Originally signed as a backup, Reyes came out of nowhere in 2008 to claim the starting job for himself and backed it up in 2009 with another solid campaign. The Puerto Rican saw a bit of a drop in his power numbers last season, but he also cut back on his strikeouts. He's another guy that we can just kinda toss out there and know he'll do his job - one less thing to worry about is good for us.

6. Carl Hollingsworth, 2B
2009: .302/.341/.384, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 23 2B, 19.2 VORP

Hollingsworth, a free agent signing towards the end of the offseason, inked a 2 year deal to play for California and was promptly injured for the first part of the season. While not quite the player he used to be, Hollingsworth is still a doubles machine (23 last year was actually his career low) and his high average and good OBP makes him a solid #6 hitter.

7. Pedro Vargas, SS
2009: .259/.325/.386, 14 HR, 71 RBI, 22 2B, 22.0 VORP

Moving to shortstop for the 2010 season, the former second baseman still hasn't quite lived up to his immense potential. He'll be given every opportunity to contribute, and his willingness to move to shortstop to help the team has been a major help.

8. Jack Bryant, C
2009: .254/.329/.384, 12 HR, 59 RBI, 19 2B, 19.6 VORP

Bryant, aquired from Manhattan in order to replace free agent to be Carlos Becerra, will assume the starting role for the season. Signed to a multi year extension after being aquired, Bryant will be with the team through 2011.

9. Nick Cox, LF
2009: .262/.305/.373, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 11 2B, 1.2 VORP

A one time super-prospect who has suffered multiple talent hits and is essentially a backup/defensive replacement, Cox is penciled in as the starting left fielder as of now for the Crusaders. Quite simply, he'll have to play over his head to keep his job. A fair base-stealer, Cox could possibly be a decent guy to get on base before the lineup turns over and the big bats come back up, but rumor has it that the team is currently on the lookout for a better option than him at the corner OF spot.

[mikev]

Last Second Trade Nets Crusaders New Starting LF

In a last minute move designed to bolster the Crusaders offense heading into the 2010 season, it has been announced that the team has aquired left fielder Carlos Garza from the London Spitfires in exchange for three players.

In exchange for Garza, the Crusaders have agreed to send pitcher Matt Albury as well as minor leaguers Ben MacBradden and Terry Bird to London.

Garza, a 31 year old Puerto Rican, has spent the first three years of the GUBA with the London franchise, compiling a career .269 average to go along with 25-30 home run power and a .799 OPS. He'll man left field for the Crusaders, allowing Nick Cox to return to a backup role.

"Carlos is somebody I've liked for awhile," said Crusaders GM Mike Voelker. "I'd actually sent out a couple messages previously to London, but hadn't heard back. Must have been lost in the ownership turmoil, because I had much better communication with them after that Spanish fellow took over. Good guy, that Spaniard."

Albury has spent parts of the past few seasons bouncing between AAA and the big league squad, and has performed admirably as a youngster in the big leagues. Assuredly he'll be given a spot in London's rotation. "I'm excited, but at the same time I'll miss the guys here. It's a business, though, and I understand that sometimes trades happen. I'm looking forward to knowing that I'll pitch every fifth day in London." said Albury as he was cleaning his locker.

Few may remember MacBradden, a former first round selection - fourth overall - in the 2008 draft. His talent seemed to have suffered a bit since being selected, but as a 19 year old in single A last year he had a respectable 3.83 ERA in 9 starts.

Bird, an 18 year old third base prospect, was essentially a victim of numbers. The addition of Alfonso Encarnacion via trade with Warsaw, coupled with prospect Menkir Kipanga in the California system, and Bird was a player who was available to be dealt.

The Crusaders seemed to have addressed both holes created by the injuries to two of their key outfielders, but will it be enough to overtake the stupid LA Quakes and their "woah I'm so cool I have a new accountant job wah wah" Kirk whatever owner? Well, opening night is tonight. Let's get started and find out.

[mikev]

10 Game In: 6-4, tied for first

Not quite as good as we'd wanted out of the first sim of the season, but hell, 6-4 is better than 4-6, and we've had some key guys get off to slow starts...

We started off okay, taking 2-of-3 from Las Vegas before ****ting the bed and only winning 1 of a 4 game set with Vancouver. Ouch. The guys made up for it by taking the last 3 games of the sim, all against Long Beach.

Starter Arturo Fernandez did not disappoint in his big league debut, tossing 8 innings of 1 run ball against Vancouver and following that up with an 8.1 shutout inning performance against Long Beach. We'll take that. Griz Hayagawa has also been nothing short of dominant, striking out 17 batters and walking only 1 in his 14 innings of work. Out of the starting five, the worst performance has been from... McHaney? WTF? 2 starts, 8 and 7 innings pitched, 4 ER both times, and a loss in each game. That's not what we signed up for, Henry.

Offensively, Tony Reyes has been out of his mind, going 14-for-36 to start the season with 5 doubles and 3 homers - that's good for a cool 1.228 OPS after 10 games. Obviously he's doing his part to keep production up, it's just most of the other starters that aren't doing much of anything. Not that it's going to be a catalyst for any type of run, but in 3 weeks when Carl Hollingsworth returns from his elbow injury the lineup will look a lot stronger.

Oh, and by the way, all you guys who bitched? Look at my stats.

The Next Crusade

4/16 - v. Manhattan
4/17 - v. Manhattan
4/18 - v. Manhattan

4/20 - @ Greenville
4/21 - @ Greenville
4/22 - @ Greenville

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

4/26 - @ Vancouver
4/27 - @ Vancouver
4/28 - @ Vancouver

[mikev]

17-15, Hollingsworth Set For Debut

Ten days into May with a 17-15 record, and the Crusaders find themselves in a familiar spot in the MBBA Pacific - second place.

The strange bit? The Quakes aren't the ones in first. No, at an even 16-16, LA is in third. In first are the surprising Vancouver Mounties, at 19-14 they are a game and a half better than the Crusaders. Why is this so weird? Well, mostly because Vancouver hasn't even had a 70 win season yet, let alone finish over .500, but here they are looking down at the rest of us. They have that Rojas dude who is doing his best impression of McHaney, and a couple decent hitters. That's kinda it. Assuming their starting pitching can't keep this up, we expect that they'll come back to the pack.

Anyhow - on to our heroes, the Crusaders. May got off to a bit of a bad start, with three straight losses (Vegas for 2 and LA for 1, IIRC) before getting into the win column for the month in game 2 of the series with Los Angeles. The winning would continue, with both ends of a 2 game set with Valencia going our way and then winning 2 of 3 from Long Beach. In all, that leaves us 6-4 so far this month, but we'll take it for now.

So far, our patchwork outfield has been hit and miss. By that, I mean Takahashi (.338/.388/.481)has been doing a ****load of hitting, and Garza (.203/.255/.297) has been doing a ****load of missing. Garza, the $12M man, is in very serious danger of losing his job. Garza is almost singlehandedly bringing down the total numbers for the California offense.

At this point, Crusaders GM Mike Voelker is content to let the team sort itself out. "We're not particularly looking to make any moves, no." Six weeks isn't much to look at, and offseason aquisition Carl Hollingsworth is finally healthy and ready to make his Crusaders debut - he should be a welcome addition to the lineup, if anything it means that Gil Kelley and his sucktackular .175/.202/.250 output will be back in the minors where he belongs.

The Next Crusade

5/11 - @ Green Bay
5/12 - @ Green Bay
5/13 - @ Green Bay

5/14 - @ Buffalo
5/15 - @ Buffalo
5/16 - @ Buffalo

5/18 - v. Washington
5/19 - v. Washington

5/20 - v. Valencia
5/21 - v. Valencia
5/22 - v. Valencia

[mikev]

May 21 - First Place, Offense Still Questionable

Three weeks into May, and the Crusaders have snuck past Vancouver in the MBBA Pacific division, currently holding a 2-game lead over the Mounties and the Los Angeles Quakes.

Last sim got off to a good start, as the Crusaders grabbed two out of three from Green Bay (hah! **** you JQ - MBBA-P 4 LYFE!) before losing two out of three from Buffalo. They finished up strong, however, taking two of three from Washington and then the first game of the Valencia four game series.

Infielder Carl Hollingsworth, returning from injury and expected to provide a boost to what has been a very pedestrian California offense so far (.711 team OPS - 10th in the MBBA) didn't do much. He did homer in his first game, but only managed 7 more hits over the 10 games he played in. Clearly the lack of a Spring Training is affecting him, and we'll expect that he picks it up as he gets settled into playing every day again. The rest of the offense hasn't been doing much either, so it appears that the slow start is team wide.

The pitching continues to be very, very good. Jorge Enriquez is blossoming into a star before our eyes, Arturo Fernandez is living up to his "Big Time" nickname, and staff ace Henry McHaney is bouncing back nicely from his rocky first few weeks. Then there's the bullpen. Oh god, the bullpen. Closer Hsin-ta Jin has flourished after being given the role again for the 2010 season, compiling a 2-0 record, 9 saves, and a ridiculous 0.56 ERA and 0.63 WHIP in 16 games so far. Not to be outdone, eighteen year old Luis Vargas has tossed 23 innings with a 1.14 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, and Jesus Diaz is going 1.98 with a 0.95 WHIP in his 13 innings pitched. The "low spot" of the bullpen is Angel Sandoval, the 21 year old with a 3.74 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 21 innings pitched. I think it's pretty obvious that the starters just need to make it through 5 or 6 innings with a bullpen that can roll out four arms like that on any given night.

Outfielder Carlos Garza is still mired in his horrible, horrible slump to start the season. A source close to the team has speculated that Garza could lose some playing time to speedster Nick Cox, but at this point in the season neither looks to be much in the way of offensive output from a corner position in the outfield. For now, it appears that the team will remain in a holding pattern and hope that Garza can snap out of it.

As a whole, it's nice to still be above .500 with an offense that's borderline pathetic and pitching that's been pretty outstanding. If some of the guys in the lineup can manage to correct their rectal/cranial inversion at the plate, I think we can make a nice solid run and put some distance between ourselves and the rest of the Pacific before the All Star Break rolls around at the end of next month.

The Next Crusade

5/21 - v. Valencia
5/22 - v. Valencia
5/23 - v. Valencia

5/25 - v. Los Angeles
5/26 - v. Los Angeles
5/27 - v. Los Angeles

5/28 - @ Las Vegas
5/29 - @ Las Vegas
5/30 - @ Las Vegas

[mikev]

Sake-bomb Heats Up, Garza Breaking Out Of Season-Long Slump?

Just what the doctor ordered to put a little distance between us and the Quakes - a nice serving of Louisville and Jackson, along with a 2-of-3 series at Birmingham and a series opening win against the previously mentioned Southern California doodz.

As of now, the Crusaders sit at 34-27, good for first place in the MBBA Pacific, and hold a 3-game lead over LA.

The hitter of the sim award goes to Sake-bomb (ping Millsy: pls 2 add nickname), who managed a paltry 6 home runs in 10 games, and an OPS over 1.140

The best pitching performance goes to Luis Vargas, the 18 year old flamethrowing right hander. Over the last 10 games, Vargas has thrown 11 innings without giving up a run and posted a miniscule 0.83 WHIP. He capped off the sim with 5.1 innings of shutout relief in a 14 inning marathon against LA.

Really, other than singling out those two, there wasn't a ton of stuff going on this sim. I will note, however, that Carlos Garza hit a couple homers and had a .715 OPS last sim. Now, that's not world beating by any means, but the ****ing guy makes 12 million dollars and we've been expecting that he'd be an .850 OPS player at the corner outfield spot. Hopefully this is a sign that he's beginning to turn things around.

The next sim looks to be a tough one, and I really wouldn't be surprised to see us in second after 10 days, though. As long as we can keep it up and look good going into the all-star break, I like our chances.

The Next Crusade

6/11 - @ Los Angeles
6/12 - @ Los Angeles
6/13 - @ Los Angeles

6/15 - v. Long Beach
6/16 - v. Long Beach
6/17 - v. Long Beach

6/18 - v. Green Bay
6/19 - v. Green Bay
6/20 - v. Green Bay

[mikev]

Cruisin Right Along...

Well, another sim is in the books, and the Crusaders are still holding onto a 2 game lead in the MBBA Pacific, currently 39-31.

The sim started by continuing the series against LA. The end result was a stalemate, as California won the opening and closing games of the four gamer while the Quakes took the middle games.

The team then made the 8 hour trek from LA to Sacramento, and proceeded to sweep the Long Beach Surfers in a three gamer at home. The Sake-Bomb connected for two more blasts off Surfers pitching, bringing his season total to 14. His OPS currently sits at .830

The sim ended on a high note. After losing the first two games in a series against Green Bay, the Crusaders rallied from a 2-0 defecit in the bottom of the 9th inning against Wolves ubercloser Marc Lafreniere, plating 3 runs and escaping with a victory.

Rumors of the demise of first baseman Jakob Forest seem to have been slightly exaggerated. Over his last 9 games, Forest has merely gone 13-for-36 with a .425 OBP and a .722 SLG. His stats on the season have continued to climb, as his batting average is now above .300, his OBP is at .400, and his SLG is over .500

Also previously noted, outfielder Carlos Garza is finally starting to hit the ball a little bit more. He's not anywhere near level of production that $12 million in salary should be getting me, but at least he's starting to heat up a little bit. If we can get him to catch fire in the second half, it could be like adding a whole new power bat to the lineup without having to actually make a deal.

So anyway, things are looking okay right now. Nobody is going crazy, I don't know if we'll have any all-stars (unless it's bullpen guys), but we're getting contributions from everybody. I'm okay with that. Next sim is going to be a pretty good test of the team, as we run into Atlantic power New York in the Big Apple.

The Next Crusade

6/22 - v. Chicago
6/23 - v. Chicago
6/24 - v. Chicago

6/25 - @ New York
6/26 - @ New York
6/27 - @ New York

6/28 - v. Valencia
6/29 - v. Valencia

6/30 - .v Vancouver

[mikev]

McDonald Nabbed 30th Overall In Draft

"With pick number 30 in the 2010 Amateur Draft, the California Crusaders select Marc McDonald, Left Field, MacKinney, Texas."

Just like that, what is likely to be the only meaningful pick the Crusaders make this year was done. McDonald, a 20 year old predicted to go in the early 20s in some mock drafts, was a welcome addition to the California organization.

"Marc was on our short list, yes." said Crusaders GM Mike Voelker. "We were hoping that one of McDonald, (Catcher Tom) Carter, or (Infielder Carlos) Chavez, or (Outfielder Tokutomi) Sasaki would be there when we came up. When both McDonald and Sasaki were there, we went back and forth for a good 30 minutes before making the pick, but really we would have been happy with either player."

McDonald is widely considered to be an average fielder, decent runner, and an absolute doubles machine. Reports from all Crusaders scouts say the same thing: This kid's ceiling is 50+ doubles, easy. Combine that with plus plate discipline, and he could be definitely hold down a starting job in the GUBA sooner rather than later.

California does not have another pick until Round Four, and with this considered to be a fairly thin draft once it gets toward the middle of the second round, the team feels like they are in a good position and are confident that they made the right selection at #30.

[mikev]

Crusaders Aquire Another Arm, Bryant Heads Back To Manhattan

In a just-announced deal, we have learned that the Crusaders have come to an agreement with the Manhattan Myst in an exchange of several players and picks.

Coming to California is lefty starting pitcher Ken McKain, a 26 year old who had gotten off to a fairly slow start with Manhattan and ultimately resulted in his demotion to Triple-A Syracuse. McKain will be expected to bolster the California rotation, taking the fifth starter role.

Speaking of the fifth starter, Chadili Tengelei, he's the player that will be sent to Manhattan along with Triple-A pitcher Yasuhide Ito and reserve catcher Jack Bryant. Bryant, who began the season penciled in as the starter for the Crusaders, has been downright awful and was benched in favor of Carlos Becerra less than a month into 2010.

Manhattan catcher Chih-tui Pai, a 25 year old Taiwan native, will also be traded to California, as well as Manhattan's second round pick (#43) in the 2010 amateur draft.

"Essentially, I saw this as a chance to move some salary and pick up another arm," GM Mike Voelker told a local sports talk radio show after the announcement. "I think Kenny just needed a change of scenery, and he's somebody that we've had our eye on for some time. When the opportunity to aquire him came up, we sent out some feelers and were able to come up with something that everybody felt worked for them."

There has been no word from the organization on whether extension talks with Becerra have started, or whether the team plans to go a different direction.

[mikev]

News And Notes Through July

So, it's July. Three months have gone by since opening day, so lets take a quick look at the state of things in Crusader land and see what's what...

Ken McKain was solid in his Crusaders debut, shutting down New York.

Jorge Enriquez is doing his best to supplant McHaney as the team ace. He should be an All Star this year.

Luis Vargas should be an All Star as well. 50+ innings, 0.52 ERA, 1.01 WHIP. By the way, he's [i]eighteen[i] this season.

Ping: JQ. This guy is on pace for a VORP of nearly 50. (Ping Millsy: Change his ****ing nickname to Sake-Bomb already)

The Carlos Garza watch: .229/.299/.386 on the season, but he went .284/.366/.532 in June with 7hr and 16 RBI.

Jakob Forest probably won't be an All-Star, but he'll probably just turn it on in the second half and win the MVP again or something.

Still nothing on the Carlos Becerra extension talks. I just have a hard time with a 32 year old asking for an 8 figure salary when his OPS is below .700. Sadly enough, he still isn't a bad hitting catcher as far as the GUBA is concerned.

Big Time probably won't ever be the #1 that he was projected to be when I drafted him 3rd overall, but he's a solid #3 and that's pretty damn good for a guy that was a 2007 draft pick.

Takahashi has been superb since being aquired to take over center field for the injured and not likely to return to the team Jose Avila. He's made a couple errors, but hasn't really hurt the team, and has also done a pretty good job in replacing Francisco Mendez in the leadoff spot (.791 OPS, 24 SB, 4CS).

Tengelei didn't really fare to well, and was packaged up to aquire McKain. To recap, that means I dealt Ladner - who has been solid for Warsaw - along with Villalobos - also been solid - for Takahashi, Encarnacion, and Tengelei, and then Tengelei was dealt (along with Ito and the contract of Bryant) for McKain, a backup catcher, and a 2nd round pick (Ferris). We'll take it.

Really, there isn't a whole lot I'd do right now to improve the team. The starting staff is fine, the bullpen ****ing kicks ass, and the lineup is definitely starting to come around. I have a feeling that Garza will be the "big addition" to the team in the second half, because he sucked so bad for the first 2 months. The only real question I am going to have going foreward is what to do at the Catcher position, because I really don't think Becerra deserves a raise.

[mikev]

Small Deadline Deal For Crusaders, McKain Flourishes in California

It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Crusaders, as California only struck one deal - and it wasn't much in the way of a blockbuster.

Here's the deal:

Buffalo gets:

Cal 2nd round pick

California gets:

CF Edgar Herrera

Herrera, 28, is a spectacular defensive outfielder at all three positions, and most scouts think he's a "The-Sky-Is-The-Limit" type of hitting talent. The problem is, he's yet to translate his immense talent into actual production at the plate. He'll be slotted in as the 4th outfielder and the primary backup at all three outfield positions. The move bumps former prospect Nick Cox into a defensive replacement role, and likely signifies the end of the Shuji Suzuki era.

"A lot of teams went crazy making moves, that's for sure." said Crusaders GM Mike Voelker. "We had several negotiations going on ourselves, but none of them panned out. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, I'm pretty confident with the team we've got now. Sure, everybody wants to add a front line starter or a big bat in the middle of the lineup, but there are times when the cost of trying to improve marginally right now can end up crippling your team for years down the road. That's just not something I've been willing to do."

Speaking of the Crusaders, they are currently 66-47, a solid 4 games ahead of Los Angeles in the MBBA Pacific. They opened August on a good note, starting 7-2 on the month via a win over Vancouver, 2 of 3 from New York (!), 2 of 3 from Jackson, and then splitting a 2 game set with LA.

Sake-Bomb continues to give JQ the proverbial "**** off" after he questioned the signing last offseason. All Sasaki is doing so far is leading the team in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage. Take that, Lurk!

In other news, starter Ken McKain, who was aquired from Manhattan towards the end of June, has been pitching out of his mind since being put into the Crusaders rotation. In 8 starts, he is 6-1 with a 2.78 ERA, 61 strikeouts, only 7 walks, and 4 complete games in 63 total innings. He's lowered his ERA on the season over a full run, and seems to be flourishing.

"I was just glad to get back into the bigs," McKain said. "I'm not sure what was going on in Manhattan, but it's not like I wasn't out there giving it everything I had every time. It's just the way it goes sometimes, but I'm happy to be here in California and in the thick of a pennant race."

[mikev]

Hello, September

So, August is gone. We're heading into the "Dog Days of September", as it were.

The Crusaders are currently enjoying a comfortable-but-not-quite-enough-yet 6 game lead over Los Angeles. They're still doing it with a solid mix of offense and pitching. August was finished off with a nice sim, with a Win over Chicago, a 3 game sweep of Vegas, 2 of 3 from Valencia, and a win over Baltimore. At 79-52, the team is a few games better than they're projected, but after the last two seasons of being 5 or 6 games under Pythag, we're not complaining.

The batter of the sim was clearly Tony Reyes who abused pitchers to the tune of a .448 average and a video-gamey 1.446 OPS.

The pitcher of the sim, and look the hell out if he starts to regain his form, was Henry McHaney. HMC made 2 starts, going 7.2 innings against Vegas allowing a run on 3 hits while striking out 7 Hustlers and walking only 1. He followed that up with a complete game 2-hit shutout against Baltimore, striking out 4 and not walking a batter. Hopefully he's catching fire at just the right time.

Jorge Enriquez, the lamented All-Star Game starter, is a perfect 8-0 in the second half. After being blasted on more than one occasion by several GMs around the league, Enriquez has been utterly dominant since the midsummer classic. He's pitched 8 innings or more in every start, has 53 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 66 innings, and is currently tied for second in the GUBA with 19 wins. Suck it, JQ! I bet you didn't know that I secretly told Enriquez to pitch underhanded in the ASG so he wouldn't get hurt. Hah!

Along with Enriquez, lefty Ken McKain has been nearly as dominant since being aquired by the team for Jack Bryant and Chadili Tengelei prior to the All Star Break. So far with California, McKain sports an 8-2 record with a 3.26 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 95 Ks/11BBs in 94 innings, and an impressive 17.4 VORP in 12 total starts.

On the offensive front, Jakob Forest finally has his AVG up over .300. It's a little weird when a guy has a .305/.407/.515 line and a 54.4 VORP and people are asking "What's wrong with Forest?", but I suppose that's what having back to back seasons with .450 OBPs and .550 SLG will do.

Oh, also: Guess who hit his 30th homer and is on pace to break 100 RBI? Yeah, baby. Sake-Bomb FTW!

The Next Crusade

9/1 - v. Baltimore
9/2 - v. Baltimore

9/3 - v. Birmingham
9/4 - v. Birmingham
9/5 - v. Birmingham

9/6 - @ Los Angeles
9/7 - @ Los Angeles
9/8 - @ Los Angeles

9/9 - @ Vancouver
9/10 - @ Vancouver

[BoofBonser26]

Just poking my nose in to say "hey" and keep up the good work! I'm a regular reader.

[mikev]

Thanks The writing won't stop as long as the GUBA is alive and kicking, it's a requirement of the league that helps to foster participation. I did the same sort of thing with The Chronicles of the MBBA which started as just my team news and ended up being a collaboration of other TNs around the MBBA, but after the MBBA and the FIBB combined to become the GUBA I decided that I'd leave this dynasty report to just my team.