California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

And We're Done...

There's a word for this. I think it's "surreal"

The 2011 Playoffs have come and gone for the California Crusaders, and it's like it didn't even happen. A four game sweep at the hands of the Birmingham Bandits in which the best bullpen in the GUBA gave up not one, but two leads in the final inning of games.

Game 1 got off to a bad start when Tom Parkinson hit a first inning 3-run homer off of Crusaders ace Jorge Enriquez, and the Bandits soundly beat the home team in a 4-0 shutout.

Parkinson would again be the Crusaders killer in Game 2, as his 2-run triple in the ninth inning against Angel Sandoval would prove to be the deciding runs in a 5-4 contest.

Game 3 would end with the Crusaders making a wild comeback after being down 6-1 in the 9th inning. The rally began with Carlos Garza hitting a mammoth 450 foot bomb, and then Edgar Herrera had a bases loaded double against Bandits closer Iestyn Lenton. Lenton then issued a walk and a hit batter to reload the bases, giving Tagashashi Takahashi a chance to be the hero, but Lenton would induce a game ending groundout to preserve the 6-4 win.

The final game of the Crusaders season ended with a crushing defeat. After Takahashi's sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning scored Francisco Mendez who had a leadoff triple, California's closer Hsin-ta Jin came on to try and preserve the victory. The only out Jin registered was a sacrifice bunt, and the Bandits put together 5 straight hits to take the victory and earn the series sweep.

Just like that, the season was over. If somebody had told me before the series that the bullpen would blow 2 saves and we'd get swept, I'd have said that was ridiculous. What can you say, though - anything can happen in a 7 game series, and winning 105 games in the regular season doesn't mean anything if you can't translate that into postseason success. It's just a little strange that after wondering if the offense was going to have enough firepower to make a postseason run, it would be the pitching that ended up being the reason the Crusaders didn't get out of the first round. Well, that and the Bandits hitting.

To the offseason we go.

[mikev]

Free Agency Decisions

Well, the Crusaders only have three potential free agents at the big league level. Quite honestly, the decisions on whether to offer last minute extensions to them is a reasonably simple one.

RF Carlos Garza
2011 Stats: .260/.338/.465, 38HR, 124RBI, 32.8 VORP

Garza, the wildly frustrating 33 year old slugger, will not be returning to the Crusaders for the 2012 season. If we are going to pay a guy $16 million per season for the next couple years, he had better put up an OPS better than .803. Thanks Carlos, but your slow starts aren't cutting it here anymore.

CF Joaquin Lopez
2011 Stats: .272/.327/.516, 22HR, 64 RBI, 24 2B, 26.4 VORP

See, now I'm torn with Lopez. He's a solid hitter at a premium defensive position, but he's old (34) and expensive (wants $15M per year), and his OBP was barely over .300 with the Crusaders after his aquisition. Still, 9 homers and 11 doubles in 34 games with the Crusaders, Lopez provides us with a legit power threat to slot into the cleanup spot behind Jakob Forest. I think we'll probably try to negotiate with him and see if he'll come down on his price a little.

SP Javier Lugo
2011 Stats: 4-4, 2.69 ERA, 11 starts, 77.0 IP, 72 K, 18 BB, 1.05 WHIP, 18.2 VORP

Speaking of frustrating. This guy did the same thign to J6A a few times - start off like gangbusters and then get a lengthy injury to end his season. Also, being older than dirt, I have to question whether or not being injured for 17 months out of the last 2 years has taken its toll on his skills. Still, he doesn't want much to resign, and he could be decent as a spot starter or long relief type. The savings on his salary could be put toward paying Joaquin Lopez, too...

Aside from those three, the 2012 Crusaders look to field a team very similar to the one they had out there for most of the 2011 season.

[mikev]

Season Wrapup: Infield


1) Infielders
2) Outfielders
3) Starting Pitchers
4) Relievers

1) 1B Jakob Forest
.313/.403/.482
.885 OPS, 58.0 VORP
Grade: A

**** all of you people. People are talking about how Forest had a "down year" and yet he was still top 10 in the league in VORP, top 5 in OBP, and his .885 OPS was 5th in the league. Clearly it was a down year for all offense if a sub .900 OPS is a top 5.

2) 2B Pedro Vargas
.293/.355/.461
.816 OPS, 52.4 VORP
Grade: A

Vargas finally had his breakout season, setting career highs in avg/obp/slg, VORP, HR (21), RBI (85), and doubles (32). At 30, he seems to be reaching his prime a few years later than expected, but we'll take it.

3) SS Rafael Lopez
.265/.338/.384
.721 OPS, 28.2 VORP
Grade: C+

Lopez gets a low grade because he was traded for Henry McHaney, and when you're traded for an ace you had better play like a star. Instead of playing like a star, Lopez was merely adequate and dropped over 100 points from his OPS. Still it wasn't horrible, as shown by his VORP, but it wasn't the All Star caliber that we were thinking we traded for.

4) 3B Fu-quan Ng
.218/.289/.303
.592 OPS, -2.5 VORP
Grade: D

Ng was a scout find who has a solid talent set, and we thought that he was developed into them. We were wrong, apparently, and he's still got some developing to do. Still, if he gets to his potential, he'll be a solid 3B in the GUBA for the next handful of years.

5) 3B Pedro Cruz
.229/.287/.301
.588 OPS, -11.7 VORP
Grade: F

Yes folks, the 105 win Crusaders had a combined VORP of -14.2 from the third base position in 2011. Cruz, after 4 solid years and a big fat extension before last season decided it woudl be a good time to go and have a big fat ****burger of a season. It's a failure because he's an expensive asshole, and his ratings are still AWESOME. Why he hit like **** is beyond me.

6) 1B/DH Kinnosuke "Sake-Bomb" Sasaki
.238/.311/.363
.673 OPS, 0.5 VORP
Grade: D

Sake Bomb followed up his breakout 2010 with a shutdown 2011. His 36 homers as the everyday DH in 2010 dwindled to only 7 homers in limited time this season, as he started off in a funk and never got out of it. With the impending departure of Carlos Garza, the DH position is likely Sasaki's to lose in 2013, but it's gonna take a lot more than a .363 slugging percentage for him to keep the job.

7) SS Kawanari Takahashi
.125/.243/.250
.493 OPS, -1.8 VORP
Grade: INC

Takahashi was called up simply to be a defensive substitute and to give the occasional day off. He wasn't expected to contribute anything meaningful to the team, and pretty much didn't as he only played in 13 games all season.

[mikev]

Season Wrapup: Outfield

1) Infielders
2) Outfielders
3) Starting Pitchers
4) Relievers

1) RF/DH Carlos Garza
.260/.338/.465
.803 OPS, 32.8 VORP
Grade: B-

Garza was the team leader in HR and RBI (38 and 124, respectively), but his slugging percentage was still only .465. Strange, but that's what happens when you only have 9 doubles on the season. Still, 38 bombs is 38 bombs, and we have to thank Garza for being a part of the team as his request for a 16M annual salary will be denied by us.

2) CF Joaquin Lopez
.272/.327/.516
.843 OPS, 26.4 VORP
Grade: B

Lopez gives us our best centerfield option since Jose Avila. He only wants a 2 year deal to resign, so we've very heavily considered it even though his injury after being aquired ended his season in 2011. His power from the right side is sorely needed in the middle of the order.

3) CF Tagashashi Takahashi
.312/.363/.447
.810 OPS, 46.8 VORP
Grade: A

Man I love this guy. 56 steals, 52 doubles, this guy is like my ideal #2 hitter behind Mendez. The fact that he's an elite defensive center fielder is just icing on the cake, baby.

4) LF Francisco Mendez
.289/.346/.437
.783 OPS, 47.9 VORP
Grade: A

Speaking of Mendez! The guy who was formerly in the discussion as the best leadoff hitter in the GUBA came back from missing the whole 2010 season and was awesome. 82 steals, 105 runs scored, and very good defense at a manageable price. This is my kinda player!

5) CF Edgar Herrera
.291/.333/.463
.796 OPS, 11.2 VORP
Grade: B

Herrera finally seems to be developing into his enormous potential, though he does have a pretty serious platoon split for a switch hitter. He'll be the primary backup at all 3 positions next year and we're hoping that he can keep on putting up that .800ish OPS over about 120 games or so.

6) CF Nick Cox
.167/.211/.167
.377 OPS, -2.0 VORP
Grade: INC

Cox was just called up because of injuries, and sucks.

[mikev]

Season Wrapup: Starting Pitching

So, in order to hit the PPT bonus, I'm going to rip off Eng's (or is he Cheng? **** if I know) Season Review feature.

1) Infielders
2) Outfielders
3) Starting Pitchers
4) Relievers

1) Jorge Enriquez
22-5, 2.98 ERA, 262 IP
1.05 WHIP, 54.4 VORP
Grade: A

Enriquez was the ace of the best staff in the league. What else can really be said about the 29 year old? He capped off his second straight 20 win season, his second straight 250+ inning campaign, and walked less than 50 batters again. We like him a lot.

2) Ken McKain
17-9, 3.32 ERA, 241.1 IP
1.14 WHIP, 40.3 VORP
Grade: A

Is it possible to have a quiet 17 win season? If it is, McKain did just that. The popular lefty from Oregon continues to thrive after being rescued from Manhattan's Triple-A squad (no, literally, he was in the minors last year. WTF?)

3) Arturo "Big Time" Fernandez
17-10, 3.43 ERA, 249.1 IP
1.17 WHIP, 38.5 VORP
Grade: A

When your number 3 starter would be a #1 on a lot of teams in the league, something is going right with your pitchign staff. Fernandez, formerly a #3 overall pick who was projected to be a HOF caliber pitcher, suffered some talent decreases along the way to the big leagues. That said, if he continues to pitch 250 innings of 3.5 ERA ball for us every year, that's a damn fine # 3 pick in our book.

4) Masahiko 'Griz' Hayagawa
14-8, 3.27 ERA, 225.2IP
1.07 WHIP, 39.1 VORP
Grade: A

Are we sensing a trend here? This entire staff was just so damn good. Hayagawa really put together a solid season, hit a career high in IP, and is likely to get a pretty fat arbitration raise. Ugh.

5) George Adams
9-6, 4.30 ERA, 113 IP
1.42 WHIP, 5.9 VORP
Grade: B

Adams projects to be a solid enough back of the rotation arm, and in half a season he proved to be just that. I'm a little concerned with 30 walks in just over 100 innings, but the rest of his numbers should drop a tad when his BABIP regresses from it's unusually high .327 mark. Hey, he's cheap and he gets the job done.

6) Javier Lugo
4-4, 2.69 ERA, 77 IP
1.05 WHIP, 18.2 VORP
Grade: INC

****ing Lugo. On his way to a fantastic season and then a season ending injury. Rinse, lather, repeat. It's happened like 3 years in a row now. We've got hte GUBA version of Wood/Prior/Harden here, folks.

7) Lindsay Blackley
1-2, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP
0.97 WHIP, 1.9 VORP
Grade: B

Blackley made a couple pretty good starts as an emergency callup. His 15-3 strikeout to walk ratio is a good sign. Look for him to compete with George Adams for the 5th starter role in 2012.

[mikev]

Season Wrapup: Bullpen

So, in order to hit the PPT bonus, I'm going to rip off Eng's (or is he Cheng? **** if I know) Season Review feature.

1) Infielders
2) Outfielders
3) Starting Pitchers
4) Relievers

1) CL Hsin-ta Jin
3-7, 1.91 ERA, 66 IP
42 SV, 0.97 WHIP, 21.9 VORP
Grade: A

The 36 year old hard throwing lefty had another solid season at the end of the Crusaders bullpen. I'm a little bit perturbed with the fact that the guy had 10 friggin decisions this year, and his control is getting a little spotty. He signed a reduced cost extension and will likely move to a setup role next year.

2) CL Luis "Beast Of Burden" Vargas
7-4, 2.27 ERA, 47.2 IP
1SV, 1.11 WHIP, 13.9 VORP
Grade: A

Another easy grade here. Vargas was basically fantastic every time he got the ball, and is going to anchor our bullpen for years. Oh yeah, he's only 20 years old. Expect him to be the closer next season.

3) MR Angel "Dog" Sandoval
7-2, 1.54 ERA, 110.1 IP
3SV, 1.03 WHIP, 41.4 VORP
Grade: A

I'm sensing a trend here. Oh right, we had the best bullpen in baseball. As good a Jin and Vargas were, Sandoval was even better. His ability to go multiple innings (110 IP in 69 G) makes him a fantastic bridge between the starters and Jin/Vargas.

4) MR Jesus Diaz
0-0, 2.45 ERA, 7.1 IP
1.36 WHIP, 2.0 VORP
Grade: B

Diaz was effective in the four games he appeared in. He was in the same spot in the bullpen he's been the last 3 years, was on the roster all season, and yet somehow OOTP chose to use him in only FOUR games. Brilliant.

5) MR Jorge Cisneros
1-0, 2.31 ERA, 11.2 IP
0.86 WHIP, 3.3 VORP
Grade: B

Another awesome reliever who didn't get nearly enough innings.

6) MR Jesus Perez
1-0, 1.17 ERA, 15.1 IP
0.72 WHIP, 6.3 VORP

Apparently it just didn't matter who we ran out in the bullpen this season, they dominated. I like this problem, too many good arms.

[mikev]

Arby Eligible Players and Pending Free Agents

As the 2011/2012 offseason gets underway, the first order of business in California is to sort through the arbitration eligible players, as well as pending free agents.

Here's the list of notable players, as well as what action we plan on taking with each player:

Pending Free Agents

OF Carlos Garza
2011: .260/.338/.465, 38HR, 124RBI, 32.8 VORP[/i]

Garza will not be tendered an extension offer. His current $12.6M salary is manageable, but he is asking for over $16.5M per year for 4 years. Too rich for our blood, considering that he'd be signed through his age 37 season.

OF Joaquin Lopez
2011: .272/.327/.516, 22HR, 64 RBI, 26.4 VORP[/i]

Lopez, like Garza, is asking for a significant raise from his $11M, to just over $15M per season. As he is younger than Garza and plays a premium position, we have made him a counter offer.

SP Javier Lugo
2011: 4-4, 2.69, 77 IP, 18.2 VORP[/i]

Lugo seems to have had his talents drop, and will not be offered a contract. We've got plenty of starting pitching.

Arbitration Eligible Players

SP Jorge Enriquez
2011: 22-5, 2.98, 262 IP, 54.4 VORP[/i]

This dude is gonna cost me. We've made him a long term contract offer in order to avoid arbitration, though.

SP Arturo Fernandez
2011: 17-10, 3.43, 250 IP, 38.5 VORP[/i]

Like Enriquez, Big Time seems to have found his groove as a starter, putting together a pair of solid seasons. We've offered him a long term extension as well.

SS Rafael Lopez
2011: .265/.338/.384, 11HR, 78RBI, 28.2 VORP[/i]

Lopez had an extremely slow start, but finished the year with two solid months in the mid .800 OPS range. The popular 25 year old was offered a multi year deal.

SP Masahiko Hayagawa
2011: 14-8, 3.27, 225 IP, 39.1 VORP[/i]

Hayagawa had a fantastic season as the #4 starter for us, and has been offered a contract at a decent increase over his current salary.

Several other players are arbitration eligible, but at this time we are going to let the arbitration hearings play themselves out.

[mikev]

Arby Deals and A few good extensions...

The Crusaders announced that they have agreed to contracts with several players in order to avoid arbitration.

30 year old outfielder Edgar Herrera inked a 3 year extension, giving him a raise to $570K per season from 2012-2014. Herrera is a plus-plus defensive outfielder with strong, albeit underdeveloped, 4/4/3/4/3 talents. With an .838 OPS against right handers last season, Herrera figures to be at least the bigger half of an outfield platoon or the primary backup at all 3 positions for the next several seasons.

Next to sign on the dotted line was pitcher Masahiko Hayagawa, another 30 year old. "Griz" first accepted a $1.175M contract for 2012 via arbitration, and then inked a 2 year extension paying him $2.3M for each of the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Then, the big fish: ace Jorge Enriquez, after being awarded $3.2M via arbitration, was signed to a 5 year, $38.5M contract, keeping him with the Crusaders through the end of the 2016 season.

Rumors from front office sources state the Rafael Lopez and Arturo Fernandez are also in negotiations with the team, and are relatively close to agreements.

An anonymous source hinted that the Crusaders are focusing on keeping their homegrown talent and focusing less on what is a relatively weak free agent class this offseason.

[mikev]

Crusaders ink Gonzalez

A relatively quiet free agent period for the Crusaders ended with the announcement that outfielder Vicente González had been signed to a 2-year deal paying him just under $5 million per season.

González, who had a down year in 2011 with the Des Moines Kernels, had four solid season with the Green Bay Wolves before last year. In hopes that he basically just hated playing for BaRossi, we felt like it was worth giving him a deal and his salary requirements fit well within our budget

With the departures of outfielders Carlos Garza and Joaqin Lopez, California needed to aquire at least one outfielder to fill out the 25 man roster. It's likely that Gonzalez will primarily hit against left handers, and serve as a backup against righties as well as getting several games in at the DH position.

While his defense isn't what it used to be, the team feels like they can safely hide him in left field occasionally.

[royalpj]

I think he'll be a great addition to your squad.

[mikev]

Cruz Dealt To Louisville

A press release issued by the California Crusaders announced that third baseman Pedro Cruz has been traded to the Louisville Sluggers in exchange for infielder Justin Sargeant and a draft pick.

Immediate responses from the Front Office were unavailable, so plenty of armchair GMs out there have already started to weigh in with thier thoughts:

"I don't get it. Pedro has shown loyalty, signed an extension, had ONE bad year, and gets shipped out of town. This organization is too enamored with winning at all costs and they don't show any respect or loyalty towards the players who help them win!" - Random Blog Post

"I like the move. They moved a reasonably large salary and didn't have to take much back, plus they grabbed an extra draft pick. Cruz was a backup last year anyway after they signed Ng." Billy B, Oakland

"You gotta keep the experienced veterans together. I'm not sure what they were thinking. Pedro Cruz is a guy who knows how to win, he's been there before. I think this move will be a mistake in the long run." Dusty B, Cincinnati

"How old is Cruz? 33? He's still got 4 or 5 good years left, at least. You can be sure that he's on my radar as soon as he hits free agency." Brian S, San Francisco

Crusaders GM Mike Voelker responded in a voicemail after several calls.

"Right now, we feel like we've got a pretty good lineup, and with Pedro being the odd man out we talked it over and agreed that if we could find somewhere that he could go and play every day, he'd be okay with a deal. We put some feelers out, nothing major, and ended up getting together with the Sluggers which Pedro was okay with. I think everybody walks away with a good feeling here. Additionally, we free up some more budget room so if we need to look to make another aquisition we'll have that flexibility."

Last season Cruz hit a disappointing .229/.287/.301, significantly down from his previous four seasons. Sargent wasn't much better, with a .265/.309/.349 campaign. He'll likely be a backup if not optioned to Triple A Oakland.

[karadur]

I hope McHaney throws himself off a cliff. He might be in the minors before April is over.

[mikev]

2012 Pitching Staff Preview

The 2012 California Crusaders pitching staff returns essentially unchanged from last season, in which they were pretty much the best in the league. A brief rundown of how the staff will shape up:

Starting Rotation

1. Jorge Enriquez, RHP
2011: 22-5, 2.98, 262.2 IP, 237 K, 1.05 WHIP

Enriquez is pretty above average. After his second consecutive 20 win season with a VORP over 50, the 29 year old looks to be a Golden Arm contender yet again this season.

2. Ken McKain, LHP
2011: 17-9, 3.32, 241.1 IP, 203 K, 1.14 WHIP

McKain has definitely cemented himself as a #2 starter in the Crusaders rotation. After being aquired midway through the 2010 season, McKain has flourished with a regular rotation spot.

3. Arturo "Big Time" Fernandez, RHP
2011: 17-10, 3.43, 249.1 IP, 179 K, 1.17 WHIP

Fernandez won't ever be the "legit #1" ace type of pitcher he was projected to become when drafted 3rd overall, but if he keeps putting up 250 innings of 3.50 ERA ball I'm not complaining one bit. Look for the 25 year old 3rd year pro to negotiate a longish term extension this year.

4. George Adams, RHP
2011: 9-6, 4.30, 113.0 IP, 69 K, 1.42 WHIP

Adams was called up due to the injury to Javier Lugo in 2011, and performed admirably well as the 5th starter. He grew into his ratings during the season so we actually expect that he'll go around 200 innings with around a 4.00 ERA. We'll take that from a 23 year old 4th starter making the minimum.

5. Lindsay Blackley, RHP
2011: 1-2, 3.92, 20.2 IP, 15 K, 0.97 WHIP

Blackley breaks camp as the team's 5th starter, mostly due to the injury to Hayagawa. He's been getting good strikeout numbers, but he's going to need to keep the hits down if he wants to stay in the big leagues.

Masahiko Hayagawa, RHP
2011: 12-11, 3.88, 209.0 IP, 168 K, 1.17 WHIP

Hayagawa starts the season on the DL, and will likely replace whichever of Adams or Blackley are performing worse when he returns.

The Bullpen

CL Hsin-ta Jin, LHP
2011: 3-7, 1.91, 42 SV, 66.0 IP, 56 K, 0.97 WHIP

The old man just keeps chugging along, racking up saves. He signed a 2 year extension at a discounted rate to keep him around until 2013, but we expect that he'll probably be moved to a setup role sometime between this year and the end of his contract.

SU Luis Vargas, RHP
2011: 7-4, 2.27, 1 SV, 47.2 IP, 44 K, 1.11 WHIP

Here's why Jin won't be the closer by the end of 2013, folks. He's 20 years old, throws 98, and is already in his FOURTH big league season.

SU Angel Sandoval, RHP
2011: 7-2, 1.55, 3 SV, 110.1 IP, 87 K, 1.03 WHIP

Well if the 20 year old Vargas doesn't pan out, the 23 year old Sandoval is just as able to step in and close games. Also in his fourth season, Sandoval has topped 100 IP twice in a row as a reliever.

MR Jesus Diaz, RHP
2011: 0-0, 2.45, 7.1 IP, 3 K, 1.36 WHIP

Yes, Diaz really only pitched 7 innings. No, he wasn't hurt last season. I guess it's a combination of durable starters and awesome relievers ahead of him on the depth chart, but the innings should really be spread out more this season.

MR Jorge Cisneros, RHP
2011: 1-0, 2.31, 11.2 IP, 7 K, 0.86 WHIP

This guy is buried on the depth chart. Just, wow. 24 years old with 3/3/4 talents. I'm going to have to trade off some of my bullpen, cripes.

MR Jesus Perez, RHP
2011: 1-0, 1.17, 15.1 IP, 15 K, 0.72 WHIP

My mopup guy is a 26 year old who has 19 strikeouts in 24 career GUBA innings pitched, and a 1.16 WHIP.

[mikev]

2012 Offense

Heading into the 2012 season, California's offense (3rd in the MBBA in 2011 w/ 4.9 runs per game) has a pretty big bat to replace with the departure of Carlos Garza. Here's how the lineup will look on Opening Day:

LF - Francisco Mendez, LHB
2011: .289/.346/.437, 13 HR, 82 SB, 47.9 VORP

After missing the entire 2010 season to injury, Mendez came back without missing a hell of a lot at the plate. 29 doubles, 13 triples, 82 steals, 105 runs scored. The 31 year old is a fixture at the top of the Crusaders order.

CF - Tagashashi Takahashi, RHB
2011: .312/.363/.447, 4 HR, 56 SB, 46.8 VORP

The 26 year old Japanese center fielder was moved down to the 2 hole with the return of Mendez after spending 2010 as a leadoff hitter. He responded by adding 40 points to his OPS and stealing more bases. We really, really like the top of our order this year.

1B - Jakob Forest, LHB
2011: .313/.403/.482, 21 HR, 27 2B, 58.0 VORP

People were asking "What's wrong with Forest?" during the season. He still hit .300 with 20 homers, had a .400 OBP, and scored 100 times. And it was a down year for him. See what happens when you have a 100 VORP season?

RF - Vincente Gonzalez, RHB
2011: .231/.284/.354, 8 HR, 33 RBI, -4.4 VORP

Gonzalez was signed as an inexpensive free agent to take Carlos Garza's spot in the order. We're taking a gamble and hoping that we'll get the guy with the career .800 OPS and not the guy who had a sub-.300 OBP last year with Des Moines. At this point he's a total butcher in the outfield, so he'll get a lot of rest in late innings for defensive purposes.

DH - Kinnosuke "Sake-Bomb" Sasaki
2011: .238/.311/.363, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 0.5 VORP

Sake-Bomb takes over the DH role again after being benched last year. We're hoping to get a repeat of the 30/100 .867 OPS 2010 campaign from him, but if he gets off to a slow start we may throw Gonzalez in the DH role and let Ed Herrera take over in right field.

2B - Pedro Vargas, RHB
2011: .293/.355/.461, 21 HR, 40 SB, 52.4 VORP

Vargas appears to be a late bloomer, finally putting up solid numbers at age 30. The move back to second base in 2011 seemed to help his bat out quite a bit, so we have no reason to expect less from him in 2012.

SS - Rafael Lopez, RHB[/b]
2011: .265/.338/.384, 11 HR, 31 2B, 28.2 VORP

After an All Star campaign as a rookie in 2010, Lopez got off to a slow start with his new team in 2011 but rebounded nicely to the tune of a .720 OPS. If he can stay at about a .750-.800 OPS, I'll be a happy camper.

C - Carlos Becerra, LHB
2011: .271/.340/.422, 17 HR, 19 2B, 30.5 VORP

That Becerra's VORP was over 30 last season speaks more about the lack of quality hitting catchers in the league than it does about Carlos' hitting abilities. At age 34 in the 2012 season, Becerra's best days are behind him offensively, but he's still a quality defensive catcher and really that's the most important thing.

3B - Fu-quan Ng, RHB[/b]
2011: .218/.289/.303, 5 HR, 9 2B, -2.5 VORP

One of the last scout finds for the Crusaders, Ng was pretty bad with the bat last year after being given a major league contract and a starting spot. The 27 year old is really going to need to step it up if he wants to stay in California.

Bench

OF - Edgar Herrera
2011: .291/.333/.463, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 11.2 VORP

Herrera is a Slick Fielder caliber defensive player at all 3 outfield positions, and is likely to be Vincente Gonzalez' personal defensive substitute. If Sasaki gets off to a slow start, Hererra will likely move to the starting RF position with Gonzalez assuming the DH role.

OF - Augusto Ortiz
2011 (AAA): .353/.384/.431, 27 2B, 35.1 VORP

Ortiz is another outstanding defensive outfielder, and replaces Nick Cox as the 5th outfielder on the team. Currently ranked as the #2 prospect in the Crusaders organization, the 21 year old has no reason to play in Triple A for a 3rd season so we'll see what he can do in the bigs.

IF - Kawanari Takahashi
2011: .125/.243/.250, 1 HR, 1 2B, -1.8 VORP

Defensive specialist, end of story. Less at bats is more for this guy, but he's so good in the field that we can put up with his bat if necessary.

3B - Justin Sargeant
2011: .265/.309/.349, 3 HR, 45 RBI, 8.9 VORP

Sargeant probably won't get much playing time. He's not a very good fielder, he's not a very good hitter anymore, but he has a big league contract so he's on the roster. The good thing is that he makes like 10 million dollars less than the guy he replaced.

C - Chih-tui Pai
2011: .226/.234/.290, 1 HR, 10 RBI, -2.6 VORP

Backup catcher who makes the league minimum. We need to address the catcher position some time this season, because I don't want to have to go buy one in free agency.

[mikev]

2012 Off To A Good Start, Enriquez Injured

The Crusaders got off to a quick start beginning the 2012 season.

Opening Day saw staff ace Jorge Enriquez toss a 120 pitch, 4 hit, 11 strikeout, no walk complete game shutout against the Long Beach Rule 5ers. Ken McKain followed that up with a CGSO of his own, with 8 strikeouts, no walks, and 3 hits allowed. Arturo Fernandez tried for his own complete game, but only managed 8.2 innings with 3 runs allowed to finish the sweep of LBC. I'm going to relish it, because in 2015 Reinholt is going to be whipping my ass all over the field.

Anyway, after a 3-0 start the Crusaders took 3 out of 4 from Vancouver and then the first of a 3 game series against Vegas. Hey, we'll take a 7-1 start anytime.

Jakob Forest was the hitting star of the sim, going 11-28 with 5 extra base hits to start the season. A 1.235 OPS is good, right?

There was some bad news, though. Enriquez, in his second start against Vancouver was well on his way to another win. With 2 outs in the 5th inning he had already struck out 8 Mountie hitters, but after allowing a single to Villarreal, Enriquez immediately grabbed his arm and motioned for the trainer. He was pulled from the game and sent to get an MRI, and before the game was over the report had already come back: Enriquez had strained the tricep muscle in his pitching arm, and would be shut down for at least a month. Damn.

Because Hayagawa isn't eligible to return from the DL yet, the team called up Lorenzo Diaz from Triple A Oakland and will put him in the spot starting role. For 10 days, the Crusaders will just go with a 4 man rotation and then slot in Hayagawa for next sim.

The Next Crusade

4/11 - v. Las Vegas
4/12 - v. Las Vegas

4/13 - @ Manhattan
4/14 - @ Manhattan
4/15 - @ Manhattan

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

4/20 - v. Louisville

[mikev]

Pitchers Scuffle, Offense Goes Completely Nuts

A 6-3 sim has the Crusaders off to a 13-4 start on the 2012 season, with a 1 game lead over surprising Valencia

A quick sim recap started with splitting the last 2 of a 3 game set against Vegas, giving the Crusaders the series victory. After that was a quick road trip, basically 3 games against Manhattan and that was it. We took the first two and then dropped game 3 looking for a sweep. Back home for games against Washington resulted in the offense breaking out, taking game 1 19-2 and then following it with a 17-5 squeaker in game 2. After failing to get the sweep in game 3, California scored double digits for the 3rd time in 4 games to open up a 3 gamer against The Sluggers and finish up the sim.

Obviously the story of the sim was the offense. 78 runs in 9 games is pretty good, right? Jakob Forest continued his insane start, knocking 14 hits over the 9 games, driving in 15 and scoring 11 times himself. For those keeping score at home, his slash stats are .410/.514/.705 after 3 weeks. He's already put up a VORP of 15.2

Shortstop Rafael Lopez is also off to a fantastic start. After a disappointing 2011, Lopez is off to a .339/.379/.610 start, with 7 extra base hits in his first 59 at bats. That's what we were looking for when we traded for him.

Vincente Gonzalez was the big question mark offensively, and he's been nothing short of outstanding so far. .328/.446/.492 with 13 walks and only 10 strikeouts is fantastic, although the power production hasn't quite gotten there yet (7 doubles and 1 homer in 61 abs). We'll deal with it, though.

The pitching, after starting off hot, cooled off a little bit. George Adams is really struggling, and Arturo Fernandez lumped to 2/3/3 talents (**** you OOTP, he's a goddamn 25 year old with 2 straight 200+ inning, 3.50 ERA seasons. THIS IS NOT A NORMAL DEVELOPMENT CURVE), so at this point the offense is going to need to carry the team until Enriquez gets healthy and Shui works out his control issues in AAA.

The Next Crusade

4/21 - v. Louisville
4/22 - v. Louisville

4/24 - @ Vancouver
4/25 - @ Vancouver
4/26 - @ Vancouver

4/27 - @ Long Beach
4/28 - @ Long Beach
4/29 - @ Long Beach

4/30 - @ Los Angeles

[mikev]

Crusaders Drop To Second Place

A bit of a slow sim, and the Crusaders have dropped behind the Las Vegas Hustlers in the MBBA Pacific. After going 5-4 while Vegas managed an 8-1 sim (hey, they played Long Beach, Buffalo, and Vancouver on top of taking 2 of 3 from us), the Crusaders are looking up at another team in the standings for the first time in quite awhile. Quite frankly, it's not a huge surprise. After Vegas mortgaged the farm to get Parkinson and Ware, you had to figure they would be a much better squad. Factor in the slow start that the Crusader pitching staff has gotten off to (hello, 3.75 staff ERA) and there you have it. Strangely enough this year, the offense has carried the team when it was expected to be the weak point.

Anyway, things are looking up. Staff Ace Jorge Enriquez is eligilble to return from the disabled list in 3 days, so things should take a turn for the better having him instead of Diaz on the pitching staff.

In Enriquez' absence, Ken McKain has certainly stepped up his game. In his 9 starts this year, the southpaw has complied a 5-1, 2.39 mark, tossing 71 innings with 57 strikeouts and 17 walks allowed. His sub-1.00 WHIP to go along with 7 Ks/9 will look real nice once Enriquez is up there at the top of the rotation with him.

On the offensive side of things, Forest continues to kill the ball, with a 1.048 OPS and the same number of walks as strikeouts (25), oh and he's leading the league in OBP again (.453). Behind him in the order, Vincente Gonzalez is still on fire, with a .328/.408/.511 start to the year.

The Next Crusade

5/11 - @ Baltimore
5/12 - @ Baltimore
5/13 - @ Baltimore

5/14 - v. New York
5/15 - v. New York
5/16 - v. New York

5/17 - v. Valencia
5/18 - v. Valencia
5/19 - v. Valencia
5/20 - v. Valencia

[mikev]

Crusaders Select Closer 31st Overall

Sure, taking a relief pitcher with a first round draft pick is a fairly uncommon thing to see.

I guess since the first, ninth, sixteenth, ninteenth, and twentieth picks were all relievers (granted, Buffalo intends to have Reicher work out as a starter), there was a bit of a "thin" feel to the draft when relievers were flying off the draft board in round 1 like that.

After coming up with a fairly reasonable list of who might be available at 31, and watching as Petroni (okay, we need to make his nickname "Expecto"), Thompson, and Fleming disappear several picks before we were up, our draft list had gotten down to a couple names still available.

Nicolae Ionescu, a teenage Romanian born outfielder, was the #1 position player left on the list. His high contact rating and (possibly) above average ratings everywhere else, including his cannon arm, were a pretty desireable combination of skills. The only serious knocks against him were his disturbingly slow speed and the fact that he is horribly, horribly underdeveloped. The kid literally has a '1' for every possible hitting rating right now, which is downright frightening and a recepie for disaster. He went to Birmingham, two picks after our selection.

Another foreign outfielder, Dominican 17 year old Cesar Garcia was the 2nd guy we looked at. Good arm, okay speed, bad strikeout talent, and amazing power potential. With the lack of high power guys in the system, Garcia was looking real nice, but the strikeouts and the low development level were a turnoff, given that he'd probably need 4 or 5 seasons before being ready for the bigs.

So this leads us to the guy who we actually took with the 31st pick: German closer Zorg 'Deuce' Göbelbecker, a 6'3, 220lb 18 year old monster.

Zorg?


Nice.

Anyway, check it out: Dude is rated 4/4/4 talents, throws 98mph, and also throws a curveball and two different change ups. Hell, just for fun we'll compare him to Ringo who was taken 15 spots earlier by Chicago. Both are 4/4/4, both throw high 90s, Ringo is a year younger but more developed and has a tick more endurance. Still, very similar pitchers taken in the middle and closer to the end of the round, so in that respect we're happy with the pick.

As the draft continues, the Crusaders have another pick at #67 overall. Don't get too excited, as it's probably going to be a roster filler type of player at that point in this very thin draft.

[mikev]

Enriquez Returns, Vargas Back Next

A 6-4 sim sees the Crusaders sitting at 29-16, however Las Vegas managed a 7-3 mark (hello, 4 game set with Long Beach) to increase their lead to 2 games in the MBBA Pacific.

The sim began by taking 2 out of 3 from Baltimore, followed up by 2 out of 3 from New York before splitting a 4 game series with Valencia.

A quick perusal of the performances page shows us that Jakob Forest is ****ing awesome. Still. 17-for-36, 3 homers, 3 doubles, 9 walks, 29 total bases. That's a fairly above average 10 game span. Sake-Bomb appears to be breaking out of his funk as well, knocking 17 hits of his own last sim and raising his season OPS to .874, although his 36:9 strikeout to walk ratio sucks - if he can keep his OBP at .350 I'm a happy camper.

The big news was the return of staff ace Jorge Enriquez from the disabled list. He had a no decision in his first start, and he was a little rusty allowing 12 hits in 8 innings. He then took the loss in start #2, allowing 4 runs and 8 hits in 7.1 innings. However, he notched 8 strikeouts and only walked 1 batter, so it would seem like he's getting back into the groove, and that's a good thing.

Ken McKain continues to put up an all star caliber season, he is currently 5th in ERA (2.35), 1st in starts (11), innings pitched (88), hits/9 (6.4), batting average against (.200), 3rd in strikeouts (70), and second in OBP against (.253) and VORP (24.6). Keep it up, Kenny boy!

The team will also get reliever Luis Vargas back next sim, which is nice because aside from Jin the bullpen has been fairly mediocre. Likely a sample size alert, though, but it'll be great to have Vargas back in there either way.

The Next Crusade

5/21 - v. Los Angeles
5/22 - v. Los Angeles
5/23 - v. Los Angeles
5/24 - v. Los Angeles

5/25 - v. Long Beach
5/26 - v. Long Beach
5/27 - v. Long Beach

5/28 - @ Des Moines
5/29 - @ Des Moines
5/30 - @ Des Moines

[mikev]

Runnin Down The Draft

As the draft continues on, the Crusaders have added four more youngsters to their farm.

CF Alfredo Ortiz
Age 21
Born 5/1/1991, La Primavera, Columbia
6'1", 160lbs
Bats: Switch Throws: Right

3/4/1/3/3 talent potential

Ortiz, at 21 already a fantastic defensive outfielder (ranked 9/8/7 at LF/CF/RF) and a ridiculously fast runner (9 speed, 10 stealing, 10 baserunning) was selected at the end of round 2, 67th overall. While he's got essentially zero power potential, his plus gap power and plus plus speed translate to a doubles and triples machine. If his contact, eye, and strikeout talents are at the higher end of the 3 range, we're confident that we just drafted our 2014 leadoff hitter and center fielder.

RF Jose Canseco (giggle)
Age 18
Born 12/25/1993, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
5'11", 210lbs
Bats: Left Throws: Left

3/3/3/3/3 talent potential

Canseco is pretty much the definition of an average player. Every talent he has is average, his speed is average, his fielding ratings are average, his arm is average. However, at pick number 76 overall (Round 3 pick 4), if we can nab an average player we're happy.

SP Crawford Tetreault
Age 20
Born 10/04/1991, New York, New York
6'0", 210lbs
Bats: Left Throws: Left

2/3/3 talent potential

We almost took this guy with pick #76, so when he was still on the board at pick #103, we went ahead and nabbed him. He's not a particularly hard thrower, occasionally touching 90, but he's got good endurance and his control and movement are both decent. His upside is probably a #4 starter at best, or a long reliever/mopup type guy, but there is some value there if he can manage to eat innings and not give up a billion runs.

RF Luis Gonzalez
Age 19
Born 02/03/1993, Oranjestad, Aruba
6'5", 175lbs
Bats: Right Throws: Right

3/4/3/2/2 talent potential

At pick #139, at the end of the fourth round, you're hoping to find somebody with a skill that may be useful in the big leagues someday. A guy like Gonzalez, with 8 speed, 10 steals, 10 baserunning, 10 sac bunt, and passable defense at both corner outfield positions (6 rating both fielding and arm at LF and RF), you see a guy who is a potential pinch runner, defensive replacement, late inning type of 5th outfielder on a squad. Couple that with plus gap power, decent pop, and there's a guy who could potentially see time with a big league club.