California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

Crusaders At A Crossroads?

Another sim, another couple games back in the standings. The Crusaders only managed a 5-5 sim, while Vegas went 7-2 and LA went 6-3. Sweet. It's going to take a ****ing monumental run to make up enough ground to earn a playoff berth.

Anyway, the Francisco Reynoso deal has already payed dividends. In 3 starts, Reynoso has tossed 19.2 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. We'll take it, especially considering Blackley lumped to 1/3/4, down from 2/3/5. Great.

Frechette didn't have as solid a Crusader debut as Reynoso did, managing only 8 hits (all singles) in his first sim with the team.

Luckily, the rest of the offense was pretty well on fire. Aucoin (.345/.424/.621), Barro (.500/.571/.583 in limited time), Edwards (.375/.423/.875), Forest (.351/.442/.514), and Gonzalez (.378/.439/.486) all pretty much tore the cover off the ball.

The pitching wasn't horrible, either, aside from George Adams having a rough couple of starts, notably a 2.2 inning 8 run disaster against Vegas.

The short and sweet version is: We probably don't have "it" this year. The hard decision is going to be whether I keep some of these old dudes around another year or two and have another go at the postseason, or look to sell off what's valuable and see if we can rebuild the farm and have a new core group of players in a couple seasons. Right now, I'm just not sure. I'm confident that I didn't give up any real major pieces to get Reynoso/Frechette, so a low dollar extension probably won't be that big of a deal. The guy I'm kinda worried about is Alvarado, who's barely over a .700 OPS with California and wants a ****load of money to extend.

We shall see.

[mikev]

Goodbye Luis, Thanks For The (Teenage) Memories

Sweet! The Crusaders had fantastic 8-1 sim with a win over Vegas, a sweep of Green Bay (suck it, JQ!), a sweep of Buffalo, and then 1-1 with a 10 inning loss to Long Beach (I hate you, Hsin-ta Jin)

Unfortunately, Vegas went 7-2 and LA went 6-2, so I hardly gained any ground. WTF yo. That means we're still 7 games back of the Wild Card, and it pretty much looks like it's not gonna happen.

As far as specific performances, Edwards is really making a push for a starting corner spot next year in the outfield, and with Gonzalez asking for more money that we're willing to give him for his age 37 and 38 seasons, it's probably Edwards time come 2014 anyway. On the season (155 AB), Edwards is hitting .284/.325/.471 with 6 homers and 26 RBI, but he's absolutely mashing righties with a .289/.341/.518 line. We'll take it.

Luis Vargas is dead. The TWENTY ONE YEAR OLD closer, already in his fifth big league season(!), suffered his second talent hit of the year, and third since last October. It started with a slight drop in stuff, bringing him down from 4/5/3 to 3/5/3. It didn't have much of an effect on his on-field performance, and he started the season as the closer. He started the season on fire, allowing no runs in the entire month of April, and overall being very, very good through May and June. He had totaled 41.2 innings, allowed only 6 earned runs, 29 hits, walked 11, and struck out 35. He had 15 saves, 4 wins, and 3 losses. So, what do we see on July 1? This:

Luis Vargas: Stuff Talent Decreases from 3 to 2
Luis Vargas: Overall Stuff Decreases from 7 to 6
Luis Vargas: Stuff versus Lefties Decreases from 7 to 6
Luis Vargas: Control Talent Decreases from 3 to 2
Luis Vargas: Control versus Lefties Decreases from 6 to 5
Luis Vargas: Stuff versus Righties Decreases from 7 to 6
Luis Vargas: Movement Talent Decreases from 5 to 4
Luis Vargas: Velocity Decreases from 93-95 to 91-93 Mph

No injuries. No drop in performance. Nothing to suggest that he should become "okay" instead of "very good" as far as relivers go. Just boom, all of a sudden you can't pitch well anymore. A pitcher with 2/4/2 talents is not likely to be in the big leagues for very long. Well, that was cemented last sim, as we were greeted with this:

Luis Vargas: Control versus Righties Decreases from 6 to 5
Luis Vargas: Overall Control Decreases from 6 to 5
Luis Vargas: Control Talent Decreases from 2 to 1
Luis Vargas: Movement Talent Decreases from 4 to 3
Luis Vargas: Velocity Decreases from 92-94 to 91-93 Mph

Heh. Now it's just comical. Luis Vargas, the 17 year old wunderkind who stepped directly into the big leagues before he was even allowed to vote, had plummeted from a 4/5/4 monster to a 1/3/2 irrevalent player.

So, just for fun, I poked around on the big boards. I recalled a certain post by Markus saying that stats were the catalyst for talent changes. I found a reply to another post by RonCo, who has done a metric ****ton of research on player development for OOTP. Check this out:

Originally Posted by RonCo

This is fun to watch.

BTW .. using stats to trigger talent changes has a certain sense of logic, but is, in the end, backwards and a flawed approach.

Carry on ...

aaaaannnnndddd tthhhhheeennnnn

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

I respectfully disagree

Uh... so stats trigger talent changes, huh? Mr. Vargas, your sub-.200 ERA, 0.39 WHIP, and 4:1 K:BB ratio are just not good enough for the big leagues. Sorry, kid. Thems the breaks. Maybe you and Fortescue can get together and start a bowling league.

[mikev]

Reynoso Extended, Blackley Dead Too

In a quick press release, the California Crusaders announced that they had signed recently aquired starter Francisco Reynoso to a 2-year extension, keeping him with the team through the 2015 season.

Reynoso, currently in the last year of a deal that is paying him $9.25 million, accepted a significant decrease in pay and will receive less than $4 million per season for the duration of the extension. The 36 year old, winner of the 2009 Golden Arm award, is likely to finish his career with California, and currently sports a 9-10, 3.18 ERA overall, has gone 2-0 in 5 starts for the Crusaders with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He's basically been everything the team has expected since being aquired, and should round out the rotation for the next couple of seasons at a very manageable price.

The trade for Reynoso is looking even better in hindsight, as we were greeted with this a sim ago:

Lindsay Blackley: Stuff Talent Decreases from 2 to 1
Lindsay Blackley: Overall Stuff Decreases from 4 to 3
Lindsay Blackley: Stuff versus Lefties Decreases from 4 to 3
Lindsay Blackley: Control Talent Decreases from 5 to 4
Lindsay Blackley: Stuff versus Righties Decreases from 4 to 3
Lindsay Blackley: Velocity Decreases from 90-92 to 87-89 Mph

That's barely AAA caliber. Well, at least we have 2012 to remember Blackley by, right? Sigh. Only 23 years old and his career is over before it was even really started.

OOTP 9, please hurry.

[mikev]

McKain Hurt, Crusaders Season Effictively Over

Well, the season for the Crusaders is effectively over, and there's a good chance that next year was taken along with it.

Reigning Golden Arm winner, staff ace, team leader, helper of children, handsome man, and all around good guy Ken McKain suffered a torn back muscle, ending his season and shelving him for the next 8 months.

Any hope of the playoffs is pretty well shot, and next year isn't looking so hot now either.

As an added bonus, McKain already saw talent lumps, his movement dropping from a 4 to a 3, and his velocity down from 91 to 87-89. Waa-hoo.

So far this season, McKain was 17-6 in 34 starts, witha 2.90 ERA and 232 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched. Consideration for a repeat pitcher of the year award is likely gone, and with his talent drops McKain is now looking like an expensive third starter - assuming he doesn't get ruined while injured.

It wasn't all bad news last sim, though. we were greeted with this before seeing McKain's lump:

George Adams: Movement versus Lefties Increases from 6 to 7
George Adams: Overall Movement Increases from 6 to 7
George Adams: Control Talent Increases from 3 to 4
George Adams: Movement Talent Increases from 3 to 4
George Adams: Movement versus Righties Increases from 6 to 7

Well ****, we had better hurry up and sign this guy long term before he wants 18 million bucks a year. At least he can replace McKain as the #1 next season.

[mikev]

Extensions... And Not.

In putting together some of the pieces for next season (and beyond), the Crusaders announced that shortstop Antonio Alvarado and pitcher George Adams were both signed to multiyear contract extensions, as well as SS/3B Rafael Lopez and reliever Hsin-ta Jin.

Alvarado, 32, signed a two year deal that will pay him just over $13.8 Million each season. An elite level defensive player, Alvarado's bat isn't exactly world beating. His career OPS is just over .750, and he's slightly below that this season. However, his defense is enough to make up for it, as his .986 fielding percentage and range factor of nearly 5 show. Front office personnel with the team stated that the Crusaders were intent on getting Alvarado inked, as the package of players given up to aquire him this season would have been tough to swallow for a rental player.

Adams signed a 3 year deal, buying out all 3 seasons of arbitration. He will earn $2.7 Million per season, and given his talent bump and projected #1/#2 status for next season, it appears that the Crusaders will save a hefty amount of money in the second and third years of the deal. Until he lumps, that is. This season Adams has pitched 234 innings with a 3.99 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and an 18-12 record in 35 starts.

Lopez, the popular 27 year old who converted to third base after the team traded for Alvarado, still had two years of arbitration left. The team elected to give him a raise next season and buy out a free agent year, keeping him with California until the end of his age 30 season. Lopez is having a bit of a down season, but it's mostly due to a horrific month of August, and we expect him to keep putting up a .750 OPS for the next few years.

Jin was basically extended to fill the hole left by the death of Luis Vargas, who is likely to be released by the team in order to avoid arbitration. Jin, at age 38 the oldest player on the team, is still reasonably effective with 11 saves and a 2.54 ERA. His high strikeout rate should allow him to remain effective in limited setup roles, and he is only getting a 100 thousand dollar pay increase.

While the team continues to negotiate with Javier Gallegos, it appears that the slugger's contract demands are going to be more than California is willing to pay. The other power hitter the team had left, Michel Frechette, has indicated that he wants to test free agency and will not listen to any contract offers from the team. I'm not really sure what the market for 35 year olds with ****ty OBPs that can't hit lefties are, but I guess he's determined to find out. He does have 25 homers though, and chicks dig the longball, so I'm sure somebody will give him a deal.

[mikev]

Forgettable 2013 Finally Over

Well, the 2013 season for the Crusaders is in the books, but it's a pretty forgettable one.

A 90-72 record isn't horrible, but when that leaves you 19 games back of first place and 11 games out of the Wild Card, things look a little bit more bleak. The win total is a dropoff from last year's 95 win campaign, so the team is kinda trending the wrong direction.

The team MVP this year, surprisingly not Jakob Forest, is leadoff man and left fielder Francisco Mendez. Mendez was the only player to finish the season hitting over .300 (Gonzalez was traded before the year was over), was one of two guys to finish with an .800 OPS (Forest the other), but led the team in At Bats, Runs, Hits, Total bases, Triples, and led the entire GUBA with 108 stolen bases - the third highest total in GUBA history. Once written off for dead (2010, 13 month long injury), Mendez signed a cheap 3 year extension with the team and has more than paid for himself. The 32 year old has one year remaining on his current contract.

On the mound, Jorge Enriquez was given the team's Outstanding Pitcher award. The 30 year old, another victim of lumps from injury, has rebounded back nicely and appears to be the #1/#2 starter again next year. Enriquez finished the year 20-14 with a 3.16 ERA, nearly threw 300 innings, and had a 1.16 WHIP with a 236:63 strikeout to walk ratio. With Ken McKain relegated to 4th starter abilities (at best), the team will rely heavily on Enriquez, George Adams, and veteran Francisco Reynoso to carry the staff in 2014.

In contract news, youngster Angel Sandoval was inked to a 3 year extension paying him just over $6 million annually. Sandoval was set to become a free agent, and likely would have fetched more than that on the open market, but the team was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep him with the Crusaders. Obviously now he's going to lump to **** like Luis Vargas did, because that's what realistic development and career curves are all about. Guys in their early 20s just forget how to play baseball, right smack in teh middle of a fantastic season. Totally normal.

With this coming offseason, the Crusaders are going to have some holes to fill, but mainly in positions where it won't take a ton to aquire somebody. A third or fourth starter and a designated hitter are the two biggest needs, but with a ton of money coming off the books we'll be able to look for a free agent or two, hopefully without having to overspend for somebody that's not very good. I haven't paid much attention to the potential free agent market, though, so who knows.

Editors Note: Stay Tuned, as the 2013/2014 offseason features a switch to OOTP 9, and hopefully less ****ty development like Vargas!

[mikev]

2013/14 Offseason News And Notes


It's been a relatively busy offseason for the Crusaders, even though there haven't been a great deal of additions to the team.

Gone to free agency are outfielder Michel Frechette, 3B/DH Javier Gallegos, and reliever Jesus Diaz.

It was also the end of an era in Crusader land, as injured starter Ken McKain was selected to be released as part of the GUBA-wide financial bailout. While we would have loved to keep him around, it just didn't make sense to pay over $18 million for the next two seasons to a guy who was going to be a 4th starter at best.

The team did address its lack of power, as center fielder Tagashashi Takahashi was sent to the Sao Paulo Surf in exchange for Anibal "The Wall" Santos. What Santos lacks in batting average compared to Takahashi, he more than makes up for in power. He's also easily Takahashi's equal defensively, and could very well be a better base stealer.

California also selected 1B/DH Tomomi Kikuchi in the Rule 5 draft. Kikuchi has huge power potential and makes above average contact, and could be a valuable slugger off the bench. He absolutely obliterated AAA last year, with a .335/.393/.590 line, 34 homers, and a 61.1 VORP. How well that will translate to the GUBA remains to be seen, but the club thought that it would be worth a roster spot.

In an effort to bolster the weakened pitching staff, potentially long term, starter Cahya Nasution was signed as a free agent at a manageable $750K per season for two years. His 3/3/3 talents are a bit underdeveloped, but I think if he's brought along slowly he could potentially be a good signing and the price was right.

The second free agent signing was 32 year old slugger Cristian Ruvalcubu, a career Los Angeles Quake who was sent to the Bogota Toros at the trade deadline last season. The big righty has a career .844 OPS and still obliterates left handed pitching, and will make 13.5 million per season over his two year contract.

With that, its likely that the Crusaders are just about done in the free agent market, as getting Jakob Forest inked to an extension is the primary focus of the rest of the offseason.

[mikev]

Forest Signs Extension

The Crusaders issued a press release late yesterday announcing that first baseman Jakob Forest had been signed to a three year contract extension.

The deal gives Forest a yearly salary increase from $18.25 million per season to just over $19 million, and includes a $1.5 million incentive if Forest wins the Batter of the Year award.

Last season Forest had, by his standards, a down year. He hit under .300 for only the second time in his career and also had an OBP under .400 for only the second time. That said, he was still immensely valuable to the team with a VORP over 50, and was the team leader with 21 home runs and 103 RBI.

He's been the best all around player on the team for awhile now, and hopefully with some protection in the lineup in the form of Ruvalcubu and Santos, we'll look forward to a few more seasons of stellar production from Forest.

With the major expiring contract taken care of, the team can now look into negotiations with outfielder Francisco Mendez, who is likely to be asking for a significant pay increase over his $3.2M salary from his last contract extension.

Anibal Santos is also a pending free agent, but the team has decided to wait until the regular season has gotten underway to determine whether or not he will be able to continue putting up the numbers he's had the last several seasons.

[mikev]

2014 Pitching Preview

The Crusaders 2014 pitching staff doesn't look quite as strong as it does in previous years. There are really only two starting pitchers who are above average, and the bullpen is still solid but no longer spectacular. That said, here's the preview.

Rotation

1. Jorge Enriquez, RHP



2013: 20-14, 3.16 ERA, 290.2 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 53.4 VORP

Enriquez returns to the #1 slot in the Crusaders rotation due to the loss of Ken McKain. The 31 year old had a fantastic 2013, and while he may not be as out-of-this-world dominant as some of the other aces in the league, there's something to be said about a guy who can throw almost 300 innings of above average ball year in and year out.

2. George Adams, RHP



2013: 18-15, 4.03 ERA, 254.2 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 20.7 VORP

Adams, the team's 4th starter most of last season, was the recepient of a healthy talent bump toward the end of the 2013 campaign. He's the Crusaders Ace-In-Waiting, and we're expecting much better numbers from him due to his talent increase.

3. Francisco Reynoso, RHP



2013: 14-11, 3.29 ERA, 251.1 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 44.6 VORP

Reynoso is ageless. The big Cuban (6'6, 203) has basically done the same thing every season he's pitched - win about 15 games, have an ERA around 3.5, and chew up innings without walking a lot of guys. He's shown no signs of slowing down, and he's signed cheap for the next two years. We expect that he'll be more valuable than his contract.

4. Cahya Nasution, LHP



2013 (A): 7-9, 4.17 ERA, 144.2 IP, 1.49 WHIP, 11.7 VORP

Nasution was given a low dollar contract in the hopes that he makes strides in Spring Training and starts to realize some of the potential he's got. His ceiling is likely a #3 starter, but if we can get him there he's a cheap option and a better option than a guy like Blackley or Fernandez. Honestly, I'm not too excited with my 4th starter possibilites this year, and I think it could really hamper the team.

Bullpen

CL. Angel Sandoval, RHP



2013: 3-4, 15 SV, 3.29 ERA, 120.1 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 20.2 VORP

Sandoval will assume the closer role this year for the Crusaders. The 24 year old just inked a 3 year contract extension, so we're assuming he'll probably lump now. Anyway, his innings pitched will probably go down a bit, but he'll be used as the super closer so we can leverage as much as we can from him.

SU. Hsin-ta Jin, LHP



2013: 1-4, 15 SV, 2.44 ERA, 44.1 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 11.9 VORP

Old? Check. Past his prime? Probably. Lefty who can still run it up at 95 mph? Damn right. Jin has seemingly been around forever, and while he's not as good as he used to be, he's still a solid option in the bullpen and at just under $4M he's friggin underpaid

SU. Luis Vargas, RHP



2013: 5-5, 15 SV, 1.44 ERA, 56.1 IP, 1.01 WHIP, 27.7 VORP

Look at those stats. Then look at his ratings. Then cry. No, he wasn't injured last year. He was friggin dominant, a 21 year old monster who had been IN THE BIG LEAGUES SINCE AGE 17. Then, one day, he forgot how to pitch and his talents dropped from 4/5/4 down to 2/3/1. Awesome. I'm going to go throw up now.

[mikev]

2014 Offense Preview

Ok, we covered the pitchers - let's go over the doods who are gonna be hitting the ball this year.

1. Francisco Mendez, LF



2013: .317/.355/.463, 15hr, 57rbi, 108sb, 62.4 VORP

Mendez, 32, is cementing his position as one of the best leadoff hitters in the GUBA's short history. He set a career high in steals last year, gets on base at an above average clip, and is a career .300 hitter. I'm kind of afraid of how much money he's going to want to extend, because he took a dirt cheap $3.2M per year deal when he was injured in 2011.

2. Anibal "The Wall" Santos, CF



2013 (Sao Paulo): .270/.353/.493, 31hr, 77rbi, 74sb, 54.2 VORP

Santos, aquired in a center fielder swap for Takahashi this offseason, will be slotted into the 2nd spot in the batting order. Along with Mendez, they should make for a hell of a pair of table setters for the big boppers in the heart of the order.

3. Jakob Forest, 1B



2013: .295/.394/.460, 21hr, 103rbi, 29 2b, 96bb, 50.9 VORP

Forest really doesn't need any introduction. The guy is a beast, and while he's potentially heading toward his decline years he's going to be an elite hitter for at least the next couple seasons.

4. Cristian Ruvalcubu, DH



2013 (LA/Bog): .269/.337/.469, 15hr, 64rbi, 24 2b, 21.5 VORP

Ruvalcubu wanted desperately out of LA last year, as evidenced by his 150 point increase in OPS after being dealt to Bogota. We're betting that he'll be closer to the .280/.350/.500 he was as a Toro than the .240/.300/.400 guy he was as a Quake last year. I hope we're right.

5. Tommy Aucoin, C



2013: .274/.317/.405, 12hr, 67rbi, 25 2b, 22.7 VORP

Aucoin saw a nice 100 point increase in his OPS from 2012 to 2013. He's maxed out on his contact, power, and avoid K ratings, but still has some room to grow in the plate discipline department. I figure putting him 5th in the order will give him plenty of opportunities to move guys over and drive in runs, since he's fantastic at putting the ball in play.

6. Rafael Lopez, 3B



2013: .243/.331/.393, 11hr, 54rbi, 27 2b, 21.0 VORP

Lopez had a down season in 2013, but his ratings didn't suffer and he still plays good enough defense to make him worth playing. If he gets his OPS up above .750 this year, I'll be happy.

7. Mark Edwards, RF



2013: .251/.300/.402, 7hr, 27rbi, 8 2b, 5.4 VORP

After being a backup for most of last season, Edwards finds himself the likely starter in right field for the Crusaders this season. Good defense, good power, and decent on the basepaths. After a 1.000 OPS season in AAA last year before his callup, Edwards needs to step up and prove that he belongs in the bigs for good this year.

8. Antonio Alvarado, SS



2013: .263/.313/.415, 11hr, 68rbi, 34 2b, 22.9 VORP

Alvarado, aquired from Valencia at the trade deadline last year before signing a 2 year extension, is the reigning Platinum Glove winner at shortstop. His defense is so good that even at a .730 OPS he's a plenty valuable piece on the team. Basically the plan is to hit him 8th, let him save 50 runs per season with the glove, and count everything he does with the bat as a bonus. He's that good on D.

9. Robinson Leyva, 2B



2013: .274/.306/.389, 9hr, 49rbi, 27 2b, 15.4 VORP

Leyva had a pretty bad sophomore slump in 2013, after an insane 70 game callup where he hit .343 the year before. I was wary of calling him up at the time because the only talent that he'd really developed was his contact, and he hasn't made much progress over the last year. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that he'll make some huge strides during Spring Training, because we could really use another .850 OPS type of guy in the lineup like he was in 2012.

[fifthbetle]

Once again, you see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away.

[mikev]

Slow Start For Crusaders

One month down, and the Crusaders picked up a bit from their slow 3-6 start to finish April with an 11-11 record.

It's been a rough first couple weeks for some of the big guys in the middle of the lineup. Jakob Forest has been miserable, though he picked things up over the last week by going 8-22 with a couple doubles. The same can be said for Cristian Ruvalcubu, Francisco Mendez, and Rafael Lopez.

Really the only guy pulling his weight with the bat is Mark Edwards. The youngster has gotten off to a great start this year, hitting .235/.372/.613 with 6 homers and 18 RBI in his first month as a full time starter.

On the pitching side of things, we've actually been okay. Enriquez has been as reliable as ever, though he's been pegged with 3 losses already. The 31 year old has already tossed 3 complete games (one in losing fashion) and has a 2.12 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

Ace-In-Waiting George Adams has also been solid, going 4-1 over his 6 starts in April with a 3.70 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. As long as he continues to put up above average numbers, we're content with letting him sit in the #2 spot in the rotation until his ratings catch up with his talents.

The bullpen, much maligned in a preseason preview, is currently 3rd in the MBBA with a 2.65 ERA. Led by Angel Sandoval and his 4 saves and 1.86 ERA, Old Man Jin who is still effective in a setup role, and The Corpse Of Luis Vargas who is still getting guys out - for now, until his ratings drop to match his talents - I'm still confident that the pitchign staff overall will be just fine.

The Next Crusade

5/2 - v. Los Angeles
5/3 - v. Los Angeles
5/4 - v. Los Angeles

5/5 - @ Long Beach
5/6 - @ Long Beach

5/7 - @ Valencia
5/8 - @ Valencia
5/9 - @ Valencia

5/10 - @ Las Vegas

[mikev]

Injury Shelves Adams For 6 Weeks

Another sub-.500 sim for the Crusaders sees the team sitting on a 15-16 overall record, and a 4 game defecit in the MBBA Pacific behind Vegas and Long Beach.

The sim got underway with a shutout at the hands of Los Angeles en route to losing 2 of 3 from the defending MBBA Champs, before splitting a pair with Long Beach and losing 2 of 3 to Valencia. The sim ended with the Crusaders taking the first game of a two game set with Vegas.

The top performer of the sim was Franciso Mendez, who hit .444/.483/.593 in his 7 games, grabbing 16 total bases and swiping 7 bags. Jakob Forest and Cristian Ruvalcubu were the only other regulars to post an OPS better than .800 over the past 10 days. Needless to say, the offense is struggling.

On the mound, Joshua Pickup was the star of the sim, tossing a pair of 8 inning victories, allowing only 5 runs with 8 strikeouts and 5 walks in his 16 innings of work.

More importantly, however, was the injury to George Adams. He was pulled in the second inning of his start against Long Beach and will miss 6 weeks with a damaged meniscus. Luckily he did not take a talent hit, though he did suffer a slight ratings drop in the Stuff category.

Overall, I think we're going to be just fine if the pitching can hang in there long enough for the bats to wake up. We currently have the #1 ERA in the MBBA (3.31), though that's likely to change with the Adams injury and having to replace him with a guy like Nasution, who we are trying to stash at the back of the bullpen until his ratings move a bit.

I'm a little wary calling up Salinas for a couple of starts, because I don't think 5/6/5 ratings are worthy of a rotation spot when you're talking about a 3/3/4 talent starter that is likely to be in the rotation within the next 2 years, but we'll see how the next 10 days go.

I'm not really optimistic right now.

The Next Crusade

5/11 - @ Las Vegas

5/13 - @ Jackson
5/14 - @ Jackson
5/15 - @ Jackson

5/16 - @ Greenville
5/17 - @ Greenville
5/18 - @ Greenville

5/19 - .v Manhattan
5/20 - .v Manhattan

[mikev]

Crusaders Climb Over .500

Sim Results: 6-3

0-1 @ Las Vegas
3-0 @ Jackson
1-2 @ Greenville
2-0 vs Manhattan

Nice to get on the right track, the team is over .500 now and 3 games out of first.

The Numbers

51 runs scored, 24 runs surrendered.
Pitching: 2.31 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, .256 Opp Average
Batting : .282 BA, 12 HR, 51 RBI, .798 OPS, 10/14 SB

News and Notes

Cristian Ruvalcubu was injured and will miss another 7 weeks. ****.

Star of the Sim

Jakob Forest


Well, look who decided it would be a good time to start hitting the crap out of the ball! That is, if 14-32 with 2 homers, a double, a triple, 4 walks, and only 1 strikeout is good. 1.257 OPS. That's good, right?

Honorable mention goes to Anibal Santos for his ..324/.390/.568 performance in 37 ABs last sim.

Chump of the Sim

Cahya Nasution


Look, I know the dude went 1-1 and had an ERA under 3.00, but he only threw 12 innings and had a ****ing 1.60 WHIP. That's bad. Real bad... Honorable mention to Alvarado who somehow has forgotten how to hit, like, completely.

My Thoughts

The MBBA-P is going to be a tight race. I really hope the offense wakes up, but Ruvalcubu getting hurt isn't going to help that. There's no way Antonio Alvarado should be hitting as bad as he is.

Development Report

Two interesting tidbits here.

Tomomi Kikuchi: Power Talent Decreases from 5 to 4. Well, there goes that Rule 5 flyer. I'll probably send him back.
Rafael López: Third Base Rating Increases from 7 to 8. Awwww yeah.

The Next Crusade

1 vs Manhattan
3 vs Valencia
3 vs Long Beach
2 @ Los Angeles

[mikev]

Crusaders Enter Tie For First

Three weeks into June, and the Crusaders have pulled into a three-way tie for first place in the MBBA Pacific with a 40-28 record.

With one of the worst offenses in the MBBA, the Crusaders have been doing it with pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Jorge Enriquez has been masterful yet again this year, currently sporting an 11-5 record with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Francisco Reynoso has been holding his own, pretty much doing exactly what we expected from a 3rd/4th starter in a 4 man rotation with an ERA right around 4.00 and a 1.21 WHIP. There have been two big surprises though, starting with Joshua Pickup, who has been nothing short of brilliant with an ERA below 3 and a 1.17 WHIP -- obviously the OOTP gods saw it fit to injure him for 6 weeks, so we'll have him back partway through July. Next, Lindsay Blackley has caught lightning in a bottle, going 3-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in his 6 starts to replace Pickup in the rotation. Sure, he's not likely to keep it up, but if we can squeeze another couple of good sims out of him I'd be a happy camper.

Offensively, it's been Jakob Forest as usual (.897 OPS, 25.3 VORP, 23 XBH), Francisco Mendez (44 SB, 10.9 VORP), and then everybody else. Mark Edwards is the only regular besides Forest with an OPS over .800, and there are heaps of guys with OBPs below .300. This is NOT a mikey-style offense.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that Ruvalcubu comes back and remembers how to hit righties, because he's absolutely shredding against LHP (1.100 OPS) but miserable against RHP. It's gonna hurt to make him a $15M platoon player, but dammit I need to find me some offense

The Next Crusade

6/21 - v. Jackson
6/22 - v. Jackson

6/24 - v. Chicago
6/25 - v. Chicago
6/26 - v. Chicago

6/27 - @ Baltimore
6/28 - @ Baltimore
6/29 - @ Baltimore

6/30 - v. Valencia

[mikev]

July First = 1 Game Back

The Crusaders finished up July going 6-3, good for second place in the MBBA Pacific - 1 game behind Vegas.

The stars of the sim were the pitchers. Again. Led by Enriquez, who made 3 starts, tossed 23.2 innings with a .171 BAA and a 0.85 WHIP, then followed by Reynoso and his 2 starts with a 0.67 WHIP (both wins) and 1.10 ERA, then finished up with Blackley who continues to defy odds and pitch out of his mind - 1-0 in 2 starts, tossing 15.1 innings without allowing an earned run and tossing out a 1.04 WHIP. Oh, and Angel Sandoval was awarded the Pitcher of the Month award for June. 5-0, 6 saves, 0.64 ERA if ya need him. We get Pickup back next sim, too.

Yes, I love my pitching staff.

The offense also has started to show signs of waking up. Antonio Alvarado went off last sim with a .345/.387/.517 line. Robinson Leyva seems to have remembered how to hit, at least for a sim, putting up a .909 OPS with a couple homers and a couple doubles, and even Tommy Aucoin is hitting like he should be with his ratings, going 10 for 30 last sim.

Ruvalcubu will finally return from his injury next week, but we're probably going to limit him to a platoon role so that he can work his way back into the lineup. Combining him with a power bat vs RHP to cover the DH slot may be worthwile, albeit expensive. The team continues to look into other options.

The Next Crusade

7/1 - v. Valencia

7/2 - v. Vancouver
7/3 - v. Vancouver

7/4 - v. Los Angeles
7/5 - v. Los Angeles
7/6 - v. Los Angeles

7/8 - v. Greenville
7/9 - v. Greenville
7/10 - v. Greenville

[mikev]

Back Into First Headed Towards All Star Break

As July moves on, the Crusaders remain neck-and-neck with Las Vegas - both teams currently holding a 53-33 mark, and Los Angeles is always looming with a 49-37 record, 4 games behind.

The sim got off on the wrong foot with a 9-5 loss to Valencia. Then the Crusaders rolled off 5 consecutive wins by taking a 2 game set from Vancouver and then bouncing Los Angeles back to SoCal after sweeping three games.

Finally, Rhan's Drunken Morons came into town, promptly receiving a 9-2 asswhooping. I'm pretty sure the Moonshiners then sent a bunch of booze to the home team, because they lost the next game before sobering up and taking the series.

As it seems to be the case every sim this year, the offense was below average and the pitching was absolutely fantastic. Lindsay Blackley continued his ridiculous season, going 8.1 innings in each of his starts and allowing only 2 earned runs and a .153 batting average against.

On offense, Rafael Lopez was the star of the sim, going 9-27 with a pair of doubles and a triple. Anibal Santos also continued to show signs of heating up, hitting .323/.371/.484.

In other news, Joshua Pickup returned from his injury - and suffered a lump to his Stuff talent. How that makes sense when he went 6 weeks without any ratings movement AT ALL during his stint on the DL, I'll never know.

Cristian Ruvalcubu also returned finally, and will primarily be used in a platoon role now with Eduardo Gonzales given some at bats against right handed pitchers. Depending on how Gonzalez reacts to consistent playing time, he could move to full time catching with Tommy Aucoin sliding to the DH role to improve infield defense that much more.

Up next: The All Star Game, in which Jorge Enriquez has a shot at being selected the Starter, and Angel Sandoval has already wrapped up his selection in the bullpen. It's likely that those will be the only two Crusaders All Stars this year.

The Next Crusade

7/11 - @ Buffalo
7/12 - @ Buffalo
7/13 - @ Buffalo

7/14 to 7/17 - ALL STAR BREAK

7/18 - v. New York
7/19 - v. New York
7/20 - v. New York

[mikev]

September Arrives....

So it's been awhile since we've had a recap of the Crusaders franchise. Matter of fact, our last TN was just before the all star break. Ouch.

Well, here we are on September first, with a record of 79-51. One game behind Los Angeles in the MBBA-P, and two ahead of Vegas in both the MBBA-P and the Wild Card race. (I should point out that the top 3 teams in the division have 80, 79, and 77 wins. Much better than the FIBB Euro's 78, 78, and 74. Hah!)

Jorge Enriquez was given the pitcher of the month award in August. He went 5-0 with a 3.04 ERA, and currently sports a 20-8, 2.64 mark on the season with a 1.13 WHIP in 249 innings pitched. Along with Robbie Ware and MacCabe, Enriquez is probably on the short list of nominees for the Golden Arm Award this season.

On the offensive front, we still kinda suck. Everybody is kinda having a down year, even Forest who is only hitting .282/.393/.424. His lack of power this season has been a little disturbing, and it's mostly due to his uncharacteristic struggles against RHP (.772 OPS).

Francisco Mendez was signed to a two year extension paying him just over $16 million for the next two seasons. His numbers aren't as crazy as what they were the last couple seasons, but he's still got a good chance at 100 steals again this year and is a more than adequate leadoff hitter. He's also a plus-plus defender in left field. We're hoping he'll play out his last two seasons and then retire a Crusader after turning 35.

OH, we made a deadline trade, too! Third baseman Jason Pope was acquired from the Sydney Roos in exchange for minor leaguer Alfonso Encarnacion and a draft pick. Pope is 26, cost controlled, and has hit .330/.370/.521 since being traded for. Oh hell yeah! The move resulted in Antonio Alvarado moving to second base and Robinson Leyva getting benched. He'll see a lesser role on the team until his hitting comes back to where it was in previous seasons.

Aside from those couple points, there isn't really a whole lot to add. The team is just kinda crusing along, great pitching and crappy hitting is apparently the MO for the season. Who am I to argue?

[royalpj]

Good Luck down the stretch...hopefully Pope can give you the offensive punch you need.

[mikev]

Kirkham Acquired For Stretch Run



In a last minute waiver trade with the Green Bay Wolves, the Crusaders acquired 1B/DH Gilbert Kirkham by simply agreeing to take on his full $2M per season contract through next season.

Kirkham, a 32 year old lefty, had his playing time diminish with Green Bay but is still a fairly productive hitter against right handed pitchers. In 124 at bats this year, he's got a .274/.341/.460 line against them -- a significant increase over the .274/.317/.369 that current DH vs RHP Eduardo Gonzales has been providing.

With the Crusaders currently at 83-56 and tied with Las Vegas for 2nd in the MBBA-P and the Wild Card lead, any extra offense that we can get right now, we'll take. With the best pitching in the league, we need to do all we can to scratch across as many runs as possible. The combination of Kirkham vs righties and Ruvalcubu vs lefties should help.