California Dreamin' - The GUBA's California Crusaders

[mikev]

After a reasonably well-viewed dynasty in Chronicles of the Monty Brewster Baseball Association, I thought I'd go back to the single team dynasty for the team I run, the same way the Chronicles started. This time I won't evolve it into a full league dynasty (you can go to the GUBA board to read all the stuff there anyhow) but it's a good way to get interest drummed up and to show people how kickass fictional leagues are.

The GUBA is the byproduct of two now defunct leagues, the MBBA and the FIBB. The two leagues essentially combined, and now are each a division in the GUBA, a 36 team superleague with 6 divisions of 6 teams each.

The Crusaders are in the MBBA Pacific division of the GUBA, along with the Las Vegas Hustlers, Long Beach Surfers, Los Angeles Quakes, Valencia Stars, and Vancouver Mounties.

We pick up our story in the 2008 offseason, after the inagural season of the GUBA was completed with the Taipei Tigers beating the Los Angeles Quakes in the world championship. The Crusaders are fresh off a pretty bad first season, losing 98 games though not finishing last in the division (that would be Vancouver).

Still, the Crusaders are a young team with lot of undeveloped talent, and I didn't build this franchise to win right away.

[mikev]

Rule 5 and a little bit about Free Agency

Rule 5 selections

The Crusaders viewed the Rule 5 draft as an opportunity to grab a guy with some promise that might not be quite ready to contribute full time quite yet. With a realistic view of not being a contender next season, it wasn't important to find a starter or anything.

After Auckland selected Enrico Vargas first overall, and Birmingham and Vancouver both passed, California selected outfielder Shuji Suzuki from the Havana organization.

Suzuki, a native of Fukuoka, Japan, is considered a gold glove caliber outfielder at all three positions and is a speedster who stole 24 bases and was caught 7 times in Triple-A last season.

His hitting left quite a bit to be desired. In short, it sucked pretty bad. However, as a defensive replacement/pinch runner type of player Suzuki should get plenty of opportunities to use his speed to help the Crusaders in 2008. Team scouts feel that he could develop into a solid mid-.700 OPS player, and at age 25 he has plenty of time left to do so.

Suzuki will essentially be filling the roster spot vacated by free agent Bill Jones, who elected to test the market for some reason.

In the second round, the Crusaders were hoping to snag a pitcher who could prove to be serviceable in the bullpen. Initially they had been looking hard at Dutchman Wilfried Fonkert, but he was selected by Mexico City at the end of round 1. We also considered Noaoya Suzuki and Waldo Jacobs, both of whom were taken in Round 2, but eventually scouts decided that neither player had high enough upside to warrant the pick.

Free Agency

We'd be doing a disservice if we didn't at least ask Scott van Houwelingen what it would cost the team to aquire his services. The 27 year old doubles machine is looking for a long term contract, and believe it or not we actually have enough available budget room to put in an offer. He would be one hell of an upgrade over departed Juan Velasquez, who the team contacted about an extension before the season ended only to be denied by the greedy bastard with the .758 OPS.

The only player that we sorta regret losing is our former closer Shou-chien Sun. Sun was asking for over 4M per season in an extension however, which just felt a little to rich for a guy with almost as many walks as strikeouts and a WHIP of nearly 1.50. Soft tossing control artist Pedro Cisneros will most likely assume the closing duties.

We also have several other offers out, mostly for guys who still have soem development to do, but if we get a few of them and they show some improvement we believe that the Crusaders should be a pretty good team in the next couple seasons.

[mikev]

A few minor free agents...

The Crusaders announced a couple of minor free agent signings today.

The first was a report of reliever Stan Gregory, who was actually signed just over 10 days ago to a $1.1M deal for the 2008 season. Gregory, a 27 year old Massachusetts native, played last season with the Bogota Toros going 6-5 with 2 saves and a 4.63 ERA in 95 innings. The southpaw throws in the low 90s and is a lefty killer, allowing a mere .601 OPS against, with 26 strikeouts and only 6 walks. With the endurance to pitch multiple innings if needed, Gregory should certainly help out what was a truly dreadful Crusaders bullpen last season. Angel Castillo was optioned to the minors to clear room for Gregory on the roster.

The second free agent inked by GM Mike Voelker was starting pitcher Lorenzo Diaz, a 21 year old right hander from Mexico (ping: Girard). Diaz, found by team scouts, is projected to be a #2/#3 starter at best, however he will slot into the back of the rotation in California as he is allowed to develop. Diaz is signed to a 2 year, 2.47 million dollar deal, which in the grand scheme of things is really not a bad price to find out if he can become a solid major league starter.

Shortly after announcing the signing of Diaz, the Crusaders also announced that 25 year old shortstop Tony Leslie had been signed to 2 year contract paying him $2 million per season. Leslie will be penciled in as the starting shortstop to open the 2008 campaign. Leslie is a slick fielding speedster, who tends to hit to all fields with a little bit of pop (13 of his 37 hits last season were for extra bases). Truthfully he wasn't very good with the bat, but he will mainly be depended on for his defense and his speed when he is on the basepaths. By signing Leslie, the team has taken itself out of the running for the services of former Crusader Joe Ross, who had expressed interest in returning to the team during the offseason but would not budge on his dollar amount required for a contract.

"We like Joe a lot, and certainly wish him the best in signing a deal with somebody," said Voelker. "It looks like it probably won't be with us now, but we like Tony a lot. He's younger so he's still got some work ahead of him to get to the level we'd like to see offensively, but I don't see any reason why he won't be in the running for the Platinum Glove Award year in and year out. He'll be playing short, and only short here. We won't bounce him around into the outfield and first base like he was last year in San Juan"

Rumors have circulated that the Crusaders still have offers out to several players, possibly another outfielder after losing the van Houwelingen sweepstakes to the Bogota Toros.

[mikev]

2008 Crusaders Starting Rotation

Entering the GUBA's sophomore season, the Crusaders pitching staff has seen some improvement that should hopefully translate to better performance on the field. Here are the starters:

1. Andy MacGregor



2007: 8-10, 3.01, 1.11 WHIP, 44.6 VORP

MacGregor was a legit ace last season, though his W-L record obviously doesn't reflect that. Not much you can do when you are on a 98 loss team, I suppose. Andy was Top 5 in starts, ERA, and VORP last season and had an impressive 3.65-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. He'll be the anchor of a relatively young starting staff, being only 25 himself, and he is currently signed to a modest 5.6M contract through the 2010 season.

2. Henry McHaney



2007: 2-4, 5.32, 1.56 WHIP, -0.2 VORP

McHaney was the scout find of the year for California in 2007. While his numbers weren't good, there isn't a scout anywhere that's not salivating over the 23 year old righty (except Knudlen because he ****ing hates Canadians). McHaney was signed to a major league deal towards the end of last season, and was promptly inked to a three year extension.

3. Masahiko 'Griz' Hayagawa



2007: 2-1, 2.35, 1.04 WHIP, 14.6 VORP

One of the biggest blows to the Crusaders in 2007 was the torn bicep suffered by Hayagawa in the second week of May, ending the young right hander's season. In 46 innings, Griz racked up a 41 to 9 K:BB and allowed only 12 ER. Team scouts don't seem to think that the injury has caused his talents to drop at all, and we're banking on them being right.

4. Lorenzo Diaz

No Picture Available

No 2007 Stats

Another scout find, though not nearly as well though of as McHaney. Diaz was found in Mexico, and is ready to pitch in the big leagues right now. His upside is a middle of the rotation starter, but for a guy who was only asking 1.2M per season to sign we think that's just fine. Diaz had a nice spring, striking out 10 and walking only 2 in his 16 innings of work.

5. Joaquin Martinez



2007: 0-2, 6.92, 1.92 WHIP, -3.0 VORP

Martinez, a September callup in 2007, was a decent prospect last season and tossed a no-hitter in AAA. We're hoping he turns out closer to his minor league numbers (4.15 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) from last season than a repeat of his big league performance.

[mikev]

Your 2008 Opening Day Starters

And now, a look at the #10 SISA Rated offense in the GUBA *snicker*

1. LF Francisco Mendez



2007: .283/.343/.417, 63SB, 31.3 VORP

Mendez spent most of his time as a DH last season, saying more about our poor offense than his prowess with the bat. In 2008, the speedster will be able to flash his leather in the field as well, as many think that Mendez is a gold glove candidate. Four errors in 25 games in the field might disagree with that, but we'll cross our fingers. He'll need to try and bump up his stolen base percentage, getting caught 20 times is a bit of a downer as well. Still, at 3.8M Mendez is a nice little corner outfielder. The world needs more Francisco Mendez'

2. 3B Pedro Cruz



2007: .284/.337/.377, 30 2B, 24.6 VORP

The switch-hitting Cruz is a decent #2 hitter: he doesn't strike out very much (70 in 624 at-bats in 2007) and had a little bit of pop. He's not the type to drive the ball out of the park, but scouts really like his talent set and think that he is ready for a breakout type season. We'd be happy if he ends up with a SLG over .400 and keeps his OBP in the .350 range.

3. 1B Jakob Forest



2007: .300/.415/.523, 28 HR, 58.0 VORP

I love me some Forest. He's a complete hitter, he's popular, he's only 26, and he's signed long term. A fractured foot ended his season in early September last year, ending his shot at a 30/100 season, but we're expecting more of the same from him this year and he will anchor the lineup for the forseeable future.

4. C Carlos Becerra



2007: .295/.353/.451, 38 XBH, 38.2 VORP

Becerra, the big Chilean lefty, is rated by SISA as the 9th best catcher in the GUBA. but he was an All Star last season. Whatever, as long as he keeps putting up an .800 OPS we like the dude. He's 29 and signed through 2010, so we feel like we're pretty well set here for awhile.

5. RF Tony Reyes



2007: .239/.285/.351, -5.3 VORP

Reyes was signed to create some competition for an outfield spot with Nick Cox and Rule 5 pick Shuji Suzuki. However, an injury to star outfielder Jose Avila finds both Cox and Reyes as Opening Day starters. Reyes wasn't very good in 50+ games for Tokyo, but in AAA Yokohama his .294/.503/.493 line was enough for us to take a chance on him. It's likely that he'll be moved back to a 4th OF spot once Avila is healthy

6. DH Enrique De Jesus

No Picture Available

No 2007 Stats

De Jesus, a 25 year old righty, was signed to a 1M per year contract through 2009 in the offseason. While scouts don't think he's totally mature as a hitter yet, he's good enough to hold his own in the bigs right now and continue his development with the Crusaders. The signing is also what allowed Francisco Mendez to go back into the outfield.

7. SS Tony Leslie



2007: .209/.268/.345, 15 SB, -1.7 VORP

Leslie appeared in 73 games for San Juan in 2007, and with the departure of Joe Ross via trade last season and the decision to not overpay for his services again in 2008, the Crusaders looked to the speedy defensive whiz from Massachusetts to step in. He won't be relied on for his bat, but he is a definite upgrade defensively over anything else we had available in our system. With mostly ground ball pitchers, having solid defensive infielders is a big plus.

8. CF Nick Cox



2007: .306/.435/.443, 81BB/73K, 34.4 VORP in AAA

Cox, a Triple-A standout and a plus-plus defender at all three outfield positions, was very unimpressive in a 13 game cup of coffee with the Crusaders last season. Originally pegged as a reserve outfielder and defensive substitue, Cox finds himself as the starter on Opening Day while Jose Avila gets healthy, at which point he'll likely settle into a platoon or reserve role. Management is hoping for a statline that looks more like what he produced in the minors last year.

9. 2B Luis Molina



2007: .211/.260/.284, -11.6 VORP

Lets face it: This guy sucks. We just don't have many other options here at this point, and he's got the best defense. We made several attempts to aquire various other middle infielders during the offseason, but budget constraints and snags in negotiations ended any hopes of shoring up the middle infield.

[mikev]

Last Minute Offseason Deal...

In a last minute deal before the start of the 2008 season, the California Crusaders have aquired outfielder Evan Dotson from the Pago Pago Coconuts in exchange for minor league reliever Guglielmo Zoffoli.

Dotson, a 31-year old lefty from New York, NY, will be manning center field for the Crusaders until the return of injured Jose Avila.

Pago Pago will also receive California's 3rd round draft pick in 2008 and $2,000,000 in cash.

Dotson was a bit surprised, but seemed to welcome the transaction. "Yeah, I mean I sorta saw the writing on the wall this offseason. They signed that Cuban dude, then some speed burner type, and then I heard that they had claimed Jones too. I mean, that's three outfielders that weren't hear last season, and there are only so many at-bats to go around. So yeah, I guess I figured that somebody was gonna be gone. Probably a little tough to deal a guy as expensive as Scotty or O.P., too. That left me. I understand that it's a business, and it'll be nice to be back in the States. I tell ya, though, I'm gonna miss seein Jane when paydays roll around."

Aren't we all, Ev... Aren't we all.

Anyway, in the spirit of how this affects the Crusaders: Most likely it means Nick Cox is headed back to Triple-A Oakland, and Dotson will take over in centerfield for a month until Avila comes back.

As far as Zoffoli, he's actually a guy that I liked a lot, and his high (for a reliever) endurance would have probably been really valuable if he develops fully. At 22, there's still a good chance that he will, but I've found that it's a little easier to come by relievers. Cheaper, too.

Dotson will probably slot into the 6th spot in the lineup against both lefties and righties.

[mikev]

Now That's A Hell Of A Start To The Season!

Welp, one sim down. The Crusaders are feeling good after opening the season with a sweep of the Las Vegas Hustlers, then they took 3 of 4 from Vancouver before losing 2 of 3 to the Long Beach Surfers.

Still, a 7-3 sim is plenty acceptable, given that we totally sucked last year and didn't have many winning sims at all.

Sim Recap

Highlights of the sim included Opening Day starter Andy MacGregor tossing a 102 pitch complete-game against Vegas, with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. A pair of 2-run innings were the only flaws of the day, and Pedro Cisneros allowed a baserunner but had no problems closing out the game.

Henry McHaney gave a glimpse of what he's capable of, tossing 8.1 shutout innings against Vegas allowing 5 hits, striking out 4, and walking none. Cisneros picked up his second save in as many games.

The Crusaders went for the sweep behind Griz Hayagawa. His line wasn't quite as sexy as MacGregor or McHaney, but he pitched into the 7th inning allowing 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 7 and walking only 1. A combination of Cacheira, Gregory, and Alvarado kept the Hustlers at bay, and the sweep was completed.

Lorenzo Diaz tossed the second complete game of the young season for the Crusaders, this time against the Vancouver Mounties, who shortly after announced a change in the front office. Diaz scattered 6 hits, K'd 5, and walked only 1, and California picked up the win after Jakob Forest scored in the bottom of the 9th after hitting a double to get into scoring position.

The team's fifth straight win came behind yet another stellar pitching performance, this time it was youngster Joaquin Martinez who managed to carry a shutout into the 9th inning before running out of gas with 2 outs and being charged with all 3 Vancouver runs. The Crusaders bats woke up in a big way, however, as home runs by Forest, catcher Carlos Becerra, and third baseman Pedro Cruz led the way in a 12 run onslaught.

Vancouver would return the favor next game, handing California their first loss of the season in a 10-4 laugher. Crusaders starter Tony Alvarado was hit early and often, making it through just 4 innings allowing 6 runs and earning the loss.

Andy MacGregor returned to the mound and notched his second win in as many starts, tossing 7 innings and allowing 2 runs with 7 strikeouts and only 1 walk. Three runs in the 4th and a run in the 5th would be enough for the Crusaders to win the game and the series.

Henry McHaney's complete game win in the first game of the Long Beach series was the third CG in 8 starts for the Crusaders this season, and 2 home runs from Becerra along with the first bomb from shortstop Tony Leslie in a Crusaders uniform led the 12 run offensive outburst and a 7-1 record on the season.

Pedro Cisneros would get his first blown save and his first loss in game 2 against LBC, allowing 2 runs in the top of the 9th. Surfers closer Dogface Robinson would shut down California in the bottom of the inning to notch his 4th save.

The Surfers would then ride a pair of four run innings to a win in the deciding game of the series, handing Lorenzo Diaz his first loss as a big leaguer in an 8-4 Long Beach victory.

I Love My Scouts

Some of you might remember that I wasn't too excited about Luis Molina as our everyday second baseman. Well, our scouts happened across Pedro Vargas who was promptly inked to a 1.7M contract and will be our new starter at second. Every scout on my team already thinks that he's one of the better players at the position in the MBBA, and his ceiling projects him to be one of the 10 best hitters in the entire league. Exciting, isn't it?

Also, Evan Dotson finally reported to the team and will be slotted into the starting centerfield position. To make room for the two players, 2B Ken Carter was optioned to AAA Oakland and CF Nick Cox was placed on the 15 day disabled list after injuring his eye being hit by a pitch.

The Next Crusade

4/18 - v. Manhattan
4/19 - v. Manhattan
4/20 - v. Manhattan

4/22 - @ Greenville
4/23 - @ Greenville
4/24 - @ Greenville

4/25 - v. Des Moines
4/26 - v. Des Moines
4/27 - v. Des Moines

4/27 - @ Vancouver
4/28 - @ Vancouver
4/29 - @ Vancouver
4/30 - @ Vancouver

[mikev]

First Place After One Month Of Play

April Wrap Up

Wrapping up the first month of the season, the Crusaders are perched atop the MBBA Pacific with a 14-8 record, 3 games better than both Los Angeles and Valencia, the only other teams in the division that don't have losing record.

California started the sim winning 2 of 3 from Manhattan,, then began their next series by eeking out a win over Greenville before dropping the next two to the Moonshiners. Des Moines would be the next series win for the Crusaders, taking 2 of 3 and then the month was ended with another 2 of 3 against Vancouver.

I have a feeling we're going to be hearing about him a lot, but Andy MacGregor was 4-0 with a 2.72 ERA in the first month of 2008. He struck out 28 and walked only 5 in 36 innings, and could well be 5-0 but had a no decision after 7.1 scoreless innings against Vancouver to close out April.

Catcher Carlos Becerra has led the offense to the tune of a 1.065 OPS, 7 home runs, 23 RBI, all of which lead the team. However, the biggest surprise so far has to be outfielder Tony Reyes. Reyes was signed as primarily a backup, but so far has a .430 OBP and 9 extra base hits in 76 at bats. He was awarded the MBBA player of the week for April 28th, and went 12-24 for the week. At this point, speedster Francisco Mendez should probably be putting in some extra batting practice sessions in order to keep his starting job.

In other news, newly found second baseman Pedro Vargas had expressed interest in signing a long term deal with California, and his request was more than fair. It took almost no time at all for the team to agree to his 4 year, 10.3 million dollar terms.

The Next Crusade

5/2 - v. Las Vegas
5/3 - v. Las Vegas
5/4 - v. Las Vegas

5/5- @ Los Angeles
5/6- @ Los Angeles

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

5/9 - @ Long Beach
5/10 - @ Long Beach
5/11 - @ Long Beach

[mikev]

Still In First Place... Barely

Hanging Onto First Place

Almost 2 weeks into May, and after a 14-8 April the Crusaders have started the second month of the season a little slower than the first. Currently at 19-12 and one game ahead of the reigning MBBA champion Los Angeles Quakes, the Crusaders are barely hanging onto the lead in the Pacific after a 5-4 sim.

The sim started off on the wrong foot, as we were not only losers of our first series but embarrasingly enough it was 2 of 3 to Vegas. I still don't know how Recte manages to cheat when he's not even simming anymore. It's crazy. Anyways, after that we split 2 games with LA and 2 games with Valencia (wtf is with all the 2 game sets in this schedule? Sheesh.) Things finally got on the right track a little bit when we took the first 2 from Long Beach.

The injury bug finally made it's way to the west coast this sim, though neither of the two suffered were horribly major. The first was a day to day injury to Andy MacGregor, but luckily he should be able to make his next start. So far MacGregor is 4-0 with a 2.90 ERA and a fantabulous 32 to 5 strikeout/walk ratio. The second injury was slightly more concerning, as second baseman Pedro Vargas suffered a concussion after being hit by a pitch thrown by Long Beach starter Mike Long. Thankfully Vargas should only be out for 2 weeks or so, and after a bit of a slow start he's been consistantly raising his numbers.

Trade Rumors Swirling?

Rumors have been floating around that the Crusaders are looking at aquiring bullpen help, but nobody is sure what that means as the team is already projected to be slightly over budget in 2008. The name that has been mentioned the most in the media as the most likely trade candidate has been outfielder Francisco Mendez, who will possibly be a free agent after this season but could remain arbitration eligible depending on his roster time this year. Mendez currently sports a .378 OPB on the season and is second in the MBBA with 16 stolen bases (he's been caught 6 times). The club is being forced to decide between a possible long term extension for the 27-year old and the risk of running further under budget and possibly dealing youngster Nick Cox instead, who remains under team control until the eind of the 2012 season.

When the subject was brought up with Mendez, he seemed as if he wanted to stay a Crusader. "You know, I grew up in California and I'm really a west coast guy. I do understand the business aspect of it, and yeah my agent has talked contract a few times I think. I told him that I didn't really want to worry about it, and that I wanted him to be reasonable. I don't need top dollar and I'd rather play somewhere that I want to be, even if it means not getting as much as I possibly could if I went to free agency in the offseason. I think we have a real solid team here with the pitchers we have, and Jake (Forest, 1B) and Carlos (Becerra, Catcher have really been hitting the ball well. I think we could do some special things this year and I'd like to remain a part of it."

The Next Crusade

5/11 - @ Long Beach

5/12 - @ Green Bay
5/13 - @ Green Bay
5/14 - @ Green Bay
5/15 - @ Green Bay

5/16 - @ Buffalo
5/17 - @ Buffalo
5/18 - @ Buffalo

5/19 - v. Washington
5/20 - v. Washington
5/21 - v. Washington

[mikev]

Crusaders Still Looming

10 days into June, and the Crusaders are 2 games behind Los Angeles in the MBBA Pacific division at 33-26. We missed a sim recap, so we're just going to go with a "News and Notes" style writeup here before we try and get back on track with our next edition.

• The offense is pretty good. We lead the MBBA in Average (.306), OBP (.367) , and OPS (.812). We've also scored the most runs, stole the most bases, and have the most hits. There isn't a lot of power to go around, we're 10th in homers and extra base hits. Becerra and Forest are the only guys on the team with double digit home runs.
• The pitching isn't as good as we thought. [b]MacGregor[b] has slowed after his hot first month and a half, McHaney isn't close to putting up numbers that we think he should be.
• We called up Jorge Enriquez, who has gone 2-0 over 16 innings in 2 starts, including an 8 strikeout complete game shutout of Louisville. He's likely to replace Hayagawa in the rotation for now, with Griz moving to a spot starter/long relief role.
• The bullpen is ****ing garbage, with a 5.26 ERA combined. The only guy that looks remotely serviceable right now is Cisneros, but he's not closer material. I need to aquire a few arms for the pen ASAP.
• Apparently Tony Reyes took it personally that I aquired Dotson, so he decided to start tearing the ****ing cover off the ball and relegate Dotson to the bench. Works for me, especially since Jose Avila is playing like oop: since returning from injury. Nice negative VORP, Jose, you asshole.
• This is my team in a nutshell: Jo Sato - 21 hits, 1 double, no triples, no homers. Why don't you go back to the minors and let Pedro take over second base again, hmmm?
• We extended Francisco Mendez, 3 years for 16.1 million. Superb defense, 60 steals a year, .370 OBP, and walks almost as much as he K's. We'll take it.
• We also made our first round draft pick: Ben MacBradden. Our scouts think he's going to be an absolute monster. Eighteen years old, high 90s fastball, nasty slider, and a changeup that makes guys cringe. I absolutely love his high groundball rate (73% are you kidding?), and his loyalty is off the charts plus his greed is pretty low.

The Next Crusade

6/11 - v Jackson

6/12 - @ Los Angeles
6/13- @ Los Angeles
6/14- @ Los Angeles
6/15- @ Los Angeles

(How's that for a first place showdown! Sweep LA! Sweep LA!)

6/17 - v. Long Beach
6/18- v. Long Beach
6/19- v. Long Beach

6/20 - v. Green Bay
6/21- v. Green Bay
6/22 v. Green Bay

[mikev]

I can still see LA!

With 10 days left in June, the Crusaders are still hanging with the reigning MBBA Champion LA Quakes, but their lead has increased to 4 games.

The pitching staff is deteriorating before our eyes, with Masahiko Hayagawa leading the way towards mediocrity. Rumors that Hayagawa will be moved out of the rotation into a spot starting and long relief role while he tries to figure himself out have been circulating throughout the clubhouse. The promising duo of Martinez and Enriquez, along with the return of Diaz from injury give the Crusaders a reasonable 3/4/5 behind Mac and Mc, so it certainly appears that Hayagawa is the odd man out for the forseeable future.

Word is that the front office is still frantically searching the league for a bullpen arm or two as well. Most of the relief corps on the team haven't performed well at all, and the pen is definitely the weak point of the team so far this season. There were supposedly several deals on the table involving outfielder Francisco Mendez, but the speedster insisted that he remain in California and inked a 3 year extension at just over 5M per season.

Offensively, the team just keeps on rollin. First baseman Jakob Forest is all-everything so far this season, leading the MBBA in hits, runs, OPS, batting average, VORP, and OBP (a ridiculous .458). The team overall has the highest batting average, OBP, and OPS in the MBBA as well. It's strange for a team of mine to be this good offensively, actually. I never had a good offense with New Orleans in the MBBA.

The Next Crusade

6/21 - v. Green Bay
6/22 - v. Green Bay

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

6/27 - @ New York
6/28 - @ New York
6/29 - @ New York

6/30 - v. Valencia
7/1 - v. Valencia

[mikev]

Relief Help Is On The Way!

Closing out the month of June, the Crusaders have fallen to 6 games behind the LA Quakes in the MBBA Pacific division.

Evan Dotson started to complain about playing time and demanded a trade, causing turmoil in the clubhouse which probably led to dropping the first two games to Green Bay. They righted the ship and took 2 of 3 from Chicago (shoulda been a sweep, ****ing bullpen), lost 2 of 3 to New York, and then taking the first game of a series against Valencia. Overall 4-5 for the sim, and not the kind of baseball that's going to make this a playoff caliber team.

Speaking of the ****ing bullpen and it's 15th ranked 4.55 ERA, we finally went out and got ourselves a closer.

To Des Moines:

SP Antonio Solano
OF Evan Dotson
CAL 2008 Rd 4 pick
$2M cash

To California:
CL "Turk" Lopez

Lopez will take over closing duties, as he's already racked up 18 saves this season for the Manhattan Myst. He was traded to Des Moines but never threw a pitch for the Kernels. Lopez sports an impressive 0.89 WHIP on the season, with 22 strikeouts and only 2 walks in just over 24 innings. He's not really able to go more than one inning at a time, so the team is probably going to look for another arm to bridge the gap between the starters and Lopez. Pedro Cisneros, the teams closer for now, will likely move to a setup role.

And now, we will blantanly rip off some other TN formats and call them our own.

Hotter than FIYAH!!!

Enrique De Jesus, DH -- De Jesus was named the MBBA Rookie of the Month, posting a 361/.378/.500 line with 3 homers and 6 doubles for the month. So far on the season he's got an OPS of .886, 7 homers, 21 doubles, and a VORP of 32.1 We'll take that for a million bucks.

Jakob Forest, 1B -- Not to be outdone by De Jesus, all Forest did was throw out an absolutely ridiculous line of .382/.462/.716 line for June, grabbing himself Batter Of The Month honors. He was good for 8 homers, 10 doubles, and he both scored and drove in 24 runs. Currently Forest leads the league in AVG, OBP, OPS, VORP, RC, RC/27, Runs, and Hits. He's decent.

Joaquin Martinez, SP -- Martinez continues to defy scouting reports, and over 59 innings this season has a nice and tidy 2.90 ERA to go along with a 1.12 WHIP and a 13.7 VORP. His BABIP is an extremely low .249, so we're expecting some regression from him in the second half, but he'll be put back into the starting rotation because of a guy in the next segment.

Colder than ICE!!!

Evan Dotson, RF -- Dotson, aquired earlier in the season to fill in for injured outfielder Jose Avila, has been nothing short of disappointing since becoming a Crusader. His 33-for-159 performance with only 7 extra base hits coupled with his limited range and poor centerfield play (4 errors in 30 games WTF) led to his being benched in favor of Tony Reyes, and subsequently traded to Des Moines.

Jose Avila, CF -- Speaking of Avila, he's sucked balls this year. After last season's 35.8 VORP performance, injuries have slowed the start of Avila this season. We're willin to throw the first half away, because even with his sorry ass .574 OPS we've got one of the best offenses in the MBBA, but Nick Cox has a .909 OPS in limited at bats and is knocking on the door. Avila had better turn it up in a hurry or he could find himself on the bench replacing the spot left by Evan Dotson.

Masahiko Hayagawa, SP -- I don't get it. This dude is better than he's shown. He's got a damn nickname for chrissakes (ping: Knudlen). However, after essentially missing all of 2007 with a bicep injury, the Japanese righty has struggled to a 6-3, 5.95 mark in 2008. His strikeout numbers are good - 78 in 87 IP - but he's giving up a ****ton of homers (21) and is generally getting hit all over the place (1.44 WHIP, 104 hits allowed). He's earned himself a demotion to spot starting and long relief duty in the hope that not having the stress of starting every 5th day will help him out.

The Next Crusade

7/1 - v. Valencia

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

7/4 - v. Las Vegas
7/5 - v. Las Vegas
7/6 - v. Las Vegas

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

[mikev]

Amateur Draft Report

Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we???

I'm going to do a quick draft recap. I don't care if it's non-original.

SP Ben MacBradden - already talked about him, plus I'm one of the simmers. Just pencil in his HOF slot now.

SP Kuan Xu - Another SP, we like his endurance better than SISA does. I was torn between this guy, Carlos Hernandez, and Mauro Chavez. I ended up going with the arm, because you can never have enough pitching... right? Oh, and TINSTAAPP, so might as well load up and hope somebody pans out.

SP Shen Da - 3 rounds, 3 starters. However, this guy's name is very similar to Prem Das, so clearly he's going to be a stud.

SP Victor Thornton - Thanks CPU pick! Maybe I can convert this guy to the outfield and he can be the GUBA's Rick Ankiel?

C Luis Cedrun - Bad endurance and a ****ty throwing arm, so he probably doesn't have a future on the mound. Oh, ****, wait this dude isn't a starter. Well, he's slower than **** and SISA hates him, so maybe I'll try converting him to a starter!

SP Alonso Icaza - Ah, there we go. I'm cornering the market on teenage pitchers that won't be very good!

RF Xu-gang Yo - That doesn't even sound like a real name. SISA has him with a 10 gap potential, so maybe something's there. Not defense, though.

SP Mike Black - 8 rounds, 6 starters. ****ing awesome.

2B Guilhem Nucci - Guilhem? Huh? I saw G.Nucci and I thought it was food. Instead it was another ****ty second baseman. Nice defense ratings!!!!

C Alger Troger - Okay, now that's a pretty sweet name. Almost WoW-ish. AlgerTroger, a level 70 Undead Paladin Monk. That or a catcher with a pretty ****ing good defensive rating. Future as a big league backup?

2B Maup Verberk - Maup Maup Maup, all day long, Maup Maup Maup while I sing this song! Hey cool, this guy is from Aruba. Maybe he'll kidnap a highschooler or something.

SP Raul Zarate - Sweet, I wasn't sure if I had enough starting pitching in the minors.

2B Robinson Leyva - Damn, SISA ****in loves this guy. 8/8/1/7/8 talents is pretty badass, I'm gonna have to look at him closer and see if my scouts think he sucks balls.

SS Dave Richter - Good defense, nothing else. Is there really a town in Pennsylvania called Frackville? Weird.

C Kenny Coleman - Another catcher with high defensive marks and **** else for talent.

MR Gene Smith - WTF??? A non-starting pitcher? Who the hell is running this ****ing draft?

C Eduardo Gonzales - Okay, so apparently the CPU thought that drafting 3 other catchers wasn't gonna be enough?

MR Tom Colbert - I'm a big fan of his brother's report. Also, Tishomongo Oklahoma?

MR Robbie Hill - SISA thinks he's 5/5/6, which is a pretty decent pick this late. He's probably like 2/4/1 though.

CL Kevin Blake - Crap pick.

Okay, so MacBradden, Xu, and Da will probably be on my Top 10 prospect list. The rest of them are probably ****birds. I'll keep an eye on Troger and Leyva, too, actually.

[mikev]

Doldrums setting in...

Sigh.

7 games back from LA, even though last sim was 6-4 (Lost 1 to Valencia, took 2 of 3 from Vancouver, 2 of 3 from Vegas, lost 2 of 3 to Buffalo)

I'm still looking at the bullpen as the culprit here. The loss to Valencia was on the shoulders of Lou Nelson, who merely gave up 5 runs in the 10th inning.

The fact that the team is 0-4 in extra inning games this year, and 8-9 in one run games is a strong hint that the bullpen still sucks. Newly aquired closer Turk Lopez notched 2 saves in 2+ innings of work, which is nice, but the real issue is going to be bridging the gap between the starters and Lopez.

I mean hell, we lead the MBBA in hits, runs, OPS, and stolen bases. If we even had a mediocre bullpen we'd be a lot better than we are now. I need to get something done so we can make a move in the second half.

[mikev]

Crusaders drop farther back

Slip, slip, slipping away.

Even after making a pair of trades to bolster the 13th ranked bullpen, the Crusaders fell even further back of first place Los Angeles in the MBBA Pacific. The worst part is that we're also 8 games back in the Wild Card race, making a playoff berth seem less likely with every sim.

Last sim was rough, losing 2 of 3 to Des Moines, splitting 4 with Valencia, and splitting the first 2 of a three gamer with Long Beach.

To make things worse, Lorenzo Diaz was hurt in his last start and will be gone for 7 months. I love that there's no ****ing record of it in the game log, too. It's in the box score and news, but nowhere does it actually say that the injury took place. ****ty, and that means that Hasegawa is going to be back in the rotation full time. Ugh.

Anyway, back to trades. We picked up Hsin-Ta Jin from Louisville, sending them back Yat-sen Xing. Adding him will definitely help the pen, especially with Hayagawa being moved back into the rotation. With Jin's high endurance, he'll be the primary option in the bullpen, bridging the gap between the starters and Turk Lopez. Now, I'm not pretending that this is going to be "the move" that puts us into the playoffs or anything, but it should go a long way to make the pen a lot more solid.

As it is, the offense keeps rolling, still 1st in the MBBA in AVG, OBP, OPS, Runs Scored, and hits. Pitching is clearly the issue here, but I don't know if it's worth it to go even more in the hole this year to try and make up 8 games in the standings.

The Next Crusade

7/31 - @ Long Beach

8/1 - v. Vancouver
8/2 - v. Vancouver
8/3 - v. Vancouver

8/5 - v. New York
8/6 - v. New York
8/7 - v. New York

8/8 - @ Jackson
8/9 - @ Jackson
8/10 - @ Jackson

[mikev]

Crusaders Revamp Bullpen At Trade Deadline

After a first half with one of the worst bullpens in the MBBA, a final deadline deal has brought the third very good arm to California in hopes that this thing can get turned around and we can make a legit playoff push.

The deal sent teenage starter [ur=http://www.theguba.net/news/html/players/player_9891.html]Kuan Xu[/url] to the Havana Perfectos in exchange for fireballer Jesus Diaz, an arm that the Crusaders have been after for essentially the whole 2008 season.

Diaz was unhappy in Havana (no ****, who wouldn't be pissed off to play in front of a bunch of Commies) but still put up good numbers, though not as great as his 2007 numbers. We attribue that to his .363 BABIP, and expect that with a solid infield defense behind him (and no possiblity of getting shot for giving up a base hit) his numbers will get much better. He's also got the sweetest beard in the GUBA.

Along with newly aquired Hsin-ta Jin and new closer Turk Lopez, we feel like the Crusaders bullpen will be signifigantly better down the stretch run.

Several other possible deals fell through as we had looked into aquiring the services of Speedboat, but weren't willing to give up the package that Des Moines had offered for him. However, we feel confident enough in our rotation, given the revamped bullpen, that we will be able to shorten a lot of games to 6 innings before closing the door.

Stay tuned for what should be an exciting stretch run in the MBBA Pacific.

[mikev]

Crusaders Creep Closer To Wild Card

So, the good news is that it's looking like our deadline pickups are having an immediate positive impact on the Crusaders.

We closed out August with a loss to Long Beach, and then the team went on a rampage: 3 game sweep of Vancouver, 2 of 3 from New York, 2 of 3 from Jackson, and then taking the first game from the hated LA Quakes. Overall 8-2 over our last 10 games. The bad part: LA is also 8-2 over their last 10 and we're still eleven games out. However, the team now sits merely 4 games out of the MBBA wild card, and according to that Pythagoras guy we should be in the WC lead. Hopefully the improved pen will enable us to win some more close games and we can get a little closer to our projected record.

Speaking of deadline pickups, a quick recap of what they've done in thier short time in California:

Turk Lopez



11 games, 4 saves, 2.63 ERA, 13.2 IP, 12H, 4ER, 8K, 2BB

Yup, we got ourselves a closer ickles: In 11 games as a Crusader, Lopez' 3.6 VORP is already higher than the 2.0 he produced over 27 games with Manhattan. SUCK IT NEW YORK! WEST COAST RULZ!1lone!1

Hsin-ta Jin



5 games, 1 W, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 2H, 0ER, 6K, 2BB

Jin is going to be the primary reliever bridging the gap between the starters and Turk. His 0.57 WHIP and 4.0 VORP in 5 games says that he'll do a damn good job at that. Sample size what?

Jesus Diaz



5 games, 10IP, 5H, 0ER, 10K, 7BB

Diaz is another guy who's got the endurance to go multiple innings if necessary, and will be the "1a" releiver in the bullpen. His ridiculously high ground ball ratio is what has me excited, as does his 5.7 VORP in 5 games!

On a bit of a sad note, the simmer is an asshole. Henry McHaney suffered a strained tricep and will essentially be out for the remainder of the season. He's projected to be out for 6 weeks, putting his return towards the end of September. I guess he'd be available for the playoffs if we jumped that many teams, but it's definitely a painful blow that's been dealt to the starting rotation. Youngster Matt Albury was called up from Triple-A to replace McHaney, fresh off of tossing a no-hitter in his last start. If not for his own fielding error allowing a baserunner to reach first base, Albury would have tossed a perfect game. He faced 28 batters, struck out 10, and walked none. What better time to bring him up than when he's hotter than he'll probably ever be in his career?

The Next Crusade

8/12 - v. Los Angeles

8/13 - @ Vancouver
8/14 - @ Vancouver

8/15 - @ Long Beach
8/16 - @ Long Beach
8/17 - @ Long Beach

8/19 - @ Manhattan
8/20 - @ Manhattan
8/21 - @ Manhattan

[mikev]

Crusaders Surge Back Into Race!

The last 10 days have been exciting for Crusader fans, as they saw their team go 9-1 and roar back into the MBBA Pacific division and Wild Card races.

California made up 6 games on first place Los Angeles to narrow the Quakes lead to 5 games, and climbed into a tie with Birmingham for second place in the Wild Card, 2 games behind Green Bay.

The sim finished with a victory in the second of two against LA (zomg sweep!1!), splitting a two gamer with Vancouver, and then ripping off consecutive sweeps of Long Beach and Manhattan.

Young Aussie starter Matt Albury, called up to replace injured starter Henry McHaney, tossed a couple of fantastic games in his first big league starts. The first, a 9-2 W at Vancouver, was a 6.2 inning 1 run effort, with 6 strikeouts and only 1 walk to go with 8 hits. Five days later he followed that up in an 8-2 W over Manhattan, pitching into the 9th and allowing 1 ER and 5 hits, walking 3 to go with 7 strikeouts.

"I'm just trying to go out there and make good pitches, throw strikes" said the 22 year old righty. "When I found out I was being brought up, I was excited to be able to get in and be a part of a pennant race. I talked a little bit with Lou (Nelson, Crusaders pitcher) and Griz (Hayagawa) and they just told me to trust Carlos and throw strikes. That's what I did and it worked out well, I just hope I can keep throwing the ball like I have been the last couple weeks."

Albury figures to be a big part of the last 6-7 weeks of the season, and if he can continue to perform at the level he's been at recently the kid's future looks bright.

The Next Crusade

8/22 - @ Chicago
8/23 - @ Chicago
8/24 - @ Chicago

8/26 - @ Las Vegas
8/27 - @ Las Vegas

8/29 - v. Valencia
8/30 - v. Valencia
8/31 - v. Valencia

[mikev]

Down The Stretch They Come...

As September begins, the Crusaders have chiseled down the LA Quakes lead to 4 games in the MBBA Pacific, and have also moved into second place in the MBBA Wild Card race, one game behind Green Bay.

The team had to play without the services of superstar first baseman Jakob Forest, who fractured his foot in a game against Chicago, causing him to miss the last week and a half of August. The 26 year old slugger leads the MBBA in, well, pretty much everything. It's probably a little early, but barring some sort of collosal collapse in the last month of the season it's likely that Forest has the MBBA Batter of the Year award all but locked up.

Thankfully, Enrique De Jesus stepped up in Forest's abscence, and was awarded Rookie Of The Month honors for August. It's his third R.O.M. award, previously winning it back-to-back for the months of May and June.

In pitching news, the Crusaders rotation has some pretty remarkable numbers: Four ten game winners, and McHaney with 8, and he should return in time to make a push for double digits as well. Pretty neat, and the team's ERA has dipped below 4.00 for the first time in quite awhile.

The team faces a fairly serious dilemma in regards to lefty Hsin-ta Jin. Since being aquired for Yat-sen Xing at the trade deadline, the pending Free Agent has been nothing short of dominant in the bullpen. In his 9 games as a Crusader, he's tossed 13.1 innings, struck out 12 batters, only walked 3, and has only given up 3 earned runs. His tidy 0.90 WHIP and 2.03 ERA look awfully nice, especially when paired with the other two aquired arms, Jesus Diaz and Turk Lopez. The problem is that California is already well over budget for 2007, but fan interest is rocketing and a possible playoff run would bring in some much needed revenue. Retaining Jin would give the team quite a monster of a bullpen for the next several seasons, and GM Mike Voelker is well aware of that.

"Look, I know I've got a number that I have to work with financially, but sometimes the checkbook needs to open a little bit. There is only so long that we can keep these guys around without paying them. I've done what I could to get guys that weren't making a ton of money, but we've got to supplement that with a couple veterans, and that's going to cost money."

Looking onward, the Crusaders are getting locked in and making a serious playoff push. Securing a berth in the postseason would be huge, both for fan support and willingness of ownership to loosen the purse strings a little bit.

The Next Crusade

9/2 - v. Baltimore
9/3 - v. Baltimore
9/4 - v. Baltimore

9/5 - v. Birmingham
9/6 - v. Birmingham
9/7 - v. Birmingham

9/8 - @ Los Angeles
9/9 - @ Los Angeles
9/10 - @ Los Angeles

[mikev]

One Game Back Of The WC!

Ten days into September, and the Crusaders were unable to make up ground on the first place Quakes over the last sim and actually lost a little bit of ground. However, they did gain a full game on wild-card leading Green Bay, and currently sit 1 game back with a 78-61 record.

The sim included winning 2 of 3 from Baltimore, 2 of 3 from Birmingham, and dropping 2 of 3 in a showdown with Los Angeles

Starting pitcher Masahiko Hayagawa has responded well to being put back into the starting rotation after being benched. Since the beginning of August, Griz has made 7 starts and is 3-0 with an ERA below 3, 43 strikeouts and 15 walks. More importantly, the team has won all 7 of those games, helping to make the Lorenzo Diaz and Henry McHaney injuries hurt just a little bit less. The club is definitely happy to see Hayagawa step up and perform after a very subpar first half.

Speaking of injuries, shortstop Tony Leslie suffered a fractured finger and will be out for a week or two. His backup, Kawanari Takahashi, will be getting the majority of playing time while he's out, and the team will likely call up infielder Hee-seop Yi from AAA Oakland to fill in the reserve spot on the bench. Yi hit .287 playing in AAA for the season, most of it as a first baseman. They will probably call up teenager Jo Sato as well, who has seen time with California in parts of the last several seasons, mostly as an injury replacement.

The next couple series will be big, in that the Crusaders should be able to make up some ground on Green Bay... of course that assumes that Millsy's crappy ass team manages to win a couple against JQ :bag:

The Next Crusade

9/11 - @ Vancouver
9/12 - @ Vancouver
9/13 - @ Vancouver
9/14 - @ Vancouver

9/15 - v. Louisville
9/16 - v. Louisville
9/17 - v. Louisville

9/19 - @ Washington
9/20 - @ Washington
9/21 - @ Washington