OOTP 7 Dynasty: Cubby Blue & Wrigley Field

[DawnBTVS]

We closed out September red hot at 16-10.

Final NL Central Standings
New Evil Empire: 89-73
St. Louis: 80-82
Pittsburgh: 76-86
Chicago: 69-93
Cincinnati: 59-103

Final Statistics for Hitters
SS Kevin Stocker (617 AB): .243/.318/.353 with 72 R, 35 2B, 6 3B, 7 HR, 61 RBI, 68 BB vs. 128 K, and 3 SB
RF Pedro Valdes (597 AB): .278/.361/.444 with 85 R, 35 2B, 2 3B, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 77 BB vs. 84 K, and 1 SB
2B Tony Batista (586 AB): .224/.286/.340 with 66 R, 24 2B, 1 3B, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 47 BB vs. 129 K, and 3 SB
LF Jose Canseco (585 AB): .236/.329/.444 with 84 R, 24 2B, 1 3B, 32 HR, 100 RBI, 78 BB vs. 141 K, and 4 SB
3B Dave Hansen (468 AB): .299/.397/.472 with 73 R, 32 2B, 2 3B, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 76 BB vs. 105 K, and 1 SB
1B Eduardo Perez (428 AB): .227/.304/.414 with 57 R, 24 2B, 4 3B, 16 HR, 58 RBI, 49 BB vs. 121 K
CF Doug Glanville (283 AB): .276/.312/.375 with 36 R, 18 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 14 BB vs. 45 K, and 4 SB
RF Jay Gibbons (190 AB): .305/.380/.474 with 29 R, 11 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 18 BB vs. 31 K
1B Carlos Pena (186 AB): .199/.302/.301 with 25 R, 4 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 27 BB vs. 54 K
C Mel Rosario (161 AB): .286/.371/.441 with 26 R, 8 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 22 BB vs. 46 K, and 1 SB

Overall Thoughts: Where the hell did Jose Canseco come from at age 35/36? Wow... that was a season. Mel Rosario and Jay Gibbons both looked really, really good in limited time and Carlos Pena should improve with a higher BA. Dave Hansen is the Kevin Youkilis of this team. Doug Glanville was also quite serviceable in CF as was Kevin Stocker at SS. Pedro Valdes was his usual solid self. 2B Tony Batista is bugging me though and I may look for an upgrade offensively in terms of being able to make contact and get on base.

The final pitching stats...
SP Roy Oswalt: 9-6 with a 2.99 ERA in 129.1 IP with 125 K vs. 24 BB and 8 HRA.
SP Josh Fogg: 9-6 with a 3.79 ERA in 128.1 IP with 125 K vs. 38 BB and 12 HRA.
SP Darren Oliver: 10-13 with a 5.09 ERA in 212.1 IP with 118 K vs. 74 BB and 35 HRA.
SP Jeff Juden: 4-18 with a 5.81 ERA in 184.1 IP with 150 K vs. 100 BB and 31 HRA.
SP Bobby Jones: 10-16 with a 5.96 ERA in 208.1 IP with 113 K vs. 74 BB and 34 HRA.
MR Ryan Karp: 2.10 ERA in 34.1 IP with 30 K vs. 16 BB and 3 HRA.
MR Terry Adams: 11 S and a 2.30 ERA in 82.0 IP with 53 K vs. 24 BB and 2 HRA.
MR Gabe White: 3.13 ERA in 74.2 IP with 61 K vs. 31 BB and 12 HRA.
MR Russ Springer: 3 S and a 3.27 ERA in 71.2 IP with 86 K vs. 30 BB and 9 HRA.
MR Scott Stewart: 4.70 ERA in 23.0 IP with 22 K vs. 9 BB and 4 HRA.
MR Jose Antonio Nunez: 5.40 ERA in 11.2 IP with 14 K vs. 7 BB and 1 HRA.
CL Rick Helling: 21 S and a 6.00 ERA in 60.0 IP with 50 K vs. 30 BB and 11 HRA.

Overall Thoughts: We have a solid enough top of the rotation with a couple innings eaters. Jeff Juden was a poor #5 start mainly because of his lack of control... very reminiscent of departed Miguel Batista. The bullpen was very solid outside of a couple players (Helling for example despite his 21 S).

Minor League Spotlight
SP Jake St. John (AAA): 9-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 183.0 IP with 173 K vs. 100 BB and 11 HRA.
MR Francisco Espinoza (AAA): 4.50 ERA in 26.0 IP with 25 K vs. 9 BB and 4 HRA.
MR Ruben Estrada (AAA): 2.21 ERA in 20.1 IP with 19 K vs. 9 BB and 1 HRA.
MR Sun-Woo Kim (AAA): 4.43 ERA in 20.1 IP with 17 K vs. 3 BB and 0 HRA.
MR Jorge Sanchez (AAA): 28 S and a 4.05 ERA in 46.2 IP with 51 K vs. 19 BB and 2 HRA.
LF Bill Archer (AAA): .288/.350/.507 in 73 AB with 3 HR and 7 BB vs. 12 K.
C Roberto Enriquez (AA): .289/.367/.437 in 412 AB with 7 HR and 51 BB vs. 65 K.
LF Jack Cust (AA): .313/.393/.463 in 201 AB with 6 HR and 25 BB vs. 37 K.

Playoff Teams
Anaheim (85-78) @ Minnesota (93-69)
Baltimore (87-75) @ Chicago (91-71)
New Evil Empire (89-73) @ Atlanta (108-54)
That World Series Team *San Diego* (93-69) @ (Florida (95-67)

I'm quite pleased to hit 69 W given the last couple seasons and my goal for free agency will be to completely target guys in the Dave Hansen mold (high contact with high walk) or find another cheap power hitter like Jose Canseco. I definitely need an offensive upgrade in terms of getting on base over Tony Batista and will need to find a starter to replace Juden in the back of the rotation.

Next post (likely Thursday since I'm wicked busy tonight & tomorrow) will feature the 2000 World Series champion, Award Winners as voted on by me, a look at the departing free agents, and the hustle n' bustle of free agency itself!

Also many thanks to the people who continue to read this (over 700 views! Awesome.)

[DawnBTVS]

The 2000 World Series went to the Chicago White Sox over the San Diego Padres in a 4-0 sweep. The Padres have been to 3 out of the 4 World Series thus far and gone 1-2.

Some off-season notes: I will be changing the schedule of AAA to A to 140 games. I will also be changing the High School/College schedules to 70 games with 40 man rosters to allow for more players to see accurate playing time.

We submitted our protection list. The following notable players were not protected: SP Jeff Juden, MR Russ Springer, C Mike Figga, 3B Dean Palmer, LF Jose Canseco, LF Robin Jennings, CF Doug Glanville, 2B Miguel Cairo (AAA), 3B Kevin Orie (AAA), RF Brooks Kieschnick (AAA). I'll bold any Cubs players taken.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: SP Jason Johnson (18-21 past 2 years), CF Chris Sellers, SS Brian Roberts, SP Steve Cook (6-11 with a 6.38 ERA), 3B Ken Caminiti (18 HR and .786 OPS), SP Junior Herndon, SP Carlos Hernandez, 1B Tino Martinez (28 HR and .921 OPS), C Darren Daulton (12 HR and .794 OPS), LF Armando Gomez, SP Jose Acevedo, MR Nick Bierbrodt, MR Tim Wakefield (7-7 and a 6.00 ERA), RF Ruben Rivera (23 HR and .771 OPS. Out for 10 months), MR Jamie Moyer (6-8 and a 6.77 ERA), SP Anthony Ford (1-6 and a 6.23 ERA), MR Jorge Sanchez, C Jose Guzman, SP Ward Smith, 1B Bob Hamelin (26 HR and .796 OPS), SP Mitchell Vinson (2-3 and a 6.07 ERA), SS Leonard Miller, SP Nick Winters, SP Chris Rogers, MR Jim Turner, 3B Jose Romero, 2B Kris MacNeill, C Jon Calhoun, SS Omar Vizquel (.689 OPS), MR Aaron Sele (4-5 and a 4.48 ERA), SP Jose Aurillo, SP Ralph Hall, 1B Pedro Escobedo, RF Roy Guthrie, MR Chris Martin

Arizona Diamondbacks: SP Alfredo Alonzo, 3B Carlos Bagshaw, 1B Brett Stanceu, SP Kevin Brown (4.48 ERA and 6-15), 2B Chuck Knoblauch (.666 OPS), SP Larry MacMorran, CF Michael Beatty, SP Alex Fernandez (12-6 with a 5.12 ERA), SS David Eckstein (.712 OPS), C Roberto Enriquez, LF Kieran Patterson, RF Craig Monroe, SP Frank Rodriguez (11-11 and a 4.68 ERA), SP Brian Bohanon (9-4 and a 3.82 ERA), SP Jamey Wright (9-15 and a 6.03 ERA), SP Jason Dickson (5-13 and a 6.00 ERA), MR Porter Smith, MR Michael Harris, C Conan Riley, LF Darryl Strawberry (34 HR and .873 OPS), SP Carlos Zambrano, LF Ellis Burks (29 HR and .756 OPS), SP Adam Pettyjohn (4-5 and a 4.65 ERA), SP Gabriel Hernandez (4-2 and a 6.36 ERA), SP Kurt Ainsworth, 1B Bob Foster, LF Tom Smith, CL Juan Rincon, RF Chad Mottola, 2B F.P. Santangelo (.792 OPS), SS Aurelio Franco, CF Bobby Kielty, SP Jake Murdock, 3B Felix Valentin

Here are the award winners...
AL Silver Slugger: David Ortiz (Minnesota) hit .317/.390/.611 in 617 AB with 44 HR and 144 RBI. Also had 7 SB in 9 attempts.
NL Silver Slugger: Chipper Jones (Atlanta) hit .346/.456/.635 in 564 AB with 39 HR and 116 RBI. Also had 120 BB and 24 SB in 31 attempts.
AL Cy Young: Kevin Appier (Kansas City) went 17-8 with a 3.29 ERA in 240.2 IP. Also had 229 K vs. 88 BB.
NL Cy Young: Greg Maddux (Atlanta) went 20-11 with a 2.68 ERA in 275.1 IP. Only had 37 BB all season.
AL Rookie of the Year: Albert Pujols (Texas) hit .341/.421/.662 in 352 AB with 27 HR and 89 RBI. Also had 50 BB vs. 48 K.
NL Rookie of the Year: C.C. Sabathia (Milwaukee) went 10-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 129.2 IP. Also had 127 K vs. 64 BB.

Next post will feature Free Agency. That should be up sometime this afternoon/evening.

[DawnBTVS]

Here are the upcoming free agents for the Chicago Cubs.
1: 1B Eduardo Perez. Will be 31 years old and put up an uninspiring .304 OBP last season with only 16 HR.
2: CF Chad Curtis. Will be 31 and well... he sucked.
3: LF Jose Canseco. Will be 36 years old and wanted to test free agency anyway.
4: MR Russ Springer. Wanted to test free agency, was hoping to re-sign him too.
5: SP Jeff Juden. Our #5 rotation spot carousel continues although we will have Gio Gonzalez back healthy for the season.
6: SP Darren Oliver. Rather adequate pickup but control issues have annoyed me (177 BB over the past 2 years)
7: 3B Dean Palmer. Will be 31 years old and just couldn't make contact.
8: SP Bobby Jones. Will be 30 years old and wanted to test free agency. Another guy I would've liked to re-sign.

Here are the results for the Salary Arbitration hearings on 11/12.
- CF Doug Glanville, LF Robin Jennings, 2B Miguel Cairo, and MR Greg Keagle will all receive the minimum $292,814. 1B Scott Stahoviak will receive $364,800.

Goals for Free Agency...
- Get 2 SP
- Get an upgrade offensively at 2B.
- Get an upgrade offensively at LF.

My first contract offer goes to 2B Chris Stynes at 3 years for $3.36 Million per season. He had 498 AB last season between Cincinnati and the Dodgers and struggled with LA (.244/.299/.319) but he makes good contact, has decent enough pop with 10 HR, and can get on base.

I also make a 1 year $540K offer to LF Trenidad Hubbard who is 34 years old but last year had a .343 OBP in 378 AB and he walked 10.3% of the time.

I make an offer to CF Darren Lewis who is 33 but has been shafted during his recent years. It's a 1 year deal at $540K but he's great defensively with a great eye (61) and decent enough contact. His only substantial playing time came in 1999 with Seattle where he put up a .352 OBP in 299 AB.

SP James Baldwin will get a 1 year deal at $480K. He got turned into a MR lasy season and had a 6.06 ERA but the 2 years before that he combined for an ERA of 4.35 with a record of 21-16.

I finally make a 3 year deal at $2.45 Million per year to SP Scott Karl. He's been with Seattle and had a 4.70 ERA last year in 226.0 IP.

On 11/25, Trenidad Hubbard is the first to sign. Chris Stynes doesn't like my offer so I scour the other 2B options and spot 2B Craig Counsell. I throw him a 2 year offer at $460K per year. Last season he had a .321 OBP in only 301 AB with Minnesota. The year before he had a .350 though in 241 AB.

On 11/28, Darren Lewis signs the contract. He'll likely start in CF ahead of Doug Glanville. On 12/01 Craig Counsell signs.

We sign SP James Baldwin on 12/8 and give the Chicago White Sox our 1st round pick as compensation.

On 12/12 we get a big signing in SP Scott Karl who should give us a solid 1-2-3 in the rotation now.

My final free agent offer goes to C Jesse Levis who should be an upgrade as a backup to Mel Rosario. He's been toiling in AA and AAA the past few years but has a great eye (71) to go with decent contact. It'll be a 1 year deal at $460K.

He signs on December 17th and I have room for one more player on my 25 man roster.

I'm surprised to see that MR Russ Springer has not had any contract offers. I throw him a 2 year deal at $570K to help improve my bullpen.

I cheer when he signs on 12/29 and the 25 man roster is now officially complete.

Other notable transactions...
12/1: Colorado Rockies signed Ivan Rodriguez to a 1 year deal at $1.05 Million. He hit .271/.295/.480 for them last year with 27 HR. Great steal for Colorado.
12/6: Seattle Mariners signed 1B Fred McGriff to a 2 year deal at $4.66 Million. He hit .284/.396/.407 with 13 HR between Anaheim and Cincinnati.
12/8: Montreal Expos optioned Vladimir Guerrero to AA. In 1998 he hit .261/.304/.374 with 11 HR and has largely been in AAA since then. He's only 24 years old though but it is slightly concerning.
12/13: Los Angeles Dodgers optioned Paul Konerko to AA. He's had the same issues as Vladimir Guerrero but posted OBPs under .300 in 1997 and 1998.
12/23: Philadelphia Phillies signed C Scott Hatteberg to a 3 year deal at $6.86 Million. He had 19 HR and hit .259/.348/.473 last season with Kansas City.
12/31: Boston Red Sox optioned Trot Nixon to AAA after he put up a .770 OPS in 285 AB.
1/21: Tampa Bay signed CL Mariano Rivera to a 1 year deal at $880K. He had a 3.36 ERA with 36 S for the Yankees.

On 2/1 I see that Tampa Bay has put 1B Tino Martinez on waivers. I put in a claim because I loved him in real life and he did hit 28 HR last season.

To make room, I put Doug Glanville on waivers to send him down to AAA.

On 2/5, the Oakland Athletics claimed him and will get his services.

Here are your opening day Chicago Cubs!
Payroll: $25.02 Million. We're still dead last with Milwaukee 2nd to last at $40.19 Million but damn it... if I can win 69 games on an initial $17 Mill payroll then I should be fine nearly boosting that by $8 Million.

The Evil Empire leads everybody with $100.49 Million.

Rotation
Roy Oswalt
Josh Fogg
Scott Karl
Gio Gonzalez
James Baldwin

Bullpen
Terry Adams
Ryan Karp
Russ Springer
Jose Antonio Nunez
Scott Stewart
Gabe White
CL: Rick Helling

Infield
C Mel Rosario
C Jesse Levis
1B Tino Martinez
1B Carlos Pena
2B Craig Counsell
2B Tony Batista
3B Dave Hansen
SS Kevin Stocker

Outfield
LF Trenidad Hubbard
LF Robin Jennings
CF Darren Lewis
RF Pedro Valdes
RF Jay Gibbons

[DawnBTVS]

As noted earlier, I changed the College/HS feeder league schedules to 70 games and AAA to A to 140 games. I also made the rosters set at 40 players just to mirror the major leagues a bit. I also updated the ballparks to reflect their proper multi-year factors.

We closed out the opening month at 12-16, a solid enough record given the tight NL Central standings.

St. Louis Cardinals: 16-12
The New Evil Empire: 14-13
Milwaukee Brewers: 13-14
Pittsburgh Pirates: 13-15
Chicago Cubs: 12-16
Cincinnati Reds: 11-16

We have several players doing well OBP wise...
Carlos Pena: .333 with 12 BB vs. 28 K. Also has 12 doubles and 5 HR.
Dave Hansen: .348 with 21 BB vs. 30 K. Also has 3 HR and 12 RBI.
Pedro Valdes: .384 with 15 BB vs. 13 K. Has scored 14 R.
Craig Counsell: .340 with 11 BB vs. 16 K.
Kevin Stocker: .361 with 14 BB vs. 19 K. Also has 11 RBI.
Mel Rosario: .348 with 17 BB vs. 22 K. Also has scored 15 R and hit 3 HR.
Trenidad Hubbard: .391 with 17 BB vs. 24 K. He's scored 10 R and has 11 RBI.

Tino Martinez is also slugging .455 with 8 HR and 18 RBI. He has 12 BB vs. 15 K.

We are leading the NL with 132 BB in 1103 AB (11.96%) which is great to see although I figured that our slugging would be low (.396) making the OBP that much more important (.338 despite a .239 BA).

Pitching wise, we're doing equally solid for the most part, if not better.
Roy Oswalt: 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 43.1 IP with 45 K vs. 8 BB.
Scott Karl: 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 46.2 IP with 24 K vs. 13 BB.
Josh Fogg: 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 37.1 IP with 27 K vs. 13 BB.
Gio Gonzalez: 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 33.1 IP with 16 K vs. 13 BB.
James Baldwin: 1-4 with a 5.87 ERA in 30.2 IP with 26 K vs. 10 BB.

Rick Helling: 8 S with a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 IP with 13 K vs. 4 BB.
Scott Stewart: 2.08 ERA in 4.1 IP with 4 K vs. 0 BB.
Gabe White: 3.12 ERA in 8.2 IP with 6 K vs. 2 BB.
Terry Adams: 4.82 ERA in 9.1 IP with 3 K vs. 6 BB.
Jose Antonio Nunez: 6.08 ERA in 13.1 IP with 16 K vs. 8 BB.
Russ Springer: 6.75 ERA in 8.0 IP with 8 K vs. 2 BB.

On the minor league level...
Jake St. John (AAA): 1-1 with a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 IP with 42 K vs. 29 BB.
Francisco Espinoza (AAA): 7 S with a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 IP with 16 K vs. 6 BB.
Sun-Woo Kim (AAA): 3-2 with a 4.18 ERA in 23.2 IP with 22 K vs. 4 BB.
Don Strawn (AAA): 0.87 ERA in 10.1 IP with 15 K vs. 1 BB.
Daniel Markham (AAA): .288/.422/.567 in 104 AB with 9 HR and 19 BB vs. 18 K.
Ed Forshaw (AA): 3-4 with a 4.67 ERA in 44.1 IP with 29 K vs. 12 BB.
Jack Cust (AA): .288/.397/.439 in 66 AB with 2 HR and 12 BB vs. 12 K.
Cory Aldridge (AA): .340/.382/.495 in 103 AB with 4 HR and 7 BB vs. 12 K.

Next month (May), I'll also spotlight some of the prospects from the College/HS baseball feeder leagues.

[DawnBTVS]

We struggled a bit in May as well, finishing at 11-17.

NL Central Standings
New Evil Empire: 32-23
Milwaukee: 28-27
St. Louis: 29-28
Cincinnati: 26-31
Chicago Cubs: 23-33
Pittsburgh: 23-33

Here are the productive hitters for us...
Carlos Pena: .303/.366/.537 in 231 AB with 11 HR, 27 RBI, and 22 BB.
Tino Martinez: .249/.333/.512 in 217 AB with 16 HR, 47 RBI, and 28 BB. He is quickly becoming this year's Jose Canseco but he's signed through the next 2 years after 2001 with a team option for year #2.
Pedro Valdes: .298/.389/.433 in 203 AB with 5 HR, 22 RBI, and 22 BB.
Mel Rosario: .237/.339/.437 in 190 AB with 8 HR, 19 RBI, and 28 BB.

The productive pitchers...
Scott Stewart: 1.06 ERA in 17.0 IP with 10 K vs. 3 BB. He had a 0.71 ERA in May with 6 K vs. 3 BB in 12.2 IP.
Roy Oswalt: 6-5 with a 1.77 ERA in 91.2 IP with 92 K vs. 14 BB.
Jose Antonio Nunez: 4 S with a 3.13 ERA in 31.2 IP with 37 K vs. 8 BB. He had a 0.98 ERA in May with 21 K vs. 0 BB in 18.1 IP. That's just sick!
Gio Gonzalez: 5-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 79.1 IP with 40 K vs. 26 BB.
Scott Karl: 4-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 84.0 IP with 50 K vs. 17 BB.
Josh Fogg: 3-6 with a 4.80 ERA in 65.2 IP with 57 K vs. 27 BB.

Minor league spotlight
Jake St. John: 2-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 78.0 IP with 69 K vs. 46 BB.
Francisco Espinoza: 10 S with a 3.26 ERA in 19.1 IP with 24 K vs. 6 BB.
Sun-Woo Kim: 6-2 with a 3.51 ERA in 41.0 IP with 41 K vs. 6 BB.
Don Strawn: 2.81 ERA in 16.0 IP with 16 K vs. 4 BB.
Daniel Markham: .283/.391/.498 in 219 AB with 12 HR and 32 BB.
Andrew Bater: .365/.418/.502 in 203 AB with 5 HR and 20 BB.
Jack Cust: .324/.424/.529 in 170 AB with 6 HR and 30 BB.
Cory Aldridge: .340/.382/.495 in 103 AB with 4 HR and 7 BB.

Some changes made for the June month... I called up Sun-Woo Kim and Francisco Espinoza for their sheer dominance down at AAA. I designated Ryan Karp for waivers and assignment to AAA as well as Terry Adams who had a 5.25 ERA in 24.0 IP with 12 K vs. 12 BB.

I now have 4 left handed relievers in my bullpen which I didn't realize until now. Guess I won't need to worry about throwing in a lefty against a lefty, huh?

College/High School Feeder League studs for the draft with their current stats.

MR Jorge Reyes: 8 S with a 5.44 ERA in 48.0 IP with 71 K vs. 29 BB.
MR Jesus "Crow" Gonzalez: 7 S with a 4.78 ERA in 26.1 IP with 34 K vs. 6 BB.
SP Jesus Soriano: 7-3 with a 4.54 ERA in 73.1 IP with 89 K vs. 17 BB.
SP Jonathan Davis: 8-2 with a 3.56 ERA in 86.0 IP with 79 K vs. 32 BB.
MR Bartolo Baron: 9 S with a 1.89 ERA in 38.0 IP with 42 K vs. 8 BB.
SP Fernando Cruz: 6-3 with a 4.07 ERA in 66.1 IP with 61 K vs. 24 BB.

2B Chris Donovan: .363/.509/.462 in 171 AB with 52 BB.
3B Jose Hernandez: .309/.459/.573 in 110 AB with 5 HR and 28 BB.
C Rickie Wallace: .392/.502/.657 in 181 AB with 14 HR and 38 BB.
C Lou Jacobs: .423/.519/.735 in 189 AB with 10 HR and 40 BB.
2B Juan Perez: .395/.500/.722 in 162 AB with 13 HR and 29 BB.
1B Nate McEnerney: .354/.490/.646 in 189 AB with 12 HR and 50 BB.

I was looking and so far only the high school league is feeding players but I assume that the college guys aren't coming up due to the real life players. Grr...

I'll do an experiment and look for Garland "Shooter" Murphy the day after the draft is complete. He's currently in college and has played there for 4 years (age 23) and frankly, has sick potential. He's evidently not draftable at the moment but might become a free agent(?) after the draft. Or just disappear...

He currently has 22 HR in 182 AB with 33 BB. The 3 years before he's combined for 44 HR and 96 BB in 450 AB.

[DawnBTVS]

Terry Adams refuses to go down to AAA and he's making $3.06 Million. Yeah, another genius GM move on my end... I know. I send down RF Jay Gibbons since he's only had 31 AB and was stuck behind Pedro Valdes at RF and Tino Martinez at DH. Adams will stay in the bullpen for now.

MLB Draft!
1.06: MR Mike Crudale. Rick Helling is being a douche by wanting to be traded along with the fact that he's sporting a 1-6 record as a Closer. Crudale will let me throw him into the bullpen along with a more competent Closer.
2.06: 3B Howard Hancock. Could really make contact as he had 211 hits in 519 AB in his high school career with 19 HR and 73 BB.
3.06: 3B Esteban German. He'll start the year off at AA.
4.06: 2B Pat Horn. More similar to a Craig Counsell type. He had 167 H in 490 AB with 8 HR and 77 BB.
5.06: MR Rafael Soriano. Will start off at AAA.
6.06: MR Jon Rauch. Will start the year at AA.
7.06: MR Trey Hodges. Will start the year at AAA.
8.06: MR Josh Hancock. Will start the year at AA.
9.06: LF Jason Grabowski. Will start the year at AA.
10.06: 1B Earl Snyder. Will start the year at AA.
11.06: RF J.J. Davis. Will start year at AA.
12.06: MR Rob Foster. Threw 103.2 IP in career with 116 K vs. 42 BB. Worth a flier.
13.06: MR Jeff Caldwell. Single A filler.
14.06: MR Justin Kaye. Single A filler.

Remember Garland Murphy? He is still stuck at college, evidently enjoying girls and beer way too much.

On 6/16 I put Rick Helling on waivers with plans to send him to AAA. He has a 7.77 ERA and 14 S and just isn't worth the headache. I call up Mike Crudale to take a spot in the bullpen. I make uber stud Jose Antonio Nunez the new closer and put Crudale into the #4 reliever spot.

On 6/24 we got some bad news as Kevin Stocker strained a tricep muscle and will be out for a month. He was hitting .218/.293/.286 in 262 AB so I guess the loss may be a blessing in disguise for us.

I call up SS Colin Long who is only 22 years old but is hitting .329/.408/.343 in 280 AB at AAA with 32 BB vs. 27 K but only 4 XBH.

Rick Helling refuses to go down to AAA and would cost over $1 Million to release. I see that the Baltimore Orioles will offer C Carlos Hernandez who is 34 years old and will be AAA material for us but he did have a .927 OPS and .416 OBP in 135 AB for San Diego in 2000.

Trade: CL Rick Helling for C Carlos Hernandez.

I also see he's a really, really good defensive catcher. Fans will know that I acquired starting catcher Mel Rosario from the Orioles so I decide to cut Jesse Levis and take the $233K hit to make room.

We closed out June on a positive note, finishing at 14-13.

Current NL Central Standings
New Evil Empire: 44-38
Milwaukee: 43-39
St. Louis: 42-42
Cincinnati: 38-46
Chicago Cubs: 37-46
Pittsburgh: 32-51

Batting Stars...
Carlos Pena: .298/.372/.501 in 339 AB with 25 doubles, 24 HR, 46 RBI, and 36 BB.
Dave Hansen: .241/.342/.363 in 336 AB with 18 doubles, 7 HR, 40 RBI, and 52 BB.
Tino Martinez: .255/.339/.506 in 326 AB with 17 doubles, 21 HR, 66 RBI, and 42 BB.
Pedro Valdes: .292/.384/.433 in 305 AB with 18 doubles, 7 HR, 44 RBI, and 37 BB.
Mel Rosario: .247/.334/.425 in 292 AB with 15 doubles, 11 HR, 28 RBI, and 37 BB.
Trenidad Hubbard: .246/.342/.367 in 289 AB with 13 doubles, 6 HR, 38 RBI, and 39 BB.

Other notes: Craig Counsell has a .304 OBP but he's hitting a woeful .222 with 28 BB. Colin Long only has 18 AB but he's hitting .278/.350/.333 with 3 runs scored.

On the pitching side, Jose Antonio Nunez has 7 S and a 2.55 ERA with 47 K in 42.1 IP. Also making a strong debut is Francisco Espinoza who's picking where he left off at AAA but sporting a 2.57 ERA in 14 IP with 17 K vs. 3 BB. Roy Oswalt is still our best starter at 8-7 with a 2.59 ERA in 132 IP with 130 K vs. 22 BB. I'm also pleased to see Gio Gonzalez bouncing back after missing almost all of last season as he is 6-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 110.2 IP. Scott Karl and Josh Fogg have combined for a 12-14 record with an ERA of 4.65 ERA. Yet again the #5 spot in the rotation is killing us as James Baldwin is at 4-8 with a 5.87 ERA in 87.1 IP although he does have 70 K vs. 33 BB but 22 HRA. Sun-Woo Kim and Mike Crudale have struggled in their call ups, combining for an ERA of 10.45 but that should go down as together they've only thrown 11.2 IP and have 10 K combined.

To get a sense of how good Jose Antonio Nunez is, here are his numbers for the last two months: 29.0 IP with an ERA of 0.93 and 31 K (9.62 K/9) vs. 6 BB (1.86 BB/9).

Minor league spotlight...
MR Brian Walker has a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 IP. He also has 33 K vs. 10 BB and is 22 years old. Another solid year from Jeff Austin who has a 3.77 ERA in 31.0 IP with 24 K. Ruben Estrada is also 22 and has 29 K in 27.0 IP with a 3.00 ERA. Don Strawn also has youth (22) and a 3.52 ERA in 23.0 IP with 22 K vs. 6 BB.

1B Daniel Markham is having a great year at .272/.380/.467 with 14 HR and 46 BB in 302 AB but he's 25 years old and I'm concerned that he'll never have a chance to make an impact for us. Bill Archer is also 25 and could be ready to play LF soon but he needs to avoid striking out so much. He's hitting .285/.342/.437 in 277 AB with 8 HR and 23 BB but also 54 K (19.5%).

Andrew Bater is only 20 years old but already killing AA in 298 AB with 7 HR and 25 BB. He's hitting .342/.393/.473 overall. Jack Cust is 22 and will start at AAA next season because in 264 AB at AA he has 9 HR, 46 BB, and is hitting .333/.432/.519. Much like his real life self. Interestingly, Cory Aldridge doesn't have much future potential but he's 22 and is hitting .324/.368/.472 in 142 AB.

[DawnBTVS]

7/2 we got even more bad luck as Colin Long was injured for 4 weeks with a torn thigh muscle. In 26 AB he had been hitting a solid .308/.379/.346 with 3 BB vs. 2 K. I put Tony Batista in at SS until Long could get healthy.

On 7/31 we lost James Baldwin for 2 weeks with a strained elbow ligament. I called up Brian Walker from AAA where he's gone 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA as a reliever in 48.0 IP. He had 43 K vs. 14 BB (2.63 BB/9) and was the most ready guy.

We finished out the month at a dismal 10-17.

NL Central Standings
New Evil Empire: 59-50
Milwaukee: 58-51
St. Louis: 57-54
Pittsburgh: 49-60
Cincinnati: 49-61
Chicago: 47-63

We continue to get solid contributions from several batters...
Carlos Pena: .295/.359/.503 in 455 AB with 20 HR and 66 RBI. Also has 42 BB.
Tino Martinez: .238/.315/.480 in 433 AB with 27 HR and 84 RBI. Also has 50 BB.
Dave Hansen: .241/.355/.353 in 439 AB with 72 runs and 9 HR. Also has a team best 78 BB.
Pedro Valdes: .281/.370/.420 in 405 AB with 60 runs and 9 HR. Also has 48 BB.
Mel Rosario: .235/.314/.402 in 391 AB with 65 runs and 14 HR. Also has 43 BB.
Trenidad Hubbard: .258/.352/.384 with 47 runs and 8 HR. Also has 52 BB.

In place of Long, Tony Batista hit .226/.292/.363 in 124 AB with 14 runs, 3 HR, and 8 BB. I'll likely put him on waivers and designate him for AAA when Colin Long returns.

There are a few bright spots on the pitching side although they are few and far between...
Jose Antonio Nunez: 12 S with a 2.44 ERA in 48.0 IP and 53 K vs. 15 BB.

The top 3 starters, Roy Oswalt, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Karl have combined for a record of 28-24 with an ERA of 3.35 with 338 K vs. 127 BB. As you can see, our offense hasn't quite been able to do enough to help out the pitching staff in terms of victories.

Francisco Espinoza has been a very pleasant surprise with a 2.79 ERA in 29.0 IP with 32 K (9.93 K/9) vs. 9 BB (2.79 BB/9). The rest of the bullpen has been struggling with nobody else below a 4.80 ERA.

Only 1 player will probably get a contract extension done in August...
3B Dave Hansen: 32 years old but has been consistently over .700 in OPS since 1997.

Everybody else is either up for arbitration or will be making the automatic minimum salary for next year.

Jay Gibbons will definitely be called up in September but I'm currently unable to really put him anywhere as Carlos Pena, Tino Martinez, and Pedro Valdes are all having strong seasons.

[DawnBTVS]

8/1 Colin Long is healthy and off the DL. He'll re-take his SS position.

On 8/4 the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed Tony Batista off waivers. While he could hit for power (52 HR the past 3 years) he couldn't get on base, putting up sub .300 OBPs the past 2 seasons.

On 8/10 I offer a 3 year deal at $6.02 Million to Dave Hansen with the 3rd year being a team option year. He signs the deal the next day and I have my starting third baseman locked up through possibly age 35.

On 8/16, James Baldwin is healthy to come off the DL. I put him back into the #5 spot and send down Brian Walker after he only went 3 IP and 3.1 IP in his 2 starts.

We close out August with an equally strong 15-13 record and see ourselves move up to the 5th spot in the standings.

NL Central Standings
St. Louis: 75-64
Milwaukee: 71-66
New Evil Empire: 69-69
Cincinnati: 65-73
Chicago: 62-76
Pittsburgh: 61-75

We have a slight issue with strikeouts offensively as 5 of the starters have 105 or more strikeouts although we still lead the NL in walks. We also lack power outside of four hitters.
Carlos Pena: .291/.367/.535 with 32 HR and 95 RBI in 563 AB. Also has 62 BB vs. 127 K.
Tino Martinez: .248/.324/.482 with 33 HR and 103 RBI in 544 AB. Also has 61 BB vs. 77 K and is easily the team MVP regardless of BA or OBP.
Mel Rosario: .252/.327/.463 with 25 HR and 65 RBI in 484 AB. Also has 52 BB vs. 118 K.
Pedro Valdes: .282/.367/.431 with 12 HR and 71 RBI in 524 AB. Also has 58 BB vs. 90 K.

Along with those guys, we have several hitters who have provided marginal power but little else outside of 1 hitter.
Dave Hansen: .242/.356/.351 with 9 HR and 55 RBI in 542 AB. Also has 97 BB vs. 143 K.
Craig Counsell: .235/.318/.344 with 6 HR and 52 RBI in 494 AB. Also has 52 BB vs. 76 K.
Darren Lewis: .234/.301/.303 with 5 HR and 42 RBI in 492 AB. Also has 47 BB vs. 105 K.
Trenidad Hubbard: .254/.340/.370 with 8 HR and 53 RBI in 484 AB. Also has 59 BB vs. 107 K.
Colin Long: .276/.343/.341 with 1 HR and 16 RBI in 123 AB. Also has 13 BB vs. 13 K.

On the pitching side, we're slowly improving outside of: Josh Fogg, James Baldwin, Sun-Woo Kim, and Russ Springer who all continue to suck.

The bright spot of the club continues to be Jose Antonio Nunez in the closer's role as he is now up to 20 S with a 2.57 ERA in 63.0 IP. He's struck out 66 and walked 24.

The big 3 starters continue to be solid as Oswalt, Gio, and Karl have now combined for a record of 36-30 with an ERA of 3.59 with only Gio Gonzalez below 200 IP at 183.0.

The rest of the bullpen has largely been unspectacular outside of Francisco Espinoza unfortunately.
Francisco Espinoza: 3 S and a 3.35 ERA in 37.2 IP with 40 K vs. 13 BB.
Scott Stewart: 4-0 and a 4.60 ERA in 45.0 IP with 38 K vs. 17 BB. He's also allowed 9 HR.
Mike Crudale: 1-3 and a 4.70 ERA in 30.2 IP with 29 K vs. 16 BB.
Gabe White: 2-0 and a 4.71 ERA in 42.0 IP with 40 K vs. 13 BB. He's also allowed 9 HR.

Sun-Woo Kim has solid peripherals: 23.2 IP with 21 K (8.15) vs. 5 BB (1.94) and 4 HRA (1.55) but has 28 HA and is sporting a 6.85 ERA.

The issue with Russ Springer has been that in 27.1 IP he has 13 BB and allowed 8 HR although he has struck out 30. He's also allowed 43 hits and has a .433 BABIP.

Players to Be Called Up in September
- MR Brian Walker: Was demoted to AAA where he put up a 3.74 ERA with 7 S in 53.0 IP with 48 K vs. 17 BB and 5 HRA. Will likely replace Russ Springer in the bullpen. Should make a better reliever than starter although in his 6.1 IP he did have 8 K vs. 1 BB with 1 HRA which was promising.
- MR Trey Hodges: Has had a decent enough year at AAA with 2 S and a 5.97 ERA in 34.2 IP but with 33 K vs. 15 BB and 4 HRA. Will replace Sun-Woo Kim in the pen.
- LF Jay Gibbons: Hit .325/.404/.579 with 16 HR and 59 RBI in 302 AB at AAA. Also had 34 BB vs. 31 K. He'll replace Trenidad Hubbard in the lineup to give our team a bit more punch during the stretch run and will likely be the 2002 starter in LF as well.

[DawnBTVS]

I also made a late call up of Bill Archer to back up Valdes in right field.

We closed out the month at a miserable 7-17 in part because James Baldwin got hurt twice forcing me to first ponder a 4 man rotation before throwing in Brian Walker into the #5 spot.

Final NL Central Standings
St. Louis: 90-72
New Evil Empire: 84-78
Milwaukee: 84-78
Cincinnati: 77-85
Chicago: 69-93
Pittsburgh: 68-94

As you can see, we have a lot of work cut out for us if we plan to improve as a team getting to 4th place even.

Final Hitting Statistics (Order of AB)
1B Carlos Pena: .287/.364/.541 with 111 runs, 40 HR and 114 RBI in 658 AB. Also had 73 BB vs. 149 K.
DH Tino Martinez: .248/.319/.476 with 94 runs, 37 HR, and 118 RBI in 645 AB. Also had 67 BB vs. 103 K.
3B Dave Hansen: .233/.346/.337 with 88 runs, 10 HR, and 61 RBI in 632 AB. Also had 111 BB vs. 162 K.
RF Pedro Valdes: .273/.366/.411 with 86 runs, 13 HR, and 74 RBI in 598 AB. Also had 74 BB vs. 100 K.
2B Craig Counsell: .235/.319/.339 with 65 runs, 6 HR, and 59 RBI in 595 AB. Also had 64 BB vs. 97 K.
CF Darren Lewis: .229/.296/.291 with 56 runs, 5 HR, and 46 RBI in 571 AB. Also had 53 BB vs. 128 K.
C Mel Rosario: .256/.329/.465 with 92 runs, 29 HR, and 80 RBI in 559 AB. Also had 59 BB vs. 130 K.
LF Trenidad Hubbard: .252/.337/.367 with 56 runs, 8 HR, and 53 RBI in 496 AB. Also had 60 BB vs. 107 K.
SS Colin Long: .260/.307/.300 with 27 runs, 1 HR, and 20 RBI in 200 AB. Also had 14 BB vs. 22 K.
LF Jay Gibbons: .243/.323/.383 with 12 runs, 2 HR, and 12 RBI in 115 AB. Also had 10 BB vs. 23 K.

Final Pitching Statistics (Order of ERA)
CL Jose Antonio Nunez: 4-4 with 23 S and 2.45 ERA in 69.2 IP with 50 HA, 4 HRA, and 72 K vs. 26 BB.
MR Mike Crudale: 1-3 with 2 S and 2.92 ERA in 49.1 IP with 50 HA, 4 HRA, and 52 K vs. 18 BB.
SP Roy Oswalt: 16-13 with 3.14 ERA in 243.2 IP with 231 HA, 17 HRA, and 223 K vs. 38 BB.
SP Scott Karl: 11-11 with 4.04 ERA in 240.2 IP with 274 HA, 24 HRA, and 145 K vs. 58 BB.
SP Gio Gonzalez: 13-13 with 4.06 ERA in 215.0 IP with 220 HA, 19 HRA, and 105 K vs. 81 BB.
MR Francisco Espinoza: 0-4 with 3 S and 4.44 ERA in 46.2 IP with 37 HA, 5 HRA, and 44 K vs. 18 BB.
MR Scott Stewart: 4-0 with 4.76 ERA in 51.0 IP with 51 HA, 10 HRA, and 41 K vs. 20 BB.
SP/MR Brian Walker: 0-1 with 4.91 ERA in 14.2 IP with 16 HA, 2 HRA, and 14 K vs. 9 BB.
MR Terry Adams: 1-1 with 1 S with 5.47 ERA in 49.1 IP with 57 HA, 1 HRA, and 28 K vs. 23 BB.
MR Gabe White: 2-0 with 1 S with 5.85 ERA in 47.2 IP with 48 HA, 11 HRA, and 45 K vs. 16 BB.
SP Josh Fogg: 9-19 with 5.94 ERA in 186.1 IP with 232 HA, 20 HRA, and 153 K vs. 64 BB.
MR Trey Hodges: 1-1 with 6.23 ERA in 8.2 IP with 14 HA, 0 HRA, and 12 K vs. 7 BB.
SP James Baldwin: 6-14 with 6.66 ERA in 148.2 IP with 189 HA, 35 HRA, and 115 K vs. 56 BB.
MR Sun-Woo Kim: 1 S with 6.85 ERA in 23.2 IP with 28 HA, 4 HRA, and 21 K vs. 5 BB.
MR Russ Springer: 0-2 with 8.36 ERA in 28.0 IP with 44 HA, 9 HRA, and 31 K vs. 13 BB.

Players to remember for next season...
MR Ruben Estrada (AAA): 3.40 ERA in 50.1 IP with 36 HA, 2 HRA, and 53 K vs. 22 BB.
MR Rafael Soriano (AAA): 4.22 ERA in 21.1 IP with 21 HA, 2 HRA, and 20 K vs. 8 BB.
MR Don Strawn (AAA): 3.23 ERA in 39.0 IP with 40 HA, 4 HRA, and 32 K vs. 10 BB.
3B Andrew Bater (AA): .349/.396/.473 with 10 HR and 74 RBI in 522 AB. Also had 41 BB vs. 91 K.
LF Jack Cust (AA): .346/.437/.519 with 14 HR and 78 RBI in 482 AB. Also had 74 BB vs. 75 K.
RF Cory Aldridge (AA): .345/.392/.470 with 5 HR and 23 RBI in 168 AB. Also had 15 BB vs. 22 K.

The playoff teams!
Texas Rangers (88-74) @ The Evil Empire (93-69)
Baltimore Orioles (88-74) @ Chicago White Sox (89-73)
Atlanta Braves (89-73) @ San Francisco Giants (93-69)
That World Series Team (89-73) @ St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)

Here's my GM History with your Chicago Cubs! Try not to lynch me so quickly, huh?
1997: 78-84
1998: 49-113
1999: 43-119
2000: 69-93
2001: 69-93

Well, um, at least we aren't losing 100+ games anymore, right? *crickets*

Next post: World Series Champ, Award Winners, and Free Agency!

[DawnBTVS]

2001 World Series Champions: Texas Rangers over St. Louis Cardinals 4-2.

We'll have a budget of $50.79 Million to spend on free agents who will hopefully be solid contributors to our squad and push us past 70 W on the year.

2001 Award Winners
AL Silver Slugger: Chipper Jones who hit .345/.444/.647 with 39 HR and 124 RBI in 550 AB. Also had 101 BB vs. 74 K and threw in 13 SB.
NL Silver Slugger: Barry Bonds who hit .283/.439/.611 with 46 HR and 115 RBI in 499 AB. Also had 134 BB vs. 72 K and threw in 31 SB.
AL Cy Young: Randy Johnson who went 25-6 with a 2.71 ERA in 252.2 IP with 324 K vs. 85 BB.
NL Cy Young: Mario Ramos went 16-11 with a 2.94 ERA in 233.0 IP with 262 K vs. 95 BB.
AL Rookie of the Year: SP Mike Maroth who went 12-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 140.2 IP with 77 K vs. 43 BB.
NL Rookie of the Year: LF Craig Monroe who hit .263/.316/.493 with 30 HR and 93 RBI in 505 AB. Also had 35 BB vs. 131 K and threw in 6 SB.

Arbitration Hearings
Robin Jennings will make $302K as a backup. Gabe White will be making $440K as a key part of the bullpen. Ryan Karp will make $328K and may see time in the bullpen but could be stuck in AAA as well.

Cubs Free Agents
James Baldwin and Darren Lewis were both sent packing for just being horrible additions. Trenidad Hubbard is gone and will be replaced by Jay Gibbons.

I also waive and designate for assignment C Carlos Hernandez who gave us a .270/.313/.333 line in 63 AB last year. He'll be 34 years old and I need the 2 spots for a #5 SP and a starting CF.

My first offer is a minor league contract to Tony Tarasco who spent time last year in AA and AAA. He had 22 HR in 286 AB at AA and had 30 HR b/w Oakland and Pittsburgh in 1999 and 2000. He can be worth a flier in CF.

I offer SP Willie Blair a 1 year deal at $1.08 Million per year. He's 35 but the past 2 years has gone 22-21 for Detroit with an ERA of 4.72 and 252 K vs. 99 BB (2.55 K:BB).

On 11/27 SP Willie Blair signs, making me happy as he reminds me of Gio Gonzalez who has been a very capable SP. I also release Carlos Hernandez because he refuses to go down to AAA. Hope he can catch on with somebody else.

On 12/3 Tony Tarasco signs and he's quickly brought up to the main club. He'll have issues hitting for a high BA but should be solid in all other facets, outside of defense probably but he'll help a lot with power.

I also put SS Kevin Stocker on waivers with an aim to send him down to AAA. I like Colin Long and have a pressing need to try and upgrade the power at 2B over Craig Counsell.

I offer a 1 year deal at $460K to 2B Mike Lansing who has 10 HR in 341 AB for Montreal over the past 2 seasons. That would come out to 15 HR in 500 AB, a good boost over the power that Counsell brings.

I also throw a 1 year deal worth $560K to RF Carl Everett to probably start over Pedro Valdes. While I love Pedro, 2 seasons ago Carl had 22 HR in 544 AB and last season had 10 HR in 391 AB. By comparison, Pedro only 3 more HR in 207 more AB.

12/6 the Montreal Expos claimed SS Kevin Stocker. This will give me a chance to get some more pop in the lineup and more pop in the infield as well.

Two days later, Mike Lansings signs. He'll be a power upgrade over Counsell as he only had 6 HR in 595 AB. On 12/20, Carl Everett signs. To make room, I decide to put LF Robin Jennings on waivers with the option to go to AAA.

I make an offer to CL Jerry Spradlin who's 34 but had a 2.82 ERA last year in 44.2 IP with 39 K vs. 18 BB and 3 HRA. It's a 1 year deal at $490K.

January 3rd, he signs and I put MR Terry Adams on waivers with plans to designate him to AAA. The Evil Empire claimed him and will get his services for the upcoming season.

I decide out of curiosity to shop around SP/MR Greg Keagle who is currently stuck at AAA. Interestingly, my favorite trade partners, the Baltimore Orioles express some interest and point me towards one 2B/SS Jeff Blauser. He's a good defensive SS, even at 36 years old and also a more powerful hitter than Colin Long. The current Oriole hit 12 HR in 442 AB last year and still put up a .740 OPS despite only 39 BB. Then I look at his contract and see he's making $10.59 Million through this season and 2003... yeah, right. I pass on the deal.

Opening Day Payroll: $22.37 Million. Dead last for the 5th straight year I believe.

Opening Day Chicago Cubs Roster!
Rotation
Roy Oswalt
Scott Karl
Gio Gonzalez
Josh Fogg
Willie Blair

Bullpen
Mike Crudale
Francisco Espinoza
Sun-Woo Kim
Rafael Soriano
Jerry Spradlin
Russ Springer
Scott Stewart
Gabe White
CL: Jose Antonio Nunez

Infield
C Mel Rosario
1B Carlos Pena
1B/DH Tino Martinez
2B Mike Lansing
2B Craig Counsell
3B Dave Hansen
SS Colin Long

Outfield
LF Jay Gibbons
CF Tony Tarasco
RF Pedro Valdes
RF Carl Everett

Other Notes
The following players will move up to AAA: Jack Cust, Cory Aldridge, Andrew Bater, Bartolo Ortiz, and Ed Forshaw. The following players will move up to AA: Manuel Martinez and Jeff Caldwell.

Next Post: Results from April.

[DawnBTVS]

We had a bit of trouble when Roy Oswalt went down for a couple weeks on 4/11 with a tender shoulder, forcing me to call up Jake St. John but things worked out well enough.

NL Central Standings
Chicago: 12-10! That's right, folks. 1st place for at least 1 month... pop the champagne!
New Evil Empire: 12-11
St. Louis: 11-11
Cincinnati: 10-12
Milwaukee: 10-12
Pittsburgh: 7-15

We are largely in first not because of our 16th ranked offense in runs scored but our dominant pitching. We're first in ERA at 3.14 and bullpen ERA is sitting pretty at 2.42.

Although that isn't to say that our bats are doing poorly as that isn't the case... I'll spare the AB because they mean little for now IMO.
Mel Rosario: .261/.310/.359 with 2 HR and 11 RBI. Only has 7 BB though.
Jay Gibbons: .297/.340/.473 with 3 HR and 10 RBI. Has a disappointing 4 BB but I'm not surprised.
Dave Hansen: .230/.356/.345 with 3 HR and 9 RBI. Also has a team leading 17 BB. Maybe the power's rubbing off on him.
Carlos Pena: .291/.351/.581 with 6 HR and 16 RBI. Also has 9 BB.
Tino Martinez: .259/.368/.358 with 1 HR and 2 RBI. Has 14 BB but is struggling with power right now.
Tony Tarasco: .152/.256/.215 with 1 HR and 4 RBI. Has 11 BB but I'm hopeful that he'll get the power going.
Carl Everett: .295/.371/.397 with 0 HR and 8 RBI. Has 7 BB but is making the replacement of Pedro Valdes not as horrible.
Mike Lansing: .237/.314/.355 with 1 HR and 11 RBI. Also has 8 BB.
Colin Long: .351/.402/.432 with 1 HR and 11 RBI. Also has 7 BB. Seriously becoming a favorite of mine... my very own Dustin Pedroia. Yes, that's the Boston homer coming out.

Like I was saying earlier though... pitching is where the studs are.
Francisco Espinoza: 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 IP and 9 K vs. 5 BB.
Willie Blair: 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA in 24.1 IP and 12 K vs. 10 BB.
Mike Crudale: 2.08 ERA in 8.2 IP and 5 K vs. 5 BB.
Roy Oswalt: 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 27.2 IP and 26 K vs. 3 BB. Just nasty numbers.
Jake St. John: 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 IP and 6 K vs. 6 BB. Surprisingly solid replacement in the rotation in 2 spot starts.
Gio Gonzalez: 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 25.0 IP and 12 K vs. 8 BB.
Jose Antonio Nunez: 8 S with a 3.86 ERA in 9.1 IP and 9 K vs. 2 BB.
Scott Karl: 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA in 31.0 IP and 15 K vs. 13 BB.
Jerry Spradlin: 5.00 ERA in 9.0 IP and 6 K vs. 2 BB.
Josh Fogg: 3-0 with a 5.09 ERA in 23.0 IP and 16 K vs. 10 BB. Go figure that my worst starter ERA wise has my best record at 3-0.

At AAA Andrew Bater continues his red hot streak hitting .373/.409/.549 with 4 HR and 17 RBI along with 6 BB. Also pulling his weight is Jack Cust hitting .270/.360/.410 with 3 HR and 9 RBI along with 14 BB.

Nobody else is impressing enough to get noticed although after only a month it's a very small sample size to say the least. The good news is that I think I finally cracked the code to good pitching, at least in this incarnation of the game although the power hitting should hopefully improve the offense as the season continues. I'm not pleased that we're actually dead last in RS because I don't know if the pitching can hold up through September.

[bucketsndimes]

I just read most of this (I'll admit I did some skimming). It's really good. You've been pretty successful considering how little you spend. I'm looking forward to seeing Jack Cust work his way up to the majors.

[DawnBTVS]

I'm also looking forward to Jack Cust's arrival.

We ended up struggling a little bit, finishing at 12-15 on the month in part because of our wayward offense.

NL Central Standings
St. Louis: 30-20
New Evil Empire: 27-23
Milwaukee: 25-25
Chicago: 24-25
Cincinnati: 22-26
Pittsburgh: 18-33

The first issue was Tony Tarasco in CF hittng .148/.213/.232 in 155 AB. While I'm pleased that I actually made a change early in the season this time around, I decided to insert Pedro Valdes who has never played CF in his career. But he's an offensive machine so like his poor experiment at 1B... it should be interesting nonetheless. Remember the description of Jeremy Giambi playing LF in Moneyball? Here's my recreation.

On the other hand, we have Dave Hansen. What to do with him? He's hitting .215/.333/.328 in 195 AB and making $6.02 Million per year. My genius clearly knows no bounds. Anyway... HE CAN'T FIELD! I mean that literally because he has 14 errors on the season already and would be a great DH if I didn't have Tino Martinez there.

So, now I'm stuck with a good DH who can't field... a DH who is stuck at DH because of Carlos Pena, and a no defense all hit CFer. Of course, the DH isn't hitting at all but still has a .632 OPS at age 34 so I'm reluctant to bench him.

I do have Kevin Orie who I can call up to help at 3B which I'll probably end up doing.

Here are the guys impressing with the bats...
Mel Rosario: .228/.322/.381 with 7 HR and 24 RBI in 197 AB. Has 28 BB.
Carlos Pena: .282/.349/.508 with 10 HR and 28 RBI in 195 AB. Has 20 BB.
Mike Lansing: .264/.324/.399 with 3 HR and 20 RBI in 163 AB. Has 12 BB.
Colin Long: .281/.335/.322 with 1 HR and 21 RBI in 171 AB. Has 13 BB.
Pedro Valdes: .288/.413/.365 with 0 HR and 4 RBI in 52 AB. Has 7 BB.
Carl Everett: .272/.345/.457 with 7 HR and 26 RBI in 173 AB. Has 14 BB.

On the pitching side, the arms are still doing alright...
Roy Oswalt: 5-1 with a 2.77 ERA in 65.0 IP with 67 K vs. 6 BB.
Josh Fogg: 3-0 with a 4.80 ERA in 54.1 IP with 32 K vs. 21 BB.
Willie Blair: 4-4 with a 4.29 ERA in 56.2 IP with 21 K vs. 16 BB.
Gio Gonzalez: 3-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 63.1 IP with 36 K vs. 21 BB.
Mike Crudale: 1.77 ERA in 20.1 IP with 22 K vs. 7 BB.
Francisco Espinoza: 2.79 ERA in 29.0 IP with 24 K vs. 6 BB.
Rafael Soriano: 0.87 ERA in 10.1 IP with 9 K vs. 7 BB.
Jerry Spradlin: 2.75 ERA in 19.2 IP with 16 K vs. 5 BB.
Jose Antonio Nunez: 15 S and a 3.97 ERA in 22.2 IP with 22 K vs. 7 BB.

I decide to call up Kevin Orie and send down Sun-Woo Kim who had an 8.31 ERA in 13.0 IP.

In more sad news, the career of Miguel Cairo has ended at age 28 due to a ruptured disc in his back. He'll be most known for his solid season in 1998 where he amassed 674 AB with a line of .270/.311/.392 while scoring 105 R with 9 HR and 68 RBI. Since 1999, he has been bouncing around AAA and even AA for us.

He was only hitting .217/.293/.319 at AA in 138 AB prior to the injury.

In the minor leagues a few guys are standing out...
Brian Walker: Is only 23 but should see the bullpen soon. Currently has a 2.95 ERA with 22 K vs. 6 BB in 18.1 IP.
Jeremy Fish: A small fan favorite... He's 25 but seems to be getting control as he has a 3.24 ERA with 32 K vs. 8 BB in 25.0 IP. Hope he can keep it up.
Andrew Bater: Doing damn well for being 21. He's hitting .359/.429/.505 with 6 HR and 22 BB in 206 AB. Could replace Hansen if I can get a trade partner later in the year.
Ken Carson: Another in the glut of solid outfielders. He's never really had that great season to propel himself until now: .298/.422/.434 with 3 HR and 44 BB in 205 AB.
Jack Cust: Has cooled down a little to .273/.352/.394 with 6 HR and 26 BB in 216 AB.
Bill Archer: At 26 he probably doesn't have a future with us but he's hitting .295/.351/.512 with 9 HR and 18 BB in 207 AB. Just has never been able to develop to his potential.
Esteban German: Starting to come around at AA. Hitting .306/.372/.413 with 4 HR and 19 BB in 196 AB.
Howard Hancock: Hitting well at Single A in his 2nd season. Currently has a line of .396/.456/.491 with 3 HR and 18 BB in 212 AB.

Next post will see the MLB Draft and results of June. Expect to see a trade or two as well.

[DawnBTVS]

How we are upon the 2002 MLB Draft!

1.03: 2B Chase Utley. Both my current 2B are over 31 years old so he'll give me some young depth. He will start at AAA.
2.03: SP Billy Traber. Will start the year at AAA for some depth.
3.03: MR Jose Valverde. Should be a stud, will start at AAA.
4.03: SP Jesse Foppert. Start at AAA and provide SP depth.
5.03: SP Mike Wood. See Foppert.
6.03: SS Khalil Greene. May start year at AA or AAA. We'll see.
7.03: 2B Matt Kata. Will be at AAA, similar to Utley.
8.03: CF Lew Ford. Will start at AAA, badly needed CF depth.
9.03: CF Rocco Baldelli. See Ford but young at 20 years old.
10.03: 3B Tim Hummel. Will start at AAA, gives me some depth at 3B.
11.03: SP Jason Young. Yet more SP depth for AAA.
12.03: MR Aquilino Lopez. Old at 27, will start at AAA.
13.03: MR Erasmo Ramirez. Also old at 26, will start at AAA.
14.03: MR Ryan Wagner. One of our few young MRs at 19 and will be in AAA.
15.03: 2B Antonio Perez. Will be AAA depth.
16.03: 3B Ed Owen. 19 years old and had a 110 infield arm so I'm gonna convert him to a SP at Single A. Interesting experiment to follow.
17.03: 3B Chris Williams. See Owens.
18.03: 3B Jose Soto. Yet another experimental guinea pig.
19.03: 3B Bradley Turner. Yeah... at worst, it'll give me a bunch of Single A SP filler.
20.03: 3B Dan Gray.

We lost Mel Rosario for 4 weeks so I had to call up Mike Figga to replace him.

We finished the month at a miserable 7-20... so much for hope.

NL Central Standings
St. Louis: 44-34
Milwaukee: 41-36
New Evil Empire: 39-39
Cincinnati: 32-43
Pittsburgh: 32-45
Chicago: 31-45

All of our hitters seem to be struggling outside of Carlos Pena with an .819 OPS, Carl Everett with a .763 OPS, f'n Dave Hansen with a .716 OPS who's now platooning with Kevin Orie, and Pedro Valdes with a .910 OPS.

Against LHP Kevin Orie in 39 AB is hitting .436/.488/.641 with 1 HR and 5 RBI.

Willie Blair, Josh Fogg, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Karl have all evaporated in part because of our probable woeful defense now. Hansen is up to 20 errors and Valdes has 5 in 33 starts.

The bullpen has been mostly solid with Mike Crudale, Rafael Soriano, Jose Antonio Nunez, and Jerry Spradlin all combining for 21 S with an ERA of 2.68 with 105 K vs. 35 BB.

Andrew Bater will be called up shortly for his just below league average defense if nothing else at this rate. Unfortunately nobody wants Dave Hansen in a trade and I can't blame them at all.

Jack Cust is still hitting solidly with 8 HR in 295 AB now. He's only 23 but I'm starting to get a flux of outfielders so his options are limited.

While Rocco Baldelli can't walk or hit home runs, he'll likely man CF by September for his defensive prowess alone. In 59 AB he has started off at .288/.382/.424 which is promising.

I'll be sure to keep you all update on our "promising" (i.e. not really) experimental SP projects at Single A. Dan Gray has gone 8 IP with 3 K vs. 3 BB with a 4.50 ERA though in 3 starts... He'll get there.

[DawnBTVS]

I finally get too fed up with Dave Hansen on 7/11 after he refuses to be sent to AAA so I finally ate $8.5 Million and cut him. I called up 23 year old Tim Hummel who was more major league ready. Hansen had a .739 OPS but also had 20 errors and a .916 fielding % in only 77 games.

Towards the end of the month, I also put Carl Everett into CF to help out with the defense there, shifting Pedro Valdes back to RF.

We continue to struggle and closed out July at 11-16.

NL Central Standings
Milwaukee: 56-47
St. Louis: 53-52
New Evil Empire: 49-57
Pittsburgh: 47-57
Cincinnati: 46-57
Chicago: 42-61

The offense has been up and down on the year...
Jay Gibbons: 14 HR and 54 RBI in 416 AB while hitting .243/.300/.397
Carlos Pena: 18 HR and 59 RBI in 403 AB while hitting .275/.354/.481
Tino Martinez: 13 HR and 47 RBI in 386 AB while hitting .210/.294/.358
Mike Lansing: 9 HR and 41 RBI in 378 AB while hitting .246/.295/.381
Carl Everett: 16 HR and 55 RBI in 376 AB while hitting .261/.329/.463
Mel Rosario: 9 HR and 36 RBI in 304 AB while hitting .247/.337/.401
Pedro Valdes: 6 HR and 34 RBI in 256 AB while hitting .316/.405/.473
Kevin Orie: 1 HR and 5 RBI in 65 AB while hitting .338/.434/.492
Tim Hummel: 2 HR and 7 RBI in 54 AB while hitting .222/.276/.370
Colin Long: 1 HR and 32 RBI in 363 AB while hitting .270/.328/.306

The pitching has also struggled with only the following keeping up great numbers...
Jose Antonio Nunez: 27 S with a 2.30 ERA in 43.0 IP with 50 K vs. 12 BB.
Mike Crudale: 2.76 ERA in 42.1 IP with 42 K vs. 14 BB.
Rafael Soriano: 3.18 ERA in 17.0 IP with 15 K vs. 10 BB.
Roy Oswalt: 12-4 with a 3.47 ERA in 145.1 IP with 138 K vs. 15 BB.

In the minor leagues here are the impressive players...
SP Billy Traber (AAA): 5-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 62.2 IP with 62 K vs. 16 BB.
MR Jeremy Fish (AAA): 3.81 ERA in 26.0 IP with 33 K vs. 9 BB (3.12 BB/9)
MR Jose Valverde (AAA): 0.68 ERA in 13.1 IP with 23 K vs. 5 BB.
MR Ryan Wagner (AAA): 3.38 ERA in 24.0 IP with 21 K vs. 8 BB.
2B Chase Utley (AAA): .311/.432/.547 in 148 AB with 8 HR and 26 BB.
3B Andrew Bater (AAA): .306/.386/.434 in 408 AB with 9 HR and 46 BB.
SS Khalil Greene (AAA): .329/.399/.453 in 161 AB with 4 HR and 15 BB.
LF Jack Cust (AAA): .275/.360/.416 in 291 AB with 9 HR and 38 BB.
CF Rocco Baldelli (AAA): .269/.343/.429 in 175 AB with 2 HR and 12 BB.
RF Bill Archer (AAA): .292/.358/.512 in 408 AB with 19 HR and 41 BB.

MR Josh Hancock (AA): 2.52 ERA in 25.0 IP with 9 K vs. 8 BB.
1B Earl Snyder (AA): .268/.369/.409 in 418 AB with 10 HR and 58 BB.
3B Esteban German (AA): .297/.367/.383 in 384 AB with 5 HR and 40 BB.

The Single A starting core...
Bradley Turner: 2.92 ERA in 12.1 IP with 0 K vs. 2 BB.
Ed Owen: 5.23 ERA in 10.1 IP with 4 K vs. 8 BB.
Jose Soto: 5.40 ERA in 13.1 IP with 1 K vs. 3 BB.
Bob Bishop: 8.16 ERA in 14.1 IP with 1 K vs. 8 BB.
Dan Gray: 8.27 ERA in 16.1 IP with 6 K vs. 6 BB.

Two other guys hitting well at A...
3B Howard Hancock: .361/.443/.432 in 407 AB with 3 HR and 50 BB.
2B Ted Richardson: .301/.345/.452 in 385 AB with 14 HR and 27 BB.

You can expect to see some contract extensions done in August and September although with my lessons learned, I'll probably try to aim for 1 or 2 year contracts tops.

Next Post (August): Heading towards the home stretch and figuring out who to extend.