A New York State Of Mind: Replaying the New York Highlanders/New York Yankees History, 1903-Present

[gollum65]

I've been reading a few of the "historical replay" threads on this forum and they're all very good. So I decided to start my own, but with one goal and one goal only:

To try to win more World Series titles then the real Yankees!

I'm a die hard Yankee fan in real life and have studied their history, from the team's early days as the Baltimore Orioles, to the New York Highlander years, to the present day Yankees.

What I'm going to do in OOTP is start a franchise with the 1903 New York Highlanders and manage the team from that season till the present. For the record, I'm not going to replay the 1901-1902 Orioles seasons, not because the team was originally the O's, but because I want to keep this dynasty thread centered in New York. I'm going to try to emulate the "historic conditions" of Major League Baseball as closely as I can. For instance, the 1903 World Series will be a best of 9 game series. I won't add the DH until 1973, when it came into the American League. And I'll have OOTP import the modifiers and financial settings for each year. I'll ensure real Hall of Famers are inducted into my game's Hall of Fame, and those who aren't in the HoF won't be inducted. The "Cy Young Award" won't be called that until 1956 when it was introduced to baseball. Drug suspensions will be added in 2005. And since I can't change how the rule 5 draft works in OOTP, it won't be added until 1965, when the rule 4 (amateur) draft was actually added to baseball.

With regards to how I manage the Yankees, I will whenever possible draft or trade for great Yankee players, and I'll usually try to acquire them the year the real Yankees did. But I don't know every great Yankee nor do I want to duplicate every Yankee transaction from the last 105 years. I'll just be concentrating on the "big names". I WON'T be "breaking the bank" every year, like the real Yankees do. I'll try to spend up to my owner's budget without going over it, and in most cases I'll probably be well under it. If it means losing a great player to free agency because I don't want to write a blank check, then so be it.

As far as what I'll be reporting in this forum thread, I'm not going to snow you guys under with game replays and stats. After each season I'll post the final regular season standings, major transactions and news for the Yankees, and any awards won by Yankee players.

Some general settings:

Database Used: Gambo's 2009 database, including Negro League players being available from the beginning. The one "major" change from the real MLB is that there WILL be integration in baseball from the start!

Import Complete History: On
Base Current Ratings On: Neutralized Stats
Base Potential Ratings On: Remaining Years Of Career
Base Fielding Ratings On: 3 Year Period

Player recalc WILL be on, using real stats.
Talent Change Randomness will be set at 25 to try to minimize losing great players to ratings drops, but I don't want to completely eliminate that possibility, hence leaving the setting at 25.

Minor Leagues: I'll be using a full minor league setup, from rookie ball on up for 2 reasons: 1) The real minor league baseball history is VERY muddled. And 2) Because OOTP kinda needs all minor league levels to properly develop players.

Scouts/Coaches: Off
Injuries: Low
Position Fatigue: Low
Ratings: 1-10, with ratings over 10 allowed

Aging & Development Speed: Afer reading this thread:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...01-2007-a.html
I decided to use the settings from the last post on page 3 of that thread, namely .5 for development and 1.3 for aging since he reported good results with Gambo's DB and those settings. I'll re-examine after a few years to see if I need to tweak them.

AI Player Evaluation Options: I'm going with 40/30/20/10, as suggested by Gambo in the documention that came with the database.

AI Trading Frequency: Very Low (And the AI GMs STILL trade too much!)
AI Trading Difficulty: Hard (Very hard is WAY too over the top)
Trading Preference: Favor Prospects

Amateur Draft Date: November 1st, as suggested in the guide to historical leagues posted in the historical league forum.

I encourage anyone who reads this thread to post your suggestions and comments. I don't know every in and out of baseball history, so if I'm doing something wrong that can easily be corrected in the game, let me know. I don't want to write this dyanasty report and have no feedback from anyone. I'm not doing it just to exercise my typing fingers.

So, let's see if I can win 27 or more World Championships by the end of 2008!

PS: I have 1 question if anyone can answer it for me. When did the 5 man pitching rotation come into practice? I seem to remember it being the late '60s, but I'm not sure.

[gollum65]

Before the 1903 season, the following retired players were inducted into the Hall of Fame:

Pitchers:
John Clarkson
Candy Cummings
Pud Galvin
Tim Keefe
Charley Radbourn
Amos Rusie
Al Spaulding
Mickey Welch

Position Players:
Cap Anson
Roger Connor
Buck Ewing
Billy Hamilton
King Kelly
Tommy McCarthy
Bid McPhee
Jim O'Rourke

[gollum65]

Question 2: Does anyone know when MLB started using waivers? I have waivers turned off right now, and I assume they didn't start using it till the '50s or '60s, but I don't know.

[Renner]

Originally Posted by gollum65

Question 2: Does anyone know when MLB started using waivers? I have waivers turned off right now, and I assume they didn't start using it till the '50s or '60s, but I don't know.

It's been around a long time, but I can't answer to the specifics of it. Check the link and look at the transactions on the bottom...Jimmy Sheckard was picked up on waivers during the season in 1913 (as an old-time example)

Jimmy Sheckard Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

[gollum65]

Thanks Renner. Clearly waivers goes a lot further back in baseball history then I thought. I'll keep going back in history on that website (which is very good!) to see how far back I can find a waiver claim. I haven't actually started league play yet, so if I find that waivers goes back to 1903, it'll be easy to turn them on.

[gollum65]

Didn't take me long to verify that waivers were used in 1903. This player was a waiver claim in 1903: Lee Fohl Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

[gollum65]

Ok, so now on to the baseball!

1903 Preseason Outlook
Key Additions: SP Kid Nichols, SP Charlie Case
Nichols in a future hall of famer. He already has 325 career wins and his addition to the Highlanders pitching staff will make them one of the better staffs in the American League. Case should serve well coming out of the bullpen.

Strengths: The right side of the Highlanders infield is strong with Tim Jordan at first base and Jimmy Williams at second. Right field is patrolled by Wee Willie Keeler, who should be a fireplug at the top of the Highlanders lineup. Also, as previously mentioned, New York should have get strong starting pitching from Nichols, Jack Chesbro, & Jesse Tannehill.

Weaknesses: The left side of the Highlanders, both on the infield and in the outfield could be stronger. The bullpen will be suspect, despite guys like Harry Howell working to close out games.

Predicted Record: The Highlanders should finish in the top half of the American League, probably posting a slightly better then a .500 record

Opening Day Roster:

[Renner]

Originally Posted by gollum65

Thanks Renner. Clearly waivers goes a lot further back in baseball history then I thought. I'll keep going back in history on that website (which is very good!) to see how far back I can find a waiver claim. I haven't actually started league play yet, so if I find that waivers goes back to 1903, it'll be easy to turn them on.

Happy to help out and I'll be checking on the progress of this dynasty...even though I'll be rooting for the Massachusetts American League team !

[captaincarl]

I think that the "historic conditions" are automatically put into place by the game when the year comes up. For example, all of the ball park changes, team relocations and/or nickname changes & World Series years and lengths. I think that it even automatically expands the leagues if you set that to "yes" (put a check mark there).

[gollum65]

Yeah, I believe you're correct about that. I'll just be double checking to make sure it's done right.

I've also turned off automatic Hall of Fame inductions so I can decide for myself who gets in. As I originally posted, most of the inductees will mirror the real Hall of Famers.

I'm almost done with the 1903 season. Report coming soon....

[gollum65]

1903 Season Recap:

Final 1903 Standings:


1903 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1903 New York Highlanders Transactions:
July 13, 1903: Traded C John O'Connor & P Snake Wiltse to the Chicago White Sox for C Mike Heydon
O'Connor was too old and wanted too much money. While Heydon isn't a "franchise catcher", he'll be able to hold down the fort until a better option can be found. After the trade, Heydon signed a 2 year extension @ $850 per season.

July 24, 1903: Traded LF Herm McFarland, P Clark Griffith, P Harry Howell, C Monte Beville, & C Jack Zalusky to Pittsburgh for LF Cap Clarke, P Lefty Winham, & C Fred Carisch
This was obviously the big trade of the season, and it's main purpose was to get younger and to some some cash. McFarland was arguably the Highlanders' Most Valuable Hitter before the trade, but he wanted more then $35,00 a year to extend his contract, and I couldn't afford that. Clarke is younger, a better hitter, and is signed for 2 more seasons. Add a very good lefty prospect in Winham & a nice catching prospect in Carisch and the deal was a no brainer for the Highlanders.

Season Recap:
As you can see by the monthly records in the screenshot above, the Highlanders got off to a great start. They led the American League for most of the season, expanding their bulge over Boston to 8 games in July. But just 2 days after the McFarland/Clarke trade, the Highlanders suffered the first of 2 devestating injuries when Kid Nichols went down for the year. This forced Winham to try to win some games for New York coming down the stretch, and while he pitched very well, Nichols probably would have pitched better.

Then, with just 1 week left in the season, Tim Jordan went down with a 2 week injury. Losing Jordan was the final straw for the Highlanders. With no free agents or prospects available to fill holes in the lineup, New York struggled down the stretch while the Boston Americans kept closing in.

The season came down to a 1 game playoff in both leagues, with both New York teams blowing late season leads to miss out on their respective league pennants. The Americans beat the Highlanders 2-1 to win the American League pennant, and the Cubs beat the Giants 4-2 to win the National League pennant.

The Cubs went on to win the FIRST ever World Series in 9 games over Boston!

Highlanders Most Valuable Pitcher: Powder Tannehill (17-11, 2.91 ERA, 95 Ks)

Highlanders Most Valuable Hitter: Tim Jordan (.285, 15 HRs, 89 RBIs, 77 BBs, 75 Runs, 23 SBs)

Offseason Focus: New York needs to add depth, and to find an every day center fielder who won't hold the team ransom come contract time.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1904 Preaseason Outlook:

Hall of Fame Inductees: Dan Brouthers & Sam Thompson
Both players were inducted to the HoF following their retirements. Brouthers was a career .339 hitter and at the time of his induction was #5 on the all time home run list with 110. Thompson was #2 on the all time home run list with 127 and was a career .331 hitter. Thompson played 18 years for the Detroit Wolverines, Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies, and Washington Sentators (in game). Brouthers played for 10 different teams from 1879 till his retirement.

Highlanders Draft Recap:
New York "drafted" 6 players in the 1903 draft. Only 2 are worth discussing at this time. With our 1st round pick, the Highlanders selected 2B Miller Huggins. While Huggins never played for the Highlanders/Yankees, he was of course their hall of fame manager in the 1920s, so I had to take him since I don't have coaches in this game. Plus, he was a better all around player then my old 2B Jimmy Williams, who was claimed off waivers from me 3 days after the draft. In the second round the Highlanders selected P Walter Clarkson. I took Clarkson because he was a decent relief pitcher, and the real Clarkson spent most of his brief career with the Highlanders. The rest of the draft was fairly pedestrian, so I won't bother writing about the other 4 players selected.

Highlanders Notable Offseason Transactions:
October 20, 1903: Traded LF Lefty Davis & C Fred Holmes to Cincinnati for C Admiral Schlei & LF Harry Wood
Schlei & Wood were younger & better then Davis & Holmes.

November 26, 1903: Signed free agent CF Emmet Heidrick
Heidrick signed for 5 years @ 30,000 per season. He's a career .300 hitter, averages 40 steals a year, and is a solid defensive outfielder.

March 2, 1904: Traded P Jack Chesbro to the Cleveland Naps for P Bill Bernhard & P Jack Hickey
Mainly a cost cutting move, it was also good to finally make a 2 for 1 deal to help bolster our depth charts. Chesbro is a better pitcher then Bernhard, but I didn't need to be paying my #3 starter $11,000 per year

Strengths: The Highlanders pitching staff was one of the best last year, and should be just as good this year. The lineups should be improved with the additions of Huggins & Heidrick.

Weaknesses: Admiral Schlei is a projected 5 star catcher, but he hasn't fulfilled that potential yet. Shortstop & third base are still questionmarks.

Projected Record: This is clearly a solid team and we should contend for the AL pennant. I'm expecting around 90 wins and hopefully our first trip to the World Series.

1904 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1904 Season Recap:

Final 1904 Standings:


1904 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1904 New York Highlanders Transactions:
June 2, 1904: Signed Willie Keeler to a 4 year extension @ $12,000 per year

June 30, 1904: Signed Kid Nichols to a 3 year extension @ $10,000 per year

No trades were made. The Highlanders were a bit over budget this year, so I had very little wiggle room to make deals. Plus the league is still very devoid of developing talent.

Season Recap:
It would be easy to blame this poor season on injuries. It started with CF Snags Heidrick going down on the 2nd day of the season. He would miss 7 weeks with a broken jaw. Lefty Winham missed 2 weeks in May with a strained back. Wee Willie Keeler went down twice, missing 5 weeks with various injuries. And the big blow came on June 19th when Powder Tannehill & Strawberry Bill Bernard were injured in the same game, with both going down for the season.

But the fact is the Highlanders played terrible ball from opening day on. The quickly fell to the basement of the American league, and never got above 6th place after that.

Interestingly, this was apparently the year of the shutout. The league news reports were littered all season with recaps of shutout after shutout. In total, there were 226 shutouts pitched in 1904 in the major leagues. There were 5 games where the starting pitcher struck out at least 15 batters (4 of those games were pitched by Rube Waddell), and there were 2 no hitters, including a perfect game pitched in 1904.

So the poor offensive stats for the Highlanders weren't that surprising, given the pitching dominance the league saw this year. I guess the "dead ball era" is in full effect. But of those 226 shutouts, only 11 of them were pitched by the New York Highlanders.

On the positive side, this season saw the emergence of Lefty Winham as he had to move into the starting rotation after Bernhard & Tannehill went down. Winham went 11-14 with a 2.43 ERA, 130 strikeouts, and 3 shutouts. The other good thing about this season is that we'll have a top 5 draft pick.

Finally, the Pittsburgh Pirates took down the Cleveland Naps in 6 games to win their first World Series. The Pirates were of course famously led by the great Honus Wagner.

Next post after spring training.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1905 Preseason Outlook:

Hall Of Fame Inductee: LF Hughie Jennings
Ee-Yah Jennings was a career .312 hitter and played over 1300 big league games. In 14 seasons playing for 7 teams, Jennings had 890 RBIs.

Highlanders Draft Recap: There was really only 1 player of note to mention. With our 4th round pick the Highlanders got P Eddie Cicotte, who is of course well known to White Sox fans because of his role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The players in the first 3 rounds were pretty much unknown names who had decent potentials. The one "big name" of this draft was Ty Cobb, who was selected by the Tigers, as he should have been.

Highlanders Notable Offseason Transactions:
April 14, 1905: On opening day the Highlanders completed a 9 player trade with the Detroit Tigers, sending a handful of prospects to Detroit for 1B Doc Gessler, 4 other young prospects, and some cash. Not only do we get a gold glove fielder and the 1903 Rookie of the Year, we get some organizational depth and some very close to major league ready pitching talent. Gessler won the gold glove in right field, but since we have Wee Willie Keeler, Doc will play first base this year. Next year he'll move to left field when Fred Clarke's contract runs out.

Strengths: The lineup is better with the addition of Gessler and with Huggins continuing to progress. The pitching staff should be better then last year, and now we have a little bit of minor league depth in case of injuries.

Weaknesses: Still having trouble filling the left side of the infield. We do have a gold glove SS now in Corky Corcoran, who is entering his 2nd year in New York, but he's not much of a hitter. Wid Conroy at 3B is good, but he just can't hit.

Projected Record: After last year I honestly don't know what to expect from this team. I think we're as good, if not better then last year's team. But if our lineup doesn't hit, we're going to struggle to win games. I'll predict a just above .500 season with 80 wins. That won't make the playoffs in the AL this year. But it should get us back to respectability.

1905 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1905 Season Recap:

Final 1905 Standings:


1905 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1905 New York Highlanders Transactions:
May 25, 1905: Signed 1B Tim Jordan to a 2 year extension @ $10,454 per year
The great thing about this contract is that Jordan extended without taking a raise. He received that amount through arbitration last year. I don't know what happened to his bat in 1904, but he was certainly back in 1905 and he's obviously the best power hitter in baseball right now.

June 1, 1905: Signed 3B Wid Conroy to a 2 year extension @ $1,500 per year
This was really important because not only was Conroy slated to get more money through arbitration, but he actually took a pay cut to stay in New York. Considering his abilities, and the trade you're about to read about, that's a feather in Wid's cap.

July 31, 1905: Traded P Charlie Case & 2B Jim Mullin to the Boston Beaneaters for P Buster Brown, SS Mike Donovan, & IF Hal Chase
This was an important deal for a few reasons. Case was slated to get a bunch of money in arbitration, while Brown is still on his first MLB contract. Chase, who in real life was the first team captain in New York history, should become a very good infielder. He was a first basemen when he was drafted, but I'm trying to train him at third. And the deal was good because I got an extra player back in Donovan.

Season Recap:
I predicted 80 wins and that's exactly what I got. The Highlanders were a great road team, and a poor home team. I decided to sacrifice a bit of my chances of success this year by dropping Doc Gessler to AAA so he could learn left field and replace Frank Clarke next year. Gessler wasn't very happy about it, but he did win the AAA batting crown and picked up 4 points to his LF rating. He's still not a very good outfielder, but he'll be good enough to win the position next year.

In the World Series, Boston took down the mighty Pirates in 7 games, with the great Cy Young winning game 7 in 10 innings in Pittsburgh.

[AZTarHeel]

Will be following -- this is something I've wanted to try -- to see if I can beat the number of championships the real Yankees won ... Good luck!

AZ

[gollum65]

Thanks AZ. Good to know others have had the same idea. I should get 1906 posted tomorrow.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1906 Preaseason Outlook:

Hall Of Fame Inductees: LF Ed Delahanty & RF Hugh Duffy
Delehanty retired with 2813 hits, 109 homers, 1557 RBIs, 801 walks, and a career .334 batting average. At the time of his retirement, Delahanty holds the single season record for doubles with 55 in 1899. Hugh Duffy finished his career with 2370 hits, 697 walks, 599 stolen bases, and a career .321 batting average. At the time of his retirement, Duffy holds the single season records for batting average (.440, 1894), slugging % (.694, 1894), OPS (1.195, 1894), & total bases (374, 1894). Obviously that was a monster season for a 19th century player. He also hit 18 homers and 145 RBIs that year.

Highlanders 1905 Award Winners: Corky Corcoran won his 2nd straight AL Gold Glove at shortstop, and Wee Willie Keeler won his 1st AL Gold Glove in right field.

Highlanders Draft Recap: Again, there's really only 1 player worth discussing that New York drafted. In the 4th round we selected IF Eddie Collins. Since we know in real life Collins was a hall of fame infielder, I'm assuming his ratings will improve with recalc over the next few seasons.

Highlanders Notable Offseason Transactions:
New York released 5 players who were all either due big arbitration awards, or were about to become free agents anyway. Hitting the bricks were LF Fred Clarke, IF Ernie Courtney, P Lefty Winham, IF Paddy Greene, & P Charlie Shields. These moves freed up a bunch of salary space and got the Highlanders comfortably under the owner's budget. That allowed me to pursue a couple of free agents and make a good trade...

December 3, 1905: Traded IF/OF Wid Conroy to the St. Louis Browns for IF Danny Shay & P Jack Rowan
Thanks to recalc, Conroy had lost his ratings at 3B & SS and was strictly an outfielder now. Since I had plenty of those, I traded him for Shay & a young pitcher.

December 6, 1905: Signed free agent C Ossee Schreckengost
Osse was probably the 3rd best free agent catcher out there, but I couldn't afford the best guy, and Osse hits better then the #2 guy. Since Admiral Schlei hasn't progressed much yet, Osse will split time with him for a year or 2. Ossee signed for 1 year @ $1,500.

December 10, 1905: Signed free agent SP Wild Bill Donovan
Donovan won the 1905 NL Most Valuable Pitcher award. He won 24 games for the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Donovan signed for 3 years @ $4,000 per year.

Strengths: With the addition of Donovan and the continued development and depth of our pitching staff, the Highlanders should have one of the top pitching staffs in baseball. And we're getting stronger on the left side with Hal Chase, Doc Gessler, & Danny Shay improving our defense on that side of the field.

Weaknesses: Even with Ossee & Admiral, I think catcher is our weakest position. Plus we still have very little depth in the minor leagues.

Projected Record: Last year I predicted 80 wins and got 80 wins. I'm hesitant to do this, but I think we're better and deeper then last year. I'll go 90 wins this year, which should put us right in the hunt for the American League pennant.

1906 Opening Day Roster:

[gollum65]

1906 Season Recap:

Final 1906 Standings:


1906 New York Highlanders Leaders & Rankings:


1906 New York Highlanders Transactions:
June 28, 1906: Signed IF Danny Shay to a 2 year extension @ $2,250 per season (year 2 mutual option)
Shay put together a decent season, both at the plate and in the field. He was a pending arbitration case and likely would have gotten over $3,000 per year.

Season Recap:
So clearly from the standings you can see that I still don't have a solid grasp on the talent level of this team. Every time I think they're going to be good, they're bad. Every time I think they'll be bad, they're good. At least I have the #2 overall pick, especially since I lost my 2nd round pick when I signed Wild Bill Donovan. I'm excited about this draft because Walter "Big Train" Johnson is in the talent pool. I hope the Cardinals take someone else.

I do have a trade pending to get an "ace pitcher", lefty Doc White from the White Sox that sends Kid Nichols and some other pieces to Chicago. Nichols had asked for a trade and is down to a ** talent, plus he's 10 years older then Doc White. It's a waiver trade, so if it goes through I'll detail it next post.

Rube Waddell & the Philadelphia Athletics took down Pittsburgh in a thrilling 6 game World Series. Five of the 6 games were 1 run games.

[gollum65]

Offseason Recap & 1907 Preseason Outlook:

Hall Of Fame Inductees: 1B Jake Beckley, SP Cy Young
Beckley retired as a career .310 hitter with 2768 hits. Cy Young is of course the greatest pitcher of all time. His retirement in game comes 4 years earlier then his real life retirement. In OOTP he finishes with a 427-249 record and a 2.66 career ERA. He retires as the career leader in wins (427), appearances (737), shutouts (58), and innings pitched (6028.2). I doubt any of those records will be challenged.

Highlanders 1906 Award Winners: CF Emmett Heidrick wins his 3rd AL Gold Glove, RF Willie Keeler wins his 2nd AL Gold Glove.

Highlanders Draft Recap: For the first time in this dynasty, the AI actually made an intelligent draft pick. Walter Johnson was picked by St. Louis. With the #2 overall pick, the Highlanders selected RF Mike Mitchell, who will take over in RF for Wee Willie Keeler who took a major ratings hit in recalc. But our "consolation prize" for missing out on Big Train Johnson came in the 5th round when I noticed a 19 year old outfielder named Tris Speaker. Obviously the Grey Eagle is a hall of famer who played until 1928 in real life. His ratings will have to catch up with recalc, so until then he'll play in the minors.

Notable Offseason Transactions:
Wholesale changes come to the Highlanders......

October 13, 1906: Traded 1B Claude Rossman, SS Mike Donovan, 3B John Knight, MR Eddie Quick, & SP Kid Nichols to the Chicago White Sox for SP Doc White
The problem that I ended up having with this trade was that I didn't check White's contract, and 1 month after I traded for him, he became a free agent. But, he was the best free agent pitcher out there, so I did sign him back for 4 years @ $20,500 per year (final year is a mutual option).

October 18, 1906: Traded C Admiral Schlei, CF Emmett Heidrick, & MR Doc Adkins to the Cincinnati Reds for CF Cy Seymour
Schlei just wasn't progressing and he was a liability behind the plate. Snags Heidrick took a major ratings hit in recalc. Seymour is still in his prime and is a gold glove center fielder. He'll work out great until Tris Speaker is ready to step into the MLB lineup.

December 8, 1906: Signed free agent C Frank Jacklitsch for 1 year @ $1,300
Ossee Schrekengost was asking for way too much money to renew his contract, so I let him walk. Jacklitsch is a better fielder anyway.

January 17, 1907: Signed 2B Miller Huggins to a 3 year extension @ $3,500 per year
Huggins would have gone to arbitration next year and probably would have gotten more money. BTW, the deal to resign Doc White took place today also.

Strengths: I again believe that starting pitching should be great this year. I hope I'm right. We're again strong on the right side of the diamond. And for the first time I feel like we're decent at the catching position.

Weaknesses: I'm still struggling to find an every day 3rd baseman. I drafted a guy named Harry Lord who should be able to hold down the spot for a year or 2.

Projected Record: This time I'm very confident that I put together a solid team. I'll predict 90+ wins and our first WS title!

1907 Opening Day Roster: