A New Approach: Real-Time

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 10:54 AM

After many years, versions and dynasties - it's time to change my focus to try to find that one method of OOTP gaming that will grasp my attention for years in real-time. I've re-built the Mets, Twins, Indians and other franchises over the years. I've played 25 seasons in a fictional format that was fun - but lasted about three months in real-time. I'm looking for that new approach. I think I have found it.

I've started a new name on these boards and haven't been a regular poster - more of a self-consumed OOTP maniac. Played in a few multi-player/online leagues over the years - but never was full engaged. Again, it just wasn't the format for me. Was it that I just went too fast? Playing months at a time - making quick decisions, changes, trades, free agent signings and not able to really connect with my team and franchise from top to bottom? Maybe.

Similarly, I get addicted to the game and often spend too much time playing it. I am a busy professional with a family. But I still want to enjoy my OOTP universe without it affecting my “real” life. This is a governor of sorts. Only so much can happen in one day in the OOTP world. That will be my way of making sure it doesn’t “accidentally” take up three hours of my life - a three hours that seems like 15 minutes. So, I can delve as deep into my OOTP universe based on how much free time I have.

So, here is what I am trying. Using OOTP in a real-time mode. Meaning, simulating the days as we go along with the real days. Spending that time to delve deeper into the game and my unique universe to get that full engagement that I've been longing for. I'll use a real MLB format after a simmed 2013 season. I'll update with what happened in 2013 as we go along - but this method will allow for more background story telling and interactions with other GM's, agents, players. Those interactions will be fictional, but the games, signings and universe will be all OOTP. It will automatically save after each day simulated.

My posts here will be dated with the actual date of my OOTP universe because it will be in real time! Instead of loading up a Word document and keeping it all to myself and scrolling to the end. Why not share with everybody here? So, that's what I'll do. My first post (well, after this one) will introduce the situation in which Parker Campbell takes over as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals after a season that they fell short in a ultra-competitive National League Central division. I'll introduce you to fictional local beat writers and columnists in the St. Louis area and nationally - if you are in this market, you'll recognize the counterparts they represent.

This next post will be a long one to get us caught up with what's going on with the organization as Parker enters his first off-season at the helm.

I'll post as outside sources telling the story with newspaper articles, quick website updates and social media posts. When I use italics it is Parker Campbell writing in his personal journal to document his day-to-day interactions behind-the-scenes to shed more light on what is going on.

I envision a new feeling of pride with each win during the season, finally pulling the trigger on a trade after much deliberation and/or getting the e-mail after signing a prized free agent. Each individual game will take on a new importance, right? Well, I guess we'll see. I officially started this three weeks ago and I’m already finding it the best way to play the game - in my opinion on circumstance.

Note: When the type is green, it is Parker Campbell writing in his personal diary - something he has been advised to keep track of day-to-day interactions and thoughts. It will help with a possible book and/or memoirs following his career. This will give an in-depth look at each crucial decision made throughout the season.

Note: When the type is bold, it is me - the unknown writer - discussing something game related, ie: version change, new house rule, etc.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 10:57 AM

First, I’d like to introduce you to our local and national media people covering this thing.

Local writers:

Bernie Zlamick (@bzlamick) - A respected columnist at the P-D who has been at it for almost 15 years now. Recently, a radio host as well. He has gone back to spending more time around the clubs that he covers - first and foremost, the Cardinals. His years of experience makes him the most respected opinion amongst the group.

Jose Santos (@jsantos) - A long-time beat writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, recently was promoted to a columnist. Known for his sarcastic approach and social media engagement, Jose is disliked by many - but respected by all.

Derek Gold (@dgold) - Took over at head beat writer at the P-D when Santos took the full-time columnist job. He is with the team on every road trip and analyzes every single move throughout the season.

Jen Mygosch (@JenMygoschMLB) - MLB.com beat writer assigned to the Cardinals. Has been covering the team for three full seasons now.

National writers:

Ken Rosenhaus (@KenRosenhaus) - A short statured and talented reporter with more contacts that anybody else in the business. He’ll break news, signings, trades and really anything that happens in this universe.

John Hayman (@JohnHayman) - Another MLB insider whose specialty is breaking news from around the league.

Bubba Olmey (@BubbaOlmey) - Yet another MLB scribe with contacts and news-breaking abilities.

Matthew Lurch (@mlurchMLB) - MLB.com National writer and former Cardinals beat writer.

Other sources:

@TheCardinalWay - A well-followed and respected Cardinals fan site. This will provide a non-biased view of what’s going on in the world of Cardinal baseball.

@MLBDepthCharts - The best follow (really) to cover the movement for all 30 MLB clubs. Will point towards shifts in roles, as well as, promotions/demotions and effects on all moves on the depth charts of MLB teams.

I’m sure we’ll be introduced to some other sources as we go along...

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 11:00 AM

@JoseSantos October 12th, 2013
The @Cardinals have called a 2:00 pm presser today. Major organizational changes on the way. Big news. #breaking

@zlamick October 12th, 2013
My guess: Jr. to retire; III to Chairman; Mo to President...this is my speculation. Nothing confirmed.

CARDINALS UNDERGO ORGANIZATIONAL SHIFT OF POWER
Movement includes Mozeliak to team President; Parker Campbell promoted to General Manager.
October 13, 2013 -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- by: Derek Gold

At a 2:00 pm press conference held at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals announced major changes to their power structure. Starting with the retirement of William DeWitt Jr. as Chairman of the Board, his son Bill DeWitt III will take over in that all-important role. The trickle down effect moves former General Manager and executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak moves into the role of team President. Mozeliak has shown interest in taking the reigns of all day-to-day operations of the club from a business stand-point. He will remain involved in baseball decisions.

“I will hand over control of the company to my son, Bill, effective immediately,” Bill DeWitt Jr. wasted no time letting everybody know what was going on. The questions remained as to how the chips would fall for the rest of the group. Bill the III took the microphone and announced that Mozeliak would be promoted to his former role as President. Assistant GM Parker Campbell would be promoted to head decision maker on the baseball operations side as General Manager.

This shift in power leaves two “baseball guys” making roster decisions. Mozeliak followed and made the announcement of Campbell’s promotion. The first question from the media was how much “Mo” would be involved in the baseball decisions. His answer: “I’ll certainly give my two cents, but we are entrusting that responsibility to Parker Campbell who is ready to take on that challenge.”

Campbell, Mozeliak’s protege, is much like him and will be one office away with any questions or problems that come up. He is known as a young, energetic baseball mind with a “hybrid” mentality when it comes to old fashioned scouting and sabermetrics. When asked that specific question, Campbell responded with, “I think it’s a mistake to put too much stock in either. Utilizing both to make decisions is the most effective way and the method we’ll continue to employ here,” he continued, “...when both match up, we know we have something.”

Eventually, during the hour-long press conference, the status question for manager Mike Matheny was bound to come up. All on the deus yielded to Campbell for that response: “Mike’s job is more than safe. He has done an admirable job in his first two seasons and we hope to extend him sometime during this year. He’s a stand up person, as well as a great baseball manager and we’re lucky to have him.” Matheny was in the room but not on the stage. Following the press conference, Campbell and Matheny made a beeline to the manager’s adjacent office in the clubhouse for their first official meeting….

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 11:15 AM

2013 CARDINALS REPORT CARD & SEASON-IN-REVIEW
October 18, 2013 -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- by: Jose Santos, Derek Gold & Bernie Zlamick

The 2013 version of the St. Louis Cardinals will be remembered as just coming up short in the end. Finishing with 88 wins is nothing to sneeze at. It’s the same number the team achieved a year ago before falling short in the NLCS to the Giants. It’s just two short of the number achieved during the World Championship season of 2011 and five MORE than the 2006 victorious Cardinals. They finished two games back in the National League Central division and will watch their rival Reds play post-season baseball.

It’s not exactly back to the drawing board for the Cardinals, but with the Pirates improving greatly to 87 wins and the Brewers being right there at 87 also, the Central is a tough place to reside and the team will need to pull the right strings in the off-season to ensure future success.

This piece will re-live the 2013 season and provide grades on each area of the team from the past year. We’ll then delve into the financial structure of the club and preview this all important 2013 off-season as the Cardinals try to keep pace in their own division.

APRIL
It was a rather uninspiring start to the season in April, standing just 12-15 following the first month. It ended on a good note, however, when Adam Wainwright and effectively got his season back on track with a 5-hit shutout of high-powered Cincinnati. Following this game, he was 2-3 with a 4.61 ERA. Not the start the team was hoping from from their ace. By the end of April, Allen Craig had eight homers but was hitting just .238 on the year with 34 strikeouts. He looked more like an “all-or-nothing” type hitter than an all-around professional hitter. The team officially shut down closer Jason Motte and handed the ball to Trevor Rosenthal. He had six saves but three losses with two blown saves and a high 5.56 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 11 ⅓ innings pitched. That was the highest ERA on staff from the all-important closer’s role. From a transactions stand-point, Mozeliak added two veterans to a young bench by signing infielder Freddy Sanchez and outfielder Bobby Abreu to one-year deals.

MAY
May was better, but not by much. The Cardinals finished the month 14-14 and now stood at 26-29 overall. Jon Jay broke out, hitting .305 in the month with three homers, seven doubles and 14 RBI. Carlos Beltran and David Freese led the team in homers in the month of May with six each. Conversley, Beltran hit just .202 and Freese .221 in the month as the offense just wasn’t keeping pace with the pitching. Manager Mike Matheny, against many pundits and fans advice, stuck with Rosenthal at closer. It paid off as he recorded saves in ten of the 14 wins in the month with an ERA of 0.73 and 14 strikeouts. Michael Wacha (2-3, 2.38 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 51 K), Jaime Garcia (3-2, 2.81, 1.03, 7 BB) and Adam Wainwright (2-2, 3.31, 1.07) were as dominant as any top three in any staff. However, Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn were equally as bad. The offensive highlight came on May 13th, when Allen Craig went 5-for-5 with five singles - exacting revenge on the “all-or-nothing” label from earlier in the year.

JUNE
June was the Cardinals best month as a team, going 19-8 to move their record to 45-37 on the season and a share of first place in the division. Carlos Beltran led the way with a .327 average, with four homers, nine doubles and 15 RBI in the month. Craig hit .304 and the offense looked like they were turning a corner. Pete Kozma’s struggles offensively continued and this was the first time his stellar defense wasn’t quite off-setting those woes at the plate. The patience was wearing thin. On the 8th of the month, Beltran went 5-for-5 in a 7-5 win over Cincinnati. He had two singles, two doubles and a three-run homer. That performance got his average up to .273 with 12 homers and 29 RBI on the season. He ended up winning National League Player of the Week during that stretch. Later in the month, Matt Holliday got into the fun, staying true to his streaky ways when he went 11-for-20 during the week with a couple homers and five RBI. Of course, who could forget what else happened in June when Oakland pitcher A.J. Griffin tossed a perfect game against the Cardinals. Wainwright followed up a good May with a spectacular June and was awarded the June National League Pitcher of the Month award, going 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA, striking out 48 and walking just eight in that month. His forgettable April was all but just that, forgotten. Rosenthal joined in on forgetting about poor starts. He notched 12 saves in the month of June, allowing just one earned run in 16.1 innings with 21 whiffs and just three walks. He was blossoming into one of the more dominant closers in all of baseball.

JULY
July is like Saturday during a PGA Tour golfing event. It’s supposed to be “moving day” or in this case “moving month”. The Cardinals moved, but didn’t move enough. They finished the month of July and headed into the official “dog days” of summer sitting at a respectable 58-48 - a full ten games over .500 but a full five games back of first place Cincinnati. The fans pined for one more starting pitcher to go with that Wainwright-Wacha-Garcia combination and relieve the struggling Lance Lynn of his duties. Mozeliak held on to his chips and left the month without a major move - much to the chagrin of Cardinal Nation. The offense ran into a power outage, managing just 14 homers as a team. Jon Jay led the team in the month with 17 RBI, hitting .361 along the way. Ryan Jackson officially took over at shortstop and struggled to a .200 average over 71 at-bats. Adam Wainwright had another great month and finished it off with a performance to remember. On July 31st, against the Pirates, he tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out ten. Following that outing, Wainwright had a 13-6 record with a 2.87 ERA and was doing it with command, rather than pure stuff with 134 strikeouts through 157 innings pitched.

AUGUST
Many times in the month of August, it appeared the Cardinals were ready to go on their patented run to pull away in the NL Central. That just never materialized. They never won more than three in a row and never lost more than three in a row in the month. The power returned to Carlos Beltran who smacked six in the month, to go along with 13 RBI and a .297 batting average. Matt Carpenter (.177, 17-for-96) and Allen Craig (.183, 17-for-93) struggled mightily. Rosenthal chalked up ten more saves, giving him 44 through the month of August. Wainwright came back to earth a bit and Jaime Garcia had his worst month by far, going 2-4 with 27 earned runs in 36.2 innings pitched (6.63) in his six starts. During the month, both Edwin Jackson (Cubs) and Brandon Beachy (Braves) shutout the Cardinals. Despite the unfavorable numbers, the Cardinals were still 11-games over .500 at 75-64 and in a position to make a run at a playoff appearance, if not a Central division title.

SEPTEMBER
Then September happened. Two huge series with both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh yielded a 3-4 record and then the sweep of Milwaukee at Busch had fans feeling good about the prospects of this team playing October baseball. Simply, they just couldn’t go on that 8-10 game winning streak, which is what it would’ve taken. The Reds captured the Central division title. And despite finishing with 88 wins, the Cardinals fell two full games short. David Freese awoke in September, hitting .316 with five homers in 98 at-bats. The story of September, though, was most definitely the emergence of power-hitting Matt Adams, who smacked seven long-balls in just 63 at-bats. Rosenthal may have tired down the stretch, closing just five games in the month, allowing five earned runs in 9 ⅔ innings. Lynn and Garcia did nothing to ensure rotation spots in 2014 following a poor finale.

REPORT CARDS

OFFENSE…………………………………………………………… C-
The John Mabry-led offense was inconsistent at best this year and could be blamed for the reason the Cardinals aren’t still playing baseball. Overall, the team hit .247 as a team (8th in National League). Worse yet, the teams on-base percentage was just .307 (11th). They drew just 448 walks (11th) and scored 628 runs in total (10th). Not known for running, the 42 stolen bases was unsurprisingly ranked second to last in the league. Uninspiring to say the least. The woes on the infield between third base with David Freese (.246), second base with Matt Carpenter (.236) and shortstop with Pete Kozma (.230)/Ryan Jackson (.218) were mostly to blame. The regular outfielders (Holliday-Jay-Beltran) contributed most of the offense and Yadier Molina did his part at .267 with 17 homers and 52 RBI. And to think that the leader in most offensive categories is going to enter free agency is...well, troublesome.

STARTING PITCHING…………………………………………. B
This could be split into two parts. The top three with Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Joe Kelly could receive an A. The backend with Jaime Garcia and Lance Lynn - who each had moments of brilliance, the overall body of work was a C-. So, they’ll average out at a B. The 3.64 overall starters’ ERA was 4th in the NL.

BULLPEN …………………………………………………………… B
Trevor Rosenthal was great this year filling in for injured Jason Motte with 49 saves and a 2.23 ERA with his 12.9 K/9 rate. Edward Mujica and Marc Rzepczynski were solid as set up man. Mitchell Boggs, Shelby Miller, Fernando Salas and Jake Westbrook each kept their overall ERA’s under 4.00 - which is great. The lefty specialist Randy Choate wasn’t very good in his limited role. It is expected that the team will look for a new, dynamic player to take over Choate’s role despite being signed through 2015. Shelby Miller will also likely move to the rotation next year.

DEFENSE ……………………………………………………………. D
The defense was a major concern after posting just a .669 defensive efficiency. This is concerning because if the offense isn’t there - you’d hope your giving up the hits for the glove. Again, it is the infield to blame. Freese and Matt Adams/Ty Wigginton at the corners is less than inspiring. And, while Kozma/Jackson at shortstop are above average, Matt Carpenter is still learning second base.

PLAYER-BY-PLAYER
Let’s take a look at how every player that contributed at the Major League level fared this season and take a look at contract status and a prediction on 2014 role with the team or whether he will be registering a new zip code come next season.

RHP ADAM WAINWRIGHT
One of the most popular players in franchise history both in the clubhouse and out had a good 2013 campaign. He went 16-11 with a 3.25 ERA in 34 starts. He ammased a 5.4 WAR and is entrenched as the “ace” of this Cardinals staff. He is signed through 2018 and there isn’t much else to tell you about Wain-o that you don’t already know.

RHP MICHAEL WACHA
The reward for the compensatory pick received from the Angels for signing Albert Pujols, nobody saw his rise to the big leagues and to dominance this quickly. Not even the guy responsible for drafting him, Dan Kantrovitz. He went 13-9 with a rotation-best 2.45 ERA to go along with 245 strikeouts and a miniscule 1.06 WHIP. His 7.6 WAR was behind only Yu Darvish (9.7) and Felix Hernandez (8.4). His 2.53 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) was an MLB-best 2.53. If not for Stephen Strasburg, Wacha would be a run-away Cy Young winner in the National League...at age 22. Scary.

RHP JOE KELLY
He won the job out of Spring Training, beating out his good friend Shelby Miller and wound up performing as the No. 3 in the rotation. Kelly went 11-12 with a 3.67 ERA, with 194 strikeouts in 201.1 innings pitched. His 1.27 WHIP is respectable and his .335 opponents BABIP hints towards better things to come. Only 25 years old, Kelly has entrenched himself in this rotation. He isn’t even expected to reach arbitration until 2017.

LHP JAIME GARCIA
Many viewed Garcia as the possible No. 2 starter in this rotation entering the season and after signing a big contract, he has mainly failed to live up to expectations. Though, he was great in April, May and June going 9-4 with ERA’s of 2.38, 2.81 and 2.27 in each month respectively. This second half was equally as bad. It could have been caused by exhuastion but he finished at 11-13 with a 4.20, 1.28 WHIP and just a 1.4 WAR. He allowed far too many homers (31) and his workload of 201 innings wasn’t excessive. He is guaranteed through the 2015 season, with a couple of team options for 2016 and 17. He’ll need to impress to warrant the $11.5 and $12 million team options to be picked up.

RHP LANCE LYNN
Lynn became Cardinal fan public enemy No. 1 after showing signs of dominance at times, he really struggled at others. His lack of focus after things start to go south is the main reason for his subpar numbers. He finished the year taking the loss in seven of his last eight starts. His home/road splits are also concerning. He was 1-9 at Busch Stadium with a 5.19 ERA, compared to 7-2 with a 3.92 away from St. Louis. He is arbitration eligible and likely the one losing his rotation spot to Shelby Miller - assuming the club is ready to move Miller into his natural role. That could mean the end of Lynn’s time in St. Louis, or, he could assume a bullpen role - one in which he relished during the 2011 World Championship run.

RHP TREVOR ROSENTHAL
After the injury to closer Jason Motte, the Cardinals turned to fireballer Rosenthal who came through with flying colors. He lead the Majors in saves with 49 (in just 51 chances). After starting slow out of the gate, he finished as the most dominant closer in all of the game. His 2.23 ERA and 1.02 WHIP were impressive enough, but it was his 104 strikeouts in 71 ⅓ innings pitched (12.88 K/9) that really set him apart. The next closest in all of the Majors in saves was the Braves’ Craig Kimbrel and the Giants’ Sergio Romo at 43. He was a starter in the minor leagues and that isn’t out of the equation completely. He’s the St. Louis version of Aroldis Chapman.

RHP EDWARD MUJICA
The 29-year old Mujica is now a free agent after one and a half seasons in St. Louis. They were solid to say the least and he was the primary set-up man for Rosenthal this year. He’s known for keeping the ball in the ballpark and that continued in 2013 - allowing just four homers (he allowed just one in 2012) and posting a 3.46 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP. His splitter is his go-to pitch and it is effective. He struggled in the last three games of the season in crunch time, giving up three, one and one earned runs respectively. Unfortunately, that may be what Cardinal fans remember him by. It’s unlikely the Cardinals are going to match what some other bullpen hungry teams will pay in free agency. There were rumors that they had talks during the season to possibly renew but the demand was high from his reps. Also, with Jason Motte returning after Tommy John Surgery this season, Mujica will likely be gone.

LHP MARC RZEPCZYNSKI
The lone remaining player from the multi-team trade prior to the 2011 World Championship run, “scrabble” had a solid season and entrenched himself as Matheny’s seventh-inning man. He ended up a 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.23 WHIP - all of that with a rather unlucky .321 BABIP. He only surrendered two homers but did show a bit of anxiety when thrown into a save situation when Rosenthal and/or Mujica were unavailable. He recorded one save but two blown chances. He is under control through 2016 as he’ll enter arbitration for the first time this off-season - they’ll likely come to a one-year agreement prior to any hearings for around $1.5 Million.

RHP MITCHELL BOGGS
Boggs had another solid season, keeping his ERA under 3.00 at 2.98 and 1.12 WHIP as the sixth inning option for Matheny out of the bullpen. He limited walks (14) and continued his solid career out of the bullpen. Boggs, like Rzepczynski is under team control through 2017 and should be back next year.

RHP SHELBY MILLER
There’s no doubt who the most upset player in the clubhouse was all season and that goes to 23-year old Shelby Miller. After losing out on a rotation spot in Spring Training, partly due to a sore arm, he spent a majority of the 2013 season in AAA-Memphis, making 30 starts and doing little to warrant him taking up a spot in the St. Louis rotation. He went 8-11 with a 5.45 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in the minor-leagues. He ended up in the St. Louis bullpen, where he performed better in 16.0 IP, allowing six earned runs and striking out one an inning. It is believed that Shelby will enter the rotation in 2014 - but that is not set in stone. He’ll need to perform in Jupiter in March to earn that right.

RHP FERNANDO SALAS
Salas was good and, according to the numbers, a little lucky during a campaign which netted him a 3.49 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 49 innings pitched. He helped himself by allowing just 14 free passes and struck out 64 (11.76 K/9). Opponents managed just a .238 BABIP and while some sabermetricians would call that luck and forecast a return to the mean in 2014 - the flipside says that with a high strikeout-rate, batters just weren’t squaring the ball up against him. Regardless, no decision is needed to be made on Salas, who will be automatically renewed two more years before hitting arbitration. He’ll be back in the bullpen in 2014 unless he is traded.

RHP JAKE WESTBROOK
The consummate professional, Westbrook accepted his role in the bullpen and savored it. He was pretty darn good as a change of pace for Matheny, following some of his younger, harder-throwing teammates. He pitched limited innings (39 ⅓) and posted a 3.89 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. He’ll be a free agent and will almost certainly move on.

LHP RANDY CHOATE
Signed as a lefty-specialist, he was good against the lefties, putting up a 0.88 WHIP and just a .144 batting average against. Unfortunately, he was hammered by the right-handed hitters that he was asked to face. Following the season, Matheny admitted that he wasn’t used correctly and would go back to that “one and done” role that limits the length of the bullpen. He is signed through 2015, so he’ll most likely be back.

C YADIER MOLINA
The undisputed leader and MVP of this team again resides behind the plate. He hit .267 with 17 homers and 52 RBI - all numbers down from the 2012 season. However, his gold glove presence (just four errors in 1,401 total chances) and his game-calling abilities led to that impressive team ERA and every single pitcher on the staff admits they are a better pitcher with Yadi behind that plate. It’s unanimous. The team would of course like to see the 2011 and 2012 offensive numbers return, but that’s just a bonus. He’s locked up through 2017 with a team option for 2018. He is going nowhere.

LF MATT HOLLIDAY
Are we seeing the beginning of the decline of mighty Matt Holliday? Front office brass sure hope not. He’s owed $17 Million over the next three years guaranteed. Holliday put up his worst numbers (by far) since becoming a full-time player. Hitting just .267 - his previous career low was .295 a season prior. His .754 OPS was a meteoric drop and he drove in just 64 runs. He became the scapegoat for the offenses struggles despite playing through a shoulder issue most of the season - finally culminating in a diagnosis of a partially torn labrum. That’s worrisome for future surgery if that labrum full tears and leaves his left arm hanging. Now 33 years old - we hope this is an outlier and he’ll return next year to previous levels.

RF CARLOS BELTRAN
Considered the top free agent on the market, Beltran hit .273 with 25 homers and 81 RBI. He is entering his age 37 season and those numbers can’t be counted on much longer. However, somebody will pay it. The Cardinals are expected to give him a qualifying offer to get a compensation draft pick and he’ll sign elsewhere - likely in the American League. However, new general manager Parker Campbell says that they are still in talks with Beltran’s reps about possibly bringing him back.

2B/3B MATT CARPENTER
Carpenter is a fan favorite for his hustle, work ethic and loveable scrappy look. He learned a new position and played it admirably. But it didn’t translate to success at the plate. He hit just .236 with six homers and 41 RBI. Though he wasn’t a rookie, it was his first shot as a full-timer and he’ll be 28 years old next year - after playing five years at TCU before being drafted. The time is now and while fans like him - he is viewed more as that bench player instead of a full-time guy. With Kolten Wong waiting in the wings, we’ll either see Carpenter assume that bench role or move over to third base is Freese doesn’t return.

1B/OF ALLEN CRAIG
Awarded in Spring Training with a big contract, he fell off dramatically in batting average hitting just .245. He did keep pace with his power numbers, hitting 23 homers but drove in just 58 runs with those. He fell in doubles (down to 23 from 35 a year ago). He hit just .190 with runners in scoring position and seemed to expand the zone at times. That said, the Cardinals are 100% convinced that Craig is the hitter they signed to be a key cog in this lineup. They expect a return to previous numbers and his position flexibility allows him to play first base or the outfield. Though, the team prefers to limit the miles on his legs at first.

3B DAVID FREESE
All-in-all David Freese had a very good season. He smacked 23 homers with 60 RBI and while he hit only. 246 he provided much needed pop to a lineup that lacked it most of the season. The problem? He made 12 errors, half of which were costly ones during the season at the hot corner. He also outwardly showed frustration that the organization was avoiding committing to him long-term. That is, until the two sides agreed on a one-year 6.5 million contract to avoid arbitration - this was actually Mozeliak’s last official move as GM. It is assumed that Campbell signed off on it and there is no guarantee that he won’t be included in a deal this off-season.

CF JON JAY
Jay is in limbo after his best offensive season, smacking 14 homers, driving in 57 while hitting .292 - he’s a career .299 hitter in three-plus seasons. He is average defensively and that bothers many in such a key position. With Oscar Taveras waiting in the wings, Jay remains in a state of flux. Many teams would be interested in acquiring him, but the Cardinals love having him in the lineup. He has reached arbitration for the first time and will likely make in the $5 Million range. He could also be headed out of town in a trade if the loot is acceptable in return. He’s a solid player and contributor but not untouchable in a hot trade market.

1B MATT ADAMS
“Patch” grabbed the attention of many once he started getting more regular at-bats and drove the ball out of the ballpark ten times in August-September; with seven coming in September alone. He found his groove late and is making American League GM’s salivate. He isn’t good defensively but can certainly put a charge in the ball. He projects as the starting first baseman if Carlos Beltran leaves and that would then force Allen Craig to the outfield - a place the club wants to limit his innings. Or, does he remain the part-time player who fills in when needed and nets close to 300 at-bats again? Who knows. The point is, it is nice to have a hammer available late in the game to provide some angst to opponents.

SS RYAN JACKSON
Jackson ended up winning the battle (if you can call it that) for more at-bats at the shortstop position in 2013. He is better than average defensively and after hitting 13 homers at AAA-Memphis, he actually has more promise with the bat than Pete Kozma. Now 25 years old, he needs to make that next stride and he does have an outside chance of being the everyday shortstop in St. Louis in 2014. That is not the scenario many fans would like to see - but the fact remains teams like to go cheap and Jackson is just that. He hit just .218 in 262 at-bats with two homers and 29 RBI.

SS PETE KOZMA
Almost unfairly he became the butt of many jokes around Cardinal Nation as he limped to a .230 batting average with six\ homers, 29 RBI and drew just 13 walks in 261 at-bats, splitting time with Jackson. He is more than serviceable with the glove, but brings little else to the table. Also 25 years old, many believe he’ll remain in Memphis to start 2014 and could become a bench player.

IF/OF TY WIGGINTON
The Cardinals invested in the veteran Wigginton to be a bench player - and that is not something that he deals with well. He appeared in 99 games, accumulating 216 at-bats, hitting .255 with seven homers and 36 RBI, so he actually made the most of his limited time. He is not expected back despite being signed for $2.5 Million for 2014. He is just a liability in the field and became a distraction at times in the clubhouse. If an American League team shows any interest, there could be a “change of scenery” swap to benefit both clubs.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 11:30 AM

@CincinnatiReds November 6th, 2013
#Reds announce that former @Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan will join Reds staff as new PC! #welcomeaboard

11/6/13: We heard from Dave Duncan before signing on as the Reds pitching coach. We have no problem with it and are happy that Dave is at a point in his life that allows him to do what he does best. Unfortunately, he joins a team in our division. That, we aren’t thrilled about.

2013 RAWLINGS GOLD GLOVE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
November 7, 2013 -- MLB.com -- by: Matthew Lurch

The 2013 version of Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners has been announced and the buzz around the award this year is more about who didn’t win - that who actually took home the hardware. The fact that a Molina won and it wasn’t Yadier, is well, something up for discussion. The Boston Red Sox were the team winner with three awards going to their players this year. Without further ado (or complaints) here is the list for 2013:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Pitcher - Eric Bedard - Seattle Mariners
Catcher - Jose Molina - Tampa Bay Rays
First Base - Albert Pujols - Los Angeles Angels
Second Base - Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox
Third Base - Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays
Shortstop - Alcides Escobar - Kansas City Royals
Left Field - Jackie Bradley Jr. - Boston Red Sox
Center Field - Brett Gardner - New York Yankees
Right Field - Shane Victorino - Boston Red Sox

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pitcher - Gio Gonzalez - Washington Nationals
Catcher - Ryan Hanigan - Cincinnati Reds
First Base - Ike Davis - New York Mets
Second Base - Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies
Third Base - Ryan Zimmerman - Washington Nationals
Shortstop - Brandon Crawford - San Francisco Giants
Left Field - Carlos Gonzalez - Colorado Rockies
Center Field - Ben Revere - Philadelphia Phillies
Right Field - Norichika Aoki - Milwaukee Brewers

@zlamick November 7th, 2013
I mean, I seriously think the people at Rawlings need to perform a re-count. #yadi #goldglove

@dgold November 7th, 2013
#GloveGate is underway in the 314.

@JoseSantos November 7th, 2013
Hanigan was really, really good this year but Yadier Molina is the best, arguably, ever at the position. It’s a yearly award though. #glovegate

XANDER BOGAERTS WINS AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/8/13)
The Red Sox talented shortstop Xander Bogaerts takes home American League Rookie of the Year honors after a season that saw him enter the league hitting .279 with 15 homers and 72 RBI in 498 at-bats. After starting the season at Double-A Portland, he quickly made an impact on the Red Sox at the Major League level.

JEDD GYORKO WINS NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/8/13)
What a season it was for Padres rookie second baseman Jedd Gyorko. He hit .274 with 27 homers and 85 RBI in his first full season in San Diego. These numbers were more than enough to earn him the hardware of NL Rookie of the Year.

BLUE JAYS SKIPPER GIBBONS WINS AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/9/13)
John Gibbons led the Toronto Blue Jays talented roster to 96 wins and a first place finish in the American League East division.

WALT WEISS NAMED NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/9/13)
In his first season as manager in Colorado, Walt Wiess was named NL Manager of the Year after steering the Rockies to a 89-73 season and a spot in the wild-card playoffs.

@KenRosenhaus November 9th, 2013
Confirmed: Don Mattingly signs on as @Mets skipper. 3-year deal. More soon.

11/9/13: We met internally today to discuss our coaching staff for the 2014 season and make sure we are on top of things. We have everybody under contract except for the hitting coach position in State College (rookie ball). John Mabry, our current hitting coach has put in a good word for Ray Cosey, a 58-year old former player who has spent time instructing as a rover in the Mariners organization. He mentioned to Mabes that he’d be interested in a full-time gig somewhere. So, we contacted Ray and made a three-year offer. We’ll await his response.

We decided to revamp the Memphis (AAA) coaching staff by firing hitting coach Mark Budaska and pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd. We then immediately offered contracts to Milt Thompson (hitting coach) and Mark Riggins (pitching coach).

Most of the discussion though was with Matheny about his big league staff. He wants Mabry and Lilliquist back as hitting and pitching coaches respectively. We decided to renew everybody and the big league staff would be the same for the 2014 season.

AL CY YOUNG TO BOSTON’S BUCHHOLZ - MLB.com (11/10/13)
The Red Sox net yet another major award and this time it is the Cy Young Award for starting pitcher Clay Buchholz. Buchholz went 17-6 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP - netting a 7.6 WAR.

NL CY YOUNG AWARD TO CLOSER BETANCOURT - MLB.com (11/10/13)
In a surprise announcement, the 2013 National League Cy Young Award goes to Colorado closer Rafael Betancourt. He saved 41 games to go along with an unprecedented 11 wins. His 1.39 ERA and 0.75 WHIP along with 142 strikeouts in just 84 ⅓ innings pitched. It was a magical season at the age of 38 years old.

11/11/13: We’re happy to welcome Ray Cosey to the Cardinals family and appoint him as the hitting coach at State College. We are still waiting to hear back from Milt Thompson and Mark Riggins about the offers to work at Memphis….

AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP IS A PRINCE - MLB.com (11/11/13)
Prince Fielder follows his teammate Miguel Cabrera as the American League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2013 season. Fielder, 29, hit .297 with 36 homers and 104 RBI, while leading the Tigers to an AL Central crown. Fielder’s .425 on-base percentage was tops in all of baseball and his .964 OPS was second only to Cleveland’s Carlos Santana.

THE J-HEY KID IS MVP OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE - MLB.com (11/11/13)
The transformation of Atlanta’s Jason Heyward into a superstar is complete. He takes home the NL MVP award after a season that saw team success to go along with a .319 batting average, 35 home runs, 35 doubles, 106 RBI and 116 runs scored. The batting average was tops in the league and his .962 OPS was also the tops. He posted an 8.1 WAR which tied with Bryce Harper for the best in the NL.

11/12/13: Happy to hear back from Milt Thompson who will join the organization as the hitting coach at Memphis.

@JoseSantos November 12th, 2013
In an underrated signing, the #stlcards add former player Milt Thompson to coaching staff as hitting coach at Memphis.

@zlamick November 12th, 2013
Good to hear Milt Thompson is back with the @Cardinals. Signed on as AAA-Memphis hitting coach.

11/13/13: We reached out to each of our four arbitration-eligible players today with offers to try to avoid a hearing. Mitchell Boggs, Marc Rzepczynski and Fernando Salas all received offers. Jon Jay’s representatives (CAA) are holding out for a long-term deal. At this time, we aren’t willing to go more than one-year at a time with our current outfield situation and Oscar Taveras threatening to take his job. They are unhappy and have mentioned that it might be best part ways with a trade. I explained that wasn’t going to happen unless we get back what we should for a player of his caliber. It would also mean we’d need to sign a bat - assuming we can’t lock up Carlos Beltran. At this point, Beltran, and Danny Lozano’s asking price is just not realistic - so, he’ll hit the market. I have my eye on Brewers 1B/OF Corey Hart. He’s coming off an injury but provides nice pop and decent defense at both first and right field. He’d be a perfect replacement at about half the cost. He hit .291-16-60 in 398 at-bats. He is 31 years old and has plenty left in the tank. If we are forced to deal Jay, Hart will become our No. 1 priority in free agency. The other positive to bringing in Hart is that it allows Allen Craig to play first base - where we prefer him - and leaves Matt Adams as a fill-in and power bat off the bench.

@JohnHayman November 14th, 2013
#Rangers continue to lock up potential free agents and get C A.J. Pierzynski w/ 3-yr $25 Million.

@JohnHayman November 14th, 2013
Pierzynski hit .282-19-71 in 404 AB’s - he will be 39 when this contract expires.

11/15/13: We finally heard back from Riggins and he accepted our offer! Our 2014 coaching staff at all levels in set and complete.

fromtheline · 11-26-2013, 02:21 PM

This is an amazing idea to take it slowly so you can immerse in the whole league. Also very well execution so far, I can't believe how immersed I am as well. It will be really nice to see that your MLB depth charts Twitter, among other things, will allow readers to get a sense of the whole league while still focusing on the Cardinals.

Triple thumbs up.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fromtheline

This is an amazing idea to take it slowly so you can immerse in the whole league. Also very well execution so far, I can't believe how immersed I am as well. It will be really nice to see that your MLB depth charts Twitter, among other things, will allow readers to get a sense of the whole league while still focusing on the Cardinals.

Triple thumbs up.

I appreciate it. I'm just going quickly to get caught up to real-time. So, I'll have a few more posts including recapping the 2013 seasons and previewing off-seasons for all teams. Believe me, I won't be posting at this rate all the time! It will be more like 1-2 posts a day.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 02:41 PM

@dgold November 16th, 2013
#Cardinals avoid arbitration by signing Boggs, Salas and Rzepczynski to one-year deals. #hotstove

CARDS SIGN THREE IN BULLPEN; AVOID ARBITRATION
November 17, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - by: Derek Gold

The Cardinals have agreed to terms with three members of the bullpen and avoid going to an arbitration hearing. Mitchell Boggs gets the biggest amount at $1.84 Million. Boggs was very good for a second straight season, going 4-3 with two saves and a 2.98 ERA in 57 appearances in 2013. He’ll remain a key cog in that bullpen.

The team announced a one-year pact with seventh-inning guy Marc Rzepczynski today for $1.43 Million. “Scrabble” was great, going 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. The left-handed pitcher was a go-to in Matheny’s late inning plans in 2013 and figures to be right back there again.

Finally, Fernando Salas agreed to a modest one-year deal at $882,000. Salas was 5-1 with a 3.49 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 2013.

JON JAY WINS ARBITRATION CASE AGAINST CARDINALS
November 18, 2013 - MLB.com - by: Jen Ohgosch

Jon Jay and his representation get a small win amidst a battle heating up with the Cardinals. The Jay camp are seeking a four-year deal and for the Cardinals to commit long term to the center fielder who has now played three full seasons for the club - and managed a .299 career average during that span. The Cardinals aren’t comfortable doing so in the current climate and with some hot prospects on the horizon. This is the final year for Jay in arbitration and would be a free agent next year.

The MLB arbitrator in the case awarded Jay the amount he and CAA requested, $6.875 Million for the 2014 season. “He’s certainly earned that number,” said Cardinals GM Parker Campbell, “We’re thrilled to have Jon in our outfield mix and hope we can make him a Cardinal for a long time.” Just not right now.

It is still possible that this ill will escalates to a trade this off-season, but that is not the route Campbell wants to take. He’s made that clear.

11/19/13: This Jon Jay situation is becoming more and more difficult of a pill to swallow. No doubt that Jon has given us some great play, a World Championship and really is a genuinely good guy. It’s just the business that’s taking over and his agent - Nez Balelo at CAA - definitely has some sway and pull within the Commissioner’s office. They are upset and are rubbing off on Jon that we don’t value his time here and that he would be better off somewhere else. Somewhere he doesn’t have to compete with an Oscar Taveras-type. That said, we’d like for him to compete with an Oscar Taveras this Spring Training and push him to be the best he can be. But, we don’t want a clubhouse cancer. I went to Mo with this one and asked how he thinks I should handle it - he said that the clubhouse presence is a big thing with this organization and if you have one bad apple - they could all fall in line. And the minute the players think that the front office is against them - it begins to show in their play. I asked if a sit down between myself and Jon would help. He said that just isn’t his style - he’s from the Billy Beane mold. He doesn’t want to have too many personal relationships with players - it gets in the way of doing his job - which is doing everything and anything to put the best product on the field. That’s a tough part of the job.

That said, I got Jon Daniels (Texas Rangers GM) on the phone to discuss what they have going on there. It started with a quick hello, exchange of pleasantries, a quick congrats to him for winning it all last year and then he said, before I could even start… “you’re looking for a shortstop, huh?” I said that I was and just wanted to get the conversation going. He basically said that now that Ian Kinsler was going to walk that Profar-Andrus middle infield is the likely way they are going to go. Can’t say I blame him - that’s sick. But, that did leave another intriguing name in the conversation. That guy is 22-year old Leury Garcia. Garcia played all of 2013 at AAA-Round Rock where he hit .321 with 14 homers, 66 RBI and stole 59 bases. Kantrovitz basically has a man crush on the guy. The one problem - and it’s a big one - is that he strikes out a lot. Now, Dan thinks he can improve upon that with time. He adds that Garcia is very good up the middle at both second and shortstop and would provide an element that we haven’t had in years - and that’s some serious speed and a base stealing threat.

I told Daniels that I’m not interested in giving up our entire lot on the farm for either Andrus or Profar - but rather would discuss Garcia. He said he wasn’t surprised and that Garcia was definitely a name they’d be willing to deal - at the right price of course. I mentioned off top that Jon Jay may be available given his current status. Right now, the Rangers are playing Julio Borbon (LF), Leonys Martin (CF) and Engel Beltre (RF) in the outfield and would like to upgrade. So, he mentioned Jay being a possibility - and continued to say we’d have to do a little better than that to net ourselves Garcia. I understand that. So, we started discussing potential names and/or positions that they would need to get something done. He mentioned an MLB ready starting pitcher. I quickly thought of Lance Lynn - but obviously didn’t play that card. I simply said, “hmmm...that could be a tall order. Obviously, we can’t be talking about Waino, Wacha or Kelly here.” He said he understood.

One of the negotiating tactics I learned from Mo during my years under him was his ability to not seem desperate. He would always wet the other GM’s whistle with some talks and then let it go and have them stew over it for a few days, or weeks. So, I played that card. With that, I said, “Jon, thanks for the time - I think we may have something in the works here. Let’s let it settle and then maybe talk more at the meetings (referring to the Winter Meetings being held December 11-15 in Orlando).” He agreed that we have a spark that could eventually turn into a fire.

After that conversation, for the first time, I felt as though it’s a real possibility of trading Jon Jay. If we can get them to take Jay and Lynn for Garcia - I think we would do that. Shelby is destined for the rotation to replace Lynn and we have Tavares and probably two veteran free agents to compete for an outfield spot. I called D.K. (Dan Kantrovitz) in to discuss what we talked about. He seemed a bit concerned. He mentioned that Taveras is not a polished center fielder - and while he can hold his own and can certainly play there - he isn’t the best defensive option. Trading Jay leaves us vulnerable. Also, he brought up making sure we have competition for him to fuel his fire. All good points. But, he did say that he would LOVE to see Garcia with two birds and a bat on his chest at shortstop next year.

While he was in my office, he said he wanted to let me know of a kid we added to our International Complex, a Venezuelan kid named Maximo Perez. He is as green as green can be but has a Carlos Martinez arm.

We have some busy days coming up with budget meetings for scouting and payroll. We’re also going to secure our 40-man roster in advance of the Dec. 15th Rule V draft.

---------------

11/20/13: In our meeting today with Mo, we discussed our scouting budget. Of course, Dan wants it increased and considering we beat budget last year, we figured we would ask for it. So we did. Mo was accepting and we agreed to move it up from $7 Million to $8.75 Million with most of the focus going to amatuer scouting. We broke it down into segments to reaffirm our focus and we figured 20% ($1.75 M) to Major League scouting -- we just have so much more to go on including performance and sabermetrics so we cut back a bit on this area. We have minor league scouting at 24% ($2.1 M), again, we just have more data to look at and the scouting isn’t as needed. So, we’re pouring the vast majority into amatuer scouting for the draft at 40% ($3.5 Million) and 16% to the International complex ($1.4 M). That’s how it will break down.

While we were there, Mo wanted us to finalize our 40-man roster before the Rule V draft coming up on Sunday, 12/1. Going into the meeting we were at 33 players on the roster.

We quickly decided we needed to protect outfielder Adron Chambers. With our current situation, you never know when we’ll need to call on depth. He had a great season for AAA-Memphis last year, hitting .300 with surprising pop (13 home runs) and 13 stolen bases. We also added Thomas Pham, an outfielder, who hit .243 with 15 homers and 15 steals at AA-Springfield. While it’s unlikely he’s ready for any Major League roster, we feel he’s worth protecting. After looking closely at it - these are the only two players we have added. We will sit at 35 on the 40-man roster with flexibility for trades and signings this off-season. We aren’t worried about any players going to other teams during the Rule V draft.

----------------------------

CARLOS BELTRAN OFFICIALLY FILES FOR FREE AGENCY
November 21, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - by: Derek Gold

Carlos Beltran’s run with the Cardinals is now closer to officially being over. That isn’t to say the team absolutely will not try to re-sign the right fielder and arguably the top free agent on the market this off-season, but it remains unlikely. The Cardinals did make a qualifying offer to Beltran which makes them eligible for a compensation pick in the next amatuer draft. This practice with Albert Pujols netted them their newest ace, Michael Wacha.

Beltran has been rumored to be seeking at least a three-year deal worth upwards of $17 Million per season. At 36 years old, that’s a risky proposition, especially for a National League club without the DH protection. Beltran himself is preferring an American League locale as he has noted his desire to reach 3,000 hits in his career. He is currently at 2,220 hits, leaving him 780 shy. Assuming he keeps a 150 hit average, he’d need to play at a consistent level into his age 41 season.

He will make this trek without the birds and bat on his chest.

@JohnHayman November 21st, 2013
Some teams will move quickly in free agency. Expect Nolasco to be a top priority. Phil Hughes will garner some attention as well. #hotstove

@JenOhgoschMLB November 21st, 2013
The #stlcards will be without Carlos Beltran. Reports are that the two sides have broken off talks.

@JoseSantos November 21st, 2013
#Cardinals shortstop search starts officially. Likely not interested in any free agents. Will have to come from trade.

TOP INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS AVAILABLE
November 21, 2013 - Baseball America - by: Eddy Matt

Let’s take a look at the top international free agents available to MLB clubs this off-season:

RHP Okitsugu Makino (27 years old, Japan) -- A middle reliever or closer candidate, Makino does it with a 96-98 MPH fastball and compliments with a nasty slider. Should fit right into a Major League bullpen. Won’t be seeking big-time money - just wants the opportunity to pitch in America.

RHP Mitsuhide Okada (28 years old, Japan) -- Another middle reliever with a longer leash - can go two innings if needed. Good movement and control but lacks dirty stuff. Sits at 89-90 with a fastball and slider. Working on a changeup that shouldn’t be used to MLB hitters yet.

LHP Vincente Oliva (21 years old, Cuba) -- The Cuban defector is a starting pitcher that would only require a minor-league deal to sign. Projects as a back of the rotation guy with upside.

INF Freddy Pagan (21 years old, Cuba) -- Another defector reminds many of Omar Vizquel at age 21. He has great hands, excellent defensively and does little at the plate. Has good speed and insticts on the basepaths. Would be a bench guy if somebody takes a chance.

3B/RF Ken’ichi Inoue (31 years old, Japan) -- A quality hitter in the Nippon League is now on wrong side of 30 and lacks major hitting potential. He is slow and while solid defensively, he won’t wow anybody. Probably not rosterable at this point.

Other noteables: Ik-Yeong Kim, RF, 22 years old (Korea); Morihiro Oyama, 3B/LF, 25 years old (Japan); Javier Vega, OF, 28 years old (Cuba); Yosai Sugiyama, C, 26-years old (Japan)

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 02:46 PM

11/21/13: We didn’t want to waste any time getting in touch with potential free agents that we are interested in. Deals can happen quickly so we needed to reach out to let their agents know not to do anything until we have had a say. Our first call was to Corey Hart. If we could lock him up, we would have the flexibility to make some moves in the trade market - be it with Matt Adams and/or Jon Jay. However, the 31 year old is seeking an 8-year deal at $17 Million/year, totalling $136 Million. That’s waaaaaay more than we expected and hope that number will come down with time because we can’t justify that. I’m assuming they are just shooting high and will adjust down. We were thinking three years at around $12/year. It doesn’t appear that is going to happen.

I believe very very strongly in a dominant bullpen. Right now, we have a solid bullpen but it could be better. We have our closer in Trevor Rosenthal and we have Jason Motte coming back. I would love to have three potential closers in the backend of the bullpen for many reasons. One, it limits the number of innings we’ll have to put on our starters. Two, if there is an injury, we’ll be covered in the 8th and 9th innings still. So, that means signing a guy that would accept not being a closer, but it worthy of still being one. That leaves us talking to Joel Hanrahan. He spent last year in Boston, where he was not the closer but put up good numbers. He posted a 3.58 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 75 ⅓ innings pitched. He’s the guy we want to add and his asking price is not ridiculous. At 32 years old, he isn’t past his prime like some of the other options. His AAV would be around $5.5 Million but he is seeking five years. If we can get him down to three, or four with a team option, we’re in.

We didn’t want to toy around with this one and let other clubs who miss out on some of the other options out there to join the fray. That said, we weren’t giving him exactly what he is looking for. We talked it over and decided to jump on board quickly and make a fair offer.

Four years at $25 Million with the fourth year being a team option at $7.6 Million (with a $500k buyout).

We also checked in on Coco Crisp - who is now 34 years old but brings a great glove in both left and center field, along with speed. He wants a four-year deal at $7.5/year. We’ll keep an eye on him as a Corey Hart back up. Regardless, we want to sign an outfielder - especially one who can bring that new element of stealing bases to the club. He hit .251 with eight homers, 48 RBI and 43 stolen bases for the A’s.

Finally, we checked in on Yunel Escobar who came off a down year for the Rays last season. He hit just .230 (that’s what Kozma hit) with six homers, 37 RBI while playing very good defense. Right now, he’s seeking just a two-year deal at around $3.5 Million/year. He’d be a cost-effective option - but at 31 years old and declining skills - it may just have to remain a backup plan to Leury Garcia at this point.

@Cardinals November 21st, 2013
The team has announced that catcher J.R. Towles has been granted his unconditional release.

@JenOhgoschMLB November 21st, 2013
The @Cardinals release C J.R. Towles. Team has expressed interest in bringing in more defensive-minded backup to Yadi.

11/21/13: After some deliberation and a call from J.R. Towles agent, we decided to grant him his unconditional release. He was hoping for some more playing time and while he appreciated the opportunity, they feel he has more to offer than the 85 at-bats he received in St. Louis last year. We are looking for a more defensive-minded backup to Yadi as well. We put in a call to Jose Molina, Yadi’s brother’s, agent to find out what he’s looking for. At 38 years old, there isn’t much left in the tank, but he is as good as they come defensively. Surprisingly, he is looking for a three-year deal. We just aren’t going to do that. We’ll keep an eye out to see if that comes down. We can live with Tony Cruz as Yadi’s backup if need be.

11/22/13: Taking a further look into our roster, we are missing a player that can play multiple infield positions (well) and provide speed as a late-inning pinch runner and/or defensive replacement. Particularly for Freese at third base. Wigginton is basically a power potential guy with limited abilities in both defense and speed. It just doesn’t seem like the best way to use up a roster spot. A guy we are looking closely at is Robert Andino. Andino is 29 years old and played most of last season in Tacoma - Seattle’s AAA club. He would bring defense at second, shortstop and most importantly, third base. Plus, if we get things the way we want, we’ll have plenty of outfield depth and it essentially makes Matt Adams into a younger, most powerful version of Wigginton. We owe Wiggy $2.5 Million this year and he has expressed dismay at this AB’s last year. It might be best to part ways. I’ll shop him to see if anybody is interested - but an outright release may be more likely. That said, we won’t be doing anything until we know for sure we can sign Andino.

…

It has been a rather slow day news wise around baseball and just as I was to head out the door for the weekend, I received a call from Rick Hahn with the White Sox. He was just doing some exploratory stuff and knows we are in the market for a shortstop. They are up against the blocks as far as payroll goes and are looking to shed some. That could mean Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez is now 32 years old but his contract is manageable ($9 Million for 2014 and 2015 guaranteed and then a team option for 2016 at $9.5 Million.) He had a good season and plays solid defense but would bring a much needed impact bat to our lineup. The best part - he may be cheaper than a young, unproven player like Garcia in Texas.

Here is how the call went.

Me: Rick, how is it going my friend?

Rick: The weather is ****ty up here.

Me: Yeah, I hear you on that...what’s up?

Rick: You got a minute to discuss this “Cuban Missile” guy I have here at shortstop?

Me: Sure. What you thinking?

Rick: Not wanting to trade him, per se …

Me: But… you called me.

Rick: Yeah, true. He’s just a little out of our price range and I know you’re looking to upgrade there.

Me: That we are.

Rick: Anyone biting?

Me: I’ve got a couple irons in the fire. There just isn’t much on the free agent market at this point so we are searching a little more in trading.

Rick: You talk to Jon (Daniels in Texas)?

Me: Yeah, we had a conversation. Not sure we’ll be able to get anything done. But there are a few options.

Rick: Yeah, he likes to jerk people around.

Me: Bad experience with him?

Rick: Nah, just from what I hear. He seems like a smug young man and that drive me crazy. It took me 25 years to get this job. He basically gets it right out of school…Anyway...Ramirez. You like?

Me: Yeah, I do. I’ll have to consult with Dan about some particulars. What you looking for?

Rick: A starting pitcher or a prospect. People are going to be pissed either way. We’re about ready for this Carlos Sanchez kid to take over at shortstop.

Me: Okay. Well, let me take a look at some things and see if we can work something out...I’ll call you next week.

Rick: Sounds good. Talk to you later… < click >

A productive call. I wasn’t expecting them to be willing to part with Ramirez. I’m a little worried about his age (32) and possible decline. Right now, I’d say he’s our best option and we’ll put that in our back pocket. I’m still excited about Garcia but the asking price has to come down. I’m fairly confident we can get Ramirez for Lynn or Jaime Garcia straight up.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 03:10 PM

11/23/13: I had an interesting conversation with one our our professional scouts today. I told him our options right now on the trade market for a shortstop - both Garcia and Ramirez. He wasn’t comfortable with Garcia - being unproven and giving up a top arm or Jay. He said that giving up Lynn for Ramirez would probably be a fair deal - however, he said that Yunel Escobar is almost the same player. He made a compelling argument that Escobar is as good if not better defensively. He’s a year younger than Ramirez, he’ll cost half as much in salary (unconfirmed) and it won’t cost us any players.

I went back to my office and quickly called Escobar’s agent to get an idea of what he is looking for. Kerry (the scout) was right. He was only looking for around $3.5 Million over two years. He mentioned he’d love to play in St. Louis too. I mentioned that he is definitely on our radar and that we have a few irons in the fire as far as trades go, but that we’ll likely be making an offer.

All of the sudden, Escobar looks like a front-runner to take over at shortstop. But, we aren’t completely convinced at this point. I’d still like to talk to Ben Cherington (Red Sox) about Jose Iglesias. If we do go the Ramirez or Escobar route - they’d be a band aid while we figure out who our long-term fix will be. Right now, that player is not in our system. It could be a priority in the next draft.

Escobar is coming off a of down season in Tampa Bay - which is the main reason for the reasonable asking price. He hit just .230 with six homers and 37 RBI in 356 at-bats. He missed five weeks with a hamstring strain. Here is one other part that I love about Escobar - he just doesn’t strike out. He whiffed just 45 times in those 356 AB’s and while he is not fleet of foot - that ability to put the ball in play makes him a candidate to fill a leadoff role that was a revolving door a year ago. He profiles as a contact leadoff hitter.

…

I’ve been consumed with this idea of going with a stop gap for a year or two and instead use our trade chips to try to get a shortstop of the future that way. The first thought is possibly working something out with Cleveland for Dorssys Paulino. They are convinced that Francisco Lindor is their future at the position. Paulino is 19 years old and is an above average defensive player at this point but profiles as a plus hitter for both average and power. He spent the whole 2013 season at Hi-A Lake County where he hit 11 homers and 12 doubles with a .243 average in 423 at bats. He’s 2-3 years off from the big leagues - but that would be exactly what we are looking for if we go with an Escobar or Ramirez route for now. The alternative is getting Leury Garcia for practically the same price and throw him into the fire right away. Just another route we could consider going. I’m not going to reach out to Pat Corrales quite yet regarding this … but, I certainly will if it becomes clear we are going the Yunel Escobar route.

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Sunday, 11/24/13: I am going to take a much needed day off/mental health day today and take in some NFL football. Rams vs. Bears. Should be a good one. Of course, I’ll have my phone on and I’m sure something will come up during the day that will need some attention - but I’m not making any outbound calls.

…

Good win for the Rams and I just can’t stop thinking about who our shortstop is going to be next year. It’s funny overhearing conversations from people (who have no idea who I am) talking about what they think we should be doing. Some are completely over the top and others do make some sense. It’s good to get a pulse on what the fan base is thinking - but obviously doesn’t play a role in our decision making process.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, 11/25/13: In our usually Monday morning meeting with the staff, DK updates me on an offer to 17-year old shortstop named Thairo Estrada. He thinks he has a future after being released by the Mets organization. He has ZERO power but has speed, great hands and makes contact. He’s worth a flyer and Dan thinks he’ll sign a minor league deal with us.

Still haven’t heard any feedback from Joel Hanrahan and the offer we made him yet. I’m sure that will come in due time.

…

I spent a lot of the day thinking about the backup catcher role and trying to sign Jose Molina serves a couple of purposes. 1.) It nets us a great defensive backstop and 2.) It reunites Yadi with his brother. Family is very important to Yadi and having Jose around will only help his mood and feelings towards the organization. Now, at last check, he wanted three years and over $10 Million. I reached out to Melvin Roman - both Yadi and Jose’s agent and we officially made an offer of two years, $6 Million. We’ll see if he bites on that. We haven’t reached out to Yadi to let him know - I’m sure they will communicate - and that’s the way I want it.

OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: NL WEST
November 25, 2013 - MLB.com - By: Matthew Lurch

This is the first of six off-season outlook pieces that will take a look at the past season and a look ahead at who teams will be losing and/or where they will look to get better heading into 2014.

2013 Recap: The Diamondbacks were disappointed with their 79-83 record and third place finish in the NL West. Their MVP was without a doubt 1B Paul Goldschmidt who broke out with 50 homers and 134 RBI. Had the team performed better, he’d have been a run away NL MVP. The offense was good, led by Goldschmidt, C Miguel Montero (.275-22-83) and 3B Taylor Green, who they acquired from the Brewers for David Goforth and Trevor Cahill at the deadline. He hit .308 for the D-Backs after the trade. The move prompted a switch of Martin Prado to second base, solidifying the lineup. The offense finished 5th in the NL in runs scored (721), 3rd in batting average (.255) and 2nd in on-base percentage (.324). It was the pitching that struggled and held this team back. In particular the starting pitching, which amassed a 4.76 combined starters’ ERA (15th in the NL). Other than Daniel Hudson (4-6, 3.44) - everybody struggled in some facet. Brandon McCarthy won 16 games with a 4.18 ERA - so not all was lost there. Young arms Tyler Skaggs (4-4, 6.91) and Patrick Corbin (10-17, 4.79) have bright futures, but don’t have it all together yet. In the bullpen, J.J. Putz had an up-and-down season, saving 39 games, but registering seven blown chances. Their 3.69 bullpen combined ERA was 3.69 (11th in the NL).

Off-Season Outlook:
Free Agents: LF Eric Hinske, 3B Eric Chavez, MR Tony Sipp and C Wil Nieves.

The D-Backs will likely focus on improving their pitching with the offense pretty well in check. The loss of Hinske and Chavez will create a need for a veteran presence and new bats off the bench. They’ll also be looking for a quality backup to Montero at catcher with Nieves moving on.

2013 Recap: The Rockies offense elevated this team to 89 wins under first year manager Walt Weiss - who captured the NL Manager of the Year honors. They were first in the league in runs (776), batting average (.269) and on-base percentage (.329). They did this being only 7th in homers (164) and didn’t have much of an element of speed with 91 stolen bases. The usual suspects were SS Troy Tulowitzki (.293-29-101) and RF Carlos Gonzalez (.286-36-132). They were joined by breakout player 2B Josh Rutledge who hit .273 with 16 home runs and 80 RBI, hitting primarily out of the 8th spot in the lineup. It was the pitching that haunted them and when the offense was slowed by Stephen Strasburg in the NL wild-card game in Washington - there was no answer and the season ended abruptly. Juan Nicasio and Jhoulys Chacin are the only two expected back in the rotation that could see a major overhaul this off-season. Nicasio went 11-8 with a 5.35 ERA and Chacin was 10-6 with a 4.23 ERA. Free agents-to-be Jeff Francis was their best pitcher, posting 12 wins and a 3.59 ERA. Chris Volstad, also a free agent, led the team with 13 wins, to go along with a 4.84 ERA. The third cast off is Jorge De La Rosa, who suffered some bad luck and inconsistency en route to a 14-loss season. The NL Cy Young Award winner resided on the Rockies - and it was closer Rafael Betancourt - who was just plain dominant and somehow won 11 games.

Off-Season Outlook:
Free Agents: SP Jorge De La Rosa, SP Jeff Francis, SP Chris Volstad, MR Matt Beslisle, MR Jon Garland, 1B/C Ramon Hernandez, MR Livan Hernandez, MR Aaron Cook, C Yorvit Torrealba, 1B Tyler Colvin.

With 1B Todd Helton retiring, the Rockies are ready to hand the reigns at first base off to Ryan Wheeler, who performed well in 350 at-bats, hitting .271 with 7 homers and 35 RBI. The focus will be on rebuilding that starting rotation. Early on, they have been linked to Phil Hughes and could get in on the Ricky Nolasco, Matt Garza and/or Josh Johnson sweepstakes.

2013 Recap: The Dodgers had such high hopes for the 2013 season with big names and plenty of payroll to make a run - the 77-85 season was enough to get manager Don Mattingly canned. GM Ned Colletti hired relatively unknown Tom Brookens to take over the reigns. They did retain hitting coach Mark McGwire, who was often the brunt of many fans’ eyre as the team hit a collective .236 (15th in the NL) and scored just 620 runs (11th). With names like Matt Kemp (.268-39-106), Adrian Gonzalez (.273-24-89) and Hanley Ramirez (.246-18-56) - that is just not acceptable. IT as the other hitters in the lineup that just weren’t producing, on top of lowered averages for the aforementioned top three. Exciting youngster Yasiel Puig got a major taste of the big leagues and performed admirably at the ripe age of 22 years old. He should take a major step forward in 2014. The pitching was great, led by Clayton Kershaw, Zack Grienke and Chad Billingsley. The rotation combined for a 3.65 ERA (5th) and the bullpen was outstanding, led by closer Kenley Jansen and his 38 saves. That bullpen finished with the best ERA 2.86 in the National League. Brandon League (2.32), Scott Elbert (2.45) and Roland Belisario (2.09) all contributed. They added Aaron Crow in July to bolster the already solid bullpen. Crow struggled mightily with the change of scenery - but they expect him to bounce back to his Royals-levels this year and be a key cog.

Off-Season Outlook:
Free Agents: IF/OF Skip Schumaker; OF Alfredo Amezaga, 3B Juan Uribe, MR Matt Guerrier, MR J.P. Howell, 2B Willie Harris, SP Chris Capuano, 2B Mark Ellis, MR Aaron Harang, 2B Nick Punto, MR Ted Lilly and IF/OF Jerry Hairston Jr.

The Dodgers are going to overhaul their 25-man roster to help spruce things up for their new skipper. They are looking for upgrades over serviceable but power-lacking options such as Schumaker, Punto and Hairston. They’ll need to replace Capuano in the rotation and have money to do that. They aren’t sold on top prospect Zach Lee being ready to fill that role, so they will likely sign somebody. With Hanley Ramirez moving to third base full-time, they are in the market for a shortstop and may need a second baseman unless they feel Justin Sellers did enough there to warrant a shot a full-time at bats (.239-10-47, 8 SB in 469 AB’s). It will be interesting to see how Colletti attacks this all-important off-season for the Dodgers.

2013 Recap: The Padres did all they could with a limited amount of talent. They won 73 games and got a great performance from eventuall NL Rookie of the Year in Jedd Gyorko - who hit .274 with 27 bombs and 85 RBI. They have plenty of power with Carlos Quentin chipping in with 26, young catcher Yasmani Grandal belting 16 and Yonder Alonso also hitting 16. Other than Quentin, the other three are young and up-and-coming. Players to build around. Chase Headley took a major step back this season, hitting .272 with just 10 homers and 44 RBI -- he ended up hitting mainly in the two-hole. They have a table-setter in Everth Cabrera, who stole 49 bases. They started the youth movement by trading away top set-up man Luke Gregerson to the White Sox for pitching prospect Erik Johnson and traded Andrew Cashner to the Rays for top prospect Taylor Guerrieri, who struggled in 2013 - but still projects as a top-of-the-rotation starter in time. Manager Bud Black returns to lead this young team (hopefully) into a new dimension as the young talent begins to blossom. Their starting pitching will need some work -with Tyson Ross heading up the group. They were intrigued by Anthony Bass and his eight start audition, going 4-3 with a 2.09 and 0.87 WHIP. The bullpen was solid, finishing 6th in ERA at 3.09 on the season.

Off-Season Outlook:
Free Agents: LF Mark Kotsay, SP Jason Marquis, MR Jose Valverde, SP Edinson Volquez, SP Clayton Richard and MR Joe Thatcher.

The team is parting ways with inconsistent starting pitchers Edinson Volquez and Clayton Richard, both of whom had down seasons. Other than that, they aren’t losing much in terms of talent. It’s how they will supplement it that remains a question. Clearly, a top of the rotation starting pitcher would be in order - but they haven’t been known to be big spenders - they’d rather develop from within the system.

2013 Recap: The Giants were back in 2013, following up their World Series Championship in 2012 - winning 90 games and capturing the NL West division once again. This time around, they weren’t able to overcome a 2-0 deficit to the Reds and faltered in three straight to the eventual NL Champion Reds. Their shortcomings this season certainly wasn’t with the pitching - which allowed a league-low 586 runs against. The starters (3.57) and bullpen (2.90) each posted the 2nd best ERA in the NL. Madison Bumgardner (18-9, 2.39) and Matt Cain (18-12, 2.77) were as good a 1-2 punch in all of baseball. They are the only two sure-fire members of the rotation going into next season with Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong each hitting free agency.
The offense was what held them back, despite quality seasons from C Buster Posey (.304-18-73) and 3B Pablo Sandoval (.275-20-92) - the rest of the troops struggled. Their lack of power was most notable - hitting just 100 home runs (15th). Sergio Romo was a dominant closer, posting 43 saves and a 1.76 ERA. Manager Bruce Bochy and the Giants had to overcome a 10-game losing streak in late May that could’ve buried less strong clubs. They battled back and eventually took the division by a game. Bochy will be back in 2014 as skipper. In July, the team parted ways with former top prospect Brandon Belt after a subpar start to the season - dealing him to the Rays for veteran utility man Ryan Roberts and minor league starting pitcher Braulio Lara.

Off-Season Outlook:
Free Agents: SP Ryan Vogelsong; LF Gregor Blanco; SP Tim Lincecum; MR Chad Gaudin; MR Javier Lopez; CF Andres Torres; SP Barry Zito; MR Wesley Wright; Util Ryan Roberts and MR Jose Mijares.

The Giants will have a new look and feel - starting with the rotation. They’ll likely lose Vogelsong, Zito and Lincecum and will need three new fresh faces. They’ll also need to replace speedster Gregor Blanco and a solid bench presence with both Andres Torres and Ryan Roberts. The bullpen loses three members who contributed all season with Javier Lopez, Jose Mijares and Wesley Wright. The Giants are rumored to be in the Phil Hughes running and wouldn’t be surprised if they went after an impact bat in the outfield like a Shin-Soo Choo.

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 04:14 PM

Taking a quick look at the settings and house rules for how this thing is being played out.

I will be using complete scouting and coaching.
Suspension frequency: Low
Injury frequency: Low
Ratings: 1-20
Show Ratings > Max: No, cut off
No Stars

AI
Lineup: Traditional
Ratings Weight: 55%
Current Year: 25%
Previous Year: 15%
2 years ago: 5%

Trading frequency: Very Low
Trading difficulty: Hard
Trading preference: Neutral

All rules are out of the box and will be adjusted in real-time as MLB applies rules.

Amateur Draft
Number of rounds: 40
Players Generated for: 45
Reveal Date: 75 days prior

CBA Enabled
Financials and Strategy are out of the box

In addition to the regular rules, I will reserve the right to squash any ridiculous AI trade that may occur. This would be a rare instance, I can usually come up with a back story to make it seem feasible. But the Astros giving up Carlos Correa for Cliff Lee (just an example - it didn't happen) would be put to bed.

@Rockies
The #Rockies added Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich, Manny Corpas & Tyler Chatwood to the 40-man roster

@MLBDepthCharts
Pomeranz, Friedrich, Corpas & Chatwood bring #Rockies 40-man to just 28. Work to do!

OOTPRealTime · 11-26-2013, 05:51 PM

OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: NL EAST
November 26, 2013 - MLB.com - By: Matthew Lurch

This is the second of six off-season outlook pieces that will take a look at the past season and a look ahead at who teams will be losing and/or where they will look to get better heading into 2014.

2013 Recap: The Braves and manager Fredi Gonzalez lived up to expectations in 2013 - winning 93 games and taking home the National League East division. Unfortunately, they also confirmed a recent trend of early playoff exits after losing in four games in the NLDS to division rival Washington. Eventual NL MVP Jason Heyward broke through and hit .319 with 35 homers and 106 RBI while young arms Julio Teheran and Kris Medlen led the rotation. The Braves finished 2nd in the National League in runs scored (768), home runs (195) and fourth in both batting average (.265) and on-base percentage (.319). They even kept pace with most of the league in stolen bases with 107. Their starters’ ERA finished at 3.71 (6th) and the bullpen boasted a 2.99 (4th). The defense struggled throughout, posting just a .681 efficiency rating - 12th in the league. 1B Freddie Freeman was arguably better than Heyward all season - hitting just nine points below at .311 but surpassing him in homers (40) and RBI (126). It was Heyward’s .962 OPS and 8.1 WAR that eventually won him the award. Prized off-season pick up Justin Upton hit a disappoiting .246 with 21 homers and 73 RBI. C Brian McCann (22) and 2B Dan Uggla (23) each surpassed the 20 home run mark, giving the Braves five players over that plateau. Closer Craig Kimbrel led the bullpen with 43 saves and a 2.19 ERA, while setup men emerged in Cory Gearrin and Jordan Walden. The Braves combination of hitting the ball out of the park while on offense and keeping it in the park while on defense - allowing just 128 homers - was a winning recipe. They were 21 games over .500 at home (51-30) and managed the 93 wins despite a paltry 2-11 record in extra-inning games. The strong finish in September was key, going 19-8 and winning their last 11 games.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: SP Tim Hudson; MR Paul Maholm; OF Reed Johnson

The loss of veteran pitcher Tim Hudson leaves a void in the rotation - but that will be filled either internally or with a younger option on the free agent market. Other than that, the Braves are poised to repeat as a National League front-runner looking to get over that hump and make it to the World Series in 2014.

2013 Recap: The young, rebuilding Marlins managed to salvage a solid season, winning 77 games and topping both the Phillies and Mets in the NL East standings. So much for a throw-away year. First year manager Mike Remond did a fantastic job gelling some of the young players as the Marlins regroup. The pitching was the key, led by upcoming free agent Ricky Nolasco and his 17 wins with a 2.94 ERA. Henderson Alvarez, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in the blockbuster Reyes-Josh Johnson trade lived up to expectations, winning 11 games and hitting a 3.01 ERA at the age of 23. Super phenom Jose Fernandez adds another young arm to the arsenal adn though he was just 11-10 on the year, he showed signs of dominance - and he is just 21 years old. Add Nathan Eovaldi (23) and Ivan Nova (26) to the list - the rotation is looking up. Offensively, Giancarlo Stanton is the prized possession, hitting .248 with 38 homers and 90 RBI, he joined Justin Ruggiano as the best hitters on the the team. Logan Morrison was inconsistent, but they still have high hopes for him. They played the second-best defense according to their defensive efficiency rating at .703 - and that contributed to a low .289 BABIP. Young closer Steve Cishek struggled and lost his closers role to Mike Dunn - and the bullpen was solid all season long. They still believe in Jacob Turner - whom they acquired from Detroit in the Omar Infante deal two years ago has middle-of-the-rotation upside, despite struggling in the bullpen this year.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: IF Greg Dobbs; 1B Casey Kotchman; OF Austin Kearns; C Miguel Olivo; SP Ricky Nolasco; MR Jon Rauch; MR Chad Qualls; OF Juan Pierre.

Already this off-season they traded traded struggling SP Kevin Slowey to the A’s for Hiroyuki Nakajima to replace the retired Placido Polanco at third base. The loss of Nolasco will hurt - especially since they weren’t able to acquire something for him prior to leaving - but it just doesn’t fit their model for re-building. The rotation will be set with Fernandez-Alvarez-Nova-Eovaldi and Kyle Kendrick for 2014.

2013 Recap: The Mets were just plain awful in 2013. Their 60 wins help illustrate the struggles both offensively and on the mound. They finished ranked in the bottom third of the National League in just about every team offensive category. The upside: Travis D’Arnaud and Matt Harvey. Two pieces that the Mets can build around in their re-building efforts. They fired Terry Collins and hired Don Mattingly to help in the re-build. Mattingly’s struggles as manager in Los Angeles were contributed to the high-priced talent and the Mets think he is better suited working with young, energetic, eager-to-please players in New York. GM Sandy Alderson knows he has his work cut out for him. Let’s face it: the lineup needs a complete overhaul and the bullpen is a mess. However, with Harvey and fellow prospect Zach Wheeler, the Mets have a bonafide 1-2 punch. Much was made of the Mets inability to win close games, going 14-33 in one-run games and 2-14 in extra-inning contests. A shift to the mean there could improve this club by ten wins right there.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: SP Johan Santana; RP LaTroy Hawkins; OF Jack Cust; OF Aubrey Huff; OF Marlon Byrd; SP Shaun Marcum; MR Frank Francisco; MR Brandon Lyon and C John Buck.

This re-build begins with finally parting ways with injured and heftily-paid Johan Santana. He could be a comeback candidate if he is willing to take a major pay cut - but his relationships in New York have been burned to the ground with the way both sides handled the split. The Mets will likely look to add a big arm to the rotation and supplement the lineup with some quality hitters while bolstering their minor league system.

2013 Recap: It’s officially rebuilding time in Philadelphia as well. After winning just 68 games in 2013 - the roster is ready to be turned over and gutted. Surprisingly, heads didn’t roll as GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and manager Charlie Manuel have been retained to see the club through this rough patch. The team finished with just 611 runs scored (13th in NL), .239 batting average (14th), .299 OBP (14th) and 123 homers (t-13th). Clearly, the lineup needs to be overturned. They will build around CF Ben Revere (.283-2-48-50 SB) in the leadoff role. They believe in Darin Ruf at first base and hope that they can find a new home for overpaid, declining Ryan Howard. Dominic Brown will be back with his .245-17-54 line and veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be asked to help mold these young players into winners. The rotation remains strong (for now) with aging lefties Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels leading the way. Both (along with Howard) remain key chips for off-season or deadline deals to contenders during the rebuilding process.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: SP Roy Halladay; 2B Chase Utley; MR Chad Durbin; C Humberto Quintero; OF Laynce Nix; OF Scott Podsednik; OF Delmon Young; C Carlos Ruiz; 3B Michael Young.

Long-time faces of the franchise Halladay, Utley and Young are all going to be in new uniforms next year. Amaro has hinted towards keeping a low profile this off-season and focus on return for some of the quality veterans that they have. However, many teams are priced out on Howard, Lee and even Hamels because of huge contracts.

2013 Recap: After the collapse to the Cardinals in 2012, many Nationals faithful were hoping for a breakout 2013 campaign. And, while 90 wins and an appearance in the National League Championship Series is nothing to sneeze at - anything short of the World Series would be considered a disappointment. A wild-card game win and a 3-1 series win over rival Atlanta was great, but the 4-1 wipe out in the NLCS was tough to swallow. Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Wert each had great seasons and led the offense to a respectable level - but it was the starting pitching that led them. Stephen Strasburg (16-6, 2.51), Gio Gonzalez(9-9, 3.77), Jordan Zimmermann (14-8, 3.45) and Dan Haren (11-13, 2.68) were downright disgusting, leading the rotation to an MLB-best 3.31 combined ERA. The bullpen wasn't far behind with closer Drew Storen (33 saves, 2.28), Rafael Soriano (9 wins, 2.12 ERA) and others contributing to a bullpen combined ERA of 2.93 (3rd in the NL). They well surpassed their attendance record with over 3.4 Million fans through the turnstiles. With most everybody coming back, with the exception of Haren - the Nationals are poised to make another run at a World Series berth.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: SP Dan Haren; SP Ross Detwiler; C Kurt Suzuki; MR Zach Duke; IF Jorge Cantu; SS Bobby Crosby; 1B Chad Tracy.

The Nationals have to replace Haren, who was crazy good last year but can't afford his contract demands of nearly $19 Million/year. They can look to the heavy pitching free agency market to fill his, and Ross Detwiler's rotation spot. Good news is that the lineup is in tact and strong without having to make many moves.

beachbomer · 11-26-2013, 07:57 PM

Just wanted to let you know I will be following. Already hooked!!!!!

fromtheline · 11-26-2013, 08:35 PM

I just realized this means there won't be games of any sort for a couple of months.

rpriske · 11-26-2013, 11:24 PM

I am excited to follow this one.

Tiger Fan · 11-27-2013, 02:20 AM

Great concept and I really enjoy your writing style as well. Looking forward to following along.

Hendu Style · 11-27-2013, 05:01 AM

I'm looking forward to following this. Great idea!

StLee · 11-27-2013, 09:05 AM

Count me in, too!

OOTPRealTime · 11-27-2013, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fromtheline

I just realized this means there won't be games of any sort for a couple of months.

Yeah, I know. That seems crazy but hopefully I can fill that time with the off-season preparation. I'm also looking forward to actually running a Spring Training similar to how the real clubs do it. Have a large invite list and cut down as time goes on. That's an element of the game I haven't delved into yet.

OOTPRealTime · 11-27-2013, 10:37 AM

I received a note from Dan on Tyrell Jenkins - our 2010 first round pick out of high school and currently ranked our No. 4 prospect. His numbers have been largely underwhelming after now three full seasons in the professional ranks. Now 21 years old, we were hoping to see something more than a 5.97 ERA at Johnson City (rookie level). The reason I asked Dan to take a closer look at Tyrell is simply because he was discussed as a possible inclusion on a deal for Leury Garcia. I just wanted to make sure we weren't jumping ship too early - and if we should try to maximize his value as our No. 4 prospect.

Here is a look at his numbers so far:

HTML Code:

Career Minor League Pitching Stats - Tyrell Jenkins
Year/Team/League	Age	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	HA	R	ER	HR	BB	K	CG	SHO	WHIP	BABIP	VORP	WAR	ERA+
2010 Johnson City - R	17	2	2	0	0	0	0.00	3.0	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	1.33	.000	0.0	0.0	999
2011 Johnson City - R	18	11	11	4	2	0	3.86	56.0	63	33	24	3	13	55	0	0	1.36	.000	0.0	0.0	148
2012 Quad Cities - A	19	19	19	4	4	0	5.14	82.1	84	53	47	5	36	80	0	0	1.46	.000	0.0	0.0	95
2013 Johnson City - R	20	15	15	5	7	0	5.97	86.0	98	60	57	14	43	93	0	0	1.64	.347	7.3	0.0	96
Total MID		19	19	4	4	0	5.14	82.1	84	53	47	5	36	80	0	0	1.46	.000	0.0		94.9
Total APP		28	28	9	9	0	5.03	145.0	163	93	81	17	58	150	0	0	1.52	.802	7.3		134.7

He still has room to grow but the general consensus here is that we're not giving up a future top-of-the-rotation arm here if he is included in a trade. He did mention what appears to be an unlucky BABIP at .347 and a regression to the mean there, along with improved control to go along with good "stuff", there is the reason he is ranked to highly. I'll keep that in mind. I'm still leaning towards going the free agent Yunel Escobar route and see if I can land a future shortstop in a potential deal. One that won't force me to give up a starting pitcher, Jon Jay and a Jenkins-type prospect - which is what Daniels in Texas still wants for Garcia. Eventually, I'll put a call in to Pat Corrales in Cleveland to discuss Dorssys Paulino as they have Francisco Lindor as their shortstop of the future. Maybe they'd be willing to part with him in a potential deal? We'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

@JohnHayman The @Angels have traded 1B C.J. Cron to @Royals for P Andy Ferguson. Swap of prospects.

ANGELS, ROYALS AGREE TO SWAP PROSPECTS MLB.com
The Los Angeles Angels just don't seem to have a spot for 23-year old slugging prospect C.J. Cron. So, they found him a new home in Kansas City. Cron was ranked the #73 prospect by MLB.com prior to the 2013 season, one that saw him smack 21 homers and drive in 94 runs for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He was a Texas League All-Star and isn't far from the big leagues. The Royals acquire Cron in exchange for pitching prospect Andy Ferguson. Once considered a "can't miss" prospect, Ferguson has struggled to work his way out of the lower minor leagues. At 25 years old, it may just be time for a change of scenery and that's what the Angels hope to provide to help him turn the corner. Both players are expected to be invited to big league camp and compete for a roster spot in 2014.

11-26-2013, 10:54 AM	#1
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	A New Approach: Real-Time After many years, versions and dynasties - it's time to change my focus to try to find that one method of OOTP gaming that will grasp my attention for years in real-time. I've re-built the Mets, Twins, Indians and other franchises over the years. I've played 25 seasons in a fictional format that was fun - but lasted about three months in real-time. I'm looking for that new approach. I think I have found it. I've started a new name on these boards and haven't been a regular poster - more of a self-consumed OOTP maniac. Played in a few multi-player/online leagues over the years - but never was full engaged. Again, it just wasn't the format for me. Was it that I just went too fast? Playing months at a time - making quick decisions, changes, trades, free agent signings and not able to really connect with my team and franchise from top to bottom? Maybe. Similarly, I get addicted to the game and often spend too much time playing it. I am a busy professional with a family. But I still want to enjoy my OOTP universe without it affecting my “real” life. This is a governor of sorts. Only so much can happen in one day in the OOTP world. That will be my way of making sure it doesn’t “accidentally” take up three hours of my life - a three hours that seems like 15 minutes. So, I can delve as deep into my OOTP universe based on how much free time I have. So, here is what I am trying. Using OOTP in a real-time mode. Meaning, simulating the days as we go along with the real days. Spending that time to delve deeper into the game and my unique universe to get that full engagement that I've been longing for. I'll use a real MLB format after a simmed 2013 season. I'll update with what happened in 2013 as we go along - but this method will allow for more background story telling and interactions with other GM's, agents, players. Those interactions will be fictional, but the games, signings and universe will be all OOTP. It will automatically save after each day simulated. My posts here will be dated with the actual date of my OOTP universe because it will be in real time! Instead of loading up a Word document and keeping it all to myself and scrolling to the end. Why not share with everybody here? So, that's what I'll do. My first post (well, after this one) will introduce the situation in which Parker Campbell takes over as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals after a season that they fell short in a ultra-competitive National League Central division. I'll introduce you to fictional local beat writers and columnists in the St. Louis area and nationally - if you are in this market, you'll recognize the counterparts they represent. This next post will be a long one to get us caught up with what's going on with the organization as Parker enters his first off-season at the helm. I'll post as outside sources telling the story with newspaper articles, quick website updates and social media posts. When I use italics it is Parker Campbell writing in his personal journal to document his day-to-day interactions behind-the-scenes to shed more light on what is going on. I envision a new feeling of pride with each win during the season, finally pulling the trigger on a trade after much deliberation and/or getting the e-mail after signing a prized free agent. Each individual game will take on a new importance, right? Well, I guess we'll see. I officially started this three weeks ago and I’m already finding it the best way to play the game - in my opinion on circumstance. Note: When the type is green, it is Parker Campbell writing in his personal diary - something he has been advised to keep track of day-to-day interactions and thoughts. It will help with a possible book and/or memoirs following his career. This will give an in-depth look at each crucial decision made throughout the season. Note: When the type is bold, it is me - the unknown writer - discussing something game related, ie: version change, new house rule, etc.

11-26-2013, 10:57 AM	#2
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	Meeting our local and national personalities... First, I’d like to introduce you to our local and national media people covering this thing. Local writers: Bernie Zlamick (@bzlamick) - A respected columnist at the P-D who has been at it for almost 15 years now. Recently, a radio host as well. He has gone back to spending more time around the clubs that he covers - first and foremost, the Cardinals. His years of experience makes him the most respected opinion amongst the group. Jose Santos (@jsantos) - A long-time beat writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, recently was promoted to a columnist. Known for his sarcastic approach and social media engagement, Jose is disliked by many - but respected by all. Derek Gold (@dgold) - Took over at head beat writer at the P-D when Santos took the full-time columnist job. He is with the team on every road trip and analyzes every single move throughout the season. Jen Mygosch (@JenMygoschMLB) - MLB.com beat writer assigned to the Cardinals. Has been covering the team for three full seasons now. National writers: Ken Rosenhaus (@KenRosenhaus) - A short statured and talented reporter with more contacts that anybody else in the business. He’ll break news, signings, trades and really anything that happens in this universe. John Hayman (@JohnHayman) - Another MLB insider whose specialty is breaking news from around the league. Bubba Olmey (@BubbaOlmey) - Yet another MLB scribe with contacts and news-breaking abilities. Matthew Lurch (@mlurchMLB) - MLB.com National writer and former Cardinals beat writer. Other sources: @TheCardinalWay - A well-followed and respected Cardinals fan site. This will provide a non-biased view of what’s going on in the world of Cardinal baseball. @MLBDepthCharts - The best follow (really) to cover the movement for all 30 MLB clubs. Will point towards shifts in roles, as well as, promotions/demotions and effects on all moves on the depth charts of MLB teams. I’m sure we’ll be introduced to some other sources as we go along...

11-26-2013, 11:00 AM	#3
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	The Cardinals undergo organizational shift of power... @JoseSantos October 12th, 2013 The @Cardinals have called a 2:00 pm presser today. Major organizational changes on the way. Big news. #breaking @zlamick October 12th, 2013 My guess: Jr. to retire; III to Chairman; Mo to President...this is my speculation. Nothing confirmed. CARDINALS UNDERGO ORGANIZATIONAL SHIFT OF POWER Movement includes Mozeliak to team President; Parker Campbell promoted to General Manager. October 13, 2013 -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- by: Derek Gold At a 2:00 pm press conference held at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals announced major changes to their power structure. Starting with the retirement of William DeWitt Jr. as Chairman of the Board, his son Bill DeWitt III will take over in that all-important role. The trickle down effect moves former General Manager and executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak moves into the role of team President. Mozeliak has shown interest in taking the reigns of all day-to-day operations of the club from a business stand-point. He will remain involved in baseball decisions. “I will hand over control of the company to my son, Bill, effective immediately,” Bill DeWitt Jr. wasted no time letting everybody know what was going on. The questions remained as to how the chips would fall for the rest of the group. Bill the III took the microphone and announced that Mozeliak would be promoted to his former role as President. Assistant GM Parker Campbell would be promoted to head decision maker on the baseball operations side as General Manager. This shift in power leaves two “baseball guys” making roster decisions. Mozeliak followed and made the announcement of Campbell’s promotion. The first question from the media was how much “Mo” would be involved in the baseball decisions. His answer: “I’ll certainly give my two cents, but we are entrusting that responsibility to Parker Campbell who is ready to take on that challenge.” Campbell, Mozeliak’s protege, is much like him and will be one office away with any questions or problems that come up. He is known as a young, energetic baseball mind with a “hybrid” mentality when it comes to old fashioned scouting and sabermetrics. When asked that specific question, Campbell responded with, “I think it’s a mistake to put too much stock in either. Utilizing both to make decisions is the most effective way and the method we’ll continue to employ here,” he continued, “...when both match up, we know we have something.” Eventually, during the hour-long press conference, the status question for manager Mike Matheny was bound to come up. All on the deus yielded to Campbell for that response: “Mike’s job is more than safe. He has done an admirable job in his first two seasons and we hope to extend him sometime during this year. He’s a stand up person, as well as a great baseball manager and we’re lucky to have him.” Matheny was in the room but not on the stage. Following the press conference, Campbell and Matheny made a beeline to the manager’s adjacent office in the clubhouse for their first official meeting…. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-26-2013 at 11:03 AM.

11-26-2013, 11:15 AM	#4
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	Let's get caught up... 2013 CARDINALS REPORT CARD & SEASON-IN-REVIEW October 18, 2013 -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- by: Jose Santos, Derek Gold & Bernie Zlamick The 2013 version of the St. Louis Cardinals will be remembered as just coming up short in the end. Finishing with 88 wins is nothing to sneeze at. It’s the same number the team achieved a year ago before falling short in the NLCS to the Giants. It’s just two short of the number achieved during the World Championship season of 2011 and five MORE than the 2006 victorious Cardinals. They finished two games back in the National League Central division and will watch their rival Reds play post-season baseball. It’s not exactly back to the drawing board for the Cardinals, but with the Pirates improving greatly to 87 wins and the Brewers being right there at 87 also, the Central is a tough place to reside and the team will need to pull the right strings in the off-season to ensure future success. This piece will re-live the 2013 season and provide grades on each area of the team from the past year. We’ll then delve into the financial structure of the club and preview this all important 2013 off-season as the Cardinals try to keep pace in their own division. APRIL It was a rather uninspiring start to the season in April, standing just 12-15 following the first month. It ended on a good note, however, when Adam Wainwright and effectively got his season back on track with a 5-hit shutout of high-powered Cincinnati. Following this game, he was 2-3 with a 4.61 ERA. Not the start the team was hoping from from their ace. By the end of April, Allen Craig had eight homers but was hitting just .238 on the year with 34 strikeouts. He looked more like an “all-or-nothing” type hitter than an all-around professional hitter. The team officially shut down closer Jason Motte and handed the ball to Trevor Rosenthal. He had six saves but three losses with two blown saves and a high 5.56 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 11 ⅓ innings pitched. That was the highest ERA on staff from the all-important closer’s role. From a transactions stand-point, Mozeliak added two veterans to a young bench by signing infielder Freddy Sanchez and outfielder Bobby Abreu to one-year deals. MAY May was better, but not by much. The Cardinals finished the month 14-14 and now stood at 26-29 overall. Jon Jay broke out, hitting .305 in the month with three homers, seven doubles and 14 RBI. Carlos Beltran and David Freese led the team in homers in the month of May with six each. Conversley, Beltran hit just .202 and Freese .221 in the month as the offense just wasn’t keeping pace with the pitching. Manager Mike Matheny, against many pundits and fans advice, stuck with Rosenthal at closer. It paid off as he recorded saves in ten of the 14 wins in the month with an ERA of 0.73 and 14 strikeouts. Michael Wacha (2-3, 2.38 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 51 K), Jaime Garcia (3-2, 2.81, 1.03, 7 BB) and Adam Wainwright (2-2, 3.31, 1.07) were as dominant as any top three in any staff. However, Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn were equally as bad. The offensive highlight came on May 13th, when Allen Craig went 5-for-5 with five singles - exacting revenge on the “all-or-nothing” label from earlier in the year. JUNE June was the Cardinals best month as a team, going 19-8 to move their record to 45-37 on the season and a share of first place in the division. Carlos Beltran led the way with a .327 average, with four homers, nine doubles and 15 RBI in the month. Craig hit .304 and the offense looked like they were turning a corner. Pete Kozma’s struggles offensively continued and this was the first time his stellar defense wasn’t quite off-setting those woes at the plate. The patience was wearing thin. On the 8th of the month, Beltran went 5-for-5 in a 7-5 win over Cincinnati. He had two singles, two doubles and a three-run homer. That performance got his average up to .273 with 12 homers and 29 RBI on the season. He ended up winning National League Player of the Week during that stretch. Later in the month, Matt Holliday got into the fun, staying true to his streaky ways when he went 11-for-20 during the week with a couple homers and five RBI. Of course, who could forget what else happened in June when Oakland pitcher A.J. Griffin tossed a perfect game against the Cardinals. Wainwright followed up a good May with a spectacular June and was awarded the June National League Pitcher of the Month award, going 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA, striking out 48 and walking just eight in that month. His forgettable April was all but just that, forgotten. Rosenthal joined in on forgetting about poor starts. He notched 12 saves in the month of June, allowing just one earned run in 16.1 innings with 21 whiffs and just three walks. He was blossoming into one of the more dominant closers in all of baseball. JULY July is like Saturday during a PGA Tour golfing event. It’s supposed to be “moving day” or in this case “moving month”. The Cardinals moved, but didn’t move enough. They finished the month of July and headed into the official “dog days” of summer sitting at a respectable 58-48 - a full ten games over .500 but a full five games back of first place Cincinnati. The fans pined for one more starting pitcher to go with that Wainwright-Wacha-Garcia combination and relieve the struggling Lance Lynn of his duties. Mozeliak held on to his chips and left the month without a major move - much to the chagrin of Cardinal Nation. The offense ran into a power outage, managing just 14 homers as a team. Jon Jay led the team in the month with 17 RBI, hitting .361 along the way. Ryan Jackson officially took over at shortstop and struggled to a .200 average over 71 at-bats. Adam Wainwright had another great month and finished it off with a performance to remember. On July 31st, against the Pirates, he tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out ten. Following that outing, Wainwright had a 13-6 record with a 2.87 ERA and was doing it with command, rather than pure stuff with 134 strikeouts through 157 innings pitched. AUGUST Many times in the month of August, it appeared the Cardinals were ready to go on their patented run to pull away in the NL Central. That just never materialized. They never won more than three in a row and never lost more than three in a row in the month. The power returned to Carlos Beltran who smacked six in the month, to go along with 13 RBI and a .297 batting average. Matt Carpenter (.177, 17-for-96) and Allen Craig (.183, 17-for-93) struggled mightily. Rosenthal chalked up ten more saves, giving him 44 through the month of August. Wainwright came back to earth a bit and Jaime Garcia had his worst month by far, going 2-4 with 27 earned runs in 36.2 innings pitched (6.63) in his six starts. During the month, both Edwin Jackson (Cubs) and Brandon Beachy (Braves) shutout the Cardinals. Despite the unfavorable numbers, the Cardinals were still 11-games over .500 at 75-64 and in a position to make a run at a playoff appearance, if not a Central division title. SEPTEMBER Then September happened. Two huge series with both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh yielded a 3-4 record and then the sweep of Milwaukee at Busch had fans feeling good about the prospects of this team playing October baseball. Simply, they just couldn’t go on that 8-10 game winning streak, which is what it would’ve taken. The Reds captured the Central division title. And despite finishing with 88 wins, the Cardinals fell two full games short. David Freese awoke in September, hitting .316 with five homers in 98 at-bats. The story of September, though, was most definitely the emergence of power-hitting Matt Adams, who smacked seven long-balls in just 63 at-bats. Rosenthal may have tired down the stretch, closing just five games in the month, allowing five earned runs in 9 ⅔ innings. Lynn and Garcia did nothing to ensure rotation spots in 2014 following a poor finale. REPORT CARDS OFFENSE…………………………………………………………… C- The John Mabry-led offense was inconsistent at best this year and could be blamed for the reason the Cardinals aren’t still playing baseball. Overall, the team hit .247 as a team (8th in National League). Worse yet, the teams on-base percentage was just .307 (11th). They drew just 448 walks (11th) and scored 628 runs in total (10th). Not known for running, the 42 stolen bases was unsurprisingly ranked second to last in the league. Uninspiring to say the least. The woes on the infield between third base with David Freese (.246), second base with Matt Carpenter (.236) and shortstop with Pete Kozma (.230)/Ryan Jackson (.218) were mostly to blame. The regular outfielders (Holliday-Jay-Beltran) contributed most of the offense and Yadier Molina did his part at .267 with 17 homers and 52 RBI. And to think that the leader in most offensive categories is going to enter free agency is...well, troublesome. STARTING PITCHING…………………………………………. B This could be split into two parts. The top three with Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Joe Kelly could receive an A. The backend with Jaime Garcia and Lance Lynn - who each had moments of brilliance, the overall body of work was a C-. So, they’ll average out at a B. The 3.64 overall starters’ ERA was 4th in the NL. BULLPEN …………………………………………………………… B Trevor Rosenthal was great this year filling in for injured Jason Motte with 49 saves and a 2.23 ERA with his 12.9 K/9 rate. Edward Mujica and Marc Rzepczynski were solid as set up man. Mitchell Boggs, Shelby Miller, Fernando Salas and Jake Westbrook each kept their overall ERA’s under 4.00 - which is great. The lefty specialist Randy Choate wasn’t very good in his limited role. It is expected that the team will look for a new, dynamic player to take over Choate’s role despite being signed through 2015. Shelby Miller will also likely move to the rotation next year. DEFENSE ……………………………………………………………. D The defense was a major concern after posting just a .669 defensive efficiency. This is concerning because if the offense isn’t there - you’d hope your giving up the hits for the glove. Again, it is the infield to blame. Freese and Matt Adams/Ty Wigginton at the corners is less than inspiring. And, while Kozma/Jackson at shortstop are above average, Matt Carpenter is still learning second base. PLAYER-BY-PLAYER Let’s take a look at how every player that contributed at the Major League level fared this season and take a look at contract status and a prediction on 2014 role with the team or whether he will be registering a new zip code come next season. RHP ADAM WAINWRIGHT One of the most popular players in franchise history both in the clubhouse and out had a good 2013 campaign. He went 16-11 with a 3.25 ERA in 34 starts. He ammased a 5.4 WAR and is entrenched as the “ace” of this Cardinals staff. He is signed through 2018 and there isn’t much else to tell you about Wain-o that you don’t already know. RHP MICHAEL WACHA The reward for the compensatory pick received from the Angels for signing Albert Pujols, nobody saw his rise to the big leagues and to dominance this quickly. Not even the guy responsible for drafting him, Dan Kantrovitz. He went 13-9 with a rotation-best 2.45 ERA to go along with 245 strikeouts and a miniscule 1.06 WHIP. His 7.6 WAR was behind only Yu Darvish (9.7) and Felix Hernandez (8.4). His 2.53 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) was an MLB-best 2.53. If not for Stephen Strasburg, Wacha would be a run-away Cy Young winner in the National League...at age 22. Scary. RHP JOE KELLY He won the job out of Spring Training, beating out his good friend Shelby Miller and wound up performing as the No. 3 in the rotation. Kelly went 11-12 with a 3.67 ERA, with 194 strikeouts in 201.1 innings pitched. His 1.27 WHIP is respectable and his .335 opponents BABIP hints towards better things to come. Only 25 years old, Kelly has entrenched himself in this rotation. He isn’t even expected to reach arbitration until 2017. LHP JAIME GARCIA Many viewed Garcia as the possible No. 2 starter in this rotation entering the season and after signing a big contract, he has mainly failed to live up to expectations. Though, he was great in April, May and June going 9-4 with ERA’s of 2.38, 2.81 and 2.27 in each month respectively. This second half was equally as bad. It could have been caused by exhuastion but he finished at 11-13 with a 4.20, 1.28 WHIP and just a 1.4 WAR. He allowed far too many homers (31) and his workload of 201 innings wasn’t excessive. He is guaranteed through the 2015 season, with a couple of team options for 2016 and 17. He’ll need to impress to warrant the $11.5 and $12 million team options to be picked up. RHP LANCE LYNN Lynn became Cardinal fan public enemy No. 1 after showing signs of dominance at times, he really struggled at others. His lack of focus after things start to go south is the main reason for his subpar numbers. He finished the year taking the loss in seven of his last eight starts. His home/road splits are also concerning. He was 1-9 at Busch Stadium with a 5.19 ERA, compared to 7-2 with a 3.92 away from St. Louis. He is arbitration eligible and likely the one losing his rotation spot to Shelby Miller - assuming the club is ready to move Miller into his natural role. That could mean the end of Lynn’s time in St. Louis, or, he could assume a bullpen role - one in which he relished during the 2011 World Championship run. RHP TREVOR ROSENTHAL After the injury to closer Jason Motte, the Cardinals turned to fireballer Rosenthal who came through with flying colors. He lead the Majors in saves with 49 (in just 51 chances). After starting slow out of the gate, he finished as the most dominant closer in all of the game. His 2.23 ERA and 1.02 WHIP were impressive enough, but it was his 104 strikeouts in 71 ⅓ innings pitched (12.88 K/9) that really set him apart. The next closest in all of the Majors in saves was the Braves’ Craig Kimbrel and the Giants’ Sergio Romo at 43. He was a starter in the minor leagues and that isn’t out of the equation completely. He’s the St. Louis version of Aroldis Chapman. RHP EDWARD MUJICA The 29-year old Mujica is now a free agent after one and a half seasons in St. Louis. They were solid to say the least and he was the primary set-up man for Rosenthal this year. He’s known for keeping the ball in the ballpark and that continued in 2013 - allowing just four homers (he allowed just one in 2012) and posting a 3.46 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP. His splitter is his go-to pitch and it is effective. He struggled in the last three games of the season in crunch time, giving up three, one and one earned runs respectively. Unfortunately, that may be what Cardinal fans remember him by. It’s unlikely the Cardinals are going to match what some other bullpen hungry teams will pay in free agency. There were rumors that they had talks during the season to possibly renew but the demand was high from his reps. Also, with Jason Motte returning after Tommy John Surgery this season, Mujica will likely be gone. LHP MARC RZEPCZYNSKI The lone remaining player from the multi-team trade prior to the 2011 World Championship run, “scrabble” had a solid season and entrenched himself as Matheny’s seventh-inning man. He ended up a 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.23 WHIP - all of that with a rather unlucky .321 BABIP. He only surrendered two homers but did show a bit of anxiety when thrown into a save situation when Rosenthal and/or Mujica were unavailable. He recorded one save but two blown chances. He is under control through 2016 as he’ll enter arbitration for the first time this off-season - they’ll likely come to a one-year agreement prior to any hearings for around $1.5 Million. RHP MITCHELL BOGGS Boggs had another solid season, keeping his ERA under 3.00 at 2.98 and 1.12 WHIP as the sixth inning option for Matheny out of the bullpen. He limited walks (14) and continued his solid career out of the bullpen. Boggs, like Rzepczynski is under team control through 2017 and should be back next year. RHP SHELBY MILLER There’s no doubt who the most upset player in the clubhouse was all season and that goes to 23-year old Shelby Miller. After losing out on a rotation spot in Spring Training, partly due to a sore arm, he spent a majority of the 2013 season in AAA-Memphis, making 30 starts and doing little to warrant him taking up a spot in the St. Louis rotation. He went 8-11 with a 5.45 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in the minor-leagues. He ended up in the St. Louis bullpen, where he performed better in 16.0 IP, allowing six earned runs and striking out one an inning. It is believed that Shelby will enter the rotation in 2014 - but that is not set in stone. He’ll need to perform in Jupiter in March to earn that right. RHP FERNANDO SALAS Salas was good and, according to the numbers, a little lucky during a campaign which netted him a 3.49 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 49 innings pitched. He helped himself by allowing just 14 free passes and struck out 64 (11.76 K/9). Opponents managed just a .238 BABIP and while some sabermetricians would call that luck and forecast a return to the mean in 2014 - the flipside says that with a high strikeout-rate, batters just weren’t squaring the ball up against him. Regardless, no decision is needed to be made on Salas, who will be automatically renewed two more years before hitting arbitration. He’ll be back in the bullpen in 2014 unless he is traded. RHP JAKE WESTBROOK The consummate professional, Westbrook accepted his role in the bullpen and savored it. He was pretty darn good as a change of pace for Matheny, following some of his younger, harder-throwing teammates. He pitched limited innings (39 ⅓) and posted a 3.89 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. He’ll be a free agent and will almost certainly move on. LHP RANDY CHOATE Signed as a lefty-specialist, he was good against the lefties, putting up a 0.88 WHIP and just a .144 batting average against. Unfortunately, he was hammered by the right-handed hitters that he was asked to face. Following the season, Matheny admitted that he wasn’t used correctly and would go back to that “one and done” role that limits the length of the bullpen. He is signed through 2015, so he’ll most likely be back. C YADIER MOLINA The undisputed leader and MVP of this team again resides behind the plate. He hit .267 with 17 homers and 52 RBI - all numbers down from the 2012 season. However, his gold glove presence (just four errors in 1,401 total chances) and his game-calling abilities led to that impressive team ERA and every single pitcher on the staff admits they are a better pitcher with Yadi behind that plate. It’s unanimous. The team would of course like to see the 2011 and 2012 offensive numbers return, but that’s just a bonus. He’s locked up through 2017 with a team option for 2018. He is going nowhere. LF MATT HOLLIDAY Are we seeing the beginning of the decline of mighty Matt Holliday? Front office brass sure hope not. He’s owed $17 Million over the next three years guaranteed. Holliday put up his worst numbers (by far) since becoming a full-time player. Hitting just .267 - his previous career low was .295 a season prior. His .754 OPS was a meteoric drop and he drove in just 64 runs. He became the scapegoat for the offenses struggles despite playing through a shoulder issue most of the season - finally culminating in a diagnosis of a partially torn labrum. That’s worrisome for future surgery if that labrum full tears and leaves his left arm hanging. Now 33 years old - we hope this is an outlier and he’ll return next year to previous levels. RF CARLOS BELTRAN Considered the top free agent on the market, Beltran hit .273 with 25 homers and 81 RBI. He is entering his age 37 season and those numbers can’t be counted on much longer. However, somebody will pay it. The Cardinals are expected to give him a qualifying offer to get a compensation draft pick and he’ll sign elsewhere - likely in the American League. However, new general manager Parker Campbell says that they are still in talks with Beltran’s reps about possibly bringing him back. 2B/3B MATT CARPENTER Carpenter is a fan favorite for his hustle, work ethic and loveable scrappy look. He learned a new position and played it admirably. But it didn’t translate to success at the plate. He hit just .236 with six homers and 41 RBI. Though he wasn’t a rookie, it was his first shot as a full-timer and he’ll be 28 years old next year - after playing five years at TCU before being drafted. The time is now and while fans like him - he is viewed more as that bench player instead of a full-time guy. With Kolten Wong waiting in the wings, we’ll either see Carpenter assume that bench role or move over to third base is Freese doesn’t return. 1B/OF ALLEN CRAIG Awarded in Spring Training with a big contract, he fell off dramatically in batting average hitting just .245. He did keep pace with his power numbers, hitting 23 homers but drove in just 58 runs with those. He fell in doubles (down to 23 from 35 a year ago). He hit just .190 with runners in scoring position and seemed to expand the zone at times. That said, the Cardinals are 100% convinced that Craig is the hitter they signed to be a key cog in this lineup. They expect a return to previous numbers and his position flexibility allows him to play first base or the outfield. Though, the team prefers to limit the miles on his legs at first. 3B DAVID FREESE All-in-all David Freese had a very good season. He smacked 23 homers with 60 RBI and while he hit only. 246 he provided much needed pop to a lineup that lacked it most of the season. The problem? He made 12 errors, half of which were costly ones during the season at the hot corner. He also outwardly showed frustration that the organization was avoiding committing to him long-term. That is, until the two sides agreed on a one-year 6.5 million contract to avoid arbitration - this was actually Mozeliak’s last official move as GM. It is assumed that Campbell signed off on it and there is no guarantee that he won’t be included in a deal this off-season. CF JON JAY Jay is in limbo after his best offensive season, smacking 14 homers, driving in 57 while hitting .292 - he’s a career .299 hitter in three-plus seasons. He is average defensively and that bothers many in such a key position. With Oscar Taveras waiting in the wings, Jay remains in a state of flux. Many teams would be interested in acquiring him, but the Cardinals love having him in the lineup. He has reached arbitration for the first time and will likely make in the $5 Million range. He could also be headed out of town in a trade if the loot is acceptable in return. He’s a solid player and contributor but not untouchable in a hot trade market. 1B MATT ADAMS “Patch” grabbed the attention of many once he started getting more regular at-bats and drove the ball out of the ballpark ten times in August-September; with seven coming in September alone. He found his groove late and is making American League GM’s salivate. He isn’t good defensively but can certainly put a charge in the ball. He projects as the starting first baseman if Carlos Beltran leaves and that would then force Allen Craig to the outfield - a place the club wants to limit his innings. Or, does he remain the part-time player who fills in when needed and nets close to 300 at-bats again? Who knows. The point is, it is nice to have a hammer available late in the game to provide some angst to opponents. SS RYAN JACKSON Jackson ended up winning the battle (if you can call it that) for more at-bats at the shortstop position in 2013. He is better than average defensively and after hitting 13 homers at AAA-Memphis, he actually has more promise with the bat than Pete Kozma. Now 25 years old, he needs to make that next stride and he does have an outside chance of being the everyday shortstop in St. Louis in 2014. That is not the scenario many fans would like to see - but the fact remains teams like to go cheap and Jackson is just that. He hit just .218 in 262 at-bats with two homers and 29 RBI. SS PETE KOZMA Almost unfairly he became the butt of many jokes around Cardinal Nation as he limped to a .230 batting average with six\ homers, 29 RBI and drew just 13 walks in 261 at-bats, splitting time with Jackson. He is more than serviceable with the glove, but brings little else to the table. Also 25 years old, many believe he’ll remain in Memphis to start 2014 and could become a bench player. IF/OF TY WIGGINTON The Cardinals invested in the veteran Wigginton to be a bench player - and that is not something that he deals with well. He appeared in 99 games, accumulating 216 at-bats, hitting .255 with seven homers and 36 RBI, so he actually made the most of his limited time. He is not expected back despite being signed for $2.5 Million for 2014. He is just a liability in the field and became a distraction at times in the clubhouse. If an American League team shows any interest, there could be a “change of scenery” swap to benefit both clubs.

11-26-2013, 11:30 AM	#5
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	More on the 2013 season and some off-season stuff... @CincinnatiReds November 6th, 2013 #Reds announce that former @Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan will join Reds staff as new PC! #welcomeaboard 11/6/13: We heard from Dave Duncan before signing on as the Reds pitching coach. We have no problem with it and are happy that Dave is at a point in his life that allows him to do what he does best. Unfortunately, he joins a team in our division. That, we aren’t thrilled about. 2013 RAWLINGS GOLD GLOVE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED November 7, 2013 -- MLB.com -- by: Matthew Lurch The 2013 version of Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners has been announced and the buzz around the award this year is more about who didn’t win - that who actually took home the hardware. The fact that a Molina won and it wasn’t Yadier, is well, something up for discussion. The Boston Red Sox were the team winner with three awards going to their players this year. Without further ado (or complaints) here is the list for 2013: AMERICAN LEAGUE Pitcher - Eric Bedard - Seattle Mariners Catcher - Jose Molina - Tampa Bay Rays First Base - Albert Pujols - Los Angeles Angels Second Base - Dustin Pedroia - Boston Red Sox Third Base - Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays Shortstop - Alcides Escobar - Kansas City Royals Left Field - Jackie Bradley Jr. - Boston Red Sox Center Field - Brett Gardner - New York Yankees Right Field - Shane Victorino - Boston Red Sox NATIONAL LEAGUE Pitcher - Gio Gonzalez - Washington Nationals Catcher - Ryan Hanigan - Cincinnati Reds First Base - Ike Davis - New York Mets Second Base - Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies Third Base - Ryan Zimmerman - Washington Nationals Shortstop - Brandon Crawford - San Francisco Giants Left Field - Carlos Gonzalez - Colorado Rockies Center Field - Ben Revere - Philadelphia Phillies Right Field - Norichika Aoki - Milwaukee Brewers @zlamick November 7th, 2013 I mean, I seriously think the people at Rawlings need to perform a re-count. #yadi #goldglove @dgold November 7th, 2013 #GloveGate is underway in the 314. @JoseSantos November 7th, 2013 Hanigan was really, really good this year but Yadier Molina is the best, arguably, ever at the position. It’s a yearly award though. #glovegate XANDER BOGAERTS WINS AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/8/13) The Red Sox talented shortstop Xander Bogaerts takes home American League Rookie of the Year honors after a season that saw him enter the league hitting .279 with 15 homers and 72 RBI in 498 at-bats. After starting the season at Double-A Portland, he quickly made an impact on the Red Sox at the Major League level. JEDD GYORKO WINS NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/8/13) What a season it was for Padres rookie second baseman Jedd Gyorko. He hit .274 with 27 homers and 85 RBI in his first full season in San Diego. These numbers were more than enough to earn him the hardware of NL Rookie of the Year. BLUE JAYS SKIPPER GIBBONS WINS AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/9/13) John Gibbons led the Toronto Blue Jays talented roster to 96 wins and a first place finish in the American League East division. WALT WEISS NAMED NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR - MLB.com (11/9/13) In his first season as manager in Colorado, Walt Wiess was named NL Manager of the Year after steering the Rockies to a 89-73 season and a spot in the wild-card playoffs. @KenRosenhaus November 9th, 2013 Confirmed: Don Mattingly signs on as @Mets skipper. 3-year deal. More soon. 11/9/13: We met internally today to discuss our coaching staff for the 2014 season and make sure we are on top of things. We have everybody under contract except for the hitting coach position in State College (rookie ball). John Mabry, our current hitting coach has put in a good word for Ray Cosey, a 58-year old former player who has spent time instructing as a rover in the Mariners organization. He mentioned to Mabes that he’d be interested in a full-time gig somewhere. So, we contacted Ray and made a three-year offer. We’ll await his response. We decided to revamp the Memphis (AAA) coaching staff by firing hitting coach Mark Budaska and pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd. We then immediately offered contracts to Milt Thompson (hitting coach) and Mark Riggins (pitching coach). Most of the discussion though was with Matheny about his big league staff. He wants Mabry and Lilliquist back as hitting and pitching coaches respectively. We decided to renew everybody and the big league staff would be the same for the 2014 season. AL CY YOUNG TO BOSTON’S BUCHHOLZ - MLB.com (11/10/13) The Red Sox net yet another major award and this time it is the Cy Young Award for starting pitcher Clay Buchholz. Buchholz went 17-6 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP - netting a 7.6 WAR. NL CY YOUNG AWARD TO CLOSER BETANCOURT - MLB.com (11/10/13) In a surprise announcement, the 2013 National League Cy Young Award goes to Colorado closer Rafael Betancourt. He saved 41 games to go along with an unprecedented 11 wins. His 1.39 ERA and 0.75 WHIP along with 142 strikeouts in just 84 ⅓ innings pitched. It was a magical season at the age of 38 years old. 11/11/13: We’re happy to welcome Ray Cosey to the Cardinals family and appoint him as the hitting coach at State College. We are still waiting to hear back from Milt Thompson and Mark Riggins about the offers to work at Memphis…. AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP IS A PRINCE - MLB.com (11/11/13) Prince Fielder follows his teammate Miguel Cabrera as the American League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2013 season. Fielder, 29, hit .297 with 36 homers and 104 RBI, while leading the Tigers to an AL Central crown. Fielder’s .425 on-base percentage was tops in all of baseball and his .964 OPS was second only to Cleveland’s Carlos Santana. THE J-HEY KID IS MVP OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE - MLB.com (11/11/13) The transformation of Atlanta’s Jason Heyward into a superstar is complete. He takes home the NL MVP award after a season that saw team success to go along with a .319 batting average, 35 home runs, 35 doubles, 106 RBI and 116 runs scored. The batting average was tops in the league and his .962 OPS was also the tops. He posted an 8.1 WAR which tied with Bryce Harper for the best in the NL. 11/12/13: Happy to hear back from Milt Thompson who will join the organization as the hitting coach at Memphis. @JoseSantos November 12th, 2013 In an underrated signing, the #stlcards add former player Milt Thompson to coaching staff as hitting coach at Memphis. @zlamick November 12th, 2013 Good to hear Milt Thompson is back with the @Cardinals. Signed on as AAA-Memphis hitting coach. 11/13/13: We reached out to each of our four arbitration-eligible players today with offers to try to avoid a hearing. Mitchell Boggs, Marc Rzepczynski and Fernando Salas all received offers. Jon Jay’s representatives (CAA) are holding out for a long-term deal. At this time, we aren’t willing to go more than one-year at a time with our current outfield situation and Oscar Taveras threatening to take his job. They are unhappy and have mentioned that it might be best part ways with a trade. I explained that wasn’t going to happen unless we get back what we should for a player of his caliber. It would also mean we’d need to sign a bat - assuming we can’t lock up Carlos Beltran. At this point, Beltran, and Danny Lozano’s asking price is just not realistic - so, he’ll hit the market. I have my eye on Brewers 1B/OF Corey Hart. He’s coming off an injury but provides nice pop and decent defense at both first and right field. He’d be a perfect replacement at about half the cost. He hit .291-16-60 in 398 at-bats. He is 31 years old and has plenty left in the tank. If we are forced to deal Jay, Hart will become our No. 1 priority in free agency. The other positive to bringing in Hart is that it allows Allen Craig to play first base - where we prefer him - and leaves Matt Adams as a fill-in and power bat off the bench. @JohnHayman November 14th, 2013 #Rangers continue to lock up potential free agents and get C A.J. Pierzynski w/ 3-yr $25 Million. @JohnHayman November 14th, 2013 Pierzynski hit .282-19-71 in 404 AB’s - he will be 39 when this contract expires. 11/15/13: We finally heard back from Riggins and he accepted our offer! Our 2014 coaching staff at all levels in set and complete. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-26-2013 at 11:33 AM.

11-26-2013, 02:21 PM	#6
fromtheline Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 153	This is an amazing idea to take it slowly so you can immerse in the whole league. Also very well execution so far, I can't believe how immersed I am as well. It will be really nice to see that your MLB depth charts Twitter, among other things, will allow readers to get a sense of the whole league while still focusing on the Cardinals. Triple thumbs up.

11-26-2013, 02:41 PM	#8
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	More catching up... @dgold November 16th, 2013 #Cardinals avoid arbitration by signing Boggs, Salas and Rzepczynski to one-year deals. #hotstove CARDS SIGN THREE IN BULLPEN; AVOID ARBITRATION November 17, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - by: Derek Gold The Cardinals have agreed to terms with three members of the bullpen and avoid going to an arbitration hearing. Mitchell Boggs gets the biggest amount at $1.84 Million. Boggs was very good for a second straight season, going 4-3 with two saves and a 2.98 ERA in 57 appearances in 2013. He’ll remain a key cog in that bullpen. The team announced a one-year pact with seventh-inning guy Marc Rzepczynski today for $1.43 Million. “Scrabble” was great, going 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. The left-handed pitcher was a go-to in Matheny’s late inning plans in 2013 and figures to be right back there again. Finally, Fernando Salas agreed to a modest one-year deal at $882,000. Salas was 5-1 with a 3.49 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 2013. JON JAY WINS ARBITRATION CASE AGAINST CARDINALS November 18, 2013 - MLB.com - by: Jen Ohgosch Jon Jay and his representation get a small win amidst a battle heating up with the Cardinals. The Jay camp are seeking a four-year deal and for the Cardinals to commit long term to the center fielder who has now played three full seasons for the club - and managed a .299 career average during that span. The Cardinals aren’t comfortable doing so in the current climate and with some hot prospects on the horizon. This is the final year for Jay in arbitration and would be a free agent next year. The MLB arbitrator in the case awarded Jay the amount he and CAA requested, $6.875 Million for the 2014 season. “He’s certainly earned that number,” said Cardinals GM Parker Campbell, “We’re thrilled to have Jon in our outfield mix and hope we can make him a Cardinal for a long time.” Just not right now. It is still possible that this ill will escalates to a trade this off-season, but that is not the route Campbell wants to take. He’s made that clear. 11/19/13: This Jon Jay situation is becoming more and more difficult of a pill to swallow. No doubt that Jon has given us some great play, a World Championship and really is a genuinely good guy. It’s just the business that’s taking over and his agent - Nez Balelo at CAA - definitely has some sway and pull within the Commissioner’s office. They are upset and are rubbing off on Jon that we don’t value his time here and that he would be better off somewhere else. Somewhere he doesn’t have to compete with an Oscar Taveras-type. That said, we’d like for him to compete with an Oscar Taveras this Spring Training and push him to be the best he can be. But, we don’t want a clubhouse cancer. I went to Mo with this one and asked how he thinks I should handle it - he said that the clubhouse presence is a big thing with this organization and if you have one bad apple - they could all fall in line. And the minute the players think that the front office is against them - it begins to show in their play. I asked if a sit down between myself and Jon would help. He said that just isn’t his style - he’s from the Billy Beane mold. He doesn’t want to have too many personal relationships with players - it gets in the way of doing his job - which is doing everything and anything to put the best product on the field. That’s a tough part of the job. That said, I got Jon Daniels (Texas Rangers GM) on the phone to discuss what they have going on there. It started with a quick hello, exchange of pleasantries, a quick congrats to him for winning it all last year and then he said, before I could even start… “you’re looking for a shortstop, huh?” I said that I was and just wanted to get the conversation going. He basically said that now that Ian Kinsler was going to walk that Profar-Andrus middle infield is the likely way they are going to go. Can’t say I blame him - that’s sick. But, that did leave another intriguing name in the conversation. That guy is 22-year old Leury Garcia. Garcia played all of 2013 at AAA-Round Rock where he hit .321 with 14 homers, 66 RBI and stole 59 bases. Kantrovitz basically has a man crush on the guy. The one problem - and it’s a big one - is that he strikes out a lot. Now, Dan thinks he can improve upon that with time. He adds that Garcia is very good up the middle at both second and shortstop and would provide an element that we haven’t had in years - and that’s some serious speed and a base stealing threat. I told Daniels that I’m not interested in giving up our entire lot on the farm for either Andrus or Profar - but rather would discuss Garcia. He said he wasn’t surprised and that Garcia was definitely a name they’d be willing to deal - at the right price of course. I mentioned off top that Jon Jay may be available given his current status. Right now, the Rangers are playing Julio Borbon (LF), Leonys Martin (CF) and Engel Beltre (RF) in the outfield and would like to upgrade. So, he mentioned Jay being a possibility - and continued to say we’d have to do a little better than that to net ourselves Garcia. I understand that. So, we started discussing potential names and/or positions that they would need to get something done. He mentioned an MLB ready starting pitcher. I quickly thought of Lance Lynn - but obviously didn’t play that card. I simply said, “hmmm...that could be a tall order. Obviously, we can’t be talking about Waino, Wacha or Kelly here.” He said he understood. One of the negotiating tactics I learned from Mo during my years under him was his ability to not seem desperate. He would always wet the other GM’s whistle with some talks and then let it go and have them stew over it for a few days, or weeks. So, I played that card. With that, I said, “Jon, thanks for the time - I think we may have something in the works here. Let’s let it settle and then maybe talk more at the meetings (referring to the Winter Meetings being held December 11-15 in Orlando).” He agreed that we have a spark that could eventually turn into a fire. After that conversation, for the first time, I felt as though it’s a real possibility of trading Jon Jay. If we can get them to take Jay and Lynn for Garcia - I think we would do that. Shelby is destined for the rotation to replace Lynn and we have Tavares and probably two veteran free agents to compete for an outfield spot. I called D.K. (Dan Kantrovitz) in to discuss what we talked about. He seemed a bit concerned. He mentioned that Taveras is not a polished center fielder - and while he can hold his own and can certainly play there - he isn’t the best defensive option. Trading Jay leaves us vulnerable. Also, he brought up making sure we have competition for him to fuel his fire. All good points. But, he did say that he would LOVE to see Garcia with two birds and a bat on his chest at shortstop next year. While he was in my office, he said he wanted to let me know of a kid we added to our International Complex, a Venezuelan kid named Maximo Perez. He is as green as green can be but has a Carlos Martinez arm. We have some busy days coming up with budget meetings for scouting and payroll. We’re also going to secure our 40-man roster in advance of the Dec. 15th Rule V draft. --------------- 11/20/13: In our meeting today with Mo, we discussed our scouting budget. Of course, Dan wants it increased and considering we beat budget last year, we figured we would ask for it. So we did. Mo was accepting and we agreed to move it up from $7 Million to $8.75 Million with most of the focus going to amatuer scouting. We broke it down into segments to reaffirm our focus and we figured 20% ($1.75 M) to Major League scouting -- we just have so much more to go on including performance and sabermetrics so we cut back a bit on this area. We have minor league scouting at 24% ($2.1 M), again, we just have more data to look at and the scouting isn’t as needed. So, we’re pouring the vast majority into amatuer scouting for the draft at 40% ($3.5 Million) and 16% to the International complex ($1.4 M). That’s how it will break down. While we were there, Mo wanted us to finalize our 40-man roster before the Rule V draft coming up on Sunday, 12/1. Going into the meeting we were at 33 players on the roster. We quickly decided we needed to protect outfielder Adron Chambers. With our current situation, you never know when we’ll need to call on depth. He had a great season for AAA-Memphis last year, hitting .300 with surprising pop (13 home runs) and 13 stolen bases. We also added Thomas Pham, an outfielder, who hit .243 with 15 homers and 15 steals at AA-Springfield. While it’s unlikely he’s ready for any Major League roster, we feel he’s worth protecting. After looking closely at it - these are the only two players we have added. We will sit at 35 on the 40-man roster with flexibility for trades and signings this off-season. We aren’t worried about any players going to other teams during the Rule V draft. ---------------------------- CARLOS BELTRAN OFFICIALLY FILES FOR FREE AGENCY November 21, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - by: Derek Gold Carlos Beltran’s run with the Cardinals is now closer to officially being over. That isn’t to say the team absolutely will not try to re-sign the right fielder and arguably the top free agent on the market this off-season, but it remains unlikely. The Cardinals did make a qualifying offer to Beltran which makes them eligible for a compensation pick in the next amatuer draft. This practice with Albert Pujols netted them their newest ace, Michael Wacha. Beltran has been rumored to be seeking at least a three-year deal worth upwards of $17 Million per season. At 36 years old, that’s a risky proposition, especially for a National League club without the DH protection. Beltran himself is preferring an American League locale as he has noted his desire to reach 3,000 hits in his career. He is currently at 2,220 hits, leaving him 780 shy. Assuming he keeps a 150 hit average, he’d need to play at a consistent level into his age 41 season. He will make this trek without the birds and bat on his chest. @JohnHayman November 21st, 2013 Some teams will move quickly in free agency. Expect Nolasco to be a top priority. Phil Hughes will garner some attention as well. #hotstove @JenOhgoschMLB November 21st, 2013 The #stlcards will be without Carlos Beltran. Reports are that the two sides have broken off talks. @JoseSantos November 21st, 2013 #Cardinals shortstop search starts officially. Likely not interested in any free agents. Will have to come from trade. TOP INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS AVAILABLE November 21, 2013 - Baseball America - by: Eddy Matt Let’s take a look at the top international free agents available to MLB clubs this off-season: RHP Okitsugu Makino (27 years old, Japan) -- A middle reliever or closer candidate, Makino does it with a 96-98 MPH fastball and compliments with a nasty slider. Should fit right into a Major League bullpen. Won’t be seeking big-time money - just wants the opportunity to pitch in America. RHP Mitsuhide Okada (28 years old, Japan) -- Another middle reliever with a longer leash - can go two innings if needed. Good movement and control but lacks dirty stuff. Sits at 89-90 with a fastball and slider. Working on a changeup that shouldn’t be used to MLB hitters yet. LHP Vincente Oliva (21 years old, Cuba) -- The Cuban defector is a starting pitcher that would only require a minor-league deal to sign. Projects as a back of the rotation guy with upside. INF Freddy Pagan (21 years old, Cuba) -- Another defector reminds many of Omar Vizquel at age 21. He has great hands, excellent defensively and does little at the plate. Has good speed and insticts on the basepaths. Would be a bench guy if somebody takes a chance. 3B/RF Ken’ichi Inoue (31 years old, Japan) -- A quality hitter in the Nippon League is now on wrong side of 30 and lacks major hitting potential. He is slow and while solid defensively, he won’t wow anybody. Probably not rosterable at this point. Other noteables: Ik-Yeong Kim, RF, 22 years old (Korea); Morihiro Oyama, 3B/LF, 25 years old (Japan); Javier Vega, OF, 28 years old (Cuba); Yosai Sugiyama, C, 26-years old (Japan) Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-26-2013 at 02:42 PM.

11-26-2013, 02:46 PM	#9
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	Some free agency and trade talks today... 11/21/13: We didn’t want to waste any time getting in touch with potential free agents that we are interested in. Deals can happen quickly so we needed to reach out to let their agents know not to do anything until we have had a say. Our first call was to Corey Hart. If we could lock him up, we would have the flexibility to make some moves in the trade market - be it with Matt Adams and/or Jon Jay. However, the 31 year old is seeking an 8-year deal at $17 Million/year, totalling $136 Million. That’s waaaaaay more than we expected and hope that number will come down with time because we can’t justify that. I’m assuming they are just shooting high and will adjust down. We were thinking three years at around $12/year. It doesn’t appear that is going to happen. I believe very very strongly in a dominant bullpen. Right now, we have a solid bullpen but it could be better. We have our closer in Trevor Rosenthal and we have Jason Motte coming back. I would love to have three potential closers in the backend of the bullpen for many reasons. One, it limits the number of innings we’ll have to put on our starters. Two, if there is an injury, we’ll be covered in the 8th and 9th innings still. So, that means signing a guy that would accept not being a closer, but it worthy of still being one. That leaves us talking to Joel Hanrahan. He spent last year in Boston, where he was not the closer but put up good numbers. He posted a 3.58 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 75 ⅓ innings pitched. He’s the guy we want to add and his asking price is not ridiculous. At 32 years old, he isn’t past his prime like some of the other options. His AAV would be around $5.5 Million but he is seeking five years. If we can get him down to three, or four with a team option, we’re in. We didn’t want to toy around with this one and let other clubs who miss out on some of the other options out there to join the fray. That said, we weren’t giving him exactly what he is looking for. We talked it over and decided to jump on board quickly and make a fair offer. Four years at $25 Million with the fourth year being a team option at $7.6 Million (with a $500k buyout). We also checked in on Coco Crisp - who is now 34 years old but brings a great glove in both left and center field, along with speed. He wants a four-year deal at $7.5/year. We’ll keep an eye on him as a Corey Hart back up. Regardless, we want to sign an outfielder - especially one who can bring that new element of stealing bases to the club. He hit .251 with eight homers, 48 RBI and 43 stolen bases for the A’s. Finally, we checked in on Yunel Escobar who came off a down year for the Rays last season. He hit just .230 (that’s what Kozma hit) with six homers, 37 RBI while playing very good defense. Right now, he’s seeking just a two-year deal at around $3.5 Million/year. He’d be a cost-effective option - but at 31 years old and declining skills - it may just have to remain a backup plan to Leury Garcia at this point. @Cardinals November 21st, 2013 The team has announced that catcher J.R. Towles has been granted his unconditional release. @JenOhgoschMLB November 21st, 2013 The @Cardinals release C J.R. Towles. Team has expressed interest in bringing in more defensive-minded backup to Yadi. 11/21/13: After some deliberation and a call from J.R. Towles agent, we decided to grant him his unconditional release. He was hoping for some more playing time and while he appreciated the opportunity, they feel he has more to offer than the 85 at-bats he received in St. Louis last year. We are looking for a more defensive-minded backup to Yadi as well. We put in a call to Jose Molina, Yadi’s brother’s, agent to find out what he’s looking for. At 38 years old, there isn’t much left in the tank, but he is as good as they come defensively. Surprisingly, he is looking for a three-year deal. We just aren’t going to do that. We’ll keep an eye out to see if that comes down. We can live with Tony Cruz as Yadi’s backup if need be. 11/22/13: Taking a further look into our roster, we are missing a player that can play multiple infield positions (well) and provide speed as a late-inning pinch runner and/or defensive replacement. Particularly for Freese at third base. Wigginton is basically a power potential guy with limited abilities in both defense and speed. It just doesn’t seem like the best way to use up a roster spot. A guy we are looking closely at is Robert Andino. Andino is 29 years old and played most of last season in Tacoma - Seattle’s AAA club. He would bring defense at second, shortstop and most importantly, third base. Plus, if we get things the way we want, we’ll have plenty of outfield depth and it essentially makes Matt Adams into a younger, most powerful version of Wigginton. We owe Wiggy $2.5 Million this year and he has expressed dismay at this AB’s last year. It might be best to part ways. I’ll shop him to see if anybody is interested - but an outright release may be more likely. That said, we won’t be doing anything until we know for sure we can sign Andino. … It has been a rather slow day news wise around baseball and just as I was to head out the door for the weekend, I received a call from Rick Hahn with the White Sox. He was just doing some exploratory stuff and knows we are in the market for a shortstop. They are up against the blocks as far as payroll goes and are looking to shed some. That could mean Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez is now 32 years old but his contract is manageable ($9 Million for 2014 and 2015 guaranteed and then a team option for 2016 at $9.5 Million.) He had a good season and plays solid defense but would bring a much needed impact bat to our lineup. The best part - he may be cheaper than a young, unproven player like Garcia in Texas. Here is how the call went. Me: Rick, how is it going my friend? Rick: The weather is ***ty up here. Me: Yeah, I hear you on that...what’s up? Rick: You got a minute to discuss this “Cuban Missile” guy I have here at shortstop? Me: Sure. What you thinking? Rick: Not wanting to trade him, per se … Me: But… you called me. Rick: Yeah, true. He’s just a little out of our price range and I know you’re looking to upgrade there. Me: That we are. Rick: Anyone biting? Me: I’ve got a couple irons in the fire. There just isn’t much on the free agent market at this point so we are searching a little more in trading. Rick: You talk to Jon (Daniels in Texas)? Me: Yeah, we had a conversation. Not sure we’ll be able to get anything done. But there are a few options. Rick: Yeah, he likes to jerk people around. Me: Bad experience with him? Rick: Nah, just from what I hear. He seems like a smug young man and that drive me crazy. It took me 25 years to get this job. He basically gets it right out of school…Anyway...Ramirez. You like? Me: Yeah, I do. I’ll have to consult with Dan about some particulars. What you looking for? Rick: A starting pitcher or a prospect. People are going to be pissed either way. We’re about ready for this Carlos Sanchez kid to take over at shortstop. Me: Okay. Well, let me take a look at some things and see if we can work something out...I’ll call you next week. Rick: Sounds good. Talk to you later… < click > A productive call. I wasn’t expecting them to be willing to part with Ramirez. I’m a little worried about his age (32) and possible decline. Right now, I’d say he’s our best option and we’ll put that in our back pocket. I’m still excited about Garcia but the asking price has to come down. I’m fairly confident we can get Ramirez for Lynn or Jaime Garcia straight up. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-26-2013 at 02:50 PM.*

11-26-2013, 03:10 PM	#10
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	Last one before being live! 11/23/13: I had an interesting conversation with one our our professional scouts today. I told him our options right now on the trade market for a shortstop - both Garcia and Ramirez. He wasn’t comfortable with Garcia - being unproven and giving up a top arm or Jay. He said that giving up Lynn for Ramirez would probably be a fair deal - however, he said that Yunel Escobar is almost the same player. He made a compelling argument that Escobar is as good if not better defensively. He’s a year younger than Ramirez, he’ll cost half as much in salary (unconfirmed) and it won’t cost us any players. I went back to my office and quickly called Escobar’s agent to get an idea of what he is looking for. Kerry (the scout) was right. He was only looking for around $3.5 Million over two years. He mentioned he’d love to play in St. Louis too. I mentioned that he is definitely on our radar and that we have a few irons in the fire as far as trades go, but that we’ll likely be making an offer. All of the sudden, Escobar looks like a front-runner to take over at shortstop. But, we aren’t completely convinced at this point. I’d still like to talk to Ben Cherington (Red Sox) about Jose Iglesias. If we do go the Ramirez or Escobar route - they’d be a band aid while we figure out who our long-term fix will be. Right now, that player is not in our system. It could be a priority in the next draft. Escobar is coming off a of down season in Tampa Bay - which is the main reason for the reasonable asking price. He hit just .230 with six homers and 37 RBI in 356 at-bats. He missed five weeks with a hamstring strain. Here is one other part that I love about Escobar - he just doesn’t strike out. He whiffed just 45 times in those 356 AB’s and while he is not fleet of foot - that ability to put the ball in play makes him a candidate to fill a leadoff role that was a revolving door a year ago. He profiles as a contact leadoff hitter. … I’ve been consumed with this idea of going with a stop gap for a year or two and instead use our trade chips to try to get a shortstop of the future that way. The first thought is possibly working something out with Cleveland for Dorssys Paulino. They are convinced that Francisco Lindor is their future at the position. Paulino is 19 years old and is an above average defensive player at this point but profiles as a plus hitter for both average and power. He spent the whole 2013 season at Hi-A Lake County where he hit 11 homers and 12 doubles with a .243 average in 423 at bats. He’s 2-3 years off from the big leagues - but that would be exactly what we are looking for if we go with an Escobar or Ramirez route for now. The alternative is getting Leury Garcia for practically the same price and throw him into the fire right away. Just another route we could consider going. I’m not going to reach out to Pat Corrales quite yet regarding this … but, I certainly will if it becomes clear we are going the Yunel Escobar route. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, 11/24/13: I am going to take a much needed day off/mental health day today and take in some NFL football. Rams vs. Bears. Should be a good one. Of course, I’ll have my phone on and I’m sure something will come up during the day that will need some attention - but I’m not making any outbound calls. … Good win for the Rams and I just can’t stop thinking about who our shortstop is going to be next year. It’s funny overhearing conversations from people (who have no idea who I am) talking about what they think we should be doing. Some are completely over the top and others do make some sense. It’s good to get a pulse on what the fan base is thinking - but obviously doesn’t play a role in our decision making process. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, 11/25/13: In our usually Monday morning meeting with the staff, DK updates me on an offer to 17-year old shortstop named Thairo Estrada. He thinks he has a future after being released by the Mets organization. He has ZERO power but has speed, great hands and makes contact. He’s worth a flyer and Dan thinks he’ll sign a minor league deal with us. Still haven’t heard any feedback from Joel Hanrahan and the offer we made him yet. I’m sure that will come in due time. … I spent a lot of the day thinking about the backup catcher role and trying to sign Jose Molina serves a couple of purposes. 1.) It nets us a great defensive backstop and 2.) It reunites Yadi with his brother. Family is very important to Yadi and having Jose around will only help his mood and feelings towards the organization. Now, at last check, he wanted three years and over $10 Million. I reached out to Melvin Roman - both Yadi and Jose’s agent and we officially made an offer of two years, $6 Million. We’ll see if he bites on that. We haven’t reached out to Yadi to let him know - I’m sure they will communicate - and that’s the way I want it. OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: NL WEST November 25, 2013 - MLB.com - By: Matthew Lurch This is the first of six off-season outlook pieces that will take a look at the past season and a look ahead at who teams will be losing and/or where they will look to get better heading into 2014. 2013 Recap: The Diamondbacks were disappointed with their 79-83 record and third place finish in the NL West. Their MVP was without a doubt 1B Paul Goldschmidt who broke out with 50 homers and 134 RBI. Had the team performed better, he’d have been a run away NL MVP. The offense was good, led by Goldschmidt, C Miguel Montero (.275-22-83) and 3B Taylor Green, who they acquired from the Brewers for David Goforth and Trevor Cahill at the deadline. He hit .308 for the D-Backs after the trade. The move prompted a switch of Martin Prado to second base, solidifying the lineup. The offense finished 5th in the NL in runs scored (721), 3rd in batting average (.255) and 2nd in on-base percentage (.324). It was the pitching that struggled and held this team back. In particular the starting pitching, which amassed a 4.76 combined starters’ ERA (15th in the NL). Other than Daniel Hudson (4-6, 3.44) - everybody struggled in some facet. Brandon McCarthy won 16 games with a 4.18 ERA - so not all was lost there. Young arms Tyler Skaggs (4-4, 6.91) and Patrick Corbin (10-17, 4.79) have bright futures, but don’t have it all together yet. In the bullpen, J.J. Putz had an up-and-down season, saving 39 games, but registering seven blown chances. Their 3.69 bullpen combined ERA was 3.69 (11th in the NL). Off-Season Outlook: Free Agents: LF Eric Hinske, 3B Eric Chavez, MR Tony Sipp and C Wil Nieves. The D-Backs will likely focus on improving their pitching with the offense pretty well in check. The loss of Hinske and Chavez will create a need for a veteran presence and new bats off the bench. They’ll also be looking for a quality backup to Montero at catcher with Nieves moving on. 2013 Recap: The Rockies offense elevated this team to 89 wins under first year manager Walt Weiss - who captured the NL Manager of the Year honors. They were first in the league in runs (776), batting average (.269) and on-base percentage (.329). They did this being only 7th in homers (164) and didn’t have much of an element of speed with 91 stolen bases. The usual suspects were SS Troy Tulowitzki (.293-29-101) and RF Carlos Gonzalez (.286-36-132). They were joined by breakout player 2B Josh Rutledge who hit .273 with 16 home runs and 80 RBI, hitting primarily out of the 8th spot in the lineup. It was the pitching that haunted them and when the offense was slowed by Stephen Strasburg in the NL wild-card game in Washington - there was no answer and the season ended abruptly. Juan Nicasio and Jhoulys Chacin are the only two expected back in the rotation that could see a major overhaul this off-season. Nicasio went 11-8 with a 5.35 ERA and Chacin was 10-6 with a 4.23 ERA. Free agents-to-be Jeff Francis was their best pitcher, posting 12 wins and a 3.59 ERA. Chris Volstad, also a free agent, led the team with 13 wins, to go along with a 4.84 ERA. The third cast off is Jorge De La Rosa, who suffered some bad luck and inconsistency en route to a 14-loss season. The NL Cy Young Award winner resided on the Rockies - and it was closer Rafael Betancourt - who was just plain dominant and somehow won 11 games. Off-Season Outlook: Free Agents: SP Jorge De La Rosa, SP Jeff Francis, SP Chris Volstad, MR Matt Beslisle, MR Jon Garland, 1B/C Ramon Hernandez, MR Livan Hernandez, MR Aaron Cook, C Yorvit Torrealba, 1B Tyler Colvin. With 1B Todd Helton retiring, the Rockies are ready to hand the reigns at first base off to Ryan Wheeler, who performed well in 350 at-bats, hitting .271 with 7 homers and 35 RBI. The focus will be on rebuilding that starting rotation. Early on, they have been linked to Phil Hughes and could get in on the Ricky Nolasco, Matt Garza and/or Josh Johnson sweepstakes. 2013 Recap: The Dodgers had such high hopes for the 2013 season with big names and plenty of payroll to make a run - the 77-85 season was enough to get manager Don Mattingly canned. GM Ned Colletti hired relatively unknown Tom Brookens to take over the reigns. They did retain hitting coach Mark McGwire, who was often the brunt of many fans’ eyre as the team hit a collective .236 (15th in the NL) and scored just 620 runs (11th). With names like Matt Kemp (.268-39-106), Adrian Gonzalez (.273-24-89) and Hanley Ramirez (.246-18-56) - that is just not acceptable. IT as the other hitters in the lineup that just weren’t producing, on top of lowered averages for the aforementioned top three. Exciting youngster Yasiel Puig got a major taste of the big leagues and performed admirably at the ripe age of 22 years old. He should take a major step forward in 2014. The pitching was great, led by Clayton Kershaw, Zack Grienke and Chad Billingsley. The rotation combined for a 3.65 ERA (5th) and the bullpen was outstanding, led by closer Kenley Jansen and his 38 saves. That bullpen finished with the best ERA 2.86 in the National League. Brandon League (2.32), Scott Elbert (2.45) and Roland Belisario (2.09) all contributed. They added Aaron Crow in July to bolster the already solid bullpen. Crow struggled mightily with the change of scenery - but they expect him to bounce back to his Royals-levels this year and be a key cog. Off-Season Outlook: Free Agents: IF/OF Skip Schumaker; OF Alfredo Amezaga, 3B Juan Uribe, MR Matt Guerrier, MR J.P. Howell, 2B Willie Harris, SP Chris Capuano, 2B Mark Ellis, MR Aaron Harang, 2B Nick Punto, MR Ted Lilly and IF/OF Jerry Hairston Jr. The Dodgers are going to overhaul their 25-man roster to help spruce things up for their new skipper. They are looking for upgrades over serviceable but power-lacking options such as Schumaker, Punto and Hairston. They’ll need to replace Capuano in the rotation and have money to do that. They aren’t sold on top prospect Zach Lee being ready to fill that role, so they will likely sign somebody. With Hanley Ramirez moving to third base full-time, they are in the market for a shortstop and may need a second baseman unless they feel Justin Sellers did enough there to warrant a shot a full-time at bats (.239-10-47, 8 SB in 469 AB’s). It will be interesting to see how Colletti attacks this all-important off-season for the Dodgers. 2013 Recap: The Padres did all they could with a limited amount of talent. They won 73 games and got a great performance from eventuall NL Rookie of the Year in Jedd Gyorko - who hit .274 with 27 bombs and 85 RBI. They have plenty of power with Carlos Quentin chipping in with 26, young catcher Yasmani Grandal belting 16 and Yonder Alonso also hitting 16. Other than Quentin, the other three are young and up-and-coming. Players to build around. Chase Headley took a major step back this season, hitting .272 with just 10 homers and 44 RBI -- he ended up hitting mainly in the two-hole. They have a table-setter in Everth Cabrera, who stole 49 bases. They started the youth movement by trading away top set-up man Luke Gregerson to the White Sox for pitching prospect Erik Johnson and traded Andrew Cashner to the Rays for top prospect Taylor Guerrieri, who struggled in 2013 - but still projects as a top-of-the-rotation starter in time. Manager Bud Black returns to lead this young team (hopefully) into a new dimension as the young talent begins to blossom. Their starting pitching will need some work -with Tyson Ross heading up the group. They were intrigued by Anthony Bass and his eight start audition, going 4-3 with a 2.09 and 0.87 WHIP. The bullpen was solid, finishing 6th in ERA at 3.09 on the season. Off-Season Outlook: Free Agents: LF Mark Kotsay, SP Jason Marquis, MR Jose Valverde, SP Edinson Volquez, SP Clayton Richard and MR Joe Thatcher. The team is parting ways with inconsistent starting pitchers Edinson Volquez and Clayton Richard, both of whom had down seasons. Other than that, they aren’t losing much in terms of talent. It’s how they will supplement it that remains a question. Clearly, a top of the rotation starting pitcher would be in order - but they haven’t been known to be big spenders - they’d rather develop from within the system. 2013 Recap: The Giants were back in 2013, following up their World Series Championship in 2012 - winning 90 games and capturing the NL West division once again. This time around, they weren’t able to overcome a 2-0 deficit to the Reds and faltered in three straight to the eventual NL Champion Reds. Their shortcomings this season certainly wasn’t with the pitching - which allowed a league-low 586 runs against. The starters (3.57) and bullpen (2.90) each posted the 2nd best ERA in the NL. Madison Bumgardner (18-9, 2.39) and Matt Cain (18-12, 2.77) were as good a 1-2 punch in all of baseball. They are the only two sure-fire members of the rotation going into next season with Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong each hitting free agency. The offense was what held them back, despite quality seasons from C Buster Posey (.304-18-73) and 3B Pablo Sandoval (.275-20-92) - the rest of the troops struggled. Their lack of power was most notable - hitting just 100 home runs (15th). Sergio Romo was a dominant closer, posting 43 saves and a 1.76 ERA. Manager Bruce Bochy and the Giants had to overcome a 10-game losing streak in late May that could’ve buried less strong clubs. They battled back and eventually took the division by a game. Bochy will be back in 2014 as skipper. In July, the team parted ways with former top prospect Brandon Belt after a subpar start to the season - dealing him to the Rays for veteran utility man Ryan Roberts and minor league starting pitcher Braulio Lara. Off-Season Outlook: Free Agents: SP Ryan Vogelsong; LF Gregor Blanco; SP Tim Lincecum; MR Chad Gaudin; MR Javier Lopez; CF Andres Torres; SP Barry Zito; MR Wesley Wright; Util Ryan Roberts and MR Jose Mijares. The Giants will have a new look and feel - starting with the rotation. They’ll likely lose Vogelsong, Zito and Lincecum and will need three new fresh faces. They’ll also need to replace speedster Gregor Blanco and a solid bench presence with both Andres Torres and Ryan Roberts. The bullpen loses three members who contributed all season with Javier Lopez, Jose Mijares and Wesley Wright. The Giants are rumored to be in the Phil Hughes running and wouldn’t be surprised if they went after an impact bat in the outfield like a Shin-Soo Choo. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-28-2013 at 07:53 AM. Reason: Added the screen grabs for each team.

11-26-2013, 04:14 PM	#11
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	House Rules and Settings Taking a quick look at the settings and house rules for how this thing is being played out. I will be using complete scouting and coaching. Suspension frequency: Low Injury frequency: Low Ratings: 1-20 Show Ratings > Max: No, cut off No Stars AI Lineup: Traditional Ratings Weight: 55% Current Year: 25% Previous Year: 15% 2 years ago: 5% Trading frequency: Very Low Trading difficulty: Hard Trading preference: Neutral All rules are out of the box and will be adjusted in real-time as MLB applies rules. Amateur Draft Number of rounds: 40 Players Generated for: 45 Reveal Date: 75 days prior CBA Enabled Financials and Strategy are out of the box In addition to the regular rules, I will reserve the right to squash any ridiculous AI trade that may occur. This would be a rare instance, I can usually come up with a back story to make it seem feasible. But the Astros giving up Carlos Correa for Cliff Lee (just an example - it didn't happen) would be put to bed. @Rockies The #Rockies added Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich, Manny Corpas & Tyler Chatwood to the 40-man roster @MLBDepthCharts Pomeranz, Friedrich, Corpas & Chatwood bring #Rockies 40-man to just 28. Work to do! Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-26-2013 at 04:26 PM.

11-26-2013, 05:51 PM	#12
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	NL East Outlooks OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: NL EAST November 26, 2013 - MLB.com - By: Matthew Lurch This is the second of six off-season outlook pieces that will take a look at the past season and a look ahead at who teams will be losing and/or where they will look to get better heading into 2014. 2013 Recap: The Braves and manager Fredi Gonzalez lived up to expectations in 2013 - winning 93 games and taking home the National League East division. Unfortunately, they also confirmed a recent trend of early playoff exits after losing in four games in the NLDS to division rival Washington. Eventual NL MVP Jason Heyward broke through and hit .319 with 35 homers and 106 RBI while young arms Julio Teheran and Kris Medlen led the rotation. The Braves finished 2nd in the National League in runs scored (768), home runs (195) and fourth in both batting average (.265) and on-base percentage (.319). They even kept pace with most of the league in stolen bases with 107. Their starters’ ERA finished at 3.71 (6th) and the bullpen boasted a 2.99 (4th). The defense struggled throughout, posting just a .681 efficiency rating - 12th in the league. 1B Freddie Freeman was arguably better than Heyward all season - hitting just nine points below at .311 but surpassing him in homers (40) and RBI (126). It was Heyward’s .962 OPS and 8.1 WAR that eventually won him the award. Prized off-season pick up Justin Upton hit a disappoiting .246 with 21 homers and 73 RBI. C Brian McCann (22) and 2B Dan Uggla (23) each surpassed the 20 home run mark, giving the Braves five players over that plateau. Closer Craig Kimbrel led the bullpen with 43 saves and a 2.19 ERA, while setup men emerged in Cory Gearrin and Jordan Walden. The Braves combination of hitting the ball out of the park while on offense and keeping it in the park while on defense - allowing just 128 homers - was a winning recipe. They were 21 games over .500 at home (51-30) and managed the 93 wins despite a paltry 2-11 record in extra-inning games. The strong finish in September was key, going 19-8 and winning their last 11 games. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: SP Tim Hudson; MR Paul Maholm; OF Reed Johnson The loss of veteran pitcher Tim Hudson leaves a void in the rotation - but that will be filled either internally or with a younger option on the free agent market. Other than that, the Braves are poised to repeat as a National League front-runner looking to get over that hump and make it to the World Series in 2014. 2013 Recap: The young, rebuilding Marlins managed to salvage a solid season, winning 77 games and topping both the Phillies and Mets in the NL East standings. So much for a throw-away year. First year manager Mike Remond did a fantastic job gelling some of the young players as the Marlins regroup. The pitching was the key, led by upcoming free agent Ricky Nolasco and his 17 wins with a 2.94 ERA. Henderson Alvarez, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in the blockbuster Reyes-Josh Johnson trade lived up to expectations, winning 11 games and hitting a 3.01 ERA at the age of 23. Super phenom Jose Fernandez adds another young arm to the arsenal adn though he was just 11-10 on the year, he showed signs of dominance - and he is just 21 years old. Add Nathan Eovaldi (23) and Ivan Nova (26) to the list - the rotation is looking up. Offensively, Giancarlo Stanton is the prized possession, hitting .248 with 38 homers and 90 RBI, he joined Justin Ruggiano as the best hitters on the the team. Logan Morrison was inconsistent, but they still have high hopes for him. They played the second-best defense according to their defensive efficiency rating at .703 - and that contributed to a low .289 BABIP. Young closer Steve Cishek struggled and lost his closers role to Mike Dunn - and the bullpen was solid all season long. They still believe in Jacob Turner - whom they acquired from Detroit in the Omar Infante deal two years ago has middle-of-the-rotation upside, despite struggling in the bullpen this year. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: IF Greg Dobbs; 1B Casey Kotchman; OF Austin Kearns; C Miguel Olivo; SP Ricky Nolasco; MR Jon Rauch; MR Chad Qualls; OF Juan Pierre. Already this off-season they traded traded struggling SP Kevin Slowey to the A’s for Hiroyuki Nakajima to replace the retired Placido Polanco at third base. The loss of Nolasco will hurt - especially since they weren’t able to acquire something for him prior to leaving - but it just doesn’t fit their model for re-building. The rotation will be set with Fernandez-Alvarez-Nova-Eovaldi and Kyle Kendrick for 2014. 2013 Recap: The Mets were just plain awful in 2013. Their 60 wins help illustrate the struggles both offensively and on the mound. They finished ranked in the bottom third of the National League in just about every team offensive category. The upside: Travis D’Arnaud and Matt Harvey. Two pieces that the Mets can build around in their re-building efforts. They fired Terry Collins and hired Don Mattingly to help in the re-build. Mattingly’s struggles as manager in Los Angeles were contributed to the high-priced talent and the Mets think he is better suited working with young, energetic, eager-to-please players in New York. GM Sandy Alderson knows he has his work cut out for him. Let’s face it: the lineup needs a complete overhaul and the bullpen is a mess. However, with Harvey and fellow prospect Zach Wheeler, the Mets have a bonafide 1-2 punch. Much was made of the Mets inability to win close games, going 14-33 in one-run games and 2-14 in extra-inning contests. A shift to the mean there could improve this club by ten wins right there. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: SP Johan Santana; RP LaTroy Hawkins; OF Jack Cust; OF Aubrey Huff; OF Marlon Byrd; SP Shaun Marcum; MR Frank Francisco; MR Brandon Lyon and C John Buck. This re-build begins with finally parting ways with injured and heftily-paid Johan Santana. He could be a comeback candidate if he is willing to take a major pay cut - but his relationships in New York have been burned to the ground with the way both sides handled the split. The Mets will likely look to add a big arm to the rotation and supplement the lineup with some quality hitters while bolstering their minor league system. 2013 Recap: It’s officially rebuilding time in Philadelphia as well. After winning just 68 games in 2013 - the roster is ready to be turned over and gutted. Surprisingly, heads didn’t roll as GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and manager Charlie Manuel have been retained to see the club through this rough patch. The team finished with just 611 runs scored (13th in NL), .239 batting average (14th), .299 OBP (14th) and 123 homers (t-13th). Clearly, the lineup needs to be overturned. They will build around CF Ben Revere (.283-2-48-50 SB) in the leadoff role. They believe in Darin Ruf at first base and hope that they can find a new home for overpaid, declining Ryan Howard. Dominic Brown will be back with his .245-17-54 line and veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be asked to help mold these young players into winners. The rotation remains strong (for now) with aging lefties Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels leading the way. Both (along with Howard) remain key chips for off-season or deadline deals to contenders during the rebuilding process. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: SP Roy Halladay; 2B Chase Utley; MR Chad Durbin; C Humberto Quintero; OF Laynce Nix; OF Scott Podsednik; OF Delmon Young; C Carlos Ruiz; 3B Michael Young. Long-time faces of the franchise Halladay, Utley and Young are all going to be in new uniforms next year. Amaro has hinted towards keeping a low profile this off-season and focus on return for some of the quality veterans that they have. However, many teams are priced out on Howard, Lee and even Hamels because of huge contracts. 2013 Recap: After the collapse to the Cardinals in 2012, many Nationals faithful were hoping for a breakout 2013 campaign. And, while 90 wins and an appearance in the National League Championship Series is nothing to sneeze at - anything short of the World Series would be considered a disappointment. A wild-card game win and a 3-1 series win over rival Atlanta was great, but the 4-1 wipe out in the NLCS was tough to swallow. Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Wert each had great seasons and led the offense to a respectable level - but it was the starting pitching that led them. Stephen Strasburg (16-6, 2.51), Gio Gonzalez(9-9, 3.77), Jordan Zimmermann (14-8, 3.45) and Dan Haren (11-13, 2.68) were downright disgusting, leading the rotation to an MLB-best 3.31 combined ERA. The bullpen wasn't far behind with closer Drew Storen (33 saves, 2.28), Rafael Soriano (9 wins, 2.12 ERA) and others contributing to a bullpen combined ERA of 2.93 (3rd in the NL). They well surpassed their attendance record with over 3.4 Million fans through the turnstiles. With most everybody coming back, with the exception of Haren - the Nationals are poised to make another run at a World Series berth. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: SP Dan Haren; SP Ross Detwiler; C Kurt Suzuki; MR Zach Duke; IF Jorge Cantu; SS Bobby Crosby; 1B Chad Tracy. The Nationals have to replace Haren, who was crazy good last year but can't afford his contract demands of nearly $19 Million/year. They can look to the heavy pitching free agency market to fill his, and Ross Detwiler's rotation spot. Good news is that the lineup is in tact and strong without having to make many moves. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-28-2013 at 07:54 AM. Reason: Added screen grabs for each team.

11-26-2013, 07:57 PM	#13
beachbomer All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 700 Blog Entries: 23	Just wanted to let you know I will be following. Already hooked!!!!!

11-26-2013, 08:35 PM	#14
fromtheline Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 153	I just realized this means there won't be games of any sort for a couple of months.

11-26-2013, 11:24 PM	#15
rpriske Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Spencerville, ON, Canada Posts: 23,986 Blog Entries: 1	I am excited to follow this one.

11-27-2013, 02:20 AM	#16
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,541	Great concept and I really enjoy your writing style as well. Looking forward to following along. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Columnist- The Figment Sporting Journal MY FIGMENT LEAGUE BROOKLYN KINGS DYNASTY PAST DYNASTYS My History of Hockey Replay Tiger Fan's Sporting News : the mid 1940's Tiger Fan's All Sport Replay: The 1920s History of Sports 1901-15 Historical Tutorial and Feedback League My first fictional attempt The HOB4: The last of my series of history of baseball replays that go back to OOTP2 and the old message board.

11-27-2013, 05:01 AM	#17
Hendu Style All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,450	I'm looking forward to following this. Great idea! __________________ Catch me on Twitch.tv as Dr. Dynastic (drdynastic) Previous OOTP Dynasties: SimNation Fictional Universe (est. 1889) This is Oakland A's Baseball Beane Counting: The Oakland A's

11-27-2013, 09:05 AM	#18
StLee Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: USA, formerly Korea Posts: 4,278	Count me in, too! __________________ Fan of LSU sports (especially baseball and football), New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves (Dale Murphy for the HOF!). Current dynasties: Fallout 4's Commonwealth Baseball Organization Completed dynasty: Fallout: New Vegas' Mojave Baseball League Uniforms: My custom uniforms

11-27-2013, 10:37 AM	#20
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	Tyrell Jenkins update; Angels-Royals prospect swap I received a note from Dan on Tyrell Jenkins - our 2010 first round pick out of high school and currently ranked our No. 4 prospect. His numbers have been largely underwhelming after now three full seasons in the professional ranks. Now 21 years old, we were hoping to see something more than a 5.97 ERA at Johnson City (rookie level). The reason I asked Dan to take a closer look at Tyrell is simply because he was discussed as a possible inclusion on a deal for Leury Garcia. I just wanted to make sure we weren't jumping ship too early - and if we should try to maximize his value as our No. 4 prospect. Here is a look at his numbers so far: HTML Code: Career Minor League Pitching Stats - Tyrell Jenkins Year/Team/League Age G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER HR BB K CG SHO WHIP BABIP VORP WAR ERA+ 2010 Johnson City - R 17 2 2 0 0 0 0.00 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1.33 .000 0.0 0.0 999 2011 Johnson City - R 18 11 11 4 2 0 3.86 56.0 63 33 24 3 13 55 0 0 1.36 .000 0.0 0.0 148 2012 Quad Cities - A 19 19 19 4 4 0 5.14 82.1 84 53 47 5 36 80 0 0 1.46 .000 0.0 0.0 95 2013 Johnson City - R 20 15 15 5 7 0 5.97 86.0 98 60 57 14 43 93 0 0 1.64 .347 7.3 0.0 96 Total MID 19 19 4 4 0 5.14 82.1 84 53 47 5 36 80 0 0 1.46 .000 0.0 94.9 Total APP 28 28 9 9 0 5.03 145.0 163 93 81 17 58 150 0 0 1.52 .802 7.3 134.7 He still has room to grow but the general consensus here is that we're not giving up a future top-of-the-rotation arm here if he is included in a trade. He did mention what appears to be an unlucky BABIP at .347 and a regression to the mean there, along with improved control to go along with good "stuff", there is the reason he is ranked to highly. I'll keep that in mind. I'm still leaning towards going the free agent Yunel Escobar route and see if I can land a future shortstop in a potential deal. One that won't force me to give up a starting pitcher, Jon Jay and a Jenkins-type prospect - which is what Daniels in Texas still wants for Garcia. Eventually, I'll put a call in to Pat Corrales in Cleveland to discuss Dorssys Paulino as they have Francisco Lindor as their shortstop of the future. Maybe they'd be willing to part with him in a potential deal? We'll cross that bridge when the time comes. @JohnHayman The @Angels have traded 1B C.J. Cron to @Royals for P Andy Ferguson. Swap of prospects. ANGELS, ROYALS AGREE TO SWAP PROSPECTS MLB.com The Los Angeles Angels just don't seem to have a spot for 23-year old slugging prospect C.J. Cron. So, they found him a new home in Kansas City. Cron was ranked the #73 prospect by MLB.com prior to the 2013 season, one that saw him smack 21 homers and drive in 94 runs for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He was a Texas League All-Star and isn't far from the big leagues. The Royals acquire Cron in exchange for pitching prospect Andy Ferguson. Once considered a "can't miss" prospect, Ferguson has struggled to work his way out of the lower minor leagues. At 25 years old, it may just be time for a change of scenery and that's what the Angels hope to provide to help him turn the corner. Both players are expected to be invited to big league camp and compete for a roster spot in 2014. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 11-27-2013 at 10:42 AM.