2015 Colorado Rockies- Only the GM- Trying a Dynasty

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:13 PM

I haven't done a dynasty before. I also haven't tried being only the GM. I love managing in this game, but I thought it might be fun to try and build a team for another manager's tendencies. I also might start typing a dynasty thread about my game that is already in progress where I'm GM and manger, but that might not be as interesting since I'm six season into it already.

In my regular game, I'm the Chicago White Sox, which is my favorite team. This brings me to...

The Colorado Rockies have learned about some of my OOTP exploits and the fact that I teach economics, so they decided that qualifies me to be a general manager. Since they needed a new general manager for this season (IRL) they decided to hire me. They might be stupid. We will find out.

Our owner, Charlie Monfort, is a demanding economizer, which should make for an interesting challenge. He only has two goals. He wants the 2015 Rockies to play close to .500 ball, and he wants to build up the team to reach the playoffs by 2019.

When I was a kid, I watched Walt Weiss play shortstop for the A's. It makes me feel old that he is my 51 year old manager. Walt likes aggressive base running and stealing bases. This doesn't make a lot of sense when you play in an extreme hitters park, so I can tell you that he is already on the hot seat. I did see where the BNN Analysts on MLB Network said that they think he may grow as a manager, so he does have that going for him.

Pitching coach Steve Foster teaches groundball pitching, which fits our ballpark. However, he is unproven. At least he's cheap.

Hitting coach Blake Doyle is inexperienced and wants to help hitters improve their walk rates. I guess that makes sense as long as Weiss doesn't run them into outs.

Former Expos manager Tom Runnels is the fiery bench coach, so his experience should keep Walt worried. I hope they can work together.

Coach Weiss's primary lineup is as follows:

CF Charlie Blackmon .288/.335/.440 19 HR 28 SB (28 years old)
3B Nolan Arenado .287/.328/.500 18 HR (23)
SS Troy "Tulo" Toluwitzki .342/.432/.603 21 HR (30)
RF Carlos "CarGo" Gonzalez .238/.292/.438 11 HR (29)
LF Corey Dickerson .312/.364/.567 24 HR (25)
1B Justin Morneau .319/.364/.496 17 HR (33)
C Nick Hundley .233/273/.352 5 HR (31) (with BAL)
2B DJ LeMahieu .267/.315/.348 5 HR 10 SB

I can see why they wanted my help. The catching position in particular is BAD. Our scouting department only rates him as a 55 (20/80 scale), so he isn't even that good defensively. If we want to compete year one, we will need to look to upgrade here.

The pitching staff is going to be difficult to evaluate because of Coors Field. They look like this.

1SP Jordan Lyles 7-4 4.33
2SP Tyler Matzek 6-11 4.05
3SP Kyle Kendrick 10-13 4.61
4SP Christian Friedrich 0-4 5.92
5SP Christian Bergman 3-5 5.93

If those numbers are unimpressive, the scouting department doesn't like the, either. Ouch!

The bullpen and bench are bad, too, and Walt wants to use veteran LOOGY Boone Logan as his closer. Boone had a 6.84 ERA in 35 appearances last year. Oy vey!

I have my work cut out for me...

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:30 PM

The season hasn't even started yet, and there has already been one major trade. The Braves have acquired SP Colby Lewis from Texas for 2B Kelly Johnson and 2B prospect Luke Dykstra.

Maybe I should look to acquire a pitcher or a catcher...

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:32 PM

The pressure is already mounting in Colorado...

I just signed Joe Kerrigan to be my DSL pitching coach. If Steve Foster doesn't work out, I have options.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:35 PM

Casey Fien of the Twins has cut himself with a kitchen knife and will miss two weeks. I can only assume that it was a fillet knife, and he was cleaning some Minnesota walleye.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:43 PM

There was another big trade before the season even started, and it was two teams in the same division! The Rays have acquired Crush Davis from the Orioles in exchange for Logan Forsythe and a minor leaguer. On MLB tonight, Harold Reynolds was quite impressed, but Dan Plesac pointed out that Davis wasn't nearly as good in 2014 as he was in 2013.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:49 PM

Opening day is finally here! I was asked by reporters about my expectation for the season before the game, and I had this to say.

"First off, I want to give Walt a vote of confidence. He played for Larussa, and he surely learned something from him. It will help him build confidence in these young pitchers if we can get off to a good start today in Milwaukee. I hope Uecker doesn't end up saying that our pitchers missed "just a bit outside." Having a great player like Tulo, who leads by example, always helps. Great players can make managers great. I'm sure Tony could have told him that. Oakland had guys like Henderson, Stewart, and the Bash Brothers."

In other words, I dodged the question to take pressure off of my team.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:55 PM

A record tying performance!

For only the second time in the history of MLB, there has been an opening day no-hitter! Chris Archer of the Rays no-hit the Orioles on opening day. He joins Hall of Famer Bob Feller, who no-hit my beloved White Sox on opening day, 1946.

Meanwhile, the Rockies pounded Mike Fiers to the tune of a 9-4 drubbing of the Brewers at Miller Park, which is a good start to my career as GM. Tulo, Arenado, and Dickerson went deep. Jordan Lyles picked up the win.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 12:57 PM

From here on out, I will check in with major events involving my team or from around baseball. The Rockies swept the Brewers to open the season.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 01:01 PM

Another huge inter-divisional trade, and it's only April 12! The Royals have sent Christian Colon and a minor leaguer to the Tigers for VMart! What the heck? These two went down to the wire competing for a division title last year, and now Detroit is sending one of their stars to KC. Crazy!

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 01:02 PM

That didn't take long! Carlos Gonzalez is out for three months with torn ankle ligaments. This is going to be a long season. We also dropped 2 of 3 to the Cubs to make our record 4-2.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 01:06 PM

Kyle Parker is replacing CarGo. Parker only hitting .188 at AAA, and my scouts think he has average contact and power and a slightly below average eye at the plate. He is an above average right fielder, though, and I don't have many other good options.

fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 01:09 PM

One of my all-time favorite players, good old number 56, has reached a milestone.

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fuzzy_patters · 06-20-2015, 01:11 PM

Troy Tulowitzki is the NL player of the week for week one hitting .462 with 4 HR, 7 R, 7RBI.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 04:56 PM

It's only 4/18, and I've already lost two outfielders. Brandon Barnes is out for four weeks. Brandon was off to a hot start hitting .444 as a part time player. With the Rockies still having four outfielders on the roster, I've decided to go with hot hand for my call=up. The Rockies are 4-6, while the Isotopes are 7-2, and they are led by former Cardinal Daniel Descalso, who is hitting .471 for them. I'm calling him up. He will give Walt a reliable utility infielder and pinch hitter off the bench.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 05:28 PM

It's 4/23, and I have received my first trade proposal as GM of the Rockies. The Blue Jays must think I'm stupid. They have offered Dioner Navarro for DJ LeMahieu and Forrest Wall. Navarro isn't any better than the catchers that I have, and he is old and expensive. LeMahieu has been one of my best catchers, and Wall is a five star prospect. Ummmm...no.

phillyboy19 · 06-21-2015, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzy_patters

It's 4/23, and I have received my first trade proposal as GM of the Rockies. The Blue Jays must think I'm stupid. They have offered Dioner Navarro for DJ LeMahieu and Forrest Wall. Navarro isn't any better than the catchers that I have, and he is old and expensive. LeMahieu has been one of my best catchers, and Wall is a five star prospect. Ummmm...no.

LeMahieu is a secoond baseman.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 06:06 PM

4/25

Dear Gm's Diary,

What the heck? I decided to actually watch a game in its entirety, and we were beating the Giants 5-4 in the ninth inning. Walt left Axford in to pitch when he was exhausted rather than bringing in Boone Logan, who has been unhittable this year. Axford got rocked and we lost 7-5. This game alone might be fireable. The seat is getting hotter.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyboy19

LeMahieu is a secoond baseman.

You're right. I meant that he has been one of my best players. I've had improving at catcher on the mind.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 06:10 PM

I thought that I would take a look at the recent usage of my pitchers to see why Boone wasn't brought in. He pitched 35 pitches the day before, so I thought about giving Walt the benefit of the doubt. Then I saw that Axford pitched 32 the day before, and 13 the day before that. He threw 37 in the game in question. Walt might have too long of a hook to work long for me.

fuzzy_patters · 06-21-2015, 06:50 PM

It has been an eventful first month as GM. We have lost one of our stars, Carlos Gonzalez, to a long-term injury. We opened with a sweep of the Brewers, and reality struck when we were swept by the Giants two series later. At 10-12, we are 7 1/2 games behind the first place Giants and 2 games out of the second wild card spot.

Walt's Primary Lineup
RF Drew Stubbs .228-4-8
1B Justin Morneau .276-3-3 0
SS Troy Tulowitzki .322-5-11
LF Corey Dickerson .314-2-10
3B Nolan Arenado .279-5-19
CF Charlie Blackmon .200-0-6
C Nick Hundley .250-3-9
2B DJ LeMahieu .361-0-2

Walt's Rotation
CL Boone Logan 5SV 3.38
SU Adam Otavino 1-0 3.09
SU Latroy Hawkins 1-1 2.92
MR John Axford 1-2 8.68
MR Brooks Brown 1-0 3.38
MR Rafael Betancourt 2-0 2.79
MR Rex Brothers 0-1 4.00

The Good
-Troy Tulowitzki has been our star, as expected. He has been player of the week, once, and he is sixth in the NL in war with 1.1. He is also fifth in total bases with 50.
-Nolan Arenado is top five in the NL in doubles, homers, and RBI.
-LeMahieu has been a stud. If I were Walt Weiss, I would consider moving him up on the order. If I were any other manager, I would intentionally walk him whenever possible.

The Bad
- Drew Stubs has a .274 OBP, which isn't cutting it for a lead-off hitter.
- The team is second in homers but eighth in OBP. Those homers would be worth more if we could get on base.

The Ugly
-We play in a hitters park and have questionable pitching. Being 14th in defensive efficiency compounds things. Upgrading defensively in centerfield is a must as is finding some better pitchers.
-3/5 of the rotation has 0 wins and ERAs over 5. Ouch!
-Speaking of which, Christian Bergman leads the league in a statistical category, which would be awesome if it weren't walks.

Overall Assessment
I think we should take a wait and see approach. We have been hovering around .500 for most of the month, and that was our owner's goal. I've poured a ton of money into player development (18 million). Hopefully, somebody on the roster will pull it together and surprise us until we have some prospects ready to help.

06-20-2015, 12:13 PM	#1
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	2015 Colorado Rockies- Only the GM- Trying a Dynasty I haven't done a dynasty before. I also haven't tried being only the GM. I love managing in this game, but I thought it might be fun to try and build a team for another manager's tendencies. I also might start typing a dynasty thread about my game that is already in progress where I'm GM and manger, but that might not be as interesting since I'm six season into it already. In my regular game, I'm the Chicago White Sox, which is my favorite team. This brings me to... The Colorado Rockies have learned about some of my OOTP exploits and the fact that I teach economics, so they decided that qualifies me to be a general manager. Since they needed a new general manager for this season (IRL) they decided to hire me. They might be stupid. We will find out. Our owner, Charlie Monfort, is a demanding economizer, which should make for an interesting challenge. He only has two goals. He wants the 2015 Rockies to play close to .500 ball, and he wants to build up the team to reach the playoffs by 2019. When I was a kid, I watched Walt Weiss play shortstop for the A's. It makes me feel old that he is my 51 year old manager. Walt likes aggressive base running and stealing bases. This doesn't make a lot of sense when you play in an extreme hitters park, so I can tell you that he is already on the hot seat. I did see where the BNN Analysts on MLB Network said that they think he may grow as a manager, so he does have that going for him. Pitching coach Steve Foster teaches groundball pitching, which fits our ballpark. However, he is unproven. At least he's cheap. Hitting coach Blake Doyle is inexperienced and wants to help hitters improve their walk rates. I guess that makes sense as long as Weiss doesn't run them into outs. Former Expos manager Tom Runnels is the fiery bench coach, so his experience should keep Walt worried. I hope they can work together. Coach Weiss's primary lineup is as follows: CF Charlie Blackmon .288/.335/.440 19 HR 28 SB (28 years old) 3B Nolan Arenado .287/.328/.500 18 HR (23) SS Troy "Tulo" Toluwitzki .342/.432/.603 21 HR (30) RF Carlos "CarGo" Gonzalez .238/.292/.438 11 HR (29) LF Corey Dickerson .312/.364/.567 24 HR (25) 1B Justin Morneau .319/.364/.496 17 HR (33) C Nick Hundley .233/273/.352 5 HR (31) (with BAL) 2B DJ LeMahieu .267/.315/.348 5 HR 10 SB I can see why they wanted my help. The catching position in particular is BAD. Our scouting department only rates him as a 55 (20/80 scale), so he isn't even that good defensively. If we want to compete year one, we will need to look to upgrade here. The pitching staff is going to be difficult to evaluate because of Coors Field. They look like this. 1SP Jordan Lyles 7-4 4.33 2SP Tyler Matzek 6-11 4.05 3SP Kyle Kendrick 10-13 4.61 4SP Christian Friedrich 0-4 5.92 5SP Christian Bergman 3-5 5.93 If those numbers are unimpressive, the scouting department doesn't like the, either. Ouch! The bullpen and bench are bad, too, and Walt wants to use veteran LOOGY Boone Logan as his closer. Boone had a 6.84 ERA in 35 appearances last year. Oy vey! I have my work cut out for me...

06-20-2015, 12:57 PM	#8
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	How sweep it is! From here on out, I will check in with major events involving my team or from around baseball. The Rockies swept the Brewers to open the season.

06-20-2015, 01:09 PM	#12
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	A milestone is reached! One of my all-time favorite players, good old number 56, has reached a milestone.

06-20-2015, 01:11 PM	#13
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	It's a major award! Troy Tulowitzki is the NL player of the week for week one hitting .462 with 4 HR, 7 R, 7RBI.

06-21-2015, 04:56 PM	#14
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Another injury It's only 4/18, and I've already lost two outfielders. Brandon Barnes is out for four weeks. Brandon was off to a hot start hitting .444 as a part time player. With the Rockies still having four outfielders on the roster, I've decided to go with hot hand for my call=up. The Rockies are 4-6, while the Isotopes are 7-2, and they are led by former Cardinal Daniel Descalso, who is hitting .471 for them. I'm calling him up. He will give Walt a reliable utility infielder and pinch hitter off the bench.

06-20-2015, 12:30 PM	#2
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	The season hasn't even started yet, and there has already been one major trade. The Braves have acquired SP Colby Lewis from Texas for 2B Kelly Johnson and 2B prospect Luke Dykstra. Maybe I should look to acquire a pitcher or a catcher...

06-20-2015, 12:32 PM	#3
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	The pressure is already mounting in Colorado... I just signed Joe Kerrigan to be my DSL pitching coach. If Steve Foster doesn't work out, I have options.

06-20-2015, 12:35 PM	#4
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Casey Fien of the Twins has cut himself with a kitchen knife and will miss two weeks. I can only assume that it was a fillet knife, and he was cleaning some Minnesota walleye.

06-20-2015, 12:43 PM	#5
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	There was another big trade before the season even started, and it was two teams in the same division! The Rays have acquired Crush Davis from the Orioles in exchange for Logan Forsythe and a minor leaguer. On MLB tonight, Harold Reynolds was quite impressed, but Dan Plesac pointed out that Davis wasn't nearly as good in 2014 as he was in 2013.

06-20-2015, 12:49 PM	#6
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Opening day is finally here! I was asked by reporters about my expectation for the season before the game, and I had this to say. "First off, I want to give Walt a vote of confidence. He played for Larussa, and he surely learned something from him. It will help him build confidence in these young pitchers if we can get off to a good start today in Milwaukee. I hope Uecker doesn't end up saying that our pitchers missed "just a bit outside." Having a great player like Tulo, who leads by example, always helps. Great players can make managers great. I'm sure Tony could have told him that. Oakland had guys like Henderson, Stewart, and the Bash Brothers." In other words, I dodged the question to take pressure off of my team.

06-20-2015, 12:55 PM	#7
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	A record tying performance! For only the second time in the history of MLB, there has been an opening day no-hitter! Chris Archer of the Rays no-hit the Orioles on opening day. He joins Hall of Famer Bob Feller, who no-hit my beloved White Sox on opening day, 1946. Meanwhile, the Rockies pounded Mike Fiers to the tune of a 9-4 drubbing of the Brewers at Miller Park, which is a good start to my career as GM. Tulo, Arenado, and Dickerson went deep. Jordan Lyles picked up the win.

06-20-2015, 01:01 PM	#9
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Another huge inter-divisional trade, and it's only April 12! The Royals have sent Christian Colon and a minor leaguer to the Tigers for VMart! What the heck? These two went down to the wire competing for a division title last year, and now Detroit is sending one of their stars to KC. Crazy!

06-20-2015, 01:02 PM	#10
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	That didn't take long! Carlos Gonzalez is out for three months with torn ankle ligaments. This is going to be a long season. We also dropped 2 of 3 to the Cubs to make our record 4-2.

06-20-2015, 01:06 PM	#11
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Kyle Parker is replacing CarGo. Parker only hitting .188 at AAA, and my scouts think he has average contact and power and a slightly below average eye at the plate. He is an above average right fielder, though, and I don't have many other good options.

06-21-2015, 05:28 PM	#15
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	It's 4/23, and I have received my first trade proposal as GM of the Rockies. The Blue Jays must think I'm stupid. They have offered Dioner Navarro for DJ LeMahieu and Forrest Wall. Navarro isn't any better than the catchers that I have, and he is old and expensive. LeMahieu has been one of my best catchers, and Wall is a five star prospect. Ummmm...no.

06-21-2015, 06:06 PM	#17
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	4/25 Dear Gm's Diary, What the heck? I decided to actually watch a game in its entirety, and we were beating the Giants 5-4 in the ninth inning. Walt left Axford in to pitch when he was exhausted rather than bringing in Boone Logan, who has been unhittable this year. Axford got rocked and we lost 7-5. This game alone might be fireable. The seat is getting hotter.

06-21-2015, 06:10 PM	#19
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	I thought that I would take a look at the recent usage of my pitchers to see why Boone wasn't brought in. He pitched 35 pitches the day before, so I thought about giving Walt the benefit of the doubt. Then I saw that Axford pitched 32 the day before, and 13 the day before that. He threw 37 in the game in question. Walt might have too long of a hook to work long for me.

06-21-2015, 06:50 PM	#20
fuzzy_patters All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,804	Monthly Update It has been an eventful first month as GM. We have lost one of our stars, Carlos Gonzalez, to a long-term injury. We opened with a sweep of the Brewers, and reality struck when we were swept by the Giants two series later. At 10-12, we are 7 1/2 games behind the first place Giants and 2 games out of the second wild card spot. Walt's Primary Lineup RF Drew Stubbs .228-4-8 1B Justin Morneau .276-3-3 0 SS Troy Tulowitzki .322-5-11 LF Corey Dickerson .314-2-10 3B Nolan Arenado .279-5-19 CF Charlie Blackmon .200-0-6 C Nick Hundley .250-3-9 2B DJ LeMahieu .361-0-2 Walt's Rotation CL Boone Logan 5SV 3.38 SU Adam Otavino 1-0 3.09 SU Latroy Hawkins 1-1 2.92 MR John Axford 1-2 8.68 MR Brooks Brown 1-0 3.38 MR Rafael Betancourt 2-0 2.79 MR Rex Brothers 0-1 4.00 The Good -Troy Tulowitzki has been our star, as expected. He has been player of the week, once, and he is sixth in the NL in war with 1.1. He is also fifth in total bases with 50. -Nolan Arenado is top five in the NL in doubles, homers, and RBI. -LeMahieu has been a stud. If I were Walt Weiss, I would consider moving him up on the order. If I were any other manager, I would intentionally walk him whenever possible. The Bad - Drew Stubs has a .274 OBP, which isn't cutting it for a lead-off hitter. - The team is second in homers but eighth in OBP. Those homers would be worth more if we could get on base. The Ugly -We play in a hitters park and have questionable pitching. Being 14th in defensive efficiency compounds things. Upgrading defensively in centerfield is a must as is finding some better pitchers. -3/5 of the rotation has 0 wins and ERAs over 5. Ouch! -Speaking of which, Christian Bergman leads the league in a statistical category, which would be awesome if it weren't walks. Overall Assessment I think we should take a wait and see approach. We have been hovering around .500 for most of the month, and that was our owner's goal. I've poured a ton of money into player development (18 million). Hopefully, somebody on the roster will pull it together and surprise us until we have some prospects ready to help.