2017 Boston Red Sox

Papi · 02-19-2016, 01:36 PM

Heyyo!

This is my first attempt at a dynasty thread in a LOOOOONG time, but Spring is upon us (it's almost 60 degrees in Chicago today) and I got the bug.

A little backstory on this dynasty. I loaded up the 2015 season and decided to sim a couple of years, making GM decisions only. This kept me from having to sit through multiple years of the Panda and Hanley show.

I got exceptionally lucky after the 2015 season as MLB decided to add two teams, Jacksonville and San Antonio. I left Ramirez, Sandoval and Porcello available in the expansion draft, and all three were taken! Imagine my surprise when I had over 60 million dollars removed from my payroll just like that!

I spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons hopefully drafting smartly and developing my own talent. I made a few trades (2 significant) and signed a couple of free agents, but as you will see, the vast majority of my roster are home grown Sox.

The first (second) post will be a quick recap of what happened during the 2015-2016 seasons as well as a overview of what the 2017 season is looking like.

Enjoy!

Papi · 02-19-2016, 02:15 PM

2015 MLB Recap

World Series--Oakland A's defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2

AL/NL MVP's--Edwin Encarnacion (TOR) .256 53-136/Jason Heyward (STL) .316 30-94

AL/NL Cy Young's--Sonny Gray (OAK) 18-8 2.97/Michael Wacha 24-4 1.73

AL/NL ROY--Dalton Pompey (TOR) .281 20-84 36 Steals/Joc Pederson (LAD) .272 31-92

Red Sox Recap
69-93 (Last in the AL East)

Offensive MVP--Pablo Sandoval .321 8-63 37 2B
Pitching MVP--Koji Uehara 3-6 3.56 27 SV 89 K

Key Transactions--

4/10/15--Signed Cuban 2B Juan Jose Fernandez to a 5/$5.5 million dollar deal
5/2/15--Signed Cuban 3B Luis Yander La O Camacho to a minor League Contract
7/31/15--Acquired RP Carson Smith from the NY Mets (Who had gotten him from Seattle earlier in the year) for SS Deven Merrero, OF Nick Longhi and SS Tzu-Wei Lin.
12/5/15--Signed International FA SP Kenta Maeda to a 4/$32 million dollar contract,

2015 Draft Picks--
#1--SP Kolby Allard
#2--SP Austin Smith
#3--3B Connor Kaiser
#4--C Brendt Citta
#5--SP Drew Finley

2016 MLB Recap

World Series--Washington Nationals defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3

AL/NL MVP's--Mike Trout (LAA) .344 27-82/Andrew McCutchen (PIT) .324 22-104

AL/NL Cy Young's--Corey Kluber (CLE) 15-9 2.82/Gerrit Cole (PIT) 19-4 2.11

AL/NY ROY--Luis Yander La O Camacho (BOS).311 10-82 18 Triples/Corey Seager (LAD) .332 19/109[COLOR=Red']

Red Sox Recap--[/COLOR]
87-75 (Won Wild Card, lost to Tampa Bay in ALDS)

Offensive MVP--Xander Boegarts .293 33-125 (Led MLB in RBI)
Pitching MVP--Brendan Morrow 15-11 3.84 210 K

Key Transactions--

12/3/15--Acquired SP Cole Hamels from Philadephia in exchange for 2B Wendell Rijo, OF Rusney Castillo, SP Wade Miley and C Jon Denney.
12/19/15--Signed SP Brendan Morrow to a 1/$8 million dollar contract.
3/4/16--Signed 1B Chris Davis to a 2/$16 million dollar contract
4/22/16--Traded 2B Juan Jose Fernandez and IF Sean Coyle to the NY Mets in exchange for 1B/OF Chris Carter.
8/25/16--Placed SP Kenta Maeda on the 60 day DL with a torn UCL ligament (Out 12-13 months)

2016 Draft Picks--
#1--SP Jason Groome
#2--SS Ben Baird
#3--1B Carter Kieboom
#4--SP Kevin Roliard
#5--SP Logan Allen

2017 Red Sox Review

Key Transactions--

11/27/16--Acquired 1B Freddie Freeman from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for 3B Luis Yander La O Camacho, OF Manuel Margot, and OF Willis Figueroa.

Opening Day Rosters and Season Projections are next!

Papi · 02-19-2016, 03:12 PM

I am pretty excited about my Opening Day Roster. Solid pretty much across the board.

The addition of Freddie Freeman really lengthens my lineup and hopefully can produce a little power for a lineup that finished 10th in home runs a year ago.

It's make or break time for JBJ however. His defense has been as expected, but he hasn't hit over .230 in either year as a regular and ended last year on the DL with a bum shoulder. He's got some rope though as I am lacking in solid OF depth in the minors.

My 5th Starter slot was a little concerning, so I went out and signed Esmil Rogers for 1 year at about 1.3 million. As most of my prospects are in A ball or lower, we'll need some solid work out of him this year.

The bullpen is solid top to bottom, although you'd think Koji would start showing signs of age eventually. Not yet though (He hasn't had an attribute drop since I started). Adam Conley is a sneaky pickup from the Marlins. He can start or relieve, had a great year in 2016 with the Fish, and I only gave up backup IF Mike Moustakas (I signed him after 2015 for $900,000) for him.

Mikie Mahtook was a Rule V draft pick, but should provide some solid defense and a little pop off the bend against lefties. I had some success with John Cornely last year with the Rule V draft (his numbers are rough, but the scouts love him).

I'll be back either every couple of weeks or every month, I haven't decided yet, and it likely won't stay however I choose it. I'll type up recaps as I feel like it!

Papi · 02-19-2016, 03:30 PM

Opening Day 2017!

Cole Hamels took the rubber for the Sox for a 2nd consecutive year on Opening Day. His line looks kind of ugly, but it's skewed by a 3 run homerun he allowed on his 2nd to last pitch of the game in the 7th inning. Freddie Freeman had a solid Sox debut, going 2-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI, while Dustin Pedroia continues to truck along, going 3-3 with a two run blast in the victory.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston Red Sox (1-0)	0	0	0	5	3	2	0	0	1	11	14	0
Baltimore Orioles (0-1)	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	6	10	2

BOSTON BATTING LINESCORES		BALTIMORE BATTING LINESCORES

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	HR	RBI
M. Betts RF	6	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000	0	0
G. Cecchini LF	4	1	1	1	1	0	3	.250	0	1
X. Bogaerts SS	5	1	2	0	0	0	3	.400	0	0
F. Freeman 1B	5	2	2	1	0	3	3	.400	0	1
B. Swihart C	4	2	1	0	1	0	1	.250	0	0
C. Davis DH	5	1	2	2	0	1	2	.400	0	2
D. Pedroia 2B	3	3	3	3	1	0	0	1.000	1	3
Y. Moncada 3B	5	1	2	1	0	1	3	.400	0	1
J. Bradley Jr. CF	4	0	1	1	1	1	3	.250	0	1
Totals	41	11	14	9	4	7	23

BATTING
Doubles: B. Swihart (1, 4th Inning off J. Cueto, 0 on, 0 outs) X. Bogaerts (1, 6th Inning off D. De La Rosa, 0 on, 1 out) F. Freeman 2 (2, 5th Inning off T. McFarland, 0 on, 0 outs; 6th Inning off D. De La Rosa, 1 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: D. Pedroia (1, 5th Inning off T. McFarland, 2 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: Y. Moncada 2 , J. Bradley Jr. , B. Swihart 2 , X. Bogaerts 3 , G. Cecchini , F. Freeman 4 , C. Davis 2 , D. Pedroia 6
2-out RBI: G. Cecchini , C. Davis
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: Y. Moncada , G. Cecchini , F. Freeman
GIDP: X. Bogaerts
Hit by Pitch: G. Cecchini , D. Pedroia
Team LOB: 10

BASERUNNING
SB: Y. Moncada (1) , G. Cecchini (1)

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	HR	RBI
D. Alvarez RF	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	.200	0	0
J. Heim C	5	1	1	3	0	2	1	.200	1	3
M. Machado 3B	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	.750	0	0
A. Jones CF	4	1	1	2	0	1	2	.250	1	2
J. Schoop 2B	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.500	0	0
J. Kang SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	0	0
J. Lopez 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	0	0
C. Parmelee LF	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000	0	0
K. Martin DH	4	2	2	1	0	2	1	.500	1	1
Totals	37	6	10	6	1	9	8

BATTING
Home Runs: K. Martin (1, 5th Inning off C. Hamels, 0 on, 2 outs) J. Heim (1, 7th Inning off C. Hamels, 2 on, 2 outs) A. Jones (1, 1st Inning off C. Hamels, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: K. Martin 5 , D. Alvarez , J. Heim 4 , J. Schoop 2 , M. Machado 3 , A. Jones 4
2-out RBI: K. Martin , J. Heim , A. Jones
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Kang
Team LOB: 4

FIELDING
Errors: J. Lopez (1) , D. Alvarez (1)
Double Plays: 1 (Kang-Schoop-Lopez)
PB: J. Heim 2

BOSTON PITCHING LINESCORES		BALTIMORE PITCHING LINESCORES

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	PI	PS	ERA
C. Hamels W (1-0)	7.0	10	6	6	0	5	3	105	73	7.71
C. Smith	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10	7	0.00
A. Conley	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	21	14	0.00

PITCHING
Game Score: C. Hamels 38
Batters Faced: C. Hamels 31, C. Smith 3, A. Conley 4
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Hamels 9-7, C. Smith 2-0, A. Conley 0-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Hamels 105-73, C. Smith 10-7, A. Conley 21-14

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	PI	PS	ERA
J. Cueto L (0-1)	4.0	6	5	5	1	4	0	79	50	11.25
T. McFarland	0.1	2	3	3	1	0	1	12	5	81.00
D. De La Rosa	1.1	3	2	2	1	0	0	34	20	13.50
G. Escat	2.1	2	0	0	0	2	0	22	18	0.00
B. Brach	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	21	11	9.00

PITCHING
Game Score: J. Cueto 33
Batters Faced: J. Cueto 21, T. McFarland 4, D. De La Rosa 8, G. Escat 9, B. Brach 5
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: J. Cueto 3-5, T. McFarland 0-1, D. De La Rosa 2-2, G. Escat 2-2, B. Brach 1-1
Pitches - Strikes: J. Cueto 79-50, T. McFarland 12-5, D. De La Rosa 34-20, G. Escat 22-18, B. Brach 21-11
Inherited Runners - Scored: G. Escat 1-0
WP: D. De La Rosa
Hit Batsmen: J. Cueto 2

GAME NOTES

Player of the Game: Dustin Pedroia
Ballpark: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Weather: Clear skies (36 degrees), wind blowing in from right at 10 mph
Start Time: 7:05 pm EST
Time: 2:56
Attendance: 48474

Papi · 02-19-2016, 07:28 PM

April 2017 Recap--

Solid start to the year. I knew we were set up pretty well, but I didn't expect 17-6. Starters with a 3.33 ERA through the first 23, good for 4th in the AL. The pen has been lights out, sporting a team ERA of 1.92. Led by Koji and Carson Smith, who have combined to allow no runs and just 10 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 28 in 21 2/3 innings.

Offense has been just as strong. A slow start by Freddie Freeman, but he has come on over the last 10 days or so, with 16 RBI through April. Dustin Pedroia seems to have found the fountain of youth as well, hitting .306 with a team leading 19 RBI and a .843 OPS.

Minor Leagues--

Things are not as rosy in the minors though as all four teams currently sport losing records. This isn't a surprise though as the majority of our talent is in Single A ball and Rookie ball.

A couple of players though, have had nice starts to the year.

Reed Gragnani (Portland) .365 3-9
Jonathan Aro (Portland) 2-0 1.89 ERA 3 GS
Zack Bowers (Greenville) .298 4-11

Pawtucket 7-10 (4th)
Portland 6-11 (5th)
Salem 10-13 (4th)
Greenville 8-10 (2nd)

Papi · 02-20-2016, 09:13 AM

May 2017 Recap--

21-8 (38-14 overall 1st in AL East)

This was a very entertaining and eventful month for the Sox. A lot of good, some not so good.

We'll start with pitching. My top three of Hamels, Rodriguez and Owens have been as advertised, going a combined 22-6 through the first two months. Matt Barnes struggled mightily and was sent to the bullpen, where he has figured it out, making 6 appearances, covering 10 1/3 innings. In that time, he has allowed just 1 run and 5 hits, while posting a nifty 13/3 K/BB ratio.

What did we do to fill Barnes' spot in the rotation you ask? Well, obviously the best choice was to call up 32 year old knuckleballer Steven Wright. All Wright did was throw 17 scoreless innings to start the year, and has gone 3-1 with 3.00 ERA over 5 starts.

May was not kind to the bullpen, specifically Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. Koji had a nightmare month, pitching 8 times, covering 7 1/3 innings, where he was 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA. He gave up 13 hits and 8 walks in those 8 games. Here's hoping for a SSS and not the beginning of the end for one of the most entertaining Red Sox in my lifetime. Taz wasn't much better, posting a 6.17 ERA over 10 games, and leads the team in losses with three. He also gave up 15 hits and 5 walks over 11 1/3 innings of "work."

Offensively, we are a machine. Freddie Freeman seems to have found his legs in May. He went from .275/.330/.495 in April, to .369/.438/.613 during the month of May. He added a 19 game hitting streak for good measure. He also leads the majors with his 45 RBI.

Xander Boegarts also heated up during the month, posting a .322/.386/.643 line to go along with 9 homeruns and 28 RBI out of the three hole in the Sox lineup.

Minor League Report--

Again, things aren't lookin great for us, although all four teams seem to have stabilized a little bit.

Pawtucket 21-25 (3rd)
Portland 22-22 (3rd)
Salem 23-30 (4th)
Greenville 22-24 (4th)

Some of the better performances by our minor leaguers are:

OF Henry Ramos (Pawtucket) .318 10-31
SP Jonathan Aro (Portland) 6-0 1.94
RP Joe Gunkel (Portland) 2.35 ERA 13 SV
OF Trenton Kemp (Greenville) .265 8-30

Unfortunately, none of these folks are really prospects, all basically filler. I am really excited however about watching my short season and rookie teams.

Below is probably the game of the month for us. Sox took an 8-1 lead through 5 innings, only to give it all away and see the Rays come back to take a 9-8 lead on a three run homerun off the bat of Adam Lind off Tazawa. The Sox, however, wouldn't be denied as they tied it in the bottom of the ninth on a solo homerun, his 2nd of the game by Mikie Mahtook, and then won it in the 10th on a blast by Mookie Betts.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Tampa Bay Rays (19-29)	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	3	0	0	9	19	0
Boston Red Sox (33-13)	0	3	1	0	4	0	0	0	1	1	10	13	0

AMPA BAY BATTING LINESCORES		BOSTON BATTING LINESCORES

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	HR	RBI
J. Querecuto 2B	4	2	2	0	2	1	2	.249	2	8
D. Robertson SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	5	.297	4	20
a-A. Lind PH	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	.230	5	18
b-N. Franklin SS	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.254	0	5
E. Longoria 3B	6	1	3	0	0	2	0	.249	6	21
S. Souza LF	5	1	1	1	0	1	2	.232	7	31
K. Kiermaier CF	5	1	2	1	0	0	1	.220	3	17
J. Jaso 1B	5	1	3	1	0	1	0	.211	0	15
L. Maile C	5	0	1	0	0	2	5	.269	2	4
R. Raburn DH	4	2	3	2	1	0	1	.208	3	11
B. Guyer RF	5	0	2	1	0	1	4	.209	1	6
Totals	45	9	19	9	3	9	20

a - A. Lind pinch hit for D. Robertson in the 8th
b - N. Franklin substituted for A. Lind in the 8th

BATTING
Doubles: L. Maile (2, 2nd Inning off C. Hamels, 0 on, 1 out) K. Kiermaier (2, 6th Inning off C. Hamels, 2 on, 0 outs) E. Longoria (10, 1st Inning off C. Hamels, 1 on, 1 out) R. Raburn 2 (3, 5th Inning off C. Hamels, 0 on, 1 out; 6th Inning off C. Hamels, 2 on, 1 out)
Home Runs: A. Lind (5, 8th Inning off J. Tazawa, 2 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: L. Maile 2 , K. Kiermaier 3 , J. Querecuto 2 , B. Guyer 2 , S. Souza , E. Longoria 4 , J. Jaso 3 , R. Raburn 5 , A. Lind 4 , N. Franklin
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: L. Maile , D. Robertson , K. Kiermaier , B. Guyer 2 , S. Souza
GIDP: D. Robertson
Sac Fly: S. Souza
Team LOB: 10

BASERUNNING
CS: E. Longoria (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Robertson-Querecuto-Jaso)

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	AVG	HR	RBI
M. Betts RF	6	1	1	1	0	0	2	.286	7	26
D. Pedroia 2B	3	1	1	0	2	1	0	.305	4	28
X. Bogaerts SS	5	2	4	1	0	1	1	.301	10	32
F. Freeman 1B	5	1	2	1	0	0	3	.330	8	39
B. Swihart C	3	1	1	3	1	0	2	.308	5	25
C. Carter LF	5	1	1	0	0	1	4	.182	5	6
G. Cecchini 3B	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.305	1	8
M. Mahtook DH	3	2	2	4	2	0	0	.207	3	10
J. Bradley Jr. CF	5	0	0	0	0	2	3	.204	1	19
Totals	39	10	13	10	6	5	15

BATTING
Home Runs: M. Betts (7, 10th Inning off K. Yates, 0 on, 0 outs) M. Mahtook 2 (3, 2nd Inning off M. Moore, 2 on, 1 out; 9th Inning off J. Beliveau, 0 on, 2 outs) B. Swihart (5, 5th Inning off E. Frieri, 2 on, 0 outs) X. Bogaerts (10, 3rd Inning off M. Moore, 0 on, 1 out)
Total Bases: M. Betts 4 , M. Mahtook 8 , B. Swihart 4 , X. Bogaerts 7 , G. Cecchini , F. Freeman 2 , C. Carter , D. Pedroia
2-out RBI: M. Mahtook
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: B. Swihart , C. Carter
GIDP: M. Betts
Hit by Pitch: B. Swihart
Team LOB: 9

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Pedroia-Bogaerts-Freeman)

TAMPA BAY PITCHING LINESCORES		BOSTON PITCHING LINESCORES

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	PI	PS	ERA
M. Moore	3.0	3	4	4	2	3	2	61	39	2.89
H. Strickland	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	0	22	11	5.97
E. Frieri	0.0	3	3	3	0	0	1	9	7	3.76
S. Geltz	1.2	2	0	0	2	0	0	23	14	3.32
B. Boxberger	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0	17	13	5.47
J. Beliveau BS (3)	1.2	2	1	1	1	0	1	27	15	4.18
K. Yates L (1-1)	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	1	6	4	4.21

PITCHING
Game Score: M. Moore 36
Batters Faced: M. Moore 15, H. Strickland 5, E. Frieri 3, S. Geltz 9, B. Boxberger 4, J. Beliveau 8, K. Yates 2
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: M. Moore 3-3, H. Strickland 1-1, E. Frieri 0-0, S. Geltz 1-4, B. Boxberger 0-2, J. Beliveau 2-3, K. Yates 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: M. Moore 61-39, H. Strickland 22-11, E. Frieri 9-7, S. Geltz 23-14, B. Boxberger 17-13, J. Beliveau 27-15, K. Yates 6-4
Inherited Runners - Scored: E. Frieri 1-1 , B. Boxberger 3-0
Hit Batsmen: M. Moore

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	PI	PS	ERA
C. Hamels	6.0	11	6	6	1	4	0	92	63	3.79
A. Conley H (1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	1	0	23	15	2.30
J. Tazawa BS (1)	1.2	3	3	3	2	4	1	42	26	5.30
C. Bedrosian	0.2	3	0	0	0	0	0	15	9	1.35
M. Barnes W (5-1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	6.12

PITCHING
Game Score: C. Hamels 29
Batters Faced: C. Hamels 29, A. Conley 5, J. Tazawa 10, C. Bedrosian 4, M. Barnes 1
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: C. Hamels 7-6, A. Conley 0-2, J. Tazawa 1-0, C. Bedrosian 0-1, M. Barnes 1-0
Pitches - Strikes: C. Hamels 92-63, A. Conley 23-15, J. Tazawa 42-26, C. Bedrosian 15-9, M. Barnes 3-1
Inherited Runners - Scored: C. Bedrosian 2-0 , M. Barnes 2-0

GAME NOTES

Player of the Game: Mikie Mahtook
Ballpark: Fenway Park
Weather: Partly Cloudy (60 degrees), wind blowing out to center at 12 mph
Start Time: 7:05 pm EST
Time: 3:25
Attendance: 37039

Papi · 02-20-2016, 07:33 PM

June 2017 Recap--

12-14 (50-28 1st in the AL East)

Not a good month. We couldn't get any traction at all. Minor injury bugs all month long played a part in the inconsistency. That's just an excuse though, we just didn't play well on either side of the ball.

Emil Rogers 1-3 5.67 turned back into a pumpkin, and I need to figure out how to fix Matt Barnes. I thought he had turned the corner at the end of May, nope. 0-1 9.72 in 5 games, including 4 homeruns in 8 1/3 innings.

Koji Uehara seems to have come around, although he only pitched in 6 games, he only allowed 3 hits and 1 run, while striking out 8 and going 5/5 in save opportunities. All in all, I may need to look outside the organization for some pitching help. Jacksonville has made it known that former Sox farmhand, Casey Kelly is available, so we'll see.

On the offensive side of the ball,Blake Swihart has turned into a 25 year old MVP candidate, hitting .404/.467/.745 in June with 8 homeruns and 29 RBI. He currently stands 2nd in the AL with a .347 BA.

Yoan Moncada was the only other player who didn't take a step back in June, hitting, .340/.418/.515 with 3 homeruns. He's also tied for first in the AL with 21 stolen bases.

2017 Draft Class--

I went heavy on the position players this year as 6 of my top 7 prospects are pitchers and we don't have many impact bats on the way up.

#1--3B Raymond Gil
#2--OF Alejandro Toral
#3--1B Blake Paugh
#4--OF Austin Beck (Did not Sign)
#5--2B Kyler Arenado

Minor League Report--

A pretty solid month across the board for my minor league teams. Players are starting to show some signs of improvement, and even maybe making a name for themselves.

Pawtucket 41-31 (3rd)
Portland 35-33 (4th)
Salem 31-47 (4th)
Greenville 40-32 (2nd)
Lowell 4-4 (2nd)
Boston (GCL) 4-1 (1st)
Boston (DSL) 15-9 (1st)

Key Performers through the System:

1B Sam Travis (4 Star--Pawtucket) .285 13-43
OF Henry Ramos (1 Star--Pawtucket) .305 13-42
OF Jordan Betts (1 Star--Portland) .289 12-43
SP Simon Mercedes (.5 Star--Portland) 3-0 0.70 since being demoted on 6/6
OF Tyler Hill (1 Star DSL) .337 4-15
SP Victor Familia (.5 Star DSL) 3-1 0.73

CHOWDERHEAD · 02-20-2016, 08:36 PM

Even though rough June, still off to a very nice start. Go Boston!

Papi · 02-21-2016, 03:52 PM

Chowder: Rough month for sure, but July was back to normal as you'll see shortly!

July 2017 Recap--

18-8 (68-36 Overall 1st AL East)I think this is beginning of the end for Koji Uehara. He can't seem to get out of his own way this year. He has lost his closer's job and has been buried at the end of the pen. July was the worst month of his career, and there were no signs of him breaking out of it anytime soon. He pitched 6 innings (7 games), giving up 12 hits and 9 runs, including 3 homeruns.

Former Rule V draftee, John Cornely has moved into his role and has been stellar thus far. He has gone 1-1 with a 1.54 ERA with 9 saves in 10 chances. He's posted an 11/1 K/BB ratio and allowed just 3 hits over his 11 July innings.

I decided to stand pat on the starting rotation as Esmil Rogers has seemingly steadied the ship. He had 19 straight scoreless innings over three starts, while going 4-0 in his 4 starts.

Cole Hamels has been a rock, pitching at least 7 innings in his last 10 starts, and has been exceptionally consistent this year, starting 6 games each month and pitching between 40-44 innings each month.

Offensively, we have been getting contributions up and down the lineup. 5 players batted over .300 for the month (Bogaerts .364, Pedroia .343, Cecchini .323, Moncada .309, Swihart .309). Chris Davis and Freddie Freeman struggled with the batting averages a bit (Davis .250 and Freeman .241) but hit 6 homeruns and drove in 31 between them.

Trade News--

With the struggles of the bullpen, we looked out there to see what was available. We turned out attention to the Kansas City Royals. KC was 19 games out of first in their division and 14 games out of the Wild Card, so the rumor was that they were selling. We called about the availability of RP Kelvin Herrera and after much back and forth (It took me about an hour to figure out a proposal that they would take that I was happy with), a deal was finally struck.

To Boston--CL Kelvin Herrera 1-3 2.42 ERA 23 Svs
To Kansas City--1B Josh Ockimey, OF Luis Alexander Basabe, IF Luis Alejandro Basabe, SS Eduardo Conde, SP Drew Finley

Finley was the key player in this deal for KC. I gave them the option of 3 of my young starters and they went with Finley. Ockimey was blocked by not only Freddie Freeman, but also Sam Travis, who will hit the majors next year. The Basabe boys would only go as a package, so I agreed to their request. Conde was a throw in, 18 year old lottery ticket.

Herrera will not be moving into the closer's role (yet). Cornely has been lights out and has earned the right to keep the job.

Next post will be a minor league update as of July 31!

Papi · 02-21-2016, 04:21 PM

Mid Season Minor League Update--

Right now, we have the 2nd highest rated minor league system in the game. However, it's a little skewed as we have the 2nd and 5th rated prospects in the game. From there, we only have one other top 100 prospect.

My top 10 Prospects are as follows:

#1) Kolby Allard (1st Round, 6th overall 2015)--Current 9/12/8--Projected 18/14/15--Has moved up a link in the chain each year, 2015 Rookie Ball, 2016 Short Season A, 2017 Greenville. Struggled a little bit this year, going 0-3 with a 5.15 ERA in 8 starts, but all signs point to him being a true #1 when it's all said and done.

#2) SP Jason Groome (1st Round, 7th overall 2016)--Current 7/11/9--Projected 19/13/17--Flamethrowing righty that should give me a killer 1-2 combo in Boston within a couple of years.

#3) SP Steven Kolek (7th Round, 186th overall 2015)--Current 11/12/18--Projected 17/13/11. Has a fastball that reaches 101. If his 3rd pitch doesn't develop, he could be our closer of the future.

#4-10 in no particular order (or as I see them really)

OF--Cameron Blake (12th Round, 367th overall 2016)--Current 9/13/5/11/8--Projected 14/14/8/18/13. This kid has come out of nowhere to make a name for himself. The scouts love him.

SP Austin Smith (2nd Round, 36th overall 2015)--Current 10/10/8--Projected 15/12/13--I couldn't be more pleased with my top two picks in 2015. Smith, like Allred, has struggled a bit in A ball (1-5 5.98 ERA in 9 starts), but I am not overly concerned.

OF--Antonio Garza (International FA Signing 11/27/16)--Current 5/11/7/4/7--Projected 8/13/15/13/11--Scouts love the tools. He grades out at 80 speed and plus plus defender at both corner outfield spots. The only question is whether or not he'll hit for a high enough average.

SP--Kevin Roliard (4th Round, 111th overall 2016)--Current 9/12/5--Projected 17/13/11--Another arm that can bring it 95+. Like Kolek, he may end up in the pen. He has three pitches that project to well above average.

SS Ben Baird (2nd Round, 46th overall 2016)--Current 10/11/8/8/6--Projected 12/14/13/11/9. In the mold of former Sox IF Deven Merrero. Can already field both middle infield positions, but will he hit enough? Struggled so far, hitting .227 in SA this year after hitting .200 in Rookie ball a year ago.

3B Carter Kieboom (3rd Round, 77th overall, 2015)--Current 8/12/7/8/7--Projected 12/14/13/13/11. He could be the first member of the 2015 draft class to reach the big leagues. Hit .302 at both Rookie ball a year ago and SA this year. Should move up to the Sally League next year.

RP James Proctor (11th Round, 335th overall, 2016)--Current 8/9/9--Projected 16/13/16--Surprising find in the mid rounds. 2-1 with 17 Svs and a 2.05 ERA in 26 games last year in Rookie ball. Could potentially become a starter if he can figure out how to throw that change up. Otherwise, he's a fastball/slider pitcher.

Papi · 02-21-2016, 11:07 PM

August 2017 Recap--

17-11 (85-47 Overall 1st AL East)

Everything is pretty much status quo right now. I'm a little concerned about the 4/5 slots in my rotation, but assuming I make the postseason, I shouldn't have to worry about them.

Cole Hamels was a stud this month, going 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA in 6 starts, becoming the majors first 20 game winner.

The bullpen has settled down with the acquisition of Kelvin Herrera. Herrera, Carson Smith and John Cornely combined to go 5-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 30 1/3 innings to go along with 30 strikeouts.

Eduardo Rodriguez became a very rich man during the month as we locked him until he is 32. He signed an 8 year/84 million dollar deal. Our plan was to extend as many of our youngsters as possible, buying out their arbitration years as I have a ton of excess money to spend. The only other player interested in talking long term is Xander Bogaerts. He's looking for upwards of 20 million a year, so we'll see how it goes.

Jackie Bradley Jr and Chris Davis both really struggled this month, to the tune of .167 and .161 respectively. Davis added 28 strikeouts in 56 PA, including one horrific game where he pulled the rare 0-6 with 6 K's feat.

Blake Swihart and Freddie Freeman were the only batters to break .300 last month, each hitting .333. Freeman hit four homeruns and drove in 18 (and still leads the AL in RBI) while Swihart hit three bombs and knocked in 17.

Minor League Report--

Some solid improvements up and down the board. With the exception of Salem, each team has gotten better each month. I am keeping a close eye on the pitching coaches at all levels. With all the young talent I have, I need to make sure I am spending to have them developed properly.

Pawtucket 74-56 (2nd)
Portland 75-53 (2nd)
Salem 59-76 (4th)
Greenville 73-56 (2nd)
Lowell 28-37 (4th)
Boston GCL 35-23 (1st)
Boston DSL 45-27 (2nd)

Notable Performers--

1B Sam Travis (4 Stars/Pawtucket) .276 24-77 (Promoted to Boston)
SP Brian Johnson (1 Star/Pawtucket) 11-6 2.81 166 IP 130/36 K/BB
RP Heath Hembree (.5 Star/Pawtucket) 1-2 0.91 ERA 21/22 Svs

SS Brady Wofford (2 Stars/Portland) .365/.429/.699 14 doubles 10 HR 29 RBI 156 AB
SPPat Light (1 Star/Portland) 11-10 4.36 ERA 157 IP 137/45 K/BB

1B Ryan Karstater (2 Stars/Greenville) .314 9-44
OF Trenton Kemp (1 Star/Greenville) .269 24-76

SP Stephen Kolek (4 Stars/Lowell) 4-4 3.99 56 IP 62/27 K/BB

OF Alejandro Toral (4 Stars/Boston GCL) .314 9-35
C Jack MacPherson (2 Stars/Boston GCL) .337 8-41
OF Nick Oar (1 Star/Boston GCL) .341 12-44

OF Antonio Garza (5 Stars/Boston DSL) .300 9-41 14 Steals
OF Henry Alvarado (2 Stars/Boston DSL) .267 16-42

Papi · 02-23-2016, 12:47 PM

September/October 2017 Review--

16-14 (101-61 Overall AL East Champions)

We stumbled to the finish line for sure. a +.500 record is fine, but I would have rather gone in 20-10 or something like that. In our defense, we did liberally take advantage of the expanded rosters as you'll see. We also suffered our first major injuries of the year as we lost Mookie Betts and Mikie Mahtook for the rest of the season with Hamstring and back injuries respectively. We also lost Junichi Tazawa until the playoffs with a tired shoulder.

Pitching Notes--

We did not have a good month on the mound. Eduardo Rodriguez had the best ERA of the starters at 2.80. The rest were Cole Hamels 3.67, Steven Wright 4.18, Henry Owens 5.09, and Esmil Rogers 5.87.

Relief wasn't much better, with only Cam Bedrosian 0.97, Matt Barnes 2.76, and Koji Uehara 2.35 posting an ERA under 3.

John Cornely 1-2 5.06 lost his closer's job to Kelvin Herrera 3.27 ERA 7/7 Svs.

Brian Johnson got the call up when rosters expanded and handled himself nicely 5 G 3 GS 0-2 4.71 ERA--21 IP 16/3 K/BB. He may be in line to compete for the 5th spot in the rotation next year.

Batting Notes--

As stated last month, one of the things I want to try to do with the excess money we have lying around is lock up my young stars early and hope to skip any Free Agent losses. Last month it was Rodriguez, this month, 22 year old Yoan Moncada has agreed to an 8 year contract worth 69 million dollars. To say Moncada's first full year in the major's was a success would be an understatment. All he did was hit .289/.354/.470 with 20 homeruns and 89 RBI. He added 44 doubles and 32 steals for good measure.

The contract breaks down as follows:

2018--$1.4 Million
2019--$3.6 Million
2020--$7.0 Million
2021--$8.0 Million
2022--$10.0 Million
2023--$13.0 Million
2024--$13.0 Million
2025--$13.0 Million (Team Option)

Offense as a whole was down in September as well. Jackie Bradley Jr. was the only batter to have an average over .300, posting a .338/.452/.442 line with 6 doubles and a solid 16/15 BB/K ratio.

Blake Swihart hit only .255, but still ended up as the AL batting champ with a .320 average. He also drove in 20 runs in 24 games.

Chris Davis was apparently making a late season push to be resigned. He hit almost as many homeruns in September (6), as he hit the first 5 months (8). He also struck out 20 times in 59 AB's.

(I am going to skip the Minor League Update here as once the playoffs are over, I am going to do a full review of each team.)

Papi · 02-23-2016, 07:47 PM

AL/NL Wildcard Games

Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners

It was all over after the first inning. Seattle put a 7 spot up on Matt Shoemaker, who didn't record an out. Kyle Seager had the big blow, a 2 run double. Tijuan Walker held the Indians at bay all afternoon, pitching seven innings of 6 hit, 1 run ball while striking out 11. With the victory, Seattle earns a trip to Boston to take on the Red Sox.

Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals

Another one that was basically over after the first inning. Washington scored all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the first inning, and NL Pitching Triple Crown winner Steven Strasburg made is stand up as he pitched 8 innings, giving up just one run, leading the Nationals to the 4-1 win over the Braves. Kyle Skipworth, he of the .222 regular season BA, hit the key two run homerun in the win for the Nats, who will head to LA to face the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Papi · 02-23-2016, 08:19 PM

2017 ALDS/NLDS

If I told you that I only used 4 pitchers during the entire series, that Cole Hamels gave up only 9 hits and 2 runs in 16 innings, striking out 11 and walking none, and that Freddie Freeman was named ALDS MVP, hitting .467 with two homeruns and 4 RBI, you'd think I won the series, right? Well, you'd be wrong.

We took Game one, 5-0 behind Hamels' 8 shutout innings and a two run homerun by Freeman.

Game Two we lost 2-0 and Game Three was a 1-0 shutout, where we totaled 9 hits between the two games. Danny Hultzen pitched seven shutout innings in game Two and Seattle won the third game in the bottom of the 9th, when Mike Zunino drove home DJ Peterson with a sac fly off Kelvin Herrera. Wasted were the performances of Henry Owens (GC 9 IP 6 hits 2 runs 6 K's) and Eduardo Rodriguez (8 IP 2 hits 0 runs 4 K's).

Game Four was a rematch of Hamels v. King Felix, and while Hamels outpitched Hernandez again, once more, Seattle got to Kelvin Herrera for two runs in the bottom of the 10th on a PH, 2 run homerun off the bat of the ageless Mark Teixeira.

Seattle will move to the ALCS to face the Houston Astros, who beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2. Astros 3B Colin Moran was named ALDS MVP after hitting .545 (12-22) with 3 RBI.

The NLCS will pit the Washington Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Washington dispatched the LA Dodgers in 4 games, with Edwin Encarnacion winning the MVP honors in a losing cause for Los Angels, hitting .533 (8-15) with a homerun and 2 RBI. Blake Treinen was the star for the Nationals, picking up a win and pitching 12 2/3 innings, walking none and striking out nine.

Pittsburgh defeated the Miami Marlins 3 games to one behind MVP Gerrit Cole's 2-0 record in 15 IP. Cole allowed 8 hits and just one walk, striking out 16 in his two victories. Josh Bell led the offensive surge for the Pirates, hitting .462 (6-1) with a pair of homeruns in the series.

That sucked! 101-61, best record in baseball all year. Dominating pitching staff, top ranked offense in the majors, and I went 22 innings without scoring a run over games 2,3, and 4. I can't imagine the difference between Mookie Betts and Brock Holt in RF would have made all the difference, but it couldn't have hurt.

ALCS/World Series are next....Meh....

Papi · 02-23-2016, 09:07 PM

2017 ALCS/NLCS

Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros--

This was a great series. Seattle won all the odd games, Houston won the evens, through game six, leaving the series tied, 3-3 headed to a game seven.

Game Seven would prove to be one for the ages as well. Rookie Ketel Marte homered and tripled, driving in two runs, helping the Mariners to a 4-2 lead through three innings. Houston would come roaring back though, with single runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings to take a 5-4 lead. Jon Singleton and Jed Lowrie each hit homeruns for the Astros during the comeback. The score would remain 5-4 until the top of the 9th inning, when 4 straight Seattle hits off closer Shawn Kelley, including the go ahead single off the bat of Brad Miller would give Seattle a 6-5 lead. Houston would go meekly in the bottom of the inning and the Mariners will head to their first ever World Series to face.........(You'll have to keep reading to find out!)

3B Kyle Seager was named ALCS MVP, hitting .385 (10-26) with 3 homeruns and seven RBI in the series.

Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates--

This series was not close. While all 4 games ended close, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not trail after the 6th inning of game One, as they swept the Nationals and advance to their first World Series since 1979. Superstar OF Andrew McCutchen was named the NLCS MVP, hitting .313 (5-16) with 3 homeruns and six RBI in the sweep.

Game One of the World Series will match Gerrit Cole (16-7 3.12) against Taijuan Walker (14-9 3.47).

Game by Game results are next!

Papi · 02-23-2016, 09:29 PM

2017 World Series

Pittsburgh Pirates at Seattle Mariners--

Game One--Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the 8th inning, Pittsburgh scored twice on a two run HR from C Jin-De Jhang. The score would remain tied until the 13th inning when Jhang would strike again, this time driving home Austin Meadows, who had doubled, with the go ahead, and eventual winning run as the Pirates took a 1-0 series lead with a 4-0 win.
W--J.P. Howell (2-0) L--Dominic Leone (0-1) S-Miguel Gonzalez (1) HR--PIT Jin-De Jhang (2) SEA--Michael Saunders (1)

Game Two--3B Chris Diaz hit a three run homerun off Felix Hernandez in the 2nd inning to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. The lead was extended to 5-2 on solo homeruns by Josh Harrison and Jaff Decker, and Pittsburgh would hold on for a 5-4 win and 2-0 World Series lead. Jameson Taillon was good enough, scattering 10 hits and two runs over six innings of work.
W--Jameson Taillon (1-0) L--Felix Hernandez (0-3) S--John Holdzkom (1) HR--PIT Chris Diaz (1), Josh Harrison (1), Jaff Decker (2) SEA-Brad Miller (3)

Game Three--The Pittsburgh Pirates moved within one game of the World Series championship as they down Seattle 6-2 in Game three. Seattle would get on the board first, scoring twice in the 2nd inning, but Pittsburgh would come right back with a 5 spot in the bottom of the third, capped by a three run blast off the bat of Gregory Polanco. They would tack on a 6th run on the 3rd homerun of the postseason by Jaff Decker, while Anthony DeSlalfini was solid over seven innings of work, winning his 2nd postseason game.
W--Anthony DeSclafini (2-1) L-Brett Anderson (1-2) HR--PIT Gregory Polanco (1) Jaff Decker (3)

Game Four--Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the 7th inning, the Pirates erupted for 3 runs in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th to finish the sweep of the Seattle Mariners and end the 2017 Postseason with a 10-1 record, as they win their first Championship since 1979, defeating Seattle 8-6. The deciding blow was a bases clearing double off the bat of Josh Bell in the 8th inning.
W--Victor Arano (1-0) L--Yoervis Medina (1-1) HR--PIT Sterling Marte (1) SEA Brad Miller (4) DJ Peterson (4)

For his performance, Jaff Decker (.500 7-14 2 HR 4 RBI) was named World Series MVP.

Papi · 02-23-2016, 09:36 PM

2017 Off Season

We start with our arbitration cases. As you can see below, we have quite a few players eligible. I won't be making qualifying offers to either 1B Chris Davis or SP Esmil Rogers, allowing them both to test the FA Market. I likely won't be offering arbitration to 1B/OF Chris Carter or P Tanner Roark, allowing them to both move on.

Christan Vazquez will have an arbitration number given, but close to $4 million for a backup catcher is A LOT, I don't care how good his defense is. I hate to trade him as my pitchers love throwing to him, but we'll have to see.

Also, we have some hiring to do as we did not renew the contracts of any of our coaches at our Short Season A ball team in Lowell, or our pitching coach at our GCL affiliate.

I also encountered an OOTP oddity. One of my target goals for 2018 according to Mr. John Henry, was to sign Koji to an extension. Only one problem with that. Uehara announced his retirement at the conclusion of the year. What made it even weirder was that he didn't see a single drop in his stats in 3 full years. He retired with his attributes at 19/11/20....

Papi · 02-23-2016, 10:22 PM

Just a quick add in post while I scour the market for a 4th starter. You have to feel badly for Henderson Alvarez. Once a young pitcher, so full of promise....

His stat line the last three seasons?

2015 Miami-- 5-11 4.48
2016 Miami-- 4-20 4.70
He then signs a one year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are always good for a reclamation project or two every year, right? Nope.
2017 Tampa Bay-- 7-20 5.64

That's right. He is a combined 11-40 over the last two seasons. He's given up 451 hits in 353 2/3 innings. That's a lot. He's actually allowed more runs (203) than batters he's struck out (174) in that time. He's not very good.

Papi · 02-23-2016, 11:56 PM

2017 Offseason Transactions

First, I am going to run through the Red Sox trades and Free Agent signings, then I will cover the rest of the major MLB transactions and other offseason news and anything else I deem interesting (Since this is my dynasty and all!)

Trade News--I had completely forgotten about Kenta Maeda. Poor guy had been on the DL for 13 months, came back and spent the rest of the year at AAA rehabbing. When the season ended, he was on the ML roster. His numbers had dropped while he was injured and at $8 mil a year for the next 3 years, I didn't have room for him. I shopped him around and got a surprising bite. The New York Mets offered up C Travis D'Arnaud straight up. At first, I was going to police myself and not allow the trade to go through until I checked out the Mets roster. Their other catcher, Kevin Plawecki is 2 years younger, has better stats across the board, and makes about $4 mil a year less. D'Arnaud will DH on the days he's not catching which means I will likely need a 3rd catcher for emergencies. Or maybe Brockstar can handle it, I'll have to ask him.

The reason I will need a 3rd catcher is due to the other off
season trade we made. We had been in discussion with San Antonio since June about bringing SP Casey Kelly back to the organization he started with, and after MUCH deliberation a deal was finally struck.
We sent C Christian Vazquez, RP John Cornely, RP Cam Bedrosian and 3B Rafael Devers to the Baboons (Yes, they are the San Antonio Baboons, you got a problem with that???) for the 28 year old righthander.

Free Agent Signings--I wasn't planning on making too many moves, but after the Kelly deal, I needed to work to shore up the bullpen. I was in Beast Mode this year. I set my sights on 3 targets and got them all.

First, we signed CL Craig Kimbrel to a 2/$20 million dollar deal. I know we have Herrera, Carson Smith, Taz, etc, but at that price, and with what we have in the coffers right now, I couldn't resist. Herrera will have to be satisfied in a set up role for now.

The other two deals were 4 years/$10 mil for 23 year old Japanese import Yong-oon Kim, and a 1/$3.1 million dollar deal for lefty Boone Logan. The scouts LOVE Kim (20/14/13 Potential with a 17 Cutter and 20 Slider). Logan was signed as we were missing a lefty from the pen and I wasn't comfortable going into the year with only Brian Johnson as an available option from AAA.

Lastly, and this isn't really a FA signing, but we've had so much success with Rule V draftees, that I couldn't resist. I snagged RP Bruce Rondon away from the Detroit Tigers. Kid brings HEAT. He also will get the opportunity to pitch in low leverage situations with the number of solid relievers I now have. Hopefully he can develop a little better control.

Papi · 02-24-2016, 12:26 AM

Offseason Trade/FA News

Lots of activity this year, so for the sake of time, I will call out just the significant trades and Free Agent Signings.

Arizona trades--2B Chris Owings .304/.345/.500 14-64
Cincinnati trades--2 Minor Leaguers

San Antonio trades--SP Eric Joskish 10-11 3.94
Tampa Bay trades--#79 Overall Prospect SP Eric Cha 3-7 7.24 at R #99 Overall Prospect Jeremy Martinez .260/.333/.374 3-13 at R

Seattle trades--3B DJ Peterson .254/.307/.416 16-54
New York AL trades--OF Ben Gamel .239/.287/.373 4-27

Los Angeles AL sends--OF Desmond Jennings .219/.291/.320 1-22 and a minor league pitcher
San Diego sends-- OF Matt Kemp .248/.303/.421 17-58

Free Agent Signings--

SP Jesse Chavez (LAA)--14-11 3.46 2/$25.8 Million
RP Addison Reed (LAA) 4-1 1.89 23 Svs 2/$21 Million
OF Chris Carter (NYM) .209 8-23 2/$7.68 Million
C Jonathan Lucroy (TEX) .302 13-59 2/$49.8 Million
C Yadier Molina (WAS) .271 3-17 1/$9 Million
IF Jed Lowrie (NYY) .288 3-23 1/$3.8 Million
OF Carlos Gonzalez (SEA) .288 19-73 2/$26.6 Million
1B Eric Hosmer (OAK) .286 14-67 1/$4.6 Million
SP Yusmeiro Petit (LAA) 9-12 3.96 1/$6.4 Million
CL Tyler Clippard (HOU) 1-7 2.77 27 Svs 2/$11.8 Million
2B Ian Kinsler (SEA) .258 7-61 1/$5.5 Million
SP Tyson Ross (HOU) 9-15 3.01 4/$70 Million (This was my #1 FA target, but once I saw the asking price, I went with plan B, which was making the scariest friggin bullpen anyone has ever seen.....and trade for Casey Kelly.)
OF Melky Cabrera (ARI) .307 11-73 2/$14.7 Million
CL Jason Motte (MIL) 3-6 3.22 3 Svs 3/$11.6 Million
OF Curtis Granderson (SA) .230 11-27 1/$7.4 Million
OF Josh Hamilton (WAS) .211 5-21 1/$5 Million
SP Garrett Richards (PHI) 11-13 5.01 4/$16.5 Million
CL Wade Davis (HOU) 8-7 3.08 32 Svs 3/$13.4 Million

This takes us to the start of the "Preseason". Next post will be the remaining FA signings, a recap of Spring Training and preview of both the Major League and Minor League Sox Rosters!

02-20-2016, 08:36 PM	#8
CHOWDERHEAD Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Omaha - Home of the College World Series! Posts: 2,849	Even though rough June, still off to a very nice start. Go Boston! __________________ Life is Good!

02-21-2016, 04:21 PM	#10
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	Mid Season Minor League Update-- Right now, we have the 2nd highest rated minor league system in the game. However, it's a little skewed as we have the 2nd and 5th rated prospects in the game. From there, we only have one other top 100 prospect. My top 10 Prospects are as follows: #1) Kolby Allard (1st Round, 6th overall 2015)--Current 9/12/8--Projected 18/14/15--Has moved up a link in the chain each year, 2015 Rookie Ball, 2016 Short Season A, 2017 Greenville. Struggled a little bit this year, going 0-3 with a 5.15 ERA in 8 starts, but all signs point to him being a true #1 when it's all said and done. #2) SP Jason Groome (1st Round, 7th overall 2016)--Current 7/11/9--Projected 19/13/17--Flamethrowing righty that should give me a killer 1-2 combo in Boston within a couple of years. #3) SP Steven Kolek (7th Round, 186th overall 2015)--Current 11/12/18--Projected 17/13/11. Has a fastball that reaches 101. If his 3rd pitch doesn't develop, he could be our closer of the future. #4-10 in no particular order (or as I see them really) OF--Cameron Blake (12th Round, 367th overall 2016)--Current 9/13/5/11/8--Projected 14/14/8/18/13. This kid has come out of nowhere to make a name for himself. The scouts love him. SP Austin Smith (2nd Round, 36th overall 2015)--Current 10/10/8--Projected 15/12/13--I couldn't be more pleased with my top two picks in 2015. Smith, like Allred, has struggled a bit in A ball (1-5 5.98 ERA in 9 starts), but I am not overly concerned. OF--Antonio Garza (International FA Signing 11/27/16)--Current 5/11/7/4/7--Projected 8/13/15/13/11--Scouts love the tools. He grades out at 80 speed and plus plus defender at both corner outfield spots. The only question is whether or not he'll hit for a high enough average. SP--Kevin Roliard (4th Round, 111th overall 2016)--Current 9/12/5--Projected 17/13/11--Another arm that can bring it 95+. Like Kolek, he may end up in the pen. He has three pitches that project to well above average. SS Ben Baird (2nd Round, 46th overall 2016)--Current 10/11/8/8/6--Projected 12/14/13/11/9. In the mold of former Sox IF Deven Merrero. Can already field both middle infield positions, but will he hit enough? Struggled so far, hitting .227 in SA this year after hitting .200 in Rookie ball a year ago. 3B Carter Kieboom (3rd Round, 77th overall, 2015)--Current 8/12/7/8/7--Projected 12/14/13/13/11. He could be the first member of the 2015 draft class to reach the big leagues. Hit .302 at both Rookie ball a year ago and SA this year. Should move up to the Sally League next year. RP James Proctor (11th Round, 335th overall, 2016)--Current 8/9/9--Projected 16/13/16--Surprising find in the mid rounds. 2-1 with 17 Svs and a 2.05 ERA in 26 games last year in Rookie ball. Could potentially become a starter if he can figure out how to throw that change up. Otherwise, he's a fastball/slider pitcher. Attached Images

02-21-2016, 11:07 PM	#11
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	August 2017 Recap-- 17-11 (85-47 Overall 1st AL East) Everything is pretty much status quo right now. I'm a little concerned about the 4/5 slots in my rotation, but assuming I make the postseason, I shouldn't have to worry about them. Cole Hamels was a stud this month, going 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA in 6 starts, becoming the majors first 20 game winner. The bullpen has settled down with the acquisition of Kelvin Herrera. Herrera, Carson Smith and John Cornely combined to go 5-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 30 1/3 innings to go along with 30 strikeouts. Eduardo Rodriguez became a very rich man during the month as we locked him until he is 32. He signed an 8 year/84 million dollar deal. Our plan was to extend as many of our youngsters as possible, buying out their arbitration years as I have a ton of excess money to spend. The only other player interested in talking long term is Xander Bogaerts. He's looking for upwards of 20 million a year, so we'll see how it goes. Jackie Bradley Jr and Chris Davis both really struggled this month, to the tune of .167 and .161 respectively. Davis added 28 strikeouts in 56 PA, including one horrific game where he pulled the rare 0-6 with 6 K's feat. Blake Swihart and Freddie Freeman were the only batters to break .300 last month, each hitting .333. Freeman hit four homeruns and drove in 18 (and still leads the AL in RBI) while Swihart hit three bombs and knocked in 17. Minor League Report-- Some solid improvements up and down the board. With the exception of Salem, each team has gotten better each month. I am keeping a close eye on the pitching coaches at all levels. With all the young talent I have, I need to make sure I am spending to have them developed properly. Pawtucket 74-56 (2nd) Portland 75-53 (2nd) Salem 59-76 (4th) Greenville 73-56 (2nd) Lowell 28-37 (4th) Boston GCL 35-23 (1st) Boston DSL 45-27 (2nd) Notable Performers-- 1B Sam Travis (4 Stars/Pawtucket) .276 24-77 (Promoted to Boston) SP Brian Johnson (1 Star/Pawtucket) 11-6 2.81 166 IP 130/36 K/BB RP Heath Hembree (.5 Star/Pawtucket) 1-2 0.91 ERA 21/22 Svs SS Brady Wofford (2 Stars/Portland) .365/.429/.699 14 doubles 10 HR 29 RBI 156 AB SPPat Light (1 Star/Portland) 11-10 4.36 ERA 157 IP 137/45 K/BB 1B Ryan Karstater (2 Stars/Greenville) .314 9-44 OF Trenton Kemp (1 Star/Greenville) .269 24-76 SP Stephen Kolek (4 Stars/Lowell) 4-4 3.99 56 IP 62/27 K/BB OF Alejandro Toral (4 Stars/Boston GCL) .314 9-35 C Jack MacPherson (2 Stars/Boston GCL) .337 8-41 OF Nick Oar (1 Star/Boston GCL) .341 12-44 OF Antonio Garza (5 Stars/Boston DSL) .300 9-41 14 Steals OF Henry Alvarado (2 Stars/Boston DSL) .267 16-42 Attached Images

02-23-2016, 12:47 PM	#12
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	September/October 2017 Review-- 16-14 (101-61 Overall AL East Champions) We stumbled to the finish line for sure. a +.500 record is fine, but I would have rather gone in 20-10 or something like that. In our defense, we did liberally take advantage of the expanded rosters as you'll see. We also suffered our first major injuries of the year as we lost Mookie Betts and Mikie Mahtook for the rest of the season with Hamstring and back injuries respectively. We also lost Junichi Tazawa until the playoffs with a tired shoulder. Pitching Notes-- We did not have a good month on the mound. Eduardo Rodriguez had the best ERA of the starters at 2.80. The rest were Cole Hamels 3.67, Steven Wright 4.18, Henry Owens 5.09, and Esmil Rogers 5.87. Relief wasn't much better, with only Cam Bedrosian 0.97, Matt Barnes 2.76, and Koji Uehara 2.35 posting an ERA under 3. John Cornely 1-2 5.06 lost his closer's job to Kelvin Herrera 3.27 ERA 7/7 Svs. Brian Johnson got the call up when rosters expanded and handled himself nicely 5 G 3 GS 0-2 4.71 ERA--21 IP 16/3 K/BB. He may be in line to compete for the 5th spot in the rotation next year. Batting Notes-- As stated last month, one of the things I want to try to do with the excess money we have lying around is lock up my young stars early and hope to skip any Free Agent losses. Last month it was Rodriguez, this month, 22 year old Yoan Moncada has agreed to an 8 year contract worth 69 million dollars. To say Moncada's first full year in the major's was a success would be an understatment. All he did was hit .289/.354/.470 with 20 homeruns and 89 RBI. He added 44 doubles and 32 steals for good measure. The contract breaks down as follows: 2018--$1.4 Million 2019--$3.6 Million 2020--$7.0 Million 2021--$8.0 Million 2022--$10.0 Million 2023--$13.0 Million 2024--$13.0 Million 2025--$13.0 Million (Team Option) Offense as a whole was down in September as well. Jackie Bradley Jr. was the only batter to have an average over .300, posting a .338/.452/.442 line with 6 doubles and a solid 16/15 BB/K ratio. Blake Swihart hit only .255, but still ended up as the AL batting champ with a .320 average. He also drove in 20 runs in 24 games. Chris Davis was apparently making a late season push to be resigned. He hit almost as many homeruns in September (6), as he hit the first 5 months (8). He also struck out 20 times in 59 AB's. (I am going to skip the Minor League Update here as once the playoffs are over, I am going to do a full review of each team.) Attached Images

02-23-2016, 07:47 PM	#13
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	*AL/NL Wildcard Games* Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners It was all over after the first inning. Seattle put a 7 spot up on Matt Shoemaker, who didn't record an out. Kyle Seager had the big blow, a 2 run double. Tijuan Walker held the Indians at bay all afternoon, pitching seven innings of 6 hit, 1 run ball while striking out 11. With the victory, Seattle earns a trip to Boston to take on the Red Sox. Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals Another one that was basically over after the first inning. Washington scored all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the first inning, and NL Pitching Triple Crown winner Steven Strasburg made is stand up as he pitched 8 innings, giving up just one run, leading the Nationals to the 4-1 win over the Braves. Kyle Skipworth, he of the .222 regular season BA, hit the key two run homerun in the win for the Nats, who will head to LA to face the Dodgers in the NLDS. Attached Images

02-19-2016, 01:36 PM	#1
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	2017 Boston Red Sox Heyyo! This is my first attempt at a dynasty thread in a LOOOOONG time, but Spring is upon us (it's almost 60 degrees in Chicago today) and I got the bug. A little backstory on this dynasty. I loaded up the 2015 season and decided to sim a couple of years, making GM decisions only. This kept me from having to sit through multiple years of the Panda and Hanley show. I got exceptionally lucky after the 2015 season as MLB decided to add two teams, Jacksonville and San Antonio. I left Ramirez, Sandoval and Porcello available in the expansion draft, and all three were taken! Imagine my surprise when I had over 60 million dollars removed from my payroll just like that! I spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons hopefully drafting smartly and developing my own talent. I made a few trades (2 significant) and signed a couple of free agents, but as you will see, the vast majority of my roster are home grown Sox. The first (second) post will be a quick recap of what happened during the 2015-2016 seasons as well as a overview of what the 2017 season is looking like. Enjoy!

02-19-2016, 02:15 PM	#2
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	2015 MLB Recap World Series--Oakland A's defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 AL/NL MVP's--Edwin Encarnacion (TOR) .256 53-136/Jason Heyward (STL) .316 30-94 AL/NL Cy Young's--Sonny Gray (OAK) 18-8 2.97/Michael Wacha 24-4 1.73 AL/NL ROY--Dalton Pompey (TOR) .281 20-84 36 Steals/Joc Pederson (LAD) .272 31-92 Red Sox Recap 69-93 (Last in the AL East) Offensive MVP--Pablo Sandoval .321 8-63 37 2B Pitching MVP--Koji Uehara 3-6 3.56 27 SV 89 K Key Transactions-- 4/10/15--Signed Cuban 2B Juan Jose Fernandez to a 5/$5.5 million dollar deal 5/2/15--Signed Cuban 3B Luis Yander La O Camacho to a minor League Contract 7/31/15--Acquired RP Carson Smith from the NY Mets (Who had gotten him from Seattle earlier in the year) for SS Deven Merrero, OF Nick Longhi and SS Tzu-Wei Lin. 12/5/15--Signed International FA SP Kenta Maeda to a 4/$32 million dollar contract, 2015 Draft Picks-- #1--SP Kolby Allard #2--SP Austin Smith #3--3B Connor Kaiser #4--C Brendt Citta #5--SP Drew Finley 2016 MLB Recap World Series--Washington Nationals defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3 AL/NL MVP's--Mike Trout (LAA) .344 27-82/Andrew McCutchen (PIT) .324 22-104 AL/NL Cy Young's--Corey Kluber (CLE) 15-9 2.82/Gerrit Cole (PIT) 19-4 2.11 AL/NY ROY--Luis Yander La O Camacho (BOS).311 10-82 18 Triples/Corey Seager (LAD) .332 19/109[COLOR=Red'] Red Sox Recap--[/COLOR] 87-75 (Won Wild Card, lost to Tampa Bay in ALDS) Offensive MVP--Xander Boegarts .293 33-125 (Led MLB in RBI) Pitching MVP--Brendan Morrow 15-11 3.84 210 K Key Transactions-- 12/3/15--Acquired SP Cole Hamels from Philadephia in exchange for 2B Wendell Rijo, OF Rusney Castillo, SP Wade Miley and C Jon Denney. 12/19/15--Signed SP Brendan Morrow to a 1/$8 million dollar contract. 3/4/16--Signed 1B Chris Davis to a 2/$16 million dollar contract 4/22/16--Traded 2B Juan Jose Fernandez and IF Sean Coyle to the NY Mets in exchange for 1B/OF Chris Carter. 8/25/16--Placed SP Kenta Maeda on the 60 day DL with a torn UCL ligament (Out 12-13 months) 2016 Draft Picks-- #1--SP Jason Groome #2--SS Ben Baird #3--1B Carter Kieboom #4--SP Kevin Roliard #5--SP Logan Allen 2017 Red Sox Review Key Transactions-- 11/27/16--Acquired 1B Freddie Freeman from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for 3B Luis Yander La O Camacho, OF Manuel Margot, and OF Willis Figueroa. Opening Day Rosters and Season Projections are next! Last edited by Papi; 02-19-2016 at 02:17 PM.

02-19-2016, 03:12 PM	#3
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	I am pretty excited about my Opening Day Roster. Solid pretty much across the board. The addition of Freddie Freeman really lengthens my lineup and hopefully can produce a little power for a lineup that finished 10th in home runs a year ago. It's make or break time for JBJ however. His defense has been as expected, but he hasn't hit over .230 in either year as a regular and ended last year on the DL with a bum shoulder. He's got some rope though as I am lacking in solid OF depth in the minors. My 5th Starter slot was a little concerning, so I went out and signed Esmil Rogers for 1 year at about 1.3 million. As most of my prospects are in A ball or lower, we'll need some solid work out of him this year. The bullpen is solid top to bottom, although you'd think Koji would start showing signs of age eventually. Not yet though (He hasn't had an attribute drop since I started). Adam Conley is a sneaky pickup from the Marlins. He can start or relieve, had a great year in 2016 with the Fish, and I only gave up backup IF Mike Moustakas (I signed him after 2015 for $900,000) for him. Mikie Mahtook was a Rule V draft pick, but should provide some solid defense and a little pop off the bend against lefties. I had some success with John Cornely last year with the Rule V draft (his numbers are rough, but the scouts love him). I'll be back either every couple of weeks or every month, I haven't decided yet, and it likely won't stay however I choose it. I'll type up recaps as I feel like it! Attached Images

02-19-2016, 07:28 PM	#5
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	April 2017 Recap-- Solid start to the year. I knew we were set up pretty well, but I didn't expect 17-6. Starters with a 3.33 ERA through the first 23, good for 4th in the AL. The pen has been lights out, sporting a team ERA of 1.92. Led by Koji and Carson Smith, who have combined to allow no runs and just 10 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 28 in 21 2/3 innings. Offense has been just as strong. A slow start by Freddie Freeman, but he has come on over the last 10 days or so, with 16 RBI through April. Dustin Pedroia seems to have found the fountain of youth as well, hitting .306 with a team leading 19 RBI and a .843 OPS. Minor Leagues-- Things are not as rosy in the minors though as all four teams currently sport losing records. This isn't a surprise though as the majority of our talent is in Single A ball and Rookie ball. A couple of players though, have had nice starts to the year. Reed Gragnani (Portland) .365 3-9 Jonathan Aro (Portland) 2-0 1.89 ERA 3 GS Zack Bowers (Greenville) .298 4-11 Pawtucket 7-10 (4th) Portland 6-11 (5th) Salem 10-13 (4th) Greenville 8-10 (2nd) Attached Images

02-20-2016, 07:33 PM	#7
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	June 2017 Recap-- 12-14 (50-28 1st in the AL East) Not a good month. We couldn't get any traction at all. Minor injury bugs all month long played a part in the inconsistency. That's just an excuse though, we just didn't play well on either side of the ball. Emil Rogers 1-3 5.67 turned back into a pumpkin, and I need to figure out how to fix Matt Barnes. I thought he had turned the corner at the end of May, nope. 0-1 9.72 in 5 games, including 4 homeruns in 8 1/3 innings. Koji Uehara seems to have come around, although he only pitched in 6 games, he only allowed 3 hits and 1 run, while striking out 8 and going 5/5 in save opportunities. All in all, I may need to look outside the organization for some pitching help. Jacksonville has made it known that former Sox farmhand, Casey Kelly is available, so we'll see. On the offensive side of the ball,Blake Swihart has turned into a 25 year old MVP candidate, hitting .404/.467/.745 in June with 8 homeruns and 29 RBI. He currently stands 2nd in the AL with a .347 BA. Yoan Moncada was the only other player who didn't take a step back in June, hitting, .340/.418/.515 with 3 homeruns. He's also tied for first in the AL with 21 stolen bases. 2017 Draft Class-- I went heavy on the position players this year as 6 of my top 7 prospects are pitchers and we don't have many impact bats on the way up. #1--3B Raymond Gil #2--OF Alejandro Toral #3--1B Blake Paugh #4--OF Austin Beck (Did not Sign) #5--2B Kyler Arenado Minor League Report-- A pretty solid month across the board for my minor league teams. Players are starting to show some signs of improvement, and even maybe making a name for themselves. Pawtucket 41-31 (3rd) Portland 35-33 (4th) Salem 31-47 (4th) Greenville 40-32 (2nd) Lowell 4-4 (2nd) Boston (GCL) 4-1 (1st) Boston (DSL) 15-9 (1st) Key Performers through the System: 1B Sam Travis (4 Star--Pawtucket) .285 13-43 OF Henry Ramos (1 Star--Pawtucket) .305 13-42 OF Jordan Betts (1 Star--Portland) .289 12-43 SP Simon Mercedes (.5 Star--Portland) 3-0 0.70 since being demoted on 6/6 OF Tyler Hill (1 Star DSL) .337 4-15 SP Victor Familia (.5 Star DSL) 3-1 0.73 Attached Images

02-21-2016, 03:52 PM	#9
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	Chowder: Rough month for sure, but July was back to normal as you'll see shortly! July 2017 Recap-- 18-8 (68-36 Overall 1st AL East)I think this is beginning of the end for Koji Uehara. He can't seem to get out of his own way this year. He has lost his closer's job and has been buried at the end of the pen. July was the worst month of his career, and there were no signs of him breaking out of it anytime soon. He pitched 6 innings (7 games), giving up 12 hits and 9 runs, including 3 homeruns. Former Rule V draftee, John Cornely has moved into his role and has been stellar thus far. He has gone 1-1 with a 1.54 ERA with 9 saves in 10 chances. He's posted an 11/1 K/BB ratio and allowed just 3 hits over his 11 July innings. I decided to stand pat on the starting rotation as Esmil Rogers has seemingly steadied the ship. He had 19 straight scoreless innings over three starts, while going 4-0 in his 4 starts. Cole Hamels has been a rock, pitching at least 7 innings in his last 10 starts, and has been exceptionally consistent this year, starting 6 games each month and pitching between 40-44 innings each month. Offensively, we have been getting contributions up and down the lineup. 5 players batted over .300 for the month (Bogaerts .364, Pedroia .343, Cecchini .323, Moncada .309, Swihart .309). Chris Davis and Freddie Freeman struggled with the batting averages a bit (Davis .250 and Freeman .241) but hit 6 homeruns and drove in 31 between them. Trade News-- With the struggles of the bullpen, we looked out there to see what was available. We turned out attention to the Kansas City Royals. KC was 19 games out of first in their division and 14 games out of the Wild Card, so the rumor was that they were selling. We called about the availability of RP Kelvin Herrera and after much back and forth *(It took me about an hour to figure out a proposal that they would take that I was happy with),* a deal was finally struck. To Boston--CL Kelvin Herrera 1-3 2.42 ERA 23 Svs To Kansas City--1B Josh Ockimey, OF Luis Alexander Basabe, IF Luis Alejandro Basabe, SS Eduardo Conde, SP Drew Finley Finley was the key player in this deal for KC. I gave them the option of 3 of my young starters and they went with Finley. Ockimey was blocked by not only Freddie Freeman, but also Sam Travis, who will hit the majors next year. The Basabe boys would only go as a package, so I agreed to their request. Conde was a throw in, 18 year old lottery ticket. Herrera will not be moving into the closer's role (yet). Cornely has been lights out and has earned the right to keep the job. Next post will be a minor league update as of July 31! Attached Images

02-23-2016, 08:19 PM	#14
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	*2017 ALDS/NLDS* If I told you that I only used 4 pitchers during the entire series, that Cole Hamels gave up only 9 hits and 2 runs in 16 innings, striking out 11 and walking none, and that Freddie Freeman was named ALDS MVP, hitting .467 with two homeruns and 4 RBI, you'd think I won the series, right? Well, you'd be wrong. We took Game one, 5-0 behind Hamels' 8 shutout innings and a two run homerun by Freeman. Game Two we lost 2-0 and Game Three was a 1-0 shutout, where we totaled 9 hits between the two games. Danny Hultzen pitched seven shutout innings in game Two and Seattle won the third game in the bottom of the 9th, when Mike Zunino drove home DJ Peterson with a sac fly off Kelvin Herrera. Wasted were the performances of Henry Owens (GC 9 IP 6 hits 2 runs 6 K's) and Eduardo Rodriguez (8 IP 2 hits 0 runs 4 K's). Game Four was a rematch of Hamels v. King Felix, and while Hamels outpitched Hernandez again, once more, Seattle got to Kelvin Herrera for two runs in the bottom of the 10th on a PH, 2 run homerun off the bat of the ageless Mark Teixeira. Seattle will move to the ALCS to face the Houston Astros, who beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2. Astros 3B Colin Moran was named ALDS MVP after hitting .545 (12-22) with 3 RBI. The NLCS will pit the Washington Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Washington dispatched the LA Dodgers in 4 games, with Edwin Encarnacion winning the MVP honors in a losing cause for Los Angels, hitting .533 (8-15) with a homerun and 2 RBI. Blake Treinen was the star for the Nationals, picking up a win and pitching 12 2/3 innings, walking none and striking out nine. Pittsburgh defeated the Miami Marlins 3 games to one behind MVP Gerrit Cole's 2-0 record in 15 IP. Cole allowed 8 hits and just one walk, striking out 16 in his two victories. Josh Bell led the offensive surge for the Pirates, hitting .462 (6-1) with a pair of homeruns in the series. That sucked! 101-61, best record in baseball all year. Dominating pitching staff, top ranked offense in the majors, and I went 22 innings without scoring a run over games 2,3, and 4. I can't imagine the difference between Mookie Betts and Brock Holt in RF would have made all the difference, but it couldn't have hurt. ALCS/World Series are next....Meh....

02-23-2016, 09:07 PM	#15
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	2017 ALCS/NLCS Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros-- This was a great series. Seattle won all the odd games, Houston won the evens, through game six, leaving the series tied, 3-3 headed to a game seven. Game Seven would prove to be one for the ages as well. Rookie Ketel Marte homered and tripled, driving in two runs, helping the Mariners to a 4-2 lead through three innings. Houston would come roaring back though, with single runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings to take a 5-4 lead. Jon Singleton and Jed Lowrie each hit homeruns for the Astros during the comeback. The score would remain 5-4 until the top of the 9th inning, when 4 straight Seattle hits off closer Shawn Kelley, including the go ahead single off the bat of Brad Miller would give Seattle a 6-5 lead. Houston would go meekly in the bottom of the inning and the Mariners will head to their first ever World Series to face.........(You'll have to keep reading to find out!) 3B Kyle Seager was named ALCS MVP, hitting .385 (10-26) with 3 homeruns and seven RBI in the series. Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates-- This series was not close. While all 4 games ended close, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not trail after the 6th inning of game One, as they swept the Nationals and advance to their first World Series since 1979. Superstar OF Andrew McCutchen was named the NLCS MVP, hitting .313 (5-16) with 3 homeruns and six RBI in the sweep. Game One of the World Series will match Gerrit Cole (16-7 3.12) against Taijuan Walker (14-9 3.47). Game by Game results are next! Attached Images

02-23-2016, 09:29 PM	#16
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	*2017 World Series* Pittsburgh Pirates at Seattle Mariners-- Game One--Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the 8th inning, Pittsburgh scored twice on a two run HR from C Jin-De Jhang. The score would remain tied until the 13th inning when Jhang would strike again, this time driving home Austin Meadows, who had doubled, with the go ahead, and eventual winning run as the Pirates took a 1-0 series lead with a 4-0 win. W--J.P. Howell (2-0) L--Dominic Leone (0-1) S-Miguel Gonzalez (1) HR--PIT Jin-De Jhang (2) SEA--Michael Saunders (1) Game Two--3B Chris Diaz hit a three run homerun off Felix Hernandez in the 2nd inning to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. The lead was extended to 5-2 on solo homeruns by Josh Harrison and Jaff Decker, and Pittsburgh would hold on for a 5-4 win and 2-0 World Series lead. Jameson Taillon was good enough, scattering 10 hits and two runs over six innings of work. W--Jameson Taillon (1-0) L--Felix Hernandez (0-3) S--John Holdzkom (1) HR--PIT Chris Diaz (1), Josh Harrison (1), Jaff Decker (2) SEA-Brad Miller (3) Game Three--The Pittsburgh Pirates moved within one game of the World Series championship as they down Seattle 6-2 in Game three. Seattle would get on the board first, scoring twice in the 2nd inning, but Pittsburgh would come right back with a 5 spot in the bottom of the third, capped by a three run blast off the bat of Gregory Polanco. They would tack on a 6th run on the 3rd homerun of the postseason by Jaff Decker, while Anthony DeSlalfini was solid over seven innings of work, winning his 2nd postseason game. W--Anthony DeSclafini (2-1) L-Brett Anderson (1-2) HR--PIT Gregory Polanco (1) Jaff Decker (3) Game Four--Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the 7th inning, the Pirates erupted for 3 runs in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th to finish the sweep of the Seattle Mariners and end the 2017 Postseason with a 10-1 record, as they win their first Championship since 1979, defeating Seattle 8-6. The deciding blow was a bases clearing double off the bat of Josh Bell in the 8th inning. W--Victor Arano (1-0) L--Yoervis Medina (1-1) HR--PIT Sterling Marte (1) SEA Brad Miller (4) DJ Peterson (4) For his performance, Jaff Decker (.500 7-14 2 HR 4 RBI) was named World Series MVP. Attached Images

02-23-2016, 09:36 PM	#17
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	2017 Off Season We start with our arbitration cases. As you can see below, we have quite a few players eligible. I won't be making qualifying offers to either 1B Chris Davis or SP Esmil Rogers, allowing them both to test the FA Market. I likely won't be offering arbitration to 1B/OF Chris Carter or P Tanner Roark, allowing them to both move on. Christan Vazquez will have an arbitration number given, but close to $4 million for a backup catcher is A LOT, I don't care how good his defense is. I hate to trade him as my pitchers love throwing to him, but we'll have to see. Also, we have some hiring to do as we did not renew the contracts of any of our coaches at our Short Season A ball team in Lowell, or our pitching coach at our GCL affiliate. I also encountered an OOTP oddity. One of my target goals for 2018 according to Mr. John Henry, was to sign Koji to an extension. Only one problem with that. Uehara announced his retirement at the conclusion of the year. What made it even weirder was that he didn't see a single drop in his stats in 3 full years. He retired with his attributes at 19/11/20.... Attached Images Last edited by Papi; 02-23-2016 at 09:55 PM.

02-23-2016, 10:22 PM	#18
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	Just a quick add in post while I scour the market for a 4th starter. You have to feel badly for Henderson Alvarez. Once a young pitcher, so full of promise.... His stat line the last three seasons? 2015 Miami-- 5-11 4.48 2016 Miami-- 4-20 4.70 He then signs a one year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are always good for a reclamation project or two every year, right? Nope. 2017 Tampa Bay-- 7-20 5.64 That's right. He is a combined 11-40 over the last two seasons. He's given up 451 hits in 353 2/3 innings. That's a lot. He's actually allowed more runs (203) than batters he's struck out (174) in that time. He's not very good. Attached Images

02-23-2016, 11:56 PM	#19
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	2017 Offseason Transactions First, I am going to run through the Red Sox trades and Free Agent signings, then I will cover the rest of the major MLB transactions and other offseason news and anything else I deem interesting (Since this is my dynasty and all!) Trade News--I had completely forgotten about Kenta Maeda. Poor guy had been on the DL for 13 months, came back and spent the rest of the year at AAA rehabbing. When the season ended, he was on the ML roster. His numbers had dropped while he was injured and at $8 mil a year for the next 3 years, I didn't have room for him. I shopped him around and got a surprising bite. The New York Mets offered up C Travis D'Arnaud straight up. At first, I was going to police myself and not allow the trade to go through until I checked out the Mets roster. Their other catcher, Kevin Plawecki is 2 years younger, has better stats across the board, and makes about $4 mil a year less. D'Arnaud will DH on the days he's not catching which means I will likely need a 3rd catcher for emergencies. Or maybe Brockstar can handle it, I'll have to ask him. The reason I will need a 3rd catcher is due to the other off season trade we made. We had been in discussion with San Antonio since June about bringing SP Casey Kelly back to the organization he started with, and after MUCH deliberation a deal was finally struck. We sent C Christian Vazquez, RP John Cornely, RP Cam Bedrosian and 3B Rafael Devers to the Baboons (Yes, they are the San Antonio Baboons, you got a problem with that???) for the 28 year old righthander. Free Agent Signings--I wasn't planning on making too many moves, but after the Kelly deal, I needed to work to shore up the bullpen. I was in Beast Mode this year. I set my sights on 3 targets and got them all. First, we signed CL Craig Kimbrel to a 2/$20 million dollar deal. I know we have Herrera, Carson Smith, Taz, etc, but at that price, and with what we have in the coffers right now, I couldn't resist. Herrera will have to be satisfied in a set up role for now. The other two deals were 4 years/$10 mil for 23 year old Japanese import Yong-oon Kim, and a 1/$3.1 million dollar deal for lefty Boone Logan. The scouts LOVE Kim (20/14/13 Potential with a 17 Cutter and 20 Slider). Logan was signed as we were missing a lefty from the pen and I wasn't comfortable going into the year with only Brian Johnson as an available option from AAA. Lastly, and this isn't really a FA signing, but we've had so much success with Rule V draftees, that I couldn't resist. I snagged RP Bruce Rondon away from the Detroit Tigers. Kid brings HEAT. He also will get the opportunity to pitch in low leverage situations with the number of solid relievers I now have. Hopefully he can develop a little better control. Attached Images Last edited by Papi; 02-23-2016 at 11:57 PM.

02-24-2016, 12:26 AM	#20
Papi All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1,172	Offseason Trade/FA News Lots of activity this year, so for the sake of time, I will call out just the significant trades and Free Agent Signings. Arizona trades--2B Chris Owings .304/.345/.500 14-64 Cincinnati trades--2 Minor Leaguers San Antonio trades--SP Eric Joskish 10-11 3.94 Tampa Bay trades--#79 Overall Prospect SP Eric Cha 3-7 7.24 at R #99 Overall Prospect Jeremy Martinez .260/.333/.374 3-13 at R Seattle trades--3B DJ Peterson .254/.307/.416 16-54 New York AL trades--OF Ben Gamel .239/.287/.373 4-27 Los Angeles AL sends--OF Desmond Jennings .219/.291/.320 1-22 and a minor league pitcher San Diego sends-- OF Matt Kemp .248/.303/.421 17-58 Free Agent Signings-- SP Jesse Chavez (LAA)--14-11 3.46 2/$25.8 Million RP Addison Reed (LAA) 4-1 1.89 23 Svs 2/$21 Million OF Chris Carter (NYM) .209 8-23 2/$7.68 Million C Jonathan Lucroy (TEX) .302 13-59 2/$49.8 Million C Yadier Molina (WAS) .271 3-17 1/$9 Million IF Jed Lowrie (NYY) .288 3-23 1/$3.8 Million OF Carlos Gonzalez (SEA) .288 19-73 2/$26.6 Million 1B Eric Hosmer (OAK) .286 14-67 1/$4.6 Million SP Yusmeiro Petit (LAA) 9-12 3.96 1/$6.4 Million CL Tyler Clippard (HOU) 1-7 2.77 27 Svs 2/$11.8 Million 2B Ian Kinsler (SEA) .258 7-61 1/$5.5 Million SP Tyson Ross (HOU) 9-15 3.01 4/$70 Million (This was my #1 FA target, but once I saw the asking price, I went with plan B, which was making the scariest friggin bullpen anyone has ever seen.....and trade for Casey Kelly.) OF Melky Cabrera (ARI) .307 11-73 2/$14.7 Million CL Jason Motte (MIL) 3-6 3.22 3 Svs 3/$11.6 Million OF Curtis Granderson (SA) .230 11-27 1/$7.4 Million OF Josh Hamilton (WAS) .211 5-21 1/$5 Million SP Garrett Richards (PHI) 11-13 5.01 4/$16.5 Million CL Wade Davis (HOU) 8-7 3.08 32 Svs 3/$13.4 Million This takes us to the start of the "Preseason". Next post will be the remaining FA signings, a recap of Spring Training and preview of both the Major League and Minor League Sox Rosters!