New OOTP6 Dynasty - The Republican League

[gordyhulten]

2012 DIVISION SERIES GAME-BY-GAME: NEBRASKA BISONS

GAME ONE:
NEB SP: RH Graeme Ruggeri (15-9, 3.16 ERA)
OK SP: LH Juan Rios (22-6, 2.83 ERA)

Each team gets a single in the first inning, but both are stranded.
In the second, Oklahoma has men on first and second with one out, but RF Lugo grounds into an inning-ending 6-4-3.
Nebraska 1B Gaby Yunque is nailed at third with one out in the third trying to stretch a double. CF “Thrash” Valdecilla immediately follow with a two-out single to right, so a run is lost and Thrash is left on base. The Bisons have five hits in three innings, and zero runs to show for it. Oklahoma goes down in order in the third.
In the fourth, Nebraska leaves another runner on, this time at third, but Oklahoma gets some action going in the bottom half. 3B Brown walks, but LF Horne hits a slow double-play grounder and just beats the throw. 1B Grimes then singles down the third base line, pushing Horne to second with one out. C Maya punches another single to right, and Horne comes charging home, testing the veteran arm of RF Bubba Porter, and barely scoring. SS DeSilva drives in Grimes from third on a grounder to second, and Lugo ends the inning. Wranglers lead 2-0 after four.
Nebraska goes quietly in the top of the fifth. Oklahoma SP Rios draws a seven-pitch walk to open the bottom of the frame, and 2B Valdez follows with a bloop single to right-center. Rios scampers to third on a deep fly to right by CF Tedesco. Brown hits another perfect DP grounder, this time you Yunque, who throws out Valdez at second but doesn’t get back to first in time to catch Brown. Rios hustles home to go up by three, and Horne grounds out to end the inning.
In the Bison sixth, Thrash leads off with a sharp single to left, and 2B Villar follows with a two-out base hit of his own. SS Yoichibei drills one down the left field line, but Horne has shaded over and makes a nice running grab to leave the runners. Oklahoma goes quietly when Nebraska finally turns a DP.
Rios continues to pitch well in the seventh, retiring the Bisons in order. Rios stays in to bat in the bottom half, draws a walk and is left on.
Rios opens the eighth having thrown 83 pitches. Yunque grounds to third, Thrash swings through a splitter, and Porter also grounds to third. Oklahoma doesn’t score.
The Wranglers bring out CL William Law to start the ninth, so Rios, after scattering eight hits over eight shutout innings, must be out of gas. 3B Neeley goes back up the middle for a leadoff hit. PH Perry strikes out looking. PH Guillen laces one to 3B Brown, but the DP comes up short. PH Laursen flies to right to end the game, and Oklahoma leads one game to zero!! 1B Grimes goes 3 for 3, but SP Juan Rios is the unquestionable star of this game.

In the other Frontier League series, Missouri comes back to beat Ohio on a ninth-inning run-scoring single. River Bandits lead one game to none.

GAME TWO:
NEB SP: LH Richie Perry (5-11, 4.21)
OK SP: RH Joel Sobrino (9-6, 3.29)

Sobrino quickly gives up a one-out solo HR to 1B Yunque in the first.
The teams take turns stranding baserunners until the bottom of the third, when Wranglers RF Faura sneaks one over the wall in left to tie the game at one.
Nebraska loads the bases with nobody out in the fourth, with an assist from an error by Faura, but Sobrino strikes out the 7-8-9 spots to escape the jam.
LF Eliot Horne hits the third longball of the game to deep right field in the fourth, and pushes the Wranglers ahead by one.
After 2B Howland singles to open the Oklahoma fifth, Sobrino is pulled for PH Pablo Conejo, who singles Howland over to third. Faura GIDPs, but Howland scores to make it 3-1. The two-run lead is passed to the shaky Wrangler bullpen.
LH Torres opens the sixth in his 37th career postseason appearance, but first with us, and the Bisons go down in order.
In the seventh, NEB 2B Villar opens with a single, and C Bray hits an easy grounder to third that 3B Brown drops. With the ninth spot coming up, the Bisons have runners at first and third with nobody out. Guillen pinch-hits, and Oklahoma calls on ground ball specialist RH Derek May. Guillen hits a ground, but it has eyes, and Villar scores to close the gap to one. Oklahoma summons LOOGY Beus, who gives up a run-scoring single to LH LF Adams, and the game is tied at three, still with no outs and two men on. Beus walks another LH, 1B Yunque, to load the bases for Thrash. Oklahoma calls on CL Law to get out of this mess. Law promptly walks in the go-ahead run, gives up a 2 RBI single to Porter, and a sac fly. Nebraska posts six runs in another stellar appearance by the Wrangler bullpen. 7-3 Bisons lead.
We had a shot in the eighth, with two on and nobody out, but couldn’t get anyone home, and we went quietly in the ninth. Series tied at one game apiece heading to Nebraska.

Ohio clobbered Missouri 9-2 to even their matchup 1-1.

[gordyhulten]

2012 DIVISION SERIES GAME-BY-GAME: NEBRASKA BISONS

GAME THREE:
OK SP: RH Ralph Griffeth (17-4, 3.30)
NEB SP: RH Jesus Barajas (6-6, 4.47)

CF Tedesco punches a one-out triple down the right-field line, and comes in on a 3B Brown single to left to give our Wranglers a quick 1-0 lead. Nebraska is retired quietly in the first.

Oklahoma strands two in the second, but the Bisons knot the game on a leadoff double by RF Porter and a single by 3B Neeley.

Oklahoma takes the lead again in the third. After consecutive singles by 2B Valdez and CF Tedesco, Barajas uncorks a wild pitch that scores a run.

LF Adams puts the Bisons up 3-2 with a two-run homer to right in the fifth.

In the eighth, Tedesco gets a two-out single, and CL Nardone in brought in. 3B Brown raps a base-hit to right, and Tedesco scampers to third. LF Horne stepped up to hit with two on and two out. He hit a weak dribbler to third, Neeley charged, threw, and barely got him to end the inning. Nardone struck out the side in the ninth to close out the game and give Nebraska a 2-1 series lead.

Missouri edged Ohio 7-6 to go up by one game.

GAME FOUR:
OK SP: LH Juan Rios (1-0, 1.00)
NEB SP: RH Graeme Ruggeri (0-1, 3.52)

C Maya hits a solo round-tripper for Oklahoma in the second. Immediately after, SS DeSilva walks and RF Lugo singles to bring up SP Rios with one out. Rios successfully sacrifices, and 2B Valdez walks to load the bases with two outs for CF Tedesco. He singles down the third-base line to score DeSilva and Lugo and make the score 3-0. 3B Brown lines out to end the inning.

In the fourth, Lugo walked to load the bases, again with two outs. SP Rios worked a full-count walk to help his own cause, and the lead is four. Valdez fans and leaves ‘em packed.

Bisons LF Adams hits a two-out solo bomb in the third to close a gap to 3-1.

In the fourth, LF Horne singles with two outs, and 1B Grimes drives him in all the way from first with a stand-up double into the right field corner, and that chases Ruggeri.

In the fifth, Lugo singles, is bunted over by Rios, moved to third on a grounder by Valdez, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-1. Joe Morgan and Buster Olney would be proud. In the bottom half, 2B Villar leads off with a triple, but Rios strands him with a grounder to third and two Ks.

Rios gets shaky and loads the bases with one out in the sixth, and is pulled for Moffet in a double-switch. Moffet allows two runs to score, but gets out of the inning. 6-3 Wranglers.

In the eighth, Valdez reaches on an error by 3B Neeley, Tedesco walks and Brown singles to load them up for Horne, who whiffs. And Grimes, who also whiffs. PH Conejo enters for MR Torres, and he grounds out the third.

CL Law comes in for the bottom of the eighth, and immediately allows two Bison baserunners before wriggling out of the jam unscathed.

The Bison have the 2-3-4 hitters up in the bottom of the ninth, but go quietly 1-2-3 as the Wranglers even up the series at 2 games apiece! Rios gets his second postseason victory, and Luis Tedesco gets the key hit in the second inning.

Ohio beats Missouri 6-2 to even their series as well.

[gordyhulten]

2012 DIVISION SERIES GAME-BY-GAME: NEBRASKA BISONS

GAME FIVE:
OK SP: RH Joel Sobrino (0-0, 1.80)
NEB SP: LH Richie Perry (1-0, 4.50)

LF Porter gets the scoring started with a leadoff solo HR in the bottom of the second. Sobrino promptly issues two four-pitch walks to 3B Neeley and SS Perry but gets Villar to line into a DP at second, and he gets out without further harm. 1-0 Bisons.

In the third, CF Tedesco draws a leadoff pass and steals second. But LF Horne stares at strike three, 1B Grimes grounds weakly back to the pitcher, and slumping C Maya takes another strike three to strand him.

Nebraska responds with a two-out triple by Neeley and a run-scoring base hit by Perry to go up by two.

In the fifth, 2B Dusty Howland gets the first hit off Perry, and makes it count by planting it in the centerfield seats. 2-1 Nebraska after five and a half.

The Nebraska sixth gets CF Valdecilla to second on a throwing error by Brown. Sobrino walks Neeley and Perry to load the bases with two out. Sobrino induces an easy grounder to third from 2B Villar, and the score remains 2-1. We still have just one hit in six innings – the HR by Howland.

Oklahoma goes in order in the seventh. Sobrino is pulled with one out after walking PH Guillen, and LH Torres in brought in. Torres walks LF Adams, but Valdez makes an amazing diving grab to start the inning-ending twin killing.

Howland leads off the eighth with a nubber to third, but Neeley throws it away, and we’ve got a man on second with nobody out. Nebraska brings in LH Ken Glancy to face rookie SS Valdez, who was inserted into the ninth spot when Sobrino left. Valdez strikes out weakly, and LH CL Nardone comes in with one out. RF Faura pops up for the second out. A wild pitch sends Howland to third, but 3B Brown looks an another strike to end the inning.

Valdecilla leads off the ninth with a hit up the middle, and then swipes second. Porter grounds to third for the first out, not advancing the runner. 3B Neeley is intentionally walked. CL Law comes in and gets the come-backer and another double-play. Still 2-1 Bisons, heading to the ninth.

Tedesco, Horne and Grimes will try to get to Nardone. Tedesco gets the leadoff walk. Nardone pitches out, but Tedesco gets back. LF Horne fouls off several pitches before lining out to 1B Yunque. With Grimes at the plate, Tedesco takes off on the first pitch, and a bad throw gets away from the shortstop, putting Tedesco on third with one out. Grimes is intentionally passed, and CF Crabb pinch runs for him. 1B Conejo hits for C Maya, but grounds into a 3-6-3 double play to end the game. Nebraska leads the series three games to two, and Oklahoma heads home needing two wins to advance.

Royals win 3-1 to go up three to two over the River Bandits.

GAME SIX:
NEB SP: RH Jesus Barajas (1-0, 2.70)
OK SP: RH Ralph Griffeth (0-1, 4.50)

With his first turn at the plate, Oklahoma CF Tedesco drew a walk and went to third on a one-out single by 3B Brown. But LF Horne hits into a 4-6-3 and the frame is ended.

3B Neeley hits a leadoff HR in the second to put Nebraska in the lead. 2B Villar singles, steals second, and scores on a two-bagger by the pitcher. 2-0 Nebraska.

C Bray scores in the fourth on a two-out single by LF Adams to push the lead to three. Games seven isn’t looking too likely. Oklahoma’s Tedesco leads off with another walk, and scores on a one-out double by Horne to cut the deficit to two. Horne moves to third on a wild pitch before he is stranded by Grimes and Maya.

Griffeth slips out of a bases-loaded situation in the fifth by getting C Bray to ground to Grimes. Still 3-1 Bisons. RF Faura pinch-hits for Griffeth in the bottom, but flies out to harmlessly end the inning. LH MR Torres is the new Wranglers hurler.

In the seventh, Nebraska has runners on first and second with one out, but MR Moffet gets consecutive Ks to work out of it. Bisons remain up by 2.

Nebraska scores a run in the top of the ninth to go up by three, and LH CL Nardone comes in to face the top of the ice-cold Wrangler lineup.
Valdez grounds out to the pitcher. One out.
Tedesco grounds out to the firstbaseman. Two outs.
Brown flies out to center. Three outs, and the season is over.

Our lineup was completely helpless against a very mediocre Bisons’ pitching staff, and our pitching wasn’t much better against a very LH-heavy Bison lineup.

Evidently, “my $&#% don’t work in the postseason,” either. :-(

[gordyhulten]

2012 POST-SEASON REPORT

POTENTIAL OKLAHOMA FREE AGENTS
Name (POS): Salary – MLB Years: Comments
Juan Rios (SP): $12.5 million – 12 years: The 38yo Rios won’t sign an extension, but I might try to re-sign him during free agency.
Florentino Faura (RF): $3 million – 7 years: Faura is 38yo, and was a handy backup OF, but I’m sure there will be more just like him in free agency.
Donnie Crabb (CF): $1.17 million – 6 years: Another spare part that is hopefully easily (and cheaply) replaceable.
Ernest Messer (C): $800k – 7 years: mediocre backup catcher could be upgraded for less money this winter.
Steven Grimes (1B): $900,000 – 8 years: Grimes is 32yo but had another solid offensive season. I’ve signed him to a low-risk one-year extension for $6million, hoping that he’s a late bloomer who will continue to hit well.

I fully expect my slew of arbitration-eligible players, including Sobrino, Griffeth, Brown, Horne and Tedesco to get significant raises, so we'll see where my payroll ends up in January.

AWARDS
Frontier League Rookie of the Year:
Wayne Finnegan (NEB)!
He had a record of 10-8 with an ERA of 4.09.
In 30 games started, he pitched 165 innings, fanning 81 and walking 101 batters.
Frontier League Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Alonzo Barragan (MO)!
He had a record of 20-4 with an ERA of 2.14 and 3 shutouts.
In 35 games started, he pitched 261.1 innings, fanning 167 and walking 27 batters.
Frontier League Most Valuable Player:
Marcos Egea (MO)!
He batted .309 in 527 AB, with 47 homers and 125 RBI.
Metropolitan League Most Outstanding Pitcher:
Francis Brown (FLA)!
He had a record of 19-5 with an ERA of 2.80.
In 36 games started, he pitched 234.1 innings, fanning 144 and walking 74 batters.
Metropolitan League Most Valuable Player:
Ellis Taylor (KY)!
He batted .385 in 590 AB, with 9 homers and 100 RBI.
Frontier League Gold Glove Winners:
Pitcher: Wayne Finnegan (NEB)
Catcher: Cruz Solis (MS)
First Base: Robert Hegarty (COL)
Second Base: Angel Varada (LA)
Third Base: Antonio Fernandez (LA)
Shortstop: Ramon Neyra (MS)
Leftfield: Marcos Egea (MO)
Centerfield: Ezra Valdecilla (NEB)
Rightfield: Tom Vosburg (LA)
Metropolitan League Gold Glove Winners:
Pitcher: Kevin Tevis (NC)
Catcher: Genaro Chavarria (MAS)
First Base: Andreas Gonzalez (FLA)
Second Base: Alberto Deles (DC)
Third Base: Clemente Bosquet (ME)
Shortstop: Wilson Delis (DC)
Leftfield: Tom Rozar (NY)
Centerfield: Reggie Corcuera (CT)
Rightfield: Jose Castro (MAS)

MANAGERIAL CHANGES
Tennessee Smokies fired Willie Gain after consecutive fifth-place finishes, and hired a brand new manager in Edwin Gribble.

Colorado Bombers fired Sebastian Sbitany. His replacement is Willie Gain, fired just minutes ago by the Tennesee Smokies. Gain has managed for 26 seasons for Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and Washington, compiling a record of 2147 wins and 2065 losses. He’s won three Manager of the Year awards, in 1989, 2000 and 2008. He won the National Series with Tennessee in 2010.

Illinois Express fired Paul Johnson one season after he brought them a postseason berth, and hired first-time manager Junior Brzezhinski.

Mississippi Wizards fired Jose Sanchez after they tumbled into last place this season. Taking over is newcomer Raul Dunleavy.

Connecticut Snappers skipper Merlin Paxson retired and was replaced by former Illinois skipper Paul Johnson. Paxson is fourth all-time in managerial wins, with 2224, and won two managers of the year in 25 years at the Snappers’ helm, but he never won a Metropolitan League pennant. Johnson has a lifetime record of 2032-2180 with five teams. He’s never won a post-season series.

PLAYOFF RESULTS
The Massachusetts Emeralds, in their 21st trip to the postseason, won their record seventh National Series in five games over the Nebraska Bisons. The Ems now boast an amazing 30-15 record in National Series games, and have won the National Series seven of the eight times that they’ve been there.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
So close, but yet so very far. We’ve got a big hole to fill at starter with Juan Rios leaving, but because we’re so young, I think we’re in a position to improve almost everywhere else. The postseason demonstrated the necessity of good left-handed pitching, so shoring up the bullpen and maybe grabbing a southpaw starter (Rios again?) will be a priority.

Overall, it’s impossible to look at 2012 as anything but a huge step forward for this Oklahoma franchise. We won over 100 games. We drew 3 million fans. We won our first division crown in fifteen years. And we’ll enter 2013 as likely favorites for another division crown. Three years ago, that would have been hard to imagine.

Are there concerns? Yes, and a LH SP is probably the biggest one, along with the lack of development by youngsters Winchester, Procopio and especially Lugo. But I wouldn’t trade this team for any other right now. :-)

I’m going to take a couple of days, get a website set up with a 2012 postseason export and an updated CatoBase on it, and hopefully be ready to start 2013 with the abilty to post links to player histories and in-game reports so that writing and reading this will be more enjoyable.

[gordyhulten]

OK, I'm using CommishJoe's AllInOne for hosting, and I've got everything set up. Please forgive the rudimentary design - right now I'm just using it as a place to park exports and CatoBase - and I hope to improve it soon.

League Homepage
League Export
CatoBase!!!

Everything is uploading right now, but the league export works, so you can check out what everything looked like at after the 2012 postseason.

I'll also post these links at the top of this thread so they won't get too buried.

Thanks again to everyone who's reading along, and I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

[cknox0723]

Well, absolutely frustrating postseason. The lack of offense had to be incredibly aggravating (managing the game, there is pretty much nothing you can do about that), and Brown ending the season with a harmless fly ball is very ironic.

Saw something very interesting in your awards - this year's MVP, Ellis Taylor, hit just 9 HR's. I'm going to check out the website for that. Hope you're able to replace Rios in the offseason; it should be interesting.

Craig

[NYJuggalo45]

guessing taylor was a leadoff hitter type?

my personal opinion, i would look for a replacement for rios rather than resign him. he's gonna want a long term deal and at 38yo, how much more could he have before the talent drops kick in?

[gordyhulten]

Yeah, we've had some interesting awards, especially in the Metropolitian League.

In 2000, MAS RF Danny Gamboa won with just 7 HRs, but he still had 32 OWS and played outstanding defense. Oddly enough, that year the Frontier League MVP only had 19 HRs. Must have been a strange year.

In the Frontier League this year, there was an amazing MVP race between MO LF Marcos Egea (.309, 47 HR, 125 RBI) and IA CF Gary Fulton, who hit .418 (the first .400 hitter in Republican League history) and destroyed the single season record for average.

Man, I love CatoBase. If you take the time to build up some season in it, there's just so much depth to get lost in.

I'm especially fond of the managers register. I made sure to fire/retire managers every offseason to make this look real, and tracking the career of a guy like Sammy Nesbit or Willie Gain is just fascinating, even though it's completely fabricated.

[gordyhulten]

Originally posted by NYJuggalo45
guessing taylor was a leadoff hitter type?

my personal opinion, i would look for a replacement for rios rather than resign him. he's gonna want a long term deal and at 38yo, how much more could he have before the talent drops kick in?

I would love to sign a younger replacement, but stud pitchers are few and far between in the free agent market, and it seems like this year will be quite the same. In my three seasons, there's only really been one stud under 33 or so, and that was Egan Orr and he spurned me to go to Ohio for the same contract.

There are some very appealing starters in the upcoming free agent class, led by reigning FL MOP winner Alonzo Barragan and Sammy Leon. I bet Barragan signs for $20 million.

[gordyhulten]

Originally posted by NYJuggalo45
guessing taylor was a leadoff hitter type?

Nope. It looks to me like he mostly hit cleanup for a last-place Kentucky team. In fact, Taylor might be the worst MVP pick I've ever seen. He only had 25 extra-base hits, an .894 OPS, only 103 XR (not in the top five), and 23.4 OWS. He led the ML in three categories: BA, H and singles.

If you go here and check out the batting leaderboards, nobody else really jumps out as an outstanding MVP candidate. One guy led the league in HRs with 27, a different guy led total bases, another in OBP, and yet another in XR. I think I'd have voted for TN 1B Martin Gholson, but there's no clear cut favorite.

[NYJuggalo45]

what makes the taylor selection even more puzzling is he was on a last place team. if his team was a contender and he was the team leader, you could understand the selection a bit more. but your right, there wasn't a clear cut favorite although a guy who hits 25 pts higher than anyone else might be considered the favorite, hence the selection of taylor

[gordyhulten]

2013 - HIRING COACHES & SCOUTS

OK, here we go into 2013!!!

John Thompson, my hitting coach, and Jim Hartshorn, who managed my AA affiliate, both retired. I replaced them with Ceri Adams (Legendary/Unknown) and Craig Schrom (Legendary/Legendary), respectively, both for four years at $1.25 million per year.

[gordyhulten]

2013 OKLAHOMA WRANGLERS PRE-FREE AGENCY

OK, I’m making a change to how the game engine will evaluate players. I’ll now be adjusting it monthly, as follows:
January 1 – April 31: 50% ratings / 0% for 2013 stats / 30% for 2012 stats / 20% for 2011 stats
May 1 – May 31: 50 / 5 / 30 / 15
June 1 – June 30: 50 / 15 / 25 / 10
July 1 – July 31: 50 / 25 / 25 / 0
August 1 – December 31: 50 / 35 / 15 / 0

I want to keep the amount of waivers movement at about its current level, but I want trading deadline moves and contract extensions (almost all of which are signed on 7/31) to be evaluated with more emphasis placed on the current season’s statistics.

PRE-FREE AGENCY TRANSACTIONS
Saturday 1/26/2013:
Juan Rios retires ...
Florentino Faura retires ...
Roger Prindle retires ...
Hitting Coach John Thompson retires.
Minors Manager Jim Hartshorn retires.
Ralph Griffeth gets a new one-year contract worth $4,664,286 through salary arbitration.
Abe Catoe gets a new one-year contract worth $622,857 through salary arbitration.
Carlton Moffet gets a new one-year contract worth $1,685,714 through salary arbitration.
Joel Sobrino gets a new one-year contract worth $5,542,857 through salary arbitration.
Eliot Horne gets a new one-year contract worth $5,021,429 through salary arbitration.
Domingo Lugo gets a new one-year contract worth $442,857 through salary arbitration.
Luis Tedesco gets a new one-year contract worth $3,350,000 through salary arbitration.
Ernest Messer becomes a free agent.
Donnie Crabb becomes a free agent.
Jim Brown gets a new one-year contract worth $5,271,429 through salary arbitration.
Francis Zimmerman gets a new one-year contract worth $2,121,429 through salary arbitration.
Dusty Howland gets a new one-year contract worth $685,000 through salary arbitration.
Chris Poche gets a new one-year contract worth $250,000 through salary arbitration.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Rios retires, so there goes the option of trying to re-sign him. As expected, most of my arbitration eligible guys got significant raises, mostly due to outstanding performances.

POSITION REPORT: Catchers
Braulio “The Scorpion” Maya (Talent: 7 contact / 6 gap / 4 home run / 10 eye / 6 avoid strikeouts) just keeps increasing his value (21 Win Shares). He’s now 32yo, and his arm is just adequate, but he drew 132 BBs and had a little pop, too. He was terrible (105/227/263) in the postseason. One-time uber-prospect Brian Procopio (Tal 8/7/5/10/7) will turn 26 in November and is still highly regarded by scouts although he has yet to see AAA pitching. He’ll start in AA and hopefully show something.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Maya keeps going strong, but again, I need a backup, preferably RH and with a gun for an arm. The “Great Mystery of Brian Procopio” continues.

POSITION REPORT: First Basemen
Steven “Mr. Outside” Grimes (Tal 7/7/10/6/6) is the proud recipient of a new one-year, $6 million contract after sleepwalking through April and May before rampaging through the rest of the season, finished with an 860 OPS, 26 HR and 129 RBI. The backup is 27yo Pablo Conejo (Tal 6/5/9/10/6), who can also play all three OF spots. Pablo was a tremendous contributor off the bench last year (821 OPS, 11 HR & 20 XBH in 208 ABs), and the 30yo got some nice talent bumps that make him a possibility as a starter if Grimes goes down or leaves via FA. Youngster [b]Steven Sims (Tal 5/5/6/6/7) was our 2012 first round pick, but he’s a work in progress.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Firstbase is a definite strength, with Grimes mashing and the versatile Conejo as our primary bench player. No worries here except deciding whether to again extend Grimes.

POSITION REPORT: Second Basemen
This year I will again platoon two 25 year-olds, LH Alex Valdez (Tal 8/4/3/8/8) and RH Dusty Howland (Tal 4/5/8/6/4), who can also play 1B & 3B. Last season, in his first full season, Valdez hit very well early but faded later, finishing at 291/373/356. Howland showed a little more power, but less discipline, and is a nice platoon partner and backup infielder. Valdez is better defensively, probably good enough to win a Gold Glove someday, but they’re both pretty good.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: I think both players will improve this season, and an 800+ OPS and good defense out of the 2B position is nothing to complain about.

POSITION REPORT: Third Basemen
LH 3B Jim Brown (Tal 7/7/7/9/7) is now 27yo, 4.5* and led our team in OWS last season. He lost a little BA but still hit .346, third in the league, drew 100 BBs, hit 42 XBHs and even hit lefties well. He’s a highly regarded defender who hasn’t yet lived up to his potential with the glove. He will be a free agent after this season, and will require mega-bucks to re-sign.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Brown has lived up to the hype. Howland can backup here. 3B is a position of strength, too.

POSITION REPORT: Shortstops
Another stud youngster rushed to action too soon, Ricardo DeSilva (Tal 8/7/10/7/6) didn’t improve at the plate in his second full season, but he doubled his defensive Win Shares. He got a major boost in power late last year, and is still just 24yo, and as long as he keeps playing amazing defense, he’s our full-time SS. 30yo Manuel Ibarra (Tal 6/6/4/4/6) provided an 817 OPS in 118 ABs last year as the backup, and he’s earned that opportunity again. Down on the farm, 25yo Eddie Marzano (Tal 6/8/2/9/6) did OK at AAA and got a cup of coffee, but he will start at AAA again this year. He might someday be our backup MI or trade bait – he’s a year older than DeSilva, the starter.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: A 24yo SS with a great glove can’t be expected to hit that much, but I’d like some improvement out of DeSilva in his third full season. A 750 OPS with about 12 DWS would make me very happy.

POSITION REPORT: Outfielders
I was thrilled by the play last season of 31yo RH LF Eliot Horne (Tal 8/5/9/7/7), who made his second All-Star team by starting hot and staying hot all year long. He finished at 339/417/527, but, like everyone on the team, slumped badly in the postseason. CF will again be ably manned by 29yo RH Luis Tedesco (Tal 7/4/7/10/6). Tedesco fell off a bit last season, but batted second and provided 17 HR, 115 R, 107 BB, and stole 55 bases while only being caught 3 times! The Great Mystery of Domingo “Bubba” Lugo (Tal 7/7/9/8/4) continues. He is now 26yo and his career line is now:

Year  G   AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
2010 154 517 150 21  2 10  80 69 55 82 25  6 .290 .358 .397 .755
2011 155 553 152 14  3  8  72 90 57 82 32  6 .275 .343 .354 .697
2012 146 385  87 18  1  9  57 52 42 56 17  8 .226 .302 .348 .650

I’m hoping that he’ll have a breakout year, but I’m getting very frustrated. His big lefty bat would help an awful lot if it could ever hit anything. Our backups last year were outstanding, but only Conejo returns, as Crabb and Faura were unhappy with their playing time and filed for Free Agency. We’ll need to acquire a pair of backups and one needs to be a RH RF so we can sit Lugo against tough lefties. Our most highly regarded prospect is in AAA, only 21yo, and can play all three OF positions. Paul “Spike” Korn (Tal 7/8/7/8/7) hit 298/373/491 in AAA last year, and despite repeated talent increases and decreases might be able to push Lugo out the door.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: If Lugo could hit, I’d have no complaints whatsoever. I need some backups, but they should be easy enough to acquire in FA. Korn’s rapid progress through the minors has me very enthusiastic.

POSITION REPORT: Starting Pitchers
Last year’s rent-an-ace, SP Juan Rios retired with outstanding career numbers (201-96, 2.99 ERA, two MOP Awards) and has an outside shot at the Hall-of-Fame. Rios’ departure leaves a giant left-handed hole at the top of the rotation. The starts that remain, however, aren’t chopped liver. 29yo RH Joel Sobrino (Tal 10 stuff / 4 control / 8 movement) needs to stay healthy and cut his walks down in order to really take over as a true ace. Ralph Griffeth (Tal 7/8/5) elevated his game last season beyond what I thought his potential was, ending up 17-4 with a 3.30 ERA. Both he and Sobrino got hefty raises in arbitration, but won’t be eligible for free agency for two more season. The plucky, persistent 27yo Derek May (Tal 8/9/5) didn’t pitch as well as he had in 2011. His walk rate increased, his K rate decreased, and opposing batters hit him harder. Francis Zimmerman (Tal 8/4/1), like May, also took a small step backwards last season, dropping his K rate and increasing the frequency of free passes issued. Unlike May, however, opposing hitters didn’t do as well against him, so his ERA stayed about the same, at just under 4.00. Todd Winchester (Tal 10/7/10) is now 26 and can’t be called a prospect anymore. Despite being anointed by scouts as a future ace, Todd’s big-leauge career consists of 24 GS, a 2-11 record and a 7.25 ERA. Winchester has nothing left to prove in AAA and will be on the big-league roster this season, and hopefully he’ll begin to prove himself. Bill Roberts (Tal 9/5/4) was once the highest rated pitching prospect in the world. He got hurt, and has suffered through repeated talent bumps and jumps. He’s held his own in AAA, and will open up this season down on the farm again. The prospects are a year older, but still not jumping out like I’d hoped. Vernon Salazar (Tal 6/8/6) is 25yo and southpaws Rey Sanchez (Tal 7/8/5) and Don “Long Haul” Hawk (Tal 8/3/6) are 23yo and 21yo respectively.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: If I’m able to locate a true ace in free agency, I may trade either May or Zimmerman for a young prospect. I’m fairly convinced that Winchester needs to be in the big-leauges this season in order to further develop, and I’d like him to be a fifth starter. In order to absorb his occasional bad outings, though, I’ll need to acquire an ace.

POSITION REPORT: Relief Pitchers
The ‘pen was my biggest disappointment last season, but I’m not sure what changes to make, if any. I think the guys we have are very talented, but they were, for the most part, awful last season. 32yo CL William Law (Tal 10/5/9) and 26yo RH Carlton Moffet (Tal 10/8/5) were both very effective last year. Abe Catoe (Tal 10/9/6) is 28 and has awesome talent but got beat up badly last season. My young – 24yo Jewell Beus (Tal 5/10/3) - and old - 32yo German Torres (Tal 6/10/10) – were mostly ineffective. And veteran RH Thomas McDermott (Tal 10/5/2) was downright awful. There are really no prospects worth mentioning.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: I don’t know what to do here. I realize relievers aren’t consistent, but if I blow as many wins this year as I did last year, I think I’ll have to make a deadline move to get another arm.

[gordyhulten]

2013 FREE AGENCY PERIOD REPORT

FINANCIAL/FRONT OFFICE SITUATION
Fan Interest: 85 (6th highest in league)
Team Market: Tiny
Fan Loyalty: Very Good
Cash on Hand: $43,046,475
Total Payroll: $64,467,858 (5th highest in baseball)
Last Year Income: $71,872,660
Available Money: $

I got a nice $6million increase in broadcasting revenue. It seems like every year, I’ve got a ton of funds to spend, but nobody wants to come here. Let’s hope that changes this year.

The free agency pool looks very deep this year, with Missouri’s two best players, reigning MOP Alonzo Barragan (Tal 7/10/9) and current MVP RF Marcos Egea (Tal 8/7/10/10/7) are looking for new contracts. Perhaps most intriguing is 25yo 3B Luis Plascencia (Tal 8/7/10/5/7), who might be the best young FA I’ve seen in the three years I’ve been running Oklahoma. Plascencia has been starting everyday since he was 19yo, and played pretty well at that age, too. In all, there are 15 players that my scout rates at 4* or higher, and only three of those are relievers/closers. This is, by far, the best FA pool I’ve ever seen.

DESIRES
A dominant SP, preferably LH
A backup C
A RH RF
A backup utilty OF

TRADES
None, and only one offered.

SIGNINGS
I re-acquired OF Donnie Crabb (Tal 5/5/6/4/5) for $2.5 million for two years. Backup C Ernest Messer (Tal 5/7/1/3/7) will also return. He’ll cost me $200k more than last year, signing this winter for one year and $1 million.

OTHER NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
SP Alonzo Barragan went to the Massachusetts Emeralds from the Missouri River Bandits for $18million per year for five years. I had been offering $16.5million for five years, but he signed very quickly with the Ems. “I couldn’t pass up the chance to play here, with the tradition and the fans and the atmosphere,” raved Barragan.
RF Marcos Egea signed shortly thereafter with the Minnesota Jokers for $19.1 million per year for seven years, and he will be the highest paid player in baseball. Egea claimed he wanted “respect,” but rumors out of Missouri are that his relationship with Manager Carlos Puente had soured.
1B Hilton Fewell (Tal 9/7/9/10/6) bolted from the Mississippi Wizards to the Washington DC Ambassadors for a six-year deal paying $10.5 million per annum. “I want to help the Ambassadors win their first world championship,” said Fewell, in a statement issued by his agent.
34yo Anthony Carstensen (Tal 8/7/8/10/7) gets $10.4 million for four years to head to the Colorado Bombers. He’s leaving the Illinois Express, and was primarily motivated by financial considerations.
The Nebraska Bisons inked a five year deal paying $11.2 million per year with 2B Roger Cross (Tal 8/5/8/10/6), who is coming from the Florida Cyclones.
SP Samuel Leon (Tal 2/10/10) has left the Minnesota Jokers for a four year, $10.2 million deal from the Louisiana Sounds. Being from California, he wanted to go to a winner in a warm city.
The Colorado continued their active offseason with a pair of signings. First, they added 31yo Alberto Deles (Tal 5/4/2/9/3) for $9.7 million for six years. Deles was lured from the DC Ambassadors. Next, young Luis Plascencia re-signed with Colorado for six more years at a whopping $11.7 million per year. Plascensia explained that he was excited to see the Bombers “make a commitment to winning. With guys like Bubba Porter, Alberto Deles and Anthony Carstensen coming here, we are going to have a great offense. I’m excited to be a Bomber.”

POST FREE-AGENCY THOUGHTS
I wanted Barragan very badly, and I was willing to spend up to $20 million a year on him, but he bolted to Massachusetts too quickly. After being disappointed in free agency (again!), I added some spare parts. I might still explore trading May or Zimmerman before opening day and tossing Winchester into the rotation.

RULE V DRAFT
I selected RF Dennis Eshelman (Tal 6/6/3/5/5) from the Massachusetts Emeralds. The lack of suitable backup OFs in free agency made me take this desperate step. I lost no players during the draft.

[gordyhulten]

2013 SPRING TRAINING
Saturday 1/26/2013:
Bill Roberts has lost some movement on his pitches...
Bill Roberts's control seems to have taken a bump...

Saturday 3/2/2013:
Paul Korn has good batting practice sessions!
Paul Korn displays more power in batting practice!
Vernon Salazar has increased his throwing velocity!
Brian Procopio has good batting practice sessions!
Richard Villa displays more power in batting practice!
Richard Villa showed good strike zone judgement!
Dusty Howland showed good strike zone judgement!
Morgan Pfaff has good batting practice sessions!
John Cabana displays more power in batting practice!
Josias Aguiar showed good strike zone judgement!
Ralph Leday displays more power in batting practice!
Rey Sanchez has good pitching sessions!
Alan Spiegel has good batting practice sessions!
Jewell Beus has increased his throwing velocity!

OVERALL THOUGHTS
There’s much less news this year, perhaps because my team as a whole is older. Great news about Korn, but Roberts gets yanked down again.

[gordyhulten]

2013 LINEUPS AND ROTATION
LINEUP vs. RHP
2B Alex Valdez (LH)
CF Luis Tedesco (RH)
LF Eliot Horne (RH)
1B Steven “Mr. Outside” Grimes (LH)
3B Jim Brown (LH)
RF Domingo “Bubba” Lugo (LH)
C Braulio “The Scorpion” Maya (LH)
SS Ricardo “Bad Company” DeSilva (SH)

LINEUP vs. LHP
RF Donnie Crabb (RH)
CF Tedesco (RH)
LF Horne (RH)
1B Grimes (LH)
3B Brown (LH)
C Maya (LH)
2B Dusty Howland (RH)
SS DeSilva (SH)

ROTATION
Sobrino (RH)
Griffeth (RH)
Zimmerman (RH)
May (RH)
Winchester (RH)

CLOSER: Law

[NYJuggalo45]

any possible trades you can make to acquire that stud LHP? Think that would really bolster the team alot.

I'm interested in how the player evaluation works out for you, please keep me/us updated on if it works better the new way. Might be adopting something similar

[gordyhulten]

APRIL 2013

I’ve uploaded an updated League report here. The Catobase (current through 2012) is here.

April of 2013, for my Oklahoma Wranglers, was a schizophrenic as I’ve ever experienced while running a baseball team.

The Good: We opened 9-2 behind the hot hitting of 1B Steven Grimes and LF Eliot Horne.

The Bad: We promptly fell back to .500 and fifth place with a seven-game losing streak, exacerbated by mult-week injuries to SPs Derek May (Out seven weeks with a ruptured bicep tendon) and Francis Zimmerman (out five weeks with a ruptured elbow ligament). Despite the pitching injuries, though, the losing streak was fueled mostly by ice-cold hitting and poor relief pitching.

The Good: The month ended by winning seven of eight, again powered by excellent hitting, including three games with ten runs or more.

In all, if we can keep hitting this well (.295 BA and 26 HRs) through May until we get our rotation rebuilt, we should be able to hang close enough to postseason contention to keep things interesting.

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 16-10
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 16-10
CURRENT STANDING: Tied for 2nd place with Texas Drillers, one game behind Louisiana Sounds

MAJOR INJURIES:
Tuesday 4/9/2013:
Derek May was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Strained Back Muscle.
He is day-to-day, but full recovery will take one week.
Thursday 4/18/2013:
Derek May was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Ruptured Bicep Tendon.
He is out for about 7 weeks.
Friday 4/19/2013:
Francis Zimmerman was injured while pitching.
Diagnosis: Ruptured Elbow Ligament.
He is out for about 5 weeks.

TEAM NEWS OF NOTE THIS MONTH:
Tuesday 5/1/2013:
Eliot Horne was named Frontier League-Batter of the Month!
He batted .339 in 109 AB, with 8 homers and 26 RBI.

COMMENTS/LINEUP OR ROTATION CHANGES:
After May went down with his injury, I promoted 23yo SP Bill Roberts, who isn’t ready for the majors yet. Then, the next day, Zimmerman went down, and I was really screwed – there was noone else even close to ready who could man the fifth rotation spot for five weeks. I thought about exploring a trade, but couldn’t find anything I wanted. I examined my schedule to see how long I could go with a four-man rotation, and I was ready to give it a try, when I hit “Generate Auto-Staff.”

Every now and then OOTP surprises me with it’s depth. In this case, the AI behind the “Generate Auto-Staff” button decided that MR Carlton Moffet had the potential (or at least the endurance) to be a starting pitcher. I, happily, agreed to try it for a while (in a five-man rotation), and so far it’s worked out very well.

Moffet can only throw around 85 pitches or so, but in his two starts so far, he’s 2-0, with 12 Ks, 0 BBs; 7 hits and only 1 ER allowed in 12.2 IP. Unfortunately, promotion to the rotation makes my unsteady bullpen more vulnerable, but at this point its my only option. God forbid someone else get hurt.

So, after all that, the rotation now goes Sobrino, Griffeth, Moffet, Roberts and Winchester.

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS:
AVG: C Braulio “The Scorpion” Maya - .378 (third in baseball)
HR: 1B Grimes – 10 (leads baseball – LF Horne, with 8, is second in FL and third in baseball)
RBI: LF Horne - 26
SB: CF Tedesco – 11
SP ERA: Moffet – 1.26
RP ERA: Catoe – 1.50
SAVES: Law – 5
Ks: Zimmerman & Griffeth – 29

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:
Monday 4/1/2013:
Domingo Lugo has learned to better avoid strikeouts!
Domingo Lugo increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
Friday 4/5/2013:
Brian Procopio has gained more power!
Thursday 4/11/2013:
Don Hawk has lost some movement on his pitches...
Sunday 4/14/2013:
Vernon Salazar seems to have lost some of his feel for his stuff...
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
Awesome news about Lugo and Procopio. Hawk and Salazar are no longer worth mentioning.

AAA NOTES:
Roberts and Winchester were promoted, as mentioned earlier, but veteran MR Neil Clapp is another beneficiary of the swarm of injuries, as I wanted to carry 11 pitchers due to the lack of innings-eaters now in the rotation. SS Eddie Marzano (320/394/797) is now ready to be called up and will be, once I can find a spot for him. OF Paul Korn (284/392/392) is doing just OK.

AA NOTES:
C Brian Procopio finally earns a promotion to AAA after hitting 298/443/548 in AA. He’s finally starting to hit for average and show some power. SP Rey Sanchez is just holding his own.

A NOTES:
None. The farm system is pretty empty right now.

TRADES:
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS:
Frontier League-Pitcher of the Month:
Dan Paulus (LA)!
He had a record of 3-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.16.
Frontier League-Batter of the Month:
Eliot Horne (OK)!
He batted .339 in 109 AB, with 8 homers and 26 RBI.
Metropolitan League-Pitcher of the Month:
Alonzo Barragan (MAS)! – I think there’s a rule that guys I don’t sign win this award the next month
He had a record of 5-1 in 6 games started, with an ERA of 1.29 and 1 shutouts.
Metropolitan League-Batter of the Month:
William Riding (MAS)!
He batted .367 in 120 AB, with 9 homers and 29 RBI.

OTHER IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS:
None.

STANDINGS:
Linked here.

[gordyhulten]

Originally posted by NYJuggalo45
any possible trades you can make to acquire that stud LHP? Think that would really bolster the team alot.

I'm interested in how the player evaluation works out for you, please keep me/us updated on if it works better the new way. Might be adopting something similar

At this point, the farm system is pretty bare, and they only two guys who I could trade for a stud SP are Korn and Procopio, and I ain't moving them anywhere. If Korn has a good season at AAA, I might ship off Tedesco at the deadline for good LH SP, but we'll see. I'm sure that I need a good LH for the playoffs, but I think my current rotation, if healty, will be OK for the regular season.

The player evaluation modifiers seem to be working, as there were just a few players moving through waivers in April, and actually some trades, which I don't think I usually see. Here's my transactions page.

Thanks for reading along. This league is a ton of fun.

[cknox0723]

How about Wayne Vogel or Raphael Salvatore on the free agent market? They have at least a hairbreadth of talent...but on second thought, yeah, Moffett's probably not a bad idea after all.

Any thought of trading Marzano with his hot start? His lack of power will probably hurt his value, but he seems major-league ready and perhaps an AI team needing a shortstop can give you someone with a functioning pitching arm or, that failing, someone to fill out that "A-Ball Notes" section.

Craig