eMLB makes conversion - Needs owners

[eMLBCommish]

Hi guys,

Electronic Major League Baseball (eMLB - www.emlb-baseball.com) will enter its 14th season shortly, and is currently going through the offseason. Because of the conversion to OOTP 2006 this year or inactivity in general, we have 5 teams who need owners. eMLB is a part-fictional, mostly modern league, where I've added 150 new Major Leaguers every year during the 5 Round Ammy Draft, to keep the league as modern as possible.

eMLB has been run by me since July 19th, 2000. We started as a High Heat League, and converted 3 years ago to OOTP 5. We've enjoyed OOTP ever since.

Here's the teams:

Detroit Tigers: The Tigers won their 3rd straight division title, 5th overall. They are a career 1070-1037 (.508 Win Pct), but have never gotten out of the Division Series (Postseason 11-18 record). The park was altered to play fairly deep, so the team has played small ball and stolen bases. There's some good components on this team in hitting (Albert Pujols, Tim Fields, Rick Asadoorian), and some quality pitching (Kurt Ainsworth, Cristobal Rodriguez), although there was some concern that the team mortgaged off their farm system a bit to stay competitive now (No Top 100 Prospects right now).

St. Louis Cardinals: The Cards have had the most owners in league history, now looking for its 13th owner in 14 seasons. The team isn't terrible, career 1020-1086 (.484 Record), and has 2 Division Titles (2000 & 2004). They finished 5 games out this year, with an 84-78 record. Offense is their biggest weakness right now. Pitching is their strength, having signed Ace Jon Crabtree the previous offseason to a huge deal, and won a career high 17 games at just 26 yrs old. With prospects like Justin Verlander, Zach Duke, and Joel Zumaya in the system, the team seems poised to become a top pitching team in the NL Central, a division historically known for its frequent volatility. The Cards are a little strapped financially, and can't sign any Free Agents this season, so they might have to rely on their current talent, or trading some of their farm system to help their offense now.

Cincinnati Reds: One division title won in 2010, the Reds are a team on the upswing. Career 974-1132 (.462), the Reds made the most of their only showing in the playoffs getting to the NLCS, although getting swept. Having one of the rare "Legends" players in a young Babe Ruth (.263, 24 HR, 71 RBI last year), the team's prior owner had the philosophy of build from within by draft picks, avoiding the rich FA market. It didn't help them much this season, finishing 75-87 and last in the Central, but this is a team with one of the best minor league systems around, a low payroll of $50.5 million right now ($85 million cap), and cash rich. With how volatile winning the Central is, the Reds perhaps are best poised with smart management to excel.

Colorado Rockies: Often stuck with a zany owner, the Rockies came available when one of our original owners just got lazy and didn't care, so he was let go. On paper, the offense is solid, with Joe Mauer, top average hitter Bob Pettit, slugger Teddy Kemp coming off a bad year, and another top average hitter in Harry Bean, the Rockies just need an improved pitching staff that can keep the ball in the park. The only smart move the past owner made was re-signing "The Franchise" Johnny Watson, their Ace pitcher who went 15-8 with a 3.73 ERA. The rest of the pitching staff needs an overhaul. However, there's not a lot of financial flexibility with the team right now, despite a low payroll of $53.2 million. They can only spend about $15 million this offseason, so be thinking parts versus one superstar. You might have some OF help this offseason from the farm, but your pitching help will have to come via trade or Free Agency.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers are a very decorated team, now available due to the original owner's time/personal constraints. A career 1238-868 (.588), they've won 1 Division Title in 2006 (The Giants have the other 12) and 8 Wild Card Titles. The team is very well balanced, with a very solid rotation. The bullpen is very suspect, though. There is about $12 million the team can spend this offseason, which would get them to the salary cap. Most important thing is "Do the Dodgers want to bring back OF Chris Snelling and his .295, 22 HR, 82 RBI and 49 SB?"


eMLB offers:

- $85 million salary cap
- "Game of the Week" format: One game from time to time will be played in an AIM Chat room by two owners.
- Proactive E-Board
- Article Compensation System
- 2 sim nights a week (Sun/Thurs)
- eMLB SportsNet, complete news website
- Knight Waves: An audio show done by Ethan Knight, WHAM's top on air personality, and Boston based sports writer.

What you need to do:

- Have the game (Especially OOTP 2006 - Your team can be run for you by me until Opening Day if you don't have 6.12 or 6.5 to finish the offseason)
- Have an AIM account (Not required but highly preferred)
- Be a serious committed owner (Maturity matters, we're an older core)
- Be patient (There are a couple teams who dominate...fight to change that!)
- Have a baseball mind (We're not looking for those who trade 8 times before their first game begins)
- Not be in 35 other leagues (We don't need to be your only league, but we don't want the Jeff Cobbs of the world who are everywhere...how can you focus!?)
- Be patient with your Commish (I am an entrepreneur who has a 1 yr old business, and a 19 month old daughter... I need to focus on those & my wife and bill paying very much!)
- Believe the longevity of the league is around for a reason (I still enjoy doing this 6+ years later, despite the new distractions in my life. I always find time for it)


If you're interested, please contact me on AIM under the screenname 'Naydok', or you can e-mail me at commissioner@emlb-baseball.com. Please indicate your top 3 choices of teams.

Please Note! We're not looking to take the first-come, first-serve here. We want serious owners, but we feel we have the right to get to know you a bit.

Look forward to talking to you!

[eMLBCommish]

Quick bump

The Tigers are taken. The previous owner had a change of heart and has returned back to his team.

Teams available:

STL, CIN, COL, LA

[Raidergoo]

I may be interested in the Reds. What's the time frame for this? Do you want an owner this week or can this wait 10 days? We're having our second daughter this Monday, if not sooner...

[eMLBCommish]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

I may be interested in the Reds. What's the time frame for this? Do you want an owner this week or can this wait 10 days? We're having our second daughter this Monday, if not sooner...

Congrats on the baby arrival.

Why don't you IM me or e-mail me at commissioner@emlb-baseball.com, and we can discuss further. As I've offered, I can manage the team during the offseason in 6.5 until we get to OOTP 2006, if that helps you cause.

[Raidergoo]

I will be on IM sometime around 9 PM EDT tonight, if not at the hospital. My wife reports her contractions just started up at lunch.

I am beyond baffled by the financials on the web page. Seems to be a page devoted to Cincinnati Bengals and their wages...

[eMLBCommish]

I think I realized what you meant. I had forgotten to update the template of my Financial Info page (Off the main page), because everyone has always gone to Financials via the Clubhouses.

And a failed football league experiment using TPF somehow is crosslinked!

Sorry for that. I'll get that fixed ASAP.

LB

[eMLBCommish]

I've fixed this link now:

http://www.emlb-baseball.com/finance.html

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[eMLBCommish]

One last bump. Last team I have available is the Rockies. Writeup and my contact info is listed at the beginning of this thread.