Moneyball in Montreal, A challenging fictional story.

[dgally]

All stories have a beginning but our story begins two years after the Major Baseball League' inaugural 2024 season. In the inaugural season, Montreal was a division winner and World Series loser. A better 2025 squad saw them ride into the postseason once again, and, even with two of the starting SP's on the IL the majority of the season, Montreal lifted the crown. Why am I doing this now? I wanted some history first. And I've the last time I did an AAR, it was for EU4 back in 2013. That's neither here nor there. And before we continue, a break for more background of the technical variety.

The league is a fictional reflection of the 2024 MLB: 30 teams, 5 levels of minors + INT. Oh, we're in Challenge Mode by the way.

Overall + Potentials are on, 1-20, scouting on normal. As with Challenge Mode, most everything is on default and reflective on the MLB. One thing to note (mostly because I forgot is that the DH is only in one league).

No house rules initially on trading. I'm terrible at it to begin with and will need to deal much more than I usually do with this moneyball approach. I will alter this if need be.

Montreal going into the serpentine fantasy had pick 25. (And therefore had the same in the first rookie draft). After the draft, I learned that Montreal would be playing moneyball as each year we've stayed 29th on the budget list. Surprise.

Back to the Montreal Lynx, the orange and black, colloquially known by fans as the tabbies.
Coming into the 2026 season, the starting lineup remains mostly unchanged. We're led by reigning MVP Kyle Crecelius, our 24 year old SS with 15/11/9 rating (our #10 in FA draft.) It'll be a tall ask I think for a repeat. The other big bats are 1B Mike Bryan, our #1 pick in the inaugural FA draft and 2B Tom English, the #11 top positional player in the league,(our #13 in FA draft.)

Our SP looks strong, especially if knuckleballer Pablo Velez, our #2 pick in the initial FA draft can stay healthy. He's started only 33 games in the two seasons and holds our biggest contract at 25m/yr. Your manager has a soft spot for knucklers. Still, our ace is reigning Cy Young winner, 24 year old, Eric Davis (our #7 in FA draft.) Eric is the #3 pitcher in the league and Pablo takes the #17 spot.

Our BP is our weakest point. We lost our top tier closer and setup man to FA and in the two seasons the BP has been a rotating door and a source of a trade or two. It could easily be the same again.

Our farm ranks #12, headed by FA draft prospect Matt Gross at #4 However, the pipeline is calling for 2029 to be a big call up year. That's still a ways off. And we'll have big holes coming up 2 years sooner. See below.

Our contracts. Mike Bryan is in a contract year. Depending on how things shake down we may deal him at the deadline rather than take a supp pick. Last year, we brought in #2 SP Igme Tavares in exchange for our talented RF McCool. Speaking of, our current RF, eagle eye Harley Newman is in a contract year and again, we are unlikely to sign. CF Carlos Bonilla (our #6 in FA draft.) is also on a contract year but with English, Crecelius, and Davis running out of arb control, we want to save money to lock them in. Though our top prospects on the hitting side of things are a 2B and SS. Decisions will have to be made.

Our #5 SP (when Velez is healthy), Figueroa (who missed all of last seasons himself) is on a contract that's starting to skyrocket. With Velez out for 5 weeks, we need him but we'd really like to offload him before deadline day.

It should be an interesting year. BNN predicts us at 85-77 with our Canadian division rivals Ottawa & Mississauga at 87-75 and 86-76 respectively. The right deal or the wrong injury could prove fatal for any team.

There seems to be a glut of speed in the league as BNN predicts Ottawa to steal nearly 350 bags.

Of note, our Lynx have an unusual stadium. See below.

My plan is to do monthly in-game updates every few IRL days. The first month of the season will show up tomorrow. I have a bit of travel coming up so that'll alter plans somewhat but only for 5ish days.

[dgally]

April Showers:

The season kicked off at home against Chicago, our sole non-Canadian division team. The last two years have put them around .500 and BNN puts them near or worse again. Our young ace Eric "Buck" Davis (shoutout to the bloody 100th) went out and took care of business with a 3-1 win and we'd go on to win the series 2-1.

The next series was against Mexico City and we lost that one 1-2.

Over to Ottawa, and, after a no hitter through 7 1/3, Tavares took the opening game only for us to lose the following two and the series, 1-2. One of the month lowlights included a 3 error blown save 9th.

San Luis Potosi was series #4 and we got the broom, getting swept for a 0-3 including a lowlight BS where we lost the game on a balk then wild pitch.

Halfway through April, the tabbies were 4-8 and our bats were feeling cold. Depth is another thing we're a bit shallow on.

However, the Canadian chill wore a little bit on our following series at home against Naucaplan where we took that 3-1.

Then it was down to LA to face the Kangaroos, named such for that one time their owner went to Australia and fell in love with the culture of saying 'mate' to everyone. We took the series 2-1

Then, a roadtrip to Dallas saw out winning way falter, losing the series 1-2.

The last series in April brought us further south to Mexico City, home to where this owner once ate 8 tacos at 4 am at Orinoco. Turned out to be good luck though as we took 3 of 4, bringing us to a even .500 for the month-- 13-13. Good enough for 3rd in the division.

Mike Bryan won batter of the month-- FA-to-be trying to make his demands of 37million a year valid. (He makes 28m/yr now, that was cut off in first post). Mike English and 'Grizz' both belted 5 homers for the month which is sort of the production I expect from them. Grizz had hit 27 in his inaugural season only to follow that up with a paltry 11. We'll need those bombs back around 30 if we want to compete this year.

As expected, our BP is a weak point. Closer Hernandez on his first year at the job did a solid job however. Def eff is somewhat expected as our OF is pretty fair at best.

Let's hope May hold some W's. Our knuckler Velez is back in 2 days though after a long 6ish months on the IL, he might need some rehab time. I also included how the boys stack up ratings/stats wise with their lineup/staff cards.

[dgally]

May Flowers Stink.

The month had us start on a six game road trip. The first stop was San Diego Snappers, nicknamed Whale's Va...nevermind. After knocking 23 runs across in the first two, San Diego avoided the sweep and put a goose egg on us. Still, a roadtrip series win 2-1

Apparently, we used up our offense as our trip to Chicago saw a total of 4 runs in three games and a series loss, 1-2

Of note, Velez, our knuckler came off the DL and started his rehab assignment and...got hurt for another 4 weeks after 2.2 innings. The man's not even 'wrecked'. I consider trading him when he comes back.

Back home, we host Tijuana and split the series 2-2
Tragedy also strikes as we loss our beloved ace (who I realized is not loyal so does not belove us back) for 5 weeks. He'll be replaced by 24 yr Lingenfelder who's having a great year as a setup man.

A quick 2 game set hosting Toronto results in another split 1-1

Back on the road at Managua gives us a series loss and more pitcher injury woes. Lingenfelder falls for 8 months with a torn labrum. 1-2

CF Bonilla and SP Gibson finally get off their cold streaks right around now. Bonilla had been batting under .200 and Gibson sporting an ERA over 5.00. Both seem to have regressed slightly in the last two years despite being prime age of 27.

A four game trip to Mississauga results in, you guessed it, another split 2-2

I waver at who to trade but in that time, we sign 3b Grizz to a 4 yr/38m contact that will secure him through his prime. He still has some room to grow and has good def potential at 1b.

A home stretch puts us up against rival Ottawa where we take 2 of 3, 2-1

Next up is Zapopan who comes in and we trade 3-1 scores in the first two games and then lose in a 13 inning nailbiter where they scored 5 and we scored 4 to almost take it back. 1-2

We end the month in Los Angeles and take 2. 2-1

The second month of the season leaves us at .500. With our top 2 pitchers down for the next month, I'll be happy if we end up even next month. Lots of trade talks but no triggers. It does seem we'll be able to offload Figueroa, potentially having to retain 20ish %.
Would love a bit more clutch hitting but everything looks ok stat wise. BP needs to be addressed sooner than later though especially now with Lingenfelder down who had been an anchor.

[dgally]

Ace, not in the hole. With Davis down for the month and Velez not coming back till mid-month, the team is on shaky ground. Our offense has been inconsistent, putting up crooked numbers one day and leaving bats behind the next.

The whole month, we keep a close eye on trades, needing to dump Figueroa and Newman at the least, maybe Bonilla and Asenjo. Velez and Bryan are far too expensive for anyone to bite.

June starts off in Tijuana, where, after taking the first game, we drop the next two, losing the series, 1-2

We come back to Montreal for a 6 game homestand, first off against San Luis who are already cruising a cool 15 games above .500. In a surprise, we take 2 of 3, blanking them on the final game of the series. 2-1

Monterrey is our back half of the homestand and we continue fine form, winning the series, scoring 16 over 3 games. 2-1

A funky, two game away/home split comes next against Mississauga. The away game is a pitcher's duel won by Asenjo then a hitting bonanza in the second with Bryan going 4-5 with 4 RBI. 2-0

On the turn of the half-month, we hit black ice and start a heavy slide. It starts on a six game roadtrip with the first stop against tough Detroit who sit atop their division. We suffer a sweep despite Velez's return. 0-3

Next stop Carrefour who boast a similar record to Detroit. Another tough team and we only tough out one W. 1-2


At this time I'm deep in my calls. No one wants Fig. I don't blame em, he costs 14 and 23 million and after his injuries, is a #5. Newman is more desired however so I decide to package them. I'll get less but the most important thing is getting money off my books. I do a few AAA traders for 5 million in cash so I can sign my draft picks. 1-20 pot gives a lot of room for error but we pick alright at the back end of the draft, picking up the #190 prospect CF Zach Davis, #88 prospect SP Carlos Gurrola, #155 SP Lee English, and #189 1b Luis Martinez. Not great, not bad. Although we can't get our hands on anyone that close to majors ready.

A homestand comes back around against two more over .500 teams San Diego and Honolulu. Trounced as back-to-back sweeps push us down the WC race. Velez, pitching well with a 3.07 ERA is 0-4. We go 0-6 here.

But we do deal Fig and Newman. We only have to retain 20% of Fig's contract which is as low as I could go. We get a #4 SP in return who we have team control of and has room to grow into a #3 at min along with a OF who won't bring Newman production but should serve us for now.

Last series of the month we go to Guadalupe and, in a summation of our Off this year, win the first 11-8 and lose the next 0-1. Series split 1-1

Buck is back though in that 0-1 loss. We need him. 9-16 for the month keeps us in 3rd in the div but drop us 5 out of WC contention. Better than I hoped. I waffle on signing Bonilla who wants 4 yrs, 19mill. July should be a busy one.

[dgally]

Putting the dead in deadline.

July starts knowing we need to do some deals. Bryan is off the table with his contract and no trade clause. Gibson is someone we'd like to move but we'd prefer to move Velez who costs about 12/m more. Bonilla is also on the list. I'm using foreshadowing here.

July 1st is our final game against Guadalupe. This years ootp seems weighted for batters to do real damage in the 9th. They score 5 in the 9th but we hold off for a 9-8 win. 1-0

Our next series is at home against Managua where we split a 4 game series. Velez picks up his first W. 2-2

Next up is a 6 game road trip. First in Guatemala then Chicago where we take 2 of 3 in each series for a great road trip 4-2

At this time, most trades for Velez are coming in at 80% retainer. That's laughable. Bad contracts or supplemental options seem our only option whether it's a star or top prospect.

On the six game homestand, we give up the game we picked up on the roadtrip against two + .500 teams in Juarez and Phoenix. We win 1 in each series to go 2-4

Buck, Bryan, and English are our All-Stars for the year.

Our last big stretch is on the road. Three against Naucalpan, which I always spell wrong on the manager card. And then Tlalnepantla which I couldn't find on a map. Two below .500 teams we sadly split, losing two to Nauca and winnning two at Tlal. 3-3

The last game of the season and deadline day is against. Guadalajara. We take the win there. 1-0

Another .500 month as we go 12-12. The real stat that jumps out at me though is our one run games. 11-20. Not good.
Jaden McWilliams, whom we traded for via Figueroa and Newman, is a bright spot. 4-1 in 5 starts with a 1.42 ERA and 31 K's.

Deadline day goes down to the last second for us. We can't seem to get rid of anyone. But, finally, we get a bite. We get someone who'll take the whole of Velez's contract. We deal him and Bonilla for our future (hopeful) closer and a 1b who has some utility. We didn't realize but he is on a contract year so, we may let him walk.

Next update will be later in the week due to travels.

Velez pitches only 43 games for us in 2.5 years, going 13-15 with a 3.16 ERA. Bonilla gave us 8.8 WAR over but only .4 this season and had seen several periods of regression. Plus, a FA. Sadly, we weren't able to replace him in CF. The teams laughed at when I thought we offered too much.

Playoff hopes are probably dashed with our diminished offense and pitching now. But. Hope. Enos, our #3 is progressing finally. We have money now to sign Crecelius, English and Buck (we hope. Him winning another Cy Young could make it hard.) But still, with that core, we might have enough to make a run. 2029, 2030.

[dgally]

August is a packed month with 28 games in the 31 days.

Our month starts off at home where we continue our series against Guadalajara. Our pitching dominates as we hold them to one run each game to claim what I believe is our first 3/4 game series sweep of the year. 2-0

The next series at home is an interleague series against Philly. The Stingrays sting us for 2 of the 3. This includes our former knuckler, Velez getting payback on us with a solid game. 1-2

A mammoth sized road trip is next. 10 straight games featuring some interleague play.

The first finds us in San Francisco against the Apple Sox, whatever that means. We take two. 2-1

The second series we face a tough Phoenix team who's near 20 games above .500. Our offense explodes in two of the three games and we win a second series in a row. 2-1

The last road series, a 4-gamer finds us against another playoff team in Honolulu. The road catches up to us and we drop 3 of the 4. 1-3

Finally back eating good Montreal bagels and hearing the romantic French language again gets the boys in the mood...to play baseball.The next three series are against divisional opponents.

The first series is a quick 2 game against Managua. We take both, including a 9th inning walk-out nailbiter. 2-1

Ottawa, last in our division is next. The boys pile on the pain and get a 4 game sweep with the starting pitchers providing 4 straight quality starts. 4-0

We hit the road against, this time against Chicago. The boys start to skid after their 6 game win streak and lose 2 against a sub par ballclub in Chicago. 1-2

Our second road series, we face a streaking Corsairs who streak right through us, sweeping us and making a stellar month, only solid. 0-3

Finally, one game of our series against Calgary at home sets us right in a 4-0 win as our mid-year pickup McWilliams continues to make us look real smart. 1-0

After almost pulling back to .500, we sit at 64-67 for the year, 4 1/2 back on the wildcard. It's possible, especially if we continue our momentum as August marks the first month where we play better than .500 ball. 16-12

All those trade rumors put to bed, the boys can focus on playing. A playoff push will require our SPs to continue to pitch well and the offense to get a bit more clutch, something we've struggled with all year.

McWilliams picks up pitcher of the month. He's won 8 of 11 that he's started and has a 1.22 ERA since joining the Lynx.

[dgally]

September is another grueling month of baseball with only two days off. At the back half of the month we have 6 games against our division leader Mississauga.

But the boys pull a 2011 Cardinals and decide to play when it counts.

The first series of a month is the continuation of the Calgary series at home. We split the two Sept games but win the series. 1-1

Next up, we have four against a tumbling Chicago team. We have to come from behind in the fourth game of the series to force a split. Disappointing. 2-2

A six game road trip is next and our first stop is short 2 game series a middling Toronto ballclub. They smack us 9-1 and we return the favor 7-1 in the next game. But most importantly, that win starts our first of two Sept streaks 1-1

We then head up against another struggling team divisional team in Managua. Our streak heats up as our starting staff dominates, giving up only 6 runs in the four ballgames. 4-0

Time to take the streak home. We face a poor Tegucipalga team and take our streak to seven straight wins before they manage to sneak the last game of the series. 2-1

At the mid point of the month, the WC becomes a reality. Hell, the division does too as Mississauga is playing below .500 ball at the moment. A good time too, as we start our 1st of 2 series against them, this one at home. We win, then lose, then win, to take the series and start our second Sept streak. 2-1

On the road, our in between series is against Monterrey where we sweep them up and skip town. 3-0

Next, Mississauga plays host as we pull within 1 1/2 games of them for the division. It's a huge four game series that'll almost certainly decide the division. The boys smack em around, sweeping them in front of their own fans. The rotation again leads the way with four QS and 5 runs allowed across the four games. 4-0

The last series of the month has us back at home against Guatemala. We take the first two, pushing our win streak to 10 games before losing on the last game of Sept. 2-1

September is a month to remember as we shoot out of a rocket, going 21-7 for the month.

October has one series in it before the season ends. We face Ottawa, last in our division, away. We win the first game to secure our 3rd straight division title. This one well earned. We split the next two, taking the series 2-1

What a turnaround. Our three pitching pickups, SP McWilliams, SP Turrieta (from Waivers who we signed for 3 more yrs), and RP Rodriguez all post sub 3.00 ERA during their time with us.

Playoffs set us against divisional rival, Mississauga. With any luck, we'll continue our dominance. I like our rotation over theres in a Bo3. The final stats below. Buck leads the staff with 6.8 WAR, more than his Cy Young season last year despite missing 4 weeks. English leads the bats, reaching his potential with a 7.7 WAR, including a 9.7 ZR at 2b.

[dgally]

I didn't expect to be here.

Mississauga is a great draw for us, having come off taking 6 of 7 from them. The first game pitted their former closer turned ace (thanks to developing a 3rd pitch) Mr. Fink against our ace Buck Davis. As expected, it's a pitching duel with both going 7. We head to the ninth, down 2. After an error and a walk, Bobby Gutierrez delivers a dramatic walk off, pinch hit 3 run homer to send us up. 1-0

Reeling from the game 1 loss, Mississauga bats meet a Igme Tavares who one ups his ace, going 7.2 with 1 unearned run. Grizz Guzman puts the game out of reach with a 3 run shot in the 8th, ensuring Montreal a spot in the next round. 2-0


For the next round, we make our way south to San Luis Potosi. A whole different world from a Montreal October.

Game 1 goes long. 12 innings are required to decide the game. Gibson pitched well but only lasted 5. Our bullpen let a run slip in the 7th and 8th, eventually forcing extras until Potosi player Munoz doubled to take game 1 in the 12th. 0-1

Game 2 starter McWilliams dominated his 6 innings but again, our BP let us down. Future Closer Bobby Rodriguez is having a tough postseason as he lets 4 come around in the 8th, including a grand slam walk off. We head back to Montreal with a mountain to climb. Ace, Buck Davis, will be on the mound for game 3. 0-2

Buck takes the mound, takes control and never lets go. 8 innings of 2 hit, shut out baseball ensure we play a Game 4 in a 1-0 win. 1-2

Game 4 proves that when we play in the cold, we heat up. Our bats catch fire as we put game 4 quickly out of reach behind Bryan and Crecelius homers, winning 9-3 and tying the series at 2-2

Back in San Luis Potosi for decider. Gibson gets the call with Buck sadly not fully rested. We take a 3-0 lead to the 6th inning but San Luis starts to claw back. They kick Gibson out of the game, adding 2 in the 6th. They add another one in the 7th and another in the 8th to take a lead into the 9th. Gutierrez triples to lead off the 9th. But a strikeout followed by a shallow fly ball that 3rd base coach doesn't send him on proves to be a "What if?" that we'll look back on. Popping out for the final out sends Montreal home and out of the playoffs. 2-3

A big offseason approaches. We need an outfield bat but the rest will be ensuring we have money to sign our big free agents, McWilliams, English, and Davis, next year.

[dgally]

The last two games of the San Luis series.

[dgally]

The two main goals of the offseason are thus.
1. Sign a CF who's not a defensive liability and ideally, can hit a bit.
2. Sign Buck and English to long term deals. They want about 35-40 million.
3. Maybe sell SP Gibson and in turn sign McWilliams.

The Lynx feature in the award season with Bryan and Buck taking the silver slugger in their position of 1b & SP. Surprisingly, no gold gloves in the infield. English features in the MVP race, finishing 3rd after having a breakout offensive season.

In our dev lab, we focus on a couple of young power arms, trying to bump up their weak points. We also look at Gutierrez to boost his hitting as he'll feature as our starting 1b this season. Lastly, we take the tough routes on our starters-- if either are successful, they'll easily move up a rotation spot in worth. Then we try to boost the power at our top prospect in Gross who sits at 6 overall in the league.

Free agents look expensive. Great. We find Arnold in CF. Good defense at 16, swiped 75 bags last year. Will cost us about 6.5 million over 4 years. We put in a bid and turn our attention toward the Internationals, who, despite our low budget, I will pay for. They'll be our stars in the future.

[dgally]

The Budget goes up 2 million, yay. That'll keep us squarely at #29 of 30 in the league.

We sign Arnold at CF, a upgrade in Def and hitting and will slot in ahead of Crecelius as a true leadoff hitter. Hoping he'll be a sparkplug for the offense as we can't hope to replicate Byran's production.

The dev center goes quite well aside from our new starting 1b, Guiterrez, declining instead of improving...didn't know that could happen. Top prospect Gross complete his 'hard' training to generate batspeed, upping his power potential.

We sign internationals. Not either of our top 2 who end up wanting max money but a good looking RF who enables us to sign a IF for cheap who, after high scouting, looks to be a steal.

Still, with prospect lists out, only Gross features in the top 100 as #6. Not ideal. We have 4 SP in the 100-200 range including 2 of our top 4 picks last year.

We have an absolute cracking Spring, going 20-8 and creates some great momentum we can hopefully carry into the season given it took until Sept last year to find ourselves. BNN has us winning a tight division at 86-76 with last year's last place Ottawa hot on our heels. Our OF trio still ranks bottom of the league and still no staff but 'unproven' wants to work with WS champs and three time playoff team, Lynx

We failed to find a good trade for Gibson but will look to do so early in the season. Ideally, we can find a corner RH power bat. Someone in Arb since we may want to look at signing McWilliams if he continues his development/production.

[dgally]

Opening day of the 2027-28 season. We should be playing October baseball again this season with some further developed young BP arms and the returning rotation our strong points. As for prospects, we're still 2-3 years out for anyone to make a difference. 2025 1st rounder SS Hazelwood stands closest, starting this year in AA.

We open the season with two series at home. Our first series against Monterrey, we show up without our bats, scoring only one run the first two games. We find our bats in the 3rd game, striking for 12 runs but having the injury bug strike back. Guiterrez goes down for 3 weeks and Grizz Guzman goes down for 3-4 months with a torn meniscus. Devastating. We don't have a ton of depth either. 1-2

We go onto the picked over free agent market and find Marrero, a 1b who can play 3rd. We sign him to a 1yr/1.5 million contract. That'll do.

The second series has Guadalupe visiting and they don't like the bagels or the air in Montreal as we record our first sweep of the season. 3-0

Hitting the road for the first time of the season, we land in Naucalpan. We set the tone for the series as McWilliams goes 8.1 of perfect baseball before surrendering a hit. Still, we carry the momentum and other SPs take note as we sweep the Big Trains away. 3-0

Next is the windy city where the wind is blowing in. Our pitching continues to dominate and we take 3 of 4, ending out streak of 10 straight. 3-1

Dallas comes into Montreal for the next series. Our pitching comes back to earth but our offense holds strong and we take the series win. 2-1

Guatemala follows Dallas. We drop the first but take the next two. We have yet to drop a series since our very first against Monterrey.

That changes however when we head down to Tijuana who are off to a hot 15-7 start. Their baseball is OBP for days. We feel that to our core as McWilliams walks a record 8 in 5 innings. We walk 4 more that game. Buck pitches game 2 and holds the Ropes to 1. But they come back and score 12 the next day, taking the rubber match. 1-2

We get Gutierrez back and shift Marrero to 3rd. He's been a solid contributor, batting .330 with 4 HR and 13 RBI.

Last road series of the month puts us in sunny San Diego. In the first game, our BP collapses as they give up 6 runs between the 7-8th and we lose 7-6. But we get a pair of QS from our T-brothers, Taveras and Turrieta. We take the series 2-1.

We have one game against San Luis, the team we lost to in the playoffs and team Mike Bryan, our AS 1b signed with. He's off to a heck of a month and the following day takes the batter of the month award. Still, we have Buck on the mound and he shuts down all bats, including Bryan who went 0-4 on his return to Montreal. We win the game, 3-1. 1-0

Can't complain. We carry our Spring Training right into the season, finishing a flashy 18-8. Our closer, Bobby Rodriguez, whom we picked up last year, is off to a dream start. He even picks up pitcher of the month with 10/10 saves and a 0.75 ERA. Love to see it.