I just had the most exciting end of season run I can remember in my OOTP playing days! I believe we were seven games back at the start of September before we popped off an 18-9 month to force a Game 163 with our division rivals, the Montreal Expos. The winner made the playoffs, the loser had to go home with nothing. Suffice to say, I was happy with the end result!

Aaaand we lost in game five of the NLDS AGAIN!!!!! Walk-off home run from San Diego in the bottom of the tenth....Second year in a row losing in the winner take all game of the NLDS. We have never made it past the NLDS and I'm starting to feel like the Nationals :/

This thread, and the fact that I caught my first ever MLB game live at Marlins park a couple months ago inspired me to start a Marlins save too. :)

First move is to fire the scout and get Brian Bridges in instead, raise the scouting budget to 18M and International FA budget to 5M.

Challenge mode. GM only. House rules: I may only react to trades, not initiate or alter trades other than using the "Shop around" feature.

Let's see how long I can go before I probably get fired. :laugh:

First season finished:

Not very much happened other than the expected 102 loss season. Austin Dean had a hot start to the season and hit .350+ at the all-star break and was elected an all star. At that point I moved him to Detroit for top catching prospect Jake Rogers which seems to be an amazing deal. Jake will get the starting catcher role for the 2020 season.

The league decided to expand with 2 teams in the off season, and the AI drafted Wey-Yin Chen for whatever reason, so managed to get rid of his contract too without even trying.

The spare money is being invested into scouting, player development, draft budget and international fa. Basically just trying to get a good infrastructure for the complete rebuild in place!

There was still some money left so I signed an international free agent short stop in the off season and Freddy Galvis to a 2 year contract. I picked a back up catcher, 2 infielders and an outfielder in the Rule 5 draft, focusing a lot on defense and speed for this season. A cheap way to possibly get a few extra wins?

I also lowered the ticket prices from 15 to 10 for this season, which almost tripled the amount of season tickets sold. Hopefully we can play close to .500 ball to keep attendance up for as long as possible. :)

You definitely lucked out with the Wei-yin Chen situation. Careful with Rogers, Marlins park tends to turn catchers to goo.

Edited too many times because my phone's stupid predictive text

Trade Chen (ret.75%) to Nats for Rhett Wiseman
Castro, Walker and Nick Anderson to Giants for Panik, Solarte, Bergen, Callahan
Trade Mesa to Padres for Avila, Baez
Trade minor league player to Padres for Torrens, Quantrill, Espinoza
Trade Ferrell to Rockies for McMahon, Vince Fernandez and prospect pitchers
Trade Miggy Rojas (ret.20%) and minor league players to Pirates for Newman, Reynolds, Diaz, Tucker

Trade Riddle and Osiris Johnson to NYY for Frazier
Trade Frazier to NYY for Abreu

Rule 5 draft - Christian Arroyo
Sign free agents:
D'Arnaud 1-year 1.2 million
Keuchel 1-year 1.4 million
Giles 3-year 4.0 million
Fujimoto - int.FA 4.4 million

Sign coaches: Hyers - hitting , Maddux - pitching

Win NL championship in 2021


Wiseman - 30 HR 88 RBI (3rd best rookie in 2021)
Fernandez - 27 HR 64 RBI
Reynolds - BA: .284 17 HR 68 RBI (6 weeks on IL and rehab)
McMahon - great in 2020, around .250 in 2021
Newman - BA: .211 in 2020 , .298 in 2021
Fujimoto - BA: .246

Arroyo: just like Newman
Diaz and d'Arnaud - below average
Avila - ERA 3.53
Quantrill - ERA 3.25
Keuchel - 3.83, 11 wins
Bergen - ERA 2.75
Baez - ERA 3.42

Develop: Isan Diaz, Dunand, Steckenrider, Qiujada, Jorge Guzman, Kyle Keller, Sixto Sanchez

Team ERA: 3.09
Team BA: .242
100 - 62 win NL East
Payroll 44,425,150 (incl. 8,250,000 on Chen contract)
Balance 29,629,530
Ticket price: april - june 15.00, July - October 18.20
Game revenue: + 82%

2021
starters:
Keuchel, Avila, Baez, Sixto Sanchez, Lopez
Relievers:
Guzman, Giles, Quijada, Bergen, Keller, Quantrill, Steckenrider, Alcantara
Lineup:
1B McMahon, 2B and SS: Newman, Diaz, Devers, 3B: Dunand/Arroyo, Catchers: Diaz/d'Arnaud/Torrens, OF: Reynolds, Wiseman, Fernandez, Fujimoto, Pinch hitter: Cooper

Hi all!

It’s October 21, 2031, and I want to tell a story. My Marlins are set to face Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Astros (crazy, right?) in game one of the World Series today, and I wanted to talk about what has easily become my favorite OOTP franchise I’ve ever played. Here’s how we got here.

I took over the reigns as Miami’s GM as soon as OOTP 20 came out, mostly because the rosters weren’t updated yet and I was waiting until they were to start a save with my hometown Cubs. So I thought: let’s get the Marlins another ring, how hard can it be?

As it turns out, very.

The first several years were a classic struggle as we fought to get out of the doldrums of the rebuild. We didn’t make the playoffs until 2023, breaking a 20-year postseason-less streak. Then, the playoff heartbreak began. We promptly lost the series to the Dodgers 3-1 in the NLDS. We made the playoffs again in 2025. Lost 3-1 to the Nationals in the NLDS. 2028. Lost 3-0 to the Giants in the NLDS. 2029. My 114-win juggernaut, with a 2.78 TEAM ERA, loses 3-2 to the Cubs in, you guessed it, the NLDS. 2030. A 3-2 loss to the Padres in the freakin’ NLDS.

I was defeated. Frustrated. Unable to see a path forward for the team.

Which brings us to today.

I have a year left on my contract and I can sense my owner is getting impatient. We consistently make the playoffs, but we never do anything in them. I feel like the Nats. So I just say screw it. I’m going to run it back with all my favorite guys from these runs and hope it works out this time. If not, it’s my head.

We perform swimmingly. 106-56. 4th most runs scored in the league. Least runs against. Six batters with 3 or more WAR. We’re ready for the playoffs.

The NLDS is against our old foes, the Washington Nationals. The Nats have one of the greatest players in the game in Juan Soto, who at 32 has FOUR MVP awards, 90 career WAR, and a 165 OPS+. He doesn’t have a ring, though ;). They also have 35-year-old Pablo Lopez, who isn’t a significant bullpen contributor but is significant in that he played in Miami from 2018-2022, and he’s still kicking! The Nationals never win a game in the series, and the lasting image of the matchup comes in the bottom of the ninth in game three, with Juan Soto at the plate with his team down two. My closer strikes him out to end the game, and we win our first playoff series (not counting WC games) since 2003.

Now, it’s NLCS time against the Cardinals. Lo and behold, there are more rich storylines. St. Louis has Noah Smith on their roster, a 2B I drafted in with the seventh pick in 2021 who won 4 Gold Gloves with us and who I had to ship away after he asked for too much money in an extension. Also, Shohei Ohtani, who played one really good season in Miami on a bargain veteran contract. We take a 3-0 series lead and I start making my World Series plans. Little did I know STL had other plans. They storm back, rattling off three straight wins, and suddenly it’s in Miami for Game Seven. I get flashbacks to all the playoff runs that have ended in dismay. It all comes down to this.

I needn’t have worried.

We put up eight runs in the first five innings and steamroll our way to the World Series. I let out a real life scream of excitement. It’s finally time. The game one starter for Houston? Our former No. 2 overall pick.

So now, as I get ready to play for all the marbles, I wanted to take some time to reflect. To say, “Thank you Miami” and thank you to all the players that have come through and helped me along the way. Now let’s go win a ’ship.


TLDR: I’ve taken the Marlins to the World Series in a process thirteen years in the making, defeating old friends on my way to The Big One.

UPDATE: We've done it!!!! The Marlins are World Series Champions!!!! It wasn't too tough either -- we swept the Astros in four games :) Here's a magical moment from Game Four.

I never said, but a big reason we're in this position is a result of Francisco Lindor, who left Cleveland in 2028 after 14 years with the Indians to sign a three-year deal to finish out his career with us. The first two years were great, he put up 8 WAR, but this year as a 37-year-old, his ratings fell off dramatically and he became basically unplayable. He announced his decision to retire at the end of the season. One problem: He never won a ring with Cleveland. They made the WS three times while he was with them, but didn't win until 2030 (when he was a Marlin). I wanted him to go out with a ring very badly.

So, with a 3-0 series lead and feeling like this could be his last chance, I started Lindor at DH, benching a hitter far better than he was. He went a solid 1-3 with a walk and a bases-loaded RBI single :). Now, he will have some jewelry as he almost surely makes his way to the Hall of Fame soon!