OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

jasonditz · 04-19-2007, 03:51 PM

In my historical league (Historical players without historical development) my 1969 expansion team drafted, in a later round, a 32 year old leftie SP named Juan Pizarro. Anyhow, he was a perennial 20 loss pitcher with an average ERA for my dreadful first 7 seasons.

In 1977, he announced during Spring Training his intention to retire at the end of the season. At the ripe old age of 40. He was a spot starter and a mop up guy by this point. Anyhow, we flourished that season under our new manager (as I mentioned in a previous thread. So, September rolls around, and he starts agitating for a new contract. 1977 was one of his better years ERA wise up until that point, and he wanted just a hair above scale, so I decided to give him another year. Besides, he was impressively popular with the fans for the losingest pitcher in franchise history.

In 1978 he got off to a great start before having a major back injury that sidelined him for 13 months. But again, we reached the postseason, and again, he wanted a cheap extension. No point in hurting fan interest to save $85,000, right?

In 1979 he was pretty mediocre early in the season, but after converting him to a middle reliever he was solid. So, again, extension.

In his fourth decade in the majors, Juan has had ERAs of 3.14 in 1980 and 2.24 in 1981 as my primary middle reliever. He's as popular as ever, and as 1982 rolls around I'm relieved that he accepted another near-minimum extension.

But what I'm wondering is: This guy is going to be 45 before the 1982 season starts. I know that's not totally without precedent, but he seems to be getting better lately (in results if not in ratings). He's got seven pitches in his arsenal now, and he's also becoming a surprisingly good hitter (arguably better than some of my PHs). But since he already announced his retirement and then changed his mind before the season ended, will he announce again? Or is he just going to continue being my team's surprisingly popular elderly middle reliever into the future...

Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of cutting him loose, but I'd sort of hoped he'd eventually become a pitching coach or something so I could have him on my payroll in that capacity.

04-19-2007, 03:51 PM	#1
jasonditz Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 121	How long can a guy theoretically play? In my historical league (Historical players without historical development) my 1969 expansion team drafted, in a later round, a 32 year old leftie SP named Juan Pizarro. Anyhow, he was a perennial 20 loss pitcher with an average ERA for my dreadful first 7 seasons. In 1977, he announced during Spring Training his intention to retire at the end of the season. At the ripe old age of 40. He was a spot starter and a mop up guy by this point. Anyhow, we flourished that season under our new manager (as I mentioned in a previous thread. So, September rolls around, and he starts agitating for a new contract. 1977 was one of his better years ERA wise up until that point, and he wanted just a hair above scale, so I decided to give him another year. Besides, he was impressively popular with the fans for the losingest pitcher in franchise history. In 1978 he got off to a great start before having a major back injury that sidelined him for 13 months. But again, we reached the postseason, and again, he wanted a cheap extension. No point in hurting fan interest to save $85,000, right? In 1979 he was pretty mediocre early in the season, but after converting him to a middle reliever he was solid. So, again, extension. In his fourth decade in the majors, Juan has had ERAs of 3.14 in 1980 and 2.24 in 1981 as my primary middle reliever. He's as popular as ever, and as 1982 rolls around I'm relieved that he accepted another near-minimum extension. But what I'm wondering is: This guy is going to be 45 before the 1982 season starts. I know that's not totally without precedent, but he seems to be getting better lately (in results if not in ratings). He's got seven pitches in his arsenal now, and he's also becoming a surprisingly good hitter (arguably better than some of my PHs). But since he already announced his retirement and then changed his mind before the season ended, will he announce again? Or is he just going to continue being my team's surprisingly popular elderly middle reliever into the future... Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of cutting him loose, but I'd sort of hoped he'd eventually become a pitching coach or something so I could have him on my payroll in that capacity.