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Bub13 · 08-06-2018, 08:41 PM

2044 Spring Training and Season Preview

First things first: catcher Alexis Mercedes signed with the Cardinals, one year for 11.4M. (Remember he wanted at least 18M from me.) Meaning: angry Twits take to their phones to tell me that I don't know what I'm doing. And MLB gifts us a supplemental first round pick for the June draft. We've had two supplemental picks in our draft history: in 2039 we took pitcher Jamie Berisford, and in 2042 OF Dillon Ritter. Berisford, while still in our system, has been a sad case. Three major elbow injuries have made for seasons of 8, 3, 0, 1, 17, and 9 starts, and he's still out for 2 to 3 more months from his latest injury. At some point, he'll be in AAA this year, and maybe has a future in middle relief. Ritter, at 21, has made steady progress through our system, and will also be in AAA Santa Barbara this season. He looks like a lot of players in our system: solid contact and gap power, little deep power, no plate discipline, but won't strike out. He's rangy enough for CF, but his mediocre arm might keep him in left. Still, he's a solid prospect, and might even see some time on the big squad come September.

As we slog through the last couple weeks before camp opens, the system is getting rounded out, with some high-minors signings, and one more addition to the big club. Observe:
...RP Cam Vitali and C Mario Burgueno sign minor league contracts. Both players have been here before. Vitali was a 4th round pick way back in my first draft with the Islanders, ultimately spending a couple seasons in AAA. For the past two seasons he's been shuttling back and forth between A and AA for the Rays and Cubs systems, but is really too good to be that low. I've got him penciled into AA for now, but as a decent-looking LHP, he'll probably wind up in AAA. Burgueno was signed as a free agent in '40, but claimed off waivers by Oakland in '42. He hit .203 in 64 AB for the A's over two seasons before his release last fall. He's got enough of a bat to challenge Cory Vannoy for the backup position, as well as being a decent backstop. If he had any plate discipline, he could challenge for some quality playing time, but as it is he'll either be our backup or be the first choice in AAA. Can play a decent 1B too, always a bonus.
...Needing to make some moves to the 40-man roster (and, frankly, needing more pitching depth at AAA and AA), I make several minor, but hopefully helpful, trades. First, we send 3B Andy Bridges, 26, to Houston for OF Ryan Linder. Bridges hit .389 in AAA, but just .156 in 63 AB for me. A good contact hitter and fielder, but little power and no plate discipline. Linder, also 26, went .224/12/49 with Houston, and is a low-strikeout (and low walk) hitter and a good-enough fielder. He's purely a corner OF. Two days later, I tell Linder not to unpack, and he's sent off to Richmond for prospect OF Glenn Heath, 21. A slighty better fielder than Linder, Heath's big drawback is his low contact ceiling. He has hit well in three seasons in the Eagles system, and could still develop beyond what his scouting report currently says. Finally, we trade former 2nd round pick RP Ian Albring to Austin for P Mike Pearson. Despite good ratings, Albring never could stick with us, getting just 19 IP across 3 seasons, with a 6.63 ERA. He's 31, so really no longer a prospect, but hopefully can find himself with the up-and-coming Outlaws. In Pearson, 23, we get a mid-ceiling SP who will start in AA. He's got some room to grow still, but is at least a year away (despite his own inflated sense of self-worth), and with the proper amount of seasoning could figure in the rotation by, say, 2046. All in all, three deals, moving three players from the 40-man roster, and making room for a couple of others who might make the big club this spring, and also for the next guy...
...I finally decided I wasn't ready to go into camp without adding any starting pitching. Problem is, being close to our budget limit, there just weren't any decent, affordable options in free agency (sure-thing SP are, in February, are still going for $6M-$8M), and the few guys I looked at via trade were also just too expensive, prospect-wise. But there was one guy out there, from Japan, still sitting on the market after declaring his availability two months ago. So I bit: we signed SP Ryuma Sato to a one-year, $4.41M deal. He's got excellent stuff, and good-enough movement and control. Curve/fastball/change combo, and keeps the ball down. He does have some drawbacks: he's 32, and his best years are probably behind him. He's coming off a down year, where his ERA was a full point higher than his career average. His stamina is not...ideal...for a starter. And he's a low LE and low LOY guy, so could become a clubhouse headache if we/he struggle. Still, it's just a one year deal, so he'll either be a genius signing, or completely forgotten about by this time next year. Given that I have just four healthy SP at the moment--with one, Pete Morrow, still an unknown moving up from the bullpen--I felt this was a necessary move. Especially as #3 starter Jonathan Murray is still out for two more weeks and likely will need some rehab time in AAA through April (at least), and #1 prospect Taylor Barnett is out through May. Fingers crossed.

......

A few more big signings of note...
...DET grabs 2042 NL MVP Sean West for 16.2M, a one-year deal. He hit 169 HR in his five seasons in STL, including 56 in that magical '42 season. He dropped to 36 last year, which is his career average. He's a terrible fielder, but walks a ton and is just what the slugging Tigers need: another giant power bat.
...MIN added another perennial 30-HR bat to their lineup: 1B Joel Rogers, late of ATL, for 10.1M.
...2042 AL Cy Young winner Miguel Moreno signs with WSH, for 8.3M and one year. Washington has added a ton of WAR again this year, but the've never been able to do anything with it. Maybe this is the year they approach .500.
...Austin makes a bargain-basement signing, getting 2B Cory Hopkins for just 3.8M. Hopkins has a career .328 average, adding 17 HR a year with 30 SB. He's topped 200 hits twice, led the AL in doubles twice, and is just 27.
...AHAHAHAHA. The Jordan Cruz Strikeout Train has entered a new station: Montreal, for one year at 2.28M. If you've read a word of this dynasty, you're aware of my never-ending respect for his offense-killing abilities: 6374 career AB, a .199 lifetime average, and 2613 K, having led his league in whiffs nine times. Montreal is having the worst off-season in the league so far. More about that later...

......

...Spring Training ends, and it was disturbingly good for us: 22-8, with good hitting and good pitching all around. Of course I have no idea how any of this will translate into the regular season, so maybe I'll choose...optimism? The only negatives were a few fairly minor injuries. IF J.J. Simmons will miss the first two weeks of the season with a strained oblique, and RP Rick Ramirez will be out for a month with an arm injury. Rob Hart missed a week late, but will be fine by opening day. And Jonathan Murray comes off the DL just before the season, but will spend April on rehab in AAA.

Owner Alexis Pagan thinks we should "at least make the playoffs." MLB agrees, picking us to win the AL West with 100 wins. Detroit is tabbed for the Central, while Boston (with just 86 wins) gets the East nod. Oakland is the clear pick for the first wildcard spot, while Tampa, Milwaukee, and Minnesota are the only other over-.500 teams. MLB adds that we'll have the 2nd best offense (behind Detroit) and the best pitching. Hmm... In the NL, Atanta, Cincinnati, and Austin will be the division winners, with Philly, LA, Richmond, St Louis, Chicago, Brooklyn, and the Mets getting decent nods as well. (FYI, Atlanta hasn't had a winning season since they won the Series in 2037.) The Yankees, Giants, and Rangers look to be the worst teams in the league.

...Personnel-wise, around the league, despite there being a number of high-quality free agents still available, I will proceed to be totally judgemental about the off-season efforts of everyone else. Brooklyn "wins" the off-season, gaining 9.7 WAR, even if 8.6 of that comes from one player: SS Victor Sanchez. Still, they gained an MVP, a starting pitcher, and nearly 5 WAR worth of quality relief pitching. Expect them to be good this year. The next three teams on the list are also NL East teams: Richmond (+4.7), Washington (+4.4), and Philadelphia (+3.2). In our division, only Oakland gained (+2.6), but mostly because six players they let go combined for a -2.9 WAR. All but Washington are predicted to finish over .500 and vie for playoff spots -- MLB sees the Nationals winning just 73 games.

On the other hand, the NL Central lost big time. Notice: MTL (league-worst -18.6), New Orleans (third worst -8.8), Chicago (-8.3), St Louis (-7.0), Cincinnati (-3.4), and Pittsburgh (-2.1). Montreal picked up 11 players, including a decent catcher, a third-rate SP, and a couple of iffy relievers. But they lost their 3B, two outfielders, and four regular pitchers (two of them pretty good). The five "worst" off-seasons belonged to NL teams, and the city of Chicago lost over 15 WAR alone. Based on this extremely reliable predictive analysis, the NL Central will be awful this season, and Washington will finally break through and become a respectable team. Sure.

......

Finally, a few notes before the season starts...

...So we traded Mel Carrillo to Austin, in part because he can't stay healthy. (His 422 AB last season were by far his career highest.) Well...he tore up his knee in the first week of camp, and will miss the season. Surprised/not surprised. Sorry, Austin.
...KC, Philly, and Oakland have the top prospect systems. Oakland! They are constantly a top ten--top five sometimes--team, and yet here they are. Amazing. The top prospect in the game currently is Philly OF George Livezey: big power, the best plate discipline I've ever seen, won't strike out, good fielder, decent runner. And yet, not a superstar, as he'll most likely struggle to hit better than say, .260 year-in, year-out. Still, HR + OBP + Gold Gloves = Winner. The best pitching prospect is KC's Ryan Phillips, who figures to be pretty good one day, but will give up more than his share of home runs, unfortunately. Our system ranks 20th, with three players in the top 100. (More about us during my June draft write-up.) Richmond ranks dead last, with zero players in the top 100. I have to agree: they look really, really bad, although future CL Jay Debus (currently in AA) looks pretty good. They certainly have a knack currently for developing low-contact utility players.
...As expected, the Dodgers have the league's highest payroll, coming in at over $246M. Second-place Richmond is doling out a mere $168M, and last-place Cleveland a truly scanty $61M. Our player payroll of $133M comes in at 13th, while our budget of $160M is tied for 11th. White Sox C Dan Starr is once again the league's highest-paid player, at $37M, trailed slightly by Baltimore slugger Cesar Alvarenga at $36M. Of the other 22 players topping $20M per season, our own Adam Groff sits at #10, making $25M. (Although his wallet will fatten to the tune of $31.5M next year, and $37.5M after that. Oy.)

Next up: Season Preview, then...PLAY BALL!

08-06-2018, 08:41 PM	#168
Bub13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maine Posts: 748	2044 Spring Training and Season Preview First things first: catcher Alexis Mercedes signed with the Cardinals, one year for 11.4M. (Remember he wanted at least 18M from me.) Meaning: angry Twits take to their phones to tell me that I don't know what I'm doing. And MLB gifts us a supplemental first round pick for the June draft. We've had two supplemental picks in our draft history: in 2039 we took pitcher Jamie Berisford, and in 2042 OF Dillon Ritter. Berisford, while still in our system, has been a sad case. Three major elbow injuries have made for seasons of 8, 3, 0, 1, 17, and 9 starts, and he's still out for 2 to 3 more months from his latest injury. At some point, he'll be in AAA this year, and maybe has a future in middle relief. Ritter, at 21, has made steady progress through our system, and will also be in AAA Santa Barbara this season. He looks like a lot of players in our system: solid contact and gap power, little deep power, no plate discipline, but won't strike out. He's rangy enough for CF, but his mediocre arm might keep him in left. Still, he's a solid prospect, and might even see some time on the big squad come September. As we slog through the last couple weeks before camp opens, the system is getting rounded out, with some high-minors signings, and one more addition to the big club. Observe: ...RP Cam Vitali and C Mario Burgueno sign minor league contracts. Both players have been here before. Vitali was a 4th round pick way back in my first draft with the Islanders, ultimately spending a couple seasons in AAA. For the past two seasons he's been shuttling back and forth between A and AA for the Rays and Cubs systems, but is really too good to be that low. I've got him penciled into AA for now, but as a decent-looking LHP, he'll probably wind up in AAA. Burgueno was signed as a free agent in '40, but claimed off waivers by Oakland in '42. He hit .203 in 64 AB for the A's over two seasons before his release last fall. He's got enough of a bat to challenge Cory Vannoy for the backup position, as well as being a decent backstop. If he had any plate discipline, he could challenge for some quality playing time, but as it is he'll either be our backup or be the first choice in AAA. Can play a decent 1B too, always a bonus. ...Needing to make some moves to the 40-man roster (and, frankly, needing more pitching depth at AAA and AA), I make several minor, but hopefully helpful, trades. First, we send 3B Andy Bridges, 26, to Houston for OF Ryan Linder. Bridges hit .389 in AAA, but just .156 in 63 AB for me. A good contact hitter and fielder, but little power and no plate discipline. Linder, also 26, went .224/12/49 with Houston, and is a low-strikeout (and low walk) hitter and a good-enough fielder. He's purely a corner OF. Two days later, I tell Linder not to unpack, and he's sent off to Richmond for prospect OF Glenn Heath, 21. A slighty better fielder than Linder, Heath's big drawback is his low contact ceiling. He has hit well in three seasons in the Eagles system, and could still develop beyond what his scouting report currently says. Finally, we trade former 2nd round pick RP Ian Albring to Austin for P Mike Pearson. Despite good ratings, Albring never could stick with us, getting just 19 IP across 3 seasons, with a 6.63 ERA. He's 31, so really no longer a prospect, but hopefully can find himself with the up-and-coming Outlaws. In Pearson, 23, we get a mid-ceiling SP who will start in AA. He's got some room to grow still, but is at least a year away (despite his own inflated sense of self-worth), and with the proper amount of seasoning could figure in the rotation by, say, 2046. All in all, three deals, moving three players from the 40-man roster, and making room for a couple of others who might make the big club this spring, and also for the next guy... ...I finally decided I wasn't ready to go into camp without adding any starting pitching. Problem is, being close to our budget limit, there just weren't any decent, affordable options in free agency (sure-thing SP are, in February, are still going for $6M-$8M), and the few guys I looked at via trade were also just too expensive, prospect-wise. But there was one guy out there, from Japan, still sitting on the market after declaring his availability two months ago. So I bit: we signed SP Ryuma Sato to a one-year, $4.41M deal. He's got excellent stuff, and good-enough movement and control. Curve/fastball/change combo, and keeps the ball down. He does have some drawbacks: he's 32, and his best years are probably behind him. He's coming off a down year, where his ERA was a full point higher than his career average. His stamina is not...ideal...for a starter. And he's a low LE and low LOY guy, so could become a clubhouse headache if we/he struggle. Still, it's just a one year deal, so he'll either be a genius signing, or completely forgotten about by this time next year. Given that I have just four healthy SP at the moment--with one, Pete Morrow, still an unknown moving up from the bullpen--I felt this was a necessary move. Especially as #3 starter Jonathan Murray is still out for two more weeks and likely will need some rehab time in AAA through April (at least), and #1 prospect Taylor Barnett is out through May. Fingers crossed. ...... A few more big signings of note... ...DET grabs 2042 NL MVP Sean West for 16.2M, a one-year deal. He hit 169 HR in his five seasons in STL, including 56 in that magical '42 season. He dropped to 36 last year, which is his career average. He's a terrible fielder, but walks a ton and is just what the slugging Tigers need: another giant power bat. ...MIN added another perennial 30-HR bat to their lineup: 1B Joel Rogers, late of ATL, for 10.1M. ...2042 AL Cy Young winner Miguel Moreno signs with WSH, for 8.3M and one year. Washington has added a ton of WAR again this year, but the've never been able to do anything with it. Maybe this is the year they approach .500. ...Austin makes a bargain-basement signing, getting 2B Cory Hopkins for just 3.8M. Hopkins has a career .328 average, adding 17 HR a year with 30 SB. He's topped 200 hits twice, led the AL in doubles twice, and is just 27. ...AHAHAHAHA. The Jordan Cruz Strikeout Train has entered a new station: Montreal, for one year at 2.28M. If you've read a word of this dynasty, you're aware of my never-ending respect for his offense-killing abilities: 6374 career AB, a .199 lifetime average, and 2613 K, having led his league in whiffs nine times. Montreal is having the worst off-season in the league so far. More about that later... ...... ...Spring Training ends, and it was disturbingly good for us: 22-8, with good hitting and good pitching all around. Of course I have no idea how any of this will translate into the regular season, so maybe I'll choose...optimism? The only negatives were a few fairly minor injuries. IF J.J. Simmons will miss the first two weeks of the season with a strained oblique, and RP Rick Ramirez will be out for a month with an arm injury. Rob Hart missed a week late, but will be fine by opening day. And Jonathan Murray comes off the DL just before the season, but will spend April on rehab in AAA. Owner Alexis Pagan thinks we should "at least make the playoffs." MLB agrees, picking us to win the AL West with 100 wins. Detroit is tabbed for the Central, while Boston (with just 86 wins) gets the East nod. Oakland is the clear pick for the first wildcard spot, while Tampa, Milwaukee, and Minnesota are the only other over-.500 teams. MLB adds that we'll have the 2nd best offense (behind Detroit) and the best pitching. Hmm... In the NL, Atanta, Cincinnati, and Austin will be the division winners, with Philly, LA, Richmond, St Louis, Chicago, Brooklyn, and the Mets getting decent nods as well. (FYI, Atlanta hasn't had a winning season since they won the Series in 2037.) The Yankees, Giants, and Rangers look to be the worst teams in the league. ...Personnel-wise, around the league, despite there being a number of high-quality free agents still available, I will proceed to be totally judgemental about the off-season efforts of everyone else. Brooklyn "wins" the off-season, gaining 9.7 WAR, even if 8.6 of that comes from one player: SS Victor Sanchez. Still, they gained an MVP, a starting pitcher, and nearly 5 WAR worth of quality relief pitching. Expect them to be good this year. The next three teams on the list are also NL East teams: Richmond (+4.7), Washington (+4.4), and Philadelphia (+3.2). In our division, only Oakland gained (+2.6), but mostly because six players they let go combined for a -2.9 WAR. All but Washington are predicted to finish over .500 and vie for playoff spots -- MLB sees the Nationals winning just 73 games. On the other hand, the NL Central lost big time. Notice: MTL (league-worst -18.6), New Orleans (third worst -8.8), Chicago (-8.3), St Louis (-7.0), Cincinnati (-3.4), and Pittsburgh (-2.1). Montreal picked up 11 players, including a decent catcher, a third-rate SP, and a couple of iffy relievers. But they lost their 3B, two outfielders, and four regular pitchers (two of them pretty good). The five "worst" off-seasons belonged to NL teams, and the city of Chicago lost over 15 WAR alone. Based on this extremely reliable predictive analysis, the NL Central will be awful this season, and Washington will finally break through and become a respectable team. Sure. ...... Finally, a few notes before the season starts... ...So we traded Mel Carrillo to Austin, in part because he can't stay healthy. (His 422 AB last season were by far his career highest.) Well...he tore up his knee in the first week of camp, and will miss the season. Surprised/not surprised. Sorry, Austin. ...KC, Philly, and Oakland have the top prospect systems. Oakland! They are constantly a top ten--top five sometimes--team, and yet here they are. Amazing. The top prospect in the game currently is Philly OF George Livezey: big power, the best plate discipline I've ever seen, won't strike out, good fielder, decent runner. And yet, not a superstar, as he'll most likely struggle to hit better than say, .260 year-in, year-out. Still, HR + OBP + Gold Gloves = Winner. The best pitching prospect is KC's Ryan Phillips, who figures to be pretty good one day, but will give up more than his share of home runs, unfortunately. Our system ranks 20th, with three players in the top 100. (More about us during my June draft write-up.) Richmond ranks dead last, with zero players in the top 100. I have to agree: they look really, really bad, although future CL Jay Debus (currently in AA) looks pretty good. They certainly have a knack currently for developing low-contact utility players. ...As expected, the Dodgers have the league's highest payroll, coming in at over $246M. Second-place Richmond is doling out a mere $168M, and last-place Cleveland a truly scanty $61M. Our player payroll of $133M comes in at 13th, while our budget of $160M is tied for 11th. White Sox C Dan Starr is once again the league's highest-paid player, at $37M, trailed slightly by Baltimore slugger Cesar Alvarenga at $36M. Of the other 22 players topping $20M per season, our own Adam Groff sits at #10, making $25M. (Although his wallet will fatten to the tune of $31.5M next year, and $37.5M after that. Oy.) Next up: Season Preview, then...PLAY BALL! Attached Images __________________ Introducing Your Hawaii Islanders!