OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Making The Move Upstate: A Buffalo Nickels Story

dward1 · 03-21-2020, 02:22 PM

We spent all of our $144,000 allowed Summer Market bucks on Steve Wakeman

USBL2 teams not being allowed to go over their cap annoys me. In the WBA we couldn't either but seeing these USBL teams spend $1 million or more always got me going a bit. I've put in calls to Commissioner Carlson about changing this rule, we had 3 targets but wound up just being able to sign one. We love Wakeman but we want more talent, more options for where to find players and spend our money.

The Offseason
Our main goals were to increase offensive production: catcher, first base and maybe 2B/3B or an outfielder were our big weak spots. Our first move was not offering Josh van Nort arbitration as it would have been over 10% of our cap to keep him. The #1 prospect in the league looks to be almost ready.

Anything we accomplish here will likely be tied to BJ Peterson becoming a star. He was signed in the Winter Market in 2058 before we got here and was the #1 overall prospect in the USBL by the start of 2061. He was again before 2062 and will be next year. He will start the year as our CF in Buffalo. He just has a career .686 OPS at AA and .709 at A-ball, but last year he had 3.2 WAR over two levels. It's time. Hopefully for the next three years he will run CF for the Nickels.

We seemingly had no need for a pitcher but a tantalizing prospect appeared before our eyes immediately. The guy who dominated the WBA to an extent no one had seen for several years, who dominated in the World Cup as a starter at 19 years old, Danny Bresnahan.

He was one of the best pitchers in the world from 2050-2058 and while he clearly isn't what he once was, has put up respectable numbers since then. A career 123 ERA+ is what a David Price or Mike Mussina put up, and that is in the worlds toughest division. There is a big worry about whether his stuff can hold up or his control deteriorates further but there is big potential here. It's the type of risk/reward signing that can push us to the playoffs. We invested 10% of our budget into him, with a team option for year 2 and player option for year 3. Can he start? I hope so.

We are also going to give a shot to our Winter Market signing from last year Victor Zavala

You don't have to wait as long here with 9 years of control, in the WBA your young players better be ready to be good from day one with only 4 years of control. Here we can try Zavala out, he just hit at a 689 OPS in Portland last year but we have limited options at 2B.

We got a catcher in longtime Magic backup/platoon man Jaden Burton. This means Charlie Boone was shipped away.

Our last signing was an outfielder, Jose Rodriguez. He has really hit (781 OPS in 875 USBL2 PA and 794 in AA) and he has won two gold gloves in his only two big league seasons.

The lack of 1B signing means there is still hope for Stromgren, but Yates will also get the full Scott Hatteberg treatment this spring, he will start plenty in the Cup as we see if he can hack it there and Duncan can play left.

The league rankings of our Nickels positionally
C: Jaden Burton, 6th
1B: Adam Stromgren (we disagree and think Yates will be better), 9th
2B: Victor Zavala, 12th
SS: Matt Mallow, 5th
3B: John Stewart, 6th
LF: Jose Rodriguez, 9th
CF: BJ Peterson, 6th
RF: Jon Land, 10th

SP: Jared Farr the best, 7th

this leaves out our best bat in Duncan who will slide in somewhere.

03-21-2020, 02:22 PM	#19
dward1 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 931	2062/63 Offseason We spent all of our $144,000 allowed Summer Market bucks on Steve Wakeman USBL2 teams not being allowed to go over their cap annoys me. In the WBA we couldn't either but seeing these USBL teams spend $1 million or more always got me going a bit. I've put in calls to Commissioner Carlson about changing this rule, we had 3 targets but wound up just being able to sign one. We love Wakeman but we want more talent, more options for where to find players and spend our money. The Offseason Our main goals were to increase offensive production: catcher, first base and maybe 2B/3B or an outfielder were our big weak spots. Our first move was not offering Josh van Nort arbitration as it would have been over 10% of our cap to keep him. The #1 prospect in the league looks to be almost ready. Anything we accomplish here will likely be tied to BJ Peterson becoming a star. He was signed in the Winter Market in 2058 before we got here and was the #1 overall prospect in the USBL by the start of 2061. He was again before 2062 and will be next year. He will start the year as our CF in Buffalo. He just has a career .686 OPS at AA and .709 at A-ball, but last year he had 3.2 WAR over two levels. It's time. Hopefully for the next three years he will run CF for the Nickels. We seemingly had no need for a pitcher but a tantalizing prospect appeared before our eyes immediately. The guy who dominated the WBA to an extent no one had seen for several years, who dominated in the World Cup as a starter at 19 years old, Danny Bresnahan. He was one of the best pitchers in the world from 2050-2058 and while he clearly isn't what he once was, has put up respectable numbers since then. A career 123 ERA+ is what a David Price or Mike Mussina put up, and that is in the worlds toughest division. There is a big worry about whether his stuff can hold up or his control deteriorates further but there is big potential here. It's the type of risk/reward signing that can push us to the playoffs. We invested 10% of our budget into him, with a team option for year 2 and player option for year 3. Can he start? I hope so. We are also going to give a shot to our Winter Market signing from last year Victor Zavala You don't have to wait as long here with 9 years of control, in the WBA your young players better be ready to be good from day one with only 4 years of control. Here we can try Zavala out, he just hit at a 689 OPS in Portland last year but we have limited options at 2B. We got a catcher in longtime Magic backup/platoon man Jaden Burton. This means Charlie Boone was shipped away. Our last signing was an outfielder, Jose Rodriguez. He has really hit (781 OPS in 875 USBL2 PA and 794 in AA) and he has won two gold gloves in his only two big league seasons. The lack of 1B signing means there is still hope for Stromgren, but Yates will also get the full Scott Hatteberg treatment this spring, he will start plenty in the Cup as we see if he can hack it there and Duncan can play left. The league rankings of our Nickels positionally C: Jaden Burton, 6th 1B: Adam Stromgren (we disagree and think Yates will be better), 9th 2B: Victor Zavala, 12th SS: Matt Mallow, 5th 3B: John Stewart, 6th LF: Jose Rodriguez, 9th CF: BJ Peterson, 6th RF: Jon Land, 10th SP: Jared Farr the best, 7th this leaves out our best bat in Duncan who will slide in somewhere.