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Art Deco · 03-20-2024, 09:29 AM

Final Regular Season Record: 89-73 (19-15 for the month+)
2nd place AL East, 8 behind Boston; 2nd wild card

The good news: They made the playoffs.

The bad news: They're starting the playoffs on the road at 94-win Houston in the wild card series and they're going to have to do without Jackson Chourio (strained back, should return in the ALDS if they make it) and this guy:

Elly De La Cruz broke his thumb after being hit by a pitch during the final week of the season and his MVP-level 2029 is over. Thomas Saggese and Jeffry Rosa are capable backups, but they ain't the originals. In other injury news, Rule 5 guy and backup SS Luis Almeyda fractured his thumb as well as is done for the year. At least we got Tetsuhisha Hirata back to help on the MI after he missed most of the year with his own broken hand and complications from the surgery on it. Bottom line though is that it's going to be a tall order to take 2 of 3 in Houston to move on.

Had he not missed a month of the season Tatis probably would have overtaken Elly in the WAR race; they'll both be front-runners for AL MVP. Meanwhile over in the NL Milwaukee and Colorado were the division winners with wild cards going to Pittsburgh, Washington and Arizona. The playoff tree:

I will say this team was consistent over the season, always winning a few more than it lost and never really going on a prolonged hot or cold streak. The offense was great (with Chourio and Elly of course) and while the pitching looked mediocre it was dragged down as usual by the defense (or lack thereof).

And behold that offense, led of course by Elly and Tatis, it hit another level when rookie Ethan Holliday took over at 2B and then went nova when Vlad Jr. was added as he drove in a whopping 65 runs in 67 games as a Ray. One interesting name at the bottom is Ozzie Albies, the veteran 2B who was signed to a minor league deal mid-season and crushed the ball at Durham (24 HR and 65 RBI in 73 games) before getting called up in the final week when Elly was hurt.

The starters outside of Santana and Kirby weren't as bad as their ERAs would indicate (except for Pepiot, behind whom fine defense was played) as their BABIPs against tell the story. The bullpen was very inconsistent with key contributors like Peguero and Juenger having terrible seasons and new closer Vodnik wasn't a lockdown guy by any means. I fear for this staff in the upcoming series at Minute Maid Park.

Not exactly an inspiring farm system with 3 of the top 4 prospects about 5-6 years away in the international complex. This doesn't mean the farm is barren, though - we had 3 guys at AA Montgomery who were high draft picks or big international signings, had great seasons and appear to be MLB ready from their ratings yet OOTP ranks them 37 and below in the system:

I'm referring of course to Paino, Rose and Guerrero, all of whom raked at Montgomery. Rose will likely play alongside Patrick Bailey at C for us next year, and while Elly and Holliday have Paino blocked he may contribute as a backup. Guerrero might have a tougher time with all our OF depth.

Next up: The playoffs, which hopefully won't be short-lived.

03-20-2024, 09:29 AM	#140
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,737	September/October 2029 Final Regular Season Record: 89-73 (19-15 for the month+) 2nd place AL East, 8 behind Boston; 2nd wild card The good news: They made the playoffs. The bad news: They're starting the playoffs on the road at 94-win Houston in the wild card series and they're going to have to do without Jackson Chourio (strained back, should return in the ALDS if they make it) and this guy: Elly De La Cruz broke his thumb after being hit by a pitch during the final week of the season and his MVP-level 2029 is over. Thomas Saggese and Jeffry Rosa are capable backups, but they ain't the originals. In other injury news, Rule 5 guy and backup SS Luis Almeyda fractured his thumb as well as is done for the year. At least we got Tetsuhisha Hirata back to help on the MI after he missed most of the year with his own broken hand and complications from the surgery on it. Bottom line though is that it's going to be a tall order to take 2 of 3 in Houston to move on. Had he not missed a month of the season Tatis probably would have overtaken Elly in the WAR race; they'll both be front-runners for AL MVP. Meanwhile over in the NL Milwaukee and Colorado were the division winners with wild cards going to Pittsburgh, Washington and Arizona. The playoff tree: I will say this team was consistent over the season, always winning a few more than it lost and never really going on a prolonged hot or cold streak. The offense was great (with Chourio and Elly of course) and while the pitching looked mediocre it was dragged down as usual by the defense (or lack thereof). And behold that offense, led of course by Elly and Tatis, it hit another level when rookie Ethan Holliday took over at 2B and then went nova when Vlad Jr. was added as he drove in a whopping 65 runs in 67 games as a Ray. One interesting name at the bottom is Ozzie Albies, the veteran 2B who was signed to a minor league deal mid-season and crushed the ball at Durham (24 HR and 65 RBI in 73 games) before getting called up in the final week when Elly was hurt. The starters outside of Santana and Kirby weren't as bad as their ERAs would indicate (except for Pepiot, behind whom fine defense was played) as their BABIPs against tell the story. The bullpen was very inconsistent with key contributors like Peguero and Juenger having terrible seasons and new closer Vodnik wasn't a lockdown guy by any means. I fear for this staff in the upcoming series at Minute Maid Park. Not exactly an inspiring farm system with 3 of the top 4 prospects about 5-6 years away in the international complex. This doesn't mean the farm is barren, though - we had 3 guys at AA Montgomery who were high draft picks or big international signings, had great seasons and appear to be MLB ready from their ratings yet OOTP ranks them 37 and below in the system: I'm referring of course to Paino, Rose and Guerrero, all of whom raked at Montgomery. Rose will likely play alongside Patrick Bailey at C for us next year, and while Elly and Holliday have Paino blocked he may contribute as a backup. Guerrero might have a tougher time with all our OF depth. Next up: The playoffs, which hopefully won't be short-lived.