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storm427 · 02-20-2025, 07:21 PM

While enthusiasm (mine) is high, I will post somewhat in depth and somewhat often. I expect to eventually sim my way forward after the first season and start tinkering with finances first to get where I want to be, which is a fairly level spending environment.

Meet the Jokers
Pitching
The starting staff is a mess.
23 year old Mike Dunivan will start on opening day, he has prior major league experience and features a fastball/curve ball mix. Already with excellent control, he has a little room to still develop according to my scout.
A hodgepodge of 26 yo Donovan Bynum, 32 yo Jay Champagne and soon-to-be 42 year old Dave Morgan will be the middle of the rotation. None excite, despite the club paying Morgan 12 million with a vesting option for the same amount NEXT season. I need to remember to make sure he gets put out to pasture before that 25th start.
My scout thinks more highly of 21 year old Brent Boss than the OSA does, and my manager seems to agree with the external scouts. He has Boss slotted as the 5th starter, and I’ll be surprised if Boss sees the mound more than twice in April with the off days built into our schedule.
The bullpen is anchored by league-best closer Kevin Zimmerman and his setup man, Jeff Bunk. Both are under team control through next season, Bunk at a very affordable 1.4m per, and the rest of the pen looks serviceable.

At the plate
CFer Chris Henry will lead us off. Henry is the prototypical wheels and glove guy and I don’t quite understand why manager Jamie Hedrick has him leading off since his below average contact and plate discipline suggest he will struggle to generate OBP.
Vs lefties, we will feature RFer Bobby Belda, who has the same profile.
Matt Taylor will bat second, another slot I lack enthusiasm for.
The three hole will be a LF platoon of Willie Perez and switchhitting Alexis Baez. Both these guys may find their way into regular playing time if either can hold his own in right field.
My clean up and 5 hitter will flip flop depending on pitcher handedness, lefty 1B John Connell and right handed hitting 3B Aaron Zullo. Connell is my kind of hitter, with above average power and a tremendous eye. Unfortunately, he’s also 38 and we owe him $23m/year this year and next. If he gets off to a great start and the team doesn’t we may be forced to shop him for a younger prototype of the same sort.
Catcher Cameron Crooks, who may have been a classmate of Dave Morgan since he’s also 41, and 2B Matt Jennings form the unexciting back of the lineup. We don’t use the DH in the EBA, so the collection above will have their chance to outshine our leadoff hitter every 5th day.

Defense
Right fielder Bobby Belda has the best infield range on the team. I don’t think I need say much more. However, it doesn’t look like there are many naturally gifted infielders anywhere in the league, at least not ones who can also survive a plate appearance. This will be a point of emphasis for our scouting to identify glove men in the draft or international spaces.
My outfield should be ok, with decent depth in this regard and the (current) LF platoon each having average range and more than decent arms.
Catcher Crooks and his backup Bill Landolfi should be fine or maybe a bit better than that.

So, without doing a deep dive on the other 15 clubs, I think the thing I can base any optimism on is that the commissioner’s office assigned a lot of dollars to my squad, which might say something about the rest of the league, or might not.

02-20-2025, 07:21 PM	#2
storm427 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 85 Infractions: 0/1 (2)	While enthusiasm (mine) is high, I will post somewhat in depth and somewhat often. I expect to eventually sim my way forward after the first season and start tinkering with finances first to get where I want to be, which is a fairly level spending environment. Meet the Jokers Pitching The starting staff is a mess. 23 year old Mike Dunivan will start on opening day, he has prior major league experience and features a fastball/curve ball mix. Already with excellent control, he has a little room to still develop according to my scout. A hodgepodge of 26 yo Donovan Bynum, 32 yo Jay Champagne and soon-to-be 42 year old Dave Morgan will be the middle of the rotation. None excite, despite the club paying Morgan 12 million with a vesting option for the same amount NEXT season. I need to remember to make sure he gets put out to pasture before that 25th start. My scout thinks more highly of 21 year old Brent Boss than the OSA does, and my manager seems to agree with the external scouts. He has Boss slotted as the 5th starter, and I’ll be surprised if Boss sees the mound more than twice in April with the off days built into our schedule. The bullpen is anchored by league-best closer Kevin Zimmerman and his setup man, Jeff Bunk. Both are under team control through next season, Bunk at a very affordable 1.4m per, and the rest of the pen looks serviceable. At the plate CFer Chris Henry will lead us off. Henry is the prototypical wheels and glove guy and I don’t quite understand why manager Jamie Hedrick has him leading off since his below average contact and plate discipline suggest he will struggle to generate OBP. Vs lefties, we will feature RFer Bobby Belda, who has the same profile. Matt Taylor will bat second, another slot I lack enthusiasm for. The three hole will be a LF platoon of Willie Perez and switchhitting Alexis Baez. Both these guys may find their way into regular playing time if either can hold his own in right field. My clean up and 5 hitter will flip flop depending on pitcher handedness, lefty 1B John Connell and right handed hitting 3B Aaron Zullo. Connell is my kind of hitter, with above average power and a tremendous eye. Unfortunately, he’s also 38 and we owe him $23m/year this year and next. If he gets off to a great start and the team doesn’t we may be forced to shop him for a younger prototype of the same sort. Catcher Cameron Crooks, who may have been a classmate of Dave Morgan since he’s also 41, and 2B Matt Jennings form the unexciting back of the lineup. We don’t use the DH in the EBA, so the collection above will have their chance to outshine our leadoff hitter every 5th day. Defense Right fielder Bobby Belda has the best infield range on the team. I don’t think I need say much more. However, it doesn’t look like there are many naturally gifted infielders anywhere in the league, at least not ones who can also survive a plate appearance. This will be a point of emphasis for our scouting to identify glove men in the draft or international spaces. My outfield should be ok, with decent depth in this regard and the (current) LF platoon each having average range and more than decent arms. Catcher Crooks and his backup Bill Landolfi should be fine or maybe a bit better than that. So, without doing a deep dive on the other 15 clubs, I think the thing I can base any optimism on is that the commissioner’s office assigned a lot of dollars to my squad, which might say something about the rest of the league, or might not.