[Bub13]

Owner Alexis Pagan has given us a 90M dollar budget. I set the scouting budget at 15M, the development budget at 12M, our draft budget at 8M, and international amatuer at 3M. I may have to adjust these in coming years as we get better players (ha) with higher salaries. Our big league player salaries total around 30M. We will be 36th out of 36 teams, easily.

Next is filling out our farm teams. I begin the parade of minor league signings, eventually filling out our AAA, AA, and A teams. I sign a few extras, who will sit in short A and be the initial call-ups when injuries strike, and because I don't like having 30+ players on a farm team. The draft will help fill out the summer teams, and I'll take advantage of the inevitable mid-summer releases to hopefully grab a few other useful guys for the low minors.

Our minor league system is as follows:
AAA International League -- Kansas City (MO) T-Bones
AA Eastern League -- Lewiston (ME) Millers
A California League -- Eureka (CA) Aces
S A New York-Penn League -- Poughkeepsie (NY) Tanks
R Appalachian League -- Athens (GA) Warriors
R Appalachian League -- Boone (NC) Mountain Cats

A pretty tight little system. Decided not to add any DSL or VSL teams, to keep things manageable. Plus, six minor league teams fits nicely on my Rosters & Transactions screen! I'm not optimistic that we'll have much joy on any of these teams, given the marginal talents I've been able to sign. Kansas City might fare well, since there are a passel of near-big leaguers who will sign for minor league deals, added to the expansion draftees who won't make the big club out of the gate. Below are really the only guys who might see some MLB time of the free agents:

...Ryan Marciante, RF, 28 (2033 stats: 126gp, 496ab, .274/.348/.373, 8hr, 51sb in AAA Toronto org) Average batting ratings; speedy, but no OF range; nice glove and arm
...Steve Edmisten, LF/1B (2033 stats: 5 at bats and 1 hit in R ball. Yep.) Fair contact, but nice gap, eye, and avoid K's. Little power, slow as molasses, and a subpar fielder
...Esteban Reyes, C, 23 (2033 stats: none available, Saltillo in the Mexican League) Another average batter; good defensive catcher, best of a bad lot
...David Briseno, C, 22 (2033 stats: none! Out of baseball) Below average across the board, but the fastest catcher I've ever seen
...Salvador de la Cruz, SP, 25 (2033 stats: 27starts, 12-7, 2.82era, 129k, 150ip, 3.6war, AA HOU org; 2gp in AAA) Sort of a AAAA player; 12-13 (of 20) ratings, four developed pitches, 92-94mph, groundball guy, hard worker, left-handed
...Tyler Hines, RP, 34 (2033 stats: 71gp, 2sv, 3.99era, 79k, 67.2ip for Minnesota) Big guy (6'5") who's best days are behing him; 2026 and '27 Hoyt Wilhelm Award winner, won Series with Angels in 2032; nice stuff and control, average movement, extreme FB pitcher

That's it.

Spring Training and Start of Season

Somehow we managed to go 14-14 during spring training. There were no real standouts, but I was a encouraged by some steady hitting from several outfielders, and I think I've got a set lineup going into the season. I gave eight pitchers starts during camp, getting decent numbers out of Fisher, Wiggins, and Rivera, and cautiously serviceable stuff out of Hancock and Pugsley.

Here's our lineup going into the season, with better (best?) players in bold:

C Lucas Crabtree, 29 (2033 split between BOS and AAA) .341 in 44ab with BOS) Decent hitter, bad arm. Should produce some offense.
C Willie Zamorano, 27 (2033 hit .307 for SF AAA) Line drive hitter, good arm. I'll ride the hot hitter at this position.
1B Harlan Thomas, 28 (2033 .213/.270/.343 with 12hr for STL) Has some power, bad glove. Will split at 1B and DH. Cleanup.
1B JD Elder, 31 (2033 .218/.329/.340 between LAA and MIN) Some power, good plate discipline. No glove. Like Thomas, will split at DH too.
2B Tom Connor, 30 (2033 .310 in AAA, .292 in 48ab for TB) Average hitter, decent in field, can also play 1B. Great bunter.
2B Jamie Forbes, 28 (2033 .313 in AAA, 4ab with PHI) Decent batter, no eye though. Iron glove. Can play all across infield, so that's something...
3B Ryan Hebert, 26 (2033 .344, 13triples for AAA CLE) Nice contact and gap, great eye, no power. Little range, but a solid fielder at 3B/SS. Leadoff.
SS Walt Hubert, 28 (2033 .301 in 236ab for SD) Good gap/eye/discipline; rated higher at 1B, but needed at SS despite so-so glove. Nice arm.
SS William Lamborn, 31 (2033 .276 in AAA for LAD) Line drive hitter with good discipline. Top notch fielder across the infield.
LF Zach Bacon, 27 (2033 .287, 26hr in AA/AAA, .162 in 37ab for MTL) Has some pop in his bat, but little else. Average fielder; corner OF.
CF Robbie Christopher, 29 (2033 .309 in AAA, .261/.317/.383 in 115ab for ARI) Average hitter with good gap power. Better corner OF but will get most playing time in center.
RF Kelvin Moreno, 27 (2033 .311 in AAA, .250 with MIL) Low average but good power and OBP; cannon arm; corner OF only.
OF Miguel Torres, 27 (2033 .252 in AAA, .169 in 59ab with CHC) Very nice power, eye, discipline. No contact. Very solid fielder, all three positions. Will try him at #3 or #5, probably.

SP Oscar Wiggins, 32 (43g, 34ip, 40k, 4.98era with CHW) Three quality pitches, good stuff and movement, mediocre control. Opening day starter.
SP Ed Fisher, 26 (19starts, 96ip, 4.95era with SD) Junkballer, movement his best quality. Five decent pitches, only slider is good tho.
SP Rich Rivera, 28 (58g, 11starts, 111ip, 123k, 4.28era with MIA) Great stuff, elite slider/fastball, two other good pitches. Control an issue.
SP Chance Muller, 26 (33g, 139ip, 3.88era in AAA for LAD) Highest potential here, but hasn't shown anything in MLB yet. Ratings very nice all across board. We'll see.
SP Dan Hancock, 33 (30g, 45ip, 66k, 1.79era with ATL) Three quality pitches, good velocity and stuff...but no movement or control. Extreme flyball pitcher (uh-oh).
CL Jay Yates, 28 (78g, 79ip, 107k, 3.40era for RIC) Probably best player on team. Solid closer. Elite curve. Keeps ball on ground.
RP Raleigh Vance, 25 (79g, 76ip, 3.52era for SD) Scouts LOVE him, ratings look fantastic. Will be key setup man.
RP Dwight Kaufman, 29 (15starts, 87ip, 4.78era for BAL) High velo fastball, good leader. Control could be a big problem tho.
RP Jackson Klug, 28 (36g, 56ip, 74k, 4.66era for CLE) A tweener: has five rated pitches, two are very good; stamina fair, ditto control.
RP Adam Pugsley, 26 (22starts, 124ip, 2.91era in AAA for NYY) Another tweener; four pitches, good stuff. Movement and control so-so.
RP Billy Cerrone, 28 (52g, 6.75era in AAA for RIC) Three pitches but stamina keeps him in pen. Great stuff, little else. Stands at 6'6".
RP Ryan Key, 26 (40g, 39ip, 2.77era for SD) Rare guy here who has good ratings across the board. Probably the second setup guy.

...
Whew. A whole lot of, what? Mediocrity, average-ness, maybe some just plain bad here. (And, man, did we raid the San Diego pitching staff!) No surprise that MLB predicts we'll finish 60-102, sixth place, with no one in the top ten batters or pitchers. My feeling is that we can do better than 60 wins, but we'll have to stay healthy, and avoid long streaks where both the pitching and hitting are slumping. We'll see.

Next up: Season recap, with stats, transactions, roller coaster rides, and more!