Taking over the 2004 Off-season

DiMaggio5CF · 12-19-2003, 06:24 PM

Before the I start, let me give you the background of this league.

For this league, I tried to re-create the beginning of the 2004 offseason. I used Rocco's All-Star updates and exported the rosters. I re-arranged the rosters to reflect all of the major trades that took place last season, and to make the proper players free agents.

However, there are two problems. One is that all of the guys who are supposed to be available for the upcoming rookie draft was in the free agent pool. I wound up signing all of the top prospects to a minor league deal, which may sound like an unfair advantage, but it's really not. The reason that it's not is that, because they were signed as free agents, (I believe) that once they see the big leagues, they will become free agents. So I won't have them for three years at minimus salary; if I want to keep them, I'll have to come up with the money.

And if that's not the case, while they will come up through my system, I will keep only a few and release most of them. By signing them myself, I can ensure fairness, while the computer couldn't be counted on to do that.

Another problem is that the season starts in 2003, but is supposed to reflect real-life 2004. So the year will always be one year behind. And another problem is that the free agent signing period took place during the month of April. I re-generated the schedule so that each team still plays 162 games, but the season will now have to go from May to October (playoffs in November) instead of April to September (playoffs in October).

But this will be a good experiment. The only interesting thing will be how the prospects work.

I also adjusted some players, but did not give myself any advantage.

The only players that I adjusted were free agent Bartolo Colon and Montreal pitcher Javier Vazquez, making Colon a 7 and Vazquez an 8. The only Yankees that I touched were Jose Contreras and Jeff Weaver. I made Contreras a 6 (from a 5) and downgraded Weaver from a 6 to a 4. I can't think of anyone else off-hand that I changed.

I also changed some of the coaches and scouts. I improved Brian Cashman a little, because he really is better than his decent/decent ratings in the game. I also improved some of the computer coaches and scouts, but did not make anyone worse.

So, that's the premise of the league.

I took over the Yankees, signing a one-year, $400,000 contract and went to work making trades and signing free agents.

DiMaggio5CF · 12-19-2003, 09:15 PM

The first thing I did was actually cut payroll. I had about $35 million to spend on free agents, but with Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon topping my wishlist, I needed more.

So I said goodbye to Jeff Weaver, Chris Hammond, Steve Karsay, and Jon Lieber -- and their hefty salaries.

The first move I made was sending Hammond, Karsay, Lieber, and prospect Bronson Sardinha to the Giants for a package of prospects that included Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams. In the deal, I also got Matt Cain, Lance Niekro, and Freddie Lewis. For the Giants, Lieber became their number three starter behind Jason Schmidt and Kirk Rueter. Hammond became their left-handed setup man, and Karsay became a middle reliever.

Next, I dealt Jeff Weaver to the Milwaukee Brewers for Prince Fielder, Brandon Gemoll, Mike Jones, Corey Hart, and J.J. Hardy. Weaver will be Milwaukee's number two starter behind Ben Sheets.

At that point, I turned my attention to the free agents.

The first guy I signed was the guy I wanted the most, Vladimir Guerrero, inking him to a seven-year deal worth $122.5 million.

With that done, I went after number two on my wishlist, Bartolo Colon, signing him for six years, $75 million.

Then, I turned my attention to my bullpen, which currently had only Mariano Rivera.

I signed Arthur Rhodes for four years, $24 million and LaTroy Hawkins for five years, $22.5 million.

I also signed Garrett Stephenson ($2.1 million over three years) and Mike Myers ($2.4 million over three years) to be a good, inexpensive right-left middle relief tandem.

At that point, I was done, except for a few minor league contracts.

But now I had a new problem. Even with Bartolo Colon, I had only three starters. So I had to find two more.

First, I dealt 1B Ryan McGuire to the Expos for 23-year-old minor leaguer P Claudio Vargas. In the deal I also got P Sun-Woo Kim, RF Matt Cepicky, 1B Larry Broadway, and SS Josh Labandeira.

Next, I visited the Kansas City Royals and acquired 25-year-old P Runelvys Hernandez, along with 26-year-old P Mike MacDougal, for RF Juan Rivera and 3B Drew Henson. I also picked up DH Ken Harvey, P Rick DeHart, and 1B Kila Kaaihue in the deal.

But I still wasn't satisfied. I liked Hernandez, and I was willing to give Vargas a chance, but not both at the same time. The back end of my rotation was too weak.

So I traded prospects SS Erick Almonte and P Tim Stauffer to the Cleveland Indians for 22-year-old P C.C. Sabathia, CF Grady Sizemore, LF Ryan Church, P Francisco Cruceta, and SS Chris De La Cruz. That pushed Claudio Vargas to Triple-A and Runelvys Hernandez to the fifth spot in the rotation.

Then I made one final deal, sending 1B Larry Broadway, acquired from the Expos, across town to the Mets, who were desperate for a first baseman, for P Aaron Heilman, 3B Ty Wigginton, C Justin Huber, 3B David Wright, and P Josh Banks.

Now, I'm ready for the season.

This is my Opening Day Line-up

Line-up
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Bernie Williams, CF
3. Vladimir Guerrero, RF
4. Jason Giambi, 1B
5. Alfonso Soriano, 2B
6. Hideki Matsui, LF
7. Jorge Posada, C
8. Nick Johnson, DH
9. Aaron Boone, 3B

Bench
1. Joe Girardi, C
2. Enrique Wilson, IF
3. Bobby Smith, IF
4. Karim Garcia, OF
5. David Dellucci, OF

Rotation
1. Mike Mussina, R
2. Bartolo Colon, R
3. C.C. Sabathia, L
4. Jose Contreras, R
5. Runelvys Hernandez, R

Bullpen
1. Mariano Rivera, CL
2. Arthur Rhodes, SU
3. LaTroy Hawkins, SU
4. Mike MacDougal, MR
5. Garrett Stephenson, MR
6. Mike Myers, LS

As for other big free-agents, RF Gary Sheffield went to Texas (for $17+ million per year for five years, a big reason why I spent the minimal amount more for Guerrero), SS Miguel Tejada went to Seattle, RF Juan Gonzalez went to Oakland, P Andy Pettitte went to the Mets, P Greg Maddux went to Seattle, P Sidney Ponson went to Philadelphia, P Keith Foulke went to Milwaukee, and P Eddie Guardado went to Cleveland.

joncarlos · 12-21-2003, 05:18 PM

The first move I made was sending Hammond, Karsay, Lieber, and prospect Bronson Sardinha to the Giants for a package of prospects that included Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams. In the deal, I also got Matt Cain, Lance Niekro, and Freddie Lewis.

How in the heck did the computer agree to that deal? Come on, it's already too easy to be the Yankees, you don't need to bludgeon the AI in trades too

(I should talk... my Pirates team is good too

)

DiMaggio5CF · 12-24-2003, 01:53 PM

I set the game to average difficulty, so it's not like I'm sweeping the league on the easy setting. And I put the trading AI to "favor prospects" to prevent lopsided trades like that. I guess I have to put it on "heavily favor prospects." I didn't do that from the beginning because I didn't want teams in a pennant race to trade a starter for a package of prospects that are still years away from the major league level.

CBLCardinals · 12-25-2003, 07:46 PM

wow the luxuries big-market finances give you!

So far my '04 Royals are at 16-13, 7 back of the White Sox who loaded up on FAs in the offseason!

The only FA worthwhile I could afford to pickup was Eli Marrero. Re-signed Joe Randa and Raul Ibanez.

Good luck in your season!

12-19-2003, 06:24 PM	#1
DiMaggio5CF All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 921	Taking over the 2004 Off-season Before the I start, let me give you the background of this league. For this league, I tried to re-create the beginning of the 2004 offseason. I used Rocco's All-Star updates and exported the rosters. I re-arranged the rosters to reflect all of the major trades that took place last season, and to make the proper players free agents. However, there are two problems. One is that all of the guys who are supposed to be available for the upcoming rookie draft was in the free agent pool. I wound up signing all of the top prospects to a minor league deal, which may sound like an unfair advantage, but it's really not. The reason that it's not is that, because they were signed as free agents, (I believe) that once they see the big leagues, they will become free agents. So I won't have them for three years at minimus salary; if I want to keep them, I'll have to come up with the money. And if that's not the case, while they will come up through my system, I will keep only a few and release most of them. By signing them myself, I can ensure fairness, while the computer couldn't be counted on to do that. Another problem is that the season starts in 2003, but is supposed to reflect real-life 2004. So the year will always be one year behind. And another problem is that the free agent signing period took place during the month of April. I re-generated the schedule so that each team still plays 162 games, but the season will now have to go from May to October (playoffs in November) instead of April to September (playoffs in October). But this will be a good experiment. The only interesting thing will be how the prospects work. I also adjusted some players, but did not give myself any advantage. The only players that I adjusted were free agent Bartolo Colon and Montreal pitcher Javier Vazquez, making Colon a 7 and Vazquez an 8. The only Yankees that I touched were Jose Contreras and Jeff Weaver. I made Contreras a 6 (from a 5) and downgraded Weaver from a 6 to a 4. I can't think of anyone else off-hand that I changed. I also changed some of the coaches and scouts. I improved Brian Cashman a little, because he really is better than his decent/decent ratings in the game. I also improved some of the computer coaches and scouts, but did not make anyone worse. So, that's the premise of the league. I took over the Yankees, signing a one-year, $400,000 contract and went to work making trades and signing free agents.

12-21-2003, 05:18 PM	#3
joncarlos All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pittsburgh PA Posts: 693	The first move I made was sending Hammond, Karsay, Lieber, and prospect Bronson Sardinha to the Giants for a package of prospects that included Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams. In the deal, I also got Matt Cain, Lance Niekro, and Freddie Lewis. How in the heck did the computer agree to that deal? Come on, it's already too easy to be the Yankees, you don't need to bludgeon the AI in trades too (I should talk... my Pirates team is good too ) __________________ <a href =http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35167> 2003 Pirates Regular Season </a> <a href=http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40941> 2003 Pirates playoffs and off-season </a> <a href=http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44242> 2004 Pirates Season </a> <a href=http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47658> 2004 Pirates Playoffs and Off-season </a> <a href=http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48039>2005 Pirates Regular Season </a>

12-19-2003, 09:15 PM	#2
DiMaggio5CF All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 921	The first thing I did was actually cut payroll. I had about $35 million to spend on free agents, but with Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon topping my wishlist, I needed more. So I said goodbye to Jeff Weaver, Chris Hammond, Steve Karsay, and Jon Lieber -- and their hefty salaries. The first move I made was sending Hammond, Karsay, Lieber, and prospect Bronson Sardinha to the Giants for a package of prospects that included Jesse Foppert and Jerome Williams. In the deal, I also got Matt Cain, Lance Niekro, and Freddie Lewis. For the Giants, Lieber became their number three starter behind Jason Schmidt and Kirk Rueter. Hammond became their left-handed setup man, and Karsay became a middle reliever. Next, I dealt Jeff Weaver to the Milwaukee Brewers for Prince Fielder, Brandon Gemoll, Mike Jones, Corey Hart, and J.J. Hardy. Weaver will be Milwaukee's number two starter behind Ben Sheets. At that point, I turned my attention to the free agents. The first guy I signed was the guy I wanted the most, Vladimir Guerrero, inking him to a seven-year deal worth $122.5 million. With that done, I went after number two on my wishlist, Bartolo Colon, signing him for six years, $75 million. Then, I turned my attention to my bullpen, which currently had only Mariano Rivera. I signed Arthur Rhodes for four years, $24 million and LaTroy Hawkins for five years, $22.5 million. I also signed Garrett Stephenson ($2.1 million over three years) and Mike Myers ($2.4 million over three years) to be a good, inexpensive right-left middle relief tandem. At that point, I was done, except for a few minor league contracts. But now I had a new problem. Even with Bartolo Colon, I had only three starters. So I had to find two more. First, I dealt 1B Ryan McGuire to the Expos for 23-year-old minor leaguer P Claudio Vargas. In the deal I also got P Sun-Woo Kim, RF Matt Cepicky, 1B Larry Broadway, and SS Josh Labandeira. Next, I visited the Kansas City Royals and acquired 25-year-old P Runelvys Hernandez, along with 26-year-old P Mike MacDougal, for RF Juan Rivera and 3B Drew Henson. I also picked up DH Ken Harvey, P Rick DeHart, and 1B Kila Kaaihue in the deal. But I still wasn't satisfied. I liked Hernandez, and I was willing to give Vargas a chance, but not both at the same time. The back end of my rotation was too weak. So I traded prospects SS Erick Almonte and P Tim Stauffer to the Cleveland Indians for 22-year-old P C.C. Sabathia, CF Grady Sizemore, LF Ryan Church, P Francisco Cruceta, and SS Chris De La Cruz. That pushed Claudio Vargas to Triple-A and Runelvys Hernandez to the fifth spot in the rotation. Then I made one final deal, sending 1B Larry Broadway, acquired from the Expos, across town to the Mets, who were desperate for a first baseman, for P Aaron Heilman, 3B Ty Wigginton, C Justin Huber, 3B David Wright, and P Josh Banks. Now, I'm ready for the season. This is my Opening Day Line-up Line-up 1. Derek Jeter, SS 2. Bernie Williams, CF 3. Vladimir Guerrero, RF 4. Jason Giambi, 1B 5. Alfonso Soriano, 2B 6. Hideki Matsui, LF 7. Jorge Posada, C 8. Nick Johnson, DH 9. Aaron Boone, 3B Bench 1. Joe Girardi, C 2. Enrique Wilson, IF 3. Bobby Smith, IF 4. Karim Garcia, OF 5. David Dellucci, OF Rotation 1. Mike Mussina, R 2. Bartolo Colon, R 3. C.C. Sabathia, L 4. Jose Contreras, R 5. Runelvys Hernandez, R Bullpen 1. Mariano Rivera, CL 2. Arthur Rhodes, SU 3. LaTroy Hawkins, SU 4. Mike MacDougal, MR 5. Garrett Stephenson, MR 6. Mike Myers, LS As for other big free-agents, RF Gary Sheffield went to Texas (for $17+ million per year for five years, a big reason why I spent the minimal amount more for Guerrero), SS Miguel Tejada went to Seattle, RF Juan Gonzalez went to Oakland, P Andy Pettitte went to the Mets, P Greg Maddux went to Seattle, P Sidney Ponson went to Philadelphia, P Keith Foulke went to Milwaukee, and P Eddie Guardado went to Cleveland.

12-24-2003, 01:53 PM	#4
DiMaggio5CF All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 921	I set the game to average difficulty, so it's not like I'm sweeping the league on the easy setting. And I put the trading AI to "favor prospects" to prevent lopsided trades like that. I guess I have to put it on "heavily favor prospects." I didn't do that from the beginning because I didn't want teams in a pennant race to trade a starter for a package of prospects that are still years away from the major league level.

12-25-2003, 07:46 PM	#5
CBLCardinals OOTP Roster Team Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,073	wow the luxuries big-market finances give you! So far my '04 Royals are at 16-13, 7 back of the White Sox who loaded up on FAs in the offseason! The only FA worthwhile I could afford to pickup was Eli Marrero. Re-signed Joe Randa and Raul Ibanez. Good luck in your season!