The Aftermath

[NYY #23]

Things in San Antonio couldn't be going better in year 5. Last year the Monks won the World Series, while this year the Monks have started out in first places. We have the lowest payroll in the league, a young roster, and a top ten minor league system.

After taking team after team from Worst to First it's time to move on and see what happens after that World Series win. I have no expectations as to how long I'll remain in San Antonio, or any rules like last time. I'll stay as long as it feels right, with my goal of building San Antonio into a perennial contender. I'll need to pay closer attention to team building, and prospects, and payroll.

More details about how I got to this point with the Monks can be found here, but I'd really just like to keep things rolling along for now.

[NYY #23]

With the best record in baseball things are going very well for the Monks. Our pitching and bullpen is solid, our hitting is solid, and we're doing it all with the lowest payroll in baseball. I like this team and feel like we're in good shape for a playoff run.

While our bullpen was solid last year and they finished with the lowest ERA in the league I feel like this year's unit is even better. Cristo Hernandez is dominating with 17 saves and a 1.54 ERA while Jose Lopez has struck out 22 batters in 16 innings as a 22 year old.

Sometimes buying low doesn't work out, and we decided to designate Andrew Ayers for assignment after he hit just .133 in 18 games. So we'll welcome Ellis Price to the team after the 25 year old hit .325 with 18 home runs in AAA. Price was ranked as the #64 prospect in baseball before the start of the season.

Speaking of dead weight, I haven't talked about Pascal Sisto yet this year. The 44 year old has yet to get a hit this year, although he's just 0-4 at the plate. He's not playing enough to make a difference, and I just can't bring myself to release him at this point in his career.

[illeracula]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Speaking of dead weight, I haven't talked about Pascal Sisto yet this year. The 44 year old has yet to get a hit this year, although he's just 0-4 at the plate. He's not playing enough to make a difference, and I just can't bring myself to release him at this point in his career.

I think any long term OOTP player has had to deal with this... How are his ratings at this point? Maybe he will catch a hot streak and end his career on a high note...

[JaBurns]

Going to follow along with the Monks. Have you considered a promotion / relegation dynasty? I am struggling with a getting a setup right with combination random debut and fictional players with no recalc. Get a season or two in and then find something wrong or something I wanted change; I think it will be very compelling once I find the correct setup parameters. Just a thought, good luck with your current direction, to me it will be "Worst to First" the sequel. ...

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by illeracula

I think any long term OOTP player has had to deal with this... How are his ratings at this point? Maybe he will catch a hot streak and end his career on a high note...

That's very true. For a 44 year old Sisto's ratings are better than I'd expect. I think he could hold his own at the plate still, although defensively I wouldn't trust him in the field. Unfortunately for him there just aren't a lot of at-bats at DH to go his way unless there is an injury.

I'm probably not doing him too many favors keeping him, and I've explored trading him. I have trouble pulling the trigger though, even though it would probably be a good trade for all parties.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Going to follow along with the Monks. Have you considered a promotion / relegation dynasty? I am struggling with a getting a setup right with combination random debut and fictional players with no recalc. Get a season or two in and then find something wrong or something I wanted change; I think it will be very compelling once I find the correct setup parameters. Just a thought, good luck with your current direction, to me it will be "Worst to First" the sequel. ...

That's actually one of the things that I've been considering. Time's been limited, but I feel like this gives me a little bit more freedom to try some things out. I may do some testing with a promotion/relegation league to see if I can get things working like I want. I've also thought about adding a tournament to the league as well.

We'll see how testing goes though, and whether that turns into reality though.

[NYY #23]

The Monks were picking 27th in the amateur draft and went with the strategy of drafting the best available player. In the first round that came down to reliever Raul Ramirez and right fielder Max Glass. There is a lot to like about Ramirez, but I don't think he'll be much more than a reliever. That's why we went with the 19 year old power hitting Glass with our first round pick.

In the second round we took a chance on centerfielder Wes Myers, who is first round talent, but listed as impossible to sign. If we can add first round talent with just some money and a little convincing we'll give it a shot. In the third round we selected shortstop Matt Bailey, with pitcher RJ Haley selected fourth, and centerfielder Jim Flannery selected fifth.

The other big news to start the month was a trade, as we finally gave in and sent Pascal Sisto to Cleveland in exchange for 26 year old right fielder Armond Sciorra. Sciorra was hitting just .228 at the time of the trade, but he's just 26 years old and hit 17 home runs last year. We're not expecting him to be much more than a fourth outfielder, but he's a better fit than Sisto, as much as I don't want to admit it. The Indians will save a little bit of money and should give Sisto an opportunity to play in what I expect to be his final year.

[NYY #23]

June was the worst month of the season for the Monks so far, but our 15-11 month still saw us finish the month in first place with a 5 1/2 game lead. A big bonus was enough to convince both Wes Myers and Matt Bailey to pass on college, allowing us to add a couple of solid prospects to our organization with the draft.

It's still too early to judge the Sisto trade, but Sisto is hitting .200 for the Indians (1-5) while Sciorra is hitting .116 (5-43). Sciorra is getting a little bit more playing time than I expected with Rafael Mendoza going down with an injury, and hasn't made the most of his opportunities.

I knew Gustavo Lopez better when he was a closer with the Angels saving 40 games a year, but last year the Diamondbacks gave Lopez a single start in the rotation. The Nationals must have liked what they saw because they traded for Lopze and put him in the rotation this year for the first time as a 30 year old. He's done pretty well so far going 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA and has struck out 15 batters in a game, and pitched a no-hitter this month.

Ken Jones of the Braves hit the 300th home run of his career while Wally MacKey won the 200th game of his career for the Astros.

[NYY #23]

The New Orleans Gators are a bad team, and they offered us four separate deals this month. The last deal was intriguing when they offered to send us 27 year old starting pitcher Alex Terry. Terry is just 3-7 with a 3.84 ERA this year, but those numbers don't tell the true story. He was 17-8 with a 2.98 ERA last year and finished second in Cy Young voting. He'll be eligible for arbitration for the first time after this year. The Gators offered Terry, and 25 year old pitcher Ron Reed, who has pitched five scoreless innings since being recalled.

In exchange we sent former fifth round pick centerfielder Christian Snow and 23 year old reliever Jose Lopez to the Gators. I like Lopez a lot, and he's been effective in his first year in the majors, but he's only pitched 30 innings, and we're adding a Cy Young candidate to the rotation. It was hard to pass up this deal, and I even feel a little bit guilty for making it. Terry has only made one start for the Monks so far, but that was a win after pitching 8 2/3 innings and striking out 6.

The Monks have opened up a 10 game lead after going 18-6 in July. We also sent eight players to the All-Star game: Eddy Cook, Cam Gross, Burt Mays, Todd Thomas, Cristo Hernandez, Mauricio Maio, Pedro Torres, and Pat Thompson. Alberto Vazquez, Lawrence Sutton, Doug Raymond, and Cipriano Castillo also had pretty strong cases for heading to the All-Star game as well. Our players went 2-5 while pitching five shutout innings with Todd Thomas picking up the win and Cristo Hernandez earning the save.

Manny Alvarez of the Rays picked up the 200th win of his career while Jimmy Hastings of the Cubs and Esteban Albizu of the Rockies each hit the 300th home run of their career.

[NYY #23]

One of the drawbacks of having a young team with lots of pre-arbitration players is the team is going to get costly quickly. This is kind of a new scenario for me, as I haven't paid too close attention to signing players to extensions early in my worst to first dynasty. It may be a good time to start paying attention though, because that's going to present a whole new set of challenges. While our payroll is low this year ($37.1 million), over the next three years its projected to grow to $58.2, $89.4, and $99.8 million. As a point of reference our budget for this year is $74 million.

I noticed that trying to negotiate an extension for Doug Raymond that my owner would approve, but after signing Anthony Williamson to a 2 year $7.5 million extension. We also agreed to extensions for pitching coach Alejandro Alvarez and hitting coach Juan Coronado. If it ain't broke…

But budget woes are a problem for another day, because I think our budget will rise, and doing some quick shopping around of a player like Todd Thomas brings back a very nice return. Not that I want, or even will move him, but it's much easier to trim budget when players are entering their prime.

I feel like I'm burying the lead though, because August was a special month for the Monks. 22-5 special. 16 game winning streak special. Opening up an 18 1/2 game lead in the division special. It's fun when everything just seems to come together. Hopefully this is a good sign for October.

[NYY #23]

In 2045 I won a Worst to First record of 111 games with the Vancouver Kodiaks, which was topped by the Cincinnati Reds in 2051 when they won 113 games. With 7 games left in the season the San Antonio Monks have tied the Reds with our 113th win of the year after going 19-8 in September. The Monks have been on a roll, clinching a playoff berth on September 7th, and clinching the AL West on September 20th.

It looks like Pascal Sisto may have played his final game in the majors after being cut by the Indians on September 10th, finishing with 3879 career hits after going just 1-6 at the plate with the Indians this year. He should retire after the season, and I'll talk about his legacy at some point soon. After a horrible start Armond Sciorra turned things around for the Monks and would hit .281 with 7 home runs. While I do feel guilty about trading Sisto, I do think Sciorra helped us more this year.

Our other notable trade this year was acquiring Alex Terry from the Gators. Since joining the Monks Terry is 9-0 with a 3.30 ERA and has been everything we could have hoped for.

There were also a few milestones around the league with 31 year old Oliver Osborne hitting his 2000th career hit for the Blue Jays, 36 year old Richie Bennett hitting his 300th home run for the Rays, and 35 year old Pedro Ochoa of the Astros hitting his 300th career home run.

[NYY #23]

The Monks would wrap up the season with a record 118 wins and head to the playoffs with a first round bye, and a healthy team. Things were looking good for the Monks, who led the league in runs scored, and runs allowed with a solid bullpen. Our 304 home runs was a record, which beat the previous record by 22 set by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2060.



As we prepared for the playoffs I expected either success, or a miserable failure. When you win a record amount of games you expect to win it all. Our first round opponent was the Indians who won 90 games during the regular season and swept the Orioles. We set the tone in Game 1 of the series when we beat the Indians 20-5. That pace wouldn't continue throughout the series the Monks would wrap things up in six games with a 10-1 win. Pedro Torres would have a big series, hitting .474 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI to win MVP of the Series.



Our opponent in the ALCS was the Toronto Blue Jays, who swept the A's in the Division Series. The Jays featured the second best offense in the American League although their pitching after ace Ruben Rios was suspect. The Monks would homer nine times in the series, and get solid pitching to beat the Blue Jays in five games. Eddy Cook would win MVP of the Series after going 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA while striking out 12 in 11 innings. Mauricio Maio would homer 3 times in the series. The one concern I'd have was the pitching of our ace Todd Thomas, who had a 5.40 ERA in the Division Series, and a 9.00 ERA in the ALCS. It's a potential problem for a different day, but still has me worried that our ace is struggling, and he's about to get real expensive.



That brings us to the World Series where we were set to battle the Colorado Rockies, who won 111 games in the NL. The World Series would go seven games, and hitting would be on display for both teams. The Rockies would jump out to an early 3-1 lead in the series, but the Monks would come back and win the final three to win the World Series, capping things off with a 4-3 win in Game 7 where we hit four solo homers.

In a lot of ways it was an ugly series, but the Monks captured our second straight World Series title, and met our goal. Alberto Vazquez hit .394 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI to win MVP of the Series.

[NYY #23]

A new owner, new contract, and a new direction? After going 55-33 with a 3.13 ERA in four seasons with the Monks the Todd Thomas era in San Antonio is over. It's not because of his career postseason record of 1-2 with a 5.08 ERA, but with his price tag increasing I see warning signs. His strikeouts are down, his walks are up, and my scout's opinion of him has gone down over the last year.

It's better to deal him too soon when his value is high, rather than wait too long. So off to Los Angeles he goes with 31 year old right fielder Anthony Williamson, 27 year old minor league pitcher Guiseppe Godefroy and 24 year old minor league outfielder Gerardo Quintero. Coming back is 21 year old pitching prospect Michael Tolbert (ranked #87), former first round pick 23 year old right fielder Nelson Flores, 19 year old shortstop Trevor Burke, and 24 year old relief prospect Julian Williams.

Tolbert wouldn’t stay long though, as he was shipped off to Cincinnati along with right fielder Rafael Mendoza, top prospect Wes Myers, and minor leaguers SP RJ Haley and CF Marcos Garza in exchange for shortstop Michael Gibbs. With both Lita and Raymond leaving via free agency we wanted and got Gibbs, who hit .360 with 54 home runs and 135 RBI with 128 runs scored.

So in the course of two weeks we traded AL Cy Young winner Todd Thomas and acquired NL MVP Michael Gibbs. Mauricio Maio finished third in MVP voting, while Cam Gross finished second in Cy Young voting. Cristo Hernandez was named Reliever of the Year, while Maio, Pat Thompson, and Lawrence Sutton won Silver Slugger Awards.

The Monks have a new owner after Dale Duncan sold the team to Eugene Lowe. His first two acts were giving me a three year extension and raising my budget. I don't think we'll have many problems.

[NYY #23]

One of my first moves in San Antonio was trading our ace William Carter to the Yankees. Carter has done well in New York, winning at least 12 games or more in five straight seasons, and none of the players we acquired worked out. The Yankees offered a trade for four minor leaguers (none of note) for Carter. They want to free up $12 million from next year's payroll. We have plenty of money to spend for next year, but I don't want to go past one year deals. That should work out well for both teams, and we'll give Carter a shot to win a ring while welcoming him back to San Antonio.

We also signed left fielder Fred Mathews to a one year $2.6 million deal. Mathews really has one talent, hitting home runs. Last year he hit .268 with 17 home runs in 269 at-bats. I expect he'll be a good DH candidate for the Monks at a low cost.

Our other move was signing Antonio Ortiz to a one year $1.1 million contract. He's a borderline starter, making three starts last year for the Mariners. He was 5-7 with 19 saves and a 3.39 ERA. He was an insurance policy before the Carter trade, but given the cost and his flexibility it made sense to stay the course, even if we have to cut him at some point.

We have four potential signings in the works. Three are minor, while one is throwing some spare money at an aging veteran. I'll hold off saying anything further until we reach a deal.

[NYY #23]

It's always nice to see one of your former players inducted into the Hall of Fame, and that was the case with Jason Browning, who pitched for the Kodiaks from 2043-2045 when I was with the team. He would actually go in and play 13 years for the Kodiaks, one year for the White sox, three for the Orioles, and one for Carolina. The closer was a two time Reliever of the Year with a career record of 79-68 with 462 saves and a 2.62 ERA. Browning went to 8 all-star games and won two championships with the Kodiaks, and was inducted with 88.2% of the vote.



The second player inducted into the Hall of Fame was Denie Abeele with 80.8% of the vote. Abeele was 215-143 in his 16 year career, with 13 of them spent with the Expos. While Abeele never played in the majors for the Expos while I was there, I signed him to an $8.4 million contract as a 16 year old international amateur. That turned out to be money well spent for the Expos as Abeele was part of three championship teams and went to seven all-star games. Abeele was one of nine players with 3000 career strikeouts, currently sitting in fifth place on the all-time list with 3263.

CL Jason Browning 88.2 (1st year) Inducted HOF
SP Denie Abeele 80.8 (1st year) Inducted HOF
LF Melvin Lambert 72.5 (1st year)
SS Barry Colbert 64.7 (1st year)
RF Francisco Burgos 46.7 (6th year)
SP Hal Ramey 39.2 (1st year)
SP Ipe Bekema 22.4 (4th year)
CL Myron Martin 20.0 (8th year)
SS Doug Richard 18.8 (1st year)
CL Scott McCotters 18.0 (1st year)
C Manuel Batista 15.7 (6th year)
CL Tynan Velásquez 14.1 (4th year)
SP Claudio Castellanos 13.7 (1st year)
C Wayne Mathews 12.9 (4th year)
1B Ben Jones 12.5 (2nd year)
RP Alje Lagerweij 11.4 (1st year)
RP Gustavo Trevino 11.0 (1st year)
RF Gilberto Bruno 9.8 (5th year)
RP Luis Antonio Sánchez 9.0 (2nd year)
C Gilberto Aguilar 7.8 (1st year)
SP Nick Seaton 7.8 (10th year) Dropped
C Rafael Martínez 7.5 (1st year)
1B Javier Ledezma 7.5 (3rd year)

[NYY #23]

As the Monks prepare to head for Spring Training we put the finishing touches on our roster and announced the last of our offseason moves.

3B Tommy Hoover was signed to a one year $1.3 million contract to play as a utility infielder. Hoover hit .234 with 10 home runs last season for the Phillies.

Outfielder Jesus Angel was also welcomed back on a one year $1.1 million contract. He only played in AAA for the Monks last year, but hit .239 with 10 home runs, and he was a victim of too many outfielders.

Next up was former Angel and former Monk Ben Patrick. He signed a 2 year $4.2 million contract, and holds a player option for the second year. He was 7-7 with 3 saves and a 2.39 ERA in 67 2/3 innings last year and 42-32 with 41 saves during his career. While he never achieved the level of greatness I thought he was capable of he's definitely a valuable piece in the bullpen.

Then last, but not least the Monks handed out a big $15.6 million contract to 36 year old Richie Bennett, who hit .284 with 23 home runs and 81 RBI. Between Alberto Vazquez and Bennett one will play second base and the other will DH. He's a luxury we can afford this year as we chase our third straight title.

Meanwhile our two shortstops from last year have both signed with new teams. Doug Raymond signed a two year $21 million contract with the Cardinals, and Paterno Lita signed a four year $28 million contract with the Yankees.

[NYY #23]

After winning 18 games during Spring Training the Monks suffered just one major casualty in Spring Training when Cristo Hernandez went out with elbow ligament surgery. After going 4-3 with 48 saves and a 1.49 ERA the Monks will be looking for a new closer.

With a 4-3 lead over the Tigers on Opening Day we gave Pedro Jimenez a shot at earning his first save, but he allowed a run. Luckily a 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth off the bat of Alberto Vazquez gave us a 7-4 win on Opening Day. A good offense helps make up for mistakes like that, and Jimenez is young.

This year we'll welcome 24 year old Julian Williams to the team. Williams was acquired in the Todd Thomas deal and pitched well in single A and double A last year and earned a spot in the bullpen this year after pitching well in Spring Training after the injury to Hernandez.

The second newcomer is 27 year old Chad Martin, our 12th round pick in 2059. With both Ayers and Angel banged up he'll serve as our fifth outfielder for now.

[NYY #23]

I'm trying not to panic after the Monks started the season 13-12. I'm trying to look on the bright side - we're tied for fourth despite an offense ranked 12th, defense ranked 13th, bullpen ranked 9th, and rotation ranked fifth. Sometimes a slow start is just a slow start though, or at least that's what I'm hoping.

I don't think everyone struggling at the plate has forgot to hit, or play defense. I think we'll come around, because we have too much talent not too. Of course there is a part of me that worries if I made too many moves during the offseason. Was trading Todd Thomas really a good thing, after all he's started 4-1 with a 3.00 in LA.

Around the league there were two milestones this month: 36 year old catcher Bret Flora hit his 300th home run for the Orioles, while 37 year old second baseman Esteban Garza picked up the 2000th hit of his career for the Giants.

[NYY #23]

With an 18-10 month the Monks are starting to get back on track, moving into third place and are now 6 1/2 games back. The Monks just can't seem to get through a couple of days without an injury, although most of those injuries are minor. We have taken advantage of the injuries though and called up former first round pick Luke Ryan, who is hitting .370 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI. Ryan should fit in well with the Monks, he's a good hitter and poor fielder, which seems to be our thing.

Some touching news from former Monks shortstop Baltesar Gonzalez who retired from baseball for a good cause, donating a kidney to his sister. Gonzalez hit .232 with 76 home runs and 293 RBI during his career.

Jim Stephenson of the Dodgers hit the 300th home run of his career, while David Bird of the Padres picked up his 2000th career hit this month.

[NYY #23]

Texas native Patrick Clayton was the Monks first round pick as we selected the 19 year old pitcher with the 34th overall pick. In the second round we selected right fielder Ernesto Rodriguez. Both come with signing risks, but we're willing to take a shot to add better talent.

Centerfielders Johnny Rodriguez, Scott West, and Tom Hammond rounded out the first five rounds.

The Monks started the month hot going 11-2 and are now just 3 games out of first place.