1996 Boston Red Sox

[happymeal88]

Retro Baseball League is a new retro baseball league (wow imagine that) that began with a draft of 1996 Major League Baseball players into a new league featuring 24 teams.

The league website is here http://rbl.allsimbaseball3.com/
The league reports are here http://rbl.allsimbaseball3.com/lgrep..._100_home.html
and the Red Sox page is here http://rbl.allsimbaseball3.com/lgrep...ms/team_2.html

I will mostly be posting articles at the conclusion of every sim here, but feel free to use the above links to get a feeling for the league and the other teams.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA – “Tonight is the first step to building a team that will put 1918 to rest,” the new Boston Red Sox President and General Manager Andrew Habermehl told the crowd of reporters at Fenway Park late last night. “It is also the last time you will hear reference to 1918 or any other season beside the current one. We are going to create a tradition of excellence here and that begins with a winning attitude.”

That winning tradition that Habermehl hopes to create here in Boston is going to be dependant on the roster that he crafts over the inaugural Retro Baseball League draft. The roster began to take shape last night when Habermehl and the Red Sox drafted their first five players. Going with starting pitchers in the first, third and fifth rounds the Red Sox walked away from the draft with young guns Curt Schilling, Scott Sanders and Al Leiter.

Schilling and Sanders look to anchor the rotation with the top two slots for quite a few seasons. Almost carbon copies of each other, both stand at 6’3 and 215lbs, they are ranked the 4th and 5th best pitchers in the RBL by SiON. Adding the crafty lefty Al Lieter and the Red Sox look to have a strong three fifths of the rotation.


First Round Draft Choice Curt Schilling

One thing the Red Sox did not walk away from the draft with was a power bat, which seemed to be something the other teams in the league snatched up in abundance. Instead, with the two picks the Red Sox made on the offensive they picked up a second basemen and third basemen light on power but heavy on contact talents. Both Jeff Cirilo and Bill Mueller look to be good table setters for whatever sluggers the Red Sox are able to nab in the next few rounds.

Regardless of the moves they make, it looks to be an interesting 1996 season as former Major League Baseball players are scattered throughout the new RBL.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA – Day two of the draft was completed late last night and the Boston Red Sox, under the guidance of team President and General Manager Andrew Habermehl, continued to build a roster they hope will compete in both the immediate and long term future.

“It’s important for this team to have a balance between talented hitting and talented pitching,” Habermehl said in a conference call after the completion of the tenth round of the draft. “A couple of teams went exclusively with pitching in the first few rounds, and some went with just hitting. We went into today looking to add talented players to the mix and keep with the even addition of hitters and pitchers.”

As of right now the Red Sox have six hitters and four pitchers on their roster, with the club drafting four hitters today and just one pitcher. In the first five rounds the Red Sox did the opposite drafting three pitchers and just two hitters. In the previous five rounds the Red Sox acquired catcher Mike Stanley, Ellis Burks, Bob Hamelin and Marty Cordova.


Ellis Burks is introduced at Fenway Park shortly after being drafted

Burks, Stanley and Hamelin all bring a lot of power to the plate, while all four hitters bring above average speed to the base paths. “It is important, in our minds, to not be limited to station to station sluggers,” Habermehl commentated, “but rather to try to find players who bring a little bit of both to the field.”

Besides picking up speedy sluggers the Red Sox also added a power arm to the back of the bullpen. Instead of drafting their fourth and fifth starters, the Red Sox instead drafted young gun Ricky Bottalico who brings a local flavor to the team. The 24 year old closer was born in New Britain, Connecticut. Besides being a local kid, Bottalico also posses the pitching talent needed to shorten a nine inning game to an eight inning one.

Going into tomorrow the Red Sox need to solidify their lineup with a first basemen, shortstop and centerfielder. After filling those holes in the coming rounds, the Red Sox will still have the bullpen, the back end of the rotation and the bench to fill.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA – Late last night the inaugural Retro Baseball League player distribution draft was completed. Heading into the first season of play the Boston Red Sox now have a roster of 25 players, in addition to 20 more in the minor leagues. So now in addition to a ballpark, uniforms, a front office, and the necessary equipment the team now has the players needed to compete.

Headlining the roster are stud pitchers Scott Sanders and Curt Schilling, infielders Jeff Cirillo and Bill Mueller, catcher Mike Stanley and outfielder Ellis Burks. “We have some talented players that we drafted and are especially happy with the pitching staff we developed,” General Manager Andrew Habermehl told the media following the conclusion of the draft. Besides Sanders and Schilling at the front of the rotation the bullpen is also filled with talented pitchers like Ricky Bottalico, Rick Honeycutt, Yorkis Perez and Ken Ryan.


Al Leiter with his former club

Al Leiter, Mark Portugal and Mike Sirotka round out the rotation and Tim Davis and Jerry Dipoto fill out the eleven man pitching staff. “All the pitchers we acquired in the draft have a combination of nasty stuff, as out scouts described it, great control or great movement,” Habermehl stated before continuing to say that “almost every one of them received a plus grade in two of the three categories our scouts evaluated them in.”

The lineup looks a little more uncertain as the team stocked up on slap hitting middle infielders in the later rounds. Instead of drafting to the needs, the team took an approach of acquiring the best hitters available. This resulted in a plethora of middle infielders who all bring the same talents to the table. Jeff Frye, taken in the 22nd round, and Keith Lockhart, drafted the following round, both fit the
description of a “slap hitting, light power” hitter with decent defense.


Jeff Frye with other minor league middle infielders

It looks as though heading into the Rule IV draft tonight the Red Sox will be looking to acquire an impact bat to play in the outfield or at first base. Those positions seemed to be the most neglected during the later rounds, and it will be up to Habermehl to bolster them in the amateur draft.

All the players drafted by the Red Sox can be found at their website, here.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA – The Red Sox struck gold in the mind of General Manager Andrew Habermehl when they got to draft in the Retro Baseball League Rule IV draft tonight. “We are very, very, very pleased with our top two selections” Habermehl exclaimed upon the conclusion of the first two rounds. The Red Sox walked away from the first two rounds with two outfielders, Richard Hidalgo and Mark Kotsay.

“We are confident that both are going to be very productive major league players in very quick order,” Habermehl explained, “and we feel like they only add quality to our team.” Hidalgo looks more major league ready than Kotsay, but both bring a world of potential to the organization that selected them. Hidalgo, heading into the draft, was rated the eight best prospect by SiON sports.


Hidalgo putting on a hitting show in Venezuela

Hidalgo is a twenty year old outfielder from Venezuela who posses one of the top bats available in the draft. He has outstanding contact, gap and pure power potential, rating highly in all three of those categories according to the scouts interviewed. “Not only can the kid rake, but he has a hose and great range in left field,” an American League scout commented.

“Kotsay is a Hidalgo clone, without the homerun power. He is going to hit for average, get a lot of doubles and play an outstanding outfield,” another scout explained before saying “his arm and range are unmatched in the draft.” Kotsay is a 20 year old outfielder from California and also brings a bit of speed to the base paths. It looks like he will begin the season in AAA, as opposed to Hidalgo who looks ready to step into the lineup on opening day of the 1996 season.


Kotsay smiling after being drafted

“We are very happy with this draft and the quality of players we were able to acquire,” Habermehl said in his closing statements. It remains to be seen, however, whether these quality players will result in wins and revitalize baseball in Boston.

[happymeal88]

As the Boston Red Sox broke spring training to being the long Retro Baseball League season here are the players dawning the Red Sox uniforms for the beginning of the season.

Ricky Bottalico
A hard working, hard throwing twenty six year old with an electric fastball and devastating slider – what’s not to like?

Ellis Burks
Overall, Burks is an excellent player to have on a team because off all the assets he brings. He is a loyal, hard working, power hitting veteran with speed and base stealing ability.

Jeff Cirillo
Cirllo is a great hitter, bringing gap power and contact skills who is very tough to strike out. As a 26 year old, he looks to be with the team for a while.

Marty Cordova

Cordova is one of those ‘glue guys’ who doesn’t do anything in an overly impressive manner but brings a complete game to the ballpark from good defense to good hitting to good baserunning.

Tim Davis
A young left handed reliever with an absolutely dominating slider. The ball not only moves, but the movement on it is textbook. Pitching coaches cannot teach a better slider than the one Davis brings to the mound.

Jerry Dipoto
Dipoto is a hardworking reliever who brings four pitches to his arsenal, all with plus movement. His slider, change and circle change all serve as effective pitches to match his average fastball. Together, though, they make for tough at bats for hitters.

Kevin Elster

A solid infielder, his forte is defense and not hitting however given the opportunity he has preformed at the plate in the past. It looks like this 31 year old will be a one trick pony for this squad, though, with his defense being his calling card.

John Flaherty
Flaherty is a smart, tough, hard nosed catcher who will serve as Stanley’s backup. He doesn’t do anything especially well, but is a complete player.

Jeff Frye
Frye is the prototypical small ball type of player. Decent defense, good baserunning skills, great at laying down bunts, and he won’t walk a lot but he hits a lot of balls to the gaps and is hard to strike out.

Bob Hamelin

Hamelin has the ability to be a very good hitter. He has great plate discipline and outstanding power. Defensively he is a bit of a liability but his bat more than makes up for his lack of defensive prowess. He is also deceptive on the base paths bringing very good stealing ability to the game despite his poor overall speed.

Richard Hidalgo
Hidalgo is part of the long term future of the Red Sox. He plays good defense in the outfield and his bat seems poised to mature into that of an all star. Right now his power is his best skill, but he is more prone to doubles than homeruns. This 20 year old, however, will soon improve to be both a great homerun hitter and a great contact hitter.

Ricky Honeycutt
Honeycutt is that crafty old lefty in the bullpen. He has outstanding control of his fastball, sinker, splitter, slider, change and knuckle curve and they all posses great movement. His intelligence is well known and he should serve as a great asset for the Red Sox out of the bullpen.

Al Leiter
Leiter will keep his infield busy during his starts as he is a groundball pitcher who has lots of movement on his pitches and induces a great percentage of ground balls. What his fast ball lacks in speed, toping off around 92, his other pitches make up for in deceiving movement.

Keith Lockhart

Lockhart is almost a clone of Frye, as both bring similar skill sets. Good defense, good contact and gap power, tough to strike out and other ‘small ball’ skills. The one thing Lockhart has that Frye lacks is base stealing ability and prowess.

Derrick May
May is coming a good year in Houston, but scouts don’t rate his skills very highly. He is tough to strike out and good on the base paths. Other than that he doesn’t do anything outstanding or poorly. Average is the best way to describe his overall skill set in the mind of most scouts.

Bill Mueller
Mueller will be a batting champ. That’s what most scouts and analysts say about this 25 year old third basemen from Missouri. Outstanding contact, great ability to get the ball to the gaps, awesome command of the strike zone and a headache for strike out pitchers because of his ability to put the ball in play. In the mind of most, those skills point to a batting crown.

Tim Naehring
Defense is where it starts with Tim, but it doesn’t just end there. He is dangerous at the dish with solid skills in all categories as opposed to excellence in one area. And although his glove gets him in the highlight reels, his bat makes him an integral part of the team.

Melvin Nieves
Nieves is known for two things – taking hits away from hitters in the outfield and hitting the ball past the fences he patrols. He won’t walk and almost always hits from the heels as he tries to yank balls out of the park. Therefore, when he makes contact the ball will fly. But don’t expect him to make a lot of contact, either.

Dan Peltier
Peliter provides a left handed bat off the bench for the Red Sox as well as defensive replacement at firstbase. But his bat and defense is special. He doesn’t excel anywhere and seems to have just enough talent to stick around the majors as the last man on the bench.

Yorkis Perez
At bats at Perez usually begin with a nasty 96 mile per hour fastball and ends with a change up that either induces a ground ball or a strike out. Nasty stuff and movement are Perez’s bread and butter and will earn this 28 year old lefty some good reviews over the course of the season.

Mark Portugal
Mark controls his pitches pretty well and has some decent movement on them that can lead to some good outings. His consistency isn’t great, however, and sometimes his movement and control suffer which can lead to some ugly stat lines. He isn’t fooling anyone into thinking he is an ace, but he is a serviceable pitcher.

Ken Ryan

Much like the other pitchers coming out of the Red Sox bullpen, he is paid big bucks because of his ability to move pitches in a way that fathoms hitters. His slider and changeup induce numerous outs for this right handed pitcher out of Pawtucket, home of the Red Sox AAA affiliate.

Scott Sanders
Scott Sanders will team with Curt Schilling to head the Red Sox rotation for years, or so the team hopes. This 27 year older has nasty stuff and mind-boggling movement on his pitches and can throw strikes with the best of them. This pitcher is rated one of the top players in baseball by SiON.

Curt Schilling
Schilling doesn’t have stuff quite as good as Sanders, but he makes up for it in control. Like Sanders, Schilling is rated one of the top players in all of RBL by SiON. He will be a star with Sanders for years.

Mike Sirotka
Tell me if this sounds like other pitchers on the Red Sox – a lefty with great movement. Between all these pitches the Red Sox have who put yoyo action on pitches the infield will be very busy at Fenway Park and around the AL this season. Manning the backend of the rotation, expect Sanders to induce a lot of groundball outs over the course of the season.

Mike Stanley

Stanley is the poor man’s version of Hamelin, a power hitter with a great eye. Like Hamelin he is not going to win a gold glove anytime soon but he is going to be a key cog in the Red Sox lineup.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA -- The Boston Red Sox have struggled out of the gate this season, generating a third place record of just 22-34. Through numerous struggles it seems as though the Red Sox have fallen out of the American League East race. The main source of the struggle for the Red Sox has been the starting pitching after the dual aces of Curt Schilling and Scott Sanders. Despite the efforts of those two, the other three starters have combined for 16 of the 34 losses and none of the three have ERA’s below 6.70.


Schilling has yet to struggle like rotation-mates

In contrast Schilling has a 3.86 ERA and Sanders is spotting a 3.60 and together they combine for 9 wins (which is more than the other three combined). The other pitchers on the staff also seem to have avoid struggles with ERA’s ranging from 3.58 for the closer Ricky Bottalico to the 3.95 that Tim Davis has in the set up role. Yorkis Perez and Ricky Honeycutt, the primary middle relief pitchers, have a 3.67 and 3.86 ERA respectfully.

So despite the solid pitching from the bullpen and the top two starters it has been hard for the Red Sox to overcome the struggles of their bottom three pitchers. Likewise, the offense has tried its hardest to overcome their pitching woes but is unable to do it as of the start of July.
Top draft picks Bill Mueller, Jeff Cirillo, Bob Hamelin, Richard Hidalgo, and Mike Stanley have all done admirably at the plate. Mueller and Hidalgo have both hit for over .300 while all five of them have on base percentages above .350, while the entire team ranks third in the AL with a team OBP of .344. The Red Sox also rank third in the league in extra base hits, proving that this lineup isn’t just hitting the ball well, but also hitting it hard.


Mueller a Bright Spot for Sox

So despite solid success at the plate, the fourth best bullpen ERA in the league and the good start by the Red Sox two aces they are struggling to reach .500. This has led to Tim Naehring, the platooning short stop, to reportedly request a trade with the Red Sox front office. Andrew Habermehl, the team General Manager, replyed to inquires about this demand with a curt “no comment” but it remains to be seen how much longer Naehring will wear a B on his cap. The success of his platoon partner, Jeff Frye, could also lead to his exit from Boston.

If he does get traded, the Red Sox hope he brings the losing ways that have plagued them with him. But more importantly, a solid third starter would be nice in return for the seven year Red Sox player.

[happymeal88]

Boston, MA – Is a major shakeup coming to Fenway Park? “We have underperformed, no doubt,” a frustrated Jimy Williams told reporters following a 7-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, “and this has got end. The players, coaches, fans, everyone is extremely frustrated with out performance so far.” Williams is right as a source within the front office confirms that Rick Honeycutt and Al Leiter have showed their frustration by joining Tim Naehring for a trade.


Williams' and the Red Sox haven't been basking in the sun shine of winning

“You watch the games, you know how hard it is for this team to win the starting pitchers can’t keep us competitive,” Williams continued to say as he motioned towards the clubhouse that housed American Leagues 12th worst ERA by starting pitchers. Leiter’s trade demand seems surprising due to the fact that he is one of the main contributors to that poor ERA among starting pitchers. It is also obvious to most analysts in Boston that the starting pitchers is the key reason the Red Sox have fallen to 11 games back in AL East.

The bullpen has continued to shine for the Red Sox and Williams points out that “if it weren’t for the outstanding pitching by our bullpen we would be even worst than we are.” He is also quick to respond to criticism that he doesn’t rely on the bullpen more to alleviate poor starts by saying “I know you guys look at those great ERA’s and think they should pitch more but the fact of the matter is that they are successful because we put them in situations to succeed. Bringing in Yorky [Yorkis Perez], [Tim] Ryan, or Timmy [Davis] when the starter has already given up 5 doesn’t make much sense”

The offense has continued to get on base and hit the ball well, but in an effort to generate more runs the lineup has been shuffled a bit. Burks drops from third to fifth and the bottom of the lineup has been changed to adapt to Cordova’s unfortunate foot injury. To fill his spot in the lineup the Red Sox called up 25 year old Doug Glanville, who hit an outstanding .317/.403/.483, who will hit ninth for the Fenway Nine.
To see the most up to date Red Sox news, navigate to the SiON Red Sox page here

[happymeal88]

Often people are asked to use one word to describe something. When asked to perform that task regarding the Red Sox around the Boston area, the responses would probably be in line with “pitiful, disgraceful, embarrassing, frustrating, awful, and horrible.” And with a 31-50 record, which puts the Red Sox on pace for 100 losses, they would be acceptable answers.

So much so that the Red Sox are apparently shopping Rick Honeycutt, Tim Naehring, and Al Leiter to other teams in possible trades. The problem is that nobody would want Naehring and Lieter and their assorted problems. Both have a large hand in the losing ways of the Red Sox, especially Leiter whose ERA has just finally dipped below 6 (and for those keeping track at home, anything below 4 is considered good).

However, the Red Sox are coming off a huge series against their rival New York Yankees where they won two of the three games by a 17 to 6 margin. “We swung the bats great,” said Bill Mueller who contributed a 3 runs while getting three hits and two walks in six at bats, “and it would be awesome if the team could rally around this and go on a winning streak.”

The spark for this offensive outburst may have been Jimy Williams who tinkered with the lineup earlier in the week. “Well,” Williams narrated during a post game press conference held in his cramped office, “it took some time for the boys to get used to it but we feel good about our new attack at the plate. If only our damn pitching could catch up.”

The starting pitching hasn’t gotten much better for the Red Sox but General Manager Andrew Habermehl is hoping that the team has taken some small steps to correcting the problem. “We recently brought in Jim Lonborg to work with Al Leiter on his mechanics because we don’t think his stuff is where it should be,” explained Habermehl. Lonborg, a former Red Sox pitcher, is statistically very similar to Leiter and the hope is he can share his experiences and help get Leiter back on track.


Jim Lonborg Returning to Sox

Williams exclaimed “I sure hope it dang gone works for him because we need another starter who can pitch and not just throw junk over the plate” when he was told about the addition to the coaching staff. And Williams is correct as the Red Sox already have a powerful one-two punch with Curt Schilling and Scott Sanders. “If they can add one more arm to that rotation,” Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy told viewers during a recent telecast, “then watch out because no other team in the East besides Baltimore has three very good starters.”

While the statement “watch out” might be overkill, it does provide a glimmer of hope for the Red Sox if they can get a winning half of baseball going in the second half of baseball.