The Monroe Spartans: Expansion to Champion?

[Sven Draconian]

For those that are reading my league (The Factory Workers Baseball League), this is the franchise I am taking over in 1901.

For those not familiar with the league, the FWL uses Skydogs settings, which produce fairly era netural statistics, something around the 50s or 70s. My league is 12 teams , split into 2 sub-leagues and 2 divisions per sub league.

The Spartans are an expansion franchise, which I am putting in after the league is 10 years old.

For this thread Im not entirely sure pattern I am going to post in. Im going to mix in both fast simming and playing out games, to this should move at a decent pace, but allow me to talk a good amount about each season.

[Sven Draconian]

Obviously the first step in an expansion franchise is the Expansion draft, which my game decided not to allow me to do manually. The plus side is, well, looking at the pool before the draft and my roster afterwards, Im not entirely sure it matters.

The first thing to note here, is I play with no current ratings, and 1-5 talents. Im pretty well in the dark about actual talents so I need to judge a lot on stats. Further, I use a full scouting system, so Im not even sure of talent ratings.

Since I only let teams protect 17 players I did land some talent, though not a lot. I also ended up with a lot of highly regarded prospects, who are 24 with no ML experience, no AAA/AA success and what appears to be bad strikezone judgement. IE, busts that the "Top Prospect" report likes, but are of no real value.

After evaluating my roster these are the players I can see making a real contribution this season:

Brian Thomas-1B-31yr old, .363 OBP last season, .480 slg and 3000 career ABs.

Josh Fairchild-RF-24yr old. Nice prospect and had a .334 OBP last season in the bigs, 4-tool player, with the missing tool being HR power.

Rob Cooper-24yr old 3B- Nicely rated prospect and listed as a 3 star regular, too bad he had a .266 OBP starting last season. He'll start in AAA, but he'll be worth watching (maybe).

Bill Sloan-27yr old C- Outstanding D with a .340 OBP and 14 HR starting for the #2 team in the league last year. Too bad he'll have a tight battle with...

Kyle Smith-25yr old C- 5 star prospect, rated (star wise) the same as Sloan. Should be an interting battle for ABs between these two.

Joe Moore 27yr old IF: Bad defender, but can play a lot of positions. However a .327/.364/.423 line in 1,255 career ABs make an argument for PT.

Hisashi Yokoyama 27yr old SP- 2nd in the league in ERA last year, went 16-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 192 innings. Only gave up 4 HRs in those innings, good groundball pitcher which makes up for his lackluster 88/59 K/BB.

Danny Cortez: 28yr SP-6-12 with a 5.07 over 143 innings. Not a lot there, however a 95/34 K/BB rate indicate he has potential.

Dave Brady 30yrs RP- 580 career IP with a 3.91 ERA (in a league with the average ERA being 4.00 roughly). 363/212 career K/BB, not dominant, but reliable.

[Sven Draconian]

The Draft:

Naturally as an expansion team the draft is the first thing of importance for the franchise. This off-season isn't all that important, the expansion draft will have hardly anybody left in the organization when this team is truly in contention, but this first draft should/will hopefully produce the organizations first true "Franchise Player" and hopefully the backbone for my first contender.

Now, with that said my desire for this draft was simply to get guys who will go make it. IE, low risk types. This does not mean low risk/low reward, but rather older guys over younger ones and substance over style.

I want pitchers with control and position players with an eye or atleast power. Im also looking for guys with the extras. High groundball pitchers, players with speed and fielding. The reasoning behind this is simple, they provide me with my depth for the future, and if the talent gods choose to bless them, they turn into 5-tool studs rather than All-hit/no field first baseman and corner outfielders. Getting your 4th OF, Utility IF and In-Case of Emergency callups is always nice.

I also held the first pick, so theres always the embarrassment factor too .

My selections were:
Jose 'Demon' Ramirez-SP-5/4/4 (COLLEGE)
Martin Gomez-1B-3/5/4/4/3(COLLEGE)
Carroll Lewis-3B-4/3/3/4/4 (COLLEGE)
Bob Arnold-CF-4/4/3/3/4 (COLLEGE)
Billy Hardy-1B-5/4/2/3/4 (High School)
Greg Dancy-LF-2/3/5/3/2 (COLLEGE)
Roberto Lopez-IF-3/3/2/3/2 (COLLEGE)
Kevin Conway-SP 2/2/4 (High School)
Felix Ramos-RP 4/4/4 (High School)
Denny Hayes-CL 4/3/5(High School)

With my first pick I went with Jose 'Demon' Ramirez, for a few reasons: 1)He was the only starter with a "5" for "Stuff" on the 1-5 scale. He had a pretty good split of 5s and 4s for movement, and well, Pitching is important.

My other candidate was Nate Kelly, a catcher who went 7th overall to Harrisburg. Kelly is a 3/5/5/5/3 player, college hitter who had a monster .533 OBP his last season of school.

I went with Ramirez for a few reasons, 1) Pitching is more important, 2) The guy was flat out dominant (82/8 K/BB over 67 innings), he has 98-100 for velocity AND he's a 63% groundball pitcher. 3) Catchers only play 135/140 games anyway, its like putting a regular position player on the DL once a season, and well, all things being equal, 250IP is more important than 135 games IMHO.

Martin Gomez is a very interesting player. He is a gold glover at 1st, is very good (4 out of 5) at third and even better, he is 2 outta 5 at SS. 1.212 OPS in college his only season, 23 years old. Also has a 3 in steals. The scouts are split between 4 and 3 for his contact, but he has a good eye (4) and power (4) and awesome gap power (5 across the board), and possibly a SS...

Bob Arnold is a pure offensive player. Elite base-stealer, should hit over .300 and has an average eye (some think above average) and average power. Too bad he is one of the worst defensive players with 1's in range for all 3 positions.

Carroll Lewis could evolve into a OBP machine with 4s in CON/EYE/K. A good third baseman (4), only average power, but if he get on-base I won't really care.

Speaking of machines, Bill Hardy should be a hitting machine. A pure 5 (IE, across the board) in contact with a 4 in gap and avoid K. Only the 2 in power hurts since the only position he plays (very poorly) is 1B, but he does have a "3" across the board for "eye".

Greg Dancy is neat, 5 for steals, 5 in LF range, 4 in arm and a pure 5 for power. Too bad he's about a .230 hitter with about a .270 OBP at this point. Maybe he'll develop past that, but he has 40/40 potential, if he was on base enough.

Kevin Conway is a pure control pitcher, possibly valuable but he has a ways to go. Ramos and Hayes are the dreaded 5 star relievers that are never picked. I limited myself to drafting two of them, and I had to wait untill round 9 (when the best one was gone). They are both potential studs, but its hard to get htat excited over a reliever.

[Sven Draconian]

Heading into the off-season I can finally bring up the financials of the team.

I have two house-rules in effect, 1) I can never change my ticket price from the league average (For right now, .10) and 2) I can never have higher than a bottom third media revenue (Right now I must be 9 or below). In effect, Im limiting myself to middle-class or upper-middle status. While not as restrictive as say, limiting myself to a salary cap lower than the rest of the leagues, Im sticking myself in a realistic enviorment similar to one experienced by say, Seattle or St. Louis.

Now, on to the fun stuff. The league, as of right now, has a 400,000 cap, which effect just two teams. Most of the league comes in just over 200,000 with about 4 teams over 300,000.

I expect my revenue to be in the area of 230-250,000 dollars. I want to spend no more than 200,000 on payroll this season, because that figure will be lower next year most likely, and no reason to hamstring myself financially.

However, just because Im willing to spend up to 200,000 doesn't mean I will force myself too.

After arbitration I will have about 135,000 already invested spent. I have 2 starters, 1 reliever and 5 or 6 positions filled. I could reasonably call up another arm in both the pen and rotation from AAA if I need to, though I would rather not.

This means I need 4 starters, 4 relievers and 3 position players. I need to fit 11 players into 65,000 dollars.

My league minimum salary is 1,900. My "avg Superstar" is set at 42,000. The average player is 11,500. All this means is that 1) I can sign anyone great and 2) Somewhere I need some bargain bin players.

For my 11 players I need to fill out the roster I can spend about 6,000 a player, which according to my league settings falls between "Below Average" at 7,200 and "Fair" at 4,250.

[Sven Draconian]

Off-Season

First some good news, I found a pair of players in AAA who may be worth starting in Michael Ybarra, 4 25 year old 4.5star 1B prospect and Phil Walker, a 24 year old 4 star SS prospect. The upside of these two isn't as great as the stars woudl indicate, as neither have any big league experience, however, stars wise (both carry 3.5star currents) they are worth a look atleast.

Free Agency

As I stated in the previous post Im on a budget. However, at some point I lost somebody to free agency, or the financial report was just plain off, because my payroll is/was much lower than expected.

Even with all that its slim pickings. Between me and Gary both filling out rosters, and the fact the league has just 12 teams (and 2 added no additional players) the FA market just doesn't offer a ton, though, I did manage to find some players.

In the order they were signed:

Cliff Dillard-2B/3B/SS-32yrs, 2.5star.
Career .354 OBP and .422slg in 4,688 career ABs. Last season posted just a .334 OBP, .344 before that and .331 before tha. His highest slg the past three seasons is .408, which is also his only trip over .400.
Contract: 1 year 5,200.

Ron Richert-CF/LF/RF-30yrs-3.5star
Career .307/.355/.415 line with 187 steals and a "4" in CF defense with a "5" in LF and RF. Last three seasons he has .331/.365/.322 OBP and .367/.459/.360slg (he patted .330 in the middle season, as compared to in the .270s the other two, guess which is the outlier....)
Contract: 2year 16,000

Dan Austin-1B/2B-32yr-1star
.279/.365/.401 career in 4,000AB, but only saw playing time in two of the prevous three seasons, but posted .378 and .380 OBP in those, albeit limited ABs.
Contract: 2 year 9,000. Last year Team Option

Chris Moore-2B/1B/3B/SS-Age32-2.5star
.287/.342/.412 career line with 167 steals in 5,000ABs.
OBP of .351/.344/.363 the last three seasons, with slg% right near .400, and the speed I mentioned. Plus plays plus defense at all four positions.
*Won a gold glove at SS*
Contract: 1 year 7,390

Miguel Velasco-SS-Age24
Never been a pro, he's 24 and a 4 star SS prospect.
Contract: 1 year 1,900

Bob Davenport-SP-Age31-1star
54-35, 57svs. 3.20ERA in 719IP. 543/268 K/BB. 59HR
5.80, 30/19 K/BB---1.80 41/19 K/bb---4.35 24/17 K/BB---Last three seasons.
*Only 2 career starts, and "popular" among fans so he boosted the interest*
Contract: 2 year 11,240. The 2nd year is a Team Option.

Ivan Garcia-CL-Age 30-3star
31-37 3.37ERA in 442IP 385/174 K/BB 35HR
37sv, 3.41, 69/24---32sv 3.01 51/21---33sv 2.35 52/28
*96-98MPH, 68% groundball*
Contract: 3 year 30,000.

Anthony Smith-RP-Age 30-3star
19-22 16sv 3.53ERA in 395.1IP 378/201 K/BB 22HR
3.41 74/36---4.58 47/17---4.27 54/37
Contract: 2year 22,000. Last season team option. 2,000 bonus for 100IP.

Luis Robles-SP-Age 28-1star
51-73 4.49ERA in 1,035IP. 684/456 K/BB 90HR.
8-25 4.79 107/78---7-2 3.36 67/53---9-10 5.99 63/43
Contract: 2 year 19,250. Last year Team Option. Bonus to make each year with 11,000 if he hits 210 IP.

[Sven Draconian]

Off-Season Part II

After FA I made a key WW claim on...

Eric Kelley-SP-Age27-1star
48-53 4.03 in 790.2IP. 730/441 K/BB 53HR.
4-7 4.30 70/33---12-14 4.44 176/93---13-11 3.56 181/103
Contract: 1 year 8,000.

So maybe its only key to me, but I thank Dayton for the free starter. It appears he had a serious injury two years ago, which woudl explain his "average starter" stats (lg avgerage ERA, .500ish record) but only 1 star rating, or the AI is just dumb.

I also picked up a player in the Rule V draft, Joe Karl.

Karl is a 3.5 star prospect who is 25 years old. He can play 1B, 2B, SS and 3B. At third he is a gold glove caliber defender. In 930 career ABs he has a .334 OBP. Sure he makes signing Dillard a bit useless, but hey, he's a prospect who isn't even a burden to carry on the roster as a utility player, and well.

The best part is, I took him from fellow expansion team in the Gary Ironmen.

Now the confusing part of this all is my Team Salary is just 150,000 (well, a hair under). I spent well over 15,000 in FA, which means I must have had a ton of guys get their 1,900 contracts turn into minor league deals when I rolled over.

Or the financial report for the team was just screwed up and bugged. Its most likely this one.

[Sven Draconian]

Season Preview:


As I look to start the season, I'm still unsure of what exactly to expect from this roster. We are young, very young which I don't find as interesting as a lot of others. We are a parade of “almost” busted prospects.


A few notes from Spring Training, 1) Dan Austin, one of the FA I signed mostly to be a pinch hitter, was hurt for 13 months and just released. 2) We had a pair of OF hurt, though, I'm unsure if they would have started anyway.


So without further ado...My Lineup (oooo, ahhhh)


Ron Richert-CF-31yrs
Chris Moore-2B-33yrs
Miguel Ybarra-1B-25yrs (4 star potential)
Loren Gillespie-LF-25yrs (2 star potential)
Kyle Smith-C-25yrs (4 star potential)
Phil Walker-SS-24yrs (4 star potential)
Ralph Sanders-RF-22yrs (5 star potential)
Joe Karl-3B-26yrs (3.5 star potential)


As you can see, very very young, though, not necessarily promising. Ybarra and Walker both have CURRENT ratings at 4 stars, though, neither have any big league playing time and the star ratings seem screwy. It'll be interesting too see how good those two really are (or arn't).


Kyle Smith and Ralph Sanders are top prospects. Sanders is one of the tops in the league, and at 22 I'm not sure he is ready, but injuries pressed him into service and he'll stay till he proves otherwise. In a familiar theme, Gold Glove defense in Right, a “4” for steals and 4/5/3/3/3 potentials. I'll take a .310 hitting, .355OBP, 40 doubles, 25 steals and 15 HR corner OF,which is what he may project too. Kyle Smith gets the nod over Bill Sloan for his potential. Smith has nice power potential with 4/4 in gap/HR, and carries 3's for contact and eye and solid defense. He is only 2 and a half stars at the age of 25, which is an obvious concern.


Joe Karl played his way into the lineup during Spring Training after becoming a Rule V draft pick. He is maybe the best defensive player in the game, and has the potential to carry an average stick, we'll see if he does.


At the top of the lineup we have “Veterans”. Richer and Moore are the only two with any sort of consistent track record, which doesn't make them good, but atleast I can have expectations. Richert is a good defender who should steal 20 bases and get on at around a .340 clip. Moore is a BA machine and should easily hit .315 and have a .350 OBP with good defense at 2B and around 15-20 steals as well.


Loren Gillespie is pretty much the result of the injuries to Joe Fairchild and Raul Pineda (OF). Both are better prospects, but both are on the DL to start the season, so I'll make them prove they can hit in AAA, or Gillespie prove he can't hit in the bigs. Gillespie is an awesome defender with incredible power, but may struggle to get on base at a .300 clip.


The Bench:
Brian Thomas-1B-32yrs
Bill Sloan-C-27yrs
Jose Lopez-1B-28yrs
Joe Moore-2B 28yrs
Cliff Dillard-3B-32yrs
Jose Echevarria-RF-28yrs


Brian Thomas, a former Rookie of the Year, is the first PH, followed closely by Bill Sloan. Those two both have bats I want to get into the lineup and will find ways to get them both 300 Abs I hope. Joe Moore is another solid bat who WILL get 350 AB from the bench this year. He is an easy .300 hitter with a .350 OBP (just like Chis Moore at 2B) that would hit 25 doubles in a full season, but his bad defense keeps him from starting, though Karl is on a short leash.


Cliff Dillard is an ICE hitter and defender at this point. When he first signed I thought he might start, but at his age, the fact he is a 1 year rental, and doesn't provide anything special he just makes for one of the last bench guys. Lopez and Echevarria are nothing special, both 28 year olds with a lot of potential but just one star. Both are going to be replaced in short order by anybody worth getting PT.


Pitching Staff:
Hisashi Yokoyama-Age27-R
Bob Davenport-Age 31-R
Luis Robles-Age 28-L
Perry Thompson-Age 28-L
Eric Kelley-Age 28-R


So the plus side to this rotation is they are all in their prime. The downside is outside of Yokoyama, none have a prime. This group is, decidedly mediocre. Yokoyma is a nice pitcher, a very good third starter on a contender who doesn't get Ks, but also doesn't walk anybody and his extreme GB% (73) stops him from giving up HR and gets a lot of double-plays. Not dominant, but effective.


Robles has had good peripheral seasons, though he was stuck on those awful Harrisburg teams, but is capable of average numbers. Davenport is similar, decent peripherals but bad ERAs and win totals, so I have hope, but not a ton. Perry Thompson is a busted prospect, 5 star spec at 28 years old but just 1 real star. Eric Kelley was a very good pitcher, but any injury seems to have de-railed him and I was able to nab him on the Waiver Wire.


Bullpen:
Ivan Garcia-Age 30-R
Anthony Smith-Age 30-R
Danny Cortez-Age 26-R
Dave Brady-Age 28-L
John Smith-Age 28-R
Lewis Baker-Age 23-L


Garcia and Smith are a nice end-game combo, not outstanding, but I can feel reasonably confident for those two to preserve a 2 run lead for 3 innings combined. I can't expect a lot else. They will be used very liberally.

Danny Cortez is going to have a rotation spot eventually, I wanted to give some other guys a shot as well, but he has had solid peripherals in the past, is just, so he's the first choice when someone flames out. Dave Brady is my top mop-up man and lefty, he isn't much, but solid lefties are always nice. Baker and Smith are gas-cans that will be replaced at some point.

[Sven Draconian]

One Foot Still In The Box

The best way to describe the start of my season is with a cliche, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The first 9 games wern't pretty, but they did have promise.

Lets start with the Good.
*Luis Robbles (my #3 starter) has pitched 15 scoreless innigns to begin the season, including a 4-hit shutout over Harrisburg for the first victory in franchise history.
*My Ace Hisashi Yokoyama has a 1.81 ERA in his two starts, and Bob Davenport even has 14 strikeouts despite never being a strikeout pitcher in the past. The front of the rotation has been solid.
*Jose "Demon" Ramirez had an excellent pro-debut going 7.2 with just 2 ER. His followup was medicore, but he does have a modest 5-3 K/BB ratio over 11 innings.
*Martin Gomez, my 2nd rounder, has just torn the cover off the ball. .450 OBP, 2 doubles and a triple and 3 steals. Oh, and he hasn't struck out in his 35 ABs.
*Miguel Ybarra is hitting well, .306 BA, .324 OBP (modest) and 2 HRs.
*Loren Gillespie has 3 HRs already threw 9 games, but only sports a .275 OBP. His amazing defense may keep him in the lineup if he can keep up that HR pace (Which is a possibility).
*Ralph Sanders (22yrs old) has 2 triples, a double and HR, plus three walks. Has a decent OBP (.314) despite a .250BA, and his .814OPS is quite nice.

The Bad:
*Chris Moore is batting just .250 with only a .286 OBP.
*Anthony Smith and Ivan Garcia have only managed to get in 7.2 innings combined, with 4 of those coming in the last game we played. Smith has more walks (3) than Ks(2) and a 9.00 ERA.
*John Smith 5.40ERA out of the pen and blew the lead opening day.

The Ugly:
*Eric Kelly (#4 starter) has given up 11 walks in 7 innings, with only 1 strikeout.
*Perry Thompson (#5 starter) only lasted 2 innings in his first start after he walked 4 and gave up 8 runs.
*Lewis Baker 21.0 ERA out of the pen including 6 walks in his 3 innings.
*Phil Walker .194OBP.
*Kyle Smith .235OBP
*Last in runs allowed in the HL.
*2-7 record.

[Sven Draconian]

oops wrong thread, can a mod delete this?

[Sven Draconian]

April 1901

We pulled things together a bit after our sluggish start and managed a 9-10 record for the rest of the month, putting us at 11-17 overal. Not great certainly, but not outright horrible. We look 4 of 6 from Kankakee and at one point swept Harrisburg, which was interesting.

Luis Robbles continued to be streaky. He had two very poor outings, but threw 8 shutout innings against Harrisburg to pick up his third win. He's 3-3 for the month, and has easily been my best pitcher. He also has a solid 28-14 K/BB ratio, so he should stay solid all season. Bob Davenport has also been solid. He's 2-3 with a 3.86 and a 25/17 K/BB over 35 innings. He doesn't get a lot of innings in per start, but he's been solid.

On the other end of the spectrum Hisashi Yokoyma just imploded his last 3 starts, giving up 2 HR (he had just 4 all of last year) and allowing 16 ERs over 15 IP. He'll straighten that out I hope.

Batting wise, Miguel Ybarra has a .273/.350/.500 line including 7HRs and 17RBI. Reggie Sanders has 4 HRs and a .513 slg, his OBP is low at .317, but that largely stems from a .237BA.

2B Chris Moore is hitting .315 with a .350 OBP and 5 steals vs 0 Caught Stealing. Ron Richert has a .347OBP and 7 steals against just two caught stealing.

Joe Moore who has taken over a starting spot put up a good .373 OBP plus 3HR and 3 doubles.

Prospects and Development

First the bad news....
Martin Gomez was injured for 10 months with a dislocated shoulder. Hmm, seems like a weak injury to be out 10 months, but oh well. This injury really dapens his future, 24 year olds still in Rookie League or Short A are not promising.

Now the good news....
Jose Ramirez earned a promotion to Short A after a 20/6 K/BB and a 2.39ERA in Rookie League over 37.2IP. In his one Short A start he had 7Ks in 7.2IP, 0 runs, 3 hits and 3 walks. He also picked up his first professional win.

Bob Arnold is hitting .373 with a .435OBP 1HR, 1 triple and 3 doubles plus 5 steals. Arnold is 20 years old and horirble defensively, but with Gomez going down Im teaching him 1B.

Marvin Riley has pitched 40 innings in 7 starts in AAA and has a solid 2.70 ERA, 42 strkeous to 11 walks hasn't given up a HR to go with his 2-2 record.

Nobody else has done anything worth commenting on in the last month, I'll have a big prospect breakdown when I hit June in the game, but these are a few noteworthy guys.

[Sven Draconian]

May 1st Shakeup

After April I decided to make a few changes.

Firstly, Loren Gillespie was injured for 7 months, and Raul Pineda (my top prospect) was called up. Gillespie was already on his way down thanks to a sub .300 OBP.

Secondly, Phil Walker has struggled, .211 BA, .225 OBP, .250slg, 0HR, 0triples with 22Ks. He's 24 years old, 3 stars current, 4 star potential, 3/4/4/3/2 potential ratings, but I don't like him. He's "Angry" morale wise, and with that "2" for K potential probably isn't developed enough when you look at his 22Ks in 72ABs.

Thirdly, Rob Cooper has a 4 star current, 5 star potential 4/5/4/3/3 potential ratings. He's 25, can play 3rd or 2nd base and is tearing up AAA with a .330/.427/.500 line...2HR, 2triples and 6 doubles. He's currently out "2-3" weeks.

Earl Jones is a "5" star defensive SS, "4" star 3B and "5" star SS. He's 26 rated at 3.5 star and 5 star potential with potential ratings of 3/5/4/5/4. .301/.442/.447 line in AAA.

Joe Karl was my Rule V pick, turned starting 3B. He is a stud defensive player and has a .338 OBP. Im not sure he can keep that up as a starter.

At this point Im trying to trade Phil Walker. Joe Moore now starts at 2B, with Chris Moore shifting over the SS.

If Joe Karl keeps at this pace, I'll bring up Cooper when he is off the DL. Earl Jones is the first callup in caes of injury or performance slip, and if he keeps up his pace, he'll be in the bigs rotating around starting around June.

[Sven Draconian]

Around the middle of May several things happened.

1) I gave up on Raul Pineda. The OF prospect is very highly regarded by SISA and Scouts except he has one problem, no strikezone judgement.
Pineda is 24 and plays LF. All the in-game ratings systems say he is my top prospect. However, through 69 ABs he has drawn just 1 walk, projected over a season thats less than 10 walks. He's batting .217 with 2 triples, 1 HR and 2 doubles.
His potential is 4/5/5/1/2, but if you can't draw any walks and you K that much, your batting average is never going to develop. Its tough to have a LF that can't post a .320 OBP.

2) On the 17th Miguel Ybarra was injured. He had 9 HRs on the season (on pace for over 30). He had a .316/.389/.523 line for the season so far, its a pretty big loss.

Rob Cooper has been brought up to take his spot in the lineup. Cooper is still hurt for four days (Brian Thomas will start untill he is healthy), then Cooper will get a 10 day tryout before I have to make a decision.

3) I signed John Brooks for a bullpen filler. If your reading the league thread for this you might recognize the name, he is the former all world closer for 5 time champion South Bend and has 239 career saves. He'll be used for mop-up duty.

4) I made a trade (more on this next post).

As of May 18th our record stands at 20-24, good for 2nd in the division, but three games back of South Bend who boasts a 26-18 record.

[Sven Draconian]

Phil Walker Traded

As I mentioned above, I finally dealt Phil Walker. He hasn't started since late April, but with Pineda bombing I decided I need an OF, and I've need bullpen help all year (Our Pen is dead last in ERA).

I traded Phil Walker and minor league scap Peter Carrol (27 and in AA, why the AI wanted him I don't know) to Dayton for Outfielder Joe Childers and RP Ryan Peterson.

Childers is 28 years old and has great defense at all three OF positions. He is a 3 star player and his last 2 full seasons he has batted .286 both seasons with .316 and .317 OBP. He had a .495 SLG 2 years ago, but that dipped to just .428 last year as his HR production went from 18 to 12.

Childers will be put into the starting lineup this season, but his long-term status is as my 4th OF. He is similar to Pineda is a lot of ways, solid average but weak eye with decent power. Pineda has more upside, but Pineda is also 24 and not yet begun to realize his potential.

Childers is arby eligible this off-season for the 2nd time, and he makes 10,000 this season (not a big deal).

Ryan Peterson is the real prize. 25 year old reliever and 4.5 star player. 3/5/3 potential, which isn't all that great. Only has 9 innings this year and only gave up 1 run. 55 career walks in 95 career innings raises a big red flag for his control but also had 78 career strikeouts.

Peterson also raised fan interest (hurray). He needs some work in the control department, but he's cheap, young and according to the star ratings very talented. He'll immediately be slotted in as my top MR, so he'll start logging innings shortly.

[kreitena]

We are SPARTAAAAAAAA!

[Sven Draconian]

June 1st Prospect Review

Now that I've gotten to see some of them put up meaningful stats (IE, not have the AI put them through 5 levels with 20 ABs at each one), and I've had enough time to really examine my system I can have the prospect review.

Pretty simple setup for this, Top 5 pitchers and top 10 position players.

My qualification for the list is pretty simple, players under 25 are considered, as long as they have amassed less than 500 major league ABs. Why? For one Im not writing for baseball america with 10,000 prospects to sort and 2, at 25 players should begin to develop into themselves, so if you havn't gotten anything done by the age 25, chances are you arn't much of a prospect, and if they are over 25 I'll go ahead and make a seperate post about them (see, Miguel Ybarra).

For the ratings I did a combination of things. 1) Looked at their listed stars and talents 2) Examined age, performance and level. I also looked at other variables such as secondary ratings (Speed, Defense, GB%).

As I don't see real ratings I have to assume on development (IE, stats). 24 year olds struggling in A ball or AA havn't developed nearly enough for my liking. 20 year olds tearing up AAA are going to be assumed to actual develop. I'll typically side on the "low potential/low risk" over "high potential/high risk type" for the purpose of rankings here.

Top 5 Pitchers

1) Jose "Demon" Ramirez: Age 23 : SP : Short Season A: ETA: Late 1902
5/5/5 ratings, 5 star potential. 20/6 K/BB in 37.2IP at Rookie ball, was promoted to Short Season A and has pitched 42.1IP and a 27/15 K/BB rate. He has ERA's of 2.39 and 2.34 at his two stops. His only troubling sign is 2HRs given up at each level, giving up HR in SSA and Rookie ball are not good signs for movement.

2) Jessie "Fate" Patterson: Age 21: CL: AAA: ETA: July 1901
5/4/5 ratings. 5 star potential. He pitched 11 innings in AA had a 15/2 K/BB and a 1.59ERA then he was promoted. He goes to AAA, pitch's 14.1 innings and has a 18/4 K/BB rate. He's 0-2 with 13 saves combined. He's going to get the callup at some point this summer, I just want to finish sorting out the big league pen first.


3) Beau "Blinky" Jones: Age 23: MR: AAA: ETA Late 1901
4/3/4. 5 star potential. 23.1 IP in AA and a 19/7 K/BB rate but a plump 4.24 ERA. Gets promoted to AAA and so far in 13 IP he has a cool 15/5 K/BB rate and a tiny 1.42 ERA. Not a lot of star potential here, but should be a solid MR starting late this year.

4) Marvin Riley: Age 23: SP: AAA: ETA Opening Day 1902
3/3/3. 4.5star potential. He was torched in Sprng Training, but dominated AAA to the tune of 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA and a 60/15 K/BB rate over 58.2IP. He was then injured for 8 weeks May 9th. He was a likely callup for June, but he's still out till mid-july. Possible September callup, but I'll use caution.

5) Kevin Conway: Age 19: SP: R : ETA 1905
2/4/2. 1 star potential. The system is weak on pitchers (as you can see by the inclusion of a marginal prospect like Conway). He's a control pitcher and has faired well in Rookie ball. 6-3 2.62ERA 21/22 K/BB rate over 65.1IP with just 1 HR. Solid GB% at 58. Backend of the rotation potential and has quite a way to go, but a nearly 1:1 K/BB rate makes him the best starter I have in Rookie league. With Rookie Leage ending after his next start I'll go ahead and let him see how he pitch's in Single A.

[Sven Draconian]

Top 10 Hitters

1) Ralph Sanders: Age 22 : RF : Major Leagues:
4/5/3/3/3. 4.5 Star Potential. .247/.330/.476 line over 187ABs. He has 12 doubles, 5 triples and 7HRs already. Plus he has range of "5" in RF and he has 5 steals. He's a 5 tool player, already producing in the major leagues, and at just 22 has a very bright future.

2) Jeremy Smith: Age 23: LF : AAA: ETA Summer 1901
4/5/4/2/3. 4 star Potential. Last season in AAA had a .303/.384./406 line in AA and then started out .343/.407/.671 in 75 AA at-bats this year. Since his promotion in AAA .353/.420/.597 with 7HR, 7 doubles and 3 triples. 4 Range, 4 Arm and 4 in steals means he's a 5-tool player. His lack of walk potential may limit his top-end potential, but power and contact ability can certainly make a player very solid.

3) Josh Fairchild: Age 23: RF : AAA : ETA Summer 1901
3/5/4/3/3. 3 star Potential. Last season in the bigs he posted a .285/.332/.425 line for Joliet complete with 9 HRs in 323 ABs. This season in AAA he has .319/.410/.497 going over 185 ABs 5HR, 12 doubles, 3 triples. "5" in steals, 4 in range. He also has the best patience of anybody listed (well, potentially) which should help him along. The log jam in the OF isn't doing him any favors.

4) Raul Pineda: Age 24: LF: Major Leagues
4/5/5/1/2. 5 star potential. In 99 big league ABs he has 1 walk and 24 strikeouts. He's a utility player in the bigs right now, but there is now way he is ever a success with that bad of a K/BB rate. You can't K 25% of the time and hit in the majors. Still, just a little progress in strikezone judgement and he's Vlad Guerrero.

5) Bob Johnson: Age 21: C: A: ETA 1903
3/5/4/4/3. 4.5 star potential. He hasn't showed much power, and really struggled in AA hitting just .214 (though, OBP was .326). However, in A ball he is hitting .286/.391/.375 and has 3HR (but just one double). His lack of gap power (despite the 5 rating) is a bit troublesome, but his great strikezone judgement, and thus walks, gives him a large boost. He's almost a lock to make it the big leagues as a backup catcher but is young enough to develop into a starter.

6) Eduardo Rodriguez: Age 21: 2B: AAA: ETA 1902
3/4/3/3/2. 4 star potential. Low ceiling prospect here, might not ever develop into a multi-year starter. However, he can play 2nd, 3rd and SS (2/2/1 defense), not well, but he can play them. He has a .270/.342/.342 line in AAA, at just 21. He looks like a cheap, good OBP, 300 AB utility player. He's ranked this highly just because he's 21 and successful at AAA, making him a good bet to make the majors.

7) Bob Arnold: Age 20: CF: R: ETA 1904
4/4/3/3/4. 2 star potential. Plays 4 positions (1B and all 3 OF, all are "1" defense), has "5" for steals. The reason he makes the list is production, he is far and away my best Rookie Leage hitter, posting a .343/.390/.412 line with 2 HR, 2 triples and 5 doubles. He has 10 steals vs 2 caught stealing and he has a great 20/17 K/BB rate over 216 ABs.

8) Marin Gomez: Age 23: SS: R: ETA 1903
4/5/3/3/3. 4.5 star potential. Can play 1st/3rd or SS. He was hitting .408/.482/.510 in Rookie League before he was injured for the rest of the season. He would have been #2 or #3 before the injury, and he was looking at a September callup. As it is, he'll be 24 in Rookie League to start next season, and if he isn't in AA by years end he may lose "prospect" status.

9) Peter Neal: Age 22: LF: AA: ETA Summer 1902
4/3/3/3/4. 3 star potential. He beat up AA .351/.402/.536, as a 22 year old should. He's stuck in a serious log jam, and is being denied a promotion because I have nowhere to play him. The worst potential of the OFs listed so far, otherwise he may likley be higher on the list.

10) Billy Hardy: Age 19: 1B: R: ETA 1904
5/4/2/3/4. 4 star potential. He's listed as a 2B, plays 2B, yet has no defensive rating there (just a "1" at 1B). Either way, the kid can hit. Very high average hitter with gap power and a good enough eye and K rating to be a legit .400+ OBP player. Still, is his production that gets him the final spot .280/.330/.335 isn't all that great, but considering his age (19) and terrific 16/14 K/BB rate I'll assume he'll be a .310 hitter at 20, and hopefully in AA by late next season.

[Sven Draconian]

Pitching Help Brought in, Pineda dealt

By June 23rd we had slipped to 35-42, 7 games under .500 when just a week before we had closed to gap to 3 games under .500.

We had the HL's 3rd best offense in terms of runs scored, and the 4th best in Runs Allowed, not so bad all things considered. But, we had a 5.18 starters ERA, 5th in the HL and generally unacceptable.

I also realized that I had no real help coming. Marvin Riley is projected as a mid rotation helper, and with his injury his status is far from certain. Jose Ramirez is still in SSA and likely another full season away from a real contribtion. Outside of those two, we don't even have any bonafide starting prospects (sorry Kevin Conway, I have little faith).

Luis Robles has just one year after this under contract, and while he is 8-5 with a 3.64 ERA, I don't anticipate that keeping up. Yokoyama has lost his best skill, preventing HRs (already giving up 5 or 6 this year) and has regressed to #5 or #4 status. Nobody else I have figures to be of any worthy in the future.

Josh Fairchild , my #3 prospect in my ratings, is ready for the majors. With Ralph Sanders, Joe Childers and Ron Richert all holding starting positions and a plethora of OF talent in the minors I decided it was time to deal Raul Pineda, he of the no OBP.

Brian Thomas also made an interesting demand to be traded. Which works in my favor. Rob Cooper and Earl Jones have both produced in the majors, and with Joe Karl hitting in the .370s, Joe Moore hitting .370, Miguel Ybarra looking like an "Outstanding Batter" candidate and on pace for 40 HRs and Chris Moore being a proven producer, I had an excess of infielders anyway.

Dayton Received:
Raul Pineda
Brian Thomas
Jose Lopez (28 year old 1B in the minors. 5 star potential, but is 28...I never gve him a chance, but he had a massive OBP in AA).

Monroe Received:
Jimmy Taylor

Jimmy Taylor is 25 (26 in October), has been in the bigs for 4 seasons and has talent ratings at 3/4/3. More importantly, he has nice peripherals.
His K/BB/HR/IP for his career:
80/55/18/139.1 IP
71/56/13/84.2 IP
140/89/13/179.0 IP
88/39/9/110.0 IP

What we see is a nice progression in his K/BB rates, a progression in his HR rate, and well, looking at his line for this year (bolded), a solid starter.

For the season he is 6-4, 2.20ERA, 1.11WHIP and 35.1VORP.
Last season he posted a VORP of 25.9.

Is his 2.20 ERA going to sustain, no, regression isn't a question its a certainty. However, at 25 years old he should have 5 prime seasons left in him as a legit #2/#3 starter. Thomas had no use on my squad, and Im not a huge fan of Pineda as I've stated on here. Pineda has such amazing power potential its somewhat hard to give up on him, but corner OF's with poor OBP are useless too me. I have good enough OF prospects that I don't feel I'll truly miss him even if he turns into a 40HR guy, I mean he'd be nice, but OBP is more important and I have enough solid replacements.

I also switched to the 4 man rotation. Robles/Taylor/Yokoyama/Cortez is my new rotation, cutting out the very disapointing Bob Davenport (relegating him to the pen) and hopefully helping my perpetually tired bullpen arms by adding one.

[Sven Draconian]

We hit the 100 game mark on a down note, slipping all the way back to 10 games under .500 at 45-55, a cool 13 games behind South Bend. At this point I've given up on the season (not that I've ever had high hopes) and have begun playing prospects more.

Jimmy Taylor has been torched to the tune of 0-5 6.89 since the trade, while Luis Robles has continued a steady decline since winning the May Pitcher of the Month award.

On a positive note, Ivan Garcia and Anhony Smith have continued to dominate out of the pen when called upon. Jesse 'Fate' Patterson has been pretty solid since the callup, nothing spectacular but solid none the less.

Position players have all pretty much been struggling. We've had a power dip of late, and the group of J. Karl/C. Moore/E. Jones/R. Cooper have all been slumping since my last update. J. Moore continues to hit a .374 clip, but hasn't hit a HR in a month. Miguel Ybarra has seen his average dip down from .345 down to about .320 as well.

Josh Fairchild was also given several starts since being recalled fto serve as Utility OF, he's hit 2HRs and taken some walks, but has been somewhat unimpressive.

Im looking to deal Chris Moore, who I signed to an extension before I realized Karl and J. Moore were any good or that Earl Jones was of any value as a SS. I have 7 IF's to play 4 positions, and Miguel Velasco down in AAA who will be big league ready soon, somebody has to go.

Down on the farm there is a bit of good news. 1) Jose Ramirez was pronounced ready for Single A, and responded with 16K's and 2 walks over 13 innings and has generally dominated his level again. He may be in AA towards the middle of August if all goes well.

2)Marvin Riley recovered from injury. He has slipped a bit in his 3 starts since coming back, but if he has a few good starts he'll be up in the major league rotation soon.

[Sven Draconian]

At the 130 game mark we are sitting just ahead of where we were, just 6 below .500 and only 10 games back.

We were hit with the injury bug pretty bad, Ryan Peterson went down for 8 months and Ralph Sanders had a DL stint, and then Ron Richert went on the Dl a week later, leaving my OF in pretty blah shape.

THe good news is Josh Fairchld has been aweseome sense coming up. Farichild has a .311/.375/.490 with 5HR, 3 triples, 6 doubles.

If your following the FWL tread, you'll note that Joe Moore is on pace to break the league batting record, by hitting .389 and he is also leading the league in VORP.

He isn't all to note though, we have 3 top-3 OPS guys in Joe Moore, Miguel Ybara (#1) and Ralph Sanders.

Rule V pick Joe Karl has an .853 OPS in almost 300 ABs, and Earl Jones has a .785 with a .368 OPS. Both have "5" defensive ratings at 3B and SS respectively, and at 26 years old (both) and with their league minimum contracts they should be a focal point in this offense.

Kyle Smith is really struggling, with an OBP under .300 (.299) and a pathetic 2.4 VORP.

The staff is improving. Danny Cortez has been decent and Jimmy Taylor has rebounded from his rocky start with my team. Luis Robles continues to impress with a 3.90 ERA.

Jesse Patterson has been alright since the callup. 31 K's over 29 innings, but 21 walks and more damning, 5 HR.

Anthony Smith and Ivan Garcia have lived up to their money. Smith has a 3.21 ERA and 90/48 K/BB over 87.0IP. Garcia is 3-3 with a 2.02 ERA and 23 saves and 40Ks in 48 innings.

[Sven Draconian]

We finished the season a fairly average 77-85. 807 runs scored (3rd in HL) and 817 Runs Allowed (3rd in HL). Are .330 OBP was only 5th out of 6, but our .550 slg was good for 2nd. Our Bullpen and starters ERA both came in at 3rd of 6.

We led the HL in Extra Base Hits (513), Hits (1607) and were 2nd in HR (161). We ranked dead last in steals with just 61. We also finished last in walks and strikeouts.

Defensively we ranked 3rd in BABIP, but our pitching staff was dead last in Walks allowed, but ranked 3rd in HRs allowed and 4th in K's.

Name
W
L
SV
ERA
G
GS
IP
HA
R
ER
HR
BB
K
WHIP
OAVG
BABIP
Marvin Riley SP
0
0
0
0.00
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
.000
.000
Raúl Pineda CF
1
0
0
0.00
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
.000
.000
Román Bello MR
0
0
0
0.00
1
0
0.1
1
0
0
0
0
1
3.00
.500
1.000
Iván García CL
4
3
30
2.17
52
0
58.0
48
17
14
3
24
49
1.24
.230
.287
John Brooks MR
2
0
0
2.96
20
0
27.1
30
10
9
1
8
8
1.39
.280
.296
Jessie Patterson MR
1
1
1
3.04
38
0
50.1
41
19
17
6
32
48
1.45
.230
.282
John Smith MR
1
6
1
3.33
46
0
67.2
56
29
25
8
24
37
1.18
.223
.233
Anthony Smith MR
5
4
3
3.47
72
2
96.0
73
40
37
6
54
99
1.32
.206
.269
Luis Robles SP
14
13
0
3.98
35
35
233.0
227
109
103
21
92
128
1.37
.259
.283
Ramón Ramírez SP
10
6
0
4.23
21
16
112.2
113
59
53
11
69
63
1.62
.268
.293
Danny Cortéz SP
12
13
0
4.24
37
31
199.2
217
101
94
22
63
88
1.40
.281
.295
Ryan Peterson MR
1
0
0
4.37
17
0
22.2
17
13
11
1
19
11
1.59
.212
.235
Hisashi Yokoyama SP
10
8
0
4.45
31
27
170.0
166
97
84
10
74
65
1.41
.261
.278
Perry Thompson MR
2
4
0
4.70
15
7
44.0
43
26
23
3
33
22
1.73
.256
.280
Alex Bower MR
2
0
0
4.91
21
0
25.2
27
14
14
4
11
15
1.48
.278
.295
Dave Brady MR
1
7
0
5.17
58
0
87.0
98
51
50
8
61
57
1.83
.289
.328
Jimmy Taylor SP
6
6
0
5.87
19
19
118.0
124
85
77
14
63
89
1.58
.269
.307
Erik Kelley SP
1
6
0
8.08
10
9
42.1
46
42
38
5
37
23
1.96
.280
.301
Nate Gill MR
0
0
0
40.54
1
0
0.2
2
3
3
1
3
0
7.51
.500
.333

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Name
G
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
TB
BB
K
SB
CS
AVG
OBP
SLG
OPS
Joe Moore 2B
147
573
100
212
34
8
11
65
295
35
71
3
4
.370
.414
.515
.929
Miguel Ybarra 1B
146
551
102
175
20
3
43
108
330
70
101
1
0
.318
.394
.599
.993
Ron Richert CF
135
512
75
147
20
5
5
41
192
48
61
23
11
.287
.346
.375
.721
Ralph Sanders RF
139
506
92
148
36
10
20
90
264
44
114
10
9
.292
.348
.522
.870
Kyle Smith C
140
494
50
121
29
1
17
86
203
48
105
0
2
.245
.313
.411
.724
Joe Karl 3B
119
389
57
130
24
3
5
54
175
24
74
1
4
.334
.394
.450
.844
Earl Jones SS
109
386
51
111
27
1
7
36
161
28
72
0
0
.288
.348
.417
.765
Rob Cooper 3B
107
366
58
93
23
3
18
65
176
40
63
1
5
.254
.325
.481
.805
Joe Childers LF
101
347
44
108
19
6
12
53
175
21
53
2
2
.311
.347
.504
.852
Chris Moore 2B
120
274
36
71
14
0
4
24
97
21
22
9
4
.259
.315
.354
.669
Josh Fairchild LF
81
254
28
64
9
3
7
25
100
24
39
5
5
.252
.323
.394
.716
Bill Sloan C
83
159
10
28
9
0
2
12
43
13
36
0
1
.176
.244
.270
.515
Raúl Pineda CF
47
158
15
34
6
3
4
29
58
2
37
2
1
.215
.230
.367
.597
Brian Thomas 1B
59
104
13
27
5
1
0
10
34
5
23
0
0
.260
.291
.327
.618
Phil Walker SS
37
94
10
18
3
0
1
13
24
1
26
1
0
.191
.202
.255
.457
Loren Gillespie LF
25
88
8
17
4
0
3
14
30
4
22
0
1
.193
.240
.341
.580
Cliff Dillard 3B
75
79
9
16
4
1
0
3
22
8
25
0
0
.203
.278
.278
.556