Steve Hargan: a managers diary

statfreak · 06-01-2006, 01:24 PM

Figured I'd finally try my hand at a dynasty thread after having played the game since version 2.

Background: I imported the 1982 season from the Lahman database and created former MLB pitcher Steve Hargan as a manager and assigned him to Seattle. I am letting the computer AI act as general manager making all trade, release, and free agent decisions. I will act purely as the field manager and also manage the 25 man roster since I don't want the AI demoting / promoting guys I want in starting roles. I will sim the first 6 innings of every game and play out the remainder. I will be going through and adjusting fielding ratings for any player that I think needs it (for all teams, not just Seattle). Unfortunately, the game does a horrible job importing outfielders and several, if not most, will need to be tweaked. Other than that I will not edit anything.

I've managed to sim through spring training so far and have the following to report:

I had just named Al Cowens my starting centerfielder and the next day my GM (the computer AI) trades him to Texas for Charlie Hough and backup catcher Bobby Johnson. I was somewhat okay with that even though it left me without a proven veteran outfielder; however, to make room for Hough the GM cut Gaylord Perry!!! I was very disappointed and hope Perry catches on with another team.

The GM also swung a trade with the Dodgers bringing in shortstop Mark Belanger. We gave up our starting firstbaseman (Bruce Bochte) for the 17 year vet. Unfortunately, his best years are behind him and his ratings are not any better than the younger guys we have. Nonetheless, I named him my starter only to see him get injured during spring training. He'll miss the first week of the regular season. Reviewing the trade, I think it was mostly a salary dump as Bochte was making $2.7 million while Belanger earns $77k.

For some reason the GM wants Domingo Ramos on the 25 man roster. I'm debating whether to keep him with the major league team or send him down and keep Paul Serna. Both had good springs. Ramos hit .300 while Serna hit .296 with 3 taters. Ramos is a little better fielder, but Serna is more versatile. Serna is also older and will most likely be the guy I carry into the regular season.

The only other move the GM did was signing OF Joe Simpson to a 2 yr extension worth a total of $132,000. The left-handed Simpson is a decent backup that can play all 3 outfield positions as well as first, so I was happy to keep him around.

Still have a lot of holes in this club, but we had a solid spring and have hopes of finishing at .500 this season.

My next post will walk through the opening day roster.

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll want to read more....

statfreak · 06-03-2006, 01:32 PM

pv:42
**04-06-1982**

Opening day has finally arrived. We had a decent spring, winning 14 games. A couple guys really made it tough to send them back down, but I think I've kept the 25 best guys. GM Salinas (computer AI) was at it again and traded away 25 year old Bryan Clark, who had penciled in as the 4th starter, to Pittsburgh for 38 year old veteran outfielder Bill Robinson and $780,000 cash. I didn't find out about it until I arrived at the park and saw Robinson taking batting practice. Disappointed to say the least, I marched into Salinas office and demanded to know what he was doing. He made it very clear he was the GM and I was the field manager. So far, the relationship has been anything but good as I disagree with just about every move he has made. I did convince to try to resign Gaylord Perry who is only three wins shy of 300. The offer was made today so we'll find out in a couple days if Perry will pitch with Seattle this year.

Our Opening day roster looks like this:

Catcher
Jim Essian was tabbed the starter from my first day on the job. He is a good defensive catcher that handles the staff very well. He does just enough with the bat to get by.
Terry "Bud" Bulling enters the season as Essian's backup. Bulling is an Essian clone, only he doesn't hit quite as well.

Infield
The addition of Bill Robinson has really mucked things up. Manny Castillo was scheduled to platoon at firstbase with Jim Maler; however, Robinson will now be the starting firstbaseman leaving both Castillo and Maler on the bench. Castillo is versatile and will backup second and thirdbase while Maler will get some hacks at DH versus left-handers.

Julio Cruz will open the year as the starter at second. He has good speed and hopefully will find a way to get on base enough to use it.

Shortstop Mark Belanger is still about a week away from returning from his back injury. He would have been the opening day starter, but that honor now goes to Todd Cruz. Cruz is a great fielder, but struggles at the plate. He'll be backed up by Paul Serna (who hit .296 with 3 HR during the spring).

Dave Edler will get the starting nod at thirdbase. Edler has some good potential and it is time to see if he can play everyday at the major league level.

Outfield
Rookie John Moses had a good spring (.326, 4 HR, 18 R, 18 RBI) and will begin the season as the starter in Left Field.

Dave Henderson will patrol Center and veteran Richie Zisk will play Right Field.

Joe Simpson and Bobby Brown will serve as the backups for all three positions. Simpson will also play some firstbase against right-handers.

Designated Hitter
Gary Gray will handle the DH duties. Gray hit .245 with 13 homeruns in 208 at-bats last year. He hit .288 during the spring and is being counted on to hit 20-25 homeruns this year.

The owner just sent word that he is expecting a .500 season this year. I'll do my best with what I have to work with, but it could be a very long season in Seattle... especially if the GM continues to trade away the our younger players with good potential for 37 and 38 year old veterans at the end of their careers.

Pitching staff and recap of our first few games is up next...

Thanks for reading...

statfreak · 06-04-2006, 01:22 PM

PV52
**04-07-1982**

We opened with a 3 game series in Minnesota and are 2-0 with Jim Beattie and Floyd Bannister picking up the victories.

Things aren't all rosy though as our top prospect John Moses suffered a career ending injury in the first inning of his major league debut. The injury occured while Moses was making a seemingly routine catch in the bottom of the first. The diagnosis was torn ankle ligaments. Moses never even had a chance to make his first official major league plate appearance.

Veterans Joe Simpson and Bobby Brown will patrol left in Moses absence. Outfielder Thad Bosley could also be recalled if needed.

06-01-2006, 01:24 PM	#1
statfreak Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 2,434	Steve Hargan: a managers diary Figured I'd finally try my hand at a dynasty thread after having played the game since version 2. Background: I imported the 1982 season from the Lahman database and created former MLB pitcher Steve Hargan as a manager and assigned him to Seattle. I am letting the computer AI act as general manager making all trade, release, and free agent decisions. I will act purely as the field manager and also manage the 25 man roster since I don't want the AI demoting / promoting guys I want in starting roles. I will sim the first 6 innings of every game and play out the remainder. I will be going through and adjusting fielding ratings for any player that I think needs it (for all teams, not just Seattle). Unfortunately, the game does a horrible job importing outfielders and several, if not most, will need to be tweaked. Other than that I will not edit anything. I've managed to sim through spring training so far and have the following to report: I had just named Al Cowens my starting centerfielder and the next day my GM (the computer AI) trades him to Texas for Charlie Hough and backup catcher Bobby Johnson. I was somewhat okay with that even though it left me without a proven veteran outfielder; however, to make room for Hough the GM cut Gaylord Perry!!! I was very disappointed and hope Perry catches on with another team. The GM also swung a trade with the Dodgers bringing in shortstop Mark Belanger. We gave up our starting firstbaseman (Bruce Bochte) for the 17 year vet. Unfortunately, his best years are behind him and his ratings are not any better than the younger guys we have. Nonetheless, I named him my starter only to see him get injured during spring training. He'll miss the first week of the regular season. Reviewing the trade, I think it was mostly a salary dump as Bochte was making $2.7 million while Belanger earns $77k. For some reason the GM wants Domingo Ramos on the 25 man roster. I'm debating whether to keep him with the major league team or send him down and keep Paul Serna. Both had good springs. Ramos hit .300 while Serna hit .296 with 3 taters. Ramos is a little better fielder, but Serna is more versatile. Serna is also older and will most likely be the guy I carry into the regular season. The only other move the GM did was signing OF Joe Simpson to a 2 yr extension worth a total of $132,000. The left-handed Simpson is a decent backup that can play all 3 outfield positions as well as first, so I was happy to keep him around. Still have a lot of holes in this club, but we had a solid spring and have hopes of finishing at .500 this season. My next post will walk through the opening day roster. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll want to read more.... __________________ Roll out the barrel!

06-03-2006, 01:32 PM	#2
statfreak Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 2,434	pv:42 04-06-1982 Opening day has finally arrived. We had a decent spring, winning 14 games. A couple guys really made it tough to send them back down, but I think I've kept the 25 best guys. GM Salinas (computer AI) was at it again and traded away 25 year old Bryan Clark, who had penciled in as the 4th starter, to Pittsburgh for 38 year old veteran outfielder Bill Robinson and $780,000 cash. I didn't find out about it until I arrived at the park and saw Robinson taking batting practice. Disappointed to say the least, I marched into Salinas office and demanded to know what he was doing. He made it very clear he was the GM and I was the field manager. So far, the relationship has been anything but good as I disagree with just about every move he has made. I did convince to try to resign Gaylord Perry who is only three wins shy of 300. The offer was made today so we'll find out in a couple days if Perry will pitch with Seattle this year. Our Opening day roster looks like this: Catcher Jim Essian was tabbed the starter from my first day on the job. He is a good defensive catcher that handles the staff very well. He does just enough with the bat to get by. Terry "Bud" Bulling enters the season as Essian's backup. Bulling is an Essian clone, only he doesn't hit quite as well. Infield The addition of Bill Robinson has really mucked things up. Manny Castillo was scheduled to platoon at firstbase with Jim Maler; however, Robinson will now be the starting firstbaseman leaving both Castillo and Maler on the bench. Castillo is versatile and will backup second and thirdbase while Maler will get some hacks at DH versus left-handers. Julio Cruz will open the year as the starter at second. He has good speed and hopefully will find a way to get on base enough to use it. Shortstop Mark Belanger is still about a week away from returning from his back injury. He would have been the opening day starter, but that honor now goes to Todd Cruz. Cruz is a great fielder, but struggles at the plate. He'll be backed up by Paul Serna (who hit .296 with 3 HR during the spring). Dave Edler will get the starting nod at thirdbase. Edler has some good potential and it is time to see if he can play everyday at the major league level. Outfield Rookie John Moses had a good spring (.326, 4 HR, 18 R, 18 RBI) and will begin the season as the starter in Left Field. Dave Henderson will patrol Center and veteran Richie Zisk will play Right Field. Joe Simpson and Bobby Brown will serve as the backups for all three positions. Simpson will also play some firstbase against right-handers. Designated Hitter Gary Gray will handle the DH duties. Gray hit .245 with 13 homeruns in 208 at-bats last year. He hit .288 during the spring and is being counted on to hit 20-25 homeruns this year. The owner just sent word that he is expecting a .500 season this year. I'll do my best with what I have to work with, but it could be a very long season in Seattle... especially if the GM continues to trade away the our younger players with good potential for 37 and 38 year old veterans at the end of their careers. Pitching staff and recap of our first few games is up next... Thanks for reading... __________________ Roll out the barrel!

06-04-2006, 01:22 PM	#3
statfreak Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 2,434	PV52 04-07-1982 We opened with a 3 game series in Minnesota and are 2-0 with Jim Beattie and Floyd Bannister picking up the victories. Things aren't all rosy though as our top prospect John Moses suffered a career ending injury in the first inning of his major league debut. The injury occured while Moses was making a seemingly routine catch in the bottom of the first. The diagnosis was torn ankle ligaments. Moses never even had a chance to make his first official major league plate appearance. Veterans Joe Simpson and Bobby Brown will patrol left in Moses absence. Outfielder Thad Bosley could also be recalled if needed. __________________ Roll out the barrel!