$$$ Reversal of Fortune: A Pittsburgh Pirates Legacy $$$

[bucketsndimes]

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009

Batting Titles Awarded To Markakis & Pujols
Orioles And Cardinals Sluggers Take Their Places In History

BALTIMORE, MD -- Nick Markakis was ecstatic today upon learning that he had edged out Minnesota's Joe Mauer for the American League batting title. "It's definitely a great accomplishment," said Markakis. "It means me consistency is there and that means something to me."

Markakis had a .332 batting average, 20 home runs and 98 runs batted in this season. Albert Pujols finished with an average of .346, 28 homers and 109 RBI.

In other news, the MLB Playoffs begin tomorrow. The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians will face off as well as the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees in the American League. In the National League it will be the New York Mets against Milwaukee and the San Diego Padres versus the Atlanta Braves.

Pirates Notes
Pirates Finish Season 2nd in NL Central | (89-73) | 11 GB MIL

[bucketsndimes]

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009

What a year! We may not have made the playoffs, but I feel that finishing 89-73 is plenty. It should definitely tide the fans over until next year. Hell, maybe next decade. They haven't seen a season like this since '92!

There's definitely some holes that need plugging, specifically, our starting pitching. Jered Weaver was fine going 6-3 with a 3.72 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09 in his 12 starts with us. The rest, however, were very poor. Ian Snell went 13-11 with a 4.36 ERA and 154 strikeouts, Paul Maholm was 10-15 with a 4.83 ERA and 148 strikeouts, Jeff Karstens was 13-11 with a 4.65 ERA and 132 strikeouts and Zach Duke was 12-12 with an ERA of 4.80. Jordan Walden, however, who we acquired from the Angels looks like he may start out next season in the rotation. He only started 1 game, but in 15.1 innings he struck out 11 and only allowed 4 runs. Yes, it may be a very small sample size, but it's something to consider.

Our bullpen can be kept basically intact. Jimmy Barthmaier, Craig Hansen and Tyler Yates all had ERAs under 3.50. Matt Capps was amazing. The youngster pitched 71.1 innings, striking out 56. His ERA was 2.14 and he saved 39 games for us. He is a future All-Star.

Our lineup, as good as it was may get a forced makeover. Robert Nutting is being a real prick with the budget. I may not be able to re-sign Adam LaRoche (.257 BA, .340 OBP, 32 HR, 92 RBI) or Eric Hinske (.273 BA, .345 OBP, 18 HR, 70 RBI).

Jason Jaramillo (.285 BA, .342 OBP, 11 HR, 57 RBI) looks to be our starting catcher next season. At second base we'll have Freddy Sanchez (.278 BA, 9 HR, 58 RBI) again. At short Jack Wilson (.315 BA, .355 OBP, 8 HR, 68 RBI) was great. Completing the infield is Andy LaRoche (.282 BA, .361 OBP, 14 HR, 75 RBI, 10 SB).

In the outfield we will have Nate McLouth (.319 BA, .398 OBP, 26 HR, 88 RBI 24 SB) and Andrew McCutchen (.284 BA, .327 OBP, HR, 32 RBI, 16 SB), our second half studs. Besides that everything is up in the air. Here is a look at the final standings for the 2009 MLB season. ...

American League

East
New York Yankees (96-66)
Boston Red Sox (92-70)
Baltimore Orioles (81-81)
Tampa Bay Rays (77-85)
Toronto Blue Jays (76-86)

Central
Cleveland Indians (99-63)
Chicago White Sox (78-84)
Minnesota Twins (78-84)
Kansas City Royals (77-85)
Detroit Tigers (72-90)

West
Oakland Athletics (86-76)
Seattle Mariners (82-80)
Texas Rangers (66-96)
Los Angeles Angels (63-99)

National League

East
Atlanta Braves (98-64)
New York Mets (92-70)
Philadelphia Phillies (84-78)
Florida Marlins (80-82)
Washington Nationals (64-98)

Central
Milwaukee Brewers (100-62)
Pittsburgh Pirates (89-73)
St. Louis Cardinals (77-85)
Cincinnati Reds (73-89)
Houston Astros (72-90)
Chicago Cubs (71-91)

West
San Diego Padres (89-73)
Los Angeles Dodgers (86-76)
San Francisco Giants (85-77)
Colorado Rockies (74-88)
Arizona Diamondbacks (73-89)

One more thing, one of our guys, right fielder Tom Hagan (.321 BA, 19 HR, 52 RBI) won the South Atlantic League MVP Award for his play with the West Virginia Power.

[bucketsndimes]

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2009

Mets Are World Series Champs!
New York Defeats Boston In 7 To Be Crowned Champions

NEW YORK, NY -- Mets fans are going wild after a dream season in which the team won their 3rd world championship. Game seven was barely epic, as the Mets defeated Boston 9-4. Ramon Castro and Carlos Beltran homered for the Amazin's while Johan Santana won the game in his second season in New York.

Santana was also named the World Series Most Valuable Player. Santana started 3 games in the World Series. He went 2-0 with an ERA of 2.50 He struck out 21 in 18 innings of work, including 8 in game 7.

Mets manager Charlie Manuel was ecstatic in the locker-room during the post-season celebration, "We did it! We're champions, that means we were the best team in baseball and nobody could beat us. This is a season that I will never forget, and neither will the city of New York!"

MLB Notes
... ATL SP Tom Glavine, MIL CL Trevor Hoffman, SFO SP Randy Johnson, BOS MR, John Smoltz and ARI 1B Frank Thomas have all announced their retirement and will be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. ...

[bucketsndimes]

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009

Managers and GMs were fired all over baseball in the past week. Luckily, I wasn't one of them. In wake of the mass firings I have decided to keep my entire coaching staff on. Tampa Bay fired Joe Maddon, Houston fired Cecil Cooper, Bob Melvin was given the axe by Arizona, Cubs GM Jim Hendry was fired and Cincinnati, Texas and the Angels all canned both their manager and GM.

I received the sad news form Rob Nutting that I will get to work with a budget of just over $68 million for the upcoming season. This is barely more than the budget I had this past year. This means there may be some major cost-cutting moves. I hope I can re-sign Adam LaRoche, but right now it doesn't look like that will happen.

In other news, one of our former guys, Brandon Moss was traded today to the Royals from the Angels for 1B Kila Ka'aihue (.291 BA, 17 HR, 48 RBI) and a minor leaguer. In addition, Milwaukee dealt two minor leaguers to Colorado for reliever Manny Corpas (13-12, 3.30 ERA, 23 SV). The trade makes the defending NL Central champs even tougher competition.

[bucketsndimes]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009

Orioles Acquire Maholm From Pittsburgh
Pirates Trade Pitcher To Baltimore For Prospect

BALTIMORE, MD -- Orioles fans are excited after their team completed a deal for starting pitcher Paul Maholm today. Baltimore dealt pitching prospect Zach Britton to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Maholm, second baseman Ramon Vasquez and cash.

This was an obvious salary dump by Pittsburgh, who got rid of $6.5 million in salary in the trade, though they reportedly will pay for 3/4 of Vasquez's contract next season.

For Baltimore it is a solid move. Maholm went 10-15 last year with an ERA of 4.83. He came into the year projected as Pittsburgh's number one starter, but slipped up. In Baltimore he should be the 4th starter.

MLB Notes
... ATL CF Jordan Schafer and TOR LF Travis Snider were given the NL and NL Rookie of The Year Awards today. ... Boston's Terry Francona and San Diego's Bud Black were named the Managers of the Year. ...

Pirates Notes
... SS Jack Wilson was named an NL Gold Glove Award-winner earlier today. ...

[bucketsndimes]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Papelbon, Webb, Cy Young Winners
D-Backs Ace And Red Sox Closer Named Top Pitchers

BOSTON, MA -- Jonathan Papelbon became the first reliever since Eric Gagne in 2003 to win the Cy Young Award today. The Red Sox hurler had one of the best seasons by a closer in MLB history and certainly deserved the accolade. Papelbon converted on 39 of 40 save opportunities, posting a 1.67 ERA and striking out 77 in 70 innings. In the post-season he was less spectacular with an ERA of 3.00 in 12 innings as the Sox won the AL pennant.

Brandon Webb became the 15th multiple-time winner of the award with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Webb went 21-7 in his incredible season, fanning 180 batters in 244 innings and finishing with a league-leading ERA of 2.55.

Pirates Notes
... GM Jimmy Bacon has offered arbitration to Jeff Karstens, Jered Weaver, Sean Burnett, Craig Hansen, Tyler Yates, Matt Capps, Eric Hinske and Adam LaRoche. This means Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow, Andy Phillips, Jason Davis and Craig Monroe will all be free agents. The Pirates are unlikely to get LaRoche and Hinske through arbitration offers, but by doing so guarantee compensation if the two sign elsewhere. ...

[dj_morton]

IMO Papelbon's season is not Cy Young worthy. In my solo league, a CL wins the Cy Young at least half the time. Kind of annoying when pitchers go 20-5 with a era under 3, and don't win.

[bucketsndimes]

Originally Posted by dj_morton

IMO Papelbon's season is not Cy Young worthy. In my solo league, a CL wins the Cy Young at least half the time. Kind of annoying when pitchers go 20-5 with a era under 3, and don't win.

I probably should start doing the awards manually. Papelbon had 9 wins as well which probably made him better in the AI's eyes.

[bucketsndimes]

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2009

A Prince Crowned King
Prince Fielder Takes Home NL MVP, Grady Sizemore Wins AL Award

MILWAUKEE, WI -- The Milwaukee faithful were proud today to discover that their frist baseman, Prince Fielder was named the National League Most Valuable Player after a stellar season.

Milwaukee was the only team in baseball to reach 100 wins this season and Prince was a key to their success. Fielder batted .338 with 35 home runs and 107 runs batted in. Fielder is with family at the moment, but will hold a press conference tomorrow about the award.

In the American League, Cleveland Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore received the award. Sizemore, a 4-time All-Star batted .293, collecting 111 RBI and 25 homers. He also stole 30 bases for the AL Central champs.

[bucketsndimes]

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009

Brew Crew Acquire Owings
Milwaukee Continues To Add Depth To Bullpen

MILWAUKEE, WI -- Just a little over two weeks after acquiring reliever Manny Corpas from Colorado, the Milwaukee Brewers are at it again. This time they traded for Red starter, Micah Owings.

Milwaukee traded away two pitching prospects, 22-year old Zach Braddock and 24-year old Dan Merklinger in hopes of building off their NL Central crown.

"It feels great to be on a winning team," said Owings. "The Brewers already had a lot of the pieces to the puzzle, and now they're putting them all together, and adding a few more. I am confident I can help this team reach the ultimate goal next year."

Owings went 7-12 for a poor Cincinnati squad last season, with a 4.46 ERA. He is expected to take on a role as a reliever for the Brewers next year.

[Al_Boe]

loving this. Following!

[dj_morton]

Originally Posted by bucketsndimes

I probably should start doing the awards manually. Papelbon had 9 wins as well which probably made him better in the AI's eyes.

If he had 9 wins, then he is probably a legit Cy Young winner.

[bucketsndimes]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Salary arbitration hearings were today and we didn't come out too bad. We were able to keep Jeff Karstens, Sean Burnett, Jered Weaver, Craig Hansen, Tyler Yates and Matt Capps. Eric Hinske and Adam LaRoche will likely sign elsewhere, but we should receive some draft pick compensation.

Here is the rundown on what each player got. Bolded is the salary that the arbitrator ruled in favor of. ...

Player | Salary Demanded | Salary Offered
Jeff Karstens | $800,000 | $600,000
Sean Burnett | $800,000 | $600,000
Jered Weaver | $8,500,000 | $4,500,000
Craig Hansen | $1,100,000 | $700,000
Tyler Yates | $1,200,000 | $1,100,000
Matt Capps | $4,600,000 | $3,500,000

We will also have more money than I expected to spend on free agents. $17.4 million is the budget room I have for this off-season. That's plenty and could nab us up to 3 solid players. I definitely need another starting pitcher, a first baseman and possibly another outfielder.

Here are some of the key free agents aside from Adam LaRoche and Eric Hinske who you already know of. ...

1. SP Rich Harden (17-9, 2.76 ERA, 246 K in 225.1 IP)
The most coveted pitcher on the free agent market, Harden had a tremendous season with a poor Cubs team. He has been prone to injury in the past, but his 2009 campaign has turned some heads.

2. LF Matt Holliday (.312 BA, 19 HR, 69 RBI, 16 SB)
Holliday is one of the best hitters on the league, and the best one on the market.

3. LF Marcus Thames (.259 BA, 41 HR, 119 RBI)
Thames was an unexpected source of power in the Detroit Tigers lineup. Anyone looking for a big bat will look his way.

4. RF Vladimir Guerrero (.265 BA, 13 HR, 74 RBI)
Guarrero had his worst season as a pro, but was still productive. Teams will look to the past and hope for similar numbers.

5. LF Brian Giles (.318 BA, 9 HR, 55 RBI)
Giles had another good year hitting the ball. That, coupled with his defense will draw suitors.

Other key free agents include John Lackey, Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Russ Springer and Marco Scutaro.

It also looks like I have enough room to go after LaRoche. However, he does want to test the free agent market, and may be able to make more money elsewhere. Anyway, time to get to work.

[bucketsndimes]

Ugh, sorry guys, I had some issues with OOTP and the new versions and whatever. This dynasty is gone. I may start up another, we'll see. It would either be another 2009 dynasty or maybe a fictional league beginning in the past.

[dj_morton]

Tough luck. Team was coming together.

[bucketsndimes]

I won't lie, I usually play a bit ahead of my writing so I can tell you this much... I ended up losing Gregg Zaun to the rule 5 draft. Signed Jason Kendall to a 1-year deal to backup Jaramillo. Signed Bobby Abreu to a 1-year deal. Re-signed Adam LaRoche for 2 years. Traded a few scrubs and prospects for Josh Johnson. The team looked improved, but due to massive injuries we were pretty awful after about 25 games. Also, Cleveland's Beau Mills was on pace to break the HR record and hit like .350.