Rebuilding the 1992 Tigers

84Hammy · 07-16-2012, 10:56 AM

Dynasty: 1992 + Replay As the Detroit Tigers

Challenge: to turn the Tigers into a winning team before 2006 (real life).
Game: I will have the development engine on for this league
Limitations: I will only be allowed 5 trades per season.
Trade difficulty: hard.
Everything else is default.
Rationale: From 1992 to 2006 the Tigers did not have a winning record. They had some of the worst teams in history (2003 comes to mind).

Note: I've set these up like general manager notes, which they are, since they are my thought processes as I went through this experience. I'll let you know ahead of time that I am still playing this out, though I have 5 years completed.

84Hammy · 07-16-2012, 11:06 AM

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1992 Pre-season Activity:

When you take over the 1992 Detroit Tigers, and you find yourself with a plethora of guys who will become free agents at the end of the season, your first reaction is to try to unload some of these guys, especially those who will provide no compensation should you not be able to resign them.

The names that stick out are: Whitaker, Fielder, Deer, Philips, Tettleton. After much searching here are the deals I come up with:

Trade 1: March 10th: RF Phil Clark and MR Bill Gullickson to Montreal for MR John Wettland and SS Tom Foley. This trade gives me a great reliever and an infielder who can play anywhere. Clark hit .312 for the Expos in 3 years before a torn labrum ended his career.

Trade 2: March 16th: This is a block buster: 3B Tony Phillips, RF Rob Deer, and MR John Doherty to Atlanta for SP Tom Glavine. I feel a little dirty based on how unrealistic this is, but I kill two birds here, improving a terrible rotation and clearing a lot of room in my budget. A few years later I won't feel so guilty as Doherty and Phillips will go on to have a decent careers, and as good as Glavine is, ultimately, we can't afford him long term.

GXMarc · 07-16-2012, 11:09 AM

Good Luck for your Team and your Dynasty-Report.

84Hammy · 07-16-2012, 11:21 AM

1992 Weeks 1-4

I've set this up to be a weekly recap/summary of the team's performance and the things I have noticed or ideas I have for improvement. I won't be posting standings, except maybe at the end of each season. I think this is a very ego-centric dynasty...

Week 1: 2-4: Batting average of .214 with an ERA of 2.83. Hopefully the batting picks up and the pitching stays strong.

Week 2: 4-3 (6-7 overall). In the original lineup, Dave Bergman (.111 BA) was DH, but I made Trammel the DH and that seemed to help. After this week I had to bench LF Dan Gladden (.163 BA).
Both Tanana and Terrell have ERAs over 10.

Week 3: 1-6 (7-13 overall). A terrible week for most. Terrell had a couple of decent starts, but his ERA is still over 6. It's so bad, that I had to put Gladden back into the lineup for Barnes (.167 BA). It's early but we have a team BA of .233.

Week 4: 2-4 (9-17 Overall). Not much hope here...though in an 18-14 loss to Oakland, Cecil Fielder hit 4 HR and drove in 9 runs. We are now 13th in hitting and pitching.

Muskies · 07-16-2012, 11:30 AM

Best of Luck! I look forward to following.

84Hammy · 07-16-2012, 09:51 PM

Week 5: 4-3 (13-20 overall). I gave Glavine an extension for 4 years for about $2 million per. It is a good deal; he has the option in the last year. Remember that. But this year he is 4-3 so far while Terrell is 1-6.

Week 6: 5-0 (18-20 overall). A really good week though RF Mark Carreon was injured (1 week) and Trammell (5 days). I may try to resign Whitaker for 2 years...Gladden is now batting .250.

Week 7: 6-1 (24-21 overall). I don't want to get too excited, but 11-1 in the last 2 weeks is pretty good. I was able to sign Whitaker for 2 years at $2.8 mil. Per.

Week 8: 4-2 (28-23): An injury to Whitaker (2 weeks) caused me to trade C Rich Rowland to Milwaukee for 2B Scott Fletcher (Trade 3). I didn't trust Tom Foley. SP Eric King is 7-2 with a 3.76 ERA. He was given Pitcher of the Month honours (6-0, 2.95). 3B Scott Livingstone was Rookie of the Month (.321). Fryman was player of the week.
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__________________________________________________ ______________
19-6 in the last 4 weeks, quite an improvement. I feel like I have adjusted the lineup to the best of my abilities. When everybody is healthy the lineup looks like this:
1. Whitaker 2B
2. Livingstone DH
3. Fryman 3B
4. Fielder 1B
5. Tettleton C
6. Carreon RF
7. Gladden LF
8. Trammell SS
9. Cuyler CF

beachbomer · 07-16-2012, 10:28 PM

Good luck with your dynasty, off to a good start!

84Hammy · 07-17-2012, 01:05 PM

1992 Weeks 9-12: Injuries Abound!
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beachbomer · 07-17-2012, 04:54 PM

Wow Dodgers fire Lasorda......never thought I would see the day.

Johnny Canuck · 07-17-2012, 10:00 PM

Great stuff! As a Tigers fan since the 80s, these names bring back memories - mostly of prospects never panning out, like Livingstone and Ritz. Just don't trade Trammell or Whitaker - they have to retire as Tigers!

84Hammy · 07-17-2012, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Canuck

Great stuff! As a Tigers fan since the 80s, these names bring back memories - mostly of prospects never panning out, like Livingstone and Ritz. Just don't trade Trammell or Whitaker - they have to retire as Tigers!

Ritz is having a decent career. I can't make promises about Tram and Sweet Lou, but I know how you feel!

84Hammy · 07-18-2012, 04:14 PM

Here is our mid-season report, set up like a cheesy 6th grade media assignment!

84Hammy · 07-18-2012, 10:18 PM

Weekly Reports 1992, Weeks 13-16

84Hammy · 07-19-2012, 11:47 AM

Well we are a long way from 9-17, and now we find ourselves in a pennant race. We also find ourselves with only 24 available players, which is one of the risks of starting a historical league; there are often not enough players to go around. I do have injury frequency set to low...

84Hammy · 07-22-2012, 09:50 PM

Well, we are keeping it exciting.
Note to self: the last font I used was Segoe Script. I keep forgetting which font I use when I create these!

84Hammy · 07-23-2012, 09:32 PM

Well we finished a lot closer than I thought we would, and now with the off season, I have a lot of decisions to make.

84Hammy · 07-23-2012, 09:52 PM

In 1992 there was no problem for Houston. They won 102 games, mostly on the back of good pitching, especially the bullpen. Doug Jones saved 50 games and Xavier Hernandez won 12 games, pitching on 79. Bagwell and Luis Gonzalez had good years, but neither of them hit more that 20 HR. They had a team ERA of 3.02.

A great irony is that midway through the season the Astros traded for Joe Carter. He got injured soon after, but was back in time to help win the series. He hit .313 with 3 HR and 7 RBI that post season. Unfortunately that would be the highlight of his career; he did not duplicate his real life numbers. Incidentally the Astros traded Tuffy Rhodes for Carter. Rhodes played exactly one game for Toronto that season and he didn't even get an at bat. He was traded the next year for Ryan Thompson who did have a decent few years for the Jays.

84Hammy · 07-24-2012, 07:41 PM

First the Stats:
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From a batting standpoint, and as a lifelong Tiger fan, you can see that I have a few tough decisions when it comes to Trammell and Whitaker. They did not have great years. And while Fielder and Tettleton provided a great deal of power, I cannot afford to keep them. As for the pitching, a 4.02 team ERA is not horrible, but that was thanks in large part to Glavine and Lieter, who were stellar. It is too bad Lieter has such a poor endurance rating, otherwise he would be worth something.

Here are my notes on the draft:

For the ML Draft, I have the 15th pick. I would love to get a cheap fix for my rotation. I have 2.8 mil for signings.

Round 1: 5 teams pick Sps...There are only a couple of 3 star starters left. Meanwhile, there are 4 4-5 star batters available. With Fielder and Tettleton leaving, I settle on 1B Bob Hamelin. Remember I am playing with the development engine on.

Round 2: SS Kevin Stocker is still there. He has a 5 star rating. The best pitcher available is MR Steve Karsay, who has a 4.5 star rating and is only 20. Even though I need help in the bullpen, I take Stocker.

Round 3: 4 star MR Bobby Munoz is available, so we draft him.

Round 4: To help with depth in the outfield, we take LF Rob Butler.

Round 5: MR Greg Gohr...Hopefully he does better than he did in real life

Round 6: C Kevin Higgins whoever that is; anyway, he may have to be my backup catcher.

Round 7: RF Darryl Whitmore. Another back up OF

84Hammy · 07-25-2012, 09:38 PM

Some notes...

84Hammy · 07-26-2012, 02:47 PM

Here are a few more Free Agents the Tigers are making offers to:

C: I am looking for a guy who might be able to be more than a back up if Kreuter sucks. I do not want to go after a Type A player, so the best I can do is Mike Stanley, who is a Type B player. I give him what he is asking for, $700,000 for 3 years.

OF: I am going to offer CF Stan Javier a contract, even though he is a Type B guy. He only wants a 2 year deal worth $1.1 mil per. . I like him because he can steal a base and walked 75 times last season.

SP Danny Cox. I offer the 33 year old a 2 year deal at a million dollars per season.

Expansion Draft: I screwed up and forget to protect Mark Carreon who hit 19 HR and is one of my few OF! The Rockies get him and RF Shawn Hare. I am left with only 4 OF, one of which has a contact rating of 7/20.

Trade: I am going to try to trade either Livingstone or Fletcher. For Livingstone Minnesota is willing to give me LF Chili Davis or RF Shane Mack. For Fletcher, the pickings are much slimmer. I also shop Kevin Ritz and some big names come up: Ivan Rodrigez, Ricky Henderson, and Darryl Hamilton. Henderson is too expensive, Pudge would make me feel like I was cheating, so I go with Hamilton (Trade 1).

I can find no other trade which will produce a decent player, yet. I will hang on to Livingstone for now.

Tettleton signs with Houston so I get a 1st rounder and a compensation pick. Hopefully it is worth it considering Tettleton signed for only 4 years at $2.8 mil.

Current Fan Interest: 87.

December 1st: SP Kevin Gross signs. We lose a first round pick, but Fan Interest increases to 90.

I will wait until winter meeting to actively trade one of my infielders.

Winter Meetings: The other 4 players I offered contracts to all favour my offer, but I can't count on anything, so I will try to either get another outfielder or a middle reliever.

Winter Meetings end without a trade. At the end of Winter Meetings, however, MR Rob Murphy signs. Even though he is a Type B player, there is no mention of compensation.

A few days later C Stanley and LF Javier sign. No mention of compensation. My roster is starting to take shape.

My payroll is now $19.2 mil.

The next week SP Danny Cox signs. This affords me the option of moving either Leiter or Swindell to the bullpen.

Payroll: $20.4 mil. I will keep it there for now, and roll into 1993. I will shop my infielders closer to the start of spring training.

07-16-2012, 10:56 AM	#1
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	Rebuilding the 1992 Tigers Dynasty: 1992 + Replay As the Detroit Tigers Challenge: to turn the Tigers into a winning team before 2006 (real life). Game: I will have the development engine on for this league Limitations: I will only be allowed 5 trades per season. Trade difficulty: hard. Everything else is default. Rationale: From 1992 to 2006 the Tigers did not have a winning record. They had some of the worst teams in history (2003 comes to mind). Note: I've set these up like general manager notes, which they are, since they are my thought processes as I went through this experience. I'll let you know ahead of time that I am still playing this out, though I have 5 years completed. Last edited by 84Hammy; 07-18-2012 at 10:08 PM.

07-16-2012, 11:06 AM	#2
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992: Pre-season 1992 Pre-season Activity: When you take over the 1992 Detroit Tigers, and you find yourself with a plethora of guys who will become free agents at the end of the season, your first reaction is to try to unload some of these guys, especially those who will provide no compensation should you not be able to resign them. The names that stick out are: Whitaker, Fielder, Deer, Philips, Tettleton. After much searching here are the deals I come up with: Trade 1: March 10th: RF Phil Clark and MR Bill Gullickson to Montreal for MR John Wettland and SS Tom Foley. This trade gives me a great reliever and an infielder who can play anywhere. Clark hit .312 for the Expos in 3 years before a torn labrum ended his career. Trade 2: March 16th: This is a block buster: 3B Tony Phillips, RF Rob Deer, and MR John Doherty to Atlanta for SP Tom Glavine. I feel a little dirty based on how unrealistic this is, but I kill two birds here, improving a terrible rotation and clearing a lot of room in my budget. A few years later I won't feel so guilty as Doherty and Phillips will go on to have a decent careers, and as good as Glavine is, ultimately, we can't afford him long term. Last edited by 84Hammy; 07-16-2012 at 11:14 AM.

07-16-2012, 11:09 AM	#3
GXMarc Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Melle, Germany Posts: 71	Good Luck for your Team and your Dynasty-Report. __________________ "If you don't think baseball is a big deal, don't do it. But if you do, do it right." Tom Seaver

07-16-2012, 11:21 AM	#4
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	The 1992 Season Begins 1992 Weeks 1-4 I've set this up to be a weekly recap/summary of the team's performance and the things I have noticed or ideas I have for improvement. I won't be posting standings, except maybe at the end of each season. I think this is a very ego-centric dynasty... Week 1: 2-4: Batting average of .214 with an ERA of 2.83. Hopefully the batting picks up and the pitching stays strong. Week 2: 4-3 (6-7 overall). In the original lineup, Dave Bergman (.111 BA) was DH, but I made Trammel the DH and that seemed to help. After this week I had to bench LF Dan Gladden (.163 BA). Both Tanana and Terrell have ERAs over 10. Week 3: 1-6 (7-13 overall). A terrible week for most. Terrell had a couple of decent starts, but his ERA is still over 6. It's so bad, that I had to put Gladden back into the lineup for Barnes (.167 BA). It's early but we have a team BA of .233. Week 4: 2-4 (9-17 Overall). Not much hope here...though in an 18-14 loss to Oakland, Cecil Fielder hit 4 HR and drove in 9 runs. We are now 13th in hitting and pitching.

07-16-2012, 09:51 PM	#6
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 5-8 Week 5: 4-3 (13-20 overall). I gave Glavine an extension for 4 years for about $2 million per. It is a good deal; he has the option in the last year. Remember that. But this year he is 4-3 so far while Terrell is 1-6. Week 6: 5-0 (18-20 overall). A really good week though RF Mark Carreon was injured (1 week) and Trammell (5 days). I may try to resign Whitaker for 2 years...Gladden is now batting .250. Week 7: 6-1 (24-21 overall). I don't want to get too excited, but 11-1 in the last 2 weeks is pretty good. I was able to sign Whitaker for 2 years at $2.8 mil. Per. Week 8: 4-2 (28-23): An injury to Whitaker (2 weeks) caused me to trade C Rich Rowland to Milwaukee for 2B Scott Fletcher (Trade 3). I didn't trust Tom Foley. SP Eric King is 7-2 with a 3.76 ERA. He was given Pitcher of the Month honours (6-0, 2.95). 3B Scott Livingstone was Rookie of the Month (.321). Fryman was player of the week. __________________________________________________ ______________ 19-6 in the last 4 weeks, quite an improvement. I feel like I have adjusted the lineup to the best of my abilities. When everybody is healthy the lineup looks like this: 1. Whitaker 2B 2. Livingstone DH 3. Fryman 3B 4. Fielder 1B 5. Tettleton C 6. Carreon RF 7. Gladden LF 8. Trammell SS 9. Cuyler CF

07-16-2012, 11:30 AM	#5
Muskies Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 480	Best of Luck! I look forward to following.

07-16-2012, 10:28 PM	#7
beachbomer All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 701	Good luck with your dynasty, off to a good start!

07-17-2012, 01:05 PM	#8
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 9-12 1992 Weeks 9-12: Injuries Abound!

07-17-2012, 04:54 PM	#9
beachbomer All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 701	Wow Dodgers fire Lasorda......never thought I would see the day.

07-17-2012, 10:00 PM	#10
Johnny Canuck Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Brampton, Ontario Posts: 93	Great stuff! As a Tigers fan since the 80s, these names bring back memories - mostly of prospects never panning out, like Livingstone and Ritz. Just don't trade Trammell or Whitaker - they have to retire as Tigers!

07-18-2012, 04:14 PM	#12
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Mid-season Report Here is our mid-season report, set up like a cheesy 6th grade media assignment! Attached Images

07-18-2012, 10:18 PM	#13
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 13-16 Weekly Reports 1992, Weeks 13-16 Attached Images

07-19-2012, 11:47 AM	#14
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 17-20 Well we are a long way from 9-17, and now we find ourselves in a pennant race. We also find ourselves with only 24 available players, which is one of the risks of starting a historical league; there are often not enough players to go around. I do have injury frequency set to low... Attached Images

07-22-2012, 09:50 PM	#15
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 21-24 Well, we are keeping it exciting. Note to self: the last font I used was Segoe Script. I keep forgetting which font I use when I create these! Attached Images

07-23-2012, 09:32 PM	#16
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Weeks 25-26 Well we finished a lot closer than I thought we would, and now with the off season, I have a lot of decisions to make. Attached Images

07-23-2012, 09:52 PM	#17
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	A Word on Houston In 1992 there was no problem for Houston. They won 102 games, mostly on the back of good pitching, especially the bullpen. Doug Jones saved 50 games and Xavier Hernandez won 12 games, pitching on 79. Bagwell and Luis Gonzalez had good years, but neither of them hit more that 20 HR. They had a team ERA of 3.02. A great irony is that midway through the season the Astros traded for Joe Carter. He got injured soon after, but was back in time to help win the series. He hit .313 with 3 HR and 7 RBI that post season. Unfortunately that would be the highlight of his career; he did not duplicate his real life numbers. Incidentally the Astros traded Tuffy Rhodes for Carter. Rhodes played exactly one game for Toronto that season and he didn't even get an at bat. He was traded the next year for Ryan Thompson who did have a decent few years for the Jays.

07-24-2012, 07:41 PM	#18
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	1992 Stats and Draft First the Stats: From a batting standpoint, and as a lifelong Tiger fan, you can see that I have a few tough decisions when it comes to Trammell and Whitaker. They did not have great years. And while Fielder and Tettleton provided a great deal of power, I cannot afford to keep them. As for the pitching, a 4.02 team ERA is not horrible, but that was thanks in large part to Glavine and Lieter, who were stellar. It is too bad Lieter has such a poor endurance rating, otherwise he would be worth something. Here are my notes on the draft: For the ML Draft, I have the 15th pick. I would love to get a cheap fix for my rotation. I have 2.8 mil for signings. Round 1: 5 teams pick Sps...There are only a couple of 3 star starters left. Meanwhile, there are 4 4-5 star batters available. With Fielder and Tettleton leaving, I settle on 1B Bob Hamelin. Remember I am playing with the development engine on. Round 2: SS Kevin Stocker is still there. He has a 5 star rating. The best pitcher available is MR Steve Karsay, who has a 4.5 star rating and is only 20. Even though I need help in the bullpen, I take Stocker. Round 3: 4 star MR Bobby Munoz is available, so we draft him. Round 4: To help with depth in the outfield, we take LF Rob Butler. Round 5: MR Greg Gohr...Hopefully he does better than he did in real life Round 6: C Kevin Higgins whoever that is; anyway, he may have to be my backup catcher. Round 7: RF Darryl Whitmore. Another back up OF

07-25-2012, 09:38 PM	#19
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	Awards and Early Free Agency Some notes... Attached Images

07-26-2012, 02:47 PM	#20
84Hammy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Stinky Windsor Posts: 919	More Off Season News Here are a few more Free Agents the Tigers are making offers to: C: I am looking for a guy who might be able to be more than a back up if Kreuter sucks. I do not want to go after a Type A player, so the best I can do is Mike Stanley, who is a Type B player. I give him what he is asking for, $700,000 for 3 years. OF: I am going to offer CF Stan Javier a contract, even though he is a Type B guy. He only wants a 2 year deal worth $1.1 mil per. . I like him because he can steal a base and walked 75 times last season. SP Danny Cox. I offer the 33 year old a 2 year deal at a million dollars per season. Expansion Draft: I screwed up and forget to protect Mark Carreon who hit 19 HR and is one of my few OF! The Rockies get him and RF Shawn Hare. I am left with only 4 OF, one of which has a contact rating of 7/20. Trade: I am going to try to trade either Livingstone or Fletcher. For Livingstone Minnesota is willing to give me LF Chili Davis or RF Shane Mack. For Fletcher, the pickings are much slimmer. I also shop Kevin Ritz and some big names come up: Ivan Rodrigez, Ricky Henderson, and Darryl Hamilton. Henderson is too expensive, Pudge would make me feel like I was cheating, so I go with Hamilton (Trade 1). I can find no other trade which will produce a decent player, yet. I will hang on to Livingstone for now. Tettleton signs with Houston so I get a 1st rounder and a compensation pick. Hopefully it is worth it considering Tettleton signed for only 4 years at $2.8 mil. Current Fan Interest: 87. December 1st: SP Kevin Gross signs. We lose a first round pick, but Fan Interest increases to 90. I will wait until winter meeting to actively trade one of my infielders. Winter Meetings: The other 4 players I offered contracts to all favour my offer, but I can't count on anything, so I will try to either get another outfielder or a middle reliever. Winter Meetings end without a trade. At the end of Winter Meetings, however, MR Rob Murphy signs. Even though he is a Type B player, there is no mention of compensation. A few days later C Stanley and LF Javier sign. No mention of compensation. My roster is starting to take shape. My payroll is now $19.2 mil. The next week SP Danny Cox signs. This affords me the option of moving either Leiter or Swindell to the bullpen. Payroll: $20.4 mil. I will keep it there for now, and roll into 1993. I will shop my infielders closer to the start of spring training.