pro baseball in Wichita: a revamped, refreshed dynasty

[baseballfanmas]

Alright guys, this is another attempt at an OOTP dynasty report. I will be using OOTP 13, and I will be using the MLB 12 quickstart. I have not decided yet how many minor league organizations to have. I don't like dealing with the minor leagues, so I will most likely only have AAA, possibly AA too. I will have all the international leagues most likely such as the Japanese league, Dominican and all those. Hopefully it doesn't bog the game down too much. I will have an NFL style alignment with 4 divisions in each league, 4 teams in a division. I am still deciding on how the divisions will be aligned, I may take the suggestion I got from somebody on these boards.

As far as the format, its going to be a quick format. I won't be posting much about around the league activities because quite frankly, the reason for this dynasty is the Wichita Wranglers expansion team, so that's where I will focus. It will either be week by week or month by month. If any of you read my previous dynasty, it will be something similar to that, but without the around the league stuff, and probably won't have game by game reporting. I won't be giving this a lot of attention for a few days because I will be going out of town most of next week, but I hope to get at least the initial setup going over the weekend. I'm hoping for readers and responses, but I should enjoy writing this dynasty once I take all the around the league stuff out. However if there is something specific somebody wants to know about, let me know. Hope you all enjoy!

[baseballfanmas]

GM Notes- Mike Schaplowsky, Jan. 1, 2012

Well folks, it took some prodding and pleading, but MLB commissioner Bud Selig has finally granted the city of Wichita, KS a major league baseball team. We all know about Wichitas baseball history. They've had the Wranglers who have been the AA team for both the Padres and the Royals, before they moved to Springdale, Arkansas. Then the Independent League Wichita Wingnuts took over, going hand in hand with the annual National Baseball Congress World Series. Sadly, the popularity of the NBC declined, and after the 2011 NBC World Series, the National Baseball Congress folded. With it went the Wichita Wingnuts. Wichita needed baseball, and I stepped up to the plate.

My name is Mike Schaplowsky. I am 32 years old, an avid baseball fan, and I pulled many, many strings to set up a meeting with Bud Selig. He was very impressed with my knowledge of the game and the past history of baseball in Wichita (he himself didn't even realize that Satchel Paige played one of his first baseball games in Wichita.) When it was all said and done, he decided to grant the city of Wichita, Kansas a major league baseball team. The Wranglers nickname was chosen again, I was chosen as the General Manager, and I was told it was my responsibility to put a team together from the ground up, coaching staffs and everything. Also joining the major leagues are the Montreal Expos. Welcome back Montreal, and welcome to the MLB Wichita!

Because of the late decision by Mr. Selig, he has decided not to mess with realignment too much. I will be posting a screenshot soon as to what the alignment will look like for the 2012-2013 season. He did say that changes would be in order. He wants even divisions, which is why he moved Houston to the AL West. Now divisions are uneven again. For the 2013-2014 season, it will be 2 leagues, 4 divisions, 4 teams a division, just like the NFL. For this season though, we'll be in the AL Central along with Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, and the Chicago White Sox for a 6 team division. Montreal will be joining the NL East.

[baseballfanmas]

A few other notes, as the minor leagues have been gutted. We will have a triple A, and that's it. All the rookie leagues, short season leagues, and A and AA ball are gone. I don't know why this decision was made, but it will make the GM jobs a lot easier. More changes to come. Now here is a look at the alignment for the 2012-2013 season.

[baseballfanmas]

GM Notes, March 28, 2012

Well, the expansion draft has been completed, and I have assembled the following team which will start in the major leagues:

My initial thoughts are there is a ton of potential on this team, however we are starting the season with 2 of our best players on the DL in Dice-K and Joba Chamberlain. The owner wants us to try and play .500 ball this season. I personally am hoping we can win more than 60 games.

[baseballfanmas]

I have left the minor league staff alone for now, and have totally overhauled the major league staff, getting guys that I want. Take special note of my hitting and pitching coaches who are legendary:

[kev24fan]

I can not wait to read more about this dynasty.

[Painmantle]

Witchata gets a team, Yeeeeee Haw! I get to follow along without having to read 100's of post to catch up! Those damn owners always expect expansion teams to finish .500 it seems! Good Luck, I'll be checking this out for sure.

[baseballfanmas]

March 28-April 12, 2012

Record: 5-7, .417
Position: 3rd in AL Central, 2 GB
Power Ranking: 71, 25th in MLB
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 81/100

GM Notes

Well I guess I can be happy we aren't last in the division, but that's only because Minnesota and Cleveland are 3 game winners so far and Detroit is tied with us with 5 wins. As expected, our pitching is terrible. The only 2 bright spots thus far are Zach Duke and Esteban Gil. Other than that, we suck. Hitting isn't much better, but hey, we're a first year team. It's gonna be tough. And I'm signed on to a 3 year guaranteed contract, which means I've got 3 years to try and turn this team around before I can be let go.

To help with our starting pitching, I am in contract talks with Roy Oswalt. He is a proven gamer and a big time veteran with a world series title. Picking him up would be a huge lift. Also, I've been told that Stephen Fife down in Fremont (AAA) pitched a complete game allowing just 1 run in his first start. I will be watching his next start personally from my GM box seat, right behind home plate.

One other note, I'm not sure what happened, as I thought I had signed Sal Fasano and Edwin Rodriguez to be the manager and bench coach at Wichita, but now all of a sudden neither of them have a desire to work here and never showed up. It only took me the 3 games of the season to realize this, thanks to Terry Pendleton who was nice enough to inform me. So to heck with them. I've hired Delino DeShields to be the manager of the Wranglers, and his bench coach will be Vance Wilson.

[baseballfanmas]

April 9-15, 2012

Record: 9-9, .500
Position: 2nd place in AL Central, 2 GB
Power Ranking: 93, 16th in MLB
Owner Mood: Happy
Fan Interest: 81/100
This Week: 4-2 (1-2 at NY Yankees, 3-0 at Houston)

GM Notes

Always nice to be able to steal a game from the Yankees, especially in their ballpark. Roy Oswalt signed with us and had that win against the Yankees, but he did give up 6 runs in 8 innings. Taylor Teagarden and Charlie Morton are off the DL and are in Fremont on a rehab assignment. I haven't seen Charlie yet, but Taylor went 2-5 in the game I went down to see. That was the game where Stephen Fife pitched and he didn't do bad, giving up 3 ER in 7 innings. He is one to watch for a potential call-up. Other than that, we will keep trying to take advantage of what looks to be a weak AL Central this year, and we'll keep an eye on the free agent market looking to sign any veteran that I think could help us in any way.

[baseballfanmas]

April 10-16, 2012

Record: 10-14, .417
Position: 4th in AL Central, 4 GB
Power Ranking: 77, 24th in MLB
Owner Mood: Good
Fan Interest: 84/100
This Week: 1-5 (0-3 vs. Minnesota, 1-2 at LA Angels)

GM Notes

Not exactly the week I had hoped for, but hey, at least we aren't in the cellar. Would you like to guess who pitched our only win of the week? Yep, that's right, Roy Oswalt. Man I look like a genius by signing him. Well not really, I mean after all there's a reason he was a free agent, but hey when you're an expansion team, you'll take what you can get. Speaking of, I did sign what I think could be a couple good players for us in the future. CF Charles Jones and SP Dillon Maples were both signed to minor league contracts this season. Speaking of, Fremont is 11-4 this season, leading their division by 3 games. It's still early, and I'm sure our lack of talent will start showing at some point, but maybe that means we've got more potential down there than I thought. I didn't watch any games this week, but we travel to Kansas City for a 3 game series next week. Kansas City is tops in our division right now, and I want to see Oswalt pitch in person. That's it for this week folks, stay tuned!

[baseballfanmas]

April 23-29, 2012

Record: 12-19, .387
Position: 5th in AL Central, 6 GB
Power Ranking: 63.7, 28th in MLB
Owner Mood: Normal
Fan Interest: 81/100
This Week: 2-5 (1-2 vs. Seattle, 2-1 at Kansas City, 0-1 vs. Baltimore with 2 games left in series)

GM Notes

Well the good news is I have 3 years to turn this team around, and I may need all 3 years. Jake Westbrook was not getting it done in the rotation, have a 9+ ERA, so I shipped him off to the Chicago Cubs and got CF Marlon Byrd in return. Marlon is a guy that I've always liked, he's got a decent bat, but he gives us a center fielder that has great range and is solid defensively. Some other changes this week are calling up SP Bill Walton from Fremont. Unfortunately in his first start with the Wranglers he went 2/3 of an inning and gave up 6 runs. A bit misleading though, as only 1 of those runs was earned. He has a high 13 ERA right now, I expect that to drop. Also, Nick Punto strained an oblique and is out for 6 weeks. I put him on the 15 day DL, but probably should have put him on the 60 day DL. I've also pulled Taylor Teagarden from his rehab assignment in Fremont, he is going to be starting behind the plate in Wichita. Other than that, I am going to keep plugging away to see what great deals I can come up with to at least help this team come close to .500 ball.

[baseballfanmas]

April 30-May 6, 2012

Record: 16-21, .432
Position: 5th in AL Central, 4 GB
Power Ranking: 78.8, 24th in MLB
Owner Mood: Good
Fan Interest: 81/100
This Week: 4-2 (1-1 vs. Baltimore, 2-1 at Toronto, 1-0 at White Sox)

GM Notes

Knock on wood, but our bullpen seems to be getting better, with a 4.30 ERA which is good for 9th in the AL. If we have an all-star, its got to be Esteban Gil, who has a 1.29 ERA with 7 saves. And our starters were sharp this week for the most part. Bill Walton had a great second start, going 7 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 4.50. Our April 30th game against Baltimore went 17 innings, and the final was 3-1, we lost. This game is interesting because all 4 runs were scored in the 17th inning, nothing in the first 16. Bad hitting, good pitching. And darn my luck. We just traded for Marlon Byrd last week and damn if he doesn't get hurt. He's out for 5 weeks. A good week, we keep looking to build.

[baseballfanmas]

Are you guys liking the format that I present this dynasty in? Would you like to see anything added or taken away? I'm having fun with it, I just want to see how you guys feel about it. I might value my readers' opinions a little too much but I've always believed its the readers and other posters that make a dynasty, so just curious how you all feel about it

[baseballfanmas]

May 7-13, 2012

Record: 18-26, .409
Position: Last in AL Central, 8 GB
Power Ranking: 72.6, 26th in MLB
Owner Mood: Worried
Fan Interest: 81/100
This Week: 2-5, (0-2 at White Sox, 1-2 vs. Detroit, 1-1 @ Cleveland)

GM Diary

Not exactly what I'd call a good week. The owners mood is souring day by day. Unfortunately for him, he is stuck with me for at least 3 years, per orders of Mr. Bud Selig, MLB commissioner. At the end of 2014-2015, he can do as he wishes with me. But until then, he has to sit in his owners box and watch this teams struggles, as do I. Don't get me wrong, this team isn't bad offensively, but goodness the starting pitching. Bill Walton and Roy Oswalt should be the most consistent starters I have, and they are hit and miss. 1 game they pitch great, 1 game they are lucky to get out of the 1st inning. I don't get it, I've got a solid pitching coach in Ricky Bones, so why aren't these starters figuring it out. The trials and tribulations of a GM. I love it and hate it at the same time.

Roster moves: I've signed Michael Wuertz to a deal for the rest of the season, unfortunately I have to find room for him on the roster as the 40 man (now 35 man) roster is full. Mr. Selig reduced the expanded rosters to 35 because of only having 1 branch of minor leagues. He did however, decide that AAA can have an unlimited roster. We've got 29 right now, but the draft is fast approaching and we'll be making some roster moves after the draft. I'd like to keep it in the 25-30 range.

I'm looking to get rid of Vernon Wells. Don't get me wrong, he's given us a spark offensively, but we are paying the man $21 million a year for 3 years. I'm sorry, but he's not worth $21 million a year. Unfortunately every other team thinks so too, as I got no interest when I shopped him around. He might be willing to talk about a restructured contract next season, but not this season.

[baseballfanmas]

May 14-20, 2012

Record: 20-30, .400
Position: 5th in AL Central, 8 GB
Power Ranking: 67.0, 27th in MLB
Owner Mood: Worried
Fan Interest: 79/100
This Week: 2-4 (0-1 @ Cleveland, 1-2 vs. Tampa Bay, 1-1 @ Boston)

GM Diary

We were very close to a 3 game winning streak to end the week, but couldn't close the deal in the second game against Boston. A red flag.. our fan interest dropped by 2, which means I better figure out a way to turn it around soon. Wichita is a passionate baseball city. As far as the week goes, Bill Walton has had 2 good starts in a row, hopefully that will lead to a nice streak. Charlie Morton ended his rehab assignment down in Fremont, I've brought him up to the big club. He can't be any worse than any of the other starters. Micah Owings was sent down to Fremont with his 7+ ERA. I've decided to hang on to Vernon Wells unless somebody comes up with a really good trade. He gives the locker room veteran leadership which we badly need.

All-star voting is set to conclude next week, and if we have any all-stars I'd be shocked. Fremont is still tearing it up in AAA, but that's more a fact that no other team in their division has anybody with a lot of potential. It's obvious we don't have much in our minor league system because it was rated 31st out of 32. Of course that's going to change in the draft, as we should have the #1 pick.

[baseballfanmas]

May 21-27, 2012

Record: 21-36, .360
Position: Last in AL Central, 12 GB
Power Ranking: 60.3, 31st in MLB
Owner Mood: Angry
Fan Interest: 78/100
This Week: 1-6 (0-1 @ Boston, 0-3 vs. Texas, 1-2 @ Oakland)

GM Notes

At least we got 1 win this week, woo-hoo! Fans are starting to talk. They aren't happy. I am really pounding the books to see who I can bring in to help us. Charlie Morton is out 12-13 months with ligament damage. I needed a quality starting pitcher so I put a word out to Billy Beane at Oakland. Billy is very understanding as he is the master of Moneyball. Not only did he offer us Brad Peacock, who is projected to be a good middle of the pack starter and should be a decent help, he also offered $2 mil in cash. All he wanted in return? That prospect Dillon Maples that I said would be good that is sucking it up for us. So I made the trade, and I hope it proves wonders.

I also signed CF Michael Choice. He can play any outfield position, and he's a potential of 3 stars. It actually boosted our minor league farm system to 25th instead of 31st. I've got a couple more free agents I'm working on. Dice-K is starting his rehab assignment in Fremont. Expansion team or not, the fans in Wichita want success and will settle for nothing less. Gotta get it turned around somehow. After all, the other expansion team, the Montreal Expos, are 1 game under .500. A few good pickups and we can be there too.

[baseballfanmas]

May 28-June 3, 2012

Record: 23-40, . 365
Position: 5th in AL Central, 11 GB
Power Ranking: 62.7, 30th in MLB
Owner Mood: Angry
Fan Interest: 78/100
This Week: 2-4 (0-3 vs. NY Yankees, 2-1 vs. Houston)

GM Notes

Lots of things to talk about this week. The big news is that we've lost Roy Oswalt for 9 weeks due to a torn tricep, which makes that trade for Brad Peacock look really important now. Bill Walton has had 3 good starts in a row, which is encouraging, but with the inconsistency of this staff, you gotta wonder what is next.

I signed MR Phillipe Aumont (1.5 stars current, 4 stars potential) to a deal through the end of the season. We need some extra help in the bullpen. I'm not opposed to giving him some work down in Fremont, but right now he's on the big club.

And Vernon Wells is gone! Yes, that's right, he's gone. We traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that I can't believe we worked out. I noticed that Dodgers RF Andre Ethier was on the trading block. He was hitting .250 on the season, and you can't expect to stay in LA hitting like that. This trade does 2 things for us.. first it gives us what should be a consistent 4 star outfielder as he is 30 years old, younger than Wells. Also, we will be paying him just $9 mil this season, as opposed to the $21 mil we were paying Wells.

2 other notes: All-Star game rosters were announced this week and we had nobody. (I was thinking in real life every team had to have at least one representative, I guess not so in OOTP baseball.) Also, the MLB draft is next week, and I've got a trade in the works.. Stay Tuned!

[baseballfanmas]

2012 Major League Draft

We've got the first pick in the draft, which Bud Selig has reduced to 5 rounds because of the lack of minor league baseball levels. And this year we only have 3 picks, because of the following trade:

Lance Lynn is now a Wichita Wrangler. We traded our 4th and 5th round draft picks to St. Louis to get Lynn who is a 4 star prospect and in the top 10 of MLB right now in ERA. He boasts calm, cool 2.56 ERA. So we have to pick wisely with our 3 picks. Here is what I consider to be our biggest needs:

SP- Besides Lynn and Brad Peacock who are both young, we don't have much. Bill Walton is young and has the potential to be a star, but the inconsistency has shown. Same with Roy Oswalt. Only difference is Oswalt is not young and probably only has a couple years left.

IF- Basically we don't have much on the infield at all. I'm looking for the best infield player we can possibly get.

OF- We've got Marlon Byrd and Andre Ethier who should settle in our outfield for years to come, and we've got Michael Choice who could platoon. But I'm still looking for a third solid outfielder that we can depend on day in and day out for the future.

To keep it short, I'm looking to draft with our 3 picks, a 5 star potential SP, a 4 or 5 star potential IF, and a 4 star potential OF, in that order. Here is what we came up with:

Round 1 Choice- 2B Sotaro Sanu out of Cal State Fullerton. My thought was to go with a SP with the first pick, but this guy was too good to pass up. For the season he hit .344 with 13 HR and 42 RBI's at Fullerton. He's also got great speed as he stole 39 bases.

Round 2 Choice- RF Carlos Mejia out of Seguin, TX High School. He batted over .500 in his high school season and has the potential to be a 30-40+ HR hitter every year. Great, great power.

Round 3 Choice- SP Thomas Hancock out of Rice. The Owls used Hancock out of the bullpen and as a starter. He saved 9 games and had a 2.22 ERA. I'd like to use him as a starter, but hey, if the bullpen is struggling, he can pitch out of the pen, which makes it all the more better.

Now we've got our top 3 picks, we just have to sign them all, which could be easier said than done.

[baseballfanmas]

June 4-10, 2012

Record: 26-44, .371
Position: 5th in AL Central, 11 GB
Power Ranking: 67.9, 29th in MLB
Owner Mood: Angry
Fan Interest: 77/100
This Week: 3-4 (1-2 @ Minnesota, 1-2 vs. LA Angels, 1-0 @ Seattle)

GM Notes

I really feel like the team is turning the corner. Overall pitching has been better in the last week. We've got some guys in the minor leagues that will probably get their shot on the big club soon, one of those being Josh Bell who I mentioned earlier. He's hit over 20 HR's down in Fremont. And as far as the draft goes, I did not draft Thomas Hancock, as my scouting director had highlighted somebody else, and I just flat out forgot to drag and drop Hancock. It's ok though, because Hancock was an available free agent and I offered him a minor league contract for the rest of the season. Our third draft pick was actually LF Dusty Eirman out of Evansville. So we should be set at outfielder for a while.

Potential problem as we've got a few guys that I need to resign. 2 of those being Andre Ethier and Marlon Byrd. Byrd wants about $8 mil a year, that's manageable. Ethier however wants $22 mil a year! That's more than I was paying Vernon Wells! Roy Oswalt wants $12 mil a year and Dice-K wants $7 mil a year. For those 4 players, that's $39 mil a year. I've got $45 mil available for extensions. I may try and talk some of them down a bit, especially Oswalt and Ethier.

[hallissyc]

I'm newer than most, and so I don't know how much my opinion matters but I do like your format. I was reading through and noticed you asked that question but no one said anything about it.

Are you simming weeks and then recapping by reviewing games by looking at summaries/stats/splits or are you playing each and every game out? Sometimes I feel like my teams do better if I just let them play, and sometimes I don't understand why they do the things that they do. Hah.

Seriously though, I have enjoyed what you have posted thus far.

EDIT: This actually gives me an idea, as I am from Virginia and have always wanted a ball club to move here (we actually almost got one a few years back). The best we have is the Norfolk Tides, which is dreadful at it's very best.

-Chris