Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

For better or worse the Astros are ready for Opening Day. We muddled through Spring Training going 12-16, and got a big surprise when our owner increased our budget by $16 million. With a little bit of extra money we made a few minor moves.

Catcher Jose Cruz was signed to a minor league contract with a $440,000 bonus. He came close to making the team out of spring training in a wide open competition, but 29 year old Ruben Vargas and 26 year old Ricardo Orama got the nod.

We also signed veteran starting pitcher Dewitt Anderson to a one year $3.7 million contract. He was 16-5 with a 2.92 ERA last year for Tampa Bay, but his age (36) and his injury history is a concern, but we hope he'll be able to provide some innings.

Then finally we signed outfielder Yong-jun Ch'oe to a one year $1.6 million contract. He looks to be a solid fourth outfielder from South Korea who came at a relatively cheap cost.

[NYY #23]

Don't look now, but the Houston Astros are in first place. I guess my job here is done and it's time to move on to the next team….

Cesar Lamberts has been one of the bright spots with a 5-0 record and 2.27 ERA. I won't tell you how many times I almost dealt him this offseason though. Our bullpen has been dominant so far too, with John Christenson picking up 8 saves in 9 games with a 1.08 ERA before hitting the disabled list.

Yong-jun Ch'oe captured the Rookie of the Month award after hitting .261 with 7 home runs and 15 RBI.

I'm not sure how long this will last, but I don't have much to complain about with our first place start.

Around the league Pascal Sisto of the Royals and Gavin Pedley of the Cubs each picked up their 2000th career hit. At 32 years old it looks like Sisto has at least an outside shot of reaching 3000 career hits.

[NYY #23]

May was an interesting month in the AL West. On May 18th the standings looked like this:



Of course the Astros have collapsed since then, finishing the month 8-19 and plagued by clubhouse bickering, infighting, and even beating up the fans after the games.

Matt Bradley was the first to complain about the clubhouse problems. Which is great because he was hitting .138 with a negative .5 WAR at the time. After doing some investigation it turns out that Bradley had a reputation for bringing dissension to the clubhouse, so we completed a trade, and sent RF Matt Bradley to the Cubs in exchange for shortstop Juan Jose Flores.

The clubhouse was appreciative of Bradley going, and the leadership of Flores. We needed to add a little salary to acquire Flores, who is somewhat of a buy low player. He was hitting just .138 this year, and hitting .160 last year. He's won one Gold Glove in his career though, and hit .270 with 15 home runs his rookie season. He's only 30, so I hope a change of scenery will do him good.

We'll see if he can help this year, and the Astros can complete in the weak AL West.

[NYY #23]

The Astros head into the amateur draft with a 7-7 record for June, and are selecting first overall. There was no clear cut favorite for the number one pick, but it came down to two players who we debated on selecting as the number one overall pick - SP Will Howry, or CF Melchor Dayot. My scout preferred Howry, but in trying to keep with my offense first philosophy with the Astros we selected Dayot, which gave us the added benefit of saving about $4 million in bonus demands.

The Astros also had a supplemental first round pick, and with that pick we selected shortstop Tommy Hoover. With our first pick in the second round the Astros selected another shortstop, Michael Harding. Hoover is the better hitter of the two, while Harding is stronger defensively. Best case they both develop, and Hoover can slide over to third base.

In the third round we selected first baseman Luke Sutton. He's got the potential to be a big slugger if all goes well. In the fourth round the Astros selected starting pitcher Donald Pate, with shortstop Jack Bartosh our fifth round selection.

[NYY #23]

The Astros had a solid month in June finishing with a 16-11 record. That moved us to .500 for the season, and are now 5 1/2 games behind New Orleans in the AL West.

I've really been surprised by how well Yong-jun Ch'oe has played this year hitting .286 with 9 home runs and 34 RBI with 3.1 WAR. He's been more than worth the $1.6 million we signed him for, although a broken kneecap has him out for the year, but hopefully he'll be able to come back strong next year.

I'm definitely pleased with how well we are playing, and if we can hang around .500 it would be a successful season. The Astros also managed to sign all of our top five draft picks.

Around the league 41 year old Kevin Gibbs of the Rockies picked up his 2000th career hit, and 37 year old Enrico Villa of the Athletics also reached 2000 career hits. In Carolina 34 year old Mario Ranjel picked up his 400th career save.

Vic Shufflebottom was having a rough year in Mexico City going 4-4 with a 4.54 ERA, and that got worse when a shoulder injury send him to the disabled list where he is expected to miss the rest of the year.

[NYY #23]

When we signed Dewitt Anderson to a one year contract I was hoping that under the best case scenario he'd be able to eat innings until the trade deadline, stay healthy, and I'd be able to move him in a deal before the deadline. The veteran has pitched well, and when we shopped him around the Expos offered 1B Aleixo Sancho. Sancho isn't the perfect player, he's about to hit arbitration for the first time, his defense isn't great, but he does have power. We also asked for RF Chris John, a 23 year old, and the Expos agreed if we included 20 year old left fielder Daniel Shields.

That wasn't the only deal for the Astros, as we sent right fielder David Cooper to the Rangers in exchange for reliever Jian-gang Hsia. Both were on expiring contracts, and Hsia shouldn't have gotten too comfortable, because he was included in a much bigger deal after appearing in three games.

Going to Vancouver along with Hsia is our ace Cesar Lamberts (11-7, 2.75), closer John Christensen (1-4, 20 SV, 1.40), 1B Matt Coker, and center field prospect Marvin Heidelberger.

Coming back to Houston is SP prospect Victor Gonzales, shortstop prospect Jimmy Henderson, closer Arthur Harrington (3-5, 23 SV, 1.51 ERA), reliever Andrew Ford (1-1, 4.41 ERA), and 25 year old 3B prospect Harvey Logan.

It's a big deal, and we shed a lot of future salary in Coker, and get back a top 50 pitching prospect who appears to be ready for the majors. We'll also give Ford a chance in our rotation, while Jimmy Henderson is an interesting prospect. Short term this deal hurts us, but this rids us of all of the big contracts that we inherited, and gives us an opportunity to build the team how I want.

The Astros also dabbled in the International Amateur market, signing 16 year old starting pitcher Pedro Alvarez to a $1.5 million bonus, and catcher Jorge Crespo to a $8.8 million bonus.

[NYY #23]

The new look, low budget Astros finished the month with a .500 record going 13-13. We've gotten good results from our (hopefully) future ace Victor Gonzales, who has gone 1-2 with 3.40. He's been joined in the rotation by Andrew Ford, who is 3-1 with a 4.28 ERA. Hopefully they'll help contribute in September so we can end the year strong.

One of my favorite former player, Howard McDonald, reached 2500 career hits for the Texans. He's 37 years old and no longer the player he once was, but is hitting .280 with 8 home runs this year.

[JaBurns]

Pitching & Defense look not too bad but it looks as though you have a ways to go to make the Astros an offensive juggernaut.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Pitching & Defense look not too bad but it looks as though you have a ways to go to make the Astros an offensive juggernaut.

I sure do. I don't think I mentioned it, but I've been encouraged by our new DH Aleixo Sancho. He's hitting .306 with 12 home runs in 47 games. Millard Lang is looking like a solid second baseman (.292, 25 HR, 68 RBI, 4.3 WAR) as well. We might see how Jimmy Henderson can handle shortstop in September too, but after that we don't have anybody close. We're definitely doing better than I thought we'd be doing though!

[Eugene Church]

NYY #23,

Congratulations on a fine dynasty... you may not know it... not absolutely positive, but I think your Worst to First Dynasty has set the all-time OOTPB Dynasty Forum record for the most views.

Keep up the good work, my friend.

[NYY #23]

The Astros completed a winning month in September, going 16-10. As we wrap up year one it's a nice feeling to not be officially eliminated on October 1st. Of course, our playoffs hopes aren't too strong. We're six games behind the final wild card spot with 10 to play, and we'd need to leapfrog five teams, but we're still alive.

Victor Gonzalez has continued to pitch well for Houston, going 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA. Andrew Ford is pitching more like Whitey Ford, going 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA. For our offense 2B Millard Lang hit .406 in September with 5 home runs and 8 stolen bases. That brings his WAR for the year to 6.4, his homers to 20, and his stolen bases to 24, so welcome to the 20-20 club Millard Lang. He's fast, but the power surge is a little unexpected. Alexio Sancho hit his 20th home run for the Astros, bringing him to 39 on the year.

I won't say we're a good team yet, but I'm enjoying my time in Houston so far, and I like how we're playing.

There was one milestone around the league, 34 year old Juan Nieves of the Twins hit the 300th home run of his career.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

NYY #23,

Congratulations on a fine dynasty... you may not know it... not absolutely positive, but I think your Worst to First Dynasty has set the all-time OOTPB Dynasty Forum record for the most views.

Keep up the good work, my friend.

Thanks Eugene! I did not realize that about the views. I think that's more of a testament to how great a game this is, that after four years, and 150 seasons I haven't grown tired of it.

And thanks to everyone that's read, and commented as well.

[NYY #23]

I got a little sidetracked by our good month in September, and should have just finished the last ten days of the season out before posting.

I'll do something a little different to wrap up the season though. I love getting the game recaps for my team. Such a nice touch, and even though I'd regularly check the box scores, I feel much more invested in the team. So let's look at some stories from October:

October 1st:

Astros Nip Royals, 5-4: The Houston Astros did just enough to sneak past the Kansas City Royals, 5-4, at Kauffman Stadium. Houston pitcher Andrew Ford earned player of the game honors. Ford picked up the win for Houston, going 7.1 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. He now sports a record of 7-1. Houston is 78-77 and Kansas City, with the loss, 83-72.

Matt Lovell didn't waste any time giving his team the lead. His first time up in the top of the first, he cranked a 2-run home run to put Houston on top, 2-0.

In postgame comments to the Houston Chronicle, Lovell said, "If the effort is there, the wins will come."*

October 2nd:

Astros Dump Royals, 5-3: The Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3, at Kauffman Stadium. Houston second baseman Lowell Allen earned player of the game honors with an outstanding performance. He went 3-4 with a triple and 2 singles. Víctor Gonzáles earned the win to go to 4-3. He allowed 3 earned runs on 7 hits, with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Arnold Fields earned his 4th save in 7 chances.

Houston first baseman Manuel Pérez helped the Astros to the win. In the top of the second inning, the 2047 Rookie of the Year Award winner stroked a double. For the game, Pérez went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles.

"If I do my job, we've usually got a pretty good chance to win the game," said Pérez.

The 6th-place Astros improved to 79-77.

-----

Conquistadors Celebrate Postseason Clinch: Could there eventually be a World Series parade in Mexico City?

That possibility took a step closer to reality today, as the Mexico City Conquistadors clinched a spot in the postseason. The National League Western Division title holder still remains to be decided at this moment, but members of the Conquistadors are optimistic about their chances in the postseason.

"We're going to make a run - I think everyone on our team truly believes that," said second baseman Manuel Gallegos.

October 3rd:

Off day

October 4th:

Astros Come Back Late to Top Rangers: The Houston Astros overcame a good performance by Texas center fielder Robert Joseph to knock off Texas, 7-5, at Minute Maid Park. Joseph went 2-4 with a home run and a walk, while scoring 2 times and driving in 2. The winner was Houston reliever Raúl Jaramillo, now 4-4. The loser was Craig Gentry. Houston has now won 3 in a row.

Houston took the lead in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Matt Lovell stroked a run-scoring double to make it 6-5, Astros.

"It's nice to come out on top today," said Lovell.

October 5th:

Extra-Inning Win by Rangers over Astros: Texas and Houston duked it out at Minute Maid Park and the Rangers came out victorious.

The Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros, 7-4, at Minute Maid Park. The win was largely due to the efforts of left fielder David Cooper, who captured player of the game honors. He was 2 for 3 with a home run and 2 walks, while scoring 2 runs. Texas reliever Chris McAllister picked up the win, upping his record to 4-8. Arnold Fields absorbed the loss. Craig Gentry earned the save, his 6th, for the Rangers.*

The game was at a stalemate until right fielder Keith King came to bat in the top of the 11th. Facing Houston pitcher Arnold Fields, he hit a 1-0 slider for a 2-run triple. It was a game-changer, putting Texas on top, 6-4.

"It's a satisfying feeling, to win like we did," said Cooper.

The Rangers bumped their record to 85-73 with this latest triumph.

-----

Postseason Bid Ends for Houston: The Houston Astros season won't end with a trip to the postseason. The club has fallen short of a bid to make the playoffs.

This is the club's 6th playoff miss in a row. They last appeared in the postseason in 2046. In the last 10 seasons, the Astros have missed the playoffs 7 times. In total, the Astros have missed the playoffs 24 times in their 40-year history.

----------

I'll be back after the playoffs to wrap things up, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the results of year 1 in Houston and our 82-80 record.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Thanks Eugene! I did not realize that about the views. I think that's more of a testament to how great a game this is, that after four years, and 150 seasons I haven't grown tired of it.

And thanks to everyone that's read, and commented as well.

Uh Uh,,,, In my opinion, it's because it is a very well done and interesting dynasty.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Uh Uh,,,, In my opinion, it's because it is a very well done and interesting dynasty.

Well thank you. The feeling is mutual with your dynasty. I wish I was able to create a fictional league and be as invested in it as you did with yours.

[NYY #23]

Last year with Mexico City I acquired first baseman Gordon Stewart from the Astros and Stewart went on to hit .326 with 31 home runs, 98 RBI, and 7.6 WAR. He was the main piece in the deal that sent Juan Jose Munoz to the Astros for. It's a deal I wish I didn't make last year, although it's a deal that if I didn't make I'd probably still be in Mexico City.

Munoz was traded to the Rays last offseason and started the year in A ball. He finished in the Rays bullpen pitching 14 innings and earning a save. Hopefully it wasn't a mistake trading him for salary relief.

Congratulations to the Reds on their World Series win of the Yankees. The Conquistadors lost to the Reds in the second round.

There was some news from MLB that the active roster will be expanded to 27 players. Our owner increased our budget for next year, which means we have about $80 million that we could spend in free agency. We'll also be searching for a bench coach and pitching coach, as we let our current coaches walk.

It should be an interesting offseason in Houston after a good first year.

Houston Astros - 62-100 (.383) 47 GB
2051 - Houston Astros 82-80 (.506) 5.5 GB (Season Score - 64)

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Thanks Eugene! I did not realize that about the views. I think that's more of a testament to how great a game this is, that after four years, and 150 seasons I haven't grown tired of it.

And thanks to everyone that's read, and commented as well.

Remember NYY#23, your dynasties, George_Bell's, Nick Soulis and Westheim dynasties were the inspiration to do my own.

Im gonna do another real-time dynasty like last year.

[PhillieFever]

Having just returned following years away from the game, I started first with your dynasty, and it was kind of funny because one of the first comments you made was about remembering how addictive this game can be......I experienced that same feeling yesterday. Anyway, you've just dropped two straight Series' with the Brownies, I need to see what happens next!

[mirrf]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

There was some news from MLB that the active roster will be expanded to 27 players. Our owner increased our budget for next year, which means we have about $80 million that we could spend in free agency.

I'm gonna be a broken record.... Get Shufflebottom!

[mirrf]

-Dola, I also want to agree with the last page or so in praising this thread. It's my favorite OOTP dynasty to follow.