Worst to First - The Sequel

[royalflush]

Originally Posted by rjl518

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.

They inspired me as well.

[royalflush]

Just an all time great thread, along with George Bell's

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by rjl518

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.

Thank you! I clicked on the number of posts and noticed that you're ranked at the top of the list, and you've been around since the very beginning of the thread!

So I'm glad I could inspire you, and you're a pro now, and inspiring others. Good luck with the Mets - I do like following real time dynasties, it's forced patience.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by 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!

Thank you! It's good to see you back. It is very funny how addicting this game can be. I had a lot of trouble with the Browns, and getting past the Pirates. I'd have to think hard to remember who I played in the last World Series, but I remember how frustrating it was playing the Pirates in the early 1900's!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by mirrf

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

This is a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is that we've got plenty of money to acquire him, but the bad news is Mexico City also has plenty of money.

Their needs don't match up well right now. Just checking to see what it'd take and after offering my future ace Victor Gonzales, my top pitching prospect (Derrick McCauley) they asked for 2B Millard Lang (.309, 21 HR, 87 RBI, 6.6 WAR) to complete the deal. It's still early in the offseason though, so I'll check back in.

Shufflebottom is signed through 2053 and went 4-4 with a 4.54 ERA in an injury plagued year. I would think their price would go down based on that, but even if it doesn't he will be a free agent after 2053, so you never know.

Originally Posted by 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.

Thank you! You're another long time reader/commenter, which definitely helps keep me going!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by royalflush

They inspired me as well.

Originally Posted by royalflush

Just an all time great thread, along with George Bell's

Thank you as well. I always think one of the coolest things is to have someone say that you inspired them. Good luck with your dynasties, I'll definitely be following along!

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Thank you! I clicked on the number of posts and noticed that you're ranked at the top of the list, and you've been around since the very beginning of the thread!

So I'm glad I could inspire you, and you're a pro now, and inspiring others. Good luck with the Mets - I do like following real time dynasties, it's forced patience.

thank you for the kind words...I had a great time doing the Marlins last year, now its time for the Mets.


In the meantime, go 'Stros!

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by royalflush

Just an all time great thread, along with George Bell's

I miss George Bell's dynasty.
Hopefully, he comes back better than ever!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by rjl518

thank you for the kind words...I had a great time doing the Marlins last year, now its time for the Mets.


In the meantime, go 'Stros!

Your welcome. I think the Mets will be more fun, especially their pitching. I don't want to jinx you, but it's hard to see them not at least being competitive in the NL East.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by rjl518

I miss George Bell's dynasty.
Hopefully, he comes back better than ever!

I miss George Bell's dynasty as well. Hopefully with baseball season upon us he gets the urge to return soon!

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Your welcome. I think the Mets will be more fun, especially their pitching. I don't want to jinx you, but it's hard to see them not at least being competitive in the NL East.

has to be better than last year...
running that Marlins franchise was not easy...
didn't get to playoffs once from 2015-2021

[NYY #23]

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with an offseason plan, and had a series of moves that I was ready to make. Except I couldn't finalize the final trade. But the Astros will move forward with part of the plan. Our first deal was with the Dodgers.

LF BJ Ellis was the centerpiece of the deal, although I envision him to play DH more than the outfield due to his defensive limitations. He hit 37 home runs last year with the Dodgers, and is 26 years old. He's still developing as a hitter and hit just .213 with 236 strikeouts, but I wouldn't make the trade if I didn't think he could cut down on his strikeouts, and improve his batting average and on-base percentage.

Also coming back to Houston is reliever Josh Mason, who saved 35 games in AA as a 21 year old. 25 year old Bob McHutchen looks like he's ready to move from AAA to the majors and contend for a spot in the rotation.

Going to Los Angeles was AA pitching prospect Bob Morgan, 3B prospect Ricardo Arreola, SP Jesus Vasquez (7-9, 4.03 ERA), SP Carlos Cordova (6-7, 5.11), and minor league reliever Aurelio Cervantes.

Morgan is the big piece going to LA, but I'm hoping that we've added a young power bat to our lineup. That was one of two similar trades.

From the Nationals we acquired LF David Nelson (.242, 12 HR, 47 RBI, 450 AB), a 23 year old with a lot of upside, 28 year old SP Geoff Sterling (13-10, 3.88 ERA), and catcher Mike Fike (.311, 13 HR, 55 RBI).

Going back to the Nationals was our top pitching prospect Derrick McCauley, although he's just 20 years old and pitched in single A. We also included SP Howard Linkletter (9-14, 3.73 ERA), RF Gerardo Ramos, catcher Ruben Vargas, and SP Carlos Martinez.

I think we upgraded our rotation with Sterling and our catcher position, plus added a potential star outfielder, although giving up our top pitching prospect was tough.

The third trade to add rotation depth fell through, but we're still looking for 1-2 starting pitchers to add some depth. I won't rule out another trade, but we'll be looking at a couple of free agents.

[NYY #23]

I realized I never posted my first round of trades, so there was some time between those trades, and my moves today. I made a decision with Houston that I knew before making it that I could come to regret. I've decided to go big or go home, and go all in with a big free agent signing.

The fallouts of that deal were sending 1B Manuel Perez to the Pirates in exchange for pitcher Luis Gutierrez. Perez hit .277 with 16 homers last year, but he doesn't have a sterling clubhouse rep. Gutierrez is capable of starting or relieving, and was 1-1 with 1 save and a 2.86 ERA last year, plus he's a clubhouse leader.

The first minor free agent signing we made was 3B Victor Valencia. A 29 year old Cuban import he looks like he's capable of taking over as starting third baseman. We're paying him $1.5 million per year, but he does have a player opt-out after year one.

Our next move was the big one, signing reigning AL MVP Pascal Sisto to a four year $156 million contract. He'll be making $40 million the next two years, has an opt out after the 2054 season, and we hold a team option for year 4. He's not without risk, just by his contract alone, but he's a leader, a career .347 hitter with 39 home runs. Last year he hit .359 with 39 home runs, good for a 7.2 WAR season.

I'm excited to see what our offense can do, and we should hit some homers next year. I'm out of my comfort zone building an offense first team, and also handing out a contract that big. We'll see if it works out in Houston.

[mirrf]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

IOur next move was the big one, signing reigning AL MVP Pascal Sisto to a four year $156 million contract. He'll be making $40 million the next two years, has an opt out after the 2054 season, and we hold a team option for year 4. He's not without risk, just by his contract alone, but he's a leader, a career .347 hitter with 39 home runs. Last year he hit .359 with 39 home runs, good for a 7.2 WAR season.

Wow, someone had money to spend!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by mirrf

Wow, someone had money to spend!

I have to admit that my reaction the day after is "Wait - I signed him for how much money?" Big money deals never work out, and this was a big impulse buy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though!

[NYY #23]

Former Astros pitcher Luis Varerla came close to being elected to the Hall of Fame, finishing 1% shy with 74% of the votes. Varerla was 189-137 during his career with a 3.43 ERA, and has been dropped from the ballot after ten years.

SP Luis Varerla 74.0 (10th year) Dropped
C Tomás Flores 56.7 (1st year)
CF Grant Murphy 31.6 (6th year)
C José Carlos Escobar 28.6 (4th year)
1B Steve Shepard 21.2 (7th year)
SP Luis Rosas 20.3 (6th year)
SP Juan Gómez 19.0 (2nd year)
CL Johnny Stewart 17.7 (3rd year)
RF Lorenz Claussen 16.5 (2nd year)
RP Don Webb 15.2 (2nd year)
2B Robbie Raines 14.7 (10th year) Dropped
SS Christian Lee 14.3 (6th year)
SP Gabriel Cintrón 13.4 (1st year)
LF Juan González 13.0 (1st year)
SP Dylan Richardson 12.1 (2nd year)
CL Roberto Sandoval 10.4 (7th year)
CL Loren Peters 9.1 (1st year)
SP Pedro León 9.1 (6th year)
2B José Sepúlveda 7.8 (5th year)
2B Pete Woolford 7.8 (3rd year)
C António Tovar 7.4 (2nd year)
CL Sloan Stewart 6.9 (3rd year)
2B Albert Wilcox 6.9 (6th year)
SP José Ledesma 6.1 (2nd year)
RF Jose Cavazos 5.6 (3rd year)
2B Adrian Saucedo 0.9 (2nd year) Dropped
2B Antonio Delgado 0.0 (1st year) Dropped

------

In present day Houston we're in the midst of negotiations with three pitchers to join our rotation. I'm hoping to finalize a deal with one of them, and potentially two within the next couple weeks. Of course, I hoped that we'd have already done that, but the negotiations continue to drag on.

[NYY #23]

The Astros started out the 2053 season with a dominant way:



It was an impressive debut in Houston for Ricardo Reyna, who is our new ace. Reyna was our last big offseason addition, signed to a one year contract. Reyna was just 7-11 with a 4.03 ERA last year in Colorado, but we were encouraged by a couple of things, including his 9.8 K/9. We ran into a little bit of a problem with negotiations with Reyna, and ended up signing him to a big one year $22.9 million deal. That's a massive overpay, but we needed a starting pitcher, and couldn't close the deal without going higher than I wanted.

But it was a one year deal, we had the money, and I didn't realize at the time of the signing our owner was going to cut our budget right after he agreed to a contract. That effectively ended negotiations with the second pitcher we were hoping to sign and puts us about $2 million in the hole.

To make room on the roster we needed to waive starting pitcher Pedro Ramirez, who was unexpectedly claimed by the Gators. I was hoping to sneak him past waivers and stash him in AAA in case we needed a sixth starter.

Pedro Sisto also made his debut in Houston, hitting a two run homer. Cuban import Victor Valencia was also 2-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles. It was a good day for the new guys, and hopefully that can continue this year.

[NYY #23]

It's been a successful first month in Houston with the Astros finishing with a 16-8 record and in a first place tie. We signed Pascal Sisto to an absurd contract with the hopes he'd be a force at the plate. Sisto won the Batter of the Month award after hitting .410 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI in his first month in Houston. Newcomer BJ Ellis is hitting .315 with 9 home runs, new third baseman Victor Valencia has 8, and Aleixo Sancho has 7. The 132 runs scored are the most in the American League, as our the 42 home runs.

Pitching is another story after Ricardo Reyna, who's gone 4-1 with a 3.73 ERA. We'll see how things progress, but a trade for a pitcher might be in order before the trade deadline.

[NYY #23]

The problem when you put all of your eggs in one basket is when that basket breaks you're in trouble. When Yong-jun Ch'oe went down, and then Pascal Sisto went down it was too tough to overcome, resulting in a 13-15 month. With the Rangers red hot we've fallen 10 games back in the AL West, and if the season ended today we'd be tied for the final Wild Card spot.

But that was the risk signing Sisto to such a large contract. On the bright side, we're still just in year 2 in Houston, and over .500. Both Ch'oe and Sisto's injuries were minor, and to even be talking about a wild card in year two is a good conversation to have.

Around the league 40 year old Roberto Hernandez of the Rangers hit the 300th home runs of his career.

[NYY #23]

The Astros started the month 8-5 as we headed into the amateur draft, trailing the Rangers by 8 games. With the signing of Pascal Sisto that meant that the Astros would not be drafting until the second round with the 13th pick. In the second round we selected starting pitcher Javier Medrano, and 18 year old from Miami. Our third round pick was centerfielder Nelson Greene, with starting pitcher Alonso Saldana and centerfielder Jack Watts rounding out the top five.

The Astros are in good position right now, three games ahead of the Wild Card race. However, we're going to have to have a balancing act in order to try and sign our draftees, and remain in the Wild Card race. Trade winds could be blowing sooner rather than later in Houston.