Portland Beavers (est. 2028)

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This dynasty will follow the Portland Beavers, an MLB expansion team that starts play in 2028. The rough timeline of events is as follows:

2023: Athletics announce they are moving to Las Vegas. They plan on staying in Oakland through 2024, sharing the O.Co Coliseum with possums and sewage, then moving into the Las Vegas Aviators' AAA ballpark for 2025-26, then into a new ballpark in 2027.

2024: Tampa Bay Rays announce they are breaking ground on a new stadium, to open in 2028. With all of the "limbo franchises" finally settled, MLB announces that it will expand to 32 teams in 2028.

2025: MLB announces that the two expansion franchises will be located in Portland and Nashville, and plans to change each league into four four-team divisions, with Tampa Bay and Colorado switching leagues to help with the geography. Both cities break ground on new stadiums. The Athletics move to Las Vegas, as planned.

2026: The expansion franchises announce their names: the Portland Beavers and the Nashville Stars.

2027: The Las Vegas Athletics open their new ballpark: Red Rock Stadium. The air conditioning bill costs more than the team's payroll. MLB decides not to allow the expansion franchises to participate in the draft or develop their minor league franchises prior to starting play the following year. Nashville completes construction on Cumberland Park, and Portland completes construction on Nike Field.

2028: The Portland Beavers and Nashville Stars start play, and MLB realigns to eight four-team divisions. Each team plays 14 games against division rivals, six games against non-division in the same league, and three games against teams in the other league. The postseason remains at six teams per league, with the top two division winners getting a bye, and the other four teams playing a best-of-three at the other two division winners' stadiums.

I'll take control of the expansion Beavers in 2028.

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The Baltimore Orioles (?!?) won the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games. Baltimore won only 89 games, though no one surpassed 90 wins in the AL, while Atlanta won 110.

Freddie Freeman won the NL MVP, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won AL honors. Justin Verlander and Cristian Javier won the Cy Young Awards. Tommy Edman somehow finished second in the NL with 7.4 WAR. Pete Alonso tied for the MLB lead with 53 home runs. With the rule changes, Tim Locastro and Esteury Ruiz stole 60 bases apiece, and the MLB batting average increased from .242 to .258.

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The Minnesota Twins were the next unlikely team to win a championship, defeating the New York Mets in seven games. The Twins won 92 games in the regular season and were led by Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo, who each blasted over 40 home runs. Fernando Tatis Jr. won the NL MVP, blasting 58 home runs, and Kodai Senga had a huge turnaround from a 5.09 ERA in 2023 to win the Cy Young Award. Shohei Ohtani, who had signed a six-year, $242M extension with the Angels, won the AL MVP, putting up 3.4 WAR as a hitter and 5.2 as a pitcher, while Carlos Rodon won the AL Cy Young for the Yankees.

The Athletics moved to Las Vegas and will move into 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark for the next two seasons. Their attendance is expected to increase slightly.

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The Minnesota Twins dynasty continued rolling, with their second straight championship. Minnesota won 91 games defeated the 88-win Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. 24-year-old third baseman Ronny Mauricio won the NL MVP with the Mets, and Shohei Ohtani won the AL MVP again. The Padres' Joe Musgrove and the Royals' Kevin Gausman won the Cy Youngs.

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The Minnesota Twins tried for a three-peat, but ultimately were beaten in five games by the St. Louis Cardinals. The Twins managed the best recording baseball, with 101 wins. Kyle Schwarber cracked 56 home runs in Las Vegas. Jordan Lawlar and Rafael Devers were the MVPs, and Corbin Burnes and Paul Skenes won the Cy Youngs.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Seattle Mariners in seven games to win the World Series... Arizona jumped out to a 3-0 lead, let Seattle tie the series, and then took a nailbiter in Game 7. The Baltimore Orioles won 108 games. Kyle Schwarber hit 58 home runs for the A's and won the AL MVP, while Bryan Reynolds of the Dodgers won the NL award. The Astros' Cristian Javier and the Guardians' Parker Wright were the Cy Young winners.

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The Beavers selected 23-year-old outfielder Cristhian Vaquero with the first overall pick in the expansion draft. Vaquero projects with good hit and power tools, and should be a capable defensive outfielder and maybe even able to hack it in center occasionally. The draft was strongest in infielders, and we selected Omari Daniel, Jonathan Mejia, Jackson Merrill and Manuel Pena in the next four rounds. There were very few projectable starting pitchers available, with Ryan Murphy and Luis Bermudez our top choices in that area. We did get a few capable relievers, including Juan Burgos, Yerry De Los Santos and 33-year-old Devin Williams, who has the highest salary on the team at $4.9M.

We've got plenty of money for trades and free agency, with the big prize being 26-year-old Korean import Min-Ho Kim.

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The Beavers were able to sign free agent starter Min-Ho Kim to a four-year, $110M deal, with an opt-out after the second season. The biggest acquisition of the winter was Wander Franco, who the Tampa Bay Rays unloaded with five years and $125M left on his contract. Franco has been consistently good but not great, putting up about three WAR per season throughout his career. We also picked up 16-year-old international amateur Arturo Alvarado, an outfielder who is ranked as the #9 overall prospect.

BNN projects us to win 81 games, and owner Juan Becerra hopes we'll keep close to an even record.