GLBL - Chicago Architects - The Quest for the Owner not to Fire Me

[DD Martin]

Chicago Architects 87-57 vs Duluth Sea Gulls 83-61
GLBL South of the Border League Championship Series
Best of Seven Games Preview

Playoff Games Schedule

Tuesday September 14th, 2055 Duluth vs Chicago
Wednesday September 15th, 2055 Duluth vs Chicago

Friday September 17th, 2055 Chicago @ Duluth
Saturday September 18th, 2055 Chicago @ Duluth
Sunday September 19th, 2055 Chicago @ Duluth (If necessary)

Tuesday September 21st 2055 Duluth vs Chicago (if neccessary)
Wednesday September 22nd, 2055 Duluth vs Chicago (if necessary)

On the season Chicago won the season series 13-11 and leads the all time regular season series with a 489-376 advantage. These teams have met in the playoffs 3 previous times with Duluth winning in the 2020 season 4 games to 3. Chicago won the next 2 meetings 4 games to 2 in 2023 and again 4 games to 2 in 2041.

For Chicago this is the club's 27th playoff appearance, while this will be Duluth's 10th playoff appearance.

The two clubs were both 2nd and 3rd in runs scored and runs against this season (Toledo was #1 in both but because of a poor 1-run game record they are not in the playoffs). Duluth was 2nd in runs scored with 768 and Chicago was 3rd with 767. As far as runs against Chicago was 2nd with 694 runs given up and Duluth was 3rd with 703.

Key batters for Duluth this season against Chicago have been
CF Carlos Sanchez 293/314/799 5HR 13RBI’s
C Joe Hunt 195/271/700 6HR 12 RBI’s
LF Jose Rangel 225.374.812 4HR 10RBI’s
RF Mark Laursen 173/264/622 5HR 11 RBI’s

Pitching Wise for Duluth against Chicago this season
SP Will McNeely 2-1 2.36 ERA 26.2IP
SP Chris Collier 0-1 2.42 ERA 26IP
SP Tim Gross 2-1 3.77 ERA 31IP
RP Ludovic Nguyen 0-0 1.29 ERA
RP Jose Arias 2-1 2.79 ERA 9.2IP

Key Batters for Chicago this season against Duluth
3B Thomas Arnaud 275/329/836 5HR 9 RBI’s
1B Reagan Osborn 247/337/786 4HR 10 RBI’s
CF Cris Luna 279/371/814 2HR 9RBI’s

Key Pitchers vs Duluth this season
SP Val Imbert 2-0 0.83 ERA 32.2IP
RP Larry Stott 2-1 1.80 ERA 10IP
RP JJ Walker 1-1 2.70 ERA 13.1IP
SP Jose Cedeno 1-3 3.58 ERA 50.1IP

Chicago has a home record of 48-24 while going 39-33 on the road.
Duluth has a home record of 44-28 while also going 39-33 on the road

Playoff prediction Chicago in 6 games

Summary - Chicago and Duluth pitchers have been tough this season on each other's hitters. In looking at our batting averages against Duluth I would imagine these are some of the lowest against any US Club we have faced all season (Toledo’s numbers would be interesting.)

Over the course of my 4 seasons in the GLBL, the Sea Gulls have been our biggest nemesis even with Toledo winning the US crown the prior 3 years. The Sea Gulls kept us out of the playoffs in both the 52 and 53 seasons by 1 game, with the 53 season decided in an extra regular season tie breaking game. This season we hung on and won the league crown but can Duluth spoil our return trip to the GLBL Fall Classic? They definitely have the talent to do that.

Forgive the crudity of my attachments below, but the photos were taken after the playoff series started while most of the dialogue was written prior to the series starting. While I know the results of this series as I post this the prediction I posted was one that I wrote down prior to the series getting underway.

Next - Tomorrow I will post the results of this series and either the summary of the season if we lose the series, or a GLBL Fall Classic Preview against either Thunder Bay in a rematch or against Hamilton.

[DD Martin]

USA League Championship Series

Time to get going, let the playoffs begin.

USA Game 1: Duluth @ Chicago
Tuesday September 14th, 2055
Duluth’s Chris Collier vs. Chicago’s José Cedeño
A - 34,211

Bot 1. With one out, Prowler Ashley chops a ball to the right side of the infield. He beats the throw. Ashley steals second. Reagan Osborn walks. Ashley steals third, then scores on a ground out to second. Thomas Arnaud flies out to end the inning. Chicago 1, Duluth 0.
The Tects score a run without the ball leaving the infield.

Both pitchers have their A-game today. Top 6. Cedeño walks the bases loaded. Two outs though. Cedeño strikes out Diego Barron to get out of the jam. Bot 6. Reagan Osborn singles, steals second. Thomas Arnaud singles him in. Another run scored thanks to stealing bases. Chicago 2, Duluth 0.

Eighth inning. Both starters are still in the game. Check that. Herve Smart in for Duluth.
Bot 8. Smart gives up solo home runs to Reagan Osborn and Thomas Arnaud. Chicago 4, Duluth 0.

Top 9. Last chance for Duluth. Jorge Rangel and Mark Laursen single. Cedeño gets pulled. Pat Wright is on the mound. Double play. Ground out.

CHICAGO WINS, 4-0! Chicago takes a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
José Cedeño: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 K, 110 pitches
1B R Osborn 2-3 HR, 2R, RBI SB, 3B T Arnaud 2-4 HR R 2 RBI
HR - 1B R Osborn (1), 3B T Arnaud (1)
POTG - SP J Cedeno

USA Game 2: Duluth @ Chicago
Wednesday September 15th, 2055
Duluth’s Tim Gross vs. Chicago’s Cliff Simpson
A - 34,343

Top 1. Jorge Rangel homers! Duluth 1, Chicago 0.
Top 1 continued. Kent Kalman doubles. Carlos Sánchez singles him in. Duluth 2, Chicago 0.
Kent Kalman, by the way, is a 26-year-old rookie who had all of 39 plate appearances this season. He did hit .361/.410/.444 in those 29 plate appearances.

Chicago got their first hit of the game. It’s a Reagan Osborn single. Next batter hits into a double play.

Bot 5. Juan Durán and Miguel Toledo single. Cris Luna lays down a sac bunt. Pedro Farrulla singles. Durán scores. John Lambert hits a three-run home run! Chicago 4, Duluth 2.

Durán? 181 career plate appearances
Luna? 638.
Farrulla? 235.
Lambert? 280.

Cliff Simpson gets pulled. His final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 109 pitches thrown.

Top 9. Last chance for Duluth.
Carlos Sánchez strikes out.
Diego Barrón grounds out.
Bill Whalley flies out.

CHICAGO WINS, 4-2!! Chicago takes a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series
1B R Osborn 3-4 C J Duran 2-4 R,
CH HR - 2B J Lambert (1)
POTG - SP C Simpson


USA Game 3: Chicago @ Duluth
Friday September 17th, 2055
Chicago’s Joe Johnson vs. Duluth’s Will McNeely
A - 41,383 (capacity 40,000)

Top 1. Chicago’s aggressive running backfired. With runners on the corners and one out, Reagan Osborn gets caught trying to steal second. A fly out ends the inning.

Top 2. Larry Davis singles. McNeely retires the next two batters. Davis moves to second on a wild pitch. Walker Dunse works a full count and walks. Pedro Farulla singles in Davis. Chicago 1, Duluth 0.

Bot 3. Bill Whalley doubles. He moves to third on a passed ball. Alejandro Escobar hits a sac fly. Tie game, 1-1.

Top 5. Walker Dunse reaches base on an error. He steals second. He moves to third on a ground out to second. He scores on a Samuel Amsden single. Chicago 2, Duluth 1.

Bot 5. Joe Hunt hits a solo home run! Tie game, 2-2.

Top 6. Cris Luna hits a solo home run! Chicago 3, Duluth 2. Bot 6. With two outs, Jorge Rangel doubles, and Mark Laurse hits a home run! Duluth 4, Chicago 3.

Top 8. Hervé Smart in to pitch. He walks Sean White, then uncorks a wild pitch. He walks Cris Luna. Walker Dunse singles in White. Fielder’s choice at home. Prowler Ashley hits a sac fly. Samuel Amsden singles, and Reagan Osborn singles in a third run. Chicago 6, Duluth 4.

George Goff grounds into a fielder’s choice.
Diego Barrón taps one back to the pitcher, but it’s an error! Two men on. Tying run at the plate. Rafael Morales also taps one back to the pitcher. Play is at second. Two outs. Bill Whalley grounds to short.

CHICAGO WINS, 7-4!! Chicago takes a 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
2B W Dunse 2-3 2R 2BB 2 RBI, SB, 3B L Davis 2-4 2R, RF S Amsden 305 DB RBI
CH HR - CF C Luna (1)
POTG - 2B Walker Dunse

USA Game 4: Chicago @ Duluth
Saturday September 18th, 2055
A - 41,155

In my professional analysis, this is a must-win game for Duluth. Chicago’s José Cedeño vs. Duluth’s Mike Normore. Cedeño tossed eight shutout innings against the Gulls four days ago. Normore is a rookie who posted a 5.52 ERA this season. He can be a bit wild.

Top 2. Miguel Toledo homers! Chicago 1, Duluth 0.
Top 2. Sean White singles. Cris Luna lays down a sac bunt but beats the throw to first. John Lambert grounds into a double play. White takes third. Pedro Farrulla singles in White. Chicago 2, Duluth 0.

Top 3. Prowler Ashley homers. Chicago 3, Duluth 0.
Cedeño is through three innings having allowed just one single.

Top 4. Sean White singles. Cris Luna walks. Normore strikes out Lambert and gets Farrulla to ground into a double play, 4-6-3. The Tects are still within reach of the Gulls.

Top 5. Prowler Ashley doubles, moves to third on a sac fly, and scores on a José Gómez single. Chicago 4, Duluth 0.

Bot 7. Colin Wright doubles. Ground out. Mark Laursen walks. Two on, one out. Duluth was threatening for the first time all game… Fielder’s choice. Ground out. Gulls get nada.

Bot 8. Cedeño gives up a single, then gets two outs. He gets pulled, ending his night. Last batter grounds out. Cedeño’s line on the evening: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. That’s nearly 16 shutout innings he’s thrown this series.

Bot 9. Duluth needs a miracle. Larry Stott in to pitch. Colin Wright walks. Jorge Rangel strikes out. Mark Laursen pops out. Diego Barrón… …flies out.

CHICAGO WINS, 4-0! Chicago wins the best of 7 series 4-0

RF J Ashley 2-4 HR, DB 2R RBI, 3B M Toledo 2-4 HR R RBI, C S White 3-4 R, SS P Farrulla 204 RBI
CH HR - 3B M Toledo (1), RF J Ashley (1)
POTG - SP J Cedeno

Summary - A very unexpected outcome. The feeling was we were the better and more experienced team this season, but a sweep was not what we thought was in the cards. Our owner while happy to be going back to the GLBL Fall Classic was not happy that we didn't get more games in during this round. Last year we had 12 playoff games, 6 in each round and the profit was just under $16 million. The 4 game sweep netted us just $4.8 million and change.

He also pointed out that by raising our ticket prices $5 for the playoffs (from $33 to $38 a home game), we chased roughly 5,000 fans away.

(OOTP this should be a simple fix. Playoff ticket prices go up and are set by the league office. Fans should expect that and it should be built in.)

3B Travis Arnaud is still playing sparringly and we hope that he can get healed up as the Canadian Series continues on.

1B Reagan Osborn was named Series MVP by the media and honestly they blew this one. Osborn is great, but the Series MVP should be the SP who won 2 games and threw 15.2 innings of shut out baseball, and that man is Jose Cedeno. His case for MVP seems pretty solid to me.

We will await the winner of the Canadian League Champion Series, which Thunder Bay leads 3-1.

[DD Martin]

2055 GLBL Fall Classic

Hamilton was the hottest team in baseball and of the 4 playoff teams coming down the final stretch of the season. That said even with the great SP Gabriel Rodriguez, they were unable to overcome the thunderous offense and payroll of Thunder Bay and fell in 6 games.

That set up a rematch of last year's GLBL Fall Classic as the Caribou will take on the Architects. Last season Thunder Bay won the last 2 games of the series and took the title in 6 games. This year, Chicago has the home field advantage but the Caribou want another title. Even with the best estimates in playoff revenue Thunder Bay is projected to lose over $50 million this season. Barring some changes and sources indicate they will take on high price contracts, they could well meet and are predicted to exceed that loss.

In Chicago that type of money loss would not be tolerated, even if it meant winning a GLBL title or not.

Thunder Bay will go with a 3-man rotation for this series. RHSP Ralph Baxter (35), LHSP Carlos Perez (32) and RHSP Terry Noble (37). Baxter signed a 4-year $101 million dollar deal prior to the start of this season. Perez is signed for 3 more years for a total of $93.6 million and came over in a mid-season deal from Toledo. Terry Noble who is a free agent is the poor man of the group receiving on $10,000,000 this season.

LHRP (32-year-old) Roberto Terraza is quite possibly the top RP in the GLBL. While he only got 6 saves, he is a strikeout power pitcher who threw in 83 games and totaled over 113 IP to go along with a 5-1 record and a 2.55 ERA.

On the offensive side of things, Thunder Bay had 9 players hit at least 13 home runs with 2 being just part time players. Six players had 20+ home runs (another was at 19) and three guys hit 32+. This is a power house lineup that puts a lot of fear in the pitchers they face.

Thunder Bay is the best home team in the GLBL winning 49 games (49-23) while Chicago was 2nd with a 48-24 record at home. In 1-run games Thunder Bay is "only" 22-18 so if you can keep them close (most likely scoring less than 4 runs) then you have a shot. That plays into Chicago's strength of winning close games as the Architects are 29-12 in 1-run affairs and 10-1 when games go to OT.

Thunder Bay was 3-1 versus Chicago this season splitting the games in the Windy City and sweeping a 2-game series at home to start the Architects 8-game losing streak in early August (all on the road).

Thunder Bay is a rare club that leads the all-time regular season series against Chicago going 73-71. This will be the 4th time the clubs have met in the GLBL Fall Classic with Chicago winning both the 2039 and 2050 titles in 6 games and Thunder Bay prevailing in 6 games last season.

These are the top 2 teams in GLBL history as far as winning the BIG ONE, with Chicago having won 9 and Thunder Bay 5. That will be 15 titles in 41 seasons that belong to there 2 clubs.

This is going to be a tough series. Even though we won 1 more game in the regular season, Thunder Bay had a 101 run differential higher than we did (175-74) in the regular season. There is good, but the starters don't go often 5 innings. If we can keep the games close and lower scoring, then we have a chance. Still Thunder Bay is the defending champions and they haven't done anything yet to lose that. They probably have the edge.

[DD Martin]

GLBL Fall Classic
Best of Seven Games
Chicago Architects 87-57 vs Thunder Bay Caribou 86-58

Playoff Games Schedule

Thursday September 22nd, 2055 Thunder Bay vs Chicago
Friday September 23rd, 2055 Thunder Bay vs Chicago

Sunday September 25th, 2055 Chicago @ Thunder Bay
Monday September 26th, 2055 Chicago @ Thunder Bay
Tuesday September 27yh, 2055 Chicago @ Thunder Bay (If necessary)

Thursday September 29th 2055 Thunder Bay vs Chicago (if neccessary)
Friday September 30th, 2055 Thunder Bay vs Chicago (if necessary)



No more talking let’s get to games 1 & 2 in Chicago

World Series Game 1: Thunder Bay @ Chicago

Thunder Bay’s Carlos Pérez vs. Chicago’s José Cedeño

Top 1. José Cedeño has thrown 15.2 scoreless innings these playoffs. His second pitch to the Caribou is taken 421 feet into the center field bleachers. Robinson González homers. Thunder Bay 1, Chicago 0.

Bot 1. With two outs, Reagan Osborn reaches base on an error. Prowler Ashley singles. Osborn goes for third, but Robinson González guns him down for the final out of the inning.

Bot 2. José Gómez homers. Tie game, 1-1.

Top 3. Jamal Amador walks. John Calder hits a two-run home run! Thunder Bay 3, Chicago 1.

The Caribou have scored three runs on their two hits.

Bot 5. Pedro Farrulla hits a solo home run. Thunder Bay 3, Chicago 2.

Bot 5. After that Farrulla home run, Pérez gets pulled. Emmett Dodman, the ex-Architect, comes in to pitch. His former teammates rough him up. Walker Dunse doubles, Thomas Arnaud singles, and Reagan Osborn hits a three-run home run! Chicago 5, Thunder Bay 3.

José Cedeño gets pulled in the seventh. His final line on the evening: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K.

Top 9. Caribou need two to tie. Pat Wright in to pitch.
Michael Jackson flies out.
Cecil Phillips doubles.
Micheal Ward in to pinch-hit.
He flies out.
Gerald Powers singles.
Runners on the corners, two outs.
Emerson Coleman…strikes out.

CHICAGO WINS, 5-3! The Architects lead 1 game to 0.

World Series Game 2: Thunder Bay @ Chicago

Thunder Bay’s Terry Noble vs. Chicago’s Joe Johnson.

Top 2. Cecil Phillips walks, Ron Hinton singles, and Gerald Powers hits a three-run home run. Earl Weaver is smiling in his grave. Thunder Bay 3, Chicago 0.

Top 2. For the second game in a row, Robinson González hits a solo home run. Thunder Bay 4, Chicago 0.

Top 5. Cecil Phillips singles, Gerald Powers singles, and Emerson Coleman hits a three-run home run. Thunder Bay 7, Chicago 0.

Bot 7. Juan Durán breaks up the shutout by homering to left. Thunder Bay 7, Chicago 1.

Top 8. I was about to mention that all the runs in the series have been scored via the long ball, so naturally the Caribou scored some runs in other ways. Sean Lane singles. Robinson González doubles. A wild pitch lets Lane score. Cecil Phillips singles in R-Gon. Thunder Bay 9, Chicago 1.

Bot 8. Matt Graves singles, and Reagan Osborn hits a two-run home run. Thunder Bay 9, Chicago 3.

That’s Osborn’s second home run of the series. A hot-hitting Osborn definitely improves Chicago’s chances of winning this series.

Bot 9. Miracle time for the Tects. Juan Durån singles. He steals second. José Gómez strikes out.
Cris Luna walks.
Pedro Farrulla flies out.
Matt Graves flies out.

THUNDER BAY WINS, 9-3! The Series is tied 1-1

Summary - And that is the way this is likely going to go. We win the close games and the Caribou get the blow out wins. If we can just keep ourselves in these games, we have a chance. Game 3 feels like a HUGE Game.

There isn't much I can say about SP Jose "Pongo" Cedeno. His last 3 outings against Duluth he threw 23+ shutout innings and today he holds the best offense in the game to just 3 run. 3 runs in his last 30 innings pitched. He certainly is pitching like he is worth that extension that we signed him too. Cedeno will get the ball in game 4 and if it goes 7 he will be on the mound for the deciding game.

We head to Thunder Bay for the next 3 games. With hope we will come back home for games 6 and 7, but to do that we need to steal 1 game in Thunder just like they did to us here.

[DD Martin]

GLBL Fall Classic
Chicago @ Thunder Bay
Games 3-5

After splitting the 2 games at home it sure would be nice to get the game back in the first game. Just not trailing and facing elimination in game 5 is a huge step. All of Thunder Bay's playoff series this year and last year have followed the same pattern. Splitting the first 4 games and then they win the last 2. Hopefully we can change that format this season.

World Series Game 3: Chicago @ Thunder Bay

Chicago’s Val Imbert vs. Thunder Bay’s Ralph Baxter
Imbert and Baxter were teammates on the Thunderbirds from 2048-52.

Top 2. Thomas Arnaud doubles. José Gómez singles. Ex-Caribou Sean White hits a sac fly. Chicago 1, Thunder Bay 0.

Top 3. Samuel Amsden doubles. Matt Graves singles. Prowler Ashley hits a sac fly. Chicago 2, Thunder Bay 0.

Top 5. Pedro Farulla walks. Ralph Baxter gets pulled. Jason Connel in to pitch. Fielder’s choice. Prowler Ashley singles. Reagan Osborn walks. Bases loaded, one out. Thomas Arnaud flies out. Larry Davis doubles! All three runners scored. Chicago 5, Thunder Bay 0.

Bot 6. Imbert walks Gerald Powers. Imbert had pitched five perfect innings. Sean Lane also walks. Nobody gets a hit, however.

Bot 7. John Calder singles on the first pitch of the inning, breaking up the no-hitter. Michael Jackson also singles. Val Imbert gets pulled. Ken Shannon in to pitch. Cecil Phillips singles, loading the bases with nobody out. Ron Hinton hits a sac fly. Shannon gets the final two batters. Chicago 5, Thunder Bay 1.

Final line on Val Imbert: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4. He retired the first 15 Caribou batters he faced. Amazing performance from Val!

Bot 9. Larry Stott in to pitch for the Tects. The Caribou need four. Michael Jackson gets a swinging bunt single. Cecil Phillips doubles. Pat Wright comes in to pitch. Micheal Ward pinch-hits. He flies out.
Gerald Powers flies out.
Emerson Coleman grounds out.

CHICAGO WINS, 5-1! Chicago leads the best of 7 series 2-1

World Series Game 4: Chicago @ Thunder Bay

Chicago’s José Cedeño vs. Thunder Bay’s Carlos Pérez.
These two squared off in Game 1, where Cedeño picked up his third win of the postseason.

Bot 2. Michael Jackson doubles, and Cecil Phillips hits a two-run home run! Thunder Bay 2, Chicago 0.

This postseason, Phillips is 15-for-35 (.429) with four doubles, two home runs, five walks, 10 runs scored, and 11 RBIs. He’s been on-base 50% of the time, and he’s slugging .714.

Top 5. Juan Durán singles. Pedro Farrulla singles. John Lambert triples in both runners, tying the game. Prowler Ashley singles, scoring Lambert. Chicago 3, Thunder Bay 2.

Carlos Pérez was pulled after that Farrulla single. The first two runs get charged to him. Emmett Dodman came in in relief, and Lambert’s run gets deducted from his account.

Bot 8. After a Sean Lane leadoff single, José Cedeño gets pulled. His line on the night: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K. Ken Shannon in to pitch.

3B Michael Jackson was injured while running the bases (Chicago @ Thunder Bay)
8th TB: Michael Jackson leaves the game with an injury and will not return for the remainder of the series. A big blow for Thunder Bay.

Robinson González singles. Jamal Amador walks. Fielder’s choice. Bases loaded, one out. Michael Jackson doubles in all three runners! Cecil Phillips singles in a fourth run! Thunder Bay 6, Chicago 3.

Top 9. The Tects get two runners on, but Ling-Kung Liao retires the next three.

THUNDER BAY WINS, 6-3! Thunder Bay evens the series at 2-2

World Series Game 5: Chicago @ Thunder Bay

Joe Johnson vs. Terry Noble.

Top 1. Chicago’s speedy leadoff man, Matt Graves, singles on the first pitch of the game. He steals second, and moves to third on a ground out. With two outs, Prowler Ashley singles him in. Chicago 1, Thunder Bay 0.

Top 2. José Gómez singles. Samuel Amsden reaches base on an error. Matt Graves gets plunked. Bases loaded, two outs. Walker Dunse grounds out.

Bot 2. Emerson Coleman and Sean Lane single. Kent Noseworthy (in the lineup to replace Michael Jackson) singles in Coleman. Tie game, 1-1.

Top 3. Rain!

And we’re back! It’s 45 degrees with rain and wind blowing from left to right at 19 mph. The 38,126 fans in attendance are hardy indeed!

Bot 3. Cecil Phillips doubles, and Ron Hinton singles him in. Thunder Bay 2, Chicago 1.

Bot 5. Deja vu. Cecil Phillips doubles, and Ron Hinton singles him in. Thunder Bay 3, Chicago 1.

Top 6. Jim Ashley walks, steals second, and moves to third on a groundout to first. Larry Davis hits a sac fly to right. Thunder Bay 3, Chicago 2.

The Architects’ last hit was in the second inning.

Top 8. Reagan Osborn singles. That’s hit #4 for the Tects today, and their first since the second. Prowler Ashley grounds into a fielder’s choice, and Sean White strikes out.

Top 9. Thunder Bay brings in Emmett Dodman to close things out. Larry Davis is at the plate.
He lines out.
José Gómez, who scored Chicago’s first run, grounds out.
Last chance for the Tects.
Samuel Amsden flies out.

THUNDER BAY WINS, 3-2! Thunder Bay leads the best of 7 3-2

Summary - The Architects took that game 3 but the Caribou roared back and won the next 2 games. I hate losing game 5's they are often the pivotal game in these close 6-7 game series.

We head back to Chicago for game 6 and we will stay away from using the LHSP Cliff Simpson even though the thought and discussion with the field manager was long. We decided that TB's lineup against LHSP was just too tough. We will go back to the hot hand in Val Imbert who had a tremendous game 3. It will be on a day short of full rest, but he should be pretty good to go.

If we can force a game 7 it will be Jose Cedeno on the hill. We moved Simpson out of the protected rotation spot as the thought was to use him in game 5 or 6 potentially. He will be one of the setup men in the bullpen with Larry Stott and behind closer Pat Wright.

Right now Caribou C Cecil Phillips is running away with the MVP Award the Caribou win the series.

[DD Martin]

World Series back to Chicago for Game 6 & 7 (maybe)

The clubs back is up against the wall but at least we are at home. Last year in this position we were headed to Thunder Bay for game 6, and the Caribou finished the Architects off in game 6. Will the Chicago Nine be able to change the pattern or is it title number 6 for Thunder Bay.

Losing the last game in a 1-run affair was gut wrenching. The Architects have been so good in 1-run games this season.

World Series Game 6: Thunder Bay @ Chicago
Ralph Baxter vs. Val Imbert.
Can the Architects force a Game Seven?

Top 1. Uh-oh. Jamal Amador walks. John Calder walks. Ron Hinton singles in Amador. Gerald Powers doubles in Calder. Emerson Coleman singles in Hinton and Powers. Val Imbert gets pulled! Matsusuke Yoshida gets the third out. Thunder Bay 4, Chicago 0.

Bot 3. SS Pedro Farrulla hits a solo home run! Thunder Bay 4, Chicago 1.

Bot 4. 1B Reagan Osborn hits a solo home run! Thunder Bay 4, Chicago 2.

Matsusuke Yoshida does an excellent job of emergency service from the bullpen: 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

Bot 5. With two outs, Matt Graves singles. He steals second. Walker Dunse singles him in! Thunder Bay 4, Chicago 3.

Top 6. With one out, Sean Lane singles. Kent Noseworthy walks. Top of the lineup. Ken Shannon in to pitch. Robinson González singles in Lane. John Calder singles in Noseworthy. Thunder Bay 6, Chicago 3.

Top 8. Sean Lane walks. Kent Noseworthy doubles. Nobody out. Top of the lineup coming…

Robinson González flies out. Jamal Amador is intentionally walked to load the bases (!?).
John Calder strikes out.
Cecil Phillips grounds out.
Phew!

Bot 8. Roberto Terraza in to pitch. 2-3-4 hitters coming to the plate.
Reagan Osborn hits his second home run of the game! Another solo home run, however. Thunder Bay 6, Chicago 4.

Bot 8. With two outs. Thomas Arnaud walks. Ling-Kung Liao in to pitch.
Sean White, on a full count, doubles! Arnaud scores!
Tying run on second, two outs.
José Gómez flies out.

To the ninth!

Top 9. Pat Wright in to pitch. No sense holding anything back.
Ron Hinton flies out.
Gerald Powers strikes out.
Emerson Coleman…walks.
Former Architect Sean Lane, who is 2-3 today, steps in…He strikes out.

Bottom of the 9th!
Thunder Bay brings in John Cannon to close it out.

8-9-1 hitters due up.

Cris Luna at the plate. He works a full count…He grounds out to short. 10-pitch at-bat, that.

Miguel Toledo comes in to pinch-hit……He grounds out.

Last hope for Chicago. It’s leadoff man Matt Graves.
He singles!

Walker Dunse at the plate. Reagan Osborn on deck.
Graves is a major threat to steal.

Dunse singles! Runners on the corners!

Two outs! Reagan Osborn at the plate!
Cannon gets two strikes.
Osborn works the count full.

He hits a high fly ball deep to right, the outfielder is going back, way back….could it be…will it be…. But it’s not deep enough. Catch was made up against the wall and that is a dramatic and heartbreaking finish for Chicago

THUNDER BAY WINS, 6-5! Thunder Bay wins its 2nd straight GLBL Classic 4-2. That is title win #6 for the Caribou who have the 2nd most behind Chicago with 9 titles.

Summary - So close and yet so far. I really thought Osborn was going to pull it out for the Architects.

We will follow up with an end of season note, and then the owners meeting. Lots to go over as there are potentially 8 and maybe as many as 10 players taken off the 40-man roster.

[DD Martin]

The Morning After the Game 6 Loss

That was a very bitter defeat in both game 5 and especially game 6. We had been so good all season in 1-run games and we just couldn’t pull it out. Felt so sure there was going to be a game #7 after Osborn launched what looked like his 3rd homer of the game.

But time to turn the page and move forward. We won our first North of the Border title and made the Fall Classic for the 2nd straight year. Before revenue sharing we made around $5 million but after revenue share we will show a small loss as our cash in bank went from $16 million to $13 million. I’m sure that will be something that comes up in my discussion with “Junior” (team owner Gregory Bocquet Jr.). We will see what type of mood he is in then.

We have 3 players up for arbitration. The no-brainer is RP Larry Stott. He appeared in 47 games as a set up man this season and closed with a hot streak of 44 games and 0.99 ERA. He will move back to his spot as the 8th inning guy next season. We will try and negotiate a new deal with him, but might let the arbitration process play out and then go for an extension and buy out his last arb year. This year he shared setup duties most of the season with veteran Ken Shannon who was good for the first 100 games of the season, but faltered in the last portion and the GLBL Classic. Shannon will be back with a $4.2 million dollar salary, but we will likely try to move him.

Corner OF/2B Samuel Amsden is our second player in arbitration. He looks like a $2.5 million deal for next year. He’s a switch-hitter who has excellent defensive value in the corners. He didn’t show much power this season, but did hit well and I like his flexibility as a pinch hitter. We just need to decide if we want to go through arbitration with him, or look to deal him, or let him try free agency and sign him for perhaps a bit less. We have a lot of good young OF’s who are or close to ready so he might be expendable.

The final arbitration eligible player is OF Jim Harris. Who you might ask? Harris (32) was signed as insurance and for his stand up comedy routine that tends to keep a clubhouse loose. After spending most of the season at AAA on a minor league deal, he came up at roster expansion shortly after that 8 game losing streak in early August. Whether he helped on the field on the field was minimal but the clubhouse was laughing a lot down the stretch. He’s out of options and his arbitration number is $1.2 million. The money isn’t bad but I’m not sure there is a roster spot for him. We will probably decline arbitration and let him test free agency where we might approach him again on a minor league pact with perhaps an option.

We have a slew of free agents, including LHSP Cliff Simpson, switch hitting 1B Miguel Toledo, OF Jose Gomez, RP Matsusuke Yoshida, SP Augusto Gonzalez, RP Kevin McAskill, and SS/IF Simon Lefevre. We would like to bring Simpson back potentially but he wants 4 years and $45 million and we are more inclined to go 2-3 years and $30 million or less. He will be a rare pitcher on the free agent market as he looks like only 1 of 2 LHSP’s worth any value that will be out there. We will be in discussions depending on our budget and how much I want to push Junior’s buttons on profit. I wanted to talk to OF Jose Gomez but since we didn’t do an extension before the end of the season he wants to test the market. He’s a solid switch-hitter who is very good in the corners and solid in CF. Two things I like, a switch-hitter and solid defender in CF. Few haven’t made decisions on RP’s Yoshida and McAskill. I’m considering offering Yoshida a deal especially if we move Shannon. We are looking at the 43-year-old McAskill who pitched well after acquiring him from Traverse City, but wants 2 years and I’d rather play it year to year. Free Agents Lefevre, Gonzalez and Toledo will be allowed to test free agency.

Also minor league free agents OF Doug Deschamps, OF Karl van de Linde, P Steve Tait, and David Peppin will also be allowed to test the market.

Just after the Fall Classic I received calls from 2B Walker Dunse (34) and C Sean White’s (31) respective agents. They are both declining their player options. We will see what they say and could do a sign and trade deals potentially but they both might be over estimating their financial value.

So there is a lot of work to do in preparation for my meeting with Junior and plan for next season. We are definitely in a window right now so I feel strongly that we need to make smart moves and spend our money wisely.

Below are the final standings and numbers by league for the 55 season.

[DD Martin]

I started out the meeting with Mr. Bouquet Jr. looking back at the season and the near miss we had of bringing back the GLBL title to Chicago. He wasn’t necessarily impressed. Despite our season on the field, I had let him down and he let me know it. We made a small profit of $4.6 million on the season but that didn’t count the revenue sharing which in fairness is part of the overall picture. With the revenue sharing we actually lost $3.2 million and Mr. Bouquet was not easing up on that fact.

Mr. Bouquet Jr. - Look DD I appreciate that we have been to the Fall Classic 2 years in a row, unfortunately we lost. Last season we made a tidy sum and I expected the same this season. You did not live up to your end of the bargain. While I am giving you a $178 million dollar budget for next year, I expect at least a $10 million dollar profit on next year’s team. I don’t care what the math looks like, I am just interested in the bottom line and that bottom line better have room for 7 zero’s in it. I hope I am making myself clear.

I am sure you feel this is harsh given the close near misses on the field, but this is a bottomline business. I expect us to be profitable every season. I am not like Bruce Joyes in Thunder Bay who doesn’t seem to care if his team is profitable or not! He lost $50+ million this year and for what, so he can get a ring and make the little people happy. I don’t need a championship to buy a ring, and it sure as hell will cost less than that to buy it. I want this team to be profitable, no make that highly profitable and if you can’t do that I will find someone else who can. Now you go do what you need to do to potentially make the playoffs again, I am not against that. Just do it in a fiscally responsible way!

Now I need to meet with my tax accountant and see if I can use this financial loss to avoid paying taxes on any other income I have or can “create” this year.

After my dressing down, I got to work on making the 2056 club a GLBL Champion.

Next year's starting lineup
C Juan Duran
1B Reagan Osborn
2B John Lambert (all OF, 1B, 3B)
SS Pablo Farrulla (2B)
3B Thomas Arnaud
LF Matt Graves
CF Cris Luna
RF Jim Ashley
DH Jose Aranda (OF)

Backups
C Chin Lee
1B Cruz Torres (3B)
U Larry Davis (2B, 3B, 1B)
OF Samuel Amsden (2B)
MI




SP Jose Cedeno
SP Yale Hulburt (likely June)
SP Val Imbert
SP Joe Johnson
SP

CL Pat Wright
SU Larry Stott
MR Ken Shannon
MR
MR
RP JJ Walker
LM Bill Lutz

We really have 4 spots and maybe at most undecided for next season. We need a back up middle IF that can play SS. Now the perfect solution is prospect Cristo Sandoval is ready to assume the SS job. That would move Farrulla to our primary middle IF backup at both 2B and SS. That would be in an ideal world. Sandoval was up for a cup of coffee and played mostly against Milwaukee, Detroit and Traverse City in the 12 games he appeared in. While he did hit his first career home run he only managed 1 other hit in 29 at bats. He recorded 0 walks and had 16 K’s in those 29 at bats. That indicates to me his bat is not big league ready, but maybe using that experience, hard work in the off-season and a good spring he will change my mind. That makes me rethink my Lefevre position that maybe a cheap 1 year deal would be a useful thing.

I’m also going to really look at probably a lefty OF bat again. We have several internal players who could fill that role like corner OF Ken Davis. Also RH OF Tom Stone could be an option as well, but we are losing some of those left handed bats that we acquired last year like C Sean White (L), OF Jose Gomez (S), 1B Miguel Toledo (S), and IF Simon Lefevre (S). Looking at that we will likely bring back OF Samuel Amsden (S) for another year.

That brings us to pitching, and even though we have a lot of arms, this is the area I’m most concerned about. The top 3 coming out of spring will be Jose Cedeno, Joe Johnson and Val Imbert. All 3 are RHSP’s which is why I think Simpson would be a big signing. We will have RHSP John Moore back but he’s missed parts of the last 2 seasons. I’m beginning to think a full year in the bullpen might be a good idea for him. Yale Hulburt will give us a 4th SP and a good one, but he would need a miracle to be ready for even early May. I was hoping that LHSP Curt Hopkins would be ready. He came up the same time as SS Cristo Sandoval and he struggled to a 7+ ERA against Milwaukee and Detroit in his 2 starts and 1 relief appearance. It's a small sample size but I don’t think he’s quite ready but like Sandoval we setup an off season workout program, and hope he can advance and be ready with a good spring. He will get a chance.

Middle RP we have several candidates in RHP Richard Hershel (who the scouts think can be a SP), LHP Ed Reddin but it would be a lot of pressure considering that we expect to contend again. I don’t want to sell short the bullpen as I have seen what that can do to a club before.

One pitcher that will likely be on the team one way or another is Stan Storey who was 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 4 big league outings after a very successful AAA season. He could be the bridge pitcher I’m looking for to get us to Yale Hulburt return.

We have some really talented pitcher prospects besides Curt Hopkins. There is Ruben Marin, Mike Hayes, Li-zhu Gauo,and Patrick Sellers. All are top 100 prospects, Marin and Hopkins are lefties. Hopkins is probably the only one near ready although we will push Hayes up the ladder to at least AA and maybe AAA as he is older than the rest. The only one I’d really consider trading in that group is Sellers. I won’t say untouchable, but it would take a superstar player that is sticking around to pry any to get any of them.

Addressing the pitching and perhaps looking for a good glove middle IF should be our top priorities. Anything thing else is just etc icing on the cake. There is one player though that I am chomping at the bit to grab and it would probably blow my budget for the upcoming season. It also wouldn't address any of the above needs.

[DD Martin]

As we move ahead towards the arbitration hearings we have a few things to clean up and announce before we get much farther.

During the playoffs we signed two International Amatuer Free Agents. We had a limited budget for IAFA last season and with us spending everything we had on payroll last year some things were cut. This area was one of them, so we were not able to pursue any of the top end players in this class. There was a young SP that I had my eye on, but spending millions on a 16-year-old is hard for me to pull the trigger on anyway, especially a pitcher.

We actually have 3 signings to talk about as we signed one more after I escaped the meeting with Junior. Figured he wouldn't even notice if I spent another $175,000.

First off is RF Antonio Hernandez who is a Mexican almost 17 year old from Cuernavaca. He is a right-handed bat who we signed for $1.8 million during our playoff run. He has 1 star of current ability and has 4 star potential and could be a 5 contact hitter with an avoidance of strikeouts. His eye isn't the best and he will never be a big time home run hitter, although he does have the build for it at 6'4 and 195 lbs as a 16 year old. He has very good speed but could use some work on his base running and technic. Not a strong arm so full time RF seems to be a reach at this point. Probably a LF and we will start to work him out in CF as well. Doesn't really look like he can play much infield, but there is always 1B and DH.

Another almost 17 year old (will be right after Thanksgiving) is LF Ramiro Moreno who is also a RH bat out of Matagalpa Nicaragua.. Moreno is a power hitting potential slugger who has 5 star power potential. His other stats are pointing to average but we can always use a power bat in the OF in Chicago. Not a great runner with limited range and he is probably properly slotted as a LF, but we could see him in RF as well. He has some ability in the IF so he could be a 1B. Moreno signed for $850,000.

The third and last of our signings is another OF, but at least this one is left handed. He hails from Puerto Rico and is 16 1/2 years old. His stats peak is average so who knows what he will become. Was a low risk left handed bat, so I spent the money ($175,000).

Below is the details in pictures on these new signings.

I believe we have struck deals with our two arbitration case players. We have verbal committments from OF Samuel Amsden and RP Larry Stott on identical $2.25 million dollar deals. Both will be arbitration eligible next season, but we will try and nail down Stott to a long term extension this spring if we can.

Tomorrow will be the awards announcements for the league and any last minute signing around the league before FA files. I would expect to see a few guys come off that potential FA list.

[DD Martin]

2055 Off-season and Award Winners

We did sign our 2 arbitration players before their cases went in front of the arbitrator. Both OF Samuel Amsden and RP Larry Stott will be making $2.25 for the upcoming season.

We also learned of a major setback in the return timeline of one of our key players. Not the news we were looking for.

OF/DH Aranda Return Delayed

Chicago Architects right fielder José Aranda informed reporters that he will be missing additional time because of a setback in his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. "It's a bit frustrating, sure," Aranda admitted. "I want to be out on the field. At the same time, I don't want to make things worse and miss even more time because I'm pushing it too hard." Architects doctors told BNN Aranda would not return for 5 months.

In his career, Aranda is batting .286 with a total of 268 home runs.

Several Big Name Free Agents Sign Late Deals to Remain with the Current Teams before Filing Deadline.

Detroit’s Stan Gillis, 30, signed a 6-year/$127.5 million extension, about $21 million per season.

Owen Sound’s Josselin Leroy, 36, signed for 5 years/$65 million or $13 million per season.

Toronto extended trade acquisitions Carlos Figueroa and Casey Cowley. Figueroa for 6 years/$89.7 million ($60.9 guaranteed) and Cowley for 6 years/$38.6 million ($26.4 million guaranteed).

MVP Winner becomes Free Agent

Former Hamilton Mountie OF Robert "Rodeo" Leroy wins Superior Player of the Year just before hitting free agency. I bet his agent is happy.

2055 GLBL Year-End Awards

First up: GM of the Year. Eight different GMs received a vote, which is pretty incredible. The Duluth GM wins: not only did he take his team to the playoffs, he also took his team from 67 wins last year to 83 wins this year. That 16-win improvement was the best in baseball.

It was close after Duluth GM, but two other GMs who took their teams to the playoffs place second and third, DD Martin Chicago and GM of the Hamilton Mounties. To give you an idea of how close the voting was, Thunder Bay GM and Toledo’s GM both received first place votes but finished fourth and fifth respectively. (GM’s were not allowed to vote for themselves)

Reliever of the year

In USA, Duluth’s Hervé Smart wins it. He pitched in half his team’s games, saved 26 of them, and had a 2.45 ERA (201 ERA+). Traverse City’s John Hall finished second. Duluth’s José Árias edges out Chicago’s Pat Wright for third.

In Canada, Thunder Bay’s Roberto Terraza takes first. He pitched in 83 games and threw a full 113 innings out of the pen, posting a 2.55 ERA (196 ERA+) with 130 strikeouts against 18 walks. Just a dominant arm. Two Owen Sound relievers place second and third: Kyle Potter and Ed Jenkins.

Rookie of the year

Detroit’s Mal Johnston wins the USA Award. The 21-year-old first baseman led the league with 32 home runs. He batted .304/.383/.550 (138 OPS+) and drove in 98 runs. It wasn’t a great year for Detroit, but Johnston was a brilliant bright spot. Three Duluth players finish second through fourth: Bill Whalley, Jorge Rangel, and Pedro Saldaña.

Windsor sweeps the podium in Canada! Tatsukichi Fujimoto, Mark Easson, and Kawanari Ohayashi take gold, silver, and bronze. Fujimoto went 11-7 with a 3.01 ERA (158 ERA+), striking out 182 while walking just 26. He actually led Canada in pitching WAR (5.6).

Fans of both Duluth and Windsor should be very excited about their futures with this dominant performance.

Pitcher of the Year

There was only one vote in which a player was a unanimous first-place selection, and that vote is the USA Pitcher of the Year. Toledo’s Nick Keddy wins the Pitching Triple Crown and Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season. As impressive as last year was, this season was better. He went 17-4 with a 2.54 ERA (180 ERA+) and 250 strikeouts. Detroit’s Bill Clary finishes second. Duluth’s Tim Gross finishes third.

In Canada, Toronto’s Motoyuki Inoue beats Hamilton’s Gabriel Rodríguez and Rookie of the Year winner Tatukichi Fujimoto. Inoue went 17-7 with a league-leading 2.75 ERA (169 ERA+) and 236 strikeouts.

GLBL MVP

It was a split vote in the USA, but Earl Foote beats out Reagan Osborn to win his third straight Award. Foote led the league with a .355 batting average. He hit 21 home runs, drove in 100 runs, scored 99 times, and stole 20 bases. He led the league in WAR for the third straight season. Duluth’s Carlos Sanchez placed third.

In Canada, four different players received first place votes. Hamilton’s Rodeo Leroy beats Toronto’s Peyton Coffman and Thunder Bay’s Jamal Amador to win it. (Windsor’s Craig Hargrove receives three first-place votes but finishes fourth.) Rodeo Leroy hit .332/.400/.573 (146 OPS+) with 26 home runs, 37 doubles, 88 RBIs, and 86 runs scored. He led the league with 5.0 WAR.

Flashing Leather Award (Gold Glove)

The Flashing Leather Award winners don't get the recognition of the home run hitters, but they are very much appreciated by managers, their teammates and by the fans, who know the value of defensive excellence. Great defense makes a difference in baseball. This year's top glovemen in the Canadian are:

Pitcher
Sean Moore (Hamilton Mounties)

Catcher
Fred Norris (Hamilton Mounties)

First Baseman
Gerald Powers (Thunder Bay Caribou)

Second Baseman
Xing-fu Sen (Toledo Neptunes)

Third Baseman
P.J. Harper (Hamilton Mounties)

Shortstop
R.C. Burt (Hamilton Mounties)

Left Fielder
Robert Leroy (Hamilton Mounties)

Center Fielder
David Williams (Windsor Vigilantes)

Right Fielder
Emerson Coleman (Thunder Bay Caribou)


Great glovemen can range far and wide to make a backhand stop or an over-the-shoulder catch -- and the best usually make it look easy. Today the winners of the USA Flashing Leather Award for 2055 were announced. These awards for defensive excellence go to:

Pitcher
William Charles (Traverse City Bears)

Catcher
Dai-lin Tah (Detroit Thunderbirds)

First Baseman
Reagan Osborn (Chicago Architects)

Second Baseman
Trace Brunel (Detroit Thunderbirds)

Third Baseman
Thomas Arnaud (Chicago Architects)

Shortstop
Pedro Farrulla (Chicago Architects)

Left Fielder
Barney Tomiak (Traverse City Bears)

Center Fielder
Logan Herring (Milwaukee Eagles)

Right Fielder
Mark Laursen (Duluth Sea Gulls)

Lake Erie Bat Award

The best offensive performer at each position will now have a fancy trophy to show off their accomplishments.

The Canadian Lake Erie Bat Award winners for 2055 were announced today:

Catcher
Prímio Lebrim (Owen Sound Waveriders)
.295/.365/.532, 380 AB, 22 HR, 2 SB, 130 wRC+, 3.5 WAR

First Baseman
Craig Hargrove (Windsor Vigilantes)
.322/.391/.590, 546 AB, 35 HR, 1 SB, 119 RBI, 3.3 WAR

Second Baseman
Li-ping Chin (Hamilton Mounties)
.317/.369/.538, 533 AB, 26 HR, 14 SB, 105 R, 131 wRC+, 4.1 WAR

Third Baseman
Chris Allen (Windsor Vigilantes)
.256/.323/.428, 481 AB, 18 HR, 13 SB, 86 wRC+, 0.8 WAR

Shortstop
Michael Jackson (Thunder Bay Caribou)
.320/.367/.527, 512 AB, 20 HR, 123 wRC+, 3.1 WAR

Left Fielder
Jamal Amador (Thunder Bay Caribou)
.335/.410/.601, 519 AB, 33 HR, 113 R, 147 wRC+, 4.7 WAR

Center Fielder
Robinson González (Thunder Bay Caribou)
.336/.384/.593, 548 AB, 34 HR, 106 R, 145 wRC+, 3.5 WAR

Right Fielder
Wyatt McBryde (Kingston Comets)
.342/.367/.529, 552 AB, 12 HR, 13 SB, 130 wRC+, 4.2 WAR

Designated Hitter
Glen Dickie (Hamilton Mounties)
.333/.423/.581, 451 AB, 26 HR, 1 SB, 149 wRC+, 3.4 WAR

The USA Lake Erie Bat Award for 2055 has been given to the following players:


Catcher
Joe Hunt (Duluth Sea Gulls)
.277/.345/.492, 368 AB, 22 HR, 110 wRC+, 2.2 WAR

First Baseman
Reagan Osborn (Chicago Architects)
.330/.438/.610, 461 AB, 30 HR, 38 SB, 108 R, 160 wRC+, 5.7 WAR

Second Baseman
Bill Whalley (Duluth Sea Gulls)
.287/.328/.447, 369 AB, 12 HR, 7 SB, 95 wRC+, 2.1 WAR

Third Baseman
Thomas Arnaud (Chicago Architects)
.315/.372/.545, 426 AB, 23 HR, 130 wRC+, 3.8 WAR

Shortstop
Kennelly Mulford (Milwaukee Eagles)
.283/.336/.467, 321 AB, 12 HR, 2 SB, 107 wRC+, 2.1 WAR

Left Fielder
Carlos Sánchez (Duluth Sea Gulls)
.336/.374/.577, 551 AB, 29 HR, 21 SB, 102 RBI, 4.3 WAR

Center Fielder
Stephen Rice (Toledo Neptunes)
.292/.384/.468, 408 AB, 16 HR, 46 SB, 125 wRC+, 3.7 WAR

Right Fielder
Earl Foote (Traverse City Bears)
.355/.446/.593, 487 AB, 21 HR, 20 SB, 169 wRC+, 7.0 WAR

Designated Hitter
Jerry Wickett (Duluth Sea Gulls)
.295/.374/.505, 410 AB, 21 HR, 124 wRC+, 1.7 WAR

The league fast forwards from the Arbitration Hearings to February 1st to speed up the off-season. We are now in full blown Free Agency.

[DD Martin]

2055 Free Agency
February 1st 2056

A time where teams can overspend and players and agents can dream big. Here is a brief look at the clubs “estimated” budgets and current payrolls prior to the start of free agency.

Heading into free agency the Architect needs are (not necessarily in order)

LHSP
LHRP
Backup C preferably LHB
Backup SS
Power OF bat preferably LHB

Money available and current payroll

Detroit $17 million Payroll $100.8
Duluth $61.2 million Payroll $56.5
Hamilton $18.7 million Payroll $112.8
Kingston $11.5 million Payroll $82.2
Milwaukee $112.8 million Payroll $22.5
Owen Sound $44.8 million Payroll $91.9
Thunder Bay (103.7) million Payroll $252.6
Toledo $44.1 million Payroll $122.2
Toronto ($23.7) million Payroll $165
Traverse City $37.8 million. Payroll $88.8
Windsor $52.8 million Payroll $94.9

Chicago has roughly $31 million dollars available, but if we want to make the owner happy we would only spend about $21 million of that budget. 9 other teams have roughly $400 million in budget space but I’d be shocked off $250 million gets spent. Right now the top 25 free agents are asking for over $300+ million per season.

So what should we do? There are several former Chicago players on the list below that we have had over our 4 seasons (highlighted). Do we really need a catcher with young Juan Duran healthy and ready to take over the everyday catcher role? We have 2054 starter Lee who can share the catching duties with Duran and he’s under contract for $950,000. I have floated him as potentially available.

I’ll be honest I am very intrigued by Cecil Phillips who has been the top rank catcher the last several seasons with a good bat and defense behind the plate. He had a down regular season and then stuck it to us in the playoffs as the MVP. He’s 33 and wants 6 years and I just don’t think we can wrap up that type of money in him. Maybe if his price comes down into the pre-teens then perhaps, but I’m sure someone will take him sooner rather than later. There is also left handed bat Sean White who had a great first half for us and then kind of fizzled with the bat in the 2nd half. He’s just average defensely but gives us that left bat luxury that I like and probably make too much out of. White could probably be had in the range I want to spend on Phillips, but he isn’t Phillips and I tend to be weary of older catchers.

The last catcher that I would have any interest in is former Chicago catcher Joe Hunt. We shipped him off in 2054 because we didn’t want to pay his salary for the 55 season. He then had his best season of his career and is on the market looking to cash in. He’s younger than Phillips or White and is a lefty with similar defense as White. I just don’t think I’ll have the budget room for him as a backup.

There are truly no great SS on the market. I’d like to give the job to youngster Cristo Sandoval, but after striking out 16 times in 29 plate appearances I don’t believe his bat is ready. SS Pablo Farrulla did a find job defensively and hit 240 which was more than I expected. I’d prefer he’d be the backup but it looks like he will be the starter coming into spring. Former Chicago players Walker Dunse 2B and 3B Kent Noseworthy are options, but I don’t see Dunse as a backup and I don’t want to tie up that much money at this time at 2B.

Lefty starters there are basically 2. Cliff Simpson who we acquired at the deadline and Julio Castro. We will see where Simpson is at and go from there. I really hoping that LHSP Curt Hopkins takes a major step forward this spring and we can save some money.

Nothing really stands out on the lefty relief market. Well there is one guy with no proven track record and wants starters money. If he was a starter, I’d be all over him, but he is a 2-pitch, 2-stamina LHRP who was 6 years and $19 million per year. Ricardo Valentin is a 29 year old international FA who scouts are drooling over. It’s just a lot of money for a club who’s owner wants a substantial profit. Probably a luxury we can’t afford. Hopefully he will go to Canada.

Power OF bats, there are several of those. The best is likely last years North of the Border MVP LF Robert Leroy. He checks all the boxes, lefty, power, etc but he just isn’t an option at $33 million. LF Rick Barnard is a bat with zero glove. I don’t want to have to put Jose Aranda in the field so Barnard is a no. OF Mark Laursen was someone who almost signed to a minor deal at the end of 54 to a minor league deal. Then he decided he wanted a big league deal and there just wasn’t enough there to show he deserved it. Duluth took the chance and got quite the deal as Laursen had a great season with 23 home runs. I still have the same reservations on him and don’t see us spending $30 million over 3 years. OF Jose Gomez who we picked up last season would be a good platoon split with Matt Graves in LF. We did well for us, then got hurt and wasn’t quite the same although we didn’t let him get fully healed. Potentially a late option there.

So what should we do?

Here are the top 25 free agents

Top 25 free agents
LF Robert LeRoy 6yrs @ $33.8 per (B-L age-31) 332/400/972 26-88 5.0 WAR
C Cecil Phillips 6yrs @ $24.7 per (B-R age-33) 304/375/787 8-50 1.6 WAR
SP Dan Floyd 4yrs @ $21.8 per (T-R age-41) 8-9 3.53 1.32 WHIP 131 ERA+
1B Eric Molina 6yrs @ $21.2 per (B-L age-29) 273/356/876 29-92 2.6 WAR
RP Ricardo Valentin 6yrs @ $19 per (T-L age -29) international free agent
3B Mark Matchim 6yrs @ $15 per (B-L age-32) 303/401/901 13-41 2.0 WAR 79G
3B Seung-Jun Park 6yrs @ $15 per (B-R age-34) 306/377/857 18-75 2.6 WAR
SP Terry Noble 3yrs @ $13.7 per (T-R age-37) 5-74.59 1.38/WHIP 109 ERA+
C Sean White 5yrs @ $13.6 per (B-L age-31) 290/341/802 14-65 1.7 WAR
2B Walker Dunse 5yrs @ $12.3 per (B-R age-35) 261/323/676 3-50 0.2 WAR
C Joe Hunt 5yrs @ $12.4 per (B-L age-29) 277/345/837 22-60 2.1 WAR
SP Billy Hill 5yrs @ $12 per (T-R age-34) 7-15 4.40 1.32 WHIP 2.1 WAR
SP Cliff Simpson 4yrs @ $11.6 per (T-L age-34) 11-7 4.34 1.40 WHIP 110 ERA+
LF Rick Barnard 4yrs @ $11 per (B-L age-35) 257/339/873 27-84 1.2 WAR
RP Kyle Potter 4yrs @ $10 per (T-R age-32) 4-8 33 saves 3.07 1.38 WHIP 150 ERA+
RF Mark Laursen 3yrs @ $9.7per (B-L age-30) 264/341/799 23-76 1.6 WAR
SP Julio Castro 1yr @ $8.5 (T-L age-38) 9-6 3.79 1.24 WHIP 122 ERA+
SP Jose Gonzales 2yrs @ $8.5 per (T-R age-45) 4-1 2 saves 4.42 1.34 WHIP 104 ERA+
1B David Kenney 1yr $8 (B-L age-36) 346/382/1016 4-10 0.4 WAR
1B Rafael Morales 3yrs @ $8 per (B-R age-37) 310/362/827 5-31 0.6 WAR
3B Miguel Toledo 3yrs @ $8 per (B-S age-31) 257/320/742 16-64 0.7 WAR
CF Antonio Zamora 2 yrs @$8 per (B-L age-33) 242/340/675 5-35 0.8 WAR
SP Caleb Wilson 2 yrs @ $7 per (T-R age-28) 7-7 5.62 1.71 WHIP 82 ERA+
OF Jose Gomez 2 yrs @ $6.5 per (B-S age-32) 279/339/761 8-42 0.9 WAR
3B Kent Noseworthy 2yrs @ $6.5 per (B-R age-34) 220/319/692 17-58 0.7 WAR

Bold are former players in the last 4 seasons who played some in Chicago.

[DD Martin]

The First 10 days

The first 10 days of free agency had been incredibly quiet, Maybe it was collusion by the owners or maybe the player demands were just outrageous. The only deals that were done were a couple of extensions.

Parrel Signs Big Extension with WaveRiders

Owen Sound sign 1B to a 6 year $185,800,000 dollar deal to stay with the WaveRiders through the 2062 season. Parrel will make $18.45 this season in his final arbitration year. The 27-year-old has won the Canadian Player of the year 3 times (2052-2054 seasons) and certainly has cashed in.

In 4+ seasons Parrel has hit 343/401/1001 with 157 home runs, 556 RBI’s and 487 runs scored.

Chicago extends Key Reliever Larry Stott

In less exciting news the Architects have decided to buy out RP Larry Stott’s last year of free agency and extended him to a 6- year deal worth $35.4 million. Stott has been a very good RP while not having to be the closer. He is often in the setup role before closer Pat Wright is brought in. Wright is under contract with the Architects through at least the 2057 season and also has team options for 2058 and a vesting option in 2059. Clearly Stott is being considered to take over the closer role if Wright doesn’t stay under contract.

February 10th 2056

Moving forward in free agency, we have been talking with several players. One was known that we’d talk with LHSP Cliff Simpson and those talks are progressing. We are not far apart on a deal so the decision is do we want to commit 4 seasons or not. Toledo is the other known team to be in on those talks. We had offered Simpson a 4 year deal with a player option for year 3 and a team option for year 4 and a total deal worth around $41 million. He would like 4 years and $44 million with the player having the option in the final season. So not far apart at all.

We are having quiet discussing with a player who could be in our starting lineup next season. Although I will admit for being a “normal” guy his mouth is annoying the hell out of me. After agreeing to what he’s agent requested, the player got back to me to say he was insulted by our offer and he’s not sure why we even bothered to send it to his agent. I was ready to send the player a message and say really dumb&&$ your agent is the one who suggested that contract. I didn’t make that call right away as I was hot and later cooled down. Later I did call the agent and raked him over the coals and say what gives……

Rant time. I realize trying to figure out this type of interaction is difficult for developers, but seriously……an agent says my client wants $XXX amount. A team agrees and you find that sort of smartass response from the player? In the real world the GM would spread that news like wildfire and the player would be playing Indy ball in some outpost in Montana. OOTP developers, come on be better than that!

Tomorrow - There will likely be some movement

[DD Martin]

A Slow Start to Free Agency Signings
February 16th, 2056

The free agent market had seen no signings to start off the first 2 weeks, but there had been plenty of talk. We had been drilled into several areas to start with, as we made offers to both LHSP Cliff Simpson (34) and LHSP Julio Castro (38). Simpson was our first choice having acquired him in the off-season and we were interested in retaining him, but by the time we got around to it he wanted to test the waters. Knowing that Toledo was interested in re-signing him, we had a backup plan and that was the veteran Julio Castro. Castro was less expensive and was only seeking a 1-year deal which fit better into our plans with LHSP Curt Hopkins hopefully ready by spring of the 2057 season. We still made an offer to Simpson for 4 years and $39 million, that had a player option at year 3 and a team option for year 4.

Our offer to Castro who was seeking $8.5 million was a low ball offer of $6.5 to start off with. There were reasons I was shooting low, besides the obvious cheapness which will become clear soon.

We also were in early discussions with 1B Eric Molina (29 B-L). Now some might wonder why I would be interested in signing a high priced first baseman with Reagan Osborn on the roster who only plays 1B. We have RF/DH Jose Aranda coming but he won’t be ready for the start of the season with the setback he had in his rehab (fingers crossed he doesn’t decline because of that setback). But my plan for Molina was to play LF where my scouts say he would be an average fielder, but I love that power bat. Molina was looking for a 6-year $122 million dollar deal and of course I was looking to backload as much as we could without it getting crazy.

We were also in discussions with an international free agent SS Carlos Montano. He looked better than what his agent was asking for. He just wanted a minor league deal to get started and we were all over that. I was envisioning him as our starting 2B to start the year or at least to get that opportunity.

We reached out to former Architects 2B/IF Kent Noseworthy and also OF Jose Gomez, but their starting prices were too high for the roles I was thinking about. We decided to let them continue on with their much higher dollar requests for starting roles. We also checked in with FA RP Matsusuke Yoshida who had pitched well for us in middle and long relief last year. The fans loved him but I didn’t quite want to go to the $4.4 million he was asking for. I was hoping for $2.5 which he signed for last year or top side $3.25 million. He also wanted 2 years and if we signed Molina our salary structure for the 57 season was in doubt.

On a smaller note we also were in discussions with SP Kieron Aplin, C Guo-quiang Lee and several other potential minor league guys.

All of this was just talk but finally International Free Agent Ricardo Valentin broke the ice and made the first major signing of the FA period and it was not where we wanted to see him go. I loved Valentin’s skill set and was wishing I felt he could be a SP. He was a lefty (big plus on my staff of predominantly righties), he looked dominant like I see Thunder Bay’s Roberto Terraza. I had LHCL Pat Wright under contract and had just signed future closer and current setup man Larry Stott to an extension. Both are signed well under the money that Valentin wanted and got. To my dread, Valentin was going to Toledo and that was not a location I was hoping he would go to (Duluth either). I was hoping that maybe an Owen Sound in Canada or maybe even a Kingston would sign him. If he was going to a US team then either Milwaukee who could have signed half of this FA class and become relevant or Traverse City would have been ideal locations. But no, Toledo had swooped in and signed by far the best RP on the board.

Now with him off the board maybe things will break free and start moving.

Next - Business is about to pick up

[DD Martin]

Business is about to Pick Up
and It’s Not Good News for Chicago

The news coming in on February 16th was not good news. We had been scooped and I was furious at the agent of SS Carlos Montano. Not only had this guy just the other day recommended a contract structure for his client, he did this after he relayed some news to Montano that made the player “upset” with our most recent offer of $1.6 per year for 3 years. Somehow the agent spun this around like it was our fault we gave such a terrible offer and Montano had sent me a message that infuriated me to no end. After calming down we made the mistake of giving the player a new offer, that was only slightly higher than what the agent suggested. Now was it a mistake that I made the offer, or that I made it when I was still angry and didn’t think it through clearly? The day after we made that offer we got a message that Montano had signed with Toledo…….NO!!!!! (Throwing my cell into the wall). After members of the office came in to make sure I was okay, I got online and ordered a new phone.

The agent for Montano had suggested we offer 6 years for $14.8 million, which was still in my mind a cheap contract for this guy, even though I was still pissed off at Montano and his idiot agent. I quickly just sent an offer for 6 years and $15 million figuring this would be an ongoing bidding process. I was wrong and found out that Toledo had narrowly beat our off by $400,000 and Montano was off to the Neptunes. I immediately made a note to myself that when we see Montano he is going to get a fastball drilled into him. Maybe Joe Johnson and his 99 mph heater.

Needless to say, the day didn’t get any better from there. While we were looking for LHSP there was another pitcher LHP who was available and a hell of a lot cheaper and younger. Donald Hubbard had pitched for Milwaukee and while he wasn’t great, he wasn’t terrible. He was coming off a middling season going 7-15 with a 5.14 ERA so I kind of ignored him. Probably was a mistake because I knew there were several teams looking for LHP’s. Well it wasn’t Toledo this time, instead it was Duluth who signed Hubbard for 3 years and less than $5 total.

We did make a signing on this day, giving a 24-year-old RHSP by the name of Kieron Alpin a major league contract for $525,000 (league minimum is $508,000). He had been just looking for a minor league deal initially but then several teams jumped in and in a rare moment of thinking it threw when he came back asking for a minor league deal with a 30-day option I just said give him a big league contract slightly above the minimum and see how it goes. Well it went and we got him. Fortunately he has options as he is a bit of a project, but who knows he could surprise me like Stan Storey who will be in the mix for a starting spot at least until Yale Hulburt gets back sometime in May. Alpin has 4 pitches of which 2 are average (Fastball and Splitter) along with a decent Sinker and Cutter with potential to become average. He is a control pitcher (4 out of 5 rating wise) who is from Aruba. He will likely start out at AAA this season so we can see what he can do. It’s not a terrible signing, just not the big splash I was looking for, but Mr. Bocquet Jr. was happy he was cheap.

The next day the news just continued to come in and it still wasn’t going our way. I did not up our offer to SP Cliff Simpson so he decided to take….you guess it Toledo’s offer of 4 years and $44 million. The deal is just how Simpson outlined it with the first 3 years guaranteed and the 4th season at his option. While I am somewhat disappointed in this, I kind of figured this is where he was going. I just didn’t want to be locked into a 4 year deal. We offered him 4 years but the first 2 seasons were less than the $11 million he wanted at around $9 million each. Then he had a $10 million dollar player option for year 3, which I figured if he was pitching great he would probably trigger the out. The 4th year was either a vesting option which we could control or a team option with a $2.2 million dollar buyout. So while I hate that he went back to Toledo, I wasn’t too disheartened by his decision. But that meant we had better get SP Castro. Part of me hopes that Simpson’s sometimes “complex” attitude could cause issues in the clubhouse. He is not a bad guy, but he can be a less than motivated guy.

Duluth also made another signing, when they grabbed our former 2B Walker Dunse (35) for 2 years and $9 million per season. A significant decrease from what he wanted prior to free agency when he “requested” 4 years and $56 million. I like Dunse, he is a very solid 2B but I did notice a bit of decline this last season. Maybe it was just a slightly off-year because he was playing SS for us and he just wasn’t as comfortable there as he was at 2nd. Or maybe it's because he has lost a step in the field and on the basepaths. He will probably make me regret not resigning him, but there were 9 other teams in this league besides Toledo and Duluth. Can’t anyone sign somewhere else?

Someone finally did as RHP Matsusuke Yoshida who pitched for us last season signed with Windsor for 2 years for a total of $9.6 million. The fans loved Yoshida and he pitched solidly last season on his $2.5 million dollar contract. He asked for 3 years and $12 million total and I just couldn’t pull the trigger on that because while he pitched well I felt we could get a younger less expensive guy in that spot.


I had heard back from Julio Castro finally after a long 2 weeks of “he’s mulling it over” to hear he appreciated the offer and while it wasn’t quite what he wanted his agent let us know we were in the lead. I called his agent and said look, I’m willing to up the offer to $7 million (up from $6.5) if he signs in the next week. I could tell from the agent’s voice I had just bid against myself, but I needed a LHSP and Castro fit that bill nicely and it was just a 1 year commitment which fit what I was trying to do.

Early in the day on February 20th, we had gotten the news that we had 2 agreements. One was for a lefty hitting C by the name of Guo-quiang Lee who signed a 1 year and $1 million dollar deal. Lee is 33 and his defense is not great, but again I liked his lefty bat. He hits for a decent average as with 7 seasons spent at Owen Sound he is a career 282 hitter. He will battle the “other” Lee (Chi-yong Lee) for the backup spot to starting C Juan Duran. The bigger news was we got our LHSP as Julio Castro signed on the dotted line for that 1 year $7 million dollar deal. He will slot in probably between Jose Cedeno and Joe Johnson to start the season. Things were looking up……Until

We had been in lots of discussions with 1B Eric Molina’s agent and I was trying to shoehorn in both Simpson and Castro in my dealings at that time (I didn’t really want both but I needed to be in on both). So my offer to Molina was a bit less than what he was asking (6 years $122 million). They came back with a 5 year deal and while he was only 29, I figured yeah 5 years sounds good. So we offered 5 years and $103 million. On February 20th I got more bad news, Molina had agreed to a contract of 6 years and $132 million. Yep you guessed it, Toledo.

This was really beginning to be a problem. I feel like Duluth and especially Toledo had significantly beaten me out on multiple players and upgraded their teams tremendously. So far we had signed a backup C (Lee), a AAA SP (Alpin) and Castro. I was starting to feel desperate and when you do that sometimes you make a panic decision…..I made a phone call to the top hitting free agent on the market. LF Robert “Rodeo” LeRoy who just won the MVP in the North of the Border last year and he was out to make bank on it.

Next - Do we make a rash decision and grab a big time bat?

[DD Martin]

Big Decision, Big Money

As I continued to watch both Duluth and Toledo continue to sign and sign guys things were getting a little tense in the office. I went to the owner and said look if you give me a little more money than the $178 million we can definitely match Toledo step for step. But they are playing with a $190 million dollar budget and it is showing.

Mr. Bocquet Jr. - You have ways of making money available. I see that you raised our scouting and development budgets up to $10 million and $15 million. They were a combined $18.75 million last year.

Me - But sir we have some talent in our minor leagues and I do dare divert resources from development. Those players are our future and we have probably our future starting rotation down there developing. We get those guys developed and we won’t have to spend big on free agent starting pitchers.

Mr Bocquet Jr - I like that last part you just said, but here is the deal and these words do not leave this room. You seem to think this is all about winning a championship and while that is nice if it comes along, that is not my primary goal. I have given you marching orders to at least play 500 ball. Last year we played 604 ball and you have been 500+ in every season you have been here. I am fine with that sort of return on the field, but…..I want this club to be profitable. I mean extremely profitable and some of these signings you’re asking about are going to cost big bucks. I am not interested in ballplayers making more money than I do in this club and right now, you have multiple that are…..

Me - The franchise is worth more money than ever before.

Mr Bocquet Jr. - I am well aware of the valuations of the club and how much it has increased since my father passed away. But valuations are not cold hard cash and cash in king. So there will be no increase in the budget. Are we clear?

Me - Yes sir. I will do what I can to make sure we get in the playoffs and make that playoff money, but I understand your desire for the club.

So with that I got no increase in budget to compete with Toledo’s wild spending. Duluth is spending too but it is more measured and reserved, but I anticipate they will be picking up some bargains. Right now there appear to only be really 3 clubs that have done much of anything signing wise, well 4 if you count the huge haul of minor league contracts Thunder Bay just signed. It appears the Caribou who are unable to spend anymore money on free agents are now signing every veteran who isn’t falling apart but likely on the downside of their careers to minor league deals. They signed a whopping 29 veteran players to those deals as they look for depth to cover themselves in case of injury.

Despite Mr. Bocquet’s bluster, I turned around and made a splash.

Last Year MVP Signs with Chicago
LF Robert “Rodeo” LeRoy Inks $157 Million Deal over 6 Years

As speculation mounted into the morning, rumors over a final agreement between Robert Leroy and Chicago became a reality, with the star opting for a $157,000,000 deal over 6 years.

Leroy has a career .295 batting average with a .356 OBP. He has hit 203 homers, driven in 686 runs and scored 576 runs since he came into the league. Last season was LeRoy’s finest when he hit 332/400/973 with 26 home runs and 88 RBI’s. He was good for a North of the Border leading 4.9 WAR last season and took home the Canadian Lake Superior MVP Award.

When asked GM Martin stated that LeRoy would be a big addition to our lineup and he has a great supporting cast around him. We are driven to win the GLBL Championship and once again bring home the pennant to these deserving fans.

Reaction around town

The fans are buzzing with the excitement that Robert LeRoy is coming to Chicago. Season ticket numbers took a big jump and individual game ticket pre-sales also increased significantly. On one local podcast the reaction was that signing LeRoy to good along with 3B Arnaud, 1B Osborn, DH Aranda (when he returns), RF Ashley along with C Duran and 2B Lambert, Chicago has a winning formula if their pitching returns healthy and stays injury free this season. And from the sound of things from those that know, Chicago had better make its 3rd straight GLBL Fall Classic or there could be some serious consequences for the GM and front office staff.

Right now the Opening Day Lineup looks like this

2B John Lambert
RF Tom Stone
1B Reagan Osborn
LF Robert LeRoy
DH Jim Ashley
3B Thomas Arnaud
C Juan Duran
CF Cris Luna
SS Pablo Farrulla

*Note Stone is in for the injured Jose Aranda who will likely join the club after several weeks during the regular season. At that time Jim Ashley will move back to RF and Aranda will assume his DH role.

Now the question is are the Architects done?

Some say they are kicking the tires on several players and could be talking one last big time free agent. Who that is, no one in the organization is saying. Many feel that the club is about tapped out of spending resources. Time will tell

[DD Martin]

As we Head into Spring Training

Expectations are again very high this year as we come off two World Series appearances (but no championship).

Players Lost after last season

SP Cliff Simpson (Signed by Toledo, traded to Toronto)
C Sean White (Signed by Duluth)
3B Miguel Toledo (Signed by Thunder Bay)
CF Jose Gomez (Signed by Windsor)
SP Matsusuke Yoshida (Signed by Windsor)
RP Kevin McAskill (Signed by Traverse City)
2B Walker Dunse (Signed by Duluth)
P Augusto Gonzalez (Signed by Owen Sound)
SS Simon Lefevre
OF Jim Harris

Players Signed prior to Spring Training

SP Kieron Aplin 1 year $525,000
C Chris Cuff minor league deal with majors option ($600,000)
SP Dustin Randolph minor league contract $100 bonus
C Guo-quiang Lee 1 year $1,000,000
SP Julio Castro 1 year $7,000,000
LF Robert LeRoy 6 years $157,000,000 total
1B Jean Piquet minor league contract

In looking at it we signed 2 big time players and a couple of guys who have a shot at making the roster out of spring training (Aplin and G Lee). The rest were destined for AAA.

Did we do enough? We have P John Moore back in camp and ready to go for the spring. He has been a starting pitcher but the plan this season is to work him through the bullpen most likely unless we have a major injury or someone disappoints.

We also will eventually get back SP Yale Hulburt who with Jose Cedeno packs a pretty good 1-2 punch. Hulburt is under contract this season and next for $20,000,000 each and then has a team option in 2058 (age 39 season) for $17,000,000. Odds are that he will not be in Chicago on that deal in 2058, but we will need to see how things shake out. He is slated to return sometime in mid-late May.

Finally we have DH/OF Jose Aranda coming back. He will miss the first week or two as he is scheduled to be off the DL just as the season begins. He will likely get a week to 10 days to hit at AAA for his spring training before making his return to Chicago.

When you look at the off-seasons that my two chief rivals have put together, ours looks less impressive. But you have to remember that Toledo traded 4/9 of its starting position core at the deadline last season. I was amazed that they played as well as they did based on that deal in the 2nd half. The stats point to that they were the best team in the USA last year, but they finished 10 games below their expected win total based on runs differential. So for them to add like they did and if they can win 1-run games this year, they are going to be tough and might even be the favorites.

Heading into camp we have the following positions locked up. First with the pitchers.

SP #1 - Jose Cedeno
SP #2 - Julio Castro (LH)
SP #3 - Val Imbert
SP #4 - Joe Johnson
SP #5 -

So the top 4 spots are virtual locks but the position up from grabs at least for the first 6-7 weeks of the season will be for the last starting rotation spot. We will be looking at Bill Lutz, Ed Reddin, Stan Storey, JJ Walker, Jason Dickerson and Kieron Aplin. LHSP Curt Hoplins (age 21 prospect #12 overall) will be in camp but with Hulburt returning in late May it is likely that Castro will fill the spot that would have potentially been Hopkins. The general feeling is that he just isn't quite ready, but when he is we expect big things.

Bullpen

CL Pat Wright
SU Larry Stott
SU John Moore
MR Ken Shannon

So we have 4 spots in the pen basically sewn up and several more will likely go to Lutz and Walker if they do not win the #5 in the starting rotation. We will likely go with 11 or 12 pitchers so that means that we will have 1-3 open for competition.

Also in camp vying for those spots is (besides Walker, Lutz, Storey and Reddin) will be David Butler and Richard Hershel (who scouts say is a mid-rotation SP last season, but expectations have cooled a bit this year).

Position Players
C - Juan Duran
1B - Reagan Osborn
2B - John Lambert
SS -
3B - Travis Arnaud
LF - Robert LeRoy
CF - Cris Luna
RF - Tom Stone
DH - Jim Ashley

Really the only position battle will be at SS this spring as 21-year-old rookie Cristo Sandoval who we believe is the future for us will be battling Pablo Farrulla. I would really like Sandoval to win the job and be ready as I like Farrulla as the backup middle infielder, but after last September there are doubts that Sandoval is ready with the bat. If he isn't playing every day for us in Chicago he will be playing everyday at AAA Saugatuck for the Joe's.

With Jose Aranda out, we have decided to give that 10-14 day trial to Tom Stone in RF. Jim Ashley will be the DH. When Aranda returns hopefully by April 23rd at the latest, he will go back as the DH and Ashley will go back to RF. Stone will likely head back to AAA unless he is so impressive that he forces our hand early. This is likely Ashley's last season with Chicago as his $22 million option next season will not likely be exercised despite his great play. We will be in a serious budget crunch next season and we will look to have Stone take over in RF full time next season. Is he ready? We will get a good look in the first 2 weeks of the season and all spring.

There will be a battle for the backup catcher spot between Chi-yong Lee (B-R) and Guo-quiang Lee (B-L). That will be a very tight battle I would think. Guo has the advantage of being a left handed bat.

We will likely have Larry Davis (2B/3B/1B) in the mix for a spot as well as switch hitting 3B/1B Cruz Torres. Juan Vazquez (2B) and Marc Nakayama (1B) are long shots for this years club although we do like the power potential of Nakayama. He looks like a good hitter that plays 1B and corner OF. Unfortunately for Nakayama, he is blocked by Reagan Osborn at 1B. He deserves a spot and next year will probably be his year as we look to trim some expenses most likely in the OF.

Quentin Helmer OF-1B, Ken Davis corner OF, Steve Hickman CF (likely will be on the team with Lambert being the only real 2B and won't be available for backup duty in CF). Also back but looking at more of a backup role is LF Matt Graves (who led the GLBL in stolen bases last season with 58).

There is a chance that we could sign additional players especially with infield experience but that will be decided as we move through spring.

Next - Spring Training Results and Preparation for the Regular Season
Have we Done Enough?

[DD Martin]

Chicago Architects
Spring Training 2056
Could this be Our Year?

After losing in 6 games of the GLBL Fall Classic to Thunder Bay each of the last 2 seasons, this year we want it all. And I was surprised to hear from our owner Gregory Bocquet Jr. "I expect you to win it all this year". This from the man that chewed my butt off about spending money. I haven't spent all of my budget, we still have $11 million to play with but as you will see I did play with some of it.

The spring was what it was. We played 18 games and went 9-9 losing several to Milwaukee of all teams. I'm not that worried about the results but I am happy to report that we suffered no injuries. Poor Toledo suffered several losses to their pitching staff. One for about 5 weeks and another for about 3 months.

What I did decide was that we needed some insurance at several key positions.

With that we signed former Architect IF Kent Noseworthy who can play 2B, 3B and even SS at an average level defensively. He has great power and a very good eye, so his slash line might look like this 225/345/490 with 20 home runs. He isn't being called on to be the starter at 2B, we are committed to going with John Lambert at 2B. But he is insurance and at a reasonable rate of $2.6 million. It took over a month to come to terms with Kent but at the end we settled.

We also grabbed another former Architect in left handed hitting C Joe Hunt. Hunt had a career season with Duluth, but was likely aided by their home park which favors home runs. He hit 22 last year, but we aren't expecting him to start. That will fall to Juan Duran who we hope will be able to catch around 100 games. Hunt is an upgrade for the backup job and might get some DH duties against RHSP's from time to time. Hunt signed for $4.5 million for 2056.

Below is the hitting and pitching numbers and we will go over the team tomorrow. Needless to say excitement is in the air in the Windy City.

[DD Martin]

The End of Spring

Truth be told we made some late offers after spring training was over. I felt like if we could get a little more cheap insurance that wouldn’t be a bad thing. I won’t go into those at this point since the first sim of the regular season is tomorrow morning. If they are signed, it will mean 1 player will go down to AAA and another player will be released.

Speaking of player moves, we DFA C Bill Gilliespe and also RF Ken Davis. The latter one was difficult because I really felt Davis had a chance to be a regular OF, but things don’t look like they are going to pan out for Davis. Maybe he will get another opportunity with another organization.

On the eve of Opening Day we made a trade. Trading with Toledo on a player that I had felt really good about, but I just don’t think it's going to work out for him. At least not in Chicago. We traded LHP Ed Reddin (26) to the Neptunes for minor league class A 2B Bryan Smith (prospect #170). Probably not a major move but I needed to clear some 40-man roster space and we picked up another middle IF prospect. He will start the year most likely at class A. Last season the then 18-year old was signed as an international FA for $600,000 in 2054. He hit 285/388/860 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI’s . This isn’t a move that is going to move the needle this season, but who knows maybe Smith can become a big league player. We also saved $507,500 dollars and any cost savings will make Mr. Bocquet happy.

So here is the Opening Day roster for the Architects prior to their season opener at home against the Traverse City Bears.

Starting Rotation

SP #1 Jose “Pongo” Cedeno (age-34 T-R $15,000,000 signed through 2061)
Last Season 9-9 4.02 ERA 192.1 IP 2.0 BB/9 7.8 k/9 121 ERA + 4.5 WAR
Career 71-56 3.99 ERA Spring totals 0-1 7.56 ERA

Cedeno had a lousy spring but fortunately for him I don’t put too much stock into spring results. Cedeno signed a mega deal during last season that gave us relief on his salary big time this season and slightly for next season before jumping over $30 million in 2058. We need him to really step up this year and pitch like the #1 SP we are paying him to be. He wants to win a pitcher of the year award, then he has to get tough and be more like Toledo’s Nick Keddy.

SP #2 Julio Castro (age-38 T-L $7,005,000 signed 1 year deal)
Last Season 9-6 2 saves 3.79 ERA 122 ERA+ 2.2 BB/9 6.4 k/9 with Toronto
Career 101-83 31 saves 3.59 ERA Spring totals 0-2 7.45 ERA

Just like Cedeno, Castro had a tough spring. He is #2 in the rotation because we wanted our lone Lefty starter falling in line behind Cedeno. Castro was signed to be the stop-gap until LHSP Curt Hopkins is ready. Castro has the ability to be a quality bullpen arm as well, but we need him in that starter role. If he comes up short, then we will likely have to move up 21-year-old Curt Hopkins. I just feel like we need a solid lefty in our rotation mix.

SP #3 Val Imbert (age-30 T-R $9,000,000 signed through 2058)
Last season 10-9 4.20 ERA 2.1 BB/9 7.3 K/9 116 ERA+
Career 55-73 4.39 ERA Spring totals 1-2 5.00 ERA

Imbert is the team captain and a capable mid rotation arm. Like the first two in the Chicago rotation he doesn’t walk a lot of batters and certainly pitches to contact. With our middle defense he should win a lot of games.

SP #4 Joe Johnson (age-27 T-R $2,000,000 signed through 2060)
Last Season 7-3 3.58 ERA 136 ERA+ 2.6 BB/9 8.5 K/9
Career 30-19 4.19 ERA Spring totals 1-1 1.38 ERA

Johnson remembered last spring training when he wasn’t selected to be on the Opening Day roster. This year he made sure he was and that is good news for Chicago. Johnson is 22-8 the last 2 seasons and has been a proven winner. He was slotted in the #2 rotation spot, but because we wanted a lefty following Cedeno he slides down to #4. Johnson is 6’9 and throws his fastball around 97mph. If we want to get payback on a certain pitcher from last season, Johnson might be the man that will collect that debt against the team’s top hitter.

SP Bill “flamethrower” Lutz (age-33 T-R $8,500,000 signed through 2057)
Last Season 11-8 1 save 5.36 ERA 91 ERA+ 5.5 BB/9 8.0 K/9
Career 67-64 21 saves 4.15 ERA Spring totals 1-1 0.69

Lutz pitched like a man possessed in his spring outings and he needed to do that to secure this spot in the starting rotation, at least until Yale Hulburt comes back in late May. Lutz was an enigma last season pitching horribly coming out of spring, then straightening himself out to have a great middle portion of the season. Unfortunately the last 30 games went like the first 20 or so last year and he struggled down the stretch. Walks are Lutz’s kryptonite and that was in full effect last year with 5.5 walks per 9 innings which was the most he had in a season since 2049.

Bullpen

Closer Pat Wright (age-30 T-L $5,000,000 signed through 2059)
Last Season 9-3 30 saves 4.18 ERA 117 ERA+ 3.5 BB/9 11.1 K/9
Career 37-32 139 saves 3.47 ERA Spring Totals 1-0 5.40 ERA

Wright has been Chicago’s closer all 4 seasons since I took over as GM. He was lights out for the first half of the season, then hit a rough patch where Ken Shannon closed but then got right and finished the season strong. We are committed to Wright closing games for us.

Top Setup Man Larry Stott (age-28 T-R $2,250,000 signed through 2061)
Last Season 7-3 3 saves 2.73 ERA 178 ERA+ 3.8 BB/9 7.0 K/9
Career 16-15 13 saves 3.38 ERA Spring 0-0 2.00 ERA

Stott just signed an extension in the off-season to take him through his last arbitration year and guarantee him at least $35 million over the next 6 seasons. Some think he should be the closer and last season screamed that he should maybe have been. After a tough first 3 outings of the 55 season, Stott went the rest of the season 44 outings with a sub 1.00 ERA. Chicago likes having a tight bullpen and Stott is a key figure in that equation.

SU John Moore (age-25 T-R $507,500 eligible for arbitration after the season)
Last Season 1-1 6.25 ERA 7 GS 31.2IP
Career 13-7 4.90 ERA Spring totals 1-0 0.00 ERA 8IP

Moore has struggled with injuries the last 2 seasons, after his 2053 rookie season where he went 8-4 4.95 ERA. He is going to start out this season in the bullpen but he is likely to find his way into some starting assignments. For now, he will plug into the #3 spot in the Chicago bullpen with the hopes of staying healthy and protecting leads for the Architects, but don’t be surprised to see him in a starting role eventually.

MR Ken Shannon (age-41 T-R $4,160,000 free agent after the season)
Last season 8-3 12 saves 4.75 ERA 102 ERA+ 3.6 BB/9 8.2 K/99
Career 69-46 103 saves 2.83 ERA Spring 0-0 1 saves 1.74 ERA

Shannon picked up the slack last season when Pat Wright had a brief meltdown for several weeks last season. This season Shannon is expected to see a lot of action as the #4 bullpen arm for the Architects. Shannon showed some signs of control issues last season and there are whispers that time might be catching up with the veteran. The club had him marked as available through spring training but he seems to have secured a spot for the upcoming season.

LR Richard Herschel (age-25 T-R $507,500 only 76 days of GLBL service time)
Last season 0-1 5.82 ERA 84 ERA+ 3.2 BB/9 7.9 K/99
Career 0-3 1 save 5.68 ERA Spring totals 1-0 1.98 ERA

Herschel has been someone that the Architects had some hopes of maybe being a mid-rotation starter at one point but he seems to be a bullpen arm going forward. His spot is tenuous probably despite a solid spring. Right now the club is going with only an 11 man pitching staff. If it expands to 12 (likely) then he should hold onto the job. But he could be the man sent down when SP Yale Hulburt returns in late May.

LR/Emergency SP JJ Walker (age -29 T-R $2,800,000 signed through 2059)
Last season 4-5 6.08 ERA 80 ERA+ 4.6 BB/9 8.1 K/9
Career 16-25 4.51 ERA Spring 0-1 10.12 ERA

Walker might be the one long term signing that GM Martin regrets. Right now he is in the middle of what was thought to be a team friendly deal (signed at a similar time as Joe Johnson’s deal). He only counts for $2.8 million this year, but that deal climbs to $4.0 million next and what might be a deal breaker at $7.5 million for 2058. The 2059 $9 million dollar option is a team option and the vesting option for the following year is also $9 million. There is little chance that Walker ever sees that money. For now, the club will try and get him back to where he was when he signed the deal, but a loss of control has really hurt him. But because of his contract, for now his spot is secure on the roster, but don’t expect to see him in many high leverage situations.

Overall - Pitching

Overall the club is optimistic about its pitching and especially its top 4 (until Hulburt comes back). The #5 spot with Lutz right now feels like a crap shoot and I would imagine the club will control which games he appears in. The feel about the bullpen isn’t as good as last year when Shannon for most of the season was on his game, and the club had Yoshida and McAskill in the 4-5 spots. While Moore is a fine pitcher, he hasn’t been put into a relief situation except this spring. While he pitched well there was some concern to get the game to Stott and Wright.

Yale Hulburt’s return feels huge if he has recovered fully from his injury (elbow ligament reconstruction). He is 36 years old and that could be a huge proposition, but the club is counting on him.

There is help in the minors as LHSP Curt Hopkins is getting closer to being ready and pitched well this spring (3.00 ERA 1.00 WHIP). The Architects have 3-4 more other quality arms that will likely be in place by 2059-60 seasons so the future is bright and will be much less expensive than it is currently.

Position players

C Juan Duran (age-24 B-R $507,500 arbitration eligible in 2058)
Last Season 302/403/894 4HR 7 RBI’s 35 games 130 OPS+
Career 260/370/831 7HR 12 RBI’s Spring totals 323/400/916 0-2

Big things are expected from Duran who had a late 2054 injury that derailed his start to the 2055 season until late July. He ended up splitting time with Sean White when he returned. The prognosticators love Duran and have rated him as the #5 overall position player for the upcoming season ahead of even 1B Reagan Osborn (#6). Duran is an above average defensive catcher and the club hopes he can catch upwards of 90 games this season.

C Joe Hunt (Age-29 B-L $4,500,000 1 year deal)
Last Season with Duluth 277/345/837 22 HR 60 RBI’s
Career Stats 267/324/757 64HR 226 RBI’s Spring - No stats Free agent until end of spring

So the Architects bring back Joe Hunt for another season after trading him to Duluth during the 2054 season. Hunt fills a need to have a sturdy backup and brings his left handed bat to town. We don’t see him starting more than 50 games but he might get some games in at DH here and there. Hunt was drafted by Chicago in the 2045 draft in the 7th round.

1B Reagan Osborn (age-25 B-R $3,500,000 signed through 2060 season)
Last Season 330/43/1047 30 HR 89 RBI’s 5.8 WAR
Career stats 311/424/1011 95HR 270 RBI’s Spring 400/531/920 3HR 6 RBI’s

What is there to say about Mr. Offense in Chicago. In his 3 seasons he has been named an All-Star all 3 years. He’s won 2 playoff series MVP awards, top hitting 1B 3 times, top fielding 1B 2 times, and has finished runner up the last two years to Traverse City’s Earl Foote who has had great stats but plays on a losing team. Maybe this year will be Osborn’s year to win the big award and he will likely get his 100th career home run during the first month of the season.

2B John Lambert (Age-25 $507,500 arbitration eligible in 2058)
Last season 289/355/799 5HR 22 RBI’s 105 OPS+
Career 272/338/787 9HR 31 RBI’s Spring stats 148/294/516 0-1

Despite a poor spring, Lambert is the clubs 2B of the present. There was a lot of debate about who would take over for Walker Dunse but Lambert who was a super sub last season appears to be the man. Lambert hit well last year and scouts love the fact that with his 6’4 frame he has tremendous raw power and many are expecting him to break out this season.

SS Pablo Farrulla (age-24 B-R $507,500 has 2 more seasons before arbitration eligible)
Last Season 240/316/648 3HR 18 RBI’s with Chicago and Toldedo
Career - Same Spring stats 277/320/746 0-8

Farrulla came over in a deal with Toledo who had just acquired him from Thunder Bay last July. He was slated to be a backup at both SS/2B but got off to a good hitting start and is a slick fielder with the glove. This season he might be a stop-gap solution as the club awaits the arrival of SS Cristo Sandoval, but that time is not quite here yet. Teaming with Lambert they should provide an excellent defensive middle infield to go along with CF Cris Luna and C Juan Duran.

3B Travis Arnaud (age-27 B-S $750,000 signed through 2060)
Last Season 315/372.916 23HR 84 RBI’s 133 OPS+ 3.9 WAR
Career 309/352/856 44HR 197 RBI’s Spring 161/229/616 2-4

Another Architect that had a poor spring, but there are no real worries with Arnaud who looks like he will be teaming with 1B Reagan Osborn for the next decade in Chicago. Solid fielder who hits well with RISP, he looks to take the next step in his career.

2B/IF Kent Noseworthy (Age-34 B-R $2,640,000 for 2056 season)
Last Season with Chicago and Thunder Bay 220/319/692 17HR 58 RBI’s 76 OPS+
Career 236/342/773 234 HR 693 RBI’s Spring - None was a free agent

Noseworthy returns to Chicago on a 1-year deal to provide experienced depth around the infield. He is a no nonsense player, and what you see is what you get. He will not dazzle with a high batting average but in a good season will hit 20+ home runs and have an OBP around 350. Last year was a down year but based on the recent trend of good even seasons and tougher odd seasons, he should be in line for a good season.

3B/1B Cruz Torres (age -33 B-S $507,500 arbitration eligible likely next season)
Last Season - 246/338/690 3HR 18 RBI’s 80 OPS+
Career 243/317/677 6HR 35 RBI’s Spring stats 312/353/853 1-3

Torres got his first real break in his career last season as he was on the big league roster all season. He played mostly 3B and DH some along with pinch hitting duties. Expect more of the same this season as he is valued as a left handed bat as a switch hitter.

OF/2B Samuel Amsden (age-30 B-S $2,200,000 has 1 more arbitration season next year)
Last Season 298/370/796 3HR 24 RBI’s 106 OPS+
Career 237/328/733 53HR 181 RBI’s Spring stats 188/243/618 1-6

Amsden keeps defying the odds and continues to remain on the Chicago roster. Before the 54 season it looked like he would be elsewhere after the club declined his salary arbitration. Then he was re-signed late in the free agent process. This year the club signed him to a deal before his arbitration hearing, based on the great early start he had last year. His projected arbitration number is $3.4 million next time around he might not get offered arbitration. But Amsden seems to be a survivor and he keeps sticking around. He needs to have another solid season with the bat off the bench.

LF Robert LeRoy (age-31 B-L $15,000,000 signed through 2061 $157,000,000)
Last Season with Hamilton 332/400/973 26HR 88RBI’s 144 OPS+ Canada MVP
Career 295/356/879 203HR 686 RBI’s Spring stats 290/405/986 1-5

Chicago made a splash with the signing of LeRoy this off-season. The club wanted another left-handed bat and looking long term he might be the salary replacement (and then some) of RF Jim Ashley who could be in his last season with the Architects. LeRoy won the Canadian MVP last season and now he hopes to team with Osborn, Arnaud, Ashley, Aranda to form a very potent 5 hitters in this lineup.

CF Cris Luna (age-26 B-R $507,500 arbitration eligible next season maybe)
Season stats 249/335/723 9HR 46 RBI’s 87 OPS+
Career 232/305/669 13-67 Spring stats 189/279/324 0-6

Luna who was at one time the #2 overall prospect came up during the 2054 season and struggled with the bat. He was off to another slow start but about mid-way last season he seemed to start finding his groove at the plate. Unfortunately this spring he seems to be searching for that grove once again. His glove has never been a question in CF. Some feel the acquisition of Noseworthy is in case Luna struggles more than if Lambert does. In the case of Luna struggling, Lambert is a solid glove (not quite as good) in CF and that would open the door for Noseworthy at 2B. The pressure is on Luna to put together a season that made him that highly thought of.

CF Steve Hickman (age-26 B-R $507,500 rookie season)
Last Season AAA 223/318/631 2HR 28RBI’s
Career - rookie Spring Stats 257/341/827 2HR 11RBI’s

Rookie CF Hickman is not a highly thought of prospect based on rankings, but the kid is a good glove and has speed a plenty. His role will be that of the backup CF and pinch runner and is an excellent defensive OF across all positions.

LF Matt Graves (age-31 B-L $4,140,000 contract with team option next season)
Last Year - 275/333/751 11HR 48 RBI’s 58 SB’s 93 OPS+
Career 246/322/721 53 HR 180 RBI’s 167 SB’s Spring stats

It’s hard to believe that Graves, who has been the Chicago leadoff man and has stolen over 160 bases in his career, was playing for his job this spring. While he didn’t get a lot of at-bats he did produce some solid spring numbers. He will be the top pinch runner and can come in at any time if the team wants to stack a lefty lineup against a tough RHSP. He might be spelling Ashley some although his defense in RF is just average in the best case scenario. Could be a financial number crunch causality next off-season.

DH/RF Jim Ashley (age-36 B-R $20,000,000 with team option for $22,000,000 next season)
Last Season 302/353/908 27HR 95 RBI’s 130 OPS+ 43 SB
Career 283/352/835 208HR 792 RBI’s 281 SB 136 OPS+ Spring Stats 188/235/312 1HR 6RBI

Like many Chicago hitters he seems to have slept walked through the spring exhibition games, but when the regular season bright lights are on, so is Jim Ashley. Not the most popular person in the clubhouse, but also not a problem, he is just a hard-nose veteran player who wants to win. With the numbers he has put up in Chicago even a repeat of those might not be enough to keep him with the club next season. He has been vocal about willing to talk extension with Chicago prior to his team option next season.

RF Tom Stone (age-22 prospect #23 B-R $507,500 first full season)
Last season with AAA 319/368/854 8HR 60 RBI’s 126 OPS+ With CH 229/270/699 1-2 77OPS+
Career 229/270/699 1-2 Spring stats 333/350/709 0-4

Some have called Stone a very young version of Jim Ashley in that they both have speed and play RF. The power isn’t there at least so far for Stone, but he looks like a very capable hitter. He is going to get the opportunity to play RF at least for the first 2 weeks of the season while DH Jose Aranda is on the mend and getting ready for his return. He could be Ashley’s fulltime replacement in RF next season.

Summary - A lot of the hitters did have sleepy spring camps at least in the exhibition games, but we are not too worried about our proven players. We are talking with different free agents still and we might sign one if we can agree on the price. While we feel good internally about the club, we are still concerned by all the off-season activity in Toledo as they have a tremendous pitching club, and Duluth who is continuing to augment a good young nucleus of ballplayers.

Next - Predictions

2056 Chicago Architects

[DD Martin]

Well since I didn’t hit post yesterday (and forgot to export for my league) we are a day behind but we will catch up over the weekend. But there will be a double post today

2056 GLBL Predictions

The final official GLBL predictions have come out and as I thought the South of the Border divisional race is going to be extremely close. Baseball North America has given the nod to……


Duluth.

2nd place in a tight race will go to Toledo by 3 games over Chicago. The fact that nobody is figured to win 85 games in the US division but 3 teams within 4 games is going to make for a very exciting race.

Here is a closer look at the US division teams.

Duluth Sea Gulls 1st place predicted record 84-60, last season 83-61 2nd place

Next to its two top contenders, the Sea Gulls are more of the fiscally responsive team that makes a lot of smart choices in a fiscally responsible way (at least more than the Architects). Duluth brought up a lot of young players last season and held off Toledo for the US Wildcard. They then went into the off-season with a game plan. Upgrade at 2B and pick up some good quality players. The upgrade at 2B was former Architect Walker Dunse who opted out of his player option at $9.5 million each over the next 2 seasons, to sign with Duluth for 2 years and $18 million. They also signed under the radar LHSP Donald Hubbard (27) to a 3 year deal for a total of $5.9 million.

Duluth then got real busy in March and signed 3B Mark Matchim to a 1-year $6.5 million deal and former Architect C Sean White to a 1 year $6.75 million dollar contract. Mid-March they signed veteran RHSP Billy Hill who escaped Milwaukee for 2 years and $19.8 million total. If the youngsters play up and 1B/OF/DH Jorge Rangel continues to show why he was worth 4 years and $100 million as an international FA last year, Duluth could win it all.

Toledo Neptunes predicted record 83-61 2nd place, last season 80-64 3rd place

Toledo has totally retooled their offense from the start of last season. The deadline deal that sent 1B Dusty Murphy, LF Dwayne Adams, SS Casey Cowley and 2B Carlos Figueroa to Toronto in return for 2B Xing-fu Sen and 4 prospects re-shape the club's financial commitments significantly. That allowed Toledo to sign free agents 1B Eric Molina, 3B Seung-jun Park, RP Ricardo Valentin and LHSP Cliff Simpson (35). They then shrewdly sent Simpson off in a trade to Toronto along with a backup C and land LHSP Harvey Moore who is younger (32) and an upgrade over Simpson. Adding Moore to what was the league's best starting rotation last season with 3-time US Pitcher of the Year Nick Keddy, along with Christopher Bouchard, Warren Townsend and Walt Connel, gives Toledo even more pitching firepower. The bullpen outside of Valentin might be their achilles heel.

Toledo also beat out (barely) the Architects for SS Carlos Montano who signed a 6 year $15.36 (total) deal in February. The revamped offense will be the key and if they score runs like they did last year, along with their starting pitching, Toledo will once again outscore its opponents by 196 runs. It was their record in 1-run games and the bullpen that cost them the playoffs.

Chicago Architects predicted record 80-64 3rd place, last season 87-57 1st place

The Architects added LF Robert “Rodeo” LeRoy to a mega-deal of 6 years and $157 million to add more pop to the lineup. With the soon to be returning DH Jose Aranda and cornerstones in 1B Reagan Osborn and 3B Travis Arnaud, the Architects offense should be humming. Add in RF Jim Ashley, C Juan Duran and 2B John Lambert who the club is very bullish on, and Chicago might lead the league in offense.

Pitching (and good health) will be the key to Chicago. They need to see a standout season from SP Jose “Pongo” Cedeno to justify his mega extension signed last season and the continued success of Joe Johnson (22-7 the last 2 seasons). SP Yale Hulburt could be a huge lift once he is scheduled to return in late May. If free agent acquisition LHSP Julio Castro (38) can give them a solid lefty and Val Imbert continues to produce as a #4 arm, it could be enough.

If the Architects stay healthy and stay close early, it could be another playoff run for them.

The rest of the South of the Border division pretty much sat out the hot stove league.

Detroit Thunderbirds predicted record 70-74 4th, last season, last season 64-80 4th

A 6 game improvement for a club that did nothing in the off-season seems to be a stretch. Prior to free agency they did sign grumpy RF Stan Gillis to a 6-year $127.5 contract extension. They have some solid SP in RHSP Bill Clary, RHSP Joo-seok Kim, and will need a rebound season from LHSP Dwayne Miller.

If I was in Vegas I would go under this win total.

Traverse City Bears predicted record 63-81 5th, last season 63-81 5th

The Bears are a tough team to figure out. Some would say they are frugal and others would say they are just flat out cheap. Renegade fans call them the “Bad News Bears”.

They signed 2 off-season free agents, as they inked a deal with C Rafael Balderas who is a solid defensive catcher. They also re-signed ageless wonder RHRP Kevin McAskill to a 1 year $1.5 million contract for 2056. In total they spent $2.5 million in the off-season. Poor CF Cal Braud and RF Earle Foote. These star players deserve more help, but it looks to be another long and cold summer for the Bears.

Milwaukee Eagles predicted record 46-98 6th last season 43-101 6th

The Eagles season last year gave them the #1 pick in the draft. It looks like they want to make that 2 years in a row. They spent more money than the other bottom 3 teams in the US combine, but it was on one player. C Cecil Phillips went back to Milwaukee after winning a championship with Thunder Bay and signed a 5 year $92.4 million deal.

There really isn’t much more to say about the Eagles, and it's hard to say there will be a 3 game improvement over last season. Lucky to win 40 this year maybe.

The North of the Border Division looks like a 4 team dogfight. Two time defending champions Thunder Bay are predicted 3rd in a tight race with Hamilton (1st) and Owen Sound (2nd). The 3 teams are predicted to finish within 2 games of each other. I expect Thunder Bay to “buy” a pitcher through the trade market as right now they have 2 very good SP’s but after that it's a bit of who goes next. A very good bullpen and with their philosophy of keeping the starters to 18-21 batters faced, they could put up enough offense to overcome whoever fills that 3rd and 4th roles.

Hamilton edged out Toronto and Owen Sound last year and the predictions have Toronto in 4th. I think they have that wrong and I look for Toronto to win the North this year with Thunder Bay hanging on to 2nd place just ahead of Hamilton and Owen Sound. If Toronto makes the playoffs watch out. They have arguably the game’s best pitcher (no offense Nick Keddy) in Motoyuki Inoue who has won 2 straight Canadian pitcher of the year awards and has led the league in strikeouts the last 4 seasons with over 900 K’s. Toronto will be an incredibly tough out in the playoffs

My Prediction for Chicago

As for my Chicago prediction I am very bullish on this team this year. Last year OSA said first with 82 wins in the South and I said 85 wins. The Architects won 87 games. This year I think the top of the division improved and the bottom 3 will fall farther back. OSA says 80 wins, and I think again we are good for 5 more, but it will be tough. I think we will pull out our 2nd straight division crown and 3rd playoff appearance in a row.

We have 3 top 10 position players and 3 top 20 pitchers. I really think that this could be our year......it better be as the season profit projection without a playoff run is a small couple of million dollar profit. I did a bad job of manage that extra $10 million when I sign C Joe Hunt and IF Kent Noseworthy. That ate up just over $7 million of our $11 million plus budget surplus. So getting into the playoffs once again is huge financially and should be the goal of every professional team anyway.