Terra Baseball League: Bryant Warriors

[jaa36]

The Warriors are projected to finish dead last in the TBL East, with a 72-90 record. I'm not sure that this team is really THAT bad, but it doesn't look likely to be in the first division. The top three in the lineup are solid, but after that it's a really uninspiring group. And Chad Goree and Doug Trombino are good enough options in the rotation, but the rest is pretty weak. Keith Little Jr. is mad at us and expects us to keep close to an even record.

The farm system hasn't turned around yet- we are rated tenth overall, and our top prospect Davis Pineda checks in at #11 overall.

Miguel Bello remains under contract for four more years beyond this one at $24M/year, and we'll have to give serious consideration to trading him if we remain terrible.

[jaa36]

The Warriors have reached a new low- winnings just two of the first sixteen games and finishing April with a 7-19 record. The starters have a 5.62 ERA, paced by Icarus Fischer (8.39) and Zack Enriquez (8.69). Enriquez in particular has reached new heights of crappitude, having somehow gotten even worse than the 5.50 and 6.37 marks of the last two seasons. Our cleanup hitter (someone named Blake Bertrand) is hitting .173.

All this is is to say that the Warriors are in very poor shape. Time to tank!

[jaa36]

The Warriors' wretched 2014 season continued with 18 losses in May, and we are now 16-37 overall. We're last in runs scored, and the pitching isn't much better. Even Miguel Bello has slumped to a .233 average. One small bright spot is closer Percy Taylor, who has 10 saves and a 2.28 ERA. Starter Icarus Fischer was lost for the season with bone chips in his elbow, but he was terrible anyway.

I picked college pitcher Lee Chaney with the #5 overall selection in the draft- though it wasn't a terribly strong draft class this year. Of course, we may be picking first next year...

[jaa36]

We remain in last place at the midpoint of the season with a 28-50 record, though we've won seven of the last ten. Mike Fenwick has pushed his average back up to .300, and Miguel Bello has 15 home runs. Luis Del Rosario, now 33 and with very limited range at third base, is hitting just .259 in the last year of his contract and has lost his starting job. Ken Weichman and Keiran Buford, two veterans thrust into the starting rotation due to injuries and a general dearth of talent, are both 0-5.

It's a sad state of affairs. Matias Nelson asked for a trade, but no one really offered anything useful, and then he suffered an elbow injury and will miss the rest of the year anyway. Del Rosario, Percy Taylor, Syd Duke and Bello are all potential trade candidates if the price is right.

I have $10M in the international signing budget as well, and I'm hoping to land of the two top pitching prospects from that group.

Around the league, the Sungate Falcons have the best record in the TBL at 52-26. Former Warrior Sebastien Paoli had a 26-game hitting streak for them and now has a .355 average. The Timberton Dragons lead the West.

[jaa36]

The Warriors unexpectedly had a good month of July, winning 15 games. The big story was Miguel Bello, who won the Player of the Month by hitting .384 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. Bryant put together a nine-game winning streak to start the month. Bello, Percy Taylor and Shane Dunlap were selected to the All-Star team.

We came away empty in the international free agent signings, with the pitchers we had our eyes on going for more than our budget would allow... That's unfortunately, as we could really use an infusion of talent. Our top pick in the draft, Lee Chaney, is now ranked as the #12 overall prospect. Still no good offers for our veterans, but the trade deadline is coming closer.

[jaa36]

I did the unthinkable, and traded away Miguel Bello... It just didn't make sense for the former Player of the Year to languish on a last-place team making $24M/year going into his decline phase. The return wasn't spectacular, just pitcher Jamie O'Grady, the #61 overall prospect. Bello hit .282 with 262 home runs and 39 WAR in his nine-year career with the Warriors, and managed 30+ homers and 100+ RBI in five straight seasons. He'll head to the Freeton Cougars, who are now in first place, and try for his third championship.

I had a lot of mixed feelings on this one... Should I have held onto him longer, for a better return in the offseason? Or just kept him through the whole contract? He might still be worthwhile once the team is back in contention, and O'Grady isn't really a building block. But in the end, it felt better to get Bello on a good team, and to really commit to the rebuilding process. Tankity tank tank.

Not much else mattered in August... the Warriors lost 14 games and are sitting in 7th place. The lineup got even worse with the subtraction of Bello.

Around the league, the Cougars lead a close race with the Sungate Falcons. The Timberton Dragons are four games up in the West, led by center fielder Aksel Petterson, who's up to 8.4 WAR.

[jaa36]

The Warriors are strugglingly to lose properly, winning the last four games in September. We're still tied for the third-worst record in the TBL and so should have a pretty high draft pick next season.

These are likely the last few games in the illustrious Warriors career of Luis Del Rosario... The former top prospect and three-time All-Star will see his contract expire after this season. The 34-year-old Del Rosario is just a shell of what he used to be, but he put up 35 WAR in his 12-year career in Bryant.

Despite Miguel Bello's presence, the Freeton Cougars have fallen four games behind the Sungate Falcons in the East. The Falcons' Bennett Riggs is on target for a triple crown, with 23 wins already. Meanwhile, the Timberton Dragons basically have things locked up in the West.

[jaa36]

A sad season came to a sad end, as the Warriors finished 71-91. That works out to the second-worst record in the TBL, which means we'll pick second in next year's draft. The team was equally bad at the plate (11th in scoring) as on the mound (12th in runs allowed).

The Sungate Falcons and the Timberton Dragons both won their conferences relatively easily, in the end. The Falcons' Bennett Riggs won the Triple Crown, and the Dragons' Aksel Petterson finished with 9.4 WAR.

[jaa36]

The Timberton Dragons won their fourth championship in league history, beating the Sungate Falcons in five games. It was their first title and postseason appearance since 1995, and a remarkable turnaround for a team that had won just 67 games the year before. (Suggesting maybe I should not have tanked..?) First baseman J.R. Haarmeyer had eight hits to win the MVP, though pitcher Roger Karlsen allowed just one run in 15 2/3 innings and also would have been a good choice.

The Dragons knocked around Triple Crown winner Bennett Riggs, who lost games one and five. Sungate had one of the league's top names in Jay-Z Howell.

Timberton's Aksel Petterson won the Player of the Year award, hitting .355 with 26 home runs and 129 RBI. Riggs was the Pitcher of the Year, tying the record with 25 wins, and posting a 2.25 ERA and 292 strikeouts. The Falcons' James Cottrell saved 37 games and had a 2.30 ERA to win Reliever of the Year, and Aden Danielson, traded to the Dragons in midseason, hit .305 with 22 homers to win Rookie of the Year.

Absurdly, 33-year-old journeyman starter Ken Weichman won a Gold Glove for the Warriors.

[jaa36]

This was the latest in a series of disappointing seasons for the Bryant Warriors. We finished with a 71-91 record, seventh place in the conference, with a season score of 253. We ended up drawing 2.5M fans- up from the last two years, probably because we slashed ticket prices- and turned a slight profit. Pitching coach Kris Check and bench coach Justin Charles were both signed to contract extensions- I don't think they were the problem.

Successes:
1. Camden Gonzalez and Shane Dunlap. The catching duo turned in an all-around solid season behind the plate.
2. Chad Goree. The veteran was the only really reliable presence on the mound this year.

Disappointments:
1. The infield, in general. Gianluca Dellafiore, Phil Mann and Matt Hughes were the worst of a bad lot.
2. Icarus Fischer. Now 29, he pitched a career-high 36 2/3 innings, but flew too close to the sun, with a 7.36 ERA.
3. Me, for trading away Miguel Bello.

The farm system is now ranked 10th overall- not good for a team in rebuilding mode. Last year's first-round pick Lee Chaney is our top prospect, at #10. All three farm teams had losing records, but they weren't as bad as usual..

Among former Warriors, Wyatt Cox kept plugging along, with 42 homers and 107 RBI for the Wal Titans, and now has 393 home runs for his career. Toby Younger also extended his excellent career and surpassed 3000 hits. Murtagh Pettijohn had a 4-WAR season at age 40. Tatu Niemela retired, and Gus Zahakis fell apart altogether.

[jaa36]

Pitcher Lawrence Green was selected to the Hall of Fame this season. Green pitched his whole career with the Terra City Capitals, going 224-145 with a 3.21 ERA and 90 WAR. He was the third overall pick out of Duraberdy College in 1993, and was immediately regarded as a top-ten prospect. The lefthander made his debut for the Capitals the following season, and in 1995, he threw a no-hitter and posted 18 wins and a 2.97 ERA. 1996 saw him reach even greater heights, winning the first of two consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards, and helping Terra City to a championship. Green led the league in WAR every season from 1995 through 1998, and had six consecutive 7-WAR seasons and 14 consecutive 4-WAR seasons. He was a six-time All-Star.

[jaa36]

The Sungate Falcons are a historically excellent franchise that haven't managed to win a championship in over 40 years. The team had a remarkable run of five consecutive championship from 1939-1943 (a TBL record), and seven championships in nine years from 1939-1947. Since then, success has been more limited, with only two playoff appearances since their last championship in 1970. In 2014, the Falcons went from worst to first, winning 100 games, but falling short against the Timberton Dragons in the championship series.

Sungate is a large market, the third-largest city in Terra, behind only Terra City and Freeton. The Falcons play in Mauzy Park, which is a good stadium for home runs, but suppresses average a bit. The Falcons have historically made a ton of money, about $1.5B.

Highlights: Undoubtedly the run from 1939-1947. The Falcons won between 91 and 99 games every one of those seasons, and were seven for seven when they made the postseason. It was a good time to be a Falcons fan.

Lowlights: Probably 2007. The Falcons lost 102 games, the fourth of five consecutive terrible seasons.

Best player: Julio Soliz. An international signee out of Valoria, Soliz won nine Pitcher of the Year awards for the Falcons, and spent nearly his whole career in Sungate. He was probably the second-best pitcher in TBL history behind Nathan Simpson. Right fielder Jason Casas also would have been a good choice- Casas had 78 WAR for the Falcons and was around for all seven championships from 1939-1947.

[jaa36]

Aulia reeled off eight consecutive wins to take the 2015 ABC- its first in province history. Aulia finished tournament play with a 9-2 record, and beat Valoria (10-2) in the finals.

Kitengi Terap of Nyambe hit .635- the highest average in tournament history!- with 23 RBI to win the Player of the Year. Quentin Mouga of Rowenia won the Pitcher of the Year with a 2-0 record and 0.57 ERA.

Shane Dunlap, Diogo Reyes and Syd Duke had three homers apiece. Doug Trombino won two games with a 1.50 ERA, and Chad Goree allowed a single run in 16 1/3 innings.

[jaa36]

I continued to try to turn the Warriors around with a few small deals in the offseason, but the emphasis was on scouting, player development, and bulking up the draft and international budgets. Closer Percy Taylor was traded to the Sungate Falcons for Rich Archuleta, the #47 overall prospect. The 24-year-old Archuleta is decent with the bat and can play just about anywhere defensively. Speedy outfielder Georges Le Roux, the #32 prospect, was plucked from the Lenaway Storm in the Rule 5 draft. I signed infielder Jamie Granados to a three-year deal worth $21M. Granados is 30 and is coming off a 5.5-WAR season in which he hit .322. I also brought back catcher Camden Gonzalez on a three-year, $9.6M deal, and got Troy Casey, who was worth 4+ WAR every year between 2011 and 2013, on a minor-league deal.

This retooling was all well and good, and the team is a lot cheaper than a few years back, but it's got a Miguel Bello-sized hole in the lineup and a very thin pitching staff. It'll be a few years before we're truly competitive again.

Luis Del Rosario signed a $4.5M deal to join Bello with the Freeton Cougars.

[jaa36]

The Warriors made it through the preseason relatively unscathed, and preseason predictions have us finishing 78-84- not great, but actually fourth place in a relatively weak TBL East. Keith Little Jr. expects us to stay "respectable" on the field.

Syd Duke as our cleanup hitter doesn't bode super-well for our lineup. Designated hitter Diogo Reyes, our third-round pick in 2009, is a somewhat exciting hitter, though very poor defensively. Free agent acquisition Jamie Granados will start at third base. Chad Goree and Doug Trombino will head the rotation in likely their last seasons with the team.

The minor league system has inched up to #7 overall. We still don't really have any elite prospects, with Lee Chaney heading the list at #12. Davis Pineda, who had been as high as #11 previously, has fallen off entirely after suffering through a 5.07 ERA last season in Clayton.

[jaa36]

The Warriors got off to a decent start, winning six of their first ten, then lost seven of eight, then went on a five-game winning streak to close out the month. The end result was finishing April a game above .500 at 11-10. I can't complain!

Blake Bertrand leads the league with eight homers and has 19 RBI. Four starters are hitting better than .330, led by rookie Georges Le Roux.

Former Warrior Wyatt Cox hit his 400th career home runs for the Wal Titans. At 37 and still mashing, Cox has a good chance of reaching 500 for his career, making me feel increasingly foolish about trading him away many years ago after his rookie season. Joseph Johnson of the Uniontown Aces also hit his 400th, and at just 31 years old, he's the most likely candidate out there to break the all-time record of 623.

[jaa36]

The Warriors lost seven in a row to fall out of the running, but later in the month won five in a row to make their record a bit more respectable. Blake Bertrand hit five more homers to reach 13 on the season. The top third of our lineup is all hitting over .300, and Chad Goree has a 2.58 ERA. We've actually (surprisingly) given up the third-fewest runs in the league, largely related to our very good defense.

Iweka Kinyanjui did what he does best- tear his posterior cruciate ligament- and is out for the rest of the season. Matias Nelson, who had been relegated to the bullpen anyway, was also lost for the season, suffering a torn flexor tendon; at 39, his career is almost certainly over.

Syd Duke lost his starting spot after hitting .200, and started getting grumpy- I traded him to the Sungate Falcons for #85 overall prospect Lyle Carter. The 24-year-old outfielder isn't much on defense, but can swing the bat well.

With the #2 overall pick in the draft, I selected 18-year-old Josiah McGinnis, a pitcher out of the junior college ranks. McGinnis is a really enticing prospect, who projects to have three above-average pitches and good stamina and makeup.

The Silverley Mustangs have jumped ahead in the TBL East with a 36-12 record. The Wal Titans lead the West at 32-16.

[jaa36]

The Warriors had another losing month on the field (11-14), but we were able to sign all our draft picks, and now are in excellent position to snag another top prospect- Westhavener infielder Gabe Lyons. The 16-year-old projects to have elite power and his glove could play anywhere on the diamond. We have $15M in the coffers and I'd certainly pay that much for him.

Our offseason free agent acquisition Jamie Granados had been miserable so far- hitting .231 with no home runs- so I shipped him off to the Uniontown Aces for Travis Whaley. He's a 24-year-old middle infielder who had previously been ranked as high as the #24 overall prospect, though realistically, he's probably a backup. But Granados was doing less than nothing for $7M a year and had to go.

On the field, Chad Goree continues to have a very good final season in Bryant, with a 2.68 ERA. Gjermund Thodesen has settled in nicely as the closer with a 2.93 ERA and 11 saves.

Around the league, the Silverley Mustangs are well out in front in the East with a 51-22 record. The West is closer, with the Wal Titans in the lead. Miguel Bello has had a lackluster first season in Freeton, with a .252 average and just 10 home runs.

[jaa36]

July saw the Warriors go 10-17 and slide farther down the divisional standings. We now have a 43-57 record overall and we're looking at a very high draft pick again next season. Mike Fenwick continues to quietly have a very good season (.316 average) and Chad Goree's ERA remains under 3.

I was able to sign Gabe Lyons for $8M- less than expected. He clocks in as the #14 overall prospect, while Josiah McInnis is #7- leaving our system as the third-best in the TBL overall.

Of course, Jamie Granados hit .344 in his first month after we traded him away. D'oh!

[jaa36]

The Warriors plodded along to an 11-12 record in August. We're now sitting at 54-69 overall, and we've got an outside chance at coming away with the #1 overall pick next season. The team has continued to be surprisingly OK on the mound, and excellent on defense and on the basepaths. Unfortunately, Mike Fenwick broke his knee and will be out for the rest of the year; he was third in the league with a .333 average.

I traded away Chad Goree to the Freeton Cougars for reliever Hershel Johnson. He's a 23-year-old lefty who has six full years of team control left. Goree finished his Bryant career with a solid 70-54 record and 3.61 ERA- not bad!

The Sungate Falcons and the Wal Titans look like they're waltzing to championships in their respective conferences.