Northern League Baseball: A humorously depressing look 50 years into the future... - Page 15

mirrf · 04-16-2012, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

I have enjoyed it and I look forward to your updates, however infrequent they may be. If you decide to jump back in at some point in the future with OOTP13, I'll be here for that too.

Same here. I've enjoyed it so far. I'll be looking forward to it if/when you get the urge to come back to it.

Nunyer · 04-16-2012, 01:32 PM

[Editor's Note: I was stuck on some pretty dull conference calls this morning, so decided to ride the Hot Dogs up to the All-Star break. Next update will likely be at the end of July... and that's in-game July... not July 2012

]

Results since last update
1-2 vs Detroit
3-0 vs Pittsburgh

54-35 overall, 1st place in division, 7.5 game lead

Notes

SP Francisco Colomo was called up from Springfield to replace the struggling Jose Mendez. In his first NLB start, he got the victory, giving up three runs in five innings against Pittsburgh
RF/DH Jeffrey Young injured his hand in the final game before the All-Star break and will miss two weeks. Promising prospect James Wallace has been called up to take the roster spot.
Alfonso 'Magician' Ramirez pitched his first CG shutout of the season. He struck out 10 in a 9-0 victory over Pittsburgh

Hey now, you're an All-Star... get your game on, go play
The Hot Dogs will have six players on the All-Star team this year representing the NLB West:
SP Alfonso Ramirez (11-3, 2.67ERA)
SP Ruben Vega (9-5, 2.38ERA)
SP Mike Washington (10-5, 2.19ERA)
2B Ken Phillips (.312/.360/.442, 5HR, 43RBI)
CF Jonathan Harris (.335/.442/.525, 8HR, 32RBI)
RF Jeffrey Young (.323/.483/.515, 14HR, 50RBI)

In the game, all three pitchers saw time. They combined for 1ER and 3K over four innings of work. Phillips and Harris combined to go 0-for-6 with four ground outs and two fly outs. We did win the game, well the NLB West won the game, with a score of 7-5.

Up next...
The end of July recap!

Nunyer · 04-16-2012, 01:47 PM

Thanks for the kind words Orcin and mirrf!

I still plan on keeping this league rolling, but just not at the same pace or level of detail. I'm sure I easily averaged 1-2 hours everyday on OOTP since the end of February, but thanks to spring, there is just too much other stuff to do... But playing those 5-6 games just now after a week layoff... and I still have the itch... so I'm sure I'll still make regular updates, even if they are farther between and less in depth.

deandean1998 · 04-16-2012, 01:59 PM

I love it Nun!

Nunyer · 04-19-2012, 11:25 AM

End of July 2054 Standings

10-5: Columbus record since last update (All-Star Break)
19-7: Columbus record overall for July

The rest of the Ohio Valley Division has fallen off right at the same time the Hot Dogs had their best month of the season. Kentucky looked to be a possible division contender for a little while, but a dismal 9-17 record in July has sent them back into the middle of the pack. Cincinnati is still keeping things respectable, but is looking like the roughly .500 team that most pundits predicted them to be. Pittsburgh was predicted to win 96 games and be the main challenger for the Hot Dogs, but their pitching staff has completely imploded and played terribly. The Cardinals brought a lower talent level with them when moving over from the CBL, they just aren't ready to compete yet.

Elsewhere in the NLB, Cleveland and Philly are playing strong baseball as expected. After posting the worst season in their history and finishing 20 games under .500, the Hartford Diablos have rebounded nicely. Most observers thought their aging veteran roster had hit a wall and the declining rebuild years were underway, but it appears as if Hartford might have another run in them.

Up Next...
We breakdown the Hot Dogs performance through the first four months of the season...

Nunyer · 04-19-2012, 11:41 AM

The old saying is "the rich get richer", and that appears to be the case with our pitching staff. Lerma wants to win now, at least I think he does, not really sure... he's been AWOL again. He sold his Yak Dairy for a nice chunk of change and he's been travelling the world looking for the next loony turd that he'll somehow polish into gold. But anyways, thanks to pouring more money into our minor league system, we were able to move some prospects and promote others. The excess players were used to bring in two more top end starters. Alfonso 'Magician' Ramirez and Mike 'UL' Washington have both performed very well. We didn't get these guys for free as two of the players we traded for UL Washington, Josh Gross and Emilio Garcia, look like they might develop into something special for the Bronx Zoo... But we're happy with the moves.

Jose Mendez has struggled at times. He was demoted down to Springfield for a few weeks in July. Prospect Francisco Colomo came up and pitched well in three starts, going 3-0 with an ERA of 3.06. Mothballs and I feel like Mendez is the more talented of the two, but he will be on a short leash.

In the bullpen, everybody is pitching very well. Thanks to our starters consistently working into the 7th inning or later, arms have remained well rested and effective. Timmy Hendricks and Reynaldo Mireles (currently @ AAA) are both pending free agents that will likely be allowed to walk. We have a good amount of young NLB-ready arms at Springfield waiting to take the next step... And if there is one place that I need to conserve budget space, it will be on the bullpen.

Up Next...
The positional players

Orcin · 04-19-2012, 12:02 PM

Geez, can I please just have some of your bullpen crumbs, like Sanchez or Ladner? Your entire pitching staff could replace mine. Nice job!

Nunyer · 04-19-2012, 12:23 PM

Rex Scott continued to work his way into form during the month of July. He belted 10 home runs while hitting at .284 clip for the month. His 29 total home runs lead the team and put him on pace for a career high 45. Jose Barajas wants to be a starter. I don't blame him, the kid is talented... I poked around a little prior to the trade deadline, but couldn't find any pieces that could help us down the stretch. In the offseason, we'll likely trade him for the best prospects we can get and then sign a cheap backup catcher in free agency. I think he's happy enough as a part-time player this season, but it could get ugly next year.

Speedboat Suzuki still strikes out too much and is on pace for his lowest batting average in eight seasons, but he delivers the long balls, including three in one game against Toronto. Defensively, he's commits a lot or errors, but also gets to grounders in the hole that most shortstops would watch bounce into left field. German Campos has shown surprising power and has become the default first baseman due to his defensive prowess. Kenny Phillips might just be a star 2B for years to come if he can maintain his development, he has improved steadily in his third year in the bigs. Armando Castilho could be another break out star if he could cut down on the strikeouts. He is playing gold glove caliber 3B after looking a bit miscast last season at SS.

Jonathan Harris is the man. He plays outstanding CF, hits for average, rarely strikes out... and he's under contract through next season. However, he will be 35 years old when his contract is up and we need to find a replacement. Paul McWhirter is the only guy in our entire system with comparable defensive abilities, but he looks to be a mediocre NLB hitter. We acquired James Wallace in an offseason trade and he has made the most of his playing time thanks to the two week injury to Jeffrey Young. Wallace is still a bit raw in CF, he's more of a corner OF at this point, but he looks like he might develop into something special. Speaking of Jeffrey Young, he just continues to chug along at the plate, hitting for a nice balance of average and power while drawing a ridiculous amount of walks. Francisco Pujols is hitting 25 points under his career average and has lost some playing time as we look at various prospects, but he'll likely be in the everyday lineup if we make the post season.

Up Next...
Well, I don't know... probably a similar update, maybe slightly less involved, for the end of August.

Nunyer · 04-19-2012, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin

Geez, can I please just have some of your bullpen crumbs, like Sanchez or Ladner? Your entire pitching staff could replace mine. Nice job!

I think part of it is due to the year that I used to base the stats on... don't recall exactly what it was... but it was late 80s sometime. This league has always been a bit slanted towards pitching. The total ERA for the league is consistently somewhere around 3.75... where I think in modern MLB it's around 4.50.

That said, Sanchez came out of nowhere last year in AAA after I signed him off the scrap heap.... and Ladner went from all potential to all ability pretty quick. I think after my first season, I dumped more money into player development and that appears to hit the bullpen guys right away.

ImTheCrew · 04-19-2012, 03:53 PM

Nice

ukhotstove · 04-21-2012, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nunyer

Editor's Note: Spring Break, Figuratively and Literally

I go on vacation for a week and this story is almost knocked off the front page! Good to see all these new stories starting with the release of v13. I'll likely be picking up the latest release soon, although I'm still debating whether or not I'll migrate the Hot Dogs over to a new virtual home.

Speaking of the Hot Dogs... I think it's reached that time where I will have to take a break from writing about them... Spring is here, real baseball has started, my son starts T-Ball this week, I start beer league softball this week, my employer actually has productive work for me to do during the day... the free time just isn't what it used to be. I still plan on keeping this league rolling, I've become far too attached to this collection of database table entries that is my team... But the time needed to write about their exploits is probably not going to be available for awhile. I'll still make some milepost type updates, I'm planning on an update for each month of the remaining regular season, but the day-to-day stuff is going into semi-retirement.

I'd like to thank everybody who has been reading and/or replying to this over the last 6-7 weeks. It was great fun for me and really got me invested in the game like I have never been before. I hope that you had half as much fun reading along as I had writing this. GO HOT DOGS!

Well don't quote but me but my spies tell me that Hot Dog or as his friends call him Disco Dog is bringing a film out, should be out this summer but I've managed to get some footage although you'll notice that Disco as ditched his hot dog costume.

Saturday Night Fever - Night Fever (Bee Gees) - YouTube

Good read and hopefully it will continue, if not I for one hope you return to the dynasty threads with another story.

Nunyer · 04-21-2012, 05:25 PM

August Recap

As you may or may not know, August is "No Graphics or Screenshots Month" around the Hot Dogs complex... so this update will just be old-school text!

84-47 : Overall record
20-7 : August record
1st place in division with a 17.5 game lead. Magic number is 15

Notes
Another very solid month for Columbus. The only possible sticking point was the starting pitching, which was generally not very sharp. Strong offense and solid work from the bullpen saved our bacon on many nights this month. Ruben 'Hard Luck' Vega registered a 4.50 ERA in five starts, despite a .212 average against and impressive 1.09 WHIP. Mike 'UL' Washington struggled mightily as well, posting an ERA of 5.79 in six starts, walking 29 hitters in only 32.3 innings of work. Thanks to the bats, these two managed to post a 5-1 combined record for the month.

Reliever Timmy Hendricks suffered a minor hand injury and took a trip to the 15 day DL. We mixed and matched other arms from Triple A Springfield during his absence and they generally performed well. Hendricks will most likely be allowed to walk into free agency this off season, so getting an extra look at the kids was actually not a bad thing. Barry 'Condor' Summers is due to return from injury any day now. He's only played in 90 games over the last two seasons due to injury. He will get thrown right back into the fire in September, as we need to decide on his future with the club. Rex Scott continues his All-Star rebound from a slow early start. In August, the big catcher went 32-for-93 (.344) with 8HR in 24 games. For the season, Scott is now hitting .287 with 37 long balls and 108 RBI.

Roster Expansion
For now, I am only bringing up some bullpen arms to the big club. The Springfield Isotopes lead their division by six games... and I'd feel bad for totally torpedoing their chances when the big club has a 17.5 game lead. While I have grabbed three of their top bullpen arms, they should still be alright.

Around the NLB
Former Hot Dog Mauro Moreno has been on a tear for the Cincy Cockroaches. After never hitting higher than .269 in four seasons as a starter and three as a reserve in Columbus, Moreno is hitting .313 so far in Cincy. He just had his 34 game hitting streak snapped on August, 25th. This is the longest hitting streak in the history of the NLB, breaking the record of 33 games set 13 years ago... way back in the inaugural NLB season of 2042.

Up next...
September recap... and hopefully some playoff baseball!

Nunyer · 04-23-2012, 03:26 PM

September Wrap-Up

Final Standings:

The Hot Dogs stumbled down the stretch, going 4-6 over the last 10 games and losing home field advantage to Cleveland by a couple of games. The four playoff teams are identical to those from last season. But the 104 victories is a franchise record and the first time the team has been over the 100 victory mark!

We travel to Cleveland to start the playoffs. The Comrades lineup is predominantly right handed, which doesn't bode too well for our lefty starters. However, their top power bats are either left handed or switch hitters who are better from the left side. The pitching match ups will be interesting.

Final Team Overview:

Pitching:
Nothing much to complain about here. Ruben 'Big Stud' Vega continues to impress at the ripe old age of 34, having another career year. Mike 'UL' Washington has faded badly down the stretch and now he is complaining to the coaching staff that he wants to be in the bullpen. That's real nice of him, to wait until after he signed his contract extension. I haven't decided what to do with him yet, he'll be starting in the playoffs, but after that I'm not sure. I might make him a very expensive setup man, or I might ship him out of town.

The bullpen has been extremely strong and reliable this season. Closer Jesus 'Dozer' Vazquez had a simply ridiculous, redonkulous run... 31 for 32 in saves and in 34 innings of work, he surrendered only one earned run. He struck out 43 and only walked nine. His WHIP was 0.53 and ERA was 0.26! A season for the ages from Dozer!

Batting:
Jonathan Harris got one step closer to the Hall of Fame this season. He logged his 2,000th hit of his career. Rex Scott set career highs for home runs and RBI, as did German Campos and Armando Castilho. Rookie outfielder James Wallace made an impact with limited playing time. The youngster will not be on the playoff roster, but put up a solid 298/343/420 in 33 games. There will be a log jam in the OF next season but with Jonathan Harris entering his final contract year and questions still lingering about whether Barry 'Condor' Summers can stay healthy, Wallace should have a bright future in Columbus.

Up Next...
The 2054 Playoffs!

Nunyer · 04-23-2012, 05:02 PM

Editor's Note: Just going to relay this as an OOTP player, not an imaginary GM. This league will carry on, as it's the most fun I've had playing the game and the most attached I've been to a team in years... But I think the story telling aspects have run their course. I'm going to finish out the playoffs and then probably retire this thread for the most part.

I'll be buying v13 when the next patch hits and want to try my luck with some random debut historical stuff. I'll be keeping this league around in v12 just because I really enjoy the way it's been playing out. I might still update this now and then, just in case anybody out there wants to know how things are going... as I have a feeling that the Hot Dogs will be around for the long haul.

Thanks again to everybody who has read along... I had a great time writing it!

Divisional Round Results

Columbus 2 - Cleveland 6
Columbus 8 - Cleveland 5 (12 innings)
Columbus 14 - Cleveland 2
Columbus 7 - Cleveland 3
Columbus 3 - Cleveland 2

Columbus wins series 4-1.

Series Notes
I was a bit worried after game one... My most reliable starter down the stretch, Alfonso Ramirez, looked totally lost. He gave up five runs, including three dingers, in only five innings of worked.... while walking five and recording no strikeouts. It was one of those games where from the second or third batter onwards... you just felt uneasy... like something bad was going to happen.

Game 2 was a wild ending... scored a run in the top of the ninth to force extra innings... then a seven of the thirteen runs in the game were scored in the bottom of the 12th... With the Hot Dogs putting across five.

For the series, Columbus hit nine home runs in five games. Rex Scott had four of those, and German Campos hit three.

Up next, we face the evil empire of the NLB, the Philadelphia Felons. They were once again the top team in the regular season, but we've had some success against them... including beating them in the first round last year.

Nunyer · 04-23-2012, 06:04 PM

Not the ending I wanted

I got smacked around early in the championship series, with the Hot Dogs down 0-3 before I knew what hit me. We showed some life, thanks mainly to some good pitching, holding the vaunted Philly lineup to two total runs in Games 4 and 5, but ultimately came up short in game six to lose the series.

Philly wins their third championship in the last four seasons. Columbus must remain satisfied with back-to-back Championship appearances.

mirrf · 04-24-2012, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nunyer

I'm going to finish out the playoffs and then probably retire this thread for the most part.

Nooooooooooooooooo!

Nunyer · 04-24-2012, 01:11 PM

I'm going to keep the Hot Dogs rolling, that is for certain... Just bought v13, still deciding if I want to keep them in v12 or move them up to the latest. I'm also interested in doing some of the random debut stuff that is available in v13... so that will take away some time from this franchise... But I'm sure I'll drag this sucker back from the dead on occasion and post an update. Thanks for following along and posting here... and that cat picture is great... I'm stealing that for future use.

Nunyer · 04-27-2012, 01:14 PM

I've moved the Hot Dogs to the wonderful world of v13... and they are out to a stellar start through the first 20 games:

Overall Record: 16-5
(ok fine, I accidentally simmed an extra day, so this is the first 21 games)
The starting pitching had some shaky starts early on, but had settled in nicely with an overall ERA of 3.10. The bats have been huge, hitting .292 as a team with 30 HRs! All of this screams "unsustainable"... but I'm not complaining.

Speedboat is land locked... or sunk... or boarded by Somali pirates... something not good...
We lost SS Speedboat Suzuki to a season ending concussion. He was off to a solid start, hitting .270 with 4HR in 17 starts. I've recalled utility man Bob Davis from Springfield. Davis went only 7-for-46 (.152) last season in 13 appearances as a rookie, but he continues to hit well against triple A pitching. He can provide bench help for all four infield positions and could moonlight as a corner OF in a pinch. To backfill his spot in Springfield, I signed 30 year old journeyman Chris Cox to a minor league deal. Cox has nine years of NLB experience with four different clubs. He's a career .242 hitter and can capably play just about anywhere except centerfield and catcher.

Rude greeting for former teammate
Former Hot Dog setup man Timmy Hendricks signed a three year deal with the Chicago Fire in the offseason to become their closer. In his first appearance against his former team, Hendricks entered in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 1-1 tie game. He promptly surrendered a base-on-balls followed by a walk-off triple to Francisco Pujols. We wish him all the best in Chicago... except when he's facing us in the ninth inning of a tied game... or when he's facing us at all really. Matter of fact, screw him! I hope he flames out and gets released!

Condor is soaring... for now...
Coming back from his second major injury in as many seasons, Barry 'Condor' Summers has started out strong. Playing mainly in platoon role, the 4th year outfielder is 16-for-40 (.400) in 10 starts. At his current rate, he'll likely suffer another devastating injury within the next 2-3 weeks. After already tearing a hamstring and breaking a kneecap... I'm guessing the next injury will be upper body related. "Condor takes a big cut at the high fastba.... OH MY GOD!!! His arms just separated from his body, and still clutching the bat, just flew into the crowd! I think that could be the end of his day..."

Harris smoking crack, wants to smoke more
All along, I had figured that star CF Jonathan Harris was going to walk after his contract expired. While still productive, he's 34 years old, and that doesn't scream "long term extension" to me. That said, I decided to get on the horn with his agent and see if he would consider retiring as a Hot Dog with a respectable contract. Well, Harris wants 7 years and $15.5 million... which would be the largest contract in the history of NLB. Who does this guy think he is... Albert Pujols? I'm not paying him until he's 41 years old... I could probably go back and forth and eventually get him for four years... but I have a replacement in the wings. Youngster James Wallace still needs some seasoning and has to improve against lefty pitching, but he's 18-for-65 (.277) so far this year and has shown decent power and base stealing ability. Unless he falls off a cliff, he's the everyday replacement for Harris next season.

EDIT: The very next game I played after making this update, Harris broke the NLB record for career triples. He was 1-for-5 in the game, his lone hit being the 125th three bagger of his career. The player he passed is still active, so Harris might not hold the record for long.

Up Next...
Another random update at some future time....

Nunyer · 04-30-2012, 03:00 PM

Columbus Hot Dogs 43rd game Update Spectacular!
And who better to represent this fine update then the best player to ever wear number 43... The Man, The Myth, The Mullet...

Dennis Eckersley

Things have been rolling right along for the Hot Dogs in 2055. The division appears to be ours to lose, with no serious contenders emerging so far. We've slowed down a little after that red hot April, going 12-9 so far in the month of May. The pitching has remained very good, but the bats have slowed a bit, although we are still batting .287 as a team.

Multiple Hot Dogs on pace for career power numbers
One season after C Rex 'The Shark' Scott set career highs with 45 HR and 130 RBI, he looks to be on pace to break both of those marks. Although his current .262 average would be a career low, Scott is on pace for 57 long balls and 140RBI. German Campos was drafted as a slap hitting infielder three years ago but he has developed quite a power stroke. He hit 24 home runs last season but is on pace this year for 34. Jeffrey Young is another Hot Dog struggling with average but showing great power output. Young's current .253 average would be a career low, but he's on a pace for 34 home runs which would be a career high.

Outfield remains crowded
Our minor league system has been developing outfield prospects at a pretty crazy pace. There just aren't enough at-bats for all of them. I've decided to carry six outfielders for the time being, leaving only Kane Green as the super-utility backup for the infield. This situation can't go on forever, but I need to come up with some way to thin the herd. Getting everybody some at-bats hopefully will allow some to emerge as keepers and some to emerge as trade bait. After continuing to destroy Triple A pitching, Dale Wilkins became the 6th outfielder. He is currently 2-for-12 in three starts, but did deliver a grand slam home run. The 22 year old has power to burn and could be the everyday RF next season. The other youngster in the mix, James Wallace continues to impress as well. The 22 year old in hitting .313 with 4HR and has stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts.

Trades
We really didn't need to make any moves... the team is rolling quite well... but a few transactions got done. Catcher Jose Barajas wanted the opportunity to play everyday, so I granted his wish and shipped him out of town. He was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays for catcher Scott Wright and 1B prospect Pedro Fernandez. Wright is a right handed hitter, a nice compliment for lefty Rex Scott, although Wright is not as good with the bat as Barajas. He should make a decent enough platoon on occasion for Rex Scott, who struggles against lefty pitching. He has five years experience, exclusively as a backup catcher for Chicago and Toronto, and is very gifted defensively.

Trying to thin out some of the outfield prospects, we shipped Jose Sandoval from double A Nashville to the Bronx Zoo for RHP Armando 'Mule' Cruz. Sandoval was the 46th ranked prospect in the league. Also included to the Zoo to complete the deal was RHP Dave Robinson. Cruz should instantly help the big club, replacing Robinson who had some struggles this season and was out of options. One of the areas where we were lacking depth was righty relief, as I let two bullpen arms walk to free agency last off season.

Around the League
The Washington Colonials have been whipping boys for their entire 13+ year history. They have never finished over .500 and have never made the post season... They would need to go on a 420 game winning streak to bring the franchise to .500 for it's history. But last year a number of talented young hitters emerged and gave fans in the nation's capital some hope. They finished in 2nd place, although only with a record of 79-83. This year, they have stormed out of the gate with a record of 30-13. They lead the Atlantic Division by five games over the defending champion Philly Felons. Could this finally be the Colonials year?

Nunyer · 05-07-2012, 02:50 PM

Quick and Dirty update

The Hot Dogs are rolling along at 48-21, in charge of the division by 16 games. I haven't been playing the game as regularly as I had been... My job has become much busier over the last few weeks and my son is in the midst of six-year old soccer and t-ball... Not of lot of laptop time around the Nunyer house lately... but anyways...

Editor's Notes - Player Movement

One of my favorite OOTP distractions is getting lost in the history pages of players. Every once in a while, I'll look at one of my players that I received in a trade, then go follow the breadcrumb trail to the guys I traded away.... see what they have done... see if they have been traded again... if they developed... if they crashed and burned. I'll literally spend hours at times doing this... and I don't really think it gives me any tangible in-game benefit... it just satisfies my curiosity. I guess in a way it brings me back to my childhood days of looking at the backs of baseball cards... Wondering why Ozzie Smith suddenly went from San Diego to St.Louis or any number of other transactions shown on those old 1970s and 80s cards.

This time instead of just mindlessly wandering around the player pages, I decided to take a look at how I built the Hot Dogs. I did a lot of trading in the first season or two... and only in my 4th season at the helm.. haven't had a ton of time to get draft picks to the bigs... Still, I wanted to see exactly how much movement I did...

Starting Pitching
Part of the organization prior to my first season: 2
Ruben 'Big Stud' Vega and lefty relief pitcher Jose Aurillo are the only two pitchers left that I inherited. Vega was one of the players generated when the league started and has been with Columbus his entire career. He has a record of 178-158 lifetime... and my goal is to get him to 200 wins... even though he's almost 36 years old. Aurillo was acquired via trade by the CPU two seasons before I took over.

Acquired via free agency: 2
Lefty relief Roberto Sanchez and closer Jesus Vazquez were both signed under my watch. Sanchez came off the scrapheap minor league free agency pile and received the magical "ratings bump" during his first year with the organization. He only spent 8.1 innings in the minors after getting acquired... probably the luckiest break I've gotten in this franchise. Vazquez was given a big time ML contract a couple of seasons ago.

Acquired via trade: 8
Not going to list all the names or anything here... But about half of these guys were acquired in my first rebuilding season, as I unloaded most of my veterans for prospects. The other half were acquired to put me "over the top" 1-2 seasons later when I was the one shipping out the prospects to losing teams to grab their pending free agents. I've moved a TON of pitchers around in my 3+ seasons... and a decent amount of guys I moved have developed into decent pitchers... Although I've had my fair share of young guys not develop, I've probably come out on top with a lot of these deals.

Acquired via draft: 0
Pretty much every decent pitcher that I drafted has been used for trade bait... Although I do have a couple of decent relief prospects that could/should make the big club next season.

Position Players
Part of the organization prior to first season: 3
RF/DH Jeffrey Young being the big star here, former first overall pick when the team was CPU controlled. In 9+ seasons, almost 1500 hits, 1300 walks, 236 HRs with a .286/.433 for AVG/OBP. OF Condor Summers was a fifth overall pick by the CPU five seasons before I took over. 3B Armando Castilho was released three separate times in his minor league days before the CPU controlled Hot Dogs signed him a minor league deal four years before I took over.

Acquired via free agency: 3
C Rex Scott and injured SS Speedboat Suzuki were both big money signings from the open market and both were well established at the ML level. 1B/DH Wilson Flores was released after two years in the Richmond organization. He was the first player I ever signed as a free agent after I took over. In 195 games of part time/platoon play, he's hit 24 HR with a .270 AVG.

Acquired via trade: 6
Similar to the pitchers, half were acquired as prospects during my rebuilding... the other half were pending free agents that I acquired for prospects... or role players brought in for a specific reason: backup catcher, lefty platoon OF, etc.

Acquired via draft: 2
1B/2B German Campos was the first player I drafted as GM, the 5th overall pick in my first draft. His first year as a pro, he was a September call-up. By midway through his second season, he was in the bigs to stay. His 3rd season and start of his 4th have been breakouts. He's currently hitting .323 and on pace for 30+ HRs. Also taken in my first draft, some 40 picks later, was IF Kane Green. So far, Green has been a utility infielder bouncing back and forth to the minors. He's a career .232 hitter in 106 big league games, but can capably play all four IF positions.

Overall, only five guys are still around from the day I took over 3.5 seasons ago. That's pretty hefty turnover... of course the team was pretty crappy for a long time as well. 14 out of 25 acquired via trade... and try as I might to not abuse the CPU... never stacking tons of 2 star garbage to net a 5 star prospect for example... It still looks like the CPU got hoodwinked more than it didn't. Obviously dropping large amounts of money into the player development budget helped the young guys I acquired become better players, but maybe next big fictional league that I start I'll maybe make a house rule to limit my trading... Although at this point... I'm still having too much fun riding the Hot Dog train... Riding the Hot Dog train... that sounds vaguely creepy and/or perverted. Sorry about that.... and as always, thanks for reading.

04-16-2012, 01:32 PM	#282
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	[Editor's Note: I was stuck on some pretty dull conference calls this morning, so decided to ride the Hot Dogs up to the All-Star break. Next update will likely be at the end of July... and that's in-game July... not July 2012 ] Results since last update 1-2 vs Detroit 3-0 vs Pittsburgh 54-35 overall, 1st place in division, 7.5 game lead Notes SP Francisco Colomo was called up from Springfield to replace the struggling Jose Mendez. In his first NLB start, he got the victory, giving up three runs in five innings against Pittsburgh RF/DH Jeffrey Young injured his hand in the final game before the All-Star break and will miss two weeks. Promising prospect James Wallace has been called up to take the roster spot. Alfonso 'Magician' Ramirez pitched his first CG shutout of the season. He struck out 10 in a 9-0 victory over Pittsburgh Hey now, you're an All-Star... get your game on, go play The Hot Dogs will have six players on the All-Star team this year representing the NLB West: SP Alfonso Ramirez (11-3, 2.67ERA) SP Ruben Vega (9-5, 2.38ERA) SP Mike Washington (10-5, 2.19ERA) 2B Ken Phillips (.312/.360/.442, 5HR, 43RBI) CF Jonathan Harris (.335/.442/.525, 8HR, 32RBI) RF Jeffrey Young (.323/.483/.515, 14HR, 50RBI) In the game, all three pitchers saw time. They combined for 1ER and 3K over four innings of work. Phillips and Harris combined to go 0-for-6 with four ground outs and two fly outs. We did win the game, well the NLB West won the game, with a score of 7-5. Up next... The end of July recap!

04-16-2012, 01:59 PM	#284
deandean1998 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 226	I love it Nun! Last edited by deandean1998; 04-16-2012 at 02:00 PM.

04-27-2012, 01:14 PM	#298
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	I've moved the Hot Dogs to the wonderful world of v13... and they are out to a stellar start through the first 20 games: Overall Record: 16-5 (ok fine, I accidentally simmed an extra day, so this is the first 21 games) The starting pitching had some shaky starts early on, but had settled in nicely with an overall ERA of 3.10. The bats have been huge, hitting .292 as a team with 30 HRs! All of this screams "unsustainable"... but I'm not complaining. Speedboat is land locked... or sunk... or boarded by Somali pirates... something not good... We lost SS Speedboat Suzuki to a season ending concussion. He was off to a solid start, hitting .270 with 4HR in 17 starts. I've recalled utility man Bob Davis from Springfield. Davis went only 7-for-46 (.152) last season in 13 appearances as a rookie, but he continues to hit well against triple A pitching. He can provide bench help for all four infield positions and could moonlight as a corner OF in a pinch. To backfill his spot in Springfield, I signed 30 year old journeyman Chris Cox to a minor league deal. Cox has nine years of NLB experience with four different clubs. He's a career .242 hitter and can capably play just about anywhere except centerfield and catcher. Rude greeting for former teammate Former Hot Dog setup man Timmy Hendricks signed a three year deal with the Chicago Fire in the offseason to become their closer. In his first appearance against his former team, Hendricks entered in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 1-1 tie game. He promptly surrendered a base-on-balls followed by a walk-off triple to Francisco Pujols. We wish him all the best in Chicago... except when he's facing us in the ninth inning of a tied game... or when he's facing us at all really. Matter of fact, screw him! I hope he flames out and gets released! Condor is soaring... for now... Coming back from his second major injury in as many seasons, Barry 'Condor' Summers has started out strong. Playing mainly in platoon role, the 4th year outfielder is 16-for-40 (.400) in 10 starts. At his current rate, he'll likely suffer another devastating injury within the next 2-3 weeks. After already tearing a hamstring and breaking a kneecap... I'm guessing the next injury will be upper body related. "Condor takes a big cut at the high fastba.... OH MY GOD!!! His arms just separated from his body, and still clutching the bat, just flew into the crowd! I think that could be the end of his day..." Harris smoking crack, wants to smoke more All along, I had figured that star CF Jonathan Harris was going to walk after his contract expired. While still productive, he's 34 years old, and that doesn't scream "long term extension" to me. That said, I decided to get on the horn with his agent and see if he would consider retiring as a Hot Dog with a respectable contract. Well, Harris wants 7 years and $15.5 million... which would be the largest contract in the history of NLB. Who does this guy think he is... Albert Pujols? I'm not paying him until he's 41 years old... I could probably go back and forth and eventually get him for four years... but I have a replacement in the wings. Youngster James Wallace still needs some seasoning and has to improve against lefty pitching, but he's 18-for-65 (.277) so far this year and has shown decent power and base stealing ability. Unless he falls off a cliff, he's the everyday replacement for Harris next season. EDIT: The very next game I played after making this update, Harris broke the NLB record for career triples. He was 1-for-5 in the game, his lone hit being the 125th three bagger of his career. The player he passed is still active, so Harris might not hold the record for long. Up Next... Another random update at some future time.... Last edited by Nunyer; 04-27-2012 at 02:05 PM.

04-16-2012, 01:47 PM	#283
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Thanks for the kind words Orcin and mirrf! I still plan on keeping this league rolling, but just not at the same pace or level of detail. I'm sure I easily averaged 1-2 hours everyday on OOTP since the end of February, but thanks to spring, there is just too much other stuff to do... But playing those 5-6 games just now after a week layoff... and I still have the itch... so I'm sure I'll still make regular updates, even if they are farther between and less in depth.

04-19-2012, 11:25 AM	#285
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	End of July 2054 Standings 10-5: Columbus record since last update (All-Star Break) 19-7: Columbus record overall for July The rest of the Ohio Valley Division has fallen off right at the same time the Hot Dogs had their best month of the season. Kentucky looked to be a possible division contender for a little while, but a dismal 9-17 record in July has sent them back into the middle of the pack. Cincinnati is still keeping things respectable, but is looking like the roughly .500 team that most pundits predicted them to be. Pittsburgh was predicted to win 96 games and be the main challenger for the Hot Dogs, but their pitching staff has completely imploded and played terribly. The Cardinals brought a lower talent level with them when moving over from the CBL, they just aren't ready to compete yet. Elsewhere in the NLB, Cleveland and Philly are playing strong baseball as expected. After posting the worst season in their history and finishing 20 games under .500, the Hartford Diablos have rebounded nicely. Most observers thought their aging veteran roster had hit a wall and the declining rebuild years were underway, but it appears as if Hartford might have another run in them. Up Next... We breakdown the Hot Dogs performance through the first four months of the season...

04-19-2012, 11:41 AM	#286
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	The old saying is "the rich get richer", and that appears to be the case with our pitching staff. Lerma wants to win now, at least I think he does, not really sure... he's been AWOL again. He sold his Yak Dairy for a nice chunk of change and he's been travelling the world looking for the next loony turd that he'll somehow polish into gold. But anyways, thanks to pouring more money into our minor league system, we were able to move some prospects and promote others. The excess players were used to bring in two more top end starters. Alfonso 'Magician' Ramirez and Mike 'UL' Washington have both performed very well. We didn't get these guys for free as two of the players we traded for UL Washington, Josh Gross and Emilio Garcia, look like they might develop into something special for the Bronx Zoo... But we're happy with the moves. Jose Mendez has struggled at times. He was demoted down to Springfield for a few weeks in July. Prospect Francisco Colomo came up and pitched well in three starts, going 3-0 with an ERA of 3.06. Mothballs and I feel like Mendez is the more talented of the two, but he will be on a short leash. In the bullpen, everybody is pitching very well. Thanks to our starters consistently working into the 7th inning or later, arms have remained well rested and effective. Timmy Hendricks and Reynaldo Mireles (currently @ AAA) are both pending free agents that will likely be allowed to walk. We have a good amount of young NLB-ready arms at Springfield waiting to take the next step... And if there is one place that I need to conserve budget space, it will be on the bullpen. Up Next... The positional players

04-19-2012, 12:02 PM	#287
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,798	Geez, can I please just have some of your bullpen crumbs, like Sanchez or Ladner? Your entire pitching staff could replace mine. Nice job!

04-19-2012, 12:23 PM	#288
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Rex Scott continued to work his way into form during the month of July. He belted 10 home runs while hitting at .284 clip for the month. His 29 total home runs lead the team and put him on pace for a career high 45. Jose Barajas wants to be a starter. I don't blame him, the kid is talented... I poked around a little prior to the trade deadline, but couldn't find any pieces that could help us down the stretch. In the offseason, we'll likely trade him for the best prospects we can get and then sign a cheap backup catcher in free agency. I think he's happy enough as a part-time player this season, but it could get ugly next year. Speedboat Suzuki still strikes out too much and is on pace for his lowest batting average in eight seasons, but he delivers the long balls, including three in one game against Toronto. Defensively, he's commits a lot or errors, but also gets to grounders in the hole that most shortstops would watch bounce into left field. German Campos has shown surprising power and has become the default first baseman due to his defensive prowess. Kenny Phillips might just be a star 2B for years to come if he can maintain his development, he has improved steadily in his third year in the bigs. Armando Castilho could be another break out star if he could cut down on the strikeouts. He is playing gold glove caliber 3B after looking a bit miscast last season at SS. Jonathan Harris is the man. He plays outstanding CF, hits for average, rarely strikes out... and he's under contract through next season. However, he will be 35 years old when his contract is up and we need to find a replacement. Paul McWhirter is the only guy in our entire system with comparable defensive abilities, but he looks to be a mediocre NLB hitter. We acquired James Wallace in an offseason trade and he has made the most of his playing time thanks to the two week injury to Jeffrey Young. Wallace is still a bit raw in CF, he's more of a corner OF at this point, but he looks like he might develop into something special. Speaking of Jeffrey Young, he just continues to chug along at the plate, hitting for a nice balance of average and power while drawing a ridiculous amount of walks. Francisco Pujols is hitting 25 points under his career average and has lost some playing time as we look at various prospects, but he'll likely be in the everyday lineup if we make the post season. Up Next... Well, I don't know... probably a similar update, maybe slightly less involved, for the end of August.

04-19-2012, 03:53 PM	#290
ImTheCrew Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 104	Nice

04-21-2012, 05:25 PM	#292
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	August Recap As you may or may not know, August is "No Graphics or Screenshots Month" around the Hot Dogs complex... so this update will just be old-school text! 84-47 : Overall record 20-7 : August record 1st place in division with a 17.5 game lead. Magic number is 15 Notes Another very solid month for Columbus. The only possible sticking point was the starting pitching, which was generally not very sharp. Strong offense and solid work from the bullpen saved our bacon on many nights this month. Ruben 'Hard Luck' Vega registered a 4.50 ERA in five starts, despite a .212 average against and impressive 1.09 WHIP. Mike 'UL' Washington struggled mightily as well, posting an ERA of 5.79 in six starts, walking 29 hitters in only 32.3 innings of work. Thanks to the bats, these two managed to post a 5-1 combined record for the month. Reliever Timmy Hendricks suffered a minor hand injury and took a trip to the 15 day DL. We mixed and matched other arms from Triple A Springfield during his absence and they generally performed well. Hendricks will most likely be allowed to walk into free agency this off season, so getting an extra look at the kids was actually not a bad thing. Barry 'Condor' Summers is due to return from injury any day now. He's only played in 90 games over the last two seasons due to injury. He will get thrown right back into the fire in September, as we need to decide on his future with the club. Rex Scott continues his All-Star rebound from a slow early start. In August, the big catcher went 32-for-93 (.344) with 8HR in 24 games. For the season, Scott is now hitting .287 with 37 long balls and 108 RBI. Roster Expansion For now, I am only bringing up some bullpen arms to the big club. The Springfield Isotopes lead their division by six games... and I'd feel bad for totally torpedoing their chances when the big club has a 17.5 game lead. While I have grabbed three of their top bullpen arms, they should still be alright. Around the NLB Former Hot Dog Mauro Moreno has been on a tear for the Cincy Cockroaches. After never hitting higher than .269 in four seasons as a starter and three as a reserve in Columbus, Moreno is hitting .313 so far in Cincy. He just had his 34 game hitting streak snapped on August, 25th. This is the longest hitting streak in the history of the NLB, breaking the record of 33 games set 13 years ago... way back in the inaugural NLB season of 2042. Up next... September recap... and hopefully some playoff baseball!

04-23-2012, 03:26 PM	#293
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	September Wrap-Up Final Standings: The Hot Dogs stumbled down the stretch, going 4-6 over the last 10 games and losing home field advantage to Cleveland by a couple of games. The four playoff teams are identical to those from last season. But the 104 victories is a franchise record and the first time the team has been over the 100 victory mark! We travel to Cleveland to start the playoffs. The Comrades lineup is predominantly right handed, which doesn't bode too well for our lefty starters. However, their top power bats are either left handed or switch hitters who are better from the left side. The pitching match ups will be interesting. Final Team Overview: Pitching: Nothing much to complain about here. Ruben 'Big Stud' Vega continues to impress at the ripe old age of 34, having another career year. Mike 'UL' Washington has faded badly down the stretch and now he is complaining to the coaching staff that he wants to be in the bullpen. That's real nice of him, to wait until after he signed his contract extension. I haven't decided what to do with him yet, he'll be starting in the playoffs, but after that I'm not sure. I might make him a very expensive setup man, or I might ship him out of town. The bullpen has been extremely strong and reliable this season. Closer Jesus 'Dozer' Vazquez had a simply ridiculous, redonkulous run... 31 for 32 in saves and in 34 innings of work, he surrendered only one earned run. He struck out 43 and only walked nine. His WHIP was 0.53 and ERA was 0.26! A season for the ages from Dozer! Batting: Jonathan Harris got one step closer to the Hall of Fame this season. He logged his 2,000th hit of his career. Rex Scott set career highs for home runs and RBI, as did German Campos and Armando Castilho. Rookie outfielder James Wallace made an impact with limited playing time. The youngster will not be on the playoff roster, but put up a solid 298/343/420 in 33 games. There will be a log jam in the OF next season but with Jonathan Harris entering his final contract year and questions still lingering about whether Barry 'Condor' Summers can stay healthy, Wallace should have a bright future in Columbus. Up Next... The 2054 Playoffs!

04-23-2012, 05:02 PM	#294
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Editor's Note: Just going to relay this as an OOTP player, not an imaginary GM. This league will carry on, as it's the most fun I've had playing the game and the most attached I've been to a team in years... But I think the story telling aspects have run their course. I'm going to finish out the playoffs and then probably retire this thread for the most part. I'll be buying v13 when the next patch hits and want to try my luck with some random debut historical stuff. I'll be keeping this league around in v12 just because I really enjoy the way it's been playing out. I might still update this now and then, just in case anybody out there wants to know how things are going... as I have a feeling that the Hot Dogs will be around for the long haul. Thanks again to everybody who has read along... I had a great time writing it! Divisional Round Results Columbus 2 - Cleveland 6 Columbus 8 - Cleveland 5 (12 innings) Columbus 14 - Cleveland 2 Columbus 7 - Cleveland 3 Columbus 3 - Cleveland 2 Columbus wins series 4-1. Series Notes I was a bit worried after game one... My most reliable starter down the stretch, Alfonso Ramirez, looked totally lost. He gave up five runs, including three dingers, in only five innings of worked.... while walking five and recording no strikeouts. It was one of those games where from the second or third batter onwards... you just felt uneasy... like something bad was going to happen. Game 2 was a wild ending... scored a run in the top of the ninth to force extra innings... then a seven of the thirteen runs in the game were scored in the bottom of the 12th... With the Hot Dogs putting across five. For the series, Columbus hit nine home runs in five games. Rex Scott had four of those, and German Campos hit three. Up next, we face the evil empire of the NLB, the Philadelphia Felons. They were once again the top team in the regular season, but we've had some success against them... including beating them in the first round last year.

04-23-2012, 06:04 PM	#295
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Not the ending I wanted I got smacked around early in the championship series, with the Hot Dogs down 0-3 before I knew what hit me. We showed some life, thanks mainly to some good pitching, holding the vaunted Philly lineup to two total runs in Games 4 and 5, but ultimately came up short in game six to lose the series. Philly wins their third championship in the last four seasons. Columbus must remain satisfied with back-to-back Championship appearances.

04-24-2012, 01:11 PM	#297
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	I'm going to keep the Hot Dogs rolling, that is for certain... Just bought v13, still deciding if I want to keep them in v12 or move them up to the latest. I'm also interested in doing some of the random debut stuff that is available in v13... so that will take away some time from this franchise... But I'm sure I'll drag this sucker back from the dead on occasion and post an update. Thanks for following along and posting here... and that cat picture is great... I'm stealing that for future use.

04-30-2012, 03:00 PM	#299
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Columbus Hot Dogs 43rd game Update Spectacular! And who better to represent this fine update then the best player to ever wear number 43... The Man, The Myth, The Mullet... Dennis Eckersley Things have been rolling right along for the Hot Dogs in 2055. The division appears to be ours to lose, with no serious contenders emerging so far. We've slowed down a little after that red hot April, going 12-9 so far in the month of May. The pitching has remained very good, but the bats have slowed a bit, although we are still batting .287 as a team. Multiple Hot Dogs on pace for career power numbers One season after C Rex 'The Shark' Scott set career highs with 45 HR and 130 RBI, he looks to be on pace to break both of those marks. Although his current .262 average would be a career low, Scott is on pace for 57 long balls and 140RBI. German Campos was drafted as a slap hitting infielder three years ago but he has developed quite a power stroke. He hit 24 home runs last season but is on pace this year for 34. Jeffrey Young is another Hot Dog struggling with average but showing great power output. Young's current .253 average would be a career low, but he's on a pace for 34 home runs which would be a career high. Outfield remains crowded Our minor league system has been developing outfield prospects at a pretty crazy pace. There just aren't enough at-bats for all of them. I've decided to carry six outfielders for the time being, leaving only Kane Green as the super-utility backup for the infield. This situation can't go on forever, but I need to come up with some way to thin the herd. Getting everybody some at-bats hopefully will allow some to emerge as keepers and some to emerge as trade bait. After continuing to destroy Triple A pitching, Dale Wilkins became the 6th outfielder. He is currently 2-for-12 in three starts, but did deliver a grand slam home run. The 22 year old has power to burn and could be the everyday RF next season. The other youngster in the mix, James Wallace continues to impress as well. The 22 year old in hitting .313 with 4HR and has stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts. Trades We really didn't need to make any moves... the team is rolling quite well... but a few transactions got done. Catcher Jose Barajas wanted the opportunity to play everyday, so I granted his wish and shipped him out of town. He was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays for catcher Scott Wright and 1B prospect Pedro Fernandez. Wright is a right handed hitter, a nice compliment for lefty Rex Scott, although Wright is not as good with the bat as Barajas. He should make a decent enough platoon on occasion for Rex Scott, who struggles against lefty pitching. He has five years experience, exclusively as a backup catcher for Chicago and Toronto, and is very gifted defensively. Trying to thin out some of the outfield prospects, we shipped Jose Sandoval from double A Nashville to the Bronx Zoo for RHP Armando 'Mule' Cruz. Sandoval was the 46th ranked prospect in the league. Also included to the Zoo to complete the deal was RHP Dave Robinson. Cruz should instantly help the big club, replacing Robinson who had some struggles this season and was out of options. One of the areas where we were lacking depth was righty relief, as I let two bullpen arms walk to free agency last off season. Around the League The Washington Colonials have been whipping boys for their entire 13+ year history. They have never finished over .500 and have never made the post season... They would need to go on a 420 game winning streak to bring the franchise to .500 for it's history. But last year a number of talented young hitters emerged and gave fans in the nation's capital some hope. They finished in 2nd place, although only with a record of 79-83. This year, they have stormed out of the gate with a record of 30-13. They lead the Atlantic Division by five games over the defending champion Philly Felons. Could this finally be the Colonials year?

05-07-2012, 02:50 PM	#300
Nunyer All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Baseball Ned Flanders stares into your soul... Posts: 594	Quick and Dirty update The Hot Dogs are rolling along at 48-21, in charge of the division by 16 games. I haven't been playing the game as regularly as I had been... My job has become much busier over the last few weeks and my son is in the midst of six-year old soccer and t-ball... Not of lot of laptop time around the Nunyer house lately... but anyways... Editor's Notes - Player Movement One of my favorite OOTP distractions is getting lost in the history pages of players. Every once in a while, I'll look at one of my players that I received in a trade, then go follow the breadcrumb trail to the guys I traded away.... see what they have done... see if they have been traded again... if they developed... if they crashed and burned. I'll literally spend hours at times doing this... and I don't really think it gives me any tangible in-game benefit... it just satisfies my curiosity. I guess in a way it brings me back to my childhood days of looking at the backs of baseball cards... Wondering why Ozzie Smith suddenly went from San Diego to St.Louis or any number of other transactions shown on those old 1970s and 80s cards. This time instead of just mindlessly wandering around the player pages, I decided to take a look at how I built the Hot Dogs. I did a lot of trading in the first season or two... and only in my 4th season at the helm.. haven't had a ton of time to get draft picks to the bigs... Still, I wanted to see exactly how much movement I did... Starting Pitching Part of the organization prior to my first season: 2 Ruben 'Big Stud' Vega and lefty relief pitcher Jose Aurillo are the only two pitchers left that I inherited. Vega was one of the players generated when the league started and has been with Columbus his entire career. He has a record of 178-158 lifetime... and my goal is to get him to 200 wins... even though he's almost 36 years old. Aurillo was acquired via trade by the CPU two seasons before I took over. Acquired via free agency: 2 Lefty relief Roberto Sanchez and closer Jesus Vazquez were both signed under my watch. Sanchez came off the scrapheap minor league free agency pile and received the magical "ratings bump" during his first year with the organization. He only spent 8.1 innings in the minors after getting acquired... probably the luckiest break I've gotten in this franchise. Vazquez was given a big time ML contract a couple of seasons ago. Acquired via trade: 8 Not going to list all the names or anything here... But about half of these guys were acquired in my first rebuilding season, as I unloaded most of my veterans for prospects. The other half were acquired to put me "over the top" 1-2 seasons later when I was the one shipping out the prospects to losing teams to grab their pending free agents. I've moved a TON of pitchers around in my 3+ seasons... and a decent amount of guys I moved have developed into decent pitchers... Although I've had my fair share of young guys not develop, I've probably come out on top with a lot of these deals. Acquired via draft: 0 Pretty much every decent pitcher that I drafted has been used for trade bait... Although I do have a couple of decent relief prospects that could/should make the big club next season. Position Players Part of the organization prior to first season: 3 RF/DH Jeffrey Young being the big star here, former first overall pick when the team was CPU controlled. In 9+ seasons, almost 1500 hits, 1300 walks, 236 HRs with a .286/.433 for AVG/OBP. OF Condor Summers was a fifth overall pick by the CPU five seasons before I took over. 3B Armando Castilho was released three separate times in his minor league days before the CPU controlled Hot Dogs signed him a minor league deal four years before I took over. Acquired via free agency: 3 C Rex Scott and injured SS Speedboat Suzuki were both big money signings from the open market and both were well established at the ML level. 1B/DH Wilson Flores was released after two years in the Richmond organization. He was the first player I ever signed as a free agent after I took over. In 195 games of part time/platoon play, he's hit 24 HR with a .270 AVG. Acquired via trade: 6 Similar to the pitchers, half were acquired as prospects during my rebuilding... the other half were pending free agents that I acquired for prospects... or role players brought in for a specific reason: backup catcher, lefty platoon OF, etc. Acquired via draft: 2 1B/2B German Campos was the first player I drafted as GM, the 5th overall pick in my first draft. His first year as a pro, he was a September call-up. By midway through his second season, he was in the bigs to stay. His 3rd season and start of his 4th have been breakouts. He's currently hitting .323 and on pace for 30+ HRs. Also taken in my first draft, some 40 picks later, was IF Kane Green. So far, Green has been a utility infielder bouncing back and forth to the minors. He's a career .232 hitter in 106 big league games, but can capably play all four IF positions. Overall, only five guys are still around from the day I took over 3.5 seasons ago. That's pretty hefty turnover... of course the team was pretty crappy for a long time as well. 14 out of 25 acquired via trade... and try as I might to not abuse the CPU... never stacking tons of 2 star garbage to net a 5 star prospect for example... It still looks like the CPU got hoodwinked more than it didn't. Obviously dropping large amounts of money into the player development budget helped the young guys I acquired become better players, but maybe next big fictional league that I start I'll maybe make a house rule to limit my trading... Although at this point... I'm still having too much fun riding the Hot Dog train... Riding the Hot Dog train... that sounds vaguely creepy and/or perverted. Sorry about that.... and as always, thanks for reading.