2019 Cardinals

[pgjocki]

I'm a Cardinals fan who happens to live in DC and I don't want anything to do with Harper coming to St. Louis.

Now, if you think that a guy batting .216 and not hustling after you promise him $400 million is a good deal we should have kept Matheny because you will never win with Harper.

Some local radio guys think he's a cancer and that the team would have been better off by trading him this summer.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rink23]

Dang that was fun tonight.
I am actually starting to believe, that is until I looked at all the Nats' have in their bullpen.
For now, I will have to stick with I am not going to "believe" until the Cardinals have a run of success against good teams.
Washington does not qualify as that.
But Schildt's Baby Birds are sure fun to watch.

[Orcin]

I am just starting my offseason now after waiting to get the new patch. I love the new shop player feature!

One thing that I figured out as I analyzed my team... I need better players! There are 110 position players (pitchers excluded from the list) in MLB with an overall rating over 50 (3-star). I have 4 of them, which I guess is about average (110/30). But it seems pretty weak when compared to the Cubs with 6, and I am especially weak on top quality. My best player is Ozuna at 3.5 stars while the Cubs have 5 rated at 3.5 or higher (Bryant at 4, Rizzo, Contreras at 4, Happ, Schwarber).

I need to add at least one 4-star position player out of this free agent class, and two would be nice. I also can't give up any of my three 3-star players. It may surprise you, but one of those players is Fowler. It looks like I need to keep him to play right field until I can upgrade that spot. The other two are Carpenter and DeJong, and they need to have spots. Carp will play first base, and DeJong has to play third base if I go with a defensive shortstop. That would seem to rule out Machado as a free agent option unless I want to stick with DeJong's negative ZR and efficiency at shortstop.

[Orcin]

There are 56 starting pitchers rated 3 stars or higher and I have 2 (Martinez and Wacha). There are 94 relievers and I have 3 (Leone, Gregerson, and Hicks). So again, I am about average. My owner wants me to sign a Cy Young winner, and either Kershaw or Keuchel would give me a third starter at over 3 stars. So it sounds like a plan to go with a pitching and defense strategy, since it would be hard for me to get to a Cubs-level offense.

[Orcin]

Washington signed Harper two weeks after the start of free agency for $225 million over 8 years, no opt-out but last year is a player option at $29 million. I really thought he would go higher.

The Dodgers signed Blackmon for 5 years at $106 million (final year is a vesting option), which might set the price for Pollock.

Pirates got Donaldson for 5 years, $75 million. Murphy went to the Mets for 4 years, $61 million.

Atlanta gets Machado at 7 years, $180 million (highest AAV besides Harper).

Kershaw is still out there and I am in... deep.

[MizzouRah]

Game 162 vs the Cubs and we are up 1 game on them. We win, I get to rest and start my ace in the NLDS, we lose and it's a tiebreaker game.


Going to have to sleep on this one.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by rink23

Dang that was fun tonight.
I am actually starting to believe, that is until I looked at all the Nats' have in their bullpen.
For now, I will have to stick with I am not going to "believe" until the Cardinals have a run of success against good teams.
Washington does not qualify as that.
But Schildt's Baby Birds are sure fun to watch.

Shildt is doing a fantastic job so far, but winning helps. I just like the way he handles the bullpen, it's refreshing. He might get the real job if this team keeps it up and makes the playoffs.

[Orcin]

This was my busiest, and most expensive, winter meetings ever. I increased the payroll by $55 million!

1. Signed SP Clayton Kershaw for 6 years, $180 million.

The rotation should be playoff worthy with Kershaw, Martinez, and Wacha as the first three starters. Alex Reyes seems to have received a TCR boost and looks to be the fourth starter. That leaves Weaver and Flaherty to compete with Wainwright for the fifth spot. Eventually, one of those two young pitchers might be traded but it is not an issue today since they both have options remaining.

2. Signed CF A.J. Pollock for 5 years, $100 million.

I had to go an extra year and more dollars to get him because he was coming off a 6 WAR season (.300/.348/.544, 29 HR, 100 RBI) and in high demand. Pollock was my best option to improve "up the middle" defense and upgrade the offense in one package. He will be worth the money IF he stays healthy. I gave up my first two draft picks with these signings and maxed my budget for a couple of years, so I really better be right.

3. Traded 3B Jedd Gyorko to the Angels for SS Andrelton Simmons

The AI was being silly about this and I could have stolen Simmons for any one of my 1/2-star minor leaguers. I selected this deal from the AI's long list of acceptable players because I thought it was fair and realistic. Gyorko is 30 and Simmons is 29. Both players are signed for two years, but the rebuilding Angels save $5 million in 2019 and get a team option with no buyout for 2020 instead of paying Simmons $15 million. Both players had a 4+ WAR season last year, but Gyorko's was based on offense while Simmons generated most of his WAR value via great defense. The Angels can fill the hole at shortstop by moving Zach Cozart (a good SS defender) over from 3B and replacing him at third with Gyorko, thus improving their offense without really hurting their defense much. I will go the other way, moving a weaker defender (DeJong) to third base and replacing him at SS with Simmons. DeJong is only rated 35 at 3B but he should improve quickly in spring training because his infield ratings are all 55+ with arm strength of 60.

Could the real Cardinals do all of this? I think so. Kershaw, Pollock, and Simmons are certainly all realistic and possible acquisitions, assuming that Kershaw opts out. The first two only require money, and the Cardinals have the money. There have been rumors that the Angels would trade Simmons, although they would probably want pitching prospects instead of a position player starter.

I certainly feel better about the realism of this version over my last attempt. It is much easier to believe that the Angels would trade Simmons than Trout. It's impossible to believe that the Red Sox would trade Betts (for Fowler!) or that the Diamondbacks would trade Goldschmidt for less than the draft pick they could have received from a qualifying offer.

By the way, I still have Fowler because I need him and his 2-3 WAR in the outfield. The outfield defense is much improved with Fowler in right, where he was a plus defender last year before I traded Pham, instead of center, where he was a minus defender. I am hoping a replacement develops from among the many prospects in our system this year and I will be able to trade Fowler before he declines to "overpaid veteran" status in my game. He is already there in real life.

[Orcin]

Preseason started and I am looking to see what Fowler will bring. Last season, Fowler posted 2 WAR and he is rated 3 stars. He earns $14.5 million for the next three years.

Toronto will trade CF Kevin Pillar (2 stars, $4M, 1 year arb left) for Fowler if I retain 15% of his salary. I like Pillar as a fourth outfielder and I can start Justin Williams (acquired from Tampa in the Pham deal) in right field.

What do you think about that deal? Am I scamming the AI? Looking at the deal from the other GM's point of view, despite the fact that Fowler would be the best outfielder on their team, I just can't rationalize why the "rebuilding" Blue Jays would do this deal. So I am going to pass and look for a different situation where Fowler would fit the acquiring team's focus (not rebuilding).

Edit: LOL the "rebuilding" Blue Jays just signed Joe Mauer to a 1-year, $3M deal to DH, so are they really rebuilding? Couldn't they find one of their prospects like Vlad Jr. to take those at bats? Maybe I am over-thinking this whole thing, and maybe it is futile to try to inject realism into this game.

[MizzouRah]

Fowler needs a change of scenery. It's not like his past is horrible either and might even be a leader on the right team, so I don't think the Toronto deal is that far fetched especially if you retain some salary.

[Orcin]

In for a penny, in for a pound. I just signed Zach Britton during the pre-spring closer clearance sale for 1 year at $6.2 million with a $200K bonus for 60 appearances. The payroll just broke $200 million (#2 in MLB) so now I REALLY better win or there will be a big fire sale in July.

[rink23]

A player to watch in your minor league system -- infielder Tommy Edman.
He can play decent defense at both middle infield positions and has consistently hit .280-plus for me since getting called up in 2018,
Plus, he is a really good with the bunt, yes, that still exists for position players, I bat him second behind a decently-high OBP guy (Ender Inciarte) and viola you have a runner in scoring position for your Nos. 3 and 4 hitters.
Mine, in the 2020 and 2021 seasons happen to be Harper and Arenado, but it never hurts to have a runner at second with your RBI guys coming to the plate.
BTW, I am going through OOTP withdrawal with the new patch issues.

[Orcin]

I have Edman at AAA but he seems pretty ordinary right now. Maybe he will get a boost this year. At the moment, Alex Mejia and Edmundo Sosa are ahead of him.

[Orcin]

Those silly rebuilding Blue Jays won't go away... now they send me an offer to acquire Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Well, yeah he could come in handy if DeJong does not cut it at third base. Munoz is my only backup there unless I want to press Patrick Wisdom or Alex Mejia into service.

I returned Brett Cecil to them, retaining 50% of his salary for the next two years, for Gurriel. Since Gurriel makes less than half of Cecil's salary, I get Gurriel free for two years plus $2M in budget room plus a spot in my bullpen for somebody that might actually pitch a meaningful inning.

Since Gurriel already burned his final option this year, I will stash him at third base in Memphis just in case. He plays 2B, SS, and LF also, so he could be the infield sub instead of Munoz in the future if he continues to develop. Or he might beat out DeJong next year. Another nice problem.

Thanks, Ross. Call again, won't you?

[Orcin]

Season started very well until A.J. Pollock went out for a month with a sprained ankle in game #7. Now I am looking for an upgrade from Bader, who is not himself in my league and it is ChMode so he can't be edited. Bader is still better than Pillar, so I am not going in that direction. I am looking at Chris Taylor of the Dodgers. They will take Dakota Hudson (#73 prospect) and another top 200 prospect for Taylor.

Edit: Interesting... the Dodgers actually prefer Luke Gregerson (retaining 30%) to Hudson - they will even accept a lesser prospect with him. Gregerson is rated as my #2 reliever after Britton and had a great season in 2018, but I still have Leone and Hicks to setup for Britton. Both players are rated at 3 stars by my scout but OSA has Taylor at 2 stars, and the retention makes the money tilt in their favor by $1M.

I am probably doing this one, because it is really hard to find a guy that plays SS and CF plus two other positions, with speed and power. I think the Dodgers are willing to move him because they signed Charlie Blackmon, still have Pederson and Puig, and they are already trying to find someplace to play Alex Verdugo and super-prospect Victor Victor Mesa. I am giving Bader a few games first to see how he handles the job while I think it over.

[MizzouRah]

Let the wheeling and dealing begin!

[Orcin]

Bader hit two home runs in his first game, so I take that as a sign. Taylor remains a Dodger this morning.

I noticed that Bader has better ratings (noticeably better) from OSA than my scout, while Taylor is rated much higher by my scout than OSA. I wonder which one is right. Ch Mode so I can't peek. If I follow OSA ratings, I would play Bader over Taylor anyway. It would be Taylor by a mile using my scout. I don't recall as many wide variations in prior versions (18 and back) but maybe I just didn't pay as much attention.

Also, the AI bullpen management seems to be even worse in 19. I manage every game and I see the AI using relief pitchers way past dead red all the time. I almost assume that I will win every extra inning game. Obviously, seven bullpen pitchers are not enough but I am not sure that eight or even nine would help. I see the AI burn too many pitchers for one batter matchups early in close games. Sometimes, it does it when there is no platoon advantage. I have the DH in my league and that has not made a difference. I hope this can be improved at some point.

[Orcin]

Here's what can happen with an exhausted bullpen, especially after the starter gives up 5 in the first inning. Note that position players pitched the final four innings for Pittsburgh.







I got a few new achievements in this one.

[rink23]

It looks like I may be done.
The patch really messed my game up and the fixes have done little to fix it or made it worse.
At first I was jonesing to get back into it, I had played virtually every night since April, now it's like meh.

It would be fun to see how the dynasty played out --at least this season with my team off to the best start in MLB -- but there are other things to move onto.

Let's see what happens in the next 48 hours.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by rink23

It looks like I may be done.
The patch really messed my game up and the fixes have done little to fix it or made it worse.
At first I was jonesing to get back into it, I had played virtually every night since April, now it's like meh.

It would be fun to see how the dynasty played out --at least this season with my team off to the best start in MLB -- but there are other things to move onto.

Let's see what happens in the next 48 hours.

Sorry to hear this. I do understand how it feels when a league hits a speed bump and loses momentum. It seems to happen almost overnight and there is often no going back.

If it is indeed finished, I hope you create something to replace it soon.