The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

FRONTIER LEAGUE GAME 4
Chicago (Dan MacFadden 1-0 1.13)
@
Columbus (Barney Watt 0-0 9.00)

Both starters are on. Watt faces 10 hitters through 3, with 2 K’s and has 51 pitches.
MacFadden faces 9, getting Lambert on a 6-4-3 after a 1st inning Myers leadoff single. He has 2 K’s and just 32 pitches after the third.

Both go perfect through the 4th, Watt now at 63 pitches, MadFadden at 47. 0-0 after 4.
An Alexander single and then a Morgan double setup an RBI fielders choice from Lorenzelli. He steals 2nd but is left there, 1-0 into the bottom of 5.
MacFadden drills Dean Strong on the 1st pitch.
Jeffrey Hudson hits into a FC and Schall ends the inning hitting into a 1-4-3 DP. Watt at 76 after 5, MacFadden 55.

Jesus Sanchez and Haqverdi Hamidov drill back to back leadoff doubles to knot the game at 1. Stanton Hall moves Hamidov to third on a ground out and Ray Myers brings him home on a single. Lamber hits into a 6-4-3 (third Chicago DP of the day) to end the inning. 2-1 Columbus after 6. Watt pitch count 87, MacFadden 81.

Another leadoff double, by Angelo Gomez this time…
MacFadden gets Strong on a 5-3, keeping Gomez at 2nd.
Jeffrey Hudson drills a 1st pitch single, scoring Gomez and making it 3-1 Clippers. He gets Schall swinging and his day is over. He ends with a 6.2-6-3-3-0-4 line.
Ken Johnson on for the right handers. Sanchez lines to left to end the 7th, 3-1 Columbus.

Angel Lopez drills a 2 out double off Watt but Riggs grounds to short to end the 8th.
Johnson goes 3 up 3 down in the bottom. Onto the 9th looking for 2 to tie, 3 to win.
Lopez in to close it out.
Collins leads off and punches out on a 2-2 pitch, looking.
Chartier K’s swinging on a 1-2 pitch.
Gutierrez, pinch hitting, drills a ball to deep right field….
Back…
Back…
CAUGHT at the wall.
COL 3 CHI 1
W Watt (1-0) L MacFadden (1-1) S Lopez (4)
HR NONE
Columbus leads the series 3-1

COASTAL LEAGUE GAME 4
Pittsburgh (Gonzalo Casisas 0-0 0.00)
@
Tulsa (Joel Downs 0-0 0.00) Obviously a must win for the Drillers, even though I can’t see anyone coming back on this Bulldog staff….

Ken Sanders kicks off the scoring, again, with a solo HR in the 2nd.
Manuel Miranda hits a solo shot in the 3rd, putting Pittsburgh up 2-0 in their bid for a 4-0 sweep.
Jose Cabral hits the Bulldogs third solo HR of the day in the 5th putting Pittsburgh up 3-0. Casisas has gone 4-2-0-0-1-3 so far.
Casisas now 5-2-0-0-1-4 through 5.
Manny Miranda drills a 2 run single to left to put Pittsburgh up 5-0 after 6.
Casisas still working on a 2 hitter (6-2-0-0-1-4)
Dave Ladd has left the game in the 7th after being hurt.
Casisas with his 2 hitter, now through 7.
Casisas after 8 (8-2-0-0-1-4)
5-0 into the 9th. Hobbs in for the Bulldogs. Reed K’s looking, Brady grounds out and Rich Alfred drills a solo homer.
That’s where it ends.
PIT 5 TUL 1
W Casisas (1-0) L Downs (0-1)
HR PIT Miranda (1) Cabral (1) Sanders (3) TUL Alfred (1)
MVP Ken Sanders (7-19 5 Runs 1 2B 3 HR's 8 RBI's)

Pittsburgh sweeps Tulsa for the Coastal League Pennant.

[gehrig38]

And then there was 1… Only 1 game on the docket, hoping for a chance to play another!

Chicago (Alfredo Alejandrez 0-1 9.00)
@
Columbus (Mike Holmes 2-1 3.60)

A must win and my “ace” on the mound. This is a ‘win or go home’ and aces win those….

Both pitchers go 3 up 3 down, Holmes on 17 pitches, Alejandez on 9 with a k. Scoreless after 1.

Riggs drills a 2 out double but Feliz K’s to leave him. Alejandrez is 3 up 3 down on 5 pitches, 14 through 2, Holmes at 31. 0-0 after 2.

Gutierrez triples with 2 outs but another Holmes K, this time on Chartier, leaves him. Alejandrez has a 4 pitch 3rd, and is at 22 pitches through 3.

Holmes has a perfect 4th and is at 56 pitches, Alejandrez gives up a leadoff single to Lambert, a 1 out single to Gomez but gets Strong and K’s Schall to end it, with 34 pitches after 4.

Riggs is drilled leading off the inning. One out later Hudson walks, followed by a Lorenzelli walk to load the bases. Gutierrez grounds into a FC, scoring Riggs and moving Hudson to third. Chartier grounds out to end the inning.
Alejandrez is intent to give it back, Michael Griffin leads off with a single, Sanchez sac bunts him to 2nd, and McDermott singles to put runners on the corners. But Alfredo clutches up and gets Stanton Hall to hit into an inning ending 4-6-3. 1-0 after 5 full, Alejandrez at 45 pitches, Holmes at 71.

Both guys have a perfect 6th, Alejandrez on 12 pitches, Holmes on 14. 1-0 Chicago after 6 innings.

A tight rope 7th. Riggs leads off with a single, Feliz moves him to 2nd on the grounder. Hudson walks and on the 1st pitch to Lorenzelli they pull off the double steal! Massi can’t get it done, flying to shallow right and Gutierrez punches out on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning.
Columbus pushes back.
Strong leads off with a single and is erased on Schalls FC. Michael Griffin singles to put runners on 1st and 2nd.
Jesus Sanchez lines to 2nd and Riggs just misses doubling up Griffin at 1st. Stephano McDermott works a walk to load the bases but again Alejandrez clutches up, getting Stanton Hall on a full count, to ground to 2nd to end the inning. 1-0 Chicago after 7. Holmes at 103, Alejandrez at 83.

Chartier works a leadoff walk and after a 5 pitch FC Holmes day is over, 112 pitches. Rafael Dejesus comes in and gets Alexander on a long fly to right and Morgan on a long fly to left, to end it. On the day Holmes went 7.1-3-1-1-4-7.
Brian Lambert takes an 0-2 pitch from Alejandrez deep down the left field line for a game tying homer. Alejandrez day is done, and he did everything we could ask, almost. He finishes 7-7-1-1-1-4. Jose Torres is in to get the lefties ahead of Strong.
He punches out Hudson…
And Angelo Gomez works to a hitters count, then drives a 3-1 fastball deep to right center for a tie breaking home run! Van Bodegraven in to get Strong and Schall….
And he does, striking Strong out and getting Schall to fly to deep center to end the 8th. Onto the 9th, and what could be our last at bat if we can’t find the magic.

Riggs, Feliz and Hudson due up, Lorenzelli if someone gets on. Lopez is not warming up, and it’ going to be Craig Trent…

Riggs pokes a 2-2 pitch to left for a line drive, leadoff single….Lopez in to run for him… Feliz up, holy crap do I bunt here? With 8-9 due up? They aren’t traditional 8-9 guys but still…. I despise giving away an out, especially here…..What the hell…..
He swings away and almost hits into a DP! The FC puts Feliz on 1st, 1 out, Hudson up.
AH! A wild pitch moves Feliz to 2nd….
Hudson lines a ball into the gap in left center, but Hall runs it down, 2 outs, Feliz tags and gets to 3rd. Ok, 2 outs, do I hit Lorenzelli? Or PH Dixon the lefty, or Miller the righty with the fantastic eye?
Trent has far better stuff on righties than lefties, they have 1 lefty, Julio Perez in their pen… Do I bait them with Dixon to get Miller up vs the lefty?
I do, and he’s sticking with Trent…here goes nothing….
Fruck… Dixon grounds the first pitch to third for a 5-3, game over, season over…

COL 2 CHI 1
W Dejesus (1-1) L Torres (0-1) S Trent (1)
HR COL Gomez (3) Lambert (1)
Series MVP Angelo Gomez (7-18 8 Runs 2B 2 HR 4 RBI’s .500 OBP)
Columbus wins the series 4 games to 1

[gehrig38]

One team I expected to be here awhile ago, the other? No way, Columbus comes from the FL Wild Card, beating a 107 win team, then a 105 win team, to get here. It's going to be a wipeout, or fascinating, not sure which!
I'm just going to post a box with the stars after each game. Feel like I might be losing folks, if there are any, with all my play by play stuff in games Chicago isn't playing...

[gehrig38]

2015 WORLD SERIES
GAME 1
Pittsburgh-Vince Bray (2-0 2.51)
@
Columbus-Will Cannon (0-1 6.50)

Holy cow, maybe it’s the latter, as in fascinating! Pittsburgh rides Vince Bray to a 4-2 lead into the 9th, where, as is Bulldog custom they hand the ball to sure thing Joe Boswell. Left fielder Ken Sanders (who’d hit a 3 run homer in the 1st) clanks a routine fly ball off the bat of Angelo Gomez’s leading off the bottom of the 9th. Dean Strong then follows with a game tying 2 run homer! Christian Schall doubles, Griffin is intentionally walked. Jesus Sanchez bunts them over and McDermott is intentionally walked to load the bases setting up Stanton Hall to deliver a walk off game winning single!

[gehrig38]

2015 WORLD SERIES
GAME 2
Pittsburgh-Ramon Roa (0-0 3.86)
@
Columbus-Marcos Diaz (2-0 2.13)

Wow, just wow. Hamidov drills a 2 run homer and Myers follows 1 out later with a solo shot to give Columbus a 3-0 lead after 2. Christian Schall’s sac fly in the 3rd makes it 4-0. Anibal German hits a solo shot in the top of the 5th to get the Bulldogs on the board 4-1 where it stays until the top of 7, when Ross Tunstall’s solo homer makes it 4-2.
In the bottom of the 8th, up 4-2, Jesus Sanchez hits an RBI ground out, scoring Strong and Hamidov doubles to drive in Jeffrey Hudson putting Columbus up 6-2 with 3 outs to go. Things then proceed to come unglued.
After an out, Ken Sanders singles, Roberto Morales doubles, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd and ending Marcos Diaz’s day (8.1-7-2-2-1-5 with 2 runners on) and bringing in closer Ivan Lopez. Kris Wright makes the 2nd out, bringing in Sanders with a grounder, and German walks to put runners at the corner and Columbus up 6-3. Light hitting catcher Jose Cabral (former Iron Pig) steps up and delivers a game tying 3 run blast to right!
Pittsburgh gets Boswell the ball and he punches out the side in the bottom of the 9th.
Lopez works around a 1 out Hedden walk to get it to the bottom half of 10, tied.
Boswell gives up a 2 out Christian Schall double, but nothing else and they move to the 11th.
Lopez gets Morales leading off and Craig Trent takes over getting Wright and German on 6 pitches.
Will Clark relieves Boswell to start the 11th and Stanton Hall drills a 1 out single. After a Michael Griffin punch out Brian Lambert delivers a game winning walk off double!
Wow, just wow. Columbus up 2-0 after facing Bray and Roa!

[gehrig38]

2015 WORLD SERIES
GAME 3
Columbus (Mike Holmes 2-1 2.96)
@
Pittsburgh (Tomas Villanueva 1-1 1.56)

Can it get wilder? And holy hell, Columbus? Up 2-0? After facing 2 20 game winners???
Bah, a normal game. Ross Tunstall goes 3-4 scoring twice with a triple and Ken Sanders delivers his 5th post season HR with a 2 run shot in a 3 run second inning. Villanueva goes 7-3-2-1-2-6 for the win and Boswell, on fumes I am guessing, pitches a perfect 9th for the save. Strong drives in the Clipper 1st inning run and Mike Holmes goes 7.2-9-4-4-2-5 in the loss.

[gehrig38]

2015 WORLD SERIES
GAME 4 (Columbus leads 2 games to 1)
Columbus (Will Cannon 1-1 4.67)
@
Pittsburgh (Vince Bray 2-0 2.42) Huge game for the Bulldogs, they lose, with this guy on the mound there’s no way they come back, Columbus rides the momentum to a stunning upset, and stunning season really.

Holy crap. Columbus is 1 win away from what has to be about as improbable a run as any I’ve ever played!
In the top of the 2nd the Clippers get a 1 out double from Griffin, followed by a Jesus Sanchez 2 run home run to put them up 2-0. A single and Ross Tunstall error later, Jeffrey Hudson drills a 2 out RBI single to score Stepahno McDermott for a 3-0 lead.
Pittsburgh gets to Cannon in the 3rd. German singles, Cabral (hell of a series!) Triples him in. Manny Miranda’s RBI ground out makes it 3-2. Miguel Deleon then doubles, and a Christian Schall error scores Deleon tying the game. With Tunstall up Cannon throws wildly to first on a pickoff, giving Hedden second. He then steals third on the first pitch and comes in on Tunstall’s RBI ground out, 4-3 Bulldogs.
Pittsburgh strikes again in the 5th, and again it’s Ross Tunstall. His 2 out RBI single scores Miranda, putting Pittsburgh up 5-3.
Columbus gets 1 back in the top of the 6th when Jesus Sanchez hits an RBI ground out, scoring Dean Strong who’d led off the inning with a single. 5-4 Bulldogs.
In the top of the 7th, with 2 outs and an 0-2 count, Angelo Gomez crushes a ball, 443 feet to straight away right to give Columbus a 6-5 lead!
It stays that way into the 9th, when the Clippers goto Closer Ivan Lopez. He gets German swinging, Cabral swinging and Miranda looking to end the game.
The wild card Columbus Clippers are 27 outs away from claiming an IBL World Series title….

[Jordan]

I'm just starting getting into this. Love your enthusiasm

[gehrig38]

2015 WORLD SERIES
GAME 5 (Columbus leads 3 games to 1)
Columbus (Marcos Diaz 2-0 2.13)
@
Pittsburgh (Gonzalo Casisas 1-0 0.00)

Win or go home, and they have neither 20 game winner on the mound. What a ride for Columbus, do they punch their ticket today???

Columbus would strike 1st with Christian Schall drilling a 2 out RBI single to score Jeffrey Hudson in the first.
A 1-0 Clipper lead vanishes in the 2nd. Roberto Morales singles leading it off, Kris Wright reaches on a Sanchez error, Anibal German hits an RBI double putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs.
Jose Cabral drills a 2 run double to make it 3-1, still no outs. Manny Miranda moves him over, Miguel Deleon gets him in on textbook baseball.
At this point Clipper starter Marcos Diaz is rattled. He walks Hedden, and then Tunstall before getting Ken Sanders to fly to center to end the 2nd, but the Bulldogs are in the lead, 4-1.
Pittsburgh’s defense was a huge problem and it reared it’s head right away int eh 3rd. A 1 out Angelo Gomez single was followed by an Anibal German error, putting runners at the corners where Christian Schall’s sac fly would get a run back and make it 4-2 after 2 and a half.
In the top of the 4th, with 2 outs, Lambert singled and Jeffrey Hudson battled to a full count before hitting a drive to deep center, off the wall, Sanchez and Lambert would come home to tie the game.
In the 5th a Ken Sanders leadoff single preceded an amazing 13 pitch at bat with Roberto Morales that ended with a walk. Kris Wright would bunt them over and Anibal German would hit a sac fly to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead.
The 7th would prove the difference. Jeffrey Hudson singled leading it off, ending Gonzalo Casisas day, bringing on reliever Will Clark. Angelo Gomez greeted him with a double but he settled in, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, a 1 run lead, and punched out both Strong and Schall to get 2 outs. Michael Griffin would silence the crowd on the very next pitch, drilling a deep fly to right, that would end up bouncing off the 2nd deck façade for a 3 run homer and a 7-5 Clipper lead.
Diaz would make quick work of the Bulldogs in the bottom half and momentum was clearly in the Columbus dugout.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the 8th. A Jose Cabral leadoff walk was followed by a Miranda single, and then a Deleon single to load the bases with no outs. Diaz would give way to Rafael Dejesus. Allen Hedden would hit a sac fly to make it 7-6 and in what is likely the biggest at bat of his career, certainly of this season, Bulldog slugger Ross Tunstall would come up.
Tunstall got the count to 2-1 and crushed the pitch deep to right, a clear and deck homer (only 5 ever hit there btw), but the ball hooked just foul as it passed the pole. It was close enough that replay had to be used and the timing was excruciating. When the umpires announced the call the place erupted. There was not an ounce of garbage left in the stands as the fans pelted the playing field. Play was halted for 33 minutes while the grounds crew cleared the field, and play resumed. On the very next pitch a Dejesus slider, that looked a tad outside, was called strike 3, 2 down….
Pinch hitter Josh Harris would pop to shallow left to end the inning, but the Bulldogs, while missing a HUGE opportunity, were within a run.
Columbus would go quietly in the top of the 9th and as the fans rose to their feet for the bottom, Clipper closer Ivan Lopez strutted onto the field.
5 pitches later he’d rung up Kris Wright for the 2nd out. He worked Anibal German to a 1-2 count and when the ball left the bat, the city of Columbus held it’s collective breath, and everyone in Pittsburgh exhaled. The shallow fly to right saw defensive replacement Ray Myers camp under it, and clutch it, tightly, as the Clippers had sealed the game, and the World Series with a 7-6 victory.
Holy cow, they did it. The Columbus Clippers come from down 0-2 to 107 win El Paso to win their best of 5 3 games to 2. They beat us handily, a 105 win team, and they go up against the best pitching the IBL has and run the Bulldogs down in 5.

2015 WORLD SERIES MVP
Will Cannon 2-0 2.12 17 IP 14 H 4 ER 3 BB 8 K's

[gehrig38]

Columbus ring your bells!

[gehrig38]

If someone knows I'd appreciate the help. I need to increase the budgets, league wide, to get the teams into a more comfortable position. I raised the TV and cash on hand, media stuff, earlier this year, it's not showing up I don't think, which I am guessing means it won't until the preseason. How do I get more cash into teams hands now, for the free agent period? and keep a level playing field?
Market size I want to matter, but I also need to get the financial situation in the league in better shape as we head into the next season when we will have our first free agents (after the 2016 season)

[tacklesspoem8]

What year are your financials based off of. You might be able to bump the overall money by moving years up in your financial settings. example( say you have your financials set like it is 2000, you could bump it up to 2005 or so under game options-financials- year and see if that changes it. Another idea is to push the contract levels down just a little bit in the same financials screen, maybe by a little per level: superstar, average player, and etc this means your money will go farther this offseason and you can flip it back come the preseason if the media bump works out. Hope this helps out.

[gehrig38]

A slew of firings across the IBL:
• The Brooklyn Cyclones have fired Manager Jim Nash. A 317-332 record and 1 playoff appearance (2013 when he won manager of the year) were not enough to save his job after their 67-95 season.
• Dayton GM Ted Johnston was let go today. Apparently a 2nd straight year of missing the playoffs was enough for owner Donald Chambers Jr to let him go. Fan interest has waned and attendance has gone from 4.4m in 2012 to just over 2m this year.
• Alaska didn’t give GM Chris Davis much time. The former Fresno GM had just one season as the Aces GM and what many thought was a respectable 73-89 season for an expansion team, wasn’t.
• The Fisher Cats fired Manager Juan Silva. His 207-279 record in 3 years guiding New Hampshire was more than enough. Given the job after a 2012 season at A Ball there was hope he could get them on the right track
• One year after winning a World Series, Patriot Manager Jose Solis is unemployed. Philly let go of the 2014 Coastal League Manager of theyear after their disappointing 80-82 season. An outstanding players manager, as well as someone folks respect in the pitching field, Solis will likely land on his feet somewhere.
• The 2014 World Series appears to have been bad luck. Losing San Antonio fired Manager Paul Lee after the Silver Stars disastourus 2015 campaign. They went 68-94 to finish 26 games back.
• And LA Wizards skipper Phil Campbell is looking for work. A 315-294 record wasn’t enough to save him as LA tumbled from 100 wins to a .500 team this year.

TRADE NEWS
Green Bay has sent OF Roberto Villalobos and 760K in cash to Michigan for RP Emery Hampton and 22 year old catching prospect Bill Corrigan. Villalobos signed a 3 year 6.48M contract this winter after San Antonio did not offer him arbitration last winter. A 2012 All Star and a member of the Silver Stars 2014 World Series run, Villalobos is expected to play LF and leadoff for the Battlecats. Hampton was the Battlecats 7th round pick in the inaugural draft. He made 59 starts in ’12 and ’13 and moved to the pen after the 2013 season. His lifetime totals of 23-34 1 SV 5.19 ERA were accumulated in 167 games, 69 starts, over 454.2 IP. Corrigan is a highly touted catching prospect, and was Michigan’s 3rd round draft choice (56th overall pick) in the 2015 draft out of Southern Miss.

As if it weren’t already bad, the pitching rich Bulldogs saw AAA Ace Chris Burns (their #1 pick in the 2013 draft, 11th overall) win the AAA pitcher of the year after he went 16-4 2.61.

Fresno Grizzly 2013 #1 pick (14th overall) Pepe Artlano out of Campbell HS in Missouri, took home short season pitcher of the year. He went 9-2 0.99 in 13 starts over 90.2 IP.

As did West Michigan White Cap 2013 #1 (18th overall) Vincente Castillo. He went 9-1 1.89 in 12 starts. Problem is the White Caps traded him this season, to, of all places, Pittsburgh, for OF Dave Palmer. That’s all the Bulldogs need, more pitching.

Staten Island 2013 #1 pick (7th overall) Luis Rosado won the Short Season GCL MVP after he hit .308-9-33 in 61 games, stealing 17-21 bases.

ORG NEWS
Heavener Manager Elvin Carpenter’s contract has run out. I’ll talk to him about re-upping, there are some positions higher up, now open. I have some job openings in the minors. AA Manager, Hitting Coach at Denison (A), and Manager at Heavener.

I jumped to make an offer to former to former Silver Star Hitting Coach Gavin Harris. He has about as good a reputation as one can have in handling players, and is an excellent hitting coach. I’d LOVE to have him managing my AA club and made a 4 year offer.
There are some other outstanding coaches on the market I’ve extended offers to, not confident they’ll take the money or job I am offering given they are minor league positions.

Heavener 1B Alex Cueller and RF Jorge Ortega won Gold Gloves in short season. Ortega was our 18th round selection out of Long Beach State in the 2015 draft.

[gehrig38]

I am posting my leagues finances below. I would REALLY like to get most teams into the green, and am unsure how to do it, or if I can, before free agency hits this winter and teams fail to offer arbitration...

[gehrig38]

Are my new settings financially, I have bumped the settings to 2010, upped cash on hand to 3m, how will this impact me? More important when?

[gehrig38]

I gave input this year, on the Frontier League Rookies, as well as Coastal, I went with almost a straight WAR finish. 19 year old Josh Hamilton was just a fun winner, and the media got caught up in it.
In the Rivera award it was close, in the FL Jacobs and Lopez both had 113 pts, but Jacobs had more saves, and in the CL there was a tie for third, with Osborn (PHI) edging out Gonzalez (LA)
In the Gold Gloves, we had some repeats.
In the FL Orosco won his 2nd, and 2B, Matt Neal of Edmonton unseated 3 time winner Joel Runas in Center.
In the Coastal Joe Rowe (FRE) took it away from 3 time winner Kevin Moore (NH) at 1B. Lando Jongmans (BAL) took his third at 2B after a year off as did CF Will Vaughn (NH). Paul Reeves snagged it back in RF from Ernesto Gutierrez, for his 2nd.

[gehrig38]

ORGANIZATION UPDATE
We finished the season with a score of 95/100, which I guess is ok. Disappointed in who we lost to, right up until they won it all. I don’t have the SP to win a short series, but I feel like I have everything else. I need a true ace, a big time #1.
Our fans are still very loyal, and their interest is at 90 right now. We drew a record 4.14 million after our 3.91 million ’14 season. Out total attendance was 2nd in the IBL.
They are in love with Chartier, Collins and Alexander, no surprises there. But it’s cool to see Ken Johnson as a fan favorite now, he certainly earned it. Closer Ernesto Cruz is back and at #5 as he continues to polish an amazing resume.
Our projected payroll will jump approximately 10 million this year, depending on how arbitrations go. Spike Davis’s is the only scary one, as he’s looking at around 1.7 million. I put the toe in the water on an extension and he’s talking 4+ million for 4+ years, and that’s not happening right now.

[gehrig38]

CHICAGO TRADE NEWS
Chris Jones, Railcat GM came with an offer today. He’s looking to get Gutierrez, offering 29 year old 3B Antonio Falicaiauo, and a blue chip 18 year old relief prospect Jorge Pacheco, who his scouts found in Cuba. He needs cash to do this deal as well.
I take the names off the deal and leave Pacheco’s on the table, and ask him what it would take. He lists 3 names, one of which is 29 year old super 2 Spike Davis. I put his name in the hat, and then ask for his 1st and 2nd picks, for my 1st and 3rd, with just these two players in the deal, and he agrees. Now I am pondering.
Davis is 29, so his upside, as far as I am concerned, is either here, or past. He was 17-9 4.60 in 32 starts. And he tossed a no-no don’t forget. My issues are multiple with him. He’s not going to sign what I believe is a good deal, so we’re going to arbitration, his 32 starts netted him just 197.2 IP. He punched out just 116, to 204 hits. Martin feels he’s a borderline starter to begin with. He’s left handed, always a plus, but Pacheco is as well, and Pacheco is just 18. Baltimore picks in the 16 slot, we’re slated to pick 22nd, so I’d move up 6 in round 1, add pick 16 in round 2, and lose pick 27 in round 3, and the cash, 718 K. So I’d now have 3 of the first 57 picks, before I’d have 3 of the first 85, and I’d net what looks to be a legit 2-3rd rounder at worst if the kid is what we think. He’s lefty, throws 98-100, has a filthy split and can throw just about every day. At 6’2” 220 he’s got a pitchers body too. For what it’s worth we project to save about 2.4 million in payroll on this deal.
I pull the trigger, saying good bye to Davis and hello to a young closer in waiting, and a new 2nd round pick.

11/4 In other trade news the two expansion teams have made a deal. Green Bay sending 27 year old OF Juan Caraballo to Alaska for 19 year old OF prospect Carl Crawford and 17 year old IF prospet Ty McKinley. Carabello hit .285-3-14 in 38 games for the Blizzard this year, and was Green Bay’s 2nd round pick in the expansion draft. The 19 year old Crawford was one of the MLB minor league players Alaska signed prior to coming into the league, and got a September cal up this year going 1-7 in 16 games, with 6 steals in 7 attempts. McKinley was discovered by Alaska scouts out of Canada and is a young 1B or 2B prospect who can fly.

11/5 Arizona has shipped 30 year old 1B Dan Jackson and 798K to Dayton for 29 year old OF Luis Rubio. Rubio has a career .263 average in 444 games with 84 2B’s 36 3B’s and 13 homers. He’s 76-137 in SB’s and sports a career .371 OBP. He figures to play left and hit 7th or 8th for the Greyhounds. Jackson figures to slide intot he cleanup spot in Dayton, hitting behind Bill Hill. He’s a career .262 hitter with 96 HR’s in 609 games. He’s driven in 337 runs with career highs of 32-99 set in 2014.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR
In the Frontier League El Paso’s Olver Gidley took home the hardware after his Diablo’s won a record 107 games. It was his second straight FL Manager of the year award following El Paso’s 92-70 2014 campaign.

In the Coastal League Vegas Skipper Steve Ashley took home his first Manager of the year award after he led the 51’s to a 97-65 season, improving 18 games over their 2014 record.

11/6 Alaska continues to deal. This time sending 32 year old IF Torcan Pavitt and 22 year old OF prospect Vincente Rodriguez to Edmonton for 26 year old catcher Juan Sanchez. Sanchez, a decent defender, is a career .220 hitter with 48 doubles, 4 triples and 23 home runs in 291 games. Pavit is an outstanding defender around the infield and a career .278 hitter with 9 HR’s and 44 RBi’s in 204 games. Rodriguez is thought to be a fringe prospect at best.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

Are my new settings financially, I have bumped the settings to 2010, upped cash on hand to 3m, how will this impact me? More important when?

Take a look at the League Setup page. In the upper right corner under Financial Functions, the option to "assign fictional financials to teams" should boost your budgets to be higher than your payrolls. Your new settings might then keep the teams showing a profit. I would do a backup first before you try this in case you don't like the result.

[gehrig38]

11/9 Tulsa has sent 25 year old catcher Jeff Weeks to Las Vegas for 35 year old RP Wu-shiun Fou and 19 year old minor league OF Victor Maldonado, and 898K in cash. Weeks hit .441 in 68 AB’s after a brief call up and is expected to take over primary catching duties in Vegas while Fou will move into a setup role for young Tulsa Closer Stewart Ward. Fou is 30-17 with 13 saves and a 3.63 ERA over 274 career appearances and 332 innings. He has 419 K’s to 119 walks. Maldonado was the 2nd round pick by Las Vegas (42nd overall) out of Doral Academy in Florida. Scouts have varying opinions of his ceiling but the 19 year old is thought by some to be a franchise prospect with the ability to win a batting title. A blazing fast runner with 40-50 double pop and a tremendous awareness of the strike zone.

11/11 And the Aces are in rebuild and remake mode. Today sending 27 year old Catcher Pepe Segura to the Roughriders, along with 20 year old OF prospect Jose Franco for 27 year old OF Dustin Burns. Segura figures to battle for a platoon, or the starting Houston job against 3 older players including the Roughriders Leo Aachen. Franco is a good base stealing defender with little projected upside in his bat. Burns hit .272 with 4 homers and 29 RBI’s in 92 games for Houston this year. A decent defender in the OF he can play first as well. Talk is that he’ll battle for the 4th or 5th OF slot on the Aces roster.

11/12 LA has sent 33 year old SP Nick Johnston (56-30 4.20 with 763 K’s in 759 career innings) and 1.8 million in cash to El Paso for 31 year old SS Nick Fraser and 22 year old OF prospect John Davidson. Fraser is expected to be a backup middle infielder (career .248 in 466 games ) and Davidson is an outstanding corner OF that scouts believe has 30+ HR pop. He’s an outstanding baserunner and steal threat. His totals in the minors include 44 doubles 16 triples and 42 homers in 355 games and 50-71 stolen bases. Johnson earned 3.4 million this past season and is looking for a significant bump in arbitration.

ARBITRATION
Angel Lopez receives 603,000, team offered 470
Dan MacFadden receives 603,000, team offered 600
Massimiliano Lorenzelli received 603,000, team offered 420
Ignacio Ferrer received 603,000, team offered 420
Sib van Bodegraven received 1.062 million, team offered 850
Randy Pennington received 812,500, team offered 600
Rafael Flores received 603,000, team offered 320

My guess is this is as much a byproduct of me trying to tweak the finances as anything. I need to get that sorted out this winter as best I can.