Nabo48 - 2043 and beyond ...

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Left Fielders

34 - John Sarver
Projected WAR: 5.1 WAR
Salary: 35 M
$/WAR: 6.9 M / WAR

14 - Brandon Gomez
Projected WAR: 1.2WAR
Salary: 1.8 M
$/WAR: 1.5 M / WAR

Center Fielders

30 - Kyle Horsfall
Projected WAR: 1 WAR
Salary: 720 K
$/WAR: 720 K / WAR

Right Fielders

35 - John Wegner
Projected WAR: 1.6 WAR
Salary: 10 M
$/WAR: 6.3 M / WAR

6 - Orlando Acevedo
Projected WAR: 0.5 WAR
Salary: 5.1 M
$/WAR: 10.1 M / WAR

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Starting Pitchers

17 - Luke Nagari
Projected WAR: 6.5 WAR
Salary: 10.4M
$/WAR: 1.6 M / WAR

26 - Chris Silver
Projected WAR: 5.4WAR
Salary: 20 M
$/WAR: 3.7 M / WAR

9 - Jon Harper
Projected WAR: 3.4 WAR
Salary: 4 M
$/WAR: 1.2 M / WAR

15 - Travis Wagner
Projected WAR: 2.5 WAR
Salary: 0.72 M
$/WAR: 0.52 M / WAR

3 - Luis Diaz
Projected WAR: 2.0 WAR
Salary: 0.72 M
$/WAR: 0.36 M / WAR

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Relief Pitchers

12 - Dave Alsobrook
Projected WAR: 0.2 WAR
Salary: 0.72 M
$/WAR: 3.6 M / WAR

11 - Steve Buckman
Projected WAR: 0.2 WAR
Salary: 0.9 M
$/WAR: 7.4 M / WAR

24 - Sergio Chacon
Projected WAR: 0.3 WAR
Salary: 2.1 M
$/WAR: 7.0 M / WAR

21 - Mitch Kirkland
Projected WAR: 0.4 WAR
Salary: 3.0 M
$/WAR: 8.2 M / WAR

46 - Bobby Minner
Projected WAR: 0.75 WAR
Salary: 2.0 M
$/WAR: 2.7 M / WAR

4 - Orlando Sotillo
Projected WAR: 0.1WAR
Salary: 4.0 M
$/WAR: 40 M / WAR

10 - Bob Ornelas
Projected WAR: 1.3 WAR
Salary: 1.8 M
$/WAR: 1.4 M / WAR

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Reminder: 3 of these players will be traded for yellow level prospect or a draft pick, due to the "just before spring training signing FA 'scam' situation".

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Mesa got off to an incredible 9-1 start, outscoring San Antonio, Salt Lake, Space City and Nebraska, 50-31 over those 1st 10 games. Then the Monsters went 2-9 over the stretch of games, before ending the month on a 3-5 run to end up at 14-14 .... 4 GB in 4th/5th Place. Weird month man, weird month.



Shouldn't have much difficulty meeting 3 of the 4 owner goals for 2050. Increasing fan interest will be a challenge ... maybe a FA acquisition at the deadline?

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* Sequin, Byrd, Flores were traded to maintain "competitive balance", so to speak.

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The Mesa defense put up an all-time great run prevention month, allowing just 82 runs over 29 games (2.82 RPG, league average is 4.4), en route to a 21-8 record in May ... hurdling all teams into 1st place.

This was just amazing, and I don't expect it to continue ... I just hope regression doesn't hit too hard ... or all at once.

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I was looking at the standings, and noticed that 4 teams in my division had a better W-L record than the 4th division winner (likely winner) and wondered if this was a common occurrence in the NABO48?

I went with 4 divisions because I thought it would be a more competitive environment for the smaller market teams or keep them in "building/competitive mode" for more seasons, but I didn't see any evidence of that. So, I went back and looked at each season since I took over the Mesa job and noted how many non-playoff teams had a better record than the 4th playoff team (worst division winner).

2043 - East: 6, West: 1, Total: 7
2044 - East: 1, West: 7, Total: 8
2045 - East: 2, West: 0, Total: 2
2046 - East: 0, West: 7, Total: 7
2047 - East: 8, West: 7, Total: 15
2048 - East: 6, West: 1, Total: 7
2049 - East: 0, West: 5, Total: 5
2050 - East: 2, West: 4, Total: 6

Over 8 NABO48 seasons, an average of 7 teams have a better record than the worst playoff qualifier. That's a lot of teams.

So, I jumped back to the original NABO48 version of having all 24 teams in 2 leagues, no divisions, top 8 teams make the postseason. I'm going to try this a few seasons and see if it leads to better results regarding consistent competitiveness among teams. I use a balanced scheduled where each team plays the other teams in each league the same number of times, so this probably makes more sense.

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Looking for ways to spark the offense, I took to the trading block on the Manager's screen.

I just ask the other team's GM to "make this work" and then pick what I want from their options. Sometimes, I'll throw in a draft pick from them, seeing if they'll still make the trade. If it's close, I add something until they say yes.



Mesa Gets ...



Sin City Gets ...



Porter, no longer a SP prospect for Mesa gets converted to RP by Sin City, and that's probably a smart move for the Sharks.

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In the trading block, I saw Ramos, and the interest is obvious .... mega power, but also big strikeouts, and I am concerned about having too many high strikeout batters in the same lineup. So, at worst I figured he could platoon at DH, be a late game PH option when you need a HR chance, or if it's too crowded, maybe possible trade bait. Free agent at the end of the year, minimal risk.



Mesa Gets ...





Indiana Gets ...

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With too many OF on the roster and in the system, I traded Wegner just to free up some more money and roster spot.



Mesa Gets ...



Also trying to add a decent prospect to the system after losing a couple via trades.

Philadelphia Gets ...

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Went to the trading block sortable screen and a name jumped out at me ... former Mesa Monster DH Ken Maxwell.

Maxwell was a very productive DH for the Monsters for the duration of his contract, but when negotiations came around, I couldn't justify the 20M AAV he was wanting for an above average DH. But this time around, with a smaller price tag and more need for him, I jumped at it. He's not a tremendously high K batter and as a RHB, he provides some thump against LHP, and I don't need to platoon him. Just plug and play. He'll bat 4th, in between lefties Sarver and Sutton. I'll be looking to extend him for a good price if I can, free agent at the end of the year.



Mesa Gets ...



Motor City Gets ...



My assistant GM couldn't believe MC was accepting this trade, but they did ... so I did.

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Regression definitely set in for the starting rotation, but still leads NABO in fewest runs allowed, while the offense has improved to 13th in runs scored, up from 20th.

15-12 in June keeps the Monsters near the top of the standings.

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