Moneyball in Montreal, A challenging fictional story.

[dgally]

Into the meat of the season, we come into June scrapping the barrel. Big things are on the horizon however as draft day looms.

We finish up the series with Havana, sweeping them in the final game. 1-0

Then, struck with an L streak. We head to San Diego and start a five game stretch of scoring no more than 3 runs. We get swept by SD. 0-3

Misery continues when Monterrey comes to town. Finally, our offense comes alive a bit in the last game of the series but we still fall and our L streak comes to 6. 0-3

Draft day. We take three pitchers in the first three rounds. Perez, a high work ethic southpaw. Zavala, an intelligent 4 pitch rightie and a CL. The first and last we're really hoping help us sooner than later. Perez is placed a few days later as prospect #26 in the league though he may fall as his dev at the end of the month dropped. I worry a little about his Velo.

Back to ball as we begin to erase our week of losses with Ottawa in town. We do, our offense coming to life and we sweep the Marshalls in front of the home crowd. 3-0

Phoenix is next, coming to Montreal and facing the same axe. We win all three, again with good offense production headed by Koch. Chris Lady, former 1st rounder, is looking good. It's almost too bad since he's a toxin in the work place. 3-0

We dump Puentes during the Phoenix series. 17mil/yr off the books for a player that's more wrecked than fragile. Bad business by me. We get a CF in return in Vogler with team control as well as a potential avg middle relief in Rodriguez. BP always needs help especially with Wolterman looking like he's declining with the Lynx Curse.

Off to Mississauga. After two weeks of sweeps in one direction then the next. It's time for split week. We take the first two to extend out win streak to 8 games before they avoid the sweep. 2-1

Next, Honolulu comes into town where we split the first two but take the rubber match in a 8 inning shut out by 72nd overall pick in the 2027 draft, Miguel Morales. 2-1

Then, Mexico City comes into town and trounce us in the first two by a combined 2-18 scoreline. However, we do avoid the sweep and take the last. 1-2

That week over, we're back to sweep week. The Big Train run us over in three games. We manage only 2 runs over the course of the series. 0-3

Yet, in the final series of June, division leader Managua comes into town and we play top notch baseball, securing a sweep in the positive direction. Davis picks up his 8th win of the season and, with a projected 8 WAR, could take a run at the Cy again. Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, Koch knocks his 18 & 19th homers of the season, leading the team. 3-0

Signs of life in June. 15-13 puts us above .500 for a month since at least last year. I'm not super stoked with the draft class as we have already 5 pitchers in the top 150. Still, with how finicky they can be, we can take all the help we can get. Gurrola is overmatched in the bigs as is Morales but they're the best options we have really with our injuries. Spot starters are the only guys on the market.

[dgally]

The All-Star game kicks off July. As in the last few years, Buck is the only rep from the Jynx I mean Lynx. Koch is getting snubbed I think. 20 dubs, 20 bombs for a .285 avg and 60 rbis is solid production half the year through. I may have missed this but we traded out Garza our LF who had a good year and now was batting .176 through 80 games for Coyle. The OSA/Scouts are split on him becoming a frontrunner or bench player. He plays all IF well enough so he can slot in as a 4th once Gross comes back.

The games pick up again at the end of the week where we face San Luis. Former Lynx Star Bryan is having a fine year, looking again toward 30/100/.290. We lose the first two but stave off the sweep by a fine performance by Asenjo and the BP, shutting out the Cyclones 3-0. 1-2

Guatemala is next. A three game series in two days. The doubleheader is a double edge beating as we fall to both, losing 6-9 and 4-6. Again, we stave off the sweep with a nice performance by Brackmann who's finally showing signs of life. 1-2

We head over to Tijuana next. Gross is nearly ready to come off IR from his 6 week wrist injury. We sweep the Frozen Ropes, championed by a 1-0 performance from Buck. I would love a stat to see his run support. 3-0

The Kangaroos of LA come into town next. We split the first two but win the rubber match in a definitive 8-0 shutout complete game by Buck, making 17 innings straight of 0 run ball. Breakout CF Esteban Gonzalez picked up his 7th triple of the season. 2-1

Division matchup in Chicago. A topsy turnsy series sees us the loser in the rubber match. 1-2

Next, a two game series across three days against Havana. We split the two. 1-1

Big trade talks happening.

San Diego comes into town and we almost exact revenge on the sweep they put on us last time. We win 2 and barely miss out on the last, losing 0-1. But the matches are unimportant to fans. 2-1

Blockbuster trade. We find a package deal where we can unload 17mil/yr McWilliams...it includes Star 2b Tom English. English is having another down season though with his defensive abilities, he'll still manage to get 4-5 WAR. But, he's on 30mil/yr with an opt-out coming up, one I'm guessing he might take. We can't get as much as we want but we'll get #69 prospect Quinn in return plus a decent looking 2b prospect. At 23 Quinn is sadly still not ready but I'm hoping for a late bloomer. Either way, dumping nearly 50 million off the books lets us fully restructure. We can slot in Chris Lady at 3rd, Gross at 2nd, and Gubernick at SS-- who may steal 100 bases this year. It's sad but it gives us the breathing room we've needed. Fans hate it. English goes to champs Guatemala and will prob finish out the year hitting .300.

Post trade, we head to Monterrey and miss out on a series win by a hair as all three games are decided by 1 run. Wolterman has lost the CL job in favor of Bobby Rodriguez again. 1-2

We close out the month in Ottawa. Starter Vogler, whom we got for Puentes goes down for a month. Still, the last game of the month falls our way, 1-0

Having done our business pre-deadline, we make no deals. We got 13-11 for the month, the second month in a row above .500 putting us at .455 win mark for the year and 11 back in the division. Onward to August. We'll see how Gross and Koch fill the English hole.

[dgally]

I'll cover August and Sept here since the season will again end midway through the month and we have nothing to play for.

First up is our series against Ottawa that began in July. We took that one but here we lose our two opening August games.0-2

Next we travel down to Phoenix where we get into a LWL sandwich. 1-2

Then we're back home against divisional opponent Mississauga. We take the first game 5-0 with Brackmann taking a no-no into the 9th before giving up the only hit Miss would have. We followed that up with a 7-0 shutout before losing the sweep chance in 12 inning offensive barrage. 2-1

Off for a luau, we get our 3rd shutout of the week with a 1-0 opening win. Honolulu takes the next but we get the rubber match W with a 14 inning 9-7 game. 2-1

Down to Mex City where we have the opposite of our previous series, losing, winning then losing the rubber match in extras. 1-2

Our back half of the month looks scary. All playoff contenders with the exception of San Luis who is on the outside of the WC after a rough mid season skid.

We open with the Big Train and we win the first only to get big walloped in the second 1-13 before also losing the rubber.1-2

Managua is next. We shut them out in game 1 with a cg by our boy Buck. Yet the next two, they show us we're outmatched and the Diamonds win the series. 1-2

San Luis comes into town. We hold onto a game 1 win and then get a shutout in game 2. But San Luis avoids the sweep on the last game of the series. 2-1

Off to Guatemala where we will see English for the first time since his trade. We lose the first two by one run but get something out of the series in a strong 9-2 win for the final match. English has a good time, going 6-13 with 4 runs and 2 rbis in the series.

Tijuana is the final series of the month. Game 1 is a low scorer...for a football match as we get the win 12-10. We lose the second but come back strong for a 5-1 W to take the series. 2-1

13-16 On the month, so, expected.

September kicks off down in Hollywood. We take the first, lose the second and get a shutout win to take the rubber match with a good performance by rookie Morales who looks like he might be a fine #3-4 SP. 2-1

Chicago is next. And, we sweep 'em off the table, leap frogging them in the division. When Montreal gets cold, the Lynx get hot. 3-0

Havana is next for a 3 day, 4 game series. The doubleheader kicks us off. We lose the day game, held to 0 runs but even the series at night. The next day, we take it but on the final day, Havana wins to split the series. 2-2

Last series of the season is San Diego. It's a WLW. Leaving on a high note in the last game where rookie Morales gets his ERA below 4.00 with 55 innings pitched. 2-1

A scorching September sees us finish strong at 9-4 and 76-86 for the year-- exactly on prediction if memory serves.

End of the season prospect report puts us at 6th. Our pipeline looks strong. Next year, we'll have 3 young pitchers behind Buck with our young bats looking to come into the fold a year or two later.

Koch was the bat leader, getting his 100th rbi on the last day. Buck had a fantastic season just cresting 8 WAR though we'll see if his low W totals (12) keeps him off the Cy.

The playoffs see the Lumberjacks of Guatemala fall to Managua. Detroit reached their 4th WS in 5 years only to lose again, all 4 times, this time climbing back to 3-3 after being down 3-1 only to lose the game 7. Tragedy in Detroit.

First look at the offseason sees a messy Arb day as we drop a lot of bp dead weight. We may look to keep Asenjo but he wants 6 million & a 4 year contract-- a lot for a #5 who would prob go into the bp eventually. Hopefully Wells will not take his offer and we can get a supp for him. While his d is phenomenal, batting under .200 two years in a row is just not worth the 15 million long term contract.

We'll be back with the first part of the offseason in a few days and dare I say, a potential return to .500?

[dgally]

This offseason is like no other in the terms that we have money. Will we spend it though?

We let gubernick go in the offseason so we need a SS and we could also use BP help. However, BP help in FA is so expensive and I don't want to get caught (again) in a bad deal.

First up though, awards. Former Lynx CL Valencia had an insane year, deservedly winning the RoY. 1B Koch and C Wells pick up Gold Gloves-- Koch's first. And our boy Bucky, Ace in the hole, picks up his 2nd Cy win.

In Arby, we let go a host of bubble RPs. C Wells of course takes the Q-offer instead of blessing us with a supp pick.

There's actual international FA talent this year and we go after the wildly named An-te-hai Zi or "Rawmeat Bill" lol. After a lot of back and forth we bag him for a 1 year/14 mil deal. He should be in his prime but that offers us flex with him being on arbitration. We also grab the aged SS Michael Cash in a 1 year/10 million deal.

In INT amateurs we sign a North Korean LF speedster with a 21/21 cont/babip. I look forward to his development.

Spring Training we go a measly 13-17 and BNN projects us to have a worse season, finishing just about .400. A problem given our owner is officially 'Worried' and gives us an ominous message. This may be our last year folks. A shame given the Lynx have the 2nd best farm in the league and some real talent coming into the bigs in the next year and year after.

[dgally]

The new season is here and our owner is mighty worried. He clearly believes a playoff team can be built with pennies. Which it can...it just takes longer. At least, this is what I tell myself as I watch an atrophic curse take down FA after FA.

It's only a kind of early start this year-- March 26th. We're dealt a tough test in top team (now more top with Tom English) in a road series against Guatemala. They promptly sweep us. 'Here we go again' is whispered in the clubhouse. 0-3

We get Mississauga at home next and we get some good pitching including an outing by sophmore Gurrola who pitches 6 innings of strong baseball for a game 2 7-1 win. We sweep the Chameleons in 3. 3-0

3-3 in March

Onward to April, we head to Tijuana to face the highest salaried team in baseball. Sweep. 0-3

The sweep-y-ness of this league continues. And continues as Chicago comes into town and piles on the misery including an 5-18 thumping in the final game. 0-3

Honolulu is next and we get back into the win column with a 7-1 opening win. We win the next in extras but fail to sweep the Arrows. 2-1

Expansion team Havana is still trying to find their own footing as they come into town. Our pitching seems to right itself. We lose the first but take the next two in shutouts by Brackmann and Morales. However, Brackmann takes an injury and our #2 is down for 3 months. 2-1

The Big Train come into town and offense explodes with 39 runs in the first two games. The rubber match comes back to earth and we win 3-2 in order to take the series. 2-1

2030 Champs and division rival Managua Diamonds are next in an away matchup. The Lynx rise to the occasion and take not one, not two, but all three games for their second (positive) sweep of the season. 3-0

We head back to Montreal to host San Luis who slams us for 16 runs in a game 1 loss. We come back to take game two but fail to win the series in a 1-2 pitcher's duel. 1-2

We get news Tom English, former Lynx star is done for the season. Tough break for the 35 million dollar man.

Our next series is Mexico City Spiders in CDMX. We win 9-5 in the first game as Koch begins to heat up, batting behind the very hot Gross who seems to be filling English's shoes nicely...on the offensive side of the ball. However, we fail to win the next two as the Spiders take the series. 1-2

San Diego comes to town at the tail end of the month. We always seem to struggle against the Snappers and it's no difference here. They take the series 1-2

The Kangaroos from LA are the final game of the month. The Lynx fail to mew once, losing badly 0-7. 0-1

12-16 for the month. We're.440 win percentage. We need to get to .500 in order to keep our jobs. Pitching ranks dead last as our young staff is still overmatched and our BP is pathetic. However, we do have more offense now than we've had since the playoff years. Gross is off to a great start batting .320. An-te-zai had a solid start batting nearly .270 with 5 HR and 19 RBI. Lady is struggling which is not great since his personality is already a burden. And of course, Wells is barely batting .100. Ugh

[dgally]

The second month of the season. We seem to be in a plateau, not able to reach .500. Those 8-10/mil a year contracts for relievers are starting to look reasonable.

Anyway. We finish our LA series, splitting the May half. 1-1

Then, off to the capital of Canada as we face off (not hockey) against divisional opponent, Ottawa who comes in with an identical record to ours at 15-21. They take the series including an extra innings rubber match bout. 1-2

The Canada train continues as we head back to Montreal and Monterrey comes into town. Funnily enough, they too sport an identical record to ours at 16-23. And just like Ottawa, they get the best of us, taking the rubber match in a convincing 5-9 W. 1-2

Off to Phoenix. Their record is also like ours with the large caveat that their bigger number is in the wins column. They show it too as after Buck leads us to an 8-4 W in the series opener, we lose the next, our 3rd series loss in a row. 1-2

Guatemala is next-- with no Tom English. That proves in our favor as we notch a series win on the back of two solid performances by Gurrola and Davis who each went 6+ and held the Gautes to 2 runs. 2-1

With half the month over, we head over to Mississauga for another divisional clash. "Rawmeat Bill" international FA signing Zi hits his 9th HR in the opener to start the series on a high note in a 3-2 win. The Lynx take game two but fail to complete the sweep. 2-1

Tijuana are next. They've had a scorching start to the season (they do have highest payroll), going 35-17. At home, we're able to fend them off only once, winning just the second game. 1-2

Over to Chicago, the division leader. The first two games, the Lynx take leads into the ninth only to have them slip away. In game 1, CL Dewitt records his 4th BS of the young season. We are able to able to hold it together and take game 3, with leadoff man Gonzalez recording his 12th HR of the season, on pace for 38. Not bad for a 11 power man. 1-2

Honolulu is next. Game 1 takes 14 innings to decide before SS Cash cashes in with a 2 run double to win the game 6-4. However, the Lynx fail to take the momentum and take L's in game 2 and 3. 1-2

The last series of the month. Havana. Mulder, filling in for injured Brackmann helps lead the Lynx to a 6-3 opening win. 1b Koch records his 9 dinger of the campaign. The last game of the month goes to the Judges though in a 7-3 loss. 1-1

More of the same. 12-16. With no one on waivers, I think I need to start looking to trade to sure up the BP. SPs are too expensive and too hard to come by so our best hope is our young staff starts to fill out their potential.

Chemistry is on the edge. Lady will be trade bait #1 given his attitude and his poor play. Financial are decent but butts in the seats are anything but butts. A 4th losing season does that.