The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

117? Really? That would work. If that offense, and that pitching shows up, it's possible. Walt Thompson with a monster year, the Rookie too, Cruz back to his thing. Bill Hill returning to form in a new uni. Tight races outside the central if this holds true.

[gehrig38]

We held at 6.

[gehrig38]

Here's our top prospects opening day...

[gehrig38]

OPENING DAY NEWS, NOTES AND STATE OF THE FRANCHISE:
Mr. Marquis is very happy about where the team and organization has gotten. His ‘goals’ for the team this year are to ‘reach the playoffs’ and I wholeheartedly agree. Though it stops short of what I expect. We were a mere 3 outs away, and honestly 1 out away in the top of the 9th. This team, I predict, will set a few offensive records this season and score 1000 runs, 250 homers are not out of the question if the lineup stays on the field. Fan interest is at 75, our 76 million dollar budget is 23rd, our 57.5 million payroll 20th. Just north of 5 million for the draft this year, 31.4 million for extensions which I am assuming I will use.

RUMORS
Apparently word is out that we are in discussions with a certain 31 year old SP on a contract extension, though we are not commenting.

Fisher Cats add thunder:
New Hampshire has landed 1B Alberto Vargas in a 3 year 26.5 million dollar deal. Just 1 season removed from his 52-140 2015 campaign Vargas will anchor a new look lineup in New Hampshire. A career .269 hitter with 188 homers over the past 5 years, he’s coming off a career worst 23-68 season, while his average of 41-114 is what the Fisher Cats feel they’re getting.

Sacramento adds Peters:
The River Cats have signed former Silver Star 3B Pat Peters to a 2 year 15.6 million dollar contract today. The 35 year old is coming off a .275-29-100 season and brings a career .285/.363/.501 line with 155 home runs to the Sacarmento offense. He will mix in with 27 year old Zorba Christolfis at 1st and 26 year old Howard Mathis at DH as well as spell Jason White at 3rd vs RHP and play 3rd vs LHP.

Wizards add Woodard:
LA has signed former El Paso Diablo closer Paul Woodard to a 1 year 1.66 million dollar contract. Woodard is 19-29 with 75 career Saves and a 3.87 ERA in 324 games.

[illeracula]

Good luck! With that prediction, it seems like all the cards are in place for an Iron Pigs Championship!

Been enjoying reading and the amount of time and detail you have been putting into it.

[gehrig38]

2017 Season Week 1
3 vs West Michigan
3 @ Michigan
1 vs New York

GAME 1
Opening day at home, team gets their 2016 Frontier League Championship Rings in a nice ceremony.

Steve Dunlap was on today, 8-3-0-0-3-7 but Ron Miller, in a 9th inning PH appearance, extended his hot spring with a game tying 2 run homer. Walk Thompson went 6-4-2-2-2-5. Tyson Howard scored after his 10th inning triple on a Daniel Collins sac fly making Doug Winston the loser (0-1).
WMI 3 CHI 2 (10) (0-1)

GAME 2
Ken Lee (1-0) went 7-8-2-1-2-5 and Arturo Rodriguez got the last 6 outs. Eric Coates was 3-5 with 2 runs on his 1st homer, Jean Chartier was 2-4 with a double and 2 SB’s and Pedro Salinas cracked his first homer, as did Luis Chavez.
CHI 6 WMI 2 (1-1)

CONTRACT NEWS
Chicago Inks All Star Closer:
Ernesto Cruz will remain an Iron Pig for the next 5 years, today signing a 49.5 million dollar contract extension to remain with the club.

(Well under the 12-15 per that the top guys were getting this month, and it creates continuity at an important position. Ya you can generally rebuild a pen through free agency but it’s a lot easier to do with the 9th inning piece in place. Fan interest moved from 75 to 78 with the signing.)

SIGNINGS
River Cats add another veteran bat:
A day after signing Pat Peters the Sacramento River Cats signed 3B Toby Clifton to a 1 year 9.46 million dollar contract. Peters has told the club he’ll move to 1st to accommodate Clifton.

There’s a few decent to very good players out there, some under 30 (Juan Torres, Felix Torres and Barry Meyer are very good players, and Kevin Moore the SB leader, but pretty much most of the star players are under contract)

GAME 3
Alfredo Alejandrez (1-0) tossed 6.2 shutout innings (6.2-6-0-0-2-5) and Jean Chartier went 2-4 with his 1st homer. Jorge Ibarra was 4-4 in the loss with 2 doubles.
CHI 6 WMI 1 (2-1)

INJURY NEWS
Las Vegas will be without OF Jorge Gonzalez (.330-7-58 ’16) for the next month with a jammed shoulder.

GAME 4
Bryan Rogers (1-0) punched out 10 in 8 shutout innings (8-5-0-0-2-10) and Hugh Collins was 3-6 with 6 RBI’s on a double and a triple. Chartier went 2-2 with 3 runs on a double (2) and 2 walks, Bill Alexander and Wes Morgan hit their first homers of the season.
CHI 12 MICH 0 (3-1)

GOOD GAMES
Fresno’s Howard Crane toosed a 2 hitter in Houston today, blanking the Roughriders 6-0 for his 1st win.

GAME 5
Gerardo Zamora (1-0) went into the 8th in a 7.2-8-4-4-2-6 but after tiring and a Chris Green solo shot his day was done. He gave up an earned run in the 3rd which was the 1st by a SP in 3 games. The offense pounded out 18 hits led by rookie Pedro Salinas’s 4-5 day, featuring his 2nd HR. Paul Riggs and Eric Hudson went 3-5, Hudson driving in 3. Hugh Collins hit his 1st HR, and Chavez (3), Riggs (1) and Chartier (3) stole bases.
CHI 10 MICH 4 (4-1)

GREAT GAMES
Arizona Greyhound 2B Michael Moran was 3-3 with 8 RBI’s on 3 home runs in a 12-2 win over Green Bay.

STREAKS
Patriot Jesus Castro was 1-3 to extend his streak to 20 straight with a hit.

CONTRACT STUFF
Chicago inks reserve:
Massimiliano Lorenzelli agreed to terms on a 2 year 1.55 million dollar contract extension with Chicago today. “I’m just happy to be in the big leagues” he said, “That someone would pay me to do this is a bonus!”

Chartier, Iron Pigs, break off talks:
23 year old superstar Jean Chartier is apparently going to test the market. “If what I’ve done doesn’t garner more respect than that, I’ll go someplace else.” He said. “I’ve been good, when I play, and should be paid like it”. The club issued a statement “While we respect and appreciate all Jean has done for this club, and franchise, we have to maintain certain fiscal restraint in how we handle long term deals and if Jean feels he wants to test the market then he’s earned that right, and we’ll certainly participate in the bidding for his services if he’s open to that”

(this went south fast, he was mad to begin with and his 6 year 20m a year ask, with no offer’s to help shield the club in case of a major injury killed the deal. While it would be crushing to lose him, no one guy can hold a team hostage financially. It’s likely we’ll move this money into discussions with Alexander to get something done there if possible)

GAME 6
A 9th inning Paul Riggs tie breaking double was the difference after Ernesto Cruz nailed down the 9th for his 1st save. 2 early errors cost Walt Thompson (6-10-5-3-1-9). Pedro Salinas hit his 4th homer in a 2-5 4 RBI day. Ben Bray was 4-5 for Michigan but was injured running the bases late in the game. Ken Johnson (1-0) got the win.
CHI 6 MICH 5 (5-1)

GOOD GAMES
Dallas Texan Tim Hudson twirled a 4 hitter in Tulsa today, shutting out the defending champs 3-0. Hudson is 2-0 1.06 through his 1st 2 starts.

SIGNINGS
Baltimore signs slugger Meyer:
The Railcats continued their makeover with the announcement they’d reached a 4 year 34.2 million agreement 2014 All Star OF Barry Meyer. Meyer joins his 4th IBL team (Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Sacramento) in the past 6 seasons and carries a .301/.391/.425 career line with 143 doubles and 34 HR’s in 598 IBL games.

GAME 7
Ken Lee (2-0) went 7.2-7-3-3-0-7 and Ernesto Cruz got the final 4 outs for his 2nd save. The top 5 hitters went 10-22. Coates was 2-5 with a double, Chartier 2-5 with a double, Collins 2-4 withi his 2nd HR, Alexander 2-4 and Morgan 2-4. Luis Chavez was 2-3 with his 2nd HR. Birger Kjorsvik was 3-2 with his 3rd HR.
CHI 6 NY 3 (6-1)

WEEK 1 RECAP
WEEK 1 FL POTW-Michael Moran (AZ) 12-27 4 HR’s 11 RBI’s
WEEK 1 CL POTW-Mike Johnston (HOU) 8-22 4 HR’s 12 RBI’s

INJURY NEWS
Hooks lose Feliz:
Raul Feliz will miss the next 4-5 months after suffering a severe ankle injury yesterday.

STREAKS
Patriot Jesus Castro had his streak end at 21.

MINORS NEWS
Bakersfield CF Barry Scott (2014 3rd round) went 5-5 with 2 RBI’s in a 14-0 win yesterday. He’s hitting .476 early on.

Tulsa OF Troy Becker (2016 trade with Tulsa Drillers) was the AAA POTW after he went 14-24 2 HR’s 13 RBI’s.

Belleview 1B Max Briddon (minor league FA) was the MW POTW for his 13-29 1 HR 15 RBI week.

IBL CAREER LEADERS IN WHIP
Ernesto Cruz (CHI) 0.87
Jos Boswell (PIT) 0.89
Julio Gonzalez (LA) 0.90
Nicholas Clark (EDM) 0.93
Anbar Suhayb (ALK) 0.95

IBL POWER RANKINGS (final ranking in last week of 2016)
1) Los Angeles (10)
2) Chicago (2)
3) Houston (14)
4) New Hampshire (15)
5) Las Vegas (1)

Tulsa is 1st in AAA

[gehrig38]

WEEK 2
2 vs New York
3 @ Staten Island
Off Day
1 vs Green Bay

GAME 8
Down 2-1 in the 7th Doug Winston came into a bases loaded jam and drilled a grand slam to break it open, his 5th HR. Alejandrez (1-1) went 6-8-4-4-2-9 for the loss. Norm Crawford was 3-5 in the win. Chartier was 2-4 with his 4th SB.
NY 8 CHI 4 (6-2 +2)

GOOD GAMES
Corpus Christi SP Jim Morris (7-15 5.18 ’16) tossed a 6 hitter in a 10-0 win over the Pittsburgh Bulldogs. He’s 1-1 2.40 in 2 starts.

SIGNINGS
Brooklyn inks pair including former WS Hero:
The Cyclones signed veteran 3B Kevin Peters to a 1 year 2.83 million dollar deal today. The club has told Peters he’ll handle primary DH duties. They also announced the signing of 27 year old 2B Manuel Cantu to a 1 year 3.2 million dollar deal. The former Railcat 2B has hit .271/.355/.377 in 588 IBL games, all with Baltimore.

Boston signs base thief:
The Bombers have announced the signing of the IBL’s all time SB leader Kevin Moore to a 1 year 5.7 million dollar contract. The 32 year old is a career .312 hitter with 106 home runs and 222 stolen bases. Moore is slated to take over at 1B and hit 3rd with CF Torii Hunter out for the next month.

Knights sign young slugger:
Former Railcat Juan Torres has agreed to a 2 year 17.39 million dollar deal with the New York Knights. Just 26 years old he spent spring training hassling with visa issues and has just now received clearance to begin playing. The Knights pounced on the situation and have made it clear he’s a piece of their future. The 26 year old has 160 career home runs and a .252 lifetime average in 632 IBL games, all in Baltimore.

Patriots sign SP:
The Philadelphia Patriots announced the signing of 28 year old Octavio Vasquez to a 1 year 3.63 million dollar contract. Vazquez is 59-62 with a 4.52 lifetime ERA over 166 starts and 1061.1 IP. He’d spent his first 5 IBL seasons in Brookly with his best season coming in 2013 (14-11 3.78).

GAME 9
Rogers struggled, giving up a 3 runs shot to Lee Allen (6th) in the 4th (5-7-6-6-1-6) and the pen blew a lead but the offense battled back and Cruz came in to save his 3rd. Allen was 3-4 with 2 doubles and the HR, driving in 4 in the loss. Ron Miller was 1-2 with 3 RBI’s and 2 walks in spelling Alexander, Eric Coates hit his 2nd HR, Rafael Flores his 1st in giving Hudson a day off. Luis Chavez was 2-4 with a doub;e and a triple and Wes Morgan and Pedro Salinas were 2-4, Morgan driving in a run, Salinas scoring 2. Torres was 1-5 in his New York debut.
CHI 8 NY 7 (7-2 +2)

GAME 10
A battle of pens and late lead changes that ends with Johnson (2-0) winning and Cruz (4) grabbing another save. Wes Morgan went down in the 8th with a knee injury that looks to keep him on the bench for 3-4 days at least. Alexander (2) Collins (3) and Salinas (5) homered with Collins driving in 3 and Alexander 2. Mario Orosco was 3-5 in the loss. Zamora went 6-10-6-6-1-3 and surrendered an early 4-0 lead.
CHI 7 SI 6 (8-2 +2)

INJURY NEWS
Yankee slugger Bill Hill strained a hamstring today in our game and is out 2-3 weeks.

GAME 11
The pen was without Ernesto Cruz today. And battled, holding a 4-2 lead into the bottom of 9 but Jose Torres got into a jam and Alejandor Villanueva ended the game with a walk off grand slam. Dave Ladd was 3-4 and Villanueva drove in 4. Massi Lorenzelli was 3-3 in his first start of the year and Luis Chavez and Paul Riggs both doubled twice.
SI 6 CHI 4 (8-3 +2)

GAME 12
Trailing 3-2 entering the 9th, 2 quick outs and we were expecting a swift end. But an Eric Hudson single, Will Harris walk and Eric Coates walk to load the bases were then followed by another walk, this one to Paul Riggs and it tied the game. Hugh Collins drilled a bases loaded single, scoring Harris and Coates to break it open. Rodriguez (1-0) got the win and Cruz another save (5). Collins’ single was part of a 3-4 day, he drove in 3 with his 4th HR. Paul Riggs was 2-4 with his 6th double, Hudson was 2-4. We stole 3 bases (Lorenzelli (1) Chavez (4) and Collins (5)) and Lee went 6.2-6-3-3-2-5. Yankee newcomer Marcos Lopez was in line for the win before the breakdown, going 7.1-6-2-2-3-5.
CHI 5 SI 3 (9-3 +2)

INTERESTING STUFF
Young star in Columbus, Jeff Hudson, is off to an unprecedented start. Through 12 games he’s hit 9 home runs and driven in 19. Right behind him is New York’s Lee Allen, who has 8 home runs and 22 RBI’s in his first 12 starts. Hudson is on a 122 HR pace, Allen is on 297 RBI pace.
Pittsburgh’s Vince Bray is back, punching out 13 in 8.1 to give him 32 through 3 starts.

GAME 13
Alejandrez (2-1) navigated a tough lineup with a 7-6-4-4-1-3 outing and Randy Pennington (H2) got some tough 8th inning outs as Ernesto Cruz notched yet another save (6). Eric Coates was 3-3 with 2 runs, Bill Alexander hit his 3rd HR and Luis Chavez doubled and tripled in a 2-4 day.
(Wow, they’ve gotten their two MLB rookies to the big leagues and sport a top 6 of Crawford, Utley, Helton, Hamilton and Rolen now….)
CHI 5 GB 4 (10-3 +3)

WEEK 2 RECAP
WEEK 2 FL POTW-Jeff Hudson (COL) 11-23 7 HR’s 14 RBI’s (.333-9-19)
WEEK 2 CL POTW-Mike Johnston (HOU) 10-18 3 HR’s 13 RBI’s (.442-7-25) That’s 2 straight weeks for him

INJURIES
West Michigan placed 25 year old reliever Ben Brady on the 60 day DL a day after he had elbow reconstruction. The workhorse has appeared in 249 games the past 3 seasons out of the White Cap pen. He’ll miss at least a year, if not more.

STREAKS
Green Bay’s Todd Helton went 1-4 in our game and extended his streak to 20 games.

SIGNINGS
Dragons grab former Roughrider:
Dayton signed 26 year old Paul Reeves today. Reeves agreeing to a 1 year 5.32 million dollar deal. He hit .239-29-74 with Houston last season.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Los Angeles (1)
2) Chicago (2)
3) New York (15)
4) Edmonton (7)
5) Las Vegas (5)
OUT Houston (6) New Hampshire (14)

[gehrig38]

A look at the first 2 weeks

[gehrig38]

WEEK 3
2 vs Green Bay
3 @ Edmonton
2 @ El Paso

WEEK 3
ORG NEWS
A couple of IF injuries in Denison and we’ve given 2016 #2 pick Ken Jenkins a call up to Class A Denison. He’s 22, so from that perspective he’s ready, and he was a guy many teams inquired about this winter. Entered the season as the #67 prospect.

GAME 14
Brayn Rogers (7-7-3-2-0-6) battled former Chicago SP Carlos De La Torre (6.1-6-3-3-3-3) to a draw and Jorge Sanchez gave up Scott Rolens 10th inning 2 run shot in the loss. Rolen was 3-4 with a triple, HR and 3 RBI’s. Pedro Salinas was 3-5 with a double and Eric Hudson hit his 2nd HR. Hugh Collins was hurt on a fly ball in the 1st and it appears to be a serious injury, no word yet.
GB 5 CHI 3 (10-4 +2)

INJURY NEWS
Collins broke his thumb.. bah. He’s on the 15 day and it appears he’ll be out 4-5 weeks. Troy Becker, who’s off to a crazy good start in Tulsa (.423-3-21 in 16 games), will be recalled.

Diablo 3B Vincente Lange suffered an intercostal strain and will be out for the next 5 weeks.

GAME 15
Zamora was cuffed around (3-6-8-8-3-1) but the offense came back, pounding out 20 hits and 16 runs. Carl Crawford doubled and homered (4) in a 2-3 day, driving in 3 and stealing his 5th base. Eric Coates was 3-6 with 3 runs, Luis Chavez was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 3rd homer, Bill Alexander was 3-6 with 6 RBI’s on 2 homers (5). Wes Morgan went 3-5 with 2 runs and a double (3). Pedro Salinas went 3-4 with his 6th HR, driving in 2 (10) and Ron Miller was 2-5 with his 2nd homer. Torres, Sanchez and Johnson went 6-4-0-0-2-10 in relief, Torres (2-1) getting the win.
CHI 16 GB 8 (11-4 +3)

GREAT GAMES
Roughrider 2B Roberto Morales went 5-5 in a 9-4 win over Boston.

SIGNINGS
Arizona inked veteran 1B Juan Cabrera to a 1 year 4 million dollar contract yesterday. Arizona will likely use him as a backup 1B and DH.

MINORS NEWS
Tulsa OF Luis Ramirez (120th round in the 2012 Inaugural draft) went 4-6 with 3 homers and 7 RBI’s in a 18-5 win.

GAME 16
Wes Thompson (0-1) was outpitched by Edmonton SP Sixto Moralez and their pen as Morales (2-1) went 7-2-0-0-1-8 and Nicholas Clark, after a Wes Morgan 9th inning homer (2) saved his 5th. Alekandro Gonzalez provided all the Trapper offense with his 2nd homer, a 2 run shot, in the 5th. Thompson went the distance in the loss (8-3-2-2-1-5) and has a 3.08 through 4 starts with no wins to show for it.
EDM 2 CHI 1 (11-5 +3)

GREAT GAMES
LA’s Eric Jackson was 5-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI in a 10-8 win over Boston.

Newest Roughrider Vincente Romero continued his hot start with his new club after he blanked Corpus Christi 6-0 to move to 4-0 1.91 on the year.

Tulsa All Star Rich Alfred went 4-5, and hit for the cycle while driving in 3 in an 8-6 win over Philadelphia.

GAME 17
Ken Lee (3-0) went the distance, going 9-8-1-1-1-9 in a 7-1 win. Chartier was 3-5 with a triple and Morgan (3) Chavez (4) and Salinas (7) homered. Morgan and Chavez drove in 2.
CHI 7 EDM 1 (12-5 +4)

GOOD GAMES
Tulsa’s George Perkins got his 1st win of the season in a 5-0 2 hitter over Philly.

Marshall Wall (LV) moved to 3-0 on the year after his 6 hit shutout of Fresno.

GAME 18
Alejandrez (3-1) line won’t show it (6.1-7-5-5-1-2) but h pitched well, left with the bases loaded in a game that was in hand. This offense is just relentless. 12 more runs today on 13 hits, 9 walks. Morgan (4) Miller (3) Alexander (6) and Coates (3) homered. Alexander went 2-4 with 4 RBI’s (20) and Morgan was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (12). Ron Miller went 2-4 driving in 3, and Coates 1-3 scoring twice and driving in 2.
CHI 12 EDM 5 (13-5 +4)

INJURIES
Newest Silver Star Lando Jongmans will miss the next 6-7 weeks after straining his bicep on a throw today.

GOOD GAMES
Baltimore Railcat Fraser Hoffman went 5-5 in a 15-5 win over the Texans.

STREAKS
Todd Helton’s (GB) streak ended at 24 games today.

GAME 19
Bryan Rogers (1-1) couldn’t wiggle out of 5th inning jam before Rafael Cuesta 2 run shot opened it up. He went 5-9-7-7-1-4 in the loss. Brandon Peck was 3-4 in the win, Luis Chavez went 3-4 with a double. Bob Park went the distance for his 1st win 9-6-1-1-1-6.
EP 9 CHI 1 (13-6 +3)

INJURIES
Las Vegas 2B Kris Wright will miss at least the next 3-4 weks after fracturing his foot today.

Young Clipper hurler finished:
Rule 5 draft pick Bhadradeha Shukta, a 22 year old promising young pitcher taken by the White Caps this past winter has learned his career is over. A ruptured UCL was the initial diagnosis but the 22 year old learned, through a routine physical, that he has a severe heart murmur that is not operable, and potentially life threatening should he continue playing baseball. The Middletown, CT native was amazingly calm about the prognosis. “God has a plan and this apparently is part of that plan, now it’s time to move on to the next phase in my life”.

GAME 20
Zamora (2-0) struggled early but kept it together and finished strong (6.2-7-1-1-2) and Winston (H2) got 4 outs for Cruz to save his 7th. A 1-1 tie in the 7th was broken on Luis Chavez’s triple, he was brought home on Troy Becker’s single. Ron Miller hit his 4th homer. Josh Wells (2-2) took the loss going 8.1-7-3-3-2-5.
CHI 3 EP 1 (14-6 +3)

WEEK 3 RECAP

WEEK 3 FL POTW-Alex Rodriguez (ALK) 10-27 4 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.343-8-16)
WEEK 3 CL POTW-Ross Tunstall (PIT) 11-23 5 HR’s 12 RBI’s (.371-7-20)

GOOD GAMES
Edmonton’s Lucio Ernandez (3-0) tossed a 2 hitter in a 4-0 Trapper win over West Michigan.

Bruce Thomas (3-0) punched out 8 in a 2-0 win over San Antonio.

ORG NEWS
Tulsa’s Luis Ramirez took home AAA POTW after going 11-18 with 4 HR’s and 16 RBI’s.

Ruberto Gabere (minor league FA) of Belleview won the MWL POTW after his 9-16 6 HR 16 RBI week.

INJURY NEWS
Bill Hill (SI) will be out at least another week, maybe 2. His rehab took a step back today.

IBL CAREER K LEADERS
Walt Thompson (CHI) 1286
Chris O’Slattery (BAL) 1131
Jim Peck (BUF) 1064
Nick Johnston (EDM) 954
Esteban Valdez (SAC) 921

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1 Edmonton (4)
2 Chicago (2)
3 Los Angeles (1)
4 Houston (6)
5 Pittsburgh (11)

OUT New York (7) Las Vegas (9)

Tulsa is #1 in AAA

[gehrig38]

WEEK 4
1 @ El Paso
3 vs Brooklyn
Off Day
2 @ Dayton

GAME 21
Walt Thompson (1-1) finaly breaks through in a game I felt he was going to let slip, or the pen was, at some point. He went 7-4-0-0-3-6 in a 2-1 win. {Pennington (H3) got 2 big outs with runners on and Cruz got the final 4 for his 8th save. Pedro Salinas went 3-4 and Jean Chartier was 2-4 with 2 runs on a triple (2) and his 2nd homer. Artie Johnson (2-2) went 8-7-2-2-3-8 in the loss.
CHI 2 EP 1 (15-6 +4)

INJURIES
Patriots out a SP:
Free agent signing Steve Copeland, who was struggling in his start with his new club (0-4 6.67) will have 4 months to iron things out. He had surgery to repair a frayed labrum today. Philadelphia has recalled Rob Murray rom AA to replace the 34 year old in the rotation.

SIGNINGS
Bulldogs say hi to an old friend:
Pittsburgh has resigned veteran OF Manuel Miranda to a 1 year 3.36M dollar deal today. Miranda has spent the last 4 seasons in Pittsburgh before filing for free agency last winter. The plan is to use him as a RH bat of the bench and a defensive option in left and right.

MINORS STUFF
AAA Tulsa is 12th in SP ERA, and 1st in Bullpen. Their TEAM bullpen ERA is 0.95. The arms I’ve managed to collect via trades are starting to pile up down there.

GAME 22
Ken Lee (4-0) went 6-9-2-2-1-5 and 5 relievers held the line of the last 3 with Arturo Rodriguez notching his 1st save. Steve Whiteway (2-1) went 6.2-7-3-3-3-1 in the loss. Luis Chavez was 3-3 with 2 homers (6) and all 3 RBI’s.
CHI 3 BRO 2 (16-6 +4)

CONTRACT TALKS
Bill Alexander came to talk today. He loves it here, wants to stay here, and wants to talk about an extension. Apparently the ‘waiting it out’ strategy has worked, as his newest ask is 7 years 98.9 million, with the 7th being a 17.7 player option. The base is actually nice, starting at 9.3 and going up each year. (9.3/10.7/12.1/13.5/14.9/16.3/17.7). I counter with a 4 year + team option for 63.8 (10.3/10/12/12.5/15.9) and it appeals to him, so he’s going to consider it (which likely means it’ll work). He’s off to a slow start this year .197-6-20, and I’m guessing that was the impetus for the meeting. But at this money he’s more than worth it at the gate, one of the fans favorite players he’s done nothing but hit, and hit. We have just 55.3 million in committed payroll next year and are hearing we’ll be operating with a budget in the 80 million neighborhood.

GAME 23
Alejandrez tires after 6-6-2-2-1-4 on 105 pitches and 3 hitless innings from the pen get Torres (3-1) the win and Cruz his 9th Save. Pedro Salinas’ 2 run single broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th. Wes Morgan hit his 5th HR. Dan Griffen dropped to 0-3 4.03 despite going 8-4-4-4-6-4.
CHI 4 BRO 2 (17-6 +4)

INJURY NEWS
San Antonio loses starting C for the season:
Jason Lewis was diagnosed with a torn ACL after a jarring home plate collision yesterday and will undergo reconstructive surgery today, missing the rest of the 2017 season. The 30 year old was hitting .250-0-1 in 16 games.

SIGNINGS
Texas finds a young star:
2 weeks after CF Michael Young tore up his knee Dallas has signed 24 year old Felix Torres to a 1 year 4.26M deal. Torres is a career .257 hitter with 105 home runsand 2nd all time in the IBL with 202 stolen bases (202-249). He’s spent the past 5 seasons in LA and never played in fewer than 150 games, scoring 103 or more runs every year (he’s 4th all time at 579, tied with El Paso’ Caden Haynes). He was a 2014 CL All Star and finished in the top 5 in SB’s all 5 years. The 24 year old was in discussions with several clubs this winter but his outrageous price tag and unwillingness to actually negotiate turned most away.

GAME 24
How do you give up 7 in the first, 10 in 4.1 and not lose? Because your offense decides to go nuts and score 22 runs on 26 hits, that’s how. Jean Chartier was 4-5 with 5 runs scored (tying the FL single game record) on his 3rd homer, Paul Riggs was 3-5 with 3 runs on a double (9), Pedro Salinas ties the Chicago record with 6 hits, going 6-7 with 3 runs and 5 RBI’s on 2 doubles (6) and his 8th HR. Ron Miller goes 3-6, Luis Chavez 3-5, Troy Becker 3-5 and Wes Morgan 2-4 with 4 RBI’s.
CHI 22 BRO 10 (18-6 +4)

STATS
New Hampshire scrambled to sign Alberto Vargas 2 days into the season and he’s rewarding them. Hitting 7 homers in the last 7 Fisher Cat games, and is hitting .294-12-21 in 22 games this year.

Remember the Patriots game plan? Sign 3 closers to shorten games? Their 2 starters down (Copeland and Johnson on the DL) and their starters are currenly 14th in the league with a 7.61 ERA, and they’re 7-17.

OFF DAY NEWS
Fresno lost 3B Sean Parker (former Iron Pig) was lost for the season after the 29 year old broke his kneecap yesterday. He was hitting .238-3-12 on the year.


GAME 25
1 hitter too many. Done it too many times. Gerardo Zamora worked into the 7th with a 6-5 lead, after I let him blow a 5-3 lead in the 6th, and with 2 outs and none on I wanted him to get the hook, but he stayed and Paul Reeves launched a game tying homer (2). 2 innings later Gerald Wright hit a walk off solo shot off Randy Penningto (0-1) for the loss. Zamora went 7-10-6-6-1-6 on 102 pitches. Eric Coates was 2-4 with a double, scoring twice and driving in 2. Eric Hudson hit his 3rd homer. Wright was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s.
DAY 7 CHI 6 (10) (18-7 +3)

GOOD GAMES
Pittsburgh’s Vince Bray punched out 11 in a 3 hit 2-0 win over Los Angeles.

Vegas SP Glen Harvey won his 3rd after striking out 7 in a 5-0 win over Dallas.

GAME 26
Walt Thompson (2-1) went 8 dominant innings (8-5-1-1-0-7) and Ryan Pennington (H5) got a big out for Ernesto Cruz to end April with his 10th save.
Luis Chaves 2 run 4th inning homer was the game winner. Rafael Quintanilla was 3-4 in the loss. James Holloway (1-3) went 6.2-6-2-2-2-6 in the loss.
CHI 2 DAY 1 (19-7 +4)

April ends, and the draft list is released!

WEEK 4 AND APRIL RECAP

WEEK 4 FL POTW-Todd Helton (GB) 13-24 1 HR 8 RBI’s (.424-2-17)
WEEK 4 CL POTW-Travis Bryant (BAL) 8-21 5 HR’s 10 RBI’s (.274-11-21)

APRIL FL HITTER-Lee Allen (NY) .402-11-35
APRIL CL HITTER-Angelo Gomez (PIT) .374-8-25 (decent FA signing?)
APRIL FL PITCHER-Jesus Romano (NY) 4-0 2.35 47 K’s
APRIL CL PITCHER-Vincente Romero (HOU) 5-1 2.53 37 K’s (another decent signing if you like wins I guess)
APRIL FL ROOKIE-Pedro Salinas (CHI) .378-8-19 (as advertised, and more)
APRIL CL ROOKIE-Leonard Plumbly (NH) .319-1-10

ORG NEWS
Belleview’s Max Briddon was the MWL PotM after hitting .345-5-32.

Tulsa’s Mike Alexander went 5-0 2.82 in April, Luis Ramirez hit .343-6-24, Orlando Reyes hit .347, Greg Leonard .341. Chance Holt had 7 saves and a 0.00 ERA, the Tulsa pen has a combined 0.99 ERA and they are 20-8, #1 in the Power Rankings.

Former #1 Roberto Martinez is at AA Bakersield this year. He went 2-1 2.16 in April. CF Barry Scott hit .346-2-10 leading off. 23 year old #1 pick Anthony Martin, while seemingly stuck in AA now, was 3-1 2.38. I may move him to AAA to finally see if he can make an improvement.

RP prospect Roberto Rosado was 0-2 7 Saves and a 2.84 ERA at Denison.

Minor league FA Evan Hammond hit .365-5-19 at Belleview, Ricardo Correa hit .349-2-13. Free agent Jeffrey Boggs was 1-3 but had a 2.53 ERA in 3 starts with 24 k’s in 21 innings.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (2)
2) Los Angeles (3)
3) Pittsburgh (5)
4) New York (7)
5) Green Bay (16)
Out Edmonton (12) Houston (8)

STUFF
Todd Helton has raised his average from .368 to .424 in the past 8 games, going 17-31 with 9 runs, 6 doubles a HR and 8 RBI’s.

[gehrig38]

A look at the league on the 1st of May

[gehrig38]

A look at the top pitchers by POT and hitters by CON, open to suggestions! More eyes the better, already have the scouts checking out the top 5-6 pitchers, including Rea, and Hall, at a quick glance, seems impressive as hell but is a 'fragile' player, which scares me at that position.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 5
1 @ Dayton
3 vs Arizona
3 @ Columbus

GAME 27
A 1 on 2 out 9th inning rally capped by Bill Alexanders RBI single made Dave Winston (1-1) the winner and Ernesto Cruz got the final 3 outs for his 11th save. Eric Coates was 0-1 with 4 walks, scoring twice. Gerald Wright was 3-4 with an RBI in the loss. Chartier was 1-4 with his 4th HR and his 8th stolen base.
CHI 6 DAY 5 (20-7 +5)

GAME 28
I thought we might see magic today, Alejandrez kad 6 k’s through 3, and 10 through 5, he ended up with 12 in 8.1-5-2-2-0-12 to move to 4-1. Luis Chavez drove in 3 on his 8th HR. Eric Coates walked 2 more times, and scored 3. Chartier was 3-5 with 2 runs on his 6th double.
CHI 9 AZ 2 (21-7 +5)

Chicago inks star to 5 year extension:
The IBL career leader in home runs will be wearing the Chicago colors for at least 4 more seasons after this one. Franchise cornerstone Bill Alexander and the club agreed to terms on a 5 year 60.7M dollar contract extension today. The slugger ‘left money on the table’ according to his agent, but wanted to remain in the one place he’s known since the IBL was founded 5 years ago. “They’ve been good to me, and I think I’ve been more than good to them. I know the fans dig me and want me here, so this is a good thing for everyone”

(It’s a good deal for both parties, ya he left money on the table (hitting .185 while saying that btw) but he’s 29, and health is now something I know he thinks about, because we do. He’ll make 10.3 to 12.5 million as a base, nice little all star bonus and if he’s still a rock star at 34 I’ll pick up the 15.9 option without a second thought. The fans do ‘dig him’ and they went berserk, interest going from 78 to 89! But he said something to me before the press conference that grates on me. “I know the fans will be happy to read that I’m sticking around”, bah, please. The fans will be happy when you get your average over .250, the fans will be happy when you hit 40, and drive in 120, stop doing that and the fans won’t be happy about anything. Speaking of which, he’s clearly our most popular and well liked player, but Chartier has dropped to 3rd, I wonder if that’s the contract talks? Hugh Collins is 4th, Cruz is 5th, I’ll give you 5 guesses as to who is 2nd??? No way you get it on the 1st try! Also, we now have a payroll of around 65.7 million with arbitration numbers speculated in, and 3 open contracts. Chartier, Alejandrez and backup catcher Rafael Flores. I’m going to let Alejandrez keep pitching for a deal, see if he comes to me, and around the break maybe gauge interest. Chartier is likely a no go, and Flores we’ll allow to walk. Paul Riggs is the deal I’d like to do before the year ends. His arb number is looking to be near 6.)

GAME 29
Bryan Rogers is making things harder than they need to be. The team hits when he pitches, but I’ll be damned it his 7-7-2-2-4-9 wasn’t way harder than the line looks. Ken Johnson came in for a mop up inning and walked two, gave up a hit and a grand slam before getting 3 outs. A 6 run second ended this one early. Ron Miller was 3-4 scoring 3 times, Paul Riggs was 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s. Pedro Salinas drove in 2 with his 7th double.
CHI 9 AZ 2 (22-7 +6)

GAME 30
Let’s play this game again. Want to hear the crazy thing about a SP giving up 10 in 4.2IP? Your closer saving his 12th. Zamora had a nightmare 1st, giving up 5, I was near pulling him in the 2nd when he gave up 3 more (he probably should have come out then), and he got the last out. Trying not to suck the pen dry I let him go out for the third, he retired 7 straight into the 5th and gave up a 2 out 2 run homer to Francisco Hernandez (for a final ugly ass line of 4.2-11-10-10-1-2). He’s got a 9 ERA, and it’s mostly my fault for leaving him in too long. However, the game actually started around then. As the offense scored 13 runs over the next 6 innings and won 13-10. Luis Chavez was 2-5 with his 9th homer, Salinas was 1-4 with a homer (9) and 3 RBI’s (25). Jean Chartier was 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s (18). Wes Morgan was 3-4 with 2 RBI’s (22) and Eric Hudson was 3-5 with 2 RBI’s (20) as well.
CHI 13 AZ 10 (23-7 +6)

INJURY NEWS
31 year old Staten Island Closer Eli Gill will miss up to the next 12 months after surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon was performed today. Gill was the teams closer prior to shoulder surgery last March, and he missed the first 4 months of the season after that. Gil had 126 saves from 2012-15.

GAME 31
Walt Thompson (3-1) is on a roll. A 9-2-0-0-3-10 2 hitter today to lower his ERA to 1.79 on the year. Jean Chartier was 1-3 with a 2 run double before being hurt in the 5th. No word on the extent yet (the main reason I’ve been reluctant to commit that much money for that long).
CHI 3 COL 0 (24-7 +7)

INJURY NEWS
He’s got a strained calf and is likely shelved for 3 weeks. He’s on the 15 day, and John Johnston will come up since he can play all over the IF and offers a RH bat to Harris LH for the backup IF spot.

CONTRACT TALKS
Well that didn’t take long. Alejandrez came knocking with an offer in hand. It might as well have been a hand full of dog poop, as his ask was a 9 year 171 million dollar beauty. I made him a counter, hell he made the effort, of 4 (with the last year a team option) for 50.3 million, with a starting point of 10, up to 12 the 3rd and a 15 million team option. He countered with 6 x 18.45…… This is likely going nowhere fast… I upped the base 450 a year, he came back with 6 x 18.22. I think I need to take this call Alfredo…

GAME 32
Pedro Salinas hit into a game ending 6-4-3 with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. Ken Lee (4-1) went the distance in a 8-6-2-2-2-5 loss. Lorenzelli and Hudson had 2 hits each.
COL 2 CHI 1 (24-8

ORG NEWS
Bakersfield SP Bryant Thomas struck out 17 in a 4-1 win today. The 24 year old is 3-1 3.93 in 6 starts with 46 K’s and 15 walks.
(If his control can improve he has a legit shot)

GOOD GAMES
Marshall Wall (LV) tossed a 5 hitter for his 2nd shutout of the year in a 5-0 win over Houston. He’s 4-2 3.40 on the year.

BIG TRADE NEWS
New York acquires all star Closer from Michigan:
The Knights have acquired 2 time all star and 2015 Rivera award winner Sherwood Jacobs and 3 million dollars from the Battlecats for a stable of prospects. Jacobs was the FL leader in saves in 2012 (46) and 2015 (41) and is 6th all time with 173 (tied with Nicholas Clark (EDM) and Bill Barlow (SAC). Michigan, which appears to be rebuilding 32 games in, gets Peter Sweeny (C) who was signed out of Canada last year, Enrique Reoriano (OF) a prospect signed out of Cuba this past February and Pepe Luna (1B/3B) the Knights 20th round pick in the 2014 draft out of Clemson. Luna was a 2016 Short Season All star. New York is 19-13, 3 games ahead of Staten Island in the Empire, Michigan is 11-21, 13 games out in the Midwest.

GAME 33
Alejandrez (5-1) is making a contract push, that’s all I can think. He went 8-4-1-1-2-5 before tiring after a leadoff single in the 9th and he hasn't seen a 9th inning since watching film of a game on tv.. Lorenzelli was 3-5 with 3 RBI’s (4) on 2 doubles (2). Chavez, Morgan, Hudson and Coates had 2 hit nights.
CHI 8 COL 1 (25-8 +7)

WEEK 5 RECAP
WEEK 5 FL POTW-Mitch Ball (ALK) 16-29 3 HR’s 6 RBI’s (.293-4-12)
WEEK 5 CL POTW-Luis Rios (SAN) 12-27 6 HR’s 9 RBI’s (.319-8-18)

ORG NEWS
Tulsa righty Mike Hamilton tossed a 3 hitter with 10 K’s today. He’s 2-4 5.26.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Tulsa (7)
3) Los Angeles (2)
4) Pittsburgh (3)
5) El Paso (13)
OUT New York (8) Green Bay (9)

INTERESTING TRADE
The San Antonio sent 28 year old P Ed Pope (nothing special, a career minor leaguer it looks like) and their 5th pick to El Paso for 19 year old OF prospect Jose Torres. Torres was the Diablos 5th rounder out of Blue Valley HS in Kansas. Scouts think he’s a hitting coaches dream, no pop, not much speed but he can put the bat on the ball and projects to have a decent eye. A solid OF in the corners with a cannon too.

[Celtic Forever]

Great write-ups!

[unhwildcats11]

[QUOTE=gehrig38;3421658]2/2



2/11
New addition hurt in media dustup?
Apparently at the close of yesterdays press conference to announce his signing, infielder Lando Jongmans was involved in an altercation with a San Antonio beat writer. Nad Shawnhessy, writer for The Alamo Weekly, was apparently inquiring about an unsubstantiated rumor involving Jongmans and a certa

This is Great being from the boston area the reporters name did not go unnoticed. I when reading it Thanks for the great read been following since you started. Love the information you provide in both your universe and the little glimps you give us form your days on the field (pitching coach discussions ect..) The format is very enjoyable.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 6
3 vs Buffalo (12-21 6 GB EM)
Off Day
3 @ Alaska 19-15 1 GB W)

STUFF
Two young guys getting 1st two games of the Buffalo series, need them to have good starts, get some confidence. We’re good enough offensively I can stand early issues, but I need them pitching deeper.

GAME 34
That was my pre game speech. Had an awesome effect as Bryan Roges goes out and gives up 4 miles worth of fly balls in the 1st. He surrenders 3 runs on 2 homers in the games 1st 4 hitters. But I’ll give him credit, he manages a line of 7-6-4-4-2-8, and keeps us in the game. The offense couldn’t get it going tonight as Chavez had 2 hits and his 10th homer but the rest of’em managed 2 hits combined.
BUF 4 CHI 2 (25-9 +6)

GOOD GAMES
Philly starter Octavio Vasquez managed to finally notch a win with his new team as he tossed a 4 hitter in an 11-0 pasting of San Antonio. He’s 1-4 6.82 in 6 starts.

INJURY NEWS
Battlecat SP out for the year:
Michigan’s Robert Jensen said good bye to his 2017 season after tearing his UCL in a game yesterday. He was 4-3 5.75 in 7 starts.

Wizards lose Ace Calhoun:
The Wizards had planned on a deep and talented rotation this year and that took a hit today when 35 year old Shawn Calhoun (3-2 1.99) was diagnosed with a torn finger tendon and will miss at least 3 months.

GAME 35
Back to back good starts from the young guys. I was trigger happy with Zamora, pulling him after a leadoff single in the 7th, but he went 6-8-2-2-0-5 to go 2-0 and move his ERA from the infinity sign to something with less than 4 numbers before the decimal point.
Eric Coats was 2-5 with 2 runs, Riggs was 3-4 with 2 runs and 2 stolen bases and Alxander hit his 7th homer. Hector Hernandez was 3-4 with 2 runs in the loss.
CHI 8 BUF 3 (26-9 +7)

GOOD GAMES
Vince Bray tossed his 2nd shutout of the year in a 13-0 whitewashing of the Fresno Grizzlies. He moved to 6-1 2.45 and while punching out 9. He has an IBL best 72 k’s.

GAME 36
Beaten by the long ball today. Thompson (3-2) who feels like he has no margin for error, gave up 2 1st inning homers in a 7-9-4-4-1-9 loss. Hector Hernandez went 2-4 with 2 solo shots. 8 different Chicago players had a hit, with Luis Chavez hitting his 11th homer. Fernando Garcia (1-2) went 6.2-7-1-1-1-5 for the win, Andy Fritz picked up his 6th save.
BUF 4 CHI 1 (26-10 +6)

INJURY NEWS
Boston rookie sidelined:
Bombers SS Jimmy Rollins will be out 4-5 weeks with lower back problems. He’s hitting .264-4-14 with 12-19 stolen bases.

OFF DAY NEWS

ROSTER STUFF
Both Chartier and Collins look like they’re, at most, 2 weeks out. Both will get a rehab stint and we’ll go from there.

A look around the minors for a quick note:
TULSA-28-10 +7-Their pen has a 1.16 ERA and they have 2 undefeated starters (Mason 5-0 5.58, Alexander 7-0 2.18). They’re hitting and pitching, 2nd in runs, 1st in runs against, 1st in average. No injuries to speak of. Top catching prospect Martin Ramirez (3rd rounder in 2014 for Corpus Christi, who we dealt Feliz and van Bodegraven for and already has the glove to play up) is hitting 286-3-18, Luis Ramirez is turning himself into at least a ‘player of interest’, is hitting .297-6-25. Chance Holt is 1-0 10 Saves and a 0.68 ERA in 14 games, Pedro Garcia has no decisions and a 0.00 ERA in 10 games as well. Jake Ellison is 2-0 in 16 games with a 0.00 ERA, 24 k’s and 1 BB in 15.1 IP. Mike Moore is 1-0 5 Saves and an ungodly high 1.37 ERA in 20 appearances. Orlando Velez has no decisions in 7 games and a 0.00 as well.

BAKERSFIELD-19-19 7 GB-No one going crazy offensively, Bryan Small (2013 12th rounder) is hitting .318-1-12 but he’s a career minor leaguer at this point, 27 and moved back to AA to help with an injury. Most eyes have been on Roberto Martinez, who was starting to slide in many’s view last winter, his control and it’s potential in serious question. Well, he’s 3-1 2.28 in 7 starts over 47 innings and everything looks much improved, including his control. Scouts felt it was potentially a sub 10 projection wise, and now many have moved that to 12+, combined with his growth in stuff and movement and he’s starting to move to the upper rotation end of a prediction. His fastball is now touching 95 pretty regularly, at 6’5” and 230 pounds, he’s just 20 years old. One can sure dream on a Zamora, Rogers, Martinez trio at the top.

DENISON 18-20 9 GB-Jake Preston, a former 6th round pick who’s been released twice, appears to want it this time around. He’s 22, so nearing the top end of the A ball ‘prospect’ label, but he’s hitting .356-4-11 since signing. CL Robert Rosado is 0-2 with 9 Saves and a 2.30. A pure GB guy he’s not getting the K’s you’d expect for a mid 90’s fastball in A ball. People still believe he madea huge mistake rebutting our initial offer in 2015, and heading to JC. He came out a year later, was drafted a round later, but no one is anywhere near as high on him now.

BELLEVIEW 22-16 Tied-OF Evan Hammond (.360-7-31) 1B Ruberto Gabere (.279-8-36) and DH Max Briddon (.323-5-37) are pacing the best offense in the Midewest league. They lead in runs, Avg, OBP and homers. All three of those hitters were signed as minor league free agents.
On the mound Miguel Vega (another minor league FA) is 6-0 2.52, and minor league FA Jeff Boggs is 2-4 despite a 2.57 ERA.

GAME 37
Up against BIG C.C. Sabathia (3-3 4.17 on the year).
Sabathia walked 7 in 5.2 but still managed a win as Lee was cuffed around going 5.1-8-7-7-2-6. Jesus Blanco drove in 3 (4) on a 1st inning bases loaded double.
ALK 7 CHI 4 (26-11 +6)

GOOD GAMES
Fisher Cats SP Ed Lawson threw a 4 hitter in a 6-0 win over Baltimore today.

MINORS NEWS
2014 #1 pick of the Pittsburgh Bulldogs (#9 overall and then they were the Riverhounds) Bill Higgins tossed a no hitter, with 14 punchouts against the Stockton Yankees in the Class A Southern League today.

GAME 38
Avalanche SP Antonio Espinoza entered 4-1 2.51 and left 5-1 2.08 after 8 dominating innings (8-4-0-0-2-4). New Alaska Closer Anbar Suhayb pitched a perfect 9th for his 11th save. Alejandrez went into the 8th in a 7-6-2-2-0-8 game, dropping to 5-2. Alex Rodriguez’s 11th HR, a 2 run shot in the 1st, provided all the scoring.
ALK 2 CHI 0 (26-12 +5)

GOOD GAMES
Bomber Ace Mark Buerhle tossed a 4 hit 1-0 win over Corpus Christi today. The 21 year old is 2-3 6.33 on the season.

MINORS NEWS
Miguel Vega (remember the minor league kid in Belleview? 6-0 2.52? Ya him) will miss the next 8 months after undergoing shoulder surgery today. We’re going to give 21 year old 2016 first rounder Jorge Trujillo a couple starts to see if he’s ready for it.

CONRACT NEWS
Fresno extends Thuiller:
32 year old new Fresno closer Carlos Thuiller has agreed to a 3 year 19.7M contract extension. He’s taken over the role this year and is 1-1 with 7 saves and a 1.80. He’s currently earning 2.2M on his 1 year deal.

GAME 39
Bryan Rogers (3-2) was on cruise control in a 6-3-1-1-2-8 that I had thought was put away after a 5 run 4th made it 7-0. A 9-0 game became 9-5 when Torres and Rodriguez managed to give up 3 home runs in a 4 outs span. Pennington and Winston steadied the ship to close it out. 1B Dan Jackson was 3-4 with 2 RBI’s on a double and 2 home runs (3). Paul Riggs led off the game with his 1st HR of the year. Luis Chavez was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (33) and Pedro Salinas drove in 2 (29) in a 2-4 day. Eric Hudson singled 4 times going 4-5 and scoring 3 times.
CHI 10 ALK 6 (27-12 +5)

WEEK 6 RECAP
WEEK 6 FL POTW-Dave Miller (GB) 10-19 3 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.292-4-18)
WEEK 6 CL POTW-Travis Bryant (BAL) 9-22 4 HR’s 11 RBI’s (.294-16-35)

INJURY NEWS
Columbus Clipper Marcos Diaz will miss at least the next 8 weeks after the pitcher severely tweaked an oblique. The 33 year old is 4-2 3.94 after 9 starts. He missed almost half of last season and is trying to regain his 2015 form (17-11). Barney Watt was recalled from AAA Sunrise Manor to take his spot in the rotation.

ORG NEWS
OF Cisco Luna of Bakersfield went 12-22 with a HR and 6 RBI’s to win the PL PotW.

STREAKS
Juan Cabrera (AZ) went 1-4 in a 4-2 win to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Pittsburgh (4)
2) Chicago (1)
3) Sacramento (15)
4) Edmonton (6)
5) Tulsa (2)
OUT Los Angeles (9) El Paso (11)

Sacramento with a huge leap. They went 6-0 and have won 7 in a row, 8 of their last 9 by a combined 82-35, including a 23-3 win over Houston Saturday (in which former Iron Pig Mike Davis went 7.2 IP and punched out 11, giving up 1), and a 19-2 win over San Antonio on the 5th.

[gehrig38]

I appreciate you guys commenting, as I am sure Orcin does. I am honestly worried I am writing too much, but I am writing how I enjoy following. I keep wondering if anyone's really following (no need to reply if you are, I would guess, like Orcin when he started, I wonder if it's worth the time and effort writing it all up.).
This format has really made it 'like' the baseball season in a sense, given how much 'work' is now done in the offseason, and how much detail I want/need to follow to stay abreast of the competition in the league. It's also made me see things, achievements, streaks etc., I never noticed before and would have missed had I not been 'reporting' on it.
Just cool to know people are following. I had a thought while reading Orcin's dynasty of people reading it and becoming enamored with a team and/or players not in the person's organization, and wanting to follow them, which is why I pretty much pen a note for almost every IBL news item that comes up.
I love the 'out of nowhere' story that this game can provide.

[gehrig38]

Was going to include this in my team report but thought I'd cut and paste now.

(OOTP QUESTION: I am using the VESTING OPTION as a lifetime number, not a single season. EX: I offered Chartier a 6 year deal with the 6th being vesting for 600 games, figuring 120 a year at least, and he earns it. Is the game looking at the VESTING option as 1 year data? If so that needs to change because it should just be an => than and it won’t matter what you put in there really. If you put 200 IP over a 5 year, with a 6th option, that player needs only to hit 200 total over the 5 years, rather than doing 1000 for a 200 a year avg or something like that.)

[gehrig38]

1st inning..
Leadoff E3, batter on 1st
F8 for 1 out
Runner caught stealing on 1st pitch to 3rd hitter, 2 outs.
3rd hitter then homers, 1-0, run earned.
ground out, inning over.

The pitcher in this case was charged with an unearned run....

[gehrig38]

WEEK 7
3 @ West Michigan (20-20 7 GB MW)
3 Vs Michigan (15-25 12 GB MW)
1@ New York (22-18 +3 EM)

GAME 40
Gerardo didn’t get the win, and didn’t deserve it. Going 5-10-3-3-3-6 and struggling the whole way. The pen was leaky, until it broke when Ernesto Cruz blew his 1st save of the season yielding a 2 out solo homer to Daniel Collins (6) who went 5-7 with 3 RBI’s on a triple and the homer. Tyson Howard was 4-5 with 3 runs. Lorenzelli went 4-6, Chavez 2-5 with 3 RBI’s on his 12th homer. Worst part was we rallied to take a 7-6 lead with a 3 run 9th inning and had the go ahead run on in the 12th but couldn’t score. Cruz ended up going 3 innings. Torres (4-2) came into a tie game and lost it in 2 batters, and is now sporting a 7.24 ERA and a there’s a rough draft of a bus ticket to Tulsa on my desk….
WMI 8 CHI 7 (12) (27-13 +4)

GREAT GAMES AND STREAKS
Vincent Bray (PIT) tossed his 4th STRAIGHT complete game, and the third shutout in 4 starts with an 8-0 win over New Hampshire. He’s now won 6 consecutive starts, is 7-0 in his last 8, and has lowered his ERA from a season high 4.30 to 2.16. He’s 4-0 0.75 in his last 4, 6-0 1.38 in his last 6. He has pitched 8 or more innings in 8 straight starts.

DL NEWS and Contract chatter
Down to a week for both Chartier and Collins…..

Sat down with Paul Riggs again today. He’s coming to earth it seems, asking for 37.39 over 4 years, my counter was 33.39 with some bonuses, for 4 years. He was receptive, and we’re going to keep the channels open.

GAME 41
Horriffic defense and a tired pen were why Walt Thompson (3-3) ended with another CG loss. He went 8-9-6-4-2-5 but pitched way better than the line. Valentin Maitani was 2-4 with 2 RBi’s on his 4th homer. Jorge Ibarra and Harald Hass had identical 2-4 lines, both scoring 1 and driving in 1. White Cap SP Tucker Benjamin (4-3) was outstanding going 8.1-4-1-1-2-3 in the win. Pedro Salinas went 2-4 with his 10th homer.
WMI 6 CHI 1 (27-14 +3)

INJURY NEWS
Fresno loses star youngster:
22 year old SP Pepe Artlano will miss the remainder of the 2017 season after rupturing his UCL in a game 3 days ago. The 2013 1st rounder was 2-4 5.52 after breaking camp with the big club for the 1st time. Team doctors have said he should make a full recovery and be ready for spring training next year.

CONTRACT TALKS
It’s pretty clear that Alejandrez is likely walking. We are about double dollars apart from what I am offering and what he’s asking, and he wants 6-7 years, which is just not happening. Chartier, same really, he wants HUGE money and I’m just not going that big or that long on a guy that is hurt and likely will be again.

GAME 42
An 8th inning meltdown by Arturo Rodriguez (2-1) turned a 1-1 tied into a 4-1 loss as he loaded the bases, without an out, and Sanchez and Pennington couldn’t stop the bleeding. Wilson Munoz (5-3 3.69) went 8-7-1-1-3-4 and youngster Jack Womack notched his 12th save. Ken Lee went 7-4-1-1-0-7 on 111 pitches. Jorge Ibarra was 3-4 and Barton Roberts hit his 6th homer. Paul Riggs was 2-4 with his 12th double, Becker and Hudson had 2 hit days (Hudson is at .304 now).
WMI 4 CHI 1 (27-15 +2)

STUFF
Okay we’re struggling right now. With those two bats out (Chariter and Collins) it was just a matter of time I guess. Collins is 6 days out, Chartier 5. But we started the month 5-0 and are 3-8 since, 1-6 in our last 7.

GAME 43
The offensive struggle continues, all I know is someone’s going to pay, badly. Alejandrez (5-3) went 5-8-5-5-1-3 surrendering 2 homers to Bob Herman (13). Dave Winston blew a close game out, giving up 4 in 1.1 IP. Rafael Rosales won his 1st game of the season going 7-5-4-3-2-3. Wes Morgan was 3-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 6th Homer and Alexander (8) and Chavez (13) homered as well. Catcher Stu Gaskin was 3-4 with 3 RBI’s on his 4th homer. Herman was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s. Pat Dobson hit his 13th as well.
MICH 10 CHI 6 (27-16 +2)

SIGNINGS
Big news out of Houston:
32 year old former Rookie of the year, MVP and 4 time All Star Cy May has agreed to terms on a 4 year 64M dollar contract extension. The 4th year is an 18.55M team option. The OF’er is currently hitting just .233 with 12 homers and 30 RBI’s in 42 games. May belted his 200th career home run in a 6-4 win on April 22nd in Baltimore where Railcat fans extended a long ovation to the visiting payer.

GAME 44
Rogers (4-2) went 6.1-7-2-2-3-4 in a game the offense busted out by scoring 7 times in the first two frames. Luis Chavez was 3-5 with 5 RBI’s on his 9th double and 14th Homer (a 3 run shot in the 1st). Paul Riggs stayed hot, going 3-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s on a double (13) an dhis 2nd homer. Pedro Salinas slammed his 11th home run and Eric Hudson was 2-3.
CHI 12 MICH 3 (28-16 +2)

INJURY NEWS
Pittsburgh closer to the 15 day DL:
Joe Boswell has a sore elbow and the Bulldogs are taking no chances, shutting him down for the next two weeks to rest it up. He’s 0-1 with 14 saves and a 1.82, helping Pittsburgh to a 30-14 start, 7 games better than 2nd place Baltimore.

Staten Island loses Ortiz for the year:
25 year old SP Ramon Ortiz will undergo elbow surgery and be lost for the season the team learned today. Coming off a 14-13 4.16 season there were high hopes for him this year. He was 2-3 4.72 in 9 starts to date.

GOOD GAMES
Brooklyn’s Manuel Cantu was 5-6 with an RBI in an 11-3 win over El Paso today.

GAME 45
Zamora (4-0) tosses 6 strong, going 6-4-2-1-2-5 and Wintson (H4) and Pennington (H6) get the ball to Ernesto Cruz for his 13th save. Ron Miller was 3-4, slamming 2 homers (6) and driving in 3.
CHI 4 MICH 2 (29-16 +2)

GOOD GAMES
Sacramento’s George Bean fired a 1 hitter in Vegas to day, beating the 51’s 3-0 to move to 7-3 3.66 on the year.

MINORS
Tulsa’s Mike Hamilton tossed his 2nd shutout in 3 starts to move to 4-4 3.79, he’s gone 26 IP in his past 3 games, yielding just 11 hits and 2 earned runs with 23 K’s.

INJURY NEWS
Vegas outfielder heading back to the DL:
24 year old Jorge Gonzalez, the 2016 Gold Glove winner in left and 2016 All star, who went down 5 days into the season, was just back from the DL when he tore his meniscus on Friday and will head to the 60 day DL this time, out for at least the next 3 months. He hit .330 with 7 homers and 35 stolen bases last year as he broke into the IBL with a splash. He entered 2015 the IBL’s 8th best prospect and hit .337 with 32 stolen bases in just 79 IBL games that year.

GAME 46
Thompson (4-3) battles for a 66.2-9-4-4-0-6 and Pennington (H7) and Winston (H5) manage big outs for Ernesto Cruz to get his 14th. Massi Lorenzelli (hitting .316 since Chartier went down) went 3-4 with a double (8) and Ron Miller drive in 2 (28). Ricardo Quintania went 3-5 in the loss.
CHI 5 NY 4 (30-16 +2)

GREAT GAMES
Valdez notches IBL’s 8th no-hitter:
Sacramento Rivercat Esteban Valdez spun some magic today. Tossing the 8th no hitter in IBL history in a 13-0 win over Philadelphia. He struck out 9 and walked 1 to move to 4-2 3.56 on the season. The 31 year old was dealt to Sacramento at the winter meetings last year for OF’s Jorge Correa and George Graham. He was Tulsa’s 4th round selection in the 2012 Inaugural Draft. It was his 71st career win (12th all time)

WEEK 7 RECAP
WEEK 7 FL POTW-Bob Herman (MICH) 10-23 5 HR’s 12 RBI’s (.234-14-35)
WEEK 7 CL POTW-Dana Reed (PIT) 14-26 2 HR’s 8 RBI’s (.284-8-27)

IBL SINGLE SEASON SHUTOUT RECORD
Vince Bray (PIT) 4 ‘15
Bartolo Serrano (BOS) 4 ‘12
Ernie Kelly (AAA) 3 ‘12
Raul Gonzalez (HOU) 3 ‘12
Vincente Romero (HOU) 3 ‘14

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Pittsburgh (1)
2) Alaska (12)
3) Columbus (8)
4) Sacramento (3)
5) Chicago (2)
OUT Edmonton (7) Tulsa (6)

NOTE:
Alaska went 7-0 last week, and is 9-1 in their last 10, and is 14-6 this month. They've tossed 3 shutouts in their last 5 games while giving up just 6 runs over that span, and scoring 27. They possess the #1 rotation in the league with Zito (6-3 2.69) Sabathia (5-3 3.35) Mark Williams (2-0 3.00) and Antonio Espinoza (5-1 1.94) leading them. Former Iron Pig Alex Browne is 2-0 1.99 setting up closer Anbar Suhayb who has 15 saves. They are 28-18 and tied with Edmonton atop the West.