A Brooklyn Story - Page 4

darkcloud4579 · 11-15-2007, 10:03 PM

OWNERS HINTING AT LOCKOUT
JANUARY 21, 2019

With negotiations with the Players Association stalling, the owners of at least 26 major league baseball clubs are willing to vote today to lockout the players, preventing spring training and the regular season from beginning.

No one will comment on the validity of these claims, but anonymous reports coming from New York are that the owners are seriously considering ending negotiations in February, if there isn't a deal on the table.

MARCH 1, 2019
After nearly a month of intense negotiations, the players and owners have come no closer to a decision reltaed to what the team will do.

As a result, the owners are preparing to "restructure" the regular season schedule, after having cancelled spring training due to the lockout.

"We're going to preserve this game one way or another and if it means we have to cut back some games, so be it," said one owners.

Here are the proposals according to the owners:

Owners' proposals:

* Players would be guaranteed 48 percent of revenue from ticket sales and national and local radio and television contracts, which would make up about 82 percent of owners' total revenue.

* A salary cap limiting the total amount of salary any team could pay to players. Players with 6 years or more experience would still be free agents, but they could not be signed by a particular team if doing so would put that team over the salary limit.

The players are opposed to a salary cap and would like the owners to expand the active roster to 27 from its current 25.

The impasse will most certainly cost at least a few regular season games, but no decision has been made on that as of yet.

OFFICIAL: ALL MARCH REGULAR SEASON GAMES CANCELLED
March 18, 2019
The owners have cancelled all March regular season games for the 2019 season. Because the schedule had already been devised the owners could only find a solution in cancelling whole blocks of dates, rather than indiviual games.

According to spokesman Michael Bednarik, the two sides are "no closer to a deal than yesterday."

This is the first cancellation of regular season games since 1981 and will cause some havoc in regards to post-season scheduling.

WORLD SERIES WEEKEND SITES
Provided we ever get baseball again, MLB has announced the finalists for MLB World Series Weekend for this year. The trick? If a city loses out this year, they'll be automatically considered for the following year. It's just a two-year experiment for now, so just two cities will be picked for the first run.

So two cities will get picked out of this group to host the new event. That is, provided it still happens this year.

Finalists: San Antonio, Miami, Phoenix, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Nashville

darkcloud4579 · 11-15-2007, 10:08 PM

APRIL GAMES CANCELLED
April 1, 2019
Making good on a promise that "if there was no deal in place by April 1st, that all April games would be cancelled, MLB's owners today agreed to cancel all April games and set a 'drop-dead' date on the 2019 season.

The rankling is over the implementation of a salary cap and the owners have not budged from their stance that the players need to accept this if the baseball season is to continue.

"Our position is firm and we're not budging," said a spokesman for the owners.

darkcloud4579 · 11-15-2007, 10:56 PM

BRIGHT LIGHT EMERGES
APRIL 5, 2019
Just a little over 72 hours after the owners cancelled all April games, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

MLB owners have tenatively come to an agreement with the players association that would implement a salary cap starting at the beginning of the 2020 season, but wouldn't penalize teams that are over it, it would just prevent them from being able to sign new players post-2020.

There were some concessions on the side of the owners, including an expansion of active rosters from 25 to 26 players -- one less than the players asked for -- and there is a plan in place that would realign the MLB divisions in 2020 to three five team divisions in each league and bring back interleague play.

The MLBPA stopped short of approving any plans that would allow for expanded playoffs beyond the three rounds that MLB currently has.

"We're not out of the woods yet. But it's looking a lot better than it did just a week ago," said one spokesman for the players association.

BASEBALL COMES BACK IN MAY
MLB and the Players Association agreed today to set the regular season date for May 3, 2019.

To determine the playoffs, MLB has decided to employ a split schedule, the first time since 1981 where that's happened.

"We felt it was the most equitable solution."

The new rules that were agreed to by the owners and players will take effect in 2020.

darkcloud4579 · 11-22-2007, 02:20 AM

2019 SEASON RECAP
With the lockout and such alike, this season was kinda strange and hum-drum. But I guess that happens sometimes.

Here is the breakdown of playoff matchups:

ALDS
---
Boston def. Tampa Bay 4-0
California def. Vancouver 4-0

NLDS
----
Pittsburgh def. Brooklyn 4-2
Philadelphia def. St. Louis 4-3

ALCS
---
Boston def. California 4-0

NLCS
---
Philadelphia def. Pittsburgh 4-2

2019 WORLD SERIES
---
Philadelphia def. Boston 5 games to 4

World Series Weekend, the first one ever, was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tampa's Pete Mills led the majors in batting average with a .378 BA.

THE NEW RULES
The salary cap for 2020 is set at $90 million. Eight teams are over the cap as of November 15, 2019.

Quote:

St. Louis $168.6 million
Seattle $134.3 million
Chi. Cubs $113.1 million
Philadelphia $112.9 million
Florida $103.1 million
Vancouver $98.7 million
Atlanta $92.0 million
Detroit $92.0 million

MLB rules do not prevent these teams from staying over the cap, but each has essentially said that they will "work diligently" to get under the cap, which might create a flurry of activity this off-season, now that a labor deal is in place.

NAMES YOU OUGHTA KNOW..
I was going through the teams and looking around and I saw all sorts of guys who I'd either 1) never heard of or 2) didn't realize were in that particular city.

I decided that it might be helpful for me -- and perhaps, for you as a reader -- to go around the league and profile a player on each team that is a name you might not be familiar with, but ought to be.

To start, here's a guy that I had no idea was around, maybe because of east coast bias or maybe for other reasons.

Oliver Soto, Portland Beavers
Soto is a 31-year old right fielder for the Beavers. He's spent his entire career there, racking up a career .286 batting average, 332 HRs and 1588 hits during a span that's gone from 2009 to 2019.

He's a huge fan favourite there and while his numbers are declining to some degree, he's the sort of guy that if he played somewhere else, he'd be a huge star.

Last year's lockout shortened season ended a streak of six-straight 100+ RBI season for Soto.

He hit .286 with 31 HR and 84 RBI last year in 405 ABs. He's a 9-time All-Star and won four-straight AL MVPs from 2013-2016.

John Brown, Norfolk Tides
This 23-year old first baseman is on the cusp of becoming a bonafide star.

The lockout hurt his numbers this year (.318/12 HR/65 RBI), but '18 was a breakout year for the Bronx native, who hit .337 with 17 HR and 107 RBI for the Tides.

He's always a trade rumour, because of the decline of the Tides, but if he stays, he'll be the sort of familiar face that the Tides can come to rely on in future years, as he should just get better as time goes on.

Willie Hodge, California Angels
The 29-year old lefthanded hitting centerfielder just completed his first season in California, after spending the first nine years of his career as a member of the New York Yankees.

A career .297 hitter, Hodge is already halfway to 3000 hits for his career. 2019 was another 20+ home season for the talented, six-time All-Star selection who was the 1st round pick of the Yankees back in 2009.

He hit .288 this past year and only had 75 runs due to the shortened season, but has 90+ runs scored in the three previous seasons before this one.

Whether he'll be a productive player into his 30s is always a guess, but if his work so far is any indication, Hodge ought to be a horse for the Halos.

darkcloud4579 · 11-22-2007, 12:08 PM

SALARY CAP EFFECT, FINANCES & POTENTIAL PLAYOFF EXPANSION
COMMENTARY
The whole point of the salary cap is essentially to force teams at the bottom who aren't spending to do so, by freezing out the teams who near or over the cap from being able to sign players and leaving those players on the market and forcing those other teams into the market and making them more likely to be successful, whereas under normal conditions, they're not able to be.

I haven't truly figured out -- and my financial model confuses me half the time, so I haven't invested the time to develop this more fully -- but, I think there has to be a way to ensure that there is parity across the league, with teams pitching for players and keeping things relatively stable across the board.

I think part of what skews my noticing of talented players who don't get to play, is the fact that 1) injuries are on low, so it extends milestone careers, but keeps guys from cycling into the majors and 2) there are only 30 teams.

But too many teams and it starts to get convoluted, so I don't want to go beyond the scheduled 32 teams in 2022.

The next thing that we mentioned earlier that I'm seriously considering is the extended playoffs with four teams in four divisions in each league. That would be blasphemous to the average fan in today's world, yet..the NFL does it and coupled with their salary cap have the most powerful brand in American sports.

The reason? Fans have a reason to root, root, root for the home team. Baseball has the opposite of what any sport does -- a lot of home dates -- that normally get filled.

So the logic here is, if you have the same arsenal of home dates to fill and more teams eligible for the playoffs, while it might "hurt" the product on the field come playoff time (exclusivity is lost, average teams have a chance to go all the way...), what you do have, is the chance to give teams that get an injury or three, some margin for error.

Because all things being equal, the playoff tickets -- especially in later rounds of the playoffs -- sell regardless of whether the teams are "good" or not. Fans will come see their teams as they get closer to the title and the games will still get broadcast, too.

Increasing the likelihood that the more "venerable" brands get a chance to go 'all the way' or at least, have a shot to show up and coupling that with a schedule that gives fans a chance to see teams from other regions, will increase the cache of teams that otherwise get ignored right now.

Baseball is and will forever be a regional sport. But by increasing the exposure that people have to the sport and by providing fans with a variety of ways to get plugged into the content and to get engaged in the sport throughout the season, it's more likely that the fairweather, "I only watch the playoffs" fans will either increase or will meld with diehard fans to create an increased amount of participation in the sport in the future.

So for traditionalists, the idea of altering the entire setup of the sport as it's been known pretty much since its inception, to create a system that's more accessible to modern fans...might be blasphemy.

But if the result is the significant expansion of revenue in the sport, then we have to serious consider that as the next logical step in baseball's evolution.

darkcloud4579 · 11-23-2007, 09:52 AM

EXPANSION, COMPETITIVENESS
In the situation where I want to 1) keep running the team I'm operating, but 2) create a baseball environment that allows more teams to participate and 3) makes things fair enough that teams are able to compete and new teams are able to take over the market over time..

I guess the only way to do that is expansion.

After the lockout, MLB wrote into the agreement, a clause that allowed the owners to approve -- without the players consent -- the addition of up to four more teams, which would get MLB to a total of 36 teams.

MLB owners have mulled adding teams for the current season, as there are more than half a dozen cities with suitable owners who have expressed interest and with stadiums in tow.

"It'd be a move that would resemble what happened in the early 1960s during the first expansion, where MLB had its hand forced by people wanting teams and trying to crack at their superiority by creating rival leagues. And after the lockout, we're not too far away from that again," said Mitchell Flanagan, a baseball historian.

Tyson Park in Oklahoma City is still about eight months from completion, but Arizona already has a stadium suitable for the new team there to play, as Salt Lake City.

That would mean that in 2022, Omaha, Rochester, Long Beach and Oklahoma City would join at the same time.

The new division alignment will be three divisions in each league of six teams apiece.

While there are some who wanted a more expanded playoff system, others are heralding the new system, which will "force teams to win their division" versus the current system where the top two non-division winners advance to the post-season.

"The idea is to simulate what the past of baseball did. You won the league, you made the post-season. Now it's simple. Win your division and get in. If you are the best non-division winner in the league, you get in. That's bigger than winning a division title, since you have to be better than the majority of the league.

It's preserving what's special about baseball," said Mets owner Jamil Robertson.

The goal is to ensure that fans get to see teams throughout the year and that there are a variety of rivalries in each league to satisfy media curiosities and such.

At present, the new structure will provide for all of this and more.

MLB DECIDES SIX FOR '22
Rather than allow expansion early, MLB has decided that the new divisional alignment of three divisions of six teams will start in 2022 with six new teams added to the slate.

"We're excited about what the future holds for baseball's next 100 years," said MLB's commissioner.

Also announced with the new expansion is something unprecedented in the 'big four' American sports -- a Cup competition during the season.

The as-of-yet named Cup competition does not have any composition as yet, but the notion is to allow teams in the mid-table to "have something to play for," and that the tournament would be concurrent with the regular season and won't happen every year.

"We want it to be meaningful and something folks look forward to," said an MLB spokesman.

More information is to follow in the coming months.

PAYROLL OPENING DAY 2020
Five teams are over the cap on opening day -- Houston, Seattle, Washington, Norfolk and Chicago White Sox.

Code:

Rank	Team			Payroll
1	Washington Nationals	$102,862,100
2	Houston Astros		$99,060,000
3	Seattle Mariners	$90,410,300
4	Norfolk Tides		$90,298,940
5	Chicago White Sox	$90,274,760
6	Vancouver Athletics	$89,137,900
7	St. Louis Cardinals	$88,875,000
8	Baltimore Orioles	$88,201,640
9	Cleveland Indians	$87,948,200
10	Texas Rangers		$86,942,720
11	San Francisco Giants	$86,655,000
12	Atlanta Braves		$86,142,500
13	Chicago Cubs		$85,970,200
14	Colorado Rockies	$85,515,160
15	New York Mets		$85,430,000
16	Philadelphia Phillies	$84,922,500
17	Cincinnati Reds		$84,530,000
18	Portland Beavers	$84,290,000
19	Florida Marlins		$82,905,000
20	Detroit Tigers		$80,325,400
21	Boston Red Sox		$78,804,000
22	Minnesota Twins		$76,515,000
23	Tampa Bay Rays		$75,134,600
24	Los Angeles Dodgers	$74,890,000
25	Brooklyn Brownstones	$73,519,000
26	California Angels	$71,325,000
27	New York Yankees	$68,700,600
28	Toronto Blue Jays	$68,205,000
29	Pittsburgh Pirates	$68,155,000
30	San Diego Padres	$66,910,000

HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS ~ MLB, 2020

Code:

Rank	Player		Team		Salary	 
1	Miguel Cabrera	Cincinnati	$32,890,000	 
2	Bobby Rodríguez	St. Louis	$32,670,000	 
3	Tyrone Perry	Norfolk		$29,230,000	 
4	Iván Concepción	Washington	$26,790,000	 
5	Gary Lynn	Cleveland	$26,720,000	 
6	Tom Kelly	Cleveland	$25,870,000	 
7	Jorge Durán	Seattle		$25,605,000	 
8	David Wright	Norfolk		$22,465,000	 
9	Max Brosseau	Tampa Bay	$20,850,000	 
10	Bobby CartwrightBrooklyn	$20,490,000	 
11	Andre Ethier	Boston		$19,350,000	 
12	Jorge Enríquez	Houston		$19,340,000	 
13	Tommy Wells	Minnesota	$19,220,000	 
14	Ryan Howard	New York	$18,670,000	 
15	Bartolo MartínezAtlanta		$18,520,000	 
16	Raúl González	Chicago		$18,270,000	 
17	Bernie Arellano	Colorado	$18,165,000	 
18	Javier HernándezNew York	$18,080,000	 
19	Scott Mathieson	Washington	$17,980,000	 
20	Jimmy Johnson	Baltimore	$17,900,000	 
21	Pancho RodríguezCincinnati	$17,650,000	 
22	Albert Pujols	San Francisco	$17,120,000	 
23	Cole Hamels	Vancouver	$16,930,000	 
24	Ubaldo Jimenez	Florida		$16,830,000	 
25	Ryan Feierabend	Colorado	$16,430,000

BROWNSTONES 2020 PREVIEW
The most notable change in the Brooklyn lineup this year is the return of Bobby Cartwright (.273/8 HR/54 RBI) to play third base.

The 32-year old is in the last year of his deal and whether because of his fan favourite status, big name status or just the fact that he's due to breakout one of these years, the team went after him, sending Matt Vanier to Seattle last off-season.

The biggest question mark for the boys in brown this year will be the pitching staff and how it can hold up. Lonnie Martin (14-3, 2.93) and Darrel Price (14-1, 2.93) return to a staff that has no newcomers from a year ago.

The lone newcomer to the long staff is Alex Bustamante, a 21-year old who came over in the deal that sent Ramiro Valentin and Matt Vanier to Seattle. He went 10-4 last year with 89 strikeouts and should be the spot starter to start the year.

Offensively, Clarence Austin (.339/46/127) and Troy Tulowitzki are the dynamic duo (29 HR/110 RBI/.342) for the Brownstones. Look for Gil Ryan, who was vaunted as the replacement to living legend Ryan Howard, to have a breakout year, after being stunted during last year's lockout shortened season.

Whether this team is competitive for a title will really depend on whether they've gelled together or not. Given the parts involved, it'll be interesting to see whether the strategy in recent years by D.C. Daly to stick to the team's home-grown talent has worked or not.

darkcloud4579 · 12-01-2007, 01:17 PM

September 1, 2021
On the eve of major changes in the setup of this league, I decided (without a press release) to change the whole idea a bit, because I wasn't particularly fond of my mass-expansion idea after all.

Rather than go crazy and add six teams to the majors, we're just going to add two, to get to 32 teams and that's it.

I am creating an separate independent league with an unspecified number of teams.

I haven't decided whether the majors will stay two divisions or go to three divisions in each league.

From there, I dunno what's next. But that's a good rundown of at least the first few changes I want to make.

I'm also going to be implementing a variety of house rules starting in 2022 (which is next season) on myself and I might adopt a second team as the shadow GM, build them up and try to make them a power -- within my own division -- to rival the Brownstones dominance in recent years.

I'm also going to attempt to create a cohesive structure to reporting information to you all, so it makes the dynasty more interesting to read as a result.

Stay tuned.

ctorg · 12-05-2007, 10:48 AM

DC,

I just wanted to chime in again and say that this is really great stuff. It's really the sort of thing that exemplifies what OOTP is all about to me. You've taken the depth of OOTP and added your own well-done anecdotes and tweaks to make it even deeper. You've done what every dynasty writer aspires to do: you've made it feel like a real league. Really great work!

darkcloud4579 · 12-07-2007, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctorg

DC,

I just wanted to chime in again and say that this is really great stuff. It's really the sort of thing that exemplifies what OOTP is all about to me. You've taken the depth of OOTP and added your own well-done anecdotes and tweaks to make it even deeper. You've done what every dynasty writer aspires to do: you've made it feel like a real league. Really great work!

I appreciate that, ctorg. It means a lot. You write enough of these things and start to get jaded after a while. When people 'notice', it makes it easier to write because you feel like folks are in the trenches with you, even if they're not as close to the guys as you are.

darkcloud4579 · 12-07-2007, 12:25 AM

Since I don't have an active 2K8 league to base my financial model off of, I'm going to attempt to present my model tweaks in this particular league, figuring that with my own history in this league that it might make things more interesting going forward.

As a result, I'll start with all of that in 2021 off-season. I'm not certain I'll stay in Brooklyn, if only because it's a lucrative place to play and I'd prefer to go somewhere more financially "challenging" to replicate the model.

I'll have stories and such to follow, but I wanted to kinda put out where I'm headed with this one.

Here is the basic premise of the model:

Quote:

The relationship between winning and revenues in the local market and using it as the foundation for building value in the franchise.

The true economic value of a player and how to use it in making personnel decisions

The impact of a high-performing scouting and player development system and the know-how to create it

The attitudes and preferences of the local fan and using these to shape a comprehensive brand-building plan for the franchise

The discipline and metrics necessary to align and execute critical elements of each step.

The basic idea is that it's easier for the Yankees to use their financial advantages to spend more, but that the measure of "success" is more expensive in their landscape. That said, teams like Kansas City or other small market clubs have a maximum level where their financial gains max out, simply because of the way the game's economics work. It then relies on brand maximization and other ideas to get the team into a place where it can be consistently successful over time.

My goal? To take a mordibund franchise that's seen better days and get them to respectability using the financial rules that I'll implement with my model to make it "fair" and "realistic."

darkcloud4579 · 12-07-2007, 06:15 AM

2022 ALIGNMENT
The expansion clubs were Omaha and San Jose, CA. Both were added to the AL and the Texas Rangers moved to the NL.

Quote:

Here are the new alignments:

AL EAST
--
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Rays
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees

AL CENTRAL
--
Minnesota Twins
Omaha Blue Sox
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians

AL WEST
----
Houston Astros
San Jose Seals
California Angels
Portland Beavers
Seattle Mariners
Vancouver Athletics

NL EAST
---
Brooklyn Brownstones
Washington Nationals
Norfolk Tides
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins

NL WEST
---
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Texas Rangers
Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants

NL CENTRAL
----
Carolina Reds
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates
Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals

As tempting as it was to add four more teams to even out the divisions, I feel like it was better to keep it the way it is for now. I'm more interested in testing out the financial model and seeing how to truly run a small market team and to maximize on the areas where I think we could be successful early on in building the brand of the new team.

darkcloud4579 · 12-07-2007, 07:17 PM

D.C. DALY HEADS TO MIDDLE AMERICA
After four successful years with the Brooklyn Brownstones, D.C. Daly is heading to Omaha. The Omaha Blue Sox reportedly offered the 'stones G.M. an ownership stake and a lot less heat to come to the fledging expansion club that will begin play next season.

After the Brownstones lost in the 2021 World Series in nine games to Houston, it was rumored that the team wanted to go in a different direction, despite the success that they'd had with Daly at the helm.

The team informed him that they would not renew his contract after 2022 and so, he began to seek out other opportunities. It didn't take long, said Daly," for a chance to bring glory to Middle America as a prime job for him.

"Make no mistake, this isn't an easy job by any stretch of the imagination," said Daly about his ascent at the helm of MLB's newest small-market club. "But I think wtih smarts, a real gameplan and some patience, that we'll create the next great ballclub in MLB," said Daly."

The Blue Sox plan to launch their own television network that will broadcast as far south as Kansas City, all of Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and parts of Iowa.

"We want to be the team for Middle America that represents what the region is all about and the best way to do that, is to show people their team."

The team will play at brand new Mutual of Omaha Park at Rosenblatt, home to the College World Series championship, with games played at the smaller field at the Mutual of Omaha complex at the original Rosenblatt Stadium, where the College World Series has been held for decades.

"This is a baseball city tried and true. We always knew we could convince a team here [once Kansas City moved] and so, we felt this was our shot to make it happen and with the right people connected to our ownership group [including G.G. Buffett, Warren Buffett's granddaughter], the deal was made possible, despite some wary about the size of the market initially."

Daly won't have much of a honeymoon period, as the team prepares for next week's MLB expansion draft with expansion brethen San Jose. The team hasn't really released a statement related to the team's potential moves in the draft.

darkcloud4579 · 12-07-2007, 07:37 PM

The Omaha story continues here..

http://ootpdevelopments.com/board/sh...d.php?t=158159

11-23-2007, 09:52 AM	#66
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	EXPANSION, COMPETITIVENESS In the situation where I want to 1) keep running the team I'm operating, but 2) create a baseball environment that allows more teams to participate and 3) makes things fair enough that teams are able to compete and new teams are able to take over the market over time.. I guess the only way to do that is expansion. After the lockout, MLB wrote into the agreement, a clause that allowed the owners to approve -- without the players consent -- the addition of up to four more teams, which would get MLB to a total of 36 teams. MLB owners have mulled adding teams for the current season, as there are more than half a dozen cities with suitable owners who have expressed interest and with stadiums in tow. "It'd be a move that would resemble what happened in the early 1960s during the first expansion, where MLB had its hand forced by people wanting teams and trying to crack at their superiority by creating rival leagues. And after the lockout, we're not too far away from that again," said Mitchell Flanagan, a baseball historian. Tyson Park in Oklahoma City is still about eight months from completion, but Arizona already has a stadium suitable for the new team there to play, as Salt Lake City. That would mean that in 2022, Omaha, Rochester, Long Beach and Oklahoma City would join at the same time. The new division alignment will be three divisions in each league of six teams apiece. While there are some who wanted a more expanded playoff system, others are heralding the new system, which will "force teams to win their division" versus the current system where the top two non-division winners advance to the post-season. "The idea is to simulate what the past of baseball did. You won the league, you made the post-season. Now it's simple. Win your division and get in. If you are the best non-division winner in the league, you get in. That's bigger than winning a division title, since you have to be better than the majority of the league. It's preserving what's special about baseball," said Mets owner Jamil Robertson. The goal is to ensure that fans get to see teams throughout the year and that there are a variety of rivalries in each league to satisfy media curiosities and such. At present, the new structure will provide for all of this and more. MLB DECIDES SIX FOR '22 Rather than allow expansion early, MLB has decided that the new divisional alignment of three divisions of six teams will start in 2022 with six new teams added to the slate. "We're excited about what the future holds for baseball's next 100 years," said MLB's commissioner. Also announced with the new expansion is something unprecedented in the 'big four' American sports -- a Cup competition during the season. The as-of-yet named Cup competition does not have any composition as yet, but the notion is to allow teams in the mid-table to "have something to play for," and that the tournament would be concurrent with the regular season and won't happen every year. "We want it to be meaningful and something folks look forward to," said an MLB spokesman. More information is to follow in the coming months. PAYROLL OPENING DAY 2020 Five teams are over the cap on opening day -- Houston, Seattle, Washington, Norfolk and Chicago White Sox. Code: Rank Team Payroll 1 Washington Nationals $102,862,100 2 Houston Astros $99,060,000 3 Seattle Mariners $90,410,300 4 Norfolk Tides $90,298,940 5 Chicago White Sox $90,274,760 6 Vancouver Athletics $89,137,900 7 St. Louis Cardinals $88,875,000 8 Baltimore Orioles $88,201,640 9 Cleveland Indians $87,948,200 10 Texas Rangers $86,942,720 11 San Francisco Giants $86,655,000 12 Atlanta Braves $86,142,500 13 Chicago Cubs $85,970,200 14 Colorado Rockies $85,515,160 15 New York Mets $85,430,000 16 Philadelphia Phillies $84,922,500 17 Cincinnati Reds $84,530,000 18 Portland Beavers $84,290,000 19 Florida Marlins $82,905,000 20 Detroit Tigers $80,325,400 21 Boston Red Sox $78,804,000 22 Minnesota Twins $76,515,000 23 Tampa Bay Rays $75,134,600 24 Los Angeles Dodgers $74,890,000 25 Brooklyn Brownstones $73,519,000 26 California Angels $71,325,000 27 New York Yankees $68,700,600 28 Toronto Blue Jays $68,205,000 29 Pittsburgh Pirates $68,155,000 30 San Diego Padres $66,910,000 HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS ~ MLB, 2020 Code: Rank Player Team Salary 1 Miguel Cabrera Cincinnati $32,890,000 2 Bobby Rodríguez St. Louis $32,670,000 3 Tyrone Perry Norfolk $29,230,000 4 Iván Concepción Washington $26,790,000 5 Gary Lynn Cleveland $26,720,000 6 Tom Kelly Cleveland $25,870,000 7 Jorge Durán Seattle $25,605,000 8 David Wright Norfolk $22,465,000 9 Max Brosseau Tampa Bay $20,850,000 10 Bobby CartwrightBrooklyn $20,490,000 11 Andre Ethier Boston $19,350,000 12 Jorge Enríquez Houston $19,340,000 13 Tommy Wells Minnesota $19,220,000 14 Ryan Howard New York $18,670,000 15 Bartolo MartínezAtlanta $18,520,000 16 Raúl González Chicago $18,270,000 17 Bernie Arellano Colorado $18,165,000 18 Javier HernándezNew York $18,080,000 19 Scott Mathieson Washington $17,980,000 20 Jimmy Johnson Baltimore $17,900,000 21 Pancho RodríguezCincinnati $17,650,000 22 Albert Pujols San Francisco $17,120,000 23 Cole Hamels Vancouver $16,930,000 24 Ubaldo Jimenez Florida $16,830,000 25 Ryan Feierabend Colorado $16,430,000 BROWNSTONES 2020 PREVIEW The most notable change in the Brooklyn lineup this year is the return of Bobby Cartwright (.273/8 HR/54 RBI) to play third base. The 32-year old is in the last year of his deal and whether because of his fan favourite status, big name status or just the fact that he's due to breakout one of these years, the team went after him, sending Matt Vanier to Seattle last off-season. The biggest question mark for the boys in brown this year will be the pitching staff and how it can hold up. Lonnie Martin (14-3, 2.93) and Darrel Price (14-1, 2.93) return to a staff that has no newcomers from a year ago. The lone newcomer to the long staff is Alex Bustamante, a 21-year old who came over in the deal that sent Ramiro Valentin and Matt Vanier to Seattle. He went 10-4 last year with 89 strikeouts and should be the spot starter to start the year. Offensively, Clarence Austin (.339/46/127) and Troy Tulowitzki are the dynamic duo (29 HR/110 RBI/.342) for the Brownstones. Look for Gil Ryan, who was vaunted as the replacement to living legend Ryan Howard, to have a breakout year, after being stunted during last year's lockout shortened season. Whether this team is competitive for a title will really depend on whether they've gelled together or not. Given the parts involved, it'll be interesting to see whether the strategy in recent years by D.C. Daly to stick to the team's home-grown talent has worked or not.

12-05-2007, 10:48 AM	#68
ctorg Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 9,848	DC, I just wanted to chime in again and say that this is really great stuff. It's really the sort of thing that exemplifies what OOTP is all about to me. You've taken the depth of OOTP and added your own well-done anecdotes and tweaks to make it even deeper. You've done what every dynasty writer aspires to do: you've made it feel like a real league. Really great work! __________________ My music "When the trees blow back and forth, that's what makes the wind." - Steven Wright Fjord emena pancreas thorax fornicate marmalade morpheme proteolysis smaxa cabana offal srue vitriol grope hallelujah lentils

12-07-2007, 07:17 PM	#72
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	D.C. DALY HEADS TO MIDDLE AMERICA After four successful years with the Brooklyn Brownstones, D.C. Daly is heading to Omaha. The Omaha Blue Sox reportedly offered the 'stones G.M. an ownership stake and a lot less heat to come to the fledging expansion club that will begin play next season. After the Brownstones lost in the 2021 World Series in nine games to Houston, it was rumored that the team wanted to go in a different direction, despite the success that they'd had with Daly at the helm. The team informed him that they would not renew his contract after 2022 and so, he began to seek out other opportunities. It didn't take long, said Daly," for a chance to bring glory to Middle America as a prime job for him. "Make no mistake, this isn't an easy job by any stretch of the imagination," said Daly about his ascent at the helm of MLB's newest small-market club. "But I think wtih smarts, a real gameplan and some patience, that we'll create the next great ballclub in MLB," said Daly." The Blue Sox plan to launch their own television network that will broadcast as far south as Kansas City, all of Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and parts of Iowa. "We want to be the team for Middle America that represents what the region is all about and the best way to do that, is to show people their team." The team will play at brand new Mutual of Omaha Park at Rosenblatt, home to the College World Series championship, with games played at the smaller field at the Mutual of Omaha complex at the original Rosenblatt Stadium, where the College World Series has been held for decades. "This is a baseball city tried and true. We always knew we could convince a team here [once Kansas City moved] and so, we felt this was our shot to make it happen and with the right people connected to our ownership group [including G.G. Buffett, Warren Buffett's granddaughter], the deal was made possible, despite some wary about the size of the market initially." Daly won't have much of a honeymoon period, as the team prepares for next week's MLB expansion draft with expansion brethen San Jose. The team hasn't really released a statement related to the team's potential moves in the draft. Last edited by darkcloud4579; 12-07-2007 at 11:36 PM.

12-07-2007, 07:37 PM	#73
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	The Omaha story continues here.. http://ootpdevelopments.com/board/sh...d.php?t=158159 __________________ ------ My Mods OOTP Advanced Stats & DFS Suite Managerial Strategy Pack Competitive Balance Tax Calculator Major League Women's Baseball (OOTP24) quickstart Indian Premier League \| 300+ years of baseball quickstart \| Expatriate League quickstart \| Off-Field Injuries Update \| Women's Name File for OOTP \| ---- Dynasty classics: Centurion comes to OOTP5 \| DC Moneyball Dynasty (2004) Last edited by darkcloud4579; 12-08-2007 at 12:11 AM.

11-15-2007, 10:03 PM	#61
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	OWNERS HINTING AT LOCKOUT JANUARY 21, 2019 With negotiations with the Players Association stalling, the owners of at least 26 major league baseball clubs are willing to vote today to lockout the players, preventing spring training and the regular season from beginning. No one will comment on the validity of these claims, but anonymous reports coming from New York are that the owners are seriously considering ending negotiations in February, if there isn't a deal on the table. MARCH 1, 2019 After nearly a month of intense negotiations, the players and owners have come no closer to a decision reltaed to what the team will do. As a result, the owners are preparing to "restructure" the regular season schedule, after having cancelled spring training due to the lockout. "We're going to preserve this game one way or another and if it means we have to cut back some games, so be it," said one owners. Here are the proposals according to the owners: Owners' proposals: * Players would be guaranteed 48 percent of revenue from ticket sales and national and local radio and television contracts, which would make up about 82 percent of owners' total revenue. * A salary cap limiting the total amount of salary any team could pay to players. Players with 6 years or more experience would still be free agents, but they could not be signed by a particular team if doing so would put that team over the salary limit. The players are opposed to a salary cap and would like the owners to expand the active roster to 27 from its current 25. The impasse will most certainly cost at least a few regular season games, but no decision has been made on that as of yet. OFFICIAL: ALL MARCH REGULAR SEASON GAMES CANCELLED March 18, 2019 The owners have cancelled all March regular season games for the 2019 season. Because the schedule had already been devised the owners could only find a solution in cancelling whole blocks of dates, rather than indiviual games. According to spokesman Michael Bednarik, the two sides are "no closer to a deal than yesterday." This is the first cancellation of regular season games since 1981 and will cause some havoc in regards to post-season scheduling. WORLD SERIES WEEKEND SITES Provided we ever get baseball again, MLB has announced the finalists for MLB World Series Weekend for this year. The trick? If a city loses out this year, they'll be automatically considered for the following year. It's just a two-year experiment for now, so just two cities will be picked for the first run. So two cities will get picked out of this group to host the new event. That is, provided it still happens this year. Finalists: San Antonio, Miami, Phoenix, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Nashville

11-15-2007, 10:08 PM	#62
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	APRIL GAMES CANCELLED April 1, 2019 Making good on a promise that "if there was no deal in place by April 1st, that all April games would be cancelled, MLB's owners today agreed to cancel all April games and set a 'drop-dead' date on the 2019 season. The rankling is over the implementation of a salary cap and the owners have not budged from their stance that the players need to accept this if the baseball season is to continue. "Our position is firm and we're not budging," said a spokesman for the owners.

11-15-2007, 10:56 PM	#63
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	BRIGHT LIGHT EMERGES APRIL 5, 2019 Just a little over 72 hours after the owners cancelled all April games, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. MLB owners have tenatively come to an agreement with the players association that would implement a salary cap starting at the beginning of the 2020 season, but wouldn't penalize teams that are over it, it would just prevent them from being able to sign new players post-2020. There were some concessions on the side of the owners, including an expansion of active rosters from 25 to 26 players -- one less than the players asked for -- and there is a plan in place that would realign the MLB divisions in 2020 to three five team divisions in each league and bring back interleague play. The MLBPA stopped short of approving any plans that would allow for expanded playoffs beyond the three rounds that MLB currently has. "We're not out of the woods yet. But it's looking a lot better than it did just a week ago," said one spokesman for the players association. BASEBALL COMES BACK IN MAY MLB and the Players Association agreed today to set the regular season date for May 3, 2019. To determine the playoffs, MLB has decided to employ a split schedule, the first time since 1981 where that's happened. "We felt it was the most equitable solution." The new rules that were agreed to by the owners and players will take effect in 2020.

11-22-2007, 12:08 PM	#65
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	SALARY CAP EFFECT, FINANCES & POTENTIAL PLAYOFF EXPANSION COMMENTARY The whole point of the salary cap is essentially to force teams at the bottom who aren't spending to do so, by freezing out the teams who near or over the cap from being able to sign players and leaving those players on the market and forcing those other teams into the market and making them more likely to be successful, whereas under normal conditions, they're not able to be. I haven't truly figured out -- and my financial model confuses me half the time, so I haven't invested the time to develop this more fully -- but, I think there has to be a way to ensure that there is parity across the league, with teams pitching for players and keeping things relatively stable across the board. I think part of what skews my noticing of talented players who don't get to play, is the fact that 1) injuries are on low, so it extends milestone careers, but keeps guys from cycling into the majors and 2) there are only 30 teams. But too many teams and it starts to get convoluted, so I don't want to go beyond the scheduled 32 teams in 2022. The next thing that we mentioned earlier that I'm seriously considering is the extended playoffs with four teams in four divisions in each league. That would be blasphemous to the average fan in today's world, yet..the NFL does it and coupled with their salary cap have the most powerful brand in American sports. The reason? Fans have a reason to root, root, root for the home team. Baseball has the opposite of what any sport does -- a lot of home dates -- that normally get filled. So the logic here is, if you have the same arsenal of home dates to fill and more teams eligible for the playoffs, while it might "hurt" the product on the field come playoff time (exclusivity is lost, average teams have a chance to go all the way...), what you do have, is the chance to give teams that get an injury or three, some margin for error. Because all things being equal, the playoff tickets -- especially in later rounds of the playoffs -- sell regardless of whether the teams are "good" or not. Fans will come see their teams as they get closer to the title and the games will still get broadcast, too. Increasing the likelihood that the more "venerable" brands get a chance to go 'all the way' or at least, have a shot to show up and coupling that with a schedule that gives fans a chance to see teams from other regions, will increase the cache of teams that otherwise get ignored right now. Baseball is and will forever be a regional sport. But by increasing the exposure that people have to the sport and by providing fans with a variety of ways to get plugged into the content and to get engaged in the sport throughout the season, it's more likely that the fairweather, "I only watch the playoffs" fans will either increase or will meld with diehard fans to create an increased amount of participation in the sport in the future. So for traditionalists, the idea of altering the entire setup of the sport as it's been known pretty much since its inception, to create a system that's more accessible to modern fans...might be blasphemy. But if the result is the significant expansion of revenue in the sport, then we have to serious consider that as the next logical step in baseball's evolution.

12-01-2007, 01:17 PM	#67
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,715	September 1, 2021 On the eve of major changes in the setup of this league, I decided (without a press release) to change the whole idea a bit, because I wasn't particularly fond of my mass-expansion idea after all. Rather than go crazy and add six teams to the majors, we're just going to add two, to get to 32 teams and that's it. I am creating an separate independent league with an unspecified number of teams. I haven't decided whether the majors will stay two divisions or go to three divisions in each league. From there, I dunno what's next. But that's a good rundown of at least the first few changes I want to make. I'm also going to be implementing a variety of house rules starting in 2022 (which is next season) on myself and I might adopt a second team as the shadow GM, build them up and try to make them a power -- within my own division -- to rival the Brownstones dominance in recent years. I'm also going to attempt to create a cohesive structure to reporting information to you all, so it makes the dynasty more interesting to read as a result. Stay tuned.