Terra Baseball League: Bryant Warriors

[jaa36]

An 89-73 record is pretty good, but the 2005 Warriors faded down the stretch and missed an opportunity to win another championship. Owner Keith Little was very disappointed in our performance- our season score was just 430, and we didn't achieve any of his goals (make the playoffs, improve first base, increase attendance, turn a profit). In fact, we lost $26M (sorry Keith) and our attendance dropped. Well, we tried.

Successes:
1. B.J. Pallister. The 25-year-old former #2 overall pick continued to thrive, with a .408 OBP and 5.4 WAR.
2. Nicky Willey. At 35, Willey was nearly Pallister's match offensively, and didn't gave away TOO many runs with his glove.
3. Nathan Roelofs, Jeremiah Mellado and Luis Del Rosario. All three were part-timers, and all three gave full-time performances.
4. Nadif Awuah. He was the only pitcher to make more than 30 starts, and he won 18 games for us.
5. Roddie Tirado. Despite some late-season hiccups, Tirado provided reliable relief and was re-signed for two more seasons.

Disappointments:
1. Nate Bambrick. The first baseman had a woeful year with the bat, reaching base less than 30% of the time, and making us miss Wyatt Cox, Toby Younger and Lou Harte all the more.
2. Gus Zahakis. While the All-Star third baseman was OK, he didn't turn us into the offensive juggernaut we were hoping to become, and he came up small several times down the stretch in October.
3. Munemitsu Hiraki. Even with six starters out, the former top-100 prospect couldn't crack the rotation and was atrocious out of the bullpen.
4. Trainer Ari Helton. What happened, Ari?!?

We'll have several departures next season, with Zahakis, Mellado, Tatu Niemela and Sancho Villanueva all reaching the end of their contracts. I'll add a table showing some how some former Warriors fared this season- Alfonso Trevino was particularly dreadful, and will obviously not break the all-time saves record.

Assistant GM Edward Pittman, bench coach Justin Charles and pitching coach Kris Check all had their contracts extended.

In the minors, all three levels posted losing records once again. Miguel Bello hit .243 with 26 home runs, and it's possible he could end up making the major-league team at some point next season.

[jaa36]

This year's selection for the Hall of Fame is Bill Reber. The longtime first baseman for the Sidney City Scorpions hit .281 with a .377 on-base percentage, 2361 hits, 350 home runs and 64 WAR. Reber was the #3 overall pick out of high school by the Scorpions in 1981, and his advancement through the minors was very slow, as he only made his major-league debut six years later. But Reber was always thought of highly as a prospect, and he didn't disappoint, winning the Player of the Year award in his second season with an 8.1-WAR campaign. That year began a stretch of ten consecutive seasons in which Reber played in every game, and he remained extraordinarily durable until the end of his career, missing no more than four games in any season. Reber won a second Player of the Year in 1990, and he surpassed 100 RBI in seven consecutive seasons. He helped the Scorpions break the Freeton Crusaders' stranglehold on the TBL East, and led them to consecutive championships in 1993 and 1994, the first postseason success for Sidney City since 1955. He homered twice and drove in ten in the 1993 series. Reber was quite good with both the bat and the glove, winning four Gold Gloves and three Platinum Sticks, and he was an eight-time All-Star.

[jaa36]

The Crusaders have been easily the most dominant franchise in the history of the TBL, reaching the postseason 39 times and winning 26 championships. It's hard to find ways to capture just how good the Crusaders have been... They managed to win eight championships in a span of thirteen years, from 1926 through 1938. They won EVERY season from 1935-1938, a streak only bested by the Sungate Falcons (which actually started the following season). They made the postseason every year between 1982 and 1992, winning seven championships in that stretch. Only once have they gone even three consecutive seasons without a winning record, and that was all the way back in 1913-1915. Their longest championship drought is actually going on right now- thirteen seasons- though they've made the TBL Championship Series three times in that stretch.

Freeton itself is the largest city in Terra, and the capital of the Freeland province. The Crusaders play in Freeton Grounds. They have made over $3 BILLION in their history and routinely draw some of the biggest crowds in the TBL.

Highlight: Too many to count. The four consecutive championships was pretty good, but probably you would say the late 1980s and early 1990s, which included Nathan Simpson at his peak and a 113-win season.

Lowlight: I suppose it might be right now! The Crusaders finished with 71 wins in 2003 and 75 in 2004, finishing in seventh place each year, though nudged back above .500 with 83 wins last season.

Best player: Nathan Simpson, previously profiled at his Hall of Fame induction in 2003. Simpson finished his career with a record 136 WAR and nine Pitcher of the Year awards, and played all but his final three seasons in Freeton.

[jaa36]

2006 saw Mapleshire defeat Westhaven in the ABC Finals, two games to one. This was actually the first time Westhaven had ever made the finals, and the first championship for Mapleshire since 1949. It had been a Cinderella season for Westhaven, which won eight in a row to close out the round robin portion of the tournament. Meanwhile, it took Mapleshire an extra game to get past Dunstan in the round robin portion, which they won on a three-run eighth-inning homer by third baseman Jackson Crawford. The Mapleshire bats came out for the finals, as the club scored 32 runs in three games, with first baseman Archer Swanson hitting three home runs. Former Warriors infielder Jeremiah Mellado had 6 hits in 17 at-bats in the championship round. Humphrey Blow of Silverley won the tournament Player of the Year, hitting .500 with six home runs and 18 RBI, while Sotero Salazar of Oldham was the Pitcher of the Year.

Among current Warriors, Loran Hamrick hit .333 with six stolen bases, Reiji Kono .302 with four home runs, and Nate Bambrick .359 with four homers. Oliver Brown allowed one run in 16 1/3 innings, and Roddie Tirado didn't allow any in 6 2/3 innings and had two saves.

[jaa36]

This was a somewhat less eventful offseason than last one- we didn't lose any major stars, and actually we may have brought back most of the role players. Our budget precluded us from being big players in the free agent market... Felix Rodriguez went to the Silverley Mustangs for $70M over five years, and at 32 and coming off a major arm injury, I wouldn't have wanted him at that price. Tatu Niemela went to the Freeton Crusaders for the shocking sum of $114M over six years- you could argue that he was underused with our generally pitching-rich club, but he accumulated only 2.3 WAR in six seasons in Bryant, and there's no way he'll be worth that amount. Gus Zahakis also went to Freeton, for $204M over eight years.

We did bring back fan favorite and 2002 hero Loran Hamrick on a two-year deal for $3M/year. That's a pretty good deal for someone of Hamrick's pedigree, and the worst-case scenario is that he'll end up a well-paid fourth outfielder once Miguel Bello is ready to join the big-league club. I also signed ace reliever Garth Horning to a one-year deal for $4M. The 37-year-old Horning has a 2.24 career ERA and 146 saves, but he missed all of last season with a torn flexor tendon. He'll miss the first month of the season, but he could be a big addition at the back end of the bullpen.

Speaking of the bullpen- I also acquired reliever Al Rendon for minor league outfielder Andy Wright. Rendon was a former first-round pick and a top-ten prospect just two seasons ago, but the luster came off a bit after a rocky 2004 season. He turned things around a bit with 25 saves for the Wal Titans last season, but he looks a very good (and cheap) addition to the bullpen. Wright was the #42 overall prospect, but it didn't look likely that he would ever amount to more than a mediocre outfielder, and we had those in spades.

With a little bit more money in my pocket, I made a last-minute offer to another fan favorite, Jeremiah Mellado, a one-year deal worth $4.2M. Mellado played in only 508 games over seven seasons with us, but really came into his own the last few years, hitting .338 with 2.4 WAR, so I'd love to bring him back.

[jaa36]

The Warriors are projected to return to the top of the TBL East this season... Of course, that's what the projections said last year, too, and that didn't end so well. The Mustangs look strong again, and the Crusaders are likely to be back in business after a few down years. Keith Little expects us to reach the playoffs.

We had a relatively uneventful spring training... The only major injury was to Shane Johnson, our first-round draft pick from two seasons ago. Johnson will unfortunately miss the season with a partially torn UCL. For the time being, we're able to roll out our nominal top five starters, with Kyoshi Anno and Rudolph Christie returning from their injuries, and while the bullpen is a bit thin, it'll be fortified considerably when Garth Horning returns.

Our lineup is pretty much unchanged from last season. Luis Del Rosario returns to his spot in the starting lineup, and we have a new veteran catcher (on a minor-league deal) in Frank White.

Miguel Bello remains the #2 overall prospect and will start in Belltown again this season. Tyler Hollis is #20 and will play at Tavistock again. The system is ranked #6 overall.

[jaa36]

The Warriors are off to a poor start offensively, ranking dead last in the league in scoring with just 82 runs. However, this hasn't kept us from somehow winning 13 games and entering May just a game out of first place. We've got an on-base percentage below .300 as a team, and we're last in just about every major offensive category. Having several regulars, including Nicky Willey and Nathan Roelofs, hit the IL in April didn't help, but we've got to turn things around at the plate. Meanwhile, the club is pitching well, and we've been relatively healthy on the mound.

Jeremiah Mellado signed his deal for $4.2M, so that helps a bit. We have a few players that want extensions- but that skinflint Keith Little won't give us any money for it! Nadif Awuah asked us to help out his charity, and I turned him down.

[jaa36]

A mediocre May leaves the Warriors at 26-24, three games out of first but very much in the hunt. We suffered a spate of injuries, but nothing that will take anyone out for too long... Nicky Willey had a hot month, hitting .330 with three homers. Randy Rojo hit just .210, but had eight home runs. Kyoshi Anno saved four games.

We had the #13 overall pick in the draft and selected college pitcher Doug Trombino, who looks like he could be pretty good for that low in the round.

Around the league, Humphrey Blow of Silverley is up to 20 home runs already, and reached 400 career home runs... is this the year he breaks the record?

[jaa36]

The Warriors finished an ugly 11-15 in June, falling below .500 overall on the season, and down to fifth in the division. We lost the last five games of the month, including a 2-1 extra-inning loss to Crestmont on a walk-off homer, and a 10-8 loss in which we scored seven runs in the last two innings but left the tying run at the plate.

Rudolph Christie was one of the main culprit, allowing a staggering 25 runs over 21 innings, losing his starting spot in the process. Randy Rojo continued to hit home runs (4) and not get on base any other way (.225 OBP).

The injury bug continued to bite- we lost nominal ace Kyoshi Anno for perhaps the rest of the season, and Nicky Willey for the next two months. We have the depth to absorb those losses, but the season looks like it is falling apart fast...

I offered $5M for Takaman amateur Masami Hirosue, who could end up a mid-rotation starter a long time from now.

There are close races in both conferences. The Sidney City Scorpions and the Wonderwood Monarchs are both 45-31 in the East, and the Crestmont Bobcats and Patrick Legends lead the West at 43-33.

[jaa36]

The Warriors finished an even 13-13 in July, but that certainly wasn't good enough, as the Wonderwood Monarchs had their second consecutive 18-win month to move a likely insurmountable 13 games ahead of us. Getting swept by the Monarchs certainly didn't help us any. Injuries continued to mount, with Garth Horning out for the season, and Nathan Roelofs missing the next several weeks. It turns out my strategy of investing in injury-prone players left us with a bunch of injury-prone players...

B.J. Pallister and Oliver Brown (for some reason?) were our two All-Stars. Meanwhile, Lou Harte and Toby Younger received the honor in Crestmont once again. I miss those guys... Senan Harris managed to win the Pitcher of the Month, going 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA.

With the season essentially lost, I traded away Kyoshi Anno (out for nearly the rest of the year and in the last year of the contract) to the Wal Titans for pitcher Lloyd Thompson. This saves us a little bit of money- Thompson is nothing special, now on his seventh team in seven seasons. I didn't get Masami Hirosue, but did pick up Mike Fenwick, a 16-year-old infielder out of Rowenia.

Miguel Bello came up for a few weeks to make his major-league debut while Reiji Kono was injured, struggled a bit, and was send back to AA.

In the WC, the Bobcats took a three-game lead. Humphrey Blow of the Silverley Mustangs is up to 34 home runs on the year.

[jaa36]

A winning month did not help us pick up any ground, as we remained 13 games behind the Wonderwood Monarchs. We did nudge above .500, which is nice, but doesn't get us much of anything. We didn't make any trades, as no one came calling for our expiring contracts.

Jeremiah Mellado had another stellar month for us, hitting .410 with three homers. Meanwhile, rookie first baseman Claude Speech, who's getting a lot of the at-bats against lefties, bashed five home runs in just 55 plate appearances. B.J. Pallister slumped to just a .281 OBP.

Without much money to spend on extensions, I spent $3M for the next two seasons to bring back Rocky Long. The 31-year-old hasn't been good, per se, but he is certainly a warm body...

At this point, Wonderwood and Crestmont have pretty much wrapped up the conference races. The Monarchs haven't made the postseason since way back in 1958. The Bobcats were there just last year... they traded for Tatu Niemela recently, making a total of four former Warriors on the team, including Lou Harte, Toby Younger and Hideaki Ando. I knocked the Crusaders for signing Niemela to a $114M deal, but he's somehow put together a 14-5 season with a 2.80 ERA!

[jaa36]

There's no drama left in this season, as we continued on the path to mediocrity while the Wonderwood Monarchs remained well out of sight. Luis Del Rosario has quietly put together a great season, hitting .340, third-best in the league. Senan Harris (14-9, 3.28) and Roddie Tirado (33 saves, 1.73 ERA) have also had nice campaigns.

Nate Bambrick tore his ACL and will miss the rest of this season and the start of next. He's a likely non-tender in the offseason, as he's slated to make over $10M next year. Bambrick has alternated between surprisingly good (such as his rookie campaign in 2002) and disappointing (negative WAR last year), so it's not a huge loss. His current replacement, Claude Speech is a hulking 6' 9" and plays a killer first base defensively.

[jaa36]

The Warriors were able to keep above .500, at 83-79, as the season came to an end. Unfortunately, attendance dropped to just 1.7M this season, and we lost $20M...

Wonderwood and Crestmont easily won their conferences. Tim Adams of the Mustangs was able to make it through the whole season and hit .373, raising his career average to .369. Humphrey Blow hit 52 homers for Silverley, becoming the second player in league history with three 50-homer seasons.

[jaa36]

The 2006 TBL Championship Series was a real barn-burner, a seven-game series that ended on an extra-inning walk-off hit by series MVP Ward Wolverton. The Bobcats got outstanding offensive performances by Wolverton and Toby Younger, and overcame a lackluster series by ace Aiden Montpetit. In game seven, the Bobcats tied it on a wild pitch in the eighth inning, left the bases loaded in the ninth, then held the Monarchs scoreless before winning it in the twelfth. It was the first championship for Crestmont since 1990, and it gave Younger, Lou Harte and Tatu Niemela and chance to hoist another trophy.

Tim Adams of the Silverley Mustangs won the Player of the Year, hitting .373 with 26 home runs and 117 RBI. Montpetit picked up his fourth Pitcher of the Year, going 20-7 with a 2.83 ERA. Sungate's Stylian Michailidis (.260/33/89) was the Rookie of the Year, and Ian Gusman (1.37 ERA, 35 saves) was the Reliever of the Year, with Roddie Tirado finishing second in the voting.

[jaa36]

The Warriors ended up a mediocre club in a disappointing 2006 season. Our season score was 318 and Keith Little is mad at us.

Successes:
1. Luis Del Rosario. The young third baseman took a nice step forward in 2006.
2. Jeremiah Mellado. You can't complain about that kind of production for $4.2M! Mellado seems to find a way to get better every year.
3. Noah Livingstone. This was the best offensive season for a catcher since I've been at the helm, and it was unexpected coming from the former rule 5 pick.
4. Roddie Tirado. The 28-year-old put it all together in his third season as the closer.
5. Senan Harris. The veteran was a stabilizing force in the rotation, with 15 wins and a 3.39 ERA.

Disappointments:
1. Randy Rojo. The shortstop seems to get worse at the plate every year.
2. Frank White. Well, what do you expect from a backup catcher, really...
3. Rudolph Christie. Turned out to be a rather bad use of $25M.

We have quite a few departures this offseason. Nicky Willey declined his option, and wants $80M over four seasons, which isn't gonna happen even for someone as consistent as him at his age (36). Senan Harris and Jeremiah Mellado are slated to leave. Nathan Roelofs probably needs a new agent, as he declined his $10M option, then turned around and signed an extension for another year at $5M.

I have offers out for $40M for three years for Nadif Awuah (last year of arbitration), $75M for six years for B.J. Pallister (first year of arbitration), and $110M for eight years for Luis Del Rosario (also first year).

Assistant GM Edward Pittman retired after spending the last eight years in Bryant. I have an offer out for Langston Nieves, who led the Freeton Crusaders to the postseason in three seasons (which, to be fair, is not all that impressive), and was just let go after a last-place finish with the Stephens Rattlers.

The minor league system has slipped to ninth overall. Miguel Bello seems to have mastered AA at this point, with 4.3 WAR, and is now the #5 overall prospect. First-round pick Doug Trombino checks in at #42, and Shane Johnson (#50) should return from injury next season. There are signs of life in the low minors, as Tavistock posted the first winning record for a Bryant farm club in some time.

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The 2007 selection for the Hall of Fame is shortstop Rich Cutts. Cutts finished his career with 84 WAR, 11th all time among position players, and is best known for having the best single-season WAR total in TBL history, 11.5 in 1991. Cutts was signed as an amateur free agent out of Rowenia by the Sidney City Scorpions in 1982- not during the bonus signing period, but just as a scouting find. He gradually moved up through the prospect rankings, and by 1986 he was the top prospect in baseball. He made his debut the following season and hit the ground running, winning the Rookie of the Year award, and leading the league in WAR the following season. In 1991, he took his game to the next level, setting a new record on-base percentage with .473, to go along with a .392 batting average and 53 doubles, while also playing spectacular defense at shortstop. Cutts suffered through two more injury-plagued (but still good) seasons with the Scorpions, leading Sidney City to its first championship in 38 years in 1993. Cutts departed for the Terra City Capitals as a free agent, and won his second Player of the Year and TBL championship with them in 1996. By the end of the decade, his defense had begun to suffer, and he was unfortunately finished as an everyday player by just age 35, retiring after the 2001 season. Cutts finished his career with a .337 average, a .417 on-base percentage, 2713 hits, seven Platinum Sticks, and twelve All-Star selections.

[jaa36]

I figured this year I'd take a look at the team that has stolen all our good players- the Crestmont Bobcats. Crestmont is not one of the larger cities in the TBL, but boasts a huge fan base and at this point has the third-largest budget in the league, behind only Freeton and Silverley. The city of Crestmont is located in Kendenland, just southwest of the Middle Sea.

The Bobcats have historically won more than they've lost, and have been on a good streak lately, including winning 100 games and the TBL championship last season. They've won 7 championships overall, though their legacy has been tarnished somewhat by losing 14 times in the championship series.

Highlight: It's tempting to say 1927-28, when the club won 96 games and championships in consecutive seasons, but it's probably actually 1905-1910, when the team made the playoffs in five out of six seasons, won its first championship in 1908, and then won a then franchise-record 106 games in 1910.

Lowlight: There's not a lot to choose from. It would probably be 1951, when the club lost 106 games just two seasons after winning a championship. The Bobcats won 96 games again just two seasons later, though it wouldn't return to the postseason until 1960.

Best player: Five-time Pitcher of the Year Oscar Pizarro would be a good choice, but it's got to be Karson Weathers. Known as the best catcher in TBL history, Weathers spent the first (and best) twelve seasons of his career in Crestmont. Weathers was an 18-time All-Star (missing only the first two seasons of his career), and surpassed 3000 hits and 400 home runs in his career, finishing with 103 WAR. Unfortunately, Weathers fell short of a championship in three trips to the postseason.

[jaa36]

Sorenheim defeated Silverley in the 2007 ABC finals, two games to none. Sorenheim won the first game on a homer by Rolf Ahlberg in the tenth, then stifled a bases-loaded rally in the bottom of the inning, and went on to win the second game more easily. Sorenheim was 10-1 in round robin play, while Silverley advanced by going 10-2, defeating Dunstan in an additional game. Catcher Nicholas Reinas, who was signed by the Warriors in the offseason, hit four home runs and drove in 20 runs for Sorenheim. Usaburo Tagiyama of Takama hit eight home runs to win the Player of the Year, and Toshio Kurosaki (also of Takama) won Pitcher of the Year with a 0.56 ERA.

Among Warriors players, B.J. Pallister and Randy Rojo also homered four times apiece. Kyoshi Anno won two games, and Roddie Tirado had three saves over five scoreless innings. Senan Harris (no longer with the Warriors) led all pitchers with 1.4 WAR.

[jaa36]

I'll start with the highlight- the Warriors signed catcher Murtagh Pettijohn, a seven-time All-Star, to a five-year deal worth $130M. This was a huge investment in a 33-year-old backstop, but if anyone's worth it, it's Pettijohn. The veteran is likely to end his career as one of the top five catchers of all time, and it's great to see him in a Warriors uniform. He's been a consistently excellent hitter, batting .323 with 41 doubles and 16 home runs last season, and is also known to be terrific behind the plate and a team leader. Pettijohn spent the first ten seasons of his career with the Marsh Heroes, facing off against us in the 2002 TBL Championship Series, and the last two with the Sungate Falcons. The last few years of his deal may get ugly, but that's a problem for future me.

Meanwhile, Nicky Willey departed for the Silverley Mustangs, to the tune of $80M for three years- a lot to pay for a 37-year-old middle infielder. Willey opened up a new restaurant in Silverley, the Infield Inn, which stings a little bit. Senan Harris also landed with the Mustangs, for $27M total over three seasons, and Jeremiah Mellado went to the Terra City Capitals for $5.8M/year and two years.

Since I will never learn my lessons regarding signing injury-prone players, I brought back pitchers Kyoshi Anno (two years, $6M/year) and Garth Horning (one year, $2M). Meanwhile, owner Keith Little unexpectedly loosened the purse-strings, which allowed me to trade for pitcher Pogo Turner. The 32-year-old Turner posted a solid 13-9 record and 3.69 ERA for the cost-cutting Uniontown Aces for minor-league starter Jackson Inez. Also, the Falcons offered us infielder Colton Sapp and a second-round draft pick for last year's breakout catcher Noah Livingstone, who was expendable given the Pettijohn acquisition. Sapp is nothing special, but is at least capable at second base for now.

We were relatively active on the minor league free agent market, including picking up ABC hero Johnny Reinas as our backup catcher.

[jaa36]

Unfortunately, spring training saw prized acquisition Murtagh Pettijohn take a fastball to the face and broke his cheekbone- he'll miss most of April. Pitcher Shane Johnson, who missed all of last season with a torn UCL, strained his elbow and will miss time as well. I forgot to mention, Andy Wright, who was traded away last season for Al Rendon, rejoined the club as a Rule 5 pick and will serve as our fourth outfielder. Veterans Mondarius Pratt, Nicholas Lewis, Leroy Sykes and Ralston Woodward also made the club on minor-league deals.

We are projected to win 83 games, four behind the Wonderwood Monarchs. Keith Little remains mad and expects us to make the playoffs.

Our system remains #9 overall. Miguel Bello is currently the #5 prospect and again will start in AA for now.