Northern League Baseball: A humorously depressing look 50 years into the future...

[Nunyer]

It's been a fun ride the last couple of weeks... In honor of the 100th post of this dynasty story, I present this picture of celebration:



Thanks to everyone reading along! Go Hot Dogs!

[Nunyer]

Looking back over my GM Journal, I just realized I never did an introduction for our next opponent, the Richmond Riptide. Better late than never...



History
The only team in the NLB with a corporate owner, the Riptide are owned the Shenyang Heavy Industrial Technology Corp of Shenyang, China. Apparently oblivious to the unfortunate English word that is formed from the company acronym, ownership has the Riptide playing in SH!T Corp Stadium. The locals don't seem to mind, as the corporation operates multiple SH!T factories in the Richmond area. Hardcore fans gleefully refer to themselves as the SH!Tkickers... And that's probably as far as I can take the whole SH!T angle until it just becomes gratuitous. The Riptide have consistently played winning baseball and their fans are fiercely loyal, but they have only reached the post season once. They have consistently played second fiddle to teams such as Hartford and Rhode Island in the always competitive Eastern Division.

Best Player
RF Barry Casey / 30 years old - Not a huge power threat, Casey is a fan favorite on Richmond due to his hard nosed playing style. He rarely strikes out, drawing more walks than Ks during his career. He has a career average of .300 and steals 25 bases a season. Casey recently agreed to a five year extension that should keep him in a Riptide uniform until the end of his career.

Best Pitcher
SP Manuel 'Miner' Gomez / 35 years old - This big 6'4" right hander is still getting it done in his 11th NLB season. He is 12-7 on the season with an ERA of 2.12. Gomez career numbers stand at 200 wins, 72 losses with a career ERA of 2.30 and WHIP of 1.05. Perhaps one the greatest ground ball pitchers in the history of baseball, Gomez throws a dazzling array of sinkers, breaking balls, tailing fastballs, you name it, if it sinks, he has one. He has only surrendered 61 home runs in over 2,500 innings of work.

Outlook
The Riptide lineup is veteran heavy and starting to decline. Beyond Miner Gomez, the starting pitching is filled with unproven youngsters who have not yet found their legs. The Riptide appear to be heading towards some rebuilding seasons. They have struggled in 2052, posting a record of 53-67, which places them in 8th place in the Eastern Division.

Minor League Affiliates
Raleigh Reapers (AAA)
Newport News Destroyers (AA)
Danville Chickenhawks (SA)

[Nunyer]

Richmond Results


Columbus 2 - Richmond 4
Struggling Riptide starter Steve Parrish found his touch against the Hot Dogs, throwing eight innings. He allowed two runs, four hits while striking out nine. His record improves to 2-8 on the season. Closer Mike Ramirez throws a perfect 9th for this 18th save of the year. LHP Big Stud Vega gives up three solo home runs against the righty heavy Riptide lineup over 5.2 innings. He drops to 11-8 on the season.

Columbus 6 - Richmond 3
Joe "Closer" Davis improves to 6-2 on the year with six strong innings of work. Joe strikes out nine with three walks and six hits. Columbus bangs out 11 hits against rookie Javier Delardsa, including five doubles. Eric Braun made things interesting in the ninth, putting two runners on base and twice facing the tying run at the plate, but the closer ultimately survived with his 15th save of the season.

Columbus 8 - Richmond 0
Future Hall of Famer Manny Gomez gave up an uncharacteristic three run blast to Tricky Nixon in the second inning and Columbus didn't need anything else. Eventually Gomez left the game after six innings, giving up seven hit and six earned runs. It was his worst start in over a month, he was roughed up for 5 ERs in under four innings against Baltimore on July 1st. The Hot Dogs also added Jeff Young's 22nd home run in garbage time. Ben Childs was stellar, earning the 3rd CG shutout of his career and first this season. He allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

Columbus gets a much needed day off, then welcome the Brooklyn Biohazard to town for a weekend three game home series.

[Nunyer]

GM Journal

Pondering our upcoming free agents today...

The team is not going anywhere this season, so with the dog days of summer quickly fading into fall... it's time to really start looking ahead. I have some decisions to make regarding some of our veteran players. We're looking to get younger, to develop talent and stop Lerma's ten year fascination with overpaying for past performance. That said, we'd like to compete for the playoffs next year... So every player has to be looked at carefully. Our important potential free agents are as follows:

SP Ben Childs - Age: 34
Current salary: $600k
Initial demand: 2 years @ $700k

Childs has pitched pretty well this season, probably the 3rd best season of his 10 year career. His salary demand is very reasonable, and I would think he has another decent middle of the rotation type of season in the tank. I targeted mid-level starter prospects aggressively via trade before the deadline.. and what I got was a bunch of mid-level pitchers. Jose Mendez has the potential to be a #2 starter in this league, and Joe "Closer" Davis has shown flashes. Still, the farm system has little help for another two seasons and the upcoming free agent class appears light in this area. Childs might be the best value available for the middle/back of the rotation. I'll likely throw him a one year offer and go from there.

3B Don "Tricky" Nixon - Age: 27
Current salary: $595k
Initial demand: 4 years @ $750k

Nixon is having a career season in a contract year, how convenient for him. Tricky is batting 20 points better than his lifetime average and has already set his career best with 16 HRs. He's a plus defender at the hot corner and can fill in at 2B/SS in a pinch... and he bats left handed. I have decent depth on the IF with young players already with the big club or ones that should be contributing next year. But none of them bat left handed and most are probably better suited defensively to the middle infield. Even if I had to pay him exactly what he demands, I'd likely do it. Nixon will likely be back.

LF Felix Gonzalez - Age: 30
Current salary: $372k
Initial demand: 3 years @ $1.1m

Gonzalez is on crack, over one million per season? He has under performed all year. He got hot for about six weeks in late June and through July, but beyond that it's been ugly at the plate. He's hitting .243 and striking out too much. His only value on the team has been defensively. Gonzalez possesses a freakin cannon for an arm. He's tied for the team lead with six OF assists despite only playing in roughly 70% of the games. I'm playing him everyday down the stretch against RHP, hopefully somebody meets his demands in the off season and we can snag a decent supplemental draft pick. No way do I offer him an extension.

2B Bill Norie - Age: 31
Current salary: $160k
Initial demand: a shoulder that works

Poor Norie. I feel for the guy. He was a lunch bucket kind of player. Showed up everyday and did exactly what you wanted. Never the all-star type, at least he was dependable. He played stellar 2B for us this season and produced a lot of clutch hits. I probably was not going to resign him anyways, with the potential middle IF logjam looming next year... but I hated to see him get hurt. Last report I heard was May/June of next year for his return. If he's healed and we're facing some horrific injury situation, I'll bring him back in a heartbeat. But for now, happy trails and best of luck Bill Norie.

SP Evan Carroll - Age: 35
Current salary: $314k
Initial demand: who cares, I won't talk to him.

I didn't even know we still had this guy. He was awful in April, ERA north of 7.00 and opponents shelling him at a .320 average. I guess he cleared waivers , pitched uninspired ball in AAA for a few months then got hurt. I am guessing that his pro baseball career is finished. Eight NLB seasons, 61-53 record with a 4.34 ERA in 156 games, 138 of them starts.

A Glance at the market...

Our biggest need is a legit leadoff hitter, but there doesn't appear to be many solutions available on the upcoming market. There are a few other players that I will gladly blow some of Lerma's money on ...

C Rex "The Shark" Scott - Age: 25
Hits for average. Hits for power. Left handed bat. Plays solid defense. Very little to dislike about this kid. The only knock anybody has on him is that sometimes he'll get lazy and take a game off... but that hasn't hurt his career numbers. Good for .300 average with 30+ bombs. He makes Paul Webb instant trade bait if we can sign him. He currently plays for notoriously cheap ownership in Cincy, and they have a good half dozen solid players due for free agency. They have the budget room to sign maybe 2 or 3 of them. Let's hope The Shark isn't on that list.

CL Jesus "Dozer" Vazquez - Age: 26
Arguably the best closer in the game the last five seasons, Jesus is another Cincy player that might get turned loose on the market. I'll pursue him if he's out there and Eric Braun would likely become trade bait if he won't accept a setup role. I don't like paying premium dollars for bullpen guys, but Vazquez is a clear exception to that rule.

2B Cesar Delgado - Age: 30
Doesn't have ideal speed for a leadoff hitter, but Delgado is an OBP machine. He routinely is at or above .400 and is consistently in the top 10 in the league. Detroit has some budget room and might resign him. I'll be interested for the right contract, although initial rumblings around the league is that Delgado wants a massive payday in the range of five years and over $10 million. Might be why he hasn't signed an extension with the Machine yet.

[Nunyer]

Brooklyn Results

Brooklyn 1 - Columbus 2
Brooklyn 4 - Columbus 3 (12 innings)
Brooklyn 7 - Columbus 5 (11 innings)

The offense just was not clicking despite generally good pitching performances. With maybe three exceptions, pretty much everybody in our lineup is putting up the lowest batting averages of their career. A good half dozen times this season I started thinking that the team had to turn the corner and start playing back towards their historical mean production, but it just has not happened.

In both extra innings games we loaded the bases with zero or one man out and couldn't bring home the winning run. Team is batting .239 collectively, good for 15th of 18 in the league.

Turning to slightly better news, Don Nixon has agreed to a contract extension with the team. Tricky has signed for three years, with a team option for a fourth. His base salary will raise $110k next season, to a total of $705k. The deal appears to be a bargain at this point, as his current arbitration estimate showed him being worth $1m per year.

We're on the road for the next six games, starting off in Cincy and then travelling to the nation's capital to face the Colonials.

[Nunyer]

Editor's Notes: I decided to sim straight up to the roster expansion. Want to get a look at some of the young guys and start thinking about the off season. The results were like the rest of this season, not pretty. We went 4-9 over the next four series. We are currently 62-74 on the year, 23.5 games out. I didn't see the point in dragging this thing out for another six weeks worth of games. I might write an update or two about the team if anything strikes my fancy during the last month, but I doubt it... I will probably just sim this puppy to the end and then write an update concerning the playoffs before heading to the official off season stuff.

Only other news to report is that Bob Childs signed an extension. I got him for one year with a team option for a second. He will get $700k, a raise of $100k from his current salary.

IF Armando Castilho suffered a broken hand and will be out for the rest of the year. This year's first pick, German Campos has been included in the call up.

In other league news, it appears as if Philly will win the east. Although Hartford has been red hot, gaining about 15 games in last six weeks. They are currently 8 behind with 25 games left but appear to be a lock for a wild card. In the West, Cleveland should walk away with the division. There are 4-5 other teams with a legit shot at the other wild card.

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - Monday, September 30th 2052

The regular season is over already?!? It's like I blacked out and somebody just woke me up six weeks later... Weird feeling. Anyways, we finished a depressing 72-90 on the season, 25 games out.

Around the league, Johnny "Crackhead" Murphy won the batting title. This guy plays for the Detroit Machine... and damn is he ever a machine... Murphy batted .331 with 61HR and 146 RBI. He missed the triple crown by a few RBI.

Danny Hilliard of Philly won the pitching triple crown. The 30 year old lefty went 22-4, with an ERA of 2.15 and an astonishing 295 strikeouts.

The playoffs start today. The two matchups should be good ones.

Philadelphia Felons (111-51) vs Pittsburgh Hardhats (94-68)
Cleveland Comrades (97-65) vs Hartford Diablos (97-65)

Round 1:
Cleveland quickly disposes of the Diablos in five games.
Philly falls behind 3 games to 1, but rallies back to hand Pittsburgh the historic collapse and the Felons take the series in seven!

Championship Series:
Philadelphia leaps out to a three game to nothing lead, but needs the full seven series tilt to win it's second consecutive NLB title!

Editor's note: The game just gave me a score of 1 out of 100... sweet mother of all that is holy... I am awful!!!!

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - November 2052

Here's the final regular season standings. Not that I want to remember much about our record, guess it's something the journal should include...



Lerma and Free Agency

Lerma isn't happy with the picture above, I don't blame him. At the moment he is off in the jungles of Indonesia searching for concubines. When I heard that story my first thought was "concubines? what is this, ancient Greece?" but then I realized it was Lerma... so yea... makes sense.

Rumor has it that he is going to slash our budget when he returns. And by rumor, I mean this text I just got from him saying "I AM GOING TO SLICE YOUR [expletive] BUDGET WHEN I GET BACK!!". Thankfully, he is remote enough in the jungle to where he can only send out the occasional text. Typhoons have ravaged the area he is at... cell towers are down... airports are closed... We got ten days, maybe two weeks to get the guys we want signed. Destiny has been told that there is a spending freeze, but she's an idiot... I'm sure we can just tell her any free agent contracts are "budget freezing documents" and she'll happily sign with that annoying heart over the "i". I'm starting to think she is functionally illiterate.

Fortune just might favor the bold... Cincy owner Johnny Johnston did indeed fall back to his penny-pinching ways. He pulled over $3.5 million out of the team and into his pockets. They let pretty much everybody walk. C Rex Scott and CL Jesus Vazquez are there for the taking. All I need to do is spend about $15-$20 million of Lerma's money before he gets back into the country. How the rest of the team reacts, how Lerma reacts, whether or not I face criminal charges... That's all secondary now... We are through the looking glass people... we can rebuilt it... make it faster, stronger... Wish me luck.

[Nunyer]

First day of 2052 Free Agency

Mothballs and I are not screwing around. He suggested we just offer Scott and Vazquez 20% more than what they are demanding... they'd be sure to sign then. Well, I'm not quite that crazy with other people's money. I have some scruples. I lob about 10-15% off the top of their demands and submit the following offers:

C Rex 'The Shark' Scott - 6 years / $11.8m
Contract starts at $1.6m in the first year, slowing escalating to $2.3m in the final year, which is a player option. His initial demand was $13.3m over six years.

CL Jesus 'Dozer' Vazquez - 5 years / $6m
Contract starts at $1.06m in the first year, escalating to $1.34m in the fifth year, no options. He was asking for 5 years at $7.8m total.

[Nunyer]

Star Catcher Scott inks $11.8m pact with Hot Dogs
Deal runs for six years for 26 year old former Cockroach
by Sixto Lezcano, YTGTESPN Staff Reporter
November 23rd, 2052

COLUMBUS, OH -- One of the biggest prizes of the 2052 free agent class came off the board this Saturday, as All-Star NLB Catcher Rex "The Shark" Scott signed with the Columbus Hot Dogs. The deal is reportedly worth $11.8 million over six seasons.

Spending his entire six year career in Cincinnati, Scott had mixed feelings about leaving. "I'm glad that I get to stay in the wonderful state of Ohio. I really love it here, and I loved my time in Cincy. But I think most of us knew that last season was our shot... that team wasn't going to stay together. We all knew [Cockroaches owner] Johnston's track record. He wasn't going to carry a top five payroll." said Scott during his introductory press conference.

Team spokesperson Destiny added, "We are very glad to have added Mr. Scott to our Budgetary Oversight Committee. We are serious here in Columbus about keeping our spending under control and Mr.Scott will assist us implement our current spending freeze and budget reduction efforts."

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - November 25th

Yea, Destiny is an idiot... I felt bad for telling her that we had to spend $12 million to bring in a budget cutting expert... but whatever... it worked. Although I'll have to stop abusing like this... I'm starting to feel guilty. Mothballs told her that the Jesus Vazquez $6 million was for no-touch toilet flushing sensors in the staff bathrooms. Hope he signs soon, not sure if that one will hold water for the long haul. Lerma has been delayed again... turns out concubine licensing in Indonesia is a real pain in the ass... can't just buy them coach airfare and fly them home I guess. Either way, he's calmed down a bit. After getting a dozen "YOU PRICK YOU GOT SCOTT?!?" messages from fellow owners... he might not press charges against us after all.

Now the question becomes what to do with Paul Webb? He only hit .200 in 115 games after we acquired him, but he did launch 24 home runs and win the Gold Glove at catcher. Rex Scott is no slouch on defense, but he is not a Gold Glove candidate.

At this point, I see two options: 1) We package Webb in an effort to get a legit lead off bat or starting pitcher or 2) We keep Webb and try to give him enough playing time to be happy.

I think we can use Webb as the backup catcher, primary DH and platoon 1B when facing a LHP starter. In theory, that should offer him enough playing time to keep him happy. Of course in that scenario, our current DH Jeffrey Young takes an everyday role in RF. Young isn't a liability in the field, but he's always been primarily a DH. He only played 12 games in RF this year. In 2047 and 2051, he didn't see a single game in the field. His career high was 24 games split between RF and CF in 2050. He's not really an everyday outfielder.

So as of now, I'm leaning towards shipping Webb out of town. His AVG/OBP is going to ding his value, but a Gold Glove backstop who hits 30-40 HRs should fetch me something.

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - November 29th

VAZQUEZ SIGNS! I am pretty pumped right about now. We had two targets, brought out the big guns and they took our offers. Sure, we probably could have haggled for a month or two and got them for cheaper... oh no... we couldn't have done that... We were trying to burn Lerma's money before he got back.

Speaking of Lerma... he's back.. I really couldn't even tell he was upset to begin with about our little escapades. He's going on and on about how he discovered Yak milk on his trip to Asia... and how it's going to revolutionize dairy in America. It's his next big distraction. Yak's Milk. And to think I just dropped $17.8 million of this dude's money behind his back... rich people are ****ed up.

Anyways, his concubine is nice girl, grew up dirt poor in a small village somewhere, doesn't seem to know a lick of English. Not surprisingly, she is now an official employee of the Hot Dogs. There has to be some tax scam in this for Lerma... but anyways she's now "Director of Player Personnel". Nobody in the office knows her name, even Lerma, so we've gone about calling her Connie the Concubine, or just Connie for short. She doesn't talk much, but she seems to love watching game film with the scouting staff. I already realize she's brighter than Destiny.

[Orcin]

Congrats on getting both free agents on your wish list! I think it's smart to jump in quickly and make good offers to the guys you want. Of course, you had other reasons, but still a good play.

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - December 4th, 2052

Ahh, the winter meetings... that time of year when team officials can get drunk and go do stupid stuff. As usual, the NLB Winter Meetings are held in Atlantic City, NJ... a city where there is nothing else to do but get drunk and do stupid stuff. Mothballs and I are on a mission to find a leadoff hitter or starting pitcher. We have C Paul Webb and CL Eric Braun to package into a deal. Everybody in the league knows these are the two big trade chips in our pocket... let's see who bites.

It's not even 11pm on the first night and already Lerma is asking me to keep Connie distracted so he can hook up with some random chick that we'll call Destiny v2.0. That man is amazing... 13 illegitimate children already and no signs of stopping.... After a few minutes of playing dollar slots, Connie reaches into her satchel and pulls out a news story from a New York news site. Apparently CF Jonathan Harris is not happy with his contract not being extended by management of the Bronx Zoo... Nice call from my director of player personnel...

"Thanks Connie", I say to her as I've done a bunch of times over the last few weeks...

In darn near perfect english, she replies... "Connie works for me, because your cracker ass would maul my real name... But anyways, you need to package Webb and Braun to get Harris. Their bullpen sucks and they'll immediately move Webb over to first base. Harris is not happy with his contract and is making noise, they might bail on him."

"Holy [expletive], you speak English?!?" was my astonished reply.

"Umm, yea... I graduated from Columbia... but my student visa ran out. I just rode this Lerma idiot for a free ticket to America" she said.

"Never, ever discuss riding Lerma again... but let's talk baseball."

[Nunyer]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Congrats on getting both free agents on your wish list! I think it's smart to jump in quickly and make good offers to the guys you want. Of course, you had other reasons, but still a good play.

Yea, those guys were two of the top five or seven free agents... And probably two of the top three when you consider their age.

The financials in the league worked out in my favor this offseason. The typical big money, huge market teams seemed relatively maxed out. For example, the two time champion Philly Felons signed one big name, probably the 2nd best FA available, but that was it for their budget.

Looking at the financials of all 18 teams, looks like I was one of only five that had significant money to blow on free agents.

[Nunyer]

Bronx send CF Harris to Columbus for Webb, Braun
Disgruntled Bronx outfielder sent packing
by Dan Schatzeder, YTGTESPN Staff Reporter
December 8th, 2052

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- It had been no mystery that the Columbus Hot Dogs were serious about competing for a playoff spot next season. They signed two of the top free agents in C Rex Scott and CL Jesus Vazquez. These signings left them with players under contract that didn't have a role.

Enter the Bronx Zoo and longtime CF star Jonathan Harris, who was not happy with his lack of a contract extension after 11 seasons in the Bronx. Tensions eventually boiled over and Harris publicly stated he would leave town in a trade if it would help the team.

Harris got his wish at the end of the winter meetings. He was traded, along with minor league reliever Francisco Colomo, to the Hot Dogs for CL Eric Braun, C Paul Webb and minor league starter Lawrence Williams.

For the Bronx Zoo, Webb is expected to immediately assume the clean-up role in the lineup and Braun will likely be the 8th inning setup. The Hot Dogs expect Harris to hit in the lead off position.

[Nunyer]

Northern League Baseball announces realignment
League will move to three division format
by Tim Foli, YTGTESPN Staff Reporter
December 11th, 2052

NEW YORK, NY - After months of discussion, the ownership committee of the NLB has officially announced divisional realignment that will go into effect for the 2053 season. The league will move to a three division format, with six teams in each division. The playoff format for the league will not change, with the exception that the additional division winner will replace a wild card team. The final proposal was hammered out during the recent winter meetings in Atlantic City and voting took place this week.

The specifics of the alignment have changed slightly since the plan was first announced several months ago. Some changes were made to the initial plan to keep certain geographic rivalries intact. Cincinnati was originally slated to head to the Great Lakes division, but will now compete in the Appalachian Division to remain with rival Kentucky. Hartford will stay with the east coast teams to maintain ties with rival Rhode Island.

The final configuration of the three divisions are as follows:
Seaboard Division: Hartford, Brooklyn, Boston, Baltimore, Bronx, Rhode Island
Great Lakes Division: Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Buffalo
Appalachian Division: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Richmond, Washington

The playoff qualifiers for 2052 would not have changed had this alignment been in effect for the past season. Hartford, Cleveland and Philly would have won divisions and Pittsburgh would have been the wild card. The plan was approved by 17 of the leagues 18 teams, with only Washington voting against the plan. Colonials management were apparently not pleased being placed in a division that didn't include what they view as their natural rivals in Baltimore. However, the Colonials have really sucked for over a decade and nobody particularly cared what their opinion was on the situation.

League Notes
Expansion plans for the league have been officially tabled until next off season, according to sources close to the situation. Any expansion would likely not take place until the 2055 season. Groups in St.Louis, Toronto and Milwaukee have been rumored to be the forerunners in pushing the 11 year old NLB to expand to 21 teams and widen it's regional footprint. The main roadblock appears to be details over the financials and an expansion draft. The St.Louis Cardinals, who have played in the Confederate Baseball League since the collapse of MLB in 2033, would enter the league as is and would not request expansion draft rights. Milwaukee and Toronto are currently minor league affiliates of the NLB and would want assistance adding talent to their rosters.

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - December 21st, 2052

The team Christmas party... the stories I've heard have been legendary... Lerma does not skimp on the yearly company party. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the stories were true, the man knows how to throw a shindig. There's a huge ice sculpture in the middle of the infield of Benny Byproduct. The damn thing must be 15 feet high. The party is being held in the owner's luxury box, and every year Lerma has the walls removed to the two adjoining suites on each side, making a massive party room that wraps completely around each baseline. Impressive stuff.

I just overheard our newly acquired CF Jonathan Harris asking Destiny if she wanted a tour of the visitor's locker room. That guy had a reputation in New York of being a swinging bachelor, and he's wasting no time in Columbus.

As most of the folks in attendance congregate over to the third base side of the large room, the side with the open bar and live band. I find myself on the far opposite side.. overlooking first base... I'm getting near the bottom of my third scotch, talking next season baseball with Coach Summers, Mothballs and Connie, our surprisingly knowledgeable Director of Player Personal that Lerma found in Indonesia. We're hammering out a perspective lineup....

Batting 1st and playing LF:
Mauro Moreno / Age: 24 / Bats: R
Moreno had a bad year in terms of OBP, but he's got speed to burn and really wants the gig. With Harris in the fold, he will move from CF to LF. Defensively he is just about flawless in CF, he should cover ridiculous ground if LF and allow Harris to cheat into the right center power alleys. He'll be on a short leash in the leadoff spot however, if he maintains a high strike out rate, then'll he'll likely find himself hitting at the bottom of the order by June.

Batting 2nd and playing CF:
Jonathan Harris / Age: 31 / Bats: L
If Harris isn't the perfect #2 hitter, then God hasn't made one yet. He hits for average, draws walks, rarely strikes out, has good line drive power to the gaps. One of the best table setters in the game. The only knock on him is on defense, where he's prone to some lapses in concentration... he can rack up a worrisome amount of errors... but he covers ridiculous ground. The balls that he gets to that nobody else would will offset the gaffes. He is a pending free agent, and there are still concerns if Lerma is going to pony up for an extension. I'd love to get this guy signed for 3-4 more years.

Batting 3rd and playing DH:
Jeffrey Young / Age: 29 / Bats: R
Young had his typically productive year in 2052. Thanks to compulsive patience at the plate, Young drew 163 walks and sporting an OBP of .445 while hitting .280 and delivering 28 home runs. Can't ask for much more in a DH. Young is not outstanding, but generally competent at either corner OF spot if he needs to play the field. Young can opt out of his contract after this year. I'm already worried that we won't be able to afford his extension demands.

Batting 4th and playing C:
Rex 'The Shark' Scott / Age: 26 / Bats: L
The big free agent prize, Scott is a dominant hitter and well above average defensively. A liability on the basepaths is the only knock on his game. Coach Summers doesn't think Scott is quite the ironman that Webb was behind the plate, he's talking about giving him some regular rest against lefty starters. He wants an upgrade for backup catcher. We expect 140 starts however.

Batting 5th and playing RF:
Barry 'Condor' Summers / Age: 24 / Bats: R
Summers narrowly came in second place for Rookie of the Year voting and had a stellar campaign. He hit .278 with 28 HR and 112 RBI. On-base percentage was solid at .355. Summers saw most of his time in LF last year, but will move to RF for 2053. He's only an average defender but is an opportunistic base thief, taking 17 bags in 20 attempts.

Batting 6th and playing 1B:
Michael "No Nickname" Jackson / Age: 27 / Bats: L
Jackson had a down year in 2052, his .253 avg was 50 points below his career numbers. He came on a bit stronger in the second half of the season, hitting 14 of his 22 HRs after the All-Star Break. Another player that we expect to rebound in 2053. Jackson has decent range for a power hitting 1B, but is not very good at digging balls out of the dirt and commits more errors than is ideal for the position.

Batting 7th and playing SS:
Armando Castilho / Age: 24 / Bats: R
Armando has the tools, but he still has to prove he can hit at this level. In parts of two seasons, Castilho has a career average of .221. We're hoping that he finds a groove as an everyday player. Coach Summers and Mothballs see no reason why this kid shouldn't be able to hit .275 or better with 15-20 HR when he puts it all together. Defensively, Armando can play all four IF positions at a high level. He's got a cannon for a throwing arm which primarily suits him for work at SS and 3B.

Batting 8th and playing 3B:
Don 'Tricky' Nixon / Age: 28 / Bats: L
Nixon put up a career high with 20 HRs, but faltered badly down the stretch after signing a contract extension. After hitting in the .270 range for most of the season, Nixon took a nosedive the last two months and finished at .244, in line with his career numbers. Tricky is very good defensively at the hot corner. His pedestrian offensive ability is a concern, but he hits LHP and RHP with equal ability.

Batting 9th and playing 2B:
German Campos / Age: 20 / Bats: R
We have three middle IF prospects competing for 2B, but Campos is the one with the most upside. He does not have great range but is very sure handed and has good footwork around the bag when playing pivot on double play balls. He has the potential to be a very good line drive hitter. With a couple of other prospects that will likely make the big club, Campos will be on a short leash as an everyday player. He's our #1 pick from last draft and played well in his limited time in the minors. We think he can complete his Jedi training at the top level.

Well, I'm now on my fifth scotch.. thank goodness for that pull out sofa bed in my office... Lerma just started screaming at us to join the party... so I guess that's all the baseball talk for tonight. The four of us agree to meet after the weekend to discuss the rest of the team.

[Nunyer]

Editor's Note - Playing around under the hood...

Generally speaking, I haven't edited much with this franchise. I've done a pretty good job of resisting the urge to glance into the editor to see more accurate player ratings, I haven't forced or 'gamed' a single trade. I'm trying to stay on the up and up. I think the only exception was to edit one of the minor league coaches, giving him a longer contract because I didn't want to deal with finding a replacement at the time.

That said, I decided to go in and mess with Lerma's virtual head a little bit. The game originally had him listed as a controlling economizer... Well, as the story evolved... I didn't really write him that way... Had a lot more fun turning him into more of an eccentric rich guy, who might have some mood swings here and there, but is generally hands off. I realized early on that having the owner constantly screaming about the win/loss records would probably not interest me that much from a writing perspective... it's a lot more fun having him bring back concubines from the jungle while discovering the joys of yak milk.

So I went in changed his personality a bit... Made him pretty much middle of the road in regards to patience and spending. The spending change did slightly up my budget for extensions... think I got an extra $500k... but generally speaking the financials didn't really shift. I think over the longer haul, the main difference will probably be one player's salary... one extra player that I'll be able to hold onto instead of having to move for budget reasons. Don't think it's going to put me over the top. My current payroll, with my big contracts already signed, is 8th out of 18. Still middle of the pack, which is where I wanted to be all along anyways.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

Editor's Note - Playing around under the hood...

That said, I decided to go in and mess with Lerma's virtual head a little bit. The game originally had him listed as a controlling economizer... Well, as the story evolved... I didn't really write him that way... Had a lot more fun turning him into more of an eccentric rich guy, who might have some mood swings here and there, but is generally hands off.

I think it is far more important to have the game match the story. This move makes perfect sense to me. Lerma sort of seemed more like Mark Cuban... willing to spend to win, wants to hire the best people and push them to do their best.

I think you are pretty accurate in your estimate of the game impact. One or two extra players doesn't make the team superb but it does allow for a bad contract here and there. Not a game-breaker.