Fighting for Florida

MattDE23 · 02-21-2018, 02:48 AM

*Sorry if I already started this thread, I checked my thread history and didn't see it!

Due to the unfortunate end of my Braves thread which was going tremendously well for me, I was forced to start from scratch with a new dynasty. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me, as I backup the file every few game months. I guess I am just unlucky. Anyway, I decided not to go with the Braves again even though they have been my team for the last year and a half or so. I really like the team and I like the youth they have. It gives a lot of flexibility in the Free Agency market and its fun watching the players develop.

I considered a ton of teams. My list included:
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds
Atlanta Braves
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Minnesota Twins
New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals

I was looking for a team that doesn’t have a ton of room in the budget to spend like a Mad Man while providing me youth and a decent farm. Of course, the Braves are the perfect example of that, having the No.1 Farm in America and a few MVP caliber players such as Freddie Freeman. Chicago was another example of this. However, I wanted to play in a tougher league than the AL Central and wanted to play on another team other than the Braves for this thread. Therefore, I have decided that I will choose the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 will have a Top Ten Farm (8^th), Projected to finish in the middle 3^rd (20^th), and had a Team WAR of 31.0 WAR (keep in mind they no longer will have Longoria). I think this should be a fun and challenging dynasty that will provide lots of good baseball!

Opening Day Lineup
I am using the 40-day roster from the official Rays website***
You guy know the drill. This is my 3^rd official dynasty on this forum. I change my roster to have a good starting point and leave the other teams the way they were. They change so much in trade market anyway that it really doesn’t matter. I am way to lazy to get updated rosters. If anyone has one for 2018 let me know where I can find it and I’d gladly do it! I am a little sad about Longoria going to my Brother’s favorite team – The Giants!

Starters
C – Wilson Ramos
1B – CJ Cron
2B – Joey Wendle ( R )
3B – Matt Duffy
SS – Brad Miller
LF - Denard Span
CF – Kevin Kiermaier
RF – Steven Souza Jr.
DH – Corey Dickerson

Bench
C – Jesus Sucre
IF – Adeiny Hechavarria
IF/OF – Justin Bauer
OF – Mallex Smith

Starting Pitching
SP – Chris Archer
SP – Alex Cobb (Free Agent in Real Life but I kept him around)

SP – Blake Snell
SP – Jacob Faria
SP – Matt Andriese

Relievers
RP – Nathan Evovaldi
RP – Jose Alvardo
RP – Chaz Roe
RP – Andrew Kittredge
RP – Dan Jennings
RP – Sergio Romo
RP – Alex Colome

Tieran · 02-21-2018, 09:20 PM

Excited for the Rays. What did you give Cobb for a Contract? Also Corey Dickerson was DFA'd in real life. Do you plan on mirroring that?

MattDE23 · 02-22-2018, 04:06 AM

It's the 2017 base roster -> so whatever he made in 2017.

Also -> DIckerson is a good player, I have no idea what the hell the Rays are thinking, they need all the help they can get and having DIckerson in the line-up could definitely help. Not like they have depth.

.282 AVG / .325 OBP <- Above Average / 27 HRs.... I don't get it!

MattDE23 · 02-22-2018, 12:55 PM

End of April Update
Solid Pitching leads to a big first month for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays, currently 1st in the first in the NL East with a 19-13 (.594) record, relied heavily on suburb pitching to position themselves on top of the division. Led by Blake Snell, Nathan Eovaldi, and Alex Cobb, the Rays look to be unstoppable as the first month of regular play comes to an end.

Pitching
While the starting rotation looks good, the Bullpen has been the real surprise. As all but two have under 80 FIP – ratings. I have been most surprised by Ryan Yarborough thus far, as he was projected to be a starting pitcher and made his first appearance in the Majors this year. Yarborough has posted a 52 FIP – on 15 IP. It will be interesting if he can maintain this level of production.

Top Pitchers:
SP – Blake Snell – 31.1 IP, 1.60 WHIP, .411 BABIP, 0.9 HR/9, 29.5 SO%, 7.6 BB%, 48.1 GO%, 66 FIP -, 0.9 WAR

SP – Nathan Eovaldi – 34 IP, 1.24 WHIP, .245 BABIP, 0.3 HR/9, 17.9 SO%, 10.4 BB%, 52.6 GO%, 74 FIP -, 0.8 WAR

SP – Alex Cobb – 37.2 IP, 1.19 WHIP, .265 BABIP, 0.5 HR/9, 14.5 SO%, 8.7 BB%, 55 GO%, 81 FIP -, 0.7 WAR

RP – Ryan Yaborough – 15.2 IP, 0.96 WHIP, .262 BABIP, 0.6 HR/9, 28.8 SO%, 5.1 BB%, 43.3 GO%, 52 FIP -, 0.4 WAR

RP – Alex Colome – 15.1 IP, 0.91 WHIP, .241 BABIP, 1.8 HR/9, 39.6 SO%, 7.5 BB%, 54.5 GO%, 85 FIP -, 0.1 WAR.

Batting:
I was genuinely surprised by the amount of pop in our bats. Generally, without Longoria, I never would have thought that I would be leading the AL East with 50 HR in league play (Boston and Toronto tied with 41 HR). I believe this is generally where the big wins (as well as solid pitching) has paid off in the Wins and Losses column. No surprise, OF – Kevin Kaiermaier has been outstanding. However, Corey Dickerson, Brad Miller, Wilson Ramos, and Ryan Schimpf have made contributions as well.

Top Hitters:
C – Wilson Ramos – 94 AB, 4 HR, 171 OPS+, 1.4 WAR, 10.50 BB%, 19.00 SO%, 0.426 wOBA, .213 ISO, .443 BABIP, 178 wRC+.

CF – Kevin Kaiermaier – 115 AB, 4 HR, 130 OPS+, 1.6 WAR, 7.10 BB%, 22.20 SO%, .366 wOBA, .209 ISO, .369 BABIP, 135 wRC+.

2B – Ryan Schimpf – 93 AB, 4 HR, 109 OPS+, 0.6 WAR, 10.80 BB%, 31.20 SO%, .339 wOBA, .222 ISO, .313 BABIP, 116 wRC+

SS – Brad Miller – 121 AB, 5 HR, 107 OPS+, 0.3 WAR, 8.80 BB%, 20.90 SO%, .332 wOBA, .215 ISO, .303 BABIP, 112 wRC+.

DH – Corey Dickerson – 112 AB, 6 HR, 97 OPS+, 0.2 WAR, 10.3 BB%, 18.3 SO%, .318 wOBA, .205 ISO, .238 BABIP, 102 wRC+.

MattDE23 · 03-30-2018, 04:38 PM

Hey guys, football season has started and I haven't had a ton of time to play. Hope to have a new update for you guys soon. Also, i might have found where my backup glitched to for Atlanta and could bring back my braves file. I will decide if I bring back my braves file or keep this one going.

MattDE23 · 03-31-2018, 04:23 AM

Decided to stay with this dynasty

MattDE23 · 04-11-2018, 05:57 PM

With football season for us here in Germany at full swing. I just don't have the time to commit to this dynasty. I will buy OOTP19 in a few weeks and start a new braves dynasty. Thinking around June-ish

02-21-2018, 02:48 AM	#1
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	Fighting for Florida Sorry if I already started this thread, I checked my thread history and didn't see it! Due to the unfortunate end of my Braves thread which was going tremendously well for me, I was forced to start from scratch with a new dynasty. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me, as I backup the file every few game months. I guess I am just unlucky. Anyway, I decided not to go with the Braves again even though they have been my team for the last year and a half or so. I really like the team and I like the youth they have. It gives a lot of flexibility in the Free Agency market and its fun watching the players develop. I considered a ton of teams. My list included:* Detroit Tigers Chicago White Sox Pittsburgh Pirates Cincinnati Reds Atlanta Braves Tampa Bay Rays Toronto Blue Jays Minnesota Twins New York Mets St. Louis Cardinals I was looking for a team that doesn’t have a ton of room in the budget to spend like a Mad Man while providing me youth and a decent farm. Of course, the Braves are the perfect example of that, having the No.1 Farm in America and a few MVP caliber players such as Freddie Freeman. Chicago was another example of this. However, I wanted to play in a tougher league than the AL Central and wanted to play on another team other than the Braves for this thread. Therefore, I have decided that I will choose the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 will have a Top Ten Farm (8^th), Projected to finish in the middle 3^rd (20^th), and had a Team WAR of 31.0 WAR (keep in mind they no longer will have Longoria). I think this should be a fun and challenging dynasty that will provide lots of good baseball! Opening Day Lineup I am using the 40-day roster from the official Rays website* You guy know the drill. This is my 3^rd official dynasty on this forum. I change my roster to have a good starting point and leave the other teams the way they were. They change so much in trade market anyway that it really doesn’t matter. I am way to lazy to get updated rosters. If anyone has one for 2018 let me know where I can find it and I’d gladly do it! I am a little sad about Longoria going to my Brother’s favorite team – The Giants! Starters C – Wilson Ramos 1B – CJ Cron 2B – Joey Wendle ( R ) 3B – Matt Duffy SS – Brad Miller LF - Denard Span CF – Kevin Kiermaier RF – Steven Souza Jr. DH – Corey Dickerson Bench C – Jesus Sucre IF – Adeiny Hechavarria IF/OF – Justin Bauer OF – Mallex Smith Starting Pitching SP – Chris Archer SP – Alex Cobb (Free Agent in Real Life but I kept him around) SP – Blake Snell SP – Jacob Faria SP – Matt Andriese Relievers** RP – Nathan Evovaldi RP – Jose Alvardo RP – Chaz Roe RP – Andrew Kittredge RP – Dan Jennings RP – Sergio Romo RP – Alex Colome Attached Images Last edited by MattDE23; 02-21-2018 at 02:54 AM.

02-22-2018, 12:55 PM	#4
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	End of April Update End of April Update Solid Pitching leads to a big first month for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays, currently 1st in the first in the NL East with a 19-13 (.594) record, relied heavily on suburb pitching to position themselves on top of the division. Led by Blake Snell, Nathan Eovaldi, and Alex Cobb, the Rays look to be unstoppable as the first month of regular play comes to an end. Pitching While the starting rotation looks good, the Bullpen has been the real surprise. As all but two have under 80 FIP – ratings. I have been most surprised by Ryan Yarborough thus far, as he was projected to be a starting pitcher and made his first appearance in the Majors this year. Yarborough has posted a 52 FIP – on 15 IP. It will be interesting if he can maintain this level of production. Top Pitchers: SP – Blake Snell – 31.1 IP, 1.60 WHIP, .411 BABIP, 0.9 HR/9, 29.5 SO%, 7.6 BB%, 48.1 GO%, 66 FIP -, 0.9 WAR SP – Nathan Eovaldi – 34 IP, 1.24 WHIP, .245 BABIP, 0.3 HR/9, 17.9 SO%, 10.4 BB%, 52.6 GO%, 74 FIP -, 0.8 WAR SP – Alex Cobb – 37.2 IP, 1.19 WHIP, .265 BABIP, 0.5 HR/9, 14.5 SO%, 8.7 BB%, 55 GO%, 81 FIP -, 0.7 WAR RP – Ryan Yaborough – 15.2 IP, 0.96 WHIP, .262 BABIP, 0.6 HR/9, 28.8 SO%, 5.1 BB%, 43.3 GO%, 52 FIP -, 0.4 WAR RP – Alex Colome – 15.1 IP, 0.91 WHIP, .241 BABIP, 1.8 HR/9, 39.6 SO%, 7.5 BB%, 54.5 GO%, 85 FIP -, 0.1 WAR. Batting: I was genuinely surprised by the amount of pop in our bats. Generally, without Longoria, I never would have thought that I would be leading the AL East with 50 HR in league play (Boston and Toronto tied with 41 HR). I believe this is generally where the big wins (as well as solid pitching) has paid off in the Wins and Losses column. No surprise, OF – Kevin Kaiermaier has been outstanding. However, Corey Dickerson, Brad Miller, Wilson Ramos, and Ryan Schimpf have made contributions as well. Top Hitters: C – Wilson Ramos – 94 AB, 4 HR, 171 OPS+, 1.4 WAR, 10.50 BB%, 19.00 SO%, 0.426 wOBA, .213 ISO, .443 BABIP, 178 wRC+. CF – Kevin Kaiermaier – 115 AB, 4 HR, 130 OPS+, 1.6 WAR, 7.10 BB%, 22.20 SO%, .366 wOBA, .209 ISO, .369 BABIP, 135 wRC+. 2B – Ryan Schimpf – 93 AB, 4 HR, 109 OPS+, 0.6 WAR, 10.80 BB%, 31.20 SO%, .339 wOBA, .222 ISO, .313 BABIP, 116 wRC+ SS – Brad Miller – 121 AB, 5 HR, 107 OPS+, 0.3 WAR, 8.80 BB%, 20.90 SO%, .332 wOBA, .215 ISO, .303 BABIP, 112 wRC+. DH – Corey Dickerson – 112 AB, 6 HR, 97 OPS+, 0.2 WAR, 10.3 BB%, 18.3 SO%, .318 wOBA, .205 ISO, .238 BABIP, 102 wRC+. Attached Images

02-21-2018, 09:20 PM	#2
Tieran Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 96	Excited for the Rays. What did you give Cobb for a Contract? Also Corey Dickerson was DFA'd in real life. Do you plan on mirroring that?

02-22-2018, 04:06 AM	#3
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	It's the 2017 base roster -> so whatever he made in 2017. Also -> DIckerson is a good player, I have no idea what the hell the Rays are thinking, they need all the help they can get and having DIckerson in the line-up could definitely help. Not like they have depth. .282 AVG / .325 OBP <- Above Average / 27 HRs.... I don't get it!

03-30-2018, 04:38 PM	#5
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	Hey guys, football season has started and I haven't had a ton of time to play. Hope to have a new update for you guys soon. Also, i might have found where my backup glitched to for Atlanta and could bring back my braves file. I will decide if I bring back my braves file or keep this one going.

03-31-2018, 04:23 AM	#6
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	Decided to stay with this dynasty

04-11-2018, 05:57 PM	#7
MattDE23 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: South Germany Posts: 149	With football season for us here in Germany at full swing. I just don't have the time to commit to this dynasty. I will buy OOTP19 in a few weeks and start a new braves dynasty. Thinking around June-ish