Season 32 (2050) Discussion Thread

[Westheim]

Subtle changes for the Raccoons, who get back to Perfect after three years in Diamond. We completed the Senators/Twins missions on Sunday, yielding not only Perfect Johan, but also a diamond pack that popped a half-decent card in PEAK Brooks Robinson. I have put it in my head that Brooks will be the new shortstop for this team, training up from absolute zero. That’s gonna go so well! Tatis jr. got the axe to make room on the roster. I might actually sell him… anybody interested in a Tatis jr. that is fully trained to 71 DEF at second base?

Also new on the Coons is Joe Nathan, for whom I bled 22k to complete the Johan missions in the first place. None of the other actual reward cards made the roster, but we could use a centerfielder… Special Edition Torii Hunter isn’t gonna be it, though.

The Rebels’ toil continues in the swamps of Diamond League. Mingori and Hiura are new this week, replacing Cingrani and Stanton. I would like to pull an actual rightfield slugger, but no such luck…

The Accountants also had some doors revolving. Longtime infielders Ken Boyer and Red Schoendienst were written off with the release of the Cardinals missions to make a quick buck. The Johnny Sain experiment ended after parts of two seasons, and silver holdout Arodys Vizcaino was also replaced. New are Max Lanier, Ken Giles, George Brett (not the fancy one), and Jesse Crain.

Crain’s card claims he was a pretty good player in this decade, yet I have zero recollection of him.

I am also listing Jeff McNeil’s broken card with a 4k value now, which would be at least quicksell value and not some gold price he had 17 weeks ago… I flipped one for about 5.5k last week, but what gives…

[CrazyWR]

Just looked up Crain after your comment, apparently he hit the DL in July of that year his card is from and hasn't pitched since. Some sort of bicep issue. He had an amazing first half and was on the AS team but had to withdraw. Rotten luck.

[FancySkunk]

Things are looking optimistic for the Little League Champs.

• Pulled 99 Eckersley who slots in as my new closer.
• Sold off 95 Fingers and SE Dean Chance
• Used the proceeds to buy SE Smoky Joe Wood
• Moved 97 Cy Young to the Bullpen (replacing Eddie Plank)

Hopefully the strengthened pitching staff holds up, because I wasn't able to make any more upgrades on offense.

[HelpDodgers]

Perfect League .430 for me. Whips are in my division and I've played them before. Cubbies in the AL and they look like team to beat. Only 1 Cy Young, 2 Ed Walsh and 1 Ty Cobb in league. I am feeling good.

[Maxfire5]

Topeka Defenders: Topeka luckily pre-collcted most of the cardinals players and only need 3 on release. They've signed Ozzie Smith to a lifetime deal. As part of this, they also brought in SE Keith Hernandez to play 1b in a platoon with the now locked Rogers Hornsby, brought in Brecheen to the rotation for now (likely moved to the pen at some point), SE Chris Carpenter to a long reliever role, and lastly SE Curt Flood as a backup OF. It appears the cardinal's collection was good to my team! Topeka also signed Dolf Luque and converted him to a stopper. Will see how this goes. In a small sample size of 20 IP, it went very well. Interesting to see it over the season. Lastly, added SE Will Harris who I think is incredible value at 30k to be my closer. This moves SE Wade Davis to setup/MR roles. Bringing Keith and Rogers platoon moves SE Sisler to DH.

Missouri Legends: Unfortunately didn't have enough time(funds?) to pre-collect all the cardinals. However, they were able to add Brecheen who slots in as my stopper. On this team, I'm of the philosophy that i want my best pitcher pitching when the game is on the line (highest leverage index). He gets that role. Another season in diamond OL will see how this team does.

Kansas Rangers: no pack luck lately so the pack only Rangers are mostly unchanged. Another season in Diamond OL upcoming.

[scott1964]

Denver Bears are heading to Diamond Trenton will stay in Gold

[sharknut]

Of my 3 teams, I am most interested in how the Broncos do in Perfect 423, they avoided relegation via the tiebreaker last year.

In my division is a team just promoted from Diamond and 3 other teams who averaged 66 wins in Perfect last year. Wonder if all 5 of us will be below .500.

[brrrdt1]

Originally Posted by sharknut

Of my 3 teams, I am most interested in how the Broncos do in Perfect 423, they avoided relegation via the tiebreaker last year.

In my division is a team just promoted from Diamond and 3 other teams who averaged 66 wins in Perfect last year. Wonder if all 5 of us will be below .500.

Good luck to your Broncos over there. That division looks like it could be wide open!

[screamingpalm]

@Westheim
Are you starting Bogaerts at SS (Rebels team)? Unless I'm completely off base, I'm willing to bet that Syndergaard is having a rough time- even moreso if Donaldson is fielding 3rd.

[BigRed75]

2050 brings and official rebranding to one of my teams - the Baltimore IL Orioles have become the DMV Beltways as they welcome players from the four Senators/Nationals missions to the team. So far, the only Washingtonians to crack the active roster have been SP Garland Braxton, the new #2 starter behind Jim Palmer, and RP Max Scherzer (79 OVR version) who will try his luck in the revolving door of Silver Os relievers who can't do sweet FA.

You know what? Stuff it. I'm throwing General Crowder out there. So long Moe Drabowsky. And Jim Johnson is officially on notice, too. Dick Donovan is waiting to get on the roster.

We'll keep you posted on the Beltways' progress this season.

[Magus978]

- Blitzkrieg & Brooklyn ended up in the same league. Brooklyn has 3 whales w/perfect titles in their division (Saint Louis Kingsmen, Macungie Midgets, Ocean City Ocelots), so they're probably going down. They were coming off an LCS appearance last week too. Blitzkrieg seems to have an easier go of things in their conference, and has a decent chance to be the one left standing to face one of those teams.

- Steelport's first perfect league will be a slog, with the 9-time champions Washington LyinCheatinSenators in their conference. They may be able to challenge for their division, as the Central Falcons are the only team that may be able to beat them.

- Metuchen, coming off their best perfect campaign last week (78-84), got stuck in a short league. However, they have by far the toughest group of teams in it. Perfect champions Malibu (3 times), Evergreen Forest (6 times), Scottsdale (7 times), Santa Monica (1 time), American 80's All Stars (1 time), and DownEast (2 times) will attempt to see to it that the Mariners' revamped pitching staff has an utterly abysmal time.

I dunno guys...but I don't think this is the week that I win my first perfect title.

[sharknut]

Originally Posted by brrrdt1

Good luck to your Broncos over there. That division looks like it could be wide open!

A race to the bottom! Good luck to you as well, thanks.

[BigRed75]

Oh my goodness - I just checked on the Redlegs, and in P456, Colorado Lions and Jersey Revolutionize are in the same division!

Thank RNGJesus we're in the other conference.

Pretty decent draw for us - we do have Hammertime Express, but that's the only team resembling a whale amongst the teams we will play this season. Probably means no playoffs, though, as I would think Hammertime would beat up on all of the NC East teams enough to ruin their records for the WC.

[tallywood]

Heading into my third season in Diamond after making the playoffs for the first time last year, I am hopeful that we don't lose our bats on the road somewhere between now and October.

Opening Day Roster:

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by screamingpalm

@Westheim
Are you starting Bogaerts at SS (Rebels team)? Unless I'm completely off base, I'm willing to bet that Syndergaard is having a rough time- even moreso if Donaldson is fielding 3rd.

Yes. Donaldson is just a backup though. And to be fair, Syndergaard is having a rough time anyway unless the fence is 750 feet away...

[Catchthedamnball]

No big changes for the Mashers as they take on Diamond for the first time. OF and middle IF depth improve with the additions of 86 Kaline and 80 Pesky. Rick Rhoden takes Marcus Stroman's spot in the rotation after All-Star appearance last week out of the bullpen.

[Orcin]

I finished the White Sox missions over the weekend, so I now have a whale-class all-perfect rotation of Young, W.Johnson, Walsh, Schilling, and P.Martinez. I sold my Appling to start the funding for the missions, so I am now training my new Appling at 2B. Thus, I expect a slow start and the team has met expectations by losing the first three games. I won't worry until Appling gets to a reasonable level of competence. Fortunately, I am in a league where the only other PL champions are in the other conference, so I can probably afford the slow start.

[Renfro]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Colorado Lions and Jersey Revolutionize are in the same division!

My Xenomorphs just got out of that division! Seems like those teams have the League Placement Setting to "Stay Put." I'm like ... gimme the h*$# out of there.

RNG'd into P445, where there is I think only one whale: Northwest Florida Crusty Vets. Their lowest rated player is 95 Tris Speaker and they feature a rotation of 100 Gibson, 100 Martinez, 99 Walter Johnson, 100 Walsh, and 100 Leonard.

The Xenos went 83-79 (with a +6 DIFF) last season with only a month of Johan Santana (who went 4-0 in 5 starts) so I'm cautiously optimistic for this season

[chazzycat]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I finished the White Sox missions over the weekend, so I now have a whale-class all-perfect rotation of Young, W.Johnson, Walsh, Schilling, and P.Martinez. I sold my Appling to start the funding for the missions, so I am now training my new Appling at 2B. Thus, I expect a slow start and the team has met expectations by losing the first three games. I won't worry until Appling gets to a reasonable level of competence. Fortunately, I am in a league where the only other PL champions are in the other conference, so I can probably afford the slow start.

my SaberCats are in your division this go-around. I'm hopelessly outclassed...good luck!

[Izz]

A 7-game skid to end last season saw the 'Glou finish 64-98, and in the final relegation spot. So after 12 weeks scraping about in perfect, we are back in diamond. I'm interested to see if we're competitive, as apart from the season where we won it all and got promoted to perfect, we weren't all that competitive for the other 9 weeks we were in diamond. The team is stronger now, of course, but that's probably true of most other teams.

Apart from pulling 96OVR Greg Holland last week, I also pulled live DeGrom towards the end of the season. He's a nice add to a pretty weak rotation.

I've made a few changes this season. Aparicio is going to play more games, to hopefully starch up our middle defense. He'll share starts with Tim Anderson, who will also play every 2nd game at 2B. Carew will play every other game at 2B, while sharing 3B with Madlock. I've also brought Dykstra back in place of Gwynn, to train him up at the corners and also to bolster CF late in games. 86OVR Tim Salmon also gets a go, at the expense of Sheffield.

Aaron Bummer and Sam Tuivailala have been called back into the pen to start the season, with Strasburg and Busby going to the reserve roster. Severino will be my long relief guy for now, though I do have a soft spot for Busby.

We're 6-2 to start the season, hitting .312. It will be interesting to see how the rest of 2050 goes!