PT21 Diary - A Tale of Three Teams

[trman73]

Hello all, thought I’d do a running report of my three teams this year, more for my own benefit than anything. Hopefully this won’t bore everyone to tears.

I’ve got three teams, each with their own restrictions.

Team 1 – Fort Worth Frogs
Rules: There are no rules. I will spend real money on this team, although not for a little while and only when there are PP sales. Last year I spent about $400 on this team, winning two PL championships and playing on Sunday basically every week.

Team 2 – Minglewood Warlocks (formerly the Castle Black Crows)
Rules: FTP, using both the AH and packs. This was my favorite method last year, and this team advanced to one PL series (swept), and made it to four LCS’s. I’ll be a lot more diligent watching the AH this year, and envision spending most of my time on this team.

Team 3 – West Ham United Hammers
Rules: Packs only. This was the team that pulled the Perfect Pedro last year with about 10 weeks to go. I am not going to set a hard and fast rule of this being a totally FTP team (I may purchase packs with real cash), but I’ll stick to the packs restriction (even though in hindsight I should have sold that Pedro for $1.5M and made runs at the PL title for the last two months of PT20).

Next up... The initial pulls.

[trman73]

Initial Packs

In the initial packs, none of my teams acquired anyone who I envision playing a role in a run to Perfect League, or even having success at the Diamond level. But that’s not to say there aren’t some good players on the rosters.

Frogs
Perfect – None
Diamond – None
Gold – 1990 SP Mark Guthrie (87), 1922 CF Casey Stengel (86), 1987 3B Randy Ready (84)
Silver – Live CL Richard Lovelady (75), 1987 C Ozzie Virgil (74), 1992 SP Jamie Navarro (72)
Best Historical Bronze – 2B 1968 Tommy Helms (63)

Weird that of my five Gold/Silver cards, four were historical, but I’ll take it. Offensively this team won’t be awful, with Stengel, Ready (who looks pretty nice ratings-wise), Helms, and Virgil, and a couple decent power Live guys (Tyler O’Neil, Jed Gyorko). The pitching is just terrible with Guthrie as the ace and then a bunch of junk after him, and the bullpen is horrendous with Live Phil Maton and Live Ben Heller being the primary relievers in front of Lovelady.

Warlocks
Perfect – None
Diamond – None
Gold – Live CL Roberto Osuna (87), Future Legend 3B Nolan Jones (85), 1961 C Earl Averill, Jr. (84)
Silver – Live Gavin Lux (79), 1971 CF Al Oliver (75), 1987 SS Greg Gagne (72) Live Cole Calhoun (70)
Best Historical Bronze – 1947 LF Johnny Lindell (65)

Again, much better offensively than on the pitching staff. Jones, Averill, Oliver and Lindell all look solid up to Bronze (and maybe Silver), and Gagne is a great defensive shortstop, something I place priority on anyway. So a decent start here. The staff is just awful, as I start with four 59-rated guys and a 60 in the rotation. And those ratings are warranted, folks. Rocky Childress is my best starter. Did you know he was a person who existed and pitched for the Astros in 1987? I was watching baseball in 1987 and have no idea who that guy is. God help us, I need pitching, badly.

Hammers
Perfect – None
Diamond – None
Gold – Live 1B Matt Olson (85), Live RF Jeff McNeil (83), 1995 CL Jeff Nelson (83), Live SP Chris Archer (80), 1912 C Jimmy Archer (80)
Silver – Live LF Chris Taylor (78), 1991 3B Steve Buechele (77), 1986 SS Dick Schofield (76), Live RP Aaron Bummer (70)
Best Historical Bronze – 1995 SP Chad Ogea (68)

This is my best collection of initial players. I pulled three golds from one pack (the two Archers and Jeff McNeil), and at the very least this is a quality defensive infield, as Archer at C, Olson at 1B, Buechele at 3B, and Schofield at SS are all well above average defensively. This team also has a decent rotation, anchored by Chris Archer and Chad Ogea and with Nelson taking the ninth with Bummer and a couple other decent relievers in the pen. I have the highest hopes for this team coming out of the gate.


Next Up - Entry pool.

[trman73]

With the Hammers being a packs-only team, I spent my additional 1,000 PP plus everything I acquired from Day One of the entry pool yesterday, for a total of four new packs.

Those packs yielded four players who immediately join the team...

Live CL Nick Anderson (87) - Steps in at closer, allowing Nelson to move to setup. This isn't bad heading into the start of real games next week.

Live LF Andrew Benintendi (74) - More than serviceable for now, he slots in to start in left.

Live RP Matt McGill (69) - Another bullpen arm. This is the strength of the team thus far.

2003 CF Marlon Byrd (65) - Can easily handle 4th outfielder spot for the time being.

[trman73]

All three of my teams are in the middle of the pack in their entry pools. I'm going to focus the majority of my early attention on the Warlocks, since they're the team that needs transactions from the AH most.

The Frogs turned a triple play in one of their games so I invested that 2,000 in the AH and got a bunch of junk. I'm trying as hard as I can to hold off on throwing $100 into this team right now.

But for now, I'm scouring the AH for some deals for the Warlocks. They've accumulated 4,500 PP thus far, and there are some deals to be had on a few guys. I acquire three players within a span of 10 minutes.

First, I outbid a couple people and win a 1,412 bid for Future Legend 2B Brendan Rodgers. Next, for 1,340 I pick up Live RP Giovanny Gallegos. And finally, I bite the bullet and spend 1,000 to quick buy another Future Legend, RF Drew Waters.

So that's 3,852 for three more than serviceable guys who can probably be sold back at least at that cost down the road. I'm up to five golds and five silvers for this team, and hope to get a couple additional bargains between now and tomorrow night.

[drewst18]

How difficult do you find it to manage 3 teams. Which of your three teams do you find you spend the most time on / care about the most?

On one hand if youre going to spend $400 on a team you'd think it would get most attention but to have a strong FTP auction grinding team that would take a lot of time.

Lastly how difficult do you find it to compete with your FTP teams compared to your money team?

Good start for your hammers team, and by sounds of the rules youre going to need it for them

[trman73]

Hey thanks for the reply.


I find it pretty easy to manage 3, but some people do 6 and I just can't do that. Really it's just truly managing 2, as the packs-only team demands little attention other than tweaking lineups, etc. Other than that it's just waiting to accumulate the 1,000 points needed to rip a new pack.


So for the money team vs. the FTP team, I definitely get more overall enjoyment out of the FTP team. That's the one I devote the most time to. For the pay team, last year I just wanted to have a team that could compete for a championship at the highest level. I spent $200 over the holiday break to make that happen and picked up a ton of good players who for whatever reason were available at excellent value. Which was great, but kind of turned that team into one that had very little trouble making the playoffs in Perfect every year, reducing some of the challenge and fun. (I by no means consider myself a "whale" at all, but I went one year out of 20 without making the Perfect League playoffs.)


If you are a new player, I would really suggest trying to make this work for free. It does take time - I play every day for multiple hours after work and family time is over. (Being a shut-in these days like everyone else because of the virus means I will have this thing running all day and check it more often that I probably should.) But with Free to Play, every small victory, every player you are able to pick up, every gem you pull from a pack, is all the sweeter knowing you aren't just going to throw down $100 when you see someone you may like.


With that being said, there are serious whales out there who will absolutely steamroll you if you wind up in their division, and if you're in a division with two of them, the week is basically over for you Monday morning. So if you have the spare cash to spend on playing this game, go for it.

[trman73]

Given that my biggest problem with the Warlocks is clearly going to be starting pitching, I may be making a mistake by spending all of my early PP on hitters. But I make one final move today, and it's bringing in a guy who will serve as our primary DH for the foreseeable future. I get him for 1,100 PP, which seems fine to me.

[trman73]

Just to prove an FTP team can win a Perfect League championship, my Castle Black Crows won their first title tonight. I spent most of the day on PT20 following my two playoff teams, so not much to report from the PT21 AH.

[trman73]

Well I'm not sure how long the Entry Pool ran but I went to bed at 1:30 a.m. and games were still being played.

Here's a recap of my additions:

Hammers (PO)
· RP Live Nick Anderson (87)
· LF Live Andrew Benintendi (74)
· RP Live Lou Trivino (69)
· RP Live Matt McGill (69)
· CF 2003 Marlon Byrd (65)
· SP Live Justus Sheffield (61)

This was my best team in the Entry Pool, as when I went to bed we were 4th overall and Top 10 in both runs scored and allowed. We start in Iron Level.

Warlocks (FTP)
· 2B Future Legend Brandon Rodgers (86) – 1,412 in AH
· RP Live Giovanny Gallegos (85) – 1,340 in AH
· CF Future Legend Drew Waters (79) – 1,000 in AH
· SP Live Matthew Boyd (75) – 312 in AH
· SP Live Marco Gonzalez (75) – 216 in AH

These guys were in the middle of the Entry Pool pack throughout and wind up in Stone League.

Frogs (No Restrictions)
· CL PEAK Jeff Russell (86) – 3,000 in AH
· SP 1932 Mel Harder (85) – 1,251 in AH
· 1B 2011 Adrian Gonzalez (84) – 2,241 in AH
· SS 1987 Tony Fernandez (77) – 1,250 in AH

My worst team by far. We made these additions fairly late after struggling in the Entry Pool. These guys start in Rookie League.

[trman73]

I don't feel good heading into the first week of games. I feel like I miscalculated by not devoting enough time to the AH yesterday as I see lots of teams that made small but good moves, particularly to bolster their rotations.

Here's where we stand...

Hammers
We're in I173 in a division with the Gwinnett Sox, a team that appears to have completed all the missions and is totally stacked, with Perfect Yogi, 99 Maddux, etc. Meanwhile I'm trotting out Carlos Silva and Justus Sheffield to start games. I am the worst team in this division. In a weird coincidence, the team that my Castle Black Crows defeated in the PT20 Perfect League Series last night, the Minnesota Twinkies, is in my division here (or at least I assume it's him/her). With this being a PO team, I am not going anywhere for a while.

Warlocks
Despite a middle of the pack finish in the Entry Pool, this is the team I have the most immediate hope for. We're in ST154 and look like we may be a slightly below average team. I still have 2,500 PP to spend, and am thinking about bringing in a Gold starter or two for this team by the end of the week, or trying to knock out a low-level mission or two.

Frogs
Ugh. I spent PP late last night to bring in Adrian Gonzalez and Tony Fernandez, and I sort of like my offense, which also includes 86 Casey Stengel in center and 84 Randy Ready at third (who I like a lot). But the pitching is trash and I'm down to 500 PP. I'm going to try to pick up a decent 3B for this team (and move Ready to left) so at least we'll have a quality lineup, but we're going to be in Rookie ball next year, I'm afraid. Hopefully I can build up some PP and resist the urge to spend real cash.

[trman73]

I’ll probably just post twice a week about my teams, once midweek and then a recap Sunday. But I made a bunch of moves today so let’s log ‘em...

Hammers (PO)
As of 10 p.m. Central Monday this team is really struggling and does not look like it belongs in Iron. We’re 8-16. Oddly enough, we’re in an 18-team league, with 12 teams being promoted and four relegated, and we’re one of the two teams that would remain where we are if the season ended today.

I sold a few players to get enough for two packs. One was full of junk. The other got me not one, not two, not three, but four players who instantly join the team.

SP Live David Price (84)
SP Live Chris Paddack (77)
C 1948 Joe Garagiola (68)
CL 1963 Bill Dailey (67)

This helps. My rotation is now Price-Chris Archer-Paddack-Carlos Silva-Chad Ogea, which isn’t bad for Week 1 of a PO team. Dailey helps the pen and will get good innings as a MR, and Garagiola becomes the backup C to Jimmy Archer.

Warlocks (FTP)
We’re 10-13 in Stone after winning three straight. Offensively we’re pretty good (3rd in the league with a .767 team OPS). My AH buys have been more than fine. Rodgers is slashing .392/.462/.597 for a 1.060 OPS. Waters has an OPS of .964, and Abreu is at .965.

To address the mess that is the pitching staff, I bring in three starters: Live Jose Berrios (81), 1954 Johnny Antonelli (75), and Live Ryan Yarbrough (69). I also add Live Alex Verdugo (75) to start in left, and for some right-handed outfield depth I bring in 2000 Jay Payton (67). These five guys combine to cost 2,822 PP, with Berrios the most expensive at 1,399.

Frogs
We’re 12-10 in Rookie League right now and scoring in bunches, with four ten-run games in our last six. 1922 Casey Stengel is a power monster, with 10 home runs in 21 games (his HR Power is 91). I make one move with this team, picking up Live SP Lance Lynn (79), who gets shelled in his debut. But we’re hanging on thanks to the offense.

[trman73]

I keep making small moves so I’ll keep recording them here. We’re focusing on the Frogs for this post.

The team is rolling, enjoying a 19-3 day thus far that included an 11-game winning streak. We’re 34-14 and have the best record in R65 (again, Rookie League, so this is not a huge accomplishment). Our players are all over the leader board, with CF Casey Stengel turning in an incredible first two months, hitting .298-.370-.669 for a league-best 1.039 OPS. He leads the league in homers with 20 and RBI with 53, less than a third of the way through.

I got up to 2,800 PP and foolishly spent it on two packs, which got me only SP Tommy Byrne, a fireballer with terrible control. But I’m putting him in the rotation and he starts for me in one minute, so I’m interested in seeing what he looks like. I make two small moves to shore up the bullpen with my remaining cash.

Additions:
SP 1949 Tommy Byrne (79) – Pack Pull
RP Live Will Harris (77) – 600 in AH
RP Live Oliver Perez (69) – 200 in AH

Rotation:
1990 Mark Guthrie (87) – second in the league with a 2.43 ERA
1932 Mel Harder (85) – won nine starts in a row
1992 Jaime Navarro (72)
1949 Tommy Byrne (79)
Live Lance Lynn (79)

Key Bullpen Guys:
CL PEAK Jeff Russell (86)
SU Live Will Harris (77)
SU Live Richard Lovelady (75)
MR Live Oliver Perez (69)

Primary Lineup:
2B 1968 Tommy Helms (68)
SS 1987 Tony Fernandez (78) – Looking like an All-Star
3B 1987 Randy Ready (84)
1B 2011 Adrian Gonzalez (84) - .992 OPS
CF 1922 Casey Stengel – League MVP thus far
RF Live Tyler O’Neil (68)
DH Live Jed Gyorko (69)
LF 2000 Eric Owens (57) – He’s got to go
C 1981 Andy Ashby (67) – Splits time with Ozzie Virgil

[trman73]

A quick update on the other two teams...

Hammers (PO)
Continuing to struggle in Iron, sitting at 20-34. This is a 22-team league in which 16 teams are going to be promoted, and I do not want to be one of them (although I do not tank, ever). Right now we're 17th. I didn't earn enough points for even one pack.

Warlocks (FTP)
We've been up and down in Stone League but sit at 28-23 and actually have a one-game lead in the wild card race about a third of the way through. Offensively we're great, second in the league in run scored and OPS. The pitching is miserable, and new additions Berrios, Antonelli, and Yarbrough have all been awful. I bought a pack that was worthless and made one signing, Live 1B Howie Kendrick (77) for 451 in the AH.

[trman73]

HAMMERS UPDATE!

Well right before bed I sold a couple of useless Iron cards to push up to 1,003 PP. And that was good for one pack, which included Silver Ichiro!

Definitely my best pull for this team thus far, as he locks down right field defensively (although I'll train him in center for now), and takes over the leadoff spot. Very nice.

[Honkus]

Originally Posted by trman73

Gold – 1990 SP Mark Guthrie (87)
Bronze – 1995 SP Chad Ogea (68)

[trman73]

It’s time to get going with the Hammers.

Being packs-only, the odds of this team accumulating all the cards in a mission are incredibly low. So I sell off the dead weight I’ve been hanging onto. All Iron cards are put up for auction, as now’s the time to do it with people spending 20+ PP (and higher) for Iron cards. I’ll keep my Bronze cards to field a decent tournament team, but I need packs, now, as this club is struggling.

My AH sales happen quickly, and I sell 23 guys in under two hours. That gives me enough to rip a pack, and it brings some value.

3B Live Kyle Seager (79)
SP Live Marco Gonzalez (75)
RP 1969 John Gelnar (69)
3B 1993 Dave Hollins (68)
3B Live Abraham Toro (60)
SP Live Jorge Lopez (58)

Any time you can get two current Seattle Mariners, that’s just great, right? Maybe not, but Seager is a good defensive 3B who can hit vs. righties. Gonzalez joins the rotation and has been decent for my Warlocks team. He replaces a revolving door of guys I’ve been trying as #5 starters. Hollins can’t play defense and I don’t actually need a DH right now, so he’s a bronze tournament player, as is Gelnar despite his decent 67-66-85 ratings as a reliver. Toro and Lopez are junk.

The club now has seven gold players, nine silver, and 10 bronze.

Feeling good about myself, I decide to spend my PP on packs for my two other teams hoping to strike gold. It’s a mistake – I strike trash.

[trman73]

Quick update as none of my teams had good days yesterday.

The Hammers (PO) are sitting at 31-52, good for 16th in a 22-team league. I really don't want this team to get promoted (16 teams will be promoted) as being in Bronze next season will really hamper my ability to accumulate points. New acquisitions Ichiro, Marco Gonzalez, and Kyle Seager have been fine, but there are some really strong teams in this league and they are rolling me. With the weird league structure the All-Star game was actually last night, and we had one All-Star, Live MR Rafael Montero.

The Warlocks (FTP) went 16-11 in June and are 49-35, good for the first Wild Card in our league and just two back of the division lead. This team is going to be promoted to Iron despite our starting pitching being 13th in the league in ERA. Offensively we're solid.

Last, the Frogs have gone 14-18 in Rookie since June 1. Despite that, we're on track for promotion at 49-34. We're two back in the division and have a 6.5 game lead in the wild card race. It may be time to inject some actual cash into these guys, but I am trying to hold out on doing that. I'm not doing much with this team right now and am just riding out Week 1.

[trman73]

While the Hammers continue to flounder (and have yet to accumulate enough points for even one pack today), it's the All-Star break in my other two leagues...

Hammers (PO)
Record: 38-64 in Iron (16th out of 22; on pace to remain in Iron)
Run Differential: -96 (15th)
All-Star: Live MR Rafael Montero
1st Half MVP: Live 2B Jeff McNeil (.293/.335/.465, 13 HR, 59 RBI)
Despite the struggles I’m not that worried about these guys, and there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. Ideally we get bumped down to Stone next season and gather up some packs. I’m three games clear of relegation and just a game short of promotion, which I do not want at all.

Warlocks (FTP)
Record: 58-39 in Stone (4th out of 30; on pace for promotion to Iron)
Run Differential: +104 (3rd)
All-Stars: 2B Future Legend Brendan Rodgers; LF Future Legend Drew Waters; DH 1999 Bobby Abreu; C 1961 Earl Averill Jr.; RF Live Alex Verdugo
1st Half MVP: Rodgers (.327/.391/.527, on pace for 45 2B, 28 HR, 124 R, 102 RBI)
My best team at this point, with good hitters all over the lineup to make up for a so-so staff. I’ve accumulated 2,400 PP and should probably spend it on a starter, but am more likely to continue to build a silver-level offense. This team is going to be promoted, no question.

Frogs
Record: 56-29 in Rookie (4th out of 30; on pace for promotion to Stone)
Run Differential: +111 (3rd)
All-Stars: 3B 1987 Randy Ready; 1B 2011 Adrian Gonzalez; CF 1922 Casey Stengel; SP 1990 Mark Guthrie; RP 1973 Roger Moret
1st Half MVP: Stengel (.263/.335/.572; on pace for 53 HR and 157 RBI)
Another solid offense with four All-Stars in the lineup. I bought Gonzalez for 2,400 or so and now he’s selling for 7,500. We also have the best starters ERA in our league, paced by Guthrie, Jaime Navarro, and Lance Lynn. Built up 2,570 points that will be spent to drop some dead weight in the lineup and turn this thing into an offensive machine.

There’s no doubt the Warlocks and Frogs are moving up next week. The Frogs are a no-doubt playoff team in Rookie and the Warlocks are fighting a couple teams for both the division and the Wild Card. Looking forward to the second half of Season #1.

[trman73]

Well I finally get to open two packs for the packs-only Hammers thanks to a long slog toward 1,000 points then some magic from Jim Eisenreich, who gets a POTW award and has a 22-game hitting streak. The first pack is worthless. The second is not.

[trman73]

Roster Move Updates:

Hammers (PO)
Another pack earned, and another bit of good fortune, as we get two starters...

• LF Live Joc Pederson (84)
• SP 1999 Sterling Hitchcock (76)

The pack also includes a Live Michael Chavis, who could conceivably serve as a backup infielder. But the prizes are the slugging Pederson, who replaces Andrew Benintendi in left and now forms a nice L/R platoon at that position with his real-life teammate Chris Taylor, and Hitchcock, whose 86-46-65 ratings and 85 stamina will help the rotation. Chad Ogea, who just doesn't have the stuff or movement to succeed beyond lower levels, exits the rotation and becomes a bronze tournament player.
Also, this team has gone 13-2 in its last 15 and is climbing up the standings. It looks like Bronze is in our future next week. With the recent additions, I feel better about that than I did 24 hours ago.

Crows (FTP)
I accumulated 4,100 PP and resisted the strong urge to take my chances with packs, instead adding two starters to what right now is a horrible rotation:

• SP 1978 Mike Caldwell (87) – Bought for 3,103 PP
• SP Live Zac Galllen (79) – Bought for 825 PP

Caldwell’s a Special Edition that there are a lot of in the AH due to mission completion. He’s a 54-79-88 pitcher and in PT20 I had good luck up to Diamond level with guys like that, whose pure stuff isn’t great but have excellent movement and control. 3,000 for him seems reasonable. And I just can’t handle Matthew Boyd sucking anymore, so Gallen has to be better than him.
As for the team, plugging along at 70-48, one back in the division and firmly a wild-card team.

Frogs
Holding steady and accumulating points. I resisted some urges to make panic buys, as this team is fine as is in Rookie and probably in Stone next week as well. So I plan to build up enough points to get an impactful Diamond or Gold player. We’re 71-47, with an 11-game lead in the Wild Card race.