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03-03-2015, 10:17 PM | #2001 |
All Star Reserve
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That's a bummer, but on the bright side, you still had a winning record. Maybe you can flip some of the arbitration folks in a trade for some "just about ready" types? It's risky, but might be better than taking the hits, and use that $$ for a free agent, which I am guessing would be a #2 starter, if possible?
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03-04-2015, 08:29 PM | #2002 | |
Hall Of Famer
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03-04-2015, 08:31 PM | #2003 |
Hall Of Famer
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11/1/2026 -
While the Breakers showed some improvements in year 3 it still was a frustrating year. I keep going back to year 1 where we made the playoffs, and things went downhill from there. On the bright side we've never had a losing record in Carolina, but the early success was somewhat of a mirage.
Looking forward to the offseason we'll be saying goodbye to Brett Lawrie, who would like a six year $100 million extension in order to stick around. We'll be looking to replace Lawrie at third base, and I wouldn't mind upgrading our outfield and behind the plate. Money is going to be the big issue though, with limited money available. Such is life as a small market team with a budget and payroll in the bottom fourth of the league. Carolina Breakers - Expansion 2024 - Carolina Breakers - 94-68 (.580) - GB (Defeated Seattle Mariners 3-1 in Division Series, Lost to Boston Red Sox 4-2 in LCS, Season Score - 99) 2025 - Carolina Breakers - 81-81 (.500) 4 1/2 GB (Season Score - 18) 2026 - Carolina Breakers - 86-76 (.531) 10 GB (Season Score - 38) |
03-08-2015, 06:07 PM | #2004 |
Hall Of Famer
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11/2/2026 - Breakers make a move
Cory Keys is a good player, when healthy. In 2025 Keys hit .309 with 12 home runs, 63 RBI, and 62 runs scored for 3.6 WAR. For the second straight year he got the big arbitration raise, but then Keys played in just 28 games last year. We can't afford to pay him that much for that little, so we worked out a deal with the Padres where we shipped off Keys, Ramon Rocha, and Yue-rong Shui. Rocha was destined to be dealt this offseason after our waiver deal fell apart. Shiu was a pitcher I didn't like to deal, but I have to face the fact that he was 9-7 with a 5.44 ERA last year, and will be 32 years old next year.
Coming back to Carolina will be 21 year old 3B prospect Alfredo Rodriguez, 23 year old starting pitcher Ricardo Medrano (1-4, 4.67 in AAA), 23 year old 1B prospect Joe Smith (3.3 WAR in AA), and 21 year old center fielder Dave Mann, who finished the season in Single A. Medrano is close to being able to join our rotation, while Rodriguez and Smith our probably a year away. With Anthony Newman's contract expiring after the season I think Smith is capable of taking over first base. If Mann pans out he will likely be a fourth outfielder. |
03-09-2015, 06:56 PM | #2005 |
Hall Of Famer
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2/1/2027 -
This offseason was a conflicting one for the Breakers. I know that Vicente Cano will be moving on after the season, because he is looking for $30 million per year for six years, which we can't afford. Knowing that I wanted to try and plus our holes and make a run at a championship.
Except the true impact players like SP Jason Threlfall were signing for $30 million over six years, or an impact bat like Jason Green signed for $25 million per year over five years AFTER a down year with the Marlins in which he hit .257 with 29 home runs. So we weren't able to complete with the big boys, so we were forced to take a couple chances. Out big move of the offseason was signing 29 year old import De-Wei Si-Ma. We agreed to a seven year $140 million contract, although the last season is a team option. It's a lot of money for an unproved player, but we were able to fit his 2033 salary of $13.7 under our payroll, and if he can live up to his potential he could help push us over the edge. Catcher Brandon Glendenning was also brought to town on a one year $1.2 million contract after hitting .280 in 68 games last season. Then finally 23 year old Cuban import Domingo Salazar agreed to a minor league contract with a $700,000 bonus. I'm hoping our moves will make a difference. |
03-09-2015, 07:06 PM | #2006 |
Hall Of Famer
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5/1/2027 -
What started to a good start to the 2027 season turned mediocre after the Breakers dropped 8 of our last 10 games in the month to finish April with a 12-12 record, in third place and 1 1/2 games out. It's early though, and there are a couple of new names on our roster that we'll check in on this month -
CF - De-Wie Si-Ma - our big international free agent signing has started off well, hitting .309 with 5 home runs, 13 RBI, and 6 stolen bases. If he keeps this up I'll be very happy. SS - William Arthur - another product of the 2024 draft, the first pick of the second round has been quietly moving through our minor league system. He advanced to AAA to start the 2025 season, and lost some of his luster after hitting .216 and my scout didn’t think too highly of him. He made some big strides in AAA last year hitting .290 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI and earned an uneventful September call up (.198). After a solid spring training he earned a spot on the roster, and has hit .341 as our starting shortstop. Allowing Meqwran Mukuru to shift to second, and Albert Holguin to shift to third. SP - Bob Jones - the 23 year old signed on as relief depth as a minor league free agent in 2023, after being released by two teams. Since he couldn't cut it in rookie league for either of those teams, and the Breakers minor league system was light on players, he was sent to AA where he pitched 62 innings with a 3.30 ERA. He returned to AA the next season, developed a changeup, joined the rotation went 8-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 24 starts. The next season he went 21-6 with a 2.54 ERA and his scouting reports reflected his unexpected progress. He's no ace, but he works hard, and I think has what it takes to be a #3 or 4 starter. SP - Wally Wilson - at 32 years old I didn't expect him to join the rotation this year, but a spring training competition is only fair if I let the guy who pitched better stay on the roster. Because of his spring performance he earned the final rotation spot over the favored Keung Choe. |
03-10-2015, 08:10 PM | #2007 |
Hall Of Famer
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6/1/2027 -
On the field the Breakers finished with a 14-14 record, and sit two games behind the Rangers in the AL South in third place. I hate to waste an opportunity being in the thick of the race, so we tried to make a couple of trades to fill some holes.
Our first target was 24 year old right fielder Jose Molina, who is struggling with the A's this year hitting .190 with 3 home runs, but just last year Molina hit 31 home runs for the A's. I'm betting he can rebound, and traded: C - Brandon Glendenning - who I signed as a backup catcher, but has requested a trade LF - Martin Warren - he's really a fifth outfielder, but his defense is a concern 3B - Alfredo Rodriguez - at 22 years old he was one of the main pieces coming back in the Ramon Rocha trade, and even though I'm still high on him, we needed to include some legitimate talent to get the deal done 3B - Chris Wilson - the 29 year old was our third baseman of the future that never panned out. Our second trade was sending Wally Wilson and minor league pitcher Ivan Cortez to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for 27 year old SP Matt Spence, and 24 year old reliever Jason Ivey. After going 3-6 with a 6.49 ERA Wilson has fallen out of favor with the Breakers, and Spence has fallen out of favor with the Reds. My scout likes him, and I'm hoping a change of scenery will do all four pitchers good. The Breakers had the first no-hitter in our history when Ralph Johnson pitched a no-hitter in a 8-0 win over the Mariners. It was one of two no-hitters this month, with Matt Short of the Astros also pitching a no-hitter. De-wei Si-ma also won the Rookie of the Month award after hitting .287 with 3 home runs, 12 RBI, 23 runs scored, 14 walks, and a .366 on-base percentage. You may remember the name Scott Frazier from my days with the Twins. He was our top prospect, and hit .268 with 10 home runs in my final year in Minnesota as a 23 year old. His future was always bright, but he never really stood out until his walk year, when Frazier hit .296 with 35 home runs, 108 RBI, and 86 runs. With a 5.1 WAR it looked like he finally put it all together and had career highs across the board, and signed a big 5 year contract earning $21.4 million per season. He made the news because of a suspension, but couldn't help but notice his history since signing that big contract (.227-7 HR, .257-12 HR, .294-21 HR, .300-6 HR). I'm sure that wasn't what the Braves were expecting, and he hasn't delivered for the Rangers yet since they acquired him. |
03-12-2015, 09:17 PM | #2008 |
Hall Of Famer
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6/4/2027 -
The Carolina Breakers had a bad day today. First we lost to the Orioles 7-4, then we lost Mario Martinez to injury for 1-2 weeks, and finally Vicente Cano's career with the Breakers likely came to an end when he tore his rotator cuff. He's in his final year of his contract, and will be out for 13 months.
A look at Cano's career: We'll be calling up 23 year old SP prospect Ricardo Medrano and 24 year old 1B Joe Smith to replace them on the roster. |
03-12-2015, 09:30 PM | #2009 |
All Star Reserve
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Cano was a very solid pitcher. Not quite HoF level (not because of being under 200 wins so much as only playing 13 years. (I'm guessing even if he makes it back, he's unlikely to get back to his prime levels.)
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03-12-2015, 09:32 PM | #2010 | |
Minors (Triple A)
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 233
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03-12-2015, 10:13 PM | #2011 |
Hall Of Famer
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Yeah, I definitely agree about not quite being a HoF'er. I think the only reason I'm holding out hope on a return for Cano is he's a knuckleballer, and did bounce back pretty well after his first major injury. Of course he's older now, and I know it is going to be tough for him to come back, but I'm holding out hope.
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03-12-2015, 10:19 PM | #2012 |
Hall Of Famer
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This was definitely one of my most crushing OOTP memories of all-time. I'm definitely hoping he can come back from this one. I'd love to get him another ring, although who knows. After year one Carolina has been pretty rough.
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03-15-2015, 08:33 PM | #2013 |
Hall Of Famer
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6/15/2027 -
The Breakers started the month with a 5-9 record as things start to fall apart in year 4 for the Breakers. Replacing Cano will be very difficult to do, and I'm not optimistic that we can turn things around all year.
In the amateur draft the Breakers were picking 19th overall. I wasn't too impressed with the talent available to us, and in the first five rounds we selected - 1B - Chris Lynn MR - Rudy Robertston 3B - Al Wilson SP - Jamal White CF - Darren Wilson |
03-15-2015, 09:23 PM | #2014 |
Hall Of Famer
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7/1/2027 -
After finishing June with a 12-16 record it may be time for the Breakers to start thinking about next season. Of course we are still just 5 games out of first place, but I'm not too encouraged in our ability to come back.
With Melvin Gross, Manny Chavez, Noah Henderson, Albert Holguin, and Anthony Newman free agents after this season it may be time to explore a trade and try and get something back. Either we'll get back in the race in early July, or look for some trades to happen. |
03-16-2015, 12:19 PM | #2015 |
Hall Of Famer
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8/1/2027 -
On the field the Breakers had another losing month, going 12-14 and falling 11 1/2 games behind the Rangers. Another wasted year in Carolina, and we lost Meqwran Mukuru and Reyes Gonzalez to injuries. I have gotten the opportunity to try some things out though, like Ricardo Medrano in the rotation, and so far he's been pretty good going 5-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 10 starts.
On the trade front we were able to complete a couple of deals, but we were unable to move a few of our impending free agents. 2B Albert Holguin was the first one to be moved, going to the Mariners in exchange for 28 year old catcher Jorge Garcia. Garcia is solid defensively, and will get an opportunity to make some starts behind the plate. The second trade of the month was one that the Braves approached us about, and was a little bit odd. The Braves offered 31 year old Mike Taylor and $2.3 million in cash in exchange for 32 year old minor league catcher Nathan Wrangham. To be perfectly clear I had no interest in Taylor, but the Braves were paying $2.3 million to get him off the team, and his 2027 salary was $2.3 million and Wrangham has gotten lost in the shuffle, and the addition of Garcia makes him expendable. In addition, Taylor's contract expires after this season so we made a few bucks on the deal. Then finally we shipped 2B Edward Payton to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for 27 year old reliever Gary White. It was either trade Payton or waive him, so White was the best return. The Breakers did have two players selected to the All-Star team, Logan Cameron and De-wei Si-ma. Si-ma racked up another Rookie of the Month Award after hitting .333 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI, and should be the Rookie of the Year favorite with a .306 batting average, 20 home runs, 65 RBI, and 76 runs scored so far this season with 5.1 WAR. |
03-16-2015, 05:14 PM | #2016 |
Hall Of Famer
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9/1/2027 -
The Breakers had a winning month in August going 14-13, but despite that we remain a very long longshot for the postseason. As the calendar turns to September we'll call up some minor leaguers with the expanded rosters and look forward to the end of a painful season.
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03-17-2015, 08:16 PM | #2017 |
Hall Of Famer
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10/4/2027 -
Year 4 in Carolina and we are headed in the wrong direction. While the Breakers went from expansion team to playoffs in their first year we've been waiting to get back to the playoffs since. Unfortunately the 2027 season was the first year in their history that the Breakers finished with a losing record.
I had high hopes for this year, although I was worried about our pitching being thin. When Vicente Cano went down for the season that proved just how thin our pitching really was. We did see some good signs though, like the emergence of Logan Cameron this year, and Ricardo Medrano. I feel that we at least have two solid members of our rotation. We'll head into the offseason once again looking towards making improvements and figuring out how to get back to the playoffs and win a championship. |
03-21-2015, 01:23 PM | #2018 |
Hall Of Famer
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11/1/2027 -
As we head into the offseason we'll be saying goodbye to Vicente Cano, Anthony Newman, Noah Henderson, and David Lucas, who declined his player option. The Breakers also decided to not offer arbitration to Gabriel Zumaya, Julian Ramos, Luis Leon, and Mike Cooper which saved us about $5 million.
Our owner is becoming relentless, and the Breakers budget dropped $8 million to $124 million. Luckily we do have a lot of money coming off the books, leaving us with $29 million we can spend on free agents. We're listed as having weaknesses in our rotation, second base, left field, and right field, with slight weaknesses at catcher and the bullpen. We'll be looking for an outfielder, starting pitcher, and catcher in that order. Carolina Breakers - Expansion 2024 - Carolina Breakers - 94-68 (.580) - GB (Defeated Seattle Mariners 3-1 in Division Series, Lost to Boston Red Sox 4-2 in LCS, Season Score - 99) 2025 - Carolina Breakers - 81-81 (.500) 4 1/2 GB (Season Score - 18) 2026 - Carolina Breakers - 86-76 (.531) 10 GB (Season Score - 38) 2027 - Carolina Breakers - 79-83 (.488) 18 GB (Season Score - 1) |
03-21-2015, 02:10 PM | #2019 |
Hall Of Famer
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11/11/2027 -
As expected the Rookie of the Year Award was given to De-wei Si-ma after he hit .285 with 26 home runs, 89 RBI, and 97 runs scored. Of course the 30 year old is not the typical Rookie of the Year, but the Taiwan native did make a very successful transition to the majors, and with a 5.8 WAR he lived up to his gigantic contract in his first year.
The Breakers also had three Gold Glove winners, Meqwran Mukuru at 2B, William Arthur at SS, and David Lucas at RF. Not a bad showing for our defense. One of the things that I have been especially bad at is locking up arbitration eligible players in Carolina, perhaps because I thought this was going to be a short stay. Heading in to year 5 I figure I might as well face the reality that it's past a short stay. We made two deals to try and get some cost certainty with SP Ricardo Medrano signed to a 4 year $6 million extension after his 8-5 year with a 3.76 ERA. We took a chance and locked him up early, and got a deal if he can continue to pitch well. The second deal was more costly, but Logan Cameron was signed to a four year $34.9 million deal that bought out three of his arbitration years. Hopefully I won't be around to see the end of either contract, but just in case. |
03-21-2015, 03:28 PM | #2020 |
Hall Of Famer
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12/5/2027 -
There are probably many reasons why I shouldn't have made this particular deal, but the allure of adding a two time MVP was hard to pass up. Coming off a down year in which he hit .333 with 25 home runs Martin Castro agreed to terms with the Carolina Breakers on a 8 year $188 million contract to play a corner outfield spot. He's equally talented in both right field or left field, so it is still a little up in the air where he actually plays.
It doesn't hurt that he's one of the most popular players in the league, and for a team that has seen our attendance numbers drop for three straight years I'm hoping he'll be the shot in the arm that can help us win games, and get fans in the seats. He doesn’t fill all of our holes, but for a team that was outscored 725-688 Castro should help us score more runs. A look at his career stats: |
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