Making The Move Upstate: A Buffalo Nickels Story

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Links To Important Info
Backstory of this world
Rivalry Rankings
Explanation of The Baseball Cup
Explanation of the Cup of the Americas
2063 Big Winter Meeting
Introducing the Upstairs Men
A New World in the Summer Market
2064 Big Winter Meetings

Start of 2062 season
Start of 2063 season


After the confetti stopped falling on that fateful late October evening in 2061, Gerry Thomas knew exactly what he wanted to do. It wouldn't be the first time he shocked the world of baseball, but this one might even be larger.

Thomas had just led the Brooklyn Atlantics of the World Baseball Association to their 3rd consecutive Double (winning the WBA title alongside the Champions League). He had joined the Atlantics when the WBA expanded to 12 teams back in 2046, he suffered through that 18-48 opening season to lead them to the top in '49 and '50. He had shockingly walked away from the club after a semifinals loss in The Baseball Cup in 2053 before returning in 2055. He was about to shock everyone again.

As he readied to leave Brooklyn, no team had more WBA titles



and no one had more CL titles



Thomas had added a Super Cup (warmup tournament involving 8 winning teams from previous season), and The Baseball Cup (prestigious March tournament involving every team in the world) where the team went 20-0 in 2061. The team he had put together in Brooklyn was full of stars he'd signed young and cheap like Canadian Regan Begin, young and on the international amateur market like Jake Williams, expensive and on the free agent market like Frank Carlino or Steve Dombroski, or kept through tons of possible free agency years like Bill Moody.

Jake Williams

Frank Carlino

Steve Dombroski

Bill Moody


Brooklyn's talent literally was overflowing. But Gerry was tired of it, he felt his job was done there. Despite some competition from usual rivals Los Angeles Reign and the final title coming at the end of a knuckle-biting race against their rivals from Manhattan, Gerry wasn't the type of guy to truly enjoy maintaining nonstop dominance. Since August he'd been secretly messaging the braintrust at another club, one no one would ever expect him to join, one that certainly had never even tasted dominance. One in the same state but a world away...

Gerry Thomas was going from Brooklyn to Buffalo

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from the archives




We visited with superstar sporting director/manager Gerry Thomas just days after he arrived in Buffalo after his shock move from Brooklyn. Thomas arrived 5 minutes late to the downtown patio spot and drank 3 LaCroix's during our interview while eying his phone for further messages as they came rolling in. However, he was open and honest about his life in Brooklyn, his thoughts about the USBL's sharply different rules and his hopes for Buffalo's future.

Were you unsatisfied at Brooklyn, what led you to bail there?

GT: Completely the opposite! I was absolutely satisfied with my work there and felt it was complete. I had built what I wanted, the team is the best in the world which we have shown with our 8 titles over the past 3 years, including the 6 big ones every year and more importantly by how our squad worked in every single way. The Atlantics are set up for the future brilliantly, I feel like everything I've done is complete there.

So why Buffalo?

GT: I wanted a clean slate, a new league, a fresh start. If I went to Chicago or Sydney or Dallas or Paris then I'd be competing with Brooklyn directly and in the same league and scenario as before. I wanted a fresh start.

So you come to USBL structure, but why not join a team in the first league? Surely you had offers from almost everyone?

Yes, I had many offers from first league teams. I won't mention names as that will put undue pressure on their current or new directors and coaches but I could have. There was something a bit romantic about taking a team from the second league up to the first and then hopefully to become a competitive team there and making it to the global competitions. That's a long way off of course, but it's how I am thinking about this project.


I enjoy the locality of the USBL I have to admit. I could never have said this when working in the WBA, but there's something about focusing on the local fans and your surrounding and country that does trigger a bit of patriotism and sentimentality in me. The games against Rochester I'd always watch, the families on the outfield berm on their blankets, busses driving fans from one to the other, and everyone seeming to know each other made the games feel much more tense. Nothing against our fans in Brooklyn, but sometimes you see say Paris advertising in Cairo or Houston travelling to Riyadh for a preseason camp and you wonder what exactly is going on. Are we just sort of companies in the global market? Here, they do have a better connection to the idea that these clubs are local institutions.

Now this has been hashed out over and over through the years, but what is your definitive take on the rules differences between the WBA and the USBL? Switching would indicate you have no big problem with them?

I knew this question was coming of course. We will start with the 9 year rule. I'm used to the fast-paced WBA where players are free agents after 4 years and you constantly have to be rebuilding your team, this is all well and good and exciting for a sporting director. But for a fanbase, for a community, the 9 year rule in the USBL is better. Look at Las Vegas for example. Tyrese Turner, Elijah Jones, Steve Bakies and Jon Cook were one-club men. Two others are one-club men until their last season, that's 6 of their 8 Hall of Fame members who were essentially One Club Men. That's special. Now you go to a game and you see those guys, the numbers retired on the wall, the sections of the stands they sponsor and probably know half the people there. It's just special and the 9 year initial major league contract feeds that. I don't think there's a single One Club Man elected to the WBA Hall of Fame.

The importance of local strength is of course emphasized by the financial distribution. Everything local is so much more important here, in the WBA you basically had your media deal that was the same as everyone else and you were good. There's a bit of wiggle room in sales but not much. Here it's all about encouraging those devoted fans to come and support you and invest.

And the No Foreigners Rule?

Ah yes, the Trump Rule as you say. Well of course it was established to encourage local players and relationships between the fans and players but I think that is possible for foreign players as well. Seung-Soo Ha in Brooklyn for example was extremely popular with our fan base. I don't see it as an absolute no-go, obviously, I am working here now. But if I was in charge I would not implement this Americans Only rule.

Will it make it harder to build your team?

Yes of course. The more options you have the greater your edge can be if you think your offices are ahead of the competition and that is the goal. We want to be 1% better in every decision. Every pitching change, every international dollar, every minor league coach, every practice session, everything. When you limit the decisions you limit our ability to work.

What are the short and long term goals here?

The long term goals are the most important. First is making the playoffs which I expect in 2 or maybe 3 years. I expect to finish first in 3-4 years, once you are in the playoffs it can be tough to predict winning. Winning the playoffs and the promotion series is something you simply can't predict. But I expect us to be in the Champions League (top 4 in the USBL top tier) within 6 or 7 years and winning it by the end of the decade.

Bold words, only one team has ever made the Champions League after playing in the 2nd tier (Houston Apollos in WBA), what makes Buffalo different?

We have me and my team. We have great fans and potential for more, I think our amateur scouting and signing will be top notch and here that will play even better as we can keep these guys for 9 years once they make the big club. Even free agent signings can be long deals if they've only played 4 or 5 seasons elsewhere. Our good decisions will have longer lasting consequences and we can build on that.

Thank you for your time, Gerry, and good luck on this new adventure.

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Two teams entered the USBL as the league expanded in 2041: the Buffalo Nickels and the Raleigh Oaks. The original 8 team league created alongside the WBA in 2033 had been dominated by Indianapolis, Las Vegas and San Antonio in the early years and would continue to be throughout the 2040s:


Besides Jacksonville's inaugural title, no one else besides the Big Three could break through in the leagues first 18 seasons. Jacksonville grabbed a second in 2051 before one expansion team broke through in dominating fashion in 2052-2054



Raleigh has also besides that amazing three-peat:
-won the Champions League in 2048
-added a Baseball Cup in 2053 for a Double
-have since added another Baseball Cup in 2060
-In the Global Rankings, they are the 5th ranked club in the world right now
-they have the 2nd best winning % in USBL history at .575
-their 11 playoff appearances and 4 titles rank behind just the Big Three
-and they have the 5th best Baseball Cup win% at .673


Buffalo...has none of that.
-.379 win% in the USBL is 3rd-worst, only short-term teams Richmond and Kansas City (promoted from USBL2 to be relegated back in short order) have worse
-0 playoff appearances in their 17 years in the USBL
-1 ever top half finish in 17 years in the USBL (36-30 for 5th place in 2056)
-have made The Baseball Cup knockout stage just twice. Once advancing to the second round before being taken out by the San Francisco Doves and once being knocked out in the first round by the London Mets.
-relegated to the USBL2 after the 2057 season (18-48, lost the Promotion/Relegation Playoff to the Richmond Eagles
-have been a just above .500 team in the USBL2 (.516 win%) with one strong 36-18 season that led to a playoff berth but they lost 2-0 in the first round to the Iowa Dusters.

This is a nothing team, a team without any history of success at all. The only notable bit about them is the Upstate Rivalry that's developed with Rochester. Rochester came into the USBL system when the USBL2 was created in 2050 and quickly came to believe they were actually better than Buffalo despite Buffalo playing in the USBL and the Roosters played in the USBL2. Rochester has made 7 USBL2 playoffs and won the league twice but never quite won promotion, now they are very happy to see Buffalo in their league and they've finished higher than the Nickels in 4 of the 5 seasons together, verifying their long harbored beliefs...so far.

Buffalo's two minor league teams are in Portland, Maine and Syracuse, NY.

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by Brian Brick for Buffalo Ball



We can sometimes lose perspective when covering our local teams but this is my attempt to step outside my Nickel-plated focus and decide just where our Upstate Rivalry might rank in the global scheme of things.



We love our rivalry, where else do both beat pages cover every single game from the other team as well and openly root against them? But it is still small-scale baseball in some cases, 10,000 fans for a Saturday game doesn't tip the scale in Los Angeles for example. Anyway, here is my take on the myriad rivalries around the world and where we fit int.

a few I think we are clearly ahead of:

Shanghai-anyone else in Asia

No one has stepped up to meet the challenge of becoming a rival for Shanghai, who is dominating Asia and looking to breakout onto the world stage as an actual contender alongside the top American teams and London and Sydney.

No one in Europe
short-lived league hasn't had time to develop rivalries yet.

Dallas Bulls-Houston Apollos
New teams that have both made their way into the WBA top tier...the idea is there but the competition isn't as both seem kind of more interested in staying in the WBA and building their teams there instead of just focusing on the other.







A few we are slightly ahead of:

Iowa Dusters-Madison Lakers

Cincinnati can be thrown in the mix here also, but Iowa-Madison has always felt a bit more personal. All 3 of these teams have been very good since the USBL2 was founded, Iowa finally got out two years ago, Cincy last year. Madison still remains looking up.

Miami Flamingos-Jacksonville Kingfishers

WBA-USBL rivalries rarely develop because of a lack of games. The new American Cup could help solve that as there are now 4 possibilities for crossover matchups: The Baseball Cup (March), American Cup (July-August inseason cup), and the Global Cup (second tier postseason competition) and Champions League (the peak of the baseball universe.)







Ones we can’t compete with...yet

New York Americans-Brooklyn Atlantics

One once dominated the world and then a decade later the other dominates the world. Two of the best teams of all time, competed for titles, for Champions Leagues, for everything and are part of two boroughs who constantly compete for what they see as the soul of America. Hard to top.

New York Americans-Toronto Maple Leafs

Established early as the two top teams and added a Canada-USA tinge of jealousy.

Toronto Maple Leafs-Quebec Habitants

A bit of French Canadian spice as expansion Quebec won back to back WBA titles early in life, back to back CL titles later during a dry spell for Toronto. Pride comes before a fall and now Quebec are in the second tier, trying to fight their way back as Toronto has been on a hot run, returning to #7 overall in the global rankings.

LA Reign-San Francisco Doves


LA Reign-Brooklyn Atlantics
Years and years of the best teams we’ve ever seen dueling. Brooklyn on top but LA getting chunks of flesh now and then. Top, top talent.

Salt Lake City Swarm-Las Vegas Magic

Las Vegas opening up to casino money and having easy gambling apps and poker room overlooking the field, having cheerleaders (or as the SLC fans would say: selling sex), and the loud music playing during game play make Las Vegas an easy target for those complaining about the family-friendliness and old school purity of baseball (which to be fair might be the core purpose of the USBL). Add a bit (of a lot) of Mormon orderliness and you have this tiny club in Salt Lake City which with almost no market share has become the #4 ranked team in the world. They’ve only ever won 1 competition (2059 league title) but they are consistently great, one of the world’s great stories with how they’ve run their club. Vegas still mocks these uptight guys who think risqué is free ice cream.






Ones we are just about right in

San Antonio Riders-Indianapolis Arrows

San Antonio Riders-Las Vegas Magic
Las Vegas Magic-Indianapolis Arrows

When they were cooking, these series were unstoppable. Since each team (Indy in particular) have slumped since the good ole days, these series don’t have the base of hatred or geography to truly live on. When great, these are great and full of history.


So according to this experts accounting we are anywhere from the 7th to the 10th best rivalry in the world. Those outside of Upstate might not see it that way, but it’s true.

Reminder to check in for your daily Buffalo and Rochester coverage all year with your man, Brian Brick at Buffalo Ball.

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With the corruption and lagging popularity in the NBA coupled with the rising power that is Asian baseball and the new EuroLeague baseball competition under the auspices of the GBF, we've been seeing exponential growth in our views from overseas. As a favor to the reader, we will be explaining just how these different processes work as we go through the season alongside our exclusive deal to publish new Buffalo sporting director Gerry Thomas's unvarnished thoughts and analysis from his first year in charge, just released today, as he looked to rebuild Buffalo into a USBL2 winner. First up, the offseason...

The Athletic Explains...the Winter Market

As the Champions League winds down near the end of October, teams begin planning for the early December salary arbitration hearing, followed quickly by the free agent market opening. This is standard for baseball fans but what is different is the amateur market, part 2, the Winter Market. There is a summer amateur market, where players often command strong bonuses, and then there is this secondary Winter Market, where there are often a few fully formed players ready to contribute and a smattering of prospects here and there to be signed. Some superstars, like Regan Begin and Danny Bresnahan, have been signed from this market basically ready to go and begun their careers in the top level the following spring. Those have happened less often in recent years, but usually there are several strong, top-level ready relievers at least, with a smattering of big prospects here and there demanding big league level $$.


The Thomas Diaries: The Winter Market

When I got here, me and my team did a deep dive throughout the Buffalo and Portland (AA, top level of minor league) rosters to determine how close we are to a playoff spot. Our decision was we are not "just a few players away" and that informed our approach this offseason:

-we traded away a couple high earning players in LF Elijah Brown ($464k, 16% of our total budget, 5 years of service) and SS Rick Purzycki ($350k, 12% of budget, 5 yr service) to get a couple fringy prospects.


We spent most of our time looking deeply at the amateur market, and we were very pleased with three in particular. First was Joe Duncan, an elite bat we think even if we don't know if he will ever be able to play the field. Next is 2B Victor Zavala, who profiles as a possibly dominant hitter down the road but might need more seasoning before he can take on USBL2 pitching. And then finally we had several scouts ecstatic about Enrique de la Cruz a short righty who showcases a wipeout FB/SL combo with a hopefully developing changeup. Seen as a true #1, which are worth their weight in gold in this 3-games-a-week (Fri-Sat-Sun) schedule. I always feel we can get a jump on other teams particularly in this Winter Market and am very excited about what these guys can bring over the next decade to Buffalo.

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Free agency isn't quite as big a deal as the NBA or say your soccer leagues transfer markets, but it's still a huge part of every teams squad planning. Often times, particularly in the USBL, teams will extend their stars, making the top end talent a little light in free agency. Still with 70 teams across the world and excruciating arbitration cases to be haggled about for 7, 8 or 9 year veterans, there are often lots of good middle-band talents floating around.

The Thomas Diaries: Free Agency

We wanted flexible players with futures. We weren't going in thinking we had to splash cash, even though we knew our squad was a weak one, especially offensively. We saw ourselves as a blank slate almost, a bottom tier team in a bottom tier league, with room to work but no reason to rush into anything. We got our first guy in a top of the line defensive SS with only 4 years of service in Matt Mallow. I can't stand weak links at crucial defensive positions and he will never be one. We got another defensive infield wizard in John Stewart. Short and third should be filled by competent bats and amazing gloves for 4-5 years if we want to keep picking up that arbitration tab.

Our pitching looked kind of same-y so I dipped into the market for a veteran reliever with great control who I think could become a starter in Chris Bello and then a guy who went 1-14 with a 6.79 ERA last year and I'm giving the biggest contract of them all to, Jared Farr. Farr played for a collapsing team in Kansas City with an awful defense, but still has solid underlying skills so I'm taking a risk that that horrific BABIP isn't the real Jared Farr. I think he's a USBL2 level pitcher who can play well here but was overmatched in the top tier (5.93 career ERA for KC, a team who had the money but project is falling completely apart).

Overall here are the signings
Jared Farr-8% of cap, 1 yr guaranteed, 7 yrs service
John Stewart-7% of cap, 4 yrs guaranteed, 4 yrs service
Matt Mallow-4% of cap, 1 yr guaranteed, 4 yrs service (arb elig up to 9 yrs)
Chris Bello-4%, 2 years guaranteed

So I'm still up 5% of budget, but I've spent most of the savings from shipping out Brown and Purzycki. Those $$ will go into minor leaguers making the minimum or scouting/development/new coach salaries, which I want to pump up. At Brooklyn we found edges spending a lot on coaches in particular.

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The Baseball Cup was the original Cup competition in the baseball universe. It was created in 2033 alongside the WBA and USBL to provide cross-league competition between the open competition of the WBA and the closed-borders local focus of the USBL. It originally matched up all 16 teams randomly in a knockout format after the season. After 7 years the Champions League replaced the Baseball Cup in the postseason slot as a way to get the best teams from both leagues playing more often and to crown a global champion. For the entire 2040s there were no Baseball Cups played before in 2050 legendary San Antonio owner Ryan Gabriel brought it back with an impassioned push

"Cup competitions are a deep part of the worlds sporting culture, every team being on an even playing field with a chance of winning something is the thing great dreams are made of."

Gabriel also wanted every Cup to be hosted in San Antonio...but we'll overlook that for now. There was a new format in 2050 with group play followed by knockout stages, that has remained the same. A twist is the groups are randomly decided and so are the schedules. So you can be in one of the 17 team groups but your competitor is playing a different 12-game schedule than yours. 16 teams make the knockout stages where you play best-of-5 until the final which is a best-of-7.

This often functions as "Spring Training" as the games are held throughout Florida in March, but there is nothing "Spring" about the competition.

The overall tally stands at 10 titles each for the WBA and the USBL, no other league has won one yet.

The Baseball Cup Titles
5: Las Vegas Magic
3: Los Angeles Reign
2: San Francisco Doves, New York Americans, Raleigh Oaks
1: Indianapolis Arrows, San Antonio Riders, New Orleans Brass, Mexico City Jaguars, Sydney Outback, Brooklyn Atlantics

It's quite a who's who of the biggest teams in the world with New Orleans sliding in there in the early, knockout days with a shock title. It's a great competition that nowadays lets us see little-known teams from Europe and Asia match up with the WBA and of course we see the cross-competition between the rival open and closed organizations that we are seeing more and more of nowadays.

Gerry Thomas Diaries: The Baseball Cup

While internally we had sort of agreed that we weren't expecting a huge season this year and we had sort of signalled it to some of our fans with the trades of big money men Brown and Purcyzki there of course was still huge expectation with our team in town, in Buffalo. They wanted and maybe expected Brooklyn level success. So when we started 7-1 in the Cup the expectation was ratcheted up even more. I saw Brian Brick from Buffalo Ball say he thought we were the favorites in the USBL2, that article was passed around and chuckled at among our backroom staff. That doesn't mean we weren't devastated when we finished 1-3 to go 8-4 and miss out on qualifying from our group.

OPS: .749 (league average was .730)
ERA: 4.19 (league average was 4.18)

our MVP was Josh van Nort, a great defensive CF who put up a 1066 OPS. When I was in Brooklyn I traded him, thinking he wouldn't ever become an elite level player for a WBA team. While I might be right, he has had a 3 WAR season (roughly equivalent to a 7 WAR MLB season for those still thinking in 162 game increments) for Buffalo back in 2059 where he went 339/385/539. That has made him a very highly paid player though, he delivered in the Cup. But we are out, and onto the regular season.

New York won the Cup, beating Boston who was trying to become the first ever team outside the WBA or USBL to win the Baseball Cup.

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by Brian Brick for Buffalo Ball



Opening the season with an Upstate Rivalry weekend in Rochester always meant there would likely be overreactions no matter what happened. Well, The hour long Teslatrain ride brought 3000 Buffalo fans, well up from the normal 1000-1500 that come to these games reflecting the buzz around Gerry Thomas and the 7-1 Cup start. That didn't last, at all.

New signing Jared Farr pitched well on Friday and Buffalo held a two-run lead late before the bullpen blew it and one of those famous Triple L's*, Jake Lynch delivered a walkoff extra-base hit to give Rochester a great present...the banner unveiled over right field as the Rooster players celebrated on the field simply read "Welcome Upstate Gerry Thomas."

The next day had to be worse to watch for Thomas, one of his signings Chris Bello was torched for 11 hits without striking a single batter out. He's allowed 9 home runs in 31 total innings over the Cup and this opening start. He took a loss.

Game 3 it was all about another of the Triple L's, Mike Lentz. He delivered his third home run of the season and despite Buffalo having the most lauded sporting director/manager in the history of this global baseball federation, they got swept away in Rochester in the opening week. Roosters coach Darren Chavis, who along with GM Dave Diaz have been there since the beginning, simply said "Well, he's not in Brooklyn anymore" with a smirk to me after the series as I asked him what he thought of the series, not even referencing Thomas.

Rochester is 3-0. Buffalo is 0-3. Darren Chavis and Dave Diaz are drinking a celebratory Jack and Lime and Gerry Thomas is....calm.

"We will evaluate the performances and not the results. Focusing on performances get us better results. We love the fans, their efforts supporting us will be rewarded sometime soon, sorry it wasn't this weekend."



*Triple L's
At the top three of almost every category in the Rochester record book come the Triple L's: Jake Lynch, Mike Lentz and Nick Leisch.

Lynch is playing his 12th year and his 23 WAR is 2nd all-time among Rochester batters, Leisch his 10th year and leads the Roosters in WAR. Lentz is on his 8th season and is 3rd in WAR. This trio is basically exactly what the USBL brass wanted when they came up with the concept for the league: a long-term trio that a community rallies around, knows, and loves even if they aren't megastars on the national or global scene.


Lynch is everywhere in Rochester, opening car dealerships, featuring in burger commercials, showing up at soccer matches, etc. He's arguably one of the most popular citizens and is totally insignificant nationally. The gold-glove second baseman is signed through 2064. Lentz is signed through 2063 while Leisch is signed on a risky deal through 2067, where he will be 34 and his center field defense is already declining. He's one of the top ten highest paid players in the USBL2.

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We are moving into the meat and potatoes of the baseball season, the league. The March Madness of The Baseball Cup is done, the new sheen of the continental cups (Cup of the Americans, Asian Cup and European Cup) isn't coming for a few months and the firework display of the Champions League (and the bottle rocket of the Global Cup) only to come after the season, it's now time to focus on the by-far biggest chunk of each teams season. How it works
-Friday-Sunday games only, weekend 3-game series
-in 12 team leagues: home and away against each opponent for 66 games
-in the only 10 team league (Asia), that makes 54 games
-in WBA leagues and the EuroLeague, there are no playoffs. The winner has the most wins at the end.
-in USBL leagues and Asia, the top 3 teams make the playoffs. #1 gets a bye and a 3-game series between 2 and 3 decides who will play in the best-of-7 to win the league

Gerry Thomas Diaries: The Opening 6 Weeks

Overall Record: 9-9
Run Differential: -4

After two series, two of our highest paid players Chad Bamesberger (7% of budget) and Josh van Nort (10%) were a combined 2 for 45. We were in a disastrous place, our FIP was dead last in the league and our wOBA was 12th in the league. We had hit 2 home runs and were lucky to have two wins, mainly because we had played the decrepit Pittsburgh Rebels (1 finish above 6th in franchise history of 13 years and .327 career Baseball Cup winning %).

We then hosted Palo Alto and scored 1 run in the first 17 innings. It took 17 innings for us to beat them in the finale and stay at 3-6. Up top we were very proud of one of our Winter Market signings in the youngster Joe Duncan, he went 6 for 8 in the 17 inning game to have his average move to a preposterous .464 for the season. We still don't feel comfortable putting him on the field defensively, and probably won't this year, but man what a bat.

The next two weeks, vs Madison and California, finally gave us signs of life. We outscored them by 12 and won 5 of 6 to move above .500. We shuffled our rotation around, I think Bello might just not have it anymore, he's out. Jorge Zamora might be more suited to be a closer, we will try him out of the pen. Ben Buchanan and Joe McCammant will get a shot at starting. Starting pitching is gold. You need reliability.

Buchanan has had around a 3 ERA over 125 or so relief innings in the big leagues, we think he can profile as a starter despite scouts never being huge on him.

Zamora has a 11+ K/9 rate as a reliever and scouts like him but as a starter his walk rate skied well above 4 in his 7 starts.

McCammant was a big Winter Market signing before I got there so carries a big contract (7% of budget) but carried a 1.4 WHIP as a starter as a rookie. He gets another chance now.

Jared Farr has been excellent, he fanned 10 vs Madison as Buchanan and McCammant delivered. We allowed just 2 runs vs the anemic Laker offense in the entire series! Our defense has been excellent so far, Stewart and Mallow are doing their job there and van Nort is a gold glove candidate in center.

The final series was disappointing as Farr and McCammant got shelled and we lost a series vs Nashville but back to .500 is encouraging after the poor start.

A big problem is finding a catcher, we tried Tiran Mezhunts in the Cup and he gave us this line


so we sent him down and tried Nate Guarino, who has given us this line


Now Mezhunts is back up.

[Englishtide73]

I see you run many leagues with usually 66 games played on Friday to sunday. I saw the post with the schedule maker but my question is how do you schedule all the tournaments? do you enter them manually? I tried running a league with different divisions and when it scheduled it had all the teams playing each other. is there a way where division 1 only plays division 1 teams? do you go through an associations? and when I start a season it asks how many games do you wanna play. do I just enter say 66 games? sorry I have many questions.

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Originally Posted by Englishtide73

I see you run many leagues with usually 66 games played on Friday to sunday. I saw the post with the schedule maker but my question is how do you schedule all the tournaments? do you enter them manually? I tried running a league with different divisions and when it scheduled it had all the teams playing each other. is there a way where division 1 only plays division 1 teams? do you go through an associations? and when I start a season it asks how many games do you wanna play. do I just enter say 66 games? sorry I have many questions.

I don't use associations as I don't like how they look, track stats, or fit in overall. the developers haven't messed with them in years so I don't bother.

so which tournaments are you talking? I don't create a new schedule every year but for tournaments where you "qualify" for I do enter the new entrants every year.

I don't quite understand what you mean by 66 games, yes that's what I say on the league settings tab, then I import the schedule that you saw

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Overall Record: 16-17
Run Differential: -25
Place: 7/12

We've played all our opponents once now and we end the first half basically where we expected to be: right around the middle of the pack and right around .500. We are in 7th place out of 12 and one game below .500. But just because we are right where we expected to be does not mean we are some soothsayers who know how the season will go, the carnage after the Richmond series shows that clearly. We won the opener against the Eagles behind Bamesberger's 2 HRs (finally waking up from a horrific 1-40 start to the season) and another great Jared Farr start but then we got blanked on Saturday and absolutely trounced on Sunday.

That Monday morning was decision day for a lot. Chris Bello had allowed 8 HRs and struck out 7 in 21 innings, we admitted our mistake and released him. Another decision we made was to trade two big bats in Willie Rayo and Chad Bamesberger. Big contracts, big bats yes, but big egos and from what we had seen, had totally checked out on the season. While some stereotype us as number crunching nerds, that's not true at all. Makeup, work ethic, and intelligence play really big in what we look for. In a season we didn't see as developing into a team with the quality to make the jump, it was time to get rid of those two guys. We got back a fringey prospect or two but it's more about clearing out space. Now there is room for potential young contributors like Adam Stromgren and a Winter Market signing of ours Josh Cross gets a full time role. These guys could become starters on a good team, and we want to see if they can show that now.

Positives
-We've won 8 of our last 9 Sunday games, all started by Ben Buchanan. His K rate has disappeared (5.3 per 9) so that's a bit concerning but he's avoiding runs and getting wins.

-Farr continues to pitch very well, that looks to be a shrewd move making up a bit for the Bello whiff. That 1-14, 6.79 season scared off a lot but we could profit from it.

Negatives
-The offense is just so lethargic. No power, no speed, no pop. Focusing on defense by signing Stewart and Mallow (who are both hitting adequately) and trading away now 4 of our 5 highest paid hitters has led to an offense that doesn't pop.

We are still pushing to win every game and aren't far off the playoff chase in the typically crowded USBL2 (3 games off third place and final playoff spot) but this isn't the quality team we want when we push for a spot in the USBL. Not yet. Maybe Cross or Stromgren will turn out to be a part, we want to find pieces now. Maybe Buchanan is working his way into that picture? 33 games and an American Cup to go.

[dward1]

Overall Record: 24-21,
Run Differential: -5
1 GB of final playoff spot

We opened the second half of the season losing in extra innings to Rochester. 0-4 in the Upstate Rivalry is not how we wanted to open our Buffalo account, but it was just the setup for the best stretch of our season so far. A comeback win on Saturday and a walkoff bomb from Matt Mallow on Sunday at least let us finish the Upstate Rivalry at 2-4 this season.

Then, with the exception that it was the decrepit Rebels, we played our best series of the season. We pummeled them, outscoring them 19-7 and moved within a game of that third playoff spot. Jared Farr's ERA dropped to 3.7 and Buchanan's ERA is now 2.02 as a starter. Jason Kuruc has been promoted back into the rotation now (starter the past 3 years at a ~100 ERA+) and started well his first two games. We are still dead last in runs for, but are now up to 5th in runs against mainly due to that rotation. Jorge Zamora does look more like a reliever, he's pitching very well there.

A great chance to keep our surge going slipped away in Silicon Valley as we scored 9 runs and lost 3 1-run games to the Redwoods.

But the next week we revived our hopes by pummeling another cellar-dwelling team in California by scoring 19 runs. Stromgren delivered a big series and has been hitting well since he's been called up. So has Jon Land, a longtime Nickel (28 years old) who is getting his second chance with the big club after the Bamesberger/Rayo trades.

We are just a game back of the playoffs, making it there this year would certainly be ahead of our schedule. This team still doesn't feel like a title winning team, but we are not going to hold back at all. Let's go pedal to the medal down the stretch here.

[dward1]

Overall Record: 28-29, 4 GB of 3rd
Run Differential: -19

We played Madison, the team we were chasing at the time for the final playoff spot. We split the first two and led 5-1 in the finale before the bullpen utterly collapsed. A 3 run home run in the 7th and 8th swung the playoff odds in the largest direction of the season. The most consequential innings of the year did not go our way. We didn't rebound either, losing the next three series as well. Ben Buchanan's hot start where he put an ERA like the best pitcher in the league has fizzled out. He gave up 12 earned in 6 innings in his two starts against Nashville and Richmond. Kuruc has struggled a bit as well, leaving us just one good starter and a still dead-last offense. It was always a long shot to make the playoffs this year, and it's pretty much dead.

Up next comes the beginning of the Cup of the Americas and our last chance for success this year. We might try Trevor Kirkpatrick and a few minor leaguers who have played well at Portland as starting pitchers the rest of the season. We will work hard to have Farr start in the Cup and give league starts to these new guys, we want to develop a reliable starter.

[dward1]

The Cup of the Americas is a new competition. It was created in 2060 alongside the other continental cups (Europe and Asia) and jammed into the midweeks at the end of the season.

-Tuesday/Wednesday makes one set of games
-There are 6 teams in each group (7 groups total), groups are decided by global ranking
-You play a set against each team in your group, 10 games total
-winner of each group advances to the Final along with 1 wildcard team
-the Final is played over three days in Dallas: quarters, semis and final is all one game

Here's a look at a normal table


It was created as another way of matching up the WBA/USBL. With the expansion of baseball in Asia and Europe, there are fewer direct matchups between the globalized WBA and the nationalist USBL, so this was created to feed that rivalry. After 3 seasons of the Cup, the USBL have 13 playoff appearances and the WBA have 11. The lack of access to the global player pool hasn't hindered the USBL at all somehow. They don't have more money either, it's sort of a mystery as to how the league keeps up.

Thomas's Diary
We were seeded in the Salt Lake City group. Here's how it shook out
#4 (rank in the world) Salt Lake City Swarm
#13 Iowa Dusters (USBL, promoted last season)
#21 Rochester Roosters (USBL2)
#31 Seattle Rainiers (WBA2)
#41 Buffalo Nickels (USBL2)
#64 Charlotte Flyers (USBL2)

Getting an extra bit of Upstate Rivalry of course draws the attention but we think this is a doable group, outside of Salt Lake City, we aren't just overwhelmed talent-wise by any of these teams.



A 20-inning win against Rochester in the second series followed by a Wednesday shutout spun by Jason Kuruc got us to 3-1 and tied atop the group with Iowa and Salt Lake City.

It didn't last, just how far we are from the top teams became clear in Salt Lake. We didn't even face their long-time ace, Ian Baker, but only scored 1 run in each game as they steamrolled us. After falling under .500 vs Seattle in the first game, we focused the rest of the tournament on getting our prospects time on the mound and trying to figure out who we can count on next season.

The results of the Cup



Los Angeles wins their second straight Cup of the Americas. They've won a bunch of stuff, but not the big stuff during their duel with Brooklyn these last few years. They've won a Super Cup, 2 American Cups and a Global Cup over the past three years while watching Brooklyn sweep up the WBA and Champions Leagues. It's not bad, it's fun to celebrate but Brooklyn fans never tire of telling LA they are celebrating the minor stuff.

[dward1]

We ended the season with a 5-4 finish to total our record at exactly .500, 33-33 in the league with a -26 run differential. We finished a single game behind Rochester which will make some of our fans unhappy, so we decided to release what we think going into next season. Here's a look at the hitting/value charts, all competitions

Team Stats: 4.1 R/G, .708 OPS
that is the lowest runs per game since 2057 and lowest OPS since 2053 for Buffalo


Players we are for sure bringing back in the lineup
-Joe Duncan was an amazing find from the Winter Market, 3.5 WAR without playing the field. We want to try him in left field in the Cup, see if he can at least show signs of hanging there because...
-Chris Yates played there this year, very poorly (-5 runs), but another of our signings last winter (past career in the WBA, mainly with LA, last year with PSG. We might try him at first base in the Cup
-John Stewart: at third or second it's not clear yet, but he did exactly what we expected when we signed him
-Matt Mallow: he also basically performed exactly as expected

All four were signed last offseason, not to toot our own horns too much. to be fair we got rid of the top 4 hitters left to us, so not too hard for "our guys" to move to the top.

maybe/We don't know
-Josh van Nort: similar to Mallow in his defense at a crucial position gave him a respectable line for the season, but his cap figure will balloon past 10% this offseason. A good player but a tough call to make in arbitration, 34 years old but coming off 3 straight Gold Gloves
-Jon Land: league average OPSes aren't easy to get around here, this is now two seasons of it for him.
-Charlie Boone: we signed him off the scrap heap in mid-summer to fix our gaping catcher hole and he delivered adequately. Will be considered, but a .259 OBP should be improved on

looking for upgrades
-Adam Stromgren got his chance and didn't do anything, didn't get on base, didn't hit for power, and struck out a ton. Former #3 prospect is still young but without a certain job. The worries about his work ethic now look even bigger.
-Josh Cross came into the year with a bit of a prospect sheen on him after a strong rookie year in 2061 (1.8 WAR to lead team). Him falling back to replacement level is one of the bigger disappointments of the year. Still just 23 and was a top 25 prospect for a couple years.


on the pitching side...

Team Stats: 4.4 RA/G, 1.26 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9
2nd lowest RA/G in franchise history (2059), lowest WHIP in franchise history


The disaster that was Chris Bello is apparent here. We will be much more careful with old, declining stuff veterans from now on. Jared Farr was a huge hit, carrying our staff in every competition with strong start after strong start. Ecstatic to pencil him in next year.

John Tucker had an odd year. Fans tend to focus on league stats as they are the easiest to find, and his ERA was 5.08 in the league, while under 2 in 17 dominant tournament innings. He's still a very good reliever.

Other rotation options are plentiful, but not clear. Ben Buchanan faded from a very hot start to just an adequate season, Jason Kuruc had an excellent ERA but a big home run rate that indicated he pitched more like Buchanan. Jorge Zamora proved he's a reliever and Joe McCammant couldn't even really do that.

Trevor Kirkpatrick and Justin Carree were given shots at starting late in the year after Kirkpatrick dominated in the bullpen and Carree dominated in Portland (2.51 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 14.1 K/9 over 7 starts).
Both pitched solidly as starters and excellently as relievers. There are 4 options, plus whatever signings we make, for our last two rotation spots next year.

[dward1]

Cincinnati won in 7 games against Nashville to take home the USBL2 title. They've been so good in the USBL2 and were so good this year. A runner up in the Cup of the Americas alongside a playoff berth in the Baseball Cup signified just how strong a season they had. It would have felt like a wasted opportunity if they didn't make the leap, but they did: knocking off Kansas City in the promotion playoff. The Packers big project (once were up to 4th in payroll in the USBL) ends in total failure. They are back down in the second tier after six years up top.

Elsewhere...
Raleigh won their first league title in 8 years and 4th overall in the USBL, beating Las Vegas 4 games to 2 in the finals. They've passed Jacksonville and are alone in 4th for most titles now.

Brooklyn made it 4 straight WBA wins with another razor-thin title over perpetually frustrated LA (who at least got the Cup of the Americas).

San Diego won the WBA2 in what was a crazy race, at one point late in the season 5 teams were within a game of first. They couldn't crack into the top tier, Dallas refuses to relinquish their spot: back to back Relegation/Promotion Playoffs they have won. San Diego did win the Global Cup, providing a nice end to their season as they topped Indianapolis.

Shanghai makes it 4 straight titles in Asia. Bayern and Barcelona competed well in the Global Cup, showing Europe has made serious strides.

and last but not least San Antonio finally gets the Champions League monkey off their back. No team had made more Champions Leagues than the Riders but they had been almost comically bad in the tournament, with a .395 winning % and famously zero titles. They stared down LA and their history and won it. They are the 15th team to have won the Champions League.

The USA won the World Cup, beating the Caribbean in the final. The heavy favorites had not won either of the past two, to get this one was a big sigh of relief. They've now won 3 World Cups, passing Canada's 2 for most of all time.



2062 Final Global Team Rankings
1. Brooklyn Atlantics (WBA)
2. Los Angeles Reign (WBA)
3. San Antonio Riders (USBL)
4. Salt Lake City Swarm (USBL)
5. Raleigh Oaks (USBL)
6. New York Americans (WBA)
7. Toronto Maple Leafs (WBA)
8. Sydney Outback (WBA)
9. London Mets (WBA)
10. Indianapolis Arrows (USBL)
...
14. Shanghai Golden Eagles (ABL)
15. Cincinnati Spartans (USBL, promoted, +12 spot rise)
...
17. Memphis Blues (USBL, -6 spot fall)
19. Boston Colonials (WBA2, highest second tier team)
...
21. San Diego Wave (WBA2, +18 spot rise)
...
27. Rochester Roosters (USBL2, -6 spot fall, top ranked USBL2 team)
28. Richmond Eagles (USBL2)
...
31. Dallas Bulls (WBA, lowest top tier team in WBA/USBL)
32. Chinatrust Brothers (ABL)
...
36. Kansas City Packers (USBL2, relegated)
...
38. BC Barcelona (EUROLEAGUE, +19 spot rise)
39. Palo Alto Redwoods (USBL2)
...
41. Las Vegas Lights (USBL2, +14 spot rise)
...
44. New Orleans Brass (USBL2)
45. Nashville Hounds (USBL2, +15 spot rise
...
50. Buffalo Nickels (USBL2, -9 spot fall)
51. Madison Lakers (USBL2)
...
64. Charlotte Flyers (USBL2)
...
68. Pittsburgh Rebels (USBL2)
...
70. California Grizzlies (USBL2, dead last)

[dward1]

The Death of the MLB

The Corona-cancelled 2020, followed by the players strike in 2022 and the owners lockout in 2024 led to massively dwindling revenues in 2025 and on. When Corona came back and cancelled the 2027 season, MLB was in massive flux. It limped on through '28, '29, and '30 but no one respected it or seemed to watch closely. College baseball was actually getting better ratings, in 2030 with 14 teams "tanking", TV viewership was essentially nonexistent and gameday revenues were disappearing for all but two or three clubs.

When Tampa, Oakland, Colorado, and Pittsburgh folded in February 2031 it set off a chain reaction. ESPN cancelled their TV deal and revenues suddenly dropped 60% for all teams. San Diego, Texas, Kansas City, Minnesota, and Atlanta all went under, failing to make payroll and closing up shop in the first half of the season. The season limped on with 21 teams until mid-August, when facing class action lawsuits from their unpaid players, the Orioles shut up shop. Arizona, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Florida, and the White Sox went down within weeks. The regular season was ended as the scheduling was getting chaotic and an extended 8 team playoff took up all of September. The embarrassment of many of these games having nowhere to be aired was massive. The day after the season ended, the Mets, Astros, Blue Jays, and Angels quit operating. We were left with 11 teams, all of whom had lost enormous amount of money the previous season. The Dodgers tried to join with the Nationals at the start of spring 2032 but it quickly became clear this was not workable at all. They both quit, the Giants and Indians were next. We were suddenly left with the Mariners, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Yankees and Boston. After the first half of the season, they came to a mutual decision to end it. Major League Baseball was done.

Two ideas, two views of the world, two baseball leagues

The massive college baseball market suggested it wasn't baseball that was unattractive, but the bloated, poorly run MLB product. There were two trains of thought...
1: an idea pushed by Tucker Carlson, 2028 Republican presidential candidate, that baseball is truly America's Game. It's a game of community, small town connection, and well...Americans. He pushed for a league of teams from American cities that are not so connected to the global economy, with owners who will keep their eyes on the local community, and players with American passports. He said "nothing against players from elsewhere, but this is a league created for America. We aren't aiming for the best of the best players, but for sustainable teams that keep their best players year after year and put down roots in American cities."




The list of American cities was of course debated but Carlson was named commissioner and named franchises in
-Las Vegas
-Indianapolis
-San Antonio
-Jacksonville
-Memphis
-New Orleans
-Hartford
-Salt Lake City

"These cities are often overlooked by our coastal elites, who enjoy summering in Southern France, hobnobbing in Hong Kong and flying into Dubai, but these are cities that can support professional sports. There is more sense of community with those who live around you, no matter what color or beliefs they have, in these cities than there ever will be in New York, Los Angeles, or Washington. These cities and the surrounding areas are much more a representation of America than what you will get from the WBA."

The other approach was that baseball had gotten way too out of sync and unfair. The Royals and A's hadn't made the playoffs in the 2020s, while the Dodgers and Yankees made it every single year. "Not every team has had a fair shot, my devoted Cubbies were fun to follow, but we need a full, healthy league for all. This means money coming through the league and distributed very evenly. None of these teams can exist on their own, we've seen that clearly shown throughout these last few years. The league as a whole is the important thing." This was WBA commissioner Chris Hayes, a former MSNBC host.




The idea was to put teams in megacities across the world, global cities really, connected to world trade and recognizable to people across the world. The original eight were
-New York
-Los Angeles
-Chicago
-San Francisco
-Toronto
-Mexico City
-Miami
-Washington DC

The global, utopian, left-leaning nature of the league came through even the nicknames chosen for these teams and expansion teams: Americans, Doves, Reign, Statesmen, Union, Atlantics, Metropolitans. Compared to the much more material names in the USBL: Oaks, Riders, Arrows, Magic, Kingfishers, etc.



In 2033 play began in both leagues with 8 teams. Both have matched each others moves step-for-step since, expanding to 10 in 2041, 12 in 2046 and adding a second tier in 2051.

Differences, Rivalry and Finances

The big differences between the leagues

-USBL allowed only Americans, WBA no restrictions at all
-USBL 9 years of team control, WBA only 4
-USBL revenue massively tilted to local production, sink or swim on your own, WBA revenue comes through central office, distributed very evenly

With both leagues set to start at the same time in 2033, of course there was going to be rivalry. Many expected the WBA to dominate on the field with the access to the much broader player pool and that has played out, to an extent. In competitions where both leagues compete equally for titles the count is WBA-31, USBL-19. This, along with the larger markets and international reach, has led to a financial advantage for the WBA as well. Heading into the 2063 season, here are the average payrolls

WBA: $10.7 million
USBL: $7.7 million (72% of WBA)
WBA2: $5.5 million (51% of WBA)
USBL2: $3.2 million (30% of WBA)

The Rise of Asia and Europe

the WBA has formed loose associations with Asia and Europe over the years. Asia, in particular Japan and Korea have always had strong leagues. Hayes had wanted Asia to have it's own division in the WBA when first starting but could not convince those strong local leagues to disband. He never did, but he finally convinced them to combine into a Pan-Asian league (or at least East Asia) and loosely join with the WBA. This hasn't exactly led to more top-level players in the WBA as Hayes envisioned as the strict rules (only 2 players from outside Asia allowed on rosters) and big money has actually led much top talent to go back home and play there. The loose association hasn't really added much other than allowing these Asian teams to play in the Baseball Cup and Champions League/Global Cup. In 2053 the Asian League began play with 8 teams (3 from Japan, 2 from Korea/Taiwan and 1 from China). They've added a Hong Kong and Manila team since then. Finances there are very favorable for Asian players, the average payroll is $7.5 million, just barely off the USBL teams.

Europe is late to the game, just starting their league in 2059. The average payroll is up to $5.4 million, roughly WBA2 level. Hayes's idea is of course eventually merging Asia and Europe into the WBA pyramid.

Hayes, 84, Still Going Strong, Working Hard on Expansion
If you talk to him, he envisions a four-tier global setup and already has sketched out 24 more expansion teams with one division in the Americas including more Canadian, Caribbean, and South American teams to go with a few big American markets like Denver and Minneapolis. The other division fills in a few markets who have indicated openness toward baseball ("I mean who would ever have thought Manila would have worked!" were his exact words): there are exploratory committees in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia and across the Middle East. Hayes exudes energy as he talks about this, he's just gotten off a flight to Dubai and sounds thrilled about what is developing. "I think with what we have with these non-American continent teams in the WBA system now like London, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Tel Aviv and Glasgow will eventually draw some of these teams in the European and Asian leagues to wonder "hey, why don't we join them?"" Hayes takes a call from a New Zealand-based investor and has to leave, but leaves me with a wink. "The world of baseball...it's beautiful" he mouths before heading into his 33rd-floor office on Manhattan's 3rd Avenue. The 84 year old still exudes energy.

Carlson has long since handed over control of the USBL to his son, then grandson. It's now Pierce Carlson who is running the league. Hayes and Carlson early on agreed to match each other, in number of teams, number of games, etc, so Pierce has also been out scouring around in case expansion must come again. But he's not been jet-setting around to Dubai and Lagos, but puddle-jumping to Tulsa, Birmingham, Omaha and the likes. "We like Tampa possibly, that would be a big market we could grab. Phoenix and Austin are also energetic, populous options we are working on. But even if we don't get any of those and fall further behind in the money race, we are thrilled with what we are putting out. Our teams are pillars in the community, crucial parts of kids growing up, players they are connected to. It's not something that is ephemeral or a sample, we are an institutions in the lives of our fans. You can't necessarily say that about San Francisco, or London, or many of these teams in the WBA. They might bring money, but we are in it for more than money."

The Rise of Baseball After MLB's Death

The rivalry between these two leagues is going strong 30 years after it's begun and it's been a huge boon for American baseball fans. The failure of the MLB has been almost forgotten, now there are more professional top-level teams than there were before and more variety. The multiple competitions like the Champions League/The Baseball Cup/Cup of the Americas, the addition of relegation in 2053, and the league rivalry make this arguably a more exciting time to be a baseball fan than ever before. Long may it last. And thank you to Chris Hayes and Tucker Carlson, who in their own ways have saved baseball in this country.

[dward1]

We spent all of our $144,000 allowed Summer Market bucks on Steve Wakeman



USBL2 teams not being allowed to go over their cap annoys me. In the WBA we couldn't either but seeing these USBL teams spend $1 million or more always got me going a bit. I've put in calls to Commissioner Carlson about changing this rule, we had 3 targets but wound up just being able to sign one. We love Wakeman but we want more talent, more options for where to find players and spend our money.

The Offseason
Our main goals were to increase offensive production: catcher, first base and maybe 2B/3B or an outfielder were our big weak spots. Our first move was not offering Josh van Nort arbitration as it would have been over 10% of our cap to keep him. The #1 prospect in the league looks to be almost ready.



Anything we accomplish here will likely be tied to BJ Peterson becoming a star. He was signed in the Winter Market in 2058 before we got here and was the #1 overall prospect in the USBL by the start of 2061. He was again before 2062 and will be next year. He will start the year as our CF in Buffalo. He just has a career .686 OPS at AA and .709 at A-ball, but last year he had 3.2 WAR over two levels. It's time. Hopefully for the next three years he will run CF for the Nickels.

We seemingly had no need for a pitcher but a tantalizing prospect appeared before our eyes immediately. The guy who dominated the WBA to an extent no one had seen for several years, who dominated in the World Cup as a starter at 19 years old, Danny Bresnahan.



He was one of the best pitchers in the world from 2050-2058 and while he clearly isn't what he once was, has put up respectable numbers since then. A career 123 ERA+ is what a David Price or Mike Mussina put up, and that is in the worlds toughest division. There is a big worry about whether his stuff can hold up or his control deteriorates further but there is big potential here. It's the type of risk/reward signing that can push us to the playoffs. We invested 10% of our budget into him, with a team option for year 2 and player option for year 3. Can he start? I hope so.

We are also going to give a shot to our Winter Market signing from last year Victor Zavala



You don't have to wait as long here with 9 years of control, in the WBA your young players better be ready to be good from day one with only 4 years of control. Here we can try Zavala out, he just hit at a 689 OPS in Portland last year but we have limited options at 2B.

We got a catcher in longtime Magic backup/platoon man Jaden Burton. This means Charlie Boone was shipped away.

Our last signing was an outfielder, Jose Rodriguez. He has really hit (781 OPS in 875 USBL2 PA and 794 in AA) and he has won two gold gloves in his only two big league seasons.

The lack of 1B signing means there is still hope for Stromgren, but Yates will also get the full Scott Hatteberg treatment this spring, he will start plenty in the Cup as we see if he can hack it there and Duncan can play left.

The league rankings of our Nickels positionally
C: Jaden Burton, 6th
1B: Adam Stromgren (we disagree and think Yates will be better), 9th
2B: Victor Zavala, 12th
SS: Matt Mallow, 5th
3B: John Stewart, 6th
LF: Jose Rodriguez, 9th
CF: BJ Peterson, 6th
RF: Jon Land, 10th

SP: Jared Farr the best, 7th

this leaves out our best bat in Duncan who will slide in somewhere.

[dward1]

We got drawn into a brutal, brutal group. The #2, #3, #4 and #5 teams in the world all got drawn into the same group (LA, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and Raleigh). We also had #11 OKC, #13 Iowa #18 Milwaukee, #22 Quebec and #24 San Francisco for good measure. 9 of the top 24...it was going to be tough to make the top 4 for us. Our schedule wasn't so bad but we fell behind about 4 games in and the hope was gone from our players. It wound up being more like Spring Training than any sort of competitive tournament for us. We finished
4-8
.749 OPS (league average was .729)
5.13 ERA (league average was 4.13)
-0.4 ZR




Major props to Manila, they lost out on the tiebreaker, but to hang with those big names is massively impressive. For a team that was so bad for so long, these last two years they have turned it around.

We kept Jared Farr from throwing too much to get a good look at the other rotation candidates as we treated these games like exhibitions nearly after the early 2-4 start


We didn't get a ton of clarity to be honest. Kirkpatrick gave up a lot of homers, but had a great ERA/WHIP. Bresnahan K'ed a ton, but walked a bunch also. Carree was very good. Kuruc and Buchanan had huge ERAs but very good underlying numbers. We might take it up to opening day to decide and might mix and match depending on lefty/right matchups.




Are you ready, BJ Peterson? It certainly looks so. That is what we want fans to focus on, Peterson's great defense and .849 OPS should have Buffalo fans ecstatic about their new CF.

Zavala hit really well also, there is some young talent to be excited about at the plate.

Joe Duncan, who we built a lot of our preseason advertising around, had 0 XBH and a .489 OPS. We hope it's because he was focusing so much on learning how to play left field but this guys tough to read.

Yates mashed the ball while learning a new position (poorly), but Yates is a very smart guy.

New signings Rodriguez and Burton made very positive starts.


Brooklyn wound up winning it all, Chicago made the finals. The Union haven't won anything, one of the few original 16 without any titles (Memphis and Hartford as well). They came the closest they've ever been here but got swept 3-0 by the Atlantics machine in the final. Tel Aviv had a surprising semfinal run...in the other semifinal it was those two again: Brooklyn v LA. They are just everywhere. Europe's rise continued into this season as we had an all-German matchup in the first round with Bayern-Frankfurt and Olympiacos also joined in by making the playoffs.