PT21 Diary - A Tale of Three Teams

[trman73]

Saturday Check-In

Hammers (PO)
Earned two packs. First got me absolutely nothing. Second got two silvers... CL 1989 Bill Landrum (75), and C Live Christian Vazquez (78). Landrum replaces Live Aaron Bummer in the bullpen, and Bummer becomes the first silver player I put up for auction. Generally I just can’t handle pitchers, particularly relievers, with poor control, and he walks a ton of guys in Iron, which doesn’t bode well for the future. Vazquez replaces Joe Garagiola as my backup catcher.

The team has clinched promotion to Bronze next year, and is 41-37 since the All-Star break.

Warlocks (FTP)
The team currently has the second-best record in our league at 92-54, although we’re holding off a challenge in the division from the Nashville Stars, who are actually better than us after making some moves this week. So we make a couple moves too:

• SP 1982 Joaquin Andujar (87) – 2,001 PP in AH
• SS PEAK Bill Russell (80) – 1,602 PP in AH

Andujar is another movement and control guy (63-76-86), and with both him and Bill Caldwell in the rotation, I need to shore up the defense. So it’s Russell at short with his 90 overall defensive rating and infield ratings of 92-71-91-91. Andujar was averaging 4,000 PP in the AH and Russell was going for 2,100, so these are both bargains, and the team continues to improve. To make way, SS Elvis Andrus goes down, RP Taylor Williams goes down, and Live Marco Gonzalez moves to long relief.

With my leftover 1,000 after the two moves, I took my chances on a pack, and it was worthless.

Frogs
Not doing a thing. We have the best record in our Rookie League at 89-57, although the team that’s second is in our division. Just piling up some points for now. I considered throwing $50 bucks into these guys as there were a ton of good deals in the AH for lower-level Diamonds. But I need to save money IRL these days what with the end of the world happening.

So... all three teams moving up to the next level next week, and the Frogs and Warlocks prepare for the playoffs tomorrow.

I checked in with my PT20 teams today and saw 11,000 PP earned for the Castle Black Crows. It was due to a 36-4 win that earned us 8,560 points.

[trman73]

Well hell, Bummer sells for 1,080 almost immediately, and I strike gold with the pack...

[trman73]

Season Recap - West Ham United Hammers

Well the PO Hammers’ inaugural season has come to an end. We started slowly and never had a chance in Iron League 173, particularly in a division that wound up with two incredible teams: the 126-win Gwinnett Sox and the 118-win Minnesota Twinkie Twins. We went a combined 5-22 against those two teams en route to a 74-88 record.

And yet, due to I173 being a 22-team league with 16 promotions, we were indeed promoted, and will spend next season in Bronze.

We finished 7^th in the 12-team American Conference in both runs scored and runs allowed.

But we made big strides with pack pulls this season. I’m assuming we earn no more points this week, but even so we will enter 2021 with a much better outlook.

Starters:
Live David Price (84) – went 15-6 with a 3.33 and 1.11 WHIP; ace for now
Live Chris Archer (80) – Had a 3.5 WAR despite going 10-15
’99 Sterling Hitchcock (76) – Awful in eight starts
Live Marco Gonzalez (75) – Surprisingly decent
Live Chris Paddack (76) – Awful; longballs galore

I wish I had pulled one more Gold starter, bit I’ll have to accept this. I think it’ll be enough to get by in Bronze.

Relievers:
CL Live Aroldis Chapman (97) – Dominant; 13 saves, 0.90 WHIP, 33 K in 22 IP, 0 blown saves
SU ’95 Jeff Nelson (83) – Pretty disappointing but easily my second-best reliever
SU Live Nick Anderson (87) – Awful; 11 HR allowed in 54 IP
MR ’69 John Gelnar (69) – Junk baller was great in 30 innings since call-up
MR ’89 Bill Landrum (75) – Also good in very limited duty
MR ’63 Bill Dailey (67) – 0.90 WHIP in 60 IP
LR Live Rafael Montero (67) – My only All-Star; serviceable

These guys don’t look great on paper but weren’t that bad. Anderson was a big mess but I’ll keep him in the 7^th inning role for now. Praying for an upgrade or two here next week.

Lineup:
CF ’04 Ichiro (77) – A little less that what I’d hoped for but still fine
2B Live Jeff McNeil (83) – Pretty disappointing .754 OPS for Iron
LF Live Austin Meadows (82) – High hopes for him after 1.021 OPS in eight games
DH Live Josh Bell (83) – Excellent in 39 games
1B Live Matt Olson (85) - .233 but 38 HR tied for second in league; great defensive 1B
RF ’10 Nick Swisher (78) – Looking forward to a full year of him
C 1912 Jimmy Archer (80) – No problem here for now
3B Live Kyle Seager (77) – Ugh
SS ’86 Dick Schofield (76) – Great defense and surprising pop; will probably struggle in Bronze

Bench – C Live Christian Vazquez (78), IF Live Breyvic Valera (67), IF ’91 Steve Buechele (77), OF Live Andrew Benintendi (74), OF Live Chris Taylor (77)

I like this. I got tired of Joc Pederson and dumped him in the AH for 1,200. The pack got me nothing. Overall we’re lefty-heavy but this is a lineup that should be fine next week.

All in all a decent start building this team from packs, although the on-field results were ugly.

[trman73]

The Warlocks (104-58 in Stone; 2nd seed in AC playoffs) and Frogs (98-64 in Rookie; 1st overall seed in R65 playoffs) both play on Sunday. I made my moves with the Warlocks yesterday afternoon, and expected to just hoard points for the Frogs until next week, but I saw some deals I took advantage of to address some issues with the offense.

Out – DH Live Jed Gyorko (69)
In – DH 1929 Riggs Stephenson (88) – Bought for 3,253 PP in AH

Stephenson looks great. 79-69-91-65-75. He’s a terrible left fielder but I will use him as a DH against both righties and lefties (his rating vs. LHP are 84-61-87-76-87).

Out – LF 2000 Eric Owens (57)
In – 3B Live Justin Turner (86) – Bought for 1,775 PP in AH

This one’s questionable but my goal was to move Randy Ready from his primary listed position, 3B, to his best position, LF. Turner is a butcher in the field but for the Rookie, Stone, and Iron Leagues, who cares? He gives us a huge offensive upgrade and now gives us seven hitters in the lineup who realistically are good up to Silver. Because...

Out – CF 2001 Kenny Lofton (58)
In – RF Live Alex Verdugo (75) – Bought for 900 PP in AH

Lofton never played and was filler. Verdugo takes over for strikeout machine Tyler O’Neil in right against righties and now gives me a balanced L-R-L-R lineup. He had great success for my Warlocks teams one level above this, so he’s fine, and is a good fielder.

We are ready for the playoffs.

[trman73]

Playoff Update:

Warlocks
We’re the #2 seed after going 104-58, and we start in the Division Series with the Market Square Heroes, a team that added Chris Sale late in the season. We should be alright here, but you never know.

We win Game 1, 5-0, as Jose Berrios throws a CG 5-hitter. We extend the shutout streak in Game 2, winning 6-0 behind Mike Caldwell. In Game 3, we take a 5-0 lead after six and win, 5-2. Andujar gives up a run in seven innings. The three starters give up one run in 24.2 innings and we outscore these guys 16-2 and cruise into the League Championship.

And now we face a Nashville Stars team that went 100-62 and knocked off a 110-win team in the Division Series. I don’t feel great about this as they are solid all around. But... we take Game 1 as Berrios cruises again, tossing another shutout as we win 12-0, lighting up Bert Blyleven.

It’s the last good thing that happens. We enter the eighth inning of Game 2 up 2-1 and give up eight runs, losing 9-2. We go to extras in Game 3 and take a 5-4 lead in the 11^th only to see Roberto Osuna give up two and we lose, 6-5. Michael Kopech shuts us down in Game 4, and in a battle of Zac Gallens in Game 5, ours gets torched and we go down 10-0 after seven, losing the game 11-5 and the series 4-1.

Nashville goes on to win the championship.

Frogs
We won 98 games in Rookie and then lucked out when the team I thought was our biggest competition got knocked out in the Wild Card Game. So we start with the Kent Fighters, and we knock them around in the first two games, winning 6-2 and 11-0. They take Game 3 as Lance Lynn has nothing, but we close it out in Game 4, 12-7. Alex Verdugo, who I brought on just for the playoffs, wins Series MVP.

In the LCS we get the 89-win Langton Thunderbirds, and promptly lose Game 1, 10-4. But we take care of business the rest of the way, winning 9-5, 16-5, 8-3, and 5-4 to head to the Rookie League Series. For the second straight series, a guy who played no regular-season games for us wins MVP, as Justin Turner goes 11-22 with 2 HR and 10 RBI in five games.

In the Series we face the Oklahoma City Dodgers, and all is going well after we win the first three games 6-4, 5-4, and 4-0. But we blow the next three, and wind up in a Game 7 sending our ace, Mark Guthrie, to the mound. He gets staked to a 3-0 lead but gives up two solo homers to Gavin Lux and it’s a nail-biter in the ninth with us up, 3-2. Jeff Russell comes in to close, and gets the job done with a 1-2-3 inning, and the Fort Worth Frogs win the Rookie League Series! (lol – hey, it’s something).

[trman73]

I’m not sure I can keep up this volume of writing (and I’m not sure anyone’s reading) so I’ll recap this season then slow down a bit.

Minglewood Warlocks (FTP)

I detailed our playoff run, which ended in an LCS defeat. Still, a good season and hardware came at the end of it...

• Earl Averill used his mighty 30 rating at catcher to earn a Great Glove Award
• Averill also won a Platinum Stick at C
• Brendan Rodgers won one at 2B
• Drew Waters won it for LF
• Bobby Abreu took it for DH
• And... Brendan Rodgers won the ST154 AC MVP Award!

All in all a quality season. I’ve got 4,600 PP to play with and will use it tonight or tomorrow.

We head to Iron next year with...

Starters:
Live Jose Berrios (81) – Went 17-6 with a 4.21, but dominated in two playoff starts
1978 Mike Caldwell (87) – Started 11 games for us, and we won 10 of them
1983 Joaquin Andujar (87) – Decent in four starts, then really solid in the post-season
1954 Johnny Antonelli (75) – Very average
Live Zac Gallen (79) – Great in regular season, lit up in post-season

As we move up next week, this rotation is not that good. Antonelli has got to be replaced, and will be.

Bullpen:
CL Live Roberto Osuna (87) – Fine. Saved 41 games, blew 5, 1.21 WHIP
SU Live Giovanny Gallegos (85) – Good setup guy for now; gives up homers
SU Live Phil Maton (69) – Brought on at end of the year; bad in post-season
MR Live Paul Sewald (60) – Home run machine
MR Live Jeremy Walker (67) – Joins the pen
MR 1953 Ben Wade (58) – Not as bad as I thought; still kinda bad
LR Live Marco Gonzalez (75) – Was terrible once I moved him to relief

This is not good. Sewald, Walker, and Wade all need to be replaced at some point.

Lineup:
2B Future Legend Brendan Rodgers (87) – Awesome; won MVP; .325-29-106 with 216 H, 121 R
LF Future Legend Drew Waters (85) – Excellent; 20-20 guy; .910 OPS
DH 1999 Bobby Abreu (79) – Outstanding value for 1,100 PP; a keeper
C 1961 Earl Averill (80) – Great Glove and Platinum Stick
3B Future Legend Nolan Jones (85) – Struggled for a while but came on
RF Live Alex Verdugo (75) – Great against righties (.958 OPS)
CF 1971 Al Oliver (75) – Probably needs to be replaced by Silver; decent for now
1B Live Howie Kendrick (77) – Great since being acquired (.313/.362/.490)
SS PEAK Bill Russell (80) – Slick fielder, didn’t hit much since purchase

Bench: C Live Raudy Read (69), 2B Live Gavin Lux (79), SS 2003 Angel Berroa (69), CF 2000 Jay Payton (67), RF Live Mitch Haniger (79)

This is a good offense and we led our league in runs scored with 943. The pitching is what needs to be fixed here.

OK, on to 2021!

[trman73]

Fort Worth Frogs

Well if you’re going to start in Rookie ball, you might as well win it, and we did after going 98-64 and avoiding a collapse in the Series.
The only awards we bring home are Platinum Sticks for Randy Ready at third and Casey Stengel in center. But we started the day with 297 PP and ended it with 4,883, so that’s a good Sunday.

We move up to Stone tomorrow and I expect us to be good.

Starters:
1990 Mark Guthrie (87) – Won 20 games with a 3.56 ERA; second in POY voting
1932 Mel Harder (85) – Won 21 games and is a good #2 for now
1992 Jaime Navarro (72) – Got by but needs to be replaced
1949 Tommy Byrne (79) – Wild but effective with a 3.51 ERA, 2.5 WAR
Live Lance Lynn (79) – Effective until post-season

Bullpen:
CL PEAK Jeff Russell (86) – Excellent; 43 saves led league; 1.00 WHIP, 11.9 K/9
SU Live Will Harris (77) – Solid setup guy; 0.93 WHIP, 0.7 WAR in half a season
SU Live Richard Lovelady (75) – There are better options out there
MR Live Phil Maton (69) – Excellent; 1.04 WHIP, 1.4 WAR
MR Live Oliver Perez (69) – Good lefty
MR Live Kyle Crick (69) – Wild as hell but got the job done
LR 1973 Roger Moret (59) – Great in Rookie, needs to go about now

We had the best pitching staff in the league, but this is Rookie. Look behind the numbers and this won’t be good enough for Bronze, or even Iron.

Lineup:
2B 1968 Tommy Helms (68) – Led league with 213 hits
SS 1987 Tony Fernandez (77) – Good fielder, decent enough stick
LF 1987 Randy Ready (84) – Team MVP
1B 2011 Adrian Gonzalez (84) - .910 OPS; no issue here
DH 1929 Riggs Stephenson (86) – Excellent since acquisition
CF 1922 Casey Stengel (86) – Tailed off at end of season; still had 40 HR, .835 OPS
3B Live Justin Turner (86) – Helped us win the Series
RF Live Alex Verdugo (75) – Ditto
C 1981 Alan Ashby (67) – Awful

Bench:
C 1987 Ozzie Virgil (74), IF Live Jed Gyorko (69), IF 1989 Shawon Dunston (65), OF Live Josh VanMeter (69), RF Live Tyler O’Neil (68)

Again, it’s Rookie, but this is a good offense. Catcher is a black hole and needs fixing, but everyone else is fine.

[starfox64]

I love this! Please keep it up!

[trman73]

Thanks!!!
I'll give it a go this week but just wrote a 25-page proposal for work last week as well and I'm a little burnt.
New leagues are up and I'm in another 22-team league. I hate those!

[trman73]

Quick 2021 Preview:

Hammers (PO)
We’re in Bronze 231, another league that has 22 teams. (I’m sure these early weeks are causing a lot of smaller league structures as teams move up). There’s a monster in my division, the Utah Stingers, who are made up entirely of Perfects and Diamonds. If I win three games against these guys I’ll be thrilled.
Prediction – 3rd in division, 6th in conference, no playoffs

Warlocks (FTP)
We’re in Iron 186 and it has just 18 teams! I have yet to spend my 4,637 PP, and if I do so wisely we should be okay, but there are some teams here in our 10-team conference that are clearly better.
Prediction – 3rd in division, 5th in conference, no playoffs

Frogs
Stone 109, with a full 30 teams. I like our chances here with this offense, particularly since I spent by PP last night on SS Future Legend CJ Abrams (86), who is exactly what I’m looking for in a leadoff man right now. Got him for 5,000, my biggest purchase yet. I’ll train him at 2B this season. We should be competitive. I now need to focus on the pitching for this team.
Prediction – win division, out in Division Series

[trman73]

Monday Evening Update

Hammers (PO)
Oh my God. We’re currently 4-17 and riding an impressive 11-game losing streak during which we’ve allowed 93 runs. We’ve got the worst record in the league and have a -79 run differential. We miraculously earned one pack and it was absolute garbage. Then I finished second in a tourney and earned another. And it... was also garbage.

Warlocks (FTP)
I’ve been awful in tournaments thus far in PT21, but finally the Warlocks earn one pack by finishing as runner-up in a 16-teamer. The pack nets us 1987 Tony Fernandez (77), a good card that’s redundant for me with Bill Russell, a better defender and equal hitter, locked in at short for now. I put Fernandez up on an open-ended auction for 30 minutes starting at 1,300, and a bidding war ends at 1,734, with my cut being 1,561 for him. I add that to the 5,000 points I’ve accumulated, and scour the AH. We really need a starter.

And we get one... 1997 Mike Mussina (93), for 5,502. That’s a deal. There’s a glut of his cards in the AH from people who completed the AL East Mission. But he’d averaged 10,000, so I’m thrilled. He goes out in his first start and pitches a CG with 13 K’s, winning 3-2. He’s my ace.

The team is 14-8 in Iron, with the top offense in our conference. Mussina joins Mike Caldwell and Joaquin Andujar as a decent top three in the rotation, and I’ve got 2,080 PP still to play with.

Frogs
Up-and-down at 11-9 in Stone, with a good offense and suspect pitching. My new toy, Abrams, is hitting .328/.427/.484 for a .911 OPS at the top of the lineup. That’ll play! My silver starting pitchers, Jaime Navarro and Tommy Byrne, are just terrible. Something must be done, but I’ve got just 1,600 PP. Still no actual money spent on this team, and I don’t envision doing so in the near future. I’m really enjoying trying to figure it out with both this team and the Warlocks.

[trman73]

Quick Warlocks update...

I finish work on my rotation for a while by picking up 1992 Cal Eldred (88), whose 70-76-75 ratings should get me by. This allows us to move Zac Gallen to the bullpen, as I've seen a couple people who that's worked out well for. I've got 606 left and will spend it on a pack when it builds to 1,000.

Warlock rotation:

1. Mike Mussina (93)
2. Mike Caldwell (87)
3. Joaquin Andujar (87)
4. Cal Eldred (88)
5. Jose Berrios (81)

Gettin' there.

[trman73]

Hammers (PO) update

I signed up for a 32-team tourney right before shutting down and finished runner-up, so I awoke to two packs for this team.

Pack 1: SP 2009 Dallas Braden (76) – Despite our struggles he may not crack the rotation. May sell.
Pack 2: CL 2001 Eddie Guadardo (69) – Decent lefty for the pen.

Still waiting for that elusive difference-maker for this team. My best pull thus far in PT21 has been the Live Aroldis Chapman.

Things have stabilized a bit for the team as we’ve gone 9-6 since the 11-game losing streak, thanks in part to the schedule. I’ll be pleased when these great teams bump up to the better divisions so that I can continue my slow slog toward respectability in peace!

[trman73]

Hammers (PO)
I opened four packs for this team today and did not get one player who joined the active roster. I’m building up a decent group for Bronze tourneys, but man, I need some luck with the packs. I’m seriously considering selling Aroldis Chapman for four or five packs.

And yet, on the field things have gotten much better. We’re 24-11 in our last 35 and just got up to .500 at 28-28. In a 12-team conference, we’re tied for the second wild card spot a third of the way in. And we’re looking like a good candidate for promotion to Silver, even though this is clearly not a Silver-level team IMO. Our starters are 10^th in the league in ERA out of 12 teams.

Warlocks (FTP)
This is clearly my best team as of right now, because we have an actual starting rotation. We’re 34-22 in Iron and had a nine-game win streak that has us with the second-best overall record in this 18-team league. We already have a seven-game advantage in the wild card race. My Pink Floyd top of the lineup, Rodgers-Waters, along with Abreu, are leading the way offensively. This team is coming along nicely, although one weird thing is that Earl Averill, who won both a Platinum Stick and a Gold Glove at catcher last year, is batting .154 with a whopping .464 OPS and -0.8 WAR. Way to go Earl!

Frogs
Huge disappointment in Stone (STONE!), and it’s the pitching. I just couldn’t handle it with Jaime Navarro and Tommy Byrne anymore, so I brought in Live Charlie Morton for Navarro and he’s sucked too, then got 909 PP for Tommy Byrne and replaced him with lefty 2003 Eric Debose (68) to hoard the PP. This team is awful. We’re 26-28 and fading fast in our league.

[trman73]

I awoke this morning to this...

[trman73]

As I open the four packs and get only a Live George Springer (87), I’m remembering back to when I first decided to do a packs-only team in PT20. My initial six-pack brought me a Live Max Scherzer and then within the first two weeks I pulled a Live Christian Yelich and a couple additional Diamonds (one was a Mookie Betts; can’t remember the other one), and I was off and running.

Clearly it was wishful thinking to assume I’d have that same luck. Oh well. Throw me some love, Card Gods!

[trman73]

It's the All-Star Break for both the Hammers and Warlocks due to the weird league structures in my bronze and Iron leagues. I’ll post our team home screens below.

For the Hammers, we’ve really turned it around after a bad start, and we’re 33-18 since May 27. We’re just a game back in the wild card race. If someone looked at this roster and said our All-Stars would be Kyle Seager and Bill Landrum I would have been surprised, but here we are. The pitching is still a real problem and I’m waiting for the difference maker card. But in this 22-team league, we’re 10 games clear for promotion.

I’ve opened seven packs for this team today (thanks, tourneys!) and received only Gold Springer for the big club. Ugh.

The Warlocks are doing well and are the team I’ve spent the majority my time on. We’re 48-27, have won nine of 10, and have the second-best record overall. I’ve resisted the urge to add today and have built up 3,398 PP. Nolan Jones, who I seriously considered selling Monday, is joined by Howie Kendrick, Bill Russell, and Mike Mussina on the All-Star team. Mussina has been fantastic since we picked him up, going 9-3 with a 2.69 and 0.90 WHIP in 12 starts.

[trman73]

Signature test

[trman73]

The Hammers finally get some good (but not great) luck with packs...

LF 1976 George Foster (87)
SP Live James Paxton (84)

Again, not earth-shattering, but Foster joins Austin Meadows, Ichiro, George Springer, and Nick Swisher to form a capable outfield group, and Chris Taylor moves to a super-utility position (we dump Steve Buehele, who couldn’t hit at all). Foster has hit three doubles and two homers in his first five games.

As for Paxton, he’s not a huge difference maker, but he’s decent enough, and allows me to move Chris Paddack to long relief, where he can give up massive bombs in the 5^th-6^th innings instead of earlier in the game.

[trman73]

The Warlocks have built up 4,100 points, and we find another deal, getting a second guy who (I feel) has been undervalued in the AH due to him being a mission-completion player. C 1999 Jason Kendall (90) takes over for Earl Averill and his .622 OPS at catcher. We get Kendall for 4,002 PP, so when it comes time to sell him the worst-case scenario is we break even. But... this is a guy who can remain on the team for the long haul, potentially serving as a catcher vs. lefties for the next 50 weeks.

In Mussina and Kendall, we’ve now picked up two Diamond players for a total of 9,504 PP.

Kendall goes 2-4 with a pair of homers in his first game, an 8-7 loss to the team that is going to beat us in the playoffs, the Old Hoss Radbourns.

Incidentally, my other team, the Frogs, got the 85-rated version of Kendall yesterday for 2,275 PP.