OOTP 14 Career Progress Thread - Page 3

Storm · 04-19-2013, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by olivertheorem

Storyline, probably, though I'm not sure how the retirement algorithm makes its decisions.

It was a single news story. He signed on 12/19/2016, and then received a CEI ("retiring") on 1/11/2017 with a news article anticipating his new broadcast career. I promptly went into commissioner mode, unretired him, and restored his contract. If he wants to retire at the end of the season, I understand. He's 42 (but pitching like he could last another decade or so).

olivertheorem · 04-19-2013, 09:24 PM

Yeah, probably a storyline popped on him.

Charlie Hough · 04-20-2013, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storm

I signed RA Dickey in December of 2016, and he retired to begin a broadcast career in January of 2017. I am not happy. This must be a bug; retiring at the end of the season I can see, but not in the middle of the off-season after receiving the largest contract of his career at 43.

I can't recall the specific cases right now, but I know that something similar has happened in MLB before. To me, the broadcasting gig is simply cosmetic. But it's not unprecedented for a player to sign a sizable contract but then later decide to retire.

Barry Sanders hadn't just signed a new contract, but he walked away from the NFL at the age of 30 with absolutely no warning.

For a case of this outside sports, see also Dave Chapelle. He was young and in the prime of his career, and he walked away from one of the biggest contracts in TV history, only months after he signed it.

megamanmatt · 04-20-2013, 03:45 PM

While this may not have the same weight since I'm a Minnesotan and Twins fan, but this quickstart is just giving me a big man crush on Joe Mauer.

Storm · 04-20-2013, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Hough

I can't recall the specific cases right now, but I know that something similar has happened in MLB before. To me, the broadcasting gig is simply cosmetic. But it's not unprecedented for a player to sign a sizable contract but then later decide to retire.

Barry Sanders hadn't just signed a new contract, but he walked away from the NFL at the age of 30 with absolutely no warning.

For a case of this outside sports, see also Dave Chapelle. He was young and in the prime of his career, and he walked away from one of the biggest contracts in TV history, only months after he signed it.

If I recall, Sanders actually played a year or two of that contract before walking away from it. I would not be mad if Dickey had done that. He signed the contract in the middle of one month, and then retired at the beginning of the next. He never threw a pitch for me. Spring Training was months away.

Oh, and just to provide you guys an update, after I unretired Dickey, he went on to have his best season ever (8 WAR). He lead the Red Sox to the ALCS, which we lost in a dramatic 7 games to the Angels. I retired him at the end of the season. If the story had not occurred, I would have kept him around for the remainder of his contract (and maybe beyond). The dude was 43 and pitching like he's 27. Unreal.

houstonfan · 04-20-2013, 11:37 PM

Is this game really easy to everyone??? Or am I just getting lucky? I am the Houston Astros and the only roster changes I have made was trade Bud Norris and sent down Brad Peacock and brought up a minor leaguer and I am 28-19, first place in the AL West. I fully expected to be horrible but my hitters are just killing the ball. I guess my main concerns are is the game always this easy or am I just an awesome coach/gm

...

Thanks guys.

jsmith37888 · 04-20-2013, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houstonfan

Is this game really easy to everyone??? Or am I just getting lucky? I am the Houston Astros and the only roster changes I have made was trade Bud Norris and sent down Brad Peacock and brought up a minor leaguer and I am 28-19, first place in the AL West. I fully expected to be horrible but my hitters are just killing the ball. I guess my main concerns are is the game always this easy or am I just an awesome coach/gm

...

Thanks guys.

Small sample size, but I'm also having quite a bit of luck with my Royals franchise after about 60 games. Moustakas, Hosmer, Butler, Gordon all hitting .300+ with 10 HR. Traded for Brett Gardner and he has a .400 OBP. Even Chris Getz is hitting over .300. I've managed all my games doing PBP.

houstonfan · 04-20-2013, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmith37888

Small sample size, but I'm also having quite a bit of luck with my Royals franchise after about 60 games. Moustakas, Hosmer, Butler, Gordon all hitting .300+ with 10 HR. Traded for Brett Gardner and he has a .400 OBP. Even Chris Getz is hitting over .300. I've managed all my games doing PBP.

Ya i have managed every game as well. Just won another to improve to 29-19... I assume as the year goes on we will turn into the Astros as they are supposed to be but this is pretty awesome. Altuve, Carter, Gonzalez, Castro and Dominguez are all hitting very well. Congrats on your great start!

Perceptor · 04-21-2013, 02:23 AM

Are you guys simming your games or playing them out of curiosity?

Mantush · 04-21-2013, 02:34 AM

I simulate my games.

bigdgp2 · 04-21-2013, 06:12 AM

I'm in my first season with the Cubs. Thus far, we're last in the NL Central (19-29). During the season, I have made two trades:

Alfonso Soriano, MR Jin-Young Kim, and cash considerations to NY Yankees for MR Shawn Kelley

The move provides me flexibility in both the financial and personnel realms. Brett Jackson is now platooning in CF with Dave Sappelt.

Matt Garza to Philadelphia Phillies for C Sebastian Valle (.327/.376/.533 in AA), MR Phillippe Aumont, and cash.

I found a few intriguing prospects in my farm system besides Soler and Baez. For example, my legendary scout is in love with A Kane County CF Albert Almora (4 1/2 star potential). The 19 year old has a .311/.382/.567 line.

It should be an interesting couple of seasons before I'm able to turn this franchise into a contender.

Isryion · 04-21-2013, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megamanmatt

While this may not have the same weight since I'm a Minnesotan and Twins fan, but this quickstart is just giving me a big man crush on Joe Mauer.

Real life should make you have a mancrush on Joe Mauer. He just doesn't make outs. In the last three games, he' been out just three times (iirc) in the last three games. He's not quite as good in my quickstart, but only I'm halfway through the season (hitting just above .300 and .387 OBP).

About 10 game under .500 and just got swept by the Marlins. Morneau went down for three months and that's when things started to go sour. Parmelee hasn't been able to fill in very well at first (low .700 OPS) right now, and he had lost his OF because Chris Hermann had been hitting well, and even Clete Thomas looks solid. So my current OF is Hermann, Hicks, Thomas.

I manage one game every series and I use 7-day lineups for the others . I like the immersion of managing but like a quicker pace of simming some games.

olivertheorem · 04-28-2013, 08:16 PM

Just finished my first season with the MLB Quickstart Astros. We finished the year at 65-97, so I avoided setting a record for losses. Made quite a few trades, none of which were excessively one-sided in my opinion. By the end of the year, my Astros had hit a collective .252/.311/.413, good for a ninth-best .724 OPS in the AL. So, we can hit a bit. If I can fill a few black holes with even passable hitters, I think we can reach 5-7 in the league.

That said, our pitching was atrocious. We finished with ERA's of 4.81 (11th, starters) and 5.00 (15th, bullpen), and that is after significant improvement late in the year. So, I need to fix the rotation and especially the bullpen. Yippee.

Monthly records
March/April: 12-15, .444
May: 9-19, .321
June: 10-17, .370
July: 6-18, .250
August: 15-14, .517
September: 13-14, .481

Doc_Brown · 04-28-2013, 09:18 PM

Just started playing as the Mariners. 2-4 record, starting pitching has been ok, bullpen has been bad and the hitting has been awful.

megamanmatt · 04-29-2013, 02:36 AM

My computer died on me so I started a new game up. I decided to sim for 15 years then take a team. By that point almost all the actual MLB players will be gone and it'll all be fictional.

A few interesting things: A-Rod is the homerun record holder with 784. The Houston Astros have won not 1 but 2 World Series. The Yankees have only won 1. Brewers have won 2 and been to the most World Series with 6 appearances.

However easily the most interesting thing, and what made my decision as to what team to play. The Cubs' curse still stands despite 5 trips to the playoffs.

So I'm going to be the Cubs and by god I will end the curse. It won't be easy however as they're payroll is 28th and their owner is an unmerciful penny-pincher. Wish me luck.

megamanmatt · 04-29-2013, 04:57 AM

So update through the end of April:

I took over at the end of the 2027 season and immediately slashed payroll. What once was the 28th payroll in the league is now dead last coming in at just over $43 million dollars. Traded a few good 1st basemen the Cubs mysteriously had which cut a lot, gained a couple prospects, one a particularly good SS from Detroit.

Anyway the season starts I'm obviously predicted to places last in the NL Central and the owner wants a .500 season which I would consider sheer luck..... and as luck would amazingly have it my Cubs are currently in 1st with an 18-8 record and hold top spot in the power rankings. I lead absolutely no statistical rankings but combined team ERA. Pitching has really been the team's strong suit with 2 starters with an ERA below 2.00, one is actually below 1.00 and the other 3 starters are all below 4.00.

Offensively we're pretty good as well 3rd is stolen bases and 4th in home runs. One real bright spot is a 1st base prospect I brought up to play for and injured starter who's hitting over .300 with 7 home runs and 19 RBIs. He ended up winning Rookie of the Month so when the other guy heal's he's going to have to move to the outfield or something because that kid is not going back down.

All in all a good start for the Cubs but.... well it's the Cubs.

megamanmatt · 04-29-2013, 02:49 PM

Hey. Still maintaining a slim 1 game lead over Cincinnati to end May. A more average month. The pitcher with the sub 1 ERA lost that with 5 horrible starts and a 6+ ERA for the month. He did make one single good start however so.... good for him? Daniel Peters got Pitcher of the Month though going 5-1 2.03 with 55ks over 44.1 innings so that was a bright spot.

On to June.

megamanmatt · 04-29-2013, 04:50 PM

Went through til August 1st. We're a game out of first, sitting in 3rd behind the Brewers who are 1/2 game out and the Reds who are leading. Had 4 All-Stars: My #1 and #2 starting pitchers, my closer, and my starting CF who was injured so couldn't play.

Made 2 trades. One was just a below average pitcher in the minors for a pretty decent veteran at 3rd(a position I sorely need as my starter keeps hurting himself) who's a FA at the end of the year. The other trade was more important however as I gave the Royals an average outfielder and the #14 prospect, a starting pitcher in single-A for the #94 prospect, a ML ready catcher. So far in 10 games he's hitting .433 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs. What's kind of funny is so far he's hit one more home run and the same number of RBI as he had in 27 games in KC.

So onto August. I hope we hold out.

edit: I just noticed my team went 26-26 through June and July. How's that for..... average?

edit: August is done. We're 4 games back and tied for a WC spot. On a sadder note on August 21st 2028 Earvin "Magic" Johnson passed away. Los Angeles implodes. The city. Not the team. The team is fighting for a WC spot as well.

megamanmatt · 04-29-2013, 05:41 PM

Cubs win the NL Central on the last day of the season by comleteing a sweep of the then-NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers.

half way there.

edit: Ok so first up Colorado. They beat me 5-1 over the course of the season so it will be interesting to see how we fair now.

Game 1: COL 5 - CHC 1; 2 2 run HRs did me in.
Game 2: COL 4 - CHC 1; a 4 run 1st inning is all you need when your starter has 14k's. Too bad he's not mine.
Game 3: CHC 4 - COL 3; 3 solo HRs looked like the end of the Cubbies but rookie catcher Stephen Bradford tied it up with a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 6th and managed to push one more run across before the end of the inning.
Game 4: CHC 5 - COL 2; A 3-run HR from slugging SS German Ramirez proves the winning blow as the Cubs tie up the series at 2 games a piece.
Game 5: COL 8 - CHC 3; 2 3-run inning ins the 1st and 2nd eliminate the Cubs as they again are unable to hit Dean Bird, who followed his 14k game up with another 7k's

Cubs must wait another year.

olivertheorem · 04-29-2013, 09:13 PM

So, here is how the 2014 Astros look about midway through the offseason.

Catcher
Newly acquired Evan Gattis will take over behind the plate and should solve what was an offensive black hole for most of the year. Previous catcher Jason Castro remains as backup, which is a better fit for his skills.

First Base/DH
Brett Wallace will return to man first base after leading the Astros in WAR in the 2013 season. 2013 AL Rookie of the Year Chris Carter is penciled in as the DH, taking his less than stellar defense out of play. Brandon Laird, who spent most of 2013 in AAA, moves to the Show to serve as a 1B backup and bench bat.

Infield
Jose Altuve returns to man the keystone, where he has proved to be a solid if unspectacular starter. His double-play mate will be highly-touted prospect Jonathan Villar, who hit well in a September call-up with good defense. Defensive ace Matt Dominguez will man the hot corner again for the Astros. Eric Sogard, acquired via trade from the A's during the 2013 season, will back up all three positions a defense-first utility infielder.

Outfield
Former Phillie John Mayberry Jr. will serve as the Astros primary left fielder in 2014, while Justin Maxwell moves from center to right field for the new campaign. He will be replaced in center field by defensive stud Che-Hsuan Lin, who is expected to anchor the outfield defense. Chih-Hsien Chang and George Springer will be expected to back up the corners and center, respectively, while providing solid pinch-hitting options.

Rotation
The staff ace will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, obtained via trade from the Dodgers during the 2013 campaign. Behind him in the rotation will be returners Lucas Harrell, Brad Peacock, and Kevin Slowey (another trade acquisition), while free agent Jeff Francis and Rule 5 pickup Martin Perez battle for the final rotation spot.

Bullpen
2013 pickups Scott Elbert and Paco Rodriguez are expected to anchor the bullpen for the Astros, while Xavier Cedeno, Jose Valdez, and Rhiner Cruz will fill the middle innings. The Astros are also attempting to bring in a free agent to bolster the 'pen, most likely veteran Joaquin Benoit.

04-20-2013, 03:45 PM	#44
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	While this may not have the same weight since I'm a Minnesotan and Twins fan, but this quickstart is just giving me a big man crush on Joe Mauer. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting.

04-20-2013, 11:37 PM	#46
houstonfan Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 2	Quick question Is this game really easy to everyone??? Or am I just getting lucky? I am the Houston Astros and the only roster changes I have made was trade Bud Norris and sent down Brad Peacock and brought up a minor leaguer and I am 28-19, first place in the AL West. I fully expected to be horrible but my hitters are just killing the ball. I guess my main concerns are is the game always this easy or am I just an awesome coach/gm ... Thanks guys.

04-21-2013, 02:23 AM	#49
Perceptor Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2010 Location: Calgary, AB Posts: 229	OOTP 14 Career Progress Thread Are you guys simming your games or playing them out of curiosity? __________________ Last edited by Perceptor; 04-22-2013 at 03:24 AM.

04-21-2013, 06:12 AM	#51
bigdgp2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 605	I'm in my first season with the Cubs. Thus far, we're last in the NL Central (19-29). During the season, I have made two trades: Alfonso Soriano, MR Jin-Young Kim, and cash considerations to NY Yankees for MR Shawn Kelley The move provides me flexibility in both the financial and personnel realms. Brett Jackson is now platooning in CF with Dave Sappelt. Matt Garza to Philadelphia Phillies for C Sebastian Valle (.327/.376/.533 in AA), MR Phillippe Aumont, and cash. I found a few intriguing prospects in my farm system besides Soler and Baez. For example, my legendary scout is in love with A Kane County CF Albert Almora (4 1/2 star potential). The 19 year old has a .311/.382/.567 line. It should be an interesting couple of seasons before I'm able to turn this franchise into a contender. __________________ https://challenge.ootpdevelopments.c...lawlsopher.jpg

04-29-2013, 02:36 AM	#55
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	My computer died on me so I started a new game up. I decided to sim for 15 years then take a team. By that point almost all the actual MLB players will be gone and it'll all be fictional. A few interesting things: A-Rod is the homerun record holder with 784. The Houston Astros have won not 1 but 2 World Series. The Yankees have only won 1. Brewers have won 2 and been to the most World Series with 6 appearances. However easily the most interesting thing, and what made my decision as to what team to play. The Cubs' curse still stands despite 5 trips to the playoffs. So I'm going to be the Cubs and by god I will end the curse. It won't be easy however as they're payroll is 28th and their owner is an unmerciful penny-pincher. Wish me luck. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting.

04-19-2013, 09:24 PM	#42
olivertheorem All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,919	Yeah, probably a storyline popped on him.

04-21-2013, 02:34 AM	#50
Mantush Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 147	I simulate my games.

04-28-2013, 08:16 PM	#53
olivertheorem All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,919	Just finished my first season with the MLB Quickstart Astros. We finished the year at 65-97, so I avoided setting a record for losses. Made quite a few trades, none of which were excessively one-sided in my opinion. By the end of the year, my Astros had hit a collective .252/.311/.413, good for a ninth-best .724 OPS in the AL. So, we can hit a bit. If I can fill a few black holes with even passable hitters, I think we can reach 5-7 in the league. That said, our pitching was atrocious. We finished with ERA's of 4.81 (11th, starters) and 5.00 (15th, bullpen), and that is after significant improvement late in the year. So, I need to fix the rotation and especially the bullpen. Yippee. Monthly records March/April: 12-15, .444 May: 9-19, .321 June: 10-17, .370 July: 6-18, .250 August: 15-14, .517 September: 13-14, .481

04-28-2013, 09:18 PM	#54
Doc_Brown All Star Starter Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,326	Just started playing as the Mariners. 2-4 record, starting pitching has been ok, bullpen has been bad and the hitting has been awful.

04-29-2013, 04:57 AM	#56
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	So update through the end of April: I took over at the end of the 2027 season and immediately slashed payroll. What once was the 28th payroll in the league is now dead last coming in at just over $43 million dollars. Traded a few good 1st basemen the Cubs mysteriously had which cut a lot, gained a couple prospects, one a particularly good SS from Detroit. Anyway the season starts I'm obviously predicted to places last in the NL Central and the owner wants a .500 season which I would consider sheer luck..... and as luck would amazingly have it my Cubs are currently in 1st with an 18-8 record and hold top spot in the power rankings. I lead absolutely no statistical rankings but combined team ERA. Pitching has really been the team's strong suit with 2 starters with an ERA below 2.00, one is actually below 1.00 and the other 3 starters are all below 4.00. Offensively we're pretty good as well 3rd is stolen bases and 4th in home runs. One real bright spot is a 1st base prospect I brought up to play for and injured starter who's hitting over .300 with 7 home runs and 19 RBIs. He ended up winning Rookie of the Month so when the other guy heal's he's going to have to move to the outfield or something because that kid is not going back down. All in all a good start for the Cubs but.... well it's the Cubs. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting.

04-29-2013, 02:49 PM	#57
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	Hey. Still maintaining a slim 1 game lead over Cincinnati to end May. A more average month. The pitcher with the sub 1 ERA lost that with 5 horrible starts and a 6+ ERA for the month. He did make one single good start however so.... good for him? Daniel Peters got Pitcher of the Month though going 5-1 2.03 with 55ks over 44.1 innings so that was a bright spot. On to June. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting.

04-29-2013, 04:50 PM	#58
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	Went through til August 1st. We're a game out of first, sitting in 3rd behind the Brewers who are 1/2 game out and the Reds who are leading. Had 4 All-Stars: My #1 and #2 starting pitchers, my closer, and my starting CF who was injured so couldn't play. Made 2 trades. One was just a below average pitcher in the minors for a pretty decent veteran at 3rd(a position I sorely need as my starter keeps hurting himself) who's a FA at the end of the year. The other trade was more important however as I gave the Royals an average outfielder and the #14 prospect, a starting pitcher in single-A for the #94 prospect, a ML ready catcher. So far in 10 games he's hitting .433 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs. What's kind of funny is so far he's hit one more home run and the same number of RBI as he had in 27 games in KC. So onto August. I hope we hold out. edit: I just noticed my team went 26-26 through June and July. How's that for..... average? edit: August is done. We're 4 games back and tied for a WC spot. On a sadder note on August 21st 2028 Earvin "Magic" Johnson passed away. Los Angeles implodes. The city. Not the team. The team is fighting for a WC spot as well. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting. Last edited by megamanmatt; 04-29-2013 at 05:25 PM.

04-29-2013, 05:41 PM	#59
megamanmatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lakeville, Minnesota Posts: 2,416	Cubs win the NL Central on the last day of the season by comleteing a sweep of the then-NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers. half way there. edit: Ok so first up Colorado. They beat me 5-1 over the course of the season so it will be interesting to see how we fair now. Game 1: COL 5 - CHC 1; 2 2 run HRs did me in. Game 2: COL 4 - CHC 1; a 4 run 1st inning is all you need when your starter has 14k's. Too bad he's not mine. Game 3: CHC 4 - COL 3; 3 solo HRs looked like the end of the Cubbies but rookie catcher Stephen Bradford tied it up with a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 6th and managed to push one more run across before the end of the inning. Game 4: CHC 5 - COL 2; A 3-run HR from slugging SS German Ramirez proves the winning blow as the Cubs tie up the series at 2 games a piece. Game 5: COL 8 - CHC 3; 2 3-run inning ins the 1st and 2nd eliminate the Cubs as they again are unable to hit Dean Bird, who followed his 14k game up with another 7k's Cubs must wait another year. __________________ "The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes; The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil; the Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music; The Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland, no one in Los Angeles seemed to notice." Note to self: Princess Kenny was really off-putting. Last edited by megamanmatt; 04-29-2013 at 07:09 PM.

04-29-2013, 09:13 PM	#60
olivertheorem All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,919	So, here is how the 2014 Astros look about midway through the offseason. Catcher Newly acquired Evan Gattis will take over behind the plate and should solve what was an offensive black hole for most of the year. Previous catcher Jason Castro remains as backup, which is a better fit for his skills. First Base/DH Brett Wallace will return to man first base after leading the Astros in WAR in the 2013 season. 2013 AL Rookie of the Year Chris Carter is penciled in as the DH, taking his less than stellar defense out of play. Brandon Laird, who spent most of 2013 in AAA, moves to the Show to serve as a 1B backup and bench bat. Infield Jose Altuve returns to man the keystone, where he has proved to be a solid if unspectacular starter. His double-play mate will be highly-touted prospect Jonathan Villar, who hit well in a September call-up with good defense. Defensive ace Matt Dominguez will man the hot corner again for the Astros. Eric Sogard, acquired via trade from the A's during the 2013 season, will back up all three positions a defense-first utility infielder. Outfield Former Phillie John Mayberry Jr. will serve as the Astros primary left fielder in 2014, while Justin Maxwell moves from center to right field for the new campaign. He will be replaced in center field by defensive stud Che-Hsuan Lin, who is expected to anchor the outfield defense. Chih-Hsien Chang and George Springer will be expected to back up the corners and center, respectively, while providing solid pinch-hitting options. Rotation The staff ace will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, obtained via trade from the Dodgers during the 2013 campaign. Behind him in the rotation will be returners Lucas Harrell, Brad Peacock, and Kevin Slowey (another trade acquisition), while free agent Jeff Francis and Rule 5 pickup Martin Perez battle for the final rotation spot. Bullpen 2013 pickups Scott Elbert and Paco Rodriguez are expected to anchor the bullpen for the Astros, while Xavier Cedeno, Jose Valdez, and Rhiner Cruz will fill the middle innings. The Astros are also attempting to bring in a free agent to bolster the 'pen, most likely veteran Joaquin Benoit.