Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

The Gators were drafting first overall, and selected 20 year old right fielder Randy Luckwell. The 20 year old from Canada has plus power. In the third round we drafted another right fielder, 23 year old Edmond Brown. In the fourth round we selected closer Thomas Bennett, with centerfielder Josh Colbert rounding out the first five rounds.

We didn't have a second round pick because of the Lupercio signing.

[NYY #23]

A 12-14 month was our best of the season and we moved past the Rockies to not have the worst record in baseball. Lupercio came back from the disabled list strong hitting .283 with 4 home runs.

It looks like the Gators might be putting together a nice middle of the order with Lupercio, Morgan, and Hudson, with Zach Davis and Melvin Page each making strides in the rotation. For the first time in New Orleans I'm starting to feel a little bit of hope.

Auerlio Vasquez of the Astros picked up the 2000th hit of his career at the age of 32.

[NYY #23]

With a 7-18 record in July the Gators took a step back, but on the plus side we didn't lose anybody at the trade deadline. I'm already looking forward to the offseason and hoping we can improve our bullpen, which has the 17th highest ERA in the league. Unfortunately we don't have a cache of arms in the minors who we can use to plug holes in the bullpen, but if we can plug some bullpen holes we just might be able to win more games than we lose next year.

Ben Morgan had an incredible month hitting .380 with 11 homers, 28 RBI, and 24 runs scored. That was good enough for Batter of the Month, and a good sign for New Orleans.

Melvin Page was selected to the All-Star Game this year and pitched a scoreless inning in the game.

My owner is still not a fan, and he'd fire me if he could.

Mauricio Maio hit the 300th home run of his career for the Monks. 33 year old Edward James of the Rockies and 34 year old Ivan Ruize each picked up the 2000th hit of their careers. 31 year old Pedro Martinez slammed the 400th home run of his career for the White Sox while 37 year old Estaban Albizu of the Mariners hit his 500th home run.

[NYY #23]

The Gators had a winning month in August going 14-12! While the Gators are still in last place in the AL West we only trail the Monks by six games.

[NYY #23]

2071 brought some good, and bad. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Gators avoided losing 100 games! I'm not sure how happy I should be that we lost 96 games, but it was a long five straight years of losing over 100 games.

Have we turned the corner? Ben Morgan gives me faith after hitting .300 with 49 home runs and 123 RBI and 5.9 WAR. Melvin Page going 17-9 also gives me some faith, and Zach Davis, Russell Fraser, and Keith Hudson all played well.

Of course Fraser has spent more time on the disabled list than off it seems. Of course Zach Davis and Keith Hudson each finished the year on the disabled list. Hopefully we don't have a trio of fragile players.

One year into the Ramon Lupercio era and I have mixed feelings. A 3.5 WAR year isn't bad, but he's also not the player I spent big on. I may be having a little bit of buyer's remorse. This is going to be a tricky offseason I think.

30 year old Neil Davis of the Red Sox hit the 400th home run of his career, while 32 year old Jose Flores of the Braves hit his 300th career homer, and Julian Cordova of the Royals saved his 300th career game.

New Orleans Gators - 67-95 (.414) 20 1/2 GB
2064 - New Orleans Gators - 61-101 (.377) 50 GB (Season Score - 43)
2065 - New Orleans Gators - 96-66 (.593) - GB, Lost Division Series 4-1 to Cleveland Indians (Season Score - 703)
2066 - New Orleans Gators - 55-107 (.340) 40 GB (Season Score - 1)
2067 - New Orleans Gators - 59-103 (.364) 38 GB (Season Score - 10)
2068 - New Orleans Gators - 51-111 (.315) 48 GB (Season Score - 1)
2069 - New Orleans Gators - 58-104 (.358) 42 GB (Season Score - 1)
2070 - New Orleans Gators - 56-106 (.346) 47 GB (Season Score - 1)
2071 - New Orleans Gators - 66-96 (.407) 31 GB (Season Score - 99

[NYY #23]

Our offseason started by protecting our first round pick Randy Luckwell so he can't be poached. Next I need to figure out how to crawl out of a $2 million hole and improve the team. Salary arbitrations came in higher than expected, due to some unexpected success. It's hard to be too upset, although I wish our budget would raise up a little.

So our first move was to send Bobby Craig (9-16, 4.89 ERA) and Jeremy Kelley (6-20, 4.77) along with minor league outfielder Theodore Uro to the Brewers. While both pitchers look terrible on paper they are better than they seem, and I wasn't looking to trade either. Coming back to New Orleans is 27 year old John Austin (3-0, 1.80 ERA, 30 IP), Alfredo Sanchez (10-7, 22 SV, 3.96 ERA, 77 1/3 IP), and minor league reliever Nathan Murphy.

My hope is I trade too pitchers with rising salaries for two young pitchers capable of stepping into the rotation.

We also shed some salary by non-tendering reliever Pedro Madrid, catcher Cade King, third baseman Tony Vazquez, shortstop Tim Johns, and right fielder Louis Moore.

Then finally we brought in Julian Marrero as our new pitching coach and Todd Harris as our new hitting coach.

[NYY #23]

I've been casually shopping around Ramon Luercio since the season ended, but haven't attracted much interest. With free agents filing yesterday things started becoming clearer and the market for big catchers came down to 36 year old Andrea Pometti and 37 year old Edward Widgery who both are looking for five year contracts at just under $100 million.

By comparison the 29 year old Ramon Lupercio looks cheap, and I think he's going to have a nice bounce back year. But with a cheap owner I'm not sure I can afford a $25 million a year contract that is over half my payroll, especially with some of the better players in our organization coming up for arbitration.

So when the Kodiaks started with 24 year old Curt Allen I thought we could make things work. He has just 1 inning of major league ball under his belt, although he's yet to allow a hit. He's a top prospect and capable of starting. We also added 28 year old minor league catcher Luis Medine, who you could call a defensive specialist. 25 year old Brian Wright has just 7 innings of major league work under his belt, but is another pitcher capable of starting. We also added 3B Carl Collins and fourth outfielder Sam Givens.

Going to Vancouver is Lupercio, and a trio of minor league non-prospects - Romeo Contreras, Bryan Anderson, and Chris Brown.

The big number in this deal is $24 million though, which is the amount of salary we'll save each year.

I don't want to say last year's big signing was a mistake. It may not have worked out like we envisioned, but we were able to move him for valuable players.

[NYY #23]

I think I was starting to get ahead of myself. Things were just going too well this offseason. The chips were just starting to fall with signing Paco Ledezma (5-8, 40 SV, 3.24 ERA) and 3B John Barnett (.252, 30 HR, 88 RBI) to 3 year deals.

Then the Monks came calling with a trade sending us 30 year old right fielder Hugh Thomas (.274, 13 HR, 30 RBI) in exchange for 3B Darwin O'Clerkin and the recently acquired pitching prospect Curt Allen. Disappointing to say the least.

[NYY #23]

I'm going to rename our stadium 'The Dump' since we're the premier destination to go for dumping overpaid and useless players. The Phillies did it today sending 30 year old LF Raul Lopez and getting back 22 year old minor leaguer Juan Rodriguez and pitcher Eric Washington.

[NYY #23]

The Gators completed a trade with the Tigers today sending RF Hugh Thomas, 2B Eric Ross, RF Paul Funk, and closer Greg Smith in exchange for LF Dave Cedeno, pitching prospect Douglas King, and 23 year old reliever Tom Law.

Ross (.246, 17 HR, 74 RBI) and Smith are the big names. Smith was a player I didn't even mention I signed, but he agreed to a three year $17.4 million contract in January. He saved 35 games last year, but circumstances changed a little bit since his signing. The biggest change was losing Russell Fraser for the year with a concussion. So adding some outfield depth with Cedeno and a starting pitching prospect was more important than a closer.

We also added 32 year old Michael Yard (2-3, 3.86 ERA) and Luke Bennett (5-2, 4 SV, 3.59) to our bullpen since we signed Smith, so we had a little more depth.

The Gators also added 31 year old catcher Melvin Moser and LF Antonio Mendez to provide some depth.

[NYY #23]

A 12-15 start to the season for the Gators isn't terrible. The season is young though, but I still like our chances to make a run at .500.

[NYY #23]

The Gators followed up a 12-15 April with a 12-16 May. While we sit in last place we are just 2 games back, and hopefully we don't finish in last place again.

With the number of players out for long periods of time it won't necessarily be easy though.

Brian Nolan of the Pirates hit the 300th home run of his career. Charlie Cooke of the White Sox saved the 300th save of his career.

[NYY #23]

The Brewers proposed a trade that sent 36 year old 2B Jorge Machado and his $9.5 million salary in exchange for catcher Rafael Carrasco and 24 year old relief prospect Nathan Murphy. Not only was this a bad trade in terms of the players, it also took away our financial flexibility.

[NYY #23]

The Gators were drafting third overall in the amateur draft and selected 18 year old starting pitcher John Guan with our first round pick. In the second round we selected another starting pitcher, 19 year old Willard 'Vampire' Burton.

We rounded out the top five with reliever Mark Hill, reliever Enrique Alvarez, and right fielder Craig Hines.

[NYY #23]

June was a good month for the Gators as we went 16-10 for the month. Zach Davis continues to develop on the mound, pitching a perfect game against the Indians this month and going 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in June.

Pedro Torres picked up the 2000th hit of his career for the Pirates. Mark Gibbons of the Conquistadors saved his 300th career game, as did 33 year old Cristo Hernandez.

[NYY #23]

The Gators made it through the trade deadline unscathed, and had our second straight winning month going 13-11. With a 53-52 record we're over .500, 5 1/2 games out of first place, and 3 games out of a wild card spot. It looks like we may have finally turned the corner.

Zach Davis and Ben Morgan were both selected to the All-Star Game this year. Morgan was 1-2 in the game while Davis pitched a scoreless inning.

[NYY #23]

Reports of a corner being turned have been greatly exaggerated. The Gators finished August with a 10-17 record and have fallen into eighth place. Our top prospect is out with an injury for the rest of the year. Our top pitching prospect is out for the year with an injury, and I can't even extend a player for $1 million dollars because even though our payroll is projected to drop next year my owner won't approve the deal because he says it will put us over budget. At least Russell Fraser is projected to get a $2 million raise for his contributions of missing the entire year.

Both my manager and bench coach have contracts that expire after the season, and I've been on the fence about bringing them back. Going into September I've decided to bring back Philip Hooper as our bench coach for a fifth season, and promote Fytor Webb to be our interim manager. We'll see how he does over the next month and decide whether to bring him back next season.

32 year old Gary Rice of the Angels hit his 300th career home run this month, while 33 year old Michael Gibbs of the Reds hit his 400th career home run. 38 year old Nick Bane also earned the 200th win of his career for the Giants.

[NYY #23]

The Gators finished September with a 10-15 record, and October with a 4-1 record. That's an 11 game improvement on last year. Now the bad news, September Zach Davis go down with an injury, a torn labrum that will see him miss the next 8 months.

Melvin Page probably wasn't as great as his 17-9 record and 3.26 ERA last year, and probably not as bad as his 8-15 record and 6.01 ERA. Hopefully next season can be a rebound year.

There were two milestones around the league, 30 year old James Jimenez of the Monks hit his 300th home run and Dave Beard of the A's saved his 300th game.

[NYY #23]

First up let's tackle salary arbitration with the Gators non-tendering 1B Nathan Evans and 3B Jesse Valdez. My assistant General Manager recommended non-tendering Russell Frasier, but I just can't bring myself to let him go for nothing. Here is our look at how our seven protected players are doing with this year's WAR listed:

Ben Morgan - 7.2
Zach Davis - 6.6
Enrique Contreras - 1.3
Keith Hudson - 1.3
Melvin Page - 0.1
Russell Frasier - 0
Randy Luckwell - (minors)

Let's go ahead and add this year's number one overall pick to this list. I've been in New Orleans a long time now, and it doesn't look like I'm getting out anytime soon. I'm going to be greedy and reclaim the protected spots of Jyotirbhaga Sourabh and Duane Smith with Douglas King and Willard Burton. I probably should have been adding back in players before because we need all the help we can get. I'll only do that at the end of the year though, so if I do go through and trade Frasier in two months his spot will be open until the end of 2073.

The Gators needed to settle on a manager for next year, and we settled on three choices. Interim manager Fytor Webb who went 14-16, former Giants manager John Harris who went 429-382, or a complete unknown. We went with 46 year old Juan Jose Sanchez, a former career minor leaguer who just had a better influence on our players, better relationships with our players, and seemed like a better fit. Welcome to New Orleans Juan Jose Sanchez!

We said goodbye to Jorge Machado, who's $9.5 million contract option failed to vest. He came close, but fell about 300 plate appearances short. Good riddance. Catcher Melvin Moser did execute his plyer option and will be back. I have no complaints, he did a solid job as a backup catcher.

Shortstop Vic Barnes, reliever Pepe Galdones, and RF Bryant Robinson all announced their retirement following the season.

New Orleans Gators - 67-95 (.414) 20 1/2 GB
2064 - New Orleans Gators - 61-101 (.377) 50 GB (Season Score - 43)
2065 - New Orleans Gators - 96-66 (.593) - GB, Lost Division Series 4-1 to Cleveland Indians (Season Score - 703)
2066 - New Orleans Gators - 55-107 (.340) 40 GB (Season Score - 1)
2067 - New Orleans Gators - 59-103 (.364) 38 GB (Season Score - 10)
2068 - New Orleans Gators - 51-111 (.315) 48 GB (Season Score - 1)
2069 - New Orleans Gators - 58-104 (.358) 42 GB (Season Score - 1)
2070 - New Orleans Gators - 56-106 (.346) 47 GB (Season Score - 1)
2071 - New Orleans Gators - 66-96 (.407) 31 GB (Season Score - 99
2072 - New Orleans Gators - 77-85 (.475) 17 GB (Season Score - 377)

[NYY #23]

The Indians proposed a trade today sending 26 year old right fielder Troy Gilbert (.292, 5 HR, 13 RBI) in exchange for 3B Carl Collins (.237, 12 HR, 52 RBI) and 21 year old reliever Mark Hill.