The Draftees

[dynaboyj]

As a player of OOTP, I've honestly never really been into the managing and controlling aspect of the game. The few times I've tried, it's been all right, but it's not really for me, I've concluded. I much prefer the customization of the game, and enjoy tracking the history of players and teams throughout a league.

There are already many stories on here following baseball players throughout their career in a league, but they always seem to be superstars--first-round draft picks or better, and very hyped. I sometimes prefer the story of a career minor leaguer whose playing time consists of years on farm times and few major league appearances.

This is a thread that follows both types of players. I created a 12-team league, and I will follow the careers of five randomly-selected (well, in some ways) draft picks, spanning from the first pick of the draft to the Mr. Irrelevant, as the last pick is known in other sports. This allows the reader and me to view both--the superstar and the mediocre, the overrated draft bust and the unexpected underdog.

Despite the fictional league setting, I have changed almost nothing from the standard OOTP layout. All player aging settings are set to the default 1.000, and the game uses the normal league strategy, financials and totals with the correct year. There are four minor league levels: AAA, AA, A, and R.

Starting with the first amateur draft, we will follow five draft picks: the first pick, three randomly selected draftees from Round 1, 2 and 3, and the last pick. When one of our selected draftees retires, he will be replaced by the next one in his round come November. The game starts in 1901, and will end when the last player to have played in 2012 retires.

To make things interesting, random debut is on. Fictional players will fill up the inaugural draft, with real players only coming in at the amateur draft. For people (including myself) who want to know about other players in the league (real-life superstars), I will post that information, as well as the Hall of Famers for each year.

The twelve teams in the Professional Baseball League are:

Victory League

Tucson Tamarins
Philadelphia Suns
New York Hawks
Los Angeles Slashers
Cleveland Bronze
Boston Starships

Masters League

Seattle Shiners
San Francisco Anteaters
Phoenix Bugles
Detroit Skyline
Dallas Powerhouse
Chicago Slashers

[dynaboyj]

Well, we have our draftees. Drafted in the 1901 Amateur Draft, all five succeeded in signing with their team, and now comes time for their formal introduction.

RF Dwight Evans is our first pick of the draft, at 19 years old. Evans was drafted by the Chicago Slashers, and it looks like he'll start the 1902 season in A ball. His ratings boast a potential of 83 in contact, 86 in power (even for the dead-ball era), and 90 in eye. His contact rating is already at 59. He was given a signing bonus of $2100 and it seems he'll start play with the Henderson Blue Oxen. Evans played from 1972-1991 in real life with 2446 hits.

P Moe Drabowsky is the third pick of the draft, also 19. He was drafted by the Cleveland Bronze and seems to be starting in rookie ball. His potential ratings are 58 for Stuff, 70 for Movement (which he has already reached) and 29 for Control. Those ratings don't seem exactly great, but then again, scouting is never perfect. He'll start play with the Norfolk Felines. Drabowsky played from 1956-1972 in real life, with only 88 wins and a lifetime 3.71 ERA.

P Donovan Osborne is our second-rounder, drafted as the 26th overall pick by the San Francisco Anteaters. He looks to be starting in rookie ball. His potential ratings are 87/75/95, far better than Drabowsky's--but again, I'm sure those numbers will change. Osborne played from 1992-2004, with 49 wins and a 4.03 ERA.

CF Frank J Thomas is our third-round pick, drafted first in the third round by the Chicago Slashers. Currently--and this is before any games have been played--Thomas is set in AAA ball. Thomas's potential is 75/121/69. He's almost like the cutout power hitter before power became really common in baseball. Hopefully those numbers are exaggerated. Thomas played from 1951-66 with 1671 hits and an AVG of .266.

P Rich Sauveur is our final draft pick, drafted 12th in the 15th round by the Los Angeles Slashers. His potential ratings are all under 40, and even if we see those numbers change, they probably won't change much. He'll start with rookie ball in Shreveport. Sauveur played for 6 seasons from 1986-2000, with no wins and a 6.07 ERA.

Babe Ruth also was drafted this year as the last pick of the first round. It's a little disappointing to see him premier in the Dead-Ball Era, and I really don't expect much of the AI converting him. I just felt like pointing out he was there.

[dynaboyj]

It's Opening Day for major league, and the Top 100 Prospects list has been published. Moe Drabowsky was #5, Dwight Evans was #6, Frank Thomas was #40 and Donovan Osborne was #67.

Frank Thomas will be starting in AAA for 1902, Evans and Osborne will start in AA, and Drabowsky will start in R. Rich Sauveur was released from his club today, so I guess he'll become one of the guys who gets signed with a minor league contract for a month and then gets released.

[NYY #23]

This looks interesting, and I'll be following along. Good luck!

I've always liked Dwight Evans, so hopefully he'll have a nice career.

[dynaboyj]

Okay, so apparently, during the month, everyone got demoted a level down. Thomas is in AA, Evans and Osborne are in A, and Drabowsky is staying in rookie league. Sauveur found another contract, this time with the Starships rookie league.

It's not that nobody's playing well, of course. Evans has 13 hits and an average of .302, and Thomas has 3 and an average of .231. Of the pitchers, Osborne is the only one who's gotten any playing time. He has three games in Single-A to his credit, all losses.

[dynaboyj]

Well, it's June. Dwight Evans, apparently, will be debuting for the Chicago Slashers in the ML this month. Thomas is still at AA, with an average of .295 and 13 hits. Evans has an average of .306 with 19 hits. Osborne has been doing better, getting one win and striking out 15 batters in a game. He has an ERA of 3.30. Sauveur has managed to stay with his team, but I'm not sure how it'll change when the Rookie League season starts. No news on Drabowsky.

[dynaboyj]

Well, Dwight Evans has made his Professional Baseball League debut! He came in as a pinch hitter on June 8 for Chicago against the Seattle Shiners in the 10th inning of a brutal 20-inning game, and hit a double and a run. His first start was on June 11 against San Francisco, and he hit a double in four atbats. He's only appeared in one game since then, but he bats fourth for Chicago against left-handed pitchers and is a utility outfielder with right-handers.

Frank Thomas is still in AA, and is playing very well, with 24 hits in 71 ABs for a .338 AVG. Osborne is doing okay in Single-A, with 4 wins, 5 losses, 75 Ks, and a 2.74 ERA. Drabowsky has moved up to Single-A and got a complete game shutout for himself with 4 hits. Sauveur is still with his team, and even though the Rookie League season finally started, he hasn't gotten any chance to pitch.

[dynaboyj]

Frank Thomas is set to make his PRO debut this month. He and Evans are actually playing for Chicago together--and they both play outfield! However, Evans can only play RF and LF, and Thomas can only play CF, so it looks like they won't be competing for a spot or anything.

Osborne won the Player of the Week award for July 28, starting two games with no runs allowed. Drabowsky is playing okay, with one win, four losses, and a 4.11 ERA in July. Sauveur was released from Boston on July 17 and still has zero playing time.

[dynaboyj]

Well, Frank Thomas's debut went all right. He played in six games this month. His first game on August 9 was as a pinch hitter, and he only got one at-bat. He ended up grounding into a double play. He never got a start this month, but he did play all the way through a game, replacing someone who was injured in the first inning. He went 0-3 with one walk. Thomas has had two hits so far in the PBL, with an average of .170. Dwight Evans' career is going okay--he's not a starter, but he played in four games this month and got a hit in three of them. His AVG this month was .200.

As for our minor leaguers, both Osborne and Drabowsky are in AA now. They both got into the AA papers with shutouts this month. Osborne in particular only gave up one hit for the other team. Sauveur has signed with the Los Angeles Slashers, and is currently on the roster for the rookie league Shreveport Hares--the same team Babe Ruth is playing on. Of course, Sauveur still hasn't gotten any playing time, but it's a pretty interesting coincidence.

[Mister_G]

Looks cool, looking forward to more.

[dynaboyj]

Well, the playoffs are over. The Phoenix Bugles won the second championship in a row. The Chicago Slashers, Evans' and Thomas' team, came fifth in the Masters League, at 78-84.

Now, a recap of everyone's first year in the PROs (well, including the minors):

RF Dwight Evans was the first overall draft pick for 1901, and his first year went pretty well. Starting the year in Single-A for the Henderson Blue Oxen, he quickly moved to greater heights, called up to the Professional Baseball League after playing just two games in Double-A. He debuted on June 8 and got a double and a run on his only at-bat. He played 17 more games for them in the year, with 18 hits, 1 HR and 7 runs in 62 at bats, for an AVG of .290. Evans turns 20 in November and looks to stay in the bigs, ending the year with a seven-game hitting streak.

SP Moe Drabowsky was the third overall draft pick in 1901, and he's been doing okay. He started in the rookie league but moved up after only one game to A ball. He played for a while there and moved up to AA in September, and I don't think he'll be moving down, with some pretty good stats there. He's still got a long way to go. Combined in the minors, he has nine wins and seven losses, with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Moe will turn 21 next July.

SP Donovan Osborne was the tenth pick of the second round, and while he's having a good career in the minors, he has a way to go. He started his year in AA ball, but moved around through periods of the year, finding himself in rookie ball for one game (which he won). He won Player of the Week award in Single-A one week, then hit the news again in Double-A with a shutout. Combined, Osborne has 16 wins and 12 losses, with a 2.04 ERA and an 0.91 WHIP. He turns 23 in June.

CF Frank Thomas was the first pick of the third round in the 1901 draft, and as the other major league debuter this year, he's done pretty well for himself. He started the year in AA ball, and played there for most of the year, but he finally got into the bigs in July. His first game was on July 5 as a pinch hitter and he struck out in one at-bat. He's definitely not a starter, having only played seven games since then, but he's certainly got potential. In the majors, he played in 8 games, with 3 hits, 1 HR and 1 run in 12 at-bats for a .250 AVG. Thomas turns 21 in June.

MR Rich Sauveur was our Mr. Irrelevant of the crop, and he should really feel lucky that he got drafted at all. The 21-year-old played--well, was on the roster--for two different rookie affiliates this year, and got to play in exactly one game. He had 0.2 IP that game, and was brought in during a blowout against their team, giving up one hit and recording one strikeout. Just for that game, he has a 13.51 ERA--not very fairly, I must admit--and a 3.00 WHIP. Currently his only claim to fame is playing on the same team as Babe Ruth, who is the ace of the Shreveport Hares and is probably erasing any probability of Sauveur even playing a game. I expect that Rich will be released during the offseason.

Final Standings:

Victory League

1. Philadelphia Suns 94-68
2. Boston Starships 91-71
3. New York Hawks 86-76
4. Tucson Tamarins 78-84
5. Cleveland Bronze 71-91
6. Los Angeles Slashers 66-96

Masters League

1. Phoenix Bugles 89-74
2. San Francisco Anteaters 88-75
3. Seattle Shiners 85-77
4. Detroit Skyline 83-79
5. Chicago Slashers 78-84
6. Dallas Powerhouse 64-98

[dynaboyj]

None of our players had an eventful offseason. Rich Sauveur was released by the Los Angeles Slashers, but really, nobody wasn't expecting that.

In chronological order:

Personnel Moves:

Los Angeles Slashers GM Alvin Sawyer fired
Tucson Tamarins GM German Arroyo fired
Dallas Powerhouse GM Jake Major fired

Awards:

Victory League Rookie of the Year: George Davies
Masters League Rookie of the Year: Antonio Guerra

Victory League Best Pitcher: Mike Taylor
Masters League Best Pitcher: Miguel Garcia

Victory League Best Hitter: Mark Hinton
Masters League Best Hitter: Luis Manuel Zamora

Donovan Osborne won a Single-A Best Pitcher award.

Notable Draft Picks:

Round 1, Pick 1: Johnny Vander Meer, Dallas Powerhouse
Round 1, Pick 2: Minnie Minoso, Los Angeles Slashers
Round 1, Pick 5: Joe Cronin, Chicago Slashers
Round 2, Pick 4: Cecil Cooper, Tucson Tamarins
Round 3, Pick 7: Kevin Millar, Seattle Shiners
Round 3, Pick 11: Elijah Dukes, Boston Starships

Spring Training:

Drabowsky, Thomas and Evans were all invited to Spring Training. Evans had an incredible 10 hits in 27 at bats, for a .370 batting average. Thomas hit 15 hits in 34 ABs, for a .441 batting average. Both seem to be starters there--they played in every game they were healthy. (Evans was injured in November for four months and came back on March 15.) Drabowsky only pitched 12 IP in 3 games, and only got a decision in one of them--a loss--with an ERA of 6.75, but it seems to be his ticket into the PBL--he was set for AAA before.

Top Prospects:

#2: Moe Drabowsky
#3: Johnny Vander Meer
#8: Minnie Minoso
#13: Joe Cronin
#20: Babe Ruth

Frank Thomas will start season for Chicago Slashers
Dwight Evans will start season for Chicago Slashers
Moe Drabowsky will start season for Cleveland Bronze
Donovan Osborne will start season for AA St. Peters Flankers
Rich Sauveur sucks and doesn't have a team to start with

[dynaboyj]

Moe Drabowsky got his debut! His first game was on April 2nd. He came in as a reliever and pitched 2 innings. He got three strikeouts and no hits or walks. Since then, he's become a regular in the rotation as the #2 starter. He had three complete games in a row that went for wins, including a 5-hit shutout against Boston that got him in the news.

Dwight Evans is also a regular starter, batting third against left-handed pitchers for Chicago. He only had 8 hits this month with 37 at-bats, but he might just be off to a bad start. His AVG was only .216.

Frank Thomas, in theory, bats directly behind Evans on LHPs, but he's only gotten to play one game this year so far, on April 2nd. I don't know what's going on, but he did go 1-4 in that game with a run, so it can't be that bad.

As for our minor leaguers, well, they're playing like minor leaguers. It's a bit disappointing that Osborne hasn't even been called up to anything beyond AA (he's currently at Single-A Garland right now), but I'm sure he'll make it. As for Sauveur, he still sucks. He still doesn't have a team.

[dynaboyj]

Well, not much went on in May or June. Drabowsky got good awards for himself, though. He won both the Pitcher and Rookie of the Month for June. Drabowsky has a 14-4 record, with only a 2.25 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Not only that, he's now the ace of the Cleveland Bronze! He was also selected to the All-Star game this year, pitching an inning and giving up two hits and a run. Dwight Evans has become a regular starter against both-handed pitchers in Chicago, hitting .217 for June, while Frank Thomas sits the bench as a backup CF to Curt Welch every sixth game against left-handers. He did play twice in June, one game as a pinch hitter and another as a starter. He didn't get a hit in either game.

Down in our minor leagues, Donovan Osborne has finally been promoted to AA! Now let's just hope he stays there. I'm anxious for his major-league debut, considering that a guy drafted three picks behind him has already made it as a backup center fielder. Now it looks like Osborne's debut won't be for a while--but I can wait. Sauveur is still out of a team and hasn't played in a single game in any league. I almost feel bad for him.

[dynaboyj]

Well, another month has passed in the pros. Drabowsky is doing phenomenal, with a 18-7 win/loss record for the year and a 3.09 ERA for July. He's gone back to being the Bronze's #2 starter, but he's still doing fantastic whatever spot he's in. His national popularity is Well Known, too--he's starting to get famous! Dwight Evans, with a popularity rank of Fair, is also playing pretty well, starting nearly every game for the Slashers. He only has a .211 batting average, but he's still a starter for the team. Frank Thomas got in three more games this month, twice as a starter and once as a pinch hitter. Still, he knocked in four hits, three runs and two RBIs in only 9 at-bats this month for an average of .444. It's a shame he isn't a starter, but the Slashers' starter at center--Curt Welch--is a pretty good player, and was named the #8 prospect this year. Ah, well. Thomas might get a couple more starts during September after the roster expansion.

Meanwhile, in the minor leagues, Donovan Osborne never got to play a game in AA. He went straight back to Single A after never playing a game. It might be best for him, though--he's doing great in Single A, and was invited to their All-Star game this month. Sauveur finally found a team--the Philadelphia Suns rookie league affiliate, the Nether Providence Township Maple Leafs. Quite a mouthful. They don't have many claims to fame and are one of the worst teams in the league, second-to-last in the generically-named Eastern Division. Part of me just wishes Sauveur would retire. His lifetime pitching--from one rookie-league game--is 0.2 IP with a 13.51 ERA. Goodness.

[dynaboyj]

Well, as the season is nearing the end, our players seem to be getting better. Drabowsky went 4-3 with an ERA of 2.95, for an ERA of just 2.58 this year. Dwight Evans has had mediocre batting numbers all year, but he improved a little with an average of .219 and 16 hits in 73 at-bats. Frank Thomas only got one game this month, but scored an extra-inning winning run in it and went 2-5.

Donovan Osborne was promoted to AA again, and I hope it's for good this time. Sauveur just sucks, period.

[dynaboyj]

Well, Dwight Evans' and Frank Thomas's seasons are over. The Slashers fell into 3rd place at 83-79 and ended up 24 games back. Evans played 111 games in the season, with 84 hits in 379 at-bats. He scored 39 runs and 42 RBIs. Even as he finishes with a pretty pathetic average of .222, he's still got many years to go. He should be glad he has a full-time job in the majors, at the age of only 20.

Thomas played 8 games, with 7 hits in 25 at-bats. Of those hits, two of them were home runs, six of them were runs, and all of them were RBIs. As a backup CF, he did pretty well for himself. Maybe he'll get a starting job one day, but if not, he's perfect where he is.

Donovan Osborne's season is over, too. He got the infamous torn labrum on September 5, and will be out for six months--which at least means he'll be back in time for the next season. He only got two starts in AA, and one of them was only for three innings (when he got injured), so I'm not sure what the verdict will be on his placement in the minors. I hope he eventually makes it to the majors as some kind of pitcher, but it's going to take a while.

And Rich Sauveur sucks.

Meanwhile, Moe Drabowsky and the Cleveland Bronze are heading to the Professional Baseball League Finals! After a tight pennant battle with the Los Angeles Slashers, they won, with a record of 99-63. Of course, they're going up against the Phoenix Bugles, who look prepared for a third consecutive title. They finished 107-55 and I'm assuming they'll beat the Bronze. But you never know. Drabowsky has been the second pitcher after Alan Hargesheimer for most of the year, coming second to Alan in both ERA and wins (though leading the Bronze in Ks). Alan got injured late in the season, however, and that makes Drabowsky the ace of the team! I'm looking forward to seeing him in the championships.

1903 PRO Final Standings

Victory League
Cleveland Bronze 99-63
Los Angeles Slashers 95-67
New York Hawks 87-75
Boston Starships 75-87
Tucson Tamarins 69-93
Philadelphia Suns 61-101

Masters League
Phoenix Bugles 107-55
Detroit Skyline 90-72
Chicago Slashers 83-79
Seattle Shiners 80-82
Dallas Powerhouse 71-91
San Francisco Anteaters 55-107

I will look forward to Drabowsky's start tomorrow.

[dynaboyj]

Well, Drabowsky's start was not great. In fact, the whole game didn't go well for Cleveland--but the fielding is more to blame than Drabowsky's pitching. Of the six runs given up by Cleveland, only one of them was an earned run for Drabowsky--the rest were by errors. In the end, Drabowsky finished a complete game, with 7 hits allowed, six runs allowed, one earned run allowed, five walks, five Ks, and an ERA of 1.13. Being the team's ace, he'll probably get another start, which I hope the fielder's don't blow this time.





For the record, this F. Mejia (Felix Mejia) used to play for the Cleveland Bronze, and was traded to the Bugles in 1902. He holds a W/L record of 29-9 this year, with a 1.52 ERA, and won the Pitcher of the Month award for August.

[dynaboyj]

After a high-scoring game that Cleveland won 10-7, Drabowsky started again and got into a low-scoring pitcher's duel against Mejia that ended up 1-0. Three-fifths of Drabowsky's pitches were strikes, and only five of them were hits. The Bronze's one run came in the second inning--which Moe drove in. He won the Player of the Game and got in the papers for his efforts.

At 3-1 now, the Bronze only needs one more game to keep the Bugles from winning their third consecutive Finals. With Jeff Russell pitching tomorrow (who blanked the Bugles 5-0 in his first start), that might be the case.

[dynaboyj]

Well, it wasn't the case. Phoenix won two games in a row--one a 9-0 blowout and one a 5-4 comeback win--and now Drabowsky is pitching the seventh game.

He lost.

After a tied game in the sixth inning, Phoenix got two runs in the seventh, and even as Cleveland got two runs in the eighth and ninth, Phoenix came back with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth. Ah, well. It's over.

Also, this hilarious piece of news: