GM_CheatSheets Montreal Expos Rebuild

[GM_CheatSheets]

This is my relaunch and rebuild of the Montreal Expos franchise. As I come closer to reaching my goal of sustaining both a contending major league team and a top farm system, I've decided to add in an index to help me track specific reference points that I find myself frequently scrolling through the forum for. This should also help you track any of these specific aspects of my dynasty report that you are interested in following.

And thanks to everyone who has commented in the forum or via direct message. I appreciate and try my best to incorporate your feedback and suggestions.

Team and Season Recaps

Expansion Draft - 2023

Offseason - 2023 (1), 2023 (2) | 2024 (1), 2024 (2) | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Season Expectations and Team Preview - 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Team Recap - 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Season Recap - 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Prospect and Development Recaps

Top Prospects - 2024 (pre), 2024 (mid) | 2025 (pre), 2025 (mid) | 2026 (pre), 2026 (mid) | 2027 (pre), 2027 (mid) | 2028 (pre), 2028 (mid) | 2029 (pre), 2029 (mid) | 2030 (pre), 2030 (mid) | 2031 (pre), 2031 (mid) |

First Year Player Draft - 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Int'l Amateur Free Agent Signing - 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Minor League Recap - 2029 | 2030 | 2031 |

Now, below is the original post that started it all...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi all, this is my first attempt at a dynasty report. For this task I've decided to rebuild the 2023 expansion Montreal Expos. And based on what I've seen from dynasty reports, this one will be a little different.

I will be acting primarily as the GM and advancing roughly a month at a time. I will also be relying on my trusty cheat sheets to relaunch, rebuild, and (hopefully) sustain the Expos as MLB's newest dynasty.

My preferred style of play is to build and rely on my farm system to keep my major league roster stocked with a continuous flow of homegrown, cost-controlled talent. If I am able to accomplish this, it will likely take around 5 years to show promise and about 10 years to see results.

Despite this long-term orientation, my goal is to compete every year, even in the first year of my new franchise. And even though I will likely be a seller at the trade deadline the first few years, I will not consider intentionally tanking as an option.

I would also like to share that my primary motivation for starting this thread is to document and share an in-game example of how I use the various spreadsheets I've created to 1) build my teams from the ground up and 2) create a more immersive GM experience, especially in regard to drafting and developing prospects.

Here is a brief preview of three of the spreadsheets I will use:

• Expansion Draft Board - for running the expansion draft.
• MiLB Prospect Rankings - for evaluating MiLB prospects and specifically my minor league system. At least initially, I will also use this spreadsheet to determine which MLB and MiLB free agents to pursue.
• Amateur Draft and Intl Amateurs - for running the first year player draft and determining which international amateurs to sign.

If all goes according to plan, this thread will have as a trademark extensive coverage of the first year player draft and international amateur signings, as well as offseason and mid-season organizational top 20 prospect rankings and write ups.

In the coming weeks I plan to release each of these spreadsheets along with detailed user guides at https://gmcheatsheets.wordpress.com.

But before I officially launch the league expansion, I'll first cover the settings I use for game play and I'll post an overview of the five most recent simulated seasons (2018-2022) to provide context for the league my new franchise is entering into. After that, the fun starts!

More to come soon...

[bpbrooksy]

I LOVE spreadsheets. I use them all the time for my online leagues. Best of luck!

[GM_CheatSheets]

As far as game settings go, clutper's guide to A massive collection of every tip and trick I've got. Share your own! is a great place to start. While I use some of those recommendations, below is an overview of the settings I'm using for this game. I've only included those that I see as pertinent to player development and player ratings.

Game Settings

Global Settings

Scouting Settings

• Use complete scouting system is on.
• Scouting report updates occur monthly, during season.
• Report history is set to keep one report per season.
• Scouting accuracy is normal.

Player Rating Scales

• Player actual ratings scale is 1 to 20.
• Player potential ratings scale is 1 to 20.
• Other player ratings scale is 1 to 20.
• Overall ratings is set to values 20 to 80.
• Potential ratings is set to values 20 to 80.

Coaching Staff Settings

• Use complete coaching system is on.

Report Settings

• Top prospect list is generated annually.

Players & Facegen

Player Personality Settings

• Show & use player personality ratings is on.
• Show & use player morale system is on.

Player Development Settings

• Batter aging speed is 1.000.
• Batter dev. speed is 1.000.
• Pitcher aging speed is 1.000.
• Pitcher dev. speed is 1.000.
• Talent change randomness is 100.

AI Settings

Trading AI Settings

• Trade difficulty is very hard.
• Trading preference is neutral.

Player Evaluation AI Settings

• Ratings weight is 35%.
• Current year stats weight is 30%.
• Previous year stats weight is 25%.
• 2 years ago stats weight is 10%.

Other AI Settings

• Lineup selection is traditional.

Overall, I tend to stay pretty close to the game defaults.

Next up is a recap of the 2018 (pre-expansion) season...

[TheMaus2]

Wow, a link to /r/OOTP. Gotta hang there more often I see.

[GM_CheatSheets]

The New York Mets were crowned as the 2018 world champions after posting the best regular season record 107-55 (.660) and ultimately defeating the Cleveland Indians in game seven of the World Series.



Here are the Mets' top five batters by WAR:

• Dominic Smith, 1B (727 PA, 7.2 WAR)
  .321 AVG, .431 OBP, .553 SLG, 111 R, 29 HR, 111 RBI, 0 SB, 171 wRC+
• Amed Rosario, SS (743 PA, 5.5 WAR)
  .277 AVG, .331 OBP, .437 SLG, 110 R, 18 HR, 69 RBI, 13 SB, 118 wRC+
• Travis d'Arnaud, C (588 PA, 4.4 WAR)
  .257 AVG, .316 OBP, .457 SLG, 70 R, 17 HR, 85 RBI, 0 SB, 117 wRC+
• Dilson Herrera, 2B (606 PA, 4.2 WAR)
  .282 AVG, .339 OBP, .466 SLG, 74 R, 19 HR, 67 RBI, 9 SB, 125 wRC+
• Tyler Naquin, CF (348 PA, 2.9 WAR)
  .271 AVG, .380 OBP, .447 SLG, 45 R, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 6 SB, 137 wRC+

And the top five pitchers by WAR:

• Noah Syndergaard, SP (245.0 IP, 9.7 WAR)
  34 GS, 22 W, 6 L, 2.17 ERA, .93 WHIP, 320 K, 1.8 BB/9, 11.8 K/9, 2.21 FIP
• Tyson Ross, SP (183.0 IP, 5.4 WAR)
  32 GS, 15 W, 9 L, 3.34 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 180 K, 2.5 BB/9, 8.9 K/9, 2.83 FIP
• Steven Matz, SP (221.1 IP, 4.7 WAR)
  32 GS, 17 W, 6 L, 2.81 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 221 K, 2.0 BB/9, 9.0 K/9, 3.43 FIP
• Jacob deGrom, SP (157.2 IP, 3.2 WAR)
  25 GS, 12 W, 7 L, 3.25 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 144 K, 1.5 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, 3.52 FIP
• Zack Wheeler, SP (154.0 IP, 2.5 WAR)
  28 GS, 11 W, 6 L, 4.32 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 161 K, 3.2 BB/9, 9.4 K/9, 3.76 FIP

Overall, this may be one of the better teams I've seen. The offensive production is strong, especially from traditionally weaker offensive positions. Syndergaard alone likely accounted for more WAR than several teams' entire rotation.

We will see if the Mets' dominance continues in 2019...

[GM_CheatSheets]

The New York Mets, 96-66 (.593), were crowned as the world champions for the second year in a row. As the second seed in the National League, they claimed the title against the Houston Astros in second straight game seven victory.

The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers tied for the best record in the regular season at 99-63 (.611).



Here are the Mets' top five batters by WAR:

• Dominic Smith, 1B (706 PA, 7.5 WAR)
  .317 AVG, .435 OBP, .521 SLG, 90 R, 30 HR, 84 RBI, 0 SB, 173 wRC+
• Joe Tuschak, CF (362 PA, 3.0 WAR)
  .279 AVG, .359 OBP, .488 SLG, 48 R, 9 HR, 39 RBI, 15 SB, 131 wRC+
• Dilson Herrera, 2B (653 PA, 2.7 WAR)
  .272 AVG, .309 OBP, .444 SLG, 84 R, 19 HR, 76 RBI, 4 SB, 109 wRC+
• Ricardo Cespedes, CF (410 PA, 2.6 WAR)
  .277 AVG, .315 OBP, .394 SLG, 49 R, 5 HR, 39 RBI, 17 SB, 102 wRC+
• Amed Rosario, SS (483 PA, 2.3 WAR)
  .255 AVG, .317 OBP, .372 SLG, 58 R, 5 HR, 42 RBI, 6 SB, 95 wRC+

And the top five pitchers by WAR:

• Noah Syndergaard, SP (233.0 IP, 8.2 WAR)
  33 GS, 20 W, 5 L, 2.43 ERA, .93 WHIP, 306 K, 1.7 BB/9, 11.8 K/9, 2.53 FIP
• Sean Gilmartin, SP (175.0 IP, 4.8 WAR)
  32 GS, 14 W, 9 L, 2.93 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 181 K, 2.2 BB/9, 9.3 K/9, 3.03 FIP
• Tyson Ross, SP (171.0 IP, 3.8 WAR)
  30 GS, 13 W, 10 L, 3.53 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 156 K, 2.8 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, 3.44 FIP
• Aroldis Chapman, CL (68.0 IP, 1.6 WAR)
  63 G, 4 W, 5 L, 34 SV, 2.38 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 116 K, 4.9 BB/9, 15.4 K/9, 2.52 FIP
• Akeel Morris, RP (78.2 IP, 1.6 WAR)
  79 G, 4 W, 0 L, 2 SV, 2.06 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 126 K, 6.2 BB/9, 14.4 K/9, 2.71 FIP

It's not quite as good as last year's team. The offensive production beyond Dominic Brown decreased significantly. Beyond Syndergaard, who continues to be one of the best pitchers in the game, there was a lot of turnover in the top pitchers. I find it interesting that two relievers with lots of walks and strikeouts made the list.

We will see if the Mets can make it three in a row in 2020...

[GM_CheatSheets]

Three peat! The New York Mets, 101-61 (.623), win their third consecutive World Series. They did this in convincing fashion as well, sweeping the Cleveland Indians in four games. Honestly, this is the first time I can remember a team winning three straight world championships in any of my sims.

This is also a little scary as my expansion Montreal Expos will eventually be in the same division as the Mets.

This year there were four teams with 100 or more wins: Cleveland Indians (102), St. Louis Cardinals (102), New York Mets (101), and Los Angeles Dodgers (100).



Here are the Mets' top five batters by WAR:

• Dominic Smith, 1B (708 PA, 10.2 WAR)
  .347 AVG, .468 OBP, .678 SLG, 126 R, 50 HR, 122 RBI, 1 SB, 209 wRC+
• Travis d'Arnaud, C (466 PA, 3.7 WAR)
  .275 AVG, .335 OBP, .419 SLG, 53 R, 13 HR, 48 RBI, 0 SB, 115 wRC+
• Andres Gimenez, SS (503 PA, 3.5 WAR)
  .266 AVG, .353 OBP, .386 SLG, 65 R, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 14 SB, 112wRC+
• Dilson Herrera, 2B (673 PA, 3.2 WAR)
  .268 AVG, .309 OBP, .444 SLG, 71 R, 20 HR, 76 RBI, 2 SB, 110 wRC+
• Wil Myers, RF (508 PA, 2.5 WAR)
  .277 AVG, .360 OBP, .491 SLG, 61 R, 24 HR, 83 RBI, 1 SB, 136 wRC+

And the top five pitchers by WAR:

• Noah Syndergaard, SP (223.0 IP, 9.3 WAR)
  34 GS, 23 W, 6 L, 2.66 ERA, .86 WHIP, 310 K, 1.2 BB/9, 12.5 K/9, 2.08 FIP
• Steven Matz, SP (182.2 IP, 5.2 WAR)
  33GS, 15 W, 9 L, 2.56 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 170 K, 2.2 BB/9, 8.4 K/9, 2.95 FIP
• Sean Gilmartin, SP (170.0 IP, 3.7 WAR)
  32 GS, 9 W, 13 L, 3.02 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 147 K, 2.8 BB/9, 7.8 K/9, 3.42 FIP
• Jarred Cosart, SP (193.1 IP, 3.5 WAR)
  32 GS, 12 W, 9 L, 3.21 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 153 K, 3.0 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 3.69 FIP
• Jacob deGrom, SP (152.0 IP, 1.7 WAR)
  28 GS, 9 W, 10 L, 4.20 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 117 K, 4.4 BB/9, 6.9 K/9, 4.24 FIP

The Mets' two superstars--Dominic Smith as the batting star and Noah Syndergaard as the pitching star--continue to deliver (19.5 WAR combined). Smith ended up winning the NL MVP and Syndergaard the NL Cy Young. I have to imagine this is one of the best historical pairings of a hitter and pitcher on the same team.

We will see if the Mets dynasty continues or if a new champion rises in 2021...

[GM_CheatSheets]

For the first time in four years, we have a new world champion. The Cleveland Indians, 101-61 (.623) win their first World Series since 1948. It is good to see Cleveland come out on top of this series as they previously lost to the New York Mets in both the 2018 and 2020 World Series. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

For the second year in a row there were four teams with 100 or more wins: Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51), New York Mets (108-54), Texas Rangers (107-55), and Cleveland Indians (101-61).



Here are the Indians' top five batters by WAR:

• Francisco Lindor, SS (694 PA, 6.7 WAR)
  .296 AVG, .353 OBP, .494 SLG, 108 R, 23 HR, 89 RBI, 6 SB, 137 wRC+
• Jeimer Candelario, 3B (715 PA, 6.2 WAR)
  .290 AVG, .351 OBP, .516 SLG, 111 R, 32 HR, 92 RBI, 2 SB, 139 wRC+
• Octavio Sandoval, CF (542 PA, 6.2 WAR)
  .295 AVG, .348 OBP, .522 SLG, 85 R, 22 HR, 65 RBI, 14 SB, 144 wRC+
• Jonathan Schoop, 2B (698 PA, 4.9 WAR)
  .261 AVG, .311 OBP, .459 SLG, 88 R, 27 HR, 206 RBI, 1 SB, 115 wRC+
• Bradley Zimmer, RF (665 PA, 4.2 WAR)
  .295 AVG, .379 OBP, .466 SLG, 86 R, 19 HR, 78 RBI, 15 SB, 137 wRC+

And their top five pitchers by WAR:

• Danny Salazar, SP (189.0 IP, 4.0 WAR)
  30 GS, 14 W, 7 L, 3.14 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 171 K, 2.7 BB/9, 8.1 K/9, 3.53 FIP
• Jose Fernandez, SP (201.2 IP, 2.8 WAR)
  34 GS, 17 W, 4 L, 3.03 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 158 K, 3.3 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 4.09 FIP
• Carlos Carrasco, SP (175.1 IP, 2.5 WAR)
  31 GS, 9 W, 7 L, 3.95 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 147 K, 2.7 BB/9, 7.5 K/9, 4.03 FIP
• Tyler Skaggs, SP (147.0 IP, 1.9 WAR)
  30 GS, 13 W, 11 L, 4.81 ERA, 1.37 FIP, 151 K, 3.2 BB/9, 7.6 K/9, 4.16 FIP
• Yimi Garcia, RP (72.1 IP, 1.4 WAR)
  85 G, 3 W, 4 L, 12 SV, 2.86 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 73 K, 2.2 BB/9, 9.1 K/9, 2.85 FIP

The Indians were powered by a very talented offense (three players with more than 6 WAR, and another two with more than 4 WAR). Their offense pulled most of the weight as the pitching was solid but not outstanding.

Can the Indians or Mets win another championship? Can the Dodgers finally bring home a championship after consecutive 100 win seasons? We will see what 2022 has to hold...

[GM_CheatSheets]

For the first time since 2018, the team with the best regular season record won the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers, 105-57 (.648) faced off against the second best team during the regular season, the Houston Astros, 103-59 (.636) in the 2022 World Series. The Dodgers won the series in six games.

The New York Mets were the only other team to finish with 100 or more wins.



Here are the Dodgers' top five batters by WAR:

• Mike Trout, CF (670 PA, 8.0 WAR)
  .302 AVG, .413 OBP, .542 SLG, 112 R, 30 HR, 82 RBI, 7 SB, 160 wRC+
• Yasiel Puig, RF (684 PA, 5.2 WAR)
  .274 AVG, .357 OBP, .508 SLG, 88R, 35 HR, 114 RBI, 0 SB, 140 wRC+
• Buster Posey, C (594 PA, 3.9 WAR)
  .278 AVG, .322 OBP, .411 SLG, 84 R, 15 HR, 56 RBI, 4 SB, 108 wRC+
• Cody Bellinger, 1B (583 PA, 3.9 WAR)
  .266 AVG, .329 OBP, .513 SLG, 76 R, 34 HR, 95 RBI, 1 SB, 130 wRC+
• Nolan Arenado, 3B (651 PA, 2.9 WAR)
  .233 AVG, .283 OBP, .454 SLG, 61 R, 32 HR, 96 RBI, 0 SB, 94 wRC+

And their top five pitchers by WAR:

• Julio Urias, SP (218.1 IP, 6.1 WAR)
  34 GS, 20 W, 5 L, 2.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 228 K, 1.4 BB/9, 9.4 K/9, 3.02 FIP
• Alex Wood, SP (219.2 IP, 5.6 WAR)
  33 GS, 13 W, 7 L, 2.66 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 196 K, 1.6 BB/9, 8.0 K/9, 3.22 FIP
• Sonny Gray, SP (214.1 IP, 3.5 WAR)
  31 GS, 13 W, 6 L, 2.65 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 135 K, 2.4 BB/9, 5.7 K/9, 3.90 FIP
• David A. Peterson, SP (138.2 IP, 3.2 WAR)
  21 GS, 12 W, 5 L, 2.99 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 134 K, 1.2 BB/9, 8.7 K/9, 3.37 FIP
• Yo****eru Yamamoto, SP (173.2 IP, 1.8 WAR)
  32 GS, 11 W, 6 L, 3.58 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 159 K, 3.2 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, 4.37 FIP

Overall, this looks like a team that excels at hitting the long ball (four of top five WAR hitters have 30 or more home runs) and limiting base runners (three of the top five WAR pitchers have a 1.00 WHIP and the other two are only 1.16). This team may be the most balanced between hitting and pitching talent of the past five champions.

Next up, the Commissioner has a big announcement to make to kick-off the offseason...

[GM_CheatSheets]

The Commissioner held an early November press conference to announce MLB's first expansion since 1998. Baseball will return to Montreal with the Expos as the first expansion team. The Las Vegas Aces will also be joining MLB.

With 32 teams, the expansion prompted the creation of two new divisions, one in each league, and a realignment of the teams in all divisions.

National League

East Division
New York Mets
Montreal Expos
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates

Atlantic Division
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Washington Nationals

Central Division
Chicago Cubs
Cleveland Indians
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals

West Division
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

American League

Northeast Division
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays

North Division
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins

South Division
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Texas Rangers

Pacific Division
Las Vegas Aces
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners

The playoff structure was also updated. The winner of each division and two wild card teams from each league will advance to the playoffs.

The two division winners with the highest win percent will receive a first-round bye while the two remaining division winners will face the wild card teams in a three-game series.

The winners of the wild card series face the top two seeds in their league with the number one seed facing the lowest ranked winner of the wild card series. Division series matchups are best of five.

After that, the format remains the same: The divisional series winners advance to the seven-game League Championship Series and each league's winner advances to the best of seven World Series. Home field advantage goes to the team with the best regular season record.

With the expansion completed, the next task will be building the Expos' new front office...

[GM_CheatSheets]

In the short period of time in between adding the expansion team and me taking over as the GM of the Expos, OOTP managed to almost completely fill the team's front office and coaching staff. I am surprisingly pleased with the pre-assembled team and will stick with all but two of them.

The Front Office

I took over as the GM and currently have an "Unproven" reputation. My first front office hire was of Allard Baird as my Assistant GM. He is a veteran of the (real life) Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox front offices. He has an excellent reputation and heavily favors prospects, hitting, offense, and on base percentage. His primary responsibilities include signing and firing minor league personnel and minor league promotions and demotions. He will assist minor league managers in minor league free agent signings and releases.

My second, and perhaps most important, hire is of Tom Magrann as Scouting Director. He has a good reputation and highly favors tools. His scout ratings are outstanding for major leagues, international, and amateurs; excellent for minor leagues.

I set the initial scouting budget to $20,000,000 and prioritized amateur and international scouting (30% each) over major league and minor league scouting (20% each) in the scouting budget distribution. If it looks like I will run into early financial difficulties, I will lower this amount before the season starts.

Coaching Staff

Jaime Harkins will manage the Expos. He has an excellent reputation, normal personality, and conventional style. He slightly favors prospects and heavily favors hitting, offense, and on base percentage. It seems that pitchers may not fare as well as hitters under Harkins' management. This is reflected in both his player development influence and his overall relationships with players.

My bench coach is Dave Perez who has an excellent reputation, normal personality, and tactician style. He also favors prospects. He does not project to have much of a development impact on players, but overall has good relationships with the players.

Joe Gray is my pitching coach. He has an excellent reputation and focuses on power pitchers. He should have a considerable influence on some of my young power pitchers.

Brian Dillon is my hitting coach. He has an excellent reputation and with a neutral focus, works well with all types of hitters.

Rounding out the staff is Dave Groeschner, the team trainer. He has an excellent reputation and focuses on prevention. He was my final hire of this offseason.

The minor league coaches in the organization are largely of the unproven variety. Those who don't perform well this year will likely be replaced by my Assistant GM next offseason.

To assist my coaches, I've allocated $24,000,000 to the player development budget. This is two times the baseline.

Owner and Initial Finances

The Expos owner is Juan Lopez. His patience is tolerant; fiscal personality is penny-pincher; involvement is hands-off; and priority is profit. I play with owner goals disabled.

My initial budget is $120 million and projected to rise in each of the next two years.

The two main financial items have already been covered: $20 million toward scouting and $24 million toward player development.

As I have the second pick in the first year player draft, I've assigned $9 million to signing draft picks. I also assigned $3 million--the cap amount--toward signing international amateur free agents.

One last important financial step to take with an expansion team is to raise the ticket price. Initially set at $12.50, I raised the price to the baseline of $25. With high fan interest and loyalty right now, this should be okay. However if my team doesn't perform and interest starts to drop, I may need to revisit this price.

I have found with previous expansion teams that finances usually take a few years to normalize and require very close attention initially. If I take any missteps financially, it might mean not being able to sign any international amateur free agents, which I hope will become a key source of talent for my organization.

In other league news, protection lists are due and the expansion draft will follow...

[GM_CheatSheets]

I'm back after a holiday hiatus lasted much longer than I intended. On a side note, I spent much of the past week sorting through old baseball cards to see if there was anything of value from my childhood collection. This served as a stark reminder of just how hard it is to make it as a major leaguer, even for top prospects and players who put together some exciting early results.

Now back to the topic at hand, I found several areas of improvement for the expansion draft spreadsheet I used, so it will likely be a little while until I have a fixed and debugged version with full documentation ready for release. In positive news, I have released the Amateur Draft and Intl Amateurs spreadsheet with full documentation. You can download it at the GMCheatSheets website.

As you become familiar with my cheatsheets, you will see that I order players by a value consisting of three scores. For batters this includes a batting score, fielding score, and intangibles score. For pitchers this includes a pitching score, dominance score, and intangibles score. Each of these three scores and the combined value give me insight into the overall quality, strengths, and weaknesses of available players.

One issue with the scores I used, causing me to go a little bit off plan was that the dominance score was based on potential pitch ratings and not current pitch ratings. This caused a few pitchers who are best suited currently for relief roles to be rated as starting pitchers. Below is an image of the top 30 players available based on my spreadsheet. The players I drafted are marked with the round selected in. Players selected by Las Vegas are marked "LV."



My top picks:

• Bryce Montes De Oca (SP, 26, Round 1)
  I used my first pick on a young pitcher who should be in my rotation. He has three plus pitches (fastball 95-97 mph, curveball, and changeup). He has plus stamina, stuff, and movement, though his control is only average. He pitched 87.1 innings as a RP/SP for Tampa Bay with a 4.64 ERA, 5.05 FIP, 3.8 BB/9, and 6.6 K/9. Despite the unimpressive stat line, his ratings, age, and contract make him a solid player to develop or trade down the line.
  
• Kyle Lewis (CF, 27, Round 2)
  For my second pick, I skipped down a little on my spreadsheet to the player with the best batting score who plays an up the middle position. With nearly four years of service time, I still get some cheap control of Lewis. Last year was his best offensive season yet; in 482 PA he posted a .267 AVG, .826 OPS, .218 ISO, 126 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR. While he has plus speed and a plus arm, his defensive metrics are below average in both center and right field. If he continues to hit at this pace, he could fetch a good return in a trade.
  
• Damien Magnifico (SP, 31, Round 3)
  I circled back to the rotation with my third pick, the presumptive ace of my staff. Like Montes De Oca, Magnifico has a strong assortment of pitches and velocity (98-100 mph), but is only average in control. He has a dominating fastball, above average cutter, average slider, and below average changeup. He is coming off a 105.2 IP season with a 4.17 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 4.9 BB/9, 10.2 K/9, and 1.3 WAR. He mostly pitched out of the bullpen for Milwaukee but made eight starts.
  
• James Kaprielian (SP, 28, Round 4)
  Without a lot of standout batters, I stayed focused on building a solid rotation. Kaprielian is more of a pitchability type as he has above average stuff, movement, and control to pair with a solid four-pitch mix (fastball 91-93 mph, great curveball, average slider, and above average changeup). I hope Kaprielian will add a little stability as a lower upside, lower risk rotation member. However, this is also a bet on his peripheral stats and ability to start: 77.1 IP, 2 GS, 5.59 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.1 K/9, 0.9 WAR.
  
• Dillon Tate (RP/SP, 28, Round 5)
  Tate had the highest pitcher score with his plus stuff and above average movement, and control. He also rated high in dominance with a plus fastball 95-97 mph and plus curveball. If his changup can develop into an average offering he could be a part of my rotation, however it is more likely that he pitches high leverage innings out of my bullpen. In 79 IP last year, Tate had a 2.96 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 2.6 BB/9, 10.4 K/9, and 1.2 WAR.
  
• Ryan Mountcastle (3B/MI, 25, Round 6)
  Mountcastle is a borderline SS who is best fit for 3B. He rated high in batting score, decent on defense, and plus for intangibles. He has almost three seasons in the majors but has yet to stick as a regular. Last year in 141 PA he had .268 AVG, .848 OPS, .244 ISO, 126 wRC+, and 0.6 WAR.
  
• Drew Mendoza (3B/MI, 25, Round 7)
  Mendoza is another borderline SS best fit for 3B. He has only a little more than a year of service time and is more a bet on upside than performance at this point. His best batting rating is in gap power and the others are all average. In 271 PA he had .198 AVG, .614 OPS, .131 ISO, 75 wRC+, and 0.1 WAR. His defense at 3B was above average.
  
• Kyle Tucker (RF, 25, Round 11)
  Tucker had the highest batting score of available players as he has average to above average ratings in all five of the main batting categories. He is also average defensively in RF and could put up respectable fielding stats. In 153 PA last year he had .257 AVG, .702 OPS, .129 ISO, 96 wRC+, and 0.3 WAR. His previous season was much better 1.3 WAR in 352 PA.
  
• Christian Vazquez (C, 32, Round 17)
  Vazquez was by far the best defensive player available. His fielding score is an other-worldly 2.94. He also is a great veteran presence for the team with great intangibles. Last year in 128 PA he had 243 AVG, .614 OPS, .027 ISO, 73 wRC+, 0.4 WAR. His CERA was 3.15 so hopefully he can help me get the most out of my pitchers and help boost their trade value.
  
• Oddanier Mosqueda (RP, 23, Round 18)
  Mosqueda is a player I have my eye on as a potential closer. He has one of the best fastballs in the game 99-101 mph as a lefty. His slider is currently average but has the potential to be among the best in the game. In his rookie year last year he had 83 IP, 4.34 ERA, 4.74 FIP, 3.9 BB/9, 8.5 K/9, and -0.2 WAR.

Overall, there are a few exciting players I was able to add, though even the higher upside players are still limited. Ideally a few of the players will play well enough to be worth something at the trade deadline.

Up next, evaluating the available free agents and designing a plan for offseason signings and potential trades.

[Sizeman21]

Great stuff so far! Very easy reading and you explain everything well. Should be a fun dynasty to read about!

[GM_CheatSheets]

To evaluate the free agent class, I imported the same data used for the expansion draft spreadsheet to create a board of all MLB and high level MiLB players.

The top two free agents available are 1B Dominic Smith who has an unreal 5.04 batting score, suggesting he is around five standard deviations better than the average hitter. He is the #2 ranked player in MLB and this is pulled down by his negative (below average) fielding and intangibles scores. He is asking for almost $58 million for seven years.

While I probably could fit him into my budget as my only signing, it would also require that I not spend anything on scouting or development, so I won't be doing that. However, I do take it as a positive sign that Smith is unlikely to return to the Mets.

My free agent targets will be more of the bargain bin variety. Below is an overview of my read of the market, what I find interesting about each of these players, and their initial demand.

• Jose Altuve, 2B, 32, #196 overall
  Altuve is solid defensively with great contact and avoid k's. His demand of $7.5 million for six years is a bit beyond my comfort zone, but I do feel the need to add a proven performer with veteran presence to my infield. I'll keep track of his price.
  
• Masahiro Tanaka, SP, 34, #200 overall
  Tanaka has great control and five above average pitches. At 34 years old and with great intangibles, he could be a great veteran presence for my mostly young rotation. His last season leaves a bit to be desired but with strong peripherals (94.1 IP, 5.15 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 2.1 BB/9, 7.7 K/9, and 1.0 WAR). With his demand of only $1.167 million for one year, it's possible that Tanaka is a bargain as a starter. At worse he looks to be a middle reliever.
  
• Michael Feliz, RP, 29, #239 overall
  Feliz has pitched primarily as a reliever, but has the potential to start as he is above average in stuff, movement, and control, and he has three great pitches (fastball 94-96 mph, slider, and changeup). With a 12 (out of 20) stamina rating, I'm surprised he hasn't been used more as a starter already. Last year he threw 80 IP for a 3.38 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 2.4 BB/9, 8.2 K/9, and 0.8 WAR. His demand of $4 million for four years is a bargain if he can start but would be overpriced as a reliever.

There are also a few minor league players that caught my eye:

• Patrick Wiseman, SP, 26, #34 MiLB
  Wiseman fits the mold of the higher risk, higher reward pitchers on my team that are young with good stuff and several good pitches but have poor control. Wiseman has the potential to have a great three pitch repertoire (fastball 90-92 mph, curveball, and an already above average but still developing changeup). The majority of his innings last year were in AA where he struggled with control (5.4 BB/9). His demand is $.76 million for one year.
  
• Gilbert Lara, SS, 25, #38 MiLB
  Lara's best attributes are his speed and fielding. He has above average power and gap power but is average or below average in the other main batting categories. His demand of $1.3 million for one year is a bit high considering his age doesn't make him much of a prospect and he isn't a sure MLB producer.
  
• Gui Yuan Xu, 1B, 26, #50 MiLB
  Xu is average to slightly above average in all the main batting categories. As an international free agent, he doesn't have an MLB track record and is a bit of a risk, but with a demand of $.76 million for one year, he may be worth the risk.
  
• Jake Godfrey, RP, 26, #72 MiLB
  Godfrey fits the same mold as Wiseman, with similar AA results. One difference is Godfrey has a plus curveball but slightly less developed repertoire overall. He is also asking for $.76 million for one year.
  
• Ka-fei Qin, CF, 22, #105 MiLB
  Qin is another international free agent and is younger with more potential than Xu. If he develops to his full potential, he will be a speedy, high contact, low strikeout outfielder. He is only asking for a MiLB contract so he looks to be an attractive target at this point.

After looking at the available free agents, I searched for players with one year remaining on their contract who I could potentially trade for a turn into a draft pick if they reject a qualifying offer after the season.

The only player that fits this criteria with a reasonable asking price is Brandon Drury, 2B, 30. While he comes in at #392 overall in my customized rankings, his performance has been remarkably consistent for the past three years: putting up 3+ WAR each year and hitting for an average of 108 wRC+, .262 AVG, and 20 HR each year. His ISO and OPS have increased in each of the past three years. His contract has one year remaining at $14 million.

One last thing I will keep an eye on is the asking price for closers with one year left on their contract or that I can sign to a one year contract. If they perform well enough to decline a qualifying offer, this could mean an extra draft pick.

In the next several posts we will see how the offseason plays out...

[GM_CheatSheets]

I decided to start my offseason by making the trade for 2B Brandon Drury. I gave up relief pitcher prospect Forrest Whitley and Cincinnati included $10 million in the trade, making it only a $4 million hit to my budget. This is a very reasonable risk as my interest in Drury is mainly that I hope I can turn him into a comp pick after this season.

With Drury on my team, it is very unlikely that I will pursue Altuve, though Drury could also play 3B.

Next I made several initial offers:

• Masahiro Tanaka $1.15 million for one year
• Patrick Wiseman $.6 million for one year
• Gui Yuan Xu $.75 million for one year
• Jake Godfrey $.75 million for one year
• Mitch Trees $.75 million for one year
• Ka-fei Qin MiLB contract with $.05 million signing bonus
• Javier Moran MiLB contract

Trees is a new target as he didn't show up on my top 500 rankings, but he is a young catcher with great defense and intangibles. He will likely just be minor league depth. Moran is also a new target who didn't show up on my custom rankings, but he had a high potential rating by my scout, so I decided to make an offer.

After advancing only a day, Qin already signed an MiLB contract with Cincinnati. I'm not sure why I wasn't given a chance to make a secondary offer, but this is a loss as Qin was the highest potential prospect on my target list.

Two weeks later, Wiseman is the first player to sign with me. A few days after that, Moran signs. Otherwise, all is quiet: no one else has responded to my offers.

I am still waiting for Michael Feliz asking price to drop. It started at $4 million for four years, then increased to include a fifth option year. After that the annual salary dropped to $3.8 million and then jumped up to $9 million annually for five years. What is weird about this is it seems that he doesn't have any formal offers from other teams yet, at least not offers that he prefers. I will continue to keep tabs on him.

A few days later Godfrey signed with the Winter Meetings approaching. And then the Winter Meetings passed with no action for Montreal.

In the Rule 5 Draft, I made an unusual move and selected four players though I might only keep one of them past spring training.

• Zacrey Law, 26, a CF with average or slightly above average batting ratings in the main categories.
• Chris Medina, 26, a potential future closer if his curveball develops and control is at least average.
• Todd Peterson, 24, a pitcher with great stuff and repertoire but average movement and below average control.
• Kolby Allard, 25, a borderline lefty starter with above average stuff, movement, and control. If he is able to develop a better changeup to complement his fastball and curveball, he could make a backend starter.

The next order of business was to check back in on contracts. Gilbert Lara's demands dropped to $1 million so I offered him a one year contract for $.8 million. Feliz asking price dropped just a little.

There are three potential closers I started tracking: Carter Capps, Tony Zych, and Enny Romero. A player I passed over on my initial target list, 32 year old OF Darrell Ceciliani, has been offered a little under $6 million for two years -- less than half his initial demand -- and is back on my radar. Though less likely for me to sign, Dylan Bundy is the best remaining SP available according to my overall ratings.

I advanced a few more days and Trees, Xu, and Tanaka all signed with me. Tanaka is obviously the player here that I have the highest hopes for as I think he has a chance to make my starting rotation.

With $9 million still remaining in my budget available for signing free agents, I decided to offer Ceciliani a two year $5.7 million annual offer. If he asks for more, I will probably let him go, but at this price he could provide veteran outfield depth, especially if I trade one of my younger outfielders.

After ten days, Ceciliani still hasn't decided on my offer, but Lara did accept his. This adds a SS for my AAA team that has potential to play into a promotion.

A few days later, Ceciliani accepted the two year offer. I think this is a good addition for my club as he is #138 overall in my custom rankings. The risk is that at 32 age is starting to get the best of him. Three years ago he put up 4.0 WAR, two years ago 1.7, and last year 0.6. His main batting ratings suggest that he can still play at a high level, however.

This signing leaves me with just a little more than $3 million in my budget for signing free agents. It also puts my 40 man roster at 39. I can try to get a closer with this, but it will probably be best not to spend it so I have money to sign international amateur free agents.

When I advanced to the start of the preseason, my owner surprised me by increasing my payroll by $10 million. Now I should be able to add a relief pitcher or two and possibly boost my scouting or development a little more. The only bad news is that Feliz ended up signing for a little over $3 million annually for three years and the closers I was tracking signed the same day my budget increased.

I decided to offer Felipe Rivero a 31 year old lefty a three year $4.75 million annual contract. The second year is a player option and the third a team option.

Rivero accepted the offer and I am glad to add him to my team. He has great pitching ratings and a great three pitch repertoire (fastball 93-95 mph, curveball, and changeup). If not for his low stamina he would probably be an effective starter. He has posted ERAs ranging from 2.20 to 3.33 over the past three years and two years ago had 38 saves. Last year his FIP was an impressive 2.55. If all works out as planned, he will be my closer and pitch well enough to decline his player option and a qualifying offer at the end of the year, granting me a comp round draft pick.

For my last preseason moves, I increased scouting to the maximum $24 million and set development to $23 million.

Overall, I'm happy with how this played out. I wish I would have gotten Feliz and Qin, but feel like this is a team with enough depth to be able to withstand a trade or injury.

Next up is spring training...

[GM_CheatSheets]

The Expos finished spring training with a 12-16 record. Not exactly confidence inspiring, but not too ominous a sign.

Pitching-wise Kaprielian received a boost in his overall rating (to 72 out of 80) making him the clear-cut ace of my staff going into the season. Luke Jackson, 31, was the best spring training performer but was one of the last cuts and will start as depth in AAA. Tanaka did not make the rotation so he was put on waivers and designated for assignment. To be fair to him, he wasn't given much of a chance to start.

Batting-wise, Lewis led the team in HR and Drury put in a solid performance. Connor Justus was the biggest surprise at SS by getting the majority of playing time over Mountcastle and leading the team in AVG and OPS, though this was achieved with an unsustainable .450 BABIP. The wonders of spring training small sample size "stars."

Getting my opening day roster down to 25 was tougher than I expected, though mostly with pitching. I feel that my pitching depth is much better than hitting. This is in part because I have a lot of pitchers that fit a borderline starter, better in relief mold. I ended up having to place five pitchers on waivers as they are out of options. Hopefully they will pass through and I'll be able to keep my depth at AAA rather than lose them to other teams.

Before providing a position by position preview of my team, my owner contacted me to share his expectations are to "stay respectable on the field." And the OOTP preseason predictions are for my team to finish 77-85, good enough for second place in the NL East. This projection places my team around the bottom 1/3 in MLB. I do not have any players projected to finish as a top ten hitter or pitcher in the National League.

The New York Mets are projected to win the NL East with 91 wins. The Los Angeles Dodgers are projected to pace MLB with 114 wins. The Las Vegas expansion team is projected for only 66 wins.

Below is a preview of my team. Overall and potential is rated 20-80. All other ratings are on the 1-20 scale.

Catcher - Christian Vazquez will be my main catcher and is the easiest to project as he is a low offense, great defense player. He rates as a 20 catcher with 15 C Ability and 20 C Arm. I hope that his high leadership and very high work ethic will have a positive effect on the team. Mitch Trees ended up making the team as the backup. Thomas Dillard will gain some AAA experience and is the catcher in waiting. All three of these catchers are great defensively. Dillard is the only one with potential offensive upside.

First Base - This is the weakest spot on my team right now. Gui Yuan Xu will start and should post solid defensive numbers. He has average batting ratings across the board but lacks a track record. This may be the first place I look to upgrade either via trade, waivers, or position change.

Second Base - Drury is the clear-cut starter here. His defense is average across the board and my hope is that he can post a WAR of at least 3 for the fourth season in a row. I have Nick Shumpert in AAA even though he is probably ready for the majors. There are a few scenarios that could play out here. If Drury is injured, Shumpert becomes the 2B. I will be playing Shumpert at SS in AAA so he could earn a promotion at SS. The third option is to move Drury to 1B if the rest of my infield is playing well to open a spot for Shumpert at 2B as Shumpert would represent a defensive upgrade.

Third Base - This will be an interesting position to watch as there are three similar players on my roster competing for time at third. My manager has given Jose Vizcaino Jr. the opening day start, though he is my third preference. He is average to slightly above average across the board offensively and just average defensively. Drew Mendoza, the only lefty of the three, has similar offensive ratings with less track record, but he is great defensively. The third option is Matt Chapman who also has similar offensive ratings and the best defensive ratings. I hope one of the three will play well enough to distinguish themselves.

Shortstop - In a surprise move (at least to me) the opening day SS will be Connor Justus instead of Ryan Mountcastle. Both player's overall ratings are in the low 20's and are average defensively. Perhaps Justus is the more attractive option as he is slightly above average in four of the five batting categories (his power is poor). Mountcastle is average in all five categories. Unfortunately both bat from the right side of the plate so there isn't a platoon possibility here. As mentioned in the 2B section, I am trying to develop Shumpert as a SS to see if he can be a better defensive option here.

Left Field - Left field goes to Eddy Vizcaino, a young, speedy, defensive-minded player. He has the potential to be a high average/on-base percentage player but has a limited MLB track record. Ceciliani will start the season on the DL (the only casualty of the spring) and could play his way into a starting role or serve as a high-use fourth outfielder.

Center Field - Kyle Lewis is the clear-cut option for CF. He should offer at least average defense and be among the team leaders in HR. He could play himself into a trade as he is likely one of the more attractive assets I have right now.

Right Field - Kyle Tucker will start in right field for me and I have pretty high expectations for him as his batting and fielding ratings look much better than his 33 overall rating suggests.

Starting Rotation - My rotation is all right handed and is led by James Kaprielian. He has great control and a four pitch mix in which all but the slider are above average offerings. Bryce Montes De Oca is next and he has great stuff as his three pitches rate 19,17, and 14. His control is only average at best, though. Damien Magnifico has a great fastball, cutter combo with plus velocity, but a middling slider, changeup, and control. Ariel Jurado and Jose E. De Leon fill out my rotation. Both have three pitches that are average or better. Jurado specializes more in control while De Leon has better stuff. None of these pitchers have much of a track record as they have primarily been used as relievers at the MLB level so far.

Closer - Felipe Rivero, a lefty, will be my closer. His stuff, movement, and control are all 15 and he has three pitches rated 14 or better. I will be surprised if there are any issues with his performance.

Set Up - Zach Burdi and Dillion Tate, both righties, will set up for Rivero. Burdi has the profile of a future closer (20 stuff, 15 control, 19 fastball, 18 slider). Tate is very similar (19 stuff, 14 control, 16 fastball, 19 curveball) though with his better stamina, I hope he develops his changeup enough to eventually slot in the rotation.

Middle Relief - The bullpen is filled out with two high stuff and velocity but low control pitchers: Chris Medina (R) and Oddanier Mosqueda (L). And two above average to great control pitchers with deeper repertoires: Shawn Tolleson (R) and Kolby Allard (L).

Though this wasn't necessarily my intention, my overall approach seems to be throwing a bunch of players who are average across the board at each position and hoping someone gets hot or the sum proves to be greater than each of the parts.

Next I will watch opening day and then see how the first month of the season plays out...

[GM_CheatSheets]

The Montreal Expos season began on April 3 in Miami.

The game was scoreless into the 5th despite each team having a few scoring opportunities. Miami had the best opportunity with runners on first and third with one out in the fourth. Vazquez threw out a runner stealing second and Kaprielian got the next batter to pop up.

In the top of the 5th the Expos loaded the bases when the Miami second baseman misplayed a groundball with two outs. Drury then drove in two with a bases loaded double.

Justus added a solo HR in the 7th. Then in the 8th, Tucker drove in two on a double and Vizcaino followed with a run-scoring single.

Kapriellian completed 8 IP with 107 pitches. He allowed 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, and 5 K for a game score of 77.

Burdi closed out the 6-0 shutout win with 2 K in 1 IP. An exciting start for the season and the franchise.

The Expos finished the road trip taking 2 of 3 from Miami and 2 of 3 from the Dodgers. This second series was especially encouraging as the Dodgers are by far the best team in the game right now.

Baseball returned to Montreal for the Expos' home opener on April 10 versus Tampa Bay. The Expos throw Montes De Oca against Spencer Moran (26 overall; 5.40 ERA in 108.1 IP last year).

The game got off to a rough start with Tampa scoring two runs before an out was recorded. In the bottom of the first the Expos tied it back up with three straight two out hits, the last a 2 RBI double for Tucker.

Montes De Oca walked the bases loaded to start the second and surrendered two more runs before escaping the jam. Tampa maintained the lead until Vizcaino hit a game-tying two run HR in the bottom of the 4th. The hits kept coming and by the end of the 4th, Montreal had a three run lead.

In the top of the 5th my bullpen took over and sealed the win, giving up only one run over the next five innings. The home opener was a 7-5 win with Lewis recognized as the player of the game (3 AB, 3 H, 2B, 2 1B, HBP, R, 2 RBI).

The Expos went on to sweep the Rays at home. After this series sweep, all but Tanaka cleared waivers and were added to my minor league system. Tanaka refused the demotion and I decided to shop him around and accepted the return of Carlos A. Cortes a young, contact/speed second baseman. This trade made Vizcaino Jr. (3B/UTIL) expendable.

Next, I shopped Vizcaino Jr. around and found two intriguing targets: 1B A.J. Reed (49 HR last year) and 25 year old, switch hitting 2B Michael Massey (4.3 A+ WAR in 2021, 3.8 MLB WAR in 2022). Despite Reed being a better fit for my team needs, he came with a $7 million contract, so I decided to trade Vizcaino Jr. for Massey and to play him at SS where he has a below average 7 rating. As a result of this trade, I demoted Mountcastle to AAA.

This was an unexpected turn of events but adds youth and experience to my middle infield depth. If Massey is able to become a passable SS the trade will be a steal, but I've seen too many one-year wonders to bank on him becoming a star.

The Expos' win streak reached six as they took 2 of 4 from the Mets. They then dropped their first series of the season to the Phillies winning only 1 of 3.

Mendoza went down for 5-6 weeks with an injury and I promoted Kole Enright, a switch-hitting 3B to take his place. I also sent Ceciliani to AAA on a rehab assignment.

The Expos won 2 of 3 versus San Francisco and only 1 of 3 versus Cincinnati. After an off day, Ceciliani was activated to the majors to start in LF and Vizcaino (LF) was demoted to AAA.

The Expos closed out the month of April winning 1 of 3 against Cleveland to finish with a 14-11 record.

Below is a statistical review of the month for my batters and pitchers.



Drury had the most distinguished April of my hitters (.351 AVG, 3 HR). Xu is impressing as a non-prototypical first baseman/leadoff man (13.5 BB%, 14.4 K%, 3 HR, 4 SB).

Most of Massey and Cortes' impressive stat lines were from before I traded for them.



The bullpen is looking strong and the high ERAs for Rivero and Burdi are due to lots of walks and high BABIP. Their low FIPs suggest this is just due to poor luck in a small sample size. Mosqueda (12.5), Tate (11.8), Burdi (12), and Rivero (12) all have excellent K/9 rates.

The rotation is a little bit more mixed, though all have a higher ERA than FIP. This may be due to my team ranking last in the NL in defensive efficiency (a big surprise to me). Montes De Oca (4.5) and Magnifico (5.2) have high BB/9 indicating the expected control issues. Kaprielian (0.6) and Jurado (1.5), on the other hand, have excellent BB/9 rates.

The only starter not holding his own in De Leon. If he struggles for much longer, I may regret getting rid of Tanaka so soon -- especially because I still could have gotten Massey for Vizcaino Jr. without trading Tanaka.

NL East Standings (end of April):
NYM 17-8 -
MON 14-11 3 GB
PHI 13-12 4 GB
PIT 12-13 5 GB

This is clearly a great start for the Expos. Next we will see if they can maintain this performance throughout May...

[GM_CheatSheets]

For as well as I thought April went, May was extremely disappointing.

The month started getting swept in two two-game series; first against the Cubs then the Diamondbacks. The Expos then won 2 of 3 against the expansion Las Vegas team, were swept in three games against the Nationals, won 1 of 3 versus the Braves, and split a two-game series 1-1 against the Padres.

It was at this point that Montes De Oca, my first round pick in the expansion draft, went down with an injury. He is out for 10-11 months. Luke Jackson, my top pitcher in spring training, replaced him in the rotation.

This sent the team even further into a downward spiral, getting swept in three games against the Mets and four games against the Pirates. The Expos experienced a small rebound, taking 2 of 3 against St. Louis before dropping the first two games against the Marlins to end the month.

Overall the Expos went 6-21 in May. This is likely among the worst months I've experienced in my playing of OOTP.

Below is a statistical recap of the month as played by my batters and pitchers.



Xu and Massey continue to impress and Ceciliani looks to be a shrewd signing as he had a fantastic month as the starting left fielder. Drury slowed down some, but is still hitting at a pace that should result in a qualifying offer.

It's hard to hit worse than Vazquez did. With Thomas Dillard posting a 110 wRC+ in AAA, I called him up to the majors on June 1st. Mitch Trees was placed on waivers to make room for Trees.



The pitching went horribly awry this month. Only Medina, Jackson, and Rivero posted decent results. Allard (3 vulture wins) was more lucky than good.

To make matters worse, it looks like trading away Tanaka was a poor decision as he has put up a 1.55 ERA in 29 IP for Kansas City.

NL East Standings (end of May):
NYM 34-19 --
PIT 33-20 1 GB
PHI 23-29 10.5 GB
MON 20-32 13.5 GB

As the calendar turns to June, the draft pool has been revealed and one of my favorite parts of the season -- the first year player draft -- is on the horizon...

[GM_CheatSheets]

This is the first major opportunity to acquire some young talent to develop through my farm system. As one of the two expansion teams, I have the first overall pick in each round of the draft.

I will use my custom spreadsheet to evaluate players in the draft pool more comprehensively than their overall rating or custom filters. Below is what the top 25 players in the draft pool look like.



Round 1, Pick 1

The top players appear to be fairly balanced with several highly rated prospects. It was an easy decision to pick SS Danny Flores (20, college) with the first overall pick. He has incredible potential with the bat and could be an average or slightly below average shortstop. His $6 million demand is 2/3 of my budget for signing picks, but he should be worth it. His player summary reads: "The kind of player you could build a franchise around. Superstar potential."



Round 2, Pick 1



As much as I wanted to add a pitcher, CF Freddie Robson (17, high school) showed too much batting potential to pass up. One caution on Robson is that my scout is higher on him than OOTP. Like Flores, he will likely be average defensively in center field and could be moved off to a corner. His player summary reads: "Consensus premium talent. This guy should go places."



Round 3, Pick 1



At this point, I feel I have two plus potential hitters, but the pitching quality is not very enticing to me among the remaining available players. I decided to pick SS Jon Chris (19, high school). I expect he will stick at shortstop and he has the profile of a high average, no walks, and very little power hitter.



Round 4, Pick 1



I'm not sure if I've ever taken batters with each of my first four picks before, but that is the case here as 3B Cole Philhower (21, college) is the top player on my board. As he has an impossible demand, it is likely he would be drafted in the next two rounds. His player summary reads: "Has superstar potential, but there are enough flaws in his game that he probably won't quite get there." After drafting him, I feel lucky that his demand is only $270,000.



Round 5, Pick 1



Really feeling the need to get a pitcher now, I found SP Josh Carnes (18, high school), another impossible demand player. While my scout rates him highly with a potential repertoire of three plus pitches, his control is all projection at this point and his OOTP control potential is only 2. This is the epitome of a high risk, high reward high school arm. After signing him, his demand is $2.4 million. This will push me just beyond my $9 million budget.



Rounds 6,7,8; Picks 1





CF Bob York (19, high school) already has some position flexibility between middle infield and outfield. He is average across the board offensively with plus speed and defense.



SS Josh Young (22, college) can play all across the infield and projects average across the board offensively with plus defense and speed.



CF Nick Schwartz (18, high school) can play all three outfield positions with above average defense. He profiles similar to Chris, my third round pick as a high average, little power, and no walk style hitter. He also has plus speed.

Draft recap:



Overall, I am happy with how the draft went and am very excited about all the offensive talent joining my organization. While I might feel a little better with more pitching upside, the results fit my preference to pick for who I think is the best talent available (though not necessarily the top player on my draft board) rather than for position. Additionally, even though I leaned more towards younger players, several of them already have solid current ratings.

As I start to include prospects in more of my updates you can expect to hear more on the progression of these players in particular.

Next, we will see if the Expos are able to rebound from their very poor showing in May...

[GM_CheatSheets]

June started with a loss in the last of a three game set with Miami that started at the end of May. Despite the poor record, my bench coach informed me that the team chemistry is good.

The Expos proceeded to win 1 of 3 versus the Dodgers. Following the draft, the Expos won 1 of 3 versus Toronto, 2 of 3 against Tampa Bay, and 1 of 3 against Cleveland.

With continued struggles, I decided to demote SP De Leon and call up SP Sean Reid-Foley.

The next series resulted in winning 2 of 4 games against the Phillies. After the conclusion of this series, Shawn Tolleson demanded a trade. I shopped him around, but no teams were biting so he will stay with me for now. The only encouraging news this week was Brandon Drury was named player of the week as his 21 game hit streak came to an end.

The Expos then won 2 of 3 against the Pirates and were informed that 3B Enright is injured for 2-3 weeks. I called up SS Richie Martin whose best trait is his plus defense. Perhaps he can be utilized as a late game defensive replacement.

The final two series of the month play out favorably. A three-game sweep of the Giants and winning 2 of 3 against Atlanta. On the last day of June, the Expos lose the first game of a series with the Nationals, and C Vasquez demands a trade, though I have no intention in getting rid of him at this point in time. I just hope this won't create too negative impact in the clubhouse.

The Expos finish the month with a 12-11 record. Even better, all of my draft picks signed.

Below is a statistical recap of my batters:



The offense performed a lot better in June, particularly Massey, Xu, Lewis, and Drury. Massey and Xu continue to look like shrewd pickups, Lewis is starting to play more to my expectations, and Drury has maintained his performance.

Some of the category leaders include Lewis (7 HR), Drury (26 RBI), and Massey (21 R). Ceciliani cooled down significantly and Dillard didn't get off to the best start, but did bring his numbers up with a few strong performances at the end of the month.

And here's a recap of the pitching performances for the month:



Statistically speaking, Tate had the best month, though Rivero racked up seven saves with solid peripherals as well.

Reid-Foley impressed in his two starts and Kaprielian put together a solid month over 30 innings and five starts. Magnifico will need to turn things around or he may find himself out of the rotation soon.

Next, we will see how July goes and perhaps take an initial look at how the first draft class is performing...