Bulls have had a rough last month and seen their record fall to 43-52. The offense has started to slide and my pitching just hasn't been good enough to cover that deficiency. I'm really not sure what I can do RIGHT NOW to solve the team's issues. I've got guys I could call up like Alvarado and Brayley. Brayley would solve my #5 starter issue while Alvarado might bring a lil more consistency to my lineup...but those are both MIGHTS and i'm not sure they would make that big of a difference right now.
Neanderthal Geeves having the worst season of his career is really a downer. He has been the rock in my lineup. The one guy I can count on as a .290/.350/.460 guy his entire career. This year he is hitting an abysmal .229/.296/.325. I don't know if this is a down year or if age is catching up to him. His ratings are all still great, but I could see him just dying over the offseason. If thats the case, I'm gonna be in big trouble as I have him signed up for near 15 mil per year through 2055. The good news is 2055 is a Team option year for him...which i'm noticing while just writing this. So not as terrible as I thought it would be...but if he dies this offseason, i'll still have 30 million of dead weight for two seasons. I was hoping moving him to first base would prolong his career. I expected a decline into his 30's, but not this drastic. I'm hoping(praying) for a bounce back 2053.
A big decision i'll have this offseason is whether to bring Hud back or not. He has a 6.8 mil team option. If I don't bring him back, i still gotta pay 1.36 mil plus whatever i would pay his replacement. Gonna have to decide whether or not I can find his replacement who will do just as well, but be cheaper.
The Future
The good news is 1-4 of my rotation is pretty much spoken for as we stand for the next four years atleast even though all 4 pieces are not in the WBL at the moment. The way I see it you're gonna have 1 and 2 as Peppers and Ratbreath. 3 is going to be Brayley with Scheele pulling in at #4. Ratbreath, Brayley and Scheele will be on entry level contracts for a couple seasons while Peppers is signed through 2056. I'll be looking at Hud next season(maybe) or stop gap starters until I get some of my young guys coming up through the system to mature.
My relief pitching has some help on the way. We just have to hold out for now.
Frazer Wenden, who my scout loves with 70/60/55 ratings is a year out. Could possibly be in my bullpen in 2053.
Christof "Viper" Utpadel and
Abdul bin Murtadi are prolly 2 seasons away if they progress as they should. Then i've got a number of potential starters in my minors that could be used in the bullpen. The three linked, however, will be vital and go with Humphrey, Chavez and Woertgen to make a pretty good bullpen.
My future outfield is basically set, with some caution.
Felix Alvarado will more than likely set up shop in one of my corner outfield spots. Haven't made up my mind if i'm gonna give him some swings in September or not. I'm low on money this year so it will depend on how close I am to a playoff spot and if I have a legit shot or not.
Guastao Branco will get some swings in AAA to end the season and will prolly be manning CF for the Bulls starting next year. Very Legit defender in CF which the Bulls have basically never had. The plan, for now, is to have
Octavio Caniliac man the other corner outfield spot. That, however, is all dependent on a couple of things. First, will his defense continue to improve? As he currently stands, he could be an average corner outfielder. Extremely, Extremely average. However, with Alvarado and Branco being so good defensively, that may not be that big of a hindrance. If it doesn't improve any, and IF Geeves begins to die...Caniliac COULD see some extended time at 1B as well. His IF ratings aren't great, but they're ok enough for him to be ok at 1B I believe. The plan, however, is the have an OF of Alvarado, Branco and Caniliac by 2054. That would be a studly OF if they all reach the ratings my scout believes they will.
As for my infield? Sheesh...i'm in trouble, haha. 3B is David Lopez'...for now. He is only signed through 2054. Chad Childs is signed through 2055 and while he CAN play SS...hes a much better 2B. The problem I run into there is that Tony Gonzalez needs to be in the lineup as well and doesn't have near the ratings to play SS like Childs. So Gonzalez will be at 2B. Geeves is my 1B unless he dies. Thu is signed for 2 more years(final year a player option) at catcher. So i've got some expiring contracts coming up with this group and i've got some mixing and matching going on. The worse news? I don't really have much coming up through the farm system.
Lucio "Tangles" Escamilla has some potential...but only at 1B or 3B. I'm praying that he'll be ready by the time Lopez hits free agency so that I won't feel that loss as badly. Looking at his ratings and how he has progressed, i would think with two more seasons after this one that he would be ready. After that...my infield prospects are bleak as hell.
Rabi bin Abdullah could be a guy that could see some swings at 1B. I'm hoping that
Dobbe Pals' defense improves enough at catcher as I'm planning on him being my future starting catcher. Has the arm, has the bat(really good bat according to my scout) but his ability isn't there at the moment. Hoping it improves.
Jesus Andres is the only thing resembling a decent bad from a middle infielder that I have in my system.
I guess what I'm hoping is that some of my young pitchers pan out and I can trade one of them for a good young middle infield bat. There just aren't very many of those around, so I'm doubting there will be very many trade partners out there willing to give up a good young middle infield bat. I'm gonna have to try and target that in the upcoming drafts/free agency periods.