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Kabul Bulls

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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
00532938.jpg


If this dude can just stay healthy...damn.
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
And so ends the 2043 Worldtopia Baseball League season. The Kabul Bulls finish with a 75-87 record, their best record since they went 88-74 in 2039, in a tie for 4th place in the South League with Buenos Aires. This result will leave them with either the 7th or 8th overall pick in the upcoming draft, depending on how the tiebreaker falls with Buenos Aires.

The 2043 season was one highlighted by new faces in Kabul. Eight different players made their WBL debuts this season led by none other than Laoghaire "Neanderthal" Geeves. Geeves had an absolutely outstanding rookie season which saw him hit .313/.375/.541. He ended the season with 32 homeruns, 117 RBI and 100 runs scored. He finished in the South League's Top 5 for Slugging%, VORP, WAR, Hits, Doubles, Home Runs, RBI and Isolated Power.

The other players that made their WBL debuts were SP Percy "Homicide" van der Esch, SP Danny Cross, SP Yoann "Peppers" Pasquet, INF Joe Kirk, C Ben Putnam, OF Obke van Zon and OF Felix "Prophet" Perez. There is a great possibility that all of these players will be on the Bulls Active roster in 2044. Prophet and Peppers are the only two that are questionable. They performed well(VERY well in Peppers' case) in their limited action and their ratings show that they are ready...however they are only 19 years old and do not have a ton of seasoning in the minors. I'm going to have a couple tough choices with them.

Single Season Team Records Set:

Slugging % - .541 - Laoghaire Geeves (2038 - Philip Oort - .539)
Runs - 107 - Ivan Ruiz (2039 - Hugh Nelson - 104)
Total Bases - 354 - Ivan Ruiz (2038 - Philip Oort - 308)
Home Runs - 35 - Ivan Ruiz (2043 - Laoghaire Geeves/Roy Hyde - 32)
RBI - 122 - Ivan Ruiz (2043 - Laoghaire Geeves - 117)
Losses - 19 - Jeong Kim (2041 - Konstantine Getmanenko - 18)
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
index.php

Kabul Bulls 2043-2044 Off-season​

International Free Agent Signings (33.5 Million Spent...63 Million after Taxes)
  1. OF/IF Aluizio "Kodak" Cabanes - $15 Million - Cabanes can play all outfield spots, 3B and 1B. Now just to find where he'll fit in. Shows a good bat with great Contact/Power. Hes not gonna walk much and hes gonna strikeout a good bit if his projections hold. Good speed and can get around the basepaths. I overspent, but I wanted to get some good prospects and I had the money.
  2. SP Cedric "Basket Case" Hampshire -12.5 Million - Probably my favorite pickup, Hampshire has a #1 or #2 starting pitcher ceiling with 3 pitches potentially 65 or higher. Hopefully he can pull his control up as it potentially sits at 50 right now.
  3. SP Javier Gonzales - 3.5 Million - This guy is interesting. Shows 50 stuff, but only a 35 potential fastball. That is either going to improve, or hes in trouble. 65 potential movement is good though. His personality ratings/intangibles are good as well.
  4. SP Juan Carlos Cordova - 2.5 Million - With his 65 potential control, any improvement in his stuff will make him a bonafide option. I like him for the price.
Draft Picks
  1. 1-8 CL Billy Humphrey - More than a few critics didn't like this pick. I love it. Bonafide elite closer at the end of my bullpen in the next year or two. Am a little worried about his control, but I think it will improve in the minors.
  2. 2-11 SP Dan Hogan - Starting Pitching Prospects are few and far between in this draft. Hogan could get a shot as a starter with some progression in his skills. Either way, a solid bullpen guy if not.
  3. 2-19 C Alex Marsh - Best catching prospect left at this point. Showing a potentially decent bat. Will have to follow and see how he progresses.

Free Agent Signings
  1. SP Nobuhito Heida - Getting up there in age, but ratings wise, will be one of my best pitchers. 1 year 5.75 million dollar contract. Will either allow me to keep Peppers in AAA for 1/2 a season or will bolster my rotation with Peppers in it. Good either way.
  2. MR Kameel "Destiny" Jaleel - Also getting up there in age, but should bolster my bullpen for cheap at 1 year, 1.07 million.

Trades

  1. Didn't make any trades this year. With my young callups and my need to restock those positions in my farm system, I didn't have the need to really trade for anyone.
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
2044 Spring Training Thoughts
​
Lineup:
​
  1. Gavrel Ashaulov - 8​
  2. Miguel Chavez - 9​
  3. Laoghaire Geeves - 4​
  4. Ivan Ruiz - DH​
  5. Roy Hyde - 3​
  6. Felix Perez - 7​
  7. Joe Kirk - 6
  8. Cain Collingridge - 5​
  9. Ben Putnam - 2​
Reserves
  1. Terry Evans - C
  2. Antonio Chavez - UTIL
  3. Yoshino Kichida - 1B
  4. Thie Savary - INF
  5. Sung ho Kim - 2B
  6. Andrey Volynov - OF
  7. Obke van Zon - OF/1B
  8. Doug Neal - OF

Pitching Staff

Starters:
  1. Jacob Verberne
  2. Percy van der Esch
  3. Danny Cross
  4. Christoffer Nylun
  5. Yoann Pasquet
  6. Nobuhito Heida
Relievers:
  1. Amir Leduc - CL​
  2. Salvador Camelier - Setup​
  3. Brad Weeks​
  4. Jawhar bin Tamir
  5. Kent Smith
  6. Ju-long Wang
  7. Rich Allen
  8. Kameel Jaleel
  9. Carlos Nardone
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
Updated my Offseason post and posted my Spring Training roster. Most talented team I've had since I took Kabul over. Bolstered my rotation with the addition of Heida. Hoping he can retain his 2043 form where he was very good. Hoping that it wasn't his "last hurrah". Lineup is short on speed but long on the long ball with only 2 batters in the lineup with less than a 60 rating in the Power stat. Should be able to put up some runs which I'm hoping will make my staff look better. We'll see what happens.
 
Wendell Gee

Wendell Gee

dawg_gone parrothead
Wolfman21 said:
Free Agent Signings
  1. SP Nobuhito Heida - Getting up there in age, but ratings wise, will be one of my best pitchers. 1 year 5.75 million dollar contract. Will either allow me to keep Peppers in AAA for 1/2 a season or will bolster my rotation with Peppers in it. Good either way.
  2. MR Kameel "Destiny" Jaleel - Also getting up there in age, but should bolster my bullpen for cheap at 1 year, 1.07 million.
Click to expand...

Heida was a good pickup. I made him an offer at the start of FA but had to pull it to go after Kellagh. He has at least one more strong year in him I believe. Finished last year as the best SP in the North.
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
Good Grief, I didn't post in this thread at all during the 2044 season? Yeesh

Well, to summarize, 2044 went about as I expected it would. My team competed but ended up a few games under .500. Got hit with injuries to my pitching staff that really threw me for a loop. Heida ended up pitching a whole 15.2 innings for me before he blew his arm out. Verberne spent 2 months on the DL with a Herniated disc. What this caused was for me to go ahead and bring up Sparky Martinez and Peppers Pasquet out of the minors and throw them into the rotation. What THAT gave me was a rotation full of 20-23 year olds pitching their first full season in the WBL. Honestly, the results were better than I expected with a rotation like that and it gives me good hope in the coming seasons.

2044 Team Awards

Best Starting Pitcher: Danny Cross. While van der Esch had a higher WAR, Cross' ERA was almost an entire run lower.
Best Hitter: Ivan Ruiz. Could have rolled dice and picked one of Ruiz, Geeves or Chavez. 45 Homers and 122 RBI speaks loudly however.
Best Reliever: Carlos Nardone. Amir Leduc saved a career high 36 games. However, Nardone had a 2.96 ERA in 76 innings pitched.
Best Fielder: Joe Kirk. 1.010 EFF Rating, +3.4 ZR, 5.00 RNG and a .986 Fielding Percentage in 149 games at SS in his rookie season.
Best Rookie Batter: Felix Perez. 24 homers, 74 RBI with a slash line of .283/.349/.458...all at the age of 20. Good things ahead for this young LF.
Best Rookie Pitcher: Danny Cross. Pitched very well for his first full season.

The Bulls finished the 2044 season with a 77-85 record tied with Australia and Key West for 4th in the South League. The bad news is that 2044 marked the 5th straight season that Kabul has finished with a sub .500 record. The good news is that their record and their finish in the standings were both the highest since 2039 when the Terrorists went 88-74 and also finished 4th in the SL.
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
index.php

Kabul Bulls 2044-2045 Off-season​

International Free Agent Signings


Draft Picks
  1. 1-11 SP Michael "Buckeye" Conley - Very happy to get this young man at the 11th pick. 0.81 WHIP in his season in college. 60+ potential in all three pitches. Was a no-brainer pick for me at #11.

Free Agent Signings
  1. OF Dmitr "Scuttlebutt" Vajorov - 2 yr $20 Million Contract - This dude was a hitting MACHINE for Key West. Last season was his worst average year since 2036 and he hit .318. Doesn't walk a ton but also doesn't strike out a ton and when you can hit like he does, you don't need to walk a ton. Will play RF and bat leadoff for Kabul. Will be nice to have a leadoff hitter that can get on base and will allow me to move Chavez down to the 2 hole. His range on defense is horrible, and that doesn't really make me feel good about throwing him in RF. My pitchers will prolly hate that, but I'm hoping his bat will bring on a few more runs which will kinda even things out. My pitchers are mostly groundball type guys anyways and my infield defense will be above average.

Trades
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
I could do that and start Ruiz at 1B. Then I could keep Chavez in CF and put van Zon in RF or I could put Chavez back in RF and start Ashaulov in CF. I dunno, it'll be something to think about over the next few days. Problem is if I do that i'm sitting Roy Hyde who is a .260/.310/.450 guy for van Zon or Ashaulov who have'nt really shown much at the plate. I dunno...we'll see.
 
osick87

osick87

Well-Known Member
Community Liaison
Yeah I was looking at Vaj for my DH spot but found a couple cheaper options (Jetsam and Charles). I like Vaj a lot though and almost tried to up bid him but was scared you'd let me have him and I wouldn't have been able to sign other spots.
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
With all of my spots being held by young guys and as low as my payroll is, I was able to spend a little money to get another guy to get on base in front of my big boppers.

Glad you didn't bid me up though...wasn't sure if I would have gone much over the 10 mil
 
osick87

osick87

Well-Known Member
Community Liaison
That's the beauty of building from within. They allow you to overpay a bit for declining since Geeves will out perform that 490k enough to make up for Vaj's 11M
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
With the first 1/3 of the season about under wraps, I figured I would hit on some of the bigger stories of the season for the Bulls so far...

  • As of June 5th, 2045...Kabul sits in 3rd place behind Buffalo and Australia with a 33-24 record. Both Kabul and Australia are 7.0 games behind Buffalo, however Australia's winning % is slightly better to give them 2nd place. The Bulls have played a pretty easy schedule so far, so I'm not sure if I should expect to fall or stay about where I'm at. I think we are good enough for 3rd or 4th in the SL...I'm just hoping we can stay there. False Bay and Beunos Aires would be the teams I'm most afraid of stealing a playoff bid from me. I think Buffalo, Australia and Cairo are almost assuredly in.
  • Dmitr "Scuttlebutt" Vajorov has been better than I had hoped he would be when I drop 20 mil over 2 season on him in the offseason. Owns a slash line of .382/.394/.557 which puts him in the Top 5 of the SL for avg, OBP, slugging and OPS. Leading off for me, he has hit 7 homers, driven in 33 and scored 36.
  • The surprise of the season would have to be my starting pitching. If you had told me before the season that as of June 5th, Peppers Pasquet would own my highest ERA at 4.08 and everyone else would be under 3.60 AFTER Danny Cross was lost for the season...I would have laughed in your face.
  • While Neanderthal Geeves has had a bit of a disappointing first few months, he was rewarded for his first two full seasons of All-Star level play with a 5 year, 40 million dollar contract to remain with the Bulls until he is in his 30's.
  • Gavrel Ashaulov has turned his play up over the last month and a half which has allowed me to comfortably keep Chavez in RF giving me the best defensive team (2nd in EFF in the SL) i've had since I took over the Bulls. Tumanut at 3B and Kirk at SS help this as well as they are very, very good defensively while holding their own offensively.
  • Sadly, Amir Leduc was sent down to AAA as his decline in ratings and performance became too much for me to overlook. As I did this, I went ahead and promoted Billy Humphrey to the big club. He proved his stuff in the minors and I expect him to be very good for years to come in the big leagues. Still has some improving to do to reach his potential, but he instantly becomes the best arm in my bullpen with Camelier being a close 2nd. I'll have him setup at first before moving him into the closers role for good maybe next season.
 
OU11

OU11

Pleighboi
Utopia Moderator
Excited to see Humphrey, after all that flack you took he was mos def the right choice. Wolfman died after going back to college, oh what could have been
 
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Wolfman21

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it makes me sad that someone that holds that cherished name would just fade away...*sigh*. Humphrey was the right choice for my team all along though. Needed a bonafide shutdown type guy for my team and with him already spending some years in college, he had much less bust potential than Wolfman. But, thats why I always trust my own judgement over the general publics. Atleast if I end up making the wrong decision, I have no one to blame but myself.
 
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