Makin' it rain: Las Vegas Pacmen

[doh]

So some trade and transaction analysis:

Istanbul Sends:
Thomaz Frre (AAA)
Gabe Vis (WBL)

Vegas Sends:
Jorge Orozoco(WBL)
Jose Salas(WBL)

Jose Salas was great for me in 2043 but had a bad 2044 and I felt like I needed an upgrade at catcher. Vis fits my park (gap power) and need (eye). I didn't like giving up Orozco who has great defense but my problem with him has been his skills (RH power) just get murdered in my ballpark. I was also thinking he might be one of those tweeter players who has great stars but needs to have a high BABIP to produce. He doesn't have a great contact rate. He doesn't kill you at the minimum but IMO once he hits arb he's a bit of strain.

Frre I was thinking of perhaps using this year as a batter vs. LH at 3B or RF. He has power (and not much else). But his 70 defense at 3B could be useful.


Pac Men send
Estaban Paz
Jamie Repiteria

Tulips send
Walter Seguin
Izo Something

This was a future for present trade 100%. After trading Orozco and no 3B options in FA that worked, I needed a 3B or maybe move McHeshi to 3B and get a really good defensive CF. I decided to move Paz (with Vis now whose skills I like more, I moved him). Repiteria is going to be an above average SS but I figure with either super defensive Opie or Chris Breezy who is solid at SS defensively and much better offensively, I'll be fine there.

Segiun is a top 3 3B. He also can play 2B and IMO could play a decent SS too. He has massive power, great gap power and even has a god contact rating. My only concern is that he's 29 and RH but I want to win now and I needed another bat-- especially a good RH one. He also gives me flexibility with the ability to play 2B really well or a decent SS so I can switch people around.

Izo is what I needed desperately: an elite RP. My bullpen is a little thin and I needed someone like him badly to sure it up.

Overall this is a classic OU trade though. He gives up proven current production in Seguin and gets two huge assets in Paz and Rep. He can use one of them on the cheap or then flip then again.

The other side is I have emptied out a lot of my bullets. I had the #1 farm system either last year or the year before and now I'm "4th" but I've lost a ton of depth.

Las Vegas sends:
2nd Rounder
CL Vern Barnes (AAA)
3B Thomaz Frre (AAA)

Berlin sends:
CF Jorge Martinez (WBL)

This is probably an overpay but I love Martinez and he is a perfect fit for my team/park. I love his contract too. But his injury history scares me. So I will not be playing him vs. LHP, and have his back ups go every 4th and 7th game vs. RHP. Even though he's a 80 in RF, I'm also doing defensive replacement for him too to have him play less innings. I'm also hitting him lower in the lineup for less ABs for less chances to get hurt. The idea is that I have enough via Onye Medina as his back up to make the playoffs. If it comes down late to the wire and it's close, I'll play him more. This is basically a gamble to see if I can use him for the playoffs.


I don't feel like Barnes or Frre are more than solid players. IMO Frre could be a #10-12 best 3B because of his 70 defense and eye/gap power. He doesn't have really any other skills but the bar has been set low at 3B and his low contact rating scares me (as does the fact he Ks a lot) but the high eye and gap power could mask that. I see Barnes as an average MR. I'd say he's a 4th best guy in the pen in a good bullpen. He does have good stamina which helps. I think both are very useful players though for Berlin.

Las Vegas receives:
Seoul 1st (via Istanbul)
Istanbul 2nd
CF Dean Juarez (WBL - Cairo)

Cairo receives:
LF Larry Shaffer (WBL - Las Vegas)
RF Mark Wilkins (WBL - Las Vegas)

Istanbul receives:
Las Vegas 3rd
LF Henry Millburn (WBL - Cairo)

So originally my idea was to sell Mark Wilkins, Larry Shaffer or Mason Fazackerly to the highest bidder. I had a trade set up with Yankee to trade Shaffer to him for a 1st, 2nd and future 3rd. However, Fignuts kept on making offers for Shaffer and finally offered Millburn and Juarez. This didn't solve anything for me in regards to still having an extra OF/DH. So I went to Yankee and had to adjust but did flip him Millburn for less of a return.

I decided to take on Juarez because he is a perfect fit for me. LH, $5m/year for the next 4-5 years, massive power, great defense and only 21. I'm very interested in how he will develop (if any). He's in his fourth year in the WBL and he's just 21. I also was desperate for future assets with my selling off my farm recently so the 1st and 2nd rounders are welcome additions to use or trade.

I'll miss Shaffer and Wilkins. Shaffer is the better hitter but IMO is really a DH. He has just 45 range and 50 defense at LF. His DE is about .900. I think he's best used in a platoon too. He's a monster vs. RHP but average vs. LHP. But I do think he can be a top 10 hitter in the game you just have to give up some defense.

Wilkins is a better (not good still) defender and not as elite as a hitter. But he's still on the minimum and under team control for a long time. I was ready to put him in LF where his D would've been fine but this offer was just too much. The ability to get future assets as well as improve currently was just too much for me to pass up.

 

[doh]

Some more trade analysis...

Las Vegas sends:
8th Rounder
C Mick Borthwick (A)

Lisbon sends:
C Oscar Pottenger (WBL)

Borthwick was a MLFA who has a chance to be good. I wanted to upgrade at back up catcher especially defensively. And I wanted to see how Pottenger would do as a back up playing a good amount. Pottenger has been absolute steal for me. He's started 39 games, been a defensively replacement in 25 and just a PH in 4 more. In those games, he's posted a .394 OBP and .464 SLG. He's also had a 1.146 DE which has been massive for me.

I may start him in the playoffs but he's been killing it in his current role and I don't want to mess with that.

Las Vegas sends:
1B Hocine Mercier (WBL)
1B Jose Lopez (A)
Istanbul 2nd

Lisbon sends:
RF Eric Stuut (WBL)

This trade was two-fold: I was desperate for a RF and I wanted to get rid of the Mercier deal. Mercier was killed by my park and might have a little left but I wanted to get rid of his $18m due next year (and aprrox $10m this year) plus his $3.8m buyout in his TO year. Lopez is a solid prospect and the 2nd is a high price for a rental.

Stuut has been incredible for me and better than I could've imagined. .316./.430/.543 in 84 starts has been enormous for my team. I've been able to mask some of his bad defense by always having a defensive replacement for him too which lessens that blow a bit.

I'd love to have him back next year to partner with Grim Reaper but he wants a 7/154 deal so that isn't happening. I plan to continue to start him in the playoffs and hope his hot hitting continues. His walks have been huge for me too.

Cairo sends:
1B Erhan Bahceli (WBL)
3B Alejandro Velazquez (AAA)

Las Vegas sends:
OF Lester Bland (AAA-DL)
SP Tuncay Skender (AA)
5th Rounder

I originally made this deal because Rhys Opie got hurt at SS and I wanted another great fielder there. Velazquez was a bit of an experiment and his hitting is so terrible (.501 OPS) that I couldn't play him there anymore and made another trade to make sure that didn't happen.

Bahceli has been great at 1B with a .871 OPS vs. RHP (and only getting 13 ABs vs. LHP). He fits in perfectly with Weaver as his vs. LHP caddie and Weaver being a defensive replacement. That tandem should be my 1B combo at least through next year at a cheap price (about $5m combined).

Bland is IMO a #5 OF. Fignuts loves him for some reason. Skender was a 1st rounder who has flopped. Maybe he'll come around in a new organization.

LV sends
SS Mekville (AA)

Amsterdam:
CF Aldo Van Hees (AAA)

McHeshi was hurt for a sim and I got Van Hees as a great defensive/OK offensive LH CF for about 10 games. The real cost is the $250,000 I paid him.

Las Vegas sends:
SP Geiler Schulz (WBL)

Kabul sends:
2B Duane Langille (AAA)
CF Kjell Hedblom (AA)

This was a hard deal to make. I like Schulz but have tried to move him for years and couldn't ever get a great offer back. I wanted to put Cliff Jackson into the rotation and he was the odd man out. Kim I like a lot more than others. I didn't want to move Punchy because he is for sure #2 SP in the playoffs. Romero is too young/cheap IMO to move at this point too. Schulz is 29 yo and while not expensive ($7m the next 3 years per year) I think could have a little decline coming. That said, I like him a lot and it was hard to move him.

Langille is something I've wanted for a while: a LH (he's a switch but better vs. RHP) who is a great fielder at 2B. The issue is that this moves Chris Brown to SS. Brown is a very good hitter at SS but not a good fielder. That said, I need more offense and I think Langille's ability at 2B and Seguin at 3B will help with Brown. Hedblom is a defensive OF with OK hitting skills.

 

[Yankee151]

How is our three way working out for you? I gave up a lot but I'm nothing short of pleased with Millburn.

 

[doh]

It's working out OK. We will find out more with what player I get with the Seoul pick.


The problem I had with Wilkins/Shaffer was I couldn't play both in the OF. Both were too bad defensively. Both also can't hit LHP. Juarez is a better defener/affordable for a while and also a lot younger. But still Wilkins/Shaffer both are cheap and kill RHP.

I think I could've gotten more selling them on their own but at the time Juarez, a 1 and 2 was about as good as I thought I could do for future value plus staying good now.

 

[Schauwn]

Glad the two rentals I've given you have worked out for the best for you. Hopefully what I've gotten in return can work out for me and it will end up being a good deal for both of us.

EDIT: What is Stuut's greed level?

 

[doh]

IMO Lopez could be a v LHP 1B/DH type. Borthwick is a good back up catcher especially if his defensive ratings go up. The 2nd rounder could come in handy too IMO. There have been some good 2nd rounders.

Stuut is high but what he wants is insane. I think I'm going to try to get him on a one or two year deal.

I like what you've done too with signing guys like Stuut, Pottenger who you can flip. IMO it makes a lot more sense to do that than just let your budget room stay there/play worthless players.

 

[Wolfman21]

Glad to see Langille playing well. Always had an affinity for him that I could never put a finger on. Had it not been for the luck of drafting Geeves, he would prolly be MY starting 2B right now.

 

[doh]

So the way I've built my team has primarily been through trades. I've gone for some one-year FA deals that've helped around the edges but in terms of draft/devo, sign IFA/devo I don't have many players that the CPU didn't get. I've signed IFA/used draft picks moreso to get players. So I rank my 5 best and worst trades:

Worst

5. CL Edgardo Garcia from BA for four players including P Lou Purdy and P Arthur Everhart in 2044

I was trying to go for it for in 2044 and paid a huge price for Garcia. Purdy was one of my final assets with 3+ star potential and Eberhart is a solid #10-11 guy in a pitching staff. Garcia was a disaster for me in the half year he played. An incredible -3.0 WPA in just 45 appearances which is just about impossible to do. Purdy is still a prospect with a chance to be good. It was more the value of losing him that hurt.

4. SP Rod Velasquez, 1st Rounder from Cairo for SP Reptile Tang in 2041.

At the time, everyone on the forum said it was a huge "fleece" for me. However, the Cairo 1st rounder which looked like a top 5 pick turned out to be 15th or something. It was a rare sell from me and I thought Tang was close to regressing. Tang put together four straight years with Cairo of under 3.57 ERA and has been one of the best pitchers in JV. He's also been consistent throwing over 215 innings each year. Velasquez was useful in another trade for me at least.

3. C Rafael Lans to Helsingborg for three players including CF Adrian Gutierrez

I was in a race in 2038 and went for 40 games of Lans giving up Guti who has been a good WBLer for a few years and my team could've really used the last few seasons.

2. RF Jorge Martinez from Berlin for 2nd Rounder, 3B/RF Thomas Frre and CL Vern Barnes in 2045

Martinez was a huge risk that didn't really pay off. The only way he paid off is I had to trade for Stuut. Martinez started just 34 games for me however did play well in the post-season. The huge loss in this were Frre, Barnes and the pick. Frre and Barnes were two of the final assets I had left in my minor league system. Perhaps Martinez becomes a solid player for me this year but it was a steep price for someone who can't stay healthy.

1. SP al Din Kardal from Australia for two 3rds, CL Francisco Garcia, LF Sean Hollingsworth

Part of me losing my farm system, I got 8 starts from Kardal which I don't think I needed to make the playoffs for a 5* potential closer and a 3-4* LF. I lost two ofmy final assets for a player I lost 2 months later and I don't really think I needed.

 

[Orlando]

Good read. Lans was actually one of the best catchers in the game at the time, behind Potts of course. Guys was a ways out and never really reached full potential.

Rod had a great first full season for me. I don't think that was a terrible trade for you, but I don't know what the subsequent trade was.

 

[doh]

Good read. Lans was actually one of the best catchers in the game at the time, behind Potts of course. Guys was a ways out and never really reached full potential.

Rod had a great first full season for me. I don't think that was a terrible trade for you, but I don't know what the subsequent trade was.

Yeah I value Tang a lot more than others. I think he's one of the best 10-12 best SPs in the game because of his consistency and the level he pitches at. I felt like I didn't get much in return for him because I thought I was getting a top 5 pick that ended up towards the end of the 1st round.

 

[osick87]

I think I have liked my return on each of our trades. The Weaver deal was probably the one I regret.

 

[fignuts]

Yeah I value Tang a lot more than others. I think he's one of the best 10-12 best SPs in the game because of his consistency and the level he pitches at. I felt like I didn't get much in return for him because I thought I was getting a top 5 pick that ended up towards the end of the 1st round.

The 2nd half of that season was something to behold.
Nearly caught osick for the 3rd spot after being 20 games out at least. That club would have been scary entering the postseason.

 

[doh]

5 Best trades:

5. Trades for Pottenger/Stuut last year

Both deals were made with Lisbon and both deals I did give up some prospects. But both deals were made and huge in the year I finally got my ship. Stuut goes down in Pac Men lore with his 8 RBI game 5 of the Lambship series finally ending Amsterdam's reign of terror. But he also had a .963 OPS with me in the regular season to get me into the playoffs. Pottenger had a .372 OBP in the regular season splitting time with Gabel Vis bringing great defense. In the playoffs, Potty slugged .500.

4. Punchy Wong from Istanbul for SP Abel Hernendez, SP Rod Velasquez and SP Pablo Flores

Wong has been incredible for me in his 3 full years. ERAs of 2.97, 3.83 and 3.61 are part of the story. More importantly: IP of 227, 230 and 229 with me shutting him down early each year. He's gone 5-0 in the playoffs for me and led varsity in Ks last year. Hernandez was a salary dump, Flores has busted and Velasquez could become a solid WBL pitcher. But IMO for a legit #2, I got a great deal.

3. Eric Sutton from Berlin for C John Olufson

The year Sutton came to me he had a 5.84 ERA with the Bombers. The last two years as my set up man, both years he's been under 2 as a RP. This last year he had an insane 1.8 WPA for a RP who isn't a closer and 1.95 ERA with a 4-0 record. In the playoffs after a bad Lambship, he didn't give up a run in the LCS or WS. Olufsen only played 10 games for Berlin and has been toiling in AAA.

2. 3B Cesar Sanchez to Amsterdam for SP Albert Farias, SP Cliff Jackson, SS Jamie Repetiera

Million Dollar Sanchez is an odd player. He had a 3.6 WAR as a 21 year old and I think superstar. For some reason, his career has stalled and he's never gotten that high of a WAR again. The last couple years he's been solid at 2.4 and 2.9. The haul is the big thing about this deal... Jackson had a 2.53 ERA over nearly 100 innings as a rookie last year. He backed that up giving up one run in 22 1/3 playoff innings over three starts and went from "maybe he will start" to "ace" in the postseason. He was the 2nd best rookie in the league to Rep who mashed for Amsterdam (and brought me my closer/3B) in another deal. Without this deal, I am no where close to winning the ship.

1. Mason Fazackerly from Key West for 3rd, 6th and SP Reginaldo Felitti

Don't get me wrong Felitti is a nice SP but Fazackerly has been one of the best hitters in the game since he's come to LV. Finishes of 3rd, 2nd and 6th in Varsity VORP and the ability to play every day as a DH has been the most consistent thing on my team. Fazackerly had some big hits in the playoffs for me with a .890 OPS too. Faz had OPS of over 1.000 in 2040/41 but just a .822 one in a bad 2042. I bought low taking a chance and it's paid off big time.

 

[Gooksta]

I regretted the fazack trade 5 min after making it.. lol

 

[doh]

I regretted the fazack trade 5 min after making it.. lol

Yeah I was quite shocked... I figured you were just selling him to get whatever you could get in case he absolutely hit the shitter like Hocine Mercier did for me. I know someone will give me shit for saying this but he's IMO the most underrated player in the game. 2nd all-time in OPS, 3rd in AVG, 3rd in SLG

 

[doh]

I think I have liked my return on each of our trades. The Weaver deal was probably the one I regret.

Yeah those were probably 6,7,8 in my worst. Giving up bin Hamal/Azhar for nothing both times hurt but there wasn't much of a market for both. I'm still pissed bin Hamal was so bad for my WBL team and had a .400+ OBP vs. RHP for yours last year. I thought he was going to be perfect for my park/style of play but he just could never hit for my WBL team. Struck out too much.

Weaver is almost the perfect UTIL guy for me. I have a heavy LH line up which helps with him. He is a great 1B replacement which I need. He's an average defender at 2B/3B and can play SS and not kill you. He's been very good for me. This might be it for him though at 32 I don't know if he can do this much longer.

 

[Gooksta]

Yeah I was quite shocked... I figured you were just selling him to get whatever you could get in case he absolutely hit the shitter like Hocine Mercier did for me. I know someone will give me shit for saying this but he's IMO the most underrated player in the game. 2nd all-time in OPS, 3rd in AVG, 3rd in SLG

I made a brash decision.. if I just kept fazack and didn't go rebuild nutty.. I think I could of made some moves or two here and there to stay a playoff team

 

[OU11]

What was the trade that got you Torres? Not in your top 5?

 

[doh]

What was the trade that got you Torres? Not in your top 5?

I had it like 6th. The reason being that Farid and Mobbs are both really, really good players IMO. Without Torres, I don't win the ship but it wasn't really a one-sided trade IMO.

 

[OU11]

I agree, and Mobbs got me Bernal too. If Bernal works out at 3rd I will be extremely happy with Torres for Bernal and Farid. Two good bats for a pitcher who plays once ever 5, but then you look at the playoffs and he plays two times a series and it sways more towards you. I win the trade in the regular season, you win the trade if playoffs are your lens.

 

[doh]

I made a brash decision.. if I just kept fazack and didn't go rebuild nutty.. I think I could of made some moves or two here and there to stay a playoff team

Yeah I posted that like 5 times I thought you should've kept the team together and add some pieces and go for it but you disagreed

That being said, I thought about absolutely blowing it up this off-season now I got my ship. Just trading everything away, going huge in IFA and getting the most I could for every useful player on my team. Try to sign a bunch of one-year deals then get value for them.

I didn't because
1. I suck at drafting
2. I felt like I had to try and at least defend my ship
3. I've had the "if I just stay healthy and get into the playoffs I have a chance" idea especially now we have a 5-game first round for everyone. I think that changes things a lot.
4. I want to see if I can rest my starters at the end of the year again and use my staff/bullpen/OK hitting combo and win another championship
5. I don't have the patience to rebuild
6. People value picks/prospects way, way more than proven players in this league. I wouldn't get what I thought was fair for my guys and have trouble moving them plus I think as long as you have a couple core players you can build around them one year FAs, rentals, etc. and make runs. My issue with this though right now is outside of picks I don't have any assets.

 

[OU11]

Yeah I posted that like 5 times I thought you should've kept the team together and add some pieces and go for it but you disagreed

That being said, I thought about absolutely blowing it up this off-season now I got my ship. Just trading everything away, going huge in IFA and getting the most I could for every useful player on my team. Try to sign a bunch of one-year deals then get value for them.

I didn't because
1. I suck at drafting
2. I felt like I had to try and at least defend my ship
3. I've had the "if I just stay healthy and get into the playoffs I have a chance" idea especially now we have a 5-game first round for everyone. I think that changes things a lot.
4. I want to see if I can rest my starters at the end of the year again and use my staff/bullpen/OK hitting combo and win another championship
5. I don't have the patience to rebuild
6. People value picks/prospects way, way more than proven players in this league. I wouldn't get what I thought was fair for my guys and have trouble moving them plus I think as long as you have a couple core players you can build around them one year FAs, rentals, etc. and make runs. My issue with this though right now is outside of picks I don't have any assets.

This kept me from completely blowing it up, I get super late firsts for guys like Jihad. I could do it but it takes so much work to get a trade done for an old player, which old to this group means 25+, that I just haven't had the will to do it.

 

[Gooksta]

I totally agree with six

 

[Orlando]

The Wong deal wasn't really one sided either doe.

 

[doh]

This kept me from completely blowing it up, I get super late firsts for guys like Jihad. I could do it but it takes so much work to get a trade done for an old player, which old to this group means 25+, that I just haven't had the will to do it.

And the other thing is when you blow it up, you better get the right prospects/picks or you just gave away what you will make you good for nothing. I've tried to rebuild on the fly because I feel like I have to move guys for younger dudes (like my Seguin trade) or I'm going to be caught with the bag. The problem is I've gotten serious offers like 2 3rd rounders for Punchy Wong. The value of prospects/picks in the game IMO is no where close to the value of players. But once a guy hits 28 he's too old. I tried to trade someone maybe a year or two ago who was really good and maybe 26 and I got hit with "too old".

 

[fignuts]

Cairo must be the outlier, then. Because I will trade for pretty much anyone below the age of 34. Granted if they are older there better be negligible signs of the end of their career coming.

 

[Orlando]

I think 30 is the cut off for me. Otherwise I'd rather look elsewhere if the player isn't somewhat cheap. I mean with Punchy, he isn't worth that much right now. He is a decent pitcher, but not the guy you bought.

 

[OU11]

And the other thing is when you blow it up, you better get the right prospects/picks or you just gave away what you will make you good for nothing. I've tried to rebuild on the fly because I feel like I have to move guys for younger dudes (like my Seguin trade) or I'm going to be caught with the bag. The problem is I've gotten serious offers like 2 3rd rounders for Punchy Wong. The value of prospects/picks in the game IMO is no where close to the value of players. But once a guy hits 28 he's too old. I tried to trade someone maybe a year or two ago who was really good and maybe 26 and I got hit with "too old".

Haha yeah, love the wong for 2 thirds type negotiations. That's why getting good is so easy tho, double edged sword. you can trade firsts for good players and theyre stuck with 1-19ths that are worthless, but are treated like the most valuable thing there is.

 

[Gooksta]

Haha yeah, love the wong for 2 thirds type negotiations. That's why getting good is so easy tho, double edged sword. you can trade firsts for good players and theyre stuck with 1-19ths that are worthless, but are treated like the most valuable thing there is.

You have to accumulate and package.

 

[OU11]

You have to accumulate and package.

Yeah it's possible to do it, just takes more effort to get the timing right than i want to give. Am getting a bit more into it again though, so maybe someday soon I'll do a mini blow up.

 

[doh]

I think 30 is the cut off for me. Otherwise I'd rather look elsewhere if the player isn't somewhat cheap. I mean with Punchy, he isn't worth that much right now. He is a decent pitcher, but not the guy you bought.

I like over 30 types on one-year deals. Pottenger/Stuut were both dynamite for me last year. I never, ever sign those dudes for more than a year (or trade for anything more than a rental).

In fact unless someone is a 3+ WAR type guy I never sign dudes for more than one year. I just see so many terrible deals out there for middling players that when I have guys like Weaver my utility or a role player I sign, I never go more than a year. It does burn me sometimes. I would've really like Bobby Newton last off-season and Kardal too but I just wasn't willing to go more than two years with those guys.

He's not Torres elite level but he's been 7th, 9th and 3rd in WAR the last three years (each year he was shutdown early too) means he is pretty valuable. I really wanted to sell him now so I could invest it somewhere else but at this point I'd rather just hold onto him this year and maybe extend him one more year than get a pair of third rounders for him.

 

[OU11]

He's a great pitcher, he is just old and about to start his decline (most likely). If he holds on until 36 then yeah he's worth something but nobody knows that. Can't expect anybody to pay for something they might not get, which is why he is worth more to you than to anyone else

 

[doh]

Five thoughts on the upcoming year:

1. Who gets on base?

I lose two great guys at getting on base in C Oscar Pottenger (.370 OBP) and RF Eric Stuut (.424) and don't really replace either. Last year I was around 5th in OBP with those two. I'm hoping for better years from Chris Brown, Gabel Vis in those departments. Also hoping Grim Reaper is healthy for a little with a high AVG to help in this area. Langille is suppose to have a good eye and a full year will help with him. New catcher Henry Turner could help. Losing Walter Seguin should help too as he was under .300 and I imagine Steve Green will be better taking up his ABs.

2. Will the defense be good enough?

Losing Pottenger will hurt at catcher defense as well. The left side of my IF scares me. I think I'll go with a combo of Steve Green and Chris Brown at SS/3B but I can't decide who to put where. A full year at 2nd from Langille should aid my defense. As should (hopefully) some games from Grim Reaper at RF where he is an 80. If he does go down, Medina (80 in LF) to LF and Juarez (70) to RF would help. A huge key in the OF will be (again) the health of McHeshi. The good news is I am planning to have defensive replacements at 1B, SS, LF. All that said, I hope to be better than .684 this year.

3. Pitching Depth

My by far biggest team strength will be pitching depth. I love my rotation 1-5 and have guys like Dung Sa waiting in the wings if there are any injuries. I've built the staff to be low on HRs, and high on walks/Ks. I'm hoping to have an ERA lower than last year if my BABIP goes back to .300 from .306. I also think that Cliff Jackson in the rotation for a full year will help.

4. Hefty Lefties

As of now, I plan to have 7/9 batters bat LH vs. RHP. The good news is I have platoon partners at DH, C, 1B and RF. But it'll be very interesting to me to see how my plan will go forward. I've always wanted a lineup this LH heavy to try to pair with my ballpark to see if they outperform their numbers. I also have looked NL wide that the parks favor LH hitters.

5. OF Disaster Looming?

I go into Opening Day really happy with my OF. I'd put up Juarez-McHeshi-Grim Reaper against any OF in the league. One problem: McHeshi and Grim Reaper get hurt every year. The 4th OF is Onye Medina who is great defensively and still coming along offensively but has some skills although he was horrendous last year. At this point, my 5th OF is really Steve Green who is an 80 in RF. It was a huge reason I got him. Other than that, I don't really like anyone I have in AAA. I didn't want to go three years with Adrian Gutierrez (I wanted 2 + TO) and missed out on him (who would've been a perfect fit). Last year I had the same problem and after Christian Gutierrez and Onye Medina were complete flops, I got a bit lucky trading for Eric Stuut and having him post the numbers he did. This year I might not be as lucky.

 

[doh]

Some quick thoughts on the year... just two sims but...

-- My offense could be bad. It's started out slow and I have some insane bad luck on BABIP so far (my regulars are .412, .308, .303, .290, .231, .227, .226, .222, .070) but walks just won't be there. Some guys like McHeshi, Juarez will hit for a ton more power. Speaking of which, McHeshi for whatever reason is always terrible to start the year then is good. No idea why not.

-- My first sim defense was insanely bad. .604 DE or something. I'm at .654 DE now which means I was over .700 last week. Maybe it helped a ton moving Steve Green to AAA to learn SS and have 80 defense at SS with Velasquez. Not sure at this point but that has to be around .700.

-- I'm pretty confident in my pitching. First week I had horrific defense. Last week with good defense I gave up 19 ER in 7 games including three vs. Istanbul who IMO is the second best hitting team in the league. As long as my defense is there, I think my pitching will be really good.

Again it's early but I think I'm going to have to make a trade for a big time bat at 1B. The Bahceli/Weaver combo is rather cheap (around $4.5m) and works in some ways but I feel like I'm behind at 1B and not making it up as much as I should other places. When Martinez gets hurt in RF, I'll need a big time corner OF too. I need Chris Brown at some point in his career to play to his ratings. It's getting frustrating as hell. Probably will need to move Vis and get some value for him. Maybe move a bullpen or rotation arm although I'm wary of moving anyone in my rotation.

 

[doh]

Forgot to do this last year but my roster composition

Where players "spawned"
Original 2033 players - 6
Auto IFAs - 8
Big IFA bonus - 2
Small IFA bonus (under $1m) - 1
1st Round picks - 7
Lower than 1st round - 3
UDFA - 1

How I acquired players
Free Agent - 7
MLFA - 1
UDFA - 0
Draft - 0
Trade - 17
IFA - 3

Jose Romero was a auto IFA/devo guy for me. Rafael Franco was a IFA bonus by CPU/devo guy. Onye Medina is the only sign I signed/drafted and developed. Signed him for under $200k.

A couple of thoughts: I had a lot more MLFAs before than now as well as less regular FAs. I think a reason is increased FA competition has meant guys who used to just want a MLFA contract now want WBL contracts. I also think the last two years there have been a ton of great mid level pitching options I've jumped on. The final piece is I've traded about 20 prospects in the last 3+ years years without getting many back so I've had to fill in via trade/FA a lot more.

Also from where players spawn in this (and the "Where Players Come from" post) it seems like you almost have to go big in IFA/get 1st round picks or the chances you get a WBL player are very, very small. There are a lot of posts in here, including many by me, about how overrated 1st rounders are but if you look at the facts of chances of getting a player, it exponentially increases your chances of getting a good player. Same with spending in IFA. I still haven't adjusted to the IFA paying side of things and one of these years will go huge in IFA. Maybe next? I have a lot of space and could create even more.

 

[OU11]

all draft picks are overrated, if you actually want to be good you buy guys when they're in AA and know they're good. Mosterd was a 4th rounder, he's going to be the best leadoff man in the history of the WBL.

If you really wanted to cheese this league you would never draft above the 7th round

 

[Gooksta]

My point with first round picks is..your only getting impact type players from picks 1-7 mainly.. and picks 8-15 are solid/backup types.. Then late 1st round are fringe/lottery ticket types.. Then a crapshoot from then on

But people value picks 15+ like it's a top five pick..

 

[doh]

I agree with both of you. And that's basically what I've done in a lot of cases. I've traded away my second round pick a lot of drafts in a row. I think the best value for the pick is to trade it for players that are already good or will be good. I especially agree with OU that the plan should be to trade for guys who aren't yet in the WBL but really good with your firsts.

I don't have any draft/devo players because of a few reasons. Namely: 1. I'm not good at drafting. 2. I trade away picks and 3. I've traded away a lot of prospects recently.

However, I'm just pointing out that a very large percentage of WBL players were 1st round picks.

 

[OU11]

Well of course, it's the cream of the crop. There are 450 spots in the WBL, really the first 15 on average will play in the league unless they bust. Guys dont' bust a whole lot though, except when I pick them 1-1 and 1-2. So after 10 years you have 150 first round picks floating around, bound to have a few on your squad.

IFA is the place to get bats, IMO. I'd pay 30M for a good bat, don't really care about pitchers. You can find serviceable pitchers all the way through the draft.

 

[Wolfman21]

IFA busts seem to happen much more than draft busts...which I guess is as much of an age thing as anything.

 

[Orlando]

I went all in on pitching in IFA. Whoops.

 

[Wolfman21]

lol, as did i. Think i signed like 5 pitchers

 

[doh]

Well of course, it's the cream of the crop. There are 450 spots in the WBL, really the first 15 on average will play in the league unless they bust. Guys dont' bust a whole lot though, except when I pick them 1-1 and 1-2. So after 10 years you have 150 first round picks floating around, bound to have a few on your squad.

IFA is the place to get bats, IMO. I'd pay 30M for a good bat, don't really care about pitchers. You can find serviceable pitchers all the way through the draft.

Ive actually gone almost exclusively pitchers in IFA except for Paz. My idea in IFA was to "kill them with numbers" and just acquire a bunch of guys who I end up trading. I signed a ton of guys cheap like Sergio Garcia ($81k, #52 prospect), Roque Mobbs ($330k, 4.5* RP), Francisco Colon ($472k, #14 prospect), Vern Barnes ($70k, 4* RP), Yannick Bogers ($55k, BER RP) all on the cheap and a couple others I forgot who are good.

This strategy is not working anymore now. Too many active owners and too many of them are looking at what I look at almost exclusively when signing a IFA. Probably means I have to change my plan of attack and go all out every 3rd or so year.

 

[OU11]

I go pitchers too, but IFA is the batters' domain compared to the draft. It will probably change now with feeders but I hardly ever find decent bats after the 12th pick. This past draft was an exception though, my second round pick is awesome compared to the past. It is getting super hard to get guys at the lower end now too, you can only sign 4-5 of those types of players now it seems like instead of the 8-9 you could get in the past.

 

[doh]

It's been a very strange year for my team so far. Started out 0-5 and have gone 18-8 since. Strange things (good and bad) that have happened:

1. #1 Offense

I came into the year thinking I'd be around 4th or 5th in runs scored. Through a decent sample size of a month, I'm shocked by being first in the league in runs. For the first time, I had in some ways the team I wanted in terms of 7 of 9 LH and felt good about a lot of batters in the lineup. I thought I finally had tailored a lineup of players that would be good otherwise but great in my ballpark. Also happy with all the platoons. Leading the league by 17 runs is really a product of 78 doubles which is 17 more than the next team. I think I have some guys who will regress to the mean (or get hurt) like Grim Reaper but really I've had some guys (McHeshi, Harris, Breezy, Langille) who have been worse than I thought. Jamie Juarez didn't hit a HR and now has 6 in his last 8.

2. #9 Defense

I'm still quite frustrated with having the worst defense in the NL. .667 DE is just awful. Defensively I go 55-55 (80DR)-75-75-65-70(80DR)-75-80. I'm hoping it's just a product of an abnormally amount of errors and it'll turn around. But my pitching staff is very much built on having good defense.

3. Down Goes Punchy

Yes, Punchy Wong is 33 with 2500 innings on his arm since we have stats in 2033. Yes, he has made an extra six postseason starts the last two seasons and been in the playoffs 7 times to put in extra innings in his career. Yes, he started out slow. But it still sucked for someone who has never been hurt not only get hurt, but to miss 10-11 months. He should be ready for OD 2047 but I imagine a ratings hit and the new extension he signed hurts too.

Without Punchy, I'm not sure I can win in the playoffs. I don't think it's a huge regular season loss because I do think I have enough SP depth to at least keep the boat afloat. It matters a lot though that my defense step up for that to happen. I also think the addition of the fourth playoff spot is a huge help for me. Under the old three team system, I think I'd be done unless I traded for some.

So I have some options. I could try to sell the farm for a shot at back to back. I could stand pat and try to make the playoffs/roll the dice that Jose Romero can step up his game. I could also try to sell some WBL parts and just say "fuck it" and reboot for 2047. The problem is I'm competent at enough positions to not really have a Stuut like trade where I go from a negative WAR guy to huge positive. Same with putting in Bahceli at 1B after Hocine went to hell. (NOTE: This will change when Grim Reaper and McHeshi both get hurt and I have to put in another OF other than Onye Medina). So in order to upgrade my lineup, I'd need to go for 4-5 WAR player which costs a lot.

In order to upgrade my SP staff, I'd really need a similar pitcher to Punchy. IMO I can get away with Clinch/Sa as my #5, Kim up to #4, Romer #3, Jackson #2, Torres #1 in the regular season. I think that staff is fine and it's not worth it to make another Kardal trade to get another #3-4 type. I think I'll make the playoffs with or without that dude. Bullpen wise I don't feel like I should make a move either. Eric Sutton is on his way back and I'm first in bullpen ERA. If I were to make a pitching move, it'd be 100% about getting a guy to start playoff games.

At this point, there was a potential deal for a WBL guy that would get me future assets. I thought about it and still may pull the trigger. However, I think it might be best to just stand pat unless I have a major injury. I do think I still have a 94-98 win team and that should be good enough for 4th unless Seoul or Moscow make moves or I get killed by injuries. The extra playoff spot saves me again.

 

[Yankee151]

Wanting to go for a rebuild this year? I spotted the Giants fan

 

[doh]

If I have a couple more injuries, I might need to rather than trade assets for replacements.

 

[Orlando]

Your ZR is down, so maybe the defense is poor.

 

[doh]

Your ZR is down, so maybe the defense is poor.

Yes I think it'll even out over time. My team is just committing a ton of errors as of now but the DE has gotten better. I'm not sure what I really can do at this point other than trading for a defense first 1B/better defensive catcher.

 

[Yankee151]

I never understand fielding in this game, which is why I have 1B across the board