Screenshots of scouting reports
SPRING TRAINING SEASON PREVIEW - STARTING PITCHERS
Jesse Wiseman - Had a good season last year for the riggers and I really like how his pitching style fits my team. Was a league leader for the fewest HRs/9 innings last season. I've named him the #1 pitcher heading into the season.
Wijnand Leenderts also had a decent season last year and fits the team play style similar to how Wiseman does. Overlooked by others for his lack of stuff, he's found a home with the riggers!
Helespontico Cicio - Was injured for most of last season, but came on strong for the riggers and helped them during that great run in August.
Kadidou Idogbe - Bound to fall and stab hisself with scissors while running, this troglodyte was the 4th-5th pitcher for the riggers last year and did a serviceable job. He's seen a decent improvement in the off season, so hopefully that translates to the field.
Jose Rivera - A newcomer to the riggers. His ratings aren't phenomenal, but he's got 3 good pitches and he did have a really nice AAA career so I'm banking on him playing a bit above his ratings. I think this is an @OU11 cut? I got rid of Brad Weeks in the offseason and saved some money on this signing, so hopefully he'll be a decent budget option as the #4-5 type pitcher.
As my roster matures for the playoff run in a couple seasons, I'm probably going to have to either make trades or go big in free agency for at least one or two ace quality pitchers because I'm not sure my current crop of prospects will be ready by then, since the CPU had left the cupboards bare.
Injuries have been really rough for the riggers and I hate to lose Rauch because even though he had a shaky time as a SP, I was confident he'd pitch well from the bullpen when he was well rested. He's got 1 year left on his contract, so hopefully he can play well as a setup guy next season. 
SPRING TRAINING SEASON PREVIEW - RELIEF PITCHERS
Ralph "The Banker" Weinstein - Played pretty well, other than one abysmal month, last season. Of the returning starting pitchers, he's the one I decided would be most useful in the bullpen. He'll be a long reliever and emergency starter should we encounter injuries or have a SP who just isn't playing well.
Esteve Montes - Came over in a trade with Buffalo and @Lloyd Carr last season, was phenomenal for the riggers down the stretch and I'm expecting big things out of him again this season. Relatively unique skill set on the staff. If he plays well again, I'll be signing him long term.
Hoyt Easton - Not my favorite relief pitcher, but he did just enough last season to earn his spot in the lineup again. He'll likely be gone next season with arbitration and some youth moving up.
Daniel Saldana - Was phenomenal last season and I locked him down on a cheap contract through 2054, so he should be around for a few seasons as a LOOGY and setup guy
Tyrone Massey - Also had a nice season last year and I locked him down on a cheap contract through 2055, so he'll be part of our eventual playoff push as well.
Francisco Garcia - He's the next player I plan to lock down long term for my relief staff and I'll be pretty confident in having 3 good/great relief pitchers on reasonable salaries for my playoff push.
Patrick Rauch - He's my closer and I might swing him into starting pitcher duty if one of the stop-gap SPs really struggles. I've got him for the next 2 seasons on a higher contract than I'd like for a RP, so I'll just have to see how he performs and where the team is before deciding long term. Either way, he's around for the next two years and I'm happy about that!
SPRING TRAINING SEASON PREVIEW - CATCHERS
Miguel Rodriguez - was one of the more consistent players for the riggers last season. This might be his last year with the team, depending on arbitration, but I might be able to keep him as a role player going forward, depending on how my youths pan out.
Claudio Montes - Has struggled in the WBL so far, but played well in AAA last season. Saw a huge ratings boost in the last year, but still has room to grow in a lot of areas. I decided to put him on the WBL roster this season as he hits well against LHP which is something my team struggles with in general. At worst, he'll probably play DH against LHP but he might play C against LHP depending on how Rodriguez does. Promising future for this guy, but I expect it might take a couple years for him to really start dominating.
SPRING TRAINING SEASON PREVIEW - INFIELD
Tamam RUFF Ridha - had a nice season smacking HRs last year. He's in the last year of his contract and I'll probably let him walk if he's expensive. If he's cheap I might keep him around just for the bat! He's very weak against LHP, which I look to help him out with this season.
Dani Rodriguez - My youngster who also has a great bat against LHP, so this should work out nicely! He'll play 1B against LHP to start and get rid of RUFF Ridha's glaring weakness. Platooning Catcher/First Base probably isn't the best plan for team versatility, but this is what I've got for the moment. This will be his first season in the WBL, so I anticipate some early struggles, but at least I've got Ruff Ridha there if needed.
Clement Launay - I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to play him this season yet, as I'm still considering lineup optimization and want to see how spring training goes for some of my utility guys first. I'm leaning toward playing him at 2B this year or possibly splitting his time between SS and 2B depending on pitcher, as my other SS/2B have weaknesses against one side or the other. During Spring training I'll be playing him at CF (should max about 60-65 at that position by my calcs) so that he becomes one of the leagues ultimate utility players!! I'll be signing him long term soon, I'm thinking probably this season as he'll become one of those super arb cases I believe? I think he's ready to become a very solid player for me for a long time. With his utility in the field (65+ in every single Infield/outfield fielding category), I'll probably try to keep him forever. Having a dude who can play a good SS AND hopefully CF is pretty awesome.
Mulia Kusuma - This is a dude I wish I could have kept in the minors longer, but the CPU brought him up as like a 20 year old before I took over. If I move Launay to 2b then he slots in as my Shortstop this season. I'm giving him work at 2B this spring training so that he can become a more versatile piece of my puzzle.
Marco Eirosa - This is an interesting player I got from Orlando in a trade for Bobandy last season. My scout likes him a lot more than OSA, and he's done a decent job in the WBL, so I might have something interesting here as a high OBP guy who can bat in the 1 or 2 slot. At worst, he's a stop gap who will give my 3B prospect a couple years to develop until I'm ready for my playoff push. He's a guy who I'd love to add versatility to in order to make him a utility infielder in the long term if my prospect eventually replaces him at 3B. For right now I've got a couple other players who need 2B reps more in the 2050 spring training
After those 5, I'll have 2 players fighting for my last infield spot through spring training and maybe into the season. I have a couple of players who are heavily one sided with their bats, so it will probably come down to who makes the best platoon and utility option.
Eneas Cezimbra - Basically the same type bat as Eirosa but left handed and not quite as good on defense. He did a decent job last season at 2B but I'd like more versatility/defense if he's going to be a utility option long term. I might drop him to AAA this season and have him play shortstop if I move Launay to 2B.
Raul Martinez - Getting him 2B reps during spring training in hopes of making him my utility guy in favor of Cezimbra
SPRING TRAINING SEASON PREVIEW - Outfield
I think this was my area of biggest change in the offseason. Even though I lost Mike Harris and his great bat to a trade, I think I'll actually be improving since he really ended up playing DH for most of last season due to necessity. In the field I should have an upgrade at both corner spots and that will allow me to slide one of last years starters to a depth spot. I've got a youngster coming up to play half of the DH spot and hopefully replace some of Mike Harris' production.
Luis "WAR" Velez - Having coached him in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade footbaw, Mr. Manager was ecstatic to trade for WAR Luis. Extra glad that @ZackMills didn't rake me over the coals to get him, knowing that I was attached to this player. I tried to play him at his natural positions of Middle Linebacker and long snapper, but apparently he projects as more of a left fielder in the WBL. Should provide an upgrade over Lares who played ok here last season. Only signed for this season, so I'll evaluate the future after I see how he plays in a rigger uniform.
George Miller - the rigger stalwart had another solid season, but his defensive play is starting to drop off as he's aging (and he was never a great defensive CF anyway). I'm cross training him at LF, which I think fits his skillset better, in hopes of adding more value to his rigger future. He'll be a free agent after this season, but I'd like to keep him if he develops enough at LF to convince me he has some future as a depth player. I've got a superb looking young CF in AAA this season who I'd like to bring up to the WBL next year. If Miller wants to be part of the long term plan, he'll merely need to adapt.
Jesse Haswell - I receive him in a roundabout way. Kind of a win/win trade with Orlando in which he dumped some unwanted salary and I took a stop gap in a position of need. Not crazy about his salary compared to his production levels, but I needed some stop-gap help at RF after last year's disaster, and I have the budgetary room for the next couple of seasons to accommodate him. He hopes to exact revenge on the Little Rock Miners @bruin228 who besmirched his good name and referred to him as "cursed." I think this will be the biggest improvement in the riggers compared to last season.
Carter Gibson - He's the youngster slated to help replace some of Mike Harris' production from the DH spot. Carter is currently an extremely one sided bat, but it looks like he should crush RHPs if he lives up to his ratings. He might struggle this year, but the way his ratings have popped over the last few seasons, I think he'll be a star in the future. He's a big part of the reason I felt comfortable moving Mike Harris, as I felt they'd end up occupying a similar niche. I'm giving him some RF training in hopes that he can learn to play a couple of positions in a pinch, but mostly he looks like a DH, with some sub duty at LF, for a few seasons.
For my last outfield spot, I'm considering a couple of players and will evaluate them after spring training.
Solano Lares has the advantage of having played pretty well for me last season and he's got a decent bat to provide some pop off the bench. I'm cross training him at RF and CF to give him a little more versatility, but his fielding ratings are too low to make him ever become a great utility player. For this season, I'm guessing I'll utilize him because I have confidence he can hit well enough as a replacement player
Jesus Lopez - I think Jesus has more of a future with my team than Lares, but he still needs to develop his power a bit more before he becomes the better bat. The nice thing is that he's a better fielder than Lares as well. If he continues to develop well, I envision him as a borderline starter at RF or at least a utility guy who can cover both corner spots. If he plays well in Spring Training I might favor him over Lares, but we'll see. If he's in AAA this season I'll probably play him at CF to increase his versatility even though his range isn't great and he'll never be a starter there.
All Star Break Review - STARTING PITCHERS
Well, not everything went to plan but overall the starting pitching has been top notch for the riggers this season.
Patrick Rauch started the season as the #1 SP and had a really good run early on, winning 4 games in the first month before slowly dwindling and then falling off a cliff and losing his last 5 games. I think it was a fatigue issue as even with a 6 man rotation he was just never fully rested. He was playing like he had less than 30 stamina, so eventually I moved him to the bullpen and then he immediately got injured and is out for the season.
Ralph "The Banker" Weinstein is an @Mr. Radpants castoff. He struggled last year in the month of August so I started him in the bullpen this season. I brought him into the starting lineup when I went to a 6 man rotation when Rauch was getting tired. All he's done since then is be arguably the best starting pitcher in the South. I extended his contract into the 2051 and 2052 seasons (team option) at 1.3M/year. Even if he doesn't produce at his current level, I'm confident he will provide value to the riggers somewhere in the starting lineup or bullpen at that price.
Jesse Wiseman is an @Orlando philanthropic dontation. His 45 Stuff rating is a bit disheartening, but in the riggers stadium and with some stout defensive support, he's played really well. I tried to sign him long term, but he wasn't having it. I'll see what his arb number is and pay him year to year unless it gets too out of hand.
Jose Rivera was a AAA super star for @OU11 but had yet to make a WBL start. He was one of the few promising looking pitchers available for around $1M in the offseason. I took a chance on him and he's really performed well so far this season. He continues the trend of pitchers who couldn't make the "Varsity" teams who are playing very well in "JV" with the riggers. I've been very pleased with his performance for a first year WBL player
Helespontico Cicio is a bit of a Jekyll/Hyde player so far this season. He had a bad first month and I demoted him to the bullpen where he seemed to thrive. I then promoted him back into the starting lineup and he's currently pitching well. He'll be fighting with Jose Rivera and a couple other players for a spot in the starting lineup next season. Nice that the riggers finally have enough depth at pitcher that I can have some competition for the 4th/5th/6th spots and play the hot hands.
Kadidou "Trog" Idogbe - @Lloyd Carr sent me this mouthbreather in a trade and he's been very consistently providing about what I'd expect from a 5th or 6th SP. He'll be competing with Jose Rivera, Helespontico Cicio, and a couple of AAA riggers to see if he can earn hisself a spot next season.
MID SEASON REVIEW - RELIEF PITCHERS
Wijnand Leenderts Here is something that should make @Mr. Radpants happy! After struggling as a starter, but getting some Tebow like support from the offensive half of the team, eventually LRM destroyed him to the tune of like 10 runs, so I decided to send him to the bullpen, where he's somehow pitched worse. I'm considering throwing him into AAA just so he doesn't have to infect the rest of my team with his ice cold streak. LAWD. I'm hoping he'll turn it around for me in the bullpen because I like having a high movement/control left handed pitcher with good stamina to eat some innings.
Hoyt Easton really hasn't played much, by design. He isn't all that great and I've got some better young players that will probably replace him. For the time being he's just some random middle relief guy that the CPU doesn't like to use even though he's set on the same play "normal" settings as the rest of the relief pitchers.
Juan Garcia was just called up to replace Rauch who went down with an injury. Not the best of my young relief options, but he was playing well in AAA and was already on the 40 man roster, so it made for an easy decision to bring him up.
Tyrone Massey is a guy I signed long term (3 years +2 team options) based on his performance last season. He struggled early in the season and had one monumentally bad game, but he's on a hot streak now and I'm confident he'll pull it together. Love his stamina and ability to eat innings in long relief as well. He's got that classic rigger skill set.
Daniel Saldana is the other guy I extended long term and he also had kind of a slow start. The pay day complacency? Anyway, he's putting it together again and I expect a good second half from him. 2nd setup guy and Loogy
Francisco Garcia - I've tried several times to sign him long term, but he really doesn't want to sign any deals that extend beyond his arbitration years, no matter what I propose (within reason). I will continue to try to negotiate long term with him, but at worst I'll pay his arb number this year and try again to negotiate next season. He's been my #1 setup guy and he's played extremely well. He's still got room to grow as well!
Esteve Montes - is apparently a South League all star after all. He's been really phenomenal in his time as a rigger. Like Francisco Garcia, he refuses to sign a long term contract and his arb projection is getting a bit on the high side for a relief pitcher. I'd like to lock him down long term, but we shall see what happens. Either way he'll be a rigger for at least a few years! I thank @Lloyd Carr for Esteve and definitely owe him big time. Of course, his closer is also playing extremely well and is a former rigger as well.
Mid Season Review - CATCHERS
Miguel Rodriguez - This was a transition year for the catchers. I was hoping for one more year of good contribution from Rodriguez while I worked the young future star Montes into the fold. Rodriguez was a consistent bat last season, but he's seen a pretty solid drop in his hitting numbers. I've slowly transitioned him out of the starting lineup and into a backup role and he'll probably see less time as the year goes on. He wants $7M on an extension so he will be a free agent after this season.
Claudio Montes - Started off in the lineup against LHP and every 3rd game against RHP. As the season has gone on, I've transitioned him to be the full time starter, with Rodriguez backing him up. He's played really well for a young player and he will see most of the starting action down the stretch. He's the future and I'm really pleased with how he's developed so far, especially after his first two brief stints in the WBL weren't great. He's got a future as the #5 hitter I think.
MID SEASON REVIEW - INFIELD
Lets start this fuckshit off with the crippling injuries to my best players!
Clement Launay - Was the first rigger down this season, which really sucks. 11 games into the season he was already at +0.7 WAR and was just absolutely destroying everything in his path. Furthermore, he's my most versatile utility player, so having him be the first injury ultra-sucked because he's the backup for pretty much every other position on the field. He's finally going to be back and ready to play this week. I'm going to give him a rehab assignment in AAA for a while and then hopefully he'll be ready to provide the riggers with a spark down the stretch in august/september. He's still going to be my leadoff hitter (love his eye for getting on base and then his running) and utility guy for the future.
Eneas Cezimbra - The greatest difference between OSA ratings and my scout's ratings. CEZ was certainly playing a lot more like my scout predicted than where OSA has him. At the time of his injury, 19 games into the season, he was leading the league in WAR. Obviously he would have slowed down from his lofty numbers, but I still expected him to get on base a lot and then do some real damage because he steals even better than his ratings suggest. At the time of injury he'd already stolen 12 bases and had been caught 0 times. These two injuries really hurt what my middle infield players provided to my offense. His injury was really severe, so he might not even make it back for spring training, lol.
Tamham RUFF Ridha - Fancies hisself an all star and wants a 7 year long $10M /year contract and now he doesn't hit HRs at near the rate he used to. FUUUU. He was actually hitting poorly enough in the season to be -WAR so I had been giving his backup a lot of playing time. I've been playing him more regularly again as a starter and he's been hitting better recently. Not signing him and he'll be a free agent available for @Mr. Radpants to sign.
Dani Rodriguez - Started early against LHP and every 3rd game against RHP. Has been hitting more consistently than Tamham Ridha, so he's moved up to starter and has played decently for a rookie despite going through a few cold patches. I'm pretty excited for his future.
Mulia Kusuma - I was hoping he'd play well at SS so I could move Clement Launay around as needed to provide depth. I've been really pleased with Launay so far this season and I think he'll only improve in the future. My hope is he'll be a good #2 hitter in the future once he gets his average up a bit.
Marco Eirosa - Currently my 3B and he's been serviceable as a stop gap, but I really need better hitting from this spot in the future. Once Launay comes back I might move Kusuma to 3rd and then play Eirosa as the utility guy. I'd like to get him more experience at 1B and 2B in the coming years so he can cover the whole infield. I'd like to see him get on base more, given his eye, but he's still got room for some growth.
Now for the FUCKSHIT due to injuries
Brian Tunamelt - When Launay and Cez went down, I traded for him with the benevolent Orlando. His ability to play everywhere in the infield was really important given Launay's injury. Initially he hit extremely well for me and I was really pleased. Then he went on one of the coldest streaks I've ever seen and I basically had remove him as a starter and play him in a utility/backup role... and even there he's been pretty bad. Not only has his hitting been poor, he isn't playing good defense either. LAWD. His ratings suggest he should be hitting much better and playing much better defense.... so hopefully he figures out how to un-fuck hisself because he looks like a really promising utility guy.
Douglas Tagg- This poor over-matched fuck is doing his very best to survive the WBL. At 0.2 WAR I honestly can't ask much more from him. He's a positive defender and his hitting hasn't been as much of a liability as I initially thought it might. He's earned the starting 2B spot back from Tunamelt and he's going to have to survive until Launay comes back. LAWD.
Mid Season Review - Outfielders
Well, the outfield has been disappointing and also hampered with injuries. Was hoping for an improvement here among the position players and it didn't happen as expected.
WAR Luis Velez- Started the season horribly, dipping all the way down to -1WAR and playing only sparingly until he got off his cold streak. I really need him to play better down the stretch at some point, because with all the injuries I've sustained he's one of the few players left that should have a well rounded bat.
George Miller - Has continued his decline in fielding and is not hitting as well as he did last season. Contract is up this year so it might be a hard decision. He's a long time rigger and is very popular, so I'd like to keep him on the team just for the fan interest but he's going to need to contribute somehow for the rest of the season for me to justify it.
Jesse Haswell - @bruin228 Has been a bit of a liability in the field (more than expected) which is the reason he's only at 0.1 WAR, but he hit the ball fairly consistently (for a rigger) before he got injured. He should be on rehab duty in early August and ready for a return to the WBL in late August. hopefully he can provide a spark in the last month of the season as the riggers hopefully contend for a playoff spot.
Carter Gibson - Really the bright spot of this season. Was on pace for 5+ WAR and was definitely doing a great job of replacing Mike Harrris... then he got injured and is likely out for the season now. Still, he's a promising young player and the riggers have so few good bats that he's even more important in that context.
Solano Lares - Started the season as the "4th outfielder" and platoon player against LHP... ended up starting more games as injuries mounted. He's been a consistent player for me in spot duty this season, as he was last season. With limited games in 2049 and early 2050 he projects at +2 WAR for a full season if played as a full time starter. I'm going to reward his performance by starting him somewhere for the rest of the season and also planning on making him a starter in 2051 as well (my scout likes him a little more than OOTP as well)
Dave Kramer has also played a bit as DH since Carter Gibson went down and has done ok. Jesus Lopez played a few games as a utility guy and defensive sub as well and gave good performances... but both of them have been predominantly AAA players this season.
