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May 18, 2021 14:53
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Spring Training 2031 In a MEGAPROSPECT TRADE we send away Milt Holdeman to the Royals, along with middling AAA arm Brian Steplight for Chris "Heeney" Groce. Baseball twitter erupts but not many fans know these guys yet. Heeney looks to me like a Derek Jeter-type, but who is actually a competent defender. Edwar Colina brings back all-glove SS prospect Ben Reiland, who probably has a place long-term as a utility infielder. Negotiations with Josh Gibson drag on through the winter. Finally, right as we're both about to say "gently caress it" again, we come to an agreement: 8 years, $240 mil. He'll be in Oakland until he's 31 while making a huge pile of money. Robbie Cano and Carlos Beltran go to the Hall. Ichiro is up to 50% in his 7th year. We bring in a potentially useful backup catcher in old Mariners friend Logan Tanner, one of our first draft picks! We send away Ryan Kirk, who has been solid but isn't worth $8m a year, and will likely be untradeable next season. Former top prospect Luis Salazar takes a hit to just about everything. He's now looking like a fringe major leaguer at best...a very rapid descent from the #15 overall spot. I hope he invested his $6.1 million well. Big Ron Acuna signs with Houston, for 5/200. It is a shorter term deal (he's 33) but that AAV....wowza. That is a new record. Heeney Groce impresses in spring training, as does Felix Lopez. Pete finally admits Jeff Critz may not be a future hall of famer, but only slightly. Humberto de la Torre gets some offseason hype and starts the season as the #8 overall prospect. He's now our only prospect of note. Opening Day Roster 1. Ken Shank, 1B 2. Double Lopez, RF 3. Joseph Kalafut, DH 4. Josh Gibson, C 5. Corn Taylor, LF 6. Lawnmower Briggs, CF 7. Billy Beck, 3B 8. Mike Miner, 2B 9. Chris Groce, SS Logan Tanner, C Jordan Thompson, IF Tatum Marsh, OF 1. Turducken Madden 2. Riff Raiff 3. Jeff Critz 4. Tommy Coressel (at age 26, he makes a starting MLB rotation!) 5. Julio Gonzales Victor Mederos (CL) Josh Dinkins Mike Taylor Joel Harris Chris Grimmer Joe Getts Danny Bagley (L) Kevin Wright Joe Bradley (L) We're tipped to win 98 games. The Rockies, who just won the series and won 111 and 101 the last two seasons respectively, are tipped to win...76 games? Alright.
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May 18, 2021 23:24
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Our LEGENDS OF BASEBALL entry this season will be Negro Leagues and minor league veteran -- and legendary country singer -- Charley Pride. Charley had a major-league level curveball and might've had a shot at the show had he not been drafted and then hurt his arm. He died of COVID last year and will now be resurrected as a Sick Curveballer. His nickname is "disco" which feels both appropriate and inappropriate.
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May 18, 2021 23:28
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2031 All-Star Game 64-28, .695, 1st Place, AL West League News    Big Ron settles into his Big Contract and has a blazing hot start to the season, along with home run #400. Bobby Bats is now old enough to start hitting some milestones -- he rips his 300th dinger in early May. In an amusing example of synchronicity, Jarred Kelenic hits his 300th a few days later. Michael "Air" Jordan establishes himself as one of the best pitchers -- and outfielders -- in baseball. He missed most of the season last year with injury but through the first month this year he's pitched 39 innings with a 1.62 ERA, and is sleashing 365/447/649, mainly in right field. I kind of missed this, but back in 2009, he had 4.2 WAR as a hitter, and 6.2 WAR as a pitcher, for...a lot of WAR, total. He was a decent prospect, but this is definitely a triumph of OOTP's personality factors. DJLM is still getting it done as a 42 year old. He gets his 3000th hit this season and is OPSing over 900. Not bad for a former Top Ten Player In Baseball. One of the best draft prospects of all time enters the room: Daemon Wrona. Liberty University, lol. Anyway, this kid, holy poo poo. ...he goes to the loving Yankees. Like they need another all time great CF.  Team News   We have an endless stream of nagging injuries -- mainly to pitchers. Lawnmower Briggs has an incredible spring; he took a bit to marinate but he's now looking like the prospect we signed up for. We have a blazing hot start to the season, but the Astros and Mariners catch us by mid-May and we're in a dogfight for West Supremacy. Heeney Groce slides in to the lineup effectively -- he isn't hitting for much power yet, but he's getting on base and playing excellent defense. He misses several weeks with a bad quad, however. We win 9 straight headed into the break, to finally put some space between us and the Cheatin' Stros. Our all stars: Madden Raiff Mederos Gibson Kalafut Shank Briggs Lopez Riff Raiff has a brilliant half-season and shows he was worth the high price we paid to bring him over. For our international signing, we give Jesus Paez, a Venezuelan teenager, a big pile of cash. He's a 3B with a potentially big power bat and a decent glove.
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May 19, 2021 15:41
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I wish ootp handled international scouting/free agents a little bit better. Most teams spread decent sized bonuses around to a few different players in the hopes that one of them wins the lottery. There are occasionally absolute super stars that everyone fights over, but it tends to be rarer. OOTP is basically "identify one player who is a good to great pitcher or transcendent bat and park 5m at his house." e: someone give me football manager's scouting system in ootp thanks. Schnorkles fucked around with this message at 15:48 on May 19, 2021 |
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May 19, 2021 15:46
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Agreed...the international kids are basically just 3-4 guys who might be big leaguers, and then a bunch of nothing. That said, while we've had some good ones come through (Felix Lopez) we've also had some serious stinkers who basically just absconded with our $5m. I honestly don't really know how much of the also-rans ever turn into anything but I'm assuming the number is fairly low. Anyway my general impression of these things in real life is very occasionally there's a Miguel Sano that shows up and blows everyone's mind, but the rest of them are just very, very, very raw teenagers and teams trying and mostly failing to project them. bewbies fucked around with this message at 15:53 on May 19, 2021 |
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May 19, 2021 15:50
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bewbies posted:Agreed...the international kids are basically just 3-4 guys who might be big leaguers, and then a bunch of nothing. That said, while we've had some good ones come through (Felix Lopez) we've also had some serious stinkers who basically just absconded with our $5m. I think the also-rans turning into something is around the same likelihood as the random draft pick coming good. It all feels a bit deterministic in the game, but I do like that they're trying to project talent doing weird things. The mechanics and coaching changes even seem to be able to create Turner or Bautista like renaissances for AAAA players.
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May 19, 2021 16:23
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Also Daemon Wrona is Mike Trout with a better glove which is, uh, 
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May 19, 2021 16:26
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Schnorkles posted:Also Daemon Wrona is Mike Trout with a better glove which is, uh, Ted Williams in Byron Buxton's body
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May 19, 2021 19:44
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The dude's name is Demon Crow. Are we sure he's not supernatural?
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May 19, 2021 20:04
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IcePhoenix posted:Ted Williams in Byron Buxton's body "durable" though the Yankees waited until the last possible minute to sign the guy. your franchise bumbles it's way into drafting probably the greatest prospect since Ken Griffey Jr and you piddle around with his signing bonus even though you have a half a billion dollar budget? game is extraordinarily realistic
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May 19, 2021 21:08
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bewbies posted:"durable" though I was actually trying to figure out a way to include an out for the injury history but ultimately decided not to push it
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May 19, 2021 21:13
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I didn't think OOTP would rate Jordan Jordan: and I took that personally.
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May 19, 2021 22:50
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algebra testes posted:I didn't think OOTP would rate Jordan Jordan would be so insanely toxic in an mlb clubhouse
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May 20, 2021 03:24
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2031 Playoffs 110-52, .679, 1st Place, AL West      We roll pretty easily through the last half; Gibson puts up more MVP numbers and Kalafut has his best season as a pro -- though he cools down a lot in September. We suffer a really tough loss: The Turducken blows out his elbow in September and will be out for at least 9 months. It hurts, but at least it isn't the "13 month" variety of elbow injury. We'll see him again next summer. Milt Holdeman has a...less than inspiring rookie season, with a 6.28 ERA over 139 IP. Ouch. We await the winner of Mariners and Cheatin' Stros.
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May 20, 2021 14:57
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2031 ALDS: A's vs Astros
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May 20, 2021 15:11
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2031 ALCS: A's vs Red Sox So we slept through the first two games. I like to think Sadler dressed them down so thoroughly after game 2 that a VERY ANGRY Kenny Shank and Felix Lopez came out and hit back-to-back 116 MPH moon shots to start off Game 3 and thus take control of the series. Game 3 Highlights bewbies fucked around with this message at 15:32 on May 20, 2021 |
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May 20, 2021 15:18
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2031 World Series: A's vs Reds Heeney gets even more Jeter comparisons now with his Mr. October performance in the Series
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May 20, 2021 15:34
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For reasons no one really understood, Larry Burns decided to rent some local elephants to take part in his World Series parade. He commissioned a huge...elephant...box...thing...to sit atop the largest elephant, and that's where he positioned himself. Larry was drunk most of the time, so it probably isn't right to say he was on a bender celebrating the series. It was just another week for him, aside from the parades and whatnot. Strange, then, that he passed out mid-parade atop his elephant, dropping his martini glass over the side of the elephant box. The glass hit the ground next to the elephant. For some reason, despite all the other noises of the parade, the broken glass enraged the elephant Larry was riding. It reared up and trumpeted thunderously its annoyance. At that moment, a small child in a complete head-to-toe A's uniform ran out into the street. Pete Ward's life was long and full of adventures. Born in 1820, he served as a general in the Civil War, as a vigilante sheriff in the Old West, as a legendary bouncer, and as a battalion sergeant major in Vietnam. He'd been in the baseball scouting game for over a century -- his first-ever scouting report was on a kid named "Gehrig" back in the early 1920s (he did not think he was major league material). Pete was thrilled to have been a part of another World Series team, and looked forward to many more years as our right-hand man. Then he saw the child run out into the street. And an angry elephant. Pete didn't hesitate. He ran out behind the child, scooped him up from under the enraged beast and swept him back to safety. A fraction of a second later, the elephant's foot came crashing down on Pete. "I'm going to get crushed by an elephant someday," Pete used to say. No one really knew what he meant, certainly, no one could have realized he was speaking literally. And so, the A's World Series celebration turned tragic, and we have to find a new scouting director. Note: I'm going to be out of town the next several days: we'll kick off life without Pete next week
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May 20, 2021 15:56
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well that's one way to flatten the mood
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May 20, 2021 16:08
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rip pete you died as you lived, dealing with insane owners
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May 20, 2021 16:27
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Pete clearly underestimated the speed tool of that elephant
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May 20, 2021 16:29
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Farewell, Scout Cowboy
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May 20, 2021 16:48
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Insertnamehere31 posted:Pete clearly underestimated the speed tool of that elephant misunderstanding an elephants contact potential and this is what you get
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May 20, 2021 17:05
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Rest In Pete. Looking forward to your scout report on God saying he's got only a 60 hit tool.quote:Not bad for a former Top Ten Player In Baseball. I like this reference.
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May 21, 2021 03:44
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Aw man, I was hoping he'd at least be smart enough to trudge out into the setting sun before being elephant stomped. You know, west from Oakland. Into San Francisco Bay. It's gonna be weird without Cheat Code Pete in the front office.
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May 21, 2021 04:20
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Double post to say I love the Athletics elephant deep cut.
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May 21, 2021 04:26
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rickiep00h posted:Double post to say I love the Athletics elephant deep cut. this was not intentional but upon discovering the name of the As mascot it is quite appropriate
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May 21, 2021 13:48
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Oh no, Pete 
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May 21, 2021 21:26
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Offseason 2031 Well, that was a real emotional rollercoaster. Godspeed, Pete. We can't mourn too long, though. We have a LOT to do this offseason. First and foremost, we have to hire a new scouting director. Here are the best candidates: Elvis Pena is an old hand out of the Dominican. He's well-regarded for his evaluations of established players and international players, but is pretty hit-or-miss with amateurs and minor leaguers. John Mozeliak is pretty good at everything, but great at nothing. Chris Nathan really excels at minor leaguers and amateurs but struggles with evaluating international players. Next, we may already be at the point where we're looking at a mini-rebuild.   From where I sit, we have some financial flexibility, but we're absolutely going to lose some talent the next few years and we need to decide how to go about this. We're probably going to lose a HUGE bat in Joe Kalafut, and it isn't likely we can extend any more than one of Billy Beck, Gabe Briggs, Mike Miner, Danny Raiff, Corn Taylor, or Felix Lopez. So, we could look at trading away one or more of them now, while their value is highest, and take the hit in the standings. We'd be in a position to sign a veteran free agent or two to a short-term deal in that case. The other option is to just roll with this group and let the guys go after their TC years expire, and probably then start a full-scale rebuild (this in 2034 most likely). Briggs wants 10/310, just as a reference point. Finally, we have some tricky calls in arbitration:  The big one is Julio Gonzales. He's due a potential $17m, which is just way too much for the value he gave us last season. If we keep him on, he'd be essentially untradeable at that rate. But, he's still a pretty talented pitcher, and if we don't make an offer, we'll be letting him go for nothing. As far as prospects go, we really only have one blue-chipper (Humberto de la Torre who projects probably as a COF, or possibly mediocre CF. Dan Clark is ML-ready and looks like a COF who might OPS around 850. That's...about it. So, let's sort this out. VOTE New Scouting Director 1. Elvis Pena 2. John Mozeliak 3. Chris Nathan Roster Strategy 1. Mini-Rebuild. Trade away some of our starters to restock the prospects cupboard and get one or two of these core guys extended. 2. Let arbitration ride. They'll gradually lose trade value and cost more as we burn TC years, but we'll have the most competitive team possible in that window. If #1, shop which of the following: 1. Lawnmower Briggs 2. Double Lopez 3. Mike Miner 4. Billy Beck 5. Corn Taylor 6. Joe Kalafut Arbitration. Withdraw offers on any of these guys? Particularly Julio Gonzales? For reference, a big list of possible free agents: 
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May 25, 2021 16:16
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Which of the scouting directors is more tools oriented (if any)? If we're going into a rebuild we probably want a guy who's going to look more for a high ceiling.
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May 25, 2021 16:23
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Schnorkles posted:Which of the scouting directors is more tools oriented (if any)? If we're going into a rebuild we probably want a guy who's going to look more for a high ceiling. Good question: Pena is a tools guy. Mozeliak is neutral. Nathan is an ability guy. (for reference, this just means how much the scout values possible future ability versus current ability. IE, "tools" guys tend to value younger players with big arms and big bats and great gloves, "ability" guys tend to value more polished types that have actually shown the numbers versus good competition)
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May 25, 2021 16:27
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bewbies posted:Good question: This almost a bit backwards, but it's probably good for how the thread likes to play (i.e. no full tank.) 1.) Scouting Director: Chris Nathan - we need a dude who can evaluate prospects and minor leaguers if we're going to rebuild. The bonus of him being an ability guy is that he'll evaluate players who are more polished and ready for the bigs as stronger prospects. This gives us a return of players who can be important pieces in a year or two rather than HS types that are going to take multiple seasons to mature. 2.) Mini-Rebuild: We may be able to push for another WS right now, but constantly trimming the edges to keep the prospect cupboard full lets us remain in contention for as long as possible. I'd trade the two players who give us the biggest return and restock the starting lineup with replacement level types or depth. We maybe should even consider taking on a little salary this year or next year if it helps secure a good prospect and we can afford it with the trades. 3.) Keep Julio if you can't trade him for a good piece. If we're to the end of his arbitration period, we might as well get the draft pick from him turning down the Qualified Offer. Schnorkles fucked around with this message at 16:42 on May 25, 2021 |
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May 25, 2021 16:36
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I'm actually good with a full tank. Ride our budget til it breaks.
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May 25, 2021 16:54
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Schnorkles posted:This almost a bit backwards, but it's probably good for how the thread likes to play (i.e. no full tank.) I don't think Julio will turn down the QO and really don't want to take that risk so: Nathan Rebuild Decline arb on Julio
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May 25, 2021 17:39
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I don't think Julio will turn down the QO and really don't want to take that risk so: If he's making 17mil in arb i don't think he'll accept the QO, but i guess its possible. e: bewbies is Julio telling you how much he'd want to stay on board? Is it 20m+ a season?
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May 25, 2021 17:51
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 (a Spirit appears in the private washroom of Larry Burns) "Oh, John Mozeliak! Why I remember him from discovering that youngster Rogers Hornsby!" "Cut bait with that Rodriguez chap! Why, the nerve of him to ask for so much money. Why, I bet that we could sign The Sinner for roughly that much money! And same for that Billy Beck, I don't trust a man who hails from the same clan as that long haired scientologist doo-wop boy. But do win me more World Series, my son!" "Now, fetch me my nerve tonic. I haven't felt this alive since 19-dickety-2." habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 18:00 on May 25, 2021 |
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May 25, 2021 17:58
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1) Nathan 2) Keep it going, at least for a little while longer. You could trade Julio though, if the return is good. A mini-rebuild isn't the worst idea but take it slow. 3) If you can't trade Julio, keep him and hope he declines the QO.
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May 25, 2021 19:00
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We bring in Chris Nathan as our new head scout. After clearing out all of the old shell casings and empty bags of beef jerky from Pete's office, he provides us with some potential trade targets. Juan Galindo is a name you might remember from our Mariners days. He's been...badly mismanaged by the Mariners. 2 years ago he was a top 3 prospect in baseball. Last year, he destroyed AAA...as a 24 year old (presumably sitting behind Bobby Bats, who could play anywhere else in the infield. I dunno.) Anyway He still has the elite power, though not an 80 tool anymore, and looks like a complete hitter and about average glove at 3B, which equates to a potential MVP-caliber player. He'll cost a fortune though: Billy "William" Beck with all his $15m salary retained, Felix Lopez, and 2.5 star SP prospect Xavier Green. It is a LOT to give up, but he's a potential superstar with 6 glorious years of team control ahead. Some other potential trade targets (all are under a year in service time): Bob Schroen is a tower of power 1B/DH still in pre-arb. He had a rough rookie season but we project him as a 280/380/550 type hitter, mainly DH. He can be got for a decent prospect or two. Shawn Corley is the #14 overall prospect. He's a 2B with a middling glove, but a potential monster power/OBP combo...like we're talking 40 dingers and 400 OBP from the 2B hole. He can be got for Mike Miner (100% of $5.5 m retained) and #71 overall prospect Dan Clark. Maxwell Stag is the #46 overall prospect, an 80 name tool, a middling glove at 3B, but another OBP monster. He tore it up in a quarter season last year, but is said to be injury prone. Still, 30 dingers and 375 OBP is a nice thing from the corner... Josh Heist is another 80 name tool, a fill-in COF glove at best, but a potentially elite DH. Hits for power and average, and hits it hard. Slashed 282/353/564 over 326 PAs last year as a rookie. Other News Gibson wins a Gold Glove, again. SINNER Kohishi wins Reliever of the Year, again. A guy named Eizo Shimamukuro wins it in the NL, so it is deemed the Year of the Japanese Reliever. Gibson, Shank, Groce (wtf?) Briggs, and Kalafut win Silver Sluggers. Sadler wins Manager of the Year. Riff Raiff wins Cy Young. Kalafut wins MVP in a controversial decision. Great news: we got Lawnmower Briggs to finally sign off on a 7/182 extension. This takes us through his age 33 season at a $26m AAV. A nice deal, but that may just about do it for our big money extensions. That being said, Joe Kalafut's extension demands are...surprisingly reasonable. We can probably get him for something in the range of 5/100, which is crazy for a reigning MVP. He is 31, but he's a pure DH, though he seems to be aging like nice wine at this point. In order to squeeze him in, we'll have to cut some salary though...see above trades for possibilities (ie, Felix Lopez). This may also preclude us from extending Danny Raiff, which would...really hurt. Also Rocco Baldelli is our new 3B coach so that's cool. So, here's where we are at. We can extend Kalafut, but that pretty much locks in our roster this season, and we'll have to shed salary next season for sure. Or, we could get a new 2B, 3B, and/or DH (by trading Miner, Beck, Lopez, and some prospects) while retaining salary this year when we can afford it, but having them off our books next year, when we can't. That could potentially allow us to extend Danny Raiff, but we'll lose Kalafut and his reasonable contract demands in that case almost for sure. This is a very strange and backwards situation. Also I was just looking at Ken Shank and spent about 10 minutes wondering why we didn't make him a 3B (he has a good arm and reliable glove) until finally I realized he throws lefty. bewbies fucked around with this message at 19:16 on May 25, 2021 |
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May 25, 2021 19:11
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| # ? Jun 12, 2024 16:48 |
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I'm digging Corley, since that doesn't seem like much to give up for Jeff Kent but hopefully not an rear end in a top hat, but tell me how bad his fielding stats really are.
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May 25, 2021 20:01
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