The New Unofficial SDMB OOTP Blog

June I Sim Done

2012-02-08T23:20:00.000-05:00

Game Date: June 16, 2020

Who Uploaded?

Cleveland
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Ohio
Seattle
Shackamaxson

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn's lead in the division has increased to two games over Hickory
Zotti: Seattle's lead over Ohio and Saskatoon is three games
Signorino: Houston pulled away and took a four game lead over the Mashers
Wild Card: Ohio and Saskatoon are tied for the lead, three games ahead of Maui

Awards and Accomplishments:
Ohio's Zander Boreland named Player of the Week (6/8)
Houston's Nigel Bryant hits for the cycle (6/13)
Houston's Hal Pires named Player of the Week (6/15)

Significant Injuries:
Ohio's Marcus Santoro will miss about seven weeks with a strained bicep muscle

Milestones:
Cleveland's Herman Gossard became the 12th player to reach 2000 hits.

Commissioner's Notes:
It looks like we're going to move to OOTP13. So, if you want to save some money, buy it now during the pre-order period.

Next Sim:
Next Wednesday

Cleveland Cleans House

2012-02-08T15:33:00.004-05:00

Cleveland has finally done it, they have made a clean sweep from their Manager, Hitting Coach and Trainer as the team looks to go in a new direction after starting the season 17-40.

"It is about damn time!" Fredrick Mitchell, a long time Steamer fan said. Mitchell can remember the tough days when the team moved to Cleveland from Covington way back in 2012. "We stunk back then and now we are back to the level of stink that you can only expect from a Cleveland Steamer."

It is true back in 2013 the team went 61-101 and finished a staggering 51.5 games behind the division winning RIver Cities. The team only drew just under 672,000 fans that season, but things were looking bright as the team was young with then 3B John Grondin looking strong in his rookie season and future Cy Young Award winner SP Kendrick Kaller about to join him in the big leagues.

Things did turn around quickly as the next season, 2014, the Steamers finished 4 games out of first and actually made it to the playoffs nearly shocked the world by beating heavy weight River Cities 4 games to 3 in the League Championship series and pushing the defending Cecil Cup champion Seattle Monarchs to 7 games in the Series before losing. They would return to the series in 2015 after winning in 100 games but fell to Saskatoon in 5 games. In 2016, they won the most games in franchise history, 104, but failed to get out of the LCS losing to Seattle in 6 games.

Then the wheels started to come off and for the last 3.5 seasons the team has been on a steep downhill slide. Someone eventually had to take the fall and that person was Manager Roger Johnston. Johnston is the all-time winningest Steamer Manager with 570 wins, but finishes his tenure in Cleveland with a career .479 winning percentage. He has some harsh words for GM Jeremy Goldman on the way out the door. "I won more games with less talent than any other manager in the history. The last couple seasons you gave me crap and I still won over 60 games each year. Good Luck with finding someone that can do that for you going forward, you have a 20 win a year team on you hands. Enjoy."

It is true that the team has struggled with injuries especially to their starting pitching which is one of the reasons that the team is making a move on the trainer front as well. GM Jeremy Goldman said in a statement to the press, "the excuses stop here. This is my team and I will make it work. This is the first step to turning this train wreck around. If you think this is the last change you are flat out wrong. We are going to take this team and get back to the playoffs where we deserve to be."

When will that happen? Probably not anytime soon as the manager, coaches and trainers cannot get out on the field and play and there is very little starting pitching in the organization, but at least they are trying something and maybe they can add a few wins to this season and in the future.

May II Sim Done

2012-02-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

Game Date: June 1, 2020

Who Uploaded?
Cleveland
Shackamaxon
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
Ohio
New York

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn's lead in the division has shrunk to one game over Hickory
Zotti: Seattle took over the division lead and is ahead of Ohio by two.
Signorino: The 'Dillos have caught up to the Mashers and both are tied atop the division.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Monck's Corner CF Craig Bell named Player of the Week (5/18)
Seattle CF Bas Bijkerk named Player of the Week (5/25)
Shackamaxon 1B David Seibel named Player of the Week (6/1)
Houston 1B Nigel Bryant named Batter of the Month
Monarch's Enrico Hernandez named Pitcher of the Month
Ohio LF Jesus Vela named Rookie of the Month
Significant Injuries:
None

Milestones:
Cleveland's Herman Gossard became the 12th player to reach 2000 hits.

Commissioner's Notes:
Since there were no objections, I'm assuming that everyone is okay with going to OOTP 13 for the next season, right?

Next Sim:
Next Wednesday

Zev

May I Sim Done

2012-01-26T00:34:00.001-05:00

Game Date: May 16, 2020

Who Uploaded?
Cleveland
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Ohio
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn is five games ahead of Monck's Corner
Zotti: Ohio has a two game lead over Saskatoon and Seattle
Signorino: Maui leads Houston by one game.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Monck's Corner 1B David Seibel named Player of the Week (5/4)
Hickory's John Jacobs hits three home runs in one game (5/5)Houston 1B Nigel Bryant named Player of the Week (5/11)

Significant Injuries:Houston 1B John Leboeuf suffered a herniated back and is done for the year.
Monck's Corner MR Robert Brown strained a rotator cuff and will miss about 4 weeks.
Cleveland SP Cesar Almendarez fractured his knee and is done pitching for good.
It's not a significant injury, but it's a new one -- Cleveland's Kendrick Kaler suffered a concussion when he slammed into a car stopped at a red light. His concussion will be cleared by the second day of the next sim.

Milestones:
After reaching 500HR in the last sim, New York's Luis Jeon notched his 2000th hit this sim, the 11th to reach that level. Jeon, it should be pointed out, currently holds the lifetime records for games, at-bats, home runs, RBI, runs, walks, strikeouts, games started, extra base hits and being hit by a pitch.

Topics to DiscussThere are a number of topics that were brought up in recent posts. These include:

Possibly upgrading to OOTP 13 for the next season
A possible change in the sim schedule during the early part of the season.

Please let me know your thoughts on these matters.

Next Sim: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

OOTP 13

2012-01-20T15:28:00.001-05:00

Just got an e-mail today about pre-ordering for their release in early April...Are we going to upgrade after this season?

Looking for Pitching

2012-01-20T15:06:00.002-05:00

Offer

Jorge Clemente C (3B) $4,212,000
Dusty Huff 1B (SS) ML

Would like starting pitching and prospects and/or picks in return.

4 sims in April?

2012-01-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

Over the past week, before last night's sim to complete April 2020, I had some problems making roster decisions with my team due to the volatile nature of early season statistics. My thought was to have four sims for April, instead of the usual two, to allow more options and flexibility for roster moves in April

I have run this past Zev and he seems to be on board, so this is my proposal:

1st sim: First seven days of the season (April 1-7)
2nd sim: Next eight days of the season (April 8-15)
3rd sim: Next seven days of the season (April 16-22)
4th sim: Next eight days of the season (April 23-30)
5th sim: Next fifteen days of the season (May 1-15)
... and so forth

I also think that shorter sims during the playoff chase in September is a valid idea.

What do you say? Any objections or suggestions?

April II Sim Done

2012-01-18T23:31:00.002-05:00

Game Date: May 1, 2020

Who Uploaded?
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
Ohio
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn leads Hickory by three.
Zotti: Ohio has a three game lead over Saskatoon
Signorino: Maui leads Houston by three games.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Brooklyn SS Jeff Wardlaw named Player of the Week (4/20)
Shackamaxon 3B Felipe Mendoza named Player of the Week (4/27)
Monck's Corner LF Freddie Aldape named Player of the Month
Ohio's Fernando Estrada named Pitcher of the Month
Seattle 3B Terry ("Not The Sinner") Hubbard named Rookie of the Month
Hickory's Gustavo Silva went 6-for-6 (4/17)

Significant Injuries:
Maui SP Ferdinand Pineda suffers from back spasms and will miss the next two weeks.
New York LF Lonnie Machen tore a hamstring running the bases and will miss the rest of the season.
Shackamaxon SS Ricky Peppers strained a back muscle and will miss four weeks.
Cleveland's Mark Mitchell ruptured his bicep tendon and will miss eight months.
Ohio's Jose Morales will miss 2-3 weeks with a strained tricep.
Cleveland's William Haner is done for the season after rupturing his back.

Do Sinners Prosper?
For now, it seems that they do. Jones fared well in his debut sim at .279/.319/.465 with 1 home run and 4 RBI.

Milestones:
New York's Luis Jeon hit his 500th home run, becoming the first player to reach that lofty goal.
Hickory's Paul Shunk (again) hit his 400th home run, becoming the tenth player to hit that many.

Next Sim: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Most Hyped Prospect EVER Reaches Majors

2012-01-18T11:33:00.002-05:00

The Seattle Monarchs today announced that catcher Steve "Sinner" Jones is being promoted to the major leagues today, April 16, 2020. "This will forever be known as Sinner's Day," proclaimed Monarchs Owner/GM Mack Shultz. "Let me just say, the Sinner's Day parties are going to be legen -- wait for it -- dary! Imagine Mardi Gras mixed with Carnivale, but without the pesky moral restraints."

Jones was the second pick overall in the 2016 draft and was promptly named the #1 prospect in the league by the OSA scouting service. He was the #1 prospect in 2017. He was briefly the #2 prospect at the start of the 2018 season, but quickly was re-established as the #1 prospect by mid-season. He was the #1 prospect at the start of the 2019 season. He was the #1 prospect at the start of this season. This degree of hype is completely unprecedented.

"His tools are so far off the chart that we had to create new charts," said prospect maven John Sickels. "He's not only the greatest thing since sliced bread, but he invented a completely new and better way of slicing bread. There's a little shrine to him in the Baseball America offices. He's bigger than big and huger than huge. He's the baseball version of Tim Tebow. Except, you know, he can actually throw."

More rational people have examined Jones' minor league numbers and wondered what all the fuss is about. A career OPS of .658 in A-ball, .801 in AA, and .811 in AAA doesn't exactly scream, "Messiah!" But, the suddenly struggling Monarchs may need just that, as they have stumbled out of the gate and find themselves in the unfamiliar position of third place in their division. And so, the good people of Seattle will turn to a Sinner to save them.

April I Sim Done (alternate reality version)

2012-01-13T02:06:00.000-05:00

Game Date: April 16, 2020

Who Uploaded?
Cleveland
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Saskatoon
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn leads Hickory by one.
Zotti: Ohio has a one game lead over Saskatoon
Signorino: Houston has a one game lead over Maui

Awards and Accomplishments:
Brooklyn SS Jeff Wardlaw named Player of the Week (4/6)
Monck's Corner LF Freddy Aldape named Player of the Week (4/13)

Significant Injuries:
Danville C Fernando Robles will miss about six weeks with back spasms

Milestones:
None

Next Sim: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

It Never Happened

2012-01-12T10:31:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry, folks, but I'm going to have to re-do last night's sim.

I made a dumb mistake when I ran the sim, which significantly impacted a team for the worse. As a result, I'm making the call to redo the sim.

The rerun will be done tonight. Please do not send any updates, as they will not be downloaded. Furthermore, if you uploaded changes since last night's sim, you will need to resend them after I run the "corrected" sim.

My apologies to all for the mistake. It was a stupid accident on my part.

Zev

April I Sim Done

2012-01-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

Game Date: April 16, 2020

Who Uploaded?
Cleveland
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Saskatoon
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Brooklyn leads Cleveland and Hickory by five.
Zotti: Saskatoon holds a one game lead over Seattle
Signorino: Maui's is three games ahead of New York

Awards and Accomplishments:
Houston 1B Nigel Bryant named Player of the Week (4/6)
Maui C Barney Maxon named Player of the Week (4/13)

Significant Injuries:
Cleveland SS William Midkiff saw his season end after three games with a herniated disc
Danville 3B Jorge Velazquez is out 7-8 weeks with a torn back muscle

Milestones:
Paul Shunk (Hickory) hit his 400th home run (10th player)

Next Sim: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Not quite free to good home

2012-01-11T07:46:00.001-05:00

It's one of those years where you know it's not going to happen going in. To that end I have some (expensive) spare parts that I'd send your way cheaply.

Both David Kerry and Patrick Valdes have some use left in them. They're not all-world but they can provide some power in the OF if you're short of that. Prospects and such would be appreciated and I'd be willing to work with you to make the numbers balance out.

One Day More...

2012-01-11T01:16:00.000-05:00

We still have one owner with a roster size over 25. We'll put it off one more day. After that, I'll proceed, making the best choice I can with regard to the roster.

Zev

Opening Day Delayed

2012-01-09T00:11:00.002-05:00

I decided to push it off until Tuesday night to make sure that all owners have the opportunity to get their rosters in order.

Zev

A Cy Young Winner Comes to Cleveland

2012-01-05T10:32:00.003-05:00

No, not Ronald Placencia, but 2017 and 2018 AAA Cy Young winner William Haner. He has been traded from Seattle to Cleveland for a 6th round pick. Why did Monarch's GM Mack Shultz make this deal? Well in his own words he said, "What can I say? My team is loaded, there is just no room for Bill on my active roster. He deserves a shot, and I can't think of a better place for him to get that shot that the train-wreck that is Cleveland. He should flourish there."

Steamer's GM Jeremy Goldman could not be reached for comment, but reports are that he is in Washington applying for TARP money to help with the economics of his tortured team. He should also be looking for a new trainer for his team as all his players continue to go down with injuries.

Haner is expected to be inserted directly in the starting rotation for the Steamers and might even become their #1 starter by the end of the year.

Welcome to Opening Day 2020

2012-01-03T23:55:00.002-05:00

Game Date: 4/1/2020

Files uploaded and league site updated.

First sim will be on Sunday, Jan 8
Second sim will be on Wednesday, Jan 11

Sim's Done (12/30/2011)

2011-12-30T00:45:00.001-05:00

Game Date: 3/30.2020

Upcoming Schedule:

Final Spring Training Sim: Tuesday night, Jan 3
Opening Day: Sunday, Jan 8
Second sim of the season: Wednesday, January 11
Subsequent sims will be on Wednesday nights.

Change In Schedule

2011-12-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

I did something stupid with my account at my hosting company and, as a result, the league site is down. I think it will be up in the next 24 hours or so. However, until then, you will not be able to upload changes.

As a result, we are going to have to change the upcoming schedule.

As it stands now, presuming the site is functioning again by noon tomorrow, the schedule will be as follows:

Next Spring Training Sim: Thursday night, Dec 30
Final Spring Training Sim: Tuesday night, Jan 3
Opening Day: Sunday, Jan 8
Second sim of the season: Wednesday, January 11
Subsequent sims will be on Wednesday nights.

My apologies for the delay. The problem was totally my fault and not that of my hosting provider.

Zev

Upcoming Schedule

2011-12-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry about the lack of communication of late. Things got a little crazy around here, but they're beginning to return to normalcy.

The next week of spring training will be done tomorrow night (Dec 28)
The remainder of spring training will be done on Thursday night (Dec 30)
The first sim of the 2020 season will be done on Tuesday, Jan 3.

Zev

No sim last night

2011-12-22T11:14:00.001-05:00

Sorry, folks, but family plans got in the way of the sim last night.

The third week of Spring Training will be done tonight.

Some people have written to me about the upcoming schedule due to travel, etc. I will post the upcoming schedule tonight.

Zev

Starter wanted

2011-12-21T11:34:00.002-05:00

I'm looking to upgrade my rotation before the season kicks off. I don't have much financial flexibility, but if you think we can work something out, let me know.

Please note, I'm not interested in dealing either Ignacio Lopez or David Seibel unless an offer blows me away.

Sim's Done (12/20/11)

2011-12-21T00:33:00.002-05:00

Second Week of Spring Training is done. Third week will be simmed Wednesday night.

First Week of Spring Training Done

2011-12-20T01:58:00.000-05:00

Administrative note: Cleveland claimed three players during the Rule V draft, but the computer did not make the picks. I have awarded two of the three players previously awarded to Danville (Pla and bin Fadil) to Cleveland.

Next week of spring training: Tuesday night.

Draft Completed. Welcome To Spring Training

2011-12-18T01:48:00.002-05:00

First week of Spring Training will be Monday night.

Cleveland/Seattle Trade

2011-12-16T19:21:00.003-05:00

In a minor move today Cleveland/Atlanta made a trade today with Seattle. Cleveland acquired AAA 1B Tabito Hara for their 6th round pick in the upcoming draft. Hara is expected to be the starting 1B for the Steamers in the upcoming 2020 season.

Cleveland Trading Block

2011-12-16T11:29:00.004-05:00

It is time for another SDMB season and it is time for another dismantling of the Cleveland Steamers (Soon to be moving to Atlanta, but not sure when).

Here is what I have to offer:

3-time all-star and all around great guy C Herman Gossard. Catcher is always a tough position to fill and Herman has been at the top of his game for years now. A life-time .311 hitter (which is what he hit in 2019 - so he is not slowing down at all). Can really pull it all together for your team and manage a good game.

2-time all-star and 3-time gold glove winner at 3B Ronald Quijada. Sitting at 300 HRs with a solid 13 year carrer, this veteren can give you the leadership you need to bring home the trophy as he did with Seattle in 2017. He has more BBs than Ks lifetime and just knows how to get on base, score and drive in runs (which last time I checked was really important in winning games).

All-time single season batting leader (.370 in 2013) CF Monte Goss. He has a very favorable contract for the next 2 seasons and is a life-time .317 batter and can be a steady contributor in the #2 spot in your lineup.

All of these guys can be yours for very cheap. I am not looking for much, but it must be in the form of draft picks and/or prospects or it will not be considered.

Shoot me an e-mail at jgoldman99@yahoo.com and we can start the conversation.

Sim's Done (12/15/11)

2011-12-16T01:31:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 3/1/2020

Signings:

Danville:
A bunch of guys to minor league contracts

Hickory
MR Joel Riojas, $1.1m/ 2 yrs

Next sim: Saturday night, in which the amateur draft will be run and the sim advanced to Spring Training.

Sim's Done (12/14/11)

2011-12-14T23:47:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 2/24/2020

Signings:
Danville:
A bunch of players to minor league contracts

Next sim: Thursday night. That sim will take us to the Amateur Draft. The draft will be held on Sunday night.

Do not submit your draft lists before tomorrow night's sim, as I need to create five additional players for the draft.

Zev

Sim's Done (12/13/11)

2011-12-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 2/17/20

Signings:

Danville:
C Gary Williams, minor league contract
C Geoffrey Moore (New York), minor league contract
C Alonso Jaramillo, minor league contract
C Gary Williams (Maui), minor league contract

New York:
LF Bill Bivens (Danville), $390k/1 yr
2B Roberto Ferrer (Monck's Corner), $400k/ 1 yr

Many thanks to Michael for filling in the last two sims.

A number of people have asked about the Danville opening. Truth to tell, I'm still up in the air about what to do about it. I was considering upgrading to version 12 or 13 of the game after the next season. As such, I wasn't sure that I wanted to convince someone to buy version 9 for only one season.

If you have any suggestions about the Danville opening, feel free to post them in the comments.

Zev

Sim's done (2/10/2020)

2011-12-12T22:14:00.002-05:00

League date: 2/10/2020

Transactions this sim:

Monday, February 10th, 2020

Danville Dans: Released MR D. Welburn.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C G. Aguirre to a minor league contract.

Sunday, February 9th, 2020

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C A. Labarbera to a minor league contract.

Saturday, February 8th, 2020

Monck's Corner Monks: Signed free agent MR D. Murphy to a 2-year contract worth a total of $900,000.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF A. Mendonca to a 1-year contract worth a total of $500,000.

Danville Dans: CF A. Mendonca was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: CF R. Rosato was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: CF R. Rosato was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Assigned CF A. Mendonca to Triple A DeBois County.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent LF K. Noriyori to a 1-year contract worth a total of $300,000.

Danville Dans: LF K. Noriyori was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Maui Mashers: Signed free agent 2B E. Contreras to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C J. Peoples to a minor league contract.

Friday, February 7th, 2020

Houston Armadillos: Signed free agent 3B A. Valera to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Released LF J. Kirby.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C P. Beach to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent RF P. Bernabe to a minor league contract.

Thursday, February 6th, 2020

Danville Dans: Released 2B T. Stevenson.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C J. Clawson to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent RF M. Sasaki to a minor league contract.

Wednesday, February 5th, 2020

Maui Mashers: Signed 2B J. Lefebvre to a 2-year contract extension worth a total of $26,720,000.

Danville Dans: Released LF W. Lindsay.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C G. Aguilar to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent LF L. Pruitt to a minor league contract.

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C J. Johnstone to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF D. Smith to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF J. William to a minor league contract.

Next sim: Tuesday night.

Sim Run

2011-12-11T15:45:00.002-05:00

League date: February 3, 2020.

Lots and lots of transactions:

Monday, February 3rd, 2020

Danville Dans: Signed free agent MR T. Errico to a 2-year contract worth a total of $4,220,000.

Danville Dans: MR T. Errico was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: MR W. Henricks was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: MR W. Henricks was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Placed MR T. Errico on the active roster.

Danville Dans: Optioned MR A. Hone to Triple A DeBois County.

Danville Dans: Released LF L. Carrasquillo.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C R. Moreno to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent RF D. Melendez to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF S. Mager to a minor league contract.

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020

Danville Dans: Released RF G. Maes.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C A. Coats to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF R. Marra to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent LF C. Pla to a minor league contract.

Saturday, February 1st, 2020

Hickory Huskers: Signed free agent 3B R. Campion to a 4-year contract worth a total of $22,200,000.

Shackamaxon Lenape: Signed free agent RF F. Soriano to a 1-year contract worth a total of $870,000.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C C. Dailey to a 1-year contract worth a total of $550,000.

Danville Dans: C C. Dailey was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: CF J. Toledo was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: CF J. Toledo was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Assigned C C. Dailey to Triple A DeBois County.

Ohio Buckeyes: Signed free agent LF C. Moss to a 2-year contract worth a total of $31,000,000.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent MR M. Alvarado to a 2-year contract worth a total of $5,820,000.

Danville Dans: MR M. Alvarado was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: SS E. Weiss was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: SS E. Weiss was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Placed MR M. Alvarado on the active roster.

Danville Dans: Optioned MR S. Harris to Triple A DeBois County.

Ohio Buckeyes: Signed free agent CL H. Beeks to a 1-year contract worth a total of $8,300,000.

Saskatoon Amigos: Signed free agent SP J. Shuttleworth to a 2-year contract worth a total of $18,940,000.

Saskatoon Amigos: Signed free agent SP E. Thomas to a 3-year contract worth a total of $18,420,000.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF A. Suarez to a 1-year contract worth a total of $570,000.

Danville Dans: CF A. Suarez was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: SS L. Ellis was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: SS L. Ellis was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Assigned CF A. Suarez to Triple A DeBois County.

Maui Mashers: Signed free agent 1B D. Lutz to a 1-year contract worth a total of $15,500,000.

Seattle Monarchs: Signed free agent MR A. Ondra to a minor league contract.

Shackamaxon Lenape: Signed free agent CF S. Kim to a minor league contract.

Shackamaxon Lenape: Signed free agent CF J. Galindo to a minor league contract.

Shackamaxon Lenape: Signed free agent MR R. Sánchez to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent C G. Byrne to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF R. Rosato to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent CF C. Horta to a minor league contract.

Danville Dans: CF C. Horta was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: CF R. Rosato was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: 3B J. Calvert was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: 3B J. Calvert was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: MR J. Riojas was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: MR J. Riojas was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Friday, January 31st, 2020

Saskatoon Amigos: Signed CF R. Murry to a 6-year contract extension worth a total of $119,720,000.

Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

Ohio Buckeyes: Signed free agent MR T. Vallejo to a 2-year contract worth a total of $16,620,000.

Danville Dans: Signed free agent LF K. Rubio to a 1-year contract worth a total of $580,000.

Danville Dans: LF K. Rubio was placed on the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: 3B S. Adrover was designated for assignment, placed on waivers and taken off the 40-man roster.

Danville Dans: 3B S. Adrover was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Danville Dans: Assigned LF K. Rubio to Triple A DeBois County.

Ohio Buckeyes: Signed free agent MR J. Cropper to a 2-year contract worth a total of $16,440,000.

New York Gothams: Placed LF M. Birdsell on the 40-man roster.

New York Gothams: Placed LF M. Birdsell on the active roster.

Monday, January 27th, 2020

Seattle Monarchs: 3B H. Carbezola was designated for assignment and placed on waivers.

Seattle Monarchs: Placed 2B P. Reyes on irrevocable waivers.

The Monck's Corner Monks traded 31-year old starting pitcher J. Villatoro to the Maui Mashers, getting 34-year old starting pitcher K. Byers, 25-year old right fielder R. Sánchez, 24-year old minor league second baseman F. Pérez and 22-year old starting pitcher K. Jackson in return.

League file is up. Next sim on Monday night!

Newbie

2011-12-11T15:31:00.001-05:00

Yo Zev!

What's the story on someone to replace Danville? That computer's trouble for that team.

Trade Offer

2011-12-09T00:11:00.002-05:00

From the Desk of the Piggy

Roberto Perez C is available for trade. He is tired of getting mixed up with Ricardo. To get Roberto you will also have to take Freddie Mejias.

Will take best offer. I would like picks or starting pitching.

That is all

No Sim Tonight

2011-12-08T23:37:00.002-05:00

One of the owners is having some trouble with files and free agent bids.

We'll pick it up Saturday night.

Zev

Trade - Maui and Moncks Corner

2011-12-08T19:51:00.002-05:00

Trade announcement.

Moncks Corner surrenders for the next several years and deals All Universe SP Juan Villatoro to Maui.

In return Maui sends to Moncks Corner:

SP Kenneth Byers
SP Kevin Jackson
2B Francisco Perez
RF Ricardo Sanchez

Sim's Done (12/6/11)

2011-12-06T22:09:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 1/27/2011

Signings:

Danville:
LF Bruce Frison (Seattle), $22m/ 1yr

Houston:
CF Paul Fowler, minor league contract

Shackamaxon:
SP Tim Muchler (Seattle), minor league contract

Next sim: Thursday night

Sim's Done (12/5/11)

2011-12-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 1/20/20 (Hey, it's Inauguration Day! -- It's hard to believe it's been 12 years since Barack Obama first took office).

Signings:

Hickory:
SP Hector Orozco (Monck's Corner), $1.4m/1 yr
RF John Jacobs (Maui), $1.9m/ 2 yrs

Ohio:
SP Jesus Morales (Saskatoon), $15.8m/2 years

Shackamaxon:
SP Kei-thing Jiu (Ohio), minor league contract

Next sim: Tuesday night

Sim's Done (12/4/11)

2011-12-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 1/13/20

Signings:

Houston:
CF Jorge Ramirez (New York), minor league contract

Seattle:
CL Pedro Ramos (Monck's Corner), $12m/ 2 yrs
LF Tyler Thomas (Hickory), $13.5/ 2 yrs

Next sim on Monday night

Disregard Last Night's Notice...

2011-12-01T23:50:00.001-05:00

I'm going to give some more thought to what I was going to post. In the meantime, we'll just continue.

Next sim: Sunday morning.

More Retirees

2011-12-01T17:31:00.003-05:00

With the turnover to the new year, a number of players retired. I'll throw the complete list at the end of this post, but a few notes.

Starting pitcher Ed Scull played 13 years in the league and accumulated about 40 wins of value above replacement. That's a very nice career. In fact, he's 15th among starters in career value. Scull started out as a first round pick (#6 overall) by Ohio in the 2003 draft.

Outfielder Tony Demiras, who was the #2 overall pick in the 2005 draft, managed to play 13 years in the majors despite a cumulative value of seven runs BELOW a replacement player. He conned me into trading for him at least once, and perhaps twice now that I think of it.

Starting pitcher Franklin Lakey was part of the inaugural 2002 draft, a 34th round pick by Shackamaxon. He had 12 years in the majors. Just nine inaugural players left active now.

Reliever Jefferson Theriault was one of the players created in my organization when we filled out the AAA rosters as part of expansion in before the 2003 season. He also was what I thought was a fringe piece in my second ever OOTP trades. Theriault went on to be the sixth best reliever ever in career value--just ahead of Frank Caroll and just behind Pedro Morales. Curse you, Nate!

Anyway, here's the list of guys who retired in the last sim.

SS Deon Bolivar
RF Cornelius Bondy
CF Edward Boothe
MR John Bowden
LF Barry Brooks
2B Nathanael Burton
RF Jesse Carroll
SS Ronald Chambers
SP Joe Daniell
RF Tony Demiras
1B Kenneth Dolezal
RP Wesley Elton
SP Ernest Gerth
1B José Guzman
C John Jellison
SP Franklin Lakey
SP Pedro Marez
LF Kenneth McGlone
CF Avelino Padilla
SP Milton Rael
CF John Ramos
MR Santiago Rubino
SP Ed Scull
SP Carl Shepherd
MR Jefferson Theriault
SP Fredrick Thomas
SP Bill Tussey
SP Roy Vaz
RP Lucien Weber
SP Carlos Xiques

No Sim Tonight

2011-12-01T00:31:00.002-05:00

I didn't run the sim tonight. I'll put up a longer post tomorrow explaining why tomorrow.

Zev

Welcome To The Roaring 2020s

2011-11-29T23:31:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 1/6/20

Signings:

Danville:
LF Alfonso Fernandez $540k/1 yr

Ohio:
C Beau Manning (Brooklyn), $11.6m/2 yrs

Shackamaxon:
MR David Roberts (Monck's Corner), $830k/1 yr

Next sim: Wednesday night

Sim's Done

2011-11-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 12/30/2019

Signings:

Maui:
MR Alfonso Cabana (Houston) $1m/ 1 yr

Ohio:
3B Lou Appleby (Maui), minor league contract

Shackamaxon:
SP Bill Mobely, minor league contract

Next sim (and the roaring 2020s) on Tuesday night.

Sim's Done (11/26/11)

2011-11-26T22:19:00.000-05:00

Game Date: Dec 23, 2011

Signings:

Brooklyn:
SP Pio Ramirez (Cleveland), $27.9m/ 3 yrs

Danville:
CL Dale Beene (New York), $15.7m/ 2 yrs

Houston:
LF Clark Wright, minor league contract
CL Lucas Sweeney (Brooklyn), $5.3m/2 yrs

New York:
LF Armando Cedeno (Danville), $3.9m/3 yrs
MR Sean Sheppard (Shackamaxon), $540k/1 yr

Seattle:
C James Hardman (Ohio), $890k/1 yr

Shackamaxon:
MR Tony Lozano, $1.5m/1 yr

Next sim: Monday night

So, does anyone need a shortstop?

2011-11-24T10:20:00.002-05:00

Late last season, when my contract negotiations with Ricky Peppers looked dire, I signed free agent Fred Smith (who went unsigned after the 2018 season) to a $2.3m deal for 2020 as insurance.

Resigning Peppers has stretched my budget and rendered Smith irrelevant. So, I'd like to trade him in a small salary dump.

Other names I'd consider trading for the same purpose are C Gerardo Herrera, 1B/OF Michael Slye, and OF Sherman Evanoff.

Sim's Done

2011-11-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

As Michael previously noted, the sim was run last night. Here are the signings:

Danville:
P Bill Dewall (Ohio), $3.6m/2 yrs
2B Robert Camarena (New York), $7.7m/2 yrs

Hickory:
C Kareem King (Maui) $2m/2 yrs

Maui:
P Gary Smith (Monck's Corner) $750k/ 1yr

New York:
C Dave Woods, minor league contract
P Allen Boyd, minor league contract
1B David Clifton (re-signed), minor league contract

Seattle:
P Jose Santos, minor league contract
2B Khatib bin Majd, minor league contract

Shackamaxon:
SS Ricky Pepper (re-signed) $32m/2 yrs
P Joshua Lewis, $1.2m / 1yr

Next sim: Saturday night. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

What I'm thankful for this year...

2011-11-24T00:21:00.002-05:00

Ricky Peppers signed a 2-year contract with the only franchise he's ever played professional ball. He'll make $15m in 2020, with a mutual option for $17m in 2021.

"I took one look out there in free agency and knew that Philadelphia was my home," the reigning Outstanding Batter said, moments after signing, perhaps, the last contract of his career. "Especially with the unstable situation in Danville, I knew I wanted to finish my career where it began."

In other news, the league file has been posted by Zev.

New League File Posted

2011-11-22T22:06:00.002-05:00

I posted a new league file to the server. You can download it by clicking the link at right.

Next sim will be Wednesday night.

Zev

Slight Schedule Change

2011-11-22T11:16:00.002-05:00

One of the league owners is having trouble with the league file, so I'm going to upload a new file for him tonight.

As a result, I'm going to put off the next sim until Wednesday night.

Zev

Sim's Done

2011-11-22T00:39:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 12/9/2019

Free Agent Signings:
New York signed MR John Eyman (Shackamaxon) $310k/1 yr
New York signed SS Royal Wilson (Saskatoon) $3.9m/3 yrs
Danville signed MR Timothy Brasfield (Ohio) $61m /3 yrs

Next sim: Tuesday night

Draft's done

2011-11-20T10:17:00.001-05:00

The Rule V draft ha been run.

Next sim will be Monday night.

Zev

All I'll Say Is This...

2011-11-17T11:21:00.001-05:00

... it is sometimes difficult when you manage two completely different Blogger profiles and two very different blogs.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then don't worry.

Enough said. :)

Zev

Sim done last night

2011-11-17T08:31:00.003-05:00

It appears that Zev did the sim that takes us up to the Rule 5 Draft. I'll let Zev take it over from here, but I wanted to let folks know that the league file was, in fact, updated.

*Oh, and don't select Granado. He should have been put on the 25-man roster after the trade that was processed during this sim.

EDIT (by Zev): The Rule V Draft will be run on Saturday night.

Back In Action

2011-11-14T23:14:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 11/29/2019

It looks like the server problems have been resolved.

Free Agent Signings:
Shackamaxon: MR Ricardo Sanchez (Seattle), minor-league contract.
Seattle: CF Jae-Chun Kim, minor-league contract

The next sim will take us to Dec 1 and the Rule V draft. This sim will be run on Wednesday night and the draft will be done on Thursday night.

Zev

Where We Stand

2011-11-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

As you know, we've been having problems since Thursday downloading/uploading files from the server. I've tried several times, including today, to upload the latest game file with no luck.

I contacted GoDaddy (the host for the site) and they were unable to spot anything immediately wrong. They are going to escalate the matter to their higher ups, but it could take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to resolve.

I'll keep you posted.

Zev

Major Trade Between Seattle and Hickory

2011-11-11T11:21:00.002-05:00

November 29, 2019 (SEATTLE) - The Seattle Monarchs and Hickory Huskers announced a major trade this morning. Seattle is sending superstar catcher Alberto "Nitro' Granado" along with two prospects to Hickory in exchange for fading star catcher Thomas Geter, a prospect, and two draft choices.

"I'm outraged," spluttered local yokel Cletus Spackler. "We lose to those doofuses from Maui and the front office's response is to trade away the best catcher in the game? They're morons. I don't want to build for the future. I want an eighth championship t-shirt, not another damn draft pick!"

Granado has won four Gold Glove awards and has hit 154 home runs over his eight years with the Monarchs. The 28-year-old had his best year ever at the plate last season, hitting .304 with 28 home runs and 111 RBI. However, he was deemend expendable by the front office due to the rise of top prospect Steve "Sinner" Jones, who is expected to be ready for the majors sometime during the 2020 season. Granado has one year remaining on his contract at $12 million.

Geter is 36 and the whispers of his decline grew pronounced last year. His batting average has dropped from .323 to .298 to .264 over the last three years and he hit just six home runs last season. Geter is owed slightly more than $15 million this year and his contract has a mutual option for another season at the same price.

Coming to the Monarchs along with Geter is relief prospect Carlo "Basher" Humphrey, a third-round pick last year. The draft choices will be Hickory's selections in the first and second rounds on next Spring's draft.

Leaving with Granado is rookie reliever Shigenaga Murakami and AAA outfielder Manuel Cardona, a former #1 overall pick. Murakami, an international signing in 2017, made his debut with the Monarchs this year. Cardona had been the top pick in the 2015 draft and reached AAA Tacoma this season. Seattle is also sending Hickory $2 million in small, umarked bills. The money reportedly will pay for playboy financier Frank Ferrara's expense account for October.

"So, we traded away our star catcher and a former #1 draft pick to get an old fart and another draft pick. Great job, front office," fumed Spackler.

Good News and Bad News

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

First, the good news...

I ran the sim tonight up to 11/29. This will enable teams to protect players from the upcoming Rule V draft.

Now the bad news...

I seem to be having some problems uploading the league files to the site. I will try to upload them tomorrow afternoon or Saturday night.

Zev

Seattle-Shackamaxon Trade

2011-11-10T12:51:00.001-05:00

The first item on the Seattle Discount Rack has been sold. Reliever Tsumich Yoshida has been traded to Shackamaxon for an eighth round pick in the upcoming draft.

Surely, other buyers are interested at these low, low prices. I mean, Tabito Hara is the #80 prospect in the game and just hit 30 home runs in AAA. There's nobody that could use a solid bat off the bench?

Sim's Done

2011-11-09T22:51:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 11/25/2019

Signings: Shackamaxon signed LF Charles Sallee ($760k, formerly with Cleveland) and LF Robert Estill ($720k, formerly of Maui) to one year contracts.

Next Sim: Thursday night

Sim's Done

2011-11-06T16:41:00.000-05:00

Game Date: 11/18/2019

Free Agent Signings:
Maui: LF Chris Stewart (minor league contract)
Shackamaxon: C Douglas Stiger, 1 year, $740k.

Next sim will be Tuesday evening.

In addition, Brent has announced that he is stepping down from the league. I will be putting his team on auto-control pending a new owner taking over the team.

Zev

Available Merchandise at the Seattle Shopping Center

2011-11-06T11:02:00.005-05:00

Some of the players available at the Seattle Shopping Center this fine offseason.

Tiffany Division (highest quality, highest priced merchandise)

C Alberto "Nitro" Granado. The best catcher in the game right now. Could be moved only because Steve "Sinner" Jones is almost ready. He only has one year left before free agency, so the price would be tempered by that, but it would still take a strong offer to get Granado away.

I also thought I'd be shopping SP Nicholas Vargas, but he re-signed at a bargain, so I'm probably holding on to him for now.

Macy's Division (reasonably priced, quality merchandise)

LH RP Joshua Stoker. A dependable arm from the bullpen, Stoker is simply the most expendable of my windfall of great left-handed relievers (see also the 3C's: Ch'On, Chiappo, and Campbell).

RH RP Dalton Davis. One of the better right-handed relievers in the game, Davis is a year away from free agency and I'm unlikely to keep him. Priced accordingly.

3B Gregorio Reyna. Reyna is a good but probably not great third baseman who was lights out in 2018 (more than 70 VORP) and solid last year (13 VORP). He's also cheap ($300K this year) and under club control (three years of arbitration). But I've got other infielders coming, most notably Ivan Castillo, who look like they're going to take Reyna's job away by the end of 2020, if not sooner.

CF Steve Keo. I honestly don't know what to make of Keo. He's tremendous on defense and should be a better hitter than he's showed. For instance, he was really pissed (rightfully so) at his crappy 2019 campaign. Still just 25, still at a minimum salary with arbitration years ahead of him, I think he just needs a chance to play every day. But, he's never going to get that chance in Seattle, so I'd like to move him for his own benefit.

Wal-Mart Division (very cheaply priced, but not useless merchandise)

Here are prospects who have played well, but will simply never get a chance to make the majors in Seattle in the near future. These guys are available more or less for the best offer received.

AAA 1B Tabito Hara. Coming off a AAA MVP season where he hit .327 with 30 home runs. But, no room at the inn in the majors for him.

AA SS Paco Martinez. An international signing last year, played well in A-ball and AA last season. Brilliant defensively. But getting older.

AAA/ML P Shigenaga Murakami. Solid reliever who is only 23 and who might be able to start. Passed up by other prospects.

AAA MR Tsumich Yoshida. A 0.97 ERA in AAA last year. Only 23. Just has too many guys ahead of him in line for a major league job. UPDATE: SOLD to Shackamaxon for the low, low price of an 8th round pick.

My scout has Martinez 1*/1*, but the other three as all better than that. But, make your best offer.

Sim's Done (11/11/2019)

2011-11-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

Sim's Done.

Due to requests from various owners, the next sim will be on Saturday night.

Zev

Sim's Done

2011-11-01T09:53:00.002-04:00

Game Date: 11/4/2019

The sim was run last night. This is your last chance to make offers to impending free agents.

The next sim will be run tonight.

Zev

Sim's Done -- Awards Given Out!!

2011-10-29T22:18:00.000-04:00

Game Date: 10/28/2019

Awards Presented:

Slick Fielders:

P Trey Albarado, Brooklyn
C Lewis Bell, Monck's Corner
1B Benito Torre, Cleveland
2B Luis Cedeno, Brooklyn
3B Ronald Quijada, Cleveland
SS Carlos Pais, Hickory
LF Alvin Sherman, Ohio
CF Luis Ramon, Saskatoon
RF Geoffrey Boerner, Cleveland

Outstanding Newcomer: Jesus Flores, Hickory. .322, 28HR, 90 RBI, .972 OPS
Outstanding Pitcher: Ronald Placencia, Seattle (4th award). 22-3, 3.01 ERA, 218K, 0.97 WHIP
Outstanding Batter: Ricky Peppers, Shackamaxon (3rd award). .357, 44HR, 120RBI, 21SB, 1.045 OPS

Next sim (taking us up to the free agent period) will be on Monday night.

Sim's Done (10/21/19)

2011-10-27T21:37:00.002-04:00

The sim was run tonight. Next sim (covering a week) will be run on Saturday night.

We'll Try Again Tonight

2011-10-27T10:46:00.002-04:00

Sorry, folks. Life got in the way and the sim wasn't run last night. I'll do it tonight.

Zev

Time to Make Your Offers

2011-10-24T07:46:00.003-04:00

And make them good.

SP Juan Villatoro
SP Danny Andrews
MR Robert Brown
MR Tony Errico
2B Tim Palacio
3B Ken Lea
SS Dan Burdine
CF Guillaume Fournier
RF Pedro Valdes

This is not a fire sale. Real offers that cause pain to the other side WILL be considered!

Gregory Mudge Named To The Hall of Fame

2011-10-23T22:55:00.001-04:00

Longtime Seattle first baseman Gregory Mudge was named to the SDMB OOTP Hall of Fame, becoming the fourth person enshrined and was inducted wearing a Monarch's crown.

Mudge retired from the league today among the league leaders in many offensive categories.

Games -- 1831 (12th)
At Bats -- 7078 (7th)
Hits -- 2153 (3rd)
Home Runs -- 423 (7th)
RBI -- 1351 (6th)
Runs -- 1159 (11th)

Mudge joins Saskatoon outfielder Michael Fay, Saskatoon pitcher Demarcus Ramirez and pitcher Chad Nelligan in the Hall.

Offseason Begins

2011-10-23T22:48:00.000-04:00

Game Date: Oct 13, 2019

I have advanced the game one day to begin the offseason.

The next sim (covering a week) will occur on Wednesday night.
After that, we should have nightly sims covering a week at a time on every night except Friday and Sunday (unless otherwise noted).

Zev

Old Adams League Pride

2011-10-18T14:17:00.002-04:00

There have been four seasons (2016-19) since the realignment. In those four years, 10 of the 12 playoff teams have come from the six franchises that made up the old Adams League. Among the original Zotti League, only River Cities and Cleveland have made the playoffs, one time each.

All four championships since realignment have been won by Adams League franchises (Seattle twice, Saskatoon, and Maui).

I always said that the Adams League was strongest. I now have proof. Hah!

Maui Mashers Dethrone Monarchs With 10-3 Victory.

2011-10-17T23:28:00.000-04:00

The Maui Mashers have captured the Cecil Cup and became the SDMB League champions for 2019 by defeating the Seattle Monarchs 4 games to 2.

In Game 6, it was Maui all the way. They led off the top of the first with four runs and never relinquished the lead.

At this point, we'll take a few days off to allow Matt to bask in the glory of the title and return to our schedule on Saturday night.

Congrats Matt, on a season well played.

Zev

Maui's Five Homers Down Monarchs, Take 3-2 Lead in Cecil Cup Series

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

The balls were flying out of the park off of the Maui bats as the Maui Mashers defeated the Seattle Monarchs 5-2, putting them one victory away from a Cecil Cup championship.

Ronald Placencia didn't have his stuff today as five different Mashers each launched a solo home run off of the veteran right-hander. On the other side, Anibal Ottman scattered eight hits over seven innings giving up only two runs.

Game 6 -- Monday night

Fike Shuts Down Monarchs, Series Tied 2-2

2011-10-16T00:44:00.001-04:00

This time, Kyle Fike was out to get even. After losing Game 1 of the series in terrible fashion, Kyle Fike put on his A-game and held the Seattle Monarchs to three hits over eight innings. Only one runner even reached third base in the entire game for Seattle, as the Mashers defeated the Monarchs 5-0.

Game 4 will be Sunday night (not before 7PM EDT).

Hall of Fame II

2011-10-13T13:35:00.000-04:00

While we have this lull in the hot, hot playoff action, I just wanted to drop a reminder about my prior post on the Hall of Fame.

I recognize that I may be the only person interested in this topic. If so, I'll happily go off and figure out who I think should be in the Hall of Fame and basically just amuse myself.

But, if anyone else is even remotely interested in this, please let me know in the comments section. Thanks.

Hester Allows Only Two Hits, Still Loses

2011-10-11T23:35:00.000-04:00

Today's action in the Cecil Cup series included another pitcher's duel. Christopher Hester pitched six innings of two hit ball, but it wasn't enough as Ferdinand Pineda out-dueled him to a 2-1 victory.

Game 4 will be simmed on Saturday night.

Ottman Pitches Well, Morrales Pitches Better -- Seattle Takes a 2-0 Lead

2011-10-10T23:06:00.000-04:00

Anibal Ottman of the Maui Mashers threw seven innings of one-run ball today, but he was outmatched by Juan Morrales who threw eight shoutout innings of five-hit ball. Only twice -- in the first inning and the seventh, did a Masher runner even reach second base -- and none reached third.

Game 3 tomorrow night

Monarchs Pound Mashers, Take 1-0 Lead In Series

2011-10-09T13:48:00.000-04:00

The Seattle Monarchs took a quick 1-0 lead in the Cecil Cup series by mauling the Maui Mashers 13-1.

The Mashers took the lead in the top of the first when leadoff batter Ricardo Sanchez reached second base on an error. He then went to third on a ground out and came home on Jim Lefebrve's single.

And that was it for Maui's offense. Seattle, on the other hand, was just getting started. They scored four in the bottom of the first to take a 4-1 lead. It turn out that they wouldn't need any more offense, but nonetheless, they added an additional nine runs to make the game into a laugher.

Ronald Placencia held the Mashers to five hits over eight innings, allowing only the one unearned run. The hitting stars of the game include Rich Bender (3-4, 2B/HR, 4 runs), Bruce Frison (2-3, 2B/HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI), and Alberto Granado (3-4, HR, 2 runs, 5 RBI).

Upcoming Schedule:

Game 2: Monday night, 10/10
Game 3: Tuesday night, 10/11
Game 4: Saturday night, 10/15
Game 5: Sunday night, 10/16
Game 6: Monday night, 10/17
Game 7: Tuesday night, 10/18

Monarchs Complete Comeback In Dramatic See-Saw Fifteen Inning Victory

2011-10-06T22:26:00.000-04:00

The Seattle Monarchs completed an amazing comeback, returning from a 3-1 deficit to win Game 7 with a dramatic fifteen inning victory over the Hickory Huskers that ended with a walk-off home run.

The action started in the top of the second when Christopher Moss led off the frame with an infield single. He went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a Tyler Thomas single. Seattle took the lead when Bas Bijkerk hit a two-out double to center. That was followed by a walk to pitcher Nicolas Vargas and a Richard Bender double which brought home both runners.

In the top of the seventh, Christopher Moss battled back from an 0-2 count to work a walk from Vargas. After Paul Shunk struck out, Tyler Thomas hit a double to left-center, sending Moss to third. With second and third occupied with one out, Thomas Geter came to the plate and flied out to center field. Christopher Moss is fast and decided to test Bas Bijkerk's throwing arm in center. Moss came home, but Bijkerk's throw came in ahead of him, for the third out of the inning.

With the score standing at 2-1, Hickory came to the top of the ninth facing elimination. The Monarchs brought in their closer Robert Riddick to finish off the Huskers. Gustavo Silva came in to pinch hit and led off with an infield single. Jesus Flores walked, moving the tying run to second. After Christopher Moss struck out for the first out, Paul Shunk came up and hit a line drive single to right. Silva came home to tie the game up at two runs each. Tyler Thomas then stepped up to the plate and on the first pitch hit the ball to third baseman Gregorio Reyna, who threw the ball away, allowing Flores to come home with the go-ahead run. Shunk went to third and Thomas took second. With the score now at 3-2 Hickory, Thomas Geter struck out for the second out. Carlos Pais then walked to load the bases. With pinch hitter Cristobal Santoyo at the plate, Riddick finally managed to get out of the inning by striking out Santoyo.

The game then went to the bottom of the ninth with Seattle now facing the same elimination that the Huskers faced a half-inning earlier. The Huskers brought in their closer, Thomas Ramirez, to bring an end to the Monarch's season. Pinch hitter Juan Gomez flied out to start the inning. The next batter was another pinch-hitter, Jonathan Anderson, who reached on an infield single. The next batter, Toshinobu Mizutani lined a single to left, moving Anderson to second. Another pinch-hitter, Kevin Craig hit the first pitch for a single. Anderson rounded third, heading for home ahead of the throw. After a close play at the plate, Craig made it home safely to tie the game at three runs each. With one out and the winning run on second base, Ramirez managed to induce Richard Bender to ground into an inning-ending double play, sending the game into extra inning.

Seattle brought in Manuele Chiappo to pitch the tenth inning. The first batter, George LaBarre, hit a double to center. The next batter, Marvin Cardoza, came to the plate. After the first pitch, LaBarre took off for third, but catcher Alberto Granado nailed a throw to third to catch LaBarre. Cardoza walked on four pitches. Flores followed that up with a single, sending Cardoza to third. With runners on the corners and one out, Christopher Moss stepped to the plate. Chiappo battled back from a 3-1 count to get Moss to strike out. Paul Shunk then struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the tenth, Reyna led off the inning with a strikeout. Bruce Frison then singled, bringing Granado to the plate. With a full count, Frison took off for second. Granado swung through the pitch and Geter rifled the ball down to second for a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. John Hukill then popped up to third to end the inning.

The pitching then settled down for both sides as inning after inning passed without any serious threat, until the top of the fourteenth. Carlos Pais led off the inning with a four-pitch walk against William Haner. Pitcher Forest Powell then laid down a sacrifice bunt to send Pais to second. The Monarchs then intentionally walked George LaBarre to face Marvin Cardoza. Cardoza laced an infield single to load the bases with one out. Haner then managed to get Flores to fly out to shallow left and Christopher Moss to ground out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourteenth, Juan Gomez reached first with a lead-off single against Powell. After Jonathan Anderson popped up to second, Mizutani came to the plate. On the second pitch Powell uncorked a wild one, sending Gomez to second. Mizutani then grounded out, sending Gomez to third. With the winning run on third, up came pitcher William Haner*. Haner managed to work the count full before grounding out to end the inning.

The next action finally happened in the bottom of the fifteenth when, with Powell still pitching, Richard Bender strode to the plate to lead off the inning. After working the count 1-2, he grounded out to end the inning. The next batter, ~~Chris Chambliss~~ Gregorio Reyna came to the plate. After getting himself in the box, he lofted Powell's first pitch into the right field stands, 380 feet away.

Game 1 of the Cecil Cup -- Maui vs. Seattle will be simmed on Sunday morning.

Zev

* To see how this might have worked out, check out this video of the Mets/Braves game on July 4, 1985. The Braves came were down by a run in the 13th with two out when pitcher Rick Camp came to the plate:

Monarchs Thrash Huskers, Force Game 7

2011-10-05T23:31:00.000-04:00

The Seattle Monarchs managed to stay alive yet again in their playoff series with the Hickory by defeating the Huskers 10-4.

The Huskers drew first blood in the top of the first when George LaBarre led off with a single against Christopher Hester. LaBarre then stole second, which proved completely unnecessary when the second batter, James Drum, walked. That brought up Jesus Flores. After a double steal, Flores grounded out, bringing LaBarre home and sending Drum to third. Drum was then brought home by a Christopher Moss single, making the score 2-0.

The Monarchs struck back in the bottom of the first, with a leadoff triple by Richard Bender. He was later brought home by John Hukill's infield hit. Two batters later, Hukill came home on a Juan Gomez single.

Hickory retook the lead in the top of the third on a home run to right by Flores, but the lead was short-lived. Bruce Frison led off the bottom of the inning with a single. He stole second and then went to third on a groundout. That was all for Hickory starter James Turner as he was relieved by Jacobo Centeno. The next batter, Juan Gomez, hit a 1-2 pitch to deep left-center, bring Frison home. Gomez was brought home by Bas Bijkerk, who hit a double on the next at bat, making the score 4-3.

Seattle added another two runs in the fourth when Frison hit a two run homer to left off of reliever Franklin Erickson. Hickory tried to come back in the fifth, when they managed to get a run on a LaBarre single, a Drum single and a Christopher Moss double, bringing LaBarre home. Yet, with runners on second and third and down by two runs, Paul Shunk grounded back to the pitcher to end the inning.

Seattle added another two in the sixth with a home run by Gregorio Reyna and another two in the seventh on a John Hukill home run and pinch hitter James Dodd's single.

Game 7 -- Thursday night.

Hall of Fame

2011-10-05T11:09:00.003-04:00

Now that I've compiled all this data, I think it would be fun to go back and look at potential candidates to be put into the league Hall of Fame. And, since Zev thinks it might be fun too, I thought I would kick off the discussion.

Right now, there are three guys there:

SP Chad Nelligan
SP Demarcus Ramirez
CF Michael Fay

I can't really argue with any of those three choices (well, maybe Fay a little), but my research has convinced me that there are other guys just as deserving, if not moreso. Once the playoffs are over, I think it would be fun to suggest candidates and see what people think.

But, in preparing for that, what information would people want about the candidates? Career value? Three-year peak? Five-year peak? If you have any ideas for what information I should pull together about the candidates, drop them in the comments. Thanks.

Seattle Stays Alive With Extra Inning Win

2011-10-05T00:11:00.000-04:00

The Seattle Monarchs kept their Cecil Cup hopes alive today with a 10-inning 5-4 victory over the Hickory Huskers.

The Monarchs put two on the board in the top of the second against starter James Turner when pitcher Ronald Placencia hit a two-out bases-loaded double to right, bringing home two runners. However, the Monarchs ended the inning when the runner on first, Jonathan Anderson, decided to test RF Paul Shunk's arm. Shunk, who has a terrific arm, mowed down Anderson (who is not all that fast) as the latter tried for home, ending the inning.

Hickory responded in the bottom of the inning with a lead-off single by Christopher Moss, followed by a double by Shunk, bringing Moss home. Two batters later, James Drum lofted a Placencia pitch over the left field wall for a two run home run, making the score 3-2.

Seattle reclaimed the lead in the fourth on a double to center by Alberto Granado and a single to left-center by Bas Bijkerk (who, just to remind everyone had three round-trippers in the 2017 and 2018 playoffs).

Hickory tied it up in the eighth when George LaBarre stroked a solo homer to right off of Placencia. Neither team scored in the ninth, taking the game into extra frames.

In the top of the tenth, Hickory had Ray Lewis on the mound, starting his second inning of relief work. On the first pitch of the inning, Paulino Reyes lined to left for a single. The next batter, Steve Keo, laced a single to right, sending Reyes to third. On the next pitch Keo was promptly picked off. However, it mattered little as on the very next pitch, Lewis corked a wild pitch, allowing Reyes to come home with the go-ahead run. Lewis managed to get out of the rest of the inning without incident, but the damage was already done.

Seattle brought in closer Robert Riddick to save the game in the bottom of the tenth. LaBarre did manage to reach second on a two-out double, but Riddick got Bill Elder to fly out to right to end the game.

Game 6 on Wednesday night.

Maui Sweeps, Hickory Takes 3-1 Lead

2011-10-04T00:03:00.000-04:00

I hear tell that in those other leagues, there are playoffs going on, but we all know that they aren't really important. The really important action is going on here. :)

The Maui Mashers completed their sweep of the Saskatoon Amigos today after a come-from-behind, 9th inning 4-3 victory. Saskatoon got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run double off the bat of Santiago Salazar. A third run was tacked on with a solo shot from Gregorio Marzano.

In the fourth inning, Maui began their comeback. An RBI single off the bat of Pedro Martinez narrowed the gap to 3-1. Saskatoon had a chance to add some insurance runs in the fifth when Maui pitcher Kenneth Byers loaded the bases on three walks with only one out. Byers, however, managed to get Marzano to line out to right field (preventing the runner at third from tagging up) and then induced a pop fly to left from Salazar.

Maui put a second run on the board in the seventh pitcher Kenneth Byers drove home a run with an RBI single to right-center. The score stood 3-2 until the ninth inning when Hickory brought in their closer, Manuel Robles, to close out the game. However, after retiring the first batter, he gave up a four-pitch walk to Gabriel Sequerios. After striking out pinch hitter Kareem King, he gave up a first-pitch home run to Ricardo Sanchez to give Maui a 4-3 lead. After that, Maui brought in their closer, Carlos "Toast" Arias, and the Amigos were toast.

The Hickory Huskers are now one win away from their first trip to the Cecil Cup series, after defeating the Monarchs 6-1. 19-game-winner Juan Morrales just didn't have it today, as he gave up four runs to the Huskers in the very first inning.

It all started out when George LaBarre led off the bottom of the first with a single. James Drum followed with an infield single. Jesus Flores hit a 2-1 pitch to short bringing home LaBarre. Christopher Moss flied out to deep center field, allowing Drum to go to third. He was then brought home on a sac fly by Paul Shunk. The next batter, Tyler Thomas, hit a ball over the left field fence to give the Huskers a 4-0 lead. Seattle scratched together a run on a leadoff single by pitcher Juan Morrales, two more singles and a sac fly by John Hukill. Hickory tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a George LaBarre single and a Jesus Flores single, knocking Morrales out of the box. However, by then the damage was done. After that, Seattle never got a runner past second base. Richard Shipp picks up his second lifetime postseason victory with an eight inning, one-run effort.

Game 5 will be tomorrow night.

Maui Leads 3-0, Hickory Up 2-1 Over Seattle

2011-10-01T23:39:00.000-04:00

The Maui Mashers are now only one win away from advancing to the Cecil Cup series with it's 4-2 victory over the Amigos.

The Mashers took a quick lead in the first with a solo home run by Octavio Cabrales. The Amigos responded with two in the third on singles by Rufus Murray and Santiago Salazar.

That's the way it stood until the eighth inning, when Maui put three more on the board on solo round trippers by Ricardo Sanchez and Bruce Parker and a single by Barney Maxon, bringing the game to 4-2, its final score, giving the victory to starter Ferdinand Pineda.

Over in Hickory, it was all Huskers over the Monarchs in a 6-3 victory. Hickory started right away in the first off of starter Nicholas Vargas when George LaBarre reached first on a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a ground out and then scored on Christopher Moss's single. A second run was added the next inning on a Christopher Pais solo blast.

Seattle managed to tie the game in the bottom of the second when Nicholas Vargas reached first on a failed sacrifice bunt. He went to second on a walk to Richard Bender and then scored on a Gregorio Reyna single. Bender himself came home on a Bruce Frison ground out.

However, Seattle's lead evaporated as quickly as a break in the rain clouds over the city. George LaBarre, the first hitter of Hickory's half of the third inning reached on a first-pitch single to left-center. The next batter, Tyler Thomas, launched a 1-2 pitch to center field for a two run homer. Three batters later, Paul Shunk hit his second home run of the series, a two run shot, to make the score 6-2.

Seattle never made it back from that deficit. John Hukill did manage to put another run on the board for the Monarchs with a solo home run in the sixth, but otherwise, Seattle never seriously threatened. Hickory starter Donald Hunnicutt pitched eight innings for the victory.

Game 4: Monday night

Updated Career VORP Leaderboard

2011-09-30T16:07:00.002-04:00

With the numbers from the recently completed 2019 season plugged in, here is the current list of all-time most valuable players, as determined by VORP.

1. RF Brian Frison, 867.3 VORP
2. SP Demarcus Ramirez, 831.2 VORP
3. SS John Hukill, 807.8 VORP
4. 1B Dong Lutz, 764.5 VORP
5. SP Ronald Placencia, 760.4 VORP
6. SP Chad Nelligan, 760.2 VORP
7. SS Ricky Peppers, 751.5 VORP
8. SP John Okane, 724.1 VORP
9. SP Christopher Hester, 682.9 VORP
10. SP Juan Villatoro, 662.3 VORP
11. RF Christopher Moss, 661.7 VORP

I included Moss on the list because he's much closer to Villatoro than what I would consider to be the range of error in measuring and calculating VORP.

More posts to come during the playoffs and offseason, now that I have the 2019 numbers plugged in.

Maui Takes 2-0 Lead, Hickory and Seattle Tied at 1

2011-09-28T01:34:00.000-04:00

The Maui Mashers continued their dominance over Saskatoon with a 7-1 victory in the Aloha State. The heroes of the game for Maui were 3B Bruce Parker, who was 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI, and starter Anibal Ottoman who pitched a five-hit complete game.

Over in the Pacific northwest, Hickory managed to hold off the Seattle Monarchs and take a 3-2 victory. The Huskers lead 3-0 after the top of the third. Seattle tried to make their way back but were unable to do so, despite a two run home run by Richard Bender in the eighth.

Game 3 will be simmed on Saturday night.

Seattle, Maui Take Leads on Identical 6-1 Victories

2011-09-27T00:10:00.000-04:00

Game 2, tomorrow night.

Regular Season Is Done

2011-09-26T00:18:00.000-04:00

Game Date: September 23, 2019

Who Uploaded?:
Hickory
Maui
Monck's Corner
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Final League Leaders:
Batting:
Batting Average: Ricky Peppers, Shackamaxon .357
OBP: Callum Ganyon, Ohio .461
Slugging: Ricky Peppers, .642
OPS: Ricky Peppers, 1.045
VORP: Ricky Peppers, 105.2
Hits: Ricky Peppers, 232
Doubles: Raul Ortega, Ohio, 54
Triples: Timothy Mendiola, Saskatoon and Luis Ramon, Saskatoon, 11
Home Runs: David Seibel, Hickory, 51
RBI: Raul Ortega, 145
Runs Scored: David Seibel, 141
Stolen Bases: Guillaume Fournier, Monck's Corner, 64
Walks: Sherman Evanoff, Shackamaxon, 127

Pitching:
Earned Run Average: Enrico Hernandez, Seattle 190
Wins: Ronald Placencia, Seattle and Thomas Cohen, Saskatoon, 22
Saves: Bill Dewall, Ohio, 37
Shutouts, Enrico Hernandez and Thomas Cohen, 3
VORP: Allen Reuter, Brooklyn, 79.0
H/9 IP: Enrico Hernandez, 6.34
HR/9 IP: Kyle Fike, Maui 0.12
BB/ 9 IP: Thomas Cohen, 0.98
Strikeouts: Donald Hunnicutt, Hickory, 249
K/9 IP: Donald Hunnicutt, 10.08

Milestones:
Cleveland's Ronald Quijada hit his 300th home run (17th)

Playoff Schedule:
1st round: Saskatoon vs. Maui, Hickory vs. Seattle
Game 1: Monday night, Sep 26
Game 2: Tuesday night, Sep 27
Game 3: Saturday night, Oct 1
Game 4: Monday night, Oct 3
Game 5: Tuesday night, Oct 4
Game 6: Wednesday night, Oct 5
Game 7: Thursday night, Oct 6

September II Sim Done

2011-09-21T22:54:00.000-04:00

Game Date: 9/16/2019

Who Uploaded?:
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
Saskatoon
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Hickory wins the division.
Zotti: Seattle wins the division
Signorino: Maui wrapped this one up loooong ago.
Wild Card: Saskatoon leads Ohio by six, with six to play. Magic number = 1

Awards & Accomplishments:
CF Raul Ortega, of Ohio, wins Player of the Week (9/2)
Saskatoon CF Rufus Murray named Player of the Week (9/9)
Saskatoon's Santigao Salazar hits for the cycle against Shackamaxon (9/15)

Saskatoon CF Rufus Murray named Player of the Week (9/16) for the second week in a row.

Significant Injuries:
Monck's Corner's Guillame Fournier hyperextended his elbow, ending his season.
Ohio's Callum Ganyon fractured his knee and won't be able to play until next March.

Milestones:
Hickory's Paul Shunk recorded his 2000th hit, becoming the 10th player to reach that goal.
Brooklyn's Miguel Cuesta blasted his 400th home run, becoming the ninth player to reach that goal.

Miscellaneous Statistical Note:
Players who have 2000 hits AND 400 home runs: Christopher Moss, Dong Lutz, Ricky Peppers, Gregory Mudge, Brian Frison, Miguel Cuesta.

Next Sim: The rest of the regular season will be run next *Sunday* night, September 25

2002: Who Should Have Won MVP and Cy Young?

2011-09-20T15:31:00.002-04:00

One thing I thought might be interesting is to look back at the prior years and see how well the game has done in handing out the big awards. So, let's go back to 2002. Unfortunately, due to the limitations described in other posts, there's some missing information about that year, but here is what I do know about our inaugural season.

Houston won the Adams Division with a 92-70 record, 12 games clear of Seattle. Stockholm claimed the Zotti at 91-71, five games ahead of Kingston. Houston won the first Cecil Cup four games to 1.

Who won the awards? In the Adams League, the winners were Houston leftfielder Shaun Guinn (.322, 35 home runs, 123 RBI) and Saskatoon's Wendell Sorg (15-9, 2.98 ERA, 211.1 innings). In the Zotti League, first baseman Frank Nunn of California (now Danville) took home the MVP award with a .334 batting average, 46 home runs, and 111 RBI. Troy Nelson of Stockholm (now Shackamaxon) was the Cy Young, going 17-6 with a 2.57 ERA over 241.2 innings.

Who should have won? Well, judging by VORP, the game got the pitching awards right for sure. Nelson's season was good for 80.7 runs saved above replacements, more than 20 runs (or two full wins) better than any other pitcher. He was dominant.

Sorg also was the best pitcher in the Adams with a 60.1 VORP, just ahead of Seattle's Steven Jurgens (55.5 VORP, 13-10 record with 3.43 ERA in 241.1 innings). Others are clustered behind, but Sorg was the right choice.

The Zotti MVP may have, but may not have, went to the right person. Nunn led the league in VORP at 83.7. The next closest though was Kingston (now Ohio) rightfielder Patrick Welch. A good corner defender, Welch had a 72.4 VORP while hitting .366 with 10 home runs and 81 RBI. Welch had a higher OBP (.427 vs. .402 for Dunn) and excellent speed (15 triples, 41 SBs). While VORP includes the effects of the speed and greater OBP, it doesn't include defense. If someone wants to argue that a good defensive rightfielder makes up 11 runs on a first baseman and really should be the MVP, I wouldn't fight them very much.

(After Welch, the next highest VORP for position players in the Zotti League was Kingston shortstop Emmanual Fernandez at 50.2, so it's really between Nunn and Welch.)

Undeniably though, the game got the Adams MVP wrong. Despite his power numbers, Guinn managed just a .369 OBP and a .913 OPS. The best player in the Adams League, and likely the best in the entire league, was Juan Melton. The Houston infielder hit .337 with 28 home runs and 108 RBI. But, he also had a .400 OBP and a .952 OPS. Melton’s 77.4 VORP dwarfs Guinn’s 57.5. In fact, considering Melton probably played either shortstop or second base, he likely was more valuable than either Nunn or Welch as well. Melton never won an MVP award, but by my count (as we’ll discuss in future installments) he should have gotten a couple of them. Maybe we can make it up to him at some point with a Hall of Fame induction.

(Guinn wasn’t even second in VORP, as he was also behind Brooklyn’s outfielder Robert Casarez. We’ll talk about Casarez in later years.)

Anyone else have any thoughts or memories of the 2002 season? Michael and Will, as you had the two best teams, I’d be especially interested in anything you can recall.

August II Sim Done

2011-09-18T02:48:00.000-04:00

Game Date: September 1, 2019

Who Uploaded?:
Danville
Hickory
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
New York
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Hickory leads Monck's Corner by six.
Zotti: Seattle's lead over Saskatoon is now at sixteen games
Signorino: Maui's lead is 28 games
Wild Card: Saskatoon over Ohio by five.

Awards & Accomplishments:
Hickory 3B Jorge Velazquez named Player of the Week (8/19)
Shackamaxon SS Ricky Peppers named Player of the Week (8/26)
Ricky Peppers named Player of the Month for the second time this season.
Seattle's Ronald Placencia named Pitcher of the Month for the eighth time since 2013.
Hickory 1B Jesus Flores named Rookie of the Month for the second month in a row

Significant Injuries:
Brooklyn SP Aaron Taub will miss four weeks with a strained back muscle
Hickory CF Tim Combs ruptured his medial collateral ligament and may miss the start of the 2020 season.
Danville 3B Michael Rector herniated a disc in his back and is questionable for the start of the 2020 season.

Milestones:
Seattle's Ronald Placencia recorded his 200th victory, making him the sixth pitcher to reach that goal.

Next sim:
Wednesday night, September 21

All-Time All-Star Team

2011-09-15T19:05:00.002-04:00

So, now that's I've compiled this absurdly large pool of data, now including the inaugural draft and the players created in 2003 and 2004, who is the ultimate All-Star team as measured by career VORP through 2018? Without further ado:

C: Herman Gossard (2006 draft, round 1, pick 5 by Houston) 408.9 VORP
1B: Dong Lutz (2006 draft, round 1, pick 1 by Hickory) 730.5 VORP
2B: Timothy Palacio (inaugural draft, round 13, pick 113 by Ohio) 561.3 VORP
3B: Eugene Alustiza (2008 draft, round 1, pick 2 by Danville) 420.2 VORP
SS: John Hukill (2005 draft, round 1, pick 8 by Danville) 747.9 VORP
LF: Roberto Casarez (inaugural draft, round 1, pick 6 by Brooklyn) 513.2 VORP
CF: Michael Fay (inaugural draft, round 2, pick 12 by Saskatoon) 527.8 VORP
RF: Brian Frison (2004 draft, round 1, pick 2 by Saskatoon) 816.9 VORP
SP: Demarcus Ramirez (inaugural draft, round 28, pick 220 by Saskatoon) 831.2 VORP
RP: Junior Cuomo (2003 draft, round 1, pick 7 by Shackamaxon) 335.9 VORP

Again, this is based on the players' positions at the time drafted/created.

Centerfield was VERY close, as Sean Arant had 524.7 VORP, only three runs fewer. As stated before, Arant was someone created when we filled out the AAA rosters in 2003 and went to Michael. Given the vagaries of VORP and my calculations, I'd call them tied for best CF of all-time.

Relief pitcher was even closer, as Timothy Vallejo (2003 draft, round 5, pick 37 by Seattle) is at 335.5 VORP, just 0.4 runs saved behind Cuomo. Again, given the vagaries of the VORP figures we're working with, I'd say they were tied. But, since Cuomo appears certain to pull away as the game goes on, it's not a particularly big deal.

Is anyone likely to break into these ranks in the next few years?

Well, Beau Manning was only 14 runs behind Gossard to start the year, but Gossard is widening the gap this year. No one else is close at catcher.

No one is particularly close at 1B, 2B, LF, CF, RF, or RP.

Grondin seems likely to be the top third baseman ever, probably by the end of 2021, but he doesn't play 3B at all anymore, so that's a little odd.

I guess Peppers could run down Hukill, but he started 2019 more than 100 runs behind.

As far as starters, it's possible that Placencia, Okane, and/or Hester could catch Ramirez. But, they entered 2018 135 runs, 156 runs, and 200 runs behind respectively. Villatoro is another candidate, especially as he's only 31. It's kind of a golden age for great pitchers right now.

Sim Delayed Until Saturday Night

2011-09-15T10:11:00.002-04:00

One of the owners has a corrupt file and can't get into the game. I'm going to upload a new game file to the server for him and delay the sim until Saturday night so that he can make his changes.

Zev

The Inaugural Draft

2011-09-13T18:50:00.002-04:00

So, the inaugural draft of the SDMB OOTP league was held on Zev's computer on December 15, 2002--almost 18 OOTP seasons ago and nine years ago in the real world. Being the curious sort that I am, I wanted to know who got the most value from the draft. I won't bore anyone with the details of how I got the data. Let's just say it wasn't easy.

But there is one problem with going back to the beginning worth mentioning. I don't have an almanac for the first year, 2002. So, it's difficult to find out what players did that year. If they were still in the game in 2007, I have player pages that have all of their stats going back to 2002. But, there are no player pages for 2002-06. So, if a player left the game before 2007, there's no way to get their 2002 stats. I don't have any team pages for that year because there's no almanac. I don't have any player pages because they left the league before the first set in 2007. In short, I'm stuck. Luckily, it's only 25 players that have this problem, and then only for 2002. (Well, there are three player-seasons after 2003 where I lack data, but those are special cases and really don't change the big picture very much.)

And, where I have been able to reconstruct 2002 player data, I don't have 2002 team or league data. That means it's hard to calculate 2002 VORP figures, because I don't have the league environment to compare it to. In the end, I just used the league figures from 2003 to form the environment, ran the calculations for the 2002 player-seasons, and called it a day.

Without further ado, here is the information for that first 50-round draft. This draft was all done by the computer, so I guess we can't kick ourselves for missing any players. In descending order of overall value:

1. Saskatoon: Picked 4th. 4,759 VORP over 278 seasons (17.1 average). Best player was Demarcus Ramirez (831.2 VORP over 15 seasons). Top season: Ramirez, 2009 (99.7 VORP).

2. Ohio (then Kingston): Picked 1st. 4,241.4 VORP over 238 seasons (17.8 average). Best player was Christopher Moss (610.9 VORP over 13 seasons, still playing). Top season: Timothy Palacio, 2011 (90.5 VORP).

3. Houston: Picked 3rd. 4,207.9 VORP over 291 seasons (14.5 average). Best player was Juan Melton (443.6 VORP over 8 years). Top season: Melton, 2006 (99.0 VORP).

4. Seattle: Picked 7th. 3,997.7 VORP over 262 seasons (15.3 average). Best player was Gregory Mudge (601.7 VORP over 14 seasons). Top season: Mudge, 2010 (94.2 VORP).

5. Monck's Corner (Virginia): Picked 8th. 3,869.1 VORP over 276 seasons (14.0 average). Best player was John Okane (675.7 VORP over 16 years, still playing). Top season: John Redman, 2009 (91.1 VORP).

6. Danville (California): Picked 2nd. 3,232.5 VORP over 270 seasons (12.0 average). Best player was David Kerry (503.3 VORP over 13 seasons, still playing). Top season: Frank Nunn 2004 (109.8 VORP).

7. Shackamaxon (Stockholm): Picked 5th. 2,756.5 VORP over 266 seasons (10.4 average). Best player was Troy Nelson (357.0 VORP over 9 seasons). Top season: Nelson, 2002 (80.7 VORP).

8. Brooklyn: Picked 6th. 2,560.4 VORP over 254 seasons (10.1 average). Best player was Robert Casarez (513.2 VORP over 8 years). Top season: Casarez 2004 (133.9 VORP).

Some other notes.

As you would probably expect, the players picked by 2002-03 champion Houston had the most combined value in 2002 and 2003.

Monck's Corner got two of the four most valuable players in Okane (6th round) and Albert Garcia (2nd round).

The first round pick with the highest career value was Richard Pimental, 4th overall, by Saskatoon.

The third most valuable player, Christopher Moss, was picked in the 42nd round by Ohio.

Troy Nelson, Shackamaxon's best pick, is only #28 overall. Michael did not do well in the draft, which makes his run of titles all the more impressive. (On the other hand, he did get Sean Arant when we filled the AAA rosters with created players in 2003, so he shouldn't sprain anything patting himself on the back.)

I'm Not Dead Yet!

2011-09-08T18:16:00.003-04:00

As I continue to troll through league history (amazing how much of the past I'd forgotten), I have discovered that we are down to our last few players from the inaugural draft. Here are the people still active, by my count:

Richard Bilbrey (47th round, Ohio)
Robert Camarena (44th round, Danville)
Marvin Cardoza (44th round, Monck's Corner)
David Kerry (23rd round, Danville)
Dennis Martinez (34th round, Saskatoon)
Christopher Moss (42nd round, Ohio)
John Okane (6th round, Monck's Corner)
Hector Orozco (35th round, Monck's Corner)
Timothy Palacio (15th round, Ohio)
Tyler Thomas (44th round, Saskatoon)

Also, still available in the free agency pool are Franklin Lakey (34th round, Shackamaxon) and Gregory Mudge (19th round, Seattle).

So, who do you think will be the last one standing from this group?

August I Sim Done

2011-09-07T23:23:00.000-04:00

Game Date: August 16, 2019

Who Uploaded?:
Cleveland
Houston
Maui
Monck's Corner
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Hickory leads Monck's Corner by six.
Zotti: Seattle's lead over Saskatoon expands to fourteen games.
Signorino: Maui's up by two dozen games.
Wild Card: Saskatoon leads Ohio by five games.

Awards and Accomplishments:
Hickory's Paul Shunk named Batter of the Month
Maui's Kyle Fike named Pitcher of the Month
Hickory's Jesus Flores named Rookie of the Month
Hickory's George LaBarre named Player of the Week (8/5)
Seattle's Enrico Hernandez pitches a no-hitter against Brooklyn.
Monck's Corner's Kenneth Lea named Player of the Week (8/12)

Significant Injuries:
Houston's Felipe Valverde fractured his eye socket and will miss the rest of the season.
Seattle MR Joshua Stoker will miss about two months with a strainer rotator cuff.
Maui's Kevin Jackson herniated his disk. He will miss the rest of the season and is questionable for the start of 2020.
Maui's Enrico Hernandez strained his elbow and will miss the rest of the season.

Milestones:
Timothy Palacio reaches 2000 hits, becoming the ninth player to reach that plateau.

Next sim:
*Thursday* night, September 15

New Leader in the Clubhouse!

2011-09-07T13:39:00.003-04:00

As I continue to compile VORP for the players in the league's history, we have a new leader for all-time most valuable player:

Demarcus Ramirez

When Demarcus Ramirez retired at the end of the 2018 season, he had accumulated 831.2 runs of VORP, or 83 wins. That places Mr. Ramirez ahead of his former teammate Brian Frison, who had 816.9 VORP through the end of the 2018 season. (We'll all ignore the fact that Frison has moved ahead since then by accumulating 33.9 VORP this year.)

I haven't finished figuring out all of the original players' VORP, but I'll be surprised if someone tops Demarcus.

P.S. I might be even more impressed that Ramirez spent his entire career with Saskatoon. That's a lot of time on the prairie.

P.P.S. Ramirez might be the ultimate example of a player going out on top, as he was 19-7 with a 2.76 ERA over 264.1 innings and won the championship in his final season at age 38. Nicely done.

Piggy Post

2011-09-05T23:49:00.004-04:00

Available

C - Brian Walker C 24yrs 4 Potential Stars Minors
C - Roberto Perez C 24yrs 3 Potential Stars Minors

Why?

Foot odor.

In return I would like pitching and/or draft picks that do not have foot odor.

That is all.

Seattle Trades Utility Infielder for Worthless Lottery Ticket

2011-09-01T13:20:00.003-04:00

July 30, 2019 (SEATTLE): Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz announced today the fourth trade of the month for the Monarchs, this one fairly minor. Utility infielder/outfielder and pending free agent Roberto Ferrer has been dealt to Monck's Corner in exchange for a 2020 sixth-round pick.

"Yeah, a sixth round pick isn't worth very much. Our exhaustive draft research has taught us that," said Shultz. "But we've got other guys ready to fill in the major league roster and Robbie didn't seem all that interested in returning to Seattle next year. Hopefully, he plays well for the Monks and boosts their chances at overtaking Hickory."

Ferrer was reportedly excited at the opportunity and vowed to "stick it to" the Monarchs the next time they played, which will be August 22-24.

July II Sim Done -- Trading Deadline

2011-09-01T00:19:00.000-04:00

Game Date: July 30, 2019

Who Uploaded?
Houston
Maui
Ohio
Seattle
Shackamaxon

Standings:
Adams: Hickory leads Monck's Corner by five games.
Zotti: Seattle's lead over Saskatoon is up to a dozen games
Signorino: Maui leads the division by a score
Wild Card: Saskatoon leads by six over Shackamaxon

Awards and Accomplishments:
July 19, 2019 was truly a remarkable day as three players all went 5-5 that day. The three players were Maui's Octavio Callabres, Danville's Abe Shivley (who also hit for the cycle that day) and New York's Lonnie Machen.
Ohio SS Collum Ganyon was named Player of the Week (7/22)
Seattle C Alberto Granado was named Player of the Week (7/29)

Significant Injuries:
Seattle RF Anson Shearing will miss 3-4 weeks with a strained elbow ligament

Milestones:
Seattle's Christopher Hester recorded his 200th career victory, making him the fifth pitcher to reach that milestone.

Next sim: Next Wednesday night, September 7. That sim will be the last chance to conduct trades.