Sim's Done

Game Date:  12/1/2020

Signings:
Saskatoon:  MR Dalton Davis (Seattle) 4 yrs/$17.6m
Hickory:  MR Robert Brown (Monck's Corner) 1 yr/$430k
Cleveland:  C John Dash (Saskatoon) 3 yrs/$3.25m
Monck's Corner:  LF Kevin Rubio (New York) 1 yr/$1m
Monck's Corner:  RF Robert Estill (Shackamaxon) 3 yrs/$5.5m
Maui:  MR Michael Friday (New York) 3 yrs/$13m
Cleveland:  SS Roberto Ferrer (New York) 2 yrs/$1.5m

Next sim:  Sunday evening.  This sim will cover the rule 5 draft and take the game to the end of the next game week.  Please have your Rule 5 draft selections (if any) in by Sunday evening.

Zev

Sim's Done

Game Date:  11/25/2012

Free Agent Signings:
Cleveland:  SS William Midkiff (re-signed) 2yrs/$1.6mm
Houston:  SP John Hoffman (Shackamaxon) to a minor-league contract
Maui:  SP Zhi-fu Duan (Taiwan) to a minor-league contract

Next sim:  Wednesday evening, taking us to Dec 1 and the Rule V Draft.

Zev

REMINDER

All owners:

Please remember to cc: me (mweintr@gmail.com) on any and all trade announcements that are made, in addition to Zev. I need the e-mails to confirm that the deals are made, in case I run a sim for Zev. I also use them for updating the traded draft pick list, if a draft pick is included in the deal. A single post on the blog is not sufficient notification.

Failure to not e-mail the trade, and its confirmation, to both Zev and myself may lead to the trade not being processed.

Atlanta (Cleveland) gets at top 10 prospect

Houston's 1B prospect Dusty Huff is making the move to the new Atlanta franchise as part of a 5 player deal that was just completed moments ago. Huff is the #10 prospect in the SDMB and last year in AAA hit 19 HR's with 87 RBI while having a slash line of .355/.405/.602 while trying to learn 2B and SS. He has not progressed in learning the middle infield so he will be moved into the starting lineup for the Hurricanes and at 1B to replace Tabito Hara who was a complete failure at the position last season.

Also in the deal heading to Atlanta is 2B prospect Bartolo 'Noodle' Cordova, SP prospect Jack Kaiser, $4.5M and a 7th round pick. In return, Houston receives MR Billie Pheiffer and CL prospect Paul Griffith along with their 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft. Houston GM Willard Taylor was very excited with the additions of the Pheiffer and Griffith, but he was most excited with the 3rd round pick that he was receiving. He said, "It is like getting a second round pick seeing that Cleveland was so bad last season. I wish Huff, Cardova and Kaiser the best, but I think I can get someone much better than all three of them combined with this pick."

This deal should be completed in the next few days as Houston continues with their offseason rebuilding project. This has been an active start to the OOTP13 era and I think that the deals are just getting started as we head on to 2021.

Sim's Done --- UPDATED -- OK TO DOWNLOAD LEAGUE FILE YET

Game Date:  11/18/2020

No major signings.

Please note that the Rule 5 draft is coming up (Dec 1, 2020), so please begin looking into placing eligible players that you want to protect on your 40-man rosters.

Next sim:  Tuesday evening.

Zev

UPDATED:  I made an error in this sim and will have to re-run it.  Please do NOT download the new league file until I post again.  Thanks.

UPDATED (11:45pm EDT):  OK to download league file.  If you downloaded a file before now, please re-download.

Zev

Seattle Sheds Star Shortstop

In a shocking transaction, the Seattle Monarchs today sent star shortstop Richard Bender to rival Saskatoon.  In return for the third-ranked shortstop in the game, Seattle received only Saskatoon's first and fourth round picks in the upcoming draft.

Questions immediately swirled.  Why would Seattle deal a critical cog in its lineup?  Had Bender, a known gourmand, literally eaten himself out of Seattle?  Had one of Bender's pieces of arm candy filed a complaint against him?  Why was he traded?  Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz, normally loquatious, grunted only, "We're always trying to improve the organization and saw an opportunity here."  While Ivan Castillo was impressive in his rookie season, filling Bender's shoes as a full-time starter (albeit at second base with Hukill sliding to shortstop) will be a very tall order.

Rumors followed closely on the heels of the trade announcement.  Apparently Bender has been marketing exciting investment opportunities to teammates.  Unfortunately, the exciting investment opportunities were oil and gas leases for land without any petroleum reserves.  Teammates were swindled out of hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.  Shultz, when he found out about this, decided to send Bender to the most god-forsaken place he could find.  Saskatoon promptly came to mind and the deal was quickly hatched.

Seattle Shops at Houston's House of Backstops

Following in the footsteps of Shackamaxon, the Seattle Monarchs have also gone shopping at Houston's House of Backstops.  The Monarchs today acquired Armadillo catcher Roberto Perez in exchange for starting pitcher prospect Bret Huff and Seattle's 10th round draft pick in the upcoming draft.

Perez hit .251 for Houston as their backup catcher in 2020, his first full season in the majors.  He is expected to compete with Kevin Craig for the backup job in the Pacific Northwest.  "We're happy to add Roberto," said Owner/GM Mack Shultz.  "It's always good to add some diversity to the clubhouse when we can."

Huff, who posted a 3.27 ERA in AAA last season, adds to Houston's growing collection of Huffs.  Despite all that huffing, the Armadillos deny ever inhaling.

Sim's Done

Game Date:  11/11/2020

So far, no major signings.

Next sim on Monday evening.

Zev

Attention K-Mart Shoppers!! Free Agents Are Now On Sale in Aisle 13!

Game Date:  11/4/2020

Go get 'em while they're hot!  All sales are final -- no returns/no refunds.

League reports have been updated.

Next sim:  Thursday night

Award Winners Announced

Game Date:  10/28/2020

It's award season... that time of the year when we recognize the players who are at the top of their game.

This year's awards go to:

Outstanding Hitter:  Houston 1B Nigel Bryant -- .361, 50 HR, 140 RBI, 1.159 OPS and 110.0 VORP
Outstanding Pitcher:  Seattle's Enrico Hernandez -- 23-6, 2.07, 1.16 WHIP, 237 K
Outstanding Newcomer:  New York 3B Larry McCormick -- .326, 24 HR, 85 RBI, .977 OPS, 72.7 VORP

Slick Fielder Awards:
P:  Emilio Romero (Saskatoon)
C:  Gerardo Romero (Shackamaxon)
1B: Juan Gomez (Seattle)
2B: Callum Ganyon (Ohio) -- 2nd award (won at SS in 2018)
3B: Larry McCormick (New York)
LF:  Ben Beard (Brooklyn)
CF: Zander  Boreland (Ohio)
RF: Kevin Works (Brooklyn)

Next sim:  Wednesday night.  This is your LAST chance to make offers to your impending free agents and to make salary arbitration offers.

Zev

Danville Rebuilding

Danville Rebuilding

Just wanted to take this opportunity to say hi to everyone and introduce myself.  I'm Bill Sauerwald and I'm taking over the Danville franchise.  I'm new to the game so still trying to get a feel for everything from finances to farm teams to player ratings (to trying to hire a trainer).  It appears I'm definitely in rebuilding mode, so feel free to make trade offers for any of my veteran players (and try not to take too big of an advantage of the new guy).  Any pointers or advice are also greatly appreciated.

Sim run

League date: October 21, 2020.

Next sim: Tomorrow night, Tuesday May 22nd.

Sim's Done

 Next sim:  Monday night (one week)

Seattle Deals Vargas, Shearing to Brooklyn

The Seattle Monarchs and the Brooklyn Wolves have pulled off a trade today, sending veteran pitcher Nicholas Vargas, young left fielder Anson Shearing and Seattle's first round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for Brooklyn's first two picks in the upcoming amateur draft.

Vargas, 30, is a seven year veteran of the major leagues.  In the last three years, he has blossomed into a solid major league starter, posting a record of 42-20 with an ERA under 4.00

"We're really looking forward to having Nick on our team," said manager Frank Maus.  We needed a guy who can step right into the rotation and provide additional stability.  Nick seems to be just the guy to do that."

Shearing, an up-and-coming power-hitting outfielder, is expected to compete for an outfield spot in spring training.

Sim's Done (10/13/21)

Next sim:  Saturday night (one day)

If all goes well after that and no one has any objections, we'll begin speeding up the sims.

Zev

Shackamaxon/Houston trade

Philadelphia, PA -- The dealing Lenape of Philadelphia have completed their second trade of the nascent offseason. The club announced the acquisition of Houston's Jorge Clemente tonight.

"We expected to be heavy traders with the new game," GM Michael Weintraub told the local media. "And, two trades in, we feel like we're making progress on improving our team."

Clemente is expected to become the starting catcher for Shackamaxon in 2021. He was acquired for farmhand Manuel Silva and an 8th round pick in the 2021 draft.

Weintraub denied that the team was finished making deals. "We're planning on more trades, as well as being active in the free agency market."

Sim's Done

Game Date:  October 12, 2020

We've had some retirements this sim, including longtime reliever Manual Alvarado, Hector Orozco, closer Harold Beeks (who, with 297 saves, retires in X place on the all-time list) and SP Anthony Koepp.

Next sim:  Thursday night (one day).

Zev

Next Sim Wednesday Night

I neglected to say when the next sim will be in my previous post.  The next sim will be Wednesday night and, again, cover a single day.

Once we're (collectively) comfortable with how things are progressing in the new version, we'll pick up the pace and proceed at the pace that we usually do during the offseson (1 week per sim, 4-5 sims per week).

Also, Michael made a comment on my previous post, but I thought it important enough to mention in a regular post.  He said:

Just a heads up...

You are now able to negotiate arbitration with players who are eligible for it. In version 9, the game automatically assigned a salary for those players, but now you get to make your offer for the player, and then the game will select the player's salary for 2021 based on what you offer, and what he wants. If you offer $0, the player will become a free agent.

Also, team options are to be exercised now. You should have in your Inbox an e-mail from each player whose option is due.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Zev

Sim's Done

Game Date:  10/11/2020

Teams that uploaded files:

• Danville
• Houston
• Maui
• Seattle
• Shackamaxon

If you uploaded a file and your team isn't listed here, please let me know.  If you uploaded a file and your team is listed, please make sure that your changes were processed.  If you didn't send an upload file, please send one (even if it's only a minor change) so that we can check to make sure that things are working properly.

Zev

Shackamaxon shopping list

First: Greetings to our new owners! Welcome to this league, I am Zev's loyal co-commissioner, and an original owner in this league. I hope you have as much fun as the rest of us do playing this game. Anything I can do to help you get up and running, let me know.

That said, as we start the 2020-2021 offseason, my own team, the Shackamaxon Lenape, needs some help. Here are some areas of my team that I'm hoping to improve. Perhaps you have the players to help me?

• Pitching, pitching, and more pitching. While the back of my bullpen is strong, my rotation is a mess. I could use at least two new starters, and probably one MR type of 6th/7th inning guy.
• Catcher. I'm looking to upgrade from Herrera, who has declined over the past few seasons.
• Outfield. I'm hoping to add one impact outfield bat, preferably one that is left-handed.
• Prospects. While my top pitching prospect is ranked #9 in the game, I have very little behind him.

I am willing to discuss any deal, so go ahead any e-mail me (mweintr@gmail.com) if you have something in mind.

Is Anyone Having Password Issues?

At least one owner has informed me that in the conversion from OOTP9 to OOTP13, his password stopped working.  Please check in and report whether or not you've had similar issues.

Thanks,

Zev

Ready To Go!

A new league file has been uploaded.  Please download the new file (link at right) and install it in your game.

The league directory has been updated to include the new owners.

We're going to follow Mack's excellent suggestion to take things slowly as we ease into OOTP13.  So, the first sim, which will cover one day, will be on Monday night.  Please use this opportunity to send an upload (even if only to make a minor change) to test that the team exports work properly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Zev

Seattle Continues to Wheel and Deal

Stung by the bitter thrashing administered by Maui in the Cecil Cup, the Seattle Monarchs continue to wheel and deal, sending two top prospects to Hickory in exchange for a top starting pitcher, James Turner.  The Huskers receive two players ready to make their debut in the major leagues in infielder Dani Gutierrez and outfielder Bo Rice.

'We think very highly of Gutierrez and Rice and are confident they will be great players for Hickory," said Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz.  "It was hard though to see where they would slot in for us.  We like our young line-up a lot, even though they went through some growing pains this offseason.  With the addition of Lucio Muniz this coming year, we just thought we needed to send Dani and Bo somewhere that they could get the opportunities they deserve."

When asked why Seattle would acquire a starting pitcher, Shultz hemmed and hawed a bit.  "Well, we could always go to a six-man rotation this year if need be.  Realistically though, we've got a couple of all-time greats who are getting up there in age and we need to plan now for their absence."  Shultz was presumably referring to the 37-year-old Ronald Placencia and Christopher Hester, who will turn 35 next month.

Shultz ducked the question of whether this deal made starting pitcher Nicholas Vargas, long rumored to be available in trades, the next man out the door. "Obviously, we're continuing to constantly try and improve our organization," said Shultz.  "This likely won't be the last deal we make this offseason."

OOTP 13 Ratings vs. OOTP 9 Ratings

I was curious how the player ratings compared between the two versions of the game. So, I looked at all the players in the 12 teams' organizations and compared how many were rated 5* potential, how many 4.5* potential, etc. Here's what I found. These are league-wide totals that include the minors and the DL, but do not include free agents or prep players in the high school or college leagues. It's also just my scout's opinion of the potential (not current) ratings, so take that for what it is worth.

5 Star Players
OOTP 9: 29
OOTP 13: 22

4.5 Star Players
OOTP 9: 45
OOTP 13: 37

4 Star Players
OOTP 9: 54
OOTP 13: 49

3.5 Star Players
OOTP 9: 38
OOTP 13: 42

3 Star Players
OOTP 9: 39
OOTP 13: 33

So, my conclusion? On balance, the ratings seem lower in version 13 than in version 9. In fact, the only organization whose players look substantially better in the new version is New York, primarily because my scout really likes some of the minor league prospects there. (Congrats, Paul). Everyone else was basically flat in terms of 3*+ potential players or went backwards.

Just thought this was worth sharing with the league.

First trade in OOTP 13!

Mack and I, very frequent trade partners over the past ten years of this league, have decided to christen the trade mechanism of OOTP13 with our first, of many, trades in the new game version.

In an effort to shore up my infield defense, I am pleased to announce the acquisition of utility player Salvador Berrera in exchange for a 10th round pick in the 2021 draft.

The Traded Draft Pick list has been updated, because I'm not only a savvy trader, but I'm also a dutiful co-commissioner.

Recruitment Thread

I posted in the SDMB to recruit for new owners.  Please keep an eye on the thread and help to answer any questions that anyone may have.

Thanks,

Zev

UPDATE: (5/7 11:15PM)  The vacancies have been filled!  Blog invitations have been issued and, as soon as they are assigned teams, a new league file will be uploaded for them.

About Ready

I've done some more testing over the weekend and I think that we're just about ready to go.  Again, I urge all owners to check their teams and rosters and make sure that nothing unusual has happened to their players. 

I hope to begin sims later this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday or Thursday.

In addition, I'm also going to begin recruitment for the two openings that we have.  You all know that the Danville franchise is current vacant.  In addition, Eric has informed me that due to time constraints, he's going to have to retire from the league as well.

Thank you all for your patience while we upgraded the game! 

Zev

Take A Look At The New League File

Michael and I are not quite done testing (we'll probably finish over the weekend), but we wanted to give you the opportunity to see how the game looks in OOTP 13.  As a result, there is a league file available for download at the following link:

www.steinhardtfamily.com/ootp13/SDMBOOTP.lg.rar

Unzip it using RAR to your saved games folder.  

Please keep in mind that we may replace this file if we find that our testing reveals some problems.  So, feel free to make changes to your rosters and upload those changes, but keep a record of those changes because if we have to replace the file, those changes will be lost.

In addition, you can view the league reports at the following link:

http://www.steinhardtfamily.com/ootp/ootp13/reports/news/html/leagues/league_100_home.html 

Please check your rosters and your teams to make sure that nothing is significantly different about your teams.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them.

Zev