Sim's Done

Game Date:  Nov 22, 2027

Sim's done.  Next sim, Monday evening.

Zev

Discussion: Trading Draft Picks

One of the issues in this league is the lack of competitive balance.  As was recently pointed out, one team has not only outplayed every other team, they are now so far ahead that, under the rules under which we operate, it is hard to imagine him ever falling back to the pack.

Mack has been very gracious about helping other teams, going so far as to tell us what he's done to achieve this success and has, at times, taken positive steps to help other teams out.

Michael and I are open to ideas on how to help restore the competitive balance in the game.  If you have any ideas, please feel free to email them to Michael and myself.  However, I would like to stress that any ideas should focus on improving the other teams and helping them to better compete.  Ideas should NOT focus on ways to punish Mack for his success or handicap his team.

(As an aside, I've been working on generating a data set of game data covering a period of about 100 years (in a sample league I created).  I will be examining the data, looking to try to confirm some of the correlations that Mack mentioned and, perhaps, find others as well.  Once I have the data complete, I will make it available (in it's raw form) to anyone who wants it (so you can do your own analysis, if you wish).  In addition, as I analyze the data and come to conclusions, I will pass those along to everyone as well (as I did in the past with the draft pick analysis).

One of the suggestions that was thrown out was forcing teams to keep their first round draft picks.  As our research showed, the first round draft pick is clearly the most valuable in terms of future value and one of Mack's strategies was to accumulate first round draft picks.  In four of the last five years, Seattle had two or more first round picks.

Forcing teams to keep their first round draft picks would prevent teams from mortgaging the future for short-term gains.  While we can't (and don't want to) prevent a team from ever trading prospects away, we think that by restricting the trading of some draft picks and players, teams will be able to resist the temptation to go for the short-term fix at the expense of the long term.

As such, we're proposing two related rules -- that teams cannot trade their first round draft pick and that players drafted in the first round cannot be traded for a period of one year after the draft.

(Please note that even if this resolution passes, it will note take effect until the 2029 draft.)

What do you think?  Please share your opinions.

Zev

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Nov 15, 2027

The measure to adopt the use of the designated hitter in the major leagues has passed.

Next sim:  Sunday.

Sim's Done. Vote on DH. Free Agents!

Game Date:  11/8/2027

The sim has been completed and the free agents are on the market.  Have a go at 'em.

In addition, we'd like to have a vote on whether or not to use the DH in the major leagues.  Please vote in the comments to this thread.

Next Sim:  Thursday night.

Big trade between up and coming team and rebuilding team

In a trade that will help both teams, Highlands and Norfolk came together to send veterans  and prospect and even low draft picks to each other. Going to Norfolk is SP Iván Gallardo, who was just traded from Brick and will be Norfolks #5 starter this year. MR Ho Zhong, who pitched in 64 games had an era of 3.57. C Mark Porter, who last year was traded from Seattle and hit .267 with 56 rbi's and gunned down 31.7%  runners trying to steal on him. Highlands will also send them 5th and 7th round picks this year. Highlands will receive in the trade 1B Howard Rogers who will play LF this year and bring power to help protect Hidalgo who had a great rookie year. 2B Ramón Macías, who also came over from Seattle in a trade and hit .310 2, 44rbi's in AAA this year can play 4 postions and lastly the big person in the trade is #95 prospect C Tony Cannon, who played in 16 MLB games hit 5 hr's and threw out 37% of base runners. Last prospect is AA RF Iván Alvarado who hit .295 13, 66 last year and also won a gold glove. Both teams hope these players will help them for next season and for seasons to come.

Sim's Done. Last Chance To Make Offers to Your Potential Free Agents

Game Date:  Nov 1, 2027

The Outstanding Batter award was given out this week and it was presented to Seattle slugger Yvon Settignino.

Please note that this is the last chance you have to make offers to your free agents-to-be.

In addition, there is an administrative note:  In the past, we did not allow the trading of injured players.  This wasn't a league rule, per se, but a limitation in the game... the game does not allow the trading of injured players.  However, I was recently shown that it can, in fact, be done.  So we will now accept trades involving injured players.

Next sim:  Wednesday night.

Sim Delayed

There was a problem processing one of the trades, so I'm going to hold off on the sim until tomorrow night to give them a chance to rework the deal.

Zev

Sim's Done. Awards! Hall of Fame!

Game Date:  Oct 25, 2027

It's award season again... and it's time to hand out the hardware.

Outstanding Newcomer: 3B Sung-heun Hwa (Seattle)
Outstanding Pitcher:Bruno Talamantez  (Seattle)

Slick Fielders:
P Victor Rivera (London)
C Miguel Ramirez (London)
1B Martin Cox (Brick - 3rd consecutive award)
2B Angel Rodriguez (Highland)
3B Larry McCormick (Brick - 3rd consecutive and 5th lifetime award)
SS Javier Chalen (Brick)
LF George Hendricks (Seattle)
CF Petero Hokualohi (Antelope Valley)
RF Lucio Muniz (Seattle - 4th lifetime award)

In addition, the game elected two former players to the Hall of Fame:
C Herman Gossard and 1B Dong Lutz

Of course, you can check out their plaques, as well as those of the other Hall of Famers at our Hall of Fame.

Administrative Note:  I did not process the two trades that came in this past sim.  I'll take care of it with the next sim.

Next sim:  Monday night

                                             Trade between Brick and  Highland


Today Brick and Highland completed a trade . Brick sending Ivan Gallardo to Highland for two pitching prospects...The two prospects were Kyle Plummer and Jeremiah Vaughan both single a  Avon team...Neither pitched in 2027 but both are on the top 100 prospect list ..Gallardo  was 8-13 with a 5.94 ERA for Brick in 2027...his FIP  was 4.7 so he should rebound next year....Brick was in need of good starting pitching in the  system since it was depleted by trades  made over the last two years...Highland needed a established starter who could lead the young staff going forward..

No Sim Tonight

I decided to delay the sim to help an owner with a technical problem he was having.  The next sim will be Saturday night.

Zev

Seattle-Highland Mega Deal Starts Offseason

As usual, the Seattle Monarchs have opened the off-season trading market, this time with a big trade. Seattle is sending five players, four of who saw action for the major league squad this year, to Highland in exchange for outfielder Mike Minty and the second-round pick that originally belonged to Norfolk (#18 overall).

The new foundation for Highland's future includes:

• ML MR Jesus Gonzales
• ML SP/MR Anthony Caldwell
• ML C Albert Soto
• ML 3B Mark Cannon
• AA OF Lou Sharp

All five players are 25 years old or younger. Sharp was the batter of the year in AA SL1 after hitting .369 with 68 extra base hits. Gonzales has posted ERAs under 2.50 each of the last two seasons. Caldwell is a swing man who throws 98, but was betrayed by some bad defense this last season. Soto is a career .301 hitter in the majors who can play six positions. Cannon hit .337 in AAA and then .438 in the majors in his September call-up.

Meanwhile, Minty is a very high risk, very high reward player. He is currently battling back from a torn MCL and is likely to miss the start of the season. Minty also offers stupendous nickname potential.

Discussion: Designated Hitter

A few months ago, I was doing some advanced scouting for the upcoming draft and noticed that, while our minor leagues do use the designated hitter, neither the major league, nor the amateur college/high school leagues do.

My proposal: We add the designated hitter to the major league, as well as the amateur leagues, for the 2028 season. 

Doing so will lengthen the careers of hitters (like, say, Sherman Evanoff), who approach free agency with a powerful bat, but a pitiful glove. Evanoff, my example, has been an elite power hitter for his entire career, but was a terrible LF -- the easiest position to play.

He's a free agent this winter, and isn't likely to earn big bucks -- unless we add the designated hitter to the league. Adding the DH would also allow younger players, who may not have a position, to thrive in lineups. We use the DH in the minor leagues to allow players who don't have a position to get regular at bats, why not in the major leagues?

Alternate proposal: We eliminate the DH in the minor leagues, so that pitchers have to hit at all levels.

I don't support this, but logic dictates that it's all or none with the DH.

What do you think? Please share your opinions. Zev and I decided to make this the first topic discussed this offseason so owners can make their roster decisions if we do decide to add the DH.

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Oct 18, 2027

Next sim:  Thursday night

Sim Done

Game Date:  Oct 11, 2027

Next sim (covering a week) will be on Wednesday night.

Please see Michael's post (right below this one) about some changes that we are contemplating for the league this off-season.  In all the years of this league (26 seasons, 13 real-life years), I can't remember when we've had such sweeping changes under discussion.  Your participation in these discussions is important; please let your voice be heard on these matters (or any others that you may wish to bring up regarding the running of the league).

Zev

Improving the league

As Zev mentioned in his last post, he and I have been discussing possible tweaks and changes to the league rules, and we will open discussion threads for each of these during the offseason before having a vote on each suggestion. The idea is to have these topics decided before the 2028 season begins.

Please save your comments on the topics until the threads are created, this entry is just an introduction and a list, if you have other suggestions (not related to the ones below), feel free to make them in the comments.

We've now played, believe it or not, 26 seasons in this game. While Seattle hasn't won all of the championships, or even most of them, they have won more than any other franchise (full disclosure: My team was the "Seattle" of the first five seasons of the league). A "modest proposal" was made a few months ago to effect changes to the league to reduce the Seattle dominance prompted a ton of discussion, as well as a follow-up post by Mack detailing his "secret sauce".

Based on those discussions, as well as private emails between Zev and myself, as well as with some other owners, I am going to list the topics we will be discussing in the next few weeks. Again, please save your comments on these topics for that time.

• Draft picks - topics are to prevent picks from being traded altogether, or to prevent 1st round picks from being traded. I also suggested not allowing players drafted in the first round to be traded for a year after the draft. We will also discuss moving the date of the draft from pre-season to be in-season.
• Creating a short-season low-A minor league team for young drafted players.
• Creating, and enforcing, a hard limit on the minor league rosters.
• Expansion of the postseason to allow for more wild card teams, while giving the better teams a well-deserved first round bye.
• Possible re-alignment of the three divisions. This discussion will be tied to the expansion of the postseason.
• Establishing the DH as a rule in the major leagues, as well as in the amateur high school and college leagues.
• Adding worthy retired players to the Hall of Fame, as we currently only have automatic selections to the Hall of Fame. 
• (Added by Mack's suggestion) - Normalizing team budgets.

Are there any other suggestions I'm not mentioning here? Please let us know in the comments!

Onward...

Once again, congrats to Mack on another victory and to Fred for his terrific season.

We're ready to move on to the off-season.  The first sim of the off-season will take place Monday night.

Also, Michael and I have been talking behind the scenes about a number of new policies we'd like to put in place for the league.  As always, your input is valued and no unilateral changes will be made.  The changes we're considering are in several areas of the game.  We'll start with a brief introductory post this week giving a quick bullet point of the ideas we're considering and then we'll go into depth on each item with their own post.

As always, we'd love to hear from you.  If you have any ideas of your own, please feel free to bring them to the attention of Michael and myself.

Next sim:  Monday night.

Zev

Question for Drafting

Hey everyone as this is going to be my first time drafting players in the coming draft I have some questions on how to do it.

1st- Is there a way to pick certain players you want to draft so if they are still available the computer   will pick them? If so can someone please explain how or what to do.

2nd- Is there also a way to say will all my picks in this draft to just pick (pitchers if I want)?? or does the computer pick best available player.

Lastly- My cousin Thomas told me about his draft where he didn't know if he signed the few players that the computer choose for him. Is there a setting for auto signing or do we have to sign them? cause when he said he clicked on the players drafted it didn't give any options.


Thanks for the help
John/ Highlands

The Monarchs Have A Dozen Crowns

The Seattle Monarchs captured their twelfth Cecil Cup with a 2-1 defeat of the Brick Barracudas today.

The game, essentially, ended after the first inning when Seattle put two runs on the board in the top of the inning on a Steve Jones double and an RBI single by Sung-heun Hwa.  Brick put up a run in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer by Salvador Velasquez.  After that, the pitchers took over as only one batter managed to reach second base over the next eight innings.

We'll give Mack a few days to bask in the glory of his title and resume with the off-season later in the week.  Congratulations to both Mack and Fred on terrific seasons.

Zev

Seattle Takes 3-1 Lead on 9th Inning Small Ball

The Seattle Monarchs took Game 4 of the Cecil Cup to come within one game of another title for the Pacific Northwest.

Both teams traded goose eggs for the first five innings of the game, as starters Enrico Hernandez and Derek Hanson kept anyone from crossing the plate.

Brick managed to get on the board first in the sixth inning when Salvador Velasquez singled home Matt Foster.

Seattle made the run up in the bottom of the inning on a Steve Jones triple and a Yvon Settignino sacrifice fly.

From then on, both teams again kept their opponents from scoring, until the top of the ninth.  Lucio Muniz led off against Miguel Archuleta and was immediately hit by the first pitch.  Settignino singled, sending Muniz to third.  He then scored on a fielder's choice.  Seattle brought in Juan Garcia to pitch the bottom of the ninth and he retired the Barracudas 1-2-3.

Thanks to Michael for taking over the sims while I had to take care of some family stuff.

Game 5 will be simmed on Monday night.

2027 Cecil Cup Game 3

The first ever Cecil Cup championship game on the Jersey Shore was won by the visiting Seattle Monarchs, 7-6. Tohoshige Takahashi shut down the Brick Barracudas for six innings, and, while the three runs the Monarchs scored early in the first inning were not enough to win the game, they persevered, even when Brick scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 7-6.

Kevin Lambert took the loss for the Barracudas, and Seattle's Juan Garcia got his third save of the postseason with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Seattle wins the pivotal third game of the series and is halfway to yet another Cecil Cup. The Monarchs lead 2 games to 1 and game four will be simmed on Sunday night.

2027 Cecil Cup Game 2

The Brick Barracudas stole home field advantage in the 2027 Cecil Cup with a victory in game two, defeating the Seattle Monarchs 6-4, tying the best-of-seven series at one game each.

Brick starter Joseph Brown won his third game of the postseason, and Matt Foster and Salvador Velasquez both homered to lead the Barracudas.

While a furious Monarchs comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth left the team with the tying run at bat, Norman Kuhn grounded out to second to end the game.

Will the series return to Seattle? The Monarchs will have to steal one from the Barracudas in order to do so.

With the first Cecil Cup game in current ownership history coming on Saturday night, the Barracudas announced that they are bringing Seattle's own Heart to Brick, NJ, where the Wilson sisters will sing the national anthem before the game, and perform their hit Barracuda during the 7th inning stretch.

I'll have that sim on Saturday night after a travel day tomorrow, when the baseball world turns its gaze upon the Jersey Shore.

2027 Cecil Cup Game 1

Game one of the Cecil Cup was won by Seattle 10-4 over Brick. The Monarchs jumped all over Brick starter Joshua Stoker, who gave up nine earned runs in two-plus innings.

Steve Jones tied a league playoff record with three doubles in the game, and Yvon Settignano hit his third homer of the postseason in the first inning, giving the Monarchs a 2-1 lead they never relinquished.

Bruno Talamantez of Seattle pitched 7 1/3 innings to pick up the victory. Stoker, who had a game score of -1, was the loser.

Game 2 will be simmed on Friday morning, unless both Fred and Mack inform me that they are ready to go tonight.

LCS Game 7

So, here we go. Will the jet lag end for the London Dragons, or will the home Seattle Monarchs reign supreme?

The Dragons struck quickly with a two-run home run by Carlos Ortega in the top of the first. Seattle got one back on a sacrifice fly in the second, and tied the game at 2 with another sac fly in the 4th.

In the fifth inning, a three-run homer by Ortega, his second of the game, opened the game back up for the Dragons, but Yvon Settignano's solo shot in the bottom of the 5th cut into the Dragons' lead. The score was 5-3 London after five.

And so it remained through the sixth, seventh, and top of the eighth innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Norman Kuhn led off with a single, was doubled over to third by Sung-heun Hwa, and both runners scored later in the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by George Hendricks and Stephen Broadbent.

Yes, Seattle had come back again to tie the game. It was 5-5, heading into the ninth. The Dragons were sent down 1-2-3 by Gregg Fiala in the top of the 9th on a ground ball back to the pitcher and two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the ninth, London sent its closer, Bong-Ok Ch'on to the mound. Maximo Rodriguez led off for the Monarchs and flied to center.

Steve Jones then singled, and Settignano followed with a walk on four pitches. Norman Kuhn also walked, leaving the bases loaded with just one out. Hwa popped out to first, leaving Armando Soto the last hope for the Monarchs in the inning.

He left the bat on his shoulder for the entire at bat: ball, called strike, and then three consecutive balls forced in Steve Jones: the series was over, and the Seattle fans enjoyed a lovely shrimp dinner after the ballgame.

That's all for the LCS, on to game one of the Cecil Cup on Wednesday night: Brick Barracudas at Seattle Monarchs! Best of luck to Fred and Mack.

LCS Game 6 sim

The Seattle Monarchs, down three games to two, stayed alive in a 2-1 thriller against the London Dragons. Toyoshige Takahashi gave up four hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings today, striking out 9 against three walks. The Monarchs bullpen were perfect for the remaining 3 1/3 innings.

Dewey Wilson scored the go-ahead run on a dropped fly ball by Sojuro Tanaka in the bottom of the 7th.

So now it comes to a game 7, with the winner set to play the rested Brick Barracudas in the first game of the Cecil Cup.

As Zev is dealing with a family medical matter, I'll run the next few sims. Here's the schedule:

Monday 1/4: Seattle/London game 7

Wednesday 1/6: Cecil Cup game 1

Thursday 1/7: Cecil Cup game 2

Saturday 1/9: Cecil Cup game 3

Sunday 1/10: Cecil Cup game 4

Stay tuned tomorrow night!

Brick finishes off Antelope Valley, London takes 3-2 Lead

Due to my Dad's surgery being Monday and Michael being out of town, I'm not sure of the next sim.  I am going to tentatively schedule it for Monday night, but I cannot promise that I will get to it that night.  If it's going to be significantly delayed, I'll keep you posted.

Zev

PINNED POST: IMPORTANT: How Trading Works

This is important. Please read, and bookmark this entry, if you feel you need to. I am posting this because we have a new owner, and some veteran owners are not following this procedure.

We have process for how trades are done in this league. Once you have agreed upon a trade with another owner, you are to send an email to Zev (the commissioner), myself (Michael, the assistant commissioner), and the other team's owner. That email should have OOTP: Trade between (Team A) and (Team B) in the subject line. Including OOTP is important, as both Zev and I have email filters for messages with that subject.

So, your outgoing email should look like this:

From: you@youremail.com
To: commish@izev.com, michael@symbiola.com, otherowner@teamyousuckered.com
Subject: OOTP: Trade between Chicago and Detroit

Got it? That means that both Zev and I get the email, and, as you'll see below, the other owner you made the trade with/suckered is included, so that he can reply-all to confirm it.

Now, let's write the email. In the body of your email, write something like the following:

Hi Zev and Michael,

I have a trade to announce with John Smith (name of other owner).

Chicago (your team) sends:

• OF Mike Trout 
• IF John Doe
• AAA SP Roberto Perez
• $3 million cash 

Detroit (the other team) sends:

• AA IF Bobby Brady
• A SP Walter White
• 2nd round pick

John: (other owner): Please reply-all to confirm.

Thanks,

Your name

Ok, let's go through that. You listed the two participants in the trade, as well as the full name and level of each player (to make it easy for us to find the player when the trade is processed). Each piece in the trade, including players, picks, and cash is easy to read and in its own line, so there's no confusion (you don't have to use bullets). Zev and I use the emails, not the florid blog posts you write, to both process the trade, as well as keep the Traded Draft Picks list up to date. Not following this process can cause a trade to not be completed.

If the trade is during the season, and you just acquired a major league player to fill a vacancy in your 25-man roster, you can include instructions (e.g. Please place Trout on my active roster, make him my CF, and the leadoff spot is open for him.) For minor league players, unless you are acquiring them to promote to the 25-man major league roster, there is no need for instructions. They'll be placed in single A during the trade, and after the next sim, you can place them wherever you'd like in your organization.

So, you're the other owner. Sorry, you just got fleeced. But, you still have work to do with this trade. See that you received the email from the other owner, and both Zev and I are copied on it, along with yourself? When you use the REPLY ALL feature in your email, your confirmation is included to all three of us. Again, if you have specific roster instructions in-season, include them in your reply.

Then, and only then, will one of you write the blog post announcing the trade. That should decided during the trade negotiations. Usually, it's the team getting the major league player who makes the announcement.

Any questions?

Delay Until Saturday... at least

I'm sorry, everyone, but I had to make an emergency trip to Florida.  My Dad is probably going to need emergency heart surgery and I don't think I'm going to have a chance to run a sim until Saturday night, at earliest.

My apologies, everyone.  I'll keep you posted as to when the next sim will be.

Zev