Sim's Done! -- Time to Get OOTP 19

Game Date:  Dec 29 2031

Signings:
Houston: SS Wang-fen Tsang (Maui) 1 yr/$3.1m
Brick: RP Hector Estrada (extension) 2 yrs/$2.2m
Highland: RP Juan Guerrera (Mepkin Abbey) 1yr/$1.8m
Houston: SP Samuel Rodledo (Appalachian) 1 yr/$346k


Goings On:

• Media revenues have been updated
• Trades have been processed
• Hall of Fame voting is still open

... and, most importantly, the upgrade to OOTP 19 is coming.

We will be switching to the new version when the calendar flips, will be after the next sim.  The next sim will take us to Dec 31.  After that, we will be using OOTP 19, so if you haven't bought it yet, now would be a good time.

Next sim:  Tuesday night.

Rain Delay

I'm going to run the next sim on Sunday evening.

Zev

Trade: Barracudas and Black Bears

Brick and Appalachian have agreed to a trade. Brick sends RP Jeff Beasley and SP Seth Connolly to Appalachian for C Steve Lee.

From GM Fred Goldfarb: "We've been after Lee for a while, so we're glad we were finally able to pry him away from the Bears. They have inquired about Seth Connolly before, so we matched up very well on this one."

"We're sad to see Lee go" said GM Hockin, "but we're glad to see him go some place where he'll get some playing time. After signing Guillermo Medina to a 5 year extension, we weren't sure that we had a place for him. We think Lee is a future All-Star and potential batting champ, and we wish him the best."

Trade: Antelope Valley Brick

Looking to add a little depth and roster flexibilty, the Raptors have dealt a 6th round pick to frequent trading partner Brick adding Utility Infielder Ken Moore and OF Pablo Sanchez.  "We've got a couple kids in the minors we don't want to rush", said AV GM Bill Sauerwald.  "We like Sanchez's bat and Moore's glove, and these guys will give our prospects a little more time and seasoning in AAA."

Sim's Done

Game Date: December 22, 2031

Signings:

• Seattle - SP Jason Jones (Wilmington) - minor league contract

Next Sim: Saturday night (4/28/2018)

Trade: Brick and Philadelphia

Minutes after receiving back recent Rule 5 selection Todd Lambright, the Philadelphia Hornets have traded him to Brick Barracudas, the team that had selected him.

"It was a roster mistake," Brick GM Fred Goldfarb told reporters. "We don't have room on the 25-man roster to carry Todd all season and didn't mean to actually draft him in the Rule 5 draft. But, we really wanted him in our organization."

The Hornets were happy to oblige, as the team's depth allowed them to make a deal to help other areas of need. Along with Lambright, the Hornets are sending AA 3B Mike Stewart and a 9th round pick in 2032 to Brick for SA Closer Carlos Gomes.

Sim's Done

Game Date: December 15, 2031

Signings:

• Atlanta - CF Manuel Jaimes - 5 years, $46.5m (Seattle)
• Highland - SP Kevin Lambert - 1 year, $640k (Antelope Valley)
• Brick - RP Frank Carey - 1 year, $1.1m (extension)
• Seattle - RF Mike Minty - 8 years, $134m (extension)

League Matters:

• Remember, we're upgrading to OOTP 19 soon.
• Two recent Rule 5 picks (Mepkin Abbey's Manny Murillo and Brick's Todd Lambright) were incorrectly assigned to the wrong rosters. That's been fixed. Additionally, I processed Brick's release of Lambright back to his last team, Philadelphia. (This is for a trade that Fred and I are about to announce).
• We have not yet adjusted the media revenue. That'll be done in the next sim.

Next Sim: Wednesday (4/26) night. This will take us to 12/22/2031.

TRADE BETWEEN BRICK AND HIGHLAND

• Brick trades Anthony Price 3B and 7th round pick to Highland for Juan Torres SS ...Both GM'S were looking to shake up rosters ... Price was blocked because of the signing of Julio Quintana and the recent trades would block Torres from  major league roster...After many starts and stops both GM's  completed  a trade together...

Trade: Highland and Appalachian

The Black Bears have agreed to trade former #1 prospect Jose Sandoval to the Admirals for recently acquired 3B Matthew James and SP Eric Hammond.

Highland GM John Carrano saw an opportunity to make a mutually beneficial trade and went with it. "I knew the Black Bears needed some immediate help on offense, and we needed an injection of pitching talent, so it was a great matchup."

From Appalachian GM Brian Hockin: "We're sad to see Jose go, but we've had such bad luck with third baseman the last few years that it was time to find a suitable, long term replacement"

OOTP 19

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend buying OOTP 19 soon, as we are currently planning to upgrade our league in the next few weeks, once we flip the calendar to 2032.

I'm currently testing it, and expect a smooth transition. There is one major setting that we are planning to set (but we can leave open to discussion if anyone objects): Changing the injury frequency setting to Extremely Low (a new lower setting).

If you have any questions, ask them here, or if you have any setting suggestions: now's the time to discuss changing them.

Sim's Done -- Hall of Fame Voting!

Game Date:  Dec 8 2031

Hall of Fame Balloting is open!  Cast your vote for who you believe belongs in our version of Cooperstown.


Next sim:  Sunday night.

Rule 5 Draft Results

Round 1:
Atlanta: RF Juan Garza (Philadelphia)
Appalachian: SP Eduardo Benitez (Brooklyn)
Antelope Valley: CF Juan Blanco (Wilmington)
Mepkin Abbey: C Manny Murillo (Philadelphia)
Maui:  SP John Knight (Houston)
Brick: LF Todd Lambright (Philadelphia)
Philadelphia: RP Jorge Gonzales (Seattle)

Round 2:
Atlanta: SS Ramon Macias (Seattle)
Appalachian: SP Jorge Gomez (Seattle)
Philadelphia: CL David Torres (Houston)

Round 3:
Atlanta: SP Jesus Gonzalez (Seattle)
Highland: Greg Ray (Houston)

Round 4:
Highland: 2B Mauro Parra (Appalachian)

Next sim:  Thursday night.

Sim's Done -- Rule 5 Draft Is Here...

Game Date:  Dec 2 2031

The Rule 5 Draft will be held on Wednesday night.

Zev

Minor Philadelphia/Highland trade

The Philadelphia Hornets have re-acquired IF Montrel Luttazi from Highland for a 12th round pick.

Rain Delay

I'm sorry everyone, but I got back from a wedding later than I thought I would.

Tonight's sim will be done tomorrow.

Zev

Revenue Adjustments

Matt pointed out to me after the last sim that I forgot to readjust the media revenue for next season.  While I told him in a comment that I was going to do so with tonight's sim, I also realize that not everyone reads the comments to the blog posts.

As such, I've decided to delay things for a sim.  I've calculated the revenue adjustments and will implement them with the next sim on Sunday.  To see the adjustments, choose the link on the right side and navigate to the 2031 tab.

Next sim:  Sunday night.

Sim's Done -- Rule 5 Draft Coming Up!

Game Date:  Dec 1 2031

Signings:
Highland: RF Luis Lozano (re-signed) 1 yr/$700k
Highland: RP Claudio Flores 2 yr/$1.18m
Highland: SS Dewey Wilson (Brick) 2 yr/$4.1m
Highland SP Jack Kaiser (re-signed) 1 yr/$1m
Seattle:  3B Sung-heun Kwa (extension) 8 yr/$122m

The Rule 5 Draft is upon us.  The next sim (Thursday) will take us to Dec 2, the day of the draft.  The Rule 5 draft itself will be conducted on Sunday.

Sim's Done -- Slight Schedule Change!

Game Date: Nov 24 2031

Recent Signings:
Houston:  RP Jim Knowles (Philadephia) 1 yr/$590k
Houston: RP Folkert Parrel, 2 yr/$652k

Upcoming Schedule:
Tuesday night (new!)
Wednesday night
Thursday night
Sunday night

Please note that there is a slight change from the previously announced schedule.  The next sim will be tomorrow night and there will not be a sim on Wednesday night.

Remember -- Rule 5 is coming up!  Be sure to protect the players you want protected.

Zev

Highlands in need of !!!

I am looking for starting pitching and long relief pitchers. What I'm looking for is starters who could be #3-5 pitchers with NOT long contracts that are priced high, I'm looking for innings eaters on one or two years left on contracts. Same goes with long relivers.... If you got some just email me please.
Thanks

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Nov 17 2031

Recent Signings:
Maui signed CF Jorge Flores (independent league) 2 yr/13.4m
Maui signed LF Jose Gonzales to a 5 yr/$15.6m extension
Philadelphia signed 1B Manuel Hidalgo to a 3 yr/$26.2m extension
Houston signed 1B Howard Rogers (re-sign) 2 yr / $3.8m

Upcoming Sim Schedule for this week:

Monday night
Wednesday night
Thursday night.

I will post about it again with the next sim, but just as a "heads up," we will likely reach the Rule 5 Draft by the Thursday sim.

Highlands and Seattle make 5 player deal !!

Highlands and Seattle make a trade... Seattle will acquire back 3B Bailey who just two seasons ago was traded to Highlands. Highlands will get veteren SP watts who might float between starter and relief, also coming is MR Metcalf who will be set-up. Last are two prospects from AAA OF Carson who will get chance to start or be 4th outfielder and 3B James who has power and will get the chance to start off the bat.. Maybe these trades made will help change the culture that's been bad the last couple of years.

Highland and Philadelphia make trade

Highland owner John Carrano went shopping at the Philadelphia trade mart as the two teams completed a blockbuster trade this afternoon.

Heading to Highland are starters Will Hickford and Eric Hammond (AAA), as well as rookie OF Jorge Benavides. Philadelphia receives pitcher Harold Gregory, SS prospect Jose Garza, and Highland's 1st and 2nd round picks in 2032.

"We intend to use Gregory in the bullpen next season," Philadelphia GM Michael Weintraub stated. "We think he has late-inning potential."

Philadelphia's Trading Depot

Wow, the free agent class of starting pitchers is very weak, right? Well, if you need an upgrade to your rotation, Philadelphia has three rotation-toppers up for trade:

• John Ryan - former top 3 pick has turned into a dependable 4-WAR starter.
• Will Hickford - shows top of the rotation potential
• Yorikane Kichikawa - veteran ace coming off a "down" season where he had 4.25 FIP and 3.1 WAR

I have a few available starters at AAA:

• Ivan Gallardo - dependable veteran 5th starter type.
• Eric Hammond - top-20 prospect, forced his way from single A to AAA by the end of the season. Probably not yet ready for the majors, but will be a formidable starter when he arrives.

Do you need a 1B upgrade, and are afraid to give a contract to either of the 37-year-old free agents? Perhaps you want someone ten years younger, not even into their prime yet?

• Javier Ortiz - steady hitter, just finished his age-24 season. 111 OPS+ in two-plus seasons.
• Javier Cisneros - prospect who has torn up AAA the last two seasons. Ready for the majors.
• John Dodds - not young, but absolutely destroys LHP. Can platoon or come off the bench for a big late-inning hit.

I have a glut of major-league caliber outfielders available, including:

• John Willis - steady left fielder. Led off for me last season due to .382 OBP (.398 vs RHP!). Has 20-HR power and hits for average. What's not to love?
• Jorge Benavides - 24-year-old came out of nowhere to force a promotion from AAA and then tore up major league pitching: .913 OPS, 140 WRC+. Finished 3rd in Outstanding Newcomer voting.
• Jose Molina - Excellent 4th OF, can play anywhere with exceptional defense. 

More outfielders, currently in AAA, who can play in the majors now:

• Roberto Flores
• Juan Garza
• Julio Quintana
• Ramon Gonzalez
• Adam Thompson

If one of those players, or anyone else on my roster interest you, don't hesitate to reach out.

Sim's Done!

Game Date:  Nov 10 2031

Let the Free Agent Signings Begin!

Next Sim:  Sunday.

Sim's done: Arbitration time

Game Date: November 3rd, 2031

Next Sim: Wednesday night. This will handle the arbitration hearings and sim the three days that lead to free agency. This is your last chance to sign your potential free agents!

OOTP 19: Any thoughts? We've had a few lukewarm comments, but no one has expressed a strong desire either for or against upgrading this offseason.