Seattle/Los Angeles trade

The only two teams to have won four Cecil Cups apiece have completed yet another trade between the two most illustrious franchises, and, as befitting their stature in league lore, it's a doozy.

Los Angeles sends starter Thomas Cohen to Seattle for starter Chad Nelligan and outfielder Sean Arant. Arant brings his six Cup championships back to the franchise he won his first two with.

"We're thrilled to bring Sean back home. Let's hope he can win four more rings so he'd complete all ten fingers," Los Angeles GM Michael Weintraub announced in a hastily-assembled press conference outside the team's vernal clubhouse in Ventura, Calif.

"I hadn't considered moving Thomas in a deal, but when Mack came calling about Sean, I had little hesitation to pull the trigger. When he threw Nelligan in, it was just a bonus."

Sean Arant is one of the premiere lead-off threats in the league, with a +.400 OBP and 70-steal speed. He will form a powerful combination with George Aguinaldo at the top of the line-up, giving base-clearers Ronald Aikin and Ricky "I'm innocent!" Peppers plenty of opportunities to drive in runs for the Scorpions.

Chad Nelligan, long one of the league's top pitchers, will slide into Cohen's spot at the top of the Los Angeles rotation. Nelligan pitched brilliantly in Seattle's drive for the 2013 championship, as he went 3-0 in the postseason, including two dominant starts against new Zotti League rival New York.

"We're back," Weintraub explained. "After a year of below .500 ball -- our first, ever -- we're ready to challenge the Paddlewheelers and Gothams for Zotti League supremacy."

More signings

Brooklyn
RF Emilio Beauvais, minor league contract
RP Wan-fu Chu, minor league contract

Houston
C Ricardo Perez, minor league contract

Los Angeles
RP Pedro Elizalde, 2 years, $4,800,000 total
LF Alan Callahan, 4 years, $47,000,000 total

... and there were some retirements

Cleveland
1B Russell Powell retires (.281, 395 HR, 197 SB)

Danville 
Albert Boll retires (93-110, 4.37)

Los Angeles
William Augustin retires (67-45, 843 G, 3.97)

Saskatoon
C Lorenzo Mendoza retires 

Next sim -- Sunday night (to the end of January)

No Sim Last Night

I'll run it tonight. My apologies.

Zev

Commissioner's Parity Plan

In the spirit of increasing parity in the SDMB OOTP league, I am hereby announcing the "Commissioner's Parity Plan."  This plan is designed to make it easier for teams that have never won a Cecil Cup to make it to the playoffs.  It is also designed to discourage the centralization of talent in only one team located on the North Pacific.

The plan works as follows:  For every Cecil Cup that a team has won, they must contribute a player to a parity pool.  Furthermore, the winner of the previous year must contribute two players. Therefore, by way of example, Seattle would have to contribute five players to the pool this year (one for each of their four Cecil Cup wins and one additional one for being the last winner).  Houston, on the other hand, would have to contribute two, for their two victories.

The players to be placed in the pool will be selected by the owners of the teams that will be drafting the players (i.e. those that do not contribute any players).  

Once the player pool has been formed, teams that have not won a Cecil Cup will draft from the pool in team number order.  

This will continue until every team has won a Cecil Cup -- or at least until Brooklyn does.

Zev

Cleveland options Thomas to A ball

In a move that is as startling as the Peppers release early this morning, the Cleveland Steamers organization announced that newly acquired LF Tyler Thomas has been optioned down to the minors where he will be patrolling left for the A level Tennessee Tossed Salads becoming the highest paid player ever in single A in any league at any time throughout history.

This move baffles the 7 fans that are still hoping for a Steamers World Series Victory sometime this century, but the GM of the Cleveland squad thinks that it will help out the team. "The fan interest in the team nearly doubled when we signed Tyler, imagine how much it will increase when he helps us win just about every game in the SBMB A league. It should go through the roof," said Mr. Goldman after finishing off his 7th rum and coke while shooting dice at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

Will this move pay off? Probably not, but this team is trying everything it can to make sure that it never ends up in the World Series as long as Mr. Goldman is in charge.

Los Angeles releases star SS!

Rumors around the Southland proved true this morning as Los Angeles GM Michael Weintraub announced that the Scorpions, the only franchise to win four straight Cecil Cup championships, has released star shortstop Ricky Peppers.

"Ricky is no longer a member of our team," Weintraub said, curtly, in a one-line prepared statement. "Thank you. I will not answer any questions at this time."

Reports over the weekend of a single-car crash involving a Ferrari Enzo on Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu early on Saturday morning that caused the death of a young women centered on the fact that Peppers was the driver. The car, with 35PEPPRS as the license plate, is registered to the star shortstop.

The young victim, April Fule, was a nineteen-year old waitress at a popular Malibu bar, and Peppers was seen flirting with her all night after arriving at about midnight Friday night. Peppers, 30, is a committed family man. He is married to local TV newscaster Marisa Lopez-Peppers, and the couple has a young set of triplet daughters.

While Peppers has not been charged in the accident, toxicology reports are due early in the week, and it is widely assumed that Peppers was intoxicated when he left the bar. "I saw him talking to her," fan Roberto Dawson said. "She was really hot, and I remember saying to my friend that Ricky's going to hit a homer tonight."

Sadly, Peppers barely made a triple out of the parking lot of the bar, as the Enzo crashed barely 200 feet down PCH. Peppers, who slugged 42 homeruns for the Sluggers in 2013, looks to be spending the 2014 season behind bars.

Welcome to 2014!!

Current Game Date: 1/1/2014

Who signed fre agents in December II:

Brooklyn
2B John Blackmer 2 years, $2,350,000 total

New York
MR Winford McCullum, minor league contract

Los Angeles
MR Karl Hatch, minor league contract
MR Max Mendoza, minor league contract
C Emiliano Torrealba, 2 years, $1,350,000 total

Cleveland
LF Tyler Thomas, 5 years, $100,250,000 (is this the first nine-figure contract in league history?)

Next sim: Tomorrow night -- 1/1 to 1/15.

As an aside, please remember that when you acquire a player, he goes on the DFA list and the 18-day DFA period starts. Please remember to assign players you acquire. If you don't, I'll do my best to place your new players on the major league roster, but if there is no space available, I will make my "best judgement" guess as to which players you want sent to AAA to make room.

Zev