WKRP Radio (or How to Rebuild a Disaster) Topic

20 GAME UPDATE: 9-11
Les Nessman reporting:
To say things have gone poorly for the Flytraps so far this season would be completely accurate. This team, expected to contend for the division title, is instead 2 games under .500 and 5.5 games behind a Columbus team that is currently on a 10 game winning streak.
The problems have been on both sides. Offensively, Marshall Ferrell and Parker Bennett are significantly underperforming, with Ferrell batting .205 and Bennett at .223. First base has also been a problem, with Denny Brown, John Nakamura and Rabbit Hudson all having gotten shots, and none of the three batting over .215. The bright spots have been late signee Victor Gonzalez, hitting .333 and rookie Eric Murphy who has 8 HR already.
The starting pitching has been very solid, with Fuentes, Price and Thornton all having ERA's under 4.00, but the bullpen, the key focus for the team in the offseason, has been bad. And the bad part of it - free agent closer Fernando Pena. Pena has picked up 5 saves in 9 appearances, which is good, but it is the other 4 appearances that hurt. He is 0-4 in them. Worse, his ERA is now over 10 after giving up the winning hit in the bottom of the 9th the last 2 games. As a result, management announced today that last year's closer, Fernando Navarro, will be returning to that role and Pena will be pitching in a Setup role until he gets himself straightened out. Navarro, while young, does have experience as a closer from last season, and the team hopes that he can use this temporary job as the closer to actually win the position permanently.
When asked if the team would consider any trades to try to jumpstart the offense, GM csherwood was noncomittal in his response. However, he did state that if the bats dont start producing soon, something will have to be done.
Next update after 40 games....
2/14/2008 12:47 PM
Bumped for benefit of new owners.

This is the best primer on how to handle and HBD. Thanks csherwood.
2/27/2008 11:16 AM
Quote: Originally Posted By soxfan121 on 2/27/2008Bumped for benefit of new owners.

This is the best primer on how to handle and HBD. Thanks csherwood
Thanks, though my results are not coming through. I have arguably the best team in the league on papaer, and none of my guys are producing this season, including my big Type A free agent closer signing who has an ERA over 12. I just made a trade today, moving one of my team's best starting pitching prospects, for a top-flight closer and a solid setup guy. There is still plenty of time in the season to turn things around, and hopefully the addition of these 2 arms in the 'pen will make things click. I am also entertaining thoughts of moving one of my young stud big leaguers (noone can hit better than .260 or so despite great ratings), just for the sake of shaking things up. I need to bring in a huge bat in exchange if I make a deal though.
2/27/2008 1:19 PM
Best team on paper? I think you've got one of the most exciting futures in the league, but it's an awfully large step to say you've got arguably the best team on paper. I take a little offense to that as a guy in this league that's had a pretty respectable team for the past 7 season. Just as a comparison

Catcher - (Defense (R-Gl - AS - AA) - (Offense (Con - Pow - LH - RH - Eye)
Twinkies (platoon)
RH - Javier Quevedo (age 23) - (Def - 8-18-67-60-58 PC) (Off - 69-71-58-72-52)
LH - Sidney Martin (age 22) - (Def - 11-31-77-69-78) (Off - 81-95-86-73-69) (only has durability of 35 which is why he platoons... he's my "playoff" everyday starter)
Flytraps
Eric Murphy (age 22) - (Def - 6-35-69-65-71 PC) (Off - 59-92-82-77-76)

Advantage - RH Flytraps, LH slightly Twinkies

1B
Twinkies
Ned Taylor (age 29) - (45-38-43-40) (84-86-72-70-73)
Flytraps - 3 man rotation from what I can tell as they've each played about the same amount of games
Denny Brown (age 26) - (58-33-61-57) (25-83-77-54-50)
John Nakamura (age 25) - (45-42-44-32) (68-55-82-65-73)
Rabbit Hudson (age 21) - (64-47-48-39) (87-25-44-23-79)

Big Advantage - Twinkies

2B
Twinkies
Vic Blanco - (73-78-91-73) (75-99-71-64-57)
Flytraps
Virgil Rodriguez - (77-66-54-66) (77-84-74-67-75)

Advantage - Twinkies

SS
Twinkies
Harry Velazquez (age 26) (83-75-87-80) (52-83-63-62-74)
Flytraps
Marshall Ferrell (age 23) (79-77-83-80) (64-77-71-67-77)

Advantage - slightly Flytraps but not by much

3B
Twinkies (platoon)
RH - Horacio Frias (age 34) (51-61-41-61) (67-67-78-68-78)
LH - Quinton Richardson (age 27) (61-55-40-49) (54-69-50-64-65)
Flytraps
Davey Guerrero (age 31) (70-76-79-80) (77-64-80-50-79)

Advantage - I dunno... I think offensively I've got a slight edge with Frias, but not Richardson, but defensively Guerrero is far superior.

LF
Twinkies
Albert York (age 31) - (50-49-52-55) (48-80-61-97-88)
Flytraps
Parker Bennett (age 22) - (71-66-47-52) (74-83-72-62-85)

Advantage - Twinkies (York's 97 vRH along with his power and eye make him an offensive dynamo - Bennett's gonna be a stud, though!)

CF
Twinkies
Norm Adams (age 30) - (87-77-53-50) (98-71-97-66-84)
Flytraps
Mike Nady (age 25) - (83-76-49-59) (72-0-87-52-17)

Big Advantage - Twinkies

RF
Twinkies (platoon)
RH - Victor Perez - (77-69-47-79) (71-51-31-86-66)
LH - Horacio Frias (age 34) (51-61-41-61) (67-67-78-68-78)
Flytraps
Roosevelt Abbot (age 23) (79-64-60-55) (86-68-79-72-57)

Big Advantage - Flytraps

DH
Twinkies (platoon)
RH - Gerry Allen (age 20) (63-87-63-85-80)
LH - Bosco Parnell (age 24) (63-89-95-5-78)
Flytraps
Victor Gonzalez - (age 26) (55-56-79-71-81)

Big Advantage - Twinkies

Starting Pitchers (dur, stam, con, LH, RH)

SP1
Twinkies
Miguel Acevedo (age 30) - (25-65-90-91-94)
Flytraps
Julio Fuentes (age 32) - (35-91-82-90-85)

Advantage - I say push... Fuentes can go deeper into games, but Acevedo has better control and L/R splits. Acevedo also has a half run better career ERA - 3.31 vs. 3.86)

SP2
Twinkies
TJ Shaw (age 28) - (22-73-90-61-78)
Flytraps
Johnnie Price (age 32) - (31-87-84-76-78)

Slight Advantage - Flytraps

SP3
Twinkies
Dave Lowery (age 30) - (24-80-89-78-67)
Flytraps
Emmanuel Martin (age 21) - (21-80-76-57-59)

Advantage - Twinkies

SP4
Twinkies
Bill Caufield (age 22) - (24-62-80-52-74)
Flytraps
Lewis Locko (age 26) - (19-78-77-68-51)

Advantage - Push (similar control, Caufield vR, Locko vL)

SP5
Twinkies
Herman Cox (age 23) - (26-69-90-67-72)
Pete Thornton (age 31) - (28-67-50-72-76)

Advantage - Twinkies (control, mostly)

Relief Pitchers

Long A
Twinkies
Jeff Nixon (age 22) - (19-61-62-78-81)
Flytraps
Luther Rupe (age 26) - (24-80-75-52-66)

Advantage - Twinkies (I like Rupe's control, but Nixon has a cumulative 40 point advantage in splits)

Long B
Twinkies
Bonk Root (age 27) - (83-33-91-71-69)
Flytraps
Pasqual Viriato (age 25) - (63-41-78-55-56)

Big Advantage - Twinkies

Setup A
Leonardo Stockton (age 22) - (51-21-88-73-75)
Twinkies
Fernando Navarro (age 23) - (72-33-76-69-63)

Advantage - Twinkies

Setup A
Roy Peters (age 22) - (71-31-89-61-62)
Bill Simms (age 27) - (61-30-83-55-68)

Advantage - Push

Setup B
Twinkies
Joaquin Park (age 22) - (37-24-80-81-81)
Flytraps
Tim Hart (age 25) - (51-24-57-54-63)

Advantage - Twinkies

Setup B
Twinkies
Augie Root (age 25) - (69-27-89-59-65)
Flytraps
Fausto Herrera (age 24) - (0-84-49-82-72)

Advantage - Twinkies (based on stamina and control)

Closer
Twinkies
Sun Woo-Abe (age 22) - (71-18-80-65-80)
Flytraps
David Gandarilla (age 28) - (72-27-82-62-78)

Advantage - Push

Anyway, no ill will is intended by any of this. I think you're a great owner and I've enjoyed having you in Addicted Users for the past couple seasons. For the record, I don't think that I have "the absolute best" team in the league or anything like that, but I'm proud of the team I've developed.

-B-
2/28/2008 3:13 PM
brentnet,
No offense was intended. You have one of the best teams in the league. My point was more that I am having tons of trouble getting a grasp on how, with this talenmt, I am 26-33 while you are 33-26. If anything, your post shows that we are pretty darn close (and I think if you go on age and projections, I honestly would rather take most of my team's guys over most of yours). You also one of my best (on paper again) relievers off the list, fernando Pena. And 1 or 2 of the relievers you listed are on their way to AA (my trade to get Bill Simms and David Gandarilla just went though, I havent figured out the roster moves yet).
So, in short, I apologize for saying I had the best team on paper, but yo ucan't deny that, ratinsg only, I have one of the best. The only glaring hole I see is at first base, where I need a much bigger bat. I may try to bring someone up early if I cant turn this around soon.
2/28/2008 4:24 PM
I'm not mad or anything... just trying to bring another voice to the table. My team is a bit older than yours, but I think the three year head start I had on you (season one versus season four) is the reason why. I've got a few solid seasons in guys like York, Acevedo, and Adams, I've got a handful of guys in their prime and a bunch of guys in their first or second year in the bigs. My average age of 25.5 is the second youngest in the league and I feel at least somewhat confident about my minor leagues (although I've got too many guys at the same positions which is a problem I'll have to one day fix).

Like I said, I'm just trying to bring a little something to this thread. I've enjoyed reading it especially since it's about the league I'm in.

-B-
2/28/2008 6:30 PM
Quote: Originally Posted By csherwood on 2/28/2008
brentnet,
No offense was intended. You have one of the best teams in the league. My point was more that I am having tons of trouble getting a grasp on how, with this talenmt, I am 26-33 while you are 33-26. If anything, your post shows that we are pretty darn close (and I think if you go on age and projections, I honestly would rather take most of my team's guys over most of yours). You also one of my best (on paper again) relievers off the list, fernando Pena. And 1 or 2 of the relievers you listed are on their way to AA (my trade to get Bill Simms and David Gandarilla just went though, I havent figured out the roster moves yet).
So, in short, I apologize for saying I had the best team on paper, but yo ucan't deny that, ratinsg only, I have one of the best. The only glaring hole I see is at first base, where I need a much bigger bat. I may try to bring someone up early if I cant turn this around soon.
There should be no need to apologize, you did say arguably, and if anything, but posting his team, he proved your point. He has a good team, and an argument could be made that yours is better.
2/28/2008 7:33 PM
I think Boise and Columbus might have something to say about who the best team is as well. We have some very strong top end teams in the AL, but some of our bottom feeders need a kick in the butt. Go Toros
2/28/2008 7:36 PM
I still cant believe Brent has Frias playing 3rd!!!! I couldnt even find room for him in the OF for me
2/28/2008 7:38 PM
This post could not be converted. To view the original post's thread, click here.
2/29/2008 9:41 AM
How old is he? I usually like to get studs into the majors by no later than age 23, regardless of service time.

Assuming he's 20 years old or older, I'd start him out in AA and see how he does. If he's mashing and you still lack the 1B production you say you lack, I'd seriously consider moving him straight up to the big leagues after he gets at least 50 PA. At the very least, I'd call him up when rosters expand (or 1 cycle before if you want to sneak him onto your postseason roster) and get him around 20 games next season at AAA.

If he's younger than 20, I'd start him in High A, but consider sticking to the timetable I described if his production warrants it. If he's OPSing below .900, I'd delay my scenario by a season.
2/29/2008 10:26 AM
Depends on philosophy I guess...I have a similar guy, and I brought him up slowly. One reason is I have another catcher at ML that is very good, but my primary reason is his durability needed time to get better, similar to your guy. I didn't want to waste service time on a guy that could only get 300 ABs, especially if I had to trade an all-star C that provides 550 ABs to make room for him.
My guy will be 22 next season, his durability should go up to the low-to-mid 70's, and thus I will finally move my ML C this offseason to make room.
In summary, I guess it depends on how you feel about that 50 durability. You wouldn't lose a service year this season, but it's likely to be a couple seasons before his durability gets close enough to his projection to give you a good amount of ABs.
2/29/2008 10:35 AM
I can work around the 50 DUR. I believe in having a strong bench and I wont lose too much by giving him off days.
His current age is 19, but I will start him at AA at least, no matter what.
As for his DUR improving, I have been through this before (maybe not in this thread), by I am absolutely certain that playnig a guy at a lower level or in the minor leagues longer will in no way affect the rate that his ratings improve. Yes, guys improve slower once they reach the big leagues, but that is NOT because they are in the bigs, it is because the bulk of a guy's development happens at a younger age, so if he hits the bigs at 23 or 24, he slows down because he is 23 or 24, not because he is now a major leaguer. Take a look at 25 or 26 year old guys still in the minors that you have had for 5 or 6 seasons - you will see the same slow down in progression.
2/29/2008 10:40 AM
So, csherwood, this prospect will be a long-term solution at the position and spend 10-15 years on your roster? Why not split the remaining season at AA and at AAA and have him up in the bigs next season?
2/29/2008 10:57 AM
Quote: Originally Posted By eeyore1959 on 2/29/2008
So, csherwood, this prospect will be a long-term solution at the position and spend 10-15 years on your roster? Why not split the remaining season at AA and at AAA and have him up in the bigs next season?
Because I still believe I can make a playoff run this year.
2/29/2008 11:01 AM
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