Made two deals.

Received Graeme Ramirez http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=2899962

for Harry Otanez http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3860810 
and Lance Cook http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4470803

Ramirez is my top starter so far. Both the guys I dealt didnt project to play on my MLB squad this year. I had 3 Catchers, and would have demoted Otanez. Cook will be a decent defensive player down the road. With deals Im making this season--The deals Im making now will be solely to upgrade my ML squad. I will trade any minor leaguer with the exception of my top 2-3 prospects to improve my ML club.

Received Jimmy Gragg http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3078819

for Alan Simas http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4276759
and Walt Rivera http://wisjournal.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4689645

I got a little antsy here. There are no pending FAs that really fit what I was looking for defensively for SS. Offensively Gragg is bad. I dont think hes as bad as he was the last 2 seasons. He'd be serviceable defensively as SS, but to give up this much offensively I want a near gold glover. He could be a gold glover at 3b, 2b or CF.  I'll happily put him at CF or 2b if I can still find a more ideal SS. Best case is he's on the bench as a defensive replacement or pinch runner (99 speed).

Simas projects to be an average big leaguer. Rivera is interesting. He'll have 2 real good pitches--but has no 3rd pitch and a real bad RH split. I dont expect a whole lot out of him, but I could be wrong.

Just out of curiosity why didn't you give the team back to Philbar? You have no money/time invested in it

I think you made two good trades there.  And I commend you for not bending to the pressure.

Posted by nauds3000 on 3/26/2012 9:47:00 PM (view original):
Just out of curiosity why didn't you give the team back to Philbar? You have no money/time invested in it

Because I felt the commish was justified in removing him from the league in the first place. Ive always advocated that commishes should have the power to enforce the world's rules. He was below the fairplay threshhold and should have been removed last season. Looking deeper, there were some questionable moves..signing relatively high priced free agents and assigning them to AAA. There was no real effort to improve that team by Philbar.

Coach rehiring today. I only re-signed 1. Had a pitching coach with an 88 pitching rating that was willing to re-sign in AAA. SIgned him to the majors for the minimum. I budgeted low for coaching. There are enough coaches of similar ratings, that I should not have to break the bank to get good coaches at all spots.

Not the most active of worlds. There have been 2 trades that I havent been involved in during the first 1-1/2 days of the season. Usually there's a flurry of activity at the start of the season. Also, to my dismay, only 5 players have hit the waiver wire that I did not waive. None worth claiming. I have dibs on the waiver wire, so I am hoping someone would show up of value.

I am going after middle tier free agents. Trying not to get caught up in bidding wars for the top talent since I have so many holes to fill. If I fail at putting together a viable roster I may go ahead and move my two top prospects. I really want to avoid that though. I want to rebuild this team without gutting the minors.

Some moves made this morning, and a couple of my waiver guys got picked up.

Signed SP Dorian Smith to a 1 year $4.4M deal. I liked his GB/FB to go with my revamped defense (work in progress).

SIgned Humberto Seanez to a 4 year deal. $5.7M per year. Last year is a mutual option. This may prove to be a misstep. I threw out a bunch of offers on decent defensive players to see which guys could be had for their asking price. All the guys I am interested in, I was leading on..I meant to pull a couple offers back, but didnt pull this one back in time. There were a couple of better deals that I think I could have made--and I still may--and will be overpaying on this deal for a few seasons.

Picked up David Gomez off the waiver wire. I struggled with this decision with his $6M 4 year deal, but claimed him at the last moment. Talent wise he's a definite upgrade to what I have. Looking at similar players the contract was on par. I can count on him for .285/20/85.

I threw pretty much all of my high paid players on the waiver wire, and these 2 got claimed.
Jose Guerrero is a decent player that I thought was overpaid. Gomez, who I just claimed is a better option at corner outfield. I am happy with the upgrade.
I was surprised Paul Romero got claimed. He's not a MLB pitcher in my opinion.

In my next post, I will take a look at my current lineup and pitching staff as it stands now, and will prioritize where I need to upgrade.

Starting Lineup

C  Sal Green - I am ok with Green as my catcher - not looking to upgrade unless something drops in my lap.
1B David Gomez - he may end up in RF. I like him here because I have found players like him get a significant # of plus plays at 1b.
2B  Dustin Carter - this is the only spot that I curently am significantly below par defensively. I have some pending free agent moves that will address this.
3B Fritz Washington - went unclaimed. He's an average 3b. Id like to upgrade this spot defensively and move him to the outfield if I can.
SS Jimmy Gragg - as stated before, he'll be a decent SS, but I still want to upgrade. That would result in a few position tweeks.
LF Patrick Ojeda - serviceable here - still looking for an offensive upgrade
CF Humberto Seanez - plugged him in here by default - I still need a real centerfielder. Would rather have Seanez at 2nd or 3rd.
RF Ozzie Nelson - he's here just for his power. Im hiding him in RF because of his defense. I may put him at 1B and Gomez in RF.

I think I really need to make 2 or 3 more moves to be comfortable with my lineup.

I need one or 2 really good power bats - a 1B/LF/RF type. If I just get one, he will replace Nelson, if I can add 2, Nelson and Ojeda will drop out of the lineup.
I need another SS/CF so I can push Seanez out of CF and to 2nd base.

Signed a power hitter.

Stewart Locke - He had a career year last season with 42 HRs. I think I can count on him for .270 and 30 HRs.

He will replace Nelson as my RF. Allows me to leave Nelson on the bench. Hoping he continues his trend of outperforming his ratings. I expect his average to dip due to playing in Atlanta, but his HRs should hold steady. He may platoon with Nelson.

Positionally, I only expect to make one more key signing to take care of my MIF/COF shortage. The rest of my budget will go towards imroving my pitching. Need 1 starter and a couple relievers.

I know these guys arent spectacular. I made some initial plays for top signings, but my needs ran too deep so I bailed early on a couple top tier guys. If I really am struggling early on I can get some real ML talent for my top 2 prospects. But Im going to do my best to hold onto them.

Signed 2 relievers.

Ed Dodd to a 2 year deal
Bey King to a 1 year deal--he's old and declining.

Looking to close the deal with a SP and SS and I should be about ready for my run towards mediocrity.

I released this player and was hoping to get him off the FA scrap heap and you gave him 5mil per plus a bonus. One of the worst contracts ever. You deserve public humiliation!  Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Cristobal Bennett

One of the easiest ways to improve a team is to improve the defense. Last season this team had 18+ plays and 61 - plays. With this team defense I should have just about the best ratio in the league. I should go from 51 net negative plays  to 60 or 70 net positive plays. I should also have 50 less errors. That's a swing of about 1 error or negative play a game. It will make a huge difference.
 

No that's not one of the worst contracts ever.  A terrific SS, decent career statistics and he's still improving by a point here and there?  He may have overpaid a tad, but I think it was a decent signing.  If you want awful signings , sitemail me and I'll send you some links and we can laugh at some huge paydays handed out by noobs.