OOTP 8 Dynasty: The Padres (but not Madres) of 04'

[DawnBTVS]

I had to check off the don't let AI make roster moves after discovering my roster was full of guys demoted as far down as A and minor league AAA guys promoted to the main roster. As a result, MR Mike Crudale is on waivers and designated for AAA. I also had to re-do the pitching staff and lineup to match last post's setup. As an aside, I also created the Japanese Baseball League (Nippon to be exact) to mirror real life and allow for Hideo Nomo's, Hideki Matsui's, Ichiro's, etc. to "invade" MLB.

We're 21st with a payroll of $63,665,600. Our farm system is also ranked 8th thanks to Chris Hill (5th ranked prospect), oft injured John Huffman (50th), Lastings Milledge (52nd), and Cale Carlson (68th).

On 4/7 Mike Crudale gets placed back in AAA.

Through April we're 1st!!!!! in the NL West with a 17-11 record. That's 30% of the wins we had all of last year. We're 17-11, 1 game ahead of Colorado and we have 141 RS vs. 95 RA. We're 1st in HR (48) and BB (105) and 2nd in pitching ERA (3.10).

Batting wise we're obviously hitting for a ton more power. Lastings Milledge is hitting .313/.360/.417 with 6 2B and 2 HR. Mike Lowell is hitting .304/.371/.536 with 8 HR, 19 RBI, and 12 BB vs. 16 K. Dmitri Young has 13 XBH and a .450 SLG. Juan Uribe has 11 2B and a .436 SLG. Alfonso Soriano has 8 HR, 16 RBI, and a .520 SLG. Adam Dunn leads the team with 9 HR and has 19 RBI with 22 BB vs. 20 K. Charles Johnson has 5 HR and a team leading 21 RBI with a .412 SLG. Brad Wilkerson has a .383 OBP and .452 SLG with 4 HR, 13 RBI, and 21 BB vs. 14 K. Dallas McPherson as a backup is hitting .316/.350/.421 with 4 RBI in 19 AB. Jason Bay has a .412 SLG in 17 AB and Kevin Cash has thrown out 7 of 10 runners in 13 games and 4 starts.

Pitching wise the starters have been solid and the defense noticeable. Danny Allison is 3-1 with a 1.43 ERA in 44 IP with 48 K vs. 19 BB. Johnny Cueto is 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 33.2 IP with 27 K vs 12 BB. Scott Baker is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 34.2 IP with 26 K vs. 11 BB. Joe Saunders is 2-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 42.1 IP with 6 BB and 1 HRA. Jason Jennings is 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 34 IP with 21 K vs. 12 BB.

Reliever wise Joey Devine has a 0.00 ERA with 7 K in 4 IP. Joakim Soria has a 0.64 ERA with 12 K in 14 IP. Justin Huisman has 8 S with a 1.64 ERA in 11 IP with 9 K and 0 HRA. Ben Howard is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 11 K in 7 IP. Huston Street has a 2.70 ERA in 6.2 IP with 1 HRA. Renyel Pinto is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA with 11 K and 0 HRA in 11.2 IP. Clay Condrey and Carlos Marmol are struggling but have pitched a combined 7 IP with 2 K and 4 HRA.

I'm also trying players out at new positions in AAA and AA for better defensive versatility. One example is Kahlil Greene at 2B and former 1B Adam Greenberg at SS. At AAA C Mike Rabelo continues to hit with a .310/.356/.357 line in 42 AB. He hit .303/.355/.382 with 8 HR in 498 AB last year. 1B Peter Taylor has a .311 BA in 106 AB while 1B Ryan Howard is hitting .358/.380/.488 in 123 AB with 4 HR and 20 SB. 3B Andy Marte is hitting .264/.321/.458 in 72 AB with 3 HR. LF Shane Victorino has a .336 OBP and .375 SLG in 96 AB with 8 SB. RF Chris Hill is hitting .316/.341/.632 with 3 HR in 38 AB. He hit 3 HR in 64 AB last year.

At AA C Jonathan Ellis is hitting .311/.330/.437 in 103 AB with 1 HR. 1B Roger Stevens is hitting .347/.368/.444 in 72 AB with 1 HR. CF Rob Fowler is hitting .391/.424/.482 in 110 AB with 2 HR.

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We're still in 1st in the NL West!!! We have a 36-19 record and we're now 2.5 games up on the Arizona Diamondbacks. We're at 291 RS (2nd) vs. 209 RA (2nd) for a differential of +82. We're 1st in HR (89), BB (198), are 14th in strikeouts batting wise (450), and dead last in SB (7). Take that, Joe Morgan!

Hitting wise Lastings Milledge is hitting .363/.400/.496 with 38 runs scored and 6 HR with 28 RBI. Mike Lowell is hitting .326/.380/.558 with 11 2B, 13 HR, and 36 RBI. He also has 19 BB. Juan Uribe has a .388 SLG and 14 2B with 6 HR. Dmitri Young is hitting .274/.339/.471 with 16 2B, 8 HR, and 33 RBI. Alfonso Soriano leads the team with 42 R while hitting .272 with a .554 SLG. He also leads the team with 15 HR and 3 SB. Adam Dunn is hitting .228 but still has a .863 OPS with 14 HR and 46 BB vs. 47 K. Brad Wilkerson has a .359 OBP and .414 SLG with 8 HR and 40 BB vs. 38 K. Charles Johnson has a .424 SLG with 10 HR, 34 RBI, and 20 BB. Jason Bay has fallen off a bit but has 6 2B in 52 AB. Angel Santos has a .600 SLG with 5 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB vs. 5 K, and 2 SB in 45 AB. Kevin Cash has thrown out 10 of 15 would be base stealers in 9 starts at C. Dallas McPherson has a .282 BA with a .364 OBP and 4 HR with 13 RBI as a backup. Worth mentioning is our pitchers have also hit 4 HR combined.

We remain very solid pitching wise. Danny Allison is 7-2 with a 2.48 ERA in 76.1 IP with 81 K vs. 31 BB and 2 HRA. Jason Jennings is 6-2 with a 3.40 ERA in 76.2 IP with a 1.16 WHIP. Joe Saunders is 5-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 73.2 IP with a 1.26 WHIP. Scott Baker is 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 65.1 IP with 52 K vs. 17 BB. Johnny Cueto is 7-3 with a 4.12 ERA in 67.2 IP with a 1.34 WHIP.

For those curious, Jerome Williams got released on 4/9 and was signed by Tohoku in the Nippon league. He's 3-5 with a 6.67 ERA in 55.1 IP with 25 K vs. 28 BB.

Joakim Soria is 2-0 with a 0.92 ERA in 29.1 IP with 33 K vs. 6 BB. Ben Howard is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 15 IP with 23 K vs. 7 BB. Justin Huisman has 15 S with a 2.45 ERA in 25.2 IP with 22 K vs. 7 BB. Renyel Pinto is 2-1 with a 4.03 ERA in 29 IP with 32 K and 2 HRA. Huston Street has 1 S with a 4.38 ERA in 12.1 IP with a 1.22 WHIP. Carlos Marmol has 1 S with a 5.63 ERA in 8 IP with 10 K vs. 2 BB. Joey Devine is 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA in 10.1 IP with a 1.94 WHIP. Clay Condrey is 1-1 with a 6.27 ERA in 18.2 IP with 17 K vs. 4 BB.

At AAA MR Joel Zumaya has 7 S and a 2.76 ERA in 29.1 IP. C Mike Rabelo is hitting .284/.361/.379 in 95 AB with 2 HR. 1B Ryan Howard is hitting .356/.389/.484 in 250 AB with 7 HR and 40 SB. 3B Andy Marte is hitting .302/.357/.466 in 189 AB with 5 HR and 3 SB. LF Shane Victorino has a .403 SLG in 201 AB with 4 HR and 13 SB. Chris Hill has a .459 SLG in 74 AB with 3 HR.

CF Rob Fowler will be called up to AAA after hitting .353/.384/.438 in 224 AB with 3 HR and 1 SB. I'm also going to try and stretch out MR Joel Zumaya in a SP role at AAA.

[DawnBTVS]

On 6/4 we lose MR Renyel Pinto for 2 weeks to the ever common strained back muscle. He should probably stop bending at the waist to try and snatch those ground balls by his feet.

On 6/15 is the 2008 MLB Draft and we have the 1st pick. Surprise! With our 1st pick we select SP Tommy Hanson who's from Oklahoma and a gangly guy at 6'5 220. He's a 3 pitch pitcher and has some speed to him as well. Our 2nd pick is MR Neftali Perez who's 20 but can throw 6 pitches! and zing it upwards of 101 MPH. We'll try and stretch him as a possible SP. With the 3rd pick is LF Jim Huff who's 22 but came out of Maine with 17 HR and 40 BB vs. 32 K in 245 AB. He also stole 9 SB but got thrown out 8 times. Our 4th round pick is 1B Hewie Melton who's 22 from Sunnyslope, CA. Awesome. In 127 AB with South Carolina he hit 8 2B, 3 3B, and 13 HR. An impressive .717 SLG certainly appeals to us. 5th round selection is 2B Bob Reynolds who played 4 years between USC and San Jose State. He had 148 BB vs. 48 K in a career 489 AB and also smashed 31 doubles the past 2 years. Our 6th round pick is CL Pedro Felix who's 19 and put up a 3.60 ERA in 6 starts with Rocky Mountain High School. He had 12 K in 15 IP and we'll try to stretch him as a starter as well.

Our 7th round pick is MR Andrew Bailey who's 24 years old and large at 6'3 235. He's a 2 pitch pitcher and ideal for a reliever role. Our 8th round pick is CL Carlos Fernandez who will be tried as a SP. He played between LSU and Xavier and collected 26 S from 2005-2007 along with an ERA of 2.03 in 54 IP. Our 9th round pick is 2B Francisco Gonzalez who put up 2 HR and 4 BB in just 30 AB with South Fork High. Our 10th round pick is RF Pedro Gil who put up 9 HR and 17 BB in just 84 AB for Army. Our 11th round pick is MR Daniel Bard who's 6'3 200 and can zing it up to 101 MPH. He's also a 2 pitch pitcher. Our final pick is MR Merrill Bullard who we'll try to stretch out as a SP. He's a 2 pitch pitcher but in his career between South Carolina and Rhode Island he put up a 2.91 ERA and had 44 K vs. 5 BB in the past 2 seasons.

Andrew Bailey, Daniel Bard and Neftali Perez will all start off at AAA. Tommy Hanson will start off at AA. Everybody else will be at A.

On 6/20 Renyel Pinto is healthy and able to come off the DL.

At the end of June we have the best record in the entire MLB at 53-29! We're now 4.5 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and our magic number is now 77. The big difference is that we're 26-13 on the road and 37-18 against RHP. We have 417 RS vs. 331 RA (+86). It's also helped that we've hit big on almost all of our FA signings for once.

Lastings Milledge is hitting .340/.378/.480 with 18 2B, 9 HR, and 34 RBI. Mike Lowell is hitting .336/.390/.556 with 18 2B, 17 HR, and 49 RBI along with 27 BB. Juan Uribe has a .372 SLG and 8 HR with 40 RBI. Dmitri Young is hitting .264/.339/.457 with 13 HR and 51 RBI. Alfonso Soriano is hitting .272/.314/.500 with 17 HR and 51 RBI. Adam Dunn has a .897 OPS and leads the team with 21 HR and 52 RBI. Brad Wilkerson has a .763 OPS with 11 HR, 34 RBI, and 56 BB. Charles Johnson has a .409 SLG with 12 HR, 48 RBI, and 34 BB. Jason Bay is struggling as a backup but has 5 RBI. Angel Santos is slugging .464 with 6 HR and 12 RBI in 69 AB. Kevin Cash has thrown out 11 of 16 base stealers (68.8%) in 40 games. Dallas McPherson is hitting .317/.373/.367 with 7 RBI in 60 AB.

Danny Allison is 9-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 109.1 IP with 117 K. Joe Saunders is 8-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 118.1 IP with 3 HRA and 22 BB. Johnny Cueto is 9-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 100.1 IP with 86 K. Scott Baker is 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA in 104.2 IP with 90 K vs. 25 BB. Jason Jennings is 8-5 with a 4.44 ERA in 101.1 IP with 75 K vs. 36 BB.

Ben Howard is 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 22.2 IP with 34 K and 1 HRA. Joakim Soria is 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 44.2 IP with 50 K vs. 9 BB. Justin Huisman has 22 S with a 1.96 ERA in 41.1 IP with 38 K and 0 HRA. Carlos Marmol is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 17 IP with 16 K. Renyel Pinto is 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA in 36.2 IP with 42 K and 3 HRA. Clay Condrey is 1-1 with a 6.66 ERA in 25.2 IP with 20 K vs. 7 BB. Joey Devine is 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA in 18 IP with 23 K and 0 HRA. Huston Street has 1 S and a 8.10 ERA in 16.2 IP with 12 K.

At AAA SP Neftali Perez has 20 K in 9.2 IP in 3 starts. SP Andrew Bailey has 13 K in 9.2 IP in 3 starts. 1B Ryan Howard is hitting .362/.390/.472 in 354 AB with 9 HR and 61 SB. 3B Andy Marte is hitting .287/.347/.444 in 275 AB with 7 HR. CF Ryan Fowler is hitting .422/.423/.500 in 102 AB with 8 doubles. RF Chris Hill is hitting .285/.322/.448 in 165 AB with 7 HR.

At AA SP Tommy Hanson is 2-1 with a 1.46 ERA and 40 K in 24.2 IP in 3 starts. 1B Cade Carlson is hitting .286/.334/.369 in 290 AB with 16 2B and 16 SB. 3B Bob Franklin is hitting .244/.299/.438 with 7 HR in 160 AB.

A has SP Carlos Fernandez with 10 K in 9.2 IP in 3 starts. SP Pedro Felix in 4 starts has 10 K in 14.1 IP. SP Merrill Bullard has 7 K in 9 IP in 3 starts. LF Jim Huff is hitting .356/.463/.644 with 2 HR in 45 AB. 1B Hewie Melton is hitting .344/.375/.443 in 61 AB with 1 SB.

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On 7/8 the All-Star Rosters are announced. Closer Justin Huisman, 3B Mike Lowell, and CF Lastings Milledge all get on the roster.

We decide to stand pat at the trade deadline and close out July with a 67-41 record, still the best in baseball. I'm beyond surprised at how quick the turnaround has been from last season.

CF Lastings Milledge is hitting .357/.396/.504 with a team leading 77 runs and throwing in 12 HR and 43 RBI. SS Juan Uribe is slugging .351 despite a .215 BA but does have 10 HR with 57 RBI. 1B Dmitri Young is hitting .260/.329/.457 with 19 HR and 72 RBI. 3B Mike Lowell is hitting .337/.396/.541 with 74 runs, 17 HR, and 60 RBI. 2B Alfonso Soriano has been a solid surprise with 19 HR, 64 RBI, and a .456 SLG. LF Adam Dunn has a .911 OPS with a team leading 28 HR and tied for the team lead with 72 RBI. He also has 92 BB vs. 99 K. RF Brad Wilkerson has an .825 OPS with 14 HR, 42 RBI, and 78 BB vs. 74 K. C Charles Johnson has a .310 OBP and .393 SLG with 15 HR, 59 RBI, and 47 BB.

Jason Bay has a .296 OBP and .314 SLG with 7 RBI in 105 AB. Angel Santos has a .388 SLG with 7 HR and 19 RBI in 103 AB. Kevin Cash is up to a .229 OBP and has just 4 errors with 13 of 22 stealers thrown out in 216.1 innings. Dallas McPherson is hitting .279/.337/.337 with 11 RBI and 8 BB in 86 AB.

The starters remain mostly solid with Danny Allison 10-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 147 IP and 7 HRA. Joe Saunders is 9-9 with a 3.70 ERA in 143.2 IP with a 1.29 WHIP. Johnny Cueto is 11-5 with a 3.77 ERA in 131.1 IP with 110 K. Jason Jennings is 11-5 with a 4.09 ERA in 138.2 IP. Scott Baker is 6-7 with a 4.66 ERA in 125.2 IP with 106 K vs. 28 BB.

Ben Howard is our best reliever with a 2.10 ERA in 30 IP with 43 K and 1 HRA. Carlos Marmol has a 2.25 ERA in 24 IP with 21 K. Justin Huisman has 28 S with a 2.48 ERA in 54.1 IP with 50 K and 1 HRA. Joakim Soria has a 2.58 ERA in 59.1 IP with 68 K and 3 HRA. Renyel Pinto has a 3.38 ERA in 50.2 IP with 55 K and 4 HRA. Joey Devine has a 5.40 ERA in 26.2 IP with 28 K and 1 HRA. Clay Condrey has a 5.87 ERA in 38.1 IP with 14 BB. Huston Street has a 11.79 ERA in 23.2 IP with 18 K vs. 18 BB.

I decide to demote both Huston Street and Joey Devine down to AAA. In their place will be Justin Masterson (15 S, 3.00 ERA in 33 IP with 41 K and 0 HRA at AAA) and Daniel Bard (1.57 ERA in 23 IP with 39 K and 1 HRA at AAA).

At AAA SP Andrew Bailey has a 0.43 ERA with 33 K vs. 1 BB in 21 IP. He's still only going around 3 innings though. SP Neftali Perez has a 3.49 ERA and 49 K vs. 4 BB in 28.1 IP. He too is getting around 3 IP per game. 1B Ryan Howard is hitting .350/.378/.434 in 474 AB with 9 HR while 1B Peter Taylor is hitting .322 in 423 AB. 3B Andy Marte is hitting .287/.345/.441 in 376 AB with 10 HR. LF Shane Victorino has a .734 OPS with 11 HR in 401 AB. CF Ryan Fowler is hitting .359/.367/.411 in 209 AB. RF Chris Hill is hitting .261/.305/.441 in 261 AB with 12 HR.

Tommy Hanson will be called up to AAA after going 6-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 73.1 IP and 101 K vs. 7 BB.

At A SP Pedro Felix has a 0.99 ERA in 36.1 IP with 22 K. SP Carlos Fernandez has a 2.10 ERA in 30 IP while SP Merrill Bullard has a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 IP. 1B Hewie Melton is hitting .305 with a .384 SLG in 190 AB. 2B Francisco Gonzalez is hitting .328/.373/.418 with 3 HR in 189 AB. 3B Bob Reynolds is hitting .340/.387/.484 in 153 AB with 5 HR. LF Jim Huff is hitting .313/.468/.523 with 6 HR in 128 AB.

The best part is that we're doing it with a good mix of home grown talent (Danny Allison, Joe Saunders, Scott Baker, Dallas McPherson, Lastings Milledge) and other acquisitions via free agency and trades.

[DawnBTVS]

In August it's time for extensions. We throw a 2 year deal worth $2.70 Million ($1.35 Million per year) at SP Joe Saunders. We also offer a 2 year deal to MR Renyel Pinto worth $1.56 Million ($780,000 per year). Most everyone else are on 2 or 3 year deals or will be getting automatic extensions.

On 8/6 and 8/7 both players sign their extensions.

We're still in 1st in the NL West with an 81-55 record and 22 is our magic number. We're 5.5 ahead of the Colorado Rockies and 6.5 ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. We've cooled off a little going 28-26 in July and August combined. We're 3rd in RS with 671 and 6th in RA with 603 (+68). We're 1st in HR, 1st in BB, and 6th in OPS on offense while we're 4th in HA, 3rd in Opponent BA, and 2nd in K on the pitching side.

Top 5 Hitter's Spotlight
1: Lastings Milledge is hitting .369/.410/.516 with 32 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, and 54 RBI. He's also scored 93 R. He leads the team in R.
2: Mike Lowell is hitting .314/.372/.505 with 40 2B, 3 3B, 19 HR, and 71 RBI. He's also scored 88 R and has 49 BB vs. 87 K. He leads the team in 2B.
3: Adam Dunn is hitting .236/.395/.483 with 22 2B, 30 HR, and 81 RBI. He also has 115 BB vs. 122 K. He leads the team in HR.
4: Dmitri Young is hitting .278/.340/.484 with 32 2B, 4 3B, 24 HR, and 89 RBI. He also has 41 BB and 2 SB. He leads the team in RBI.
5: Brad Wilkerson is hitting .237/.376/.432 with 30 2B, 2 3B, 17 HR, and 59 RBI. He also has 95 BB vs. 94 K and 3 SB.

Defensively Juan Uribe has made 9 errors in 1248.2 Innings with 65 double plays and a 4.77 Range rating. Kevin Cash has 5 errors in 270.2 Innings with 15 of 26 runners thrown out (57.7%) and only 1 passed ball.

Top 3 Starters
1: Danny Allison is 13-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 180.1 IP and a 1.35 WHIP. He has 198 K vs. 76 BB and 13 HRA.
2: Johnny Cueto is 12-7 with a 3.92 ERA in 163 IP and a 1.39 WHIP. He has 133 K vs. 52 BB and 19 HRA.
3: Jason Jennings is 13-7 with a 4.19 ERA in 178.1 IP and 1.37 WHIP. He has 133 K vs. 61 BB and 18 HRA.

Top 4 Relievers
1: Carlos Marmol is 1-0 with 1 S and a 2.15 ERA in 29.1 IP. He has 25 K vs. 11 BB and 4 HRA.
2: Ben Howard is 3-2 with 1 S and a 2.23 ERA in 36.1 IP. He has 53 K vs. 13 BB and 2 HRA. His K/BB ratio is 4.08.
3: Joakim Soria is 6-2 with 3 S and a 2.64 ERA in 75 IP. He has 86 K vs. 26 BB and 5 HRA. His K/BB ratio is 3.31.
4: Justin Huisman is 4-3 with 36 S and a 2.94 ERA in 67.1 IP. He has 63 K vs. 15 BB and 4 HRA. His K/BB ratio is 4.20.

Daniel Bard and Justin Masterson have combined to go 1-1 with an ERA of 3.72 in 24.2 IP with 29 K vs. 9 BB and 2 HRA.

At AAA most of the starters are doing well with guys like Andrew Bailey, Mike White, and Joel Zumaya hitting 3 innings for most of their starts. Neftali Perez is improving and has made several starts of 4 IP, which bodes well for his future as he's only 20 years old.

In his first full season at AAA Chris Hill has shown some power with 11 doubles and 13 HR in 320 AB. He still needs to show some patience as he's walked 11 times and struck out 54. Ryan Howard continues to hit well with a .355 BA in 563 AB but is limited otherwise. He only has 10 HR and has walked 21 times. May be shopped around in the offseason. He's 28 so he can still offer a team something offensively. Peter Taylor's a carbon copy of Howard with even less power and less patience but is much better defensively. He's 23 and may or may not carve out a role as a backup, defensive replacement. He can also play 2B or 3B so he offers versatility. Andy Marte in his 3rd full season at AAA is still developing. He's improved his power from 5 HR in 413 AB to 11 in 486 and 13 in 443 this year. He's also shown improved patience jumping from 31 BB to 40 to 42.

At AA SP Jeremy White has likely carved out a role as a career minor leaguer. He's only 26 but has largely been a .500 pitcher with solid ERAs, doesn't allow many HR, but is limited in his ability to strike hitters out. Could find himself in a bullpen role at AAA next season. Cade Carlson looks like he may be yet another Taylor at 1B. Right down to versatility and solid defense at 2B, 3B, and SS. He's 23 and does have potential with 21 2B and 36 BB in 417 AB.

At A Pedro Felix is looking like a solid starter, having made several starts of 4 innings and even getting up to 5.1 IP. He's 19 and should improve with more seasons. Carlos Fernandez has mostly been between 3 and 4 innings while Merrill Bullard is routinely around 3 IP. The hitters are all slowly developing although LF Jim Huff is impressive with 6 HR and 45 BB vs. 27 K in just 158 AB.

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On 9/3 we suffer a blow as Lastings Milledge will miss 3-4 weeks with an Inguinal Hernia. He was hitting .366/.408/.512 with 13 HR at that point. Hopefully he'll be back by the time the Playoffs start. Replacing him will be Chris Hill. He's a poor fielder at the position but has been slugging .428 and hopefully can offer something with his bat.

Milledge makes a speedy recovery and is back on 9/28, just in time for the season ender. In just 69 AB Chris Hill was fairly adequate hitting .275/.296/.406 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, and threw in 1 SB.

It figures that our season comes down to a 1 game playoff! The winner will clinch the NL West and the loser then squares off with St. Louis to decide who gets the Wild Card spot.

Danny Allison will go up against Arizona's Brandon Webb who's 17-13 with a 3.79 ERA.

Arizona strikes first with 3 runs in the 3rd inning thanks to singles from Chris Shelton, J.D. Drew, and Mike Napoli. We're down 3-2 entering the 7th inning thanks to a Dmitri Young 2 run HR. Entering the 9th inning we're still down 1 run.

Jose Valverde is in to close. Adam Dunn starts off with a good 6 pitch at bat but ends up striking out. Brad Wilkerson grounds out on 5 pitches and it's all up to Alfonso Soriano. He works the count to 2-2 but strikes out looking... *sigh* Only this team.

So the Arizona Diamondbacks are headed to the playoffs after clinching the NL West.

So to decide the Wild Card we have Jason Jennings who's 16-9 with a 4.03 ERA going up against Gil Meche who's 17-10 with a 3.20 ERA. We're playing at home so hopefully that gives us an advantage.

Entering the 5th inning we're down 3-0 thanks to 3 singles. We've only mustered 2 hits and 2 walks so things are looking sorta bleak.

Entering the 8th inning we've managed to tie the game up at 4-4! Brad Wilkerson smacked a GRAND SLAM off Heath Bell.

It's the bottom of the 9th and we're still tied at 4. In comes B.J. Ryan to take on Dmitri Young. He strikes out after 5 pitches, his 3rd strikeout of the game. Adam Dunn now comes up to the plate. He manages to work a walk in an impressive 8 pitch at bat, go Dunn! Up next is Brad Wilkerson, the hero of the hour for now. On the 1st pitch he smacks a Fielder's Choice out at 2nd. Just like last game, it all rests on Alfonso Soriano or we go to extra innings. He strikes out on 3 straight pitches so the drama intesifies with extra innings.

The top of the 10th inning sees no runs plated for St. Louis. B.J. Ryan is still pitching and is now facing Kevin Cash who replaced Charles Johnson. He strikes out on the 6th pitch after initially having a favorable 3-1 count. Juan Uribe battles for 5 pitches but also strikes out. Jason Bay comes in to pinch hit. He also strikes out on just 5 pitches. F'n Ryan.

The top of the 11th inning also goes quietly. Luckily we have the top of the order now. Manuel Corpas is now pitching and immediately walks Lastings Milledge on 4 straight pitches. There's hope! Mike Lowell flies out on 4 pitches. Dmitri Young ends any threat with a double play groundout and onwards we march.

We go through the top of the 12th with no runs scored, earning another sigh of relief. Adam Dunn flies out on 6 pitches. We're working counts but showing nothing for it. Brad Wilkerson strikes out on 5 pitches. Alfonso Soriano also strikes out on 6 pitches and we're continuing to give the Birds a chance. We keep doing that and it's gonna bite us.

13th inning goes smoothly thanks to Ben Howard. We're still tied up at 4. Yoel Hernandez comes in for Corpas after Kevin Cash strikes out on 5 pitches. Juan Uribe grounds out on 4 pitches. Ben Howard flies out on the very first pitch he sees. Oh Well.

They manage a hit but still plate no runs in the top of the 14th. Lastings Milledge sees the 2nd pitch and smacks a hard hit double! We have a runner in scoring position!! Lowell works the count and draws a walk from Yoel Hernandez giving us 2 men on base. A single by Dmitri Young but Milledge is held up at 3rd. The bases are now loaded with 0 out for Adam Dunn. He grounds into a Fielder's Choice at home. Brad Wilkerson is now up. A 2-2 count and he strikes out looking. Alfonso Soriano is now up and we've just wasted opportunity for 2 outs.

"Alfonso Soriano digs in at the plate and Hernandez peers in for the sign. Here's the pitch, fastball on the outer half of the plate. Soriano gets a piece of it and it's over the head of Cedeno at second base! Mike Lowell charges home and it's all over! The San Diego Padres have secured a playoff spot with an astonishing extra inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals!"

I'm so excited that you'll get a season wrap up stat wise and playoff preview against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the next post.

[DawnBTVS]

We closed out the regular season at 90-74 largely thanks to a 46-36 record on the road and 29-19 record against LHP. Worrisome is that we really struggled, going just 8-19 in September. The first half of the year we went 53-29 compared to a record of 37-45 in the second half. We finished 5th in RS with 773, 3rd in XBH with 533, 1st in HR with 197, and 1st in BB with 567. Pitching wise we finished 9th in RA with 743, 6th in Starter ERA at 4.08, 4th in OBA at .269, 3rd in HRA at 131, and 1st in Strikeouts at 1337.

The Hitters
C Charles Johnson had 64 R, 21 HR, 82 RBI, and 60 BB vs. 119 K. He hit .207 and had a .294 OBP. Defensively he threw out 40.7% of the 329 attempted steals and had 26 errors with 10 passed balls in 1182 Innings.
C Kevin Cash had 9 R, 6 2B, 10 RBI, and 11 BB vs. 43 K in 134 AB. He hit .157 with a .218 OBP. Defensively he threw out 53.1% of the 32 attempted steals and had 5 errors with 1 passed ball in 323.2 Innings.
1B Dmitri Young had 95 R, 37 2B, 29 HR, 98 RBI, and 46 BB vs. 134 K. He hit .279/.338/.485 on the year.
2B Alfonso Soriano had 81 R, 5 3B, 26 HR, 82 RBI, and 32 BB vs. 137 K. He also had 13 SB in 20 SBO. He hit .231 with a .275 OBP.
2B/OF Angel Santos had 26 R, 9 HR, 25 RBI, and 13 BB vs. 26 K in 175 AB. He hit .171 with a .232 OBP.
3B Mike Lowell had 101 R, 47 2B, 22 HR, 81 RBI, and 59 BB vs. 106 K. He hit .311/.370/.495 on the year and was a tremendous pickup.
3B Dallas McPherson had 12 R, 12 RBI, and 13 BB vs. 36 K in 133 AB. He hit .218 with a .286 OBP.
SS Juan Uribe had 67 R, 43 2B, 13 HR, 78 RBI, and 38 BB vs. 150 K. He had a .224 BA and .267 OBP. Defensively he had 71 Double Plays and 11 Errors in 1505.2 Innings. He also had 513 Assists.
LF Adam Dunn had 96 R, 35 HR, 99 RBI, and 134 BB vs. 151 K. He had a .385 OBP despite a .233 BA.
LF/DH Jason Bay had 16 R, 9 2B, 13 RBI, and 9 BB vs. 42 K in 150 AB. He hit .213 with a .272 OBP.
CF Lastings Milledge had 96 R, 37 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR, 57 RBI, and 32 BB vs. 125 K. He hit .373/.414/.521 with 222 hits in 595 AB.
RF Brad Wilkerson had 76 R, 36 2B, 22 HR, 73 RBI, and 105 BB vs. 127 K. He had a .351 OBP despite a .223 BA.

We also got 5 HR from our pitchers with Jason Jennings standing out after hitting .300/.347/.429 with 2 HR, 5 BB vs. 15 K in 70 AB.

The Starting Rotation
Jason Jennings went 16-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 215.2 IP. He had a 1.34 WHIP with 163 K vs. 69 BB and 19 HRA.
Danny Allison went 15-10 with a 3.98 ERA in 221.1 IP. He had a 1.37 WHIP with 239 K vs. 89 BB and 17 HRA.
Johnny Cueto went 13-9 with a 4.15 ERA in 177.2 IP. He had a 1.41 WHIP with 150 K vs. 62 BB and 21 HRA.
Joe Saunders went 12-16 with a 3.98 ERA in 203.1 IP. He had a 1.31 WHIP with 110 K vs. 40 BB and 8 HRA.
Scott Baker went 8-11 with a 4.08 ERA in 187.1 IP. He had a 1.31 WHIP with 155 K vs. 40 BB and 17 HRA.

The Bullpen of Relief
Justin Masterson had a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 IP with a 0.98 WHIP and 15 K vs. 3 BB and 0 HRA.
Ben Howard went 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 43.2 IP with a 1.26 WHIP and 61 K vs. 18 BB and 3 HRA.
Carlos Marmol went 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 43 IP with a 1.26 WHIP and 42 K vs. 16 BB and 7 HRA.
Joakim Soria went 6-2 with 5 S and a 2.77 ERA in 87.2 IP with a 1.15 WHIP. He had 102 K vs. 29 BB and 6 HRA.
Daniel Bard went 1-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 39.1 IP with a 1.30 WHIP and 48 K vs. 9 BB and 2 HRA.
Justin Huisman went 4-6 with 38 S and a 3.79 ERA in 78.1 IP with a 1.23 WHIP. He had 71 K vs. 19 BB with 5 HRA.
Renyel Pinto went 5-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 73.2 IP with a 1.33 WHIP. He had 59 K vs. 24 BB and 12 HRA.

AAA Standout Pitcher
SP Andrew Bailey put up a 1.00 ERA in 27 IP with a 0.96 WHIP in 10 starts. He had 44 K vs. 3 BB with 0 HRA.

AAA Standout Hitter
3B Andy Marte hit .282/.348/.438 in 443 AB with 22 2B, 13 HR, 74 RBI, and 42 BB vs. 84 K.

AA Standout Pitcher
SP Jeremy White went 6-6 with a 3.53 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP in 14 starts. He had 50 K vs. 29 BB and 8 HRA.

AA Standout Hitter
1B Cade Carlson hit .295/.353/.372 in 417 AB with 21 2B, 30 RBI, and 36 BB vs. 78 K. He also added 25 SB in 40 SBO.

A Standout Pitcher
SP Pedro Felix went 1-0 with a 1.73 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 41.2 IP in 12 starts. He had 26 K vs. 8 BB and 1 HRA.

A Standout Hitter
LF Jim Huff hit .297/.447/.475 in 158 AB with 8 2B, 6 HR, 28 RBI, and 45 BB vs. 27 K.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a preview of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

They finished 91-71 and were pretty consistent throughout the season. They finished 11th in RS at 719 but 1st in RA at 627. They were fairly weak hitting but finished 3rd in HR with 168, 3rd in BB with 472, and 4th in Strikeouts at 1126. Very dangerous as they can hit for power, draw walks, and don't strikeout often. Pitching wise they were simply sensational. They put up a 3.49 team ERA, good for 1st, and were 3rd in hits allowed, 3rd in opponent BA at .264, and 1st in HRA at 121 and BB allowed with 324.

Hitting wise they're led by Aramis Ramirez who hit 23 HR with 85 RBI and had 41 BB vs. 61 K, Carlos Rivera who hit 31 HR with 94 RBI and had 84 BB vs. 84 K, and Craig Wilson who hit 26 HR with 65 RBI and 48 BB vs. 149 K. They also have the dangerous Brian Giles who put up 105 BB vs. 62 K while adding 31 doubles and 11 HR.

They also possess speed with 5 players topping 13 steals and Jason Bartlett standing out with 20 SB in 27 SBO.

Pitching wise nasty is an understatement. Their rotation relies on Jeff Suppan who went 16-6 with a 3.36 ERA, Ian Snell who went 18-11 with a 3.90 ERA, and Glendon Rusch who went 13-11 with a 4.13 ERA. Daniel Cabrera only went 10-11 but fashioned a 3.36 ERA too. But it's their bullpen that's really tough. Julian Tavarez and Rafael Soriano put up ERAs of 1.54 and 1.88! Bill Bray saved 37 games at a 2.25 ERA. Mark Corey and Mike Gonzalez also added ERAs of 2.51 and 2.74 with 4 S combined.

We will really have our work cut out for us and I predict we'll lose the series 3-1.

[DawnBTVS]

Game 1: Johnny Cueto vs. Daniel Cabrera

The Pirates strike first, putting up 3 runs in the 2nd thanks in part to a 2 run triple by Kyoichi Hashimoto. Pittsburgh adds 2 more in the 7th to go up 5-0. We've only mustered 2 hits. 2 more runs score in the 8th and we go quietly in the top of the 9th. We got our butts kicked.

We lost 7-0 and mustered just 4 hits with 0 walks. The star for Pittsburgh was SP Daniel Cabrera going 6 IP with 7 K and 2 HA.

Game 2: Scott Baker vs. Ian Snell

We get up to an early 1 run lead thanks to Alfonso Soriano with a single but Pittsburgh ties it up in the bottom of the 2nd. Through 6 innings Pittsburgh has taken a 2-1 lead in a solid pitcher's duel. We score 3 in the top of the 8th and take a big 4-2 lead. Lastings Milledge had a key RBI double.

Justin Huisman is in to close. He gets Escobar to strike out for the first out. Hashimoto grounds out. Kroeger flies out and we've tied the series up.

The player of the game was MR Daniel Bard going 1.2 IP with 3 K and 0 ER after Scott Baker left throwing just 5 innings.

Game 3: Glendon Rusch vs. Joe Saunders

Through the first 2 innings we have a 2-1 lead thanks to a 2 run HR by Mike Lowell. Another solid pitcher's duel underway as we take a 3-1 lead into the 7th inning. Lastings Milledge tacked on another RBI with a double. In the top of the 7th, Pittsburgh adds another run and are now down 3-2. 8th inning comes and Pittsburgh strikes, plating 4. Two home runs were hit by Craig Wilson and Rivera. Bottom of the 9th and we are now down 6-3. Dmitri Young grounds out. Adam Dunn immediately flies out. Brad Wilkerson battles but strikes out and that's the game.

We're now down 2-1 in the series. Player of the game was Joe Saunders for us going 7.1 IP with 3 K and 2 ER.

Game 4: Daniel Cabrera (1-@
ÚXllison

Pittsburgh strikes first with a 4 run 4th inning. Rivera smacked a 3 run HR. We scored 1 of our own in the bottom of the 4th. We tied it up in the bottom of the 5th thanks to singles. We take the lead 5-4 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Pittsburgh ties it up in the top of the 8th but we take the lead back in the bottom half thanks to an RBI double from Brad Wilkerson.

Justin Huisman is in to close and gets Mackowiak to fly out. Ryan Sweeney ties it up with a solo HR. Damn. Aramis Ramirez grounds out. Rivera works the count and draws a walk. Craig Wilson strikes out to end the threat.

Bottom of the 9th and we could go to extra innings. Lastings Milledge flies out as Bill Bray comes in to pitch. Mike Lowell grounds out. Dmitri Young finally flies out in short order.

Top of the 10th doesn't see any runs scored. Adam Dunn leads off and strikes out. Brad Wilkerson draws a walk. Alfonso Soriano strikes out on a 2-2 count. Kevin Cash works the count to 2-2 but also strikes out.

Top of the 11th and again, no runs are scored. Juan Uribe gets on base after being plunked on a 3-2 count. We'll take it. Angel Santos comes in to pinch hit, replacing Ben Howard. Base hit past 2nd and we have two runners on! Another base hit by Lastings Milledge and the bases are loaded for Mike Lowell.

"It's a 3-0 count and Corey comes out of the stretch. Here's the throw. Curveball and it looks like it's off the plate! Ball 4! Mike Lowell stays within himself and draws the walk. Uribe comes in from third and San Diego wins 7-6! It took 11 innings but San Diego has earned a 5th game!"

Game 5: Jason Jennings vs. Ian Snell (0-1)

As usual, Pittsburgh strikes first and takes a 4-0 lead entering the 6th inning. Craig Wilson hit a 2 run HR in the 3rd inning. Entering the 9th inning, we've gotten 5 hits but have nothing to show for it and are still down 4-0. Brad Wilkerson is up to square off against Brad Radke. Wilkersonstrikes out for the 3rd time today. Alfonso Soriano flies out after getting into a 2-1 hitter's count. Our final hope is Charles Johnson and he pops out on the very first pitch.

We had a hard fought series but Pittsburgh proved too good in the end as they're heading to the NLCS.

Player of the game is Ian Snell who pitched 7 innings with 8 K, 4 HA, and 0 ER.

To add onto the fun, we lose Juan Uribe to torn ankle ligaments and he'll be injured for 3 months.

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In the playoffs we ended up scoring 14 runs but allowed 25. We also got shut out in 2 games.

Small sample size in the 5 game postseason but Lastings Milledge did hit .350/.409/.500 with 2 RBI. Joe Saunders was also solid in his lone start.

The World Series goes to the Arizona Diamondbacks winning 4-3 over the Oakland Athletics.

Award Winners
AL Silver Slugger - Robinson Cano hit .389/.420/.536 with 43 2B, 15 HR, 90 RBI, and 35 SB in 69 SBO.
NL Silver Slugger - Albert Pujols hit .364/.437/.643 with 43 2B, 34 HR, 119 RBI, and 89 BB vs. 45 K. He also added 12 SB in 17 SBO.
AL Cy Young - Tim Lincecum went 21-9 with a 1.90 ERA and 333 K in 280 IP.
NL Cy Young - Francisco Liriano went 20-8 with a 1.80 ERA and 263 K in 229.2 IP.
AL Rookie - Alberto Callaspo hit .352/.374/.477 with 20 HR and 21 BB vs. 174 K.
NL Rookie - Ryan Feierabend went 17-6 with a 2.89 ERA and 211 K in 209 IP.

C Charles Johnson announced his retirement. He closed out his career with a 21 HR 82 RBI season at age 37. In his career he had 1353 hits with 237 home runs and a .717 OPS with a .404 SLG. MR Mike Matthews is also retiring. He's been in AAA the past 3 seasons but is 35 years old. He went 11-16 with 7S and a 4.09 ERA in his brief major league career.

In the offseason we've lost C Charles Johnson and will be letting 2B Alfonso Soriano test free agency. He had 26 HR but hit .231 despite being fairly solid in the field with 8 errors in 1421 innings.

Arbitration Awards
Clay Condrey will make $350,000. Scott Baker will make $834,900. Jason Bay will make $2.452 Million and will likely be shopped around in the offseason. Huston Street will also make $350,000.

Offseason we'll really just need a starting C, letting Kevin Cash remain as a defensive backup. We'll also be shopping around Jason Bay and 1B Ryan Howard, players who've fallen off and no longer fit our team plans.

[DawnBTVS]

Unfortunately the dynasty appears to be over as OOTP 8's suddenly developed issues when I click a player name (a different name opens) and won't let me sim forward from the current date.

But I was able to run the Padres for 5 seasons and will likely start up a new dynasty (hopefully with no errors this time around).

[numbuh48]

No errors... You need to lower those fielding ratings.