Building a (Bay) Bridge - An A's Do-Over
 

As I mentioned in my Bucs thread not so long ago, my next OOTP (ad)venture is a full historical minors run-through of the Athletics franchise since its move to Oakland in 1968.

And so I present to you "Building a (Bay) Bridge".

I've no prior experience with historical minors and so I want to just ease my way into it as I play out the Bucs until my planned pause after the 1980 season. I thought those of you who are likewise unversed in this style of game would appreciate a more in-depth approach to this familiarisation process to perhaps act as a catalyst (or deterrent) to perhaps giving it a try at some point.

So, along with an insight into the franchise as it stands upon our arrival on the West Coast, I'll highlight any points I feel would be of interest about handling the game under these settings and circumstances. We'll see how that all goes as I do my usual "feeling-out" period of how best to present the news from this timeline.

Tryouts will ensue - a "cerebral combine", if you will. Some ideas will be retained, others cut - just like players in baseball.

And just as has been the case with the A's IRL, I'm anticipating few if any dull moments along the way.

G

Settings and Setup
 

OK, so - apart from the obvious - there'll be plenty of differences between this save and the Bucs. Variety is, after all, the spice of life!

The main one of these will be that, instead of a Rookie Draft each year, players will simply go to the franchise they began their careers with IRL. No Legacy or Marquee Players in this timeline, either.

Most of the settings have been left to Default as per the season being played, and the league will evolve and expand as per the IRL.

Rather than Ghost Players, I have decided to let the minors be populated with fictionals who will be blocked from playing in the majors. I'll be keeping a real close eye on this for any problems and will cut it should they arise.

Some other settings of note:

• Position player fatigue is set to HIGH, short-term injuries to NORMAL and long-term to LOW
• Personality, Morale, Coach Cohesion and Chemistry are all OFF
• AI eval is at 52-26-16-6
• Scouting is at NORMAL
• 3-year recalc is being applied with double-weight, dev is also on and TCR is set to 125
• Aging and dev settings at NORMAL / 1.000
• Trading difficulty is set to +2, with Prospects favoured by one notch; Hard Mode, Reputation and Deadline Day are all disabled
• AI trading is set to VERY LOW

The following House Rules will be in place, but are also subject to change:

• Only those players who either came up with or appeared for our franchise IRL can do so in this timeline, with the exception that ALL CAREER MILBers are fair game.
• 2 Free-Agent signings allowed per calendar year - excepting minors deals with MLB options attached, which are unlimited
• 3 trades allowed per calendar year with no limit to the number of players involved + the option of a fourth if it is initiated by another club

Full financials have been invoked with FA rules rather than the Reserve Clause. 6 / 3 years for FA / Arb, 6 for MILB FA.

Player salaries will follow the game's defaults but I'll be tinkering with the individual franchises to make things more realistic, and with ours to keep things as challenging as possible. We are, after all, the home of Moneyball and "Beanecounting".

I think that's all for now. Be back once I've had a look at our franchise and player group.

First Impressions / Movin' and Groovin' 68.1
 

Well we all know how quickly the club got good after hitting the Bay Area, and so as you'd expect the place is in pretty solid shape with a nice bunch of young guys ready now and a few more still a couple years or so away. One young gun I never knew was part of our franchise IRL is Darrell Evans and, unlike our real-life counterparts, we won't be leaving him unprotected come Expansion time.

You'll slowly become acquainted with the group as we wend our way through the seasons, so I'll leave that for now and turn instead to some changes we want to make. We've got a bit of flash cash to spare that I am keen to put to good use from the off before Charlie O. pulls one of his swifties.

Firstly, I want to acquire OF Rico Carty, one of the few notable FAs available as this timeline begins. Big bat, virtually no glove is Rico's jam and it's clear this will be our OF mantra for a while with guys like Reggie and Rick Monday as part of it. (With the exception of SS Bert Campaneris and 3B Sal Bando, it speaks for our IF as well, albeit to a lesser degree.)

Rico, who had a couple short tours of duty at the Col during the 70s, is looking for roughly $275k AAV and a 6-year deal, which is broadly in line with what we're happy to pay. After the usual to-and-fro, he signs for $1.5m.

Next, I look to move overpaid and now obsolescent OF Jim Gosger elsewhere for some relief pitching, something of which we are in dire need. We waive / DFA him first because our expectations of getting anything in return for him are so low.

As expected, he gets through unmolested and we eventually have to work hard and get a tad creative before finally swinging this deal, using our first trade ticket for 1968.



Bob (OAK 1970-72) has been around for a few years and should be a reliable enough type to tide us over for the next few years as we build the club we want. For now, he'll be our RH Setup guy.



We still need an upgrade at 2B, some IF depth and another RH reliever or two, but Oakland - like Rome - wasn't built in a day. Spring Training is about to get underway, so I'll be back full a comprehensive sit rep on Opening Day.

Movin' and Groovin' 68.2
 

In actual fact, we end up going and getting the IF depth piece we need with the following trade:



Marty (OAK 1972) gives us that defensive coverage around the diamond and can even fill in at C and LF if needed. Not much of a bat, which is why he's the backup. With Joe Rudi on board and Danny Webster also able to play 1B, Danny Cater is an expensive spare part we're OK losing.

The Peach Fuzz Brigade 68.1
 

With the A-level Carolina League's Opening Day (April 1) upon us, I think it's time to set our MILB rosters and have a look at the guys we expect to at least have some chance of featuring with us at the big club somewhere down the line.

The way I'll be playing this, at least to begin with, is to set these guys at their level and handle moving them around myself, while letting AGM Tyler Johnson handle all the other administrative jobs for the minors other than catch and release.

At the time of writing, our farm system is ranked 4th and we have six guys classed as "prospects". Let's look at our clubs from AAA down to GCL.

AAA VANCOUVER

LHP Vida Blue (#7 Prospect)

Not even 19 yet and still to corral his wildness and his tendency to groove pitches, so we'll work with him on both at AAA this season with the expectation for him to get his call-up either after rosters expand or next year.

RHP Rollie Fingers (#20 Prospect)

Has been slowly working his way up the ladder and had a decent enough season at AA last year. We'll have to react according to the hand we're dealt with Rollie, so he'll stay a starter until he can't no more. Again, we forecast him to be with us at Oakland by '69 at the latest.

1B Miguel Davila (#101 Prospect)

No idea why the scouts are hot on Miguel, but they have him ranked higher than Gene Tenace so my interest is piqued and we'll give him every chance to prove my scepticism wrong.

AA BIRMINGHAM

3B Darrell Evans (#12 Prospect)

Hit a smidge under 500 in 45 ABs at the GCL in the offseason and should carve up AA. But he's still very much a member of the Strangeglove Family and we feel success at the plate should help in the field. No doubt he'll be at AAA soon enough but is likely another year after that away from the bigs.

OF George Hendrick (#27 Prospect)

Just 18 and still extremely raw, so we're going to slow ride him up the elevator, but a huge talent who we see as integral to our 1970s group.

C Gene Tenace (#108 Prospect)

Has already shown flashes of power but his overall prowess both at and behind the plate needs a bunch of work. Should undoubtedly be at AAA but the word on him is that he works harder when angry so we've decided to test that theorem by holding him back a notch for now.

A+ BURLINGTON

A LEESBURG

A- PENINSULA

R GCL

The Hair Bear Bunch 68.1
 

Let's turn our attention to our playing group at Oakland. A collective review of the squad will follow on Opening Day, but here's a more granular look at the 25 players who'll comprise it.



With such a young and inexperienced staff, Pag provides the veteran guidance we need and will be our everyday C. He's signed thru 1970, which should be the perfect bridge to the Tenace era. Expensive, but worth it - especially if he can rediscover that power swing of his that all but abandoned him in '67.


Tim's a handy UT and will also see his share of time at 1B and in the OF, as well as resting Jim behind the dish.



Ray had a handy enough year back at KC in '67 to give us the confidence to shift Cater and he'll work the heavy side of a platoon at 1B with Rudi. Also holds down a decent LF and adequate CF.


This is all about getting Joe some ABs and easing him into the rigours of big-league baseball. He'll also see some outs from the LF vantage point and even 3B if we are (extremely) desperate.


Could just as easily have been Dick Green in this slot, but in the end we opted for John to handle the strong side of a 2B platoon on the basis of him acquitting himself well last season.


Marty will be the soft side of that 2B platoon but will see as many if not more of his ABs coming from utility duties resting the starters at his various positions, including C.


Struggled to assert himself last season against big-league pitching but we know he'll be much improved from the experience and are confident in his abilities to hold down the hot corner on an everyday basis.


The ignition switch to our offensive engine from the leadoff spot, Campy's had three 3+ bWAR seasons on the trot and we expect more of the same. In his walk year so we'll be keen to lock him down long-term some point early in the season to allow him (and us) to concentrate on playing baseball.


Ted has been working hard on his D in the offseason and needs to continue doing so as his bat is never going to be enough to offer him job security at this level.



A key presence in the lineup behind Reggie, who would otherwise find himself not seeing the sorts of pitches he likes with the frequency he likes to see them. The thought of these two and Darrell at 4-5-6 is a salivating one.


For now, Rick will hold down that 6 slot although longer-term we see him at 3.


If this kid hits even half as good as he talks then my job is going to me made a heck of a lot easier.


Both fringy types and streaky hitters who have had their chance to impress but not taken it. Floyd in particular is glove-oriented and struggles to contribute offensively. But they'll do in backup roles for now.




Made that next step we were both hoping and expecting he would with a 5.5 pWAR '67 campaign and earns the right to be our SP1. A big-ticket item for us as he's already on $210k this season and $310k the next, with one more arb year to follow that. I doubt we'll have the juice to keep him after that and will need to orchestrate a bountiful exit for the club at that point, rather than the bumbling sendoff he got IRL.


A serviceable 1967 given how poor the club was and everything that was going on around the place, but we think Jim's better than that and hope to be proven right in '68 and beyond. On the min until '69 but gets expensive quick after that and is another we are going to be looking at trading in before then.


The workhorse type of SP a small-budget club needs one or two of and he'll fulfil that very role for the next few years here in Oakland.


Will cost us $230k over the next two seasons, which should prove cheap. after that is anyone's guess.


How long Johnny stays on our books will once again be a direction function of how expensive he gets and how quickly. Already into his arb years so we'll know soon enough.



Certainly our weak point from the looks of it. We'll be building up this area of our squad in as quick and orderly fashion as possible, but for now they are going to have to do.


Far from the perfect squad, but plenty of upside over the next year or two. We'll consider 75 wins a "successful" campaign.

1968 Oakland A's IRL (courtesy of Baseball Reference)
 

A nice welcome to the Bay Area after the 99-loss swansong in KC with signs of the dynasty to come emerging all over the group, but most prominently for now in the forms of Campaneris, Jackson, Hunter and Bando.




OAK 1968 BBREF PAGE

1968 Preseason
 

1968 Opening Day
 

We Are Off!
 

Nice to get a W to kick off this Bay Area journey.



I'm going to run this and the Bucs save in tandem until I have closed the gap, then I'll pause Bucs for a while until this one gets a few seasons ahead of it and then put both back into play again. At least that is the plan.

1968 Financials Report
 

Hello, Oakland!
 

And an even nicer way to celebrate the first game ever at the future Oakland Home for Feral Cats.

Games 1-10, 1968
 

Games 11-20, 1968
 

MLB Monthly Awards, April 1968
 

Sadecki No-Hits Cincy
 

We have our first no-no for this timeline! IRL, Ray never threw one in the bigs.

Fun to follow this one from the start!

Indeed - should be a wild old ride, this bad boy.

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Games 21-30, 1968
 

Im excited for this save in a very interesting way. You see, in 1978, there was a minor league team called the Jersey City A’s. My dad is also from Jersey City, so I'm excited to see how they do once we get there.

Oh man, Jim Gosger makes it into someone's game report and the poor guy is getting waived. When I was a youngster my best friends dad sponsored a men's fast pitch softball team( my friend would go on to be a really good pitcher himself) and tons of our weekends were spent going to tournaments all around Michigan. Jim Gosger played for a team from the Port Huron area. I always love it when he pops up in one of my random debut leagues.

Welcome aboard!

Sorry DW, he was for whatever reason on a stupid high salary. You know we can't abide that at Oakland...

Games 31-40, 1968
 

One for Scooby Doo and the Gang
 

Does Phil Niekro have an alter-ego playing in the minors as part of the Cardinals organisation? Or is this the elder brother of renowned DJ Frankie?

https://i.imgur.com/knbIMku.png


EDIT: Mystery solved; it's THIS guy.

MLB Monthly Awards, May 1968
 

Games 41-50, 1968
 

Good luck! I had the idea to manage the Oakland As as well. I guess that they do not have much money in the bank in game in 1968, right?

Thanks mate. See THIS POST for financial info.

Well, at least the the key players are still under contract for a few more years. However the small market size will make extensions difficult, if a key player wants big salary increase.

BTW do you use coaching? I presume yes, only coach cohesion is off.

What is your rule of thumb for setting development and scouting budgets in this save?

How is this Miguel Davila performing in your save? It is said to be the #101 prospect, but IRL he never reached the majors, so no stats are available, but due to the development engine it could turn out differently in your game.

Games 51-60, 1968
 

1968 Regular Season Recap, Games 1-60
 

We shall have to see from afar. See the recent update and my comments on the Tovar trade.

Tovar has a quite big salary. Will you be able to sign extension? Or you will let Donaldson go at the end of the season, since Tovar is the first choice for 2B anyway?

Apart for being the first choice at 2B, what position is Tovar playing as U1 or U2?

Well, Tovar and Donaldson can platoon at 2B. :-)

Yep, just enough room for now. He signed for 2 years at $220k AAV. Donaldson is on the minimum. Cesar just playing 2B unless we need him to fill in other spots from time to time.

This is after the Tovar re-up, with all re-signed for '69 other than those on scale:

https://i.imgur.com/GJu2QJ1.png

What are your plans with Segui, Robinson and Herschberger? Their contracts are running out. Robinson and Herschberger are backup outfielders and $60k+ salary of Herschberger is pretty high for a backup player. Eventually you could trade him for a cheaper backup. Think of which, do you searchh in game for those guys who spent at least one season in Oakland IRL, or you do it on the internet? :-)

All will walk, along with Jim Dickson.

I check in-game and shortlist them as I find them.

In fact there is Joe Keough as well in the minors who can play all outfield positions.

"I check in-game and shortlist them as I find them."

Do you use any kind of filter to find them?

Funny thing, I checked on Baseball Reference website the batting order of the A's in 1968, and R. Jackson usually batted 2nd which is wierd as, at least in game, he is the most powerful hitter of the team. According to sabermetric "rules" he should be at 3rd or 4th spot.

There's no filter available for IRL stats, only in-game.

Remember, Sabermetrics were but a glint in BJ's eye back in 1968.

Games 61-70, 1968
 

The Peach Fuzz Brigade 68.2
 

"Remember, Sabermetrics were but a glint in BJ's eye back in 1968."

Sure, but even back then big sluggers like Aaron or Ruth were usually at least 3rd in the lineup.

In any case, even in a historical replay I tend to use sabermetric guidelines, and try to avoid bunt plays etc.

MLB Awards, June 1968
 

Games 71-80, 1968
 

MLB All-Star & Prospect Game, 1968
 

At what point during the 68 season with no future knowledge would you decide Jackson was a "big slugger?" Hitting 23 HRs in A BALL in 1966 and 17 HRs in AA in 1967 doesn't prove that. He came to the A's without ever having played AAA. Through May 31 1968 he was hitting .232 with 5 HRs. There is zero reason to hit the guy third based on contemporary knowledge with or without sabermetrics.

And mentioning 1968 Reggie Jackson as a comparison to Aaron and Ruth is grossly inaccurate. Even 1980 Jackson didn't quite have a Ruthian or Aaronesque season.

Jackson is the power hitter of the team, at least in game. In any case IRL he had the highest SLG% in the team in 1968 and then in 1969 again. But I understand your point, that in 1968 IRL the manager had no reason to have him at 3rd or 4th spot. According to Baseball Reference he has been switched to the 3rd spot in 69 and to the 4th in 70.

I did not want to say that Jackson's performance was equivalent to Ruth's or Aaron's, but still he was the biggest slugger in the A's team.

Games 81-90, 1968