[ayaghmour2]

Note: I'm trying something slightly different. In an effort to make this league more similar to real life, I will upgrade or in some cases "stabalize" some players selected out of high school, but fail to sign. In real life, these guys are generally good players not half star players that will never be selected again. This, paired with raising the number of players generated from 60 rounds to 70 rounds should make more quality players in the pool, but more importantly quality players who were selected in high school and will be selected again out of college. These players that will get changes to their ratings will generally not be huge bonuses, I'm not going to create unrealistic superstars, but they will be good enough to be selected again when their time comes.

For example, 7th Rounder Steve Helton of the Orioles did not sign and will attend Delaware State until at leaset 2027. His potentials (out of 250 in the editor) are 84-91-130-120-101. Since his ratings are relatively even with no weird spots, I'll give him a small upgrade to 94-101-140-130-111.

The Red Sox 22nd Rounder D.J. Goodwin will attend Portland until 2027. With ratings 85-110-96-50-97, I can stabalize him to 105-110-86-50-107 where he become a more accurate player (low power guys generally have better BABIP and EYE ratings), but will not become a superstar.

Another thing I can do is like with the Yankees 26th Rounder Chad Farmer who is going to Arizona for just 1 year. He has starting pitcher stamina, but his third pitch is awful, so with the move to college, I improved his 12 rated change up potential to 116 so he can become a real starter, and improve his movement from 20 to 93, because for some reason, the game spits out a lot of players with no control.

High round picks, such as Rays 3rd Rounder Josh McHargue will have a higher chance of getting bigger adjustments. I increased the RP's speed from 95-97 to 97-99 to show a progression in college and his control from 110 to 140. He is returning for his senior year at Vanderbuilt.

I also take the college they will attend into consideration. The better the school's program, the higher chance they have of getting a more substantial improvement.

All these players adjusted our not able to be signed, and most won't be eligible to be drafted for three years, so this doesn't benefit or hurt any team currently, but could help balance draft classes. As long as the majority of the first round aren't these players when the 2027 draft occurs, I will continue this process the way I have started.

August 13th, 2024: Adam Haseley will start a rehab assignment in A+ Jupiter. I feel bad for him, becuase this will likely be a long rehab assignment since both Juan Ramirez and Carlos Soler have been too good to option. I can hold him down until roster expansion if needed.

Baltimore owner Peter Angelos passed away today, and his son Peter Jr. will take over the control of the club. Junior is generous with money, but expects results.

We found ourselves in Arizona, facing the Diamondbacks and Jean-Christophe Hernandez (3-12, 5.98 ERA, 1.60 WHIP). Walker Buehler (4-5, 3.76 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) got the start for us in a game we should win. We didn't score much, but the pitching was so good we needed just 1 run to win the game.

Buehler went 6, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, and he struck out just 3. Chasen Shreve and Alpha Quivers earned holds while Jorge Moya recorded the save.

Brendan Rodgers was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the 7th for the only run of the game. Juan Ramirez (1-for-3) and Austin Hedges (1-for-4) had the only other hits. Nick Gordon was 0-for-3, but walked and scored the winning run.

August 14th, 2024: Jake Florence (9-7, 3.47 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) took on Steven Gingery (7-9, 4.73 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) as we looked to take the series a day early. Things are looking up, and we took the middle game 5-3.

Florence was amazing, 7 innings with just 6 hits and 2 strikeouts. The best part was no walks, and walks are his favorite thing to allow. Adonis Medina had a rough outing, 3 runs off 3 hits while just getting 1 out. Michael Feliz finished the 8th to get a hold, and Alpha Quivers got the save (I write on notepad, so the "Q" from the font looks really cool when typed in "Quivers")(I've wanted to say that for a long time).

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 2-for-4 with a walk and solo homer. Scott Kingery did him one better, 2-for-4 with a walk and 2-run homer. He also tripled. Mickey Moniak was 2-for-4 with a run scored and hit by pitch. Austin Hedges was 1-for-3 with a double, run scored, and walk. Florence himself was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI's.

August 15th, 2024: We looked to finish the sweep with Mike Soroka (6-3, 4.52 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) facing BrocK Helverson (3-7, 5.13 ERA, 1.34 WHIP). We exploded for 12 runs, including 5 in the 9th, to finish the road sweep with a 12-2 victory.

Soroka was great, just 1 run in 7 innings with 5 hits, a walk, and 4 strikeouts. Adonis Medina allowed a run off 2 hits and a walk in 2 innings with 2 strikeouts.

Rookie Juan Ramirez was 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, a solo homer, a steal, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI's. The 21-year-old future superstar is hitting .375 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's in 32 at bats to start his MLB career. Mickey Moniak was 4-for-5 with a double and two run homer. Both guys were triples away from the cycle. Thomas Dillard was 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored, a walk, and double. Vlad Jr. was 2-for-6 with a run scored and steal. Nick Gordon was 1-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored, an RBI, and a walk. Shoehi Ohtani was 2-for-5 with a run scored and RBI.

The Mets 1B Dominic Smith was able to get the triple, and hit for the cycle in a 4-3 win over the Phillies.

We've got a nicer 1.5 game lead over the Braves for the 2nd Wild Card, and head to Colorado for three with the 59-58 Rockies. We'd see Juan Coira (5-5, 4.16 ERA), Mashiaro Tanaka (9-6, 3.91 ERA), and Jon Gray (5-6, 4.02 ERA).

August 16th, 2024: Former Marlin and current Mariner 1B Evan White is out for the year with a broken bone in his elbow. He was hitting .282 with 5 homers, 22 RBI's, and 41 runs scored.

The Giants lost 2018 3rd Rounder Carter Raffield for the year. In 25 starts, he's struggled, working a 5.57 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 105 innings. He tore his flexor tendon, puting his 2025 in jeopardy as well.

We opened the Rockies series with Jordan Montgomery (7-7, 3.06 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) taking on Juan Coira (5-5, 4.16 ERA, 1.30 WHIP). It was a low scoring game for Coors Field, and we took the opener 4-3.

Montgomery, left after just 3 batters, and I really hope he's going to be okay. Yasukazu Shiotani had an uncharacteristically poor start, but pitched 2.2 innings of mop up with 5 hits and 3 runs. Chasen Shreve tossed 2.1 more mop up innings with 4 strikeouts. Ben Heller earned the win, Michael Feliz the hold, and Jorge Moya the save. They combined for 3.1 innings with a hit, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

Vlad was 1-for-4 with a solo shot. Shoehi Ohtani was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Juan Ramirez was 1-for-2 with a double and run scored. He was also hit by a pitch. Nick Gordon was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI, but was also caught stealing. Seth Beer was 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.

Akil Baddoo of the Twins also got the triple, and for the second staright day, a MLB player hit for the cycle. He was a perfect 4-for-4 in a 12-1 win over the Nationals.

August 17th, 2024: We looked to take another series with A.J. Puckett (6-5, 4.55 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) facing Mashiaro Tanaka (9-6, 3.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) as we looked to take the series a day early. The red-hot Ramirez enters the game with a 1.181 OPS. We scored 4 in the 9th to take a 7-5 lead, but allowed 4 more in the 9th on a walk off grand slam by Tsuneki Kaza with Jorge Moya pitching.

Puck had a rough start, 5 runs and 7 hits in 3 innings with 2 strikeouts. Moya allowed all 4 runs off 2 hits, a walk, and he only got one out. The rest of the pen combined for 5 innings with 3 hits, a walk, and 4 strikeouts.

Fear not, we could still take the series tomorrow to start the roadtrip 5-1.

August 18th, 2024: Again, we can exhale with a Montgomery injury, as it's just a stiff back that will cost him his next start. We have a 4 game series with the Giants next, and I'd probably give the start to either Shoehi Ohtani or Adonis Medina.

We looked to win the series with Walker Buehler (5-5, 3.45 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) battling German Marquez (11-10, 4.19 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). Ryan McMahon hit's him well, 5-for-14 with a homer, although he's fatigued for this match. We scored 8 in the 7th in a 12-7 series win.

Buehler allowed just 2 (1 earned) in 6 innings with 6 hits, a walk, and 7 strikeouts. Adonis Medina allowed 3 runs without getting an out, so he's out for starting. Alpha Quivers allowed 2 runs in an inning with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

Brendan Rodgers was a monster in his old home, 3-for-4 with a walk, solo homer, and two run homer. Nick Gordon was 3-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored, walk, and 3 RBI's. Shoehi Ohtani was 3-for-5 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a double. Juan Ramirez was 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored and his 8th double in just 11 games. Havin 100 gap power tends to do that. Seth Beer was 1-for-5, but that hit was a nice 3 run homer. Austin Hedges was 2-for-5 with 2 RBI's.

We're off to San Francisco for four with the last place Giants before a much needed day off. At 67-53, we're just 5 out of first, 3 out of the 1st Wild Card, and have a 2.5 game cushion over the Braves.

Looking at the four game set, we'd see Ryan Olson (1-4, 4.50 ERA), J.D. Busfield (2-9, 4.92 ERA), Zack Littell (4-10, 4.41 ERA), and Chris Paddock (3-3, 4.03 ERA).