[lucho2107]

*Check Out our NLDS win and our NLCS defeat (and the rest of the playoffs) on page 4 of the thread.
*We won the 2021 NL East!
*Check out the 2021 season on the third page!
*Check out the 2021 offseason coverage for all the FA signings and trades on the second page !!
*Check out the 2020 postseason coverage on the second page!!

Context:

The simulation will start on March 24, 2020. As you know the Nationals won the 2019 world series and kept most of the players who led them to their victory. Nevertheless, the loss of Anthony Rendon and the age of their group are some aspects that will make lots of people question their ability to retain the WS title. The NL East is one of the most competitive divisions in baseball as the four teams made serious roster improvements during the offseason. The Braves have won the division the last two years and the Mets and Phillies have enough depth in their rosters to fight for the division and the NL pennant. My objective as the new GM is to capture the division title again and try to build an impressive dynasty.

Manager and Game Settings:
I will be the General Manager and keep Dave Martinez as my first team manager. Martinez and the Minor league managers will handle the in-game strategy and I will handle the lineups, pitching staff and the depth charts (The minor league staff will handle this for the minor league teams)
The injury level will be high to resemble modern-day baseball.
Aging speed is set at: 0.80
Development speed is set at: 1.05
The trading difficulty will be hard and favor prospects.
Player evaluation settings are: 50/30/15/5

Big League Roster evaluation:
*The active roster was automatically set when starting the game and the 40 man roster has currently 28 players.

SP: We have one of the top rotations of the league. Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin all have a rating of 70 or higher. Strasburg and Corbin have monstrous contracts and the owner would like to sign Scherzer to an extension (he has two years of contract remaining). Hopefully, Anibal Sanchez and Joe Ross can deliver what is expected from the number 4 and 5 starters. If the season is going well for us, acquiring a starter before the tradeline might be a smart move

RP: The relievers have been the weak spot for the Nationals in the last 4 years. Doolittle and Harris are the two stars of the bullpen. I also have high expectations for Rainey, Suero, and Hudson. In spite of their low ratings, Bourque, Elias, and Abad (the last two are experienced lefties) will be part of the opening day roster.
C: Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki will platoon. Gomes is a better defender but Suzuki is better with the bat. Both of them are veterans and acquiring a decent catcher might be in place thinking in the 2021 season.
IF: We are going to have a 7 player infield. Most of the players can play in various positions. Nevertheless, Trea Turner will play at shortstop, Howie Kendrick mostly at second base not first and Asdrubal Cabrera mostly at third. Carter Kieboom, the team's top prospect, will be on the opening day roster but I have not decided if he will be in the starting lineup. Turner, Thames, and Kieboom are still young but is a little naive to expect a great performance by the rest of the infielders.
OF: The outfield is practically set. Soto in left Field (he is the star and the most dangerous player of the lineup), Robles at center field and Eaton playing right. The 4th outfielder will be Taylor who has a great defense and can play anywhere in the outfield.

Farm System:
There is very little to be said about our farm system. We don´t have many talented minor leaguers and we will have to work with what we have at the major level. Our top prospect is Luis Garcia, a shortstop, the only position we have very well covered with Trea Turner. Hopefully, we can sign some amateur internationals FA´s and improve the roster.

Owner goals:
2020. Reach playoffs (I think that is very possible)
2020. Upgrade right field (We don´t have a lot of prospects that are valuable to have a big trade)
2022. Sign Scherzer to an extension
2022. Find a team leader

Front Office status

We have 22M for free agents and 31M for extensions
I will take advantage of the fan loyalty and the market size to rise the ticket prices to $45. (They were at $42)
I´ve increased the development budget from 9M in 2019 to 11.190 M in 2020
I´ve increased the scouting budget from 8.4M in 2019 to 10.170 M in 2020
The current budget is the 6th biggest in the league and the current payroll is the 8th

*played in OOTP21
All comments and thanks are highly welcomed! I hope you all enjoy the thread and I hope I can interact with a lot of baseball fans. (I miss baseball a lot)