Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeP47
You know, how exactly did the Bloodbugs get good? I spent so much time, up until this point, whining about insects, that any prowess on their part actually went overlooked other than the fact they were becoming more present haha.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ayaghmour2
I'm curious too. The middle of their lineup is insane. A lot of homegrown guys? A good draft or two? A lot of there top guys are all the same age
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I can break this down a bit. For one, I think County Crossing has been the beneficiary of being bad for awhile and then having a lot of luck in their moves. I checked through on my Excel file, and they never had a supermax event where several players got stat boosts, so it is a lot of cashing in on talent increases and few bad moves.
Their front office personnel looks to be among the CBO's best. GM Kyle Wolf has an excellent reputation, MGR Crow Guai is decent, BC Adam Fields and PC Killer Kevin Cortes are good, and HC Toby Slocumsjoe is excellent. Scout Jim Peil is decent and team doctor Dr. Jix Thompson is good. Their 3BC is Sprole Races, former manager of Lexington from 2297-2301.
I'll give some information on their current overall ratings in parentheses.
From 2296-2300, they finished either 5th (once) or 6th (four times), so they were always drafting high.
In 2296, they drafted C Biter Trout with the 4th overall pick.
In 2297, they drafted SP Dobbie Radoncis with the 5th overall pick.
In 2298, they drafted 1B Ajani Peacock with the 3rd overall pick.
In 2299, they drafted CF Sharkey Lurkfodder with the 2nd overall pick.
In 2300, they drafted RF Danny Faraday with the 6th overall pick.
Trout (80) was traded straight up to Starlight for 1B Zeldolph Violet (80).
Radoncis (54) was traded in 2300 to Warwick (now Spectacle Island) in a trade that generated SP Whip Lashley (2297 3rd round pick), CL Rob O'Cop (2299 2nd round pick), and LF Delmarva Illeracula (2299 1st round pick). None of those guys were in the CBO at that time. This season, they traded away several players in July along with Illeracula to attain LF Kurt Kilgore (70) from Finch Farm.
Lurkfodder (69) is perhaps their worst trade since he really only generated RP Mike Koenig (52) in a trade with Sunshine Tidings. Lurkfodder now plays for Oberland.
In 2303, they traded away Faraday in a July trade that got them SP Terrence Artman (57) and RP Relay Meachem (51) from Salem.
Current Starters by Position:
C - Darth Horse (57) - Acquired in 2303 in a trade with Sunshine Tidings with 2B Tut Campbell (48) being the only decent player of the four they sent.
1B - Violet (inj.)
2B - Peacock (58)
3B - Taygun Topaloglu (71) - Was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2296 Inaugural Draft by Finch Farm. Was traded to the Bugs in 2297 along with two other prospects, one of whom is CL Jesse Bibeault (67), for SP Blaine Phrasemaker, who went 6-5 in 2296 and started 3-4 in 2297.
SS - Cy Thompson (76) - Was drafted 6th overall by Egret in 2298. Was traded in 2299 to Sunshine Tidings for a deal that landed the Ninjas SP Tony Bertha and LF Bat Savelli. Was traded to the Bloodbugs in 2301 for three players, including SP Rob O'Cop (60 for FHE now).
LF - Kilgore (70)
CF - Long Hall (61) - Drafted by Jamaica Plain in the 16th round of the inaugural draft. Was traded to CC in 2299 along with a prospect for RP Little Jemmy Madison who ended up being traded again and then retiring in 2301.
RF - Babs Rooth (80) - Drafted by Concord 6th overall in the 2297 draft. Was traded to the Bugs in 2300 along with a prospect for four players, including CL Chopstick Williams (61 now with Atom), RP Old Buck Buchanan (52 now with Oberland), LF Mushy Levy (42), and CL Freedom Williams (68 now with University Point).
Pitchers:
SP - Lashley (62)
SP - Gavin Eviritts (63) - Undrafted (due to not registering on time) in the 2296 Inaugural Draft. Was traded to County Crossing in 2296 to Abernathy for RP T-Bone Heagy (68 now with Jamaica Plain) and 2B Shotgun McElveen (42 now with Spectacle Island)
SP - Artman (57)
SP - Urm Rehfeldt (53) - Undrafted in the 2296 Rookie Draft. Signed with the Bugs in early 2297. Looks to have had a ratings boost in 2302 (game-generated).
The Bugs also have a few interesting veterans on the bench, including 38-year-old 3B Stoop Bugwing, former star with The Slog from 2296-2300, and another early contributor to the Ghouls, LF OK Dustin. They also have their 2296 Inaugural Draft's 10th-round pick, 2B Joel Carrotflower riding the pine. Carrotflower was their all-time leader in starts and games played, but was surpassed by both Topaloglu and Trout this season.