OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Montreal Expos... Exposing the New MLB?

Griever20 · 07-10-2025, 02:18 PM

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EL Awards:
Batter of the Month: Minuteman RF Karl Ferguson(28, 2.5*) .369-5-20 1.094OPS 1.4WAR 23G Of course. There he is hitting.
Pitcher of the Month: Pittsburgh RHSP Victor Alvarez(24, 3/3.5*) 4-1 1.29 38K 1.2WAR 5GS First Rounder 2017
Rookie of the Month: Pittsburgh SS Guadalupe Ontiveros(22, 2.5/3*) .294-7-19 .962OPS 0.9WAR 25G #81 prospect prior to the season

WL Awards:
Batter of the Month: San Francisco CF Laurent Fournier(28, 2.5*) .447-8-24 1.316OPS 1.6WAR Waiver claim 2020
Pitcher of the Month: Seahawks RHCL Bob Thrall(26, 3.5*) 4-1 4SV 2.45 18K 0.5WAR 12G 2022 All-Star
Rookie of the Month: Killer Whales RHSP Jordan Bahena(21, 2.5/3*) 3-2 2.43 49K 1.9WAR 6GS Scouting Discovery in 2018

We are rolling along right now. 17-6 for the month and we extended our lead to six games in the division over our rivals from New York. All we have to do now is not collapse completely. We don’t have any reinforcements left in AAA if we don’t throw a hail mary and call up the fragile body of Santiago Rodriguez… and wait for Hinton and Hawk to return off the IL.

Now, speaking about those New York Mets, how about a fairy tale? On opening day 2021, a young first baseman named Alejandro Cantu was released from the Boston Aeros after hitting .266-13-54 .742OPS 3.3WAR in single A to make room on the 40-man as he was placed there in 2020. He didn’t play professionally in 2021 just to sign a minor league contract with the Mets in February 2022. After hitting .293-10-40 .797OPS 2.3WAR in AAA, Cantu made his NMLB debut that year… and now he is hitting third, batting .286-23-59 .879OPS 1.4WAR in 98 games. Happy days.

Overall, looking at division leaders, we are the biggest surprise I guess. The Astros utilized the biggest budget in baseball to make the playoffs 11/24 times, albeit without championship. The Eagles have 13 playoff appearances with one World Series in 2021, the Seahawks made the playoffs for 16 years in a row from 2007-2022 and won six World Series titles over that span… looking for year 17.

LA made the playoffs 12x from 2000-2018 before a four year long drought they look to end, and Vancouver may have only made the playoffs 8x but won the 2014 World Series.

Us: Seven Playoff Appearances with one World Series in 2015.

Lots of work to do.

Pitching:

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DL: RHSP Dan Hinton(24, 4.5*) 3-1 1.67 47K 1.3WAR 7GS partially torn labrum 5 weeks

NMBL Montreal Expos Players on the leaderboard:
RHSP Sam Griffin 3.14 ERA – 5th
RHSP Sam Griffin 11 W – tied 2nd
RHSP Sam Griffin 3.6WAR – 3rd
RHSP Sam Griffin 5.3 K/BB – 3rd
RHSP Sam Griffin 1.4 BB/9 – 1st
RHSP Sam Griffin 3.12 FIP – 3rd
RHSP Austin Roy 3.09 ERA – 3rd
RHSP Austin Roy 11W –tied 2nd
RHSP Austin Roy 140.0IP –3rd
RHSP Austin Roy 1.13 WHIP – 2nd
LHSP Brett Asselin 12 W – 1st
LHCL Paul Ide 24 SV – 3rd

By the way, don’t ask me how we will pay all those pitchers or the rest of the team in 2-3 years. Please don’t. Paul Ide did a good job so far as our new closer with only one stinker in the final game of July, ending a streak of six straight saves for him since he came over. To be fair, we could’ve easily survived the season with Williams in there who is 1-1 10SV 1.50 0.6WAR in 18 innings since coming over… but I want a back end of the bullpen that is stellar for the playoff run.

Now, if McCreery would use them the right way would be nice.

As for Dan Hinton, there is a difficult decision to make here in five weeks. We may be able to give him 1-3 starts in AAA as rehab and a couple at the NMLB level if everything works out fine. But, the question is, do we want to stretch him out for the end of the season and the playoffs, or do we save him and shut him down for the year… How often can you go into a playoff run without your ace, get him back in time and aim for a ring?

The other starters are performing well and Sam Griffin continues to amaze me… but can they shut down any opponent in a tight game like Danny can? No, not quite.

Position Players:

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DL: 2B/DH Joe Hawk(25, 2.5*) .258-5-23 .735OPS -0.1WAR 45G

NMBL Montreal Expos Players on the leaderboard:
1B Dave Grochowski .343 Batting Average – 1st
1B Dave Grochowski 76 RBI – 2nd
1B Dave Grochowski .391 OBP – 4th
1B Dave Grochowski .594 SLG – 1st
1B Dave Grochowski .985 OPS – 1st
1B Dave Grochowski 3.1WAR – 3rd
1B Dave Grochowski 6 TP – tied 3rd
2B Fernando Perez 26HR – 1st
2B Fernando Perez .535 SLG – 5th
2B Fernando Perez 126K – 4th
LF Ignacio Benavides 74 R – 2nd
RF Ian Messer .338 Batting Average – 2nd
CF Vicente Rodriguez 6 TP – tied 3rd

Dave Grochowski is amazing. Projecting ahead from his performance this season, he won’t reach the 6WAR mark he had in 2022 but he has solidified his place between the best contract hitters in all of baseball with this season. Not bad for a 9th rounder.

Now, we stood pat at the deadline in the end. The only spot that was tempting to replace would have been the DH slot with Matt Talbert only performing at a 110 OPS+, there would’ve been marginally better options out there on the trade market, just… it didn’t feel quite worth it to give up a big prospect for that. I’d rather look for a superstar in his position like Paul Ide than hitting the market for a 3* throwaway guy that is a 2 month rental.

Prospect Watch:
AAA LF Santiago Rodriguez(2/3.5*) .277-3-20 .755OPS 44G 3/8SB 0.4WAR
AA RHSP Alejandro Corral(2/3*) 5-8 4.85 89K 1.6WAR 111.1IP 20GS
AA 1B Joe Townsend(2/3*) .250-2-8 .753OPS -0.2WAR 9G
A SS Gabe Rivera(1.5/3* HS, 1.5/4* OSA) .364-2-9 1.119OPS -0.1WAR 6G
A SS Bryan Booth(22, 2/4*) .264-13-41 .812OPS 2.0WAR 84G
A OF Tyler Dean(20, 2/5*) .361-16-73 1.050OPS 4.7WAR 85G
S A Adam Leroy(19, 1.5/4*) 1-0 0.00 4K 0.2WAR 1GS
S A LF Antonio Estrada(0.5/3.5*) .273-2-5 .883OPS 0.0WAR 7G
R LHSP John Slade(18, 1.5/4.5*) 2-0 2.45 8K 0.4WAR 2GS
R 2B/3B/SS Manny Ramirez(1/4.5*) .344-20-77 1.028OPS 1.4WAR 87G

Following the draft, we reorganized the minor league just a bit, and made some tough decisions here. First, we demoted Gabe Rivera, who we got via trade this winter, back to single A. AA was way over his head hitting wise, and he responded with a hot start at least. There, he will finish the year with Booth and Dean. That was the second hard decision… not promoting Dean to AA. No reason to rush him.

Why is that a tough one, apart from his insane numbers in A-ball? Our upper minor league system is pretty barren… yet Baseball America recently updated their top 100 prospects… get ready. Dean #1, Ramirez #2, Slade, our first rounder this year, #4, Booth #25. Holy…

By the way, despite our scouts saying he is ready for at least short A, we decided to run Slade through rookie ball at age 18, soon 19. Again, don’t rush him and give him time to settle in with professional baseball.

07-10-2025, 02:18 PM	#191
Griever20 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 3,727	2023 August 1st - State of the Expos EL Awards: Batter of the Month: Minuteman RF Karl Ferguson(28, 2.5) .369-5-20 1.094OPS 1.4WAR 23G Of course. There he is hitting.* Pitcher of the Month: Pittsburgh RHSP Victor Alvarez(24, 3/3.5) 4-1 1.29 38K 1.2WAR 5GS First Rounder 2017* Rookie of the Month: Pittsburgh SS Guadalupe Ontiveros(22, 2.5/3) .294-7-19 .962OPS 0.9WAR 25G #81 prospect prior to the season* WL Awards: Batter of the Month: San Francisco CF Laurent Fournier(28, 2.5) .447-8-24 1.316OPS 1.6WAR Waiver claim 2020* Pitcher of the Month: Seahawks RHCL Bob Thrall(26, 3.5) 4-1 4SV 2.45 18K 0.5WAR 12G 2022 All-Star* Rookie of the Month: Killer Whales RHSP Jordan Bahena(21, 2.5/3) 3-2 2.43 49K 1.9WAR 6GS Scouting Discovery in 2018* We are rolling along right now. 17-6 for the month and we extended our lead to six games in the division over our rivals from New York. All we have to do now is not collapse completely. We don’t have any reinforcements left in AAA if we don’t throw a hail mary and call up the fragile body of Santiago Rodriguez… and wait for Hinton and Hawk to return off the IL. Now, speaking about those New York Mets, how about a fairy tale? On opening day 2021, a young first baseman named Alejandro Cantu was released from the Boston Aeros after hitting .266-13-54 .742OPS 3.3WAR in single A to make room on the 40-man as he was placed there in 2020. He didn’t play professionally in 2021 just to sign a minor league contract with the Mets in February 2022. After hitting .293-10-40 .797OPS 2.3WAR in AAA, Cantu made his NMLB debut that year… and now he is hitting third, batting .286-23-59 .879OPS 1.4WAR in 98 games. Happy days. Overall, looking at division leaders, we are the biggest surprise I guess. The Astros utilized the biggest budget in baseball to make the playoffs 11/24 times, albeit without championship. The Eagles have 13 playoff appearances with one World Series in 2021, the Seahawks made the playoffs for 16 years in a row from 2007-2022 and won six World Series titles over that span… looking for year 17. LA made the playoffs 12x from 2000-2018 before a four year long drought they look to end, and Vancouver may have only made the playoffs 8x but won the 2014 World Series. Us: Seven Playoff Appearances with one World Series in 2015. Lots of work to do. Pitching: DL: RHSP Dan Hinton(24, 4.5) 3-1 1.67 47K 1.3WAR 7GS partially torn labrum 5 weeks* NMBL Montreal Expos Players on the leaderboard: RHSP Sam Griffin 3.14 ERA – 5th RHSP Sam Griffin 11 W – tied 2nd RHSP Sam Griffin 3.6WAR – 3rd RHSP Sam Griffin 5.3 K/BB – 3rd RHSP Sam Griffin 1.4 BB/9 – 1st RHSP Sam Griffin 3.12 FIP – 3rd RHSP Austin Roy 3.09 ERA – 3rd RHSP Austin Roy 11W –tied 2nd RHSP Austin Roy 140.0IP –3rd RHSP Austin Roy 1.13 WHIP – 2nd LHSP Brett Asselin 12 W – 1st LHCL Paul Ide 24 SV – 3rd By the way, don’t ask me how we will pay all those pitchers or the rest of the team in 2-3 years. Please don’t. Paul Ide did a good job so far as our new closer with only one stinker in the final game of July, ending a streak of six straight saves for him since he came over. To be fair, we could’ve easily survived the season with Williams in there who is 1-1 10SV 1.50 0.6WAR in 18 innings since coming over… but I want a back end of the bullpen that is stellar for the playoff run. Now, if McCreery would use them the right way would be nice. As for Dan Hinton, there is a difficult decision to make here in five weeks. We may be able to give him 1-3 starts in AAA as rehab and a couple at the NMLB level if everything works out fine. But, the question is, do we want to stretch him out for the end of the season and the playoffs, or do we save him and shut him down for the year… How often can you go into a playoff run without your ace, get him back in time and aim for a ring? The other starters are performing well and Sam Griffin continues to amaze me… but can they shut down any opponent in a tight game like Danny can? No, not quite. Position Players: DL: 2B/DH Joe Hawk(25, 2.5) .258-5-23 .735OPS -0.1WAR 45G NMBL* Montreal Expos Players on the leaderboard: 1B Dave Grochowski .343 Batting Average – 1st 1B Dave Grochowski 76 RBI – 2nd 1B Dave Grochowski .391 OBP – 4th 1B Dave Grochowski .594 SLG – 1st 1B Dave Grochowski .985 OPS – 1st 1B Dave Grochowski 3.1WAR – 3rd 1B Dave Grochowski 6 TP – tied 3rd 2B Fernando Perez 26HR – 1st 2B Fernando Perez .535 SLG – 5th 2B Fernando Perez 126K – 4th LF Ignacio Benavides 74 R – 2nd RF Ian Messer .338 Batting Average – 2nd CF Vicente Rodriguez 6 TP – tied 3rd Dave Grochowski is amazing. Projecting ahead from his performance this season, he won’t reach the 6WAR mark he had in 2022 but he has solidified his place between the best contract hitters in all of baseball with this season. Not bad for a 9th rounder. Now, we stood pat at the deadline in the end. The only spot that was tempting to replace would have been the DH slot with Matt Talbert only performing at a 110 OPS+, there would’ve been marginally better options out there on the trade market, just… it didn’t feel quite worth it to give up a big prospect for that. I’d rather look for a superstar in his position like Paul Ide than hitting the market for a 3* throwaway guy that is a 2 month rental. Prospect Watch: AAA LF Santiago Rodriguez(2/3.5) .277-3-20 .755OPS 44G 3/8SB 0.4WAR AA RHSP Alejandro Corral(2/3) 5-8 4.85 89K 1.6WAR 111.1IP 20GS AA 1B Joe Townsend(2/3) .250-2-8 .753OPS -0.2WAR 9G A SS Gabe Rivera(1.5/3 HS, 1.5/4* OSA) .364-2-9 1.119OPS -0.1WAR 6G A SS Bryan Booth(22, 2/4) .264-13-41 .812OPS 2.0WAR 84G A OF Tyler Dean(20, 2/5) .361-16-73 1.050OPS 4.7WAR 85G S A Adam Leroy(19, 1.5/4) 1-0 0.00 4K 0.2WAR 1GS S A LF Antonio Estrada(0.5/3.5) .273-2-5 .883OPS 0.0WAR 7G R LHSP John Slade(18, 1.5/4.5) 2-0 2.45 8K 0.4WAR 2GS R 2B/3B/SS Manny Ramirez(1/4.5) .344-20-77 1.028OPS 1.4WAR 87G Following the draft, we reorganized the minor league just a bit, and made some tough decisions here. First, we demoted Gabe Rivera, who we got via trade this winter, back to single A. AA was way over his head hitting wise, and he responded with a hot start at least. There, he will finish the year with Booth and Dean. That was the second hard decision… not promoting Dean to AA. No reason to rush him. Why is that a tough one, apart from his insane numbers in A-ball? Our upper minor league system is pretty barren… yet Baseball America recently updated their top 100 prospects… get ready. Dean #1, Ramirez #2, Slade, our first rounder this year, #4, Booth #25. Holy… By the way, despite our scouts saying he is ready for at least short A, we decided to run Slade through rookie ball at age 18, soon 19. Again, don’t rush him and give him time to settle in with professional baseball. __________________ The Montreal Expos... Exposing the New MLB? MLB 2015 - Being the Brewmaster(ended) MLB 2013: The Blue Jays That Never Were(concluded)