2012 Blue Jays

[rpriske]

This is my first go at OOTP and I LOVE it! I decided to run the 2012 Jays my first time out to learn the ropes... and boy, what a learning process it has been. Sometimes it is learning the OOTP mechanics and sometimes I discover my ideas about baseball are not what I thought they were. (I am a strat guy. This is VERY different.)

The first couple of transactions before the season started were kind of to learn the game. I signed Johnny Damon to a 1-year 4.5m contract. Obviously I wouldn't think that would be a good idea... I mean, the one thing the '12 Jays did NOT need is another Left fielder.

Next I traded Jason Frasor and Omar Vizquel to the Rockies for Willin Rosario and Tommy Field. I really like Rosario so even though the Jays are deep in catching prospects, I am okay with having another one. I'll miss Frasor but NOT Vizquel (though the fans were mad that I traded him). I took Field because moving Vizquel brought McCoy to the majors, leaving little depth at middle infield.

Figuring I had the hang of it now, the next signing was VERY intentional: Roy Oswalt, 1-year, $12m. I sent Cecil and Snider to AAA and brought up Drew Carpenter to pitch out of the bullpen.

After about 20 games it very apparent that this is NOT a very good team. Bautista was hot, leading the league in homeruns. Encarnacion was NOT getting many dingers, but he was hitting around .350. Oswalt was pitching well, though not superstar level. Pretty much everybody else was levels of disappontment. Damon was doing okay, but not worth the money. Santos had a blown a few saves already (though Darren Oliver was showing some nice numbers). Arencibia and Rasmus were the big disappointments. J.P. was hitting .150 and Rasmus was not much better.

On MY end I started realizing that I was running WAY too much, though that did mean Rajai Davis was leading the league in steals despite being a part-time player.

Kelly Johnson did a stint on the 15-day DL which meant playing time for Mike McCoy (and a bit for Tommy Field). That is not great.

I decided to send Arencibia down and bring up d'Arnaud (ignoring the service time issue). I stuck with Rasmus, though I set it so Davis played more often to take advantage of his relative success.

Dustin McGowan came off the DL and I put him in the rotation, bumping Drabek back to Las Vegas. McGowan was not good. Earlier I had realized that I had no real long relief so I brought up Tim Redding to eat some innings. He was terrible. I ended up stretching Carlos Villenueva out and putting him in the rotation, shuffling McGowan to the long relief job and releasing Redding after he refused a minor league assignment.

Somewhere in there Francisco Cordero told me that he was unhappy that he was not the closer. By this point Ryota Igarashi had come up and Santos, Oliver and Igarashi were ALL outperforming Cordero. I took his complaint under advisement and traded him to Detroit for minor league second baseman Justin Henry... saving some of that money I went over budget on in the pre-season.

I have since passed the 40 games mark and we are still about 4 games under .500. d'Arnaud was clearly not ready and he went back down. Rosario was injured at just the wrong time so I am back to Arencibia, though he is doing no better. CF had become a batting wasteland as Rasmus continued his season long slump and Rajai Davis joined him in it. I sent Rasmus to AAA to work out his problems and brought Travis Snider up. Though the idea of Snider playing CF fills me with dread, that was my only immediate answer. I put Davis on waivers to also send him to AAA, but before that cleared (actually it cleared and I mucked it up - pulling him off the waiver list before I sent him down), I shopped him and Arizona was interested. I guess 20 SB seems impressive... even though he was hitting .180. I traded him for Brad Ziegler and then called up Ricardo Nanita to play CF when I feel that Snider's defense is going to be an issue.

I signed Encarnacion to a 3-year extension, averaging about $8m per year. I signed Igarashi to a 2-year contract for $1.1m total. I opened negotiations with Oswalt, but I don't think it is going to happen. He is looking for 5 years and I am not willing to commit that just yet.

So here I am:

Rotation: Romero, Oswalt, Morrow, Alvarez, Villenueva
Bullpen: Santos, Igarashi, Oliver, Ziegler, Janssen, Farquar, McGowan
C: Arencibia, Mathis
1B: Lind
2B: Johnson
3B: Lawrie
SS: Escobar
U: McCoy
OF: Damon, Snider, Bautista, Thames, Nanita
DH: Encarnacion


One of the interesting things is looking at all the injuries other teams have had. So far I had Rasmus miss 1 game as DtD and Johnson go on the DL, but come back 100%.

I will say that I was a little disappointed that the published Draft Pool wasn't real players. Since the actual draft is long past, couldn't THOSE players be included?

As I say, I am new, so maybe there is a reason I don't know.

[rpriske]

Since I wrote this I have seen some REAL reports and the amazing reporting and formatting they do. I can't go back and do that with this one, but I will definitely do that with the next. I am thinking of starting off with the Blue Jays expansion team.

If I do that, can I start with them before the expansion draft?

[VanillaGorilla]

If you start the game with the 1976 season, or before, and play through the end of the 1976 season, put yourself in commissioner mode, you can take over the Blue Jays prior to the expansion draft.

[rpriske]

I had my first draft. The mix of real and fake players makes an odd draft. For example, I got Addison Russell in the SIXTH round. In real life he went in the FIRST round. Another interesting one is Joey Gallo. In real life he went in the compensation round. My scouting director urged me to take him in the 3rd. I passed. He then urged me to take him in the 4th. I passed. I finally took him in the 5th. Guess who the only player I drafted to hold out for more money was? Joey Gallo. I was tempted to tell him to go jump.

But it was only a difference of $50,000.

They were the only two people I drafted who seem to be real people. Though my 4th round pick, Pedro Campos, is already listed as a top200 prospect in the organizational rankings.


I also made some big changes to my woefully underperforming pitching staff.

I traded Dustin McGowan to the Rockies for career minor league 1B Russell Mitchell. (IRL, I believe he is in the Giants organization.) They were my only taker.

I traded Casey Janssen to the White Sox for minor league reliever Gregory Infante. (I am kind of kicking myself for not taking the Angels offer of Mark Trumbo, but I was looking for young pitching.)

I sent Ricky Romero and Henderson Alvarez to Las Vegas. I have faith that they can work out their problems.
I sent Carlos Villenueva back to the bullpen. He was more effective there.

I brought up Brett Cecil, Kyle Drabek and Aaron Laffey to join the rotation with Brandon Morrow and Roy Oswalt. I also activated Infante right away. Let's see what you can do in the majors young man.

I also brought Colby Rasmus back up, replacing Ricardo Nanita. He was a .300 hitter in Vegas. Hopefully he can improve on his sub.200 ML numbers. It worked for Arencibia. He has been on fire since I brought him back up.

The team is at 26-35. The real one was at 31-30 at that point.

[rpriske]

I am terrible at this game.

My latest bone-headed move: I activated 2 relievers from AAA to fill out my bullpen in this losing season. I drafted them both this year. Way to start the clock for nothing... Oh well.

I DID trade Darren Oliver to the Brewers for Michael Fiers. That sems like a pretty good move to me. I also have a waiver claim in on Alexi Ogando.

Transforming the rotation...

[rpriske]

Half-way through and 12 games below .500

Rotation

Roy Oswalt
Brandon Morrow
Ricky Romero
Henderson Alvarez
Michael Fiers

Bullpen

Sergio Santos
Danny Farquhar
Ryota Igarashi
Carlos Villenueva
Pedro Campos
Jesus Martinez
Jesse Litsch

C - J.P. Arencibia, Jeff Mathis
1B - Adam Lind
2B - Kelly Johnson
3B - Brett Lawrie
SS - Yunel Escobar
Util - Mike McCoy
LF - Eric Thames
CF - Travis Snider
RF - Jose Bautista
OF - Brad Glenn
DH - Edwin Encarnacion

and I am forgetting someone... and I am not at the right computer... is it Michael Crouse?

Glenn and maybe Crouse may seem like odd choices but right when I needed to make a couple changes, both Sierra and Hechevarria were hurt in Vegas.

DL - Brad Ziegler, Johnny Damon

Ziegler is coming off the DL soon and he will probably bump Villenuenva.

Going into July I am starting to look at the trading deadline. I think I will try to find a taker for Damon (if he comes off the DL in time) and Johnson. They are both free agents that I have no plans to resign. I can finish out the season with McCoy or Field playing 2B.

The bullpen is starting to look okay. The rotation still has more questionmarks than set spots, but there is potential. I need a real CF. I will need a 2B.

I need to stop making so many stupid decisions.

[rpriske]

Big doings! My claim on Alexi Ogando was successful. He has joined the bullpen.

The other big deal is that I traded Carlos Villenueva to the Minnesota Twins for Josh Willingham.

This may be a lost season, but I think things are starting to look a little better...

...if only Ricky Romero could stop stinking...

[rpriske]

A lot had happened... a LOT!

But first, a question: if you make the world series so you rmanager gets to manage one of the AS teams, do you get to play the game, or just watch?

Here is the huge trade...

I sent Ricky Romero and Eric Thames to Kansas City for Lorenzo Cain and Kelvin Herrera.

Romero was having bad start after bad start and Colby Rasmus was not the answer in CF. This trade gives me a new CF and lead-off hitter. It also helps my bullpen.

But that is not all...

With Cain on the team, what do I need with Rasmus? So I sent him to Miami for Chad Gaudin and Zachary Neal. The return is Neal, but Gaudin helps me out this year. He is a FA after this season and I feeling I will be saying good bye (though he IS pitching pretty well for me so far.)

And then...

Since the trade deadline is approaching I decided to shop Kelly Johnson. I don't want to offer him a contract and this is a lost season so...

Oakland offered me Jemile Weeks.

What?

A BETTER player playing the same position who is cheaper and under team control. Why would they offer that?

Needless to say, I took it.

Then a deal I had been working for a couple of weeks came together. It was costly, but it was something I really needed...

I sent Travis d'Arnaud, Henderson Alvarez and Bred Glenn to the Texas Rangers for Neftali Feliz.

Losing d'Arnaud is painful but Arencibia has been hot for the last month and I picked up Wilin Rosario and the start of the year.

That's it right?

Nope.

Ryota Igarashi is one of the biggest disappointments for me this year. I entended him for a good price and he immediately stopped pitching well. With the other moves I had made the bullpen was now crowded so I shipped him off for Adam Kennedy. Kennedy is playing at AAA and will be released at the end of the year in all likliehood, so this was a straight contract dump.

Lastly, as soon as Johnny Damon came off the DL I flipped him to Texas for AAA starting pitcher with some promise, Michael Kirkman. With Josh Willingham and Travis Snider doing well, I had no use for Damon so I got rid of $2mil of his contract for someone who 'could have promise'. That is pretty good.


I am not a big trade guy normally... but a transformation of this team was needed and needed badly.

A week left in July and here is the team:

Rotation

Roy Oswalt
Neftali Feliz
Brandon Morrow
Michael Fiers
Kyle Drabek

Bullpen

Sergio Santos
Jesus Martinez
Danny Farquhar
Kelvin Herrera
Chad Gaudin
Brad Ziegler
Alexi Ogando


C - J.P. Arencibia, Jeff Mathis
1B - Adam Lind, Mike McDade
2B - Jemile Weeks
3B - Bret Lawrie
SS - Yunel Escobar
U - Mike McCoy
LF- Josh Willingham
CF - Lorenzo Cain
RF - Jose Bautista (40 homeruns with over 2 months to go!)
OF - Travis Snider
DH - Edwin Encarnacion


Bautista was player of the game at the ASG (though not MVP as the NL won). Willingham currently has a herniated disc in his neck but as he was only missing one week I am riding it out, playing Snider and no real back-up OF. McCoy or McDade will play in an emergency.

[rpriske]

One more trade before the deadline. This should be it unless someone offers me somethign amazing in the last week.

Jeff Mathis goes to Pittsburgh for Brad Lincoln. Considering IRL it took Snider to get Lincoln, I think that is prtty good.

Lincoln to Vegas (for now. Mertinez has been struggling of late and I may make a change) and Willin Rosario up to back-up Arencibia.

[rpriske]

Someone offered me soemthing amazing in the last week.

Oakland had been trying to unload Daric Barton. They made me offers three times and I had rejected them all. Not interested.

Until now.

This time they mentioned Adam Lind who has a contract I would love to get out from under.

Then we started talking pitchers.

Final deal...

TO TOR: Brad Peacock, Daric Barton, good low-level pitching prospect, $3,000,000

TO OAK: Kyle Drabek, Adam Lind, K.C.Hobson, good low-level pitching prospect

Peacock has not had a good season but neither has Drabek. It is kind of a challenge trade but I clearly have the upside advantage. Barton is a downgrade (in fact, the only reason he made the ML roster for me is the injury to Encarnacion. Both Russell Mitchell and Mike McDade are better) but Lind had been ice cold for a while and losing that contract AND getting $3m? I am way under budget with money in the bank. I plan to make a splash with a FA pitcher. Maybe a Volquez type. Then I should still have money for another bat. Either a 1B or a DH and I will teach Encarnacion how to play 1B in ST.

Losing Hobson is the way sore spot in this deal, but not so much that it would stop it from happening.

I think I would have a rep in the media after this year. 'Trader Rusty'? 'Slash & Burn'?

[rpriske]

If I failed the fan vs GM test by signing and then extending Oswalt, I just passed a similar one.

Torii Hunter is on waivers. Pro-rated $18mil for a month and a half of playing time for a team out of the race.

As a fan I sure wanted to get him... but the GM me held off.

[rpriske]

Waiver trade: I got rid of Ben Francisco while he still had some trade value. I sent him to the Mets for Josh Satin. I am going to try playing him at 2B and see if I can put up with the less than awesome defence in exchange for the uptick with the bat.

I am 15 games below .500 in mid August. Ugh.

[rpriske]

Brad Peacock just took a perfect game into the 7th. That is the furthest I have gone yet.

When I had to stop playing and leave for work the game was in the top of the 12th so he doesn't even get a win for it.

[rpriske]

I just lost 3 weeks worth of September playing due to a crash... including a big winning streak that had the team thinking about the wild card. (it was still unlikely but...)

[RchW]

Originally Posted by rpriske

I just lost 3 weeks worth of September playing due to a crash... including a big winning streak that had the team thinking about the wild card. (it was still unlikely but...)

You have my sympathy but with all due respect please set the game to save once a week. Setup/options_Auto save and log options. This single action will mean you can't be more than a week out.

In addition you should back up the game at critical points in time like after ST, trading deadline, after reg season after playoffs etc. I'm OCD and have 100's of backups.

The game makes it easy to preserve files.

[mpejkrm]

Originally Posted by RchW

You have my sympathy but with all due respect please set the game to save once a week. Setup/options_Auto save and log options. This single action will mean you can't be more than a week out.

In addition you should back up the game at critical points in time like after ST, trading deadline, after reg season after playoffs etc. I'm OCD and have 100's of backups.

The game makes it easy to preserve files.

This. I have lost games before but had them backed up (and have seen people who didn't have them backed up...).

This is fun to read... but why is it in the Historical League section?

[rpriske]

Because when I started it I misunderstood the delineation. (I thought recreating a season went here while creating something brand new went in the other).


I now have my game set to autosave at the end of every day.

[rpriske]

In fact, if there is someone with mod privileges around, please move this thread over to Dynasty where it belongs.

[rpriske]

Blue Jays finish 77-85 (better than the real Blue Jays) and 3rd in the AL East.

As the season would down I claimed Rymer Liriano off waivers from Miami.

Jose Bautista won AL batter of the month for Sept, .326, 12 HRs, 26 RBI, 24 Runs

He ended the season with 67 Homeruns.


PLAY-OFFS

Wild Cards

Boston beat Kansas City 3-0

Atlanta beat Cincinnatti 4-3 in 10 inn.

Divisional Series

Boston swept Texas. MVP - Cody Ross

Atlanta swept L.A. MVP Chipper Jones

Detroit beat New York in 4. MVP Prince Fielder

St.Louis beat Philadelphia in 5. MVP Chris Carpenter

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Boston beat Detroit in 5. MVP Josh Beckett

St.Louis beat Atlanta in 6. MVP Matt Holliday

WORLD SERIES

GAME ONE

St.Louis 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 7 1
Boston 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 x - 5 11 0

WP - J.Lester LP - J.Garcia Sv - A.Bailey
POG - C.Beltran

GAME TWO

St.Louis 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 7 3
Boston 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 x - 5 11 0

WP - J.Beckett LP - L.Lynn
POG - J.Beckett

GAME THREE

Boston 1 0 0 0 3 5 0 0 2 - 11 15 1
St.Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 - 4 12 1

WP - C.Buchholz LP - C.Carpenter
POG K.Youkilis

GAME FOUR

Boston 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 3 12 0
St.Louis 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 9 0

WP - E.Sanchez LP - A.Bailey
POG - A.Gonzalez

GAME FIVE

Boston 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 13 0
St.Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 - 3 7 1

WP - S.Linebrink LP - M.Melancon
POG - A.Aceves

GAME SIX

St.Louis 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 7 0
Boston 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 0

WP - C.Carpenter LP - J.Beckett
POG - C.Carpenter

GAME SEVEN

St.Louis 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 5 8 1
Boston 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 x - 6 10 0

WP - J.Lester LP - J.Garcia Sc - A. Bailey
POG - J.Ellsbury

WS MVP - Kevin Youkilis



I am continuing this dynasty, but this is a good break to start up again, over where it is supposed to be over in Dynasty Reports.

[Rasmuth]

nice write up and interesting....

I'm a veteran of many versions of this game and usually I fare well, but I just got the latest version and fired up the 2012 season and took over the L.A. Dodgers...and all I can say is...I'm humbled....

I now totally suck as a GM....mid June, and 13 games under .500...I've made tons of moves at this point because nothing is working......yet I still hold hope for the 2nd half...and hope I don't get fired by Magic Johnson at seasons end.