DynastyBacks: bringing self-sustained winning to Arizona

bmarkham · 12-04-2014, 02:50 PM

Nice to meet you guys! I purchased OOTP15 without ever playing any previous versions and I have to say I love this game. This thread is about my first dynasty with the Diamondbacks starting in 2014.

My goals with this dynasty were straightforward. I wanted to completely rebuild the team and system and create a new era of winning for whatever franchise I took control of. As a Cardinals fan, my team was out as they have many unmovable win-now pieces when the game starts. I needed a team that was ok, but had many movable pieces from which I could deal for prospects who would hopefully one day provide me with 6 years of control. I also wanted to take over a team that had at least a little something going on in the minors already. Finally, I wanted a mid-market team to make it easier retain at least the occasional great player my team produced. The Diamondbacks were the first team I came across that met all those criteria, so they will be my team.

Being that I plan on developing all my players through the minors, I plan to set my development budget as high as I can given player payroll that year. I plan to do the same with the scouting budget, as my strategy will depend on taking valuable prospects off the hands of teams in need of a win-now piece.

I have played 16 years of this franchise thus far, and at this point it certainly qualifies as a dynasty. I now plan on telling you all about it, using the History index.

bmarkham · 12-04-2014, 04:08 PM

The Diamondbacks are a .500ish team with little room in payroll or their minor league system to transform into a sustainable playoff contender. This to me makes them an ideal candidate for a rebuild. .500 teams don't make the playoffs, but you need a good amount of talent to put together a .500 team. Talent that a team positioned to win now will sacrifice some prospects for.

My plan in 2014 with the DBacks is pretty straightforward. I'm not worrying about the record at all, I am only concerned with trading major league talent for prospects.

My first move ends up being dealing Aaron Hill. At 33, his best days are probably behind him but he still has value. Enough value to be paired with a prospect my head scout believed had no big league potential and sent to Blue Jays for 23 yo minor league catcher A.J. Jimenez. Jimenez has been an above average hitter at almost every stop in the minors but is starting to get old for a prospect. He reports to AA to continue his development. My Head Scout likes him to the tune of 3 1/2 star potential.

With a catching prospect in the high minors I move on to moving Miguel Montero. Like Hill he has already passed his prime years and making an appropriate FA salary. He's a 30 year old making $10 million/year, and I have no need for that. I set my sights on Joc Pederson, a 4.5 star potential CF playing for win-now Dodgers. Same with Jimenez, Pederson is already in the high minors and likely to be in the majors relatively soon.

Montero ends up getting paired with a lesser MLB talents to net Pederson. In total, the trade goes:

Montero, 30 yo and 4/$50 million remaining on his contract
Parra, 27 yo, and making $4.8M in arb 2
Sanabia, 25 yo, minor league pitcher with little potential

for

Joc Pederson, 22 yo and starting in Triple-A.

These moves were both done near the beginning of the year. I would strike one more time before waiting until the deadline for any other moves. And it's a big one. I looked for another win-now team with some nice prospects and found a match in Toronto. This saw me part with two major league pieces that didn't factor in to my future plans: Addison Reed, who as a closer has little value to a rebuilding team and Brandon McCarthy, an aging pitcher in his last season before free agency. I also threw in Jake Lamb, a somewhat hyped prospect that my Head Scout didn't believe in. In total the trade goes:

Addison Reed, 25 yo, pre-arb
Brandon McCarthy, 30 yo, $9 million on final contract year
Jake Lamb, 23, in AA 3 star potential to my Head Scout

for

CF Dalton Pompey, 21 yo, A ball prospect with 4.5 potential
SP Marcus Stroman, 23 yo, AAA prospect with 4 potential
SS Dawel Lugo, 18 yo, still in rookie league, with 3.5 potential
SS Yeltsin Gudino, 19 yo, still in rookie league, with 3 potential

This is just the beginning, but this is all I have time for now. My next update will include all of my trade deadline moves and an overview of all the players I traded and all the prospects I received back in my first year.

12-04-2014, 02:50 PM	#1
bmarkham Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2	DynastyBacks: bringing self-sustained winning to Arizona Nice to meet you guys! I purchased OOTP15 without ever playing any previous versions and I have to say I love this game. This thread is about my first dynasty with the Diamondbacks starting in 2014. My goals with this dynasty were straightforward. I wanted to completely rebuild the team and system and create a new era of winning for whatever franchise I took control of. As a Cardinals fan, my team was out as they have many unmovable win-now pieces when the game starts. I needed a team that was ok, but had many movable pieces from which I could deal for prospects who would hopefully one day provide me with 6 years of control. I also wanted to take over a team that had at least a little something going on in the minors already. Finally, I wanted a mid-market team to make it easier retain at least the occasional great player my team produced. The Diamondbacks were the first team I came across that met all those criteria, so they will be my team. Being that I plan on developing all my players through the minors, I plan to set my development budget as high as I can given player payroll that year. I plan to do the same with the scouting budget, as my strategy will depend on taking valuable prospects off the hands of teams in need of a win-now piece. I have played 16 years of this franchise thus far, and at this point it certainly qualifies as a dynasty. I now plan on telling you all about it, using the History index.

12-04-2014, 04:08 PM	#2
bmarkham Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2	The beginnings The Diamondbacks are a .500ish team with little room in payroll or their minor league system to transform into a sustainable playoff contender. This to me makes them an ideal candidate for a rebuild. .500 teams don't make the playoffs, but you need a good amount of talent to put together a .500 team. Talent that a team positioned to win now will sacrifice some prospects for. My plan in 2014 with the DBacks is pretty straightforward. I'm not worrying about the record at all, I am only concerned with trading major league talent for prospects. My first move ends up being dealing Aaron Hill. At 33, his best days are probably behind him but he still has value. Enough value to be paired with a prospect my head scout believed had no big league potential and sent to Blue Jays for 23 yo minor league catcher A.J. Jimenez. Jimenez has been an above average hitter at almost every stop in the minors but is starting to get old for a prospect. He reports to AA to continue his development. My Head Scout likes him to the tune of 3 1/2 star potential. With a catching prospect in the high minors I move on to moving Miguel Montero. Like Hill he has already passed his prime years and making an appropriate FA salary. He's a 30 year old making $10 million/year, and I have no need for that. I set my sights on Joc Pederson, a 4.5 star potential CF playing for win-now Dodgers. Same with Jimenez, Pederson is already in the high minors and likely to be in the majors relatively soon. Montero ends up getting paired with a lesser MLB talents to net Pederson. In total, the trade goes: Montero, 30 yo and 4/$50 million remaining on his contract Parra, 27 yo, and making $4.8M in arb 2 Sanabia, 25 yo, minor league pitcher with little potential for Joc Pederson, 22 yo and starting in Triple-A. These moves were both done near the beginning of the year. I would strike one more time before waiting until the deadline for any other moves. And it's a big one. I looked for another win-now team with some nice prospects and found a match in Toronto. This saw me part with two major league pieces that didn't factor in to my future plans: Addison Reed, who as a closer has little value to a rebuilding team and Brandon McCarthy, an aging pitcher in his last season before free agency. I also threw in Jake Lamb, a somewhat hyped prospect that my Head Scout didn't believe in. In total the trade goes: Addison Reed, 25 yo, pre-arb Brandon McCarthy, 30 yo, $9 million on final contract year Jake Lamb, 23, in AA 3 star potential to my Head Scout for CF Dalton Pompey, 21 yo, A ball prospect with 4.5 potential SP Marcus Stroman, 23 yo, AAA prospect with 4 potential SS Dawel Lugo, 18 yo, still in rookie league, with 3.5 potential SS Yeltsin Gudino, 19 yo, still in rookie league, with 3 potential This is just the beginning, but this is all I have time for now. My next update will include all of my trade deadline moves and an overview of all the players I traded and all the prospects I received back in my first year.