Ruining (and Saving?) A Franchise

[Elipticon]

So, earlier today I was messing with a league template posted here some time ago, intending to tweak it for a possible league of my own. The problem? Well, when the inaugural draft happened, I forgot I was in control of a team (since I set "Act As" to none), and all the players I was supposed to put a signing bonus towards ended up just getting released from the team. Or at least, that's what I think happened, because I can't provide any other coherent explanation for the team releasing all of the first 12 picks. A few signed back, a few are still in free agency come opening day, but the vast majority left for teams with some sense.

We are by far the worst team in MLB, which says a lot given the expanded 60 team structure. The second worst is only projected to lose 100 games, we're projected to lose 118. I guarantee you that basically everyone on this team would not make the starting roster on any other franchise.

Of course, given my stunning ineptitude here, that gave me a thought, how fast could a team recover from such a disaster, if at all? Let's find out.

Rules/Notes:
I am merely a spectator in this, because I suck at this game and would probably lose my mind if I was actively controlling a team this bad. At least here I can watch the fire from a safe distance.
League begins in 1960, Strategy and Financials set to 1985. No DH. Reserve Clause rules active (to make it harder).
The MLB now has 60 teams, with each league having 5 divisions of 6 teams. Each division winner + 3 wildcards per league make it into the playoffs, with a 3-5-7-9 structure.
All teams and logos and schedule and etc. are taken from Ruwisc's fantastic offerings.
I'll add whatever I forget here afterwards.

[Elipticon]

Well, none of these players are going to excite you whatsoever, but here's the opening day roster!



Starting Pitchers:

2 of our 3 genuinely good players are starting pitchers, but unfortunately, they're somehow both hurt on opening day. Sal Morales (one of the chumps stupid enough to resign) will be back within a week, but Danny Medina will be lucky to be back by the all-star break. And if that isn't bad enough, another warm body, Jose Cuellar, is hurt too!

George Armour is the de facto ace for now, and he actually has some decent stuff, but he's only passable everywhere else. Lupe Enriquez rounds out our healthy starting rotation, we have some borderline starters in Felix Lechuga and Bobby Matthews who can eat innings, and to fully express how dire things are, Brian Hash, a terrible pitcher who surrenders the long ball like crazy and is lucky to make it out the 5th inning is in the lineup. He's seemingly only a starter because he can throw 4 decent pitches.

Relieving Pitchers:

The Reliever core is mostly made up of scrubs too weird to start. Ernesto Gallego would be an ace, if he had any movement or more than 2 pitches. Randy Falloon would make a great workhorse, but he has no control. Dave Gauger, Bob Grosvenor, and Guy Williams are all in the same camp as the ones above, and then we have our closer, Bill Wilkins, chosen mostly because he has no real flaws. Or strengths.

Can you believe the pitching is the better of our two fronts?

Catcher & Infield:

Surprisingly, a coherent infield can be cobbled together, headlined by first baseman Dave Schultz, who can hit for some power, and Dave Arroyo, another guy we resigned, who is our only healthy player worth paying to see at this point. He's pretty alright at just about everything.

Rounding out the starting lineup is catcher Bob Butler, who strikes out rarely (which probably just means more double plays), the thoroughly mediocre Henry Castillo, and Victor Gonzales, who is by far the worst hitting player on the team, but is a bit of a defensive wunderkind, and has the added benefit of being 23. He's our shortstop going forward. The backups here are Alex Velez at catcher, who hopefully plays as little as possible, and a series of increasingly middling infielders in in Salvatore Florez, Mort Lucke, Al Petrosky, and John Knippers.

Outfield:

Awful. Just awful. John St. Amant is keeping the lights on in center, but nobody else worth anything can be found. In left, a clown car of Jerry Bartlett, Dave Bastarache, and Frank Wallace are all competing in a race to the bottom, so close that I am genuinely unsure who the starter is supposed to be (it's Bartlett, for now), and in right, the 36 year old Bob Menzel, who has never played this position before. He can't even hit very well, but I guess his raw fielding numbers are above-average, so if he manages to learn to play he'll be passable.

Prospect Pipeline:

Well, we have no ranked players in the top 100, which isn't that much of a shock given the 60 teams, but we also have none in the top 250, with the top prospect being the aformentioned Enriquez. The highest prospect who isn't on the starting roster is 20 year old outfielder Ken O'Leary at #312 (!), who's a few years away from starting, at least assuming this team doesn't give up and start him anyways. He'll get walked a ton if he makes it to the majors. Also in the pipeline is infielder Ed Allen, who honestly shows a little more promise as a contact hitter, but has no power to speak of.

Outlook:

Oh god, we are terrible. We are terrible, and we barely have any highlights to look forward too. At the very least, the first overall pick in the draft is likely to have a superstar to look forward to. But that'll be over a year away, and until then we just have to grin and bear it.

[Elipticon]

The Vancouver Cascades are a thoroughly average team, highlighted with some power and speed in the hitting core. If anything, this is hopefully a good showcase for how we'll fare against the league at large.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Lupe Enriquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Vancouver Starter: Dick Schroeder (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

This game was a great showcase of our biggest flaws, lack of control, giving up the long ball, and inconsistent hitting. At first, we only seemed to be losing by the respectable amount, with Vancouver scoring 2 solo blasts and a bases loading walk in the first 5 innings. Then in the 6th, Cascades 3B David Valdez hit a grand slam, and it was never close again. The one run we scored was via a baffling series of events where Shortstop Gonzales was hit by pitch, stole second, advanced to third after a passed ball, and finally scored on a groundout. Cascades 11, Barons 1.

Standout Baron: Al Petrosky, who went 1-1 as a Pinch Hitter (yes, it's that dire).

Team Debuts: John St. Amant, Bob Menzel, Dick Aroyo, Dave Schultz, Al Petrosky, Bob Bulter, Jerry Bartlett, Mort Lucke, Henry Castillo, John Knippers, Dave Bastarache, Victor Gonzales, Lupe Enriquez, Guy Williams, Frank Wallace, Randy Falloon

In The News: Finis Sanders, one of the only victims of The Great Release who was still available, signs to Kansas City.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Felix Lechuga (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Vancouver Starter: Ivan Donis (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

This was where I realized just how young our pitchers are. Enriquez is 21, and Lechuga is just 19, which gives me at least a little hope these guys will get better. Lechuga, for that matter, managed to not completely embarass himself, only allowing 5 hits in 6 innings. The problem? 4 of them went deep, including 2 from 1B Ray Barton. With Cascades pitcher Donis throwing a CGSO, we continue to not have a single player have 2 hits in a game. Cascades 5, Barons 0.

Standout Baron: Guy Williams, who got 3 easy outs on 8 pitches.

Team Debuts: Felix Lechuga (Why did we just bring out the exact same 2 relievers we used last game? We have 7 of them, what are we doing here?)

In The News: San Diego's Ken Linn has pitched the first No-Hitter in the league's history! With only 2 walks, too.

Overview: This is gonna be the longest season ever. The only bright spot is the strangeness of Victor Gonzales, who aside from scoring the only run of the series also hit a single off Donis after fouling off 6 consecutive pitches. On the bright side, we're not alone in the cellar, as Division rivals Cincinnati and Chicago lost both their games as well. We'll see how long it takes before we're uncontested at the bottom.

[Elipticon]

Reliever Dave Gauger, knowing exactly what's going to happen here, has decided to retire 2 games in. He'll be playing through the rest of the season, but the fact that he decided to call it quits this early genuinely made me laugh. How quickly will everyone else fold?

[Elipticon]

The Charlotte Flyers are very similar to the Cascades, just with a bit less speed and a bit better pitching (though thankfully their aces aren't starting this series). Hopefully this goes better.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Bobby Matthews (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Charlotte Starter: Ikuo Hara (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

We lost this one badly, but it's better than it looks. For one, Bobby Matthews looked downright competent on the mound, pitching 4 innings of no-hit ball before his control began to wear him down, and the hitters put Flyers starter Hara on the ropes for a time, until a series of disastrous errors for the Barons ruined any chance of winning. Matthews would be pulled in the 8th after another horrible inning, while Hara would have to be pulled due to injury after striking out 8 of our Barons. Flyers 5, Barons 0.

Standout Baron: Catcher Bob Butler, who went 2 for 4

Team Debuts: Bobby Matthews, Rob Riviera

Transactions: Someone on the team realized that Brian Hash is a terrible pitcher, and now he's back down in AAA. Bill Wilkins has been promoted to the starting rotation until Sal Morales comes back, Bob Grosvenor is promoted to closer, and finally Rob Riviera has been promoted to the majors. He got the final out of the 8th for Pittsburgh.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Bill Wilkins (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Charlotte Starter: Steve Maddox (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

Save for a single bad inning from Wilkins, this was a defensive slugfest the whole way through, with barely anyone getting on base. Of course, the magical man that is Victor Gonzales managed to get hit and advance to third again, but that's besides the point. In the bottom of the 8th, Wilkins was pulled for Bob Grosvenor, who immediately gave up a home run. Oh well, there goes a respectable loss.

But then, a miraculous 9th inning rally begins to form. Dick Aroyo singles, Dave Schultz advances on an error, and Salvatore Florez hits a 3 run bomb to finally get the Barons on the board. Maddox is pulled for elite closer Robert Bransington, but he can't stop Bob Menzel from hitting a single. The rally is only ended by Al Petrosky, who like the mighty Casey, immediately strikes out on 3 pitches. Flyers 4, Barons 3.

Standout Baron: Salvatore Florez, with his 3-run Home Run.

Team Debuts: Salvatore Florez, Bill Wilkins, Bob Grosvenor

In The News: The first ever Power Ranking are out! The rankers, taking pity on us, give Tampa the bottom rung over us. They're also winless, but they had an off-day, so our only 0-4 comparisons are the Newark Cherries in the AL.

Overview: I thought the only interesting story would be the continuing weirdness of Victor Gonzales, who somehow is one of only 2 starters to be batting the Mendoza Line, but there were some genuine signs of life in the last game. But still, our least runs against is still more than our most runs scored, and until that changes we won't be winning anything.

[Elipticon]

The road trip continues against the Houston Hurricanes, a genuinely fantastic team which is sure to contend for the NL Central title. Their greatest strength is their hitting, but their bullpen is also yet to give up a run this season.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Lupe Enriquez (0-1, 12.71 ERA, 5.2 IP)
Houston Starter: Mike Hancock (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.0 IP)
(Side Note: George Armour is completely rested, why are we starting Enriquez, the worst starter we have? The AI confounds me).

Honestly, given Hancock's prior CGSO, I was just hoping we didn't get no-hit. That didn't happen, but what did was perhaps worse, as the Hurricanes found every conceivable way to score on us. They scored on walks, they scored on hit-by-pitches, they scored on balks, they probably could've even stolen home if they actually cared enough by the time the score was 10-0. If you look at the hits column (11-13), you'd think this game was fairly close, but because of how good Houston was at scoring every other way, it didn't matter. Hurricanes 10, Barons 3.

Standout Baron: Dave Schultz, who went 2-4 with a home run.

Transactions: Not really a transaction, but the player development updates have happened. They're all terrible. Danny Medina's injury seems to have taken a lot out of him, and while he's still better than anyone we have out, that's not saying much. Armour's control has declined enough he's been de facto erased from the starting lineup, as the team will try to rely on just 4 until Sal Morales is back. Speaking of Morales, he's back from injury, and he's set to do a rehab assignment before coming back. Can someone please tell the AI that the minors don't play for another 2 weeks?

The only good news is from minor leaguer Rodney Levy, who has broken out and is now projected to be a passable starter. Or, in Barons terms, our best player.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Felix Lechuga (0-1, 7.50 ERA, 6.0 IP)
Opponent Starter: Fernando Jimenez (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

Felix Lechuga managed to not be terrible! I mean, he wasn't great either, but 3 runs in 7 innings is pretty respectable, if I do say so myself. What isn't respectable is the offense of the Barons, who get nothing on 3 hits in the first 8 innings. But there's still 3 outs left, and there's magic to be made. A walk, double, and error scored Dick Aroyo, and while the excellent Rob Tkach comes in to strike out two straight batters, it's (who else) Victor Gonzales who punches in another run. It's all up to John Knippers pinch hitting, and he delivers a bomb! All the Barons need to do is get 3 quick outs, and despite reliever Bob Grosvenor loading the bases and surrendering a run, he manages to get it done! Barons 5, Hurricanes 4.

Standout Baron: John Knippers, whose 3-run heroics saved the game.

Team Debuts: Alex Velez, Ernesto Gallegos (who I previously called Gallego. Whoops).

In The News: Brian Madison of San Bernardino is now a dad! Good for him.

Overview: Well, we're no longer the worst team in our division, as the Chicago Blues have started the season 0-6. That gives me some hope we can turn it around, especially if the AI stops being stupid and we get Sal Morales back before the 12th. But part of me just wants to suck just for whatever the 1st pick in the next draft will lead to. Oh well, 10th worst will probably get its own gem.

[Elipticon]

The Cincinnati Centurions are our first division rivals this season, and we're finally at home for this series! And on a positive, the Centurions' rotation seems almost as terrible as ours, with us only being outclassed on hitting.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Bobby Matthews (0-1, 2.35 ERA, 7.2 IP)
Opponent Starter: Scott Marking (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)

When Matthews surrendered 3 runs in the 2nd inning, I thought we were ready for another Barons special, but the team really proved us wrong! Matthews managed to finish another 5 shutout innings before getting pulled, and while the team never exploded, they managed to light up Cincy pitcher Marking and the bullpen in the waning innings of the game. Barons 6, Centurions 3. Are we actually good now?

Standout Baron: Left Fielder Jerry Bartlett, who went 2 for 4 with a home run.

In The News: Another one of the players we released, Bob Furman, has signed with Las Vegas. As far as I can tell, the only player not signed yet is First Baseman Ricky Stone, who would be our best player, but is also 36.

Transactions: Our former closer, Tony Salgado, has resigned with the Barons! He's not elite, but he's good enough. Guy Williams is demoted to make way.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Bill Wilkins (0-1, 2.57 ERA, 7.0 IP)
Opponent Starter: Brian Selinger (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.0 IP)

The prior CGSO from Selinger must have been a fluke, as he barely made it to the third against us before surrendering 6 runs and getting pulled. The Centurions were passable in relief, but the hitters did nothing as Bill Wilkins only allowed 1 run in a complete game (with only one strikeout!). Barons 8, Centurions 1.

Standout Baron: First Baseman Dave Schultz, who went 3 for 5 with a home run, all on a bruised wrist.

In The News: Power Rankings! We've risen to a whopping 40th! The top team is the AL's Oilers, who we thankfully won't have to play, followed by Atlanta, who we face first in June.

Overview: 3-5? We're passable? Well, blame the offense, as despite our streak we're still dead last in almost every pitching statistic. Part of that is just us sucking for so many games that a few good ones won't save that, but really, we desperate need Rivas back, and soon. Rehab can't begin soon enough.

[Elipticon]

Apologies for the week-long delay, general playoff doldrums (Bazardo!), illness, and trying to move the save file from 22 to 26 after years for refusing to upgrade have made this all too much to handle. But we're back!

And what a series to come back to, it's our home opener, and one against our cross-state rivals at that! The Philadelphai Keystones have the same record as us, but don't be fooled, they're just unlucky, their hitting core outclasses us completely, and the fielding is among the league's best too.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Sal Morales (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP)
Philadelphia Starter: Roger Grossi (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 7.0 IP)

One good thing about switching versions, the AI can stop being stupid, and that means that Sal Morales will end his rehab early and actually play! Unfortunately, one of the versions I sent it through (23 or 24, whichever one had that big rating recalculating) turned Morales into just barely league-average, but that's still better than nothing.

Well, this game wasn't the best, but still, this team is punching far above their weight. Were it not for Sal Morales falling apart in the 6th, giving up 5 runs, we would've comfortably won this game. Alas, it was not to be. Keystones 6, Barons 4.

Standout Baron: Dave Schultz, who went 2-4 with a home run and a walk.

Team Debuts: Sal Morales, Tony Salgado, Jerry Sutton, Alex Jones (the AI made some decision-making shifts)

Transactions: Due to the version change, the AI makes a flurry of transaction decisions, which was mostly useless, but in the chaos, first baseman Alex Jones was promoted alongside Sal Morales, and Ernesto Gallegos and (shockingly) Felix Lechuga were sent down. Jones is not good at much of anything, but he is a captain, so he'll be manning the ship alongside... Victor Gonzales? Why is it always him?

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Randy Falloon (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.0 IP)
Philadelphia Starter: Tony Fernandez (0-2, 6.39 ERA, 12.2 IP)

The decision to make Randy Falloon, a long reliever who had limited promise, seemed ridiculous, but he managed to nearly get through the whole game. His only real mistake was allowing a solo home run, and with Fernandez falling apart in the first inning, that was more than enough leeway to get a win. Barons 4, Keystones 1.

Standout Baron: Randy Falloon, who pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks.

Overview: An even series is good enough, as we continue to get ever-so-closer to .500 ball. A sweep is all we need, and that doesn't seem so impossible. It seems like the new version has fixed a lot of AI stupidity, which might end up being a good thing in the end, as we're using all of our talent to their fullest.

[JackOnAMacYT]

Interesting idea for sure. Very funny how this save arose as an accident

Keep going man, this is a great concept.

[Elipticon]

Continuing to be sick, but I'm feeling a little bit better today than usual, so why not get a series done? The Reno Silver Sox, who we'll be playing today, outclass us in every possible way, with their weak pitching core paved over with the fact that the bad end of the rotation just won't be starting here. Let's hope we don't get swept.

As a side note, Reno coincidentally happen to have another player named Dave Schultz, which confused me the whole series.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: George Armour (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Reno Starter: Juan Gonzales (2-0, 2.40 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Sutton - St. Amant - Aroyo - Schultz - Butler - Bartlett - Castillo - Gonzales - Armour
(Note: I've decided to stop including innings pitched in the summary, as that's not the most useful and not included in the summary screen before games. I've decided to list the batting lineup in its place, though I may tweak it).

After saying he'd be our ace, the 22 AI seemed to hate something in Armour's stats to not give him a single start before Sal Morales returned from injury. He does not impress, walking 6 and allowing 3 runs by barely getting through the fifth inning. What saved us were the bats, which lit up Juan Gonzales, stubbornly staying into the 8th despite a whopping 7 runs being scored on him. Barons 9, Silver Sox 3.

Standout Baron: Jerry Sutton, who went 3-4 with a home run and a walk.

Team Debuts: George Armour

Transactions: Did you know this thing called "The Waiver Wire" exists? Well apparently, nobody else in the league did, because we just pulled off the heist of the century and claimed 7 different players at once. Welcome to the team, Don Slate, Ricardo Morris, Ron Shemanski, Jose Aldaco, Howie Redmond, Tommy McCarthy, and Steve Jacobson. They're mostly pitchers, but Morris is a shortstop. To make room for... All of that, we demote Lupe Enriquez, George Armour, Bill Wilkins, Bobby Matthews, Bob Grosvenor, and Guy Williams to Little Rock. Yes, that is literally our entire starting lineup besides Sal Morales. This is something a human trying to rebuild a team would do, but I am serious, the AI did all of this.

In addition to this, we do our first trade of the season, trading two random minor leaguers so terrible they wouldn't even cut it here to the Norfolk Navigators for Jerry Lowell, a AAAA pitcher (as if we need more pitching). And unfortunately, that wasn't all, as unfortunately, the AI decided it was finally time to say goodbye to Victor Gonzales. This is a complete and utter disgrace, as Gonzales was the one fun part of watching this awful team, and at the same time he was our captain! Now, the newly promoted Alex Jones will have to pick up the slack, but he's a borderline bench player, and what happens when he gets demoted? In his place is the aformentioned Ricardo Morris, and I will give the AI this, he is infact just as much of a defensive wizard and speed as Gonzales, and with an actual bat to boot.

Victor Gonzales was immediately placed on waivers by the Navigators. They don't know what they're missing. I'll be following his career from here.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Jose Aldaco (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
Reno Starter: Bruce Judd (1-1, 3.60 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Sutton - Menzel - Aroyo - Schultz - Castillo - Bartlett - Morris - Velez - Aldaco

The first game of the new pitching experiment was a resounding success, as Aldaco proved himself a worthy ace and the rest of the team did their best to light up the Silver Sox. None of the hitters were outstanding, but everyone did their part, and that's what mattered. Barons 5, Silver Sox 2.

Standout Baron: Jose Aldaco, who pitched 6 innings of 2-run ball.

Team Debuts: Ricardo Morris, Jose Aldaco, Ron Shemanski, Don Slate

Transactions: Another trade, we managed to fleece the Brooklyn Kings and deal with our pitching logjam by trading former starting Bill Wilkins for the genuinely great center fielder Gus Guzman and backing catcher Bret Spray. Dave Bastarache and Alex Velez were sent down to Little Rock in their place. This was honestly such a fleece that I decided to move the trade frequency down a notch (I was experimenting with making it higher than usual to account for the reserve clause), so hopefully I won't be reporting on trades every other day from now on.

Overview: Somehow, we're league average? I don't expect this to hold, but our best stats, our speed and defense, are genuinely held up by scouting, so maybe there's some truth to it all. To continued mediocrity!

[Elipticon]

Back on the road against the San Diego Sails, whose bats have excellent contact, though middling in all other statistics. Once again, the goal is to just not get swept.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Sal Morales (0-1, 8.44 ERA)
San Diego Starter: Alan Aylward(0-0, 5.06 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Guzman - Castillo - Aroyo - Schultz - Bartlett - Morris - Sutton - Spray - Morales

At first, it seemed obvious that Morales was once again going to blow it, scoring 3 runs against in as many innings, but he managed to keep his composure and manage to leave the game in the lead, as the bats shined. What didn't shine was our closer Tony Salgado, who successfully blew the lead by several and got us a loss. In our last chance in the 9th, we managed to load the bases, but it was in vain. Sails 7, Barons 4.

Standout Baron: Jerry Bartlett, who went 2-4 with a home run and a walk

Team Debuts: Gus Guzman, Bret Spray

In The News: The last guy we released who hadn't signed, Ricky Stone, is playing in Newark. Good for him.

Transactions: Another trade! With Guzman holding in center, John St. Amant has been traded alongside Alex Velez and the delightfully named prospect Giuseppe Cottolengo for Francisque Mizurado, a second baseman who is both younger and better than the people we had before him. I've turned the trading frequency down to just "High", hopefully this is enough to make teams actually trade like they did in the reserve clause era.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: Howie Redmond (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
San Diego Starter: Raymundo Porfirio (2-1, 4.57 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Guzman - Morris - Schultz - Aroyo - Bartlett - Mizurado - Spray - Sutton - Redmond

The "replace all the pitchers in our lineup" experiment has yet to really bear fruit, as Howie Redmond only made it through 5 innings and gave up just as many runs before he was pulled. If the bats were just as strong as last game, maybe we'd stand a chance, but the bats fell silent save for a few standout performances. Sails 6, Barons 3.

Standout Baron: Jerry Bartlett, who went 2-4 (again)

Team Debuts: Francisque Mizurado, Howie Redmond

In The News: Ricky Stone goes 5 for 5 in his first game with the Cherries because we are cursed and any good player we have was cast off into the wilderness.

Also, Dave Schultz is the player of the week! He hit .500 with 12 hits over 24 at bats.

The Power Rankings are out, and the Barons are at a respectable 42nd. Our division... rivals? (and next series opponents) Cincinnati are in dead last by a wide margin after a 9-game losing streak.

Overview: A sweep wasn't the best, and our pitchers seem to be a massive issue, but at least the hitting core is finally coming together. Hopefully we'll continue Cincy's losing streak and get back to .500 next time.

[Elipticon]

As mentioned previously, the Cincinnati Centurions are by far the worst franchise in the league, sitting at an abysmal 3-11 with a 9-game losing streak. If there's any team we can sweep, it's them.

GAME 1:

Pittsburgh Starter: Tommy McCarthy (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Cincinnati Starter: Tom Howard (1-2, 3.45 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Sutton - Wallace - Aroyo - Schultz - Guzman - Mizurado - Morris - Spray - McCarthy

Our batters managed to become completely incompetent in front of the slightest resistance, as Cincy did what was expected and cruised to victory. Centurions 3, Barons 0.

Standout Baron: Ricardo Morris, who went 2-3.

Team Debuts: Tommy McCarthy

In The News: The minor leagues are beginning (at least, the top 3 ones are)! I've touched on the minor leagues before, but our teams are the Little Rock Glory, the Lubbock Foxes, the Crockett Blue Falcons, the Dunkirk Buccaneers, and the Dolton Ironmen. Hopefully the Pope will bless us given that we have a minor league team where he was born.

GAME 2:

Pittsburgh Starter: John Aldaco (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Cincinnati Starter: Brian Selinger (1-2, 7.63 ERA)
Pittsburgh Lineup: Sutton - Morris - Aroyo - Mizurado - Guzman - Jones - Butler - Ballin - Aldaco

We faced Selinger last series too, and he proceeded to give up 6 runs in 2.1 innings and get pulled. Hoping for another lighting, it was instead John Aldaco who got lit up, with 5 of Cincy's 7 runs coming against him. Selinger instead managed to pitch a quality start, getting through the 6th, as his team cruised to victory. Centurions 7, Barons 1.

Standout Baron: John Lehnen, who pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball

Team Debuts: Felipe Ballin (incredible name), John Lehnen

Transactions: John Lehnen is waived immediately after pitching his first game. Terry Higgins is sent in to replace him. He's got to feel bad about this.

Overview: Well, we're finally back to reality, the reality of being a terrible team which can't do anything. This sweep somehow still puts us a game ahead of Cincy, but that'll change soon enough, I know it.

In other news, my life is getting incredibly busy, but I do still want to update this thread on the strange world of the Barons, so I'll be making posts summarizing a week's worth of news rather than going game by game. It was getting a little boring after a while, anyways.

[Elipticon]

Welcome to the first ever weekly summary of the Pittsburgh Barons' 1960 season! OOTP has weeks begin on Monday, and we already played the first 2 games of the week, so this one is a bit spoiled, but let's see how it plays out.

Schedule:

4/11 at Cincinnati: Centurions 3, Barons 0
4/12 at Cincinnati: Centurions 7, Barons 1
4/13 at Buffalo: Barons 1, Beacons 0
4/14 at Buffalo: Beacons 9, Barons 5
4/16 at Miami: Barons 6, Waves 5
4/17 at Miami: Waves 5, Barons 4

Transactions: The trades still aren't done, as Bob Menzel, Bret Spray, and Lupe Enriquez are all taken out in favor of Tony Palma (an upgrade at backing catcher, though not a great one), and Aires Villa (a mediocre reliever who's playing anyways). I think the OOTP AI might have a delay where the trades it already is considering aren't removed when trade frequency is ticked down. Or something.

Standout Pitchers: Steve Jacobson pitched 6 innings of shutout ball to get the only starting pitcher win of the week. Also worth highlighting are Terry Higgins and Tony Salgado, who both pitched more than 4 innings over multiple games without allowing a run. For the worst pitchers, Sal Morales allowed 6 runs in less than 4 innings en route to the 9-5 bludgeoning done by Buffalo.

Standout Batters: After a week of Dave Schultz dominating, it's now Dick Aroyo's turn to shine, driving in 5 seperate runs, mostly Schultz. However, Aroyo only actually scored 1 run himself, because he was followed by the incredibly inept Gus Guzman, who managed less hits than every other starter despite having the most plate appearances. He did draw some walks, at least.

NL North Standings:
St. Louis Spirits: 11-9
Milwaukee Coopers: 10-10
Chicago Blues: 9-11
Columbus Explorers: 8-12
Pittsburgh Barons: 8-12
Cincinnati Centurions: 6-14
(Note: The reason I'm not posting images of the standings is because I only load the team images when I play them, and the standings looks really ugly otherwise. All division teams will be played before June is over, and all teams in the league within the year, so this won't be for long).
(Also, believe it or not, but the NL North is not the worst division in baseball. The NL West doesn't have a single team above .500).

Overview: Well, this week wasn't good, but we tied the Explorers, and that's what matters. The fight for 4th place in the division is far more important than any other fight. The Power Rankings have adjusted us back down to 51st, which feels about right.

[Elipticon]

First full week under the new system!

4/19 vs Omaha: Thunder 7, Barons 6 (10 innings)
4/20 vs Omaha: Thunder 6, Barons 2
4/21 vs Milwaukee: Coopers 3, Barons 1
4/22 vs Milwaukee: Coopers 9, Barons 5
4/23 vs Chicago: Blues 7, Barons 5
4/24 vs Chicago: Blues 3, Barons 1

Transactions: More trades! (they really never stop, do they?) Former starter Bobby Matthews has been traded to the Aces for Bob Alegria, yet another middling reliever who'll start anyways. Randy Falloon is sent down to make room, meaning that we have successfully completed the Pitch of Theseus and replaced literally every single one of our pitchers from opening day. All of them are in the minors, traded, or released. I swear, the AI did this.

Standout Batters: Aside from Dick Aroyo proving himself the most consistent player on the team, the worst players, Francisque Mizurado and Gus Guzman, managed to deliver. Guzman even managed to get player of the game honors in the extra innings duel versus Omaha. And then he immediately broke his leg. Of course.

Standout Pitchers: On the surface, our starting rotation wasn't too bad, but they're buoyed by errors boosting their ERA. Tommy McCarthy had a dreadful outing, but since 5 of his 6 runs happened due to errors, he seems like an ace, and Sal Morales similarly has 4 runs erased from his record. Howie Redmond is the only player who managed a coherent start in the 3-1 loss to Milwaukee, but the relievers let us down yet again. There's still hope in the middle relievers though, as Bob Alegria failed to let us down, and Terry Higgins has continued his streak of not allowing a single run all season. Ron Shemanski... we don't talk about him.

NL North Standings
Milwaukee Coopers: 14-12
Chicago Blues: 14-12
St. Louis Spirits: 13-13
Columbus Explorers: 10-16
Cincinnati Centurions: 9-17
Pittsburgh Barons: 8-18

Overview: Snap back to reality, we suck! I'd like to think that this is a bad week, but the fundamentals don't lie, we're just like this. Maybe next week will be a reprieve, or maybe we just have to settle back into the sucking.

[Elipticon]

Note: I've decided to add the records of the teams we play before they come against us. Hopefully that gives you an idea of their skill even if we don't see them in our division.

4/25 at San Bernardino (13-13): 66ers 1, Barons 0 (first interleague game!)
4/26 at San Bernardino (14-13): 66ers 7, Barons 2
4/28 at San Antonio (14-14): Marshals 3, Barons 2
4/29 at San Antonio (15-14): Barons 4, Marshals 2
4/30 at Reno (10-20): Silver Sox 8, Barons 5
5/1 at Reno (11-20): Silver Sox 2, Barons 1

Team Debuts: Rich Beal

Transactions: Guz Gusman's leg breaking will cost him half a month, and the AI traded John St. Amant for some random pitching fodder some time ago, so now we're stuck with Rich Beal, an incredibly raw 22 year old who, despite being an elite defender, had absolutely zero hits this week as an everyday starter. Also, player development happened, but the game change makes this completely useless.

Standout Batters: A bit of a correction from last week, as the best batters fell back to earth and the worst batters ticked up a notch. The exceptions are Dick Aroyo, as per usual, the aformentioned Beal, and Jerry Bartlett, who's mired in an awful slump.

Standout Pitchers: This is just getting sad. Tommy McCarthy got two seperate chances to pitch this week, both times he did just about all he could to win, and both times he walked away with a no-decision because Tony Salgado blew it. The first one wasn't too bad, he left after 8 innings of scoreless ball, and then Salgado gave up a run. It happens. What doesn't happen was the 4/30 game against Reno, where Tommy McCarthy pitched 8 innings of one-run ball, turned it over to Tony Salgado to finish it off, only for him to completely melt down and surrender 7 runs. Jesus Christ.

The rest of the pitchers were similarly sad, with Howie Redmond getting a loss for 2 runs, and Jose Aldaco getting a loss for 3 (2 unearned). Sal Morales is responsible for the one win this week as he slowly begins a redemption arc, and Terry Higgins continues his scoreless streak into May.

AL North Standings
Milwaukee Coopers: 18-14
St. Louis Spirits: 17-15
Chicago Blues: 16-16
Columbus Explorers: 14-18
Cincinnati Centurions: 13-19
Pittsburgh Barons: 9-23

Overview: Our one bright spot before this was that, while not great, our bullpen could reliably not blow a lead. Granted, they didn't have very many leads to blow, but they could do it. All this has changed, and now we're below-average in everything except stolen bases. Queue the "you can't steal first" joke here.

We're 59th in the power rankings. It's gonna be a long season.