California Angels 1970

[sharknut]

We outbid the Tigers for Lynn. Going into 1980, we will have Lynn for the next 8 years for a total of $16,780,000, the highest paid player in the game. IRL, Ryan was the highest paid at $1 million a year and in this world, we are at double that.

But we got our man. Time to make deals.

[sharknut]

For the 4th straight off season, we have either traded or let our starting 2b leave in the offseason. We traded for Juan Beniquez last off season but he never fit here so we dealt him for SP Clark Ullum who ; A) Led the NL in ERA last year and, B)we did not sign in the last off season when he asked for more than we were willing to give. But we welcome him back with open arms....because we really need arms.

29 year old Gary Matthews asked for a trade, and while we have him locked up for 2 more years, we were able to acquire 24 year old Bob Sykes who had 7 wins and 14 saves last season and has already pitched 150 big league innings and he will likely be my closer of the future once Dean Chance hangs them up. We save about $320,000 a season as well, good business.

31-year old Carlos May was only going to get about 200 AB's, but the World Series runner-up Phillies wanted him enough to deal us prospect P Dale Mohorcic who was AA pitcher of the year 2 years ago and won the playoff MVP last season in AAA. I will start him in AAA again this year and this will also save us $200,000. Trying to bring back a little savings after giving Fred Lynn Disneyland.

[sharknut]

While I finished 12th, I forgot about compensatory picks, so I actually picked 14th.

1)Cleveland-Eric Davis
2)Milwaukee-Ivan Calderon
3)Cubs-Fernando Valenzuela
4)Texas-Danny Tartabull
5)Toronto-Darryl Strawberry
6)Mets-Mark Eichhorn
7)Padres-Tim Teufel
8)Mets-Willie Darkis
9)Toronto-Von Hayes
10)Seattle-Andy Van Slyke
11)Cardinals-Tony Fernandez
12)Braves-Tim Leary
13)Dodgers-Mike Cole
14)Angels-Dion James

[sharknut]

Of the top picks, Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry did not sign. Huge losses for those clubs, the only other 1st rounders who will be back in the draft next year will be #26 Kelly Downs of Baltimore and #28 Darren Daulton of the Tigers.

[Edster007]

Did Nettles hit UFA? Did you kick the tires to see what he was looking for? Although at his age.....

[sharknut]

Originally Posted by Edster007

Did Nettles hit UFA? Did you kick the tires to see what he was looking for? Although at his age.....

He did this offseason, but since Roy Howell hit .300 with 18 HR and 101 RBI and is just 25, it didn't make sense.

At 35 and after 3 years with the Red Sox, Nettles finally went to the Big Apple: The Mets for $660,000 over 1 year.

Munson has 5 years left at $690,000 and his catcher ratings has gone from a "B-" when I signed him 1 year ago down to "D+" already. I have to eat money. Lots of money.

The best I can do is eating $275,000 a year for the next 5 years and a decent pitching prospect for an overpaid pitcher who will be a UFA after this year. I have to do it, I can't play a poor defensive catcher who also suddenly can't hit.

[sharknut]

Going into a new decade, here is how we enter the 1980 season

Blyleven
Bannister
Hooton
Clark Ullum (led NL in ERA last year)
Mike Brandt (11 game winner last year with the White Sox)

Ken Landreaux-DH
Ivan DeJesus-2b
Fred Lynn-CF
Reggie Smith-RF
Roy Howell-3b
Dan Briggs-LF
Eddie Murray-1b
Ellie Rodriguez-C
Pat Rockett/Jim Fregosi-SS

We picked up Rodney Scott on waivers before the season because he can do 2 things we can't: run and catch. Fregosi and Rockett are both hit first/catch 2nd shortstops and we needed some reliable hands across the infield.

Our outfield are ranked #1 in the AL, our pitching top 5 and infield bottom 5. Eddie Murray needs to fulfill his promise now. He's 24 coming off .257/.325/.394 with 15 HR's. That is not Eddie Murray, but that's not even good enough for a 3 WAR. IRL he would be coming off .300 with 30 HR's. I am not asking for that, but .280 with 22 hr's would be nice.

[Edster007]

I think if Nettles didn't have to play two years at Shea while Yankee Stadium was being renovated he would have gotten to 400 homeruns and entrance to the hall, which he should be in anyway.

[sharknut]

Originally Posted by Edster007

I think if Nettles didn't have to play two years at Shea while Yankee Stadium was being renovated he would have gotten to 400 homeruns and entrance to the hall, which he should be in anyway.

Couldn't agree more. Even as a guy who played well past the time he should, his post-season accomplishments should get him over the line.

[sharknut]

We had a fantastic April, 12-6 and 1 game up on the A's. Our pitching leads the league in ERA and our bullpen has improved enough to be a little above average so far.

Blyleven was simply the man in April. 4-0 with a 0.51 ERA, 2 shutouts a WHIP of .89.....you get the picture. He was AL Pitcher of the Month. He's going to be a free agent, so I better lock him up before he goes 24-4 this year.

We lead the AL in hitting as well with a .307 average and it's been everyone

Murray .328
Scott. .333
Howell .346
Lynn .348
Landreaux .375
Briggs .325

So far so good

[sharknut]

We won our first 10 games of May before picking up a loss, so 22-7 now and 5 games clear.

Blyleven 6-0 0.90 ERA
Brandt. 3-1 2.34 ERA
Ullum 2-0 2.45 ERA
Bannister 4-0 3.15 ERA

15-1 for my top 4 starters.

Murray .273 3 hr 13 RBI
Howell .285 2 hr 15 RBI
Lynn .320 8 hr 25 RBI
Landreaux .330 1hr 18 RBI
Briggs. .310 10 doubles
Smith. .324 3hr 18 RBI

Have a team BA of .300 and lead the majors in ERA.

The only bad news is we lost Rodney Scott the last game of the winning streak for 6 weeks with a concussion. Our hot streak started when we started playing him more, so we will miss him. So far he's gone .352/.378/.423 in 71 AB's with 12 steals, 10 runs and good defense.

[sharknut]

......I dropped the next 6 and now have a 1 game lead.

[sharknut]

Originally Posted by sharknut

We outbid the Tigers for Lynn. Going into 1980, we will have Lynn for the next 8 years for a total of $16,780,000, the highest paid player in the game.

38 games into his 8 year deal, Lynn blew out his ACL

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****** ****** ****** ******!!!!!!

[sharknut]

That was the worst 16-11 month I could possibly have. Still one game up on the A's but I am just crushed by the loss of Lynn and how this will affect the next SEVEN years on his deal.

The bright side continues to be Blyleven. He is now 9-1 with a 0.98 ERA leading the league in everything.

[sharknut]

Reggie Smith put the offense on his back and was named AL Player of the Month in June going .372/.469/.723 with 8 HR's and 34 RBI's. Blyleven is still doing his best Bob Gibson impersonation with a 13-3 1.21 ERA season going with 1 more start before the All-Star game, where he will start.

So, we went 17-11 despite losing Scott and then Lynn prior to June and then losing Landreaux for 3 weeks with an ankle and Fregosi for 2 months with a knee. We are still 1st in starters ERA and Mike Brandt is 3rd the AL backing up Blyleven.

Our minor league system is up to 6th now and we have pitchers and hitters ranked highly. Our AA, A and rookie ball teams are all in 1st place so despite our injuries with the big team, I can't complain about our season through June,.

In the NL, the Braves have accumulated a group of 'real life' players who were good but not great, who in my world are great:

Oberkfell-1st in batting and WAR
Maddox-2nd in batting
John Castino-3rd in batting
Mickey Hatcher-5th in batting 2nd in WAR
Lou Whitaker-3rd in WAR (their legit RL stud)
Gary Redus-4th in WAR

Barry Bonnell (!!!!) from Boston is leading in all Triple Crown categories in the AL. Reggie Smith is 7th in batting, 4th in HR's and 3rd in RBI's.

[sharknut]

Given that I lost the guy who led baseball in All-Star voting over a month ago and I go into the break with a 2 game lead on KC and 3 over the A's, we are very happy with the team.

I fired our 3rd base coach about a month ago and since then, our base running has improved quite a bit and our staff cohesion has improved. That is one thing our owner wanted me to work on.

My pre-season pickup of Rodney Scott off waivers has paid off as he as gone .302/.338 with 18 steals as he has played 20 games at 2b, 17 at SS and 5 at 3b. I also picked up Bake McBride as a minor league signing as cover in case of injuries and when I lost Fred Lynn, I called him up and he has been great going .341/.370/.405 with 11 steals as he has played left, right and DH. Our worlds McBride had been a career .280 hitter before dropping to .240 over the last 2 years and gathered no interest as a 31-year old coming off a -1.1 WAR. But he has been huge for us.

Lynn was voted a starter in the ASG, and the AL will also miss Tony Pena the starting catcher and Andre Dawson the CF due to injuries. We also had Reggie Smith and Mike Brandt named to the team and of course, Blyleven was named the AL starter.

[sharknut]

One huge disappointment has been Eddie Murray. Prior to the season I was worried he was only going to develop into a Todd Benzinger-level player. No disrespect to Todd, any 18 year old would love to have his career, but Eddie Murray he is not.

This year he hasn't even been Benzinger. .212/.288/.341 with 8 hr's and a -0.4 WAR. I shopped him and couldn't get a single interesting player. It got to when I lost Landreaux I called up Larry Rush, my AAA 1st baseman who is a 2-star prospect but was hitting .320 in AAA so I am giving him a go, at least against lefties to start.

[sharknut]

32 year old Johnny Bench was unhappy in San Francisco, so we dealt a few meh-prospects and we now have Johnny Bench. He's not a great hitter anymore, but he's still a very good defensive catcher and upgrading the position was a priority from our owner.

[sharknut]

Bench was hitting .240 for the Giants and in the 15 games for us, he's gone .333/.420/.617 with 4 hr's and 11 RBI. He really helped up finish July strong, we went 18-10 and have a 3 game lead over both the A's and Royals. 4th in runs, 1st in runs allowed, 2nd in HR and 3rd in defensive efficiency has made me happy to have built a well balanced team, at least for this season.

Blyleven is back to earth, but the rest of the staff has been quite good. I decided to stand pat after the Bench trade, so the deadline is past and this is the club we have.

The Red Sox have a 4 game lead over Milwaukee, St Louis and Pittsburgh are tied in the NL East with the Phillies 1/2 game out and the Mets just 3 1/2 back, while in the west the Braves are 16 games up and cruising to a division title.

[sharknut]

As September begins, we have opened up a 4 1/2 game over Oakland and 6 over the Royals. Lynn is the "only" injury we have, I can call us fortunate that our 5 starters have 127 of our 130 starts, they haven't missed 1 start all season and they lead the AL in 3.46 ERA as a group.

I haven't talked about Vernon Armstead, but the 23 year old LF has hit .331/.407/.474 over 400 PA with 7 HR and 15 steals this season. He went .301/.396/.432 in 154 PA last season, but has never been more than a 3 star guy. He has made himself an every day starter over Landreaux and Briggs.

McBride wants a 2 year very cheap contract, but he wants a guarantee starting job. Normally giving a guy who is hitting .342 over 280 PA a starting guarantee next year, but I can't. Lynn and Smith have 2 spots locked up and as I just mentioned, Armstead has the other OF job. That leaves McBride/Briggs/Landreaux to fight over the DH role and I don't want to start a reputation of going back on my promises, especially for a part-timer.

I did sign 31 year old lefty William Sheets to a good value-4 year deal for $704,000 total. He's in his 7th year for us and has gone 53-49 with 4 saves along with a 3.63 ERA, 14.2 WAR and an ERA+ of 108. Getting that for less than $250,000 a year seems like a no-brainer