Life is Full of Ups and Downs in the Otis Association

[luckymann]

A veritable deluge of no-nos is upon us...

[luckymann]

If we want to not just make it up to the Penthouse but stay there, it won't be on talent alone that we do so. This kind of grit will be just as important a factor.

[luckymann]

IMGUR is being any number of words that could earn me an infraction or even get me booted off here outright were I to use them, so just a quick update rather than the full 81 report this time around.

As you can see from the screenshot above, things are going pretty well for us so far as we narrowly lead the Skylobby.

The biggest news is a trade done at the start of June, in which we send Dave Fleming and Kitty Wickham to the White Sox for IF Donald Marshall. Dave’s injury proneness just made him too risky with another $7m owing to him next year, and with Donald coming in Kitty’s already sparse gametime (124 AB) was only going to be further reduced. This not only gives us some more pop with a proven player but also frees up a wad of cash to be better deployed elsewhere.

He's done fairly well for us since then and certainly adds another dimension to our lineup, which can get a bit slappy. But the recent acquisition that has paid off big time has been Clarence Trail, who has been a dominant force at the top of our order. He has slashed 324/381/507 with 11 HR / 46 RBI and leads the league with 4.1 bWAR.

Denzel Clarke has also finally come good, while young guns Platt and Magown continue to impress. Jimmy Rich is such a handy guy with his defensive flexibility and he has contributed more than 2 bWAR, while Scott Kingery keeps on keeping on as well.

The pitching has been led by Garland Braxton once more, and he is quickly becoming recognised as one of the aces of the OA. He has been more than ably supported by the 13-1 Niles Jordan, who has continued his excellent rookie form. Waite Hoyt has been steady for the most part and James Fekete has had his moments but needs to be more consistent. The BP has done its job well, despite Eddy Fernandez not quite being the lights-out Closer he was in '92 and James Turner really struggling. Johnny Magz has held the middle together and we have brought up both Cliff Breehl and Ken Chase.

Aaron Romasco has been superb, but recently felt a bit of elbow pain and so we ILed him to be on the safe side. The biggest issue with A-Rom is that he is out of contract at the end of the year and looking for nearly $5m per. It's a tough one, this - he's just such a solid pitcher and the fans love him, so I am tending toward coughing up. But promotion might be the deciding factor here.

I mentioned James Turner's poor run of form (5+ ERA), and he's another one we need to think about as he is eligible for some chunky arb next year. I think he's been unlucky to this point and hope he can convince me to lock him down by doing just that.

With the trade I mentioned at the top, we now have more than $40m at our disposal for the remainder of this season. I will be looking to spend whatever of that is needed if we need an upgrade or two to get us past the Mets, who look determined to get the bounceback promotion and seem set to dog us until the very end. Hard to know where to spend it, though, as I really like our group, but I want to get this job done.

Oh, and the Staff Cohesion is back to UNHAPPY...

[luckymann]

Again, just the bare bones here thanks to my technical difficulties...

PENTHOUSE




SKYLOBBY




BASEMENT

Go those mighty A's!!

[luckymann]

If there's one thing that really irks me it is losing to former members of our organisation - the more recent their departure, the higher the irksomeness.

So you can well imagine how much I enjoyed this game in which we give one of our most recent emigrés a good old-fashioned spanking led by one of our most recent acquisitions. It could only have been improved upon by the starring role having been assumed by the guy we traded him for.

All the same, I'll take it .

[luckymann]

Washington's Vince Barger pitches just the ninth no-hitter in the history of the Penthouse, and only the second since 1988.

[luckymann]

The fact that we have had a fairly charmed run with injures this year doesn't make this one any easier to swallow, as Steve has been a huge contributor for us - a slash line of 317/384/471 with 11 HR and 49 RBI, good for 2.4 bWAR.

One door closes, another opens. Young Simeon Lucas gets the call-up to show us what he's got.

[luckymann]

Lord I hope the Rule of Three doesn't apply here...

[luckymann]

This time in the Basement from Baltimore's Donald Atkinson against the BoSox, who are on the wrong end for the second time this year.