The Sacramento Athletics (2025-)

[Fudal]

First things first: I hate the idea of the city of Oakland losing their baseball team. Despite the lackluster attendance numbers in the final - very sad - years in Oakland, the fans truly deserve better than what ownership gives them. However, what's done is done, and now I have to screw John Fisher out of his move to Las Vegas. The team will instead play their games in Sacramento, and the team hopes to have a true MLB-ready ballpark built by 2030. That gives the city of Sacramento enough time to find a spot and build a stadium to John Fisher's liking. Until then, we will have to struggle with making money in a smaller stadium.

Game Settings I've Changed

Overall/Potential Ratings are 20-80 (increments of 5).
Show Player Personality Ratings turned on.
Suspension Frequency is set to Low.
Injury Ratings are hidden.
Aging Speed is set at .900 for both batters and pitchers.
Development Speed is at 1.025 for both batters and pitchers.
Reputation System is turned off.
Trading Difficulty is turned up 2 ticks.
The Ghost Runner and ST ties are turned off.
AI Trade Frequency is set to Low.
All 20 draft rounds will have to be negotiated with.
Inflation is turned on, and set to 1-2%
Catcher framing impact is turned up to 6.
Stealing bases is set to more often, rather than normal.

With all that done, I'm excited to start this save, where I'll be playing out every game, and documenting all transactions.

[jksander]

Love it .. in my longest tenured online league the team relocated but rebranded as the Bay Area Athletics ... I'm glad that in that league, too, they didn't wind up getting to go to Vegas. Screw Vegas! lol ...

[Fudal]

I will be making a few transactions in this first pre-season, to hopefully improve the organization. Not all of them will be for prospects, as I do plan to improve the MLB roster as well.

Trade #1

The Sacramento Athletics trade 32-year-old P Jeffrey Springs and 34-year-old P Dylan Floro to The Toronto Blue Jays for 26-year-old Minor League 1B Will Wagner, 25-year-old Minor League LF Alan Roden, 25-year-old Minor League 3B Damiano Palmegiani, and 25-year-old Minor League LF Joey Loperfido, and $12.5 million in cash.

Now, I'm not sure what the Jays see in Springs, besides for his bloated contract. I also don't know why they're willing to part with decent players and so much money for so cheap, but I'm not one to say no to a trade in my favor. All 4 of these guys will be on the MLB roster, and I'm excited to see what this quartet of youngsters can do this season.

Trade #2

The Sacramento Athletics trade 32-year-old 1B Seth Brown and 30-year-old LF Miguel Andujar to the Chicago Cubs for 25-year-old C Miguel Amaya, 33-year-old P Julian Merryweather, and 28-year-old P Nate Pearson.

Brown and Andujar were both above league minimum guys, who were occupying the roster spots of Loperfido and Palmegiani. We get back two solid relievers in Merryweather and Pearson, as well as a better backup catcher than our current options (I want Soderstrom to start the year in AAA learning the outfield). They also retained both Merryweather's and Pearson's contracts.

Trade #3

The Sacramento Athletics trade 25-year-old 2B Zack Gelof to the New York Yankees for 25-year-old Minor League P Trent Sellers.

Sellers is a big upgrade on the potential FA options at SP, while Gelof has a selfish personality class in OOTP26, so good riddance. Sellers will be our #3 starter to start this season. That wraps up the pre-season moves, and now it's time for opening day against the Mets!

[Fudal]

Game 1

Opening Day in Sacramento saw Luis Severino return to the Big Apple after his bumper contract signing this off-season. He would face Kodai Senga, who hopes to have a bounce back season, after missing last season due to an injury. We ended up dominating the game, barring a 4 run disaster appearance for T.J. McFarland, winning 9-6. Luis Severino had a sterling performance. Loperfido homered and stole 2 bags, while Brent Rooker went 3-4 with 3 RBI.

Trade

The Sacramento Athletics trade 19-year-old Minor League P Steven Echavarria to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 30-year-old P David Bednar and 31-year-old P Wei-Chieh Huang.

Pittsburgh had Bendar and Huang on the block, and we need relief help. Echavarria is the price, but a price I'm very willing to pay. He has a poor personality, and projects to give up a ton of homers, even if he reaches his potential. Bednar and Huang will be on the MLB team, taking the place of McFarland and Murdock, both of whom were released.

Game 2

Score: 6-2 Win
SP: Mitch Spence (6, 4, 2, 1, 0, 7)
WP: Mitch Spence (1-0)
SV: None
HRs: Joey Loperfido (2)
SBs: Joey Loperfido (3), Shea Langeliers (1)

Game 3:

Score:
SP: Trent Sellers (4.2, 6, 4, 3, 3, 5)
WP: Tylor Megill (1-0)
SV: Edwin Diaz (1)
HRs: Shea Langeliers (1)
SBs: None

2-1

[Fudal]

Originally Posted by jksander

Love it .. in my longest tenured online league the team relocated but rebranded as the Bay Area Athletics ... I'm glad that in that league, too, they didn't wind up getting to go to Vegas. Screw Vegas! lol ...

Glad to have you on board! I'm enjoying lurking in your White Sox thread!

[Fudal]

I was busy writing this update, before I lost all my progress due to me accidentally closing this tab while changing Gyazo screenshots.

Anyways, you guys are here for the box scores, but first two trades to announce!




Two semi-blockbusters for a team of our stature, as we bring in 3 keystone players and a new ace for very reasonable costs. The minor leaguers in the Guardians trade are all very solid defenders at important positions. I've always loved Suwinski and Rocchio in OOTP, having had success with them in 24 and 25. Williams will be our new #1, and Henry Davis will split time with Langeliers behind the dish.

Game 1



Game 2



Game 3

[Fudal]

Game 7

Score: 6-1 Win
SP: Gavin Williams (5.2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 8)
WP: Gavin Williams (1-0)
SV: None
HRs: Brent Rooker (3)
SBs: Joey Loperfido (6), Brent Rooker (1), Alan Roden (1)

A huge 3 run shot by Rooker in the top of the 9th made this game look a lot more comfortable than it was. We got a POTG performance out of Gavin Williams, with him throwing 100 pitches and only giving up 5 base runners. Merryweather, Bednar, Otanez, and Miller shut it down in the bullpen, only allowing 4 runners to reach base.

Game 8

Score: 11-10 Loss in 12 innings
SP: Trent Sellers (4.1, 5, 5, 5, 4, 1)
WP: Brock Stewart (1-0)
SV: None
HRs: Brayan Rocchio 2 (3), Lawrence Butler 2 (3), Jack Suwinski (2)
SBs: Joey Loperfido (7), Brent Rooker (2)

Well, Mason Miller gave up 3 baserunners in the bottom of the 9th, then a Matt Wallner grand slam to blow the "save" when we were up by 4. Then Julian Merryweather gave up back-to-back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the 12th to allow the walk off double by Edouard Julien, who walked 3 times and doubled twice. Just a brutal loss.

Game 9

Score: 7-0 Loss
SP: Oslavldo Bido (4.2, 4, 4, 1, 1, 4)
WP: Chris Paddack (1-1)
SV: None
HRs: None
SBs: Joey Loperfido (8)

Record moves to 5-4.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Fudal

Glad to have you on board! I'm enjoying lurking in your White Sox thread!

Thanks!

[Fudal]

Mason Miller is one of the most exciting young arms in the game of baseball. However, after this season, he's projected to make over $4 million as a reliever, which is something I'd prefer not to pay him. So when the Reds offered a star-level return for him, I felt I couldn't say no. The Reds obviously feel like with their young stars, they're only a few pieces away, and the bullpen is one of their weaknesses. In return for the 26-year-old flamethrower the Reds sent us 3 ML catchers, 3 ML outfielders, Rece Hinds, and Alexis Diaz (whose salary they retained). The player profiles can be seen here:

23-year-old Catcher Connor Burns (45 contact potential/50 gap potential/50 power potential/40 eye potential/65 defense potential)

21-year-old Left Fielder Hector Rodriguez (45/50/50/40/65)

18-year-old Center Fielder Adolfo Sanchez (50/65/60/45/45)

25-year-old Catcher Will Banfield (45/55/50/45/65)

23-year-old Center Fielder Ethan O'Donnell (50/50/50/45/55)

24-year-old Catcher Logan Tanner (45/45/45/55/65)

24-year-old RF Rece Hinds (50/60/65/45/60)

and Alexis Diaz, who will become our new closer.