The Brewster

jleddy wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:55 pm

Am I wrong to assume that the UMEBA is supposed to mirror an independent league inferior to MLB, ala the Atlantic League?

The Atlantic League is basically comprised of:
*Players not good enough to be drafted
*Players too old (25-30) to take up space in MLB's lower minors
*Former MLBers over 30 who aren't deemed worthy of MLB rosters or AAA

To me, that describes the UMEBA pretty well. If that's the case, seems like the set-up is correct and fair and the player population is correct.

It is, but I think this is a little different. With things like this, I don't think you can compare real life to this, where we are playing for entertainment purposes.

bcslouck wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:01 pm

jleddy wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:55 pm

Am I wrong to assume that the UMEBA is supposed to mirror an independent league inferior to MLB, ala the Atlantic League?

The Atlantic League is basically comprised of:
*Players not good enough to be drafted
*Players too old (25-30) to take up space in MLB's lower minors
*Former MLBers over 30 who aren't deemed worthy of MLB rosters or AAA

To me, that describes the UMEBA pretty well. If that's the case, seems like the set-up is correct and fair and the player population is correct.

It is, but I think this is a little different. With things like this, I don't think you can compare real life to this, where we are playing for entertainment purposes.

Speaking mostly for myself here...

Yeah, the UMEBA serves several purposes, and in the end this is our league, we can make it what it wants to be.

(1) When we kicked it off there was certainly a sense that we wanted places where a pre-BBA GM could learn the ropes, so in that light, Ithink it's valuable for the seasons to align (and, yeah, we really, really need to figure out how to sync All-Star and season end).

(2) But the idea was also to make the league fun and competitive. No GM wants to play in a dull league...so we need to ensure that GMs in the UMEBA have tools to compete with, and in the end the best situation is that we find that the league is so entertaining that their exist GMS who decide they'd rather be there...the PEBA had this in their pre-contraction days. So, if we need to make the league of higher (or lower) prestige to make that happen, it's an evolutionary path I'm sure we'd be willing to look at (he says, not speaking for Matt).

(3) The side-car point is that the UMEBA adds to the fiction of the universe here, too. We had the EBA--which got eaten up as part of our first expansion, and is still an entity that pops up in our conversations (which I find great fun), and now we've got the UMEBA doing the same thing. It's great that the UMEBA is funneling GMs into our BBA openings, but it's even better that we're getting fictions created in the middle east. I could see fun bidding wars breaking out if the UMEBA grows to actually compete better with the BBA...and then, who knows, we might need a new indy league (grin).

(4) I've often said that the premium size for a OOTP league is always based on the number of interested GMs we can attract (*). AT the end of the day, the UMEBA is exceeding my expectations in that our GMs are generally appearing to be long-term. Yes, we've lost a few, but the BBA universe is apparently fairly sticky. Matt has commented before that expansion is a likely event, but would be done when it feels like we're stable. I can see six teams in a division--assuming we can find four guys, and perhaps moved through in a 5/5 configuration first, like we went from 24->28->30->32 in the BBA. If there is one thing I've come to see from Matt is that he's got a pretty good Cool Hand Luke touch when it comes to making this kind of decision.


(*) As a total aside, I've often wondered if some day three or four of the "grand league" might find a way to merge and have a baseball universe with a hundred or so teams in truly competing leagues all running in the same universe. It would be a mess, but a beautiful mess.

Anyway, I love the conversations.

RonCo wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:59 pm

(*) As a total aside, I've often wondered if some day three or four of the "grand league" might find a way to merge and have a baseball universe with a hundred or so teams in truly competing leagues all running in the same universe. It would be a mess, but a beautiful mess.

That would be incredible...almost a Champions League-type scenario found in European soccer football.

I call NOT IT for being Commish of that beautiful mess.

recte44 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 3:37 pm

I call NOT IT for being Commish of that beautiful mess.

Too late. I've already imagined you in.

Case Study of hitters too good to go to the UMEBA Dance – at least with Beirut. This list makes up 9 of the top 10 free agent hitters when sorted by batting potential

Hitters (Age in parenthesis followed by rating and then a brief comment)

3B Brendan Kerndl (27) 50 – 30HR guy with Phoenix in 2039 but wanted a $8.5M deal
3B Doug Glover Jr (26) 45 – Maybe a 20HR guy hitting .230 but wanted a $2.8M deal
1B Albert Carrasco (24) 40 – 20HR .300+ guy in AAA wanting $800K
SS Max Hatcher (30) 40 – Maybe a 20HR guy hitting .220 with an awesome glove wanting $900K
1B Arnold Leach (26) 40 - 20HR .300+ guy in AAA wanting $875K
LF Dean Ludlam (28) 40 – Capable of 20HR’s but only bats .200 wanting $1.3M
LF Mike Manning (31) 40 – Capable of 15HR’s and bats .240 wanting $1.9M
3B Rob Thomas (27) 40 - Capable of 20HR’s but only bats .200 wanting $2.1M
C Felix Gutierrez (24) 35 – Above average arm, capable of 20HR’s and hit .270 in AA during the 2039 season

3B Marc Brisebois (25) 35 – Capable of 10HRs in AA but would struggle to bat .200. Marc is the only one of the top 10 that would talk to Beirut (minor league deal with a $700K salary if called up to the majors)

I am just wondering if any of these players really have a legitimate shot of staying with a BBA club with the exception of Kerndl. Thoughts?

P. S. Pitching is slightly better as 3 out of the top 10 are willing to make an UMEBA deal.

I thought the same comparisons to the Atlantic league myself

I think a few of those guys have fragile health and have the ratings to suggest they are AAA fodder, which don't make them all that attractive to the BBA. I could see a majority being passed over by most BBA clubs during the start of the winter if those contract demands hold. As the off-season continues, their demands might lower (making them susceptible to being signed to BBA minor league deals) or when the UMEBA league reputation is adjusted, they would gladly sign with UMEBA.

RonCo wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 3:59 pm

recte44 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 04, 2019 3:37 pm

I call NOT IT for being Commish of that beautiful mess.

Too late. I've already imagined you in.

I second the vote

The one thing that is clear is that the UMEBA (I always remember the name by the fact it's EBA with UM in front of it lol) GM's have to be on the ball and constantly checking the shifting sands of our FA market. The participants and their demands are constantly changing, you have to be on the ball and catch them just at the right time.
There are very few FA's that really warrant a UMEBA ML deal, the trick is to get them to sign a MiL deal so you can see them in AAA and try them out in ST before you shell out those scarce UMEBA dollars. The biggest change I would like to see would be the raising of the UMEBA's reputation a few weeks before our ST so we can get a few new signings in to play a full spring camp

I just want to poke my head in and say that I am enjoying the hell out of the current state of the UMEBA. Seeing the "not interested" message from free agents, to me, creates the world that we are playing in... and ultimately creates a "well, screw you then," attitude and a sense of pride for the guys that DO sign.

I know I am still green here, so everything is shiny and new... so maybe my attitude changes, but I felt compelled to chime in!

Fat Nige wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:48 am

The biggest change I would like to see would be the raising of the UMEBA's reputation a few weeks before our ST so we can get a few new signings in to play a full spring camp

I agree with that. My normal post-sim routine after the file update:
- check waiver wire
- check free agents
- see if any free agents of interest will sign
- check injuries
- check mail
- check box scores and stats
- make adjustments
- export

And on sims when I play Jerusalem and Bucharest back to back I also:
- curl up in the fetal position
- cry myself to sleep holding onto my Ron Gant teddy bear.

Ron will be the only one that will get the Ron Gant reference.

Pretty sure my mom had hot flashes when I showed her my 1994 Ron Gant Topps Stadium Club card.

So the rep must have increased in this offseason, as I was able to sign some guys that were BBA 45 overall (I never was able to do that before) --- it just cost more. So, for the first time, I am actually pushing up against the $35-million maximum for my team.

tallywood wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:06 am

I just want to poke my head in and say that I am enjoying the hell out of the current state of the UMEBA. Seeing the "not interested" message from free agents, to me, creates the world that we are playing in... and ultimately creates a "well, screw you then," attitude and a sense of pride for the guys that DO sign.

I know I am still green here, so everything is shiny and new... so maybe my attitude changes, but I felt compelled to chime in!

When I was in the UMEBA... I'd randomly offer minor league contracts to ton's of players in the FA pool. Most of them were rejected, but every once in awhile someone would accept.

I wish I would have used the same strategy during my dating days in my 20's... lol

You guys in the UMEBA became a Major League this season. Slightly lower rep than the BBA. That's the same as the EBA was. Congrats.

tallywood wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:06 am

I just want to poke my head in and say that I am enjoying the hell out of the current state of the UMEBA. Seeing the "not interested" message from free agents, to me, creates the world that we are playing in... and ultimately creates a "well, screw you then," attitude and a sense of pride for the guys that DO sign.

I know I am still green here, so everything is shiny and new... so maybe my attitude changes, but I felt compelled to chime in!

This should be much better now

Congrats to the UMEBA!

DugoutDesperado wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:21 am

Fat Nige wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:48 am

The biggest change I would like to see would be the raising of the UMEBA's reputation a few weeks before our ST so we can get a few new signings in to play a full spring camp

- cry myself to sleep holding onto my Ron Gant teddy bear.

Ron will be the only one that will get the Ron Gant reference.

Thanks for reminding me of my extreme hatred for Kent Hrbek.

Thanks Matt, any plans to up our salary cap at all ? If we’re getting a better class of FA we could probably do with a bit of spare cash to pay for them lol