Flores Preps for 1st Post Season
always controversial and sometimes ADD Robins have no qualms about abusing Mauro Flores and others
Would you believe that Mauro Flores has never pitched in October before? Well there was this one time in Mexico Ci... never mind that. Bottom line, one of the best pitchers of this generation has been on some bad baseball teams and has never made the playoffs. Until... almost now.
I hate to jinx it. Brooklyn hasn't clinched anything yet this season. Saying we will and then choking will give us a reputation lower then one Kunz Schuck. Actually, come to think of it, much of the league already looks down at us for our shenanigans. And by shenanigans I mean creative money ball 2.0 strategies that the rest of the league has yet to catch up to. So I apologize to Kunz Schuck for insulting him like that.
I'll preface this by saying "if" Brooklyn makes the playoffs. We have a magic number of 3 with a week to play. A week that should have been played out at 7am this morning. But it is Valentines day so let's give Recte a pass. Me might be hard at work "acquiring" a platoon partner for Henry Rectenberg. Who am I kidding though. By the time I finish this article the season will probably be over anyway.
So... if Brooklyn makes the playoffs. We plan on abusing the hell out of Mauro Flores and others. Namely Francisco Ruiz. I know I've said this before. Quite frankly I'm getting tired of writing for this team. Cyclone, moneyball, suck it, all in... blah blah blah. This schtick is stale and needs a reboot. Hopefully a rebuild will create some fresh stories to tell. Speaking of reboot...Did I mention that I updated the trade block for the fire sale? I didn't bump it though. Figured it would be a nice little easter egg for all with the patience to read through my A.D.D. style team news. Oh look, it's a butterfly?
Ok, concentrate now. I got this. As I've mentioned in the past I don't really have a GM'ing style. Doing the same thing over and over again is really boring and way too easy. I could read the OOTP forums, run some test leagues, make a spreadsheet or 500 and create a tried and true method of making the playoffs every season only to lose and cry randomizer. But that's no fun. I'd rather dabble in different styles and do a freak'in cannonball into whatever end of the pool I decide to go in. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Oh well. Life goes on.
The current iteration of the Robins is loosely based off the 1997 Florida Marlins. Win the title and then sell everything. That is the main theme. But there are also themes within themes. If and when Brooklyn makes the playoffs, Flores and Ruiz will be our version of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson circa 2001. The D-backs didn't give a crap about ruining their future. They ran their horses out there and risked it all.
In a league full of whinny little bitches(I mean that in a lighthearted "in character" way) who do nothing but cry "why me" every time one of their players stubs their toe, the Robins don't care about ruining careers in order to secure the coveted Landis Trophy. After all, that's what it's all about. Sure, you can argue that Flores is a free agent and we are trading Ruiz anyway. But it does hurt our future. Flores won't get us a compensation pick if he blows his arm out. Same thing with Ruiz or others. They get hurt and it stunts our rebuild before it starts.
But come October, the Robins are laying it all on the line. "All in" doesn't just mean making a bunch of bad trades, mismanaging finances and signing some old guys to long term contracts. It also means putting your best foot forward with total disregard for the future. There will be no leashes for our pitchers. We are going to use a small staff(8 or 9 pitcher) and work them to the bone. Flores and Ruiz will be the main horses. They will have no pitch count and will be eligible to pitch out of the pen when not starting. The other games will be bullpen days.
So the morale of the story here. Besides me trying to write a team news in a slightly different style of writing of course. The moral of the story is that if you plan on signing Flores or trading for Ruiz.... buyer beware. There is a very good chance that their ligaments will be hanging by a string when you get them. That is if they don't tear anything hoisting the 40 pound trophy given out to the Landis Champions.
