How it Went All Wrong Pt.1 (2042.10)

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How it Went All Wrong Pt.1 (2042.10)

Post by StormZ_23 » Thu May 21, 2020 5:53 pm

Everything that could have went wrong for the Mounties this season, went wrong. Not just on the field, but in the front office too. I want PP's and I need to vent my frustration somewhere, so I will be writing about it. Over the coming days, I will be writing this mini-series that details everything that led to the Mounties failed 2042 campaign. If only this was real life so this could be turned into a documentary.

The origins of the downfall actually begin before the season starts. Well, we could actually go back to around 2 or 3 seasons ago when I re-signed Rashardo Menne III to a 6 year deal worth over $100 million. That contract extension became a nuisance very quickly. I was still a relatively new GM at the time, so I still had little understanding of the FA market in this league and how much money players tend to demand for contract extensions. I didn't really negotiate with him because I didn't want to upset Menne and force him to test FA. I knew it was the last year of his team control, so I would have little leverage in getting max value in a trade. My justification at the time was that I had a lot of cap space and I had a lot of young prospects that would be coming up soon. I think also another reason I offered a 6 year extension was that he was in his mid 20s at the time. So, my thought process was that he had not his peak yet because he is so young, ignoring the fact that he joined the league at 18 years old. I should have traded him when he was at his peak. Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but this is still a precursor to what would happen this season. So, that backstory is done, let's get into this past off-season.

It starts with free agency. In 2041, the top free agent was Feliciano Rafael. I think I offered him the same amount of money as Portland did, maybe a little less, but I know it was a front loaded deal. In the end, he obviously did not sign with me. He hasn't exactly been an ace or a healthy player since then, but I missed out on the opportunity. I ended up signing Aaron Stone to a large deal. One of the only real offensive holes I had was at catcher, so I took a gamble. Knowing that top prospect Angelo Deluccio was a couple of seasons away, I thought he could be a trade chip for a good pitcher. Fast forward to this past off-season, Julio Alicea was the most reliable pitcher on the market. Now, I thought he was a decent pitcher, but I knew that someone with more cap space than me was going to overpay for him because they would be able to. I had two large contracts in Stone and Menne, also knowing that my 3 outfielders would be hitting arbitration soon along with some other productive players, I knew Alicea wasn't possible. So, I had to accept the fact that I wasn't going to sign a starter. I missed out on the top relief pitcher Luis Ortega, but I landed Jose Luna instead. Not a terrible deal and I learned that I need to overpay for pitching. The plan was that I could hopefully land a starter via trade. I had a few above average prospects and I still had a killer offense. I just won 97 games without a great pitching staff, I'll be fine.

Then, I looked at my home/away splits from last season. Here is the article on that. Basically, I had a better record on the road, something only 3 other teams did in 2041. Knowing that I had a top offense in the Frick, I thought that my pitcher's park was hindering my offensive potential. So, I changed some factors and made the park more neutral. I don't know how much this specific decision affected my season, but it sure didn't help. I'll get more into that next time.

One more thing. Fan interest has always been a huge issue for me in this league. When I joined the league, fan interest was in the low 60's. It has never gotten much higher than that, it's always hovered around the low 60's or high 50's. That makes sense for a rebuilding franchise, but a 97 win team with many homegrown popular players? I would expect some sort of improvement. So, as I've been slowly decreasing my ticket price over the years to bring more fans into the stadium, I decided that since I am presumably a playoff team, I can make a drastic change. I changed my ticket price from around $17.00 to $14.50. My thought was that since I should be making the playoffs, fan interest should increase and I could get more fans into the stadium. Revenue should not be affected. Well, I guess nothing works as planned.

To be continued...
Taylor Bettencourt
Vancouver Mounties GM (2036 - Present)

2041 Frick League GM of the Year
2041 FL Pacific Champions

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Re: How it Went All Wrong Pt.1 (2042.10)

Post by jleddy » Thu May 21, 2020 7:07 pm

Mounties will be back soon.
"My $#!? doesn't work in the playoffs." - Billy Beane Joe Lederer

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Re: How it Went All Wrong Pt.1 (2042.10)

Post by RonCo » Fri May 22, 2020 12:53 am

I think several indie film makers are probably salivating at the ideas of turning this into a documentary.
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Re: How it Went All Wrong Pt.1 (2042.10)

Post by usnspecialist » Fri May 22, 2020 1:11 am

I am very concerned about Vancouver moving forward.
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Havana Sugar Kings/San Fernando Bears: 32-50 (1608-1481)
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League Champion- 34
JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
JL Southern- 34
FL Pacific- 37, 39
Wild Card- 33, 35, 36, 40, 43

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