2017 Frick League Preview

[aaronweiner]

Welcome to your 2017 Frick League Preview. Links to other previews waiting until we have more of them, I think.


Cheatsheet:


Projected finishes:

FLA: Buffalo, Carolina, Atlantic City, Montreal

FLM: New Orleans, Birmingham, Des Moines, Marquette

FLP: Seattle, Las Vegas, Calgary, Long Beach


Wild card winner: Las Vegas

[hr]

The New Orleans Invitational was renewed yet another year last year, when the Crawdads bullied their way to another Landis Memorial title. New Orleans never came close to facing an elimination game in the playoffs on their way to their third championship in five years, just the second MBWBA team to win three titles in the modern era.

The really big story, though, is how many very interesting teams are beginning to pop up in the Frick League. Buffalo and Calgary are the first to arrive to the party, but teams like Las Vegas and Carolina are edging to join the perennial powers in the Frick League like Seattle, Birmingham and, of course, the Crawdads. Only one team, Montreal, has really bowed out of the race, and they stand to be equally interesting in two or three years.

It should be a very crowded wild card race this season, to say nothing of potential divisional races in every division. That should be good for both ticket sales and excitement in the Frick League this year. I won’t pretend to know what’s going to happen, but I’ll take my best guess.


Note 1: All Gained/Lost players are through free agency unless otherwise indicated.

Note 2: The Frick League won a whopping 70 more games than the Johnson did last year, 1007-937. I’ve dropped that number all the way to 60 more.


[hr]

Frick League Atlantic
Other preview:



Buffalo Bison

Other preview:

Last year's record: 99-63, first, FLA (lost in Cartwright Cup)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 789-624


Gained:

RP Iestyn Pilgrim

RF Jaime Valle (Rule 5)

RP Andrew Lewis(rookie)


Lost:

RP Finley Nickerson

RP Sean McVeagh

CF Jimmy Starks

RP Doug Hayes

RP Larry Davis


Outlook:

Buffalo got their cap situation under control, and so they’re going to be fine in 2017. I think the difficulty is going to come in this year, when the team has to figure out who to re-sign and for how much money. It’s hardly an easy question.

I wrote last year that I didn’t really see anything wrong with this team, and the same is true in 2017. I underrated them in 2016 intentionally based on the fact that while their rotation was extremely well-rated, they hadn’t gotten the job done other than some guy named Mike Swanson. Now they have.

Yes, their lineup depth is just okay. Yes, Carlin Adie is outrageously overpaid, even despite his fantastic 2016 season. Yes, they’re going to have to make a lot of roster decisions this offseason, including, probably, losing Adie. The pitching staff is basically perfect however, and they even had enough wiggle room to add Iestyn Pilgrim (while dropping Sean McVeagh).

If anyone can see a problem with Buffalo this year, contact us at “1-800-Yourmaincompetitorisgoingdown, extension putmeintheJohnsonMidwestDivisionplease.” Yes, I know that’s a long phone number, but you only really need to dial the first seven digits. Buffalo’s record will probably have five digits.

Projected Record: 100-62


[hr]


Carolina Kraken

Other preview:

Last year's record: 84-78, second, FLA (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 764/727


Gained:

SP Tom Madonald (trade)

1B Frank Thomas III (full season promotion)

C Tobias Kelly

RP Tom Rodriguez

OF Wei-quo Chong


Lost:

1B Manny Winters

CL Juan Quintero (trade)

P Cecil Ware (trade)

OF Mark Davis

P Aaron Miller

3B Grant Hardin (injury)

RP Ashwin Vlasblom (injury)

Jean-Marc Fraysse


Outlook:

Whee!

I was too chicken to project a winning record for myself last year, though I hinted at it very strongly. This year, my team is a whole new world of talent and, with Tom Madonald, a real, live contender. There, I said it. Gods of the MBWBA, strike me down where I stand. See, the reason I can sit here and say this is a basic truth: what’s astonishing about the Kraken’s 84-win season in 2016, the franchise’s first winning season in almost a decade, was how unremarkable it was.

Yes, Harry Dunn probably played a little above his head in winning the Joe Gillstrom Award, but there wasn’t really one other unusual effort on the rest of the team. If anything, the team could stand to improve. In the lineup, Stu Baker and Raven Rider could play a lot better than a combined 3 WAR. Frank Thomas III replaces Manny Winters and eclipsed Winters’ five-month WAR in a month (and appears to be one of the league’s young stars) and should really have no problem at all doing it again. Tobias Kelly replaces replacement-level production from Steve Burnett at catcher. And Miguel Garcia could improve a whole lot.

In the rotation, anyone that Madonald replaces will be an upgrade, which would be true of 99% of MBWBA pitchers. Martin Huigens actually pitched below his normal level. Josh Benez had a huge falloff from 2014-2015. Mike Sims had basically the same WAR as in 2015. Juan Quintero’s departure is probably not a bad thing. There might be some falloff in the pen, but it's not totally broke.

The surprise will be if Carolina doesn’t at least win 85 games this season. It would not surprise me to see the team win 90 games. Or 95. We haven’t even seen the advent of Billy Chapel, Jr., who is by all reasonable assertions one of the top five prospects in the minor leagues. Carolina might be the most exciting franchise in the MBWBA right now.

Your humble previewer has now jinxed himself enough.

Projected Record: 90-72


[hr]



Atlantic City Gamblers

Other preview:

Last year's record: 76-86, third, FLA (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 717/754


Gained:

OF Ramon Calderon (rookie)

P Jose Marroquin (rookie)

P Chet Hawkins (rookie)

SP Richard Mazzola (full year)


Lost:

LF Al Jones (or the corpse of, in trade)

1B Rogelio Morales (or the decomposed corpse of)

OF Carroll Phillips

2B Juan Lopez

RP Roberto Garza


Outlook:

Last year, I projected a significant falloff from Atlantic City, and it was even more precipitous than I thought (or was willing to admit). This year, it sounds as if Atlantic City is desperate to unload players like Richard Mazzola, which indicates that this team might be faced with a long-term rebuild.

It’s the correct tactic. This team currently has one of the lowest payrolls in the league, and should get much closer to break-even this year. Yes, they still have one of the finest players in the league in Allen Hall, a top of the order that’s worthwhile, and a fantastic defense, and a good top three in the rotation. However, right now they’re basically mired in baseball hell, a middle ground where they weren’t profitable and not contending.

I can predict potentially a winning record for ATC as long as they don’t tear stuff down, but I think that’s probably going to happen, sooner or later. It might take until June, but I’m fairly sure we’re looking at a sub-.500 record this season for the Gamblers.

Projected Record: 74-88



[hr]

Montreal Blazers

Other preview:

Last year's record: 75-87, fourth, FLA (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 746/791


Gained:

SP Roy Buckley

3B Jeff Mueller

CF Nathan Claycomb

P Ted Hoffman (rookie)

LF Gabriel Lerma (rookie


Lost:

2B Ernie Stauffer

3B Ludo Evangelista

SP Cedric Ayers (retired)

CF Chase Stoll

CF John Jordan


Outlook:

The Blazers fell further than anyone last year, and some of it had to do with bad luck, and some of it had to do with the death throes of a previously dominant franchise. For starters, the bad luck: Montreal was playing well above their level for the first half of the season, but weren’t winning games. For the second half of the season, Montreal spent the time tearing down the team.

It’s very likely, of course, that the Blazers would never have caught the Bandits for the wild card, but the team spent the year tearing things down and selling players for prospects. They did a fantastic job: at this point they couldn’t hurt a fly, but their farm is ranked fourth, with lots of really good prospects at all levels of the organization.

They do have a few guys left over. Frank Harris, Maxwell Weiss, Jr., Dave Pruitt, and Elliot Spencer make up a solid start to a lineup, and Bob Latrobe is still a solid lefty. Their worst offseason is a little bit smokescreen (adding historically terrible Nathan Claycomb dropped them way down), but it’s also truth – they’re worse on the field than last year. That being said, one has to declare them in full rebuilding mode, and the product will likely show on the field.

P. S. Montreal really ought to sign Duane Whitley. He’s only asking for $2 million and it seems a damn shame to have him on the free agent wire. And he can still play a little.

Projected Record: 70-92


[hr]


Frick League Midwest
Other preview:


New Orleans Crawdads

Other preview:

Last year's record: 98-64, First, FLM, won MBWBA title
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 781/625


Gained:

C Chuck Bowers

SP Donald Bergeron

IF Johnny Snyder (rookie)

IF Ruki Pip (rookie)


Lost:

RP Gary Wilson

C Sam Brewington

1B Duane Whitley

2B Mike Glover (apathy)

RP Artie Townsend

1B Paco Torres


Outlook:

Not a lot else to say about your 2017 Champs other than, well they’re good. They’re deep, they’re talented, they have no apparent holes and they’ve even kept around $8 million of cap space, just in case, while adding possibly the top two free agents on the market in Chuck Bowers and Donald Bergeron.

It’s becoming boring writing about New Orleans, whose farm is also ridiculous, so I think I’ll leave you with the following interlude instead...

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]

and simply post 100 wins down here somewhere. It might be an underestimate of their win total and I could care less. We’ll probably see them in October.

Projected Record: 100-62


[hr]

Birmingham Bandits

Other preview:

Last year's record: 97-65
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 906/783


Gained:

3B Javier Alfonso (rookie)

RP Pascal Escobar (rookie)

RP Jesus Hopkins (rookie)

SS Orlando Solis (rookie)


Lost:

P John Ballance

OF Michael Hampton


Outlook:

Birmingham has won 192 games over the past two years and one MBWBA title. This year, the game predictions have them behind Des Moines. Something’s gotta give.

There’s little question that the Bandits have a lot of position players that could go either way at the plate, and that many of them might have had career seasons just last year. Javier Alfonso was pretty good last year, but he’s not that good, not yet. John Francis McIntyre is a nice player, but last year he played like a star. Michael Gamble could play better, or the same, or even worse.

There’s nothing terribly wrong with Birmingham’s pitching staff, and their bullpen has improved dramatically over the past two seasons to the point where it seems like a strength rather than a weakness.

Birmingham, in other words, is still a strong team on the field. I’m confused why the game thinks they’ll fall so far. They could have serious problems if Dex Sheehan and Freddie Rigsby continue to recede and/or miss lots of time, but in a vacuum it’s hard to predict they’ll be anywhere but right back in the playoff mix. That’s the short term. In the long term, this team is hemorrhaging money and will probably have to change a few things up.

Projected Record: 92-70


[hr]



Marquette Suns

Other preview:

Last year's record: 74-88
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 702/791


Gained:

RP Roberto Garza


Lost:

P Steve Camp

RP Carlos Jimenez

SP/RP Juan Rivera (injury)


Outlook:

Marquette is still suffering from the Michael Strathallan deal, a deal that made an enormous amount of sense before Antonio Rodriguez got Steve Blass disease. http://mentalfloss.com/article/16568/st ... ad-disease
Even now Strat isn’t the same player he was before, but, at this point, Antonio Rodriguez is payroll, and the team is, well…

Actually, the team played pretty well last year, and there are actually teams in a lot worse shape than Marquette for the middle term, as once their payroll becomes manageable they’ll have some pieces to build around. Dan-sing Nancies is not a bad pitcher. Leon Sandcastle will soon be one of the league’s bright young stars. They have a number of solid long-term prospects and young pieces like Paul McKinney and Michael Nelson, and if Joe Brown would ever hit his weight he’d be very valuable.

Within two years, the payroll could be $30 million with most of the above names still there. They might try to hold onto Eric Melton with some of that, but they don’t need to be handing out million dollar bills to Andrew Jackson and Luke Westover either. Marquette is in the red right now, but they’ll be flush pretty soon, and they can start building back up as their prospects mature. I’m buying Marquette long term. This year, a number of improved teams might send Marquette back down to the 90-loss range, or worse.

Projected Record: 64-98


[hr]
 

Des Moines Kernels

Other preview:

Last year's record: 65-97
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 689/847


Gained:

P Luis Lopez (Rule 5)


Lost:

OF Wei-quo Chong

2B Jose Cardoza

SP Foster Green

P Chris Allen


Outlook:

The Des Moines Kernels are basically locked into MBWBA hell right now. They’re not good enough to win games. They’re paying $93 million for their players, 12th in the league, and they’re overwhelming favorites to finish with at least 90 losses for the third consecutive season. So, what can be done if you’re Des Moines?

To start, anyone who’s making above replacement level needs to take a long walk off a short plank. They’ll cut payroll and probably become profitable in 2018, but they additionally part ways with guys like Danny Vermin and Lee Dundee, players who would have legitimate value to contenders but virtually none to Des Moines. Dundee might not be moveable with his deal, at least not until next year. James Williams, Bob Thompson, and Bobby Owens all could kick it.

Then, next year, they could not re-sign Alex Pulley. Don Miller might get them a draft pick, or they can keep him. Dundee should be allowed to leave barring a huge pay cut. They should strive to add nobody in the free agent market and become profitable.

Finally, they could try to build a farm; they’re ranked 20th right now, which is far too low for where their franchise is. It’s gonna take years to come back from where they are, but a little patience, a little long-term planning and a little bit of patience (worth saying twice) will go a long way towards their recovery. They absolutely should consider moving anyone with value, including Ronald Sorensen and Steve Wolarski.

Projected Record: 65-97


[hr]




Frick League West Division
Other preview:

[hr]


Calgary Marauders

Other preview:

Last year's record: 98-64, first, FLP (lost in Doubleday)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 917/793


Gained:

SP Russell Martin

OF Chase Stoll

OF Ken Strout

P Tyson O’Rourke (Rule 5)


Lost:

SP Davey Acheson

RP Jack Hanski, Jr.

1B Jody Browne

LF Alfred Brouthers (grateful trade)

Russell Martin (injury)


Outlook:

Calgary established themselves as a legitimate contender last year, and is one of the few teams in the league that has a real chance to win a Landis. That’s a pretty big sea change from what I wrote last year, when I thought that Calgary was going to be a pretty good but not great team with a chance to rise up to be better than that.

OK, so they’re probably not better than New Orleans. And there’s a thought that they might not even be quite as good as Seattle or Buffalo or California or even possibly up and comers like Las Vegas and Carolina. But, there’s just a certain, well, completeness to the team that should make them relax about winning ballgames.

To live up to THIS kind of billing, though, a few things have to happen. First, Hector Cano must take a step forward. You might think that .300 with 27 homers is a pretty good season, but his 1.4 WAR was worse than Phil Owry. Cano needs to be better than that. Then, somebody in the rotation needs to step up, whether it’s Michael Strathallan or someone else.

But Calgary is solidly in the MBWBA’s second tier of teams, teams like Seattle, Birmingham and Louisville (and maybe Carolina), teams that are complete teams that might not have the raw star power to carry them over the top. It remains to be seen what will happen. I know I’m looking forward to it.

Projected Record: 90-72


[hr]



Seattle Storm

Other preview:

Last year's record: 92-70, second, FLP, (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 913/661


Gained:

RP Artie Townsend

DH Don Goodwin

RP Larry Davis

OF Michael Hampton

RP Joe Kern

C Francisco Franco (rookie)


Lost:

OF Tipper Kengos (Father Time undefeated)

C Tobias Kelly

CL Paul Hogan

1B Skookum Mason

C Manuel Roman

RP Tom Rodriguez


Outlook:


Seattle’s string of five consecutive FL Pacific titles was broken last year by Calgary. I’m proud to say I gave them ample warning, though I didn’t think the Marauders would do it on paper. This was actually a very reasonable assumption, because the Seattle Storm may have actually been robbed a little bit worse than the Louisville Sluggers.

How could anyone be robbed more than Louisville? Well, Seattle might be the best team to miss the playoffs in the last decade. Their expected win total was 98 (to Calgary’s 92). This was without Tipper Kengos showing up at all for the 43 games he did play. They had a consistent starting five. They finished third in the league in runs scored and third in runs allowed. Missing the playoffs is a punch to the gut.

As for this year, Seattle lost more WAR than anyone in the league last year that still has a chance to contend, and it appears that Calgary has arrived. So they’ll be in a dogfight for the division again, or maybe the wild card. They’re certainly still plenty good enough to win the division, though they’ll have some very interesting decisions in a year from now.

Projected Record: 95-67

[hr]


Las Vegas Hustlers

Other preview:

Last year's record: 82-80, third, FLP (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 717/707


Gained:

IF Eric Thorne

2B Ernie Stauffer

SP Davey Acheson

LF Daniel Labrie, Jr. (full year)

P Jon Scott (Rule 5)

RP Scott Adams (rookie)


Lost:

3B Jeff Mueller

OF Leo Franklin

IF Tim Miller (retired)


Outlook:

Even if we don’t think that the Hustlers have improved as much as the game seems to think they have, it’s pretty hard to argue they’re not a better team, right? Shouldn’t adding two of the most consistent infielders in the game in Ernie Stauffer and Eric Thorne on top of a team that won 82 games last year be a recipe for another winning season, or even something more?

Well, let’s start with the offense, which is clearly better. Daniel Labrie could be a young star in the vein of a Joey Rosko, and Emory Sharp has gotten considerably better than when he was drafted. Lucio Vazquez is a legitimate star. I’m confused why Labrie isn’t batting second in front of Vazquez, but that’s a stylistic thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had the best defensive alignment in the league, either.

We’d urge a little caution on the pitching staff, but the rotation is a complete unit. It remains to be seen whether they’re quite as good as they were last year, worse or even possibly better. Overenthusiasm is always a bad idea. The bullpen is legitimately troubled in spots, though not really weak anywhere.

Vegas is clearly going to have a winning record this season. The question is whether their improvement, which seems huge, is really huge or much smaller than it seems. They’re a complete team, but that puts them more in the Calgary/Carolina/Louisville class, the contenders who aren’t on the outside looking in but lack the sheer star power to make a huge difference. I think they’ll win the wild card, and maybe even the division, but I’m not sure they’re in the same class as New Orleans or California.

Projected Record: 93-69


[hr]


Long Beach Surfers

Other preview:

Last year's record: 65-97, last, FLP (missed playoffs)
2016 Runs scored/Runs allowed: 797/909


Gained:

Nothing.


Lost:

OF Juan Heredia

P Matt Burt

OF Jeffrey Johnston

P Paul Miller


Outlook:

This year’s version of the Long Beach Surfers might make last year’s version look like an absolute juggernaut. The Surfers have some very tough choices to make in the next six months, and in the meantime could contend for the worst record in the Frick League.

That’s not to say there aren’t any bright spots in Southern California. On the contrary, the Surfers have some excellent young pieces: Drew Zod, Gabriel Bonilla, and Cord McNally, for starters, maybe William McIntyre. They have quite a few solid prospects, though few spectacular ones, and their offense probably won’t be all that bad this year if they keep it intact.

Their pitching, however, is now beyond a wreck and has now reached a ruin. McNally, who by all accounts is a good but not special pitcher, is probably not a reliable staff ace; he never had a WAR in the minors as high as his 4.5 last year. And that’s the GOOD news in the rotation – the rest is terrible. The pen is mostly awful with occasional spats of competence.

The biggest decisions will come in the forms of Harvey Newton and especially Alberto Guzman, who is also 35 years old. Guzman is at this writing still one of the best first basemen in the game and also soundly duplicates arguably Long Beach’s two best prospects in Zod and Clarence Brown. If Long Beach wants control of what they’ll get back for Guzman, they should deal him, and there are destinations that make a ton of sense: Vegas and Louisville, for two, and even Yellow Springs might take him. As for this year, Long Beach will probably fall prey to a surging Frick middle class.

Projected Record: 69-93


[hr]

[JohnC]

Nice job Aaron! I am not sure I understand the "historically terrible" comment on Nathan Claycomb though. Although he is just a filler for me for 2 seasons, his numbers were very good for 5 years in a row before last year.

[aaronweiner]

Nice job Aaron! I am not sure I understand the "historically terrible" comment on Nathan Claycomb though. Although he is just a filler for me for 2 seasons, his numbers were very good for 5 years in a row before last year.

Well, he had a -3.4 WAR. Most players never get to that low a level, because they just don't get enough playing time. It was like when Anthony Young lost 20 games and they were all saying he had to be a pretty good pitcher to have the opportunity to lose 20 games.

[JohnC]

Nice job Aaron! I am not sure I understand the "historically terrible" comment on Nathan Claycomb though. Although he is just a filler for me for 2 seasons, his numbers were very good for 5 years in a row before last year.

Well, he had a -3.4 WAR. Most players never get to that low a level, because they just don't get enough playing time. It was like when Anthony Young lost 20 games and they were all saying he had to be a pretty good pitcher to have the opportunity to lose 20 games.

Ok, when you said historically I thought you would be going back more then 1 year.. lol Can't argue that last year was indeed terrible. The previous 5 years were actually quite good.

[aaronweiner]

Nice job Aaron! I am not sure I understand the "historically terrible" comment on Nathan Claycomb though. Although he is just a filler for me for 2 seasons, his numbers were very good for 5 years in a row before last year.

Well, he had a -3.4 WAR. Most players never get to that low a level, because they just don't get enough playing time. It was like when Anthony Young lost 20 games and they were all saying he had to be a pretty good pitcher to have the opportunity to lose 20 games.

Ok, when you said historically I thought you would be going back more then 1 year.. lol Can't argue that last year was indeed terrible. The previous 5 years were actually quite good.

Yes, they were. But, until Chicago dealt Madonald, the game was suggesting you had the worst offseason in the league. I was actually mitigating that damage.

[JohnC]

The worst? haha.... I would say it was very calculated!

[indiansfan]

Very good write up as usual, but still not feeling the love in Calgary We outperformed your prediction by 13 games last season I think we will put up similar win numbers this year. While we didn't make many changes Mulder is ready an will be an upgrade over Acheson, Stoll is better than Brouthers and Cano's WAR number was probably because he was learning the CF position last year and was a 2 when the season started. But with Vegas coming back it is going to be a dogfight and with the strength in the Midwest the wildcard is not a guarantee for the Pacific.

[aaronweiner]

Very good write up as usual, but still not feeling the love in Calgary We outperformed your prediction by 13 games last season I think we will put up similar win numbers this year. While we didn't make many changes Mulder is ready an will be an upgrade over Acheson, Stoll is better than Brouthers and Cano's WAR number was probably because he was learning the CF position last year and was a 2 when the season started. But with Vegas coming back it is going to be a dogfight and with the strength in the Midwest the wildcard is not a guarantee for the Pacific.

Well, it's not hate. My preview puts Seattle first but it could easily be any of the three of you.

[bigmike13]

Bravo! Well done article. I certainly hope your prediction is closer than the games.

Finances will most definitely be the focus of this off season, and maybe during the season if things go south.

[aaronweiner]

Bravo! Well done article. I certainly hope your prediction is closer than the games.

Finances will most definitely be the focus of this off season, and maybe during the season if things go south.

I hope it's further. I'd like to win 115 games.

It should be a very compelling year.

[indiansfan]

Bravo! Well done article. I certainly hope your prediction is closer than the games.

Finances will most definitely be the focus of this off season, and maybe during the season if things go south.

I think finances are going to be huge this year with a couple of teams deciding to have huge midseason fire sales rather than ending in the red. Not predicting any team in particular, just usually there are teams that are out of the running that don't throw in the towel, but with the current finances they be more prone. So those teams that keep some cap space open could be in a great position to make midseason gains.

[recte44]

Man, those financial changes really worked, didn't they?

[bschr682]

Man, those financial changes really worked, didn't they?

I think this is a positive thing.

[JimBob2232]

Yeah..the financial changes are a working well. I am afraid it might be too far...but we can adjust back later if need be. Trade deadlines should start to be fun around here!

[mrbornac]

I think the changes - for the interest of the other owners - will keep me from keeping players that I have drafted and developed - I don't know if OOTP has a home team discount setting - but I would be for making it so I can keep my 3 starters and a handful of batters I have developed without breaking the team. I expect Aldie will take a big pay cut off this contract and sign an extension, so I don't see the end of the road next year, but it's on the horizon.

Back to the OP - great preview! I hope I can repeat last seasons regular season win total! If the doctor can stay away!!!!!

[aaronweiner]

I think the changes - for the interest of the other owners - will keep me from keeping players that I have drafted and developed - I don't know if OOTP has a home team discount setting - but I would be for making it so I can keep my 3 starters and a handful of batters I have developed without breaking the team. I expect Aldie will take a big pay cut off this contract and sign an extension, so I don't see the end of the road next year, but it's on the horizon.

Back to the OP - great preview! I hope I can repeat last seasons regular season win total! If the doctor can stay away!!!!!

Somehow I thought you'd like that one. First time for everything.

[bschr682]

I think the changes - for the interest of the other owners - will keep me from keeping players that I have drafted and developed - I don't know if OOTP has a home team discount setting - but I would be for making it so I can keep my 3 starters and a handful of batters I have developed without breaking the team. I expect Aldie will take a big pay cut off this contract and sign an extension, so I don't see the end of the road next year, but it's on the horizon.

Back to the OP - great preview! I hope I can repeat last seasons regular season win total! If the doctor can stay away!!!!!

Interesting view point. See im on the other side of the fence. In a salary cap league the whole goal is to force owners to get creative and know who to trade (or let go) and when to do it. We artificially shorten a teams championship window and pretty much make it almost impossible to have a dynasty (except New Orleans apparently). Otherwise what's the point of having a salary cap?

[JimBob2232]

I'm somewhere in the middle. As much as I like my dynasty, parity and strategic decisions are good for the league.
We just have to keep an eye on things though...some of these guys are asking for ridiculous sums of money. I worry that the EBA might swoop in and/or star players unsigned in FA because demands are too high relative to the free cash in the league.

Not saying it's a problem yet...but I am concerned we may have gone too far in the other direction.


Time will tell...and we can always tweak it. I just hate to see some players asking. 20-25M per year!


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[bschr682]

I think its weird that there is such a disconnect between how much a player thinks he is worth in extension talks vs in free agency. I think its natural that in FA, a player values himself higher since its essentially a bidding war. But the gap between the two amounts is crazy. Extensions are cheaper than they should be and FA's are asking for more than they ought too. Very strange.

[JimBob2232]

I think its weird that there is such a disconnect between how much a player thinks he is worth in extension talks vs in free agency. I think its natural that in FA, a player values himself higher since its essentially a bidding war. But the gap between the two amounts is crazy. Extensions are cheaper than they should be and FA's are asking for more than they ought too. Very strange.

Check some of your guys. That used to be true in the past, but I'm seeing some HUGE requests from my squad...


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