2054 Nashville Bluebirds

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trmmilwwi
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2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by trmmilwwi » Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:31 am

The 2054 Nashville Bluebirds.

Not being familiar with the league for the last 3 or 4 decades I needed to look the Bluebirds up and research a bit. I started where any good researcher would, with the 'bluebird' wiki page. It turns out that the bluebird also has rose and beige plumage so you could say the bluebird is not even a blue bird at all really but rather a multicolored, and maybe multi-faceted, bird. It snacks on mealworms and grubs and counts snakes, cats and racoons as predators. Interestingly enough it appears that they reside in the west; as the mountain variety, California, New Mexico and Arizona; as the western variety and eastern, Canada to gulf coast; as the the eastern variety. Thus we really have the Nashville Eastern Bluebirds.

Our Bluebirds reside in the Heartland Division and have had some great success, winning it all in 2050 and getting to the big dance in 2052 before falling to the now two time reigning champs Mexico City Aztecs. Damn, the best squad in the entire league is in my division. Ugh, what did Recte do to me? Anyways, back to the Eastern Bluebirds. The GM must really know what he is doing, or he got extremely lucky with some other blokes rebuild. Let’s see which it is.

Wow, they missed going 4 straight seasons with 100+ wins by a single win in 2050, the other 100+ win years being ’49, ’51 and ’52, and they averaged more than 99 wins a year over the last 6 years. I think this dude knows what he is doing. I am not yet sure what happened in ’53. They dipped a bit to 90 wins, which would have been tied with their next best season wins total for the last 30 years in franchise history, showing how much they have been turned around. This derelict franchise was really rescued. Who is this cat who rescued these Eastern Bluebirds. Ah, Chad Nason. Um. Doesn’t ring a bell. Seems like he had a stint in Kuwait City before the league wizened up and brought him into the fold stateside in Graceville and Nashville. Weird, twin sister cities maybe. I’ll have to research that another day. He replaced the previous GM who was relegated back to the arid desert of Nevada and Area 51. Let’s call him lost in Area 53 (who knew there was an Area 52, eh!). Anywhoo. Nason came on board back in 2043 and in 10 years time has built a top tier squad. Makes me think the jump to preview the Outlaws for my return of the favor is a case of discovery to see what talent has arrived. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that stuff. Or I am extremely paranoid and irrational. Ok, let’s see what these guys are all about.

Let’s start with the salaries as the GM has been here for a decade and probably has a good idea of who he wants to pay and who is just wasting his time with some outrageous demands. The three eight figure salaries per annum are the following dudes;

Shoot, how do I hyperlink again. Let’s check the last preview and steal some code from neugey. Ah, like riding a bike. name. Ok, the dudes are…

3B Tony Frost at $11mil a year for a few more years.
SP Barney Lindsay at a cool $14.8mil for 4 years.
2B Helmut Grun at $15mil that drops down to $11mil for the next 3 years.

OK, these top tier salary guys are good players. They should be making the bank. One was a draftee, the first of GM Nason’s drafts I think, one was already part of the squad and the last dude was a GBC grab from a few years back. It would seem that the Nashville GM has great luck, great skill and can find a glowing rock on the shores of Lake Superior at night with a blacklight (google it, some great fun). With these three players around, the team is in great shape up the middle in the infield (just realized Frost is at the hot corner, whoops!) with an ace starter and probably one of, if not the, best middle infield combos in the league. Looking at the rest of the infield we have Bumper McNeill as the next highest paid player on the team at $8.8m a year. Oh boy, looks like boss man has some planning to do with his salary request for next year. The SS has a career ZR of +177.2... for a kid that was drafted by Nason with the 20th overall pick in ’46. Ok, so the GM can spot some talent in the draft. Noted. Ok, he must have a bum sitting at 1B since the rest of the infield is award winning, right? Nope. At the other corner just happens to be the next highest paid player on the team in 1st Baseman Wafid Bishr. Bishr was an IA find back in ’44 when Nason was still a young pup. What the eff Bullsh** has blossomed into a stud if there ever was one. 52 homers in his sophomore season leading to the first of his back to back Puckett/Silk years. Ok, this infield is sick.

But how is the outfield. Oh, um, wait on that for a sec, I checking how many years WTFBS has left and I see $8.1M this year, $8.5M next year and then $11.7M in ’56. Ok so he has the stud 1B locked in for pennies on the dollar for a few more years and then his big payday will come which is when some of the aforementioned salaries come off the books with some team option years. Yeah, ok, there’s some next level, implied odds, thinking going on in Nashville. Oh, back to the outfield which must suck, right?!

Ok, this is getting silly now. The next highest paid dude on the team is CFer Theo Bourges which was picked up for a box of peanuts, a half empty 40 ouncer and some guys named Reed, Tinter, Makin Bin and Gibbs. He was obtained 2 months after signing the 4 year $70mil deal that ends this year. Some mastermind stuff there in staggering these deals and showing he also has the jedi mind trick trade wand going. Wait, that was a Star Wars/Harry Potter mashup reference that may just have worked. Oh, back to the outfield. Who are the bums at the corner spots. Wait, you have to be sh**ting me now. The next highest paid due on the team happens to be the LFer Felipe Vega who rakes righties and has 500+ career homers. Dude signed a 5 yhear deal for $82.6 mil in ’52 and was acquired the following year for the Gambler. Solid move Nason, solid move. That team option of $18.6 in ’56 is never going to happen but good move regardless.

Ok, where is this rightfielder now. Hum, looks like this Kidd from the ’48 draft was acquired from the Tropics for a guy who earned 1.2 WAR and then was banished overseas. The Kidd only had a cup of coffee at AAA Orlando, earning 2.0 WAR in 55 games, but this could be the weak link of the daily lineup in ’54. Dude is probably going to win the rookie award, wait, what is it again. Gillstraem or something. Did a quick search but some guy named Roy Hobbs Jr pops up when I typed “roy award” into the searchbot thing. Back to the team. Rounding out the options in right there is this Ragheb Burhan dude that may be ready also. Interesting. Oh, he was just acquired from Louisville. Wow, I guess when you are in neighboring states the string on the tin can trade telephones is a bit shorter making for clearer trade talks, or something. Anyways, I guess I should check who left and who came over this past offseason now. I think that is how these previews usually go.

Players lost going into ’54;
This dude, Callum Martin looks like a darn good pitcher coming up and he was sent for Burhan. Martin has two great pitches and two that can barely be called pitches, maybe lobs is more accurate, but he could be something solid down the road.
RP Wunderkind was a freebie rule 5 pickup in…



Commercial break, the server upgrade project at my office needed to do a quick switchover. Feel free to listen to this Chicago gem of a song.
Wait, is youtube integrated into the site? I can’t remember. Here is a cheap and easy way to link the Chance the Rapper – 65th and Ingleside clip;
65th & Ingleside
Ok, new switch is up and operating and so is this preview. Woohaa!



Ok, that rule 5 dude was a freebie and was flipped. Ok, now what is the easiest way to find out who that darn starter in right was back in ’53. Oh yeah, right, the history pages (see what I did there). RF Martin Hemming was the dude. Played like 80 percent of the last 6 years in right as a set it and forget it type dude. (that could have been another commercial, missed opportunity). So Hemming seems like a rookie deal type dude who was extended as long as possible and then left via free agency when he signed a 5 year, 30M deal with the Stars. Solid player who had essentially 5 years of 3.0WAR and then tailed off a bit the past two years. Oh, that brings to mind the WAR total comparisons on other previews. I love that stuff when I see it. However, not happening in this preview due to time constraints (Chad, I owe you a beer whenever you are in Chicago, Presque Isle, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle or a bunch of other places I hang out at a ton, you got the half baked version of this preview).

Oh shoot, I forgot about catcher. I liked it when I read one of the other recent posts on the forum which mentioned that the catcher was usually the team leader and head of the clubhouse or something. I thought that was cool. The Eastern Bluebirds have a two headed monster at C, Spencer Clough and Hak-joon Yi. Two homegrown players that came up through the organization. Although Clough spurned a few other teams prior to being a Bluebird as he never signed his minor league deal, I guess the rich get richer. I also forgot about the DH (mental note to check if pitchers hit at all in this league, I don’t think so) and Jorge Gutierrez is also a homegrown youngsters just a few years into his career.

Ok, I am sure that I missed a ton of good content and sound knowledge as I traipsed through this Eastern Bluebird organization. Probably screwed up on a bunch of stuff also but that is typical. This much I know. The Nashville Bluebirds were in dire straits (future commercial) prior to GM Nason getting control. The old GM was banished to an area that doesn’t even have a number assigned. There were a few good, err.. great, players ready to stick around. There were shrewd draft selections, both in the ammy draft and the rule 5 draft. Nashville has made some awesome trades with the eye on the future and how players will slot into roles. There seems to be a gameplan on how the monies and players are being managed many years into the future. Last season had a dropoff because the perennial all stars had down years (I’m looking at you Frost and Bourges). The pitching, darn, need to look at the rest of the pitchers real quick. Ok, in order of IP’s for the starters.

Lindsay – Talked about him already.
Steven Clayton – 25 yrs old, acquired via trade with des Moines in ’48 (need to look into that trade a bit further, first glance there were some studs). 15.6 WAR over past 5 years. Solid starter.
Ok, these guys are all good too. 3rd starter is Manuel Garcia. 28 yrs old, averages about 2.0 WAR per year, was obtained in a trade with the Stars (again?!). Good player.

Adrian Custello, obtained via trade with Vegas in ’44. Probably some collusion with the old GM somehow but I didn’t say that. A little bluebird told me. These are jokes people, settle. Solid pitcher in his late twenties, with a weird career that has seen his ERA rise almost every year on a fairly linear slide. Could this guy be the reason that the wins dip[ped last year? Regression of 6 wins alone, just going by wins/losses. I know, meaningless stat. I get it.
Last dude is SP John Dawson. Homegrown player that is also solid. Heck, he’d be a top tier pitcher on my squad.

Last player I’ll mention is Closer Quirke Roddis. Good stopper at the end of games and 3rd highest salary on the pitching side at $6M.

Ok, the pitchers are all in their 20’s and locked in for a bit.

I think this is where I place a prediction for next season. I think Custello gets back to his usual self and that the Bluebirds will back at 99.333 wins for the ’54 season. Ok, let’s round down to 99 wins. I’d say 100 but the young players that are replacing some of the departed, I guess the one departed, player will take some time to get the hang of things. All is well in Nashville and they’ll bounce back. 99 wins. Lock it in. And they will be back to the big dance in some fashion.

GM Nason feasts on the rule 5 and ammy drafts, nimble trades, and young talent. His natural predators will be the salary cap, aging stars and the occasional injury. The Eastern Bluebird is a ferocious little scrapper.

Like Chance would sing, “You don't want no problems, want no problems with me”. Out.
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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by Jwalk100 » Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:44 am

Good read
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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by Dington » Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:19 pm

Wow that was fantastic! Thanks for a great preview. It’s great to see it from a fresh pair of eyes.
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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by BaseClogger » Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:24 pm

Enjoyed all the history. Even if Chad inherited a great situation he’s obviously sustained it and cycled a couple times, which is the mark of a great GM.
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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by Dington » Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:33 pm

It definitely helped that I had a few foundational pieces to work with when I took over. Made some shrewd moves and made some moves I regret, like the Ata trade. Unfortunately that part of the retool didn’t work out, but the de Medici sale worked out great.
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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by RT60 » Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:52 pm

trmmilwwi wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:31 am

Some mastermind stuff there in staggering these deals and showing he also has the jedi mind trick trade wand going.
"Know your enemy" as Zack de la Rocha used to yell. This preview is very helpful, thank you. Chad does do some voodoo with trades.

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Re: 2054 Nashville Bluebirds

Post by Dington » Sat Feb 25, 2023 1:06 pm

RT60 wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:52 pm
trmmilwwi wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:31 am

Some mastermind stuff there in staggering these deals and showing he also has the jedi mind trick trade wand going.
"Know your enemy" as Zack de la Rocha used to yell. This preview is very helpful, thank you. Chad does do some voodoo with trades.
Everyone is expendable if they aren’t part of the long term goal. Depends on minor league depth too.
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