Jimmie Jabber 2052.1

[DaveB]

I was hoping to get this out sooner, but each time I was ready to export my roster the laptop battery was almost dead. So we're 3 sims in, but finally getting a chance to sit down and do some writing

Seasons of Change:

Wow we really ripped this roster apart from when I took over at the start of the 2051 season. The are only 9 players on the active roster from 2052 that were on the opening day roster of 2051. Among those are what we're going to be discussing here. We added the following players via free agency this past off season:

Manuel Barrera was brought in to be the closer for us. Barrera had some struggles last year posting a 5.59 ERA and 86 ERA+ while splitting time between Charlotte and Boise. The closer role was a role I definitely wanted to upgrade going into the 2052 season. Last season our closers Lindsay Barber and Todd Walley combined for 11 blows saves (8 from Barber alone) in 47 save opportunities. As a team that has a weaker offense we can't be giving away potential wins late in the game. I'm hopeful we'll see a bounce back season from Barrera who had a great 2050 with Boise

Pat Waites was another pitcher with closing experience who was brought in to hopefully shore up the back end of the bullpen. While Waites doesn't have the stuff that Barrera has he does have more experience in the closer role as seen by his career 142 saves.

Tadataka Yoshikawa was brought in from the GBC. We had a lot of excess salary cap space on the books this season due to pretty much trading almost everyone with a pulse last season. We went after Yoshi because our scouts felt he had the ability to be a franchise type player while still being very young at 26. He's been impressive with a 1.110 OPS in 18 games thus far. It would be great to see him continue that performance.

Tsuyoshi Kobayashi signing probably raised some eyebrows. We intitially signed Kobayashi as to be the designated hitter, but when we moved Gary Allen that changed the plans. We decided to move Allen and let Kobayashi take over the 3rd base role because we were frustrated by Allen's injury status last year. It's great if a player is raking for you, but is he going to be raking when it's playoff time or helping you get to the playoffs by being out? We didn't think so. Kobayashi has some nice upside offensively and looks to be quite durable which is a plus. He's also a switch hitter which is something I love.

Tim Battle is returning state side after spending last year in the GBC with Cairo. Battle isn't a sexy name by any means. We brought him in to platoon at DH. We're interested to see if the guy who had a career .860 OPS vs RHP with Calgary is still there, or if he's the guy who had a .628 OPS with Calgary in 2049.

Imazighen Kibasila was brought in to be our utility infielder. We cut ties with a lot of talent this offseason either through free agency or releases and wanted to add a guy who can play a solid backup SS and not embarrass himself with the bat. We're hopeful that Kibasila will be able to do that.

Al Garrett like Kibasila was brought in to be a reserve. He's going to be our 5th OF. We needed a backup CF like we needed a backup SS this season. Garrett was the target due to his glove and previous moderate success in the BBA.

Team Goals:

We lost 99 games last year. It was unacceptable. I've been playing OOTP online since I think 2006 and I've only had 1 year where I lost over 100 games. We added some depth in various parts of the active roster and minor league system in hopes of avoiding another terrible year. I'm hopeful that with some improved defense and hitting it'll allow the pitching staff to calm down a bit and perform better. Ideally I'd love a .500 team this season, but I'm expecting Charm City to win somewhere in the 70-79 mark.

[RT60]

Given your three championship rings, I bet you are under-selling your chances of .500!