Neat Stuff, Post-Sim Thread: 2030, Season 24

[Borealis]

Noticed something neat from our latest sim? This is the place to post it!

Please use this thread for post-sim discussion only.

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[Borealis]

I have to say I find it interesting that as we have hit the Preseason (and time for the 2030 Neat Thread), that owners have now freed up a bunch of cash - just as FAs are lowering their expectations. Are the owners saving us from our selves? Is it some collusive behavior to help keep salaries down? I sure could have used my extra $14M back at the end of the season to keep a few players...

[Hitmen]

Seriously.. an extra $13m would have been nice awhile ago. Maybe have sped up the free agency instead of all the small increase battles in contracts.

I threw all my extra money into scouting and development.

[Arroyos]

NEAT STUFF in YUMA:

80 year old Taffy Slummings has bought out Emma Span's share of the ownership of the Yuma Bulldozers. With the other members of the Owners Consortium having fled the state with the club's money, Slummings is now sole owner. He has buoyed the Bulldozer budget with his own funds, money which he serendipitously acquired ... Wait. I haven't written that yet!

He has offered the GM position to the Dozers' former office manager, Roberta Tipitina, but that may prove difficult since Mayberry is still on contract as the GM, in spite of his continued residence in the Camarillo State Hospital. How will that work out? Tune in to Games of Our Lives or General Mental Hospital or The Bald and the Battery or The Young and the DFA'ed. You can be certain that the next episode of As the Baseball Turns will reveal almost nothing you want answers to!

[Wind Dancers]

After getting very excited that my owner finally switched our focus to "rebuild". Midway through the offseason, he has switched us back to neutral and appears to want us to try and make playoffs again.

[KenH]

Streets is of two minds on all things: win a championship but do it with overpriced players and, oh, make sure to have a positive income! Also he lowered my budget. What the hey, Drew!?!?

All-in-all, the Featherheads are in a good position for the season. We have a great pitching staff (upgraded rotation and bullpen in several key spots) and a few pieces away from a very good offense as well. The questions going into the year are...

1.) who will man the left side of the Featherheads infield? We have contenders now but are they good enough for a championship team? Eh...

2.) How many injuries will we suffer this year? If we have a relatively injury-free season, we will be in good shape, but injuries may force our hand and bring up players who may not be ready or very sub-par producers who may do more harm than good. Tough call all around!

3.) How different will the farm look after this year? I'm expecting to have to make some trades this season that will help me now but may harm my future. We've already made one such trade getting Velazquez back into the maroon, but there's more that may come about.

[Borealis]

Some interesting moves by Reno to thrust them into the Desert Hills mix. With the division traditionally being a pitching-centric one, it'll be interesting to see if they (Lambert in particular) can provide enough punch.

We saw us not playing a role at all in free agency, and then got a little extra cash boost, so we tried a play at Fuentes. Aurora has tried a few times in the past to pull him out of San Antonio, so Britt could play 1B, but to no avail.

It was a hard call - hence we did offer a lowball type offer. The average $14M salary was something we really weren't sure we could afford at the moment, and we weren't keen on losing the draft pick - particularly since we've traded our 3-5 picks (I think). Of course, the increased offense might have led to more W's and more $$$. It was a quandary...

[Zephyrs]

I am hoping we can provide our fans with a winning record this season. The last time we posted a record above .500 was 2020. We are excited by the additions on offense (Lambert and Fuentes) but we also expect to see some improvement out of our young pitchers.

[DrewV]

Cautiously optimistic of improvement from 2029 to 2030. Would love to break 85 wins in 2030. We've improved several positions and brought in a little more firepower.

Pitching is a work in progress. I wasn't able to land either of the starters I was interested in.

[Lions]

We're excited to have brought in one of the greatest pitchers in PEBA history. Michel Provost is a shell of what he once was, but he's probably still as good as anyone else we have for the rotation. Strantely, our fans don't seem to be buying our efforts for respectability.

I'm also happy to have brought in Dean Walden on what I think is a very reasonable contract. It's similar to the deal we have with Ron Myers, and I think both are very solid starting major leaguers. They're the types of deals that a team like ours needs while we rebuild. They can be a part of a good team, and they can help keep our head above water while we wait for the prospects to develop. I also am happy to have signed Ruben Jimenez to an extension. I think it's a reasonable deal and keeps our current face of the franchise in the franchise, which is always nice.

[Borealis]

Meanwhile, management in Aurora keep saying to them selves, "C'mon Mike, retire already..." as they have a coaching position all lined up for him...

[KenH]

Great:
The Featherheads' efforts to sign 2 players to ridiculously bad contracts has unfortunately fizzled.

As for the first spring training sim, everything went about as well as we could have hoped for. 4-3 with every starter going 4 innings and pitching well overall. Young Miguel Serrano is the only pitcher who was hit, but he was a minor league invite anyway, so no big deal. I still like the kid... he just needs more time to bake.

Bats were also surprisingly good. Putting up a 12 spot in the second game of ST is what you love to see as a GM. Lots of players look to be in mid season form already.

Young Juan Acosta pitched well in his first start! I always saw him as a good relief option, but with a 9 stamina, 2 great pitches and a serviceable third... we could be looking at a starter candidate. That may be necessary anyway considering my "not so great" column...

Not So Great:
My 28 million dollar arb candidate "Cactus" Kang has already had an arm issue. I kind of like that if these issues persist I can just be done with him after this year, but it's still 28m so I'd like to get some productivity. Here's to hoping this is a one-off thing and not a bellwether

[Alleghenies]

Team didn't show up the first week of Spring, but I never really care about Spring especially the first week as I play lots of fringe guys.

Good:
Harley Board has stepped up and looks like he might be a keeper for a Rule 5.
Perkins looked good.

Bad:
My pen which is great on paper decided it was ok to walk people and then give up HR's.

[Borealis]

Well, I'm not to sure how Neat it is, but Aurora brought in a second low-cost FA to battle for a roster spot. First it was INF Hector Prado, and now it's CF Harry Hutchins, formerly of Canton. The soon-to-be 30-year old Hutchins is a bit younger that Prado, with a friendly contract for the financial tight-rope walking Borealis. He becomes the 9th outfielder in camp, and the 4th who plays outstanding defense in CF.

We also picked up a Dominican free agent, Felipe Lopez, a very good defensive 2B, who might hit enough to be helpful. His contract was a minor league deal.

A 4-3 week for Aurora, where the strugglers of note were: Domingo Gutierrez (0-9), Hawkins (2-16), Duke (2-11). Struggling on the mound in early spring is always a hard call, but 'Tugboat' is off to a good start (1R in 8 IP, 7 K, 0 BB), as are: Burns (1 R, 11 K, 2 BB, in & IP), and Turner (1 GS, 1 H, 6 K)... lots of 2 IP guys with no runs in the 'Pen...

[Vic]

Scotland's big free agent pickup so far (so big it's not even listed on the team's in-game off-season summary) is OF Tony Figueroa, who I'm hoping will platoon at DH with Will Nelson. We signed him to a $1.75 million, one-year contract, so we won't be out much if he doesn't pan out. He's rated 6/10 contact (although at 37, I'm guessing he won't growing into that potential) and 8/9 for eye. If he can get on consistently for the likes of Barry, Powell and Honma, that would be a boon.

Still have a couple of FA irons in the fire, but I don't have high hopes. We're watching our cash, which isn't overly conducive to splashy free agent signings ..