DC's Moneyball Dynasty

[Young Drachma]

THE MONEYBALL DYNASTY
Now, okay. I didn't read Moneyball. I breezed through it, but I did read May the Best Team Win and I thought that was a better baseball book from a very well known baseball economist.

Anyway, the point of this dynasty is take an expansion franchise, stock the minor league system with non-drafted college players (that is, players that as of the Feb. 15th Baseball America College Edition had not been drafted before), place them in our minor league system and using this combination of players, along with whatever we manage to get out of the expansion draft, to win a title.

I will stay with the team for 10 years and will end the dynasty at that point. The idea of course, is to see how well my farm system can produce players that will be dependable major league starters or bait.

Of course, winning titles would be nice too. The restrictions on me as GM are as follows:

1) Signing no more than 3 Major Free Agents every three years. (definition of a major free agent is a player who has at least 17 wins in the previous season, hit 40+ home runs or makes over $10 million per season. The latter number might be increased due to inflation at some point)

The goal is build through home grown talent. The OOTP draft is never very good and so, I'm not even counting on that all that much. We have a 10-round draft that occurs on June 1st, for the record.

The season will begin in 2005. I have already simulated 2003 and 2004 under this new league. The expansion teams will be in the AL. Okay, time to get started.

[Young Drachma]

WASHINGTON – Major League Baseball today announced that the Montreal Expos have been sold to the Washington Baseball Club organization and the team will be moving to Washington, D.C., to play in brand new Capital One Ballfield. The park will be opened in early May, so the team will spend its first month on the road. “We’re thrilled about finally having a home,” said GM Omar Minaya.

The team hired Eddie Murray as their manager. Murray, who most recently served as the Cleveland Indians hitting coach. “We’re thrilled to have a guy like Eddie Murray to mentor our young players, he’s the consummate professional,” said Minaya.

The team will become the Washington Spirit. “We believe the name represents our spirit that has endured over the past few years, but also representative of our future.”

[Young Drachma]

NEW YORK – Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced today that the American League would expand to 14 teams in the 2005 season. “We’re expanded to bring baseball to new markets around the nation. Selig said that MLB was considering six cities that had yet to be named. “We are not willing to divulge that information right now,” said Selig.

Other plans rumored to be considered by Major League Baseball include moving the regular season schedule back two weeks. Selig said that in the coming months, MLB would discuss the six finalist cities for the two AL expansion franchises.

He said MLB was pleased to have finally sold the Expos and that it was excited about forging ahead into the future. “We are looking forward to another exciting baseball season,” said Selig.

[Young Drachma]

Like I mentioned before, because there was a lot of flux in the league since the computer controlled all trades and player moves from 2003-2004, things will look a little different on teams than you might expect.

I did, however, take a bit of creative liberty and execute a few trades that either happened that I wanted to see still or should've happened.

Curt Schlling, Alex Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez to Boston
Manny Ramirez, Mark Buhrele to Texas
Nomar Garciaparra to Chicago White Sox
Josh Phelps to Arizona (from Boston)

The 2004 off-season is underway now, after which, we will see where players landed and go forward en route to 2005!

[Young Drachma]

The SIM 2004 off-season was arguably more exciting than the real one.

Look at where the players ended up after the dust settled:


SP Pedro Martinez, Texas, $113.76 mil/6 years
SP Andy Petitte, Anaheim, $29.956 mil/4 years
LF Gary Sheffield, Chicago (A), $29.877 mil/3 years
C Ivan Rodriguez, Cleveland, $30.354 mil/3 years
RF Vladimir Guerrero, Baltimore, $79.12 mil/4 years
SS Miguel Tejada, Arizona, $76.657 mil/7 years
RF Sammy Sosa, San Francisco, $54.85 mil/4 years
SP Ismael Valdes, Boston, $26 mil/4 years

[Young Drachma]

ESPN.COM has learned that the list of cities under consideration by Major League Baseball include several former frontrunners to receive the Montreal Expos, who relocated to Washington, D.C. this past season.

The finalist cities include Portland, OR, Brookyln, NY, Charlotte, NC and Davenport, IA. The remaining two cities are not yet known.

The early favorites are Portland and Brookyln, though the obstacles to Brooklyn are many. First, the team plays in New York Yankees territory. It was waived to allow a minor league club - The Cyclones - to return to the city as a farm club for the Mets. But, a major league outfit would be a far different story.

Major League Baseball agreed to pay $60 million in reparations to Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos when the Expos moved this season and there is talk of another settlement with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Another option is placing a team in New Jersey or Hartford, Connecticut.

Hartford officials, who were spurned after the New England Patriots originally planned to move there several years ago, before working out a deal to stay in the Greater Boston area, said they would welcome an opportunity to have a big league team again. The last major league sport to play in Hartford were the NHL Whalers, who moved to North Carolina.

Portland is considered all but a shoo-in, say insiders. The city would use PGE Park, currently a Triple-A facility in the interim and everyone in the city, despite the cash-starved nature of the state, are interested in bringing a franchise to the state.

Other areas that have placed inquiries in the past include Norfolk, VA, Monterrey, Mexico, San Juan, Puerto Rico and even an ownership group interested in bringing a team to play at still standing Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

[Young Drachma]

Major League Baseball today announced its intent to award an expansion franchise to Dark Cloud Enterprises and its Chairman/CEO Dark Cloud. The league said they are aware of the five candidate cities that Dark Cloud is interested in pursuing and they will allow him to choose one of those five cities.

In addition, the second AL expansion franchise for next season is rumored to be narrowed down to either Hartford, CT or Newark, NJ.

That means the other franchise will be located in the West. "We're excited about the opportunity to join Major League Baseball," said Dark Cloud, who founded the Major League Development Group two years ago, with the hopes of owning a big league team.

"This is a dream come true. Soon, we will let our candidate cities know which one we have chosen and will move forward on our plans to bring a World Series title to them sometime soon," he said.

[Young Drachma]

On the field, here are the leaders atop the standings and in major stat categories:

AL East: New York (29-26, 1 game ahead of Boston & Tampa Bay)
AL Central: Cleveland (26-28, 1 game ahead of Chicago)
AL West: Anaheim (37-17, 7 games ahead of Oakland, Texas and Seattle)
AL Wild Card: Oakland, Seattle, Texas tied at 30-24)

NL East: Philadelphia (31-25, 1.5 game ahead of Washington & New York)
NL Central: Houston (32-23, 2 games ahead of Pittsburgh)
NL West: Colorado (36-20, 6 games ahead of San Francisco)
NL Wild Card: Pittsburgh (30-25, 1 game ahead of Washington, New York and San Francisco)

BATTING AVG
AL: Alejandro Machado (KC), Bernie Williams (NY), Vernon Wells (TOR) all tied at .358
NL: Larry Walker (COL) .436

HR
AL: Eric Chavez (OAK) 21
NL: Todd Helton (COL) 24

ERA
AL: Mickey Callaway (ANA) 2.11
Glendon Rusch (TB) 2.35

NL: Ryan Vogelsong (PIT) 2.42

[Young Drachma]

HARTFORD - MLB plans a press conference tomorrow to announce the awarding of one of the two AL expansion franchises to Hartford, CT. Ground has already been broken for a previously planned Land O' Lakes Field aimed at a minor league franchise in the Atlantic League, but with the decision to move Major League Baseball to the city, the club has decided to halt plans to play in the city.

The team has yet to be named, but will be owned jointly by ESPN subsidary Out of the Park Entertainment. The team will be the first owned by the network, but officials scoff at the notion that there will be biased or preferential coverage.

"When our parent company owned the Angels, we did not play favorites. So, even though we might get better seats to games at Land O' Lakes Field, I doubt it will represent some great travesty in our coverage, said longtime sportscaster Bob Ley.

The second AL franchise was awarded to DCE CEO Dark Cloud and his ownership group, but it not yet known where the team will play in the 2005 season.

[Young Drachma]

RENO - The DCE Baseball Group announced its decision today to locate its AL expansion franchise in Las Vegas, Nevada The team will be named the Nevada Silverhawks.

"We are thrilled for the opportunity to bring the major leagues to Nevada," said Dark Cloud. The team will play at a renovated Peccole Park on the University of Nevada campus for a year, while they wait for their new ballpark, Silver Mountain Casino Ballfield.

Major League officials reportedly expressed concerned with placing a team in Las Vegas, but the arrangement that allowed the team to adopt a regional name. The Silver Mountain Casino will not be off-limits to players. However, sources with Major League Baseball said that by having a team in Las Vegas, the league could "better monitor player gambling activities," rather than brushing it under a rug or ignoring it like they did in the past.

Silver Mountain Casino Ballfield will be connected to a hotel, amusement park and other entertainment that are aimed to give fans the complete sporting experience. The Ballfield has a retractable roof and seats up to 60,000. The city is rumored to be pursuing franchises in other pro sports with the development of the stadium, including an NFL team.

"We want to showcase all that Las Vegas has to offer," said Mayor Oscar Goodman.

[Young Drachma]

The Nevada Silverhawks minor league teams:

Triple-A: New Jersey Dragons
Double-A: Belleville (IL) Cosmos
Single-A: Sheridan (WY) Cowboys

The dynasty will pretty focus entirely on my teams, the development of players from this point on. I will mention notable things going on in the league, obviously, but that's about it.

[Young Drachma]

Teams can protect up to 30 players throughout their entire system. The expansion clubs will alternate back and forth for 25 rounds. No team may lose more than 2 players.

I will only list notable selections made by the Hartford club and major selections by mine, or those that translate into later trades.

[Young Drachma]

This is the foundation of the dynasty. The Silverhawks will begin its initial player stock relying primarily on college players. None of these players will have been previously drafted, except in cases where no documentation exists for younger players that have been drafted, but chose to go to college (e.g. freshman, transfers, etc.)

Their stats have been adjusted, to ensure that I don’t go creating a bunch of five star studs. The idea is to see how well they develop in our minor league system and if they can make it to the majors to be productive or more.

The higher rated their conference is, the more tauted they will be. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to turn into a star for sure, either.
So, that’s the idea here.

We spent the year with scouts dispatched around the country, checking out players in all levels of college baseball. We were especially interested in getting players that other schools might have missed out on, but that had lots of upside. You can expect our draft to consider mainly of high performers in college (or the Moneyball model), but we will also go after players at the lower levels of college baseball (D3, NAIA) to scour for hidden gems that no one else wants.

Since this is the first season, we will sign 30 players.

Randy Beam, L, 6-3, 205, Florida Atlantic
13-2, 2.39 ERA, 83 K 102 IP

Jeff Niemann, R, 6-9, 260, Rice
17-0, 1.70 ERA, 156K, 137 IP

Jered Weaver, 6-6, 200, 14-4, 1.96, Long Beach State

Steven Register, Auburn, 6-1, 162, 3-3, 16 SV, 61K

Luis Rivera, Florida International, SS

Mark Lowe, Texas-Arlington, RHP

Sebastien Boucher, OF, Bethune-Cookman
.333-1-47 48 SB

Chris Grider, RHP, Eastern Kentucky

Craig Candeto, Navy, OF
.370-6-31 (Athletic player, also plays QB at Navy)

Matt Daley, Bucknell, RHP

Jeff Frazier, OF, Rutgers (top round pick, 2k4)

Jim Fasano, 1B, Richmond
.344, 16, 68

James Avery, Niagra, RHP

Calvin Beamon, OF Southern Nevada JC

Friedel Pinkston, RHP, Chipola (Fla.) JC

Cesar Yepez, Warner Southern (Fla.) NAIA

Mark Roth, Delaware Valley (PA) D3, 1B

[Young Drachma]

Since there is no mechanism in the game to conduct an expansion draft, what I do is, I fill the minor league rosters of the two expansion clubs, then run computer manager. It will move the AAA players to the major league roster. Then, I use those players as players to trade to the team giving up the expansion listed player.

Here are the notable players selected in this year’s draft by the Silverhawks:

CF Johnny Damon (Boston)
3B Drew Henson (New York)
SP Dustin McGowan (Toronto)
RF Gary Sheffield (Chicago A)
RF Tim Salmon (Anaheim)
2B Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia)
SP Carlos Zambrano (Chicago N)


We then traded RF Gary Sheffield and one of our own recently drafted prospects SP Randy Beam to St. Louis for SP Tim Stauffer and 3B Jaime D’Antona.


We traded SP Carlos Zambrano to Hartford for LF Shin-Soo Choo, who they picked up in the draft from Seattle.

[Young Drachma]

SEASON OUTLOOK 2005

The Silverhawks won’t be very good this season. But that’s okay. Only nine players on the entire 25-man roster played in the major leagues last season. Only two pitchers, one starter and our closer played in the majors last year. The team has some talent, but the goal is really to develop our prospects and scout out other talent that can help us sooner and faster.

My goal for the team is 75 wins.

[Young Drachma]

As expected, the Silverhawks are pretty bad. After the first month of the season (May 1st), the team is 7-22, only the Milwaukee Brewers sport a worse record (7-23) in all of baseball.

The problem is simple, we lack pitching. We are dead last in every major pitching category as a team. Offensively, we actually lead the league in offense, helped no doubt by the altitude. But still, with a pretty much no name roster, that's an encouraging sign.

In the short term, I'm going to look for some pitching and perhaps deal players because I have some surplus offensive talent in the farm.

[Young Drachma]

Major League Baseball agreed on two separate television deals today, which will ensure that baseball fans get games on both network television and cable throughout the season, include all playoff games.

The deal is worth $865 million with FOX over five years. Meanwhile, ESPN and ABC signed a separate $375 million deal over the next three years to broadcast playoff games and the World Series.

The combined amount will provide each team with $38.75 million in national television revenue, in addition to whatever local television deals they have.

"We're very excited about going forward with our partners into the future," said Selig.

[Young Drachma]

5/1/2005
LAS VEGAS - In the hopes of getting the team to respectablity, Dark Cloud traded 3B Drew Henson, who was barely hitting over the Mendoza Line to Washington for SP Eric Good. Good, 25, was 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA last season in 11 games, two of those starts for the Spirit last season. He was 1-3 with a 6.07 in AAA so far this season, but had 21 strikeouts and only 3 walks. The hope is, he can at least keep the ball in the park here in Nevada.

Meanwhile, we signed Mo Vaughn to man first base. Hardly a long-term signing, he was picked up for about $375k for the remainder of the season. Vaughn, 38, hit 36 homer last season with 108 RBI for the NY Mets. The hope is, there has to be a little something left in the tank.

No big plans at the moment, because I don't really know what to do with this team. None of our prospects are looking like much yet, but of course, we're only a month into our first season.

[Young Drachma]

Okay, so I defined a major free agent as a player who had a certain amount of stats or who makes over $10 million a year. I signed no one last season who met that criteria. In part, because I was trying to be conservative, but because I failed to understand my own rules.

That said, we can change our strategy. The plan/goal is not to be hamstrung by own rules, but instead to produce talent, while also remaining competitive.

So, yeah. That changes things, a lot.

[Young Drachma]

We had a decent May. After a 7-23 from March/April, the team is now 21-35. Still last, but not nearly as dismal.

Pitching is coming around, too. Eric Good is 2-2 so far, but his ERA is 6.00. I brought up two minor league stopgaps to fill the rotation, SP Jewell McLean, who was 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in AAA this season. SP William Howse, was unspectactular in the minors, but the players they replaced had an ERA combined over 8.00, so I figured that maybe it was time for a change.

ON THE FARM

The most recent Baseball America reports that Nevada has the #5 rated farm system in baseball. SP R.J. Swindle is the #3 rated prospect in baseball and the first pick in this year's draft OF Harold "Dragon Slayer" Clerk, is rated 23rf, SP Jeff Niemann is 33rd and Simeon Marino rounds out at No. 96.

Even though they're not rated, SP Tim Stauffer should be awesome. He was 5-3 with a 3.84 ERA in AA so far this season and I just moved him up to AAA. CF Shin Soo-Choo, who I picked up in an expansion draft deal from Hartford, is also a player I'm high on. He hit .330 in 215 Double-A at-bats. He's got lots of upside and it'll be interesting to see what we do with him. Do I resign Johnny Damon or do I give this kid a shot to show me what he can do?





I'm happy to see that we're making progress on that front, but I won't rush these players out of the minors.

[Young Drachma]

DEADLINE DEALING AND THE REST
August 1, 2005

We traded:
2B Jimmy Rollins to Anaheim for SP Andy Petitte. He's 8-4 so far this season with a 4.81 ERA.

CF Johnny Damon, minor league SP Michael Harris to Anaheim for SP Nick Touchstone and 1B Casey Kotchman

this is an especially good deal. Touchstone and Kotchman were the two top rated prospects from the Angels. Damon is having a monster year, but I have kids in the minor who can play his position for cheaper and to get two great players, it was worth it. Harris is decent and should be a major leaguer, but Touchstone is farther along.

LF Ben Petrick to Oakland for SP Tim Hudson

Hudson is hurt and will be back in 2 weeks. Petrick is leading the majors in runs and he and Damon were part of the reason that we have the highest batting average and lead baseball in Runs Scored. But when you have the absolute worst pitching staf f in the majors, you need to get help. Hudson is help, no doubt. He's 10-5 with a 4.53 ERA so far this season.

We're 42-69 at this point in the season, but I'm not disappointed. We've got players who can be the cornerstone for something good, we're getting production out of players who should be good later and our farm system is one of the best in baseball.

Just wait a few years and the Silverhawks will be something special. Or at least, I hope so.

Hartford, our expansion brethen have the worst record in baseball at 33-76 and they're close to last in all categories, offensive and pitching. Granted, we've got altitude. But so does Colorado.

[Young Drachma]

That's right. I just checked and the Nevada Silverhawks have the top ranked farm system as of August 1, 2005.

SP Nick Touchstone (2nd)
LF Harold Clerk (13th)
1B Casey Kotchman (19th)
SP R.J. Swindle (20th)
SP Simeon Marino (36th)

Marino was like somewhere in the low 90s, earlier this year. I'm hoping these players continue to mature. Plus, I have a few guys in AA, who were in Triple-A, that I'm excited about it.

[Young Drachma]

2005 SEASON IN REVIEW
In retrospect, my overly ambitious goal of winning 75 games might have been a bit too ambitious. Maybe if I’d kept guys like Damon around, it might have meant a few more wins, but I totally overestimated how good everyone else was and how truly bad our pitching staff was.

We finished 53-102, 38 games out of first place.

Division Series:
Cleveland (3) against New York (A) (1)
Seattle (1) against Boston (3)
Colorado (0) against St. Louis (3)
Florida (3) against Houston (1)
League Championship:
Cleveland (2) against Boston (4)
Florida (1) against St. Louis (4)
World Series:
St. Louis (4) against Boston (2)
WINNER : St. Louis



OFFENSE

We led the league in batting at .301. This is a huge coup, considering the lineup we had. Jose Vidro hit .345 with 20 homers and 96 RBI. He had 46 doubles and would have undoubtedly had more RBI, if we had other players ahead of him getting on base. 1B Mo Vaughn was a pleasant surprise. He hit .328 with 18 homers. RF Brian Banks is a 35-year old journeyman who put up big numbers for us this year. He hit .286 with 27 homers and 110 RBI. He’s signed through 2007, so hopefully he’ll be a nice player for us over the next few seasons.

PITCHING

Oh my, where do I start. I don’t think I anticipated how bad it would be, but when you consider that we had players starting who – for the most part – had never been in the majors for a full-season, I’m not too upset. Our career leader in wins is SP Mike Neu, a starter from the expansion draft, that I picked up from Oakland. Andy Pettite was 4-7 and had an ERA well over 5.00 since come over to us. I didn’t bring Tim Hudson off the DL, but that was more because I was simulating (and forgot). So, at least we’ll have him going into next year and he’ll be well rested.

OFFSEASON NEEDS
Pitching, Pitching and more pitching. That’s the mantra of this off-season, no doubt about it. It might be nice/wise to improve the offensive side of the ball, especially since we jettisoned some of our more productive players in trades. But, we’re not going to do anything too crazy and I don’t anticipate more than one major FA signing. I’ll try to sign more economical free agents. I might also check out the players in the minors to see if some of them are ready to be promoted. After all, I don’t want to keep players who are ready down if they’re able to contribute.

[Young Drachma]

PLAYERS LOST:
CF Terrance Long .342/11/49 219 Abs*
1B Mo Vaughn .328/18/79 349 ABs
RF Tim Salmon .259/21/105 *
• acquired mid-season

[Young Drachma]

FREE AGENTS SIGNED
RF Tim Salmon (1 yr/$3.5 million)
MR Matt Mantei (5 yr/$1.3 million)
SP Jeff Weaver (7 yr/8.475 million)
SP Kaz Sasaki (6 yr/$9 million)
C Charles Johnson (4 yr/$2 million)
1B Dmirti Young (2 yr/$4 million)

[Young Drachma]

HAWKS SIGN LOCAL TV DEAL
LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Silverhawks are pleased today to announce a five year/$70 million deal with FOX Sports Mountain West to broadcast Silverhawks games on its regional network. The team’s games will be broadcast in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Idaho. “We’re delighted to bring the game to our regional fan base,” said Dark Cloud who applaud the move. The deal increases the team’s bottom line, but gives the network over 500 broadcast games over the life of the deal. Because FOX has playoff games, if the Silverhawks make the playoffs, HAWKS games will be broadcast on network television as well as on the Mountain West network.

“We want to encourage more fans to come out to watch the club and this is just one way to increase our standing throughout the region,” the Silverhawks lowered ticket prices, after being on 19th in league attendance last year with just over 2.8 million fans. “We want to lead the league in attendance this year,” said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

2006 season preview
The Silverhawks are improved, especially in terms of the pitching staff. 22-game winner Jeff Weaver comes over to anchor the staff, while Kaz Sasaki heads into the rotation for the first time in his career. Tim Hudson finally gets to start for the Silverhawks, after spending 2005 on the DL. Mike Neu is the lone holdover from last season’s rotation, the team’s career winner hopes to have a breakout year as the fourth starter, while Andy Petitte is fifth.

On the offensive side, there are lots of questions that only the season will be able to answer. Team MVP 2B Jose Vidro returns for another season, after hitting .345 last season with 20 homers. Charles Johnson takes over behind the plate, after a .272/10 HR season in limited play with Colorado and Kansas City last season. RF Tim Salmon returns for a full season and we’re hoping he can pull together another strong year.

The questions are, can phenoms LF Harold Clerk and CF Shin Soo-Choo hold it down in the majors? Meanwhile, the hot corner will be an adventure with 19-year old 3B Octavio Ruiz is manning the position. Ruiz is a five-tool player who came up last season and struggled, but we’ll try him there, before bringing in a veteran or trying to deal for someone. I tried signing Mike Lowell and Tony Batista, but I refused to overpay for them.

EXPECTATIONS: I think the pitching staff will be vastly improved. That will open up the door for us to improve the offense next year, so I expect us to be more competitive this year, but we’re not aiming for the playoffs until at least another season.

[Young Drachma]

THE HAWKS are improved, no doubt about it.

We're 12-13, 4.5 games out of 1st as of May 1st. We traded SP Tim Hudson to Toronto for SP/MR Willie Glen.

The #2 rated farm system in the majors has a number of prospects we're excited about it. Let's take a look at the players who are in the pipeline.

http://personal.monm.edu/rbronson/baseball/may1stprospects.gif

[Young Drachma]

2006 mid-season update
The theme of this season has been all about the race towards .500. That’s a far cry from last season’s 100-losses. Although this is only Year 2, I’m so eager to see these players that I wish I could go further to find out. Of course, we can’t do that so we can develop our players and all that. The team is current 36-44.

LF Harold Clerk is doing a pretty good job in the majors so far. Things are problematic on the squad, because SP Kaz Sasaki and the starter experiment has been a huge bust. Meanwhile, C Charles Johnson is also out for a few weeks. So, I’ve had to bring up a few players prematurely, but I’m careful to take up too many of our better prospects too soon.

We signed 3B Scott Spiezio to a 1 yr deal worth $375k for the rest of the season. We traded MR Matt Mantei and a minor leaguer to Tampa Bay for SP/MR Lance Carter.

We then traded SP Jeff Weaver (7-6, 4.66 ERA) and Lance Carter (2-2, 32K, 25 appearances) to Boston for SP Ismael Valdes (7-4, 3.48) and Derek Lowe (1-5, 3.99)
I think the allure of the deal for them is that Weaver is probably better suited for Fenway than our park, that Lowe is having a pretty bad year and both are free agents next year, while Weaver is locked in for a few more years. Carter has some upside and might be able to pan out pretty well. I’m acquired veteran starters, to anchor what I hope would be a better rotation throughout this season, but certainly next year. I dunno if it will work, but the deal seems to have a lot of upside for us.
Incidentially, Valdes was AL Pitcher of the Month for June.

[Young Drachma]

TRADE DEADLINE 2006

We managed to make a good deal – or at least, for me it is – at the deadline. We dealt Kaz Sasaki, who I took out of the rotation and turned into a middle reliever (he’s retiring this year) with C Charles Johnson (.241/6/18 187 ABs) and another reliever Amaury Figuredo to Detroit for C Landon Powell (4 ½ stars, just promoted to majors) and highly touted SP Coleman Reidy (3 ½ stars, 3-4, 3.10 ERA split between Single and Double A)

We had to pay Sasaki’s $9 million price tag, so Detroit was only responsible for $400,000 of his salary for the rest of the year, meaning I sent them about $3.8 million for the rest of the year, to cover his salary. But it was worth it to get players I could use.

[Young Drachma]

A LOOK AT THE FUTURE

Baseball America does a “future lineup” when it looks at team rosters during the off-season. Though the season isn’t quite over yet, I wanted to do the same thing for people here. What it does show us, is the Silverhaws have a ton of pitching prospects. Seven of our top prospects are pitchers, which is probably a good thing since we’re in our second running of having the worse ERA in baseball. Of course, our pitchers don’t walk many batters. Maybe they should?

2011 Silverhawks Lineup (with minor league level/stats)

C Landon Powell (AAA, no stats at level)
1B Casey Kotchman (AA, .324, 5 HR, 50 RBI)
2B Jose Vidro (Majors, .356, 14 HR, 61 RBI)
3B Matias Acuna (AA, .309, 9HR, 35 RBI)
SS Josh Schwartz (Majors, .296, 7 HR, 45 RBI)
LF Harold Clerk (Majors, .307, 14 HR, 61 RBI)
CF Justin Maxwell (Majors, no stats at level)
RF Moises Molina (A, .305, 20 RBI)
DH Alex Zamora (A, .350, 11 HR, 69 RBI)

Rotation
SP Nick Touchstone (Majors, 6-3, 5.29 ERA 33 K, 13 BB)
SP Jeff Niemann (A, 6-4, 3.58 ERA, 133 K, 26 BB)
SP James Hines (AAA, 2-3, 4.86 ERA, 31 K, 4 BB)
SP Tim Stauffer (Majors, No stats at level)
SP Simeon Marino (AA, 5-6, 4.04, 164 K, 15 BB)
CL Andrew Pfifer (A, 5-6, 23 SV, 3.46 ERA)

[Young Drachma]

It’s September 1st, do I want to call up players? It’s an interesting question, because I don’t really want to promote kids and have them get hurt. Of course, I dunno. So, we’ll have to see, I guess.

I’m tempted to just bring up a bunch of bush leaguers to see how well they play in the majors. Hmm…tempting.

I brought up a few players like Simeon Marino, James Hines, and Landon Powell. They won’t play much, but hey. We’ll see what happens the rest of the way out.

[Young Drachma]

The 2006 season has ended. We ended the year 69-93, in last in the AL West again and sixth-worst in the majors.

The Chicago Cubs beat the NY Yankees 4 games to 1 in the World Series. More info on this season, review and all that later on.

[Young Drachma]

2006 SEASON IN REVIEW

BATTING
2B Jose Vidro is Team MVP for the second straight season. He was second in the AL with a .354 batting average. 1B Dmitri Young was quite a pick up, banging 16 homers and 115 RBI, with a .314 batting average. If it wasn’t obvious by now, the park factor really helps batting averages of our players. Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped out our pitching staff.

LF Harold Clerk won Rookie of the Year, hitting .296, 20 homers and 91 RBI. He struck out 136 times, so that’s going to need work. But he did well, overall in his first major league season. 21 year old 3B Mark Roth, who played 1B for most of last season, moved to third and was successful as a hitter, despite 12 errors. He hit .330, 18 homers and 84 RBI.

The team lead the majors in Runs Scored (915) and batting average for the second straight year at .295.

PITCHING
I moved a number of players out of the rotation throughout the season. As a consequence, rookie Nick Touchstone, SP/MR Willie Glen and Ismael Valdes led the team with 10 wins each. For the second straight year, we had the worst ERA in baseball with 6.20 ERA, but that’s exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t keep a steady rotation during the year.

For next season, the issue really comes down to finding solid pitching and spending the money to acquire top players if they are available. In terms of players who are pending free agents, I’m looking at players like Florida’s SP Josh Beckett, San Francisco’s Kurt Ainsworth and Oakland’s Barry Zito, among others.

Heading into our first three year period, we have never signed a “major” free agent. But you can be assured that we will be taking a foray into free agency this year – similar to what the Phillies did last year, that hopefully we won’t lose hopefully.

The goal is to contend next season, despite two last place finishes. I think I’ll be more likely to use a lot of my offensive players in the minors, while letting my pitching ease their way into the rotation as relievers before bringing them in and letting them throw in the rotation.

It’s also possible/likely that we’ll be dealing some of our prospects if we’re able to acquire top talent from another team, that helps us get closer to the top.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Silverhawks have begun negotiations with a number of top free agents for the 2007 season, including Oakland A’s starter Barry Zito. “I’m very interested in seeing what this club has to offer.” The team, heading into its third year as a major league club, is seeking out top talent for what Team President Dark Cloud calls “our breakout year”. He said in the past, the team has had trouble attracting top players, but wants players to know the team has money and is willing to “spend it.”

The team has already made a preliminary offer to Barry Zito and several other unnamed free agents. The team has lucked out, since ownership has opened the pocket books up this off-season.

Because we are in our third year and we have yet to sign a “major” free agent, the three we sign this season, could overlap into our second three year period, meaning that we can sign up to three this year and in theory, three more next season too.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Nevada Silverhawks signed Shawn Estes formerly of the Anaheim Angels, to a 5 year deal worth $20 million. Estes, was 15-10 last season, with a 3.97 ERA and made his first all-star team.

The Silverhawks, despite opening their wallet have been spurned by a number of major free agents. Despite that, Dark Cloud says the team will continue to seek out players who are interested in playing for them, "We're going to be steadfast in our desire to sign talented players interested in building a legacy here in Nevada," he said.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - After being spurned by Las Vegas native Barry Zito, the Nevada Silverhawks aggressively pursued two-time All-Star Kurt Ainsworth of the San Francisco Giants. Ainsworth, 28, is 61-39 over parts of five seasons, with a 2.87 ERA over that time. The deal was $140 million over 7 years. "We believe that he can do the job," said Team President Dark Cloud and that's why we're paying him.

"This is the type of player we want to bring to the best fans in baseball," said Dark Cloud, so said Ainsworth would complement an well-developed rotation, that recently acquired SP Shawn Estes.

"We are working to make this club one of the best in baseball and players like Kurt will help us acheive that goal," said Dark Cloud. He is the first major free agent signed in the club's history.

The team has made an offer for LF/IF Adam Dunn, 3B Jared Sandberg, as well as Japanese phenom Tetsuya Yamaguchi, a starting pitching who at age 23, attending college in the US, but was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, despite being born in Peru of Japanese parents.

"We're making moves, but we're hardly done yet," said Dark Cloud. The team is shopping pitchers Ismael Valdes and Derek Lowe, but have yet to investigate offers.

"We're open to what's out there," he said.

[Young Drachma]

Tetsuya Yamaguchi, a free agent starting pitcher from Japan, who played college ball at Division III Loras College in Iowa, was signed today by the Nevada Silverhawks, to a long-term deal. The terms were not disclosed.

Yamaguchi, 23, was technically under contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese League, but did not play for them since he was a college student in the US. He disputed signing the contract with the club, saying he was only 16 when he signed the deal. NCAA officials did not hold the contract binding and allowed him to play a non-scholarship college.

Yamaguchi will be assigned to the Silverhawks Double-A team in Belleville, IL. "We're looking forward to seeing his progress, so he will one day be in Silverhawks grey," said Manager Ryne Sandberg.

The team announced today it hired future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens to work in Spring Training as a consultant and coach to the team's deep, young, pitchers in the minors and majors. "We want to help these young men develop and no one is better to do that than Roger," said Team President Dark Cloud.

The team also signed MR Mike MacDougal and dealt MR Mike Neu for a reliever and minor leaguer.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Nevada Silverhawks signed 1B/OF Adam Dunn to a five-year deal worth $15 million per season. The team went from the 18th highest payroll in baseball to one of the highest at just over $95 million.

"We are committed to winning and if this is what it takes to win, so be it," said Dark Cloud, who said the team still has the top rated farm system and is looking to continue the trend of using its players, but only when they are ready. "We don't want to rush these guys. They will be good, no doubt. In time, though," said said.

Dunn should make an immediate impact on a lineup and at Silver Mountain Bank Ballpark. He hit .261 with 33 homers and 110 RBI last season. He joins a team that has bolstered it already potent offense, while improving a pitching staff that has been dead last in the majors each of the last two seasons.

But will it be enough to compete? "I'm not sure they're going to be any good, but I'll go watch," said Joe Stein, a lawyer who owns season tickets. The team lowered ticket prices by half in their second season, which resulted in over 3.8 million fans coming through the gates last year, but Dark Cloud has already said he wants to exceed that this season.

"We're going to be the team people want to watch, mark my words. We're going to be a team to remember," he said.

[Young Drachma]

SILVERHAWKS MAKE DEALS
In an aim to shore up other parts of the team that are lacking, the Nevada Silverhawks made several trades today:


Dealt Ismael Valdes(10-9, 4.56 ERA) to the NY Yankees for OF Ichiro Suzuki (.310, 8 HR, 68 RBI, 21 SB w/SEA in '06)

Suzuki recently signed a 3 year deal with the Yanks worth over $3.5 million.

The trade of Valdes saves the Silverhawks just over $3 million, while allowing them to ease rookie CF Justin Maxwell into the position, rather than having as the starter. "We believe he'll be a contributor, no doubt. But this deal helps our depth tremendously," said Dark Cloud.

Dealt SP Derek Lowe and a minor leaguer to the Boston Red Sox for IF Michael Garciaparra who most recently played in AAA Pawtucket, but will be given the shot to make the team at third base.

Finally, the team sent LF Shin Soo-Choo, 24, a utility player who batted .293 in 423 ABs last season and minor league ace SP Charles Hooper, to the Chicago White Sox for LF Joe Borchard, who hit .260/38/111 last season. The deal saved the Sox close to $3 million. Borchard, 28, is a free agent at the end of the season.

[Young Drachma]

Our entire pitching staff combined to win 71 games, so I figure they have no where to go but up? Wishful thinking, most likely. But Kurt Ainsworth is making far too much to come up short.

In terms of the minor league system, here are our players who we've produced in our system that are in the majors, who made the major league roster:

SP R.J. Swindle (#2 starter)
SP Nick Touchstone (#3 starter, 2nd yr starter)
C Landon Powell (starter)
SS Josh Schwartz (2nd yr starter)
3B Mark Roth (3rd yr starter)
LF/DH Harold Clerk (2nd yr starter)

40% of our starting rotation and almost half of our starting lineup consist of homegrown players, in our third season. Now, we have yet to translate that into wins. But, I think its still saying something we got them here.


I won't make a prediction, so I won't jinx the team. But I expect us to improve on last year.

[Young Drachma]

OAKLAND (AP) - The Oakland Athletics will take their baseball approach to another market starting in 2009. The Athletics agreed today to a deal in principle to move the team to Portland, OR. The team will play in a new downtown stadium that will replace PGE Park, where a minor league team plays now.

The team has not announced a name change as of yet, nor have the baseball owners approved the move. That will take place sometime this off-season. "We're thrilled to be moving to a new fan base, and new opportunity," said Oakland owner Steve Schott.

Despite posting profits over the past two years, Schott said the move was propelled by the availiblity of the stadium, the desire of the Portland market that is primed for Major League Baseball.

"This is the right thing to do for baseball and this market," he said. The Portland area was one of the finalists for the Montreal Expos before they moved to Washington, D.C. in 2004 and later for an AL expansion team, that were awarded to Hartford and Las Vegas.

Rumors of another team move, possibly to the New York metro area have been discussed, but there has been indication of what team would be moving, said ESPN officials. More information was expected later.

[Young Drachma]

MID-SEASON UPDATE - 7/11/2007
The Nevada Silverhawks are having their best season, currently 2 games over .500 good for third in the AL West. 3 ½ games out in the wild card race behind Oakland. “We’re thrilled about the performance of the team, but we’re not done yet. We have a lot more to do,” said Dark Cloud.

The Silverhawks dealt SP Oscar “Porky” Lagarde from the Colorado Rockies for SP/MR Mike MacDougal. Lagarde, 21, was 5-3, 4.82 ERA with 92 strikeouts. MacDougal is 4-5, 4.15 ERA in 11 starts and 23 appearances.

Offensively, the Silverhawks are still in the top tier batting average wise. The team is hitting .283. Led by Adam Dunn (.292/19/63), the offense is showing little sign of slowdown.

The pitching staff isn’t solidified yet. Kurt Ainsworth is holding up his end of the bargain, with a record of 11-5 with a 3.74 ERA so far this season. Second on the team in wins is rookie Timothy Marrow is 7-5 with a 4.86 ERA. After that, there is little to talk about, save always reliable closer Eric Gagne, 5-4, 17 saves, though he has seven blown saves this season, more than only six all of last year.

Rookie R.J. Swindle is back in the rotation, after being sent down earlier this season after going 1-4 with an 11.31 ERA. “He’ll battle back, we’re confident,” said Manager Ryne Sandberg about the young star.

The team released MR Rick Helling to free up roster space. The team dealt SP/MR Shawn Estes and SP/MR Willie Glen to San Diego for two minor leaguers. “We wanted to cut payroll a little and when a player isn’t performing where we think he’s capable, it warrants investigating a deal,” said Dark Cloud.

Dark Cloud is rumored to be looking into a blockbuster deal before the deadline, but refused to release the information. “We’re not sure what’s going to happen right now, we just want to see where things are headed before making any decisions,” he said.

[Young Drachma]

DURHAM, NC - For the second time in three years, the Nevada Silverhawks have the top farm system in the major leagues, according to Baseball America.

"We are delighted to be recognized by BA as one of the best in baseball in developing players. We believe that our model speaks for itself and we pride ourselves on being in the best at all levels," said team president Dark Cloud.

The Silverhawks had 204 points, 84 points ahead of second place Minnesota. The top five prospects in the Silverhawks organization are rated in the Top 40 of all prospects in baseball.

Those players are:
SP Victor Guertin (#5), 23, who has 38 strikeouts in 25 appearances between AA and AAA this season. Imagined as a power pitcher in the mold of a John Smoltz.

OF Moises Molina (#7), 20, 2nd overall pick in 2006 has 21 homers in parts of two minor league seasons between A and AA. Has offensive talent.

C Omar Falcon (#11), 24, acquired in the recent trade of Shawn Estes and Willie Glen to San Diego. Outstanding defensive player in the mold of Ivan Rodriguez.

OF Calvin Beamon (#18), 22, career .332 hitter in 3 1/2 seasons between A and AA. Four-tool player.

1B Casey Kotchman (#36), 24, the first baseman of the future for the Silverhawks. Acquired in 2005 in a four player deal with the Anaheim Angels for CF Johnny Damon. Traded with current SP Nick Touchstone. A power hitter with plate discipline. Should make majors within next 1 1/2 years

[Young Drachma]

A-ROD ON THE MOVE AGAIN?! - ESPN.COM
BOSTON (ESPN.COM) - The Boston Red Sox are talking trade, but this time instead of acquiring the best player in the game, they're talking about dealing a player who was once the best player in the game.

The A-Rod experiment in Boston hasn't been a disappointment - after all, the Sox have been in contention every season he's been there and this season, the Sox lead the AL East. But, everyone is wondering what it would be like if the team with the 2nd highest payroll in baseball (behind Texas) would be able to do if it could free up $10-$14 million per season.

"We're not discussing that," said GM Theo Epstein, who has said the team is not interested in trading the All-Star, who made his first all-star game as a member of the Sox this season.

The numbers don't lie, however, and Magglio Ordonez, who was acquired at the same time as A-Rod, has outperformed him, despite making half his salary. Ordonez has hit above .280 in each of his three - including this one - seasons in Boston. A-Rod's BA is hovering somewhere around .265. Rodriguez has the edge in home runs, but less than 10.

The issue is, who wants him? "The allure of A-Rod has certainly worn off, despite what people expected," said one NL GM who refused to be named. "It's not quite Ken Griffey, because at least he's been in the lineup, but its not the impact we all expected," said an AL scout.

Several teams are reportedly interested in the playmaker, but with the trade deadline looming, few have heard the mumurs. But stayed tuned...

[Young Drachma]

THE INSIDER.COM - SILVERHAWKS PULL TRIGGER ON DEAL FOR MARK PRIOR
THE INSIDER.COM - The Insider.com has learned that the Nevada Silverhawks will announce a trade in which they acquire SP Mark Prior from the Chicago Cubs. The deal will likely include two of the Silverhawks top pitching prospects. One unnamed source says one of those players will be top rated prospect R.J. Swindle, who has struggled mightly in the majors this season, but has a ton of upside potential.

There has been no confirmation from Silverhawks or Cubs officials, but more information is expected sometime tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

[Young Drachma]

PRIOR, WILLIAMSON HEAD TO NEVADA
July 29, 2007
LAS VEGAS - The Nevada Silverhawks have announced today they have acquired two-time NL All-Star hurler Mark Prior from the Chicago Cubs, along with closer Scott Williamson for two top-rated prospects.

"We are giddy with excitement over this deal," said Team President Dark Cloud. Prior, 26, was selected for his second All-Star game this season, in his sixth season and prior to the trade was second in the National League in ERA at 2.57. He lead the NL in ERA and Strikeouts in 2004.

Williamson, 31, is having a career year in saves with 24 so far. He is in his ninth ML season and will assume the closer role from Eric Gagne, the only closer in Silverhawks history, who has struggled this season.

"This deal gives us amazing depth in our relief corps, while adding a 1A caliber starter to our rotation," said Dark Cloud. The team signed Prior to a 5-yr/$55 million contract extension. "We want him to be here for the long haul," he said. The Silverhawks are a distant third in the NL West, but are working towards earning a Wild Card berth this season.

"We might be a bit farther away than we intend, but give it time. We're not too far off," said Manager Ryne Sandberg.

The Silverhawks dealt SP R.J. Swindle and Tetsuya Yamaguchi in the deal. Swindle, 24, was Baseball America's Player of the Year in 2004, while Yamaguchi was one of the most sought after international free agents last season, before being signed by the Silverhawks. Swindle is a free agent at the end of the season, but wants to play for a winner, so might consider staying in Chicago.

"Those guys were outstanding players. But we wanted to go after guys who were established and could make an impact right now," said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

DIAMOND NOTES - AUGUST 30, 2007
MARLINS BROOKYLN BOUND?
MIAMI - Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, frustrated with inability to get a new stadium deal in South Florida, has officially "had it" with local officials. "We've been going through this for almost 20 years now, since the team was founded," said Loria. The Marlins have tried for new stadiums in both their World Series victory years, but lawsuits, lack of municipal funding and other hurdles like environmental challenges have prevented ground from breaking on a new ballpark for the team.

In comes Brooklyn, NY. The city recently completed a $1 billion facility that included an arena for the NBA Nets, whose move was approved the NBA Board of Governors two years ago, the team has been playing temporarily on Long Island.

The city's faithful have murmured over a baseball stadium in the city and privately, officials in the Commissioners offices are clamoring for a fourth NY area market (after the Hartford Whalers expansion, along with the Mets and Yankees) to help competitive balance in the region.

Loria, is mum on where he wants to move the team. But has put officials on notice that he is seeking out other markets and the ones he wants are "big city and major," said Loria. A National League team in Brooklyn would have no reparations to pay to the Yankees, since the team is in a different league. But the deal is hardly a cinch yet, since there is no stadium deal to speak of.

More on this sometime in the off-season.

NEW BALLPARKS ARE COMING
Speaking of New York, the Mets are finally breaking ground on their own new park, right near Shea Stadium. The park called Citigroup Stadium, will be completed in 2009, will contain 65,000 seats and will house both the Mets and the New York Jets, who will move back to New York. "This will be a first-class, state of the art ballpark," said owner Fred Wilpon.

The Minnesota Twins have a stadium deal in place, to be completed in 2010, if the team is officially sold to an ownership group led by NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. The group includes former Twins player Paul Molitor, who is likely to become Team President and GM. 3M Ballpark would replace the Metrodome.

The sale would end the tenure of Carl Pohlad, who in recent years has refused to spend money on the team. Now that the team is one of the only teams in the majors failing to turn a profit, he has changed his tune. The sale is reportedly worth close to $285 million.

[Young Drachma]

AUGUST 30, 2007 - SILVERHAWKS UPDATE
LAS VEGAS - Despite the third highest payroll in baseball at just over $82 million, the Silverhawks are bittersweet about their success in 2007.

The team is poised to have their first winning season, in their third year of existance. Despite that, the team is currently 13 games out in the AL West, third behind Division leading Texas and Wild Card leader Oakland. The team is 11 games out of the Wild Card race, but there are signs that the rest of the year will not be a total wash.

"It's not over yet," said manager Ryne Sandberg, who dismisses talk that he would be fired if the team failed to make the playoffs. "My relationship with DC and management is solid. We've got things going better and better every year. There is no reason to think we can't finish strong and make 2008 even better," he added.

Kurt Ainsworth and Mark Prior are one of the best 1-2 tandems in the majors. Ainsworth is 14-7 with a 4.20 ERA, while Prior is 16-3 with a 2.57 ERA and many argue one of the top candidates for this year's Cy Young Award. He is 4-0 since coming over to the Silverhawks. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to join this team. This is a great group and we're going to keep getting better," he said.

An injury to Adam Dunn, which has him on the DL for four more weeks, put a damper on the team's success, but the players argue that there is hope. Two home grown players LF Harold Clerk and SS Josh Schwartz made the All-Star team this year, along with Ainsworth and 2B Jose Vidro, who has been to the game every season since signing with the Silverhawks in their first season.

With talent like this and the top farm system in baseball for the third straight year, the team expects that success is just around the corner.

[Young Drachma]

AROUND THE HORN
ZITO OUT FOR THE SEASON
BOSTON - (7/28/07) Boston's ace Barry Zito is out with a torn tricep and will be shelved for the rest of the year. Zito was 10-9 with a 2.92 ERA and was eighth in the league in wins at the time of his injury.

RAMIREZ HITS 500TH HOMER
OAKLAND - (8/5/07) Texas outfield Manny Ramirez hit his 500th homer against the Oakland A's.

JOSH KARP THROWS NO-HITTER, 2ND OF HIS CAREER
WASHINGTON - (8/29/07) Karp threw his second career no-hitter, this one against Arizona Diamondbacks at Capital One Ballpark. Karp, 27, is 10-5 with a 2.94 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 28 starts.

LEAGUE LEADERS
NL BATTING
RF Anthony Webster WAS .358
3B Scott Hairston ARZ .339
OF Todd Hollandsworth MIL .333

AL BATTING
2B Jose Vidro NEV .335
CF Laynce Nix TEX .334
3B Matt Holliday CLE .330

NL HOMERS
OF Lance Berkman HOU 37
OF Willy mo Pena HOU 36
OF J.J. Davis COL 33

AL HOMERS
OF Vladimir Guerrero BAL 39
LF Albert Pujols CHA 37
OF Laynce Nix TEX 34

AL RUNS BATTED IN
Laynce Nix TEX 115
Albert Pujols CHA 110
Vladimir Guerrero BAL 92

NL RUNS BATTED IN
Lance Berkman HOU 117
Willie mo Pena HOU 99
J.J. Davis COL 97

AL STOLEN BASES
CF Nook Logan BOS 55
CF Johnny Damon ANA 53
CF Carl Crawford TOR 38

NL STOLEN BASES
RF Anthony Webster WAS 54
2B Willie Harris MIL 43
CF Dave Krynzel MIL 42

PITCHING

NL WINS
Oscar Villarreal ARZ 13
Tyler Johnson PIT 13
Oscar Perez COL 13
Kevin Correia MIL 13
Frailyn Tejada FLA 13
Kris Benson LA 13

AL WINS
Billy Traber CLE 17
Jason Stumm CLE 16
Mark Prior NEV 16
Pedro Martinez TEX 16

NL ERA
Rafeal Soriano MIL 2.07
Ryan Vogelsong PIT 2.10
Oscar Villarreal ARZ 2.36

AL ERA
Billy Traber CLE 1.99
Mark Prior NEV 2.57
Jason Stumm CLE 2.73

AL STRIKEOUTS
Pedro Martinez TEX 227
Mark Prior NEV 223
Richard Salazar BAL 171

NL STRIKEOUTS
Brad Sullivan HOU 223
Macay McBride ATL 204
Kevin Correria MIL 189

NL SAVES
Paul Dunn COL 32
Alfredo Gonzales LA 30
Ugeth Urbina MIL 27

AL SAVES
Scott Williamson MIL 34
Jeff Zimmerman BAL 32
T.J. Tucker BOS 30

[Young Drachma]

SELIG TO STEP DOWN
Major League Baseball officials today have announced that Commissioner Bud Selig will end his tenure as baseball’s commissioner. Selig, who was once the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers (that is, back when they sucked) will be leaving to take a different job.

Meanwhile, the candidates to replace him include former US Secretary of State George Mitchell, former National League President Leonard Hamilton, former Minor League Baseball President Jimmie Lee Soloman among others. The owners have convened a committee that will whittle down the list, in order to select a candidate by the Winter Meetings in December.

[Young Drachma]

DEVIL RAYS FORCED TO MOVE TWO HOME DATES
The Devil Rays were forced to move games on September 1st and 2nd against the Baltimore Orioles to Legends Field, the Yankees minor league complex after a power malfunction left three stadium crew seriously injured. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this problem,” said Facilities Director Kurt Kennedy.

This was preceded by minor explosion in a concession stand after a hot dog maker caught on fire. While no fans were injured, several were hit with debris including shrapnel and processed hot dog carnage.

[Young Drachma]

BBR: TOP 10 CITIES THAT ARE READY FOR THE MAJORS
CHICAGO – The newly created BBR or Business of Baseball Review, a semi-monthly magazine that profiles the sport and the business surrounding it, have complied a list of ten potential expansion sites. Though there has been talk of expansion by any officials connected to Major League Baseball, the review said that “baseball is a fertile sport that could easily sustain more teams,” said Editor Adam McGraw.

The cities were ranked for population, economic growth prospects, entertainment competition, potential fan base and media market size. Previous reports have stated the NY Metropolitian area could sustain four teams and the report concurred, saying that the area could actually sustain two more teams, citing Brooklyn (1) and Northern New Jersey (4) in the top ten.

Other cities were: 2) Charlotte 3) Portland 5) Indianapolis 6) Boston 7) San Antonio 8) Mexico City 9) Davenport, IA 10) Vancouver

The report was met with skepticism by some. Boston Red Sox ownership scoffed at the notion the city would support another team. “The Red Sox have the hearts and minds of this faithful town and region. With a team in Hartford, New England fans are well satiated on the fix of baseball. We don’t need another team here.”

Portland was selected by the Oakland A’s as their destination of choice, pending the approval of the owners this winter. Brooklyn is also on the list of potential sites for a National League team that is mulling a move. With the proliferation of new stadiums, most teams have not considered seriously moving.

Thus, the only way to expand baseball to fertile markets like Mexico City is expansion. The players union supports expansion because of the created jobs, but again, ownership is mum. When a new commissioner is chosen, this will hasten the decision process.

[Young Drachma]

LEAGUE WEB SITE (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/)

Player cards were not uploaded to save time and web space, but everything else is.

To allow fans to get a better glimpse of league action, I’ve decided to create a league web site that will be updated at least twice a season, at mid-season and at the end for sure. There might be other updates as time permits and of course, the dynasty will remain here.

[Young Drachma]

SEPTEMBER STRETCH - Sept. 2, 2007
SILVERHAWKS PREPARE FOR THE STRETCH RUN
LAS VEGAS - The Silverhawks are gearing up for a run at the top. Just 11 games out in the AL West and still solidly in third place, the 'Hawks are going to see if some late-season callups can't provide a spark to the club.

"We want to be careful bringing up players that might detract from what we're doing. But in the past two seasons, we had kids come up here and make a real contribution. We're looking for that again," said Dark Cloud.

The team called up 1B Casey Kotchman who has been dubbed "First Baseman of the future". He hit .388 in 121 AAA At-bats. Originally from the Angels organization, the 24 year old is poised to be a star.

Will the 'Hawks be able to make it? There is an uphill climb, but we will see.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: SILVERHAWKS SPREE IS ILL-ADVISED
From the simulated edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 17, 2007
By Bob Batten

Does Dark Cloud have a clue? How does a team whose payroll last season was somewhere in the middle of baseball, go to the top five in baseball, then that team fails to compete? As he is always quick to point out, the Silverhawks have the best farm system in baseball - hands down. So, what's the deal with trying to rush the process to making this team good?

To get bodies in the seats, of course. He thinks we're too fickle to understand that an expansion team will have its bouts with losing, but that greener pastures are ahead.

Someone needs to let DC know that Nevada fans want no parts of one-hit wonders like Arizona, Anaheim or the flash in the pan Florida Marlins. We want a homegrown, talented team in the mold of the Yankees. Give us that and you'll have the fan base you're looking for.

As we're about to end another season, will this high priced Silverhawks team - that's worth its weight in silver - produce at least a winning record? It doesn't matter. Dark Cloud is spending this team into oblivion and the only way to stop it, is to go back to the Moneyball mode.

We will be there, but it takes time. Nothing less is acceptable to our fans.

[Young Drachma]

Do you agree with the columnist above? Is he dead on or do you think DC's strategy will pay dividends later?

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Silverhawks Team President Dark Cloud responded to criticism in the local press of late regarding the team faltering down the stretch, despite the fourth highest payroll in baseball. The Silverhawks ended their season 17 games behind AL West champion Texas and 8 games behind Wild Card winner Oakland.

"Look, we're in our third year and we're going to have our first winning season. We've got the fifth best record (84-78) in the American League. To put it in perspective for you, if we were in the NL, this team would've finished just a game out of the Wild Card. So, check out the difference" he said.

Dark Cloud said he was proud of the team for its progress and accomplishments including leading the majors for the second time in three years and finally relinquishing the title of worst pitching staff in baseball, though he admitted the team needed work in that area.

"We've always relied on home grown talent to build this team and we'll continue to do that. We play in altitude and as a consequence of youthful players and our surroundings, its going to take some time to adjust. But we're on the rise, not the decline," he said.

On the tune of whether he should've signed some of the veterans he has, such as Shawn Estes, who was later dealt among others, DC said this, "I was trying to do what I could to surround our players with talented veterans. That's how these kids will learn how to be poised. Did some of our deals fail? Sure. But what team doesn't absorb bad contracts at times? We've had a lot more hits than misses thus far, I'll tell you that."

[tucker342]

great stuff!:)

I'm reading

[Young Drachma]

Division Series:
Oakland (3) against Texas (1)
Cleveland (3) against Boston (0)
Chicago (N) (2) against Arizona (3)
Milwaukee (1) against Florida (3)
League Championship:
Oakland (4) against Cleveland (2)
Florida (4) against Arizona (3)
World Series:
Florida (4) against Oakland (2)
WINNER : Florida


Tuesday 10/30/2007: Arizona's Villarreal named Cy Young
Cleveland's lefty Billy Traber was untouchable all year long. His work paid off today as the American League named him the Cy Young winner! In 33 starts this year Billy struck out 202 batters in 250.2 innings of work. His ERA is 2.15, his record 21-6. Billy has pitched 4 shutouts and 5 complete games. He's 1st in the American League in ERA and 2nd in wins! Arizona's right-hander Oscar Villarreal was untouchable all year long. His work paid off today as the National League named him the Cy Young winner! This season Villarreal compiled an ERA of 2.26, going 17-6 in 31 starts. He fanned 203 while giving up 171 hits in 227 innings. He has 4 complete games and 3 shutouts. He's 2nd in the National League in ERA and 1st in wins!

Tuesday 10/30/2007: Nix (TEX) and Berkman (HOU) win League MVP
The 2007 American League League MVP winner has been announced. It's Texas' centerfielder Laynce Nix who really had a great offensive year. Laynce is hitting .315 this year, with 180 hits in 572 at bats. He has driven in 133 runs, slugging .589. He's 4th in the American League in batting, 3rd in homeruns and 2nd in RBI! The National League League MVP goes to Lance Berkman this year. He had an extraordinary season as well! Lance is hitting .313 this year, with 157 hits in 501 at bats. He has driven in 131 runs, slugging .639. He's 8th in the National League in batting, 3rd in homeruns and 1st in RBI!

Tuesday 10/30/2007: Florida's Akers named Rookie Of The Year
The 2007 American League Rookie Of The Year winner is from Texas this season. Ruperto Donato put together impressive numbers for a rookie en route to win the first major award of his career. Let's hope more will follow for this 22 year old ballplayer. His season numbers are: .284 AVG, 151 hits, 25 doubles, 5 triples and 22 longballs, along with 97 RBI and 90 runs scored. The 2007 National League Rookie Of The Year winner is from Florida this season. Phil Akers put together impressive numbers for a rookie en route to win the first major award of his career. Let's hope more will follow for this 25 year old ballplayer. Phil has a record of 11-9 this season, with an ERA of 2.53. In 181.1 Innings he was able to strike out 193 batters. He has 4 complete games and 4 shutouts.

[Young Drachma]

2007 FINAL STANDINGS
American League Standings

Eastern Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Boston 100 62 .617 - 96-66 4 48-33 52-29 7-3 23-18 * W1 6-4
New York (A) 83 79 .512 17.0 84-78 -1 40-41 43-38 9-7 27-20 - L1 4-6
Toronto 83 79 .512 17.0 81-81 2 40-41 43-38 9-8 27-24 - W1 8-2
Tampa Bay 82 80 .506 18.0 85-77 -3 45-36 37-44 9-5 23-20 - W2 5-5
Baltimore 81 81 .500 19.0 79-83 2 40-41 41-40 5-6 21-19 - W3 4-6
Hartford 64 98 .395 36.0 63-99 1 25-56 39-42 7-10 16-22 - W1 5-5

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Cleveland 95 67 .586 - 99-63 -4 51-30 44-37 4-11 20-20 * W3 5-5
Minnesota 80 82 .494 15.0 73-89 7 38-43 42-39 8-6 27-18 - L6 4-6
Detroit 79 83 .488 16.0 80-82 -1 41-40 38-43 2-4 20-21 - L1 5-5
Kansas City 75 87 .463 20.0 73-89 2 44-37 31-50 4-11 24-20 - L1 4-6
Chicago (A) 57 105 .352 38.0 66-96 -9 33-48 24-57 6-9 12-35 - W1 3-7

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Texas 101 61 .623 - 100-62 1 55-26 46-35 6-5 26-18 * W1 8-2
Oakland 92 70 .568 9.0 90-72 2 47-34 45-36 15-4 29-18 - L1 3-7
Nevada 84 78 .519 17.0 83-79 1 40-41 44-37 5-5 22-22 - L1 6-4
Anaheim 77 85 .475 24.0 80-82 -3 39-42 38-43 3-6 18-27 - L2 6-4
Seattle 71 91 .438 30.0 71-91 0 34-47 37-44 13-9 18-30 - L4 4-6

National League Standings

Eastern Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Florida 92 70 .568 - 97-65 -5 47-34 45-36 6-13 25-25 * W1 7-3
Atlanta 79 83 .488 13.0 82-80 -3 35-46 44-37 11-5 22-25 - W1 5-5
New York (N) 79 83 .488 13.0 79-83 0 39-42 40-41 14-11 25-28 - W1 3-7
Philadelphia 75 87 .463 17.0 78-84 -3 36-45 39-42 4-9 24-21 - L1 7-3
Washington 71 91 .438 21.0 71-91 0 40-41 31-50 4-10 25-28 - L3 1-9

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Milwaukee 88 75 .540 - 85-78 3 48-34 40-41 5-6 26-17 * W1 5-5
Chicago (N) 87 76 .534 1.0 83-80 4 41-40 46-36 6-4 29-20 - L1 4-6
Houston 82 80 .506 5.5 91-71 -9 37-44 45-36 6-11 25-28 - W2 4-6
St. Louis 81 81 .500 6.5 73-89 8 40-41 41-40 6-7 24-24 - W3 7-3
Pittsburgh 78 84 .481 9.5 80-82 -2 39-42 39-42 10-11 33-26 - L1 3-7
Cincinnati 66 96 .407 21.5 74-88 -8 31-50 35-46 9-5 18-34 - L1 4-6

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Arizona 93 69 .574 - 89-73 4 44-37 49-32 7-7 27-23 * W1 7-3
Colorado 85 77 .525 8.0 86-76 -1 47-34 38-43 5-9 27-31 - W3 8-2
Los Angeles 80 82 .494 13.0 76-86 4 41-40 39-42 13-6 25-28 - L2 5-5
San Francisco 77 85 .475 16.0 80-82 -3 43-38 34-47 10-9 27-26 - L3 4-6
San Diego 76 86 .469 17.0 67-95 9 44-37 32-49 9-5 23-22 - L1 8-2

[Young Drachma]

SILVERHAWKS SEASON IN REVIEW
SILVERHAWKS 2007 SEASON IN REVIEW

LAS VEGAS - The Silverhawks capped off their best season in their short history this year, with emerging home grown talents, mixed in with established veterans, making fans excited about a 2008 that might result in a playoff berth in just the fourth year of the team's existance.

But if it happens, Team President Dark Cloud will not be surprised, he'll just be satisfied since that was his goal. "Our goal was to make the playoffs before Year 5 and to become a regular contender at that time. We were contenders this season, so we're ahead of schedule," he said.

SS Josh Schwartz was named Team MVP this season, breaking the two-year run of 2B Jose Vidro, who had a great season. Schwartz, 22, established himself this season as an emerging talent on the scene, hitting .319/15/91 with 30 steals. "He's really making himself a star," said Manager Ryne Sandberg. Though, Schwartz needs to work on his defense, (26 errors this season, 25 last year), the Silverhawks are happy with his production at the plate. "He's just a kid and had little to no time in the minors. So, what he's doing is outstanding," said Dark Cloud.

With success comes overpaying players and Schwartz was signed to a 3 year extension worth $24 million. Vidro, 33, made his third consecutive All-Star game and registered his ninth straight season hitting above .300. "He's a real star and we're so glad that we managed to sign him," said Dark Cloud.

Other notables included LF Harold Clerk, who in his second full ML season, is turning into an offense force himself. He hit .287 with 27 homers and 98 RBI. But, he is eligible for arbitration this season. CF Joe Borchard, who was acquired mid-season finished the year with .277 with 27 homers and 97 RBI. He signed a 5 year extension worth $30 million.

On the pitching side of the house, the team wasn't worst in pitching. But, they were close. This is problematic, to be sure, but there was hope. Kurt Ainsworth, 29, went 17-7 with 222 strikeouts, both franchise records. "He's worth every penny," said Dark Cloud.

Mark Prior, who came over before the trade deadline excites many around the organization, after turning in a 17-6, 3.14 season with 268 strikeouts. He was 5-4 with 130 strikeouts since coming over to Nevada from the Cubs.

Scott Williamson had 14 saves in August and September as the team's closer and will enter next season in that role.

REVIEW
The team's first winning season (84-78) is progress indeed. Though salary is continuing to increase, the team is hoping that getting more fans in the seasons if the team is in a pennant race will justify the expenses.

We'll try to upgrade the pitching staff again this off-season, but ultimately, we're going to attempt to keep this core of players together and proceed from there.

[Young Drachma]

RF Vlad Guerrero ORIOLES
Three of his four years in Baltimore, he was an all-star. He hit 40+ homers three of the four years there. He's making $19m now, so I can only imagine what he'll go for this off-season.

SP Brandon Claussen YANKEES
He made his first all-star game this season and had a career high 16 wins. I could've acquired this handy lefty before the trade deadline, but I was concerned that he wouldn't be able to play in Nevada. So, who knows what we'll do. He'll probably command a pretty decent size salary.

3B Eric Hinske BLUE JAYS
He didn't make the All-Star team this year, after three straight years on the team. He also ended a streak of three straight 100+ RBI seasons. That will mean he'll command a little less on the open market, than he would've otherwise. Does that make him a viable option? Who knows....

SP Adam Wainwright ROYALS/BLUE JAYS
He's got 32 wins over the past two years. He was traded to the Jays before the deadline, but its unlikely he'll remain there. We're probably going to make a big push for his services, since he's a power pitcher (4 straight seasons over 150+ K) and we need a solid third starter. He shouldn't get into "major" free agent range.


2B Brandon Phillips DIAMONDBACKS
He'll be another target of ours. We need to upgrade at SS and if we sign him, we might move Josh Schwartz to another team, especially after signing him to that ill advised contract extension. Because of his numbers (30+ homers 3 out of the last four years) he'll probably near "major" free agent numbers if the computer teams with money decide to raise the price up, as they are want to do.

RF J.J. DAVIS ROCKIES
[I]What does a breakout season of 40+ homers at Coors get you? Most likely, a big contract. Davis, 29, is hardly a youngin and he's Jeffrey Hammonds waiting to happen. He hit 41 homers, but only had 115 RBI. That might be in part because no one else was there for him to knock in, but what's more telling is his home/road splits. At home, his batting average was .301 with 30 homers, on the road, he hit .225 with just 13 homers. But that's not going to stop someone, you can believe.

OTHER NOTABLES
SP Javier Vasquez, RANGERS/DODGERS (14-8, 3.55)
3B Chris Woodward WHALERS/PADRES (16 HRs/60 RBI)
SP Jimmy Journell CARDINALS (14-9, 4.49, 230K)

[Calis]

Wings of silver, nerves of steel...
Partly metal, partly real...
Soaring through the highway of the heavens in their flight...
SilverHawks, a rainbow in the night!

First thing that popped into my mind when I started reading this. Now you've got that song stuck in my head! It'll never get out. :p

Good read though, I've been on a baseball kick lately and have enjoyed following along.

[Young Drachma]

hehe...glad I could jog the memory for ya. I never knew the song, but was really upset when the show (well, that and Thundercats) weren't on the air anymore.

[Young Drachma]

SILVERHAWKS PLAN TO CUT SALARY
LAS VEGAS - With several big contracts on tap, the Silverhawks are planning to cut as much as $10 million from their current off-season payroll. Their projected payroll for 2008 is close to $100 million, which would be tops in the majors. Dark Cloud has said that number is "not acceptable."

So, the team considering deals that will cut payroll. "Simply put, we took on too many bad contracts in the "get rich quick" vein," said Dark Cloud. He said the team would be working on more financial discipline in absorbing bad contracts for players who have not always helped the club long term.

"We've been a little rash, which is understandable when you're trying to win. But we can't do that forever," he said.

[Young Drachma]

THE TRADES BEGIN
The Silverhawks dealt 3B Joe Crede to the Milwaukee Brewers for a minor league pitcher. (LH Manny Parra)
Crede was acquired last season from the Dodgers, with the hope he could provide some pop in the offense. But his salary is the only thing that's popped us up to this point.

[Young Drachma]

KANSAS CITY - The Kansas City Royals today acquired pitchers Eric Gagne, Simeon Merino and platoon player 3B Julian Benevedez from the Nevada Silverhawks for 3B Jared Sandberg, SP Jimmy Barthmeier and 2B Bobby Hill.

Gagne was the closer for the Silverhawks until mid-season of last year, when the team acquired Scott Williamson from the Cubs. Gagne will assume the closer role in KC and brings a fereocious arm to the mound. He has logged 100+ strikeouts four times in his career and had two 20+ save seasons with the Silverhawks. Merino, 24, was once rated one of the best propsects in Baseball America. He will likely get a shot to enter the Royals rotation in 2008, making him the third former Silverhawks farmhand pitcher to make the majors.

On the flip side, the cornerstone of the deal is 3B Jared Sandberg, who hit 35 homers last season with 89 RBI. He was in the first year of a five year deal worth $6.55 million per season with the Royals. Barthmeier is one of the top rated pitching prospects in the Royals organization. He was 9-10 with an ERA under 4.00 last season and had 136 strikeouts.

"We're delighted to acquire such talented players," said Dark Cloud after the deal was announced. "But, we're far from done," he said.

[Young Drachma]

OWNERS DISCUSS FRANCHISE RELOCATIONS
NEW ORLEANS - The baseball owners met in New Orleans this week for the Winter Meetings. Their first topic of dicussion was the notion of franchise relocations.

The last team to move was the Washington Senators to Texas after the 1971 season. Major League owners have little recourse other than to block the moves, after the passage of the "Baseball Bill" in Congress last year. Info on the bill, here (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/stories/2001-12-03-relocation.htm)

"We're going to be able to reject these flurry of moves, if they are not in the best interest of the game. But I can't see that in these cases," said Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

The Oakland A's have an official proposal to move to Portland, Oregon after next season. But one National League team has also submitted a bid to move, rumored to be the Florida Marlins. To exaspeate the situation, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are having stadium problems and have explored the legal ramifications of exiting their stadium lease.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Silverhawks have formed the Mountain Diamond Partnership with the NBA expansion Nevada Shox to create a local cable network, along with the World Cup of Poker Series sponsored by several local casinos.

"We do not sanction or support gambling. But it is a fact of life and we don't think anyone should be ashamed of it, so long as they're not gambling on us," said Dark Cloud of the deal. The team had to pay a $7 million penalty to FOX to exit the original TV deal signed during the club's first season.

The network will be called The Vegas Network. The network plans to show syndicated television shows, famous gambling movies and possibly, reality television shows centered around Las Vegas. "We're going to make this one of the best networks, not just about sports, but we want to expand our reach," said Dark Cloud, who will be the President of the Network.

The deal will be for three years and will start on a rising scale, based on the network's success. The present value of the deal is close to $50 million. "We're excited about this opportunity," said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

I figured that before the free agency period gets started, that you fans would want to know, how much money these teams have to spend on free agents this off-season:(just free agents, not extensions.. and the number is rounded)
(in millions)
BALTIMORE: $79.378
BOSTON: $95.688
HARTFORD: $87.324
YANKEES: $202.036
TAMPA: $66.506
TORONTO: $52.280
WHITE SOX: $53.455
CLEVELAND: $19.007
DETROIT: $45.137
KANSAS CITY: $40.196
MINNESOTA: $17.615
ANAHEIM: $48.521
NEVADA: $63.316
OAKLAND: $62.216
SEATTLE: $74.929
TEXAS: $36.096
ATLANTA: $40.526
FLORIDA: $68.945
METS: $71.637
PHILADELPHIA: $51.585
WASHINGTON: $66.784
CUBS: $146.262
CINCINNATI: $44.462
HOUSTON: $57.401
MILWAUKEE: $62.907
PITTSBURGH: $60.545
ST. LOUIS: $65.993
ARIZONA: $56.356
COLORADO: $46.036
LOS ANGELES: $55.146
SAN DIEGO: $48.000
SAN FRANCISCO: $48.838

[Young Drachma]

WHO HAS ROOM TO SPEND? WHAT TEAMS ARE GETTING UP THERE?
1 Texas $87,901,600
2 Nevada $86,933,500
3 Boston $81,205,700
4 Los Angeles $67,514,115
5 Colorado $65,150,086
6 Anaheim $62,904,643
7 Philadelphia $60,405,910
8 New York (A) $60,181,043
9 Chicago (N) $59,297,043
10 San Francisco $59,203,271
11 Atlanta $58,810,586
12 Kansas City $56,971,972
13 Cincinnati $56,451,357
14 Chicago (A) $55,633,844
15 Toronto $53,403,015
16 Arizona $52,315,843
17 Houston $51,550,215
18 New York (N) $49,356,515
19 Florida $47,479,015
20 Washington $46,925,086
21 Pittsburgh $44,151,229
22 Hartford $43,395,714
23 Oakland $42,876,771
24 Milwaukee $41,965,086
25 Cleveland $41,209,787
26 San Diego $40,067,372
27 Seattle $38,489,200
28 Detroit $37,762,457
29 St. Louis $37,395,243
30 Tampa Bay $30,972,300
31 Minnesota $29,458,843
32 Baltimore $28,980,485

[Young Drachma]

The World Series champion Florida Marlins hired John McClaren as their new manager today. McClaren has spent over a decade working on the staff of Lou Pinella in his stops in Cincinnati, Seattle and most recently, Tampa.

The Nevada Silverhawks dismissed manager Ryne Sandberg today. Sandberg was the first manager in franchise history and led the team to their first winning season this year. His career record with the team was 206-273.

Dark Cloud said the team would be considering other candidates and should make a decision in the next week or two.

Other new managers around the league include the Mets, who hired former closer and NY native John Franco as their manager. The Hartford Knights hired former White Sox manager Jerry Manuel as their new manager.

[Young Drachma]

BROOKLYN - Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria wants to return baseball back to Brooklyn, NY. As expected the owner of the World Champs wants to take the team out of its South Florida home, after "tiring" over the rankling for a new stadium.

Loria bought the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones three years ago, but few batted an eyelash when he did so. Their home, Keyspan Park would be expanded and prepared for a major league team and the minor league club would likely move - to Florida.

"We want to return baseball to this mecca. Baseball belongs in Brooklyn and this time, to stay," said Loria. The Marlins are approaching their fifthteenth anniversary and have won three World Series titles, the most of any expansion franchise in Major League history.

"We want this team to be the franchise for the next generation of Brooklynites," he said. Many of the fans of the area said they were "thrilled" at the news, especially since the team was good. The area got the Brooklyn Nets NBA team from New Jersey last year, so this would be the crowning jewel.

The move would be official in 2009. Their lease in Miami ends next season and the renovations to the stadium would be completed in 2010, but the team will be able to play at Shea Stadium in Queens until the stadium is completed.

The Mets new stadium, Chase Manhattan Stadium will be completed in 2010. MLB owners are expected to approve the move this week, along with the move of the Oakland Athletics to Portland, Oregon.

[Young Drachma]

SALE OF MINNESOTA TWINS APPROVED
NEW ORLEANS - The sale of the Minnesota Twins to a group headed by NBA great Magic Johnson and MLB Hall of Famer Paul Molitor was approved today. Molitor will be Team President, while Johnson joins baseball as the first African-American owner. "We're delighted to have Mr. Johnson among us," said Angels owner Artie Moreno, who was baseball's first minority owner.

This means ground will break in the spring on the team's new downtown stadium called 3M Ballpark. The naming rights deal was worth $20 million over 10 years.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Silverhawks, preparing for what was promised to be a busy off-season made their first major acquisition yesterday, inking SP Adam Wainwright to a six year deal worth $72 million. Wainwright, 26, split last season between Kansas City and Toronto and was tenth in the majors in wins and 4th in ERA. He was 14-5 with a 2.96 ERA with 166 strikeouts.

“We’re delighted to get a top light starter like Adam to join our already developing staff,” said Dark Cloud.

The team dealt OF Ichiro Suzuki back to the Yankees for a minor leaguer and acquired a minor leaguer from the LA Dodgers for MRs Harry Gilmore and Damaso Marte.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS – Ushering in a “new era” in Silverhawks baseball, Dark Cloud today hired former Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston as the club’s manager. Gaston led the Jays of the late 1980s and early 1990s to four division titles in five years and two World Series titles, arguably the most successful stretch of any team in recent memory, until the Yankees of the late 1990s and 2000s.

“I think it’s a real commentary that a man of his caliber didn’t get a job until now. But I’m delighted that we had the opportunity to bring him here,” said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

YANKEES: CF Rocco Baldelli $24 million/5 years
SAN FRANCISCO: CF Andruw Jones $23 million/3 years
MILWAUKEE: 2B Brandon Phillips $32.94/4 years
BALTIMORE: C J.D. Closser $18m/3 years

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Silverhawks signed perennial All-Star and future Canadian Hall of Famer Larry Walker to a 1 year deal worth $7 million. Walker will star in Right Field, but will also play time at DH throughout the season and gives the team depth.

The ‘hawks also signed 2B Sean Burroughs to a four year deal worth $11.2 million. “The Silverhawks are putting themselves in a position to win,” said Burroughs. “I’m excited to join this club,” he said. Burroughs will compete for the second base job and will see time at third.

[Young Drachma]

TORONTO – Blue Jays 3B Eric Hinske was on the Silverhawks target list this off-season. But after making their latest offer of close to $12 million per year for seven years, the Hawks cut off talks. “We believe we have made a fair offer to a player of his caliber,” said Dark Cloud. With the team’s salary already close to bloating over $100 million, Dark Cloud said he’s taking a very cautious approach to spending more on players who might have marginal influence on the team. “We’ve lacked depth over the years and I’d like to alleviate that with our signings this off-season. But we want to be careful not to tie ourselves too much with players that can’t help us or that we can’t shed if things fail to work out,” he said.


Hinske is considering an offer from the Washington Spirit, as well as deals from Hartford, Toronto and the Yankees. He hit .277 last season with 27 homers and 88 RBI, ending a streak of five straight 100+ RBI seasons.

[Young Drachma]

The Texas Rangers, who have led baseball with the largest payroll over the past several years are courting free agent outfield Vlad Guerrero. After four outstanding years with Baltimore, he is looking to improve on a deal that paid him $19.75 million per season and the Rangers might just do it, despite already having big contracts with Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez among others on their roster. The Rangers won 100 games last year, but lost in the playoffs. Owner Tom Hicks wants to change that, with fan interest at an all-time high. Baltimore, Boston and the Yankees have all made offers to Guerrero and are considered in the running.

The Florida Marlins are putting in a pitch for SP Javier Vasquez. The 31 year old starter split time last season in Texas and Los Angeles, going 14-8 with a 3.55 ERA. The defending champs are fighting to beat out the wallets of Hartford, the White Sox and Angels among others.

The Knights of Hartford are putting in another big pitch for OF Austin Kearns. Kearns, 27, spent the last 2 ½ seasons in Milwaukee and is considering deals from Toronto among others. He hit 24 homers with 73 RBIs last season.

[Young Drachma]

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS THIS OFFSEASON
ST LOUIS SP Brandon Claussen 3 yrs/16.8 mil
NY METS SP Ismael Valdes 3 yrs/12 mil
NY METS 3B Eric Hinske 7 yrs/$109.2 mil
KANSAS CITY: RF Austin Kearns 4 yrs/$43.4 mil
TAMPA BAY: RF Vlad Guerrero 4 yrs/$83.22 mil
ANAHEIM: CF Alex Escobar 3 yrs/$32.53 mil
FLORIDA: SP Javier Vasquez 4 yrs/$44.6 mil

[Young Drachma]

The baseball owners hired former National League President Leonard Hamilton as the next Commissioner of baseball. Hamilton came up with the idea to retire Jackie Robinson’s #42 on every major league, a move that was replicated in hockey for Wayne Gretzky.

The owners approved the Oakland A’s proposal to move to Portland, Oregon beginning at the end of the 2008 season. “We’re appreciative that the owners could see that this move was beneficial for our club and baseball as a whole,” said A’s owner Steve Schott.

The defending World Series champion Florida Marlins are also on the move, returning National League baseball to Brooklyn, NY for the first time since the Dodgers moved in the 1950s. The team will play at an expanded Keyspan Park and the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league club will relocate. The team will play temporarily at Shea Stadium in 2009, before moving to their new park in 2010. The Mets will build a new ballpark, tentatively named Chase Manhattan Field, construction will begin in 2009.

The Yankees are considering plans for a new home ballpark, as are the Boston Red Sox, who have a tentative agreement for a new ballpark in Roxbury, much to the dismay of many of their fans, who wanted the park to be located at its current home. “Fenway Park is a landmark. A first-class ballclub needs a first class ballpark,” said owner John Henry.

[Young Drachma]

1 Nevada $112,008,043
2 Texas $107,754,000
3 Boston $103,253,100
4 Kansas City $87,021,572
5 Anaheim $85,816,843
6 Los Angeles $82,136,215
7 Colorado $81,631,386
8 Chicago (N) $75,459,443
9 Arizona $74,670,743
10 New York (N) $74,237,415
11 Cincinnati $72,945,557
12 New York (A) $72,778,215
13 Pittsburgh $68,104,029
14 Atlanta $67,862,986
15 San Francisco $67,852,071
16 Tampa Bay $65,392,600
17 Florida $63,713,315
18 Philadelphia $63,375,910
19 Chicago (A) $62,167,044
20 Toronto $60,018,215
21 Milwaukee $57,183,186
22 Baltimore $55,982,185
23 Cleveland $54,934,715
24 Washington $54,462,386
25 Houston $52,954,915
26 San Diego $51,899,772
27 St. Louis $48,664,843
28 Detroit $48,369,514
29 Minnesota $48,005,043
30 Oakland $46,339,471
31 Seattle $46,197,500
32 Hartford $44,247,014

HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS

# Pos Name Team Salary
1 RF Vladimir Guerrero
TB $20,803,300
2 P Kurt Ainsworth
NEV $20,000,000
3 P Pedro Martinez
TEX $18,690,000
4 LF Albert Pujols
CHA $17,860,000
5 SS Alex Rodriguez
BOS $17,188,500
6 P Barry Zito
BOS $16,900,000
7 3B Eric Hinske
NYN $15,650,000
8 RF Adam Dunn
NEV $15,000,000
9 P Josh Fogg
TOR $14,420,000
10 2B Ramon Castro
KC $13,270,000
11 SS Derek Jeter
NYA $13,230,000
12 P Odalis Perez
COL $13,108,400
13 LF Manny Ramirez
TEX $13,090,000
14 P Rafael Soriano
ARZ $13,082,800
15 LF Brian Giles
PIT $12,514,800
16 P Johan A. Santana
SFN $12,426,800
17 1B Carlos Delgado
TOR $12,410,000
18 P Adam Wainwright
NEV $12,000,000
19 1B Jason Giambi
NYA $11,200,000
20 P Mark Prior
NEV $11,000,000
21 SS Miguel Tejada
ARZ $10,951,700
22 RF Austin Kearns
KC $10,847,500
23 CF Alex Escobar
ANA $10,841,600
24 RF Shawn Green
LA $10,460,000
25 LF Chipper Jones
CIN $10,379,400

[Young Drachma]

So, the title of this dynasty might seem ill named. After all, Moneyball was named after the small market Oakland A’s and the Silverhawks are a high flying bunch of free spenders. But here’s the deal. The Silverhawks are beginning to model themselves after another team that developed itself through its farm system, while augmenting their roster with free agents. That’s right, we’re modeling ourselves – inadvertently – after the Atlanta Braves.

What we’re running into now is a situation where we have so many prospects who are about to develop and are ready or almost ready for the majors, that I’m not really sure the direction we’re headed. On one token, we can deal players and get even younger prospects who might be ready someday. Or we can keep the guys in the minors for a little while longer, before brining up players and dealing the expensive vets we’ve signed. There are myriad ideas that we haven’t quite figured out yet, but…just realize that we’ve still managed to produce more than a few prospects in this going into our fourth year of existence.

[Young Drachma]

Will the Hawks be high flyers or will the team sputter into the place where rich teams go to die? The Silverhawks have one of the best rotations on paper in baseball, not to mention one of the most potential offenses. But the question will be, can the pitching hold up in Vegas?

[Young Drachma]

The Silverhawks are off to a slow start. The offense simply isn’t getting off the ground. As of May 15th, the team was 11 games under .500. “We’re sputtering and so, you can expect that we’ll make some changes,” said Dark Cloud.

The team’s pitching staff is having problems getting wins and the team is considering dealing a top starter. “I’m not sure we can afford to play an entire season with a payroll this high and lose games. I think the team will develop as time goes on, we just have to find the right formula and its evident we haven’t got it yet,” he added.

[Young Drachma]

The Yankees have been wheeling and dealing. They sent CF Mike Cameron (.223/16/54 in 471 ABs last season) to Atlanta for SP Colby Lewis and 2 minor leaguers. Lewis was 12-5 last year in 22 starts. This season, he started off really slowly, going 1-3 with a 9.39 ERA in four starts.

The Yanks then dealt their longtime captain and starting SS Derek Jeter (.268/15/68 in 447 ABs last season) to Houston for two minor league prospects. Jeter, 33, is making over $13 million this year and has two years left on his contract. He’s only been in one All-Star game since the 2003, but has maintained a career batting average over .300.

[Young Drachma]

The Silverhawks have made a flurry of deals after starting the season with the highest payroll in baseball, but with little else to show for it.

The Hawks sent CF Joe Borchard (.277/22/97 last season) to Florida for 1B Mike Sweeney (.243/24/83 last year)
They acquired 3B Matt Holliday (.301/27/94 last season), 28, who made his first all-star game last year for three players, 3B Jared Sandberg (.258/31/85 last season), SP Nick Touchstone (11-8, 4.15 last season) and a minor leaguer.
The team then sent P Shawn Sedlacek to Milwaukee for P Brad Lidge

[Young Drachma]

The highest paid pitcher in baseball is going north. The Nevada Silverhawks today sent their ace SP Kurt Ainsworth along with a minor leaguer to the Toronto Blue Jays for SP Roy Halladay and SP Francisco Rosario, both who are free agents at the end of this season and neither of which has been signed yet.

Ainsworth is having a horrible start to the season, going 0-3 with a 10.50 ERA so far this season. The Jays are 24-15, in third and 2.5 GB in the AL East.
The Silverhawks meanwhile are flying south a little too early, as they are 13-23, in fourth place and 13.5 games out in the AL West.

The deal will save the Silverhawks close to $7 million this year, moving the Silverhawks to third in ML Salary.

The team then dealt 3B Matt Holliday to Texas for 3B Mark Texieria and a minor leaguer. Texieria is signed until 2010, while Holliday was one of many Silverhawks who was a free agent at the end of this season.

[Young Drachma]

May 17, 2008 - The Las Vegas Sun
SOMEBODY THROW DC A LIFE PRESERVER
by Bob Virdsky
Now look, I realize that Nevada would not have Major League Baseball, if Dark Cloud hadn't come here to convince MLB that local business, tourists and the like could support baseball in the smallest market in the game. We can also thank him for helping convince the NBA to bring a team here after the Silverhawks proved the market was viable.

We now have a team many envy. Our ownership group spends money freely, we play in one of baseball's best new ballparks and though we're experiencing some growing pains, things are okay in the place becoming affectionately known as "Hawk Country."

But they guy has to realize his own limits. Maybe the work of building a franchise over the years has him tired, making him think irrationally. Have you seen the players they've signed over the past few years? Washed up major leaguers, who he quickly scuttles for nothing. Now, we have the third highest payroll in baseball, our team is in the worst funk we've seen them in and what does he do? Trade our best player because he had a slump.

How many teams trade 17-game winners at the drop of a hat? They don't! Dark Cloud needs to hire a seasoned General Manager to ensure this team can realize its full potential. Look at some of our talent around the league developing.

R.J. Swindle, the guy who supposed to be OUR Roger Clemens, is now pitching for the Chicago Cubs. He's finally coming into his own, 5-2 with a 1.95 ERA in eight starts. Tetsuya Yamaguchi, the Japanese sensation that we gave a long-term deal to? Yup, in Chicago too, where batters are hitting a microscopic .195 off of him.

At 26, Nick Touchstone was just beginning to find himself as a premier starter. And he'll find himself on Lake Erie, playing for the Cleveland Indians. Those are three young kids with front-line starting potential we've scuttled in just the past few years.

All he needs is someone to relax his trigger finger. Tell him to calm down! We're going places, but if he trades off all of our talent, we're going to stop looking like an organization in the Braves model and look more like the Diamondbacks or worse, Montreal Expos (Remember them?) who sell off all their high price talent, only to take on bad contracts.

With record-high levels of attendance projected this year (over 4.1 million), the 'Hawks management better realize that Honeymoons are meant to end and if this team can't win or hold onto players that might someday help it win, it will be over faster than anyone realizes.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Silvehawks dealt their ace Kurt Ainsworth after a slow start, but despite appearances, Team President Dark Cloud said the team's most recent flurry of deals was aimed at making the club better, not a sign of an iminent fire sale.

"Look, we're off to a slow start. I've seen teams start slow, get hot and cruise to the title. So, I'm hardly worried. But I did have high expectations for this club. I think we all did. So when things started off slowly, we were obviously disappointed and sought to make changes to improve ourselves. Despite the talent we lost, I believe we've done that."

The talent acquired includes current AL ERA leader SP Francisco Rosario. Rosario, 27, won 16 games two years ago for the Toronto Blue Jays, but had an off-year last season going 11-12 with 4.37 ERA. So far this season, righthanded batters are hitting just .140 off him in 121 ABs and he's 5-0. But that was playing for the streaking Jays who are in contention. What about for the sputting Silverhawks.

"There is a lot of good players here. I just want to fit in and help them get where we want to be," said Rosario.

Halladay, 31, is a former Cy Young winner coming off a rough year last season too. He was selected to the All-Star game in 2004 and 2005 and had seasons of 18 and 17 wins respectively in those years. He turned up a 22 win season in 2006, second in the majors, notching close to 200 strikeouts and his 3.59 ERA was good for tenth in the majors. But last year, he had 16 losses, 6th worst in the majors.

"We had a rough go of it last year, but I'm confident I've got my good stuff back. I think a change of scenery could benefit me too. This place should be fun," said Halladay.

Rosario, Halladay, Hawks closer Scott Williamson and second baseman Jose Vidro are among the players who are eligible to be free agents at the end of the season for the Silverhawks. Dark Cloud has yet to discuss who will stay or go, but indications are that the club will try to sign Rosario or Halladay. The thought is that Williamson will be out of the team's price range if he can replicate a career high 38 saves last season, 3rd most in the majors.

Vidro, 33, was the first major free agent signed by the then-expansion Silverhawks. He's made three all-star teams and has a cumulative batting average of close to .350 as a Silverhawk. But insiders say the team is contemplating letting him go and moving SS German Sachs, who was acquired from Detroit in the off-season and is arbitration eligible move to his natural position at second base and acquiring a more potent offensive player at short.

[Young Drachma]

Major League Baseball (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/)


The league web site has been updated for May 17, 2008. No player cards, tho.

[Young Drachma]

The 'Hawks Nest Online (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/nevada/)

LAS VEGAS - The Nevada Silverhawks unveiled their new team web site today, called "The Hawks Nest Online."

"We wanted our fans to have a place where they could always keep up with the team that was far better looking than our old web presence, which was seemingly invisible," said Jerren Schwartz, the team's Web "Hired Gun" (actual title). Schwartz's brother Josh played in the Silverhawks organization before being dealt to the Mets earlier this year.

The team also unveiled its new logo today. The logo was designed by BigDVT Media Design. "We're proud to have such a prestigious company offer their services to the Silverhawks organization," said Team President Dark Cloud.

The site also unveiled the team's new marketing campaign, "'HAWKS ROCK!" Though the team isn't rocking much these days, sitting in third well out of first place, Dark Cloud said its just something they're dealing with. "Look, we're in the best division in baseball hands down and have been for the past few years. We're not only holding our own, but competing. We have these players - many of them - locked in for a few years. We're not going anywhere, while our opponents aren't able to say that. Just give us time, we'll be there."

http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/nevada/nevadasilverhawks_small.jpg Silverhawks Logo

http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/nevada/hawksrock.gif 'HAWKS ROCK campaign logo

[Young Drachma]

Chicago White Sox slugger Albert Pujols is having a year out of this world. He leads the AL in Homers, RBI, Batting Average and OPS. Perhaps its no surprise that the White Sox lead the AL Central, a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals.

"He's really a monster out there," said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. The team was not expected to do this well, after losing over 100 games last year. They only made one major signing, picking up former Dodger Alfredo Gonzalez as their closer. He had 38 saves last year in LA, but is well on pace to shatter that this season. He already has 24 saves this season with the All-Star break two weeks away.

The team is tied for fourth in the majors with 138 HRs. But if the pitching doesn't improve - 30th in the league with a 4.55 ERA - then who knows what will happen to this team. "We're gonna fight hard," said Guillen.
Pujols player card (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/www/nevada/players/p466.html)

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS -- The Nevada Silverhawks had eight players named to the American League All-Star Team. The AL All-Star team will take on the National League squad at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles July 15th, 2004 at 7pm PST. 'Hawks starter Roy Halladay was selected for this third career All-Star game and first since 2005. Roy is 10-6 with a 3.15 ERA. He has 111 strikeouts and just 35 walks in 140 innings pitched.
The 'Hawks infield will be well-represented in LA as second baseman Jose Vidro was picked for his fourth straight All-Star game and fifth overall appearance. Vidro, 33, has been an All-Star each of his four seasons in Nevada. He is hitting .302 with 11 homers and 44 RBI so far this season. His batting average is good for third in the AL. Shortstop German Sachs will make his second straight appearance at the midsummer classic. He joined the Silverhawks in the off-season, after being traded from the Detroit Tigers. Sachs, 28, is hitting .270 with 22 homers and a league-leading 77 RBI. "He's really exceeded our expectations with his bat," said Team President Dark Cloud. Rounding out the Silverhawks All-Star delegation is another new member of the team, is Third baseman Mark Texieria. Texieria, 27, is a first-time selection to the game. He's hitting .253 with 23 homers so far this year.
"We're happy with our players and appreciate that the rest of the league have noticed that we've got something good going here in Nevada," said manager Cito Gaston.

"We're happy with our players and appreciate that the rest of the league have noticed that we've got something good going here in Nevada," said manager Cito Gaston. In addition, former Silverhawks minor leaguer and now Chicago Cubs ace R.J. Swindle will be the starter for the National League team. Swindle is 11-4 with a 2.26 ERA. "We're proud of his success," said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

AL EAST
The surging NY YANKEES are just a half game out of first, behind the RED SOX, who lost six out of their last ten prior to the All-Star break. The Yanks surge is in no small part thanks to three pitchers. Billy Traber, who was acquired in the off-season from the Indians, is following up a 21-win season with an 8-4 record and a 2.17 ERA. Meanwhile, 27-year old Manuel Acosta is having his first winning season of his three year career. He's currently 8-6 with a 3.45 ERA and 90 strikeouts.

The real surprise is 34 year old starter Russ Ortiz, who has languished in anonmity on the Yanks over the past few seasons and only started one game last year. He's 8-5 with a 4.21 ERA.

Baltimore is third, but with off-season signee Jake Peavy is second in the league with 11 wins. Third year player Richard Salazar is second in the league with 143 strikeouts.

AL CENTRAL
The ROYALS are working hard to keep the White Sox behind them. The Sox are just a game and a half out. The Royals have finished second the last two years, but with arrivals like Eric Gagne who has a 1.44 ERA and 16 saves so far this season, the team is looking to go all the way this time. The Royals also acquired 2B Ramon Castro who was an All-Star last year with the Pirates. He's showing little sign of slowing down, with a .263 batting average 14 homers and 51 RBI.

The Sox are being propelled by the bat of Triple Crown leader Albert Pujols whose exploits have been well documented.

AL WEST
The two reasons the Silverhawks get no love are the RANGERS and OAKLAND A'S who are apparently making the most of their last season in Oakland. The Rangers are just a half game ahead of Wild Card leading Oakland for the division lead. The teams have the #1 and #2 best records in baseball this season. The A's are propelled by the 2nd best team ERA in baseball. Oakland pitchers are 2nd, 3rd and 4th in AL ERA. Mark Mulder is gearing up for free agency with a 8-4 record and a 2.18 ERA. Chad Harville is 8-4 with a 2.21 ERA and Adam Johnson is 8-6 with a 2.23 ERA. Each of the three pitchers has an OBA under .200.

The Rangers Pedro Martinez is 27 wins shy of 300. He's 8-6 this season. The Rangers lineup features a laundry list of stars. 3B Matt Holliday, SS Nomar Garciaparra, RF Manny Ramirez, CF Laynce Nix with only Ramirez pending as a free agent this year, who knows if the team with the largest payroll in baseball will slow down anytime soon.

[Young Drachma]

NL EAST
Boy, what an awful division. The division leaders are the sub-.500 Washington Spirit who are tied with the BRAVES both a game under .500. The NY METS are just a game and a half out.

NL CENTRAL
The CUBS are soaring clawing towards the post season, with a 5 1/2 game lead over the BREWERS and 6 games ahead of the ASTROS

The Cubs are led by surging ace R.J. Swindle who is tied for the league lead in wins with 11. He has a 2.26 ERA and 101 strikeouts in his second full major league season. The Cubs are fifth in the league with a 3.17 ERA.

NL WEST
There is a logjam near the top of the standings. The ROCKIES have a 2 game lead over the GIANTS and a 3.5 game lead over the DIAMONDBACKS and DODGERS. D-Backs ace Oscar Villarreal is tied with R.J. Swindle with 11 wins. The Rockies closer Paul Dunn made his second straight All-Star appearance this season and leads the league with 27 saves.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Nevada Silverhawks had a "horrible" first half, by the admission of their manager Cito Gaston. Some fans have even suggested that had former manager Ryne Sandberg stayed on, the team would be in better shape right now.

"Cito is a proven winner. No doubt about it. We believe that he'll get the job done, so there is no need to second guess us there," said Dark Cloud. Sandberg took a job with the Chicago Cubs as a roving minor league instructor after leaving the club.

The Silverhawks are hoping a hot streak will propel them into the top of the standings in the AL West, where two of the three best teams in baseball reside. "We're in a tough place, but we can't let that bother us. We're spending a lot of money right now on a team that's just mediocre. That's not going to be acceptable for much longer," said Dark Cloud, who hinted that it wouldn't be out of the question for the team to retool before the trade deadline. "We're going to do whatever is best for the club and securing our future," he added.

[Young Drachma]

I have to admit that I didn't really expect the spending spree to backfire this badly. Now, I'm having a problem. I don't want to get rid of everyone, nor do I want to keep players who are underproducing on the roster, when I can get someone more valuable or that could be better for us.

So....the dilemma now is to figure out what we ought to do. It's important to ponder, because if this was real life, we'd be wondering what to do. This team has a lot of potential, with players coming up, but moves we make now will impact where the team goes in the future.

I'm not opposed to taking on more salary if its necessary, though I'm a little leery of doing that too. It'll be an interesting time, but just so you know, this is one of those situations where you have to really think hard and not make hasty moves.

But its likely that I will. What can you do?

[Young Drachma]

HEY, YOU ALL READING THIS DYNASTY CAN NEVER ACCUSE ME OF KEEPING THINGS DULL...I'D LIKE SOME FEEDBACK ON THIS DEAL, PLEASE?

It’s not often a team deals three-fifths of their starting rotation away. But its not often that part of your rotation was worth over $30 million. The Silverhawks, Astros and Rockies all swapped players in a 10-player deal today.

The Silverhawks acquire Astros SP Kyle Sleeth, 25, who is 7-5 with a 2.52 ERA so far this season. The team also acquires Rockies 1B Todd Helton, 34, a five-time all-star with 365 career homers in his 11-year major league career. The Silverhawks also acquired Rockies SP Odalis Perez, 30, who has won at least 15 games each of the last four seasons.

The Rockies acquired Colorado native SP Roy Halladay, who signed an 6-year $52.5 million extension with the team, which was the critical part of the deal happening. The Rockies also acquired SP Mark Prior, who was dealt from the Chicago Cubs to Nevada before last season’s deadline.

The Astros sent closer Billy Wagner to the Rockies for SP Adam Wainwright and two minor leaguers. The Rockies closer Paul Dunn leads the NL in saves, but Wagner, who is a free agent at the end of the season, gives the Rockies even more bullpen depth.

“This deal really helps each of these teams. It’s not everyday that you’re able to acquire a #1 starter,” said Astros owner Drayton McLane. The financial terms of the deal were about even for Colorado and Nevada. Helton is schedule to make over $10 million until 2011, while Prior and Halladay make close to $18 million between the two of them. Perez makes about $13 million, but at the end of the day, about $3 million wouldn’t stop a deal like this from happening.

“This was too good a deal to pass up. It helps everyone. Not just now, but in the future. We acquired two top prospects from the Rockies that should fit into our immediate future plans,” said Dark Cloud, who said the trade was not a sign to Silverhawks fans that the team was giving up the rest of the season.

“We’re obviously underachieving now. And if this is what it takes to spark our club, then so be it. We really acquired some great players,” he said.


[I]The team's web sites are availible via the Silverhawks web site
HERE (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/nevada/). Go to League Standings and click on the teams. The players dealt are still on their old teams, so you can see the stats for the ones not listed. If you're really curious. (Not player cards, just stats).

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - As the season winds down and the 'Hawks continue to see the attendance numbers rise to a projected 4 million fans this season, the Silverhawks are seeing that a mid-season trade aimed to provide a spark to the Hawks has done nothing but.

SP Odalis Perez has been downright awful since coming to Vegas. He's gone 1-6 with a 7.71 ERA in the past two months. He's been so bad that manager Cito Gaston moved him out of the rotation and into the bullpen, making him quite possibly the first $13 million reliever in history.

"We're not happy with how he's adjusted. But he's continuing to work hard and that's all we can ask," said Dark Cloud. In reality, reports have said Perez has clashed with Silverhawks management and has demanded a trade. Dark Cloud wouldn't comment on that speculation.

The team will use the last month of the season to evaluate prospects who might be able to contribute next season and figuring out where to go from here. Most indications are that the team will shed as much as $20 million in payroll at the end of the season, as the ownership is furious over the team's inability to perform.

"Look, when Oakland is in your division and they're only spending $46 million, but can cruise to the division title past you and Texas - who is outspending everybody, its obviously not about the money," said one AL insider.

[Young Drachma]

SPORTS RADIO 1460

[b]BULLDOG: WELCOME TO SCOTT AND THE BULLDOG! THIS SEGMENT, WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THOSE PESKY SILVERHAWKS, WHO ALL THEY SEEM TO BE DOING IS DROPPING BIRD POOP ON THE CITY

SCOTT: Dark Cloud has a plan. Let him see it through!

BULLDOG: What's his plan? To raid the corporate sponsors and fleece the fans while we signs big contracts the team ultimately can't afford?! We're not gonna be the Diamondbacks here!

SCOTT: Let's see what the callers think. You're on the air with Scott and the Bulldog!

CALLER #1 Hey, look. I think the team isn't that bad. It's only their third ear. You want to look at other expansion teams that could say that they were doing okay at this point.

SCOTT: Well, it's their FOURTH YEAR buddy, whaddya say to that?!

CALLER #1: I think Dark Cloud is gonna figure it out. He's got the right pattern going. We'll lose a few money guys this year and maybe the owner has it right with them dealing some of those money guys away. We've had the best farm system in the major since the team came out.

BULLDOG: Yeah, whatever. Next caller.

CALLER #2: (female voice) Hi Bulldog. I saw you at the Slam (Vegas' NBA team) game the other night. You sure are a sexy guy!

BULLDOG: Honey, flattery will get you everywhere!

SCOTT: Okay caller, what do you think of the 'Hawks?

CALLER #2: I think they stink. Sure, they're gonna finish over .500 this year. But does that really matter? I think we should sue for malpractice! I mean, Dark Cloud promised us a contender and this team has done nothing but underachieve all year. Then he deals away some of our best players!

He's a crack pot. The owners need to fire this loser!

BULLDOG: Well, that loser is the owner. He's Team President and leads the partnership that owns the ballclub. So, he's probably not going anywhere.

SCOTT: Next caller!

CALLER #3: What kinda name is Dark Cloud anyway? Is he some sort of rapper or sumthin? I mean, why can't he have a normal name like Ronald or something?

BULLDOG: PEOPLE! FOR GOODNESS SAKES! TALK ABOUT THE TEAM!

SCOTT: Okay, last caller!

CALLER #4: I really think this team has a shot to surprise people next year. After all, its not like Dark Cloud went out there and overpaid for talent that wasn't that good. Especially when they were having trouble getting players to come here before. Look, the 'Hawks are gonna have another winning season. That means, we'll be able to compete for free agents and players are going to check us out as a destination, rather than a losing club in a distracting city.

I think the team is fine, though I was pissed when they traded Prior and I really miss R.J. Swindle. Did you see him in the All-Star game?!

BULLDOG: Hate to break it to ya buddy, but R.J. ain't doin' so hot these days. He's 4-7 since the All-Star break, with an ERA around 3.50.

SCOTT: Yeah, but he's got 27 Quality Starts. The damn Cubs offense isn't giving the guy production to win games. Wonder if he'll want to get out of there?!

BULLDOG: They won't trade him. He's too good. He's stuck for now. What about other guys they've got rid of?

SCOTT: Well, Kurt Ainsworth threw a no-hitter with Toronto and was scoring with an ERA under 2.00 in July and August. But he's cooled off now. Overall he's about 9-8 with an ERA just under 4.00 since leaving here. Hardly worth $20 million big ones.

BULLDOG: Yeah, what about my boy Nick Touchstone?!

SCOTT: The Indians traded him to Minnesota at the deadline. He's a free agent at the end of the year. He's 14-12, but like R.J., he's got like 21 Quality Starts. He was hot during the summer, but has been pretty average overall. I don't think we lost in that category.

BULLDOG: Yeah, if you look at the blockbuster deal they did, it didn't really seem to benefit the other teams as much as they thought it would this year. When Colorado dealt Helton and those prospects, they were leading the NL West. Now, they're 13 1/2 games out and they're not gonna win anything. Prior and Halladay have been solid, but in the end, the team lacked the firepower to keep with Arizona and its well balanced offense and pitching staff.

SCOTT: Seems like it. So, did we steal something in that deal?

BULLDOG: The two minor leaguers in that Colorado deal were SP Leonard Childers and OF Erin Wacker. Wacker was solid in Triple-A, he had 19 homers and is probably a year away. But, this Childers kid looks sweet. He's not rated in the Top 10 prospects or anything. But I think he's a sleeper. A lefty, who will probably be on the Opening Day roster.

SCOTT: I hope DC knows what he's doing. 'Cuz he's got hell to pay for a city that's not gonna be pleased if he doesn't.

BULLDOG: We're gonna take a commercial break and come back on SPORTSMORNING with SCOTT AND THE BULLDOG!

[Young Drachma]

This is probably the longest season I've taken the time to go through, but I've become more vested in it, I guess. That's good for you all, because it means you'll better get a glimpse of who the players are around the league, what's happening, etc.

So, yeah.

There are 11 games left in the season, the Silverhawks are riding a six game win streak. We're 10 games out in the division, 9.5 games out behind the Yankees for the Wild Card and so, its unlikely we'd be able to catch them.

We're going to try out two players that might favor heavily in next season - and beyond.

Len Childers is a 22-year old LHP, who came over from Colorado in that mega-deal before the deadline. He was a fourth-round pick, which tells you that computer draft picks can develop into star players (which I honestly always doubted) or at least into top prospects.

He was 8-5, with a 3.12 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 19 starts in AAA this season.

Hector Garcia is a 25-year old RHP, who originally came over from the Yankees in the off-season for Ichiro Suzuki. He's actually been in the majors for most of the year, but hasn't started but five games - all of them coming in the past two months. He's notched quality starts in each of them.

I think they will both be special, so we'll check them out and see how they do towards the end here.

[Young Drachma]

PLAYOFF CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY...

Boston Red Sox (98-64, AL East Champ)
v.
Kansas City Royals (87-75, AL Central Champ)

Texas Rangers (98-64, AL West Champ)
v.
New York Yankees (91-71, AL Wild Card)


New York Mets (88-74, NL East Champ)
v.
Chicago Cubs (94-68, NL Central Champ)


Milwaukee Brewers (89-73, NL Wild Card)
v.
Arizona Diamondbacks (93-69, NL West Champ)

[Young Drachma]

I'm happy with the team's effort the last month of the season.

Despite all the griping about the team underperforming, about bad trades and calling for my head and that of my manager, Cito Gaston, the team set a franchise record for wins this year going 87-75, improving by three wins on last season.

Considering the fact that in May we were 11 games under .500 and going into September this team was still didn't have a winning record, I think this performance is pretty outstanding.

But I'm biased.

Lance Childers won each of his three starts, while Hector Garcia went 2-1 in his last three starts.

Either way, I think we've identified two candidates who should be in the rotation soon. I'll write a more comprehensive "end of season" review after the playoffs.

[Young Drachma]

By JK Smith - ESPN.com

October 22, 2008

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees will meet in this year's World Series, the 102nd World Series in baseball history (we missed two, remember).

While some people are spending boatloads of money aimed at winning baseball's biggest prize - and the Yankees have often been the culprits of such spending - this year's teams are in baseball's proverbial middle class.

The Yanks have the 18th highest payroll out of baseball's 32 teams, coming at just over $58 million. The Milwaukee Brewers are near the bottom of the low-rent district at just over $50 million in payroll.

"This shows that baseball teams don't have to open their wallets in a vacuum to win the World Series," said Andrew Zimbalist, the preeminent baseball economist.

In fact, the last four World Series champs have been essentially middle of the road teams that have produced. The 2004 champion Pittsburgh Pirates beat an equally mid-major Oakland A's team.

In 2005, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the free-wheeling dollar-dealing Boston Red Sox in six games.

In 2006, the World Champion Chicago Cubs ended the curse with the 17th highest payroll in the majors that season. The Yankees, whom lost in five games were fifth overall, with payroll near $70 million.

But last season was the most telling. The Florida Marlins, who are moving to Brooklyn, NY next season, were 21st in league payroll and beat the 19th ranked Oakland A's in six games.

Teams that spend-crazy need to learn that chemistry and talent are far more valuable than overspending.

[Young Drachma]

I'm about to upload the end of 2008 with player cards, for the first time.

It'll be on the league web site - http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/

[Young Drachma]

The following players are free agents this season:

CL Scott Williamson (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/p579.html)

RF Larry Walker (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/p391.html)

MR Travis Phelps (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/p37.html)

MR Jason Middlebrook (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league/p313.html)

I doubt we'll resign any of them.

[Young Drachma]

Ken Griffey, Jr. is just three homers shy of 600 HRs

He was dealt before the deadline last year back to Seattle. He signed a one-year extension that should ensure that he'll get his 600th sometime next season.

[Young Drachma]

Silverhawks RF Larry Walker retired. He will be inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Other HoF retirements this season:
OF Bernie Williams (FA, formerly of the Dodgers)

[Young Drachma]

Heading into Year 5, the Silverhawks are going to shed as much as $25-30 million in payroll this off-season, as ownership are seeking to increase profits. The team busted the bank with over $121 million in revenue, but because payroll was so high, profits were only about $25 million

“We’re going to improve the team. But we won’t continue to bust the bank like we have in the past,” said J.R. Noonan, the team’s newly hired Vice President, who sole job is to monitor the investment of the team’s minor investors. “We won’t compromise the product on the field, nor will we hamper the President [Dark Cloud’s] ability to do his job.”

On the trading block:
SP/MR Odalis Perez ($13 m)
LF Adam Dunn ($15 m)

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Silverhawks dealt underachieving LF Adam Dunn to the Houston Astros for reigning NL MVP Lance Berkman. Berkman, 32, recently signed a long-term deal with the club, but later had a falling out with management over the inability of the club to win. Dunn, 29, makes over $7m more than Berkman and has three years left on his deal. But the Silverhawks will pay $15 million of his salary of the next three seasons, meaning the Astros pick up a player who is younger and hit 33 homers and 101 RBI three years ago in Cincinnati.

He’s had injury problems in Nevada and this past season, stayed healthy but lacked the pop that he was brought to the team to provide. “We’re happy to work this deal out,” said Astros owner Drayton McLane, who pulled the trigger on the deal.

“They’ve got a good team over there and they seem to get better every year. I’m excited about the chance to play [in Nevada],” said Berkman.

[Young Drachma]

NEW YORK – Brooklyn has professional baseball in the form of the Legends of Brooklyn baseball club. The team was unveiled today in downtown Brooklyn. The team will not play in Brooklyn until the 2010 season, while Keyspan Park at Coney Island is being renovated. The team will share Shea Stadium with the New York Mets, who will move at midseason to their new ballpark called Chase Manhattan Field, adjacent to Shea which will be imploded at the end of the season.

[Young Drachma]

PORTLAND – Portland welcomed its new major league club today in a parade downtown and heading to new Albertsons Stadium, a 44,000 seat palace for the city’s first major league baseball franchise.

“This is truly an exciting time for our city,” said Max Weinstein, the city’s mayor. The A’s also announced yesterday that they hired former ace Dave Stewart as the team’s manager and GM after Billy Beane headed to Brooklyn to be the GM of the Legends.

[Young Drachma]

CLEVELAND – Despite three division titles in six years, the Cleveland Indians are financially insolvent and had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. “We’re doing this to protect the future of the franchise,” said Indians owner Peter Jacobs.

The team is considering potential suitors and Major League Baseball has yet to comment regarding the future of the team. Currently, the Indians will need to cut payroll to ensure the team can make payroll in the 2009 season. (The team currently has under $1 million in the bank)

“We’re going to do all we can to ensure this historical team doesn’t die,” said Major League Baseball commissioner Len Hamilton. But there is no indication currently as to whether the team’s future, its lease on Jacobs Field and the like are in jeopardy.

“We’ll have to see,” said Hamilton.

[Young Drachma]

NEW YORK – The Brooklyn Legends made their first deal in Brookyln, acquiring Silverhawks pitcher Odalis Perez. Perez, 30, came over to Nevada after 3+ years in Colorado. He was unsuccessful in Nevada, going 1-7 in eight starts with the club. He was demoted to the bullpen, where he thrived during the last two months of the season.

But with an $13 million price tag, it was unlikely the team would continue to keep him around for another season. In return, the Silverhawks acquired pitchers Virgil Destefano and Phil Akers. Akers, 26, went 10-13 with the Marlins last season, but will be moved to the bullpen in Nevada. He is a free agent at the end of this season. Destefano, 26, made 53 relief appearance going 4-5 with 4 saves. He will compete for the closer job in Nevada. He too, is a free agent at the end of the season.

[Young Drachma]

The 2009 free agency period is underway. Some of the top players in the league include SP Nick Brannon, who went 19-7 with a 2.54 ERA and 257 strikeouts for the Chicago Cubs last season.

On the offensive side, most notable stars include 2B Alfonso Soriano. Soriano, 31, was dealt from the Yanks to Cleveland before ending up in Colorado at the end of the season. Soriano hit 30 homers last year with 96 RBI. In 2005, he hit 51 HR with 174 RBI and was named league MVP in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - As the free agency period winds down, the Silverhawks have been moderately quiet. After jettisionning Odalis Perez in a deal and acquiring reigning NL MVP Lance Berkman for RF Adam Dunn in the off-season, one has to wonder if the team is done dealing.

"We're not sure what's happening there," said Mike Bawlings, a journalist who covers the team for the Rocky Mountain News. Helton, 35, makes just over $10 million, now making him the highest paid player on the team after the $15 million pricetag of Dunn and Perez and his $13m per year deal are out of Vegas.

The Silverhawks, at $83 million are the 8th highest payroll team in baseball. "We're not looking to bust the bank, but our competitors are obviously going to be spending, as evidenced this season," said Dark Cloud. The opponents are trying to get a leg up.

But will it translate into wins? Recent evidence shows that spending more doesn't translate into winning World Series titles. But that doesn't mean teams won't keep trying.

What about Helton? "Todd is a member of this team and will be in 2009. We're not going to deal him," said Dark Cloud. Helton said that "prefers to stay in Nevada", but understands that "baseball is a business first and the team is going to do what it can to improve," he said.

With 26 year old prospect Casey Kotchman on the bench itching to get the starting job, if Helton falters at any point, you might start to see trade bells ringing.

[Young Drachma]

There are a number of notable international players who have been posted on the Worldwide Baseball Market List, to sign deals this years players are:

SP Toji Sukonarma, 25, Japan
This Hawaiian born player moved to Japan when he was six and was raised in the Japanese system. He is a hard throwing, lefty with arm strength. I think he’s got some skill and teams are looking for him to be a front-line starter.

2B Kai Soo-Pouk, 23, Korea
This Korean star has busted out of the Korean leagues. He’s often called the “Korean A-Rod.” He’s a 30/30 threat every year and the Americans are just drooling at him. Look for him to command a high player salary.

RP V. Medvedev, 22, Russia
He is poised to become the first Russian major leaguer. Vyacheslav Medvedev is a hard throwing talent who played Little League on Russia’s “Miracle” team that won the Big League (16-18 Little League division) World Series a few years ago. He’ll fit into someone’s spot as a closer, perhaps a struggling team that needs a boost in attendance. The Russians doubt it will turn their country into a baseball mecca, but it should motivate some international curiosity.

SP Aaran Carter, 23, Australia
This player comes to the US not just with a live arm, but armed with an MBA. Carter, 23, postponed coming to the US for two years while he spent some time earning a graduate degree and worked for an Australian division of a major US accounting firm. Now, the only beancounting this hard-working righty will be doing is the millions he’ll make in the US.

He might need a half-season in the minors, because his only professional experience other than Australia was in a half-season in the Chinese (Taipei) Baseball League where he had a microscopic 0.41 ERA in 54 innings pitched as a starter.

[Young Drachma]

ANAHEIM - The Anaheim Angels, relatively quiet in the free agent market are nearing a deal to acquire reliever Vyacheslav Medvedev, a 22-year old Russian native.

"Russian-Americans are the second largest segment of foreign-born Americans after Mexicans in the US, comprising nearly 12% of the nearly 33 million foreign-born US residents," said Adam Robillere, a professor at Harvard.

California has the second highest population of Russian-Americans in the nation. "We believe Vya has the chance to be a star," said Angels GM David Cone.

The deal is rumored to be worth just under $500,000 with a $100,000 signing bonus.

[Young Drachma]

The Nevada Silverhawks created a log-jam in the infield when they acquired Korean 2B phenom Kai-Soo Pauk. Pouk, as with all the listed players can only sign one year deals, after which most will end up exploding and costing their teams a lot more.

Pouk, signed a one year deal worth $2.5 million, at age 23 is considered by most to be a star in the making. The Silverhawks have not indicated that five-time All-Star Jose Vidro is on the trading block, but one should presume, with SS German Sachs entrenched at short, that its unlikely Vidro will move from his position, especially after hitting a career low .260 last season.

The NY Yankees, fresh from a World Series win are reloading with SP Toji Sukonarma, who is projected as their #2 starter this season. His one-year deal worth $2 million should pan out to be a bargain if he can help the Yanks get back to the World Series.

Adding LHP Aaran Carter to their rotation gives the Atlanta Braves a menacing rotation of four lefties and a righty. Teams will have hell to pay when they face this club in a series, since most lineups aren't used to a lefty-dominated lineup, but this could be the ticket to get the Braves back to dominating the NL East.
Carter's deal is worth $1 million.

[Young Drachma]

Here is a capsule preview of the Silverhawks:

Nevada Silverhawks
Manager: Cito Gaston (second season)
Division: American League West
2008: 87-75, second place
Training Town: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Park: Cousins Park
New Arrivals: LF Lance Berkman, RP Virgil Destefano, R/SP Phil Akers, RP Troy Percival, 2B Kai-Soo Pauk
Long Gone:LF Adam Dunn, SP Odalis Perez, 1B Kevin Millar, RF Larry Walker (retirement)
Outlook: The Silverhawks net cut after paying the Astros to take Adam Dunn off their hands was nil. The team's payroll is down to $86m from just over $90m. But because other teams in baseball are starting to spend drops the 'Hawks from 2nd to 7th.

Coming off its best record in the club's four year history, their going for the playoffs. But in the always competitive AL West, the team might have trouble. The real question mark will be the performance of its starting rotation. If Francisco Rosario can anchor a rotation that includes Victor Guertin who has never started in the majors, Kyle Sleeth is unproven as the #2 starter in a rotation. Hector Garcia has never spent a full season in the majors. If the pitching holds up, you know the offense will produce and this club will win ballgames.

[General Mike]

Good stuff Dark Cloud. Keep it up.

[Young Drachma]

WITH OPENING DAY NEARING, MLB OFFICIALS MAKE DECISION
NEW YORK - Baseball Commissioner Leonard Hamilton came forward with a proposal to deal with the ailing franchises in Cleveland - who recently filed for bankruptcy - and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who have had stadium problems each of the past three seasons, that forced games to be moved.

Hamilton announced today that the Major League Baseball owners had crafted a "rescue plan" that would ensure one of the baseball's "most cherished" markets keeps their team, while making the team attractive for potential suitors.

The "rescue plan" offers the team a line of credit from Major League Baseball, that will need to be repaid by the new owners. The plan passes 32-0, as most owners echoed a need to "ensure that the team survives."

One of the groups considering purchasing the group is the Menominee Tride of Wisconsin, who own a chain of casinos. The team has courted the team over the past few years. Rumors are, they would purchase the team and change the name. The deal could be finalized as early as the end of April. The team would be transferred from the MLB trust that purchased the team from its bankrupt owners last year, to ensure the team would still compete this season. "Losing a major league team in mid-season would be a devasting thing. Doing what we did saved it," said Bob Meyer, a MLB official.

This follows what was done when Native American billionaire Louis Brownfoot purchased the Washington Redskins - and changed the name to the Washington Red Force.

The Devil Rays applied to play the 2009 season in Orlando at Cracker Jack Stadium, part of Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. The move was approved, but there is no indication if the move will be permanent. The team will spend the season as the Orlando Rays, while the minor league club that plays there - also the Orlando Rays - will relocate to a new stadium in Missouri, built for a college team.

[Young Drachma]

Good stuff Dark Cloud. Keep it up.

Glad people are reading :) Thanks for the note!

[Young Drachma]

MAJOR FREE AGENTS SIGN DEALS
2009 OFF-SEASON REPORT

There were some notable signings, though this year was hardly the best year in terms of free agency.

SP Josh Gobble $72 million/7 years, Philadelphia

1B Derek Lee $45 million/5 years, Arizona

RF Marvin Seale $33.5 million/4 years, Los Angeles

SP Scott Williamson $30.6 million/5 years, Hartford

SP Tim Lavigne $29.8 million/3 years, Minnesota

[Young Drachma]

THE KNIGHTS LOAD UP WITH RF SHAWN GREEN
HARTFORD – RF Shawn Green who is aging but still has some pop at age 38, is heading east. The 16-year vet has 417 career homers and over 2,000 hits. He was dealt with another player for 3B Joe Crede.

[Young Drachma]

The Red Sox bring back the same team that won the AL East last season (98-64), but that might not be enough. The keys to last season was a career year from SP Ian Ferguson who was 20-6 with a 1.96 ERA. If he replicate a year like that, along with SP Barry Zito regaining his form of yesteryear with an 18-7, 2.89 ERA effort, then these guys will knock on the door again in September.

The defending World Champs, the Yankees added what they hope is a big-game starter in Toji Sukonarma, the Hawaiian-born Japanese leaguer who will make his US debut as the #2 starter in the Yanks rotation. He could be the difference between winning the division title and the defending champs being on the outside.

The rest of the division figures not to be players. The Blue Jays added a nominal fifth starter and hope a full season with Kurt Ainsworth translates into enough wins to put the team in Wild Card contention. The Orioles added RF Kenny Kelly who split time in Milwaukee and Minnesota last year, hitting 26 homers and 86 RBI. He'll start and should be a contributor. The Rays dropped the Devil in their name, changed their city and might still suck. A full season from RF Vlad Guerrero after an injury kept him out 9 weeks last year, could help power this team beyond 70 wins, but with only two starters in double figures in wins last year - don't bet on it. The Hartford Knights are desperate to get fans in the seats. They're hoping RF Shawn Green can bring over some much needed production and create something worth seeing, but at age 38 and only hitting 22 homers with 59 RBI and under .250, don't hold your breath.

PREDICTION
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Blue Jays
4. Orioles
5. Orioles
6. Rays

[Young Drachma]

I only do team previews, to give you a glimpse of what's happening in the league.

But to be honest, they're a bit tedious and so..I don't think I'm going around the league to do them. After all, I really only care about seeing how my team does, because my story line centers around them primarily.

So...if you have something you're curious about, would like me to focus on more or something like that, you should post and tell me. I can take it wherever, just let me know what you're looking for.

That said, I updated the web site for the league here (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/league) fairly often, because that way, you're able to check the teams out, their rosters and lineups and can see what's going on with each of them.

That's your best reference source for league info and such. Speaking of, I'm updating it now for opening day April 6th, 2009

[Young Drachma]

The Texas Rangers come into another season as the highest payroll ballclub in the majors at just over $103 million. Their biggest acquisition of the off-season was 40 save man John Wasdin Gunning for the third straight title with basically the same team as last year should make the Rangers the favorite again. 19-game winner Pedro Martinez is showing little sign of aging, despite being 37. He's just 26 wins shy of 300. They'll need another career year out of Rick Ankiel who is finally showing signs of being an elite pitcher winning 19 games last year and 16 two years prior.

Speaking of promise, CF Laynce Nix is officially "here". He's a three-time all-star and this 28-year old talent is poised to do more great things. He hit .302 last season with a career high 45 homers (his second straight 40+ homer season) and 125 RBI. RF Manny Ramirez is back after an all-star season that was lower than normal for him. He only hit 24 homers, but had 93 RBI and hit .275, lowered than his .310 career average, but solid.

The Athletics have a new home in Portland, Oregon and hope to springboard themselves into a playoff spot. They signed SP Jeremy Griffiths who won 15 games in Houston last year. He'll be their opening day starter.

The team hopes to get contributions from SP Adam Johnson who won 13 games last year and Tony Armas, Jr. who has bounced around the league and played on four teams last season. He signed with the A's and hopes to stay long enough to unpack his bags.

Other than free agent-to-be 3B Eric Chavez, the A's don't have much firepower to speak of. The A's will likely hear offers for Chavez by mid-season if they're out of contention, though that could signal the end of the honeymoon for Portland fans before it even starts. LF Ben Petrick is the other player who provides pop in this lineup and is also a free agent at the end of the year. He's hoping for his fifth 100+ RBI season in six years this year.


The Angels hope 1B Josh Phelps can repeat last season's 36 homers, 102 RBI season. It was his fifth 100+ RBI season in six years. He's a free agent this year, so that should be good motivation to keep it up. RF Ryan Church brings some pop to the club. He split last season in Colorado and New York. He hit 22 homers last year. Unfortunately, the Angels lack the firepower to keep pace with the rest of the league and its unlikely they'll contend.

The Seattle Mariners are expecting a long season. Other than newly acquired SP Mark Mulder, the team lacks any depth in the starting pitching department. They're hoping for a breakout year from former Silverhawks starter Timothy Marrow. Offensively, only C Ryan Christianson had more than 20 homers and 60 RBI last season. The team will be very young, but that will likely translate into lots of losses.

On the other hand, the Nevada Silverhawks had four players with 30+ homers last season and they added another threat in 2B Kai-Soo Pauk who comes over from Korea, though he's not expected to have an immediate impact.

The real question mark for the 'Hawks is whether their young rotation can hold up. SP Francisco Rosario is not the first name anyone dreams of when thinking of a ace. But he'll start the season as the ace, coming off a 14-4 campaign last season and many say he has front-line potential. Kyle Sleeth had 15 wins last year and should be a factor. The team has lots of depth at middle relief and a number of arms that can contribute in AAA if necessary. That could be a great thing or could cause problems if no one is producing.

This should be the year the Silverhawks compete for the division title or at least, a wild card. But if the team falters again this season, you can expect that someone will call for firings somewhere.

[Young Drachma]

ESPN.COM REPORT: INDIANS TO BECOME PRIDE
CLEVELAND - Major League Baseball, responding after a meeting with Native American advocacy groups, are reportedly close to accepting a bid from Louis Whitehorse, leader of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin for the Cleveland Indians.

The team's name will be changed to the "Pride." We believe that a name like the "Cleveland Pride" summarizes what the people of Cleveland should feel for our ballclub and we're excited about this opportunity," said a spokeswoman for the Menominee.

An official announcement is expected tomorrow.

[Young Drachma]

AL CENTRAL
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Detroit Tigers
5. The Pride of Cleveland

AL WEST
1. Texas Rangers
2. Nevada Silverhawks
3. Portland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Anaheim Angels

NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. The Legends of Brooklyn
3. New York Mets
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Spirit

NL CENTRAL
1. Houston Astros
2. Chicago Cubs
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL WEST
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. San Francisco Giants
5. San Diego Padres

[Young Drachma]

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Giants dealt ace SP Jesse Foppert to the Nevada Silverhawks today for three players including SP Kyle Sleeth. Sleeth, 26, split time between Houston before being dealt in a three-team deal that sent him to Nevada. He won 15 games last year and is regarded as a potential star. Along with Sleeth, the Giants acquired 2B Jose Vidro. Vidro, is a free agent at the end of the season, after signing a one-year extension with the Silverhawks, but was displaced after the signing of Korean star 2B Kai-Soo Pauk. He is a five-time All-Star and made the team each of his four years in Vegas. Also included in the deal was 25-year old prospect SSLance Zawadzki, who was touted in the Silverhawks organization.

While team might look like a purge, the Giants pick up the reliable Vidro, who fills their gap at second base and Sleeth is an NL pitcher who has experience in the league and should be dependable.

Meanwhile, in Foppert, the Silverhawks get a pitcher who had his breakout year last year with 17 wins. He's got immense talent and upside. Plus he's signed until 2012. "We're delighted when deals like this work well for both teams," said Dark Cloud.

[Young Drachma]

I was having problems over the past year with league totals. Last season, I modifed the numbers after reading threads here to produce better offensive numbers, since the year before I think they were depressed significantly.

Now, I have this "arena league" type of offense where players have players in the 50+ homer range before mid-season and ERAs over 4.00 leading the league. I changed them back, but its really annoying.

Anyway, I guess I just wonder how people come up with totals for their leagues. Not really a huge fan of those spreadsheets and exporting and all that. Too much work, but I figure there has to be a simple model for doing it.

Thoughts?

[Young Drachma]

The Dynasty web site (http://www.ishouldstudymore.net/dynasty) is updated for June 1, 2009.

So you can see the wackiness in the offensive explosion. There will be an article to follow.

[Young Drachma]

Actually, I changed my mind. Because of the wackiness, I decided to reset the 2009 season. All deals made up to that point obviously remain, but the stats are gone. It was just too wacky for words.

[Young Drachma]

I've figured out how to configure the settings and so, we should have some updates forthcoming.

[Young Drachma]

NEW YORK - The MLBPA and Major League Baseball officials are having discussions regarding renewing the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement ends at the end of next season, but the owners are convinced that the players need to make concessions, as salaries are rising again and teams are finding it harder to compete in the current landscape.

Meanwhile, Players Association officials deny this is the case. Players Association lead consul Tom Glavine, who went to law school after his playing career ended, is a vehment advocate for the players cause. "Look, we all want baseball prosperity. But what we don't want, is to get hosed. The players are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to help the game. But no one is going to impede the players ability to make a living," said Glavine.

Owners lead negotiator Bob Bostick, argues that with teams moving out of poor markets and with the Indians going bankrupt last year, the owners say there needs to be a salary cap. "We will do whatever it takes to maintain baseball as we know it," said Bostick, eluding to a work stoppage that could jeopardize next season.

[Young Drachma]

THE SEASON THAT NEVER WANTED TO START
The 2009 season had anticipation surrounding it that was far greater than any of the previous years.


SURPRISE, SURPRISE
The Cleveland Pride are surpassing all expectations. After the first month of the season, they led the AL in wins with a 16-8 record. Their pitching staff is 5th in the majors so far. "We're excited about what we're doing so far," said Pride manager Eric Wedge.

STANDINGS
Boston 15 10 .600 - 15-10 0 8-6 7-4 3-1 5-2 138 L1 7-3
Baltimore 12 10 .545 1.5 12-10 0 8-4 4-6 1-1 3-5 - W3 5-5
New York (A) 12 10 .545 1.5 12-10 0 7-6 5-4 2-2 4-6 - L1 5-5
Hartford 12 11 .522 2.0 13-10 -1 9-4 3-7 1-0 4-3 - L2 5-5
Orlando 11 11 .500 2.5 7-15 4 8-7 3-4 1-0 4-1 - L4 4-6
Toronto 11 12 .478 3.0 12-11 -1 9-7 2-5 0-2 4-3 - W1 5-5

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Cleveland 16 8 .667 - 15-9 1 9-2 7-6 2-1 7-2 135 W1 6-4
Minnesota 11 12 .478 4.5 12-11 -1 4-5 7-7 1-0 0-3 - W1 6-4
Kansas City 10 12 .455 5.0 10-12 0 5-5 5-7 0-1 1-6 - L1 5-5
Detroit 9 14 .391 6.5 7-16 2 2-7 7-7 1-0 3-2 - W2 5-5
Chicago (A) 5 16 .238 9.5 7-14 -2 2-7 3-9 1-3 1-3 - L1 4-6

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Nevada 14 8 .636 - 13-9 1 7-3 7-5 2-0 4-2 139 W1 6-4
Texas 13 10 .565 1.5 15-8 -2 5-6 8-4 0-3 1-4 - L1 4-6
Anaheim 11 11 .500 3.0 10-12 1 7-3 4-8 4-0 6-3 - W1 4-6
Seattle 9 12 .429 4.5 9-12 0 5-4 4-8 0-3 2-3 - L1 6-4
Portland 9 13 .409 5.0 9-13 0 3-6 6-7 0-2 3-4 - W1 4-6

National League Standings

Eastern Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Washington 14 9 .609 - 13-10 1 6-4 8-5 2-1 5-3 139 L1 5-5
Atlanta 12 10 .545 1.5 11-11 1 6-3 6-7 0-0 3-3 - W1 5-5
New York (N) 10 13 .435 4.0 8-15 2 3-6 7-7 1-0 4-2 - W4 5-5
Brooklyn 9 13 .409 4.5 9-13 0 4-5 5-8 0-2 3-3 - L7 3-7
Philadelphia 7 16 .304 7.0 8-15 -1 2-9 5-7 2-0 2-3 - L1 4-6

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Houston 14 9 .609 - 13-10 1 10-7 4-2 0-0 1-2 140 L1 8-2
Milwaukee 14 9 .609 - 14-9 0 7-6 7-3 0-0 5-2 140 W2 6-4
Chicago (N) 11 11 .500 2.5 11-11 0 8-5 3-6 0-1 4-2 - W1 5-5
Cincinnati 11 12 .478 3.0 12-11 -1 6-7 5-5 3-4 5-7 - L1 5-5
Pittsburgh 10 12 .455 3.5 10-12 0 6-7 4-5 0-1 3-4 - W1 5-5
St. Louis 10 12 .455 3.5 9-13 1 7-9 3-3 1-1 3-3 - L1 3-7

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Arizona 16 7 .696 - 15-8 1 8-2 8-5 0-0 4-2 137 W2 6-4
San Francisco 11 10 .524 4.0 12-9 -1 5-4 6-6 0-1 2-3 - L2 5-5
Colorado 12 12 .500 4.5 11-13 1 3-7 9-5 1-0 4-4 - L2 4-6
San Diego 10 13 .435 6.0 12-11 -2 4-5 6-8 0-0 1-2 - W1 6-4
Los Angeles 9 12 .429 6.0 10-11 -1 4-5 5-7 3-2 3-7 - W1 5-5

[Young Drachma]

LAS VEGAS - The Silverhawks have never, ever been in first place to end a month. But before you go uncorking the bubbly, recognize that there are still 5 1/2 months left to go in the season.

The team has yet to get the best from its pitching staff and manager Cito Gaston realizes that's the key to the team's success this season. "We're going to need guys to step up if we want to get to the playoffs," he said.

Offensively, Kai-Soo Pauk is holding his own. He's hitting .374 with 6 homers and 18 RBI so far this season. "We're delighted to see his performance. We hope he keeps it up," said Dark Cloud, who noted the team has sold thousands more tickets this year, because of fans from Asia who traveled to see Pauk. "We're getting a ton of requests, but that's great for us," said Dark Cloud. Perhaps that's the reason the team is actually on pace to exceed their record 4 million fans last year by over 200,000.

[Young Drachma]

ROSARIO OUT SIX WEEKS

LAS VEGAS - Silverhawks pitcher Francisco Rosario is out six weeks with a ruptured ligament. He will be on the shelf until sometime close to the All-Star break.

Meanwhile, the Silverhawks are looking for potential suitors for Todd Helton who is an expensive option at first base with Casey Kotchman and Mark Texieria both able to contribute at a fraction of the cost.

The team hopes to pick up a pitcher to anchor the rotation in the midst of its current struggles.

[Young Drachma]

MINNEAPOLIS - Five-time All-Star Todd Helton was sent packing today, to the Minnesota Twins, along with a minor leaguer (C Oscar Arias) and SP Jeriome Robinson from the Nevada Silverhawks for 25-year old future ace Jared Hughes along with touted minor leaguer SP Roberto Gaona and a minor league outfielder.

"It's not everyday you can acquire a player like Todd Helton," said Twins team President Paul Molitor. "It's hard to give up a star in the making like Jared Hughes," he said. "But we believe this deal helps us get where we're going faster."

Reports said that Hughes was unlikely to sign with the Twins after this season and the team wanted to get more offense. The deal fills a gap on the Silverhawks after the injury of SP Francisco Rosario earlier this week.

Arias is likely to be a starter, at age 26, he was stalled in the Silverhawks minor league system.

[Young Drachma]

KNIGHTS CRASH AL EAST PARTY
Of all the teams that should be leading the AL East, the LAST team you'd expect would be those expansion bums, the Hartford Knights. The proverbial bastard stepchild of the Metro-NY area, the team must've figured it had to step it up, with the Florida Marlins moving to Brooklyn, giving the region one more reason to ignore the club.

The team sits a game behind the club even LESS LIKELY (if that's possible) to be leading the division, the Orlando Rays. The Rays epitomize the adage that "a little change could do you good." Vlad Guerrero is doing what they brought him here for, paying over $20m per year. After spending most of last season injured, he's already close to matching his numbers from then.

The AL East logjam is compounded by the fact that every team is within 4 games of the lead. The Red Sox are just a half game out of the lead. The Orioles are 2 games out, The Yankees are 2.5 out and Toronto is 4 games out.

NEW NAME, NEW ATTITUDE
Speaking of changing doing a team good, The Pride of Cleveland are living up to their new namesakes so far this season. The team leads Minnesota in the AL Central by three games. The team's pitching is Top 10 in the majors, led by SP Jason Stumm and Sean Smith who both have six wins.

HAWKS HANGING TOUGH
In the always tough AL West, the Nevada Silverhawks are tied with the Texas Rangers for the division lead. Manny Ramirez is hitting .341, which is helping the Rangers gun for their next title. The Silverhawks are again near the top of the majors in batting, but if their pitching doesn't pick up, currently 29th in the majors in team ERA, they might be on the outside looking in again.

The team is thrilled with the performance of rookies 3B Jaime D'Antona, a product of their minor league system who is tied for the major league lead in homers so far with 18 and 2nd in the AL with 50 RBI. "We're amazed that he managed to come along this fast," said Cito Gaston, who said D'Antona was not planned to be the starter this year. "With him playing so well at third, we move Mark [Texieria] to first and that's what made Todd [Helton] (who was traded to Minnesota) expendable," said Dark Cloud.

WE'VE GOT SPIRIT, YES WE DO!
The Spirit are having a season that makes DC fans thrilled they have baseball again, putting the team in a position to make their first playoff appearance since leaving Montreal. They have a 7 1/2 game lead on Philadelphia and New York. Mike Cuddyer is tied for the ML-lead in homers with 18 and SP Josh Karp is 6-1.


Houston leads the NL Central over Milwaukee by a game and a game and a half over Cincinnati.

Arizona leads the NL West by 5.5 games over Colorado.

[Young Drachma]

OWNERS SUBMIT LATEST PLAN TO PLAYERS
The baseball owners, at a time when baseball should be rejoicing over the success of this season, are instead mulling a plan that would impose a progressive salary cap that would begin next season and rise annually.

The owners say the plan would "keep salaries in check," but players are balking. "This plan is unacceptable," said Tom Glavine of the Players Association. The plan would allow for an NFL-style "Franchise player" that would allow teams to enact their franchise player each year and sign that player to a one-year deal worth the average of the Top 5 salaries for players at that position.

Talks are expected to continue well into the fall.

RAYS STILL SHINING
The Orlando Rays are still the surprise talk of the baseball world. At the break, the team holds a 2 game advantage over the other surprise team, the Hartford Whalers. To put it in perspective, neither of these teams has ever finished higher than third in their franchise history. Orlando did it in 2005, while Hartford finished sixth each of its first three ML seasons and was fifth last season.

The Knights are being led by Cy Young candidate Alan Adamek, the 1st pick of the 2006 draft, who at just 21 is showing poise beyond his years. He's tied for the ML lead in wins with 14, leads baseball in ERA at 1.79 Meanwhile Orlando's Edwin Oropesa, a third round pick in 2004 is leading the majors with 30 saves so far this season.

SIGNS THAT SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
Take a look at the free agent pool and notice two names there:

SP Pedro Martinez, released by Texas because he refused minor league assignment. He's been pushed out of the rotation, but at 38, still should have some gas left.

SP Kerry Wood, not the player he had promise to be. 107-77 with 1 save in his 11+ seasons. He might latch on elsewhere, but hasn't had a distinguished enough career to warrant too many looks, though someone might take a chance.

Other notable names: MR Matt Mantei, 1B Ryan Klesko, 3B Mike Lowell, CF Ken Griffey, Jr. (just 3 homers shy of 600)

[Young Drachma]

With the trade deadline just two weeks away, you know its that team when bottom feeder teams, with no prayer deal their players in the hopes of getting someone who can help them in the future.

One team we know is heading for the dump are the
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
There were plenty of reasons for excitement in KC this year. The team's new stadium - The KC Masterpiece - will be completed by 2011 and the club won their first division title since 1985 last year.

But spending with the big boys has caused some royal headaches. Because of the contracts of OF Austin Kearns ($10.875 million until 2010) and the whopper of a deal that 2B Ramon Castro has ($13.27 million until 2012), the team has little to spend.

To make matters worse, the club is 39-51, dead last in the AL Central (13.5 games out of first). Expect change soon, because this club needs solid pitching if it wants to compete.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
The days of mighty Jays are a distant memory. After a surprise division title in 2006, the Jays have been grounded. Former MVP (2004) Carlos Delgado isn't the player he once was. With over $34 million locked up between two pitchers Kirt Ainsworth who has largely held up his end of the bargain and rapid decline of SP Josh Fogg who after an 18-9, Cy Young campaign in 2006 for Pittsburgh, caused a bidding war. Only, he wasn't up for the challenge. After a subpar 2007, he was injured all of 2008 and came back a totally different player, who isn't even in the rotation.

Expect Fogg to be released, to allow the Jays to save some of the close to $30 million left on his mega-contract. Ainsworth should be scuttled by the break, to a contender like the Yankees or Red Sox, who are trying to catch the upstarts in the AL East.