Justice League Baseball (OOTP)
 

In a surprise announcement today, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced his resignation, effective immediately. No reasons were given by Manfred or MLB, so we are left to theorize what may have led to this decision.

But Major League Baseball acted quickly and promptly, announcing that Wayne Bruce has been named the new Commissioner, also effective immediately. Wayne introduced himself at the press conference, as if the billionaire industrialist and socialite was unknown to anyone, and left no doubt as to his intentions as Commissioner.



"I intend to bring justice to the game of baseball, and right the wrongs of the past," he boldly proclaimed at MLB headquarters in New York.

Bruce did not go into details as to exactly what those wrongs might be, nor how he intends to right them. But this reporter cannot wait to find out.

New Commissioner Wayne Bruce today announced the first of his sweeping reforms to Major League Baseball.

"Fans in a number of cities throughout the US ("and Canada" someone shouted from the back of the press room) were deprived of root, root, rooting for their home teams in years gone by, and as sure as my name is Wayne Bruce, I will restore the source of their passion, " Bruce retorted in an odd and yet surprisingly warm show of emotion.

"Some glorious cities in this great land of ours, and our neighbors, saw their home town heroes and proverbial idols pack up their balls, their bats, and their games of pepper and head off to what they viewed as greener pastures," he continued in great hyperbole and over-sentiment.

"But I, by the power vested in me by the owners that I now may very well stab in the back, will bring justice to the game of baseball and give those cities back their boys."

"Though I cannot grant them back the locust years, I will grant them back their ball clubs," he announced as he slammed his fist down on the podium, trying to hide a wince as he caught too much of the corner.

Bruce went on to outline the details of his grand change to great murmurs and gasps from the gathered crowd. Effective with the 2017 season, he announced the following franchise re-relocations:

• the Los Angeles Dodgers would return to Brooklyn as the Brooklyn Dodgers
• the San Francisco Giants would return to New York as the New York Giants
• the Oakland Athletics would return to Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Athletics
• the Washington Nationals would return to Montreal as the Montreal Expos
• the Minnesota Twins would return to Washington as the Washington Senators
• the Atlanta Braves would return to Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Braves
• the Milwaukee Brewers would return to Seattle as the Seattle Pilots

To fill the void in those cities that were losing their teams, Bruce announced the following franchise moves:

• the Seattle Mariners would move to Minneapolis/St. Paul and be known as the Minnesota Millers
• the New York Mets would move to Atlanta and be known as the Atlanta Thrashers
• the Tampa Bay Rays would move to San Francisco and be known as the San Francisco Seals

The alignment for the 2017 season will be:
National League
East - Brooklyn Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Montreal Expos, New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies
Central - Atlanta Thrashers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates
West - Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots, St. Louis Cardinals

American League
East - Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators
Central - Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays
West - Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Millers, San Francisco Seals, Texas Rangers

Bruce also shared that Major League Baseball would be looking into expansion possibilities. Tampa/St. Petersburg and Los Angeles would seem to be potential candidates, as they both lost teams that were not replaced as part of his initial plan.

Bludhaven demands a team! As does Metropolis!

Any resemblance of Wayne Bruce to Bruce Wayne is purely intentional. But Bruce Wayne is a fictional character who lives in a fictional city . . . . .

Editor's Note: I'm going to sim 2017, and then for 2018 two expansion teams will be added, and I will be taking over one of the expansion teams.

Recap of the 2017 MLB Season

American League
East
The Boston Red Sox won the AL East with a record of 90-72. Baltimore secured one of the wild card spots, finishing the regular season with a record of 87-75, three games behind Boston. New York finished 3rd, going 82-80, while Washington's record was 76-86. The Philadelphia Athletics finished one game behind Washington, wrapping up the season with a 75-87 record.

Central
Cleveland took home the Central Division crown, finishing with a record of 99-63, good for the best in the AL. The Indians had a comfortable lead for much of the season, ending up 22 games ahead of 2nd place Detroit, who finished 77-85. Houston finished a disappointing 74-88 after losing Dallas Keuchel for the season in April, which was tied with Toronto, while Chicago brought up the rear with the worst record in baseball at 58-104.

West
The Minnesota Millers took the AL West title with a record of 93-69. The San Francisco Seals finished in 2nd place, winning 83 games while losing 79. Third place in the West was Texas, with a record of 79-83, followed by Kansas City at 78-84, and the Angels in last at 73-89.

American League Award Winners
MVP - Manny Machado (Balt) - .313 BA, 50 HR, 124 RBI
Cy Young - Danny Salazar (Cle) - 19-4, 2.68 ERA, 245 K
Rookie of the Year - Andrew Benintendi (Bos) - .325, 25 HR, 110 RBI
Manager of the Year - Scott Servais (Minnesota)


National League
East
The Brooklyn Dodgers finished up the regular season with a 104-58 record. The newly-returned Montreal Expos finished in 2nd place at 92-70. Third place in the East went to Miami at 83-79, followed by the New York Giants at 80-82, and Philadelphia at 68-94.

Central
The Chicago Cubs won the Central Division, wrapping up the regular season at 93-69. They finished 12 games ahead of 2nd place Cincinnati, who finished at 81-81. The rest of the Division saw the Milwaukee Braves finish at 78-84, the Atlanta Thrashers at 77-85, and Pittsburgh at 73-89.

West
Winners of the NL East for 2017 were the Arizona Diamondbacks, owners of the best record in baseball at 108-54. Second place fell to the St. Louis Cardinals at 80-82, who were followed by the Seattle Pilots at 79-83. The bottom two spots in the West went to San Diego at 74-88, and Colorado at 62-100.

National League Award Winners
MVP - Bryce Harper (Mon) - .312 BA, 52 HR, 132 RBI
Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw (Bro) - 19-9, 2.84 ERA, 294 K
Rookie of the Year - Clay Bellinger (Bro) - .314 BA, 35 HR, 77 RBI
Manager of the Year - Torey Luvollo (Ari)


Playoffs
AL Wildcard Series - Minnesota Millers 1, Baltimore Orioles 0
AL Division Series - Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2
AL Division Series - Boston 3, San Francisco Seals 2
AL Championship - Boston 4, Minnesota 3

NL Wildcard Series - Miami Marlins 1, Montreal Expos 0
NL Division Series - Miami 3, Arizona 0
NL Division Series - Brooklyn 3, Chicago 0
NL Championship - Miami 4, Brooklyn 3

Notable News from the Season
April 18 - Francisco Liriano (Tor) strikes out 16 against the Chicago White Sox.
April 21 - Clayton Kershaw (Brooklyn) strikes out 18 against the Seattle Pilots.
May 13 - Baltimore signed Manny Machado to a 7-year extension, worth $156.2M.
May 22 - Atlanta signed Jacob DeGrom to a 7-year extension, worth $114.1M.
June 8 - Jett Bandy (Sea Pilots) notches 10 RBI in game
June 13 - Matt Holiday (NYY) and Chris Sale (Bos) each suspended 8 games for their role in brawl.
June 14 - Salvador Perez (KC) hits for the cycle, going 4-5 against the Yankees.
June 20 - Albert Pujuls (LAA) hits his 600th career home run.
July 8 - Nolan Arenado (Col) hits for the cycle, going 4-4 against Pittsburgh.
July 22 - Adrian Beltre (Tex) notches his 3000th career hit.
Sept 22 - Madison Bumgarner pitches no-hitter against the Montreal Expos.
Sept 30 - Sonny Gray (Phil Athletics) strikes out 16 vs. Texas.

Key Injuries
- Cole Hamels (Tex), Shoulder inflammation, 12 months
- Two months after signing his extension, Jacob DeGrom (Atl) was diagnosed with torn UCL. Out 12-13 months.
- To add insult to injury, Noah Syndegard also has a torn UCL. Hopeful return for him is Jan 2018.
- Dallas Keuchel has torn UCL. Out 7-8 months.
- Max Scherzer (Mon) has torn labrum. Out until Jan 2018.

Manager Retirements
- Joe Maddon (Cubs), Dusty Baker (Expos), Paul Molitor (Washington), Buck Showalter (Baltimore), Ned Yost (KC), Larry Bowa (Phillies), Terry Collins (Atlanta)

Manager Firings
- Rick Renteria (White Sox)

Manager Hirings
- Dave Martinez (Cubs), Don Wakamatsu (KC), Joe Vavra (Washington), John Russell (Baltimore), Tony Pena (White Sox), Ron Washington (Expos), Pete Mackanin (Phillies)

Player Retirements
- R.A. Dickey (Braves), Jason Grilli (Toronto), Jimmy Rollins (Seals), Grady Sizemore (Boston), Michael Martinez (Cleveland)

The Boston Red Sox are 2017 World Series Champions, beating the surprise Miami Marlins tonight in Game 6 7-2 to clinch the series.

"We stepped it up at the right time, and now we're the champs," said Boston manager John Farrell. "It's a great feeling."

In the jubilant clubhouse after the clincher, series MVP, Boston center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. said the Red Sox have 'great fans and they deserve this."

"I am so happy for our city right now," he said.

Rick Porcello pitched a complete game to pick up the Game 6 win, his second of the Series. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits, while striking out 11 and walking 1 batter in his nine innings of work.

Bradley Jr. secured MVP honors in the Series by slugging 3 home runs with 5 RBI, and batting .360 in the six games.

MLB to Add Two Teams

Commissioner Bruce held a press conference today at MLB Headquarters in New York, where he announced that the League would be expanding by two teams for the 2018 season. Bruce also announced a realignment of both the National and American Leagues. With sixteen teams now in each league, he announced that both leagues would eliminate divisions altogether, and add an additional wild card team to each league. The top two teams in each league would receive a first round bye, while the other four would play in a first round series.

As many expected when Bruce started floating the idea of expansion, one of the new teams will be in the Los Angeles area, and will revive a familiar name to fans of the Pacific Coast League. The new franchise will be known as the Hollywood Stars, and its ownership group is led by prominent Silicon Valley executive Sergio Loza.


The second new team comes as a complete and utter shock to the entire civilized world. Minot, North Dakota can now say it is a major league city, as the Minot Mallards will be joining the American League as its sixteenth team. Oil tycoon David Sullivan put together an incredibly strong financial package, and was able to convince Commissioner Bruce that this team would represent an entire region, and as a result, the entire region would support the team. How that is even possible I don' t know, but I wish them all the best.


The expansion teams will be stocked through an Expansion Draft, scheduled for November 25, 2017. The teams will select 35 players in a serpentine fashion from a pool of players unprotected by the other teams. Commissioner Bruce announced that through a coin flip the Mallards won the 1st pick.

Both teams have not yet shared who their General Managers or on-field managers are yet, but announcements should be released soon.

My name is Matthew Carlson. I am 33 years old, and I have just received my dream job. I have just been named the General Manager of a Major League Baseball team. Granted, it is an expansion team. But it is an MLB team nonetheless. And I should clarify my dream a bit. My dream for the longest time was to be the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of the World Series. But my elbow did not cooperate, and I was forced to give up on that dream at the age of 24. But I knew I wanted to continue in the game of baseball in some form or fashion. And once I got a taste of scouting, player development, and being involved in the front office, my dream began to transition and take a different route.

It all started when the Cubs gave me an opportunity to do some scouting. From there I moved into their baseball operations department. I was able to get involved in some player contract discussions and player acquisitions, and loved it. Eventually I was able to work my way up to the assistant to the GM position, where I have been for the last 2 1/2 years.

Meanwhile, I have a friend, Cole Sullivan, from my time at the University of Michigan who was from North Dakota, and his family was in the oil business. They managed to strike it rich with a number of oil wells there, and lo and behold, his dad convinces Major League Baseball to put an expansion team in Minot, North Dakota. Mr. Sullivan soon called me and gave me the opportunity I had been dreaming about since my playing career was cut short. I was now a Major League Baseball general manager! Sure, it is the GM of an expansion team located in the middle of North Dakota. But it is still a major league team.

Editor's Note: For the Expansion Draft, I just let the AI make the picks for both teams.

Here are the results:

Minot Mallards
1. P Matt Bowman, St. Louis Cardinals
2. P Robbie Erlin, San Diego Padres
3. SS Richard Urena, Toronto Blue Jays
4. C Andrew Susac, Seattle Pilots
5. 2B Joey Wendle, Philadelphia Athletics
6. P Tyler P. Wilson, Baltimore Orioles
7. 2B Hernan Perez, Miami Marlins
8. CL Corey Knebel, Seattle Pilots
9. LF Christian Walker, Arizona Diamondbacks
10. CF Jaff Decker, Philadelphia Athletics
11. P Will Roberts, Cleveland Indians
12. RF James Ramsey, Minnesota Millers
13. C Wynston Sawyer, Brooklyn Dodgers
14. 3B Matt Davidson, Chicago White Sox
15. CL Sean Doolittle, Philadelphia Athletics
16. P Jaime Schultz, San Francisco Seals
17. P Adam Plutko, Cleveland Indians
18. P Mike Clevinger, Cleveland Indians
19. P Nolan Sanburn, Montreal Expos
20. P Jaron Long, Montreal Expos
21. 3B Renato Nunez, Philadelphia Athletics
22. P Roenis Elias, Boston Red Sox
23. C Sicnarf Loopstok, Cleveland Indians
24. 1B Nick Franklin, Seattle Pilots
25. P Brad Keller, Arizona Diamondbacks
26. C Reese McGuire, Toronto Blue Jays
27. CF Carlos Tocci, Cincinnati Reds
28. SS Malquin Canelo, Phillies
29. LF Matt Szczur, Chicago Cubs
30. RF Tyler Austin, NY Yankees
31. 2B Juremi Profar, Texas Rangers
32. 3B Jhoan Urena, Atlanta Thrashers
33. RF Cory Spangenberg, San Francisco Seals
34. P Tim Adleman, Cincinnati Reds
35. 2B Christian Adames, Colorado Rockies


Hollywood Stars
1. SP Joe Kelly, Boston Red Sox
2. C Christian Vasquez, Boston Red Sox
3. SP Nick Kingham, Pittsburgh Pirates
4. CF Byron Buxton, Washington Senators
5. 1B Justin Bour, Miami Marlins
6. 2B Arismendy Alcantara, Cincinnati Reds
7. RP Zack Godley, Arizona Diamondbacks
8. RF Jake Smolinksi, Philadelphia Athletics
9. RP Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
10. RP Jacob Turner, Chicago White Sox
11. SP Charlie Morton, Houston Astros
12. LF Adam Duvall, Colorado Rockies
13. 2B Sherman Johnson, Chicago White Sox
14. 3B Jason Rogers, Pittsburgh Pirates
15. 2B Dilson Herrera, Cincinnati Reds
16. RP Shane Greene, Houston Astros
17. SS Mauricio Dubon, Boston Red Sox
18. SP Rafael Montero, Atlanta Thrashers
19. SP Drew VerHagen, Detroit Tigers
20. C Kevin Plawecki, Atlanta Thrashers
21. RP Mike Mayers, St. Louis Cardinals
22. RP Rookie Davis, Cincinnati Reds
23. SP Sean Gilmartin, Atlanta Thrashers
24. CF Mikie Mahtook, Detroit Tigers
25. LF Dalton Pompey, Toronto Blue Jays
26. RP Jake Buchanan, Chicago Cubs
27. 2B Marco Hernandez, Boston Red Sox
28. SP Taylor Jordan, Atlanta Thrashers
29. SS Tim Locastro, Toronto Blue Jays
30. CF Juan Lagares, Atlanta Thrashers
31. LF Carlos Asuaje, San Diego Padres
32. SS Abiatal Avelino, New York Yankees
33. RP Hector Rondon, Brooklyn Dodgers
34. C Chris Hermann, Arizona Diamondbacks
35. 3B Edward Salcedo, Colorado Rockies

Pitchers
Starting Pitchers
If tomorrow was Opening Day, our starting rotation would probably consist of:

* Tim Adleman (3-9, 7.41 ERA, 12 GS, 79 IP, 1.81 WHIP, -1.3 WAR last year)
* Matt Bowman (0-0, 3.24 ERA, 0 GS, 8.1 IP, 1.56 WHIP, 0.2 WAR last year)
* Robbie Erlin (2-5, 6.75 ERA, 8 GS, 38.2 IP, 1.68 WHIP, -0.2 WAR last year)
* Tyler Wilson (4-2, 4.47 ERA, 9 GS, 50.1 IP, 1.37 WHIP, 0.6 WAR last year)
* Roenis Elias (0-0, 8.31 ERA, 0 GS, 8.2 IP, 2.19 WHIP, -0.2 WAR last year)

Having said that, Adleman, Wilson, Erlin, and Jaime Schultz are the only pitchers who started a game in the majors last year. And Adleman was the only one with double digit starts (12). Clearly we need to add to this group. Adleman is 30 years old, and the oldest of the group, but none of them should be #3 starters, let alone #1 or #2. But such is the nature of being an expansion team. Jaime Schultz is another possibility from the internal candidates. He started 3 games last year for the Seals. Would like to slot him into the bullpen for later innings though.

Bullpen
Currently slotting Corey Knebel into the closer role. Last year he picked up 34 saves with a 2.29 ERA, 1.17 WHIP for the Seattle Pilots. Feel pretty good about him. Also feel good about Sean Doolittle. He pitched well for the A's last year. Doolittle appeared in 71 games, with a 1.03 WHIP, while striking out 107 in 74.2 innings. I mentioned Schultz above, and other candidates include Adam Plutko, Jaron Long, Mike Clevinger, and Brad Keller. Knebel, Doolittle, and Schultz are the only ones who pitched in the majors last season. Also would like to add a couple more lefties, as Doolittle is currently the only one.

Fielders
Catcher
Hopeful about the potential of Reese McGuire, who we drafted from the Blue Jays, but he is really raw. The 22-year-old played at High A last year, so would be making a huge jump if we were to keep him with the big club, but we're hopeful we could be a long-term answer behind the plate. Strong defensively, with a cannon of an arm. Andrew Susac is really the only other option at catcher currently on the roster. Susac appeared in 18 games for the Pilots last year, batting .213 with a .664 OPS. The 27-year-old is about average defensively, but possesses some good leadership skills. 24-year-old Sicnarf Loopstok is someone who could make some impact in another year or two. I would like to sign a cheaper catcher with experience to provide some leadership to the ball club.

Infield
Nick Franklin would be our starter at 1B at this point. Last year for the Pilots the 26 year old started 94 games, appeared in 115, and finished with a .265 avg, .823 OPS, 1.6 WAR. Would feel alright with him right now.

Joey Wendle would currently be slated to be our starter at 2B. Wendle, who is 27, appeared in 54 games for the Athletics last year, batting .302, with an .838 OPS and 1.4 WAR. Defensively he's solid to above average. Would feel okay going with him come opening day.

At SS, Richard Urena would be the guy at this point. Just 21, he played at AA last year, so would be a jump for him, but he's got good potential, so we may go with it and see how he handles it. Of course, don't want to put him in over his head and stunt his growth, so we'll have to watch this over the offseason and in spring training.

3B we will be looking at either Hernan Perez or Matt Davidson at this point. Perez saw action in 119 games last year between the Pilots and the Marlins. Davidson played in 99 games for the White Sox last year. Neither are much of a long-term answer, but might be serviceable.

Probably looking at Cristhian Adames as our utility guy. He can play 2B, 3B, or SS. Saw action in 29 games with Colorado last year. Not a lot of power, but makes contact, and is solid defensively.

Outfield
Looking at some combination of Christian Walker, Cory Spangenberg, James Ramsey, Matt Szczur, and Tyler Austin. All saw action in the bigs last year, with Spangenberg getting the most. Cory played in 87 games for the San Francisco Seals, starting 83, but struggled at the plate. Walker appeared in 80 games for Arizona, starting 50, batting .284 with an .816 OPS, and Szczur saw action in 84 games, starting 54, for the Cubs. In a bench role, he played fairly well, but not sure we can limit him to a bench role unless we sign another outfielder or two.

Free Agent Thoughts
We have some holes we could try to fill slightly at least through free agency, but Mr. Sullivan is being conservative financially. At least at this point, he has authorized a budget of $3.8 million for free agent signings. Obviously that is not going to get us too much. Ideally, I would like to add another starting pitcher or two, along with a couple more arms in the bullpen, especially lefthanders, an experienced catcher to probably fill a back-up role, and perhaps another outfielder or two.

From a starting pitcher standpoint, Darvish, Arrieta, or Tanaka don't really make sense for us to pursue, even if we had the budget, given their ages and salary expectations. It would be nice to sign a mid-range starter a bit on the older side to help our young pitchers out, but also perhaps be trade material come trade deadline time for some contender looking to add some depth to their rotation.

A couple intriguing bullpen possibilities from the international pool are Sergio Correa, from Cuba, and Xiao-wei Lian from Taiwan. Both have great stuff and movement on their pitches. Both are right-handed though, so don't address the lefty desire. Lefty options that might not command too much money could be Robbie Ross Jr., Jayson Aquino, or Brian Duensing.

For fielders, my free agent wish list would include an experienced catcher, and another outfielder or two. Catchers available that might fit the bill include Alex Avila, Chris Iannetta, or Miguel Montero, depending on their demands. Todd Frazier might be a short-term solution at 3B, or perhaps Christian Villanueva. Outfield possibilities might be Marwin Gonzalez, Cameron Maybin, or Colby Rasmus. None of these guys are franchise cornerstones, but would provide some upgrades over what we currently have. The joys of being an expansion team . . . .