FOOLX Files 2006

[Montreal_GM]

Free Agency #1 Recap

The biggest story heading into free agency was the 40 Million dollars sitting in the Stafford coffers after an impressive 86-76 campaign. Couple that with their #1 rated farm system and you'd expect the Terriers to show vast improvement in 2006.

Some of the top free agents include 2005 All-FOOLX recipients C John Stout, 1B Alfonso Duran, OF De-Wei Li, as well as solid SP's Raul Gomez, Gordon Navarro, Seung-Kab Chon, Brandon Perkins, Jamie Vega, and Marc-Andre Barbeau.

Pre free agency payrolls.



Continental League

Stafford Terriers - Stafford faithful are up in arms after their beloved Terriers failed to land one free agent during the winter. Baseball insiders suggest Stafford brass are looking to rely on young talent and land some frugal options just before opening day, but the fans have to wonder what the likes of C John Stout and SP Raul Gomez could have done for their playoff chances. Look for Stafford to be very active during FA#2.

Balzac Ticklers - Another team with lots of extra cash goes el cheapo and fails to sign one player. Expect big moves during FA#2.

Havana Banana Sluggers - Shielded with a top 8 pick Havana wasted no time in trying to improve on a 60 win campaign with the addition of 4 top free agents. The two most important being SP's Gordon Navarro and Brendon Perkins, both former All-Stars. The Sluggers also brought back their underrated closer, Bill Savard, with a frugal 4 year deal. 3B Anthony West's 4 year deal at 7.5 Mil per might be a little too much for a .275/20/85 player, but at least the Cuban's are making an effort. Havana is capped out.

St. Louis Hops - The defending CL champs played FA#1 close to the vest by bringing back Type A OF Pedro Ramos (1yr/6Mil) and signing 3B Ricardo Cedeno (1yr/1.5MIl), a good fielding career .298 hitter with little power. St. Louis has around 9 Million to plug holes before the start of the season.

Washington Freedom - Sporting some of the top pitching in FOOLX it was no surprise that the Freedom focused on offensive support. Free swinging CF Jacob Hill (4x6Mil) brings his .250/30/120 line to compliment former Raindrop and 2005 All-FOOLX 1B Alfonso Duran (5x7.8Mil). GM Dan Hyde rounded out his signings with two budget options in SS Ruben Esparza and C Benny Stewart. The Freedom are capped out.

St. Cloud Raindrops - 2005 surprise story St. Cloud added two ho hum budget relievers and SP Marc-Andre Barbeau (4x4Mil). The 33 year old Barbeau had spent his 12 previous seasons in VB compiling a 126-118 record with a 4.14 ERA. GM Miss Teach has 7 Million to fiddle with before opening day.

Boston Resettlers and Chicago Cardinals- Both teams failed to sign free agents as they're already capped out.

Republic League

Cumberland Defenders - With nearly 25 Million to spend and little hope to contend in 2006 the Defenders signed some MLC's and a few below average players to league minimum type deals. Insiders suggest Defenders ownership is looking to stockpile an already impressive farm system before a run to the top in 2007 or 2008.

Virginia Beach Surf - The Surf added a quartet of serviceable hitters in C Tokichiro Taniguchi, 2B Vincinte Moran, RF Jose Rodriguez, and 1B Harunobu Sato, but really excited their fans with their three pitching signings, SP Jaime Vega (2x6M), SP Will Sabean (1x1.8M), and CL Sojuro Matsuda (3x1.8M), all of whom should fair well in the pitching friendly confines at Field of the Surf. They also brought back their wildman starter, Henry Smith, a guy that walked over 150 batters last year but still managed to go 12-15/4.84. The Surf are nearly capped out with about 1 Million to spend.

Spring Lions - Spring GM Tasan made perhaps the biggest move in Lions free agent history with the signing of single season home run king John Stout (5x12.5M). Some fans worry the left handed hitting Stout won't live up to the contract in a park that favors RHB. Regardless of park factors, there is no denying he'll add significant pop to a lineup in serious need of it. With a solid pitching staff in place and a few young relievers ready to take a role in the majors Spring spent the rest of their cash on two more impressive 100+ RBI type hitters in 1B Brent McFarlen and RF Pedro Alvarado. Spring is nearly capped out with just over 2Mil to spend.

New York Legends - Defending champs New York found themselves with some big shoes to fill but little cash to do it with. Former Cleveland reliever Tony Morgan was nabbed with a frugal contract (3x800K) after a poor showing last year for the Naps, while the only notable offensive signing was corner outfielder Pete Austin, a career .289 hitter with little pop.

Portland Axemen - Portland has nearly 10 Mil to spend but failed to offer any contracts. With nearly everyone returning from a 93 win team it looks as if Portland were cautious with losing their first round draft pick and might try to scavenge a difference maker or two in the coming weeks.

Ann Arbor Wolverines - With little to spend and almost their entire rotation departed Ann Arbor looks to be on the brink of a downward slide. Their one signing, exceptional closer Juan Diaz (3x1.8M), probably won't keep them in contention this year but will certainly be a key if Ann Arbor can shore things up in 2007.

Maricopa Rattlers - With only 4 Mil to spend the Rattlers failed to offer any contracts. Looking replace LF Mike Price and SS Ruben Esparza GM EddieK will most certainly have a fight on his hands for the last few budget priced free agents.

Cleveland Naps - With little to spend Naps GM CBF decided to bring in a trio of lower priced low contact power hitters to fill holes in his lineup. With little depth in the pitching department and nothing left to spend it's looking like it could be another long season in '06.

[Montreal_GM]

I'll do the RL a little later. Working nights now makes it easier to do this during the day but my gf still expects me to do things around the house during the day. Better get to work.

[Montreal_GM]

Updated now with the RL.

[Alan T]

Should be fun to see what Stout can do now that he is out of Teng's shadow.

[mattcubs]

Great read...Thanks

[Montreal_GM]

After ST I'll update this again with a little more focus on who people lost and who they gained and who came out on top during the offseason.

At first glance I'd say Spring and Washington did the most to push themselves into the postseason, while Havana did well in landing the pitching they did but might not have enough to get over the hump just yet.

[Montreal_GM]

Gomez Blackballed?


Former 17 game winner Raul Gomez was forced into retirement this offseason after failing to secure a contract for the second offseason in a row. Sources around the league suggest Gomez, still a formidable talent, would have landed with someone if he had stayed patient and waited for the second signing period. With plenty of cash floating around the league one has to wonder why no one jumped at the chance to add such a quality talent to their club.

[Alan T]

If he was just a problem in the clubhouse, you would think he would have at least been picked up by Havana. Adjo had no problem enjoying his time down there after all

[Montreal_GM]

I wanted to sign him but I'm already 6 deep at SP and he wanted a touch more than I was willing to pay. That said, if I had 25 Million to spend and only a couple SP's he would have been the first guy I targeted.

[ShoelessJ03]

Originally Posted by Montreal_GM

Gomez Blackballed?


Former 17 game winner Raul Gomez was forced into retirement this offseason after failing to secure a contract for the second offseason in a row. Sources around the league suggest Gomez, still a formidable talent, would have landed with someone if he had stayed patient and waited for the second signing period. With plenty of cash floating around the league one has to wonder why no one jumped at the chance to add such a quality talent to their club.

HAHA this scumbag!

He goes out and has a career year for me, demands all this cash and now disappears!

I don't blame you guys for not trying to sign him when I let him walk. He was a type A based off one great year.

I didn't expect him to repeat that type of season again.

Great stuff. I love reading articles like this.

[Chief Rum]

Agreed, great read.

West is a bit risky, but he's a young guy at a position that has been giving me trouble for years now. I wish he were better against lefties, but if he can provide a steady source of decent power and good defense, I'll be happy.

You can't tell from looking at this free agent sim alone, but I actually made my most important addition to the offense during last season's World Series sim, when I signed Taguchi to a big deal. Taguchi was showing as a 1B at the time, but he's actually a C, so he fills another hole for me, and with terrific offensive ability as well.

I have some kids who will come up as well who should contribute. I think we can make a run at .500 this year, if the pitching holds up (big if, despite the pitching additions to the rotation and retaining Savard, we lost three other key relievers, a fourth ace took an age hit, and our ace Pablo Sanchez took a big time hit in his currents).

I actually considered Gomez on a number of occasions, but each time, I figured I would be outbid, or he was just asking for too much.

And I decry the senseless lampooning of Adjo, the Great Banana Slugger. He was a perfect gentleman in the clubhouse--well, we think. You see, he was Liechtensteinien or South African or something like that and had this awful, awful accent. None of us understood a word he said his entire time here. But he kept showing up and hitting homeruns, so we kept paying him.

[Montreal_GM]

I forgot about Taguchi. I remember seeing it in the notes at the end of the playoff sim but I failed to mention it here. He's a difference maker.

[CleBrownsfan]

Nice touch - love the read!

[Montreal_GM]

2006 All-FOOLX

Hitters

Catcher


Kien-lung Teng - New York Legends - .393/62/157 - 2 ALL-FX

Although Kien-lung Teng's gripping .400 run fell short, he still managed to rewrite the records books with a amazing .520 OBP, just clipping Hops superstar Luis Huerta, who had set the previous mark just last season. The Legends captain has now made the playoffs in 6 of his 8 illustrious seasons.

First Base


Joe Weeks - Portland Axemen - .317/40/162

Former #5 pick and 2002 Rookie of the Year Joe Weeks has quietly put together five excellent seasons (.307/200HR/598RBI) to begin his fledgling career. Following a lackluster 86 RBI performance in 2005, this California native parlayed a .335 RISP AVG into 162 RBI.

Second Base


Julio Olivas - Stafford Terriers - .300/20/102

This 26 year old 2-Time Slick Fielder was easily the biggest surprise during the 2006 FOOLX campaign. A poor hitter at best his first 3 seasons (.244/6/56 last year), Julio Olivas was a key cog in a Terriers attack that won a franchise record 96 games.

Third Base


John Palmer - St. Cloud Raindrops - .258/41/108 - 2 ALL-FX

6 straight seasons of 40/100 makes his 140+ K's easier to swallow.

Shortstop


Nick Bernard - New York Legends - .310/48/142

Nick Bernard shrugged off his home park advantage and hit .333/16/67 on the road to stake his claim to the 2006 RL All-Star team and his first All-FOOLX team.

Left Field


Pedro Ramos - St. Louis Hops - .288/35/129

The 36 year old Ramos winds down his career (2000H/400HR/1500RBI) with one final stand in helping the Hops to their first league title.

Center Field


Javier Lopez - St. Cloud Raindrops - .253/46/127

The 17th overall pick in 1996 made his first All-Star game during a spectacular 46 home run season.

Right Field


Luis Huerta - St. Louis Hops - .300/38/118

Puerto Rican legend Luis Huerta leads St. Louis to their first ever league title with another solid season. In 47 postseason games Huerta is batting .425/11/46.

Designated Hitter


Ling-lai Joo - Portland Axemen - .334/36/123

Portland supersoph Ling-lai Joo expands on a .284/18/78 rookie campaign and leads the Axemen to their first playoff appearance since 1995. At only 26, this 6'4" slugger from Taiwan is sure to be an RL superstar for many years.

Starters


Rob Wright - Washington Freedom - 15-4/3.34

6-Time All-Star Rob Wright puts in another top performance while leading his Freedom to their best season since 2000. Wright is also one of the better hitting pitchers in the league having batted .259 this past season while hitting his first career HR.


Manuel Cedeno - New York Legends - 17-8/4.16

Legends ace Manuel Cedeno fought through a shaky June and July (5.7 ERA) to secure his first All-FOOLX honor. The 34 year old was recently rewarded with a new 3 year deal.


Mark Burns - St. Louis Hops - 16-5/3.11

25 year old Mark Burns was expected to contribute solid innings to the Hops rotation in his 3rd season, but no one expected him to lead the league in ERA. Made his first All-Star appearance in 2006.


Joaquin Martinez - Maricopa Rattlers - 12-11/3.50

Rattlers ironman Joaquin Martinez fought through little run support (3.73) en route to another fine season. With 8 more CG's this season the Puerto Rican hurler is now 5th all-time, just trailing Bardino (80), O'Reilly (83), Reyes (85), and Morales (89). At 33 and still equipped with a solid skill set he's likely to pass all 4 men in the coming seasons.


Hector Lopez - Spring Lions - 14-7/3.37

At only 25 Hector Lopez is a rising star in the RL pitching ranks. With only 2 pitches some scouts have questioned his rotation staying power, but 3 straight seasons with 10+ wins and a sub 4.50 ERA has quieted most non-believers.

Relievers


Miguel Hernandez - New York Legends - 8-3/31 SV/2.35

Former #42 overall Miguel Hernandez leads the Legends bullpen with another solid season.



Justo Harper - Balzac Ticklers - 112IP/2.48

Balzac's Brazilian super-reliever (my personal term for a 100+ inning do it all type) pitched early and often en route to a great bounce back season that saw him lower a dreadful 5.98 ERA in 2005.


Ron Russell - Spring Lions - 112IP/8-1/3.43/143K's

Another super-reliever, rookie Ron Russel took a workhorse attitude to work every day pitching in 81 games and leading all relievers in K's with 143.


Mark Copeland - St. Louis Hops - 63IP/1.86

33 year old relief ERA champ Mark Copeland broke into the bigs (w/Mexico City) in 2001 at the age of 27 with a decent 4.70 performance. After an even better 2002 (3.51) he was mysteriously left in AAA from '03 to '05 before returning to the league this season hellbent on proving himself one more time.


Bobby Beaudin - Portland Axemen - 9-2/33SV/2.17

Former super-reliever (100+ IP last 4 seasons) and Ottawa native Bobby Beaudin took over the Axemen closer role this season and absolutely dominated RL hitters. Unfortunately, this great relief hurler has never been honored with an All-Star appearance.

[Montreal_GM]

Pitchers will be added later tonight or in the morning.

[Alan T]

Got a few Dave Kingman .250 type hitters here!

[Montreal_GM]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Got a few Dave Kingman .250 type hitters here!

Not sure if it's good or bad but I have a hard time figuring the worth of a .310/20/90/90 hitter vs. a .260/40/110/110 guy.

Take 3B for instance, Palmer had 17 more HR than the 2nd guy, the most Total Bases, the most RBI, 2nd in Runs, but was 30 points behind the leading VORP guy, Bauer (BOS).

Palmer played about 50 games at 2B, perhaps his VORP was so low at 3B because he didn't play all of his games there. Actually, I'm not sure if VORP takes that into account. Not that it really matters, I guess, I only use VORP as a starting point in determining who is worthy and who isn't.

[Montreal_GM]

Updated w. pitchers.

When I did the relievers I really felt like I was leaving a lot of worthy candidates out. Two of the better save guys (Real and Lopez) this year had unacceptable ERA's and losses so they didn't make the cut. Some other closers were worthy (Knight, Lloyd, Savard), but in the end I like to reward the workhorse relievers just as much as the stopper.

If anyone has any gripes about how players were selected please feel free to voice your concern. This is a work in progress, and to be honest, sometimes time may get the better of me and rush me a to decision.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Montreal_GM

Not sure if it's good or bad but I have a hard time figuring the worth of a .310/20/90/90 hitter vs. a .260/40/110/110 guy.

Take 3B for instance, Palmer had 17 more HR than the 2nd guy, the most Total Bases, the most RBI, 2nd in Runs, but was 30 points behind the leading VORP guy, Bauer (BOS).

Palmer played about 50 games at 2B, perhaps his VORP was so low at 3B because he didn't play all of his games there. Actually, I'm not sure if VORP takes that into account. Not that it really matters, I guess, I only use VORP as a starting point in determining who is worthy and who isn't.

Yeah, I don't know that I would give VORP a ton of weight here in this comparison either. it does not adequately factor in defense and there are better offensive comparisons to use. I think personally from an offensive standpoint though I like Bauer better than Palmer. Speaking defensively, Palmer was a lousy 3B defensively.

Speaking offensively however, yes Palmer did have more pop (mostly due to the difference in number of home runs, but because of the .050 difference in batting avg, that made up some of the ground for Bauer. The big difference offensively though is Bauer had a .130 higher OBP... which is very substantial.


Keep in mind that this is primarily speaking on how I value players though, but I have been well known to place less of an emphasis on the home run than many others in my player evaluation when forming a team

[Alan T]

Funny thing about Manuel Cedeno... I was trying to figure out which Starting pitchers in the RL did well this year, and well they were all lousy. Perhaps he was the best of the bunch. I saw what you did about the bad middle of the year and I saw his ERA for the year seemed pretty high (4.17) for a 17 game winner.

I then just assumed, well he pitches for New York, anyone pitching in that ballpark will have a high ERA for the season, so he probably had like a 4.60 at home and 3.60 on the road right?


Nope! Cedeno went 8-3 with a 4.14 ERA at home, and 9-5 with a 4.18 ERA on the road... go figure!

[Tasan]

Once we go over to 11, this might get a little easier. There are some better sabermetric stats in 11 that really get to the core of what good players are. OPS+ and ERA+ come to mind right off.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Once we go over to 11, this might get a little easier. There are some better sabermetric stats in 11 that really get to the core of what good players are. OPS+ and ERA+ come to mind right off.

OPS+ and ERA+ are both available in Statslab now. fyi!