Pasttime: An Alternative MLB History (OOTP)

[Young Drachma]

DECEMBER 5th:

We sent 31-year old 1B Orlando Romero (.256/18/81 last season) and a minor leaguer to Keokuk for 27-year old reliever Mike Smith (8-3, 39 SV 59 K) and a prospect.

We're kinda stocked at the first base position anyway, Romero is in the last year of his deal and makes a good amount of money. It worked out to be a good deal for us short-term and I think, long-term as well.

The player evaluation option for this league is:

RATINGS: 35
Current year: 30
Previous year: 20
2 years ago: 15

So...it means that I can rely a little better on the stats of a guy over a career, rather than relying solely on ratings. In other words, making it more realistic. Because potential is cool and all, but...it doesn't mean much at the end of the day if the guy doesn't produce.
------

December 7, 2008We signed Ted Durham, a reliever with Philadelphia last year (3-3, 3 SV 36 K in 37 appearances) to a 1-year deal worth $750,000. We're going to turn him into a starter. He's a southpaw and I think he'll project well, especially at just 26.

DEC 8, 2008
The LA Stars signed Catcher Clint Mills to a 5 year deal worth $181.9 million. Payrolls are going through the roof and teams are starting to splash the cash to keep up with the Joneses.

He is, for the moment the highest paid player in baseball making $32.74 million next season.

I imagine by the time we're done, someone else will be at that rate on the list.

MY FAVORITE PLAYER - FEATURE

I'm going to start a new feature called "my favorite player". Basically, I notice guys all of the time that I find interesting or cool or who just rake and that you ought to know about. But for one reason or another, I always forget to bring them up -- or I sign them. In this dynasty, I'd rather just admire them from afar.

But there is one guy that I had absolutely no hand in creating whatsoever, who makes for the best story that I could never concoct on my own.

Because I have foreign players being created by the computer at a random clip, it's hard to know where guys will come from.

That doesn't tell you how Halim "Lightning" bin Taysir became the first Iraqi in the major leagues last year with the Salt Lake City Bees. But when the team moved to Nevada this season, bin Taysir came along for the ride and played the entire season.

The shortstop hit .335 with 5 HRs and 67 RBI and was named American League Rookie of the Month in September. His .335 average was 3rd best in the majors this past season. Not bad for a 21-year old.



So how does an Iraqi start playing baseball? When he moves to the United States at age 15 and decides that soccer isn't interesting anymore.

"I figured out that I would rather do something else. All of my friends played baseball after school, so I would go to the field and watch them. One day, the coach told me to try out. I told him I only played soccer growing up. He said, "I grew up playing football. We can all learn."

So bin Taysir started playing baseball in Encinitas, California where his family settled as his father was a doctor and his mother was a teacher.

"It was an adjustment, but once I started, it was just addictive. Like, I just wanted to be at the cage every day and all I wanted to do was hit after school."

And boy, did it pay off.He played two years at a community college rather than signing immediately and finally decided to sign a deal last year that brought him to Nevada.

"It's been awesome."

As for being a pioneer, he says that his situation isn't like most people's.

"I realize that not many Iraqis even know what baseball is, let alone bother to play it. But, I am glad that I got the chance to do it and that I'm making the most of my opportunity now. My parents are just glad that I'm making my own money," he said, laughing.

[Young Drachma]

December 20, 2008

I'm mulling over a trade right now that would officially signal in an era that says we're going younger or at least, we're going to win, but only in the interest of not spending $200 million a year to maintain that sort of lifestyle.

It would include fan favorite and former 20-game winner Sean Blair, who is 33 and still has two years and close to $40 million left on his deal with us. He was 15-13 last year with a 3.42 ERA in 33 starts. The reason I'd send him away is pretty much about money. I don't know if we'll get the value for him over the next two years to warrant spending that money. I'd almost rather put the money up or put it into younger kids and we don't win it all for two years, I have less regrets than if I go with him.

Same goes for Luis Silva, a 30-year old outfielder. He hit .308 last year with 13 HRs and 45 RBI in limited action for us, but that's because of the fact that we carried too many outfielders last year and it so it turned out, that we ended up paying him a good chunk of change to sit on the bench and not play. He's still got two years left on a $106 million deal.

We've found a willing taker in both players, along with two other relievers.

We'll know after Christmas whether we're going to pull the trigger or not. In return, we'd get younger and still have proven players. It's just a matter of whether those players will perform for us in the same way.

[Young Drachma]

December 22, 2008
We signed 42-year old reliever Edgar Garcia to a one-year deal worth $1 million. He spent his entire career in Toronto and has 535 career saves and 1178 strikeouts.

Last year in 27 appearances, he was 1-2 with 1 save and a 5.26 ERA and 23 strikeouts.

I figured he'd offer some sort of veteran help for us.

December 24, 2008
As I scan through the free agents list, I just can't justify the money some of these guys are asking for, compared to their numbers. I realize that's what the market is bearing right now and where it's headed. But I like our farm system and what we have on the team already enough that I just don't feel the need to tinker all that much.

December 27, 2008
The Sean Blair deal is complete. We sent Blair, Luis Silva and two relievers for Cisco Martinez, a 23-year old starter, reliever Jim Richards and 28-year old starter Pedro Pacheco.

Martinez split last season between Arizona and the New York Highlanders. He was 11-13 with a 3.26 ERA and 186 K. He was dealt to Philadelphia a few weeks ago and the Blue Jays put him on the block immediately after being acquired.

Meanwhile, Pacheco was 9-14 with a 5.17 ERA in 34 starts last year and will likely come out of the bullpen for the Yanks next year, as will Jim Richards who was 7-1 with 7 saves in 51 appearances last year. He pencils in as the setup man for us next year.

Most of all, this deal saved us about $30 million in salary and puts us down to #2 in overall team payroll at $136.8 million.

KNAPP-TIME IN KEOKUK
Overshadowing this deal on a busy day this off-season was the signing by the Keokuk Cardinals of free agent catcher and masher Ronnie Knapp. The 26-year old Knapp spent the past six years in Montreal, averaging 36 HRs a season and 117 RBI. Last year, he hit just .238 in 445 ABs, but he battled injuries for most of the year and was out for 4 weeks in the middle of the year, which didn't help his cause any.

Ultimately, the two-time Sloan Sullivan award winner ('05, '06) will spend the next six years behind the backstop in Keokuk, the city where it's always baseball season.

"I'm elated," he said about the 6 year/$254.3 million deal he signed with the club that makes him -- by far -- the highest paid player in the history of the game.

"I just want to live up to the expectations that I'm sure everyone has of me," said the Edison, New Jersey native.

And boy, what expectations they are.

[Young Drachma]

December 28, 2008
The Boston-area native train came in again today, as we signed 27-year old hurler Woody O'Toole, a Norwell, MA native to a three-year deal worth $22.8 million.

In three major league seasons, he's compiled a 40-43 record with a 3.69 ERA. Last year for the New York Heroes, he was 14-11 with a 3.28 ERA and had 211 strikeouts.

I got him because he seems to be a horse, that could eat innings and if he's got the right guys behind him -- namely ours -- he can be an effective middle of the rotation guy. And at that price, it's worth it to me.

[Young Drachma]

We dealt MR Joe Stanley to Brooklyn along with a prospect and cash, for three prospects.

He's 33 years old and has spent his entire career with the Yankees and spent from 1997-2007 as the team's primary closer, racking up 375 saves and a 72-56 record during that time.

After he was demoted from the closer role last season, it was pretty likely that he was going to ask for a trade to get an opportunity to pitch more and we gave him that chance once a deal came up that worked for both parties.

[Young Drachma]

Jan 3, 2009
--
We signed the best Jamaican ballplayer since Devon White today, when Brendan Cosh a reliever signed with us today.

The 35-year old southpaw was dealt to the New York Highlanders before last year's trade deadline after 11 years with the New Orleans/Houston franchise. Last year, he was 5-5 with 17 saves in 46 appearances and a 4.33 ERA. Most interestingly, his ERA was over 6 (6.90 with Houston last year, but was a svelte 1.13 in 15 appearances with the Highlanders.

The two-year deal is worth $3.8 million and is all in the interest of bolstering the bullpen.

[Young Drachma]

2009 SEASON PREVIEW
---
I'm excited about this season and our division as a whole. It's going to fun forging new rivalries in cities like Cleveland, Raleigh and Austin.

The ballclub is probably going to depend more heavily on its youth now than in recent years, but that's probably a good thing.

Let's go through the 25-man roster as it stands right now.

The most notable thing is, we're bringing back quite a few starters from last year or in general, guys who we had on the team last year. Should help in terms of cohesion, because Frank Lord is the only notable change after being acquired from Keokuk earlier this off-season.

Here's the notable list of starters and their info:

CF Stan Braden
23-year old from Canada, LHB, hit .295 with 15 HR and 54 RBI in 424 ABs last year, his first full MLB season.

OF Manny Gomez
30-year old from Utah, LHB, hit .313 with 20 HR and 94 RBI last season with the Yanks. This year is is third season with the team.

LF David Morgan
35-year old outfielder in his third year with the Yankees, after being dealt from the original Boston club in 2007, he's back there with the Yankees for another year.

He hit .294 last year with 14 HR and 88 RBI with a whopping 12 triples and 49 steals. The switch-hitter is one of the most productive bats in the lineup.

2B Matt Kirk
30-year old LHB from New Jersey, hit .310 with 19 HR and 110 RBI in his second season with the Yankees, completing his fifth straight 100+ RBI season.

1b Guillermo Castro
23-year old switch hitter from Newark, New Jersey hit .274 last year with 15 HR and 44 RBI after being acquired near the deadline from San Francisco. Hit 36 HR and 107 RBI overall last year, his first full major league season.

SS Devlyn Boyle
22-year old Canadian infielder spent his rookie year as part of the '07 World Series winning squad as a utility player. In 2009, he's coming off his first full season as a starter, hitting .255 with 7 HR and 46 RBI. He'll be expected to contribute more with the bat, if he wants to keep his job.

RF Frank Lord
The 34-year old LHB and Massachusetts native comes home after a Hall of Fame career in Keokuk. Two years ago, he hit 46 HR and 115 RBI, his third straight 40+ season and 10th straight 100+ RBI season. He's fallen off that pace the past two years, averaging 34 HR and 96 RBI over the past two years with a batting average around .262. The Yanks are hoping a little home cooking will give him something more to play for, as well as the drive towards 700 HRs. (currently at 650 for his career.)

C Dan Crowley
23-year old catcher hit 24 HR and 68 RBI in his rookie year as the starting backstop for the Yanks. The sweet-swinging switch hitter is poised for a big year in '09.

3B Roberto Gomez
Manny's cousin played his first year with the Yanks last year and his sixth overall. He hit .257 with 16 HR and 69 RBI. A talented defensive player, the Yanks are hoping he can return to the form that had him hitting 31 HR and 111 RBI in 2006 with Memphis.

PITCHING STAFF
Francisco Rosado, RHP, 33
(12-8, 4.25 ERA, 229 K with Boston in 2008)

Pancho Flores, RHP, 23 (18-5, 3.57 ERA, 290 K with Boston in 2008)

Pedro Montoya, RHP, (15-5, 4.05 ERA, 211 K with Boston in 2008)

Cisco Martinez, LHP, (11-13, 3.26 ERA, 186 K with ARZ/NY Highlanders in 2008)

Woody O'Toole, RHP (14-11, 3.28 ERA, 211 K with New York Heroes in 2008)

Mike Smith, RHP (8-3, 39 SV, 2.31 ERA with Keokuk in 2008)

[Young Drachma]

If I had to say I had concerns, it's simply that you wonder if the team can hold up for a whole year. I mean, someone is bound not to pan out, right? Or to flop completely.

I think that's where I wonder or worry about the ballclub.

Next up, salary info and schedules.

[Young Drachma]

TEAM PAYROLL NUMBERS -- 2009
--------

Rank	Team	Payroll
1	Keokuk Cardinals	$150,452,800
2	Boston Yankees	$141,542,976
3	Cleveland Blues	$131,029,400
4	San Diego Marines	$121,724,600
5	Philadelphia Blue Jays	$121,263,400
6	Detroit Mustangs	$119,538,400
7	Chicago Whales	$115,703,400
8	Toronto Marlies	$115,073,244
9	Carolina Pirates	$114,256,800
10	Kansas City Elites	$111,972,200
11	Austin Red Sox	$95,259,600
12	Minnesota Mets	$93,545,200
13	Chicago Cyclones	$91,911,558
14	San Francisco Seals	$89,920,200
15	Los Angeles Stars	$79,816,944
16	Columbus Clippers	$78,467,000
17	Vancouver Canadians	$76,736,800
18	Miami Marlins	$69,356,000
19	New York Highlanders	$68,326,000
20	Texas Wranglers	$66,848,344
21	New York Heroes	$61,903,200
22	Atlanta Firecrackers	$55,291,000
23	Nevada Silverhawks	$54,168,800
24	Houston Generals	$52,950,600
25	Brooklyn Athletics	$52,533,856
26	Seattle Pilots	$50,191,600
27	Washington Senators	$46,242,800
28	Colorado Rancheros	$44,435,904
29	Arizona Sidewinders	$40,513,200
30	Los Angeles Angels	$28,429,200

TOP PLAYER SALARIES

Rank	Player	Team	Salary	 
1	Ronnie Knapp	Keokuk	$42,390,000	 
2	Clint Mills	Los Angeles	$32,740,000	 
3	Jason Hall	Chicago	$31,450,000	 
4	John Roy	Detroit	$29,920,000	 
5	George Robbins	San Francisco	$28,560,000	 
6	Teddy Sexton	Carolina	$28,050,000	 
7	Luis Silva	Philadelphia	$25,487,600	 
8	Darrell McKee	Miami	$24,967,200	 
9	Skip Gustafson	Austin	$24,270,000	 
10	Jeff Joyce	Los Angeles	$24,090,000	 
11	Jim Mathis	Kansas City	$23,160,000	 
12	Mike Moody	Cleveland	$22,060,000	 
13	Jon Gregory	Toronto	$21,313,200	 
14	Brock Simpson	San Francisco	$21,040,200	 
15	Luis Canó	Cleveland	$21,000,000	 
16	Roy King	Carolina	$20,970,000	 
17	Bob Taylor	Kansas City	$20,350,000	 
18	John Taylor	Chicago	$20,154,000	 
19	Sean Blair	Philadelphia	$19,537,200	 
20	Britt Warren	Toronto	$18,850,400	 
21	Vicente Archibequi	Keokuk	$18,754,400	 
22	Tim Cox	Keokuk	$18,353,400	 
23	Jim Gunther	Kansas City	$18,060,000	 
24	António Marengo	Carolina	$17,400,000	 
25	Raúl Garza	Columbus	$16,870,000	

[Young Drachma]

TOP MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEMS

Minor League Systems
#	Team			Points	Top 5 Prospects
1st	Washington Senators	143	CF J. Merritt (1st), CF J. González (4th), LF P. Garza (30th), 2B P. Prince (38th), C S. Díaz (70th)
2nd	Atlanta Firecrackers	101	LF F. Hernández (8th), P R. Johnson (12th), CF D. Riddock (20th)
3rd	Arizona Sidewinders	96	LF P. Colón (3rd), LF B. Reyes (5th)
4th	New York Highlanders	90	LF M. Benítez (23rd), P J. Ibáñez (28th), 1B S. Ventura (32nd), 2B C. Alldritt (34th), RF E. Wells (90th)
5th	Los Angeles Stars	90	3B A. Oliver (2nd), CF M. Sánchez (43rd), 2B K. Hutchence (45th), P J. Aragón (58th)
6th	Toronto Marlies		81	C C. Rodríguez (10th), C T. Méndez (17th), 1B T. Davigan (59th), CF J. Galván (81st)
7th	Boston Yankees		80	2B C. Costenla (7th), SS D. Boyle (14th), P M. Éthier (71st)
8th	Keokuk Cardinals	68	P J. Suárez (18th), 2B A. González (31st), P B. Neal (37th), LF R. Ramos (91st)
9th	Brooklyn Athletics	64	RF J. Elizarraraz (11th), CF J. Gallardo (21st), P A. González (75th)
10th	Austin Red Sox		61	LF A. Ruíz (19th), RF J. García (25th), RF K. Allison (62nd), LF H. Frost (96th)
11th	Minnesota Mets		61	SS K. Lord (15th), RF M. McMenemy (29th), 3B P. Féliz (83rd), P J. Bannatyne (99th)
12th	New York Heroes		55	2B R. Colón (9th), SS F. Heap (68th), P S. Márquez (78th), P M. Durand (97th)
13th	Chicago Whales		54	CF J. Morán (36th), LF T. Guzmán (39th), P R. Soriano (55th), LF J. Clarke (60th)
14th	Columbus Clippers	51	P G. López (16th), 1B R. Ramales (27th)
15th	Houston Generals	49	1B J. Chávez (13th), C H. Sato (53rd), C H. Herrera (85th)
16th	San Diego Marines	48	CF I. Hernández (6th), CF J. Vargas (66th)
17th	Vancouver Canadians	46	3B R. Docherty (22nd), P R. Sánchez (46th), P B. Kearley (64th)
18th	Philadelphia Blue Jays	44	SS J. Chen (41st), 2B B. Pak (52nd), RF M. Ramos (69th), P V. Hernández (74th), C S. Trejo (80th)
19th	San Francisco Seals	42	P C. Velázquez (33rd), P C. Ortíz (44th), C A. Zasko (61st)
20th	Detroit Mustangs	41	C D. López (26th), CF D. Christian (35th)
21st	Carolina Pirates	37	RF A. De Los Ríos (24th), 3B K. Herring (48th)
22nd	Colorado Rancheros	32	P C. Esquivel (40th), P L. Díaz (77th), RF V. Calderón (79th), P F. Gai (87th)
23rd	Nevada Silverhawks	30	SS H. bin Taysir (49th), P R. Lorenzo (54th), P W. Barry (84th), RF J. Villa (93rd)
24th	Seattle Pilots		28	1B H. Tremblett (51st), P M. Collazo (67th), P T. Holden (76th), RF G. Jacobs (89th)
25th	Chicago Cyclones	26	P P. Colón (47th), P J. Marés (57th), P Y. Navegero (94th)
26th	Los Angeles Angels	22	RF F. Gutiérrez (63rd), 3B G. Chio (82nd), RF J. St-Amant (86th), P W. Bentley (88th)
27th	Kansas City Elites	20	SS C. Mendoza (42nd), RF Y. Osada (92nd), LF G. Milley (98th)
28th	Miami Marlins		18	C Á. Gutiérrez (56th), P F. Laferrière (65th)
29th	Texas Wranglers		14	P L. Ruíz (72nd), CF D. Robinson (73rd)
30th	Cleveland Blues		13	LF R. López (50th)

[Young Drachma]

To start the year, we've got a home and home series of 2 games against the Atlanta Firecrackers. We then head to Carolina to face off against the Carolina Pirates for the first time ever, before hosting a 13-game homestand against Cleveland, Seattle and Columbus.



The bottom line is, the month of April is always tougher than we like to give it credit for and the games are more pivotal than in any other major sport. In other sports, a loss early in the year might not usually make or break a team's playoff chances. But in baseball, it's still the case.

We love that about the game and look forward to another year of exciting, MLB action.

Let's get it started!

[Young Drachma]

HISTORY RESETS
Mostly because of the flaws in the game with unretired/retired players (if a guy retires and you unretire him, there is a bug that will duplicate his stats) and that messed up my record book when I realized this and was trying to simply unretire a guy to give him a jersey to wear and to freeze his picture. So I just removed the retired.dat file from the league and basically, the records we have now are from players who basically got their start in the 1990s to present day. It sucks, sure. But...it doesn't matter. We'll call that old record book the "historical" record and we'll call these new records the "modern" record books.

So from now on, we'll cite only "modern" records. You know the historical figures that loom over the game and the awards are still named for them, but to me, this is the best way to do this. So..that's what we're doing.

[Young Drachma]

GAME 1: ATLANTA @ BOSTON
March 30, 2009
---
PREVIEW
The Braves come into this four game home and home set (2 in Boston, 2 in Atlanta) with a lineup comprised mostly of lower-tier guys on paper.

The guys to look out for on their ballclub include Hunter Davis, a 25-year old right fielder who is in his second full season with the club. Last year, he hit 16 HR and 69 RBI. The sweet-swinging leftie hit .305 in his rookie year.

19-year old phenom Fernando Hernandez is one of the many young Dominicans who taking the entire league by storm. He hit .299 with 51 HR and 135 RBI in his rookie year. Did I mention he's just a pup?

The last player worth mentioning is Atlanta's third baseman Cole Butler, a right-handed vet who is heading into his sixth year with the team. He hit .277 last year with 23 HR and 81 RBI.

On the mound for the Firecrackers is ace Victor Swaneveld. tHE 21-year old southpaw is a native of South Africa and ironically was dealt to Atlanta by the Yankees when they were still in Tampa back in 2007 en route to the World Series title that year.

One of the players who was received in the three-team deal was the guy on the mound today for the Yankees, Francisco Rosado.

The Firecrackers boast a face that might be familiar to many fans of the Yankees, Kris Corrigan was the shortstop on that World Series winning team in '07 and he's now playing in Atlanta after playing in San Francisco last year.

MATCHUPS
Cole Butler is 2 for 5 with a homerun lifetime against Francisco Rosado. And Kris Corrigan is 6 for 11 with one home run against him.

On the Yankees side, David Morgan is 3 for 6 with a 1 HR career against Swaneveld and Guillermo Castro is 4 for 4 with a homerun against him.

GAME
A four-run seventh inning capped broke a 3-3 tie and despite a late rally in the ninth, the Boston Yankees held on to win their season opener against the Atlanta Firecrackers at Yankee Field 7-5.

Boston reliever Brendan Cosh got the win, Mike Smith earned his first save as a Yankee.

BOX SCORE

[Young Drachma]

GAME 2: BOSTON 3, ATLANTA 2

Pancho Flores struck out 12 and Mike Smith notches his second straight save as the Yankees sweep Atlanta at home and head now to Atlanta for two games before ending the series.

BOX SCORE

GAME 3: ATLANTA 7, BOSTON 1

The Yankees were completely outclassed by 18-year old hurler Robby Johnson who was making his first career start. He struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings to get his first major league in style.

BOX SCORE

GAME 4: BOSTON 16 ATLANTA 11
The four-game home and home interleague soiree to start the season comes to an end, with Boston taking three of four. The last game was a doozy, with the two teams combining for 39 hits and 27 runs.

BOX SCORE

[Young Drachma]

A NEW TROPHY FOR BASEBALL'S FALL CLASSIC
NEW YORK -- The foundation named for the the 37th President of the United States Jackie Robinson, today announced the donation of a new trophy to be awarded to the winner of baseball's World Series called the Robinson Trophy.

Robinson died last year at the age of 89 and was best known as the first African-American elected President of the United States. The former lawyer and long-time activist actually got his start as a star athlete at UCLA. He was wooed heavily to play baseball in the pros, but opted against it saying that he had a "higher cause" to fight for. He later became a U.S. Senator from California and after Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for a 2nd term, the insurgent candidacy of Robinson was just what the doctor ordered for a country rankled by race riots and a war on the road.

He served two terms and spent his later years working with his Jackie Robinson Foundation, started by his wife and becoming a world leader.

A longtime lover of the game and of the Los Angeles Stars, President Robinson left in his will money to provide a "proper trophy befitting the best team in all of Major League Baseball." The trophy best resembles the Stanley Cup in hockey and will work similarly. The entire team of the World Series champions will be put onto the cup each year, just like the Stanley Cup and will be given to the winning team for one year.

"This is a fantastic tribute to the life of a great man and a great legacy of American service," said MLB spokesman Darryl Kennedy.

"We're ecsatic that President Robinson chose to do this in his departure from this world and believe that baseball will do great in the future to have this fantastic legacy in our most hallowed tradition and event."

The Robinson Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the 2009 World Series and each subsequent winner.

[Young Drachma]

Longest World Series droughts (in a continous franchise city) (as of 2009)
---
CHICAGO WHALES - 71 years (1938)
SAN FRANCISCO - 66 years
BOSTON (Browns/Yankees) - 60 years
KEOKUK - 41 years
SEATTLE - 39 years
COLUMBUS - 37 years
TORONTO - 35 years

[Young Drachma]

For some strange reason, I've wanted to make championship banners for teams. Most teams only have the years they won titles in that city on their banner. For instance, Keokuk doesn't claim the five titles the franchise won in Kansas City in the early 20th century as its own.

Speaking of Keokuk, they're the first one I did one for.

[Young Drachma]

The Columbus Clippers

[Young Drachma]

Here's our banner. Since the team became the Yankees in 1924, we've never lost in the World Series, hence no reference to A.L. pennants.

Here's the banner for the San Francisco Seals. This poor franchise's fans have suffered for a while now. Their last playoff appearance was in 1981 and they've only been to the post-season three times since 1945.



Here's the Seattle Pilots banner.

[Young Drachma]

With banners, I've pretty employed the theory that if a team kept the same nickname or stayed in the same city, that they get the champions from that particular era.

So the Keokuk Kernals/Comets/Cardinals are the same organization and get all of the titles. The Tampa/Boston Yankees are the same organization. But the Dallas Travelers and the Detroit Mustangs...not so much or the New York Metropolitans/Philadelphia Blue Jays, no.

[Young Drachma]

I've decided to go a different route with this dynasty. Either on this thread or a new one, I've decided to sim at the pace that I'm accustomed to. I can't sustain a slow-pace dynasty without lots of feedback and reader interest. That's no knock on any of you, it's just...that's the only way to motivate myself to get interested in the storylines.

And the thing is, I write at such a volume that it's not really realistic for me to expect anyone to keep up with me.

Sooo...my plan is to do something a little unorthodox. I'm going to go through and actually play out the 20-30 or more years of history and then go back and recall for you the highlights and low-lights of that timeframe. It'll be fun, because I can talk about players, the stuff that happened, what they did and of course, focus on the teams and the storylines therein.

I think that'll be a more interesting way of doing it and also, the pace won't be such that stuff is happening all of the time. It'll be like a dynasty on ESPN Classic, rather than watching it on Sportscenter.

We'll see if it works, but..I like the idea of trying it out.

[Young Drachma]

It's 2022, I've retaken over a team again and I'm going to recap not only what's happened over the past decade or so, but to talk about where I'm at now, what we're doing and all of that.

[Young Drachma]

2009: Philadelphia Blue Jays (NL) def. Nevada Silverhawks
The Blue Jays are one of the best teams in recent memory, stringing together their third straight NL East title en route to the franchise's first World Series since 1990.

At the end of the 2009 season, the San Francisco Seals moved to Oakland, California to become the Oakland Seals.


2010: Boston Yankees (AL) def. Keokuk Cardinals
At 124-38, this team might go down as the best in history. Wait until I go back and talk about the talent this team had on it, when I recap. Just amazing how well they worked together and the combination of young developed talent and veterans meshed perfectly culminating with the Yankees first World Series title in Boston and the franchise's 5th World Series since 1992.

At the end of the 2010 season, the Chicago Whales moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin to become the Green Bay Giants.

2011: Boston Yankees def. San Diego Marines
Yankees become the first team to repeat since Brooklyn back in 97-98

At the end of the 2011 season, the Los Angeles Stars moved to San Jose, California to become the San Jose Orioles.

2012: Boston Yankees def. Philadelphia Blue Jays
The two best teams of the 2000s face off in a World Series for the ages and Boston becomes the first three-peat champion since Keokuk from 1966-68

2013: Portland Beavers (NL) def. Boston Yankees
In their first year since moving from Vancouver, the new Portland franchise captured the first World Series in Portland since 1928, when the AL Portland Beavers (who later moved to New York) won their 5th and final World Series that season. This Portland team twarts the desire of the Yankees to become the first four-peat champ in baseball history.

At the end of the 2013 season, the Brooklyn Athletics moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to become the Albuquerque Athletics.

2014: Boston Yankees def. Detroit Mustangs
Only two franchises in history have won four titles in five years. Columbus (1912-14, 1916) and Keokuk (1963-64, 1965-66)

2015: Boston Yankees def. Philadelphia Blue Jays
It's fitting that the record-tying World Series victory for most in one span, comes against such a formidible opponent. Only Keokuk (1963-64, 1965-67) has ever won five titles in a six year span. This title marks the 14th in Yankees franchise history (Tampa/Boston) and breaks the record for most titles by any team, previously held by Columbus with 13.

2016: Arizona Sidewinders (AL) def. Albuquerque Athletics
The first all-Southwest World Series. These sorts of regional title bouts are what MLB was looking for, in its recent spate of moves to create more geography in baseball and to reflect a sport that "looks like America" with teams in a variety of cities and locales, rather than turning baseball into a "big city, big money" sport. This sort of expansion to markets often deemed "too small" by other sports prompted revenue sharing by owners and turned baseball into a global business enterprise and the game experiences huge growth in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Africa

2017: Portland Beavers (NL) def. Seattle Pilots
The Pilots were looking for their first World Series title since 1970, the only time the team has won one. They faced off against interleague and regional rival, Portland. This battle was one of the most exciting and eletrifying in the history of the World Series. Another regional series to capture the nation and it results in another Portland victory, their 2nd in five years.

2018: Boston Yankees def. Detroit Mustangs
A repeat of the 2014 series, Boston captures the 15th title in Yankees history and the sixth since coming to Boston in 2008.

2019: San Jose Orioles def. Seattle Pilots
Another West Coast World Series results in more Sleepless nights in Seattle as the team can't win the big one and the Orioles of San Jose capture the first title in franchise history and are the first California team to win a World Series since 2001.

In 2014, baseball had announced plans that in 2020 it would expand by an unprecedented 10 teams to cap both leagues at 40 teams. There was some talk, that it would be just 32 teams, but in the end, baseball officials felt that it made more sense to 'shock' the league once and keep its numbers fixed, rather than not. Plus, the rapid interest in baseball around the country demanded such moves and gave the owners all of the motivation they needed to make the decision to expand. The new cities were: Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Norfolk, Jackson Mississippi, Newark, Boise, Wichita, Indiana, San Antonio and Tampa.

Baseball realigned to eight divisions of five teams apiece. The playoffs were determined using first half and second half champions for 2020 and 2021 and a best-of-five game "Regional Series" preceded the best-of-five game Division Series.

2020: San Jose Orioles def. Chicago Cyclones
Another year, another AL city of suffering fans looking for a break. The wait of Cyclones fans has only been 16 years, but...San Jose ensured it'd be at least another year before the Windy City could claim a world title, as they took their 2nd straight series win. As this was the first World Series of the expanded playoff era, baseball's season began in mid-March and both San Jose and Chicago were champions of their respective divisions.

2021: Portland Beavers def. Columbus Clippers
The Clippers were once the juggernauts of baseball, but in recent years, they can't seem to get over the hump. Their last World Series came in 1972 and it wasn't to be in '21 as the Beavers claim their third title in modern franchise history. 91-win Portland knocked off 91-win Columbus in the first-ever battle of two Wild Card teams for the World Series title.

Baseball officials ended the 1st half/2nd half champions format after 2021 and decided for 2022 to go back to calcuating entire season standings and giving four wild cards in each league, after fans complained about the old system. In the new setup, a best-of-three game Wild Card Series would come before a best-of-seven game Division Series, followed by the League Championship and finally, the World Series.

2022: Atlanta Firecrackers def. Cleveland Blues
The Firecrackers claim their first World Series since 1996 with a win over Cleveland, who have never won a title, the fourth straight NL victory. The 88-win NL Central championships from Atlanta were the lowest regular season record team to win a World Series, knocking off 93-win Cleveland in the first playoffs of the Wild Card Series format.

It's important to note that my last season running the Yankees was in 2011. I didn't make anymore decisions for the club and actually quicksimmed until 2017 after the 2011 season. So the results you see here are a testament perhaps to good scouting and more importantly, a great farm system and a willingness -- which happens all around this game more than real life -- to sign your own players to long term deals.

To see the names of prospects I cultivated dotted through their championship rosters was staggering to me and actually, the coolest feeling I've had in ages regarding a team I could connect to.

In 2022, I ended my hiatus and took over the New York Heroes (who in 2023, switched their name slightly to the Heroes of New York). The Heroes, since moving to New York in 1962, have just nine playoff appearances and a lone World Series title (2003) to their credit in their 61 year history.

I decided that New Yorkers were tired of such suffering and decided to do for them what I did for Boston. Or at least, to try. Talentwise, this team doesn't come close to the core of what I had in Tampa/Boston when I started there. But, I still tried to do some things to get the club on solid group pretty early on.

[Young Drachma]

We began the year 19th in payroll and we're 16th to end the year.

Here we go with the playoff qualifiers:


AL EAST: Cleveland Blues (94-68)
For the first time since 2005, the Yankees did not win the AL East title. The streak of 17 division titles in a row is obviously unprecedented and may never be broken by anyone. Cleveland's second-straight playoff appearance results in a division title and perhaps, the start of something more significant as the reigning AL champions look for more in '23.

AL WEST: Arizona Sidewinders (93-69)
First playoff appearance since 2018 for a club that last won the World Series back in 2016.

AL SOUTH: Houston Generals (100-62)
Back-to-back division titles for the Generals, who have made just three playoff appearances since 2000.

AL CENTRAL: Columbus Clippers (96-66)
Fourth straight playoff appearance for the Clippers, who are two years removed from an AL pennant.

AL WILD CARDS:
Boston Yankees (93-69)
This is the first time the Yankees have ever qualified for the playoffs via the Wild Card. I once said that when I ran the team, that if we ever qualified via the Wild Card (back when there was just 1) that we'd decline the invitation to the playoffs. Needless to say, they won't be doing that this time.) The Yankees have 22 playoff appearances (21 division titles) over the past quarter-century.

New York Nine (90-72)
In 2011, the NY Highlanders changed their nickname to the New York Nine, honouring the first baseball game ever played in Hoboken, New Jersey. This is their third straight playoff appearance. Last WS: 2000

Los Angeles Angels (85-77)
The only charter franchise in the majors still playing in their original city. The Angels are making their 2nd appearance in 3 years. Last WS: 2003

Seattle Pilots (85-77)
Fifth straight appearance and sixth in seven years. Only WS title came in 1970. But won the AL pennant as recently as 2017 and 2019.

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (102-60)
Dark Cloud's boys had another good year, after rebounding last year to make the playoffs, this time they up the ante and claim their first NL East title since 2011. The team's only World Series came in 2002 and they last won the NL pennant in 2008. Let's see how they handle the pressure of being the juggernaut.

NL WEST: Salt Lake City Bees (90-72)
The expansion Bees make their first playoff appearance in their fourth year of existance.

NL CENTRAL:Atlanta Firecrackers (87-75)
The defending World Series champs are back in the playoffs, claiming their third straight division title along the way. Can they make it two in a row?

NL NORTH:Green Bay Giants (99-63)
The third straight playoff appearance for the G-men and their 5th in seven years. 99 wins is the most wins since the franchise moved to Green Bay. Last WS victory: 1938 as the Chicago Whales. Will this be the year the drought ends?

NL WILD CARD
Washington Senators (99-63)
Fourth straight playoff appearance for the Sens, but their streak of three straight NL East titles was snapped by the upstart New York squad.

Minnesota Mets (94-68)
Second appearance in four years for the Mets.

Omaha Royals (85-77)
Omaha makes a return to the playoffs after a two year absence.

Portland Beavers (85-77)
The 2021 champs make their fourth straight appearance in the post-season.

[Young Drachma]

Here are the matchups in the AL & NL Wild Card Series. The idea is simple. A best-of-three game series. Why a three-game set? It's the most common event in a baseball season. It separates the wheat from the chaff. And I just like the idea of something we could condense into a whole weeklong event, so basically you could come home and there would baseball on regular TV for a whole week after work. Like on NBC and ABC and maybe a third game on ESPN.

For the first two years after the mass expansion and realignment, we had something called the Regional Series. It was a best-of-five game event before the best-of-five game Division Series. It worked okay, but that coupled with the weird half game champions thing, was too much for the fans and while attendance and viewership was up, the new system has been a huge hit.

It's be exciting, pressure-filled and even if a fluke team makes it out of here, their depth has to last them through a seven-game series just after it, in the Division Series which was expanded from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.

So far, it's ensured we have better matchups in the World Series and I like the real world nature of it, so....there ya go.

Seattle v. Houston
Los Angeles v. Columbus
New York v. Cleveland
Boston v. Arizona

Portland v. New York
Omaha v. Green Bay
Minnesota v. Salt Lake City
Washington v. Atlanta

[Young Drachma]

Seattle (def. Houston 2-0) v. Columbus (def. Los Angeles 2-1)
New York (def. Cleveland 2-0) v. Boston (def. Arizona 2-1)

Green Bay (def. Omaha 2-0) v. New York (def. Portland 2-1)
Atlanta (def. Washington 2-1) v. Salt Lake City (def. Minnesota 2-1

)

[Young Drachma]

Boston (defeated New York 4-1) v. Columbus (defeated Seattle 4-2)
It is fitting that the teams with the most World Series titles among them meet on even ground to settle a score that will send on to the World Series. The juggernaut of a past era versus a modern day juggernaut.


Green Bay (def. New York 4-3) v. Salt Lake City (def. Atlanta 4-2)
In this matchup, it's all about the upstart. Green Bay arrived as a major league city in 2011 when the Chicago Whales moved north. The franchise hasn't won a World Series since 1938. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City was a major league city from 1977 until 2007, when the original Bees moved to Nevada. So it took 47 years, but the city is on the cusp of hosting the World Series for the first time ever. Either way, the winner of this series comes out a pioneer and a trailblazer.

[Young Drachma]

This was asked on the other boards, but I thought it might be a useful question to some here too.

Originally Posted by CatKnight

What's your criteria for deciding when/if/where a team should move?

In this particular universe, my only criteria was 1) poor results over a period of time, signaling a long-term ownership group that may or may not have done well with the club. I also started to consider more and more, the idea that 2) baseball should be represented around the country, rather than having multiple teams in cities, when say, a team in a adjacent locale could still blanket that area.

For instance, Green Bay. They were close enough to Chicago, that I believe some of the old fan base would support the ballclub so long as it began to become successful.

Same with San Jose's move from Los Angeles.

In a few random cases, it was just me going "that move would make sense and I have a uniform to match that locale or could make a good looking one."

But that one is usually after considering other things.

The realism in terms of what we consider today to be a real-life market versus what we don't is not employed here. Because I believe cities that have minor league clubs would support a major league team provided it was close enough to a population centre and given that MLB had revenue sharing to ensure that teams weren't provided with a huge advantage by simple matter of geography in the case of say, New York or Philadelphia.

That said, the current alignment and team locales are pretty much fixed at this point, as I can't really see too many other places to move teams to or teams to move. Will it happen? It might. But, I think looking at the map, you can see that we have a good part of the country covered and that's my preference for baseball and what the original premise of this dynasty was about anyway.

View Larger Map

To that end, the only region that's technically underrepresented is the Caribbean, but I preferred to keep MLB an essentially American league, with the exception of a Canadian team represented. Other countries don't let their top flight leagues go willynilly across borders and I felt ours shouldn't either out of respect for other countries leagues and simply out of convenience for ours.

I also pour pretty heavily over population projections and because I've been to all of the lower 48 states, I tend to use ancedotal research in determining which markets can support teams from what I've seen from them.

So there is a method to my (seeming) madness.

[Young Drachma]

Salt Lake City won this series in seven games, claiming the first title in their franchise history, knocking off the juggernauts from Boston, who were looking for their 16th World Series. This Series was akin to the Marlins beating the Yankees in real life, except the Bees really weren't that great and if you went up and down their roster, the talent was comprised largely of veterans and a few key young guys, but it was mostly a bunch of castoffs who played REALLY well together.

Boston had the 2nd highest payroll in baseball and Salt Lake City were 32nd I believe. So it was truly David v. Goliath. But to make it that far, you have to peak exceptionally and manage to navigate three other rounds just to get there.

[Young Drachma]

2024 PLAYOFFS

AL EAST: New York Nine (106-56)
AL WEST: Nevada (92-70)
AL SOUTH: Miami Marlins (83-79)
AL CENTRAL: Chicago Cyclones (97-65)
AL WILD CARD:
Cleveland Blues (92-70)
Columbus Clippers (88-74)
Arizona Sidewinders (87-75)
Seattle Pilots (86-76)

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (119-43)
NL WEST: Salt Lake City Bees (86-76)
NL CENTRAL: Atlanta Firecrackers (99-63
NL NORTH: Detroit Mustangs (96-66)
NL WILD CARD:
Minnesota Mets (91-71)
Omaha Royals (88-74)
Colorado Rancheros (85-77)
Green Bay Giants (85-77)

[Young Drachma]

AMERICAN LEAGUE
---

Seattle v. New York
Chicago v. Columbus
Arizona v. Nevada
Cleveland v. Miami

NATIONAL LEAGUE
---

Green Bay V. New York
Atlanta v. Colorado
Omaha v. Detroit
Minnesota v. Salt Lake City

[Young Drachma]

CHICAGO (def. Columbus 2-0) V. SEATTLE (def. New York 2-1)
ARIZONA (def. Nevada 2-0) v. CLEVELAND (def. Miami 2-0)

The defeat of the top two seeds in the AL, will likely result in a change to the playoff format next season. But the benefactors of the best-of-three game Wild Card series include Arizona (who beat Nevada) and Seattle, who edged out top-seeded New York in the Wild Card Series.

GREEN BAY (def. Heroes of NY 2-0) v. ATLANTA (def. Colorado 2-1)
DETROIT (def. Omaha 2-0) v. SALT LAKE CITY (def. Minnesota 2-0)

Not only did the top two seeds in the AL lose, but the #1 seed in the NL lost and well, that's just not going to fly, because one of the criticisms of the new playoff format is that it diminishes the importance of the regular season in a way that baseball isn't used to.

Proponents say that the regular season is still meaningful, but that feasting upon bad teams in the regular season shouldn't be as important as beating the best teams each league has to offer during the playoffs.

Either way, Green Bay, the 8th seed in the NL, are pleased that the format is how it is and took advantage of it.

[Young Drachma]

ARIZONA (def. Cleveland 4-2) v. CHICAGO (def. Seattle 4-0)

The #2 seed facing off against the #7 seed.

GREEN BAY (def. Atlanta 4-3) v.
DETROIT (def. Salt Lake City 4-3)

The #3 seed taking on the #8 seed. Needless to say, this isn't what the God's had in mind for baseball playoffs.

Lower attendance has baseball officials scrambling at a new solution for the 2025 season. But at the same time, having three mid-western teams in baseball's Final Four has been an exciting boost for TV audiences in that part of the country.

Others are complaining that the long playoffs are bad for rotations and teams that are already tired and that a shorter season would be in order.

[Young Drachma]

#7 v. #8 isn't normally something to warm the hearts of many. But the storyline of the team from Green Bay was enough to reign in fans from the Midwest and the southwest packed the house for the Sidewinders, who since 2009 are the only AL team other than the Boston Yankees to win a World Series.

The experience of the Sidewinders came through, as they won their 2nd World Series in franchise history, knocking off the upstart Giants in five games to capture their first title since 2016.

[Young Drachma]

2025 SCHEDULE CHANGES
For the 125th season of Major League Baseball, we're going to go a different route. We're keeping the same alignment, but for the first time ever we're playing just a 120 game schedule. The 40-man roster expansion date is now August 1st (from September 1st) and the trade deadline has been moved back to July 15st (from August 15th).

The Wild Card Series is now a best-of-seven game series, meaning teams have to win an unprecedented 24 games to win the World Series.

I know that on paper, this will affect things negatively in that, a lot of records won't ever get broken again.

But if it weren't OOTP, I'd be able to start a new record book to assuage that and it would alleviate the pain of the steroid era (had we had one..) and make things anew heading into the next 125 years of baseball history.

To compensate, we're going to 4-man rotations again, normal endurance for pitchers and I've lengthened the aging for players so guys last longer than they ordinarily would, allowing to break records that they'd otherwise not break.

And 120 games, the season is still longer than that of any other sport and makes baseball more like a long endurance race, than a slogging series of meaningless games in April and September. Right now, the season will end on August 31st, meaning that September is now playoff month in baseball and the World Series should start in early October at the latest, meaning that folks can stop watching baseball just around the time that the football season starts to heat up.

This article makes my argument for me.

We've also changed the 40-man roster to a 50-man roster, though teams can still only call up 40 guys at a time after August 1st and the active roster size is now 27-man from 25. This was a concession the owners made due to the shortened season and the fact that teams would simply have guys that probably wouldn't play as much.

[Young Drachma]

The economics of this league might be a mystery and so, to clarify...the way that the teams are able to survive in far-flung places is pretty simple.

In this particular universe, the media money from all of MLB's teams -- radio rights, internet broadcast rights, TV rights and such alike -- local and national are negotiated by MLB Media Properties, LLC.

This company would collect these funds, negotiate rates and then disburse the funds equally to all of the clubs in the game. This allows teams in Wichita, to survive, the same way it gives money to big-market teams to spend.

Can an owner funnel his own cash into the team? Sure. There is no salary cap. But that's how media money is distributed and of course, ticket money is spread across the league too, but it's split 75/25 in favor of the home team.

[Young Drachma]

2025 SEASON
---
AL EAST: New York (72-48)
AL WEST: Nevada (67-53)
AL SOUTH: Miami (69-51)
AL CENTRAL: Chicago (77-43)
AL WILD CARD:
Cleveland (65-55)
Seattle (65-55)
Austin (64-56)
Boston (63-57)

NL EAST: Heroes of New York (78-42)
NL WEST: Portland (59-61)
NL CENTRAL: Texas (75-45)
NL NORTH: Green Bay (72-48)
NL WILD CARD:
Detroit (69-51)
Minnesota (68-52)
Atlanta (65-55)
Orlando (62-58)

[Young Drachma]

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago def. Boston 4-3

Austin def. New York 4-2

Miami def. Seattle 4-0

Nevada def. Cleveland 4-3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
New York def. Orlando 4-1

Atlanta def. Texas 4-2

Green Bay def. Minnesota 4-3

Portland def. Detroit 4-3

ALDS
--
Chicago def. Austin 4-3
Miami def. Nevada 4-3

NLDS
---
New York def. Atlanta 4-2
Green Bay def. Portland 4-1

ALCS
---
Miami def. Chicago 4-2

NLCS
---
Green Bay def. New York 4-3

2025 WORLD SERIES
----
GREEN BAY def. Miami 4-0
First title in franchise history for the Giants of Green Bay.

[Young Drachma]

ALWCS
---
New York def. Cleveland 4-1
Chicago def. Miami 4-3
Seattle def. Austin 4-2
Cheyenne def. Florida 4-2

NLWCS
---
Heroes of NY def. Boise 4-3
Atlanta def. San Diego 4-1
Texas def. Albuquerque 4-0
Indiana def. Orlando 4-3

ALDS
---
New York def. Chicago 4-2
Seattle def. Cheyenne 4-2

NLDS
---
Heroes of NY def. Atlanta 4-2
Texas def. Indiana 4-3

ALCS
----
Seattle def. New York 4-3

NLCS
---
New York def. Texas 4-3

2026 WORLD SERIES
----
Seattle def. New York 4-2

Seattle's first World Series title since 1970, 2nd in franchise history.