Kansas City Monarchs: A Fictional OOTP Dynasty

[JetsIn06]

The United Baseball Association

It's 1912. Major League Baseball is a thing that never was, and all of the ballplayers you know of have never and will never exist. This is the story of the Kansas City Monarchs, one of twelve professional baseball clubs playing under the banner of the United Baseball Association, or UBA.

The twelve teams are split into two leagues. The Monarchs play in the Columbia League, along with the Brooklyn Robins, the Baltimore Terrapins, the Newark Peppers, the St. Louis Terriers, and the Pittsburgh Arsenal.

At the end of a 154-game campaign, they face-off in a best of nine contest known as the Presidents Cup Series with the winner of the United League, which is comprised of the New York Giants, Detroit Wolves, Philadelphia Athletics, Minnesota North Stars, Chicago Packers, and finally, the north-of-the-border Toronto Maple Leafs.

The United Baseball Association is the proprietor of an unchanging game. Statistics recorded in 1912 will be comparable to the statistics recorded in 2012. Records will be broken, and their destruction will be meaningful and without controversy. However, there may be more teams added to the contest in the future.

The Kansas City Monarchs

We'll touch on the other teams a bit, but like I said, this is the story of the Kansas City Monarchs. The Monarch nine play at Gordon & Koppel Field, a small park in the heart of Kansas City that tends to favors home run hitting ballplayers. It would be different if it were my choice, but beyond the walls are streets for motorcars, and the walls will remain there for eternity.

As for our club? Well, to be completely honest I don't know much about them yet, and there's no use worrying until we get to see them in action. At first glance, it appears our top arm belongs to the 31-year-old RHP Juan Villarreal, a Dominican-born hurler with fantastic stuff and great control, though he may be a little susceptible to the long-ball, especially in our park.

As for our position players, things look fairly bleak. Our hopes will rest on LF Brent Taylor, a right-handed bat that will play well in our park but he simply doesn't wow me with his bat, though his defense is solid in left.

All in all, our first year will likely be uninteresting and unsuccessful. However, because of the way the contracts are handled (service-time based on previous ball-playing experience), we will have an opportunity to have some turnover (a positive, in this case) and I'll be able to bring in some of my own guys.

With that, we march through 1912. See you on the other side.

[JetsIn06]

1912 Season: Amateur Draft

Well, things are looking bleak for the Monarchs. On June 5th, we sit at a very underwhelming 17-44. I thought things would be bad, but I didn't even fathom a record as poor as this.

However, with all bad things in baseball comes opportunity, as the 1912 Amateur Draft is upon us, and we own the rights to the 1st Overall Selection. While it was earned from unsavory performance, it was still earned, and we'll use it to add to an already solid (4th of 12, according to experts) minor league system.

The Farm Leagues

Oh, now is a good time to explain that system. The UBA uses a three-tiered system to develop ballplayers, commonly known as Triple-A, Double-A, and Single-A ball.

The top tier, Triple-A, is known as the Eastern League, with teams situated in the eastern half of the United States to allow quick travel by train to their parent club.

Double-A is known as the Southern League, with two divisions within known as the Grapefruit League and the Texas League.

Finally, the lowest level of minor league ball, Single-A, is known as Liga Caribe, or, Caribbean League, with all twelve teams situated in the Dominican Republic, allowing year-round training for young future stars.

The Draft

The fifteen-round ordeal, which takes place at the league office in New York, will begin with our pick.

If I'm going to be completely frank here, I'm not all that impressed with the available youngsters, despite one player's (SS Adrian Black) demand of a $10.5m signing bonus. The 21-year-old clearly believes himself to be the top player in the draft, and my $8.5m budget from ownership not withstanding, he is merely good, not great. His range looks quite good enough (7) to play his natural position at shortstop, but his arm (4) leaves a lot to be desired. His offense fits the profile; a contact-hitting (6p), no-power (2p), speedy kind of guy (7sp/6st).

Note: For those of you unaware with scouting jargon, all of these numbers fall on a 2-8 scale. A 'p' next to a number represents 'potential'. The speed numbers are also out of 8, with 'sp' representing 'raw speed' and 'st' representing 'stealing ability'.

I'm having trouble finding another player to compare him to, with the two top raw-talents being relievers (who I won't even consider selecting with this pick).

1B Otto Mason is an alternative, and by alternative, I mean a completely different direction. This 18-year-old hometown kid (he is from Missouri) is already 6'5" and weighs 250, and as you could guess, he's got massive power (7p). He can't run, he can't field, but the guy can mash. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a very good eye (4p) but unlike a lot of other massive power hitters, he may not strike out a lot (6p).

SP Jon Goulding and SP Dave Keeling are two other guys I'd at least consider. Both have very similar raw skill sets, each rated the same in stuff, movement, and control (5p, 5p, 6p, respectfully), although Goulding has better stamina and also better individual pitch ratings. Goulding, 20, is coming out of college and did very well on that stage facing great competition, while Keeling had better stats but did it against a fairly weak conference.

Looking at our minor-league system, we have six players who are ranked as Top-50 prospects, and four of them are pitchers, one is a catcher, and one is a center-fielder. I think we could really use a young infielder to balance out the system. We'll figure out the budget.

SS Adrian Black, welcome to the Kansas City Monarchs.

[JetsIn06]

1912 Season: International Amateurs

This always feels like a little bit of a crapshoot, but I spent $1.5m to sign the top international amateur pitcher, SP Juan Hernandez, from the Dominican Republic. He's only 16, but he's got a tremendous ground-ball rate (65%) from a decent sinker that will play very well in our park, along with the height and stamina to stay a starter as long as everything else goes well.

[JetsIn06]

1912 Season: Presidents Cup Series

We went on a little bit of a roll at the end there, winning our last six games, going 8-2 in our last ten games, and putting together a 12-3 record in September after a 14-15 August. Perhaps things are looking up for the Monarchs. Well, I certainly hope so, as we finish 57-97, worst in the league and a whopping 37GB of the Pittsburgh Arsenal.

The Arsenal went on to play the New York Giants, who finished with the best record at 99-55. After taking a two game lead, the Giants lost their next four to the Arsenal. Despite winning game seven, New York fell to Pittsburgh, 5 games to 3.

[sterlingice]

So is the idea to play through 100 years or at least a very long time to see what kind of long time records can be set?

SI

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

So is the idea to play through 100 years or at least a very long time to see what kind of long time records can be set?

SI

Nah, I just mentioned that because I don't have the game setup to change stats based on era. So there will be no dead ball era, no steroid era, etc. 50 HR in the first year of the dynasty will be equivalent to 50 HR in the 100th year.

Thanks for following.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season

This is where I start to put my own stamp on this team. We have five arbitration eligible players, four free agents, no coaches (all were fired or out of contract after the Presidents Cup Series), and a hell of a lot of holes to fill.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Arbitration

Five players, only one obvious non-tender, and two non-tender candidates. MR Charles Churchis is actually not terrible. He has decent ratings and would not be the worst 7th man in the bullpen in the league, by a long-shot. He also put up decent numbers in an 11-game rehab stint this year in AAA. But coming off a $2m contract, and dealing with an injured ulnar nerve that could push into next season, it's a no-brainer to non-tender him.

2B Julio Nunez is the first of two guys I need to dig into a bit. He's a solid defender, let's start there. He played 144 of 146 games at 2B, finishing with a UZR of +6.5 and only 8 errors. But his bat...yea, his bat is letting us down. He doesn't strike out a ton but the guy just doesn't walk at all, and with a .246 average, his 38 walks over 144 games is pretty bad. 17 2B and 10 HR don't make up for it much either.

He also is expected to pull in $6.5m. While I need a stop-gap at 2B while we wait for 1912's 1st overall pick Adrian Black, I can probably get a defense-first 2B for a year for much cheaper in free agency, through our minors, or through a trade if need be. He'll be non-tendered and will become a free agent.

Then, we have LF Archie Diemer, a power-hitting (7) right-fielder with solid defensive skills. He looks like he could be a decent 4th or 5th outfielder, a power bat off the bench, etc. However, he only hit 3 HR in 61 games and struck out 57 times while walking just 8 times. His triple-slash line of .223/.272/.351 doesn't do much to inspire me, even though he'd only cost $900k. We have a solid right-field prospect in 22-year-old RF John Harrington, who I'll talk more about soon.

So with that, Nunez, Diemer, and Churchis are let go, and we'll tender contracts to LF Brent Taylor and 3B Kirby Meisner.

Next up, free agents.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Free Agents

We have four guys set to come off the books, not counting the guys we just non-tendered in arbitration.

SP Calvin Archer is a 34-year-old Type A free agent who was the ace of the staff this year, despite his 8-13 record. He finished the campaign with a 2.95 ERA and 153K/76BB over 216.1 IP. The fact that he's already 34, and attached to a possible first-round draft choice and a sandwich round pick makes it a no-brainer. He'll walk and hopefully sign with a team that doesn't have a protected pick.

SP John Mitchell is another 34-year-old, with no compensation attached. He had a bad year and nothing to tell me his future is any brighter. He'll become a free agent.

The guy I tagged as our best pitcher prior to the season, SP Juan Villarreal, had a decent season, pitching 202.2 innings with a 4.26 ERA. He probably got a little unlucky, as he finished with a pretty solid 3.63 FIP. At 32, and with a Type-A compensation attached to him, he'll be let go.

Finally, RF Bill Blaylock will hit the road. He's terrible, so no need to go in depth with him.

[JetsIn06]

1912 Season: Final Standings and Awards

Final Standings:

Columbia League           W   L 

Pittsburgh Arsenal        94  60
Baltimore Terrapins       84  70
Brooklyn Robins           83  71
St. Louis Terriers        74  80
Newark Peppers            70  84
Kansas City Monarchs      57  97

United League             W   L

New York Giants           99  55
Detroit Wolves            90  64
Chicago Packers           82  72
Toronto Maple Leafs       72  82
Minnesota North Stars     60  94
Philadelphia Athletics    59  95

Columbia League Rookie of the Year:

C Larry Woolridge (St. Louis)
.314/.413/.533
27 HR/109 RBI
5.0 WAR

United League Rookie of the Year:

SS Pete Valenti (Toronto)
.259/.313/.386
20 SB
2.4 WAR

Columbia League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Bartolo Flores (Pittsburgh)
18-4
2.34 ERA 101 K/30 BB
2.4 WAR

United League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Roger Browder (Detroit)
17-5
2.11 ERA 286 K/47 BB
10.5 WAR

Columbia League Hitter of the Year:

C Larry Woolridge (St. Louis)
.314/.413/.533
27 HR/109 RBI
5.0 WAR

United League Hitter of the Year:

LF Gerald Greenfield (Detroit)
.360/.453/.650
38 HR/121 RBI/22 SB
11.5 WAR

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Outlook

There will be a lot of changes in Kansas City this off-season, but we're still keeping our eye on the future. Rome was not built in a day, and we also have a major financial issue to consider. We have the lowest budget in the league at $86m. That seems like a good amount, but after scouting and player development costs (which we have set to the average league amount for the time being), our budget for the 1913 payroll is set for approximately $60m.

As it stands on the first day of free agency, we have $39m under contract, leaving us with $21m to work with. If we want to bump up scouting and development, which in this case may be a good idea, we'll have even less.

To get things in perspective, I've raised the scouting budget $2m to a total of $6m, and raised the player development budget by $4m to a total of $10m. This gives us a final balance of $15.25m to work with to fill the rest of the roster.

After looking at our team-wide statistics from this past season, there's not much to report other than we need to upgrade on offense, pitching, speed, and defense. Yes, pretty much everywhere. We were 6th in scoring in the CL and 6th in run prevention.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Club Overview

So where do we go from here? Here's a quick snapshot of the club, what we have, what we have coming soon, and what we need.

Pos.  Name              Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

C     Orlando Torres    30                                     John Acton 
1B    Alejandro Lara    26           Sean Sawicki  
2B                                   Adrian Black  
3B    Kirby Meisner     29           Ben Mattox    
SS    Weston Clark      26                                     Ed Coffelt
LF    Brent Taylor      27
CF                                                             Reggie Quinn
RF    John Harrington   22

C     Kazu Okamoto      28
IF
IF
OF
OF


Pos.  Name              Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

SP    Eldon Tully       25           Matt DeBolt
SP    Antonio Romero    31
SP    Elmer Glasgow     24
SP
SP

CL
SU
SU
MR
MR
MR
MR

Yea, seriously. Not kidding, this is who I'd feel comfortable with going into next year. Obviously we have other guys but, in an ideal world, they'd be minor league depth or off the team completely. For now, we still need some warm bodies.

Still, we have some room to improve and I'd like to not just plug in my Triple-A guys to fill holes unless I think they have a future. Two young guys we'll be doing that with, with some hope of them turning into a solid starting player, are RF John Harrington and SP Elmer Glasgow.

Harrington is 22, and our scouts love his hitting ability and his speed and think he can play one of the corner-outfield spots. Last year in limited time with our club, he hit .258/.371/.351. His power isn't quite there yet, and I'm considering letting him develop more of that in the minors, but for now he'll be our starting right-fielder in 1913.

Glasgow, 24, pitched just 14 innings in 1912 for us, but in those 14 innings he had a 1.93 ERA with 12 K and 4 BB. Sustainable? We'll have to find out. He has a great ground-ball rate (61%) that will do well in our park.

Priorities

The major holes in our lineup are at 2B and in CF. At 2B, we have Adrian Black on his way up, either sometime this year or next, so I'd prefer to sign a veteran on a one-year deal and go from there. However, we also have an internal option in Paul Stonge, who is fairly average and struggled last year but is a guy I'd like to see one more try out of.

At CF, we can be a little more creative. Our best CF prospect is only 18 and is at least two years away, so we'll have to see our options there and keep an open mind in trade discussions, if we get involved in that front.

In terms of pitching, we have massive holes that need to be filled, with two rotation spots up for grabs (and not a lot of internal options), and a ton of bullpen spots that will be handed to a deserving party. Whether we take the best from last years crop (not very good) remains to be seen. Part of me wouldn't be surprised if they were all un-involved in 1913.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 1)

Before we do anything, there is a guy that I would just love to have sitting in free agency. Russ Ashley is just 24 years old. He hit .361/.456/.441 last year, so his contact-only approach is a little bit of a turn-off since my park won't allow too many doubles, but his defense in the outfield is lovely. Our scouts have him at a 7 of 8 across the board in range, avoiding errors, and arm.

He walked 77 times and struck out 88 times, but our scouts say he may get better in terms of plate discipline (5c/6p). One downside is that he's fast, but has some terrible baserunning skills (2) and stealing ability (4). He stole 25 bases for Chicago last year, but got caught 30 times. As a team that has very little in the way of hitting, I'd like to be able to use that speed to our advantage.

He also wants $105m over 5 years, which we don't have.

However, I have two players coming off the books after 1913, 3B Antonio Moreno who is making $13.3m and SP Antonio Romero who is making $5.8m. Moreno is dreadful, a 34-year-old with no range who should probably be playing 1B who spent the vast majority of 1912 wasting away in AAA. Romero is decent, and I'd keep him just to have another starter on the roster, but if we can dump the salary, we might do it. I don't think anyone will trade for Moreno, but we'll try.

***

The Philadelphia Athletics are suckers, desperate for a third-baseman, I sent them 3B Antonio Moreno and $3.1m to cover some salary costs for a Single-A reliever you will never know about. The move clears a net of around $10m in funds.

SP Antonio Romero is actually harder to deal, so we'll stick with him for 1913.

***

We'll go back to filling CF in a few. Taking a look at the 2B available, and yea, there's really not much other than SS Ricardo Olivares, an extremely injury prone 38-year-old who wants $11m for one year. I'll probably end up sticking with SS Paul Stonge to play 2B.

Now, back to CF. I think CF Russ Ashley would be great manning CF for us for the next five years, but I really can't justify that kind of coin on a guy when we are so dreadfully bad and have so many holes to fill.

The next guy that catches my eye is RF Larry Teets. Teets is a RF by trade and really isn't all that great, but he'd sign a one-year deal for $2.6m and I could probably get him lower. He has decent enough range (6) to fill in for a year, and the 33-year-old also has some decent power, hitting 15 HR in 380 AB last year with Newark. He also has pretty good speed and stealing ratings, so I put in an offer at $2m.

The other major hole is in the rotation. I have two guys in AAA, SP Matt DeBolt and SP Ryan Pederson who I'd give a shot to, but I'd like one somewhat reliable arm to add to the rotation. 1912's 27-year-old Pitcher of the Year Award winner SP Roger Browder is available, but again, a massive chunk of my budget would disappear instantly.

SP Toby Arthur doesn't look bad. He's got decent ratings (5s/5m/6c) (Stuff, movement, control) and four pretty decent pitches in his arsenal. The 57% groundball stat isn't bad either, and he's a lefty, which is good because the three guys I have slotted in the rotation are all right-handed. His ERA wasn't all that great at 4.56, finishing with an ERA+ of just 85 (100 is league average). There's a good amount not to love about him, but for just $1.6m and a one-year deal, he's a good signing. I submit an offer for $1.2m, and I think we'll get him.

Now, there's another guy out there, SP Ken Evans, who's recovering from Tommy John surgery and will be out until at least May next season. In 15 games started, he pitched to the tune of a 2.24 ERA with 71 K/25 BB. Right now he's asking for a bit much ($8.5m per year for four years) but as we get into the end of free agency, he'll probably change his tune. I'd love to get him for one year, even at that salary, as long as we have the budget room in a couple months.

Finally, we put in a $2.2m offer for MR John Brancal, a left-handed reliever who pitched for Toronto last season. His left-handed delivery and 62% groundball rate are enticing, and in 70 games with Toronto, he had a 3.53 ERA and a FIP to match (3.56).

More to come as we get deeper into free agency.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 2)

Well, CF Russ Ashley signed Brooklyn, our league rivals, for $54m over three years. That gives him another shot at free agency at just 27-years-old.

SP Toby Arthur, MR John Brancal, and CF Larry Teets all sign with us.

As we progress further into free agency, Pitcher of the Year winner Roger Browder also signs with Brooklyn. Deep pockets over there. The 28-year-old will make $104m over 4 years. We're also notified that SP Juan Villarreal, who pitched for us last year and was attached to Type-A compensation, will net us a supplemental round pick, as well as a wonderfully bad 5th-round pick, because he signed with Brooklyn as well, and their top four choices have already been distributed.

As we get into February, SP Ken Evans, who's out until May with a torn UCL, is still around and is asking for a one-year deal. I offer $4m, and he accepts. He'll be placed directly on the 60-day disabled list. I add some final pieces in MR Chris Caviness, SS Alfonso Rodriguez, and UTIL Rob McMorris. All were signed for less than $1m and could potentially be cut prior to the season.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Season: Spring Training

Won't go too in depth here. There's a good amount of battles at several positions, specifically backups and in the bullpen. We get some bad news about 20 games in that SP Eldon Tully, who was slotted to start opening day, partially tore his UCL and will be out six months.

We finish spring training with a 9-15 record, and no other major injuries to report. Now, we cut down to 25.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Season: Amateur Draft

Well, we actually started out halfway decent, going 13-15 in April. Then, we had some injuries hit and we went 9-20 in May. We're tied for 2nd in the CL with 50 home runs, which is something. As it stands, we're in last place with a 24-37 record, with only the Chicago Packers holding a worse record.

Our new signing SP Toby Arthur got off to a great start, with a 2.03 ERA in his first ten games. Then he ran into some shoulder inflammation issues on May 19th, and he's projected to be out another 2-3 months.

Rookie SP Ryan Pederson has been a nice surprise, with a 3.47 ERA thus far. Our standout performance on offense has been SS Weston Clark, who has 2.1 WAR so far.

Now, to the draft. We once again have the first pick in the draft, along with a couple picks in the supplemental round and the top two picks in the 2nd round, which gives us five of the top twenty-three picks.

At the top, there's really only one guy that I like. CF Mark Cooper is, in my opinion, the best player available and also fills a massive need for us. At 21, he'll hopefully be ready in a year or two. He has no power and his discipline is pretty suspect, but he's got great contact (6p) and the defensive skill set to play CF pretty well. At Rice, he hit .376 and stole 35 bases in 52 games.

With the first of our supplemental picks, we take the Salvadoran-American 3B Luis Rey, a power hitter with good range and a great arm. Next is SP John Nicholson, a 23-year-old RHP from Fordham.

Now's a fantastic time to check in on 2B Adrian Black, who's been playing SS in AAA. He got off to a great start in A and AA last year after the draft, playing in 32 games and hitting around .300 at both levels. This year, he's spent his entire year at AAA and is progressing nicely. He's hitting .282/.349/.384 with 13 steals in 60 games.

After the draft, we find out we've had three players named to the Columbia League All-Star Team:

SP Antonio Romero
6-4
2.84 ERA 66 K/37 BB
1.4 WAR

C Orlando Torres
.284/.375/.432
8 HR/28 RBI
2.0 WAR

SS Weston Clark
.291/.346/.498
10 HR/26 RBI
2.1 WAR

[JetsIn06]

1913 Season: Presidents Cup Series

The St. Louis Terriers did their best to overtake last year's Columbia League champions by winning five games at the end, but they finished two games shy of Pittsburgh, who will once again face the New York Giants, who will make another attempt to win the Presidents Cup.

As for us? Well, things didn't end well. After a tremendous July in which we went 16-12, we went 8-22 in August and finished dreadfully with a 1-13 September, giving us a final record of 56-98, the worst record in the league, and we'll have another 1st overall pick in the 1914 Amateur Draft.

The Presidents Cup was a back and forth affair. The teams split the first four games, then Pittsburgh won an offensive battle in Game Five, 11-7. New York took control from there, winning Game Six at home and taking Seven and Eight in Pittsburgh to win the 1913 Presidents Cup, 5 games to 3!

[JetsIn06]

1914 Off-Season

This coming season should be somewhat defining. We'll see the debut (barring an injury or something else terrible) of 2B Adrian Black and possibly even CF Mark Cooper, though he didn't have a very stellar debut minor league season. We also a good chunk of salary coming off the books, and we only have $26.1m guaranteed to players so far for 1914. However, we also have SP Toby Arthur and SP Antonio Romero hitting free agency, and Romero specifically anchored a rotation that, well, needs anchoring.

We have ten arb-eligible players going into the off-season, with five of those almost undoubtedly being non-tender candidates and two definite re-signs. We have seven free agents, and I don't see any coming back.

[JetsIn06]

194 Off-Season: Arbitration

We kick things off by signing 1913 All-Star SS Weston Clark to a three-year extension that will buy out three of his first four (he is a super-2) arbitration years scaling from $6m to $7m. On that third arbitration year, we hold an option as well.

The other guy I definitely want to re-sign is C Orlando Torres, who has quietly been a 3.7/3.8 WAR player in his first two years with our team. He's already 30 years old, and is just reaching arbitration for the first time. However, he has no intention of re-signing with me, so we'll have to head to arbitration.

Four players are non-tendered, one of which is 3B Kirby Meisner. He had a great 1912 (.242/.370/.413 in 108 games) but really did terrible this year, hitting .166/.229/.258.

The remaining players are offered one-year deals at less than $1m each.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Off-Season: Free Agents

Hinted at this before, but barring a ridiculously low request from the three good free agents we have (SP Toby Arthur, SP Ken Evans, and +), they're going to be let go, especially because they all have Type-B compensation attached, so we'll get three extra draft picks which will help our rebuilding club.

Four other guys, SS Alfonoso Rodriguez, LF Brent Taylor, LF Rob McMorris, and CF Larry Teets will also not be renewed.

[JetsIn06]

1913 Season: Final Standings and Awards

Columbia League           W   L

Pittsburgh Arsenal        87  67
St. Louis Terriers        85  69
Brooklyn Robins           82  72
Newark Peppers            79  75
Baltimore Terrapins       73  81
Kansas City Monarchs      56  98

United League             W   L

New York Giants           93  61
Detroit Wolves            87  67
Toronto Maple Leafs       85  69
Philadelphia Athletics    67  87
Minnesota North Stars     66  88
Chicago Packers           64  90

Columbia League Rookie of the Year:

SP Ryan Pederson (Kansas City)
12-12
3.50 ERA 178 K/110 BB
3.0 WAR

United League Rookie of the Year:

C Ronnie Terrill (Philadelphia)
.243/.309/.446
10 HR/46 RBI
0.2 WAR

Columbia League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Jeff Powell (St. Louis)
20-6
3.71 ERA 122 K/69 BB
3.9 WAR

United League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Donahey Merrilees (New York)
15-9
3.13 ERA 161 K/42 BB
3.4 WAR

Columbia League Hitter of the Year:

2B Matt Hixon (Pittsburgh)
.323/.401/.490
10 HR/ 90 RBI/51 SB
8.0 WAR

United League Hitter of the Year:

CF Sean Hester (Toronto)
.307/.422/.575
31 HR/ 90 RBI/ 26 SB
9.3 WAR

[JetsIn06]

1914 Off-Season: Club Overview and Outlook

Pos.  Name              Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

C     Orlando Torres    31                                     John Acton 
1B                                   Sean Sawicki  
2B                                   Adrian Black  
3B                                       
SS    Weston Clark      27                                     Ed Coffelt
LF                      
CF                                   Mark Cooper               Reggie Quinn
RF    John Harrington   23

C     Kazu Okamoto      29
IF
IF
OF
OF


Pos.  Name              Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

SP    Eldon Tully       26           Floyd Frankel
SP    Ryan Pederson     24           Miguel Garza
SP    
SP
SP

CL    Chris Brown       26           Thomas Brooks
SU                                   Luke Overy
SU                                   Lance Eldridge
MR
MR
MR
MR

Yuck. Only three offensive spots (not including backup catcher) set in stone, and three rotation spots that need to be filled, not to mention the bullpen. But, bright news. Our owner has increased our total budget, and while some of it will go beef up scouting and development, we'll have a little over $30m to work with, and with some young guys making their way up through the system, I feel a little more comfortable working through free agency.

Our major needs are 3B, LF, SP, and bullpen help. I'll try to fill in the hole at 1B with a cheap rental-type player.

Our minor league system is currently ranked 4th of 12, and our top two prospects (SP Floyd Frankel, and 2B Adrian Black) will, barring unforeseen circumstances, will make their debut at some point in 1914.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 1)

I hesitate to go after a guy named Loosemoor, but 3B Bertrand Loosemoor played for Pittsburgh, the best team in the Columbia League the past two years, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it.

The 26-year-old is hitting free agency for the first time, and I think he'd be a great addition to Kansas City, and would come fairly cheap. His initial demand is $36m over four years, but just $5m for 1914, which could help us since we'll likely have a lot of one-year deals. I slightly modify the offer and submit it.

My next target is 1B Paul Devoe, who has yet to play in the UBA, but spent his last two years in AAA. He'll get a minor league offer, but I'd give him around $800k for a major-league deal if he doesn't accept.

Call me crazy, but LF Gerald Greenfield, winner of the 1912 Hitter of the Year Award, is available. He fits a major need and is very likely the best offensive player in the league. In 1913, his power numbers were down from 38 HR to 21, and his numbers were down overall, but listen to this: He walked 108 times, and struck out just 37 times. He also stole 30 bases, had a UZR of +8.7 in LF, and played in 154 games both seasons. Obviously, budget is the only thing stopping me from submitting exactly what he wants, and I'm almost positive I'm going to get into a bidding war, but I feel like I have to at least try. We submit an offer that would potentially get to $146m over seven years. The first five would be guaranteed, the sixth is a player option, and the seventh vests with just 25 PA in the sixth season, giving us some protection in case of a season-ending injury. I don't know how much we can raise this offer, but we'll hope for the best.

***

As we move forward, it's becoming clear that we'll probably be out of luck on LF Gerald Greenfield, with both Brooklyn and New York, the two teams with the biggest budgets, also going after the former Detroit star.

Some good news though a few days later, as New York signed the other major free agent outfielder, CF Ed Shinault. The same day, however, Greenfield comes back to us with some bad news. He likes the offer from the Chicago Packers more. Unfortunately, no info on their offer. I make a new offer, same options as before, but for $150.6m.

***

That's it. Brooklyn topped our offer, I made one more and he didn't even consider it at above $155m. It's over. We'll see where he goes. Really hoping he goes back to the United League.

***

3B Bertrand Loosemoor signs with us, a 4-year deal worth $33m.

***

We make an offer 2B Junji Hayagawa, a 30-year-old player from Japan, for $1m, and he signs with us a few days later. He'll likely start the season with us until our young prospect 2B Adrian Black comes up to the big club in June.

***

In the Rule-5 draft, we select CF Ed Broaddus. He's only reached AA in his young career, but the 22-year-old has world-class range and speed, and even hit 10 HR in 73 AA games in 1913. We also pick up MR Tsumemasa Tanaka, a left-handed reliever who pitched very well throughout his two minor-league seasons.

***

On December 4th, we make a minor trade that could pay some dividends. Last year, we had 2B Paul Stonge take the role of starting 2B. After a dreadful start, he was sent to AAA where he did fairly well, but he never caught on once he was back up with the club after some injuries and in September, finishing with a .198/.275/.319 line. I also think his defense has diminished since I made the decision to start him. The Brooklyn Robins approached us with an offer that I couldn't refuse, sending us 2B Nessun Sommers, a better defender and a .287/.355/.402 hitter. For Sommers, we send back Stonge and a minor-league reliever who has put up some BABIP-related solid numbers in the minors. I'll take the risk that he's not as good as his numbers indicate (which jives with our scout's assement) and definitely take Sommers over Stonge.

***

Good news! Star player LF Gerald Greenfield has decided to sign with the New York Giants, which means we'll avoid him outside of a Presidents Cup Series meeting. He has a similar contract with them to what we offered, but with a final potential total of $157.8m over seven years.

***

Japanese import 2B Junji Hayagawa signs with us, and with the addition of Nessun Sommers, we actually have a nice little platoon at 2B until 2B Adrian Black comes up. 1B Paul Devoe signs with us as well for $900k, and now the focus turns to pitching, where we'll look to find some cheap, no-risk pickups to fill in another makeshift rotation.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 2)

Just two quick signings right off the bat, in SP Mal Petty and SP Nelson Perez, both on very small one-year deals. Perez actually has a minor-league contract, but it will vest into a major-league deal worth $1.5m if he is on the roster within day 30 of the regular season.

With that, we head into spring training.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Season: Spring Training

We finish Spring Training with a 13-11 record, and while I won't read into that too much, hopefully we can build on that and put together a decent season.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Season: Amateur Draft

LF Gerald Greenfield is hitting .429 through the first two months of the season. He would have helped us, as we're once again floundering at the bottom of the standings with a 16-39 record.

But again, we have a chance to make a franchise-altering decision with the third number-one overall pick in a row. We also have two supplemental picks.

Luckily, there is a pitcher in the draft this year that we absolutely love. SP Tom Crumpler, a 19-year-old Californian, started 15 games for West Hills High School, finishing his senior year with 197 K's and just 13 BB through 107.2 innings. He'll need to develop his control (2c/6p), but his ability to prevent home runs is just amazing, with our scouts already feeling great about his movement (6c/7p), and think his stuff is promising (3c/6p). He has three pitches; a sinker, curve, and change, and while his sinker is currently his best pitch (5c/6p), our scouts think his change can really develop into something great (3c/7p).

We use the rest of our draft to really focus on pitching, using six of our first seven picks on starting pitchers.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Season: Adrian Black to Make Debut

1912's first-overall pick 2B Adrian Black is set to make his debut for the Monarchs on July 2nd against Baltimore. He was set to be called up on June 27th, but had some forearm soreness. The former shortstop prospect has had a tremendous season so far in AAA, hitting .299/.383/.442 with 39 BB and just 45 K in 71 games. While we see him as a future 2B, our manager Gilberto Bravo wants to see him at SS for a bit. He'll play SS against RHP, and 2B against LHP.

In other news, we've had two players named to the Columbia League All-Star Team.

C Orlando Torres
.274/.345/.541
17 HR/44 RBI
1.8 WAR

CF Kelly Ahrens
.287/.349/.472
11 HR/29 RBI
1.0 WAR

***

And what a debut it was. 2B Adrian Black started at SS and went 3-for-4 with three singles and a run scored in a losing effort against Baltimore.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Season: President's Cup Series

For the first time, it's not the Pittsburgh Arsenal against the New York Giants. The 1914 Presidents Cup Series will see the Brooklyn Robins face off against the Chicago Packers.

While both teams have great offenses, it's their pitching that has really gotten them to this point. Brooklyn is led by SP Roger Browder, who pitched to the tune of a league-leading 2.66 ERA, while Chicago's ace is SP Jay Leonhardt, whose 2.53 ERA led the United League.

The promise of a pitcher's duel kind of series was completely broken in Game One, as the Brooklyn Robins came to bay 48 times, hitting safely 24 times, and scoring a whopping TWENTY-EIGHT RUNS!! Their offense came alive again in game two, though less dramatically, winning 7-2.

Chicago made it close in the end, but the Brooklyn Robins take the series, 5 games to 3!

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season

Another disappointing season for the Monarchs is in the books, with the club finishing at a dreadful 52-102, somehow finishing worse than our first two seasons despite perceived improvements in my eyes. In what's becoming a running trend, we'll pick 1st overall in the 1915 Amateur Draft, but really, something else has to be done to get ourselves into a position to contend. We have a whopping sixteen players eligible for arbitration and one free agent.

However, as it stands, we only have $4.9m available to spend on new players, and while we might gain some of that back with non-tendered arbitration-eligibles, we're going to need to be creative to put some better talent on the field. We may need to use the trade market more heavily than we have in the past.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season: Arbitration

Sixteen players are eligible for arbitration, and at first glance, there's at least six players who will likely be non-tendered. Unfortunately, they're all making less than $1m, so it won't impact our budget too much.

One guy that we're disappointed to see let go is 2B Nessun Sommers, a guy we traded for last off-season that I thought was really going to be a great player off the bench. We traded 2B Paul Stonge to get him, as he had really under-performed when he landed the starting role in 1913, and luckily, it looks like he didn't have a very good year for Brooklyn either. Sommers, who ended up started 98 games at 2B, finished with a .213/.268/.261 line and -0.4 WAR. He's a left-handed infielder which I like, but we have 2B Bill Salem, who performed slightly better.

In the end, we end up non-tendering five players, and hanging on to RF Eduardo Cuellar, who we picked up on waivers in April. He had a .199/.308/.346 line this year, but we have very little outfield depth.

Now here's the real problem. We've had the luxury of a very good catcher the last few seasons. C Orlando Torres has made the All-Star team twice in the last three seasons and hit 20+ HR with a .330 OBP or better each year. The problem is that he's in his 2nd year of arbitration and is slated to get somewhere around $9.75m.

In addition, his backup, C Kazu Okamoto, has done very well. In three seasons, he's hit .267/.404/.453. He's in his first year of arbitration and is going from the minimum contract ($490k) to $5m. We can't afford to have nearly $15m locked up in the catching position, so we'll have to do something there.

After a little exploring, I think our best move is to trade C Orlando Torres to the Minnesota North Stars for four prospects, the best of which is SP Carlos Cabral, a 20-year-old Venezuelan who signed as an international free agent this season.

We offer one-year contracts to ten players to avoid arbitration.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season: Free Agents

Only one to deal with, MR Chris Caviness, who joined the club as a free agent prior to the 1913 season. He's done very well for us, specifically last year when he finished with a 2.74 ERA over 42.2 innings. However, that was certainly helped by a BABIP of .183, but he had a very low walk rate (1.05 per 9) and a FIP of 3.11, so I actually think he could have another good year.

We offer him a one-year deal worth $1m with a vesting option that kicks in at 50 IP.

[JetsIn06]

1914 Season: Final Standings and Awards

Columbia League           W   L

Brooklyn Robins           91  63
St. Louis Terriers        88  66
Pittsburgh Arsenal        85  69
Baltimore Terrapins       74  80
Newark Peppers            72  82
Kansas City Monarchs      52  102

United League             W   L

Chicago Packers           89  65
New York Giants           86  68
Toronto Maple Leafs       84  70
Detroit Wolves            80  74
Minnesota North Stars     62  92
Philadelphia Athletics    61  93

Columbia League Rookie of the Year:

LF Don Edwards (Brooklyn)
.292/.333/.503
20 HR/63 RBI
2.6 WAR

United League Rookie of the Year:

CF Samuel Loehr (Philadelphia)
.287/.329/.471
13 HR/ 57 RBI
1.5 WAR

Columbia League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Roger Browder (Brooklyn)
14-9
2.66 ERA 199 K/47 BB
6.5 WAR

United League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Jay Leonhardt (Chicago)
18-7
2.53 ERA 227 K/53 BB
8.2 WAR

Columbia League Hitter of the Year:

RF Warren Meyers (Newark)
.291/.395/.495
24 HR/73 RBI/21 SB
6.8 WAR

United League Hitter of the Year:

LF Gerald Greenfield (New York)
.350/.454/.592
25 HR/107 RBI/17 SB
7.7 WAR

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season: Outlook and Overview

Pos.  Name               Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

C     Kazu Okamoto       30                                     John Acton 
1B                                    Sean Sawicki  
2B    Adrian Black       24
3B    Bertrand Loosemoor 28                                  
SS    Weston Clark       28           Ed Coffelt
LF    John Harrington    24                  
CF                                    Mark Cooper               Reggie Quinn
RF    Kyle Ahrens        29

C     Kazu Okamoto       30
IF
IF
OF
OF


Pos.  Name               Age          Close Prospect            Future Prospect

SP    Mal Petty          28           Floyd Frankel             Carlos Cabral
SP    Ryan Pederson      25           Miguel Garza              Tom Crumpler
SP    Matt DeBolt        25           Paul Key                  Steve Wulff
SP    Eldon Tully        27           John Nicholson            Juan Hernandez
SP                                              

CL    Chris Caviness     34           Thomas Brooks
SU    Francis Dawkens    28           Luke Overy
SU                                    Lance Eldridge
MR    Raul Flores        28           Joel Roller
MR    Chris Brown        27
MR    Paul Flourny       31
MR

Things are looking a little better. We could definitely use an upgrade in the rotation, another stop-gap CF while we wait for the somewhat-struggling CF Mark Cooper. Finally, 1B has been a rotating door for three years, and it's a spot we could really use a big hitter. I know they're out there, but we haven't been lucky. We have a total of $15m to spend on new players.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 1)

So here is what I'm thinking. We actually, after a draft focusing on the rotation, have some decent depth in AAA. I feel semi-confident in four starters, and I think the fifth could rotate through a bunch of different guys until someone works out. In CF, we have Cooper, and while he's not quite ready, he'll probably come up this year since he only has one option left. That means we can allocate a large chunk of our budget towards a 1B. There's also the dilemma of borrowing from out scouting and development budget to put towards new players. We allocate $2m from player development and $1m from scouting towards our free agency budget.

***

There's not many stud 1B available in free agency, but one guy we like is 37-year-old 1B Roger Alexander, who spent his last three seasons with Philadelphia. With the Athletics, he averaged 152 games with a .247/.347/.386 line. In 1914, the Florida-native hit 24 HR, and the best part is that he's only looking for a two-year, $7.6, deal. A one-year deal sounds better to me, so we offer a one-year, $3.6m contract.

***

In CF, there really is no one out there worth signing that played in the majors. However, there is 26-year-old CF Pedro Trujillo, who hit .314/.368/.458 with 10 HR and 18 SB in AAA last year. We offer him a one-year deal worth $900k.

***

To round out the initial offers, we go after SP Edmond Martin, a 35-year-old who's bounced between Pittsburgh and New York the last three years. We also submit a contract to SP Duane Grady, who has just nine starts in 1914, but went 52 IP with a 2.60 ERA, and a very impressive 45 K/3 BB ratio. Finally, we go after the reliable SP Manuel Rosas, who over the last two seasons has started sixty-three games with a 3.76 ERA and accumulating 7.2 WAR. He gets a two-year, $10m deal with the second year being a team option.

***

I just remembered we need a backup catcher. There's a free agent, C Mike Davidson, who has yet to play for a team in the UBA but has made his availability known. He bats left-handed, which will compliment our starter nicely, and is pretty good on defense, so we'll give him a shot with a $800k deal.

***

Everyone other than SP Manuel Rosas has signed with us. We upped the offer to $12m over two-years, keeping the option intact, but it wasn't good enough. We submit one more attempt, but I don't know if we can go higher than this.

***

And Newark has once again topped our offer, and we're going to back out of this one. A few days later, he signs with Philadelphia for $13.4m over two years.

***

It's February 5th, and SP Jay Leonhardt, winner of the 1914 United League Pitcher of the Year Award, is still available. It appears four teams are in on him, but it appears Brooklyn has made a massive offer, possibly around $200m. On February 8th, the news comes that he has indeed signed with Brooklyn, for a whopping $178.8m over six years. This makes him the highest paid player in the UBA, and gives Brooklyn a rotation anchored at the top by Pitcher of the Year Award winners SP Jay Leonhardt and SP Roger Browder, and an annual payroll of $271.7m.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 2)

We bring in MR Francisco Salinas, who had a 3.13 ERA in 1914, on a one-year, $2m deal.

To wrap up free agency, we actually checked around the league to bring in a SP via trade, but nothing came of it.

***

Towards the very end of free agency, we seize an opportunity to grab C Bruce Stephens, a power-hitting catcher with superb defensive skills who was having trouble finding a deal. We get him on a one-year deal for $4.5m.

***

And that's it! Next up, spring training.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Season: Spring Training

We make it out of Spring Training with a 10-14 record. One of our new players, SP Duane Grady, will be out for the first five weeks, but otherwise we made it out rather healthy.

Former number-one pick CF Mark Cooper was optioned back to AAA, which used up his final option. That means we're almost certainly going to call him up this year, and there's been some some nice improvements according to our scouts.

2B Adrian Black will lead off for us on Opening Day, and the home-grown SP Ryan Pederson will take the mound with recent signing C Bruce Stephens manning the dish.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Season: Amateur Draft

Another losing season so far, but there's a few things we can happy about. We sit at 22-24 at the amateur draft, but have won four games in a row and 2B Adrian Black looks like a number one pick:

2B Adrian Black
.313/.402/.374
8 2B/34 BB/45 K/12 SB
2.2 WAR

The guy has no power, but he's also playing terrific defense with a +5.8 UZR and only 3 errors through 56 games.

Some other highlights around the team:

SS Weston Clark
.287/.369/.507
6 HR/24 BB/25 K
2.5 WAR

3B Bertrand Loosemoor
.270/.327/.423
6 HR/27 RBI
2.0 WAR

His defense has also been incredible, with a +10.0 UZR and just four errors in 157 chances at third.

On the mound, everyone sucks other than SP Ryan Pederson, who's been out for two weeks and is out for another 1-2 weeks. He has a 2.78 ERA so far, but as a whole we've been terrible preventing runs. We're tied for 4th in the CL with 230 runs scored, but have given up 286, worst in our league. However, most of this blame can be placed on our starting pitchers, who have a Columbia League-worst 5.08 ERA, but our bullpen is pitching better with a 4.30 ERA, and our defense is pretty solid, 2nd in the league according defensive efficiency.

***

More pressing matters are at hand, however, as it's the 1915 Amateur Draft and we (for the fourth year in a row) have first-overall pick. This year, it's an absolute no-brainer. We select SP Larry Gibson, a 22-year-old from Texas Tech whose senior year had him throw 105.2 innings with a 1.96 ERA and 134 K with just 23 BB. Gibson can reach 97 MPH with his fastball, but he also has a great forkball, a good curveball and change-up, as well an okay slider. He wants a $10m signing bonus, and probably a major league deal as well. Right now, we may not have the budget room, but hopefully that works itself out moving forward.

[sterlingice]

It feels odd to see things like "arbitration eligible Kazu Okamoto has 2.5 WAR in 1916". The amount of anachronism in that one sentence is staggering (arbitration contracts, Japanese player, and sabermetrics all in 1916).

Is there any particular story angle(s) you will be working on this dynasty going forward?

SI

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

It feels odd to see things like "arbitration eligible Kazu Okamoto has 2.5 WAR in 1916". The amount of anachronism in that one sentence is staggering (arbitration contracts, Japanese player, and sabermetrics all in 1916).

Is there any particular story angle(s) you will be working on this dynasty going forward?

SI

Well, I tried to make it clear that I'm not following history, other than the fact that the years go in sequential order and start in 1912. Sorry if that didn't come across. It's my preference to play OOTP in a modern financial and statistical environment because it's what I know. At the same time, I tend to imagine the league in a different time culturally, between 1920-150 or so, without all of the bad things that come with it (namely, segregation).

But, as the title implies, it's a fictional league, so I can play it however I want, right?

In terms of story? There's no real "story" here other than the decisions I make regarding the team, and attempting to take the lowest-budget team and bring them success, and following along as the league takes shape over the years.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Season: President's Cup Series

The Brooklyn Robins and their $274.6m payroll will try to defend their title against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto's highest paid player, CF Sean Hester, made a little over $13m this year. There are a staggering NINE players on Brooklyn's roster that make more.

After six games, Brooklyn led the series 4 games to 2, but only outscored Toronto 17-13 in those six games, with five of the six ending just one run apart. With the series heading back to Toronto in Game 7, it looked close again going into the top of the 8th inning as a 2-2 game, but Brooklyn pounced on Toronto's MR Simon Willard, scoring 7 runs in the inning. Willard had a great regular season, finishing with a 2.54 ERA over 85 innings, but gave up a grand-slam to the 37-year-old 3B Travis Godsell.

There would be no David over Goliath story here, as Brooklyn wins the series 5 games to 2.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Off-Season

Another last place finish. But as we move forward, we'll finally (hopefully) start to see the impact of our four draft classes. As it currently stands, we have the third-best farm system in the entire league, and have the top prospect in all of baseball, 20-year-old SP Tom Crumpler. He was our top pick in the 1914 draft, and our scouts have him pegged to be a superstar. The last thing I want to do is rush him though. He'll need another year at AAA, along with his potential future battery-mate, the 4th best prospect in baseball, 20-year-old C John Acton. That makes 1918 our first real window of opportunity (since they'll likely be called up in the middle of the 1917 season).

Speaking of former top picks, I haven't had the chance to write about CF Mark Cooper, who we took first-overall in the 1913 draft. Prior to this most recent season, he was ranked as the 19th best prospect in baseball, but he didn't quite perform up to the level we had hoped.

He played in 119 games, and finished with a batting line of .274/.311/.351. He also had 29 SB which was nice, but we'd like to see his walk-rate go up (25 BB) and his strikeout rate go down (80). His defense also wasn't nearly as good as we were hoping for when we drafted him. He mostly played RF, and did okay there, but he struggled in CF, finishing with a -3.6 UZR, but that could bounce back as he does have pretty good range.

We have thirteen arbitration eligible players heading into the off-season with four free agents. The biggest loss to free agency will be C Bruce Stephens, who we brought in late on a one-year deal last off-season. His average and OBP left a lot to be desired, but he played incredible defense behind the plate and also hit 29 HR.

In terms of the thirteen arbitration players, there's three definite non-tenders in the mix, and three players I'll need to look into more in depth.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Off-Season: Arbitration

Three players were set to be non-tendered, but I also did not offer MR Chris Brown a contract either. Last year, I had him slotted in as our closer. He didn't get that job, but after just three appearances, he tore his flexor tendon in his elbow. He's been out since April 15th, and will be out for another 8 months, which means June of 1916. He wants $1.4m, and I can't justify giving that to him, so he is non-tendered as well.

As I'm going through the list, the first question mark comes up not based on the decision to tender or not, but the question of an extension. SP Ryan Pederson is hitting arbitration for the first time and is set to make $4.4m. Over the past three seasons, Pederson has a 3.86 ERA with a 8.82 K/9 rate. His control has improved significantly, dropping from 5.34 to 5.11 to just 2.76 last year. I like the idea of having him as a veteran presence for when the young guns show up, so we sign him to a three-year deal worth $13.2m, with a fourth year team option.

The next question comes with C Kazu Okamoto. The 30-year old had a starting spot waiting for him after the trade of C Orlando Torres. The last minute signing of C Bruce Stephens changed that plan, and Okamoto responded with a less-than-stellar season, hitting .227/.320/.373, a long shot from 1914's .264/.404/.453 campaign. His defense also seems to have taken a hit, and his asking price of $5.8m is just too much. He does not get a contract offer.

The final issue to resolve is that of RF John Harrington. He's been up and down since starting full-time in 1913. He had a fantastic year in 1914, but was once again down this past season. He struck out a whopping 160 times, up from just 98 in 1914. I'd like to offer him a one-year deal, but he simply won't accept, and wants to go to arbitration to get what he wants. Budget is an issue of course, and while I'd love to give him another shot, maybe trading him is a better option, let some other team deal with his demands.

***

After searching around with a bunch of teams, we come to a six-player agreement with the Toronto Maple Leafs, sending them RF John Harrington, C Kazu Okamoto and a low-level relief prospect for 1B Charlie Stewart, 3B Jaimie Gutierrez, and SP Stu Pitts. All three players we get in return were on the Top-100 prospects list prior to last season, with Stewart on top at #60.

[JetsIn06]

1915 Season: Final Standings and Awards

Columbia League           W   L

Brooklyn Robins           93  61
Pittsburgh Arsenal        90  64
St. Louis Terriers        83  71
Newark Peppers            81  73
Baltimore Terrapins       59  95
Kansas City Monarchs      56  98

United League             W   L

Toronto Maple Leafs       86  68
New York Giants           84  70
Detroit Wolves            80  74
Chicago Packers           75  79
Philadelphia Athletics    70  84
Minnesota North Stars     67  87

Columbia League Rookie of the Year:

3B Jose Gonzalez (Newark)
.294/.336/.377
2 HR/40 RBI/46 SB
1.4 WAR

United League Rookie of the Year:

C Damien Swetnam (Minnesota)
.282/.393/.458
18 HR/49 RBI
3.4 WAR

Columbia League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Colin Sabin (Newark)
12-5
2.18 ERA 243 K/47 BB
8.0 WAR

United League Pitcher of the Year:

SP Junior Childress (Toronto)
14-10
1.84 ERA ERA 248 K/48 BB
10.6 WAR

Columbia League Hitter of the Year:

1B Duncan Glazier (Brooklyn)
.269/.327/.521
38 HR/109 RBI
3.9 WAR

United League Hitter of the Year:

LF Gerald Greenfield (New York)
.324/.443/.491
16 HR/77 RBI/21 SB (I should note, 113 BB and just 28 K)
6.5 WAR

[JetsIn06]

1916 Off-Season: Outlook and Overview

Pos.  Name                 Close Prospect          Future Prospect

C                          Matt Duckworth          John Acton (#2)
1B    Alejandro Lara                            
2B    Adrian Black
3B    Bertrand Loosemoor                           Luis Rey                     
SS    Weston Clark               
LF                         Jamie Gutierrez (#9)
CF    Mark Cooper
RF    Kelley Ahrens

C     
IF    Ed Coffelt
IF
OF
OF


Pos.  Name                 Close Prospect          Future Prospect

SP    Ryan Pederson        Stu Pitts (#6)          Tom Crumpler (#1)
SP    Matt DeBolt                                  Steve Wulff (#5)
SP    Paul Key                                     Carlos Cabral (#7)
SP    Mal Petty
SP                                              

CL                         Joel Roller (#3)
SU    Raul Flores          Floyd Frankel (#4)
SU    Tsumemasa Tanaka     Lanc Eldridge (#8)                             
MR    Chris Caviness
MR    Gonzolo Mares
MR    
MR

My main focus going into free agency is C, LF, and SP. I could use some infield and outfield depth, and of course some bullpen help. We have $17m to work with before any budget re-allocations, as well as $5m in cash to use in trades or one-year deals.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 1)

Our first target is C Carlos Valle, who played with the Presidents Cup Champion Brooklyn Robins last season, and Newark for three seasons prior. He hit .257/.367/.335 over 208 PA. He has a decent arm, throwing out 32.3% of base stealers, which was above the league average and better than our catchers last year. We offer him a one-year deal worth $3.36m.

The next guy we target is RF Don Nelson, a defense-first outfielder who we'd hope could fill in off the bench for us. We make him an offer for $1m. In a similar vein, we also go after SP Rafael Rodriguez for $800k as rotation depth.

We also are pursuing 2B Gary Hoffer, a switch-hitting infielder who can play all four positions and has great discipline at the plate. He split time between the Baltimore Terrapins and the Detroit Wolves last year, totaling 397 AB and a .252/.377/.428 hitting line with 15 HR and 51 RBI. We'll probably use him as a super-utility guy, or he might even play 1B. He gets a one-year offer worth $6.5m.

***

All four of our initial targets sign with us during the Winter Meetings, and now we'll start to focus on getting ourselves a backup C, some better OF depth, and some bullpen help with the remaining
$10.35m left in our budget.

***

We sign some depth players not really worth mentioning, but also make an one-year, $7.5m offer to CL Manuel Torres.

***

We lose out on CL Manuel Torres, who signs with the Minnesota North Stars for $7.9m.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Off-Season: Free Agency (Part 2)

We round out the end of free agency with another reliever, left-handed MR Tim Moultrie, on a one-year, $7m offer.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Season: Spring Training

We finish Spring Training 10-14, but lose new signing RF Don Nelson for 5 weeks. Otherwise, we make it out healthy.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Season: SP Ryan Pederson Out Five Months

It's May 13th, and the Monarchs sit tied for 3rd place in the CL with a 17-20 record. However, we were dealt a tough hand as our ace pitcher SP Ryan Pederson goes down for five months, as he needs surgery to remove bone chips.

This is the perfect time to call up #1 overall prospect SP Larry Gibson, who's been dominating AAA with a 2.58 ERA thus far.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Season: Amateur Draft

Since the last update, things haven't went too well, as we dropped into 6th place with a 22-36 record.

In better news, CF Mark Cooper has been destroying Columbia League pitching so far, hitting .355 with a .399 OBP, along with 19 SB.

For the fifth year in a row, we have the top pick in the amateur draft. The last few drafts have had a clear best player, and it seems to be that way again, with SP John Hadfield, 6'2" 19-year old leading the amateurs. We select him with the top pick.

[JetsIn06]

1916 Season: Budget Problems

Top pick SP John Hadfield won't sign with us. He's demanding $9m, and even before signing any other picks, we couldn't afford him. After that realization, we went on a selling spree, trading as many of the one-year deals we had signed prior to the season (MR Tim Moultrie and C Carlos Valle to Brooklyn) and we also traded our long-time SS Weston Clark to New York, who will hit free agency after the 1917 season.

In the end, SP John Hadfield would still not sign with us as we still didn't have the budget, but as we'll probably have the #1 and #2 pick next year now, we can attempt to sign him again.