1859 Season Preview & Thread

[Young Drachma]

I updated the SLOP website to reflect the league now, I hadn't really touched it since we moved over here. (We used to operate over there in the concept days...) But in case you want to bookmark it provided you're ever blocked from the forum somewhere and need all of the links to SLOP-stuff.

Senior League of Offseason Play - A fast-sim concept baseball league

[Young Drachma]

Here's the current draft order for the first round of this year's draft thus far. (subsequent rounds haven't been dealt as of yet so Kauai and DC have their picks for those rounds at the moment.)


Current Draft Order:

1. San Diego
2. Gettysburg
3. Denver
4. Denver (via Washington)
5. Shem Creek
6. Denver (via Kauai)
7. Columbus
8. Hilton Head
9. Lake Tahoe
10. Chicago
11. Memphis
12. Rio Grande
13. Lake Placid
14. Brooklyn
15. Carolina
16. Winnemucca

[Young Drachma]

You'll want to check out OOTPOU as it does a nice job with the spring training stats and gives you a picture of how certain guys did, etc. I also generated the draft history. I don't think we're going to run our draft through that thing, because unlike a traditional league, we don't have the luxury of several days of drafting.

[Young Drachma]

Lest you all think the Franchise player idea was completely dead. Here's unveiling the Future Franchise Player provision.

FUTURE FRANCHISE PLAYER PROVISION
The FFP is the provision that succeeds the franchise and legacy player. Essentially, it's a young player that enters the system of a franchise early in his career, (hopefully) develops and then is able to build a legacy with them that the team decides is worth keeping in the fold once he's able to earn a big salary.


Beginning with the off-season immediately following the 1859 season, SLOP teams will be able to offer a signing bonus using current year cap space to any player in STREP (or subsequently renamed future SLOP feeder league) who is aged 16 or younger.

This public auction will take place during the period after spring training and the Sunday before the start of the season. (Friday night through Sunday night).

The baseline bonus price is $9.5 million, meaning no player can be offered less than this amount. The winning team will award the player a 10-year contract (1st year capped, 9 years uncapped) after which time, the player becomes a free agent.

The player retains his FPP contract if traded. The 1st year of the deal is for the price of the signing bonus.

The FPP provision cannot be used in conjunction with the original FRANCHISE player designation.

Essentially, it's bringing international scouting to SLOP. You go to STREP and see some 16 year kid who is killing it. You think he'd benefit from some ML-caliber training rather than languishing in SLOP for 2-3 more years depending on his birthdate.

The reserve price is set intentionally high to prevent teams from offering on too many guys, as I decided against instituting a cap right now on how many you can offer per year, etc., because that seems (at the moment) unnecessary and it's done after free agency on purpose to make it even more tactical.

This will begin with next off-season and the auction will be an open thread for the entire weekend and it doesn't even have to end Sunday, it could go through Monday night's 1st half sim if we wanted. NBD.

The only clause here is if you have a FRANCHISE player, you can't benefit from this provision until your current FRANCHISE guy is released, retires or gets traded.

So anyway, no more rule changes forthcoming. But this change goes hand in hand with the RFA rule. I just didn't want to kill the league's uniqueness in that you get a guy that you can essentially watch from cradle to the grave. Which I think all of us like.

As usual, I tried to design these things to keep everything as simple as possible, while also keeping things interesting.

[Morgan]

sorry to everyone who wrote and wanted to make trades I was out of town but I'm back now and replying to you pronto!!!! Also gotta say this league realllllly original and I love the twists and turns. COOL STUFF!

[Young Drachma]

Rather than my traditional team-by-team previews, just going to profile teams around the league focusing on the various storylines (I had some written and had to re-write after today's events...) that are going to make up SLOP22.

TEAM WITH THE GREATEST EXPECTATIONS

KAUAI EMERALDS
No team in the history of fast-sim baseball has ever spent as much in a single season as the 1859 Kauai Emeralds. Over $140m in salaries committed to his single year. Yes, this is the same team that's been minimum salarying it up for the past two years at about $6m per season at a clip. Now? Wolvie went out and bought a Lambo because he's trying to bring that title out of the mainland.

Simply put, if the Emeralds miss the post-season; hell if the Emeralds don't win the NL pennant it's a major disappointment. You have to appreciate their zeal to go for it. We've just never seen ANYTHING like this before. If it works, I imagine it won't be the last time we see it. But goodness gracious. They've got a solid core in place and their pitching staff boasts dudes who were 1 or 2 starters at 1 through 4. So there's little doubt they'll be able to play the role of the Winnemucca of the NL. Still, Carolina and Rio Grande haven't gotten worse. And there wasn't a whole lot here to work with to start with, so...it might work.

Or we might be seeing the Marlins of SLOP dismantling themselves in a year. Either way, should be fun!

MOST FEARED TEAM

WINNEMUCCA CHOO-CHOOS

Say it with me now. Three-time defending Sunset Series Champions. After capturing SLOP 19, 20 & 21, the Choos are not poised to stop. These guys are the Yankees of SLOP. An expansion team that entered the league and already has more titles than any other team in our 22 year history. But while the SLOP 11 champions were a motley crue, the team now is built "the right way."

Still, this team came within a game of losing in the ALCS last year to upstart Lake Placid and made no changes in the off-season and let go of former Franchise player Tommy Bonner in the off-season. So they're going to be a bit different and yet, it's not a question of whether they're a playoff team, but rather, whether or not we're going to see them hoisting the trophy again next Friday night.

The playoffs are usually a crapshoot, but you have to like Winnemucca's chances in a short series against pretty much anybody. If the Choo-Choos are going to go down, it's going to take a team with the right mix of guys having a lot of luck when they need it.

Either way, these guys aren't going away. The rest of us are just going to have to adapt or die.

COMEBACK TEAM OF THE YEAR

SAN DIEGO FATHERS
The Fathers were perennial contenders, but have been out of the post-season now for five years and counting. Ramz is a silent assassin though and after collecting a Top 5 farm system level of talent, dipped back into FA this year and picked up a few key components to work with the young talent he has. That 3rd playoff spot has been a competitive addition to the game and this year ought to be no different, but the Fathers have the components in place to give Memphis a run for their money and are my choice to get back to the post-season this year.

CLUB YOU SHOULD PUT MONEY ON
CAROLINA KINGS

The most consistent franchise in SLOP hands down. Can you remember the last time the Kings WEREN'T good? The last time this franchise finished worst than 3rd was during SLOP 4. Last time they missed the playoffs? SLOP 12. I don't anticipate SLOP 22 will be the year that post-season streak ends. This is just a well-oiled machine capable of big things pretty much whenever you face them.

If they were a 401k, you'd always feel comfortable putting your money in them. Hands down.

THE TEAM THAT'S WEARING CINDERELLA'S SLIPPER

WASHINGTON GRAYS

The re-branded Banditos have moved back east finally and are now looking to get back to the post-season in their new digs and new location. claphamsa has gone out and tried to acquire some talent to get the club over the hump. They look close, but it's really going to be a matter of how they start out of the gate. Unlike a lot of the top teams, their farm system is bare. So they're going to have to work with what they've got if they're going to get where they need to be.

[Young Drachma]

I'll process any trades made this weekend tomorrow night and put up a new file tomorrow night.

[Young Drachma]

I put up the file processing tonight's trades because I was wake and it makes it easier for me tomorrow. So if you made a deal, fetch that file before doing your final export for Monday night. Fanks.

[Young Drachma]

Here's this year's Hall of Fame ballot.

[wolvie109]

I'd vote but i on't know my password.

[Young Drachma]

TEAM YOU'VE NEVER PAID ATTENTION TO, BUT WILL BE PISSING YOU OFF ALL SEASON

LAKE TAHOE SYNDICATE
Outside of their insane offer that will pay Clifton Marshall $320m over the next eight years, there wasn't much of a peep out of the Lake Tahoe club this off-season. But quiet as kept, this team is sneakily good. They've got three bonafide starters, a solid outfield that is home to the 2-time defending MVP (and Season 20 Rookie of the Year Pat Kenady who if he's not named Lake Tahoe's franchise player before the end of this year it'll be a travesty. The only real missing link this team has is no one remotely reliable at 1st base or catcher. But if they're anywhere near the plus side by the mid-season break, Subby still has nearly $30m to spend on deadline deals to get them over the top.

It's going to be a five-team race in the AL between Winnemucca, Lake Placid, Memphis, San Diego & Lake Tahoe and someone is going to be on the outside looking in. Don't sleep on this team though. They're hungry and they've gone out to get an MVP to go with their MVP. Also, they boast the #1 farm system in the game so they have tasty morsels to trade too.

Scary stuff kids.

WOULD-BE PLAYOFF TEAM MOST LIKELY TO DISAPPOINT

BROOKLYN TITANS
Year after year, the predictions are that THIS year is the Titans year. But that hasn't been true for five years when they won the 2nd of their back to back titles. After winning 96 games last year and earning the 3rd playoff spot, they got back to their playoffing ways, sweeping the Roadrunners en route to an NLCS defeat at the hands of Carolina. Still they made no improvements this off-season and so, they're going to struggle in Brooklyn to successfully return to the post-season with so many upstarts (Kauai, Washington) competing in a league that they were once able to coast through with contenders (Rio Grande, Carolina) who haven't lost much still apt to compete at a high level.

So while everyone expects these to be the same ol' Titans who win 87-93 games and back their way into a 3rd place spot and maybe even sneak into a pennant, there are too many hungry owners going after those spots to make think that's likely to work this year as it has in the past.

They do have nearly $33m in cap space, but it'd take some creativity to get what they need off the trade market as it stands right now.

But that's why they play the games.

BALLCLUB THAT'S ALWAYS GOOD BUT PROBABLY WON'T BE AS GOOD THIS YEAR MUCH TO YOUR CHAGRIN

MEMPHIS SMOKERS
Do you know that if SLOP had the 3rd place playoff spot dating back to its inception, that the Smokers would have made the playoffs in each year since SLOP 5? In fact, outside of a four-year span (1849-52) they've made the playoffs in thirteen of the past seventeen years. They boast three titles and if it weren't for those damn upstarts out in Nevada, the Smokers faithful would be claiming even more pennants.

But like Brooklyn, they've lost more than they got back this off-season. In fact, only Denver and Chicago -- teams that will be doormats for sure and conducted firesales -- lost more WAR this off-season than the Smokers. It's possible that the underrated arms they have in the minors as prospects could emerge big this year. But not many teams -- especially in this league -- can withstand the lost of 3/5ths of their rotation in an off-season. If the Smokers come down to earth, expect an epic dogfight for that last playoff spots in the last few months of the season, because the AL has a ton of upstarts just salivating the chance to play a bit of playoff baseball.

It's hard to bet against such a potent offense, especially when it boasts the second best win percentage of any team in the history of the league (and tops amongst founding clubs) so this might just be a blip the club needs to power its way back to prominence.

CLUB WITH THE MOST TO PROVE

LAKE PLACID MIRACLES
Upstate New York's finest return for Year Two after narrowly missing out on a chance to return to the Series for the first time in four years en route to Winnemucca's three-peat.

So rather than cry in their soy milk what did they do? Made Brad Scots the highest paid player in SLOP.

(Hilariously, he's not the highest paid of all-time. That distinction goes to Denis Sheehan and Pablo Nieto from Winnemucca when each made $45m and $50m at different points during their deals with the Choos. Hard to argue with the outcomes...)

It's still Chris Ross's team. The 31-year old five-time Pitcher of the Year award winner gets a powerful 1-2 duo partner and the rest of the rotation gets filled out with upstart veteran Salome Formigal and Hall of Fame knuckleballer Charlie Taylor whose second act might end up getting him to 300 wins if he plays his cards right.

They upgraded their bullpen, reconfigured their outfield and upgraded at catcher making Steven Chowen the first FRANCHISE player ever traded in the process.

On paper, you have to like this team and yet, you wonder if something is missing. Still, they've elevated a club that narrowly captured a playoff berth last year into a club that's formidable enough to take on Winnemucca. That's saying a lot.

Yet, there's a clock on some of the talent on this team. In a lot of ways, the Miracles are SLOP's version of the '03 Florida Marlins. If they're going to win, with the mix of youth and veterans they have now, this is going to be their window because if they wait, so many of their stars are going to get too expensive and be off to play elsewhere. The key to this team to me is the emergence of D.J. Struchen. If he plays how he's capable, they're going to be a scary team. Still, they've got a huge target on their backs and no guarantees of anything other than a shot at something.

Anything less than a Series berth for this team will probably be a disappointment.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by wolvie109

I'd vote but i on't know my password.

Default password for everyone is baseball.

[wolvie109]

I voted for Indiana Jones

[Subby]

Wait - why do I have to name Kenady my franchise player now? Doesn't he have 4 more years with us at 250k?

[Young Drachma]

First half sim tonight!!!!!

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Subby

Wait - why do I have to name Kenady my franchise player now? Doesn't he have 4 more years with us at 250k?

Goodbye Franchise player rule.

Hello RFA and FFP provision.

There's a one-year exemption on FRANCHISE declarations, so if you don't have one, you can name one by the end of this year and it'll be valid. But after that, the rule goes away except for anyone who has already been grandfathered in. So the eight teams without one can name someone by the end of this year if they choose.

If you use the FRANCHISE rule, you can't benefit from the Restricted Free Agent or Future Franchise Player provision. So there's that.

Originally posted in the Off-season thread, but also linked in the rules thread too. Stop by the shop and I'll explain later.

[Young Drachma]

Okay...about to sim the first half of SLOP's most exciting season ever. I seriously have no idea what this is going to look like!

[Young Drachma]

HERE WE GO

[wolvie109]

The umps better not screw this season up like the replacements refs are

[Young Drachma]

Washington had 32 men on their roster. Not sure what the hell I'm supposed to do with that.

[Young Drachma]

This is why I never allowed expanded rosters. Carolina and Kauai had the same problem.

[wolvie109]

Wth did I not export? Ahhh nm I see it.

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF APRIL 1, 1859

NATIONWIDE LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Rio Grande Rough Riders	8	3	.727	-
Carolina Kings		8	3	.727	-
Washington Grays	6	5	.545	2.0
Brooklyn Titans		4	7	.364	4.0
Shem Creek Shrimp	3	8	.273	5.0
Kauai Emeralds		3	8	.273	5.0
Gettysburg Gomers	3	8	.273	5.0
Denver Dinosaurs	1	10	.091	7.0

ASSOCIATED LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Winnemucca Choo-Choos	10	1	.909	-
San Diego Fathers	9	2	.818	1.0
Lake Placid Miracles	9	2	.818	1.0
Hilton Head Heroes	7	4	.636	3.0
Memphis Smokers		6	5	.545	4.0
Lake Tahoe Syndicate	6	5	.545	4.0
Columbus Crusaders	4	7	.364	6.0
Chicago Hornets		1	10	.091	9.0

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF MAY 1, 1859

NATIONWIDE LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Carolina Kings		24	14	.632	-
Kauai Emeralds		20	16	.556	3.0
Washington Grays	21	17	.553	3.0
Brooklyn Titans		20	18	.526	4.0
Rio Grande Rough Riders	18	19	.486	5.5
Gettysburg Gomers	13	24	.351	10.5
Shem Creek Shrimp	12	24	.333	11.0
Denver Dinosaurs	5	33	.132	19.0

ASSOCIATED LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Winnemucca Choo-Choos	29	8	.784	-
Lake Placid Miracles	28	9	.757	1.0
Memphis Smokers		24	14	.632	5.5
Hilton Head Heroes	24	14	.632	5.5
Lake Tahoe Syndicate	23	15	.605	6.5
San Diego Fathers	20	18	.526	9.5
Columbus Crusaders	14	24	.368	15.5
Chicago Hornets		5	33	.132	24.5

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF JUNE 1, 1859

NATIONWIDE LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Kauai Emeralds		37	26	.587	-
Carolina Kings		38	27	.585	-
Washington Grays	37	28	.569	1.0
Rio Grande Rough Riders	36	28	.563	1.5
Gettysburg Gomers	34	30	.531	3.5
Brooklyn Titans		32	33	.492	6.0
Shem Creek Shrimp	21	42	.333	16.0
Denver Dinosaurs	5	60	.077	33.0

ASSOCIATED LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Winnemucca Choo-Choos	51	13	.797	-
Lake Placid Miracles	47	17	.734	4.0
Memphis Smokers		37	27	.578	14.0
Lake Tahoe Syndicate	36	29	.554	15.5
Hilton Head Heroes	34	30	.531	17.0
San Diego Fathers	34	31	.523	17.5
Columbus Crusaders	25	40	.385	26.5
Chicago Hornets		11	54	.169	40.5

[wolvie109]

Nice 27 game losing streak Denver.

[Young Drachma]

STANDINGS AS OF JUNE 18, 1859

NATIONWIDE LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Kauai Emeralds		47	32	.595	-
Carolina Kings		47	34	.580	1.0
Rio Grande Rough Riders	43	37	.537	4.5
Washington Grays	43	38	.531	5.0
Gettysburg Gomers	41	38	.519	6.0
Brooklyn Titans		41	40	.506	7.0
Shem Creek Shrimp	27	52	.342	20.0
Denver Dinosaurs	7	73	.087	40.5


ASSOCIATED LEAGUE STANDINGS
			W	L	PCT	GB
Winnemucca Choo-Choos	64	16	.800	-
Lake Placid Miracles	55	25	.688	9.0
Lake Tahoe Syndicate	47	34	.580	17.5
Memphis Smokers		46	34	.575	18.0
San Diego Fathers	44	37	.543	20.5
Hilton Head Heroes	40	40	.500	24.0
Columbus Crusaders	34	47	.420	30.5
Chicago Hornets		16	65	.198	48.5

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by wolvie109

Nice 27 game losing streak Denver.

SHUT IT.

[Young Drachma]

I'll prep the file. First half is done. Gonna test out that all-star game ballot thing in OOTPOU.

[Young Drachma]

As expected, both leagues are deep. NL is six-teams deep which is insane. AL boasts five teams with realistic playoff hopes.

The sellers are consolidated and as such...it'll be interesting to see what the 2nd half looks like.

[Young Drachma]

Ok file is up. We're off tomorrow night, we'll do the draft on Wednesday and 2nd half off on Thursday. Draft lists ahoy.

[Young Drachma]

All-Star Voting

[wolvie109]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

SHUT IT.

Sorry 36 games

[Subby]

If anyone is out of contention and has a good starting pitcher for trade, we are interested.

[Young Drachma]

Tonight is the draft gang and all-star game!

[Gomer]

What's with the HTML player pages not being updated?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Gomer

What's with the HTML player pages not being updated?

Blame the commish.

I'll go home and run an update.

[Gomer]

Originally Posted by Subby

If anyone is out of contention and has a good starting pitcher for trade, we are interested.

I'm really tempted to trade with you Subby, but at only 1.5 games out of the Wild Card, I don't think I can do it.

[Young Drachma]

I'm tempted to play fantasy writer and look at some trade machine drafts and see if I can't help the contenders facilitate deals. I just might this afternoon...

[Gomer]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

I'm tempted to play fantasy writer and look at some trade machine drafts and see if I can't help the contenders facilitate deals. I just might this afternoon...

Isn't that socialism?

[Young Drachma]

So it's mid-season. Let's take a look at what the various contenders and pretenders ought to be doing by figuring out who they REALLY are. This is Part One of a two-part series:

SELL


I saw this coming. $60M payroll, not quite enough filled out on the roster to compete with the teams in a tough AL. If their ownership is smart, they'll dismantle whatever available parts this team has, as they're really the only pretender with a decent amount of tradeable talent.

Cory Meyer's bargain $6m contract would do some contender a public service and if Washington actually had any prospects worth dealing (they don't) or any draft picks (they don't) then they'd go and send a lifeline to these guys for Juan Moreno. Maybe they can swing a three-team deal with Lake Tahoe, since they've got a ton of prospects to get some pitching help to the Syndicate and some infield help to the Grays.

A win win for everyone, right?

If nothing else, Columbus closer Timothy Samuels is legit sporting a 1.78 ERA and 20 saves at mid-season.

SELL


Shem Creek won't make any deals, but if they were going to...they've got a few guys that would fetch some looks on the market. The Shrimp actually have the best Cost Per Win of any team in SLOP. All-Star Kareem Lewin is probably the first guy that ought to be shipped off, as he's not quite productive enough to be FRANCHISE'd but he's too valuable to just rot.

Dave Renniger is another guy who could fetch a top prospect in a league where pitching starved contenders are looking for any advantage at all.

Lastly, 1B Ron Johns is an overachiever that could help a contender, too.

SELL


Hilton Head is SLOP's little engine that could. Slowly but surely, muns builds a quality team over there that's not far from contending. But it won't happen this year. The Heroes do boast the 2nd best bullpen ERA in SLOP, so any of the guys in that pen could help a contender out and send the Heroes a prospect or two that might help them get closer to finishing in the money themselves.

So that's the first half of this story. I'll come back later with the next part.

[Young Drachma]

Let's draft some prospects commies.

[Young Drachma]

The AL won the all-star game 9-1. AL will have home field in this year's Sunset Series

[Young Drachma]

Draft done. File is up. 2nd half tomorrow night!

[Young Drachma]

No time for the blow by blow to break it down. File is up. Playoffs tomorrow night. They'll probably run a bit late, as I won't be in town. But I intend to LogMeIn via iPad to run everything.

In the off-chance there are complications or whatever (aka, a power failure shuts down my computer so I can't connect remotely via iPad) then I'll run the playoffs on Sunday when I get back from the city.

Just a heads up. I don't think it'll be a problem though. And I'll have forum access regardless, so will post updates in advance either way.

[Young Drachma]

Will run the draft lottery later too.

[Young Drachma]

You can find awards voting here.

[Young Drachma]

This is a reminder to myself to reset fatigue at the start of the post-season for everyone.

[Young Drachma]

I'm finally home. We'll do some Sunday evening baseball tonight!

[claphamsa]

woo! I was shocked at how badly my team finished?