OOTP6: St. Louis Cardinals

[GoldenEagle]

I am back from vacation and ready to start up a new dynasty. I am also well rested after a busy month of July which saw me working practically everyday. I have been thinking about a dynasty for some time, now and finally concluded to use OOTP as the simulator.

Probably the most influential reason behind my decision is because it is baseball season. The real life Cardinals are having a superb season and basically, it has me fired up for baseball. I do not suspect we will equal the success of the Cardinals at first but I hope for long term results as the team’s General Manager.

I plan on doing a month by month update with team news to make the dynasty have a more personal feeling. I think they lay out I have planned is pretty cool. I will provide some in-depth analysis into my team and give an overview of the league as well.

I am trying to follow real Major League Baseball as much as possible with my settings. The only change I have made to the default settings is the trade frequency to “low”. I fell with it set to normal way to many trades are made. I will have to see how this setting goes.

Up Next: An overview of the pitching staff.

[GoldenEagle]

Pitching Overview

The starting rotation for the Cardinals this season is sketchy at best. We do have a solid, if not spectacular, starter at the top of the rotation. He is 28 year old RHP Matt Morris. Matt is going to throw 88-92 MPH and rely on control and movement to get hitters out. He is rated very high in these categories. He is also going to eat up a lot of innings for us. The second pitcher in the rotation at this point is also pretty clear. We are having to turn to 37 year old injury prone RHP Woody Williams. If Williams can stay healthy, he may can pitch well. His fastball tops out at 90 MPH but he has good command over his pitches.

After that the situation gets a bit murky. We have the numbers but the rest rotation is not clearly defined. Jeff Suppan, a 29 year old right hander, appears to be set to pitch in the third or forth slot in the rotation. Suppan is going to eat a lot of innings but he can only throw in the 87-90 MPH range and does have decent control but he below average movement and stuff. Jason Marquis, another right hander who is younger at the age of 25, throws up to 91 MPH. He has right around average stuff, control, and movement. Twenty-seven year old right handed Chris Carpenter is coming off major surgery and questions remain about his ability to pitch. He is similar to Marquis, with average ratings in the three main pitching categories. He will top off at about 91 MPH. RHP Jason Simontacchi, 27, has pretty solid control and can throw about 90-91 MPH. He also has decent endurance and if he can take control of his pitches and avoid walks he may do ok. Alan Benes, is the complete opposite of Simontacchi. The 32 year old right hander has solid movement and stuff, but will have problems with control. He may a get a shot none of the less.

The starting rotation is the weakest point of our team at the moment. We really only have one quality starter in my opinion. We have several different options and if we want to win, we are going to have to figure out a combination that can produce quality starts. Adam Wainwright is a stud at AAA and could be an answer toward the latter part of the season, but right now needs to spend more time in AAA to make sure he reaches the fullest of his potential.

What the starting pitching lacks, the bullpen makes up for. We are looking stellar this season. It starts with the closer, 31 year old Jason Isringhausen. He is a bit injury prone, but when this guy is healthy he is one of the best closers in the game. He has great stuff and movement and will hit the radar gun at around 96 MPH. We are stacked with left handed pitching in 30 year old Ray King and 31 year old Steve Kline. Both these guys have the stuff to get hitters out and I do not suspect either will struggle. The right handed pitchers also look stout. Kiko Calero, 29, will start out in the set-up role. He has great stuff. We have veteran Cal Eldred, who is also very solid and can eat up some innings. Mike Lincoln, 28, and Julian Tavarez, both have extensive major league experience and should pitch very well out of the bullpen this season.

[GoldenEagle]

Fielding Overview

The catching position is set to be filled with veteran 33 year old Mike Matheny. Matheny has a gun and will throw out a good percentage of runners. He will do a superb job blocking the ball up as well. This will be a help to some of the pitchers who struggle with control. At the plate, he is an average contact hitter and can play long ball on occasion. He is set to be backed up by 30 year old Cody McKay. McKay is not a good hitter and really does not do a good job behind the plate either. A more sound option will be looked at in the future.

The corners are pretty much locked down. Twenty-four year old Albert Pujos will play 1B and he should being playing that for a long time. He is the complete package at the plate. He hits for average, power, and has a great eye. He could be a bit better defensively and we may work on that in the spring. Scott Rolen, 28, is the best defensive 3B in the game. He is going to hit for around .280 at the plate and give us power and patience. The short stop position is also filled with 28 year old Edgar Renteria. Renteria is great defensively and hits for very good contact and has a good eye as well. The second base position is a bit more unsettled. There are three players competing for the spot here. The forerunner is probably 27 year old Bo Hart, a decent contact hitter and average defense. Speedy veteran Tony Womack will also be in the mix and I suspect these two will platoon at the position. Womack is an average hitter and add a little pop in his bat. He is weaker defensively than Hart. Marlon Anderson, 30, will also look for time. He is the best power hitter but is overall below average in that category.

The outfield is anchored by 33 year old centerfielder Jim Edmonds. Edmonds is very good with a bat in his hand and will hit for power. He is great defensively and has an absolute gun from the outfield. After that, things are a bit less clear. Thirty six year old Reggie Sanders will probably start in right, He as an average contact hitter and has some pop in his bat. He covers a decent amount of ground defensively. In left, a platoon will probably be used and the from of So Taguchi, 34, and Roger Cedeno, 29. Both of the players are average contact hitters. Taguchi is much better defensively but Cedeno adds the speed element to the line-up. Veterans Ray Lankford and Marlon Anderson could also be in the mix for playing time.

We have a very potent offensive that is capable of putting up many runs on the scoreboard. What concerns me the most is getting people in front of the big hitters, Pujos and Edmonds. If we can find a way to get people on base we will have shot winning several game by our offense alone.

[GoldenEagle]

2004 Preview

The big question surrounding this version of the Cardinals is bound to be the starting pitching. We have seven pitchers at our disposal but only one qualifies as a reliable starter. If the right mix can be found, this team could do very well and make a run at the postseason.

At the plate, we have perhaps one of the stronger line-ups of the league. We are built on power. We don’t much in the way of pure contact hitters. We have some speed which helps. In the future, I will probably try to concentrate on getting pure contact hitters and less on the power. We will see how it works out.

The farm system has to be addressed. We have some solid pitching prospects in Adam Wainwright, Blake Harnsworth, and Justin Garza. Other than that, it looks bleak. I do not see a single hitter who is going to make a big splash in the majors. Hopefully some will develop and I will keep a close eye on the situation.

I suspect we will finish third this season behind the Astros and the Cubs. I think they have too much pitching at this point. We have too many questions about the pitching staff and if runners will get on base or not. I do think we have the horses to compete. Our two best starting pitchers, matt Morris and Woody Williams, will become free agents after this season as will catcher Mike Matheny and reliever Steve Kline.

[MizzouRah]

May you have as much success as the real life Cardinals!!


Todd

[GoldenEagle]

April 2004

Month Record: 12-11

Things started well when three out of four from the Brewers to start the season. The highlight of the series was when Woody Williams threw an eight inning shutout giving up just one hit. Reggie Sanders picked up an injury that is going to put him on the sideline for most of April. In the next series, we lost two out of three to Arizona. We managed to sweep Houston in three games which was huge to start the season. We took two out of three from Colorado. The series had two exciting 1-0 games. One went in our favor and the other did not. We then met the Astros again but this time they got the better of us winning two out of three. We turned and took the next series from the Brewers winning two out of three. Unfortunately we got swept by the Phillies and lost the first game of the series against the Cubs. We finished with a five game losing season.

Thoughts

The 12-11 record is a bit disappointing but it showed we can compete. Every pitcher had quality start but some have struggled more than others. For Example, Chris Carpenter gave up 5 runs in his first start and did not get an out but he has came back and looked good the last two starts. Marquis has probably pitched the worst so far. Morris won his first three but lost his next two. Williams had 0.78 ERA after his first three starts but struggled in the next two. Overall we are getting what we expected, a streaky and unpredictable staff. The bullpen has been pretty solid overall, but shaky at times as well.

We are in a three way tie for first with Cincinnati and Chicago. So obviously right now everyone has a shot division and everyone to a sluggish start.

The line-up has seen the emergence of Jim Edmonds. Edmonds is hitting a solid .333. Rolen is cleaning up with RBIs and hitting a solid .291. Kerry Robinson is hitting .385 in 78 at bats and has earned a starting spot in left field. Pujos is hitting .267 with 7 homeruns. A clear starter at second base has yet to emerge.

News and Notes

• We made several roster transactions at the beginning of the season on the waiver wire. First and foremost, we picked up veteran catcher Keith Osik, who is a quality upgrade over. We waived Cody McKay, who was picked up by Texas. We tried to get BJ Surhoff, but the Orioles pulled him back. We did pick up former Cardinal Kerry Robinson and Pedro Feliz from the Giants who would start most of April in the line-up for us.
• Greg Vaughn, who is on my AAA team, announced that he was retiring. We also cut outfielder Ray Lankford and BJ Hunter. We signed a player named Jason Tyner who spent a few days with the big league club (and did quite well) before mysteriously disappearing. I guess it a bug in OOTP.
• Rich Harden is giving Oakland another horse, as he won the AL Pitcher of the month award putting up very solid numbers and has keyed a 15-8 Athletics start. Former Cardinal and current Red Jose Acevedo won the National League honor.
• New Yankee Alex Rodriguez put up monster number and won the AL Batter of the Month award. Luis Gonzalez of Arizona hit an incredible 14 home runs in April. I think that could put him on pace to challenge the homerun single season leader board.
• Larry Walker of Colorado and Omar Vizquel of Cleveland reached milestones, with each colleting their 2,000 hit respectfully.
• The injury bug struck Boston, as Trot Nixon was lost for the year when he broke his wrist. Florida took a serious blow to its defending championship run when Juan Pierre was lost in the first week of the season for the year. Jose Vidro of Montreal is going to be out for around 7 weeks with a knee injury.

[Neuqua]

Go Cubs!