"Slithering to the Top"- A MLB 13 Arizona Diamondbacks franchise

[nowitsourtime]

Welcome to the Snakepit

It seems you found your way to my franchise. Lucky you. You guys don't know me but I mainly lurk in the trade discussion thread sounding like a stubborn old man when someone mentions trading for Mike Trout or Felix Hernandez. Anyways, enough about me. Here's the lowdown on my franchise

Play vs Sim games: I will play 1 game a series, trying to pitch with every pitcher in the rotation before I repeat a pitcher. I will play every playoff game (If I'm so lucky to make it there).

Difficulty: All-Star
Sliders: No designated slider set, I'll make changes to the default settings as I see fit
30 team control
Try to maintain as much realism as possible
And yes, there will be a storyline

I'm not very good with tables and such on forums so I will try to convey the franchise through words and minimal pictures or graphics (sorry guys, maybe I'll change as I learn this more). Anyways, hopefully you will enjoy this dynasty. Major and Minor league reports and the intro to the story will follow.

[nowitsourtime]

Kevin Towers was talking about baseball. Not a surprising fact since Towers is the GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks after all. It was who he was talking baseball with that will surprise some. Towers was speaking with his 17 year old nephew, Giovanni Wilson.

"Look all I'm saying is that Aaron Hill is not going to repeat his season from last year. His WAR was 2 points higher than any of his previous years and his BABIP was .317, his highest since 2007 where he didn't show nearly as much power. Perhaps it's best if you sell high on him right now," Gio debated.

Kevin muttered to himself. Sometimes the little pest made some good points. Gio always pestered in Kevin's baseball affairs and he soaked in as much knowledge as he could. He often spent days in class looking at Baseball reference, Fangraphs or writing down stat formulas in his notebook. He once tried to explain to his girlfriend what UZR was. She zoned out, only nodding her head to actually pretend she knew what the hell he was talking about.

"I'll think about it." Kevin responded. This seemed to appease him for the time being. "Well I have to go, I'll keep in touch."
"Bye Uncle Kevin!" Gio said

Kevin Towers was fatally injured in a car crash on February 12, 2013. The Diamondbacks organization was devastated about the loss. They had to scramble to find a new GM.

---
Fast forward to February 15. Ken Kendrick was sitting in his office when his phone rang. It was the president, Derrick Hall.

"Ken here"
"Ken, I'm reading Kevin Towers's will, there's something you might be interested in."
"Oh?" Ken leaned forward in his chair, awaiting this nugget that Derrick mentioned.
"Kevin said that if something were to happen to him, he strongly suggest we hire Giovanni Wilson."
"Who?" The name did not ring a bell.
"His 17 year old nephew"
Ken spit out the sip of water he had just taken. A 17 year old GM? Is he out of his mind? "Well, what do you think?"
"It can't hurt to interview him." Derrick replied.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?! WE CANNOT HIRE A 17 YEAR OLD AS THE DIAMONDBACKS GM! WE'LL BE MOCKED EVERYWHERE!!" Ken burst out angrily.
Derrick was taken aback, "What do we have to lose?"

Ken slumped back in his office chair. "Fine, give Gio a call and tell him to meet me at my office at 4 PM tomorrow."

[nowitsourtime]

2013 Diamondbacks Major League Roster

Lineup
1: CF Gerardo Parra
2: 3B: Martin Prado
3: 1B Paul Goldschmidt
4: C Miguel Montero
5: LF Jason Kubel
6: 2B Aaron Hill
7: RF Cody Ross
8: SS Willie Bloomquist
9: Pitcher's spot

Bench:
1B/3B/OF Eric Hinske
SS Cliff Pennington
C Wil Nieves
3B Eric Chavez
CF Adam Eaton

Rotation:
1: RHP Ian Kennedy
2: RHP Daniel Hudson
3: RHP Brandon McCarthy
4: LHP Wade Miley
5: RHP Trevor Cahill

Bullpen:
Long relief: RHP Josh Collmenter
Middle Relief: LHP Tony Sipp
Middle Relief: RHP Brad Ziegler
Middle Relief (pending waiver): JP Howell
Setup: David Hernandez
Setup: Heath Bell
Closer: JJ Putz

Remainder of 40 man roster:
SP Patrick Corbin
SP Randall Delgado
CF Tony Campana
SP Tyler Skaggs
RP Matt Reynolds
RF Alfredo Marte
SS Didi Gregorious
CF AJ Pollock
SS Josh Wilson
SP Charles Brewer
RP Eric Smith
RP Joe Paterson
RP Eury De La Rosa
SP Chase Anderson
SP Zeke Spruill
CF Keon Broxton

2013 Season Preview

The 2012 season was a minor disappointment for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who finished 81-81 after a NL West leading 94-68 in 2011. Diamondbacks fans also saw the depatures of some long-tenured players, most notably All-Star Outfielder Justin Upton, who was traded to the Atlanta Braves along with Chris Johnson for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Zeke Spruill, and Nick Ahmed. Upton was constantly in late GM Kevin Towers's doghouse and he was finally sent packing during the offseason. Prado looks to be the steady 3B that the Diamondbacks have been looking for and Delgado can step into the rotation should any injury occur.

The offseason also signaled the depature of longtime CF Chris Young, who was traded to the Athletics as part of a 3 way trade that brought Heath Bell and Cliff Pennington to Arizona. Heath Bell looks to rediscover his all-star seasons he had in San Diego while Pennington brings infield depth to the team.

Promising prospect Trevor Bauer also was traded as a part of a 3 way deal that sent Didi Gregorius to Arizona. Gregorius has high expectations set on him to stabilize the SS position that has been a revolving door of utility men over the last few years. The jury is out on Bauer and Gregorius but the trade has a huge potential to blow back up in the Dbacks's face if Bauer lives up to his potential.

So what should we expect from the Diamondbacks? There's no true star on the team with the depature of Upton but there are some interesting young players as well as solid veterans on this team. With the budgetless Dodgers and the reigning world series Giants seemingly pulling away, Arizona must find the right mix of players to discover their 2011 magic. However, the mix doesn't seem to be there and there are no dominant, all-star hitters in this lineup to produce runs in a hitter friendly ballpark like Chase Field. The Dbacks pitching performs well but not well enough to propel the Dbacks back into the playoffs.

Prediction: 83-79, 3rd in NL west, does not make playoffs

Minor league report is next, stay tuned!

[AC]

How did you get Howell? Waiver claim?

[nowitsourtime]

Quote: Originally Posted by ACMilan99

How did you get Howell? Waiver claim?

Yes sir, put in a claim for him since he was on optional waivers. It hasn't been processed yet as of opening day though. I may stick Matt Reynolds in there for the time being

[AC]

Quote: Originally Posted by nowitsourtime

Yes sir, put in a claim for him since he was on optional waivers. It hasn't been processed yet as of opening day though. I may stick Matt Reynolds in there for the time being

Ugh, stupid Show putting Howell on waivers lol.

[nowitsourtime]

Gio's car pulled up to the Diamondbacks spring training office. Well it was his mom's car, she insisted on driving. "Ugh, this will be so embarrassing," Gio thought. He walked up to the counter after he went through the door

"Here to see Mr. Kendrick?" The secretary asked.
"Yes ma'am," Gio said.
"Follow me"

Gio walked down the large hallway littered with rooms on both sides that were all occupied by people with their eyes glued to their computer or ears glued to a phone. Ken Kendrick's office was at the very end of the hallway. She opened the door and Gio walked in.
"Hello Gio. Ken Kendrick, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
"So, you're Uncle Kevin said that you know as much baseball as him."
"Heh, I wish. I laid out some thoughts on the team if you would like to see them."
"Most certainly." Ken took the folder on where I had some of my thoughts on the team and player evaluations. He studied them very closely.

"You suggest starting Cliff Pennington at SS on opening day?"
"Yes sir." Gio replied.
"Why?"
Gio inhaled and let out his explanation. "Willie Bloomquist is nothing more than a utilityman. His fielding at SS has been subpar and his measly 90 WRC+ doesn't nearly make up for it. Pennington has only a 65 WRC+ but he his fielding and baserunning far surpases Bloomquist's numbers. Chris Owings and Didi Gregorius should be ready to fill in soon but getting an impact SS will be high on my priority list."

Ken nodded. "I see..." The meeting went relatively well in Gio's opinion.

An hour and a half passed before the meeting finished. "Well, thank you for interviewing me Mr. Kendrick."
"Please, call me Ken. It sounds less formal, like we work together.
"But we don't...."
Gio was interrupted by Ken handing him an offer sheet to be the interim Diamondbacks GM. Gio was stunned.
"We'll see how things go before we talk about a permanent job," Ken said.
Gio didn't care. He was actually in a major league baseball front office. And he was calling the shots.

(Opening day report and minor league report coming soon!)

[BlueJays09]

following...really love the story lines...looking forward to more!