Nashville Sounds Expansion Team Franchise | OOTP 19
I had a different OOTP OS project going but I didn't have it on the OOTP cloud and my laptop crashed, so I lost the file.
So, I'd like to do another OOTP Franchise project off of my Desktop that hopefully will not crash as well lol. This time, instead of a created league, I'm going to have the MLB expand to 32 teams. I'll control one of them, the Nashville Sounds.
For this Franchise, we'll start off the preparation process for the new Nashville Franchise in 2016, with 2018 being the first season both Nashville and Portland will begin play. And instead of the default GM and Manager role, I'll only be the General Manager so I can make Managerial hiring/firing decisions as well.
I've tried to use the last MLB Expansion Draft rules as closely as the game will let me so it will keep the Draft realistic... Or at least I hope it keeps it realistic.
I hope you all enjoy the rise of the Nashville Sounds!
BREAKING: MLB Awards Nashville With Expansion Team
Monday, December 7, 2015
Today MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, announced that Nashville will be awarded the league's 32nd Franchise, making Nashville a three-team major professional sports city. A week ago, Manfred announced Portland would receive the other MLB expansion team.
Manfred addressed a packed crowd inside of Nashville's Bridgestone Arena to make the announcement. The news of Nashville receiving the Franchise leaked out late yesterday afternoon.
When Manfred announced back in 2015 that the MLB wanted to add two more expansion teams, Nashville was considered a heavy underdog. But, thanks to Nashville becoming one of the fastest growing cities in America, along with an impressive bid from Nashville's owner, Arlie Harleston, the MLB just couldn't pass on giving Nashville a Franchise.
Other cities in contention for an expansion Franchise were Charlotte, Las Vegas, Montreal, San Antonio, and Vancouver.
Nashville and Portland will begin play in the 2018 season, which gives both Franchises two years to lay the foundation for their respective Franchises. It also allows time for their new stadiums to be built. Nashville will join the AL Central Division while Portland will join the NL West Division.
Nashville's MLB stadium will be constructed on the Nashville Fairgrounds and will be called Nashville Fairgrounds Ballpark. A plan has been designed to have both the MLB Stadium and a possible MLS Stadium in the same area within the Fairgrounds.
Nashville Fairgrounds Ballpark will cost $850 million and construction has already been approved to start immediately. The funds have been given through majority owner, Arlie Harleston, minority owners, investors, and through revenue bonds which have been approved by the Nashville Metro Council. The park will have a capacity of 45,500 which will be the 10th largest stadium in the MLB upon completion.
Nashville will adopt the Sounds nickname and colors which was the nickname/colors of the Triple A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
So now, the Nashville Franchise will begin assembling a Front Office and Coaching Staffs for their MLB teams/Minor League affiliates.
Re: Nashville Sounds Expansion Team Franchise | OOTP 19
MLB Expansion Draft
Today was the day that we had prepared for now for 2 years.
Our approach to the draft was huge since there were numerous different strategies we could have chosen. We could choose to go young, tank, and acquire great young talent in the Draft for the first few years of our Franchise as we build up our farm system. However, we could risk losng a fan base since we wouldn't be winning many games at first.
Another approach was that we could choose to get vets who have proven they can play in the big leagues. The only problem with that is we'd have to take on some bad contracts of aging veterans who would have little to no trade value if we decided to sell near the trade deadline. We also might not have a good young core to build around if we chose that strategy.
Then of course we could mix those two strategies. Choose young players with potential and proven vets and hope to compete now... And this is what we decided on.
There was a coin toss to decide which team had the first pick and we won the toss. We decided that we'd rather pick 2nd. So in this Serpentine draft, that meant we got the 2nd and 3rd pick in the Draft instead of the 1st and 4th.
With the first pick, Portland selected SP Gerrit Cole who surprisingly wasn't protected by Houston.
With the second and third picks, we chose a pair of Los Angeles Dodgers in LF Joc Pederson and SS Chris Taylor. Pederson is 25 years old and coming off a rough 2017 season. But we love his tools and we think a change of scenery will do worlds for his potential. Taylor had a really solid 2017 as he batted .288 with 21 HR's and 72 RBI's. He's got a good bat and he's incredible versatile playing defense.
Portland then chose Kolten Wong and Travis Shaw with their next picks.
We followed it up by going with a pair of pitchers. Our third selection was former Tampa Bay starter, Blake Snell. Snell pitched pretty well last season in 24 games for the Rays sporting a 4.04 ERA and a 5-7 record. We think he has the potential to be a #1 Starter for us. With our next selection, we chose former Cleveland Indian, Trevor Bauer. The 27 year old has been steadily improving over the past few years and had a fantastic 2017 campaign. He finished 17-9 with a 4.19 ERA and 196 K's in 176.1 innings pitched. These are two guys we feel very comfortable about leading our rotation.
With our next two picks, we chose LF/RF Derek Fisher who was a former top 5 prospect in the Astros farm system and Dee Gordon. Fisher struggled in the big leagues last year, but he's another guy who we think has tons of potential. We chose Dee Gordon with the intention of playing him at 2B due to another player we were targeting... More on that situation later.
Next we chose a pair of Yankees in former All-Star reliever, Dellin Betances and top Yankee prospect, Miguel Andujar. For whatever reason, the Yankees chose not to protect both and we just couldn't pass up on them. Betances has the tools to be a shut down closer for us, while Andujar has the potential to be an All-Star, .300 career hitter.
Now, I'll just skip ahead to our more notable picks in the Draft.
In the 10th Round, we pulled the trigger and drafted Top Chicago White Sox prospect, Michael Kopech. Kopech had a solid 2017 season in the minors and has a chance to make our MLB roster to start the 2018 season. He's got loads of potential and we're unbelievably thrilled to have landed him this late.
In the 13th Round, we decided to take a chance on RP Josh Hader. Hader has incredible stuff and could be someone we turn the closer role over to since Betances might be better suited for the same setup role that he had with the Yankees.
In the 15th Round, we took another former Top Chicago White Sox prospect, Lucas Giolito. For a few years, Giolito was heralded as one of, if not the, top pitching prospect in the Minors. He's struggled mightily so far in his Big League career. But, if he turns it around, he could have the potential to be our #1 Starter. Selecting Giolito was a risk that we had to take.
In the 19th Round, we took former Cincinnati Red, Billy Hamilton. Everyone in our war room went nuts after we made this selection. We now have Dee Gordon and Billy Hamilton on the same team. We knew we couldn't go big on power or batting average with the players that were available in the Draft... So, we figured why not get the top two fastest players in the league to create an absolute nightmare on the bases?
In the 28th Round, we took on former Chicago Cub, Jason Heyward. His contract is awful... But with the players we chose before him, it shouldn't burden us too much. We chose him due to his defensive ability and with the hope that maybe not playing in a huge market could relieve some stress and help him rejuvenate his career.
That was our final big selection in the Draft. All in all, we just decided to go with top talent/potential available, regardless of position. Below are the results of the 35 round Expansion Draft.
10-25-2018, 11:26 PM
