Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

ASG Simulated: NL wins 2-1 on Ian Kinsler rbi single in bottom of the ninth.

The Reds have started the second half off on a good note. A 4-1 victory followed by a 3-0 against the Brewers. AJ Reed looks impressive, hitting a pinch hit single for his first major league hit. In the second game of the series AJ Reed made his first start, and connected on a curveball in his first at bat for a 435 ft hr to right center. Solo hr's seem to be the flavor of the week. AJ pollock has hit 1, Jose Bautista 3, and AJ Reed 1 in the first two games after the break. The Reds look to sweep the series with Rich Hill towing the rubber vs Madison Bumgarner.

TRADE
The Phillies (48-44) acquired 2B Joe Panik from the Indians (40-51). SP Carlos Carrasco & CF Leonys Martin were sent to the Indians in exchange for the steady hitting second baseman.

I love the Carrasco side of that deal. In a landslide. Ace potential pitcher.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Yeah he was the #3-4 starter on the Phillies. So they dealt from a position of strength to get Panik. The Indians made good to get Carrasco long term

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Idk about you guys, but I'm extremely impressed with the transactions that the AI is doing in this years game. The moves seem to have a "reason" to each of them, much more realistic than years past.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

After winning the first two games after the all star break, the Reds have dropped the last 2, to include the series opener vs the Braves. A.J Reed looks to be every bit as good as the organization has hoped out of the gate. The Flame throwing prospect Michael Fulmer toes the rubber in front of the home fans for his first Major League start...

Fulmer is looking good, striking out 2/3 in the first inning, including the lead off hitter & Anthony Rizzo to end the inning.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

And the rookie comes through! Michael Fulmer was masterful, striking out 9 in 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 8 hits. In the bottom of the 8th, Joey Bats knocked in the winning run on a soft single to right. Greg Holland shut the door in the 9th earning his 37th save of the season.

Next Up
Stephen Strasburg (15-1) faces off against Bryan Mitchell (2-1). The Reds are counting on the best pitcher in the league to secure another series victory.

Trade Offer
The Rockies came calling, seemingly due to the recent trade of 3 veterans from the Reds. Colorado had offered RP Adam Ottavino in return for 1B Chris Johnson. The Reds informed the Rockies they were not interested.

Food For Thought
Stephen Strasburg's WAR is currently at 4.75. His dominance has creeped into award races, as he is now considered a legitimate threat to capture both the CY Young & MVP.

[KBLover]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Quiet Winter Meetings

Not a lot happened at the Winter Meetings. A trade was proposed to the Sox that involved RF John Anderoli, but that was rejected.

The team did make an offer to SP Gavin Floyd, but he signed with another club instead.

Arbitration Results

The Sox had their hearings with their arbitration players. Here's the new contracts:

C Mike Zunino (lost): 2.2 M
3B Juan Francisco (lost): 1.9 M
SP Taijuan Walker (won): 1.2 M
CP Jeurys Familia (won): 3.5 M
RP Kelvin Herrera (lost): 2.6 M


Other Notable cases:

SP Patrick Corbin (player): 5.29 M
CP Trever Rosenthal (player): 3.7 M
1B Eric Hosmer (player): 5.6 M
SP Gerritt Cole (player): 8.1 M
SP Matt Harvey (player): 8.6 M
CP Cody Allen (club): 2.5 M
CP Jake McGee (player): 2.9 M

Trades Around the League

The Sox can't find another trading partner, but other teams are having no problems. Here's some of the ones that grabbed a few headlines.

Rockies get:
2B Moncada
SP Eickhoff

Mariners get:
RF Mazara


Moncada is one of the more promising infield prospects in the game. For now he will be behind LeMahieu, if he stays at 2B. If the Rockies move him to 3B, he could challenge Donovan Solano and David Freese for the starting job sooner than later.

Eickhoff is a decent starting pitcher, seems like a solid depth or bottom of the rotation option. He may compete for a job this spring.

Mazara fills the void left by dealing Piscotty to the Red Sox. He is the instant starter at the position and should only improve from here. The Mariners net result traded Piscotty, Mancada, Eickhoff for Berrios and Mazara.


Astros get:
CF Cespedes

O's get:
C Gomes
CF Jankowski

The Red Sox have to like seeing the O's part with Yoenis Cespedes. David Dahl might be a fine player, but he's a clear step down. However, they probably DON'T like seeing them get Yan Gomes. Yan is one of the better catchers in the league, grading out at an 84 score.

Jankowski will get overlooked in the press, for understandable reasons, but if he makes the roster, the O's would add an excellent defender with excellent speed and efficient routes to the ball. The bat isn't really good, but it's not embarassing either.

Spring Training Results

Key takeaways from Spring Training:

-Another veteran arm would be nice. Reyes looked better and Pena, the team's Rule 5 selection, had a good spring, but it would be nice if the Sox could either add an arm higher in the rotation and move everyone down, or to the bottom of the rotation and let Reyes join Urias and Fulmer in AAA to start the year.

-Taijuan Walker seems visibly distracted by his surprisingly low arbitration number. The figure was below even what the club submitted. He's saying the right things, but his play is showing that his head isn't in it right now.

-RF: Buxton wins. Buxton, at least for now, will be starting at RF between them on most days. The only place he will not have a spot is vs LHP in an NL park. There, Trumbo will play RF with both Buxton and Smith on the bench.

Smith, for his part, still is too much of a singles hitter for someone who will bat around .260. That's just not enough offense and it's mostly due to his lack of power, even for the gaps. He has to rely on line drives, and his swing isn't there yet. Buxton showed better potential for doubles at the least and should hit around .250-.260 as well.

-Yu Darvish has been connected to the Red Sox by the rumor mill. This is thanks to the Cubs, who have Darvish, saying that they are "interested in a number of Red Sox players". The Sox have denied any talks concerning Darvish saying that "he'd probably be too hard to get".

Others think someone like Jared Weaver would be interesting. Iwakuma was mentioned as he's an older pitcher in the last year of his contract. The Angels would probably consider taking something certain now. Most seem to think the Sox will either sign free agents like they did last year or just go with the young pitchers like Finnegan and Reyes/Fulmer/Urias and hope they improve.

-Telis will indeed be the back up catcher. He didn't do anything to make the team have second thoughts, so he's on.

-Winker looked okay, but nothing that would scream for a faster timetable so far. Still, he didn't hurt his stock any.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Stephen Strasburg earned win #16, going 8.2 innings, with 10k and 1 run on 6 hits.

Trade News
The Athletics (49-46) acquired Michael Wacha from the Brewers (41-52) in exchange for SS Brendan Rodgers & RP Steven Okert.

Wacha strengthens an Oakland rotation that includes Dallas Keuchel, Kevin Gausman & Edinson Volquez. Wacha will slot in the #2 behind Dallas Keuchel. Bully Beane is hoping Wacha can help the A's increase their lead atop the AL West.

Brendan Rodgers looks to be a possible star & replacement for JJ Hardy as Hardy is signed for one more season. The Brewers are bottom dwellers in the Central, which comes as a slight shock with a rotation that includes Madison Bumgarner & Yu Darvish.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Breaking News

In a move that even shocked members of the Reds inner circle, Brock Holt was traded to the royals. The Reds (64-32) sent LF Brock Holt & RP Jose Valverde to the Royals (44-51) in exchange for LF Derek Fisher & RP Shae Simmons.

*Boog Powell will play LF and bring more speed to the top of the lineup

The Royals were willing to send both players just for Brock Holt, but GM Smith decided to add Valverde to avoid waiving a player.

[KBLover]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

2017 Dawns
Red Sox Open at Home vs Rangers

The lineup and pitching staff are set to start the title defense. Here's how Beantown's nine will lineup:

[Projected performance in brackets]

Spoiler

Projections were done with the following equation: (Correlation * Player Stat) + ((1-Correlation) * either his career or league average^) + Age Modifier. Basically, it's inspired by Marcel combined with an equation for regression I found. Correlations come from here for hitters and here for pitchers Since I don't have the league average (thanks for no team stats on the front end or league stats SDS), I used the MLB average in fangraphs for 2015). Age modifier is subtracted for FIP (since lower is better).

^league average for players with less than 600 ABs, the player's career otherwise. For pitchers, less than 400 IP uses league average.

I only did this for AVG/OBP/SLG/FIP, as in using those stats from last year. I didn't do this on 1B/2B/BB, etc to come up with these. Maybe I should, but...this is good enough for the game, I think. The other caveat is I think pitchers are generally more consistent in The Show than irl...or at least have a better chance to be more consistent. My guess is that it's due to the H/9 rating.

Plus, we all know Joey Gallo is going to conquer the world by the time he's 26, right? At least that's what the "scouts" in my franchise keep thinking.

Typical Starting Lineup:
1. CF Delino DeShields, Jr. [.302/.357/.429]
2. 1B Stephen Piscotty [.283/.342/.477]
3. 3B Joey Gallo [.322/.386/.601]
4. LF Miguel Sano [.353/.413/.679]
5. DH Kyle Schwarber [.302/.397/.548]
6. SS Jorge Mateo [.306/.364/.423]
7. 2B Addison Russell [.273/.333/.428]
8. C Mike Zunino [.216/.263/.394]
9. RF Byron Buxton [.278/.336/.393]

Bench:
1B Daric Barton [.234/.288/.343]
IF/OF Emilio Bonifacio [.250/.296/.332]
2B/3B Avery Romero [.239/.298/.321]
C Tomas Telis [.239/.291/.346]
OF/DH Mark Trumbo [.263/.314/.474]


Notes: The starting nine looks strong. Piscotty probably will trade HR for doubles, especially in Fenway, but his average is projected to rise, and it should given an 80 contact player hitting .265 is unexpectedly poor. Gallo and Sano have very lofty projections...maybe a bit too high, but Gallo is young and rapidly improving and Sano is the same. He came down from his flirting with .400 somewhat hard, but that might have simply been regression to a still lofty level. Hitting .400 with that kind of power would have broken the universe...or something. Gallo, Sano, and Schwarber are projected to have a lot of the load on them for the offense (along with Trumbo when he plays). That sounds about right, it was the story last year.

The bench is mostly utility types. The "just don't make us lose" types. Trumbo is the exception since he's a platoon player vs LHP. Bonifacio should be better than that, but who knows what you'll get from bench players and their smallish samples. Still, Romero with his ratings repeating another .240-ish BA would be very disappointing.


Pitching Staff:

Starters
1. Chris Sale [2.76]
2. Kenta Maeda [3.71]
3. Taijuan Walker [3.06]
4. Brandon Finnegan [3.58]
5. Alex Reyes [4.06]

Bullpen:
Ariel Pena [4.14]
Hansel Robles [3.90]
Kelvin Herrera [3.31]
Aroldis Chapman [1.64]
Junichi Tazawa [3.09]
Jeurys Familia [3.44]


Notes: All looks about right to me. Chapman will be expected to hold the bullpen together while the rest should provide at least decent support. Robles and Herrera are interesting...Robles had the better ERA but Herrera the significantly better FIP.


Team Runs Scored Projection (based on last season's R total): 738
Team Projected Runs Allowed (based on last year's ER total): 635
Resulting Projected Win%: .575 (93 wins)


That...seems a bit disappointing, but I thought last year's 91 wins was disappointing. It does represent an improvement and assumes the pitchers won't do much differently than last year (probably true, honestly, barring rapid growth from Walker, Finnegan and Reyes...and hoping people stay healthy for a change). The offense is projected to come back down, [using MLB averages for this], but that might not be too far out there either. Sano was insane in the first half as was Carter. When they cooled, so did the wins. And can Mateo keep slashing his way to .300 + doubles and steals? Russell is streaky, as is Schwarber.


Maybe this is right after all!

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Teams looking good kb! Good luck defending that title!

Prospect update?

[KBLover]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

The current thinking on Boston's prospects is as follows:


Top 5:

1. Julio Urias, 20, AAA - Julio's debut went quite poorly, 7+ ERA is not what the team had in mind, and he eventually was sent back to AAA. On the positive side, the adversity didn't slow down his progress in the eyes of most evaluators. The sky is still the limit for Urias, he just might fly a bit slower than expected.

2. SP Ken Kojima, 21, AA - Ken has good upside. Some questions about his movement and how that will play at the next levels as well as how fast he'll learn to use his stuff. He'll have to figure that out because his velocity is very much average as well. He has the makings of being a control pitcher.

3. OF Mallex Smith, 23, AAA - Somewhat raw for a 23-year-old even though he's able to at least hold his own in the majors. Defense, he's more than ready. Offense...will need to improve his batting average since improving his power is probably too much to ask for.

4. SS Lucius Fox, 19, AA - Lucius made good gains during the season but still has a long way to go. Fortunately, he's not even 20 yet so time is on his side. Hard to say what sort of hitter he'll become, a good spurt in one of his tools would have a big impact. Defense is decent and hopefully will refine over time. Projects for a move to 2B going forward, though.

5. SP Carson Fulmer, 23, AAA - Carson will be expected to make big strides. He has the velocity to be a power arm and he has a nose for the strike out, but everything else has been slow in coming. He's improving, so the team is still trying to be positive on his future.



Other notables:
OF Jesse Winker, 23, AAA - probably up by the All-Star Break. Bat coming around to be a solid DH/PH.

3B Kevin Diaz, 19, AAA - poor kid is a 3B. Gallo is a 3B. He can play 1B and 2B as well...that's probably his best hope at being a starter one day.

SP Kodi Medeiros, 20, AA - hardest throwing starter in the system aside from Alex Reyes. Probably the fastest rising prospect. Excellent veloctiy with nasty bite on his sinker and slider. Impressed with his decision making and foundation despite unfavorable results and the big injury. He looks to be fine post-injury.

SS Hitoki Nomura, 18, AA - highly unlikely he stays at short. Instead, he'll be on the right side of the infield. Upside limited, but defense is already refined. Hit tool growth will determine his trajectory.

RF Vlad Guerrero, Jr., 19, AA - this far down it's a toss up between raw as can be kids. Defense is decent and the bat made some growth last season. He looks to be developing into a well-rounded hitter with serviceable defense.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Sad to say...but I've always seen Alex Reyes as a bp arm. Maybe Wade Davis - style. He's got electric stuff, but he might be best suited as a lights out (7-8-9) man.

* you e got some nasty upside in the minors!

[KBLover]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

Drama Right Out of the Gate
Rainy Opening Day Provides Free Baseball

This was not the best day for the fans to have to sit through an extra inning game. But it's Boston so they are probably used to cold rain falling on them in early April. Probably grateful it's not a nor'easter.

In any case, they got a couple innings of free baseball to start the season. Sox and Rangers dueled to a 3-3 tie as Syndergaard and Sale couldn't give their teams the upper hand.

Syndergaard gave up his runs on rallies and a little small ball. Sale gave up his on 3 solo HR.

The score stayed deadlocked as the bullpens traded zeroes. This lasted until the 11th when Familia, working into his second inning, coughed up a run.

Already, it looked like the shaky Familia. But, fortunately, Joey Gallo, future ruler of the [baseball] universe, came up big. Having hit an RBI triple in his first AB of the season, he connected on a 404-foot home run to right field to tie the game at 4-4.

After that Mark Trumbo came up. Trumbo was in because he PH for Schwarber in the 10th with the Sox having a chance to win against a lefty reliever. Trumbo JUST missed driving one to RF, but he got under it a bit too much.

This time, Trumbo, now facing a right-handed pitcher, got a slider from Jansen. Trumbo was determined to find the Monster and pulled a fly toward left field. It would either die in the cold rain like a drive from Piscotty did earlier, bang off the Monster or sneak over. The ball was tired of the cold rain, too, and willed itself over the Monster to end the game. Back-to-back home runs in the 11th to win.

Strand runners. Can't score for 4 innings. Miss chances to win. Give up the lead in the 11th. Hit back-to-back bombs to win.

Welcome to another season of Red Sox baseball, Beantown.


As far as Gallo, who was Player of the Game, with 3/4 of the cycle and 3 of the team's 5 RBI, if this is a sign of things to come, maybe all that gushing last season will prove warranted.

Sale? Well, that's more troubling. He struggled in the playoffs and that carried over to his first start. Hopefully, just jittery first start in bad conditions.

[J_smith2190]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

With yet another loss, rich hill has not won a game since July 2nd, and is credited with 3 losses in that stretch. Concerns of a major slow down are being spoken of, with the only bright spot being the large lead cincinatti has built on the division.

*DRAFT RESULTS*

Yes, I know I'm a bit late on this lol. But here's how the draft shook out for the Reds.
RD1: SP Paul Carew (72 ovr/ C Pot) - The 6'5" Right Hander from Ohio has the makings of a 4/5th starter. Scouts fear Carew may already be at his potential, though his high stamina grade and sinker should allow him to crack the majors sooner than later.

RD2: SS Rafel Sierra (75 ovr/ D Pot) - The switch hitting short stop from the Dominican Republic has been hailed for his good eye at the plate, and blazing speed. A currently weak defender, and ok contact hitter, Sierras biggest thing going for him may be his ability to play 2B & 3B.

RD3: 3B Ray Nash (70 ovr/ D Pot) - Nash is an all offensive 3rd baseman. With a great hit tool, and decent speed, Nash's offensive outlook can have him in the majors next year. Terrible defense & a fear that he will not improve on where he is now may have Nash destined for a trade to an American League team.

RD4: SP Chris Pena (64 ovr / C Pot) - Pena looks to have the type of stuff that will translate better in the bullpen long term.

RD5: CP Jeff Lopez (65 ovr / D Pot) - Lopez has power stuff from the right side.

RD6: RF Steven Noseworthy (52 ovr/ B Pot) - The lefty/lefty from Australia is raw, but has good potential if he can harness his skills in the minors.

RD7: C Francisco Gomez (60 ovr / D Potential) - A decent defender, Gomez profiles as a career minor leaguer - barring a switch to one of His secondary positions 2B or 3B.

[Sumodeads]

Re: Official MLB The Show 16 Fantasy Draft Franchise Progress Thread

I have recently decided to increase my hitting difficulty to match my pitching since my offensive numbers were just a little too unrealistic. Since I am a stat freak and I felt the numbers would be skewed to switch mid-season, I have restarted my franchises with my new difficulty settings(HOF everything). I have a Cubs franchise going with updated rosters and now earlier today I did a brand new Fantasy draft. I decided to stay in the NL and picked a team who's stadium I like, but I would never normally use....the San Diego Padres! I don't think I have ever taken a pitcher with the first pick in the draft, but I ended up getting the 2nd overall pick and Clayton Kershaw fell in my lap after Trout went #1 to the Phillies. I feel like I got a great mix of up and coming young talent, combined with some veterans mixed in. I built my team around power bats and power arms. I fell a little shorter than I like on team speed. I have a lot of average speed guys, but I have a ton of fire power. Here's what it looks like:



<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/depth_chart.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><div id="depthchart"><div class="teamheader" style="background:#0F4871;">San Diego Padres Fantasy Draft Depth Chart - 2016</div><div class="depthchart"><div id="catcher"><ul><li class="title">Catcher</li><li class="odd"><b>Willson Contreras</b></li><li class="even">John Ryan Murphy</li></ul></div><div id="first_base"><ul><li class="title">First Base</li><li class="odd"><b>Chris Davis</b></li><li class="even">Martin Gonzalez</li></ul></div><div id="second_base"><ul><li class="title">Second Base</li><li class="odd"><b>Jonathan Schoop</b></li></ul></div><div id="third_base"><ul><li class="title">Third Base</li><li class="odd"><b>Joey Gallo</b></li></ul></div><div id="shortstop"><ul><li class="title">Shortstop</li><li class="odd"><b>Trevor Story</b></li></ul></div><div id="left_field"><ul><li class="title">Left Field</li><li class="odd"><b>Nomar Mazera</b></li></ul></div><div id="center_field"><ul><li class="title">Center Field</li><li class="odd"><b>Carlos Gomez</b></li><li class="even">Ichiro Suzuki </li></ul></div><div id="right_field"><ul><li class="title">Right Field</li><li class="odd"><b>Giancarlo Stanton</b></li><li class="even">Oswaldo Arcia</li></ul></div><div id="rightcol"><ul style="margin-bottom:5px;"><li class="title">Starting Pitcher</li><li class="odd"><b>Clayton Kershaw</b></li><li class="even">Carlos Martinez</li><li class="odd">John Lackey</li><li class="even">Brandon Finnegan</li><li class="odd">Julio Urias</li><li class="even">Jon Gray(Long relief/spot start)</li></ul><ul style="margin-bottom:5px;"><li class="title">Relief Pitcher</li><li class="odd"><b>Fernando Rodney</b></li><li class="even">Oliver Perez</li><li class="odd">Matt Thornton</li><li class="even">Kevin Lind </li><li class="odd">Omar Benitez</li></ul><ul><li class="title">Closer</li><li class="odd"><b>Dellin Betances</b></li><li class="even">Andrew Miller</li></ul></div><div id="leftcol"></div></div></div></body></html>