MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals end up signing Jordan Walden on final day of offseason

In a crazy turn of events, the Cardinals signed Jordan Walden to the exact contract they did before (2 years $11M). A few weeks ago the Cardinals released Walden after they couldn't find a suitable trade partner. Walden then couldn't find a team willing to meet his contract demands, so the Cardinals re-signed him on the final day of the offseason. Walden will compete in Spring Training for a role in the bullpen. He actually has option years left, so the Cardinals could send him to Memphis after camp should they choose.

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I'm finally just four games away from finishing my season. the playoff picture is coming into focus. With the A's, Indians, Yankees, Dodgers, and Nationals all looking up their respective divisions. The AL wild card will come out of the AL East. the Nl will be either the Cubs, Colorado, or Milwaukee. The Cubs and Brewers are just a half-game apart in the NL central.

the personal note on my team the A's. Khris Davis is two home runs away from tying Barry Bonds single season home run record. I am currently with four games remaining on a 30 game win streak could end up ending the season one 34 game win streak. yes, I am playing on Rookie. However, when I do begin my second season I will be revving up to Veteran. Now some of you or most of you are snickering and laughing but I am a pro rage quieter for sure. I play games for absolute fun and enjoyment.

however, having the record I did in this season is even better than my 2005 All-Star Baseball game record of 122-40. This team is just on fire. After all the trades I have made to "improve" the team over the season I'm very happy with this team. can't wait to get to the postseason. Just very happy that the Twins and Orioles didn't make the postseason...

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

How is Bruce at 1B? I'm considering playing him there after this current season.

2019 Mets are 28-16, 1GB of the Nationals in the NL East. Washington took it to New York at Citi Field recently, sweeping a 3-game series. That was rough.

Thankfully, the bats are starting to show signs of life, so hopeful to get some momentum back on our side. Not having Bruce in the lineup (he's got a month left on the 60-day DL) has really hindered the offensive production.

I haven't really gotten that big of a sample size to give an assessment on him at 1B. I simmed the innings that my starters played in spring training so my only experience with Bruce is last season when I'd occasionally play him at first to get Nimmo in the lineup. He never stuck out as being terrible and at the end of the day he's probably good for 30 plus HRs so I can live with some bad defense

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Spring Training is Here!

It's time for Spring Training! The Cardinals will report to Grapefruit League action and start Spring Training action against the Marlins.

There's not too many questions to answer for the Cardinals as they pretty much have their starting lineup set and know who is going to be on the 25 man roster.

The questions they do have:

1) Who will be in the bullpen? When the Cardinals re-signed Jordan Walden on the final day of the offseason it put in one more guy than spots in the bullpen. Gotta figure its Cimber, Walden, and Brebbia battling for 2 spots.

2) Who will be on the bench? It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Piscotty and Sierra will be the 4th and 5th outfielders and that Hernandez and Gonzalez will be the infielders, with Pena as the backup catcher. But can someone displace those 5? Maybe Eliser Alvarez who was being groomed for this role until he got hurt last year. Maybe Juan Fabregas will do what he did last Spring and force the staff to reconsider there roster.

3) Who will be the 5th starter? We know the top 4 (Wacha, Martinez, Flaherty, and Quintana), who will be the 5th? It will be a battle between Alex Reyes, Luke Weaver, and Kyle Funkhouser. Although at the moment, Funkhouser isn't on the 40 man roster.

There are 29 games to answer these questions. Let Spring Training begin!

Welcome back baseball!

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

entering into the final day of the seaon there are onliy two things undecided. First is the NL Central. The Cubs and Brewers are tied for first place. the other thing which is up for grabs is the NL wild card Which sees the Cubs, Brewers and Rockies all tied atop the W.C. Race......

[Councilmann_Jamm]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

CountryBoy....takes 4 months to complete off-season....takes 2 weeks to play 162 games.

[Rocket32]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The All Star break has come to a close in my Yankees franchise. Harper won the HR derby for us and the NL pummeled the AL 11-1. Sanchez and Stanton were our all star starters. Exiting the break we find ourselves with a record of 54-42. Still plenty of baseball left to be played but the troubling thing is that we are 5 games behind Boston for 1st place and 5.5 games behind Seattle for the top wild card spot. 2.5 games behind the Angels for the second wild card spot. Not where a team that just won 107 games then added Harper should be.

Division Leaders Mid Season Update:
Red Sox 59-37
Indians 64-34
Astros 60-37
Nationals 53-42
Cubs 63-33
Dodgers 57-42.
NL Wild Card:
Cardinals 53-43
Phillies 51-44.

Not quite sure what to do as the deadline starts to near and teams prepare to start making deals. Obviously we need pitching. This team has plenty of firepower in the lineup. There’s not that many options though.

Potential targets:
Chris Archer 3.29 ERA Rays
Jacob DeGrom 2.49 ERA Mets
Noah Syndergaard 4.43 ERA Mets
Clayton Kershaw Injured For season with torn labrum only 20 innings into his season.

We desperately need the Mets to lose over the next week or so. They are 5.5 games out of the division behind the Nats and Philly and 3.5 out of the WC. Luckily the LA Dodgers are coming to town for 3, then Colorado comes for 3 then then they have to head out on the road to face one of baseballs best, the Cubs for 4. 49 Win Rockies at home is by far the most winnable series for them. If anyone can sink the Mets it’s the Dodgers and Cubs. Ideally the Dodgers, Cubs, and hopefully Rockies would tear the Mets apart so we can swoop in after that stretch and make a trade.


If that doesn’t happen we are left in a tough spot. Very few high level arms are available. If the Mets Win 2 of them disappear from the market. That leaves Archer as the most logical addition.

Kershaw would purely be a play for next season as his season was ended long ago by injury. Dosen’t help us right now but it is interesting. The thinking behind it is, LA really isn’t missing Kershaw at all. They have the second best record in the NL without him. Buehler, Wood, Maeda, Urias, and Henry Owens have made up a great starting 5 for them. Only guy they would have to resign is Alex Wood.
Kershaw will be 32 next season coming off a season ending injury in his final season under contract making a huge 31M salary that year.

If LA could move him for a package of quality young talent I think they’d have to consider it. They are in great position to move on from him and begin a new era of sorts. Objectively it makes sense to me. Would they not benefit from freeing up that huge chunk of money for this offseason and next year? They have a solid rotation situation without him, I think freeing up that money and spending it elsewhere would help the team overall.

Biggest hurdle to clear would be getting the financial side of things to line up. Opening up the required money would be a challenge, and the biggest issue is, it provides no value this season. Interesting scenario. Might be better off coming back to that possibility at the start of the offseason. Feel like it might be a good bit easier to deal with the financial side of things at that time.

That leaves Archer. I’m not really an Archer fan. He comes with one year of control after the rest of this season at a reasonable 7.9M salary next season. Not too pricey at all. Might have no other choice.

I geuss we could just chase another bat or two and try to slug our way to the playoffs but not sure that would work. Where would we even play another position player?

Yankees who could be on the move:
Masahiro Tanaka. Rough season and I don’t think he’s a good fit anyway. 40 HR/9 rating? At Yankee Stadium? That’s just a bad idea.

Cole Hamels.

Chad Green. Currently at AAA after losing his MLB spot. He’s performing well at AAA in limited time but we don’t really need him. Could move him while he still has value. A controllable Reliever on the cheap for several seasons.

Steve Pierce. Would likely be dumped for nothing. Hasn’t gotten much playing time and has done little with the time he has gotten.

Aaron Hicks. Expiring contract, 2.4M salary. Barely gets any playing time and is unhappy with salary and playing time, wants to play everyday. Not happening. Judge, Stanton, Harper, and Cruz are eating up all the at bats. He’s also unhappy in NY and prefers California.

Those are the guys where a possibility exists that they might be moved. Some decisions to make.

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Season is over for me. Khris Davis waited until the final game of the season to put the single-season home run record to bed. As he hit 3 home runs to hit a total of 75 home runs on the season. my final record for the season was 142-20. Also, I ended the season on a 3 game win streak

we have game 163 in the NL Central as the Cubs and Brewers ended up tied. Problem is Colorado has the same record as both teams but has no Z next to their name in the standings. Hopefully, there will be an extra game to determine the NL wild card and they won't just hand it to the loser of the Cubs, Brewers game.

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

here are your AL and NL playoff brackets.

in the AL

wildcard game

Boston
Vs.
Toronto

Divisional Round

Cleveland
Vs.
New York

Winner of W.C. game
Vs.
Oakland

National League

Wild Card Game

Colorado
Vs.
Milwaukee

Divisional playoffs

Chicago
Vs.
Washington

Winner of the wild-card game
Vs.
Los Angeles

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I will be facing the Bluejays in the first round ad the Rockies will be seeing the Dodgers in the first round to round out the playoff picture.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals drop spring opener to Marlins 4-0

Spring Training got off to a rough start as the Cardinals were blanked by the Marlins 4-0 to open up the 2021 Spring Training.

George Springer was less than impressive in his debut as he played the entire game going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and committed 2 errors in the field. Not the first impression you want to make with your new teammates and organization. Paul DeJong also struggled going 0-3 with 2 strikeouts and an error of his own.

On the bright side, Michael Wacha needed only 11 pitches to complete his one inning of work and strike out the side (Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich, and Jordan Rodriguez). Carson Kelly was also solid in his new role as the projected everyday catcher going 1 for 2 with a walk and throwing out 2 would be base stealers.

One position battle that may take place this spring is Harrison Bader and Magnerius Sierra. Sierra pinch hit/replaced Bader in the Top of the 6th going 2 for 2 with a single and a double. Bader struck out in his 2 at bats.

Newcomer Tyler Beede replaced Wacha in the 2nd and went 4 innings allowing 2 hits and an unearned run (Springer error) and was saddled with the loss. Dean Kiekhefer's struggles from last season seemed to carry over as he was roughed up for 3 runs on 4 hits in his single inning of work. The Cardinals did get solid appearances from Adam Cimber, Jordan Walden, Sam Tuiviala, and Joe Kelly out of the pen.

Next up the Cardinals will face the Mets. Carlos Martinez will get the start although its expected that he'll only pitch an inning much like Wacha before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

American League Divisional Series


Cleveland Vs. New York

Gm 1

Cle 6 12 1
Nyy 8 7 0

WP: L. Severino (1-1) LP: C. Kluber (0-1) S: A. Chapman


Gm 2

Cle 9 13 0
Nyy 1 4 0

WP: C. Carrasco (1-0) LP: J. Montgomery (0-1)

Gm 3

Nyy 5 9 2
Cle 0 4 0

WP: M. Tanaka (1-0) LP: D Salazar (0-1)

Game 4

Nyy 4 10 1
Cle 14 24 0

WP: T. Bauer (1-0) LP: S. gray

Gm 5

Cle 16 18 2
Nyy 11 15 0


Cleveland Advances to ALCS


Toronto Vs. Oakland


Gm 1

Tor 2 8 0
Oak 8 13 2

WP: S. Manaea (1-0) LP: A. Sanchez (0-1)


Gm 2

Tor 1 2 0
Oak 3 5 0

WP: D. mengden (1-0) LP: M. Esrada (0-1) S: R. Dull (1)


Gm 3

Oak 1 8 0
Tor 2 6 0

WP: M. Stroman (1-0) LP: A. Triggs (0-1) S: R. Osuna (1)


Gm 4

Oak 6 11 0
Tor 4 8 0

WP: K. Graveman (1-0) LP: R. Tepera (0-1) S: R. Dull (2)

Oakland Advances to the ALCS



National League Divisional Series


Chicago Vs. Washington


Gm 1

Chc 3 7 0
Wsh 2 5 0

WP: M. Montgomery (1-0) LP: M. Scherzer (0-1) S: P. Strop (1)

Gm 2

Chc 1 6 0
Wsh 4 4 0

WP: S. Solis (1-0) LP: B. Schultz (0-1)

Gm 3

Wsh 2 9 0
Chc 3 5 1

B. Morrow (1-0) LP: B. Kintzler (0-1) S: P. Strop (2)

Gm 4

Wsh 1 9 2
Chc 2 4 0

WP: J. Wilson (1-0) LP: T. Gott (0-1) S: P. Strop (3)

Chicago Advances to the NLCS


Colorado Vs. Los Angeles


Gm 1

Col 4 7 1
Lad 5 7 0

WP: C. Kershaw (1-0) LP: G. Marquez (0-1) S: K. Jansen (1)

Gm 2

Col 2 5 1
Lad 1 4 1

WP: A. Senzatela (1-0) LP: A. Wood (0-1) S: W. Davis (2)

Gm 3

Lad 1 2 1
Col 3 6 0

WP: J. Gray (2-0) LP: K. Maeda (0-1) S. W. Davis (3)

Gm 4

Lad 4 10 0
Col 0 5 1

WP: C. Kershaw (2-0) LP: C. Bettis (0-1)

Gm 5

Col 0 5 0
Lad 2 7 1

WP: A. Wood (1-1) LP: G. Marquez (0-2) S: K. Jansen (2)

Los Angeles advances to the NLCS

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals fall to Mets 5-3

Cardinals fall to 0-2 on the Spring after losing to the Mets 5-3 this afternoon. Carlos Martinez pitched an inning as was rocked for 3 runs on 5 hits. Alex Reyes wasn't much better giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in his 2 innings of work. Miguel Socolovich, Zach Burdi, Sam Freeman, John Brebbia, and Roberto Osuna was all solid in their single innings of work.

Magnerius Sierra had a day at the plate going 2 for 3 with a double. Keke Hernandez was 2 for 3 as well with a double and a RBI. Stephen Piscotty who started in right and Brendan McKay who started at first, each drove in a run as well.

George Springer pinch hit with 2 on nobody out in the 9th of a 5-3 game, but struck out. He is now 0 for 5 with 4 strikeouts this spring. Eliser Alvarez and Eddie Casilla both grounded out to end the game.

Next up the Cardinals take on the Orioles. Jack Flaherty will get the start.

[Rocket32]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The trade deadline has officially passed in my Yankees franchise. Heading into August we 59-49, 4 games behind Boston for 1st place in the East. We are 5.5 games out of the WC. First, let’s take a look at the trades that went down around the rest of the league:

It was a strangely quiet deadline, not many trades made but the small amount that were made are significant.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Marwin Gonzalez from the Twins for SP Taylor Widenor (age 24, 69 OVR, B potential) and 2B Ramon Castilla (age 21, 54 OVR, C potential). Though Arizona has a large hill to climb in the division being 8.5 games behind LA for first and a game behind Colorado for second they are still well in contention being only 3 games out of the wild card. Gonzalez gives them a solid 1B who can also play many other positions when needed. They upgrade over Rookie 1B Pavin Smith who’s only hitting 252 with 5 HR’s. Gonzalez stats: 288 BA, 57 RBI’s, 11 HR’s.


Seattle struck a blockbuster deal with the rival Rangers landing 1B slugger Joey Gallo in exchange for SP Amos Farris (age 19, 69 OVR, A potential), LF Ken Kearns (age 21, 60 OVR, A Potential) and 3B Joe Rizzo (age 20, 63 OVR, B potential). Pretty huge deal. In my opinion that’s an overpay for a very strikeout prone slugger though he does come with 2 seasons of arbitration control beyond this one. 1B Ryon Healy moves to the bench. Gallo’s stats: 250 BA, 55 RBI’s, 22 HR’s. A huge return for Texas.


The Mets are going for it as they acquired 2B Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles for 1B Dominic Smith (age 23, OVR 60, A potential) SS Andres Gimenez (age 20, 67 OVR, B potential) and SP Blake Taylor age 23, 61 OVR, C potential). Baltimore got fleeced here. Only good prospect they got was Gimenez. Taylor is meh, Smith is 23 and really still does nothing well except add a bit of righty power, doubt he’ll develop. Mets add a huge bat to their lineup. Schoop stats: 307 BA, 19 HR’s, 66 RBI’s.


Now here’s what we did, a lot of deals. Mostly small wheeling and dealing, but a few big moves.

First we shipped CF Aaron Hicks to the Diamondbacks for 3B Drew Ellis (age 23, 66 OVR, B potential), SP Matt Tabor (age 20, 65 OVR, B potential) and RP Lane Ratliff (age 24, 63 OVR, C potential). Hicks wasn’t getting enough playing time and wanted out of NY. Arizona needed a starting CF, he’s an upgrade over Leonys Martin.

Masahiro Tanaka to the SF Giants for LF Sandro Fabian (age 21, 66 OVR, B potential), and C Gabriel Lino (age 25, 66 OVR, C potential). SF is in the WC hint and needed a starter. They don’t have Mad Bum anymore as they let him go in FA and signed Goldschmidt instead.

Cole Hamels to the Padres for depth starter Robbie Erlin. Hamels adds experience and veteran presence to a young Padres rotation down the stretch. On an expiring contract. They are only 5 games out of the WC.

Brad Miller to the Giants for SP Jose Flores and 3B Tony Renda. Mainly just dumping salary, nothing of value coming back.
C Bryan Price to the Rays for RP Randy Daley. Salary dump.
Robbie Erlin to the Cardinals for SP Andrew Morales. Salary dump.
Garret Cooper to the Dodgers for 1B Matt Beaty. Salary dump.
Matt Harvey, Alec Asher, Michael Marriot to the Diamondbacks for SP Jonathan Hernandez and RP Bryan Goleski. Salary dump.
AJ Cole and Brett Gardner to the Dodgers for RP Brian Moran. Salary dump.
Lonnie Chisenhall and Austin Romine to the Dodgers for LF Kyle Garlick.


Here’s the big ones:

Steve Pierce to the Mets for SP Jamie Callahan (age 24, 65 OVR, B potential. Mets desperately needed a 1B after trading Smith. He’ll be an everyday player there. We promoted Voit to replace him on the bench.

Yankees acquire SP Joe Ross from the Nationals for 3B Brandon Drury (injured for season), RP Chad Green, and SP Jamie Callahan. We needed a starter. They needed relief help as usual. They had no spot for Joe Ross with a great starting 5 of Scherzer, Strasburg, Keuchel, Gonzalez, and Eovaldi. Whole rotation is under contract through next season. Ross is worthy of a back of the rotation spot. Drury can serve as a security blanket in case Rendon walks in FA. Green steps into a middle relief spot as an upgrade for the Nats immediately. Ross joins the back of our rotation.

Zach Britton to the Phillies for SP Mauricio Hidalgo (age 18, 70 OVR, B potential), SS Arquimedes Gamboa (age 21, 62 OVR, B potential), and 1B Darick Hall (age 23, 56 OVR, C potential). Britton is a huge upgrade for the NL East leading Phillies. He immediately becomes their best reliever. 2 nice prospects for us.

Yankees acquire David Robertson from the Rangers for SP Manuel Castro B potential, LF Sandro Fabian, and 3B Drew Ellis. 3 B potential prospects, Ellis and Fabian were flipped from prior deals. Robertson returns to NY via trade once again after we let him walk in FA and got Britton instead. Robertson is a bit older then Britton but on a cheaper salary for less years. Further helps our payroll. They went and signed Doolittle and Robertson last offseason in an attempt to contend but it flopped badly. After they moved Gallo we went for Robertson.


Yankees Acquire Michael Wacha from the Cardinals for SP Raul Irizzary and Estavan Florial, both B potential. Despite not being on my list of targets from the last post and not being the flashiest addition, I noticed that St Louis had him on the trade block and he’s having a good season. Wacha is an expiring contract. They get 2 nice prospects back. Wacha is a solid reinforcement for us to hopefully help us reach the playoffs.


And now the biggest move of the deadline and the main reason behind all of our maneuvering. The Yankees shook the MLB world as news broke that the Yankees had finally finalized and come to an agreement with the LA Dodgers right before the deadline passed on a deal for Ace SP Clayton Kershaw. Heading to LA is Mauricio Hidalgo, Luis Medina (B potential), Arquimedes Gamboa, and Tyler Wade (A potential). A nice package heading to LA for a pitcher out for the year who will be coming off a torn labrum. They also get good value just from freeing up that 31M for next year to allocate elsewhere. They have a great starting 5 without him and aren’t missing him and that money will help them to build a better overall ball club for next year.

Kershaw won’t contribute this year but should be a huge asset next year. Wacha is our guy to provide immediate help. We did #DoDamage to our farm system so this is basically the group of guys for the next few Seasons. We’ll be walking away from the trade and FA markets for a few years, except for retaining our own players of course. This team is gonna be insane next season.

[Rocket32]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Doing a separate post for this, don’t want the other one to become insanely long to the point no one bothers reading it lol.

Just extra stuff here. I have budgets on in the franchise which appears to be a mistake looking back, can’t change it either. Did some future sims to see what the budget system would look like to see if squeezing Kershaw in would ‘break’ it. Kinda does. Game won’t let me do anything in FA after the exclusive negotiation period. I don’t see the realism there. I get it’s a video game and that the budget is different and scaled lower if that’s the right way to word it, compared to real life but is the Show telling me that if the Yankees irl chose to flex their financial muscle and signed both Machado and Harper that they wouldn’t be able to do anything in future FA’s and that they’d be losing money all the time because of it, paying out more then they are making? I don’t buy that at all.

I get that if they were to add 2 more huge contracts to the payroll they very likely wouldn’t be shopping at the top or even second tier of the FA market for a while and wouldn’t be taking significant contracts back in trades. Would rather keep myself in check, which I assume that budgets off means you do. Whatever though, i’ll have fun with another 3 seasons or so of the franchise and then move on to a new one on a future edition of The Show.


Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox users, I recommend budgets off if you wish to be able to spend like the real life Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers can and do.