MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The New York Mets are headed to the World Series!!!

Mets defeated the Cubs 4-1 in the NLCS. Jacob de Grom earned NLCS MVP honors, going 7 innings in Game 5, allowing just a single run in the series-clinching game.

New York will face Houston in the World Series. The Astros, winners of 107 games in 2019, defeated the Indians 4-2 in the ALCS.

On a personal note, this is so satisfying. I've played MLB The Show for more than a decade, and pretty religiously since 2010. This franchise with the Mets is the first time I've ever made the postseason, and man, did it sting in 2018 when we lost to the Cardinals in 4 games in the NLDS after 116 regular-season wins.

Funny, though, that the playoff loss pushed me harder to play through another season. I had to see if I could right that wrong. Three months into 2019, I wasn't sure I had a World Series team on my hands. We struggled to hit, our bullpen was shaky and starting pitching outside of our top two starters was inconsistent. We trailed Washington for the division lead two weeks before the All-Star Break.

Then July happened. We won 19 in a row and only lost 4 games in the month. We kept rolling in August and by Spetember, had a 15-game lead. I knew if we stayed healthy, we'd have a shot in the postseason.

We stayed healthy. For those that don't know, in 2018, I lost de Grom and Cespedes within a week of each to season-ending injuries at the start of September.

In the postseason, we've played to our strengths; hitting home runs and dominant pitching.

The series against Houston will be tough, but I'm so excited to play in a World Series. Let's go!

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

One win away.

The New York Mets hold a commanding 3-0 lead over the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series, following an 8-6, 11-inning victory in Game 3. The Mets rallied back from a 2-run deficit in the 7th inning to force extras and ultimately win the game.

New York dominated the first two games at home, scoring a 4-0 win in Game 1 and a 5-2 decision in Game 2. De Grom and Syndergaard picked up the victories on the mound.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Bring it home DJ!!!

[millertime98]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Orioles Rebuild: Year 5 30 Team Control

PRE SEASON 2022 Free Agent Signings

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Head or Heart? The Matt Carpenter Conundrum

With the Winter Meetings underway, Matt Carpenter is still a free agent who has yet to receive an offer. The Cardinals chose to not re-sign the 37 year old during the exclusive negotiation period as they chose instead to focus on re-signing Jon Singleton, who they traded for when Carpenter went down last year with an injury that was expected to have him miss the remaining season and postseason.

Matt Carpenter has been a Cardinal his entire career. He has been an All-Star multiple times and has been the staple and backbone of this lineup for years. He was having a great season at the plate last year before his injury. After coming back in the playoffs, he struggled to re-capture the lightning his bat created before.

The head will tell you the smart baseball decision is to move on from Carpenter. Singleton is signed for another year and Brendan McKay is probably ready for the majors now, but another year in Memphis might help him develop a bit more. There is talk that if he outperforms Singleton in the Spring, that the Cardinals may move on from Singleton and let McKay take over at first base everyday. Besides McKay, the Cardinals have Luken Baker who is shooting up the ranks quickly and will start the year in Springfield, but if McKay cracks the big league squad, then Baker will be promoted to Memphis without hesitation. The Cardinals have a couple of more players they could move to first (Drew Ellis, Bryce Denton, Edmundo Sosa) if need be.

But the heart, the fanbase, absolutely adores Matt Carpenter. A guy who has been a Cardinal his whole career and has played the game the right way for a decade, want to see him come home and finish his career in the place that watched him grow. Carpenter, while still a solid defensive first baseman, he offers little versatility to play other positions (3B/2B) like he once did. His average against left handed pitching has rapidly declined. But he's still a great hitter with above average pop.

But where would Carpenter fit on a 25 man roster? The Cardinals projected infield roster at the break of camp this Spring is:

1B - Singleton
2B - Wong
SS - DeJong/Unknown
3B - Wisdom

BN - Hernandez
BN - Garcia

If he was brought back and replaced Garcia on the bench, he limits what moves you can make with the infield because Singleton is a single position player, Wong only plays 2B and OF, and Wisdom can only play the corner infield spots. The only other option is to hope his bat returns to early 2021 season form and he plays everyday first base and you move Singleton.

The smart baseball move is to move on, let Carpenter play somewhere else to finish out his career. Possibly DH in the AL while playing 1B on occasion. But smart isn't always easy, and I guess at times, isn't always right.

3 months until Spring Training...how will the Cardinals handle the Matt Carpenter conundrum?

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals sign Troy Tulowitzki to a one year deal

The Cardinals made a significant signing on the first day of the Winter Meetings signing Troy Tulowitzki to a one year deal worth $7M.

The 37 year Tulowitzki hit .292 with 30 homeruns and 69 RBI's for the Blue Jays last season, while playing in 131 games, his most in 3 years. After the 2020 season when Tulo was marred by injuries that led to only playing 57 games, it was thought that even though he hit .325 that he would retire. But he returned and had an outstanding year for Toronto last year.

Tulowitzki will most likely head into camp as the favorite to land the everyday SS job, as the Cardinals have strongly considered this offseason of moving on from DeJong. The thought at this time is that DeJong will go to Spring and try to earn a spot on the big league roster. If not, he will most likely be optioned to Memphis to see if he can find a consistent bat.

The risk of this signing is minimal, since if Tulo struggles in camp or early in the season, if they release him and nobody signs him, they are only on the hook for about $4M dollars. The reward however is huge if Tulo plays true to form the past 7 seasons.

[RogerDodger]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Just played my highest scoring game of the season, 14-11 win. Leading 9-1 the CPU somehow managed to make the game closer than it should have been. Ahem...

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The New York Mets swept the Houston Astros to win the 2019 World Series!

Houston had no answers for New York, and the Game 3 loss where they gave up a 2-run lead and failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in extra innings sapped all the life out of the Astros, as they were dominated 16-4 in the series finale.

Wilmer Flores won World Series MVP honors, batting .473 with 8 RBIs.

The off-season has been interesting... I've gone through it a couple of times (I know, I know) because I'm torn on what to do. In one scenario, Baltimore offered me a trade where I could acquire Manny Macahdo for Wilmer Flores and Amed Rosario. Scenario two saw me sign Xander Bogartes and trade Asdrubal Cabrera to Baltimore for a pair of relief pitchers.

I've also got to decide what to do next as it relates to difficulty; I'm feeling like it's time to bump up to HOF.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Congratulations DJ!!!!!!

[RogerDodger]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The New York Mets swept the Houston Astros to win the 2019 World Series!

Houston had no answers for New York, and the Game 3 loss where they gave up a 2-run lead and failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in extra innings sapped all the life out of the Astros, as they were dominated 16-4 in the series finale.

Wilmer Flores won World Series MVP honors, batting .473 with 8 RBIs.

The off-season has been interesting... I've gone through it a couple of times (I know, I know) because I'm torn on what to do. In one scenario, Baltimore offered me a trade where I could acquire Manny Macahdo for Wilmer Flores and Amed Rosario. Scenario two saw me sign Xander Bogartes and trade Asdrubal Cabrera to Baltimore for a pair of relief pitchers.

I've also got to decide what to do next as it relates to difficulty; I'm feeling like it's time to bump up to HOF.

Congrats. I'm losing my nerve just trying to make the postseason, let alone the World Series.

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Congrats. I'm losing my nerve just trying to make the postseason, let alone the World Series.

Thanks. I got my butt handed to me last year in the NLDS and that was one of the most disappointing results I've had in a video game in a long time. Glad this season that things went my way.

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The New York Mets swept the Houston Astros to win the 2019 World Series!

Houston had no answers for New York, and the Game 3 loss where they gave up a 2-run lead and failed to score with the bases loaded and one out in extra innings sapped all the life out of the Astros, as they were dominated 16-4 in the series finale.

Wilmer Flores won World Series MVP honors, batting .473 with 8 RBIs.

The off-season has been interesting... I've gone through it a couple of times (I know, I know) because I'm torn on what to do. In one scenario, Baltimore offered me a trade where I could acquire Manny Macahdo for Wilmer Flores and Amed Rosario. Scenario two saw me sign Xander Bogartes and trade Asdrubal Cabrera to Baltimore for a pair of relief pitchers.

I've also got to decide what to do next as it relates to difficulty; I'm feeling like it's time to bump up to HOF.

I wound up not following through with either off-season course listed above, and went with what I felt made the most sense, and that was bringing most of the team back together. In fact, my starting lineup sees zero changes to it, which means we don't have any speed, but a TON of power.

I did sign 2 FA's to bolster what was already a strong bullpen. We picked up Addison Reed and Sean Doolittle, both on 3-year deals. They'll be my right-left setup men for Familia.

With the off-season done, I believe my time with MLB The Show 18 has come to an end. What an incredible ride its been, playing the game for almost an entire calendar year and completing 2 seasons in Franchise playing every inning of every game.

We'll pick up the Mets' 2020 season in MLB The Show 19.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals sign Andrew Miller to one year deal

The Cardinals have signed Andrew Miller to a one year deal worth $5M. Miller will help resurrect a bullpen that lost both Joe Kelly and Sam Freeman to free agency this year. Miller will serve as the 7th/8th inning guy, who gets the ball to Rosenthal for the 9th. Miller can obviously close games if needed during the season.

Miller joins Tyler Lyons, Roberto Osuna, Dean Kiekhefer, Trevor Rosenthal, and Adam Cimber as locks for the bullpen heading into Spring camp. Jordan Hicks is the odds on favorite to man the final bullpen spot.

The Cardinals continue to search the free agent/trade markets to see what additions they could make to get this club back to the postseason, and the World Series.

[ECUoak]

MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I decided to try another franchise with budgets off and doing some “self policing” to make sure I stay realistic with Dodgers budget while using A&S’s sliders. Naming some of the players in the 2018 Draft after players I’ve coached and going to rename 2019 Drafted players after fictional movie players. Hopefully keeps me invested. Simmed 2018 making sure the Dodgers did not win the WS and this is what I ended up with:

ALWC: Red Sox over Mariners
NLWC: Cubs over Brewers
ALDS: Astros over Yankees, 3-0
Red Sox over Indians, 3-2
NLDS: Nationals over Dodgers, 3-2
Cubs over Cardinals, 3-2
ALCS: Astros over Red Sox, 4-3
NLCS Cubs over Nationals, 4-2
World Series:
Cubs over Astros, 4-1
Javier Baez, MVP

Awards:
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
AL Cy Young: Corey Kluber, Indians
NL MVP: Kris Bryant, Cubs
AL MVP: Corey Kluber, Indians
NL ROY: Juan Soto, Nationals
AL ROY: Jake Cave, Twins
Silver Slugger SS: Corey Seager

Off-season:
Retired:
C- Rocky Gale
2B- Chase Utley
CP- Madison Younginer

HOF: Albert Pujols

2018 Draft:
- SP Colton Stern (renamed and edited to be my son, kept attributes the same)
- SS Landon Casey
- 1B Paul Briggs
- 3B Kai Jaramillo
- SP Shannon Ellis
- LF Jamey Gizzi

Trades:
SP Hyundai-Jin Ryu to Astros for RP Joe Smith

Matt Kemp to Indians for 1B Danny Dopp, SP Myles Jaye and RP Dan Otero

SP Alex Wood and SP Isaac Anderson to Rays for 2B Brandon Lowe and LF Jesus Sanchez


Major FA Signings:
Manny Machado, Giants
Bryce Harper, Nationals
AJ Pollock, Diamondbacks
Madison Bumgarner, Nationals
Yasmani Grandal, Angels

I have 1 game left in April ‘19 and I’ll post an update.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[ECUoak]

MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Heading into May the 2019 Dodgers sit 6.0 games up on the West with a 24-7 record. It hasn’t been easy with my bullpen going through some struggles. My starting rotation however has been on fire all year with Ross Stripling being a tremendous surprise. Cody Bellinger leads the league with 15 HRs and 28 RBIs. Stripling has the lowest ERA in baseball for now. This team has been driving me crazy. We do enough to win, but like the real life Dodgers we rely too much on the long ball to get runs in.

Rotation:
C. Stern, 3-1, 2.79 ERA
C. Kershaw, 3-1, 2.48 ERA
W. Buehler, 3-2, 2.23 ERA
R. Stripling, 4-1, 0.92 ERA
J. Urias, 4-0, 3.06 ERA

Lineup:
2B C. Taylor
3B J. Turner
SS C. Seager
CF C. Bellinger
1B M. Muncy
LF J. Pederson/ K. Hernandez
RF Y. Puig
C A. Barnes/ K. Suzuki

LF and C are my 2 weeks spots so I have 2 players rotating depending on facing a L or R handed pitcher.


Major Roster move:

Dodgers trade 3B Kai Jaramillo and CF DJ Peters to Yankees for C J.P. Fullerton. 21 year old Fullerton is a rookie catcher and the #4 overall prospect. Barring injuries, he’ll spend the year in AAA before getting the call up. This trade gave me 4 out of the top 5 prospects but I bottom out after that, as I only have 4 in the top 50. Jaramillo was #11 overall prospect.




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