MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

[itsmb8]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Started a new franchise, 30-team but ill be controlling Milwaukee and the White Sox so I can play against every team in every ballpark.

Started Opening Day playing Milwaukee vs St Louis, Woodruff and Mikolas both pitched well but Aguilar tagged Mikolas with a 2-run no doubter to left, and then Cain drove in another run off Mikolas in the 7th. Only the Aguilar run was earned. St Louis actually scored first in this game, from Harrison Bader driving in Jose Martinez after Martinez led off the 3rd with a double, but thats all the Cards got as Aguilar put us ahead in the 4th. Mikolas went 6.1 and Woodruff went 7, with Jeffress and Hader shutting it down in the 8th and 9th.

------------------------------

Onto the White Sox @ Royals Opening Day, this game also featured both starters pitching well, but was dominated by the solo homer. All runs were scored that way, with the unlikely Adalberto Mondesi hitting two of them, one being off of the second pitch Juan Minaya threw. However, those two solo shots were the only runs KC would score, while the White Sox had one from Leury Garcia that led off the scoring in the 3rd, a solo dinger by Yonder Alonso in the 5th, and the go-ahead home run by Yoan Moncada in the top of the 9th. Giolito pitched 6.1 for Chicago giving up 4 hits, 1 run, and striking out 6. Brad Keller for the Royals went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, and struck out 4. Kelvin Herrera got the win as he came on in the 8th and pitched a perfect frame, striking out 2, and was still the pitcher at the time of the Moncada homer. Alex Colome then came on in the 9th and also struck out 2 while giving up 1 hit, getting the save.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals designate Felix Hernandez for assignment

Cardinals have designated SP Felix Hernandez for assignment. The Cardinals claimed Hernandez off waivers from the A's about 2 weeks ago, but he has struggled in his outings with the club.

The Cardinals will have 10 days to decide if they want to release him, try to find a trade partner, or outright him to the minors. It's likely the Cardinals will just place Hernandez on outright release waivers.

[jrnlgrn]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals designate Felix Hernandez for assignment

Cardinals have designated SP Felix Hernandez for assignment. The Cardinals claimed Hernandez off waivers from the A's about 2 weeks ago, but he has struggled in his outings with the club.

The Cardinals will have 10 days to decide if they want to release him, try to find a trade partner, or outright him to the minors. It's likely the Cardinals will just place Hernandez on outright release waivers.

Does the Kings Court fan section follow Hernandez if he's playing for other clubs or is that just a Hernandez/Mariners thing.

Sent from using Operation Sports mobile app

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Does the Kings Court fan section follow Hernandez if he's playing for other clubs or is that just a Hernandez/Mariners thing.

Sent from using Operation Sports mobile app

I think its just a Hernandez/Mariners thing as I didn't see them at Busch.

[UTAllTheWay]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Holy moly let me tell you about one of the best games I've ever been a part of.

I'm currently in the middle of September with my Astros, so the playoff race is getting down to the wire. For the last month or so, no matter what we do we have not been able to get away from the Mariners.

So going into a 4 game series with them (only up by 5 games), it's our opportunity to take control of this race. We go 2-1 in the first three games which means if we want to get some separation we need to win the 4th game.

It starts off with a bang for the Mariners. Dee Gordon gets on and Braden Bishop follows it up with a 2-run bomb

2-0 Mariners

No big deal. Two runs is nothing for our offense... except we struggle. We get a lot of weak contact and when we hit it hard, it is right at somebody. So when the 6th inning rolls around, I'm just looking to keep it at 2 and come back up to bat. The Mariners weren't having it, though. Bishop hits a three run homer and Encarnacion follows it up two batters later with a 2-run homer. The Mariners tack on another run to make it 6 runs in the inning.

8-0 Mariners

At this point, I'm thinking if I can score some runs in the bottom of the 6th then I might have a shot. If I don't, its over.... we dont score so I pretty much give up. I put Framber Valdez in to pitch just to give him some experience and he shuts the Mariners down in the 7th.

We come up to bat in the 7th and i decide that I'm going to be patient, so I start looking for my pitch. 7 runs later (which includes two runs scoring via walks and a Grand Slam by Carlos Correa) we have ourselves a ball game.

8-7 Mariners

At this point I'm sure I have this game. There's no way they can stop me, but they do. They shut me down in the 8th and the 9th inning comes around. We need a run to just extend the game. Altuve walks to start the inning, so I'm thinking "here we go". Reddick hits a hard line drive at the CF and it is caught for the first out. Bregman comes up and I am going to steal with Altuve so I set it up and try to get a bigger lead AND HE GETS PICKED OFF! I'm down to my last out here. With a 3-2 count Swarzak throws a slider up and in and PELTS IT 425 FEET FOR THE TIE!!!

8-8 going to extras

After 2.5 extra innings I just hope I can find a way to get a run across. With 2 outs, Correa comes up and works a 3-2 count and Erik Swanson throws a meat ball right in Correa's wheelhouse AND HE SENDS IT OVER THE THE FENCE FOR THE WIN!!!

9-8 Astros, Final!

I seriously can't believe I came back from 8 runs down. I had given up on this game. But my offense is scary good I guess. What a game... just incredible.

With this win my Astros are currently 86-58 with a 7 game lead over the Mariners and only 18 games left. 15 of our last 18 games are against division opponent, including two against Seattle. Here's to hoping we broke the M's spirits and we can start making our way to clinching this thing.

[MEL12170]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

I want to bring the Montreal Expos back but I didn't just want to use the Washington National players so I'm going to try and do a expansion draft using the rules from the 1998 Expansion Draft rules. hopefully it will work out the way I'm hope it will.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals place Felix Hernandez on outright release waivers

The Cardinals have officially placed SP Felix Hernandez on outright release waivers. The other 29 clubs will have 2 days to place a claim on the 36 year old. If he goes unclaimed, Hernandez will become a free agent.

The Cardinals claimed Hernandez off of optional waivers from the A's. The A's were optioning him to the minors after having just activating him from the IL. In his brief time and outings with the Cardinals, Hernandez hasn't been the same pitcher that was a dominant arm for the Cubs last year and helped them win another World Series title. He has lost pop on his fastball and his breaking stuff was just too flat.

The Cardinals will fulfill the open spot on the active roster in the next day or two when the activate Carlos Martinez off the 60 Day IL.

[FSanchez12]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Disclaimer: The Pirates are 4-21 since the All-Star Break. This is mind numbingly frustrating, and while I support the way the team is run, I can no longer go on supporting the management of this team. Plus, I'd like to see them win

Stabilizing The Ship - A Pittsburgh Pirates Franchise

Nutting, Pirates, Abruptly Clean House, Hire Unproven Rookie GM as replacement

Pittsburgh, PA - In a surprising move that sent shockwaves across the Baseball Landscape, Pirates Owner Bob Nutting announced sweeping changes to the makup of the front office for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2019 Season today via a press release obtained by local news agencies. Following an 81-80 season, Nutting has announced that while Team President Frank Coonely will stay in his current position, GM Neal Huntington, Manager Clint Hurdle, Pitching Coach Ray Searage, Bench Coach Tom Prince, Bench Coach Dave Jauss, and Bullpen Coach Euclides Rojas were all relieved of their duties on the coaching staff for the upcoming 2019 Season. Hitting Coaches Jeff Branson and Jeff Livesey were also relieved of their duties, however, their contacts expired at the end of the 2018 season, so they will just not be renewed.

Turning to the 2019 Season, Nutting announced that a replacement for GM had already been selected, and that the GM would conduct future coaching staff interviews and hiring. At this time, it appears that the only remaining coaches for the 2018 season that have not been relieved of their duties are the base coaches in Kimera Bartee (1B) and Joey Cora (3B). It is believed that they will have the opportunity to interview for future positions within the club. The GM that is shocking everyone around baseball is a 26 year old area resident, who graduated from Robert Morris University just a few years ago with a degree in Sport Management. The man with the new cushy MLB Gig? Brett Gray. Gray, whose previous baseball management skills include being a Team President of a Club Baseball Team, and assisting in different youth clinics.

While Gray may lack the experience of most, check that, all GM's in Major League Baseball, he certainly didn't seem fazed at his introductory press conference at PNC Park yesterday. Gray stated that he was "Excited for this new direction his childhood team would be taking in the next few years" and that "This is an absolute wish come true" When asked what prepared him for this position he stated "Common sense, it's not much more than that. You lean on your staff to ensure that they best baseball moves are made for the team when you consider the constraints. The Pirates organization has always been transparent with their budgetary constraints, and that's not going to change. What is going to change is how we work through those said constraints. Pittsburgh deserves a winning ballclub, which is what we had last year, but we also know that finishing above .500 in a city that has produced five championships in the first two decades of this millennium, with none being a Pirates one is unacceptable, and we aim to change that. Was Rome built in a day? No, and neither were the Penguins or the Steelers. We'll have an announcement out in the Post Gazette in the next few days/week that announces our intentions with this ballclub moving forward. I've held my ear to the surface, and I know from experience, this isn't what fans are going to be wanting to hear, but it's what needs to happen to further this ballclub's development into a continuous contender. I appreciate the work that Neal did before me, and I think a lot of what he did was great for this organization, but more attention to specific details needs done, and that's what I aim to do for this ballclub."

More information appears as though it will trickle across the newswire in the next couple of days, but for now, it appears that the Pirates are going to look drastically different in December of 2020 than then do right now as we turn the page on the new year.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals DFA Joe Kelly

In yet another roster move involving a veteran arm, the Cardinals have designated RHP Joe Kelly for assignment. The 35 year old was signed by the Cardinals in the offseason in an attempt to resurrect a struggling bullpen from the 2022 season, but things just haven't worked out. Kelly found himself demoted from the Cardinals to Memphis and then from Memphis to AA Springfield where he has an ERA over 5 in 14 innings of work.

The Cardinals are expected to place the veteran righty on outright release waivers in the coming days.

[FSanchez12]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Stabilizing The Ship - A Pittsburgh Pirates Franchise

Franchise Goals:

• Keep Team Payroll Under 95MM until 2022 Season
• Trade/Shred Expriring Contracts for Veterans by 7/31/19 Trade Deadline
• Trade/Shred Contracts of Marte, Polanco, and any other applicable veterans by 7/31/20
• Place 7 Top Prospects in the Top 100 by the 2021 Season
• Reach Playoffs by 2022

Development Goals:

• Develop Bryan Reynolds, Cole Tucker, and Kevin Newman to Everyday Lineup Fixtures for 2020 Season
• Develop at least 1 Pitching and 1 Positional "Non-Prospect" (C or Less Potential) into B-A Potential by 2021
• Draft at least 3 Prospects/Year with B or Better Potential in Each Draft until 2021
• Add at least 2 Top 100 Prospects Via Trade before 2021
• Develop 1 Rule 5 Pick into an everyday player by 2022

House Rules:

• All-Star Pitching (Analog)/All Star Pitching (Zone)
• No More than 2 Games Played/Week
• No 30-Team Control -- Once Spring Training Starts, Realistic CPU Transactions are out the Door
• 1st Year Draft Picks for Pirates will be edited to replicate 2019 Draftees
• Budgets are Obviously On (see payroll goal)

[mlblover15]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Ok, I don't know how long ting will last but I'm running an experiment in my franchise. after starting 9-1 on the season I decided even though I am not a super great player of this game. I decided to go from playing all games on Rookie difficulty, I am going to play one series on Rookie one on Veteran, and then one on All-Star come back down through the ranks and start again.


So this will how it will look...

Rookie, Veteran, All-Star, Veteran, Rookie, Veteran, and back to All-Star and dso forth.

I have already played my first series on Veteran vs the Padres...

now it is on to playing the Astro on All-star with them ONLY 2.5 games back going into this very early season series.

I think this will keep me challenged enough to keep it going but not so much that I rage quit every game and jump straight back into rookie full time for the whole season. Well, that is the hope anyway...

I will bring you all an end of month recap of my progress ...

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

File this under the Crushing Loss category:

Final game in Minnesota, going for the sweep. Julio is throwing a gem. Gave up just three hits through eight innings as the Braves lead 2-0. He's at 91 pitches and I want to give Kimbrel the day off, so I let Julio go for the shutout. I have Viz warming up, just in case.

A weak grounder to second and a weak grounder to first has him an out away. Polanco hits a solid double into the gap. I'm going to let him try to finish this off though. I send the pitching coach out and Julio says he's feeling good. Cron then hits a little bloop single to right. Polanco scores to make it 2-1.

I think about going to Viz, but it was a fluke hit. Going to give Julio one more batter to get the complete game. And then Schoop takes a fastball out of the park to give the Twins a 3-2 walkoff win. Location was actually good, he just hit it out.

[UTAllTheWay]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

2019 Astros Playoffs Preview

The 2019 regular season has come to an end and it turned out to be a great one. My Astros finished the season with a 96-66 record which was the best record in the AL (the Nationals, Cubs, and Dodgers all finished with better records in the NL).

Justin Verlander won the AL MVP as well as the AL Cy Young. It's not surprising when you consider how many categories he led the league in.

He was the league leader in Strikeouts (308), Wins (20), Innings Pitched (237.1) and Pitching WAR (7.6). He was third in ERA (2.43) and he was 4th in WHIP (1.11). His overall record was 20-5.

The rest of the awards (Award - AL Winner - NL Winner):

MVP - Justin Verlander - Bryce Harper
Cy Young - Justin Verlander - Clayton Kershaw
Batting Title - Mike Trout - Lorenzo Cain
Reliever - Anthony Swarzak - Sean Doolittle
ROY - Eloy Jimenez - Pete Alonso
Hank Aaron - Mike Trout - Josh Donaldson

In the first round of the playoffs, my Astros will face the returning champions, the Boston Red Sox (they beat the A's in the Wild Card game).

Here are the first three pitching matchups:

Game 1 - Justin Verlander vs. David Price
Game 2 - Gerrit Cole vs. Rick Porcello
Game 3 - Lance McCullers Jr. vs. Chris Sale

Or lineup will look like this:

CF - George Springer
2B - Jose Altuve
3B - Alex Bregman
LF - Michael Brantley
SS - Carlos Correa
1B - Yuli Gurriel
DH - Kyle Tucker
C - Robinson Chirinos
RF - Josh Reddick

Bench:
OF - Jake Marisnick
C - Max Stassi
UTIL - Aledmys Diaz
OF - Myles Straw

Now is the time I will start playing every game. This will be a great series. We will see how it plays out.

[FSanchez12]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Stabilizing the Ship - A Pittsburgh Pirates Franchise

Gray Retains, Promotes Cora and Bartee, Hires Remainder of Staff for 2019 Season

Pittsburgh, PA - Rookie GM, Brett Gray welcomed the newest members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Coaching Staff at PNC Park at an open house Press Conference, as well as introduced the internal promotions of Joey Cora and Kimera Bartee within the organization.

Gray Announced that Joey Cora would become the 47th Manager in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates at yesterday's Press Conference, stressing the importance of having a message of resemblance for the younger players. "Joey has been working in his position with the Pirates for the last few years in preparation for this promotion in my opinion. Additionally, some of our homegrown players have played for Joey during his time in Altoona, so we feel as though his internal promotion is not only earned, but also makes sense as we turn a new leaf with a new young core of Pirates players." Cora, who has 7 Major League games of Managerial Experience under his belt, has been the Pirates 3rd Base Coach for the last 2 seasons. Cora stated he was "Elated to be trusted with the keys to a franchise like the Pirates." Cora's younger brother, Alex, is the Manager for the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. Joey mentioned that Alex was the one who informed him of the promotion via a 3-way call with GM Gray and the younger Cora. While Joey has some catching up to do to the younger Cora, he seems up for the task. "Brett was very up-front with me on the direction of this ballclub moving forward, and he was quite conservative with his expectations. In spite of that, I hope to heavily exceed those expectations that have been laid out before me over the next few years as we strive to become a perennial contender in this league." Kimera Bartee was added to the staff as a Pitching Coach. Bartee, who patrolled outfields in his brief ML career, has since been a roving instructor for the Pirates, and even held managerial positions within the Pirates Organization before becoming the 1st Base Coach for the Pirates in 2017. "Kimera has been a trusted coach within the Pirates organization for some time now, and over time he has developed the mentality we are looking for in a Pitching Coach in this organization. We have a specific vision for pitchers in our organization, and Kimera is believer in that."

Additionally, the Pirates added Dewey Edmonds as their hitting coach. Edmonds, a Hall of Fame player from the local Independent League team, the Washington Wild Things, joins the club after managing the Wild Things for the last 2 years. His hitting expertise earned him a 3-year deal with the club. Joining the club to coach 1st and 3rd base are Steven Lee and Gregorio Duncan. Lee and Duncan were teammates in college at PA college Alvernia University, before going on to have professional careers, however neither made the big leagues. Duncan and Lee, the "Package Deal" come to the Pirates from Manhattan College where they operated as the Hitting/Pitching Coaches along with 1st and 3rd Base duties. Gray believes that their connection throughout their professional careers would be great continuity to bring to the Pirates organization.

It's expected that the Pirates will be making this "Letter to the Fans" announcement later this week that GM Brett Gray alluded to in his opening Press Conference.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 19 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals activate Carlos Martinez from IL

The Cardinals have activated SP Carlos Martinez from the 60 Day IL. Martinez was placed on the IL back in April after suffering a broken wrist on a line drive back up the middle. Martinez is expected to take the mound in the series finale against the Mariners on Wednesday.

No offsetting roster move was needed as Martinez is taking the open spot created when the Cardinals DFA'd and then released Felix Hernandez.