Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread
Alright, now that I finally have a set of sliders that works for me (having played ~30 games with great variation and reasonably realistic results [I still don't walk nearly as much as I'd like...]), and having a great set of rosters to play with, I've started my Yankees Franchise. I plan to have either a Nationals or Royals one as well, but that will be a lot more simming, and I really wanted to start with this one.
30-team roster control, injuries set to manual for ST (I will be applying injuries at the end of ST), will be ON for regular season. Analog everything, differing difficulties for each.
Position Battle: 4th and 5th Rotation Spot
With CC, AJ, and Hughes taking the 1-2-3 spots in the rotation, the final two spots are basically up for grabs. Who takes the #2 spot will be determined by ST performance.
Right now it's a 5-man race: Ivan Nova, Joba Chamberlain Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon and Andrew Brackman
Brackman is at a severe disadvantage, because he would be on an innings limit for me (around ~145 if he's in the MLB - I don't care about MiLB innings), but has lights out stuff. I wouldn't consider him a serious contender for the spot, unless 2 of the 3 really falter and Brackman shows that he needs to be given a longer look.
Nova seems like a veritable lock for the rotation. He's young, and showed promise last year. I'm not expecting anything more than back-end of the rotation numbers - keep us in the game, and try to get through 6 innings. He's not going to K a ton of people, but if he can keep the ball on the ground and keep his pitch count down, he could be incredible valuable.
Chamberlain is finally getting his shot. The Yankees have officially announced that Joba Chamberlain will be considered a starting pitcher for the 2011 season - even if that means that he will be starting in AAA. This opens up a spot in the bullpen for someone to take - which very well could be Steve Garrison or Ryan Pope. Chamberlain was informed of this decision following Cliff Lee's signing with the Phillies - so he's been using the offseason to prepare for this opportunity.
Garcia and Colon are basically known commodities, except no one knows what to expect going forward. We know what the best case scenario is, but the worst case could be worse than AJ pitched last year. Colon has better raw stuff, but Garcia is more likely to put up league average numbers over 170+ IP. I expect at least one of them to make the MLB club, but it very well could be that it comes in the bullpen if Nova and Chamberlain impress.
Position Battle: Bullpen Spot
Luis Ayala will likely take Pedro Feliciano's spot in the pen until he returns from the DL. With Chamberlain moving to the rotation, there are technically 2 open spots in the pen: LRP and MRP. These positions are likely to be filled with internal options, including any of the following:
Mark Prior (should be added to 40-man roster by mid-ST if no one steps up to take the bullpen spots)
Freddy Garcia/Bartolo Colon
Steve Garrison
Ryan Pope
Assuming that Garcia or Colon end up with the LRP spot, if Ayala impresses during ST, it could be that the Yankees use Pope/Garrison until Feliciano returns, then shifting Ayala over to the open bullpen spot.
Position Battle: Backup Infielder
Eduardo Nunez v. Ramiro Pena: Advantage Pena. Nunez is likely the better player, but Pena has more MLB experience, and has an edge going into the season as a result. If Nunez shows good defense, his bat plays better than Pena, and he could easily win the job.
The rest of the club is set - this is really all that is left to decide.
Projected 25-Man Roster
* - position battle projected winner, pre-ST
C Russel Martin
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Robinson Cano
SS Derek Jeter
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Brett Gardner
CF Curtis Granderson
RF Nick Swisher
DH Jorge Posada
1B/3B Eric Chavez
2B/SS Ramiro Pena*
C Francisco Cervelli
OF Andruw Jones
SP CC Sabathia
SP AJ Burnett
SP Phil Hughes
SP Ivan Nova*
SP Joba Chamberlain*
RP David Robertson
RP Rafael Soriano
RP Boone Logan
RP Luis Ayala* (to be replaced by Pedro Feliciano)
RP Freddy Garcia*
RP Steve Garrison*
CP Mariano Rivera
Alright, now that I finally have a set of sliders that works for me (having played ~30 games with great variation and reasonably realistic results [I still don't walk nearly as much as I'd like...]), and having a great set of rosters to play with, I've started my Yankees Franchise. I plan to have either a Nationals or Royals one as well, but that will be a lot more simming, and I really wanted to start with this one.
30-team roster control, injuries set to manual for ST (I will be applying injuries at the end of ST), will be ON for regular season. Analog everything, differing difficulties for each.
Position Battle: 4th and 5th Rotation Spot
With CC, AJ, and Hughes taking the 1-2-3 spots in the rotation, the final two spots are basically up for grabs. Who takes the #2 spot will be determined by ST performance.
Right now it's a 5-man race: Ivan Nova, Joba Chamberlain Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon and Andrew Brackman
Brackman is at a severe disadvantage, because he would be on an innings limit for me (around ~145 if he's in the MLB - I don't care about MiLB innings), but has lights out stuff. I wouldn't consider him a serious contender for the spot, unless 2 of the 3 really falter and Brackman shows that he needs to be given a longer look.
Nova seems like a veritable lock for the rotation. He's young, and showed promise last year. I'm not expecting anything more than back-end of the rotation numbers - keep us in the game, and try to get through 6 innings. He's not going to K a ton of people, but if he can keep the ball on the ground and keep his pitch count down, he could be incredible valuable.
Chamberlain is finally getting his shot. The Yankees have officially announced that Joba Chamberlain will be considered a starting pitcher for the 2011 season - even if that means that he will be starting in AAA. This opens up a spot in the bullpen for someone to take - which very well could be Steve Garrison or Ryan Pope. Chamberlain was informed of this decision following Cliff Lee's signing with the Phillies - so he's been using the offseason to prepare for this opportunity.
Garcia and Colon are basically known commodities, except no one knows what to expect going forward. We know what the best case scenario is, but the worst case could be worse than AJ pitched last year. Colon has better raw stuff, but Garcia is more likely to put up league average numbers over 170+ IP. I expect at least one of them to make the MLB club, but it very well could be that it comes in the bullpen if Nova and Chamberlain impress.
Position Battle: Bullpen Spot
Luis Ayala will likely take Pedro Feliciano's spot in the pen until he returns from the DL. With Chamberlain moving to the rotation, there are technically 2 open spots in the pen: LRP and MRP. These positions are likely to be filled with internal options, including any of the following:
Mark Prior (should be added to 40-man roster by mid-ST if no one steps up to take the bullpen spots)
Freddy Garcia/Bartolo Colon
Steve Garrison
Ryan Pope
Assuming that Garcia or Colon end up with the LRP spot, if Ayala impresses during ST, it could be that the Yankees use Pope/Garrison until Feliciano returns, then shifting Ayala over to the open bullpen spot.
Position Battle: Backup Infielder
Eduardo Nunez v. Ramiro Pena: Advantage Pena. Nunez is likely the better player, but Pena has more MLB experience, and has an edge going into the season as a result. If Nunez shows good defense, his bat plays better than Pena, and he could easily win the job.
The rest of the club is set - this is really all that is left to decide.
Projected 25-Man Roster
* - position battle projected winner, pre-ST
C Russel Martin
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Robinson Cano
SS Derek Jeter
3B Alex Rodriguez
LF Brett Gardner
CF Curtis Granderson
RF Nick Swisher
DH Jorge Posada
1B/3B Eric Chavez
2B/SS Ramiro Pena*
C Francisco Cervelli
OF Andruw Jones
SP CC Sabathia
SP AJ Burnett
SP Phil Hughes
SP Ivan Nova*
SP Joba Chamberlain*
RP David Robertson
RP Rafael Soriano
RP Boone Logan
RP Luis Ayala* (to be replaced by Pedro Feliciano)
RP Freddy Garcia*
RP Steve Garrison*
CP Mariano Rivera
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