2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

[BenGerman]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Just moved into my third season with the Phillies after a disappointing playoff loss to the Braves.

Revere
Zobrist (2B)
Brown
Rios
Morse
Lowrie (SS)
Franco (3B)
Doumit

Hamels
Matt Harrison
Halladay
Biddle
Wacha

Had to trade a buttload to get Rios who was coming off a nice year. A big name prospect, and two guys (Ruf and Galvis) who were great bench bats. I got Wacha in my Cliff Lee deal last year, he's been alright but hasn't panned out how I thought he would. Signed Zobrist, Morse and Lowrie all in separate seasons. Was desperate for a SS so I overpayed for Lowrie. Got Matt Harrison after dealing Delmon Young and Papelbon to Texas in year one.

[RogueHominid]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Damn can the man play his own game? Maybe dominating the league is fun for him.

For sure, man. My question was one of curiosity. I simply wondered, in genuine terms, how he managed to take the Royals' talent and spin it into those trades. I know the CPU can be fleeced in this game from time to time, but that roster shows some exceptional creativity.

Since this is a trade thread, I figured this a germane question to ask. No harm meant. Everyone can and should enjoy the game as s/he sees fit.

[RogueHominid]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Just moved into my third season with the Phillies after a disappointing playoff loss to the Braves.

Revere
Zobrist (2B)
Brown
Rios
Morse
Lowrie (SS)
Franco (3B)
Doumit

Hamels
Matt Harrison
Halladay
Biddle
Wacha

Had to trade a buttload to get Rios who was coming off a nice year. A big name prospect, and two guys (Ruf and Galvis) who were great bench bats. I got Wacha in my Cliff Lee deal last year, he's been alright but hasn't panned out how I thought he would. Signed Zobrist, Morse and Lowrie all in separate seasons. Was desperate for a SS so I overpayed for Lowrie. Got Matt Harrison after dealing Delmon Young and Papelbon to Texas in year one.

How is Morse holding up ratings-wise?

I really like that addition. He can just flat-out hit. IDK how he is in the field, but it's not as though the corner OF in that park have to have tons and tons of range.

I also really like the Rios move. He was always a threat when I played CWS.

Now one question I have for you: either Brown or Revere has a stance where it looks like they're humping an invisible object. Which is it, and how do you tolerate it?

[enyc718]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

I'm running a franchise with the Cubs. I always alter league every year, so this year it was an NL team. Thought it would be cool to turn them around and possibly make a deep playoff run with them, not necessarily a WS, of course that always the goal.

Pretty much the way I play my franchises is situational. I'll sim the 1st month just to see where the team is at.

For example, after the first month I was in 2nd place behind the Reds. Then I'll play every 5 games. I got to the middle of May and found myself in 4th place, about 8.5 games back of the Reds.

So I looked at the DL just out of curiosity and Joey Votto is out for 2-3 months (fractured arm if my memory serves me right). So my next series is a 4 game one against the Reds.

So this is what I do when I play home games: I pitch the top of the odd innings and bat the bottom of the even innings. Away games I'll do the opposite.

I ended up taking 3 of 4 from the Reds. I'll try to play only division games for now and as the season goes on I'll play against teams that are ahead of me in the hunt for the Wild Card and or Division.

I'm looking to unload Alfonso Soriano. Dodgers have Matt Kemp injured. Angels have Josh Hamilton injured and Braves have Jason Heyward injured. All for a couple of months. Soriano has good numbers aside from his batting average.

I'm also in desperate need of a reliever. My bullpen is very questionable right now. I'm looking to acquire a lefty much sooner than later

[baseballkid97]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

ITS A LOT SHORTER THAN IT LOOKS, EASY TO SKIM, PLEASE READ
SUMMARY OF ALL OF THIS IS IN BOLD AT BOTTOM
First post in the franchise thread so I'm going to try to be short and to the point.
Team: New York Yankees
Franchise Date: 07/21/2013 (2 games into 2nd half)
Standings:
Record: 62-36 (.633)
5.5 games ahead of 2nd place Red Sox
Blue Jays in 3rd, 11.0 GB
Rays 13.5 GB
Orioles 17 GB
Settings/Sliders: Armor & Swords/Marino's

Lineup: (AVG/HR/RBI)
Gardner (.284/8/36)
Jeter (.240/4/25)
Cano (.341/42/104) <--- The Chris Davis of my entire 'chise
Teixeira (.273/16/44)
Granderson (.261/25/53)
Rodriguez (.273/23/54)
Hafner (.273/9/26) (66 games)
Cervello (.243/6/25)
Ichiro (.264/5/26)


Bench: (AVG/HR/RBI)
Kevin Youkilis (.290/8/24) (59 games)
Taylor Teagarden (.119/1/4) (21 games)
Jurickson Profar (.279/2/6) (37 games)
Vernon Wells (.304/8/18) (49 games)

Rotation: (W-L/ERA/WHIP)
CC Sabathia (5-1/2.29/1.08)
Phil Hughes (9-4/2.79/1.19)
Andy Pettitte (3-5/3.56/1.37)
Ivan Nova (8-6/3.98/1.30)
Michael Pineda (7-1/4.73/1.41)

Bullpen: (ERA)
Long Man - RHP David Phelps (2.92)
Middle Men:
RHP Shawn Kelley (1.74)
LHP Boone Logan (1.24)
RHP Jim Miller (1.33)
LHP Clay Rapada (0.44)
Setup Man - RHP David Robertson (3.72)
Closer - (You know it) RHP Mariano Rivera (2.19) (29 Saves)

Major League Injuries:
CC Sabathia (Missed May 4th - July 12th)
Andy Pettitte (Missed April 30th - June 8th)
Eduardo Nunez (Missed July 1st - ???) (Due back in early September)

Notable Acquisitions:
Tim Hudson from Atlanta for Joba Chamberlain May 4th - This was after Andy Pettite and CC Sabathia went down within a week of each other

Taylor Teagarden, Conor Jackson, and Zach Britton from Baltimore for Chris Stewart, Dellin Betances, and Brennan Boesch on June 5th - Deal started by just looking for a better backup catcher (defensively), couldn't miss opportunity to get Britton, Betances was doing horrible, didn't need Boesch.

Jurickson Profar and Cody Buckel from Texas for Tim Hudson (yes, traded twice), and Gil Velazquez on July 7th - After Nunez went down (was hitting around .290), needed a capable young SS since Jeter is 39 and is having a terrible season

Farm System:
Manny Banuelos, Jose Ramirez, and Adam Warren all saw time in the big leagues this year, mostly in the month of May. Jayson Nix was only hitter from AAA to play in MLB, that was the few days between Nunez's injury and the Profar trade. He only got 9 ABs over 3 games and got 1 hit (.111).

Notes:
Been very pleased with the lineup outside of Jeter, A-Rod's power output has been a bit of a surprise. Ichiro is underperforming at the plate but is irreplaceable on the base paths/in the field. Youkilis and Wells have been very good off bench. Ichiro and Gardner going 9 and 1 are a dangerous combination. Favorite way of scoring runs in 1st inning: Gardner single, steal second, Jeter bunts him over, Cano or Teixeira sac fly or groundout up the middle. So fortunate my starting 9 has stayed 100% healthy (Knock on wood)

Bullpen has been amazingly successful as you can see by stats. Almost unbeatable. D-Rob (3.72) has been the worst which I'll take any day.

Rotation has been very good. CC and Pettitte missed a lot of time so I traded for Hudson and had Phelps in there for a little while. Was forced to send Kuroda (4.92 ERA, worst on team at time) to AAA when Pettitte came back. Didn't know what to do when CC came back, so the fact that Nunez got injured a few days before gave me the opportunity to trade Hudson. Wasn't going to send Hughes, Nova, or Phelps to AAA.

I am planning on playing multiple seasons (How ever many I can play before MLB 14)
I am planning to play all 162 games of 2013
54 games of 2014 (One per series)
If I can make it through a whole 2015, I will probably play one game per week or maybe around 30 total.
After that (if I get that far), I will mostly sim, might play 10 games or so per season.

[baseballkid97]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Based on your name I'm guessing your a fan of one of the two Chicago teams?

I'm not sure if you're talking to me but if you are then nope

[dodgerfan82]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

I made a modified dodger roster to do a franchise season with. I gave myself a couple rules:
1. everyone had to be 25 or under
2. if they were on the dodgers already and 25 or under they stayed on the roster
3. while trading away, the team's overall rating needed to stay close to the same (if I trade away a 85 OVR for a 80 OVR, I have 5 points to give toward trading a 85 for a 90 OVR, and the reverse of course...so it was a running +/- tally). I ended with an overall power change of -2 and I didn't cheat my own system by just ruining my minor league guys.
4. My pitchers were selected on having a high k/9 attribute since I like strikeout pitchers (I hear k/9 helps in non-simmed games too?)
5. My position players were selected for fielding/arm/speed most importantly, with batting a secondary bonus.

Used the most recent Roster provided from a week or two ago.

Starting Lineup (LHP) Starting Lineup (RHP)
2b - Jurickson Profar 2b - Jurickson Profar
ss- Starlin Castro ss- Starlin Castro
CF - Mike Trout CF - Mike Trout
RF - Yasiel Puig RF - Yasiel Puig
3B - Manny Machado 1B - Anthony Rizzo
1B - Anthony Rizzo LF - Jason Heyward
LF - Jason Heyward 3B - Manny Machado
C - Yasmani Grandal C - Yasmani Grandal

Starting Rotation
Kershaw
Harvey
Shelby Miller
Ryu
Gaussman/Tillman/Bundy

Relief
Paco Rodriguez
Jose Dominguez
CHris WIthrow
Neftali Feliz
Drew SMily

CP - Jansen

Speed/Defense is rated 1st if I remember correctly, and pitching is like 5th. Batting is like 14th or 15th, and I think my team's overall rating standing is like 10th I think.

I think I'm currently 22-6 or so. My pitching is outstanding (as it should be) with being 1st in ERA and all pitching stats being in the top 5 but my batting is pretty anemic with my team rankings being in the 30th/28th rankings.

[Howie5]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Angels Franchise (I play 81 game seasons...every game, usually sim the fielding aside from 2 or 3 starter pitchers I use)

All star break
Currently, Angels are 25-15 (5.5 games ahead of the Mariners in what is looking to be a weak AL West)
Just won the HR Derby W Pujols

All Stars:
Josh Hamilton : .389, 18 HR, 39 RBI, 4 BB/20K
Pujols: .309, 13 HR, 30 RBI, 11 BB/15 K
Mike Trout: .339, 11 HR, 30 RBI, 27/35 SB, 4BB/20k
CP Ryan Madson:11 Saves, 1.17 ERA (.179 AVG against)
All star SNUBS!:
Tommy Hanson: 5-1, 1.46 ERA (7 QS)
Jerome WIlliams: 6-1, 3.12 ERA
Jered Weaver: 5-3, 2.54 ERA


Love to hear your thoughts. Certainly this should be a team that contends for a WS Title. CJ Wilson has struggled, 1-3, 6.50 ERA.

[mdinovi]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Started Phillies Franchise.

I simmed most of the 2013 season except making sure i pitched the minor league games with Jessie Biddle, there top pitching prospect. He progressed to a top 50 prospect and was ready for the bigs in 2014. For some reason the cpu thought the Phillies were supposed to be good and they one the division with cole hamels going 21-1(lol). I made one significant trade. The cubs wanted Carlos ruiz and offered dioner navarro and Arodys Vizcaino(high A prospect. I declined and asked for Jorge Soler instead of the pitcher. They declined but came back a little later and offer Soler, Navarro and Vizcaino so i naturally took this. I drafted a catcher in the 1st round and he was major league ready at a 74 rating so i was fine with that. Phillies won the world series against the Tigers in 7 games...

2014 season
I let Utley, M Young, D Young, Halladay, Lannan and Navarro all walk. I wanted to go young and see what my prospects would do.

Lineup
Revere CF
Hernandez 2b (C prospect)
Brown LF
Howard 1b
Soler RF
Asche 3b (C prospect)
Suzuki C (drafted 1st round)
Rollins SS

Bench
Galvis
Frandsen
Ruf
Mayberry
Kratz

Pitchers
Lee
Hamels
Biddle
Kendrik
Drew Hutchinson (traded Pap for him)

Relief
Vizcaino
De Fratus
Stutes
Bastardo
Diekman
Aumont (made him a closer)

I decided to play ever game this year, but i sim all pitching until the 7th inning.

37-12 right now and i have Soler, Brown, and Hernandez all hitting 300. Howard is a beast with 18 hrs. Asche, Suzuki, and rollins are doing fine, and revere has 30 steals. Bullpen all throw in the mid 90's so they are dominating.

My minor leaguers are doing ok, with Franco tearing it up and i hope he moves at least to a B prospect, and i already got Adam Morgan to an A prospect now.

i really like to focus on using the young guys to try and improve there potential.

[BenGerman]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

How is Morse holding up ratings-wise?

I really like that addition. He can just flat-out hit. IDK how he is in the field, but it's not as though the corner OF in that park have to have tons and tons of range.

I also really like the Rios move. He was always a threat when I played CWS.

Now one question I have for you: either Brown or Revere has a stance where it looks like they're humping an invisible object. Which is it, and how do you tolerate it?

Morse was awful for me my second year. Really low OBP, bad power numbers, etc. Hes been much better for me this year in 22 games (.271/.329/.455). Part of his lack of production may have come from me moving him around he field. I stuck him at first this year, and I'm just going to keep it there.

I like Rios too. He still has good speed, and plus power. I gave up a lot, but I want to win the division this year.

As far as the stance goes, that's definitely Revere haha. I have never had an issue hitting with different stances, so I've managed.

[shawno306]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

In the beginning of my second year with the Red Sox. First season I won 93 games and advanced to the World Series, but lost in 6 to Arizona. In the offseason, I let Lester and Jacoby walk. Lester signed with Tampa, giving them a rotation of Price, Moore, Archer, Hellickson, and Lester. All at least 90 ovr, A pot., and all under 30. Scary. And Ellsbury signed with the Giants. I have a logjam at Starting Pitcher. My Rotation is Bucholz, Peavy, Dubront, De La Rosa, and Dempster. In the minors I have Henry Owens, Allen Webster, Matt Barnes, Anthony Ranaudo, and Trey Ball, all exciting prospects, with Barnes and Webster ready for the bigs. Of course I still have Lackey sitting around too. Not sure how I plan to handle this.

[RogueHominid]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

In the beginning of my second year with the Red Sox. First season I won 93 games and advanced to the World Series, but lost in 6 to Arizona. In the offseason, I let Lester and Jacoby walk. Lester signed with Tampa, giving them a rotation of Price, Moore, Archer, Hellickson, and Lester. All at least 90 ovr, A pot., and all under 30. Scary. And Ellsbury signed with the Giants. I have a logjam at Starting Pitcher. My Rotation is Bucholz, Peavy, Dubront, De La Rosa, and Dempster. In the minors I have Henry Owens, Allen Webster, Matt Barnes, Anthony Ranaudo, and Trey Ball, all exciting prospects, with Barnes and Webster ready for the bigs. Of course I still have Lackey sitting around too. Not sure how I plan to handle this.

Where did Jacoby go? And how much was he asking? If he ever walked in my franchise, I'd snap him up in a heartbeat, provided I had the budget.

[Howie5]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

He said Ellsbury signed with SF...

[shawno306]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Yup Ells signed with San Fran. 10 million over 5 years. If Boras existed in the game, he would've costed much more than that. I let him go because of Jackie Bradley's great play in between AAA and MLB, and i drafted another left fielder who turned out to be an A pot. Also I don't think he will be returning to the Sox after this season in the real world, either,

[jasontoddwhitt]

Re: 2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

Have started the season 1-6 with the Reds. I'm about to send Aroldis Chapman back to Cuba...

3gp, 0-2, 36.00era, 2bsv, 3bb, 3k, 5.00whip