Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***
After a disappointing 2030 season, my 2031 Braves are right back on track heading into the trade deadline. There have been a significant amount of injuries to the team as there were last year, but the team has plenty of depth and I am not dealing with an entire roster of players all having simultaneous down years.
My team has an MLB best 74-34 record but only a 1 game lead in the division as the Mets have kept up and are 73-35. No other team in the NL even has 60 wins as the Cardinals are the 3rd best NL team at 58-50. The AL does have 4 teams above 60 wins with the Blue Jays leading them all at 66-42.
My pitching has been elite once again, the best it has been in any season thus far, with a 3.11 era. Surprisingly, that is not the best in baseball, only second best. The Mets have a 2.89 era which is just ridiculous.
On the other side, my offense ranks 3rd best in the majors despite all the injuries my team has racked up this year. Acuna has missed 41 games. Harris has also missed 41 games. Gelof has missed 74 games. Abrams has missed nearly 20 games. About all the core pieces of the lineup missed significant time, but the lineup has continued to chug along.
In the offseason we did let Matt Olson and Max Fried hit free agency. Both actually found their way to the Mets. Fried had regressed statistically for 3-4 straight years and simply wanted too long term of a deal for way too much money each year, so it was not viable to re-sign someone at his age for the terms he wanted. Unfortunately, he has bounced back in a big way and has a 2.67 era for the Mets. Olson, on the other hand, had simply regressed significantly and has found himself DFA'd by the Mets and hasn't really had any impact at all this year.
While Olson was primarily a DH for me the last two years as CJ Abrams of all players was moved to 1B by my coaching staff, he was still effective for me in his final years despite clearly regression. It's sad to see him fall off a cliff so hard, but at least it was not on my dime. Freddie Freeman is still chugging along at 41 years old and I actually signed him to a 1-year deal to be a captain in the locker room and a decent bat off the bench. However, he's actually been the DH for most of the year. He's only hitting .246 and has a -0.1 WAR in 73 games, so he's not been anything special, but it was only $6 million to bring him back home for what I suspect is his last dance.
It took me a full year, but I was able to replace Sean Murphy with another elite catcher. After the abysmal showing from the position last year for my team as I rotated in bodies trying to just get average play, the Rockies saw their stud catcher Drew Romo hit free agency. I was able to sign the 29 year old 75/75 catcher to a 5-year $102.5 million deal with a team option that 5th year, so I once again have the best catcher in all of baseball.
I think I have the best team in baseball once again, but the Mets are going to be a pest to deal with all year with their pitching staff and defense. Their rotation on paper is barely a top 10 unit, but it has an elite defense behind it, so even if their staff is overachieving some at this point, the regression won't be too hard with that defense.
I have also built an elite defense which is why I think my team era is the best it has been in this entire save. I do think while we both have elite pitching and fielding, my offense is clearly better than the Mets and that will be the difference maker that hopefully keeps me in 1st place once the season is over with.
After a disappointing 2030 season, my 2031 Braves are right back on track heading into the trade deadline. There have been a significant amount of injuries to the team as there were last year, but the team has plenty of depth and I am not dealing with an entire roster of players all having simultaneous down years.
My team has an MLB best 74-34 record but only a 1 game lead in the division as the Mets have kept up and are 73-35. No other team in the NL even has 60 wins as the Cardinals are the 3rd best NL team at 58-50. The AL does have 4 teams above 60 wins with the Blue Jays leading them all at 66-42.
My pitching has been elite once again, the best it has been in any season thus far, with a 3.11 era. Surprisingly, that is not the best in baseball, only second best. The Mets have a 2.89 era which is just ridiculous.
On the other side, my offense ranks 3rd best in the majors despite all the injuries my team has racked up this year. Acuna has missed 41 games. Harris has also missed 41 games. Gelof has missed 74 games. Abrams has missed nearly 20 games. About all the core pieces of the lineup missed significant time, but the lineup has continued to chug along.
In the offseason we did let Matt Olson and Max Fried hit free agency. Both actually found their way to the Mets. Fried had regressed statistically for 3-4 straight years and simply wanted too long term of a deal for way too much money each year, so it was not viable to re-sign someone at his age for the terms he wanted. Unfortunately, he has bounced back in a big way and has a 2.67 era for the Mets. Olson, on the other hand, had simply regressed significantly and has found himself DFA'd by the Mets and hasn't really had any impact at all this year.
While Olson was primarily a DH for me the last two years as CJ Abrams of all players was moved to 1B by my coaching staff, he was still effective for me in his final years despite clearly regression. It's sad to see him fall off a cliff so hard, but at least it was not on my dime. Freddie Freeman is still chugging along at 41 years old and I actually signed him to a 1-year deal to be a captain in the locker room and a decent bat off the bench. However, he's actually been the DH for most of the year. He's only hitting .246 and has a -0.1 WAR in 73 games, so he's not been anything special, but it was only $6 million to bring him back home for what I suspect is his last dance.
It took me a full year, but I was able to replace Sean Murphy with another elite catcher. After the abysmal showing from the position last year for my team as I rotated in bodies trying to just get average play, the Rockies saw their stud catcher Drew Romo hit free agency. I was able to sign the 29 year old 75/75 catcher to a 5-year $102.5 million deal with a team option that 5th year, so I once again have the best catcher in all of baseball.
I think I have the best team in baseball once again, but the Mets are going to be a pest to deal with all year with their pitching staff and defense. Their rotation on paper is barely a top 10 unit, but it has an elite defense behind it, so even if their staff is overachieving some at this point, the regression won't be too hard with that defense.
I have also built an elite defense which is why I think my team era is the best it has been in this entire save. I do think while we both have elite pitching and fielding, my offense is clearly better than the Mets and that will be the difference maker that hopefully keeps me in 1st place once the season is over with.
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