Re: Owner Mode

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Ok guys, just won a tight one 2-1 against the Angels. It was one hell of a game. Kelvim Escobar pitched a gem for the Angels, but he gave up back to back dingers to Willingham (his 7th) and Alex Cintron (3rd). So, at 27-40 I am feeling more optimistic. Joking aside, the game was perhaps the most intense of the season. I had to use 6 guys today to hold them to 1 run. John Lannan pitched 5 brilliant innings, allowing 5 hits, ER, striking out 3, and walking 2, but did not fare in the decision. Joel Hanrahan pitched the 9th for his 11th save of the season (in 15 chances). Whats more promising is that he has converted his last 5, striking out 8 without allowing a homer. He may be my closer next year for me. All I need is 2 solid arms in front of him so I can have my version of the bermuda triangle. I will def. try and obtain Jon Rauch during the off-season along with J.J. Putz. Imagine having Rauch in the 7th, Putz/Hanrahan in the 8th, and Putz/Hanrahan in the 9th? I will give up a few prospects if need be.

Minor League Update:

Chris Marrero: .272 8 HR 33 RBI 10 2B: Marrero was hitting .250 in A ball with a HR and 7 RBI before getting the call up to AA because of his gap power and discipline (10 BB in 18 games). In 36 games since his promotion, he is tearing the ball, hitting .286 with 7 dingers and 26 RBI's. He has been one of the most pleasant surprises in my system.

Devin Ivany : .253 9 HR 27 RBI: Ivany has come out of nowhere. Although his avg may not impress, his secondary avg is about .300 and has slugged 9 Homers in just 40 games behind the dish out in A ball. I wasn't too impressed by him during the beginning but he is making me a believer. His ceiling isn't too high, but if he produces the power numbers within the next few years, he may be inline for a backup job in a few years.

Ian Desmond : .276 11 HR 39 RBI 5 SB: Ian has struggled since being called up to AA in which he hit .222 with a few homers and 11 RBI before being sent down to A ball again where he is hitting .444 in his last 6 games. I still have hopes for him being in my lineup in about 2 years or so.

Ross Detwiler : 5W 3L 3.53 ERA 63K's: Detwiler is dominating A ball right now, but won't take the chance by promoting him just yet. His upside his through the roof but suffered a strained elbow his last start (out a few weeks) so I will monitor him closely. I think he has the potential to be a number 2 or 3 starter.

These are the guys who are currently performing. Out of the bunch, I think Ivany has impressed me the most only because I expected nothing of him. He is actually leading all catchers within my organization in homers (mlb through A ball) so that is pretty impressive. As a matter of fact, he is leading ALL single A catchers in homers this year. Desmond has dissapointed but is hitting well again in A ball. The only one who may see major league action sooner rather than later is Detwiler only because I am desperate for pitching. I can't affort top of the line guys, so I must use my resources.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Just played the final game against the Angels this morning.

Alex Cintron, batting leadoff for the 3rd straight game, led off the game with his 4th HR, hitting it just over the right field fence against John Lackey. Lackey proceeded to then walk Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman before Josh Willingham grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Cintron has been a beast since I called him up about 3 weeks ago, hitting .308 4 HR 11 RBI's for me, playing 2B, 3B, and SS. I was able to take 2 of 3 from my beloved Halos with a 6-4 victory. Jesus Flores, hitting .177 entering play, hit a 3 run-Hr off Scott Shields in the 7th to seal the deal. He also added a single in the contest to boost his avg. to a still dismal .190.

Scott Olsen (5-5 3.99 ERA) has continued to impress and is quietly putting together a rock solid season. He leads my team in innings (70), W (5), opp. avg (.233), and quality starts (7). I think he may hit the 200 inning range this season. He currently is on pace for 170 but he missed 2 starts because of a concussion. I am more confident in him, and is going much deeper into games (averaging 6.33 IP/start last 7 starts as opposed to 5.11 IP/start first 6). He isn't overly dominant, but I think he can reach 12-14 wins this year. Cabrera got rocked in his AAA debut, allowing 7 runs on 10 hits in just 3 innings (struck out 5). He just doesn't have it right now. I will post more later today.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

[duke776]

Re: Owner Mode

Ok...I just finished my first season with the Royals last night (I did a lot of simming/managing).

The Royals had a somewhat disappointing year, finishing the season 80-82, 10 games or so out of first place. Pitching proved to be the problem, as my top starters were quite underwhelming.

I lost a good chunk of money in the first season, but am only am $800,000 in the red. I invested in more stores and concession stands throughout the year (especially after 10/10 game impact homestands against Detroit and Cleveland) and cut some more payroll by trading CC Sabathia and Jeff Suppan for younger, cheaper talent.

In the offseason, I allowed Josh Beckett to head to free agency, since I will no longer put up with his losing record and +5.00 ERA. Plus he wanted almost $5 million per season. In his place, I signed Cliff Lee, who asked for about half as much as Beckett and had a much better season.

Other notable potential free agents I resigned were A.J Burnett and Mark Teixeira (who was a steal for 2 years @ $1 million per - even though he won the AL Silver Slugger at 1B and was second in AL MVP voting).

I filled positional needs, the minors and the bench with more young, cheap players, all with contracts under $1 million.

In the end of the offseason, my total payroll (staff and players included) is at $83 million dollars. My highest contracts belong to Ichiro ($13 million per) and Roy Halladay ($11 million per). I may look to move Halladay for some big-time prospects in the upcoming season, since he underperformed in my first year. Ichiro is too valuable at the top of my lineup and I think I will keep him around for a long time.

Dissapointing season, although you still have an impressive roster so hopefully you can do better next year(especially with the young guys improving). You got an absolute steal getting Texiera at $1 million per, I'd gladly take that myself. Hopefully Cliff Lee can do much better than Beckett did for you.

I was actually trying to pursue Bronson Arroyo from the Reds to shore up my rotation, but it never materialized. Well, that will no longer happen this year. I have made it official that I will no longer pursue players for the remainder of the year.

For some reason I love pitching with Arroyo in this game. He is always pretty solid and consistent(unlike real life:wink for me. I agree with your decison not to get him now since you are aout 15 or so games below .500 and he has a big salary.

I made some moves this time around. I sent Daniel Cabrera (2-6, 6.11 ERA, 2 CG, 81 K's, 33 BB) out to AAA and brought up Jordan Zimmerman. Zimmerman's MLB debut went pretty well as he recieved a ND. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 3 hits, K'd 7, walked 2, and allowed just 2 earned runs. If Scott Olsen (4-5, 4.05 ERA) can continue to progress, have Cabrera bounce back, and hope that Zimmerman can pitch to his potential, I may have a chance next year. I already know what I am in the market for next season (will not talk about draft just yet).

Nice debut for Zimmerman. Olsen and Zimmerman would be a very solid start to the rotation next year.

I am only $1.9 million in debt since I have a long home stretch. Don't worry guys, I am not quitting nor simming my season. I will play every game. Hell, if I have the opportunity, I would love to play spoiler.

I agree, playing spoiler would be fun if I'm out of it near the end of the year.

Ok guys, just won a tight one 2-1 against the Angels. It was one hell of a game. Kelvim Escobar pitched a gem for the Angels, but he gave up back to back dingers to Willingham (his 7th) and Alex Cintron (3rd). So, at 27-40 I am feeling more optimistic. Joking aside, the game was perhaps the most intense of the season. I had to use 6 guys today to hold them to 1 run. John Lannan pitched 5 brilliant innings, allowing 5 hits, ER, striking out 3, and walking 2, but did not fare in the decision. Joel Hanrahan pitched the 9th for his 11th save of the season (in 15 chances). Whats more promising is that he has converted his last 5, striking out 8 without allowing a homer. He may be my closer next year for me. All I need is 2 solid arms in front of him so I can have my version of the bermuda triangle. I will def. try and obtain Jon Rauch during the off-season along with J.J. Putz. Imagine having Rauch in the 7th, Putz/Hanrahan in the 8th, and Putz/Hanrahan in the 9th? I will give up a few prospects if need be.

That pen would be amazing. I think you got it right when you said

Minor League Update:

Chris Marrero: .272 8 HR 33 RBI 10 2B: Marrero was hitting .250 in A ball with a HR and 7 RBI before getting the call up to AA because of his gap power and discipline (10 BB in 18 games). In 36 games since his promotion, he is tearing the ball, hitting .286 with 7 dingers and 26 RBI's. He has been one of the most pleasant surprises in my system.

Devin Ivany : .253 9 HR 27 RBI: Ivany has come out of nowhere. Although his avg may not impress, his secondary avg is about .300 and has slugged 9 Homers in just 40 games behind the dish out in A ball. I wasn't too impressed by him during the beginning but he is making me a believer. His ceiling isn't too high, but if he produces the power numbers within the next few years, he may be inline for a backup job in a few years.

Ian Desmond : .276 11 HR 39 RBI 5 SB: Ian has struggled since being called up to AA in which he hit .222 with a few homers and 11 RBI before being sent down to A ball again where he is hitting .444 in his last 6 games. I still have hopes for him being in my lineup in about 2 years or so.

Ross Detwiler : 5W 3L 3.53 ERA 63K's: Detwiler is dominating A ball right now, but won't take the chance by promoting him just yet. His upside his through the roof but suffered a strained elbow his last start (out a few weeks) so I will monitor him closely. I think he has the potential to be a number 2 or 3 starter.

These are the guys who are currently performing. Out of the bunch, I think Ivany has impressed me the most only because I expected nothing of him. He is actually leading all catchers within my organization in homers (mlb through A ball) so that is pretty impressive. As a matter of fact, he is leading ALL single A catchers in homers this year. Desmond has dissapointed but is hitting well again in A ball. The only one who may see major league action sooner rather than later is Detwiler only because I am desperate for pitching. I can't affort top of the line guys, so I must use my resources.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

It always nice to see someone perform better at a higher level, like Marerro. Detwiler has a high potential, doesn't he? Nice to see him pitch well, and if his potential is high you might have another good young starter for you in a couple years.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Owner Mode

Dissapointing season, although you still have an impressive roster so hopefully you can do better next year(especially with the young guys improving). You got an absolute steal getting Texiera at $1 million per, I'd gladly take that myself. Hopefully Cliff Lee can do much better than Beckett did for you.

Yeah, I could never get my team's chemistry very high in the first season...that killed me when it came to simming games.

Now, in my second season, I am off to a solid start and the team is building chemistry. I have shot out to 3 game lead in the AL Central on May 9th.

Here is the current roster for my team:

Lineup
RF Ichiro
2B C. Figgins
1B M. Teixeira
DH Created Player
C D. Mirabelli
3B K. Youkilis
LF C. Monroe/Reed Johnson
CF G. Sizemore
SS C. Barmes

Bench
C G. Soto
2B J. Cantu
3B R. Quinlan
OF C. Monroe/Reed Johnson

Rotation
A.J. Burnett
C. Lee
J. Foppert
J. Affeldt
Jeremi Gonzalez

Roy Hallady is on the 60-day DL with a torn knee meniscus, but was 1-2 with a 7.92 ERA in 25 IP prior to his injury.

Bullpen
Ian Snell
Edwin Jackson
Julio Mateo
Fernando Rodney
Merkin Valdez
SU - P. Shuey
CL - T. Percival

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Roy Hallady is on the 60-day DL with a torn knee meniscus, but was 1-2 with a 7.92 ERA in 25 IP prior to his injury.

Ahh, sorry about that injury. Roy Halladay is a dying breed. He is one of the last few pitchers who can go the distance more than half a dozen times per year now.

So, I before I played my game a screen showed up from the Padres. They wanted to negotiate a trade with me for Heath Bell. Who did they want? They wanted Michael O' Connor, Roger Bernadina, and Christian Guzman. I checked what was going on over there and they have 2 SS on the DL right now so they need to upgrade with Guzman. However, I think I would be giving them too much value. Guzman is hitting .324 2 HR and 11 SB through 67 games and am unsure that I would want to get rid of him. Bernadina is very fast and may have a shot with me since I covet speed. My new ball park is spacious, so I will need guys who can run down balls and he is one of them. I don't mind giving up on O'Connor though. He is average at best and seems more like of end of the rotation/long relief type guy. Heath Bell will be a huge addition to my pen. If I can pull this off, I will now refocus on obtaining either Jon Rauch or JJ Putz. Hell, if I can, I will try and obtain all 3 because then I can make it a 5 inning game before they go out there and do what they do best.

I will def. spend most of my funds during the off-season on bullpen help. If I have 3-4 quality guys, my starters can just go 5-6 innings and still have a shot at winning. I am pretty interested in Bell, but will not give up those 3 for him.

[duke776]

Re: Owner Mode

So as I was searching through the boards tonight looking for something, and I came across something very useful. You can view the contracts of other teams players, so you know who will be a free agent in the off season. I'll post how to do it if anyone wants to know.

While doing this I noticed Matt Holliday is hitting .408 with 11 homeruns and 45 RBI's through 36 games. He is also in his last year of his contract, which got me thinking...I could use another good OF, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend top dollar or not. I do have Jose Guillen coming off the books($5.3M), and possibly Kyle Lohse($4M) depending on how he pitches. I'm not sure how much he'll want either, but what I do know is a 3-4 of Matt Holliday and Adam Dunn would be awesome.

Now, off to check who else will be a free agent.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

So as I was searching through the boards tonight looking for something, and I came across something very useful. You can view the contracts of other teams players, so you know who will be a free agent in the off season. I'll post how to do it if anyone wants to know.

While doing this I noticed Matt Holliday is hitting .408 with 11 homeruns and 45 RBI's through 36 games. He is also in his last year of his contract, which got me thinking...I could use another good OF, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend top dollar or not. I do have Jose Guillen coming off the books($5.3M), and possibly Kyle Lohse($4M) depending on how he pitches. I'm not sure how much he'll want either, but what I do know is a 3-4 of Matt Holliday and Adam Dunn would be awesome.

Now, off to check who else will be a free agent.

Hey Duke, I actually knew this since 05 . I remember looking at league leaders one time when I first got it and pressed cirle on my HR leader and looked at his contract status. I pressed down by accident and saw someone elses contract status and I was really surprised by this. The only catch is that if you cycle through his attributes, you have to do it over. But, glad you discovered it.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Just played another heck of a game today guys. My record is now 28-40 and have won my last 3 games. Today, Jordan Zimmerman pitched a gem for me, going 6 innings (again), allowing 5 hits, 2 ER, 7 K's, and 3 BB's. He is now 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 3.00.

Although I came out with a 6-5 victory, it did come at a very steep price. I have lost Josh Willingham for the rest of the season with a broken leg (his second stint on the DL). This will severly hurt me as I already have lost Adam Dunn until late August. Ryan Zimmerman also got hurt, but thankfully its only 12 days so I am at ease. Here is how my lineup will look for next game:

1. SS Christian Guzman .320 2 HR 20 RBI(.374 OBP 11 SB)
2. LF Willie Harris .210 5 HR 16 RBI(all 5 HR against RHP)
3. CF Elijah Dukes .215 3 HR 11 RBI(was @ AAA awhile)
4. 1B Nick Johnson .277 8 HR 33 RBI(hitting .300 vs. RHP)
5. RF Ryan Langerhans .255 11 HR 36 RBI(AAA stats)
6. 3B Ron Belliard .244 5 HR 22 RBI(.175 last 10 games)
7. 2B Alex Cintron .286 4 HR 13 RBI(3-3 in SB)
8. C Jesus Flores .190 2 HR 15 RBI(.333 last 4 games)

As you can see, this lineup won't scare anyone. My team has been riddled with injuries this season. A look at my MLB disabled list

15 Day DL
1. Collin Balester
2. Ryan Zimmerman
3. Jason Maxwell

60 Day DL
1. Adam Dunn
2. Josh Willingham

I literally have a power outage. The best thing to do is to sell off some of my players (Johnson will be the first to go) and try to rebuild for next year. I have some pieces in order such as a promising young rotation with Olsen, Zimmerman, Cabrera (when he's on), Detwiler (when the time comes), and even Colin Balester. As already mentioned, all I need is 2 strong bullpen guys to complement Joel Hanrahan.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

[duke776]

Re: Owner Mode

Hey Duke, I actually knew this since 05 . I remember looking at league leaders one time when I first got it and pressed cirle on my HR leader and looked at his contract status. I pressed down by accident and saw someone elses contract status and I was really surprised by this. The only catch is that if you cycle through his attributes, you have to do it over. But, glad you discovered it.

Yeah, I thought a lot of people probably already knew becuase the thread I saw it in was from a long time ago. It does suck that we have to go all the way back to our team and set it on the contract page again if we go through their other info pages, but I'm just glad I finally found a way to see everyone's contracts.

Just played another heck of a game today guys. My record is now 28-40 and have won my last 3 games. Today, Jordan Zimmerman pitched a gem for me, going 6 innings (again), allowing 5 hits, 2 ER, 7 K's, and 3 BB's. He is now 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 3.00.

Although I came out with a 6-5 victory, it did come at a very steep price. I have lost Josh Willingham for the rest of the season with a broken leg (his second stint on the DL). This will severly hurt me as I already have lost Adam Dunn until late August. Ryan Zimmerman also got hurt, but thankfully its only 12 days so I am at ease. Here is how my lineup will look for next game:

1. SS Christian Guzman .320 2 HR 20 RBI(.374 OBP 11 SB)
2. LF Willie Harris .210 5 HR 16 RBI(all 5 HR against RHP)
3. CF Elijah Dukes .215 3 HR 11 RBI(was @ AAA awhile)
4. 1B Nick Johnson .277 8 HR 33 RBI(hitting .300 vs. RHP)
5. RF Ryan Langerhans .255 11 HR 36 RBI(AAA stats)
6. 3B Ron Belliard .244 5 HR 22 RBI(.175 last 10 games)
7. 2B Alex Cintron .286 4 HR 13 RBI(3-3 in SB)
8. C Jesus Flores .190 2 HR 15 RBI(.333 last 4 games)

As you can see, this lineup won't scare anyone. My team has been riddled with injuries this season. A look at my MLB disabled list

15 Day DL
1. Collin Balester
2. Ryan Zimmerman
3. Jason Maxwell

60 Day DL
1. Adam Dunn
2. Josh Willingham

I literally have a power outage. The best thing to do is to sell off some of my players (Johnson will be the first to go) and try to rebuild for next year. I have some pieces in order such as a promising young rotation with Olsen, Zimmerman, Cabrera (when he's on), Detwiler (when the time comes), and even Colin Balester. As already mentioned, all I need is 2 strong bullpen guys to complement Joel Hanrahan.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Nice to see Zimmerman keep the good pitching up. Sucks to see Willingham go down, it seems like you've been very unlucky with who has gotten injured, and only your good players are getting injured. I've been very lucky with injuries, only having one of my good players(Harang) injured so far.

[AWS88]

Re: Owner Mode

Hey hitstreak, I see we've been trading ideas for MLB back and forth on the show boards, which has me wondering, are you now playing MVP and MLB at the same time? Whatever you do, don't stop playing MVP. I've enjoyed reading about your team up to this point.

Just so you know, you may end up costing me $75-$80, all because you started this thread, and now I have the itch to play MVP, so i've been looking into buying the PC version on ebay.

I expect you to pay for half of it

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Hey hitstreak, I see we've been trading ideas for MLB back and forth on the show boards, which has me wondering, are you now playing MVP and MLB at the same time? Whatever you do, don't stop playing MVP. I've enjoyed reading about your team up to this point.

Just so you know, you may end up costing me $75-$80, all because you started this thread, and now I have the itch to play MVP, so i've been looking into buying the PC version on ebay.

I expect you to pay for half of it

Actually somewhere on this thread I mentioned that I have a ps3 with mlb 09 the show. Don't remember which page it was in, but I also mentioned that MVP was far more strategic than the show. Owner mode is incredibly deeper than the show's franchise so I had the itch to come back and just started my Nationals franchise and haven't missed a beat. Do I play the show? Yea, about 4-5 times a week I play with friends or RTTS (but no franchise).

So, I am playing both, but MVP 05 is getting about 85% of my playing time. Updates comming in about 30 min as I have just finished a wild one.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Alright guys, like I mentioned, I had a wild one today in which I lost (29-41). Not only did I lose 8-6, but there was ejections, dugouts emptying, injuries due to the fighting, and even suspensions.

It all started because Paul Maholm decided to clock Alex Cintron in the ribs to start off the 3rd inning (No big deal). In the 6th, Maholm clocked Ryan Langerhans because he homered earlier in the game to take the lead. Well, he struck him in the ankles and a warning was issued to both sides. There was no way I was going to let them get away with it, so I plunk arguably their best hitter in Nate Mclouth. What did McLouth do? He charged the mound and injured John Lannan (out 2 days) during the brawl. McLouth was ejected and suspended 6 days and Adam LaRoche was ejected from the game as well. There is some bad blood now between us.

Despite the loss, I made a unique trade to bolster up my farm team (actually saved a couple of bucks here:wink. I acquired 1B Kyle Blanks from the Padres system for OF Roger Bernadina (.266 4 HR 23 RBI out in AAA ball) and SP Matt Chico.

Now, some may question this move. However, I will explain my reasoning. First and foremost, Blanks is a power hitting prospect. His ability to hit for HR's will get him some playing time in 1-2 years depending on the market. His defense, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired (he won't be winning gold gloves out there). I figured with the Padres having Adrian over there for the next few years, I can make a splash at this 20-25 HR type guy. And remember, my plan is to get rid of Johnson.

Roger Bernadina is a guy who can slug a few homers, steal you 20-30 bags, and provide 20-30 doubles. The Padres got some value here because he can play all OF positions and track down fly balls at their spacious park.

Matt Chico really didn't fit into my plans. When I placed all my pitchers on my spreadsheat (with ETA, prospect stars, etc.) he was buried in the depth chart. Not only was his ETA 3-4 years away, but he was number 11 (out of 20 starters) in the entire organizational depth chart. There are guys much younger who had a much shorter ETA time so it made sense to sweeten the deal for Blanks. The Padres may get a solid pitcher here. Not only do they have Bud Black as their manager (high pitch rating), but playing at PETCO may actually make him a decent end-of-the rotation type of guy within a few years.

If you think this was a good deal (or wasn't), let me know. I am open for all praise:wink:

Hope you enjoyed reading.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Owner Mode

Alright guys, like I mentioned, I had a wild one today in which I lost (29-41). Not only did I lose 8-6, but there was ejections, dugouts emptying, injuries due to the fighting, and even suspensions.

It all started because Paul Maholm decided to clock Alex Cintron in the ribs to start off the 3rd inning (No big deal). In the 6th, Maholm clocked Ryan Langerhans because he homered earlier in the game to take the lead. Well, he struck him in the ankles and a warning was issued to both sides. There was no way I was going to let them get away with it, so I plunk arguably their best hitter in Nate Mclouth. What did McLouth do? He charged the mound and injured John Lannan (out 2 days) during the brawl. McLouth was ejected and suspended 6 days and Adam LaRoche was ejected from the game as well. There is some bad blood now between us.

LOL...I forgot how awesome it was to charge the mound in this game and see the benches clear! Plus, to actually have reprecussion (suspensions, ejections, injuries, etc.)...simply awesome!!!

I will also have an update this evening after work...I ended up trading Roy Halladay and will give details later on. I did get 2 players for him (one was Jeff Francouer, the other player escapes me at the moment), but still may have not been compensated to my liking. Either way, his post-injury ERA was still above 6 and my payroll dropped considerably when I no longer had to pay his $11 million/year contract.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Owner Mode

Gosh, it is June 21st and once again lost to the lowly Pirates (29-42). I dont know what is going on with my team. Although this has been a difficult season, it has bee really fun. Once you get over the graphics, this game plays one of a heck of a game of baseball.

I will have stats for my team and league leaders once I reach the 81 game mark

Well, as already mentioned, lost to the Pirates 7-2 away from RFK stadium. My team was able to accumlate 10 hits on the night, but just wasn't enough. Not only did I ground into 5 double plays, but I went 1-11 with RISP. It was just bad from the get go. Adam LaRoche had a pair of homers for the Pirates and now has a team leading 9 on the season (this team is seriously lacking power. But so am I ). Jeff Karstens actually pitched pretty well for them. He came into the game with a 2-6 record with an ERA of over 5.50. Upon scouting him, I noticed that lefties own him with a .343 avg (as opposed to .255 for right handers) so I stacked my lineup full of lefties, but to no avail.

On the bright side, Kyle Blanks (.222 11 HR 29 RBI at San Anontio) hit 2 HR for my AA team in his first two at-bats and finished the night 3-4 with 2 HR 4 RBI's and a walk (trying to impress me:wink. Well, I have one more game against them and there is no way I will let them sweep me. Scott Olsen is on the hill for me, so we'll see how he can do.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: Owner Mode

Good read, hitstreak. Keep the info coming!

Ok...here's a full update of my second season:

On July 6th, I am 51-32...three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox. While my team is ranked 1st in the league in hitting, I am 28th in the league on the mound.

I have made a couple of transactions over the course of the season. The first trade sent OF Coco Crisp to the Cubs for SP Edwin Jackson. In another cost-cutting move, I traded SP Roy Halladay to San Diego for Chin-Hui Tsao and Jeff Francoeur.

As I mentioned before, Halladay was disappointing in both my first season and then continued to struggle in the first half of 2006. He missed 60 games this year due to injury and struggled when healthy with an ERA over 6. Along with those underwhelming stats, he also commanded a large contract. In shipping him to the Padres, I dumped about $8 million in payroll.

Despite saving some big-time money, I kinda feel like I cheated myself a bit in the trade. I was eager to get rid of his contract and needed another young bat after Crisp's departure (as well as Grady Sizemore's several stints on the DL), plus a pitcher to fill in for Halladay.

Francoeur is only 22 at this point in the game and is hitting an incredible .751 in AAA. Tsao has shown a bit more consistency than Halladay at this point in the year, with a 3-7 record that doesn't reflect his solid 3.74 ERA. Plus, he's only 25 and is making $300,000 this season.

As far as financials go, I am $2.72 million in the hole...the trades have helped lower my payroll and being in the playoff hunt has increased game impacts.