Instead, I'll be posting series-by-series with a quick, one-graf recap of each game with the date, time, score, winner, loser, and save (if applicable), and an MLB scoreboard for each game day. The idea is to get through several seasons, and going series-by-series instead of game-by-game speeds that along. In addition, major around-the-league headlines will be posted along with the scores (trades, injuries, etc.). Other information, such as league leaders, minor leagues, standings, transactions, and team stats will be provided in screenshot(s) upon request instead of in the link format as before. I'm also open to ideas from readers on what they would like to see.
I will be rolling with Kansas City again (it's hard not to go with the home team). They're fun to go with again since they have another rebuild lurking, and to me it's much more satisfying to play with a team that is in a rebuild than a ready-made team. The backstory for this iteration is that Dayton Moore has been promoted to team president, as David Glass has relegated the Royals CEO role to his son, Dan, effectively taking him out of the president role. Moore will serve as a 'mentor' of sorts for the new GM, 34-year-old Travis Greenleaf.
Greenleaf headed up the organization's analytics department the past several season, and has playing experience in the minor leagues and in the American Association with the local team, the Kansas City T-Bones. Greenleaf has a five-year contract, as ownership has envisioned a five-year window to get back to the postseason. Other goals for the new general manager include a .500 or better record this season (which appears to be incongruent with the rebuild), an upgrade at second base, and sign Mike Moustakas to an extension before 2020 (unlikely to happen).
All games will be played by me in pitch-by-pitch fashion, as I get a better idea of what I have on the roster that way. I typically let the manager handle the pitching, defense, baserunning, and offensive strategies, while I would handle pitching changes and substitutions, but I might handle baserunning if the CPU manager makes a disproportionate amount of baserunning gaffes, even with the aggressiveness turned down as much as possible. Trading frequency will be pretty low until about mid-June, when trading activity and discussion starts to take place. Minor league roster moves are also manually completed, and any major call-ups and acquisitions will be detailed in the thread.
Season previews and the first series to come in the next day or so. I'm going to try and find/create a banner for the header in the meantime. That's all I have. Hope you enjoy!
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