***The Official OOTP Thread***

[canes21]

I was able to get Dansby signed to an extension before the end of the 2022 season. It was I think 7 years. $130 million. More than I wanted to pay, but I was worried about what you said you're having issues with.

I've got an extension offer out on Strider right now, so if he signs that I'll have a huge chunk of the roster wrapped up for years to come. Soroka is my next target if he continues to pitch as well as he has so far.

He got off the IL in September last season for me and I just kept him down the entire rest of the year. Now in 2023 through 4 starts he has a 2.2 era and is pitching extremely well. My whole staff is. My team ERA through the first 18 games is a 2.3 and I'm 12-6. My offense has been inconsistent at best.

With how the offense fell off to end the year, plus their performance this first month of the year, and the fact that Seitzer struggles to get along with anyone on staff or the roster, I'm likely letting him go mid-season.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[KSUowls]

So, I think this is the best player that I have ever seen in any of my OOTP play throughs ever.

The Yankees let Judge walk at the end of the 2022 season but they signed this guy who was posted. He has 47 home runs as of July 10. I do believe that his projected season total would be a record.

[Ringmaster Blaze]

Does anyone know how to assign custom ballparks to teams?

I downloaded a few AAA parks I want to install and in previous years there was a customize ballpark button in team settings, but I don't see it in this years'.

[canes21]

I am going to jinx it by posting about it, but my 2024 Braves are 63-24 and on pace for the most wins in a season. Win percentage would be less than the 1906 Cubs, though.

I've never had a team play this well, but I've had some good luck with nearly every move I've made so far. Only thing that has slowed me down is the vast amount of injuries, but my team has continued to chug along.

I took over in the middle of the current real life 2023 season with a live start and the team went 64-39 under my watch. They finished the year with 99 wins, an NL East title, but fell to the Brewers in 4 games in the NLDS in true Braves fashion.

[canes21]

Ended up with 106 wins. Injuries were too much in the 2nd half. Constantly had 3-4 key guys out all 2nd half plus I lost Cobb, Olson, and Severino all for the season soon after the ASB. Glad to get 106 wins. I expect to get eliminated in the NLDS as is tradition.

Edit: Lol, the 85-win Cardinals win the NLDS in 5 games. Most predictable thing on earth.

[canes21]

Quick(doubt) 2024 Recap

Atlanta Braves 106-56 NL East Champions
Lost the NLDS in 5 games to the Cardinals
Orioles go on to win the WS over the Brewers in 5 games

Matt Olson had a quicker than expected recovery and was healthy.... 1 day after game 5 of the NLDS. Could have really used him.

Alex Cobb will have his fractured elbow healed before December, so he will be back healthy for the 2025 season. I'd love to see him be as successful in 2025 as he was in 2024 before the injury, but I won't hold my breath. He was 7-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his 11 starts before the injury. Was a true Cy Young contender. His contract is expiring, but I will work to get him on a 1-year deal.

Luis Severino likely won't be healthy by the start of the 2025 season, but hopefully he will be back before June if there are no setbacks in his recovery. In his 19 starts he went 11-4 with a 3.31 ERA and was a key piece in the rotation. He has a $6.2 million option that I already picked up.

It's just business, but Orlando Arcia, Travis d'Arnaud, and Marcell Ozuna are likely to be allowed to hit free agency. Arcia slashed .273/.326/.417 and had a 2.9 WAR year despite battling injuries, but he is just asking for too much money. With Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake both being on the MLB club all year and seeing good success, .299/.347/.442 and .274/.354/.356 respectively, losing Arcia should not sting as much.

I love d'Arnaud, but his skills really began to fall off over the course of the year and he eventually became a DH only towards the end of the year as he battled some health issues plus Tyler Tolve saw a lot of success when he was called up and he remain called up most of the 2nd half posting a .284/.319/.485 year in 40 games. His performance earned him the backup catching spot behind Murphy going into the 2025 season.

I may try to sign Ozuna in free agency if he is cheap enough, like very cheap, but I was never picking up his $16 million option. He regressed big time from the 2023 season and posted a weak .221/.289/.385 year in 340 AB, but he was forced to play more than needed because of the injury issues throughout the year.

A contract extension was reached with Max Fried keeping him in Atlanta for another 6 years.

Unfortunately, Mike Soroka has not been able to recover from the injuries. After giving him a chance in 2023, he never made it back to the MLB club during the 2024 season, and now he is going to hit free agency. Hopefully a team takes a chance on him and he can find some success.

The club is also letting Michael Tonkin and Tyler Matzek hit free agency as well, but will be going to arbitration with Casey Mize, Kyle Wright, Nick Anderson, Hauscar Ynoa, and Nick Solak.

In the biggest news of the offseason, Brian Snitker decided to retire. The club has decided to go with a riskier hire in 34 year old Anthony Phillips from Oakland's minor league system. He was signed to a 3-year deal. He is described as a tactician with a very quick hook who will play the L/R matchups frequently and his teams are to be very aggressive on the bases.

After dealing with some of Snitker's stubbornness, I wanted someone to go with someone who was quicker to take guys out when they were struggling on the mound, and I really had to have someone that was aggressive on the bases and had guys stealing at a high frequency as both Acuna and Harris II each had 50+ steals and were 1 and 2 in the MLB in 2024 in stolen bases. I'm a big believer in aggression on the basepath and making the defense make a play, and I love stolen bases, so that was a must have for any potential manager. Out of the candidate pool that had those qualities, Phillips had the best relationship with the current players and also had some sample lineups that I was a big fan of. Too often Snitker was structuring the lineup in some weird way I never agreed with.

The team is in a really good place from a talent perspective, so there are not too many holes on the roster. LF. The team is top 10 in nearly every single position except for LF, so that will once again be the focus. After that, there isn't much that can be realistically done to improve the team elsewhere without overspending. I'll look at adding 1 more quality arm to the staff, either in the pen or the rotation, but my free agent budget isn't too large, so LF will be the top priority in free agency while I hope I can continue to grow some arms in the minor league system.

Lastly, speaking of the minor league system, my 1st draft pick in 2023, Jake Gelof from UVA, is looking ready to make his debut already. I never called him up last year because I wanted him to maximize his AB's in the minors, but in 350 PA's in AA he was .310/.422/.572 and once promoted to the AAA club he only went .356/.440/.636 in 316 PA's. The guy is 22 and according to my scouts and development reports he is already a 50/80 and looking ready for the MLB level. Finding him a spot on the MLB club is the tough part as he is a 3B primarily, but maybe he is potentially who I roll with in LF if he's able to rake at the MLB level like he did in the minors last year. I've yet to decide what I will do with him, but based off last year, his time in the minors should be near the end, so I need to figure something out soon.

[canes21]

Never had a prospect just blossom like this overnight, but my 14th round pick from two drafts ago is looking real nice and is a top 10 prospect overnight.

[canes21]

I guess Chronowski inspired another late round draft pick of mine. This guy I took in the 16th round of the 2023 draft.