SIM COMPLETE - 2001 - SIM 16

[Clay]

NEXT SIM: Friday

***

Trade Deadline passes Friday

[funclown]

Lol, wow one OF comes back another goes down.

So much for "resting" guys helps.

[umd]

Under renovation inquire through PM. Mac Aaron is a solid lefty option. I'd take a promising MR for him. Lots of other pieces. All available for the stretch run.

[Lintyfresh85]

Did I mention I need a #5 starter?

J.R. Neel is killing us right now.

[Jake]

5-2. McDonald finally looked ok again. Hope it's not shortlived.

[fsquid]

damn, Roman went down (injury, not on a girl).

[BradZ]

Shitburger, lost our best player for the rest of the season.

[spot]

A 4-3 sim at this point is hard to complain about, except that we dropped 3 of 4 to Carolina. All close games but that ain't gonna cut it. I am happy with what we're doing right now (especially for being in the Bock) but I am concerned that we won't have the consistency to finish. Although Carolina is making it easier for us by not pulling away.

The race to .500 is on!

[Jim]

I think this game just has it out for some teams some seasons. We had the 2nd best record last year. This year we're struggling to stay at .500--with the exact same team! I have 4 of my BLB players on the DL, and would have a 5th if I didn't just cut Angelo Hernandez instead of DLing him. It makes no sense to me.

[Delandis]

Baltimore Bulldogs (60-38, 1 GB in Porter)
3-4 for the week
1-2 at CAR
2-2 vs CAL

• Speed bump my ass. We lost 2 of 3 in Carolina, including a 4-1 loss where SP Hector Pagan (CAR) gifted us 7 base runners and yet we still only score a single run. But I won't complain too much since we did split the series against California and I've noticed that our odds to win the division continue to creep up ever so slightly each week.

The Good

• I keep waiting for him to just drop off but the kid keeps on pushing. That's right, LF Angelo Barrios is continuing to play at an All-Star snubbed level. Last week he hit .440 and moved into 2nd place for the IL Batting Title. And to think I almost traded this guy so many times over the last couple of years.

• Of course its a small sample size, but it seems like the All-Star break has done our starters some good, particularly SP Sadaharu Katsura. In his 3 starts since the All-Star Game, he's 1-1 with a 2.18 ERA, 1.11 WHIP with 21 K, 4 BB in 20.7 IP. I'm very impressed with those walk numbers because Katsura was struggling so much at the beginning of the year with his control.

• For two consecutive weeks now, our starters have put up rock solid numbers, taking a lot of pressure off the 'pen. I'm really starting to believe that holding on to C Kyoden Kubota was bad for business. Good luck, Kubota. You were awesome.

The Bad

• We got shut out by the Kodiaks. TWICE. A lot of that had to do with the poor showing by RF Alex Gomez who seems a bit put off this year that he isn't an everyday starter. I'm not sure what to do with CF Ernie Bornstein and RF Alex Gomez. Neither guy is having a great year and if we miss the playoffs again, I'll place the blame squarely on the shoulders one of these two guys.

The Ugly

• We had to let C Kyoden Kubota go last week. He still had a little over $4M in salary left (the final year was a team option that is automatically decline when the player is released) and we paid him off. I fully expect Kyoden to retire following this season and we look forward to voting for him for the HOF when his time comes.

The Farm

• 22 year old Panamanian, MR Danny Ybarra has been chomping at the bit to get his chance back in the BLB. Danny showed a lot of promise in the final weeks of last season posting a 2.20 ERA in 16.1 IP. With a slow start to the season, Ybarra was sent back down to Annapolis (AAA) for a little more seasoning. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold the kid back since he just put up monster numbers (.46 ERA, 30K, 19.1 IP) so far in July. He'll definitely be back in Baltimore in September and hopefully, for good this time.

The Week Ahead

• Next, we continue divisional play. First 3 @ Batavia followed by a 4 game home stand against those pesky Freedom. We are going to have to win everyone of these to keep up with the Kodiaks and their improved rotation. I'll say: 5-2

[fsquid]

Speed bump my ass. We lost 2 of 3 in Carolina

Not my fault you brought the lowrider to Carolina

[Carlos]

Bound to happen. 1-6. Back to reality?

Some guys pitched well. Some didn't.

In getting what I expect. No one is really underperforming or over performing. Just is what I see and what I see is what I'm getting.

So this team is bad. But we are on our way to eclipsing last season's win total. Woooo!


Sent from my mobile device.

[Matt]

Well we've won more games that last season.

[Lintyfresh85]

Would just like to throw some recognition out to two Kodiak players.

Curt Warren - 100th career win

Robert Menendez - 200th career save

[Clay]

Maeda hit HR # 300. Not bad for "a glorified doubles hitter".