2005 Regular Season 13 SIM Complete - Next SIM Wed 02/19

[Matt]

Next SIM: Wed 2/19

- Files due by 8 am ET | 5 am PT, any later and you run the risk of missing the sim.
- HTML and utility in a bit
_______________________________

- DFA: Philly (moved to BLB)
- Batavia: 26 at AAA (really...I mean really?)

[umd]

Next SIM: Wed 2/19

- Files due by 8 am ET | 5 am PT, any later and you run the risk of missing the sim.
- HTML and utility in a bit
_______________________________

- DFA: Philly (moved to BLB)
- Batavia: 26 at AAA (really...I mean really?)

Very un you know who like...

[BradZ]

Next SIM: Wed 2/19

- Files due by 8 am ET | 5 am PT, any later and you run the risk of missing the sim.
- HTML and utility in a bit
_______________________________

- DFA: Philly (moved to BLB)
- Batavia: 26 at AAA (really...I mean really?)

Nice, so Philly and Batavia had trouble with their rosters.

[umd]

Death Valley (62-20)
This Week: 5-2
3-1 vs Baltimore
2-1 vs California

The Good:

*A 5-2 homestand vs two potential Wildcard teams caps an 18-9 month. We maintain a 17.5 game lead on a hot Washington team and pick up a game on Windy City who blazed to a 20-6 month. WC should catch us by mid August, if not sooner.

*Ian Reynolds carried the week for us, hitting 3 homeruns, driving in 5 runs and scoring 5 times. He now leads the IL in homeruns and is a clear-cut second to phenom Victor Robles of WC in RBIs.

*Tommy "Mo" Poe goes 6 and gives up 3 in a no decision when Bill Bonilla implodes and blows the save in a 6-4 loss to Baltimore. In 3 starts, Poe is 2-0 in 19.0 IP, with a 2.37 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and a 17:5 K:BB ratio.

*Migdonio Manhos wins his second start, with 6 innings of 3 hit baseball. He improves to 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 0.90 WHIP since coming to the sandbox.

*Back from injury, Travis Hoffman doesn't skip a beat, tossing 8 innings and giving up just 1 run in an easy 11-1 win vs Baltimore. He's now 7-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

The Bad:

*Not a strong week with our bats, as nobody hits over .300 as Dave Santoyo and Danny Herrera continue to struggle after such promising starts to their seasons.

Coming Up:
2 at Washington
4 at Morgantown

As we head into the break, we get 2 big games at Washington and then Morgantown on the road for Stout Week. Colin Reed comes off the DL, putting us back at full strength. A decision will have to be made and either a position player (Chet Walton?) or P (Omar Maldonado?) will head to AAA Reno.

Our biggest weakness coming into the season was starting pitching. I worked all first half of this season to address it. I'm finally comfortable with what we have going forward and I'm pleased that I can leave Coma down in AAA for now to pick up a rating or two. Zack Amaral will stay in the pen as a lefty specialist and spot L starter. That gives us a lot of flexibility in 7 day matchups and will keep our entire rotation fresh.

Still shopping Omar Maldonado. He can make a difference in your pen with a team friendly contract. Pick or prospect gets it done.

[funclown]

Pawtucket closes out June at 3-3.

Glass half full..... we were actually below .500 June 2004 and Babilio is on a monster pace with homeruns.

Glass half empty.....7-18 in one run games (this is starting to really piss me off) and would someone please wake Quinn up?????

[Jistic]

Too hard to catch DVS.

Our top prospect from this draft out 6-7 months with a torn ACL.

Also I have to make it very clear to my idiot manager that JJ Black should pitch more than one game....in two weeks.

[Spear]

I'm so tempted to blow the entire team up but we don't have any picks to build from. I think we'll have to wait for the offseason to retool and have another go with a healthy Goto.

[Pat]

Washington Bats (45-38; 1st in WC)

4-3 including two 5-6 losses at California.

The Good
-C/1B Mal "The Crow" Brady is tearing the cover off the ball. He normally does, but not with this type of consistency. His OPS by month: .811, .862, .828. He is on salary at just $8.25 this season (after the Winning It All Bonus) and has a team option for $16.25 next year. I think that carrot is keeping the old man motivated. In this sim alone he raised his season OPS from .816 to .850.

The Bad
-OF Heishu Shiraishi emailed me again about getting a contract extension worked out. It's hurting his play (.664 OPS) but I'm not sure I want to go into 2005 with five starting OFs on the roster. Phone lines are open.

The Ugly
- I'm giving up on P Tom Downs as a starter for my team. The guy who lead the IL in ERA in 2002 and 2003, isn't getting it done anymore. I think he can still get it done for a team with elite infield defense as he plays to contact but I don't have that type of team anymore. He is vastly overpaid at $9M but if someone wants to take a chance on him, he is looking for a cheap extension of $4M salary for two years.

Next Week
-2 vs. DVS and 4 @ Wilmington before the All-Star break. Great chance to build some momentum for the second half.

The Minors
-The big news...I promoted 2B Danny Romero, 1.6 in 2003, to Triple-A. He won't turn 21 until next April but he thinks he is ready for the majors after hitting .311 with a .859 OPS at Double-A this year. His debut at Triple-A, .292/.778. He might be right.

[Z]

No Domestic League team is above .500 on the road this year.

Hmmm.