2014 REGULAR SEASON SIM 20 Complete - Next SIM Wed 12/16

[Matt]

Next SIM: Wed 12/16

- 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
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DFA: Wilm
Roster:
Single A Age:
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- Watch your DFA/Roster/Single A please!
- Check all trades!

[Z]

Another injury. Victor Rodriguez goes on the shelf.

[Matt]

Not sure how we go 2-4 and get a + in the power rankings. They must think Denver and NO are really good and that is expected.

[Matt]

Friendly reminder.

Re-sign those minor league FA's and re-sign your minor league coaches! You can check under Front Office - Personnel and see when your coaches are signed through and what extensions they have.

[umd]

4-2 week and 14-7 month. We are hitting our stride just as our roster expands. Some tough decisions for playoffs, but for the next 5 weeks with a 40 man roster, we are as deep as anyone right now. Adding two of the top 3 hitters from New York in Caplan and Goto should give us a huge boost on our bench at 1B, C, and in the OF.

If anyone wants some of my vets in the next day or so let me know. I could part with the ones on my updated block.

[umd]

CAL, DEN and BAL bringing it.

[Matt]

Is Lona the best SS of all-time in the BLB?

[umd]

Is Lona the best SS of all-time in the BLB?

Yes... Maybe Dani Trujillo. Close though at first glance.

[liquidcrash]

We sweep Maine, then get swept by New York. Just as expected.

[Z]

Henry Rodriques has some fucking nerve asking for $105 million as a 32 year old designated hitter who is hitting .246 with a .748 OPS.

[Z]

Fun observation.

Guides pitching legend (and Hall of Famer) Teagan Corrigan worked as a high school and college pitching coach before taking his current job as the scouting director for the Cal Golden Bears.

Neat to see a Hall of Famer spending his post-playing career working with amateurs.

[BradZ]

Henry Rodriques has some fucking nerve asking for $105 million as a 32 year old designated hitter who is hitting .246 with a .748 OPS.

Shoot Funclown a PM. I'm sure he can help out with the negotiations.

[funclown]

Henry Rodriques has some fucking nerve asking for $105 million as a 32 year old designated hitter who is hitting .246 with a .748 OPS.

Thats fucken crazy. Then again LF Pat McLamore was asking for 12 million for 8 seasons.

Sometimes you just have to let people walk.

[bparks1987]

6-0 for us this sim. not really sure how it happened but well take it.

[mike]

Well this definitely hasn't been the year we expected, but there are definitely a lot of positives to take out of this year to this point. 6-0 meaningless week, well, not meaningless, it hurts our draft position...When you're 12 games under .500 after expecting to compete for a championship, it's hard to find positives, but we knew after last year that the core we had needed to be turned over, and this has been somewhat of a transition year to ensure that we remain competitive in the future.

Anyway here's some of the positives of the year to this point:

2014 #3 overall pick Jamie O'Hearn was selected in this years draft and my scout recommended to be in the Majors from day one...that won't happen as we're an organization very cognizant about service time. But we started him in AA, because he seemed like a guy who was a bit disinterested towards the end of his collegiate career and was ready for a challenge. He struggled early, was definitely humbled but once the calendar switched to august, he's really figured it out.

In August he's hit .345/.418/.563 with 9 of his 30 hits going for extra bases. Defensively is really where he's shined from day 1, as a professional he's posted a +8.2 ZR and hasn't committed an error. He made his introduction to AAA ball last week and tore the cover off the ball to a tune of .300/.364/.600/.964 while instantly jumping to the #3 overall player in AAA ball and #2 overall prospect in the BLB. The kid has a real chance to be a star, and while he won't make his major league debut this season, it's not out of the realm of possibility to see him breaking into the Millers lineup during the 2015 season, where we expect him to remain for a long time.

This season, our offense has been tremendous as usual, 2nd in the DL in runs scored with all of the turnover we've had with young players entering the fray. Its a shame our pitching was so bad throughout the year, but we're in a position to address that internally and externally with our minimal financial commitments moving forward. (We have the 3rd lowest payroll in the game, that will change this offseason.)

'14 All Star Dave Shook has been tremendous all season. He's currently sitting at .303/.369/.575/.944 with 32 HR, 32 2B, and 86 RBI. The 26 year old from Oklahoma State is clearly our best hitter, and we look forward to him as a key piece of the future for our team.

Other offensive notables:
Javy Sanchez - Signed to a contract below 1M and extended to a similar contract for next season, he's been an unbelievable leader for our team. He's experiencing his best season in his career, hitting .315/.405/.433/.838, and he's a leader for our young players.

Seth Herrington - Our longest tenured Miller and the first player I ever promoted when I took over the reigns in 2008, known for being a tremendous defender, he's grown into a key contributor offensively. .281/.320/.500/.820 line for the season.

Zhi-peng Kun - Here's a guy thats completely exceeded all expectations, and his success is a real tribute to our scouting department, specifically former scout Dave Hamilton. He was a 3rd round pick for NY in 2010, and acquired with Edgar Echanique, Freddy Hathaway and a 4th round pick for Alex Mejia and Al Mato. Kun made his debut in 2012, and in his career with the Millers he's hit .294/.358/.435/.793, but is experiencing his best season in the BLB this year, hitting .300/.382/.430/.812, we're going to have to make a tough decision eventually, because he plays CF and Jamie O'Hearn seems to be getting ready to take his job, but as long as the bat plays, we'll find a way to keep him in the lineup.

Finally, offensively, Joey 'The Machine' Leger - man, I had sky high expectations for him coming into the season, I really expected him to finally reach that amazing potential that made him 1.1 in 2008, but injuries really derailed his start to this season. He's finally gotten a chance to play consistently, and he's looking more and more like the guy we envisioned him turning into when we acquired him. This season, he's hitting .303/.331/.487/.818 and has reached a career high in HR with 11 (lol). Hopefully he can stay healthy and continue to grow as a hitter in September, generating some momentum heading into the 2015 season. He's got a chance to solidify a spot in RF or LF for next season with a strong close to this campaign.


Pitching

I have to admit, I was really let down my my arms this season. I expected much more from my staff and pen, but they let me down and have been mostly terrible for the most part.

There are a few bright spots moving forward though. For the sake of this, I'm going to start off with my all time favorite trade acquisition, A.J Hightower. A.J has been the model of consistency for us since being acquired in the 2009-2010 offseason. He's in his 5th season (hard to believe) with the Millers and he's pitching his best baseball of his career. He's 10-6 with a 3.18 ERA, and advanced metrics have him performing at a 2.83 FIP good for a 5.7 WAR to this point of the season. What's really magnificent, has been his K/BB, he's struck out 200 batters while only walking 27! His WHIP is 0.98, and he leads all of the BLB with a 11.79 K/9 ratio. Our rotation has struggled, but it's been great to see Hightower and Robillard having nice seasons.

A few other guys who've had nice seasons for the Millers are:
Rookie CJ Cohen, former 2.1 pick by Indy, was called up during our purge and has settled nicely into a high leverage role for the club, and performed well enough to just about guarantee his spot for next season.

Another guy to keep an eye on from us is deadline acquisition Laurent Boutin. He's had some success as a starter, but we saw potential for a high leverage reliever that can span two innings if need be. In 11 games since joining the Millers, Boutin has pitched to a 2.92 ERA and has been the reliable arm in the later innings to join Trojan.

Finally, a few guys in the minors that were recently added that we're keeping close tabs on:

2012 1.5 Cy Mock, in our opinion the best hitter in a weak draft, has really began developing from both sides of the plate. In AA this year, the 22 year old has hit .311/.377/.494/.871 with 44 XBH this season. Splitting time between LF/1B/DH, his bat looks like it's developing well, and he has a chance to make the BLB club in 2015.

Jamie DeShon (acquired from Maine in the Ethan Bafford deal), Ivan Van Gorder (2014.3.7) and Joey Marohic (2014.3.12) are 3 arms that have out performed expectations to a point where I believe they each have a chance at being reliable BLB starters. DeShon had a sub 3.00 ERA in A ball this year between Maine and Pittsburgh's system, Van Gorder pitched so well out of the jump that he advanced to AA and is lined up to pitch the second game of our playoff matchup, and Marohic impressed us this year, striking out 153 in 140 innings combined between UNLV and Reading (A), posting ERA's of 2.60 and 2.53. I think his high work ethic and very high desire to win, combined with his stats, might lead to a ratings bump soon.


So this was extremely long winded, and so unnecessary, but the fact of the matter is, I love this league, this league is amazing, between the leadership of Matt and Brad, the camaraderie between the GM's....and the fact that I needed to procrastinate studying for finals, I made this long post to show a positive during a season of many negatives for the boys from the 'Burgh.