SIM COMPLETE - 1989 - Free Agency 2

[Carlos]

Check your FTP settings. Make sure they are setup correctly.

[Lintyfresh85]

I've got to hand it to Brad and Sin City. He's really taking a chance... but he wants/needs to improve his team and he's went out and did exactly that.

Even if they somehow bomb... I'm impressed by the effort.

[Spectre]

Sin City scored a 1-2 and still has some money in the kitty. Very interesting turn of events.

I'd like to think my squad will be improved over last year's team as well. It's going to be an interesting year again.

[Clay]

I'd like to think my squad will be improved over last year's team as well. It's going to be an interesting year again.

That's the part that is most interesting. I think you have your most complete team and we're starting to look like a runaway for the division. This makes things a little more interesting.

[Ryan]

I hate the off-season. I spend way too much time over-analyzing my team.

No doubt. I hate even opening the game when I have no money to spend. You start to think about making moves you shouldn't.

[Spectre]

I'm still scared of Hyundai- they have two of the best hitters in the league and a stable of some real good pitchers. They've underperformed the last couple of years and aren't as bad as their record indicates.

[BradZ]

That's the part that is most interesting. I think you have your most complete team and we're starting to look like a runaway for the division. This makes things a little more interesting.

Freudian slip?

[claphamsa]

ok, it took this time... I also have 1.5 mil to sign an entire pitching staff....

[Gyrodork]

Definition of a bad Free Agency:

When the only two guys you were going after end up on teams in your division.

I hate this game.

Kraft will finish the season with an ERA just barely over 3.00 and will get 3 wins against us. Guaranteed MacKnight hits .250 for the season and .300 against us.

[Jake]

Call me stupid, but I just don't see Kraft making that move as smoothly as Carlton. First off, he only has two GREAT pitches. My scout has his changeup at a 3.

Second, my scout also has his endurance at a 3, along with OSA. He should be able to go 5+ innings, but my understanding is that he'll regain his endurance extremely slowly.

Like I said... call me stupid, but I think this is a perfect storm of Carlton's success and the dreaded Clay/Diesel rolling snowball. Pat is really good at this game, so when he says Kraft is going to be good, we all listen. Clay posts a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a TON, and when I say posts a TON, I mean Clay posts a TON with conviction, so eventually whether or not we believe Clay, his OOTP thoughts sneak into our subconcious. Pat and Clay both get on the Kraft bandwagon... eventually, Jerry Kraft gets $74 million.

Do I think Kraft will bomb? No. But he won't be perform anywhere close to Carlton's 88. You can throw that in the bold prediction thread.

[Gyrodork]

Since he's going to be pitching against me, I hope you're more right than I am, Jwolf. But when he started for me last season his ERA was 0.77. He's only gonna' go 6 innings. But I'm afraid they're gonna' be good innings.

[Carlos]

Carlton also only throws two pitches.

The endurance will bump up as he continues to pitch. An endurance of 3 really isn't that bad anymore in OOTP. Guys can throw enough innings and hand it over to the pen. He won't give you 9 innings of fantastic stuff, but he'll give you an amazing 6 innings.

Depending on Sin City's offense and bullpen, Kraft might not have Carlton's wins, but he'll give them an opportunity to win every time out.

I don't think any pitcher is worth $20 MM, ever, but if you have the money and it's 3 years (in this case 4 which I can live with as an outsider analyzing the moves) then might as well.

[Clay]

Call me stupid, but I just don't see Kraft making that move as smoothly as Carlton. First off, he only has two GREAT pitches. My scout has his changeup at a 3.

Second, my scout also has his endurance at a 3, along with OSA. He should be able to go 5+ innings, but my understanding is that he'll regain his endurance extremely slowly.

Like I said... call me stupid, but I think this is a perfect storm of Carlton's success and the dreaded Clay/Diesel rolling snowball. Pat is really good at this game, so when he says Kraft is going to be good, we all listen. Clay posts a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a TON, and when I say posts a TON, I mean Clay posts a TON with conviction, so eventually whether or not we believe Clay, his OOTP thoughts sneak into our subconcious. Pat and Clay both get on the Kraft bandwagon... eventually, Jerry Kraft gets $74 million.

Do I think Kraft will bomb? No. But he won't be perform anywhere close to Carlton's 88. You can throw that in the bold prediction thread.

Let me start by saying, you don't have to keep asking us to call you stupid. We'll make that call on our own. ;)

I don't think you hold Carlton's season up as the bar as much as you hold up his legit conversion to Starter. Carlton's season may be one of the Top 5 (maybe 3) seasons we've ever seen from a starter. He didn't lose. I think that may be being lost. He never lost a start. I'll make the 'BOLD' prediction too... no one including Kraft and Carlton are going to go 20-0 as a Starter in '89. That's without even factoring in the Carlton starting for DC vs Kraft starting for SC math. Is Carlton 20-0 in Morgantown last season?

Did I blow the horn loudly for Kraft as a Starter? Yes I did. It was very intentional. I wanted to make sure that all of the teams with money to spend were aware that he was worth looking at in that role. I knew I wasn't going to get him (wasn't bidding), so I didn't want another quality like-minded IL team to get exclusive bidding on him.

I know it seems like most of my posts are frivilous air, but I assure you, there is some amount of strategy in most of them. As Yogi would say, "Half of this game is 90% mental."

[BradleyB]

touche clay, you played me like a fiddle.

i'm curious what the other offers for kraft were. i didn't see any (and unless i'm wrong, the game didn't show me because mine was the best offer). i wonder if i offered far and away more than anyone else. like much of the pre FA talk, i expected to have to up my offer from the initial.

i agree with some of the naysayers that this is a risk, BUT, it was calculated. aces don't become available very often in the BLB, and if kraft has that potential, i'm willing to pay him for 4 years to find out (he is only 29 after all). the last few seasons have been rough, watching my team tank continuously, but the plan was always to build my farm system, get my payroll low, and then when the time looked good, pounce on a couple big name FAs, maybe pull off a couple trades, and make myself into a contender again. it worked for me once, i think it can work again. and unlike last time,i like to think i'm a bit more savvy. i've managed to hold on to some of my better pieces. i'm much younger. far more cost controlled. and unless kraft's arm falls off, i don't have a single bad contract on the payroll (ignoring that jose benabise arbitration fiasco, haha). i'm hoping that even with this push to be an overnight contender i'll be in a better position to keep a winning team for 5-6 years instead of 2-3.

i guess i'm just getting tired of losing

[Lintyfresh85]

I passed on Kraft. Just didn't think he was worth the money.

Should be a great #1 or #2 for you though!