BREAKING NEWS - NO HITTER!

Les Nessman with this breaking story:

Well folks, we knew the Flytraps had a pretty good starting rotation this season, but we did not expect this! After Johnnie Price throws a complete game, allowing only 1 run (and suffering the 1-0 loss) in Game 1 of the season, Lyle Melhuse makes history.

Melhuse, the Rule 5 draftee, in his major league debut, throws a no-hitter against Columbus! Melhuse jerseys, which could be had for a dime a dozen just last week, are now selling like hotcakes. The team scored 11 runs for him as well, showing some offensive firepower. Through 2 games of the season, the 'traps have only allowed 1 run to be scored. Whatever one may say about the team's offense and bullpen, Price and Melhuse seem certain to guarantee that beating the Flytraps can no longer be taken for granted.

Thats amazing. Congrats C-Wood.

First off - nice work. While I don't agree with all of it (no reason anyone should, there is plenty of room for personal preference/style in this game), I do admire your patience and commitment in getting it all down. It's all very legible.

Question for you: Why did you offer a player option? AFAIK, there is no reason to - a team option would not change the players opinion of the offer (the player looks only at total dollars), and would give you more payroll flexibility down the line.

Also: As least early on in the season, the formula for whether a player will reject a deal to another team is quite simple. If your team had more wins than the team you are trading a player to, he will reject the deal, and vice-versa. I don't know at what point, if any, this changes to the current seasons record though.

Quote: Originally posted by sickchangeup on 8/05/2007
Question for you: Why did you offer a player option? AFAIK, there is no reason to - a team option would not change the players opinion of the offer (the player looks only at total dollars), and would give you more payroll flexibility down the line.

I know that in the "Notes" section you sometimes see that a player is demanding a No-Trade Clause. (He says something there like "I don't want to be traded for a couple of prospects halfway through the season"). Therefore, I do think that offering a guy a No-Trade Clause, and possibly also offering him a Player Option, will help give you a few extra points towards signing him.

The best example I can give is before Season 3 in NABCL. Former MVP Happy Henley was a free agent and by far the best free agent on the market. I had salary cap room, and the league has a self-imposed rule that season that no player can be offered more than 13.5 million in salary for any season. I therefore offered Henley 13.5 per season with a No Trade and a Player Option. I know at least one other person offered 13.5 per season. Yet he signed with me. My team was coming off of a fairly mediocre season so I think the player option and No Trade may have been the difference maker.

The other advantage of a Player Option is that if the guy does decide to bolt and skip his final season, you dont have to pay a buyout rate like you do on a Team Option. I am not certain if an exercised option by a player gets you Type A/Type B picks.

In the case of Johnnie Price, I would be shocked if he exercises his option (pass up that money? He won't be worth near that in his final season as a free agent). However, even if he does, all i am losing is a 35 year old pitcher that is probably starting to decline by then and I am saving a ton of money that can be spent on younger guys. In essence, I had nothing to lose by giving him the option year.

Quote: Originally posted by sickchangeup on 8/05/2007First off - nice work. While I don't agree with all of it (no reason anyone should, there is plenty of room for personal preference/style in this game), I do admire your patience and commitment in getting it all down. It's all very legible.

As to not agreeing with me, I am glad you don't. My intent with his thread is definitely not to say "how it should be done". Rather it is "how I do it". Anyone is free to take what they like and ignore what they don't like. Just giving my personal insights into the game. I have made more than my share of bad moves and mistakes with every team I have.

Thanks for the response cs. I would agree that if there is a preset limit, and everyone is spending the same, then those things could help. If I had to guess without any additional details, I'd would have estimated it at 50-50 that those things helped vs. you just offered first.

But when the market is open, and people are differing their bids by amounts I can't see it helping make any difference. But if you want to place it safe (which you did), then it makes sense to go all out and include those things just in case.

Thanks again, and gl.

WAIVER CLAIM NEWS

Another successful waiver claim of a Rule 5 draftee. This time it is relief pitcher Tim Hart. He projects to decent control and decent L/R split. Plus he has 3 pitches that project to 100-71-59. His stamina is 23 though his durability is low (49, projected 57). However, he is better even right now than most of my bullpen. I sent rookie Kid Bagley (who didnt project to be much of a pitcher anyhow and really was only filling a roster spot cheaply this season) down to AAA and there is no reason why Hart won't be on my big league roster all season. He is good enough to be at least a Setup B guy on most teams.

INTERNATIONAL SIGNING

Going along with my theme this season of trying to find guys to fill in the "talent gaps" in my team, I just inked 18 year old international free agent Albert Cora for just under 4 million. he is another relief pitcher with projected ratings almost identical to Tim Hart who I just claimed off of waivers. Cora is 2-3 years away from ML (I have sent him to High A for the season), but he should be a fairly solid relief pitcher when he finished developing.

20 GAME UPDATE: 4-16

WKRP's Les Nessman reporting:

With all the hype surrounding the offseason signing of Johnnie Price and the no-hitter thrown by Lyle Melhuse in his big league debut, the fact of the matter this season is that this team stinks! The offense has been comatose and the pitching, which was supposed to be the team's strength, has been downright awful.

Offensively, Matt Kirwan is posting solid numbers with a .293 average and 6 HR already. Rule 5 draftees Denny Brown (.311) and Dennis Delaney (.348 in limited action so far) are the only other two players hitting anything close to a decent average.

On the pitching side, Melhuse's no hitter is the only victory so far by a starter. Price is 0-3 with an ERA over 6, Melhuse is now 1-3 with an ERA near 6, and Lewis Locko and Carlos Morales are both winless with ERAs over 7. The bullpen has a few bright spots with Rule 5 draftee Tim Hart and closer Carlos Martin both holding 0.00 ERAs, though each has only pitched in 5 games so far.

While there was excitement for the season, the first 20 games has done a great job of quashing that. However, management still insists that this team is right on track for playoff contention by next season.

Our next update will be at the 40 game mark.

40 GAME UPDATE: 14-26

Les Nessman reports:

Well the second 20 were a lot better than the first 20, as the Flytraps posted a .500 record and are now sitting at 14-26 (tied for last place in the division). The offense has been at least getting a few hits, and Johnnie Price is starting to pitch like the team expected him to.

On offense, while Matt Kirwan leads the team with 12 HR and 31 RBI, the story has really ben leadoff hitter and Rule 5 draftee Dennis Delaney. Delaney started the season on the bench but broke into the starting lineup within the first week of the season. He is now batting .349 with 10 HR and 24 RBI.

On the pitching side, after a slow start, Price is now 3-4 with a 4.21 ERA. The rest of the pitching staff has been close to awful tough, with the possible exception of setup man Fausto Herrera who has an ERA just over 3.

Down in the minors, Roosevelt Abbott, Parker Bennett, and Stevie Bonilla have all been tearing up AAA pitching, a great sign for the future of this teams. Virgil Rodriguez and Marshall Ferrell have struggled a bit so far this season, but the team expects them to improve as the year goes on and all 5 guys should be ready for the big leagues by next season. The AAA team is 22-18 overall and in first place in its division.

Our next update will be at the 60 game mark, which will also include an update from management on the results of this year's amateur draft.

60 GAME UPDATE: 20-40

Les Nessman reports:

Well, it is back to business as usual for the Flytraps. And the usual business around these parts is losing. the team has gone a pathetic 6-14 since our last update, although 3 of those 6 wins came in a 3 game sweep of the AL South leaders, Atlanta. The team's manager stated after the sweep that he wished every game this season could be against Atlanta. Perhaps the reason for that wish is that this team simply cannot beat anyone else.

As if the losses weren't bad enough, the team's offensive leader, Dennis Delaney, is on the 15 day DL with a hip inflammation. He is expected back in about a week and a half. Matt Kirwan does continue to show good power, as he now has 20 HR and 45 RBI on the season.

On the pitching side, Johnnie Price continues to put up good stats, with a 3.57 ERA despite his slow start. However, the team's offensive woes have Price sitting on a 4-6 record. Jason Wright, who threw the tam's second no-hitter of the season, is now 4-5 with an ERA just over 5.00. In the bullpen, Fausto Herrera has pitched well in setup with a 2.70 ERA. Noone else, however, seems to be able to get anyone at all out these days. And Herrera is only available once every 3 days or so.

The big news in Cincinnati though is the Amateur Draft. It was just held this morning and the Flytraps selected, wih the #4 overall pick, Eric Logan of Marion, Kentucky. Logan is a 20 year old catcher who is probably 2-3 years away from being ready for the bigs. Defensively, he may be one of the best in the game with a strong accurate arm, great glove, and top notch pitch calling (projects to 11-41-75-70-75). Offensively, he is a complete monster, and by far the best hitter in this year's draft pool. He has legitimate Triple Crown potential. (projects to 74-95-100-89-79). His only drawbacks are a lack of speed (though he is a good smart baserunner), and a lower durability (projects to 71). However, these drawbacks are minimal compared to his incredible talent.

Following the draft, this reported asked management why they went with a catcher given that Stevie Bonilla is one of the "Fab Five" prospects. The response was simply that a team can never have too much offensive talent. Obviously, in a year or two this team may need to make a decision about whether Bonilla and Murphy both have places in the team's future (and one could DH if need be). but for now, it is a solid luxury to have.

The draft this year also netted a few more solid prospects including a big-time power hitting second baseman. The majority of the draft picks will be sent to Rookie League, though Murphy will probably start his career at High A.

Next update after the 80 game mark (around the mid-point of the season).

THE BIG PICTURE

With my team struggling for victories and looking like we will put up a worse overall record than last season (and possibly be my first ever complete season team to lose 100 or more games), I figured this was a good time to take a step back and look at the "Big Picture".

My rebuild plan was a 3 year plan.
year 1: clear payroll
year 2: accumulate talent
year 3: bring all the talent into the bigs and start winning

Thus, even though my team stinks right now at the big league level, I am not supposed to win until next year anyhow.

In year 1, I cleared a ton of bad payroll. So far this year I have done a fair job accumulating and developing talent. My "Fab 5" hitting prospects are all playing well at AAA and are all on pace to break into the big leagues next season. I picked up 4 Rule 5 draft picks that are all getting substantial playing time on my big league roster including a solid relief pitcher, a starting pitcher, and a utility infielder. Plus, I just drafted an offensive monster in this year's amateur draft, though he is going to take an extra year or two in the minors to develop before he will be ready for bigs. Hopefully, by the time he breaks into the majors, he will be an extra weapon for a championship contender.

In other words, no matter how bad my 20 game updates look, this team is still right on pace. I have 4 legitimate big league starters on my major league squad (not too many in the minors as of the moment - minor league starting pitching prospects are my organization's biggest hole at the moment). I have several quality relievers developing who should be ready by next season. and I have a ton of offensive talent that I will be ready to unleash on the rest of the league next season. The future is bright for the Flytraps.