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Wilmington Wildcats: 2065 Season Review
Season - 90-72, 3rd in Lager ; Lost 2-3 against Montreal in WC
Daily Keg Predictions: WC, Losing in 2nd round
WHAT WENT RIGHT:
Pitching and Defense: Every review I have done with Wilmington, we have been strong here. 1st in the DL in runs allowed, 1st in zone rating, but new this year, 1st in walks. No free passes and great defense behind the pitchers was the strategy and it worked, very well, for the regular season. My SS and catcher both won DWI's and I'm sure my CF was probably 2nd or third. This year is built to play strong up the middle and I don't see that changing with those three players (Jimenez, Frazee and Hall) being in their mid-20's.
Corey Hughes: Sometimes you just get lucky. Hughes was a 7th round pick in 2061 and released by Santo Domingo just a year later. I scooped him up as a minor league FA with a bonus, mainly because my scout had him with a 60 eye potential and had shown some promise in rookie league. He has terrible intangibles, was a late round pick and cut again, just a year later. Fast forward to today, he's the #7 best player in baseball and the #1 2B in the entire BLB, at 24-years-old. I spend the maximum on Player Development, pay more than most for minor league coaching and he received numerous potential bumps. Did that matter? Does he get to this level if he stays in SDR? Who knows.
The kid produced a 4.7 WAR with 40 home runs in just 126 games started. According to my scout he didn't even reach his full potential until August of this season so in 2066, he might even be better. He's not an all world defender and switched time between 2B and LF, but I can't chalk this up to anything more than just getting lucky. Considering how many FA's I've spent money on, former top picks I have on the roster or in the minors, international discoveries with promise, etc, all those assets used to acquire players I thought would be great... the guy who is probably the most valuable piece in my entire organization was acquired for $15k.
Carter Byars: Who?! Sounds like a Wilmington Wildcat already. The 33-year-old SP was acquired in 2064 on a minor league deal after basically not pitching in 2063. He went on to win Triple-A pitcher of the year in '64 and was given a camp invite, never looking back. His 3.17 ERA was best in my rotation and he finished with a 4.0 WAR. It may have been a bit of smoke and mirrors as he doesn't rate well traditionally and got absolutely rocked in his one playoff game. But for $280k, you gotta love it.
WHAT WENT WRONG:
Hitting in key areas: Rinse, repeat. If it wasn't for a flurry during the final two weeks, our offensive numbers would be much, much worse. In the final 10 games we had an 11, 12 and 15 run game...which bumped our season numbers up to just average. 9th in DL batting average, 8th in OPS, 7th in strikeouts, 6th in HR and 12th in stolen bases. We were the only DL playoff team without an individual to hit 90 RBI. Our only strength at the plate was taking walks, best in the DL. But that doesn't do much when the guys don't steal, don't get a hit or even make contact.
Regrettable Trade/Free-Agency: Wilmington had quite a few FA departures which lead to having a bit of extra money to spend. The first signing was international FA RP Nigel Ouma for four years $20M and he produced a -0.2 WAR despite being rated as the top reliever according to my scout at the time of the signing. Then we flipped Dorsey Cahue to Los Angeles. He was coming off a 1.0 WAR season, the worst of his career. He went on to produce a 2.7 in Los Angeles. The cherry on top was in the return: two pitching prospects and 2nd round pick. Well, one of the pitching prospects blew out his arm in the Spring, and took a huge ratings hit. Then we found out that this years draft class made that 2nd round pick worhty of probably a normal 4th or 5th.
e used that extra money to sign 2B Lon Leseberg and he had his worst season in about a decade. Signing Evan Turner did prove useful as he was our cleanup hitter all year and produced as expected, but we could have done a lot better last off-season.
PLAYOFFS:
Sucks to lose in the opening round but it turns out a 1-run loss in the decisive game when my SP lasts 0.2 innings, to the eventual Domestic League representative, it doesn't look as bad now. Whenever you lose a series, especially one you think you could win, you have some regret. In hindsight, I think I should have gone with a 3-man rotation, even on short rest.
OUTLOOK FOR 2066
Feels like a team in transition. My owner is lowering our operating budget and our team focus changed from "win now" to "neutral." We have an old pitching staff and young lineup. We have a few very overpaid players and probably won't have a lot of money to throw around in Free-Agency. Taking a look into the crystal ball, I'd say this team could easily be .500 and maybe end up in the high 80's or low 90's in a vacuum. In the Lager though? That is no easy feat to even be .500 in the leagues best division. Not to mention we have a lot of the talent going out the door and most of our better prospects in the lower minor league levels, I wouldn't be so sure.
If we start out slow we might just have to move on from some of the sacred cows around here and re-tool. I'll say we sneak in as the 6th Wild Card, 84-78.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I say this every year but Special Thanks to Matt and Brad for everything. A version change, two new GMs, Paul being Paul, you guys are able to dodge the obstacles and keep it moving.
Season - 90-72, 3rd in Lager ; Lost 2-3 against Montreal in WC
Daily Keg Predictions: WC, Losing in 2nd round
WHAT WENT RIGHT:
Pitching and Defense: Every review I have done with Wilmington, we have been strong here. 1st in the DL in runs allowed, 1st in zone rating, but new this year, 1st in walks. No free passes and great defense behind the pitchers was the strategy and it worked, very well, for the regular season. My SS and catcher both won DWI's and I'm sure my CF was probably 2nd or third. This year is built to play strong up the middle and I don't see that changing with those three players (Jimenez, Frazee and Hall) being in their mid-20's.
Corey Hughes: Sometimes you just get lucky. Hughes was a 7th round pick in 2061 and released by Santo Domingo just a year later. I scooped him up as a minor league FA with a bonus, mainly because my scout had him with a 60 eye potential and had shown some promise in rookie league. He has terrible intangibles, was a late round pick and cut again, just a year later. Fast forward to today, he's the #7 best player in baseball and the #1 2B in the entire BLB, at 24-years-old. I spend the maximum on Player Development, pay more than most for minor league coaching and he received numerous potential bumps. Did that matter? Does he get to this level if he stays in SDR? Who knows.
The kid produced a 4.7 WAR with 40 home runs in just 126 games started. According to my scout he didn't even reach his full potential until August of this season so in 2066, he might even be better. He's not an all world defender and switched time between 2B and LF, but I can't chalk this up to anything more than just getting lucky. Considering how many FA's I've spent money on, former top picks I have on the roster or in the minors, international discoveries with promise, etc, all those assets used to acquire players I thought would be great... the guy who is probably the most valuable piece in my entire organization was acquired for $15k.
Carter Byars: Who?! Sounds like a Wilmington Wildcat already. The 33-year-old SP was acquired in 2064 on a minor league deal after basically not pitching in 2063. He went on to win Triple-A pitcher of the year in '64 and was given a camp invite, never looking back. His 3.17 ERA was best in my rotation and he finished with a 4.0 WAR. It may have been a bit of smoke and mirrors as he doesn't rate well traditionally and got absolutely rocked in his one playoff game. But for $280k, you gotta love it.
WHAT WENT WRONG:
Hitting in key areas: Rinse, repeat. If it wasn't for a flurry during the final two weeks, our offensive numbers would be much, much worse. In the final 10 games we had an 11, 12 and 15 run game...which bumped our season numbers up to just average. 9th in DL batting average, 8th in OPS, 7th in strikeouts, 6th in HR and 12th in stolen bases. We were the only DL playoff team without an individual to hit 90 RBI. Our only strength at the plate was taking walks, best in the DL. But that doesn't do much when the guys don't steal, don't get a hit or even make contact.
Regrettable Trade/Free-Agency: Wilmington had quite a few FA departures which lead to having a bit of extra money to spend. The first signing was international FA RP Nigel Ouma for four years $20M and he produced a -0.2 WAR despite being rated as the top reliever according to my scout at the time of the signing. Then we flipped Dorsey Cahue to Los Angeles. He was coming off a 1.0 WAR season, the worst of his career. He went on to produce a 2.7 in Los Angeles. The cherry on top was in the return: two pitching prospects and 2nd round pick. Well, one of the pitching prospects blew out his arm in the Spring, and took a huge ratings hit. Then we found out that this years draft class made that 2nd round pick worhty of probably a normal 4th or 5th.
e used that extra money to sign 2B Lon Leseberg and he had his worst season in about a decade. Signing Evan Turner did prove useful as he was our cleanup hitter all year and produced as expected, but we could have done a lot better last off-season.
PLAYOFFS:
Sucks to lose in the opening round but it turns out a 1-run loss in the decisive game when my SP lasts 0.2 innings, to the eventual Domestic League representative, it doesn't look as bad now. Whenever you lose a series, especially one you think you could win, you have some regret. In hindsight, I think I should have gone with a 3-man rotation, even on short rest.
OUTLOOK FOR 2066
Feels like a team in transition. My owner is lowering our operating budget and our team focus changed from "win now" to "neutral." We have an old pitching staff and young lineup. We have a few very overpaid players and probably won't have a lot of money to throw around in Free-Agency. Taking a look into the crystal ball, I'd say this team could easily be .500 and maybe end up in the high 80's or low 90's in a vacuum. In the Lager though? That is no easy feat to even be .500 in the leagues best division. Not to mention we have a lot of the talent going out the door and most of our better prospects in the lower minor league levels, I wouldn't be so sure.
If we start out slow we might just have to move on from some of the sacred cows around here and re-tool. I'll say we sneak in as the 6th Wild Card, 84-78.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I say this every year but Special Thanks to Matt and Brad for everything. A version change, two new GMs, Paul being Paul, you guys are able to dodge the obstacles and keep it moving.