Revision as of 19:25, 7 January 2008

This page is for use in keeping notes about my PSBL simulation baseball league team. Rather than setting up another wiki, I figured this was a better way to do it.

Roster

The following players are the ones that matter, Im skipping the scrubs.

C Kenji Johjima
1B Albert Pujols
2B Orlando Hudson
SS Orlando Cabrera
3B Aramis Ramirez
LF Moises Alou
RF JD Drew
CF Kenny Lofton
OF Franklin Gutierrez
OF Chris Duncan
DH Travis Hafner
P John Lackey
P Greg Maddux
P Josh Beckett
P Joe Nathan

Reserve Roster

OF Tim Raines Jr
3B Corey Koskie
C Brayan Pena
OF Jeremy Reed

I have cleaned up this page and moved all the old information to PSBL Archive.

Strengths

The team has a ton of depth at relief pitcher and three solid starters, as well as a good 5th starter. Virtually everyone punishes lefties. Most players have a solid OB versus right handers.

Weaknesses

There are no big bats, especially versus right handers, except Pujols. The team has low power versus right.

Plan

Pre Season Deals

Possible deals will be listed here.

My New and Improved 'Holy Crap That's Ridiculous' Plan

I have made preliminary contact with four owners regarding potential deals. They are all interested in draft pick compensation deals. Its a 4 stage process that could lead to something pretty amazing if the stars align just right. Things never seem to work out as I suspect, yet somehow they end up just fine. In any case, here I go.

1st Piece

I have contacted Dave about Joey Gathright. He is nothing special in my book, but at least has enough of a batting eye to get to use his speed a lot. Since he had mentioned that he was available cheap, I am offering a mid round pick, maybe round 9 or so. The main reason I wanted him is that Darren of the Angels mentioned him when I was talking the Berkman deal. He seems to like him enough that he could be the missing piece for the big deal. If not, and Hudson falls through, I bet he is the kind of dude Rob would take for Matsui (his words: player upgrade, not numbers upgrade).

2nd Piece

The Padres and I are speaking about the O-Dog. He is interested in a deal involving only draft picks. I like that. He is clearly better than any 2B in this draft, for now at least, and he is young enough to have time left.

3rd Piece

Sid has indicated that Rafael Soriano is available. I have inquired, but we havent made any progress. Again, its all picks.

The Big Kahuna Deal

If Hudson can be acquired, that opens up the possibility of making a giant pick package deal with the Angels. I would be sending Duncan, Gathright and all of the decent picks remaining except 1 (maybe round 6 or 7) for Berkman, Sherill and Garland.

Um, ok, then what?

Assuming this happens we would have all positions filled except some OF roleplayers, and we both know how easy that is to fill. Hafner will be pretty much completely extra, so could be used to grab a stud or just ferreted away for a season as a pinch hitter. The draft would become a steaming pile of doody. There would be one pick to grab a reliever, and a bunch of late picks. It would be essential to make them count. The team will not end up a super high playoff seed because of weaknesses at the end of eligibility, but it would be a super playoff team.

First Round Pick Possibilities

I will divide the players into first tier and second tier players. Those in the first tier are more than just need players, and they have great futures ahead of them. Most of the second tier players are either future only players or not as highly regarded.

First Tier

Ryan Braun (Sid is guaranteed to pick him)
Jerrod Saltalamacchia
Tim Lincecum
Alex Gordon
Hunter Pence

Second Tier

Homer Bailey
Phillip Hughes
Daisuke Matsusaka
Josh Hamilton
Ubaldo Jimenez
Jeremy Guthrie
Justin Upton

What to do

In my opinion, considering the strengths of our team as well as my view of where these players are going, the following list is how I would value the players above (excluding Braun, since he is gone):

1. Tim Lincecum
2. Alex Gordon
3. Jerrod Saltalamacchia
4. Hunter Pence
5. Daisuke Matsusaka
6. Philip Hughes (I cant decide if I would prefer him or Daisuke)

Now everything has changed, but I think pitching is a priority. I have been in love with Lincecum from the outset, but now at pick 10 its a better location for it. But, honestly, I think Chip will pick him almost guaranteed. He really wants pitching. In any case, I like that deal a lot.

Pitching

Now that I have taken a cursory look at what is around, here is my pitching list.
1. Tim Lincecum
2. Dustin McGowan
3. Daisuke Matsuzaka
4. Jeremy Guthrie

We need 45 starts if Pelfrey actually gets used. This shouldnt be an issue, what matters are the playoff starts. Lincecum has less but is a dominator. I feel like trading down could still net us one of these guys, as long as its not further than 20.

I dont know what is up with my instincts lately. Generally, I am an emotional, instinctual person. I go with my feelings. I had negotiated a deal which would have sent Harris and Pelfrey to the Royals for Chad Gaudin, but I got this feeling in my head that I could get Burrell, and for some reason I felt I could do better with him. When I was negotiating the Gaudin deal my mind was telling me that it would free up the 1st rounder to be anything, it wouldnt have to be a P. The problem is, he isnt really a 3rd starter. He isnt even as good as Maddux this year. Of course, he is 24 so his future is ahead of him. I was thinking I could offer the #10 pick for Ramirez straight up (of course I thought that was a little too much). With Burrell, even though I gave up a little more (compared to Gaudin), he is the right value to trade for Ramirez, and with the 3rd starter coming at pick 10, we are probably in better shape now and for the future.

The Cardinals now have an incredible depth of OF talent. Something has to go, but the good thing is I KNOW I can make a deal to get a better IF now than before. Sure, without Harris we are absolutely fucked at 2B and 3B, but there are a million possibilities.

For one, Rob and I have a deal partially negotiated where he sends Matsui, Stewart and Mora to us for reserve roster players, then after the deadline we send back Mora and Stewart for picks. I am pretty certain Matsui will be an underperformer, yet his speed and defense will have value, and I will not need to fill lots of PA's at 2B (though I will draft some players there for sure). The Uggla deal is also a possibility. I would want a little more for Burrell, but in a worst case scenario I could make it straight up.

I feel like now I have a ton of options. Since Burrell is both great now and still young enough to have future value, having him as completely extra adds a lot of flexibility for my off season deals. Even though I created two holes (IF and left handed relief), the team is in much better shape to fill them. There are always relievers in the draft. It almost hurts me to protect those guys (with the exception of good closers). Harris didnt have a big enough bat to make his crappy defense workable as anything other than a part time guy.

Stay tuned, there is more to come.