OOTP 13: 1994 revisited.

[RyanLeaf16]

Decided to take some time away from the console and play a little OOTP 13. I have a number of different historical replays I would like to do, but, I wanted to take a run with the strike-shortened season of 1994. I took over the Cleveland Indians and have already run into some serious trouble before Opening Day. Full league history was imported, however, to incorporate some variety, I have taken off recalc based off of real-life performance and have the scouting sytem recalculating based off of in-game performance.

Third day on the job and the Kansas City Royals offered me vet 1B Wally Joyner for aging vet OFer Candy Maldonado and pitching prospect Albie Lopez (former Devil Ray ;P). I took the deal which sucked some of our budget away, but, Joyner's offensive numbers are too good to ignore and Maldonado is an aging vet and Lopez is not a fantastic prospect so it didn't hurt to lose him. However, the two long-term injuries I suffered just a few weeks later would really hurt. First, Sandy Alomar went down for 2-3 months and then CF Kenny Lofton went down for 3 months with a herniated disc. Currently, we have 36-year old Tony Pena as the starting catcher and I am looking to snag a low-level prospect to fill in at CF as our only current option is Ruben Amaro Jr. I have looked at Cubs OF "Tuffy" Rhodes as a possibility to fill in while Lofton is out.

[RyanLeaf16]

Forget the top post, I re-started due to the high-volume of trades that were taking place prior to the season starting. I started over and set the trade frequency option to "low."

2/10/94
Not yet to spring training and I did receive one intriguing offer from the Cubs in which they offered SS Rey Sanchez in exchange for SP Chris Nabholz. If I didn't have a HOF SS in Vizquel I would probably consider it as Sanchez has eye-popping defensive skills, but, I have no place to put him. Plus, we aren't looking to get rid of a mid-rotation starter.

3/3/94
After declining the Cubs original trade offer, they have contacted us again, on the eve of the start of spring training. This time, they offer Sanchez again, but, they ask for Jose Mesa and Herbert Perry in return. I guess the Cubs felt they should sweeten the return on their end. However, it was a quick "no thank you," from us. We have no interest in trading a hi-leverage reliever with plus movement for a position that we are already solid at.

[RyanLeaf16]

3/20/94:
We got news today that OF Wayne Kirby will be out 4-5 weeks with knee tendinitis. We placed him on the 15-day DL. This injury has no effect on our current starting outfield situation.
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3/26/94:
The Yankees sent us a trade offer this morning. They requested IF Alvaro Espinoza and 3B Herbert Perry in exchange for C Jim Leyritz. While Leyritz can also play 1B, I have enough corner infielders and enough catchers to keep me satisfied. We respectfully declined the offer from the Yankees front office.
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3/26/94:
In league news, Philadelphia CF Lenny Dykstra signed a 4-year extension with the Phillies for $4.4mm annually.
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4/2/94:
On the eve of Opening Day, the Brewers and Yankees completed a deal that send SS Mike Gallego and SP Mark Hutton to the Brewers in exchange for OF slugger Greg Vaughn. Gallego has had some decent success with Oakland and New York. He is a fantastic defensive infielder who can play both middle infield spots and has a high OBP.
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4/3/94:
Alex Rodriguez was named the top prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. We open the 1994 season tomorrow at the new Jacobs Field against the Mariners...and Alex Rodriguez.
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[RyanLeaf16]

Opening Day Roster (1994):

Pitching Staff:



Position players:

[RyanLeaf16]

4/10/94:
Just got word that "El Presidente" (Dennis Martinez) is going to be out 8-9 weeks with a strained hamstring. Not good news when he is our #1 on the staff. Plus, we are still waiting word on what is ailing DH Eddie Murray.
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4/11/94:
We assigned Dennis Martinez to the 60-day DL today and replaced him on the roster with 23 year old Chad Ogea (Oh-Jay). We also received word that Eddie Murray will be out for 3-4 weeks.
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4/12/94:
39-year old Andre Dawson, of the Boston Red Sox, recorded 3 home runs against Kansas City in a 11-6 Red Sox win.
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4/14/94:
Baltimore Orioles RF Harold Baines has demanded a trade according to reports coming out of Baltimore.
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4/22/94:
27-year old Bernard Gilkey has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for 37-year old Dave Steward and 21-year old OFer Shawn Green. Green is a promising prospect who also refuses to play on Yom Kippur because he is a Jew.
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4/26/94:
29-year old OFer Jay Buehner just signed a 5-year $25,000,000 extension with the Seattle Mariners. The extension puts to rest any rumors that the Mariners were considering trading him to the Yankees in a deal organized by the Yankees Assistant to the Traveling Secretary - George Costanza in which the Yankees "wouldn't have to give up too much."
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We end April with a big 11-10 win over the Rangers in Cleveland. This puts our record at 16-8 on the season and we are currently in first place in the AL Central.

[RyanLeaf16]

Just got word that Albert Belle is going to be out 4-5 weeks with a herniated disc. Belle was having a monster year so far hitting .430 with 14 home runs. Dude has been killing the ball.