[MLB The Show] My Franchise: Phixing the Phillies

[lce5007]

As we all know, the real life Phillies are being desecrated by Ruben Amaro, so I decided to take over in the digital world. I will be playing the role of GM and then managing the games as well. In terms of updates, I plan on just posting an update at the end of each in-game week. In these updates, I will post any info concerning important roster moves, record, stats, etc. Any tips or just general comments would be welcome. Try to have fun with it.

[lce5007]

First update will just be explaining my moves during Spring Training. I have no intention of playing these, but the players still progress/regress during this, so I'm going to sim the games instead of just ending it right off the bat.

For starters, I brought in four new scouts. The default group that I had was absolute trash. I got one guy who was in 90's for discovery, who I will have finding a different type of player every single day. Then I decided to pick up one guy who was 90's when it came to scouting pitcher ratings, one who was 90's for position player ratings, and another who was 90's for both. Seems to me like a well rounded group.

After my scouting moves, that left me with a remaining budget of 8.92 million to work with. I figured that I could ditch some guys that I have no intention of ever using, then try and snag as many free agents as I could, but still keep enough budget room to sign draft picks once June hits. That being said, here are the moves that I went with:

-Released RP Jay Johnson.
24 years old, 45 overall, D potential.
This guy was just a waste of roster space.

-Signed CP Julio Ruiz.
19 years old, 56 overall, B potential.
Contract: 3 years + club option for 83.3k/yr.
Why not. I only have two closers in my organization right now, plus he's young and has decent potential.

-Released C Deivi Grullon.
18 years old, 44 overall, C potential.
This guy was released solely because I don't see a need for nine catchers in my organization, and he was the lowest rated.

-Signed SP Jeff Neimann.
31 years old, 77 overall, C potential.
Contract: 1 year 1.18 million.
He was the highest rated SP in the free agents right now, and his rating would currently slot him in as #4 in my rotation, so might as well.

-Released C Andrew Knapp.
22 years old, 52 overall, C potential.
I now have eight catchers, and still don't see any reason to.

-Signed 1B Kendrys Morales.
30 years old, 78 overall, C potential.
Contract: 2 years 2.1m/yr.
He can play 1B and RF, so I figured he'd be a good signing just to use as a pinch hitter and to sub in for guys who need a break.

-Released SP Mitch Gueller.
20 years old, 44 overall, C potential.
Lowest rated guy on my team, and I had to make room for more pressing needs.

-Released 2B Edgar Duran.
22 years old, 47 overall, D potential.
Same reason as previous guy.

-Signed SS Cesar Izturis.
34 years old, 71 overall, C potential.
Contract: 2 years 740k/yr.
He plays 2B and 3B as well. I am in desperate need of a third baseman at the moment. There were better options that could play 3B, but he was considerably cheaper.

-Signed SP Michael Feliz.
20 years old, 65 overall, B potential.
Contract: 3 years + club option, 86.6k/yr.
Dude seems like a pretty solid prospect, so I figured I'd snatch him up too.

After all of that, I'm still left with 4.8 million to spend. I figured that I would hold off for now in case I would need to sign for an injury or anything. I also have to save room for anyone that I would want to sign after the draft. I will now sim the entire Spring Training, and the next update will have my MLB roster notes, along with info on what's going on with my top prospects (I consider prospects as guys who are not currently on my 25 man roster, are under the age of 26, and have A or B potential).

[lce5007]

Ok so going into the season, I'm finally set up. I have my rotation listed in order, the members of the bullpen, and the position players. Obviously the lineups might end up being different each game due to guys needing rest and who the opposing pitcher is, so I just left all the position players bunched together like that. Then I have the top prospects listed after that. Here is what my team will look like (numbers next to players are their current overall ratings):

SP Rotation
Cliff Lee 91
Cole Hamels 89
AJ Burnett 81
Jeff Niemann 77
Kyle Kendrick 74

Bullpen
Roberto Hernandez 71
Justin De Fratus 70
Brad Lincoln 70
Mike Adams 76
Antonio Bastardo 78
Jake Diekman 76
Jonathan Papelbon 87

Position Players
Carlos Ruiz 84
Wil Nieves 66
Ryan Howard 79
Kendrys Morales 78
Darin Ruf 73
Chase Utley 83
Freddy Galvis 75
Jimmy Rollins 85
Ronny Cedeno 68
Cesar Izturis 71
Domonic Brown 81
Ben Revere 79
Marlon Byrd 78

Prospect Info
AAA
SP Jesse Biddle 73
3B Maikel Franco 67
SS JP Crawford 66
SP Michael Feliz 65
SP Ethan Martin 64
CP Julio Ruiz 56
AA
SP Severino Gonzalez 61

Well, it's finally time to start with the games. I will post an update after the week of games are played.

[Guest]

Looks to be fun, I'll make sure to check in

[lce5007]

So the first week of the season is in the books. Somehow, my team is undefeated at 5-0 and first place in the division by two games. Not that significant at this point in the season, but a good start nonetheless. Here is a rundown of what took place in the first week:

Stats
Pitchers (Stats listed are record, innings pitched, earned run average, and strikeouts. For the closer, I also added in saves and blown saves.)
Cliff Lee 1-0, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 9 K
Cole Hamels 0-0, 8 IP, 1.13 ERA, 8 K
AJ Burnett 1-0, 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 9 K
Jeff Niemann 1-0, 5 IP, 3.60 ERA, 2 K
Kyle Kendrick 0-0, 5 IP, 5.40 ERA, 2 K
Roberto Hernandez 1-0, 1.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 K
Justin De Fratus 0-0, 3 IP, 3.00 ERA, 3 K
Brad Lincoln 1-0, 1.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 3 K
Mike Adams 0-0, 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K
Antonio Bastardo 0-0, 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 K
Jake Diekman 0-0, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 K
Jonathan Papelbon 0-0, 2.2 IP, 0.00 IP, 1 K, 2 SV, 1 BSV

Position Players (Stats listed are batting average, home runs, runs batted in, on base percentage, and errors. If they have any steals, I added that in too at the end. Also, DNP is for the players who did not play yet.)
Carlos Ruiz .222 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .286 OBP, 0 E
Wil Nieves DNP
Ryan Howard .300 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .391 OBP, 1 E
Kendrys Morales .214 AVG, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .353 OBP, 0 E
Darin Ruf DNP
Chase Utley .333 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .333 OBP, 0 E
Freddy Galvis 1.000 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1.000 OBP, 0 E
Jimmy Rollins .211 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .286 OBP, 1 E, 1 SB
Ronny Cedeno DNP
Cesar Izturis .200 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .238 OBP, 0 E
Domonic Brown .200 AVG, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .238 OBP, 0 E
Ben Revere .174 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .240 OBP, 0 E
Marlon Byrd .316 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .409 OBP, 1 E

As you can see, there are a few things standing out. Again, it's early, so nothing too significant. My only pitching concern so far was Kyle Kendrick. He looked horrible in that game, and whenever we got the lead he just gave it back. Ben Revere is my leadoff guy. His average is horrible, but he still gets on base a decent amount. Dom Brown is looking like if he actually does connect with the ball, it's gone. The Kendrys Morales signing makes me look kinda smart. Marlon Byrd and Utley are both looking pretty good as well.

There were a few ratings changes which caused me to shake up my 25 man roster a little bit. Listed below are the players who were moved to and from my MLB team:

-Moved RP Justin De Fratus to AAA
-Called up SP Jesse Biddle to MLB
-Moved C Wil Nieves to AAA
-Called up C Cameron Rupp to MLB

My new 25 man roster consists of this (number next to the name is their current overall rating):

Pitchers
Cole Hamels 89
Cliff Lee 89
Jonathan Papelbon 86
AJ Burnett 80
Antonio Bastardo 78
Jeff Niemann 77
Mike Adams 76
Jake Diekman 76
Kyle Kendrick 74
Jesse Biddle 73
Roberto Hernandez 71
Brad Lincoln 70

Position Players
Jimmy Rollins 84
Carlos Ruiz 83
Chase Utley 82
Domonic Brown 81
Ben Revere 79
Ryan Howard 78
Kendrys Morales 78
Marlon Byrd 77
Freddy Galvis 74
Darin Ruf 73
Cesar Izturis 71
Ronny Cedeno 68
Cameron Rupp 66

The problem with having an old team is the fact that on this game, they start to decline in ratings rather quickly after age 32. Phillies have quite a few guys over that age, so you'll notice some guys already dropping. Not too much change occured to my pitching. I brought up one of my prospects, SP Jesse Biddle (22 years old, 73 overall, B potential), and will currently be using him out of the bullpen. On my lineup though, there was a small, but possibly huge change. Kendrys Morales and Ryan Howard are now both the same overall rating. They both can play first base. Morales is four years younger. Howard has the power edge over Morales, but Morales has the edge on fielding (slightly) and contact. This made me swap in Morales as the starter at first base, with Howard only listed as a DH against RHP. We will see how this change pans out, but I also don't mind having the option of using Howard as a pinch hitter.

As for my prospects, not much difference here aside from moving one guy up to majors. Everyone stayed at the same ratings and in the same location besides Biddle.

Prospect Info
AAA
SP Jesse Biddle 73 (now on MLB roster)
3B Maikel Franco 67
SS JP Crawford 66
SP Michael Feliz 65
SP Ethan Martin 64
CP Julio Ruiz 56
AA
SP Severino Gonzalez 61

Enough of all that. On to the next week! Stay tuned...

[lce5007]

Week two is now in the books. My team is at 9-2 and first place in the division by one game. Here is a rundown of what the stats look like two weeks in:

Stats
Pitchers (Stats listed are record, innings pitched, earned run average, and strikeouts. For the closer, I also added in saves and blown saves.)
Cliff Lee 3-0, 20 IP, 2.25 ERA, 26 K
Cole Hamels 1-0, 15 IP, 1.20 ERA, 11 K
AJ Burnett 2-0, 15.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 15 K
Jeff Niemann 1-1, 10 IP, 9.00 ERA, 7 K
Kyle Kendrick 0-0, 11 IP, 4.09 ERA, 6 K
Roberto Hernandez 1-0, 4.1 IP, 4.15 ERA, 2 K
Jesse Biddle 0-0, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 K
Brad Lincoln 1-0, 2.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 3 K
Mike Adams 0-0, 5.1 IP, 1.69 ERA, 5 K
Antonio Bastardo 0-1, 3 IP, 3.00 ERA, 3 K
Jake Diekman 0-0, 3 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2 K
Jonathan Papelbon 0-0, 5.1 IP, 0.00 IP, 1 K, 5 SV, 1 BSV

Position Players (Stats listed are batting average, home runs, runs batted in, on base percentage, and errors. If they have any steals, I added that in too at the end. Also, DNP is for the players who did not play yet.)
Carlos Ruiz .306 AVG, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .357 OBP, 0 E
Cameron Rupp .333 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .333 OBP, 0 E
Ryan Howard .296 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .367 OBP, 1 E
Kendrys Morales .229 AVG, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .378 OBP, 0 E
Darin Ruf .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .000 OBP, 0 E
Chase Utley .319 AVG, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .373 OBP, 1 E
Freddy Galvis .500 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .500 OBP, 0 E
Jimmy Rollins .300 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .378 OBP, 1 E, 4 SB
Ronny Cedeno .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .500 OBP, 0 E
Cesar Izturis .225 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .244 OBP, 0 E
Domonic Brown .205 AVG, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .271 OBP, 0 E
Ben Revere .302 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .375 OBP, 0 E
Marlon Byrd .217 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .265 OBP, 1 E

My pitching seems pretty solid right now. Niemann had a rough outing against the Brewers, Giancarlo Stanton killed me in the first game against Miami, but otherwise pretty good. Burnett had a no no going into the ninth inning against the Brewers, but then gave up back to back doubles and lost the no hitter and the shut out just like that. Cole Hamels got his 100th career win. For my hitters, a few noticeable things happened. Ben Revere finally showed up, Ruiz and Utley look pretty solid, and Marlon Byrd dropped way off. Jimmy Rollins also got his 200th career home run.

There were no changes to the makeup of my 25 man roster, but a few ratings changes.

My new 25 man roster consists of this (number next to the name is their current overall rating):

Pitchers
Cole Hamels 89
Cliff Lee 89
Jonathan Papelbon 85
AJ Burnett 79
Antonio Bastardo 78
Jeff Niemann 77
Jake Diekman 76
Mike Adams 75
Kyle Kendrick 73
Jesse Biddle 73
Roberto Hernandez 71
Brad Lincoln 70

Position Players
Jimmy Rollins 84
Carlos Ruiz 83
Chase Utley 82
Domonic Brown 81
Ben Revere 79
Ryan Howard 78
Kendrys Morales 78
Marlon Byrd 77
Freddy Galvis 75
Darin Ruf 73
Cesar Izturis 70
Ronny Cedeno 68
Cameron Rupp 66

A few older guys dropped a little and a few younger guys went up. Due to the slump in numbers for Byrd, I think I'm going to mix up the lineups a bit. I will put Howard back at first base and Morales in right field. Byrd will still get ample playing time due to the fact that there is usually a four or five man platoon that rotates for the outfield, so hopefully it all works out.

As for my prospects, nothing has changed at all. Franco is almost close enough to bring up in place of a declining Cedeno, but not yet.

Prospect Info
AAA

3B Maikel Franco 67
SS JP Crawford 66
SP Michael Feliz 65
SP Ethan Martin 64
CP Julio Ruiz 56
AA
SP Severino Gonzalez 61

And now it's off to the next week. I had a few days off from work where I could bang out a few games a day here, but that will slow down starting tomorrow. I will try to do at least one game a night, but ideally more.

[JBregz]

Good stuff, ever think about adding images and formatting to make it looker nicer?

[lce5007]

Good stuff, ever think about adding images and formatting to make it looker nicer?

I would if I knew how. I've seen other people do it before with video, pictures, etc., but I have no clue how they do that. My only guess is to just take the pictures from my cell phone and upload it, but I don't know if that would be the best quality.

[JBregz]

Is this on ps4 or Xbox one? You can use the share function to take pics and videos. Or you could also take camera pics or even get a hauppage gaming PVR.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk

[JBregz]

Also check the franchise resources stickies in this franchise sub forum

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk

[lce5007]

Hmmm I'll have to look more into it. I'm doing it on PS3, but I'm sure there's still a somewhat easy way to do it.

[lce5007]

Three weeks down. My team is at 13-5 and first place in the division by two games. Here is a rundown of what the stats look like so far:

Stats
Pitchers (Stats listed are record, innings pitched, earned run average, and strikeouts. For the closer, I also added in saves and blown saves.)
Cliff Lee 4-0, 28 IP, 1.93 ERA, 31 K
Cole Hamels 2-1, 29 IP, 1.24 ERA, 24 K
AJ Burnett 3-0, 27.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 29 K
Jeff Niemann 1-2, 15 IP, 7.20 ERA, 14 K
Kyle Kendrick 0-0, 17.2 IP, 3.57 ERA, 11 K
Roberto Hernandez 1-0, 7.2 IP, 5.87 ERA, 6 K
Jesse Biddle 0-0, 2.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 1 K
Brad Lincoln 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 6 K
Mike Adams 0-0, 8.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 8 K
Antonio Bastardo 1-1, 4.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 3 K
Jake Diekman 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 4 K
Jonathan Papelbon 0-0, 8.1 IP, 0.00 IP, 2 K, 8 SV, 1 BSV

Position Players (Stats listed are batting average, home runs, runs batted in, on base percentage, and errors. If they have any steals, I added that in too at the end. Also, DNP is for the players who did not play yet.)
Carlos Ruiz .268 AVG, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .306 OBP, 1 E
Cameron Rupp .400 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .455 OBP, 0 E
Ryan Howard .239 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .314 OBP, 1 E
Kendrys Morales .173 AVG, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .328 OBP, 1 E
Darin Ruf .357 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .400 OBP, 0 E
Chase Utley .355 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI, .403 OBP, 1 E
Freddy Galvis .375 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .538 OBP, 0 E
Jimmy Rollins .323 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .391 OBP, 2 E, 7 SB
Ronny Cedeno .133 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .350 OBP, 1 E
Cesar Izturis .259 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .286 OBP, 0 E
Domonic Brown .254 AVG, 4 HR, 10 RBI, .296 OBP, 0 E
Ben Revere .300 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .355 OBP, 0 E, 7 SB
Marlon Byrd .222 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .269 OBP, 2 E

My pitching is still fairly good. Cole Hamels loss was a game where he gave up a two run homer and my team couldn't manage to score more than one run. A few games I was in it for the majority, but the bullpen screwed it up for me. For my hitters, a few guys dropped and some slightly improved. Dom Brown and Utley look like they'll drive in a run if anyone at all is on base when they're up.

There were no changes to the makeup of my 25 man roster, but a few ratings changes.

My new 25 man roster consists of this (number next to the name is their current overall rating):

Pitchers
Cole Hamels 89
Cliff Lee 89
Jonathan Papelbon 85
AJ Burnett 79
Antonio Bastardo 78
Jeff Niemann 77
Jake Diekman 76
Mike Adams 75
Kyle Kendrick 74
Jesse Biddle 74
Roberto Hernandez 71
Brad Lincoln 70

Position Players
Jimmy Rollins 84
Carlos Ruiz 82
Chase Utley 82
Domonic Brown 81
Ben Revere 79
Kendrys Morales 78
Ryan Howard 77
Marlon Byrd 77
Freddy Galvis 74
Darin Ruf 73
Cesar Izturis 71
Ronny Cedeno 68
Cameron Rupp 66

Some guys are fluctuating up and down so far, while others are just going downhill. One noticeable change that will occur in my lineup involves the same guys that it has every week so far. Morales is now better than Howard and Byrd, so he is staying in the everyday lineup. I think I'll have him playing right field against right handed pitching, with Howard at first base, then have him at first base against left handed pitching, with Byrd in right field.

As for my prospects, nothing has changed at all in terms of ratings. Some of their ratings have gone up, but not enough to change their overall ratings. Franco is still closest to being brought up, but not yet. Severino Gonzalez was moved up to AAA due to Miguel Gonzalez having to go onto the disabled list, but will likely be dropped back to AA once he returns. I did, however, pick up another free agent pitching prospect. I had to release SP Perci Garner (25 years old, 49 overall, C potential), but then picked up Chris Kohler (18 years old, 57 overall, B potential). It seemed like a good trade-off since Kohler is seven years younger, already better rated, and has a higher ceiling. The contract that I got him for was 3 years + club option at 90k/yr. That leaves my budget at around 4.7 million remaining to work with. He will be starting out in AA level.

Prospect Info
AAA

3B Maikel Franco 67
SS JP Crawford 66
SP Michael Feliz 65
SP Ethan Martin 64
SP Severino Gonzalez 61
CP Julio Ruiz 56
AA
SP Chris Kohler 57

On to the next one.

[lce5007]

I somehow pulled off a completely one sided trade that certainly helps my team out. The Yankees got Brody Colvin (23 years old, 53 overall, C potential) from me, in exchange for Michael Pineda (25 years old, 78 overall, B potential) AND Ivan Nova (27 years old, 75 overall, B potential). ... I have no idea why, but they took this deal, so I'm fine with it. I got two MLB pitchers that are still in my target age range, and possibly improving, for a AA picther. I'll take that any day. Maybe I should see about messing around with more trades...

This trade then caused my budget to dip down to about 950k, which could make it tough to sign the players I draft, depending on how that goes. Worry about that later. It also caused my 25 man roster to need a change, so here are the moves that were made (I'll get into the ratings and stats at the end of the week update):

RP Brad Lincoln moved to AAA
SP Roberto Hernandez moved to AAA (hopefully makes it through waivers)

It also dropped Kendrick and Nova into my bullpen to replace the two who were moved to minors, and Pineda is now my #4 starter. Again, more on this all at the end of the week.

[lce5007]

Yet another trade pulled off in the same week! I'll try and hold off for a little bit, but I couldn't pass this one up. I traded SP Hoby Milner (22 years old, 48 overall, C potential) and SP Barry Enright (27 years old, 52 overall, C potential) to the Rays for 2B Ryan Brett (22 years old, 68 overall, B potential) and SP Chris Archer (25 years old, 82 overall, B potential). How could I turn that down? I did get dropped to around 700k in my available budget though.

This again caused some roster movement.

SP Jesse Biddle moved to AAA
RP Justin Friend (27 years old, 48 overall, D potential) released

This also dropped Niemann into the bullpen and slotted the newly acquired Chris Archer into my #3 spot in the rotation. I feel like I have vastly improved my rotation in this first month, and I found a potential replacement for Utley once he decides to leave me (because I would never get rid of him). Weekly recap coming soon.

[lce5007]

Fourth week was a busy one. In previous posts, I had mentioned two trades that occurred, which is why my stats below will have a few guys listed that were not previously listed in other weekly updates. Nova pitched and got a win, Pineda pitched and got a loss, and Archer has yet to pitch for me. Anyways, my team is at 18-7 and first place in the division by 2.5 games. Here is a rundown of what the stats look like so far:

Stats
Pitchers (Stats listed are record, innings pitched, earned run average, and strikeouts. For the closer, I also added in saves and blown saves.)
Cliff Lee 5-0, 37 IP, 1.46 ERA, 36 K
Cole Hamels 2-2, 35 IP, 1.80 ERA, 28 K
Chris Archer 2-2, 33 IP, 3.82 ERA, 24 K
AJ Burnett 4-0, 33.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 35 K
Michael Pineda 2-2, 28.1 IP, 5.72 ERA, 29 K
Jeff Niemann 2-2, 20 IP, 5.85 ERA, 18 K
Ivan Nova 3-0, 20 IP, 2.61 ERA, 15 K
Kyle Kendrick 0-0, 25 IP, 3.24 ERA, 16 K
Mike Adams 0-0, 10.1 IP, 1.74 ERA, 9 K
Antonio Bastardo 2-1, 11.1 IP, 0.79 ERA, 14 K
Jake Diekman 0-1, 11 IP, 3.27 ERA, 9 K
Jonathan Papelbon 0-0, 10.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K, 9 SV, 1 BSV

Position Players (Stats listed are batting average, home runs, runs batted in, on base percentage, and errors. If they have any steals, I added that in too at the end. Also, DNP is for the players who did not play yet.)
Carlos Ruiz .221 AVG, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .262 OBP, 1 E
Cameron Rupp .238 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .304 OBP, 0 E
Ryan Howard .183 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .237 OBP, 1 E
Kendrys Morales .195 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .312 OBP, 1 E
Darin Ruf .414 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .419 OBP, 0 E
Chase Utley .300 AVG, 4 HR, 20 RBI, .340 OBP, 1 E
Freddy Galvis .444 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .542 OBP, 0 E
Jimmy Rollins .275 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .348 OBP, 3 E, 8 SB
Ronny Cedeno .176 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .282 OBP, 1 E
Cesar Izturis .263 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .309 OBP, 0 E
Domonic Brown .266 AVG, 6 HR, 14 RBI, .317 OBP, 1 E
Ben Revere .283 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .347 OBP, 0 E, 8 SB
Marlon Byrd .214 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .250 OBP, 2 E

I had a game against the Dodgers that took 23 innings and had a final score of 3-2. It killed everyone's average and depleted my bullpen. Luckily, Cliff Lee had a complete game shutout the very next day, so my bullpen got a day off. My pitching is still looking like the strong point of my team, and those trades that I made should only improve on that. I haven't made any moves to bolster my current lineup at all, but there's plenty of time for that.

There were no changes to the makeup of my 25 man roster aside from what was done following the trades, but a few ratings changes.

My new 25 man roster consists of this (number next to the name is their current overall rating):

Pitchers
Cole Hamels 90
Cliff Lee 88
Jonathan Papelbon 85
Chris Archer 82
Antonio Bastardo 78
AJ Burnett 78
Michael Pineda 78
Jeff Niemann 76
Jake Diekman 76
Mike Adams 76
Ivan Nova 75
Kyle Kendrick 74

Position Players
Jimmy Rollins 83
Chase Utley 82
Carlos Ruiz 81
Domonic Brown 81
Ben Revere 79
Kendrys Morales 78
Ryan Howard 77
Marlon Byrd 76
Freddy Galvis 74
Darin Ruf 72
Cesar Izturis 70
Ronny Cedeno 68
Cameron Rupp 66

My older guys are starting to decline on what seems to be a weekly basis. Izturis and Cedeno are doing exactly what I had planned so far, which is to hold down the rotation at third base until Franco is ready to come up. Once again, a change that will occur in my lineup involves Howard/Bryd/Moralers. Morales is still better than Howard and Byrd, so he is staying in the everyday lineup. He is now my everyday right fielder, with Howard at first base, and Byrd on the bench rotating in with the outfielders.

As for my prospects, nothing has changed at all in terms of ratings. Biddle is now in AAA after the trades, but is neck and neck with Kendrick as to who stays on the MLB roster. I tend to give the nod to the older guys if they are the same rating, just so I'm not wasting MLB service time on a young guy if I don't need to. Franco is still refusing to pass Cedeno and be brought up. I picked up a prospect in the deal with Tampa, so he is added in there as well. I don't see him coming up at all this season though, because he can only play second base. Utley will likely decline, but not enough to have this guy pass him most likely, and Galvis will probably stay around the same rating he is right now, so there is no room for him on my 25 man roster.

Prospect Info
AAA
SP Jesse Biddle 74
2B Ryan Brett 68
3B Maikel Franco 67
SS JP Crawford 66
SP Michael Feliz 65
SP Ethan Martin 64

AA
SP Severino Gonzalez 61
SP Chris Kohler 57
CP Julio Ruiz 56

Let's keep it rolling.