[PC] OOTP 13: Rays

[RyanLeaf16]

I've been running a Rays 'chise, with OOTP 13, for several weeks now. I finally finished the first season today. We went 81-81 and finished 3rd in the AL East. The WS winner was a bit of a surprise as the Royals won over the Reds. I thought I would share some screen captures of news covering the off-season and heading into 2013.

2012 advanced team info...

 

2012 team stats...

 

2012 team batting leaders...

 

2012 team pitching leaders...

 

2012 team fielding...

 

2012 Rays scouting department...

 

2012 status of Rays player development...

 

Pirates & Cardinals off-season trade...

 

2012 NL ROY...

 

2012 AL ROY...

 

2012 AL MVP...

 

2012 NL MVP...

 

2012 AL Cy Young...

 

2012 NL Cy Young...

 

2012 AL Gold Glove...

 

2012 NL Gold Glove...

 

David Wright signs with...

 

Carlos Quentin signs with...

 

Mike Napoli signs with...

 

Robinson Cano signs with...

 

Rays first signing of the off-season...

 

Lost Hak-Ju Lee in the Rule V draft...

 

Needed another lefty in the 'pen and picked up this guy in the Rule V draft...

 

 

[RyanLeaf16]

Just completed two trades at the winter meetings with the Indians and Blue Jays. I sent Carlos Pena to the Indians for reliever Chen Lee. I actually did not mean to re-sign Carlos Pena and did so by accident, so I simply shopped him after we successfully signed Daric Barton and the Indians came calling. The Blue Jays offered Ben Francisco for Brandon Guyer. I was happy to accept as I was beginning to think Fuld was going to have to be my #1 guy in left. As of right now, our lineup looks like this:

c - john baker
1b - barton
2b - zobrist
3b - longo
ss - brignac
lf - francisco
cf - jennings
rf - joyce
dh - juan miranda

I am still looking to upgrade the shortstop position. I may use one of my starting pitchers to make a deal...if needed. Right now, the FA list is slim-pickings. My top targets for a middle-infielder are: Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Marco Scutaro and Alberto Callaspo. All would come pretty cheap. All have a decent bat and defensive range. More importantly, all have better plate discipline than Reid Brignac and I am looking to beef up our performance at the plate after winning 81 games with the worst offense in the AL.

 

[RyanLeaf16]

Evan Longoria is having a MONSTER season. First, he's played in 157 games, 29 HR, 158 OPS+, .385 wOBA, .237 ISO, 23.4 UZR and 9.4 WAR.

If he doesn't win AL MVP and a Gold Glove it would be a injustice. One of the finest offensive/defensive seasons I have ever seen in OOTP.

 

[RyanLeaf16]

Just to be clear, my previous save (posts #1 & #2) crashed. Post #3 was from the replay I did over the course of several hours so I could catch up. Obviously the results were different. We finished 92-70 and lost in the WC game to Seattle. Detroit ended up winning the World Series over Atlanta in six games.

League News:

- Earvin Johnson and his group sold the Dodgers to Nick Britt who is described as a "tolerant character" who is a "fiscal economizer." To be succinct, he's cheap.

- The following players are inducted into the HOF: Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens & Sammy Sosa. HOF voters clearly made a statement about PEDs and suspected users...they don't give a shit.

- Colorado fired GM Dan O'Dowd. Baltimore fired GM Dan Duquette. Manny Acta, Ron Gardenhire and Don Mattingly were the managers fired by their clubs.

- League changed the DL rules as well. The minimum DL length is now 19 days instead of 15.

 

[RyanLeaf16]

League News:
- TRADE: Phillies sent 29-year old OF Hunter Pence to the Mariners for 18-year old OF Phillips Castillo and 24-year old IF Jake Schlander.
- Rays sign LHP JP Howell for 2 yrs, $2mm
- AL Gold Glove: P John Danks; C Russell Martin; 1B Albert Pujols; 2B Dustin Pedroia; 3B Evan Longoria; SS Yunel Escobar; OF Carl Crawford, Austin Jackson, Alex Rios
- NL Gold Glove: P Madison Bumgarner; C Yadier Molina; 1B Ike Davis; 2B Aaron Hill; 3B Scott Rolen; SS Zack Cozart; OF Carlos Gonzalez, Cameron Maybin, Jason Heyward
- AL ROY: Jesus Montero (SEA) 39 HR, 121 RBI, 144 OPS+, .382 wOBA, .252 ISO, 6.3 WAR
- NL ROY: Anthony Rizzo (CHC) 27 HR, 90 RBI, 162 OPS+, .393 wOBA, .270 ISO, 5.0 WAR
- AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (SEA) 21-11, 1.10 WHIP, 146 ERA+, 16 CG, 2.96 FIP
- NL Cy Young: Mike Minor (ATL) 20-6, 1.18 WHIP, 137 ERA+, 3 CG, 3.72 FIP
- AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (DET) 44 HR, 128 RBI, 177 OPS+, .425 wOBA, .289 ISO, 8.3 WAR
- NL MVP: Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) 31 HR, 104 RBI, 173 OPS+, .419 wOBA, .242 ISO, 8.6 WAR
- TRADE: Kansas City sends 20-year old IF Cheslor Cuthbert to Washington for 27-year old LHP Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez will have to rebound from a down year in 2012 (5-19 w/l record). Gonzalez quickly signed a new 7-yr $65 million extension with Kansas City.
- TRADE: 33-year old C Eli Whiteside and 24-year old IF Mike Murray to the Diamondbacks for 29-year old IF Drew Locke.
- TRADE: Yankees send 22-year old OF Slade Heathcott to the Pirates for 26-year old IF Brian Friday.


Team News:
- We won all of our arbitration cases with Burke Badenhop, Jeff Niemann, David Price, Sam Fuld, Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez & Reid Brignac
- We are exploring the idea of a long-term extension with David Price who is currently open to a 5-year deal worth about $65 million.
- We offered BJ Upton arbitration before he hit the FA market, but, he declined and became a FA. BJ wanted ~$18 million per to resign with us.
- TRADE OFFER: Baltimore offered up 28-year old IF Robert Andino to us for 28-year old C/IF Stephen Vogt and 21-year old OF Josh Sale. We turned it down.
- Because of the trade the Royals made earlier, I am looking for another trade partner in a deal involving James Shields. I think I have found one with the Angels. I will have to think about it a little more though and see if I can get a better deal with some of the other teams who are taking a “Win Now” approach.

 

[RyanLeaf16]

11/28 TRADE NEWS:
The Phillies and Giants completed a deal that sends 27-year old OF Mike McBryde to Philadelphia in exchange for 30-year old IF Kevin Frandsen.

12/1 Rule V Draft:
We lost 25-year old OF Kyle Hudson to the Washington Nationals in the Rule V Draft
We lost 32-year old OF Jeff Salazar to the Cincinnati Reds in the Rule V Draft

12/3 FREE AGENT SIGNINGS:
3B David Wright will be leaving Queens and heading to the Bronx after signing a 5-year $87.5 million deal with the Yankees. Wright’s contract includes a $500k bonus for winning the league MVP award.

The Seattle Mariners made waves throughout the league as they signed 2B Robinson Cano to a MONSTER deal for 7-years and $130.2 million. Cano had a .387 wOBA last season with 33 HR and 103 RBI

OF Carlos Quentin inked a 6-year $106.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels

12/5 FREE AGENT SIGNINGS:
In a total head-scratcher, the Chicago White Sox signed OF Shane Victorino to a 6-year contract for $100.8 million through the 2018 season.

12/5 TRADE NEWS:
After signing Shane Victorino, the White Sox sent 27-year old OF Yoenis Cespedes (acquired in a 2012 trade w/Oakland), and $1 million cash, to the Diamondbacks for 30-year old OF Jason Kubel and 22-year old RP Eury De La Rosa

12/6 TRADE NEWS:
Philadelphia sends SP Vance Worley to the Red Sox for P Matt Barnes and IF Garin Cecchini. Worley was 9-11 last season with the Phillies.

12/7 TRADE NEWS:
We sent SS Derek Dietrich and SP Enny Romero to the San Diego Padres. In return we received IF Logan Forsythe. Forsythe is a better option, defensively, for us at 2B than either Sean Rodriguez or Elliot Johnson.

12/8 FREE AGENT SIGNING:
The Houston Astros win the Mike Napoli sweepstakes by signing Napoli to a 4-year $70+ million deal.

12/10 FREE AGENT SIGNING
Former Ray BJ Upton inked a 5-year $82 million deal with the San Francisco Giants on Monday. Upton spent his entire career with Tampa Bay before signing with the Giants. Fans in Tampa are upset by the move and fan interest in the team has reportedly decreased quite a bit.

12/10 INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENT
We signed Japanese OF Okitsugu Aoki to a 1-year minor league deal. Aoki has tremendous defensive ability and speed that he may make a solid defensive replacement or pinch-runner for us once he reaches the big league level.

 

[RyanLeaf16]

WINTER MEETINGS:
We had a couple of different trade offers as the Winter Meetings opened. It was well known that we needed a first baseman heading into the season and we got a few offers as we were checking into the Gaylord Opryland. One from Texas centered around Mitch Moreland, but, they were asking for too much back. The others came from Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Both are intriguing and are being considered.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
The Angels made the first signing of the meetings as they inked Carlos Zambrano to a 5-year $45.6 million deal. Zambrano was 12-12 last year with the Marlins.

Not to be outdone, the Dodgers quickly announced the signing of Kevin Youkilis to a 4-year $44.2 million deal. The fourth year of the contract is a vesting option the kicks in with 550 plate appearance in the third year of the deal. Youkilis experienced a drop in his wOBA to a career-low .329 last year.

Former Royal Jonathan Sanchez signed a deal late Monday night with the Cleveland Indians for 3-years and $19.2 million. Sanchez was 12-12 with Kansas City last year.

TRADE NEWS
A trade between division rivals, the Dodgers & Rockies, took place on Monday night with the Rockies sending OF Michael Cuddyer to Los Angeles and the Dodgers sending IF Juan Uribe to Colorado.

In a surprising move, the Detroit Tigers sent C Victor Martinez to the Texas Rangers last night in exchange for 39-year old 3B Casey Blake and 18-year old IF, and top prospect, Ronald Guzman.

The Yankees bolstered their starting rotation by adding Jair Jurrjens in a deal with Atlanta. In return, the Braves received C Francisco Cervelli and 3B Dante Bichette Jr. Jurrjens went 7-10 last year with Atlanta.
END OF WINTER MEETINGS

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
We were able to complete the signing of three players today. We inked IF Elian Herrera to a 2-year deal, AJ Pierzynski to a 1-year deal and we brought back Casey Kotchman on a 2-year contract. All three players provide defensive upgrades at the position and should provide some more offense to our club.