Tampa Bay Devil Rays Owner Mode

[goose]

I started this dynasty about the time spring training started, so my rosters are up to date as of then. Of course in the 2+ months of the dynasty the rostes have obiviously changed a little.

Also it seems I really really jinxed Alomar.Since ending the streak of 14 he has gone 0-11. Lowering his average to .302. 8O

Dropped 2 of the 3 to the reds.Will post a major update after the series with the Pirates.

[goose]

Quick Update:

During the first inning of game 1 against the Pirates my Ace Hendrickson took a liner off his foot, fracturing it. He is out for 22 games now 8O . Sosa came in and pitched 5 innings and gave up 1 run to get the win. He is now 5-0.And because of his uncanny ability to come in emergency situations and pitch well I awarded him the #1 spot until Hendrickson is healthy.After putting Hendrickson on the 15 day dl I promoted Cassey Fossum who was 2-3 with a 2.23 era and 50 K's.He is taking Sosa's spot in long relief.

Also I got a message saying that I',m negative 5 million in the bank and the financial advisor warned me. WTF! Screw you buddy, maybe if you guys wouldnt take money from me during away games or actually had a balanced schedule instead of 6 home games and 9 away games then I wouldnt be losing money ***hole! If I get fired after this season I am going to be pissed!!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Yessie4200]

yeah owner mode is hard. 1st yr M's franchise i came out 2 mill positive. and thats after i cut my payroll from 118 to 105mill. i might start a real owner mode once the real season begins. and i might post. havent decided yet. 8)

[goose]

Year 1-June 13

42-21: 6.5 games ahead of the Yankees

LF: Carl Crawford-.277 1 HR 12 RBI 47 SB(Leads MLB in 3B, SB, 3rd in Runs scored)

CF: Rocco Baldelli-.285 5 HR 25 RBI 40 SB

1B: Aubrey Huff-.332 7 HR 31 RBI

RF: Danny Bautista-.294 4 HR 44 RBI

2B: Roberto Alomar-.298 1 HR 16 RBI 14 SB

DH: Travis Lee-.302 1 HR 18 RBI

3B: Alex S. Gonzalez-.242 0 HR 14 RBI(9 day DL with strained rib cage)

SS: Julio Lugo-.262 0 HR 19 RBI 27 SB

C: Toby Hall-.204 1 HR 13 RBI

Bench:

Tom Wilson-.182 0 HR 1 RBI

Brian Buchanan-.341 0 HR 3 RBI 1 SB

Josh Phelps-.259 2 HR 9 RBI

B.J Upton-.221 1 HR 9 RBI 29 SB

Joey Gathright-.208 0 HR 0 RBI 8 SB

Rotation:

1-Mark Hendrickson 6-3 1.48 era 56 k (22 day DL with fractured foot)

2-Dewon Brazelton 6-4 3.43 era 67 k

3-Scott Kazmir 6-5 3.20 era 58 k

4-Robert Bell 7-1 1.43 era 61 k

5-Doug Weatcher 6-4 3.38 era 46 k

Bullpen:

LRP-Travis Harper 0-0 0.34 era 14 k 1 save

LRP-Jorge Sosa 5-0 1.51 era 20 K(currently in the starting rotation)

LRP- Cassey Fossum- 0-0 0.00 era 0 K (No appearances yet)

MRP-Lance Carter 3-2 1.82 era 22 k

MRP-Jesus Colome 1-2 3.04 era 21 k

SU-Trever Miller 1-0 2.00 era 11 k 2 saves

Closer-Danny Baez 1-0 0.95 era 10 k 18 saves( 4th in saves)

Finances:

Revenue-$25.8M

Expenses-$36.5M

Income-(-)$10.7M

Bank-(-)$5.68 M

Payroll-$71 Million

Level 2 Seating-25000 capacity: 1 sold out game (Average 21058)

Ice Cream

Pop Corn

Pizza

[APR]

I see that you don't have many homeruns. 23 in 63 games. But I guess it doesnt matter when your pitching is amazing.

[goose]

Yeh I seem to have some trouble hitting homers in this game on all star. Pushing up and whatnot doesnt do it for me because when I start doing that I get impatient and more often then not I get out because I start swing at every pitch.About the only time I hit homers is when the timing is perfect on a high fastball.

And the funny thing is I have the human power at +50 :mrgreen:

And yeh the pitching has really helped me, if it wasnt for the pitching and the speed I would be in dead last.

[goose]

Quick update:

Sosa made his first spot start today. Went 7 innings struck out 4,walked 1 and got a no decision in a 3-2 loss to the Brewers.Cassey Fossum also made his first appearance pitching the 8th and 9th innings. He struck out the first batter he faced then gave up what ended up to be a game winning homer to Junior Spivey.

On the hitting side of things Huff has a 10 game hitting streak going and is real hot hitting .333 now.Lee also is hitting well with a .324 average. Bautista and Alomar are both at .302.

Also I looked at my home and away splits and the Devil Rays really seem to like the new stadium

44-22

Home:25-8

Away:19-14

edit to add:

Had my second sell out game against the Cardinals. 25000 turned out to see my lose 3-2 and to see Jim edmonds hit 3 solo blasts and almost hit a fourth one that was caught at the track.

[APR]

Quick update:

Sosa made his first spot start today. Went 7 innings struck out 4,walked 1 and got a no decision in a 3-2 loss to the Brewers.Cassey Fossum also made his first appearance pitching the 8th and 9th innings. He struck out the first batter he faced then gave up what ended up to be a game winning homer to Junior Spivey.

On the hitting side of things Huff has a 10 game hitting streak going and is real hot hitting .333 now.Lee also is hitting well with a .324 average. Bautista and Alomar are both at .302.

Also I looked at my home and away splits and the Devil Rays really seem to like the new stadium

44-22

Home:25-8

Away:19-14

edit to add:

Had my second sell out game against the Cardinals. 25000 turned out to see my lose 3-2 and to see Jim edmonds hit 3 solo blasts and almost hit a fourth one that was caught at the track.

That's amazing that there is such a big discrepency between your home and away records.

[goose]

Year 1-June 24

45-28: 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees

LF: Carl Crawford-.281 1 HR 16 RBI 55 SB(Leads MLB in 3B, SB, 5th in Runs scored)

CF: Rocco Baldelli-.272 5 HR 31 RBI 44 SB(3rd in SB)

1B: Aubrey Huff-.331 7 HR 34 RBI

RF: Danny Bautista-.293 4 HR 47 RBI

2B: Roberto Alomar-.309 1 HR 19 RBI 16 SB

DH: Travis Lee-.325 1 HR 26 RBI

3B: Alex S. Gonzalez-.247 0 HR 15 RBI

SS: Julio Lugo-.240 0 HR 19 RBI 29 SB(6th in SB)

C: Toby Hall-.219 1 HR 16 RBI

Bench:

Tom Wilson-.158 0 HR 1 RBI

Brian Buchanan-.304 0 HR 3 RBI 1 SB

Josh Phelps-.257 2 HR 9 RBI

B.J Upton-.216 1 HR 11 RBI 34 SB(5th in SB)

Joey Gathright-.214 0 HR 0 RBI 11 SB

Rotation:

1-Mark Hendrickson 6-3 1.48 Era 56 k (22 day DL with fractured foot)

2-Dewon Brazelton 6-6 3.92 Era 75 k

3-Scott Kazmir 6-7 3.56 Era 65 k

4-Robert Bell 8-2 1.87 Era 67 k(5th in Wins, 4th in Era)

5-Doug Weatcher 6-4 3.49 Era 52 k

Bullpen:

LRP-Travis Harper 1-0 0.61 Era 15 k 1 save(Lowest Era, avg against in MLB)

LRP-Jorge Sosa 5-0 2.03 era 24 K(currently in the starting rotation)

LRP- Cassey Fossum- 1-1 4.00 era 5 K

MRP-Lance Carter 3-2 3.25 era 25 k

MRP-Jesus Colome 1-3 4.18 era 22 k

SU-Trever Miller 1-0 2.22 era 15 k 2 saves

Closer-Danny Baez 1-0 1.31 era 11 k 19 saves( 4th in saves)

Finances:

Revenue-$30.9M

Expenses-$41.2M

Income-(-)$10.3M

Bank-(-)$5.30 M

Payroll-$71 Million

Level 2 Seating-25000 capacity: 2 sold out games (Average 20602)

Ice Cream

Pop Corn

Pizza

Well it's been sort of a rough month for the Devil Rays so far. 9-11 in the month as of now. After losing the last game against the brewers I suffered my first sweep of the year at the hand of the Cardinals. Then lost 3 out of 4 to the Yankees. Including the worst loss of the year (13-0) 8O The main reason I had so much trouble against the yanks and the cardinals is that I couldnt keep them in the park. I gave up 4 homers to the cardinals and 11 homers to the yanks.

The pitching has kinda came down to earth except for Bell and Harper.Bell is having almost a Santana like first half and should make the all star game and Harper is my best set up man.

On the hitting side of things Aubrey Huff had a 16 game hitting streak going which was broken in the final games against the yanks.

Speaking of hitting streaks Roberto Alomar now has 490 stolen bases, needing only 10 to reach 500.

Edit to add:

Next major update will come at the end of June.

[APR]

Looks like you got yourself a Pennant Race!!!

[goose]

So Travis Harper took a weak grounder off his foot and fractured it, hes out for 22 days.

I'm really getting pissed off with how easily pitchers get injured :evil:

So I turned the pitcher injury to - 50.

The screwed up thing is that now he won't be in the all star game :x

Good news for Cassey Fossum though because Hendrickson comes off the 15 day dl tommorow so he gets another two weeks with the big club.

[goose]

Quick update:

suffered my second sweep in 3 series by the hands of the Marlins.Lost 6 in a row which is a season worst, and have lost 11 out of my last 15. The Devil Rays are acting like the Devil Rays right now :? .

On the bright side though the Marlins series carried a 7/10 impact so I raised my ticket prices about $20 and cleared the 1 million dollar mark on the last game despite losing all three.

Yanks also were swept in three games so they are still 3.5 back, although the red sox have won 3 in a row and are 4 back and a half game back of the yanks.

[APR]

Now it definitely looks you have got yourself a pennant race on your hands.

[goose]

The pitching showed signs that it's still alive as Dewon Brazelton pitches a 6 hit shutout as the Devil Rays snap their 6 game losing streak with a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays. The complete game by Brazelton is a welcome site as my bullpen really needed the rest.

Josh Phelps started at first base for the first time in 2 months to give Huff the night off, going 2-4 with a 2 run homer in the 4th. Good to know I got some power on the bench. :wink:

The Yanks mean while are still unable to string winning streaks together and have lost 4 in a row, red sox meanwhile had won 5 in a row and for the first time move past the yankees and into the wildcard lead. They are 4 games back while the yanks are 4.5 back.

[goose]

Year 1-July 1st

47-32: 4.5 games ahead of the Yankees, 5.0 ahead of Red Sox.

LF: Carl Crawford-.281 1 HR 19 RBI 60 SB(Leads MLB in 3B, SB, 5th in Runs scored)

CF: Rocco Baldelli-.277 5 HR 34 RBI 48 SB(2nd in SB)

1B: Aubrey Huff-.333 8 HR 40 RBI(10th in BA)

RF: Danny Bautista-.282 4 HR 47 RBI

2B: Roberto Alomar-.308 1 HR 20 RBI 22 SB(7th in SB)

DH: Travis Lee-.333 2 HR 31 RBI

3B: Alex S. Gonzalez-.251 0 HR 16 RBI

SS: Julio Lugo-.236 0 HR 19 RBI 31 SB(6th in SB)

C: Toby Hall-.211 1 HR 19 RBI

Bench:

Tom Wilson-.136 0 HR 1 RBI

Brian Buchanan-.304 0 HR 3 RBI 1 SB

Josh Phelps-.272 3 HR 11 RBI

B.J Upton-.208 1 HR 11 RBI 35 SB(5th in SB)

Joey Gathright-.207 0 HR 0 RBI 11 SB

Rotation:

1-Mark Hendrickson 6-3 1.48 Era 56 k (22 day DL with fractured foot)(2nd in era,average against,tied for 2nd in shutouts)

2-Dewon Brazelton 7-6 3.59 Era 80 k

3-Scott Kazmir 6-8 3.52 Era 67 k

4-Robert Bell 9-2 2.13 Era 74 k(tied for 2nd in Wins, 5th in Era)

5-Doug Weatcher 6-5 3.36 Era 55 k

Bullpen:

LRP-Travis Harper 1-0 0.60 Era 15 k 1 save(22 day DL with fractured foot)

LRP-Jorge Sosa 5-0 2.35 era 28 K(currently in the starting rotation)

LRP- Cassey Fossum- 1-2 3.38 era 10 K

MRP-Lance Carter 3-3 3.00 era 28 k

MRP-Jesus Colome 1-3 4.05 era 22 k

SU-Trever Miller 1-0 2.31 era 17 k 2 saves

Closer-Danny Baez 1-0 1.31 era 11 k 19 saves( 8th in saves)

Finances:

Revenue-$36.4M

Expenses-$44.2M

Income-(-)$7.82M

Bank-(-)$2.82 M

Payroll-$71 Million

Level 2 Seating-25000 capacity: 2 sold out games (Average 20756)

Ice Cream

Pop Corn

Pizza

Well I ended the month of June on a positive note, taking 2 of 3 from Toronto, although I ended up with a 11-15 record in June. Some good news though as my ace comes off the DL tommorow and will make his next start. I noticed that when you put players and take them off the dl then appear and reappear respectivly on the leader board.

Roberto Alomar is jsut 4 stolen bases away from the 500 milestone. But once he reaches that milestone his stolen base rate will decline as I am going to run him less. The reason is that although he has 22 stolen bases he has been caught 12 times, which is the highest on my team, and generally when he does it caught it hurts me. Carl Crawford leads all of baseball with 60 steals, while getting caught 10 times, he is on pace to steal 123 bases. 8O Gathright has my best steal ratio, stealing 11 and only being caught once.

On the pitching side of things Bell won his 9th game and has two starts in which to try to reach 10 before the break. He is on pace to win 22, although I doubt he will.

On the hitting side of things Travis Lee has a 10 game hitting streak and Aubrey Huff is ranked 10th in average in the MLB.

I made a few roster moves once the month got over. I promoted Gerald Dreifort from A ball to AA and demoted J.Garrick from AA to A.Gerald was 7-3 with a 1.96 era and 68 K's.Garrick was an ugly 1-13 with a 5.84 era and 66k's. I also promoted my CAP from AA to AAA and demoted Brandon Larson from AAA to AA. The CAP was batting .295 with 13 homers and 37 rbi, while Larson was batting .246 with 3 homers and 20 rbi. All of these are at the reccomendations of my coaches.

I'll be glad to put June behind me and I hope I have a better July. Next major update will come at the All Star Break. There will be 3 updates. One will be a first half recap.The Second will be my own little Home Run Derby, and the Third will be of the All Star Game itself.

[APR]

I predict a good month of July for you and the D'Rays. Maybe by the end of the season one of your players will hit 20 longballs.

[goose]

Maybe, one of my goals before the month is over is to pick up a big bat so we'll see.

[APR]

Maybe, one of my goals before the month is over is to pick up a big bat so we'll see.

Good Idea, maybe you could get a package deal for a catcher???

[goose]

That's what I'm gonna attempt.

Any suggestions?

[Wolverineman]

Toby Hall and a couple prospects for Victor Martinez would be a good try. Switch hitting, young, and has power. I haven't done enough trading in 2005 when I've played it(my friend has a ps2 and mvp2005), but it'd make sense that if the Tigers are doing bad, you could get I-Rod probably. You'd have to add some salary obviously, and might have to send some salary back at them to make it work, but he'd definatelly give you what you need. Those would be the only two 'big bat' catchers that I'd look to get.

If that doesn't work, my suggestion would be to trade Baldelli for a power hitting CF/LF(You can move Crawford to CF, where he would be better IMO). It looks like Alomar could fit in great as your 2 hitter. I dont really know the money situation or how it works in Owner mode to suggest anyone as of now, so I can't suggest who to get, but theres enough out there I think you coulf find a good fit.

[goose]

Theorraticly the money for spending on players in unlimited.You can spend as much as you want, but the more you spend the higher your payroll is, and the higher your payroll is the higher day to day expenses are, which means more money taken away during away games and less money made at home.

So its a tradeoff.I have been looking at Martinez. I was thinking of maybe trading Toby Hall/ and or Tom Wilson, and maybe B.J Upton and some lower level prospect for him. I don't know. I don't think I want Pudge, he's too old.

Regardless. I'm not going to make any moves till after the all star break.

[goose]

Hendrickson made his first start since coming off the DL. He went 7 innings giving up 5 hits, 1 earned run, struck out 4 and got a no decision in what turned out to be the longest game I played all year. A 16 inning affair that finally ended with me getting a 3-2 win. Jesus Colome ended up getting the W.

On a related note that game caused me to change my mind about making a move. I brung in Tom Wilson to catch in the 7th inning because I pinch ran for Hall after he doubled. If 4 at bats since he went 0-4.In 3 of those at bats furing extra innings he had a chance to drive in the go ahead run standing at third with two outs and instead either poped up or grounded out. That lowered his average down to .190.

That was the straw that broke the camels back.I knew right there I needed to make a move.

So after an hour of intense trade negotations with the Cleveland Indians and after looking at what they needed, what I was willing to give up, and what was going to work(they rejected about 20 of my offers) I finally reached a deal. My second trade of the season was:

Starting Pitcher Scott Kazmir for Catcher Victor Martinez.

Martienez should provide a power boost for me as well as a much higher average than the other two catchers I had. And Kazmir should help out the Indians rotation and help put them back into contention.

Martinez: .290 7 homers 26 rbi

Kazmir: 6-8 3.52 era 67 k

I then released Tom Wilson:twisted:

Wilson:.190 0 homers 1 rbi :x

As a result of Kazmir being traded I then put Cassey Fossum in the rotation. He has put up solid numbers and I think he deserves a shot. :mrgreen:

Also during negotions I came across something shocking. Danny Neagle(a starting pitcher for my AAA team) has a contract for 10.2 million for one year.Neagle is 3-4 with a 3.11 era and 61 k's. Solid numbers yes but hardly worth the 10.2 million a year. I believe that is the highest contract on the team 8O

But with solid numbers like that should I release him :?: Also he is 36 years old.

[Wolverineman]

I'd see if I could trade him to anyone for anything. Dropping him you'll have to pay some of his salary(I forget the %s). If you can find someone that'll take his salary on you'll be in better shape. Though from what I've read in other threads, it may be impossible to make a deal with him unless you get $10mil in return. I would probaby spend a couple hours trying to deal Neagle for two guys who make $5mil, then trade them for lesser $$ players to the point where you could release them for little damage and/or have a few guys to stick at AA and A ball.

[Kelvarr]

I'd see if I could trade him to anyone for anything. Dropping him you'll have to pay some of his salary(I forget the %s). If you can find someone that'll take his salary on you'll be in better shape. Though from what I've read in other threads, it may be impossible to make a deal with him unless you get $10mil in return. I would probaby spend a couple hours trying to deal Neagle for two guys who make $5mil, then trade them for lesser $$ players to the point where you could release them for little damage and/or have a few guys to stick at AA and A ball.

For what it is worth, you can trade Neagle, Huff and Nomo to the Yankees for A-Rod and Wright

[Wolverineman]

That is incredibly strange. That'd definatelly give goose the power he needs. Though I doubt he'd want A-Rod's contract.