To bring a title to Wrigley

[twinsGM]

It started in November 2007, when Cubs management decided they needed to mix things up. Their current approach just wasn't working. They were always running the team by traditional ways, and with the success of the new-thinking Boston Red Sox, they wanted the same approach. They fired their chief of scouting and hired a new one, along with 10 others. After other front office members were removed and replaced, it was time for the biggest piece:
the GM. Their top candidates were:
Paul DePesto, Billy Beane's former Assistant and Dodgers GM.
Sig Mejdal Lacks experience, but knows a lot about running ballplayers and stats.
Chuck Lumarsa also lacks experience, but was a big-time assistant with the A's in 2002-2006, and helped rotoworld.com in 2007. The 35-year Lumarsa was the one the Cubs ownership thought would bring them a title in 2008....

[twinsGM]

After I was part of a phone interview that lasted 25 minutes, I waited n my house for 5 days for a call back. It seemed like a whole year, just sitting there, studying up on the Cubs roster for hours, knowledge I hoped I would need to use in the near future. One day while I was checking sportscenter, my phone rang. It was the Cubs, and they had hired me.
My contract was for 3 years, and my main goal was to win the World Series. If i did win it, I could get an extension worth almost twice as much as my current one, but if not, I would have to leave and find work elsewhere.

Day 1 on the Job:


I see Soriano not as a leadoff, but as a 2 hitter, partly because the Cubs already have 2 great power hitters at 3 and 4, and the 5th spot would not give him as many ABs as I would like. Soriano is not a leadoff anymore with his non-existent speed, with Theriot would be better there, even though he is not my favorite as a leadoff. Here is the "Depth Chart", or trading guide I made (for position Players)

Positions we have (don't need):
Catcher
first base
third base
left field
right field
center field

Positions we Need:
second base
shortstop


Pitching:

We have:
1st starter
2nd starter
3rd starter
4th starter
Closer
Setup
short relief

We need:
5th starter
Short relief
middle relief
long relief

[twinsGM]

Preseason Moves:
CHC Traded Ascanio, Jose (P) and Veal, Donald (P) to BOS for Ramirez, Manny (LF) and $1,000,000

CHC changes Ramirez, Manny from LF to CF

(Makes him an 87/99, but improves his vitals a ton, with a 9 pwoer now and 99 speed, and 97 eye)

CHC changed Cedeno, Ronny from SS to 2B.
(Keeps him pretty much the same)

CHC traded Samardzija, jeff (P), Blanco, Henry (C) and $1,500,000 to FLA for Jacobs, Mike (1B) and Uggla, Dan (2B)

(Get my second baseman and a good bench player, maybe even the starting first baseman. Don't need specs, as I'm trying to win now.)

CHC traded Mateo, Juan (P) for Cormier, Lance (P) and $500,000

(I get my 5th starter, who's closer to MLB than Mateo, and I get some cash also)

That's good for now, so it's time to begin the season.

NOTE: Sims will be done one week at a time.

[twinsGM]

Sim 1:

Standings:
W L GB
Cubs 6-0 -
Reds 4-2-2
Pirates 3-3-3
Cards 2-4-4
Astros 2-4-4
Brewers 1-5-5

6-0 is a great start, but there still LOTS of baseball to be played.

Soriano and Zambrano were the 2 leaders, Soriano hitting 4 homeruns, and scoring 9 runs, and Carlos is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA, and 18 K's in 13.2 innings. (but 11 walks)

No need for changes right now, so sim 2 is coming up right now!

[twinsGM]

LINEUP:
1. Ryan Theriot SS
2. Alfonso Soriano LF
3. Aramis Ramirez 3B
4. Manny Ramirez LF
5. Kosuke Fukudome RF
6. Derrek Lee 1B
7. Geovany Soto C
8. Dan Uggla 2B
9. PITCHER SLOT

I am concerned about 7 of 8 hitters being righties, and as the season progresses, I will find the hitter most worthy of being traded for a lefty batter.

[twinsGM]

SIM 2:

Standings:

Cubs 10--2---
Reds 8--4--2
Astros 6--6--4
Pirates 4-8--6
Brewers 4-8-6
Cards 4--8-6

We continued our great play, as Soriano hit another 4 homeruns, now tied for the league lead at 8. He seems to hit well in the 2 spot, but only 15 RBI is showing he could get a lot more RBI. Aramis is not hitting as well, so for one week, Alfonso and Aramis will be switching spots in the lineup. Manny is th eonly one struggling, with a .233 average, but his OBP is .431, and 3 homeruns/ 11 RBI.

Ted Lilly has a 0.56 ERA, and is 2-0 with 12 Ks in 16 innings, and only 3 walks.

SIM 3:

Cubs 14-4 -
Reds 10-8 - 4
Astros 9-9-5
Pirates 7-11-7
Cards 7-11-7
Brewers 7-11-7

The team average remained above .300, now at .316, and Ted Lilly added 1.01 points to his ERA, now at 1.57.

Soriano added just 1 HR to his total, and Theriot is now at 5 SBs on the season. With the recent success, I'm keeping my almost all-righty lineup, but that may change this time next month.
Manny is now at .270, with 5 homeruns, so he's improving, and the rest of the lineup looks good.

I moved Ted Lilly up to the 2nd spot to get him an extra start if he stays healthy all season.

MOVES:

CHC sent down Donald Veal and called up Lance Cormier to the Long relief role.

CHC sent down Wood, Kerry (injured for 4 days) and called up Hart, Kevin to the middle relief role.

on to sim 4...

[twinsGM]

Sim 4 didn't go so well, but we're still in 1st place. The Cubs got more losses in that week than the other 3 combined.

Cubs 15-9 -
Reds 14-10-1
Astros 13-11-2
Cards 11-13-4
Brewers 11-14-4.5
Pirates 9-15-6

Soriano hit another 3, with 12 homeruns now, with 1 game still left in April. Lilly is still the team leader in ERA, with a 2.17 ERA, but Zambrano didn't win in this last week.

Our new strategy includes stealing more, as we haven't been doing that at all, even though we have a very fast leadoff man. We're going to take less extra bases though, since we have lots of big hitters and only a few guys that are fast.

My 2 newest call-ups didn't get much action, with only 1 inning by Hart ( a scoreless one with 2 K's).

SIM 6:

We still cling to our 1-game lead:
Cubs 23-13-
Astros 22-15-1.5
Reds 19-17-4
Brewers 17-20-6.5
Pirates 15-21-8
Cards 14-23-9.5

Ted Lilly's ERA is 1.66, still leading the league, and Soriano is now 4th with 13 HRs, 9 behind the lead of Howard.
Aramis Ramirez (.418) and Derrek Lee (.400) are 2nd and 3rd in the majors in avg, while Zambrano is tied for 1st in wins.

Theriot has stolen more bases, now with 9, and Lee now has 12 homeruns and 39 RBI from the sixth spot.
Manny is still hitting .258, and to see how he'll respond, he will be switched with Derrek Lee now.

Marmol is out for 11 days, so Guzman will now close the games for the next week and a half.

Here's the trade I made to bolster the bullpen:

CHC traded Gallagher, Sean (P), Patterson, Eric (2B), Murton, Matt (LF), Pawelek, Mark (P) and $1,000,000 to BOS for Delcarmen, Manny (P) and Okajima, Hideki (P)

[twinsGM]

Trade Log:

1. CHC Traded Ascanio, Jose (P) and Veal, Donald (P) to BOS for Ramirez, Manny (LF) and $1,000,000


2. CHC traded Samardzija, jeff (P), Blanco, Henry (C) and $1,500,000 to FLA for Jacobs, Mike (1B) and Uggla, Dan (2B)

3. CHC traded Mateo, Juan (P) for Cormier, Lance (P) and $500,000

4. CHC traded Gallagher, Sean (P), Patterson, Eric (2B), Murton, Matt (LF), Pawelek, Mark (P) and $1,000,000 to BOS for Delcarmen, Manny (P) and Okajima, Hideki (P)

5. CHC traded Closser, J.D. (C) and Atkins, Mitch (P) to FLA for Ross, Cody (OF)

6. CHC traded Cedeno, Ronny (2B), Reynolds, Kyle (3B), Torres, Andres (LF), Hill Koyie (C), and Huseby, Chris (P) to ARI for pena, Tony (P)

7. CHC traded Lieber, Jon (P), Fontenot, Mike (P), Blanco, Andres (SS), Colvin, Tyler (CF), Jackson, Lewis (SS) to CLE for Shoppach, Kelly (C)

8.CHC traded Marquis, Jason (P), Holliman, Mark (P), Marshall, Sean (P), Qunitero, Ramon (P) and Casmpusano, Edward (P) to COL for Jimenez, Ubaldo (P), Nix, Jayson (2B), Stewart, Ian (3B) and Smith, Seth (RF)

9. CHC traded Petrick, Billy (P), Gomez, Danny (P) and Hart, kevin (P) to HOU for Taveras, Willy (CF) and $6,500,000

[twinsGM]

SIM 7:

Cubs 26-16 -
Reds 24-18 2
Astros 23-20 3.5
Brewers 20-23 6.5
Cards 18-25 8.5
Pirates 17-25 9

Here's my lineup with stats (AVG/HR/RBI/SB)

1. Ryan Theriot .282/2/16/9
2. Alfonso Soriano .302/15/28/3
3. Aramis Ramirez .401/12/33/0
4. Derrek Lee .388/13/43/1
5. Kosuke Fukudome.273/5/18/0
6. Manny Ramirez .256/8/23/0
7. Geovany Soto .288/4/15/1
8. Dan Uggla .268/8/22/0


Roster Moves for upcoming week:

Sent down Bobby Howry, Called up Hideki Okijima

Sent down Kevin Hart, Called up Manny Delcarmen

Sent Down Sam Fuld, called up Ryan Harvey

[twinsGM]

I was proposed a trade by the Marlins, and tweaked it a bit, and brought in a new bench player:

CHC traded Closser, J.D. (C) and Atkins, Mitch (P) to FLA for Ross, Cody (OF)


For sim 8:
Cubs 31-17 -
Astros 28-21 3.5
Reds 26-22 5
Brewers 24-25 7.5
Cards 19-30--12.5
Pirates 18-30 13

Derrek Lee is now tied with Soriano for the team lead in HRs, with 16 each.
Lee now has 56 RBI and a .384 AVG, making him one of the best hitters in the league right now. Manny is stil stuck in the .250's, and has not added a homer to his total in the past week.

My bench is now overflowing and I need to cash some of those players in for a RP.

And the DBacks were interested. I gave up some spare parts (ones I didn't need) in exchange for a solid RP.

CHC traded Cedeno, Ronny (2B), Reynolds, Kyle (3B), Torres, Andres (LF), Hill Koyie (C), and Huseby, Chris (P) to ARI for pena, Tony (P)

Michael Wuertz was then sent down to make room for Tony Pena.

[twinsGM]

Manny has tanked so bad in rating for whatever reason, and is now benched (with a 12-day injury) for the up-and-comer Felix Pie. This move may be permanent while I try to find someone to deal Manny to in exchange for a Lefty bat.

SIM 8:

Lee now has 18 homers and 62 RBI, with a .385 AVG.

Cubs 35-19-
Astros 32-23 3.5
reds 29-25 6
Brewers 27-28-8.5
Cards 23-32-12.5
Pirates 19-35-16

More coming tomorrow!

[filihok]

Manny has tanked so bad in rating for whatever reason

Maybe because he's a 36 year old left-fielder that you moved to center field

[twinsGM]

SIM 10

I switched Ryan Dempster to Long relief, making Lance Cormier the 5th starter.
Marmol is back at closer.


DRAFT PICKS:
1st Round 19th OVR: Trevor Davis RP 17 49/97
2nd Round 49th OVR: Troy Buller SP 16 50/91
3rd Round 79th OVR: Ramon Qunitero RP 17 49/87



In Week 14 I traded for my newest backup catcher:

CHC traded Lieber, Jon (P), Fontenot, Mike (P), Blanco, Andres (SS), Colvin, Tyler (CF), Jackson, Lewis (SS) to CLE for Shoppach, Kelly (C)

All-Stars:
Derrek Lee was my only position player, but Soriano should of been in it. Lee went 0-2 in the game, and Lilly went .1 innings allowing a run and striking out one.

By the end of the season, here were the standings:

Cubs 100--62--
Reds 84--78--16
Brewers 84--78--16
Cards 83-79-17
Astros 80-82-20
Pirates 72-90-28

Soriano led the majors with 51 Homeruns (Teixeira had 49), Lee was 4th in average at .335, and Zambrano led the league in ERA (2.67) and was second in wins (18)

Here's the lineup's stats:
---------------AVG----HR----SB---RBI----
Felix Pie------.259---14-----23----45
Alfonso Soriano .292---52---31----120
Aramis Ramirez .287---31---0-----87
Derrek Lee .335---37----6---119
Kosuke Fukudome .271--12---0--62
Geovany Soto .284---12---1---55
Dan Uggla .260---29----0---85
Ryan Theriot .238---2------32--26


Sorry for skipping ahead so far, but I really had no moves to make, and my team was in first every day this season.

1st round of the playoffs (vs. Rockies) coming in a few minutes.

[twinsGM]

Maybe because he's a 36 year old left-fielder that you moved to center field

Yeah, that was dumb on my part.

[twinsGM]

Game 1

Ted Lilly vs. Aaron Cook

****** 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--FINAL
Rockies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Cubs 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4

3rd- Dan Uggla doubled, scoring Ryan Theriot
5th- Alfonso Soriano singled, scoring Theriot
9th- Dan Uggla hit a walk-off Homerun

Lilly- 8 IP no ER, 6H

Game 2

Rich Hill vs. Jeff Francis

***** 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--FINAL
Rockies 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6
Cubs 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4


Hill- 5 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 4 K, 102 PIT
Wuertz- 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 K, 39 PIT
Guzman- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K, 16 PIT
Okijima- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 0 K, 21 PIT