Expanding Westward: The Fresno Outlaws

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Since when does the A season end in July?

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Yeah, tell me about it. But whenever I ran sims he stopped playing games after July 9th, or so. Maybe it was because I was using the "Single Season Simulator" tool and it didn't update his stats. I think I'll leave him in A for my next couple series and then call him up to AA or AAA if he doesn't get any games at A in either of those series.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Edison Volquez heads west

Volquez joins Clayton Kershaw at the top of the Outlaws young starting rotation

The Outlaws added another piece to the puzzle with their most recent acquisition, that of talented righty Edison Volquez (82/88). The Outlaws will get Volquez in a shrewd deal, where they send first basemen Ross Gload (79), relief prospect Giovanni Garza (51/83), and starter Cha Seung Baek (74), as well as four million dollars in cash, for the talented righty.

Volquez was arguably the most talented of the once vaunted DVD trio that consisted of John Danks, Thomas Diamond, and Edison Volquez. Volquez has struggled up to this point in his career, posting a 5.55 ERA in 73 innings with Cincy so far this season, as well as a .295 BAA and 37 walks to 75 K's, but still possesses loads of potential, and was likely hurt in both Cincy and Texas by the hitter-friendly dimensions of the parks. Volquez has also fought control issues throughout his career, with 79 walks to 130 K's in 153 innings and a just plain awful BAA of .311 in his career. Despite all the negatives that Volquez carries with him at this point this is still an excellent trade for the Outlaws. They add another young potentially very good starter to the top of the rotation without giving up anything of significant value. Volquez does have a proficiency for striking batters out, 75 in 73 innings this season, and has a very good change up, as well as a decent fastball, and a developing slider. This trade gives the Outlaws a young, and potentially very, very good top three with Kershaw, Volquez, and Kuo.

Cincy really got little to nothing of value here. Garza is very young and years away from becoming anything, if he does at all. Gload is 32 years old and had been struggling badly this season, hitting only .240/.289/.383 on the season at the time of the trade with the Outlaws. Baek is far from something to write home about, with his .305 BAA and 23 walks to only 39 K's and 5.08 ERA in the majors this season. This was a really, really bad trade for the Reds, even if Volquez has struggled hes cheap and still has upside, at only 25 years old.


NOTE #1: As with all the other trades I've made this season, I made this one by putting that package on the trading block. The others ones were somewhat justifiable, but this one is probably the worst.

NOTE #2: This will be my last trade of the season, unless the CPU makes me an offer I absolutely can't refuse.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

That, my friend, is a textbook example of a term we experts use: "selling low".

Hello? Police? I'd like to report a robbery...

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

That, my friend, is a textbook example of a term we experts use: "selling low".

Hello? Police? I'd like to report a robbery...

Yeah, I realized thats what it was when I saw the 5.55 ERA. His vitals aren't that exciting (85 END, 68 CON, 88 POW, 69 MOV, 73 FASTBALL, 81 CHANGE, 67 SLIDER), but hes still young with upside, and its basically a no-risk move since I gave nothing of value. I think he'll do a lot better since he won't be pitching in a bandbox.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Plus Volquez is one of my favorite players, IRL .

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Fresno Outlaws All-Star Break Review

Center fielder Carl Crawford has ignited the teams offense all season with his 34 steals and .293/.330/.431 line as an Outlaw

Now that we've played through the All-Star Break and completed the first ninety games of the season, lets take a look at what transpired in the first half of the season, starting with trades the team made.


Outlaws get Clayton Kershaw from the Dodgers in exchange for Wandy Rodriguez and prospects

Los Angeles Dodgers side: They traded arguably the best pitching prospect in the game and it didn't look like they got much of value, especially after Wandy struggled his first few starts with the team, but Wandy is making this look like a decent trade for the Dodgers. Wandy is 8-6 with a 3.77 ERA since joininh the Dodgers, and has proven to be an excellent #3 starter, alongside Derek Lowe and Brad Penny. (In addition to getting a ratings boost that made him go from a 79 to an 83). The best of those prospects, Juan Enriquez has struggled to this point in Rookie Ball, post a 4.76 ERA in 70 innings of work, but the book is still out on him as he is only 17 years old and could prove to be just as good a prospect as Kershaw down the road. Craig Robb, the other prospect, has been very good in Rookie Ball, on the other hand, posting a 2.60 ERA and .140 BAA in 17 1/3 innings with the Ogden Raptors.

Fresno Outlaws side: The Outlaws got potentially the best left handed pitcher to come through the Dodgers since Sandy Koufax. The players they gave up have done well for the most part, but Kershaw has pitched fantastic as an Outlaw, leading the team in wins with nine, to 5 losses, posting an ERA of 4.26 and a BAA of .228 with the team. The book is still out on Kershaw as well, but if his latest run of 3.39 ERA in his last 10 starts is any indication, the Outlaws got a future Cy Young award winner in this one.

The Verdict: The Outlaws still win this one. The players the Dodgers got have done just fine, but Kershaw has shown his potential in full blast and has been surprisingly consistent with the Outlaws. Its just a matter of him putting it all together once and for all.


Outlaws get Carl Crawford from the Rays in exchange for LF/DH Barry Bonds, reliever Jesse Carlson, pitching prospect James Humphrey, and four million dollars

Tampa Bay Rays side: Tampa got a still great player in Bonds who should've added a lot of pop and OBP to the lineup, but has struggled with the team, hitting just .230/.362/.435, with nine homers and 38 RBI's. Carlson has been solid for the Rays, putting up a 3.71 ERA in 26 2/3 innings out of the 'pen, while posting a .206 BAA. Humphrey has struggled badly at every level hes pitched at, including a 6.30 ERA at AA, where he currently resides.

Fresno Outlaws side: The Outlaws got a great young building block for the future in Crawford. He leads the team in steals with 34 (to only eight caught stealing), as well as post a .293/.330/.431 line, with six homers, three triples, 14 doubles, and 81 hits in 276 at bats. At the time of the trade he was a fantastic defender in left, but the team recently converted him to a center fielder where he has been just as brilliant.

The Verdict: This one easily goes to the Outlaws. Barry hasn't performed up to expectation, and while Carlson has been a solid lefty out of the pen, he hasn't been nearly as good or valuable to the Rays as Crawford has to the Outlaws.


Outlaws get right fielder Travis Buck from the A's, for SP Darrell Rasner, outfielder Marcus Thames, catching prospect Cam Hales, and cash

Oakland A's side: At the time of the trade, the A's were getting one of the best pitchers in baseball since the season had started, as Rasner had posted a 2.59 ERA and .192 BAA with the Outlaws in 6 starts, but since he has struggled, putting up 4.79 ERA with a .245 BAA in 12 starts. Thames has been awful as well, hitting worse than he did with the Outlaws. Thames has hit just .233/.293/.373 with three homers and 17 RBI's in 150 AB's with the A's since the trade. Hales has floundered at AA, hitting .207/.255/.359 in 92 AB's.

Fresno Outlaws side: The Outlaws got who has been arguably their best hitter since his acquisition out of this trade, and gave up almost nothing. As an Outlaw, Buck has hit .317/.358/.517, along with leading the team in RBI's (50) and placing second in homers (8), and playing excellent defense in right field.

The Verdict: Outlaws still win this one easily. Buck has probably been the team's MVP since they got him, while everyone the A's got have flamed out.


The Outlaws did fantastic in all their trades. Through their trades they built up the great young core of players they have now with Buck, Crawford, Kershaw, and now Volquez. The trades have the team headed in the right direction, and have even helped the team to contend some this season.


NOTE #1: I didn't include the Volquez trade since I haven't even simmed a game since making that trade, and probably won't get to until tomorrow or late tonight.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Fresno Outlaws All-Star Break Review (cont'd)

Norris Hopper has been an excellent leadoff man for the Outlaws

Now lets take some time to breakdown the team itself, starting with the hitting.

Hitting:


#1 Norris Hopper (LF) - Hopper has been an extremely pleasant surprise this season. His batting average hasn't dipped below .300 at all this season and hes led the team in hitting most of the season. He doesn't walk a whole lot, but the way hes been getting on base with hits and contact have more than made up for it. He went through a bit of a slump recently that caused his batting average to drop 20 or 30 points, but hes been hitting well lately. Hes been stealing some bases and has scored a ton of runs for the team this season. Hes been easily one of our best contributors and if the team is to stay successful he will have to keep it up.

#2 Mark Sweeney (1B) - Sweeney has sat the bench most of the first portion of the season, occasionally pinch hitting or starting when somebody needed a day. However, theres no reason to think he can't do well in a starting role. He is an excellent contact hitter with a little pop and a good eye and should be your prototypical #2 hitter, minus the speed. His defense isn't great, below average at best, but the team is content to rely on him.

#3 Carl Crawford (CF) - Crawford has been one of the team's most important players all season. From the day he donned an Outlaws uniform he has been helping to spark the Outlaws offense with his speed and putting balls in play. He doesn't hit for a ton of power, but he should finish the year with a .300+ batting average, and he doesn't walk a whole lot but he'll steal us some bases and is an ignitor. Hes an excellent defender in center and should save us some runs as well.

#4 Travis Buck (RF) - Buck has probably been the single most important cog to this Outlaws team. Hes hit over .300 from the day he got here, drove in a ton of runs, played Gold Glove defense, and been a team leader. If not for Travis, the Outlaws would probably be sitting at the bottom of the division 15 games out with no hope and simply hoping to grab the #1 overall pick in next year's draft.

#5 Willy Aybar (3B) - Aybar has actually hit #2 much of the season, because of his uncanny ability to get on base. Hes been going through a major slump lately, hitting just .132 in his last 10 games, but the team thinks it was because he was tired and now with the All-Star Break in the past and him getting some time to get rested and rejuvenated, they think his average will jump back up to .300 and get back to being the Willy of old. His defense at the hot corner, on the other hand, has been ugly all season. He's mad 15 errors in 62 games at third, for a .923 fielding percent, but is second in the AL in Range Factor for third basemen, which could account for those errors.

#6 Dallas McPherson (DH) - McPherson started out the year as the team's starting third basemen, with Aybar at second, but got injured near the end of May and was eventually benched in favor of a Conrad - Aybar duo for 3B and 2B. But hes hit well in pinch hitting duty and developed a knack for getting hits when the team needs them most, and now with Gload gone he finds himself back in the starting lineup. He doesn't make contact very often, and he does strike out a lot, 45 in 130 AB's on the season, but when he does the ball flies.

#7 Brooks Conrad (2B) - Conrad took over at second when McPherson was injured in late April and his hit well ever since. He struggled when the team tried putting him in the three hole, so hes been dropped back down to #7 in the hopes of him regaining his .290 batting average. Even if he doesn't get that back, hes still going to hit a lot of home runs, walk a lot, and probably strikeout a lot too, but hes still a valuable piece to the team. However, its very likely that his talent is simply catching up with him and that he will never be a .280-.290 hitter again.

#8 Kevin Cash (C) - Cash is in the starting lineup for no other reason than that he is a Gold Glove defender at the most important defensive position on the field. The guy couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, and if the team had a better alternative he'd be playing.

#9 John McDonald (SS) - John is basically in the same boat as Cash, although the team appears to be more tolerant of his anemic offense. He is capable of stealing some bases and when his hits come they come in bunches. He does have top prospect Brandon Crawford knocking on the door, and the knocking is only going to get louder and louder the worse he hits and the later the season goes on.

If the team is going to stay in contention the bats can't afford to stay as good as they've been, they have to be better. The pitching leaves something to be desired, so if this team is going to contend for the rest of the season, or even make the playoffs, they'll have to slug their way there.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Fresno Outlaws All-Star Break Review (cont'd)

Young lefty Clayton Kershaw is emerging into the Ace the team expected him to become

The pitching is very, very young, and this season has clearly been a year of development and transition for the young staff.

Pitching:


SP#1 Clayton Kershaw - Despite Kershaw's age, just 20 years old, he has been a very, very good pitcher for the Outlaws this season, and has to be in the running for AL RoY. His ERA since joining the Outlaws is a respectable 4.26 with a .228 BAA. He has, however, walked 63 batters to 84 strikeouts, as well as hitting four batters and throwing a couple wild pitches. Despite that, he leads the team in wins with nine, has thrown 105 2/3 innings, and has been superb, especially lately, posting a 3.39 ERA in his last 10 starts.

SP#2 Edison Volquez - Its hard to say anything about Edison since he has yet to throw a pitch for the Outlaws, but he hasn't been particularly good for Cincinnati. He amassed a 5.55 ERA in 13 games, 12 starts, for the Reds, but the team seems to believe a lot of his past failures have a great deal to do with the ballparks he pitched in in Cincy and Texas, both notorious hitter's parks. If that is the case, Volquez should enjoy a great deal of success in spacious Fresno Ballpark.

SP#3 Sean Marshall - Marshall started the season very, very poorly, barely managing to make it through the six innings through most of his first 10 starts or so, but hes been exceptional lately. In his last 10 games he has a 4.19 ERA in 68 2/3 innings, including two complete games (one shutout), two eight inning efforts, and two seven inning endeavors. If Marshall keeps up this level of success consistently throughout the rest of the season the team stands a great chance of staying in the AL West race.

SP#4 Hong-Chih Kuo - Kuo started the season great, leading the team in ERA at 3.75 at one point, but has blown up of late. Kuo's ERA in his last 10 starts stands at 6.14 in 58 2/3 innings, largely due to his .286 BAA in that time frame. Kuo is very talented and when hes on, hes really on.

SP#5 David Wells - Wells has provided the otherwise young Outlaws staff with a veteran presence, as well as pitching solidly since being signed to the team. Hes posted a very solid and respectable ERA of 4.54 with the team, that would lead the if he had enough innings to qualify. Hes pitched two complete games, including a shutout, but has an inexplicably high BAA of .331 in 83 1/3 innings. The BAA would seem to indicate that his success is unsustainable unless he gets his hit totals down. Nonetheless, hes a good veteran innings eater with great control thats a nice pitcher to have mentor or young'uns.

The bullpen - The bullpen has been pretty solid this season, though has had its spurts of inefficiency. Brandon League has been great since assuming the closers role, converting seven of nine save opportunities and holding opponents to a .192 batting average. Prior to League's emergence, however, the closers role was a big problem area. The team tried former Outlaw Jesse Carlson there to start, but he struggled, then put Chris Schroeder in who also struggled. They then tried Geoff Jones, who had been dominating with a sub-3.00 ERA at the time, but he blew up in the role as well. They tried signing Bob Wickman to take over, but he went 6/12 in save opportunities. The team had been reluctant to stick Brandon League in the closers role because they were scared of his walk numbers and weren't sure how he'd handle the pressure, but hes clearly done well in the role. Jones has struggled badly lately, a 6.97 ERA in his last 10 games, and is almost certain to be lowered to a reduced role in the pen, with Schroeder being moved up to setup man. Aardsma and Witasick have also been solid, though Witasick has pitched only 6 2/3 innings.


The pitching is going to have to either improve significantly or pitch well over their head's over the second half of the season in order for the team to maintain its overall success, and I don't see that happening. There are definitely going to be more development and growing pains to be had for kids like Kershaw, Volquez, Kuo, and Marshall over the second half of the season, though they have a nice staff to build on.

[dannymac910]

Too many lefties in your rotation. Anyway I'm lovin' this dynasty. Keep it up.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Too many lefties in your rotation. Anyway I'm lovin' this dynasty. Keep it up.

Yikes, you're right, I do have a lot of lefties. There could be some big fish to fry in FA'cy on that front this off-season though, including Ben Sheets, and some guys that could get released if their teams can't afford arbitration, like King Felix, so I could look to bring one of them in.

Post #1000 for me!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Gonna try to get an update in for this tonight. I had a really hectic 4th of July and I might not be able to get one in tonight because I'm hanging out with one of my friends for probably the last time before he moves from Maine to Seattle.

[dannymac910]

Might be time to drop Wells for a righty.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Wells has been my best pitcher in terms of preventing runs though. If he blows up, which is possible with that BAA, I may though. I'm not sure there are any good SP's in the FA pool, the other expansion team sucked a lot of them up.

[JeepGuy63]

I don't know if I'd drop Wells unless I had someone ready to come up. The ERA is tops on the staff despite the BAA and his innings are third most. You can't replace the veteran presence.

I would imagine the trade value is next to nothing at his age.

I don't read alot of Dynasties - mostly the expansion ones and any of the Oakland A's. I'm liking it, keep up the good work.