The day Baseball Changed Forever

[twinsGM]

I released 2 AAA players/MLB players (one pitcher, one hitter) from each team, then signed those players from FAs, each new team taking turns. Please ask me if I left something about that out.

[twinsGM]

Ok, here's the stadium info.

Dimensions are attached.

As for the stadium, it was hard to find land for it. There was not enough room around the existing stadium (PGE park, home of the AAA Portland Beavers) to build a big-league park. We wanted to stay in or very close to downtown Portland, to attract more fans, but that was difficult. The closest land not occupied by buildings was a very large park, but the city would not let us destroy so many trees and open space.

The rest of this coming soon.

[hanramtrumps]

nice

[twinsGM]

The stadium spot we found was just on the edge of downtown (the red line marks the boundaries of downtown), and only cost the team $600k to buy from Wal-Mart, for the site of the factory. The Padres picked up $413,000 of the tab, so that PGE park (the minor league stadium) would not have to be destroyed. We found enough space for a 51,000-seat stadium, unlike the site of PGE park. Buying out the PGE park site would cost a lot more, buying out 5 or 6 different businesses (including one apartment building, meaning we'd have to help find new housing for those displaced) and paying to tear down PGE park and the other buildings, and also pay for a new road and work out a new road with the city under the proposed plan. This new plan was just a lot easier.

Thanks to cat for the help!

[hanramtrumps]

thats way cool

[twinsGM]

hanramtrumps: Thanks! Took a while to figure out though..


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In March, Mark Cuban asked Major League Baseball to move the Beavers out of Portland, as we didn't want them stealing any of our crowd, TV time or anything like that. We also sent this letter to the Padres, who own the team, and have hated us ever since. They asked if it was ok to move somewhere else in Oregon, and Theo Epstein said any town 25 miles outside of any Portland city limit was fine, but the move did not have to happen until after the 2011 season. The Padres were setting up plans to build a stadium in Salem, when Epstein suggested, or almost forced, the former Portland Beavers (AAA) move to Milwaukee. After recieving thousands of angry and sad letters, MLB decided that Milwaukee will recieve the AAA team for Brooklyn, making Nashville the AA team and stripping Huntsville of their franchise. Theo needed to make it up to Wisconsin even more, and a second minor league team might help. The Padres, of course, didn't want to. They had no intention of spending millions to make a minor league move they didn't even want to.

Along with all this, they commissioner's office was also dealing with Gestenate and was now dealing with Brian Cashman: He wanted a job, his own team, made mostly of Yankees. The financial issues were piling up, with the Brewers now at over -62,000,000 dollars. The team has a budget almost twice the payroll, so they were deemed fine. As for Cincinnati, they were 18,000,000 dollars in the red, with 26 million more dollars in payroll than budget. This was the worst case, and Reds ownership was sick of doing this. They put the team up for sale, and MLB had to take control of the team, in the middle of the season, to make it even tougher on them. They mainly wanted to get rid of Adam Dunn, making 14 and a half million a year, while his numbers have been dropping the last two years. Of course, no one wanted him, and with no cash to trade, they couldnít get rid of him in a two-player deal. Once they tried offering Brandon Phillips also, there were a few offers. They ended up trading him for Dave Quinowski.


As for my issues, I sent the office the following note:

Dear Commissionerís office,
This is Charlie Lumarsa, co-GM and Manager of the Portland Beavers. I appreciate all the work you are doing for the league, especially with your worries of Gestenate in the back of your mind. Iíd like to tell you to please push my issues aside, as they cannot be worked out until the off-season, and keep up the good work.

-Charlie Lumarsa




As for my players, Bubba Bell will hit second for us, with his great contact, at least until April ends.


For the next week, we went 2-5, putting us at 2-8 in our last 10. We are now 7-16, but this is not the worst in baseball. We are only second worse, right in front of division rival Texas, 7-18. The Dodgers have caught fire, winning their last 11, putting them just half a game back from Pittsburgh (Now in the West, not to worry though, we will have realignment in the off-season.)
As for New Orleans, they are 9-15, last in the east, even with their 2-3-4 hitters having .300 averages or better.


Along with out terrible week, Edinson Volquez, out excellent long-reliever, separated his shoulder partially and will be out for 10 days. The only good news I have to share is Bubba Bell is fitting in nicely, hitting .313 so far in 32 at-bats.

In our next series, we play the 12-13 Blue Jays, then we play 4-one game series, 3 on the road, along with the 3 Jays games on the road.


On an un-related note, check out the very similar stats of Clint Barmes and James Desi:

[twinsGM]

April 27th, 2011

vs.

Brandon Inge replaces Kotsay in the 5-hole, playing Left Field, while Mark rests a sore rotator cuff. Weíve got Matt Smith going today.

April 27th started out a very tough day, the Blue Jays getting 2 runs in each of the first three innings. Jon Huber, taken out in the 4th, smashed the bat rack and a maple bat in frustration. Jon is a very aggressive player, and showed it there. After destroying the bat rack, he threw the bat all the way across the dugout, causing everyone to scatter as the remainder of the wood smashed into a hundred more pieces.

ìDave, do make sure he doesnít hurt himself.î I said to our trainer Dave Tinkas. It took a clubhouse attendant to help Dave restrain him from smashing a wall in the locker room.

9-1 going into the 7th, and Brad James, tomorrowís starter, had to come in to hopefully finish off the game. ìSorry Brad, youíre gonna have to miss your start, but thanks for taking one for the team.î Mike Timlin told him. Brad was very understanding, as he always is, a great team player.

In the end, we lost 10-1, got out hit 20-6, and we allowed two infield hits, had one passed ball and a wild pitch. Final linescore:

     
                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
       Beavers (Por) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0    1  6  2
     Blue Jays (TOR) 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 x   10 20  0

After the game, I called Jon Huber, at the hotel by then, letting him know he will be suspended from the team for three days and $100,000 will be docked from his salary this year.


For tomorrow, I need a starter to go, and our minors didnít hold very many options. Most of our players were very early in the development stage, and not fir for MLB play now. We brought up Tim Stauffer from triple A Oregon City, temporarily sending Brad James down. Stauffer, picked up from the FAs recently, was released by the Padres 17 days before our pick-up of him.

[Cyclones]

321 Left Field Fence and you only have two right-handed bats in your lineup?

[twinsGM]

"Mr. Lumarsa, Mr. Burtmeier is on line five." My phone said the words of my secretary.

"Hello, Dan." Dan Burtmeier is my head scout, who I met in Oakland while he was a scout there. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, Jonny Jestnut called from Colorado with some interesting news." Jonny is one of my scouts, assigned to Colorado. "He was at a Northern Colorado-USC game last night, and UNC's left-fielder, Ellie Pice hit a homerun."

"Ok, I know who she is, but why does this matter?"

Ellie Pice is the slugging left-fielder for Northern Colorado, one of the few Female-division I baseball players around.

"He talked to her after the game, and you remember how she was going to stop playing baseball after this season, (her sophomore)right? Well, she wants to keep playing, but professionally. She says she wants to enter the draft in June."

"Hmmm, that IS interesting. Tell Jonny to send me her scouting report." I said, twirling a pencil in my fingers.


Once the scouting report arrived two hours later vie email, this is what it said:

Ellie has good power: She has hit 12 homers this year in 10 games for UNC, 5 of which have been at least 350 feet. She doesn't have much speed, and the contact is ok. She has pretty good range in left, but not so in right. My major concern about her is how often she strikes out: Pice struckout 32% of the time her last four years. Her walks are good though, as she has 79 in 474 PAs. The K:BB ratio is scary, but her power is good, and she crushes curves. 10 of her 12 homeruns this year have been on curveballs, and she has 15 of 19 doubles on curves also this year. Her average this year is .639, best on the team.


Sounds like a player that could go 3rd-4th round. As for our earlier picks, we have 2nd overall. This draft will be very important, to help build our team of the future. This draft is pretty much our biggest concern right now, even though we still have 38 more games to play until it.

Our list is down to about 10 players now for our top pick, which has a lot of emphasis on players that are developing soon and pitchers. We need to get players to the majors withing 2-3 years, not 5 like some high school players will take. Plus, college players are twice as likely to make it to The Show than high schoolers, the theory that was drilled into my head in Oakland. When I think about it, many of my GM-ing theories are from my Oakland days with Billy Beane.

Leon McNally is the best player for the developed now category, but throws 92 MPH and has slightly above-average movement, but can still be very good. Ray Novoro can throw very good, having been clocked at 98. He is 17 though: far from being MLB-ready. Once our scouts get their lists put together, we will start that very draining process of narrowing hundreds of names down to just two to decide our first pick.

As a guide for what to look for, I gave them this list of what to look for:
1. Pitchers
2. Corner outfielders
3. Middle infield



As for our team, we lost again to the Blue Jays, 3-1, getting a great performance from Tim Stauffer in his first start for the team:

                  ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     T. Stauffer  7.0  5  3  2  3  3  3  97   3.86

One more good spot start (maybe in the next week) could earn him a spot in the rotation, or possibly long relief if we decide Volquez gets the nod instead. Cormier may be sent down to AAA for a start to help him regain confidence, and Tim could get that start if we mix the rotation around a little to give him more rest. It's a complicated situation, but we'll figure it out very soon. Tomorrow it will be Jason Vargas (0-1, 5.22) vs. their ace, Roy Halladay (2-2, 3.78) when we try to avoid the sweep. We've been swept once this year, by the Rays. Keep in mind, we're 1-2 after losing 2 consecutive games to the same team.

[NeoExelor]

I'm not sure if this was brought up, but, if two teams members were half decimated, wouldn't they just hold an expansion-draft type thing to replace the deceased players?

[Arctic Blast]

In reality, yes they would. It's the morbid contingency every sports league has in case of any sort of disaster befalling an organization.

[twinsGM]

I'm not sure if this was brought up, but, if two teams members were half decimated, wouldn't they just hold an expansion-draft type thing to replace the deceased players?

Yes, most likely, but in my story:
1. The stadium in NY is too messed up to play in right now.
2. The teams do not want to continue now after their stars were killed (Jeter and A-Rod for Yanks, Wright, Reyes and Beltran for Mets).
3. It's a dynasty. I needed some way to get the Beavers into this, and the way I did was the most exciting and surprising way I could.

Good point, though.

[hanramtrumps]

im liking this alot
nice turn with Ellie Pice

[NeoExelor]

Yes, most likely, but in my story:
1. The stadium in NY is too messed up to play in right now.
2. The teams do not want to continue now after their stars were killed (Jeter and A-Rod for Yanks, Wright, Reyes and Beltran for Mets).
3. It's a dynasty. I needed some way to get the Beavers into this, and the way I did was the most exciting and surprising way I could.

Good point, though.

Yes, but they'd draft new stars.

And both teams would play at Shea.

[twinsGM]

NeoExelor: I see what you're saying, but they were not ready to come back and play and neither were the fans to come and watch.

Hanramtrumps: Thanks! You're dynasty is good also. I think we're the only two people here with 2 first-year expansion teams!


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Today I went with Jamey Carroll, one of my personal favorites, at secondbase in the 7 hole, with Desi's recent struggles. I was not enjoying Toronto so far, because of our first two games here and the weather. I just hate the cold. The rain if ok with me in Portland, though. We got off to yet another bad start again. On the sixth pitch of his night, Vargas allowed an upper-deck, leadoff homer to Eiland.

Roy Halladay was dominant as usual yesterday

Roy Halladay has been that major road block for opposing teams as he always has through four, averaging just 11 pitches per inning, no walks. Vargas has three walks, and has 22 pitches per inning. For the man who was supposed to be the ace and lead the staff, he hasn't done that through our first month.
Vargas was due up first in the sixth, with 87 pitches to his name. This is one of those tough situations, at least when the game is close. I decided to let him hit, as the bullpen needs some more rest, especially since we will play 15 more games before our next off-day. Vargas walked, and Pierre is coming up. He kills righties, and had a double last time, so he was given the 'swing away' sign.

In the end, it was 1-0 Blue Jays winner, giving them a sweep. We've now clicnhed the spot for 29th best team in baseball after one month!
Halladay was a unstoppable, with proof from his linescore:

                  ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     R. Halladay  8.0  4  1  0  0  0  2  99   3.05

In other news, Starting pitcher Yoslan Herrera, our team's leader in ERA, expects to meet the team in Portland for a game against Pittsburgh next week, on the 2nd of May.

Besides baseball, this is what the New York Times had to say:

The Federal court cancelled the execution of Michael Mutinski, saying they do not want Gestenate to retaliate. Instead, the FBI will conduct a search for Gestenate and their remaining members before the government reschedules the execution. For now, Mutinksi will be sent to a Federal prison in New York City, where he will be exiled from everyone except the occassional guard.

Tomorrow, we got Brad James going against the Dodgers. James is replacing Cormier for now, since Lance has been throttled be lefties, and the Dodgers feature 5 switch or lefties in their lineup.

Jon Huber, formally of the M's.

As the team was packing up for Los Angeles, Jon Huber stepped into my hotel room.
Huber, serving the last game of his 3-game suspension, had this to say:
"Charlie, I'm just not liking Portland. It's clear I don't fit here and we're not good matches. I'd like a trade if possible."
"Jon, so you're saying you want out after your struggles?"
"It's not my problems pitching for you." He said, sounding offended.
"Well, that's what it looks like. You're a much better pitcher than you've been showing lately."
"No. I want out. I hate the city, the chemistry of the team, and you."
I sat there for a minute, as if I didn't know it was possible to hate me.
"Well, Jon, it seems you don't want to make this work. I'll see what I can do. I like your talent, but not your attitude. With the young team we're trying to become, I'd like to get rid of that attitude. I'll see you later."
"Ok, Charlie." With that, he was gone.

I'll most likely trade Huber, if anyone will offer for him, that is. For now, we have to get to Los Angeles, a very long flight, get everyone up in time and get over to Dodger Stadium for our afternoon game. Then it's to Houston for a game 20 hours later, then to Portland the next day, for yet ANOTHER afternnon game. 3 days, 3 flights and 3 day games.

Personal Note: Remember to strangle schedule makers.