Tampa Bay Days-Growing Stars

[taiwangm]

Before the story
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone. I'm a high school student from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Taiwan is best known in baseball for our native players like CM Wang (FA, former NYY), HC Kuo & CL Hu (LAD), FT Ni (DET), etc.
Very few people play Baseball Mogul here, and for some reasons I still fail to get Baseball Mogul 2010 in Taiwan. Hence, I use BBM2009 in all the dynasty. I've played BBM2009 for one and a half year.

The TB Rays is always my favorite team since watching MLB games in 2007. To everyone's surprise, the Rays emerged from nowhere to win the AL Pennant in 2008, and I would very like to expereience this on my own.

Roster use: HoustonGM's 2008 Opening Day

House Rule:
1. Never let go players who are over 3 years experience in Rays and have never been in other teams
2. Sign or re-sign players(Offer contract) once a day
3. Trade players once a month, less than 2 times in-season, and less than 3 times in offseason
4. One trade involves less than 5 players total
5. No unrealistic trades
6. Negotiator Version 2

All difficulty set to Mogul.

League settings:
Salary Demands -10%
Injury Frequency -10%
Injury Severity -10%
Medical Staff Effect -10%
Amateur Draft Talent -40% (trying to avoid the commonly discussed problem of player developing)
Aging Randomness +30%
Effect on Negotiating +20%
Effect on Performance +10%
Promotion to AAA, AA, A +10%
Contract Renewals -10%
Trade Frequency -10%

Short-Term Goal:
1. AL Pennant in 08'
2. Keep Farm System, Scouting, Medical Staff all in 1st

Long-Term Goal:
1. Make Rays a home-grown dynasty (Look house rule 1)
2. Keep Farm System, Scouting, Medical Staff all in 1st

I will simulate play-by-play. Given that the AI will burn our bullpen and make stupid moves, I'll do it myself. At the same time, during play-by-play I can learn about the other teams.
*The version I use still has the bug of sacrifice flys. To not take advantage of the AIs, I won't approve any sac flys during pbp.

[taiwangm]

April 1, 2008
TB Announces New GM: Stunning Move
"Former" Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman took off his Tampa Bay uniform, and passed it to a 16-year-old Asian teenager. S. H. Ko, a Taiwanese high school student was announced the new GM, coming out of nowhere to replace Friedman, who will become Ko's assistant.
"As you can see, I am a 16-year-old. All I have is passion. Maybe I've got something innovative, but we still need Mr. Friedman. And we're gonna take it on the chin."

GM Profile:
Name: S. H. Ko
Native: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Age: 16
Baseball resume: playing high school baseball (P/IF, 1B majorly), 1 1/2 years of playing Baseball Mogul

[taiwangm]

Roster Review
Catchers

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Dioner	Navarro	76/80	S	R	24	390000	1	0	76
Shawn	Riggans	72/75	R	R	27	390000	-	0	76
Mike	Difelice71	R	R	38	30700	1	0	58
Hector	Gimenez	70/74	S	R	25	30700	-	0	68
John	Jaso	72/85	L	R	24	20500	-	0	72

Everone besides Gimenez is a good defender. Unable to find a hitter here.
Navarro will be our starting catcher and Riggans will back him up.
For Difelice, he is about to retire. Maybe I'll transfer Gimenez to 1B (C/84, 1B/82 now), and hopefully Jaso will grow into a starter role.

[taiwangm]

First Basemen

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Carlos	Pena	84	L	L	29	8041666	3	0	83
Chris	Richard	70	L	L	33	30700	1	0	64

Not much to say, right?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Basemen

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Akinori	Iwamura	82/83	L	R	29	2825000	2	0	84
Elliot	Johnson	70/78	S	R	24	20500	-	0	76

Aki is nothing more than an average 2B, and he's got decent bat and capable of 3B, but we don't need that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third Basemen

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Evan	Longoria76/94	R	R	22	2916666	6	0	88
Willy	Aybar	71/78	S	R	25	30700	-	0	76
Joel	Guzman	68/77	R	R	23	20500	-	0	76

Longoria, our future cleanup. Aybar is a decent backup and capable at corners. He can share the DH as well.
I don't know what we'll get from Guzman.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortstops

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Jason	Bartlett80	R	R	28	390000	1	0	84
Andy	Cannizaro67/70	R	R	29	390000	-	0	72
Reid	Brignac	70/88	L	R	22	20500	-	0	86
Ben	Zobrist	74/76	S	R	26	390000	-	50	74

A decent No.9 hitter and defender is Bartlett.
Zobrist is now in the DL and unfortunately he won't grow up to what he is in 2009 in the Mogul.
Brignac has talent and may be future shortstop.
I'll release Cannizaro to save $390000 here.

[taiwangm]

Center Fielders

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
B.J.	Upton	88/93	R	R	23	390000	-	0	86
Nathan	Haynes	71/74	L	L	28	30700	-	0	74
Fernando Perez	70/78	S	R	25	12300	-	0	75
Desmond Jennings63/84	R	R	21	390000	-	35	86

B.J. is everything. He's got potential and is five-tools.
Haynes is nothing but a speedster.
Perez is a decent backup and Jennings is a great prospect, but I plan to keep B. J. around.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Left Fielders

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Carl Crawford	84/86	L	L	26	6750000	2	0	90
John Rodriguez	69/70	L	L	30	390000	-	0	76
Ryan	Royster	59/81	R	R	21	12300	-	0	81

Crawford is a hitter and speedster and is also great at defense.
J-Rod is the one to release since I don't see value on him.
Royster can be a decent hitter in the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right Fielders

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Jonny	Gomes	81	R	R	27	1275000	1	0	74
Eric	Hinske	75	L	R	30	800000	1	0	75
Justin	Ruggiano70/75	R	R	25	390000	-	0	81
Cliff	Floyd	76	L	R	35	2750000	1	0	70
Jon	Weber	70/73	L	L	30	30700	-	0	76
Rocco	Baldelli79/82	R	R	26	2250000	1	215	60

A bunch of RFs, but I don't see who really starts.
A RF-DH-committee play among Gomes, Hinske and Floyd is what I'm thinking.
Ruggiano and Weber are old rookies with limited ability.
Baldelli is expected to miss 2008, and I don't see him in the future plan due to his salary.

[taiwangm]

Starting Pitchers

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Scott	Kazmir	94	L	L	24	8071250	4	30	76
James	Shields	91	R	R	26	2812500	4	0	84
Matt	Garza	81/89	R	R	24	390000	-	0	84
Edwin	Jackson	76/82	R	R	24	390000	1	0	78
A. Sonnanstine	71/79	L	R	25	390000	-	0	80
Jason	Hammel	74/81	R	R	25	390000	-	0	74
J.P.	Howell	72/80	L	L	24	20500	-	0	74

This seven projects to start at Majors this year before September callups.
Kazmir will miss the entire April, so the six will be in the active roster on start day.
(Because Mogul often creates minor injurys like 7 days, I need at least 6 starters in the roster.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Pitchers-Rookies

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Jeff	Niemann	68/85	R	R	25	20500	-	0	72
Wade	Davis	65/93	R	R	22	20500	-	0	86
Jacob	McGee	62/85	L	L	21	20500	-	0	83
J. Hellickson	59/79	R	R	20	390000	-	0	73
David	Price	71/94	L	L	22	390000	-	45	88

Some arms that may be ready in 2 years, and maybe September callups if we're out of race.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bullpen

First	Last	Rating	Bats	Throws	Age	Salary	Year	DL	Health
Troy	Percival90	R	R	38	4000000	2	0	76
Al	Reyes	86	R	R	36	2300000	1	0	74
Trever	Miller	79	R	L	34	2000000	1	0	80
Dan	Wheeler	82	R	R	30	3500000	3	0	76
Gary	Glover	77	R	R	31	1075000	1	0	74
Scott	Dohmann	75/77	R	R	30	390000	1	0	74

Arms in the 'pen. The closer and setup guy is decent, but the rest of them leaves a lot to desire.
Rebuilding the 'pen is the major concern this year and to 2009.

[taiwangm]

2008 Opening Rosters
25-Man Rosters:

C	Dioner Navarro
C	Shawn Riggans
1B	Carlos Pena
2B	Akinori Iwamura
SS	Jason Bartlett
3B	Evan Longoria
3B	Willy Aybar
CF	B.J. Upton
CF	Fernando Perez
LF	Carl Crawford
RF	Jonny Gomes
RF	Eric Hinske
RF	Cliff Floyd
RF	Justin Ruggiano

SP	James Shields
SP	Matt Garza
SP	Edwin Jackson
SP	Andy Sonnanstine
SP	Jason Hammel
SP/LR	J.P. Howell
CL	Troy Percival
ST	Al Reyes
SR	Trever Miller
SR	Dan Wheeler
MR	Gary Glover

40-Man Roster(Now at 38):
C Mike Difelice/John Jaso
2B Elliot Johnson
SS Ben Zobrist(15-DL)/Reid Brignac
CF Desmond Jennings
SP Scott Kazmir(15-DL)/Mitch Talbot/Jeff Niemann/Wade Davis/David Price
RP Grant Balfour/Scott Dohmann

Lineup:

1	2B	Akinori Iwamura
2	LF	Carl Crawford
3	CF	B.J. Upton
4	1B	Carlos Pena
5	3B	Evan Longoria
6	RF	Jonny Gomes
7	DH	Cliff Floyd
8	C	Dioner Navarro
9	SS	Jason Bartlett

Utility Infielder	Willy Aybar
Utility Outfielder	Justin Ruggiano
Committee to RF/DH	Eric Hinske
Speed Runner		Fernando Perez
Backup Catcher		Shawn Riggans

[taiwangm]

B.J. Upton struggled in the opening series, going 0-for-11.

Three consecutive shutout games between Rays & Jays
April 1, 2008: TB 0 - 5 TOR
James Shields (0-0) vs. Roy Halladay (0-0)
We'll start this year at chilly Toronto. Hopefully our bats are not as cold as the temperature.
James Shields pitched respectable for 4 earned runs in 8 innings, but unfortunately our bats did go cold. Despite 3 hits from Aki, this game turned out to be a Roy Halladay shutout.
L: James Shields (0-1)

April 2, 2008: TB 0 - 6 TOR
Matt Garza (0-0) vs. A.J. Burnett (0-0)
Garza was roughed up, allowing 5 earned runs in 3 innings. We turned to J.P. Howell for the rest of the game, and he did well to post a run in 4 innnings. But we were shut down again.
L: Matt Garza (0-1)

April 3, 2008: TB 2 - 0 TOR
Edwin Jackson (0-0) vs. Dustin McGowan (0-0)
A Carl Crawford solo shot in the 1st ended our 18 scoreless innings streak.
In the sixth, Evan Longoria got a base hit, the first in his career. And credit Edwin Jackson for the solid outing---six scoreless innings. Despite cold bats, we managed to win, 2-0.
W: Edwin Jackson (0-1)
SV: Troy Percival (1)

Star of the series: Akinori Iwamura, 5-10, 2BB, 1.083OPS

[200tang]

Facing Roy Halladay on opening day would suck. Also, good luck to Longoria. Hopefully he can win ROTY.

[taiwangm]

Rays pitcher J.P. Howell emerged from the 'pen to pitch the Rays to victory.
TB Takes Three out of Four

April 4, 2008: LAA 0 - 8 TB
Joe Saunders (0-0) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (0-0)
Our handy Andy wil start this game. He performed well---another six scoreless innings by our starter.
B.J. Upton finally got his RBI single in the fifth, and we scored five to hit Saunders down. Gomes added a 3-run blast against Jason Bulger. We eventually shut out the Angels.
W: Andy Sonnanstine (1-0)

April 5, 2008: LAA 6 - 4 TB
Dustin Moseley (0-0) vs. Jason Hammel (0-0)
Hammel gave up two HRs in the second inning, blasted 4 runs. He everntually allowed 6 runs in 5 innings.
However, Howell pitched well again---no earned runs and six stikeouts in 3 innings, but we still lost the game.
L: Jason Hammel (0-1)

Good news to J.P. Matt Garza will be out for two weeks to a sprianed ankle, and was placed on 15-DL retroactive to April 3. Howell was moved into the rotation, and Scott Dohmann was called up.

April 6, 2008: LAA 1 - 3 TB
Jon Garland (0-0) vs. James Shields (0-1)
Replacing Gomes, Eric Hinske hit a homer in his first at-bat this season.
Six innings, nine hits allowed, but Shields gave up anything but an earned run. Thanks to Vladimir Guerrero, who went 0-for-3 while everytime he was up, there were two runners.
In the seventh, there came Evan Longoria's first career RBI. Hopefully he'll do better than his .130 AVG now.
The Angels totally got 12 hits, in exchange for 1 unearned runs. It sucks, Vladi.
W: James Shields (1-1)
SV: Troy Percival (2)

April 7, 2008: LAA 4 - 11 TB
Jered Weaver (0-0) vs. J.P. Howell (0-0)
Still, J.P. pitched strong, only let Chone Figgins score twice in 5 innings. Our hitters flourish, hit 15 times and scored 11.
Carlos Pena twisted an ankle to be out for a week, but he showed strong offense in the series. Aybar will start at first.
W: J.P. Howell (1-0)

Star of the series: Carlos Pena, 9-16, HR, 4RBI

[taiwangm]

Facing Roy Halladay on opening day would suck. Also, good luck to Longoria. Hopefully he can win ROTY.

Yes, it sucks.
Everytime I play a Rays, Longoria always win the ROTY. But I'm not supposed to expect it.

[taiwangm]

Jonny Gomes has hit safely on his every at-bats this series.

Tampa Fall to Rising Star Hughes
April 8, 2008: NYY 6 - 4 TB
Andy Pettitte (1-0) vs. Edwin Jackson (1-0)
Jackson was homered twice and allowed 4 runs in 5 innings of pitch. We had a chance to tie the score but A-Rod hit us hard again.
L: Edwin Jackson (1-1)

April 9, 2008: NYY 5 - 0 TB
Phil Hughes (1-0) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (1-0)
Sonnanstine pitched for quality again, only 2 earned runs scored in his 7 innings. However, our middle infielders both errored and we couldn't even score a run in Phil Hughes. But after 7 innings and 120 pitched, the Yanks still pushed him out on the mound. He went 136 pitches and 7.1 innings. Annoyingly, each game we faced Yankees, they hit 3 homers.
L: Andy Sonnanstine (1-1)

April 10, 2008: NYY 1 - 3 TB
Mike Mussina (0-0) vs. Jason Hammel (0-1)
Hammel excels, letting only one run in six innings.
W: Jason Hammel (1-1)
SV: Troy Percival (3)

Star of the series: Jonny Gomes. He didn't start a game, but going 3-for-3 pinch hitting or defending, including a homer, 3.000OPS

[taiwangm]

Dioner Navarro soloed in 10th Thursday to help the Rays to a 4-3 win.

Nearly swept, but the Rays found their way
April 12, 2008: TB 3 - 7 TOR
James Shields (1-1) vs. A.J. Burnett (1-0)
Gomes homered for us again in third, gave us lead by 3-1. But Jason Bartlett's error caused a 4-run inning ---Marco Scutaro hit a 3-run blast.
L: James Shields (1-2)

April 13, 2008: TB 2 - 4 TOR
J.P. Howell (1-0) vs. Jesse Litsch (1-0)
Facing Matt Stairs and Lyle Overbay, J.P. is dominating. I decided to occasionally issue walk to Frank Thomas, who batted between them and proved to be very dangerous.
The first time we succeed to avoid allowing runs, but the next time---when the first base was not empty---Thomas homered. What a pity.
Allowing three homers, J.P. let the Jays score four times. Also, our offense sucks without Pena.
L: J.P. Howell (1-1)

April 14, 2008: TB 4 - 3 TOR
Edwin Jackson (1-1) vs. Dustin McGowan (1-1)
Too bad that Jackson couldn't retire any of the first five batters he faced, but Jonny Gomes provided his fourth homer and tied the score, 3-3, in the fourth.
Both Jackson and McGowan finished with a quality start to bring this game to a bullpen race.
We went to the extra innings and Navarro soloed in the 10th to claim the game.
W: Dan Wheeler (1-0)
SV: Troy Percival (4)

Star of the series: Still Jonny Gomes. 4-11, 2HR, 3RBI, 1.273OPS.

[taiwangm]

Sonnanstine pitched a shutout on April 16th.

Rays swept White Sox
April 16, 2008: CHW 0 - 4 TB
John Danks (0-1) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (1-1)
5th homer for Gomes broke out in the second, and Aki also homered.
A shutout by Andy Sonnanstine!
W: Andy Sonnanstine (2-1)

April 17, 2008: CHW 1 - 2 TB
Gavin Floyd (1-1) vs. James Shields (1-2)
Jonny Gomes's sixth homer came in the third inning while James Shields no-hitted the White Sox to the fifth inning. He put up 8 solid innings.
W: James Shields (2-2)
SV: Troy Percival (5)

April 18, 2008: CHW 3 - 5 TB
Javier Vazquez (3-0) vs. Jason Hammel (1-1)
Hammel was impressive, leaving with 2-0 lead and two baserunners in the sixth. But due to Longoria's error and Dan Wheeler's poor control, the White Sox scored three then.
We were able to take the lead in the next half by 5-3. But it meaned Dan Wheeler was eligible for a win, which he didn't deserve. But after all, winning is more important.
W: Dan Wheeler (2-0)
SV: Troy Percival (6)

Star of the series: Still, Gomes put up good numbers, so did Longoria, Iwamura and Bartlett. But Andy Sonnanstine deserved this: a shutout.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Gotta say, I'm enjoying this. Keep it up.