Maple finished June with an above .500 record at 14-12. This was the first time all season we have played over .500 ball in a month. However; we trail SF by 8.5 games and made no ground up this past month. A 7-3 record in the past 10 leading into July has Maple playing 2nd best overall in their past 10 next to Montreal who posted a 8-2 mark.
Maple's W/L improvement came from their play in close games. We sit 17-13 now in 1 run games. The pen is a strength of the club and they are doing their best holding the fort for a team that features one of the worst SP rotations in the league. How things change so fast after only 1 season! In summary, we have a very poor rotation & defense, excellent bullpen and average hitting with some great pop. Might explain the 35-47 overall record as we approach the allstar break.
June started off with a big bang as Roberto Martinez was dealt to Nottinghamshire. This was a deal consisting of two teams going in the opposite directions and fast. We are happy with the pickup of youngsters Manny Palma CL and SP Robert Osborne.
We then decided to give two youngster a shot at the ABL when we called up OF Billy Greer and SS Clay Wadden. Billy has added a nice bat facing RHP where Big Stick Anthony Shelton has really struggled despite being in the top 3 in the league in HRs. Shelton though is crushing southpaws! Clay hasn't hit too much but he has added much needed team speed and within one week had the team lead in SBs for the entire season! Top prospect Dave Guenette 3B was sent down to AAA to make room. The team also released veteran Derek Beimer SS. He cleared waivers multiple times. He does possess a decent power bat but, his limited defensive abilities really hurt him as a everyday player in the ABL.
Jason/Maple
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
May in Review
An 11-18 month in May has shifted the focus of top management from playoff contender to pretender. We might have enough to win the division at .500 but, this will not be enough to win a championship this year. We have Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, Nottinghamshire, Montreal, Seattle and yes Boston and many others all with better teams this year at the ABL level. We have decided to be a seller right now and based on this decision we sent Robert Martinez our ace SP packing to Nottinghamshire for a couple of pitching prospects. In return Maple acquired Robert Osborne SP and Manny Palma CL. Osborne will start his Maple career in AAA Astoria and Palma will start in A ball Kingwood.
Rumors also swirling that Pat Super Sellers last years Allstar representative for the TML is on the block. At 34 years old, this SP can still get the job done for a contender. At $12M next year plus a pro-rated remaining contract value this year it will be interesting to see if a contender jumps at the opportunity to pick up a veteran down the stretch for this rotation. Sellers has always rated higher than his potential in his ABL career.
Anthony "Big Stick" Shelton has continued his hot ways. He leads the ABL in HRs with 19 and 30 of his 42 hits have gone for extra bases. Anthony who is not hitting his weight at .211 vs. 226 lbs is crushing south-paws this year at .328 bavg with a OPS 1.296. Shelton has always shown amazing flashes of POWER in the ABL and he can be very streaky when he is healthy. Original on the trade block, this latest power burst has management thinking he can stick with Maple and his team friendly $800K for the next two seasons.
Down on the farm nothing spectacular in terms of W/L records is happening however; there are some bright stars waiting in the wings to make the ABL.
Astoria AAA:
Billy Greer OF and Clay Wadden SS have been called up to the ABL.
Sandy Springs AA:
Oliver Davis OF and Antonio Paz 1B have been pounding the baseball all season long.
Kingwood A:
Jose Medina 1B is tearing up pitchers in A Ball.
Minor League Systems is currently ranked #14 overall. Watch out for Tee Wilson OF in AAA he is a couple of years away from being at the big dance.
Financial Watch:
Attendance is down -2.7%, Budget is #11 and payroll is #10 so the move of Robert Martinez puts us in line to help re-sign our FA eligible players such as Eric McSwan DH if desired.
At 20-32 we are still in the hunt for the division title strangely enough. We are sitting 5.5 games back of SF after recently being swept by them last sim. Keith K Thompson moves into the rotation for Martinez and Dan Wilder receives the long awaited call up back to the ABL at MR to take Thompson's spot in the pen. Dave Guenette 3B was demoted in order to not rush him. He has been struggling at the ABL level. Jeff Morgan UTIL has been called up to fill his active roster spot.
In June we face Texas, Jacksonville and Georgia with 2 games also with SF. It will be interesting to see if we can "hang around" the TML Billy Martin division a bit longer to make things interesting.
Rumors also swirling that Pat Super Sellers last years Allstar representative for the TML is on the block. At 34 years old, this SP can still get the job done for a contender. At $12M next year plus a pro-rated remaining contract value this year it will be interesting to see if a contender jumps at the opportunity to pick up a veteran down the stretch for this rotation. Sellers has always rated higher than his potential in his ABL career.
Anthony "Big Stick" Shelton has continued his hot ways. He leads the ABL in HRs with 19 and 30 of his 42 hits have gone for extra bases. Anthony who is not hitting his weight at .211 vs. 226 lbs is crushing south-paws this year at .328 bavg with a OPS 1.296. Shelton has always shown amazing flashes of POWER in the ABL and he can be very streaky when he is healthy. Original on the trade block, this latest power burst has management thinking he can stick with Maple and his team friendly $800K for the next two seasons.
Down on the farm nothing spectacular in terms of W/L records is happening however; there are some bright stars waiting in the wings to make the ABL.
Astoria AAA:
Billy Greer OF and Clay Wadden SS have been called up to the ABL.
Sandy Springs AA:
Oliver Davis OF and Antonio Paz 1B have been pounding the baseball all season long.
Kingwood A:
Jose Medina 1B is tearing up pitchers in A Ball.
Minor League Systems is currently ranked #14 overall. Watch out for Tee Wilson OF in AAA he is a couple of years away from being at the big dance.
Financial Watch:
Attendance is down -2.7%, Budget is #11 and payroll is #10 so the move of Robert Martinez puts us in line to help re-sign our FA eligible players such as Eric McSwan DH if desired.
At 20-32 we are still in the hunt for the division title strangely enough. We are sitting 5.5 games back of SF after recently being swept by them last sim. Keith K Thompson moves into the rotation for Martinez and Dan Wilder receives the long awaited call up back to the ABL at MR to take Thompson's spot in the pen. Dave Guenette 3B was demoted in order to not rush him. He has been struggling at the ABL level. Jeff Morgan UTIL has been called up to fill his active roster spot.
In June we face Texas, Jacksonville and Georgia with 2 games also with SF. It will be interesting to see if we can "hang around" the TML Billy Martin division a bit longer to make things interesting.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Maple Season IV - April in Review
Maple started the 4th Season of ABL OOTP 13 baseball in slow fashion going 9-14. Maple's typically strong pitching staff is ranked around the middle of the pack so far this season. Maple's bats are about the same as last season with the long ball helping them win some games (#2 in the league).
Maple made one significant trade sending prospect D.J. Richardson to Eureka in return for Leon King MR and SP Dave Blake. Maple was trying to find a new home for Derek Beimer SS but, after being waived nobody claimed him. So Derek is now back up with the big club as a bench player. His age, the $1.75M contract combined with his poor defensive skills most likely the reason for passing him up. In the past he has had some big games for Maple and definitely still has the power to hit in the ABL.
Maple closed out the spring training with a new look this season with the following news:
A) Cale Hines 3B demoted to AAA. Last years starting 3B.
B) Carl Dalton MR demoted to AAA. He had an incredible ST but, no room for him on the active roster.
C) Brandon Crawford MR demoted to AAA. He had an incredible ST but, no room for him on the active roster.
D) Ramon Villa OF demoted to AAA. One of my bright young OFs started some games last year as the 4th OF but, this year no room for him on the active roster.
E) Don Strickland 1B demoted to AAA. Some may remember his incredible 1st year and his amazing hit streak of 20+ games.
Maple made one significant trade sending prospect D.J. Richardson to Eureka in return for Leon King MR and SP Dave Blake. Maple was trying to find a new home for Derek Beimer SS but, after being waived nobody claimed him. So Derek is now back up with the big club as a bench player. His age, the $1.75M contract combined with his poor defensive skills most likely the reason for passing him up. In the past he has had some big games for Maple and definitely still has the power to hit in the ABL.
Maple closed out the spring training with a new look this season with the following news:
A) Cale Hines 3B demoted to AAA. Last years starting 3B.
B) Carl Dalton MR demoted to AAA. He had an incredible ST but, no room for him on the active roster.
C) Brandon Crawford MR demoted to AAA. He had an incredible ST but, no room for him on the active roster.
D) Ramon Villa OF demoted to AAA. One of my bright young OFs started some games last year as the 4th OF but, this year no room for him on the active roster.
E) Don Strickland 1B demoted to AAA. Some may remember his incredible 1st year and his amazing hit streak of 20+ games.
The
starting lineup for Maple will feature some youth this year:
Bobby
Shine – C, 22
D.J.
Richardson – 1B/DH, 21 (TRADED TO EUREKA)
Jacques
Carpentier – 2B/UTIL, 21
The
rotation/bullpen will also see some new faces:
Chet
Carver SP (Acquired from Mile High)
Johnny
Tiller takes over the CL role full time (Acquired from Texas last year)
Down on the minors:
Astoria AAA features an up coming OF Billy Greer (.294, 10 HR, 25 RBI)
Sandy Springs AA features an up coming CL Ariel Goldberg (6 SV, 2.16 ERA)
Kingwood A features an up coming OF Rob Johnson (.300, 1 HR, 14 RBI)
Finances:
The attendance is down -2.8% so far this season. The 6th largest player payroll will have to get winning soon otherwise expect a player or two to be moved by the deadline if we are not in the running for the division title for the 4th straight season.
Extensions:
Eric McSwan is asking for a 7 year, $105M dollar contract. He is 32 years old and a DH with a big power bat. It will be interesting to see if I am able to resign him to a shorter deal with more favorable money :-)
Eric McSwan is asking for a 7 year, $105M dollar contract. He is 32 years old and a DH with a big power bat. It will be interesting to see if I am able to resign him to a shorter deal with more favorable money :-)
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Whatever happenned to Double 7?
Top Flight Prospect receives ABL call-up!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Maple Year III - Month #4 Review
Maple continued their improvement with a solid 18-8 W/L record in July! Their final 4 games of the month saw them put up 48 runs in 4 games including 10-0, 10-0, 16-1, 12-6 victories over Georgia and a 3 game sweep of Jersey! We haven't seen that much offense from this team since the ABL started and we are excited! Also the ball is flying out of all ABL parks as the Marauders continue to rank #1 in bombs at 141! Anthony Shelton, LF - 25, Vic Jennings, 1B - 23, Eric McSwan, DH - 22, Anthony Lewis, CF - 18 and Dan Smith, SS - 16 lead the team. Vic Jennings set a team and tied a TML record with 3 homers in a game in July! Vic Jennings and Anthony Lewis both tied team records scoring 4 runs in a game in July.
Brandon Wilson has been stellar in the CL role. 6-2 W/L, 20 saves, 0.82 WHIP! Who is Millard Marshall? That is the CL that is out for the year and most likely his ABL career is done (95-97 fastball MPH down to 84-86 yikes!)
The team did get some bad news this month as starting catcher James Baker is out for 4 months/season with a broken kneecap (ouch!). Defensive specialist Jorge Rodriguez will take over the duties behind the plate meanwhile Alfredo Valdez C (AAA) received the call-up. Maple was rumoured in numerous trade talks for a catcher but, nothing really significantly improved our team over what we alread had imho.
Roberto "Styx" Martinez SP has also turned his game around. He is still under .500 at 6-7 W/L but, his WHIP is 1.18 and has taken over the ACE role again for the Marauders. Pat Sellers SP after his beating in the ALLSTAR game has taken the 2nd spot in the rotation and has dropped off a bit (WHIP 1.22).
Meanwhile down in the farm; Astoria (AAA) is competing for a division title for the first time sitting 1.5 games back in the B.J. Birdie Division behind Minneapolis. The Argonauts are also #1 in HRs hit and the bats are dangerous on this squad led by: Billy Greer OF, Kevin McConnell DH and Juan Juarez 1B. If they are going to make the playoffs they will have to continue to out score their opponents as the pitching staff is horrible ranking in double digits in almost every category including a team ERA over 5.00+. Sandy Springs Spartans (AA) is in 2nd place in the Junction Jack Division 8 games back of Carson City. Christian Taylor RF received a AAA call up at the start of August based on his torrid play; .338 bavg., 16 hrs and 80 rbi. The Starting Rotation is in big trouble so far and most likely will be the reason the Spartans will miss the post season this year (4.61 ERA). The Kingwood Knights (A) were the laughing stock of the ABL in Year 1 but, the team has come a long way to at least be competitive. This year after July the Knights sit at 46-56 and feel they are still within reach of their goal of hitting .500 for the season. This team has some speed (2nd in SB - 113) which is a desparate need for Maple in the ABL. Hopefully some of these speedsters make to the big team soon. Ariel Goldberg is having a great rookie season at CL with 17 saves. Joshua Goldberg who struggled in AA ball returned to A ball and pitched like an ACE in his only start.
Brandon Wilson has been stellar in the CL role. 6-2 W/L, 20 saves, 0.82 WHIP! Who is Millard Marshall? That is the CL that is out for the year and most likely his ABL career is done (95-97 fastball MPH down to 84-86 yikes!)
The team did get some bad news this month as starting catcher James Baker is out for 4 months/season with a broken kneecap (ouch!). Defensive specialist Jorge Rodriguez will take over the duties behind the plate meanwhile Alfredo Valdez C (AAA) received the call-up. Maple was rumoured in numerous trade talks for a catcher but, nothing really significantly improved our team over what we alread had imho.
Roberto "Styx" Martinez SP has also turned his game around. He is still under .500 at 6-7 W/L but, his WHIP is 1.18 and has taken over the ACE role again for the Marauders. Pat Sellers SP after his beating in the ALLSTAR game has taken the 2nd spot in the rotation and has dropped off a bit (WHIP 1.22).
Meanwhile down in the farm; Astoria (AAA) is competing for a division title for the first time sitting 1.5 games back in the B.J. Birdie Division behind Minneapolis. The Argonauts are also #1 in HRs hit and the bats are dangerous on this squad led by: Billy Greer OF, Kevin McConnell DH and Juan Juarez 1B. If they are going to make the playoffs they will have to continue to out score their opponents as the pitching staff is horrible ranking in double digits in almost every category including a team ERA over 5.00+. Sandy Springs Spartans (AA) is in 2nd place in the Junction Jack Division 8 games back of Carson City. Christian Taylor RF received a AAA call up at the start of August based on his torrid play; .338 bavg., 16 hrs and 80 rbi. The Starting Rotation is in big trouble so far and most likely will be the reason the Spartans will miss the post season this year (4.61 ERA). The Kingwood Knights (A) were the laughing stock of the ABL in Year 1 but, the team has come a long way to at least be competitive. This year after July the Knights sit at 46-56 and feel they are still within reach of their goal of hitting .500 for the season. This team has some speed (2nd in SB - 113) which is a desparate need for Maple in the ABL. Hopefully some of these speedsters make to the big team soon. Ariel Goldberg is having a great rookie season at CL with 17 saves. Joshua Goldberg who struggled in AA ball returned to A ball and pitched like an ACE in his only start.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Maple Year III - Month #3 Review
Maple improved again in June going 16-12 to finally end up in the lead in the Billy Martin Division in the TML. Maple's power continues to carry the team (#1 in the TML). The Marauders lineup is very dangerous featuring Vic Jennings 1B, Frank Powers RF, Eric McSwan DH and Anthony Lewis CF. Unlike past years where Pitching was the name of the game; this year the Marauders are doing it with hitting. The usual Cy Young candidate Roberto Martinez SP has been very human this year. He is probably our 3rd or 4th best starter so far this year. If we are going to make a run at a title this year he will need to be the ACE he once was. A surprise in the rotation is Pat Sellers, ERA under 2.00 and a WHIP just above 1.00. Sellers has been our best hurler so far this year. Ray Lester SP is rumored to be leaving town before the trading deadline. He has pitched effectively the past 2 months and is one of the big reasons the Marauders are back in 1st place in the division. There is an indication that he hasn't fit in the club house. There is a list of 4 teams who have inquired about his services. Maple is looking for prospect(s) and a MR for his services. Lester leads the team in K/BB at 3.14. The pen has also been up and down all year. One of the bright spots is Brandon Wilson with is 19 saves and 2 ERA with a WHIP below 1.
The fans are starting to come back out to support the team. Attendance did gain ground this past month, however; still stands at -7.5% behind last years pace.
On the DL still is Millard Marshall CL and Derek Beimer SS. Beimer should return to the lineup in July while, Marshall is a big question mark to return by the end of the regular season.
Maple fans cheered about the news of a couple of Marauders making the TML Allstar game: Eric McSwan DH, Pat Sellers SP & Vic Jennings 1B were all named to the team.
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