Out of pure boredom, I’ve decided to start a franchise in MLB2K10 with the Pirates and chronicle my seasons as I try to turn the struggling franchise around. While this certainly isn’t “baseball news,” I think it can become a pretty fun addition to the site as you either praise or scorn my general manager skills as I sign, trade, and fire my way into turning the Pirates into a serious contender.
I believe seasons should move along pretty quickly as I chronicle pre-season/spring training, then provide an update at the All-Star Break, then again before the playoffs start. And, if I’m lucky/good enough, I’ll provide round-by-round updates through the playoffs.
Nonetheless, here is the first chapter in a Pirates’ Dynasty!
Current Lineup:
- 1. Andrew McCutchen – R
- 2. Akinori Iwamura – L
- 3. Garret Jones – L
- 4. Ryan Doumit – S
- 5. Lastings Milledge – R
- 6. Andy LaRouche – R
- 7. Sean Pearce – R
- 8. Ronny Cedeno – R
- 9. Pitcher
Current Rotation:
- 1. Paul Maholm – L
- 2. Ross Ohlendorf – R
- 3. Zach Duke – L
- 4. Charlie Morton – R
- 5. Daniel McCutchen – R
Bullpen:
- Closer – Octavio Dotel
- SU – J. Hanrahan
- SU – J. Karstens
- MR – D.J. Carrasco
- MR – J. Taschner
- LR – W. Ledezma
- LR – D. Veal
My biggest weakness, at this point, is without a doubt my rotation and the bullpen. Pitching in general is in desperate need of help. I could use another bat or two in the lineup, but at this point, it would be useless to add without support from the pitching staff. Heading into Year 1 spring training, my main concern is adding a starting pitcher and depth in the bull pen from the free agent market. I currently have the budget to make somewhat of a big splash and will not do anything less than a long term 5 to 7 year contract.
Looking at the free agent list, the pitchers that immediately jump out at me are Erik Bedard, John Smoltz, and Pedro Martines. Fairly easy to narrow down though, as Smoltz is getting up there in age and Pedro is going to be asking too much money. I offer Bedard a 7-year deal worth $3.65 million a year and he immediately accepts. That came much more cheap than I thought it would. With about $4 million left to spare in salary cap space, I need to look at adding depth to the bullpen. Unfortunately, there are no “we are trying to get into contention” type players — I may have to settle for Guillermo Mota. I offer a 3-year deal worth $637,000/year and he accepts. I still have just under $4 million in cap space — time to go for another bat in the lineup.
The hitters/fielders is alot more deep in talent. Right off the bat, I’m interested in Johnny Damon but don’t feel that I need the help in the outfield. He could serve as a DH, but I’m not willing to pay the price for limited use. I make a play for Orlando Hudson and see that I’m battling with several others teams for his services. Ultimately, Hudson agrees to my offer of $3 million a year for seven years. I’m liking the idea of long term deals with some of these higher echelon players — building for the future. Nonetheless, the Hudson signing brings my salary cap room to about $675,000 thousand. Going to stop the signing here and hope the additions can help out and we can end the season above .500.
After a few changes in the roster, my lineup heading into spring ball looks like this:
- 1. Andrew McCutchen – R
- 2. Orlando Hudson – S
- 3. Garrett Jones – L
- 4. Ryan Doumit -S
- 5. A. Iwamura – L
- 6. Lastings Milledge – R
- 7. Andy LaRoche – R
- 8. Ronnie Cedeno – R
- 9. Pitcher
Further, my rotation now looks like this:
- 1. Eric Bedard – L
- 2. Paul Maholm – L
- 3. Zack Duke – L
- 4. Ross Ohlendorf – R
- 5. Charlie Morton – R
Lastly, my bullpen situation looks like this:
- CL: O. Dotel – R
- SU: J. Hanrahan – R
- SU: J. Karstens – R
- MR: D.J. Carrasco – R
- MR: J. Taschner – L
- MR: G. Mota – R
- LR: W. Ledezma – L
- LR: D. Veal – L
- LR: D. McCutchen – R
Another issue I’m taking care of right away is firing John Russell as the manager — kind of mimicking real life, eh? Nonetheless, he isn’t the right guy to lead the team. At this late point, a few weeks before spring ball starts, pickings are slim. However, with a measly $675,000 to spend on a new manager, it kind of works out in my advantage. I decide on hiring a guy by the name of Gil Paul — a previous manager with two years experience and relatively high marks in both teaching and motivation. He agrees to sign for $581,000 over a span of four years. I wanted to shorten his contract, but he wouldn’t budge. With minimal funds availiable for staff, firing him and having to handle the payout won’t be ideal. Hopefully he will be the guy we are looking for.
The last staff move I’m making is firing our current head of scouting, Adam Sanangelo. The foundation of turning this team around is built upon locating, aquiring, and nuturing young talent. We need a big name to head this process. Hired in his place is Jarrod Delgado, a six-year vetran in scounting. He agreed to a five-year, $493,000 deal.
With all the pre-season signing, firing, and hiring done — it is time to move on to spring training. Rather than making another post out of it, I’ll include a quick recap here:
The Pirates concluded the preason with a 14-15 record. While it isn’t terrible, stretches such as that during the entireity of the regular season will spell nothing but doom for the team.
However, there are a few bright spots within the 14-15 record. For instance, McCutchen batted .345 through spring training and added 19 RBIs. He also belted 5 homeruns, one short of Garrett Jones’ 6. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of good news from the pitching side of things. Eric Bedard, who I signed in hopes of solifying the rotation, got himself a 8.48 ERA and a 0-4 record. It looks that the brightest spot in the rotation is Zach Duke, who finished spring ball with a 3-1 record, a 3.58 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Hopefully the rotation, specifically Benard, pulls itself together as the regular season begins.
Heading into the regular season, we currently stand at 21st in the MLB power rankings. A 4-7 finish to spring training dropped us from 17th. In the end, as mentioned, this season is about finishing at .500 or above and building the foundation for better seasons a year or two now.
The next article in this series will summarize everything between the end of spring training to the All-Star Break. Hopefully I can strike a few good trades, or move up a player from AAA to help out in the rotation/lineup. We shall see.