Just to get it out of the way up front, I simmed to February 21, not February 20. Sorry. Spaced out. I don’t think it matters, but there it is.

On to the news. Unlike poor Johnny Damon, lots more high profile free agents signed in the OEL this sim. Here’s the list of major league contracts handed out this sim.

Ramapough Mountain Indians: Signed free agent CF G. Fernandez to a 1-year contract worth a total of $10,000,000.
Stockholm Sluggers: Signed free agent 3B C. Martinez to a 2-year contract worth a total of $18,000,000.
New York Knights: Signed free agent RF B. Townsend to a 3-year contract worth a total of $55,500,000.
Maryland Poedamnedmonium: Signed free agent 2B E. Redding to a 2-year contract worth a total of $18,960,000.
Jersey City Skeeters: Signed free agent SP J. Diederich to a 1-year contract worth a total of $330,000.
Ramapough Mountain Indians: Signed free agent MR W. Mejorado to a 3-year contract worth a total of $12,810,000.
Ramapough Mountain Indians: Signed free agent 3B R. Bullington to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,720,000.

Some free agent compensation consequences there. Go to the traded draft picks page and or the prior blog post on 2007-08 free agents for the updated scoop.

Otherwise, looks like not much of interest happened. League file is posted. The next sim will be Monday, up to March 2 and the start of Spring Training.

We’ve reached February and some of the big name free agents have finally begun to ink contracts. Here are the major league signings this sim:

Marietta Mammoths: Signed free agent SP B. Millette to a 1-year contract worth a total of $700,000.
New York Knights: Signed free agent CL A. Santos to a 3-year contract worth a total of $18,000,000.
Miami Masters of Their Domain: Signed free agent SP A. Martínez to a 1-year contract worth a total of $490,000.
Brooklyn Bombers: Signed free agent CF P. Hodgin to a 4-year contract worth a total of $76,100,000.
Marietta Mammoths: Signed free agent MR W. Savage to a 1-year contract worth a total of $300,000.
Marietta Mammoths: Signed free agent MR E. Adams to a 1-year contract worth a total of $600,000.
Seattle Pilots: Signed free agent SS C. Fordyce to a 3-year contract worth a total of $37,500,000.

Santos, Hodgin, and Fordyce are all Type A free agents, which means picks are changing hands. The compensation page and the draft pick page have been updated accordingly. (Let me know if I made any errors.)

I don’t know yet when we’ll run the next sim, but we’ll send out an email when it’s decided. League file is posted.

P.S. I haven’t yet gotten the schedule fixed. I’ll have to do that when I next run a sim. SNAFUs popped up in my attempt to update the schedule.

I simmed up to November 21 and the game’s financials have rolled over to 2008 and the free agents have hit the market.

The in-game news network examined the crop of free agents, put together a top ten list and concluded that the most valuable free agent is none other than … [drum roll] … reliever Stephen “Goldie” Hawn. W T F. Are you kidding me? I wonder if it was his 35:31 K:BB ratio last year that clinched it for the computer. Maybe the 10 home runs allowed in just 79 innings? Perhaps the career 4.30 ERA? I mean, Hawn was a good enough player four years ago, but the top free agent? Wow.

Anyway, free agency is now upon us. I’ll put up a separate post identifying the Type A and Type B free agents. Keep the free agent compensation rules in mind as you tread into the waters of high finance. (I’ll also note that the demands are somewhat eye-popping, at least those being made to my team. Let that be a lesson to all of us who have been hoarding money.)

No other significant news. Nate has the next sim on Friday, which will take us up to December 1 and allow everyone to make their initial free agency bids. League file is posted. I probably won’t get the chance to update web pages until the weekend.

Happy bargain hunting everyone!

The first sim of the offseason is complete. The major awards for the OEL have been handed out and here are the winners.

Ted Williams Awards
PL: Richard “Wedge” Vuong of Miami
SP: Daniel “The Man” Rushing of Gainesville

Cy Young Awards
PL: Tashiro “T-Rex” Tsukijirou of Pittsburgh
SL: Tyler “Ex-” Conn of Brooklyn

Rookie of the Year Awards
PL: Alberto “Nutso” Jimenez of Pittsburgh
SL: Frankie “The Little Ticket” Garnett of Seattle

Gold Glove Awards
PL P: MR H. Pfeffer of Ramapough Mountain
PL C: J. Dominy of Pittsburgh
PL 1B T. Stewart of Ramapough Mountain
PL 2B J. Avelar of Ramapough Mountain
PL 3B S. Tavarez of Ramapough Mountain
PL SS C. Fordyce of Cairo
PL LF J. Xiquena of Ramapough Mountain
PL CF P. Hodgin of Pittsburgh
PL LF R. McCree of Stockholm

SL P: SP J. Pilla of Jersey City
SL C K. Atnip of Brooklyn
SL 1B J. Rivas of Seattle
SL 2B R. Batz of Seattle
SL 3B S. Hyer of Marietta
SL SS A. Sequeiros of Brooklyn
SL RF B. Townsend of Jersey City
SL CF G. Fernandez of Jersey City
SL RF W. Cook of New York

Congrats to the winners, especially those from Pittsburgh. Perry “the Platypus” Hodgin’s agent is especially thrilled to be able to add “Gold Glove centerfielder” to the portfolio as Mr. Hodgin prepares to enter what will certainly be a lucrative free agency.

In transactional news, some coaches hit the pavement because their contracts expired. Some players were signed to minor league deals or extensions. And, three players voided the last year of their contract to go into free agency. Those players are Miami’s 3B Constantino Martinez, Maryland’s SP James Fortner, and Gainesville’s 2B Edward Redding. Looks like all three will be Type A free agents, so that’s a bright spot for their otherwise despondent front offices. It’s never easy being rejected.

League file is updated. Because of the updated player photos and the like, it’s bigger than normal (about 2.5x normal size).

Nate has the next sim, Monday. That will take us past arbitration awards and to the eve of free agency. I don’t have any players in this situation, but any team options may need to be picked up in this next sim. Check your messages in the game.

Since the playoff berths were decided going into this sim, I thought about going ahead of the holiday schedule I posted and just finishing the regular season, but decided against it because I didn’t think enough in advance to ask anyone. So, we’ve stopped on the last day of the regular season, with just the final regular season game to be played. We did all get new scouting reports, so hurray for that.

Brooklyn clinched the Socratic League division title and has a chance to win 100 games if the Bombers win the regular season finale. The draft order is all but decided, but Seattle has just one more win than Jersey City so those two teams could still end up tied. Dan Rushing and Ben Towell are still tied for the home run title with 42. Weekly and monthly awards were handed out. It looks like some minor league coaches were signed.

One injury to the playoff teams, as Brooklyn lost Ronald Gibby for 3-4 weeks to a pinched nerve in his neck. Tough to lose the team’s starting centerfielder, at least against RHPs, for the playoffs. There were a few other two-week injuries to players on non-playoff clubs, but that’s not very exciting.

League file is posted. Nate’s got a sim on Monday to take us up to Game One of the League Championship Series.

P.S. Jeremy was right. It should be a race between Moeller and Garnett for the SL Rookie of the Year. Sorry I overlooked him.

Not only did I run a sim without any major league injuries, Pittsburgh even swept Marietta! Hah!

Ummm. Sorry. Not a professional introduction to the recap. Apologies to everyone (except Nate – grin).

We’re at August 25 and things are basically the same. Pittsburgh and Miami have all but locked up the playoff spots in the Platonic League. Brooklyn leads Jersey City by two games. Seattle is six behind the Skeeters, New York two behind the Pilots, and Gainesville one behind the Knights. Socratic League cellar-dwelling Marietta still has a better record than four teams in the Platonic League.

No injuries again this sim, as the game is apparently saving its wrath for expanded rosters in September. In league news, shortstops Kevin Grow of Marietta and Ben “Sugar” Towell of Miami were named Players of the Week. Tyler “Ex” Conn pitched a three-hit shutout of Ramapough, striking out 12 and walking none. He’s still really, really good. No major transactions, other than Stockholm releasing some players as promised/threatened, depending on your view of the players.

Rather than go through the games in the OEL, which were doubtlessly fascinating but limited as it seems everyone only played three games, I thought we’d check in on the minor league races.

Tight races in AAA with nine games to go. The Imperial Guards lead the Sarasota Soup Nazis by one game and the Tacoma Rainiers by four games in the Pacific Coast League. In the International League, the Anaheim Leprechauns are two games ahead of the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. It’s also a tight race for top hitter between Trolley Dodger first baseman Joel Hartsfield, hitting .315 with 20 home runs, and one of the games most acclaimed prospects in Carlos Lara, who has hit .337 with 16 bombs for the Manson Craters. The best pitcher in AAA has unquestionably been Anaheim Leprechaun German Garrett, who is 14-8 with a 2.43 ERA and is another promising young starting pitcher in the Maryland stable.

AA is all but wrapped up. The San Angeles Celestial Teapots and their five-game cushion will likely face the Churchhill Icebreakers, who have an even more comfortable seven-game advantage. The top AA hitter on the year has been Marion rightfielder Fernando Santiago, hitting .346 with 47 doubles on the year. Perhaps a replacement for Cairo’s recently traded David White? The top pitcher had been Hawksmoor Jack Frank Keats, who went 13-4 with a 2.44 ERA before his recent promotion to Marietta’s AAA affiliate in Jennifer.

In single A, the Las Vegas Low Rollers are ahead by six in the Midwest League while the Uniontown Strikers have a two-game edge on the Bloomington Troopers in the Carolina League. The dominant hitter over the year has been Uniontown catcher Pete Clark, posting a .357 batting average and a .915 OPS. Las Vegas hurler Frederick Berggren has been the best pitcher, with a 16-7 record and a sparkling 2.02 ERA.

In short-season A, the Staten Island Revolution are up four over the Beaver Shots in the Northwest League. But, the New York – Penn League is a bit of a mess as the Laredo Tigersharks hold a tenuous one-game lead over the Newark Bears. The Issaquah Indians are just one game further back, making this a tight three-team scrum. Issaquah will have every opportunity to come back, as three of its last nine games are against Newark and three more against Laredo. Laredo is led by pitcher Eric Saunders who is 9-2 with a 1.49 ERA; the former 20th-round pick in 2006 is building off his 1.93 ERA last year in Rookie ball. Apparently you can find good players in every round of the draft. Newark meanwhile is paced by the top hitter in short-season A, catcher Jorge Quintana, who is hitting .325 with a .982 OPS. Not bad for a minor league free agent.

One of the Rookie Leagues is even wilder. The Akron Arsenal appear to have a safe five-game lead in the Appalachian League, but the Gulf Coast League has four teams still in contention, each separated by a single game. In order, it’s the Apollo Rockets, Flint Stones, Madrid Toros, and Weare Flotilla battling for a single playoff berth. The best player in the league so far appears to be Akron starter Edgar McGhee, who is 9-2 with a 1.33 ERA and a 77:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lots of good hitters, but the best appears to be Apollo Rocket third baseman Mike Holmes, who is hitting .303 with 14 doubles and six home runs in 52 games.

The league file is posted. Nate has the next sim, Friday, which will be a SEVEN-day sim designed to take us up to September 1 and expanded rosters.

As we reach August 15th, the injury bug has jumped up and sharply bitten one of the leading contenders. More in the injury news section below.

In the Platonic League, the division leaders went 4-0 on the sim, but still lost a half-game of their cushion as Miami went 5-0 to close to within 13.5 games of the division lead. Of course, with the Masters’ 17.5 game lead over third-place Stockholm, the rest of the season is a largely academic exercise to determine who will be at home for Game One of the playoffs. Maryland has surged into a two-game lead over Cairo and now is in position to receive the coveted first pick in next June’s draft.

In the Socratic League, Jersey City has pulled into a tie with Brooklyn. Both teams are eight games clear of third-place Seattle, while defending league champion New York has now dropped ten games out of a playoff berth and is only 2.5 games ahead of Gainesville. Marietta remains in last place in the division and in position for only the fifth pick in next year’s draft. Every team in the SL except for Marietta is currently over .500.

In league news, Pittsburgh’s Danilo Henriquez and Seattle’s Myles Horne were named Players of the Week. Also, Henriquez and Stockholm’s Horace Lawson rapped five-hit days during the sim. The top hitting performance of the season though remains Miami’s Winfred Kiser’s 5-5 with two home run, one walk, five runs, four RBI day way back on April 4. No significant transactions.

In injury news, karma came around somewhat as Jersey City’s Donald Parson was hit by a pitch, suffered a fractured cheekbone, and is expected to be out seven months. As you all may recall, Parson was traded for top outfield prospect Albert Guzman, who suffered a fractured skull in April. I guess this new injury makes the deal a lose-lose trade, at least in the short-term. In addition, Jersey City’s Gonzalo Fernandez suffered a bruised jaw, but has almost completed healing. Stockholm lost Marvin Weist first to a bruised wrist and then to a fractured jaw. The eight weeks Weist will miss will likely cost him the rest of the season.

Finally, Gainesville lost David Austin for 1-2 weeks with a dead arm. A second baseman. With a dead arm. Toughen up a bit, will you, David? You ought to be able to roll it to first much of the time. Maybe the team will change it’s name to the Purple Wussies in his honor.

On to the hot, hot game action.

On August 10, Gainesville and Marietta played a double-header (my bad, again) with the Purple Porpoises taking both ends 6-4 and 4-1. Luckily, the two teams had the next day off. The symbolic end of the season may have come for the Knights as Jersey City scored one in the eighth and three in the ninth to come back for a 6-5 win over New York. The winning runs came home on George “Pushum” Pullum’s 26th home run of the season. Ramapough Mountain used a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth by Todd Stewart to nip Cairo 5-4. Pittsburgh white-washed Stockholm 12-0 as Jose Doriva threw 7.2 shutout innings and three Pisces homered. Tyler Conn won his 15th game of the year, stopping the red hot Seattle Pilots in a 5-2 win.

On August 11, the offenses broke out in Sweden as Pittsburgh outscored Stockholm 15-8 in a game featuring home runs from six different players. Gaby Duran won his 17th game of the season. Seattle led Brooklyn 1-0 going into the eighth, but the Bombers broke out then for five runs and won 5-1, taking their second straight game. Jersey City scored again in the ninth inning to beat New York 4-3. New York had the game headed into extra innings, but a two-out passed ball allowed Basil Gomez to reach first instead of striking out and Orlando Amell’s bases-loaded single two batters later won the game for the Skeeters. Cairo pounded Ramapough Mount 11-2, although the Indians’ Ted Corns hit his 20th home run of the season in the defeat.

On August 12, the Masters’ and Pilots’ offenses broke out. Miami got two home runs from Ben Towell in a 11-3 win. Seattle’s Frankie Garnett homered in their 10-4 win over Brooklyn. New York regained some face, scoring the last three runs of the game to beat the Skeeters 7-4. Marietta scored four runs on just four hits to beat Gainesville 4-3.

Only two games on August 13. In the first one, Cairo pounded Ramapough Mountain 14-1. Leveeman Anthony Gladney went the distance, giving up just three hits, in the win. In the other game, Miami topped Gainesville 7-5.

On August 14, interleague play returned in force and the Platonic League went a surprising 5-1. The two division leaders squared off and Pisces’ ace Richard Ro led the Pisces to a 2-1 victory. Stockholm handled New York 9-2, Maryland beat Marietta 4-2, Seattle fell to Ramapough by the same margin, and Miami topped Gainesville 7-3 with two home runs and 6 RBI from Brady Morris. The only bright spot of the day for the SL was Jersey City’s 7-4 win over Cairo.

Turning to the minors for a minute, as there is less than three weeks left in their seasons, there are a number of playoff races. In AAA, in the PCL, the Sarasota Soup Nazis (MIA) lead the Imperial Guards (PIT) by three and the Tacoma Rainiers (SP) by four. In the IL, the Anaheim Leprechauns (MPD) are one game ahead of the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (BRK). How do the Brooklyn Bombers feel about having another organization’s AAA team literally in their backyard? Inquiring minds …

In AA, it appears the championship will be decided by the San Angeles Celestial Teapots (RAM) and the Churchill Icebreakers (GAI), who lead their divisions by eight and seven games respectively.

In Single A, the Bloomington Troopers (JCY) and Uniontown Strikers (PIT) are tied in the CL. The winner will likely face the Las Vegas Low Rollers (NYK), who benefit from a seven-game cushion.

In short-season A, there are three teams battling for one berth as the Laredo Tigersharks (BRK) are only two games clear of the Newark Bears (NYK) and three in front of the Issaquah Indians (SP). In the other division, the Staten Island Revolution are five up on the Beaver Shots (PIT).

Finally, Rookie ball is a very competitive mix. The only teams apparently hopeless are the Jacksonville Junior Mints (MIA) and Flagstaff Flagellum (RAM), as every other team is within seven games of the division lead. (That’s quite a fall from grace for the Mints, as they went a stunning 56-6 last season, winning the championship.) The current division leaders are the Akron Arsenal (CAI) and the Flint Stones (NYK).

In the next sim, Brooklyn and Pittsburgh finish their showdown series and interleague play continues. Nate has the sim on Monday. League file is posted. Web pages still outdated. Sorry, I keep forgetting, and I can’t update them from work.

The trade deadline has come and gone without a peep. Nary a trade to be made. The teams as constructed now are on their own to make the playoffs.

In the Platonic League, the Pittsburgh Pisces lead the Miami Masters of Their Domain by 14 games. Miami, in turn, has a 14-game lead for the wild card over Stockholm. Ramapough Mountain has fallen to fourth place. Cairo and Maryland are tied for the cellar and next June’s #1 draft pick.

In the Socratic League, the Brooklyn Bombers have a 2.5-game cushion over the Jersey City Skeeters. New York has fallen six full games behind the Skeeters in the wild card race. Seattle, Gainesville, and Marietta round out the division.

Monthly awards were handed out to the top hitter, pitcher, and rookie for July. In the Platonic League, Miami’s Richard Vuong and Martin Hernandez took the first two honors while Pittsburgh’s Alberto Jimenez was named the top rookie for the fourth consecutive month. I’m going to go out on a limb and proclaim him a contender for the Rookie of the Year award too. In the Socratic League, Seattle swept the awards as Frankie Garnett was the top hitter and rookie while William “World B.” Freeman was the top pitcher.

No huge injuries. Brooklyn lost Joseph Watson for a few days to a blister that has likely already healed. Ramapough’s Jacobo Xiquena is out two weeks with a strained calf muscle. Cairo’s John Asuncion has the dreaded dead arm syndrome and will miss ten days or so.

It’s late, so I’m skipping the day-by-day recap. But, if you want to see a wild end to a game, check out the August 2 game between Pittsburgh and Stockholm with ten runs scoring in the ninth inning alone.

League file is loaded. Web pages are way out of date, but I’ll try to get to that soon. Frankly, I forgot to even download the results of Friday’s sim until I started to run tonight’s. Nate’s got the next sim on Wednesday.

As we close in on the trade deadline, the playoff races are continuing to stretch out. In the Platonic League, Pittsburgh leads Miami by 14 games and Miami leads Ramapough Mountain and Stockholm by 11 games. In the Socratic League, Brooklyn has opened up a 4.5 game lead on Jersey City. Meanwhile, the Skeeters lead New York by four games and Seattle by seven for the wild card berth.

Brooklyn’s Alex Sequiros and Miami’s Richard Vuong took home Player of the Week honors. No major transactions.

Some serious injuries to playoff contenders. Miami lost Winifred Kiser for five weeks to a fractured hand. New York was hit twice as Eric Guglielmo tore his bicep muscle and is out for three months (likely the rest of the season) and Courtney Mule strained his Achilles and is out seven weeks. Also, Maryland lost Alberto Santoyo for four weeks to a strained hamstring.

League file is posted. I’ll get web pages updated at some point before Monday. Nate’s got the next sim on Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Just a brief post where people can report any problems with importing the sim.

Sim worked for me. Woo hoo!