The Devil Rays?

[EP Hotties]

13796
Yes! The Devil Rays won the World Series in 2008. I won 69 games in 2007, made several minor changes, and BOOM! this team was amazing. Has anyone else ever had this big of a turnaround(34 games better) in one season? Or, has anyone ever had a WS winning team with a very low payroll(mine was $40 mil)?
Finally, has anyone ever seen the Rays win anything when controlled by CPU? I haven't.

[Steve13]

I have never seen seo win 20 games.

[etothep]

have won it with a smaller payroll but dont recall having that large of a turnaround yet


nor do i recall seeing seo win 20 games....or even 15

[jtuma2008]

I've tried to win with the DRays numerous times, failed every time :p. The CPU fails all the time too so I know it's not just me lol

[EP Hotties]

Seo lost 17 games last year, but came back to win 20 and lose 4 this year.

[RedsoxRockies]

Ya I have won with the Rays. In 07, the start year once, I was a game out of the wild card, because Carl Crawford hit 30 homers and stole 112, Rocco Baldelli hit 40 and stole 40, and Carl pena hit 45. Steriods or luck i think though, as the team era was 5.50.

[AndrewOsborn]

I took me 4 years starting in 2006 to get the "Rays" to win it all.

[RedsoxRockies]

It is definatly easier in play by play

[EP Hotties]

Has anyone seen the Ray's(no "Devil") new jerseys? If you're having trouble getting to sleep , just print off a picture of one of babies. This puts the AND in BLAND.

[ohms_law]

Yea, no kidding

[AndrewOsborn]

They look like a college uniform

[Dwright5]

I have won with the D-Rays fairly quickly starting in 2007. However the payroll expenses required to build that team into a winner send it into debt soon after. Sustainability is very hard with them.

[3RunHomer]

The AI is in love with the Devil Ray prospects, so I traded them for established vets and won the first year (2007). Not the best way to build a bright and shiny future, but "pennants fly forever"!

[EP Hotties]

Oh ****! I forgot to save that game!

[mparks1973]

that sucks

[EP Hotties]

It's OK. I simulated it again(although much faster) and won again!

[Schnoogens]

The main problem that I've had the Rays comes from their budget and lack of fan support. You can "go for it" for a year or two but if they don't break through it's immediately time to rebuild and hack the payroll.

Here's the complete story, which I think is an interesting look at how much of a struggle it is to compete with the D-Rays.

A little background...I was looking for a challenge and to change history, so I started with the 1991 Royals. Playing on Mogul difficulty, simming either 1 week or 1 month at a time. The results were quite impressive, partially because there's a huge advantage in knowing what rookies are more likely to be huge successes. Here's that track record during my tenure:

1991 88-74 2nd (AL West)
1992 71-91 7th (AL West) (sometimes you have to go backwards in order to move forwards)
1993 95-67 World Champion
1994 91-71 1st (AL Central)
1995 84-78 1st (AL Central)
1996 82-80 1st (AL Central)
1997 102-60 ALDS Winner
1998 103-59 World Champion
1999 110-52 AL Champion
2000 124-38 World Champion

It was at this point that the team was set with long-term cheap contracts for the foreseeable future and my job was done…I like to build teams into champions but take no glory in winning year after year with a maxed-out squad. So I decided to make the leap to the D-Rays for the 2001 season and the REAL challenge began. I was taking a team that had gone 78-84 in 2000, finishing 3rd in the AL East.

2001 66-96 5th (AL East)
2002 55-107 5th (AL East) (sometimes you have to go WAY back in order to improve!)
2003 82-80 1st (AL East) (shocking turnaround…unfortunately it was short-lived)
2004 72-90 4th (AL East)
2005 71-91 4th (AL East) (about to lose hope forever at this point)
2006 84-78 2nd (AL East) (hope regained!)
2007 95-67 ALDS Winner
2008 95-67 ALDS Winner
2009 82-80 2nd (AL East)
2010 96-66 1st (AL East) ($1M left in the bank…one more year to take a shot)

So I’ve had some success but can never quite break through. I have depleted my bench depth in order to stay in the black financially through 2010, but the next season should be a $30M loss. The only good news is that all players have been signed through at least 2011. Ticket prices are really low in order to get SOME people to show up ($18 in 2010) but there’s just not enough money to go around. The biggest moment was in 2008 when I defeated the Royals in the ALDS three game to two, winning all three games by 1 run (and getting POUNDED in the two losses).

It’s been fun to watch my old team the Royals through the years as well, since I created the foundation. I think the Royals’ success is an indication that I can indeed build a powerhouse and that my limitations with the D-Rays are strictly because they are in an impossible situation for building a dynasty. Here are the Royals’ results since my departure:

2001 123-39 AL Champions
2002 130-32 World Champions
2003 132-30 World Champions
2004 129-33 AL Champions
2005 121-41 World Champions
2006 125-37 World Champions
2007 117-45 World Champions
2008 123-39 1st (AL Central) (no further thanks to my D-Rays!)
2009 123-39 World Champions
2010 121-41 World Champions

So my 2008 D-Rays team was essentially the only reason the Royals didn’t win 6 straight World Championships.

I will probably update this to include the 2011 season results – it’s either win it all or time to clean house.

The team has been anchored by Tejada, Mauer, Sizemore, Guillen, and Cust. Pitching is always a problem…Santana just didn’t pan out as well as in real-life. As soon as I take a chance on a 32 year-old SP in the low 90’s, he dips to the low to mid 80’s after spring training. Almost all of my trades are straight-up cash sales. But…it’s been a lot of fun!

[rlmayer32]

I won with them once, It was the 07 version of BBM and it took me until 2012 to get it done.. That's awesome you got them to win so quickly.

[Schnoogens]

An update to my previous post: I just simulated through the 2011 season and I'm proud to announce that the D-Rays finished 96-66 (1st AL East) and won the World Series in 6 games! I had enough cash at the beginning of the year to bring in a 87 overall SP and he helped hold down the 4th spot in the rotation, otherwise it was the same exact team as the previous season. The run will likely come to an end as my Cy Young #1 pitcher and my SS MVP candidate both have their contracts expiring in the offseason with hardly any money to spare.

But...mission accomplished.

[gosensgo101]

I've built a contender for 2008 with the D-Rays. Too bad B.J. got injured.

My plan(s):

Plan A - Sign the core players to cheap long term deals and "reload" with players from the minors.

Plan B - Make a run for it for a few years, then rebuild (hopefully getting 70/90ish spects so I can do it quickly)

[QHowes]

Has anyone seen the Ray's(no "Devil") new jerseys? If you're having trouble getting to sleep , just print off a picture of one of babies. This puts the AND in BLAND.

Brand new jerseys, same losing team.

[kkamsi4]

I have never seen seo win 20 games.

He recently came back to Korea for playing in KIA tigers.
Except Chan-ho Park, Most of Korean MLB candidates struggle with Language Barrier and cultur diefference
I'm Korean so I sometimes bring every Korean- major leagers whatever it costs or how stupid decisions its were.

With Huge attetions with passion and loyalty, Park Chan Ho or Kim byunghyun, Seo jae eung, can be Cy-young winners.
Frankly it's hard as ****.

[EP Hotties]

Has anyone made rosters with the best players from specific countries, so that we could stage a World Cup-like season?

[AndrewOsborn]

That would indeed be awesome. Would it be possible for an all-alaska team?:p

[GeoffreyVS]

This doesn't actually shock me. Baseball Prospectus projects the D-Rays to go 89-73 this year and the team is loaded with talent which is apparently reflected somewhat accurately in the game.