Austin Liberals (2011) aka Kanas City Royals; A New Beginnings Dynasty

[howardryan6]

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z123/hsk87/austinliberals128575439335300336.jpg
TEXAN DAILY
TEXAS GETS IT'S THIRD TEAM
NAMED AFTER THE CITY'S RESIDENTS
JULY 12,2011

This news dominated the off-season chatter among GMs. Some in favor of the move, saying it would help boost the team's record, because of the new division. Others said it was a disaster for the league, allowing a team to house players in such a "party" town. I, at the time of the move, a 15 year old boy thought it was cool to have 3 "local" teams to root for. I had always been the biggest fan of Texas teams, and was starting to lose hope in the Astros and Rangers. Since Missouri wasn't too far from my home town in Dallas, I caught a few Royals games. Uggla had been my favorite player, I loved the way he could strikeout 200 times and still be a top player in the league.

10 days later, now a 16 year old, my dad awoke me saying he had gotten me the greatest gift a young boy could have. The obvious assumption for me, as I had gotten my drivers permit just a couple of days before, was a nice red shiny Porsche with nice rims. But, when I walked into the garage, I wasn't greeted by an overpriced car, I was greeted by 10 of the Austin Liberals. My first question to my dad was, "What are they doing here?" "We own them, son! Well, hypothetically," he said. "So, your saying that you bought me the Austin Liberals. (He nodded) For my birthday (He nodded). Wow." "Tuesday is your first day. You will be the General Manager." (I feinted)

2 hours later, I woke up realizing that I had just feinted in front of ten major league baseball players. Still in shock, I figured it wasn't too bad considering that I was now their boss. I went to ask my dad about spending and what type of roster moves I was allowed to make.

[howardryan6]

Dynasty information:
Team, Starting Year: Austin Liberals(Kansas City Royals), 2010
Owner: David Glass
General Manager: Mark Travis (Me)
Manager: Mark Travis
Difficulty(Finances, PbP): Mogul, Mogul

Stipulations for Dynasty:

Can make 5 trades that I originally proposed.
Can accept as many trades as I wish
Can sign 5 Free Agents during the season
Have to draft a pitcher with my pick in the draft.
Must have a Beckham in the majors for more than have the year.
Main focus is to win now, developing prospects is a secondary issue.
Cannot go more than $10,000,000 over the budget.
This dynasty will be done on Mogul and be played in PbP mode on Mogul difficulty.


I will be using the Kansas City Royals logo for my game recaps.

For my game recaps, I will be using rockiesfan4evers's format.

[howardryan6]

Line-Up
1.RF Tim Beckham
2.SS Gordon Beckham
3.LF Matt Holliday
4.DH Joey Votto
5.3B Alex Goron
6.2B Dan Uggla
7.CF Chris Young
8.1B Billy Butler
9.C Brian Schneider

Bench:
1.CF Nyger Morgan
2.C Matt Tupman
3.CF Joseph Dickerson
4.RF Michael Mooney
5.1B Mike Stodolka

Rotation:
1.SP Chad Billinglsey
2.SP Brian Bannister
3.SP Luke Hochevar
4.SP Ervin Santana
5.SP Kyle Davies

Bullpen:
Closer RP Joakim Soria
Setup RP Julio Pimentel
Short Relief RP Ryan Braun
Short Relief RP Neal Musser
Middle Relief SP Rowdy Hardy
Long Relief SP Chad Reineke

Top 3 Hitting Prospects:
1.3B Mike Moustakas
2.SS Kevin Campbell
3.IF Jose Vazquez

Top 3 Pitching Prospects:
1.SP Phil Pitts
2.RP Demarion Williams
3.SP Matthew Mitchell

[howardryan6]

April 1st - April 3rd
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/oak.gifOakland Athletics(0-0) @ http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/kan.gifAustin Liberals
Starting Pitchers:

April 1st: Chad Guadin (0-0, 0.00) AT Chad Billingsley (0-0, 0.00)
April 2nd: Rich Harden (0-0, 0.00) AT Brian Bannister (0-0, 0.00)
April 3rd: Greg Smith (0-0, 0.00) AT Luke Hochevar (0-0, 0.00)


April 1st:
Oakland 2:7:0
Austin 5:8:1

WP- Neal Musser (1-0)
LP- Tony Pena (0-1)
S- Joakim Soria (1)

This game was a pitching duel until the late innings. We entered the bottom of the eighth tied 2-2, facing their workhorse reliever Tony Pena. We began the inning with a walk, Matt Holliday, and a double, Joey Votto. Alex Gordon and Dan Uggla both got out after this, so our hopes for a pair of runs diminished. But, CF Chris Young hit a triple down the right field line for a couple of RBIs, and Billy Butler singled him in. Joakim had a 1-2-3 ninth, showing me that he wanted to be the long time answer in the back of our bullpen.

Oakland Player of the Game: Ryan Sweeney 1-4, 1 HR(1), 1 RBI(1), K.
Austin Player of the Game: Chris Young 2-4, 1 R, 2 3Bs(1,2), 3 RBIs(3).

April 2nd:
Oakland 12:19:0
Austin 8:14:1

WP- Huston Street (1-0)
LP- Joakim Soria (0-1)

Brian Bannister allowed 8 hits, but was able to get out of most situations, as he only gave up 2 ERs. We brought in Neal Musser to face the left handed dominated line-up. He gave up 3 ERs in just 1 and 2/3 innings. At this point we still had an 8-5 lead. I brought in Joakim to face the A's in the top of the ninth. He gave up a hit to begin the inning and then recorded a ground out. Two hits, two walks, and one out later Emil Brown and Eric Byrnes hit home runs to put us down 4. Street closed it out with a perfect ninth.

The offense showed promise today with 8 XBHs and 8 runs scored. Billy Buter and Matt Holliday added their first homers of the year.

Oakland Player of the Game: Emil Brown 3-4, HR(1), 4 RBIs(4), BB.
Austin Player of the Game: Chris Young 3-4, 2 Rs, 3B(3), 2 RBIs(5), BB, K.

After the game the Atlanta Braves GM, Frank Wren, called me up telling me that he had interest in C Brian Schneider. Brian was signed in the off season, before I got the job. He wasn't rising any body's ERA at the plate, but he has always been known for his performance defensively. After about 2 hours of conversation about a couple of prospects, we came to a final deal that looked like this:

Austin Liberals Send:
1B/C Mike Stoldolka
C Brian Schneider
$8,000,000

Atlanta Braves Send:
SP Anthony Lerew
RP Manny Acosta
RP Jeff Bennett
CF Josh Anderson
C/1B Brayan Pena

I get a couple of relievers to add to my weak bullpen. One of which, Acosta, can close when Soria is tired, and will be the permanent set-up man. Lerew may be trade bait unless he performs well in AAA. Brayan Pena will start at catcher for now and Josh Anderson will be a pinch runner.

April 3rd:
Oakland 1:7:0
Austin 4:8:1

WP- Luke Hochevar (1-0)
LP- Greg Smith (0-1)
S- Joakim Soria (2)

Hochevar showed the stuff that a former first overall pick should show. He pitched 7 and 2/3s giving up only 1, and k-ed 5. The lone run for Oakland came off the bat of Brooks Conrad, his first of the year. Gordon Beckham started the scoring with an RBI single in the 3rd. We answered the 5th inning Conrad HR, with a Chris Young HR. After that the team added 2 runs in the bottom of the eighth, on a Dan Uggla 2-run bomb. Soria recovered well from last night's outing, in which he gave up 7 ERs, with a perfect ninth.

Oakland Player of the Game: None
Austin Player of the Game: Chris Young 2-4, HR(1), RBI(6)

AL Central Standings:
Cleveland Indians 2-0
Austin 2-1
Detroit Tigers 1-1
Minnesota 1-1
Chicago 0-2

What's Coming Up:
We are home for 4 against the Bronx Bombers.

Major Transactions:
April 1st: Pittsburgh Pirates signed RP Matt Capps to a 3 Year $4,900,000 extension.
April 2nd: Tampa Bay Rays sign FA SP Ted Lilly to a 1 Year $980,000 deal.

Important Injuries:
SP Josh Beckett (BOS) will miss 2 weeks with a pulled groin.
3B Joe Crede (TEX) will miss 2 weeks with a stretched ankle ligament.

League Milestones:
LF Alfonso Soriano (ChC) scored his 1000th run on April 3rd, 2011.

[howardryan6]

April 4th - April 7th
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/nyy.gifNew York Yankees(2-1) @ http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/kan.gifAustin Liberals(2-1)
Starting Pitchers:

April 4th: Sean Marshall (0-0, 0.00) AT Ervin Santana (0-0, 0.00)
April 5th: Sergio Mitre (0-0, 0.00) AT Kyle Davies (0-0, 0.00)
April 6th: Chien-Ming Wang (0-0, 2.57) AT Chad Billingsley (0-0, 0.00)
April 7th: Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0, 2.57) AT Brian Bannister (0-0, 3.00)

April 4th:
New York 3:11:0
Austin 9:14:0

WP- Ervin Santana (1-0)
LP- Sean Marshall (0-1)
S- Chad Reineke (1)

Joey Vatto carried the offense today. He increased the margin for error three times. Ervin gave me 6 solid innings, giving up 2 ERs on 7 hits, walking 4, and fanned 5. My long relieve pitcher, who I decided would get moved to the pen to make Kyle Davies the 5th starter, Chad Reineke came in for the old fashion 3 inning save. He ran into trouble in the seventh inning, but got out of it giving up only 1 ER. In his first game on the major league team, after taking a day to travel to Austin from Atlanta, delivered with a 2-5 day. He added an RBI, a run, and a 2B.

New York Player of the Game: Robinson Cano 3-5
Austin Player of the Game: Matt Holliday 2-2, 3BBs, 2Rs, 2RBIs(5)

April 5th:
New York 7:12:0
Austin 2:6:3

WP- Sergio Mitre (1-0)
LP- Kyle Davies (0-1)

Both teams got the offense going in the third. The Yankees' Robinson Cano singled in their first. In the home half of the third, the replacement for Gordon Beckham(mental health day), Irving Falu singled in out first. We lost the game in the fourth. Kyle Davies allowed a two out earned run to score. After a short meeting on the mound with Pena, Davies got Melky Cabrera to third. Unfortunately, Billy Butler made a throwing error that allowed the inning to continue. Derek Jeter added a 2 run homer to cap this inning for the Yanks. Alex Gordon showed what fight our offense had left in the 6th, with a solo shot to left.

New York Player of the Game: Robinson Cano 3-5, RBI(2).
Austin Player of the Game: Alex Gordon 2-4, HR(1), RBI(3).

April 6th:
New York 6:11:0
Austin 5:13:0

WP- Joba Chamberlain (2-0)
LP- Jeff Bennett (0-1)
S- Scott Patterson (1)

Billingsley didn't have it today. He gave up 4 ERs in 5 innings of work. The offense was able to keep up with New York, but by the time Gary Bennett had come in and blown Chad's 5-4 lead, our offense was out of gas. The Bronx Bombers held us off in a close game. Gary Bennett's spot on this team will be evaluated soon. Joey Vatto was our power hitter today he jacked his first of the year in a 1-5 performance.

New York Player of the Game: Eric Duncan 2-2, BB, R, 2 RBIs(5)
Austin Player of the Game: Tim Beckham 3-5, R, RBI(1), SB(5)

April 7th:
New York 8:14:1
Austin 0:11:1

WP- Ubaldo Jimenez (2-0)
LP- Brian Bannister (0-1)

Errors make the score look worse that it is. Bannister pitched 8 and 1/3, but gave up 6 ERs. Cano hit a homer to carry the Yankees offense. Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Patterson pitched 9 innings of shut out ball, against what I consider a high powered offense.

New York Player of the Game: Hideki Matsui 4-5, 2 Rs, 2B(4), 3 RBIs(7).
Austin Player of the Game: Tim Beckham 2-4, BB, K, 2 SBs(7)

Al Central Standings:
Cleveland Indians 5-1
Detroit Tigers 4-2
Austin 3-4
Chicago 0-6

What's Coming Up:
A 3 game trip to Cleveland, home of the King.

Major Transactions:
April 7th: Cleveland Indians give CF Grady Sizemore to a 5 Year $6,600,000 extension.

Important Injuries:
SP Adam Wainwright(STL) will miss 3 weeks with a torn hamstring.

League Milestones:
None.

[howardryan6]

April 8th - April 10th
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/kan.gifAustin Liberals(3-4) @ http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/cle.gifCleveland Indians(5-1)
Starting Pitchers:

April 8th: Luke Hochevar (1-0, 1.17) AT C.C. Sabathia (0-0, 4.50)
April 9th: Ervin Santana (1-0, 3.00) AT Chuck Lofgren (1-0, 4.50)
April 10th: Kyle Davies (0-1, 3.00) AT Cliff Lee (0-1, 15.00)


April 8th:

[twinsGM]

How'd u get all those players like Holliday and Votto?

[howardryan6]

I just Simmed 3 years, and those are the moves they made. I am sorry, I should have noted that.

[DarthJaker]

where did u find logos in game recaps

[eick]

They are from Yahoo Sports.

Played around and came up with this as a possible logo for the Liberals