Phillies-5 years-win World Series-Payroll 80 or less

[jimbo5555]

Difficulty: Mogul
Start: 2004 Season
Objective: Win the World Series in 5 years, with a payroll of 80 million dollars or less.
Team: Phillies

Alright, so it's a difficult task. This teams payroll to start off is $115.7 million and is obviously way too high. So it's April 1st and I've decided that overrated talent has got to go. If not overrated, then too EXPENSIVE. Here are the moves I made:

Because Baseball Mogul is fantasy, I decided to make a VERY unorthodox trade. I traded Jim Thome, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu and Kevin Millwood, to the Cardinals for Albert Pujols. Pujols is getting paid like 11.7/7years. This eliminates plenty of payroll and I have very capable replacements for Burrell, Abreu, and Millwood. Plus, I'm going to need some like Pujols who will produce, unlike Thome and Burrell who are ALWAYS iffy. The Next Transaction was getting rid of extra payroll. Since David Bell's ratings were low, I had to deal him with a couple of AAA's to get some cash. So I traded David Bell, Brian Powell, and Kiel Fisher to the BoSox for a couple $million. The Payroll is now $76.9m and it's going to get cut even more. I'm going to try and make some deals to get some young talent on the ballclub. So I signed FA Rey Ordonez to a 3 year/$1m deal and traded Jimmy Rollins to the Anaheim, Angels for $4m in cash. I think Rey is a better shortstop anyway. Then I got rid of my closer, Billy Wagner....I don't care if you throw 200mph, no closer is worth $8 million a year. So he is GONE...traded him to the WhiteSox for $7mill. Picked up Kelly Wunsch at a FA for $2.4/3 years. So he will either be my closer or my setup guy.

I expect to get TRUMPED this year, but hopefully I'll gain some cash this year and pick up some new talent with the draft and free agency.

So here is my roster:

LINEUP -

1. Doug Glanville, SS - 79
2. Placido Polanco, 2B - 73
3. Jason Michaels, LF - 80
4. Albert Pujols, 1B - 99
5. Mike Liberthal, C - 73
6. Tomas Perez, 3B - 72
7. Jim Rushford, RF - 64 (will be number 8 hitter sometimes)
8. Rey Ordonez, SS - 79

Bench:
Mark Smith
Mark Budzinski
Marlon Byrd
Lou Collier
Todd Pratt
Shawn Wootsen
Bench Rating - 75

Numerous AAA stars that will probably be dealt this year because there are older ballplayers with no future. So...I'll keep you up to date on that. Sad thing is, this ballclub does not have one future bright shining star.

PITCHING:

Randy Wolf - 92
Vicente Padilla - 87
Cory Lidle - 73
Eric Milton - 79
Brett Myers 79

Closer - Felix Rodriguez
Setup - Todd Jones
Short - Kelly Wunsch
Middle - Tim Worrell
Long - Rheal Cormier
Alt - Amaury Telemoco

Hopefully this team won't get massacred.
Cash : $24,420,000
Payroll: $69.9 Million

Wish me luck!

[jimbo5555]

Mid Season Report

Phillies Record - 39-47
Not horrible, but not good either.

News: Vincente Padilla, is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff. **** you! Thats the big news for the Phils so far.

MLB News : There weren't any big trades at all halfway through the season. David Wells is out for the seaon in SD with a torn ligament. Ouch...

The Mets Lead the Braves in my division by two games. The Phillies are 13.5 out of the Division Race and 15.5 out of the wild card. Which sucks....

BREAKING NEWS: In order to bring down payroll even more, I traded Mike Liberthal and Jason Michaels to the Brewers for Chad Moeller. Chad Moeller is now my starting catcher.

The biggest suprise in all of this, is that I've won 39 games...that's it....

[jimbo5555]

END SEASON REPORT

69-93

BLAH!! It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The big news....

Playoffs - We didn't make it...................but the St. Louis Cardinals did, with a $142.5 million payroll and a poor showing from both thier offense and pitching, with the payroll they had. The Yankees and Red Sox had a face off in the ALCS, and the BoSox won in six games. BoSox got bogged down by the payroll of the Cards and lost in 5 games to the Red Birds, who win thier first World Series in a LONNNNG time.

PHILLIES END OF YEAR NEWS:

FA/TRADES/RE-SIGNING/DRAFT: Placido Polonco wants 5.5 mil for seven years. Sorry, but you don't impress me...I'm going to try and pick up a better second baseman.
Mark Smith....BYE BYE...next is Todd Pratt who want's 2.2 for 3 years. He is 38 years old and he did hit 289. If he were a couple years younger, I'd do it....Doug Glanville is asking for 1.7 for 5 years. He had yet another dismal season, hitting .230...BLAH TO YOU! He is outta here. Collier didn't contribute and wants 1.5 for 3 years, you can forget it. Tomas Perez was an interesting one. A 72 rating....a SOLID backup. He wasn't 700K for 5 years...so I signed him to a three year deal worth 770k. Need more backups like him. Onto Pitchers...Corey Lidle wants 3.8 for Five years and I just dont want to do it. He had a horrible year, but he was never that good. 8 - 15 with a 4.83 ERA...RELEASED! Let go Telemoco. Eric Milton is the next issue, he had a DECENT year, 11-17 4.03 ERA...he is 29 and wants 3.6 for six years, he'll be a good number 4 or 5 started. So I resigned him to a five year, 3.9 mill contract. Paul Abbott is released...Todd Jones is released. Rheal Cormier is released due to his age and numbers, AAA-stricken Roberto Hernandez is gone. I really want to resign Vincente Padilla, but I can't find it in my heart to do it. He wants 6.2 for 6 years...can't do it. He also is in the middle of a HUGE injury.

Payroll went from 69.9 Million to 38.3 Million. Now I have some breathing room.

To gain some good money, I'll have to keep my payroll at about 60 million. So I'm going to sign some free agents. I signed Mark Loretta, 6.8/4 years and hopefully he put up some good numbers for me. I signed Paul Byrd as a starter, 3.3 for 3 years. I also needed a number one starter and I liked Johan Santana so much this year, that I signed him to a seven year deal worth $8.7 mill a year. I also signed Guillmero Mota to a four year deal worth 5.4 a year. So I think I'm done.

AWARDS: None..accept for Two All Star nods for Albert Pujols and Felix Rodriguez.

Top Performer: Albert Pujols - .329, 29 hr, 410 OBA, 103 RBIs and 12 SBs.

Dissapointments : Everyone....but hey, it was expected.

2005 Projection - Hopefully to win 80 games.

So here we go..

2005 Lineup

1. Mark Bunzinski LF - 71 *Peak 81
2. Marlon Byrd CF - 79
3. Juan Richardson 3B - 88 *Hit 10 Dingers in 76 games last year
4. Albert Pujols 1B - 99
5. Mark Loretta 2B - 89
6. Chad Moeller C - 79
7. Jim Rushford RF - 65
8. Rey Ordonez SS - 72

Bench
Ryan Howard
Paublo Ozuna
Jorge Padilla
Chase Utley
Michael Hernandez
Michael Bourn
BENCH RATING : 65


Rotatation
Randy Wolf - 96
Johan Santana - 92
Brett Myers - 79
Eric Milton - 79
Paul Byrd - 73 *Underrated

Bullpen
Guillermo Mota
Felix Rodriguez
Kelly Wunsch
Tim Worrell
Ryan Madsen
Eric Junge
PITCHING OVERALL - 85

I'm ready to get it DONE!

[alvarez16]

draft???? was there one???

Anyways... good job pretty insteresting dynasty

[jimbo5555]

As far as the Draft Choices go, I'm not really concerned about them. All I'm concerned about is winning the World Series by the year 2008 with a payroll of less than 80 million bucks.

In the meantime...2005 Season Completed....

71-91

It looks dissapointing, but it's not as bad as it seems. Almost all of my starters were injuried at one time or another. Not to mention an injury to Albert Pujols which really set the offense back a notch. I think the year was VERY productive. It introduced a new star to the Phillies. Juan Richardson came out of no where as my starting Third Baseman, and he hit .279 with 35 HRs, and 111 RBIs...his Power and Contact are 96 and hit feilding is all 96 and his health is 96. He just has a weak eye, at 74. But he is the premier third baseman in my league. He will be the breakout star next year...

As far as the team overall....the first six hitters in my lineup hit about 270. But when it came down to Chad Moeller and Jim Rushford, they combined for a .205 average, 18HRs and 108 RBIs....sickening. My starters were EXCELLENT for getting injuried as much as they did. They combined for a 3.85 ERA, which is pretty darn good considering what it was last year. Randy Wolf stood out with a Cy Young year, he boasted a 2.85 ERA with a 15-8 Record. Guillmero Mota has a phenomal year as well, 2.52 ERA with 33 saves. That's pretty good for a team with 71 wins. Bullpen had an ERA of about 4.20. Ryan Madsen brought the ERA WAY up.He had a 6.74 in 100 IP.

I'm confident my team can overcome this and win 90 games next year with a few new players. The only problem to all this, is that I'm 10 Million Bucks in debt...but luckily, none of my big guys or starting picthers have a contract coming up. So I'll have to get REALLY creative about this.

The Cubbies won the World Series and defeated the Seattle Ichiros.

So it's back to the drawing board for me...the contracts I lost were, Chad Moeller (OH NO!), a solid relief pitcher in Felix Rodriguez, and Tim Worrell (BE GONE!!).

I'll have to LOWER my payroll or make it to the playoffs to make some money. So I've decided to see if I can keep my payroll where it is and hopefully make it to the playoffs to make some much needed moolah. First thing I did was sign Juan Pierre to a huge contract...7 years/6 mill...he will be my leadoff guy and hopefully hit .300. A couple of my bench guys have really gotten it done for me, so I'll be replacing a few guys in my starting lineup. My new catcher is Michael Hernandez, he is an overall 78 rating. He will bat either 7th or 8th and possibly 6th. I'm going to have to keep my team just the way it is unfortunately. There are not ANY good FA out there with the exception of Jaun Peirre. I think he is the missing peice...I really do. So here is my team for the 2006 Season...

Oh yeah...AWARDS....Albert Pujols got the All Star nod...but thats IT....BLAH! On to 2006!!

NOTE: I dealed a couple of AAAers for 2 million bucks. That takes away alittle of my debt and my payroll. Baby steps...and I also got rid of Rey Ordonez and replaced him with Chase Utley at SS....

MY TEAM:

Lineup -

1. Pierre, CF - This guy ROCKS.
2. Mark Loretta, 2B- I think this will be his last good year.
3. Juan Richardson, 3B - 35 dingers last year, I project 45 this year.
4. Pujols, 1B - 2005: .328, 36 HRs, and 134 RBIs
5. Marlon Byrd - Carrer .285 Average
6. Michael Hernandez. C - Solid Catcher with good hitter rating of 86.
7. Chase Utley, SS - .318 in AAA last year.
8. Michael Bourn, LF - 298 in AAA last year...great glove and BRIGHT future.

Bench -
Mark Bundzinski - .268 as starter last year
Jim Rushford - Permanent Backup
Eric Young - He will be my go to outfielder when someone gets hurt. My replace someone if they aren't producing
Jamie Raushenbush - Backup Catcher
Bob Zahler - Backup 1B
Ryan Howard - Had to put him somewhere...

AAA Talent is about ZERO

NOTE: As I was looking at AAA guys....I decided to deal MORE for cash. Traded about 4 of them for 3 million. Not bad...

Starters:
Randy Wolf - 96
Johan Santana - 92
Brett Myers - 79
Eric Milton - 79
Paul Byrd - 73

Bullpen:

Guillermo Mota
Kelly Wunsch
Ryan Madsen
Eric Junge
Geoff Geary
Kyle Kendrick

MIGHT GET SHAKY!!!!

Let the season...BEGIN!!

[jimbo5555]

I don't know what to say about this year. It was probably the luckiest year in the history of Baseball Mogul. My team went 95-67, won the wild card spot...and took us to the playoffs. I won't tell you what happened yet...but I will go down the highlights of the regular season.

First off, my predictions came true. Juan Richardson had a breakout year and probably one of the best years in Major League HISTORY. My third baseman hit .342, which was second in the Majors. He an ML Best, 67 homers and a National League best, 163 RBIs. So obviously, this guy wins the NL MVP award and on top of that he wins a GOLD GLOVE! Truly this guy was AMAZING. Just about EVERYONE in my lineup hit for average or better this year. Albert Pujols hit .310 with 36 HRs and 144 RBIs. Juan Pierre had an awesome year with a .297 AVG and 43 SBs. Marlon Byrd finally broke out with a .296 AVG and 15 HRs...and my rookie catcher, Michael Hernandez hit .286 with 9 HRs and 67 RBIs...basically, the offense was THERE.....272 Team Average. Starting pitching was solid. Randy Wolf and Johan Santana had mirror years. Both had a 3.08 ERA and they combined for a 28-14 Record. Brett Myers was the only weak pitcher I had in the rotation. He had a 5.08 ERA but somehow managed to go 12-7. Eric Milton and Paul Byrd combined for a 4.45 ERA and a 23-21 Record between them...so it was kinda iffy with both of those. But my offense just gave the run support they needed. The bullpen was very good this year. My top three relievers combined for a 3.13 ERA and 41 Total Saves. Everything just seemed to fall into place this season. Luck had alot to do with it.

Before I get to the playoffs, lemme tell you the awards that were given. Juan Richardson, Johan Santana and Guillermo Mota were given All Star nods. Juan Richardson wot the National League MVP and a Gold Glove. Johan Santana won the NL Strikeout Title and I think he should have gotten the Cy Young nod.

We came in second place to the New York Mets who had an awesome year with a 110-52 record. Team ERA of 3.41 (Yowza!) and a very healthy offense to boot. The defending World Champs won the Central Division easily and the COLORADO ROCKIES, won thier division when they had a one game playoff with the Arizona Diamondbacks to determine the winner of thier divsion. Colorado wins the division with a goofy 81-82 record. Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle and Cleveland entered from AL. The first team I took on were the Chicago Cubs, we split the first two games and then it came back to Philly, were we took the next two and won the NLDS. Onto...NEW YORK....I really was happy to make it to the NLCS and hopefully make some extra money. We actually took the first two games from the Mets in New York, no less. We then won the third game and I'm thinking SWEEP...but as that is happening, I'm watching the BoSox on TV win the ALCS....and I'm thinking, THEY COULD DO IT! So the Mets shut us down in game four, with a 5-0 victory. Game 5....it came down to a Two Run shot by Albert Pujols to send us to the World Series! At this point, I've very excited...so the Wild Card Phillies face off with the Wild Card Indians. They take the first two games from us, while limiting the Phils to only 2 runs for both games combined. Then the series heads back to Philly, we take the next three in a row and have got the tribe's back to the wall! No dramatic win here...we shut the door in Game Six and take down the Indians...and WIN THE WORLD SERIES.

It was a bit premature. No way, was this team supposed to win the Series this year. I was hoping to make it to the playoffs and get some team support before we won the series. But hey...I'll take it. My goal was to win the world series in 5 years, with an 80 Million Dollar Payroll or Less and I did it. I was lucky....blah! It was fun...but a very short, dynasty.

Wow...I guess that's it...

I hope you guys enjoyed reading it....

GO SOX!!

[Griswel]

Good stuff.

Thanks!

[jaykno14]

WHY DON'T YOU KEEP IT GOING???!!?!?!!? I'd liike to see if you can get them to repeat or even......the impossible threeeeeepeat!!!