Internationals Revisited: Season 1

Inspired by BTKantz's solid retrospectives on past amateur drafts, I thought I'd look back at some of the hits and misses of past International Free Agent signings.

At best, you might get a better idea of which ratings translate into productive major leaguers. At worst, you'll still be able to laugh and point at the suckers who forked over big cash for crap players who never even sniffed the big leagues. (Translation: A certain idiot owner's $2.5M love affair with middling 2B Napoleon Hennessey)

Biggest Signing

Hardball Dynasty's

Wilfredo Sanchez

Wilfredo Sanchez, New York Burros 2B. $8.4M
Analysis: The season one signing inspired a bidding war, and since it came before WIS implemented the budget transfer feature, it ultimately cost the Burros the chance to sign their first-round pick in the amateur draft. Still, Sanchez proved his worth, peaking with a 30 HR, 120 RBI season in year five.


Biggest Bust

Hardball Dynasty's

Edgardo Martinez

Edgardo Martinez, Oklahoma City Outlaws C
Analysis: It's probably not fair to call Martinez a total bust, since he's still playing and certainly has the ratings to be a major leaguer. Still, I can't think of too many owners who would be happy to fork out $7.4M for 0 major league ABs in eight seasons.

Hardball Dynasty's

Ivan James

Ivan James, Arizona Mustangs P: $4.0M
Analysis: If we're not counting Martinez, there's no question about this one. James was about as big a bust as you're going to find. During season one, most owners still weren't completely sure about the relative importance of certain ratings. James represented an expensive lesson about the significance of splits that didn't top out in the mid-20s. He put up an 11-36 record and 9.93 ERA over six seasons, never getting out of High A. He was the seventh-most expensive IFA in season one. Five of them have played at least one full season in the majors. Martinez is pretty close. James never even approached it.

Funniest Name

Hardball Dynasty's

James Bong

Analysis: Duuuuuuuuude....

Least-Expensive Player Still Active In The Majors

Hardball Dynasty's

Marino Oliva

Marino Oliva, Tucson Toros 3B: $1.2M
Analysis: It took a while, but Oliva turned out to be a decent player. He put up 28 HR in his only season of full-time major league action and a career minor league OPS of .975 is nothing to turn your nose up at.

Tomas Mateo ($765K) saw major league action with Philadelphia earlier this season but is in AAA right now.

Least-Expensive Player Still Active At Any Level

Paul Gang Durham Bulls Age: 25 B/T: R/R Born: Osaka, JP Position(s): 1B View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Paul Gang, Durham Bulls 1B: $280K
Analysis: 334 games, all with the same organization. Only 28 games in AAA.

Only three of the 37 least-expensive signings are on active rosters this year.

HBD 101: Managing Your Minor League Pitching

Keeping every level of minor league pitching in decent shape can seem like an overwhelming task to new HBD players (and, apparently, some veteran players as well). However, it's actually quite simple-- as long as you stay on top of things. Two minutes a couple times per day will save you big hassles down the line.

Here's what you need to do.

Make sure every level is properly staffed: This means roughly 14-16 pitchers per level, with perhaps a couple more than that for single-A levels. Keep 12 or 13 of them active and stash the rest on the inactive list. Then, you can either let the sim manage your pitching staffs for you (Managers Office --> Management Console, then check the boxes for "manage pitching staff" and change the auto-rest setting to 80% or so) or you can do it manually.

I do it manually because it lets me ensure that my actual prospects are getting enough innings and aren't being pitched below 100%. If you stay on top of things (changing it minimally twice a day) and have a properly-staffed team at each level, it takes under 2 minutes total to go through the pitching for every level-- especially if you use the "recommended roles."

So where do these arms come from?

Promotions: These will prevent guys from retiring. Remember that at the beginning of the season, there is no Rookie Ball. Move up all your high stamina guys from rookie ball to Low A, even if they're not going to ever pitch in the majors. Move up anyone who was even decent in Low A (say, an ERA under 6) to High A. Move everyone who was decent in High A to AA. Move everyone who was decent in AA to AAA.

Tryout Camp: These guys, flatly, suck. None of them will ever sniff the major leagues, and quite frankly most don't even belong in AA. They do have a couple things going for them. 1) They're cheap. 2) It's very, very easy to sign a bunch of high-stamina guys very quickly. If you sign 4 for your Low A team and 4 for your High A team, you'll have more than enough arms to cover you. Just sort the list by stamina (the first red rating that looks like an uphill slope) and then pick the guys with the best splits and control from the top of that list.

Free Agents: These are best for staffing your high minors, if you have a need there. Most tryout camp guys will be effectively useless in AA or AAA, so you'll need to sign some legitimate pitchers to fill those roles. At the very beginning of the season, during the free agency re-signing period, make sure you re-sign all of your minor league pitchers who are asking for $55k or less. This is still a relatively cheap price for guys who will likely be able to eat innings effectively. After that, cruise the minor league free agency lists. It's not worth handing a big league contract to someone who's almost certainly going to pitch exclusively in the minors, but $55k isn't too bad for someone with decent stamina.

Note: There are always a lot of guys with staminas of 8 or 6 on the free agency lists. They really won't be of much help in eating innings, so unless their other ratings are good enough for them to reach the majors, you should probably ignore them.

Maintaining healthy minor league pitching staffs is really just all about preparation. Make sure you've got 12-13 pitchers at each level, then stash another 4-6 on inactive. Make sure most of them have decent stamina (minimally 30, preferably 50+). Then just check in on them regularly. It's like maintaining your house: you can either do it a little each day, ignore it until you're ultimately forced to waste a big chunk of time fixing what you should have been doing all along, or just really piss off your neighbors.

HBD 101: Managing Your Prospects

Every season, your team is presented with 25 prospects in the draft, plus however many international free agents you sign. This will serve as a very basic guide to help you get the most out of them as they progress through their careers and ultimately make your major league club.

It's worth noting that there are a number of different schools of thought on the best ways to develop your prospects. Some people believe in the one year, one level philosophy where a player spends a year at Rookie Ball, a year at Low A, a year at High A, etc. Others believe your best prospects should play with your best coaches, regardless of level. Others will give each prospect just a short time at each level, and move players up multiple times per season.

There is not necessarily a "right" answer among these choices and others. The game's developers have suggested (indirectly, at least) the ways you might want to think about dealing with your prospects. I'm going to re-print those comments here so that you have them in one place.

From a developer chat in January 2008: Q: What is the best way to develop a player? What are the pitfalls/factors that help a player reach their projected ratings? Is it possible for every player to reach their potential, or are the players that don't reach their projections a deliberate part of the game design?

A: Lots of factors are at play. Player makeup rating, age, peak age (varies from player to player), coaching staff, performance, level/age relationship (25 yr old at lo a isn't a good idea, for example), injuries and demotions. Most players should reach their projection assuming a normal progression pattern. Remember, some players continue to improve beyond 27 years old, but the display of projected ratings lock in at age 27. If they improve beyond that, their projected ratings synch up to their current ratings.

Q: Does the level a player is at affect his speed of development? Or is it only a product of coaching, playing time, and success?

Yes. Level and age matter and so does repeating a level too many times.

Now, some information from a developer chat in September of 2007.

Q: Does making the MinL playoffs in any way help player development?

Minor league teams that make the playoffs will see a slight boost in development due to the fact that they are playing in more games than those teams who do not make the playoffs.

Here's something from July 2007.

Q: Is there a benefit to having players that are going to make your team play in Spring Training? Do they perform better if they get a certain number of ABs/IPs in the spring...or will not playing much hurt their performance?

A: There is a benefit to playing in Spring Training. As long as a player is playing he reaps the rewards of the big league level coaching staff and sees some development increases because of it.

Q: We know that if you demote a player, there's a risk of a demotion penalty depending on various factors (age, makeup, patience, etc.). if you assign a player for whom you just traded, does the same risk apply? i'm not talking about that player being stuck at the new level for a long time, i'm only asking whether assigning a newly-acquired player to a lower level functions the same way as a demotion. thanks.

A: Assigning a player to a lower level can have the same affect as demoting a player.

Q: I have seen players over the age of 30 gain projected overall ratings after a trade. For instace a player I had went from 75/75 to 76/76 after I traded him. What caused that?

A: Every player has a different peak age, so one can continue improving at age 30 while others won't. If a roster move occurs close to a player's scheduled development cycle, it will occur at the time of the roster change.

In my experience, I have seen a lot of players screw up their prospects' development by disregarding some or all of these answers. I'll provide examples (usually from my own team or guys that I traded away to people who are no longer part of the world).

Pasqual Rodriguez: A very solid RF who played one good season in the majors for me before I traded him away. The owner who got him assigned him to High A and then Low A for some reason. He played exactly one season there before retiring. I have no idea why he thought demoting a guy four levels was a good idea (especially after he had proven that he was capable of playing at the major league level), but the player disagreed and he ended up with nothing to show for it.

David Bland: A short reliever who could have been a nice short arm in a bullpen. He was assigned to Low A and rookie by his new team after playing at AAA and in the majors. He retired after that season.

Jackson McKinley: His ratings weren't great, but he probably would have been a serviceable backup OF for a major league team somewhere (he certainly hit AAA pitching well). He wasn't demoted too far, but if a guy has been in the pros for seven years and is only in AA, he's probably going to retire.

Harold Jones: He rocketed through the low minors, appearing in AAA in his second pro season. Then he sat in AAA for four years, got demoted to AA and retired. I don't remember his exact projections, but they were substantially higher than where his numbers ended up. If you notice-- his "current" ratings actually dropped during a couple of his later seasons.

Hopefully, this will help you decide the best way to develop your young players. Of course, you can always figure out which owners have had the best success in developing players and try to decipher what those teams do.

AL Power Rankings, Week 2

The first week's rankings meant virtually nothing, but now we're starting to see some stratification develop. Oklahoma City is clearly the #1 team this week. #2 Madison has a nice, shiny record, but their run differential suggests that they may have a tough time maintaining their current pace.

Spots #7 through #14 are pretty much interchangeable. An extra run or two scored or given up by any of those teams could have shot them up or down a handful of spots. After that, there's a very steep plunge to the bottom.

1 Oklahoma City Chickens


Last Week: #4
Record: 22-6 (16-3 this week)
Expected Win %: .739
Interesting, But Meaningless: On pace for 127 wins. That would, like, be a record or something. Expected win total is a mere 120.
Yikes: Donnie DuBose woke up. In this space last week, he was singled out for hitting .114 with a .527 OPS. Now: .312 average, 11 HR, 1.088 OPS.

2 Madison Massas


Last Week: #5
Record: 20-8 (14-6 this week)
Expected Win %: .566
Interesting, But Meaningless: Want to stay well ahead of your expected win %? Just go 8-1 in one-run games. Here's something that's not meaningless: It helps to have four relievers with ERAs under 3.
Yikes: Ryan World's perpetual bullpen disappointment, Ellis Watson has spent years making owners angry. His ratings say he should be a stud but his career ERA was above 7 entering the year. This season, he's a perfect 10-for-10 in save opportunities and has a sparkling 1.56 ERA despite his 1.50 WHIP.

3 Mexico City Reds


Last Week: #3
Record: 17-11 (11-9 this week)
Expected Win %: .613
Interesting, But Meaningless: Torey Samuel is enjoying a career year in the altitude of Mexico City. He has an ERA of 2.58 despite giving up 6 HRs in 6 outings. As the guy who traded him away, I couldn't be happier for him. (not true)
Yikes: Juan Guerrero is on pace for 92 steals, and only get caught 6 times.

4 New York Bombers


Last Week: #8
Record: 18-11 (14-6 this week)
Expected Win %: .610
Interesting, But Meaningless: Timothy Dye has 21 steals in 21 attempts (on pace to steal 117 without getting caught). The rest of the Bombers have 13 steals, while getting caught 10 times.
Yikes: Speaking of guys who've flourished since I traded them away, Bill Darwin is back in New York and tearing the cover off the ball. He posted a 15-game hitting streak this week.

5 Wichita Sizzlers


Last Week: #9
Record: 16-13 (13-8 this week)
Expected Win %: .593
Interesting, But Meaningless: Second in the majors with 10 triples, including one from Roosevelt Williams who is on a 17-game hitting streak.
Yikes: Combined record of minor league teams: 84-28

6 San Juan Senators


Last Week: #11
Record: 15-13 (12-7 this week)
Expected Win %: .576
Interesting, But Meaningless: Albert Frazier is on pace to hit 101 HRs this season.
Yikes: Total record of minor league teams to date: 20-92. Perhaps logging in more than once every 10 days would help.

7 Iowa City Eyesores


Last Week: #7
Record: 16-12 (11-9 this week)
Expected Win %: .537
Interesting, But Meaningless: Highly-touted Vinny Hernandez is still below the Mendoza Line, hitting .189.
Yikes: Tied for best in the majors with a .993 fielding percentage.

8 Boston Badasses


Last Week: #1
Record: 15-14 (8-12 this week)
Expected Win %: .497
Interesting, But Meaningless: Closer Al Santos is a perfect 7-for-7 on saves, despite a 6.23 ERA.
Yikes: Glenallen Bell has an 11.12 ERA in six starts.

9 Durham Bulls


Last Week: NR
Record: 14-15 (11-9 this week)
Expected Win %: .509
Interesting, But Meaningless: Richie Cormier is still on pace for 109 HR and 245 RBI. I'm sure glad I got rid of him.
Yikes: Mike Daly is 2-2 in six starts, despite a 9.71 ERA.

10 Kansas City McCoys


Last Week: #14
Record: 12-16 (9-10 this week)
Expected Win %: .524
Interesting, But Meaningless: Only six saves so far this season. No one on the team has more than 2.
Yikes: Demoted the man with the most painful name in HBD: Dick Sparks.

11 Chicago Bearcubs

Last Week: #6
Record: 12-16 (8-12 this week)
Expected Win %: .491
Interesting, But Meaningless: Stud Freddie Reynolds still hitting .195.
Yikes: Six pitchers on the roster have an ERA over 6.00.

12 Las Vegas Gamble


Last Week: #13
Record: 13-15 (8-11 this week)
Expected Win %: .458
Interesting, But Meaningless: Eight different pitchers have started a game already this season.
Yikes: Dead last in the majors in fielding percentage (.981)

13 San Jose Snakes


Last Week: #2
Record: 12-16 (6-14 this week)
Expected Win %: .463
Interesting, But Meaningless: An 11-spot drop in one week pretty much has to be a record, doesn't it?
Yikes: Dead last in the majors with just seven quality starts in 28 games.

14 Washington DC Old School Warriors


Last Week: #16
Record: 11-17 (9-11 this week)
Expected Win %: .393
Interesting, But Meaningless: Peter Roberts has a .461 OBP in limited action this season.
Yikes: Chad Goldman has a 10.22 ERA through six starts.

15 St. Louis Stampede


Last Week: #12
Record: 7-21 (4-16 this week)
Expected Win %: .279
Interesting, But Meaningless: One of five teams (all in the AL) that has not used a pinch-hitter this season.
Yikes: Wallace Russell definitely earned his trip to AAA with a 15.75 ERA.

16 Philadelphia Hellraisers


Last Week: #15
Record: 6-22 (4-15 this week)
Expected Win %: .183
Interesting, But Meaningless: Dead last in the AL in runs scored. They make up for it by being dead last in runs allowed as well.
Yikes: As bad as their record is, their expected record is actually one game worse.

Power Rankings NL Week 2

1. Montreal Money Shots-


Last Week: 3
Record: 17-11
Expected Win %: .679
Interesting, But Meaningless: 4 of the 7 relievers have been a 20+ save closer in their career.
Yikes: only 4 of 33 inherited runners have scored on Montreal's bullpen






2. Nashville Park Tanners-


Last Week: 4
Record: 19-9
Expected Win %: .668
Interesting, But Meaningless: SP Brandon Roosevelt's 2.98 ERA might have to do wigth intimidation he has hit 3 batters in 5 starts
Yikes: SP Matt O'Malley as a rookie making his presence known with a 1.71 ERA




3. Colorado Springs Organizational Filler-




Last Week: 2
Record: 17-11
Expected Win %: .530
Interesting, But Meaningless: Organizational filler has at least 17 wins at all levels of plays
Yikes: 2b Geraldo Soto(.310 11hr 22rbi 20r) is on pace to smash is career highs of HR(20), RBI(86) and runs(78)






4. Cheyenne Marmots-

Last Week: 1
Record: 15-13
Expected Win %: .588
Interesting, But Meaningless: 1B Adrian Cassidy has 1 more walk (25) than he has hits (24)
Yikes: 8 plus plays and a Throw out % of .417 says this is the premier defensive team

5. New York Burros

Last Week: 7

Record: 15-13

Expected Win %: .582

Interesting, But Meaningless: SP Timothy Garcia has 2 complete game shutouts which is twice as much as the next closest TEAM.

Yikes: Team is batting a League low .236

6. Florida Marlins -

Last Week: 9
Record: 17-11
Expected Win %: .507
Interesting, But Meaningless: Kurt Kotsay is on pace for 60+ stolen bases

Yikes: RF Julio Martin has allowed 6 of 7 inherited runners score

7. Atlanta Braves-


Last Week: 6
Record: 14-15
Expected Win %: .503
Interesting, But Meaningless: recent slide has taken the team from 1st to 3rd in the division.

Yikes: 11-5 at home 3-10 on the road

8.Cincinnati Bowties -

Last Week: 8
Record: 15-13
Expected Win %: .425
Interesting, But Meaningless: a perfect 10 for 10 in save situations

Yikes: C Brent Sheets has improved statistics each year for the past 3 seasons. A name to watch in the future!

9. San Diego Surf -

Last Week: 5
Record: 13-15
Expected Win %: .479
Interesting, But Meaningless: RPs Herbert Hooper and Jose James have yet to let an inherited runner score

Yikes: Ex Boston ace Tim Burnitz (era 11.88) is struggling in his new relieve role in San Diego.

10. Little Rock Labradors -

Last Week: 10
Record: 12-16
Expected Win %: .539
Interesting, But Meaningless: CF Jim Walker has more stolen bases (23)than 10 teams in the NL
Yikes: as a team they have been caught stealing (23) more than 10 teams have actual stolen bases.

11. Seattle Warbirds

Last Week: 12
Record: 12-16
Expected Win %: .451
Interesting, But Meaningless: 16M man Jumbo Guerrero might be getting his career back on track .313 3hr 12sb

Yikes: the bullpen has been aweful 6.36

12. Colorado MILE HIGH CLUB -

Last Week: 11
Record: 11-18
Expected Win %: .486
Interesting, But Meaningless: Colorado has the 3rd least home runs in the league. 1st time they don't lead the NL
Yikes: 8-29 in quality starts

13. Hartford T Ball-

Last Week: 16
Record: 15-14
Expected Win %: .481
Interesting, But Meaningless: 1B Tony Kelly with 15 hr leads all Nl Hitters

Yikes: 2 starters are under the Mendoza line SS Cesar Lugo(.191) and RF Jeff Jackson(.196)

14. Milwaukee Blues -

Last Week: 13
Record: 13-16

Expected Win %: .413
Interesting, But Meaningless: 4 starters have more strikeouts than hits.

Yikes: Bad week for the pitching staff 2 pitchers go on the DL Wood, and Sanders. could make the climb next week very tough

15. Richmond Revolution-


Last Week: 15
Record: 12-16
Expected Win %: .339
Interesting, But Meaningless: SP Chris Murphy( the 4th pick in the rule 5 draft) is averaging giving up less than 1 hit an inning
Yikes: International signing of Wascar Martin cost 12.5M

16. Cleveland Wild Dogs-

Last Week: 14
Record: 9-19
Expected Win %: .328
Interesting, But Meaningless: in the final year of an 8M/year contract might be a bad time to be hitting .207 with 1 strike out every 5 abs for Harry Chavez
Yikes: SP Paul Hara has already uncorked 3 wild pitche s( more than 8 NL teams)

Looking at the draft Season 2

SEASON 2

1st Round Picks Signed: 25/32
Supplemental Picks Signed 27/39

TOP 5:

#1 SP Andy Washington MON 44-40 record Career era of 4.62 in 5 seasons of action. 1 time 15 game winner

#2 SP Travis Lockhart SFE Never Signed to this day it is believed Santa Fe holds his rights in a locked cabinet outside Area 51.

#3 SP Albert Telford CHI 1 Time Cy Young Winner and 2 time All-star Career 74-34 record with a 4.29 ERA and 608 SO in 6 seasons of work.

#4 SP Kent Singleton ATL Killed Feb 2007 in a freak cow methane lighting accident.

#5 2B Albert Frazier 6 Season of pro ball experience translate into 150 HR and 507 RBI and a career .284 Hitter.

Lowest Drafted to make the pros: C Danny Poppell 21st round pick # 684 NY2 2 season starting catcher .272 career hitter

Names of Note: #6 Stubby Cyr #11 Carlos Hernandez #21 Adrian Cassidy #25 Clarence Thompson #43 D.T. Hutch #57 Kevin Chiasson

# still in the league:
ML 58 AAA 56 AA 38 HiA 12 LoA 5 R 0

Milestones ahead for season 8

The Following Players have Career Milestones coming up. Intalics if they accomplished it this season


1500 Hits:

Trenidad Beltran(32) 1500 COL 5/9 PM
George Harding(32) 1500 CIN 5/12 PM2
Vic Mullins(35) 1500 COL 5/20 AM
Marc Grilli(31) 1500 SEA 5/26 am
Bill Darwin(32) 1326 NY1
Brace Miller(31) 1279 LV
Ozzie Watson(36) 1268 FA
Don Perry(30) 1265 OK
Diego Santiago(34) 1318 COL
Neil Fletcher(36) 1253 Clev
Pedro Roque(29) 1295 NAS
Brad Sellers(36) 1234 FA

500 HR
Vic Mullins(35) 464 COL
300 HR
Thomas Campbell(29) 309 SD
Matt Shave(25) 300 CHI 4/30 PM
Pedro Roque(29) 300 NAS 5/7 AM
Luis Belliard(34) 297 NAS
Bill Darwin(32) 276 NY1
Trenidad Beltran(32) 279 COL
Alex Lopez(30) 265 STL
Pedro Ortiz(31) 255 DUR
Jesus Santiago(31) 254 MIL
Shannon Booker(34) 254 MC
Dude Reed(30) 237 MAD
Diego Santiago(36) 241 COL
Theodore Zoltan(38) 227 OK
1000 RBI
George Harding (32) 985 CIN 6/1 PM2
Freddie Reynolds(26) 1000 CHI 5/30 PM
Trenidad Beltran(32) 962 COL
200 Saves:
Hong-Gu Kobayashi 176
Darryl Sexton 172

1500 Strike outs
Timothy Garcia(35) 1353 NY2
Philip Baxter(33) 1400 CHI

1000 Strike Outs
Kenny Marte(30) 1000 ATL 4/28 PM
Mark Swift(34) 1000 KC 4/28 PM2
Louie Suarez(36) 1000 MAD 4/30 AM
Ismael Ortiz(32) 1000 SJU 5/2 AM
Raul Ibarra(36) 1000 KC 5/9 AM
John Overbay(33) 1000 COL 5/20 AM
Graham Green(30) 1000 HAR 5/22 AM
Herman Franklin (32) 990 SJ
Louis Medina(34) 932 LV
Kevin Davidson(39) 927 IO
Greg Arnold (30) 955 OK
Vic Dunston(38) 918 CS
Marty Johnson(32) 911 ATL
Don Witte(29) 941 SJ
Tim Burnitz(33) 903 SD
Lucas Neagle(30) 890 BOS
Michael Foster (28) 896 SD
Al Marshall(32) 910 SJ
Alex Delgado(32) 908 CHI
Stevie Toombs(36) 853 WIC
Marshall Maduro(33) 821 SJ

100 Career Wins:
Mark Swift(34) 100 KC 4/30 PM
Al Marshall(32) 100 SJ 5/8 AM
Joey Cunningham(40) 100 NY1 5/3 PM2
Greg Arnold(30) 100 OC 5/8 PM
Scooter Huskey 98 NAS
Graham Green(30) 96 HAR
Vic Dunston(38) 92 Cin
Carlos Fuentes 90 MC
Omar Segui 89
Michael Foster(28) 88 SD
Kiki Soto(29) 88 CHY
Ismael Ortiz(32) 93
David Parker(32) 87 OK
Nolan Sodowsky(33) 85 SEA
Tim Burnitz(33) 85 SD
Alex Delgado(32) 87 CHI
Louis Medina(34) 84
Kenny Marte(30) 85 ATL
Lucas Neagle(30) 82
Tom Zoltan(28) 83 COL
Alex Wang 77