It’s July 4, 2000 (yes, this is two years before "Moneyball" was actually implemented but this is Showdown so go along with it). You (Billy Beane) are in your office, trying to make the final trade to bolster your lineup before the trade deadline. You know everyone else will be making trades later this month and want to get out ahead of the competition. Your current roster is good, but you need to add some more fire power to push the team over the edge and make a deep playoff run. You have some options, but not everyone is willing to be sellers given their position in the standings. Teams who refuse to answer your calls include:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays*
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Seattle Mariners
Anaheim Angels
Atlanta Braves
New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds*
San Francisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers*
Your current roster construction is as follow:
SP1 – Gil Heredia 00
SP2 – Kevin Appier 00
SP3 – Tim Hudson 00 PR
SP4 – Barry Zito 01 PR
RP1 – Doug Jones 00
RP2 – Mike Magnante 00 PR
RP3 – Jim Mecir 01
RP4 – Jason Isringhausen 00 PR
RP5 – Omar Olivares 00
C – Ramon Hernandez 00 PR
1B – Jason Giambi 01
2B – Randy Velarde 00
SS – Miguel Tejada 01
3B – Eric Chavez 00
LF – Ben Grieve 01
CF – Terrence Long 01
RF – Jeremy Giambi 01
DH – Olmedo Saenz 01 PR
BN – Matt Stairs 00
BN – Adam Piatt 01 PR
BN – Ryan Christenson 01
BN – Mark Mulder (see notes below for details)
There are certain players the organization values too much to consider dealing, which includes: Hudson, Zito, Isringhausen, Hernandez, Jason Giambi, Tejada, Chavez, Grieve, and Long.
The biggest piece of ammo in your arsenal to trade for this historic run is your second overall pick from the 1998 draft and who made his MLB debut earlier this season, Mark Mulder. Mulder is a coveted arm that many teams would love to build around as a future top of the rotation pitcher.
For your first challenge, you must assemble and execute the trades you wish to make for the post-season run. The stipulations you are given:
-Mulder is valued at 600 points and a foil while everyone else is valued as their actual points designated on their card
-When trading, you are not allowed to bring in over the amount of points you are dealing (the receiving team may receive more points than they are trading away)
-No trading with any of the teams listed above in the playoff hunt (if a player has both a Base and Pennant Run card, the Pennant Run team overrules where they are qualified to play)
-The exception to the no trade rule is a team designated with an “*” may trade but must include Mulder and another player (2 for 1 trade)
-Foil cards must be traded as a 2 for 1 deal (typically foils are high profile players and must be compensated accordingly)
-When you deal a foil, it is a straight 1 for 1 deal
-You may make up to four trades with any of the allowed teams from the 2000 Base or Pennant Run set
-I know that some trades would not happen in real life, but this is Showdown and we’re here having a good time so if you can make it work out with the guidelines in place above, it’s fair game
-At the end of the day, you must be able to have a full 20-man roster (you are allowed to cut players if you wish)
-Of the players ownership wants you to keep, they must remain in the lineup (if you get a backup catcher, you may play the back up every other day with Hernandez starting odd numbered games)
At the end of this challenge, you must:
-Post your trades
-Share your newly constructed lineup
-Share your newly constructed pitching rotation and bullpen (per the actual 2000 A’s, Hudson is the #3 starter while Zito is the #4)
Alright here we go:
ReplyDeleteTrade 1
Mark Mulder Jeremy Giambi Olmedo Saenz 1020 to the Cubs for 00 Kerry Wood & Sammy Sosa 1000 apiece
Get my win now ace
Trade 2:
Randy Velarde & Omar Olivares & Adam Piatt 890 pts to Houston for Billy Wagner & Craig Biggio & Stan Javier 780
Trade 3: Matt Stairs & Kevin Appier 690 pts for Larry Walker 620 pts
Trade 4: Ryan Christiansen to the Brewers for Mark Loretta 190 apiece
New Lineup:
SP1 – Kerry Wood 00 PR
SP2 – Gil Heredia 00
SP3 – Tim Hudson 00 PR
SP4 – Barry Zito 01 PR
RP1 – Doug Jones 00
RP2 – Mike Magnante 00 PR
RP3 – Jim Mecir 01
RP4 – Jason Isringhausen 00 PR
RP5 – Billy Wagner 00
Lineup:
C – Ramon Hernandez 00 PR
1B – Jason Giambi 01
2B – Craig Biggio 00
SS – Miguel Tejada 01
3B – Eric Chavez 00
LF – Ben Grieve 01
CF – Terrence Long 01
RF – Larry Walker 00
DH – Sammy Sosa 00
BN – Stan Javier 00
BN – Mark Loretta 00
New Batting Order:
1: Craig Biggio
2: Larry Walker
3: Jason Giambi
4: Sammy Sosa
5: Ben Grieve
6: Miguel Tejada
7: Eric Chavez
8: Ramon Hernande
9: Terrance Long
PS: I really hope I followed all your rules correctly, I tried to remember everything
This looks like a good and valid roster to me! I love adding Sosa and Walker in the lineup, and Wagner as a go to guy for potentially two innings when in a squeeze. Kerry Wood was a great trade to anchor the front of the rotation.
DeleteAlways fun to build out a roster, but a little different than normal with the restrictions in place and guidelines to follow. A lot of pieces to work with and some decent teams to work trades with. After analyzing the lineup and what I had to work with (as moving pieces and ownership’s requests), I determined that it would be important to vastly improve the bullpen and add at least one bat. Here are the moves I made (I know they wouldn’t have been made in real life but again this is Showdown so it’s fun):
ReplyDeleteTrade 1
San Diego sends – Ryan Klesko. Trevor Hoffman, Andy Ashby, Eric Owens, and Ben Davis
Oakland sends – Mark Mulder, Jeremy Giambi, Adam Paitt, Olmedo Saenz, and Omar Olivares
Trade 2
Philadelphia sends – Bobby Abreu
Oakland sends – Ryan Christenson and Matt Stairs
Trade 3
Baltimore sends – Mike Mussina, Mike Timlin, Jesse Orosco, Will Clark
Oaklands sends – Kevin Appier, Jim Mecir, Doug Jones, Gil Heredia
Now I will note I messed up on this part and just rolled with it. After completing the trade deadline (in my head of course), I saw that I was carrying 21 players instead of the 20 I can carry in the post season. Looking back, I would have dealt Will Clark and Jesse Orosco for Billy Wagner to add another stud arm to the bullpen. I decided to not activate Will Clark and opted to play with Owens (pinch runner and better center fielder on defense) and Davis (better defensive arm than Hernandez at catcher).
As for my lineup, here you go:
SP1 – Mike Mussina 00
SP2 – Andy Ashby 00
SP3 – Tim Hudson 00 PR
SP4 – Barry Zito 01 PR
RP1 – Trevor Hoffman 00
RP2 – Mike Timlin 00
RP3 – Mike Magnante 00 PR
RP4 – Jason Isringhausen 00 PR
RP5 – Jesse Orosco 00
2B – Randy Velarde 00
RF – Bobby Abreu 00
DH – Jason Giambi 01
1B – Ryan Klesko 00 PR
LF – Ben Grieve 01
SS – Miguel Tejada 01
CF – Terrence Long 01
3B – Eric Chavez 00
C – Ramon Hernandez 00 PR
BN – Ben Davis 00
BN – Eric Owens 00
Love to hear thoughts on what people think of this team. I like how it looks given the circumstances and think I have a great shot to make a deep run.
I decided to go big or go home with my rotation and put together a top-heavy team that doesn't even NEED a 20th player.
ReplyDeleteTrade one: I called down to the Dodgers, fading fast in the playoff race behind the DBacks and looking to build for the future, flipping Mark Mulder (600), Doug Jones (120) and Isringhausen (140) for Kevin Brown (600) and high control closing stud Jeff Shaw (200). 860 points away for 800 points
Trade two: Omar Olivares (330), Kevin Appier (340), Randy Velarde (380) for Curt Schilling (600) and Bobby Abreu (550). I obtain a major upgrade to the leadoff position and a second incredible ace (who can EAT innings with an IP 8, Control 6 card).1160 points away for 1150 points.
Trade three: I make a call to Detroit to snag a power hitting DH who can occasionally spell my guys in the OF, utility fielder, and add more upgraded arms to the bullpen. As a result, I trade away fifth starter Gil Heredia (440), and backups Matt Stairs (360), Adam Piatt (170) and Chrisitianson (190) for Juan Gonzalez 00> (520), Doug Brocail 00> (160), CJ Nitkowski (150), and Frank Catalanotto (250). Gave up 1160 points for 1080 in return.
Trade Four: To cap things off, I go north of the border to replace Velarde at 2B, give myself a backup catcher to spell Hernandez, and give my bullpen another upgrade... So I sent Jeremy Giambi (200), Olmedo Saenz (220), and Jim Mecir (210) to the Expos in exchange for CP Ugetha Urbina (200), 2B Jose Vidro (260) and C/3B Michael Barrett (170). Gave up 630 and got back 630.
In the end, my squad's only 19 guys, but with the high controls in the bullpen/rotation, I'm not worried about it at all. My new bench/lineup also lets everyone but Tejada and Long take days off without hurting the D too much if necessary. So here's my squad:
ROTATION:
SP1 Kevin Brown
SP2 Curt Schilling
SP3 Tim Hudson
SP4 Barry Zito
BULLPEN: With a pair of Tier 2, Control 6, no double closers leading the way, I'm going to lock down leads. Both can easily stretch to 2 IP effectively too. Brocail and Nitkowski provide additional high control, no doubles options to backup the ace relievers.
CP Jeff Shaw
RP Ugetha Urbina
RP Doug Brocail
RP CJ Nitkowski
LINEUP: Weaker than other squads, but I think it'll do more than enough damage to win the AL West and make a deep playoff run with the bevy of aces I've got in the rotation. The top 3 is absolutely lethal, and then I like the group of OB8 hitters backing them up and pressuring pitchers to keep their advantage. It's a 7 deep lineup that could use more speed, but that's a small price to pay for the all-time great rotation I'll be throwing at the opposition.
1. Abreu 00
2. Giambi 01
3. Gonzalez 00>
4. Tejada 01
5. Grieve 01
6. Vidro 00
7. Long 01
8. Chavez 00
9. Hernandez 00>
I think I'm going to try again and make sure I can snag Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye for the OF, but I think this team and it's high control philosophy will dominate teams.
Oh, and my bench is a pair of versatile OB 7 hitters:
DeleteC/3B Michael Barrett
1B/2B/3B Frank Catalanotto