Double Impact Devon

Young Devon Travis has made an immediate impact in the Majors for the Toronto Blue Jays. Travis was acquired by the Blue Jays from Detroit in exchange for outfielder Anthony Gose. As a Tigers fan, I hate the trade overall, even though Gose will bring a defensive/speed element to the Tigers, he's a role player overall compared to Travis, who will be a future All-Star (if not this season), while he's making an early bid for American League Rookie-of-the-Year. 

Travis was supposed to be the Tigers' future star second baseman, the heir apparent to Ian Kinsler. Now he is Toronto's gem, batting .359, with 5 HR's & 16 RBI; His On-Base Percentage is .414, while his OPS is an astounding 1.102! Now we all know he won't keep going at this strong rate, but one thing is for sure, this kid can flat out play.

Precisely why I drafted him in the 2014 MWBL Draft, a league which you can draft guys before they reach the Majors, and you own that player if they make their Major League debut within 3 years, which makes me the proud owner of Mr. Travis. 

I drafted him 46th overall (2nd Round), after I lost out on drafting Rougned Odor and Mookie Betts (who was moving from 2nd out to the OF anyways). I do have a strong second baseman in Brian Dozier, who lifted his OBP in 2014 for the Twins. I acquired Dozier in the Matt Holliday trade with the Coconut Creek Crushers. My middle infield went from weak to full of potential now, with Danny Santana moving back to his natural shortstop position in Minnesota, plus my 2015 MWBL Draft picks in Aldaberto (Raul) Mondesi, Jr. & Franklin Barreto. 

Now the double impact of Devon is this, for my fantasy baseball team, the Gotham City Rogues, I picked up Devon Travis on the first day after his MLB debut, in which he hit a HR. My regular 2B Anthony Rendon has been on the disabled list, and I cut Erick Aybar to get Travis. Travis & Rendon will stay with Rendon's return, while Alcides Escobar will likely be my shortstop, making Alexei Ramirez the odd man out; Ramirez is well-known to be a cold starter to seasons, but my patience is running thin on him. I could keep him in the utilities area, but that might be needed for Marcell Ozuna, the OF from Miami, and I believe he will soon be hitting some HR's.

By the way, my team finally won a weekly match-up against the first-place team, making my record 1-2, now -- just edging our competition by 9 points!

Now it's time for my new pickup in Archie Bradley of Arizona to make a Devon Travis impact on my fantasy team!

Nothing Amazing in April

Babe Ruth & Josh Gibson discussing baseball.

Wait, nothing amazing happens in April?!

Well, no... that's not necessarily true. We have the wonderful game of Major League Baseball back in full scale, while most APBA Baseball leagues are kicking off their individual seasons. The MWBL will be in full-swing & the BoS should be in the playoffs at that point.

There will unfortunately be no "Amazing April Tournament" being conducted by me, this season -- It will return next season (I may do a special October tournament, depending on what's going on at that time).

The reasons are a plenty, I have too much going on these next couple months...

• The 2015 MWBL Draft (which was just done this past Saturday), not to mention all the preparation & studying that takes up the months leading up to it -- my wife is truly an amazing person for being so understanding, and patient with me. I've mentioned it before with studying the game or preparing for drafts, I will be as determined & motivated that of a Tony Gwynn or Greg Maddux --in the way they always studied video, I truly take it to another level.

• The Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament on March 7th in Jackson, Michigan. The Tournament will be hosted by my friend, Pastor Rich Zawadzki -- who is no stranger to us on the APBA Facebook Group. It will be a blast, can't wait to see some of the faces & friends that I've already met at Chicagoland -- looking forward to meeting some other Facebook friends in person there in Jackson, along with new faces & new friends to be, at this event. I will also be attending this event with my brother Christopher Baier, which will be a cool experience in its own right.

• The Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League (BoS) will be conducting the playoffs for our 2nd season, the 2014 BoS Season -- this April. Currently the South Shore Fighting Imps, the defending World Champs, are leading their division. The Fairgrove Tigers have been on a roll & are looking to return to the playoffs, while the Portland Microbrewers (last year's National League Champions) appear by first glance, the team to beat. It should be a fun ride! Then there is the off-season, in which hopefully we are running the 3rd season no later than June!

• I need to get my 2014 Transactions League wrapped up, in time for the 2015 Transactions League to get started.

• Than there is the normal blogging on the upcoming 2015 MLB Season, predictions & etc.

February Fun

Plenty of things happening in February as I prepare for the 2015 MWBL Draft on February 21st. We are also approaching our All-Star Break in the Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League.

During this month, I will be doing some final analyzing & scouting for the MWBL. I'm pretty excited about the draft strategy that I plan to go about with -- so excited that I plan to write a blog piece that involves my strategy going in, my thoughts, and who I plan to take (of course it won't be released until after the draft), and then I will post in that same article about the results & if everything went as planned. Should be very exciting, of course I already reported a couple weeks back on the current state of the Traverse City Crusaders, in case you missed it here it is: The "Crusaders Report".

I'm confident that my team will be quite better after the draft, we will still be among the bottom-half of the league -- but compared to a year ago, we are light years better, and I feel we might actually be ahead of schedule on our rebuild. I do wish that I had more uncarded spots for prospects (meaning any player is available that has yet to make their MLB debut, from high school, college, international, or players in the minors) -- I only have four spots, but at the same time, this draft may have more actual MLB players that could help the roster than any draft this league has seen for some time. The draft also has a lot of good pitching, every team and owner is aware of this as well, and not to give anything away, but I would be perceived as a fool if I was not drooling over some of the pitching out there as well. Remember, I do have three 1st Round Draft Picks, including the top pick overall. My 4th overall pick, is the 30th pick (in early 2nd Round) -- so four picks inside top 30.

I have done things differently in my draft strategy, I usually order Baseball's version of the Bible "Baseball America's Prospect Book" for all things prospects. I decided, due to the fact that I only have four uncarded spots, and the fact that the wife and I have only X-amount of dollars -- plus all the online material, teams' blogs & a few cheaper magazines, that I still can get all the cramming-in process done through these outlets. I feel as confident as I ever had, in any draft, going in, and to be honest I still have more players to analyse and take notes on. I would say, in the past I would compare myself to Tony Gwynn or Greg Maddux when it comes to doing my research on scouting & preparing for drafts -- I'm relentless, and I will even add guys to the list, that I will label as "late-fliers" that probably be left off most people's lists. My team is a team in the middle of a rebuild, so I have to take the attitude that -- sure, we are trying to get young (while being efficient), but we won't ignore 30-year olds that still can contribute, and still have potential; We took that chance in acquiring players like Steve Pearce last season, acquiring him in a deal -- which I took that investment & traded him off for a couple younger players with talent & potential.

Shifting back to the BoS (Boys of Summer APBA Baseball League), we just voted on the All-Stars for this upcoming 2nd BoS All-Star Game (2014). We have been speeding along through our 2014 season (2013 MLB stats), we started this season later than I would have liked & but I feel we are making good time -- to fit in the playoffs & have an appropriate short off-season, I feel the 2015 BoS Season is looking at no later than June. 2016 BoS Season will be on-time, and be on a normal schedule (FINALLY, LOL!) -- the delayed seasons was due to the mess called APBA Online unfortunately, but I was fortunate to find the great owners that I have in this league through that site -- so I will definitely give them that!

For dice, I have put together a 1979 APBA Baseball Tournament, got a good jump on first round, have took a week off to work on my scouting, but plan to play a little more of that this month, which will also help me in getting ready for The Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament that will be hosted by my friend, Rich Zawadski, in Jackson, MI on March 7th.

Crusaders Report

The Traverse City Crusaders have three 1st Round Picks in this upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft (February 21st) for the Mid-West Baseball League -- including the most important pick of them all, the 1st Overall Pick.

I can honestly say at this moment, I have no clue who I am drafting for the top overall pick, I have a few ideas -- I do know that I will get a really good choice out of it, that's for sure. A lot has happened since I joined the league last January, and there has been many trades that have now shaped up the current roster. We are definitely still a few years away, and we do know it's not going to happen over night.

Do I question at times if I should have traded Miguel Cabrera or not? Sure...

I think everyone from time to time thinks about that one trade, the key is not to dwell on it, and have fun with the new path ahead of you. I think it was Billy Beane, who said you never think about the past once you move forward -- he made this remark after making the trade with the Cubs to acquire Jeff Samardzija and Dan Straily, a trade that watched Addison Russell go to Chicago. Beane always has to make moves to keep his team moving in one direction, I believe to get somewhere in a league, you have to be aggressive. Aggressive is definitely better than too cautious -- something I may have been guilty of in this past off-season in the Mid-West Winter League (too cautious), while I watched other teams in my division make good aggressive moves.

I needed to put some sort of spark in a ballclub that I felt had a couple strong trees in a relatively dead/burnt down forest. Those trees were Miguel Cabrera, Matt Holliday & Brian McCann. I had a few other guys, but nothing that I could really call prospects or future stars, the one guy that stood out that I could consider part of my future was catcher Yan Gomes. My only starting pitcher with a future was Tyler Skaggs.

My first real deal would involve Miguel Cabrera. I traded him with Tim Hudson, he really wanted Hudson, I really wanted Travis Wood involved, so it happened. I had a older rotation in Mark Buehrle, Tim Hudson, and Yovani Gallardo with David Phelps and Stephen Fife. I think I threw in a late 12th pick that ended up being Matt Shoemaker as well.

Overall, I would say yes, I am losing in this trade so far -- I got Travis Wood, Todd Frazier & Luke Gregerson with Jeanmar Gomez, Matt Davidson, Cesar Ramos, Heath Bell and a draft pick that would be Burch Smith for me. I consider Wood, Frazier & Gregerson as the bulk of this deal; I still like Wood, but he had a lousy 2014 for the Cubs, Gregerson is one of the most consistent relievers in the last few years, while Frazier is an All-Star third baseman.

The other guys are nothing special, I expected more out of Davidson, I figured he had a great shot with White Sox' MLB roster, instead he played a horrible season in the minors after being acquired from Arizona. At one point, I was offered Cody Asche, no.. I wanted Davidson -- Asche would eventually be traded from Hollywood to Sacramento, and Asche looks like he's going to stick around in Philly for awhile. Davidson & Burch Smith never made it back up to the Majors in 2014. I always looked at Heath Bell as a throw-in to the deal, so it was not upsetting to see him blunder in Tampa Bay. Ramos is one of those slash pitchers, can start, work out of the pen 1.300+ WHIP, once again nothing special. Gomez was part of the deal, because I thought maybe his 2013 season might be an indication for things to come, a young vet finding his way with his 1.153 WHIP -- Nope, just a fluke, should have weighed more on his 1.500 WHIP's in other years, in which his 2014 dished out a 1.500 WHIP.

By the way, the Cabrera trade helped the Hollywood Werewolves win the Mid-West Baseball League's World Championship over the Tempe Tempers.

In another deal, I traded Matt Holliday to the Coconut Creek Crushers, I believe at one point they were one of the teams that tried to work a deal for Cabrera, I wanted Josh Donaldson in a possible swap, it wasn't meant to be (I do have Donaldson in the BoS League for my Panthers though). Holliday was traded with Jemille Weeks, while the Crusaders acquired Brian Dozier (fielding 9) at second base, has pop with 20+ HR's at his position -- plus I really needed a second baseman badly; the Crusaders in that deal acquired Craig Gentry & a draft choice that turned out to be relief prospect Jake Barrett of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I had better luck in other acquisitions, I picked up Kevin Kiermaier off the waiver wire just before the 2014 MWBL Season, to watch Kiermaier take advantage of his big break in Tampa Bay mid-season -- a pleasant surprise to say the least.

Early in the season, I had the Tijuana Bottle-Rockets and Detroit Crime contact me about veterans Eric Chavez and Carlos Pena, the players were no good for me (since I was not in contention, of course) -- Chavez's .810 OPS could help Tijuana's pursuit for playoff success. I acquired two 930 PR first basemen in Casey Kotchman & Brandon Laird, with a 6th Rd Draft Pick & 7th Rd Draft Pick for this upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft.

The Panthers then were asked about their closer Joaquin Benoit -- which resulted in a trade of Benoit with infielder Tony Abreu to Detroit in exchange for starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, reliever Michael Kohn & Detroit's 10th Rd Draft Pick.

The deals kept coming, Traverse City would trade catcher Brian McCann to the Elyria Indians, with SS-Adalberto (Raul) Mondesi (who had until the end of last season to make it up to the majors) & a 6th Rd Draft Pick -- in exchange for Elyria's 1st Round Draft Pick (at this point, I now have two 1st Round choices), 3B-Ryan McMahon '14 (a uncarded who was drafted in recent 2014 MWBL Draft), with SS-Munenori Kawasaki (a throw-in for position coverage). Mondesi never made it up, becoming a free agent, in which I landed a prospect in McMahon, who I am thrilled to have.

I would trade often-injured Angel Pagan to New York in a steal of a deal, that landed me OF/1B-Steve Pearce & New York's 5th Rd Draft Pick.

I would land my 3rd 1st Round Draft Pick in a trade with Clovis -- I traded SP-Mark Buehrle (who had a hot start for the Jays in 2014) with Marlon Byrd & T.C.'s 12th Rd Draft Pick. In the trade, I also acquired OF-Brett Gardner & RP-Jeremy Jeffress. Jeffress had a great second-half in 2014.

I only had two uncarded Draft Picks make their MLB debuts for me, in Danny Santana (MIN) & Robbie Ray (DET, now with D-Backs). I have four uncarded spots to fill, wished I had more open, but that's not the case.

After the season ended, and won the lottery for the #1 overall pick! I only made one deal after the season, when Chicago Mobsters traded for OF/1B-Steve Pearce. I would acquire 1B-Yonder Alonso, who is about 5 years younger, a lefty reliever in Sam Freeman, and a Draft Pick, while trading two picks away in the deal. Pearce was a plus for me on a deal that sent Pagan away, so the way I look at it, I got Alonso & Freeman, plus two picks.

My Draft Selection order for the upcoming 2015 MWBL Draft

1st Round - #1 Overall

1st Round - #21

1st Round - #23

2nd Round - #30

3rd Round - #58

4th Round - #86

5th Round - no picks

6th Round - #143

6th Round - #166

7th Round - #170

7th Round - #184

8th Round - #198

9th Round - #226

10th Round - #254

10th Round - #268

11th Round - #282

12th Round - no picks

Ray of Hope

Ray makes MLB Debut, clears spot for 2015.

Really happy to catch the MLB debut of the Tigers' Robbie Ray. It's double the excitement for me, I drafted him in the MWBL for my Traverse City Crusaders. He was my 3rd round DP in the MWBL (#74 overall).

You get to draft 12 players who are yet to make their MLB debuts, and you can only have up to 12, and they stay on your roster until they either make their MLB debut within 3 seasons, you trade that draft pick or he does not make his debut in time and you lose him altogether!

Now that he made his MLB debut that clears one of my 12 rookie spots for next season. I'll have two other spots clearing regardless of what they do  this MLB season, the other guys are good as long as they make their debuts by 2014.

My other non-carded rookies I'm waiting to make their debuts, and need to make debuts by...

• SP-Jeff Hoffman (College) - 2014 (End of 2016), Projected to be top 5 2015 MLB Draft Pick
• 2B-Devon Travis (DET) - 2014 (2016)
• SP-Nick Kingham (PIT) - 2014 (2016)
• OF-Mitch Haniger (MIL) - 2014 (2016)
• C/3B-Carson Kelly (STL) - 2014 (2016)
• RP-Jake Barrett (ARZ) - 2014 (2016)
• SP-Luke Weaver (College) - 2014 (2016)
• 3B-Ryan McMahon (COR) - 2014 (2016) - Acquired in trade for Adalberto (Raul) Mondesi, Jr. 2012 (2014) / Part of the deal with Traverse City trading C-Brian McCann away & acquiring another First Round Draft Pick.
• OF-Elier Hernandez (KC) - 2012 (2014)
• 1B-Ronald Guzman (TEX) - 2012 (2014)

I think 3 more guys may clear my board, which would give me, at least 6 spots to draft un-carded players that have yet to make MLB debuts.

Ray will be added to a young mix of starting pitchers in Tyler Skaggs & Trevor Bauer (who the Crusaders acquired from Detroit). The Crusaders are pretty happy how veteran starting pitchers Mark Buehrle (2.47 ERA) & Yovani Gallardo (2.47 ERA) are doing for their MLB teams. Skaggs currently has a 4.54 ERA, but a decent 1.25 WHIP, which is an encouraging sign of improvement. Bauer was excellent in his one MLB start (0-1, 1.50 ERA, 8 K's in 6 IP) against San Diego on April 9th; Currently is 3-0 with 1.40 ERA in Triple-A, and could be pushing Carlos Carrasco out of the Indians' rotation soon. The team's ace Travis Wood is doing well for the Cubs (2-3, 3.35 ERA).

More to come on the future of the Crusaders, meanwhile they just lost their last series 4-2, to the Bethesda Bandicoots, and momentarily moved out of last with a 13-45 record, as the Southbend Lynx lost their 8th straight and dipped to 12-46.

Danny Santana was called up by Minnesota, that knocks another roster slot out of the way for me. Santana was the player that I liked & picked in the 5th round, Jonathan Mayo during the draft gave me props for the pick, and I told him I needed infield depth, I like what I read about him, and I think he'll make it up this season -- and he agreed. It was a really cool moment for me, because I had a lot of respect for Mayo long before I knew he was in this APBA League. The Twins manager' Gardenhire had a lot of good things to say about Santana as well.

Check out all the other MWBL action by clicking on Mid-West Baseball League.

Much Ado About Updates

So here is the latest on all the leagues taking place, that are being reported by The Boys of Summer Blog.

Mid-West Baseball League (MWBL)
My Traverse City Crusaders just got done playing a face-to-face series online with the Chicago Mobsters, a 2014 American League & World Series contender. The Crusaders have a long season ahead of them, they actually entered the series on a "hot streak of sorts" winning two of their last three games, the game they lost ended up being the longest game in MWBL history that lasted 25 innings (almost the duration of three games).

The games that were close, were close -- but the other games we just got blown up, which is expected from a team in rebuilding mode. We lost the series, 6-1, as our record is now 4-22! Woohoo!

Mid-West Winter League (MWWL)

My Traverse City Tigers started a crucial road trip after our tug-of-war 4-3 series loss to the Detroit Stars. We would have a showdown for first place against the Cedar Park Bears, in which we would lose the series, 5-2 -- giving Cedar Park a one-game division lead. The Tigers would continue their road trip to Janesville to play the Janesville Juggernauts. I remember when I played them at home, they played better than their record indicates, I have seen other league managers say the same thing about playing them, so... much to my surprise, my Tigers pulled off a much-needed & impressive 7-0 series sweep!

Charlie Hough won A.L. Pitcher of the Week for his heroics, winning both outings, racking up 18 K's (allowing 7 walks) in 16 innings, while sporting a 1.12 ERA. This is one of the reasons, I decided to make this old man, a Tiger!

 A.L. West Standings
1.     Traverse City           74-45     ---     Won 7
2.     Cedar Park              71-46      2       Won 1
3.     Detroit                     60-53      11      Lost 1
4.     Mexico City             56-58     15.5     Won 2
5.     Janesville                  45-71     27.5     Lost 12

Wild Card Standings
1.     Cedar Park              71-46     ---
2.     Detroit                     60-53       9    
3.     California                 57-58      13
4.     Mexico City             56-58     13.5

Meanwhile in the A.L. East, the Chicago Demolition are running away with their division with a 85-34 record (at a .714 winning clip), pacing for a 116-46 record. They are currently 26 games ahead of 2nd-place California. Detroit is currently holding on to the last wild card spot by 4 games over California. The Mexico City Chihuahuas have officially declared themselves to be "selling" as they traded off one of their relievers to add to Chicago's all-ready impressive roster.

Chicago also made a trade that made waves off across the league...

"Demolition Derby?"

Chicago receives:
1B/3B-     George Brett
SP-           Dave Stieb
OF-          Darryl Strawberry
California's 6th Round DP (1989)
California's 7th Round DP (1989)

while

California receives:
1B/OF/3B-  Von Hayes
1B-              Kent Hrbek
3B/2B/OF-   Tony Phillips
Chicago's 1st Round DP (1989)
Chicago's 4th Round DP (1989)

With this acquisition & their record at the moment, it appears that Chicago will be a solid lock for home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Demolition are five-time American League Champions, and are hoping to win their third World Championship in the Mid-West Winter League -- they last won it, two seasons ago in 1986 & are hoping to win their second in 3 years! Both deals work out beautifully for both teams, as California received some solid on-base performers with great draft picks as well, even if it is a weak draft overall.

You can count on one thing, that both teams won't have a shot at the top couple picks that will contain Ken Griffey, Jr. & Larry Walker in the upcoming 1989 MWWL Draft.

BOYS OF SUMMER Online Baseball League (BOS) Four-Week Special will be out soon, so stay tuned!

Miguel Cabrera and the Lost Crusade

The Traverse City Crusaders entered their home stand, 1-5, hosting the Hollywood Werewolves -- One of the league's favorites in the American League Title, if not the 2014 MWBL World Title.

The Crusaders made headlines during the winter trading their superstar Miguel Cabrera, and they traded him to their A.L. West Division rival Hollywood. The Crusaders knew that they had to start the rebuilding process; Certainly, it's never easy trading one of the best players in the game, by the end of his career he will be one of the best ever, if he's not one of the best already.

Traverse City would have some big leads in some of the games against Hollywood, but in the end, Hollywood pulled away with the victory. In fact, the Crusaders have been one of the best teams during the first four innings...

• In their 13 games, 18% of their total runs came in the first inning.
• 12% during the 2nd Inning.
• 18% during the 3rd Inning.
• 14% during the 4th Inning.

So basically, 62% of their run production happens in the first four innings.

Their runs created stat is actually one of the best in the league (mostly due to their big starts). They have 115.5 RC compared to the likes of the Chicago Mobsters (117.4).

But it's not about how you start a game, it's about how you end a game.

The Crusaders rank 24th (out of 28) in hitting, with a .202 batting average, they have the league's 3rd fewest hits (88) in their 13 games.

They rank last in ERA. How bad? There is no team in the MWBL over 5.00 ERA, the Crusaders' team ERA is 6.75! Ouch! -- The next worst team (the Columbus Explorers) have a 4.96 ERA. The team has given up the most round-trippers with 18, and opponents are batting .321 against them.

The Werewolves & Lumber Company combined for 91 runs against the Crusaders, easily the most runs allowed by one team in all the MWBL (2nd most, has allowed 68 runs)!

This all combined accumulating to a 1-12 record! All while Miguel & his new Hollywood teammates are enjoying a 11-game winning-streak, and 12-2 record -- Yes, the Crusaders are 13 games into the season, and they are already 10.5 games out.

The Crusaders knew it would be bad, and knew that they would be trying to change the direction of the franchise, for awhile at least -- it's rock bottom.

Homecoming for Crusaders

The Crusaders get ready for their home opener, as they look at packed crowd -- probably the most they will see all season, as they are probably here to see former player Miguel Cabrera, who never got to play as a Crusader, but will battling his former Severn teammates.

Game 1

Werth was red-hot in Game 1 against T.C.

It's Jered Weaver (HOL) against Mark Buehrle (TCC).

Top of 1st
One-out double by Kinsler. Cabrera hits a frozen rope to center. Buehrle intentionally walks Goldschmidt to face lefty Jay Bruce. Bruce strikes out.

Top of the 2nd
Welington Castillo hits a one-out double. With two outs, Emilio Bonifacio draws a walk. Jayson Werth hits a ball down the line, past a diving Pena, and it keeps rolling into the corner as Byrd is after it -- both Castillo & Bonifacio score, the relay is in, as Werth dives into third, a two-out, two-run triple!

Bottom of the 2nd
Brian Dozier hits a solo HR off of Weaver, it kept carrying until it went over the left field fence.
Crusaders trail 2-1.

Top of the 3rd
Miguel Cabrera, the former Severn Express star, singles over Dozier's head to keep his hitting-streak alive at 8 games now.

Top of the 5th
Lead-off double by Ian Kinsler, making it his 2nd double of the game. Miguel Cabrera pops it up behind second to Dozier, one away. Despite a great diving infield play by the pitcher Mark Buehrle, and a good throw from his knees, Paul Goldschmidt beats out the throw to first. Runners on 1st & 3rd, one out for Jay Bruce, Buehrle delivers, it's a fly to right, and he's out, Kinsler tags up & scores, as Goldschmidt retreats back to first. Hollywood 3, Traverse City 1

Top of the 6th
Mark Buehrle is taken out of the game after a lead-off single to Welington Castillo; Buerhle allowed 8 hits & 3 runs in 5 innings, he lowered his ERA to 5.40 now... it's a start. Dale Thayer comes in to relieve Buehrle. Thayer would give up a two-out, two-run HR to Jayson Werth to left-- make that 4 RBI for Werth! Hollywood 5, Traverse City 1

Top of the 8th
Jayson Werth collects a single for his 3rd hit of the game, he is now a double short of the cycle. The Werewolves leave the bases loaded.

Top of the 9th
The Crusaders' highlight of the night: Heath Bell strikes out the side.

Bottom of the 9th
Bobby Parnell goes 1/3 of an inning, by walking Pagan & allowing an RBI triple to Marlon Bryd. The lefty Javier A Lopez comes in for the save opportunity, he will first face Brian McCann. Crusaders decide to go to the bench for McCann & pinch-hit with Yan Gomes. Gomes clubs this one, it could be, and it drops into Alex Gordon's glove, but he'll have to get this one off as Marlon Bryd tags up, the play at the plate & he's....
SAFE! The lead has been trimmed to 5-3, with 2 outs. Dozier ends up grounding it hard to Cabrera at third, Cabrera throws it across the diamond, and they get him.

FINAL SCORE: Hollywood 5, Traverse City 3

Game 2

Yovani Gallardo is on the mound for T.C. (0-1, 8.44 ERA) against David Price who pitched 6 shutout innings with a victory this season.

Top of the 1st
One-out bases on balls for Christian Yelich. Miguel Cabrera hits one to left that just drops in front of Ryan Raburn, runners on 1st & 2nd, as Cabrera extends his hitting-streak to nine games. Paul Goldschmidt hits a routine fly to right, Yelich tags up & makes it to third safely, Cabrera stays at first. Jay Bruce steps up with two outs, and draws a free ticket, bases are now loaded for Alex Gordon. Gallardo comes with the pitch, and Gordon lines out. They leave them full.

The Werewolves' Price was all smiles.

Bottom of the 1st
Lead-off single to Craig Gentry. Price sets up, throws the fastball off Byrd's left elbow, he seems to be alright, as he trots down to first. Yan Gomes smacks one to right, but Werth spears it, the runners think about tagging, but hold. Ryan Raburn smacks one through the hole to right, Gentry is rounding third, Werth fires it in, as Gentry scores, Byrd holds second. Runners on 1st & 2nd, one out for Brian Dozier. Price comes to the plate, Dozier smacks it to Cabrera, Cabrera to second for one, over to first, double play! The Werewolves get out of the inning. Traverse City 1, Hollywood 0

Top of the 2nd
Back-to-back hits for the Wolves, Welington Castillo with a single & he moved to 3rd on Starlin Castro's double, no outs. The righty Gallardo gets the switch-hitting Bonifacio to go fishing -- big K. Jayson Werth gets hold of this one to dead center, Gentry is running out of room, he looks up, leaps up and grabs it over the wall -- Hollywood has the runners tagging, Castillo scores as the Crusaders cut it off to third, and he's safe! All tied up, two outs, and a runner on third now for rookie Christian Yelich --RBI single for Yelich, Castro scores, as the ball scooted past shortstop John McDonald. Miguel Cabrera steps up to the plate, finds his pitch, this one could be trouble, into the corner, Byrd is there, leaps & he's got it! Out number three, some great defense by the Crusaders! Hollywood leads though, 2-0.

Top of the 3rd
Back-to-back singles by Paul Goldschmidt & Jay Bruce. Hot smash by Alex Gordon to first, Kotchman is up with it, fires to second for one, McDonald over to first, not in time! Runners on the corners with one out, for the catcher Welington Castillo. Gallardo rocks & fires, Castillo smacks a single to right, Goldschmidt trots home, Gordon is trying for third, the throw, and he's safe ahead of the throw -- Runners still on the corners, as Hollywood adds to the lead. Another RBI single to right, Gordon scores easily, Castillo stretches it to 3rd safely, as Castro advances to second. The bullpen is very active right now for the Crusaders. Bonifacio grounds out to first, no advancement by the baserunners, two outs. Gallardo walks Jayson Werth, his 3rd walk allowed to go along with his 8 hits allowed. Yelich grounds it to McDonald at short, who turns to second for the force to end the inning. Hollywood 4, Traverse City 1

Bottom of the 3rd
With two outs, Marlon Byrd reaches first safely on a bad throw by Bonifacio (E-4). Yan Gomes follows up by hitting a single to left-center gap, cut off on the bounce by Gordon. Runners on 1st & 2nd, two outs, for Ryan Raburn, he has some pop, the pitch, and Raburn is left looking at a fastball over the plate -- Strike three! Side retired.

Top of the 4th
Gallardo still in the game. With one out, the Werewolves loaded up the bases on a single by Goldschmidt, Bruce getting plunked by a pitch, and another single by Alex Gordon. Welington Castillo steps up to the plate, the pitch, and it's a ball... ball four! A run is walked in, and that now brings up Starlin Castro. The Crusaders have seen enough, 10 hits & 4 walks allowed by Gallardo in 3.1 innings, he's responsible for all three runners -- as they go to the pen for Luke Gregerson, pretty early for Gregerson, we'll see how he deals with that. The pitch to Castro, strikes him out. Gregerson now only has Bonifacio to get through the inning, he delivers, another K for Gregerson! Only one run by the Werewolves, as they add to their lead, 5-1!

Top of the 5th
Jayson Werth sends a Gregerson pitch into orbit, solo shot to start off the inning. Goldschmidt collected his 3rd hit already, Hollywood has 12 hits after five. Hollywood 6, Traverse City 1

Top of the 7th
Cesar Ramos records 4 K's in 5 outs, before giving up a two-out double to Christian Yelich. Crusaders decide to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera & rather face Paul Goldschmidt. Crusaders go to the pen for Dale Thayer, the righty to face Goldschmidt. Thayer ties up Goldschmidt, big K, three down.

Top of the 8th
Alex Gordon scored an insurance run off a force, failed double play.

Bottom of the 8th
Two-out double for Brian Dozier, moves the runner to third base. Todd Frasier hits one into the gap in left, and both runners score. Finally, some action by the Crusaders even though it may be late. The runs prompted Hollywood to yank Bobby Parnell out for Koji Uehara. Carlos Pena comes in to pinch-hit for Casey Kotchman, and pops up to third for the final out. Hollywood 7, Traverse City 3

The Crusaders were helpless against the Werewolves, and have so far been out-hit 26-9 in two games this series. Crusaders lose their 3rd straight game & fall to 1-7, while Hollywood is built to contend with a 7-2 record, winning their 6th straight game.

FINAL SCORE: Hollywood 7, Traverse City 3

Tigers & Crusaders News

Hough: The new (old) Tiger.

Both my Mid-West Baseball League team (Traverse City Crusaders), and my Mid-West Winter League team (Traverse City Tigers) made trades this week. The funny thing is that both teams are heading in opposite directions from each other. My Tigers were clinging onto a 4-game lead in the American League West, entering Wednesday morning (March 12th), found out Cedar Park Bears won their series against the Stockton Wings, 5-1. Meaning that the Bears trail the Tigers at the moment by 2 1/2 games, I have a series with third place Detroit Stars -- and then I go on the road for a battle of first with Cedar Park. Should be an interesting 10 days coming up.

My Tigers were in need of a second baseman, plus I felt more comfortable if I landed an arm into the mix as well, an innings-eater of sorts. I really didn't want to trade Scott Terry, after he pitched a no-hitter for me this season against Mexico City -- since that start, I think I may have started him once & used him primarily in the bullpen since I landed Dave LaPoint in that trade a little ways back. I traded Terry with Edwin Nunez, who was not a factor for me this season in a trade with the Valdosta Bombers. I noticed Valdosta was hovering around 3rd & 4th with a .500 record or so, and saw that they had an abundance of second basemen, so I sent a message to their GM & now the Tigers have brought in Marty Barrett, who was just playing for this franchise last season as the Old Mill Legends (So he knows most of the fellas, really well) and I acquired the old vet Charlie Hough (already 40 in 1988), he will keep a steady spot in the rotation eating many innings for me. Add that with keepers Greg Maddux & Jose Rijo, I at least got a solid three.

In this league, you have to cut your roster down to a certain amount of players, for me, I am on pace for a record where I will only be able to keep 19 of my players. Of course, it's safe to say, Maddux, Rijo & now Hough are three of those players.

I have all my players on my roster in an excel program where I have the next 10 years mapped in their MLB careers, so it gives me a heads up when a player is approaching the time, I say buh-bye, or know when I need to start looking for more guys at certain positions, the Hough deal will give me a little more time to work on a suitable rotation -- I think I'm bringing back Eric King, who is a rotation pitcher for the next two years at least for about 150 innings each, then there is Luis Aquino who bounces back & forth from starter to the pen the next couple years. I brought in Marty Barrett to take the load off Johnny Ray, I now can give Ray a little rest, he's been worked a lot -- now if I can get a 3B to back up Paul Molitor from time to time, I would be golden! Molitor is still batting .321 despite being tired for awhile now, he already has 52 RBI through 392 AB's, he had 60 ribbies in his real-life 609 AB's in 1988. All his other numbers are right on par, a little lower right now with his OBP & OPS, but that could change with rest. Having Barrett also gives me the option to play Ray out in right, and give one of my outfielders a rest.

Now onto the MWBL side of things, the Tigers may be moving up, but the Crusaders are falling down. The Crusaders just got clobbered by the Pittsburgh Lumber Company, 5 games-to-1. After the series, the Tijuana Bottle Rockets' GM was inquiring about Eric Chavez. He wanted a little more depth at third, and I was basically using Chavez to split time with Carlos Pena. He offered a 6th Round DP, and a player -- the only thing is I needed to make sure I brought back coverage in my first base area, so I countered with acquiring Casey Kotchman & the 6th Round pick in exchange for Chavez. Kotchman is at the end of his rope, but he is also a 930 PR guy for this 2014 MWBL season. 930 PR guys are basically fringe players you can play full-time to cover areas for teams, they are really useful in leagues with 20+ teams, and we have 28 teams in this league. I am also in a rebuilding year, and I do acknowledge that the 6th Round pick alone was good enough to make the deal for Chavez.

Crusaders look forward to a long 2014 season.

The Waiver Draft also did a full-season sim to see where teams will pick, and I ended up with the potential for the 5th worse record in the entire league, which after trading Miguel Cabrera & Matt Holliday, is kind of where I figured the team anyways, in the 60 wins range. This won't be the last of my trading, I have other good pieces on the block, including Brian McCann, Marlon Byrd & Joaquin Benoit -- which can bring in some picks & maybe prospects, and other players, before 2014 is all said & done. I'm still going to try & win as best as I can, need to keep my manager skills up, but I still have a little ways to fall down (and unload) before moving back up. Really looking forward to this season, and seeing what draft picks I can land & make my adjustments for the 2015 MWBL Draft.

To tell you the truth, I have never been in a rebuilding process like this, especially with stiff competition (27 other teams!) in which I at least have 20 teams above me. Some people would look at that as a horrible situation, but to tell you the truth I am loving it. Love the fact, that I am making this team to be my baby, and when I start to climb in time, it's only going to be more rewarding. Looking back at all the moves that would maybe make us champions one day.

I felt rebuilding was the way to go, it did not make sense to have Miguel Cabrera standing in a dumpster pit or junkyard, with Matt Holliday. Can't wait to see what's in store for the Crusaders next.

Drafts, Drafts & More Drafts (Part II)

February 22nd was all marked on my calendar, my first day of official action in drafting in the Mid-West Baseball League (MWBL) For actually a month & half (especially the few weeks leading up to it), I spent so much time in the league's impressive Draft Manager that I couldn't see straight anymore. At times, I thought I had not put enough information into it, and then there is other times that maybe I was over-doing (over-scouting) it in areas. I have always personally believed you can never scout too much, and in the end what you put into it will show. I was excited, in a league of 27 other owners, drafting not only current players, but baseball players who have yet to make their professional baseball debuts in the minors?!

This was exciting stuff, for a few years now, my mouth drooled over my keyboard whenever I ran into this league online, I usually would find it when I am scrolling through the list on APBA.com, with leagues all over the country or I would accidentally fall onto it, and each time I would find myself scrolling through the team pages, and looking up it's history. I wasn't even a member and I was in awe, I thought "Now this is a league I would love to be part of." I have seen other leagues, and have applied to plenty of leagues, but no one ever had openings or so it seemed, so half-the-time I ever applied. To tell you the truth, the whole thing is a blur in how I finally got in touch with Stray, I think I must have turned in a League Application at some point, or maybe I ran into him on the APBA Facebook Group, and he then told me to apply. Just the fact, that I was actually in contact with one of these leagues, made me hopeful that I can be in a APBA BBW (Baseball for Windows) league again.

He got hold of me, asked me to fill another application, another step in the process, and then we got together for a phone interview. I remember thinking it went well, but just like everything, job interviews, or a date, you think it went well at first, but doubt sits in.. "Oh man, sure he told me everything seemed good to go, and that I'm the next guy in line.. but what if, he was actually thinking -- yeah right buddy, good luck making it my league?" I knew I really wanted to get a shot at this league, at the same time, I was also craving being in a league so much that when I found APBA Online, I decided to start a league myself. Plus I wasn't sure If I would actually hear from Stray ever again.

Eventually I did, at first to fill in as a Mid-West Winter League manager (a winter league also ran by Stray, that is playing out the 1988 files in a keeper's league), and then eventually I got the call to run a winter league team in the MWWL & the big league, the MWBL.

Now it's the morning of draft day, the MWBL -- I was excited & nervous, I knew I was playing with the big boys. I do know my stuff, and have done tons of scouting to prepare for this, I think I was nervous about how my picks may come across for my first draft. I was the new kid in the Draft Room, and I knew eyes would be on me, and that people would be curious to see how I draft. Then again, people we're all thinking about their teams... Draft Days are Christmas morning, I'm bouncing off the wall, I'm sure they are, and some of these guys have been in this league for 17 years now, and that feeling never gets old. Their passion for the league was obvious from the get-go. They are also very welcoming as well.

A week before this draft, my league's draft started out a disaster, so we were only able to get so many players drafted, and we finally finished the rest of the draft, the day before this one. Yes, I was exhausted -- not much sleep that week.

So when I joined the Draft Chat room, using Firefox for the first time which does work excellent with the league site & Draft Manager -- I decided to try what was taught to me, on clicking the player in the draft manager and into the chat page, easy as pie! Suddenly I couldn't do it, I know I was doing it right, so I flagged down Stray's wife Stacy, the draft coordinator -- who is awesome by the way, another man with an amazing wife that supports his APBA & Baseball passions (my wife supports me with mine), and she noticed the same problem, it turned out the plug-ins were blocked, so we figured it out. Ta-da, I could do it! Big relief, my heart was racing, because I was thinking "Not Again!" after my draft's problems with it's site.

Before moving on to the draft itself, let me tell you a little about the Draft Manager, this thing let's you plug in players names, any player's name, if you feel like putting Mickey Mouse's name in there, you can. Now for example, when I first joined the league, I would put in names and see if some of the young future stars have been drafted by other MWBL teams. For example, type a name in (last name first): Appel, Mark, and it shows that he's been drafted by the Dallas franchise of the MWBL, P (Houston). If they are not taken, you can add that player to your list. During the draft, the players selected by your team and other teams will disappear off of your lists. It's really cool & a convenient tool to draft & make your draft order top to bottom, with a feature where you can look at the players names in alphabetical order & by position order as well.

Gray goes #1 in the Mid-West Baseball League's 2014 Draft.

So the first pick was on, and the Motor City Muscle (Cool name & logo, like most of the teams in this league) would go on & take SP-Jonathan Gray. Gray was taken #3 overall in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Manhattan would land the Japanese starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, that all the MLB teams were fighting for, as the #2 overall pick. One of my questions was answered in the first round, how soon would comeback-veteran Scott Kazmir be drafted, he went #15 overall to Detroit. Then I watched in horror to see my pick, 2B-Rougned Odor which I had sitting on my comment bar, taken at #16 overall by the Tijuana Bottle Rockets! So I go to place my pick, and I noticed the plug-ins were knocked out, put them back on, and they got blocked suddenly again, now the other person just selected #17 1B-Jonathan Singleton, it's my pick and my chat room is going ape, so I quickly logged off the Firefox, and went back to my Google to a somewhat-panicked pick, went with my top pitcher on the list -- College guy SP-Jeff Hoffman of East Carolina (below, left) , who is predicted to go #2 overall in this summer's 2014 MLB Draft. Definitely not a horrible pick, originally about a little over a month ago, I had Jose Miguel Fernandez, a 2B that is still in Cuba as my first-round pick, the scouting report had him as an immediate MLB All-Star if he was to escape Cuba & jump right into the MLB -- but I didn't find that much satisfying video on him, so I got a bit spooked and went a different direction with that pick all together. I did think about taking a flyer on Fernandez later, but was pretty thrilled with my picks & ended up filling my 12 non/un-carded slots, but I will admittingly say that I was not thrilled to see Fernandez land late with league powerhouse Tempe Tempers, the "New York Yankees of the MWBL".

T.C. drafts likely Top 5 pick in upcoming MLB Draft at#18.

I had two 2nd Round, two 3rd Round, one 4th Round & 3 5th Round picks coming up -- So I liked my chances for some good potential. I kept with my strategy of going for pretty good ceiling/potential guys who could be up in no time; Certainly Jeff Hoffman doesn't fit that criteria, in fact he might not make in up in time for the three-year window ends. All uncarded drafted players get 3 years to make it to "The Show", if not they are eligible to be drafted again by someone else, you only get 12 of these spots, I already had three spots of my 12 filled up with three guys who are all going to come off that list this season regardless if they make their MLB debuts or not, chances are they all may not -- Hoping Raul A. Mondesi, Jr. makes it up, but he is still so young.

My next pick was coming, the guy on my radar was another second baseman, I failed at getting Odor, and was now banking on Mookie Betts at #49 overall. Once again, it was not to be, Betts would get drafted by the Long Beach Dirt Bags at #44 overall -- So I looked things over in my Draft Manager, and decided to draft my 3rd choice at second base early, I mean he could have fell to the third round or later possibly, but I really need to get stronger there, and I really like this kid -- the kid is Devon Travis of my beloved Detroit Tigers, he had a break-out year in Double-A, and just has great work ethic, hits well, fields excellent, I just love everything I see, and I feel he could get a cup of coffee as early as September 2014 (He is currently impressing MGR Brad Ausmus this spring in fact). Latest, I think September 2015 -- I think it was a safe pick, and I got a player with upside at a position that I need upgrades at.

The cool thing my next pick was just three picks away (my other second round pick) & I took another safe pick, in Nick Kingham who could be fighting for a rotation spot for the Pirates this spring, he will likely get his debut at least by late 2014. So with my 3 falling off, and with my two second round picks maybe clearing the list with 2014 debuts, that gives me 5 spots already for next season. I would take RP-Robbie Ray for my 3rd Round (#74) pick, one of the players acquired by the Tigers in exchange for fan favorite Doug Fister; one of the other players acquired in that deal RP-Ian Krol (who made his 2013 MLB debut) would be drafted by me in the 6th round at #167. No my draft strategy was not to draft Detroit Tigers, I think Ray will be up by the end of the season as well. My last pick in the 3rd round would be the Padres' Burch Smith, who looks like he could be a rotation staple for years in the big leagues, and like Krol has already made his MLB debut.

I'm happy with my fourth-round pick in Mitch Haniger, with the way things are going in Milwaukee, I will see him up before the year's end. He doesn't have the ceiling, nor the tools, as fellow team prospect OF-Tyrone Taylor, plus Taylor was already drafted by division rival Southbend Lynx -- but I like his personal makeup & is considered the Brewer's most advanced hitting prospect.

My first of three 5th round picks in Danny Santana (#122) would get a compliment from MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, who happens to be in the MWBL with the Iron City Yinze. He mentioned something on the lines, "Nice pick", and I went on to say "Thanks, I feel he could be up by the end of the season, and that will get rid of one of my UC/NC spots in no time.", in which he replied "Exactly." Santana has a chance to up Pedro Florimon out of his starting spot for the Twins. Carson Kelly, C/3B, I took with my 5th Rd (#130 pick), he's got plenty of upside, and I think he could get pushed early by the Cardinals -- the Cards seem to excel at that, with it also paying off. I need 3B help, and may need a catcher to go with Yan Gomes -- while I continue to shop Brian McCann. My last pick in the 5th round (#139) will be 2013 MLB debut RP-Ryan Pressly for the Twins, he had an impressive season.

Weaver, one of two Seminoles drafted by Crusaders.

My other 6th Rd pick (Krol was the other) ended up being RP-Jake Barrett, who has the potential to be a closer, he's with Arizona who needs a closer. I also had my eyes on a college kid who has the potential to close as well, but Barrett could be up as early as 2014, in which the other kid could push that three-year window. My 7th pick would be Juan Centeno, who profiles as a career backup catcher with a good arm, who already made his MLB debut as well, I would also pick up another carded catcher with a PR 930 in Brandon Bantz with my last pick (12th Rd/#326). My last real pick was pick #201 in Luke Weaver, college kid out of Florida State (Devon Travis also went to FSU), reminds scouts of Tim Hudson for strength in his small size, body build. I moved up to the pick by swapping 8th Rd pick (#214) & trading additional picks #242 & #270 away. I was worried that he would be picked soon, and plus I was pretty satisfied how my picks went, I didn't have much sleep and saw that it was only 3 pm.

The Draft ran smooth, had trades sprinkled in, while there was even a half-hour lunch break -- Now that's what I'm talking about! So you can't really blame me for cashing in those late picks, especially when I needed to make many cuts anyways. But I like taking in a draft & now know what to expect, there is some competition out there, but there is people also going through the motions, which I plan to keep scouting throughout the year, and eventually keep making my way up to the ultimate prize -- but until then it may be a 100 loss season on it's way for the rebuilding Traverse City Crusaders.

In other words, the whole draft experience might be the most fun the Crusaders have this year -- because on draft day they felt like winners, I'm looking forward to the next couple of drafts particularly. This team is now my baby, and we are breaking down the house, and building a new foundation, hopefully a solid one for years to come.

Trading Miggy

Bye, Bye Miggy - as Crusaders prepare for future.

So after I got hired to take over the franchise Severn Express, I renamed the team the Traverse City Crusaders. The Crusaders? Because I am a huge, die-hard Batman fan (as in the "Caped Crusader") and also because I am on my own crusade through life.

I got word that I was the owner of the greatest player in the game today in Miguel Cabrera, but as I looked at the rest of the roster, there really wasn't much else, or not a lot surrounding him. I checked out my fellow division rivals, and noticed two teams that were easily better than my team. The Express won 87 games last season somehow, but at the same time they finished 30 games behind the Hollywood Werewolves, and in 3rd place. The Southbend Lynx (2nd place) finished 19 games ahead of me as well, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. The Virginia Sluggers looks like they are ready to pass me, so it's time to rebuild & retool this franchise.

Unfortunately, that means trading Miguel Cabrera. Now I am a huge Detroit Tigers fan, who is also a big Braves fan as well. Why in the world would anyone trade a once-in-a-generation player such as Cabrera? Well, I can bring in some good pieces and draft picks to help build a foundation. I also happened to have Brian McCann, Matt Holliday, Joaquin Benoit, and a rotation that needs some work led by oldies Tim Hudson and Mark Buerhle.

The roster stood as this:
C - Brian McCann
C - Yan Gomes
C - Carlos Corporan
C - Ramon Hernandez
1B - Carlos Pena
1B/3B - Eric Chavez
2B - Tony Abreu
2B - Angel Sanchez
2B - Jemile Weeks
SS/2B - Pedro Ciriaco
SS - Aldaberto Mondesi*
3B - Miguel Cabrera
3B/IF - Donnie Murphy
OF - Matt Holliday
OF - Marlon Byrd
OF - Drew Stubbs
OF - Angel Pagan
OF/2B - Ryan Raburn
OF/1B - Tyler Moore
OF - Ronald Guzman*
OF - Elier Hernandez*

SP - Mark Buehrle
SP - Yovani Gallardo
SP - Tim Hudson
SP - Stephen Fife
SP - David Phelps
SP - Tyler Skaggs
SP - Jon Garland
SP - Roy Halladay
CL - Joaquin Benoit
RP - LaTroy Hawkins
RP - Scott Downs
RP - Dale Thayer
RP - Jonathan Broxton
RP - Evan Scribner
RP - Jose Mijares
RP - Mike Gonzalez
RP - Brayan Villarreal
RP - Ryan Mattheus

It was funny, because when I was introduced to the league as a new owner to the rest of the owners of the MWBL, I got a lot of emails saying "Welcome to the MWBL, and... hey, I noticed you have Miguel sitting over there, we'll be in touch." hahaha. My first thought was "thanks & you wish", and then I looked at the roster and the reality of the situation hit me, I need to move Miggy. Sure, I could have held on to Miguel, and continue to suffer 4th place finishes, while not bringing any youth and draft picks to better my situation. It would have been the equivalent of the most part to Barry Bonds with the San Francisco Giants, for the most part (not counting 2002 & 1997), Barry was surrounded by a team not going anywhere.

I felt I had to take the approach of that I NEVER owned Miguel Cabrera. Sure, I still sat there hanging over emails, hours on end debating possible trades. When I put the initial email out to the league that Miguel Cabrera is on the block, I ended up getting offers from about 8 to 10 teams, basically a third of the league -- I was in talks with two owners exclusively on the most part, one owner (the one that would get him eventually in the end) for about half-of-the emails. We traded emails at least 20 times, or close to that, tweaking & changing things. Did I get exactly what I wanted? No. Am I happy overall with the trade? Yes. The thing is this, I felt I couldn't truly move forward until I ripped the band-aid off of the situation -- so I went with the team that was going to give me the best options. I tried another owner to see if they would bite on giving me solid options at 2B, SS & 3B, but he wasn't willing to give me all those options and I felt I had bigger fish with the main option that I was working with.

I eventually traded....
3B/1B - Miguel Cabrera
SP-Tim Hudson (37) 
& my 11th Rd DP (298th overall)

.... to the Hollywood Werewolves, who won our division last year with a 117-45 record, and fell short in the American League Championship Series, for...

SP - Travis Wood
3B/OF - Todd Frazier
3B - Matt Davidson
RP - Luke Gregerson
P/RP - Jeanmar Gomez
# 3 DP (Hollywood) - #82 overall
RP - Heath Bell
RP - Cesar Ramos

Travis Wood, coming into his own at 26 for Cubs.

Todd Frazier would automatically start at 3B, play a little OF, with Eric Chavez backing him up. Matt Davidson is slated to start for the White Sox in 2014 (acquired in a trade with the Arizona). The most exciting part of the deal for me is Travis Wood, he really turned a corner in 2013, I think when he first came up, he came up to Cincinnati and they were a division/post-season contender, and maybe he was overwhelmed in that situation; with the Cubs, he was part of a huge media market, while the team went nowhere, allowing Travis Wood to develop into a tough big-league starter, who by the way is only 26. Plus I got a guy, who will be over 200+ innings year after year. Add him to Mark Buerhle & Yovani Gallardo, with their innings totals, I have at least a 1-2-3 with some bulk of innings, even if those two pitchers are declining. If I can get another starter in that rotation with some innings, I will at least have a pitching foundation of sorts, my bullpen is pretty good with the addition of Luke Gregerson (one of the best set-up men in the game, now with Oakland) and a young Jeanmar Gomez. Heath Bell & Cesar Ramos were basically toss-ins to the deal, so any plus from them would be bonus.

My Draft outlook looks good

• 1st Rd pick (18th overall)
• two 2nd Rd Picks (#46 & #49)
• two 3rd Rd picks (#74 & #82 ) -- just traded one of my three 3rd Rd picks & a 12th Rd (#336) pick for two 5th Rd picks.
• 4th Rd Pick (#102)
• three 5th Rd Picks (# 122, #130 & #139)
• 6th Rd Pick (#158)
• Re-acquired a 7th Rd pick - #176 (I traded a 7th Rd pick for John McDonald & a 12th Rd pick (#336) -- that 12th rd pick would be traded in the deal above for the two 5th Rd picks, while my reaquired 7th Rd pick, was for Pedro Ciriaco. McDonald can play multiple positions, and is a defensive wiz, he'll give me versatility for this season at least). We do the 930 PR for some guys in this league, so that we can maintain positions in a league with 28 teams, it's good to do this... so we are all able to field a team. Basically think of it as a position placebo).
• 8th Rd Pick (#214)
• 9th Rd Pick (#242)
• 10th Rd Pick (#270)
• My normal 12th Rd Pick (#326)

The first five rounds, gives me 9 picks in the first 139 picks available. I also have 9 spots to draft uncarded players, which gives me an option to draft any player available that has yet to make their MLB debut. The league has 38 normal spots for Carded/non-carded players (players who already have made their MLB debuts at any point, and happened to be hurt, etc) & 12 spots for uncarded players (players yet to make their MLB debuts). The uncarded players can stay on their roster, but need to make their MLB debuts within 3 years or you lose them to free agency/re-drafting. My three un-carded players that I own are OF-Ronald Guzman, OF-Elier Hernandez & Raul Mondesi's son SS-Adalberto (Raul) Mondesi (Jr.).

It's obvious by my team roster that I am going to have to address the infield situation, I have options at catcher with Yan Gomes stepping up, which can make McCann a trade option with that of outfielder Holliday & closer Benoit. 

The scary thing is that I will have to deal with Miguel with his new team during the second series of the season, plus the fact that he will be making a great 1-2 punch with 1B-Paul Goldschmidt. Cabrera will likely play DH during the 2015 MWBL Season, since Miguel is moving back to first for the Tigers, now that Fielder is gone. With Cabrera's addition, the Hollywood Werewolves should be the favorites to represent the American League during the MWBL World Series in October 2014.

Draft day is February 22nd, I'm pretty excited to see who we can land, as we prepare for an interesting, first season in the Mid-West Baseball League.

A Lot Has Happened....

...Since New Year's.

PART ONE   (NEW YEARS & GETTING ILL)

Singing the classic U2 song New Year's Day, I will change it up a bit... "All's BEEN quiet SINCE New Year's Day." (Quiet, alluding to my activity on this site, early on in 2014).

Let's see.. where to begin with, the wife & I took the tree down early evening New Year's Day. We did a quite a bit of cleaning, that it almost appeared as an early edition of a Spring Cleaning. We had an apartment once again, the big Spruce Tree that we got this year was gone. How did we get rid of it? We flipped it over the 3rd floor balcony.

Hahahahaha      (No, seriously).

The night before (night of Dec 30th) I was on my last night of work for that stretch, I got in there thinking this will be a productive, yet smooth night. No, they surprised me with the news that, "Oh, it's hoods night" -- which for us maintenance guys can be the worst words muttered, especially with no heads-up on the matter. During hoods night, these two guys from a local company shoot chemicals all over the place (yay!) and spray down the chimneys all the grease & crud that's built up in the restaurant hoods. So they had the back door open for quite a but so that their truck/compressor machine can generate power & chemicals for the hoses that they sprayed up and down the chimneys.

That morning when I got off, my boss got there early and also ripped one of my manager's heads off for just simply being a "B", so I got the flock out of there, and went home. I decided to wake my beautiful wife up, and go out to breakfast with her at the Flap Jack Shack, I needed to get my frustrating night off of my chest, normally in this cold winter (and what a cold & snowy winter it has been here in the Mid-West), I would wear a snow hat, I wore a ball-cap instead. We went to breakfast, the air had that weird wet feeling (which I hate), and we did some quick errands to Meijer & Wal-Mart.

So back to New Year's Eve evening, we took the ornaments off the tree, we did a natural tree for the first (and likely last) time in our marriage. When I was a kid, I was always natural tree, now that I am an adult & realize that pine needles are almost as annoying as Mosquitoes in the south, yeah... GO ARTIFICIAL! While we got to the point with the tree & just the stand, we both looked at each other, yeah... we are not going to go natural again, so we don't need the stand as well. So we left the stand on, now in my defense, the wife & I are smart people, but for some reason we both brain-farted on this one. So when we started tilting the tree to get it out the balcony sliding-door, I hear water pouring onto the floor.

Yeah, Brain-fart indeed!

We finally get the tree to the edge of the balcony, Flip -- KA-RASSH The noise was awesome, the wife even chuckled. The cool thing is that we live on the forest side of the apartment, no way we throw this over on the parking lot side; also we were fortunate to have a snow-plowed path below so people in the buildings can walk their dogs out to do their business. So to cut to the chase, I went down, grabbed the tree, dragged it past two long buildings, threw it away in the trash dumpster. I then went to the car grabbed my shovel, shoveled off plenty of snow off the balcony, took a couple loads of garbage down. I was getting a bit of a workout, so there may have been under-linings of sweat going on, we had the sliding door open a bit, and I was wearing a coat & hat -- yes, but I was wearing these tight and comfortably warm sweat pants, but that's the thing, their sweatpants! My jeans were being washed. As we finally got the place situated, we kicked back & watched our "Big Bang Theory" -- and then momentarily watched in horror to see Carson Daly announcing the ball-dropping in Times Square.

Then 2 o'clock in the morning, that little tickle in my throat, starting becoming more sore... and then my throat started closing by the second. The good news is that I was scheduled off for Wednesday night (New Years Day), I had to return to my normal night Thursday night on 1/2. The morning of Thursday, it got much worse & when I woke up I felt like hell, I tried to get someone to cover for me Thursday night, but I got suckered into going in, I luckily had one of the managers Johnny help me get through the night. I gave them a heads up that I was going to the doctor's office & likely will be out for awhile. Everyone who knows me or has worked with me, that I'm like Cal Ripken when it came to going to work, okay... not exactly! I didn't go on some ridiculous streak, but I usually logged my 162 games a season, let's say.

So I got a doctor's note, and I currently fighting walking pneumonia -- YAY!!!

PART 2 - (NEW APBA ENDEAVORS)

Days leading up to New Year's, I was asked the opportunity to substitute manage for the Stockton Wings in the Mid-West Winter League (The Winter edition of the Mid-West Baseball League). In the Winter League, the players used are taken place 25 years in the past to 1988, the year that Jose Canseco became the first Major League ballplayer ever to get 40/40 in a season (40 HR's & 40 steals). The interesting thing is Canseco plays for Stockton. The current owner was taking a leave of absence to deal with a serious family matter, I said I had no problem taking over the team's responsibilities.

For a long time, I have admired the Mid-West Baseball League and it's formats from afar, it is easily the best league out there for APBA Computer Baseball & also has a great community of owners, baseball lovers, and well-built friendships. This is a league that I have always wanted to be in. I took a chance & applied finally around Thanksgiving, and after a two-part application process & interview process -- everything seemed to go real well. There was no open franchises at the time, but Stray Corrado (the commissioner & now friend, of this great league) told be to stay patient, that I could sit in on the up-coming draft, they were excited as well to possibly add me to the league in the future. That was a really good feeling, but patience will have to by my virtue.

I eventually got word that I would take over Stockton briefly, over the next couple days I was studying the roster, and the possible trades to be made to improve the roster. Waited a few days for the upcoming game files, and that's when the league got some bad news.

Now, before I dive into this upcoming tragic news, I want to say that my blog is to report everything that goes on in my APBA life, and the game of baseball, so for me to tell my story on the blog I have to mention even the unfortunate, I hope in all ways possible it doesn't come off insensitive.

Remember with leagues and friendships that go on for many years, we all grow accustomed to each other and all become close friends; I have become friends with many people from all areas in the APBA realm, I became friends with Thomas Nelshoppen of The APBA Blog, before finally meeting him a the Chicagoland Tournament. I'm also friends with people in all shapes of life, Kenneth Heard who's an excellent writer for his APBA Blog Love, Life and APBA Baseball and his real-life job at the Arknasas Democrat-Gazzette. I am friends with a pastor in Rich Zawadzki, a man devoted to God, and a devoted APBA Card historian on the knowledge of what makes a great APBA Card; Rich and I shared travels to & from the Chicagoland Tournament together, got to know each other well. Doug Schuyler, a resident of the Chicago area, who co-anchored the successful Chicagoland Tournaments, we have become good friends. Now, I'm friends with Stray Corrado of the Mid-West Baseball League, among the guys joining my APBA Online league. It's the part of APBA life & life in general, so that's why it's never easy to hear of someone passing.

The unfortunate thing is that Stray & the MWBL got that news on New Year's Day I believe (everything is a big blur of late). I was messaged to contact the Commish ASAP, while also reading about it in our league game file. The owner's name was Mike, and he was a long-time member, one of the original founding owners, and has been with Stray going back to their days in the Iowa Confederacy league, 20 years. It really puts things into perspective, how delicate life can be, I'm now 37, and am currently battling walking pneumonia, I am no Spring chicken anymore, so I need to learn to relax & take better care of myself. My heart goes out to the league, because now on top of that, I am the one being asked to take over his MWBL & MWWL teams, which means I'm no longer taking over the Stockton Wings. I took over the Severn Express & Old Mill Legends -- which were now renamed the Traverse City Crusaders & Traverse City Tigers. Not exactly the way someone wants to join an exciting league, yet I plan to carry myself in the same manner & respect that Mike once did. Hopefully for the league's sake, we won't see death again for some time, we can only hope. It was the league's first experience with it, in twenty years, but when you look at all long-running APBA leagues, everyone has to deal with it at some point or another.

But as APBA fans we will try to do what we know best, and that's to move on by playing the game & company that we love.

So that's why I have not posted for some time, plenty has been going on.

God bless & stay safe my friends,
Shawn