Entering a New Frontier

As you may know from one of my previous posts 2017 Updated Rosters Project, I decided to shake things up & bring in expansion. I have since stepped down from the Detroit Tigers (73-89 in my alternate 2017) while taking over one of the new expansion teams, in the Charlotte Aviators.

The Charlotte Aviators will be playing in the National League South Division, while their division rivals will be the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins & Texas Rangers. If you are late to the dance, I would suggest that you read the post highlighted above, if you do know what's going on, here is the latest...

The Aviators might be able to compete sooner than later, as the other three teams had losing seasons in 2017, with the best team being the Marlins at 76-86.

Before I move on to my roster, here is a look at our farm teams' names.

• Montesano Ocelots (International League / AAA, North Division) - Montesano, Washington.
• New Jersey Outlaws (Eastern League / AA, North Division) - Jersey City, New Jersey.
• Fremont Titans (California League / A+, North Division) - Fremont, California.
• Virginia Beach Sharks (New York-Penn League / A-, McNamara Division) - Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• Westchester Bobcats (New York-Penn League / A-, McNamara Division) - Westchester, NY.
• Denmark Nighthawks (Appalachian League / R, East) - Denmark, New Hampshire.
• Woodbourne Warriors (Appalachian League / R, East) - Woodbourne, Pennsylvania.

Our projected lineup is as follows for the Aviators...

• 1. Taylor Motter - 3B
• 2. Ronald Torreyes - 2B
• 3. Oswaldo Arcia - RF
• 4. Rowdy Tellez - 1B
• 5. Pat Valaika - SS
• 6. Tyler Collins - LF
• 7. Jake Smolinski - CF
• 8. Daniel Robertson - DH
• 9. Jett Bandy - C

I had no say in the drafting, because at the time I was still the Detroit Tigers' General Manager, but I watched the draft which was really fascinating. 

The leader in home runs from this bunch in alternate 2017 was actually my 9th hitter in Jett Bandy (18 HR); My most seasoned hitter (sad to say) is a familiar face in Tyler Collins (.287, 12 HR & 51 RBI), who played for my Tigers last season. My other best two power options will come from either Oswaldo Arcia & Rowdy Tellez. 

The projected rotation at the moment...

• 1. Drew Pomeranz 
• 2. Mike Clevenger
• 3. Cody Anderson
• 4. Adam Plutko
• 5. Brady Rodgers

Three of the five starters happened to play for the Cleveland Indians in the previous seasons, while Drew Pomeranz (Boston) finds himself as the ace of the Aviators. Brady Rodgers was a 3rd Round Draft Pick for the Houston Astros in 2012, the one thing that Rodgers has going for him is he has good control, but he doesn't have excellent stuff, while he's average-to-slightly above average with his four pitches, while having a tendency to give up the long ball. It's too bad this game isn't out a year later, Mike Clevenger would maybe get a little more love with his ratings after his real-life second-half emergence for the tribe.

The bullpen....

• Closer - Corey Knebel
• Setup - Trevor May
• RP - Yonny Chirinos
• RP - Tim Clooney
• RP - Brad Peacock

I love that Charlotte got Corey Knebel, I am not sure why Milwaukee did not protect him, but their loss.  Brad Peacock (like Clevenger above) would have benefited with this game being released a year later. Trevor May and Tim Clooney bring slight depth, while the 23 year-old Yonny Chirinos will make his MLB debut, while his previous highest level was Double-A; Pitched in the 2017 Southern League All-Star Game in the minors. 

My bench is interesting, I have Patrick Kivlehan (.343, 3 HR & 10 RBI / .949 OPS in 67 at-bats), he will get some playing time at first base (when Tellez needs a day off), while he can man third with a weak glove, moving Taylor Motter over to short or even the outfield occasionally. Ildemaro Vargas will get some work at short, while backing up second; Vargas is good at not striking out, while very effective stealing a base, despite not having flashy speed... plus great at bunting someone over. 

Our biggest prospect is Renato Nunez, who will likely play at third base, bumping Motter to the outfield, we plan to possibly get him just a bit more seasoning at Triple-A, but probably won't stay there for long. 

Just found out we signed our Japanese international star in Koson Yamauchi, a left fielder with tons of power; During negotiations I didn't realize I accepted his counter-offer for $81.88 million over 4 seasons, at $20.47 million per season. That will bring some much-needed pop to a lineup without pop.

Braves vs Expos (NLCS Rematch / 1993 Playoffs)

The Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos will be playing in a National League Championship rematch in my 1992 No Expansion project for Out of the Park Baseball 2018. I am currently the General Manager of the Braves, and we narrowly won the 1993 N.L. West Division Championship over the Houston Astros (100-62) with 102 wins.

The Expos (108-54) are led by MVP candidate Larry Walker (.340, 38 HR & 115 RBI) and free agent acquisitions Andres Galarraga (.291, 39 HR & 108 RBI) & Mickey Tettleton (.250, 23 HR & 72 RBI); Delino DeShields (.299, 10 HR, 86 RBI & 56 SB) & Marquis Grissom (.297, 19 HR, 86 RBI & 65 SB) have also been tough outs in their lineup.

They are also tough in the pitching department with a rotation led by N.L. Cy Young hopeful, Dennis Martinez (25-7, 2.41 ERA, 144 K & 1.15 WHIP in 36 starts / 254 Innings); Ken Hill (14-9, 3.90 ERA), Jamie Moyer (12-12, 3.75 ERA) & Chris Nabholz (14-7, 4.30 ERA) have  all been a huge part of the team's success, along with their stellar bullpen: Mel Rojas (3 SV, 1.53 ERA), Jeff Fassero (10-3, 4 SV, 2.45 ERA, 1.24 WHIP), Shane Reynolds (7-2, 3.54 ERA, 0.97 WHIP) & Rob Murphy (4-2, 1 SV, 2.44 ERA & 1.09 WHIP).

The Braves may have won 102 games, but they didn't come easy. The team started off red-hot with a 33-10 start, but then hit a 26-28 swoon in June & July, the team got back on track by winning 43 of their last 65 games, after acquiring some bullpen help in acquiring Roberto Hernandez (from White Sox), Mike Maddux (Royals) & John Kelly (Cardinals).

The week of August 21-27th, the bullpen suffered some problems since with injuries to Kent Mercker (torn miniscus / Out for the rest of the season) & Roberto Hernandez (herniated disc [neck] / Out 1-2 weeks) -- which will certainly play a factor in this upcoming series; Montreal has its own problems with John Wetteland out for the remainder of the playoffs due to a hamstring strain.

Atlanta would lose Game 1 due to great pitching by Dennis Martinez, pitching 7 strong innings while only allowing 2 hits; Mel Rojas came in for the two-inning save. Mickey Tettleton went 2-for-3 with a walk, while Andres Galarraga and Bill Masse each contributed an RBI.

Both teams combined for 10 hits (Atlanta - 4)

Unlikely Hero: Blankenship.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics leads their series 2-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays, who are still trying to get to their first World Series; Last year (1992), the Minnesota Twins knocked off Toronto, as Minnesota went on to defeat the Atlanta Braves again, in a repeat during their repeat match-up.

The Athletics have won the two games in Toronto, by a combined score of 11-3, while unlikely heroes in Troy Neel and Lance Blankenship hit home runs in Game 2 -- both with 2 outs. Mark Langston pitched a strong Game 1, allowing only 1 run & 4 hits in 7 innings with 4 strikeouts.

The Braves would get nothing going, as they would end up getting swept by the Expos... To put it in perspective, Otis Nixon led the team in hitting, by batting .214 in the series.

The Athletics would dash the Jays' dreams of winning their pennants, as they lost the series, 4-2 to Oakland; The Athletics were led by the 1-2 pitching combo of Mark Langston (2-0, 1.88 ERA, 8 K) & Kevin Brown (2-0, 1.69 ERA, 8 K), while Lance Blankenship batted .294 with 2 HR & 5 RBI in the series.

1993 All-Star Break & Trading Deadline

Atlanta's new closer: Roberto Hernandez

For this 1993 Alternate Season (No Expansion), I have been the General Manager for the Atlanta Braves, we have been to the last two World Series (losing both to the Minnesota Twins), and sit on top of the N.L. West Division with a slim four-game lead over the Houston Astros right now.

The Braves (55-32) started off hot (33-10), but we are playing only .500 ball since then that start, our bullpen has been sliding, while we need some infield depth that can play defense.

We made a small trade to acquire Kansas City's backup third baseman Kelly Gruber, in exchange for pitcher Mike Hostetler & minor league second baseman Nelson Paulino, to help in the defense department. We tried to acquire 3B/2B prospect Jeff Cirillo from Milwaukee with no success.

The last night of the deadline, we sat at 26-27 since our 33-10 start, only 1.5 games up on Houston, We started by trading prospects 1B-Jeff Manto & 3B-Israel Alcantra for a Cardinals reliever with some upside, named John Kelly.

We decided to trade RF-Melvin Nieves straight up for RP-Mike Maddux of the Kansas City Royals, uniting the Maddux brothers in Atlanta.

Roger McDowell (5.04 ERA) & Greg McMichael (5.68 ERA) were disappointing as setup men for Atlanta, and something needed to be done. We are keeping McDowell, but decided to package McMichael with prospects SP-Darrell May and 3B-Grant Brittain with $600,000 to the Chicago White Sox for closer Roberto Hernandez.

Mike Stanton (5-5, 3.19 ERA & 25 Saves) has been my closer, and will slide down to be the 8th Inning setup man, while Mike Maddux will take the 7th. Mark Wohlers will get a shot at being the 6th inning setup for the Braves, if he fails, he'll either go to middle relief work, or get more seasoning in the minors. Kent Mercker is the left-handed specialist & could be a 6th inning or later guy as well.

Alejandro Pena (4.76 ERA) was waived & designated for assignment, he is currently making $1.72 million this season & will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Atlanta will be quiet come free agency, and are setup pretty solid for the next two seasons, as they will try to rebuild their farm system.

We'll see how these moves all play out.

Other MLB Trades....

• Chicago Cubs trade SS-Alex Arias & minor leaguer RHP-Ryan Hawblitzel to the Texas Rangers, in exchange for Greg Swindell; Swindell signed a 6-year deal worth $22.16 million with the Rangers prior to the season.

• Detroit Tigers traded Gregg Olson, who signed a 2-year/$1.76 million deal with the Tigers prior to the season, was traded to the Seattle Mariners for SS-Ruben Santana; Olson led the Tigers with 18 Saves, while posting a 3.70 ERA.

• The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Sid Bream (.315, 4 HR & 18 RBI) to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Tim Belcher (9-7, 5.18 ERA) & minor league reliever Ricky Bottalico (A). 

• The New York Yankees traded 2B-Randy Velarde to the Chicago Cubs for 33-year old Mike Morgan, retaining 30% & minor league closer Ben Burlingame.

• The Minnesota Twins traded C-Ron Karkovice to the Toronto Blue Jays, while acquiring Tom Henke, retaining 60% & minor league Aaron Jersild. 

• The Milwaukee Brewers traded Cal Eldred to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor league outfielders Rod Myers & Eric Walls.

• The Philadelphia Phillies traded SP-Andy Ashby to the Chicago Cubs, in exchange for minor league OF-Pedro Valdes.

• One of the biggest trades may be the New York Yankees trading J.T. Snow to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for reliever Mark Guthrie & minor league SP-Brett Roberts.

End of June (1993 No Expansion)

Lankford & the young Cardinals.

The end of June came, with John Smoltz seems to be getting back on track, after a slow first two months, improving to 7-2 with a 3.69 ERA & 65 strikeouts in 75.2 innings -- which is good news for Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays (42-31) got bad news with Rickey Henderson missing up to 7 weeks, due to injuring his shoulder on a diving catch; Henderson is currently batting .280 with 7 HR & 25 RBI for the season, while swiping 23 bases.

Toronto still trail the Baltimore Orioles (57-17) by 14.5 games; The Orioles are currently on a 9 game-winning streak.

The Chicago White Sox (40-33) seem to be slowly climbing in the A.L. West, as they trail the division-leading Oakland Athletics by 4 games; The White Sox in real-life 1993 won the A.L. West with stellar pitching, which with their bullpen, seems to be the alternate's strength as well. Frank Thomas is leading all American League first basemen in the All-Star voting, while batting .362, with 22 HR & 62 RBI (1.152 OPS) in 268 at-bats (73 games) this season.

The Montreal Expos (50-23) better keep an eye on the emerging St. Louis Cardinals (42-34), whose youth is starting to shine Cardinal red; Ray Lankford (.294, 14 HR, 50 RBI & 13 SB), Brian Jordan (.298, 10 HR & 44 RBI), Todd Zeile (.287, 10 HR, 39 RBI) & pitcher Rene Arocha (7-4, 3.38 ERA) all seem to be leading the charge. The Cardinals have slowly ate out of Montreal's advantage, by getting the division lead down to single digits.

The Atlanta Braves' month of June, despite Smoltz's recent improvement, was a so-so month for them, as they went 15-12 (.556 pct), after going 33-10 (.767 pct) during the first two months; Meanwhile, the Houston Astros (45-29) have chipped away at the Braves' lead, going 19-7 (.731 pct) during June.

The Astros are led by N.L. MVP candidate Moises Alou (.333, 12 HR & 55 RBI), while getting support from Jeff Bagwell (.305, 15 HR & 47 RBI), Eric Anthony (.270, 21 HR & 60 RBI) & pitcher Darryl Kile (9-3, 2.34 ERA); Houston trails Atlanta by only 5 games.

End of May (1993 No Expansion)

Bichette has been a big deal for Baltimore.

The Baltimore Orioles continue to roll, as they have the best record in all of baseball at 36-8 (.818 winning pct), making fans think of the "Bless You Boys" Detroit Tigers of 1984... at this rate, the O's are on pace for 133 wins, granted things will certainly slow down.

They acquired Dante Bichette prior to the season from the Minnesota Twins, in exchange for RP-Anthony Telford & LF-Alex Ochoa. His great play, so far (.318, 9 HR & 31 RBI) just landed him an 4-year extension on May 24th, for $8.76 million ($2.19 m per year), while his teammate Chris Hoiles (.290, 13 HR & 32 RBI) continues to play like a strong MVP candidate.

The lineup also features team captain Cal Ripken, Jr, Brady Anderson & Jay Buhner (who bats 6th as the designated hitter).

The rotation has took hits of late, with Tim Belcher & Arthur Lee Rhodes' stats going south, while Mike Mussina (3-1, 2.63 ERA), Ben McDonald (8-0, 2.10 ERA) & Jose Mesa (5-0, 2.48 ERA) continue to dazzle. The Orioles' bullpen is led by 4 veterans who are all having superb seasons, led by their closer Steve Farr (12 Saves, 2.81 ERA), along with Mike Fetters (2-0, 1.35 ERA), Storm Davis (2-0, 1.59 ERA) & Steve Bedrosian (3-0, 0.59 ERA).

The Toronto Blue Jays (second place / 6.5 GB) are having a tough time catching Baltimore; The Jays won their 5th straight, only problem Baltimore is currently on a 6-game winning streak.

The A.L. West meanwhile has 5 teams all within 2.5 games of each other, with the Oakland Athletics currently leading with a 24-18 record. Oakland is led by a healthy Mark McGwire, who is batting .291 with 14 HR & 40 RBI, with his numbers up -- while coming off a 1992 OOTP Season, which he hit 26 HR & 80 RBI (compared to real-life's 42 HR & 104 RBI).

The Montreal Expos are 34-11 (.756 pct) while they are ahead with a very comfortable 12-game lead entering June; The team signed free agents Andres Galarraga & Mickey Tettleton (just days prior to the beginning of the regular season), as they are the meat in the center of this lineup. Eric Karros is a bench-player now due to signing of Galarraga & could be trade bait down the line; The player traded for Karros, Mark Gardner, just got hurt & will likely miss the remainder of the season.

In some bizzare Expos news, their starting left fielder Bill Masse (.343, 4 HR, 8 RBI & 1.192 OPS in 35 at-bats) never played in the majors, he got his chance due to the struggling Ivan Calderon; Masse was acquired with a certain-Panama born reliever (Mariano Rivera) in exchange for SS-Spike Owen & $205,000 in cash.

That above, is one of the reasons that I love this game, how moves elsewhere, may effect teams to do acquisitions that will pave new alternate paths for those like Rivera.

My Atlanta Braves are 33-10, with an 8.5 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, while Houston is in third place, 9 games back. Fred McGriff, two months in, leads all three Triple Crown categories, batting .414 with 19 HR & 56 runs batted in (1.291 OPS is tops)... while his teammate Ron Gant (.341 AVG, 15 HR, 36 RBI & 1.116 OPS with 11 steals) has been excellent as well.

Steve Avery (6-1, 2.10 ERA) & Greg Maddux (6-0, 2.15 ERA) have a combined WAR of 5.1 at the moment, while they are waiting on Tom Glavine & John Smoltz to heat up. Maddux, by the way, pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 14th.

That pretty much wraps up the May report.