San Francisco Earthquakes

The "Win Now" Strategy

2008-07-08T16:13:00.001-07:00

My "Win Now" Strategy is definitely different than the supposed normal way. Basically, I try to win the first three years with young players and a payroll around $65 million. I stock up on draft picks and internationals to fill the rest of my farm up for the years to come. Season Three hits and I start dropping my older veterans to compensate for the new younger contracts. I slash high school scouting to nil but maintain college scouting to continuously feed in close-to-ML-ready players.

How is this strategy working out? I have three teams who are performing better than .600. Granted, two of those teams are only in season one but I do have two World Series rings under my belt after six total seasons.

It also helps to identify strengths. Starting pitching is solid in San Francisco so building up a rotation and a bullpen is priority number ONE. Next, I look for short-stops and utility players who can be flexible and work for me anywhere. Lastly, I never sterotype a position. Just because most first basemen might be power hitters doesn't mean I have to have only a power-hitting first baseman. Pitching: Control Batting: Eye. Focus on those two aspects and you'll find success.

The Earthquakes have started the season 11-6 and are one game back of the NL West leading Vancouver Tiger Sharks.

Team Overview

2008-07-02T01:11:00.002-07:00

Lineup
RF Rick Nicholson R/R - Great contact, great eye and great speed = dominant play-maker. He's also only 25 years old.
3B Dickie Coleridge R/R - 23 year old who still has some room to grow. Was promoted to the Majors for his decent defense and better-than-average bat.
SS Vic Nunez R/R - All-star potential with solid defense as well.
LF Yoo-Nah Kim S/L - Biggest power (83) in the starting lineup who also gets the job done from both sides of the plate.
1B Tony Nunez L/L - Has a very high ceiling and could become hall-of-fame material if he can stay healthy.
C Jim Young R/R - Not a one-trick pony. Lowe rides the bench with poor D and Kaufman does the same with a poor bat.
CF&2B Platoon of A.J. Swann, Willy Brooks, Jeff Smith and Dennis Chang.

Rotation
Pedro Lorenzo LHP - Probably not a #1 starter but will got the job done with 3 pitches over 73 and control at 77.
Dick McDonald RHP - Great control who still has room to grow.
Ricardo Mondesi LHP - Needs to work on his pitches but will develop into a solid pitcher at the end of the rotation.
Lew Walker LHP - Needs to work on his pitches as well but will probably develop into a top-line starter.
Augie Madero RHP - His projections are through the roof but has some good stuff now at the age of 20.

Bullpen
Troy Kirk RHP - Declining skills push him to long-relief.
Benito Mendez RHP - Innings eater.
Sherry Christenson RHP - Earthquakes hope to get one solid year out of him.
Leon Hawkins RHP - Brought up due to his stellar splits and pitches.
Skeeter Winn LHP - Lefty with a wicked first pitch.
Ricardo Sanchez LHP - Being promoted first week of the season to stabilize the bullpen.
Bill Pressley RHP - Solid closer who won't allow many walks.

A Decision

2008-07-02T00:10:00.000-07:00

Spring Training has come and gone. It's always difficult to analyze what happens during this time because it's difficult to know if the other teams are putting forth their ML squads, playing minor leaguers or mixing both in. I always like having at least a .500 record in ST because not only do W's make you feel good but it also reflects well on the organization as a whole.

I've made a decision. There were several pitchers that I wanted to leave in the minors but I've now decided to bring them up. They'll be replacing a few older arms who are declining fast. The first season is a good time to move forward fast if you have a solid enough team because a lot of teams are going to try to build for the future. I feel as though you build for the future through the draft and that it's always good to be competitive year in and year out. Always put your best players in the Majors. An exception to this is if the player needs fielding more than batting improvements. Another exception is if you're stacked at one position like pitching and are just waiting to move out those hefty contracts/great players for your small contracts/young stars. With that last exception though, I still try to field the best player available.

Two players I'm keeping down for a year are: Guillermo Molina for fielding and Johnny Henry for batting development b/c it's not good enough for the Majors yet.

Trade Update

2008-06-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

The pitching staff report will be coming shortly. The reason for its delay is that there have been several trades made that may reshape my team.

First of all, I have decided to trade away an okay hitter/decent defensive catcher for a stud defensive catcher. I may have gotten the short end of the deal by trading away a prospect in exchange for a 31-year old but both players' healths are around 40-50. If that young player gets injured then I won't have lost anything at all. Besides, the prospect is never going to make a Major League team.

My second trade involved a decent shortstop who will hit roughly .290 with 30+ homeruns upon rapid development in return for a good hold-over 35-year old reliever and a GREAT young prospect reliever. I needed this trade for the now and the future and I feel as though both parties got what they wanted. I still need a few pieces for my bullpen which I hope to resolve in the Rule 5 Draft. I usually avoid the FA pool the first year since a lot of people make outrageous contracts.

The Team

2008-06-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I have been dealt a fairly decent hand. I have a lineup that I can count on for a few seasons and based on current ratings, I already have 5 pitchers under 27 who look to be solid features of the rotation. My main problem right now is the bullpen. There is no way I can create a solid bullpen out of the players that I have. In addition, there is absolutely no depth except at SS. Which, I guess, is a good place to be since a SS can be a hot commodity.

Catchers: Jim Young has only a 62 PC but a decent bat. The other, Lowe, has a better bat but only a 27 PC. Both combine for 7.6M. I'll have to try to move Lowe for a defensive minded catcher.

First Base: I'll be moving Tony Nunez, a left-handed batter up from HiA due to his high offensive ratings (65 Contact 78 Power 62 vLHP 71 vRHP 65 BE) which are better than anything else I have. He's only 22 so I hope to get a good hitting coach to train him.

Second Base: Right now there are no ML-ready 2B but I'm looking at filling this spot through FA or using a SS instead.

Third Base: Dickie Coleridge is moving up because he has the best defense and best offense at his position. He's 23 but he'll get solid numbers.

Short-stop: Several choices here. A.J. Swann has 98 split against righties and great defense but the rest is crap. Next is Jeff Smith who bats lefty, hits for contact and has great defense. Then there is 24-year old Vic Nunez who can hit the ball VERY well and has solid defense. Finally, there is Guillermo Molina who is still developing but has numbers in the 60s throughout offensive ratings and 70s throughout defensive ratings.

Left-field: Frank Tanaka will be coming off the bench with his $2.4M contract and 90 power and 0 speed. Yoo-Nah Kim will get the start with 83 power but significantly better ratings everywhere else.

Center-field: Somewhat of a hole here as well. Willy Brooks is a competent hitter against lefties but has no eye and better glove than range. Dennis Chang has nearly identical stats except better range than glove and a solid eye.

Right-field: Rick Nicholson will have this position for a while. His 91 contact, 71 power and 82 eye will keep in the lineup, his solid defense in the field, and 83 speed on the base paths.

Rotation and bullpen to be determined shortly...

A Whole New World

2008-06-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

After early successes, I have decided to join another Hardball Dynasty world - Branch Rickey. This blog will detail the various moves made in an attempt to chronicle how to build a successful and World Series winning HBD team. This world consists of many elite owners but I feel as though I can win due to the fact that with only 5 seasons under my belt, I've already achieved a World Series title.

Updates to come...