Words with shale!

Words with shale!

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Like I said, no pictures, but hey, some good stuff here![/center]

1. Shale, how the hell are ya? You've had, well, an up and down social rollercoaster here in BBSBL to say the least. Things leveling out? Or is there still work to be done?

Meh. I'm chillin. I overreacted a few too many times on some bullshit. Didn't deal with some of the trolling here too well and just made a couple real dumb decisions that shouldn't have even happened. It's whatever. I've moved on and hopefully everyone else has too.

I'm doing fine. All that shit don't worry about any of it. Same shit different day here. I write sports articles. I go running outside and have been dropping a few pounds while doing so. I watch just about every Mets game. I play online video games and I hang out with friends whenever they aren't busy. Same shit different day. Not much else I really do.

Oh and I'm real pumped for the All-Star Game because the Mets are hosting it and I will try to be at as many events next weekend as possible.

That's good. Move along, nothing to see here. ASGs always bore the crap out of me, especially baseball, but have fun![/color]

2. You got your boy David Wright. Rave about him here. Tell every GM in the league why Wright is the fucking man, what he's going to do for you, and where his name will rank amongst the BBSBL elite.

I think I've already done that quite a bit haha. Basically, Wright will be a fuckin monster. When I had Walker, he was the best hitter in the NL, if not the entire league. I think Wright could be even better, depending on how his individual ratings pan out.

He will obviously get franchised and unless his hits or homers go down, I will TIA his walks, give him TIB's in running and stealing ability and give IRI's later on where they are most needed.

He will be the guy I build my lineup around. I will make sure he can play every position so that I can sign the best free agents, without necessarily having to target certain positions.

All in all, Wright will be a beast, he will win at least a few MVP's and he will win at least 1 ring with the Rockies in his career.

He's gonna need those inflated Walker numbers to beat out Vlad, Fick, Drew, etc. We'll see how he develops. Hope he was worth it![/color]

3. On that track though, let's take a look at where you really sit in your rebuild.

24 Colorado 7 P Dustin McGowan (79th), 3B David Wright (84th),

For a team in a weak division with no chance at winning any time soon, you have a pretty abysmal farm system. You've recently made some comments about the West being yours in a few years, but that's pretty bold. How do you plan on achieving that goal? Where do you stand amongst other rebuilding teams?

Some of you might glance at the entire farm system and say it's not one of the best. I don't just look at the whole thing. I look at what I need at each position and where certain people could fit.

I already have 2 hitters in my majors that are going to be a big part of my future. Obviously they are Edgardo Alfonzo and Derrick Gibson. I got Wright in AA, who should be up by 2004 at the latest. Kelly Shoppach is my future catcher and I'm happy I was able to get him.

I also have Michael Restovich, who I got from the Reds, who could be a useful corner IF/OF. Ryan Raburn is already quite versatile and I will try to find a role for him. And Shelley Duncan could find his way onto my future lineup as well. I would probably need Duncan in particular to get a few PD increases, but he could contribute for sure.

Not gonna determine where anyone is gonna play yet, because ideally, I like having all my hitters being able to play as many positions as possible.

On the pitching side, I like what I have so far. In McGowan, Reitsma, Duke and John Cohrs, I have a future 2-5 basically. I'm obviously missing a genuine ace. That problem I feel could be best solved in the 2002 draft. There are 2 pitchers there that are very high on my list. I'll leave it at that.

As for the bullpen, meh. We'll see how Jacob Killebrew and Leroy Platt develop, but I'll probably need to sign or trade for better relievers when the time is right. Not easy at all to find good and dependable relievers.

Will the Rockies be ready to go for sure by 2003? I can't predict the future, but that's what I'm honestly shooting for.

Yeah, I look at your whole farm and roster. You need a lot of work broseidon. Best of luck to you. Definitely need some pitching help. Hitting you can practically grab anywhere it seems. Still want to see you get one Brilliant Homers bat, just to see what kind of stupid numbers he puts up.[/color]

4. You've been coming at the Twins pretty hard. What's the deal?

No deal with them at all. I just think that there's a bit of a witch hunt going on with D Rowe and I don't think it's fair that people are calling him out when he is doing his job perfectly fine. I think Play for one has something against him. I really don't understand that at all, but whatever that's their business. I hope that all works out, even though it probably won't happen.

I'm not trying to take shots at the Twins really and I apologize if anyone perceived it that way. I just think that D Rowe is getting treated unfairly by a few GM's here and that it needs to stop.

Drowe has been garbage since the Helton trade didn't do what he hoped it would. He gave up. He might've thrown a few bids in and whatnot, but there's no denying he's mailed it in. I don't think he deserves to be replaced by any means, however. He's still solid here.[/color]

5. You recently looked back on the first five seasons of BBSBL. How do you think the next five will shape up to be? Which teams will rise and fall? Which teams will capture the next five titles? Who will be the best players?

I think the next 5 years will be a lot of fun and will feature other teams finding success. I like the future for teams like the Yankees, Indians, Royals, Rangers, A's, Mariners, Marlins, Expos, Mets (eventually), Cubs, Padres and even my Rockies in particular. Those are the teams I think that are on the rise.

The teams on the fall would include the Red Sox (by 2004 at the latest), Orioles, White Sox (after another year or 2), Braves, Phillies, Astros, and Giants. They're all legit now, but their windows will be coming to an end sooner or later.

As for the next 5 championships, I can't predict if certain teams will win multiple titles, but I think the Red Sox, Cubs, Marlins, Expos, A's, Rangers, Yankees, Giants, White Sox and Indians are the teams that should be in the mix.

If the Red Sox in particular don't win a championship in the next five seasons, that would just be very sad to see. I can't even predict what Break's actual emotions would be like by then.

The best players would have to include Nomar, Manny Ramirez, Frank Thomas, Helton, Pedro, Mussina, Cliff Lee, Griffey, Cano, Josh Hamilton, Matt Holliday, Eric Chavez, Juan Pierre, CC Sabathia, Robert Fick, Soriano, Miguel Tejada, Chipper Jones, Piazza, JD Drew, Johan, Kerry Wood, Paul Wilson, Berkman, David Wright, Derrick Gibson, Corey Patterson, and I think that's enough names for now.

Definitely lol'd seeing Gibson in that list. No love for Vlad or Cabrera, but I'll forgive you.[/color]

6. If you could undo one move you've made, other than the Helton trade, what would it be and why? How about undoing a move someone else has made?

bbsblthree.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=trades&action=display&thread=935

This would easily be the 2nd worse trade I made. The Angels got so much more out of this trade than I did. Fabregas was garbage and I ended up trading him to the Sox for Hatteberg shortly after. Just an awful trade that I should have never tried to do.

I think a lot of people would agree with me on this, but the one trade I wasn't involved in that I would undo would be the CC trade between Ashes and Stutter. The trade itself wasn't terrible, but CC is a dime a dozen and I would've kept him for sure.

Furthermore, Stutter didn't get that much value later on. He used the 2 1999 picks on Wandy Rodriguez and Joe Saunders. Both are decent, but not difference makers like Beckett will be for him. And for giving up CC, that's too little to get in return.

Then, he trades Sosa to the Yankees for Piatt, 2 2nds and a 3rd. Wasn't a fan of that trade at all. Stutter could have easily gotten a 1st for Sosa. As for Trachsel, he's been meh and his salary hasn't exactly been cheap.

Agreed.[/color]

7. Where does your confidence come from? What makes you think you can compete with Spencer, play, braves, myself, styro, Houston, etc?

How can you say you have a good team if you don't believe in your own team deep down inside? I just simply believe in what I have (that is when I'm not rebuilding and tanking) and try to make the most of it. If I didn't have confidence in my team and think that they could be legit, then that would take some of the fun out of being here. The suspense and personal expectations need to be there for anyone to be successful and have fun here. You can't just be like meh all the time and expect to have fun. It doesn't work like that if you take this shit seriously like I do.

It's too soon to predict who I will be competing with later in the 2000s. If I had to guess though, the Expos, Marlins, Cubs and Padres are most likely going to be the other legit teams in the NL by the time the Rockies are ready to really compete. Again, I don't know what the exact year will be for when the Rockies will be good to go. 2003 is Plan A, but we will see how that goes.

It's good to have some confidence. Sometimes your bravado has gotten the better of you, but hey, no shame in that.[/color]

8. The Yankees are back on top. So when's the next time we get to hear from break when he falls short again? Yankees beat Red Sox in 7 to move on to the next round: talk us through a break meltdown. And when does he FINALLY break through? He may not see it, but we all see his window closing. What advice would you give him?

Haha Break doesn't go as crazy about Erbes and his old conspiracy theories anymore to be honest. He will usually either blame himself for some sort of mistake he made, blame Erbes for being inconsistent with the World Series sim schedule, or blame OOTP for stupid injuries or other nonsense.

I don't know when he will finally break through. I really thought 1999 was his year and he was so close to winning it all. I know he wants to win real bad before 2004 because that was when the real Red Sox won it all and it's also when some of his favorite current players will be in the draft. That being said, I think he wins within the next 3 years.

As for advice, it's obvious that he has completely built the Red Sox around Nomar, Manny and Pedro. He has a few holes in his infield and I think he could trade for a better outfielder than Trot Nixon as well. His pitching staff is solid, but might need to trade for a 4th starter in case Telemaco underachieves. He also upgraded his bullpen, but I think he is misusing some of his extra starters that are in his bullpen. He might wanna look for a legit relief upgrade or 2 by the deadline.

All in all, I think he's got 3 more years to really compete and try to win it all. He needs to get it done by then, or he will regret those failures for a very long time.

Yikes, still going to be a funny scene when erbes inevitably eliminates the Red Sox. Break needs to re-tool bad. The Red Sox super team isn't going to cut it here. I can see him blaming bad luck a few years ago, but no longer. His team just isn't a legit contender in my mind anymore.[/color]

9. Back to your squad. Walk me through your routine with your team throughout the season. For instance, I am constantly compiling a list of players to target in trades, constantly comparing my own players to other top teams, and I re-evaluate my five year plan every few sim months it seems. What about you? Do you prefer to just sit back and enjoy the results, watch for PDs, and hope for the best? Or do you have your own analytics? Fresh sim rolls in, you download the program. Then what do you do?

I'm rebuilding now, so I really just look at PD's, the numbers that Alfonzo and Gibson are putting up (because I actually want them to still hit real well) and see if any of my prospects learned new positions. I'm a big proponent of teaching prospects new positions all the time. If you look in my minor leagues, you will see that many of my hitters are quite versatile. I always strive for that.

I don't really make lists of players to target in trades and I don't really re-evaluate my 5 year plan that often. I have a set plan in mind and I am sticking to it and I will wait until my guys are ready to finally take full control of the NL West.

As for targeting players in trades, it's really tough to predict which players would actually be moveable and what the other GM's are thinking. Predicting like this is something I have always struggled with, and not just here, but throughout my life. Decision making skills and judgment are not strengths of any kind for me. I'm a memory person that knows a shit ton of facts. When it's crunch time in which I really gotta think, it's real difficult. Tough for me to even trust my own decisions. I'm always trying to get 2nd opinions on every move I make, simply because I don't have much trust in myself at all regarding all that.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not like I just look at the sim and simply hope for the best. I'm always trying to see how I can make certain players better, teach every minor league hitter a new position and think about what areas I need to improve on.

See, I feel to truly take control of a division, you have to be ahead of the game. It's all well and good to stick to a plan of tanking and developing players in the minors, but at the same time, you need to constantly being exploring and evaluating your options. I had one of the top farms in the league, but when Vlad hit the market, I shipped out three 5 star spects to get him, even though I already had a very good team. Plus I just get bored sitting around doing nothing, PD-watching.[/color]

10. How are you going to solve the Coors Field puzzle? There was a bit of a discussion on your pitching prospects. Do you really feel they're the answer? There are some great hitting teams out there that will also have a field day in your stadium, so do you truly think your offense can reliably get the job done and win a title?

I honestly thought the Blake Street Bombers were amazing enough to take down any pitching staff out there, but that of course fell short and didn't work out. Where I'm at, you need to build your pitching staff around at least 2-3 starters with Brilliant in both home runs and walks. You need a lineup that can hit a shit ton of home runs, steal a lot of bases and score a lot of runs. Ideally, a lineup that features 2 speedsters at the top, 3-4 sluggers at 3-6 and 2 more decent hitters to fill out the order.

Hitters at Coors Field will rake and produce runs. That's what it is. And unless they are amazing, pitchers will probably struggle there. I really just need to figure out how to have a great pitching staff, because the hitting will always be there. Heck, Coors Field helped Tony Clark hit 41 homers outta nowhere. Anything is possible here offensively.

Are my current pitching spects the answer to being successful at Coors Field? Not completely. As I stated, I have a solid future 2-5 in McGowan, Reitsma, Duke and John Cohrs. Obviously, I'm missing an ace. And I will find a very good young ace, whether it's in an upcoming draft, or a trade of some sort.

To be honest, I think you're a little to concerned with pretty offensive stats. I know it gives you something to enjoy while you're losing, but I think you should be focusing ALL your efforts on pitching. I think you'll be able to assemble a competent offense no matter what and probably pretty easily considering your ridiculous stadium. Get that pitching, son.[/color]

11. What other games do you play currently? Which do you devote the most time to? How are you doing in your other OOTP leagues?

My main online video game is this shitty MMO golf game called Shot Online. It's run by Games Campus and right now, it blows. It used to be a good game, but the people in charge and the development team in South Korea are all clueless and are killing the game. I like it overall, but it's just going in a terrible direction and won't last much longer.

I recommend none of you playing any Games Campus games to be honest, because that company is greedy as fuck. They already killed my dream game, and they're about to kill another legit game as well.

I really only started playing that game to keep in touch with some friends that I played MLB Dugout Heroes with, which was run by Games Campus as well. Stutter plays Shot Online as well, but not as active and he fuckin sucks at that game haha. I'm not particularly good either. It's a very difficult game to be good at, but Stutter is just awful. Break tried it for a bit, but never got into it.

I don't devote as much time now to Shot Online because like I said, that game is getting worse and this league is a lot of fun. I'm also in the Long Baller league, GABL (Twins) and will soon be in Chris' new HOFBBL, which should be a lot of fun in itself.

Never heard of that company, but all those Korean game companies are scam artists. Doesn't surprise me.[/color]

12. Who has the best team in the NL and why?

Tough to say to be honest. But if I had to choose 1 team, it would be the Marlins, despite the fact that they are currently 4th in the NL East. I just really like their balance overall and I think they'll have a big second half, even if Ashes won't be there to see it. I also like what the Expos, Cubs and Astros got going on. The Giants are good too, but are now a shell of what they once were. They're obviously good enough to run away with the NL West, but I'll be surprised if they win a postseason series this year.

Eh, I dunno. I wish my offense would stop being ridiculously bad. Plus my pitchers are giving up way too many HRs while my team isn't hitting any! So frustrating![/color]

13. Take control of any team in the league for this question. What moves do you make and why?

If I were Game and running the Jays, I would move either Burks or Encarnacion, depending on whether one would be get a better trade than the other. Obviously, Encarnacion is worth more, but if Game can find a legit deal for Burks, he should jump on it.

The Jays also don't have a legit catcher, so it would be wise of them to shop Burks, Encarnacion or one of their pitchers for a catching upgrade, which is hard to come by here. If Trey Lunsford is Game's catcher of the future, he can do A LOT better than that...

Joe Randa is another hitter he should definitely try to shop. Reasonable contract through 2002.

The Jays obviously have good pitching, but could use some more bullpen help, aside from Graves and Hawkins. Game should trade one of his mid level picks or prospects for at least 1 bullpen upgrade if he really plans on contending this year.

Yes, can we please give the Blue Jays to a better GM! Ridiculous.[/color]

14. So you write for Bleacher Report. What's next? Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you want to be? Tell us your dream.

I can't really predict the future. I'm gonna keep writing though and getting myself known, while actively searching for jobs that involve writing in particular. It's unfortunate that I really don't know anyone in sports journalism because otherwise, finding a job doing what I want to do would probably be a lot easier.

In five years, I wanna be able to run my own blog, have a legit job with writing about sports, a steady income, my own house/apartment in the city or Yonkers or anywhere near the city that isn't where I'm at now. Ideally though, my dream is to be an actual beat writer for the Mets or another baseball or NFL team. As part of what I wanna do, I would travel with the team, cover them on a daily basis, interact with them quite a bit and that would just be awesome. If I can't become a professional athlete myself, what I wanna do is literally the closest thing to it.

At some point, if I get more well known, I would welcome any opportunity to be on TV giving my opinions on sports topics. Around The Horn would be an example of a show I would be really good at. Wouldn't do it though for any fame or glory. It would just be fun and I'd feel I've done a lot if I'm fortunate enough to ever do something like that.

My lifetime plan includes becoming a beat writer, covering the Mets ideally for 20 something years at least, maybe getting on TV like I just described, and then eventually, writing a film screenplay or 2 and making a lot of money off that to provide for future generations of my family if I do end up having kids. I have no clue if and when any of this will happen, but if this all pans out, I will have lived my live to the fullest, generally speaking.

Wish you all the best. Keep at it and I'm sure you'll be rewarded somewhere down the line. Hard work and perseverance and all that other cliche stuff.[/color]

15. And of course, predict the World Series and who takes it all.

I think the Marlins will beat the A's in the 2001 World Series, with Ashes going to boot camp on a good note.

That'd be sick. I can imagine me opening a letter from someone telling me I won the BBSBL World Series again. Would bring tears to my eyes.[/color]