Trapping Down South with Darell

1. You were initially skeptical of joining this league when Break and I first approached you with the idea. Eventually, you gave in and became our D-Backs GM and the rest is history. How do you like this league so far? What makes it fun? What kind of improvements or changes, if any could make it that much more fun?

I like this league a lot, I enjoy just posting and having conversations with most people in this league, I feel like this question has been asked multiple times to me so ill try to give a different answer. I would love it if we had 30 active GM's. I think a huge priority should be to get all the teams full. The only thing I could think of to make this league any more fun would be to keep the fast pace going. Having those surprise double sims every now and then is exciting.

I see what you mean with the similar question concept, but you never know if opinions may change sometime in the future. Anyway, I completely agree on making sure all 30 teams have active GM's and keeping with the fast paced sim schedule. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. What was it really like for you to have a team for a few seasons that you couldn't really play or do anything with? Looking back, are you glad you stuck with this Diamondbacks team? Or do you wish you chose the Rays or one of the more abandoned original teams? You even had a chance to have your beloved Astros. Why did you pass on it?

Nope I'm glad I stuck with the D-Backs, I would've loved the Astros but that division is stacked and the Astros need more talent. If I did take them, I would've probably sold all my assets and done a rebuild from scratch, and it would've been extremely boring If I did that because it would have meant 3-4 seasons of cellar dwelling. At least with the D-Backs, I got a top 5 pick without tanking and decent talent from the expansion draft. My team is ahead of schedule and I like where I am. If I continue building my farm system and doing a slow rebuild I could be extremely competitive 2-3 seasons down the line. I really like how Styro built his team and something along those lines is what I'm aiming for. He rebuilt and had so many above average prospects that he was able to make some huge blockbuster trades and he even made a run for CC at one point. You need to have great young talent out of your rebuild but you also need some vets to surround them with, whether that's through FA or trades.

That's a legit assessment there. At first, it seemed like it would have taken forever to get an expansion team to be competitive so quickly, even though the real Diamondbacks won the NL West division title in their second season of existence in 1999. Darell, what you have done with your team thus far is impressive, especially when considering all the minor league depth you have right now. I did not expect this D-Backs team to look as good as it does right now.

3. You have been in Long Baller since 2010 and have quite a bit of OOTP experience generally speaking. Do you think your Long Baller knowledge fully set you up for this league? How would you compare the way business (free agency, trades and drafting) is done both here and on Long Baller?

Not really. OOTP5 isn't that complex or hard to understand, once you grasp the basics you just learn things about it as you go along. LBB probably made me unprepared for this league if anything because I wasn't too experienced in trade negotiations as you know because trades are far and in between for LBB. I like how the draft is done in LBB because its done live and in a chat room, we usually knock it out in a hour and we move on. I feel like holding it over a week on the forums kind of delays the offseason schedule. I do like that its done in the offseason but since Erbes customizes the draft file and I know that can probably be tedious, I cant complain too much.

Doing the draft file is definitely tedious, but after doing it the first time, I'd be comfortable doing it again if Erbes ever needed any assistance. I completely agree that the lack of activity in Long Baller did not particularly prepare you much for all this, but at the same time, it's a good change of pace that all us LBB guys have definitely enjoyed. As for the draft, I like the Long Baller way of doing it as well, but less half the GM's there are present for it and that would never work here. But because Long Baller is so dull, they can get away with having so many auto picks, unlike this league, which thrives on constant activity. But I definitely like having the draft in the offseason as opposed to in June. Sure, the offseason gets delayed, but at different points, we all could use a short breather from the fast sim schedule.

4. Now about that Diamondbacks team. You have built your team around Adrian Gonzalez, Boof Bonser and Anibal Sanchez. You have also invested some money into a few major league upgrades through free agency. What is the plan for the Diamondbacks now? Are they going to try and compete to see where they are at? Or will they still be waiting for the Giants and Padres to fall before going all in?

Yep I'm competing this year to see where I'm at, I'm going to call up Adrian and most likely franchise him. I wanna see what this team can do with a 70 million payroll, its probably going to backfire on me but I can always sell my pieces off at the deadline. I probably won't win the division or anything but I think I could make a run at a wild card. I don't see the Giants and Padres falling anytime soon.

Meh I think you should have waited another season with A-Gone. His hits, home runs, walks and strikeouts ratings still have room to grow and his rookie campaign might not be as good as expected as a result. Best of luck with him though. Your team looks good overall, but getting to the postseason will be tough for what looks to be a 4th place team in a much improved NL West. The Giants and Padres are definitely two of the more elite NL teams, while my Rockies should be able to make more noise than they did in 2002. Also, keep in mind all the depth among the other divisions. The NL Wild Card will be very intense this season. And yeah, the Giants and Padres are gonna be good for a long time. Spencer will keep doing what he does to have great teams, while Habes' younger squad is built for the long run.





5. While on the topic, how would you evaluate the division right now? It is certainly more competitive than it was a few seasons ago. Do you think the Giants' run of dominance will continue for another few seasons? Or will another team like the Padres rise up and take it away from the Giants for once? Could the Rockies even have a say this season or are they still one or two seasons away from being a major factor? And what is your take on the Dodgers' rebuild and their future? Which team will be on top five seasons from now in 2008?

I think Spencer knows he is nearing the end of his window to compete. He recently made a block to sell off some of his impact players, whether that means hes retooling or going for a rebuild I cant really say. Then again, with how big of a market he plays in, it means he can always fill holes in FA. The Padres are in a great spot right now. Spencer could see his reign of winning the division end pretty soon. Habes has great young talent across the board and his fan interest is creeping up to the max after this season having his revenue at around 55-60 mil is definitely a possibility. He might have a little bit of room to sign a couple cheap guys but this year should be for developing his young talent. Once Sizemore hits his peak and his ratings even out, that's one of the scariest group of outfielders in the league. His pitching staff is pretty scary too. They fit great in his ballpark. The Dodgers are continuing their rebuild and will hopefully build a strong enough farm system to compete somewhere down the line. I'm not sold on the Rockies just yet but they are making an effort to compete and they probably don't have enough talent to make a serious run at the division this year but winning will increase their fan interest gradually and with nearly 40m coming off the books next season, they could do something next season if Shale spends his money wisely. I think the Padres and the D-Backs could be at the top of the division 5 years from now but that's just too far in the future to predict.

Solid assessment for Spencer and the Giants. It always looks now like his window of competing could end, but he keeps making high salaried teams appear one season after another. He knows what he's doing and it would not be wise to even think of counting him out just yet. I actually think this could be the year the Padres win the NL West, with all their young talent developing as well as they have. It will probably be down to the wire again, but with another year of experience, the Padres should be even better. I like my Rockies' chances of being in 3rd again. Upper 70s-low 80s wins looks more realistic this time around. I like my offensive core and got Buck and Wright coming up in 2004. The pitching should be good as well with a good mix of young talent and seasoned veterans. I agree with you though that 2003 won't be my year, but rather a step in the right direction. 2004 could be an even bigger step in the right direction and then by 2005 or 2006, that's when I really feel that the Rockies will shake things up in a major way. Your Diamondbacks look ready for the future and will have a good amount of talent to build around as well. I feel the Diamondbacks are not as close to being ready to compete than the Rockies but definitely ahead of the Dodgers. The Dodgers are building for the long run and with the NL West getting so much more stacked, Dale could just keep rebuilding during all this time and be ready to compete once most of the other teams' talent starts to age.

6. The NL West could have 3 or even 4 competitive teams this season. But it will not be the only tight division in the National League. The NL East and NL Central each could have 4 competitive teams as well. Is it good for the NL to have so much competition all at once? Or could this benefit the rebuilding teams even more in the future? Between the contenders and rebuilders, which side will get more out of the current state of the NL?

It's always good to have teams competing because it promotes activity. It's a lot more fun to look at the box scores every sim then just stare aimlessly at the PD page, hoping one of your huge prospects became better. Just because you rebuild it doesn't guarantee you will be competitive. It takes a lot more than calling up prospects to win enough games to make the playoffs. Most of the contenders have a great young core and are poised to be competitive for 3-4 seasons at the least maybe their window to win a title might be a little shorter than that but these teams will be there every year, even when the rebuilding teams decide to make a move on them.

Yeah the large market teams that can always find ways to consistently compete are definitely at an advantage generally speaking. Competing is more fun, but on the flip side, rebuilding could be less stressful on one's mind if you think about it. Building a young core is essential, but getting those other surrounding role players to fill in certain holes in the lineup and pitching staff, plus making some sort of big trade or two to get your team to the next level are all just as important at the end of the day. Different people could go about these concepts in different ways and orders, but if you find something that works, stick with it.





7. The Diamondbacks have a beautiful stadium in Chase Field. Do you like your dimensions? Does the hot dry Phoenix air benefit the D-Backs the way you want it to? Or is it having the opposite effect? Do you plan on ever changing anything with the dimensions, such as lowering the center field wall?

Yeah I do like it. It's pretty much a hitters park across the board and its going to be fun to post historic numbers once my team is ready. It's hard to find the right type of pitchers to fit in a hitter's park like Coors or Chase Field but I will welcome the challenge. I'm not going to change anything because I don't feel I need to.

I'm with you on that. No plans to ever tinker with Coors Field. Chase Field is close to being like Coors Field, but probably not in such an extreme way with the stadium ratings themselves. And that's while taking into account the fact that Coors Field got changed midway through 1996 after a few other GM's thought the numbers put up at the lineup were too ridiculous, but that's another story. I moved on from that a long time ago. It's fascinating though when you think about the fact that the location of Coors Field is cold and dry, while the location of Chase Field is very warm and dry. I guess the weather means less than the dryness of the air. But Chase Field will definitely become one of the more notable hitter's parks, along with Coors Field, the Ballpark in Arlington (Rangers), and Yankee Stadium, among others.

8. Generally speaking, do you believe more in building a team through drafts and trades and waiting a certain number of seasons before competing? Or could Spencer's method of trading for in-game cash and building aging teams through free agency work just as well for anyone? How big of factors are market size and fan interest within all this?


I think you pretty much just answered this question. When you're in Spencer's situation and you have a huge market you can afford to sign older free agents and hold a 100m+ payroll. If you're in a smaller market you have to build through the draft and hope you can resign your young guys for cheap.

Fair enough. The market size is very critical to how one builds a contending team. Unless I'm mistaken, the Rockies are somewhere in the middle. I forget exactly what the Rockies' market size is, but I do know the fan loyalty is definitely good, if not better. In the past I sorta tried to sign and extend a bunch of veterans and then I lost money and learned the hard way. Hopefully, that mistake will not get repeated. As what I consider to be a mid-market team, I will try to build through both the draft and free agency at the same time.

9. You have the 3rd ranked minor league system according to OOTP. Do you think any of your lesser known prospects could turn out better than expected? If so, who should everyone else look out for?

I really like Gregor Blanco, if he keeps developing and I can TIB his stealing ability he could be a great leadoff hitter. Kelly Shoppach is another guy I like he could be a pretty serviceable catcher with 5 in hrs vs LHP, plus hes not a liability defensively with a C rating.

Shoppach is decent, but Buck is a lot better. Thanks again! Blanco looks pretty good. He could turn out to be a solid leadoff hitter in the future. Really surprised his defensive range is so low because he has always had Gold Glove caliber defense.





10. Are there any real life current or former Astros you definitely want to draft in the future? Any other players that will likely catch your eye?

I would love Correa or George Springer even though that's a long ways from now. Mike Trout or Bryce Harper would be cool to draft also, that's so far from now though and I doubt I would have a high enough pick to draft them.

Umm no mention of Jose Altuve or your boy Bud Norris? Wow shocker. I have both Harper and Springer in Long Baller, as you know. Harper is already awesome and hopefully Springer develops into a stud as well. Having Trout would be awesome for anyone, and it will be interesting to see who ends up with him.





11. Which GM's do you find most entertaining on this forum? Please give us your top 5!

1. Habes-Said it before but I love me some Habes. I was kind of sad when he was close to leaving. Habes is pretty funny but I love it when he calls out Spencer on how he wins every year because he can spend more than anyone. Habes is also a cool guy in general and if he ever ran for president he would get my vote.

2. Shale-I think sometimes you're trolling when you make the most bold/idiotic claims about how good your team is then fall flat on your face on delivering on those claims. BBSBL wouldn't be as entertaining without you, sure people like to troll you sometimes but you always fight back and I hope one day you make all of your doubters eat their words.

3. Spencer-He has some stimulating conversations with himself and he's always starting conversations in every thread, Spencer is good for the league.

4.Break-He's funny in an almost pathetic way, like you almost feel bad for him. When people criticize his ability as a GM he brings up the point that he went to three ALCS's, it's like wheres the rings dude? He's dialed it back recently but it's pretty damn hilarious to watch him defend himself.

5.Nanz-He's got the most unique personality in BBSBL, that article he did with the Braves was pretty funny and one of the most entertaining I've read on BBSBL in a while, I don't know where some of his catchphrases originated from but hes cooler than the other side of the pillow LOL.

Nanz certainly is very unique, but no one here could possibly get more unique than Waldo. This shouldn't even be up for debate. Nanz does have hilarious lines and catchphrases, but Waldo is just at another level. It's as simple as that. I cannot wait get his responses to my interview with him.

The President Habes analysis was very spot on. I agree with everything you said about him. Spencer's self conversations are an interesting element on this forum, but I admit I do that sometimes as well. I mean it's like whatever works to get that post count money... AMIRITE?

Watching Break stand up for himself is definitely hilarious more often than not and as some of us know, he has recently shown the same defensive tactics on the GABL forum as well. It never gets old and Darell and I have seen this stuff happen for years. Whether it was complaining about Machete's sideballing in various MLBDH tournaments or seeing Tec or 2009 Champions completely rip him apart on that forum. And the same shit has carried over to Vent for years and now onto these OOTP forums. Break is quite a character and Darell, Stutter and I are definitely fortunate to have seen some of the controversies he's been involved in over the years. To his credit though, Break's maturity has become more noticeable with time and he's worked hard to be respected more.

As for myself, I'm literally like Slim Shady around here. We always need a little controversy on this forum. I don't prefer it, but it seems like I'm always involved in it. And as a result, BBSBL and its forum would never be the same without my presence. And I will make the haters eat their disrespectful words about the Rockies in the future. That's a promise.





12. Last but not least, what are your 2003 preseason predictions? Which teams get to the World Series and who will win it all?

I think Waldo and his White Sox run away with the AL Central and make it to the WS while fielding one of the more balanced rosters in the league. He faces Habes who finally shuts Spencer up while surprising everyone by making a huge blockbuster deal at the deadline that helps him get to the WS.

Sounds pretty good. 2 reasonable choices there. Waldo has come so close to getting to the promised land numerous times, but he only has 1 World Series appearance under his belt at this point. A second trip could help him finally win it all and I like his chances myself. The NL will be a much more competitive league for sure and who knows who could get to the World Series this season. The safe bet would be the Cubs, but they always find a way to choke at some point, so I'll go with the Braves. Not saying they will repeat, but they definitely have the talent to get back to the Fall Classic. I really like the thought of an all Chicago World Series, but the likelihood of it actually happening just isn't that high.