Post by Spencer on Sept 5, 2014 17:48:39 GMT -5
1. First off Id like to apologize again for a couple of the negative things that came up between you and I. Never meant anything personal. I was trolling. I swear. But I know how hard it is to sim and get negative criticism. Its hard when you spend your limited time to sim and people give you shit about anything. On that note. Youve simmed before, but is this experience different? Harder or easier? Better or worse? Does your perosnal situation with your wife and your new career make it less enjoyable> Or is it more enjoyable because it takes you away from real life stresses?
It's fine. In the past. The experience is different because it definitely requires more work, but it's a bit more enjoyable in my opinion than simming FBB. There are certain aspects in FBB that are nice, like making prospects, but there are definitely things I don't miss at all. Like Day 1 FA bids or opening day DCs. OOTP is overall a much, much better program. FBB has its simplicities, but it has some really poor aspects to it as well. I guess that could apply to anything, but whatever. This is an escape for me. That's why all the shit I was getting really bothered me. I bust my ass in real life and then come here and bust my ass too, but this one has some enjoyment to it. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. The backhanded comments and "trolling" were just going too far in my opinion. I mean I was very upset by it and really did plan on quitting completely. Play kinda talked me out of it. I think pirate steve sent me an apology PM, but I didn't want to open it. I didn't want to see it. It's whatever now, but the part that really got me was yeah, I have serious stuff going on in my life, and this is my only real hobby or escape right now other than TV or the occasional video game. Can't really do anything else. I think anyone here should try messing around with OOTP at least once. Act out one sim for a commish. You'll see how impossible it is to cheat. The game literally saves itself if you sneeze. Only thing you could do is manually add an injury, and that'd be pretty obvious considering it wouldn't show on the news section. But whatever. Over it.
IM glad to hear that youre over it. It seemed like a pretty stressful time for you. it sucks it went down how it did. On the other hand people will always troll. Always be disrespectful. Always expect more from you. Its just the sacrifice you take being a commish. Toward the end of BBS I just assumed all negative comments were troll comments. And I just tried to decide on things based on my gut instead of people crying or complaining. Its hard to do though when you have limited free time and you work hard for all these assholes and then theyre rude about it. Ungrateful fucks.
2. I feel like we do an interview every year. Do you think interviews are pointless or useless? A flaw in the system? Or are some interviews worthy of board cash?
I don't think interviews are pointless. Articles have fallen off a lot. I've been meaning to write some but I never have the time after I sim. An interview is only as good as the questions. Obviously if the person you are interviewing gives half-assed, short answers then it sucks too, but if the questions are terrible, the answers will definitely be terrible. I like interviews as long as the material is good. It's nice to hear from GMs like this. Organized thoughts directly from a GM let me see where they're at on the league and what they're thinking. I find it interesting.
Good. Id like to see some different people participate. Ive sent questions to some other GMs and been rebuffed. Very dissouraging to send questions out and have them not answered. But in the future I do plan to do some new guys, Wink Wink. I like my questions and am always surprised when you come at me negatively about what I ask. Maybe give me some inout on what youd expect since Im someone that does more interviews than most. I do like hearing from GMs. See how theyre feeling about their team or the league in general. Plus i think we get tons of good ideas from the GM group. I love interview articles.
3. Lets talk about bad/inactive GMs. Lets say we miraculously got 3 great WL applications. Who is out? Cut the fat Ashes!
I'd probably drop mike, nanz, and drowe. I feel like between guys like mike, drowe, bosox, etc they are just the weak links activity-wise. Yeah, they do their stuff (for the most part) but strictly from an activity standpoint, if I'm getting 3 stellar guys in, yeah I'd want them replaced. Nanz on the other hand is pretty much non-existent at this point, which sucks. I like nanz, always have, and he's definitely a good GM, but he has no time. Lol the dude tried to offer Jeter $11M for 3 years when he was asking for like $3M. An active Nanz is a very valuable member here, but it's pretty much back to the old days where I had no idea nanz was even a GM for 5 seasons. Come back to us nanz. Oh damn, I just remembered about kobe. He's trash now. Isn't active at all. He needs to go too.
I agree. Bosoxi is a better GM than alot of the guys mentioned here but his activity is so hit and miss. But Id knock him out 4th. DRowe is in the same boat. Good GM. Just doesnt give the activity Id like. If he could just do a little more it wouldnt be such a big deal. I just feel like Shale runs his team day to day. DRowe only come in like once a week to post and such. MIke is so confusing. His activity is so hit and miss. Whenever we talk about firing him hes so active. If hes on the WL hes active. If we dont mention him he just takes off. Where does he go? Nanz is done. Love the kid. Today is his bday. But ya, he doesnt have time for this anymore. Sad stuff.
4. Now that you are more and more firmly entrenched as the de facto commish have you thought about any major rule changes? Something about BBSBL you hate that youd like to see changed. Not necessarily a new rule but overturning a current rule.
I feel like you've asked me this before haha, but I'm not too sure. I like things around here. I'd probably alter the PD reversal rule. Like one before 23 or 24 and one after. So if your young spect takes an early hit, you reverse it and still have a PD. But if your established 28 year old takes a hit, you have one reversal. I think that was the spirit of the idea of 2 reversals anyways, was it not? Just imagine how long Miggy is gonna last. I have two reversals for him after he ages out of franchise player. So sick. I think that's a pretty good compromise though. Might add a little work to keeping track of it, but that's the nature of the beast.
Ya. Im concerned with the long term well being of the league if ratings continue to sky rocket. I think the reversals help all teams so low market or bad teams crying for more reversals doesnt really make sense to me. The game really does need some type of reversal system though because the amount of PDs is flawed. Ive always been a fan of a couple of core protected players. Like 2 non franchise guys that have similar protection but less overall ability to reverse. Maybe only one reversal for each player. IDK. Doubt this would get love but if I ran an OOTP league thats what Id do.
5. Forum conduct is something that every commish has to deal with. BBSBL seems to have had less serious acts of incivility than BBS or UOSL. Do you agree with this? Also talk about a serious situation you had to deal with in UOSL that made things difficult.
It hasn't been too bad here. There's been no Krupinski/Haberman type tiff or a svedda-like situation here. We've certainly had our fair share of funny, short-lived stuff around here though. d2a calling erbes, play telling old royals GM to come fight him, danchevyppd, the shale betrayal fiasco, the kobe title situation, etc. But all of these came and went pretty quickly. In UOSL I can't remember specifics. We had CWizz being a complete tool. I'm pretty sure Krup did something again too. Ducky's bro was always getting into something on the daily. Chipper had something happen to him, but I don't remember if that was UOSL or BBS. I'm sure there's something big I'm forgetting. Someone like broph or play would probably be better at this question.
BBS had so many. Too many to list. Obviously the Krup/Habes stuff was bad. And Svedda was horrible. But ya weve been lucky here. There has been fighting and arguing but nothing on the league dividing levels. BBS was all about fighting and shit talking and bitching. Pretty glad we dont have anything like that anymore. Were all so mature now.
6. I had a horrible off-season. Fell apart a bit this least off-season. Talk about my team. List maybe the top 5 most valuable pieces I have. Tell me what I need to be better. Thanks in advance!
Yeah I really disliked your offseason. Pretty sure you did this before though, so I know you'll be fine, but I feel like you lost a lot this offseason. I would've kept your squad together a little longer, yeah the first round exits suck, but they happen. All you can do is put your team in the best position possible and I think you took a big step back from that. I think you'll end up with the Wild Card, and I always felt you would, but I feel like you cemented a 1st Round exit this time around. (This will probably jinx me) Moving forward I'd definitely look to build younger but not necessarily rebuild. Your top 5 most valuable pieces in my opinion are: Posey, Jackson, Papelbon, Harden, and I dunno, Huff maybe? I'd probably put you at like 4 valuable pieces unfortunately big dog. I'd probably move everyone but Posey and Jackson. Paps only for a good offer. Harden for less than that, but not cheaply. Would probably look to dump Kerry. Move all the old bats for less talented but younger bats, if possible. You're running out of time on that end. Similar to shale with hitting, you should always get production out of your pitching, so I'd probably look to acquire a young staff very quickly and then build around them, since they'll be cheap. Right now you have like $60M tied up in your starting rotation, and probably $10-$15M in your bullpen. To me that seems like way too much to be committing to pitching considering your park. I'd probably look to acquire some loyal arms, or at least some rookie contract arms. You've never really had an elite offense. I know you've liked your offenses at times, but I haven't. I know you like that sexy staff, but gotta have the stick too Spence.
Interesting. I always feel like in OOTP elite pitching is more important than elite hitting. Through solo leagues and such. I am kinda over my park. My offenses are so inconsistent and specific. I really need a certain type of hitter here and its tough to always acquire those types. Overall I like a ton of my players that are playing pretty mediocre. Nick Johnson specifically. Im gonna try and patch work this offseason. If I cant I probably will rebuild again. But if I do rebuild I wont deal Posey or Jackson. I just like them too much.
7. Ive asked you before about your window for competing. Pretty obvious you can win for as long as you want. Do you think youll get bored and rebuild? Is that a real possibility?
If I win it all this season, I'll probably be doing an even bigger re-tool than this past frenzy. I don't think I'll ever fully rebuild again, but I'm not even remotely worried about the Braves, Mets, Expos, or Phillies, so I think the only way I lose the division in the next 5-10 years is if I truly decide to tear it down, play-style. Miggy will always be here, so I'm always going to have the MVP or MVP-level player on offense. I'll probably keep Miggy, Pujols, Kubel, Garbe together for at least one more season. I've got Scooter coming up next season, so that'll be fun. Will definitely dump Ortiz this offseason. I'll explore moving Rivas and Buck. Maybe Wuertz too. I'm shooting for a constant re-tool plan. It's been 10 seasons since I've had a sub .500 season, and I plan on keeping it that way. Play keeps saying he wants to take on my team, I'm just waiting for him to finally put together another winner.
I hope you do just continue to try and dominate. I would if I could. IOts so hard to know when to trade a plyer. Too late. Too soon. The old adage is always trade a guy a year early instead of a year late. I should probably listen to that advice. But even more than that, dont trade said player for shit. I think I get too caught up in other things besides value. I think a lot of that is wanting to acquire players that fit my park instead of just getting value. Something to look at moving forward!
8. What team is close to being a juggernaut? I love both the Braves and Athletics. Which team do you look at and just love their future?
The Cubs and Athletics in my opinion. The Braves have the misfortune of being in my division, and I don't see how a wild card team can be a juggernaut. HF definitely has a nice squad, but all his offensive players are poor man's versions of my players. The Cubs have enough talent to make a move whenever they want, but I get the feeling that play has fallen in love with his youth. I honestly think he should capitalize on these Johan years, but I think he might be a little gun shy right now. We'll see. Broph has Trout and a future beast staff. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he can develop a big time squad. Considering how weak his division is, he'll probably be competing next season, but I'm curious to see how he starts developing his team. Should be fun to watch. I acquired Cabrera then worked to surround him with Loyal talent in order to generate a squad that I could keep together for a long time. Broph looks at players a lot differently than I do, so I wonder how soon he will rise back to relevance.
Plays amount of youth is amazing. He has so many good young players. Its crazy. He could really go and get whichever players he wants. Thats a pretty cool thing. Makes me want to rebuild. Even though I hate rebuilding. Watching these rebuilding teams acquire talent it does make me jealous. Makes me want to take 5 years off and just super tank. Doubt I have the stomach for that though.
9. Being the main simmer you get to see horrendous annoying posts by every GM. Which Gm is the worst? Who would you least like to se in RL?
Honestly, break's posts are really getting on my nerves. Dude is such a whiner. I probably would get along with him fine in real life though, I have nothing against him, but it's like dude, no one really cares that much to have an agenda against you. You bring it all on yourself. When break isn't playing the victim, he's fine. If I see another post about autism from shale, I'll probably ban him for a day. Kobe used to be really annoying, but now he's just nonexistent. Not sure if there's anyone I wouldn't want to see in real life because I dislike them here, but I suppose if I had to pick who I'd least like to see, it'd probably Kobe I suppose. Don't really have an issue with him, other than that he could be annoying. If you asked me a few weeks ago it probably would've been pirate Steve, but I don't really care at this point anymore.
I always assume Kobe is trolling. Hes harmless. Dont mind him at all. Obviously he isnt very popular because hes quick to boast and quick to be invisible. Thats never popular. Break is pretty bad. I think it comes from insecurity. I think he really thinks we all dislike him. In my case I dont. I just think he makes some pretty uninformed statements sometimes and that leads to backlash. Plus although hes pretty rude to other people hes also pretty sensitive. Thats a bad combination.
10. This last frenzy was a huge success. Do you see more similar frenzies in the future? Do you think frenzies and the activity of frenzies out weigh the ratings and talents increases?
It's going to be a long time before we have an epic frenzy like that again. Amazing activity boost and the turnout was great, but man it's A LOT of work and I definitely don't want to offer that many serious rating boosts. I think you have to pick and choose when to do frenzies, but the activity they spark is definitely valuable. Really helps keep the league interesting in my opinion. There will always be frenzies, don't worry about that, they aren't going anywhere. But we won't go too crazy too often, if you know what I mean.
Ya. I really want smaller frenzies. Board cash. Speed. Range. Defensive %. Stuff like that. We did that in BBS. We got super specific with frenzies or post pads. Still cranks out activity with limited but useful rewards.
11. Drafts. You and Steve are doing this. Thankless job. Making the good players are fun. Making the scrubs are painful. Are you guys making the draft files slightly deflated? Are you worried about ratings? I know you did an amazing job keeping ratings down in UOSL. Can you make that translate to OOTP? I canot wait till fake drafts BTW! Any thought on fake players?
Anyone that remembers me in UOSL with drafts should remember that I pretty much do whatever I want with drafts. I make stud guys busts and busts studs. This draft is a first for me, so I'm taking it slow for now. I'll read the input from the league, but it pretty much has zero effect on what I do with the draft unless I absolutely miss something crucial. Steve and I are definitely keeping ratings in mind. We don't want things to get out of control. I'm okay with where things are at right now, but at the same time, I'm definitely going to start balancing things out. Might be this year, might be next. Haven't figured it out yet, but I will. People are just going to have to suck it up if that upsets them. Shouldn't be expecting to get a stud in the mid to late first round, just because it happened in real life. Things will be fun, don't worry. Also, I can't wait for fake players. Not only will it be easier, but it's going to be so much more fun. I'm going to be very creative with things! Gonna be a blast. To be honest though, even with the drafts now, you can't really call any of these guys for sure things, except maybe a handful. It's pretty much me creating fake players anyways.
Ya. Its such a thankless job. Few people are like, hey these guys are all great. Everyone nitpicks. And its soo much work. FBB is so much easier. I cannot wait for fake players because the bitching will decrease. I think you did a great job with ratings in UOSL so Im pretty anxious to see what you do here.
12. The Marlins are the favorite. Your team is soo good itd be an upset if you didnt win. Who has the best chance to take you out? Pittsburgh? Cleveland? Someone else.
My team is really good, yes, but I don't think it'd be an upset if I don't win. I think Pittsburgh is really good. Pretty similar to your dominant rotations + Hanley Ramirez lol. Do I feel like my team is better? Yeah. I felt like my team was better than yours too, but I wouldn't have been surprised to have lost to you two years ago. Dominant offense vs dominant pitching. It's fun stuff. Just depends who's hotter. I think my offense is on an entire different level than his offense, whereas I don't feel the gap in our pitching is as significant as our offenses. I think a 3 man of Sabathia, Collmenter, Wuertz is pretty damn good, and my bullpen is as good as anyone's. It'll be fun to see what happens. I won't be upset either way. NL is definitely not losing to the AL though.
Love that youre certain the NL is winning. We are dominant. Cant wait for a FLA/PIT series. Should be epic. And as much as Im not even a top 5 tam this year I still think I can play better and have recently. So you never know. I do like my top 3 starters in the playoffs.
It's fine. In the past. The experience is different because it definitely requires more work, but it's a bit more enjoyable in my opinion than simming FBB. There are certain aspects in FBB that are nice, like making prospects, but there are definitely things I don't miss at all. Like Day 1 FA bids or opening day DCs. OOTP is overall a much, much better program. FBB has its simplicities, but it has some really poor aspects to it as well. I guess that could apply to anything, but whatever. This is an escape for me. That's why all the shit I was getting really bothered me. I bust my ass in real life and then come here and bust my ass too, but this one has some enjoyment to it. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. The backhanded comments and "trolling" were just going too far in my opinion. I mean I was very upset by it and really did plan on quitting completely. Play kinda talked me out of it. I think pirate steve sent me an apology PM, but I didn't want to open it. I didn't want to see it. It's whatever now, but the part that really got me was yeah, I have serious stuff going on in my life, and this is my only real hobby or escape right now other than TV or the occasional video game. Can't really do anything else. I think anyone here should try messing around with OOTP at least once. Act out one sim for a commish. You'll see how impossible it is to cheat. The game literally saves itself if you sneeze. Only thing you could do is manually add an injury, and that'd be pretty obvious considering it wouldn't show on the news section. But whatever. Over it.
IM glad to hear that youre over it. It seemed like a pretty stressful time for you. it sucks it went down how it did. On the other hand people will always troll. Always be disrespectful. Always expect more from you. Its just the sacrifice you take being a commish. Toward the end of BBS I just assumed all negative comments were troll comments. And I just tried to decide on things based on my gut instead of people crying or complaining. Its hard to do though when you have limited free time and you work hard for all these assholes and then theyre rude about it. Ungrateful fucks.
2. I feel like we do an interview every year. Do you think interviews are pointless or useless? A flaw in the system? Or are some interviews worthy of board cash?
I don't think interviews are pointless. Articles have fallen off a lot. I've been meaning to write some but I never have the time after I sim. An interview is only as good as the questions. Obviously if the person you are interviewing gives half-assed, short answers then it sucks too, but if the questions are terrible, the answers will definitely be terrible. I like interviews as long as the material is good. It's nice to hear from GMs like this. Organized thoughts directly from a GM let me see where they're at on the league and what they're thinking. I find it interesting.
Good. Id like to see some different people participate. Ive sent questions to some other GMs and been rebuffed. Very dissouraging to send questions out and have them not answered. But in the future I do plan to do some new guys, Wink Wink. I like my questions and am always surprised when you come at me negatively about what I ask. Maybe give me some inout on what youd expect since Im someone that does more interviews than most. I do like hearing from GMs. See how theyre feeling about their team or the league in general. Plus i think we get tons of good ideas from the GM group. I love interview articles.
3. Lets talk about bad/inactive GMs. Lets say we miraculously got 3 great WL applications. Who is out? Cut the fat Ashes!
I'd probably drop mike, nanz, and drowe. I feel like between guys like mike, drowe, bosox, etc they are just the weak links activity-wise. Yeah, they do their stuff (for the most part) but strictly from an activity standpoint, if I'm getting 3 stellar guys in, yeah I'd want them replaced. Nanz on the other hand is pretty much non-existent at this point, which sucks. I like nanz, always have, and he's definitely a good GM, but he has no time. Lol the dude tried to offer Jeter $11M for 3 years when he was asking for like $3M. An active Nanz is a very valuable member here, but it's pretty much back to the old days where I had no idea nanz was even a GM for 5 seasons. Come back to us nanz. Oh damn, I just remembered about kobe. He's trash now. Isn't active at all. He needs to go too.
I agree. Bosoxi is a better GM than alot of the guys mentioned here but his activity is so hit and miss. But Id knock him out 4th. DRowe is in the same boat. Good GM. Just doesnt give the activity Id like. If he could just do a little more it wouldnt be such a big deal. I just feel like Shale runs his team day to day. DRowe only come in like once a week to post and such. MIke is so confusing. His activity is so hit and miss. Whenever we talk about firing him hes so active. If hes on the WL hes active. If we dont mention him he just takes off. Where does he go? Nanz is done. Love the kid. Today is his bday. But ya, he doesnt have time for this anymore. Sad stuff.
4. Now that you are more and more firmly entrenched as the de facto commish have you thought about any major rule changes? Something about BBSBL you hate that youd like to see changed. Not necessarily a new rule but overturning a current rule.
I feel like you've asked me this before haha, but I'm not too sure. I like things around here. I'd probably alter the PD reversal rule. Like one before 23 or 24 and one after. So if your young spect takes an early hit, you reverse it and still have a PD. But if your established 28 year old takes a hit, you have one reversal. I think that was the spirit of the idea of 2 reversals anyways, was it not? Just imagine how long Miggy is gonna last. I have two reversals for him after he ages out of franchise player. So sick. I think that's a pretty good compromise though. Might add a little work to keeping track of it, but that's the nature of the beast.
Ya. Im concerned with the long term well being of the league if ratings continue to sky rocket. I think the reversals help all teams so low market or bad teams crying for more reversals doesnt really make sense to me. The game really does need some type of reversal system though because the amount of PDs is flawed. Ive always been a fan of a couple of core protected players. Like 2 non franchise guys that have similar protection but less overall ability to reverse. Maybe only one reversal for each player. IDK. Doubt this would get love but if I ran an OOTP league thats what Id do.
5. Forum conduct is something that every commish has to deal with. BBSBL seems to have had less serious acts of incivility than BBS or UOSL. Do you agree with this? Also talk about a serious situation you had to deal with in UOSL that made things difficult.
It hasn't been too bad here. There's been no Krupinski/Haberman type tiff or a svedda-like situation here. We've certainly had our fair share of funny, short-lived stuff around here though. d2a calling erbes, play telling old royals GM to come fight him, danchevyppd, the shale betrayal fiasco, the kobe title situation, etc. But all of these came and went pretty quickly. In UOSL I can't remember specifics. We had CWizz being a complete tool. I'm pretty sure Krup did something again too. Ducky's bro was always getting into something on the daily. Chipper had something happen to him, but I don't remember if that was UOSL or BBS. I'm sure there's something big I'm forgetting. Someone like broph or play would probably be better at this question.
BBS had so many. Too many to list. Obviously the Krup/Habes stuff was bad. And Svedda was horrible. But ya weve been lucky here. There has been fighting and arguing but nothing on the league dividing levels. BBS was all about fighting and shit talking and bitching. Pretty glad we dont have anything like that anymore. Were all so mature now.
6. I had a horrible off-season. Fell apart a bit this least off-season. Talk about my team. List maybe the top 5 most valuable pieces I have. Tell me what I need to be better. Thanks in advance!
Yeah I really disliked your offseason. Pretty sure you did this before though, so I know you'll be fine, but I feel like you lost a lot this offseason. I would've kept your squad together a little longer, yeah the first round exits suck, but they happen. All you can do is put your team in the best position possible and I think you took a big step back from that. I think you'll end up with the Wild Card, and I always felt you would, but I feel like you cemented a 1st Round exit this time around. (This will probably jinx me) Moving forward I'd definitely look to build younger but not necessarily rebuild. Your top 5 most valuable pieces in my opinion are: Posey, Jackson, Papelbon, Harden, and I dunno, Huff maybe? I'd probably put you at like 4 valuable pieces unfortunately big dog. I'd probably move everyone but Posey and Jackson. Paps only for a good offer. Harden for less than that, but not cheaply. Would probably look to dump Kerry. Move all the old bats for less talented but younger bats, if possible. You're running out of time on that end. Similar to shale with hitting, you should always get production out of your pitching, so I'd probably look to acquire a young staff very quickly and then build around them, since they'll be cheap. Right now you have like $60M tied up in your starting rotation, and probably $10-$15M in your bullpen. To me that seems like way too much to be committing to pitching considering your park. I'd probably look to acquire some loyal arms, or at least some rookie contract arms. You've never really had an elite offense. I know you've liked your offenses at times, but I haven't. I know you like that sexy staff, but gotta have the stick too Spence.
Interesting. I always feel like in OOTP elite pitching is more important than elite hitting. Through solo leagues and such. I am kinda over my park. My offenses are so inconsistent and specific. I really need a certain type of hitter here and its tough to always acquire those types. Overall I like a ton of my players that are playing pretty mediocre. Nick Johnson specifically. Im gonna try and patch work this offseason. If I cant I probably will rebuild again. But if I do rebuild I wont deal Posey or Jackson. I just like them too much.
7. Ive asked you before about your window for competing. Pretty obvious you can win for as long as you want. Do you think youll get bored and rebuild? Is that a real possibility?
If I win it all this season, I'll probably be doing an even bigger re-tool than this past frenzy. I don't think I'll ever fully rebuild again, but I'm not even remotely worried about the Braves, Mets, Expos, or Phillies, so I think the only way I lose the division in the next 5-10 years is if I truly decide to tear it down, play-style. Miggy will always be here, so I'm always going to have the MVP or MVP-level player on offense. I'll probably keep Miggy, Pujols, Kubel, Garbe together for at least one more season. I've got Scooter coming up next season, so that'll be fun. Will definitely dump Ortiz this offseason. I'll explore moving Rivas and Buck. Maybe Wuertz too. I'm shooting for a constant re-tool plan. It's been 10 seasons since I've had a sub .500 season, and I plan on keeping it that way. Play keeps saying he wants to take on my team, I'm just waiting for him to finally put together another winner.
I hope you do just continue to try and dominate. I would if I could. IOts so hard to know when to trade a plyer. Too late. Too soon. The old adage is always trade a guy a year early instead of a year late. I should probably listen to that advice. But even more than that, dont trade said player for shit. I think I get too caught up in other things besides value. I think a lot of that is wanting to acquire players that fit my park instead of just getting value. Something to look at moving forward!
8. What team is close to being a juggernaut? I love both the Braves and Athletics. Which team do you look at and just love their future?
The Cubs and Athletics in my opinion. The Braves have the misfortune of being in my division, and I don't see how a wild card team can be a juggernaut. HF definitely has a nice squad, but all his offensive players are poor man's versions of my players. The Cubs have enough talent to make a move whenever they want, but I get the feeling that play has fallen in love with his youth. I honestly think he should capitalize on these Johan years, but I think he might be a little gun shy right now. We'll see. Broph has Trout and a future beast staff. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he can develop a big time squad. Considering how weak his division is, he'll probably be competing next season, but I'm curious to see how he starts developing his team. Should be fun to watch. I acquired Cabrera then worked to surround him with Loyal talent in order to generate a squad that I could keep together for a long time. Broph looks at players a lot differently than I do, so I wonder how soon he will rise back to relevance.
Plays amount of youth is amazing. He has so many good young players. Its crazy. He could really go and get whichever players he wants. Thats a pretty cool thing. Makes me want to rebuild. Even though I hate rebuilding. Watching these rebuilding teams acquire talent it does make me jealous. Makes me want to take 5 years off and just super tank. Doubt I have the stomach for that though.
9. Being the main simmer you get to see horrendous annoying posts by every GM. Which Gm is the worst? Who would you least like to se in RL?
Honestly, break's posts are really getting on my nerves. Dude is such a whiner. I probably would get along with him fine in real life though, I have nothing against him, but it's like dude, no one really cares that much to have an agenda against you. You bring it all on yourself. When break isn't playing the victim, he's fine. If I see another post about autism from shale, I'll probably ban him for a day. Kobe used to be really annoying, but now he's just nonexistent. Not sure if there's anyone I wouldn't want to see in real life because I dislike them here, but I suppose if I had to pick who I'd least like to see, it'd probably Kobe I suppose. Don't really have an issue with him, other than that he could be annoying. If you asked me a few weeks ago it probably would've been pirate Steve, but I don't really care at this point anymore.
I always assume Kobe is trolling. Hes harmless. Dont mind him at all. Obviously he isnt very popular because hes quick to boast and quick to be invisible. Thats never popular. Break is pretty bad. I think it comes from insecurity. I think he really thinks we all dislike him. In my case I dont. I just think he makes some pretty uninformed statements sometimes and that leads to backlash. Plus although hes pretty rude to other people hes also pretty sensitive. Thats a bad combination.
10. This last frenzy was a huge success. Do you see more similar frenzies in the future? Do you think frenzies and the activity of frenzies out weigh the ratings and talents increases?
It's going to be a long time before we have an epic frenzy like that again. Amazing activity boost and the turnout was great, but man it's A LOT of work and I definitely don't want to offer that many serious rating boosts. I think you have to pick and choose when to do frenzies, but the activity they spark is definitely valuable. Really helps keep the league interesting in my opinion. There will always be frenzies, don't worry about that, they aren't going anywhere. But we won't go too crazy too often, if you know what I mean.
Ya. I really want smaller frenzies. Board cash. Speed. Range. Defensive %. Stuff like that. We did that in BBS. We got super specific with frenzies or post pads. Still cranks out activity with limited but useful rewards.
11. Drafts. You and Steve are doing this. Thankless job. Making the good players are fun. Making the scrubs are painful. Are you guys making the draft files slightly deflated? Are you worried about ratings? I know you did an amazing job keeping ratings down in UOSL. Can you make that translate to OOTP? I canot wait till fake drafts BTW! Any thought on fake players?
Anyone that remembers me in UOSL with drafts should remember that I pretty much do whatever I want with drafts. I make stud guys busts and busts studs. This draft is a first for me, so I'm taking it slow for now. I'll read the input from the league, but it pretty much has zero effect on what I do with the draft unless I absolutely miss something crucial. Steve and I are definitely keeping ratings in mind. We don't want things to get out of control. I'm okay with where things are at right now, but at the same time, I'm definitely going to start balancing things out. Might be this year, might be next. Haven't figured it out yet, but I will. People are just going to have to suck it up if that upsets them. Shouldn't be expecting to get a stud in the mid to late first round, just because it happened in real life. Things will be fun, don't worry. Also, I can't wait for fake players. Not only will it be easier, but it's going to be so much more fun. I'm going to be very creative with things! Gonna be a blast. To be honest though, even with the drafts now, you can't really call any of these guys for sure things, except maybe a handful. It's pretty much me creating fake players anyways.
Ya. Its such a thankless job. Few people are like, hey these guys are all great. Everyone nitpicks. And its soo much work. FBB is so much easier. I cannot wait for fake players because the bitching will decrease. I think you did a great job with ratings in UOSL so Im pretty anxious to see what you do here.
12. The Marlins are the favorite. Your team is soo good itd be an upset if you didnt win. Who has the best chance to take you out? Pittsburgh? Cleveland? Someone else.
My team is really good, yes, but I don't think it'd be an upset if I don't win. I think Pittsburgh is really good. Pretty similar to your dominant rotations + Hanley Ramirez lol. Do I feel like my team is better? Yeah. I felt like my team was better than yours too, but I wouldn't have been surprised to have lost to you two years ago. Dominant offense vs dominant pitching. It's fun stuff. Just depends who's hotter. I think my offense is on an entire different level than his offense, whereas I don't feel the gap in our pitching is as significant as our offenses. I think a 3 man of Sabathia, Collmenter, Wuertz is pretty damn good, and my bullpen is as good as anyone's. It'll be fun to see what happens. I won't be upset either way. NL is definitely not losing to the AL though.
Love that youre certain the NL is winning. We are dominant. Cant wait for a FLA/PIT series. Should be epic. And as much as Im not even a top 5 tam this year I still think I can play better and have recently. So you never know. I do like my top 3 starters in the playoffs.