New GM Announced, Shocking Information about State of Team Released
by Bob Elliot, Toronto Sun
Tuesday, January 17, 2014
Today will certainly go down as one of the most significant moments in Blue Jays history. Not only have the organization announced their new GM, but they have also announced that they will have to go through what can only be described as extreme cost-cutting measures.
The new Blue Jays GM, the man Rogers Communications put out to deliver the earth-shattering news, is 33-year-old Derek Dorian. Born in Albany, New York, Dorian got his first job in baseball as an intern for the Blue Jays, but eventually worked his way all the way up to a scout before being named the Jays' general manager. He unfortunately won't receive a warm welcome when he attends his first Jays game, though. Why is this, you ask? We'll let Dorian himself explain:
"As you may know, Rogers Communications is losing a lot of money. So, I regret to inform the Toronto public that we were forced to terminate the contracts of many of the Blue Jays players. Don't worry, the fan favorites such as Bautista, Encarnacion, Dickey, and Lawrie will still be there. So will Navarro, who we recently signed, as well as anyone currently making under 200K. However, the rest of the players on the 25-man roster will have to be cut, since there is no room in the budget to keep them. You may be wondering how we might be able to replace these players. Well, Commissioner Selig was kind enough to allow us to sign a mix of international free agents and independent leaguers to fill these holes. We actually have already found 2 players to fill these spots, but we still need many more in order to be able to keep our minor league system intact and field a full 25-man roster.
What this means is that until the Blue Jays fall under new ownership, the budgets will be as tight as possible. We could be looking at long rebuild here unless these players turn out to be diamonds in the rough. I realize that the Blue Jays fans have every right to panic right now, but I hope that I can make some magic happen and I can lead the team back to relevance. There's certainly nowhere to go but up from here. Thank you."
Dorian looked visibly distraught and obviously wanted to leave the press conference as quickly as possible, but he knew he had to answer some questions. He added that he let the players know of the situation before it got leaked to the press, and that it was the hardest thing he's ever had to do in his life. He was also asked why Commissioner Bud Selig let this happen, to which he stated: "Bud felt like the IFA and indy league markets were good enough to where he felt that the Blue Jays could still play at a Major League level by signing guys from those markets. He's the commissioner, he has his very qualified assistants to help him make decisions like this, so the best I can do is roll with it and do the best with what I've got. Dorian was also asked which 2 players he already agreed to sign, to which he replied, "You'll see in Spring Training."
There is certainly a long road ahead for Derek Dorian, but the retained Blue Jays players know that this situation isn't his fault and they will do what they can to support him. Those very players were questioned afterwards. Brett Lawrie stated: "It sucks, you know? You get to know all these guys and form a brotherhood with them, and then boom, they're just gone like that. I look forward to seeing where some of the guys end up and if I'll play against any of them." Jose Bautista had a little bit of a lighter outlook, saying: "I still love the city of Toronto, and I still want to stay here. I know that we aren't going to be projected to win many games, and for me, that's just added motivation. I also look forward to mentoring these new guys, I've seen them and they have surprising raw talent. With our coaching staff, if we can harness that, we can still surprise some people."
Hopefully Toronto shares the same view of the team as Bautista. I wouldn't bet on it, though, since unlike Rogers, I don't plan on losing any of my money anytime soon.
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THIS IS WHERE YOU GUYS COME IN:
I did this a while back, and it never got off the ground because I have not played 2K in a while. However, I do still play The Show, so I wanted to figure out a way to do something similar for MLBTS, and here it is. Basically, those indy-league players or IFAs are guys you will create. Here's the template for The Show, I ask you to please, PLEASE take this at least somewhat seriously this time around:
Name:
Age:
Jersey Number:
Primary/Secondary Position:
Nationality:
Batting/Throwing Hand:
Height:
Weight:
Appearance (Body):
Appearance (Face):
Equipment:
Glove Color:
Bat Color:
Batting Gloves (On/Off, if yes, Style 1, 2, or 3):
Pant Style (high socks, stirrups, long, baggy):
Cleat Style (there's 3 of them):
Stance/Windup:
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Backstory (Optional):
Unless you want to have a guy in the minors, then I'd suggest only making 1 player. Also, you will not all have A potential, and you certainly will all not be overpowered god-kings capable of smashing baseballs into the stratosphere. Also, if I really don't like the backstory for one then I will ask you to make a new one but I highly doubt that will be a problem at all. You don't have to fill all of these out, just the ones you really find important.
If you want to make a player to put on another team, then PM me.
Lastly, I will add the roster in a new post since I don't want to add even more to this wall of text.
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