Power Pros Forum

Starting over...

First Half 2014 Recap

MLB Standings

Monthly Awards

AL Batter: Angels RF Kole Calhoun (.370, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 16 R)
AL Batter: Rays 2B Ben Zobrist (.404, 9 HR, 23 RBI, 17 R)
AL Batter: Blue Jays SS Jose Reyes (.387, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 25 R)
AL Pitcher: Angels SP Jered Weaver (5-0, 3.13 ERA, 40 K)
AL Pitcher: Indians SP Corey Kluber (5-0, 1.69 ERA, 27 K)
AL Pitcher: Tigers SP Justin Verlander (4-1, 1.74 ERA, 53 K)
AL Rookie: Twins C Josmil Pinto (.261, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 15 R)
AL Rookie: Mariners CF Rusney Castillo (.308, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 18 R)
AL Rookie: White Sox 1B Jose Abreu (.323, 9 HR, 18 RBI, 22 R)

NL Batter: Rockies 3B Pablo Sandoval (.311, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 16 R)
NL Batter: Reds RF Jay Bruce (.316, 9 HR, 19 RBI, 17 R)
NL Batter: Dodgers 3B Hanley Ramirez (.389, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 26 R)
NL Pitcher: Cardinals CL Trevor Rosenthal (3-0, 1.76 ERA, 19 K, 8 SV)
NL Pitcher: Diamondbacks SP Daniel Hudson (5-0, 0.75 ERA, 35 K)
NL Pitcher: Cardinals SP Jaime Garcia (5-0, 1.91 ERA, 45 K)
NL Rookie: Marlins LF Dairon Varona (.327, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R)
NL Rookie: Mets SS Jesus Flores (.314, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 11 R)
NL Rookie: Cardinals LF Oscar Taveras (.294, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 14 R)

League News

League Transactions

Uhh, Adam Dunn got traded for Mark Reynolds. Sandoval to Colorado, obviously. Soriano was swapped with Napoli. Buchholz was traded for Leonys Martin. Gallardo was shipped to St. Louis. And Tyson Ross was sent to the Twins. What else... Oh yeah, Mat Latos was traded for top prospect Urias. I think those were the most important ones.

Cubs Transactions

5/5: Placed Jason Hammel on 60-day DL. Out for the season.
5/14: Promoted Arismendy Alcantara to MLB.
6/28: Placed Wellington Castillo on 15-day DL.
Some others...

Batting Stats
Pitching Stats
Prospect Report

I was gonna make a poll about who I should trade away at the deadline, but I'm really not seeing any good deals. Samardzija being shit really hurts, and Wood doesn't have enough value. I'd even consider moving Rizzo, but only for an elite prospect, and there aren't any of those either.

EDIT: Now that I say that, I see some trades around Junior Lake. Lake could get me A.J. Cole, Trevor Bauer, or Edwin Escobar. That'll be the poll. Which one of them should I trade for?

Bauer for sure.

I was leaning towards Bauer, but they all have their own pros. Escobar is the best value, as I could get him and a reliever. Cole has had the best peripherals and that Winter Springs bias. Bauer is easily the most talented, except for that horrid control.

I was thinking Escobar. What reliever can you get with him? That could change things significantly.

Heath Hembree.

But I can also just get Hembree by himself if I trade them Carlos Villanueva (and eat the rest of his salary).

I would do Villanueva for Hembree, and Lake for Bauer in that case. Hembree is good.

July 2014 Recap

MLB Standings

Monthly Awards

AL Batter: Angels CF Mike Trout (.356, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 16 R)
AL Pitcher: Tigers SP Drew Smyly (4-0, 1.78 ERA, 24 K)
AL Rookie: White Sox SS Marcus Semien (.352, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 15 R)

NL Batter: Nationals LF Bryce Harper (.379, 11 HR, 26 RBI, 22 R)
NL Pitcher: Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 2.45 ERA, 33 K)
NL Rookie: Cardinals LF Oscar Taveras (.289, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 16 R)

League News

League Transactions

7/19: Baltimore trades SP Bud Norris to Cleveland for C Francisco Mejia.
7/24: Arizona trades SP Wade Miley to Milwaukee for LF Victor Roache and SS Yadiel Rivera.
7/25: Oakland trades MR Sean Doolittle to Arizona for SP Braden Shipley and C Ronnie Freeman.
7/25: Boston trades CL Koji Uehara to Arizona for SP Aaron Blair, CL Jimmy Sherfy, LF Chuck Taylor, and CF Colin Bray.
7/25: Cleveland trades SP Trevor Bauer to Chicago for CF Junior Lake and 3B Mike Olt.
7/27: San Diego trades 3B Chase Headley to Cleveland for SS Dorssys Paulino, CF Antonio Arias, 2B David Nick, and 1B Janelfry Zorrilla.
7/29: Oakland trades SP Drew Pomeranz to Pittsburgh for RF Josh Bell.
7/30: Boston trades SP Chris Capuano to Oakland for SS Jed Lowrie and 2B Jesus Lopez.
7/30: New York trades SP Jacob deGrom to Baltimore for CF Glynn Davis and CL Mychal Givens.
7/31: Arizona trades SP Trevor Cahill to Houston for SP Mike Foltynewicz.
7/31: Chicago trades SP Carlos Villanueva to San Francisco for CL Heath Hembree.


Cubs Transactions

7/14: Placed 3B Kris Bryant on the Southern League 7-day disabled list. Out for 6 weeks.
7/19: Demoted RF Justin Ruggiano to Triple A Iowa and activated CF Ryan Sweeney from the disabled list.
7/25: Demoted MR Brian Schlitter to Triple A Iowa and activated MR James Russell from the disabled list.
7/25: Demoted SP Trevor Bauer to Triple A Iowa and purchased the contract of 3B Josh Vitters from Triple A Iowa.
7/27: Placed CF Ryan Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list (out for 3 weeks) and purchased the contract of 2B Logan Watkins from Triple A Iowa.
7/31: Recalled SP Jake Arrieta from Triple A Iowa.

Batting Stats
Pitching Stats
Prospect Report

Because it's August 1st, a new set of scouting reports have been released. If anybody would like to see the improvement (or regression) of specific guys, just ask and I'll put some up.

August 2014 Recap

MLB Standings

Monthly Awards

AL Batter: Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera (.356, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 16 R)
AL Pitcher: White Sox SP Chris Sale (4-0, 1.78 ERA, 24 K)
AL Rookie: Mariners CF Rusney Castillo (.352, 7 HR, 14 RBI, 15 R)

NL Batter: Reds 1B Joey Votto (.379, 11 HR, 26 RBI, 22 R)
NL Pitcher: Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg (4-0, 2.45 ERA, 33 K)
NL Rookie: Cardinals LF Oscar Taveras (.289, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 16 R)

Cubs Transactions

8/8: Placed RF Eloy Jimenez on the Pioneer League 7-day disabled list. Out for 4 weeks.
8/9: Demoted C Charles Cutler to Triple A Iowa and activated C Welington Castillo from the disabled list.
8/19: Placed CF Logan Watkins on the 15-day disabled list (out for 1 week) and activated CF Ryan Sweeney from the disabled list.

Batting Stats
Pitching Stats
Prospect Report

Pretty boring month. We need to tank harder in September.

September 2014 Recap

MLB Standings
Playoffs

Monthly Awards

I actually don't know who won. It never told me.

Cubs Transactions

We promoted Baez and Hendricks in September.

Batting Stats
Pitching Stats

Blah blah blah, who cares. I'm just glad it's finally the offseason! Next post and poll will be about that.

Also, like I said before, if you're curious about how any individual prospect did (like Gordon, Bryant, Baez, etc.) just ask me and edit their stats in.

Wait I thought you were winning?

Wait how did the Indians win?

Wow can't believe my Tribe actually won in this game.

2014 Offseason

Resigned Wood, Castillo, Samardzija, Arrieta, and Strop to one-year deals.

McDonald, Barney, Ruggiano, and Coghlan were non-tendered. Valbuena, Wright, and Russell went to arbitration.

Traded Strop and Jackson to the Red Sox for Allen Webster. Basically just a salary dump, but Webster was a solid return.

Now free agency has started, and the Cubs have nearly 40 million dollars available for free agents, so we don't have to be afraid to spend. Targets include hitters Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Jed Lowrie, pitchers Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, Francisco Liriano, and Johnny Cueto, and international FA's Angelo Navarro and Munemitsu Kishita.

I've put up a poll listing the free agents and their cost (which is subject to change). You may vote for 2. Or 1. Or pick none. Your choice, really. Although, one of these FA's will have an interesting surprise associated with him if he's signed

For reference, this would be the team next season if we made no moves.

Rotation
1. Travis Wood
2. Jeff Samardzija
3. Trevor Bauer
4. Allen Webster
5. Jake Arrieta

Lineup
CF. Ryan Sweeney/Matt Szczur
RF. Ryan Kalish
1B. Anthony Rizzo
2B. Javier Baez
SS. Starlin Castro
3B. Josh Vitters/Luis Valbuena
C. Wellington Castillo
LF. Arismendy Alcantara

Looks like you'll need a CF (Almora), RF (Bryant/Soler), 3B (Bryant/no Russell), C, and maybe an upgrade on LF. Luckily you've got prospects coming through the pipeline, that's why the Cubs are fun to play as. I have a franchise going in the Show with them.

I'm voting Scherzer over Lester and Navarro to shore up the pitching, and Kishita as a big-time power bat to replace Castillo. Wood, Shark, Sweeney, Vitters, Kalish, and/or Welington Castillo should be on the block.

I actually don't have Schwarber. I went with SS Gordon in the draft.

So I have top-prospects at CF (Almora), RF (Soler), 3B (Bryant), SS (Gordon), and 2B (Baez). Nothing in the minors at 1B, C, LF and very little at SP