As the season moves on in Wright world i've begun to take notice of the NL West division.
It has 4 solid teams capable of playoff contention. All are pretty well balanced without many deficiencies.
Taking a look at the division race invokes thoughts of past legendary playoff fueds.
88' Dodger vs A's, 27' Yankees vs Pirates, 75' Reds vs Red Sox & etc.
It's a truly exciting time to be a part of Wright world. Rather than a best a 7 series it's a who's better over the next 92.
It's still a long way to go til the end of the season. Trades will be made, injuries taken place, hard luck losses swallowed & hearts broken. 4 teams, 3 contenders, 1 division crown... whoever survives might just have the inside to the WS. Or have nothing left come playoff time.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wow Tough Crowd
Point - Counter Point
No dramatic build up, no suspenseful lead in and no elongated introduction to the topic this week.
Well...almost
This weeks topic up for discussion will be the farm system.
It can be your greatest ally or your worst nightmare at times.
But more often than not it is essential to all things HBD. You can rarely make deals without it, it helps the future of your franchise & if you learn nothing else from the Tampa Bay Rays...it's fun to watch when it's all done.
Building a farm system can be done several ways. The first and most conventional way is to build through the draft. This method is generally the easiest due to the potential for compensation picks and the fact that not every team sees exactly the same pool.
The next method is through trading. This is more than likely the most culturally accepted way to build a farm. Trade off your established stars for a high ceiling prospect or two who'll be ready for the show in a few seasons.
The last and most costly not to mention annoying way to build it up is through international free agency signings. Much like the draft not every GM will see the same crop of players but the issue is by doing it this way you have to have a severe amount of prospect cash. There might be only 7 GM's who see the same player as you but the market is determined by what's willing to be paid and not by the talent of the player. You can expect to dish out anywhere from $50,000 for a filler type fringe player, to upwards of $25,000,000 for a flat out stud.
But in doing so if you overspend and leave yourself with no wiggle room you might end up not being able to sign your draft selections.
Either way can work for your team but the question is... is it better to have a stacked farm system and go through a bit of a rough patch until they are ready to be called up.
Or is it much better to have a ML juggernaut with a porous farm but with a genuine prospect sprigged here and there.
In a perfect ideal world one would have a juggernaut of a team as well as a dynamic farm to go along with it. Often times however this is not plausible either due to the feeling that the club needs to contend now in it's prime causing a lack of patience and meaning a raiding of the farm.
The other scenario is that there is a feeling that there is no chance on contention in a certain time frame so the team should be "gutted" and allowed to rebuild anew.
Both parties of thoughts are legitimate, both will likely work depending upon the strategy and patience of the owner.
A proper farm system and it's value are truly immeasurable, it can mean the difference between being on the cusp of the world series or actually being able to make that last second deal to ensure bring home the world series title.
Think about it, what's more important selling out the farm and loading up to eventually lose? Or is it better to keep the farm intact and make your move late to eventually snag that elusive WS crown.
32 GM's, 32 different opinions but at the end of the season 1 champion is crowned and 31 losers hope for next season. Which one do you wanna be?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Movin' On
Your vote is cast & you have decided that Houston & Atlanta shall win their divisions.
just one more division title vote left.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
You Decide 08'
The next round of results are in & you decided that the Indianapolis Colt 45's & the Durham Wolverines will win their respective divisions(the NL & AL East)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Your Voice Is Heard
Toronto d. Burlington 10-2 NL North Champion
Ottawa d. Cleveland 10-5 AL North Champion
Monday, September 15, 2008
Point - Counter Point
In this weeks installment of PCP we will delve into a subject that has been the subject of scorn in many a world.
It has placed a irreversible strain on leagues.
Forced owners to tear each other down to the point where a
simple discussion turns into a disagreement. Then it further breaks down into a situation so horrific that three year olds seem more mature. It might be the quickest way to get the 'Tard label slapped upon your world.
Loyal readers the subject we are about to dive into the deep end of the ocean on is none other than ... Cash used in trading.
The opposing side of the argument see it as a severe end run around the imposed salary cap.
Every team starts out with the same amount of money to slice into 9 pieces of the same pie.
The game shows you what's taken in current payroll, as well as potential arbitration and free agent demands. Now knowing this ahead of time in addition to being able to see the potential class of free agents. Some would very likely say that you should set aside enough in payroll to cover free agent signings, arbitration cases as well as future salary crunches should you need to chase a international free agent and need to shift some money to sign your draft class.
So if Team A has set up a prospect payroll of $20,000,000 then goes out and signs a IFA for $18,000,000, this will leave them with $2,000,000 to spend on their potential draft class.
Let us assume that Team A has the #3 pick in the 1st round as well as the #18 and #25 picks as compensation for Type A free agents.
Draft Picks Preview
1. #3
1. #18
1. #25
2. #45
2. #60
2. #67
3. #80
Once the draft rolls around Team A finds that it has drafted a 95 projected SS, a 84 projected SP, a 79 projected C, a 78 projected RF, a 76 projected SP ,a 75 projected LF and finally a 71 projected closer.
Seeing this draft haul the owner calculates how much he will need to sign his draft class. After review he concludes he will need an additional $6,000,000 to sign a class requiring $8,000,000 to sign all.
Team A then initiates 3 trades to ensure he will have the money to transfer over to prospect payroll.
1st Trade
Team A trades Player X($2,500,000) to Team B for Fringe Prospect Y and $5,000,000 cash
2nd Trade
Team A trades Prospect F to Team C for Fringe Prospect G and $2,500,000 cash
3rd Trade
Team A trades Prospect H to Team D for Frine Prospect I and $2,500,000 cash
Doing these 3 trades has now allowed Team A to create $12,500,000 in cap space and after transfer $6,250,000. Or $250,000 more than need to secure all draft choices.
After review the prospects brought in Through this method show as this.
Team A signs:
IFA Prospect Projected 98 SP - $18,000,000
Draft Class including 95 projected SS, a 84 projected SP, a 79 projected C, a 78 projected RF, a 76 projected SP ,a 75 projected LF and finally a 71 projected closer. -$8,000,000
Team A has now added 8 future major league prospects while violating the $20,000,000 imposed prospect cap by $6,250,000.
This sets up Team A for a very nice future and potentially gives them a distinct advantage in trades or ML talent in the future. In short an unfair advantage.
However on the other side of the arguement it can be said like this.
The programmers of this game put in not only the ability to transfer payroll but also gain cash in trades as a legitimate venue for acquiring value.
In other words the game does not have a true hard cap so there is no end around of it by using this method. Moreover all trades can be vetoed for any reason so if enough owners find fault in this method then it can never be approved nor employed.
So if seen this way Team A was in complete compliance with the rules, maybe not the spirit of the rules but the rules as outlined in penned form. So if this is indeed the case then how can it be seen as improper, unfair or even "cheating"?
Well that my friend is up to you the individual to figure out. Much like beliefs,views and opinions everyone's take is different and should be respected as equal.
Til' next time my friends
- Signing off
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Season 9 Ownership Overview
AL North
Ottawa Primetimers - Primetime17 .537 68 Seasons, 29 division titles, 42 playoffs & 3 WS titles. 6th Season in Wright
Vancouver Muffdivers - laughin_lion .542 9 Seasons, 5 division titles, 6 playoffs & 1 WS title.
Dover Demons - purplehaze54 .509 43 Seasons, 9 division titles, 14 playoffs & 1 WS title.
Cleveland Redlegs - mfoster55 8 Seasons, 1 division title, 2 playoffs.
AL East
New York New York - madmuldoon 16 Seasons, 4th Season in Wright
Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo - eacadca .581 8 Seasons, 1 division titles, 5 playoffs & 1 WS title.
Durham Wolverines - szavsza23 .539 13 Seasons, 3 division titles, 8 playoffs.
Chicago Crankers - gydk .557 77 Seasons, 28 division titles, 46 playoffs.
AL South
Texas Rangers - winmyron .553 5 Seasons, 2 division titles, 3 playoffs. 2nd Season in Wright
Atlanta Fairfax - gobosox514 .541 9 Seasons, 2 division, 3 playoffs & 1 WS title. 6th Season in Wright
Richmond Sons of Virginia - tarvis614 .581 6 Seasons, 3 division titles, 4 playoffs & 1 WS title. 7th Season in Wright
Memphis RedBirds - drnick77 13 Seasons, 2 playoffs, 3rd Season in Wright
AL West
Boise Land Sharks - 05nomar05 30 Seasons, 4 division titles, 9 playoffs. 4th Season in Wright
Santa Cruz Banana Slugs - kjmulli .510 10 Seasons, 1 division title, 2 playoffs.
Salem Blue Jays - t_mcclure24 .560 4 Seasons, 2 division titles, 3 playoffs. 5th Season in Wright
Las Vegas Immortals - werniss .560 5 Seasons, 2 division titles, 2 playoffs. 3rd Season in Wright
NL North
Toronto Trail of Tears - whiteshadow* .586 9 Season, 5 division titles, 6 playoffs & 1 WS(defending Wright champion)
Burlington Coat Factory - boydndahood 5 Seasons as(kindjohndevi)
Pittsburgh Outlaws - PirateFan13 7 Seasons, 1 division title, 1 playoff. 4th Season in Wright
Chicago Chargers - joelshields .513 8 Seasons, 2 playoffs. 6th Season in Wright
NL East
Iowa City Acorns - gerald007 .502 35 Seasons, 14 division titles, 16 playoffs. 2nd Season in Wright
Cincinnati Marauders - deaconsoule 11 Seasons, 2 division titles, 2 playoffs. 3rd Season in Wright
Jacksonville PnBs - sjr456 .525 5 Seasons, 5 division titles, 5 playoffs.
Indianapolis Colt 45's - jamsing7 51 Seasons, 9 division titles, 11 playoffs. 7th Season in Wright
NL South
Houston Councils for Foreign Relation - r_minor 2 Seasons, 3rd Season in Wright
San Antonio Sandbaggers - hatchetman .527 11 Seasons, 6 division titles, 6 playoffs & 1 WS title. 4th Season in Wright
Tampa Bay Tic-Tacs - goblkngld 6 Seasons, 1 playoff, 3rd Season in Wright
Florida Villians - Stewart_UK .504 46 Season, 13 division titles, 16 playoffs & 1 WS title.
6th Season in Wright
NL West
Portland Rainmakers - bagpipes28 22 Seasons, 2 playoffs & 1 WS title. 7th Season in Wright
Los Angeles Dodgers - dugger13 .531 11 Seasons, 3 division titles, 4 playoffs
San Diego Padres - mrpolo09* .511 8 Seasons, 1 division title, 1 playoff. 9th Season in Wright
St. Louis Spirits - brianwakler 10 Seasons, 7th Season in Wright