The Show - An Online OOTP Baseball Simulation League

The Phillies Looking to the Future

The Philadelphia Phillies GM Kevin Tucker has taken over the team. Tucker has made it very clear that the teams preformance this year is unacceptable for him. Tucker has also said it is time to rebuild as the state of the team is in shambles. He said the teams finances are in the dump and he said his job is to turn them around starting with the shoping of 2B Chance Utley , SP A.J Burnett , CL Brad Lidge and CF Shane Victorino . The team is looking for possible suiters for these players as the Phillies are looking to shave down payrol and also start to rebuilding its farm club in hops of reviving this Potincial power house.

September call-ups waste little time making presence known

Only last week starting pitcher, Anthony Swarzak, and third basemen, Danny Valencia, were leading the way for Minnesota Twins's AAA affiliate franchise the Rochester Red Wings to a fine season. Meanwhile the parent club the Minnesota Twins found themselves three games back of the Cleveland Indians in second place.

Flash forward one week, how much things can change...

Danny Valencia found himself surrounded by new teammates and batting third between all star catcher Joe Mauer and first basemen 'Big Air Canada' Justin Morneau in front of thousands of cheering fans. The new surroundings did not phase Valencia as he did what he always had done that is hit. Valencia responded with a game winning blast off closer Joel Zumaya ending a 10 inning marathon against the Detroit Tiger last night; sending the fans home happy in a buzz and leaving the media wondering what will be next as an encore from youngester.

Anthony Swarzak had been tittering on the edge for a promotion since the all star break. The Minnesota Twins front office resisted the temptation of calling up its prize pitcher until last week. Swarzak did not disappoint in his debut. In an outing just days before his birthday against the Los Angeles Angels, Swarzak toss 7 innings of 2 run ball to go with 8 punch outs allowing only 5 hits and surrendering no walks. Happy birthday young fella!

The Minnesota Twins no longer find themselves in second place. Since the call ups of Swarzak and Valencia, the Twins have went on a six game winning streak streaking into a tie for first place with the Cleveland Indians.

With three more games this week against the Indians and three more to conclude the season the Twins will soon fine out if they have what it takes to dethrone last year's AL Central champs. With the likes of youngsters Danny Valencia, and Anthony Swarzak the Minnesota Twins and their fans have to like their chances and have a lot to be thankful for.

In other news, the Minnesota Twins and veteran third basemen Troy Glaus have to come to a two year agreement with a team option for the last year of the contract. Here is what Glaus had to say about his new contract:

" Your offer is exactly what I'm looking for at this stage in my career. My focus is finishing off my career on a high note, the money will be there if I work hard and put together solid numbers. Thank you again for being such a class act."

Diamondbacks Bid for World Series Ring in Doubt

Diamondbacks star right fielder Justin Upton was lost for the season last week, marking the second time in the past two years the Diamondbacks have lost their best player just prior to the playoffs. Upton, making a convincing bid for the National League MVP this season, is batting .375 on the year with 42 homeruns, 123 RBIs, and 130 runs scored in just 483 at bats while sporting a stellar .481 on-base percentage.

Last season, Stephen Drew was lost in early September, severely hampering the Diamondbacks' Series hopes, as they were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round.

Slick-fielding but injury-prone Rocco Baldelli is expected to see a majority of starts in RF throughout the remainder of the season.

Blockbuster Houston/Arizona Trade Reaping Benefits for Both

In the flurry of trade deadline maneuvering, no swap was as heavily analyzed, criticized, and dissected as the transaction that sent last year's Cy Young Award Winner Brandon Webb along with Justin Duchscherer to the Houston Astros for Wandy Rodriguez and Kaz Matsui. Midway through August, however, the benefits to both clubs are becoming obvious.

Webb, who has been having a roller coaster year, is starting to round into form for the Astros. With two starts under his belt, is 0-2. These stats don't tell the whole story, however. Webb's first outing was disastrous, giving up 4 runs in two innings of work, likely attributed to stress and nerves from the recent move. His next start, however, a 4-5 loss to the hard-hitting Reds, was a pitching masterpiece. The Sultan of Sliders scattered six hits and two walks across eight innings, notching six strikeouts while giving up only two earned runs. More importantly, Webb's dominant groundball to flyball ratio returned to a wizard-like 2:1.

Duchscherer, a throw-in as the Diamondbacks attempted to rid themselves of a long-term free agent contract, has been tremendous for the Astros. Feeling new life in his pitching arm in the humid swelter that is Houston in August, Duchscherer is 2-0 in three starts, with an ERA and a WHIP both holding at 1.02. The change of scenery has, apparently, done the Duke some good.

From the Diamondbacks perspective, in the middle of a playoff hunt they have been able to clear up some space on their starting roster to bring up rookie hurlers Jarrod Parker and Kevin Eichhorn. Parker has been impressive in his debut, going 2-1 in his first seven starts with an ERA of 4.99 and a WHIP of 1.34. Only the demise of the Diamondback bullpen has kept Parker from record of 4-1, as he does a great job of keeping his team in games.

Eichhorn, on the other hand, has been exceeding expectations with a 4-1 record in his first five major league starts. With a WHIP of 1.21 and an ERA of 3.03, Eichhorn never gives in to hitters, evidenced by his K:BB rate of 2.5:1. These two prospects, considered the gems of the Diamondbacks' farm system, will likely make or break the club's hopes of winning the World Series this year.

Since the transaction, Arizona has moved from a 0.5 game lead over the Portland Stags to a 2.5 game lead. The Stags, always a threat, have been feeling the heat as well, moving back to a four-man starting rotation with the demotion of Barry Zito to AAA. It's still early in the race, but with seven head-to-head games in the space of eight days in late September, now would be an excellent time to reserve your tickets for the developing rivalry!

Looking up from the bottom of the NL Central

With 4 teams within 4 games of first place; the division crown and chance at the playoffs could come down to the last week of the season.

Chicago Cubs
Aramis Ramirez , Milton Bradley, Dylan Johnston have 20+ homeruns. This team is firing on offense, but only one pitcher on the staff has an ERA under 4. The Cubbies will need thier ace in Carlos Zambrano to curb his emotions and let his talent take over to lead this team into the playoffs. Active GM Dan Hyde will keep them in the hunt

Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Hart and Ryan Braun are showing impressive power for such young players. The young player is what really powers this team from top to bottom. Add Prince Fielder and Taylor Green to this young group and you have quite an offensive force. The starting rotation has solid ERAs and a solid veteran bullpen could be the keys to keeping the Brewers in hunt for the division.

St Louis Cardinals
An active and experinced GM in Joe Woodring who has multiple championships, so you always have to consider this team when talking playoffs. This team is built around starting pitching and Albert Pujols powering the offense. The bullpen could be the weak spot on the team with only closer Jason Motte with an ERA under 4

Houston Astros
With new management taking over during the season, some new life has been brought to a solid team. New GM Alex Kiser has made some aggresive moves going out to and acquiring Brandon Webb and Justin Duchscherer to add to a strong starting rotation that all ready featured Roy Oswalt who is having an uncharacteristic bad season. Add a very powerful offense and the Astros plan to make a lot os noise in the race

Pittsburgh Pirates
After some how finishing .500 last season the wheels have fallen off the wagon. The team tried to move veterans that nobody wanted, so the team is in rebuild mode playing younger players and grooming future starters on in AAA. Look for a massive call up from AAA next season and pray some pitching develops.

PREDICTION:
I predict the Brewers making the post season with the Astros closing the gap to make it very interesting.

Pirates outlook

The future of the small market Pirates is developing in the minors. With some LARGE contracts coming to an end and solid prospects in the minors there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

A brief look at the future line up for the Pirates in 2011

Catcher Ryan Doumit(Majors) He will provide veteran leadership as well as a solid bat behind the plate who also has the ability to play 1B and RF
Back ups J Jaramillo (Majors) Erik Kratz (AAA)

1B Neil Walker (AAA) Recently moved from Third to First due to Pedro Alvarez's development. Looks to be solid hitter with power to the alleys
Back up Brett Harper (Majors)

2B Andy LaRoche(Majors)/Jim Negrych(AAA) Could come down to a spring training battle or one could be a trade bait for some pitching. LaRoche shows more power. Negrych shows more power to the gaps.

SS Shelby Ford(AAA) Looks to be an excellent gap hitter, contact could be the question mark on this young hitter. Defense could be in question.
Back up Jack Wilson(Majors), Brian Bixler (AAA), Jessie Tomlinson (A)

3B Pedro Alvarez(AAA) The top prospect in the Pirates system. Lots of power and solid contact. In the future could be a potential MVP candidate due to has abilities across the board
Back up Freddie Sanchez(Majors)

LF Nate McLouth(Majors) Leader of the team in most offensive categories. While arbitration eligible, the Pirates hope to resign him in the future or could be another cost cutting casualty
Prospect: Jamie Romak(AAA)

CF Andrew McCutchen(Majors) Speed demon on the basepaths with 39 steals in his rookie campaign. He must work on his abilities since he is being thrown out way too many times.

RF Jose Tabata(AAA) only spent part of the seasonin AAA, so may not be ready by spring, but if is he could be a special five tool player. Tabata has very good speed and solid power while playing a very good defense.
Back up OF Jeff Salazar, Brandon Moss, Steve Pearce

Starting pitching
Karstens, Jeff
Richard, Clayton
Snell, Ian
These three look solid to make it next season as starters. The remaining 2 is up in the air between Edwin Jackson, Tom Gorzelanny, Zack Duke, Phil Dumatrait. Starting pitching is the most glaring weakness that must be addressed.
Previous first round pick of the Pirates Giampietro Biondi is developing in the minors who we hope to see in a few seasons in Pittsburgh

Bullpen
Matt Capps will still be the closer after signing an extention this past season. The rest of the pen will be filled out by Ben Julianel, Scott Linebrink, John Grabow, Tyler Yates and some developing players in AAA

Astros still in NL Central Race?

The Houston Astros might still have a chance to make a playoff spot. Houston might be in fifth place in the NL Central division but thanks to the partially weak yet strong teams also contending the Astros are only 4 games back.

The Astros recently performed a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that really helped Houston's pitching. The trade gave the D-Backs Second Baseman Kazuo Matsui and Starting Pitcher Wandy Rodriguez in return for Cy Young- Winning Pitcher, Brandon Webb and SP Justin Duchscherer.

The trade added some controversy on Arizona's part as Brandon Webb is a Cy Young Winner, but, Webb hasn't been performing his best this season.

The Astros also performed a Waiver Trade with the Minnesota Twins that sent SP Nick Blackburn to Houston for (A) Jay Austin.

With Houston's strong pitching watch for them to be right up at the top of the NL Central.

NL West Finale -- Deja Vu?

As baseball's regular season comes to a close, the NL West division race bares a striking similarity to last season. With 53 games left in the regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are clinging desperately to a half game lead over the pitching-heavy Portland Stags. The Rockies remain in the mix, however, down four games from the Diamondbacks, but only 3.5 back in the wildcard race.

Similarities to last season end there, however. In a highly controversial move, the Diamondbacks dealt Cy Young Award-Winner Brandon Webb along with free agent acquisition Justin Duchscherer to the Houston Astros for lefty middle reliever Wandy Rodriguez and Kaz Matsui, a move designed to "strengthen our ailing bullpen, shore up our middle infield, and position us to remain competitive past the end of this season," according to a Diamondbacks spokesperson.

Critics in the media, however, are quick to point out that the move also divests the Diamondbacks of more than $50 million in committed salary, as Duchscherer's performance since coming to Arizona after signing a long-term deal can only be described as dismal, and Arizona's attempts to re-sign free-agent-to-be Webb were at a standstill. Moving up from the AAA ranks and slotted as the #4 and #5 starters are prospects Jarrod Parker and Kevin Eichhorn, both of whom are seeing their first big league action in the middle of a pennant race.

Although the team has remained with a five-man rotation through these difficult times, the Diamondbacks GM has not ruled out a temporary move to a four-man rotation if bullpen performance doesn't improve. Closer Tony Pena has been cold for nearly a month, and middle relief is sporting an unsightly ERA above 6.5.

On the positive side, The Diamondbacks' lineup is stronger than ever. Justin Upton and Stephen Drew are both hitting over .300 and are sitting on 30 home runs, with Upton sporting an astronomical .727 slugging percentage. The team as a whole is second in the NL with 163 homeruns, trailing only Cincinnati's 167 dingers, and their .487 slugging percentage tops the league easily.

The Stags, in comparison, worked with a four-man rotation for the first half of the season, recently expanding to a five-man rotation with Barry Zito taking the #5 starter spot. The strategy has paid off so far, with the Stags sporting an amazingly stingy league-leading 3.67 ERA. Two of the starters are averaging at least a strikeout an inning, and rookie closer Daniel Otero has done a fantastic job this season, with 14 saves and a 1.80 ERA through 40 innings of work.

Portland doesn't slouch on the batting end of the spectrum either, with three players hitting over .300, including super-utility-man Pablo Sandoval at .346.

The Rockies have taken a different path to success this year, relying on a balanced approach with solid hitting, defense, and starting pitching. What sets them apart this year, however, is the elite bullpen. Featuring Manny Corpas, Brian Shouse, and Huston Street (combined ERA of 2.94), once the Rockies obtain a lead, they keep it. Other standouts include 22-year-old starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin, who has really turned a tough rookie season (11-13, 5.38 ERA) into a stellar sophomore season (12-5, 3.54 ERA).

Looks like the NL West will be, yet again, an exciting division to watch coming down the home stretch!

NL West Notes - Sim 1

Standings
Arizona - 4-1
Colorado - 4-2
Los Angeles - 2-3
Portland - 2-3
San Diego - 0-5

Arizona
Justin Upton jacked two home runs in five games and drove in 8 of the 32 runs the D-Backs scored en route to their 4-1 start. Despite disastrous season beginnings for Doug Davis and Justin Duchscherer the pitching staff put up a stellar 3.27 ERA.
Colorado
Mark DeRosa looks like a bargain right now. Only getting paid $1.7 million this year he started out with a 9 for 21 stretch in six games, hitting three home runs in the process. Coming off a PCL championship with Colorado Springs, Dexter Fowler hit .304 in the six game stretch, with a respectable .385 OBP from the leadoff spot. The bad part, he's only succeeded on 1 of 3 stolen base attempts.
Los Angeles
While a handful of Dodgers put up decent numbers on the offensive side, the offense struggled to score runs in the first sim, and the pitching staff didn't help them out much. James Loney hit .333/.391/.476, but only drove in 3 runs. Rafael Furcal hit the only home run for the sim, and drove in the same three runs as Loney, but he only hit .167 for the sim.
Portland
Tim Alderson looked like he was the "other Tim". Alderson had a 2.25 ERA and went 8 innings in his one start. "Other Tim" went 12 innings in his two starts, but had an uncharacteristic ERA of 6.00. Pablo Sandoval went 6 or 18 for the sim, hitting .333 and collecting an impressive four doubles in those six hits.

San Diego
When the Padres lost game four to the Rockies by a score of only 4-2 they celebrated. They had given up 9 runs, 10 runs, and 9 runs again in three against the D-Backs. When the Padres scored 7 runs in game two against the Rockies they set a season best in runs for the short season so far, but still lost by two. It's not all bad though, as 24 year old John Shelby went 11 for 21 in the sim. Tough to find a bright spot in a pitching rotation that currently has a staff ERA of 7.74.

Colorado Rockies Spring Training Preview

New General Manager John Stephens is bringing a very solid Rockies team into Spring Training, and a team with very few spots open for competition.

"We knew what we were doing," Stephens said. "I had people ready to play last year who probably shouldn't have languished in the minors. It's too bad that the previous management team wasn't keeping good enough track of things like that."

Let's take a moment to look around the Rockies and see what's been decided and what hasn't as the Rockies start up Spring Training.

Starting Pitching

1 - Aaron Cook - The Rockies ace needs to play to his potential and win 15-17 games for the team to be competitive.
2 - Jhoulys Chacin - 11-13, 5.38 in his rookie season. The team looks for him to bring that ERA down a full run this year.
3 - Greg Smith - 10-18 last year, there was talk of moving him. It's been decided that we'll see how he'll do in the three hole now.

The fourth and fifth spots in the rotation will be a competition between Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, and Jeff Francis.

"One of those three guys will be the odd man out," Stephens predicted. "Franklin still has options yet, and that might be part of the decision matrix."

The Bullpen

Closer - Huston Street - Really is one of the best in the game.
Set Up - Manny Corpas and Ryan Speier - Good strong arms, the 8th inning is of very little concern to the Rockies.
Middle Relievers - Brian Shouse and Taylor Buchholz - More of situational guys than guys you can ask for an entire inning.

"There are two other spots open," Stephens said. "It's hard to say who is going to win them. You're going to Aaron Fultz, Jason Grilli, and Ryan Drese getting the first shot at those two spots."

It's speculated that Aaron Fultz truly gets first crack at it, as Stephens has been known to like having two left handers in his bullpen.

Starting Line-Up

Catcher - Chris Ianetta - Becoming one of the best catchers in baseball.
First Base - Todd Helton - The game is passing him by, but the Rockies are going to keep paying him for a few more years.
Second Base - Ian Stewart - A converted third baseman who is bringing a lot of pop to second base. His defense is improving.
Third Base - Mark DeRosa - Signed to be an every day player, Mark has been good when given a chance to play.
Shortstop - Troy Tulowitzi - Running out of chances, it's time for Troy to play up to the hype.
Left Field - Seth Smith - Probably actually platooning with Spillborghs, Seth hammers right handers.
Center Field - Dexter Fowler - Ready for the big leagues, look for 10-12 homers and 60 stolen bases from the Rockies new Center Fielder.
Right Field - Brad Hawpe - One of the team's biggest offensive threat. Hit .309 and 29 home runs last year despite missing time to injury.

There doesn't seem to be any competition for any of the starting spots in the Rockies line-up coming into Spring Training. "This is how it's going to be," Stephens said. "I haven't decided what order they're batting in, but you can expect to see most of those guys every day."

The Bench

Backup Catcher - Michael McKenry - Getting his first shot at the Bigs 4th Outfielder - Corey Patterson - Playing a lot of baseball at all three OF spots. Backup Corner IF - Cody Ransom - Signed in FA to backup Mark Derosa at third base. Mark will move to First on days when Todd needs off. Backup Middle IF - Ronny Cedeno - Acquired in the Rule V draft to backup at Short and Second Base. 5th OF/Backup IF - Ryan Spillborghs or Jeff Baker - Spilly has the advantage in experience and performance, but Jeff Baker could move into the IF and play First Base in an emergency, something Spilly has never had to do.

"I think we've got a good, competitive, club," Stephens told us. "I think our Rule V draftees are both going to help us out this year, both from a defensive aspect, and as guys who can play off the bench and provide us a spark."

Prediction

Eighty wins is well within reach, and ninety isn't impossible. A lot will depend on the performance of rookie center fielder and projected leadoff guy Dexter Fowler, and how the top of the rotation shapes up.

We look for the Rockies to finish 87-75 and just out of the Wild Card.