2106-07 Offseason Thread

[Huckleberry]

This is the thread for all discussion of offseason activities during the 2106-2107 offseason.  This first post will be updated throughout the offseason and will also include links to other threads or amendment votes that come up during this time.

Sim through 4/4/2107 is complete. Next sim is Sunday 3/5. SPRING TRAINING IS COMPLETE. PLEASE ORGANIZE YOUR SYSTEMS FOR THE REGULAR SEASON. REMEMBER TO PLACE ALL MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS ON THE 40-MAN ROSTER.

Remaining offseason sim schedule:

Sunday 3/5 - FIRST REGULAR SEASON SIM TO 4/11/2107. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR ENTIRE SYSTEM ORGANIZED BEFORE THIS SIM OR I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO USE THE "AI AUTO-ORGANIZE" FUNCTION.

[Huckleberry]

POST PLAYERS WHOSE OPTIONS YOU WANT TO PICK UP HERE

Looks like simming to where the draft pool was published means I missed the team option decisions. The good news is that the contract information for the buyout year is still available on each player screen so I don't have to do any guessing on the terms. If you want to pick up a team option please post here and I will convert the option year to a regular year of the contract.

[Karachi_GM]

I don't have any.
The default for a missed option year decision is to execute the option.
So you shouldn't have do anything unless someone does NOT want to execute the option year.

[Echo127]

I believe I had a team option for Yefu Kirono. I do not want to pick it up.

[Huckleberry]

I don't have any.
The default for a missed option year decision is to execute the option.
So you shouldn't have do anything unless someone does NOT want to execute the option year.

Didn't know that, thanks.

So post here if you have a team option you want to decline and instead pay the buyout on. I will subtract the buyout amount from your cash when FA starts.

[Huckleberry]

Current Declined Options:

Paris - Irving Butler
Rio de Janeiro - Yefu Kirono

[CaseyBlakeDeWitt]

I'd like to decline my option on Nuruddin Bilali.

[Huckleberry]

Current Declined Options:

Paris - Irving Butler
Rio de Janeiro - Yefu Kirono
Sao Paulo - Nuruddin Bilali

[APMP]

Mumbai is going to pick up the option on Ullas (which might have already happened by default)

[mikeyc]

if anyone is looking to sell picks, holla at your boy!

[Havana_Jake]

I'm going out of the country on Friday, and I won't have much (if any) internet. Will we be simming a week (in game) every day (irl)? Is it alright if I leave some free agency instructions with a trusted fellow GM while I'm away?

[Huckleberry]

I'm going out of the country on Friday, and I won't have much (if any) internet. Will we be simming a week (in game) every day (irl)? Is it alright if I leave some free agency instructions with a trusted fellow GM while I'm away?

That should be fine.  We should be a few weeks into free agency by then anyway.

[Huckleberry]

Don't show an option on Bilali, so he'll be a free agent.

Paris will have $1,826,250 deducted for Butler's buyout and Rio will have $500,000 deducted for Kinoro's buyout.

[claphamsa]

ill be in india from this wed through march 4th, no internet.

better spend my money fast

[APMP]

ill be in india from this wed through march 4th, no internet.

better spend my money fast

Where? There's internet everywhere in big cities hotels nowadays from my experience...

[Huckleberry]

Where? There's internet everywhere in big cities hotels nowadays from my experience...

Well plus you're obviously in Mumbai so you would know.

[claphamsa]

delhi, jaipur, ranthambour, agra, and then back to delhi, then up to darjeeling for some mountain time.....

no computer, i even changed phone plans since google fi will work in india...but no ootp!

[APMP]

delhi, jaipur, ranthambour, agra, and then back to delhi, then up to darjeeling for some mountain time.....

no computer, i even changed phone plans since google fi will work in india...but no ootp!

Damn now that's a solid vacation

[claphamsa]

delhi, jaipur, ranthambour, agra, and then back to delhi, then up to darjeeling for some mountain time.....

no computer, i even changed phone plans since google fi will work in india...but no ootp!

Damn now that's a solid vacation

yep, 2.5 weeks.

[Huckleberry]

Pio Seixas is clearly the top position player free agent and Jorge Romano is the top starting pitcher available. José Hernández is the top reliever with that nasty curveball.

There could be some significant change in the balance of power in the ABL next season. I have a few aging stars and some other players who overachieved last year, there could be a significant regression to the mean in Santo Domingo. Meanwhile Seixas and Romano will be taking some wins with them from São Paulo and Washington.

[Huckleberry]

Major free agent signings through 12/6:

Veniamin Ekstein signed with the Los Angeles Stars for 5 years at $8.9M per with a player option on the 5th year. Ekstein had previously played his entire career in Paris since being the 4th overall pick in the IBL Inaugural Draft. He had made that pick pay off in spades as he is the all time leader in career wins not just in the IBL but in the WBA overall. With his career marks of 115-68, a 2.67 ERA, 9.9 K/9, and a 2.97 K/BB ratio Ekstein is having a Hall of Fame career and the Stars hope he brings that success to LA.

Seung-kab Park signed a (slightly illegal which will be corrected) 4-year deal with Black Forest with declining salaries, which makes sense for the 37 year old pitcher. Most observers believe the Foxes will end up paying the buyout on one of the two team option years. Park was a key contributor to Santo Domingo's championship run as he finally wasn't burned by unlucky BABIP numbers for the first time in 4 seasons. Park currently steps in as potentially the Foxes' best reliever along with Felix Poimanov.

The São Paulo Toucans signed Jim McCann from division rival Buenos Aires on a 3-year deal worth $7.5M total. McCann has been exceptionally consistent over the past 5 years and joins an already stacked Toucan bullpen. São Paulo management clearly noticed the success that other division rival Santo Domingo had riding their strong bullpen last season.

Jorge Romano also changed teams within his division as he jumped from Washington back to his former Mexico City club for a lucrative deal worth an average of $9.7M over 4 seasons. Romano is the second top 10 inaugural draft pick to sign as a free agent this offseason as he was picked 6th by the Aztecs in the ABL. Although he doesn't have the win total of Ekstein, he is also considered a potential future Hall of Famer as the highest ERA he's ever posted was 3.61 and he sports an outstanding career 3.45 K/BB ratio.

[Coop]

Enjoyed the comment that Park becomes the top dog in the Black Forest bullpen.  My bullpen's ERA last year was the worst in the IBL.  Any pitcher who can walk and chew gum at the same time could be the best pitcher in my bullpen.

And by the way, I offered McCann more money than São Paulo did, yet he chose to sign with them.  I guess the word around the league is that the Black Forest is where relief pitchers go to die.

[Txhorns]

I'm not sure Coop, my bullpen was pretty bad last year.  I too offered McCann more money but he chose to turn me down.  I guess the guy is afraid of traveling the world.

[Coop]

Your bullpen couldn't have been as bad as mine, since mine finished dead last in ERA.  My bullpen also blew at least two playoff games and basically torpedoed the season.

[Huckleberry]

Claymores had a big day as they signed closer Kiyomitsu Nakamura, infielder José Estrada, and catcher José Águila all on the same day.

[Huckleberry]

Only one major signing this sim, as Rome signed Italian veteran Eligio Sciama.

Tomorrow night's sim will take us into 2107 which means a couple of things. The first is that after the sim I will load the draft into the utilities. Everyone will have Monday to set up lists in the utilities, the timer will start Tuesday morning at 8:00am Central. The second thing is that tomorrow night's sim will take a while once it starts. The almanac is generated and I also update the HTML league history pages, so this is the longest sim of every WBA year (along with the one where I import the draft).

[Echo127]

Can you put me on the draft e-mail list?

[Huckleberry]

Just a quick review of single season records set during the 2106 season in both leagues.

ABL

Slugging Percentage - Ralph Martin, São Paulo, 0.632
OPS - Martin, 1.066
At-Bats - Will Jones, Santo Domingo, 668
Runs - Carlos Vargas, São Paulo, 157
Hits - John Pottle, Santo Domingo, 232
Total Bases - Vargas, 386
Singles - Pottle, 190
RBIs - Martin, 153
Caught Stealing - Pio Seixas, São Paulo, 49(!!!)
bWAR - Vargas, 12.2
Complete Games - Tyler Newman, Santo Domingo, 7
Innings Pitched - Gareth Pollock, Santo Domingo, 238
pWAR - Pollock, 7.8

A much shorter list in the IBL

Hits - Aziz Ahmadzai, Scottish, 223
Doubles - Ahmadzai, 55

[CaseyBlakeDeWitt]

I was completely baffled all season by Seixas' tendencies to get thrown out stealing. I guess he seemed like such an automatic send that he was just getting caught by tons of pitchouts or something?

[Huckleberry]

Your comment made me check up on things...looks like there may need to be another tweak or I'll need to double check settings later. Here are the stolen base percentages by year in the ABL then the IBL

ABL

2100 - 66.2%
2101 - 67.6%
2102 - 67.1%
2103 - 66.5%
2104 - 70.6%
2105 - 70.7%
2106 - 63.5%

IBL

2100 - 70.2%
2101 - 69.0%
2102 - 71.2%
2103 - 70.2%
2104 - 71.1%
2105 - 68.1%
2106 - 64.3%

So both leagues took a nosedive. 1995 National League, which of course is what we try to use as a baseline, was 70.5% in real life. That doesn't really completely explain the crazy year Seixas had but it's something to look at.

[Huckleberry]

Just double checked and they are set correctly in the era_stats file but the "auto-calc" feature may have jacked things up a bit. I'll have to check a little more before I hit that button for next season.

[Huckleberry]

Just a quick reminder that if you place players on the trading block in-game then they will show up on this page that is under the WBA Tools menu above:

http://www.worldbaseballassociation.com/forum/index.php?page=waiversandblock

That way everyone can go to a page that shows all players on every team's trading block.