Anaheim Angels / For The Hell of It, MVP Baseball 2005

I actually started this owner mode a while ago, but I figured...why not. I'm finding it enjoyable.

Some details...

Picked the Anaheim Angels (my gf picked it actually). We named the stadium "Reign of Terror". I added an extra level of seating already (used the "big budget").

The team right now is 13-9, with 140 games remaining. Hooray .692 winning percentage!! It's good for first place in the division.

Here's how I play it: I play the first game of every 3-game stand, sometimes the second if I really like the team. I sim the rest. If I play too many games I'll lose interest fast. Usually though I'll play more home games than road games because those are the money-making games...best to win those ones.

I sim all minor league games, even if there's a day where the Angels aren't playing. I might play a few later on to see what my prospects are like.

Here's how I'm going to complete this dynasty...
Since the MLB season is crazy long, 162 games, and I'm not playing every single game, I'm not going to do a game-by-game analysis. Instead, I'm going to do this in the form of a management meeting. You'll see what I mean.

I will list a roster this weekend, as well as coach / scout names...I'm at work right now so I can't easily check.

So anyway, 22 games in with a 13-9 record...great start! Let's see the minutes of the latest management meeting...

Management meeting, April 20, 2005
-------------------------------------------

Present: Owner/GM Steve Gower, Manager, Head Scout, Travelling Secretary

Absent: None

Owner/GM:
- Great start to the season - 13-9, which gives us first place. Fans are responding with sellouts.
- Money is very tight, but finally making headway thanks to some great ball playing. Coach, keep up the wins.
- Player salaries are too high. Going to ride out the season and try to win a championship, but expect some dismantling in the off-season. Hard to make money with the high salaries.
- Youth is key for the future. Going to try and get some good, young players.

Manager:
- Players, coaching staff feeling a lot of pressure to win. Trying their best.
- From the pitching staff: bullpen is offering great support, but the starter rotation from the 3-5 spot is a little weak. Thinking of moving Scot Shields in Byrd's spot in #5 - will see how the season progresses and look at things again at the 40 game mark.
- Hitting is a big strength for the team. Can take advantage of bad pitching - for example the 5-3 10-inning win against the Yankees the other night. They brought in a cold pitcher and we hit them hard to win the game in extra innings.
- However, the batters need to be a little more patient at the plate. Opposing teams are getting an easy ride with their pitch count.

Head Scout:
- Too early in the season to give any suggestions for players to try and acquire.
- No info yet on draft prospects...should look strongly at developing pitchers.

Traveling Secretary:
- Team's currently on a long road trip. Accommodations are taken care of.

This post has been edited by sgower on Mar 6 2009, 09:25 AM

woot, a dynasty!

sounds pretty good...are you not getting 09 The Show this year?

MVP Baseball 2005 <3

Solid stuff man, good luck!

Nah, got Rock Band for $99 instead so I decided to forgo MLB 09.

Here's my staff list:

GM - Me, of course

MLB Manager: M. Scioscia
MLB Scout: J. Fernandez
Minors Scout: J. Donaldson
Amateur Scout: C. Bellhorn
Minors Manager: C. Davey
MLB Hitting Coach: C. Garcia
Minors Hitting Coach: J. Karp
MLB Pitching Coach: F. Estalella
Minors Pitching Coach: J. Cedeno
Trainer: C. Cunnane

I'll get the full roster later. Been real busy.

Managers Meeting - May ?? (honestly can't remember)

Present: Owner/GM S. Gower, MLB Manager M. Scioscia, Trainer C. Cunnane

Also Present: Minors Manager C. Davey, MLB Hitting Coach C. Garcia, MLB Pitching Coach F. Estalella

Absent: MLB Scout J. Fernandez

Owner/GM S. Gower:
- Really pleased with the month of April - good record (15-9), reflected in attendance with some sellouts for a couple games late in the month
- Not pleased with start to May - 1-3 to start and fans aren't happy
- On the bright side, food vendors are doing very well
- 6-game homestand coming up vs Tigers & Indians.


MLB Manager M. Scioscia:
- Team record after 28 games: 16-12 / .571 win %. Oakland A's are a game back with a 15-13 record
- Trying to figure out what's happened to the team after a great start in April. Problem seems to be with the offense

MLB Hitting Coach C. Garcia:
- Players are still too quick at the plate. We need to work the pitch count and get the pitchers to make the mistakes.
- Working with the sluggers to figure out why they're not hitting deep, especially in our own park.
- Really happy with our small ball play. Getting good hits to advance runners, Figgins is our lead base stealer.

MLB Pitching Coach F. Estalella
- Pitching has been our strongest part in our games. Not giving up too many runs - just need the offense to get us some wins.
- Gave Scot Shields a trial start; had a really great game despite a 2-1 loss. Pitched 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 runs (including an inside-the-park homer that was the result of bad fielding), and struck out 3 batters. Will look into slotting him into the regular rotation again after 40 games as planned

Trainer C. Cunnane
- Players are keeping very healthy. DL has been empty since Darren Erstad came back from missing 9 games due to a strained rib cage.

Minors Manager C. Davey
- Decent record in the minors for most teams:
AAA: 14-14 (.500 WPCT), last place, 3.0 GB
AA: 12-15 (.444 WPCT), 2.0 GB
A: 18-10 (.643 WPCT), 0.0 GB
- Our A team is doing fantastic - hoping to win a championship.
- Our other teams aren't doing so well, but aren't too far behind. A good month of games and we'll be in the thick of things.

Management Meeting - May ??

Present: Owner/GM S. Gower, MLB Manager M. Scioscia, Trainer C. Cunnane

Also Present: MLB Hitting Coach C. Garcia, MLB Pitching Coach F. Estalella

Absent: MLB Scout J. Fernandez

Owner/GM S. Gower
- The team is in the hole big time, that's no secret. Have made a few adjustments to try and recoup lost money, including raising ticket prices by $10 each section. Considering setting the lower bowl even higher.
- Despite the great team record, going to have to look into dismantling a bit of it. Too many players with high salaries, some players are being actively shopped
- Traded Orlando Cabrera ($8M/year) to the A's for Keith Ginter ($300k/year). May come back to bite us as we lose a little speed, but we save $7.7M in salary and get equal skill.
- Look for some more roster moves to lift some dead weight, perhaps trading some bats for pitching staff.
- A few players have expressed their frustration with current contracts, but the team is not in the position to sign new deals until the financial picture is a little less muddy.

MLB Manager M. Scioscia
- May is turning out to be another great month despite the bad start. A 10-7 record gives us 25-16 for the season so far after 41 games. Next team behind us is still 5 games back.
- Our offense seems to have found its way and we battled through injuries to Guerrero and other key offensive components. The team is playing well again.

MLB Hitting Coach C. Garcia
- As Mr. Scioscia said, the offense is turning out better games. Batters are becoming more selective and working the pitch count while taking advantage of bad pitches.
- A few players still need a little work to stay patient at the plate

MLB Pitching Coach F. Estalella
- Pitching staff is doing OK work, giving batters enough to win the games.
- Scot Shields will be given a chance to start another game soon, just waiting until the end of the rotation.

Trainer C. Cunnane
- DL is empty after Vladimir Guerrero made a comeback. No injury complaints from any players at this time.