Introduction:

Well, I bought this game, MLB The Show 2011, back at Christmas as NHL 12 and Madden 12 were getting stale. I started a Franchise as the Oakland Athletics with some downloaded rosters (forget who from), to make it a challenge. Little did I realize, by losing in the ALDS, you only gain like 1% budget increase, 5% for ALCS, etc...Anyways, with a cash strapped team I blew through seasons trying to acquire prospects and secondary players from other teams, and eventually I made a solid contender.

I've made the play-offs each year since 2014 and have made the ALDS 3 times, and World Series once, although I've never won the World Series, yet. Each year I have to offload players like Madison Bumgarner, Chris Sale, Clay Buckholz, Daniel Bard, Jason Heyward, Colby Rasmus, Luis Exposito, Kurt Suzuki, etc...But each year, I find a relatively cheap replacement and my "core" players manage to keep my in contention.

Johnny Hurley, 1B, is my perrenial all-star, and is rated as one of the top 5 players in all the majors. I've had to send him to arbitration a few times, but last year locked him up to a 6 year deal. Last season he batted .303% and had 41 HR's with 111 RBI's to lead my team to winning the Wild Card.

Liam Hendriks is my "ace". After trading for him from Arizona in 2014, he has gone on to become one of the best, most consistent starters in the majors. Last season he was 20-4 with a 3.43 ERA and won his 2nd straight Cy Young Award.

Scotty Felder is a player I got from the Rule 5 draft in 2013. He usually gets about 15 wins per season, and has only 1 losing season, which was last year when he went 11-12 with a 4.56 ERA. His rating though, has now grown ahead of Hendriks, so I'm hoping to see the Felder who went 14-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 2016.

As for the rest of the team, Rolando Vizcaino, Conor Gillaspie, Chris Pettit, and Fred Branch are all former prospects I got before the 2014 season began and have spent 5+ seasons with me. Johnny Nunez, Houston Jensen and Andres Perez all developed more recently, and Ayala and Case were acquired when I needed to offload Jemile Weeks for salary reasons.

Pitching-wise, Brandon Beachy has been developing with me since the 2013 season as well, and Frederic James, Thomas Gregory and Brandon Nemeth were all acquired over recent seasons to bring stability to the 3-5 starting pitcher slots. Joaquin Fransisco, Emmett Perez, Randal Shultz and Joel Silva represent my future as they have all been drafted by me in recent seasons.

Erik Hamren was my only acquisition to bolster a bullpen that struggled mightily last season, and veterans Trystan Magnuson, Art Dellaro, Eduardo Sanchez and Jhan Marinez return to hopefully put in a strong effort as we chase the World Series once again.

Luis Ramirez is my closer now, after Alberto Valenzuella became too expensive and had to be released before the 2018 seasons. Bobby Solis was my first draft pick as GM of the Athletics, and could contend this season for the closing position if Ramirez struggles.

Anyways, that is my lengthy introduction to my team, I'm definitely not a baseball expert but enjoy playing the game and managing the team. If anyone has any questions or comments, please leave them, cause I would like to improve my team the best I can.

World Series or Bust!

Oakland Athletics - 2019 Roster
#	PITCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
15	Scotty Felder	SP	R/R	33	6'2"	193 lbs	$12.0M
62	Liam Hendriks	SP	R/R	30	6'1"	200 lbs	$11.9M
40	Erik Hamren	RP	R/R	32	6'1"	195 lbs	$1.9M
64	Trystan Magnuson	RP	L/R	33	6'7"	210 lbs	$2.1M
26	Luis Ramirez	CP	L/L	28	6'2"	220 lbs	$3.3M
10	Art Dellaero	RP	R/R	31	6'1"	197 lbs	$904K
37	Brandon Beachy	SP	R/R	32	6'3"	215 lbs	$3.0M
28	Frederic James	SP	R/R	30	6'5"	191 lbs	$1.0M
56	Eduardo Sanchez	RP	R/R	29	5'11"	170 lbs	$946K
25	Thomas Gregory	SP	R/R	29	5'10"	208 lbs	$230K
54	Jhan Marinez	RP	R/R	30	6'1"	165 lbs	$600K
35	Brandon Nemeth	SP	R/R	29	5'11"	177 lbs	$835K
35	Emmett Perez	SP	R/R	27	6'2"	202 lbs	$596K
7	Phillip Roh	SP	L/L	31	5'11"	208 lbs	$900K
58	Aaron Valderrama	RP	R/L	29	5'11"	202 lbs	$400K
11	Bobby Solis	CP	L/R	26	5'11"	216 lbs	$450K
39	Joey Devine	RP	R/R	35	6'0"	235 lbs	$1.0M
47	Jordan Lyles	SP	R/R	28	6'4"	210 lbs	$340K
48	Randal Shultz	SP	L/L	26	6'2"	197 lbs	$465K
23	Joaquin Fransisco	SP	L/L	25	6'1"	218 lbs	$300K
#	CATCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
23	Jovanny Major	C	R/R	27	6'2"	205 lbs	$4.5M
6	Joshua McKinley	C	R/R	27	6'5"	218 lbs	$190K
#	INFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
17	Johnny Hurley	1B	R/L	32	6'0"	199 lbs	$13.3M
39	Julio Ayala	2B	R/R	27	6'2"	182 lbs	$160K
22	Jim Case	2B	R/R	29	6'4"	196 lbs	$240K
50	Connor Gillaspie	3B	L/R	31	6'1"	195 lbs	$6.5M
20	Napoleon Shea	3B	R/R	29	6'5"	199 lbs	$530K
24	Johnny Nunez	3B	R/R	23	5'11"	215 lbs	$1.0M
4	Rolando Vizcaiono	SS	R/R	30	6'2"	222 lbs	$9.6M
#	OUTFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
38	Houston Jensen	LF	S/R	30	5'9"	179 lbs	$3.0M
33	Chris Pettit	LF	R/R	34	6'0"	200 lbs	$5.6M
5	Fred Branch	CF	L/R	32	5'10"	178 lbs	$2.1M
#	DESIGNATED HITTER	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
6	Andres Perez	1B	S/R	26	6'5"	233 lbs	$3.7M

Opening Day Roster:



I will be simming most of this season, but will play some games, so may post some statistics along the way! hope you enjoy

EDIT:
Oakland acquires 29 year old RP Diego Garcia off waivers from St. Louis
Oakland also acquires 28 year old SS Kyle Gonzalez off waivers from the New York Yankees.

EDIT 2:
Oakland acquires 29 year old SP Jackie Pate off waivers from Philadelphia