I always wanted to be a GM...An OOTP2007 Dynasty

[Young Drachma]

Ok, so you have to understand my story here. Before I even get started, I'll let you know that I've never played baseball. Ok, so there was that one year when I was 12 that I started a baseball league. But other than that? I stopped after that.

But what I always wanted to do was run a baseball team. Since the time I was a young kid, I just knew that was the thing more than anything that I was destined to do.

Ok, who doesn't though right?

Well, I got a little luckier than most maybe. I rushed through high school because I wanted to get to college, get a degree and then immerse myself in the national pasttime. At 15, I got my GED. I went to college here right at home and I worked. I managed to get a scholarship after my sophomore year and realized that if I took classes in the summer that I could graduate and get started sooner.

And I just swallowed up the game where I could. My school -- Metropolitan State -- didn't have a college baseball team. Silly, I know. But I just wanted a degree. So, I started working with a minor league team for a little bit.

That was ok, but it wasn't immersive enough. Or maybe too immersive. I know that wearing the mascot uniform twice a week during the summer wasn't what I had on my plan, so I decided to jettison that gig after that summer was over and started looking for links in big league clubs.

I know, I know. You're thinking, "kids these days. Never wanna wait for anything. Blah Blah." Well can it, pal. I had a gameplan and I knew what I wanted to do.

So anyway, I wrote to every big league club in the book. I told 'em what my goal was and how I wanted to do it. And I guess, someone decided to take pity on me.
---
In 1988, Major League Baseball had a dilemma. See, in the early 1980s, the third major leagues -- the PCL and Continental Leagues -- basically folded. And so, there were all of these markets that had been previously closed off to MLB, that they finally could expand to. But the owners took a few years to figure out their gameplan.

And in 1988, they decide to expand for the first time since 1961. By 12 teams. Overnight, the game was different. At least, in terms of its complexion of teams.

So a few random markets got teams, because the logic was to "spread the wealth" and to "keep the nation engaged" in baseball.

At that time, the sport was suffering - bad. It was teetering almost on the brink of being lower on the radar than any other sport and they knew with the US getting ready to host the World Cup in a few years, that people might start watching soccer and stop watching baseball.

So, they needed to do something.

Well, in 1988, I was only 9. So it didn't really matter to me.

But 10 years later, I got the opportunity of a lifetime.

[Young Drachma]

MLB originally put a team in Billings, Montana. Yeah, I know. What were they thinking?! Well, a deep pocketed owner sold them on the idea of sellout crowds for an underserved region and desperate for a market on short notice, MLB took the bait.

The "Billings Experiment" is what it was called and it lasted from 1988 until 1997. They even managed a division title in their 2nd year.

But things got lean and while attendance wasn't terrible (average of about 1.7 million fans per season), ownership tried something new. So they moved the team south to Cheyenne, Wyoming and decided to give the region one last go before giving up completely.

But by now, ownership basically wanted to do what it could to win and win now, figuring that even if fans didn't come out to games, they were gonna sell the club to some lucrative market and be done with it.

And lucky for me, I got to be there to watch it go down. Well kinda. Let me explain...

[Young Drachma]

In the summer of 1997, I got a phone call from Don Wold, owner of the Billings Mustangs.

"Hello?! Is this umm...Tristan Schofield?!"

"Yes, yes it is. Who is this?"

"Young man, my name is Don Wold. I received your letter about aspiring to be a general manager in the major leagues. How would you like the opportunity to work with the Mustangs organization?"

I had no idea how to respond. I mean, you have to understand that growing up in New Jersey, I had only heard of Montana in the same way you've heard of the American Revolution. You know it's there and that it happened, but..you can't be certain how it all went down.

Anyway, he obviously wanted an answer and so, without missing a beat I told him, "Wow sir. That would be quite an honor."

Well, good. You should be here on Monday. We'll sit down and talk and go from there.

::click::

I had no idea how I was supposed to get to Montana. I mean, sure I could get a plane ticket, but...geez if I knew how I was supposed to find a plane ticket that would get me out of here in less than 48 hours.

I had no idea where I would stay, what they intended to pay me (IF?) or any of that. I really wanted to call him back and hammer out the details.

But this could be my one shot. And not only did this guy not send me a ridiculous form letter saying that he wasn't interested, he called me up!

But what if it was one of my friends messing around?

I dialed *69 and when the receptionist answered "Billings Mustangs Baseball Club: 1989 American League West Champions, how may I help you?"

I just hung up.

It was real. This might really be happening.

I'd better pack.

[Young Drachma]

Luckily, I don't spend a lot of money. So I had the savings to go and get a plane ticket on short notice. I called my dad. He was pretty excited. No, actually he was downright stoked.

Probably more than me.

Except for one thing.

"Son, where the hell is Billings? Is that a major league club?"

He insisted he come with me on the trip, because "you never know what those crazy people out there might do. I mean, don't they carry guns out there?"

He apparently knew more about Montana than I did.

[Young Drachma]

1997 MLB ALIGNMENT

NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
---
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Chicago Cubs
New York Mets
Buffalo Bisons
Pittsburgh Pirates
Brooklyn Dodgers
New Jersey Giants

West
---
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals
Vancouver Canadians
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Seals
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels
Colorado Rockies

AMERICAN LEAGUE
East
---
St. Paul Saints
Washington Nationals
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers

West
---
Portland Beavers
Los Angeles Stars
New Orleans Zephyrs
Billings Mustangs
Seattle Mariners
Chicago White Sox
Texas Rangers
Omaha Athletics

[Young Drachma]

1997 was the first year of baseball's expanded playoffs. It meant that the top two teams in each league not to win their division would be invited to the playoffs for the first time ever.

In 1998, the leagues realigned to a three division format.

[Young Drachma]

So, you're probably wondering what happened to me.

I don't really feel like talking about what happened ten years ago. I mean, it was cool and all.

But I'm kinda more interested in what's been going on now.

Well the long story short is, the summer of 1997 was pretty awesome. I got hired to work in the front office. But it wasn't as cool as that sounds. I did some ticket work, I assisted the Assistant GM -- which meant a lot of coffee and all of that.

But they paid me. And I got to see the mountains. It wasn't that exciting, but..it was kinda cool for the first few months I was out there.

Anyway, the following year the team announced it was packing up and moving to Wyoming.

Mr. Wold asked me the most bizarre question ever.

"You wanna be GM next year?"

I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I figure this is what you came here to do, right? And most of the staff is leaving after this year. I don't feel like hiring somebody I don't know that well. And you haven't been here that long, but..I think I've got a pretty good handle on you. And it's what your dream was, right? Why not get a little on the job training?"

He was serious. I couldn't believe it. I think that entire year I expected to wake up in a dream, soaking wet in a bed with my own pee, with my friends standing around laughing at me for talking to myself in my sleep for hours at a time.

But it wasn't a dream. Or it was. I haven't decided yet and it's been a decade.

[Young Drachma]

That whole year seems like a blur and yet, it wasn't all at the same time.

It was a ton of on the job learning. I didn't make a lot of the moves that the team made that year. Mr. Wold did most of that, along with the team president he brought in Sam Sheldon.

But..I did get to sit in on all the meetings and I worked pretty closely with all of the players.

They called me "Mr. Kid." They were really astounded by me at first, because I think they thought I was an intern. But when Mr. Wold introduced me as "the boss", they just tried not to laugh. But I loosened them all up, by simply saying in that first meeting down at the complex in Spring Training that "look, I don't have any illusions about anything. All I know is, if we're winning and I'm providing you all with what you need to succeed then we're all gonna be a lot happier."

That was a really fun team. We had Derek Jeter who we got in a trade from the Blue Jays, Nomar Garciaparra had just come off his rookie of the year season. And the first signing I managed to make was to get Kirby Puckett, who had been a mainstay with the Red Sox for 11 years to come play for us. he'd just come off a pretty terrible year (.239) he wasn't even playing full-time anymore. But I convinced Mr. Wold that having a guy like that in the clubhouse would be a huge shot for our credibility. So he took a gamble and we got him to sign on.

In that Jeter trade from Toronto, we picked up this kid - Nate Roberts - who I just knew would be a star. I just had a feeling about it. He'd only gone (2-8, 5.52 ERA, 59k, 66 BB) in his rookie year with the Jays, but..I just had a feeling that he was ready to breakout.

So when we pulled the trigger on that deal, he was the one player that if they didn't include him, we wouldn't have done it.

Everyone in the front office was confused as to why I was so high on this kid. But then he came down here and won 20 games in his first season with us and then they were looking at me like "aah, you were onto something.."

Anyway, needless to say that year was pretty magical. We had a heck of a year, going 94-60, winning the AL West for the first time since '88 and making it all the way to the World Series!

I went from wearing a mascot costume to the World Series in two years. CRAZY!

Well, that was just the start of the success for the Cavalry -- oh, I forgot to tell you, when we moved to Wyoming..we changed the name of the club to the Rocky Mountain Cavalry-- franchise.

But Mr. Wold wouldn't be around to see it. He died a few weeks after the World Series was over.

I was crushed. We all were, really.

The minority owners of the club cared very little for baseball, though that his buying a baseball team and sticking it in Mountain Time to compete with the Rockies -- who'd been here since 1988 -- was ill advised and they immediately started looking for a new market for the club.

[Young Drachma]

I experienced the highs and then, I got to experience the lows. I was asked to resign by the club just before the winter meetings. They basically told me that they "appreciated my effort and would give me another position in the organization if I wanted one. But they were going in a different direction."

I said thanks and cleaned out my office a week later.

[Young Drachma]

THe Cavalry would've made Mr. Wold proud. They went on to win four more AL pennants after that first won we captured. Even better, the team won three straight World Series titles from 2000-2002. But..not in the Rocky Mountain West.

The owners sold the team after the 1999 season for several hundred million bucks to an investment group from Riverside, California, who were looking to establish a third franchise for the Greater Los Angeles area.

So the team became the Riverside Cavalry and turned itself into one of the best franchises in baseball.

[Young Drachma]

I really feel like I gained a lot during my magical season in 1998. I mean, it was really crazy how that all went down and I can look at that team and know that I had a huge hand in helping it develop the way that it did in the years after I was long gone from the club.

I decided to take a year off. I went to graduate school, proudly showing off my LCS championship ring to anyone who wanted to see it.

What's even cooler, when they won in 2000, I got a letter in the mail with a check from the players. They voted me a half playoff share from their World Series victory and it had a note.

"Hey Mr. Kid, we hope that you're not cluttering your brain in college so much that you can't come back and put together another World Series champion."

Signed --
Derek, Kirby and Nate.

I still kept in touch with them from time to time, but I'd never actually gone to a game the entire time they were in Riverside.

I have no idea how someone got me a World Series ring, but they did. I sent it to my dad.

"Billings was pretty far away, huh? Thanks for believing in me."

-Tristan

[Young Drachma]

It's 2010. Baseball has expanded some, still three divsions and I haven't had a GM job since 1998. That's an eternity to be out of the game, but I was so young when I started..and I never really left the game.

I finished my PhD at 26. I taught at a junior college for a while and even got onto the field as an assistant coach of a college team. I didn't want to be the coach -- too much time committment -- but it was pretty neat to see life from the other side of the fence.

I was a part-time scout for a few teams at different points from 2008 until last year. And then it hit me, "I want to get back into the game."

I've always have offers to be an assistant GM, to work in player development. I've been an agent for a few guys in the past, too.

But I didn't want to get back into the game until I felt like it was right. Most people thought I was pretty goofy for that, but..I knew what was right for me.

[Young Drachma]

It's 2010, Baseball expanded in 2008 by adding these cities:

Austin (Tex.) Aviators
Chicago Heartland Comets (They play in Kenosha, Wisconsin.)
Nevada Silverhawks
New York Rens (Short for New York Renassiance. They play in Harlem. This means there is now a team in four of the five boroughs.)

If you hadn't noticed, there isn't an anti-trust exemption for baseball. There is revenue sharing, too. Salaries didn't start to "explode" until the early 2000s.

The highest paid player as of May 2010 is Anibal Rodriguez of the Carolina Reds at $13,716,000.

The highest payroll is the New York Mets at $70.4 million.

So the new alignment is:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST
---
Cleveland Bombers
New York Rens
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Washington Nationals
Baltimore Orioles

CENTRAL
---
Toronto Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Chargers (moved from New Orleans in 2003)
Chicago White Sox
St. Paul Saints
Chicago Heartland Comets

WEST
---
Riverside Cavalry
Seattle Mariners
Portland Bears
Los Angeles Stars
San Jose Athletics (moved from Omaha in 1999)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST
---
Brooklyn Dodgers
Carolina Reds
New York Mets
Atlanta Braves
Florida Oranges (moved from Buffalo in 1999)
New Jersey Giants

CENTRAL
----
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies
Austin Aviators
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals

WEST
---
Vancouver Canadians
Nevada Silverhawks
San Francisco Seals
Anaheim Angels
Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres

[Young Drachma]

The most recent collective bargaining
Expansion has been done in 1961, 1988, 2008 and the next expansion will come in 2011.

The idea is to realign to four divisions of five teams each in baseball, which means we need two more teams in each league to get to that number. That'll probably open the playoffs up again, as we'll go from 4 teams in each league to 8. That'll be allowing 40% of the teams into the playoffs.

There have been all sorts of pundits complaining about it. But the bottom line, baseball is still competing in a competitive landscape that rewards teams for a good season. If baseball fails to respond, it will continue to be left behind.

We're still trying to work out whether the playoff series will be best of seven as they are now for each round or we'll shorten the rounds -- and I expect we will -- probably a best-of-five game series called the Wild Card Series to precede the Divsion Series, which will also be a best of five game series.

Some radical proposals have called for a one-game Wild Card Game before the Division Series, as a "winner take all" craziness that would get the playoffs really kicking, but..the problem with that is simple. "It'll cause great teams to risk losing early on."

Most of the owners have said they do not support this plan, but the vote will be taken around the 2010 All-Star break.

[Young Drachma]

There is an independent league with 20 teams called the International League. The Triple-A and Short-Season Leagues are the only affiliated leagues in the minors, they are relatively new and don't have playoffs or anything.

The draft feeder league is now the National Collegiate Baseball Association, with teams across the country.
---
2011 EXPANSION CLUBS
New England Colonials (NL)
Arizona Diamondbacks (NL)
Miami Marlins (AL)
New Jersey Nine (AL)

NEW ALIGNMNENT FOR 2011 SEASON
AL EAST
New York Rens
New York Yankees
Boston
Toronto
New Jersey Nine (2011 expansion)

AL SOUTH
Baltimore
Miami (2011 expansion)
Washington
Texas
Kansas City

AL WEST
Riverside
Seattle
Portland
Los Angeles
San Jose

AL CENTRAL
Detroit
Chicago
Chicago Heartland
St. Paul
Cleveland


NL EAST
Brooklyn
New York
Philadelphia
New England (2011 expansion)
Pittsburgh

NL SOUTH
Atlanta
Houston
Florida
Carolina
Virginia (moved to New Jersey in 2010)

NL WEST
Arizona (2011 expansion)
Vancouver
Anaheim
San Francisco
San Diego

NL CENTRAL
Colorado
St. Louis
Chicago
Austin
Nevada

[Young Drachma]

With expansion coming in 2011, I decided to go ahead and listen to offers for new jobs. I figured it would be worth my while to at least hear the teams out to see what they were talking before discounting them offhand.

The only teams that called were two from my birth area, the New Jersey Nine, who replaced the Giants a year after their move to Northern Virginia. But this Jersey team doesn't play in Newark, but right in the heart of the suburbs of Central Jersey. Smart move there.

The Hartford Whalers are trying to make folks remember the good ol' days of when Hartford had a professional major sports team. I wonder if this will work out for them well.

Someone seems to think so.

The Hartford gig was the most intriguing of the two to me. I didn't really have any strong desire to head back home to Jersey, though I do like the team's name. Simple.

Hartford officially offered me the job, a few days before the expansion draft.

But then, I got thrown a curveball that I thought was worth checking out.

[Young Drachma]

I got a call from Peter Vincent, the Managing Partner of the Virginia Giants.

He wanted me to do him a favor.

Only problem is, I don't know him that well.

Or more like, at all. His friend, Tom Reynolds, was taking over the New Jersey Nine. He still had a great deal of respect for the people of New Jersey and wanted me to know that "moving the ballclub was really just a business decision and little else."

That's why he supported the decision to place an expansion team there right after the Giants moved south.

Ok, whatever. I'm wondering what the favor is.

"So you're probably wondering what the favor I want is? Well, I'd like to consult the New Jersey franchise as they head into the expansion draft. Not in any official capacity, of course. But when Tom calls you later today, I'd like you to take him up on his offer to help out."

I'm wondering what's in it for him.

"And then I'd like you to offer you the GM job with the Giants."

I almost dropped the phone.

I probably neglected to tell you that growing up, the Giants were my favorite team. It didn't matter that they stunk it up worse than the landfills people thought we had all over Jersey.

Since 1933 -- they didn't move to Jersey until 1950 -- the team has only been the playoffs three times. We're still mystified that the 2003 team managed to win a World Series. That was the beginning of the end, really. They drew 3.4 million fans, by far the most in franchise history and we knew they would try to sell the team almost immediately.

So needless to say, attendance dropped substantially when the announced it was moving just a year after they won the World Series. Those last five years in Jersey were the longest lame duck years anyone had ever seen. They went back to the playoffs in 2005..and well, that's it.

The team is in dire straits again. Four straight losing seasons and well, largely several eras of futility, with a World Series fluke that no one can believe happened and most of all, a new fan base that won't stand for over 50 years of losing like the faithful in Jersey did.

I told him I needed to think about it, but that the consulting gig for the expansion draft shouldn't be a big deal.

[Young Drachma]

The New Jersey Nine war room was at a Bar and Grill in Westfield, New Jersey. I'm not sure what they were trying to prove by doing this, but that was their idea.

MLB stopped hosting live expansion drafts after the clunker of 1988 and instead, just does it on the internet live.

So our picks were made virtually and brought up on a screen for all to see.

The bar was actually packed, as everyone wanted to find out who would be the first members of their team. See, the founders of the club said they went with the name "Nine" for the ballclub, so fans could come up with their own nicknames for the team. The unofficial one that's on all of their promo materials for the first year says "YOUR Jersey Boys: The New Jersey Nine. Jersey Proud."

Unorthodox, but probably a smart move for a place that just lost its team a year ago and the rancor over the move was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Besides, everyone was probably too busy ranting and raving over the new darlings of MLB - The New York Rens.

It was a brilliant idea after all, putting a baseball team in Harlem after all of these years. There was some fight by the Yankees, but behind the bat of perennial MVP Ryan Howard, that team has the ghosts of Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and all of those Negro League greats dancing in heaven. Just wait until they manage to win a World Series..

Anyway, back to what I'm doing.

[Young Drachma]

The GM looked at his notebook and the first player he wanted to take was a New Jersey native. You know, set the mood off the right way.

I don't know if it was because the kid had a lot of upside, because he was cheap (always a consideration at these things) or a combination.

But Riverside OF Cullen McGuire was the first player to don the New Jersey Nine uniform and the crowd erupted when the pick hit the board.

Surprise, surprise. McGuire is a Westfield native.

Stroke of genius, stroke of genius.

[Young Drachma]

After the expansion draft, I accepted the Virginia Giants job. To lie and say it was my dream job, would just be a lie. I mean, I grew up liking the team a lot. But they've left my home state...and they're not very good.

And the owner has already said he doesn't intend to break the bank.

[Young Drachma]

The Giants rank dead last - yes, even behind the four new expansion teams - in spending at $22.5 million.

I've been told that we'll be able to spend a bit more, to get the team to about $31 million or so. That gives me a little ground to work with, but not a ton. I'm just trying to stablize the team, not trying to move mountains.

One of the good things is, we have the 5th rated farm system according to Baseball America. I'm going to focus on trying to balance the club with veterans to stablize us and get us to respectability and maybe even the playoffs.

[Young Drachma]

The first move I made was to pay $2 million to acquire two Australian players - 20-yr old OF Axel 'Rose' Collingridge and a 28-year old pitcher Brandon Cashmore.

They've both most recently played in the Aussie League, but Cashmore has extensive minor league experience around the world.

He'll try to make the team, while Collingridge is probably the best young player out of Australia at the moment, so getting him was a coup.

[Young Drachma]

I've identified a few players that I want to sign during free agency.

Payroll is currently at $17.4 million, the lowest in baseball. Cleveland has $56 million and leads the majors.

The highest paid player in the game is Anibal Rodriguez of the Carolina Reds who makes $14.5 million.

Revenue sharing is on, so teams share media money and currently each team gets $75 million per year in media revenue.

[Young Drachma]

My first trade with the club came when we got an offer from Chicago Heartland. They offered up 1B Ken Harvey (16/44/.294) for a pitcher.

I changed the pitcher and threw in less than a million and they did the deal. I dealt them Matt Clement who had only been with Virginia for a season and is 7-26 over the past two years.

Harvey gives us a veteran bat at first base, where we were pretty weak to begin with.

[Young Drachma]

Rather than bore you with all the negotiations of the off-season, I'm gonna try to draw this out like you would a fantasy team, just letting you know who we have where, what their role is and all of that.

[Young Drachma]

The International League, an independent league that's been in existance since 1996 announced it was suspending operations this year.

Baseball's rapid expansion has left most cities yearing for Major League or affiliated teams, rather than independent ones and so, the league in the face of declining revenues decided to call it quits.

[Young Drachma]

Heading into the 2011 season, we're faced with a new division and one main goal - get attendance up - ownership didn't move from Jersey to a gleaming new ballpark in Northern Virginia called Google Park at Diamond Lake to lose ballgames or to have people questioning why the team left a strong fan base -- even if the team wasn't very good for most of those years.

So, I went after high impact players that I thought would give us a good chance to win. Match that with the fact that this is the first year of the expanded playoffs and I figured that we had a pretty good shot to do well if the stars aligned the right way.

[Young Drachma]

Along with the new four division setup in each league, note that inter-league play still has NEVER happened in the regular season and is not slated for anytime in the future.

No one has really ever considered it as something they'd want to see.

"The leagues are different. The rules are the same mind you, but the leagues are mostly distinct and it would be unusual to go messing that up by allowing them to play every year. It'd be very un-baseball like," said Richard Walters, a writer for the Rocky Mountain News out of Denver.

The new playoff alignment will feature:

Wild Card Series (best-of-3)
Division Series (best-of-5) previous best of seven
League Championship (best-of-7)
World Series (best-of-7)

The four division champions, along with four Wild Card teams will be thrown into the fray to make what promises to be what baseball officials have begun to call "Fall Madness"

"We want baseball to be on people's minds during October. That's the idea of instituting what we believe will become the most exciting playoffs on the planet, with non-stop baseball for an entire month, featuring the best teams around the major leagues. We can't wait to get started," said CEO of Major League Baseball Marketing Elizabeth C.K. Handall.

[Young Drachma]

To increase the amount of foreign players through the pipeline, I added a European College Feeder League to go with the Australian one we inherited from the International League, an Asian HS developmental League, and a new HS league in the US.

We'll identify baseball "hotbeds" every five years to expand into in terms of player development.

Over the past decade or so, Ghana has emerged with Latin American stalwarts and Asian countries as the one new "hotbed" for talent. This comes largely after the success of Ghananian-American players who have succeed in the game and have provided a venue for the game's growth in that country, through development academies and Little Leagues sponsored by MLB teams.

The breakout success of Wosene "Hands" Lamaalem of the Boston Red Sox who in his second season in the majors hit 57 HRs and 150 RBI, has sent scouts scouring the countryside for the next great African baseball star.

"This kid is the real deal," said one scout about Lamaalem, who moved to America when he was seven and grew up in New Hampshire.

"All of the kids played little league and so, my mom thought this is what American kids did and signed me up. My father was skeptical at first, especially since he was a college professor and thought too much play would affect my schooling. But he met kids at the college who were balanced and well adjusted despite sports and so, he let me play.

Once I got good at it and they understood the game better, it was pretty fun because they were more into it than I was. My dad was one of those bookish types. He would come home with all of these baseball books to learn the sport."

[Young Drachma]

One of the big problems of this past off-season was the fact that we literally had TOO many outfielders. I didn't even know where to start with them.

Overall, I think we improved the team a great deal. I don't know that we're playoff contenders, but..if things go right we should be right in the thick of the race all year.

We probably had the two biggest off-season signings of the year, inking the best two players available in closer Jake Smith, who spent the past six years in Vancouver racking up 185 saves during that time. He signed a 3 year deal worth $18.6 million.

But the major signing of the off-season for the Giants was the acquisition of 3-time All Star and 2-time Gold Glove winner Allen Carlisle. The 31-year old Carlise had spent the previous nine years of his major league career with the New York Mets and it took a six-year deal worth $69.4 million to bring him south.

The Colorado Rockies entered the pre-season with the top payroll in baseball at $73.2 million, while the Giants ranked 24th at $34.8 million.

The Boston Red Sox were last at $19.6 million.

[Young Drachma]

After the team inked a deal for top closer Jake Smith, it was time to make a move for current closer Scott Andrews, a 22-year old Canadian who has been the team's full-time closer for the past two years.

And the club announced today that he would begin the season in the rotation, despite never having started a game in his career.

"We've talked to Scott about this for a while and he's known that it was a distinct possibility," said GM Tristan Schofield.

The team said that Andrews would begin the season in the minors before coming up sometime in May.

[Young Drachma]

Here is the home ballpark of the Giants in Northern Virginia. The park is located in a completely new development built around the baseball stadium called Diamond Lake, Va.

[Young Drachma]

LINEUP

The Giants have retooled a bit with new GM Tristan Schofield, who a precocious leader of the Cavalry over a decade ago and now resurfaces with a different mordibund franchise seeking resurrection.

Matt Hanson will start at Catcher, having been acquired in the off-season in a deal from Pittsburgh. He hit 19 HRs and 61 RBI last year for the Bucs.

At first base, Allen Carlisle was the top free agent of the off-season and no one saw him going south, after having good years with the New York Mets.

"You know, people talk about the money ($6 years, $69.4 million, the 6th year is a player option at $13.5 million) and the real deal for me, was about what the organization was trying to do here. They wanted to build something special and I wanted to be part of that. I mean, anybody can go be a legend with another franchise. But to be one of the all-time greats of the Virginia Giants? They've only been around for two years now...it would be awesome to be remembered as one of the best that ever played here.

He hit .329 last year with 39 HRs and 96 RBI, but the Giants hope he can provide more than just pop, but also veteran leadership.

"He's a winner. He's played in New York. I convinced [team ownership] that we needed to get a guy like that on board if we were going to truly provide that we weren't "those same ol' Giants" that people always talk about when they mention this team.

Rookie Ron Russell who was acquired from Nevada in the off-season moved from first base to Right Field when Carlisle signed, which tells how much the Giants are excited about what Carlisle brings to the table.

3B Garrett Atkins has been with the club for going on his sixth year and is hoping to have another year where he hits over .300 like he did last year.

The 30-year old Atkins says that his role as an unofficial team leader is one he relishes, but that it all comes down to production. "You have to do it on the field or no one cares what you have to say."

The Giants have a ton of outfielders, a lot of whom are younger players preparing to displace old vets, as well as a few ready to break out.

Aussie Axel Collingridge has made quite an impression in spring training. This rookie is hoping to make an impact on the field. "I just wanna get here and do what I've always wanted to and that's win a World Series," said the 21 year right fielder who was plucked out of the Australian League before the end of the last season, when that league became an official feeder league to MLB, after the International League folded.

Other young players to look out for include 22-year D.C. native Tyler James, a standout at UCONN, who was the 1st overall pick of the 2010 MLB Draft.

In Right Field, 4th year starter Lawrence Smiley, 29, returns after a 18 HR, 61 RBI season last year.

PITCHING

The team has a lot of question marks or at least, players they're hoping materialize. Leading the fray in his second year with the club is 24-year old Felix Hernandez, who two years ago went 12-11, 5.30 ERA with the Boston Red Sox. He was dealt to the Giants late last season and pitched in just four games.

Aussie rookie, 29-year old Brandon Cashmore said he "never thought he'd get a chance to play" in the major leagues, but was thrilled at the opportunity to play for the Giants. He boasts a hard slider and a fastball and is expected to be a solid contributor.

Jon Papelbon came over from Riverside in the off-season and was named a starter that day. They'll need him to adjust quickly in the rotation. He hasn't started a game since 2007, coming out of the bullpen for the Cavalry for the past three years.

One final question mark in the rotation is another converted reliever in the form of 23-year old hard-throwing Scott Andrews. The southpaw Canadian hurler will start the year in the minors, but should be up by early May to enter the rotation. No one expects him to have a problem adjusting.

"I think he'll bounce up quickly. He's got three solid pitches and he's working hard on a splitter that he started working on at the end of last year. I think he'll be the biggest surprise of anyone at how well he adapts," said GM Tristan Schofield.

In the bullpen, look for John Vaughan who came over as a free agent from Toronto and won 10 games as a reliever last year to feature prominently as a setup man to new closer Jake Smith who inked a big three year deal in the off-season, after spending the past few years as the closer with Vancouver.

[Young Drachma]

PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR

New York is absolutely BUZZING with the crew of players that the New York Rens -- that's Harlem's own major league team -- have assembled. The most notable of them is Ryan Howard who is just dazzling baseball with his personality and skills.

A former 1st round pick, he was actually selected in the expansion draft (14th round) by the Rens in 2007. Ever since then, he's been absolutely on fire.

2008 AL Rookie of the Year and followed that up with back to back AL MVP Awards. The 26-year old first baseman is arbirtation eligible at the end of the season, but rumor has it, the Rens have already filed a huge contract extension offer that would keep him in Big Apple Red for a long time to come.

Last year, he hit .360, just .15 points away from a Triple Crown, as he led the league with 58 HRs and a staggering 171 RBI, breaking Rocky Colavito's 52-year old record of 169 RBI and was the first player since 1974 to register 160+ RBI and only the sixth in Major League history.

His 58 home runs were just three away from breaking Mark McGwire's all-time record of 60 set back in 1999. He is tied for 2nd all-time for single-season homers with Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle who hit 58 back in 1956 during his storied major league career with the Detroit Tigers and Sergio Perez, who did it back in 2006 with Colorado.

Boston's Wosene Lamaalem won the Hank Aaron Award last year as the American League's best hitter. He hit .345, 57 HRs and 150 RBI and should be a standout figure again going into the season.

AL reigning Cy Young Award winner Lyle Engle and the Yankees hope he can repeat last year's 22-8, 2.93 ERA performance and maybe increase his 188 strikeouts.

8-time All-Star, 4-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time defending National League MVP Felix Morin takes the hill for his 12th major league season and looks to improve on a year where he went 21-5 with a 2.11 ERA and struck out 295. The 32-year old Dominican ace has a career record of 206-66 and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping. He's 7th all-time on the career strikeout list with 3,980 and looks to become just the 7th all-time with more than 4000 strikeouts for his career and by the time he's done -- he's the youngest player anywhere in the Top 10 -- he'll surely be the all-time leader in the category and will have a first class seat to Cooperstown.

SAY GOODBYE!
Tigers all-time great Todd Helton retired at the end of last season. Just three years removed from a Hank Aaron Award winning season where he hit .310 with 142 RBI and 37 homers, he closed the curtain on a career that lasted 13 seasons, 12 with Detroit. He hit 347 HRs, 1164 RBI and had a career batting average of .310.

He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer, that is, if he doesn't decide that 34 year old is entirely too soon to be retiring from the grand game.

[Young Drachma]

The first half of the season started off pretty well for us. Despite a lack of playoff appearances -- just 7 in franchise history -- the team has seen a little success in recent years. Winning the 2003 World Series was probably the catalyst for what allowed the team to move south seven years later to Virginia after over 50 years in New Jersey.

We really retooled this club in the off-season and we've seen mixed results this far.

Attendance is at 1.3 million fans, ranked for 27th out of 40 in MLB. Last year, the team only drew just over 1.4 million the whole season, so we'll beat that number and we've doubled the number of fans per game from 19,356 to 32.407, so clearly we're making a difference and yet, ownership still believes we should be selling out every game.

Which needless to say, is a problem of philosophy and one of patience.

[Young Drachma]

GOOD THINGS
21-year old Aussie rookie Axel Collingridge is becoming a solid contributor. He's showing pop in the bat and poise in the batters box. He's hitting 21 HRs and 71 RBI so far this year with a .356 batting average.

"I'm just trying to keep my head screwed on right and doing what I do everyday," he said.

Allen Carlisle has turned out to be quite the signing for the ballclub. Leading the team in batting at .370, his 17 HRs are 2nd most on the ballclub.

THINGS ARE A BIT IFFY...

On the pitching side of the house, it's consensus that the Giants need a bonafide #1 if they're going to contend down the stretch.

All of their starters have been average most of the year. Converted closer to start Scott Andrews has been the brightest star, going 7-2 so far this year with a 3.87 ERA. The rest of the rotation is average at best, with Aussie veteran and rookie Brandon Cashmore adjusting well to America at 8-7 with a 4.68, it's clear that pitchers are figuring him out.

Closer Jake Smith is having another solid season, already at 21 saves so far this year and seems well on pace for another 30+ save season.

[Young Drachma]

As if the off-season wasn't enough of a splash for the Giants, the team pulled the trigger on a huge deal June 10th picking up Boston third baseman Wosene Lamaalem, along with another Ghanaian player, reliever Gildon Khalifa and shortshop Jake Moore in exchange for four players and cash, among the notables veteran third baseman Garrett Atkins and 22-year old pitcher Eisaku Watanabe.

Lamaalem signed a four-year extension shortly after coming over from Boston at 4 yrs and over $43.8 million.

In 18 games with the Giants, he's hitting .304 with 8 RBI and overall is hitting .292 with 23 HRs and 66 RBI on the season.

[Young Drachma]

Veteran pitching coach Julius Thomas was named Manager of the Virginia Giants today, just a few hours after the firing of third year manager James Barnard by the ballclub. Thomas, 55, is a native of Jackson, MS and has spent over two decades around the majors and minors as a roving instructor. His most recent role was as Bench Coach in the International League with the Montreal Expos before that league folded.

GM Tristan Schofield things that Thomas is just what the doctor ordered for his ballclub. "We're fighting for a playoff spot and we need someone in here who can really bring the fire and intensity that we want our players to have every day." The team's new manager says that he looks forward to working with the team. "This is a lifelong dream of mine, to manage in the bigs. I hope to make Mr. Schofield and all of the management proud of the work I do every day.

[Young Drachma]

In this year's amateur draft, the Giants had the fourth pick and selected Virginia Tech righthander Vance MacKnight. In fact, the first four selections by the Giants were all pitchers and all but six of the team's 15 picks in this year's draft were hurlers.

Other notable selections included fourth round pick, a hard throwing high schooler named Jay Smith out of Ohio.

Brooklyn native Miguel Pacheco spent four years at Alabama before being drafted in the 5th round by the Giants. The third base prospect has tremendous power potential and can also player at other infield positions.

The selection for most "intriguing" draft pick of the 15 round draft is Moldovan hurler Vladik Baskaev who was drafted out of the European Developmental League.

He's got a lot of work to do, but his upside is pretty remarkable. He's got four pitches and the potential for outstanding control and movement on his pitches and might be a likely candidate for the bullpen should he ever make it to the majors down the line.

[Young Drachma]

The most notable contract extension was signed by New York Rens star Ryan Howard who inked a seven-year deal worth at least $131 million, with incentives it could get to over $148 million. Howard, 26, will become the highest paid player in baseball and should he make it the seventh year of the backloaded deal, he'll make $30.7 million during the last year of the deal. He also has a no-trade clause in his contract.

He leads the majors with 36 homers and is second with 88 RBI.

[Young Drachma]

MLB STANDINGS AS OF JULY 4, 2011 (154 game season, trade deadline is August 1st) 4 division champs + 4 best records in each league advance to Wild Card Series.

American League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York Yankees	48	37	.565	-
New Jersey Nine	44	41	.518	4.0
New York Rens	40	45	.471	8.0
Toronto Blue Jays	37	48	.435	11.0
Boston Red Sox	34	51	.400	14.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Riverside Cavalry	50	35	.588	-
Portland Beavers	49	36	.576	1.0
Los Angeles Stars	45	40	.529	5.0
Seattle Mariners	44	41	.518	6.0
San Jose Athletics	42	43	.494	8.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago White Sox	48	37	.565	-
Cleveland Bombers	47	38	.553	1.0
Detroit Tigers	42	43	.494	6.0
Chicago Heartland Comets	41	44	.482	7.0
St. Paul Saints	34	51	.400	14.0

Southern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Kansas City Chargers	48	37	.565	-
Texas Rangers	43	42	.506	5.0
Baltimore Orioles	42	43	.494	6.0
Washington Nationals	39	46	.459	9.0
Miami Marlins	33	52	.388	15.0

National League Standings
Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
New York Mets	47	38	.553	-
Pittsburgh Pirates	42	43	.494	5.0
Philadelphia Phillies	35	50	.412	12.0
Brooklyn Dodgers	34	51	.400	13.0
Hartford Whalers	34	51	.400	13.0

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB
San Francisco Seals	46	39	.541	-
Anaheim Angels	44	41	.518	2.0
Vancouver Canadians	44	41	.518	2.0
San Diego Padres	39	46	.459	7.0
Arizona Diamondbacks	37	48	.435	9.0

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Austin Aviators	53	32	.624	-
Chicago Cubs	49	36	.576	4.0
Colorado Rockies	46	39	.541	7.0
Nevada Silverhawks	46	39	.541	7.0
St. Louis Cardinals	38	47	.447	15.0

Southern Division	W	L	PCT	GB
Florida Oranges	46	39	.541	-
Atlanta Braves	45	40	.529	1.0
Virginia Giants	44	41	.518	2.0
Carolina Reds	43	42	.506	3.0
Houston Astros	38	47	.447	8.0

[BigDPW]

Just read through this... Pretty interesting use of OOTP... I am enjoying it...

[Tellistto]

I'll be reading along, enjoying it so far.

Tell

[Blade6119]

Great read so far DC, keep it up!

[BYU 14]

Ditto, you have another reader here!

[Young Drachma]

As we get nearer to the deadline, I had a frank discussion with management.

"I didn't come out of retirement or whatever the hell it is I was doing before...to run a team where there isn't a commitment to winning."

"Tristan, now you know we want to win. Look at what resources we've provided you to this point. We're committed to a winning product.

"Right and I appreciate that. But we need to do a bit more. I really believe this team is special. And we've got a good core in place that we can work from down the road. This team just won a World Series a few years ago, so it's not like we're some franchise that's on the rocks like others. But we have to get these people down here really excited about Giants baseball or we're gonna lose 'em just like we lost the last fan base. People are fickle..."

"Ok, so what do we need?"

"I need the green light to go after a player or two before the deadline. I'm exploring a few deals. I think we can make this work."

::pauses::

"Ok. I just don't want this to turn into one of those deals where you keep coming back for more and more. Make it happen now if you think you can ,but if your plans don't pan out the way you've slated them, I don't care if there are injuries or whatever else, you just have to make do. No higher than $42 million. That's about a $5 million cushion. Whatever you can't make work there, just won't happen."

"Alright, that's fair. I think I can work with that."

"I hope so...because that's all we can do."

[Young Drachma]

[Young Drachma]

Author's note:

That one-game playoff was crazy. I actually managed that game -- and I usually don't -- because I just wanted to be sure. One of my friends was sitting here and I was basically making him play manager. That kid, Tyler James is a D.C. native and is one of my favorite players (that's not him in the photo, that's James Smith..) and he really came up clutch and there wasn't really any reason to believe that was going to happen, especially with two outs.

But it was pretty exciting nonetheless.

I haven't even looked at who we have in the playoffs and I haven't written for that part of the dynasty yet, but I think that just making the playoffs when we were so close to falling by the wayside at the end there, is a pretty big deal to me and what's next ought to be interesting. Especially I don't know what's next at all.

[Young Drachma]

BASEBALL'S FALL FRENZY--
Major League Baseball inaugurated the new playoff format with an entirely new marketing campaign called FALL FRENZY (tm) which is modeled (pretty heavily) after the March Madness model of brackets, office pools and really just an idea to get as many people into baseball as possible during the playoffs, when the best teams are being showcased.

Recent numbers have shown that attendance is up on most TV networks, but the playoffs are where most officials are hoping to "make their mark" and this year's playoffs are the first opportunity to do that.

"We think that with baseball on TV from the end of the September until mid-October is the perfect opportunity to showcase baseball and to reacquaint Americans with the national pastime," said J.R. Mulroney, VP of Marketing for Major League Baseball.

[Young Drachma]

2011 MLB FALL FRENZY(tm)

DIVISION CHAMPS ARE AUTOMATICALLY 1-4 seeds based on records.

AMERICAN LEAGUE BRACKET
---
Los Angeles Stars (84-70) v. Riverside Cavalry (89-65)

Cleveland Bombers (85-69) v. Chicago White Sox (88-66)

Detroit Tigers (87-67) v. Baltimore Orioles (82-72)

Portland Beavers (89-65) v. New York Yankees (80-74)

NATIONAL LEAGUE BRACKET
---
Virginia Giants (81-74) v. Austin Aviators (92-62)

St. Louis Cardinals (82-72) v. New York Mets (83-71)

Pittsburgh Pirates (82-72) v. Florida Oranges (82-72)

Chicago Cubs (90-64) v. Vancouver Canadians (82-72)