Meaningless In Miami: A Miami Marlins Franchise (The Show)

[TheNumber35]

Jeffery Loria’s Office
Miami, FL
February 10th, 2013
10:34am

The blinds were closed. The room was dark. It may have been bright and early, but this meeting was of a darker sort, so the darkness was fitting. Three dark shadows sit in front of a large wooden desk and talk hesitantly back and forth. The door swings open and a fourth man walks into the room. The three figures sigh collectively out of relief. The fourth man closes the door and begins to speak

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #1

Alright, sorry I’m running late boys…we should probably just get right down to business and skip pleasantries. What’s the story here, why did you call this meeting with me? We weren’t supposed to be in contact this year.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #2

Things in Houston are going south quickly. Cuban can’t hold off Crane and this unknown Gillespie boy. Crane faked his own death and he thinks he’s gotten away clean. We lost him and currently don’t know his whereabouts; he’s completely disappeared. On top of that, Happ has gone AWOL so we have to assume he’s found out we burned him and decided to help Crane. We may have to cut ties in Houston and get out of there before things blow up in our faces.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #3

I don’t think cutting Houston loose is the move here though. It may be wise to shift our resources until things cool down, but abandoning Cuban and our plot is foolish. We’ve put in far too much work and manipulated far too many people to allow one man to disrupt all our plans. It’s simple what we do here…we kill the ones pulling strings over there. Kill Crane, kill Happ, kill Gillespie, kill Bagwell, and kill Biggio. Kill them all.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #1

Hold up there comrade. Cool it, we can’t kill them all…that’s far too messy and may tip off some nosey individual and ruin everything. You really need to think before you kill. That’s why we’re in this precarious situation in the first place, we were THIS close to the Yanks and you decided to off Steinbrenner. Doing that was the worst mistake ever, George would have lost control to us…his sons didn’t. You are the reason we have to deal with teams like the Astros and Marlins, best you hold your tongue.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #2

Alright you two, enough is enough. What do we do about Houston?

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #1

Here’s what we do: We’ve already succeeded in forcing Cuban and Loria to do our bidding…I vote that we further our gambling ring front, it’s best if people don’t know our true plans. The more we develop this whole “gambling, all about the money” thing, the easier it will be for us to hide our true intentions. Miami is a perfect base of operations and should be where we set up.

Shadowy Figure #1 motions towards Shadowy Figure #4 and speaks quickly

Quote: Originally Posted by Shadowy Man #1

You, stay here and tell Loria our plans and where we go next. You know what I mean. Well gentleman, now we wait and get moving. In the short term this gambling ring will make us a boat load of cash…in the long term; it will protect our real plans until nobody can stop them

Meaningless in Miami: A Miami Marlins Franchise (The Show 13)



Welcome aboard everyone to what should be an excellent season and hopefully an excellent franchise. A couple housekeeping things here; as some of you know, I have a franchise with the Houston Astros in The Show 12. That franchise went almost 2 seasons before it died off (granted I started quite late.) The reason I bring this up is that I’ve decided to use the plotline I had established and was developing in The Show 12 here in this franchise. What does that mean for you all as followers? I have two threads, one is from my first season and the next is from my second season. I’m going to be treating the 2nd season as if it never happened in this thread, this will be a continuation of the first season. There will probably be cameos from familiar faces from Season 1, cuts to stuff happening simultaneously from Season 2 that I liked, etc. etc. So to get caught up to speed, it would be beneficially to read this thread:

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...show-12-a.html

So sit back and enjoy the ride, it certainly will be a fun one.




Settings:

Game: The Show 13
Roster: OSFM Opening Day (When they are released)
Play Method: Play 1, Sim 5 (in order to get through multiple seasons while getting to use all the pitchers on my staff)
Schedule: 162 Games
30 Team Control: On
Hitting Controls: Pure Analog
Pitching Controls: Pure Analog
Fielding Controls: Pure Analog
Hitting Difficulty: All-Star
Pitching Difficulty: All-Star
Fielding Difficulty: All-Star
Sliders: Probably TNK's if he releases them again, if not then TBD






Reserved Space for Future Links

[TheNumber35]

What’s All This About Happ?

Ok, so all my newer viewers/readers are probably questioning what the scary man in black said about Happ and him being AWOL. Let me explain that a little bit more in depth. JA Happ was discovered to be a burned Russian Spy at the beginning of the Chronicles that now technically don’t exist (completely ignoring what’s happened in that 2nd season is gonna be tougher than I originally thought)…right, so I guess that means I gave a bit too much exposition early on. Well regardless, Happ pitched well for the Astros in 2012 and then in the beginning of 2013 it was released that he was in fact the Russian Spy formerly known as Sergei Nikolav. The story was broke on Sportscenter of all places

Quote:

Jay Crawford: This just into Sportscenter, according to the Houston Chronicle, Astros pitcher JA Happ has been discovered to be an illegal immigrant from Russia. Happ's real identity is unknown at this time, however he is believed to be former KGB assassin Sergei Nikolav. Happ is considered to be very dangerous and not to be approached for any reason. The Astros organization, via Owner/GM Jeff Luhnow, have released this message in response to the news on Happ's identity "We are extremely disappointed to find out about JA...or whatever his name is. We will fully cooperate with the FBI in handing over any and all information about him that we have." Houston opened Spring camp earlier this week with Happ slotted to be their #2 starter, this is a huge blow to a team without much pitching depth and organizational depth in general. Houston finished dead last in the majors in winning percentage and the outlook in dim for them as they move to the AL West now to be the punching bag. Happ’s departure now opens up a job for one of the talented prospect arms the Astros have in the minors.

Nikolav the spy, it was later discovered by Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell that Nikolav was involved in the explosion that allegedly killed off Jim Crane.

Quote:

Brandon was sitting alone in the owner's box. There wasn't a game today and he wanted to come to the park to meet with Craig and Jeff before the season started, to get an update on how all things Cuban were going. He was there because he had been given an open invitation to watch all the home games at Minute Maid Park by Jeff Luhnow...not unusual for the Assistant GM to have that offer, but it was something new for Brandon. To actually be somebody, to have options, to have a great job. It had been a long year since he graduated and he'd come so far in such a short amount of time. Which is hard to believe considering the field he decided to get into, a field that required you know somebody to get a start in...he got lucky. He introduced himself to a commencement speaker at his graduation and got a job out of it. But he didn't just get a job, he got much more than that too. He got a friend, someone who he'd learned to trust and who trusted him. Friends like that are tough to come by, which made sitting in this abandoned box even harder. Just as Brandon's thoughts drifted to Jim Crane, Jeff and Craig knocked on the door and walked in. Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Bagwell Jesus kid...sit in a more depressing situation why don't ya? Quote: Originally Posted by Craig Biggio Jeff, take it easy on him...he's had a rough couple months. Brandon, how ya holdin' up? Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie Good enough Craig, good enough. I've had an up and down couple months but the fact of the matter is that I'm alright. Now, what's the status report on our little situation? Quote: Originally Posted by Craig Biggio Well I've got two things for you right now. First off, Cuban has gone completely dark...he's underground right now and I haven't heard or seen anything of him in about 2 months. He's up to something and we need to find out what it is. Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Bagwell And secondly Craig? Mind telling him what else we found? Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie What else did you find? Something on Jim? Quote: Originally Posted by Craig Biggio Not on Jim, but related to him. We just took a trip to the prison where the explosion took place last week, and we found something the police overlooked. There was a car in the basement of the prison...the police overlooked it as the car was reported to have always been there. But that may not be the case. I have good reason to believe the explosion originated from the car. Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie An car bomb? But what does it all mean? Quote: Originally Posted by Craig Biggio That's where what I found comes into play...the remains of the car didn't leave much, but they did leave something that you may find interesting. There were traces of an explosive that hasn't been used by bomb makers in the world in 20 years. Well, all bombs made in the world that don't come from Russia that is. Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie Wait a minute...you don't mean to tell me that he...no he couldn't have...it was..... Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff Bagwell Yes, we believe that Sergei Nikolav, or the person known to you as JA Happ was responsible for the explosion. I don't know what this means yet, but I can say with mild confidence that Happ was behind this. Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie Jim...what the hell did you die for?

And that’s all you get on Mr. Happ for now. I’m sure some of you are saying “But 35, if Happ is on the Blue Jays in OSFM and is pitching for them…how can he be a spy at the same time? Isn’t being a spy time consuming?” Simply put, Happ will be removed from the Jays and replaced with a swingman type pitcher. All the people who are gonna blow up my PM box, and say that “Happ is a valuable contributor to the Jays” let me say this now and make myself very clear: I…don’t…care. You can deal with it.

[TheNumber35]

After some set up here and there, methinks it’s time to go in between the lines and take a look at the actual point of this dynasty. No not door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales (although that was a possibility and actually…no no no!) Anyways, I’m talking about Marlins baseball! The whole reason people are up in arms at Jeffery Loria (for now) for dismantling the Marlins talented roster and stocking up on prospects. The MLB roster looks devoid of talent for the most part and this year looks like a lost cause, but the minors bring hope to the Marlins faithful and give them a reason to stick around for a few more years. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the disgrace of a roster set to make some “noise” this season.

25 Man Roster Breakdown:

Catchers:
Rob Brantley, Jeff Mathis
- Brantley is the clear cut starter here and looked pretty good in his time with Miami last season after being acquired in the deal with Detroit that sent away Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante. While I don’t think the power will remain, Brantley should be a solid average guy, and a good enough defender at catcher. Mathis will spell the young Brantley and we expect nothing from him other than calling a decent game, his bat is long past the point of being viewed as a productive asset.

Infield:
Logan Morrison, Donavan Solano, Adeiny Hechevarria, Placido Polanco, Gregg Dobbs
- Morrison, Solano, Hechevarria, and Polanco should comprise a pretty decent defensive infield for the Marlins. The bats could be a whole different story however as the only guy I expect to contribute significantly will be Morrison. Hech’s hit tool is always going to be in question, Solano is a question mark for me at this point, and Polanco should hit for an average…but who knows if that average will be productive or not. Dobbs is the ultimate bench bat, a couple years ago he led the majors in pinch hits and that should be his role on this team other than on days where we need a DH against a right handed pitcher.

Outfield:
Juan Pierre, Justin Ruggiano, Giancarlo Stanton, Chris Coghlan
- Old man Pierre makes an appearance in left for us this year. Should be an interesting season with his old *** out there. Ruggiano mans center and despite his acrobatic top 10 play last season, he leaves a lot to be desired to me…Giancarlo Stanton is the one great player we have and I think that is all I need to say about him. Other than the fact that he will without a doubt lead the league in IBBs and possibly HRs as well. Coghlan fell out of favor with the Marlins last season and while he is here to stay for now, his mouth and Twitter account could lose him this spot.

Up in the Air Guys:
Chone Figgins, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Matt Downs, Gorkys Hernandez, Austin Kearns, Bryan Peterson
- All these guys will be competing for 2 roster spots on the Marlins bench. The early favorites for me would be Hernandez for his speed, and Downs for the versatility he offers off the bench. But Kearns, Figgins, and Kouzmanoff are all experienced major league vets who have something to offer, and if any of them look to be solid contributors they could steal a spot away.

Starting Pitchers:
Ricky Nolasco, Jacob Turner, Henderson Alverez, Wade LeBlanc, Nathan Eovaldi
- Here comes the youth movement in the rotation as 4 of the 5 starters are fairly young and inexperienced at the big league level. Nolasco may not be an ace on many staffs in the bigs, but he’ll have to do this job for us until he gets dealt away (it’s inevitable he goes away for a prospect around the deadline.) Jacob Turner looks to shake the reputation people are starting to give him of a potential bust with his fresh start here in Miami after being dealt from Detroit. Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alverez are two righties who had high expectations from their previous organizations in the Dodgers and Blue Jays respectively, Miami will have to hope these guys can reach that potential. LeBlanc is the lone left hander in the rotation and he could very well be replaced by a free agent signing, and minor league breakout, etc.

Relief Pitchers:
Chad Qualls, Jon Rauch, Chris Hatcher, Dan Jennings, Mike Dunn, Ryan Webb, Steve Cishek
- Wow. Who the hell are ¾ of these guys anyways? To the casual baseball fan most of these dudes are washed up or unknown. Steve Cishek is one of the better kept secrets in baseball; he had a good year replacing Heath Bell as closer in 2012. Rauch and Qualls are veterans who have had up and down careers, and the rest are relatively unknown or have little big league experience. It’s tough to know for sure what we’ll get from this bullpen.

Prospect Watch:

Position Players:
Marcell Ozuna (RF), Jake Marisnick (CF), Christian Yelich (CF), Zach Cox (3B), Kolby Copeland (CF)
-Look at all the OFs we have as top prospects. Ozuna and Marisnick are two guys we acquired in the mega trade with Toronto. Yelich is gonna be a stud. Cox is included in here purely based on his position being 3rd base and us having freaking Polanco there. He’s in AAA ball and could see a call this season if Polly gets traded or injured. Kolby probably won’t see time in our OF in the foreseeable future and could be a trade piece.

Pitchers:
Jose Fernandez, Justin Nicolino, Andrew Heaney
- The big 3 of pitchers in our organization. Fernandez is probably one of the most polished pitching prospects I’ve seen in awhile, I have a gigantic man crush on him and think he’ll probably get to the Show in 2014. Nicolino and Heaney are two high ceiling lefties that are both 1-2 years away depending on how things shake out in 2013.


OUTLOOK:
- We’re gonna suck. How obvious is that for me to say? We need to start our rebuild and everyone who’s worth something will be going. HOWEVER, I think it is time to establish rule #1 of this dynasty.

Quote:

Rule #1: Giancarlo Stanton must retire a Marlin

Makes sense, and my personal anecdote about Stanton is that I saw him live in a game against the Tigers AA affiliate once…immediately fell in love with his game after he clobbered a 430 foot homer and threw out a base runner at the plate from RF. His approach was solid and his skill set was obvious…anyways, he’s without a doubt a talent we cannot ever afford to let leave. I don’t care how much cash we have to spend to retain him.

[TheNumber35]

Somewhere In Michigan
February 18th, 2013
12:30 pm

It was a normal February in Michigan, and by that we all understand that means frigid temperatures, a lack of sun, and a blizzard with an intensity Southerners would never understand. I don't say this for pity or for any reason other than to set us up to take a visit with an old friend. Someone you all may have met before, on his vacation before Spring Training starts up again. A man opens the door of an old townhouse in suburban Michigan, pulls out a shovel and begins to use it on the sidewalk. He exerts himself too hard and yells out a cry of pain.

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie

Ugh...damned snow is gonna be the death of me. I cannot wait to get down to Florida and start the Spring. Baseball season is finally back. Can't believe its been a year since I got my job with Houston...thank god I get to escape the worst colds of the year down there.

Gillespie continues shoveling snow for a couple minutes and finishes up his work. Pleased with the sidewalk, he walks back inside the house and into the kitchen. He opens the pantry and pulls out coffee grinds. If he was going to suffer in the cold, he was damn sure gonna have some coffee. As the pot started to trickle water another man walks into the kitchen. This man was about 6 feet all, built strong but lean at the same time. His black hair was short and well kept, the opposite of Gillespie's longer and messier hair.

Quote: Originally Posted by ??

Brandon since when do you drink coffee? And why didn't you invite me to Spring camp, we both know I'm gonna be the next big thing at pitcher.

The two men laughed and Brandon beckoned him over to the table for coffee. The man pours himself coffee and sits down, he reads the morning news and scoffs at it.

Quote: Originally Posted by ??

Oh come on...the Phils are actually expecting Delmon Young to contribute. No wonder they canned me in the scouting department. Its clear we have a very different definition of a talented player. I mean, what do you call a guy who can't hit, run, or field? Useless. And if you look at useless in the dictionary, Delmon Young is next to it with a picture.

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie

Alright Josh, I get it. You need a job! I don't have any jobs for you in Houston though...all our scouts are solid and really fit what we want to do.

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh ??

I know that Brandon. Seems like the least you could do for your cousin, your cousin who's letting you crash at his place for the week because you didn't feel like spending it with your in-laws.

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie

Not fair. Not fair at all. We both know that family is insane. Besides, its better this way. I may not have a job for you...but there are 3 organizations I have friends in and they all are in need of scouts. Lets see here: Detroit told me they were interested, as did Cleveland, and Miami.

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh

Detroit and Cleveland are much too cold for me. Sign me up in Miami. You're pretty good friends with their scouting director aren't you?

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie

Yeah I am. Me and Cho go way back. I think he'd love to have you on board too. As long as you have no interest in Lucas Harrell. Cho literally hates that man.

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh

Milk Carton? Ha! Dude's a joke. Didn't the Yanks pick him up on waivers? Wait never mind, he got pulled back. Man Houston is screwed.

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon Gillespie

Alright good, I'll call Cho tomorrow and set up a meeting for you two.

Josh leaves the room with his coffee and goes into the living room. Brandon's phone rings and he answers.

Quote:

It's done guys, Josh is headed for Miami. Looks like we may just get our inside man yet.

[TheNumber35]

Miami Marlins Scouting Offices
Miami, FL
February 19th, 2013
9:15 am

Punctuality...a respectable trait in anyone, Josh had it. That's why he'd show'd up 20 minutes before his interview at 9:30. He sat alone in the waiting room and pondered to himself about baseball. Josh was an average 32 year old Michigander, he was Brandon's cousin and older than him at that. But on top of that, Josh was a recently retired minor leaguer, a former shortstop. He was drafted out of high school in the 10th round by the Tigers and skipped out on college to go play for his homestate squad. Josh started out well and hit .345 in A ball his first season. Even in AA ball he succeeded, putting up a .321/.353/.400 triple slash line as the everyday shortstop in 4 seasons there. Those 4 seasons were his career peak, as he was acquired in the Placido Polanco trade. However he hit the wall after being acquired by the Phillies, hitting a minimal .236 over the remaining years of his minor league career. He finally hung it up and called it quits in 2008.

After retiring from the Phillies organization, he found his place as a scout in the very same organization that drafted him. He contributed on scouting for some of the various top Phillies prospects over the past 3-4 years, most notably Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton (both of whom were dealt to the Astros), and Trevor May and Vance Worley as well (guys who were dealt for Ben Revere). All these guys were perceived to be high impact guys by Josh and they were drafted at his recommendation.

Everything was going great for him until a disagreement with his director of Scouting cost him his job. Josh wanted to keep May and Worley, pass on Revere and sign Bourn as an alternative. Management wanted to pass on this option and Josh took his case to the scouting director...sadly this caused more issues than it fixed and eventually led to a falling out with the Phillies. Josh was fired within a week of the incident. Hence why he was sitting in the offices of Aaron Cho, the Director of Scouting for the Miami Marlins. Cho was the youngest Director of Scouting in baseball...hell he was younger than Josh. And yet here Josh sat, anxiously awaiting Cho's arrival. Punctuality was one thing Josh had, patience however was another story.

[CameRoN0407]

Will definitely be following hopefully another great dynasty by one of the best, 35...

[AC]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheNumber35

and say that “Happ is a valuable contributor to the Jays” let me say this now and make myself very clear: I…don’t…care. You can deal with it.

Happ sucks. Replace him with Lohse.

Quote: Originally Posted by TheNumber35

Zach Cox (3B)

I think he can play some OF, too.

[TheNumber35]

Quote: Originally Posted by ACMilan99

Happ sucks. Replace him with Lohse. I think he can play some OF, too.

Don't get me started on OF prospects. And no. The Jays don't get Lohse, they are stacked enough as is...adding one of the top 3 SPs on the market is not fair lol