This was a bad year W/L wise, but I am much younger, much deeper, and much cheaper. Let's hope for a quality offseason. (No 2003 Amateur Draft took place.)
2004 Finish: 75-87 (5th- NL Central)
My offense was so good that, had my starting pitching remotely come through, I would have easily toyed with at least .500. Not to worry. The long-term pieces are affordably in place, and if I can swing a trade or two to remove some dead weight, and make a few FA acquisitions, this will be a very good team next year.
2004 Amateur Draft:
SP Ubaldo Jimenez- Colorado Organization (3rd)
(1st round pick traded for SP Brett Myers, Anaheim)
(2nd round pick traded for SS Khalil Greene, San Deigo)
(3rd round pick (original) traded for C Tom Wilson, Toronto)
2005 Finish: 76-86 (3rd- NL Central)
Great offense. Great bullpen. A rotation anchored by Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina. Apparently, it wasn't enough...to even break .500. The sim seems to favor defense over power, so maybe I should explore that angle in the future.
2005 Amateur Draft:
2B Jose Castillo- Pittsburgh Organization (2nd)
OF Cameron Maybin- Prep (2nd)
P Glen Perkins- Minnesota Organization (3rd)
(1st round pick traded for Sosa/Mussina, Colorado)
(3rd round pick (original) traded for SS Khalil Greene [2004], San Deigo)
2006 Finish: 80-82 (4th- NL Central)
2006 Amateur Draft:
(1st round pick- traded on draft day for C George Kottaras and RP David Riske,
Milwaukee)
OF Melky Cabrera- New York (A) Organization (1st round comp pick (Curt Schilling))
(2nd round pick- traded on draft day for 2B Jose Castillo, Florida)
P Mike O'Connor- Washington Organization (2nd- acquired from Boston in Howard deal)
(2nd round pick (original) traded for Sosa/Mussina, Colorado)
P Jason Windsor- Oakland Organziation (3rd- acquired from Texas in Reyes/Riske deal)
1B Scott Thorman- Atlanta Organization (3rd)
P Sean Smith- Cleveland Organization (3rd- acquired from Philadelphia in
Bullington/VanBenschoten deal)
P Radhames Liz- Baltimore Organization (3rd- acquired from Colorado in Snell deal)
This year was just plain ass for me. I started off 13 games over .500, with the division lead, and then dropped like a rock. Completely unfathomable, as I had a solid rotation and offense. So, my biggest accomplishment this year was re-stocking my farm system through the draft and trades.
2007
2007 Amateur Draft:
SS Asdrubal Cabrera- Cleveland Organization (1st)
C John Jaso- Tampa Bay Organization (1st round comp ick (Todd Walker))
SS Jed Lowrie- Boston Organization (2nd)
C/OF Taylor Teagarden- Texas Organization (2nd- acquired from Chicago (A) in Cabrera
deal)
(3rd- traded to Florida on draft day in Roberts/Doumit/Francoeur deal)
