Changes...

I changed my domain hosting, which may provide slightly better performance (then again, maybe not). I also uploaded a new League File. We are officially in the offseason. I haven't made any changes to the league structure yet. I'm still waiting to hear back on some issues.

What should the offseason sim schedule look like?

Off-Season Begins

In the very recent wake of the Perth victory over Darwin in the AUBL Playoffs, the off-season is in full swing. I know that some of you have questions about changes this off-season, so I wanted to start a post to discuss them. Here are my preliminary thoughts...

a) Minor league expansion: This is still up for consideration. After ruminating on this for a while, however, I think I personally am not in favor of this. In order to make the minor leagues "work" as I think they are intended (at once a developmental system for up-and-coming players and a place for washed-out major leaguers), we would need to make our own rules for restricting rosters and signing players. In my opinion, this is the weakest part of the OOTP software. The software does not properly simulate the desires of certain players to play in the major leagues. Perhaps v2007 is better than v2006 since it has a player morale system, but I have my reservations. Regardless, if there are those in favor of minor league expansion, I'd like to hear your reasoning.

b) Complete Coaching: This is something I'd still like to add. Without it, the results of personnel management are somewhat mysterious, and I think it would add another interesting dimension to the league. I'd like to hear what others think, and if anyone has experience in leagues using Complete Coaching.

c) Team Budgets & Arbitration: There has been some uncertainty about the team budgets and arbitration offers. Does arbitration happen before the team budget is announced or after? If the former, this could pose a serious budgetary issue for some teams. One of those teams is Perth, so maybe the rest of us will benefit... Seriously, I will investigate this issue and report back.

d) Rule 5 Draft: This is enabled, but didn't seem to happen last year. I'm not sure why that is, but I'll look into it.

e) Financial Model: Now is the time to revisit the financial model, including changes to salary structures, implementation of a salary cap, or any other changes associated with money.

f) Team Changes: The off-season is also the time to propose changes to your teams: nicknames, locations, ballparks, etc. Please see the league rules for guidelines on these activities.

If there's anything else I've missed or you'd like to comment on any of the above, please do so! I look forward to hearing from everyone and I hope y'all are committed to another season of AUBL!

Good articles about BABIP and VORP

BABIP and VORP are two stats I was entirely unfamiliar with before AUBL. But since they're pretty much ubiquitous in OOTP, I became curious about them and started learning more about them.

A good place to start are a couple of articles I just ran across on (who knew?) FoxSports.com:

BABIP: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6794020

VORP: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6700964

Perth win Aussie Trophy

The Perth Power win their second Aussie Trophy by running the table in the playoffs, winning eight straight games. Starting pitcher Joel Pugsley won three games in the post-season.

In game four of the Aussie Series, Perth won 12-5 to sweep the Darwin Select. The Power sent out swingman Paddy Osborne, who gave up 5 runs in 6 1/3 innings for the win. Select starter Kyle Cobb didn't fare well against the Perth offense, giving up 8 runs in his 4 2/3 innings. Appleby, Bashford, Zhou, and Galloway hit home runs for the Power; Galloway was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Walter Attwood and Isaac White homered for Darwin.

Thanks to all the other owners for a great season.

What's the off-season schedule look like?

Perth win 7 straight playoff games; on the verge of championship

The Perth Power, winners of 106 games in the regular season, appear to be on the verge of their second (and second consecutive) AUBL championship -- barring some kind of historic comeback for the ages by the Watts Division champion Darwin Select.

The Power boasted the league's most prolific home run hitter ever, 1B Tung Zhou, who posted the first 50 home run season in AUBL history. Zhou accomplished this just one season after sharing time at 1B with former Power Willem Beers (now Albury's first baseman and this year's strikeout champion). The Power had two twenty-game winners, including the odds-on Platinum Hurler contender, Joel Pugsley (26-6, 2.16), as well as veteran Callum Harney (20-10, 3.06) -- and they traded for another (Norm Challinor, 23-6, 2.89, combined). And off-season trade acquisition Reginald Ford wrapped up his first season as a closer by, yes, setting a new standard with 45 saves.

Now the Power have four chances, including two games in Darwin and two at home, to finish off the Select. This highly anticipated matchup has been hard-fought but the results have been surprisingly lopsided.

"We've got a great team," noted Perth manager Charles Naylor. "When you've got guys from leadoff through the 8 hole who could pretty much all hit third or fourth in any lineup in the AUBL, and you've got three 20-game winners, I don't care who you are, that's tough to beat."

Darwin's pitching staff has been adequate, giving up 4.67 runs a game, but their offense has been able to do nothing against Perth's pitchers, who have given up just 5 runs in the three games (1.67 runs/game). Darwin is also without injured star hitter Shu-yaan Thean (.326 BA, 81 RBI), who could have made a big difference in the series.

The Power slammed through wild-card opponent Sydney in four games, outscoring the Sea Dogs 27-10. The sweep allowed Perth to enjoy five days off before facing the winner of the best-of-seven Darwin-Albury series, which went the distance.

What's next for the Power, whether or not they win another Aussie Trophy?

"Expect a few changes in the off-season," stated Perth GM Jason Gohlke. "Expect a little retooling of the back of our rotation, our bullpen, and our bench, to give a chance to some of our young guys stuck in AAA. Depending on our owner's budget approach this off-season, we may make some cost-saving moves as well, since we've pushed our budget to the limit this year."

"But if we win another championship, it'll be more than worth it."

Down to the Wire!

Just a little cheering on from one of the also-rans: best of luck to Darwin and Albury in the deciding game!

Commish back

I am indeed back from my trip, though a bit out of it today. Tomorrow, June 9th, I will resume the sim schedule. More to come later.

Welcome Back, Kingsley!

Well, I don't know exactly when Nick is getting back, but with this morning's sim, I believe I am officially handing the reins back over to him.

It's been an interesting couple weeks, with some weird injuries, some teams' rosters dwindling down to virtually nothing, and a couple of teams clinching repeat division titles (Perth and Darwin). Maybe I'll do it again sometime.

Livingstone Front Office temp closed

Jason and Nick: we have set our line-ups and rotation for tomorrow, but will be "closed" from tomorrow until Monday. We don't think this is going to make ANY kind of difference, but we wanted to let you know. Will check in Monday to see what the (probably final) damage is. Thanks, Smokey and his management team