Crawford to Seagulls

Center fielder Kermit Crawford has agreed to a 2 year contract with Toronto for 16.9 million.  Last year Kermit hit .254 with 7 homers and stole 19 bases.  He was also 25 runs above average defensively.  Crawford will turn 33 in spring training.

Contracts signed 12-2-2015

Miami signs catcher Cal Mathis to a 2 year deal for 3 million.  Mathis hit .234 for Phoenix last year, with OBP and SLG each under .300.  He threw out 40% of opposing runners.

League Calibrations

In the first year using OOTP baseball to replace the APBA software, The Major and Superior Leagues overall had a successful season.  Attendance and revenue records were shattered, and the wealth is obviously flowing to the players after the recent contracts given to Hamburg, Lewis, and Salbacca.  We had another exciting playoff rounds that culminated with the Bay Area Bandits winning their first ever championship.  The addition of extended minor leagues ensures the talent pipeline will continue to flow, while providing real statistics for minor league players and entertainment for the imaginary fans in smaller cities.

But not all is perfect.  Among the chief complaints for the season was a rash of injuries and an extremely low success rate on stolen base attempts.  Commissioner Manfred undertook an investigation as his first order of business since beginning his term in office.

Manfred set out to measure the distance between first and second base, and found that in each of the 30 OOTP stadiums, it was incorrectly set to 91 feet.  For 2016, Manfred will return the basepaths to their historical distance of 90 feet each.

As for the injuries, all teams are urged to look into their medical teams and adopt best practices from each other.  In addition, a switch was found in the league settings page, where injuries had been set to standard (3rd option out of 5).  For 2016, injuries will be set to option 2, reduced injuries.  However this change may only be effective for one year.  A study will be done to determine whether the 2015 injury experience or the 2016 is more realistic, and consistent with the injury frequency in another baseball league, MLB.

After a season where only 33 homeruns lead both leagues, the league's Ewok slaves on the manufacturing planet of Endor will be whipped and beaten until they learn to wind the balls a bit more tightly.

Draft Pick Compensation

The following teams will gain extra draft picks between the first and second round:

Toronto

Portland

Detroit

Green Day

And these teams will lose picks for signing the top free agents.  Picks in the top 10 are protected:

Hawaii (2nd rounder)

Louisville (second rounder)

New York Cobra (1st)

Boston (1st)

Top Free Agents Sign

Once again, the New York Cobra brought in the biggest free agent and set a new contract record in the process.  Stephen Hamburg will join the fearsome NY staff after agreeing to a 10 year contract for 400 million dollars.  This breaks the record for largest contract by 100 million over the amount Denver paid to Mark Crawford 4 years ago.

Hamburg will make 30 million in each of the first two years, then 35 million in 2018.  He will make 43 million in the next 3 years, and 44 million in the final 4 seasons.  He also receives a no trade clause, although it is likely a moot point as no other team could afford such a deal.  The Toronto Seagulls will receive a compensation draft pick.

The Hawaii Hounddogs signed Clayton Lewis to a 7 year, 215 million dollar deal.  With the price of ace pitching quickly escalating, Boston gave CC Salbacca a 7 year deal for 224 million.

Jaret Benser, 37 years old, resigned with the Utes for 2 years and 19 million.  He received a few other offers, but did not seriously consider leaving Utah.

Kal Chillingworth will head to Louisville Sluggers on a 7 year deal for 154 million deal.  The Portland Decepticons did not make him an offer.

Miami resigns closer Dwight Schrute for 5 years, 75 million.  This contract sets a new record for relief pitchers.

Fernandez forced to retire

Joey Fernandez of the New York Knights retired at age 30 after he was unable to recover from a torn rotator cuff.  Last season Fernandez pitched in an extreme lefty specialist role, appearing in 30 games but only recording 9 1/3 innings, facing 38 batters.  For his career Fernandez pitched 335 innings for the Knights over 8 seasons.

Managers of the Year

Miami's RJ Duke was named manager of the year, and Florida's Wally Calhoun took the award in the Major League, edging out Skip Yoder of the World Champion Bandits.

Conan Award

The Conan award for most valuable player went to the first basemen on the World Series teams.  Miguel Cruz hit .325 with a league best 33 homers and 104 RBI.  He also scored 112 runs and hit 42 doubles.  Cruz played 162 games at first base, where he made 14 errors but graded out as average in zone rating.  Cruz also won the award in 2014.

Joe Young won the Superior League award for the 7th time in his career.  The 39 year old hit .352 with 31 homers, 105 RBI, and scored 128 times.  He led the league with a .447 OBP and .599 slugging percentage.  Young played only one game at first during the season, spending another 146 as Miami's DH.  Young is happy to play only half the game as it helps his old body survive the rigors of the season.

Young now has 640 career homeruns and 2896 hits.  He is under contract for one more season in Miami.

Roger Chillingworth Award

The Roger Chillingworth award for best pitcher went to Miami's Jered DeMario and Toronto's Stephen Hamburg.

DeMario won 21 games against 7 losses, pitching 258 innings with a 2.68 ERA.  He walked 57 while striking out 188, and was 5.4 wins above replacement level.  

Hamburg, in his free agent walk season, won 17 games with a 2.69 ERA.  He struck out 269 against only 29 walks, and was 9.7 wins above replacement.

Jaret Benser finished second in the Superior League, and George White finished second in the major league.  The major league finish may be a bit controversial, as White had one more win (18) and a lower ERA (2.38).  Hamburg's advantage was in the strikeout to walk ratio, White's was an excellent 209-54, but not as otherworldly as Hamburg's.

Canzler signs

The Hawaii Hounddogs have reached an agreement with outfielder Shane Canzler on a 3 year, 24 million dollar contract.  Canzler hit .311 last year in 88 games.  He appeared to lose a step in center field, finishing with a -8.7 zone rating.  He would be a well above average defender in the corners however.  Canzler also provides a threat on the bases, stealing 9 bags in 10 attempts.

Reynolds to Manage Sox

The Alaska Snow Sox, who recently fired Ryne "El Jawa" Solo Jr., signed Todd Reynolds to a 3 year deal.  Reynolds most recently served as RJ Duke's bench coach for the Superior League champion Miami Stars.

Jeffrey Lamar Lewis Rookie of the Year

Utah's Erick Reinfelder won the Superior League rookie of the year award, edging out Miami's Devan Arceneaux.  Reinfelder hit .293 with a .396 OBP, hit 22 homers and stole 16 bases.  He became a fan favorite in Utah for his defensive efforts in left field, saving 13.5 runs by the league's new zone rating metric, and throwing out 13 runners on the bases.

In the Major league Detroit's Larry Brooks won the award by hitting .330 with 12 homers and 34 doubles.  Brooks is the rare slugger who can make contact in today's game, striking out only 51 times.  Portland's Ethan Howell finished second after a season of watching the ball go by for 113 walks and a .416 OBP.