CBL History: Don Sanders was acquired for $1
The date was November 1, 2022. 32-year-old outfielder Anthony Gose, coming off an injury-plagued .227/.311/.318 season while playing in just 20 games, informed the Richardson City Blood Raven he would not exercise his opt out clause, meaning his $10.5M salary was officially guaranteed for the 2023 season. It was widely expected, but it was an issue for Richardson City because they were near their budget already. After scouring the league for a trade partner, only one team was willing to acquire Gose, but even that had a catch. The Minneapolis Millers would want two prospects as their price for taking Gose’s final unproductive year of his contract off of Richardson City’s hands. “We zeroed in on Don Sanders almost immediately,” a Millers source tells me. “He wa...
3 For 3 The Lost Magic
After a long time off we are bringing back 3 for 3, a small peak into players of the CBL. 3 For 3 -River “Presto” Fuller- Act 1 – The Star From Alexandria. It was a cool crisp day in April, the stands are half full, local and national media that once dominated the stands are missing. Local star Steve Carlton left for the draft a year before and none of the underclass men were in the national spotlight but that all changed very quickly. River had this rare ability at a young age to lead a team, but not only did he demand it of others he also did it him self. His stat line was impressive, .406 AVG with a .444 OBP and walk as many times as he struck out (9) in 142 plate appearances. He lead the team to a National Federation High School State Championship with a walk off hom...
2032 CBL Mock Draft
With the annual June amateur draft scheduled for this Saturday afternoon (11 AM PST), here’s our best guess at how the first two rounds (42 picks) will unfold. Round One 1. Connecticut Colonials: Piotr Rasputin, Starting Pitcher, Yale University The 6’8, 275 pound Russian senior has had quite a collegiate career. “Colossus” as he’s known to friends and teammates, Rasputin posted a 1.35 ERA in 60 innings as a junior, decided to return for his senior season, and posted a 1.88 ERA in just over 62 innings this season. Scouts feel he’s yet to fully tap into his massive potential, as his strikeout numbers are solid but not quite as dominant as one would expect given his natural ability and sheer size. With a fastball that has touched 96 MPH and four pitches th...
2032 Sim Week 1 Review
2032 Sim Week 1 Review [Author’s Note: I will try to do one of these every Saturday night or Sunday morning for the regular season. It won’t be quite a month every time, so it’s not exactly a monthly review, but close enough.] With the weather finally warming up a bit as we head into May, let’s take a look at some of the interesting parts of April. Kings of the Castle The Philadelphia Liberty and Vancouver Canadians have dominated their respective leagues to this point, with the Liberty posting a ridiculous 20-5 record thus far and the Canadians an even better 21-4. The Liberty have scored 151 runs in those 25 games, an average of more than 6 runs per game. Long-time standout Don Smith continues to rake year after year, and is off to a .329/.468/.740 start with 9 ho...
The Crystal Ball: 2032 CBL Predictions
[Editor’s Note: Not all teams were done using the same template for the write-ups, that’s why some teams look different than other teams write-ups. You’ll survive.] It is warming outside, the grass is beginning to turn green and Spring 2032 is in full effect. What a year we had last year with the Dreamers winning their first Cup in a resounding sweep of the number one HL seed, Mahoning Valley. Now all teams set their sights on the new season and of ultimate victory. Let’s take a look at the FL first. FL Predicted Finish: Erie Seawolves Last season: 86-76 Experts would say that the 2031 Seawolves campaign won the CBL just by looking at the stats. They saw that with a +78 run differential, 3 guys with over 30 dingers, having a starting pitcher who was 12-3 and anot...
The Cuban Missile
Just before dawn, Lucio “Cranky” Aguilar awakens to the all-too-common obnoxious screeching of his alarm clock. While awaking before dawn is nothing new to Aguilar, he’s not getting up for an early morning workout today. The date is November 15, 2031, and Cranky has an early morning flight to the United States, to meet with his agent for a few days prior to the the beginning of the CBL free agency period on November 18. Years ago, Aguilar would’ve been forced to try and defect from the island, forced to gain citizenship in a more US friendly country. The risks involved and the time necessary to clear a Cuban refugee for professional baseball in the United States, however, led to an agreement years ago that allowed Cuban players to become free agents at a certain poi...
Fast Start For Seawolves In 2031 Offseason
Erie,Pa Coming off an unexpected playoff push that lead them 1 game short of the Cup, the Seawolves enter 2031 in a retooling offseason. Erie came out of the 2031 draft class feeling like they stole talent in the later rounds. Faced with a huge payroll issues coming off a push 2 seasons ago executives and ownership made a tough choice, rebuild without blowing up the team. The offseason planning started early in 2031, Gooden was traded away to conference rivals Millers for a package of players some CBL ready while others season or two away. The draft this past year was far and away the best Erie ever had. This was the nail in the coffin for retooling. First course of business was shedding payroll, Jesus Sanchez $17.8 million, Guem $12.8 million, Morales $4.8 million and Lachappa 700k were a...
To Move or Not Move to OOTP 20 is THE question. Fargo’s perspective
Around this time of the year the next version of OOTP is never far away. For some it is not a question IF to buy the latest version but WHEN to buy it. Some argue that 35 USD is worth it while others have other expenses. Firstly, from an online community perspective it might be worth it for me to pay the 35 schmeckles, but when i look what OOTP did to FHM 5 and Perfect team i had to think twice. My first question is why do i need to support the latest edition of a game if* it is basically the same version but with the latest MLB rosters? For some this is enough but within a season each team will look different anyway. Then there is the noble philanthropist argument which states “to support the project”. Well my dear friends, i am in a position that 35 USD can buy me a week of f...
Trading draft picks
The current situation around trading draft picks is a compromise between drafting and not trading draft picks. In my opinion it’s an ok compromise, but like any other compromise that involves important decisions which could significantly impact our league – trading too many draft picks can make a franchise collapse – it is not ideal. Maybe we should not aim for an ‘ideal’ situation as this term is ambiguous in our CBL league because every member has his own preference. Nonetheless, the current rule seems unnatural, or rather frustrating to me because it’s making trades which include draft picks stagnate. Sure, one can argue that this is why the rule works and should be implemented ( to prevent too many draft picks being traded). However, in such a situat...
Fargo Nordiques a new organization.
It was a cold winter evening when Natan Shapkovic received a call from a franchise that just lost its GM. No one knows what happened to the former GM, but rumors have it that he disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Allegedly the anonymous caller told Shapkovic that money was to be made in the U.S and that he would receive a great salary if he took the position of GM. When Shapkovic asked where the team was located the caller only told him ”you will love it”. For some unclear reason Shapkovic needed desperately the money and had no choice but to accept the generous offer from the stranger on the phone. Once half of his salary arrived on his bank account in Poland he left to the airport, there at the airport he would receive a call with the final destination,...
Howlers – Saturday, July 27 – Christmas in July | Winter Cap Giveaway
Saturday, July 27, the SeaWolves are transformed into the Erie SnowWolves on Christmas in July presented by Arlens Company. The first 1,000 fans will receive a SnowWolves winter cap. Fans can enjoy $3 specials on select domestic draft beers exclusively in the Bud Light Beer Garden until the game starts. After the game, stick around for autographs with C. Wolf and a SeaWolves player in the Team Store thanks to Tlyler Entry Systems.
Knights April Review
The Charlotte Knights have been an early surprise in a packed Frontier League this season. The Knights opened the season 8-2 and finished April with a 13-10 record good enough for second place in a league with over half its teams posting 10 or more wins in the month. Minneapolis has a healthy three-game lead with a 16-7 record. Led by former waiver wire selection Curt Tullos, the Knights have used power and pitching to jump out to a hot start. Tullos has posted a team-best .988 OPS in the first month of competition and leads the team in home runs with 9 and RBI with 22. The Knights are tied for fourth in the league with 34 home runs with Hector Espinosa adding seven to the total. Much has been made of Espinosa and Addison Russell co-opening a night club in the offseason and whether the eve...
