2009 Providence Grays

[Providence A's]

This first of two posts/articles will just discuss the Providence Grays off-season. The second post/article will discuss the 2009 team as a whole. So here we go...

In 2009 the Atlanta Braves began their off-season by being sold to a new owner that promptly moved the team to Providence bringing Major League Baseball back to Providence for the first time since 1885. The team was renamed the Grays in honor of the National League team that won the first World Championship (before the World Series existed) against the American Association New York Metropolitans. The new owner also brought in a new General Manager to run the team. The choice for the new GM was a bit of a shock as he has no previous experience in running a team. The owner, however, has the utmost confidence in the new GM saying "I have complete faith that John will help build the Providence Grays in the direction that I would like to see them to go."

The new GM certainly had his work cut out for him as the team had the highest payroll at the time of the acquisition at over $61 million. The first order of business was to try and trim some of that payroll and bring in younger, cheaper players. The Grays tried to balance helping the team for 2009 and beyond. The new GM put out some feelers to see if there was any interest in a few of the team's current players. The Grays turned to the international community to help meet the team's needs.

The first trade saw the Providence Grays sending SP Tim Hudson and his $5,930,000 contract to CSKA. While the Grays were sad to see Tim go, they were quite happy with what they got in return for him and with the money they saved. The Grays acquired MR Bobby Thigpen ($300,000) to take over the closer role for the team. They also got SP Cris Carpenter (MLC) in the deal. Carpenter may have to join the rotation in 2009, but will start the year at AAA.

The second trade had Providence sending three players to Edinburgh. The Grays sent SP Mark Buehrle ($11,000,000), 3B Scott Rolen ($7,450,000), and CL Daniel Nadeau (MLC) to Edinburgh. In return the Grays got two 5.0 specs in SP Kevin Appier (MLC) who should join the rotation in 2010 and CF Moises Alou Jr. (MLC) who will be the CF of the future for the Grays. Both will start the year at AAA. The Grays were very pleased with the money they saved in this deal and the two prospects that they got as well.

The Grays saved over $24,000,000 with the two trades. The Grays also saved some money by releasing a few players. The Grays released LF Hideki Matsui ($4,350,000), RF Robert Stratton ($350,000), and MR Jason Johnson ($350,000). That is another $5,050,000 saved. The Grays lost three players in the expansion draft MR Justin Miller ($350,000), MR Jason Stanford (MLC), and 3B Ricky Kunkel (MLC). The total amount of money saved by the Grays is $29,780,000.

The free agency period saw the new GM very active making several deals. The Grays tried to address their needs as best as possible without increasing the payroll right back where it was. Here is a list of the free agents signed by Providence and a little description about each.

Yaten Sugita SP ($6,000,000 per year for 3 years) - Sugita was the biggest FA signed by the team this off-season. No doubt his 6 endurance was a turnoff for some teams, but the Grays had to address the losses of Hudson and Buehrle. Sugita (10, 9, 9) should help offset the loss of Tim Hudson.

Luis Matos CF ($2,000,000 per year for 2 years) - Matos will be the team's CF and hopefully hold Alou Jr.'s spot until he is ready. Matos will probably see time at all three outfield positions.

Mike Burns MR ($1,750,000 per year for 2 years) - Burns will help setup in what was an empty bullpen with the only holdover being former closer Jay Witasick.

Greg Aquino MR ($1,000,000 per year for 2 years) - Aquino will also help setup closer Bobby Thigpen.

Cory Sullivan CF ($750,000 per year for 2 years) - Sullivan will be the starting left fielder and see time at all three outfield positions. He brings decent speed and a good arm.

Alfredo Amezaga 3B ($500,000 per year for 2 years) - Amezaga will be a backup infielder that will see time at all four infield positions. He brings decent speed and superior defense to all four infield positions.

Tyrell Godwin CF ($500,000 per year for 2 years) - Godwin has been out of baseball since 2005 and will begin the year at AA. The Grays took a small risk here in hopes that Godwin could fully develop his contact, discipline/eye, and avoidance of k's in the minors to become a decent backup outfielder. He brings tremendous speed and solid defense to the park.

Dee Brown RF ($464,000 per year for 1 year) - Brown projects to be the team's starting DH. He was a waiver signing. He should bring some offense to the table with 7 contact, 8 gap, and 7 power. He has above average discipline/eye and avoidance of k's. He really is a stopgap as the Grays hope to improve their weak outfield in the coming years.

Jessie Mota MR ($400,000 per year for 3 years) - Mota is a 3.5 star left-handed reliever prospect. He will begin the year at A. If he meets his potentional he would make a decent major league reliever with 6, 6, 8. He's only 19, too.

Dion Lopez SS ($350,000 per year for 2 years) - Lopez is a 3.0 star prospect that will begin the year at A, too. If he develops, he could be a decent SS.

Frank Thibault MR ($300,000 per year for 2 years) - Thibault is a 3.0 star spec middle reliever that will begin the season at AAA. He could develop into a decent major league reliever at 5, 7, 5, 7.

Maximo Lezama MR (MLC) - Lezama is a 2.5 star prospect that will be at AAA this year. He is left-handed and could develop to 5, 8, 7.

John Verrett CL (MLC) - Verrett is a 2.0 star closer prospect. He will begin the year at AA after 3 years at AA. He is still only 20 years old. He is left-handed and could develop to 5, 7, 6.

There you have it. That is all that happened this off-season to the Atlanta, errrr, Providence Grays. Altogether they spent just over $14 million in FA. For the off-season they saved almost $15.5 million dollars from where they started. The Grays are satisfied with the way the off-season went. They did as well as they could have expected. The Grays saved some money without completely destroying the current team. They added a few pieces via FA and strengthened their farm system. The GM's idea was to try and get more bang for the owner's buck. The owner seems pleased so far with this rookie GM's moves saying "I like what John has done so far. He took over a financially strapped and aging team and he started to improve it for the future. I'm pleasantly surprised."

[RockSports17]

Nicely done.

[CrazyEights]

yeah..nice job. I'll award your participation points as soon as I update the points thread which should be tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Providence A's]

Thanks. As I said, I'm going to do one more that will be about the 2009 team specifically (lineups and pitching staff). Basically, a position by position breakdown.

[Providence A's]

Here is the second post/article in this two part series. Here I will discuss the 2009 Providence Grays team in general. First, here are the lineups and the pitching breakdown.

Lineup vs. RHP + DH
1) Brandon Phillips 3B
2) Brandon Snyder C
3) Derek Jeter SS
4) Paul Konerko 1B
5) Jorge Cantu 2B
6) Dee Brown DH
7) Jayson Werth RF
8) Cory Sullivan LF
9) Luis Matos CF

Lineup vs. LHP + DH
1) Brandon Phillips SS
2) Luis Rodriguez 3B
3) Derek Jeter DH
4) Paul Konerko 1B
5) Jorge Cantu 2B
6) Jayson Werth LF
7) Luis Matos CF
8) Geronimo Gil C
9) Emil Brown RF

Starting Rotation
1) Yaten Sugita LHP
2) Clay Buchholz RHP
3) Travis Blackley LHP
4)
5) Pablo Baca RHP

Mopup Reliever
1) Maels Iglesias RHP
2) Chance Douglass RHP

Middle Relievers
1) Jay Witasick RHP
2) Jon Adkins RHP
3) Maels Iglesias RHP
4) Chance Douglass RHP

Setup Relievers
1) Mike Burns RHP
2) Greg Aquino RHP

Closer
1) Bobby Thigpen

Here is a player by player breakdown of the roster including the top prospects in the system currently.

Geronimo Gil C - Gil is a cheap backup for the catching position. He is getting on in age, but is still solid defensively behind the plate. He should see time against left-handed pitching as he is stronger with the bat against lefties.

Brandon Snyder C - Snyder is the primary catcher for the Grays. He is only 22 and still has room to improve his contact and gap to 8 each. Brandon has decent speed for a catcher and can also play SS if needed.

Luis Rodriguez 3B - Rodriguez will primarily play 3B against lefties. He's a cheap backup that has pretty much reached his potential.

Paul Konerko 1B - Paul is excited about playing for his hometown team. He is the team's 1B and cleanup hitter. Paul won the Gold Glove in 2007 and still has some pop with the bat.

Alfredo Amezaga 3B - Alfredo is another cheap backup. He was brought to Providence for his defense and decent speed. Alfredo can play all four infield positions and has a cannon for an arm.

Derek Jeter SS - Derek is the team's starting SS against right-handers and will see time as the DH against left-handers to give him some rest from the field. Jeter still has decent speed and plays a solid SS. He will bat third in the lineup and can still swing a decent stick.

Brandon Phillips SS - Brandon will be the team's starting 3B against right-handers and start at SS against left-handers. Brandon can also play 2B. He has good speed and is good in the field. He still has some room to improve his hitting in all five areas.

Jorge Cantu 2B - Jorge will be the team's starting 2B. He can also play SS. He's solid in the field and can still improve his gap hitting.

Dee Brown RF - Dee will be the team's DH against right-handers. He can play all three outfield positions if needed, but he's below average in the field. He should be a decent DH for the Grays.

Cory Sullivan CF - Cory will be the team's starting LF against right-handed pitchers. Cory still has room to improve his hitting, but he's solid in the field, has decent speed, and a great arm. He can play all three outfield positions.

Luis Matos CF - Luis will be the team's starting CF. He will bat towards the bottom of the order to give the Grays some speed in the bottom half. Luis can also play all three outfield positions.

Emil Brown RF - Emil will play RF against left-handers. He has good speed, plays solid defense, and is a decent stick. One can't really ask for much more from primarily a 34-year old backup outfielder.

Jayson Werth LF - Jayson will see time in both RF and LF. He doesn't have a lot of range, but has a strong arm. The Grays are really hoping that some of the power he showed in AAA will transfer to the majors.

Yaten Sugita SP LHP - Yaten moved to the US from Japan and became a free agent this off-season. The Grays liked what they saw from him in a few workouts and on tape. He will be the number one after all the trades. He has nasty stuff. Though he probably won't go the distance, he should still give the Grays a chance to win the game when he starts.

Clay Buchholz SP RHP - Clay will be the team's number two starter this year. He still has room to improve and the Grays hope that he can reach his potential this year.

Travis Blackley SP LHP - Travis will be the team's number three starter. Travis has pretty much reached his talent level, but his endurance should prove very valuable to the staff. He is left-handed.

Pablo Baca SP RHP - Baca will be the team's number five starter. He will not see as many innings as the other starters (barring injury) because the Grays want to get Halladay and Sugita out on the mound as much as possible when they're ready to go. Baca has pretty much reached his talent level, but he could still improve his stuff. He has 10 endurance so if he is pitching decent, then he shouldn't tire.

Maels Iglesias MR RHP - Maels will be one of the team's mopup relievers and may get a start here and there. He has pretty much reached his potential, but could still improve his stuff.

Chance Douglas MR RHP - Chance will be the team's other mopup reliever. Like Maels, he has pretty much reached his potential, but could be a valuable reliever.

Jay Witasick MR RHP - Jay is coming off three consecutive seasons of 30+ saves, but will be a middle reliever for the Grays this season. He brings some stability to the bullpen.

Jon Adkins MR RHP - Jon is replacing Justin Miller who was lost in the expansion draft. He has spent the last three seasons at AAA with mixed results. The Grays plan on using him as a middle reliever and hope he can find some success at the major league level.

Greg Aquino MR RHP - Greg will serve as one of the team's setup relievers. Greg did not pitch much last season after having two solid seasons in a row. The Grays hope he can find that success again in Providence.

Mike Burns MR RHP - Mike will be the team's other setup reliever. He comes to Providence after two decent years in Cleveland. The Grays hope he can help setup games for Bobby Thigpen when they have the lead.

Bobby Thigpen MR RHP - Bobby was acquired in the Tim Hudson deal. He was brought to Providence to be the closer for many years to come. The Grays hope that he will bring stability to this position and continue to develop to reach his talent level.

Providence Grays Top 10 Prospects

1. Moises Alou Jr. CF - Moises was acquired from Edinburgh. He will start the year at AAA. The Grays hope he will continue to develop and reach the majors sometime during the 2010 season.

2. Kevin Appier SP RHP - Kevin was also acquired from Edinburgh. He will probably spend the entire year at AAA to continue to develop. 2009 will be just his second pro season. The Grays hope he will be ready to join the roation in 2010.

3. Eric Anthony RF - Eric is also entering his second pro season. He will start the year at A as he only played 58 games there last year. He still has to improve his hitting quite a bit, but the Grays hope he can be promoted to AA this year.

4. Jon Moran 1B - Jon will start the season at AAA after a strong season at A last year. The Grays hope that he can continue to get closer to his talent level as they consider him their 1B of the future.

5. Cris Carpenter SP RHP - Cris will begin the year at AAA. He is still looking to fully develop. The Grays hope they don't need to call him up until 2010, but they might need to before then.

6. Carlo Martinez SP LHP - Carlo is only in his second pro season and will begin the year at AA again. He is hoping to build on the success he showed last year in only 26 innings.

7. Billy Hogan SS - Billy was left unprotected in the first round of the expansion draft and then protected from that point forward. Billy has been mired in A ball for the past three seasons and has been very slow in showing signs of developing, but the Grays are not going to give up on a young player with Billy's talent level just yet. He will start the year at AA.

8. Dion Lopez SS - Dion was signed as a free agent this off-season and the Grays were pleasantly surprised they got him. He is only 22 and has room to develop. He had good numbers in A ball last year in 71 games and he will begin the season there.

9. William Battista SP RHP - William is entering his second pro season and will start at AAA. He has just about reached his talent already and could serve as a mopup reliever in the future. He had good numbers in 15 games (14 starts) last year at AA.

10. Lucio Diaz SP RHP - Lucio will start the year at AAA. He still needs to improve his stuff and control. He has had OK numbers in his 1st two pro seasons.

[RockSports17]

Once again nicely done. My thoughts on Aquino are that he was a great MR guy for me for a couple of seasons. Last year he just sucked. I know his ratings did get knocked down some from those two seasons. Hopefully he can starting pitching like he once did, for your team.

[Providence A's]

he only pitched in 9 innings last year...I thought he'd be a decent reliever with 7, 7, 7, 3 time will tell, but it's not like I had many other options...I didn't want to spend like crazy and MacDougal wanted way too much for my liking.

[RockSports17]

he only pitched in 9 innings last year...I thought he'd be a decent reliever with 7, 7, 7, 3 time will tell, but it's not like I had many other options...I didn't want to spend like crazy and MacDougal wanted way too much for my liking.

He'll be an average reliever. IIRC, he had some better ratings at one time. I think an 8 control, or movement. He did only pitch 9 innings last season, because he was just horribly sucking. In 9 IPs, he managed to give up 6 walks and get a 10 ERA. I could've stuck with him, but instead I went with some of my youngsters. As I said, I hope he works out for you. Cause I really liked him when he was pitching well in 2006.

[Providence A's]

I changed a few things and edited the posts to reflect the changes. I didn't realize I only had 24 players on the active roster at that time.

[Providence A's]

I am going to update/change this again to reflect my recent trade and other additions.

[Providence A's]

The Providence Grays made another blockbuster trade at the conclusion of spring training. The Grays sent their staff ace and the last of the former Atlanta Braves famed "Big Three" to Louisville for their number one prospect CF Matthew McBride and their 1st round pick in the 2009 draft, which is projected to be a top 15 pick right now. McBride is a stud prospect with talent ratings of 10 contact, 10 gap, 7 power, 9 discipline/eye, 9 avoidance of k's, 7 speed, 8 base running capability, and 9 range in the field. He is only 18 years old and will begin the season at AA after batting .329 with an OPS of 1.158 at A ball in 73 ABs.

The three trades that the Grays new GM made breakdown as follows:

Traded Away
SP Mark Buehrle 3.0 $ 11,000,000
SP Roy Halladay 3.0 $ 10,680,000
SP Tim Hudson 3.0 $ 5,930,000
3B Scott Rolen 2.5 $ 7,450,000
CL Daniel Nadeau 4.0 spec MLC

Traded For
CL Bobby Thigpen 4.0 $ 300,000
SP Cris Carpenter 3.5 spec MLC
SP Kevin Appier 5.0 spec MLC
CF Moises Alou Jr. 5.0 spec MLC
CF Matthew McBride 5.0 spec MLC
2009 1st round pick from Louisville

The Grays also signed SP Ted Lilly and SP Bruce Chen to MLCs after ST to help out the pitching staff that is filled out with mostly newer and younger players.

The Grays saved $ 40,110,000 through the three trades, cuts, and the expansion draft. They added $ 16,414,000 in free agency, trades, and call ups. Their payroll was over $ 61 million, which was the highest in the league, when the new GM took over. They shaved approximately $ 24 million from their payroll, which now sits around $ 37 million

This is what their lineups and pitching staff should look like when everyone is healthy.

Lineup vs. RHP + DH
1) Brandon Phillips 3B
2) Brandon Snyder C
3) Derek Jeter SS
4) Paul Konerko 1B
5) Jorge Cantu 2B
6) Dee Brown DH
7) Jayson Werth RF
8) Cory Sullivan LF
9) Luis Matos CF

Lineup vs. LHP + DH
1) Brandon Phillips SS
2) Luis Rodriguez 3B
3) Derek Jeter DH
4) Paul Konerko 1B
5) Jorge Cantu 2B
6) Jayson Werth LF
7) Luis Matos CF
8) Geronimo Gil C
9) Emil Brown RF

Starting Rotation
1) Yaten Sugita LHP
2) Clay Buchholz RHP
3) Travis Blackley LHP
4) Ted Lilly LHP
5) Pablo Baca RHP

Mopup Reliever
1) Bruce Chen LHP
2) Maels Iglesias RHP

Middle Relievers
1) Jay Witasick RHP
2) Jon Adkins RHP
3) Bruce Chen LHP
4) Maels Iglesias RHP

Setup Relievers
1) Mike Burns RHP
2) Greg Aquino RHP

Closer
1) Bobby Thigpen

MR Chance Douglass was injured during ST and was replaced by MR Bruce Chen. If Chen is effective, then he will stay when Douglass comes of the DL and Douglass will get more time at AAA. Chen will be the only left-handed pitcher in the pen to start the season. He is taking over Jay Witasick's role of middle reliever while he is hurt. When Witasick comes back, Chen will be moved into the mopup role primarily.

The Grays also had to call up 2B Luis Montanez to take Derek Jeter's spot on the roster. Derek was injured sliding into 3rd base during a ST game and is expected to miss another 5 weeks. Alfredo Amezaga will play SS against right-handed pitchers while Jeter is out. Dee Brown will be the DH against left-handed pitchers until Jeter comes back.

SP William Battista replaces MR Jay Witasick on the roster as he was injured during ST with bone chips in his shoulder. He is expected back in 2 weeks. Battista is actually taking over the role of mopup reliever for Chance Douglass.

The Providence Grays have been very active since the new GM took over. The owner had this to say after Halladay was traded: "Wow! What can you say really? John truly got the best deal he could I believe. McBride and Alou Jr. should be a formidable duo for years to come. And a second 1st round pick? Amazing. I couldn't be happier about this deal and the off-season as a whole." Another GM was overheard to remark: "Wow. What a deal for Providence."

[Providence A's]

The Grays went 7 - 8 in their 1st 15 games of the season. 1 win more than their predicted record said they would.

Hitting (the good)
C Brandon Snyder is off to a fantastic start. He is 20 for 59 (.339) with 4 doubles and 3 homers. His OBP is .400 and SLG is .559 for an OPS of .959. He also stole 5 bases without getting caught once (already half of his 2008 total).

2B Jorge Cantu is off to a good start as well. He is hitting .305 with an OPS of .812. He has 2 doubles, a triple, and a homer. He made 3 errors though...

RF Emil Brown is hitting over .400 in only 27 ABs so far. He has 4 doubles and 1 homer. His OPS is 1.152.

Hitting (the bad)
DH Dee Brown is off to a slow start. He is only hitting .204 in 54 ABs with no homers and only 6 RBIs. His OPS is .690.

RF/LF Jayson Werth is below the Mendoza line at .190 so far in over 50 ABs. He does have 3 homers and 10 RBIs. His OPS is .629.

1B Paul Konerko is only batting .232 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs. His OPS is .769 is still decent.

3B Luis Rodriguez is also below the Mendoza line at .182 in 44 ABs. He has 5 RBIs and an OPD of .495. I don't know how he got that many ABs as he is only supposed to be in the lineup against left-handed pitchers...I guess we must have faced more than a few.

Pitching (the good)
MR Mike Burns is 3 - 1 with an ERA of 1.29 and WHIP of .86. He did not have an K's though...

SP Ted Lilly went 0 - 1, but has a good ERA of 2.55 despite a WHIP of over 1.50. 12 walks in 17 2/3 innings is concering.

SP Yaten Sugita went 0 - 2 despite a 3.00 ERA and a WHIP of 1.04. He had 19 k's in 24 innings.

Pitching (the bad)
SP Travis Blackley went 2 - 0, but his ERA is 5.67. His WHIP was 1.33. He gave up 27 hits in 27 innings. He had 9 walks and 15 k's. He gave up 6 homers.

SP Clay Buchholz went 1 - 2 with an ERA of 7.23. His WHIP was 1.77. He walked 11 and struck out 11 in 23.2 innings while giving up 31 hits.

MR Maels Iglesias had an ERA of almost 14 in 9.2 innings He was sent back to AAA because Jay Witasick came off the DL.

CL Bobby Thigpen had a rough sim. He pitched in less than 5 innings, but blew 2 out of 3 save opportunities. He is 0 - 1 with 1 save an ERA over 10 in those 4.1 innings so far. He gave up 8 hits with 2 walks while striking out 0.

Somehow the Grays went 7 - 8 despite being in the lower 2/3 of most of the statisical categories except stolen bases (T-10th) and walks (T-15th). The Grays did better than I expected record wise. Some players performed better than I thought and some worse than I expected.

The grays 2 main goals this season are:

1) To get through the season healthy
2) To allow the younger players to develop

[Providence A's]

I forgot to post the series results from the first game to the most recent:

0 - 2 vs. Orlando (annoying as they are my competition for 3rd/4th place )
2 - 1 vs. Savannah (woo hoo!)
1 - 2 vs. Puerto Rico (We beat Crapelbon)
2 - 1 vs. Louisville (Lost to Halladay)
1 - 2 vs. Chicago (A)
1 - 0 vs. Tennessee

total: 7 - 8

As I said, I was some disappointing decreases in player development at the major league level...there were some good increases at the minor league level...most notable were Carlo Martinez raising his talent level for stuff and movement from 7 to 8 and Jon Moran and Eric Anthony with a few more little increases to build on their increases from ST.

[Providence A's]

The Grays went 5 - 5 in the last sim:

1 - 1 vs. Tennessee (2 - 1 total )
2 - 0 vs. Milwaukee
1 - 2 vs. Colorado (those 2 losses made me )
1 - 1 vs. Alaska
0 - 1 vs. Vancouver

Paul Konerko is hitting .300 now. Snyder is still hitting well. The rest of the guys that were hitting poorly are still not hitting as well as I would like them to, but I guess it's expected. Sugita is still looking for his 1st win...he's 0 - 3, but his ERA is only 3.22 and he has pitched well. I would like to get more out of my bullpen...for some reason Jay Witasick didn't pitch at all since coming off the DL. It will be nice to get Jeter back after the next sim, but he may be a shell of his former self the way his ratings keep dropping...

Derek Jeter decreases his Contact Talent from 7 to 6 .
Derek Jeter decreases his Power Talent from 6 to 3 .
Derek Jeter decreases his Strikeouts vs Lefties from 6 to 5 .

hopefully, when he gets back on the field he'll level off or get some of his ratings back...either way he's still an upgrade over Amezaga though he had a some ratings increases this sim...

Alfredo Amezaga increases his Contact Talent from 6 to 7 .
Alfredo Amezaga increases his Eye vs Righties from 5 to 6 .
Alfredo Amezaga increases his Eye vs Lefties from 5 to 6 .
Alfredo Amezaga increases his Overall Eye from 5 to 6 .
Alfredo Amezaga increases his Eye Talent from 6 to 7 .

Moises Alou Jr. learned how to play RF...now I'm going to teach him to play LF. McBride is now trying to learn RF and will learn LF, too. Other notable increases:

Eric Anthony increases his Overall Contact from 3 to 4 .
Eric Anthony increases his Strikeouts vs Righties from 5 to 6 .
Eric Anthony increases his Overall Strikeouts from 5 to 6 .
Jon Moran increases his Overall Eye from 4 to 5 .
Brandon Phillips increases his Strikeouts vs Lefties from 6 to 7 .
John Verrett increases his Movement vs Righties from 6 to 7 .
John Verrett increases his Movement vs Lefties from 5 to 6 .

Other decreases include:
Emil Brown decreases his Contact vs Righties from 6 to 5 .
Emil Brown decreases his Contact vs Lefties from 6 to 5 .
Emil Brown decreases his Overall Contact from 6 to 5 .
Emil Brown decreases his Power vs Righties from 6 to 5 .
Emil Brown decreases his Power vs Lefties from 6 to 4 .
Emil Brown decreases his Overall Power from 6 to 5 .
Emil Brown decreases his Gap vs Righties from 7 to 6 .
Emil Brown decreases his Gap vs Lefties from 7 to 6 .
Emil Brown decreases his Overall Gap Power from 7 to 6 .
Emil Brown decreases his Strikeouts vs Righties from 4 to 3 .
Travis Blackley decreases his Overall Movement from 6 to 5 .
Clay Buchholz decreases his Movement vs Righties from 7 to 6 .

I'm not really concerned about Emil brown as he is a backup...only starts in RF vs. left-handed pitchers and he's done better than I could have expected. I don't like the little decreases in two of my starts though...

[Providence A's]

This was the kind of sim I was expecting when the season started with 2 of my better players on the DL in Jeter (starting SS) and Witasick (previous closer / current MR). The Grays went 2 - 8

1 - 1 vs. Vancouver (1 - 2 total)
1 - 1 vs. San Antonio (Pablo Baca improve to 3 - 0 )
0 - 4 vs. Las Vegas (2 close games, 2 not so close games)
0 - 2 vs. Anaheim

6 losses in a row to finish the sim

The good news is Derek Jeter is off the DL and will make his Providence Grays debut against Anaheim.

Sugita fell to 0 - 5 and is the only starter without a win. His ERA is still a decent 3.44. Rather than dwell on the statistics this time, I'm just going to go ahead and post development.

increases
Kevin Appier increases his Stuff vs Righties from 6 to 8 .
Kevin Appier increases his Stuff vs Lefties from 6 to 8 .
Kevin Appier increases his Overall Stuff from 6 to 8 .
Kevin Appier increases his Stuff Talent from 8 to 9 .

he now becomes a 9, 8, 8, 8 pitcher talent wise

Thomas Babineau increases his Stuff Talent from 7 to 8 .
Thomas Babineau increases his Control Talent from 6 to 8 .
Thomas Babineau increases his Movement Talent from 5 to 7 .

and with that he cracks my top prospects list and could become a good reliever down the road if he develops to his 8, 7, 7, 4 level

Matthew McBride increases his Contact vs Righties from 6 to 7 .
Matthew McBride increases his Contact vs Lefties from 6 to 7 .
Matthew McBride increases his Overall Contact from 6 to 7 .

he's developing nicely

Jayson Werth increases his Gap vs Righties from 6 to 7 .
Jayson Werth increases his Gap vs Lefties from 6 to 7 .
Jayson Werth increases his Overall Gap Power from 6 to 7 .

hopefully, that will help him out a little, but his 5 contact (6 talent) limit him

decreases
Derek Jeter decreases his Gap Power Talent from 8 to 7 .
Derek Jeter decreases his Eye vs Righties from 5 to 4 .

more decreases due to his injury...again, hopefully, coming back will rectify that a little...if possible

Chris Oxspring decreases his Control vs Righties from 3 to 2 .
Chris Oxspring decreases his Control vs Lefties from 3 to 2 .
Chris Oxspring decreases his Overall Control from 3 to 2 .

this 32 year old pitcher was sent down last sim and now he has been cut

Wes Whisler decreases his Overall Stuff from 5 to 4 .
Wes Whisler decreases his Movement vs Righties from 6 to 5 .
Wes Whisler decreases his Movement vs Lefties from 6 to 5 .
Wes Whisler decreases his Overall Movement from 6 to 5 .

this guy is out for the year and sucks anyway...cut