Running the Red Sox: 2-1

While the sky is falling for the real Red Sox, the OOTP Baseball Red Sox are off to a 2-1 start thanks to their lights out bullpen. My decision to put Daniel Bard as the closer is the key and it won't be long before the real Red Sox do the same.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is also off to a hot start. I still prefer Ryan Lavarnway as the future for the Red Sox so Salty's hot start only increases his trade value for me. The Blue Jays are up next and Aaron Cook will be getting the start. I also don't think it will be long before Aaron Cook joins the rotation for the real Red Sox, more than likely to take Bard's spot. Below is the news around the league just three games in.

Betting MLB: Riding the Losing Streak

Great article today by Beyond The Bets about betting on teams to continue their losing streak. Most bettors bet on the team to break their losing streak rationalizing that they are due. The statistics say that riding the losing streak is more profitable. So we are going to track this theory this year as much as we can. Tonight we have four games that go along with this theory and one of them involves my Red Sox and betting against them. Oh the humanity! Here we go:

Moneyline: Baltimore +130 

Moneyline: Houston +150 

Moneyline: Toronto -125

Moneyline: Kansas City +100

Running the Red Sox: Breaking Spring Training

I ran the simulation for the 2012 season using OOTP 13 a week ago and I shared those results with you yesterday. The Red Sox were very successful in the simulation but they were not run the way I would have wanted. Keep in mind, they were run the way it looks the real Red Sox will be run this way with Daniel Bard being in the starting rotation and Andrew Bailey in the closer role. Of course, the real Red Sox have had to make an adjustment due to the Bailey injury.

I am adamant against Bard being in the rotation and especially now that Bailey is down. I think the Red Sox bullpen will become a weakness when it really could be a strength.

This is where OOTP 13 comes int. As I mentioned before, OOTP 13 is the newest version of the best baseball text simulation franchise ever created. I have taken over the 2012 Red Sox and they will be run my way. Here is how my rotation looks:

1) Jon Lester
2) Josh Beckett
3) Clay Buchholz
4) Aaron Cook
5) Junichi Tazawa

Setup
Mark Melancon
Andrew Bailey

Closer
Daniel Bard

Middle Relief
Alfredo Aceves
Franklin Morales
Felix Doubront
Matt Albers
Vicente Padilla

The bullpen now becomes a strength with Melancon, Bailey and Bard to end games. The top three in the rotation is strong as we know and I really love what Aaron Cook brings to the table. Then there is Junichi Tazawa. Tazawa was not even considered for a rotation spot for the real Red Sox as he was labeled a reliever and was eventually sent to AAA. I am a huge fan of Tazawa. He has three good pitches, great endurance and will make a perfect fifth starter.

I also like the depth of pitching with this setup. Aceves, Doubront, Padilla could all step into the rotation if there is an injury or if someone is really struggling. Roy Oswalt is also still a free agent and if he continues to lower his demands he might be signed. Rumor has it the Red Sox offered a one year deal for just under $5 million. It is a long shot but I am trying to add even more depth to the rotation

Then there is Daisuke Matsuzaka who will be back in the summer and lefty specialist Rich Hill who will be back in less than a month.

The lineup is exactly the same as the real Red Sox but I was very tempted to make Ryan Lavarnway the starting catcher. I even went as far as to shop Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Nobody was offering anything I needed so I decided to send Lavarnway to AAA and see what Salty could do for us.

As a Red Sox fan I was hoping Jose Iglesias would make the Opening Day roster. I was tempted to do it for this OOTP season but instead I followed along with the real Red Sox and sent him to AAA. However, I do prefer Iglesias starting at shortstop with Aviles being the utility guy and Nick Punto being off the team.

I will also be active and trying to find a team that will trade for Carl Crawford. I realize it will take me picking up a bunch of his salary but it is more important to be able to re-sign Jacoby Ellsbury and to have a spot for Ryan Kalish. I envision an outfield of Ellsbury, Kalish and the Ross/Sweeney platoon. It would free up money to go after some pitching and to keep Ellsbury around for a long time. Maybe I will see if Theo and the Cubs are interested.

I will give updates on twitter and on the blog as the season moves along. I am going to play out the season at the same pace as the real season.

Follow me on twitter @ThePeskyPole6

Daily Fantasy Baseball

With a newborn baby, preparing for a Fantasy draft was not on my mind. So for the first time in years I will not be a part of a fatnasy baseball league. Luckily though I have discovered a daily fantasy league. It is real simple. You have $35,000 in salary cap and you choose 9 players for the day. Top score wins. There are plenty of free leagues to play in for free but there are also some money leagues where there is a nice payout. Some leagues cost $1 and some leagues cost $50. However, for my readers I have obtained a nice promo code for Opening Day. The promo code is HOMERUN and enables you to play in a league on Opening Day for free and if you win it pays out $500.

The promo code also enables you to double your first deposit. If you deposit $20 then they will match it.

Lastly, on Friday there is a $10 league. If you are one of the 15 winners on Friday you will win a weekend all expense trip to Las Vegas. Once there you will square off against the other 14 winners for a Sunday of baseball games. If you beat them out you get $200,000. If you finish 15th you are guaranteed $1,500. So it may not take the place of the daily grind of having your own team and making trades, it isn't bad. Just click on the banners below to enjoy the promo tools. Good luck  

Predicting the 2012 Season

I was lucky enough to receive a very early copy of Out of the Park Baseball 13 and the first thing I did was simulate the 2012 season. I kept all settings on default and did not interfere with my Red Sox. This was very hard to do since I have some strong opinions on who should be in the rotation and who should be in the pen. To OOTP13's credit the Red Sox had the same five man rotation as the real Red Sox do currently with Daniel Bard and Felix Doubront in the rotation with Alfredo Aceves in the bullpen. Let's take a look at the final standings. For those of you wondering why the logos are not correct for all of the teams, keep in mind I simulated the season as the first thing I did when getting the game and did not do any customization of logos.

Great news for Red Sox fans as they managed to win the division. The Red Sox actually spent much of the first two months of the season languishing in third place. The Tampa Bay Rays started the season 28-9 and were looking like they were going to run away with the division.

The 2012 season also brings about some changes to the playoffs which I love. Two wildcards make it from each league and they play each other in a one game playoff. For a while it looked like it would be a Red Sox vs Yankees one game playoff which I think is a very real possibility for the actual 2012 season. Here is how the playoffs played out.

The Braves take the title but more importantly no wild cards made the World Series. The new rules will make it harder than ever for the wild card team to win it all and that is what I like about the new playoff format.

Now let's take a look at the batting leaders in 2012. Now we say why the Red gave Joey Votto all that money

Next up is the pitching leaders. How good is Matt Moore and Stephen Strasburg? Real good!

Jon Lester was also real solid for the division winning Red Sox. Speaking of the Red Sox let's take a look at their team stats and who was responsible for them being the division winners in 2012

A couple of things, John Lackey is supposed to miss the entire season but the OOTP engine had him coming back right around the same time as Daisuke Matsuzaka. For those of you thinking about buying the game this is something you can easily fix. Doug Fister was obtained in a trade just before the deadline. The Red Sox sent Cody Ross packing along with minor leaguer Bryce Brentz. Here is more detailed stats for the Red Sox in 2012.


Carl Crawford is the story here. He battled injuries all season long and only appeared in 61 games but in that small sample size he appeared to look like the player he was in Tampa..

Daniel Bard started in the rotation but also spent some time in the bullpen but did not have a great season. This is why I am hoping the actual Red Sox put him in the closer role, especially now with the injury to Andrew Bailey

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @ThePeskyPole6. I will have more historical simulations using OOTP13 and I am also going to play out the 2012 season again but this time I will play the role of Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherrington. Hint, you will not be seeing Bard in the rotation. OOTP13 is as good as it gets and the game will be released this week. It is worth every penny. Go here to order it now