Baseball Mogul ---The King of the Baseball Sims

The year is 2010.
Former Oakland A's GM Billy Beane has been replaced by a young upstart: ME.

I took over the A's in 2007 with visions of giving Oakland fans their first World Series title since 1989. But, it wouldn't be easy. The A's had been riddled with injuries the last few years, and the offense was mediocre at best. Luckily, I'm playing Baseball Mogul 2008, where dreams become reality.

I've been a fan of the Sports Mogul games for years. In prior years, I've purchased the full versions of Baseball Mogul and Football Mogul. If you're not familiar with the Mogul simulations, just head over to Sports Mogul and check out all the features of their sports lineup.

But, back to the A's...I took over a franchise that has been able to compete in recent years, hasn't won the World Series in almost twenty seasons. My first move was to move some of the underachieving players that were making too much money. Chavez, Crosby, Street...all gone.

Our first two years (2007 and 2008) were spent building up a core of talent that would be with the organization for several years down the road. Although we would still try to put a good team on the field, I really wanted to stockpile young, cheap players with good upside. I would also target fairly young established players who I felt would still be producing in 4-5 years at a reasonable price.

2007 was a pretty rocky campaign, as we brought in the influx of new faces. We added Chone Figgins, Hank Blalock, and Mark Buehrle via trade or free agency. Negotiations with free agents can be tough. A lot of them want option years or no-trade clauses added onto their contracts. Serving as the A's chief negotiator as well as the GM, I am often able to talk down their price as well as getting them to lower their extra demands. Who wouldn't want to play in Oakland?

We finished '07 and '08 just above .500, not quite enough to make the playoffs either year. The 2008 team was decimated by injuries to the pitching staff, and our depth was not enough to overcome them. The fans kept coming out to the ballpark, though, knowing that they were looking at the future of the A's. We were able to pick up some nice players in the amatuer draft in both years. Those players have yet to see the field in the majors. We're not into rushing our guys before they fully develop.

2009 saw us get into the playoffs for the first time, although we had to face the Twins in the first round. Minnesota boasted a rotation that included Johann Santana, Carlos Zambrano, and Francisco Liriano. We went out 1-2-3, and the season was over.

Knowing that we need to vastly improve our squad to beat the best teams, we broke the bank in 2010. After a couple of years of light spending which allowed us to bolster our cash reserves, we went out and signed free agent Joe Mauer, who we envision being our catcher for the next 5 years. We signed Vernon Wells and aging star Vladimir Guerrero to multi-year deals. We were also able to acquire young slugger Joey Votto for four players, including the somewhat-disappointing Daric Barton.

We are currently in mid-season 2010. Our record is an eye-popping 40-15. Oakland has spent more money on the medical staff to avoid injuries to our star players. Although we have the best record in baseball, we're not counting our chickens yet. Anything can happen in the second half or in the playoffs. One game at a time, baby!

Baseball Mogul 2008 offers so much for the average baseball geek that I can't possibly list all of the great features here. You can take over an existing major league team, past or present. Don't like how the 1960 World Series played out? Go back to '60 and help the Yankees cruise to the title. You can choose from four difficulty levels, build a stadium, and play your game a season at a time or one pitch at a time. Fantasy mode allows you to create all custom teams and players. Or, you can take existing players, and shuffle them all off to random teams.

What I like best about Baseball Mogul is that I can play an entire season in one sitting. I usually play a week at a time, and the game stops play if one of my guys gets injured. I handle all of the player transactions, but I leave the in-game decisions to my (computerized) managerial staff. After the A's win a few titles, I might see if I can ressurrect the pitiful Devil Rays, or create a whole new league.

Oh, and Football Mogul 2008 just came out! I hope to have a writeup of that product right here very soon :)

Top NBA Producers

Here are the top NBA producers so far this year in terms of TOTAL POINTS (PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK)


james,lebron 47.1
bryant,kobe 45.1
garnett,kevin 44.3
boozer,carlos 42.8
howard,dwight 41.1
ming,yao 40.6
davis,baron 40.5
iverson,allen 39.3
mcgrady,tracy 38.3
anthony,carmelo 37.7
paul,chris 36.8
kaman,chris 36.3
randolph,zach 36.2
jefferson,richard 35.9
nowitzki,dirk 35.7
pierce,paul 35.4
jefferson,al 34.7
marion,shawn 34.5
redd,michael 34.4
nash,steve 34.1
martin,kevin 33.9
johnson,joe 33.7
arenas,gilbert 33.6
butler,caron 33.6
smith,josh 33.6

Winning Your NBA Fantasy League

A few years ago, I participated in an NBA Fantasy League. It was the 2001-02 season. The league used 12-man rosters with 10 owners, and five stat categories. There were two games each week, and we set our starting lineups for each game. I won that league, and thought I'd share my strategy with you. Even though most leagues have already had their drafts and started play, there's still plenty of time to make trades and free agent acquisitions.

Entering the draft, I had the third overall pick. Our stat categories were PTS, REB, AST, BLK, and STL. Each player's output in all five categories was added together to get the team total. I prepared my draft sheet and tried to identify players that might be undervalued by the other owners.

In addition to the stat projections, there were two other factors that I used to target players. One was durability. I wanted to make sure that the guys that I drafted had a good chance of missing only a few games. So, I didn't go after guys like Grant Hill. I also wanted players that still had their best years in front of them.

I knew that Shaq would be the first pick. I believe Tim Duncan went second. I decided to buck the trend of taking big men in the first round. With my pick, I took a very young, but talented Tracy McGrady. His prior year stats weren't as high as a few other guys near the top, but because of his youth, he projected to keep improving.

Here was my draft (what I can remember of it):

Round 1 - Tracy McGrady, G
He was the foundation for my team, a Do-It-All contributor who provided good points in all five categories. 76 games played.

Round 2 - Shawn Marion, F
Another young guy who slipped under everyone else's radar. He gave me monster numbers across the board, and played in 81 games.

Round 3 - Ben Wallace, C
A MAJOR coup for me in the draft. Big Ben qualified at center, and slipped to the third round because he didn't put up good scoring numbers. However, I saw the potential for improvement. He put up huge rebound numbers, finishing just behind Duncan in that category. Plus, his durability allowed me to start him every night. 80 games played.

Round 4 - Antawn Jamison, F
This may have been a suspect pick, but it worked out well in the end. Jamison did not have a great first half, and started receiving less playing time as the year went on. However, he picked it up in the second half, and became a force. Many think of Jamison as a scorer only, but he also rebounds well and gets a few blocks. 82 games played.

Round 5 - Darrell Armstrong, G
Another guy who flew under the radar was Armstrong, who finished with good points and assists totals, and also finished in the top five in steals. He also played in all 82 games. His career went downhill pretty quickly after the 01-02 season. Note that my starting five missed a grand total of only nine games.

Round 6 - Antonio Davis, F/C
A vastly undervalued guy who started for Toronto, and gave me quality production at the center position. I used him as a backup at times to Wallace.

Round 7 - Elden Campbell, C
I stocked up on quality big men that fell to the later rounds. The teams that had drafted centers early only felt the need to add one near the end of the draft. That was their mistake. I had three starting centers on my roster who produced. That limited the number of quality centers who were available after this point. Rule #1 of drafting: stock up at positions where quality is scarce. You can use those chips as trade bait later on.

Round 8 - Jalen Rose, G/F
Rose was a consistent contributor in points, rebounds, assists and steals, and even averaged a half a blocked shot per game. The next season was his best.

Round 9 - Anthony Peeler, G
Needing some insurance at the guard position, I grabbed Peeler. He was a decent scorer, but lacked points in the other categories to make him a higher pick. 82 games played.

Round 10 - Aaron Williams, F
This pick didn't really work out as well as I hoped it would. Although Williams didn't miss a game, his per-minute numbers didn't really improve, and he didn't play as much as I thought he might.

Round 11 - Jahidi White, C
More center stock-piling. White ended up with one of the highest rebound/minute averages in the league, although he only averaged about 19 minutes/night.

Round 12 - Tony Parker, G
Mr. Parker didn't really blossom until a few yaers later, but I liked the fact that he was young and played good minutes.

I don't think we scared anybody on paper, because we lacked a lot of big-name players. We were around .500 during the first half of the season, and didn't really gel until the playoffs neared. We cruise through the first round, and then had to face Shaq's team in the best 2-of-3 final round. We lost the first game, but then Shaq got hurt, and we won the next two games for the championship title.

What I learned from that season is that in Fantasy Hoops, the starting five is key. If you draft a solid top six or seven players who don't get hurt, you don't really need much depth. When other teams are trying to replace injured stars, you are still playing your top guys, and that makes all the difference. Also, addressing the issue of position scarcity is important in any draft.