Themed Task July 5th 2020 to July 11th 2020

Drafts, and Awards and 2nd Players ...Oh My!

This week we are offering a broad range of topics for your consideration. With the off season in full swing there may not be games but the SBL is a hustle and bustle of movement. 2nd players were just announced and the SBL season one draft is around the corner. This is a perfect time to just look at what is going on in the leauge and chat about it a little.

Writing and Podcast Prompt. (5min or 150 word minimum)

Talk about what you are most looking forward to this off season, explore the draft, awards or even your predictions for the nest season. You are also welcome to discuss the addition of 2nd players and fillers to the SBL. Feel free to give us a sneak peak at your newest player and their personality.

Graphic Prompt

Make a SBLM trophy for any award or a graphic dedicated to a draftee. A graphic featuring a new S1 create either a filler or a 2nd player. As always have fun

Talk about what you are most looking forward to this off season, explore the draft, awards or even your predictions for the nest season. You are also welcome to discuss the addition of 2nd players and fillers to the SBL. Feel free to give us a sneak peak at your newest player and their personality.

There are a lot of things to be excited for this offseason, so here's a bullet point list.

- Drafts are the hypest moments in every season of every sim league not named the SBA - I don't know how they manage to make drafts lame, but they do. This one is a big one too, we got an impressive crop of 20-something players hitting the bigs, becoming the core of SBL teams. We don't know it yet, but there's possibly a dynasty in the making with this draft. If a team touches gold with their five-or-six picks, that could lead to a couple of dominant seasons for them.

- Award presentations is almost pretty exciting, especially when your own player has the potential to take an award home. Dale Cooper got the CF Golden Glove under lock and key, but I believe Sora Mekajiki is possibly going home with the CF Silver Slugger award. Then I got some teammates with Sherbrooke who I'm excited to see what awards to run away with, like Goliath, Peterson, McKenzie, McRlwain.

- My 2nd player's name is Lunari Dusk. Not going to lie, I didn't think about it much yet. It's a power pitcher. I'll focus on movement, control and individual pitches for now, but upon hitting the majors, I'll get the velocity up a notch. I don't know much about pitching, so I'll just see how it goes, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here. All I got is some memory of an old PBE meta that might not be a thing here at all. We'll see.

- My filler's name is Aquamarine Laforest. She's a tiny defensive second baseman. It's probably not going to be much effective, I don't know.

As many of you know, the clear best awards are the POTY and the pitcher Silver Slugger. Thus, I will discuss who I believe will win each award and who will be their biggest competition.

To start things off, I will talk about the Silver Slugger. While there were numerous spectacular seasons from pitchers, there are 3 players that stand out as the frontrunners for the award. These players are Cid Ramirez, Magnus Coretti, and Mario McRlwain. Each of these players has had a great season batting and has helped their team win games through their batting. However, one player has batted slightly better than the others. This player is Mario McRlwain. Throughout the regular season, Mario hit 3 HRs, recorded 7 RBIs, and had a WAR of 0.3 (which leads the league for pitchers. In comparison, Cid hit 3 HRs, recorded 7 RBIs, and had a WAR of -0.1, while Magnus hit 4 HRs, recorded 6 RBIs, and had a WAR of -0.2.

The last award to be discussed is the POTY award. While there are numerous pitchers that had spectacular seasons, the main competitors for this award are Cid Ramirez, Ezekiel Bridges, and Mario McRlwain. While I can't go into every statistical category, I will examine some of the main categories used for determining POTY. For starters, the 3 of these players are the top 3 in ERA (going Ezekiel, then Cid, followed by Mario) and are the top 3 in WHIP (going Cid, then Ezekiel, followed by Mario). However, one must also factor in complete games and innings pitched. In these categories, Mario is 1st in the league in innings pitched (with Cid coming in 3rd and Ezekiel coming in 4th) and is 1st in complete games (neither Cid or Ezekiel make the top 5). In the end, I believe that Cid will win a much deserved POTY award.

Nate Nitro is looking forward to the draft. Very much so because this is league history in the making. Are folks going to go in the same order in the S1 SBL Draft as they did in the S0 SBLM Draft? That would be an interesting case study to see how much users/players are valued within a year span. There’s also a lot of different dynamics in the making too, and it should be fun to see how everything shakes out. The 150 TPE boost is a much needed shot in the arm for me, especially as I’m trying to get my pitcher up into form. But I don’t think I’m going to do anything other than work on my velocity and try to blow by everybody.

As for my second player, I’m still on the fence. I wish that we had did this last year but better late than never. I’d love to do a small ball, defensive 2B like Bill Mazeroski or something like that. Or I could go for a super-high contact hitter who doesn’t let a ball by him, like Tony Gwynn now that I’ve seen what works with my initial SBL OF Filler. Decisions, decisions.

As someone who does not agree with having a second player I will write about that this week. I think the league has a small league feel when you have users in multiple locker rooms and multiple chances for winning trophy's and championships. There should not be a rush to expand so fast and I believe league growth and expansion should be organic. When I first read about there being a 2nd player allowed for each user I almost up and quit the league but I decided to stick around and just focus on one player's career for the time being. Based on future league decisions I may or may not stick around. I know in the end one person leaving doesn't matter so this is really not much of a case anyway. We all have our beliefs in how things should be and this is just me expressing my opinion.

Being a GM in the SBL is very exciting. I got to draft, plan my team, design a few logos, and just be part of something great and fun. With the draft being over I'm even more excited to start the season.

Don't get me wrong, Season 0 has been great as well. I'm still kicking my own ass for not picking my own player in Fantasy. Pingu Flipperson definitely outperformed, I believe, everyone's expectations! I hope to win the slugger trophy for sure!

With the announcement of 2nd players I was super excited to make a pitcher. I picked the best gun in the criminal underworld, Feathers McGraw, museum robber extraordinaire. His sharp wit, matched with his gun skills translate into being the best power pitcher in the biz.

It's going to be exciting because not only do I think power pitchers are underrated, but making one and seeing if I'm right or wrong is going to be hype!

I'm looking forward most to the SBLM draft for sure. Bridges should be uncapping, and with this, I'm hoping to go in the 1st round of the SBLM draft. Awards haven't come out yet, but I'm really excited about that. Coming into the league I didn't think I had a chance of being a top pitcher in the league, however, I ended up leading the league in ERA, and being top 5 in many other pitching categories. In this case, I think I'm a front runner for the Cy Young award, which is amazing. However, that is in the past at the moment, next season I have a chance to make history. If I win the Cy Young award this season and the next, my name will be up there when people talk about history.

As for Devin Lewin, part of the Lewin brothers, he is a speed demon SS, so that's going to be interesting. At the moment I'm currently focusing on the offensive side of the ball, however as time flys by, I'll be sure to make him into a solid 2-way wing. I'm not expecting him to high in the draft, probably in the later rounds, however, I will be max earning, and I think I have a solid chance at making a name for him for sure. I'm hoping he ends up on the same team as Bridges, as that would certainly help me out, knowing I can trust myself to earn and bail myself out when needed. Overall, I'm really excited for my 2 careers here and hope that I can eventually make the HOF.

The Sanchez agency has a busy week ahead. Kurtis McKenzie will be drafted in the SBL draft tomorrow. Possible destinations include Toronto, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Charlotte. Any team that drafts him is getting one of the league's best batsman.

Although he cannot wait to find out where he was drafted" awards season may be even more exciting. No awards are necessary to validate what a great season he put together. But, he is eager to see if the league writers feel as strongly about his performance as he does.

Meanwhile, a unique pitching prospect out of Washington has joined the Sanchez agency. Reanna Beach, (yes, Sandy's sister.) is a fastpitch softball legend looking to make a name for herself in the SBL. Her pitching style and looks are both enough to throw off SBLM batters. It remains to be seen if she actually has the talent for the next level. One thing is for certain, SBLM teams better take a flyer.

I can't wait to prove people wrong. A lot of people say I will fall in the draft, regardless if I do or not, I can't wait to prove everybody wrong... Even the team that picked me will be proven wrong because they should've picked me sooner. I'm the best player in the game, I can flip a switch and become the best to ever play. I have gained both accolades and playoff success this last season, there is no reason why I am not a top pick... Except supposedly "TPE". TPE ruins the fun for most sim leagues because people pick based on TPE rather than based on stats. Stats is how people judge you in real life but in sim leagues it's nothing but TPE. I hope to form my own legacy on a team but by no means do I want to be second fiddle and If I am I will force my way out in a heartbeat. Lucas Peterson is not somebody that's going to take a couple seasons to become effective he'll be MVP candidate by end of season 1. I hope people read this, this isn't a hope, this is a prophency... It's already been decided... So watch out!

For the draft it feels like the wait has been forever for it, but I'm glad that it is Friday and it is finally time to find out where Cooper will be playing. If I had to guess I would say that he goes in the middle-late 2nd round (or 3rd if GM players are 2nd round picks) which would value him slightly higher than the SBLM draft did. I love the draft because I think it's fascinating to see how different GMs value different users and builds, and I'm hopeful that I end up on a team with some really great users on here.

For my 2nd player, I'm happy to have the chance to make a pitcher because it seems like it will be very fun, but I'm also worried that there are lots of users able to make a pitcher right now. I am hoping to be able to be a starter for an SBLM team, but it seems like the competition will be fierce for those spots. I liked that I'll have a reason to follow both the SBLM and the SBL this upcoming season, although it will be difficult to folloow days when Cooper and Shaman are both playing

This offseason, I'll be headed into the SBLM draft. I assume I'll be reasonably high up, as someone who was around last season, earns pretty well, and (during the season) even manages to pick up some of that sweet job pay. I do see myself potentially being looked over at the top, though, as I joined the season a few weeks late and there may be people who did not do this but elected to stay down.

As for Velasquez this season, in terms of performance, I'm excited. I'm going to bump up his velocity another bracket (gotta put the "power" in "power pitcher" at some point), and then finally bring my control up to 50 on both sides. Once that's done, it's time to keep up with the earning! I'm excited to see how much I'm able to improve.

So we have second players now; that's interesting! I think that's a positive change as our teams are pretty large and we're starting with a smaller number of members, many of whom come here from other sim leagues. I'm not going to make a second player just yet--I think it will be interesting to wait until Velasquez hits just about the halfway point before I do. I want to always have a player who's relevant, and that's a nice way to do it.

Eh, I am not a fan of the double players system cuz I feel like not having to choose between a pitcher and a batter is boring, especially in a league where you can be a two-way monster and play both. Like, I want to play just one player, and then buy that thing to be Ohtani of SBL. Now you give me two slots to play both sides, why do I want to be Ohtani then? Also, you are devalueing in the most unique offering, IMO, in two-way player with double slots cuz now everyone can satisfy both at once and the league is going to have an insane amount of players so the two-way can't shine. I have changed my goal to play two two-way at once, but it still sounds boring. I much prefer a solo career at pitcher, then retire to make a batter and so on. Part of the charm of sim league is I cannot play everything at once, so I RC and play a different game, now I can kinda do too much at once and it hurts replayability if you ask me. Either way, my second player is just a TPE tool for now, I don't give a fuck about him, I will just earn 2000 TPE with him to carry over.

I am still waiting for the verdict of the bump. I want to max earn for next season and I am not hitting 265 this week, I think I am at 262? I have stated this concern few weeks ago and I am still concerned. I am sitting in SBLM if I cannot get to the bump and max earn, fuck everything else. I am a super patient F2P player in most P2P games, you ain't stopping me from staying in minor. At the same time, I still feel it's bad if we don't give a bump and fill up S2 draft class a bit more. I understand long term you want people to stay longer in the minor, but we are in a special time where you want players to go up and fill the major. I say we give a more lenient bump like 250+ to 299, so more players can uncap and earn fully for the next season. I want to go into draft, so please make it easier for me and also those players who are in 11 per week. They should be around the 230-240+ range before this update and have no way to hit the steep 265. Do you really think a bad S2 draft class is good for the league? I don't.

[No way this ain't over 150 words]

Rodriguez is looking forward to playing a new team in a new city. Being one of the only people who has openly declared he wants to be a closer he has a tough role to fill. With an ERA of 2.98 he might be able to be successful in his role. Rodriguez stated that “It’s going to be interesting dealing with a new coach, owner, and system to see how he melds in. Vegas has been great but it’s time to move on to see where we can take things. I think being part of a new pitching core will revitalize my game and hopefully help me go to the next level. I’m hoping to improve my stats and help the team secure a few wins along the way. I didn’t get the most games under my belt in Vegas so the thought of staying down was there.” Overall Rodriguez is looking for a new start.

As a new GM, I'm most looking forward to setting up my team for my first season in control. I was able to get a great pitching foundation and was able to build some BOTs to suit my team and ballpark. It should be an exciting season as teams begin to take more shape than they had in S0.

With so much more attention being turned to the pro level, the expectations will be higher. As much as Dallas wants to win, we need to build a team for the long term and I think we made a good start to that. Great pitching and defense will lead the way. Finding offense will be the key and if not, we will find some good pieces in the next draft. Taking so many elite pitching prospects should force the other clubs to look at pitching next draft and we can focus on fielders. Or that's the plan anyhow

As a GM in the SBL, I’m super excited for this season to get started. The draft was a bunch of fun and I’m happy that I’ve finally got the rookies into the locker room. We’ve got a group of guys that are both great users and great players. Indy’s middle infield is locked up, we got ourselves a stud in the outfield and added some stars to our pitching staff. Oh yeah and my GM first baseman. I believe that this is an amazing foundation for the future of the Invaders. I was able to grab the guys that I want talent wise and character wise, so everything should mesh together really well to create a nice environment for everyone in the organization.

I do expect for Indianapolis to be one of, if not, the best team in the SBL for S1. I’ve got a lot of faith in my guys to produce the wins that I know they can, so we’ll see how it goes. Regardless of expectations and outcomes, I’m hype for the year to start. It should be a fun one.

Honestly, this off-season I'm just gearing up for whatever the possibilities will be for next season. Jermaine Cole won't be going to the SBL, and instead will be drafted back into the SBLM where he signed as a free agent at the beginning of S0. It will be very interesting whether I stay with the Sherbrooke Mohawks or go elsewhere. Whatever the case, I will still be the same player and training at the same rate. It doesn't matter where I play.

Other than that, I am looking forward to seeing how I perform next season. In S0 in the SBLM, Jermaine Cole was all over the place. He started off the year great as one of the league's best pitchers, and even was the MVP of the All-Star Game. After that, things seemed to just fall off. The team was winning games, but not when Cole was the starting pitcher. It was a bit of a mess, even though Cole was growing at the same rate all season. The games just did not seem to be going his way.

I am definitely excited for next season, and to find out what team I will be playing for and to try and win a championship.

The notion of adding a second player into the league is pretty terrifying. I didn’t really want to follow both leagues at once, but the chance to make one player loyal and the other a mercenary is an extremely compelling timeline to use – plus it lets me make a very specialized batter that hopefully can always fill a niche in the league regardless of how far behind he is in TPE compared to the first class. I also think this makes the upcoming SBLM Draft incredibly intriguing from a ‘posturing’ or tactical perspective.

Do you take an uncapping player, who’s only going to be with you for one season, as your first overall pick? Or do you take a new player from a reputable user that is likely to stay with you for 3 or even 4 seasons (something you can ascertain during the scouting process)? Positional needs will be significant, provided some teams are losing entire infields and others are losing multiple top-tier pitchers (e.g. Vegas), so that may color the draft more than we suspect.

I'm so excited about this new season, mainly because we get to see how our first players behave in the profesional league with considerable TPE bumps. I would expect some bigger differences in performance depending on how and where has been that TPE spent. I hope I'm on the correct side. Another thing that will make it interesting are our second players. I can't be more in favour of this strategy, probably because I come from the EFL. This will allow me to experience and hopefully enjoy another position like Pitcher, and since I'm very new to baseball this is huge for me. Like an advance course of baseball rules and stuff. For example, it already made me grab The Show and start a new career as a Pitcher to see how it went and try to experiment with the different pitch types. My unorthodox submarine knuckleballer is going to be a rare horse in the league, but I'll try to make it work.

As a new guy was pretty excited and also intrested to see that you offered a 2 player option. In a lot of leagues I know it's a pretty contentious debate where you can either have 2 players are one player or maybe just a filler player on top of your 1st player and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. In a league with multi players if they end up stacking themselves of the same team it has to get pretty unfair I've found that I dislike this system on the ohter hand some of the users kind of don't really build their players that well so it doesn't hurt that much but it's definitely annoying. Its just one more thing to fight against in terms of league balance said just trying to make sure that your player does well and your team does well because of worries me because inevitably feels like battle just lead to the creation of super teams were power users can basically make up the entire team since they can fill the 9 roster spots with just 5 users that seems kind of terrifying to be honest. With that said I'm definitely excited to have to users I definite wanna see how this system works and I deftly think it's worth giving it its fair shot ultimately I think you know with so many players on a team it kind of mitigates the fact a bit but still it's definitely something to be keeping an eye out and to be concerned about.



As a new guy really don't have anything to be excited about what to discuss regarding last season I just here to learn taking the experience and hopefully enjoy my time here. I think I will! I hope I do!