Power Pros Forum

November 28, 2017

BREAKING: Rob Manfred announced earlier today that the MLB is officially expanding to 32 teams. It has been expected for awhile, but Commissioner Manfred finally announced today that 2018 will be the first year the MLB will play with 32 organizations. Many fans around the MLB especially in the Portland and Charlotte areas have been expecting a team for awhile, but neither of these locations was approved for an MLB team in 2018.

One of the teams joining the MLB is a former collegiate summer team, the Alaska Gold Panners of Fairbanks. Legends such as Barry Bonds and Tom Seaver played for this amateur summer team, and they will officially be joining the bigs in 2018. Commissioner Manfred said that for awhile he wanted to bring more interest in the sport to the northern states such as Montana and the Dakotas and even Alaska. Manfred expects the Gold Panners to rack up a very high attendance in their first few years in the bigs as most Alaskan fans have never been to a Major League game.

The other expansion team coming to the MLB is the Rochester Jets. Manfred said that he believes the MLB has not gotten as deep into the New York market as they can with only the Yankees and Mets, so they will bring another Major League team to New York, the Jets, not to be confused with the New York Jets in the NFL.

Commissioner Manfred believes that the addition of these two teams to the Major Leagues will solidify the league structure for the next twenty to thirty years. Along with the announcement of these two expansion teams joining the league, the commissioner's office announced that the MLB will be going back to the traditional one wild card system. Only 8 teams will make the playoffs once again.

The MLB also announced the details for the MLB expansion draft and they are as follows:
-Each team can choose 22 players from their 40 man roster to protect.
-Any prospect in Baseball America's Top 150 prospects is auto protected (to ensure decent farm systems for each team).
-There are 35 rounds in the draft.
-Snake draft.
-The 50/50 lottery will be done before the draft for the 1st pick of the expansion draft.
-The Draft will be held January 1st, 2018, in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

January 1, 2018

BREAKING -- The MLB Expansion Draft is officially over and the results of the draft are shown below. A couple quick notes before the draft results: The Rochester Jets won the lottery and received the 1st overall pick of the MLB Expansion Draft. Teams that lose a hefty amount of players in the draft will receive supplemental 1st round selections in the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft.

Draft Results

1:1 Jets - 2B Isan Diaz
1:2 Goldpanners - 3B Matt Reynolds

2:1 Goldpanners - RP Kirby Yates
2:2 Jets - SS Asdrubal Cabrera

3:1 Jets - SP Jason Vargas
3:2 Goldpanners - LF Jon Jay

4:1 Goldpanners - SP Foster Griffin
4:2 Jets - RP Hoby Milner

5:1 Jets - SP Ben Lively
5:2 Goldpanners - RP Alex Wilson

6:1 Goldpanners - 2B Neil Walker
6:2 Jets - CF Denard Span

7:1 Jets - CF Carlos Tocci
7:2 Goldpanners - SP Tommy Mahle

8:1 Goldpanners - CF D.J. Wilson
8:2 Jets - 2B Ernie Clement

9:1 Jets - 3B Emmanuel Rivera
9:2 Goldpanners - RP Miguel Castro

10:1 Goldpanners - LF Matt Szczur
10:2 Jets - RP Tyler Clippard

11:1 Jets - RF Jabari Blash
11:2 Goldpanners - RP Carlos Torres

12:1 Goldpanners - C Omar Narvaez
12:2 Jets - SS Errol Robinson

13:1 Jets - 2B Kramer Robertson
13:2 Goldpanners - SP A.J. Cole

14:1 Goldpanners - SW Wilmer Font
14:2 Jets - SW Jose De Leon

15:1 Jets - RP Enny Romero
15:2 Goldpanners - SP Brett Anderson

16:1 Goldpanners - SP Seth Lugo
16:2 Jets - RP Nick Goody

17:1 Jets - SP Gregroy Soto
17:2 Goldpanners - RP Jose Alvarez

18:1 Goldpanners - SW Yonny Chirinos
18:2 Jets - RP T.J. McFarland

19:1 Jets - RP Tyler Olson
19:2 Goldpanners - RP Daniel Hudson

20:1 Goldpanners - RP Chase Whitley
20:2 Jets - RP Addison Reed

21:1 Jets - RP Jon Brebbia
21:2 Goldpanners - RP Ryan Tepera

22:1 Goldpanners - RP Warwick Saupold
22:2 Jets - RP Steve Cishek

23:1 Jets - SW Jacob Turner
23:2 Goldpanners - RP Hector Rondon

24:1 Goldpanners - SP Hector Perez
24:2 Jets - SP Ryan Castellani

25:1 Jets - RP Josh Smoker
25:2 Goldpanners - RF Matt Joyce

26:1 Goldpanners - C Jett Bandy
26:2 Jets - SP J.C. Ramirez

27:1 Jets - RP Trevor Hildenberger
27:2 Goldpanners - 3B Rio Ruiz

28:1 Goldpanners - 1B Adrian Gonzalez
28:2 Jets - C Stuart Turner

29:1 Jets - SS Zack Short
29:2 Goldpanners - 1B C.J. Cron

30:1 Goldpanners - 3B Bobby Dalbec
30:2 Jets - C Chase Vallot

31:1 Jets - 3B Jonah Arenado
31:2 Goldpanners - 3B Drew Robinson

32:1 Goldpanners - 1B Jefry Marte
32:2 Jets - C Drew Butera

33:1 Jets - 1B Tyler Austin
33:2 Goldpanners - CF Anfernee Grier

34:1 Goldpanners - 2B Andy Ibanez
34:2 Jets - 3B Pablo Sandoval

35:1 Jets - LF Mark Zagunis
35:2 Goldpanners - LF Chris Young

DRAFT NOTES

-Talk About Depletion -- The Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays are the two teams feeling most depleted of talent after the draft. The Rays lost 6 players in the expansion draft while the Royals lost 5.

-Untouched Source of Production -- The Seattle Mariners are the only team who did not lose a single player in the expansion draft. Looks like they don't have to make many roster changes before Opening Day.

-Star of the Future -- The Rochester Jets made former Miami Marlins prospect Isan Diaz the first pick of the expansion draft naming him their star of the future. We'll see how he pans out for the Jets.

Oh,,, this is neat! Some p solid selections in there

The draft was entirely done by the cpu. I'll explain how I set it up later.

Rochester Jets Roster




The Rochester Jets open the season on the road at Fenway Park for a 2-game series against the Boston Red Sox on April 2nd and 3rd.

Agents
Baseballteen - Derek Norris, Steve Cishek
AgentP - Carlos Tocci, Jabari Blash, Ben Lively
DTigers - Tyler Austin, Jose De Leon

If you guys wanna pick agents you can do such and I'll incorporate some type of fantasy system.

0-162 calling it now

BREAKING -- The Rochester Jets just agreed to terms with two veteran players on league minimum contracts. Firstly, the Jets agree to terms with left-handed starting pitcher Jeff Locke. Jeff Locke is 35-43 in 117 career starts in 7 years (6 with the Pirates and 1 with the Marlins). Locke has a career 4.59 ERA, but looks to bring it down this season with the Jets. Locke has been optioned to AAA-Augusta.



Secondly, the Jets agreed to a contract with former Oakland Athletics' catcher, Derek Norris. Norris is a career .230 hitter with 63 home runs in 6 seasons (3 with the A's, 2 with the Padres, and 1 with the Rays). Norris is averaging 17 homers and 62 RBI's per 162 games. Hopefully Norris can bring this type of production to Rochester. Norris was put on the 25-man roster and Chase Vallot was optioned to AAA-Augusta.

I'll take Norris

I'll take Lively, Blash, and Tocci

April 2nd, 2018
Sale Dominates, Sox Bats Shine in Blowout Win

Boston -- The first game of the season did not exactly go as planned for the Rochester Jets. The Red Sox put together a big 3rd inning which was capped off by a Mookie Betts three-run home run and resulted in four runs. Jason Vargas only lasted 3 and 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits and 4 earned runs in his first start of the season. He recorded 2 strikeouts and walked 0. Tyler Olson came in to relieve in the 5th inning for the Jets, but he gave up 2 quick runs and the Sox went up 6-0. Olson was pulled with 2 outs in the 5th inning in favor of Addison Reed who came on and threw 3 strong innings giving up a run in the 8th inning. Enny Romero had a three pitch strikeout to end the Red Sox half of the 8th.

The starter from the other dugout, Chris Sale, absolutely shined. Sale shoved and there was nothing the Jets offense could do about it. Sale went 7 strong innings striking out 10 and giving up 1 run. The lone Jets run scored in the 7th. Derek Norris led off the inning with a single. Pablo Sandoval struck out and the next batter, Errol Robinson struck out as well. Jabari Blash would reach on a two-out walk and Emmanuel Rivera would lace a single up the middle that ultimately scored Derek Norris and made it a 6-1 game. The #1 overall expansion draft selection, Isan Diaz, injured himself fouling a pitch off his foot in the 2nd inning and was replaced by Errol Robinson at second. We currently do not have a diagnosis on him but we are expecting one soon. The Jets racked up only 6 hits today coming from Span, Cabrera, Austin, Norris, Rivera, and Zagunis.

Score
Jets - 1
Red Sox - 7

W - Chris Sale (1-0 1.29 ERA)
L - Jason Vargas (0-1 10.80 ERA)
HR - Mookie Betts (1)

Notables
Denard Span 1-4
Emmanuel Rivera 1-3 RBI
Jason Vargas L 3.1IP 6H 2K 4R 4ER
Mookie Betts 2-4 HR (1) 3RBI 2R
Xander Bogaerts 2-4 2RBI
Chris Sale W 7IP 5H 10K 1BB 1R 1ER

April 3rd, 2018
Jets Bombard Price with Hits, Snag First Career Win

Boston -- Both starting pitchers had solid nights out on the bump tonight, but the singles and doubles piled up for the Jets as they recorded their first win as a ballclub. David Price faltered a little in the top of the first when Span and Cabrera hit back-to-back singles to open the night. The next batter, Tyler Austin doubled home Span, and Sandoval would later hit a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera leaving it 2-0 after the first frame. The Sox could not do anything with Ben Lively on the bump as he lasted 5 and 2/3 shutout innings rattling off 2 strikeouts, allowing 5 hits. Steve Cishek finished the 6th and had a perfect 7th, recording his first hold of the season. In the top of the 8th, with David Price still on the bump for the Red Sox, Norris and Sandoval singled to get the inning going. Isan Diaz was asked to bunt the runners over, and then Jabari Blash singled them both home for his first hit of the season. Blash stole second base but was thrown out at home trying to score on a single by Emmanuel Rivera.

Jon Brebbia pitched a decent 8th inning, allowing 2 hits but no runs. Brandon Workman worked a 1-2-3 9th inning for the Red Sox and Brebbia went back out to the mound to finish the game for the Jets. However, the Red Sox would not go down without a fight. Mookie Betts led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a chopper to first by Jackie Bradley Jr. Bogaerts grounded out to second moving Betts up to third base with two outs. The next batter, Mitch Moreland doubled to right center field to score Betts and end Jon Brebbia's night. Tyler Clippard would come on to face the final batter, Dustin Pedroia, and he would strike him out fairly easily to record his first save of the year.

Score
Jets - 4
Red Sox - 1

W - Ben Lively (1-0 0.00 ERA)
L - David Price (0-1 4.91 ERA)
SV - Tyler Clippard (1)
HR - -none-

Notables
Tyler Austin 3-5 2B RBI
Jabari Blash 1-4 2RBI SB
Ben Lively W 5.2IP 5H 2K 0R 0ER
J.D. Martinez 1-4 2B
Mitch Moreland 1-4 2B RBI
David Price L 7.1IP 13H 0K 4R 4ER

After splitting this series with the Boston Red Sox, the Jets travel to Yankee stadium to take on the Yankees in a 3-game set. The projected pitching matchups are as follows.

Game 1
J.C. Ramirez (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (0-0 0.00 ERA)

Game 2
Jose De Leon (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (0-0 0.00 ERA)

Game 3
Jacob Turner (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Jordan Montgomery (0-0 0.00 ERA)

Looks like a cool log. Pitching looks solid. Hitting not so much. I'll take Tyler Austin and Jose de Leon.

Series vs. New York Yankees
4/4/18 - 4/6/18

Game 1
Jets: 0 (1-2)
Yankees: 8 (3-0)

W - Chad Green 1-0
L - J.C. Ramirez 0-1
HR - Brett Gardner (1), Aaron Judge 2(1,2), Giancarlo Stanton (2), Gary Sanchez (2)

Notables
Denard Span 3-4
Pablo Sandoval 3-4
J.C. Ramirez L 4.2IP 6H 4K 6R 6ER
Aaron Judge 3-4 2HR (1,2) 3RBI 3R
Giancarlo Stanton 4-4 22B HR (2) 2RBI 2R
Sonny Gray ND 4.2IP 5H 5K 0R 0ER

Game 2
Jets: 4 (2-2)
Yankees: 3 (3-1)

W - Jon Brebbia 1-0
L - David Robertson 0-1
S - Tyler Clippard (2)
HR - Aaron Judge (3), Mark Zagunis (1)

Notables
Derek Norris 1-4 RBI
Mark Zagunis 2-4 2B HR (1) 2RBI R
Jose De Leon ND 5IP 5H 6K 1BB 2R 2ER
Brett Gardner 2-5 3B R
Aaron Judge 2-5 HR (3) 3RBI R
C.C. Sabathia ND 4.2IP 4H 2K 1R 1ER

Game 3
Jets: 0 (2-3)
Yankees: 2 (4-1)

W - Jordan Montgomery 1-0
L - Jacob Turner 0-1
S - Aroldis Chapman (3)
HR - Aaron Judge (4), Matt Holliday (1)

Notables
Denard Span 1-4 2B
Emmanuel Rivera 1-3
Jacob Turner L 2.2IP 3H 2K 2R 2ER
Aaron Judge 2-4 HR (4) RBI R
Matt Holliday 1-3 HR (1) RBI R
Jordan Montgomery W 5.1IP 2H 5K 0R 0ER

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MLB Players of the Week
Week 1
AL
Aaron Judge (NYY) .550 4HR 10RBI
Justin Verlander (HOU) 1-0 0.00 ERA 12K

NL
Kurt Suzuki (ATL) .529 3HR 10RBI
Jake Lamb (ARI) .533 3HR 7RBI

April 7th, 2018
Jets' Homecoming Spoiled, Lose Second Straight for First Time

ROCHESTER -- The Jets came home to Green Apples Stadium in Rochester as Jason Vargas would duel it out with Rick Porcello. Vargas' outing looked like it was going well until the 3rd inning when he gave up a solo home run to J.D. Martinez. Mitch Moreland and Eduardo Nunez came through with RBI singles in the 4th inning. With two outs in the 5th, Vargas looked like he had some arm pain and was pulled from the game in favor of Tyler Olson. We currently do not have a diagnosis on Vargas' injury but that will be coming in the near future. Addison Reed came in to pitch in the top of the 7th inning and gave up a solo home run to J.D. Martinez.

On the other side, Rick Porcello had quite an outing for the Red Sox. He went 7 innings allowing only 1 run which came in the bottom of the seventh when Isan Diaz doubled and Asdrubal Cabrera singled him home. The Jets had 9 total hits in tonight's game, 3 of them coming from Isan Diaz, and the other 6 distributed evenly among 6 other starters. Ben Lively is set to take on Cy Young winner, Chris Sale tomorrow at Green Apples Stadium for game 2.

Score
Red Sox - 5
Jets - 1

W - Rick Porcello (1-0 6.48 ERA)
L - Jason Vargas (0-2 7.88 ERA)
HR - J.D. Martinez 2(1,2)

Jason Vargas was diagnosed with mild elbow tightness and he will be able to make his next scheduled start on time.