Red Sox 2020 experiment.

[BlackEagle2407]

Anyone who knows me on here knows that ever since 06 I have started a franchise with the red sox, played along with the season (quick managing some games if I fall behind) do my best to make realistic roster moves, injuries and trades that mirror the actual season. While also dealing with fictional injuries and possibly a fictional trade to keep it interesting. I then take my creative control in the off season and do my best to play/quick manage an additional 2 or 3 seasons before the next version of the game comes out.

You also may know that like many of you I struggled with franchise this year with no real season to play along to and after we got the 60 game season still struggled. After many experimental franchise attempts and even a March to October attempt. I was sadly ready to hang up MLB 20 and wait for 21.

However a few weeks ago an idea hit me. Now that the 60 game season has come and gone. What if I took the real events of the season and did my best to calculate and translate those into a 162 game season? Remember an announcer saying that 1 game in a 60 game season was like 2.7 games in a regular season. So I would use that to calculate.

I opened the franchise file using Ridinrosters 2.5 and begin. Obviously guys like Sale out for the season. Other guys like Verdugo out to start. The trickiest were Rodriguez and McHugh. McHugh sat out the season but would have had a injury related delay and Rodriguez was sidelined all year with what started with covid. In a covid free world? I decided to sideline Rodriguez til June and McHugh til mid May. I would quick manage every game playing key "clutch" moments. Early in the season I traded guys the Red Sox released IRL in order to pick up guys Bloom claimed off wavers like Covey, Godley, and so on. I also made the real trades he made by trying to calculate a realistic time. The Workman trade in late June. Moreland just after the all star break and Pillar at the deadline. I also sidelined guys like Benintendi and Martinez for significant chunks of the season. I also brought up the same rookies and kept Arauz on the roster all year. I attempted to make what happened in the 60 game season as realistic as I could.

So how did I fair? I had a few hot streaks that had me hopeful early on but I spent most of the season hovering around .500. I finished with an underwhelming 4th place 82-80.

The Dodgers swept the Athletics in the world series.

I will now head into the off season and see how many seasons I can play before I eventually get a ps5 and mlb 21. Ill post a few updates here.

[BlackEagle2407]

Well my off season went interesting. About 4 or 5 days into free agency. I noticed my rival Yankees were front runners for T. Bauer. With a 6 year $120 million offer. Coming in second were the reds with a 4 year $100 million. I decided that I had to at least be part of the conversation even though I had no intent of actually landing him. I offered him a 6 year $90 million dollar deal (which is what I could afford staying within my budget) I was his 3rd favorite offer (naturally) and I figured I wont get him that cheap. But at least I put in my bid. Continued simming and 4 days later he accepted MY offer? I'm gonna chock this up to the games faulty logic. There's no way he should have left $30 million on the table for the same amount if years. But I will enjoy my new ace briefly until the new game comes out.

I also signed K. Kella to close and K. Hernandez to play second base. I traded for H. Ramirez from the Marlins to fill in my outfield hole.

Going into 2021 I am going to manually injure Sale til June. Hopefully I can stay competitive until then and have a good Bauer, Sale, Rodriguez 123 punch down the stretch.