Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions

[royals19]

Prologue

He was guilty, George McGovern had been hoodwinked. He been set up and played like a fiddle. Now, he was going to face the music. If McGovern was convicted of treason, he would be executed and that would be the end of him.

"All rise" Shouted the Judge. McGovern snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the jury.

"We the people, find the defendant guilty on the account of Treason. On the other counts with which he has been charged, we the jury find the defendent, not guilty."

He'd lost. George McGovern lost. The guards grabbed him and whisked him out of the court room. Suddenly, McGovern noticed a familiar face sitting in the back corner.

"You! You did this! I should have known! You'll never get away with this! Never!" Yelled McGovern. Damn you Beauregard! Damn you!

The guards grabbed McGovern and hauled him through the mass of reporters and tossed him into an awaiting van....

*******

Theo watched the scene unfold on the news while a bar about George McGovern's conviction spread. "According to police reports, someone has detonated 1 ton of dynamite under the San Diego Padres Stadium. Officials suspect terrorists."

Theo flipped off the TV. He was Damn lucky. Damn lucky to be alive. It was an inside job, there's no doubt about that. Only people within his closest circle knew about the bunker and knew they were going to be meeting there.

Suddenly, Damon Oppenheimer walked into the room. Theo was a mess, his face was loaded with scratches and there were large wounds on his arms and legs that had been stitched up. "They aren't sure about Johnny and J.J. but they're both hanging on. "Joe' s gone and I haven't seen Art yet but I hear it's not good. About 20 of our scouts are gone too..."

Theo gazed dismally out the window. "Oppy, I want you to make a new front office while we recover. I don't car how you do it or how much you spend. Just do it. I want you to run the team as a stand in for me as President of Baseball Ops."

Suddenly, Theo statred breathing heavily, Oppenheimer dropped the flowers and ran over to him and bent over him. "Theo are you OK?" "Nurse! Nurse!"

Theo grabbed Oppenheimer's shirt and pulled him close.

Theo struggled

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo

Don't let him get away. Avenge us!

Suddenly he collapsed and the nurse ran into the room. Theo had flat lined. "Sir, I need for you to leave." Said the nurse. Oppenheimer back out of the room and watched as a group of Doctor's sprinted past him into the room. They ripped Theo's shirt open and placed the defibrillator on him. "Clear!!!"

"Damn it!!!" Yelled one of the doctors.

"Clear!!!" His hear rate didn't increase and one of the nurses gave Oppenheimer a worry look as she shut the door....

[ACMilan99]

Welcome back, Royals.

[royals19]

Hey everyone it's a pleasure to be back again. I took a week off to rest and recoup for yet another big season and besides, it was the Winter Meetings and I had to pay real close attention to those in case the Royals did something. Of course, I just wasted my time because they didn't do anything. Any way, that World Series we just won was our third and I figured, why not go for more! With more questions than ever, we had to crank it up yet again. So for your early Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwanza... etc) present I present to youanother issue of Sunrise in San Diego

Now aside from front office issues, we got a ton of on the field questions, what to do with Cameron Maybin. Is Luke Hochevar a true closer, when are we going to see the prospects and on and on and on. We've got a lot on our plate this year and we'll just have to see were Oppenheimer takes us this year.

But, I can't avoid discussing the front office in this post. It's just too big of a question. McGovern is on his way to meet his fate, Theo may very well be dead and all the head honchos of Baseball Ops are incapacitated and clinging onto life. Then to make matters worse, this is by far the biggest and most important offseason that we have come across. What we do here, will define the Padres for easily the next 5 years. Outside of Oppenheimer, what in Sam Hill do we have? Absolutely nothing. Besides a group of experienced scouts, we don't have anyone capable of fronting an organization. We need to bring in some big names and right this ship.

But at the same time, we've got other issues. Who the heck is this Beauregard dude and what does he want? Obviously he knows something crucial about us and may very well be responsible for the bombing that destroyed our front office.

Now I've talked a lot about these questions and I guess they all feed into one question.

Will our off the field issues affect our on the field product?

So, I suppose now would a good time to update you on our story so far here in San Diego and give you a glimpse of how this juggernaut came to be.

Our Story so Far

2012

Spoiler

After a string of disappointing years and a series of bewildering trades, Padres owner John Moores had seen enough and hired George McGovern who revolutionized the front office and turned things right side up in San Diego. McGovern gutted the Padres and turned it into his team, a team that would go on to win the first World Series in Padres history.

McGovern's rebuild project brought household names such as Cliff Lee, Hunter Pence and Chase Utley as well as young and unproven players such as Salvador Perez and Philippe Aumount who would step up in a major way.

Now while things went fine on the baseball side, peculiar happenings began to take place during the McGovern era. McGovern constructed a series of secret bases and turned the Padres in to some sort of Cold War type country.

Someone kidnapped Bud Selig and installed Will Ferrell er... Harry Caray as commissioner. However, George McGovern was smarter than that...

2013

Spoiler

2013 started out bad for the Padres George McGovern was shot and presumably killed after engaging Will Ferrell in an epic clash at the Major League Baseball HQ. This left Theo Epstein in charge of the front office for the whole year and he made great strides improving offense and pitching 10 fold. 2013 really symbolized the beginning of the modern Padres. And even better, 2013 was the second consecutive year as world champs.

But see, off the field, we had other issues. Brad Asmus and Omar Minaya were kidnapped after gaining an iPad from an unidentified source. That iPad contained crucial information about what was in store for the Padres. It nearly cost Theo his life and job but he stood tall through the storm.

However, towards the waning days of 2013, John Moores was assassinated and the Padres were handed over to a board of investors who planned to sell the team to the Walton group but their plan was eventually foiled by a surprise reincarnation.

2014

Spoiler

A group headlined by Boone Pickens, Warren Buffett and George McGovern purchased the Padres for a ridiculous sum. On the field, 2014 represented a break out year for talents such as Jedd Gyorko, Justin Smoak and even Matt Holliday. The Padres invested millions in players throughout the course of the season. Players such as Matt Holliday, Mike Stanton and Roy Halladay and not to mention, Tommy Hanson.

2014 was a golden year. The Padres had 2 Cy Young candidates in Roy Halladay and Tommy Hanson. Then we had players like Hunter Pence who went on an absolute tear in hopes of becoming the face of the Franchise.

But this season wasn't without it's drama. McGovern was playing for keeps and trying to dispatch of his enemies before they got to him. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and he was captured and framed for ruining the United States economy as an investor in 2008.

For more information:

Sunrise in San Diego
Sunrise in San Diego- Revenge of the Ownership
Sunrise in San Diego- The Padre Way

[royals19]

This free agent class may be the best one in the history of free agency. Quite frankly, I have never seen this type of Class ever before in MLB the Show. It's a shame, or maybe a good thing depending on how you look at it, that McGovern isn't here to break the bank.

The top 6 doesn't really give credit to the depth of this class. Furthur down, there are type A free agents like Felix Hernandez, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia and Ricky Romero. You'll notice that there aren't any Padres located within the depths of the Free Agent Class, other than a couple. We exercised the options on Hunter Pence and Roy Halladay and we declined the options on Eric Chavez and Anibal Sanchez. There just wasn't any room for the latter and there is a more strategic meaning behind the options of Halladay and Pence.

But before I spoil too much, you'll notice that we are the highest bidders for Clayton Kershaw. Now before you start asking the hard questions let me explain. Within the next 2 years, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay will more than likely be retired and we'll be left with a rotation fronted by Tommy Hanson and Joe Wieland.

That duo will not win championships so we need to go hard after 1 solid free agent starter.

Now before we even began the bidding on Kershaw, the Rays changed the whole dynamic of the market.


7 years 100 million. Longo would sign that deal and suddenly every other free agent was trying to command this type of cash. I'm glad that Longo stayed with the Rays but I'm furious that they jacked up the cost on everyone else!

If only George McGovern were here....

[royals19]

Offseason- Saving the Bench
So after this season, our bench is practically in shambles. While yes, we have some nice in house candidates like Justin Maxwell Rico Noel Greg Milcot, Josh Vitters, Junior Lake but Nick Swisher is probably looking to cash in and David Ross retired. So basically, we're left with looking for players to fill the void that these guys have left or potentially left.

Now your probably wondering, why do you care so much about the bench? We care because it has played a major role in every single one of our playoff runs. It was crucial in the success of our 2012 run and it payed massive dividends in 2013. In 2014 however, most of our bench players garnered at least 200 ABs which helped to our success. But with so much dependence put on the bench in previous years, we can't afford to just ignore it so our solution is simple.


We go after J.J. Hardy and use him as our utility infielder. Oppenheimer hopes to get him signed before his market heats up, but that is going to be a major challenge. Now I guess this is the time to bring up the fact that Eric Chavez will not be returning. He has been cheep and affordable but at the same time, his ability is regressing by an extreme amount. His defense was not very helpful last year and neither was his bat.

But after Hardy, we may also want to delve into the market for an outfielder in case Swisher doesn't resign.


There's some good names out there but the one that we like is Denard Span. He won't cost a draft pick and he has wheels which is something we desperately need. He has all the tools of a starter but could be more effective off the bench.

However as the market progressed, Swisher accepted arbitration and is back on the roster. Then to solve the catching issue, we traded for Tony Sanchez who wasn't getting anywhere with Pittsburgh.

There were absolutely 0 serviceable options in the free agent market at catcher and there were no experienced backup catchers so Sanchez became our guy because of his defensive skills and relative experience.

Maybe Oppy will do a good job this season after all!

[royals19]

The Offseason- Pitching Market
The Pitching Market this offseason is arguably the best market ever. You have names like, Kershaw, Verlander, Hernandez, Romero, Morrow and Cueto. The list just keeps going on and on. Now normally, we would just stand pat with what we have. But we can't miss out on a market like this. It's just too good.


There you get a good glimpse of what Oppenheimer has to work with this season. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay followed by Hanson and Medlen then you get into prospect territory. Now at first glance there's some good talent. But, upon further examination, you will notice. That our two best are 36 and 37. That's not going to fly. We need to get younger and younger we will get. Which is why we made the largest free agent contract signing ever in the McGovern era.


That's right, Clayton F'n Kershaw. We literally dropped the bank on him here. He was the youngest out there on the market that we just had to drop a couple stacks on him. Now originally, we had a 5 year 70 million offer on the table for him but then other teams jumped in and were offering less years for more annually. We gave him the best of both words and he signed with us giving us a rotation of:

Cliff Lee
Roy Halladay
Clayton Kershaw
Tommy Hanson
Kris Medlen

That is a darn good rotation and we would be content with that. Well, until things started swinging the other way in the league...

[royals19]

Verlander ditches Tigers; signs with Reds for 168M/7

Quote:

We signed Kershaw just in time. I have no idea how the Reds were even able to pull this off. They've been tired off getting their *** kicked in the NLDS and Verlander was tired of losing in Detroit. So he left to greener pastures. This gives Cincinnati one of the best rotations in baseball with C.C. and now Verlander fronting that. Then if they get Cueto back, that will be scary as heck.

McCann Reunites with Braves

Quote:

After splitting the last two seasons with Baltimore and Texas, McCann goes back to his comfort zone in Atlanta. This is sort of a bewildering move considering the fact that the Braves acquired Joe Mauer at the deadline. The money probably could have been better spent on outfielders as J-Hey is the only one returning but hey, it's their money.

Motte, Perez sign 3 year deals with Angels

Quote:

Somehow, the Angels manage to sign Jason Motte and Chris Perez after giving big money up to a variety of players in the past few years. Finally, they have stability at the back end of that bullpen and I wonder if they aren't gearing up for another playoff run. It certainly is a possibility because Texas has never taken it the half step further to become the dominating champ of the West.

[royals19]

The Red Terror
The Cincinnati Reds were once thought of as a push over opponent but no longer. They have extended deals to a wide variety of players and are greasing the gears for the Big Red Machine to make a return. First they get Verlander, then Sandoval goes to Cincinnati, they extend offers to all free agent center fielders and then they go hog wild in the pitching market offering any free agent with a "Type A" or "Type B" next to their name.

Normally that wouldn't bother us but then out of nowhere they become Johnny Cueto's top suiter.

But their Dodgeristic spending doesn't stop there. No, it continues.


That's right, they throw their money into King Felix, Baseball's most prized possession. They are close to signing Cueto and Romero and Hernandez. So if we let them get Hernandez and the rest, that gives them a rotation of Verlander, C.C., Hernandez, Cueto and Romero. That's about 120 game winner right there.

We can't let that happen. So we throw our money out on the market to keep the power in our corner. And whatdda know?


We give a 7-17 pitcher coming off of his worst statistical season a 76 million dollar deal. We didn't want to do it but we had to. So everyone's hootin' and hallerin' , dancing to "Mess Around" then we realize that our rotation is going to be Lee, Halladay, Hanson, Kershaw, Hernandez.... Oh F....

We have to make a trade. If this was just some game, we'd be content with letting these guys do their thing and then let the prospects do whatever but no, this isn't just a game. This is San Diego Padres baseball and we ain't goin' to make fools outta ourselves.

So everyone, brace yourselves, we're about to crank up the telephone and get on the horn with everyone in trade talks.

[ACMilan99]

Wow, these updates are inspiring me to pick up The Show for the first time in weeks.

[royals19]

Quote: Originally Posted by ACMilan99

Wow, these updates are inspiring me to pick up The Show for the first time in weeks.

Haha thanks dude! Gald to hear it!