Welcome to the first ever installment of a brand new video game blog series. To give you a quick elevator pitch on what I am doing here, I will be selecting a lucky team to launch a “franchise” with in MLB The Show 25.
The team will be built entirely by me, and every season will be simulated and with no user intervention. The extent of my involvement will be in the front office and solely in the front office. Crafty free agent moves, drafting the next big stars of the league and blackmailing other teams into lucrative trades is how I plan to operate in this league.
The MLB is ultra-competitive, and I need to be a killer if we want to taste any success at all. I even plan on hiring the torpedo bat guy on day 1. I might even make him my President of Baseball Operations if he plays his cards right.
Let’s talk about the ground rules. I have found a very handy virtual wheel with all MLB teams pre-loaded on it. Instead of spinning once and revealing the winner of my GM services, I opted for the dramatics.
AN ELIMINATOR WHEEL.
Whoever the wheel lands on will be eliminated and removed from the wheel, and this process will be repeated until the winner is revealed.
I will not bore you with the exact play by play of the eliminator wheel, but the first spin landed on the Chicago White Sox. Needless to say, vibes were high, and I was buzzing early. The next spin eliminated the Cleveland Guardians while the third took out the Kansas City Royals. Vibes are still through the roof, but the idea of having Bobby Witt did generally excite me very much.
My desire is to land with a team that has a superb farm system or current young core of players in place. This seems like an obvious wish as it would only make my job easier, but it must be said as we continue with our mission here.
Also, there will always be an unhealthy, deep, and dark hole in my heart because of the Royals and what they did to me 10 years ago. So, seeing them eliminated third did feel like some sort of poetic justice, but I would be a fool to say that they do not have one of the more exciting young cores in the big leagues with even more mega prospects on the way. They will be a target on my trade block endeavors for sure.
Back to the…ELIMINATOR WHEEL.
Vibes continued to soar into the stratosphere as the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals were removed from the competition. Then, they immediately fell hard from the stratosphere and plummeted to Earth, through miles and miles of dumpster fires to the core of the Earth until we hit rock bottom. The New York Mets were eliminated. Gone too soon.
I could go on and on about how devastated I was, or I could go back to…
THE ELIMINATOR WHEEL.
Fast forwarding to the final 10, we had some very intriguing teams in play. The Reds are always fun because of their ballpark and awesome jerseys, and I am a fan of their young players who are currently on the roster. Unfortunately, they were the first of the final 10 to get the boot.
Here is a brief summary of the remaining teams I would not mind taking over: The Red Sox, Pirates, and Giants. The Athletics are also in the running, and I think I could only live with that so long as I relocate them instantly. The list of acceptable teams is so small because some of the other remaining teams include the Atlanta Braves (very good team but ruins my real life every chance they get), the Dodgers (too good?) and boring teams like the Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers.
Jesus, take the (ELIMINATOR) Wheel and speed this up for our wonderful readers. Let’s take this to the final two.
After a violent range of emotions, I was forced to feel here, the final two is set: The Pittsburgh Pirates and the city-less Athletics.
I am fairly content with either result as I see bright futures for both teams. The A’s may have more pieces in place now with guys like Laurence Butler, JJ Bleday, Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and Mason Miller leading the way, but the Pirates have a very impressive core and farm system too.
Currently led by Paul Skenes, O’Neill Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Mitch Keller and the now-injured Jared Jones, the Bucs also have minor league monsters like Bubba Chandler, Konnor Griffin, Thomas Harrington and Termarr Johnson waiting in the wings.
One major difference between the final two teams was that the Pirates have arguably the most beautiful stadium in the league, which may not factor into simulated seasons, but it will always mean something to me, while the Athletics do not even have a city in their name currently despite the recent upgrade (lol) to Sacramento.
Yes, they currently play in a minor league stadium and plan to split time with the Sacramento River Cats this season.
With all that being said, we have reached the part where the wheel determines my fate. After weeks of grueling in-person meetings with MLB owners of all participating teams, analyzing all scouting reports of every single minor league player in the world and discussing with my family, a decision has been made.
I (forced by the wheel) have decided to take my talents to Sacramento and begin my work to take the A’s to the top of the mountain. What mountain you may ask? Literally any mountain not located in Sacramento.
I will not spend my career building a team that splits playing time and real estate with the Sacramento River Cats. I just won’t do it. Call me selfish. Call me high maintenance. But I will take immediate action to get this team in a stadium with a capacity expanding beyond 10,000 seats. I am immediately announcing that my first move as the GM will be relocation. Some say that is an owner’s decision…I say you have never met Matty Wheelz.
Now, the real-life Athletics are playing in Sacramento through the 2027 season before officially relocating to Las Vegas. My relocation could be realistic and end in Vegas too, or it could go completely sideways as several other baseball hotspots in the United States are in my crosshairs.
I expect to provide incremental updates to my franchise in future blogs and I more than welcome feedback and suggestions from all. Starting with relocation advice and even working our way up to roster construction-related feedback.
Should be a fun little side-series of blogs. Let’s Go A’s?
Let’s Go A’s!
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