The SBN Simulation has ended!

As the week came to a close, there were some free agent bargains to be had. A.J. Pierzynski had no interest on the Sim free-agent market, so Chairman Jim ordered me to offer him a contract. Pierzynski signed back with the Sox on a 2/$10 deal. The price tag was low enough to put off the Tyler Flowers experiment. Also, I allowed us to go over budget since many teams in the league were going insane.

Also, we acquired Carlos Lee for 1/$3 to serve mostly as a pinch hitter. I hate when Gordon Beckham is due up and you look down the bench and you have nobody that can pinch hit for him. Lee gives me that option. He also can play first and DH if something happens to one of Dunn and Konerko. C.Lee has always been one of my boys and I had to right the wrong of Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams and reintroduce Carlos to Chicago.

Freddy Garcia was brought in on a 1/$1 million offer to serve as the swingman in the bullpen. The move will allow Dylan Axelrod to stretch out as a starter just in case he is needed in that role at some point during the summer.

Trying to fill the third base hole was somewhat troublesome. Rather than overspend on crap though like in real life, I picked up Ty Wigginton for $750K and signed Cesar Izturis to a minor-league contract. While this is a black hole in the lineup, it doesn't cost a whole heck of a lot. Brent Morel and Carlos Sanchez will be in the minor leagues.

Here is the roster.

Batting Order:

1. Andrew McCutchen

2. Alex Rios

3. Adam Dunn

4. Paul Konerko

5. A.J. Pierzynski

6. Dayan Viciedo

7. Alexei Ramirez

8. Gordon Beckham

9. Ty Wigginton

Bench:

Tyler Flowers, Cesar Izturis, Carlos Lee, Jordan Danks

Starting pitching:

1. John Danks

2. Wandy Rodriguez

3. Gavin Floyd

4. Jose Quintana

5. Hector Santiago

Bullpen:

1. Addison Reed

2. Matt Thornton

3. Jesse Crain

4. Nate Jones

5. Donnie Veal

6. Jose Contreras

7. Freddy Garcia

Things I was working on but didn't pan out: had some offers with the Diamondbacks with Matt Davidson and Chris Johnson, but there was a trade with the Royals for Moustakas that ended those discussions.

I had a deal in place with the Twins which would have sent Adam Dunn for Ryan Doumit, but he pulled out because he wanted catching in return.

Was told from the Padres that the only player he would have traded Chase Headley in all of baseball for was McCutchen.

Jake Peavy screwed me over. I had an offer out for him, but he chose to sign with the Atlanta Braves without getting back to me.

Fake GM's are willing to spend 50 million plus on guys like Edwin Jackson, Brandon McCarthy and Shaun Marcum.

Tried hard to move Thornton and Adam Dunn and found no takers.

Overall: I'm kind of disappointed. I thought I was going to be able to do a little bit more by trading Floyd, but wasn't getting offers that would have helped. I wanted to move Dunn but he still is here. I wanted to acquire a few players but was told they were untouchable.

I did get Andrew McCutchen though. I'm happy about that. Finally the White Sox have a player that brings a little bit of excitement to the lineup day in and day out.

Happy to acquire Tony Cingrani and he will be one of the first guys up in case of an injury.

It was a fun exercise. Would I do it again next year? Eh maybe.