Nottinghamshire Outlaws: An Interview with William Atteberry

Welcome to the first in our interview series with the ABL ownership. We begin with the very interesting case of Nottinghamshire, the youngest team in the league. What is his plan to make it all work?  Is that really a 16-year old hitting the cover off the ball at the big league level? And what is his biggest concern going forward? The answers follow....

Q: Your initial draft class showed a commitment to youth so absolute that there was never a doubt about your inability to compete in the 2012 ABL season. Tell us a little about your strategy here, and give us a realistic expectation for how many years you think you will need to post your first winning season.

A: I usually try to have a unique strategy for each league that I play in. One common focus which most owners will follow is that within the first dozen or so selections the owner will attempt to fill out their positional players and at least a base of the pitching staff. Based on that assumption, there was an excellent possibility that I would be able to corner a market of younger players, particularly those who may not appear to be major league ready.

In determining the strategy that I wanted Nottinghamshire to utilize, I needed to consider the attributes of the park, in this case Trent Bridge, as well as the characteristics around which I wanted the squad to be built. In the case of the ballpark attributes, I established a positive hitting ballpark with a negative home run attribute. This meant that the power factors for the players were of less importance than the gap ratings or the contact ratings. The other attribute that the team would have was based on my experience in the historical leagues. In those leagues, using relievers as starters was an effective tactic. Relievers would have high stamina ratings and may or may not have three pitch ratings. Historically these were pitchers who made several relief appearances in addition to their starts or started on a limited basis, for example June call-ups. These types of pitchers are usually not selected early in the draft process and therefore would be available to me in later rounds.

Therefore, it appeared highly probable that I could select very talented young players in the first 15 rounds or so. Position was not that important although middle infield, middle outfield, and catcher were highly valued positions. Having depth at those positions would be advantageous in the trade market. Since we really had no knowledge of what the player would have as actual ratings it was difficult to anticipate how long it would be for the team to be competitive. My best guess was that within 3 to 5 years these players would be strong enough to be the basis for a competitive team. This approach also supported the philosophy of the team in that I was looking for a very strong offensive squad with solid defense that would require only an average pitching staff.

Q: There have been many reports about how toxic your locker room is. I think it is safe to say that your young players are not very happy with the inability for this team to compete right now. Are you concerned that players may be wanting out of the Shire? And how do you answer those who suggest that this approach could create a black hole of losing that is difficult to recover from?

A: One of the known risks in employing the strategies of drafting youth was recognizing the fact that the team would not be competitive in the first couple of seasons. The side effect of having a losing team would be seen in the individual player morale and in the reduced fan interest. However, one of the benefits of drafting youth would also be mitigation against the normal impacts on morale of the losing squad. The large majority of the players we drafted have no major league experience. This means that they will play three years before being arbitration eligible and another three years before being allowed to become free agents. If the squad is indeed competitive within the 3 to 5 year window I’ve described, then the player morale will not be a significant impact since there is no place for the players to go. Winning will eventually overcome the low morale ratings and improve the morale to acceptable levels. Therefore the key to avoiding a black hole of losing is in the quick development of the young players with augmentation of the pitching staff.

Q: Regarding your pitching staff, the starting rotation doesn't feature a single pitcher that was classified as a starter entering the season. Instead you have assembled a stable of middle relievers that you have asked to fill the rotation. Tell us a little about this interesting choice, and is the league-worst 6.94 ERA for your starters surprising to you?

A: As I indicated before, the use of middle relievers as the basis of your starting rotation was a carryover from my experience in the historical leagues. Pitchers like Whitey Ford, Slim Sallee, Bill Lee, Mario Soto, etc. would be classified as middle relievers in the historical leagues but have the stamina and the experience to perform as starters. Another advantage of using the relievers as starters is that their salary demands are frequently lower than pitchers classified as starters who performed equally. While I consider the first six weeks to be a relatively small sample, I am a little surprised to the degree that the fictional middle relievers have not performed in the same manner as their historical counterparts. Should this trend continue, it will probably mean it will take longer for the team to be competitive than what I had originally envisioned.

Q: Your team is called the Outlaws, and your minor leagues feature the Smugglers, Gamblers, and Pirates. Even your team strategy has been a renegade approach. What was the motivation behind this theme? Is conformity just not your thing?

A: There is actually a logic to the name selection as opposed to a renegade approach, even though the team nicknames appear to be based on non-conformity. When I was living in England, we lived in a little village outside of Bristol. Bristol is well-known for its smuggling operation. In fact, most people don't realize that Bristol was the start and end of the slave trade traffic in the United States. The ships were built and sailed from Bristol to Africa then to the U.S., with the profits returning to Bristol. So the nickname Smugglers seemed appropriate. Blackpool can be viewed as the Atlantic City of England. Blackpool has beaches, boardwalks and casinos and is a popular vacation spot. It is also host to the World Match Play Dart Championships held in the end of July. With 5000 in attendance and live national TV viewing, it has to be seen to be appreciated. Therefore, it seemed as if Gamblers was an appropriate nickname for the Blackpool squad. Penzance, while a small village today, was a major international marketplace as far back as 1000 years ago. As such, it was raided by pirates from Spain, Portugal, Barbary Coast, and even Turkey. Thus the team nickname of Pirates. That these team nicknames were chosen and the use of our unique draft strategy was really more of a coincidence than a personal attribute.

Q: Your first round draft pick, SS Jim Crawford has underperformed a bit. How concerned are you on his development?

A: I am not really concerned about the development of Jim Crawford at this point in time. He started off hitting as expected and has only tailed off as he has gotten tired. I have begun to rest him a little more frequently in order to ensure that he does not play the majority of his time tired. As a side note, this is the one area of OOTP that does not function consistently. Having a player on the depth chart that says to play if the starter is tired is not consistently executed.

Q: One of your more interesting draft picks was Peter Kelly in the 3rd round. For a 16-year old this kid has been amazing... 2nd on the team in batting average, and leading the team in both runs and RBI's, and he's played in all 40 games thus far. Some say you can ruin a kid that young by giving him so much pressure, but he seems to be thriving in it. What do you see for this kid's future?

A: Peter Kelly was the first pick that really indicated the strategy that I was going to employ. First pick Jim Crawford and second pick Danny Burris were both middle infielders who appeared to be ready to start even though they were in their early 20’s. At the time of the selection, I did not believe that Peter Kelly was going to be major league ready. Once the file came out and showed that he had three stars in his current rating and that his expectation was to be in the starting lineup it was clear that he needed to be placed on the major league roster despite his age. I have tried to keep Peter away from batting positions three and four although I don't know if those positions have any impact on player development. Like Crawford, he will need lots of rest during the season. I have used him as the designated hitter on occasion to lessen the impact of fatigue. But I do need him to learn the position, currently first base, so that he will develop some defensive proficiency. I do believe Peter has almost unlimited potential. He clearly will be a 300/400/600 type of hitter. The number of home runs he will hit will be reduced by the impact of the Trent Bridge Ballpark. Therefore he will actually be a better hitter in almost any ballpark other than Trent Bridge, so keep that in mind when you come knocking on the door looking for a trade.

Q: Tell us about a minor league hitter and a minor league pitcher that you are excited about, and why?

A: It is difficult to find one minor league pitcher which I can say I'm really excited about and it is equally difficult to find only one minor league hitter to be excited about. There are currently 13 four-star or five-star players in my minor leagues.  One who looks particularly promising is center fielder Juan Soto. Due to the depth we had in the outfield we actually had to start him in AA Blackpool. He started the season hitting .391 with a slugging percentage of .667, but due to injuries in Bristol City we recently promoted him to the AAA squad. He is still adjusting to the AAA pitching, but he is a hitter with awesome power which again may be somewhat muted in the large part of Trent Bridge. The most exciting pitcher would be closer Robert Long. He struggled in his first several appearances at the AAA level, however recently he has begun to settle in and looks like the dominant closer that we were expecting.

Q: Your team is just 2-15 at home so far. What do you say to the loyal fans of the Shire whose faith will be tested while this youthful team develops?

A: Given the overall strategy that we were executing, it was recognized that the first couple of years would be very challenging in terms of being competitive. In order to make the team exciting for the supporters we did focus our draft on the offensive side of the team. Therefore, we expect to score a lot of runs even though we may lose games by conceding a lot of runs. We are also hopeful that the development time for the youth players will be relatively short and thus we can be competitive within a 3 to 5 year timeframe.

Q: With a league low payroll of just 21 million, can we assume you will be a huge player in the free agent markets this offseason?

A: Actually, it would not be a good assumption that Nottinghamshire will be a large player in the free-agent market. Until the squad reaches a point where the addition of one or two key players would be required to make a significant improvement on the team, we don't anticipate the need to be highly active in the free-agent market. We do anticipate trying to be as active in the trade market as possible.

Q: What would be more rewarding: taking this team to the playoffs next year, or winning a world series 25 years down the road?

A: Winning the World Series is a rewarding experience regardless of when it is achieved. At this point in the evolution of the Nottinghamshire franchise, an early playoff appearance would be more significant than a World Series victory 25 years in the future. It is certainly our expectation that Nottinghamshire will win several World Series in the first 25 years of the ABL, but the existing focus is to be competitive as quickly as possible.

Q: Which player has disappointed you the most so far this season?

A: Since the season is really only a few weeks old it would not be realistic to say that a player’s performance is disappointing, particularly because all the players are youth players and some development time has to be allowed prior to judging performance. However, while I still believe the sample size to be small, the performance of the middle relievers as starters is an area of concern. Players like Steve Worley, Diego Aviles, Carlos Robles, and John Ward were expected to be able to hold down regular starting positions. At least to this point in time, that has not occurred.

Q: Your team payroll is 21.4 million, and your staff payroll is 21.3 million. How do you sell this to your players? The next two highest staff payrolls are 15 and 12 million... Tell us about your thought process in spending so much money in this area.

A: Selling this to the players was actually very easy. When drafting a large number of youth players and telling them that they will become the basis of the franchise, you also want to be able to convince them that you have the ability to maximize their growth as players. So it was really an easy conversation to tell the players that the club was committed to hiring the best staff possible within the league. From a business perspective this is also a logical move.  Having invested so heavily in youth, you want to make organizational decisions which allow you to maximize the return on your investment. Therefore, the hiring of a top drawer coaching staff is only a logical extension of the strategy to build the franchise around youth. Given the fact that only three players will go through the arbitration process in the next three seasons, it is easy to visualize that the annual budget will not be significantly different for the next several years.  Therefore, the significant investment in the coaching staff will not have a negative impact on the club's ability to maximize their profit potential. This means that the franchise has the best of both worlds in that we have the best player development infrastructure in the league without sacrificing our ability to exceed the maximum cash allowed year-over-year.

Q: Do you have any regrets yet, or mistakes that wish you could take back?

A: At this point in the season, it would be difficult to say that I have any regrets on the approach utilized. Certainly the large number of highly talented young hitters that we have been able to accumulate would appear to be a validation that the strategy utilized in the initial draft was successful. Since it was not anticipated that the team would be competitive in the first couple of seasons, it is probably premature to classify any element of the approach as being a mistake. However, the base assumption that middle relievers could be utilized successfully in starting roles is going to need evaluation as the season progresses. If the performance of this approach continues along the lines that we have seen in the first part of the season, then you would have to say that the decision to use middle relievers as starting pitchers was a poor decision.