Ever wanted to be the GM of a MLB franchise?  Of course you have.  Arm chair quarterbacks, sofa coaches, etc... we all do it.  The things we would do to a franchise if given the chance!

If you know me, you know that I like sports games on Xbox 360 quite a bit.  They are the only games I play.  Most of my friends like shooters (MW3 for example), but I can't stop playing sports games.  I start a franchise and take that bad boy 6 or 7 years deep.  I try to win championships and get my players into the HOF or break records.

I recently bought MLB 2K12 and started a franchise.  I did a draft (serpentine) and made myself the #1 pick.  So I get #1, then 31 and 32, then 63 and 64, etc...  I also have salary cap mode on (I have a cap of $85 mill) and cannot force computer trades.  The only thing I changed was the injury status.  No players have current injuries, so everyone starts fresh (2 of my guys have injury issues otherwise).

What do you guys think of this team *if* it could really be done in the majors.  Could it contend?

Rotation:

LP - Clayton Kershaw

RP - Colby Lewis

LP - Matt Harrison

RP - Ivan Nova

LP - Franciso Liriano

Closer - Craig Kimbrel

Lineup:

LF - Brett Gardner

2B - Ben Zobrist

RF - Justin Upton

1B - Billy Butler

DH - Ryan Howard

C - Alex Avila

3B - Casey McGehee

SS - Dee Gordon

CF - Franklin Gutierrez

I also have Jim Thome on the bench to play 1B or DH if needed.

Doing the franchise draft was interesting.  Two guys that were picked in the LAST round were Ichiro and A-Rod, going behind dozens and dozens of prospects and guys from the minors.  Apparently AI teams were actually drafting for the future and didn't want those bad contracts.  I even picked up Thome after all my rotation and lineup guys were picked.  Age and $$ mattered to the computer (and myself, obviously).

So what do you think of this team?  I wanted to keep it competitive for multiple years before I had to rebuild.  If and when my players start to decline or retire, I can always try to pull of trades or pick up free agents accordingly.  However, I think it's pretty impressive and hope to do well.