Originally Posted by Matt Arnold
I've done that in the past (I play 2-8 for all ratings, to at least get a little fog of war). My problem is that once players get past prospect stage, the potential rating turns into an excellent proxy for their current rating, and my senses tingle at looking and relying on those values.
As for the whole ratings vs scouting reports, I think a large factor to me of why I prefer scouting reports is the ease of use. In that, scouting reports are tedious to look through. So yes, if I opened up all my players scouting reports every day, I would know exactly the same as the ratings show me. But since I only open them up when needed, I don't get that same info. Some players I will basically never open their scouting report - if they're hitting as I expect, there's no point. So with that, if they start declining, and the scouting report has them go from an ace to a #2-3 starter to a #4-5 starter, I don't catch that unless if I actually see their performance drop. With ratings, you see it plain and obvious, and know exactly when your players start that downward trend as they get old, even if their stats are keeping pace.
The one thing I would like to see changed is the shift in scouting reports from potential when they are a prospect to be more reflective of their current stats (not ratings). I do know it shifts at one point - I occasionally have those like 26 year old "prospects" whose scouting report says they are destined for great things one day, then the next the scouting report has them as a middling AAAA player. But for a guy who's an established player, can quite clearly see what their current stats are showing - what I really want to see at that point are causes for concern, trends in the last year, and some sort of note about the longevity of their career. So if I have a guy like Kershaw, whose current scouting report says "potential HOF pitcher", I don't care if next season his scouting report says, "he may be a good #2 starter" - I'd much rather see a scouting report say, "his velocity is down from last year, and he has lost some control. We feel he should still be an effective #2 starter going forward". We're getting there with the development reports, but that's about the only thing that's missing from stats-only mode right now for me.
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