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Kelric · 04-20-2009, 02:50 PM

My secret - seven real life years of playing OOTP at least once a week and dominating the trade market in my OBL. I've also participated in OOTP online leagues for most of those seven years as well.

I actually trade away most of my prospects that I get in the draft and more often than not, the ones I trade away flame out. I'm probably 50/50 on the ones that I keep when it comes to developing them. It is a gut feel more than anything with prospects for me.

My team is built around strong pitching and excellent defense. A man that can flash leather and hit is a bonus, but most of my guys do that. I start trading with small deals and always try to get a little more added on: Oh, how about you toss in that third round pick? That backup catcher in Triple-A might be decent, but probably not. Can I have him? Etc., etc., etc. Do that enough and you have four or five free extra draft picks in one year, then sell those off for a higher pick or two. Get a strong group of young guys together, decide which might help you, trade off the others.

Most of my success lies in building an incredibly deep organization through minor trades and throwing tons of draft picks against the wall. Then I need to guess which will stick and trade off the rest. Then I keep trading. And trade more. After a little while, my team is full of good players. When they get older, I trade them and depth for younger guys. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Edit - Here is an example from my recent offseason in the OBL.

I notice my LF position was awfully weak this year (-2.2 VORP from Case). That one fact completely changes the look of my franchise for the next decade. I trade a first round draftee and a second round draftee, neither of whom I think will develop. This gets me a 26 year old starting pitcher who will be solid but not spectacular and who I control for six more seasons. I also get a young, mediocre catcher who is at best my third backup but provides depth and future trade bait.

Because I went out and got a good starter, I now have five when I only run a four man rotation. I trade off a stud starter who is better, older, more expensive and a free agent in one more year. I also trade an outfielder who only cost me a third round pick a few years back. That gets me a good hitting LFer under contract for longer than the stud pitcher I shipped off. I look around for more trades still trying to get younger as the LFer I acquired is about the same age as the stud pitcher I dealt.

I think I can work a deal with another team that needs pitching, so I ship off the just acquired LFer, my starting first baseman who is 26 years old but I don't think will develop further and a decent young first base prospect who may not develop. This gets me a 26 year old SP who is pretty good and another SP who is merely depth for me, maybe a 4th or 5th starter for another club. My deal with the team that needs pitching falls through, so I yet again have five good starting pitchers and need one more hitter and got weaker at first base. Whoops.

The season starts, I got a little desperate this weekend and sent out some more questions. I've just today traded arguably the best SP in the OBL, who is 32 and expensive, along with my backup corner infielder and a future backup corner infielder. That deal lands me a 21 year old 1B/3B who should give me a VORP half as strong as the pitcher he cost me. But... he gets me younger at first base, better, and I didn't need the SP anymore anyways.

Essentially I just traded two stud starting pitchers, some prospects I didn't like and one or two decent backup players and got myself a really good first baseman and two younger SPs who are pretty good on their own and should improve with my defense behind them. All because my LFer had a down year. I got from 3/4ths of my rotation being 30 or older to 3/4ths being under 30, as well as getting five years younger at first base and lower my budget by 15%. And I still haven't replaced that LFer.

04-20-2009, 02:50 PM	#2
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	My secret - seven real life years of playing OOTP at least once a week and dominating the trade market in my OBL. I've also participated in OOTP online leagues for most of those seven years as well. I actually trade away most of my prospects that I get in the draft and more often than not, the ones I trade away flame out. I'm probably 50/50 on the ones that I keep when it comes to developing them. It is a gut feel more than anything with prospects for me. My team is built around strong pitching and excellent defense. A man that can flash leather and hit is a bonus, but most of my guys do that. I start trading with small deals and always try to get a little more added on: Oh, how about you toss in that third round pick? That backup catcher in Triple-A might be decent, but probably not. Can I have him? Etc., etc., etc. Do that enough and you have four or five free extra draft picks in one year, then sell those off for a higher pick or two. Get a strong group of young guys together, decide which might help you, trade off the others. Most of my success lies in building an incredibly deep organization through minor trades and throwing tons of draft picks against the wall. Then I need to guess which will stick and trade off the rest. Then I keep trading. And trade more. After a little while, my team is full of good players. When they get older, I trade them and depth for younger guys. Rinse, wash, repeat. Edit - Here is an example from my recent offseason in the OBL. I notice my LF position was awfully weak this year (-2.2 VORP from Case). That one fact completely changes the look of my franchise for the next decade. I trade a first round draftee and a second round draftee, neither of whom I think will develop. This gets me a 26 year old starting pitcher who will be solid but not spectacular and who I control for six more seasons. I also get a young, mediocre catcher who is at best my third backup but provides depth and future trade bait. Because I went out and got a good starter, I now have five when I only run a four man rotation. I trade off a stud starter who is better, older, more expensive and a free agent in one more year. I also trade an outfielder who only cost me a third round pick a few years back. That gets me a good hitting LFer under contract for longer than the stud pitcher I shipped off. I look around for more trades still trying to get younger as the LFer I acquired is about the same age as the stud pitcher I dealt. I think I can work a deal with another team that needs pitching, so I ship off the just acquired LFer, my starting first baseman who is 26 years old but I don't think will develop further and a decent young first base prospect who may not develop. This gets me a 26 year old SP who is pretty good and another SP who is merely depth for me, maybe a 4th or 5th starter for another club. My deal with the team that needs pitching falls through, so I yet again have five good starting pitchers and need one more hitter and got weaker at first base. Whoops. The season starts, I got a little desperate this weekend and sent out some more questions. I've just today traded arguably the best SP in the OBL, who is 32 and expensive, along with my backup corner infielder and a future backup corner infielder. That deal lands me a 21 year old 1B/3B who should give me a VORP half as strong as the pitcher he cost me. But... he gets me younger at first base, better, and I didn't need the SP anymore anyways. Essentially I just traded two stud starting pitchers, some prospects I didn't like and one or two decent backup players and got myself a really good first baseman and two younger SPs who are pretty good on their own and should improve with my defense behind them. All because my LFer had a down year. I got from 3/4ths of my rotation being 30 or older to 3/4ths being under 30, as well as getting five years younger at first base and lower my budget by 15%. And I still haven't replaced that LFer. Last edited by Kelric; 04-20-2009 at 03:07 PM.