Noobie here - Questions about team building...

gdoggcasey · 05-23-2018, 07:27 PM

Hey guys,

To start off, I call myself a noobie but tbh I own OOTP 14, 16, 17, 18 and now 19. I respect the hell out of these games and everytime they release a new one I buy it. I start a couple saves, usually a current year Blue Jays save and an historical league with hopes of drafting greats like Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds etc.

What always ends up happening is I get super into it. I manage the first few series, and then start simming. But after going through a full season or two I notice that my team is never improving. I almost always seem to have SP issues. I never seemed to get a grasp for how to turn a bad situation around into a great one. There are always different restrictions blocking me, like financial issues with a frugal team or lack of fan interest. I once tried the Jays out in their expansion year. Drafted Cal Ripken but wasn't able to get too much else. By the third season I was fired for constantly failing goals. (I ended up on the Mets now which are in a much better situation, but again the starting rotation is a concern)

I have lurked around these forums before and picked up some good info, but one thing I see the most is "This game makes it way too easy to trade around and get prospects and build a great team" (paraphrasing of course) and I have never gotten to that point.

Example, my Mets have a pretty good line up but the starting rotation is not great. My ace is a 3 star overall and potential. So, my goal seems clear. Improve the rotation. Well, there is nothing good on the free agent market. Waivers very rarely hold any fruit, and the last draft class either was very short on good SP prospects or I just missed them (can't remember). So I look around at teams and find some great pitchers that I want but teams never want to trade them. Regardless of if they are current super stars, or 5 star prospects, I can never get the AI to pull the trigger on these trades.

So eventually I get tired of sifting through teams only to not find any answers. I move on in the season, and have a mediocre or crap year because my rotation sucks and it all just repeats itself. Then I take a break from the game.

I would love to move past this rut. I feel that getting past this will unlock all the amazing awesomeness this game has stuffed within in. I apologize for my wordy post, I just love talking about baseball in any aspect so the mundane details start to type themselves. I appreciate any help anyone could give, and am happy to provide any other info from my save if needed.

Orcin · 05-23-2018, 07:47 PM

There are players on your team that the AI wants. There are good pitchers that the AI for some unknown reason does not like. Your job is to identify both ends of this deal and then execute it.

The best way to do it is to pick a reasonable player from an AI team and try “make this work”. Write down the players that the AI will take. Try a lesser player and see if additional players from your team are desired. Do this with several teams, and you now know which players on your team have value.

Now make a list of pitchers that you want and start offering packages of your desirable players. You will find a few deals that you can pull off.

gdoggcasey · 05-23-2018, 08:17 PM

Seems like the only one any team wants is my 21 year old superstar Catcher. I have a second very good catcher that I would love to trade away, but when I shop him around a get a bunch of bad offers for 2 or 3 star players. (My guy is a 4 star overall, 4.5 star potential in the minors.) Half of the players offered are over 30 years old. Even my starting catcher Chili Davis gets very mediocre offers for him. The Mariners are in rebuild mode according to the trade screen but they laugh at me for asking about their ace pitcher who I would love on my team.

I guess my issue now is I can probably get a mediocre 3 star SP pretty easy if I give away my best player or best prospect. But I want some of these 5 star prospects or ace pitchers that no team ever wants to part with. It seems the only option is to wait for them to be free agents or get lucky and draft an awesome prospect. These tactics take forever to actually provide an improvement, so I am left with no options for the current season.

gdoggcasey · 05-23-2018, 10:17 PM

Well I did some reading around and learned that building a good starting rotation is one of the main struggles in the game, given the lack of great SP's in the game. Makes me feel a bit better. Seems they are worth over paying for in most cases.

TheMaus2 · 05-24-2018, 10:13 AM

remember that contracts play a huge role in trading. the type of contracts you might be handing out to teams may be undesirable (while the superstar C is probably still on a rookie deal, thus super valuable.)

gdoggcasey · 05-24-2018, 03:37 PM

That is true and is something I will try to take into account.

Do you guys find that focusing on SP's is worth it? Or would I be better off focusing on building an even stronger lineup with a great bullpen. Seems like good relievers are plentiful, and same goes for hitters for the most part. Maybe I should just bolster those parts of my team, and hope to get lucky with a big draft signing or a free agent. (I think Roger Clemens is coming up in the next draft)

Another thing is maybe I am overvaluing my catcher prospect and undervaluing SP's in general. Perhaps its not so easy to trade one for one when looking for SP. I will try tacking on some extra dudes to see if I get any luck, although if memory serves I don't have THAT many prospects to give away.

mitchkenn · 05-24-2018, 04:10 PM

my leagues always seem to favor the teams with strong starting pitching. Good hitting helps, but a solid starting staff seems to keep teams in my league in contention.

gdoggcasey · 05-24-2018, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchkenn

my leagues always seem to favor the teams with strong starting pitching. Good hitting helps, but a solid starting staff seems to keep teams in my league in contention.

Yeahh, this makes the most logical sense. But also means I have a tough job ahead of me :P

NoOne · 05-24-2018, 11:37 PM

think of FA as rentals. i would trade these guys after 1-3 years (i avoid FA like the plague). i'm not expecting equal value in return. i consider it 'icing' as it only cost salary i was willing to pay. either they help me get a high-end target or assets to get a high-end target at a later date.

i am systematic about team turnover. sometimes the next player up is a slight downgrade, but it's best for long-term health of team to avoid depending on aged batters. unless a comp pick is better, i'm getting assets in return each time a replacement arrives to the MLB in addition to trading any FA and regular means like the draft / discoveries / IAFA.

add that all together and you can build a core that is slowly recycled over time and maintain a high level of production -- all dependent on health, of course. how many you can afford depends on budget of your team. yankees can probably afford 15 elite players if staggered ages and club control vs extension contracts vs fa contracts.

--------blah blah blah below ------

i let the randomness of who takes cheaper extensions to dictacte who i keep and let go over time as needed. i know how many larger contracts i can afford at one time. the Front Office-> Salaries tab can help understand obligations owed over the next 10 years.

trick is for the contract to outlast developement, but not by too long that it is a hinderance to a trade. once you start trading for future needs, your doing this method correctly.

I keep ~3-4 SP elite prosepcts in my mil system nearly at all times. maybe 1/4 will be used, because pitching is a pain to predict. you need ~4 good SP (playoff rotation), so you need 4x the prospects as any other position.

can you see greater than max ratings? it is an option under game settings / global settings. that can help identify the truly elite SP. the guys with good movement and control along with max or greater than max stuff are easy to pick out.

batters are easy compared to pitching. you want the best contact/power combo with the minimum defensive ability per position possible. hopefully, 3-4 of these guys are authentic bombers.

definitely spend as much on developement as you can afford after payroll obligations and other future expenses after budgets are set in stone. a high MiL Scouting budget is also wise if you go this route.

even the smallest budgets should be able to maintain 7-10 stars with a steady portion being under club control. think of that as a minimum and not a cap. sometimes you have an overabundance of youth, but you won't be able to keep them all.

gdoggcasey · 05-26-2018, 06:34 AM

Thanks for the tips guys.

I uhh..started a new save lol. Armed with some of the knowledge gained here and other places on the site, I started a new try hard save where I just force myself to get used to all aspects of the game. Playing out every game as well, as it provides a break from the complicated stuff. I will be sure to come back if I have any more questions.

05-23-2018, 07:27 PM	#1
gdoggcasey Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	Noobie here - Questions about team building... Hey guys, To start off, I call myself a noobie but tbh I own OOTP 14, 16, 17, 18 and now 19. I respect the hell out of these games and everytime they release a new one I buy it. I start a couple saves, usually a current year Blue Jays save and an historical league with hopes of drafting greats like Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds etc. What always ends up happening is I get super into it. I manage the first few series, and then start simming. But after going through a full season or two I notice that my team is never improving. I almost always seem to have SP issues. I never seemed to get a grasp for how to turn a bad situation around into a great one. There are always different restrictions blocking me, like financial issues with a frugal team or lack of fan interest. I once tried the Jays out in their expansion year. Drafted Cal Ripken but wasn't able to get too much else. By the third season I was fired for constantly failing goals. (I ended up on the Mets now which are in a much better situation, but again the starting rotation is a concern) I have lurked around these forums before and picked up some good info, but one thing I see the most is "This game makes it way too easy to trade around and get prospects and build a great team" (paraphrasing of course) and I have never gotten to that point. Example, my Mets have a pretty good line up but the starting rotation is not great. My ace is a 3 star overall and potential. So, my goal seems clear. Improve the rotation. Well, there is nothing good on the free agent market. Waivers very rarely hold any fruit, and the last draft class either was very short on good SP prospects or I just missed them (can't remember). So I look around at teams and find some great pitchers that I want but teams never want to trade them. Regardless of if they are current super stars, or 5 star prospects, I can never get the AI to pull the trigger on these trades. So eventually I get tired of sifting through teams only to not find any answers. I move on in the season, and have a mediocre or crap year because my rotation sucks and it all just repeats itself. Then I take a break from the game. I would love to move past this rut. I feel that getting past this will unlock all the amazing awesomeness this game has stuffed within in. I apologize for my wordy post, I just love talking about baseball in any aspect so the mundane details start to type themselves. I appreciate any help anyone could give, and am happy to provide any other info from my save if needed.

05-24-2018, 10:13 AM	#5
TheMaus2 All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The OOTP Forums. Always. Posts: 1,951	remember that contracts play a huge role in trading. the type of contracts you might be handing out to teams may be undesirable (while the superstar C is probably still on a rookie deal, thus super valuable.) __________________ I write a monthly newsletter on the Food Baseball Association. I also listen to music no one's ever heard of in hopes of looking cool and alternative.

05-24-2018, 04:10 PM	#7
mitchkenn Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Oregon, not by design Posts: 2,872	my leagues always seem to favor the teams with strong starting pitching. Good hitting helps, but a solid starting staff seems to keep teams in my league in contention. __________________ "This is my opening farewell " - Jackson Browne “They make a desolation and call it peace.” ― Agha Shahid Ali "Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song - And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong." - Townes Van Zandt "I saw a young man leaning on his wooden crutch - He called out to me, 'Don't ask for so much' And a young woman leaning in her darkened door She cried out to me, 'Why not ask for more?' " - Leonard Cohen "Hello darkness, my old Friend ...." - Paul Simon Before Mays, before DiMaggio, there was Oscar Charleston. "All the lies about Babe Ruth are true." - Waite Hoyt Avatar is the late great Townes Van Zandt. rip.

05-23-2018, 07:47 PM	#2
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,884	There are players on your team that the AI wants. There are good pitchers that the AI for some unknown reason does not like. Your job is to identify both ends of this deal and then execute it. The best way to do it is to pick a reasonable player from an AI team and try “make this work”. Write down the players that the AI will take. Try a lesser player and see if additional players from your team are desired. Do this with several teams, and you now know which players on your team have value. Now make a list of pitchers that you want and start offering packages of your desirable players. You will find a few deals that you can pull off.

05-23-2018, 08:17 PM	#3
gdoggcasey Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	Seems like the only one any team wants is my 21 year old superstar Catcher. I have a second very good catcher that I would love to trade away, but when I shop him around a get a bunch of bad offers for 2 or 3 star players. (My guy is a 4 star overall, 4.5 star potential in the minors.) Half of the players offered are over 30 years old. Even my starting catcher Chili Davis gets very mediocre offers for him. The Mariners are in rebuild mode according to the trade screen but they laugh at me for asking about their ace pitcher who I would love on my team. I guess my issue now is I can probably get a mediocre 3 star SP pretty easy if I give away my best player or best prospect. But I want some of these 5 star prospects or ace pitchers that no team ever wants to part with. It seems the only option is to wait for them to be free agents or get lucky and draft an awesome prospect. These tactics take forever to actually provide an improvement, so I am left with no options for the current season.

05-23-2018, 10:17 PM	#4
gdoggcasey Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	Well I did some reading around and learned that building a good starting rotation is one of the main struggles in the game, given the lack of great SP's in the game. Makes me feel a bit better. Seems they are worth over paying for in most cases.

05-24-2018, 03:37 PM	#6
gdoggcasey Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	That is true and is something I will try to take into account. Do you guys find that focusing on SP's is worth it? Or would I be better off focusing on building an even stronger lineup with a great bullpen. Seems like good relievers are plentiful, and same goes for hitters for the most part. Maybe I should just bolster those parts of my team, and hope to get lucky with a big draft signing or a free agent. (I think Roger Clemens is coming up in the next draft) Another thing is maybe I am overvaluing my catcher prospect and undervaluing SP's in general. Perhaps its not so easy to trade one for one when looking for SP. I will try tacking on some extra dudes to see if I get any luck, although if memory serves I don't have THAT many prospects to give away.

05-24-2018, 11:37 PM	#9
NoOne Banned Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,273 Infractions: 0/1 (3)	think of FA as rentals. i would trade these guys after 1-3 years (i avoid FA like the plague). i'm not expecting equal value in return. i consider it 'icing' as it only cost salary i was willing to pay. either they help me get a high-end target or assets to get a high-end target at a later date. i am systematic about team turnover. sometimes the next player up is a slight downgrade, but it's best for long-term health of team to avoid depending on aged batters. unless a comp pick is better, i'm getting assets in return each time a replacement arrives to the MLB in addition to trading any FA and regular means like the draft / discoveries / IAFA. add that all together and you can build a core that is slowly recycled over time and maintain a high level of production -- all dependent on health, of course. how many you can afford depends on budget of your team. yankees can probably afford 15 elite players if staggered ages and club control vs extension contracts vs fa contracts. --------blah blah blah below ------ i let the randomness of who takes cheaper extensions to dictacte who i keep and let go over time as needed. i know how many larger contracts i can afford at one time. the Front Office-> Salaries tab can help understand obligations owed over the next 10 years. trick is for the contract to outlast developement, but not by too long that it is a hinderance to a trade. once you start trading for future needs, your doing this method correctly. I keep ~3-4 SP elite prosepcts in my mil system nearly at all times. maybe 1/4 will be used, because pitching is a pain to predict. you need ~4 good SP (playoff rotation), so you need 4x the prospects as any other position. can you see greater than max ratings? it is an option under game settings / global settings. that can help identify the truly elite SP. the guys with good movement and control along with max or greater than max stuff are easy to pick out. batters are easy compared to pitching. you want the best contact/power combo with the minimum defensive ability per position possible. hopefully, 3-4 of these guys are authentic bombers. definitely spend as much on developement as you can afford after payroll obligations and other future expenses after budgets are set in stone. a high MiL Scouting budget is also wise if you go this route. even the smallest budgets should be able to maintain 7-10 stars with a steady portion being under club control. think of that as a minimum and not a cap. sometimes you have an overabundance of youth, but you won't be able to keep them all.

05-26-2018, 06:34 AM	#10
gdoggcasey Bat Boy Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 13	Thanks for the tips guys. I uhh..started a new save lol. Armed with some of the knowledge gained here and other places on the site, I started a new try hard save where I just force myself to get used to all aspects of the game. Playing out every game as well, as it provides a break from the complicated stuff. I will be sure to come back if I have any more questions.