AI releases a pitcher 5 days after pitching a shutout

dynaboyj · 05-17-2020, 05:04 PM

Eleven-year vet and solid starting pitcher Mason Wicks signs a deal a little over the league minimum to be with a huge-market team, Southampton, for his age-33 season. He enters the top half of their rotation.

The season rolls around and Southampton immediately loses their first twelve games. Wicks has one terrible start, followed by three muddy ones--but generally the team's problem is their offense, not pitching, even as Wicks goes 0-4. In his fifth start, against defending league champs Newcastle, Wicks pitches an eight-hit shutout, gets lauded, takes the spiraling team to 5-16 even as the offense only coughs up one run.....and is cut five days later.

Naturally, he's picked up just two days afterward by another team (to play in relief), and of course, stranger and stupider moves have been pulled by GMs in the history of sports. But what's a good rationale for this choice, if he just appeared to be picking up steam?

Keep in mind that, while Wicks isn't a social guy, he's not a cancer to teams or anything. And Southampton's chemistry isn't all that bad for a team with as rough a start.

This isn't even a complaint necessarily--just, what would be a good reason for him to get released by the AI like this? I'm struggling to imagine anything that wouldn't get their GM canned immediately.

(also, obviously this is 1949 and complete-game shutouts aren't in the least a rarity, but they're still nothing to sneeze at!)

(images: Wicks' homepage, game log, relevant/strange history)

slugga27 · 05-17-2020, 05:06 PM

What are your AI eval settings?

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dynaboyj · 05-17-2020, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slugga27

What are your AI eval settings?

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Default--30/50/15/5 (which roughly correspond to those of that team's GM). As I don't control a team, I've never had much of a reason to change them, though I've messed around with aging before, so I'm open to it.

slugga27 · 05-17-2020, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dynaboyj

Default--30/50/15/5 (which roughly correspond to those of that team's GM). As I don't control a team, I've never had much of a reason to change them, though I've messed around with aging before, so I'm open to it.

The weight in ratings could be causing this. Those aren’t great ratings, though the current stats weight should theoretically prevail here. However, there could be something else at play (player returning from injury, top prospect ready to come up, etc). If the roster spot is needed, that could very well explain it.

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UltimateAverageGuy · 05-17-2020, 06:24 PM

How many times will we see a thread saying "not complaining" while doing exactly that?

dynaboyj · 05-18-2020, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UltimateAverageGuy

How many times will we see a thread saying "not complaining" while doing exactly that?

lol, sorry--I more just meant this thread as a fun/easy way to get a rationale for why this guy was released. Didn't mean anything by it!

CBeisbol · 05-18-2020, 10:52 PM

The shutout is kind of irrelevant.

It's should this player be released?

Given the minimal information I can see, it would seem like he shouldn't - there should be some trade value there. But, again, that's based on limited info. There are certainly situations, as slugga said, where it would be possible.

jimmysthebestcop · 05-18-2020, 10:56 PM

Looks like garbage to me. But I only know modern default. His k to bb % is awful. K/9 and bb/9 awful.

Maybe historical fiction is different.

Porb · 05-20-2020, 09:54 AM

I don't mind situations like this popping up my leagues, as long as they are infrequent. Inventing my own storylines/reasons for these actions is part of the fun to me.

The team could have decided to go into rebuild mode after its terrible start, giving younger players playing time rather than continue to trot out a soon-to-be 34-year-old pitcher who is not likely to get any better. While rebuilding teams often keep a few older players around to act as mentors, a guy who keeps to himself is probably not an ideal candidate for that role.

Maybe the GM tried to trade him after his shutout but couldn't find any takers. An 8-hit/4-BB shutout isn't exactly a dominant performance -- it reminds me of when Dennis Martinez pitched a 12-hit shutout in 1998. He only got one more start after that game, worked out of the bullpen the rest of the year, and then retired.

05-17-2020, 05:04 PM	#1
dynaboyj Major Leagues Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Baltimore Posts: 307	AI releases a pitcher 5 days after pitching a shutout Eleven-year vet and solid starting pitcher Mason Wicks signs a deal a little over the league minimum to be with a huge-market team, Southampton, for his age-33 season. He enters the top half of their rotation. The season rolls around and Southampton immediately loses their first twelve games. Wicks has one terrible start, followed by three muddy ones--but generally the team's problem is their offense, not pitching, even as Wicks goes 0-4. In his fifth start, against defending league champs Newcastle, Wicks pitches an eight-hit shutout, gets lauded, takes the spiraling team to 5-16 even as the offense only coughs up one run.....and is cut five days later. Naturally, he's picked up just two days afterward by another team (to play in relief), and of course, stranger and stupider moves have been pulled by GMs in the history of sports. But what's a good rationale for this choice, if he just appeared to be picking up steam? Keep in mind that, while Wicks isn't a social guy, he's not a cancer to teams or anything. And Southampton's chemistry isn't all that bad for a team with as rough a start. This isn't even a complaint necessarily--just, what would be a good reason for him to get released by the AI like this? I'm struggling to imagine anything that wouldn't get their GM canned immediately. (also, obviously this is 1949 and complete-game shutouts aren't in the least a rarity, but they're still nothing to sneeze at!) (images: Wicks' homepage, game log, relevant/strange history)

05-18-2020, 10:56 PM	#8
jimmysthebestcop Banned Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 1,727 Infractions: 0/2 (5)	Looks like garbage to me. But I only know modern default. His k to bb % is awful. K/9 and bb/9 awful. Maybe historical fiction is different. Last edited by jimmysthebestcop; 05-18-2020 at 11:00 PM.

05-17-2020, 05:06 PM	#2
slugga27 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 1,272	What are your AI eval settings? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05-17-2020, 06:24 PM	#5
UltimateAverageGuy All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 591	How many times will we see a thread saying "not complaining" while doing exactly that?

05-18-2020, 10:52 PM	#7
CBeisbol Banned Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Ban land in 3...2... Posts: 2,943	The shutout is kind of irrelevant. It's should this player be released? Given the minimal information I can see, it would seem like he shouldn't - there should be some trade value there. But, again, that's based on limited info. There are certainly situations, as slugga said, where it would be possible.

05-20-2020, 09:54 AM	#9
Porb Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 38	I don't mind situations like this popping up my leagues, as long as they are infrequent. Inventing my own storylines/reasons for these actions is part of the fun to me. The team could have decided to go into rebuild mode after its terrible start, giving younger players playing time rather than continue to trot out a soon-to-be 34-year-old pitcher who is not likely to get any better. While rebuilding teams often keep a few older players around to act as mentors, a guy who keeps to himself is probably not an ideal candidate for that role. Maybe the GM tried to trade him after his shutout but couldn't find any takers. An 8-hit/4-BB shutout isn't exactly a dominant performance -- it reminds me of when Dennis Martinez pitched a 12-hit shutout in 1998. He only got one more start after that game, worked out of the bullpen the rest of the year, and then retired.