international prospects

[Obechkinsbuddy]

I know 16 year old international signings are a coin flip but if you have a guy who looks like a potential elite starter or hitter which way do you normally go? I have a pitcher with elite potential for movement stuff and control all between 75-90 with 65 stamina. He has 3 pitches already rated a 40/75 but no fastball. 92-94mph. Hitter is an elite infielder can play corner outfield 3rd and short with elite arm and average speed. 60 potential for contact and eye but 80 for power potential. 1st time I have been kind of torn on prospects.

[Pelican]

I am 100% taking that hitter and never looking back. The teenager with no fastball is never going to have a fastball. If you can’t at least throw hard at sixteen, it is highly unlikely you will find velocity at age 21 or 25 or 28. Great to have three pitches with high potential numbers. Welcome to the bullpen. The hitter would be a generational talent at SS and a very good corner OF or 3B. You gotta go with that.

[OutS|der]

If this was 30 years ago I'd consider that pitcher but not velocity is everything so draft that hitter and never look back

besides 16 yr old pitching prospects have worse odds then the lottery

[PSUColonel]

Colonel’s rules of thumb:

1.Draft your lineup
2. Sign your pitching staff

[md40022]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

Colonel’s rules of thumb:

1.Draft your lineup
2. Sign your pitching staff

Theo Epstein has long been on record as saying that exact same thing,,, and it's hard to argue against his results.

[Obechkinsbuddy]

I listened! Thanks I shortlisted the pitcher to keep an eye on what happens to him. Took the great fielder with 60 plus potential across all hitting stats. We shall see.

[OzzieFan]

I am still hardly playing because if I play 5 - 6 years not a single draft pick ever makes the team. 95% never get past AA.

[Pelican]

My remedy for that is drafting college guys who are more mature, more of a track record against good competition (depending upon leagues of course; stick with SEC and ACC), closer to MLB. Less variation; although they are closer to their ceiling. You can draft them one year and play them in the Show the next.

[OutS|der]

Originally Posted by OzzieFan

I am still hardly playing because if I play 5 - 6 years not a single draft pick ever makes the team. 95% never get past AA.

Claims like this without any data backing it and making throwing out numbers like 95% are bound to be ignored cause it's likely BS and just you're assumption.

If you're going to make claims like this then back it up otherwise it's just noise that should be ignored

[locuspc]

If he tends to only pick High School players, I believe him, because High School players take 5 years to develop, and the first couple of built-in draft classes are very bad and most players drafted in the first couple years, even drafted early, will not make the big club. This does represent a problem, and OOTP has had problems with the built-in draft classes for years and I don't know why they don't fix them, but it's a transient problem that goes away after you keep playing, it's not a problem with the development system per se.

I went and looked at the history of my current save, and the only player I drafted and debuted in the first 5 years of the save was a single backup catcher that had been drafted out of college, who debuted as a September callup in 2028. But give it a little more time and it gets better. This last year I debuted 6 self-drafted players, including a starter with the makings of an ace and an outfielder/DH who should be able to hack it as an everyday player (along with the usual mix of optionable relievers and bench utilitymen). So my recommendation is try sticking it out a little longer than 5-6 years and see if it doesn't turn around. My recommendation to the devs is to fix your dang included draft classes already, there's no reason this should still be happening.