General OOTP Rules of Thumb???

[TJdaSportsGuy]

I've been playing OOTP for a while now and was just curious on a few things. From reading through these very forums, I can gather that there are general rules of thumb when playing a career league starting in current day's time. My question is, what are they?

I'm looking for some folk's opinions on maintaining the following year by year in a career simulation.

- League Totals - Do I leave it at it's default setting or should I reset them every year?

- Adjust Team Market - Do I ever have a reason to hit this button or once again, should I just leave it be?

- Minor League System - Is it a good idea to regularly release players who will never develop into major leaguers so that the ones who might get the playing time?

- Young Player Development - When is the right time to call up a pitcher or a position player? Where should their ratings be when their time to move up arrives?

Any help on these things would be appreciated and I'm sure there are other OOTP'ers out there besides me who are wondering these very things. Thank you in advance.

[MizzouRah]

- League Totals - Do I leave it at it's default setting or should I reset them every year?

I leave them at default, for no real reason.

I think it's kind of like boundries on stats and keeps them current with whatever era you are in. I get the idea it's more for people who are trying to recreate accurate stats for different eras.

- Adjust Team Market - Do I ever have a reason to hit this button or once again, should I just leave it be?

This should only be used in a draft league, when you want the team markets on par with their payroll.

- Minor League System - Is it a good idea to regularly release players who will never develop into major leaguers so that the ones who might get the playing time?

Yes, I do that often and with only a 4 round draft it's easier to manage less but better players.

- Young Player Development - When is the right time to call up a pitcher or a position player? Where should their ratings be when their time to move up arrives?

This is a matter of opinion. I like it when they are in AAA and have good stats along with good ratings and potential.

Also, when injuries strike is when I learn the most about my farm clubs

Any help on these things would be appreciated and I'm sure there are other OOTP'ers out there besides me who are wondering these very things. Thank you in advance.

<small>[ 05-14-2002, 12:24 AM: Message edited by: TrueCardinalFan ]</small>

[Scott Vibert]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by TJdaSportsGuy:
<strong>I've been playing OOTP for a while now and was just curious on a few things. From reading through these very forums, I can gather that there are general rules of thumb when playing a career league starting in current day's time. My question is, what are they?

I'm looking for some folk's opinions on maintaining the following year by year in a career simulation.

- League Totals - Do I leave it at it's default setting or should I reset them every year?</strong>
I leave them at the default in my fictional leagues and let the league develop however it develops.
<strong>
- Adjust Team Market - Do I ever have a reason to hit this button or once again, should I just leave it be?</strong>
Once again I just let it be and let things evolve how they are wont to do.
<strong>
- Minor League System - Is it a good idea to regularly release players who will never develop into major leaguers so that the ones who might get the playing time?</strong>
You want to release non-prospects to ensure the most playing time (therefor the largest amount of development opportunity) for the real prospects.
<strong>
- Young Player Development - When is the right time to call up a pitcher or a position player? Where should their ratings be when their time to move up arrives?</strong>
It varies depnedant on need... sometimes the text scouting report will indicate the player is ready, other times you look at the ratings and decide, if the player doesn't seem to be developing much more in the minors then you might want to consider bringing him up. There is no real rule of thumb, although I tend to go 5 or above hitters, and 6 or above pitchers for most of the ratings.
<strong>
Any help on these things would be appreciated and I'm sure there are other OOTP'ers out there besides me who are wondering these very things. Thank you in advance.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Most of these things are a matter of personal preference, as there is no golden rule that you have to follow to play and enjoy OOTP, that's part of the beauty of the game.

[Kevin]

With minor leaguers, don't be too hasty to release them until they reach a certain age. Once in a while a player can get a big talent boost at 23 or 24 after hanging around for 3 or 4 years. Sometimes they move up and contribute well in the majors. You have to watch stats, talent, ratings and positional balance to maximize results. Sometimes the random factors will give you a kick square in the jewels despite all you efforts.

[HolyCow98]

League Totals:
I had left this alone at first but as my career league developed I had 4 teams one year hit over 300 HR's. At about this point I decided that I was slowly, over time, adjust some of the settings. I basically picked a season from real-life, in my case 1987, and decided that I wanted something similar as to that year. I only do small changes so as stats stay consistent from year to year with only small changes. Over time though the ERA will be a new one.

Adjust team markets:
I haven't found a need to do this using a modern league based off of the real players and team.

Minor League System:
It really depends on how many rounds are in your amatuer draft. If it is the default 5 than it is much more easy to manage. I only release those guys if they get to be at an age 24-26 and their ratings and potentials don't come close to anything near MLB level. Usually anything below average, talent wise, at that age I will try and trade more more often release. My self, I wait as long as possible to cut them as sometimes I've had 27 year old guys seemingly "figure it out" and blossom and have 4 or 5 year stretches of good solid seasons.

Young Player Development:
At the age 24-25 I make a decision on my AAA players as to if they are in my future plans. If I already have the talent on the MLB roster than I will put them on the trading block or try to initate trades my self. If they are in my future and gave reached atleast 4-5 in their ratings or important ratings I should say, I will try and bring them up. It is a fun part of the game as you never know what will happen. I have had a player make the jump from AA to the MLB roster. My second baseman got hurt for the year and I didn't have one in AAA. I had a 2B in AA with a A in range and if I remember 3 in AVG HR BB SO. He hit about .217 in about 77 games. The upside though his talent ratings went up as well as his ratings. He was 5 and 4's by the end of the season.

I think that you can't always trust the scouts but if they reach AAA and over time are doing well there, than they are probably ready for a shot. I'm not a big supporter of training guys in alot of postitions in the minors. I try to keep it realistically. If they have the size to play a posistion than I might I look at it this way
CA- might play some 1B or 3B unless he is athletic type ala Biggio or Kendall then he might get some OF training.

1B usually leave alone, sometimes OF.
2B sometimes SS.
SS sometimes 2B. Since OOTP doesn't use arm ratings for infielders, I don't know if the guy has a good enough arm to play 3B so I don't usually train them for 3B
3B if they have great range I might train for SS.
OF I do usually like to see the guys with range learn all of the outfield positions. If the OF has a good arm I'll train them for RF.

I just try to keep it realistically. I don't like seeing my converted CA playing SS.

[Draft Dodger]

as for minor leaguers, I tend not to release them, especially in OOTP4 when I can make sure the scrubs don't take much playing time away from my real prospects.

the reason I keep them is because you never know when someone is going to surprise and develop unexpectedly, and also as emergency fill-ins or september call-ups.

I try to avoid calling up real prospects until I am ready to start playing them full-time, as I don't want the clock to start ticking. So, if I have an injury call-up, I'll often bring up a never-going-to-make-the-bigs player for the shorterm...