Minor League System Report

[Neags23]

Who is making these recommendations? Some schizoid idiot?

It tells me one of my pitchers isn't ready for Double A. I move him down to Single A. Guess what the recommendation is. Ready for Double A.

It tells me a guy with a 6-1 record with an ERA a full 2 runs lower than the league average is not ready for the level he's in.

Where do these recommendations come from? It's not a scouting thing -- I have scouts off. I don't think it's a coaching thing -- my coaches are mostly 9's and 10's.

This whole report is useless except to see a player's talent potential, and even then it doesn't give ratings for Gap Power and Avoid K's for batters, and doesn't give velocity for pitchers and the ratings are out of order. So the only thing the stupid report actually does, it only does it half-assed!

[Kevin]

Might I suggest the following solution:

1. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie
2. Edit your thread title

These should should get you a reasoned response.

[Neags23]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Might I suggest the following solution:

1. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie
2. Edit your thread title

These should should get you a reasoned response.

I don't think you can edit thread titles... not that I would, anyway. I rarely criticize the game. It might be the best game I've ever played. I spend more hours playing it, thinking about it, talking about it, and praising it than any game I've ever played.

But I feel that the thread title is a perfect match for that particular report, and partly even that aspect of the game. Player development is very difficult to track, and it makes it harder when the report that is supposed to aid that cause gives you awful information and is generally not helpful at all.

I'm not necessarily looking for a solution, because right now, in game, I don't think there is one. I just wanted to lay that criticism out there to see if anyone agrees or disagrees.

I wouldn't be harsh toward a game of this greatness if not warranted. And if nothing else, it should almost be a compliment that something flawed like this stands out so much against everything else that is so right. You don't notice a scratch or a dent on a junked up car. But on my brand new Dodge Dakota that looks perfect, a scratch or dent would really stand out and piss me off.

[1998 Yankees]

Don't forget the report is based on ratings, not stats necessarily, and ratings can change quickly in this game. Also, it's a compilation of scouting assessments, I believe, and the competence of your scouts may have something to do with it as well as when they last looked at the players.

Do a test like I did: Run the report, open it in external browser to save it, have your head scout run a complete job on your organization (not quick-scout) and note the differences in the two reports in just three weeks. Some of it is due to ratings shifts and some of it is due to his updated assessments, I think. Many of the recommendations will be the same however.

Also, it's only supposed to be advice, not instructions. If you see somebody doing well according to his stats, or poorly, then maybe that overrides the recommendation. Just my .

[lynchjm24]

The thing I hate about that report is when I scroll down to the bottom and right click a player up a level the report kicks me back up to the top so I have to scroll back down.

I have pretty much taken the suggestions as gospel and my prospects seem to develop fine, so while sometimes the stats might not match the recommendations the development seems to.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

The thing I hate about that report is when I scroll down to the bottom and right click a player up a level the report kicks me back up to the top so I have to scroll back down.

That's why you should open the report in your external browser, which holds the report in position while you ALT+TAB back to the game and do what you got to do there.

[Neags23]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

....Also, it's a compilation of scouting assessments, I believe, and the competence of your scouts may have something to do with it as well as when they last looked at the players.

I have scouting off. So it can't be a compilation of scouting assessments. That's why I wonder where exactly those recommendations are coming from.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by Neags23

I have scouting off. So it can't be a compilation of scouting assessments. That's why I wonder where exactly those recommendations are coming from.

Hmmm. SISA? You may have your answer right there.

Edit: No, scratch that. Scouting off = SISA = true ratings. (*head-scratching sounds ensue*)

[AD31]

Originally Posted by Neags23

I have scouting off. So it can't be a compilation of scouting assessments. That's why I wonder where exactly those recommendations are coming from.

I have learned to completely ignore these reports. I have had the same issue where a player has been dominate at say AA, and they tell me he is not ready for that level. Granted, I have scouts on but they should factor in a 4 to 1 strikeout ratio with a sub 2.0 era

[swishbish33]

I don't read the reports unless I'm on the fence about promoting a guy. Playing with scouts off, I rely on a combo of their actual ratings and their stats at that level to determine where to go with them. If a guy's actual ratings are good but his stats suck, I might bump him up just to see if a change a scenery works. If a guy's ratings suck but his stats are good, I might move him up to see if he can keep it up (and maybe score a talent jump in the process...).

[endgame]

Originally Posted by Neags23

Who is making these recommendations?

This, I think, is the rightful core of your inquiry. Even with scouts on, I'm not sure I have the answer. It would be interesting to know, definitively, the origins of those comments.

Beyond that, my personal query. If you have scouts off, that implies, at least to me, that you'd rather defer to your own judgment with regard to the players, whether it be ratings, stats, or combination-based. To that end, what import would these suggestions actually hold for you? Wouldn't you turn them off if it were an option?

Also, I agree that tracking development in-game is problematic. While I have never selected Track All Player Development (whatever the label), I've always presumed it offered up the same reports you get on your own players; vague at best, but doing so for the entire league. Not a report I would want to have generated on a regular basis. On the other hand, unlike you, obstensibly deferring to your own judgment given hard and fast real ratings, I'm inclined to favor ambiguity, allowing me to utilize intuitive management skills, as is RL, rather than exercising practical mathematical predictions with actual data not normally acquired in experience.

None of this is, in any way, a personal indictment on your style. I intend to provoke only your thoughts on the matter.

[Neags23]

Originally Posted by endgame

...To that end, what import would these suggestions actually hold for you? Wouldn't you turn them off if it were an option?

Also, I agree that tracking development in-game is problematic. While I have never selected Track All Player Development (whatever the label), I've always presumed it offered up the same reports you get on your own players; vague at best, but doing so for the entire league. Not a report I would want to have generated on a regular basis. On the other hand, unlike you, obstensibly deferring to your own judgment given hard and fast real ratings, I'm inclined to favor ambiguity, allowing me to utilize intuitive management skills, as is RL, rather than exercising practical mathematical predictions with actual data not normally acquired in experience.

I actually would rather defer to my own judgement -- though I'd like help on the judgement of moving a guy from Short A to Single A, for instance, or Short A to rookie league. Ultimately, of course, I will make the decision, and I would ignore recommendations regarding AAA and my ML clubs. But with 125+ players in an organization, there needs to be some kind of working report that can aid in the process of promotion/demotion/development. And this report fails miserably in everything it tries to do.

I also prefer a bit of ambiguity, which is why I use a small scale (1-10) rather than a 20-80, or 1-100. Scouting seems to be too tedious when I used to use it, so just turned it off. So having scouting off is much more of an indictment of scouting than it is an indication that I dislike ambiguity of player ratings.

I've since looked for other ways to help me decide promotion/demotion, and have decided to rely on VORP. Every month or so, I'll take the couple of players with the highest VORP and promote them, and demote the couple with the lowest VORP. I'll vary it a bit with RC/27 for batters, but haven't tried a secondary stat I like with pitchers.

[zukes]

I have a look at that report and then use my own judgement based on stats from there. That way, its a recommendation.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by zukes

I have a look at that report and then use my own judgement based on stats from there. That way, its a recommendation.

I'm having some heated disagreements with the Short Season A coach about Aguilar's pitching. While I'm considering a move to AA, he thinks the 5-0 is a fluke, and apparently the kid's just getting lucky.

[zekester91]

Originally Posted by Neags23

Who is making these recommendations? Some schizoid idiot?

It tells me one of my pitchers isn't ready for Double A. I move him down to Single A. Guess what the recommendation is. Ready for Double A.

Could it be that the talent level between these leagues is great, and there is a possiblity of needing a league inbetween these two levels. Maybe your Double A is so full of talent that people that are killing in Single A are still not prepared to face the talent of Double A.

Won't it be two diffrent people that are making these recommendations, your Double A manager/scout, looks and goes he's not ready for the talent of this level, and your Single A manager/scout is going he's killing batters here he's ready for the next level.

[enuttage]

Originally Posted by endgame

I'm having some heated disagreements with the Short Season A coach about Aguilar's pitching. While I'm considering a move to AA, he thinks the 5-0 is a fluke, and apparently the kid's just getting lucky.

In my searching for something I just had to bump this to let you know that it gave me a hearty chuckle. Thanks, endgame.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by endgame

I'm having some heated disagreements with the Short Season A coach about Aguilar's pitching. While I'm considering a move to AA, he thinks the 5-0 is a fluke, and apparently the kid's just getting lucky.

Originally Posted by enuttage

In my searching for something I just had to bump this to let you know that it gave me a hearty chuckle. Thanks, endgame.

Glad to add something to your day. It's amazing how much noise can be generated in a clubhouse (my desk chair) all by myself. Btw, IIRC Aguilar's nearing the end of his season with app. a 10-1 record with an ERA just under 2.00, so I'll send the coach an 8x10 glossy of the guy on the mound with "Lucky" written at the bottom.