Prospects Vs Experience

[Disco Dog 13]

Hi Guys

Got into Baseball when my son was born last year and found myself awake at 2am in the UK with nothing on but Baseball ... then got hooked !!

I'm new to OOTP (great game though so far from what I've seen) in general so these may be dumb questions, be here goes ....

Q1
When it comes to trading is it better to go for a 33+ guy who has say 3 stars
and whose potential is 3 stars as well
or go for a Prospect who has 1 - 1.5 stars and a potential of 3 stars

How quickly will a Prospect reach their "full" potential ?
And can the Potential Star rating every increase past it predicted level ?

Am guessing that the obvious difference will be that the 33+ guy will be on a lot more money than the Prospect

Q2
I am drafting in these older players :

Jose Bautista
Manny Ramirez
David Ross
Scott Rolen
Darren Oliver
Takashi Saito
Scott Linebrink
Rafael Betancourt

The "selling" team advises that they'll trade immediately
My coach (or whoever advises) says that I should try to get a Prospect, but more often than not when I add one of their Prospects to the trade it gets rejected
So I end up taking the trade which then affect the moral of some of the players (Transaction Morale)

This seems to be angering existing players when I check their morale for Transactions

HELP ?!?!?!?!

[magicspeedo]

Originally Posted by Disco Dog 13

Hi Guys

Got into Baseball when my son was born last year and found myself awake at 2am in the UK with nothing on but Baseball ... then got hooked !!

I'm new to OOTP (great game though so far from what I've seen) in general so these may be dumb questions, be here goes ....

Q1
When it comes to trading is it better to go for a 33+ guy who has say 3 stars
and whose potential is 3 stars as well
or go for a Prospect who has 1 - 1.5 stars and a potential of 3 stars

How quickly will a Prospect reach their "full" potential ?
And can the Potential Star rating every increase past it predicted level ?

Am guessing that the obvious difference will be that the 33+ guy will be on a lot more money than the Prospect

Depending on the contract of the 3 star older guy, I would take the older guy first and then try to find a 4 1/2 or 5 star prospect through trades or the draft. 3 star potential guys are usually bench players at their full potential. If your prospects are only 3 star potential guys, then your team will be weak at that spot. The ONLY thing a 3 star prospect is for is a utility infielder/outfielder. If they don't have excellent defensive abilities, I would just avoid the 3 star prospect all together.

Originally Posted by Disco Dog 13

Q2
I am drafting in these older players :

Jose Bautista
Manny Ramirez
David Ross
Scott Rolen
Darren Oliver
Takashi Saito
Scott Linebrink
Rafael Betancourt

The "selling" team advises that they'll trade immediately
My coach (or whoever advises) says that I should try to get a Prospect, but more often than not when I add one of their Prospects to the trade it gets rejected
So I end up taking the trade which then affect the moral of some of the players (Transaction Morale)

This seems to be angering existing players when I check their morale for Transactions

HELP ?!?!?!?!

Don't ever trade for older players. Only trade for GOOD prospects & young starters. Don't worry about morale as much if you find a prospect you think will be a good starter for 5+ seasons.

[Disco Dog 13]

Cheers Dude

Will try this once update has kicked in

[TheRaven]

Originally Posted by magicspeedo

Depending on the contract of the 3 star older guy, I would take the older guy first and then try to find a 4 1/2 or 5 star prospect through trades or the draft. 3 star potential guys are usually bench players at their full potential. If your prospects are only 3 star potential guys, then your team will be weak at that spot. The ONLY thing a 3 star prospect is for is a utility infielder/outfielder. If they don't have excellent defensive abilities, I would just avoid the 3 star prospect all together.

Huh, must be a difference between iOOTP and OOTP. A 3 star prospect that realizes his full potential is a pretty solid starter in my OOTP leagues in the past. I am only 20 games into my first season on iOOTP, so I have no experience with how prospects develop yet.

[magicspeedo]

Originally Posted by TheRaven

Huh, must be a difference between iOOTP and OOTP. A 3 star prospect that realizes his full potential is a pretty solid starter in my OOTP leagues in the past. I am only 20 games into my first season on iOOTP, so I have no experience with how prospects develop yet.

The way the drafts work, you can find a ton of 5 star potential talent for your bullpen. These guys can develop into dominant closers. Once they do, you can package them up with a few decent prospects to get that ONE all star prospect. Given that you can get 2 or 3 good bullpen guys a season in the draft, that means you can usually get 1 or 2 four and a half star and up prospects a season via trades. It may take a couple of years, but once you get the bullpen system working, you can have a stream of 4 1/2 star talent in your minor leagues for your position players.

I always try to tank the first season of the game because you will get a good pick in the first TWO drafts if you do this. The first years draft is based on your teams standing for the first year at the point of the draft. Following years are based off of the previous years standings. So, with this in mind, you can get a ton of good prospects in the first two years drafts by doing poorly your first season. After that, stick with your prospects and let them develop. You will be winning multiple world series in years 4-8 of the game.

[magicspeedo]

Oh and when looking for prospects, make sure they can play defense. Even if you play with a DH, build your defense first. Get a ton of ground ball pitchers in your bullpen. And make sure everyone can run the bases. Once you have a solid infield, then start trying to improve your power hitting.

[chort]

Originally Posted by magicspeedo

The way the drafts work, you can find a ton of 5 star potential talent for your bullpen. These guys can develop into dominant closers. Once they do, you can package them up with a few decent prospects to get that ONE all star prospect. Given that you can get 2 or 3 good bullpen guys a season in the draft, that means you can usually get 1 or 2 four and a half star and up prospects a season via trades. It may take a couple of years, but once you get the bullpen system working, you can have a stream of 4 1/2 star talent in your minor leagues for your position players.

This is really key.

It's also possible to find some serviceable pitchers as free agents (in the first season) and package them with a prospect or two for a prospect with excellent potential. I found that it's more important to find a team who is weak in the positions that you have players you can trade. Some teams will take really dubious trades if they have weaknesses in the positions you're offering.

[TheRaven]

Originally Posted by magicspeedo

The way the drafts work, you can find a ton of 5 star potential talent for your bullpen. These guys can develop into dominant closers. Once they do, you can package them up with a few decent prospects to get that ONE all star prospect. Given that you can get 2 or 3 good bullpen guys a season in the draft, that means you can usually get 1 or 2 four and a half star and up prospects a season via trades. It may take a couple of years, but once you get the bullpen system working, you can have a stream of 4 1/2 star talent in your minor leagues for your position players.

I always try to tank the first season of the game because you will get a good pick in the first TWO drafts if you do this. The first years draft is based on your teams standing for the first year at the point of the draft. Following years are based off of the previous years standings. So, with this in mind, you can get a ton of good prospects in the first two years drafts by doing poorly your first season. After that, stick with your prospects and let them develop. You will be winning multiple world series in years 4-8 of the game.

Ah, from that perspective, I see what you mean. That is a different style of play than I use.

[magicspeedo]

Originally Posted by TheRaven

Ah, from that perspective, I see what you mean. That is a different style of play than I use.

Yeah, so far I have been able to turn around every team I have started with with this strategy. Sometimes it takes a while, sometimes it happens quickly. It's all about building a deep defensive team and having a deep bullpen. If you think about it, you only need 1 or 2 power hitters in your line up. It's worth sacrificing a little bit of power for a guy who can play excellent defense and run the bases. With that you can put your strategy on ultra agressive base running and stealing. If you have a line up of guys with at least 15/20 on both base running/speed/stealing as well as contact/avoid K then your team will be extremely consistent. Power hitters are too inconsistent for my taste. That's why you only really need one guy who has +15 in power in your starting line up.

[omgimasian]

Originally Posted by TheRaven

Huh, must be a difference between iOOTP and OOTP. A 3 star prospect that realizes his full potential is a pretty solid starter in my OOTP leagues in the past. I am only 20 games into my first season on iOOTP, so I have no experience with how prospects develop yet.

eh.. i'm iffy on this game engine, verlander with 4.5 stars has gone successive years with ERAs over 5, billingsly had two seasons with 7.11 and 6.22, and some highly rated players from other teams have extremely high ERAs as well, 5 and 4 star relievers sometimes never have an ERA of under 4...