ML Roster thread

[acclaim99]

Dunno if it was posted, but, Bryce Harper should have ratings at catcher too.. last time I checked he was only OF.

[udbacker58]

Originally Posted by acclaim99

Dunno if it was posted, but, Bryce Harper should have ratings at catcher too.. last time I checked he was only OF.

I would bet if you give him a rating at catcher, the game will use him there, even if it is a poor rating. He is NOT going to be used as a catcher in the majors and my guess is, not giving him a rating there is to keep the AI from playing him at catcher.

[CubbyFan23]

Originally Posted by udbacker58

I would bet if you give him a rating at catcher, the game will use him there, even if it is a poor rating. He is NOT going to be used as a catcher in the majors and my guess is, not giving him a rating there is to keep the AI from playing him at catcher.

Bingo. The way around this, is usually to give him catching ratings but no experience at catcher. This way you could hypothetically give him experience there and eventually earn him a rating, but the computer would not use him there.

[Rhadamantis82]

Here are few errors when it comes to "eligibility" and players not being rated in a certain position in the game:

Chris Coghlan
He is a 3rd baseman in the game with very good LF ratings but in real life he plays CF and he has played 2B so the ratings should be there.

Aaron Crow
He is not a starting pitcher, he should be a MR.

Alex Gordon
I know he plays in the outfield now, but for sure i think he deserves to be rated at 3rd base too given that he has played all the games there in the past.

Michael Cuddyer
Where are the ratings at 2B and 3B?

Pablo Sandoval
He is listed as a 3B but only has rating at first base. He actually made some impressive play at the hot corner this year so he should be rated there. Plus, he has played at catcher in his rookie year too so maybe he should be given a low rating there too.

Albert Pujols
He has played at third in the past but no rating there...that is a must add.

Allen Craig
LaRussa played him at 2B in few spring trainings games and he played there during the season too although he wasn't that good. Still, it is a chance the OOTP managers should have.

Michael Young
Another versatile player who is totally missing ratings at 2B and at SS (i know there are Kinsler and Andrus there but in real life he could play there if needed)

Aubrey Huff
Played 3B early in his career, should have some rating there too.

Michael Morse
Why does he have ratings everywhere? Ok for the outfield and of course for the first base, why are there ratings at the other infield positions too?


For sure there are many more issues in regards to the positions that the player should be rated in and hopefully i'll be able to post them soon. Meanwhile, just for information, please take a look also at the batting ratings because most of them are extremely bad (just few examples...Logan Morrison's ratings are poor while everyone knew he had a great chance to be a stud for the Marlins, Ryan Braun's ratings are terrible compared to the player he is, Prince Fielder's HR power is 14 out of 20 and i can't imagine why, Eric Hosmer potential should be much higher since he was one of the best prospects in the nation).

Hope that helped the team fixing those things.

[Hoosiergator22]

Ok I looked over a Top 100 prospects and here are a list of player I think need better evaluations and ratings

Hellickson TB
Hosmer KC
Brown Phil
Trout LAA
Lawrie Tor
Myers KC
Moore TB
Lamb KC
Duffy KC
Jackson ChiC
Belt SF
White Clev
Gibson Min
Espinosa Wash
Dwyer KC
Green Oak
Lyles Hous
Colome TB
Odorizzi Mil not on game
Perez Tex
Wimmers Min
Alonso Cinn
Kipnis Clev
Stewart Tor
Gordon LAD
McGuire Tor
Archer ChiC not on game
Norris Wash
Colon KC not on game
Sano Min
Sanchez NYY
Walden LAA
Hamilton Cin
Revere Min
Singleton Phi
Parker Ari
Betances NYY
Sanchez Pit
Robinson LAD
Decker SD
Segura LAA
Profar Tex
Hendricks Min not in game
Sands LAD
Erlin Tex
Brackman NYY
Martinez-Mesa LAA

Also Carlos Gonzalez is way off on ratings and evaluation. Porticello seems low too. I will continue to look at other players and keep listing. Thanks for any help.

[Rhadamantis82]

I'll also post here few players whose ratings i think should be adjusted. To prove my point i started a new game unemployed and simmed an entire season three times so below you'll find the results. I'll start with Ryan Braun, then i'll soon check the so-called stars and one after one i'll post something if i see anything weird.

Ryan Braun
In real life he is one of the most feared hitters in the game and one of the speed/power combo guys, in the game he just seems to be an average hitter:

Season 1 AVG .288 R 107 HR 32 RBI 98 SB 7 BB 57 K 133
Season 2 AVG .281 R 111 HR 27 RBI 96 SB 6 BB 62 K 132
Season 3 AVG .291 R 103 HR 28 RBI 92 SB 10 BB 52 K 137 *

* Was injured for six weeks so the numbers are a projections of his performance in 120 games.

Braun has hit over .300 in both the past two seasons...not once in my three simulations. He has never been K'd more than 129 times in a season while in all those sims he exceeds that number. He has never stolen less than 14 bases and actually he once reached 20 while he stole 7, 6 and 10 in those sims...not realistic, even if his speed ratings don't look that bad.

[udbacker58]

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Chris Coghlan
He is a 3rd baseman in the game with very good LF ratings but in real life he plays CF and he has played 2B so the ratings should be there.

My guess is that the 3B eligibility is left over from the minors, where he split time at 3rd and 2nd. He probably should only have experience at 2nd, left, and center. 2011 is the first time in his pro career that he has been used in center field according to Baseball Reference, so the experience should be just enough that OOTP uses him at CF (after giving him 150 exp in CF the AI puts him in CF)

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Aaron Crow
He is not a starting pitcher, he should be a MR.

Crow is a borderline starter in OOTP, which is what he is in real life. He was a starter in the minors and only moved to the bullpen because the Royals thought that would give him a better chance at immediate success, there is nothing saying they won't move him back to the rotation down the road. The AI realizes that a pitcher has more value in the rotation if he has the ability to start there, the only way to force the AI to put him in the bullpen would be to take away his ability to start (see Joakim Soria, Neftali Feliz, and Aroldis Chapman; the only reason Soria and Feliz are in the bullpen is because their stamina was hacked to force the AI to play them there).

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Alex Gordon
I know he plays in the outfield now, but for sure i think he deserves to be rated at 3rd base too given that he has played all the games there in the past.

Again, give him full experience at 3B because he played there for a lot of his career and the AI uses him at 3B. He was a bad defensive 3B and the Royals moved him to LF because they thought the poor results in the field were affecting his bat, he's now having a career year in left and I wouldn't expect to see them move him back. I do agree that he should have the infield ratings to play 3B (and 1B) and at least a little experience (enough that the AI won't use him at 3rd). If you make him (on the 200 scale) 120/90/110/50 with 100 experience, he's a far below average 3B that won't be used there by the AI (at least in KC right now); but he does have the ability to switch there in case of injury or trade.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Michael Cuddyer
Where are the ratings at 2B and 3B?

Cuddyer has played only 26 games at 2B in the last 7 years, 13 of those have been this year and he has been Awful (notice, with a capital A ). Before this year, he'd played 13 games at 2nd in 6 years, 2 in the last 5. He doesn't deserve experience there. Same with 3B, before 2011 he hadn't played the hot corner since 2005. I could see giving him below average infield ratings for a 3B (say 70/90/110/40), but not giving him experience there. That would allow a human GM to move him there.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Pablo Sandoval
He is listed as a 3B but only has rating at first base. He actually made some impressive play at the hot corner this year so he should be rated there. Plus, he has played at catcher in his rookie year too so maybe he should be given a low rating there too.

In the last public update, I see a rating at 3B for Sandoval (50/100). That seems fine to me. As for catcher, just as you can't give Harper a rating at catcher, you can't give Sandoval one there either. The AI realizes that a good hitter at catcher is more valuable that a good hitter anywhere else, and it will use that player at catcher any chance it gets. Sandoval's catching days are far behind him, there is no reason to give him a rating there that could be exploited or will cause problems with the AI.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Albert Pujols
He has played at third in the past but no rating there...that is a must add.

The last time Pujols played 3rd was NINE years ago. LaRussa is a dope for playing him there this year. His UZR over a full season back in 2002 at 3rd would have been 7 runs below average, and that was when he was in his early 20s. He's slower and probably has a weaker arm now.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Allen Craig
LaRussa played him at 2B in few spring trainings games and he played there during the season too although he wasn't that good. Still, it is a chance the OOTP managers should have.

They can, and he'll be a hack just like he was in real life. He has the ratings to be a 3B, you can use him at 2B. Just because a player doesn't have a rating somewhere doesn't mean you can't play him there. He averaged 2 outs a game at 2B IRL and his UZR/150 is -19.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Michael Young
Another versatile player who is totally missing ratings at 2B and at SS (i know there are Kinsler and Andrus there but in real life he could play there if needed)

He probably should be given a rating at 2B because when he was talked about in trades, it seemed teams interested were ones that wanted to play him at 2B. SS is another story, nobody is going to use him there anymore and he just isn't viewed as a shortstop anymore. It would be like giving Paul Konerko a rating at 3B or Chipper a rating in LF because they once played there; they aren't viewed as a 3B or LF in any way anymore and won't be playing there.

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Aubrey Huff
Played 3B early in his career, should have some rating there too.

Same thing here, he hasn't played 3rd regularly in 5 years, he shouldn't have a rating at 3B. He does have a decent arm and error, so he could be played at 3B, and he would be as bad as he was back then. The Rays used him at 3B because they had nowhere else to play him (Tino Martinez at 1B, Jose Cruz in RF, and Carl Crawford in LF) and his range was just awful (like it is now in OOTP).

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

Michael Morse
Why does he have ratings everywhere? Ok for the outfield and of course for the first base, why are there ratings at the other infield positions too?

I agree, he should only have ratings for left, right, and first. Also think he's a little underrated offensively in OOTP. Projections all say he would be a 30 HR player if he played every day, and they say .275/.335/.475 triple slash. If he had 115 BABIP, 81 avoidK, 108 Gap, 127 power, and 82 eye, the neutral stats would be 25 HR with .275/.334/.471

[udbacker58]

Originally Posted by DDover

Carlos Lee started splitting time last year (and in Spring Training) between LF and 1B. He gets most starts when there is a lefty on the mound. He's got no rating at 1B in this roster set - and ratings of 1 across the board for his infield ratings.

The Astros are bad enough without making it harder!

He had only 17 starts at 1B last year, I don't see why the roster set should have had him with a rating at 1B. I do think that he should have the infield ratings to get a rating at 1B. Probably 50/70/50/20 on the 200 scale (that's about average for a 1B)

[ambill10]

Originally Posted by Rhadamantis82

I'll also post here few players whose ratings i think should be adjusted. To prove my point i started a new game unemployed and simmed an entire season three times so below you'll find the results. I'll start with Ryan Braun, then i'll soon check the so-called stars and one after one i'll post something if i see anything weird.

Ryan Braun
In real life he is one of the most feared hitters in the game and one of the speed/power combo guys, in the game he just seems to be an average hitter:

Season 1 AVG .288 R 107 HR 32 RBI 98 SB 7 BB 57 K 133
Season 2 AVG .281 R 111 HR 27 RBI 96 SB 6 BB 62 K 132
Season 3 AVG .291 R 103 HR 28 RBI 92 SB 10 BB 52 K 137 *

* Was injured for six weeks so the numbers are a projections of his performance in 120 games.

Braun has hit over .300 in both the past two seasons...not once in my three simulations. He has never been K'd more than 129 times in a season while in all those sims he exceeds that number. He has never stolen less than 14 bases and actually he once reached 20 while he stole 7, 6 and 10 in those sims...not realistic, even if his speed ratings don't look that bad.

Here are three major projections for Braun entering 2011...

Bill James: .310 AVG, 108 R, 33 HR, 114 RBI, 15 SB, 56 BB, 126 K
Marcel: .297 AVG, 88 R, 25 HR, 91 RBI, 14 SB, 47 BB, 117 K
ZiPS: .295 AVG, 98 R, 31 HR, 108 RBI, 18 SB, 52 BB, 132 K

Those are probably the three most respected projections systems in the public sphere and they are pretty similar to what your three simulations generated. There is always going to be some variation in each simulation, but Braun's numbers don't seem drastically wrong.

If you are a Braun fan and think he is better than the common projection systems you can always bump up his ratings 5-10% and make him more in line with your expectations, that's the beauty of this game!

[gysgtam]

Originally Posted by tejdog1

Juan Urbina for the Mets shouldn't be in the majors, he should be in Kingsport

As a fellow mets fan we can't be too picky on every met that "should" still be in Kingsport this season

[Holy Toledo!]

I know this is a bad post, A's pitching could be improved. They're pretty bad on here. Gio Gonzalez appears to be the only good starter on the team.

In real life, the A's finished first in team ERA last year and are in first so far this year:
2011 MLB Team Pitching Stats - Major League Baseball - ESPN

[mezza]

Some of this has been picked up in this thread - but some of it hasnt. Appreciate the work that has gone into the rosters - which is essentially also an arbitray exercise. For what its worth (Werth), here is my 2 cents on the Nats roster that need improvement.

As noted - Perez is NOT earning $12m from the Nats (its minor leage deal and was recently activated to Hagerstown). I would like to see the Mets have their budget reduced by $12m given they are eating this contract. As it stands it puts the Nats at a huge disadvantage in 2011.

• Espinosa and Morse are vasty underrated in the game (and have been since OOTP 11 IMHO). Both need much bigger power jumps - Espi has 13HR and Morse 14HR already this season.
• Ramos should also need an improvement - despite the 245Avg/6HR he has light tower power and is rated one of the better up and coming backstops in the league.
• Ankiel is much worse - in the game he projects to a 270/20HR player and it just looks like that wont work.
• Never understood why Marquis, Lannan and Livo get half star ratings despite pumping out ERAs under 4 and are usually quite effective (like they are in real life). I blame fangraphs...
• Jordan Zimmermann is under rarted - 2.89ERA. 67K 19 BB does not a 3 star pitcher make. Also he has just come back from Tommy John - and playing 3 months into the game he went out again. For starters i havent seen a lot of guys in the modern era get TJ within 6 months of coming back from it - and second, he isnt a fragile pitcher (where is the evidence that he is?). Apart from TJ (which everyone gets these days - well, at the Nats they do) he hasnt missed many starts.
• Storen and Clippared are vastly underrated. That said, relievers are really hit and miss.
• The no trade clauses are picked up above.
• Riggleman had a one year deal - not a 4 year one as per the game

I also dont think there is any evidence (recently) that Lerner is a "penny pincher". When you pay out the 2 largest contracts for draft signings (Stras + Harper) plus you go after Grienke and offer a ridiculous contract to Werth... I think we can put the penny pinching days of the Nats behind us. They arent in the same category as the Pirates/Royals, etc.

At a minor league level - there also needs to be some work done and im not much the expert on the minors - guys like Brad Peacock are fairly underdone... the guy has dead set murdered AA ball (2.28 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 6.33 K/BB). He'll be likely be a September call up for the big leagues.

Sickels is a good source to pickup a few of these guys (as ive found the existing Nats minors nearly all never work out in the game...and thats too low a success rate.)
Washington Nationals Top 20 Prospects for 2011 - Minor League Ball

Thanks for all the work on this roster and game, play it everyday and much loved.

[southside_hitmen]

Didn't know how in-depth you wanted us to go here, so I looked at everything. Feel free to use as much or little of it as you like. Thanks for the updates!

Jerry Reinsdorf: Born February 25, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York
Jake Peavy: Height from 6'0" to 6'1" - 2013 Year should be a team option of $22,000,000 with a buyout of $4,000,000 - Injury time is far too long. Started season on 15 day DL retroactive to March 22nd - Link to March 30, 2011 article explaining injury: White Sox starting pitcher Jake Peavy will start season on DL | whitesox.com: News - Started 1st MLB game on May 11th
Brian Bruney: Uniform # from 35 to 40 - 2011 Contract is a minor league deal - Was not called up until May 30th, so should not be on opening day MLB roster - Velocity from 94-96 to 93-95 (Last 3 years: 94.6, 92.8, 93.5) - Needs a changeup added via FanGraphs (Thrown 9.9% of the time last year via FanGraphs)
Mark Buehrle: Weight from 235 to 230 - Salary bonus of $15,000 for All-Star game selection (Also has a $25k bonus for Gold Glove selection, but not currently available in game)
Alex Rios: Weight from 215 to 210 - Salary in Year 1 from $414,000 to $795,000 - Last year of Contract is a 13,500,000 team option with a buyout of $1,000,000
Adam Dunn: Height from 6'5" to 6'6" - Position from 1B to DH
Paul Konerko: Weight from 215 to 220 - Salary in Year #3 from $13,000,000 to $13,500,000
Edwin Jackson: Weight from 210 to 205 - Does not throw a circle change, instead uses a slider (thrown 25.2% of the time over career)
Juan Pierre: Uniform # from 9 to 1 - Height from 6'0" to 5'11" - Weight from 180 to 175
John Danks: Height from 6'0" to 6'1" - Weight from 205 to 215
Carlos Quentin: Height from 6'0" to 6'2" - Weight from 230 to 235
Gavin Floyd: Height from 6'5" to 6'6" - Weight from 230 to 240 - Salary in Y5 should be a club option for $9,500,000 - $100,000 bonus for Best Pitcher - $15,000 bonus for All-Star selection
Mark Teahan: Weight from 210 to 230
Jesse Crain: Height from 6'0" to 6'1" - Also uses a changeup, should be lowest rated pitch
Matt Thorton: Height from 6'5" to 6'6" - Salary should be year 1 of 4 - Yr1: $3 million, Yr2: $5.5 million, Yr3: $5.5 million, Yr4: $6 million (team option with a $1 million buyout) - Velocity from 94-96 to 95-97 (Last 3 years velocity via FanGraphs: 95.7, 96.1, 95.7)
Alexei Ramirez: Born in Pinar del Rio (use city search) - Weight from 170 to 175 - Salary Year #6 is a team option of $10,000,000 with a buyout of $1,000,000
Dayan Viciedo: Started year on 15 day DL (retroactive to 3/22) with a fractured right thumb. Played 1st game in AAA on April 7th - Height from 5'10" to 5'11" - Weight from 240 to 230 - Award Bonuses: $100,000 for MVP, $15,000 for All Star Game
AJ Pierzynski: Weight from 230 to 225
Omar Vizquel: Needs to be on Opening Day Roster - Height from 5'8" to 5'9" - Weight from 165 to 180
Tony Pena: Height from 6'3" to 6'2" - Weight from 220 to 240 - Velocity from 94-96 to 93-95 (Last 3 years velocity via FanGraphs: 94.8, 94.1, 92.7) - ML/40-man Service time from 696 to 764
Will Ohman: Weight from 190 to 225
Ramon Castro: Weight from 260 to 240 - Y2 should be a Team Option of $1,200,000 with a $200,000 buyout - ML Service time from 1584 to 1700 - 40 Man time from 1629 to 1745
Philip Humber: Uniform # from 42 to 41 - Y1 salary from $414,000 to $500,000 - Splitter should be changed to Slider (Thrown 15.8% of time via FanGraphs) - ML Service from 413 to 172 - Needs to be on Opening Day Roster
Gordon Beckham: Weight from 185 to 190 - Salary from $445,000 to $485,000
Sergio Santos: Uniform # from 17 to 46 - Height from 6'3" to 6'2" - Weight from 225 to 230 - Need to add Changeup (Thrown 14.6% of time throughout career via FanGraphs) - ML/40-man service from 168 to 172 - Salary Y1 from $414,000 to $435,000 - Only player I will request a slight bump in ratings as Marcel and ZiPS have him at 3.97 and 3.71 ERA respectively, while OOTP has him at 5.14 - More info available here
Brent Lillibridge: Height from 5'10 to 5'11" - Salary in Y1 from $414,000 to $430,000 - ML/40-man service time from 258 to 287 - Needs to be on the opening day roster
Chris Sale: Height from 6'2" to 6'6" - Weight from 175 to 180 - Salary in Y1 from $414,000 to $425,000 - Velocity from 91-93 to 94-96 (Last 2 years via fangraphs (96.3, 94.7) - ML/40-man service time from 63 to 61 - Should be listed as a middle reliever, not a starter (49 MLB appearances, 0 starts)
Brent Morel: ML/40-man service time from 32 to 31
Lastings Milledge: Unifrom # from 85 to 5 - Salary in Y1 from $452,000 to $500,000
Michael Restovich: Started year in AAA, should not be on opening day roster - Also should not be on 40-man roster - Should have a Minor League contract

[Markus Heinsohn]

Rgarding contract options/bonuses, our online roster editor doesn't support this yet, so I fear these won't make it. I hope next year.

[Hoosiergator22]

Markus what about my player suggestions above? Can you help?

[ambill10]

Originally Posted by Hoosiergator22

Markus what about my player suggestions above? Can you help?

You are going to need to give them a lot more than just a list of names that you think should be different if you want anything to come of it. Look at the post a few after yours where the poster listed very specific things about White Sox players that needed to be changed.

No roster set will please everyone. Spending a little time to make it to your liking is part of the fun.

[Hoosiergator22]

I paid for a correct game why do I need to take all my valuable time to research every stat out there. I went through a list and gave them. It should be up to the creators to look and see if they warrant these. I think these prospects speak for them selves. If they can't be rated highly then any other minor leaguers should be rated 0. It's very obvious these prospects need to be given a high scouting and rating

[ambill10]

Originally Posted by Hoosiergator22

I paid for a correct game why do I need to take all my valuable time to research every stat out there. I went through a list and gave them. It should be up to the creators to look and see if they warrant these. I think these prospects speak for them selves. If they can't be rated highly then any other minor leaguers should be rated 0. It's very obvious these prospects need to be given a high scouting and rating

The statement "high scouting and rating" is a meaningless one. The program operates on numerical values that correspond to baseball production. I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic.

The creators will put out the best possible roster set they can, but there is always going to be imperfections due to the volume of players. Especially among minor league players who have little established track record and inconsistent levels of competition to rate their performance against. Be upset if you want to be, but this is by far the best baseball game on the market in terms of the roster they provide, so I'm not going to get mad about spending my time making some minor adjustments.

[Hoosiergator22]

Ok how can I change the ratings and scouting reports on my own. Please help

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Hoosiergator22

I paid for a correct game why do I need to take all my valuable time to research every stat out there. I went through a list and gave them. It should be up to the creators to look and see if they warrant these. I think these prospects speak for them selves. If they can't be rated highly then any other minor leaguers should be rated 0. It's very obvious these prospects need to be given a high scouting and rating

Have you played any seasons out yet? I think you might find some of these players are just fine at the current settings (and some may be a bit over-powered). In 2014 in my league, Eric Hosmer (one you mentioned) is by far the best hitter in baseball, with a 11.5 war rating, hit .359/49/158 in counting stats.