Controlling the Talent Level

[Matt Amick]

I have done a few sims, both to about 2020 (from current day), and I am wondering how you lower the talent level for the entire league? There is just a ridiculous amount of great players (I have scouting at 100%) in the league in 2020. I have seen a few big prospects like Taijuan Walker, Carlos Correa, Jurickson Profar, etc bust. But almost all of them turn out great. Im just wondering if there is a way to make it so there isnt multiple pages in the league of guys with 70+ power and stuff..

[Curve Ball Dave]

Adjust the player development modifiers down.

[Matt Amick]

Has there been any consensus or thread on the exact numbers? I've done some sims and it seems like bumping all of them down to .950 works okay.

[PSUColonel]

I would argue it depends on how many draft rounds you have.

[Matt Amick]

Regular MLB setup so all the minor leagues. I have a 35 round draft. Generate players for 40.

I have found the main problem. I can put the PCMs down and that solved the problem of having like 5 Bryce Harpers in 2017, but what it doesn't solve Im not sure how to change. The problem is that right now in real life, there are top tier players, then second tier players, then third tier, etc etc. I have done a few sims about 10 years into the future and what happens is I switched the PCMs so there were only a few top tier players, but the amount of second tier and third tier players is wayyyyyyyy too much.

Essentially, there are just way too many above average players. The only solution I can think of is having more busts out of prospects and more drop offs from players that are somewhat established...

Is there a way to control this??

[SirMichaelJordan]

Originally Posted by Matt Amick

Regular MLB setup so all the minor leagues. I have a 35 round draft. Generate players for 40.

I have found the main problem. I can put the PCMs down and that solved the problem of having like 5 Bryce Harpers in 2017, but what it doesn't solve Im not sure how to change. The problem is that right now in real life, there are top tier players, then second tier players, then third tier, etc etc. I have done a few sims about 10 years into the future and what happens is I switched the PCMs so there were only a few top tier players, but the amount of second tier and third tier players is wayyyyyyyy too much.

Essentially, there are just way too many above average players. The only solution I can think of is having more busts out of prospects and more drop offs from players that are somewhat established...

Is there a way to control this??

Are you using feeders?


-Juke

[nebradska]

Someone on the board has addressed this issue before. I forget who it was so I can't give credit where credit is due, but I at least want to let it know that this isn't my finding.

The problem is with how the game treats the talent curve. In game, it's a bell curve. In reality, the people who are good enough to play at the top of the professional leagues (really, the top people in any field) only represent the far right edge of the bell. This means that most players in the major leagues, while still amazing athletes compared to the general population, aren't good enough to put up outstanding numbers against the level of competition.

[rpriske]

Originally Posted by Matt Amick

Essentially, there are just way too many above average players.

Above average? Should be close to half yor players...

(just joshing, I know what you mean...)

[Matt Amick]

So is there no way of fixing this? Like maybe a way of just having for players fizzle out or something, but without it being super random? Idk, it seems as if im just gonna have to deal with it.

[PSUColonel]

Lowering the Player Creation Modifiers should lower the quality of talent in your league. My big question is this: What is the difference between minor league PCM's and major league PCM's? Do minor league PCMs' only get used once?...when a league is created?...or do they serve some other purpose?

[SirMichaelJordan]

Player Creation Modifiers

In order to understand the difference between Traditional OOTP and Sabermetric PCM's, try this:

Start a new game using the wizard for "Major American League."

Go to League Setup, Strategy tab. Click on Major American League. Notice how the Traditional OOTP PCM's are all 1.000? That's because this league is modeled on modern-day MLB standards. Note that the Sabermetric PCM's are also 1.000. We'll get back to those later.

Now click on each of the minor leagues while keeping the Strategy window open. Notice that there are no Traditional OOTP settings, only Sabermetric. Notice also that these Sabermetric numbers decrease as you go lower in the minor league levels. If you have a college or high school feeder league attached, these numbers are even lower.

Traditional OOTP PCM's are for major leagues (actually, any unaffiliated league, even a minor league, will have them) and are for adjusting the RELATIVE quality of certain aspects of ballplay among leagues. For example, if you were to make another league in the game above and set all the Traditional OOTP PCM's to .750, then the quality of play in this league would only be at 75% of the quality in the Fictional Baseball League. However, that is not the true purpose of Traditional OOTP PCM's.

Traditional OOTP PCM's cascade down through a league system, which is why you don't see them in affiliated minor leagues. As players are created, developed, and moved up within that league system, they will at all times be playing at a RELATIVE level of quality that compares to other leagues as determined by their respective Traditional OOTP PCM's. So if batting power is set to be dominant in the parent league compared to other major leagues, it will be dominant in their minor leagues compared to those of the others.

The effects of minor league [Sabermetric] PCM's are cumulative with major league [Traditional OOTP] PCM's, so that players created for a AAA league affiliated to a major league with [Traditional OOTP] PCM's of 0.5 across the board will be about half as good as players created for a AAA league affiliated to a major league with PCM's of 1.0 across the board, assuming that both AAA leagues have the same minor league [Sabermetric] PCM's.

However, it is important to realize that Traditional OOTP PCMs are there to create a different mix of talents than found in MLB. For example, if perhaps you wanted a league where there is an unusually large mix of speed, you could adjust the Traditional OOTP PCMs accordingly so that speed is a disproportionately large talent in a league. This trait then would flow down through the minor league system.

Stated another way, Traditional OOTP PCM's are for varying certain aspects of league play, such as having more powerful batters or faster runners. Minor league affiliates defer to their parent leagues in this regard. It's actually the Sabermetric PCM's that determine the quality of a league in terms of its players created, both in the beginning and ongoing.

That this is true is demonstrated with a look at the international leagues that come standard with the game. Every one of them have Traditional OOTP PCM's set at 1.000, while the Sabermetric PCM's vary by perceived differences in quality of the leagues, linked with the level of baseball quality in the nation selected. These are the determinants of playing quality, both in the initial creation of the league and in generating future players for the draft pool.

Here's a test: Run a Korean league with Sabermetric PCM's set for .84 for 5-10 years and look at the top players in the edit mode, particularly the stats projection in a MLB environment. Run the same league with Sabermetric PCM's set for 1.000 and see the differences. Bear in mind that the top players in both scenarios will be rated five stars, but their true ratings will be higher in the second test.

Another use for Sabermetric PCM's is for player development and evaluation. The game determines in a rather complex formula if a player is under/overmatched in a certain league, which influences development, and one of the things that the formula uses is the MLB equivalencies indicated by Sabermetric PCM's.

With that in mind, lower the Traditional PCM's from 1.000 on the given league if you dont want a bunch of players with 5* potential, or if you are generating a fictional roster then lower them if you dont want MLB talent in the league.