Key development factors - budget vs. coaches

bonhoffer · 03-23-2021, 12:31 PM

I realize 22 will include changes to the coaching system but wondering if people have insights into what actually has bigger impact on development in previous versions - increasing development budget or coaching? Micromanaging coaching in the minors in 21 and below can be a pain. Development has always seemed like a black box - the real world uncertainty is part of the game's charm and appeal - but it would nice to know that actually moves the dial the most.

Zooerp · 03-23-2021, 12:39 PM

I agree that it can be tedious to manage minor league coaching to the point where I usually turn coaches off altogether. I'm going in with an open mind this year because as we're seeing in the real world, there's definitely a tangible difference in player development quality and style across the league. This past World Series is the perfect example. Big budget and small budget teams can differentiate themselves with player development. Because of that I like that it's going beyond just pumping money into the player development budget, but I'm still curious of how important it will remain.

So while I think it goes much deeper than just coaches in real life (analytics departments, video analysis, filtering info down to coaches), this is OOTP's attempt to capture that aspect of modern baseball and I'm excited to give it a shot.

Maurice Thorez · 03-23-2021, 02:18 PM

As far as I know what drives player development in OOTP is a bit like an unopened black box right now. We have know idea how things like the best coaches versus the worst, or no coaches, change player development. Nor do we know the difference between max versus minimum player development budgets or the extent that player personality in influencing things. All we know is that they are supposed to influence development.

In a way, I do not mind this opaqueness as it feels like this was a design choice by the developers and it mirrors reality quite well from my perspective. I have been following prospects for nearly two decades and while we know there are better/worse things to do and better/worse run systems, it is still very hard to say why individual very talented prospects fail. Some of the most consistently deep farms systems in the MLB, like the Rays, are that way because they have managed to continually pickpocket teams in trades for prospects they are undervaluing, rather than from evading the up and down years in internal player development. The minimal direct ability to "click this button and start improving prospect A" reflects reality to.

That all said, I am surprised that someone in OOTP has not succeeded in finding what the parametres for player development are by analysing the game files. Not that I would want to know. With a game like OOTP I would rather fumble around and try use my resources to do as many right things as possible than streamline to the most optimal method right away.

03-23-2021, 12:31 PM	#1
bonhoffer Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 16	Key development factors - budget vs. coaches I realize 22 will include changes to the coaching system but wondering if people have insights into what actually has bigger impact on development in previous versions - increasing development budget or coaching? Micromanaging coaching in the minors in 21 and below can be a pain. Development has always seemed like a black box - the real world uncertainty is part of the game's charm and appeal - but it would nice to know that actually moves the dial the most.

03-23-2021, 12:39 PM	#2
Zooerp Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 37	I agree that it can be tedious to manage minor league coaching to the point where I usually turn coaches off altogether. I'm going in with an open mind this year because as we're seeing in the real world, there's definitely a tangible difference in player development quality and style across the league. This past World Series is the perfect example. Big budget and small budget teams can differentiate themselves with player development. Because of that I like that it's going beyond just pumping money into the player development budget, but I'm still curious of how important it will remain. So while I think it goes much deeper than just coaches in real life (analytics departments, video analysis, filtering info down to coaches), this is OOTP's attempt to capture that aspect of modern baseball and I'm excited to give it a shot.

03-23-2021, 02:18 PM	#3
Maurice Thorez Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 25	As far as I know what drives player development in OOTP is a bit like an unopened black box right now. We have know idea how things like the best coaches versus the worst, or no coaches, change player development. Nor do we know the difference between max versus minimum player development budgets or the extent that player personality in influencing things. All we know is that they are supposed to influence development. In a way, I do not mind this opaqueness as it feels like this was a design choice by the developers and it mirrors reality quite well from my perspective. I have been following prospects for nearly two decades and while we know there are better/worse things to do and better/worse run systems, it is still very hard to say why individual very talented prospects fail. Some of the most consistently deep farms systems in the MLB, like the Rays, are that way because they have managed to continually pickpocket teams in trades for prospects they are undervaluing, rather than from evading the up and down years in internal player development. The minimal direct ability to "click this button and start improving prospect A" reflects reality to. That all said, I am surprised that someone in OOTP has not succeeded in finding what the parametres for player development are by analysing the game files. Not that I would want to know. With a game like OOTP I would rather fumble around and try use my resources to do as many right things as possible than streamline to the most optimal method right away.