Do ratings matter?

[xXJayeDuBXx]

I'm still very new to this game as I am in the midst of my fourth season as the GM of Cincinnati but I am wondering about consistency and player ratings.

I'm using the 0-20 rating system with stars for overall, AI evaluation with 25/25/25/25 with ratings displayed relative to the Major League and 100% scouting.

So why is it that players with ratings that I am thinking are pretty good are doing poorly and those with mediocre ratings doing well? This is not for every player of course, but Cueto was terrible for two seasons and Chapman decided blown saves were a stat to lead in. That's just two examples.

I've also noticed that my team starts the season pretty hot and then by June decide they are allergic to scoring runs and winning ball games. That has happened three seasons in a row thus far.

So am I doing something wrong? I have set each player's strategy and override the team strategy. I'm just trying to find out why my teams are so inconsistent both pitching and batting.

Am I not putting players in the optimal batting order? Are player ratings just window dressing and I should focus on stats instead?

Any advice would be great because even though I am loving the game, it does get a bit frustrating.

[jpeters1734]

ratings definitely matter. if you keep losing games that you should win it could be a number of things but i would guess strategy. Try playing out some games and see if you are still losing.

[SteveP]

Ratings are pretty much the only thing that matters. They determine what is going to happen at every moment in a game that your teams plays.

Ratings represent the midpoint of a probability (bell shaped) curve. Anything can happen within that curve. Luck comes into it.

If you have scouting on, the ratings you see are not the same as the ratings that the game is using. So you get a little of the same uncertainty that real life teams face. In real life, a big contract bust or a small contract prodigy are taken as facts of life. You should expect the same in your league.

The choice you make on ratings display (stars or whatever) have no bearing on what happens.

The AI evaluation settings (your 25-25-25-25) doesn't have any bearing on what you see, since the ratings you see are provided by your scout. What those settings do is guide how the AI evaluates players on AI run teams or that the AI might acquire for AI run teams. Most likely you would want the AI to weight the different items about the same as you do, but that's just my opinion.

Everything you have been experiencing has happened to real life teams over a similar period of time.

Just some thoughts.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by xXJayeDuBXx

I'm still very new to this game as I am in the midst of my fourth season as the GM of Cincinnati but I am wondering about consistency and player ratings.

I'm using the 0-20 rating system with stars for overall, AI evaluation with 25/25/25/25 with ratings displayed relative to the Major League and 100% scouting.

So why is it that players with ratings that I am thinking are pretty good are doing poorly and those with mediocre ratings doing well? This is not for every player of course, but Cueto was terrible for two seasons and Chapman decided blown saves were a stat to lead in. That's just two examples.

I've also noticed that my team starts the season pretty hot and then by June decide they are allergic to scoring runs and winning ball games. That has happened three seasons in a row thus far.

So am I doing something wrong? I have set each player's strategy and override the team strategy. I'm just trying to find out why my teams are so inconsistent both pitching and batting.

Am I not putting players in the optimal batting order? Are player ratings just window dressing and I should focus on stats instead?

Any advice would be great because even though I am loving the game, it does get a bit frustrating.

If you set player strategy to extremes (did you?) the results may not be as good as expected. In other words trying to steal every time on base, over aggressive baserunning or too many hit and runs, or bunts will not work if the base/out state doesn't call for it. When you override with every player conflict with team strategy is inevitable and may result in unnecessary outs and/or plays not being made. Essentially you have no team strategy. Here is an example. If a slow runner is on second in a game situation that calls for aggressive running he will never score because of your override. In a proper strategic setting even a slow runner can score from second if the team settings call for it and the ball is hit deeply enough.

Just my opinion, only exceptionally talented players should be on the override. Even then be careful with the settings.

Your AI evaluation settings may be a little off. Essentially you have 50% of the evaluation based on last year and 2 years ago stats. You may have declining players ranked highly because of that. I'd consider something like 30-35-25-10 or 35-35-20-10. If you want ratings to matter more you should consider 40-30-20-10. Remember that's evaluation not expected results.

Oops I didn't notice you have scouting on. I don't know what effect that has on AI eval.

[xXJayeDuBXx]

Great stuff and I appreciate the comments. I guess my problem is that I have certain expectations of how the ratings should affect a players stats.

I have a second game going with the Padres and I know I should be happy that they are hovering around .500 given the roster, but it drives me crazy that Chase Headley had 1 hr and .220 avg while playing for the Padres but is hitting around .400 with 4 hrs since I traded him.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by xXJayeDuBXx

Great stuff and I appreciate the comments. I guess my problem is that I have certain expectations of how the ratings should affect a players stats.

I have a second game going with the Padres and I know I should be happy that they are hovering around .500 given the roster, but it drives me crazy that Chase Headley had 1 hr and .220 avg while playing for the Padres but is hitting around .400 with 4 hrs since I traded him.

Like real life eh? Except for the average.

[xXJayeDuBXx]

Originally Posted by RchW

Like real life eh? Except for the average.

Lol, I guess so. Must mean the game is working at intended!

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by xXJayeDuBXx

I'm still very new to this game as I am in the midst of my fourth season as the GM of Cincinnati but I am wondering about consistency and player ratings.

I'm using the 0-20 rating system with stars for overall, AI evaluation with 25/25/25/25 with ratings displayed relative to the Major League and 100% scouting.

So why is it that players with ratings that I am thinking are pretty good are doing poorly and those with mediocre ratings doing well? This is not for every player of course, but Cueto was terrible for two seasons and Chapman decided blown saves were a stat to lead in. That's just two examples.

I've also noticed that my team starts the season pretty hot and then by June decide they are allergic to scoring runs and winning ball games. That has happened three seasons in a row thus far.

So am I doing something wrong? I have set each player's strategy and override the team strategy. I'm just trying to find out why my teams are so inconsistent both pitching and batting.

Am I not putting players in the optimal batting order? Are player ratings just window dressing and I should focus on stats instead?

Any advice would be great because even though I am loving the game, it does get a bit frustrating.

ratings relative to "X" league does not work properly, and displays the actual overall ratings. I would NOT use this feature.

[xXJayeDuBXx]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

ratings relative to "X" league does not work properly, and displays the actual overall ratings. I would NOT use this feature.

Really? Care to elaborate?