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Old 04-25-2014, 12:35 PM   #1
majesty95
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Tricks to Being a Sim Contender

I've always been a simmer vs an actual game player. I like being the GM and watching my decisions unfold through the sim engine. Problem is I've never figured out how to win that way. So I figured it's time to ask for help.

On 15 I took over my hometown Twins. I didn't make many moves other than to clear cap space late in year 1 and my guys went 60-102.

Year 2 I signed Francisco Liriano and another SP who flopped. I also traded for Brian Wilson who had resurrected his career. I signed Paul Konerko and Johnny Gomes but neither had a big impact but we improved to 73-89.

I tried to build off of that by trading for two more high level SP (can't remember names at the moment) and supplemented with Craig Gentry and full seasons from Buxton and Sano. We went 82-80.

I figured I was on the right track. My bullpen had ranked 4th and, although my SP underperformed, we were 6th or 7th in runs allowed. We also led the league in AVG and were and 2nd in OBP yet scored the end fewest run and hit the end fewest home runs. I tried to solve my scoring problems by adding a C and DH who both had hit ~25 HR the previous 2 seasons.

Unfortunately we regressed as my SP was awful and most of my guys wouldn't hit. I was fired after starting 20-31 in season 4.

During S2 I had fired Gardenhire and Steinbach (my bench coach) and replaced them with Andy Allanson and Ryne Sandberg. I fired my pitching coach and got Bob McClure who retired after 1 year and replaced him with the top PC on the market. I replaced my HC at the same time and he was excellent at teaching hitting (as was McClure at teaching pitching).

Nothing seemed to make a marked difference. Joe Mauer hit .279, .286 and .297. Nobody hit with much power (17 and 21 HR led the team in seasons 2 and 3). I tried to go moneyball and get high OBP hitters but none really panned out. I got far above avg SPs (WAR of 3-6) but they all mostly sucked when they got to MN.

So what are some keys to optimizing teams in which all games are simmed? I thought I had a decent idea but turns out I didn't :'(
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Old 04-25-2014, 12:40 PM   #2
BIG17EASY
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The best advice I can give is to build a strong bullpen. The AI's bullpen management can be suspect at time, so if you have a strong bullpen, you'll lessen the chance of the AI using a poor pitcher at the wrong time.

A lot also depends on how you handle your franchise. I set all my lineups for each game in the 7-day lineups screen, but if you leave the lineup setting to the AI, that can affect things.
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Old 04-25-2014, 12:48 PM   #3
majesty95
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I did have a top 5 bullpen in seasons 2 and 3 and adjust my team strategies which helped until the S4 meltdown. I left Lineups and pitching staffs to the manager
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Old 04-25-2014, 12:52 PM   #4
gRaider2001
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I also like to just play as GM and sim my games. I usually sim out a month at a time. What I find that helps me to be successful is that I strive to have the best pitching staff in the league. It is easier to find hitters, but not good pitching.

I also am always trying to upgrade at every position and try not to get to attach to any one player on my team.
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Old 04-25-2014, 12:54 PM   #5
majesty95
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I thought that was the route I was taking but nothing quite panned out like I had hoped
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Old 04-25-2014, 12:54 PM   #6
NateAndStuff
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How did your drafts go in your first few seasons? Your first round picks working out?

My favorite team-building method is definitely pitching/defense first. I don't think I've ever won a championship without having a top-ten defense.
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Old 04-25-2014, 01:05 PM   #7
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You need to be constantly overhauling your roster - trading your aging players for younger, cheaper options.
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Old 04-25-2014, 01:27 PM   #8
majesty95
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My first draft was good. Got what amounted to the 7th best overall prospect in minors at #5 with a few other decent pieces. The second and 3rd drafts had far less talent so didn't get ant stars. None of them had even reached AAA when I it canned
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Old 04-25-2014, 03:23 PM   #9
gRaider2001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NateAndStuff View Post
How did your drafts go in your first few seasons? Your first round picks working out?

My favorite team-building method is definitely pitching/defense first. I don't think I've ever won a championship without having a top-ten defense.
This is soooo true. I alway focus on pitching in defense. I want a really good defensive catcher, 2B, 3B, and CF.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...bad-teams.html

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...m-rebuild.html

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...uild-team.html

Last edited by gRaider2001; 04-25-2014 at 03:37 PM. Reason: Grammer
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Old 04-25-2014, 03:33 PM   #10
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This is soooo true. I alway focus on pitching in defense. I want a really good defensive, catcher, 2B, 3B, and CF.
Ditto. Especially for simming. The AI can screw up the batting order, start some of the wrong players, be tactically stupid ... but its harder to screw up great defense.
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Old 04-25-2014, 03:39 PM   #11
gRaider2001
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Ditto. Especially for simming. The AI can screw up the batting order, start some of the wrong players, be tactically stupid ... but its harder to screw up great defense.
I agree with you. Do you use the force start at position option under strategy? This helps to make sure that the AI manager keeps your players in the position that you got them on the team to play. It is really the only thing I will override the AI manager on when I play.
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Old 04-25-2014, 04:28 PM   #12
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A good plan does not necessarily lead to a good outcome.
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Old 04-25-2014, 05:47 PM   #13
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I have a question for all you who know more than I (which is a lot of you I bet) I recall reading on the forums maybe last year, or the year before, that the actual batting order isn't vital when simming. I think it was during some discussion of asking for an option similar to force start for the batting order too. To force guys to hit leadoff, or 3rd or 4th etc.

I've always been a GM only kinda guy, with my only real influence on the team itself mangerwise being "force start" both for pitchers and position players, and the same in the minors, so I can sort of control where my prospects play at.

But I was wondering, if that was even true, or if it changed, and I should start to gravitate towards controlling my lineups and staffs more closely. Even simming. I know it makes a difference if you actually manage out the games, or even watch them get simmed, but was wondering if there was anything to it not making as big a difference when you are just simming them and not watching/playing them out.


Thanks for the time all!
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Old 04-25-2014, 06:07 PM   #14
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Even in real life, batting order isn't that relevant -- the good hitters need lots of plate appearances, the bad hitters fewer, but I remember reading in "Baseball Prospectus: Between the Numbers" that if you took an entire team of replacement hitters, but added one Barry Bonds in different spots, the difference was like 5 runs over the course of an entire year between batting him leadoff or batting him ninth: that's half a win, roughly.

The important thing is to control playing time -- make sure people you want developed get lots of it, your best players play as much as possible, etc.
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Old 04-25-2014, 06:25 PM   #15
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I've found that you generally need to be aggressive in improving your farm system, and you need to think long-term. If you're not going to be particularly good one year, acknowledge that and use it as an opportunity. Sign some reclamation projects that you might be able to flip at the deadline. Resist the urge to call up your top prospects too early and start their service clocks. And if you're going to be bad, recognize that anyone who'll be a free agent after the season is expendable.

There are two great places I've found to spend extra money: player development and the bullpen. I tend to snap up a lot of former closers who are asking for $1-5M. They can be very useful, and I haven't really gotten the hang of developing relievers myself yet.

My 2016 Twins (started in OOTP 15, so the 2014 season) won 98 games. I got very lucky with the development of my pitching prospects, though, and managed to have my first-round picks from 2014 and 2015 both enter 2016 in starting roles (one a 1B/DH, the other a starting pitcher who cracked the majors two months after being drafted). Also, the Giants gave Tim Lincecum a $5.5M 1-year extension early on in 2015 (so, signed through 2016). He was surprisingly good, but the Giants started a rebuild and had no use for him. So I sent them a decently good prospect for Lincecum, and he gave me 190+ innings of 2.66 ERA ball, even though his FIP was around 3.70. I didn't trust him to do it again, though, so I let him walk as a free agent and filled the gap with a homegrown pitcher.
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Old 04-25-2014, 08:01 PM   #16
majesty95
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I feel like I did most of what is being suggested. My bullpen was consistently very good. My SP and hitting just underperformed.

What effect, if any, do coaches play? Could I have been stuck in an underperforming vortex where I was doomed to fail (I mean Mauer never hit over .300)?
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Old 04-25-2014, 08:08 PM   #17
stevens84
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Pitching. Pitching. Pitching.

…POWER Pitching!
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Old 04-25-2014, 09:19 PM   #18
majesty95
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How do y'all value pitching? Ratings? Stats?

How much do y'all budget for scouting and player development? How much of a role does that play?
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Old 04-25-2014, 09:37 PM   #19
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How do y'all value pitching? Ratings? Stats?

How much do y'all budget for scouting and player development? How much of a role does that play?
When I'm rebuilding and have cut all big costs, I usually double, if not triple player development from the league average. As for scouting, I usually leave that at the league average, I don't think it plays that much of a role as it should.

As for pitching, I look for guys with ratings like this:

Stuff: 17-20
Movement: 10-20
Control: 8-20

Guys built like that seem to have the most success over the longest periods of time. As for stats, guys need to hit at least .270 or keep there ERA below 4.00. If they fail to do so, they're usually very high on my list of players to trade or let go.

Never spend big in free agency, it's not worth it over the long haul. The only circumstance in which I sign a free agent is if that player can get me over the hump to win the World Series, usually the year after a playoff run.

In my world, I have all the leagues on, that way I can get players from all sorts of places.
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Old 04-25-2014, 09:41 PM   #20
gRaider2001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by majesty95 View Post
How do y'all value pitching? Ratings? Stats?

How much do y'all budget for scouting and player development? How much of a role does that play?
I personally place a high value on the "stuff" rating when looking for pitchers. I also like to have a starting pitcher with at least 3 good pitches. When I look at his stats, I look to see how dominate he was in the feeder league he is coming from.
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