International Scouting: Wise Investment or Sucker Bet?

[Charley575]

I ask because I am entering the third year of my league and have yet to see my scout find a decent prospect. He found one guy who was rated a 74 POT but when you really looked at the ratings that was a joke.That guy has since been lowered to 40-ish, which is more like it. I have the maximum $24M invested in scouting with 35% ($8.4M) invested in international scouting. My scout is supposedly pretty good, too.


So, what gives?

[jpeters1734]

bad luck i suppose. One way to look at it is that you are spending 8 mil a year to maybe get an ML player one day and you could use it to sign a real ML player

[Padreman]

8 mil a year for and maybe sign a bench player quality guy

[Charley575]

Has anyone out there done the following experiment?

Change scouting accuracy to 100% then invest 100% in International Scouting.

[BIG17EASY]

How many stud prospects are "found" in real life? The vast majority of the very good international prospects are the ones who become international free agents in the summer and all MLB teams have a shot at them. Every once in a while a guy who a team finds will turn into a prospect, but they typically are not considered top-level prospects at the time they sign.

[Cinnamon J. Scudworth]

Originally Posted by BIG17EASY

How many stud prospects are "found" in real life? The vast majority of the very good international prospects are the ones who become international free agents in the summer and all MLB teams have a shot at them. Every once in a while a guy who a team finds will turn into a prospect, but they typically are not considered top-level prospects at the time they sign.

Yes, this.

The amount you allocate toward international scouting also affects the accuracy of the scouting of the summer international amateur FAs, where the "good" international prospects are.

[kingtut313]

Most of the "discovery" players my scout finds are just minor league filler and about half of them never even get promoted to my rookie team because they are just that awful.
International amateur free agents on the other hand, I have had some HOF caliber guys come through there.

[endgame]

Just a left field opinion, but it's always going to be a matter of style. I'm not sure any of it is guaranteed, but I'm equally sure a huge investment coupled with personnel of great quality will yield more chances.

OTOH, just starting my sixth year, I've moved to rather unorthodox strategies, in part due to my league environ, in part due to past successes or lack of them. I've pretty much zeroed out dollars and percentages in the International arena and now dumping both with more aggressiveness into Amateur and Minor League areas. I find, looking over the league and my own history, that more good placements are being assigned through trades and FA acquisitions than INT finds.

[BIG17EASY]

Originally Posted by kingtut313

Most of the "discovery" players my scout finds are just minor league filler and about half of them never even get promoted to my rookie team because they are just that awful.
International amateur free agents on the other hand, I have had some HOF caliber guys come through there.

This actually mirrors real life. Teams "sign" a lot of international players to play in development complexes in Latin countries (some complexes are jointly affiliated among multiple teams), and we never hear about those guys unless we read every bit of news about our favorite team. Some of these players are brought to those complexes at very young ages and never develop into worthwhile minor leaguers. So all those international complex guys that we have who are all 20s in every rating (on 20-80) at ages 18-20 are unfortunately realistic players.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by BIG17EASY

How many stud prospects are "found" in real life? The vast majority of the very good international prospects are the ones who become international free agents in the summer and all MLB teams have a shot at them. Every once in a while a guy who a team finds will turn into a prospect, but they typically are not considered top-level prospects at the time they sign.

well just from my team, starling marte and gregory polanco. and they were found by the same guy!

[Sharkn20]

One of my SP is rated 4,5/4,5 stars and was found in the Int complex, He started as a 2 stars potential tho... I also had a couple of more players who eventually made the major league team but most of them are waste... I spend about 25% of my budget in my International scouting, the international amateurs are very good usually with almost 5 every year rated over 3 stars potential

[BIG17EASY]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

well just from my team, starling marte and gregory polanco. and they were found by the same guy!

Yep, it happens, it's just rare. The Pirates have been one of the more aggressive teams on that front since they can't outbid the big teams for guys like Yasiel Puig or Jorge Soler, who go on the free agent market.

[Basebrah]

My question is how did you get the Marlins to win 102 games?

[CHOWDERHEAD]

Originally Posted by Basebrah

My question is how did you get the Marlins to win 102 games?

Indeed, that is the great question here.

I am sorry to do this (thread HJ), but I do have a question for the group. In previous versions, you could edit your team scout. I cannot figure out how to edit my assigned scout in this version. Any help?

[endgame]

Originally Posted by CHOWDERHEAD

Indeed, that is the great question here.

I am sorry to do this (thread HJ), but I do have a question for the group. In previous versions, you could edit your team scout. I cannot figure out how to edit my assigned scout in this version. Any help?

It's a bit off the beaten path, but after clicking the Scout's Task List tab, the Editor tab is available.

[CHOWDERHEAD]

Originally Posted by endgame

It's a bit off the beaten path, but after clicking the Scout's Task List tab, the Editor tab is available.

Thank you for the help - not the easiest thing to find.

[Charley575]

Originally Posted by Basebrah

My question is how did you get the Marlins to win 102 games?

It's not "those" Marlins. I'm playing with real MLB teams but fictional players. I've also pared the minor leagues down to just 3 levels. Real teams, though. I've tried playing with real players but I can never get into it. I find that with real names come certain expectations, and often those expectations aren't met. Lastly, in the real rosters the talent level is inflated, so you get the pleasure of watching the development engine obliterate that excess talent over the first couple of years. Meh. It's not for me.

[Charley575]

So, it's looking like "Sucker Bet" is the prevailing opinion. I'll make some adjustments after this season. Up until now I can afford it, but my core players are creeping closer to their walk years, and I'm going to need some of that money.

[IsaacR]

Top Prospects Discovery This guy turned into a HOF left fielder after I converted him. Made it all worth it.

[jpeters1734]

One thing that should be changed is receiving a superstar potential guy in the complex. it should be a surprise, not an expectation