playing 2014 MLB season?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by clwalcott

You can't possibly be worse than Towers

Ruben Amaro (alias "Ruin Tomorrow") would like a word with you.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by olivertheorem

I'm going to take the Astros. I'm more of a Rangers fan in reality, but the challenge intrigues me.

This exactly where I am. I love the Rangers, but they are already one if the best teams in baseball, so where's the challenge? It's like taking over the Cardinals or Red Sox or Dodgers.

But the Astros...

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

This exactly where I am. I love the Rangers, but they are already one if the best teams in baseball, so where's the challenge? It's like taking over the Cardinals or Red Sox or Dodgers.

But the Astros...

How much you want to bet that in a just a few years we are talking about those 2 teams in reverse. Still can't figure out the Rangers pushing Ryan out the door.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by David Watts

How much you want to bet that in a just a few years we are talking about those 2 teams in reverse. Still can't figure out the Rangers pushing Ryan out the door.

It could happen. It depends on how well Houston's rebuild actually works out.

As the Braves found out just recently, there's no real protection against really bad luck in baseball.

[clwalcott]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Ruben Amaro (alias "Ruin Tomorrow") would like a word with you.

Haha, well, I guess he could at least argue he's painted into a corner by ownership perhaps

[clwalcott]

Milwaukee is another team I am finding perhaps intriguing...rotation really doesn't seem all that bad to me, I'm surprised how many people have given up on Gallardo. Lohse has been above average for a few years now. Garza is a proven starter for the NL. Peralta and Estrada some nice upside. The offense honestly looks probably very good. I think it's a bit silly to keep questioning Gomez, and with Braun is one of the better 1-2 offensive punches in baseball. Above average at third, catcher and short too. Bullpen and first base are issues, but could well make a strong wildcard run it seems to me.

[olivertheorem]

Originally Posted by David Watts

How much you want to bet that in a just a few years we are talking about those 2 teams in reverse. Still can't figure out the Rangers pushing Ryan out the door.

I hope the Astros are good in a few years time, but that's a gamble that enough prospects pan out. I think the Rangers will be good for a while. Their willingness to part ways with the likes of Ian Kinsler tells me that they're not going to hold on to established names when they've got an equal or better player down on the farm, which bodes well for continued success.

I'm still annoyed that the Astros were moved to the AL. Destroyed my dream of someday seeing an all-Texas World Series.

[da commish]

Twins. They have always been my team but I also am excited to see how their prospects develop and when they become competitive enough again to be a factor in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Mauer adjusts to first base and how Sano recovers from TJ surgery. (he may have some medical miracle that allows him to play this year in the Twins parallel universe league)

[tejdog1]

I'm REALLY excited to play the Mets, tbh.
Because I won't be farting around with freakin DiceK in the rotation. Mejia is going to be my 5th. With Montero and Noah waiting in Vegas. I wanna see all the young pitching blossom <3

Hopefully Gee is rated well so I can trade him for a haul (and/or Nick Franklin)

[Doc_Brown]

Originally Posted by tejdog1

I'm REALLY excited to play the Mets, tbh.
Because I won't be farting around with freakin DiceK in the rotation. Mejia is going to be my 5th. With Montero and Noah waiting in Vegas. I wanna see all the young pitching blossom <3

Hopefully Gee is rated well so I can trade him for a haul (and/or Nick Franklin)

You'll be lucky to get 2 used baseballs for Gee

[skywalkr2]

Originally Posted by clwalcott

Which team?

I like to play through every single game, so picking a truly horrific team is just too much a test of patience. At the same time, picking the Dodgers or Cardinals feels like a cop out and I want a challenge, so I usually pick a team from the middle area.

I just saw this so I apologize. Go back to the last released OOTP and see how easy it is to get the Cardinals to the playoffs even. Very difficult. The ratings the Cardinals rosters get yearly in this game are very low.

[skywalkr2]

Originally Posted by adaman77

My favorite part of OOTP is typically the offseason, and to a lesser extent the trading deadline. I love wheeling and dealing, and it's even more fun now that I've established some house rules to keep me from fleecing the AI.

What house rules should I use? I actually think trading is much harder than it was several versions ago when I could raid anyones minor league system.

[BIG17EASY]

Originally Posted by skywalkr2

I just saw this so I apologize. Go back to the last released OOTP and see how easy it is to get the Cardinals to the playoffs even. Very difficult. The ratings the Cardinals rosters get yearly in this game are very low.

That's the complete opposite of my experience. In OOTP 13, the Cardinals (controlled by the AI) made the playoffs six of the first eight years in my game. In OOTP 14, the Cards (again controlled by the AI), won the World Series in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

[skywalkr2]

I'd be very interested in the trades made by the AI. I can do it myself If I sign free agents and make lots of trades.

[Mister_G]

I'm thinking of starting with my Yankees. I wanna see if I can grab a couple titles in 4 or 5 seasons, then I'll probably expand to 32 teams and take over one of the expansion clubs.

But the Phillies (even though I despise them) also intrigue me, as I have no idea what Amaro has been doing with that club these past couple off-seasons. Should be a challenge, with the possibility of actually being pretty good.

[cheo25]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

It could happen. It depends on how well Houston's rebuild actually works out.

As the Braves found out just recently, there's no real protection against really bad luck in baseball.

Yeah, and I'm an Astros fan who's worried about the owner's commitment to pay players once they become good. I'm afraid he's going to use the current local TV situation (Astros haven't been paid their local TV rights fees since last July and are suing Comcast, one of their partners in the team's network) as a reason to continue to stifle payroll when they actually have prospects who turned into good MLB players.

Originally Posted by olivertheorem

I hope the Astros are good in a few years time, but that's a gamble that enough prospects pan out. I think the Rangers will be good for a while. Their willingness to part ways with the likes of Ian Kinsler tells me that they're not going to hold on to established names when they've got an equal or better player down on the farm, which bodes well for continued success.

I'm still annoyed that the Astros were moved to the AL. Destroyed my dream of someday seeing an all-Texas World Series.

I'm still annoyed that the Astros were moved to the AL because I hate the DH. They also had 51 years in the NL, and I prefer seeing the Astros play the Reds, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, Braves, Dodgers, etc., to a steady diet of Rangers, A's, Mariners, Angels. The Brewers, D'backs, Rockies or Marlins should have been moved to the AL ahead of the Astros.

I also think the intrastate rivalry they're trying to play up with the Rangers is a bunch of crap. If that really mattered, then why are the Phillies and Pirates in different divisions but in the same league? And the Phils and Pirates have had almost no rivalry for 30 years because both teams (mainly the Pirates) haven't been good at the same time. That's what creates any rivalry that might exist.

Back to the topic, the Astros are the perfect 2014 OOTP team for me because they suck and they're my real-life favorite team. Great challenge.

[The Game]

I thought of a new way I will play 15. I will play as the Sox or Cubs, hold a fantasy draft then after real draft pick players come in in June I will have Random debut after that.

[kingcharlesxii]

I think Milwaukee could be a lot of fun and the Marlins would be a challenge (you have to keep the Marlins low budget of course).

If you want to play a good team, just give the top 2 SPs season-ending injuries and bam, instant challenge.

[adaman77]

Originally Posted by skywalkr2

What house rules should I use? I actually think trading is much harder than it was several versions ago when I could raid anyones minor league system.

It's generally pretty easy to trade quantity for quality, which I think is an abuse of the AI. "Hey, St. Louis, I know I don't have anyone to offer you who is nearly as valuable as Oscar Taveras, but I do have three kind-of-alright but aging major leaguers and a AAA starting pitcher... Great! Pleasure doing business with you!" It wouldn't be too much of a problem if the AI actually had a need for those guys, but often they really don't. The AI has a problem recognizing that four decent prospects do not equal one super-prospect. I generally try not to trade with the AI at greater than a 2:1 player ratio. As in, I trade 2 players to the AI for one player. I make exceptions when I'm putting together a realistic package of prospects to trade for a major-leaguer. Sometimes I add another prospect even when the AI is already willing to accept the deal if I don't feel that it's fair.

The other is that I typically try not to trade players to the AI that they really don't need. For example, this happened in my recent Houston game. Oakland is five games out at the deadline. I have a crappy Jason Vargas (it's 2014) signed to a cheap one-year deal. He's still rated okayish, but his ERA is through the roof and he's been worth about 0.5 wins. I also have Yunel Escobar signed to a cheap one-year deal, and while he's been great defensively, he's been so bad offensively (OPS a bit above .500) that he's been worth negative wins. Oakland's starting rotation has actually been alright, but OSA still identifies the rotation as a "slight weakness" because of how the pitchers are rated. Yunel Escobar has basically the same value as Oakland's shortstop. Oakland is set to "Win Now!"

Oakland is willing to trade me Addison Russell, a great prospect knocking on the door to the majors, for Jason Vargas and Yunel Escobar. The deal makes no sense for Oakland. They have needs at shortstop and in their rotation, but neither of the guys I'm offering do anything to address those needs, and they're giving up the guy who actually will address those needs in the very near future. Here, I don't make the trade, because it makes no sense.

[skywalkr2]

Originally Posted by adaman77

Oakland is willing to trade me Addison Russell, a great prospect knocking on the door to the majors, for Jason Vargas and Yunel Escobar. The deal makes no sense for Oakland. They have needs at shortstop and in their rotation, but neither of the guys I'm offering do anything to address those needs, and they're giving up the guy who actually will address those needs in the very near future. Here, I don't make the trade, because it makes no sense.

You are officially the new OOTP ethics champion... and make me feed sad about my own OOTP ethics.