How do you rate your players?

witherscraig · 11-13-2013, 08:27 AM

Hey fellow OOTP-lovers.

I have a question. I like to get totally immersed in this game. I will take over an organization and then rate every player in the organization so that I can assign them to the appropriate level and promote them accordingly.

My question is....how do you guys rate your players?

Here is what I mean: for each position player, I take their contact, gap, power, and eye ratings, put them into a formula that weighs each (I weight contact and power a little heavier) and have the formula spit out one overall number. I do the same thing for their defensive ratings (weighing more heavily for positions like SS or C) and combine those with their offensive ratings in order to rank all of my players by position.

Do you guys do something similar? How do you translate a player's ratings (CON, PWR, etc.) into an overall number? Which ratings do you weigh more heavily?

I'm just interested in how everyone does this.

chaingang220 · 01-03-2014, 02:15 AM

It sounds like you're trying to take a "Moneyball" approach to the game. When weighing players I like to look at their position, and strengths to try and figure out where they fit in the organization rather than try to give them an overall rating.

The Wolf · 01-03-2014, 02:29 AM

I don't do that at all.

le receveur · 01-03-2014, 10:29 AM

i usually use: good or bad, over or under 30

BIG17EASY · 01-03-2014, 10:57 AM

I like your idea, but that depends largely on scouting accuracy, which I don't like to set at 100%. For me, it's simply a matter of results and ratings combined, but not using any kind of formula. I monitor ratings and results and promote/demote guys how I see fit. I keep a rough depth chart on a notepad and also keep a close eye on my prospects, but I don't bother to rank every single player in my organization.

Snarf054 · 01-03-2014, 11:00 AM

I use the actual in game ratings first. I always have a stud scout #1 priority for me. The one I had in my solo game actually retired on me last season and the best replacement I could find was only good in everything and it sucks.

After that I look at their actual game stats. Big drop offs going from one minor league level to another is a big red flag, a downward trend in anyone over 25 is another. I try to ignore one bad year as much as possible but I have a notoriously itchy trigger finger so it's hard for me. I don't really worry about defense ratings too much. I quite often will change a players position if I have a bottleneck at one even if the second player has a fairly large drop in defense at the new position.

I tend to favor OBP heavily, I prefer to rate my power guys by OPS over SLG. I'd rather have a guy with high gap and contact than power, not that I mind power of course, but I tend to prefer Billy Ball more than a Harvey Wallbangers style of play. Speed is probably my favorite way to seperate players that are similar. I love guys that can steal or get out of double plays with their speed.

I rate pitchers heavily based on WHIP and OBA. I use ERA as a red flag but if the guys WHIP and OBA are decent I will ignore ERA to an extent. I hate guys that give up a lot of walks and I only care about K's in my set up guys and closers. I'd rather my starters get a ground out on the first pitch than take 5 pitches to get a K.

I'm guessing I'm in a minority around here as I am way more old school than moneyball. I hardly ever glance at Batting or Pitching 2 stats and don't pay any attention to VORP or WAR either.

olivertheorem · 01-03-2014, 08:35 PM

I rate players on an average of their base ratings (a few weights involved though) and work from there based on what I need.

Padreman · 01-03-2014, 08:39 PM

I use gut feeling

ThePretender · 01-04-2014, 09:32 AM

A lot of people miss out on production by focusing on overalls and ignoring specific vs RHP/LHP splits. Makes a huge difference when you platoon guys and use them properly. There's a lot of players I wouldn't consider playable fulltime that I've seen other GMs use when they need to be platooned. I'm usually fairly picky about that. Even star or superstar calibre guys - some players are just awful vs LHP or vs RHP and there's no point in even playing them against their weak side.

I do like balanced players for the most part. I'll make exceptions when I find elite BA/OBP guys or elite BA/Power guys but for the most part I like players good at everything. I don't care about speed - I'd rather hit 180-220 HRs, lead the league in OBP/Walks/Slugging/ISO while striking out the fewest. Gap is underrated - I wouldn't go out of my way to get it, but there are a lot of high power low gap guys who hit for less slugging/ISO than you would expect.

I don't have a specific formula for calculating ratings. After playing a league for a season I can predict what a player will hit using OPS, and other times I try to make real life comparisons. I used to have a formula but I've found that this is much more effective.

01-03-2014, 08:39 PM	#8
Padreman Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2013 Location: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (formally San Diego, CA.) Posts: 4,140 Blog Entries: 1	I use gut feeling __________________ Chargers= Despicable Traitors

11-13-2013, 08:27 AM	#1
witherscraig Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 29	How do you rate your players? Hey fellow OOTP-lovers. I have a question. I like to get totally immersed in this game. I will take over an organization and then rate every player in the organization so that I can assign them to the appropriate level and promote them accordingly. My question is....how do you guys rate your players? Here is what I mean: for each position player, I take their contact, gap, power, and eye ratings, put them into a formula that weighs each (I weight contact and power a little heavier) and have the formula spit out one overall number. I do the same thing for their defensive ratings (weighing more heavily for positions like SS or C) and combine those with their offensive ratings in order to rank all of my players by position. Do you guys do something similar? How do you translate a player's ratings (CON, PWR, etc.) into an overall number? Which ratings do you weigh more heavily? I'm just interested in how everyone does this.

01-03-2014, 02:15 AM	#2
chaingang220 Bat Boy Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 2	It sounds like you're trying to take a "Moneyball" approach to the game. When weighing players I like to look at their position, and strengths to try and figure out where they fit in the organization rather than try to give them an overall rating.

01-03-2014, 10:29 AM	#4
le receveur All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: canada Posts: 1,736	i usually use: good or bad, over or under 30

01-03-2014, 10:57 AM	#5
BIG17EASY Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,291	I like your idea, but that depends largely on scouting accuracy, which I don't like to set at 100%. For me, it's simply a matter of results and ratings combined, but not using any kind of formula. I monitor ratings and results and promote/demote guys how I see fit. I keep a rough depth chart on a notepad and also keep a close eye on my prospects, but I don't bother to rank every single player in my organization.

01-03-2014, 11:00 AM	#6
Snarf054 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 127	I use the actual in game ratings first. I always have a stud scout #1 priority for me. The one I had in my solo game actually retired on me last season and the best replacement I could find was only good in everything and it sucks. After that I look at their actual game stats. Big drop offs going from one minor league level to another is a big red flag, a downward trend in anyone over 25 is another. I try to ignore one bad year as much as possible but I have a notoriously itchy trigger finger so it's hard for me. I don't really worry about defense ratings too much. I quite often will change a players position if I have a bottleneck at one even if the second player has a fairly large drop in defense at the new position. I tend to favor OBP heavily, I prefer to rate my power guys by OPS over SLG. I'd rather have a guy with high gap and contact than power, not that I mind power of course, but I tend to prefer Billy Ball more than a Harvey Wallbangers style of play. Speed is probably my favorite way to seperate players that are similar. I love guys that can steal or get out of double plays with their speed. I rate pitchers heavily based on WHIP and OBA. I use ERA as a red flag but if the guys WHIP and OBA are decent I will ignore ERA to an extent. I hate guys that give up a lot of walks and I only care about K's in my set up guys and closers. I'd rather my starters get a ground out on the first pitch than take 5 pitches to get a K. I'm guessing I'm in a minority around here as I am way more old school than moneyball. I hardly ever glance at Batting or Pitching 2 stats and don't pay any attention to VORP or WAR either.

01-03-2014, 08:35 PM	#7
olivertheorem All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,919	I rate players on an average of their base ratings (a few weights involved though) and work from there based on what I need.

01-04-2014, 09:32 AM	#9
ThePretender All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,303	A lot of people miss out on production by focusing on overalls and ignoring specific vs RHP/LHP splits. Makes a huge difference when you platoon guys and use them properly. There's a lot of players I wouldn't consider playable fulltime that I've seen other GMs use when they need to be platooned. I'm usually fairly picky about that. Even star or superstar calibre guys - some players are just awful vs LHP or vs RHP and there's no point in even playing them against their weak side. I do like balanced players for the most part. I'll make exceptions when I find elite BA/OBP guys or elite BA/Power guys but for the most part I like players good at everything. I don't care about speed - I'd rather hit 180-220 HRs, lead the league in OBP/Walks/Slugging/ISO while striking out the fewest. Gap is underrated - I wouldn't go out of my way to get it, but there are a lot of high power low gap guys who hit for less slugging/ISO than you would expect. I don't have a specific formula for calculating ratings. After playing a league for a season I can predict what a player will hit using OPS, and other times I try to make real life comparisons. I used to have a formula but I've found that this is much more effective.