Free Agent Blues

SandMan · 09-11-2011, 06:32 PM

This has now happened to me twice. I sign a FA pitcher to a contract during the month of December. The last one had ratings of 10-15-13 and had a winning record his last 3 seasons. I offered a contract and won the bid. Then January hits and the player is scouted by OSA and all of a sudden the 10-15-13 goes down to 7-10-8. From a 3.5 star starter to a 1 star POS. I get stuck with a player who can't play,and has a 5 year contract for millions.

I was burnt once and just put the player on the reserve roster but now this has happened twice and it is hard to pay out 17 million a year for two players that are not even on the roster.

Anyone else see this?

I never had this happen in previous versions to this extent. I had pitchers fade but never drop[ off the cliff like these two. The first one was only 31 years old and the 2nd one was 33 so they should of had a few year left.

TSmith1969 · 09-11-2011, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SandMan

This has now happened to me twice. I sign a FA pitcher to a contract during the month of December. The last one had ratings of 10-15-13 and had a winning record his last 3 seasons. I offered a contract and won the bid. Then January hits and the player is scouted by OSA and all of a sudden the 10-15-13 goes down to 7-10-8. From a 3.5 star starter to a 1 star POS. I get stuck with a player who can't play,and has a 5 year contract for millions.

I was burnt once and just put the player on the reserve roster but now this has happened twice and it is hard to pay out 17 million a year for two players that are not even on the roster.

Anyone else see this?

I never had this happen in previous versions to this extent. I had pitchers fade but never drop[ off the cliff like these two. The first one was only 31 years old and the 2nd one was 33 so they should of had a few year left.

Very frustrating, but not totally unheard of in the real world. From a practical perspective, my advice would be to wait until January and the ratings updates before you make any big FA signings. But ideally the game would adjust ratings on the fly rather than a big jump on January 1.

mouse001 · 09-11-2011, 07:17 PM

You could rescout once the season ends. I don't know if that will help, when do ratings dip? After the season?

That might sound like cheating a bit, but think of it as scouting the major free agents one more time before signings occur

Chicagofan76 · 09-11-2011, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SandMan

From a 3.5 star starter to a 1 star POS. I get stuck with a player who can't play,and has a 5 year contract for millions.

Adam Dunn, Bartolo Colon, David Wells, Todd Ritchie all too familiar IRL, what's really nice is when you sign a 1 star SP and he turns into a 5 star SP for the yr ala Esteban Loaiza

Erik · 09-11-2011, 11:27 PM

I really struggle at this, but I think you need to play players based on stats more than ratings. I had an OF do terrific for me then he got hurt and lost his starting job. He's been riding my bench and his star value went from 4 down to 1 in a season. Now with more injuries he is getting playing time and is batting around .400 (1924 season) and its the end of June and he's still a "1 star" player. At this point I don't care what his star value is, he's getting the playing time.

I have another player (Frankie Frisch) who has for no reason I can tell been dropping in star value the last few years. He's consistently hit close to .300 and put up the same numbers over the years, which are still pretty solid. But now he's down to being a 2 star player and it pains me to watch this as I can't help but think he's declining in value even when he's still putting up solid numbers year in and out....and he's only 25.

Curve Ball Dave · 09-11-2011, 11:36 PM

After a player has a few seasons under his belt at the MLB level, what my scout says really isn't that important. When it comes to pitchers, the only opinion that matters is that of the batters. If he keeps getting them out and winning games, who cares what his ratings are? Conversely, those four or five stars do not mean diddly pooh if the guy has a 5+ ERA and opponents are hitting .300 against him.

Play the guy. If he wins games keep him in there, if he doesn't find someone else. Let that be your judge, not the opinion of your scout.

snepp · 09-11-2011, 11:49 PM

Congratulations, you've just purchased yourself a Carlos Silva.

09-11-2011, 06:32 PM	#1
SandMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 2,946	Free Agent Blues This has now happened to me twice. I sign a FA pitcher to a contract during the month of December. The last one had ratings of 10-15-13 and had a winning record his last 3 seasons. I offered a contract and won the bid. Then January hits and the player is scouted by OSA and all of a sudden the 10-15-13 goes down to 7-10-8. From a 3.5 star starter to a 1 star POS. I get stuck with a player who can't play,and has a 5 year contract for millions. I was burnt once and just put the player on the reserve roster but now this has happened twice and it is hard to pay out 17 million a year for two players that are not even on the roster. Anyone else see this? I never had this happen in previous versions to this extent. I had pitchers fade but never drop[ off the cliff like these two. The first one was only 31 years old and the 2nd one was 33 so they should of had a few year left.

09-11-2011, 11:36 PM	#6
Curve Ball Dave Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 2,271	After a player has a few seasons under his belt at the MLB level, what my scout says really isn't that important. When it comes to pitchers, the only opinion that matters is that of the batters. If he keeps getting them out and winning games, who cares what his ratings are? Conversely, those four or five stars do not mean diddly pooh if the guy has a 5+ ERA and opponents are hitting .300 against him. Play the guy. If he wins games keep him in there, if he doesn't find someone else. Let that be your judge, not the opinion of your scout. __________________ "Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing"-Warren Spahn.

09-11-2011, 07:17 PM	#3
mouse001 Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 343	You could rescout once the season ends. I don't know if that will help, when do ratings dip? After the season? That might sound like cheating a bit, but think of it as scouting the major free agents one more time before signings occur

09-11-2011, 11:27 PM	#5
Erik All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 505	I really struggle at this, but I think you need to play players based on stats more than ratings. I had an OF do terrific for me then he got hurt and lost his starting job. He's been riding my bench and his star value went from 4 down to 1 in a season. Now with more injuries he is getting playing time and is batting around .400 (1924 season) and its the end of June and he's still a "1 star" player. At this point I don't care what his star value is, he's getting the playing time. I have another player (Frankie Frisch) who has for no reason I can tell been dropping in star value the last few years. He's consistently hit close to .300 and put up the same numbers over the years, which are still pretty solid. But now he's down to being a 2 star player and it pains me to watch this as I can't help but think he's declining in value even when he's still putting up solid numbers year in and out....and he's only 25.

09-11-2011, 11:49 PM	#7
snepp All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,365	Congratulations, you've just purchased yourself a Carlos Silva.