How to effectively develop prospects?

[TuckerDuckson]

Originally Posted by marc5477

I think you got a lot of good replies here. But what is your expectation? In general, in the real world, its very hard, and nearly impossible to get a super star every year. You would be lucky to get one every 5-10 years. This is why they are super stars. I can usually get 1 above average player every year and usually about 2 average guys who can fill a role for a while. If you are expecting to create an all star team with your minors, then you are aiming much too high. Its unlikely to happen unless you abuse some game mechanics.

My strategy is rather simple and similar to a few others.

I use stats for promotion and very rarely do I promote within a season. I generally check stats every mid season and I might promote a guy if they are an extreme standout. I did change all my minor league schedules so that I dont have to go back and forth often. I set all my leagues to have the all star game about the same time. This is when I go and check.

Although I use scouting, I set them to very low so I dont put much weight into the rating except during the draft. Its been my experience (since I started playing this game several years ago) that HS and Col stats are totally worthless. I have never seen a huge correlation between them and future performance. Its just as likely to have some guy with high ratings become a star as it is to have a high school standout become a star. So I stopped trying. But stats definitely matter once they are in the minors and I have noticed that standouts definitely can and do excel if you promote them so there is a definite correlation there.

Stats are just for immersion honestly, you could have a guy bat .675 with 50 HR in HS against "great" level competition and he only has 45 contact and 60 power.

[NoOne]

expectations depend on what i allow in the league...

draft pick trading? i want to average 150+wins

i don't expect to get superstars drafting 30th.

if i have a soft cap on international spending, i do expect to get superstars from international amatuer free agents. i will spend all, no exagerration, of my excess cash every other year on them. with a hard cap... you still can find top10 pick talent over time.

once they are in my system i just try to ignore most potential changes, lol. less frustration that way. of course, if they drop low, i quit paying attention to them - if i have ai delegated to control promotions etc.. or they become "filler" and only promoted due to service time restrictions.

spend what you can in development, and let it ride... you want to hone how much you should spend, you'll need to research that with more years than i care to simulate! definitely nothing a human eye can resolve on its own. i don't care if you are rain man.

[TuckerDuckson]

This is why I change Talent Change Randomness. It's fun to see 1st round picks flame out and absolutely tank and seeing 33rd round picks toil away and make it to the majors at 28 just to eventually rake MLB pitching.

I think it's just fun to see the guys coming out of Vanderbilt or LSU, just fail miserably when they have been given all that money and chances to succeed while the 32nd round pick from a Community College out of Montana ends up being a Hall Of Famer. Maybe it's just me playing baseball at a decently small school that has made me like this.

[Bahnzo]

Originally Posted by NoOne

if i have a soft cap on international spending, i do expect to get superstars from international amatuer free agents. i will spend all, no exagerration, of my excess cash every other year on them. with a hard cap... you still can find top10 pick talent over time.

once they are in my system i just try to ignore most potential changes

At what point do you promote them out of the academy? I've various opinions, but being new I still don't know what I think is best. I don't play with a full minors, so I only have short A for the draft picks to go into, then A level. I generally promote to the Short A at age 18, but I'm finding they struggle.

[TuckerDuckson]

Originally Posted by Bahnzo

At what point do you promote them out of the academy? I've various opinions, but being new I still don't know what I think is best. I don't play with a full minors, so I only have short A for the draft picks to go into, then A level. I generally promote to the Short A at age 18, but I'm finding they struggle.

Have it happen naturally at 20. At 18 they will be under the recommended age by like 2 years hence why middle level prospects will struggle.

[Bahnzo]

Originally Posted by TuckerDuckson

Have it happen naturally at 20. At 18 they will be under the recommended age by like 2 years hence why middle level prospects will struggle.

I should specify, I was really meaning int draft picks that show potential. Do you still want to let them stew until 20?

[TuckerDuckson]

Originally Posted by Bahnzo

I should specify, I was really meaning int draft picks that show potential. Do you still want to let them stew until 20?

I find if they struggle mightily in the lower levels (which most 18 year olds do unless they are like the next David Ortiz, and even those guys fail too.) their ratings die faster than Adam Rowen's baseball career.

For example, I had this international scouted guy, 5 star potential, basically the second coming of Juan Marchial. So I promote him at 17 to the Rookie leagues. He dominates in his first year. However, in subsequent years, when he's 18 and in single A he gets absolutely destroyed posting a 7.72 ERA in 19 starts in Single A and a 6.44 ERA in 5 starts in A+. So in consequence of my over zealousness in promoting him his ratings by OSA AND my scout drop from "5 star Juan Marchial" to "3 star Taijuan Walker wannabe"

Fast forward to present day and he hasn't posted good enough numbers to get out of double AA at 27. Basically, his ratings tanked after that one good season, now hes routinely posting plus 4 ERAs, his control tanked, his change up never developed. He basically flamed out at 20 and was never the same.

I believe it was that I was basically forcing him into competition that he wasn't ready for at 19. I mean, this is obviously a subjective example, but from now on I just let them naturally assimilate into my program when they turn 20. So they can actually spend maybe a month in Rookie then actually be able to hold their own against the single A competition.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by TuckerDuckson

I believe it was that I was basically forcing him into competition that he wasn't ready for at 19. I mean, this is obviously a subjective example, but from now on I just let them naturally assimilate into my program when they turn 20. So they can actually spend maybe a month in Rookie then actually be able to hold their own against the single A competition.

I confess I've rushed pitching prospects along too. I started a new universe with 18 and from now on it's ok for a kid to spend a couple of years in Rookie ball and a couple more in SSA. Let him be old enough go out for a drink after the game before he plays a full season at Low A with the big boys. I'd rather bring them along slowly and have them to learn how to be successful as a pro than to put him at a level too high and have his confidence shattered because he gets his butt handed to him on a platter each time he takes the mound. I know leaving a prospect at too low of a level can stall his progress, but I'm erring on the side of caution. Better to have him have success a couple weeks longer than he should before I promote him than to have him throw proverbial batting practice at a level he doesn't belong.

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by Bahnzo

At what point do you promote them out of the academy? I've various opinions, but being new I still don't know what I think is best. I don't play with a full minors, so I only have short A for the draft picks to go into, then A level. I generally promote to the Short A at age 18, but I'm finding they struggle.

i'll tell you what i know about hot it works and you can make up your mind on it.

only TCR occurs in the complex... so you cannot play any odds on them getting better while there... it's a 100% random thing.

what i do:

i move them at 18. this is just as inefficient as moving them at 20, but it's what i do because it's easier and less time consuming.

if i were more sophisticated about it, i'd pay a bit more attention to ability. mostly in the case that they are severely underrated for even rookie league.. .this isn't going to happen often with "better" prospects, but it can.

so, if at ~18 (considered 18 in their stats for that season) they are able to be nearly average in rookei ball, i'd move them, otherwise cross-fingers for some contact bumps or whatever and move them when i see it occur or when forced at 20.

just like everything else, let ratings dictate... unfortunately even with normal accuracy, and a great scout, you won't see the guys in the complex very well. oh, and no stats to go by... LoL!

so, i'd base it on what you can see, and maybe timing of things... say you got a ss prospect that's 18, and a 28 year old ss in the bigs... in that situation i'd pop him over ASAP. (knowing it's a gamble he even develops, but multiple options will be applied to the same future problem at this point, ~4-5 years out)

i've seen younger with great ratings... if they are true, they will FLY through your mil system. ihad a 17 year old go from rookie to AAA in the course of 1 year. he hits 350-400 in rokies, i bump, hits 350-400 in A, i bump to AAA and he still hits like a champ. never be afraid of that... but never force it either. let facts and feedback that you have access to dictate teh best decision at that time. had he faltered after any bump, i'd let him simmer there, then if after acouple months still hitting sub 200, i'd demote. no harm there, if that happened.

[Grafton19]

Even with the one WS win hell that OOTP 08 or 09 that was the time I traded the farm for Ryan Howard in his prime), building a farm system has been my weakness. I have no reason to not bring guys up if my team is bad. Right now I'm struggling with the Giants after having the worst record in baseball my first year. Thinking about trading assets and just building the team like the Cubs did. My intuition is to not do so, but other than Madison and Posey, I might start moving guys here soon. I run the whole league so I do that with teams struggling, but I attempt to not to do it with my own team.

I guess it's something to pay attention to.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Beaniegoose

Hey!

I'm having difficulty developing my younger prospects into AAA-AA ready players. Often times they lose a star or two worth of potential while moving through the ranks, and a lot of the time I'm forced to demote them to a lower level. I'm playing as the Mariners, have a high-rated head scout, have 12,000,000 devoted to player developing, and about once a month I demote/promote players. So what am I doing incorrectly?

Thanks for the help!

Why would you promote demote so often? A good prospect with a bad month would be justifiably pissed. Baseball should not be reactive IMO.

[ThePretender]

I'd recommend ignoring stats of players to be perfectly honest. I've never found them to be accurate for prospect development. And whoever tells you players need X amount of time in the minors...well, I'd ignore that advice too. They can play their game that way, but every prospect is unique and needs to be treated as such.

As others have said, every prospect is different. When you play a league for an extended period of time you learn what points a player is ready for each level by their ratings. For instance in one league when a pitcher has 40/40/40 overalls I know he's ready for A, or 40 contact and 35 avoid K, ready for A ball. Learn what the cutoffs are for your league. And learn what age a player should be for each level (20-21 A, 21-22 AA, 23 AAA). Anything older (by end of season) is unlikely to develop or a risky prospect. Oh, that's another thing. Don't just look at age, look at birth month as well. A 21 year old who turns 22 in April is a bit old for A ball. A 21 year old who is 22 in Sept is fine for A.

Make sure to teach guys with good IF/OF ratings multiple positions. Don't just let your 85 CF play CF the whole time in the minors, teach him RF and LF so he can have flexibility when he's in the majors. Do this for any player of significance, whether it's a superstar or a bench guy. You have no idea how frustrating it is to watch other GMs in online leagues have guys who can be elite super subs or Ben Zobrist guys, stuck at one position. Especially for guys like SS/CF where as they get older range declines, they already have experience to play another spot down the line. So you don't have to trade your CF or teach him RF in the majors, you can shift him to RF when you need to because you taught it to him in the minors. In one league I traded for a guy who could only play RF, taught him LF, and it's paying off so much, as this year he's started 60+ games in LF and 40+ in RF with another month to go in the season. Flexibility is a huge, underrated asset.

If a prospect is older I might challenge them to a higher level than normal.

I like to focus on contact/avoid K for hitters development and stuff/control for pitcher development. Not that those are the best ratings I seek in a player, but I've noticed those are usually my telltale signs for when a player is ready to move up. Movement is usually so far ahead during development, and gap/power/eye will come at a good pace. But avoid K, control, those are usually the last to develop and when those go up, I know a player is ready.

I've had guys go from R to AAA in a year, and some guys repeat a level 2+ years in a row. You can't simply say a guy needs 100 innings or a full year at a level, because you need to adjust development for each prospect.

I can't recommend using stats for dev. Some people use it, but for me, I see a 500 OPS guy with a below average wRC+/OPS+ and his ratings are increasing. So I'll trust the ratings increase over the stats, which would say he's struggling. I'd promote a guy with a 500 OPS+ or 80 ERA+ if the ratings say he's ready.

Also, I'd promote any int complex prospects right away, even as early as 16/17. They tend to develop so fast if you send them to the minors. I have one guy who I sent to R at age 17, and went from A ---> AAA at age 18, and he's a MLB ready CF. By the time he's 19 or even 20 he's going to be a middle of the order bat with Kevin Pillar/Kiermaier calibre defence. Right now he's only good enough to be a #9 hitter, but had I left him in the complex I doubt he develops as quickly. My 20 year old C is borderline MLB ready as well, and I promoted him to rookie ball at age 16. He's probably going to be a middle of the order type bat by the time he's 22. I find in every version they develop so quickly if you send them to the minors. In a previous version (OOTP 16) I had an int spec in the minors at 17, MLB ready by 19 (held his own in Sept, 100 OPS/wRC+), as a 20 year old he had a 135 wRC+, and at 22 he's a 150 OPS+/149 wRC+ bat and he still has more upside. So I will always recommend promoting int spec guys ASAP.

I avoid low pitch "SP". So a guy with 2/8 change up, they rarely fill out, so they end up being RP. They're trade bait to me, as other GMs think they'll fill out, but long term they're RP. Recognize this before age 23 and use them to get more developed younger players. If you think a hitter/pitcher might bust/decline, flip them ASAP.

Some people swear by intelligence/work ethic - to me, that's a tie breaker. I'll take a very low work ethic prospect if he's significantly better than a good, but not elite high ethic player.

Anyway, hope this helps.

[NoOne]

i agree with all of that, except hte age thing... i think it has an influence, but it is not an obstacle or major impediment. if it doesn't hold them back, it shouldn't hold you back from promoting. if they hit a road block, re-assess at that time (but only relative to increasing ratings or not!)

i use all the tools available, if i am putting in the effort. In the minors i have a singular focus for all of the tools -> Development.

if you cannot see ratings, you'd have to rely on many things to make best decision / guess about their ratings under the hood -> that would be the equivalent to my focus and the same over-arching logic, just different inputs

if they are increasing their raitngs regardless of level, age or resulting stats, all is good -- and promote when ready proactively, not reactively (with ratings on)... i will ignore all other things in that instance. that is simply all that matters- getting good enough to play in the majors and contribute to your team's success. and, at AAA you can't leave them simmering for too long, IMO. if they are solid mlb everyday quality, i will not let them rot for more than a season at AAA. i likely have traded long before that backlogs.

without accurate ratings, or invisible ones, you'd have to be a bit more reactive and sensitive to the stats and any other feedback the game provides relative to how stongly it correlates with the facts(the under the hood ratings) -- which highlights their major reason of stats not being as efficient at developing players. I've had an 18-20year old develop quickly and with really really crappy stats the whole way, LoL... if you only look at stats, you will miss out on that kind of development path. that's not an argument to not use them , but a reality of the choice... and more life-like, too, while also being less life-like bout other things... i just don't play that way... preference only - one way is not better.

like pretender said.. don't pigeonhole anyoen.. let the context dictate what you do for each player.

[x McLovin x]

Originally Posted by ThePretender

I'd recommend ignoring stats of players to be perfectly honest. I've never found them to be accurate for prospect development. And whoever tells you players need X amount of time in the minors...well, I'd ignore that advice too. They can play their game that way, but every prospect is unique and needs to be treated as such.

As others have said, every prospect is different. When you play a league for an extended period of time you learn what points a player is ready for each level by their ratings. For instance in one league when a pitcher has 40/40/40 overalls I know he's ready for A, or 40 contact and 35 avoid K, ready for A ball. Learn what the cutoffs are for your league. And learn what age a player should be for each level (20-21 A, 21-22 AA, 23 AAA). Anything older (by end of season) is unlikely to develop or a risky prospect. Oh, that's another thing. Don't just look at age, look at birth month as well. A 21 year old who turns 22 in April is a bit old for A ball. A 21 year old who is 22 in Sept is fine for A.

Make sure to teach guys with good IF/OF ratings multiple positions. Don't just let your 85 CF play CF the whole time in the minors, teach him RF and LF so he can have flexibility when he's in the majors. Do this for any player of significance, whether it's a superstar or a bench guy. You have no idea how frustrating it is to watch other GMs in online leagues have guys who can be elite super subs or Ben Zobrist guys, stuck at one position. Especially for guys like SS/CF where as they get older range declines, they already have experience to play another spot down the line. So you don't have to trade your CF or teach him RF in the majors, you can shift him to RF when you need to because you taught it to him in the minors. In one league I traded for a guy who could only play RF, taught him LF, and it's paying off so much, as this year he's started 60+ games in LF and 40+ in RF with another month to go in the season. Flexibility is a huge, underrated asset.

If a prospect is older I might challenge them to a higher level than normal.

I like to focus on contact/avoid K for hitters development and stuff/control for pitcher development. Not that those are the best ratings I seek in a player, but I've noticed those are usually my telltale signs for when a player is ready to move up. Movement is usually so far ahead during development, and gap/power/eye will come at a good pace. But avoid K, control, those are usually the last to develop and when those go up, I know a player is ready.

I've had guys go from R to AAA in a year, and some guys repeat a level 2+ years in a row. You can't simply say a guy needs 100 innings or a full year at a level, because you need to adjust development for each prospect.

I can't recommend using stats for dev. Some people use it, but for me, I see a 500 OPS guy with a below average wRC+/OPS+ and his ratings are increasing. So I'll trust the ratings increase over the stats, which would say he's struggling. I'd promote a guy with a 500 OPS+ or 80 ERA+ if the ratings say he's ready.

Also, I'd promote any int complex prospects right away, even as early as 16/17. They tend to develop so fast if you send them to the minors. I have one guy who I sent to R at age 17, and went from A ---> AAA at age 18, and he's a MLB ready CF. By the time he's 19 or even 20 he's going to be a middle of the order bat with Kevin Pillar/Kiermaier calibre defence. Right now he's only good enough to be a #9 hitter, but had I left him in the complex I doubt he develops as quickly. My 20 year old C is borderline MLB ready as well, and I promoted him to rookie ball at age 16. He's probably going to be a middle of the order type bat by the time he's 22. I find in every version they develop so quickly if you send them to the minors. In a previous version (OOTP 16) I had an int spec in the minors at 17, MLB ready by 19 (held his own in Sept, 100 OPS/wRC+), as a 20 year old he had a 135 wRC+, and at 22 he's a 150 OPS+/149 wRC+ bat and he still has more upside. So I will always recommend promoting int spec guys ASAP.

I avoid low pitch "SP". So a guy with 2/8 change up, they rarely fill out, so they end up being RP. They're trade bait to me, as other GMs think they'll fill out, but long term they're RP. Recognize this before age 23 and use them to get more developed younger players. If you think a hitter/pitcher might bust/decline, flip them ASAP.

Some people swear by intelligence/work ethic - to me, that's a tie breaker. I'll take a very low work ethic prospect if he's significantly better than a good, but not elite high ethic player.

Anyway, hope this helps.

I've always wondered what the optimal promotion age is for the prospects in the International Complex. From my personal experience, I feel like their potential ratings steadily decrease the longer I leave them in the Complex (ie., a player with 65/80 potential at age 16 winds up with around 50/80 potential by age 18). I usually promote them to a Rookie league at 18 but I have been considering going with your route and just promoting to a rookie league from day one just to see how that works for me. I'm just hesitant to do so out of fear that they'd be heavily over-matched and see their potentials rapidly decline.

Has anyone taken a similar approach (promoting players immediately from the International Complex) and had some success with it?

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by x McLovin x

I've always wondered what the optimal promotion age is for the prospects in the International Complex. From my personal experience, I feel like their potential ratings steadily decrease the longer I leave them in the Complex (ie., a player with 65/80 potential at age 16 winds up with around 50/80 potential by age 18). I usually promote them to a Rookie league at 18 but I have been considering going with your route and just promoting to a rookie league from day one just to see how that works for me. I'm just hesitant to do so out of fear that they'd be heavily over-matched and see their potentials rapidly decline.

Has anyone taken a similar approach (promoting players immediately from the International Complex) and had some success with it?

there's a different effect of things depending on where they are at on that spectrum..

e..g. if they have a vry high avoid K's rating (potential), then it is more likely to drop a bit.

if it's very low, it's more likely to bump up a bit...

a general pull to the middle, but not super strong, of course. you should be able to search forums for a reply from an ootp rep that said this in some combination of similar words... verify with a serach.

one more reason to move asap... when/what is "possible" is where the opinion comes in.

and one more reason to handle the better prospects in a different manner than the rest. you don't have to fear a below-average to average player dropping significantly, because they don't have far to fall

you're also probably no too worried bout moving them early, either... 80-90% of mil is just there to take up space. true in real life too. if they were honest with the bottom half, they'd give up, lol

those ages given above are not written in stone... i pay no attention to age and my prospects do just fine. just because you move an 18 year old over and he tanks does not mean it is because of his age... that's impossible to deduce that from observacnes with just hte human eye.

development is inherently random.. .much volatility in results even if you use the EXACT same inputs. that should explain it enough. things like personality are rocks thrown into a river. (maybe a bit more important )

[ThePretender]

If you think the int complex prospect is good, I'd promote them ASAP. Playing in rookie ball isn't why they're going to decline - it'll be because the scout overrated their potential in the first place.

[mitch0301]

Player development is one of the great things about OOTP. It seems there is no perfect strategy and often times you, your scouts and the games scouts get it wrong. As opposed to a lot of the guys in this thread I largely leave my minor league assignments up to my assistant GM. I do the majority of the draft myself and also look for overlooked players in free agency in the offseason. In this new version ratings seem to not be conducive to production as much as in the past (I tend to play with scouting accuracy on low and even then haven't seen the variance I have to this year's version). I won't reiterate too much of what others have said but I'll give some tips I have.

When drafting I tend to look for leaders and high work ethic. Someone mentioned intelligence, I may add that to the scope and see if that tends to lead to more successful development.

I love developing my bullpen in house. I find the MLB's turn to paying RP's disgusting but also understand the value these guys give you. I've had great success grabbing any and all big arms (velocity > 95mph, stuff >12 {1-20 scale}, fastball >14 {1-20 scale}). In general, I ignore any personality ratings with these guys and am able to field 8-12 guys between my majors/minors under the age of 30 that are able to compete at a very high level.

Know your scout. This tends to take some time but you'll notice the stars/potential rating will differ based on a players skill set especially noticeable when it comes to the outfield, 2B/SS/3B, and Pitching in general. The scout I have now loves athletic LF's and will tend to embrace speed over power which I don't tend to agree with. Also with most scouts that I've used over past versions they hate any pitcher that has control issues but I've found that with mediocre control ( > 8/9 on 20 scale) they can make cheap and fantastic bullpen arms.

Lastly, I tend to look to Dave Dombrowski as the sort of model I want to follow when building my team. While I have connection to those I draft and develop I will never hesistate to trade for the once a decade type player or sign superstars. I've found that even high level prospects have a very high risk at busting. It is better to look at these guys as fillers for injuries and bench roles until they prove otherwise. Now that's not a hard and fast rule, I've started a rookie from the moment they made the jump allowed them to take the bumps and come out on top, it's just in my conservative nature to rely on players who have done it before.

[marc5477]

Originally Posted by TuckerDuckson

Stats are just for immersion honestly, you could have a guy bat .675 with 50 HR in HS against "great" level competition and he only has 45 contact and 60 power.

The power of stats depends on your settings. For example, I play with very low scout accuracy (most realistic imho) which means the ratings are questionable. In this case, stats definitely seem to have a better correlation to future performance at the minor league and major league level. But you do need to be practical.

For example: did he get enough IP's or AB's to make a good judgement call? How does he compare to league averages? Is a .300 average good in A+? What about a .350 average? I probably would promote (and lock) the .350 guy but leave the .300 guy for the AI to promote/demote. This has worked well for me especially once they reach A+, AA or AAA.

Certainly you should consider the ratings but in my case they are unreliable so I have to use both.

[GianniTB]

Originally Posted by Levistus

keep your spending up on scouting and development, you might have just mis-scouted the player on the draft board, or in the minors.

Don't feel you need to rush players, and don't panic if that 5 star potential 17 yr old becomes 3 stars at 19, just maintain the development and sometimes those numbers will pop back up later in the year. (or as above, make sure he's not out of position, maybe he was a 5 star CF prospect, but his range dropped and now he should be in RF instead)

Think of how many players are drafted every year, and how few top 10 prospects actually become anything more than an average player.

Dude! Thank you for saying that. I'm new to the game and used to just throw money at Free Agents, hoping that would just work. Which it did for a Season or 2 (3 if I'm lucky), but any longer than that and I was screwed because I had no money left for Extensions, and no money to sign any new Free Agents. So that plan was a BIG FAIL.

Now I'm really focused on Drafting well, developing my Prospects and building a Top Farm System. But it seems like I'll draft a 18 year old 5 Star Potential Prospect but then he'll drop to a 3.5 or 3 Star Potential a year or two later. I thought I was just drafting very poorly. Which surprised me because when I drafted a Player, I wasn't just looking at the Scouting Report and how many Stars his Potential was. I would look to see the Scouting Accuracy, and one key I found out was to Draft Players with Adaptability and Work Ethic.

I did have a question though. You said not to worry if they drop a few stars a year or two after you draft them. But at what point do you think you can say the Player is a Bust and not who you thought they were when you drafted them? Because I have a 3rd Base Prospect who was a 5 Star Potential Prospect who had a strong Work Ethic and did well too start. But its been 4 years now, he's dropped to a 2.5 Star Potential (2 Star Current), and is hitting .212 in Double AA. Do you think it's time to label him a Bust? Or should I give it a few more Seasons? Because he's not hitting, he's dropped stars, but he's ranked the #13 Overall Prospect. So that's confusing... Thanks for your time man...

[GianniTB]

I'm fairly new to this game so please don't take this as a full proof method. I'm sure there are a few different ways to go about Developing Prospects but this is what's worked for me. The thing I've always been proud of most was my Farm System.

- If you don't have a good Scouting Director or GM/Asst. Gm, I would take care of that first. For the Scouting Director it's important to get a well-rounded one of course, but make sure they at least Scout Amateurs at a very High Level. Same with the GM. Try and sign one who values Drafting, Development Preference and Scouting Preference.

- The next part is obvious. You need to set your Development Budget, Scouting Budget, and Drafting Budget. The one thing I always made sure to do was to have a VERY HIGH Development Budget. I always had it at $20-$25 Million. Drafting Budget around $10-$15 Million. Scouting Budget at the League Base which was $8 Million. That Development Budget was my main focus.

- There's a lot more to go over, but I'll end it with this. When you Draft Players, make sure you're looking at their Personality. I'm not really sure what kind of negative effect Greed does to a player on the field. But I always make sure the Player I'm Drafting has High Work Ethic, and High Adaptability. Work Ethic for obvious reasons, and Adaptability for later on if he struggles and I need to Demote him, or if I'm trying to change his Position.

- The Potential and Current amount of Stars is something to look at too of course. Along with the Scouting Report. But I've seen 5 Star Potential Prospects dropping to 2.5 Stars and never making the Big Leagues. And I've seen 2.5/3 Star Potential Prospects ending up as 5 Star Players who win a MVP. So that's hard for me to say on which way to go about that.

- Oh, and hire Minor League Coaches who have a High Level for Development. That's a big one too.

If you have any questions let me know. There are some things I left out. I didn't want to bore everyone and ramble on more than I already have. Lol.

Best of luck!