Tricks to Being a Sim Contender

[TGH-Adfabre]

If this was contributed I missed it.

Turn scouting off or put it at 100% until you need/want the challenge.

[majesty95]

I had been wanting to watch or re-read Moneyball since firing up 15 and low and behold it came on today. A few of the things I picked up from watching it again and analyzing their roster afterwards:

1. Power Pitching - This has been alluded to numerous times already but it was highly evident that Mulder, Hudson and Zito made that ship go.

2. Defense - The A's finished 7th in the AL Fld Pct (Slightly above league average) but 3rd in Def EFF. They also had 2 catchers that BOTH threw out over 40% of would be base stealers.

3. OBP + Power - I remembered the OBP but forgot about their emphasis on HR per AB and runs created. The 2002 team has 10 regular contributors with over a 100 OPS+.

4. GB%, HRA, and K/9 - One of the reasons that Chad Bradford was a focal point was because he had only allowed 1 HR in 46 innings of MLB ball and has a better than 2:1 GB/FB ratio. Ricardo Rincon didn't follow the GB% aspect but only gave up a HR every 18 inning and had over an 8 K/9 rate.

5. No stealing and very rarely bunting - I remembered this but not to the degree that they used it. The A's stole less than 50 bases from 2002 on and almost always were over 66% in success rate. The also averaged about 20-25 sacrifice hits per season which was less than half of the what most of MLB averaged.

With all of this new information I'm going to restart a dynasty and implement it. Originally I was thinking 1969 and taking over a commissioner to start but I'll lose too much of the history for my enjoyment. Now I think I'm am going to take over as commish in 1989 and guide the league through the start of the digital age and steroid era and fix the things that they got wrong before before beating Billy Beane to the punch as a GM of a team a few years in.

[Avindian]

Something I haven't seen other posters mention: I LOVE Team Options. If you are going to sign that pricey free agent, especially if he's thirty or over, make liberal use of Team Options in the last couple of years. If he's doing well, execute the option; if he isn't, don't.

Originally Posted by stevens84

Only guys I like there are SP Taylor Jordan, 1B Matt Snyder, and CL Brian Wilson. The rest just seem too inconsistent to me.

The default Player Development budget it $9M I believe, and from my experience, if you put that up to $27M-$35M, you'll start churning out prospect left and right. 30th round picks will become viable big leaguers for you. But, those "extra" guys you develop, you don't use, you deal them to acquire a superstar, it's basically a cycle this way.

You've seen that much of a benefit of increasing the Player Development Budget?! I've tried bumping it up to $15 million and couldn't see a big difference, although that was in OOTP 14.

[gRaider2001]

Originally Posted by Avindian

Something I haven't seen other posters mention: I LOVE Team Options. If you are going to sign that pricey free agent, especially if he's thirty or over, make liberal use of Team Options in the last couple of years. If he's doing well, execute the option; if he isn't, don't.

That is a really good suggestion and I always try to use the team option. Also remember contracts do not always need to be structured so they increase each year. You can structure so they decrease. Less guarantee money

[stevens84]

Originally Posted by majesty95

That's funny. Strasburg signed with Philly in my game too. Lol

Here is my home screen. Keep in mind I was fired about 1/3 of the way into the season.

You know you can turn on the option to not be fired?

[stevens84]

Originally Posted by Avindian

Something I haven't seen other posters mention: I LOVE Team Options. If you are going to sign that pricey free agent, especially if he's thirty or over, make liberal use of Team Options in the last couple of years. If he's doing well, execute the option; if he isn't, don't.



You've seen that much of a benefit of increasing the Player Development Budget?! I've tried bumping it up to $15 million and couldn't see a big difference, although that was in OOTP 14.

Yes, yes I have. Back on OOTP 12, I somehow turned a mid level catching prospect into the best hitter in the league. I've gotten similar results in each version since.

The more money you put in, the more guys you'll produce that are big league caliber.

Also, two pitch pitchers are more likely to develop that elusive third pitch.

Take a look at these screenshots:

Castro was the mid level catching prospect, Romano developed the third pitch in A ball, rocketing him through the minors.

[stevens84]

I have some other screenshots from earlier versions, but I can't find them right now.

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by majesty95

I had been wanting to watch or re-read Moneyball since firing up 15 and low and behold it came on today. A few of the things I picked up from watching it again and analyzing their roster afterwards:

1. Power Pitching - This has been alluded to numerous times already but it was highly evident that Mulder, Hudson and Zito made that ship go.

2. Defense - The A's finished 7th in the AL Fld Pct (Slightly above league average) but 3rd in Def EFF. They also had 2 catchers that BOTH threw out over 40% of would be base stealers.

3. OBP + Power - I remembered the OBP but forgot about their emphasis on HR per AB and runs created. The 2002 team has 10 regular contributors with over a 100 OPS+.

4. GB%, HRA, and K/9 - One of the reasons that Chad Bradford was a focal point was because he had only allowed 1 HR in 46 innings of MLB ball and has a better than 2:1 GB/FB ratio. Ricardo Rincon didn't follow the GB% aspect but only gave up a HR every 18 inning and had over an 8 K/9 rate.

5. No stealing and very rarely bunting - I remembered this but not to the degree that they used it. The A's stole less than 50 bases from 2002 on and almost always were over 66% in success rate. The also averaged about 20-25 sacrifice hits per season which was less than half of the what most of MLB averaged.

With all of this new information I'm going to restart a dynasty and implement it. Originally I was thinking 1969 and taking over a commissioner to start but I'll lose too much of the history for my enjoyment. Now I think I'm am going to take over as commish in 1989 and guide the league through the start of the digital age and steroid era and fix the things that they got wrong before before beating Billy Beane to the punch as a GM of a team a few years in.

This is an excellent summary of Moneyball. To further refine your points, the most critical starting points for your defense are up the middle: C, SS, CF, 2B.

It's also wonderful just how much Marcus has perfected OOTP over the years. It is getting far harder to dominate the game when playing individually against the AI. The biggest improvement, in my opinion, has to do with how well the AI drafts. When starting a new league and doing an inaugural draft, it used to be common to build a post-season dynasty right from the start. Not any more. It's quite a fun challenge.

Love this thread and the great comments.

[rasnell]

Originally Posted by stevens84

When I'm rebuilding and have cut all big costs, I usually double, if not triple player development from the league average. As for scouting, I usually leave that at the league average, I don't think it plays that much of a role as it should.

As for pitching, I look for guys with ratings like this:

Stuff: 17-20
Movement: 10-20
Control: 8-20

Guys built like that seem to have the most success over the longest periods of time. As for stats, guys need to hit at least .270 or keep there ERA below 4.00. If they fail to do so, they're usually very high on my list of players to trade or let go.

Never spend big in free agency, it's not worth it over the long haul. The only circumstance in which I sign a free agent is if that player can get me over the hump to win the World Series, usually the year after a playoff run.

In my world, I have all the leagues on, that way I can get players from all sorts of places.

also pay attention to a pitcher's GB percentage, especially if you have a great defensive SS and 2B. Also look at how the pitcher is rated for at least three types of pitches. It matters.

[beorn]

One other thing to keep in mind -- don't put too much stock in short term results. Not in evaluating a player, not in evaluating a strategy.

You can demonstrate this to yourself by creating a test league and rerunning the same exact rosters against each other for a full season a few times. You're almost certain to see a high variety in the results you get. (Turn off trading, player development, and injuries, and you'll still see a lot of variety.)

There's lot of good practical advice in this thread. But whatever strategies you decide to follow, stick with them a while. If you are losing in Civ V, you definitely need a new strategy. But in OOTP, sometimes a season or two goes badly even if you made good decisions... and sometimes things go well even if your team didn't deserve it. Don't be too quick to draw conclusions.

[majesty95]

Originally Posted by stevens84

You know you can turn on the option to not be fired?

Of course. But I kinda feel like it's cheating. I had it on the first 2 years but it got me not long after.

[majesty95]

I used the team option to get out of the Liriano deal. He had a $3.5M buyout but it was better than paying $25M for a 4.50 ERA lol

[RchW]

Originally Posted by beorn

one other thing to keep in mind -- don't put too much stock in short term results. Not in evaluating a player, not in evaluating a strategy.

You can demonstrate this to yourself by creating a test league and rerunning the same exact rosters against each other for a full season a few times. You're almost certain to see a high variety in the results you get. (turn off trading, player development, and injuries, and you'll still see a lot of variety.)

there's lot of good practical advice in this thread. But whatever strategies you decide to follow, stick with them a while. If you are losing in civ v, you definitely need a new strategy. But in ootp, sometimes a season or two goes badly even if you made good decisions... And sometimes things go well even if your team didn't deserve it. Don't be too quick to draw conclusions.

^^qft ^^

[24Rocks]

Originally Posted by Avindian

Something I haven't seen other posters mention: I LOVE Team Options. If you are going to sign that pricey free agent, especially if he's thirty or over, make liberal use of Team Options in the last couple of years. If he's doing well, execute the option; if he isn't, don't.



You've seen that much of a benefit of increasing the Player Development Budget?! I've tried bumping it up to $15 million and couldn't see a big difference, although that was in OOTP 14.

This is how I do it (picture) and Front load contracts, you see there demand and you move around the money, It is kinda cheating but if you don't do it all the time then your good I guess

[majesty95]

Ya, unless Mater P was this guys agent, that contract would never fly in real life lol

[24Rocks]

Originally Posted by majesty95

Ya, unless Mater P was this guys agent, that contract would never fly in real life lol

Agreed but I have done worse, but the hard part is if the player is still really good and you take the team OPTION you are going to have to have the player option, that's how I keep it interesting.

[majesty95]

I'm creating a 93 league file to restart with. I'm also going to write a dynasty thread for it. I am starting out as commissioner and correcting Selig's dastardly deeds. Then I'll transition to a team GM where I'll still have the ear of the owners

[majesty95]

Here's a preview:

[Tycobbler]

Originally Posted by 24Rocks

Agreed but I have done worse, but the hard part is if the player is still really good and you take the team OPTION you are going to have to have the player option, that's how I keep it interesting.

IMHO the buyout should be at least 10% of the entire contract (house rule). 0 is unacceptable

[Ts-Rock]

quick question, have you guys noticed that if you play as GM only that your manager gives way to many "off days" for players? I'm seeing my manager resting my super stars like once every 10 days and their rest/energy is only in the 80% range! It's very frustrating as I personally want to see my stars play 155 gms. No need to rest them if they are not tired!

It's super frustrating cause I want to play as GM only, but I really hate the lineups, rotation and constant sub's he uses.