Getting Frustrated

sayheykid · 11-02-2008, 08:44 PM

I'm into my sixth season and every time I sign a free agent his BA drops by 100 points or his ERA rises by at least 2.00. I've hired top pitching coaches and top hitting coaches and it does nothing. My top draft choices from 5 years ago are still batting .238 in A ball. I'm getting sick of this crap.

kq76 · 11-02-2008, 08:59 PM

When it comes to FAs what you might be doing is buying high and selling low. That is, if you're basing your decisions largely off of star ratings or recent stats and less off ratings then it could be that they're just having better than normal years for them which inflates their overall ratings then once you sign them they go back to normal or worse years for them. I instead try to focus on specific ratings and break ties with intangibles and stats and try not to be too concerned with single bad years.

As for your draft choices, maybe you're just not drafting wisely. Take for instance very high draft picks and say two are pretty much equal in every way except one is 21 and one is 17. Both already have good current ability so you don't have to fear much that the 21 year-old is going to not develop (if his current ratings were not already good then that could be a point of concern), but the 17 year-old being so young has more time to flame out so the 21 year-old is probably the safer bet. Vice-versa for much lower draft picks as the older player has less time to increase his ratings while there's plenty of time for a young kid to have a growth spurt. Then you also have to factor in work ethic and intelligence for the likelihood they'll develop and decide which ratings are most important to be successful in your league (e.g. power/movement is much less important in a league with few home runs). It's unfortunate, but there's all sorts of things you could be doing wrong. The good thing is it can be a fun challenge to try and figure out what all those important things are and then weigh them against each other.

Maybe try an online league. By watching what others do you might learn more than you would on your own.

RchW · 11-02-2008, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sayheykid

I'm into my sixth season and every time I sign a free agent his BA drops by 100 points or his ERA rises by at least 2.00. I've hired top pitching coaches and top hitting coaches and it does nothing. My top draft choices from 5 years ago are still batting .238 in A ball. I'm getting sick of this crap.

I agree with kq76's post and would add that if you have prospects still in A ball after 5 years they may have passed even the "suspect" stage. Teenagers are very risky. Take a few more 21-22 year-old guys.

I don't use coaches or scouts but would guess that you may want to look at players your scouts don't like who may be performing better than the scouts rate them.

bigMatt · 11-02-2008, 11:08 PM

What I sometimes do is that if someone is exceeding my scouts expectations in the minors, i put him on the block just to see how other teams value him. In other words, I don't trade the guy necessarily, but if I see he is attracting trade offers well above expectations, I know my scouts have screwed up on him.

So I guess this is a poor man's way of getting a second + opinion on the value of the player.

sayheykid · 11-10-2008, 03:00 PM

Have made good progress in the last two years. Started with a good pitching prospect who was quite popular with my fans. The Yankees made me an offer for him plus another good prospect and a couple of insignificant minor leaguers for a GREAT LF. My fans were impressed with landing an excellent player and my fan support shot up by about 12. Since then my budget has increase by $10M per year and I'm able to sign good free agents.

11-02-2008, 08:44 PM	#1
sayheykid Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Vancouver Posts: 79	Getting Frustrated I'm into my sixth season and every time I sign a free agent his BA drops by 100 points or his ERA rises by at least 2.00. I've hired top pitching coaches and top hitting coaches and it does nothing. My top draft choices from 5 years ago are still batting .238 in A ball. I'm getting sick of this crap.

11-02-2008, 08:59 PM	#2
kq76 Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 12,089	When it comes to FAs what you might be doing is buying high and selling low. That is, if you're basing your decisions largely off of star ratings or recent stats and less off ratings then it could be that they're just having better than normal years for them which inflates their overall ratings then once you sign them they go back to normal or worse years for them. I instead try to focus on specific ratings and break ties with intangibles and stats and try not to be too concerned with single bad years. As for your draft choices, maybe you're just not drafting wisely. Take for instance very high draft picks and say two are pretty much equal in every way except one is 21 and one is 17. Both already have good current ability so you don't have to fear much that the 21 year-old is going to not develop (if his current ratings were not already good then that could be a point of concern), but the 17 year-old being so young has more time to flame out so the 21 year-old is probably the safer bet. Vice-versa for much lower draft picks as the older player has less time to increase his ratings while there's plenty of time for a young kid to have a growth spurt. Then you also have to factor in work ethic and intelligence for the likelihood they'll develop and decide which ratings are most important to be successful in your league (e.g. power/movement is much less important in a league with few home runs). It's unfortunate, but there's all sorts of things you could be doing wrong. The good thing is it can be a fun challenge to try and figure out what all those important things are and then weigh them against each other. Maybe try an online league. By watching what others do you might learn more than you would on your own. __________________ My OOTP Wishlist \| My FAQ List OOTP Wiki \| Your Recommended Team Nicknames, By City (A Crowdsourced Project) For Beta/Devs: Full screen (1920x1080)

11-10-2008, 03:00 PM	#5
sayheykid Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Vancouver Posts: 79	Light at the end of the tunnel Have made good progress in the last two years. Started with a good pitching prospect who was quite popular with my fans. The Yankees made me an offer for him plus another good prospect and a couple of insignificant minor leaguers for a GREAT LF. My fans were impressed with landing an excellent player and my fan support shot up by about 12. Since then my budget has increase by $10M per year and I'm able to sign good free agents.

11-02-2008, 11:08 PM	#4
bigMatt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kansas Posts: 2,378	What I sometimes do is that if someone is exceeding my scouts expectations in the minors, i put him on the block just to see how other teams value him. In other words, I don't trade the guy necessarily, but if I see he is attracting trade offers well above expectations, I know my scouts have screwed up on him. So I guess this is a poor man's way of getting a second + opinion on the value of the player.