International Scouting Discovered player quality

Ruthian23 · 04-26-2014, 02:46 PM

I've noticed that in the past few versions at least, and this version is no different, that a lot of the international "talent" discovered by your scout is extremely poor. It's almost always a player with .5 star potential relative to MLB and very often one or more of their critical ratings categories says 1/1 (out of 100 points), and the scouting report makes it very clear that they're not going to amount to anything. A lot of the time the scout finds pitchers who top out at like 83 mph and who they believe have no future, yet they sign them.

I guess I'm just not clear on how this feature works. How is the scout deciding that these guys are worth signing? Is there some option somewhere I haven't discovered yet that can weed out the stinkers automatically and only have your scout come back with guys who could feasibly if everything goes right have some kind of future or better? I seem to recall when the international discovery feature was first implemented into OOTP, there were a lot of "major" discoveries, probably too many, that could help your team from day one. Maybe this was a response to that, but does anyone else think it's a bit overdone if so? I mean, it's one thing if less international discoveries are made overall--perhaps that reflects real life better, I don't know--but I don't understand why OOTP scouts are consistently signing 16 year olds from other countries who they firmly believe will be career scrubs or low level minor leaguers at best.

I can just release them and all, but is there something I'm missing here?

Lukas Berger · 04-26-2014, 02:50 PM

That's how it works in real life. Teams don't sign int players or draft American players thinking most of them are future MLB players. Very few are and the teams and scouts know that. They're recommended based on having enough talent to play pro ball, not necessarily on projecting as a future MLB player.

Something like 65-75% of the guys who play in the DSL and VSL irl never make it out of those leagues. You need those extra guys to fill out the rosters, plus you sign a lot of guys not knowing who will get talent bumps, either in game or irl. Some of those crummy players will surprise you by turning out better than you thought. But that can't happen if they aren't in your org to begin with.

YanksFan · 04-26-2014, 02:57 PM

I made a post about this in '14 and was told this is working as intended. They said that scouts sign young kids all the time to these baseball academies/complexes that we never hear about but like you my logic tells me that they are not signing kids that they see absolutely no potential in but rather ones that they see a couple of tools with hopes that the other tools can develop. I see no point in a scout/gm signing someone that they see no potential in but then again what do i know.

Lukas Berger · 04-26-2014, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YanksFan

I made a post about this in '14 and was told this is working as intended. They said that scouts sign young kids all the time to these baseball academies/complexes that we never hear about but like you my logic tells me that they are not signing kids that they see absolutely no potential in but rather ones that they see a couple of tools with hopes that the other tools can develop. I see no point in a scout/gm signing someone that they see no potential in but then again what do i know.

As my post above says, they don't see no potential. They see the potential for those guys to be decent minor league players or even just decent summer league players with an outside chance at becoming something better.

Most guys that sign pro contracts, especially at the DSL and VSL levels do not have a realistic chance at playing in the majors. The teams know full well that only 5-10% of the guys they sign will ever play even one MLB game.

Avindian · 04-26-2014, 03:55 PM

Every once in a while, those low potential guys use the International Complex and get really, really terrific. Plus, it is possible to get guys with more than 20 potential (I use 20-80 scale), but you need to put a fair bit of money into international scouting. In 2014, I had max scouting, with 35% in international, and got 2 to 3 good players (60+) a year. I also had a scout who focused on the International Amateurs.

It's a question of either making enough of an investment, or just getting that really awesome player through sheer luck.

PDHitman · 07-02-2014, 11:05 AM

is there a setting in 'league setup' that we can tweak to get a little better players 'found'? Would it be 'FA Creation modifiers'?

04-26-2014, 02:46 PM	#1
Ruthian23 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 740	International Scouting Discovered player quality I've noticed that in the past few versions at least, and this version is no different, that a lot of the international "talent" discovered by your scout is extremely poor. It's almost always a player with .5 star potential relative to MLB and very often one or more of their critical ratings categories says 1/1 (out of 100 points), and the scouting report makes it very clear that they're not going to amount to anything. A lot of the time the scout finds pitchers who top out at like 83 mph and who they believe have no future, yet they sign them. I guess I'm just not clear on how this feature works. How is the scout deciding that these guys are worth signing? Is there some option somewhere I haven't discovered yet that can weed out the stinkers automatically and only have your scout come back with guys who could feasibly if everything goes right have some kind of future or better? I seem to recall when the international discovery feature was first implemented into OOTP, there were a lot of "major" discoveries, probably too many, that could help your team from day one. Maybe this was a response to that, but does anyone else think it's a bit overdone if so? I mean, it's one thing if less international discoveries are made overall--perhaps that reflects real life better, I don't know--but I don't understand why OOTP scouts are consistently signing 16 year olds from other countries who they firmly believe will be career scrubs or low level minor leaguers at best. I can just release them and all, but is there something I'm missing here?

04-26-2014, 02:50 PM	#2
Lukas Berger OOTP Developments Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Nice, Côte d'Azur, France Posts: 21,949	That's how it works in real life. Teams don't sign int players or draft American players thinking most of them are future MLB players. Very few are and the teams and scouts know that. They're recommended based on having enough talent to play pro ball, not necessarily on projecting as a future MLB player. Something like 65-75% of the guys who play in the DSL and VSL irl never make it out of those leagues. You need those extra guys to fill out the rosters, plus you sign a lot of guys not knowing who will get talent bumps, either in game or irl. Some of those crummy players will surprise you by turning out better than you thought. But that can't happen if they aren't in your org to begin with. Last edited by Lukas Berger; 04-26-2014 at 02:52 PM.

07-02-2014, 11:05 AM	#6
PDHitman Major Leagues Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Fernandina Beach, FL Posts: 335	is there a setting in 'league setup' that we can tweak to get a little better players 'found'? Would it be 'FA Creation modifiers'? __________________ ____________________ Paul RDBL Commish/Baltimore RDBL Website "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." -Yogi

04-26-2014, 02:57 PM	#3
YanksFan Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 110	I made a post about this in '14 and was told this is working as intended. They said that scouts sign young kids all the time to these baseball academies/complexes that we never hear about but like you my logic tells me that they are not signing kids that they see absolutely no potential in but rather ones that they see a couple of tools with hopes that the other tools can develop. I see no point in a scout/gm signing someone that they see no potential in but then again what do i know.

04-26-2014, 03:55 PM	#5
Avindian Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 274	Every once in a while, those low potential guys use the International Complex and get really, really terrific. Plus, it is possible to get guys with more than 20 potential (I use 20-80 scale), but you need to put a fair bit of money into international scouting. In 2014, I had max scouting, with 35% in international, and got 2 to 3 good players (60+) a year. I also had a scout who focused on the International Amateurs. It's a question of either making enough of an investment, or just getting that really awesome player through sheer luck.