Scouting/Potential/farm system and player progression

munas23 · 03-23-2015, 09:21 PM

Loving the game so far, currently just playing around to get the feel for it. Before I start my first serious save i'd love to hear peoples opinions and information on the the following subjects. I love finding a developing youth players in every sports management game i play. So this will be important towards my game.

1 - Scouting
Is it as simple as the more money you spend the better accuracy you get in your scout reports. Do you send your scouts out on assignments (regions) or just individual players (and why would you scout an individual don't you already have his ratings). How does everyone set up their budgets?

2 - The Scout
I've noticed a few scouts with outstanding and legendary scouting ability. Yet with 22 years experience still has a reputation as inexperience. How can this be? Also does reputation matter?

3 - Potential
How much does this change as the player develops? Is their guys with 20-30 potential (20-80 scale) that end up being 60-80 in the end? I understand with a poor scout this could happen, yet will it happen if your scout is the best of the best? Also any tips to finding these gems

4 - Farm system and Player Progression
I'm very new to baseball so ive been reading about farm systems on the internet and player progression, yet still unsure on how to go about it.
Do all drafted players go to rookie? i've read some go higher, how do you choose? Also if you have 2 teams at the same level is there a difference
When do you know a player is ready to go up at each level?
When do you put someone on the 40 man roster? and as a baseball newbie, what are the benefits and consequences of this? I saw something about waivers etc

Thank you for reading and even more thanks if you can answer.
Also put it in general chat because 'new to the game,' just seems to be i cant start my historial or fictional league

blasek0 · 03-23-2015, 09:52 PM

1) Generally speaking, the more money you spend on scouting, the more often you'll get updated scouting reports on players. More reports generally leads to more accurate numbers.

They're never perfectly accurate, but the more looks I get at a player, the more likely it becomes that the reports I do have are accurate. Also, talent levels change, so more frequent reports are more likely to give you up-to-date evaluations of a player. This is why teams send out scouts to target players they're considering acquiring in a trade.

2) Better scouting tools are always better. If a guy is listed as inexperienced, then he probably isn't worth pursuing as a scout. Some GMs have scouting ratings in OOTP, others don't.

3) Generally speaking, potential trends downward as a player develops. Players do come out of nowhere, such as Cliff Lee, but they're the exceptions, not the norm.

Generally speaking, I chase the highest potential guys that I can, to the exclusion of all else, and value defensive tools more heavily because in OOTP, defense is all but guaranteed to develop.

4) OOTP automatically assigns all drafted / signed players to the lowest level available, which in most cases is Rookie ball. Some players are too advanced for that, and should probably be sent to Short Season A or A instead, but those are typically college players or very polished high school players. Josh Bell of the Pirates is probably one of the better recent examples of that. As a new player, you can typically leave minor league promotion/demotion up to the AI if you want, and it'll do an OK job of managing all of that for you.

As far as 40-man roster rules, and managing of the major league roster, that's a much more complicated task. I'd recommend Wikipedia - Major League Baseball Transactions and Brew Crew Ball - The 40 Man Roster for a general overview, even if it isn't OOTP specific. OOTP's roster rules, in the vast majority of cases, mimic the rules appropriately.

munas23 · 03-25-2015, 06:41 AM

Thanks blasek,
The brew crew article was good, just confirmed some things for me thanks.

Love to hear other peoples opinions on how to find a hidden gem

Rain King · 03-25-2015, 07:40 AM

Just to give the basics of the 40-man, there are essentially 2 reasons to place someone on this roster.

1. You are also placing that player on the 25-man active roster (in this case the game will add him to the 40-man automatically).

2. You want to "protect" him from the rule 5 draft. The rule 5 draft is an off-season draft in which teams can take players from other organizations who have accrued a certain amount of time in the minors but are not on a 40-man roster. If a player is taken he must stay on the major league team all season or be offered back to his original team.

Waivers

Once a player is on the 40-man, "options" come into play. An "option" is essentially a season in which a player is on the 40-man roster, but spends some time in the minor leagues. A team has 3 options they can use on a player and each option is season specific, meaning whether a player spends 1 or 100 days in the minors and no matter how many times he goes up and down that season uses up 1 option.

Once a player is out of options, he must be placed on "waivers" in order to be sent to the minor leagues, which opens him up to be claimed by other teams in the league. A player also must go through "waivers" if you wish to remove him from the 40-man roster.

Hopefully that at least somewhat clearly explains the basic 40-man/waiver stuff.

Bobble · 03-25-2015, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by munas23

I'm very new to baseball

You should be aware that prospects in baseball -- moreso than a lot of sports, I think -- are far from guaranteed to pan out. Many a high potential player will flame out and end up being an unknown, never to play in The Show. By all means, get good coaches, spend money on development, manage the players level and playing time, but at the end of the day don't be surprised that the frickin' S.O.B. will NOT improve and then I go into the player editor and cheat like a maniac ... but maybe that's just me.

Bleacherboy · 03-25-2015, 10:26 AM

I've always loved the idea of having a separate set of ratings (apart from OSA) that I can trust and use to get the edge on trades/drafts...but in OOTP16, I'm not getting any reports/insight/ratings/development news at all from my own guy.

I have a head scout on-staff, I have "Complete Scouting" enabled (with monthly reports requested), have even use the command to force re-scouting, but nothing.

Am I overlooking something simple, alone in the issue....anyone have help?

Harry_BallSack · 03-25-2015, 11:29 AM

For individual player scouting I believe you do need to shortlist the player(s) in question to receive the updates

DiMaggio5CF · 03-25-2015, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blasek0

As a new player, you can typically leave minor league promotion/demotion up to the AI if you want, and it'll do an OK job of managing all of that for you.

I'm not a new player, but handling minor league promotions and demotions is often one of the most challenging and bothersome tasks for me, so I was considering leaving that to my assistant GM. I assume that a GM's rating in scouting minors would have the most effect on how good he is at that task. Is that correct?

Bleacherboy · 03-26-2015, 03:16 PM

@HarryBallsack (something I never thought I would type)...it's not about individual reports, it's that I get no reports from my scout at all. In the past I could always compare OSA ratings to my scouts, but now I don't get them, I don't get reports on player progression, if I go to scouting reports in players' profiles there none from my scout past March 2015 (start of game), while I'm now in 2019.

It's almost as though scouting is turned off or I've missed a setting somewhere (though when I experimented and turned off "complete scouting", even the March 2015 report disappeared).

I've played 6 other iterations of OOTP with no problem and have combed through all of the familiar settings to this one to no avail -- it's really dampening the enjoyment of the game (love to "outsmart" AI opponents, not rely on same exact data), if anyone has ay thoughts...

Rain King · 03-27-2015, 01:15 AM

You should still be getting updated reports, so there must be something amiss. What mode are you playing in (Manager, GM, etc.)? Is this an imported league or did you start it in 16?

03-23-2015, 09:21 PM	#1
munas23 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 11	Scouting/Potential/farm system and player progression Loving the game so far, currently just playing around to get the feel for it. Before I start my first serious save i'd love to hear peoples opinions and information on the the following subjects. I love finding a developing youth players in every sports management game i play. So this will be important towards my game. 1 - Scouting Is it as simple as the more money you spend the better accuracy you get in your scout reports. Do you send your scouts out on assignments (regions) or just individual players (and why would you scout an individual don't you already have his ratings). How does everyone set up their budgets? 2 - The Scout I've noticed a few scouts with outstanding and legendary scouting ability. Yet with 22 years experience still has a reputation as inexperience. How can this be? Also does reputation matter? 3 - Potential How much does this change as the player develops? Is their guys with 20-30 potential (20-80 scale) that end up being 60-80 in the end? I understand with a poor scout this could happen, yet will it happen if your scout is the best of the best? Also any tips to finding these gems 4 - Farm system and Player Progression I'm very new to baseball so ive been reading about farm systems on the internet and player progression, yet still unsure on how to go about it. Do all drafted players go to rookie? i've read some go higher, how do you choose? Also if you have 2 teams at the same level is there a difference When do you know a player is ready to go up at each level? When do you put someone on the 40 man roster? and as a baseball newbie, what are the benefits and consequences of this? I saw something about waivers etc Thank you for reading and even more thanks if you can answer. Also put it in general chat because 'new to the game,' just seems to be i cant start my historial or fictional league

03-25-2015, 07:40 AM	#4
Rain King Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,151	Just to give the basics of the 40-man, there are essentially 2 reasons to place someone on this roster. 1. You are also placing that player on the 25-man active roster (in this case the game will add him to the 40-man automatically). 2. You want to "protect" him from the rule 5 draft. The rule 5 draft is an off-season draft in which teams can take players from other organizations who have accrued a certain amount of time in the minors but are not on a 40-man roster. If a player is taken he must stay on the major league team all season or be offered back to his original team. Waivers Once a player is on the 40-man, "options" come into play. An "option" is essentially a season in which a player is on the 40-man roster, but spends some time in the minor leagues. A team has 3 options they can use on a player and each option is season specific, meaning whether a player spends 1 or 100 days in the minors and no matter how many times he goes up and down that season uses up 1 option. Once a player is out of options, he must be placed on "waivers" in order to be sent to the minor leagues, which opens him up to be claimed by other teams in the league. A player also must go through "waivers" if you wish to remove him from the 40-man roster. Hopefully that at least somewhat clearly explains the basic 40-man/waiver stuff. Last edited by Rain King; 03-25-2015 at 07:42 AM.

03-25-2015, 11:29 AM	#7
Harry_BallSack Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Was NJ, Then FL, Then IL, Then VA, Now Natick, MA ! Posts: 241	For individual player scouting I believe you do need to shortlist the player(s) in question to receive the updates __________________ Playing Sim ball since Microleague Baseball on my C64 in Highschool, Then Front Page Sports (some Earl Weaver on the Amiga in there as well) and finally made the shift to OOTP around version 2. Been here ever since The Original Atlantic City Gambler and Daytona Beach Fatboy Owner.

03-23-2015, 09:52 PM	#2
blasek0 Major Leagues Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 345	1) Generally speaking, the more money you spend on scouting, the more often you'll get updated scouting reports on players. More reports generally leads to more accurate numbers. They're never perfectly accurate, but the more looks I get at a player, the more likely it becomes that the reports I do have are accurate. Also, talent levels change, so more frequent reports are more likely to give you up-to-date evaluations of a player. This is why teams send out scouts to target players they're considering acquiring in a trade. 2) Better scouting tools are always better. If a guy is listed as inexperienced, then he probably isn't worth pursuing as a scout. Some GMs have scouting ratings in OOTP, others don't. 3) Generally speaking, potential trends downward as a player develops. Players do come out of nowhere, such as Cliff Lee, but they're the exceptions, not the norm. Generally speaking, I chase the highest potential guys that I can, to the exclusion of all else, and value defensive tools more heavily because in OOTP, defense is all but guaranteed to develop. 4) OOTP automatically assigns all drafted / signed players to the lowest level available, which in most cases is Rookie ball. Some players are too advanced for that, and should probably be sent to Short Season A or A instead, but those are typically college players or very polished high school players. Josh Bell of the Pirates is probably one of the better recent examples of that. As a new player, you can typically leave minor league promotion/demotion up to the AI if you want, and it'll do an OK job of managing all of that for you. As far as 40-man roster rules, and managing of the major league roster, that's a much more complicated task. I'd recommend Wikipedia - Major League Baseball Transactions and Brew Crew Ball - The 40 Man Roster for a general overview, even if it isn't OOTP specific. OOTP's roster rules, in the vast majority of cases, mimic the rules appropriately.

03-25-2015, 06:41 AM	#3
munas23 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 11	Thanks blasek, The brew crew article was good, just confirmed some things for me thanks. Love to hear other peoples opinions on how to find a hidden gem

03-25-2015, 10:26 AM	#6
Bleacherboy Bat Boy Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Wrigleyville, Chicago Posts: 12	I've always loved the idea of having a separate set of ratings (apart from OSA) that I can trust and use to get the edge on trades/drafts...but in OOTP16, I'm not getting any reports/insight/ratings/development news at all from my own guy. I have a head scout on-staff, I have "Complete Scouting" enabled (with monthly reports requested), have even use the command to force re-scouting, but nothing. Am I overlooking something simple, alone in the issue....anyone have help?

03-26-2015, 03:16 PM	#9
Bleacherboy Bat Boy Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Wrigleyville, Chicago Posts: 12	@HarryBallsack (something I never thought I would type)...it's not about individual reports, it's that I get no reports from my scout at all. In the past I could always compare OSA ratings to my scouts, but now I don't get them, I don't get reports on player progression, if I go to scouting reports in players' profiles there none from my scout past March 2015 (start of game), while I'm now in 2019. It's almost as though scouting is turned off or I've missed a setting somewhere (though when I experimented and turned off "complete scouting", even the March 2015 report disappeared). I've played 6 other iterations of OOTP with no problem and have combed through all of the familiar settings to this one to no avail -- it's really dampening the enjoyment of the game (love to "outsmart" AI opponents, not rely on same exact data), if anyone has ay thoughts...

03-27-2015, 01:15 AM	#10
Rain King Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,151	You should still be getting updated reports, so there must be something amiss. What mode are you playing in (Manager, GM, etc.)? Is this an imported league or did you start it in 16?