I need amatuer draft tips

[GmOfTheYear]

I googled 1st year player draft tips for ootp but I have some questions unanswered.

What I have learned from my search is after 4-5 rounds keep turning the ratings relative to league down a notch which I will do. I also see a lot of people say draft based off of work ethic and intelligence which is fine. However I still have had the worst 8 years of drafting in my ootp experience. Not one mvp type of talent and not one Ace. So I need some real help to draft way better.

Some questions I have is what are the mandatory attributes or stats or things I should make sure are added to my screen/filter to make sure I'm able to quickly see who to draft and who to avoid?

For those who do draft the whole 40 rounds how do I do the same? As I said in another thread the players seems to not really be much different past 10-15 rounds. So I honestly don't know who to take at that point. I do know we have some people here who draft every pick they have, so what do you look for, what is your setup on your screen to find the players and how do you differentiate between who to take when the talent all seems terrible at that point?

Also any other pointers or things I need to know to have a successful draft would be great. I have missed on so many prospects with early picks its unreal. My current draft strategy is to draft one of my scouts highest rated players based off of stars for the first 5 rounds then sim the rest. I need to do something better here and preferably find a way to draft all 40 rounds.

[schreck]

I probably only draft through 10-15 rounds most of the time, but I'm new to the game this year, so don't have deep roots or knowledge by any means. I play with the 20/80 scouting system, not stars.

Generally, I sort by highest ovr potential, then look at individual attributes from there. Key in on guys with high potential in key ratings like contact/power/eye for hitters and stuff/control/stamina/number of viable pitches for starters. Rarely if ever look for pitchers that can only be relievers.

From there, I hone in on things that "can't be taught", like speed, infield/outfield arm, range, etc. If those are strong, they should be able to improve at corresponding positions. Dangerous to draft guys really low in those stats, because they have limited ceilings and are very positionally limited. I'm learning the hard way, because I have several awesome hitters, but they are way too DH/1B or corner outfield type. Look for some of the athletic SS/CF types because they are so much more flexible.

I do look for high effort/hard worker and leader types as much as possible too. So far it's worked fairly well, but can't say I've landed superstars in the draft. Through my 8th season I do have a handful of my draftees on my big league roster and starting though, so it's worked out pretty well.

Just remember, most of the time a draft is considered a success if you get 1 key MLB player out of it, and some support role types.

Some of your success will depend on where you're drafting. If you're top 10, you should be able to get somebody good, later on it's more of a crap shoot though. Your minor league coaching and development budget will also have some level of impact on how well even the best prospects turn out.

It's rea

[IanIachimoe]

first thing I do is find the players that are 4-5 stars regardless of scouting & go after them.

I draft 35 & let the CPU pick the last 5. near the end, I look for an attribute (or two if I'm lucky) that stands out - high power, contact, velocity, speed - combined with smarts & drive. I also start looking for the "swiss-army knife" players. I found when I ask for the CPU's suggestion, it's almost always a High INT, High Work Ethic guy, regardless of his ratings. sometimes they find me a guy I probably wouldn't have found otherwise (the end rounds can be a drag).

I've had quite a few good drafts, wish I could offer more advice. prob a good amount of luck involved. I've taken a chance on some guys that my scout hated but OOTP scouting loved & they turned out to be great players (as far as I know, play out every game & the farthest I've made it was 7-8 years).

wish I could offer more, not at home w/ the game & usually winging it for the most part.

[GmOfTheYear]

Alright keep em coming guys, good stuff so far.

[slugger922cubs]

I love to look for eye. If the player can get a read on a pitch and take a walk it then it seems makes everything else a little easier and offsets if other skills dont develop.
Also take a look at how you're managing your farm system. You maybe drafting well and moving players up either too slowly or too quickly and stunting their development. Even bad drafts should yield a couple MLB regulars imo. Remember that nothing is a given and players can easily flame out or come out of nowhere. Look no further than Mark Appel for a elite pick selected 8th(failed to sign) and 1st in back to back years for players who can flame out. Not every top pick is Bryce Harper or Strasbourg.

[NoOne]

work ethic doesn't help development, despite teh common thought in the forums -- intelligence would be what you want for development. Regardless, anytime the difference in talent is large you should probably ignore the fact the lesser player is smarter... Talent, then all other factors at a lesser weight. can it be trumped? sure, but not too large of a difference. work ethic is important if you want them into their 30's.

if they have a low intelligence, trade them before they start taking a dump unless extremely talented and you want to roll the dice.

the moment i think the players available are interchangeable, i let the AI finish it up. i don't typically make it past round 10, but where you draw the line is an opinion, but you should definitely draw one for the sake of effort somewhere unless you really enjoy the draft, of course. the more you do, the better you'll be, but by how much? at some point it's a very negligible increase.

if you aren't drafting high in the first round or not at all, it's difficult to draft high-end players... the higher the inaccuracy, the more money in scouting and the better scout you have, the greater the difference you can put between yourself and the AI -- ie you'll see the talent that falls, while they see a low rating more often. these thing will increase the frequency that it will occur, but does not guarantee anything for a particular year's result.

so budget and scout is the foundation. timing of when to splurge on these things and when to dump more assets into payroll is another decision. imo, if you can afford max budgets here (at least 20-24M in development, max scouting for sure) and afford 250M or more in payroll, you should do it every year. assumes 250M would be the high-end of the league's payrolls.

some things i believe are trends with amatuer draft -

Movement for pitchers after the top-flight prospects are off the board is the biggest key to future success based on what you can see due to inaccuracy (assumes at least normal setting). there will be more landmines than gold.. even when you do it the 'best' way... so, don't expect a magic bullet here. and the gold in rounds 5-10+ doesn't have a whole lot of shine to it. (round 3+ for pitchers some years).

when i get past good potential picks i am sorting pitchers by movement (before that i sort by potential). test my theory -- sort by movement once they are sub 1/2 scale potential left or maybe a bit less, then turn comissioner mode on, go into the editor and scan through the top 20 (sorting includes inaccuracy, which you see through in player editor - what you see relative to that is part of reasoning too), then do the same with sorting by control and compare wht you see... Especially rounds 5-15 significantly more viable AAA MiL talent at the top when sorted by movement vs anything else -- mind you, we are not talking about everyday players most likely and maybe 1 out of 4 sorted by movement vs 1 out of 10 sorted by other means -- It's still a crapshoot, but a better one!! So, if oyu have 2x or 3x these types of players in your system vs what the AI has unearthed, which over time it will inevitably happen, you get TCR-goodness at a higher rate too with those 'better' MiL/borderline players... you also have better mil teams and multiple replacement level options at AAA without haveing to spend 535k per player just for depth as much.

With batters i am sorting by contact once the potential ratings drop off... i'll start sorting by potential and contact and seeing what's there.. once it bcomes apparent i should sort by contact, i shift. can't play in the majors if you can't hit somehwere approaching average.

with both batters and pitchers i am going to sort by other important ratings just to see what's at the top + available... like power for hitters and stuff/control for pitchers -- but with batters i am keeping an eye onthat contact column and skipping anythign that's junky and possibly the eye column for any extreme weaknesses... and with pitchers it's a bit more complicated - stuff, move, contr and relative to RP vs SP all important. avoid extreme weaknesses as best you can... 1 or 20 out of 200 for control/movement potential won't ever make it. they are landmines in teh draft. batters have equivalents to that.

if you are picking top-10 and still missing alot, you need to change how you assess talent -- somewhere near 1/2 1st rd. picks panning out well is respectable, but you should shoot for a higher percentage... as far as Rd. 5-15ish, just do your best and don't expect much.

with teh amatuer draft and international amatuers july 2nd, i'd avoid filters. inaccuracy is so great, that you want to make the decision yourself... typically only a handful will fit the Round, so just find the ones that are suitable, shortlist and compar them if you want a small list. it's hard to value thngs differently than perceived, but if you fail more times than not, that's all that is left to change for these high-end picks... it's more about accuracy than anything else.... if you ick a player and he's inaccurately rated, you cannot be too hard on yourself, and exclude that from success/fail rate if you are doing any research or testing to see if a change(s) in behaviour is working out.

Avoid using filters inthe draft. mlb FA aren't the same... they ware well known commodities... however, filters will miss the younger less-known players on a rare occasion, too... but it's significantly less often than the amatuer draft, and no problem relative to context to miss 1 replacement level depth player / year. you don't want to chop out a viable player rd 5-15+ when only 1 out of 5 under-the-hood is actually decent.

[TuckerDuckson]

Here's my general knowhow on drafting players:

A curveball/change up that is rated as 20-25 (out of 80) with the "potential" to develop to say a 65-75. Will not develop. Doesn't matter the players work ethic (which doesn't help development) or intelligence. If anything, it's easier for a change up to develop rather than a curveball to develop if they ever do develop. I won't say that they all do not develop because some do. It's just more often than not, you're going to be stick with a 1st round middle reliever.

Draft Contact guys. Power, unless the player has a decent intelligence, has a real problem developing. Unless they are established with power (in the 40-50 range) out of the draft, the power that is in the 25-30s with potential for 75-80 won't develop. Unless they have good contact to fall back on, you're going to be stuck with a guy who can barely hit even if they can drive the ball.

Understand you're stadium. For the love of god if you're field is a double and triples park, draft players with gap power, and draft groundballers. If it's a singles ball park draft flyballers and contact guys. Home Run park, power (with contact) and extreme groundballers.

Pitchers suck. Never draft them. Trade for established prospects from other organizations. Unless you have the first overall pick, it's better to draft a forsure hitter who can last years anchoring a lineup than a starter who could or could not be a #2. If anything, snatch god like relievers in the 4-5th rounds.

Don't draft first basemen unless you will need one in the future. So many times the best players in the draft are first basemen who are defensively limited. If you keep going for the BPA, you will be stuck with a bunch of first basemen who are blocked by each other. Over time the crop of first basemen will become oversaturated, and no one will want your first basemen.

[GmOfTheYear]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of ballpark the tigers ballpark is. The factors are

Avg Overall 1.014
Avg lhb 1.020
Avg rhb 1.010
Doubles .980
Triples 1.260
Hr overall .986
hr lhb .980
hr rhb .990

I guess this is a triples park so I should draft guys with gap power and groundballers?

Also one more question I have is you guys say draft contact, do you mean guys with the highest contact potential or contact overall rating?

Also when sorting by movement is it overall movement rating or movement potential? Thanks

[The Yurpman]

I really can't add much new info that hasn't been posted already by others. But as others have said, in the later rounds of the draft I focus on things that "stand out" about one player over the others. If there are 5 players who are all projected 20/20 potential but one is super fast or one has a very high intelligence/work ethic, can play defense at multiple positions, etc.

For pitchers the same applies but I look for someone that is great at one thing (stuff, movement, and especially control) or someone that has one or two very good pitches.

EDIT: Forgot to add, don't overlook the later rounds as just filler. I drafted a SP in the 27th round who was 20/20 potential who in just two seasons is my third best prospect at 20/55 and is getting better and better.

[ThePretender]

Originally Posted by GmOfTheYear

I'm trying to figure out what kind of ballpark the tigers ballpark is. The factors are

Avg Overall 1.014
Avg lhb 1.020
Avg rhb 1.010
Doubles .980
Triples 1.260
Hr overall .986
hr lhb .980
hr rhb .990

I guess this is a triples park so I should draft guys with gap power and groundballers?

Also one more question I have is you guys say draft contact, do you mean guys with the highest contact potential or contact overall rating?

Also when sorting by movement is it overall movement rating or movement potential? Thanks

The park is neutral. I wouldn't build my team around the stadium.

When they're referring to contact/movement they mean potential. However just be aware that older players (21+) that have low overalls relative to their potential are likely busts.

[TuckerDuckson]

Originally Posted by GmOfTheYear

I'm trying to figure out what kind of ballpark the tigers ballpark is. The factors are

Avg Overall 1.014
Avg lhb 1.020
Avg rhb 1.010
Doubles .980
Triples 1.260
Hr overall .986
hr lhb .980
hr rhb .990

I guess this is a triples park so I should draft guys with gap power and groundballers?

Also one more question I have is you guys say draft contact, do you mean guys with the highest contact potential or contact overall rating?

Also when sorting by movement is it overall movement rating or movement potential? Thanks

Comerica is a neutral/pitchers park. As the above comment, Comerica isn't a stadium to build around. Coors or Kauffmann are stadiums to build around.

Doesn't mean it shouldn't be in the back of your mind when you draft. Comerica is a flyball pitcher (still groundballers are superior to flyballers in every sense) gap power hitter park.

[absurddoctor]

Originally Posted by NoOne

work ethic doesn't help development, despite teh common thought in the forums -- intelligence would be what you want for development.

FWIW,the manual says otherwise:

Originally Posted by OOTP Manual

How strong the player's work ethic is. Players with a strong work ethic can have a positive effect on other players in the clubhouse, and can influence player development. They are also somewhat less prone to slumps. Players with poor work ethic are also more prone to drug suspensions.

Of course, it does go on to point out that all of the personality stuff is unpredictable, so the main point of using any of that as only a final differentiator stands.

[NoOne]

heh, it is!

it must be the lower of the two, or i've been really lucky. i've always ignored it and don't have too many duds.

comerica probably great for high avg / gap power guys. definitely going to hit a few less home runs with the bigger bats at home, and that's just 81 games. a slight flyball tendency would defintieyl rock out in comerica, but on the road ???

i don't like playing those dice.. i like a balanced team and a neutral park. i think that travels better than the reverse in more situations. <guessing> I play the tigers all the time, first thing i change is comerica. it is a nice looking park... there i said something positive about it.

i'd definitely draft a high contact/high power cornerstone bat over a SP any day of the week. but, i won't go so far to say SP are crap draft picks. teams will pay through the nose for a decent SP. i probably shade to SP, but good hitters, especially certain positions, can sway that in any give year very easily. relative to what you are willing to trade away, i think SP are in more demand. you're not trading that future cornerstone bat, etc...

there are X number of high quality batters/pitchers each year... ebb/flow... they fit a profile and frequency over time. however, they are not all created equal.. knowing how to differential a 72-80/80 players is the key.

take 2 SP with the same Stuff rating and similar measurables otherwise.

one guy has 3 pitches all rated roughly equal. the second guy has a killer CB a good slider and a middling fastball of some sort... or swap the fb / slider if you wish.... i prefer the second guy almost all of the time. given that third pitch as at least 1/2 scale. like others said, having an extreme <something> typically is a good thing.

even a batter can overcome zero eye with ~full contact. think ichiro in his prime.. .imagine hime with power.. it can happen in ootp. (not that ichiro had zero eye, but he didn't take many walks)

*also adhering to what tucker said about avoiding extremely low-rated / high potential pitches or control/movement/various ratings. these 1/xx things rarely develop.. although if 17-18 you give a bit more leash due to higher likely scouting inaccuracy and/or if already in your mil system, but with draftees i'd avoid that situation 99.99% with first round picks for sure, probably later too, unless that particular guy could be a really nice RP and nothing else available... always a grey area.. simply take best path for best odds.

look into particulars, find what works best for your leauge over time and experience. sometimes you can find a killer player that's not so highly rated as you typically see with great results. just like those park factors, the LTM/LT play a bigger role in what will work best in your league.

[PSUColonel]

Does it make a difference in talent distribution if you have 40 rounds vs 35?

[Cobby]

Here's a little tidbit from the manual:

Leadership: A player's ability to lead. Players with high leadership have some positive effect on other players in the clubhouse, potentially affecting both their performance and their development.

So when I get down to the scrub portion of the draft, I sort by leadership and start drafting the highest leadership players. If they're also high in intelligence or work ethic, I'll take those first, but if it's just leadership vs work ethic or intelligence, I'll take the high leadership players over the other two.

I'm thinking that these players are very unlikely to develop in any case, but if I saturate my teams with all of these good leadership vibes, it might help my other more talented players develop. At least the manual seems to indicate this.

Whether it actually makes any difference, I have no idea....

[MikeS21]

One trick I have discovered is that when you get into later rounds, try seeing if you have a pitcher with mediocre pitching skills, who has decent hitting skills. I found one once and converted him to a RF, and he eventually became my starting RF.

It works the opposite way, as well. I found a 2B who couldn't hit a lick, but he had great "stuff" and "control," and had pitch velocity of 92-94. I drafted and converted him to a reliever.

As others have said, these position changes tend to go better when a player has higher intelligence ratings and decent work ethic ratings.

Many players are listed at one position in the draft, but when you check their position ratings, you find they might be proficient at another 2-3 positions. I once drafted a 1B solely for his eye/bat/power ratings. Turned out that he had a 40 rating at SS, with room to improve. For the fun of it, I moved him to SS and let him play. Within three minor league seasons (now at AAA), his SS ratings have improved to 50, and his hitting has panned out, as well. Not too many teams can boast an average fielding SS who hits 30+ HR's and an OPS of .875.

Not every draft has these kind of "easter eggs," but every 3-4 drafts I might find one. And sometimes, you discover you already have them in your farm system.

[hcorry2001]

If i'm correct, Jacob deGrom was a 9th round pick for the Mets and look how he turned out!

[DahLZy]

Originally Posted by Cobby

Here's a little tidbit from the manual:

Leadership: A player's ability to lead. Players with high leadership have some positive effect on other players in the clubhouse, potentially affecting both their performance and their development.

So when I get down to the scrub portion of the draft, I sort by leadership and start drafting the highest leadership players. If they're also high in intelligence or work ethic, I'll take those first, but if it's just leadership vs work ethic or intelligence, I'll take the high leadership players over the other two.

I'm thinking that these players are very unlikely to develop in any case, but if I saturate my teams with all of these good leadership vibes, it might help my other more talented players develop. At least the manual seems to indicate this.

Whether it actually makes any difference, I have no idea....

It's probably painfully obvious but how do you sort by personality types? I looked for it in OOTP 18 when customizing my filters but never saw that.

[SR000]

Regarding later rounds:

Pitchers are less predictable so you can try to stock up on them and increase your chances or, as the other poster said, have a philosophy to trade for them. They are half your roster though so you need to draft them accordingly.

As for everyday players, I try to look for defensive whizzes first and then high leader types. The defensive whizzes I then ride as long as I can in the minors. These guys will help your pitcher's stats and that helps their trade value. It is also useful if you can get a couple guys who can play several positions as it will help manage your minor league teams when injuries pile up. Also if the guy can hit better than his weight, his major league glove can get him to the bigs particularly if he is fast. He can be useful at the back of the bench at least if the injury bug hits your middle infielders hard.

Unless you are looking at a perennial all-star slugger at 1B, they don't have much value as the position gets oversaturated. It is easy to convert guys to 1B if you run short.

Also keep in mind when grabbing high schoolers that many of those 18-year olds may struggle for a couple years (I had one guy eventually make the majors who looked like a complete bust for three years before the light came on at age 21).