I think it's just that most of us are new (or new-ish) to the game. I also think that using a thread for all things makes it harder to have conversations and whatnot.
That said, first place! Finally over .500 and in first. I may have overpaid for that pitcher, but I'll spend $8 mil/season if it means I can win since my starting pitching was, ah, pretty terrible earlier in the season.
True. But picking up on what you just said, my financials are in the red. I look at other teams, green. I have the draft coming up and I have no clue wether I should, or actually can go after what I need. I 'think' I've got 7mil for the draft. Well what happens if I go over a bit? Should I use it all for a serious hole I have? And when they say, '...incrediably hard...' for the Surfers to draft, is that because the game is looking at my financials and laughing? Or...? Do I even worry about being in the red?
And as I mentioned a couple times, I've looked around the league and seen very good scouts, thus very good farm teams and MLB roster. Mine are mediocre at best. BUT, is it too early to can them. Can I 'can' a pitching scout only (which brings up something I've not figured out. When I go to staff, I just see the Head Scout. No way I could see the individual scouts for batting, pitching etc. Yet when I go to the BNN League Home page and click on available scouts I see all the individual scouts pop-up for the above mentioned individual scouting jobs. If I hire (or can I) from this menu, does that just can the one I have? Etc. etc. etc.
Maybe I'm just too anal lol, (and need to let things go for awhile).
Thanks for the information Pred, I really appreciate. But again, I feel guilty that I seem to be the only one taking up your time and no one else is inputing much. Maybe were all chicklin's and your the mother hen getting us all thru the first year or so. I'll keep a low profile and just wait and do what I can. I've started some SP leagues with the, 'Quick' games. But I'll do like my Bro' is doing, i.e. exactly what you are recommeding get deeper into a regular SP game and learn. (and of course RTFM *chuckle*, which I have. But from a previous posts of mine, I do get lost in all the cool x-links of information and get everywhere...but nowhere. But I'll keep at it.)
Again, thanks so much for doing this. You've been great.
As far as Draft...good gawd, top 25? I may have only enough money for one or two if they are looking for multiple year contracts. I will give you maybe my top 5 and let the Scout Director (shudder...he sucks!). But really I'll just go along with the majority who may have more familiarity with this aspect. I don't think 'live' will be viable for I know what it's like to get together with a bunch of GWJ'ers on a console to play a game, let alone this kind of thing. But if folks think they can swing it live, I'm there (or any other technique).
Cheers
Whattup Baltimore? I'm that punk kid on a skateboard, holding on to your rear bumper. You can't shake me!
Whattup Baltimore? I'm that punk kid on a skateboard, holding on to your rear bumper. You can't shake me!
... And I just lost a (decent) SP for 7 weeks. Suck on that exhaust!
As someone who may be interested in joining the league, how much time do you guys spend per week on this? I've been lurking here and it looks interesting but time is a concern for me.
Another week gone. I'd like to thank Boston for destroying our team ERA by dropping 11 and 20 on us while splitting a 4-game series. Did you know Miami is a ludicrous 14-3 in one-run games this year? Or that Boston really, really doesn't like extra-inning games (1-5 so far)? Otherwise, not much news on the individual front, we're 60 games in, and opinions are being formed, be they good or bad.
My pleasure for the runs scored- I just wish I could have spread them out a bit more across the series :).
On the draft- I really do not trust my scouting director's assessment and would prefer to rank players myself. I'd love a live draft, but if that isn't possible, I'd at least like to send a list in for picks.
As someone who may be interested in joining the league, how much time do you guys spend per week on this? I've been lurking here and it looks interesting but time is a concern for me.
I basically spend 15 or 20 minutes twice a week (the night of the sim) making sure my rosters are in order. I do need to sit down and really wrestle with the future of the team (scouting, extensions, etc.) for a couple hours though, and soon. Took this long to get to know my team a bit, though, so that's cool. Like I know I gotta lock up my black Japanese pitcher who's 7-3, making 400k and pitching to a 1.93 ERA.
As someone who may be interested in joining the league, how much time do you guys spend per week on this? I've been lurking here and it looks interesting but time is a concern for me.
You can really spend as much or as little time as you want. I probably spend at least an hour per update breaking down stats and such, but you can easily let the AI take over a lot of the functions and spend almost no time at all on it.
From OOTP forums and Markus today:
'...
Hey guys,
we're currently nearing the release of the final OOTP 12 update, version number 12.5 It should be ready late this week or early next week.
For this version the following new features were added:
• Added an "Offseason Summary" to the Offseason Center which lists players added/lost during the offseason for each team, along with WAR and team leaderboard for WAR added.
• Added a "GM Transactions History" section to the Manager History screen.
It lists all major transactions made for the teams you were in charge of.
• Added a "Preseason Predictions Report", listing projected standings and a top 10 hitters & pitchers list for each sub-league. It gets generated on the first day of Spring Training and is available from both the league menu or the Spring Training screen.
On top of the features, we will introduce AI tweaks (mainly financials) and try to fix all the bugs which were reported recently. Also, it will include a usage tracker, which is explained here: Usage Tracker
After OOTP 12.5 is released, development will shift to OOTP 13, which is scheduled for a pre Opening Day release date 2012.
Cheers,
Markus
__________________
Buy OOTP Developments' Games ... OOTP is on Twitter now ... And, a Facebook page too!
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Last edited by Markus Heinsohn; Today at 05:39 AM.
...'
Btw Pred, I mean't to get back to you on the stat definitions. As you probably have seen, the OOTP manual glossary if helpful. But I find the following helpful too:
1)www.hardballtimes.com has a great glossary of acronyms and definitions;
2) www.baseball-reference.com: Good, but to me a bit hard to manuever around and find what you are looking for.
3)baseball.about.com: Pretty good and lot's of other informative stuff.
4) And of course, as you mentioned Wikipedia.
Sure there's ton's more, but these are the ones I found helpful with VORP, ERA+ etc.
I HIGHLY recommend picking up The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball to anyone who is having a hard time understanding the more advanced stats. I'd link, but I'm posting from my phone and am lazy. A quick Amazon search will turn it up, and it's available on Kindle.
Also, is there any ruling on the draft? With the 2nd pick I'm sure my director will pick someone I don't want. Can we send you a list of prospects via the upload? Folks who are uninterested can let the AI set a draft list for them for all rounds, and those who want to spend the time can do it manually.
I HIGHLY recommend picking up The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball to anyone who is having a hard time understanding the more advanced stats. I'd link, but I'm posting from my phone and am lazy. A quick Amazon search will turn it up, and it's available on Kindle.
A number of people have said that because of the charts and diagrams and whatnot that reading it on the Kindle is actually kind of annoying. So, take that into account.
Speaking of analyzing stats, here's something to consider in the off-season when the FA market gets going.
Wins don't matter.
Now, some sabremetricians think Wins don't matter at all, and I'm not totally behind that, but certainly, they're not as important as we thought they were. A 20-game winner is not immediately among the elite pitchers in the league, especially when Storm Davis went 19-7 in 1989, and did it with a horrendous ERA, ERA+, and WHIP (Davis's ERA was 4.36, the overall league average was 3.88).
So when you're considering a pitcher, don't think in terms of just wins, losses and ERA. Look at those other stats and consider what your scouts say, and you may save yourself from having a $20M albatross around your neck for the next 5-7 seasons.
Yep, I have read the WHIP, FIP and even VORP (what I would think is more a batters stat) comes into play. (they actually were using VORP recently to show the best 10 pitcher/catcher duos.)
Also, when C. Schilling was posting, he was championing a stat he had created (can't think of the name of it now) and I believe OOTP incorporated it in their stats.
FYI: For those folks who subscribe to MLB.TV (not.com), they have a series called, "Between the Seams" . A most recent one that repeats here and there, is on 'history of stats'. Pretty interesting and they interview allot of folks you read about in Moneyball.
And speaking of Storm Davis, this follows in the same vein as why Felix Hernandes won the Cy Young award last year. He was just 13-12, and the Mariners was rock bottom last in the standings. BUT he had a 2.27 ERA, WHIP: 1.057, ERA+: 174, WAR:2.9, etc.
"The Draft"
I haven't seen any conversation regarding upcoming draft after Pred threw it out for suggestions. Here is mine....
I would like to be involved in the 1st through 5th Rounds. After that the A1 can do the rest of the draft. Curious if A1 would use our scout's potential rating to pick players for the subsequent rounds?
Do a live draft for 5 rounds with everyone having one minute to pick. Then if you don't pick, A1 picks for you for that round. That way it would take no more than 80 minutes for five rounds. Could be less if people pick quickly.
Not sure if feasible or how much work this would make for the "Commish."
If it is not feasible to have a live draft am comfortable with scout as long as we know the highest rated player available. BUT, what if we have needs at a few positions that we would like filled? So, I go back to the live draft for a few rounds so we have a little control.
Mitchson- Seattle Rain
I don't think the draft has to be live...if folks fill out their draft rankings within OOTP it should auto draft based on those lists. I'm new to this too, so I could be dead wrong, but there are options for each round to have your scout fill out the rankings, or to have him fill out rankings for all rounds.
I don't think the draft has to be live...if folks fill out their draft rankings within OOTP it should auto draft based on those lists. I'm new to this too, so I could be dead wrong, but there are options for each round to have your scout fill out the rankings, or to have him fill out rankings for all rounds.
Not sure I understand. Are those lists of players? And what are the rankings? Is there some place to read about this? I will check ootp manual for info, but if there is somewhere specific let me know.
Thanks
Mitchson
Sent a list of 8 in, rest can be handled by my infamous Scouting team
Tox Donan - San Diego Surfers
So, a bit off topic, but also on topic, is anyone going to see Moneyball?
Landshrk83 wrote:I don't think the draft has to be live...if folks fill out their draft rankings within OOTP it should auto draft based on those lists. I'm new to this too, so I could be dead wrong, but there are options for each round to have your scout fill out the rankings, or to have him fill out rankings for all rounds.
Not sure I understand. Are those lists of players? And what are the rankings? Is there some place to read about this? I will check ootp manual for info, but if there is somewhere specific let me know.
Thanks
Mitchson
So, a bit off topic, but also on topic, is anyone going to see Moneyball?
Yes! This afternoon with Bro' (oh, and wives).
Here is my rant about draft.
I throughly enjoy all aspects of this game. I look forward to the sims sent twice a week to see results of decisions made.
I believe the draft also is a key part of team's future. I would like to take part because of the thrill of selecting those players that will be cornerstones on your team in the future. I know by the threads you are writing that you are trying everything you can to get best performance out of players. If you are investing that much time in your team then why wouldn't you want to invest time in the draft and do a live draft.
I would get up at four in morning or at whatever time to accomodate others who are interested in a live draft. As I pointed out 5 rounds would take about 80 minutes or less.
And we could do three rounds to keep it under an hour. Those who want to depend on scouts for those rounds can do so.
Would like to hear opinions.
Thanks
Mitchson - Seattle Rain
Prederick- I ranked my top 20 or so and copy/pasted that list across all rounds. Do you know if that was included when I uploaded my team via FTP?
And Mitchson- if Prederick can confirm that my rankings were included with my upload, that would be my preferred draft method.
Pred
Haven't loaded any lists of players to draft list as of yet but exported file. As soon as I know which way we are going will do what you and concensus wants to do. Btw, if you loosen $ situation will that nullify the $ required by Extremely Hard players? On my shortlist I excluded all Extremely Hard players.
Thanks
Mitchson
I'm not that overly concerned with the draft myself. It's nowhere near as important as in football. For Front Office Football we do live drafts that usually last about a week. Some helpful individual (not the developer, it should be said) continues to develop a program to be utilized with FOF sites to hold drafts outside of the game.
Anyway, I'm just going to submit a list and if we do a live draft, I'll attempt to make it (probably can).
Edit: Actually, my scout is really smart and putting the players in an order that I like. I'm just going to upload his list with a couple tweaks.
My internet is down at home till tomorrow. So I've run over to Starbucks to ftp my game files. So if this was premature or whatever, let me know and what to do.
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