Draft Pool Problems

[marklaker]

In the first amateur draft of my first season in OOTP10 the player creation appears very skewed. All the pitchers were created with current contact ratings between 6 and 9 on a 1-20 scale, yet all my hitters were created with 1's. The potential ratings appear to be fine but the current ratings are terrible. What the heck happened? It looks like I'm going to have to edit all 320 players to more realistic ratings.

In OOTP6 there was an option to set modifiers for draft player creation. Was this option included in OOTP10? If so, I can't find it.

Thanks!

Mark

[marklaker]

Upon further review there are problems with the pitchers current control ratings as well. They all have ratings of only 1 or 2, with 80% reflecting 1. This can't be right, can it?

[William Foster]

Use Feeders.

[marklaker]

By "use feeders" do you mean set-up high school and college feeder leagues? Is this the only fix? I really have no desire to run high school and college operations.

Thanks!

[William Foster]

Originally Posted by marklaker

By "use feeders" do you mean set-up high school and college feeder leagues? Is this the only fix? I really have no desire to run high school and college operations.

Thanks!

You can also get better results by creating more players then their are rounds. For instance when I used to run a 30 round draft without Feeders I would create players for 60+ rounds so that I would have a larger % of good players. I don't know if that will solve the problem your having with skill vs. potential ratings but let me ask you, do you have scouting turned on?

I'd suggest setting up feeders (they don't require management beyond the set up if you do it right) though. They've really improved in this version and have finally proven worth it for me.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by marklaker

The potential ratings appear to be fine but the current ratings are terrible.

This is normal. Considering that the draftees are young and inexperienced, their current ratings are going to be low, usually far less than their potentials.

[marklaker]

Satchel:

Every single hitter has a current contact rating of "1". This means all my draft eligible hitters have current contact ratings less than or equal to my current major league pitchers. That's not normal.

All but three pitchers have control ratings of "1" or "2", with 80% featuring "1". This means all draft eligible pitchers have current control ratings equal to my major league hitters. That isn't normal either.

In addition, every player created for the draft by the computer was 18 years old. There was no age variation.

Mark

[jasonn29tn14]

I would suggest starting over and carefully going over all your settings upon league creation. As you said, something sounds very wrong.

[marklaker]

I'm not sure what this would do. The ratings created to fill the players at universe start-up were fine and so are the stats being produced. The universe is operating as I would like it to, with very realistic results. Only the draft pool appears to be skewed and there is no option at start-up for player creation modifiers for building the draft pool.

Mark

[jasonn29tn14]

Maybe this is a rare bug(?) I haven't seen this myself. But I've been using feeders for a couple of versions so I don't really know.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by marklaker

Satchel:

Every single hitter has a current contact rating of "1".

My apologies, I didn't understand upon my first reading of your original post.

Originally Posted by marklaker

In addition, every player created for the draft by the computer was 18 years old. There was no age variation.

This goes a long way toward explaining the "1" ratings, at least. It's very common for such young players to have Contact current ratings of "1." The source of your problem could very well be the draftees' "18" ages.

[marklaker]

So is the answer creating feeder leagues? If so, can I add them now to influence next year's draft, or do I have to start all over again? I suppose I'm going to have to edit this year's pool.....though I'm finding the pitching editors a bit difficult to work with.

Thanks!

Mark

[Carplos]

You may think the current ratings are low, but prospects will develop at a realistic rate. That said, you should be able to create feeder leagues in the offseason of an already started game.

[ike121212]

Pitcher's generate with their max batting ratings, and never develop. Not a big problem really. Something is wrong with your draft pool though. Have you tried a re-scout? or checking their actual ratings with the editor?

[marklaker]

The ratings I posted are actual current ratings. As mentioned, the potential ratings are fairly decent. I just don't feel comfortable that a hitter with a current rating of "1" in contact will develop well enough to hit at the major league level despite what his potential ratings may reflect. Same for a pitcher with a current control rating of "1".

[ike121212]

Originally Posted by marklaker

The ratings I posted are actual current ratings. As mentioned, the potential ratings are fairly decent. I just don't feel comfortable that a hitter with a current rating of "1" in contact will develop well enough to hit at the major league level despite what his potential ratings may reflect. Same for a pitcher with a current control rating of "1".

You said 1 on a 1-20 scale. In the editor, isn't it 1-250? Just thinking it could be a scouting issue.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by marklaker

I just don't feel comfortable that a hitter with a current rating of "1" in contact will develop well enough to hit at the major league level despite what his potential ratings may reflect.

Loads of players start out with a Contact of "1" and turn out fine. If a hitter enters the draft out of high school, his Contact is going to be "1" or "2" every time. It's not unusual, and the player has every chance in the world to be good.

[marklaker]

Ok, Satchel. I guess my inexperience with version 10 has me a little anxious. What about 18 year old pitchers who start out with a control of "1"? Can they develop into their potential and deliver at the ML level given the appropriate potential?

As always, thanks for your insight.

Mark

[CatKnight]

Mark, this also happens even if you create high school feeder leagues in my experience.

The problem is that these players are nowhere near their potential...on a 1-20 scale even someone with a 6 or 7 rating can sometimes perform in a pinch on an MLB level. With very rare exceptions (Blyleven, etc.) this isn't true for 18 year olds in real life.

The problem I can forsee is that it does make it harder for you to judge who will develop properly and who won't. I just finished playing with a league where some draft choices went on to have Hall of Fame careers... but quite a few washed out.

If you do start running feeder leagues, then watch their stats for clues as to how they'll develop if you draft them. Otherwise look closely at their potential ratings.

Players with 1 or 2 ratings aren't a real issue at age 18. Remember, on average these guys won't even think about peaking out for seven years. That's plenty of time for them to get their act together.

EDIT: I just reread your posts. ALL your draftees being 18 years old IS rather odd. You might want to check through your player creation settings (League Setup>Options) if memory serves. Did a minimum and maximum age slip in there by mistake?

[satchel]

Originally Posted by marklaker

What about 18 year old pitchers who start out with a control of "1"?

Here's a pitcher of mine in my online NPBL league. He was drafted at age 18. As you can see in his History, at the bottom of the player report page, he had a Control of 1 when he was drafted. He's 19 now, with a year and a half of experience, and his Control is up to 3. (Here's another example in the same league, with almost the exact same numbers.)