A Question About Trading from a New user

yankeefan1024 · 03-21-2020, 08:53 PM

Hey guys,

First year OOTP baseball player here. Awesome game.

Just one question.

Seems like as a human user, the AI teams have a very very harsh view of expensive veterans - regardless of their skill, when trying to trade.

I would expect them to behave that way for veterans who are no longer worth their $ and aging (see; Robinson Cano)

However, for example, I just negotiated a deal for DJ Lemahieu at $20 mill per year, 1 year after finishing with a 5WAR season, and only 31, and the computer only offers me aging expensive veterans in return.

Another example is, I salary dumped Giancarlo Stanton as my first trade in my franchise and ate half literally 50% of his salary and had to include multiple 2-3 star young cheap players to get him traded for nothing but cheap, bad players in return -- a pure salary dump.

Yet, when I noticed it doesn't even let me trade good players that have decent salaries for anything but garbage, I tried to re-acquire Giancarlo, and it actually is making me give up valuable assets for him, without them eating any of his salary. Which makes no sense given the above info.

Additionally, any other high priced good veterans I try and acquire (ex: Yelich, Harper, etc.) all ask me to give up a significant haul of assets or doesn't even return a package of value I can put together.

My question is, is this happening to others? If so, how are you dealing with it, how do I pay good veterans in their prime, or trade for expensive vets, without them immediately becoming liabilities upon them being acquired by me?

Thanks!

ALB123 · 03-22-2020, 08:59 AM

Hey yankeesfan1024! I was just working on a new post to submit and then I saw yours, so I hope you don't mind another newbie hopping aboard your train...

If any Veteran level OOTP player is reading this, I'm sure your eyes will be rolling as if your head were a slot machine in Vegas. I'm aware that you've all been through this and maybe even worse if previous versions of OOTP were even less trade-friendly than OOTP 20/21. I'm frustrated as I'm sure other n00bs are too. I totally understand why the AI will ask for a lot in return in some cases where I have approached them. Some. What I'm hoping for is maybe a tip or two on how to lessen the blows newbs, like myself or yankeefan1024, feel from the AI. There have been two times where I almost resorted to Seppuku for being unable to secure a player I promised my home market fan base.

I've been playing OOTP for less than 2 months and that's probably why I still feel frustrated with the AI GM's. One reason why I say frustrated is that I've read many posts where people say things like, "just don't take advantage of AI teams in trades". Well, that certainly won't be a problem on my end. LOL I also want to make clear that I play with just about every OOTP option set to default. One or two settings may have been adjusted, like roster size for my Short-A and Rookie teams, but I do not weaken the AI's play anywhere. Totally pinkie swear.

Some observations I've made... When an AI team offers me a trade they will offer a player of varying degree, but what they want in return is usually preposterous. If they're offering me a 3-Star player they'll want a 3-Star player in return along with a 2.5-Star player or maybe two 2-Star players. If I propose a trade, asking for one of their 3-Star players the only way they'll accept is if I give them a 3.5-Star or 4-Star player in return.

I understand that any team, IRL or AI has the upper hand if I propose a trade for one of their quality players. But when they approach me asking for a 3.5-Star to 4-Star player, you would think I would now have the upper hand. So far, 90%+ of suggested trades by the AI have wanted the world for almost nothing in return to my team.

Finally, I've noticed that the vast majority of players the AI offers me are playing in the last season of a contract. So, I might be looking for a pretty good RF and I'm willing to give up more than I should - A little bit more, you know... The player offered in return might actually be surprisingly not-terrible

but he'll be in his last year of a 3-year contract making $450,000 (1981 signing) and due to his not-terrible performance I know he's going to want an 8-Year deal worth $900,000/year minimum. I have been such a terrible money manager in my first few seasons as a GM, but some contract requests are going to be impossible to meet unless I don't mind not being able to hire a new batboy let alone a single free agent for 2-3 years.

Now, that's 100% my fault, but I think I'm learning...slowly...

yankeefan1024 · 03-22-2020, 09:17 AM

thanks for pitching in. yeah, same issues man. and I play on default settings as well.

I emailed support asking them and they said I can skew it so that trading is either A) easier, or B) more veteran contract "friendly", but I feel convinced there are others playing on default settings who've figured this out!

following along :P

tluebrecht · 04-05-2020, 08:31 PM

I've noticed that the CPU always asks for one of my better prospects in return for a 1 star potential.

backupbatboy · 04-06-2020, 11:51 AM

Something I would suggest is to start by setting trading difficulty to easy, in a different save if that's not how you want to do it in your main one. The AI still works the same way and values players very similarly, but makes many many more options available. Trade and mess around with trades on easy for awhile, and you will get a better grasp on how the AI is valuing players. You can also change your AI settings to value prospects, vets, etc differently. Its your game, play it how you want.

Some think the way the AI treats contracts isn't realistic, I'm personally on the fence. With Stanton, no team in the league would take him and his contract, even without giving up anything. And the Brewers aren't going to trade you Yelich unless you give them an absolute mint. But less extreme examples, like DJ, can reasonably be thought of as unrealistic with how the AI values them.

My suggestion is play around with the settings, learn the AI better, and just figure out what works for you. I have no shame in saying that I play my main save with trading on easy, with some things adjusted to make trading difficulty slightly easier than is realistic.

chazzycat · 04-07-2020, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankeefan1024

For example, I just negotiated a deal for DJ Lemahieu at $20 mill per year, 1 year after finishing with a 5WAR season, and only 31, and the computer only offers me aging expensive veterans in return.

What are the full terms of the contract? depending on how many years it could be a pretty bad contract. Yeah, he just put up 5 WAR, but baseball players typically decline significantly in their 30s, and $20M/year is a lot. If that is more than a year or two, it's probably not a great contract and I would understand the AI's avoidance.

CBeisbol · 04-07-2020, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankeefan1024

However, for example, I just negotiated a deal for DJ Lemahieu at $20 mill per year, 1 year after finishing with a 5WAR season, and only 31, and the computer only offers me aging expensive veterans in return.

As others have asked, what are the terms of that contract.

And what are LeMahieu's ratings?

The LeMahieu I know isn't a $20 million a year player in 2020 or 2021 or 2022...

RBI Baseball · 05-02-2020, 02:54 PM

I've just started as well and it's funny how the AI is desperate to shed contracts that were just signed. The AI was willing to trade me Aroldis Chapman for Tim Tebow. I didn't do it of course, that leadership matters too much to my A ball squad.

03-21-2020, 08:53 PM	#1
yankeefan1024 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 106	A Question About Trading from a New user Hey guys, First year OOTP baseball player here. Awesome game. Just one question. Seems like as a human user, the AI teams have a very very harsh view of expensive veterans - regardless of their skill, when trying to trade. I would expect them to behave that way for veterans who are no longer worth their $ and aging (see; Robinson Cano) However, for example, I just negotiated a deal for DJ Lemahieu at $20 mill per year, 1 year after finishing with a 5WAR season, and only 31, and the computer only offers me aging expensive veterans in return. Another example is, I salary dumped Giancarlo Stanton as my first trade in my franchise and ate half literally 50% of his salary and had to include multiple 2-3 star young cheap players to get him traded for nothing but cheap, bad players in return -- a pure salary dump. Yet, when I noticed it doesn't even let me trade good players that have decent salaries for anything but garbage, I tried to re-acquire Giancarlo, and it actually is making me give up valuable assets for him, without them eating any of his salary. Which makes no sense given the above info. Additionally, any other high priced good veterans I try and acquire (ex: Yelich, Harper, etc.) all ask me to give up a significant haul of assets or doesn't even return a package of value I can put together. My question is, is this happening to others? If so, how are you dealing with it, how do I pay good veterans in their prime, or trade for expensive vets, without them immediately becoming liabilities upon them being acquired by me? Thanks!

03-22-2020, 08:59 AM	#2
ALB123 All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 638	Hey yankeesfan1024! I was just working on a new post to submit and then I saw yours, so I hope you don't mind another newbie hopping aboard your train... If any Veteran level OOTP player is reading this, I'm sure your eyes will be rolling as if your head were a slot machine in Vegas. I'm aware that you've all been through this and maybe even worse if previous versions of OOTP were even less trade-friendly than OOTP 20/21. I'm frustrated as I'm sure other n00bs are too. I totally understand why the AI will ask for a lot in return in some cases where I have approached them. Some. What I'm hoping for is maybe a tip or two on how to lessen the blows newbs, like myself or yankeefan1024, feel from the AI. There have been two times where I almost resorted to Seppuku for being unable to secure a player I promised my home market fan base. I've been playing OOTP for less than 2 months and that's probably why I still feel frustrated with the AI GM's. One reason why I say frustrated is that I've read many posts where people say things like, "just don't take advantage of AI teams in trades". Well, that certainly won't be a problem on my end. LOL I also want to make clear that I play with just about every OOTP option set to default. One or two settings may have been adjusted, like roster size for my Short-A and Rookie teams, but I do not weaken the AI's play anywhere. Totally pinkie swear. Some observations I've made... When an AI team offers me a trade they will offer a player of varying degree, but what they want in return is usually preposterous. If they're offering me a 3-Star player they'll want a 3-Star player in return along with a 2.5-Star player or maybe two 2-Star players. If I propose a trade, asking for one of their 3-Star players the only way they'll accept is if I give them a 3.5-Star or 4-Star player in return. I understand that any team, IRL or AI has the upper hand if I propose a trade for one of their quality players. But when they approach me asking for a 3.5-Star to 4-Star player, you would think I would now have the upper hand. So far, 90%+ of suggested trades by the AI have wanted the world for almost nothing in return to my team. Finally, I've noticed that the vast majority of players the AI offers me are playing in the last season of a contract. So, I might be looking for a pretty good RF and I'm willing to give up more than I should - A little bit more, you know... The player offered in return might actually be surprisingly not-terrible but he'll be in his last year of a 3-year contract making $450,000 (1981 signing) and due to his not-terrible performance I know he's going to want an 8-Year deal worth $900,000/year minimum. I have been such a terrible money manager in my first few seasons as a GM, but some contract requests are going to be impossible to meet unless I don't mind not being able to hire a new batboy let alone a single free agent for 2-3 years. Now, that's 100% my fault, but I think I'm learning...slowly... __________________ "I'm on the side that's always lost against the side of Heaven. I'm on the side of snake-eyes tossed against the side of seven" - Leonard Cohen "The Captain" Last edited by ALB123; 03-22-2020 at 09:01 AM.

03-22-2020, 09:17 AM	#3
yankeefan1024 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 106	thanks for pitching in. yeah, same issues man. and I play on default settings as well. I emailed support asking them and they said I can skew it so that trading is either A) easier, or B) more veteran contract "friendly", but I feel convinced there are others playing on default settings who've figured this out! following along :P

04-05-2020, 08:31 PM	#4
tluebrecht Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 3	I've noticed that the CPU always asks for one of my better prospects in return for a 1 star potential.

04-06-2020, 11:51 AM	#5
backupbatboy Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 35	Something I would suggest is to start by setting trading difficulty to easy, in a different save if that's not how you want to do it in your main one. The AI still works the same way and values players very similarly, but makes many many more options available. Trade and mess around with trades on easy for awhile, and you will get a better grasp on how the AI is valuing players. You can also change your AI settings to value prospects, vets, etc differently. Its your game, play it how you want. Some think the way the AI treats contracts isn't realistic, I'm personally on the fence. With Stanton, no team in the league would take him and his contract, even without giving up anything. And the Brewers aren't going to trade you Yelich unless you give them an absolute mint. But less extreme examples, like DJ, can reasonably be thought of as unrealistic with how the AI values them. My suggestion is play around with the settings, learn the AI better, and just figure out what works for you. I have no shame in saying that I play my main save with trading on easy, with some things adjusted to make trading difficulty slightly easier than is realistic.

05-02-2020, 02:54 PM	#8
RBI Baseball Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 50	I've just started as well and it's funny how the AI is desperate to shed contracts that were just signed. The AI was willing to trade me Aroldis Chapman for Tim Tebow. I didn't do it of course, that leadership matters too much to my A ball squad.