Trading

kissiefur · 05-02-2025, 01:59 PM

First time owner. I have played other baseball games, most notably Baseball Mogul and MLB The Show. This is not a comparison thread, I just wanted to give some background.
There are issues with Trading, and I will explain. Example 1: I offered my 15th round pick for a 20th round pick from Computer AI controlled team. It rejected the trade. There were no players or cash involved, just pick for pick. If the Computer AI offered me this trade, I would take it in a heartbeat, and I am sure any player out there would do the same. Example 2: I offered a 5-star potential player and my 1st round pick (#5 overall) for a 3.5 star potential player from Computer AI controlled team. Again, it rejected the trade. There was no cash or other players involved in the trade. These two trade attempts were made after season 3 was over. My trade picks option is turned on, and the AI for trading difficulty is set at normal. I have gotten trades to work in game, including trading draft picks. The AI should have accepted both trades.
The trading in this game is weird and not consistent. I will give another example to explain the weird part. Example 3: First season in, I offered 2 3.5 star potential players and my second round pick (#1 in the order) for the second overall pick in draft (#2 pick in first round). The Computer AI accepted. This was probably a bad trade from the AI to accept?
Does time have relevance in making trades more difficult further you play game? I have not played game long enough to explore this hunch, but curious if others have noticed a "time" trend element in game.
I hope some expert players will read this and give us a diagnosis, I would greatly appreciate. Of course, if there is any truth to what I am saying maybe the delves can be informed.
My thanks to any of those who read and share.

SirMichaelJordan · 05-02-2025, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kissiefur

First time owner. I have played other baseball games, most notably Baseball Mogul and MLB The Show. This is not a comparison thread, I just wanted to give some background.
There are issues with Trading, and I will explain. Example 1: I offered my 15th round pick for a 20th round pick from Computer AI controlled team. It rejected the trade. There were no players or cash involved, just pick for pick. If the Computer AI offered me this trade, I would take it in a heartbeat, and I am sure any player out there would do the same. Example 2: I offered a 5-star potential player and my 1st round pick (#5 overall) for a 3.5 star potential player from Computer AI controlled team. Again, it rejected the trade. There was no cash or other players involved in the trade. These two trade attempts were made after season 3 was over. My trade picks option is turned on, and the AI for trading difficulty is set at normal. I have gotten trades to work in game, including trading draft picks. The AI should have accepted both trades.
The trading in this game is weird and not consistent. I will give another example to explain the weird part. Example 3: First season in, I offered 2 3.5 star potential players and my second round pick (#1 in the order) for the second overall pick in draft (#2 pick in first round). The Computer AI accepted. This was probably a bad trade from the AI to accept?
Does time have relevance in making trades more difficult further you play game? I have not played game long enough to explore this hunch, but curious if others have noticed a "time" trend element in game.
I hope some expert players will read this and give us a diagnosis, I would greatly appreciate. Of course, if there is any truth to what I am saying maybe the delves can be informed.
My thanks to any of those who read and share.

You miss the critical factor that every GM in the game has their preferences.

Some prefer vets, others young, etc.

You need to level the playing field to do a reliable test.

Pelican · 05-02-2025, 02:47 PM

That's an odd experience, for sure. It's possible that the AI may be "saving you from yourself" on those uneven deals. I would not mind a "fail-safe" bar on deals that make no sense, and probably made in error. I will say that others have suggested the AI is not solid on draft pick trading. Probably needs work.

As for trading in general, what are your settings for difficulty and preference? Do you use reputation and "hard trading"? For example, I move the Difficulty slider to make trading harder, and adjust the Preference slider for the AI to favor veterans (so I am more likely to trade vets for prospects). That seems to yield a decent trading process. I use Reputation, but not the Hard Trading (takes too long to work out a deal). And I have the Trade Frequency (AI to AI deals) dialed way down.

Most of my deals originate from me shopping a player. This usually yields a bunch of bad proposals, but maybe one or two that I like. It's a lazy way to figure out a player's worth. And now you can set it to set up multiple-player deals. Or use it as the basis for expanding on the original deal.

The AI is hyper-vigilant about money. You'll find it loves to dump long-term contracts. If you are trading a guy with high salary, you may need to agree to pay part of it, in return for a deal. The AI loves that. My attitude is, it's only money. The owner's money; not mine.

As to timing, I have found that it somewhat mirrors real life. At the end of Spring Training, as teams cut rosters down to size, there can be good deals on guys out of minor league options. Lots of DFA and waiver action. During a season, it slows until nearing the trade deadline. Lots of deals then, and you as GM may get spontaneous offers. As IRL, there are "rentals" of guys with expiring contracts, traded by teams out of contention, usually for prospects. And the AI takes the Winter Meetings very seriously. Lots of deals. Imagine the servers in some resort, running overtime.

Yes, totally possible that the AI would do a deal in July that it refused in Spring Training or over the Winter. That would reflect the changes during the season, particularly a team in or out of contention. Or a rookie taking a vet's place in the lineup. It never hurts to just keep asking.

Another cool tool is the "Make Deal Work" feature. [I don't use Force Trade, which is "cheesing" the game...] Don't take it too seriously. The AI always asks for studs - your best players - when the tool is really supposed to identify a "fill in" that would seal the deal. You invariably get a bunch of quality players, and then a few minor league prospects. As with "Shop Player" patience is a virtue. You may find the needle in the haystack.

I don't disagree that trading can be both "weird" and "inconsistent" at times. But that is intended, I think, to mirror MLB and IRL trades that leave everybody scratching their heads. I don't see it as a flaw.

BBGiovanni · 05-03-2025, 04:17 PM

I'm not on the current version so I'll let others chime in about whether or not you have something strange going on in your game, but if you are playing "normally" your scout could very well be off on all these guys you are talking about. If you haven't already checked the ratings via commish mode or temporarily turning your scout accuracy up to 100%, you might check there first.

I swear in old versions my scout would always randomly LOVE some real bums

and not just because they were toolsy or skillsy or whatever.

05-02-2025, 02:47 PM	#3
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 2,939	That's an odd experience, for sure. It's possible that the AI may be "saving you from yourself" on those uneven deals. I would not mind a "fail-safe" bar on deals that make no sense, and probably made in error. I will say that others have suggested the AI is not solid on draft pick trading. Probably needs work. As for trading in general, what are your settings for difficulty and preference? Do you use reputation and "hard trading"? For example, I move the Difficulty slider to make trading harder, and adjust the Preference slider for the AI to favor veterans (so I am more likely to trade vets for prospects). That seems to yield a decent trading process. I use Reputation, but not the Hard Trading (takes too long to work out a deal). And I have the Trade Frequency (AI to AI deals) dialed way down. Most of my deals originate from me shopping a player. This usually yields a bunch of bad proposals, but maybe one or two that I like. It's a lazy way to figure out a player's worth. And now you can set it to set up multiple-player deals. Or use it as the basis for expanding on the original deal. The AI is hyper-vigilant about money. You'll find it loves to dump long-term contracts. If you are trading a guy with high salary, you may need to agree to pay part of it, in return for a deal. The AI loves that. My attitude is, it's only money. The owner's money; not mine. As to timing, I have found that it somewhat mirrors real life. At the end of Spring Training, as teams cut rosters down to size, there can be good deals on guys out of minor league options. Lots of DFA and waiver action. During a season, it slows until nearing the trade deadline. Lots of deals then, and you as GM may get spontaneous offers. As IRL, there are "rentals" of guys with expiring contracts, traded by teams out of contention, usually for prospects. And the AI takes the Winter Meetings very seriously. Lots of deals. Imagine the servers in some resort, running overtime. Yes, totally possible that the AI would do a deal in July that it refused in Spring Training or over the Winter. That would reflect the changes during the season, particularly a team in or out of contention. Or a rookie taking a vet's place in the lineup. It never hurts to just keep asking. Another cool tool is the "Make Deal Work" feature. [I don't use Force Trade, which is "cheesing" the game...] Don't take it too seriously. The AI always asks for studs - your best players - when the tool is really supposed to identify a "fill in" that would seal the deal. You invariably get a bunch of quality players, and then a few minor league prospects. As with "Shop Player" patience is a virtue. You may find the needle in the haystack. I don't disagree that trading can be both "weird" and "inconsistent" at times. But that is intended, I think, to mirror MLB and IRL trades that leave everybody scratching their heads. I don't see it as a flaw. __________________ Pelican OOTP 2020-? ”Hard to believe, Harry.”

05-03-2025, 04:17 PM	#4
BBGiovanni All Star Starter Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Republic of California Posts: 1,910	I'm not on the current version so I'll let others chime in about whether or not you have something strange going on in your game, but if you are playing "normally" your scout could very well be off on all these guys you are talking about. If you haven't already checked the ratings via commish mode or temporarily turning your scout accuracy up to 100%, you might check there first. I swear in old versions my scout would always randomly LOVE some real bums and not just because they were toolsy or skillsy or whatever. __________________ Let's Go (San Jose) Giants, Let's Go Mets! Current Project: WBAT/AABBA: Organized Base Ball And the "New Normal" World Baseball Aid Tournament 2023 trophy round underway!

05-02-2025, 01:59 PM	#1
kissiefur Bat Boy Join Date: May 2025 Posts: 3	Trading First time owner. I have played other baseball games, most notably Baseball Mogul and MLB The Show. This is not a comparison thread, I just wanted to give some background. There are issues with Trading, and I will explain. Example 1: I offered my 15th round pick for a 20th round pick from Computer AI controlled team. It rejected the trade. There were no players or cash involved, just pick for pick. If the Computer AI offered me this trade, I would take it in a heartbeat, and I am sure any player out there would do the same. Example 2: I offered a 5-star potential player and my 1st round pick (#5 overall) for a 3.5 star potential player from Computer AI controlled team. Again, it rejected the trade. There was no cash or other players involved in the trade. These two trade attempts were made after season 3 was over. My trade picks option is turned on, and the AI for trading difficulty is set at normal. I have gotten trades to work in game, including trading draft picks. The AI should have accepted both trades. The trading in this game is weird and not consistent. I will give another example to explain the weird part. Example 3: First season in, I offered 2 3.5 star potential players and my second round pick (#1 in the order) for the second overall pick in draft (#2 pick in first round). The Computer AI accepted. This was probably a bad trade from the AI to accept? Does time have relevance in making trades more difficult further you play game? I have not played game long enough to explore this hunch, but curious if others have noticed a "time" trend element in game. I hope some expert players will read this and give us a diagnosis, I would greatly appreciate. Of course, if there is any truth to what I am saying maybe the delves can be informed. My thanks to any of those who read and share.