New To The Game - Looking for Strategy Tips

[RBI Baseball]

I finally bought the game and I'm starting out with a basic 2020 Reds franchise. The plan was to tread water (the owner expects "close to .500") while setting up for the future. We're currently 38-44 after a rough June. Some questions based on mistakes I may have made.

1) I've made a ton of trades (40+). It clearly affects longtime players as they're "Very Unhappy" with Transactions. Is it your experience that minimal in-season trading is best?

2) That said, my farm system rating has improved from 27th to 3rd since the start of the season. The problem is I've acquired a ton of Rule V eligible players, whom the AI much prefers to make available in trades. I've counted at least 30 Rule V eligible guys I'd like to keep around, and the RP among them seem untradeable. Have others run into this problem? What do you do about it?

3) My pitching has been terrible, no matter who goes out there. Way too many walks, most HR allowed in the league, worst BABIP in the league. Is this possibly a pitching coach thing?

4) I seem to get stolen on frequently. I've started using the "Hold runner" option, which I'm guessing decreases the likelihood of a SB while slightly reducing the pitcher's effectiveness?

5) My scouting plan is to rely on OAS evaluations for the draft and affiliated ball (occasionally assigning a report on a trade target), and allocate my scouting resources to the international amateur market. How do others do this?

[CBeisbol]

Originally Posted by RBI Baseball

1) I've made a ton of trades (40+). It clearly affects longtime players as they're "Very Unhappy" with Transactions. Is it your experience that minimal in-season trading is best?

I've never made (close to) that many trades. I don't know
I usually see players unhappy with transactions if I acquire a player that blocks them.

2) That said, my farm system rating has improved from 27th to 3rd since the start of the season. The problem is I've acquired a ton of Rule V eligible players, whom the AI much prefers to make available in trades. I've counted at least 30 Rule V eligible guys I'd like to keep around, and the RP among them seem untradeable. Have others run into this problem? What do you do about it?

That's the purpose of the Rule V - to keep teams from hording depth. You'll have to pick the ones you think are the best, or most likely to get selected in the draft

Relief pitchers are not on the same scale as other players. An 80 RP =/= an 80 SP or OF.

I see why they made that choice, but wish they would change it. At minimum, it better reflects reality.

3) My pitching has been terrible, no matter who goes out there. Way too many walks, most HR allowed in the league, worst BABIP in the league. Is this possibly a pitching coach thing?

Maybe
This question is asked... frequently.
The routine for answering it is:
-how many games are we talking about?
-what metrics are you using to say they are bad?
-what's your BABIP against? ERA+? FIP-?
-how good is your defense?
-how good is your catcher?
-how good are your pitchers?
-what are the park factors for your stadium?

4) I seem to get stolen on frequently. I've started using the "Hold runner" option, which I'm guessing decreases the likelihood of a SB while slightly reducing the pitcher's effectiveness?

Yes. You should hold runners to keep them closer to first base
It doesn't hurt your pitchers' effectiveness. But, it does move one of your fielders out of position. You're trading less possibility for a stolen base for more probability of a hit.

5) My scouting plan is to rely on OAS evaluations for the draft and affiliated ball (occasionally assigning a report on a trade target), and allocate my scouting resources to the international amateur market. How do others do this?

Everyone is going to do it differently

Scouting, figuring out how good players are, is a big part of the game.
If you don't spend money on scouting, you can still use OSA and stats, but, again it's a trade off. Your giving up scouting info for affiliated players for better info on international players.
One thing most, I think, people do is decrease the amount for MLB players. Those players are established and there's less variance between the OSA and team scouts.