Has Anyone Else Had This Happen? (MLB Draft)

[Happy29]

I got to the MLB draft in my franchise with the number 17 pick in the first round. My scouts and the MLB scouts had this catcher ranked as the number one overall prospect, so I expected him to go number one, four at the lowest. But when it come my turn in the draft he was still available. I drafted him without hesitation. I figured there has to be something wrong with him to drop that far. Once I had him signed and made it to August to be able to see the draft picks potential and overall rating. He was the only draft pick with a 99 overall potential and his current rating was an 80. He's a literal generational talent that fell all the way to number 17, and he's perfectly healthy. Is this a glitch, or has this happened to anyone else? I guess what I'm wondering is. Did I just get very lucky or is this some kind of glitch.

[countryboy]

I don't think its a glitch, as I think its just a lucky situation for you. Judging from other picks, seems that the outfield position was highly coveted in this draft along with SP (as always). I'm guessing the catcher spot was either deep or teams expect to be able to fulfill that need this winter via the free agent market.

I think this is one of the things that I like best about the draft is that it doesn't follow the pattern of drafting in numerical order and teams have an "idea/plan" of what they are looking to get out of the draft that year, especially in the early rounds.

[MizzouRah]

Another feather in this games cap and it has me believing that the CPU follows some sort of scouting like we do.

[brunopuntzjones]

I just simmed the 2025 draft again and the sole generational player, a 2B, in it fell to the Cubs at 17. And I really thought I'd identified and drafted one, although I didn't do too bad, getting a 74 overall SP with 94 potential.

[tessl]

One problem with the draft is there isn't enough time to fully scout enough players. It's unfortunate when they re-worked the draft this wasn't addressed.

[countryboy]

One problem with the draft is there isn't enough time to fully scout enough players. It's unfortunate when they re-worked the draft this wasn't addressed.

How many is enough players?

What is your scouting strategy/process?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tessl]

I use one scout for starting pitchers per region. The other two scouts are used for individual players. I'm able to fully scout two regions and partially scout a third region. Individual players take between two weeks and a month to fully scout depending on scout ability and age of the player.

What is your scouting strategy/process?

[brunopuntzjones]

One problem with the draft is there isn't enough time to fully scout enough players. It's unfortunate when they re-worked the draft this wasn't addressed.

This is actually one of my favorite things about it. The incomplete information makes it much more exciting and variable, and can reward a variety of strategies. I like having to make snap decisions between partially scouted players and then finding out if I chose right or wrong. The fact that the CPU teams are in a similar position is great, too.

[tessl]

This is actually one of my favorite things about it. The incomplete information makes it much more exciting and variable, and can reward a variety of strategies. I like having to make snap decisions between partially scouted players and then finding out if I chose right or wrong. The fact that the CPU teams are in a similar position is great, too.

We only get 6 or 7 draft picks. Do you think MLB teams are drafting players they haven't scouted in the first 6 or 7 rounds of the draft?

[countryboy]

We only get 6 or 7 draft picks. Do you think MLB teams are drafting players they haven't scouted in the first 6 or 7 rounds of the draft?

You can scout more than enough players to make adequate decisions for all your picks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tessl]

You can scout more than enough players to make adequate decisions for all your picks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I assign one scout to SP per region. I'm able to scout 3 regions prior to the draft. The other two scout individual position players which takes 2 weeks to a month per player depending on scout ability and age of prospect. What is your recruiting strategy? I'm clearly doing something wrong.

[countryboy]

I assign one scout to SP per region. I'm able to scout 3 regions prior to the draft. The other two scout individual position players which takes 2 weeks to a month per player depending on scout ability and age of prospect. What is your recruiting strategy? I'm clearly doing something wrong.

When you look at the prospects for the draft that are populated on your screen those players have been "scouted" to an extent already.

All this information on the player card screen is scouted information by whomever discovered the scout.
image.png

Continuing to scout the player will provide the following additional information (if not already disclosed):

Bonus Demand
Signing Motivation
Health
Injury Risk
Boost motivation to sign with your team
Change the already disclosed attribute points slightly

You do not have to scout an individual player to 100% to be able to gather enough information to make an informed decision on whether to draft them or not. The change to attribute points will typically increase an attribute or two by a single point on the low end. Example, in the photo Rodriguez is at 58% scouting progress. The next time I could see his information his scouting progress was at 64%. The only attribute changes were his strikeouts per 9 went from PRESENT 61-79 to PRESENT 62-79 and FUTURE from 77-95 to FUTURE 78-95. His pitch break bottom floor went from 61 to 62 in both present and future. Those were the only attribute changes between the scouting progressions. When I look again at the next update, it will likely be a different attribute that has changes to the projection range. Continuing to scout a player will only change the range between low and high end projections. I have yet to see, and I don't believe it ever would, the attribute changes jump drastically over the course of scouting a player to 100%.

I don't have a set in stone scouting strategy. I will find positions that I want to address the depth at, and then pick 3 of those to start and choose those as my primary focus (where you select up to 3 positions to get a bonus when scouting) and then go thru regions and scout (using the individual position) those positions. I will then break it down to players who are projected to be within the range of my picks. For example if I have the 29th pick its pointless to really waste time on anyone in the Top 20 because the chances they fall to me are slim. It can happen, but not likely. So I may look at guys who are at the position who are no more than 5-9 picks before mine and 5-9 picks behind it. Its also important to take bonus demand into consideration when picking and to also remember that bonus demand isn't set in stone especially if you draft someone earlier than their projected spot..

The key thing to remember is that once you discover a scout and are able to view their player card with attributes, you have a pretty good idea of what their attributes are going to be like when/if drafted. Yes they may change slightly, but I have yet to see any change drastically. And no attribute is hidden/locked until you get to a certain scouting progress percentage, just motivating a scout to sign, obtaining bonus demand, health and injury risk.

The last thing I would advise is that no matter how much you scout a player there is no guarantee how they will turn out. The attribute projections are just those, projections, and a player could exceed those projections or fail to meet them.

[tessl]

When you look at the prospects for the draft that are populated on your screen those players have been "scouted" to an extent already.

All this information on the player card screen is scouted information by whomever discovered the scout.
image.png

Continuing to scout the player will provide the following additional information (if not already disclosed):

Bonus Demand
Signing Motivation
Health
Injury Risk
Boost motivation to sign with your team
Change the already disclosed attribute points slightly

You do not have to scout an individual player to 100% to be able to gather enough information to make an informed decision on whether to draft them or not. The change to attribute points will typically increase an attribute or two by a single point on the low end. Example, in the photo Rodriguez is at 58% scouting progress. The next time I could see his information his scouting progress was at 64%. The only attribute changes were his strikeouts per 9 went from PRESENT 61-79 to PRESENT 62-79 and FUTURE from 77-95 to FUTURE 78-95. His pitch break bottom floor went from 61 to 62 in both present and future. Those were the only attribute changes between the scouting progressions. When I look again at the next update, it will likely be a different attribute that has changes to the projection range. Continuing to scout a player will only change the range between low and high end projections. I have yet to see, and I don't believe it ever would, the attribute changes jump drastically over the course of scouting a player to 100%.

I don't have a set in stone scouting strategy. I will find positions that I want to address the depth at, and then pick 3 of those to start and choose those as my primary focus (where you select up to 3 positions to get a bonus when scouting) and then go thru regions and scout (using the individual position) those positions. I will then break it down to players who are projected to be within the range of my picks. For example if I have the 29th pick its pointless to really waste time on anyone in the Top 20 because the chances they fall to me are slim. It can happen, but not likely. So I may look at guys who are at the position who are no more than 5-9 picks before mine and 5-9 picks behind it. Its also important to take bonus demand into consideration when picking and to also remember that bonus demand isn't set in stone especially if you draft someone earlier than their projected spot..

The key thing to remember is that once you discover a scout and are able to view their player card with attributes, you have a pretty good idea of what their attributes are going to be like when/if drafted. Yes they may change slightly, but I have yet to see any change drastically. And no attribute is hidden/locked until you get to a certain scouting progress percentage, just motivating a scout to sign, obtaining bonus demand, health and injury risk.

The last thing I would advise is that no matter how much you scout a player there is no guarantee how they will turn out. The attribute projections are just those, projections, and a player could exceed those projections or fail to meet them.

I wasn't aware of that - A bonus for 3 positions. Does that pertain to scouting individual players as well as scouting position/region? When you say "discover a scout" do you mean having a scout discover prospects at a position?

I'm probably too focused on scouting to 100%. If you save the game at the first week scouting is available and then scout to 100% you can get the exact numbers for every category with a little math. This season my #1 pick was a SP I thought would be great but didn't fully scout and he was a flop.

Thanks for the reply.

[countryboy]

I wasn't aware of that - A bonus for 3 positions. Does that pertain to scouting individual players as well as scouting position/region? When you say "discover a scout" do you mean having a scout discover prospects at a position?

I'm probably too focused on scouting to 100%. If you save the game at the first week scouting is available and then scout to 100% you can get the exact numbers for every category with a little math. This season my #1 pick was a SP I thought would be great but didn't fully scout and he was a flop.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes under POSITIONAL NEEDS you’re able to select up to 3 positions that you want to focus on and you’ll get a scouting bonus when targeting those positions. And you can change this from week to week.

Yes I’m talking about scouting individual positions (SP, RP, 1B, 3B, etc) with your scout. Doing this with positional needs focus will help you with getting more prospects and information quicker.

Yeah I may try to scout a player or two to 100% or close occasionally but only for a first round pick. Mainly because I don’t want to miss with that pick and also because I want that particular player to be as motivated to sign with me as possible when it’s time to sign picks.

But other than that there are too many picks and too many prospects to try to scout every player you’re interested in to 100%.

Determine what is important to you attribute wise at a given position and target those players. Then I recommend getting their bonus demand so you can budget against your allotment.

It’s never going to be a guarantee so don’t try to get a guarantee. Get the information you feel is important and draft accordingly. This isn’t football or basketball, draft picks are very rarely going to have an immediate impact on your major league roster. Baseball is all about draft and develop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tessl]

Yes under POSITIONAL NEEDS you’re able to select up to 3 positions that you want to focus on and you’ll get a scouting bonus when targeting those positions. And you can change this from week to week.

Yes I’m talking about scouting individual positions (SP, RP, 1B, 3B, etc) with your scout. Doing this with positional needs focus will help you with getting more prospects and information quicker.

Yeah I may try to scout a player or two to 100% or close occasionally but only for a first round pick. Mainly because I don’t want to miss with that pick and also because I want that particular player to be as motivated to sign with me as possible when it’s time to sign picks.

But other than that there are too many picks and too many prospects to try to scout every player you’re interested in to 100%.

Determine what is important to you attribute wise at a given position and target those players. Then I recommend getting their bonus demand so you can budget against your allotment.

It’s never going to be a guarantee so don’t try to get a guarantee. Get the information you feel is important and draft accordingly. This isn’t football or basketball, draft picks are very rarely going to have an immediate impact on your major league roster. Baseball is all about draft and develop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. I never knew that about the bonus.