MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

[UTAllTheWay]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

My Astros are sitting at 25-36. In the draft I had the #3 pick and I took this guy:

LF Oliver Villafuerte

He was 75 OVR with 89 POT. He has a MLB ready bat and I found out his second position: CATCHER

I'll post his full stats when I get home from work but he's gonna be a guy who might be ready to go from the start. I want to say he's 22 years old and a switch hitter.

The rest of my draft was all pitching and they were garbage.

I'm 12 GB of the red hot Rangers and it's already looking like I won't be able to contend in the division. When July rolls around I'll likely look to unload a veteran or two in hopes of picking up a legit OF leadoff hitter.

Who doing well for me?
DH/1B Jesus Guzman: .280s with 14 HR (5th in AL) | Huge surprise for me
SS Marwin Gonzalez: .290s with 2 HR and solid RBIs and great D
3B Matt Dominguez: .270s with 8-9 HR and 38 RBI (leads team) | Might trade him
SP Mike Foltynewics: 2.50's ERA with about 10 K/9 and a 7-3 record
CL Shae Simmons: Under 3.00 ERA with 16/17 in saves

Who is strugglng?
CF George Springer: .250s with 11 HR but has been slumping bad lately...was near .300
RF Robbie Grossman: .220s with 5-6 HR and has been stuck under .250 all year
SP J.R. Graham: acquired from ATL and he's not getting it done. 5.88 ERA
SP Mark Appel: has a great start then gets rocked in his next. Complete roller coaster

Who is injured?
My phenom SS prospect Carlos Correa fractured his hand sliding into second and I'm pissed. He started off his career hitting .306 and looked to really help my team. His loss is huge as I don't have anybody who can provide offense at that position (now I need a 2B because Gonzalez moved to SS). My 2B position has hit around .200 with 0 HR's this season.

My offense has gone stale lately and I can't come up with big hits. I've been chasing too many balls out of the zone and it's really hurt my offense. Pitching has been just as inconsistent.

#1 prospect in the farm system:

3B Bryan Calderon

#1 picks overall last year has a bat that's ready for the show but defensively he needs a lot of work. I don't know if he'll get called up but it's a possibility. If Dominguez gets traded I might not have a choice.

Dominguez is my favorite player on that roster. His swing is so beautiful. Every time I hit a ball solid with him, it felt like I REALLY hit it. Plus, defensively, he's freaking outstanding. But if you got a big prospect at 3B coming up, I can definitely understand trading him.

Also, just a suggestion, feel free to take it with a grain of salt, but with Foltynewicz lack of stamina to last past the 6th inning consistently, and with the Astros DEEP SP talent in the farm... Folty can turn into an outstanding closer for you. That's where he ultimately came up for me, and I definitely didn't regret it.

Just a thought, though.

Sounds like you're really enjoying your franchise with the Astros, which is great to see.

[NDAlum]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

I like that suggestion but I want to do it with another arm. Folty, right now, is proving to be my ace. I'm going to work on his stamina to get him into the 7th/8th innings when he has great games. His stuff is just too good to put him in the closer role and I have a young closer who is solid in Shae Simmons.

My bullpen is absolutely terrible

LRP: RHP Scott Feldman and RHP Brad Peacock
MRP: LHP Luis Cruz, RHP Jason Stoffel
SU: RHP Jason Collmenter, LHP Darin Downs
CL: Shae Simmons

Feldman, Collmenter, and Simmons are my best bullpen guys. I have no desire for any of the others to even step on the mound. I'm going to try and target some bullpen guys in free agency next year. I might even start trying to convert some of my arms to bullpen arms. The weakness of this group absolutely kills my team. So many times I'll lose a decent 3+ run lead because my bullpen gets rocked.

I might convert a guy or two who is struggling in a SP role

[goducks40]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

The Mariners have overcome a rough five-week stretch by winning 8 of the last 10 as the squad has hit the trade deadline with a 57-50 record overall. Rough is an understatement as Seattle rode a three game losing streak into the month of July and continued struggling to the tune of a 3-9 mark before the All-Star break (3-12 in 15 games leading to the break).


Seattle is two games behind Oakland (59-48) in the AL West standings and sits 4.5 games clear of Texas (53-55).


Batting Bits:
Cano, 2B - .302 avg., 22 HR, 69 RBI
Ackley, OF - .286 avg, 8HR, 38 RBI
Hart, OF - .268 avg., 19 HR, 56 RBI


From the Mound:
Hernandez - 11-5, 3.12 ERA (2-1 in last three starts, 3.86 ERA, 31K's)
Iwakuma - 11-6, 3.20 ERA
Rodney - 0-0, 31 saves, 1.45 ERA


Cano and Rodney represented Seattle at the All-Star game, AL won 6-2.


DL:
Taijuan Walker just came off of the 15-day DL with shoulder issues and rejoined the AAA rotation after an additional week of rest. Returned to the big-league rotation on July 25th, picking up the victory over Baltimore.


What's on Deck:
The Mariners close out a three-game set at Cleveland before opening August with a three-game set at Baltimore.


Miami continues to struggle...38-70 overall.

[UTAllTheWay]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

I like that suggestion but I want to do it with another arm. Folty, right now, is proving to be my ace. I'm going to work on his stamina to get him into the 7th/8th innings when he has great games. His stuff is just too good to put him in the closer role and I have a young closer who is solid in Shae Simmons.

My bullpen is absolutely terrible

LRP: RHP Scott Feldman and RHP Brad Peacock
MRP: LHP Luis Cruz, RHP Jason Stoffel
SU: RHP Jason Collmenter, LHP Darin Downs
CL: Shae Simmons

Feldman, Collmenter, and Simmons are my best bullpen guys. I have no desire for any of the others to even step on the mound. I'm going to try and target some bullpen guys in free agency next year. I might even start trying to convert some of my arms to bullpen arms. The weakness of this group absolutely kills my team. So many times I'll lose a decent 3+ run lead because my bullpen gets rocked.

I might convert a guy or two who is struggling in a SP role

Oh yeah that bullpen is pretty rough. I liked Downs but he was pretty hit or miss. Some games he would be unhittable and others he would get rocked. So what pitchers have you brought up from the minors?

And did you trade for J.R. Graham, or acquire him some other way?

[NDAlum]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

Oh yeah that bullpen is pretty rough. I liked Downs but he was pretty hit or miss. Some games he would be unhittable and others he would get rocked. So what pitchers have you brought up from the minors?

And did you trade for J.R. Graham, or acquire him some other way?

Downs has a 10.18 ERA for me I believe

Rotation: Cosart, Oberholzer, Graham, Folty, Appel

It's pretty solid but I don't know if I like Graham starting. His pitch selection is limited. I acquired him in a deadline trade with ATL last year. I sent them Altuve and I took Graham and another prospect. Altuve is tearing it up for ATL. I'm not a fan of super short guys and Marwin Gonzalez was hot. My Gonzalez/Correa middle infield is going to be pretty nice.

If anything I might move Graham to the bullpen if he has another bad start. I think his ERA is in the 5+ range. He throws heat but the secondary pitches lack big time.

[UTAllTheWay]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

Yeah, I was going to say that Graham might be a good bullpen guy. And a Correa/Gonzalez middle infield is very good defensively.

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just interested in seeing how others manage the Astros.

[kodiak]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

So where's the big money bat/arm you brought in!?!?! C'mon man all that money and you are loyal to your guys? Not the Yankee way!

No def not the Yankee way but that's quite ok.

I stayed quiet for a couple reasons. First the free agent pool was lacking and for those that may have been interesting, didn't want to give up that 1st round pick due them being given qualified offers.

My only signings were at the minor league level to add some quality to the farm system and try to revamp it quicker.

I did edit one of the guys in the minors to Jacob Lindgren(Yanks 1st selection in this past draft), but he was the only one. My second round pick from the draft is a solid reliever as well. So while I don't have A potential guys on the farm, I now have more B's compared to when I started.

If the right trade comes along I might make a move but am really kind of planning on holding to status quo for 2015. Really hope ARod retires at the end of the year as well. Nova, Pineda, and Aceves are all on 1 year deals again so I plan on some moves next offseason, unless they completely impress me. Nova has the biggest hole to climb out of as he walked 6, none intentional, and allowed 4 runs in his first start of the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Batistaj15]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

Currently 14-20 with the Twins. Considering trading Perkins for Andre Ethier. Called up young ace Alex Meyer to the big leagues and after a ROUGH debut, the kids been on a TEAR! 2-1 22k 3.0 era. Mauer is in a huge funk batting only .296. However, Oswaldo Garcia is a freaking BEAST!!!

[24]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

Quick question to those who have gone deep in Franchise mode. Can you safely play with budgets on now? I remember in past games how playing with them on would eventually lead to many High rated players being free agents once the season began.

[AaeriosGames]

Astros vs. Rangers Highlights

The Houston Astros take on the Texas Rangers in this battle of the Lone Star State. (highlights)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xWbGY-3unlU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Kirkel13]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

Does it annoy anyone else that we can't negotiate long term contracts until after the season?

[NDAlum]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

I've won 5 of 6 and improved to 32-37 with the Astros but I'm still 14 games back of the red-hot Rangers

Jesus Guzman continues to TEAR it up as he's hitting .289 with 17 HR and 40 RBI. Springer is #2 in HR's for me with 11 and a bunch of guys are around 8-10. It's crazy how a 69 OVR D POT guy is just ripping the ball for me like Guzman is. Matt Dominguez has been on a tear recently and leads the team with 10 HR and 49 RBI.

[NDAlum]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

**My favorite aspect of sports games is the ability to build the best team possible by moving players around, so those of you who want complete realism in your franchise probably wont like my franchise updates, but that's your problem. With that said I do use common sense and mostly realistic/reasonable trade packages and try to avoid exploiting the games severely broken trade logic when acquiring players..

It's obviously your franchise to do what you please but you exploited the CPU. Throwing realism out the window they weren't fair either. You failed in trying to avoid CPU trade logic explotation.

As long as you have fun do what you want man, but please don't say you try to avoid exploiting the broken trade logic becuase you did just that.

Your organization is now pretty stacked with a bunch of stud pitching talent and you only lost a couple prospects and an older LHP in Wandy.

[Kirkel13]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

It's obviously your franchise to do what you please but you exploited the CPU. Throwing realism out the window they weren't fair either. You failed in trying to avoid CPU trade logic explotation.

As long as you have fun do what you want man, but please don't say you try to avoid exploiting the broken trade logic becuase you did just that.

Your organization is now pretty stacked with a bunch of stud pitching talent and you only lost a couple prospects and an older LHP in Wandy.

I mean I said "try" which I did.. Bauer is only 64 overall and has B potential in the game so he isn't really an elite prospect and the Gio deal was reasonable I gave up 2 very good pitching prospects and josh bell to a team that has a crowded and high salaried rotation. And Bundy for Gio was really the only stretch and it is also reasonable in my opinion. I mean look how often top prospects get traded to bring in a guy who will be an ace of the staff. It's nearly impossible to completely avoid exploiting the trade logic in this game, the best you can do is make trades that seem reasonable to you. I understand that wandy would not net Bauer in real life, but in this game it's not a unreasonable trade when adding a had throwing rookie pitcher and and A potential outfielder. If mean I wasn't trying to keep from exploiting the trade Price, Gio Gonzalez, Bundy, Gausman, Hunter Harvey, Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler Snydergard, Carlos Correa and Starlin Castro could all be on my team for the same players I traded to build my team.

[mgcst5]

Re: MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

It's nearly impossible to completely avoid exploiting the trade logic in this game, the best you can do is make trades that seem reasonable to you.

The trade discussion thread is an excellent resource for Chisers who wan't realism