Scouting - Offline Franchise

[Jr.]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I have a couple of questions for the group.

First, what's your cutoff as far as MLB ETA is concerned with scouting players? Do you set a line at, say, 2017, 2020?

Second, when you scout manually, do you consciously try to scout some guys with projected OVR in the high 60s or 70s so you can have some scouted players available in the later rounds, or do you just go by MLB ETA?

I've decided to scout manually this year and am curious about these issues.

I go with MLB ETA in 5 years or less if they're under 20, 4 years or less if they're 20+.

When scouting manually, I'll scout as many guys as I can within the MLB ETA that I set. If I get through those guys, I'll scout guys with decent OVR and POT that is still higher (i.e. 65 OVR, 80 POT).

[RogueHominid]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I scouted a 1b that had projected high potential. However he only had 75 potential, but he was already a 76 overall as an 18 year old! He had contact in the 70's and power in the 50's. I called him to begin the season and he is hitting great for me. I figured that was the smart thing to do since he pretty much already reached his potential and maybe it could increase if he did well. At the very least, I can trade him after a few years if he does not improve and he should have very good stats at that time for a 20 year old. IRL someone would definitely take that trade.

Anyways this is an example of a win/win situation in my books and is one example of potential not meaning every thing. This guy can contribute to my team right away and there is no need to try and build him up in the minors if he already reached his potential.



I do 4-5 years or so, because by that time they will be eligible rule 5 draft. I am not going to risk not calling them up, but I also don't want to be forced to have them on my 40 man roster if they are 50-60 overall still.

I've seen ETA's that say 2028 and that is just insane lol. I don't know who would draft a guy that'd have to spend 10+ years in the minors to develop.

And yet, a rock in the pen of my Giants franchise, Jean Machi, toiled 12-13 years in the minors before coming to the Show with a monster forkball that's propelling his stock upward at a pretty good rate.

But I do take your point; I think I want 3-4 year projects as a regular thing with 5 year projects as my "risks" in areas where I feel I have some wiggle room.

[cardinalbird5]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Yeah I don't have anything against guys being in the minors for 7-10 years, but it really depends on how people play their franchise. Most people probably won't even do 3-5 years, so there is no point IMO. I do tend to do 10+ years though, but I just can't pass on guys that have ETA's of less than 3-4 years with high potential. I don't need a guy like Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) from Bull Durham trying to break MiLB records lol.

[RogueHominid]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Yeah I don't have anything against guys being in the minors for 7-10 years, but it really depends on how people play their franchise. Most people probably won't even do 3-5 years, so there is no point IMO. I do tend to do 10+ years though, but I just can't pass on guys that have ETA's of less than 3-4 years with high potential. I don't need a guy like Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) from Bull Durham trying to break MiLB records lol.

Yeah, I think all of that is going to change with year-over-year saves and cross-platform saves.

Thinking of my SF franchise and the Machi phenomenon, I can totally see picking up a guy in the high 40s with high 70s to low 70s potential who has one standout attribute, like velocity or movement, and building his other core pitching attributes up over time. That demands a lot of patience, but it's nice that it's possible.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Potential is meaningless when scouting in the beginning. You will quickly see tens of 90+ potential players drop below the 75 pot threshhold.

I scout based on what I am looking for at a position and base it on the actual ratings, combined with potential. If I see a guy with a 50 Pot but he already has 70 contact, and 45 power, I scout him as, in my experience, his potential goes up, if only to the mid seventies. This helps me to make my later round picks not a total wash.

As for how I use my scouts, I discover and scout at nearly the same time. I never just let my scout create a massive pool. If I see a prospect I like, I scout him and once I finish with him, I discover again.

I still have no idea what regions do, and I'm not sure SCEA has ever explained what they do. I'm positive there isn't a tooltip in game either. Come to think of it, I don't think SCEA at any point explains what scout ratings do. I think most people just speculate based on results.

[iulus10]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Hey All:

I have a quick question related to the duration of scouting missions. Specifically, if I send out a scout on a mission to look for, say, infielders in a specific region, will the scout eventually run out of prospects in that region or will he continue to find players until I change his scouting criteria or his region?

If the scout will eventually run out of prospects, roughly how long does it take for this happen or does it vary by region, scouting criteria etc and the like?

Thanks, in advance, for any help you all might be willing to provide.

Regards,

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Hey All:

I have a quick question related to the duration of scouting missions. Specifically, if I send out a scout on a mission to look for, say, infielders in a specific region, will the scout eventually run out of prospects in that region or will he continue to find players until I change his scouting criteria or his region?

If the scout will eventually run out of prospects, roughly how long does it take for this happen or does it vary by region, scouting criteria etc and the like?

Thanks, in advance, for any help you all might be willing to provide.

Regards,

Yes, at a point the scout will discover all players at a given position in a specific region. I have seen scouts discover all players at a certain spot in as little time as a week.

[jmaj315]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Potential is meaningless when scouting in the beginning. You will quickly see tens of 90+ potential players drop below the 75 pot threshhold.

I scout based on what I am looking for at a position and base it on the actual ratings, combined with potential. If I see a guy with a 50 Pot but he already has 70 contact, and 45 power, I scout him as, in my experience, his potential goes up, if only to the mid seventies. This helps me to make my later round picks not a total wash.

As for how I use my scouts, I discover and scout at nearly the same time. I never just let my scout create a massive pool. If I see a prospect I like, I scout him and once I finish with him, I discover again.

I still have no idea what regions do, and I'm not sure SCEA has ever explained what they do. I'm positive there isn't a tooltip in game either. Come to think of it, I don't think SCEA at any point explains what scout ratings do. I think most people just speculate based on results.

Scout regions have two effects:

• speed up the process of finding prospects if searching in home region
• decrease the amount of time to scout a prospect from home region

[JumpOffMang]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Has anyone ever scouted a elite prospect whose scouting report wasn't already given to you? I've yet to scout a guy with high 90s potential

[Jr.]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Has anyone ever scouted a elite prospect whose scouting report wasn't already given to you? I've yet to scout a guy with high 90s potential

I've scouted quite a few 90+ POT players, but their OVR is usually so low that their MLB ETA isn't for 7+ years.

[JumpOffMang]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I've scouted quite a few 90+ POT players, but their OVR is usually so low that their MLB ETA isn't for 7+ years.

Is it safe to say the the studs are the blue chip guys already given to you?

[iulus10]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Yes, at a point the scout will discover all players at a given position in a specific region. I have seen scouts discover all players at a certain spot in as little time as a week.

Thanks for the info. One followup question, if I may:

Will the game notify you that the scout has found all the 'discoverable' players in a particular region or is this something the player has to figure out?

Thanks again.

[C_Bailey24]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Thanks for the info. One followup question, if I may:

Will the game notify you that the scout has found all the 'discoverable' players in a particular region or is this something the player has to figure out?

Thanks again.

Yes and no. There isn't a popup per se, but if you keep checking the main screen and see an exclamation mark on your scouting section that usually means one or more of your scouts have finished whatever assignment you have them on.

[Jr.]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Is it safe to say the the studs are the blue chip guys already given to you?

It's hard to say. I've seen the CPU get some really high POT players late in the draft, but I didn't check their OVR. I haven't found any studs that are close to MLB ready in the later rounds, but I can't tell you they aren't there.

[Friar Fanatic]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

In the 2014 draft the Dodgers picked up a catcher in round 5 with 86 potential, 72 overall and 19 years old. That's decent for a late round stud I would think.