Franchise Noob...

[Caius101]

So... I have been playing Show 16 for a while now, but entirely with my pitcher & 1st baseman in RTTS and want to start a Franchise mode game, but I am admittedly not that experienced with this game's version of it. I have been playing FIFA, Madden, NBA 2k for years now and do very well on those... but given the differences in baseball, I'm feeling a bit like a noob. lol

First off, thank you for any help.

Now on to my questions...

1. What is a team with a high budget that needs to be rebuilt? I want a high budget team for my first 'chise... but don't want a Giants, Cubs, Jays which dun need much work to be World Series bound.

2. Is pitching still the most important focus for high money contracts? I have read a couple of guides when I was thinking of using the Brewers (who have the lowest budget, iirc) and all of them said pitching is where the money should go.

3. Is small ball or power better for the lineup? Or either? A balance?

4. Do you have any suggestions on cheaper players that can help a team out?

[BENVCR]

Re: Franchise Noob...

The Yankees would probably be a good high budget rebuild. Although they are still an OK team in 2016 you coukd trade away the old core and be left with a young, rich squad that seems about right

You could also just pick whoever you want, and use some stubs for a financial stimulus package. Although it defeats the sanctity of the game in a way, and I only did it when I accidentally signed Justin Smoak to a 16m a year contract by offering him a qualifying offer(forgot the QA rules in the MLB, too much NHL)

[Vtownwaves]

Re: Franchise Noob...

Yankees Angels Mariners White Sox Padres rockies phillies braves.

Any of those teams will have a decent budget but need to be rebuilt. Most budget from left to right. Yankees and Angels are prolly gonna be the easiest to rebuild. Phillies and braves are gonna be more strict on money and less talent.

[mrCPUgeek]

Re: Franchise Noob...

If you are using OSFM rosters, The Braves are the way to go. The money side may not be as great as the Yankees, but the talent in their minors is over the top.

I'm a Braves fan so this is a little bias. But, the team that is on the field right now is pretty much garbage. However, looking into the future, it is bright. Still, the team will need a couple Trade/Free Agent moves to compete in the future. Third base is up in the air, catcher, and the bullpen is questionable (long term).

I am playing with them in a second franchise I made where I actually swapped all of the Braves/Rangers players. Mainly because I wanted to play an American League Franchise. We are currently 15-13. One half game behind the Astros. I've made one trade to shore up 3B a little bit. Now, I have to decide over the next month if I am going to go ahead with my original plan, to sell off some players, or buy and try and make a run for the playoffs in this first year. Man, decisions!

[paintray98]

Re: Franchise Noob...

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[Vtownwaves]

Re: Franchise Noob...

As I already answered the budget question, I'll skip it here. Personally, I think big money should only be spent on an ace with pitching, otherwise supreme talent that plays every day is more important. Sure, a strong starting pitching staff can win games with minimal run support but they still need runs. And they still need a defense behind them for when they dont get stikeouts.

As for power vs contact, depends on the team. By this I mean to say that power is expensive. A guy who can hit 30 hrs is gonna cost more than a guy who only gets 10-15 but can run like the wind and field while getting solid contact. And while there will be times when you wish you had a power hitter, especially late in games when you're down big, the safest route is speed contact guys playing small ball, hitting it where the d isnt. Smart aggressive base runners who can get in scoring position then score from 2nd on a strong enough sacrifice or blooper double in the gap. You only really need 3 power hitters and thats the middle of the order, 456. everyone else needs to be able to get on base to make those hrs more valuable.

Depends on the roster you're using but the best way to find what you need is to use the player search and limit the max age to 22-24(standard start). The older you get, the more developed they should be, but also the more expensive. If you can find some A potential 80s or less, that have the necessary stats to succeed(contact speed fielding), you can start them as possible rookie of the year candidates if they have no/limited mlb experience.

Do keep in mind though when looking for players that franchise is not improving pitcher stamina/velocity/break this year. That means you want pitchers with elite(80+) in those stats so they will stay quality through out their contract. However, while stamina wont go up this year, it will almost always go down, every year at least one, no matter the age. SO this could be desired at 90+. Same goes for running speed, it will also lose at least 1 point per year. Seeing as 90+ speed players arent that plentiful, it makes them more valuable(not necessarily more expensive though). People have made posts about the astros having 4 90+ speed and 2 80+ speed in their starting lineup, its almost impossible to keep them off the score board because of it.

[RLB]

Re: Franchise Noob...

............

[tmart14]

Franchise Noob...

The braves are not too bad to rebuild. The budget is kinda low, but they have a great farm system and an ace (Teheran) on a team friendly deal through 2019 I believe.

Lots of pitching to flip for bats as well. This is what I did, now I have a 4 year championship window with a lineup of 85-90 ovr players mostly under 25. It took about 4 years to complete the build.


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[Frostball]

Re: Franchise Noob...

High budget team to rebuild is the Yankees.

Braves are the team thou they have a bunch of pitching prospect's in the minors and have some decent hitters as well. Dansby Swanson playing short by prob next year I have him in some f my fantasy draft teams and in one I have him playing to start the 2016 season and has done pretty well.

Im using the Phillies in another franchise and they have some great young pitching and some hitting coming on the way they would be another good team to use

[KBLover]

Re: Franchise Noob...

2. Is pitching still the most important focus for high money contracts? I have read a couple of guides when I was thinking of using the Brewers (who have the lowest budget, iirc) and all of them said pitching is where the money should go.

Depends on how you want to win. If you want to win with pitching and defense, then the bulk of that money should be on pitchers. Pure defenders with decent bats usually aren't expensive, decent hitters can be relatively cheap, that would free up payroll for spending on a few top level pitchers and some solid guys for the rest of the staff.

Pitching can get VERY expensive, however. Especially true if you do have (or develop) a classic ace type pitcher like in the ballpark of Kershaw. They'll be bargins under team control (RNW and ARB years) but after that, it can be very expensive (and difficult) to keep them.

Same for mostly speed and defense players - they aren't usually expensive, even as veterans, unless they are very high end. Even then, their OVR tend not to be top level, and OVR's part of the salary equation.

3. Is small ball or power better for the lineup? Or either? A balance?

Again, depends on how you want to win. You can with with a team oriented around a lot of HR (guys like Chris Carter), especially if they can keep a decent average and OBP.

You can win with contact, speed, defense (guys like Yelich or Betts), though at some positions, it can hard to find that skill set (like corner infield), but not impossible, especially in draftees as the years go by.

Most lineups will sprinkle some of everything in there, if only by virtue of the needs of the position (you don't want plodding statues in CF, for example), but you can still specialize/prioritize. Power, especially high-end power, is the most "optional". 60-70 power can be plenty good enough, is not terribly uncommon, and can still hit HR and drive the gaps.

4. Do you have any suggestions on cheaper players that can help a team out?

Some player types that can be useful on the cheap:

-Relievers in the 70's OVR.

Don't blow them off as just average fodder. OVR is just an approximation rating, some 70's OVR relievers have high ability in the areas that matter a lot (like H/9, K/9, pitch ratings, some have good clutch as well) and they may well have C potential as well. ALWAYS look deeper at the player's skill profile and pitch repertoire if you have a preference there (there are guys 80+ that might prove disappointing as well, especially speed players because speed heavily impacts OVR). A lot of relievers have low BB/9, which depresses OVR some. Same for control pitch rating. They can still be highly effective.

-Versatile contact hitters.

Guys with 70+ contact ratings (both sides) and good Vision, Discipline, and Clutch are sometimes very cheap, especially if they don't have a ton of speed (their OVR will be lower than say the Hamilton types who are 85 mostly due to elite speed and defense). A guy that's 70's contact, 70 VIS, 70 DISC, 80 Clutch 70 Reaction, and 60 SPD is a nice guy to have around. Especially if he has even 30-40 power - that's plenty to find the gaps on line drives.

Along those lines, guys that can play a ton of positions will almost always be helpful in some capacity. Double so if they have good Reaction and Speed. These are rangey players that can fit in anywhere, especially if they have at least average arms. As bench players, they are your PR and defensive replacements. They are your guys who can give time off, keeping your lineup fresher. They can move around the diamond as starters as you upgrade and promote other guys who are less adaptable but have starter ability.

Veterans in this vein (like Emilio Bonifacio) are usually cheap because they don't look impressive. However, trying to TRADE for one can be a bear because the CPU DOES value positional versatility, sometimes overly much.


-Pitchers with low HR/9.

This is an area where tailoring to your play style matters. By play style, I mean...do you sim a lot or will you play most/all of your games. If you sim a lot, then skip this section. If you play most/all, read on.

HR/9 does nothing in played games. This has been confirmed by devs in the past. So if you play most/all of your games, you can look for guys who might be lower in this area and they may come cheaper (HR/9 impacts OVR somewhat aggressively).

Likewise, a pitcher who has HR/9 as one of the few things he does well, especially if not accompanied by high H/9 might be one you want to pass up. In "live" play, there's no difference between 85 H/9 and 85 HR/9 and 85 H/9 and 20 HR/9. The second guy will likely be cheaper (his OVR will look much worse, and if he has upside, his growth will likely go towards H, K, BB/9, which all matter (in any play mode).


-Next tier down from Ace SP.

Of course, the Jose Fernandez's and Clayton Kershaw's are great but they get expensive. Having an Aaron Nola around is nice...until he's FA available and you're trying to stretch a dollar, especially if he develops into a monster of a pitcher.

I think the best aspect for pitching staffs is that next level down...the 80-88 OVR types, the kids with B potential and good profiles. These are guys that can keep a nice ERA, round out a staff, and they won't command the uber $30M/yr contracts.

You might even want to look at some 75-79 types. Again, look at their individual ratings and what pitches they throw. You could find some gems down here that can help round out your staff, especially early in the rebuilding process while your better kids are still marinating in the minors.

[tmart14]

Re: Franchise Noob...

I agree with the above assessment on pitching.

My braves franchise won 102 games (99% simmed) with a staff from 87-80 ovr. In fact, Brandon Finnegan was my #3 guy and won the cy young.

Overalls are pretty overrated. Unless it's Kershaw. I hate playing against him.


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