MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

[Steve_OS]

With only about a week until pitchers and catchers report to spring training camps, we are...

Written By: Kyler Wolff

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[jcar0725]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

FANTASTIC article, and right in my wheelhouse, since i love to do small market team rebuilds. A glutton for punishment, I want the rebuild to really feel like a challenge. So I have to employ a lot of "house rules".

If you sim one season in '24, Soto ends up on many different teams. I've seen him signing huge contracts in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Colorado and Cincinnati. Doesn't seem very realistic.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

100% agree with this article…..but will it ever be brought up to snuff???

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

I wonder how much (if any) having budgets on or off impacts this?

I ask because on 21, I played with budgets off and just house-ruled myself to a spending limit. But CPU teams generally still stayed confined to their budgets, even with it off. I don't remember any crazy signings.

For 24, I left budgets on but I kind of wish I hadn't now. The Dodgers and Mets are both near $50M over budget, which means they essentially are handcuffed on roster moves. And we know that's not realistic.

I didn't pay attention to see if CPU teams budgets changed when I had them turned off. But, in theory, there's no reason for them to change. And if they don't change - and teams still tend to spend within their limit - that would keep teams like the Dodgers and Pirates separated financially. Maybe I'll run a test franchise this weekend with it off to see what happens.

[tessl]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

If Pittsburgh had that payroll they would be dominant. Hardly a surprise.

I like the Show's financial system better than MLB. At least no Ohtani type stuff. Only major pro sport with no payroll cap.

[Cod]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

Great, well-written article.

I don't know of any sports sim that gets the financial system "right". The closest I've seen for baseball is OOTP, but even it can't handle deferments at all. The financial systems for all sports are so intricate and change every CBA, I'm not sure if we'll ever see a great solution.

Also, it's very hard for game developers to keep up with the trends because sports teams pay some very smart people a lot of money to find these trends before they become one. By the time game developers figure out how to implement something, the league has moved to a new fad. So the value is just not there from a business perspective.

[adamj2281]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

Excellent article, this has been my compliant for quite awhile. The NHL team at least somewhat gets it with trade/FA logic, etc.

[Kalkano]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

This is one reason that I don't even watch baseball anymore. I've also been playing MLB The Show 21 (when the league was better), and I have budgets turned off. I just arbitrarily set my own loose budgets, so I can't just sign whoever I want. It's the only way to level the playing field.

[Feros Ferio 7]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

How is MLB free agency broken compared to the other leagues?

NBA has basically killed free agency with their cap structure. The very best players never reach free agency in the NFL. NHL cap and salaries break teams apart very quickly.

MLB also has the best parity of these sports.


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[jcar0725]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

How is MLB free agency broken compared to the other leagues?

NBA has basically killed free agency with their cap structure. The very best players never reach free agency in the NFL. NHL cap and salaries break teams apart very quickly.

MLB also has the best parity of these sports.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

The leagues best players will 95% of the time end up the upper tier market teams because they can spend frivolously. LA, NY etc. The smaller market teams have no shot to have a superstar play his entire career with that team once they hit free agency. That's not the usually case in the NFL or NBA.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

How is MLB free agency broken compared to the other leagues?

NBA has basically killed free agency with their cap structure. The very best players never reach free agency in the NFL. NHL cap and salaries break teams apart very quickly.

MLB also has the best parity of these sports.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

You can't be serious.

MLB has a huge competitive balance issue......huge. Teams like the:

Pirates
Nationals
Marlins
Rockies
Reds
Royals
Tampa Bay
Minnesota
White Sox
Oakland


Have basically become a minor leagues for future stars to leave and sign with:

Dodgers
Mets
Red Sox
Yankees
Giants
Phillies
Braves
Houston
Texas

Then you have teams in pugartory who can't get over the hump:

Baltimore - They will lose guys soon....no doubt. They have built an amazing pipeline that they can't afford to keep long term.,
Toronto - also will lose guys
Cleveland
Seattle
Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs
Padres
D Backs


We need a salary floor. There must be a minimum that every team must spend on payroll. And yes we need a maximum cap otherwise baseball which is already dying......will die quicker and all these bloated salaries....will take the league down.


The NHL has it right.....IMO every team has the ability to draft, trade and sign free agents and construct a competitive team.

Gone are the days in baseball of building a team thru the farm because the big bad teams I mentioned above will come in a hoard all that young talent once they are out of a teams control in year 6.

Tampa used to be smart and try and lock up a player before they hit arbitration years and it worked......until it did not.

The NBA? A total mess because the league let the players run the business.....that's a failing model. Ratings are proving that this year. I turned off the NBA 5 years ago. Never getting me back. Dead to me.

The NFL is a league where every team has a chance.....it might not be perfect....but you do have a structure to work within.

Now the NFL will need to make a QB cap otherwise they are going to die too. That has gotten completely out of hand and is hamstringing the quality of the overall product.

The NHL has the most balanced product of the 4 major sports right now.

Easily.

[ChaseB]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

NHL is tricky because it's also had the flattest cap so I wonder if anything will fluctuate now that we might finally get some sizable cap jumps there.

This was Kyler's first article for us by the way, glad y'all are enjoying it.

[Feros Ferio 7]

MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

My biggest issue is that these other leagues don't have as much parity as MLB does.

NFL is all about the QB'S. You don't have one you're not competing every year and only way to get one is the draft.

NBA players already just gravitate to the big markets unless they get drafted and decide to stay.

NHL has the most fluctuation of teams year to year and have the lowest salaries of these leagues.

Yes, the big markets have an advantage but that's already true in every other league. Teams have been joked about being farm teams for other clubs my entire life. Remember the jokes in the 80's.

As for team building in baseball it takes all the available resources to do it correctly. Draft, international free agents, trades, free agency and player development. The best teams of the the last 40 years at their core were all built from prospects who blossomed into quality players.

The avenues are there for teams to compete. It wasn't but 30 years ago the Royals ran the highest payroll in baseball and that squad sucked.

Money doesn't buy you wins. It buys you mistakes. The 2018 Red Sox won the most games and the world series and had over $70 million in payroll not playing for them.

The best teams still have to build the right way of they want to maintain their roster.

Free agency actually is true free agency and the players changing teams has an impact.

The closest is the NHL for parity. But I'd much prefer the teams having to make choices on what they want to do not because of a salary cap.

Salary caps about suppressing salaries. If those cost savings were given back to the fans so they could enjoy the game more sign me up. But the savings will go to the owners so I'd rather have it actually be open and not closed.


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[Kalkano]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

Ridiculous. When was the last time one of the biggest budget MLB teams missed the playoffs? What percentage of the time do they miss the playoffs, compared to low budget teams?


PARITY!? IN MLB!? Give me a break...

[Cod]

Re: MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

Ridiculous. When was the last time one of the biggest budget MLB teams missed the playoffs? What percentage of the time do they miss the playoffs, compared to low budget teams?

PARITY!? IN MLB!? Give me a break...

Depends on how you define biggest. Most revenue? Highest overall team salary? Top 5? Top 10?

Here's the breakdown from the 12-teams in the 2024 playoffs based on overall salary:

• 6 from the top 10%
• 5 from the bottom 10%
• 1 from the middle 10%

Seems like good parity last year. I'd have to take some time to go back and do this over a longer period.