**The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

[D-Jones]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

That could work, but you would need a plethora of house rules.

While I do agree with you here, there is a part of me that says this could actually be a pretty cool way to play, and possibly a better alternative than having every star stuck on the free agent list. I'm assuming that with budgets off the Pirates could actually have a chance to win a world series in this game, and it would be somewhat an equal playing field.

[D-Jones]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

This. 30-team control, Budgets OFF plus Knights rosters equals no issues in my experience.

Did you start the franchise with budgets off or did it allow you to turn it off after a year or two of play ? Only reason I ask is maybe in 2010, 2011, and 2012 I would play with the budgets on and then turn it off after 2012 when the described free agent trouble starts happening in 2013.

One last thing if you don't mind please, how are the signings looking ? Are guys mostly just re-signing with their own team or is it pretty realistic where guys do end up signing with other teams?

[D-Jones]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

This. 30-team control, Budgets OFF plus Knights rosters equals no issues in my experience.

While I like this idea, so far there seem to be an absurd of amount of trades between the cpu teams. I know they previously traded alot especially star quality players with each other with the budgets on, but with it off I'm getting a trade every two days going through.

[Mr. Rad]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

I thought the budgets off option was broken. (?)

[Dean3790]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

I am running a 30-team franchise, with everything auto for the other 29 teams except contract signing (or whatever it's called, the option right after free agency). I manually withdraw trades that are unrealistic (which have been all of them so far) but my question to you guys is this: will I be able to re-sign these big-name players that the CPU, for some reason, doesn't re-sign? I have no problem doing that manually, but controlling all of free agency manually is something I don't want to do.

[TripleThreat1973]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

2013:
(1)Matt Wieters (A)
(2)Kurt Suzuki (A)
(3)Justin Masterson (A)
(4)Edinson Volquez (B)
(5)Kyle Lohse (B)
2014:
(1)Nolan Reimold (A)
(2)Jay Bruce (A)
(3)Matt Laporta (A)
(4)Matt Wieters (A)
(5)Colby Rasmus (A)

Some of those potentials need drastically reduced. Rasmus isn't anywhere near the A potential he was once thought to be, ala Cameron Maybin. Those guys are going to struggle to be "league average" year in and year out (seroiusly). Funny how actual competition against fellow MLB'ers chisels away the "hype" of potential and reveals the considerably less ballplayer underneath.

I'd say of the guys mentioned above there 1 (Weiters) A potential prospect and possibly a second (Bruce), those others are closer to C than they are A. masterson is closer to being a career 3A pitcher than he is a bonafide major leaguer.

I know it's A LOT easier to nitpick the rosters, than it is to make them. So, I say things while still appreciating the effort. I think I will go through and edit potentials of some of the prospects. Might do pitcher velocities as well, since they're all "max velocities" instead of "average velocities". Carpenter, Wainwright, and Penny sit between 94-96 all game long.

[drustrk3]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

Can you turn budgets off after the start of a franchise?

[ocmusicjunkie]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

Was this an issue in 09 at all?

[av7]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

Lets not derail the thread guys

[jlech84]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

Wow its been forever since I've played this game... I think I was one of the first if not the first on this site to report the budget/FA issue I know Barnes was there from early on. It appears the new SCEA rosters are not having issues and maybe I'll try playing it again. I was wondering if the budget issue is only a non issue if you do 30 team control and make at least all the arbitration decisions.

Just a side note to the very first post. It had mentioned budgets not keeping up with salary inflation. This is actually incorrect. The team budgets from my sims had increased an absurd amount, I've got an excel file somewhere showing it. That and there is no inflation in the show's economy. The highest amount you can offer a player is the same in 2010 as it would be in 2030. The highest you can set ticket prices is always the same as well. Basically its a fixed economy or maybe "groundhog day" economy is a better explanation. Every year is basically the same, economically/financially as 2010. So if SCEA did it correctly there would be basically no change in aggregate budgets ever (meaning if the sum of all teams budgets is 3,000,000 million in 2010 it should be relatively the same amount 20 years down the line).

Overall its my biggest wish of things to be fixed for the 2011 game. However, I have disposable income and will want the show just for the gameplay next year so i guess they could do nothing and still get $60 out of me ... sad I'm so weak willed.....lol.

[tabarnes19_SDS]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

The new rosters don't seem to have the issue from what I have seen through testing. I have taken the latest rosters and made a top 100 prospects with it. You can get it through sports connect if you want called top 100 updated.....Not perfect or any where close for that matter, but serviceable.

I didn't do faces or anything crazy, and tried to update the Yanks roster a little but deeper.

[SergioRodriguez13]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

I know this is a supersupersuper bump, but I did a forum search on the 2013 thing because I'm considering starting a new franchise with the Full Minors roster(I've been using my own from a SCEA live, but my face creating skills are nowhere near as good as these guys, not to mention the fact that it's legitimately FULL MINORS, with no minor leaguers named Hilario Fortunato, etc).
I thought of something while reading this, and other threads and posts. The problem is attributes.
What I was thinking, is. When a A player is drafted(since they're the ones I believe that really drive up salaries), once the overall of them starts going up, why not just edit them back downward so they're not A overall at 19,20? It wouldn't be too much work, just take some attributes and chop some points off. Of course I'm only saying of doing this for draft-generated players, because if Desmond Jennings is going to progress, we want that to happen. Meanwhile, Hilario Fortunato over here, he can progress, but he's not real, we don't have to LET him become an immediate sensation, know what I mean?
Can somebody tell me if this makes ANY sense whatsoever, it was just a thought that came to my head while searching on this topic. Another idea was making a bunch of A potential draft generated guys 45 every year and perpetually set it back, because yes they'll be replaced next draft once they retire, but you could just make those guys 45 again and make it a cycle that pushes back the problem.

[GreenReign86]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

There is a work around for something like this. What I do is just sign all the good players thatare left in free agency to my team. Then turn around and trade them to a team that is weak at that players position, for a player who's position I'm weak at. Works like a charm, but some people may consider this cheating the AI.

[Gagnon39]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

Does this also happen in RTTS? And if so is it just 5-6 big names? I can deal with that. Now if Pujols and A-Rod are not playing, then there's a bit of a problem.

[bwburke94]

Re: **The TRUTH Behind "Free Agents 2013"**

The AI is releasing players due for arbitration because they can't afford to pay the money. That seems to be a common problem whenever baseball video games have a franchise mode.