***The Official OOTP Thread***

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

It's at 110.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I finally did it. In 2027 my team posted an MLB best 101-61 record and didn't get bounced in the division series. I actually went on to beat the Rangers in 7 games to get my first WS title ever playing OOTP. Usually whenever I have a team that plays this well it all but guarantees a poor showing in the playoffs, but not this time.

Unfortunately, despite winning the WS my budget has decreased for the 3rd straight year. Albies' contract is expiring and I only have $4 million in available funds right now, so if I want to keep him I have to make some roster moves. Austin Riley had his worst year by far in his career since becoming a full-time starter after he did the nearly same thing the year prior. He was healthy the entire year, played in 150+ games, and posted a 0.7 WAR for the entire year.

Casey Mize, who I traded for back in '24, h as continued to be a solid piece in the rotation. He went 13-9 with a 3.84 era across 161.2 IP. Unfortunately, his contract is expiring this year as well and I just cannot justify spending the type of money he is wanting. Fortunately, in this play through I have had as much luck as possible when it comes to draft and developing pitchers, so I won't be hurting too much. I have that Chronowski guy I posted about above, I have the Barnes guy a couple posts above who made the MLB roster this year and stayed up the entire year winning a WS title in his rookie season, and I also have another rookie pitcher that ended up replacing Chronowski when he was lost for the year late in the season. That rookie only went on to throw 35 innings and allowing only 2 runs in the regular season then followed that up with 11 IP allowing 0 runs on 8 hits in the playoffs.

Despite calling guys up left and right it feels like, I still have a top minor league system I have built over the 5 seasons, and I have a good amount of talent knocking on the door, so I am not completely hurting, but it still is a bit hard to realize that I basically have to decide in the coming days in-game whether I am shipping off Riley to keep Albies, or if I am letting Albies walk. Either way I am losing some of my favorite real players.

The good news is that either route I go I have Jake Gelof who can play either 3B or 2B well, so he can replace Riley or Albies just fine in the field and at the plate. I also have a couple of prospects at each position as well that are looking like they're about ready for the big leagues, so I have multiple options to replace whoever leaves.

I am going to mull over it for a little bit before I advance past the arbitration hearings and free agency filings, but right now I am leaning towards letting Albies walk, giving Riley one more year, and rolling with Gelof at 2nd. If Riley has another bad year, I will offload him for whatever I can get. Max Fried has started to regress statistically the last 2 years also, so he is in a similar spot to Riley. If 2028 is not a bounce back year, Fried is likely being shipped off. That one doesn't sting as much to think about because despite liking Fried, I have a plethora of young arms that I drafted that I am beyond anxious to call up.

The smart play is likely to get rid of Riley and find a way to resign Albies as that will be cheaper and Albies still had a decent year, so that may be the direction I go in the end. I'm not sure. Who knew deciding what virtual player to move on from could be so difficult?

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

Your 2027 WS Champion Atlanta Braves

Spoiler

Who cares about defense? Hit bombs and don't let guys reach base and you're good.

[KSUowls]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I think that I've seen you say that you let the in game manager dictate everything lineup & rotation wise?

Do you use any "set game strategy" overrides or anything like that or do you strictly take the game as the role of a GM where you only decide who you trade/sign?

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I think that I've seen you say that you let the in game manager dictate everything lineup & rotation wise?

Do you use any "set game strategy" overrides or anything like that or do you strictly take the game as the role of a GM where you only decide who you trade/sign?

You are correct. Manager does everything. In this save I have not done any of the game strategies. The only changes I've made in this save are changing player positions, like moving an older starter to the pen, or changing a drafted player's position. For example, Jake Gelof was my first draft pick in this save. He is a 3B. I knew he wouldn't replace Riley when he debuted, so I had him set to LF to learn the position in the minors so he could play it when called up. Now that I've traded Riley to the Yankees, Gelof is set back to a 3B and starts there for me.

Other than changing positions I have not done anything else. I've let my managers do everything else.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I guess I never updated you guys what I ended up doing. As I said above, I traded Riley to the Yankees. I sent two prospects along with him and received a 2B prospect myself. Wasn't much of a return, but the market for Riley wasn't too strong.

Even after making that move and freeing up money, I still didn't resign Albies. He wanted more money than I was willing to give, so I've rolled on without him. I did sign Gleybar Torres for cheap, but my manager is starting Braden Shewmake at 2B instead, so we'll roll with that for now. If neither of them are the answer, I can always try to make a move at the deadline.

The preseason predictions have my team as the best team in baseball for the 2028 season. Overall I feel like my team has the potential to be just as good as last year's team or slightly better, but I need a few things to go right. I need one of Torress or Shewmake to replace the production that Albies had last season, and I need two people to replace what Severino and Mize did the prior year. Also, I need the pen to be as good as it was the year before, but with relief pitchers you never know what you'll get year to year.

The rotation has the potential to be as good or better than last year's, but it's Strider and Fried then some of my young guns that have all the potential in the world, they just need to actually do it. Chronowski is actually in the 2 spot in the rotation and has had 2 seasons of having an ERA right around 3, but last year he was injured and missed the 2nd half of the year. Hopefully he bounces back fine. Bradyn Barnes, my other late pick that blossomed made the opening day roster last year and stayed up all year. In 153.2 innings he posted a 3.98 ERA with 199 strikeouts. If he can build off that we will be fine. Finally, Owen Murphy was called up last year and was a playoff hero, so he has earned his shot in the rotation. He only threw 10.1 innings last regular season, but he was stellar. Right now he is a 55/75, and if he can play up to his ratings my rotation is going to be filthy and one that can easily carry a team to another WS appearance.

[Vincent T. Willcox]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

Hello everybody. Help me figure it out, I just started playing and can't figure out which players to develop first... who to focus more on. I want to win the league and I'm constantly getting relegated..... it makes me sad.... I'm used to playing in first person and here it's a different matter.

[Gramps91]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I've never played OOTP but I'm probably going to jump in this weekend if I can find the time. 50% off right now.
I'll probably control the Braves myself. Don't know exactly how I want to play yet. I definitely want to be in charge of the pitching rotations. I'll probably put myself in charge of trades too. Don't want any surprise major roster changes. I might just put CPU in charge of Call Ups/Send Down and contracts and manually control the rest.

Still having fun with The Show but I'm only going to be able to get one full season in there because I like managing all the games. Hoping things go a bit quicker with OOTP.

[Gramps91]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

Weekend was busier than I thought but I did manage to get in one game. Won 1-0 in the opening against the Nationals. Max Fried was great, pitched the entire game. The RBI came from Riley on an RBI single allowing Olson to score a run.

I enjoyed it. Goodness, I have so many things going on right now just a busy time in my life but I'm hoping to get at least a few more games in this week.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

After winning the WS last year, my team got off to a slow start in 2028. They began the year 1-6 and limped to a 15-14 start to end April. Thankfully the pitching has been better than elite and I now sit at 58-33 at the break while my offense is still struggling to find its footing.

I have made two moves to hopefully help out the offense. First, I claimed 1B Bryan Ramos off waivers from Seattle. He hadn't lived up to expectations in the sim as of yet, but my scouting report was favorable on him, so I took a chance on him as my DH, Darick Hall, who was really solid last year was having a very bad 2028 season. Getting Ramos led to Hall being DFA'd, Olson moving to DH, and Ramos taking over at 1st in the starting lineup.

My idea was that in this lineup Ramos would have enough protection that he'd potentially be able to have his best year yet, and so far in the small sample size he is having just that, but the numbers he has right now in a Braves uniform is clearly not sustainable. Hopefully when he cools off he can still produce at a good level. Certainly, whatever he regresses to will likely be better than what Hall was doing.



At 2nd base, going with Shewmake and Torres wasn't working out. Shewmake is a good defensive player and a great clubhouse presence, but he can't hit consistently enough, and Torres was showing me he was a free agent for a reason. These two plus Hall are a big reason my offense has been inconsistent in the first half of the year. I decided to see what players were on the block and I was surprised to see the Nationals were in sell mode already and had CJ Abrams up for grabs.

I was able to package Torres, Hall, and my 2nd best prospect and got Abrams while the Nats also retain 50% of his salary. Now I have Abrams at 2B, am paying him less than what Albies signed for in the off-season with the Marlins, and I have him under contract through the 2034 season where he'll be 33. While he is not as good defensively as Shewmake, his ability to get on base is not comparable in the slightest, so he should be an elite contact hitter than really can aid this struggling offense.

At the break, here is a summary of my team's stats. As you can see, the lineup isn't even top 5 in runs scored in the NL alone, but the pitching has been so good it hasn't mattered as much. I still wanted to try and have a lineup that was elite top to bottom, so I felt the moves I made were necessary.



We'll see post ASB how well my moves help out.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

The offense never quite got into the rhythm I wanted it to, but my team still kept their pace, won 103 games and won the WS for the 2nd straight year behind some truly elite pitching.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

2029 Braves are trying to be the best of the potential dynasty. Jake Gelof is finally turning into the hitter I thought he would be. To be fair, he is only 27, so he is just now getting to his prime. Chris Curtis is my 2027 1st round draft pick that decided to develop overnight heading into the season an saw his potential go from a 55 to a 70 as well. He's leading the team in OPS+ and has been a very welcome surprise. Chris Walters is my 2028 1st round pick.

So my lineup at the moment has my 2023 1st round pick in Gelof, then Curtis my 2027 1st round pick, and Walters my 2028 1st round pick. I've had some very good fortune with my 1st round pick position players panning out. Then throw in Bradyn Barnes and Peter Chronowski in my rotation that turned into 16th and 15th round picks that decided to randomly develop into ace quality pitchers and pair that with what the Braves already had in Strider and Fried, then combine that with a bullpen which is where I spend all of my free agent money and this team is just on a roll.

It wasn't exactly my intended formula for success when starting this save, and I am certainly being aided with so many of my draft picks hitting, but developing position players and starters and spending the money on the bullpen has been one heck of a recipe for success. I have 2 WS titles already and this team is looking like the best of the bunch, so getting 3 straight is not out of the question, but we all know once the playoffs start that anything can happen.





Not pictured are Edwin Diaz and Michael Harris who are out with injuries. Otherwise Andrew Walters would still be in AAA trying to get back to form, and one of Chris Walters or Andy Pages would be on the bench. It's crazy. All these years of OOTP and I've never had a team win it all, and now I have a real shot at winning 3 straight WS. I may send this save to the Braves and use that as my resume. AA can give me a job.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

Team ended up winning 106 games and did get the three-peat.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

It looked like injuries were going to potentially derail the team towards the end of the year as Jake Gelof and Michael Harris both missed the entire playoffs. Edwin Diaz and Ronald Acuna were both injured to start the playoffs and were not healthy until sometime during the NLCS. Nevertheless, the team basically stomped everyone as they did throughout the regular season.

Rookie Chris Curtis had a heck of a postseason as he started 14 games, hit for a .300 average, and even was named World Series MVP. Not bad for a 24 year old with less than 100 games played making only $720,000.

Now I have some decisions to make as Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, and Edwin Diaz all have expiring contracts and I likely don't have the money to keep them all. Strider had an injury-riddled year and wasn't as sharp as normal when healthy, but I'd still love to keep him in the rotation. Murphy just had his best year yet in Atlanta, so I obviously would love to keep him around as he is showing zero signs of regressing at 35 years old. It will be interesting. I am really not sure what route I'll go. Strider and Murphy are definitely higher priority than Diaz and I want to keep both if possible, but I don't remember how much available money I have to spend.

[canes21]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

No 4-peat. 2030 was a gigantic disappointment, partially because the entire team was decimated by injuries throughout the season, and partially because when anyone was healthy they played the worst baseball of their professional careers. I'm talking Gelof batting .233, Michael Harris hitting .240, Strider and Fried each having ERA's north of 5.

I guess Sean Murphy was the glue that held it all together. It was unfortunate that he wanted 3 years minimum at $29 million a year. I tried to keep him despite not wanting to pay a catcher that much money at 36 years old, but he simply wanted too much and the Rangers got him for 3 years $30 million per year.

My team finished the year 85-77 after having a preseason prediction of 100-62. The team ERA was 4.06 allowing 702 runs. The lineup hit .257 and scored 743 runs. Both the offense and pitching were the worst either had been in this save. I could have lived with one side having their worst year of the 8 years I've played so far, but having the lineup and pitching staff both have their worst years so far together just made it too difficult for my team to find any consistency during the year.

The team went 12-13 in April. 14-14 in May, 19-9 in June, 12-4 in July, 14-14 in August, and 14-12 in September. It wasn't even until June 5th that my team was above .500 for the first time, then they had that hot July when just about everyone was back and healthy, so I got my hopes up. Then the injuries just kept coming and coming, and the team kept underachieving.

Oh well. That's baseball. I got my 3-peat. I wasn't going to win the East every year and make it to the WS every year. I do think the 2031 season may be nearly as rough, but it will be more expected. I'm going into more of a rebuild mode as I'll likely be letting Fried, Grissom, and some others hit free agency as I let my younger players come up and develop. Hopefully it pays off and I get another dynasty going.

[Gramps91]

Re: ***The Official OOTP Thread***

I've played about 8 games. I'm hoping I can play more once I get more time cleared up on my schedule.

Right now we are 4-4. Struggling a bit. We've had some nagging injuries early on. Acuna and Riley are both playing through some leg issues.

I'm not at home now so I can't post any stats but the pitching has been a bit disappointing as well. A few of the starters have higher ERAs than you would think at this point.

Only 8 games in I'm not too concerned. I really do like the gameplay, it's the first time I've tried this franchise.