Franchise mode guide?

[Hooe]

I'm picking up this game on Tuesday having not bought an MLB game in at least 15 years.

I plan on starting a franchise with some undecided team, and I'm curious as to, from a high level, what sort of things I'll have to concern myself with in this game's franchise mode (speaking strictly from a high-level standpoint, and I'm not interested in hearing about glitches from previous years' games either)?

For example, will I have to keep an eye on my team's minor league system and bring players up from that every once in a while? Will the AI offer me trades throughout the year? Is there a fair amount of activity around the league as the trade deadline approaches? Do players have off-the-field personalities, a la NBA2K? Are the economic advantages and disadvantages that exist between teams in real life accurately portrayed in this game?

Any high-level guidance, or links where I can find this info, would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Franchise mode guide?

I'm picking up this game on Tuesday having not bought an MLB game in at least 15 years.

I plan on starting a franchise with some undecided team, and I'm curious as to, from a high level, what sort of things I'll have to concern myself with in this game's franchise mode (speaking strictly from a high-level standpoint, and I'm not interested in hearing about glitches from previous years' games either)?

For example, will I have to keep an eye on my team's minor league system and bring players up from that every once in a while? Will the AI offer me trades throughout the year? Is there a fair amount of activity around the league as the trade deadline approaches? Do players have off-the-field personalities, a la NBA2K? Are the economic advantages and disadvantages that exist between teams in real life accurately portrayed in this game?

Any high-level guidance, or links where I can find this info, would be appreciated. Thanks!

If they fixed the bug from last year, then yes, there will be economic advantages and disadvantages. Each team has a different salary cap to represent how much their owner is willing to spend, and it increases or decreases based on your team's success during the year. However, in last year's game, free agents didn't demand high enough salaries, so there wasn't really any advantage because you could still sign anyone you wanted.

You definitely are going to want to pay attention to minor leaguers, especially if this year's dynamic ratings system works. It's personally one of my favorite parts, bringing up minor league pitchers and playing with them.