2013 Franchise/Season Progress Thread

[Neolithic]

Going to get another exhibition game in to tweak sliders (mainly pitch speed, as the others need larger sample sizes) regain comfort with the controls, and then it's time to start my Cubs franchise!!

Don't know if I want to do a "play one game a series" or a "play 1 sim 5" approach. Given the young guys in the Cubs revitalized system, I'd like to get deeper into the franchise than I have in years past (only got a couple seasons in, as I played almost every game).

Probably go with the play 1, sim 5 then actually.

[Rasp]

Started a Cardinals season that`ll keep me busy until the OSFM rosters are out. Started the season with a series win in Arizona. Wainwright threw a hell of an Opening Day followed by a good start by Carpenter. Lynn did not fair so well and gave up 4 ER in the series finale and Arizona escaped a series sweep.

Moved onto San Fransisco, where Garcia threw a solid ball game and Freese picked up the offense, going 4 for 5 with a HR and 4 RBI. Cardinals win 8-2.

So Im 3-1 playing on All-Star difficulty and getting fairly solid contributions from everyone, except Alan Craig

[DPillz1201]

31-29 with the Mariners... Been playing about 2-3 games every month so I can progress faster (real franchise will start when OFSM rosters drop) so it's kinda a test run for me...

Using MLB 12 sliders with adjusted pitch speed and I'm loving it


King Felix vs CC against the Yanks... Hot start but now we've been cold lately and losing lots of easy ones.. Big game gotta start getting back on track

[ludosc]

I just finished year 2 with the Rangers. Going through it pretty quick just to check things out until the full rosters come out.

a few "issues"

1) budgets

I won the World Series both seasons. At the end of season 1 my budget increased by 4% and at the end of season 2 it increased by 3%. That is way to low. That increase alone doesn't come anywhere close to covering annual increases in multi-year contracts or increases for players moving through arbitration. I've seen this happen in previous games and it usually leads to a lot of players sitting in FA at the beginning of spring training because nobody has any money. It also does not accurately reflect the revenue increase a team sees when winning the World Series two years in a row.

2) year two schedule is off by a week

not a major issue but the season starts a week later than it should. and there are a high amount of off days during spring training.

3) contracts players are willing to sign

after year one, i had Jurikson Profar and Mike Olt (Texas' two top offensive prospects) on my contract renew screen. Under what they want as a offer, both were in the 500k range for 3 seasons. I decided to offer them each $4 million/10 years just to see what would happen. They both accepted. I was never able to do this in previous games.

4) player progression is insane

ive seen players drop 20ish points in one season and seen players increase rapidly. Not sure at the moment if I like it but it definitely changes how you look at players. After season 1, I needed a DH and missed out on a few FA's (see my next comment) and I offered Carlos Beltran a 1 year/$1 million contract. He went from a 86 to a 71 by season end. Albert Pujols is currently sitting at a 72 (being a Rangers fan, I find this one hilarious). I also traded for Mike Leake as part of a minor deal and he went from being used primarily as a 6th starter/long relief (went 5-4 4.65 ERA in '13) to being the #2 guy behind Darvish (went 17-6 with a 2.72 ERA). One of my starters got hurt and i threw him in there to fill in and bam...ace material.

5) FA snubs

After year 1 I made the following offers that were snubbed

Michael Bourn 5 years/$40 million

he took 2 years/$13.5 million from the Twins

Nelson Cruz 4 years/$50 million

he took 3 years/$22.8 million from the Padres

how is that in any way realistic?


anyway just a few impressions so far

[Dcabrera13]

Has anyone that has started a Franchise NOT waiting on the OS rosters? What sliders are realistic?

Started my Franchise with my Astros last night and lost 1-0 to the Rangers. Should I wait for a patch to get settled? I remember last year they had the scheduling patch when every game was played at the same time...and some people had to restart their franchises. This year I really want to play all 162 games and I want to start my chise right now!!

[3fiddy]

Started a 3 player fantasy draft last night. DH on to equal stats for everybody. I took the Cardinals. Great stadium. History. Pretty even park factor. We limiting to ab 3 trades. Through All star break.

Vs rhp

Jason kipnis 2b
Bryce Harper CF
Jay Bruce Rf
Giancarlo Stanton Lf
Freddie Freeman 1b
Mike Moustakas 3b
Brett Lawrie DH
Salvador Perez C
Manny machado SS. Ps he moved up to 81 Ovr @ SS.

bench
Starling Marte CF , Dayan viciedo 3b , Jean segura SS
Vs LHP

Brett Lawrie 3b
Dayan Vicedo 1b
Giancarlo Stanton DH
Jay Bruce Rf
Salvador Perez C
Bryce Harper Lf
Manny Machado SS
Jason kiPnis 2b
Starling Marte CF

Pitching
David Price L *
Jarrod Parker R
Felix Doubront L
Justin Masterson R
Trevor Cahill R

Tazawa , chris Perez * , Jim Johnson, chris archer. In bullpen. Can't remember all at this moment.

* acquired in 1 and only trade.

How can I arrange that lineup better ?? I'll update there rosters later today and input opening day results. Excited to get started !! Anyone else see Straburg and aroldis land on the same team?? They in my buddy division too lol

[rpagz3]

Quote: Originally Posted by 3fiddy

Started a 3 player fantasy draft last night. DH on to equal stats for everybody. I took the Cardinals. Great stadium. History. Pretty even park factor. We limiting to ab 3 trades. Through All star break. Vs rhp Jason kipnis 2b Bryce Harper CF Jay Bruce Rf Giancarlo Stanton Lf Freddie Freeman 1b Mike Moustakas 3b Brett Lawrie DH Salvador Perez C Manny machado SS. Ps he moved up to 81 Ovr @ SS. bench Starling Marte CF , Dayan viciedo 3b , Jean segura SS Vs LHP Brett Lawrie 3b Dayan Vicedo 1b Giancarlo Stanton DH Jay Bruce Rf Salvador Perez C Bryce Harper Lf Manny Machado SS Jason kiPnis 2b Starling Marte CF Pitching David Price L * Jarrod Parker R Felix Doubront L Justin Masterson R Trevor Cahill R Tazawa , chris Perez * , Jim Johnson, chris archer. In bullpen. Can't remember all at this moment. * acquired in 1 and only trade. How can I arrange that lineup better ?? I'll update there rosters later today and input opening day results. Excited to get started !! Anyone else see Straburg and aroldis land on the same team?? They in my buddy division too lol

I'd do:

Lawrie 3b
Kipnis 2b
Stanton Rf
Bruce Dh
Harper Lf
Freeman 1b
Perez C
Machado Ss
Marte Cf

... Stanton is a better RF then Bruce.. But you can't have Bruce in LF so he must Dh. Marte is a defensive must for Cf and you'd have 3 GG caliber Of with Harper in Lf. Always play Freeman no matter the matchups.. This would be my lineup every game unless resting a player.

[Williekemp15]

also doing a Blue-Jays franchise on vita! this will keep me busy until the OSFM roster comes out and i can start my Braves franchise