Scouting - Offline Franchise

[japsubie]

Im having some trouble with scouting, i want to make sure i understand it correctly. i tried searching the forums here but didnt turn up much info on good scouting tips, so i figured id make this thread and see if we can get a helpful thread going about scouting. Please help, and leave any tips you have for scouting!!

What is the best way to scout?

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I am interested in hearing others opinions as well but I will still post what works for me.

The first month I discover players in the different regions to enlarge my prospect board. I really focus on my scouts strengths during the entire process. The way I look at it is you can never have too many good players so if I have an all-star shortstop already but that what my scout finds I wouldn't be putting forth my best effort to build a team. Once April is up I begin scouting individual players with varying potential ratings since you don't want to be in the fourth round having run out of scouted prospects.

In the later rounds I am usually looking for high ceiling players who are going to take a while to develop in the minor leagues. I think the key when drafting is to know that baseball isn't like football or basketball where a drafted player makes an impact right away on your big league roster. Instead, be patient with your players and give them every opportunity to succeed since this can raise their prospect status. Obviously their are exceptions to the rule if the player is the next Mike Trout. If that's the case then by all means bring him up, but don't rush a 20 year old who is only a 75 overall if you have plenty of depth at that position. Not only can you let him tear it up in the minors but you can also delay his service time and extend club control out that much longer (this is especially important if you are a small market club).

In the end I don't think there is any one exact way to scout players. However, I would recommend having a timeline of when you want to move on to different stages of the scouting process. Also, always know what your scout's strengths are and when it comes to the draft take the best available player on the board. There is nothing that says you can't draft a shortstop and develop him as a 2nd basemen or even a center fielder. Teams do that in real life all of the time so you wouldn't be taking away from any of the realism of the game.

My last word of advice is to have balance throughout the scouting process. Don't scout all high potential and high overall players. You only have one 1st round pick and four scouts through the whole process. Spread those scouts out and try and find a diamond in the rough. Like I said earlier, you don't want to be in the later rounds of the draft picking blind and hoping to strike gold because it's probably not going to happen and you just wasted a pick.

[japsubie]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I am interested in hearing others opinions as well but I will still post what works for me.

The first month I discover players in the different regions to enlarge my prospect board. I really focus on my scouts strengths during the entire process. The way I look at it is you can never have too many good players so if I have an all-star shortstop already but that what my scout finds I wouldn't be putting forth my best effort to build a team. Once April is up I begin scouting individual players with varying potential ratings since you don't want to be in the fourth round having run out of scouted prospects.

In the later rounds I am usually looking for high ceiling players who are going to take a while to develop in the minor leagues. I think the key when drafting is to know that baseball isn't like football or basketball where a drafted player makes an impact right away on your big league roster. Instead, be patient with your players and give them every opportunity to succeed since this can raise their prospect status. Obviously their are exceptions to the rule if the player is the next Mike Trout. If that's the case then by all means bring him up, but don't rush a 20 year old who is only a 75 overall if you have plenty of depth at that position. Not only can you let him tear it up in the minors but you can also delay his service time and extend club control out that much longer (this is especially important if you are a small market club).

In the end I don't think there is any one exact way to scout players. However, I would recommend having a timeline of when you want to move on to different stages of the scouting process. Also, always know what your scout's strengths are and when it comes to the draft take the best available player on the board. There is nothing that says you can't draft a shortstop and develop him as a 2nd basemen or even a center fielder. Teams do that in real life all of the time so you wouldn't be taking away from any of the realism of the game.

My last word of advice is to have balance throughout the scouting process. Don't scout all high potential and high overall players. You only have one 1st round pick and four scouts through the whole process. Spread those scouts out and try and find a diamond in the rough. Like I said earlier, you don't want to be in the later rounds of the draft picking blind and hoping to strike gold because it's probably not going to happen and you just wasted a pick.

these are some great tips!! do you put all 4 of your scouts to discover in the month of april? and then take all 4 and scout individual players??

[ShaBoomer]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

There is nothing that says you can't draft a shortstop and develop him as a 2nd basemen or even a center fielder. Teams do that in real life all of the time so you wouldn't be taking away from any of the realism of the game.

Have they changed the way defense works? In previous years, if you put a player at their secondary fielding position they played at 80% of their fielding ratings, and if they were out of position (so neither a primary or secondary) they played at 60%.

I know it's not hard to draft a player and then manually edit him to add a secondary position or change the primary position, but if you do that, what's the point of caring about who you draft? (for me anyway...)


One of the first things I do with scouting is look at my actual scouts. I take a look at who else is available to hire, and how they fit into my budget. If I have enough budget, I might fire a scout or two and hire better ones.

I try and have a mix of 1 scout really good at discovery, 1 scout really good with position players, 1 scout suited for pitchers, and 1 "balanced" scout.

Then I stick the ones with the best discovery rating on discovery (duh) and scout players based on the ratings of the other scouts. Once everyone is discovered, I take a look at my scouts again. If I have a scout with high discovery and lower ratings everywhere else, I look at hiring somebody else again.

Obviously I would be a hated boss in real life, but these aren't real people in the game so I don't mind using them a little.

Once the draft comes, I look at my depth chart. In the first 2 rounds I take the best player available and then fill out my depth chart with my remaining picks.

[stlcards234]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Pretty good advice here. Here's what I try to do:


Hire/Fire scouts regularly to maximize the stat that is appropriate to what you want to do. There isn't a financial penalty to hiring/firing scouts as if they were players. As long as you have the budget for them, you're good!


Like the above poster mentioned, I discover players for the first month or so using scouts with the highest discovery rating and position player rating (if I'm scouting position players) or pitcher player rating (if I'm scouting pitchers). I'm not 100% sure if the player ratings factor in to how fast they discover players (if at all). Make sure you set your scouts to something before your first regular season game. There are a few days between opening day and your first game when your scouts can still work. Every day counts, and early June will come faster than you think!


After the first month of discovery, I re-hire scouts with the highest efficiency and player ratings (pitcher if I scout pitchers, position if I scout position). I try to scout players with an MLB expected of 2-4 years and potential of 85+. I actually try to avoid next year debuts because they tend to be players that have high overall, but low potential. These can be good bench guys but I'm looking for star power. I can always trade for bench/bullpen. I also never scout RP for that reason.


Personally, I prioritize finding good position players over pitchers but just my preference. Check back every day, and if their potential drops below 80, I stop scouting them. I stop scouting around 65-70% if their potential is still above 90. I stop scouting around 75-80% if their potential is 85 or more (usually just one more day). It seems kind of backwards (stop scouting a higher potential guy) but my reasoning is that I can be more certain that a player with 90+ potential at 65-70% can be a good player. But if a guy is at 85 potential or so is at 65-70%, I am still unsure if I really want to draft him. I never scout anyone beyond 80% or so.


Contrary to one of the above poster, I try to ONLY scout the highest initially rated prospects. Through my simulations, players in the draft vary widely on when they are drafted. I had a guy with 93 Pot, 54 OVR get drafted as early as the first round, and as late as the fifth!


But your farm system hinges on more than proper scouting- you have to draft right too! I'll post something else later that better explains my thought process on the draft.

[japsubie]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Pretty good advice here. Here's what I try to do:


Hire/Fire scouts regularly to maximize the stat that is appropriate to what you want to do. There isn't a financial penalty to hiring/firing scouts as if they were players. As long as you have the budget for them, you're good!


Like the above poster mentioned, I discover players for the first month or so using scouts with the highest discovery rating and position player rating (if I'm scouting position players) or pitcher player rating (if I'm scouting pitchers). I'm not 100% sure if the player ratings factor in to how fast they discover players (if at all). Make sure you set your scouts to something before your first regular season game. There are a few days between opening day and your first game when your scouts can still work. Every day counts, and early June will come faster than you think!


After the first month of discovery, I re-hire scouts with the highest efficiency and player ratings (pitcher if I scout pitchers, position if I scout position). I try to scout players with an MLB expected of 2-4 years and potential of 85+. I actually try to avoid next year debuts because they tend to be players that have high overall, but low potential. These can be good bench guys but I'm looking for star power. I can always trade for bench/bullpen. I also never scout RP for that reason.


Personally, I prioritize finding good position players over pitchers but just my preference. Check back every day, and if their potential drops below 80, I stop scouting them. I stop scouting around 65-70% if their potential is still above 90. I stop scouting around 75-80% if their potential is 85 or more (usually just one more day). It seems kind of backwards (stop scouting a higher potential guy) but my reasoning is that I can be more certain that a player with 90+ potential at 65-70% can be a good player. But if a guy is at 85 potential or so is at 65-70%, I am still unsure if I really want to draft him. I never scout anyone beyond 80% or so.


Contrary to one of the above poster, I try to ONLY scout the highest initially rated prospects. Through my simulations, players in the draft vary widely on when they are drafted. I had a guy with 93 Pot, 54 OVR get drafted as early as the first round, and as late as the fifth!


But your farm system hinges on more than proper scouting- you have to draft right too! I'll post something else later that better explains my thought process on the draft.

awesome, definitely post more please. also, is efficiency rating basically how quickly they can fully scout an individual player? or is it how thoroughly/accurate?

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I know it's not hard to draft a player and then manually edit him to add a secondary position or change the primary position, but if you do that, what's the point of caring about who you draft? (for me anyway...)

My general rule of thumb on this is if the player is an up the middle player they should in theory be the best athletes on the field. I exclude catchers in the up the middle category for this rule. For example, a drafted shortstop who can run I have no problem editing him to make him a full time outfielder in the minors. However, you would never see me draft a right fielder and move him in to play shortstop. I look at it on a case by case basis and if I think it's a feasible option I do it. But, if I draft a player at a position I'm stacked at but I think the player could develop into a stud at that specific spot I won't change anything and just worry about the issue when it arises. The way I look at it that's a good problem to have.

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

awesome, definitely post more please. also, is efficiency rating basically how quickly they can fully scout an individual player? or is it how thoroughly/accurate?

I think that it is a little bit of both.

[stlcards234]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

awalso, is efficiency rating basically how quickly they can fully scout an individual player? or is it how thoroughly/accurate?

My guess is that efficiency is how fast the "Scouting Accuracy" bar fills up. Normally, the highest scouts will give me a very good picture of a guy's potential after just one day. As per my guidelines I previously mentioned, I rarely have to scout a guy more than 2 days with the best scouts.


As far as the draft is concerned, I am working through my first real keeper franchise draft. (I did some before OSFM came out but didn't analyze very much of it.) So I've drafted a few seasons worth with pretty good results. Small sample size, but through 4 drafts I have drafted 5 B potential or better guys in 3/4 years. The last year was extremely thin throughout. (I was the Cardinals so I do have an extra comp. pick but a lower priority within the round)


Some things to note in the draft:
-Make sure you understand the way the draft works in terms of compensatory picks; this can help shape your offseason. Do you mind letting your top FA go if you can snag a highly touted prospect? Up to you!


-The players you scout, won't necessarily be in the draft. The players that are in the draft, aren't necessarily scout-able. So don't get caught up in drafting one key guy cause by the time you get to the day of the draft, he might not even be eligible. Which players that will be in the draft are determined the day of the draft. So make sure you have an extra save game the day before the draft so you can reload if you really want a particular guy.


-MLB drafts have much more variance than other sports (say football); So make sure you look through your draft list closely before actually drafting- the sims I have run have always included 1-2 very solid sleeper picks (Rounds 5+)




As far as guidelines to drafting, I'm afraid its a lot of subjective. The first 1-2 rounds you should be able to select based on your scouting. These should be almost lock picks- picks you know will have some sort of playtime at the MLB level. No, you won't be drafting the next Mike Trout very often but at least you may get a middle of the rotation guy or a solid everyday player.


Rounds 3/4: I call my "Next best guess" rounds. These are guys who have decent potential and may or may not pan out to be solid players at the MLB level.


Rounds 5/6: I normally don't have any scouting reports on these guys. And while some see that as a detriment, I'm ok with it because I take these rounds a different way. I just use this round for VALUE. Any player with 90+ predicted potential (even unscouted) is an insta-draft here- even relief pitchers. They will often be guys who dropped out of the top rounds for whatever reason.


General guideline: Never draft a guy with below 70 potential. I figure if he is 70 potential and the scout report is inaccurate, he could potential become an 80 potential. A 60 or under 80 potential player to me has very little value.

[stlcards234]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I also want to mention a few other points about a draft which I think may be useful:


1) Don't draft based on what you need; draft on best available talent
Even if you have an outfield that is overflowing with talent, don't shy away from drafting that high potential young outfielder. You can always trade him later (which will be easy) and get a position of need via trading. To me, I would always take an A pot player over a B pot player at a position of need (assuming OVR are comparable).


2) Don't be reluctant due to age
A lot of people say they don't scout people that are 21 or 22 years old age. I just personally find that weird. I don't care how old people are, as long as they are talented. If there is a 22 year old with 88 pot on the board, I'm very willing to take him. The big thing is players can make their debut when they are 25+ years of age and do just fine. Not everyone hits their prime around 24-26 years old.


3) Be weary of high potential but low OVR guys. There will sometimes be guys that have 95 pot but 45ish OVR. These guys will take a long time to develop and may or may not ever reach the big league level. Remember, if they spend 5 years in the minors they can be eligible for Rule 5 draft. So its not like they don't have a ticking clock on their development.


I think I could go on and on regarding roster building and the sort.... I love it. I love the draft in every major sport and enjoy every aspect of it. Hope this helped and if anyone has any different opinions, please share! I am always anxious to get a different take on this kind of thing

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

2) Don't be reluctant due to age
A lot of people say they don't scout people that are 21 or 22 years old age. I just personally find that weird. I don't care how old people are, as long as they are talented. If there is a 22 year old with 88 pot on the board, I'm very willing to take him. The big thing is players can make their debut when they are 25+ years of age and do just fine. Not everyone hits their prime around 24-26 years old.


3) Be weary of high potential but low OVR guys. There will sometimes be guys that have 95 pot but 45ish OVR. These guys will take a long time to develop and may or may not ever reach the big league level. Remember, if they spend 5 years in the minors they can be eligible for Rule 5 draft. So its not like they don't have a ticking clock on their development.

Couldn't agree more on these two points. Personally I usually like my prospects to be MLB ready no later than 26 for older players and 23-24 for guys I drafted at 18-19. After this age I usually don't look at them as top end prospects anymore. If they are being blocked at the major league level I look to deal them in a package to help my big league club or add more organizational depth. In my eyes any player I draft that reaches the big leagues is a success, even if that means they had to get there with another team.

I like to take high potential players with low overalls in the late rounds as projects but there is a certain cut off point where the overall just won't improve in time. A 45 overall player is going to take 5-6 years to develop into a "decent" player. As was said earlier this leaves the player vulnerable to the Rule 5 draft and would make the time invested worthless. Like stlcards234, I live for this stuff and could talk strategy all day, especially when it comes to player development and the draft.

[japsubie]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

3) Be weary of high potential but low OVR guys. There will sometimes be guys that have 95 pot but 45ish OVR. These guys will take a long time to develop and may or may not ever reach the big league level. Remember, if they spend 5 years in the minors they can be eligible for Rule 5 draft. So its not like they don't have a ticking clock on their development.

-Make sure you understand the way the draft works in terms of compensatory picks; this can help shape your offseason. Do you mind letting your top FA go if you can snag a highly touted prospect? Up to you!

Think i did this lol can you explain the rule 5 thing for me and also a little bit about the comp. picks? i dont really understand these things much.

[japsubie]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Couldn't agree more on these two points. Personally I usually like my prospects to be MLB ready no later than 26 for older players and 23-24 for guys I drafted at 18-19. After this age I usually don't look at them as top end prospects anymore. If they are being blocked at the major league level I look to deal them in a package to help my big league club or add more organizational depth. In my eyes any player I draft that reaches the big leagues is a success, even if that means they had to get there with another team.

I like to take high potential players with low overalls in the late rounds as projects but there is a certain cut off point where the overall just won't improve in time. A 45 overall player is going to take 5-6 years to develop into a "decent" player. As was said earlier this leaves the player vulnerable to the Rule 5 draft and would make the time invested worthless. Like stlcards234, I live for this stuff and could talk strategy all day, especially when it comes to player development and the draft.

guys this is great stuff, this is exactly what i was looking for, im happy for all the info! i could learn about this all day! im new when it comes to knowing the rules/regulations/process's of everything so the more info the better!!

[wolfpack23]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

Think i did this lol can you explain the rule 5 thing for me and also a little bit about the comp. picks? i dont really understand these things much.

The Rule 5 draft is in place to give minor league players and opportunity to get picked by another club if they aren't on the 40 man roster after 5 seasons in the original clubs system. However, if a player is picked by another club in the Rule 5 draft that player must remain on that teams 25 man MLB roster for the entire season or else the original team can demand the player back. However, once that player has remained on the 25 man roster for the entire season they can then be optioned back to the minor leagues.

Compensation picks are a result of losing free agents during the off-season. There are different tiered free agents and a club will get a certain pick based on that tier.

[tessl]

Re: Scouting - Offline Franchise

I don't have scouting completely figured out. For example what is the importance of the region for a scout. Do they get faster results if they scout within their own region?

I start with two scouts discovering, two scouting. When I have an adequate number of players discovered I put them all to work scouting. For pitchers it is important to scout for both left and right handed pitchers and for pitching I scout makeup.

For position players it depends on position and team philosophy.

One thing I've noticed is a few players have higher attributes than potential. I look for those guys and scout them because sometimes their potential increases after they are scouted and they turn out to be hidden gems.