OOTP 20 Franchise Progress Thread

[KBLover]

With the draft making noise in MLB, thought I'd look at how some of the IRL prospects are doing in my save.

If you have a kid you want me to see, I'll check. I'm in 2027, FYI.


Hunter Barco, P/OF:

IRL: expected to become a pitcher with three solid pitches and questions about command.

My save: Rays turned him into a RF instead of a pitcher. Slow developer, made the majors at 24. Scouts as a solid RF (55/60/40, 80 Arm) but hasn't turned that into production at the plate yet.


Bobby Witt Jr, SS:

IRL: High exit velocity makes him a potential power threat who also can hit line drives. Questions about plate discipline, though improving. Plus SS potentially.

My save: Drafted 1st overall (expected 2nd overall IRL) and turned into a line drive hitter with some pop. Perhaps slanted more towards line drives than HR than expected irl, but overall the same player, though he was moved to 3B.


Adley Rutschman, C

IRL: Expected 1st overall pick. Potentially dynamic bat on top of an excellent defense behind the plate. He seems like a do-it-all contributor at a premium position.

My save: Drafted 4th overall (by the O's same as IRL's expectation) and was named the #33 prospect in the league. However, he never could live up to the expectations at the plate. He ended up being average-ish and has since slipped to below average. Defense is still very strong - turned into a defensive catcher.


Miguel Flames, 1B

IRL: Currently working his way through the low minors. Production is improving and he still appears to scout as a high BABIP/low contact hitter.

My save: Made the majors for the Yankees in 2021 with full time action starting in 2022. He showed very good home run power and finished 2nd in the AL ROY voting in 2022. Since then, the HR have slipped before jumping back to 38 last season and now might be on the verge of being a stud after a rapid acceleration in his growth this offseason...just in time for a free agency year.


Bryson Stott, SS

IRL: Expected 10th overall pick, thought to be a defensive shortstop with a decent bat and should be a quality producer overall at shortstop.

My save: Fell to the 6th round and was eventually cut. He never really got it going and never made it to the majors. He retired in 2023 at the age of 26, never making it to the high minors.


Corbin Carroll, OF

IRL: Considered an advance hitter for his age and shows plus speed. Thought to be a doubles/triples threat with good range as a result.

My save: Drafted 5th overall (13th expected) by the Royals. Consistently named in the Top 100 while a prospect. The Royals held on to him though he was blocked and fought for playing time, even at the majors. Last season, he finally got full time action. He led the AL in runs with 108 and posted a 124 OPS+. His speed proved to be exceptional and he uses it as a top threat to steal bases. Very solid player.

[MightyMaxxx13]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

With the draft making noise in MLB, thought I'd look at how some of the IRL prospects are doing in my save. If you have a kid you want me to see, I'll check. I'm in 2027, FYI. Hunter Barco, P/OF: IRL: expected to become a pitcher with three solid pitches and questions about command. My save: Rays turned him into a RF instead of a pitcher. Slow developer, made the majors at 24. Scouts as a solid RF (55/60/40, 80 Arm) but hasn't turned that into production at the plate yet. Bobby Witt Jr, SS: IRL: High exit velocity makes him a potential power threat who also can hit line drives. Questions about plate discipline, though improving. Plus SS potentially. My save: Drafted 1st overall (expected 2nd overall IRL) and turned into a line drive hitter with some pop. Perhaps slanted more towards line drives than HR than expected irl, but overall the same player, though he was moved to 3B. Adley Rutschman, C IRL: Expected 1st overall pick. Potentially dynamic bat on top of an excellent defense behind the plate. He seems like a do-it-all contributor at a premium position. My save: Drafted 4th overall (by the O's same as IRL's expectation) and was named the #33 prospect in the league. However, he never could live up to the expectations at the plate. He ended up being average-ish and has since slipped to below average. Defense is still very strong - turned into a defensive catcher. Miguel Flames, 1B IRL: Currently working his way through the low minors. Production is improving and he still appears to scout as a high BABIP/low contact hitter. My save: Made the majors for the Yankees in 2021 with full time action starting in 2022. He showed very good home run power and finished 2nd in the AL ROY voting in 2022. Since then, the HR have slipped before jumping back to 38 last season and now might be on the verge of being a stud after a rapid acceleration in his growth this offseason...just in time for a free agency year. Bryson Stott, SS IRL: Expected 10th overall pick, thought to be a defensive shortstop with a decent bat and should be a quality producer overall at shortstop. My save: Fell to the 6th round and was eventually cut. He never really got it going and never made it to the majors. He retired in 2023 at the age of 26, never making it to the high minors. Corbin Carroll, OF IRL: Considered an advance hitter for his age and shows plus speed. Thought to be a doubles/triples threat with good range as a result. My save: Drafted 5th overall (13th expected) by the Royals. Consistently named in the Top 100 while a prospect. The Royals held on to him though he was blocked and fought for playing time, even at the majors. Last season, he finally got full time action. He led the AL in runs with 108 and posted a 124 OPS+. His speed proved to be exceptional and he uses it as a top threat to steal bases. Very solid player.

How did Albert Abreu, Deivi Garcia, and Loaisiga pan out for the Yanks?

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by MightyMaxxx13

How did Albert Abreu, Deivi Garcia, and Loaisiga pan out for the Yanks?

Albert Abreu:

Yankees put him on waivers and he was claimed by the White Sox (well...the team that was the White Sox, they relocated in 2019 offseason). Since then, he's been a AAA journeyman, still trying to make the majors. He's currently in the Royals system.




Deivi Garcia:

Garcia turned into a very reliable starting pitcher. He was named the #46 prospect in the game in 2021 and made the rotation full time in 2023, where he won an AL-leading 16 games. The Yankees as a whole went into a bit of a lull when Garcia arrived, holding down his individual numbers a bit. He's currently #2 starter behind Jose Barrios as 2027 begins.




Jonathon Loaisiga:

Was traded twice before sticking with the Marlins in 2020, where he played six seasons. He's always been about MLB average overall, but teams are seemingly scared of his HR/9 rate, which is persistently higher than average. He gets moved around as a swing man of sorts, and through it all, keeps churning out MLB average performances. If he could land on a team that would give him full rotation innings, he'd probably do better. The Giants signed him to a minors-majors option deal and he's been promoted, so we'll see how they use him.

[MightyMaxxx13]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Albert Abreu: Yankees put him on waivers and he was claimed by the White Sox (well...the team that was the White Sox, they relocated in 2019 offseason). Since then, he's been a AAA journeyman, still trying to make the majors. He's currently in the Royals system. Deivi Garcia: Garcia turned into a very reliable starting pitcher. He was named the #46 prospect in the game in 2021 and made the rotation full time in 2023, where he won an AL-leading 16 games. The Yankees as a whole went into a bit of a lull when Garcia arrived, holding down his individual numbers a bit. He's currently #2 starter behind Jose Barrios as 2027 begins. Jonathon Loaisiga: Was traded twice before sticking with the Marlins in 2020, where he played six seasons. He's always been about MLB average overall, but teams are seemingly scared of his HR/9 rate, which is persistently higher than average. He gets moved around as a swing man of sorts, and through it all, keeps churning out MLB average performances. If he could land on a team that would give him full rotation innings, he'd probably do better. The Giants signed him to a minors-majors option deal and he's been promoted, so we'll see how they use him.

Good stuff man. I’ve played the show since inception but I’ve been lurking in the OOTP forums and I think im going to download and give it a try. My experience with the show over the last year + has basically been trying to force franchise mode to replicate a deep simulation. Basically exactly what OOTP does.

[MightyMaxxx13]

OK I’m taking the plunge. Purchased and downloaded OOTP20 earlier this evening and whipped up my first game. Hoo boy the depth of this is intimidating. My first run is going to be strictly GM duties for the Baltimore Orioles. Coming off the worst season in franchise history in 2018, the entire front office was gutted so I figure this is a good starting point. I’m also somewhat familiar with the team and farm system from my MLB the Show franchise. As I said I’ll let new manager Brandon Hyde handle the managerial duties for now while I take on the big-picture GM stuff and player development.

I will be fireable, and unfortunately owner Peter Angelos is a demanding one so I’ll have to perform. He’s laid out a 4-year plan for me to get us to the playoffs, which means I’ll have to do so before Chris Davis comes off the books. He also wants us to play close to .500 in 2019, no easy task coming off of a season where the team lost almost 120 games. We’ll see how this goes.

My farm system is pretty flimsy at the start. My best prospect is outfielder Yusniel Diaz, but for some reason my scouting director Brady Anderson isn’t as high on him as the general scouting community seems to be. Its a significant disparity, with OSA grading his contact a future 80 and Anderson grading it around 55. Behind Diaz I have a few middle-of-the-road pitching prospects but noone who really looks like a bonafide star.

I had to do some roster surgery to start the season - #9 prospect Dean Kremer was slated to be the team’s #3 starter despite only ever making 8 starts above single-A. I sent him down to Bowie and hope to have him in AAA before season’s end. That was the most egregious - most of my other moves were just assigning prospects to more appropriate levels in the minors. Most of my MLB roster is filled with placeholders until I can secure some real talent. The highlight of my team is lefty closer Tanner Scott, who is basically rated and scouted as if he was Aroldis Chapman.

My major goal of this endeavor is to fix the player development issues that have plagued this franchise for the past several decades:

1) Expand our international scouting footprint. The Orioles have historically not invested in the international amateur front. This cannot continue, especially up against the Yankees and Red Sox who are both powerhouses when it comes to signing and developing international talent.

2) Improve our development of pitching prospects. The Orioles are infamous for ruining the careers of promising amateur pitchers. There is a long line of high school pitching prospects that have been laid to waste by the organization, with Dylan Bundy being the MOST successful of the bunch. I have 2 youngsters, DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez, who will be my starting point for reversing this trend. Apart from those two, lefty Keegan Akin (a 2016 college draftee out of Western Michigan) is now in AAA and could make an impact this season. I’ll have to get these guys to the majors and hopefully draft a few more promising arms behind them.

I don’t have much tradeable talent at the major league level. So this will not be an easy rebuild especially with a demanding owner who wants to compete ASAP. We have the first overall pick in the draft, but it doesn’t seem like Mr. Angelos will be willing to go thr Houston Astros route of multiple 100-loss seasons to build a winner from the ground up. So I’ll see if I can work some magic.

[bravo2208]

I decided to bring Major League Baseball back to Brooklyn. Our first year was predictably rough, then I decided to spend out on a couple foreign free agents (a SP and a 2B). It paid dividends. Despite some really bad injuries, we made the playoffs! I really wish we had David Peralta. I traded quite a bit for him and he got injured after just 2 games with us.

[canes21]

I've actually let the real season pass by my OOTP season, but barely. Will probably catch back up through this weekend. I did recently make a trade to ship of Johnny Venters and two minor league pitchers including Wade LeBlanc to Minnesota for Pineda who I moved to a bullpen slot for now. Pineda despite his expectations of being in the starting rotation actually is now very happy to be in Atlanta and in the bullpen. His overall went up as well, so hopefully he can really help out my bullpen that much like the real Bravos struggles. Now, if I can get Mike Soroka to play more like his real self and then if Gausman can keep playing well in my save then my roster will be good enough to contend for the division title this year.

[canes21]

My Braves team is better than the real life Braves team. My hitting has been good like the real Braves, but my pitching has been outstanding which is what really helps. I have solidified the pitching staff a bit more than AA has done in real life so it may be sustainable. My hitting, while it has been good, has not been great and it can really take it up a notch and if it does, my team may be a true contender. Right now I've got Freeman batting between .270-.280, Acuna is a little below that, Markakis is .250, Swanson .250, but Albies is .321. Inciarte is also .260. I expect Freeman and Acuna to finish better than where they are now. Albies can stay at .321 and I won't complain.

I'm also trying to get Riley some playing time. I called him up as Donaldson has been out for some time and will be out for at least another month. Camargo keeps getting all of the reps at 3rd so I've started to try and get Riley time in LF also. I traded away Duvall hoping that would open up some opportunities for Riley also, plus Duvall was batting like .212 and slugging at .300. He was worthless and the Mets were willing to give me a decent 55 relief pitcher and retain 30% of his contract. Felt like a steal and if it works out to help my pen stay strong then it will be a huge move.

EDIT: avoiding the triple post. Real Braves fans may have hated this move. Kevin Gausman was 9-2 with a 2.12 era. Alex Wood was 1-5 with a 5.12 era. I traded Gausman and Biddle plus a low-level catcher for Alex Wood and an okay relief pitcher that can pitch at the MLB level if needed, but is sitting in AAA for depth right now. Gausman may continue to have a great year like he is for the Reds, but I just didn't believe he would. I took the risk of trading him to bring back Wood. I think Wood will turn it around for me and I think the reliever I swapped Biddle for is much better for the organization. You can never have enough guys that are MLB-ready for the bullpen.