Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

[Jim Jones]

There have been a lot of complaints about The Show's franchise mode due to some wacky trade logic which plagued the franchise last year as well. We all know 2K has had its fair share of franchise issues, so I wanted to put it to the test with a simulation.

I chose the Kansas City Royals and simmed three seasons to find out how the franchise progressed and here were my results.

Year 1:

Spoiler

TRADES OFFERED TO ME:
Phillies trade John Mayberry and Dominic Brown for Felipe Paulino and Lorenzo Cain.

TRADES AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Red Sox trade Franklin Morales
Giants trade Conor Gillaspie

Cubs trade Carlos Marmol, James Russell
White Sox trade Alex Rios, Alejandro De Anza

Angels trade Mark Trumbo
Twins trade Danny Valencia

WORLD SERIES: Texas Rangers def. Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2.
NL BEST RECORD: Milwaukee Brewers (97-65)
AL BEST RECORD: Kansas City Royals (88-74)
AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
AL CY YOUNG: Josh Beckett
AL ROY: Jai Miller
NL MVP: Brian McCann
NL CY YOUNG: Cole Hamels (thought Gallardo would win..more wins, lower ERA)
NL ROY: Charlie Blackmon

BATTING AVERAGE:
1. Derek Jeter, .329
2. Adrian Gonzalez, .324
3. Omar Infante, .319
4. Ryan Theriot, .313
5. Joey Votto, .308
6. Erick Aybar, .306
7. Jeff Keppinger, .298
8. Jerry Hairston, Jr. .297
9. Michael Young, .295
10. Nick Markakis, .295

HOME RUNS:
1. Brian McCann, 41
2. J.J. Hardy, 37
3. Brandon Allen (Oakland), 34
4. Paul Konerko, 34
5. Mark Teixeira, 34
6. Mark Reynolds, 32
7. Jose Bautista, 32
8. Casper Wells (Mariners), 32
9. Ryan Howard, 32
10. Carlos Quentin, 31

RBI'S:
1. Adrian Gonzalez, 117
2. Brian McCann, 113
3. J.J Hardy, 110
4. Mark Teixeira, 109
5. Brandon Allen, 107
6. Curtis Granderson, 105
7. Justin Morneau, 104
8. Nelson Cruz, 102
9. David Ortiz, 99
10. Albert Pujols, 97.

WINS:
1. Yovani Gallardo, 18
2. Jaime Garcia, 16
3. Cole Hamels, 16
4. Zack Greinke, 16
5. Madison Bumgarner, 15
6. Ervin Santana, 14
7. Jair Jurrjens, 14
8. Michael Pineda, 14
9. Huroki Kuroda, 14
10. Justin Verlander

STRIKEOUTS:
1. Zack Greinke, 210
2. Cliff Lee, 210
3. Justin Verlander, 201
4. Colby Lewis, 195
5. Tim Lincecum, 195
6. Jared Weaver, 194
7. David Price, 192
8. Cole Hamels, 191
9. Matt Cain, 187
10. Felix Hernandez, 187

NOTABLE FREE AGENT HITTERS:
Carlos Quentin
Juan Pierre
Carlos Lee
Grady Sizemore
Jeff Keppinger
Bobby Abreu
Carlos Pena
Ryan Doumit
Vlad Guerrero
Jim Thome
Andruw Jones

NOTABLE FREE AGENT PITCHERS:
Francisco Rodriguez
Roy Oswalt
Erik Bedard
Colby Lewis
Edwin Jackson
Joel Peralta
Jose Veras
Kyle Lohse
Jonathan Sanchez
Jonathan Broxton

Year 2:

Spoiler

TRADES OFFERED TO ME:
Blue Jays offer RF Ben Francisco (72) to Royals for CL Blake Wood (71)

Braves offer Martin Prado (81, LF), Jose Costanza (71, RF) and Julio Teheran (75, P) for Louis Coleman (78, P), Salvador Perez (78, C) and Brayan Pena (70, C)

Pirates offer Jose Morales (C, 67), Jake Fox (C, 66) and Nick Evans (1B, 74) to Royals for Jesus Garcia (64, SP), Vin Mazzaro (SP, 69) and Juan Gutierrez (71, RP)

Orioles offer Jai Miller (RF, 74) to Royals for Tim Collins (75, RP)

Dodgers offer Kenley Jansen (81, RP), Mark Stanley (68, C) for Manny Pina (70, C) and Tim Collins (75, RP)

TRADES AROUND THE LEAGUE
Padres Trade: Luke Gregerson, Josh Spence, Andrew Cashner
Blue Jays Trade: Casey Janssen, Joel Carreno, Jesse Litsch

Cardinals trade: Yadier Molina
Cubs trade: Geovany Soto

Rockies trade: Gullermo Moscoso
Twins trade: Liam Hendriks

Angels trade: Andrew Romine
Tigers trade: Al Alburquerque

Dodgers trade: Nathan Eovaldi, Trent Oeltjen
Twins trade: Chris Parmelee, Drew Butera

WORLD SERIES: Texas Rangers defeat Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 (yes, again. Texas went 84-79 and got in as a wild card).
NL BEST RECORD: Milwaukee Brewers (99-63)
AL BEST RECORD: Kansas City Royals (94-68)
AL MVP: Albert Pujols
AL CY YOUNG: Dan Haren
AL ROY: Xavier McBath (Orioles)
NL MVP: Matt Kemp (.264/.328/.442/28 HR/95 RBI/30 SB -- don't know how he won this. There were many more deserving candidates.)
NL CY YOUNG: Mat Latos
NL ROY: Ivan De Jesus

BATTING AVERAGE:
1. Jimmy Rollins, .330
2. Adrian Gonzlez, .321
3. Joey Votto, .315
4. Nick Markakis, .313
5. Hanley Ramirez, .312
6. Jacoby Ellsbury, .309
7. Ryan ZImmerman, .307
8. Aramis Ramirez, .307
9. Neil Walker, .304
10. Dustin Pedroia, .302

HOME RUNS:
1. Albert Pujols, 42
2. Ryan Howard, 39
3. Vernon Wells, 36
4. Mark Teixeira, 36
5. Corey Hart, 35
6. Mark Reynolds, 33
7. Evan Longoria, 32
8. Carlos Quentin, 32
9. Colby Rasmus, 31
10. Geovany Soto, 31

RBI:
1. Mark Teixeira, 112
2. Albert Pujols, 112
3. Chris Heisey, 103
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 102
5. Miguel Cabrera, 101
6. Nelson Cruz, 101
7. Ryan Howard, 99
8. Prince Fielder, 99
9. Michael Taylor, 96
10. Mat Gamel, 95

WINS
1. Everett Teaford (KC), 19
2. Dan Haren, 17
3. Mat Latos, 16
4. Brett Anderson, 15
5. Kensin Fair (fake NYM minor leaguer), 14
6. Felix Hernandez, 14
7. Josh Johnson, 14
8. Ubaldo Jimenez, 14
9. Jhoulys Chacin, 14
10. Matt Cain, 14

STRIKEOUTS:
1. Jon Lester, 203
2. Roy Halladay, 200
3. Mat Latos, 199
4. Justin Verlander, 196
5. Zack Greinke, 196
6. Felix Hernandez, 193
7. CC Sabathia, 192
8. Clayton Kershaw, 188
9. David Price, 187
10. Tommy Hanson, 185.

NOTABLE FREE AGENT HITTERS:
David Wright
Jeff Francoeur
Asdrubal Cabrera
Michael Young
Stephen Drew
David Ortiz
Coco Crisp
Justin Morneau
Carlos Beltran
Aubrey Huff
Shin-Soo Choo

NOTABLE FREE AGENT PITCHERS:
Jesse Litsch
Jake peavy
Bill Bray
Dallas Braden
Jeff Karstens
Ross Detwiler
Rafael Perez
Tom Gorzelanny
Scott Elbert

Year 3:

Spoiler

TRADES OFFERED TO ME:
Brewers offer Michael Fiers (77, RP) for Luke Hochevar (78, SP)

Astros offer David Carpenter (78, RP) for Kevin Deduno (72, RF)

Angels offer DeWayne DeFelice (75, SS) for Fernando Bako (75, 1B)

Cubs offer Mike Podell (83, SS), Darwin Barney (78, 2B) and Frank Robertson (75, SS) for Salvador Perez (76, C), Lew Clement (76, C) and Billy Butler (88, 1B).


TRADES AROUND THE LEAGUE
Cubs trade: Joe Mather
Mets trade: Manny Acosta

Pirates trade: Jeff Locke
Rays trade: Alex Cobb

White Sox trade: Danny Beggs
Astros trade: Carlos Corporan

D-Backs trade: David Hernandez
Mariners trade: Felix Lopez

Astros trade: Seth Battle
Angels trade: Aron Florimon

Twins trade: Brian Duensing
Padres trade: Erik Hamren

Reds trade: Chris Valaika, Travis McDonald
Mets trade: Josh Satin, Pete Ellsbury


WORLD SERIES: Los Angeles Dodgers defeat New York Yankees, 4-3.
NL BEST RECORD: Atlanta Braves (95-67) (after two straight NLCS titles, Milwaukee fell off the face of the earth at 74-88 - terrible offense, nobody with more than 23 HR's and 76 RBIs)
AL BEST RECORD: Los Angeles Angels (102-60) (Royals second with another 94-68 finish)
AL MVP: Eric Hosmer
AL CY YOUNG: Dan Haren
AL ROY: David Cooper (Blue Jays, .280/17 HR/86 RBI)
NL MVP: Matt Kemp (.255/37 HR/103 RBI/24 SB -- more deserving than last year.)
NL CY YOUNG: Colby Lewis (Colorado)
NL ROY: Sterling Estalella (Cubs, .243/7 HR/35 RBI/23 SB)

BATTING AVERAGE:
1. Jose Reyes, .322
2. Miguel Cabrera, .310
3. Eric Hosmer, .304
4. Dustin Pedroia, .303
5. Pablo Sandoval, .301
6. Darwin Barney, .300
7. Adrian Gonzalez, .300
8. Matt Holliday, .300
9. Buster Posey, .296
10. Freddy Sanchez, .295

HOME RUNS:
1. Eric Hosmer, 38
2. Matt Kemp, 37
3. Vernon Wells, 37 (comeback player of the year last season)
4. Curtis Granderson, 35
5. Evan Longoria, 34
6. Dustin Pedroia, 34
7. Nelson Cruz, 33
8. Adrian Beltre, 33
9. Mark Trumbo, 32
10. Josh Reddick, 32

RBI:
1. Eric Hosmer, 113
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 110
3. Mark Teixeira, 109
4. Curtis Granderson, 108
5. Paul Konerko, 105
6. Matt Kemp, 103
7. Vernon Wells, 101
8. Nelson Cruz, 101
9. Billy Butler, 99
10. Dustin Ackley, 99

WINS
1. Matt Moore, 17
2. Max Scherzer, 16
3. Michael Fiers, 16
4. Ervin Santana, 16
5. Colby Lewis, 16
6. Mike Minor, 15
7. Dan Haren, 15
8. Spencer Griffin (Mariners), 15
9. Jhoulys Chacin, 15
10. Cliff Lee, 15

STRIKEOUTS:
1. Justin Verlander, 226
2. Stephen Strasburg, 207
3. Trevor Cahill, 200
4. Jared Weaver, 198
5. Colby Lewis, 197
6. Jaime Garcia, 196
7. Tommy Hanson, 194
8. Zack Greinke, 193
9. Yovani Gallardo, 193
10. Jhoulys Chacin, 191

NOTABLE FREE AGENT HITTERS:
Victor Arroyo (Fake)
Chief Balentien (Fake)
Anderson Backe (Fake)
Emilio Bonifacio
Mat Gamel
DeWayne DiFelice
Lance Berkman
Seth Smith
Casey Kotchman
Sterling Estalella (Cubs dont resign rookie of the year? Don't even understand how he's a free agent. Looks like he played 6 games for them in 2012, 5 in 2013, then played 132 games in 2014 to win rookie of the year))

NOTABLE FREE AGENT PITCHERS:
James Shields
Justin Masterson
Jeff Niemann
Charlie Morton
Sergio Romo
Wandy Rodriguez
J.J. Putz
Matt Harrison
Johan Santana
Roy Oswalt

In general, there isn't much trading and the trades that do happen aren't blockbusters, but I'm more than fine with that. I'd rather there be not enough trading than too much trading, and I'm happy to see superstar players aren't getting sent all over the place.

As far as the stats go, the only thing that really jumps out at me is the strikeouts. They are far too low. Every year there's AT LEAST a dozen pitchers who exceed 200 K's and at least a handful who get more than 230 K's. In my findings, you're lucky to get your ace pitcher over 200 K's.

Overall, good stuff. Trade logic is great, stats are pretty good and nothing crazy going on in free agency. Any questions? Let me know. I saved entering season 4, so if anyone wants me to sim another season or two let me know and I'll see what I can do.

****UPDATE******
Answering a few questions that have been asked in the thread:

Spoiler

OK, to answer a few questions:

DRAFT PICKS
I actually started keeping track of these in the first season, but forgot to after that so I didn't include it in my original post. I did write down the top 5 picks of my first draft but never followed through. I went back and looked at them heading into season 4 and here's how they shape up:

1.) Vic Baldelli, SP, Astros - 72 OVR: Pitched 3.2 innings of relief in his rookie year, 29 relief innings the next season and was in the rotation by season 3. Was drafted at age 19.

2.) Max Clean, SP, Twins - (Don't have OVR): 41 innings of relief between first two seasons (95% of it came in second season IIRC, joined rotation in 3rd season. Drafted at age 22).

3.) Del Brazell, 3B, Mariners - 76 OVR: Started 101 games as a rookie and has been full-time starter since. Chone Figgins retired after first season, so that might explain it. Looking back, kind of hard to believe he didn't win ROY.

4.) Felipe Casevah, SS, Orioles - 74 OVR: Appeared in one game his first year, 22 games second year, full-time starter in 3rd year. Drafted at age 21.

5.) Hanley Clemens, SP, Padres - (Don't have OVR): Drafted at age 19. Made 4 starts in rookie year, only threw 4 innings of relief in second year, joined rotation in third year.

So it looks like most top prospects spend a little time in the minors before getting called up. May do more thorough research into this later.
----

PLAYER PROGRESSION
Was more time consuming than I thought it would be to compare players ratings in year 4 with what they originally started out with, but here's a short, random list I made of players with their current rating entering year four, and original rating in parenthesis.

Albert Pujols - 92 (99)
Jose Bautista - 88 (97)
Robinson Cano - 90 (94)
Eric Hosmer - 92 (86)
Adrian Gonzalez - 97 (96)
Ryan Howard - 76 (84)
Matt Wieters - 86 (82)
Stephen Strasburg (96)
Dustin Ackley - 87 (82)
Pablo Sandoval - 92 (87)
Ryan Braun - 89 (97)

STAR PLAYER STATS
Someone asked about Pujols, here's what his numbers were:

2012 - .249/.323/.418/23/97.
2013 - .273/.351/.519/42/112
2014 - .265/.325/.423/20/90

Someone mentioned Ryan Howard in another thread, but his stats have been fine for me. He's hit 30+ home runs each year, despite his ratings decline. This is kind of weird though - Josh Hamilton hit just 25 HR's in 2012, 19 in 2013 and 16 in 2014. His rating has dropped to a 92 overall. Also Ryan Braun hit 16 HR's in 2012, 24 in 2013 and 16 in 2014. His rating has plummeted to 89.

Prince Fielder hasn't hit more than 26 HR's yet in three years with the Tigers. Jose Bautista's power numbers have dropped each year from 32 homers, to 30, to 21.

In general, the power number seem a bit low. Last season (real life), 22 players had 30 or more HR's. Two years ago, 18 players did. In the season I just simmed, only 13 players got above 30. From what I can recall, the other seasons were all about the same.

[Yeats]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Great post Jim. i don't play franchise myself and am never interested in sim stats, but I found that very interesting and well presented.

[Randiesel75]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Agreed, nice post.

[JBH3]

All sports games require the user to control all teams IMO. Its a labor of love for me I guess.....but I can only be mad @ myself if I do something stupid player mngmt wise.

[kpkpkp]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Excellent post.

I agree with your opinion on stats as well. I think they look absolutely believable, however K's for pitchers are a little low. It seems in 2K12 only 2 or 3 guys get 200 + K's each year. While in real life last year 14 guys got 200+ K's and in 2010 15 guys got 200+ K's.

But if slightly low K's is the worst of the sim engine, I'm very pleased with this!

Way to go 2K.

Also about the trading... I guess too little trading isn't as bad as too much trading.

I'll take it! Man, Im really enjoying the game this year.


Im curious about something else. Did you notice if player Progression/Regression looked good? Were up and coming guys progressing well? And were older guys in decline regressing at a decent rate? Progression/Regression has been an issue in the past for 2K, so Im wondering what your opinion is since you seem to know your stuff.

[derekjeter76]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

I wish you'd post ERA leaders because they looked a bit low in the OS sim stats article. Also besides his MVP season, where was Pujols the other 2 years??? Under .300 with less than 30 HRs and 100 RBIs???

[Yeats]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Also besides his MVP season, where was Pujols the other 2 years??? Under .300 with less than 30 HRs and 100 RBIs???

The Angels are going to pay for that albatross contract they gave him, and 2K is just ahead of the pack in pointing that out.

[elimack]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

The low K numbers are likely do to tendency inaccuracy. At least this was the case in '11, an easy fix IMO. Good post

[Jim Jones]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Im curious about something else. Did you notice if player Progression/Regression looked good? Were up and coming guys progressing well? And were older guys in decline regressing at a decent rate? Progression/Regression has been an issue in the past for 2K, so Im wondering what your opinion is since you seem to know your stuff.

I'll take a look when I get home tonight and try to compare ratings entering the fourth season to what guys are rated out of the box. But I know on my own team, guys like Hosmer, Moustakas and Crow are developing nicely and realistically. Hosmer didn't really "break out" until that last (third) season I simmed.

I wish you'd post ERA leaders because they looked a bit low in the OS sim stats article. Also besides his MVP season, where was Pujols the other 2 years??? Under .300 with less than 30 HRs and 100 RBIs???

Good call. I completely forgot about ERA. I'll sim a fourth season and post the ERA, unless I can go back and look at previous seasons league leaders (don't think I can). I did notice it was a bit low though. I remember in the first season there was like two guys with an ERA under 2.

As for Pujols, I'll check on that as well. I know in the first season, he finished something like, .280 with 27 HR's and 85 RBI's. I thought it was kind of realistic because I chalked it up to having some struggles in his first year in a new place. Not sure what he did in his second year, but I'll go back and check.

[Yeats]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Don't know if difficulty level affects sim stat results in 2K baseball. It does in EA's NHL game, so that's something to maybe check.

[GiveMeYourBeans]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

I'll take a look when I get home tonight and try to compare ratings entering the fourth season to what guys are rated out of the box. But I know on my own team, guys like Hosmer, Moustakas and Crow are developing nicely and realistically. Hosmer didn't really "break out" until that last (third) season I simmed.



Good call. I completely forgot about ERA. I'll sim a fourth season and post the ERA, unless I can go back and look at previous seasons league leaders (don't think I can). I did notice it was a bit low though. I remember in the first season there was like two guys with an ERA under 2.

As for Pujols, I'll check on that as well. I know in the first season, he finished something like, .280 with 27 HR's and 85 RBI's. I thought it was kind of realistic because I chalked it up to having some struggles in his first year in a new place. Not sure what he did in his second year, but I'll go back and check.

While that may be true in real life, it does not apply in a video game. 2k12 does not take "new environments" or "player emotions." into account while simulating.

A player rated as high as Pujols has no business driving in just 85 runs.

The sim engine is crap.

[Jim Jones]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

While that may be true in real life, it does not apply in a video game. 2k12 does not take "new environments" or "player emotions." into account while simulating.

A player rated as high as Pujols has no business driving in just 85 runs.

The sim engine is crap.

I realize that, I'm just saying that's a way you can rationalize it.

Again, I don't mind it. I don't think that just because he has high ratings means he should hit .320 with 40 HR's every year. I like the fact that everyone doesn't play 100% to their rating all the time. Guys get into slumps or whatever. But I'll have to check when I get home, he may have been injured as well.

[MizzouRah]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

I could defnitely see Pujols having that type of year.. he's on the decline.

[TheNumber35]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

I could defnitely see Pujols having that type of year.. he's on the decline.

Exactly, the sim engine isn't as bad as the some believe. Jim's sims (lol) have further proven that to me. Now sure, the guys we expect to have big years don't always in this game...but who expected Adam Dunn to hit below .200 last year? Who expected Boston to collapse, for St. Louis to win the WS? Baseball is unpredictable and has the most parity of all the professional sports, and year-to-year things don't always go how we expected them to. As long as the stat leaders and numbers guys are getting are fairly realistic, we should be happy.

Plus, its a giant improvement over year's past. Remember in 2K10 when the leader in steals had 160+? When the ERA leader was in the mid 3's?

[Romain El 82]

Re: Results of 3 simmed seasons of Franchise Mode (Stats/awards/trade logic, etc.)

Exactly, the sim engine isn't as bad as the some believe. Jim's sims (lol) have further proven that to me. Now sure, the guys we expect to have big years don't always in this game...but who expected Adam Dunn to hit below .200 last year? Who expected Boston to collapse, for St. Louis to win the WS? Baseball is unpredictable and has the most parity of all the professional sports, and year-to-year things don't always go how we expected them to. As long as the stat leaders and numbers guys are getting are fairly realistic, we should be happy.

Plus, its a giant improvement over year's past. Remember in 2K10 when the leader in steals had 160+? When the ERA leader was in the mid 3's?

I just have to lol at "baseball...has the most parity of all the professional sports..."