[KBLover]

Training can do only so much. If a player is in decline, good play and/or training can help some but won't stem the tide completely.

To use an example from my franchise - I'm in 2021 and I have 34-year-old Chris Davis.

He's slowing down - OVR dropped out of the "A" range (89)

So I focused his training on power, his primary asset. I've done this for a few years now once I saw him fall towards 90.

He's still playing very well. All-Star level production at the plate.

His power vs RHP is showing a +2 right now at 98. His vs LHP power has regained all its points (was showing decline but now it's recovered), but is still down at 75 (was in the 80's when his decline started).

However, contact is at -1/+1 (odd his vs LHP is going up) and his Vision/Disc/Clutch are dropping with Vision and Discipline dropping sort of quickly -4 and -3 through early June. His defense is starting to slip towards solidly below average - down to 49 reaction.

So for older players, I would focus on an area that's the main reason you have them around or the area you want to preserve the most in the case of an all-around decent/good player. Keep them playing well, especially in the area you're training - that may help as well, though some of these ratings just fall very fast, like Vision.

For younger players - pretty much the same thing, but in reverse. Focus on the areas that will get them to the bigs either as their main strength or the areas that are the biggest weaknesses. Say you have a high contact, good speed infielder but his defense is iffy - I'd work on his defense. Or if you had a young phenom power hitter, I'd get that very high and then work on his contact so he can hit for some kind of average and consistently be able to use his power (instead of hitting 100 foot high pop ups too much).

I don't know how much those ETAs matter when you draft players - perhaps that's some hint towards a hidden "speed of development" rating. Also not sure what governs it for created players or existing minors players.

And this might not have anything to do with anything, but I like having coaches, that emphasize what I want to develop (they have +1, +2, or +3 in those ratings).