Welcome to year three of the TrueSim Franchise Roster Project! If you've used any of the last two versions of the roster, thank you. You made it one of the most popular rosters in the vault and we are excited to continue bringing the most out of this fantastic game.
Sliders:
TrueSim v3.6 (use when playing regular season games)
Simulation v3 (use when simming regular season games)
TrueSim Playoffs (use when playing playoff games)
Simulation Playoffs (use when simming playoff games)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cycloniac
V2 is now in the vault
-Minor league contracts were completely redone
-Minor league ratings were adjusted league-wide, and many new prospects were included. We replaced the lowest tiered minor leaguers for the new ones. If you think a prospect is missing, check FA or the legends teams. In most cases, relievers with D potentials with OVRs in the 40s and 50s were replaced.
-Potentials were maxed for players 33 and up to slow regression a bit and prevent players prematurely retiring due to "ability." I suggest, as you go through years in franchise, to increase all players 33+ to 99 potential at the beginning of spring training.
-Several MLB contracts were corrected. Thanks to Sidbeam for his help with this!
Jeff is a superhero. He is the reason why this was finished ahead of schedule, so hats off to him again for being my partner in crime on this project.
What's Included
-Re-rates for over 1100 MLB players and more than 500 prospects, including MLB Pipeline 2020 Top 100 Prospects. All players are rated based on the TrueSim Projection System (TPS). TPS uses a variety of common and advanced metrics to ensure every player’s strengths, weaknesses and tendencies are reflected in gameplay and in simulations
-Full pitch repetoires powered by Brooks Baseball
-Adjusted depth charts, position changes and secondary positions for franchise mode longevity
-Re-scaled potentials for long-term franchise play
The first is called TrueSim v2.1. This one is for when you are playing games. I suggest HOF diffuclty, classic pitching and directional hitting with button throwing. I also like auto fielding, but that is user preference. The goal of these sliders is for ratings to matter as much as possible.
The second is called Simulation v2. This one is for when you are simulating games in franchise.
Players like Luis Severino, Hicks and Chris Sale, who are out for the season, are in A ball and are NOT on the 40 man roster.
This serves two purposes:
1. If you use manual injuries, the CPU won't call them up to the majors when you start franchise, so it'll be very easy to find and injure them.
2. If you don't use manual injuries, these players are much more likely to stay in the minors. If a team has a bunch of injuries, the CPU may bring them up eventually, but it's much less likely to happen.
For those doing manual injuries, I'm going to lock in these, based on estimated returns:
HOU Verlander: 35 days
BAL Mancini: 60 days
DET Fulmer: 70 days
NYY A Hicks: 70 days
STL J Hicks: 70 days
PHI Robertson: 180 days
PIT Taillon: season
BOS Sale: this season + 60 days next season
CWS Rodon: 60 days
NYY Severino: season
NYY Paxton: 60 days
BOS Pedroia: season
NYM Cespedes: 35 days
NYM Syndegaard: this season + 60 days next season
MIN Rich Hill: 60 days
SFG Aramis Garcia: season
SFG Beede this season + 60 days next season
SFG Moronta 180 days
For prospects, this doesn't matter much. I did try to leave prospects expected to play at some point this year (Jo Adell, Carlson) on the 40 man, so they'll find their way to the majors.
After season 1, the CPU will restructure its 40 man rosters and bring players back onto the roster.
In addition to the slider set for simulating games, I suggest you change the trade frequency slider as follows:
April & May: 1
June-July 15th: 3
July 15th-July 31st: Max
Rest of Season: 5
Offseason & Spring Training: 6
However, one thing I noticed right away is that--regardless of trade frequency slider setting--teams will trade a lot early in the season. I use 30-team control, so what I did, and what I would suggest others do, is set CPU teams trading to "manual" for April and May.
If you prefer to handle all trades:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cycloniac
Now into mid-June, trading season is underway. If you are doing manual trades, I suggest turning trades from manual to auto by around June 15th, then sim a few days so the trade block can populate, then switch it back to manual.
In June, I will make one trade a week until July 13th.
From July 13th, I will make one trade every other day until July 25th.
On July 25th, I will make two trades every day until July 31st (deadline day).
For teams that have decided to rebuild:
I add two players to their trade block:
1. Their highest salaried player on a 1 year deal
2. Their oldest player on a one year deal; I try to choose the player who has atleast a 5M cap hit.
I also uncheck all of the positions they are seeking. These teams are looking to sell, not add MLB-level talent.
For teams that have decided to make the playoff push, I remove players 25 and older from their trade block
For both the normal teams and the playoff push teams, I tick as many positions of need as possible. I consider a position of need to be one where they are ranked 15th or worse at the position. If they have a need at CP, I will tick RP too if possible, and vice versa.
On deadline day, I will try to trade every player still on the block.
I personally do rounds 1-3, and don't re-rate prospects with D potentials.
Bullpen Management
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cycloniac
Alright, so here is an update on what I'm trying with bullpens for all 30 teams.
After the last game on May 31st, I am doing the following:
-I take a look at the 3 best relievers on each team. When I say 3 best, I exclude the closer. If a team has multiple MLB CPs, the 2nd CP can be counted. Our goal is to injure 3 relievers.
-I look for the pitcher with the most IP and injure him first for 35 days. I pick broken foot for the injury because it's like 2 clicks to the left. I then injure the best rated RP for 35 days. For the 3rd injury, I will look at the remaining relievers on the MLB team and injure the one with the most IP.
-If the game does not allow any additional injuries because a team has reached the MLB limit, I will remove injuries for players with 1-6 days remaining first. If there are none of those, I will remove
injuries to MLB players with 1-2 weeks of injury time left.
-If you can only injure 1 or 2 releivers because all other injuries are longer than 2 weeks, move on to the next team. That team has enough injuries.
-If any of the three relievers has 40 or more IP, injure him for 60 days. He has been overused.
By July 31, I will see if I need to injure more players, but for now, this is where I am starting.
Please note that you should only injure RPs and CPs. SPs who are used in the bullpen don't need to be injured manully because it is expected that they will either start or pitch multiple innings out of the pen. This is why many RPs who have moved between the pen and rotation were moved to SPs in the last roster update.
Rating Process and Methodology
Spoiler
After the baseball season is over, the work begins. Every player is rated by handed using TPS. The ratings are reviewed for quality-control purposes and finalized. When possible, a three year baseline is used, with last season having the most weight (50:25:25 weighting). If less than three seasons of data are available, regression to the mean is applied.
For long term franchise play, the potential mix is adjusted to divide players into relevant tiers, based on current production and age.
Potential Mix for MLB Position Players
A (90-99) = 16%
B (80-89) = 34%
C (70-79) = 51%
Potential Mix for MLB Pitchers
A (90-99) = 18%
B (80-89) = 36%
C (70-79) = 46%
Hitting and Fielding
Hitting and Fielding
-Contact ratings are based on AVG
-Power ratings are based on ISO and HR%
-Vision ratings are based on K%
-Discipline ratings are based on BB%
-Durability ratings are based on the league average games played per MLB season (102 games) for all position players
-Speed (baserunning ability) is calculated based on a formula that takes into account player position, stolen bases, XBHs, and GIDP rate. Statcast's jump metric is also taken into account for outfielders.
-Fielding ratings (arm accuracy, reaction and fielding ability) are position specific; catchers, infielders and outfielders are all rated differently.
-RDRS (Baseball Info Solutions Defensive Runs Saved Above Average) is factored into the calculations, which makes position specific adjustments. Statcast's OAA (Outs Above Average) is used for outfielders. New this year is the inclusion of Statcast's jump data for outfielders, which drives the reaction ratings.
Pitchers
-Per 9 ratings are based on the per 9 statistics.
-Stamina is based on innings/appearance
-Pitch ratings are based on the last 3 years of pitch data available
-Pitch control is based on strike percentage, with an adjustment for pitches that were thrown out of the strike zone and missed i.e. pitchers will benefit from those strikes
-Movement is based on whiff%
-If a pitcher’s primary pitch is a sinker, it remains a sinker
-If a pitcher uses a sinker but it is not his primary pitch, it is listed as a two-seamer. This helps sinkerballers stand out.
-Brooks Baseball's pitch descriptions were used to influence what pitches were used.