http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3878888 I am in the midst of a pennant run-and am very discouraged about my 1B/DH's on-base ability. I am still pretty new to hardball (7 seasons), and I am afraid I may have mis-read him. Kendry is a switch-hitter. His OAV is 79-he is at 76 right now, with a 99 make-up. This is his second pro season. He is 23, and has 3 minor league seasons, with on base % of .389, .416, and .354. His first year as a pro, his on-base % was a meager .308. This season (through just 23 games) his on-base % is .256. He has 99 speed and last year he stole 46, and was caught 10 times. Contact-45-projected to 53 Power-49-he is at projection. Vs LHP-76-projected to 79. Vs RHP-71-he is at projection. Eye-78--projected to 82. Baserunning-71-projected to 75. Bunt-64--he is at projection. I thought I had a guy who was going to get on base at a .350 clip. What kind of player do I truly have here? Thanks in advance for any comments of feedback.... RB

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3878888 I am in the midst of a pennant run-and am very discouraged about my 1B/DH's on-base ability. I am still pretty new to hardball (7 seasons), and I am afraid I may have mis-read him. Kendry is a switch-hitter. His OAV is 79-he is at 76 right now, with a 99 make-up. This is his second pro season. He is 23, and has 3 minor league seasons, with on base % of .389, .416, and .354. His first year as a pro, his on-base % was a meager .308. This season (through just 23 games) his on-base % is .256. He has 99 speed and last year he stole 46, and was caught 10 times. Contact-45-projected to 53 Power-49-he is at projection. Vs LHP-76-projected to 79. Vs RHP-71-he is at projection. Eye-78--projected to 82. Baserunning-71-projected to 75. Bunt-64--he is at projection. I thought I had a guy who was going to get on base at a .350 clip. What kind of player do I truly have here? Thanks in advance for any comments of feedback.... RB

45 contact.  Not good.

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3878888
Projections mean nothing with current performance.   Minor league stats are largely meaningless also.   Quite honestly, he's a horrible, horrible choice to play 1B/DH.   You have misread him. 

 

Kendry's diminutive power is part of the problem.  I had a (switch-hitting) player with similar hitting attributes, and he ended up with a .327 OBP ( a season of .308 from your guy is not wild), but with 20 points more in the power category, he has a lifetime .793 OPS. 

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=2388269

Essentially, the guy you have picked up has fine attributes for a slick-fielding CF or SS, but is pretty far under par for a 1B.  Under convential roster management strategy, you would want a guy with 90 power, and settle for one with power in the 80s.  The right set of other attributes might make a guy with power in the 60s or 70s acceptable. 


With his weak fielding, Kendry Armas would be nothing more than a useful AAA call up on my roster, maybe trade bait if I could convince anybody to give me something in return for him..

He might get to .260-.330-.400.  That's middle infield performance.  Not 1B.  Looks like you sent him down.  Good move.

Thank you all for your responses. I did demote Armas; and learned a valuable lesson.....TY for the help......

Meh.  It's not like you signed him to a 5y/62m contract.   Bring him up after roster expansion forever.  He's a good defensive 1B and a decent pinch-hitter because of his eye.

Girls only like guys with skills.

The thing that bothers me the most is that I am figuring out that minor league stats don't mean much in this game. I am a Bill James guy from way back (I actually own original "Abstracts" from the late 80's that would be worth a lot of money, if they weren't so dog-eared), and one of James first ground-breaking contributions to sabermetrics was "MLE".----and my Kendy Armas lesson is that I can not apply minor league stats to anticipate major league performance. It was Armas's minor league numbers that prompted me to promote him-and I guess in Hardball; ratings rule---and minor league performance matters very little........

Yep.  Ignore minor league numbers. 

The difference between minor leagues in real life and in HBD?  Depth of competition.  Most minor league rosters in HBD are filled with guys who will never see the inside of a ML locker room.  That isn't to say that future MLers will always thrive in the minors, but rather that thriving in the minors is relatively meaningless.

You really think an old Bill James Abstract would be worth a lot of money?   I know I have one and it's in pretty good shape.  Looks like the 1986 version.

Bah.  Amazon.com has them from 5-80 dollars.

baron, you got a lot of sabr-literate guys playing this game.  You'll have to approach this more from a scouting perspective than a sabr perspective.  I had to learn that real quickly.  Ratings are king, but don't discount how they work together.  And don't fall for the trap that you need nothing but 80+ overall rated guys to compete - you don't. (hint:  don't put too much stock in overall rating - in general it's biggest function is determining contract demands).

In the same you way probably pour through the minors looking for the next Youkilis (a guy sabermetricians loved long before he made the show), you do much the same thing here when drafting/scouting IFA's etc., but do it with ratings.

I wouldn't say minor league stats are completely meaningless.  Keep in mind your park factors when gauging prospects too.