Putting together a team that is centered around defense and obp. So My Oakland team is due for a rebuild, but my IFA budget isn't there yet, and I have some very good pitching under contract for a while. Oakland makes okay pitchers look good and having a good defense around them only increases that, but I have sold out for power and overall good hitters and have had at most second round exits. Wondering if you guys have already done this experiment and can give me some insight... So my plan is to prioritize positional defensive ability, Batting eye, contact, speed/BR, and at least one platoon split. I'm considering getting rid of a dedicated DH in favor of having a player that I can plug in somewhere on the field and get a platoon advantage. I don't have illusions of winning a WS in the short term with these guys (though i guess hot streaks can happen) I just know that this team isn't winning anytime soon with out a proper rebuild and I don't want to keep selling out for okay hitters and running a high budget when I feel I might be able to get the same result with a more targeted focus. Any thoughts/suggestions?

My two cents... my two teams are in Portland and Seattle, both pitcher's parks... I approve of your method. In my experience a Pitcher's Park nerfs batting averages. Power still plays. OBP is the way to go. The park is going to help pitchers get outs, so you need to keep rallies going by having higher OBP batters, more chances to score. I agree with you in that you can overpay for better hitters, and very good pure hitters can and will still succeed, but the problem comes with having "only good" hitters who fail because they get no help from the environment.

Posted by damag on 8/8/2020 3:23:00 PM (view original):
My two cents... my two teams are in Portland and Seattle, both pitcher's parks... I approve of your method. In my experience a Pitcher's Park nerfs batting averages. Power still plays. OBP is the way to go. The park is going to help pitchers get outs, so you need to keep rallies going by having higher OBP batters, more chances to score. I agree with you in that you can overpay for better hitters, and very good pure hitters can and will still succeed, but the problem comes with having "only good" hitters who fail because they get no help from the environment.

Mostly agree with this as well. The only thing I would add is that try not to sacrifice too much speed.

I had a team in Wichita for a handful of seasons so I focused on guys that got on base and guys that had left handed pull power. It worked out pretty well with a couple of 95+ win teams. However, the team also led the league, by far, in GIDP. My guys would walk so much,that I often had a guy on 1st base, but my team was a bottom five team in the World when it comes to team speed and they hit into a ridiculous amount of Double Plays (230 on the season).

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/6/2020 6:17:00 PM (view original):
Does anyone remember if there are published park factors (in decimal form) for minor league parks somewhere? I thought I'd seen them before, but have done a bit of digging and have come up empty so far.

Not sure if these are accurate, but check this out (about half way down the page).

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=421442&page=4&TopicsPage=0

These are correct, but for major league teams. I was looking for this but for minor league levels...do those exist anywhere?

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/8/2020 6:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/6/2020 6:17:00 PM (view original):
Does anyone remember if there are published park factors (in decimal form) for minor league parks somewhere? I thought I'd seen them before, but have done a bit of digging and have come up empty so far.

Not sure if these are accurate, but check this out (about half way down the page).

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=421442&page=4&TopicsPage=0

These are correct, but for major league teams. I was looking for this but for minor league levels...do those exist anywhere?

I assumed it was the exact same as the major league park.
Would like to know if it is different...

Posted by dschang on 8/9/2020 12:32:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/8/2020 6:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/6/2020 6:17:00 PM (view original):
Does anyone remember if there are published park factors (in decimal form) for minor league parks somewhere? I thought I'd seen them before, but have done a bit of digging and have come up empty so far.

Not sure if these are accurate, but check this out (about half way down the page).

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=421442&page=4&TopicsPage=0

These are correct, but for major league teams. I was looking for this but for minor league levels...do those exist anywhere?

I assumed it was the exact same as the major league park.
Would like to know if it is different...

It's definitely different. If you go to World -> Reports -> Ballparks, you can see the different park effects for every level.

I'm pretty sure that all the minor league ballparks are just repurposed major league parks. For example, my Fresno (ML) AAA ballpark is 0, 0, 0, -2, -2. So I assume that it's the same as El Paso (ML), which is the only park that has that number set, and that it has a park factor of 0.963. Unless you have a park that's 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 you can get an excellent approximation of the park factor (+/- 1%) that way.

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:21:00 AM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/6/2020 5:53:00 PM (view original):
What's the most picks you've ever seen in a draft? I had 6 comp A's and 1 Comp B's in all the way mae and now I'm sitting on a ridiculous draft capital:

• 38 picks total
• 10 of the first 58, including 6 in a row from 40-45
• 16 in the top 123

Considering the draft is my favorite part of the game, I'm ecstatic lol

I have never had that many picks. That is pretty awesome. I assume this goes back to some of your other posts regarding DITRs and how they can lead to many comp picks.

I have had a handful of comp picks, but most were TypeB as opposed to TypeA. I hope, for your sake, that the draft pool has some depth. I have learned that timing is huge in this game when it comes to the draft. I have had seasons where I had a few comp picks and my draft class was HUGE. I have had seasons where I had a bunch of comp picks, but the draft pool had no depth so I got a bunch AAAA or minor contributors at the MLB level.

I’ve got a couple DITRs that will be comp picks soon but none have ran their course yet. Happened to be 3 guys with expiring contracts I traded for last season and a few other guys acquired through free agency/draft.

This is my first season with 20/20, so the class is pretty great. Hoping a stud or two falls to me, so we’ll see

Posted by dmalone01 on 8/9/2020 7:49:00 AM (view original):

Posted by dschang on 8/9/2020 12:32:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/8/2020 6:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bruinsfan911 on 8/6/2020 6:17:00 PM (view original):
Does anyone remember if there are published park factors (in decimal form) for minor league parks somewhere? I thought I'd seen them before, but have done a bit of digging and have come up empty so far.

Not sure if these are accurate, but check this out (about half way down the page).

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=421442&page=4&TopicsPage=0

These are correct, but for major league teams. I was looking for this but for minor league levels...do those exist anywhere?

I assumed it was the exact same as the major league park.
Would like to know if it is different...

It's definitely different. If you go to World -> Reports -> Ballparks, you can see the different park effects for every level.

Never even bothered to check this...
Thanks for letting me know.

Posted by dedelman on 8/9/2020 11:39:00 AM (view original):
I'm pretty sure that all the minor league ballparks are just repurposed major league parks. For example, my Fresno (ML) AAA ballpark is 0, 0, 0, -2, -2. So I assume that it's the same as El Paso (ML), which is the only park that has that number set, and that it has a park factor of 0.963. Unless you have a park that's 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 you can get an excellent approximation of the park factor (+/- 1%) that way.

Thanks so much for this...being within 1% is plenty for what I'm trying to accomplish.

Posted by pray4pro on 8/9/2020 10:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:21:00 AM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/6/2020 5:53:00 PM (view original):
What's the most picks you've ever seen in a draft? I had 6 comp A's and 1 Comp B's in all the way mae and now I'm sitting on a ridiculous draft capital:

• 38 picks total
• 10 of the first 58, including 6 in a row from 40-45
• 16 in the top 123

Considering the draft is my favorite part of the game, I'm ecstatic lol

I have never had that many picks. That is pretty awesome. I assume this goes back to some of your other posts regarding DITRs and how they can lead to many comp picks.

I have had a handful of comp picks, but most were TypeB as opposed to TypeA. I hope, for your sake, that the draft pool has some depth. I have learned that timing is huge in this game when it comes to the draft. I have had seasons where I had a few comp picks and my draft class was HUGE. I have had seasons where I had a bunch of comp picks, but the draft pool had no depth so I got a bunch AAAA or minor contributors at the MLB level.

I’ve got a couple DITRs that will be comp picks soon but none have ran their course yet. Happened to be 3 guys with expiring contracts I traded for last season and a few other guys acquired through free agency/draft.

This is my first season with 20/20, so the class is pretty great. Hoping a stud or two falls to me, so we’ll see

I do that when I can as well -- find the type A/Type B type of guys in a contract year and trade for for them in their contract year so your team gets the Comp pick. I have not done it lately because people are not willing to part with them unless I pay a pretty penny. But, it's a decent strategy.

Posted by tlowster on 8/10/2020 8:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/9/2020 10:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:21:00 AM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/6/2020 5:53:00 PM (view original):
What's the most picks you've ever seen in a draft? I had 6 comp A's and 1 Comp B's in all the way mae and now I'm sitting on a ridiculous draft capital:

• 38 picks total
• 10 of the first 58, including 6 in a row from 40-45
• 16 in the top 123

Considering the draft is my favorite part of the game, I'm ecstatic lol

I have never had that many picks. That is pretty awesome. I assume this goes back to some of your other posts regarding DITRs and how they can lead to many comp picks.

I have had a handful of comp picks, but most were TypeB as opposed to TypeA. I hope, for your sake, that the draft pool has some depth. I have learned that timing is huge in this game when it comes to the draft. I have had seasons where I had a few comp picks and my draft class was HUGE. I have had seasons where I had a bunch of comp picks, but the draft pool had no depth so I got a bunch AAAA or minor contributors at the MLB level.

I’ve got a couple DITRs that will be comp picks soon but none have ran their course yet. Happened to be 3 guys with expiring contracts I traded for last season and a few other guys acquired through free agency/draft.

This is my first season with 20/20, so the class is pretty great. Hoping a stud or two falls to me, so we’ll see

I do that when I can as well -- find the type A/Type B type of guys in a contract year and trade for for them in their contract year so your team gets the Comp pick. I have not done it lately because people are not willing to part with them unless I pay a pretty penny. But, it's a decent strategy.

I finally got to 20/20 so last season I actually traded prospects (nothing too crazy) after the season for an expiring contract Comp A guy (this team went heavy INT so didn't always sign his picks anyway). Never played a game for me but landed me the #28 pick lol.

Had a superstar catcher fall to me, probably because he has probably won't sign/mother consultant. I budgeted 12 mil just for the draft but now I'm having to move things around a little to say the least. If I can end up getting him to sign though, would come away like a bandit.

Posted by pray4pro on 8/11/2020 2:12:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/10/2020 8:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/9/2020 10:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 8/8/2020 11:21:00 AM (view original):

Posted by pray4pro on 8/6/2020 5:53:00 PM (view original):
What's the most picks you've ever seen in a draft? I had 6 comp A's and 1 Comp B's in all the way mae and now I'm sitting on a ridiculous draft capital:

• 38 picks total
• 10 of the first 58, including 6 in a row from 40-45
• 16 in the top 123

Considering the draft is my favorite part of the game, I'm ecstatic lol

I have never had that many picks. That is pretty awesome. I assume this goes back to some of your other posts regarding DITRs and how they can lead to many comp picks.

I have had a handful of comp picks, but most were TypeB as opposed to TypeA. I hope, for your sake, that the draft pool has some depth. I have learned that timing is huge in this game when it comes to the draft. I have had seasons where I had a few comp picks and my draft class was HUGE. I have had seasons where I had a bunch of comp picks, but the draft pool had no depth so I got a bunch AAAA or minor contributors at the MLB level.

I’ve got a couple DITRs that will be comp picks soon but none have ran their course yet. Happened to be 3 guys with expiring contracts I traded for last season and a few other guys acquired through free agency/draft.

This is my first season with 20/20, so the class is pretty great. Hoping a stud or two falls to me, so we’ll see

I do that when I can as well -- find the type A/Type B type of guys in a contract year and trade for for them in their contract year so your team gets the Comp pick. I have not done it lately because people are not willing to part with them unless I pay a pretty penny. But, it's a decent strategy.

I finally got to 20/20 so last season I actually traded prospects (nothing too crazy) after the season for an expiring contract Comp A guy (this team went heavy INT so didn't always sign his picks anyway). Never played a game for me but landed me the #28 pick lol.

Had a superstar catcher fall to me, probably because he has probably won't sign/mother consultant. I budgeted 12 mil just for the draft but now I'm having to move things around a little to say the least. If I can end up getting him to sign though, would come away like a bandit.

Timing and time are so huge in this game. The timing of having comp picks -- is the draft pool have depth. Timing of having a high pick -- are there some generational players at the top of the draft. The timing of having a huge budget in prospect payroll -- is there a generational player in the Intl pool and if he doesn't populate by X time, do you give up so you avoid having so much dead money?

When it comes to time, I think the longer you run your franchise, the larger advantage you have. This is assuming you know what you're doing. It took me about three seasons to get my feet wet. However, getting your feet wet is sometimes all some owners ever do [it seems]. I have studied DITR, studied the draft, studied player development and studied how ratings convert to performance. Even with all of this, I still only have a .524 overall W-L record and I see some owners with .575+ W/L percentage. I think it is because they have ran their franchise for a long time and have had the 'time' to enjoy their success. However, maybe I am wrong. Maybe i still have a lot more learning to do.

Is there a schedule as to when players, and specifically prospects, get their regular season improvement bumps?

Posted by drichar138 on 8/16/2020 10:16:00 AM (view original):
Is there a schedule as to when players, and specifically prospects, get their regular season improvement bumps?

It's erratic. If I look at my prospects about 25 games into the regular season, some will have a new line in their ratings, and some won't.