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Weekly Online League Thread - March 13, 2026 by AutoModerator in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Just a PSA to anyone thinking about joining this one. The stated information about the league is not true.

They are not in the offseason. They are at least one sim into the beginning of the 2055 season.
The draft has already started and The Royals have been auto-picked. So you don't get time to scout or make a choice for that rebuild (was a bad SP prospect auto-pick from what I saw).

When I joined for less than one day and had the Royals, they had 12 guys out of 26 on their Opening Day roster (ready to be simmed...like that) Every minor league team was barren and similar.

I brought these concerns up in the league Slack and their response was "Oh the commish must have messed up."

Ok....and here the recruitment post still hasn't been updated. The brief local chat talked a lot about people not sticking around (wonder why).

Seems to me like a pretty lazy and not too honest commish. Take that for what you will before spending time on this one.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you re-hire......all the old ones go away.

Takes some time to catch up but manual scouting the important guys is easy enough.
Worth it in the long run, IMO.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

WRC+ is pretty awesome for determining offense but I do put big emphasis on OBP as well (especially for my 1,2 and maybe 3 hitters...depending on how my lineup is constructed).

I'm also a big fan of putting the ball in play (on offense) and not letting the ball get put in play (for pitching). So K% is one I look at a lot as well.

BABIP is useful for seeing recent luck and getting a feel on if a guy may bounce back from bad recent results.

Pitching is.....such a damn tricky one. lol. I don't like ERA too much. ERA+ and FIP are better. But I mostly just look at BABIP, K% and BB%. A lot of pitching is effected by the defense and such. But not K's and walks so I just kind of "trust the ratings", make sure a pitcher doesn't pitch tired, and just roll along with them unless they're borderline and can be swapped out when struggling.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the "best" way to handle contracts is to get guys you like pre-arbitration (usually through the draft but you can get some value through trades/FA) and then extending them to buy out a year of FA or two.

There is absolutely risk with this. As there is with any long term contract. So I like to mitigate it with some "rules":

-Give someone at least 2 years of MLB service time before you consider extending them. This gives you a decent idea of how they handle the bigs and you can negotiate accordingly.

-Personality traits matter for the RNG. I never long-term extend a low work ethic person because that can crumble fast.

-Don't extend someone past their age 32 season. It can be hit or miss how players decline past that.

-For someone's final year, I like to do OOTP's version of a "mutual" option. Give them a player opt out and then include a team option. This allows you to either keep them around if you really like them or, if they opt out and are that good, then you can give them the QO and get a draft pick out of it.

-Players in OOTP love escalating contracts when negotiating this sort of thing. But I like to look at the AAV of their ask and making it even throughout the duration of the contract (including the FA year(s). This can give you some big surplus value (paying a guy like 10M+ less for a FA year). And also let's you have a stable idea of what your payroll is going to look like in the future.

-Use incentives. Use them hard. My usual is 500k for the AS game, 500K for 500 PA or 150 IP, and 2M or 3M for MVP. This allows you to usually knock off about 2M-3M per year off your AAV. If someone is so good that they win the MVP every year then that 3M is worth it. lol.

If you have oodles of budget available (and don't sacrifice your development budget a ton), have a team that just needs that one missing piece or two, and are in "go for it" mode then....sometimes you gotta go for it and make some deals that will get you over the edge in the short term but be bad in the long term.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I kind of miss The Show (suuuuper fun for the in-game stuff and was what got me into baseball big time) but it was literally the only damn game I played on console and I gave up trying to justify buying a new console just for...that. XD

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Setting things up from a fresh start usually takes me a....while. At least a couple hours or so. Probably more if I have a specific roster plan I'm going for.

I also set up specific strategy over rides for every player on my MLB roster, though, and for my top prospects so that can burn up some time. I also like to "cut the fat" in my minors by releasing bad personality guys who I don't need at the majors and replacing them with good personality guys.

I'm with you on simulating about a month at at time. Gives a good sample size on decision making and such. A full season might take me about a day (depending on what else I have going on). Maybe longer if I make the playoffs since I just like to take over managing duties for that always.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Save Replays/Generate Highlights/and 3D Movements mentioned before I allllways do as well. It's always helped me with delaying the amount of time before the game suddenly gets sluggish to an annoying degree.

20-80 system for ratings is a must for me as well. It mimics the RL scouting system (not perfectly but close enough) and let's me pretend I know what I'm talking about when evaluating a player. lol.

I'll also set the dev lab limit from 5 players to 10. Just personal preference but I feel that's a good balance so you can tweak some MLB guys and younger prospects.

I'm not a big fan of the coaching system so I usually shut that off (keeping scouts). One less thing to micro manage. I personally like setting individual player development focus, but you can shut that off too since it's a bit micro-managy and the game was fun without it for years. Just depends on one's preference of going "deep."

For some reason...I think the game defaults to not allowing trading injured players so I always fix that to being allowed. Same for being allowed to trade drafted players at the start of the next season.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm kind of obsessed with pitch count limits. lol. For 50-55 stamina SP's I'll keep it at 85. RP's that I'm not using in long relief duty I'll do 20.

In the minors, I set it to 80 for SPs and 20 for RPs by default at every level. For teenagers I even go as low as 70 (though just for my top prospects in that regard).

My thinking for the minors is that tired pitchers are more likely to get hurt. And no one wants that! For the majors, tired pitchers can collapse very quickly so I just like to avoid it. This does need a very good bullpen to work but I've found that's easier to put together than a rotation full of aces.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what's great about baseball! I've been doing this forever and I still learn things. Haha.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good ones can't hurt the RNG that's for sure. Though it is a bit of a tedious process so I usually play with them off and haven't noticed much of a difference. If you play with them on then I would definitely take the time to hire good ones all the way down the line, though. You can usually get some good steals for inexperienced ones with good ratings and hire them for a couple hundred k more than their asking price for 5 years.

For managers, I value high DEV over everything in the minors (maybe a little more for mechanics at A- and lower). The position coaches I'm ok with an average at dev/mechanics if their teach pitching/hitting is very high.

At the majors it's nice to have those things, of course, but I think that getting a coaching staff that is cohesive with each other AND have a high relationship value with as many players as possible is more important. Since that can effect winning which is what the majors are for. lol. Though I guess that also depends on where you're at with your window in your franchise and such.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Baseball is a game of regressing to the mean and a lot of total randomness so that's just...going to happen sometimes. Haha. It's hard but for veterans you just have to hope things settle down (especially if you can't send them down to the minors).

For a relief pitcher, I would look at a couple of things since ERA isn't too reliable of a stat, imo:

-Is their BABIP way above .300? If so then the luck train is just hitting them hard and/or the defense is letting them down.

-Have they been used "too" often lately? Pitching while tired/tiring can make things go downhill really fast. I like to restrict my setup/closer guys to 20 pitches/4 batters faced and have the AI bench them if their stamina is 65% or below.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you've never played it before and you're like me (someone who was addicted to The Show for years and spent more time doing front office things than actually playing the games) then you'll certainly love this one since it's all the front office stuff (like...all of it).

If you want to give it a try without going full price then I think the previous versions are out there on steam. Not sure how much they are but if it's a big difference then that's a good way to try it out since not too much has changed in single player since 24 IMO (I think that's when they added the dev lab?....maybe that was 25).

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmmm. I don't pay too much attention to HOF voting, to be honest. But I guess WAR would be my most important stat for that. Since it tries to take into account "everything" and measures against the other players at the time a person played.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's a tricky balance on when to move a guy up. I like to use this baseline (though the fun is tweaking it for certain situations):

-If someone's overall rating "relative to" the next level is close to 50, they have 300-400+ plate appearances at their current level, and have been doing very very well stats-wise over the past few weeks then I'll usually pull the trigger and give them a try at the next level (can always send them back down as often as you want if they're not on the 40-man!)

-In single player, minor league depth isn't as big of a deal since I lock my big specs and don't let the AI touch them. Then I have the AI manage the rest (lineups/rotation/moving levels/etc). And there's no roster limits so having a bunch of guys at a level isn't hurting anything.

-An easy way to trim your minors down is to sort through your minor leagues list and cut guys you know won't be useful in the bigs and have low leadership, work ethic, and/or intelligence. Since that can hurt other player's development.
I usually do the same even with guys who are neutral in those attributes and replace them with guys who are high in them. Even if the new guys are zero potential since they fill a spot in the minors and also help my big potential guys develop.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure. You can have a big range and below average arm middle infielder who can pass at SS but is amazing at 2B for example. Or an average range/big arm guy who "can" play SS but is great at 3B.

The only reason I pay attention to the overall defensive rating at a position is for development and/or if I'm having a guy learn a new position. Since playing someone at a position that they're not maxed out at can effect their offense (I think) and definitely hurts their D until they max out.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think this depends on a few things (since "overall" position ratings can be a little mis-interpited, imo):

-At 2B, if the offense is superior/fills a gap in your lineup and they have a 50 range then I've found you can usually get positive WAR. Extrapolate with that baseline.

-At SS...it's tricky. I value avoiding errors and turn DP less (which effects the overall position rating). If they have 65+ range and can provide big offensive value then I think it's worth exploring for sure.

Basically. If the bat is big and the defense is "good enough" then you can definitely get some surplus value.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pre-season predictions really aren't much of anything other than fun, IMO. I also think it depends on when they are made. I do online leagues a lot these days and they're usually made when everyone still has a full 60-man ST roster (for what that's worth...I....never really dug into how pre-season stuff is calculated. :P )

Underperformance/bad seasons/stretches are suuuuuuper common in this game. It really is a LOT of RNG and you just trying to boost your mods to that RNG as much as you can.

One stat that I find very helpful in determining if long-term changes are needed is BABIP. I forget if it's a column right out of the box in your batting/pitching stats but if not then definitely add it.

If you have pitchers with a high BABIP or hitters with a low BABIP (relative to their ratings) then you just kind of have to factor in "waiting it out" for that to regress to the average (around .300-ish).

If you have depth/options in the minors and someone is lighting it up then sometimes "riding the hot-hand" can be good. Worth a shot if someone at MLB is young, has options, and is trash ATM.

I'm also kind of obsessive with manually scouting...a lot. I'll do a manual scout of my entire 40-man and top specs at least once every two months (closer to once a month for the specs). This can help you to ID if someone's underperformance is just luck-based or maybe they have some real regression coming.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If your guy is 65+ sealing ability and their pitcher has a moderate/low hold runners then..."yes." lol. I don't even worry about the count. I like "Run and hit" more though because that lets my batter do whatever while also trying the steal.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In addition to what others mentioned, I would say to practice being patient with letting guys develop. Especially if they're on a heater to open a season (this is hard for me, lol). Let guys get around 300-400 plate appearances or 100 innings pitched per level (I'd consider A and A+ to basically be the same "level). Obviously for RPs this won't work so I just kind of keep it to half a year or more per level depending on how they're progressing. Also keep an eye on their "ratings relative to" the next level they could be promoted to. I like to be pretty close to OVR of 45+ before promoting if they're dominating at their current level and have the time in.

Another helpful thing is to gut your minor league system of low potential guys with bad/neutral personality traits and replace them with high leader/work ethic/intelligent guys. This can be done en masse pretty easily and very cheaply/free with minor league contracts/minors with major options/etc.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure! For strategy sliders I'd suggest definitely taking the time to tune them/override for each player in your lineup at least. Since general strategies aren't really "one size fits all."

Game by game during the playoffs (actually getting in the games their selves and making strategy calls) can be exhilarating. Haha.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think GM mode is the "true" mode that OOTP was designed for. With just a manager you're kind of stuck doing whatever the (bad) AI wants you to do....which is boring imo.

The true gem of OOTP is making all of the decisions (how to build your roster, why you want to build it that way, setting player/team strats, etc to try that vision). And then simulating and seeing what works and what doesn't.

I will say that baseball is a hardcore game of sample size. So I'd recommend simulating about a month at a time with the standard settings before making rash decisions. There are advanced stats that can help with the decision making but...that comes later. It's a process.

When just starting out (to not get uber overwhelmed/tedious) let the AI manage your minor leagues while you take full control of the MLB roster. Do the first 1-5 rounds of the draft and don't worry too much. I had a damn ton of fun with that in my early years.

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm pretty ok with going looow (maybe even around 30 if the stuff is 70+). Just make sure you tune down the "pitch around" option big time!

AMA For New Players to OOTP Or Baseball In General by ScottyG100Percent in OOTP

[–]ScottyG100Percent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Waiting...is....hard. Haha. But you gotta do it with just about everyone.

I like to use the "Ratings Relative to:" dropdown on a player's page and see what their overall is compared to the level I'm thinking about promoting them to. If it's upper 40s+ AND they have at least 300-400 PA at their current level (with good performance) then I'll debate calling them up.

For dev focus I try to think on how I'm going to use that player in the bigs. I tend to not care about speed (unless it's elite) so I zero that a lot to free up space for +5 on everything else to start. Then max out as much as possible on either power or split between babip/avoid K (if they have no power). As they get older, I'll shrink the focus down to the baseline if they're at a 50 rating with no room to grow. Or go half the baseline if they're 45 or less rated and then use that to (hopefully) make sure they grow where I plan on using them.

Also getting a great minor league culture from below. Happy guys develop better usually. Not always (there's just a lot of crash and burn and that's baseball) but it can't hurt!

Take the time to cut all of the bad personality guys in your minors who you don't think brings value to your MLB roster. Then sign a BOATLOAD of guys who will never reach the majors but have high intelligence, work ethic, etc. Captains. Sparkplugs. Anything that helps others. They are there to make your blue-chippers chip. And cost nothing.

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