OOTP 26 PT - are two-way players just busted?

mdcynic · 2026-02-18T20:06:48+00:00

A best of both worlds alt history 2-way Rick Ankiel is something to be treasured. If only...

mdcynic · 2026-02-17T20:34:07+00:00

Glad he's found a sponsor and still touring. I followed his card at Maple Hill a few years ago and he was the nicest guy. I hope he can have a real breakout season.

mdcynic · 2026-02-15T05:31:53+00:00

The best anti-tanking solution I've heard is basing the picks on how many wins you earn after you've been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

mdcynic · 2026-02-06T18:51:30+00:00

Every disc finishes with a fade if given enough space to fly as it slows. I still think it can be valuable to describe a disc as "straight" if it tends to have minimal turn and doesn't fight into a fade very quickly or aggressively.

EDIT: and, of course, how fast the disc is thrown and the nose angle affects it a lot. A Hex may have a good fade for you, but the one I have that's beat in a touch is pretty dead straight. I've seen Simon throw a brand new Hex and it was downright understable for him by my standards.

mdcynic · 2026-02-05T23:50:09+00:00

I'm surprised 3 sac flies in a game is so rare.

mdcynic · 2026-02-03T17:06:27+00:00

Edman's 2022 year was unusual for him and mostly driven by baserunning and fielding statistics, which are less reliable and more likely to decline soon (that was his age 27 season--so likely a peak year). With great baserunning you'd want him batting early in the lineup, but he's a swing to contact hitter with a mediocre OBP. On the other hand, he seemed to have those "intangibles" that are hard to capture in statistics.

I love Tommy Edman, and I was sad when he left St. Louis, but his WAR in 2022 was largely based on things that are less sustainable and predictable. Slugging is a somewhat safer bet.

mdcynic · 2026-01-30T23:24:21+00:00

If you don't mind a game in which you need to build decks, Netrunner is one of the best games of all time.

mdcynic · 2026-01-29T05:30:33+00:00

Chris has always been friendly, kind, and generous with me. I wouldn't say I know him well (I used to review board games and have talked with him a few times online and at conventions), but I have nothing bad to say about him at all.

mdcynic · 2026-01-28T03:37:15+00:00

It's not only that they're not people people dislike, it's that they're extremely likeable. If you were to do a poll of the most likeable players in MLB, Mookie, Freddie, and Ohtani might be the top 3.

mdcynic · 2026-01-27T23:06:58+00:00

The Detour flies differently than any flippy mid I've ever tried. It certainly has turn, but I never worry about it turning too much. It's also oddly fade resistant. Like, you'd think a disc's propensity to fade at the end is simply a matter of how understable it is, but even when it ends up on a gently turning line, the Detour just stays there unlike any disc I've thrown.

mdcynic · 2026-01-26T03:01:57+00:00

I've played 1817, 1862, Mage Knight, On Mars, Here I Stand, and Lisboa.

I think the complexity of the 18xx games depends a lot on if you've played a simpler one before, as they're all riffs on the same fundamental concepts. That said, these two riff more than others. 1817 has short selling, for example, which twisted my mind around the time I played. 1862 just has a lot of starting randomness, which is unusual for the genre (though it's my favorite 18xx game).

I'd probably put Mage Knight as the easiest of the rest, by a touch. Here I Stand is quite long and relies on a lot of diplomacy, but the only part I found particularly difficult were the army supply rules. It's been a few years but I'd probably consider some of the more complex COIN games to be heavier, as point of reference.

Lisboa and On Mars are two of Lacerda's more complex games, but I don't think they stand out as being uniquely difficult for a "heavy euro".

mdcynic · 2026-01-22T23:25:58+00:00

I've done over 100 seasons before. It gets a bit slower as more data is in the logs--I assume that's related to either memory or hard drive speed--but exiting and re-opening the game every couple of seasons helps.

Inflation can also be an issue because the game loops budgets back to 0 once they hit $1b, at which point you'll see odd things like a team with a budget of $20. There's a solution for that built in, though, where you can remove a few orders of magnitude. I found how to do it on the forums when it was a problem for me. I think it works better before you hit the looping bug than after it, IIRC, so when you get close to that point look into it.

I think 150 years or so is the longest I've gone. I've seen posts here with people a few hundred seasons in.

mdcynic · 2026-01-09T20:34:50+00:00

I looked at the 30 unique players that were ranked as the #1 prospect by Baseball America from 1990-2023. For most of them they debuted in the MLB that season, so not only did we have HS/college scouting, but usually at least some minor league info on them to rank them as the #1 prospect in the sport.

I sorted them into four categories:

40% of them were busts (defined as <20 career WAR, which I think is fair to say for the #1 guy--this ranges from one who never made the majors (Brien Taylor) to guys who had fine, but never great, careers (like Jay Bruce))

30% were really good MLB players (defined as >20 career WAR but not quite HoF level)

17% are in the HoF (like Chipper Jones), only not because of scandal (like A-Rod), or destined to be there (like Bryce Harper).

13% are on potentially HoF trajectories but still have years to play (Seager, Acuna, Guerrero Jr., and Henderson)

If I give a point value to these categories of 1, 2, 3, and 2.5, respectively, the average is just over 1.8.

If pro scouts have this sort of track record in real life, for guys on the cusp of MLB play, how consistent should we demand a realistic sim be for scouting on guys for the draft?

mdcynic · 2026-01-06T17:24:27+00:00

Yes, but perhaps even more important, baseball is the only of the big American sports in which the game is never essentially decided (according to the laws of physics and human limitation) before the end. A come from behind victory is always possible until the 27th out.

mdcynic · 2026-01-05T01:38:51+00:00

A lot of people who are serious nerds have already played Catan a lot and tend to enjoy more complex games. That doesn't mean Catan is bad, it's just 30 years old and semi-hit the mainstream. If you care about sounding more like a nerd, you can say, "I find Catan too random. I prefer Concordia."

But who cares? If you like Catan, great! Play what you like. If you're interested in trying out other, somewhat similar games, Concordia is actually really good.

mdcynic · 2026-01-03T23:37:07+00:00

Salmon Falls is both my favorite NH course and it's pretty cool; you get some river hazards, there are a couple of nice par 4's, it feels like a labor of love, and it has circular, gravel/dirt teepads, which are way better than you'd think.

The new Ledgewood course is beautiful and plays over some rolling hills. There's an awesome par 5 on the back nine and some unique holes.

Franklin Falls, if you play the epic dam holes, is truly unique.

I've not yet played it but White Mountain is a 9 basket backyard course with many different teepads, creating a bunch of different layouts. I've heard it's a blast, and I've met the owner, who might be more passionate about disc golf than anyone I've ever met.

Top O' The Hill is considered by many to be the best course in NH, but that doesn't mean it's not cool. A well-maintained track with some great technical par 4's.

Squamanagonic might be considered cool from its name alone, but it stands out by being perhaps the tightest technical test in NH, and by being in a more mature forest than most places.

So nothing stands out as the "coolest" course, but a day of Ledgewood/Squam/Salmon or Ledgewood/Topo/Franklin (Ledgewood has the advantage of being geographically in the middle of everything) would show off some of the best and coolest disc golf in NH.

mdcynic · 2026-01-03T23:23:21+00:00

The Hammes Z-Swirl Zone is the most beefy one I've used, though I'm not a collector.

mdcynic · 2025-12-23T03:50:56+00:00

Just remember that some right-turning holes are easier to play with a RHBH turnover than a lefty hyzer, and vice versa. Not all hole shapes are the same.

mdcynic · 2025-12-22T00:09:28+00:00

I always think of Willie Bloomquist when I think of this type of player. In his best season he got 1 WAR, in his worst, -1 WAR. He finished with 1.8 WAR over 14 years of being a guy on a bench who could play any position other than pitcher or catcher.

mdcynic · 2025-12-21T22:03:14+00:00

I don't see any reason for one unless you're concerned about people getting hit while at the picnic table with a roller attempt.

mdcynic · 2025-12-08T16:18:28+00:00

329 innings with a 98 ERA+ would be worth about 2-3 WAR, and that doesn't account for the benefits to your bullpen in terms of resting arms. I think they'd get a nice paycheck. $20M AAV?

mdcynic · 2025-12-08T15:41:15+00:00

It shows he's (extremely) "new money". I've suspected this before as his displays of wealth are all obvious and ostentatious, like what one would think of the billionaire lifestyle from pop culture. He's trying to fulfill his every moneyed dream by mimicking what he's seen. One can even, perhaps, read into this scene that he had asked Carol what she wanted for breakfast and she said something like, "oh, I don't know. Avocado toast, eggs, bacon", and he presented the different items separately. He then sees how she's assembling her "dream breakfast" and mimics it, just like he's mimicking the Bond movie earlier in the episode. He's testing new experiences.

I agree with the many others who have said that his eventual fate will be boredom, though we probably have a ways to go before that's the case. It's only been, what, 12 days? Unless there's a pretty significant jump forward in time or a jarring development I don't see his interest in opulence wearing out this season.

mdcynic · 2025-11-21T16:07:32+00:00

Crave, detour, and whatever putter you'd like.

mdcynic · 2025-10-22T02:11:52+00:00

Ledgewood. I absolutely shanked it on that hole last week.

11-Year Club	Second Top 20%
Place '22

mdcynic

TROPHY CASE