Quote:
|
Originally Posted by arod23
Basically, batters stay forever, pitchers last 10 years or less, even good ones. This is with historical sims, not fictional. The AI "retires" pitchers far earlier than batters. Not sure of all that is driving it, but a combination of aging, the role assigned by the AI (which can vary), initial endurance rating, pitcher use, etc. In sim after sim, there are many batters with 20+ years of playing time, but very few pitchers.
|
Based on my relatively few experiments, it seems to me that the entire problem is either randomization or the game retiring players based on length of service. I have modified pitcher aging dramatically, to slow down the process of ratings deterioration and perhaps keep pitchers active and successful into their late 30's and early 40's, but many are still retiring for no apparent reason.
Pitchers will come off a winning season with a good contract, no injuries, and ratings that have not dropped off at all, but they will suddenly retire. In these case, the pitchers are usually in their mid to late 30's, which is why I tend to think that it's either random or based on years of service. If they've been in the major leagues for 15 years or more, then maybe the game makes them much more likely to retire, despite their success and strong ability.
While there should be a chance that a player will retire at the top of his game, it should be quite low. In real life, it is very rare for a player to retire when he is still effective, is showing no signs of decline, and can still make a lot of money. But the game does not seem to recognize this at times. So either it's randomizing retirement or basing it on years in the majors.
The other problem I find is that players give up on their careers too easily. I've seen pitchers at age 30 decide to retire just a month after becoming free agents. In several cases, they spent the last season on the reserve roster and did not appear in a major league game. But they should not retire so quickly and easily, especially when their ratings have remained unchanged and they now have the freedom to sign elsewhere. But it happens after every season in my historical sims. A player just needs about one year out of the majors, and he's ready to retire, even though he might sign on with a new club before the next season begins.