Prospect Training in Minor Leagues

[ifspuds]

Say I just traded for an outfield prospect who's no great shakes with the glove but has a huge bat, he's 19 years old and down at single-A. In the minors, your coaches should be spending time teaching, fixing problems in a guy's game, and so on. I'd like to see the ability to have a player work on a specific skill set (defense, in this case) in the minors, similar to spring training (though I'd really like to see spring training improved as well).

[cptrguru]

Good idea! Maybe have a percentage of time allocation to each independent area or an auto-manage when the focus can be determined by the coaches for that team?

[battists]

I third this. I think if you wish, you should be able to specify for each player, at any time, what % you want them to spend where. If you don't specify, the AI decides as it does now.

The more detailed, the better, IMHO. Some possible categories include the usual:

stuff
control
movement
velocity

contact
gap
power
eye
avoid k's

But also the less obvious stuff would be great for minor leaguers:

New position - X
Outfield arm
Infield arm
Fielding (%)
Defensive range
Bunting
Stealing
Pickoff move

and so forth

I also think if this is done, the game should assume that you're also spending enough time on the rest of your game not to fall apart, or there should be an obvious percentage that means "maintain current skill level". Drives me nuts in ST when I drop the person's contact to work on power, and their contact falls through the floor. I didn't mean "Stop practicing contact entirely," for Pete's sake!

[Qwerty75]

Training regimen similar to that in the FM series?

Omg, explosion of micromanagement possibilities ...

[kingcharlesxii]

This would be really cool and a great addition to the game. I can't tell you how many times I've screamed at prospects because they wouldn't develop the one trait I wanted them to focus on.

[ifspuds]

Originally Posted by Qwerty75

Training regimen similar to that in the FM series?

Omg, explosion of micromanagement possibilities ...

Hm... don't know the FM regimen. What's it like, in a nutshell?

[theasfl]

I seventh this.

[DAL 9000]

Do it, Markus. We double-dog-dare you to.

[Qwerty75]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

Hm... don't know the FM regimen. What's it like, in a nutshell?

In FM 2006 you can design training schedules with varying levels of intensity in different areas such as aerobic fitness, strength, skill on the ball, attacking, defense, etc. The ability of the coaches is factored in to how effective the training is. FM2005 would let you choose from different training exercises and build a weekly schedule (set pieces, strength training, tactical session, and the like), but it's been streamlined for the latest edition. The sliders on the intensity are quite detailed ... must be at least 30 settings for each training area from "light" to "heavy" workload. There are also arrows up/down for a players' skill attributes set that indicate the recent effects of training, as well as a chart that shows development over a longer period. It's set up so that within a certain limitation (intensity of training schedule) you can have a player focus on certain areas of his game to focus development on and de-emphasize others, or give them all appropriate attention as you so choose.