A few quick questions about scouting

[new_to_baseball]

I notice that there often seems to be a big difference between your own scouting director and that of OOTP's. Which one should you rely on the most? Another thing, if both scouters rate a player low, can he still turn into a superstar (à la late round draft round pick, low-rated prospect etc)? Or is there no chance of that happening? Will scouts also ever change their mind about a player, i.e. seeing that they've been completely wrong about him all along, or will they always rate him the same way?

A final little side question here since I don't bother making a new thread when I can just ask it here. Do you recommend using OOTP's roster pack or should I rather use one of the mods that has been made? Which is more accurate?

[jasonn29tn14]

Depends on how good your scout's ratings are. (And even the best make mistakes) Your scout's reports will change as time goes on - about every couple of months. I personally tend to avoid guys who both my scout and OOTP's say is bad. But that doesn't mean they can't both be wrong.

[ssstump]

On, this subject, I'm not sure why we even get OOTP scouting reports.

Does anyone know the answer to that?

I mean, I have to pay my scout to provide reports. Why is OOTP providing an opinion for free?

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by new_to_baseball

I notice that there often seems to be a big difference between your own scouting director and that of OOTP's. Which one should you rely on the most? Another thing, if both scouters rate a player low, can he still turn into a superstar (à la late round draft round pick, low-rated prospect etc)? Or is there no chance of that happening? Will scouts also ever change their mind about a player, i.e. seeing that they've been completely wrong about him all along, or will they always rate him the same way?

It isn't a OOTP scouting report. It's the report of a hypothetical scouting association. If you have scouting turned on, these reports don't add much value. I think perhaps the only thing you get from them, that your own scout doesn't provide, is a top prospects list.

A final little side question here since I don't bother making a new thread when I can just ask it here. Do you recommend using OOTP's roster pack or should I rather use one of the mods that has been made? Which is more accurate?

Not sure about this question. If you are talking about playing a 2009 MLB game, with real players, I don't think it's possible to get a more complete roster than what you get with the 2009 MLB game option. With respect to any other type of league you want to create, there is no answer to the question "which is more accurate". They are all different, with different objectives and different parameters.

[ssstump]

Okay - well then, it's from a 'hypothetical' scout.

But I'm still curious as to why we get that. Why pay a scout at all then?

Do you get this report if you have scouting disabled or budgeted at zero?

I have noticed that the ratings seem to always be just a tick lower than my scout's opinion.

However, I have very limited experience with the game.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by ssstump

Okay - well then, it's from a 'hypothetical' scout.

But I'm still curious as to why we get that. Why pay a scout at all then?

Do you get this report if you have scouting disabled or budgeted at zero?

I have noticed that the ratings seem to always be just a tick lower than my scout's opinion.

However, I have very limited experience with the game.

Can't give you an authoritative answer. The scouting association ratings do perform a function, which is mostly to provide ratings that show up in the BNN Player Reports, for example, which would otherwise be blank. This gives the game a feature that looks like what you might find at a web site aimed at fantasy game players.

It's possible that other OOTPers find this second data point on ratings to be meaningful, as a kind of check of their own scouts. Maybe it is.

[LeeDorm8185]

Originally Posted by ssstump

On, this subject, I'm not sure why we even get OOTP scouting reports.

Does anyone know the answer to that?

I mean, I have to pay my scout to provide reports. Why is OOTP providing an opinion for free?

Well, all major league franchises have their own scouting systems, which they pay quite a bit of money for, yet I'm sure they all have subscriptions to Baseball America and the like as well.

BTW, first time poster here. I'm just getting started with OOTP so I'm sure I have my share (or more) of noob questions as well.

[new_to_baseball]

What accuracy do you have your scouting on? When it's on normal, I saw Lincecum was rated as merely an innings-eater. Maybe there's some bad blood between them?

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by new_to_baseball

What accuracy do you have your scouting on? When it's on normal, I saw Lincecum was rated as merely an innings-eater. Maybe there's some bad blood between them?

I'm getting something like that, too. Purely coincidental. There's nothing wrong about his actual ratings. It can be interesting to have scouting set to normal, use a low precision rating scale (I use 2-8) and have a player going thru an atypical stretch (either much better or much worse than he should be), so that his stats are possibly misleading. Keeps you on your toes.

[ssstump]

lol at Lincecum being rated as an average Joe. :-)

Of course, if it was just exactly history, why would anyone even bother playing, eh?

I mean, you could just read the papers. :-)