MLB The Show Franchise Mode Can't Handle the Dodgers (And Neither Can the MLB)

[Steve_OS]

With only about a week until pitchers and catchers report to spring training camps, we are...

Written By: Kyler Wolff

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[jcar0725]

FANTASTIC article, and right in my wheelhouse, since i love to do small market team rebuilds. A glutton for punishment, I want the rebuild to really feel like a challenge. So I have to employ a lot of "house rules".

If you sim one season in '24, Soto ends up on many different teams. I've seen him signing huge contracts in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Colorado and Cincinnati. Doesn't seem very realistic.

[Armor and Sword]

100% agree with this article…..but will it ever be brought up to snuff???

[LowerWolf]

I wonder how much (if any) having budgets on or off impacts this?

I ask because on 21, I played with budgets off and just house-ruled myself to a spending limit. But CPU teams generally still stayed confined to their budgets, even with it off. I don't remember any crazy signings.

For 24, I left budgets on but I kind of wish I hadn't now. The Dodgers and Mets are both near $50M over budget, which means they essentially are handcuffed on roster moves. And we know that's not realistic.

I didn't pay attention to see if CPU teams budgets changed when I had them turned off. But, in theory, there's no reason for them to change. And if they don't change - and teams still tend to spend within their limit - that would keep teams like the Dodgers and Pirates separated financially. Maybe I'll run a test franchise this weekend with it off to see what happens.

[tessl]

If Pittsburgh had that payroll they would be dominant. Hardly a surprise.

I like the Show's financial system better than MLB. At least no Ohtani type stuff. Only major pro sport with no payroll cap.

[Cod]

Great, well-written article.

I don't know of any sports sim that gets the financial system "right". The closest I've seen for baseball is OOTP, but even it can't handle deferments at all. The financial systems for all sports are so intricate and change every CBA, I'm not sure if we'll ever see a great solution.

Also, it's very hard for game developers to keep up with the trends because sports teams pay some very smart people a lot of money to find these trends before they become one. By the time game developers figure out how to implement something, the league has moved to a new fad. So the value is just not there from a business perspective.

[adamj2281]

Excellent article, this has been my compliant for quite awhile. The NHL team at least somewhat gets it with trade/FA logic, etc.

[Kalkano]

This is one reason that I don't even watch baseball anymore. I've also been playing MLB The Show 21 (when the league was better), and I have budgets turned off. I just arbitrarily set my own loose budgets, so I can't just sign whoever I want. It's the only way to level the playing field.