2013 Franchise Issue Explained (With Pics)

[tabarnes19_SDS]

Guys I didn’t really want to start another thread, but with all the info and pictures I have I really thought it was appropriate. I have spent about 40 hours running through franchise mode, trying to find work arounds to issues and just trying to figure out in general what is going on. I have bounced ideas off of Knight (man this guy must be insane juggling rosters, testing, playing and working), so a big Thanks goes out to him.

We all know that the 2013 glitch is still in the system. Basically what this is, is in the third season many players (Big Name) go unsigned. I have noticed it to be mostly pitchers. There are many theories out there speculating that it is because of incoming draft classes, training, arbitration, or code left out etc..(One area I do believe code was left out is trade logic) It seems largely the same after more extensive testing. Most trades happen in May and I have yet to see a trade happen in last week heading to trade deadline. I have ran easily 100 sims)
What I can tell you is from what I see it is a combination of ALL of the above. Every system in franchise is interconnected. Retirements affect drafts, training affects increases in attributes which in turn affects how much salary the player makes. Potential affects trades as well as how the cpu utilizes their roster.

What I hope to do is explain and show you through pictures what is going on in the system and the improvements that HAVE been made and where the issues are. This may help you ,if you want to step in using 30 team control (By knowing when you have to step in) or hopefully assist the developers in finding the root cause. Turning training off and having no training will delay the problem by a year or two. Below is a screen grab with manual training from year 5. Trust me when I say this, I love this game and it is so close to being perfect.



So lets begin….
When you get to offseason one things look pretty good. All prospects seem to have 2-3 year deals..(This will be important to remember later) Teams are offering arbitration and offering contracts/renewing players on the 40 man. This part of the offseason you can tell has been worked on. Last year players that renewable or Arbitration eligible would be given huge deals. This year that does not appear to be the case. I remember last year Strasburg being in the minors making 10 million. Remember salary is tied to ratings not performance. This year you can see that has been improved.




This allows the cpu some cost certainty. Remember that as long as a player is offered SOMETHING and they have less than 6 years mlb service they will be considered signed. Why is that important to 30 team franchise users? Before Dec. 2 or whatever is the last day to offer arbitration…go through the cpu teams rosters and offer a contract to any player that you feel should be kept on that team. I usually make sure all A and B prospects and rising stars. The key is to offer really LOW. As long as they are offered the cpu will either renew them or settle in arbitration.



Here is what I don’t understand….The CPU seems to almost always offer arbitration to players it should in first couple years. On occasions it doesn’t, notable up and coming stars with less than 3 years service.




Now offseason two is where the wheels start to come off. The reason I think is because minor leaguers are not renewed and hit the open market. When you have A potential young prospects getting paid as FA money dries up in a hurry. These players should have renewable listed next to their names, but don’t, I think it may be a database error because if offered any amount of money the system treats them as renewable and allows you to renew them the last day of the OffSeason.



As you can see these A prospects are earning WAY too much money when they should be making less than 100K. Worst yet is prospects move from team to team in FA and then some are not signed. Here is the OFFSEASON 2 FA list. Notice the A and B pot prospects.



Now offseason three is where everything falls apart. Newly drafted players are moving in, the flood of A potential players that are not renewed hit the market and A ton of MLB players are Free Agents. The perfect storm. Last year teams would sign and go over budget. Players would demand a ton of money and never sign. This year there has been an improvement there. The CPU will sign players CHEAP if they are still on the market in late Feb.



But the problem is they run out of roster space. Now I have a theory to that as well. The FA list this year in three times as big, with many names on it and varying potential. During the season some of these are signed and in the offseason some are signed. Others retire and again the draft replaces them….where do all these new players go? At the end of that third season the FA list looks like this.



Now the silver lining to all of this is that Almost all cpu teams have between 5-15 million to spend. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed. If not, I believe that with 30 team control it will be easier than last year to stem the problem. If any one has any other ideas or sees anything I am missing I would love to hear them.

[CuseGirl]

OK, I hear people worrying about the franchise/FA glitch being present STILL. I have not heard ANYONE talk about RTTS. I DO NOT play franchise mode, I have no desire to do so. But I love RTTS and if I'm due a big fictional pay day after 7 horrible years with Cleveland, I want my pay day. Is this same cockamaimie system being used in RTTS?

[tabarnes19_SDS]

Quote: Originally Posted by CuseGirl

OK, I hear people worrying about the franchise/FA glitch being present STILL. I have not heard ANYONE talk about RTTS. I DO NOT play franchise mode, I have no desire to do so. But I love RTTS and if I'm due a big fictional pay day after 7 horrible years with Cleveland, I want my pay day. Is this same cockamaimie system being used in RTTS?

I believe so. Same system applies.

[BwanaKuu]

Quote: Originally Posted by tabarnes19

I believe so. Same system applies.

I might test this by simming seasons in RTTS. Obviously my player will never go anywhere but if there are any FA problems it should show up. Is there a way to see the free agents available in RTTS? I guess I could just check rosters and see if they're full of younger A guys signed for low money.

Created a random 1B, simming first season now

[Two Seamer]

It affected RTTS last year and presumably would this year since the same system operates in both modes. Good to test anyway.

Could it be as simple as adding in some code that lowers the "market value" (asking price) of players without any service time (prospects)?

The more I think about it, the more obvious it seems to me that the problems stems from budgets freezing. After the first couple of years, they increase. But then they level off. The talent pool expands, but the money runs out.

It seems that either progressively increasing the budgets or artificially capping the price of prospects might clean most of this up. Maybe some combination of both. Or maybe I'm way off.

Thanks for the post, tabarnes.

[CuseGirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Two Seamer

It affected RTTS last year and presumably would this year since the same system operates in both modes. Good to test anyway. Could it be as simple as adding in some code that lowers the "market value" (asking price) of players without any service time (prospects)? The more I think about it, the more obvious it seems to me that the problems stems from budgets freezing. After the first couple of years, they increase. But then they level off. The talent pool expands, but the money runs out. It seems that either progressively increasing the budgets or artificially capping the price of prospects might clean most of this up. Maybe some combination of both. Or maybe I'm way off. Thanks for the post, tabarnes.

I definitely think there isn't enuff inflation in the budgets after 6 or 7 years. And there needs to be some marker for players under the age of 24, because that's basically where the issue is, young players getting money too early. Wut's crazy is that the game MAKES SURE that you as the RTTS player do not get to free agency before that service number hits 6.....so WHY can't the game do the same thing for the CPU players? nonsense....

[joshopsu]

So if I use 30 team control and offer arbitration (or a lowball offer) to most minor league players and most MLB players with less than 6 yrs experience, will this correct the problem???

I'm not too worried about a few big name free agents. For example, as a Phillie fan, I never expected WAS to sign Werth to a big contract.

BUT, I am worried about PROSPECTS (under 22-24 years old) being in the free agent pool. That should not happen whatsoever.

[ktd1976]

Quote: Originally Posted by joshopsu

So if I use 30 team control and offer arbitration (or a lowball offer) to most minor league players and most MLB players with less than 6 yrs experience, will this correct the problem??? I'm not too worried about a few big name free agents. For example, as a Phillie fan, I never expected WAS to sign Werth to a big contract. BUT, I am worried about PROSPECTS (under 22-24 years old) being in the free agent pool. That should not happen whatsoever.

Do what I do....and what Tabarnes said to do....go to EVERY team, make an offer to every young player with less than 6 years exp. (you don't have to offer arbitration, these young players automatically go to arbitration if they don't agree to the terms you offered....remember, they are under team control yet...offering arbitration only comes into place with players who have over 6 years exp). If you see a veteran (player with 6 years or more exp.) Let the CPU handle the players with 6 years or more of exp. This will keep the prospects and young players that should be under team control UNDER TEAM CONTROL.

Remember, non-tendering a player with less than 6 years exp. makes them a Free Agent.....this is where the problem is....

You don't have to offer players with less than 6 years exp. arbitration.....just make an offer...if they refuse, you can either renew their contract, or they automatically go to arbitration (depending on service time)