Starting a franchise

[HartmanTeets6]

Assuming everyone who plays franchise waits for the prospect included rosters to come out, what are everyone's plans for franchise? Team, moves, etc? I will, as always, pick the Red Sox. My first moves will be to trade away Steven Wright (knuckleballers are hard to pitch with, and he might have beaten his wife) Sandy Leon (defensive catchers are overrated, and I use Swihart as my backup) and Brock Holt (will use Nunez as my utility man, better speed). I will try to get a really good bullpen piece, to try to mirror the Yanks pen. Kelly, Thornbug, Smith, Kimbrel they're just missing 1. Only other move I might make is to see if I can upgrade my lefty 1B from Moreland to someone better. Using Hanley strictly against lefties. If some of the guys are better than I think, I might just try to trade off above pieces for a few mid-level prospects to restock the system. I always play the 1st season through, and then I'll sim 5 or so years ahead and play as much as I can until the fall (NHL, Madden, NBA). This helps me not just trade off all my prospects for a stacked MLB team.

[kenp86]

I will go 30 team control. But i focus my efforts on 2 teams from each division. This way i dont get bored with just 1 team. This is itll be: NYY/Tor, Det/KC, Oak/Sea, ATL/Mia, CN/Pit, SD/SF. Mostly rebuilding teams. Have a plan in place for each team.

[GR5Noles]

I'm going with the Braves this year. Hoping I can develop Albies/Swanson up the middle, then bring up Acuna and Riley eventually to give Freeman some help. Then hoping some of the young arms in the system develop into rotation guys as I push for the playoffs in year 2

[bravo2208]

I have a handful of teams in mind, but I'll probably start with the Braves. They're my favorite team, they have a fresh stadium, the farm system is loaded, and they shed a ton of cash after this season. I want to get Freeman some established protection. If Machado is available he will be my #1 FA priority. Harper and Donaldson are possibilities if I can't get Machado. I'll probably spend the rest on relievers and mid-level starters to hold it down until Wright, Soroka, etc. are ready to take over. Catcher is something I'd like to shore up as well. I'm anxious to get this thing started.

[countryboy]

I love these types of threads, as I like to see what moves/decisions others plan to make in their respective franchise. Sometimes I steal other people's ideas.

Myself, I'll carryover my franchise from '16 & '17. I play as the Cardinals and I have gone through the offseason so I'm just waiting to start Spring Training.

I really like my roster and think that we have a legit shot at finally beating those pesky Dodgers and getting the Fall Classic. Our division is getting better with the Pirates signing Jose Fernandez and the Cubs will presumably have Anthony Rizzo all year after he was hurt in Spring Training last year and missed the entire season. Reds and Brewers have youngsters that should make them more competitive but I don't expect them to finish in the top 3.

I may still make a move or two during ST as we are loaded in the bullpen. Sam Freeman, who I like, lost his spot to rookie Dean Kiekhefner last year. Freeman is making over a million dollars a year and that seems excessive to me to be paying a guy who will most likely spend the majority of the year in AAA ball.

We are also loaded in the outfield, but I don't see myself doing anything until later in the season as I want to see who emerges as the backup outfielders during the Spring.

All in all, I'm eagerly awaiting to get my season started. I really think about starting and then carrying over once '18 drops, but I use all 28+ games of ST to get familiar with the new game.

[BigOscar]

Going to go Rays again, should be a bit of a rebuild on the cards. I'll probably struggle through the first year making as few moves as possible, but if I let all the free agents go at the end then realistically I'll only have Colome, Archer and Kiermaier left getting anything above minimum (Duffy and Cron as well but they'll be on very little in arbitration).

From there it really depends on how the prospects have developed as to whether I trade away Archer and KK, Colome will almost certainly go. Should be fun, lots of flexibility and a decent amount of exciting prospects

[Rob_NYY]

I got all excited thinking this thread was about the Franchise blog!!

I'll, as always, wait until OSFM drops to start my Franchise. Once it does, I'll pick the Yanks as always. Honestly, I don't have many moves to make. Hopefully, Sabathia's health holds up and he can be effective and Jordan Montgomery can continue to develop. If not, I'll give guys like Chance Adams and Justus Sheffield a shot before exploring trade options.

[forme95]

I was planning on carrying over my 17 franchise till I had a converting to PS4 Pro mishap. So I will be starting fresh in 18 with a MoM and a play franchise. More then likely it will be with the Indians, but I may make one of them with the Braves or another need to rebuild team.


Until the rosters come out though, I will work on sliders for playing, RTTS, and Manage Mode.