Draft Guide Part 4: Advanced Analysis 2

[John]

Going Deep: How Fielding, Contracts and Popularity Play In
The Fielding Ratings are the last to take note of on the player page. The draft utility main page displays one position for each player, but examining the Fielding Ratings might change how you view that player. On the one hand you may have a catcher with a so-so positional rating but a lousy arm – you’d have to think twice about actually placing this guy behind the plate (maybe he’d make a good DH). On the other hand, it’s not at all uncommon to find a player who’s anywhere from adequate to excellent at more positions than the one he’s listed as. Guys like this provide extra value because of their versatility. You’ll also note that sometimes a player is listed at one position while having higher positional ratings at others; this is because the game will give preference to the “skill” positions (C, 2B, SS, CF) if the player has at least some rating there.

Pitchers are lumped into one positional rating. They are differentiated by their classifications, however: starter, middle reliever and closer. Unlike fielders, pitchers can be freely moved from between roles with no penalty. The limiting factor in most cases is Endurance: pitchers with Endurance in the 50s or below will usually be classified as relievers by the game. There’s nothing stopping you from using a reliever with a borderline Endurance – say between 41-60 – as a starter. In fact, players like this can be very effective as back-of-the-rotation types. Don’t overlook a pitcher with great ratings yet only average Endurance.

If you’ve looked over everything else and are you still can’t decide between evenly matched players, you might want to examine contract and service time area. PEBA uses core rules that are pretty much identical to MLB. That means that players are eligible for arbitration upon reaching 3 years of major league service time and free agency after 6 years.

Now you’re not going to have to negotiate contracts with players you pick in the Inaugural Draft; the game will automatically create those once the draft is complete. However, it may be worth considering a player’s service time when evaluating him. Let’s say you’ve got two guys who are even in every way, right down to their age (25). Player #1 was called up to the majors on his 20th birthday, though, while Player #2 is just beginning his first full year in the bigs. In this scenario Player #1 will be hitting free agency after this year or the next (assuming he hasn’t signed a contract that buys out some of his free agency years), while Player #2 is 5-6 years away from free agency (and another 2-3 from arbitration). That means Player #2 is going to represent a significantly lower hit to your payroll starting next year (and for a good while thereafter). If everything else is equal, Player #2 may be your better bet.

Last but not least we have Local/National Popularity. Bringing a popular player on board is a double-edged sword. It’s great to have popular players on the team because they generate fan interest. This helps put more butts in the seats and increases the likelihood that, when those butts vacate their seats, they’ll be heading to the team shop to spend their cash. So having popular players can positively affect your bottom line. But it can also cut the other way; release a popular player and you may experience a backlash from your fan base. In general it’s great to have core players with high popularity, though you may want to be careful about taking on fringe players whose inevitable departure will rile up your fans.

That’s the end of my draft guide series. I hope this has been of some help as we all get ready to draft on Saturday. If you have any comments or tips of your own, don’t hesitate to post them!

[Denny]

Doesn't it seem like most of the players in our league have a lot of service time for their age? Or is it just that I've been looking mostly at the better players, who logically would have been brought up pretty early?

Thanks for doing these draft guides, by the way; they've been very informative. I just wish no one in the league other than me had access to them :)

[John]

Doesn't it seem like most of the players in our league have a lot of service time for their age? Or is it just that I've been looking mostly at the better players, who logically would have been brought up pretty early?

Thanks for doing these draft guides, by the way; they've been very informative. I just wish no one in the league other than me had access to them :)

I can't answer definitively but I suspect you've hit the nail on the head: the young players with the highest level of talent (i.e. the ones we're scouting) by and large are ones that got called up early. And while you may draft 'em, you'll sadly reap no benefit from all that service time they've accrued.

You're very welcome for the guides. I'm just glad someone is reading them! The more, the merrier says I. And now that I'm finished writing them I can actually start working on my draft list!