PBL Expectations
May 30, 2018 20:10:56 GMT -5
Derek _ Red Sox, NickP_Marlins GM, and 4 more like this
Post by Commish_Ron on May 30, 2018 20:10:56 GMT -5
I want to thank everyone for taking time to read my musings about league participation and for the responses. Very much appreciated and that conversation can definitely continue. The sense that I am getting is there is a size-able group of engaged competitive GMs that agree with my thoughts that a high retention rate does not necessarily equate to a strong league. PBL has historically taken a hands off approach and let organizations be run pretty much however. I would like to raise that bar and take this league to another level of awesome.
Playoffs are coming up and the role call will be posted soon. I ask people to aware of expectations and carefully consider if they want to be a contributing factor to a strong competitive league. Also, over the next couple of days I will be sending private messages out to all GMs that I have concerns about. Don't stress about where you stand. If you do not hear from me no news is good news. No one will wake up one day to find they have been cut without having advance notice. Anyone that hears from me will be able to engage in a conversation before any action is taken.
Here is a list of red flags that are beginning to catch my eye and I will be paying much closer attention to going forward. None of these are immediate removal type of issues (except possibly tanking). But failure to understand and comply with any item will raise that flag and get you on my watch list.
Low export rates.
Poor management of disabled list.
Unfilled major league rosters.
Poor management of minor leagues.
Low attention to the Forums (i.e. not being up to date with what is going on with the league)
Tanking of any kind.
See below for details on all of these items.
Export rates. An unintended consequence of the Paramount Credits program was providing documentation to both myself and the league showing how poor export rates for some organizations are. I kind of had an idea but had never actually tracked it before. I think anything hovering around or below 50% is hard to justify. I understand some people do not feel the need to export if their team needs no changes each sim. That is a little foreign to me, it is a rare sim indeed that there is nothing in the entire organization that I cannot find to tweak somewhere. However, I can appreciate that. Even so. If you took the time to download the sim and look, it only takes a few seconds to export. Optics matter here. Take the free Paramount Credits. Hit export. If nothing else you can clear out your in game emails to reduce the download file size.
Disabled List. Pretty simple here. If you have a major league player that will be out for two weeks or more, put him on the disabled list. If you have someone healthy on the disabled list, get them off. Leaving injured players on your 25 man roster hurts the competitive balance of the league. Leaving healthy players on the disabled list is a hack around roster size limits and, in my opinion, tends towards cheating.
Unfilled major league rosters. You should have 25 players on your major league rosters at all times with a minimum of 10 pitchers and 12 hitters. Also, the opening day sim is huge. If you miss opening day and I have to make decisions taking your 40 down to 25.... Big red flag.
Minor league management. Quick teaching moment from my personal experience. None of us know exactly how the OOTP engine works and there is much debate around the best way to develop players. I strongly believe that development comes with at bats and innings pitched. Every at bat and inning pitched at every level is an opportunity. Every one taken by Johnny Unknown is a wasted resource. Teams should always strive to have a minimum of 20 players at each level with a good mix of pitchers and hitters. 30 is probably a better number to shoot for but 20 really is absolute minimum. Conversely, having 200 players on a single team does not give anyone a chance. Keep your minors groomed and efficient. An additional bonus to minor league management is identifying those low ratings players that consistently perform well and can fill out some major league rosters spots on the cheap. Those guys can only be identified if they get some playing time. This does not have to be a constant maintenance issue. Personally I do promotions, cuts and set lineups twice a season. Opening day and after the draft.
Low attention to Forums. It was a little disappointing this season how many GMs I had to chase down, remind and follow up with to get everyone on Stats+ for the draft. If some change like this takes you by surprise you probably are not paying enough attention. These changes are published out pretty far in advance and multiple times. Also, I cannot lie here. Optics matter. If you are an active consistent contributor on the boards you are likely to get a little more leeway on some other issues.
Tanking of any kind will not be tolerated. Again, from my personal experience, tanking does not work in the first place. Wins ALWAYS matter. In the end the most important aspect of this game is finances. Revenue fixes everything. A successful GM puts as many butts in the seats as he can. A strategy to intentionally lose more games over the coarse of an entire season puts a franchise back even if it does land them a number 1 draft pick. Franchises are much better off with the fourth or fifth pick and a higher winning percentage. With that said, the issue here is competitive balance. I understand making moves to make the current major league roster is not always wise. I have made many trades with eyes on the future. But moves like playing players out of position, not keeping a full roster at the major league level and leaving better players in the minors despite them being on the 40 man roster. These types of intentional strategies will not be tolerated.
Final word. I cannot express often enough that I realize OOTP is a game. I never want it to be a responsibility for anyone. I would honestly truly like to retain all 32 GMs for decades. However, if this all sounds like too much work for you do not be shy to gracefully step down and allow us to try to fill the league with 32 GMs that truly want to be engaged and want the challenge. Also, life happens, I get it more than any of you probably realize. The key here is communication. I am always happy to give anyone a pass and step in to help out with a franchise wherever needed. Be proactive. Let me know what is going on. If I have to come to you first and ask what is up that means one of those red flags is up.
Playoffs are coming up and the role call will be posted soon. I ask people to aware of expectations and carefully consider if they want to be a contributing factor to a strong competitive league. Also, over the next couple of days I will be sending private messages out to all GMs that I have concerns about. Don't stress about where you stand. If you do not hear from me no news is good news. No one will wake up one day to find they have been cut without having advance notice. Anyone that hears from me will be able to engage in a conversation before any action is taken.
Here is a list of red flags that are beginning to catch my eye and I will be paying much closer attention to going forward. None of these are immediate removal type of issues (except possibly tanking). But failure to understand and comply with any item will raise that flag and get you on my watch list.
Low export rates.
Poor management of disabled list.
Unfilled major league rosters.
Poor management of minor leagues.
Low attention to the Forums (i.e. not being up to date with what is going on with the league)
Tanking of any kind.
See below for details on all of these items.
Export rates. An unintended consequence of the Paramount Credits program was providing documentation to both myself and the league showing how poor export rates for some organizations are. I kind of had an idea but had never actually tracked it before. I think anything hovering around or below 50% is hard to justify. I understand some people do not feel the need to export if their team needs no changes each sim. That is a little foreign to me, it is a rare sim indeed that there is nothing in the entire organization that I cannot find to tweak somewhere. However, I can appreciate that. Even so. If you took the time to download the sim and look, it only takes a few seconds to export. Optics matter here. Take the free Paramount Credits. Hit export. If nothing else you can clear out your in game emails to reduce the download file size.
Disabled List. Pretty simple here. If you have a major league player that will be out for two weeks or more, put him on the disabled list. If you have someone healthy on the disabled list, get them off. Leaving injured players on your 25 man roster hurts the competitive balance of the league. Leaving healthy players on the disabled list is a hack around roster size limits and, in my opinion, tends towards cheating.
Unfilled major league rosters. You should have 25 players on your major league rosters at all times with a minimum of 10 pitchers and 12 hitters. Also, the opening day sim is huge. If you miss opening day and I have to make decisions taking your 40 down to 25.... Big red flag.
Minor league management. Quick teaching moment from my personal experience. None of us know exactly how the OOTP engine works and there is much debate around the best way to develop players. I strongly believe that development comes with at bats and innings pitched. Every at bat and inning pitched at every level is an opportunity. Every one taken by Johnny Unknown is a wasted resource. Teams should always strive to have a minimum of 20 players at each level with a good mix of pitchers and hitters. 30 is probably a better number to shoot for but 20 really is absolute minimum. Conversely, having 200 players on a single team does not give anyone a chance. Keep your minors groomed and efficient. An additional bonus to minor league management is identifying those low ratings players that consistently perform well and can fill out some major league rosters spots on the cheap. Those guys can only be identified if they get some playing time. This does not have to be a constant maintenance issue. Personally I do promotions, cuts and set lineups twice a season. Opening day and after the draft.
Low attention to Forums. It was a little disappointing this season how many GMs I had to chase down, remind and follow up with to get everyone on Stats+ for the draft. If some change like this takes you by surprise you probably are not paying enough attention. These changes are published out pretty far in advance and multiple times. Also, I cannot lie here. Optics matter. If you are an active consistent contributor on the boards you are likely to get a little more leeway on some other issues.
Tanking of any kind will not be tolerated. Again, from my personal experience, tanking does not work in the first place. Wins ALWAYS matter. In the end the most important aspect of this game is finances. Revenue fixes everything. A successful GM puts as many butts in the seats as he can. A strategy to intentionally lose more games over the coarse of an entire season puts a franchise back even if it does land them a number 1 draft pick. Franchises are much better off with the fourth or fifth pick and a higher winning percentage. With that said, the issue here is competitive balance. I understand making moves to make the current major league roster is not always wise. I have made many trades with eyes on the future. But moves like playing players out of position, not keeping a full roster at the major league level and leaving better players in the minors despite them being on the 40 man roster. These types of intentional strategies will not be tolerated.
Final word. I cannot express often enough that I realize OOTP is a game. I never want it to be a responsibility for anyone. I would honestly truly like to retain all 32 GMs for decades. However, if this all sounds like too much work for you do not be shy to gracefully step down and allow us to try to fill the league with 32 GMs that truly want to be engaged and want the challenge. Also, life happens, I get it more than any of you probably realize. The key here is communication. I am always happy to give anyone a pass and step in to help out with a franchise wherever needed. Be proactive. Let me know what is going on. If I have to come to you first and ask what is up that means one of those red flags is up.