Power Pros Forum

Rules for an all success mode team
Introduction
The old saying goes that “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and the creation of this guide certainly falls under the old adage. I’ve tried it many times, just as I’m sure most of us have, to make a team comprised of nothing but Success players. And every time I’ve tried, no matter what guidelines I set for myself, I always manage to overpower my team. And I always knew my team was going to be way to good long before completing my final roster. If this sounds familiar to you, I’m glad I’m not alone.
My main motivation for creating Success teams was always because expansion teams were way underpowered and it was extremely difficult to even be competitive, unless you signed every available free agent. You can’t, realistically or in video game land, get by with a roster full of pitchers that can only go four innings and players who can’t get under a popup with a five second hang time. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Success teams always gave me an unfair advantage of creating all-stars at virtually every position and pounding the competition into submission.
So how do I solve this quandary of creating a team that falls somewhere between the ’98 Yankees and an expansion team full of greybars? What I did was stage a mock Dream Draft. No Success players, just default players from the game. I gave myself a few guidelines to follow while drafting and then went ahead and selected my team. Once I was done selecting that team, I compared that team to an expansion team and downgraded abilities to try and average out the two teams.
Eventually I was able to breakdown the two teams and put together a roster that would certainly be considered competitive, but not overpowered. I also tried to close as many holes as I could to prevent one from walking in the back door and creating an overpowered player. I’ve also setup a risk/reward type system that could allow one to create a super-star or two if they choose. However, there are built in consequences for trying to power a player more than what was originally designed for in the manual.
If you’re like me and have a hard time sticking to a plan when creating a success team, I hope this helps!

Roster Setup
When creating starting pitchers in Success Mode, I believe it’s safe to assume that everyone will upgrade for the “Recovery” ability. One of the main reasons for carrying this ability is to eliminate the need to carry a six man starting staff. Making that assumption, when referring to starting pitchers, this guide will be referring to a traditional five man rotation and not a six man rotation. The guide will also refer to “setup men” as your primary seventh and eighth inning relievers. Swingmen will bounce back and forth between starter and reliever roles depending on what abilities are being assigned while middle relievers, specialists and closers will retain traditional roles.
I will also assume that most people will setup their rosters with twelve pitchers and thirteen position players. If the opposite is true, this guide makes no concessions for a thirteenth pitcher or a six man bench. If those conditions do exist, abilities will be assigned to those players based on low-end graybars.

Pitchers
Fastball: You may assign any velocity fastball to any pitcher you like. However, there is a limit to how hard your staff can throw as a whole unit. As a staff, starters and relievers combined, the average fastball velocity of your pitchers may not exceed 94MPH.
Stamina:
Starters/ Swingmen- Three of your starters will be permitted level A stamina and your remaining two starters and swingman will be permitted level B stamina. Levels are assigned as follows: Starter 1 A170 or worse; Starter 2 A164 or worse; Starter 3 A158 or worse; Starter 4 B140 or worse; Starter 5 B130 or worse; Swingman B115 or worse.
Bullpen- Middle relievers are not permitted stamina levels above C90. Specialists may not exceed E55 and setup men and closers may not exceed D65.
Control: Level A control will not be permitted for any pitcher. However, you may assign one level B control, B165 or worse, to any pitcher of your choice. You don’t have to upgrade to a level B but, if you do choose to upgrade, doing so will incur a penalty.
Starters- Two of your starters will be permitted level C control, two will have level D and one will be assigned level E. Levels are assigned as follows: Starter 1 C145 or worse, Starter 2 C140 or worse, Starter 3 D128 or worse, Starter 4 D124 or worse, Starter 5 E115 or worse. If you decide to assign your level B control to a starter, the following penalty will trigger: You’ll forfeit your C145 to accommodate the level B upgrade and your D128 will also be forfeited and will now be assigned E105 control or worse.
Bullpen/ Swingman- Three of your relievers will be permitted level C control, two will have level D and one will be assigned level E. Levels are assigned as follows: Reliever 1 C145 or worse; Relieves 2&3 C140 or worse; Reliever 4 D128 or worse; Relievers 5&6 D124 or worse; Reliever 7 E115 or worse. If you decide to assign your level B control to a reliever, the following penalty will trigger: You’ll forfeit your C145 to accommodate the level B upgrade and a second C control will also be forfeited and will now be assigned E105 control or worse.
Breaking Balls: All breaking pitches will require one point to upgrade a level. However, Two-Seam fastballs will require 1.5 points to upgrade one level. Upgrading any pitch to a level 5 or higher, level 3 for a 2SF, will incur a penalty.
Starters- Starters 1-4 must carry three different breaking pitches. Starters 1&2 will have 11 points to divide between those three pitches (EX: CB4/SLD/4/CHG3) and starters 3&4 will have 9 (Ex: CB4/SLD3/CHG2). Starter 5 and swingman must carry two pitches and will have 6 points (Ex: CB3/SLD3). If any pitcher is assigned a level 5 or higher value to a pitch, the following penalties will be triggered for that pitcher. Starter 1 or 2 will have their breaking points reduced from 11 to 8. Starter 3 or 4 will have their breaking points reduced from 9 to 7. Starter 5 and swingman will forfeit their second pitch entirely.
Bullpen: Relievers are not required to carry breaking pitches, but may carry a maximum of two. A third breaking pitch maybe added but will incur a small penalty.
Middle Relief/ Specialist- All middle relieves and specialists are permitted to carry 3 points for their first breaking pitch and 2 points for their second. These points may not be moved around to make one pitch better (Ex: CB3/SLD2). The penalty for adding a third pitch will be to move a point off of your second breaking pitch to accommodate a third (EX: CB3/SLD1/CHG1).
Closer/ Setup- Closers and setup men are permitted to carry 4 points for their first breaking pitch and 2 points for their second. These points may not be moved around to make one pitch better (Ex: CB4/SLD2). The penalty for adding a third pitch will be to move a point off of your second breaking pitch to accommodate a third (EX: CB4/SLD1/CHG1).
Blue Abilities: Since it is already assumed that “Recovery” is assigned to all created starters, you may add one more ability for your starters in addition to “Recovery.” Bullpen and swingmen may only have one total ability upgraded for including “Recovery.” Abilities gained through playing games and random events are OK to keep. However, there is no S/L permitted to gain those abilities.

Position Players (Starters)

Trajectory: Level 4 trajectory is not permitted and a player must have level C or higher power to carry level 3 trajectory. All other players must carry a level 2 or worse.
Connect: No level A connect will be allowed. You will be permitted these levels: C10x2, D9/8x2 and E7/6x2. You may choose to upgrade one connect to a B12. You don’t have to upgrade to a level B but, if you do choose to upgrade, the following penalty will trigger: Your first C10 becomes a B12 and you will forfeit your second C10, along with your only D9, which will now be assigned to F4 and F5.
Power: No level A power will be allowed. You will be permitted the following ranges: Bx2, B155 or less and B145 or less. Cx3, C134 or less, C129 or less and C124 or less. Dx2, D110 or less, and D105 or less. E, E90 or less. In addition, one of either your level B or C players must carry a 2 trajectory. All other players will follow the standard trajectory rule. No swapping or upgrading power levels will be permitted.
Run Speed: No level A run speed will be allowed. You will be permitted these levels: B12, C11/10x2, D8, E7/6 and F5. You may choose to upgrade for one additional B12. You don’t have to assign a second B12 but, if you choose to do so, the following penalty will trigger. Your first C10 will upgrade to the second B12. You will then forfeit your C11 and your D8 which will now be assigned to E6 and F5.
Fielding: No level A fielding will be allowed. You will be permitted: C11/10x2, D9/8x2, and E7/6. No swapping or trading for a higher level is allowed.
Arm Strength: No level A arm strength is allowed. You will be permitted: B12, C11/10x2, D9/8, and E7/6. You may choose to upgrade for one additional B12. You don’t have to assign a second B12 but, if you choose to do so, the following penalty will trigger. Your first C10 will upgrade to your second B12. You will then forfeit your C11 and E7 which will now become an E6 and F5.
Error Resistance: No level B error resistance or higher is allowed. You will be permitted: 10x3, D9x1/8x3, and E7. No swapping or trading for a higher level is allowed.
Blue Abilities: You may upgrade one ability except “Power Hitter” or “Slugger”. Abilities gained through playing games and random events are OK to keep. However, there is no S/L permitted to gain those abilities. A player may also be upgraded to play a second position in addition to upgraded ability. A third position may not be added.

Bench

Designated Hitter: The following abilities and ranges are assigned and may not be changed: Trajectory 2 or worse, Connect D8 or worse, Power D107 or worse. Fielding and running abilities may be assigned as desired using the following: E6x2 and F4x2.
Bench: No bench player is to have a trajectory higher than 2. You will be permitted to assign the following abilities to any player you like: Connect D8, E6x2 and F5. Power D under 105; E under 92 and under 89, F under 80. Run Speed C10, D9/8, E6. Arm Strength C10, D9/8, E6. Fielding D8x2 and E7x2. Error Resistance D8x2 and E7x2.
Blue Abilities: You may upgrade one ability except “Power Hitter” or “Slugger,” for every bench player and your DH. Your DH and one other player may carry an offensive ability, all other bench players must carry a defensive or running ability. Abilities gained through playing games and random events are OK to keep. However, there is no S/L permitted to gain those abilities. A player may also be upgraded to play a second position in addition to upgraded ability. A third position may not be added.