So there's been a movement going on to get rosters updated to today, or an approximation. That's great, but with 7 years between 2008 and now, that's not something I'm going to take on.
Instead, I am working with the default 2008 rosters to try and make the most realistic 2008-era 30 teams that I can. There's a lot of elements to this, but basically, start with the default rosters, and do these 5 things: 1. change the Greats to the real players they should have represented 2. edit players to more closely reflect their abilities from 2008-2015 (and appearance, name, etc). This will get in depth - pitchers that hit well will get their abilities boosted, and hitters than pitched will get top speed and pitches. 3. use the 'edit player' feature to add in ADDITIONAL players born before '88 that have close birthdays to existing guys 4. add in Success Mode players for '86-88 birth years that were ALREADY IN the MLB systems as of opening day 2008 5. If there are too many Success Mode players to add (like for the As or Yanks), delete default roster guys that didn't do much in 2008 or after.
There are already threads around #1, and I think it's done for my file anyway.
#2 is the BIGGIE. This is where I need help. What I am doing now is going through the MLBPP default rosters and jotting down everyone's abilities and specials on an Excel spreadsheet. I will then be comparing that to how they've performed since the start of 2008 to see what should be changed - top speed, pitch types, blues/reds, contact/power/positions/etc.
With 700+ players, there's a TON of data entry, fact checking and editing. I can go to B-R and fangraphs and check pitch types, top speed and all that for 700 guys given weeks, but if everyone here took a team or two (maybe their favorite team?) and helped me out - either with grabbing default ability scores, or with editing your team to reflect reality - that would rock.
#3 I can't really get help with, but I'll keep a log of what abilities I give the edited guys, and what root player I used to do the edits. Each one takes 5-10 minutes, most of it in finding the MLB'er with the closest DOB! If you have done this for guys born before '88, feel free to tell me who you used and what abilities you gave him. Guys like these: Grant Balfour Alfredo Simon Ryan Vogelsong Colby Lewis Mitch Moreland
We have the choice of either editing or adding in the success version, if someone's created one. In most cases I'll go with the Success version out of respect for the effort, but if a guy really needs Vs Lefty 1 to be accurate, then I've gotta edit him in. As some have pointed out, the Success version ends up costing more in payroll, and a lot of times they are overpowered (Vs Lefty 4, Hot hitter, etc).
#4, well, we have the Wiki page I've been maintaining, so with ~200 or so rookies and draftees from pre-2008 available, I can take the most accurate ones and throw 'em on the team they were on in 2008. Already done, really. I'll just be going over everyone a second time, seeing if there are any guys I should add or guys I added that aren't really worthy of roster spots because they didn't play much (Lance Niekro, Mike Constanzo, Cesar Puello, etc).
#5 is pretty easy too, but I'll use my spreadsheet from #2. Guys that are examples of ones that can be wiped from existence are: Bryan Corey (BOS) Craig Hansen (BOS) Great Lopez (BOS) - Jeff Natale Humberto Sanchez (NYY) Chris Britton (NYY) Billy Traber (NYY) Andrew Brackman (NYY) Morgan Ensberg (NYY) etc etc etc
So anyway - that's my goal. Make rosters the best for 2008 that I can, so that I can pick a team and play GM circa 2008 and get realistic results out of MLBPP08. Anyone interested in helping with the spreadsheet, the edits, all that? I'll be happy to share what I've got.
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maccrash21 wrote: a lot of classical music is completely sterile cut-and-pasted Sweet Lines with 0 emotional heft. Expansion Mode Challenge! 2008 Real-Life players from Success Mode - Please assist if you have the time!! Older/dead logs: Let the Fielders pitch! New log MLB Life Mode log - OF Ryan Evert, Athletics Honolulu Heroes Season Log - real-life players join a scrub team! Find out how they do in the AL West!
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