Normally I had been using 18M in college and 14M in HS as scouting for the draft in all my worlds. The reason for the disparity is a college player makes it to the Show faster than a HS player, not that college players are better mind you. I really haven't had much success in drafting players with this setup and chose instead to move more money to player payroll. Actually, more of a necessity than a choice. Maybe 15/15 or 16/16 is a better choice, I know 18/18 doesn't help much. So, what is the difference with going 14/14? Here is the top players on my board and how I ranked them by OVR and what I did with them.
1. Yamil Castro - Top OVR at 92 by the scouts - drafted 4th - kicked out bio.
2. Nolan Ball - 88 OVR by scouts - drafted 9th - kicked out by bio.
3. Pete Crosby - 88 OVR by scouts - drafted 2nd - I had him 5th.
4. Steve Sullivan - 85 OVR by scouts - drafted 3rd - I had him 6th.
5. Eduardo Soriano - 83 OVR by scouts - drafted 25th - couldn't play SS,dropped down.
6. Tito Parkers - 83 OVR by scouts - drafted 5th - DH, I am in the NL, dropped down.
7. Rich MacFarlane - 83 OVR by scouts - drafted 28th - closer, dropped down.
8. Buddy Campbell - 83 OVR by scouts - drafted 7th - I had him 8th.
9. Onan Tabaka - 83 OVR by scouts - drafted 13th - I had him 7th.
10. Rafael Mendez - 82 OVR by scouts - drafted 32nd - I had him 23rd.
11. Jimmie Cruz - 81 OVR by scouts - drafted 18th - kicked out for health.
12. Ivan Hill- 80 OVR by scouts - drafted 26th - kicked out for health.
13. Orlando Mendoza - 80 OVR by Scouts - drafted 26th - I had him 3rd.
14. Alfredo Strickland - 79 by scouts - drafted 10th - I had him 1st.
Some rules I draft by is that I do not draft a player with health under 65, I tend to stay away from left handed pitchers. I like to draft SS, 2B and CF if they can play the position and hit in the first round, if not I find the best SPs and put them first.
I was drafting 10th so I knew I was going to get a good player and probably a top 5. As I looked over the board, I really liked Crosby, Sullivan and Campbell but knew they were not going to be there with the 10th pick. Soriano couldn't play SS or 3B, the scouts couldn't have been that bad could they? I had no use for Parkers. MacFarlane would make a fine closer, but not what I needed. Tabaka would be good if he had a better glove and was left handed. Mendez was a lefty and a RP so again, not what I needed. Hill was kicked out for having a 62 max health by the scouts, turns out he shows to be a 70 with 16M in adv scouting, but not a SS but would have made a nice 3B. That left a choice between Mendoza, Strickland and a third by the name of Hipolito Camacho.
Strickland had the better overall numbers for a SP by my scouts and became my first pick. The second pick of Russell Black was good at first, but his vsL was off by 30 points believe it or not from what the scouts showed me. The third pick of Teddy Hudson was good until I noticed his health was off by 10 points form the scouts promise. The fourth pick of Alfonso Unamuno looks good in a setup role, even though he is a lefty, because of his vsR. The fifth and sixth pick of Sven Murphy and Stuffy Prince looks pretty good also, although neither will ever be a 2B as scouts reported. The next three picks of defensive PC catchers was a bonus. Topped off with A.J. Mateo, a non hitting SS by the scouts, he does have good contact and can play 2B/3B at least.
All said and done, I think I had a very good draft. Now to wait and see if I accidently get a DITR, especially one of those catchers or Mateo would be nice as I only signed the top 10. The rest will be signed at the end of the season for next year.
