Power Pros Forum

It's been 7 years. Most of us are pros at this game, right? Give you a few stars, or a few seasons with scrubs and training, and you will wipe the floor, winning the WS endlessly. Kinda boring, right?

So here's my idea: those of us who are interested, start an expansion team on all the TOUGHEST settings. I am talking:
fielding MANUAL
baserunning Semi-Auto Manual
Batting NORMAL
pitching EXPERT
pitch speed FAST
AI batting/pitching/fielding/baserunning: All-Star

Now this is the setting I've used for a few recent season games, one being with my all-fielders-turned-pitchers squad...and I got my butt handed to me regularly. So what chance does an expansion team have? So here's the deal:

1) You can start an regular expansion season, configure/claim your team, and then look at the other expansion team and trade for any of their guys you want. Then export this as your arrange team.
2) You can do this up to 3 times, combining the best players from 4 expansion squads the game produces. This is important, because created OFs suck, and getting pitchers with B stamina is rare.
3) You can supplement this player set with two created players, BUT they must be mediocre created players. No As at all, no contact/power above D, etc. Let this help with some multi-positional flexibility and speed, since no default players will have speed over D.
4) No FAs, no trading for players with the AI.
5) Your team is in the AL, let's say AL West?

So then we all compare our records after one season. Even with super training, you can't push these guys too much in just a season...it should be a humbling experience.

Sound doable? Interesting to anyone?

Sure why not I think it's a good challenge

Are you still working this out AOW? Because I'd be really interested in giving in a try. I'd only be simulating, maybe playing during playoffs, but I don't have much time on my hands. But yeah, this is really interesting and I'd live to give it a try.

Holy crap zero your back!

Yeah definitely. I'm doing a massive 2008 roster update to fix all the stupidity in the game, like players not having the right skin tone or being way overpowered when they retire IRL in 09 or '10. But I've got my team all sorted out, and once that is done in 3 weeks or so I will start this out.

In the meantime, if your 2008 rosters are where you want them, feel free to start your own up and everything - pics or descriptions of your roster, projections, whatever. Do your season and have at it!

Yikes! That is a tough task trying to make do with just an expansion team, even combining the best of four rosters. It's the main reason I gave up on my Pelican's log. I got tired of every fly ball falling in, not being able to throw a runner out on a simple ground ball towards the hole at short and, lastly, and most frustrating, having your starters barely average just over 4 IP a start... it's not realistic.
When I started that log I set AI to All-star... I gave up like 10 HR's in one series.
It's an intriguing idea, but I'll have to pass for shame of probably losing 100 games

lol I started this and lost like the first 5 games in a row. BUT, note that the store and practice are allowed. So I am thinking, if I buy all the top items, and train the heck outta my guys, maybe by July we turn it around? Limiting it to just one season kind of caps the ability to buff our guys up, so it's a true test of MLBPP08 skillz.

Did anyone else ever try this? I got stuck with a default team (New Orleans Wildboys, ugh) and the park they stuck me in (Tampa). I am way, way down at the bottom of the standings - as of the end of April I was like 5-20. Can't pitch thru the 5th, can't prevent comebacks at all. And even spending the max on top items, training is taking FOREVER. Ive been alternating out guys in bad form (sending to AAA) just to have the tiniest advantage. I'm doing much better in May, but wow this is bad.

On the plus side I can stretch a lot of OF singles into doubles by taking advantage of poor fielding - the cutoff guy throws to first, and I can turn around and take second on the throw! Odd that I haven't done this before.

I've played with "powerful" AI difficulty (with a created team), and with all the other options you listed. I didn't think it was that hard at all. I won 3 games in a row, with leads under 4 runs. My K/9 was like 1.8 though haha

There you are AOW, we've missed you on the forums.

Created team like success mode players? Cuz man adding on blue abilities and some Cs, or decent stamina...that's a huge advantage. Either way try it on All-Star to see the difference - if I hold onto a lead its a miracle.

What about Dream Draft? Do we go through that or no? I'm assuming not.

Nope, all game generated players. I chose one of the expansion teams. Didn't add any success players

How do you get players from 3 expansions teams onto one team?

No on the dream draft - other teams stay as they are, and your sad team has to compete! lol.

Brewers - what I do is start an expansion Season mode, then trade with the other Expansion team for their best guys. After a month I have all their guys I want (just summing the games, so it takes 10-15 mins max to do this). Then export my team and save it as a custom Arrange Team.

Then repeat the process, using my saved Arrange team in place of say, the Pirates, and trading with both expansion teams for their best guys. Voila, thats like the cream of the crop of 4 teams. But I think I set a limit on 3? Whatever, close enough.

@jag that's impressive sir. Try it with All-Star and see if its the same. The pitch speed really messes with me. I just checked and my team is 9-26 on the season, and again thats with the best guys I could muster from FOUR expansion teams. I have 4 quality starts. Best ERA is a hair under 5. Maybe the AL West hits hard, I dunno, but I get my butt beat like no other MLBPP mode has offered.