Scouting

Scouting 101

PlayersThe difference in money available between the league salary cap and your front office payroll can be allocated to player development/training and to player evaluation/scouting. Scouting is broken out into 2 separate investments: batters and pitchers.

When you invest more in scouting, your view of players’ ratings will be more accurate primarily due to two factors:
1)       Less reliance on imprecise extrapolation
2)       Better discovery and evaluation of mis-scouts and players with rating anomalies

You can always see how much you currently have invested in scouting on your ownteam’s rosterFront Office page.

Scouting Views

Player ratings are alwaysoffered viewedin with3 yourdifferent views, but keep in mind that “Extrapolated View” is the primary/default scouting pointsview applied,and asis longessentially asthe only view you truly need. The following is an explanation of each of the 3 scouting views:

1)       Zero Scouting View: This is exactly what it sounds like. It is a look at each player’s ratings without any professional scouting. What a kid might think when he’s looking through a chain-link fence during spring training. Some player’s ratings are loggedfairly in.true Toto their zero scouting numbers – what you see is what you get. In reality, most players are considerably better or worse than they may appear to the untrained eye. NOTE: Zero Scouting View is a secondary view theand unscoutedis (someoffered times referredprimarily to asallow zeroowners scout)an values for players on your own roster, you must log out. The quickesteasy way to achieveidentify “over-scouts” (players who are actually not as good as they look at zero scouting) and “under-scouts” (players who are better than they look with zero scouting)
2)       Standard Scouting View: This view displays your player’s unadjusted ratings. It’s almost like a preview look at your scouts’ notes that have not yet been translated into numbers management can use for their player evaluation. In other words, IStandard Scouting View is a secondary view and not an especially useful one. It is primarily displayed for manual extrapolation and for veteran owners who remember when this is to utilizewas the private/incognito/etcprimary modeview offor yourscouting.
internet3)       Extrapolated browser.Scouting ToView: doThis this;

• From your Roster page with Show Player's Potential Ratings expanded
• Right click onis the rosterdefault levelview linkfor youall wish to see as unscouted, and openratings in newall private/incognitosituations, mode. This will reopenshowing the rosterfull page desired with your account logged out.
• In this window are now the unscouted ratings for your roster level.
• The page you are logged in will display your roster with ratings having your scouting points applied.

Players on another team's roster are always viewed with 50%effect of your scouting pointsinvestment, appliedextrapolated whileout loggedto in.display Ifthe most accurate view of reality. The more money you haveinvest 8in scouting points, players on another roster are viewed with 4 scouting points. To viewscouting, the unscoutedmore values for players on another roster, you must log out, againaccurate the quickest way is to follow the steps listed above. . To determine how many points of scouting you have, please check the front office allocations page.

Players in free agency or in the draft list are viewed at 0 points of scouting while viewing the list. Viewing the player card for any of these playersratings will showbe. theirHowever, ratings at 50%regardless of your scouting points.

When comparinginvestment, the scoutedExtrapolated Scouting View is the most accurate view of player ratings to the unscouted ratings, you will be ableavailable to determine if a player is over-scouted or under-scouted. An over-scouted player means his unscouted ratings are higher than his scouted ratings. For example:you.

Player A has an unscouted BA rating of 90. With 5 points of scouting you see that same player has a BA rating of 80. That same player, with 7 points of scouting, may show a BA rating of 75. With 3 points of scouting, he may show a rating of 85. In actuality, his scouted BA is probably in the 68-72 range. This process of estimating a player's ratings based on less than full (10/10) scouting points is referred to by the CSFBL Community as extrapolating.

While itthe isExtrapolated possibleScouting toView provides the best estimate of the player’s actual player ratings based on scouted information, itsit is important to note that the progression is not always linear, meaning that in the example above, you can'tcannot be certain that a ratings drop of 10 points based on 5/10 scouting means a ratings drop of 20 points with full scouting. Keep in mindmind, that in addition to over-scouts and under-scouts, there are also mis-scouts,mis-scouts who– player ratings that are a lot harder to identify – if at all. The most accurate way to know your players fully scouted ratings is to fullyapply fundfull funding (10/10) to both hitting and battingpitching scouting points in your front office allocations page.

Full Scouting and Half Scouting

Players on your roster are always viewed with your full scouting points applied. In other words, if you have invested in 10 scouting points, you see players on your own roster at 10 scouting. If you have invested in 6 scouting points, you see players on your own roster at 6 scouting.

Players in your league that are not on your team – other team rosters, free agents, and draftees – are viewed with 50% of your scouting points applied. In other words, if you have invested in 10 scouting points, you see players in the league (excluding those on your own roster) at 5 scouting. If you have invested in 6 scouting points, you see players in the league (excluding those on your own roster) at 3 scouting.

Scouting 102

Extrapolation

Extrapolation is the common term for estimating a playersplayer’s ratingratings by using a fraction of full scouting and the values you see with that scouting and also zero scouting. AThe formula used for extrapolating a rating is Z + ((S-Z)*(10/P)), where Z is the zero scouted rating, S is the scouting rating and P is the points of scouting the team has.has allotted. A pitcher with a 40/70 PO rating with zero scout is displayed as 45/80 on a team with 4 points of scouting: 40 + (45-40)*(10/4)((45-40)*(10/4)) = 52.5; 70 + ((80-70)*(10/4)) = 95. ThisUsing this formula, this pitchers extrapolated rating is 53/95.

The more scouting,scouting points a team has, the more accurate the extrapolation.

Players with Mis-scouted Ratings

A mis-scouted player is one whose extrapolated ratings have a higher actual rating than potential.potential rating. Players cannot truly have higher actual ratings than potentials.potentials, so when it appears like this, the player is a mis-scout. When this happens you can trust the actual rating as correct. The potential rating will be at least as high as the actual rating. In many cases, the potential rating isturns out to be higher than the actual rating. In some cases, other potential ratings that aredon’t notappear to be mis-scouted willmay 'improve'improve with(or adecline) betteronce scout.more money is invested in scouting. FullFully scouted (10/10) players are never mis-scouted.

Scouting in incrementsIncrements of $500,000

Many experienced players have found scouting to be more accurate when funded in even millions.millions ($1M, $2M, etc.). IfFor example, even though you have enough money to fund a $1.5M (3/10) batting scout, these players willwould choose to only fund to $1M.$1M (2/10). To these players, using $500K scouting increments has showbeen shown to produce more mis-scoutmis-scouted extrapolation results than the lower 'round''rounded' scouting funds. The It is important to remember that players who are not on your team are viewed at half scouting. So 3/10 scouting becomes 1.5/10 scouting for players not on your team. Half scouting of an odd number increases the inaccuracy of the extrapolation.

There are two exception to this 'rule''rule'.

1)       $500K (1/10) scouting is $500Kgoing scout,to aprovide $500Kbetter scoutinformation than $0 scouting (since $0 scouting provides no scouted information at all and anything is better than anothing).
2)       $2.5M $0(5/10) scout. scouting works well even though it is an odd number since both full scouting (5/10) and half scouting (2.5/10) are easily divisible into 10 and therefore limit the imprecision of extrapolation.

As with manymost player strategies, thisfinding onethe right scouting levels for your teams each season is best toaccomplished refineby individually refining the settings and through practice, experimentation and observation.