Franchise logic & feedback on QoL changes
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I've been running a mostly hands-off Franchise save where I only handle scouting and staff hiring/firing, letting the CPU manage the rest. ( really wish there was an option to actually be the SCOUT or Minors manager and work your way up ). The overall CPU logic for roster building and promotions still feels significantly flawed. Specific examples I'm seeing:
- Way too many sub-70 overall players (players with contact in the 50s ) making it to MLB rosters and getting regular playing time across the league.
- Pitchers with low overalls or mismatched attributes routinely cracking major-league rotations and bullpens.
- My own team was in "playoff push" mode, yet the CPU traded away our best middle reliever: a 31-year-old LHP with B potential, sub-1.00 WHIP, and 1.3 ERA. In return, we got a 19-year-old C-potential SP who had a broken arm and was out for 2+ months. He was literally traded with a broken arm. This happened despite the team being in contention.
It seems like the AI heavily overvalues raw youth/potential while under-valuing proven performance, current stats, and immediate team needs. This leads to:
- Diluted talent across the entire league after 1-2 seasons.
- Broken-looking rosters with too many marginal big-leaguers.
- Unrealistic and slower prospect development when minor-league depth gets stretched.
I know the devs talked up smarter GM behaviors and lineup/rotation logic for 26, but in practice (especially with CPU roster control on), the league quickly starts feeling unrealistic.
- Has anyone else run into this heavily in their saves?
- Does it get worse deeper into long-term franchises?
Suggestions for improvement
- Tighter minimum thresholds for MLB call-ups (better "readiness" checks).
- Better balance in trade evaluation so contenders actually buy win-now pieces instead of flipping veterans for injured lottery tickets.
- Optional sliders for promotion tendencies or CPU roster strictness.
I had to drop trade frequency to 3 during the offseason and July and 0 during the rest of the months to stop some of these trades from happening.
I do hope the patch this week, like we were told in another thread, addresses some of the low numbers being put up in sims. Which seems to be actual attributes not being fully recognized for sims. Seeing 90+ contact guys hitting sub 200, 70+ power guys with sub 250 slugging, etc )
Edit:
Another thing, why is a players minor league stats NOT shown on their player card? This seems like a pretty big oversight for franchise
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A quality-of-life feature that I swear used to exist (or at least felt possible) in older versions of the series
- An option in the Tasks / Front Office settings to let the CPU handle only intra-minor league roster moves (promotions/demotions/shuffling between A, AA, and AAA) while keeping full manual control over anything involving the MLB roster / 40-man / call-ups to the big leagues.
Right now, even with everything set to Manual, the CPU still occasionally makes unwanted moves that bleed into MLB (especially during sims, spring training → regular season transitions, or September).
Or if you turn roster-related tasks to Auto, it takes over way too much. It would be awesome to offload the tedious minor-league depth chart management without risking the CPU burning options, calling up the wrong guys, or messing with my 26-man/40-man decisions.
Anyone else or @sds_joek_psn remember this working more cleanly in older titles (like pre-22 era)? Or found a solid workaround this year? Would love to see this added — it feels like a simple toggle that would make Franchise way more enjoyable for people who want to GM the big club but not babysit every level of the farm system every single day.
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Good post. I’m a RTTS player but I’m pretty particular about rosters and how the CPU manages them. I have yet to really dive into any mode fully because I’m waiting for better rosters (will probably wait til the May 8 update before I finalize mine), but I’ve done quite a few sims with different roster adjustments to see what changes.
Playing RTTS you have no control over anything (if a dev is reading this, please allow RTTS players to at least EDIT other players equipment, appearances, and numbers) so I’ve had to manipulate rosters to get the CPU to act like they should.
A couple of things I do:
Trade slider at 0. SDS can say they improve trades all they want, I will believe it when I see it. I have not seen it. I keep at 0 permanently, you can adjust it in July if you really want to.
I go through and edit just about every single player to be better. I boost overalls for guys that are MLB level players and create a bigger gap from MLB quality players and career minor leaguers. Right now my threshold is about 70 overall. If a player is or has played at the MLB level this year, their overall will be at least 69-70 overall with some exceptions.
While editing players, I also boost their potentials. Usually nothing crazy, but sometimes it can be depending on the player. But the goal with this is to keep REAL players relevant longer. I usually go through each teams top 30 prospects and base things off that as a guideline and then for veterans I give them about a 3-5 point boost. The auto-generated players are often very unrealistic (remember I can’t even edit appearances) and their archetypes are often pretty weird too. By boosting overalls and potentials, this is going to limit how many of these freaks of nature make it to the MLB in the near future.
Then, I edit contracts. This one is optional but it does make a big difference. I give contract extensions to TONS of players throughout organizations. I basically want as little player movement as possible. This way, you can kind of predict how rosters will unfold over the years with how you set the teams overalls and potentials. There are exceptions. Players that are “bridge players” or guys that are just intended to only be with a team for a year or two, I’m not going to extend. Or guys that have a clear top prospect behind them that should be ready in the next 2-3 years. This way you still get some player movement and free agency, just a lot less big names. I’m pretending teams are locking them up before hitting FA. Editing contracts also balances team budgets to start the save file. So I feel like there is less pure dominance over the market and in general for big market teams. I feel like this is good for long term saves.
It’s a lot of work, but this is what I do to get the CPU to act right. Basically guide them to do what they need to do by using contracts/overalls/potentials. They still do some dumb stuff but you can only do so much.
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Adding some more thoughts.
A quality-of-life addition that would make a big difference in Franchise (and one that feels like it should already exist) is a proper in-game news and reporting section. Right now the ticker only shows so much and thats during gameplay, and the pre-game reports are pretty limited. It would be awesome to have a dedicated news hub accessible from the main Franchise menu or inside the Trade screen (maybe as an expansion of the existing “rumors” tab). Things like
- Trade rumors and grades/ratings from analysts
- Prospect and draft opinions
- Local beat writers commenting on lineup decisions (“why is X hitting in the 2-hole when his numbers suggest he should be lower in the order?”)
- Rotation and bullpen chatter
- Notes on available free agents that could actually help your team
- General league buzz around call-ups, demotions, and hot/cold streaks
This kind of content used to feel more present in older versions of the series (or at least the potential was there), and bringing it back in a more fleshed-out way would add a ton of immersion and depth without being overwhelming. It would also help make the CPU’s decisions feel less random — you’d actually get some context or “reporting” around why certain moves are happening, instead of just seeing them pop up out of nowhere.
Another big frustration in Franchise trades is how blind we often are when trying to make deals. The lack of a proper trade finder (or even a decent trade assistant) means we’re basically guessing most of the time.
When the CPU is offering or countering, it gives almost zero useful direction. It just lists something generic like “looking for young X position player” or “needs pitching help” at the trade screen.
- No breakdown of what they actually value
- No suggested packages / propsosed players on a counter offer
Just no clear indicators of what would make the deal appealing on their end. This makes every trade feel like trial-and-error, especially when you’re trying to stay somewhat realistic with CPU-controlled teams. You end up over-offering or completely missing what they want, and it kills the flow. A simple trade finder tool — or at least more detailed feedback from the CPU on why a deal is close/far off and what they’re prioritizing — would go a long way toward making trades feel smarter and less random.It would also help the CPU trades look more logical from the outside instead of the weird one-sided deals we sometimes see pop up.
