World Series Baseball 2K3 - Strategy Guide (Page 01)
Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for World Series Baseball 2K3 - Strategy Guide (Page 01).
F A Q / W A L K T H R O U G H
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VERSION 0.50
Table of Contents:
Using Ctrl F makes finding things much easier!
1. Legal Information
2. Introduction
A. About
B. Version History
3. Game Modes
4. Teams
A. American League
a. Angels
b. Athletics
c. Mariners
d. Rangers
e. White Sox
f. Indians
g. Tigers
h. Royals
i. Twins
j. Orioles
k. Red Sox
l. Yankees
m. Devil Rays
n. Blue Jays
B. National League
a. D-Backs
b. Rockies
c. Dodgers
d. Padres
e. Giants
f. Cubs
g. Reds
h. Astros
i. Brewers
j. Pirates
k. Cardinals
l. Braves
m. Marlins
n. Expos
o. Mets
p. Phillies
5. Strategies
A. Hitting
B. Pitching
C. Stealing
D. Managing
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1. Legal Information
This FAQ may not be freely distributed among WebPages or any other
public content without authorization from myself. My e-mail is done so
you can no longer contact me until it is up again. This FAQ can be seen
on GameFAQS Neoseeker.com, or Cheat Code Central, if you see this FAQ
any where else besides these sites please contact me. You may not steal
information from this FAQ or use any part of it without first
contacting me and giving credit to myself, Dan Murphy.
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2. Introduction
A. Hello, this is the first FAQ I have written. Feel free to ask any
questions or request any changes by emailing me, but I am sorry to say
my e-mail is done and you can no longer reach me at danmurph321@aol.com
I will get AOL back soon and I will keep you posted. This FAQ gives
detailed information on World Series Baseball 2K3 for the PlayStation
2. I have not played the X Box version but I hear they are similar so
this FAQ could help out X Box users too.
B. Version 0.25 5/1/03
Version 0.50 6/7/03
Version 0.60 7/13/03
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3. Game Modes
While this is pretty self-explanatory the game modes are: Franchise,
Season, Playoffs, Big League Challenge, Exhibition, and Quick Game
(seen on main menu)
The main difference between the Quick Game and Exhibition is that Quick
Game always starts with the teams as Giants Away and Angels Home while
Exhibition picks random teams.
When choosing to play either a season or franchise, I highly recommend
choosing franchise even if you plan on only playing one season because
there is much more extra management in the franchise mode plus you may
decide to simulate other seasons.
The Big League Challenge is a simple homerun contest but not a homerun
derby. ESPN broadcasts the Big League Challenge in real life so its
sponsored game also uses this event. Make sure you change the settings
to what you are comfortable with but I suggest not using timed or
standard hitting, use power pro hitting. (This gives the game a more
challenging and appealing feal) You can also use the big league
challenge as a sort of batting practice. This is good for beginning
players who need to improve in swinging at strikes and taking balls.
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4. Teams
Picking the right team can always be a difficult choice especially when
you are going to use them in a franchise mode. Before you get into any
kind of season modes play a lot of regular games to get your difficulty
settings right so you know how good you are on what settings. For
example if you are playing on Rookie and pick the Yankees you will have
too easy of a time but if you pick the Devil Rays and play on Legend it
will be next to impossible. When picking your team for a franchise or
season keep in mind changes will be made and sometimes a team can be
turned around or a good team can start to lose.
IMPORTANT Advice is for franchise play and therefore ratings from
franchise mode were taken, ratings are subject to change all ratings
are taken before any games are played and letting the computer
automatically draft coaches, the ratings can be one or more points off.
A. American League
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a. Angels
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 87
Pitching: 90
Hitting: 85
Minors: 76
Average: 95
Power: 77
Speed: 83
Defense: 87
Advice:
Bring up S. Wooten from the minors and send down S. Schoeneweis.
Schoeneweis is too bad of a player to use as your long reliever
compared to the rest of the bullpen. Bringing Wooten up gives a better
back up defensive first baseman then B. Fullmer. Wooten also has a 72
average rating making him an excellent contact hitter. Use him as a
pinch hitter when you need a hit. For trying to pinch-hit for a
homerun I suggest using J. DaVanon who has a 52 Homerun rating against
left handed pitchers and a 62 against right handed pitchers. Although
sending down Schoeneweis makes you lose your long reliever your
starters will give six to seven innings almost everytime and all of
your other relievers are good enough to finish off the game, try to
change your setup man everyday. For example use F. Rodriguez to pitch
the eight one day and use B. Weber to pitch the next. T. Percival is
one of if not the best closer in the game.
Opposing:
When going against the Angels the game will go much better if you score
in the earlier innings. None of the starters are real all stars, their
best is J. Washburn. With his exception, the rest of the pitching
staff throws right handed, play against this with left-handed batters.
The Angels won't score a lot and their bullpen will keep you from
scoring in the late innings.
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b. Athletics
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 86
Pitching: 90
Hitting: 83
Minors: 79
Average: 81
Power: 85
Speed: 78
Defense: 81
Advice:
You can make your bullpen better by sending the 65 rated J. Fikac down
and bringing up J. Silva a 70 rated middle reliever. A. Piatt, a 60
rated left fielder, can be sent down for J. Grabowski, a 68 rated right
fielder. Grabowski is a better defensive player, better contact and
power hitter and has better speed. Catcher M.L. Johnson is no where
near as good a hitter as minor league catcher M. Meluskey but Johnson
is a much better defensive player. Meluskey might not throw anyone out
but he can get on base and knock some balls out to the stands. While
the Athletics might have the best pitching trio (B. Zito, T. Hudson,
and M. Mulder) their fourth and fifth starters suffer severely. T.
Lilly and A. Harang won't last long and your bullpen might need to come
in during the six inning. This presents a problem that your bullpen
will pitch earlier on back to back days, his might seem crazy but is a
great plan, instead of having Zito, Hudson, Mulder as starting pitchers
1, 2, and 3. Put Lilly after Hudson and move Mulder down to the fourth
slot. This helps your bullpen stay rested. You can replace Harang if
you want but T. Lilly should stay, he will rarely give up runs to left-
handed hitters.
Opposing:
One of the hardest teams to go against is the Athletics. It gets even
harder if their starter is Zito, Hudson or Mulder. Their lineup is
tough too but isn't going to rack up the runs as long as your starter
is in the 80 rating range. The best way to score against them is
latter when their bullpen comes in, their closer is good but can be
annihilated by a few left handed hitters.
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c. Mariners
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 84
Pitching: 84
Hitting: 85
Minors: 74
Average: 95
Power: 75
Speed: 81
Defense: 92
Advice:
The Mariners lineup is pretty good and no minors should be brought up.
Pitching is completely different, S. Kent is a 40 rated middle reliever
J. Mateo is a 54 rated long reliever. The Mariners don't have any long
relievers in the minors so you may want to sign a free agent like M.
Rice who is a 75 rated middle reliever but has an amazing 98 stamina.
This pitching staff needs some work and you can decide how much of the
Mariner budget to use on improving it. My main suggestion is when
picking the teams coaches you hire a great pitching coach and a manager
who has no lower then a C+ pitching rating. Another good way to
improve the team is to hire a good pitching scout and focus his points
on finding foreign talent so you can get a good foreign pitcher.
Opposing:
The Mariners are not one of the best teams but can give you some
trouble, their last three starters will not pitch well and their first
two will rarely pitch gems. A good offense will go well against this
team and their bullpen won't be able to stop you until the late innings
when A. Rhodes and K. Sasaki pitch.
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d. Rangers
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 78
Pitching: 68
Hitting: 89
Minors: 83
Average: 87
Power: 93
Speed: 71
Defense: 82
Advice:
The reason why the real Rangers can't win is because of their horrible
pitching. The same goes for the Rangers in WSB 2K3. If you plan on
playing multiple seasons you can invest in good young pitching but if
you want to win this season you have to do some major changes. J.
Zimmerman should be brought up, he's a 88 rated middle reliever. Rusty
Greer is another good player to bring up from the minors. Focus on
trading your better players for good starting pitching. The best free
agent out there is C. Finley an 80 rated starting pitcher. He is 40
years old and not a good investment for next year but will win a few in
the current year. A good trade would be to the Twins who have G.
Thomas a older starting pitcher who would be a good current investment.
Get J. Benoit and D. Davis out of your rotation and replace them with a
couple of 80 rated players like the ones I suggested with your budget
points available. You should have enough money to make your lineup
around C.H. Park, C. Finley, and another 80 rated pitcher. You can
also get a high 70 rated pitcher from the free agency to make your
rotation an average one. If you want to spring for a great pitcher who
is in the upper 80 ratings to a 90 rating then for the rest of your
rotation get low costing players to fill in the low 60 holes.
Opposing:
When going against the Rangers anything can happen. They have one of
the better offenses in the game and can easily tear through your
pitching if you are not careful. Their pitching on the other hand will
do awful, Park can give some trouble on a good day at the mound but
their bullpen is sour. Just use good defense and good pitching to win
against the Rangers.
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e. White Sox
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 83
Pitching: 80
Hitting: 87
Minors: 77
Average: 85
Power: 89
Speed: 69
Defense: 75
Advice:
The White Sox have a variety of problems and not many budget points to
fix them. Your minors won't provide much help and your main focus
should be fixing the biggest problems. The pitching has a solid
bullpen and two great starters but starters 3, 4, and 5 create some
problems. When picking your managers you have two options, one is to
get some great pitching coaches including a scout who can find you
foreign talent when you increase his foreign talent points, another way
to go is to buy low costing coaches and spend your money on buying a
better team. Fix your holes in your starting rotation first because
good pitching always triumphs over hitting. In your lineup you need to
get a great second baseman, a speedy guy with good average can help
leadoff your lineup. A good center fielder will also help you, get one
who has a good average instead of one who has good power. Your lineup
already contains good power hitters but doesn't have a lot of good
contact hitters. The White Sox is a good team to be in a franchise
mode because while they are not that great a team and do not have much
money to get some better players, they still can make it to the
playoffs in the American League Central division.
Opposing:
The White Sox can be a very easy team to beat when B. Colon or M.
Buehrle is not the starting pitcher. Their bullpen is solid but not
impenetrable, a good offense can upset this team easily. When pitching
against them be very careful against the middle power hitting part of
the lineup and don't give them anything to take to the stands.
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f. Indians
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 70
Pitching: 64
Hitting: 77
Minors: 77
Average: 77
Power: 77
Speed: 81
Defense: 77
Advice:
Only a miracle could get this team to the playoffs in the current
season. I suggest if you are in fact playing for one season that you
set the difficulty on a lower level. There is not much advice I can
give to make this team good in its current state, it is a process that
will take many seasons. Don't blow your money on buying good coaches
the only good coaches you should buy are a minors manager and a scout.
Go after young talent and foreign players. You want players with a low
age and a high potential grade. A good free agent to sign is W. Ruan
who at age 23 has B- potential and is rated at 51. F. Beltran is awful
in his current state, a 41 rated long reliever, but given some time in
the minors he will improve. Starting pitcher B. Diggins has good
potential given a few years. Many of the free agent pitchers have good
potential and should be signed for their low cost demands. Sort the
free agents by their age (use the analog stick to go right to select
the age stat and press R3) and press L2 to view their potential if they
are in the B grades sign them.
Opposing:
Your team would have to be very bad and have to be having an off day to
lose to the Indians.
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g. Tigers
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 61
Pitching: 52
Hitting: 71
Minors: 73
Average: 71
Power: 71
Speed: 67
Defense: 82
Advice:
One of the worst teams in the league, the Tigers are not contenders
unless the season is played on a very easy difficulty level which then
makes the game less fun. The team does have solid defense, which will
probably change if you completely change the lineup. Sadly the budget
points are very low depending on how much you spend on your coaches.
The same advice I give to those who are the Indians, invest in young
players with good potential. Go to the free agents and sort the
players by age and then look at their potential. (move to the right
with the analog stick to select the age rating and then press R3 to
sort this category, press L2 on a player to view his potential) Get a
good minor league manager and scout to find young foreign talent. The
team has a few good players in the minors who in a few seasons could
become better with a good coach. My suggestion is to use most of the
money on a good minor league manager then sign young free agents and in
a few seasons the team can become pretty good. Simulate through a
season or two and you eventually will have a good team put together.
Opposing:
Besides B. Higginson there is not much of a hitting threat on the
Tigers, their pitching is some of the worst too.
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h. Royals
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 60
Pitching: 45
Hitting: 75
Minors: 69
Average: 83
Power: 69
Speed: 81
Defense: 82
Advice:
The Royals are not a good team but with the right changes they can be
contenders on a normal difficulty setting. The most important thing to
fix on this team is the pitching staff. The whole staff needs an
overhaul and your minors won't provide the goods. Go after some free
agents for your starting pitchers, I suggest guys like C. Finley, B.J.
Jones, and T. Stottlemyre who won't cost too much. Your rotation won't
be top notch but it will be much better. You also need to redo your
bullpen with your remaining budget points. You can sign a couple of
mid 70 rated relievers to fill in for guys like B. Voyles and S.
Mullen. In order to win games you need to have a good bullpen and all
the best are built around a good closer. The Royals closer J. Grimsley
can not play this important role so you need to gather your remaining
budget points and a few prospects and trade for a closer. The best you
can get will be a low 80 rated one, you will have to trade away a lot
too but you will need it to help your awful bullpen. The problem is
most teams will want an equal player if your offering a positional
player. IMPORTANT you must trade away J. Grimsley because if you don't
offer a closer in the deal they will say no. The deals are all
different too, the Pirates 85 rated closer Mi. Williams can be traded
for J. Grimsley and C. Beltran and 35 Budget Points while closers rated
lower won't be traded for this like the Blue Jays 76 rated closer K.
Escobar.
Opposing:
The lineup can be tough when your pitching is not good but the Royals
pitching is probably worst. A mediocre offense and a above average
pitching staff can beat the Royals. Do your best to wear down the
starting pitcher because the Royals bullpen is below average.
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i. Twins
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 81
Pitching: 82
Hitting: 81
Minors: 70
Average: 89
Power: 73
Speed: 79
Defense: 85
Advice:
The Twins can easily make it to the playoffs even on the All Star
difficulty if you do things right. While they are a good team they
have some budget problems. When picking your managers keep in mind how
many seasons you will be playing, if your playing only one you can buy
one of the worse minor managers and scouts. If you will be playing
multiple seasons then you can invest in these and slowly gain good
young players. The rotation is already good with three pitchers above
80. Your bullpen is also good but only the set up and closer portions.
The middle relievers aren't great but all your starters except for
except for K. Lohse can pitch 6 or 7. J. Santana is a solid long
reliever and you will probably want to put him in after Lohse or when
one of your starters begins to give up too many runs. The lineup is
solid and the bench provides great pinch running, hitting and power.
You won't find many teams more well rounded then the Twins, their
division will allow them to slide right into the playoffs. The only
managing needed would be to upgrade one of your starters if you see
them slumping in the season, pick up a low costing mid 70s rated
starting pitcher from the free agency who can start a few games.
Opposing:
The Twins can be deadly no matter what. Even J. Mays and K. Lohse have
their great games. The best way to beat this team is to score early
before you have to face off against guys like J.C. Romero, L. Hawkins,
and E. Guardado. They don't have much power so this will be a low
scoring game but they will get quite a few hits and have a good bench
to put in any situation. It will take an above average pitching staff
and a good hitting team to beat the Twins.
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j. Orioles
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 72
Pitching: 72
Hitting: 73
Minors: 75
Average: 69
Power: 75
Speed: 72
Defense: 82
Advice:
When you play as the Orioles you don't get much of a chance to be in
the playoffs when playing on a higher difficulty setting. The Yankees
and Red Sox will most likely be in front of you in the standings for
the east division and one of the west division's teams will probably be
the wild card. There isn't much you can do even if you take the time
to gain some solid prospects because you will need an amazing record to
get into the playoffs. The rotation can use some work, S. Erickson
won't produce a winning record with his 57 rating. Most of the other
starters are low 70s and their best, R. Lopez is an 80. The bullpen
could use a better long reliever and another high 70 or low 80 for
another middle reliever. In the Orioles lineup both catchers are not
staring material. A good defensive catcher who can hit homeruns will
definitely help out this club. The minors aren't great now but E.
Bedard a 69 rated starting pitcher could replace S. Erickson to save
money. Bedard and J. Stephens will become better pitchers in a season
or two. Try to trade for the Blue Jays catcher J. Phelps.
Opposing:
This is a pretty average club that doesn't have any strong points.
Their bullpen is about the same as the starters but if you have a
strong offensive club and can score enough runs to take out the starter
in the early innings their 52 rated long reliever won't get the job
done.
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k. Red Sox
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 88
Pitching: 84
Hitting: 93
Minors: 79
Average: 99
Power: 85
Speed: 77
Defense: 91
Advice:
The Red Sox are definitely contenders but the current team is not a
sure thing for the playoffs on a high difficulty. The budget is a bit
tight so in order to get another good starting pitcher you have to give
up a big name player. P. Martinez, 100, and D. Lowe, 96, can get you
20 wins each and J. Burkett, 74, and T. Wakefield, 79, will have
winning records. Bring up starting pitcher S. Woodard from the minors
who is a 71. He will replace C. Fossum for the fifth starting spot.
You can either get a better starter then Woodard or you can upgrade
your bullpen. I suggest making your bullpen better. Getting a great
closer is very difficult with a low budget and you would have to trade
away one of your better players, which could off set everything. You
can still get some good middle relievers and great set up man. Here is
a trade you can do: A. Embree (74), D. Ortiz (77), L. Sutton (59) + 11
Budget Points for Rockies closer J. Jimenez (79). Another good trade
is C. Fox (67) + 43 Budget Points for Pirates set up man M. Karnes
(84). Try some more trades and look at the free agents to try and
upgrade your bullpen.
Opposing:
You do not want to face off against the Red Sox when Martinez or Lowe
is on the mound. Even Burkett and Wakefield will give you a hard time.
Take a lot of pitches and show some discipline. You need to wear down
the starters and get to that weak bullpen. They only have one serious
power threat, M. Ramirez who has an 84 homerun rating. It will take a
good pitcher to and a good contact hitting team to beat the Red Sox, it
will boil down to the final innings.
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l. Yankees
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 99
Pitching: 98
Hitting: 100
Minors: 81
Average: 97
Power: 100
Speed: 83
Defense: 86
Advice:
I really can't say much to make this team much better. Bump the
difficulty up to All Star or Legend when you are the Yankees because
the other teams aren't going to give you much of a challenge. The
Yankees do have a good budget and make a good profit. Buy the best
coaches you can because you will still have money left over to get a
few upgrades in. The rotation is great already with M. Mussina, A.
Pettitte, R. Clemens, D. Wells, and E. Brady. (This is the fake name
for Jose Contreras) Jeff Weaver can give you a six-man rotation or be a
replacement or fill in once in a while. Minor-leaguer J. Lieber, 77
rating, can also come up and start a few games. It is unlikely you
will need seven starters but Wells does not seem to match his
expectations. You may also choose to have one or two starters become
long relievers to take the place of S. Hitchcock. The real rotation
for the Yankees goes Clemens, Pettitte, Mussina, Wells, and Weaver. In
case you want to follow the true to life rotation; that may go the same
for the lineup which you may not want to change. You do have the
opportunity and the budget points to upgrade on a few players. You can
use your two solid third basemen, R. Ventura and T. Zeile, to get a big
name third baseman. R. Mondesi can also be traded for another right
fielder. There are a lot of extra options to make this team better but
its lineup and pitching staff does not require any major changes.
Opposing:
This is one team you should fear going against no matter who is
pitching and no matter who is pitching for you! They are not
invincible though, hopefully your difficulty level isn't too high. The
throwing hand technique does not work well against the Yankees, three
switch hitters in the lineup, B. Williams, J. Posada, E. Wilson.
Williams is a better hitter when facing right handers so try to put in
a lefty, Posada has better contact when against left handers but better
power against right handers. Even if you try to match up against
Ventura, Zeile can come in and offset that. To beat this team you need
your best pitcher on the mound to hold the amount of runs they score as
low as you can. Their starters are better then their relievers but
their relievers are still good. Even if you tire out the starter you
will have to face off against guys like, C. Hammond an 80 and S. Karsay
a 77. Once M. Rivera comes in you won't have much of an opportunity to
gain runs.
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m. Devil Rays
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 57
Pitching: 44
Hitting: 71
Minors: 79
Average: 71
Power: 71
Speed: 72
Defense: 75
Advice:
There is not much room in the east division for this team. You will
need to be on a very easy difficulty level to get to the playoffs. It
will take a few seasons for this team to put together a good rotation,
solid bullpen, and a get a couple good hitters. In the minors, J.
Tyner has the potential to become even better than his 75 rating.
Starting pitcher D. Reichert is also going to improve his 70 rating.
Invest in some young starters and try to get some foreign talent. In a
couple of seasons this team could be better. It is also not a very
expensive team and if enough money is made a couple big name players
could be bought. In order to win games in the current year, get rid of
the 50 rated starters and sign free agents to take over, also bring up
Reichert from the minors. Sign J. Rocker as your closer and try to
pick up a couple 70 middle relievers. A good third baseman could get
this team rolling.
Opposing:
Not much of a threat, the Devil Rays still can beat you when their
starter has a good game and yours doesn't. Their bullpen is awful, if
you can't score any runs against their starter take a lot of pitches
and try to wear him down. Once the bullpen comes in its almost like
batting practice. Be careful when pitching to A. Huff, put in a left
handed pitcher and he will go down easy.
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n. Blue Jays
Scouting Report: (Ratings are from Franchise mode with automatically
selected coaches, depending on who your coach is ratings can change by
one or more points)
Overall: 74
Pitching: 66
Hitting: 83
Minors: 80
Average: 87
Power: 77
Speed: 68
Defense: 73
Advice:
It is possible for this team to make it to the playoffs with a few good
changes. Bring up starting pitcher J. Kershner to replace J. Miller.
Also bring up J. Towers to replace P. Walker but send T. Sturtze down
to the minors and make P. Walker your new long reliever. You have a
couple of good options here with your low budget points, sign free
agent C. Finley to replace J. Towers or sign B.J. Jones or both to fix
those two 60 ratings in your rotation. Instead you could use the money
to get a good middle infielder or a strong power hitter. Also pick up
a good 80 or higher rated reliever to strengthen the bullpen.
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