MVP Baseball 2005 Owner Mode FAQ

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MVP Baseball 2005 Owner Mode FAQ
Created by: MetsRule
Contact: [email protected]
Updated: 4/03/05
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Choosing/Building Your Team
3. Stadium Upgrades
4. Making Money
5. Random Facts
6. Top 100 Prospects List
7. Players With Potential
8. Media Revenue Contract
9. Trades Section
10. Custom Covers
11. Young, Cheap Team
12. Copyrtight/Credit
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1. Introduction

I created this FAQ to try and help the many peOple that have
been complaining that they are having trouble making money
in owner mode. If you have any qustions or comments about this
FAQ please email me at [email protected]. If you are viewing this
FAQ on GameFAQS I would really appreciate it if you rated my FAQ. You
can do this by clicking on the rate button next to my FAQS name. Then
just say if you found the guide informative or not. It would really
help me know how I'm doing. As of today my FAQ has about 8,000 views
since its been posted and nobody has rated it saying if it was
informative or not.
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2. Choosing/Building Your Team

I always choose my favorite team,the Mets, when I begin Owner Mode.
If you don't have a favorite team I would reccomend using a team that
has a low payroll or a team that fits your playing style.

While building your team you should obviously look for young players
with low salaries. It is good to have a young pitching staff with
long contracts. Pitching is the key to becoming a winning team.
Your lineup should be be filled with atleast 5 young players.
You should keep some veteran players on your team as the leaders.
Make sure you don't overpay the veteran players though because they
usually have a higher asking price.

Here is an outlook of about how much you should spend for each
position and what type of player you should look for.

C: Your catcher should have a good arm because in this years game
there are a lot more stolen bases compared to last years version.
Try for a lot of power here. Don't try to get a top player here. A
prospect usually will do good. If you can't get a prospect just get
a decent player who is consistent. Try to spend about $500K-$1.00
Million for a prospect and about $1 million-$2 million for a veteran.
Only sign the veteran to a one year deal.

1B: For first base you need a power hitter. Make sure he has decent
contact and a good glove. Spend about $4 million here.

2B: A speedy player with very good contact will do good here. You
should spend about $1 million - $2 million here.

SS: Same as second base, a fast player with good contact. You
should spend a little more here then second base though because he
needs a stonger arm because its a loger throw.

3B: For me good third baseman are hard to come by. It would to get
a young guy here and sign him to a longterm deal fast. Spend about
$2 million - $4million here.

LF: For here all you need is a guy who has power. You should
spend about $3 million - $6 million here.

CF: This is one of the important positions one the field. Get a
fast center fielder and it should help your pitching staff out by
having a fast guy to chase down the balls hit out there.
Spend about $4million-$7million here.

RF: This should be a very strong player who is a threat to hit
it out of the park every time he steps up to the plate. You
should spend about $2-$4 million here.

Bench:

Make sure the bench has a few fast guys for pinch running and
contact hitters for pinch hitting. You should have a
backup catch here since catchers tire quickly. Only spend about
500K or less for each player here.

SP: Every team needs an ace. About $8 million should be spent here.
SP: The second pither isn't as important as the first but is still
important. Spend about $4 million on this guy.

SP: A decent pitcher who has potential for big games. Should have
an E.R.A. around 3.50. The 3rd pitcher should average around $2
million.

SP: Pitcher #4 should be a veteran who is ok but has seen his better
days. Spend about $1 million-$2 million.

SP: This should be a young prospect that has potential to be your
#1 in a few years. This players should make $1 million-$2 million.

Bullpen: The bullpen should consist of a closer that WILL hold the
lead no matter what. Have another decent pitcher ready in case
your starter gets hammered. Spend about $3 million for your closer
and about $800K or less for the rest of the bullpen.

You can spend more on a position if you have the chance to land an
all star caliber player.

Total Payroll: Your total payroll should come out to be about
$80 million-$100 million dollars.
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3. Stadium Upgrades

This is all courtesy to Hollywood nWo:

I did this with the high RF wall stadium so things may be slightly
different if you choose another one . Different stadiums seems to
only affect the restaurant placement though .

Scoreboard
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Level 1- $0
default

Level 2- $2.5M
added advertisements and light towers on both sides

Level 3- $5M
replay screen added

Level 4- $10M
2 animation screens added to both sides of scoreboard , now making
it a rectangular shape .

Level 5- $15M
audio speakers connecting the two light towers , enhancing the p.a.
audio

Level 6- $20M
pyro shoots out of sides of scoreboard .

Seating Capacity
---------------------
Level 1- $0 (20,000)
default

Level 2- $4M (25,000)
added seats along the lines to the OF.

Level 3- $10M (33,000)
OF seats added with gap in center .

Level 4- $20M (42,050)
adds 2nd tier all around the stadium and luxury boxes .

Level 5- $30M (52,050)
upper deck put behind home plate .

Level 6- $40M (65,050)
upper deck put around rest of stadium , also a platform behind left
center wall. On the platform is a large bat and ball .

HR Celebrations
--------------------
Level 1- $0 none default

Level 2- $1M
1 big firework's explosion , 2 small ones different
colors .

Level 3- $2M
5-6 firework explosion's , different colors .

Level 4- $3M
8-10 firework explosion's , different colors .

Level 5- $4M
about same display as above except now at the end a bee mascot drives
across the screen in an atv.

Level 6- $5M
like above but slightly smaller firework display , a close up of
the scoreboard, then the bee drives toward the camera .

Lighting Banks
------------------
Level 1- $0 default 1 light

Level 2- $2M
another light is added on top of the default one

Level 3- $3M
two lights added to either side of bottom light , like an upside
down T

Level 4- $4M
two lights added to the top lights like an I

Level 5- $5M
2 more lights added to either side of the middle to make a big square.

Ad's & Logos
----------------
Level 1- $0 default none

Level 2- $1M
ad's near dugout

Level 3- $2M
ad's on OF wall

Level 4- $3M
ad's in bullpen

Level 5- $4M
welcome ad on dugout roof

Level 6- $5M
backstop ad's

Restaurants
----------------
Level 1- $0 default none

Level 2- $1M
concrete platform behind right field wall , 2 small buildings , and
14 picnic tables

Level 3- $2M
4 canopy's added

Level 4- $5M
big diner added some tables lost

Level 5- $7.5M
picnic tables added to roof of diner

Level 6- $10M
a second floor added to diner , making it much bigger and American
flags added to the roof .

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4. Making Money

This seems to be a problem that many people are experiencing. When
you start out in owner mode you should use the large budget. With
that money you shold buy the first seating upgrade. After that you
will have $1 million left. After this buy one consession stand and
one store venue.

First of all I would like to say that it takes time to make money
in owner mode. At the beginning of the season the games have a lower
impact on your team so less fans will come out to see the games. For
the first month or two you should lower ticket prices about $5 from
your normal price. Ypu should also lower your consession prices
about 50 cents - $1. Merchandise prices should be lowered according
to there original price.

Don't try to make a lot of trades in owner mode. There is a good
chance it will have an effect on your player happiness and team
chemistry. You don't need to trade all of your players away to grab
some talent for your team. After the first year you can sign a lot of
great free agents during the off season. If your team has a bad year
the draft is a good way to build too. If you have a late pick in the
draft though you probably wont wind up with much talent. If you have
a high pick the player should be MLB ready within a year or two.

Promotional days should be used only for games that have a low
impact ratings. Try to schedule around 5-10 promotional days a
year. Setting your promotional days is important becuause promotional
day make your fans happy. This is a good way to bring fans into
the seats. If you make the playoffs your team will make much more
money. This is usually were your team will make the big bucks.
Try to play all of your home games in the playoffs. I let the CPU
win a few games just so I could get some extar money. I made about
$10 million during my first year in the playoffs.

You must WIN a lot of games if you want to be a successful owner.
Fans want to see a winning team not a team of losers. After you
win a home game you will reliaze that in your next game you will
probably earn more money.

You also need to spend all of your money at the end of a homestand.
If you don't all of that money you eared will go to waste. You may
not be able to get a big upgrade like this but its good for buying
conceesion stands, store venues and scheduling promotional days.
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5. Random Facts

Here are some things from the message board that I thought might be
helpful.

- When a player retires he will not come back as a coach like in
Madden.

- The purpose of the coaching staff is to help your players progress.

- If one of your top prospects isn't dpong to good you should fire
youR hitting/pitching coach and hire a new one.

- Spring training is after the first season and you can play mini
games there to help progression.

- Barry Bonds isn't in the game because he is not a part of the
MLBPA. His name is John Dowd.

- Arguing a call will never reverse the call. All it does is raise
the attributes of some of your players if you do it at he right
time.

- There will most likely not be an MVP Baseball 2006 because Take
Two bought the rights to the MLBPA. The only way EA can make a
baseball game is if they team up with Sony or Microsoft.

- Don't complain about being in debt in owner mode. You probably
wont have a positive amount of cash untill around the all star break.

- Cooperstown Effect is when you play in the classic stadiums. It
makes the screen a grey like color. It gives you a feel of the old t
ime games.

- Variable stuff is if your pitcher will have his on or off days.
When you have this feature on your pitcher can play really bad even
if they have good stats. I love this because it makes the game more
realistic.

- After you unlock all the upgrades, concession stands and store
venues in Owner Mode you will unlock something called "The Making
of Owner Mode."
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6. Top 100 Prospects List

Angels:
SP B. Bath = Ervin Santana
1B J. Bukvich = Kendry Morales
SS L. Baert = Erick Aybar
C D. Roberts = Jeff Mathis

A's:
CF B. Brinkman = Javi Herrera
C A. McDonald = Daric Barton
RP P. Lidge = Huston Street

Blue Jays:
SP B. Nielson = Francisco Rosario
SP R. Perez = Dustin McGowan

Braves:
CF J. Doonan = Jeff Francouer
3B E. Rodriguez = Andy Marte
C J. Berroa = Brian McCann
SP S. Blancard = Kyle Davies

Brewers:
SP R. Samuels = Mark Rogers
SS S. Gent = J.J. Hardy
1B W. Collier = Prince Fielder

Cardinals:
SP D. Larmour = Anthony Reyes

Cubs:
SP I. Krystal = Angel Guzman
CF D. Doluntap = Felix Pie
1B G. Wegner = Brian Dopirak

Devil Rays:
RF K. Morales = Delmon Young

Diamondbacks:
RF B. Jarvis = Carlos Quentin
LF J. Ennis = Conor Jackson
SS J. Mowatt = Sergio Santos

Dodgers:
SS D. Driediger = Joel Guzman
1B D. Estrella = James Loney
SP K. McCracken = Chad Billingsley
SP J. Choi = Greg Miller

Giants:
SP R. Santiago = Matt Cain

Indians:
RF R. Sullivan = Franklin Gutierrez
1B T. Gray = Michael Aubrey
SP K. Barrera = Fausto Carmona
SP R. Auschrat = Adam Miller

Mariners:
SS M. Smith = Matt Tuiasosopo
CF M. Thomas = Shin-Soo Choo
SP D. Buhler = Felix Hernandez

Marlins:
SP N. Pena = Scott Olsen
SP L. Ordonez = Yorman Bazardo
RF B. Lecroy = Jeremy Hermida

Mets:
CF B. Tyner = Lastings Milledge
SP T. Tucker = Yusmeiro Petit

Nationals:
SP S. Payne = Mike Hinckley
1B Y. Vuu Carinha = Larry Broadway

Orioles:
RF M. Alvarez = Nick Markakis
SP R. Rodriguez = Hayden Penn
SP J. Wilson = Adam Loewen

Padres:
2B G. Devore = Josh Barfield

Phillies:
SP O. Uttuslien = Cole Hamels

Pirates:
SP R. Sanchez = Zach Duke
C J. Cardona = Neil Walker

Rangers:
SS F. Garcia = Joaquin Arias
SP M. Mondesi = Thomas Diamond
SP T. Mulder = John Danks

Red Sox:
SS M. Derksen = Hanley Ramirez
RF G. Lewis = Brandon Moss

Reds:
3B M. James = Edwin Encarnacion
SP R. Perez = Homer Bailey

Rockies:
SS A. Murphy = Chris Nelson
3B R. Klann - Ian Stewart

Royals:
3B B. Pioveson = Mark Teahen

Tigers:
SP J. Snare = Justin Verlander

Twins:
SP T. Coleman = Francisco Liriano
SP R. Sanchez = Kyle Waldrop

White Sox:
CF M. Alicea = Brian Anderson
SP T. Berrie = Brandon McCarthy
RF C. Rae = Ryan Sweeney

Yankees:
SP R. Cho = Phillip Hughes
SS M. Smallenburg = Marcos Vechionacci
3B M. Francis = Eric Duncan

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7. Players With Potential

Here is a list of some young players that progress very well for me.
If there are some players I may have missed please email me with the
email address I posted in my introduction. In the email please post
the player team, league/class, and star potential.

A player with an * next to there name means that it is a player on
the Top 100 Prospect List that needs to have there name changed.
There names are listed just as it they were when the game came out.

Catcher

Quinn Abbot (PHI) AA 5 Star Potential
* Juan Berroa (ATL) AAA 3 Star Potential
Ricky Fuentes (CIN) A 5 Star Potential
Thomas Jackson (OAK) AAA 5 Star Potential
Joe Mauer (MIN) MLB 5 Star Potential
Dioner Navarro (LA) AAA 3 Star Potential

First Base

Andy Bako (ATL) AA 5 Star Potential
Matt Barkett (NYY) A 4 Star Potential
* Wayne Collier (MIL) AAA 5 Star Potential
Jose Perez (CWS) AAA 5 Star Potential
Greg Rushton (SF) A 5 Star Potential
Chris Smallenberg (NYY) AA 5 Star Potential

Second Base

Hideki Inoue (NYM) AA 5 Star Potential
Chris Lopez (MIN) A 5 Star Potential
Rickie Weeks (MIL) MLB 5 Star Potential

Shortstop

Chad Borland (NYM) A 4 Star Potential
* Matt Derksen (BOS) AA 5 Star Potential
Royce Merced (PIT) A 5 Star Potential
Antonio Perez (LA) AAA 3 Star Potential

Third Base

Dallas McPherson (ANA) MLB 4 Star Potential
Joe Rogers (OAK) A 5 Star Potential

Left Field

Craig Simontachi (SD) A 5 Star Potential

Center Field

Seth Anderson (CLE) AA 5 Star Potential
Ramon Baez (STL) AA 5 Star Potential
Joey Gathright (TB) AAA 4 Star Potential
Eric Jacinto (TEX) A 5 Star Potential
Grady Sizemore (CLE) AAA 4 Star Potential
Rich Thompson (PIT) AAA 3 Star Potential
Matt Williamson (ARI) A 5 Star Potential

Right Field

Brad Barnes (DET) AA 5 Star Potential
Ace Connolly (CLE) AAA 5 Star Potential
Wes Krukow (SF) A 5 Star Potential

Starting Pitchers

Miguel Asencio (SD) AAA 1 Star Potential (Plays better though)
* Randy Auschrat (CLE) AA 4 Star Potential
Edwin Jackson (LA) AAA 4 Star Potential
Lee Jones (BOS) AA 5 Star Potential
Scott Kazmir (TB) MLB 5 Star Potential
Jake Peavy (SD) MLB 5 Star Potential
Jose Penny (CWS) A 5 Star Potential
Michael-Sea Morgan (COL) A 5 Star Potential
Chin-Hui Tsao (COL) AAA 3 Star Potential

Relief Pitchers

Luke Hudson (CIN) MLB 2 Star Potential
Merkin Valdez (SF) AAA 4 Star Potential
Ryan Wagner (CIN) AAA 4 Star Potential
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8. Media Revenue Contract

The media revenue contract in owner mode is a great source of
earning money. The higher your payroll is the more money you will
earn from your media revenue contract. Your media revenue contract
will also increase when you start winning a lot of games and when
you are selling out games. If might also increase if your fan
happiness is high but I'm not 100% sure on that. If you have a
high payroll though you will have to pay more expenses daily for
your player slaries. So the media revenue contract basically
evens everything out.
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9. Trades Section

Here is a list of some great trades that you are able to pull off
in the game and rip off the CPU. Some of these trades were sent to
me by other people so I'm not 100% sure if some of them will work.

NYM Trade SP Jae Seo and CF Ron Calloway to TB for SP Scott Kazmir.

This is a great trade for the Mets. With this trade the Mets get
back there former coveted prospect and they are able to get rid of
Jae Seo since the Mets have no need for him. Ron Calloway was just
thrown in the trade because he is 28 and the Mets have Beltran so
he has no future with the team. Calloway is just thrown in to get
the Devil Rays to accept.

TB Trade C Toby Hall to LA for C Dioner Nivarro.

Great trade here for the Devil Rays because they get a future
all star. Nivarro is much better then Hall and has a lot more
potential.

CLE Trade Juan Gonzalez to CIN for Willy Mo Pena and Ryan Wagner

This is an amazing trade for the Indians. They are able to dump an
old player who is on the the decline for two young players who are
going to become very good. Willy Mo Pena becomes an all star
within a year. He is fast and has decent contact and power ratings.
Ryan Wagner is a great relief pitcher with four star potential. He
is a great addition to any bullpen.

WAS Trade 3B Vinny Castillo and SS Henry Mateo to Tex for 3B Hank
Blaylock

This is a good trade for the Nationals because they are able to get
younger at the third base position. Hank Blaylock is a great
player to build your team around with Jose Vidro.

ATL trade CF Andrew Jones to NYM for CF Carlos Beltran

This is a good trade for Atlanta because Carlos Beltran is a much
better player then Andrew Jones. I'm pretty sure Beltran is a
year younger so that also favors the Braves.
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10. Custom Covers

Some people are not satisfied having Manny Ramirez on the cover of
MVP Baseball 2005 so they decide to make there own cover. To
create a cover for MVP 2005 you need to have a program called
Photoshop or Microsoft Picture It!. There may be other programs
you can use but these are the only two I know of now.

If you are tired of seeing Manny on the cover you can email me
and I will create a cover for you of any player you want. I
just started creating these though so they may not look perfect.
In the email specify which player you want and for what game
system. If you don't I will just delete your email.

If you would like to create your own custom covers here is how you
can do it. First open up Photoshop or Microsoft Picture It!.
I have Microsoft Picture It! so the instructions I give you may be a
little different if you are using Photoshop. First you need to copy
and paste the blank MVP Template. Resize this image so that it is
5.693" wide and 7.12" tall. If you don't do this the cover will not
fit onto the box. Then find a picture on Google or Yahoo and copy
and paste that onto the template. You can also add in a background
if you want before the picture. Then layer the pictures so the MVP
logo is in front of the player. Some people have trouble with this
so I will post the MVP logo at the bottom of the section.

Here are the templates that I use to create my covers.

PS2 Template
http://img237.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img237&image=mvp05templateps27
hx.jpg

XBox Template
http://img201.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img201&image=mvp05templatexbox9
tv.jpg

Gamecube Template
N/A

PC Template
N/A

MVP Logo
http://img66.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img66&image=mvp05logo7uf.jpg
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10. Covers Made

You can find all the covers I have made at: http://www.geocities.com/
metsrule_101/
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11. Cheap, Young Team

The following recommended players can be bought for very low salaries.
In owner mode, a team like this has a good chance at winning a title.
They are cheap and better yet they are young.

1B: Texeira (TEX) 1 yr - 300k
Morneau (MIN) 1 yr - 300k
2B: Rivas (MIN) 1 yr - 1.50m
3B: Wright (NYM) 1 yr - 500k
Blalock (TEX) 4 yr - 3.00m
SS: Young (TEX) 1 yr - 500k
Uribe (CHW) 1 yr - 300k
LF: Mench (TEX) 1 yr - 300k
Bay (PIT) 1 yr - 300k
CF: Baldelli (TB) 1 yr - 300k
Nix (TEX) 1 yr - 300k
RF: Rios (TOR) 1 yr - 300 k
SP: Prior (CHC) 1 yr - 300k
Webb (ARI) 1 yr - 300k
Greinke (KC) 1 yr - 300k
Harden (OAK) 1 yr - 300k
Bonderman (DET) 1 yr - 300k
RP: Nathan (MIN) 1 yr - 300k
Rincon (MIN) 1 yr - 300k
Ayala (WAS) 1 yr - 300k
Bauer (BAL) 1 yr - 300k
C: Martinez (CLE) 1 yr - 300k
Mauer (MIN) 3 yr - 1.30m
______________________________________________
Total: 23 Players 45,899,996

With the 2 extra players left you should get 2 big name players who
will help your franchise get more fan support. I added Pujols and
Ordonez to my team bringing the total to 69 million. You might want to
go after bullpen help however. All players with exception to Rivas and
Blaylock will be very unhappy and you will notice your team chemistry
meter will be very low. You can choose to re-sign some of these
players to help bring up your bar or you can just turn off chemistry
effect.

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12. Copryright/Credit

Credit to:

Hollywood nWo for the stadium upgrade list.
Jeff "CJayC"Veasey for creating GameFAQS.

Copyright 2005 Thomas Barnett

Note: This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except
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otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.
Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public
display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. The
only websites with my permission to use this FAQ are GameFAQS.com
and IGN.com.