Glossary · FTG Sports: Baseball
Baseball-GM vocabulary used across the app: ratings, roster mechanics, sim internals, offseason terms. One-line definitions.
Every baseball-GM term you'll hit in FTG Sports: Baseball, defined in one line.
OVR
Overall rating on the 20-80 scouting scale. The game calculates it from the player's underlying rates; you cannot edit it directly. Higher = better right now.
POT
Potential. What OVR the player is projected to reach at peak. Prospects with a big OVR/POT gap are the ones worth calling up early or acquiring cheap.
Rate vector
Eight probabilities that sum to 1.0 (K, BB, HBP, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, in-play out). Every player carries a batting vector and a pitching vector; every plate appearance is a draw from them.
Tools
The per-skill breakdown (power, contact, plate discipline, speed, arm, stuff, command, etc.) derived from the underlying rate vectors and physical profile. Useful for shorthand; not a separate source of truth.
Position ratings
How well the player fields each spot on the diamond, on the same 20-80 scale. Derived from tools plus historical playing time.
WAR
Wins Above Replacement. Runs the player is worth on offense plus defense minus what a freely-available replacement would produce, expressed in wins. The standard "how valuable was this season" summary.
wRC+
Weighted Runs Created Plus. Offense-only index scaled so that 100 = league average and 150 = 50% better than average. Park- and era-adjusted.
FIP
Fielding Independent Pitching. What a pitcher's ERA would be if you stripped out the defense behind them, based only on strikeouts, walks, HBPs, and home runs allowed.
Cap room
Money you have left under the salary cap this season. Signing a free agent or extending a player draws it down; trading a contract out clears it.
Fair AAV
The annual average value the sim thinks a contract should cost, based on the player's projected WAR over the deal's length. The extension and free-agency screens show it as a reference.
Extension
A new contract signed while the player is still under an existing deal. Locks them in past their current expiration, often at a discount vs. hitting free agency.
Arbitration
The mechanism that sets salaries for players between years three and six of service time. The number lands somewhere between team-preferred and player-preferred based on the last season's stats.
Free agency
The offseason window where any player without a contract can be signed by any team with cap room. AI GMs bid based on their budgets and roster needs.
Dead money
Cap charges for players no longer helping your club: released players, retained salary in trades, and money still owed to retired veterans. Real teams manage around it; so does the sim.
Depth chart
The order of players at each position when the roster is healthy: starter, backup, then third choice. The lineup and pitching engine both read from it.
Rotation
The four or five starting pitchers who take the mound in order. The engine cycles through them, respects rest, and pulls in a spot starter when needed.
Bullpen
The relief pitchers behind the rotation. The engine weighs score, inning, handedness, and rest, then works through your closer, setup, and middle-relief order.
Lineup philosophy
A preset for how the auto-lineup orders hitters. Traditional favors contact and speed at the top, sabermetric favors OBP and power, and balanced splits the difference. Opt-in; the default is balanced.
Platoon
Playing a left-handed hitter vs. right-handed pitchers and vice versa. The sim uses real handedness splits; a strict platoon override forces the matchup even if it costs you defense.
Splits
Performance broken down by situation, including pitcher handedness, home and road games, day and night games, and each half of the season. Reflect the underlying rate vectors adjusted for context.
26-man active
The number of players eligible to play in a game on any given day. Matches modern MLB roster rules.
30-man minors
The additional roster spots below the active list, holding prospects and depth. Players can be called up or sent down as many times as you want.
IL
Injured List. An injured player is placed here for a set number of days, freeing a 26-man slot for a call-up. They return automatically when the timer expires (or you can activate them early with a positive DTD).
Chemistry
A small clubhouse modifier. Compatible personalities raise it, while conflicts between stars and role players lower it. Small effect per game, compounds over a season.
Advance
Move the sim forward one day. Games play, news posts, injuries triage, transactions settle. The Advance button lives on the league dashboard.
Trade deadline
The mid-season cutoff after which no team-to-team trades can happen. Contenders load up for a playoff run; sellers cash out veterans for prospects.
Hall of Fame
The retired-players honor. Every offseason a ballot goes out; players clearing the vote threshold get enshrined and become permanent parts of your league's history.
Guest mode
A no-signup way to try the game. Spins up a private league in a browser tab, no email required. Convert to a real account any time; the league carries over.