MLB 09 The Show Roster Update 4/13

The latest roster update for MLB 09 The Show came out earlier today. This is a significant one in that the players who appeared in their first MLB game can now have their real names included. Gary Sheffield also makes his way to the Mets roster.

For those of you who can’t connect the PS3 online I have uploaded the file to be grabbed here. Unzip it and then transfer the folder to the saves area in the XMB. There are 183 player movements in this update. The highlights as designated by SCEA are below.

RF Ichiro Suzuki moved from Mariners Position to Mariners Minors.
DH Mike Sweeney moved from Mariners Bench to Mariners Position.
SS Omar Vizquel moved from Rangers Position to Rangers Bench.
LF Luke Scott moved from Orioles Bench to Orioles Position.
SP Jeff Niemann moved from Rays Minors to Rays Starting.
2B Josh Barfield moved from Indians Bench to Indians Minors.
RP Lance Cormier moved from Rays Minors to Rays Relief.
LF Delmon Young moved from Twins Position to Twins Bench.
C Joe Mauer moved from Twins Position to Twins Minors.

MLB 09 The Show Opening Day Roster Update

The Opening Day roster update for MLB 09 The Show came out earlier today. This update includes 210 player movements. For those of you who can’t log into SportsConnect and download the update I have uploaded the file here to be retrieved manually. It needs to be unpacked and then the folder transferred over to the PS3 saves.

It turns out this might not be the update to settle on if you’ve been waiting to start a franchise. Gary Sheffield is listed as a free agent instead of being on the Mets and rookies cannot be added until they’ve played an official game. So next Monday may bring a more significant update. The highlights as listed by SCEA are below.

SP Tim Wakefield moved from Red Sox Relief to Red Sox Starting.
RP Ramon Ramirez moved from Red Sox Minors to Red Sox Relief.
CF Melky Cabrera moved from Yankees Position to Yankees Bench.
SP Dontrelle Willis moved from Tigers Starting to Tigers Minors.
CF Andruw Jones moved from Rangers Position to Rangers Bench.
RP Derrick Turnbow moved from Rangers Relief to Rangers Minors.
C Josh Bard moved from Free Agent to Nationals Minors.
CP Trevor Hoffman moved from Brewers Closer to Brewers Minors.
LF Gary Sheffield moved from Tigers Position to Free Agent.

MLB 09 The Show Roster Update 3/9

This week’s roster update for MLB 09 The Show includes 41 player movements with the highlights listed out below. Last week’s update caught most everything up but this time around it includes Manny Ramirez signing back with the Dodgers and Nomar Garciaparra joining the A’s. For those of you who aren’t connected to PSN you can download the file directly from here.

LF Manny Ramirez moved from Free Agent to Dodgers Position.
DH Nomar Garciaparra moved from Free Agent to A\’s Position.
SP Adam Eaton moved from Phillies Minors to Orioles Starting.
RF Delwyn Young moved from Dodgers Bench to Dodgers Minors.
SS Tony Pena Jr moved from Royals Minors to Royals Bench.
3B Troy Glaus moved from Cardinals Position to Cardinals Minors.
LF Jason Repko moved from Dodgers Bench to Dodgers Minors.
LF Juan Pierre moved from Dodgers Position to Dodgers Bench.
SP Mitchell Boggs moved from Cardinals Relief to Cardinals Minors.

MLB 09 The Show Roster Update 3/4

The first roster update for MLB 09 The Show is now out after a short delay. This update includes 175 player movements and several name additions. Some of the changes are listed below but Ken Griffey Jr is now on the Mariners also. Manny Ramirez did not sign in time to make this update. It’s likely we’ll see the next one, which should be due out on Monday, include him and other more recent moves.

Change Highlights:
C Jason Varitek moved from Free Agent to Red Sox Position.
1B Brad Wilkerson moved from Free Agent 2 to Red Sox Bench.
C Josh Bard moved from Red Sox Position to Red Sox Bench.
CF Mark Kotsay moved from Red Sox Bench to Red Sox Minors.
SP Andy Pettitte moved from Free Agent to Yankees Starting.
1B Nick Swisher moved from Yankees Position to Yankees Bench.
CF Melky Cabrera moved from Yankees Bench to Yankees Position.
3B Morgan Ensberg moved from Free Agent 2 to Rays Minors.
RP Jason Isringhausen moved from Free Agent to Rays Relief.
2B Josh Barfield moved from Indians Minors to Indians Bench.
SP Anthony Reyes moved from Indians Relief to Indians Starting.
C Kenji Johjima moved from Mariners Position to Mariners Bench.
CP Mark Lowe moved from Mariners Relief to Mariners Closer.
SP Oliver Perez moved from Free Agent to Mets Starting.
SP Livan Hernandez moved from Free Agent to Mets Minors.

If you do not have your PS3 connected online I’ve uploaded the file and it can be downloaded directly here and then transferred over.

Madden 09 Final Roster Update Is Out

As posted last week roster update #18 for Madden 09 is the final one of the year. That means injured players come off the IR. But EA has also put a lot of effort into providing an extensive update that better represents the performances of the players this season. Hopefully this is a sign of how the updates will be produced next year as the vast majority of the community (88% according to the poll) wanted to see more of a slant towards current performance than was being offered.

Unfortunately there is no detailed list of the changes that were made this time around. Feel free to post anything you notice in the comments along with your thoughts on how good of an update it turned out to be. A few of the names checked on so far are Joe Flacco going up to an 84, Chad Johnson dropping to 92, Kurt Warner raised to 95, LaDainian Tomlinson down to a 95, and Michael Turner up to 95. Its also nice to see John Carlson get some credit after having such a great year and never receiving a boost as he goes from 79 to now being an 89.

Final Madden Roster Update Coming Next Week

I’ve been sent some information in regards to the next Madden roster update. The hope is to have it out by the end of next week. This will be the final one for 09 and will include the removal of players from the IR. It will not be limited to the teams that were in the playoffs as it will include updates for the entire league.

Apparently this update may be more significant than any we’ve seen all year, with some sweeping changes to more reflect the performances of this season and address players who may have been neglected. That is good news considering the majority of the community felt that the ratings should be based somewhat more on current performance than the way things had been going which was more of a slant towards past performance.

Thoughts on the Madden Roster Updates

Throughout the year there has been much discussion around the weekly Madden roster updates. For the most part everyone has been pleased with the frequency of them and ultimately ratings are going to be overly-scrutinized and will never please everyone. However there has been some aspects that have come into question. Some of my concerns have stemmed from what appears to be heavy leaning towards past performance and not enough towards the present. This has been seen through examples such as LaDainian Tomlinson on one end when compared to rookies on the other. Joe Flacco was the most recent example I pulled for an article the other day and that generated some interesting comments.

With that all in mind I was contacted by Madden 2010 lead producer Phil Frazier for the opportunity to get some questions answered pertaining to the roster updates. After mentioning essentially what I did in the prior paragraph I received a response back which you can find after the break. With the attention roster updates in general have been getting as of late having a discussion in order to completely understand the process as well as improve on it in the future is greatly appreciated.

After reading it feel free to leave any questions or suggestions you might have in the comments and I’ll see about passing those on as well for a follow-up. Also make sure to vote in the poll at the end.

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Madden Roster Update #17 Details

After a couple weeks away for the holidays the Madden roster updates have returned with #17 set to release on Friday. There is still expected to be another update next week following the divisional round of the playoffs. It’s unknown whether there will be one after the Conference Championships before closing out the year with the final update following the Super Bowl.

Some pretty significant changes this time around. LaDainian Tomlinson finally drops from his 99 rating, though it is only to a 97. Still not enough when compared to someone like DeAngelo Williams who did get a nice bump to 89, but there is little justification that can be made for being eight points behind LT. Brett Favre takes a five point hit down to an 89 while Matt Cassel moves up four points to 85.

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Madden 09 Roster Update #16 Details

We have now reached the 16th roster update of the year for Madden 09 which became available earlier today. After much discussion around LaDainian Tomlinson continuing to be rated 99 he still remains that way, though he did drop in some specific ratings categories. I don’t think that is enough, the justification isn’t there for him remaining a 99 overall. Unless the ratings are based more on the past than the present. This is the guy who turned down the Madden cover because it didn’t pay enough money, so I’m not sure why he would be getting such favoritism.

Also of note is a small ratings bump for Matt Cassell. Others such Joe Flacco, DeAngelo Williams, Steve Slaton, and John Carlson didn’t see any improvement. Continue on for all the transactions, ratings up/down, injuries, and contract extensions.
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Madden 09 Roster Update #15 Details

The 15th roster update for Madden 09 is set to come out tomorrow. Somehow, someway, LaDainian Tomlinson remains a 99. That was actually even a topic of discussion on a podcast with the Thompson Brothers and Jonathan Crankshaw who is in charge of the roster updates. You can listen to that podcast here.

What we’ve seen is players that start really high or really low that their performance isn’t being compensated for enough because of that. Updates have inched some of them towards where they should be but not as if they started fresh. Rookies like Steve Slaton and John Carlson or a player like DeAngelo Williams are still too low while others like Tomlinson and Chad Johnson are overrated. Maybe in the future it would be a good idea to step back somewhat at each quarter point of the season and adjust ratings more substantially based on current performance.

Continue on for all the transactions, ratings up/down, and injuries.
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