Newbie needs some help
 

Hi all. I'm completely new to OOTP, but not completely new to baseball simulation.

The amount of options that OOTP 14 presents can be a bit overwhelming at first, so I'm hoping to get some help with setting up a historical league.

I'm looking to just start a major league season starting in 1985.

I started one league with ghost players turned on for minors, and it seemed that the entire minor league rosters were filled with them. I started a second league with that option turned off and the minor league rosters were completely empty.

My major question is, is there any way to start a historical league that has accurate major league and minor league rosters filled out?


---- some other questions
Is it best to use the neutralized/normalized stats or the regular stats for this kind of league?

I plan on using the game engine to decide how to adjust rather than recalc (for example, I'd like to see things like how long Don Mattingly's prime would have lasted without the back injury, etc.).

Is there a specific season where L/R splits are present in the database, or is it recommended to generate random L/R splits no matter what historical year is being used?

Thanks for your help.

Unless you use fictional players to fill them out, the minor leagues will be largely empty because the historical database does not include players that did not play in MLB during the season in question. I think that's the source of you're problem: you were thinking that all minor league players are also included in the game. That isn't the case.

If you use ghost players, they will fill out the minors so that games can be simmed even though there are only a few real life players that are assigned to the minors.

If you use fictional players in the minors but use the option to block them from reaching the majors, that's another option.

Of course, using the reserve list as opposed to minors is also another way to play. I often use the reserve list because I use recalc only, I don't use player development, and I don't really care about what happens at the minor league level.

You might see this. He might also fizzle into a one star scrub a few years after import.

Yes, that's correct - I didn't realize that was the case. I thought the Lahman database included major league and minor league stats.

So, let's say in-game I simulate from 85 and the 86 season is set to begin...where do the Rookie MLB players for the 86 season come from? For example, Wally Joyner, Bobby Bonilla, Bobby Thigpen, etc. Do they just "appear" on a team's roster at the start of the 86 season?

1st day of the offseason 1985 if you have them going to their proper teams or as FA otherwise they will appear in the 1985 Ammy draft. i suggest adding minor league teams slowly as you advance. Year 1 use Reserve rosters, Year 2 add AAA. Year 4 or 5 Add AA. Year 8 add A (just one not both high and low) Year 10 you can add the rest. You can add more quicker if you use ghost players but not all levels will sign enough FA. AAA may be full and so will A but AA may only have 5-10 players.

One thing to remember. The game imports every player that ever made it to the major leagues including a lot of fringe players who saw limited action for a season or two. These guys won't retire in your OOTP league and will hang around forever. I go through my league every couple of seasons and manually retire these guys.

Thanks for the information - definitely helpful.

Another thing to keep in mind is that players are imported for their MLB rookie seasons. So typically they're well developed. That's why I've never seen much point in having the minor leagues or having anything beyond the AAA level for minors. Players are not going to be imported based on their level of talent at age 18 when they became professionals and entered the minors.

However, there is a modified database from Gambo and Spritze that can import the players when they made their professional debuts. So they will be created when they debuted in the minors. Their ratings will be based on neutralized minor league stats, reflecting the difference in level where they accrued their stats. I'm not a big fan of this as an alternative, though, because sometimes some good AAA players will get into the majors sooner than real life and can skew results because their ratings are better than they would be if they were based only on their MLB stats once they debuted in the majors.

A lot of players were dominant in the minors but were really poor in the majors. But neutralizing their minors stats is not enough because their ratings are still quite good. But some people like their historical games to take on a life of their own, so there are plenty of users that like the modified database and use it regularly.