OOTP Developments Forums - Think I Might Have Broken Something

I'm in the 77th year of my fictional league. Here are some facts:

I ran the first 25 years without joining a team. On the 26th year, I took over one of the clubs. It was admittedly one of them with a good financial background and an owner that was generous and not meddlesome (who has recently been placed by one who is penny-pinching and irritatingly stupid). The franchise had built up some cash and I spent it in my first year.

I fired all the minor league coaches and replaced them with retired players who I turned into coaches. The only coaches I hire are ex-players.

I rarely pick up free agents that cost me draft picks.

I rarely sign extensions to players over 32.

I have trading set to average, but I rarely make trades, especially at the MLB level unless there's a mismatch between what my scout thinks and their scout thinks (since that's really the only way to get good trades).

I place a priority on having a great starting pitching staff. I'm playing with 1990 settings for starter/reliever usage.

I max out the scouting and development budgets every year.

I've had the best record in baseball since I started. 52 years, 34 championships, 48 manager of the year awards.

I've made no hacks, cheats, or changes other than sometimes editing players' names and/or nationalities. And making my Scouting Directors women, but that's obviously nothing more than cosmetic.

I always seem to have good players (rated 60+ on the 80 scale) coming up from the minors to replace the guys that are moving on.

I have the lowest setting of Internatonal FAs and sign great ones when I can.

I play in GM mode and let the on-field stuff take care of itself. I do set lineups and rotations and adapt during the year, but I haven't made an in-game decision in decades.

I can only attribute this to the fact that my minor leagues are making my players so much better than everyone else's. I've picked last in the first round in every draft, and have very rarely had dry years. Even if I've figured out the game a bit, I can't believe that I'm THAT good.

Any other ideas on what might have contributed to this ridiculous run of success (which I certainly haven't experienced in non-fictional leagues)?