[NoOne]

There is a force SP, but you'd have to be GM of that team or GM-legacy mode on as a coach? etc etc. pretty sure when you switch back it reverts...

you can try editting his contract and add teh SP-promised role... it is not 100% effective fyi, but it may work. this will not revert, but the teams don't have to honor it either.

does "acting as" also change how scouting is seen? if oyu can see through their eyes in this respect, maybe their scout thinks differently about this older player. sometimes aging is not shown the first month or two it occurs, and each scout will be different with timing and accuracy of those changes.

if you look closely enough, there's a reason why the ai did this... it will always do it when enuogh factors add up to cause this funtion of the code to be used/enacted/whatever. once qualifications are met, it occurs. (qualifications can vary by gm etc)

odd things happen. this happens in real life too. as long as frequency isn't out of whack it's fine. if you focus on individual results, you will find numerous things that are not optimal for the individual.

reason why: baseball doesn't run from that perspective... the players are a labor force. the labor doesn't make policy or important decisions. their individual needs and wants are only important relative to the team as a whole. (exceptions? sure, but not common)

it is inevitable that many decisions are made for the greatest benefit of an orgnaiztion that is incredibly detrimental to the player... small and large issues...

think of kris bryant purposefully left in AAA for a few months so they saved more money in future. was that best for bryant? no. in hindsight was he clearly ready for the mlb at that time (was crushing AAA-pitching merciliessly too)? yes. did the cubs care 2 cents about kris bryant beyond what he provides on field when convenient for them? nope.

there's a reason why most ceo-types are high-functioning sociopaths. these are the decisions they make most of the time. what provides most success/$$/pide etc as opposed to every caring about what is 'best'.

in the case of baseball, i actually side with the high-functioning sociopaths/psychopaths. it's not involving greatest utility of anythign important... just entertainment/leisure. i would focus on most wins over time too. (which means i'd do that to kris bryant too, because the rules allow it and provides most success possible for the team, not the player.)

but, in a video game i like careers in addition to team success. they truely great ones i will never sacrifice mlb playing time when they are ready for it... i want them to get to 3000+ hits or 500+hr and they need all the time they can get. unlike real life, i don't have losing seasons, so it's a small cost to pay relative to success. i can afford it wihtout much of a blip. if that weren't true, i'd act as teh RL gms do.