[NoOne]

*************************************
When to Promote or Demote MiL Players
*************************************

Some notes, skip if you want:

Above all other things, focus on development. If their ratings keep increasing, they are fine regardless of their performance. I'd strongly suggest testing the waters of any promotion. a week or two of futility won't ruin anyone's career.

Stats-only is more reactive in nature, but essentially the same thing. It's just as inaccurate at rookie league due to ever small sample sizes and quickly changing player's ratings, albeit unseen. Stats lag behind ratings improvement of current ratings, or a reduction of current ratings for that matter. Simply relate the best stat to the fundamental ratings of the game. Use rates of those closely-tied stats relative to league baselines to guage promotions/demotions. Pitchers are, as always, much more difficult to guage this way than batters. I'd strongly suggest testing the waters of any promotion. a week or two of futility won't ruin anyone's career.

The ~lower-to-middle of values are listed below, but not necessarily the "optimal" values for each level - knock yourself out tweaking. Demote if they perform uniformly badly... because a monrth or 3 is a very small sample, you must consider a very large range of results to be ~normal.

*"-ish" = around, "+" means at least that value or higher.

*relivers/starters - Elevated stuff, movement or control can allow for a weakness relative to any MiL level.

*this is only for locked prospects from above, which are assumed to be better-than-average talent. Low-end prospect promotions, if not delegated, should be handled differently to maximize MiL wins for your better prospects morale and such.

*Remember that stats in each MiL will not necessarily mirror your MLB. If you don't know what average or baseline is for each league you can't do a meaningful evaluation of their stats. Ratings are more reliable than stats for almost all accuracy settings. If stats-only settings, test the waters, but allowing a sample to grow is necessary. If you demote quickly after a promotion, I'd suggest to stick with it. the rest of that season.

*1-100 scale used, not relative to any league or position. Same ratings no matter what league you view the player. Otherwise, your ratings will float due to current talent levels in the respective MiLs changing from year to year. These settings give greater clarity for promotions. You can workaround that, if you prefer different settings. The smaller the scale, the more leeway you must give on the values below and the more important stats become to verifying that they are not overmatched.

*I may need to edit the ratings, but they are close. The Pitchers will never be 'perfect' because of the complexities compared to batters. The editor values are spot on, though. No matter what stats that MiL league results in, it will translate to your game world. It's a common denominator. A rosetta stone, if you will. This is something I knew by rote at one time, but no more. I am in the process of hammering them out again.

*Age - Let their development and statistical results make the decision for you. If player ratings are sky-rocketing, who cares if they are hitting ".100" or have an 8.00era. If you see poor results and little movement on ratings, a young player may need to be at a lower level than his ratings suggest. Some ~18 y.o. can handle AAA/MLB and some cannot. A great thing when it does happen.

********
Pitchers
********

...are complicalted. If a third pitch hasn't developed by AA/AAA, stats may begin to suffer. Either stick with it unti ~24-26 or convert them to an RP and write that third pitch off as a loss.

Control is more important for starters than relievers when it comes to promotions. The ratings given below are for SP. Expect a bit higher stuff/movement for RP.

*All three of the major pitching ratings need to be considered for pitchers. If control is too low, too many walks are a problem, allow stats to dictate relative to leage baseline. If stuff or movement is too low, they get hammered (again, relative to baselines). You get comfortable with what works for you over time.

***
AAA

Age can be a problem, but let it show in the stats before you make that decision. Better yet, allow development to dictate whether they are too young. If it stagnates, demote them. This goes for any level below and batters too.

Average SP Ratings for promotion
50's / 50's / 40+ -- (stu/mov/con)

***
AA

Average Ratings
45ish / 45ish / 35+

***
A

Average player
35ish / 35-40 / 30ish

*********
Short-A

Average player
25ish / 25ish / 25ish

******
Rookie

The rest, obviously.

***********************
Batters -- WAY simpler!
***********************

AAA
Contact - 45+

Power may blossom at AA/AA, or possibly by age ~26. If not by ~26. it's not likely to happen. Age 28-30 = nearly 100% not happening. It is a component of Contact, so true power hitters can see huge boosts to contact late in the development process -- very possibly after they make the MLB.

***

AA
Contact - 40+

***

A
Contact - 35+

***

Short-A
Conctact - 25-30

***

Rookie - the rest

**********************************
International Complex Ppromotions:
**********************************

*More guess than fact in this section

If rated well, i'd move them as soon as they are 18. If they are low-quality, I move them to fill positions of need starting with the oldest. There is an age 20 cap in the complex. They do improve, in the complex, but it is a lower level than Rookie in this regard and whatever that entails.

Same reasons you promote to any other level should be considered here for your better prosepcts. Age is more of a factor. Six years before MiL free agency, so, if you move at 16 they are reaching FA / option years during peak development years. That's not optimal, but again let ratings dictate. Expect even less accurate ratings in complex compared to Rookie League.

I think this is your MiL Scouting Budget, as of OotP 18. I would expect this to remain the same. Without international leagues, you can zero out that scouting budget and redistribute as you wish - development, payroll, the other 3 scouting budgets, etc.