[Biggio509]

I am seeing a lot of post asking about feeder leagues. I would like to request the board mods to sticky this or some other posts about feeders. Here are the basics.

1. Before deciding on number of feeders you need to decide how many draft rounds to use. The rule of thumb is you need 5 new players for each level of minors to replace guys who you want to cut are on long term injuries, retire, etc.

Formula for suggested draft rounds.
Rounds = 5 * levels of minors

In a standard MLB setup you have AAA, AA, two A teams, Short A, 2 rookie levels. That is 7 levels so you need 35 rounds.

2. Number of feeder teams needed = (number of teams in league * number of draft rounds)/6

Each team feeder team produces 6 to 9 players for the draft. So dividing the number of players needed for the draft and dividing by 6 gives you the minimum number of feeders you need.

**** important note *****
I forgot this in the original post. When adding feeders the game will change your number of draft rounds and players generated for X rounds to 81. You have to go back and change these settings. If you leave generate players for X rounds at 81, the game will generate players to fill a 81 round draft! Most set this number = to draft rounds. Some people generate players for 5 more rounds so there will be rookie free agents. If generate players for X > draft rounds use your generate players for X rounds in the formula above.
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Also if you use default settings the majority of players entering the draft from high school will usually be 19 and the majority of players coming from college will usually be 22. If you want to change this you can change league rules. You can set minimum and maximum ages lower. NB: The age limits on league rules is different from the age range under league options. The later sets at what age players will be created. If you want maximum time in feeders for all players after the league is created set created minimum and maximum age to the lowest age allowed in your league.

An example from my high school leagues.
Rules
Age max 17
Age min 14
Players will mostly be 18 when they enter the draft.

Options
created age min 14
created age max 14

All new players enter as freshman and will play until they reach 18. By default new players can enter at any age that is allowable in your league so some guys get 4 years playing time some get 1. My preference is all get 4 years but it is realistic some guys just do not take up HS baseball until their junior or senior year.
*** Note ****
After some testing it seems at times OOTP may create larger draft classes if the created age min = rules min and created age max = rules max. The game can create older feeder league players that cause some classes to be larger than the 6 to 9 players per team per draft being draft eligible. This will not ruin your game but if want each team to produce a consistent 6 to 9 players that are draft eligible for a year then setting created age min and max to rules age min keeps the draft eligible players per team in that range.
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FAQ
Q: Can I have more draft rounds?
A: Absolutely. Just remember talent is distributed in something like a bell curve. The more rounds you have the more high and low level talent are generated. So over time the league might increase in quality.

Q: Can I have fewer or more feeders?
A: The answer again is yes. If you have too few feeders to produce a draft class the game will generate the extra players needed. If you have too many there will be undrafted free agents. Again note the number of feeders affects how many players are created. Too many will likely mean your league increases in quality over time. That may be what you intend to do.

Q: Do players go from high school to college?
A: Yes and no. High school leagues do not act as feeders for college. So players do not always go from HS to college. Undrafted HS players will go to college until their age reaches the age limit and drafted but unsigned players will go to college (edited: my original info was dated).

Q: What mix of college and high school teams do I need?
A: This is mostly preference. In real life some rookie leagues have age limits but OOTP does not enforce these. So you don't have to worry about too many older players not being able to play say in the AZL, which used to have limits. The only real thing to note here is young players are less developed and it takes them longer to develop on average. That means more chance for injuries and random talent hits while they are in the minors. So HS players are a bigger gamble in the draft. From my experience, it seems like college players are more likely to hit their full talent. The difference is not huge though. So how you divide teams between college and high school becomes more preference. Having all college or all high school will not adversely affect your game. It should be noted though that college players are often ready for A ball and some are close to AA at the draft while HS players rarely are.


These are just the very basics any contributions are welcome.