Minors vs. Reserve Roster

[enuttage]

Okay, I'm completely new to historical play, and I'm trying to figure out whether to use minor leagues at all in my league, starting in 1980.

What are the ups/downs of each of these modes of play?

rasnell's great primer is helping, but I'm unclear on this one thing.

[chimanbj]

Personally, if you're playing in 1980, I would think you'd want to play with minor leagues. If for no other reason than to see if a young hot-shot really stands out in the minors and makes it a no-brainer to bring him up. On the reserve roster, it's more easy to "forget" about players.

[enuttage]

In the minors, we're still dealing with 'real' players? I guess that's my confusion. Where are these minor leaguers 'coming from'.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by enuttage

In the minors, we're still dealing with 'real' players? I guess that's my confusion. Where are these minor leaguers 'coming from'.

Some players in the minors in a historical league may be major league players who aren't on the major league active roster due to other players being there. But there aren't enough of such players to fill out an entire minor league team, so you'd either need fictional players (whom you can block from ever reaching the majors if you want) or you can use ghost players to fill out the rosters (like the way OOTP6.5 used to do it).

[enuttage]

Thanks, LGO. I'm still getting used to this whole F1 thing. But I give thanks for Steve and his minions for helping me with this one as well.

Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by enuttage

Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.

I don't think you've wasted bandwidth at all. I was asking myself EXACTLY the same question when I started my Cleveland Indians 1950s game last night.

[Cooker]

So here's another dumb question (somewhat related) from another person who's trying out a historical league for the first time (starting in 1959):

I chose to play with three levels of minors and fill them with fictional players who never make the major leagues. I understand that. It's cool.

But then how do I know exactly which specific minor league players are fictional and thus "blocked," and which ones are "real" and thus not "blocked"? Is there any way to tell?

The computer AI makes trades that include minor leaguers. I'm curious to know which ones are "real" and which ones aren't. Is there a way to know (other than going to a baseball encyclopedia and looking up the names)?

Thanks for any insight.

[mjj55409]

The historical players will have a "Real Life Stats" tab in the profile.

[greendiver]

Here's what I found out with my historical sim. I started in 1901 and simmed up to 1950 before starting to play. I tried using the reserve rosters at first, but teams sometimes cut players from the reserve rosters in the first year. In particular, I noticed the Red Sox cut Babe Ruth in 1914 (his first year) rather than keep him on the reserve roster and the Reds picked him and his 700+ future homers up off waivers.

I didn't want fictional players in my league history, so I went back and ran with reserve rosters until 1909. I then created a AAA league with affiliates for each team using ghost players. Most teams had 30+ players on their reserve rosters after the initial 8-10 years, so the AAA teams were automatically filled with real players. The Lahman database seems to have enough players that teams will keep about 30-35 real players on a minor league team and there are no Joe Nobodies. I set the AAA roster limit at 35. Babe Ruth didn't get cut, and my unscientific observation is that the AI seems to handle minor leagues better than the reserve roster.

Real affiliated teams started much later than 1910, but a single AAA league works well within the game and will remain completely filled with real players using Lahman. I did try using two levels of minors and ghost players, but that didn't work nearly as well. the computer still kept around 30-35 guys, but they were split between the levels and there were a lot of ghost players. I don't like Joe Nobodies, so I would say that multiple levels of minors require fictional players to avoid that.

My plan is to then add the lower levels of minors when I decide to take over a team and manage, allowing fictional players to enter the league. I will also change from 3 year recalc to the game's player development algorithms to take the predictability out of the league going forward.

[enuttage]

Thanks for sharing your observations, greendiver. Much appreciated.

[No Pepper]

Many thanks greendiver, that is some really helpful insight.

[plannine]

Originally Posted by greendiver

Here's what I found out with my historical sim. I started in 1901 and simmed up to 1950 before starting to play. [edited]

I didn't want fictional players in my league history, so I went back and ran with reserve rosters until 1909. I then created a AAA league with affiliates for each team using ghost players.

Ghost players are a must - even if it looks funny for a few seasons....

I found that from 1901 to the mid-20's, so far it seems best to use 1 level of minors (AAA with a max of 35 players) with the majors having a 15 man roster (in 01, most teams only used 6 pitchers during the season, and only 12 or 13 regular players were around), adding 1 roster spot every third (or so) year until it reaches 25. [adjust as you see fit - but if you have larger rosters, some will be on the major roster for years, but only appear in a couple of games each year, if that]

Then in the late 30's reduce the original minors to 20/25 players and add another level (AA) with 35. (keep a eye on the number of unsigned free agents, and use them as a loose guide) and at some point plan to add a new lower minor league - it looks like this will happen in the late 40's or early 50's. At that point I will drop AA to 20/25 players and add a A league with 35. Im not planing to add any more minors, mainly since the expansion years will really tax my laptops performance.

[Gambo]

Originally Posted by greendiver

Here's what I found out with my historical sim. I started in 1901 and simmed up to 1950 before starting to play. I tried using the reserve rosters at first, but teams sometimes cut players from the reserve rosters in the first year. In particular, I noticed the Red Sox cut Babe Ruth in 1914 (his first year) rather than keep him on the reserve roster and the Reds picked him and his 700+ future homers up off waivers.

I didn't want fictional players in my league history, so I went back and ran with reserve rosters until 1909. I then created a AAA league with affiliates for each team using ghost players. Most teams had 30+ players on their reserve rosters after the initial 8-10 years, so the AAA teams were automatically filled with real players. The Lahman database seems to have enough players that teams will keep about 30-35 real players on a minor league team and there are no Joe Nobodies. I set the AAA roster limit at 35. Babe Ruth didn't get cut, and my unscientific observation is that the AI seems to handle minor leagues better than the reserve roster.

Real affiliated teams started much later than 1910, but a single AAA league works well within the game and will remain completely filled with real players using Lahman. I did try using two levels of minors and ghost players, but that didn't work nearly as well. the computer still kept around 30-35 guys, but they were split between the levels and there were a lot of ghost players. I don't like Joe Nobodies, so I would say that multiple levels of minors require fictional players to avoid that.

My plan is to then add the lower levels of minors when I decide to take over a team and manage, allowing fictional players to enter the league. I will also change from 3 year recalc to the game's player development algorithms to take the predictability out of the league going forward.

I've totally noticed the same thing...I don't even touch reserve rosters for this same reason...