Starting from the bottom as manager/GM

[Mister_G]

How many people have tried starting from one of the lowly independent league or lesser foreign league jobs in the MLB QS and working their way up to the bigs? I've always just picked an MLB team, been its GM and put on "cannot be fired" mode.

How quickly do you get fired if you try starting from the bottom? How quickly can you find a better job? What are the major differences in GMing an independent team from an MLB team in how you build your roster?

[deacon2817]

it depends . if you do a decent job you will get promoted or recruited by better teams.

[frangipard]

Originally Posted by Mister_G

How many people have tried starting from one of the lowly independent league or lesser foreign league jobs in the MLB QS and working their way up to the bigs? I've always just picked an MLB team, been its GM and put on "cannot be fired" mode.

How quickly do you get fired if you try starting from the bottom? How quickly can you find a better job? What are the major differences in GMing an independent team from an MLB team in how you build your roster?

I did this and was kind of disappointed with it being too easy. I took over the Kochi Fighting Dogs -- the worst team in the lowest-prestige league. My second season, I won the championship (it's a four team league!), and then jumped to a low-level US Indy league team. After the second season there I won another championship. And after that offseason the Yankees and the Red Sox were both offering me their GM jobs.

The differences are pretty obvious; no farm system, no draft, all one-year contracts. Key IME is just getting a lot of players and figuring out which ones will work. Don't break the bank for any one player; if he wants $50 a year, better to get five guys making $10k and figure out who is good. It's also absurdly easy to upgrade via trade.

One thing that is frustrating/cool is the big leagues taking your best players. I found this really great-looking 18 year old lefty reliever from Australia, and signed him for $5,000. He pitched one-third of inning for me, and I guess the scouts were watching, since the Cleveland Indians bought his rights for $250,000. He made AAA by the time he was 21. Annoying in a way, but very realistic thing to happen.

[ra7c7er]

The most recent update made advancing a bit harder.

I didn't start out at the lowest possible level but I started in the Frontier League and after 6 seasons I was managing AA ball for the Diamondbacks. Not sure if after the update I'd be able to advance that fast.

[r0nster]

When I ran a minor league team several versions ago it took me about 6 to 7 seasons before I was able to breathe the air of major league stadiums

[Mister_G]

Originally Posted by frangipard

I did this and was kind of disappointed with it being too easy. I took over the Kochi Fighting Dogs -- the worst team in the lowest-prestige league. My second season, I won the championship (it's a four team league!), and then jumped to a low-level US Indy league team. After the second season there I won another championship. And after that offseason the Yankees and the Red Sox were both offering me their GM jobs.

The differences are pretty obvious; no farm system, no draft, all one-year contracts. Key IME is just getting a lot of players and figuring out which ones will work. Don't break the bank for any one player; if he wants $50 a year, better to get five guys making $10k and figure out who is good. It's also absurdly easy to upgrade via trade.

One thing that is frustrating/cool is the big leagues taking your best players. I found this really great-looking 18 year old lefty reliever from Australia, and signed him for $5,000. He pitched one-third of inning for me, and I guess the scouts were watching, since the Cleveland Indians bought his rights for $250,000. He made AAA by the time he was 21. Annoying in a way, but very realistic thing to happen.

I was kind of worried about it being too easy. I remember doing this a few seasons ago as a manager and I was able to get to the bigs in just a few seasons. I feel like it might even be easier when you're doing it as a GM since there are less positions ( can't GM a minor league team).