Question Regarding International Leagues Setup

[PSUColonel]

Regarding the pre-made default international leagues included in OOTP, does anyone know or can explain why some of these boxes are checked for some leagues and not others?

For example, the option to allow foreign players to become FA after their contract has ended is checked in some leagues such s the KBO and Serie A, but not in the *** or CPBL or LMB. (amongst others)

Is there are reason for this inconsistency? Why wouldn't players rom these leagues be granted FA after their contracts expire? I realize in leagues such as the ***, players must put in a minimum number of years before FA but after that, wouldn't they be granted FA if a contract expires?

I am just trying to wrap my head around what it going on here.

EDIT: I am unable to find any information in the manual about these options/features.

[Cod]

I believe the Japanese leagues use a very restrictive form of free agency. Players are put in one of two categories: domestic or international. The also have some weird service time rules for each. For example, playing in the minor leagues doesn't count towards becoming a free agent even if you were on roster at the highest level for a period of time...like the clock just stops. Also, free agency in Japan works like the football transfer market. If a domestic team signs a player, they must pay their former team as well even if the player's contract expired.

With all that said, the devs may have set the defaults to what they believe would work best given the restrictions of the game and their interpretation of the leagues' rules.

Some references:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190629...tem-explained/
https://www.rotowire.com/***/news.php?view=free-agents (notice how few FAs the league has and noticed most returned to the states)

[andyhdz]

fyi on the changes in the mexican league and mlb transfers

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/ml...ayer-transfers

[PSUColonel]

OK...the above setup is actually that of the ***. So, they way I am reading this, is that if an American (or any other foreign player outside of Japan) player's contract expires (with a *** team) he can't be granted FA??? That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, so that's why I am interested in this. Something seems like it could maybe be "off", but I am not entirely sure, since I believe this is a new option in 23.

It is already setup so that Japanese players can achieve free agency after 9 years.

In the KBO, the "Foreign players become FA on contract end" is clicked...which to me DOES make sense.

[PSUColonel]

I suppose the first thing I'd need to know is exactly what this option does. I mean it sounds simple enough, but due to the varying settings amongst International Leagues, I have a feeling it may be a little more complex than just how it reads.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

I suppose the first thing I'd need to know is exactly what this option does. I mean it sounds simple enough, but due to the varying settings amongst International Leagues, I have a feeling it may be a little more complex than just how it reads.

Is it just an override so the foreigners skip the posting system?

[BarneyRubble]

OOTP is lacking in documentation, that's no mystery. One could assume any foreign player would become a FA at the end of his contract. Then we see settings checked for one league and not the other and it makes us curious. So we look for documentation and come up empty.

[PSUColonel]

Yes, I wish we could hear something proper from the development team.

[PSUColonel]

Bump


Hoping we can get an answer on this, as I think it's tough to setup International Leagues without knowing just how this works.

[kidd_05_u2]

I think the four options are pretty self-explanatory. The last one is meant to let foreigners bypass pro time restrictions in getting to free agency.

As for whether that last option should be ticked for international leagues, OOTP is following the actual rules by not ticking the one for the ***, but in practice things are different and it is my opinion that you should tick it.

One of the difficulties in implementing the international leagues in OOTP is that in practice there are a lot of ad-hoc rules that change year to year, or even case by case, and the changes are not even made public. If you are only used to following the MLB, you wouldn't believe the number of arbitrary unofficial rules other leagues have.

For the ***, the rules technically state that players signing with a team need 9 years of majors service before free agency, but players are allowed to sign "supplemental" contracts where they get guaranteed free agency at the end of the contract through one way or another. In practice, veterans signing from the MLB will always become FA at the end of their contracts. I'm not sure this is also the case for, say, a young Taiwanese player.

As a side note, if you check the starting *** real rosters in OOTP, you will find that most foreigners are given 8 years of service at the start of the 2022 season.

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by kidd_05_u2

I think the four options are pretty self-explanatory. The last one is meant to let foreigners bypass pro time restrictions in getting to free agency.

As for whether that last option should be ticked for international leagues, OOTP is following the actual rules by not ticking the one for the ***, but in practice things are different and it is my opinion that you should tick it.

One of the difficulties in implementing the international leagues in OOTP is that in practice there are a lot of ad-hoc rules that change year to year, or even case by case, and the changes are not even made public. If you are only used to following the MLB, you wouldn't believe the number of arbitrary unofficial rules other leagues have.

For the ***, the rules technically state that players signing with a team need 9 years of majors service before free agency, but players are allowed to sign "supplemental" contracts where they get guaranteed free agency at the end of the contract through one way or another. In practice, veterans signing from the MLB will always become FA at the end of their contracts. I'm not sure this is also the case for, say, a young Taiwanese player.

As a side note, if you check the starting *** real rosters in OOTP, you will find that most foreigners are given 8 years of service at the start of the 2022 season.

Ok…so yes, it’s my opinion just based on what this option SEEMS to be saying, that the international players become FA after contract expires should be checked (likely) in all the foreign leagues. Aren’t these contract usually only for one year anyway?

[Marinersfan51]

The FA after contract expires option is about whether or not they are subject to arbitration and team control and the like. Technically pre-arb players are all on one year deals that get renewed by the team that holds their rights. The option is so that if a player with 0 ML service time signed a one year contract in *** they are granted free agency at the end of the year instead of being subject to team control and the arbitration process for the next 9 seasons.

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by Marinersfan51

The option is so that if a player with 0 ML service time signed a one year contract in *** they are granted free agency at the end of the year instead of being subject to team control and the arbitration process for the next 9 seasons.

You mean if an international player (from the perspective of the ***) signs a deal I think. If so, then shouldn’t this be checked for realism purposes? If not I’m missing something…sorry it’s been a rare week.

[nutt]

However it's implemented, the default settings for most leagues, usually all the boxes except "Foreign Players are FA after contract end" are checked. However, this is not all that true.

Reset Service time, IMO, should apply to MLB and only MLB.

Foreigners becoming FA at contract end should be applied to ALL international leagues, whether it's default or not.

The Cuban League is the only league that free agents should not be allowed to leave league or not allow FA's from other leagues.

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by nutt

However it's implemented, the default settings for most leagues, usually all the boxes except "Foreign Players are FA after contract end" are checked. However, this is not all that true.

Reset Service time, IMO, should apply to MLB and only MLB.

Foreigners becoming FA at contract end should be applied to ALL international leagues, whether it's default or not.

The Cuban League is the only league that free agents should not be allowed to leave league or not allow FA's from other leagues.

I must agree with you, so now the million dollar question of course: Why isn't this default for all international leagues?

What about Independent Leagues?

[nutt]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

I must agree with you, so now the million dollar question of course: Why isn't this default for all international leagues?

What about Independent Leagues?

That's a question for whomever adds them to the main build in the home office.

Indy Leagues? Hmmm.... Indy Leagues Should have the first two boxes checked, the other two not so much. Contract Length should be one year max with a one year max extension. I'd say the purchased scale should be different based on leagues (Atlantic League would be the highest, followed by AA and Frontier being equal perhaps. Not sure about Pioneer. Pecos should have a lower purchase amount).

[PSUColonel]

bump for anyone in the know on this

[turtle4499]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

bump for anyone in the know on this

So I've messed around with this a fair bit before. It only matters in leagues where arb years are long. Which only matters for ***, KBO, CPBL, LMB (mexico). As for why it's not checked by default it's probably just to maintain backwards compatibility as it's a new feature. Reset service time shouldn't ever be checked except in MLB.

There is also the complication in that it matters if you want to make MLB the default league or not. The devs may have just assumed if you were adding multiple major leagues you looked through the settings. It doesn't make a lot of sense to check it if you are making *** your primary league.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

bump for anyone in the know on this

There are reasons behind where is checked and not, though that's not to say maybe it shouldn't be changed.

The *** is tricky, because we basically have to choose between having the rules apply correctly to younger international players or older ones. Unchecking the box means the game will deal correctly with younger players but not (necessarily) with older (established) players who sign from other leagues. Checking it would mean the game deals correctly with older players but not younger ones.

As mentioned above, given the ***'s restrictive free agency rules and the way those rules do apply just the same to younger foreign players when they sign, it makes the most sense to have this unchecked imo. Otherwise, those young players would unrealistically become free agents within a year or so, rather than having to wait the full FA period.

The downside is that this means some established players do not get released at the end of their deals correctly. But given the high level of the *** and that most of the established players it signs have already accrued significant service time in other leagues, a lot of these guys should have enough service time to simply become FA's at the end of their contract due to service time. If not, then they will kind of get stuck in the *** for a few more years.

If we did things the other way around as far as checking the boxes, it would deal with the established players correctly but not the younger players. So it's just a matter of preference, which way you want things to go. Either way, there's going to be a subset of players the game deals with better than others.

For the LMB it's a similar situation but given that the service time requirements are even shorter there and the option to have players be able to be purchased from the league for a minimal fee is set, this means that established free agents are not very heavily locked in to the league even with the button unchecked.

At least, that was the rationale here, but on rethinking things in light of this discussion, I do think overall it probably makes the most sense to have the box checked here even for leagues like the *** and the LMB. So we'll change that for the next patch in the international leagues where it's not set.

[BaseballGOAT]

Lukas, on the opposite side of the equation, the MLB side... do you think we'll ever get a contract option for international free agents to be able to skip arbitration in the MLB? I know right now the contract status doesn't work well for someone like Suzuki in Chicago since he can't be eligible for ROY and still skip arbitration like his contract is set to do