Expansion and Minor Leagues

[TomVeal]

When a major league expands, does the computer provide the new teams with minor league affiliates, or does the player have to do that "by hand"?

[tcblcommish]

The game should add the minor leagues as well yes with random team names and fake logos unless there is one for the team in the directory

[jpeters1734]

Double check if you have more than one league at a minor level. Sometimes it will not add a team in the league you want

[TomVeal]

Having now gone through a Major League expansion, I’d like to share some “lessons learned” with my fellow rookie leaguers. More experienced players may, of course, know all of this already.

My plan was to add two MLB teams, reorganize into two leagues of two eight-team divisions each, and lengthen the schedule (because there can never be too many baseball, or too few metric football, games). I didn’t worry about how much of that would be plausible in the real world. I started with the Standard Game with 2014 rosters.

What I discovered:

1. In the 2014 Standard Game, it isn’t practicable to expand immediately, because the expansion draft will take place after opening day. It’s no great problem, though, to sim through the end of the season (in which, in my case, neither the Royals nor the Giants came anywhere close to the playoffs, much less the World Series) and add the new clubs before the 2015 season.

2. Don’t realign leagues until the Pre-Season of the year in which the change will take effect. Doing it earlier spoils the historical record.

3. Wanting to give the expansion teams a better chance than Casey Stengel’s Mets (not, I realize, a goal of real life MLB), I allowed each existing team to protect only 12 players plus everyone with fewer than three years of pro experience. To keep them from being stripped of talent, I limited each team’s losses to two players (which meant that the expansion draft could have only 30 rounds). As a result, the new teams got no outstanding stars, but they were very solid. The pre-season predictions show them as strong competitors for places in the first division. My New Orleans Crescents had the NL East’s best record in Spring training and won five of their first six regular season games (though they’ve since slipped back a bit).

All in all, my arrangement seemed to make it too easy to draft a competent set of players without too big a payroll cost, then have plenty of cash available for high quality free agents.

4. The computer gave each expansion team seven minor league affiliates (one each in AAA, AA and A, two each in Short-Season A and Rookie). Unfortunately, in the levels with two affiliates, it put all of them in the same leagues. I had to go into Commissioner mode to effect a redistribution.

5. The game doesn’t seem to have a very good method of filling the rosters of the expansion teams’ minor leagues. In real life, of course, the minor affiliates would sign free agents. The AI-controlled expansion franchise did that to some extent for its AAA and AA affiliates. The Single-A team, however, wound up consisting mostly of newly created fictional players.

Meanwhile, I found it hard to resist the temptation to pick up all the free agents of AAA quality who wanted only minor league contracts and fill all of my affiliates with them. It’s possible to sign a guy who just misses the Majors and assign him to Single-A. It would be nice if one had to disclose which affiliate the prospect will play for, so that he could declare, “I’m not interested in the Mudville Bottomfeeders” (similar to what happens when one tries to sign experienced coaches to Rookie League clubs).

[Sabres2000]

I want to create the good old Montreal Expos.

I know it goes:

MLB
AAA
AA (Double A)
AA (Advanced A)
A (Single A)
SS - Short Season
Rookie - rookie

between single A and AA is there much of a skill difference between single a and advanced a?

Also for rookie ive noticed in OOTP you have Pioneer league and then dominican rookie teams for MLB... Is there a difference or where you put your rookie team i mean like which league.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

I want to create the good old Montreal Expos.

I know it goes:

MLB
AAA
AA (Double A)
AA (Advanced A)
A (Single A)
SS - Short Season
Rookie - rookie

between single A and AA is there much of a skill difference between single a and advanced a?

Also for rookie ive noticed in OOTP you have Pioneer league and then dominican rookie teams for MLB... Is there a difference or where you put your rookie team i mean like which league.

there's a difference between all the leagues. sorry for not being super helpful, it's really late, but try to search the leagues on wikipedia. It will tell you the playing level for each minor league

[Sabres2000]

np jpeters... just trying to decide how many affiliates i want to carry on my expansion team

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

np jpeters... just trying to decide how many affiliates i want to carry on my expansion team

For a standard MLB setup? AAA, AA, A+, A, SA, R+, R, and maybe a DSL/VSL team

[Sabres2000]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

For a standard MLB setup? AAA, AA, A+, A, SA, R+, R, and maybe a DSL/VSL team

any difference in skill between the Advanced Rookie/Rookie leagues in USA and the rookie leagues in DSL/VSL

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

any difference in skill between the Advanced Rookie/Rookie leagues in USA and the rookie leagues in DSL/VSL

Now that I'm awake, I'll go in more detail. (Taken from wikipedia)

The Appalachian League and the Pioneer League, it forms the second-lowest rung on the minor league ladder. Although classified as a Rookie league, the level of play is slightly higher than that of the two "complex" Rookie leagues, the Gulf Coast League and Arizona League. Unlike these two leagues, Appalachian League and Pioneer League games charge admission and sell concessions.

The Gulf Coast League and together with the Arizona League forms the lowest rung on the minor-league ladder.

GCL and AL teams generally play at the minor league spring training complexes of their parent major league clubs, and are uniformly owned by those parent clubs. The teams generate little if any revenue, as admission is not charged and no concessions are operated. As almost all of the games are played in the heat and humidity of Florida summer afternoons, very few show up to watch the average contest. This does not, however, affect the quality of play or competition, as most of the players are drafted in that year's entry draft, two to three weeks before the season begins. The emphasis is therefore on skill development, rather than winning games or entertaining fans. For this reason GCL games, like their Arizona League counterparts, are among the least competitive in the minor leagues.

The DSL and VSL leagues are even lower. This is all represented in the league PCM's.

[Biggio509]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

any difference in skill between the Advanced Rookie/Rookie leagues in USA and the rookie leagues in DSL/VSL

DSL and VSL are usually players who are younger and not ready for the rookie leagues. In real life this is for foreign players only. Although DSL can have a limited number of Puerto Rican players on the team.

This really can't be replicated in the game. Essentially DSL and VSL become another rookie league for the AI. Also the minor league service time clock does not start in the DSL/VSL in real life. I am not sure if it does in OOTP. This only matters for when they can become minor league free agents. In OOTP as of yet there is no way to impose service time limitations on your minors like in real life. Rookie through SA have service time and age limits while A has service time limits in the real MILB system.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Biggio509

This only matters for when they can become minor league free agents.

It should be noted as well that OOTP's method to determine minor league free agency is more complicated than the real life system.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Biggio509

DSL and VSL are usually players who are younger and not ready for the rookie leagues. In real life this is for foreign players only. Although DSL can have a limited number of Puerto Rican players on the team.

This really can't be replicated in the game. Essentially DSL and VSL become another rookie league for the AI. Also the minor league service time clock does not start in the DSL/VSL in real life. I am not sure if it does in OOTP. This only matters for when they can become minor league free agents. In OOTP as of yet there is no way to impose service time limitations on your minors like in real life. Rookie through SA have service time and age limits while A has service time limits in the real MILB system.

It can be partially replicated. I set the DSL's region to latin american or caribbean and set foreigners to none by league nationality. At least this way the AI will not assign Americans to the DSL. The only problem is that sometimes you have to use commish powers and force players out of the international complexes into the DSL.

[Sabres2000]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

It can be partially replicated. I set the DSL's region to latin american or caribbean and set foreigners to none by league nationality. At least this way the AI will not assign Americans to the DSL. The only problem is that sometimes you have to use commish powers and force players out of the international complexes into the DSL.

SO you think its better off if i have a DSL for europeans and then my rookie club for American/Canadian rookies?

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

SO you think its better off if i have a DSL for europeans and then my rookie club for American/Canadian rookies?

Europeans?

[Sabres2000]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

Europeans?

Europeans aka non American/Canadian players drafted...

aka players born in DSL or VSL

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

Europeans aka non American/Canadian players drafted...

aka players born in DSL or VSL

Since when is the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in Europe?

To answer your question, yes I think it is better to place my drafted players in the GCL/AL/AppL/PL rather than the DSL/VSL

[frangipard]

Originally Posted by TomVeal

5. The game doesn’t seem to have a very good method of filling the rosters of the expansion teams’ minor leagues. In real life, of course, the minor affiliates would sign free agents. The AI-controlled expansion franchise did that to some extent for its AAA and AA affiliates. The Single-A team, however, wound up consisting mostly of newly created fictional players.

In real life, the teams start drafting/signing players a year or two ahead of their entrance into the majors. i.e. the Rays and D'Backs were participating in the June 2 draft (and I presume also doing international signings) in 1996, even though the big club didn't start play until 1998.

I would love the ability to do this in the game.

[Sabres2000]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

Since when is the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in Europe?

To answer your question, yes I think it is better to place my drafted players in the GCL/AL/AppL/PL rather than the DSL/VSL

my bad... reason why i said europe was because CAN/USA... as being in Canada/states any other country just assumed it was europe my mistake.

Also as far as DSL/VSL does i know there is the complex and such is it a bad thing to say sign a 16/17 yr old to your complex and then sign them to your rookie club or wait for 1 full season and then sign them

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Sabres2000

my bad... reason why i said europe was because CAN/USA... as being in Canada/states any other country just assumed it was europe my mistake.

Also as far as DSL/VSL does i know there is the complex and such is it a bad thing to say sign a 16/17 yr old to your complex and then sign them to your rookie club or wait for 1 full season and then sign them

Your question is hard to read, but I think you are asking if you should wait to move the players in your international complex to your DSL team.

To replicate real life, the players in your complex should be moved to the DSL. The problem in OOTP is that the level of play is too high because, by default, the AI sends all their drafted players to the DSL.

A lot of players just leave them in the complex until they are 18 or 20. I will look at their current ratings to see if they are advanced enough. Some guys will be able to play rookie ball at 17. Most won't even be good enough at 20.