Ultimate MiL Setup Guide

[NoOne]

Concepts.

More is better than less. How many players do you plan to use during a season? i bet it's more than 25, so provide each level with more than 25. your rules mostly dictate how many players are provide per year. (less clear the further up)

Uneven # of Teams per MLB team will result in an uneven #'s of players. Impossible to avoid. If you don't like it, lop off some teams or move them around to make it even -- the Real MiL system is uneven!

When it's uneven, everything needs to be based on the largest # of teams at any one level for an organization... e.g. if LA has the most A-ball teams @ 3, and NY has the most Rookeis @ 4, then those are the #s you need to plan for at each level. (even if LA only has 1 rookie team and ny only 1 a ball etc)

Notes on Rules:
-Service time limits: playable years = limt +1. so 1 year limit = 2 years to play at that level.

-Max Age: if they turn "max+1" and are left untouched, i believe they can finish out hte year.. you cannot however move them from disabled list back to that league if they do not meet restrictions.

The bulk of draftees are not good. they will inevitably follow any rules or restrictions you use per MiL level as far as promotions are concerned.

A working system with age/service time rules:

39 rounds / 44 created.

1 AAA, 1 AA, 2 A, 1 SA, 2 Rookies. (anything different will require slight changes) All MLB teams have same # of teams at each MiL level.

Rookie - 1 year service time max (2 years playable)
Short A- 2 years service time (3) && Age Max:23
A-ball - 4 years service time (5) && Age Max:24
AA-ball - 5 years service time (6) && Age Max:25

AAA - dangerous to use anythign here. some depth needs to be in the mil and it inevitably will be age 30+ more than rarely. i'd avoid it.

This results in:

30-40 @ AAA
30-40 @ AA
60-70 @ A -- 2 teams, so 30-35
30 @ S A
~70 @ Rookie -- 2 teams, ~30-35.

No errors for too few players. AI has free will to move the better players around. ie a high-end prospect won't be pulled to S-A because he's the only LF that meets the restrictions. Max age is a small portion of any team - further proof of previous statement. plenty of players to cover injuries etc.

Math: (using my system as an example... you can do it many ways, but the math must add up to be viable). Make sure enough players are created.

(# of rounds per year - 10) * # of years allowed at Rookie level.

# of rounds: 39
# of rookie Teams per mlb team(most, if uneven per team):2
# of years playable at rookie: 2

(39 -10)*2= 58 -- loose figure, likely a bit larger than this estimate.

This should* provide at least 30players per team over 2 years. in practice it provides 60-70 on average. plenty to fill 2 teams and handle injuries.

"10" is the guesstimate i use for players that are able to play above rookie level per team per draft. more than safe + at least a few of the 'better' prospects will go to rookie too. late rounders (15+ for sure) go almost eclusively to rookie levels.

After that point it's less predictive (players created per year, relative to rules/restrictions you have at each level). i'll use mine to highling some things you can use to keep yourself in-line.

Notice i only have 1 year difference in service time restrictions between AA and A ball. this isn't based on a whim. i have 1AA team to 2A teams per mlb team. 1 year of draft plus "others" easily fills out a AA team.

If i had 2 AA teams with the same setup above, i might be a bit short with 39 rounds... it would be tight. 1 team would likely be short on occasion and you'd get that dreaded too few players error message.

now, that many years after the draft you can't simply multiple Rounds * viable years at that level as per rules. each year out there's more attrition etc etc.. figure a bit less the further out you go.

you'll easily see any bottleneck you create. if it's not obvious, sim out ~10 years and look through teams. (for my setup end of ~6yrs would be enough to assess R-double-A)

Rosters and transactions can be setup to show each mil level... leave blanks if 'uneven' (you won't have to re-do panes between 2 teams with dipsarate mil systems) and 9 window-tiles should be enough to get it all on one screen to see # of players easily, unless you have more than 9 MiL leagues, ofc - leave AAA unseen if "10"... click through mlb teams etc etc.

Tips:

Avoid being to intricate... e.g. if 2-3 rookie leagues, don't try to get too cute about who goes where... if you want one to have an age restriction, you better sim out and make sure your rules profide enough players to fill ALL teams at ALL times during their season.

simpler is better... but if you can make something you 'want' work, do it... look for ramifications above and below.

things to look for:

Age max levels: is the bulk of the team at or near that age? probably not a good thing.. .that's a sign of not enough players per year. the aI and you cannot promote players efficiently in this context.

same with service time limits, but less correlation to the bad. e.g. teh way i have my system set up, Short A has significant turn over every year. AA is a similar situation too, but it's further out from the draft (time). all the players that go out of order help supplement any dearth.. also, 2 A-balls converge into 1 AA is key to that statement.

~25 isn't bad at any particular level except lowest rookie league, but if all teams have "25" @ 1 level that's not rookie it's probably a bit starved for players. 30-35 or more is good.

IF you have an uneven # of teams etc etc... you WILL have some teams with 50 and some teams with 30 ... if you don't like it you have 2 options: don't look or edit MiL structure.
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Bottom Line

With this simple equation to ensure enoughplayrs @ rookie level:

(# of rounds per year - 10) * # of years allowed at Rookie level.

and some common sense toward your rules and restrictions of each MiL level and you cannot go wrong. you can easily 'see' how many will be provided per year based on your rules and # of rounds in draft.

setup, test, then implement a winner. use a backup to test!

[daniwen]

This is great guide with great advice to avoid problems. Can't recommend it enough. I vote sticky