My MLB QS league expanded by two new teams and I need help.

The Yurpman · 05-13-2018, 04:27 AM

Long story short, following the 2018 season I was notified the league expanded by two teams (the Austin Drillers and the Columbus Tropics). I forgot to uncheck the box under "league evolution" to turn off expansion. But I figured hey, I've never done this before, let's just let these two teams exist and see what happens.

So as the off season goes by I get to the part where I have to submit my protected players list. All is well. Then I get to the Expansion Draft and here's where I need help. For some reason, only the Austin Drillers were allowed to pick players in the draft. It was like the Columbus Tropics didn't even exist. So I sim ahead one day and sure enough, the Tropics have no players while the Drillers have the players they chose in the draft.

What do I do now? Is there a way for me to manually set up an expansion draft for the Tropics? The Drillers are going to bad enough as a new expansion team but the Tropics are going to be beyond terrible going in to the 2019 season because they didn't get to participate in the draft. Please, someone help me!

TheMaus2 · 05-13-2018, 08:51 AM

there's a button somewhere that allows you to fill up an empty roster with fictional players.

mitchkenn · 05-13-2018, 09:49 AM

or you can fill them with players from Free Agency list.

kryakyu12 · 05-13-2018, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMaus2

there's a button somewhere that allows you to fill up an empty roster with fictional players.

There is a button on the "League Options" page. Also, if you go to a specific team's Rosters and Transactions page, as commissioner, on the Actions dropdown (at the top right) you can select "Fill Team with Fictional Players."

This will fill the team(s) rosters with scrub-level players. They won't be good, but they will occupy space on the field and lineup

As for using the free-agency pool, that can work, if there are enough players available. I find that AI teams are rather slow to attempt to sign players, and also there may be budget concerns. Going to "Act as Manager" of the team (as commish) and making offers to free-agents looking for minor-league contracts helps, but can be tedious if you have a complete set of minor leagues.

Cheers!
-kr-

The Yurpman · 05-13-2018, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kryakyu12

There is a button on the "League Options" page. Also, if you go to a specific team's Rosters and Transactions page, as commissioner, on the Actions dropdown (at the top right) you can select "Fill Team with Fictional Players."

This will fill the team(s) rosters with scrub-level players. They won't be good, but they will occupy space on the field and lineup

As for using the free-agency pool, that can work, if there are enough players available. I find that AI teams are rather slow to attempt to sign players, and also there may be budget concerns. Going to "Act as Manager" of the team (as commish) and making offers to free-agents looking for minor-league contracts helps, but can be tedious if you have a complete set of minor leagues.

Cheers!
-kr-

Yeah I was thinking of doing this. Just going in to commish mode and signing players that I think are somewhat equal to what the other expansion team got during the expansion draft. I really don't want to fill the team with fictional players but if that's the easiest way I might have to. It's really annoying that this team wasn't allowed to draft anyone in the expansion draft. And they have a full set of minor league teams like the rest of the league, because this is a ML QS game.

I might go in to commish mode and "force trade" one player from every team that matches the criteria (no players with less then 3 years of service time, etc.) to the Tropics so it sort of acts like they participated in the draft.

The Yurpman · 05-13-2018, 08:30 PM

So I haven't decided what to do yet. Free Agency just started and I went and gave each of the two expansion teams an extra $80 million. I'm hoping they will just start signing players and fill their ML team and all their minor leagues without me having to interfere. Fingers crossed!

BBGiovanni · 05-14-2018, 12:23 AM

Honestly, I'd just delete the one team with real players and let the other teams pick over the bones and come up with a fictional backstory. Maybe there was some kind of scandal that voided all those players' contracts so they became FA.

The Yurpman · 05-14-2018, 11:49 PM

So, as I said, I decided to not intervene and assign players to the Tropics, even though they didn't get to participate in the expansion draft like the Drillers did. Instead I went and gave the Drillers $80 million in cash and the Tropics $110 million. I also increased both teams budgets. Just a few days in to FA (again, this is right after the 2018 season, so you have the likes of Harper, Kershaw, Grandal, Donaldson, etc. as FA. Basically the best FA class in years) both teams started signing relatively low rated players to minor league deals to fill up their teams. This was a good sign. Then the bombshell...

The Columbus Tropics, the team that for whatever reason didn't get to pick any players in the expansion draft, signed Bryce Harper to a 6 year deal. Harper is going to a brand new, fresh expansion team to play out his prime years (although he can opt out after year one). I thought this was really cool. The Tropics are still going to be historically awful. Their best player other then Harper is rated 40 overall and the next best is 25 overall. The Drillers at least got to grab a handful of higher rated players in the expansion draft.

Anyways, just an update for anyone wondering how things are turning out. I'm hoping the Drillers and Tropics sign some more legit players each with the money I gave them.

Also, as an aside, anyone who has expansion teams show up in an MLB QS game, you have to manually go in and retire #42 for those teams. A small detail but one I would have missed had I not caught it.

The Yurpman · 05-15-2018, 01:05 AM

The very next day the Tropics signed AJ Pollock to a 4 year deal! They are definitely making up for loss time not picking anyone in the expansion draft. They've signed two of the top six FA already.

05-13-2018, 04:27 AM	#1
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 320	My MLB QS league expanded by two new teams and I need help. Long story short, following the 2018 season I was notified the league expanded by two teams (the Austin Drillers and the Columbus Tropics). I forgot to uncheck the box under "league evolution" to turn off expansion. But I figured hey, I've never done this before, let's just let these two teams exist and see what happens. So as the off season goes by I get to the part where I have to submit my protected players list. All is well. Then I get to the Expansion Draft and here's where I need help. For some reason, only the Austin Drillers were allowed to pick players in the draft. It was like the Columbus Tropics didn't even exist. So I sim ahead one day and sure enough, the Tropics have no players while the Drillers have the players they chose in the draft. What do I do now? Is there a way for me to manually set up an expansion draft for the Tropics? The Drillers are going to bad enough as a new expansion team but the Tropics are going to be beyond terrible going in to the 2019 season because they didn't get to participate in the draft. Please, someone help me!

05-13-2018, 08:51 AM	#2
TheMaus2 All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: The OOTP Forums. Always. Posts: 1,952	there's a button somewhere that allows you to fill up an empty roster with fictional players. __________________ I write a monthly newsletter on the Food Baseball Association. I also listen to music no one's ever heard of in hopes of looking cool and alternative.

05-13-2018, 09:49 AM	#3
mitchkenn Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Oregon, not by design Posts: 2,872	or you can fill them with players from Free Agency list. __________________ "This is my opening farewell " - Jackson Browne “They make a desolation and call it peace.” ― Agha Shahid Ali "Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song - And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong." - Townes Van Zandt "I saw a young man leaning on his wooden crutch - He called out to me, 'Don't ask for so much' And a young woman leaning in her darkened door She cried out to me, 'Why not ask for more?' " - Leonard Cohen "Hello darkness, my old Friend ...." - Paul Simon Before Mays, before DiMaggio, there was Oscar Charleston. "All the lies about Babe Ruth are true." - Waite Hoyt Avatar is the late great Townes Van Zandt. rip.

05-14-2018, 12:23 AM	#7
BBGiovanni All Star Starter Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Republic of California Posts: 1,910	Honestly, I'd just delete the one team with real players and let the other teams pick over the bones and come up with a fictional backstory. Maybe there was some kind of scandal that voided all those players' contracts so they became FA. __________________ Let's Go (San Jose) Giants, Let's Go Mets! Current Project: WBAT/AABBA: Organized Base Ball And the "New Normal" World Baseball Aid Tournament 2023 trophy round underway!

05-13-2018, 08:30 PM	#6
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 320	So I haven't decided what to do yet. Free Agency just started and I went and gave each of the two expansion teams an extra $80 million. I'm hoping they will just start signing players and fill their ML team and all their minor leagues without me having to interfere. Fingers crossed!

05-14-2018, 11:49 PM	#8
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 320	So, as I said, I decided to not intervene and assign players to the Tropics, even though they didn't get to participate in the expansion draft like the Drillers did. Instead I went and gave the Drillers $80 million in cash and the Tropics $110 million. I also increased both teams budgets. Just a few days in to FA (again, this is right after the 2018 season, so you have the likes of Harper, Kershaw, Grandal, Donaldson, etc. as FA. Basically the best FA class in years) both teams started signing relatively low rated players to minor league deals to fill up their teams. This was a good sign. Then the bombshell... The Columbus Tropics, the team that for whatever reason didn't get to pick any players in the expansion draft, signed Bryce Harper to a 6 year deal. Harper is going to a brand new, fresh expansion team to play out his prime years (although he can opt out after year one). I thought this was really cool. The Tropics are still going to be historically awful. Their best player other then Harper is rated 40 overall and the next best is 25 overall. The Drillers at least got to grab a handful of higher rated players in the expansion draft. Anyways, just an update for anyone wondering how things are turning out. I'm hoping the Drillers and Tropics sign some more legit players each with the money I gave them. Also, as an aside, anyone who has expansion teams show up in an MLB QS game, you have to manually go in and retire #42 for those teams. A small detail but one I would have missed had I not caught it.

05-15-2018, 01:05 AM	#9
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 320	The very next day the Tropics signed AJ Pollock to a 4 year deal! They are definitely making up for loss time not picking anyone in the expansion draft. They've signed two of the top six FA already.