I think I know the answer but...

[cephasjames]

If I have a team that has a AAA affiliate with team A then changes that affiliate to AAA team B do the AAA players from team A move to team B (essentially moving with the parent team) or do they stay with team A?

So basically if a team works really hard to gather a bunch of really good AAA players then changes affiliates do they lose all of those players they worked so hard to get?

[Comedian2004]

Not sure, but I also wonder how that works in real life.

[cephasjames]

I heard someone say awhile ago that the players move with the parent team, but I've never looked into it more than that.

[CBL-Commish]

In real life all of the players in the organization are signed to contracts with the parent club. When the Orioles changed affiliations and moved their AAA club from Ottawa to Norfolk all of the 2006 Ottawa players who are still in the organization and are repeating AAA will report to Norfolk.

Affiliated minor league teams have no permanent claim to any players, managers, or coaches. They're completely subject to the whims of the major league team.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by CBL-Commish

Affiliated minor league teams have no permanent claim to any players, managers, or coaches. They're completely subject to the whims of the major league team.

Boy, things were sure different in the early days. The minors were all indpendent, owning the contracts to all their players, and the better-run clubs used to make a tidy profit selling talented up-and-comers to the highest major league bidder.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by CBL-Commish

In real life all of the players in the organization are signed to contracts with the parent club. When the Orioles changed affiliations and moved their AAA club from Ottawa to Norfolk all of the 2006 Ottawa players who are still in the organization and are repeating AAA will report to Norfolk.

Now that I've thought about this more, are you sure about this?

I ask because if it works as you outline, then why would some major league clubs change their player development contracts with minor league teams so often? If all the players move, then what's the point of signing a new PDC with a different minor league club every few years? Where's the benefit to the major league team in switching its affiliation partnership?

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Now that I've thought about this more, are you sure about this?

I ask because if it works as you outline, then why would some major league clubs change their player development contracts with minor league teams so often? If all the players move, then what's the point of signing a new PDC with a different minor league club every few years? Where's the benefit to the major league team in switching its affiliation partnership?

And why do some teams switch so often and some very rarely?

[SDtwin]

I think that some players on minor league teams don't move when an Orginization switches affiliates in RL. Maybe the minor league teams still sign some of their own players. I'm not sure. It would be interesting to find out.

[CobaltJays]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Now that I've thought about this more, are you sure about this?

The players do stay with the parent club, as do the coaches. The minor league teams have no players or coaches of their own and have very little input into on-field personnel decisions.

I ask because if it works as you outline, then why would some major league clubs change their player development contracts with minor league teams so often? If all the players move, then what's the point of signing a new PDC with a different minor league club every few years? Where's the benefit to the major league team in switching its affiliation partnership?

There are a variety of reasons, and it's not always the major league team instigating the switch.

If a major league team wants to change affiliations, it could be due to the quality of the affiliate's facilities, the proximity to the major league city and other affiliates, or even the quality of the league in general.

Minor league teams will sometimes want to change parent clubs due to the quality of the players it receives from the parent club or the popularity of the parent club in that region. Just the general relationship between the two teams can play a major role in the decision to stay affiliated or part ways.

There are undoubtedly countless other possible reasons, but these are the main ones that came to mind.

[APujols5]

Cobalt is pretty much dead on....

I worked for the Peoria Chiefs in the Midwest league for 3 seasons when they were part of the Cardinals system. but then when the PDC ran out, the Chiefs management went after the Cubs because of the closeness of Chicago and it was a geographical choice. Even though Peoria has tons of White sox and Cardinal fans, there are more Cubs fans than anything else.

There are no player that is under contract to that team, it hasn't been that way for some time now. All Players, coaches, trainers, and even in some cases General managers are contracted to the Parent organization. Heck I think some even assign announcers to their affiliates.

[CobaltJays]

Originally Posted by SDtwin

I think that some players on minor league teams don't move when an Orginization switches affiliates in RL. Maybe the minor league teams still sign some of their own players.

They don't. The only time you get a player staying with a minor league team after a change in affiliation is if that player signs a new contract with the new parent club or he's traded, and in those instances it's merely a coincidence that he winds up playing for the same minor league team. It happens occasionally (Darwin Cubillan being one recent example), but it's quite rare.

[Le Grande Orange]

CobaltJays, APujols5, thanks for the replies. Interesting stuff.

Originally Posted by APujols5

There are no player that is under contract to that [minor league] team, it hasn't been that way for some time now.

I wonder when it changed. That would be useful to know in tracking how the minors have evolved over the years.

[Jordan]

I think the reason stated earlei is obvious...if a parent club worked really hard and drafted a bunch of good kids, but they were on an affiliate that changed organizations, that would be a really messed up way to lose players. No Parent club would have it

[Curtis]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

I wonder when it changed. That would be useful to know in tracking how the minors have evolved over the years.

For when the switchover completed, I'm going to suggest you start looking with the systematic abandonment of the D, C and B class leagues in the early 60s. I believe it happened near coincidentally with that 'event' (or sequence of events) and the birth of the amateur draft. It had to be well underway during the age of the 'bonus baby', though.

[ctorg]

Originally Posted by CobaltJays

There are a variety of reasons, and it's not always the major league team instigating the switch.

Yeah, I know in the case of the Mets and the Norfolk Tides, the Tides were unhappy with how the Mets dealt with them, so they refused to renew the contract. The Mets had to scramble to come up with a AAA team, and ended up with New Orleans. Since New Orleans is not an ideal location for the AAA team, I'm sure the Mets will be looking to switch again when they have a chance to get something closer to home.

[cephasjames]

Its converstaions like this that make me want to bust out more books on the minors.

As to how the game handles this, any ideas? Could a tester please check on this, or better yet Markus?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

I wonder when it changed. That would be useful to know in tracking how the minors have evolved over the years.

I thought that Branch Rickey started that change in 1931.

[Curtis]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

I thought that Branch Rickey started that change in 1931.

The Cleveland Indians owned all or part of six minor league teams (including New Orleans) back before 1910.

[hefalumps]

This is an excellent question. It'd be great if we can figure out when about this change happened. From OOTP's perspective, it would be cool if this were a configurable option that could be toggled during the lifetime of the universe - basically "Allow minor league players to stay with parent club when changing affiliation". If it were an option, then you could do it whichever way you preferred for your universe.

Considering there's only a few weeks left to release, I doubt something like this can make it in in time unless someone has already thought of it. Any official response on this from beta testers or other official channels?

[fhomess]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

I wonder when it changed. That would be useful to know in tracking how the minors have evolved over the years.

It didn't happen all at once, but was more of a gradual process. As mentioned above, Branch Rickey had his own minors as early as 1931, but guys like Bill Veeck were operating independant minor league teams and selling those players to major league clubs at least as late as the late 40's.