Can Historical Rookies Be Imported As Free Agents?

Charlie Hough · 05-17-2010, 08:40 PM

As opposed to running a draft or automatically assigning rookies to their real life teams, is there a way to import historical rookies as free agents so teams can compete to sign them in an open market?

Could this work if free agency was turned off for existing players in a league? Or would this potentially conflict with an import and possibly leave the rookie pool empty?

Bluenoser · 05-18-2010, 04:22 AM

When you import an historical player individually you have an option of placing him in the draft pool. If you don't select this option, he goes into the FA Pool.

If you have your league set to automatically import historical rookies each season, you have the option of assigning them to original teams or have them go to the draft pool.

steelerz · 05-18-2010, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

When you import an historical player individually you have an option of placing him in the draft pool. If you don't select this option, he goes into the FA Pool.

If you have your league set to automatically import historical rookies each season, you have the option of assigning them to original teams or have them go to the draft pool.

how do i set my league to auto import historical players in my draft?? also if I have historical players imported.. will fictional players still show up in drafts??

Bluenoser · 05-18-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelerz

how do i set my league to auto import historical players in my draft?? also if I have historical players imported.. will fictional players still show up in drafts??

League setup, options.

Charlie Hough · 05-18-2010, 06:02 PM

Hmm. It sounds like my only option to make all rookies free agents is to individually import them. That makes for a lot of work. Not fun.

mjj55409 · 05-18-2010, 07:14 PM

Do you want to make all the rookies free agents in the appropriate year? I haven't tested this, but I'm thinking it should work. Set the game to import the historical rookies with no draft. Keep all the historical team ids blank. All the debuted players for the year should then be in the free agent pool.

Spritze · 05-18-2010, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjj55409

Do you want to make all the rookies free agents in the appropriate year? I haven't tested this, but I'm thinking it should work. Set the game to import the historical rookies with no draft. Keep all the historical team ids blank. All the debuted players for the year should then be in the free agent pool.

Yes indeedy, this is how you do it.

steelerz · 05-18-2010, 09:36 PM

i play in 2010.. is there a way to make historical players in my 2011 draft instead of fictional players?

Charlie Hough · 05-18-2010, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spritze

Yes indeedy, this is how you do it.

This does not work. I tried this last night and the game created a free agent pool of fictional players.

I believe this may have worked with previous versions of the game, but unless I'm missing something, it doesn't to work for OOTP11.

mjj55409 · 05-18-2010, 10:25 PM

I just tested this, and it certainly does work. What I did:

1. Create an historical league in 1903.
2. Delete the Historical Team ID from the Team-->Options/Ballpark page
3. Sim to 1904 preseason.

At that point all of the 1904 debut players were in the free agent pool. No fictional players were created.

Charlie Hough · 05-18-2010, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjj55409

I just tested this, and it certainly does work. What I did:

1. Create an historical league in 1903.
2. Delete the Historical Team ID from the Team-->Options/Ballpark page
3. Sim to 1904 preseason.

At that point all of the 1904 debut players were in the free agent pool. No fictional players were created.

I just tried this, and the game put all the historical players on their real life teams even though I deleted all the historical team IDs from the options/ballpark page as suggested. Somehow it added the historical IDs back to the teams. And, yes, I pressed enter after deleting the IDs and even cycled through all the team pages to confirm that the historical IDs were gone. But somehow OOTP added them back ... maybe when it imported historical modifiers for the next season.

Gambo · 05-19-2010, 12:22 AM

It doesnt go by historical team id. It goes by the team abbreviation on the league setup screen.

Tweak those abbreviations BAL,NYA,NYN and when it tries to assign the guys to their teams there will be no matching team and it will make them a FA.

Charlie Hough · 05-19-2010, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gambo

It doesnt go by historical team id. It goes by the team abbreviation on the league setup screen.

Tweak those abbreviations BAL,NYA,NYN and when it tries to assign the guys to their teams there will be no matching team and it will make them a FA.

Actually, it looks like it does go by historical ID. I just had to watch out for the time period right after the playoffs end. Apparently OOTP recalculates league totals according to history at that time. And it overwrites the historical team IDs that I deleted. But by re-deleting them right after the playoffs ended, they remained gone all the way through the next season.

And I was able to import historical players as rookies.

There are probably multiple ways to get the same result, but this one works reasonably well for me.

Charlie Hough · 05-22-2010, 09:50 PM

Now that I managed to figure out how to get all rookies to import as free agents, I've been playing a game starting in 1950, and I took over as GM of the Washington Senators starting in 1951 with the first rookie class. Unfortunately, it appears that playing this way makes it easy for the human GM to dominate and sign virtually any of the top free agents rookies available each year.

It doesn't even take much to outbid the AI. Usually I can avoid all competition by simply offering the player another 20 to 25% above his salary demand. Other teams never even force me to bid higher. Obviously, I have to have the money to do this, but after one season where the budget was relatively tight, tI won our first pennant, and the money took care of itself.

Other teams clearly have the budget to make similar signings, but the AI is simply too dumb. Every team in the majors has a budget for free agents of well over $1 million, and some have well over $2 million or even over $3 million. But they're not spending it, even though I have budgets set so that all revenue is available.

Now I've won three straight pennants and back-to-back World Series. I'm able to sign basically anyone I want based on salary demands and my huge budget.

Here are some of the top names from my current roster, nearly all of whom were signed as rookie free agents. Willie Mays, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Wally Moon, Pete Runnels. Literally my entire pitching staff was assembled over several seasons by signing them as rookie free agents. The staff includes Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller, Frank Sullivan, Johnny Podres, Hoyt Wilhelm, Frank Lary and Camilo Pascual. I have a few others playing at the AAA level.

For the record, I'm playing with recalc off and development turned on, so the AI is able to see rookie potential just as much as I can.

I suppose that, to a certain extent, this might simulate the domination of a franchise like the New York Yankees, which was able to sign top prospects out of the minors for decades. But I've won the last two pennants by 18 games and 20 games respectively, and the once-proud Yankees are now a distant memory after finishing 65-89 in 1954.

05-17-2010, 08:40 PM	#1
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,644	Can Historical Rookies Be Imported As Free Agents? As opposed to running a draft or automatically assigning rookies to their real life teams, is there a way to import historical rookies as free agents so teams can compete to sign them in an open market? Could this work if free agency was turned off for existing players in a league? Or would this potentially conflict with an import and possibly leave the rookie pool empty?

05-18-2010, 07:14 PM	#6
mjj55409 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,166	Do you want to make all the rookies free agents in the appropriate year? I haven't tested this, but I'm thinking it should work. Set the game to import the historical rookies with no draft. Keep all the historical team ids blank. All the debuted players for the year should then be in the free agent pool. __________________ FABL -- Chicago Chiefs

05-18-2010, 10:25 PM	#10
mjj55409 All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,166	I just tested this, and it certainly does work. What I did: 1. Create an historical league in 1903. 2. Delete the Historical Team ID from the Team-->Options/Ballpark page 3. Sim to 1904 preseason. At that point all of the 1904 debut players were in the free agent pool. No fictional players were created. __________________ FABL -- Chicago Chiefs

05-19-2010, 12:22 AM	#12
Gambo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 2,388	It doesnt go by historical team id. It goes by the team abbreviation on the league setup screen. Tweak those abbreviations BAL,NYA,NYN and when it tries to assign the guys to their teams there will be no matching team and it will make them a FA. __________________ *Give me league evolution with historical imports!!!* OOTP MODS: Historical Face Gen Project, Spritze/Gambo Database, OOTP Stadium Chart and Ballpark Images, MLB Compiled Uniform & Logo Pack available at... http://www.ootpmods.com

05-18-2010, 04:22 AM	#2
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 14,524	When you import an historical player individually you have an option of placing him in the draft pool. If you don't select this option, he goes into the FA Pool. If you have your league set to automatically import historical rookies each season, you have the option of assigning them to original teams or have them go to the draft pool.

05-18-2010, 06:02 PM	#5
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,644	Hmm. It sounds like my only option to make all rookies free agents is to individually import them. That makes for a lot of work. Not fun.

05-18-2010, 09:36 PM	#8
steelerz Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 57	i play in 2010.. is there a way to make historical players in my 2011 draft instead of fictional players?

05-22-2010, 09:50 PM	#14
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,644	Now that I managed to figure out how to get all rookies to import as free agents, I've been playing a game starting in 1950, and I took over as GM of the Washington Senators starting in 1951 with the first rookie class. Unfortunately, it appears that playing this way makes it easy for the human GM to dominate and sign virtually any of the top free agents rookies available each year. It doesn't even take much to outbid the AI. Usually I can avoid all competition by simply offering the player another 20 to 25% above his salary demand. Other teams never even force me to bid higher. Obviously, I have to have the money to do this, but after one season where the budget was relatively tight, tI won our first pennant, and the money took care of itself. Other teams clearly have the budget to make similar signings, but the AI is simply too dumb. Every team in the majors has a budget for free agents of well over $1 million, and some have well over $2 million or even over $3 million. But they're not spending it, even though I have budgets set so that all revenue is available. Now I've won three straight pennants and back-to-back World Series. I'm able to sign basically anyone I want based on salary demands and my huge budget. Here are some of the top names from my current roster, nearly all of whom were signed as rookie free agents. Willie Mays, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Wally Moon, Pete Runnels. Literally my entire pitching staff was assembled over several seasons by signing them as rookie free agents. The staff includes Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller, Frank Sullivan, Johnny Podres, Hoyt Wilhelm, Frank Lary and Camilo Pascual. I have a few others playing at the AAA level. For the record, I'm playing with recalc off and development turned on, so the AI is able to see rookie potential just as much as I can. I suppose that, to a certain extent, this might simulate the domination of a franchise like the New York Yankees, which was able to sign top prospects out of the minors for decades. But I've won the last two pennants by 18 games and 20 games respectively, and the once-proud Yankees are now a distant memory after finishing 65-89 in 1954.