Handling prospects

[Hammercraft]

I've gone through several rebuilds now and I am not coming up with a consensus method to handling my minor league talent.

First question: When you sign international prospects do you assign them to a minor league team right away or wait to delay their eventual free agency? Does leaving them in the international camp put them at risk for decaying their potential?

Second question: Do you ever pool your prospects at a certain level (A, AA) and staff it with excellent coaches and try to graduate a surge of talent all at once?

Thanks for any opinions

[MikeS21]

Not sure there is a consensus method to development strategy. I tend to allow international players at the international camp to age to about 21 years old before sending them to Rookie ball.

I have two Dominican League teams and I actually wish there was some way of moving some of those youngest players to the international camp or I wish the game had an extended spring training mode, so players can still receive coaching even if they are not on a regular roster.

[Lockdog]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

First question: When you sign international prospects do you assign them to a minor league team right away or wait to delay their eventual free agency? Does leaving them in the international camp put them at risk for decaying their potential?

Second question: Do you ever pool your prospects at a certain level (A, AA) and staff it with excellent coaches and try to graduate a surge of talent all at once?

First, international prospects are sent to the international complex. I usually leave them there until age 18 or 19, where the better prospects are sent to Arizona League. The others are used to fill my DSL roster.

Second, I've never tried promoting multiple prospects to the same level at once. Guys are gradually moved through the system as I see fit.

['94 EXPOS]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

I've gone through several rebuilds now and I am not coming up with a consensus method to handling my minor league talent.

First question: When you sign international prospects do you assign them to a minor league team right away or wait to delay their eventual free agency? Does leaving them in the international camp put them at risk for decaying their potential?

Second question: Do you ever pool your prospects at a certain level (A, AA) and staff it with excellent coaches and try to graduate a surge of talent all at once?

Thanks for any opinions

1. Players will still develop albeit at a slower pace in the International Complex....I usually wait until they are19 years old to bring them into the system unless their ratings 'demand' otherwise....there is always the risk for decay (IMO) both in the complex in the system.


2. I do pay close attention to the values of my various minor league coaches and whether certain prospects should maybe stay a bit longer at one level or move quicker to another level depending on the attributes of the coaches. This constant analysis can be too tedious for some but it is part of the game I enjoy and find that it can pay off. As for pooling your prospects with a coaching staff....I find that most prospects will 'pool' naturally with a typical minor league setup as the players graduate from two Short Season teams into one A ball team. You have come with an interesting idea though...if you had a group of high level prospects you could match them all on one team with an 'all star' minor league staff and then promote the staff with the players as they move through the system. One thing that OOTP has improved upon is that it is definitely now more difficult to stack your minor league staffs with 'over qualified' coaching staffs....but now I am rambling like usual....