Top Prospects in AA or AAA?

JDPostin · 06-01-2018, 04:33 PM

I'm doing a rebuild save, and my young crop of talent is almost ready to make the jump to the MLB. I have 4 prospects in AA right now that I think are awesome talents, and could probably play in the majors right now, but I don't want to stunt their growth.

So my question is, when you have a premium talent (first overall pick for in this save for example), do you ever promote them to triple A? I feel like triple A is mostly full of fringe MLB players so I'm considering just leaving my premium talents in AA until they're ready to make the MLB roster. I don't have evidence to support this, but I feel like most top prospects in the real MLB don't spend a ton of time in AAA.

kosmos412 · 06-01-2018, 05:34 PM

This is the practice I've employed so far for about a season and a half, I haven't seen any ill effects.

I started doing it because it seemed like no matter how good of a pitching prospect I put into AAA when it seemed they had maxed out at AA, they would get shelled continually. Like ERA's of 6 or 7+. Development or not, i hated those stats so I just started keeping my starters in AAA and now really everyone else. Like you said, I keep my fringe players in AAA, keep prospects in AA.

Dyzalot · 06-01-2018, 06:53 PM

I don't see the point of keeping a player in AA if he's ready for AAA unless another prospect is already in AAA at his position. Prospects can have their development stunted if the competition level is too easy.

JDPostin · 06-01-2018, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyzalot

I don't see the point of keeping a player in AA if he's ready for AAA unless another prospect is already in AAA at his position. Prospects can have their development stunted if the competition level is too easy.

Agree on this, but something interesting I noticed is that if you do "ratings relative to" for AAA and AA, it will often say AA has just as hard of competition as AAA. In my league, at least.

andyhdz · 06-01-2018, 07:55 PM

In real life that's true plenty of the really good prospects make the jump from AA to MLB with a cursory stay in AAA (Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman for example. Bregman spent a whopping 18 games in AAA before being called up and I never got to see him in Fresno). And many teams only use their AAA for fringe players or holding pens for their reserve players. However I dont' think OOTP is modeled this way and in OOTP the players next progression for growth is AAA competition. Besides it's just easier for me to have all my "ready to go" talent in AAA then have them spread out over two levels. When you see good talent in OOTP struggle in AAA from AA give them some more time. They'll straighten up if they are good enough. Maybe it's not realistic but that's what I've noticed.

Finally remember they don't have to be fully maxed on their potential before being called up to the majors. if they are close enough being called up the majors develops them much faster if they are a good player even just sitting on the bench. Bench time in the majors is just as good as playing time in the minors in OOTP.

Dyzalot · 06-01-2018, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyhdz

In real life that's true plenty of the really good prospects make the jump from AA to MLB with a cursory stay in AAA (Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman for example. Bregman spent a whopping 18 games in AAA before being called up and I never got to see him in Fresno).

This scenario actually happens to me quite a bit in OOTP. I'll bring maybe a 22 or 23 year old prospect up from AA to AAA at the beginning of the year and often within the first two months I'll have brought him up to the majors due to injuries or an aging veteran who isn't performing. It is pretty rare for an actual prospect of mine to spend more than one season in AAA before getting MLB playing time. I still like to move them up there though instead of keeping them in AA simply because of the way the development engine works in OOTP.

SirMichaelJordan · 06-01-2018, 08:20 PM

I only place in AAA if he's not ready for MLB, meaning that I would most likely move from AA to MLB and sent back down to AAA...But I must mention that I also have service time and age limits on my minors (AA have no rules but I set the service time to 6 years to keep league from getting too old)

Curve Ball Dave · 06-01-2018, 09:11 PM

I've had guys jump from AA to the Majors. It's not a common thing, but it's not unusual either. Most prospects need time at AAA, but there's always the exceptions. If the guy makes the jump and skips AAA, but struggles at the Big League level, you can always send him to AAA.

06-01-2018, 04:33 PM	#1
JDPostin Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 2	Top Prospects in AA or AAA? I'm doing a rebuild save, and my young crop of talent is almost ready to make the jump to the MLB. I have 4 prospects in AA right now that I think are awesome talents, and could probably play in the majors right now, but I don't want to stunt their growth. So my question is, when you have a premium talent (first overall pick for in this save for example), do you ever promote them to triple A? I feel like triple A is mostly full of fringe MLB players so I'm considering just leaving my premium talents in AA until they're ready to make the MLB roster. I don't have evidence to support this, but I feel like most top prospects in the real MLB don't spend a ton of time in AAA.

06-01-2018, 07:55 PM	#5
andyhdz All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Fresno, CA by way of Texas Posts: 1,754	In real life that's true plenty of the really good prospects make the jump from AA to MLB with a cursory stay in AAA (Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman for example. Bregman spent a whopping 18 games in AAA before being called up and I never got to see him in Fresno). And many teams only use their AAA for fringe players or holding pens for their reserve players. However I dont' think OOTP is modeled this way and in OOTP the players next progression for growth is AAA competition. Besides it's just easier for me to have all my "ready to go" talent in AAA then have them spread out over two levels. When you see good talent in OOTP struggle in AAA from AA give them some more time. They'll straighten up if they are good enough. Maybe it's not realistic but that's what I've noticed. Finally remember they don't have to be fully maxed on their potential before being called up to the majors. if they are close enough being called up the majors develops them much faster if they are a good player even just sitting on the bench. Bench time in the majors is just as good as playing time in the minors in OOTP. Last edited by andyhdz; 06-01-2018 at 08:07 PM.

06-01-2018, 09:11 PM	#8
Curve Ball Dave Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 2,374	I've had guys jump from AA to the Majors. It's not a common thing, but it's not unusual either. Most prospects need time at AAA, but there's always the exceptions. If the guy makes the jump and skips AAA, but struggles at the Big League level, you can always send him to AAA. __________________ "Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing"-Warren Spahn.

06-01-2018, 05:34 PM	#2
kosmos412 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 27	This is the practice I've employed so far for about a season and a half, I haven't seen any ill effects. I started doing it because it seemed like no matter how good of a pitching prospect I put into AAA when it seemed they had maxed out at AA, they would get shelled continually. Like ERA's of 6 or 7+. Development or not, i hated those stats so I just started keeping my starters in AAA and now really everyone else. Like you said, I keep my fringe players in AAA, keep prospects in AA.

06-01-2018, 06:53 PM	#3
Dyzalot All Star Starter Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,735	I don't see the point of keeping a player in AA if he's ready for AAA unless another prospect is already in AAA at his position. Prospects can have their development stunted if the competition level is too easy.

06-01-2018, 08:20 PM	#7
SirMichaelJordan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 2,716	I only place in AAA if he's not ready for MLB, meaning that I would most likely move from AA to MLB and sent back down to AAA...But I must mention that I also have service time and age limits on my minors (AA have no rules but I set the service time to 6 years to keep league from getting too old)