An Un-Official Guide to Minor League Management for OOTP 21

[DonMattingly]

Thanks for this!

How do you handle minor leaguers that you either trade for or sign as FAs?

For example, if you got a prospect who was 23 but hadn't been past A- ball with the team that traded him, would you skip levels with someone like that? And possibly demote a younger prospect who another team had playing at a higher level than they should have been for their age?

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

Thanks for this!

How do you handle minor leaguers that you either trade for or sign as FAs?

For example, if you got a prospect who was 23 but hadn't been past A- ball with the team that traded him, would you skip levels with someone like that? And possibly demote a younger prospect who another team had playing at a higher level than they should have been for their age?

you're welcome!

That's a really good question. When I acquire a player, I do like to keep them at the same level but I will still give them a solid assessment and place them where I think they should be, within reason. I probably would not place a guy in AA if he never played above rookie, because i do still want to look at stats. The 23-year-old prospect you referred to could probably be placed at A+ at the highest.

Regarding players that were playing in a higher level, I will look at their stats. If they were holding their own, I'd keep them there, If they were overmatched, I'll drop them down a level.

[CBeisbol]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

Thanks for this!

How do you handle minor leaguers that you either trade for or sign as FAs?

For example, if you got a prospect who was 23 but hadn't been past A- ball with the team that traded him, would you skip levels with someone like that? And possibly demote a younger prospect who another team had playing at a higher level than they should have been for their age?

Yes
Put them at the level you think they should be at (based on ratings and performance)

[DonMattingly]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

you're welcome!

That's a really good question. When I acquire a player, I do like to keep them at the same level but I will still give them a solid assessment and place them where I think they should be, within reason. I probably would not place a guy in AA if he never played above rookie, because i do still want to look at stats. The 23-year-old prospect you referred to could probably be placed at A+ at the highest.

Regarding players that were playing in a higher level, I will look at their stats. If they were holding their own, I'd keep them there, If they were overmatched, I'll drop them down a level.

Thanks.

How important do you think the manager and coaches are? One thing I tend to do initially with any new team I take over is to audit them at all levels. I usually end up firing a ton of them and replacing them with guys who are better with rookies and/or at teaching whatever they coach.

If you really scour the available personnel there tend to be a lot of gems, especially guys who were ex ML players. I sort by experience and look at a lot of the ones with 0 experience and try to hire the ones with the best ratings. Not sure how much impact it has compared to advancing the players properly.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

Thanks.

How important do you think the manager and coaches are? One thing I tend to do initially with any new team I take over is to audit them at all levels. I usually end up firing a ton of them and replacing them with guys who are better with rookies and/or at teaching whatever they coach.

If you really scour the available personnel there tend to be a lot of gems, especially guys who were ex ML players. I sort by experience and look at a lot of the ones with 0 experience and try to hire the ones with the best ratings. Not sure how much impact it has compared to advancing the players properly.

That's hard to say really. I will say this. a player will do better with a better coach. how much better i don't think anyone really knows. I do know that I try to have the best coaches I can get and I usually have success. But I can't really know how much of that is from coaches

[luckymann]

This is a fantastic post J, thanks so much for sharing it. I have printed it off and refer to it regularly when trying to keep my farm ticking along.

Of the many aspects of this game that bring me joy, tracking the progress of prospects as they develop and crawl up through the ranks is right up there. In my main fictional league I have one pitcher who I drafted as a 17yo RP with a profile of 20-45 because I liked his makeup. He started in the lowest level and is now killing it as an SP in AA at age 19 with a profile of 49-60, while my scout rates him at 47-79 as an SP!! It's like he's my son or something I get so happy when he's advanced more - tragic, really!!

It is a lot of work and occasionally drives me bat**** crazy, but I handle all of the call-up / send-down duties myself and track all of my farm system (MLB- thru R) on an Excel spreadsheet, updating it once a month when the Player Dev Report comes through on the 1st.

In doing this I try to "colour-block" at each level (obviously I use numbers rather than stars for ratings). By this I mean I aim to have as much blue and green as possible in my MLB squad, as much green and yellow as possible for my MLB- and AAA squads, as much yellow as possible in my AA squad, and as much orange (or, looking at it from a different angle, as little red) as possible in my A and SA squads. At the R level, I can usually tell how well my whole farm is doing with regard to depth by how many non 20-20 rated players it is comprised of, especially pitchers. I have a no-limit roster at this level and try to cull 20-20 players regularly, usually by age (oldest first) or those with iffy makeup (work ethic particularly).

The one element of the game this leaves you vulnerable to overlooking is, of course, potential. That's where the spreadsheet / regular updating comes into play.

So for example here is my MLB- position players squad. Just looking at it without even examining it more deeply, I can see that I have a lot of good contact hitters who don't walk or strike out much and that my power is limited to too few players. I can see that I am weak at 1B (the #1 guy at that position is on the IL) and strong in the OF.



Anyway, thought I'd share my way of doing things. Hope it's of some interest.

[The Otter]

A couple small notes which I haven't seen discussed...


First is the ability to set "ratings relative to" for your minor league teams. I didn't do this for years, and it's massively helpful for sorting out rosters and making sure you're not way off on talent level. (Obviously, the reliability of this information is subject to your scouts' ability, but being able to drill down and magnify the differences between two guys who might have similar ratings by MLB standards can help with a lot of decisions.)



Second, I don't think it's realistic -- and it may not even be ideal -- to expect every team at every level to be composed entirely, or even mostly, of young prospects playing their first season at the level. A backbone of solid organizational players has a lot of advantages.



It is helpful to keep your elite prospects' morale/team chemistry up -- which means that you at least want to keep their teams competitive. It's also no good if your minor-league pitchers are stuck on a team that allows .400 BABIP or whatever, making it a real nuisance to judge their development based on stats. (Just make sure the organizational guys aren't taking playing time away from the prospects...)



Generally speaking, I find it hard to justify cutting players who can play well at the AA and AAA levels -- say, guys in the 35-45 range on the 20-80 scale. You can't count on lesser prospects to get even that far, and you certainly can't count on them to advance quickly enough to go up a full level every year, so it helps to have plenty of names to fill in the gaps.



(Obviously, once you start getting to guys with 40+ current ratings, you're also talking about potential callups for injury replacements -- and about guys who could be legit bench players/middle relievers/etc. with just a bit of development luck.)



All this is doubly true for players with positive personality traits/types... give me a utility infielder or a fifth starter or whatever who can put up positive WAR in the upper minors, who's also a team captain, and I'll resign him as long as he's willing to take a minor-league deal. (Unless I somehow find myself with several high-level prospects at the same position/on the same level... and honestly, at that point I'm inclined to train one to a new position anyway, or else to trade them.)



(One more small note: an issue I wish they'd resolve is the treatment of two-way players. I can't count how many times I've drafted a pitcher to convert to a hitter (or vice versa, but it's usually that direction), changed his position, unchecked the "use as two-way player" box (or made sure it was already unchecked), and then I come back and find out the minor-league team has made him two-way again. It's frustrating.)

[Cynical]

JPeters, why do you advocate relying on stats instead of ratings? While it's true that scouting in younger players is frequently a bit of a crap-shoot, at the same time, you need at least 390 PA to form a statistically meaningful sample about player performance, and you're not going to get that in a Rookie league or A- season no matter what, and it's a lot for even a "full" minor league season.

[ALB123]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

Ideally, a player should be moving up every season, but that's not practical for every player since there's a whole host of reasons why he could not move up. Players are going to have to repeat sometimes. I wouldn't take my guide and apply the same rules to every player. However, I do have some hard lines that actually follow MiLB roster rules. A player will not spend more than:

3 seasons in rookie(4 for DSL rookie),
4 seasons in A- and below
5 seasons in A and below
6 seasons in A+ and below

So if I have a player that has been a pro for 6 seasons, he must be able to play AA or he's cut. If he's been in my minors for 4 seasons and is not ready for Single A, he gone.

I started to GM my farm system with almost the exact same limits. My farm system is Rookie > Short-Season A > A+ > A+ > AA > AAA -- even though I have two A+ teams (Carolina & Florida Leagues) I often make players play in both, just because there is either no room yet, or more than likely, they just aren't ready for AA quite yet.

Since GM'ing in OOTP, I have gained a huge amount of respect for real-life General Managers and Minor League players. I can't believe how difficult this became for me so quickly.

I have a big problem and I don't know what the heck to do. 20 out of 26 players on my AAA team have Green Arrows. Most of them have been Green for a few years now. These guys are aging, considerably, but they're still better than 90% of my AA team. Over half of those green arrows came from my AA team over the years. Now I feel like I've created a huge traffic jam. But what am I to do? Slowly trade away those green arrow players just so I can keep traffic flowing for lower level players that might never become MLB quality? Trade them away for much less than they're worth because the AI is going to low-ball me when I "Shop Around" those guys.

I currently run the 1988 Yankees. So, I've been blessed with more cash than the average team. Basically, every year I get my hands on a 4-Star or higher Free Agent or two. These are MLB guys near the end of their first contracts and will be looking to get paid handsomely very soon. I have two 36-year-old players on my MLB squad who are still 4-Stars. Goose Gossage and Buddy Bell. I'm so afraid to let'em go and end up on teams that crush me while my 3-star replacements are still adjusting to MLB competition...and might never see 4-stars ever. Goose was a 5-star player for years.

A lot of this is just belly-aching. I'm sure plenty of people are reading this and thinking, "Wow...I wish I had his problems... " I can already see my future where I hang onto these players too long - they turn to crap and the AAA players I've left waiting for their chance are now at an age where I might only get 3-5 really good years from once I finally promote them to The Show.

I pause and think about my beloved real-life Yankees squads of the past. Look at the Core 4 who pretty much all lasted 17-20 years. A-Rod 10 years (7-8 productive). CC 11 years. Among others. I know there is some separation - they didn't all play their entire runs together...but many did! I never really stopped to think, "Wow...I wonder what their poor AAA/AA talent is to do?" I guess I never really put the thought into how long an 8 or 10-year contract really is...

[Cynical]

If you don't trade away decent AA/AAA players yourself, eventually Rule 5 will take them from your hands with you getting nothing in return. If you can't get anything major league ready with them that fills a hole on your team, try to trade them for guys lower in the line.

[phantomtollbooth]

Originally Posted by ALB123

I have a big problem and I don't know what the heck to do. 20 out of 26 players on my AAA team have Green Arrows. Most of them have been Green for a few years now. These guys are aging, considerably, but they're still better than 90% of my AA team. Over half of those green arrows came from my AA team over the years. Now I feel like I've created a huge traffic jam. But what am I to do? Slowly trade away those green arrow players just so I can keep traffic flowing for lower level players that might never become MLB quality? Trade them away for much less than they're worth because the AI is going to low-ball me when I "Shop Around" those guys.

.

Do what big market teams do all the time - package more than one of the prospects together to pick up a veteran stud nobody else can afford to trade for...

[mmarra82]

GM'ing the Rays, sound right?

GCL - Just drafted HS players, some 18y/o international and a few holdovers.

R - 2nd year players out of HS, advanced HS draftees (perhaps drafted high), and 19y/o college/JUCO players.

A- College players drafted, 3rd year HS draftees who have not generated enough AB or IP

A first full season for last year's college draftees, 3rd year HS players. Players who may need some more seasoning due to lack of AB or IP.

A+ Players having completed Single A, some may repeat.

AA Players that completed A+, some may repeat. Top prospects will sit here gaining experience then may jump to AAA for a short stint before ML.

AAA 40 man roster players, players with MLB experience, veteran fillers.

Thank you.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Cynical

If you don't trade away decent AA/AAA players yourself, eventually Rule 5 will take them from your hands with you getting nothing in return. If you can't get anything major league ready with them that fills a hole on your team, try to trade them for guys lower in the line.

Especially taking over an MLB team, I find too many guys like this out of option years that have to be waived back down if called up, or guys about to become free agents. So I'll try to recycle those for guys under contract and with option years left so I can actually play them in the majors to see if they're for real.

[yankeefan1024]

I know you posted this like 6 months ago at this point, but can you post your spreadsheet? if you have it then i would love to see it because it sounds super helpful.


i've come up with a list of factors and guidelines to manage my Minor league system, and am like you in that I promote and demote all guys manually for the most part, but haven't put it all together into something functional and organized like a working excel sheet.


thank you if you ever see this and decide to share the sheet! also if you don't thank you anyway!

Originally Posted by luckymann

This is a fantastic post J, thanks so much for sharing it. I have printed it off and refer to it regularly when trying to keep my farm ticking along.

Of the many aspects of this game that bring me joy, tracking the progress of prospects as they develop and crawl up through the ranks is right up there. In my main fictional league I have one pitcher who I drafted as a 17yo RP with a profile of 20-45 because I liked his makeup. He started in the lowest level and is now killing it as an SP in AA at age 19 with a profile of 49-60, while my scout rates him at 47-79 as an SP!! It's like he's my son or something I get so happy when he's advanced more - tragic, really!!

It is a lot of work and occasionally drives me bat**** crazy, but I handle all of the call-up / send-down duties myself and track all of my farm system (MLB- thru R) on an Excel spreadsheet, updating it once a month when the Player Dev Report comes through on the 1st.

In doing this I try to "colour-block" at each level (obviously I use numbers rather than stars for ratings). By this I mean I aim to have as much blue and green as possible in my MLB squad, as much green and yellow as possible for my MLB- and AAA squads, as much yellow as possible in my AA squad, and as much orange (or, looking at it from a different angle, as little red) as possible in my A and SA squads. At the R level, I can usually tell how well my whole farm is doing with regard to depth by how many non 20-20 rated players it is comprised of, especially pitchers. I have a no-limit roster at this level and try to cull 20-20 players regularly, usually by age (oldest first) or those with iffy makeup (work ethic particularly).

The one element of the game this leaves you vulnerable to overlooking is, of course, potential. That's where the spreadsheet / regular updating comes into play.

So for example here is my MLB- position players squad. Just looking at it without even examining it more deeply, I can see that I have a lot of good contact hitters who don't walk or strike out much and that my power is limited to too few players. I can see that I am weak at 1B (the #1 guy at that position is on the IL) and strong in the OF.



Anyway, thought I'd share my way of doing things. Hope it's of some interest.

[mytreds]

Nice write up. My 2cents is to not wait until spring trainings end to set your rosters. Do it after free agency begins. You can promote/cut at that point and still see their stats from the previous season. If you wait until after Jan 1, stats are reset to 0 and if an extra click or two to see last years statistics. Plus, at free agency, you’ll be signing players to fill your rosters and you won’t know what you need unless you reorganize your minors. Going into ST you’ll know exactly where everyone stands. Waiting until day 1 of the new season feels rushed and you might miss out on good deals in FA.

[Pelican]

Joe, many thanks again for this comprehensive guide. My Orioles just drafted and signed Jack Leiter in the 2021 draft. Per your guidance, I assigned him to A- as an advanced (to say the least) college player. He just threw seven four-hit and one-run innings for the Easton Pilots in the Eastern Shore League. I'll monitor him closely, but suspect he might earn a promotion to A or A+ before the end of the season (currently late July). He could be in AA next year. My other draftees are teenagers, and will be sprinkled among the rookie leagues. I'm excited to watch their progress (or lack thereof) through the system.

My AAA and AA teams have had awful seasons, in part because I promoted some of their best players to the Majors, and in part due to weakness in the organization. I'll follow your advice on promoting those guys from lower levels who deserve it. And I will be aggressive in releasing those guys who simply have not performed at the higher levels. Here's a question. What happens when my AAA or AA roster is a few players short? I don't want to promote anyone too early. Should I look for minor league free agents? Should I try to trade a veteran for a bunch of prospects? Dip into the independent leagues for experienced guys? Thoughts?

[84Cubs]

I love the detail on this. How do you feel about having the CPU manage your minors?

I may run a league with a several friends/noobs who probably won't have the patience or bandwidth to manage it on their own but will undoubtedly get frustrated if none of their players pan out.

[84Cubs]

How many plate appearances and innings pitch do you consider enough of a sample size at a given level? I know you said try to keep them there the whole year, but if a player is killing it what is a good sample size? I've seen somewhere 250 PA and 100 IP. What are your thoughts?

[alphington]

Many thanks Joe for this guide.

I am in the offseason and making steps to implement your suggestions for the coming season. Just wondering if I have understood correctly - I have whittled down my lists but want to ask about putting utility reserves (in case of injuries) on the DFA. My league rule is DFA for 7 days. So I can keep my handful of reserves in DFA but would need to move them out every week say for a day and then move them back to DFA again? Is that what you are meaning? Thanks!

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by alphington

Many thanks Joe for this guide.

I am in the offseason and making steps to implement your suggestions for the coming season. Just wondering if I have understood correctly - I have whittled down my lists but want to ask about putting utility reserves (in case of injuries) on the DFA. My league rule is DFA for 7 days. So I can keep my handful of reserves in DFA but would need to move them out every week say for a day and then move them back to DFA again? Is that what you are meaning? Thanks!

It was my pleasure!

To answer your question, you are correct. And you don't even need to wait a day. You can move a player from the DFA list to a team and back to the DFA list on the same day.

This can turn into a lot of micromanaging, which by reading this guide I assume isn't an issue.