Creating joint minor league + increasing draft pools amount of development

[Cole]

Hi all,

Two quick questions..

I've got a world that has 3 separate leagues joined by association. Each league has 10 major league teams in it (30 teams total).

It's a promotion/relegation league and thus I want to create one minor league with 30 teams in it, so I don't need to worry about moving minor league affiliates. How do I do that in game? I see how to add a 'Double A' league to my game, but it only seems to add it for the league I'm selected on... I can 'add teams' to it, but when I go into the dropdown to select which teams those minor league squads are affiliated with, it only gives me the options of the 10 teams in the league I have selected. So how do I create one Double A level with 30 teams, that covers all 3 of my leagues?

Second question is, I'm looking to make my drafts a bit more like the NFL, where players (especially the early first round guys) are more developed and can jump straight into the major leagues and make an impact (as opposed to having to spend 3 to 6 years in the minors as is common in MLB) ...

I've turned off high school %, so all my draftees are older, which helps. I know I can also increase player development which once they are created will help them reach potential faster.. and I know I can increase the player creation modifiers, but this seems to just make them better overall... ie. they still need to develop, but their ceilings are just higher than they would have been elsewhere. Is there any function or series of functions I can work with to make my draft players more 'developed'/big league ready right out of the gate?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Cole

Hi all,

It's a promotion/relegation league and thus I want to create one minor league with 30 teams in it, so I don't need to worry about moving minor league affiliates. How do I do that in game? I see how to add a 'Double A' league to my game, but it only seems to add it for the league I'm selected on... I can 'add teams' to it, but when I go into the dropdown to select which teams those minor league squads are affiliated with, it only gives me the options of the 10 teams in the league I have selected. So how do I create one Double A level with 30 teams, that covers all 3 of my leagues?
!

To create a AA league with 30 teams in a promotion/relegation league in the game, you can move all the ML teams to the same league and assign them all a AA team. After that, move only the ML teams to different leagues, while the AA league teams remain affiliated with the original ML team.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Cole

Hi all,

Second question is, I'm looking to make my drafts a bit more like the NFL, where players (especially the early first round guys) are more developed and can jump straight into the major leagues and make an impact (as opposed to having to spend 3 to 6 years in the minors as is common in MLB) ...

I've done this many times. it's been awhile since I played so i forget the exact setting, but mess with the development peak setting

[Cole]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

I've done this many times. it's been awhile since I played so i forget the exact setting, but mess with the development peak setting

Thanks for the help. I'll have to go digging, I don't even recall seeing this when I was looking around in league settings in game.

[Dutch Alexander]

Be aware that if one of your Major Leagues does not have a Minor League affiliated then Minor League roster rules are not available for that Major League in the league settings, meaning that players will never be eligible for Minor League Free Agency.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

To create a AA league with 30 teams in a promotion/relegation league in the game, you can move all the ML teams to the same league and assign them all a AA team. After that, move only the ML teams to different leagues, while the AA league teams remain affiliated with the original ML team.

This didn't work. Once I moved the ML teams to their other leagues, the AA teams un-affiliated... And I don't have the option to chose them as an affiliate for any of the 20 other teams...

Any ideas?

[Cole]

Actually I guess they still do have those AA teams, the game just doesn't show them as technically affiliated I guess.

So I'll sim ahead and see how that goes....

[Dutch Alexander]

Originally Posted by Cole

Actually I guess they still do have those AA teams, the game just doesn't show them as technically affiliated I guess.

So I'll sim ahead and see how that goes....

This is not a problem. I have a fictional pro/reg league with 2 levels of Minors, AAA and single A. AAA is affiliated to the primary Major League and single A to the secondary Major league. This means that all ML teams show one Minor League team affiliated and the other not. But if a team promotes or relegated this is switched around, the team that was affiliated now shoes no affiliation and the team that did not show affiliation is now affiliated. So the game still recognizes that both Minor League teams are part of the ML organisation.

Also, as you mentioned, on the team page both Minor League teams are shown and players are moved between the levels without problems. This setup works fine and I have not noticed any issues with it. As I mentioned before do make sure at least one Minor League is affiliated to each Major League. If a Major League does not have a Minor League affiliated then the minimum service years for Minor League free agency cannot be set for that Major League.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Dutch Alexander

As I mentioned before do make sure at least one Minor League is affiliated to each Major League. If a Major League does not have a Minor League affiliated then the minimum service years for Minor League free agency cannot be set for that Major League.

I like a simplified setup and have a smaller draft with more developed players coming through, so as of now I have 3 ML leagues, but only one AA minor league for all 3 leagues. They are in a league association though and I believe one of the shared rules is minor league free agency years?

Would that override it, or am I out of luck on this unless I create 3 total levels of minor leagues?

[Dutch Alexander]

Originally Posted by Cole

They are in a league association though and I believe one of the shared rules is minor league free agency years?

Would that override it, or am I out of luck on this unless I create 3 total levels of minor leagues?

I checked it to make sure and it turns out what I said is incorrect. While it is true that the option to set minimum service years for Minor League free agency for that Major League in the league options is not available this actually causes no issues. The game will recognize the Minor League rules of the Major League it is affiliated to and these rules apply to all teams and players in that Minor League. Even if a Minor League team is not affiliated to an ML team in that particular Major League.

So you are good to go, no need to change anything. I noticed in the past that Minor League options in the League setup are not available if no Minor League is affiliated and I assumed this meant players would not reach Minor League free agancy. But my assumption was wrong.