Keeping Up with minor leagues?

22tbrads22 · 01-15-2018, 06:49 PM

How do you guys keep up with the minor leagues in your sims? about 5 years in I struggle to know anyone in other teams systems and I lose some of the interest in that sim. Any Ideas?

RchW · 01-15-2018, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 22tbrads22

How do you guys keep up with the minor leagues in your sims? about 5 years in I struggle to know anyone in other teams systems and I lose some of the interest in that sim. Any Ideas?

I keep up by checking the prospects list and shortlisting those who interest me. I add some lesser prospects who may have one or two skills I like. . That way I get notified when something happens. Sometimes too many notices come and I have to drop them but for the most part the AI is not looking to trade top prospects for my type of player. Use a custom filter (age/position) on the FA list to catch the odd prospect that may get released. This is useful when you lose half your catchers to the minor league DL.

To me the minor leagues are background noise. I can tune in when necessary and catch up 2-3 times a season. I never lose interest especially in late bloomers

Curve Ball Dave · 01-15-2018, 07:47 PM

I check my minor leagues at least once a week to see who is doing what. Once a month I'll check the leader boards for the various leagues. I'm more interested in the minor league systems of some teams as opposed to others. I'll check their prospects on the those teams' home pages. I'll also periodically take a look at the Top Prospects list and get a look at how some guys are doing. If I'm targeting a trade, the Top Prospects list is my source.

Mr. Marlin · 01-16-2018, 01:43 AM

This is actually a big part of my job when I'm the GM. I read the first two pages of each minor league's newspaper once or twice a week. I keep very close watch on my own teams. But I only play a fictional set up where each team has one minor league affiliate at each level and there are four levels. So it's much more manageable than a current game with real teams or a historical game.

NoOne · 01-16-2018, 03:15 PM

i get more high-end prospects from trading for MiL prospects from other teams than the draft. If you are in a similar situation, make sure to spend more on MiL scouting than the draft.

at normal scouting with good scout and lots of money, you can reliably filter and scan over lists of players. shortlist them, like others said above. Not only that, scouting of mil players with experience is vastly more accurate than draftees. age, years of exp, mil level all improve accuracy of scouting. it may cost more, but you will make far fewer mistakes, and that can easily balance out.

batters are easy. the best sluggers will have the highest potentials - 80/100 con/power potential is going to be ~72-80/80 every time. good sluggers will still be quite high, slightly lower con pot could take them to ~50 potential easily. leadoff-type guys can be a bit sneaky if you only sort by potential - easily sub 50 in some cases. sorting by Con Pot can easily find them. if bottom of the barrel search, sort by eye pot and find a high con pot with decent eye or better.

i filter and sort for pitchers in multiple ways -- not just due to role but also age. Stuff doesn't necessarily read correcly for sub-21 because they have a chance of velo increases. try sorting those by control/movement. look for players that stand out in the top 20-30 players or so. (in addition to potential - less useful for younger players, but still useful)

21+ - potential is best, stuff is fully formed and trustworthy. sorting by that can find the better RP/CL for sure... use of basic move/con pot filters makes it easier on the eyes.

initially shortist more than you think... over time you'll be more precise and slim the lists down to only what you need. it doesn't have to be time intensive. incremental effort can be minimal. have common sense... if you don't ahve the assets for a HoF prospects, don't look for one. if you plan ahead well, you should be looking for a hof prospect though

the only one you should keep up on a yearly basis is SP. on average you need a new SP every 2-2.5years. it's best to have several options, not 1 or 2 FAs and whomever you drafted a few years ago.

Juggernt · 01-18-2018, 12:39 AM

I'm still baffled by what makes the minors tick. The report from the league pull-down menu tells me I'm ranked 6th, as does my Player Development Report. My owner keeps complaining that I haven't built a top 5 system, and he thinks we're ranked 11th.

r0nster · 01-18-2018, 08:03 AM

I keep a sharp eye on the AA and AAA teams and often try to help each one by going the FA route about Feb and get them cheap and stick them in minors as they would take minor league contracts. Once in a while you get a Jewel.
Keep looking for Coaches to improve as I sign them to low minors and bring them up to AAA $$$ saved.
When a player hits 33 or 34 I trade them for minor league players unless I am thin at a position I need in the majors as no replacement or player not ready to be called up yet.. Every 5 years I rebuild the minor and then 2nd 5 years I gut them.

Curve Ball Dave · 01-18-2018, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r0nster

When a player hits 33 or 34 I trade them for minor league players...

I don't know what your trade difficulty settings are, but I'm never able to flip veterans that old for prospects.

r0nster · 01-18-2018, 11:01 AM

mine is at the default setting and not sure what its called and I don't always get the prospects I desire and usually end up with less but the thing that saves my behind is my coaching for the minors. more often than not I usually wont get much if anything for them. Its better than getting nothing in return. I will look for teams who are desperate for a winner during July sometimes I get better luck there. Does help to pay a portion of salary too. There is usually more than one way to skin a cat as the saying goes.

Mr. Marlin · 01-18-2018, 11:14 AM

IMO to have minor league teams be productive you have to be "hands on" with them. I micro manage mine pretty extensively. That is one of the reasons I set up my game to have just 4 per team and cap the rosters at 28 for the 3 "A" teams on 35 for the Rookie team.

My rookie league teams are my only half season team. At the end of every season I evaluate my entire farm system. There are five key stats I look at and I evaluate ever player on improvement based on innings played. I'm my AA first baseman has not improved and my A first baseman did the AA guy gets cut and replaced with the A guy. It's either up or out with me. I don't keep guys lingering in my minor league system for years on end. I have a 20 round draft and a 35 man roster on my rookie league so 20 players will be automatically promoted to A or released. You get two seasons at rookie level with me. If you don't improve you're gone.

I play stats only so I can't see their ratings or potential ratings. My decisions are based solely on their numbers. If they are no improving they are leaving.

That's how I do it. I can usually count on 1-3 players per season moving up from AAA to the big club. I think I'm fairly successful with this method.

NoOne · 01-18-2018, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juggernt

I'm still baffled by what makes the minors tick. The report from the league pull-down menu tells me I'm ranked 6th, as does my Player Development Report. My owner keeps complaining that I haven't built a top 5 system, and he thinks we're ranked 11th.

that's just to stroke our egos. if you do things right you'll be top-5 consistently or maybe 1st all the time etc. winning in the MiL doesn't require top talent. having the "right" prospects timed with future needs is a better goal, regardless of ranking.

owner goals are upto you. i find them annoying and detrimental to winning. if oyu choose to keep them on, that's a slight change to what i said above.. depending on how happy your owner is with you, you may want to pick the glitzier prospects -- rated more highly by you and osa etc. owner goals don't all have to be met, but a certain portion relative to team success must be met or you get fired. (if you can't be fired, who cares)

Stat-only would be tough beyond promotions. it would be very unclear early on in any career who the superstars are OR you'd havae to let them waste a year in AAA as a behemoth and suitable sample size. stats will tell you the same things, merely X-sample size 'later' as accurate ratings. Translating AAA-baseline to MLB-baseline expectations is neccessary too. even promotions have to lag a bit. slows things down for sure from an information standpoint. you could be more proactive and demote when they sink instead of swim at next level.

Curve Ball Dave · 01-18-2018, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoOne

winning in the MiL doesn't require top talent. having the "right" prospects timed with future needs is a better goal, regardless of ranking.

Exactly. You can easily have a winning MiL team by stocking it with guys who should be at a higher level, even if they aren't great prospects. Often guys tearing up a minor league are star and a half guys who are simply more developed than the competition.

The most important thing your minor league system needs to do is produce the player you need when you need it. If you know your roster already before Spring Training even begins, it doesn't matter if you don't have any top prospects ready to crack the starting lineup. As I wrote before, if your only roster opening is for a utility infielder and you have three guys who aren't top 100 guys to chose from, but are what you need then your system is meeting your needs. You can have the #1 ranked system based on prospect ratings, but if all of those guys are in the low minors three years away at least, and you need five guys on the ML roster right now that #1 ranking means nothing.

Never mind your system ranking and your minor league W/L records. Judge your system on whether it's meeting the needs of your team at moment.

22tbrads22 · 01-18-2018, 03:10 PM

love the replies but I was talking about more of the other teams prospects and keeping up with them so by the time I face those teams I'm not completely confused on who they have. like right now I come into a game I know I have to watch out for Cody Bellinger coming up for the dodgers or gleyber torres for the yanks etc. I just have trouble keeping up after a few years and wanted tips on that. I do pretty fine with my own MIL

Curve Ball Dave · 01-18-2018, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 22tbrads22

love the replies but I was talking about more of the other teams prospects and keeping up with them so by the time I face those teams I'm not completely confused on who they have. like right now I come into a game I know I have to watch out for Cody Bellinger coming up for the dodgers or gleyber torres for the yanks etc. I just have trouble keeping up after a few years and wanted tips on that. I do pretty fine with my own MIL

Shortlist guys, check the MiLB leader boards periodically, check the Top Prospects list from time to time to see how guys are doing, and check team home pages which will have the teams' top prospects listed. It takes effort, there's no fast way of doing it, there's a lot to keep track of.

Marsupilami · 01-19-2018, 08:51 AM

to respond to OP.

i simply dont. caring about minor leagues is totally overrated.

Mr. Marlin · 01-19-2018, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 22tbrads22

love the replies but I was talking about more of the other teams prospects and keeping up with them so by the time I face those teams I'm not completely confused on who they have. like right now I come into a game I know I have to watch out for Cody Bellinger coming up for the dodgers or gleyber torres for the yanks etc. I just have trouble keeping up after a few years and wanted tips on that. I do pretty fine with my own MIL

In that case the league newspapers are the best way to keep track of the movers and shakers in the minors. Check them once or twice a week. The big names appear regularly I've noticed and it is quick and bite-sized info.

Juggernt · 01-19-2018, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marsupilami

to respond to OP.

i simply dont. caring about minor leagues is totally overrated.

Perhaps in the modern era it is, but in the time I'm playing (early-mid 70s) developing a farm system was really important. PLUS, it's one of my owner's goals, and I wouldn't mind keeping him happy (although it's not like he's going to fire me--we've won 6 AL crowns in a row). Mostly, I'm just trying to understand why he thinks one thing and my scout thinks another. Is he just concerned with W/L records and the scout is evaluating how much talent we have?

NoOne · 01-19-2018, 06:43 PM

well that sounds more about mlb scouting...

if you have ratings on, look at rating and you will see a cody bellinger stand out. don't react to 1-data point sample sizes. so what if this "50pow" guy hit 3hr off you the last game... he's a 50power guy and that hasn't changed!

stats-only and no overall/pot is a different story. with no track record, mil power #'s don't tell you much. it may help push odds in the favor of your guess, but it's still amounting to more of a guess due to the lack of correlation. an obp-type guy might be easier to predict than a slugger from mil stats.

incremental effort as far as keeping up with talent. multitasked with other things, it may not even be extra effort.

e.g.

you probably sift through draft pool a bit before draft. prime time to shortlist a few names here and there... maybe sort by position etc even a shortlist per position if you want to avoid filering/sorting a large list.

at some point during year, you probabyl want to sift through MiL players using various sorting methods i brought up in previous post -- similar to drafting (if not this post another recent one, lol)

starting from scratch may take some effort/time. Once you get going, once you know what you want to shortlist (range of qualities), it will be very little incremental effort each calendar year. 5-10mins? 10mins of searching would be quite in-depth. 3-5m probably more accurate?

22tbrads22 · 01-22-2018, 02:50 PM

Thanks for all the great responses. this is what makes OOTP one of the best games out there, the community is great.

Juggernt · 01-23-2018, 09:43 AM

One of the unanswered questions is what criteria are the owner and the minor league scouting report basing their ratings on? They're clearly different (since the numbers are different) and the owner's rating is more dynamic than the scouting report, which seems pretty static and only (at least through my observation) changes once a year.

So how do the two of these things come up with their numbers?

01-15-2018, 07:47 PM	#3
Curve Ball Dave Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 2,271	I check my minor leagues at least once a week to see who is doing what. Once a month I'll check the leader boards for the various leagues. I'm more interested in the minor league systems of some teams as opposed to others. I'll check their prospects on the those teams' home pages. I'll also periodically take a look at the Top Prospects list and get a look at how some guys are doing. If I'm targeting a trade, the Top Prospects list is my source. __________________ "Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing"-Warren Spahn.

01-19-2018, 08:51 AM	#15
Marsupilami Major Leagues Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 328	to respond to OP. i simply dont. caring about minor leagues is totally overrated. __________________ ABL 2020 - Brewers

01-15-2018, 06:49 PM	#1
22tbrads22 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 140	Keeping Up with minor leagues? How do you guys keep up with the minor leagues in your sims? about 5 years in I struggle to know anyone in other teams systems and I lose some of the interest in that sim. Any Ideas?

01-16-2018, 01:43 AM	#4
Mr. Marlin All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,245	This is actually a big part of my job when I'm the GM. I read the first two pages of each minor league's newspaper once or twice a week. I keep very close watch on my own teams. But I only play a fictional set up where each team has one minor league affiliate at each level and there are four levels. So it's much more manageable than a current game with real teams or a historical game.

01-16-2018, 03:15 PM	#5
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,167	i get more high-end prospects from trading for MiL prospects from other teams than the draft. If you are in a similar situation, make sure to spend more on MiL scouting than the draft. at normal scouting with good scout and lots of money, you can reliably filter and scan over lists of players. shortlist them, like others said above. Not only that, scouting of mil players with experience is vastly more accurate than draftees. age, years of exp, mil level all improve accuracy of scouting. it may cost more, but you will make far fewer mistakes, and that can easily balance out. batters are easy. the best sluggers will have the highest potentials - 80/100 con/power potential is going to be ~72-80/80 every time. good sluggers will still be quite high, slightly lower con pot could take them to ~50 potential easily. leadoff-type guys can be a bit sneaky if you only sort by potential - easily sub 50 in some cases. sorting by Con Pot can easily find them. if bottom of the barrel search, sort by eye pot and find a high con pot with decent eye or better. i filter and sort for pitchers in multiple ways -- not just due to role but also age. Stuff doesn't necessarily read correcly for sub-21 because they have a chance of velo increases. try sorting those by control/movement. look for players that stand out in the top 20-30 players or so. (in addition to potential - less useful for younger players, but still useful) 21+ - potential is best, stuff is fully formed and trustworthy. sorting by that can find the better RP/CL for sure... use of basic move/con pot filters makes it easier on the eyes. initially shortist more than you think... over time you'll be more precise and slim the lists down to only what you need. it doesn't have to be time intensive. incremental effort can be minimal. have common sense... if you don't ahve the assets for a HoF prospects, don't look for one. if you plan ahead well, you should be looking for a hof prospect though the only one you should keep up on a yearly basis is SP. on average you need a new SP every 2-2.5years. it's best to have several options, not 1 or 2 FAs and whomever you drafted a few years ago.

01-18-2018, 12:39 AM	#6
Juggernt Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 357	I'm still baffled by what makes the minors tick. The report from the league pull-down menu tells me I'm ranked 6th, as does my Player Development Report. My owner keeps complaining that I haven't built a top 5 system, and he thinks we're ranked 11th.

01-18-2018, 08:03 AM	#7
r0nster Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 3,002	I keep a sharp eye on the AA and AAA teams and often try to help each one by going the FA route about Feb and get them cheap and stick them in minors as they would take minor league contracts. Once in a while you get a Jewel. Keep looking for Coaches to improve as I sign them to low minors and bring them up to AAA $$$ saved. When a player hits 33 or 34 I trade them for minor league players unless I am thin at a position I need in the majors as no replacement or player not ready to be called up yet.. Every 5 years I rebuild the minor and then 2nd 5 years I gut them.

01-18-2018, 11:01 AM	#9
r0nster Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 3,002	mine is at the default setting and not sure what its called and I don't always get the prospects I desire and usually end up with less but the thing that saves my behind is my coaching for the minors. more often than not I usually wont get much if anything for them. Its better than getting nothing in return. I will look for teams who are desperate for a winner during July sometimes I get better luck there. Does help to pay a portion of salary too. There is usually more than one way to skin a cat as the saying goes.

01-18-2018, 11:14 AM	#10
Mr. Marlin All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,245	IMO to have minor league teams be productive you have to be "hands on" with them. I micro manage mine pretty extensively. That is one of the reasons I set up my game to have just 4 per team and cap the rosters at 28 for the 3 "A" teams on 35 for the Rookie team. My rookie league teams are my only half season team. At the end of every season I evaluate my entire farm system. There are five key stats I look at and I evaluate ever player on improvement based on innings played. I'm my AA first baseman has not improved and my A first baseman did the AA guy gets cut and replaced with the A guy. It's either up or out with me. I don't keep guys lingering in my minor league system for years on end. I have a 20 round draft and a 35 man roster on my rookie league so 20 players will be automatically promoted to A or released. You get two seasons at rookie level with me. If you don't improve you're gone. I play stats only so I can't see their ratings or potential ratings. My decisions are based solely on their numbers. If they are no improving they are leaving. That's how I do it. I can usually count on 1-3 players per season moving up from AAA to the big club. I think I'm fairly successful with this method.

01-18-2018, 03:10 PM	#13
22tbrads22 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 140	love the replies but I was talking about more of the other teams prospects and keeping up with them so by the time I face those teams I'm not completely confused on who they have. like right now I come into a game I know I have to watch out for Cody Bellinger coming up for the dodgers or gleyber torres for the yanks etc. I just have trouble keeping up after a few years and wanted tips on that. I do pretty fine with my own MIL

01-19-2018, 06:43 PM	#18
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,167	well that sounds more about mlb scouting... if you have ratings on, look at rating and you will see a cody bellinger stand out. don't react to 1-data point sample sizes. so what if this "50pow" guy hit 3hr off you the last game... he's a 50power guy and that hasn't changed! stats-only and no overall/pot is a different story. with no track record, mil power #'s don't tell you much. it may help push odds in the favor of your guess, but it's still amounting to more of a guess due to the lack of correlation. an obp-type guy might be easier to predict than a slugger from mil stats. incremental effort as far as keeping up with talent. multitasked with other things, it may not even be extra effort. e.g. you probably sift through draft pool a bit before draft. prime time to shortlist a few names here and there... maybe sort by position etc even a shortlist per position if you want to avoid filering/sorting a large list. at some point during year, you probabyl want to sift through MiL players using various sorting methods i brought up in previous post -- similar to drafting (if not this post another recent one, lol) starting from scratch may take some effort/time. Once you get going, once you know what you want to shortlist (range of qualities), it will be very little incremental effort each calendar year. 5-10mins? 10mins of searching would be quite in-depth. 3-5m probably more accurate?

01-22-2018, 02:50 PM	#19
22tbrads22 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 140	Thanks for all the great responses. this is what makes OOTP one of the best games out there, the community is great.

01-23-2018, 09:43 AM	#20
Juggernt Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 357	One of the unanswered questions is what criteria are the owner and the minor league scouting report basing their ratings on? They're clearly different (since the numbers are different) and the owner's rating is more dynamic than the scouting report, which seems pretty static and only (at least through my observation) changes once a year. So how do the two of these things come up with their numbers?