Promoting/demoting in the minors

[crewey]

After playing a few fictional saves with only 2 or 3 levels of minors as people here have suggested, I'm now playing my first season in the Majors with all minor leagues available.

I usually have a read of my minor league report every 3 or 4 weeks to see who i'm gonna move up and down.

I've got a situation where nearly all of my Batters playing short season A are not performing and the suggestion is they are all moved to play rookie ball.

If I demote these players i'll leave my short season A - roster with about 2 or 3 batters and I dont really have the players at my rookie league team that are ready to move up.

Will the game just play with ghost players if I demote these players?

will it mess up my farm system by essentially not having a full roster at one of my minor league teams?

Any advice appreciated as always.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by crewey

After playing a few fictional saves with only 2 or 3 levels of minors as people here have suggested, I'm now playing my first season in the Majors with all minor leagues available.

I usually have a read of my minor league report every 3 or 4 weeks to see who i'm gonna move up and down.

I've got a situation where nearly all of my Batters playing short season A are not performing and the suggestion is they are all moved to play rookie ball.

If I demote these players i'll leave my short season A - roster with about 2 or 3 batters and I dont really have the players at my rookie league team that are ready to move up.

Will the game just play with ghost players if I demote these players?

will it mess up my farm system by essentially not having a full roster at one of my minor league teams?

Any advice appreciated as always.

Well, I don't think the game will proceed if you don't have a full roster in the minor leagues and you don't have the ghost players option set (League Setup, Options, Player Options). Also, what's realistic? Would a GM actually move nearly an entire offensive squad down a level? Better perhaps to look more closely at the situation, at recent stats for example, and be selective. The AI is not always correct in its assessment, which is both fortunate and unfortunate depending on how you look at it.

EDIT: The move should not affect the development of the 2 or 3 batters left at short season A, if that is your question, but you are going to have to either restock that level with minor league free agents or switch on the ghost players option.

[crewey]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Well, I don't think the game will proceed if you don't have a full roster in the minor leagues and you don't have the ghost players option set (League Setup, Options, Player Options). Also, what's realistic? Would a GM actually move nearly an entire offensive squad down a level? Better perhaps to look more closely at the situation, at recent stats for example, and be selective. The AI is not always correct in its assessment, which is both fortunate and unfortunate depending on how you look at it.

EDIT: The move should not affect the development of the 2 or 3 batters left at short season A, if that is your question, but you are going to have to either restock that level with minor league free agents or switch on the ghost players option.

Just the sort of advice I was after thanks.

[Orcin]

My advice is to make sure that the guys with potential are at the right level. The rest don't matter too much.

[thevaliantx]

I generally go with promoting and demoting based on their current stats, with perhaps a look at their history, rather than going on potential. I may be wrong on this one, and perhaps too much a purist, but after the draft the word 'potential' doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Sure, I'm guilty of looking at the pretty bar graphs and placing a guy in the lineup based on those graphs (pretending during a game to think "Joe here is known to be a better power hitter against righties), but I prefer to go all stats.

What 1998 Yankees suggested is excellent advice. You should never stop selecting based on a trait (or stat) that the majority possess, dig deeper until the similarities stop.

[Cinnamon J. Scudworth]

Also, you may not want to promote or demote as frequently. I usually make moves at the beginning of the season and after the draft, but usually leave things alone to give players a chance to acclimate (except for injury replacement reasons, of course). If they haven't gotten better by the end of the year, then I take a harder look.