How do you deal with the low minors & so many players?

Fronzizzle · 05-21-2014, 08:58 PM

I suppose this is really two questions, but they are somewhat related...

I'm finishing up my third season, and I'm tired of dealing with the low minor leagues. I play as GM of the Tigers and I have AAA, AA, two A teams, a short-season team and three rookie league teams. I've tried to let the computer manage some of these, but they make some screwy decisions like benching my high-potential SS for some guy that's older with a half-star rating. But separate of a few players here and there, most of my rookie and short-season teams are stocked with 1-star players or less. With three seasons complete, I'm not really seeing a benefit to having these teams, the only good prospects I end up with come from the draft and I typically start them no lower than short-season ball.

Is there a way to eliminate some of these - say, my three rookie league affiliates - now? Or is that only possible from a new game?

Somewhat related, every year after the draft I find myself going through the three rookie teams, the short season team and both A teams to figure out which players need to be assigned where, which ones should play, etc. After the first few rounds of the draft, most of the players are 0.5 stars so I end up with three full teams of these types of players. I tried to shorten the draft, but as soon as I do it says that doing so will eventually lead to the game running out of players. Not sure what or how the best way to handle all of this is.

olivertheorem · 05-21-2014, 09:43 PM

Firstly, a guy with a potential cap of 1 star can still end up a viable big-leaguer. That 1-star rating covers a HUGE variance in actual ability, from the guys who can't make it out of rookie ball to fringe starters in the bigs. You have to look at the component ratings to see which 1-stars might be able to develop a little.

Second, those 1-star players can have potential gains that make them useful 1-stars (or even higher), so it's worth keeping them around at least a season or two. Most of your minors is going to be made up of 1-star organizational filler anyway.

Third, you could switch to using ghost players so you don't have to keep all the teams fully stocked. I don't like playing that way, but it might work for you.

HolyCow98 · 05-21-2014, 09:44 PM

In my game...I prefer to have:
1 AAA team
1 AA team
1 A team
1 SA team
1 Rookie team

I usually have 25-30 round drafts depending on which league I'm using. Each season after the draft I end up making cuts to get the rookie level down to 30-35 players. I also usually automatically cut or promote to A ball any player once they hit 20 years old. So basically... I prune my low minors once per season after the June draft.

If you delete the team the players end up getting released into the FA pool. Do this in the off season though...if you do it mid season the schedule missing a team will cause problems.

I know what you mean...it feels like you are dealing with so many 0.5 prospects. Those guys I give a little time to get a talent boost...usually until they turn 20 years old...and then I cut em to make room for the next crop of 18-19 year old freshly drafted players. I repeat and rinse hoping that a couple of them will get talent boosts.

stealofhome · 05-22-2014, 12:01 AM

There is a setting to force the league to use potential instead of current ratings. I like to set which players are in which level, force start the top prospects in the position I want them (set game strategy on right click) and then ask the manager to set the lineups and depth charts. It makes me still feel involved without all the extra minutiae.

Rockfan616 · 05-22-2014, 12:18 AM

I know one thing I've noticed is that a lot of the college players with the most potential after the draft usually end up in either High A ball or sometimes even AA if they are very advanced. I went thru my first amatuer draft a week or two ago and I've got like 6 players already whom I drafted in AA and some are in High A. Mostly the high school players and the ones from the DSL or VSL are the ones on the low minors teams, I'm not sure if that's how it worked with your league or not but it did in mine. That helps parse the talent in the lower minors a little bit. I know what your saying though, it does get kind of frustrating dealing with those leagues but sometimes you get a diamond in the rough who has been developing for 5-6 years come into the league and become a very serviceable player. Be patient man, cut who you think won't make it and the rest will do pretty well wherever you assign them.

MizzouRah · 05-22-2014, 12:26 AM

I just let the CPU control those teams.

The Wolf · 05-22-2014, 01:05 AM

You can always just use reserve rosters instead of minor league teams. Players still progress and there's much less micromanagement or AI management.

Try it, you might like it.

jaysdailydose · 05-22-2014, 01:08 AM

As others have said, there is definitely a benefit to having all of those players -- some of them may come in very handy someday, even if the majority of them are organizational filler.

With the Tigers example, I tend to put my Venezuelan rookies in the VSL, Dominicans in the DSL, as much as possible -- to make it easier on tracking such a large system.

But, unless you're playing stats only, the majority of your info is at your fingertips anyway, so I guess it doesn't bother me -- even if my preferred way of play is 4 levels in a fictional league (AAA, AA, A and Rookie ball.)

ctorg · 05-22-2014, 09:07 AM

Every season, I sort my lowest minor league teams by age. Anyone who is 24 or older and sitting in the low minors is probably not going to amount to much, so I pretty much release all of them. Then I'll look through the 23 year olds and get rid of any guys with a potential of 1 star or less. That usually thins things out enough that I can look at individuals who are on the fringe and decide whether to keep them.

I do similar things with higher level minors, but I'm more careful there. If a guy has managed to make it to AAA, despite having a half-star potential, sometimes he's more useful than his star rating might indicate (i.e., a good fielder or a fast runner or something).

Fyrestorm3 · 05-22-2014, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

Is there a way to eliminate some of these - say, my three rookie league affiliates - now? Or is that only possible from a new game?

Since no one answered this part of the post...

Absolutely. You can go to the League Setup page for whatever minor league you want and select either "Edit League Structure," which will allow you to delete individual teams (note that you should only do this in the offseason or preseason, and make sure to generate a new schedule for the league after), or "Delete this League" to get rid of the entire league. Just make sure you move any prospects you want to keep off of the team(s) getting deleted, or they'll be thrown into the FA pool.

Personally, whenever I start an MLB game, I go through and edit the minor leagues to make sure every team has just one minor league affiliate at every level (AAA, AA, A, SA, R), for simplicity's sake. I followed LGO's suggestion from an earlier thread here and demoted the Midwest and South Atlantic Leagues to SA, demoted the New York-Penn and Northwest Leagues to R, and deleted the Appalachian, Arizona and Gulf Coast leagues. You then have to go through and change one or two affiliations to make everything even out, but it works like a charm.

rferry · 05-22-2014, 01:14 PM

I like large minor leagues. In MLB leagues, I tend to make leagues in Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Plains, South Texas and/or Four Corners. The result is everyone gets 8 minor league clubs plus VSL/DSL and all parts of North America (except Alaska & Hawaii) have affiliate clubs.

As to handling them, I use ages. I really only micro-manage the careers of 100 or so in the organization - generally top picks and high talent stars. For some, that may be merely limited to a monthly review of their progress and assigning them a set position on a club. The rest I leave their development to chance, and sometimes they replace one of the 100. If by age 24 or 5 years after your draft class, you get released unless there's position scarcity. I find other teams are less patient so I'll check the free agents list for young left-handed pitchers, left/switch-hitting catchers and infielders and defensive studs to see if I can find a gem.

Assos · 05-22-2014, 01:47 PM

Something I tried back in 13, I set up a completely non-affiliated Minor League and all of the cut players went there as free agents. Now it was hard to try to grab them back, I wish there would have been a purchase player button. I have not tried this in 15 yet.

Fronzizzle · 05-22-2014, 08:05 PM

Thanks for all the responses. Lots of good information.

I think I'm going to use a combination of these suggestions. Right now, my plan is to get rid of the DSL and VSL teams, make one team each in AAA, AA, A, Short A and Rookie. Then, do the "set game strategy" and force my higher-potential players to start at what position I want, then let the computer manage the rest. I think doing this will make the game much less cumbersome and much more enjoyable for me.

Thanks again!

Fronzizzle · 05-22-2014, 08:35 PM

Sorry, two more questions...

The Reserve Rosters - what is that, exactly?

Does anyone have any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages to eliminating just my teams versus an entire league? Of course, if I kill just my VSL and DSL teams, that means other organizations have more players in the minors to pull from, but other than that...anything or any reason to do one or the other?

jaysdailydose · 05-22-2014, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

Sorry, two more questions...

The Reserve Rosters - what is that, exactly?

Does anyone have any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages to eliminating just my teams versus an entire league? Of course, if I kill just my VSL and DSL teams, that means other organizations have more players in the minors to pull from, but other than that...anything or any reason to do one or the other?

Well, you would bork the schedules for the VSL and DSL... that'd be one major disadvantage.

The Wolf · 05-22-2014, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

Sorry, two more questions...

The Reserve Rosters - what is that, exactly?

Does anyone have any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages to eliminating just my teams versus an entire league? Of course, if I kill just my VSL and DSL teams, that means other organizations have more players in the minors to pull from, but other than that...anything or any reason to do one or the other?

Out of the Park Baseball Manual

05-21-2014, 08:58 PM	#1
Fronzizzle Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 177	How do you deal with the low minors & so many players? I suppose this is really two questions, but they are somewhat related... I'm finishing up my third season, and I'm tired of dealing with the low minor leagues. I play as GM of the Tigers and I have AAA, AA, two A teams, a short-season team and three rookie league teams. I've tried to let the computer manage some of these, but they make some screwy decisions like benching my high-potential SS for some guy that's older with a half-star rating. But separate of a few players here and there, most of my rookie and short-season teams are stocked with 1-star players or less. With three seasons complete, I'm not really seeing a benefit to having these teams, the only good prospects I end up with come from the draft and I typically start them no lower than short-season ball. Is there a way to eliminate some of these - say, my three rookie league affiliates - now? Or is that only possible from a new game? Somewhat related, every year after the draft I find myself going through the three rookie teams, the short season team and both A teams to figure out which players need to be assigned where, which ones should play, etc. After the first few rounds of the draft, most of the players are 0.5 stars so I end up with three full teams of these types of players. I tried to shorten the draft, but as soon as I do it says that doing so will eventually lead to the game running out of players. Not sure what or how the best way to handle all of this is.

05-21-2014, 09:44 PM	#3
HolyCow98 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Douglasville, GA Posts: 2,735	In my game...I prefer to have: 1 AAA team 1 AA team 1 A team 1 SA team 1 Rookie team I usually have 25-30 round drafts depending on which league I'm using. Each season after the draft I end up making cuts to get the rookie level down to 30-35 players. I also usually automatically cut or promote to A ball any player once they hit 20 years old. So basically... I prune my low minors once per season after the June draft. If you delete the team the players end up getting released into the FA pool. Do this in the off season though...if you do it mid season the schedule missing a team will cause problems. I know what you mean...it feels like you are dealing with so many 0.5 prospects. Those guys I give a little time to get a talent boost...usually until they turn 20 years old...and then I cut em to make room for the next crop of 18-19 year old freshly drafted players. I repeat and rinse hoping that a couple of them will get talent boosts. __________________ NPBL Enjoying its 60th season Georgia GM

05-22-2014, 01:08 AM	#8
jaysdailydose Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 2,325	As others have said, there is definitely a benefit to having all of those players -- some of them may come in very handy someday, even if the majority of them are organizational filler. With the Tigers example, I tend to put my Venezuelan rookies in the VSL, Dominicans in the DSL, as much as possible -- to make it easier on tracking such a large system. But, unless you're playing stats only, the majority of your info is at your fingertips anyway, so I guess it doesn't bother me -- even if my preferred way of play is 4 levels in a fictional league (AAA, AA, A and Rookie ball.) __________________ Manager - Motor City Marshals Perfect Manager/Discord Name: jaysdailydose

05-22-2014, 09:07 AM	#9
ctorg Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 9,848	Every season, I sort my lowest minor league teams by age. Anyone who is 24 or older and sitting in the low minors is probably not going to amount to much, so I pretty much release all of them. Then I'll look through the 23 year olds and get rid of any guys with a potential of 1 star or less. That usually thins things out enough that I can look at individuals who are on the fringe and decide whether to keep them. I do similar things with higher level minors, but I'm more careful there. If a guy has managed to make it to AAA, despite having a half-star potential, sometimes he's more useful than his star rating might indicate (i.e., a good fielder or a fast runner or something). __________________ My music "When the trees blow back and forth, that's what makes the wind." - Steven Wright Fjord emena pancreas thorax fornicate marmalade morpheme proteolysis smaxa cabana offal srue vitriol grope hallelujah lentils

05-22-2014, 01:14 PM	#11
rferry All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2002 Location: DC Posts: 549	I like large minor leagues. In MLB leagues, I tend to make leagues in Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Plains, South Texas and/or Four Corners. The result is everyone gets 8 minor league clubs plus VSL/DSL and all parts of North America (except Alaska & Hawaii) have affiliate clubs. As to handling them, I use ages. I really only micro-manage the careers of 100 or so in the organization - generally top picks and high talent stars. For some, that may be merely limited to a monthly review of their progress and assigning them a set position on a club. The rest I leave their development to chance, and sometimes they replace one of the 100. If by age 24 or 5 years after your draft class, you get released unless there's position scarcity. I find other teams are less patient so I'll check the free agents list for young left-handed pitchers, left/switch-hitting catchers and infielders and defensive studs to see if I can find a gem. __________________ please excuse my grammar, i read baseball weekly in my high school english classes.

05-21-2014, 09:43 PM	#2
olivertheorem All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,919	Firstly, a guy with a potential cap of 1 star can still end up a viable big-leaguer. That 1-star rating covers a HUGE variance in actual ability, from the guys who can't make it out of rookie ball to fringe starters in the bigs. You have to look at the component ratings to see which 1-stars might be able to develop a little. Second, those 1-star players can have potential gains that make them useful 1-stars (or even higher), so it's worth keeping them around at least a season or two. Most of your minors is going to be made up of 1-star organizational filler anyway. Third, you could switch to using ghost players so you don't have to keep all the teams fully stocked. I don't like playing that way, but it might work for you.

05-22-2014, 12:01 AM	#4
stealofhome Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 2,282	There is a setting to force the league to use potential instead of current ratings. I like to set which players are in which level, force start the top prospects in the position I want them (set game strategy on right click) and then ask the manager to set the lineups and depth charts. It makes me still feel involved without all the extra minutiae.

05-22-2014, 12:18 AM	#5
Rockfan616 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 275	I know one thing I've noticed is that a lot of the college players with the most potential after the draft usually end up in either High A ball or sometimes even AA if they are very advanced. I went thru my first amatuer draft a week or two ago and I've got like 6 players already whom I drafted in AA and some are in High A. Mostly the high school players and the ones from the DSL or VSL are the ones on the low minors teams, I'm not sure if that's how it worked with your league or not but it did in mine. That helps parse the talent in the lower minors a little bit. I know what your saying though, it does get kind of frustrating dealing with those leagues but sometimes you get a diamond in the rough who has been developing for 5-6 years come into the league and become a very serviceable player. Be patient man, cut who you think won't make it and the rest will do pretty well wherever you assign them.

05-22-2014, 12:26 AM	#6
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Troy, Mo Posts: 6,252	I just let the CPU control those teams.

05-22-2014, 01:47 PM	#12
Assos All Star Starter Join Date: May 2004 Location: Just on the fair side of the foul pole! Posts: 1,772	Something I tried back in 13, I set up a completely non-affiliated Minor League and all of the cut players went there as free agents. Now it was hard to try to grab them back, I wish there would have been a purchase player button. I have not tried this in 15 yet.

05-22-2014, 08:05 PM	#13
Fronzizzle Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 177	Thanks for all the responses. Lots of good information. I think I'm going to use a combination of these suggestions. Right now, my plan is to get rid of the DSL and VSL teams, make one team each in AAA, AA, A, Short A and Rookie. Then, do the "set game strategy" and force my higher-potential players to start at what position I want, then let the computer manage the rest. I think doing this will make the game much less cumbersome and much more enjoyable for me. Thanks again!

05-22-2014, 08:35 PM	#14
Fronzizzle Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 177	Sorry, two more questions... The Reserve Rosters - what is that, exactly? Does anyone have any thoughts on advantages/disadvantages to eliminating just my teams versus an entire league? Of course, if I kill just my VSL and DSL teams, that means other organizations have more players in the minors to pull from, but other than that...anything or any reason to do one or the other?