Players on 1st contract w/ MLB organization being Rule V eligible before reaching service time limit

[mattsamuelw]

I noticed this in OOTP 23 and is still the case in OOTP 24, I just hadn't got around to posting it. So players who signed 1st minor league contract with MLB organization, who came from another league (independent or international) are being Rule V eligible even though they didn't have any previous MLB organization connection and are under the 4 or 5 year pro service time number. Good amount of them are guys who went undrafted and then signed with independent league, before being released by them and then signing a minor league deal with a MLB organization. Some are guys who show they were drafted my another league (international league) before getting released by that international league and signing first minor league contract with MLB organization. Here are some screenshots showing this:


Screenshot Examples:
Rowland Zickus (Pro service time: 1.186) - Not drafted, signed with independent league team, before being released by them and signing 1st minor league contract with MLB organization:
Zickus's Contract Tab: https://ibb.co/Pjm9WMy
Zickus's Complete History: https://ibb.co/SsgpSWJ


Sung-Min Kim (Pro service time: 28 days) - Drafted by international league (Korean Futures League), who released him and then he signed a minor league contract with MLB organization. He is only 18 years old.
Kim's Contract Tab: https://ibb.co/1bBBmw7
Kim's Complete History: https://ibb.co/SVshGX1

Alexis Sato (Pro service time: 79 days) - Was not drafted and returned to college multiple years in a row before signing with an independent league team, getting released, signing with another independent league team before getting released and finally signing his 1st contract with a MLB organization (minor league deal).
Sato's Contract Tab: https://ibb.co/3Tp9CD1
Sato's Complete History: https://ibb.co/mhMp677


This is just three guys, there are many more. I obviously know guys who are released by a MLB organization and then sign with another MLB organization are Rule V eligible, but for these guys (and many more) it was their first MLB organization and a lot of them it's their first time in the United States since their previous team was an international team (Like Kim) and thus shouldn't be Rule V eligible. It definitely sucks when it is your player and you are forced to protect them way before they should have to be under the rules. Thanks for looking into this!


Here is the zip of the league file where the issue is showing up. File is on the Rule V draft date in game: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WrE...ew?usp=sharing

The league obviously has multiple other league besides MLB turned on (independent/international) and their are feeders for the draft. And it is obviously an online league.

[WarningTrakPower]

There is something odd with players moving from one organization to another (IRL I think of the Elvis Luciano rule 5 pick by Toronto).

I have no answer for why Sung-Min Kim would be included here (unless "SSG" some how links as an affliate).

Rowland Zickus was traded, so I think that is contributing to the game including him in the rule 5 draft pool.

I wonder if the "independent league" signings for Alexis Sato since being listed as "minor league contracts" also triggers the draft pool inclusion.

And just to confirm, you are not alone in this. I have noticed similar for multiple iterations of OOTP (even without including extra leagues).

[mattsamuelw]

I mean Elvis Luciano was able to be picked in Rule V since his first contract was voided after the fact for medical issues and had to be renegotiated so was his 2nd contract which made him eligible with it being his 2nd contract. Obviously none of the guys I posted about were on a 2nd contract with a MLB organization. They were all on their 1st contract which makes it a glitch that is causing them to be eligible in OOTP. Also trading doesn't factor into a player being eligible. In fact the game for some reason had Zickus eligible in the previous Rule V draft (2023-2024 offseason) before the trade between Phillies to Dbacks even though he wasn't suppose to be via the MLB rules. The game literally had him and others eligible immediately after they signed their contract for some reason, even though they clearly shouldn't have been since it was their 1st contract with a MLB Organization.

[Matt Arnold]

Yes, we don't exactly follow the rules that MLB does when players shift between leagues. We can have a look if we can clean that up, but generally speaking whenever players are released or sign with a new team we treat them as rule 5 eligible.

[mattsamuelw]

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Yes, we don't exactly follow the rules that MLB does when players shift between leagues. We can have a look if we can clean that up, but generally speaking whenever players are released or sign with a new team we treat them as rule 5 eligible.

Got it. Well would definitely be better if there was a way to fix this and make it what MLB is. I mean it makes having multiple leagues (international/independent) not as great then since the big point of having them is signing players from those leagues and if they are Rule V eligible right away then makes them not as valuable. I don't know if you need like a different type of contract that players sign in those leagues so it's not the same as a contract with a MLB organization so the code reads them as different for Rule V eligibility purposes. Only idea I had, but I'm not a coder, I just play this game a lot. lol Anyways appreciate you looking at it, thanks.