Minor league teams

[jofos]

How do you keep your minor league teams from being to full?

[jpeters1734]

releasing players that have no potential or other value

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by jofos

How do you keep your minor league teams from being to full?

You have to work at managing them.



I purge my minor leagues at the end of each season and before the draft so I have room for my latest draft class. This is along with regular checks of player performance.


You can't get attached to guys. If a guy is surplus with no future you have to release him.

[Mr. Marlin]

I do the same thing as Curve Ball Dave. Only I do it at the start of Spring Training.

[fredbeene]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

releasing players that have no potential or other value

expand your league

[Pelican]

There was another thread about this. My takeaway was that you need to release guys who have failed to progress to the next level. You never send a guy back down a level. The only way forward is up - or out. That made sense to me, and I have reduced the numbers by biting the bullet and releasing those guys. Admittedly it's tough, if you drafted those guys and had high hopes. But the time comes to cut your losses. The best way to think of it is that you don't want a prospect sitting the bench, because a failed prospect a few years older is getting playing time.

[Pelican]

Oh, and don't feel too sorry for the failed prospects you release. If you have independent leagues enabled, many of them will show up there, just as in real life. LOL I once created an Atlantic League team and filled it with washed-up Phillies prospects I once thought were can't-miss. The team was actually pretty good. A few guys even got contracts to return to the Show!

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by Pelican

There was another thread about this. My takeaway was that you need to release guys who have failed to progress to the next level. You never send a guy back down a level.

Never say never. Sometimes good prospects get promoted too soon. That's not the player's fault and it doesn't mean he has no future. I've many guys make it to the Majors after I promoted them too soon from one minor league level to the next.

[md40022]

Originally Posted by Pelican

You never send a guy back down a level. The only way forward is up - or out. That made sense to me, and I have reduced the numbers by biting the bullet and releasing those guys.

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

Never say never. Sometimes good prospects get promoted too soon. That's not the player's fault and it doesn't mean he has no future. I've many guys make it to the Majors after I promoted them too soon from one minor league level to the next.

Yeah, I'm with Dave on this one. I've had plenty of guys either stay stagnant for an extra year or even digress for a period, only to then come around and get better.


I agree that once it becomes pretty obvious that the guy isn't progressing you have to cut him. Like has been said, that guy just sucks up playing time from others - so you have to cut him. But I don't agree with "never" sending a guy back down a level only because I can tell you first hand that I've had guys like that end up panning out..... Now if you send the guy back down a level and he's still not cutting it, then let him go - totally.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by md40022

I agree that once it becomes pretty obvious that the guy isn't progressing you have to cut him. Like has been said, that guy just sucks up playing time from others - so you have to cut him.

I'm on board with this.

[Brad K]

Is this a fictional game?

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Is this a fictional game?

what's your angle with a question like that?

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by md40022

Yeah, I'm with Dave on this one. I've had plenty of guys either stay stagnant for an extra year or even digress for a period, only to then come around and get better.


I agree that once it becomes pretty obvious that the guy isn't progressing you have to cut him. Like has been said, that guy just sucks up playing time from others - so you have to cut him. But I don't agree with "never" sending a guy back down a level only because I can tell you first hand that I've had guys like that end up panning out..... Now if you send the guy back down a level and he's still not cutting it, then let him go - totally.

All good points, and I don't disagree. It's kind of a chicken and egg proposition. I really try to look at a prospect's age and experience versus the league average at each level, and try not to let a player advance too quickly. So, due to my caution, it's rare that a guy advances too quickly. But it happens, and that's an exception to the general rule.

I have no problem leaving a guy at a level for another year, to let him acclimate. And, if a prospect advances fast, I would not hesitate to promote to MLB from AA, for example; although it's rare.

The other thing is, you have injuries along the way, especially to pitchers. That basically re-starts the development clock, and some guys need to go through all the steps while re-habbing, say from Tommy John surgery. If a prospect slows due to injury, that doesn't mean he lacks talent. You have to figure out if he can recover.

My approach also depends heavily on drafting college players; not teenagers. The best ones are ready for A+ ball, or even AA maybe. Relatively high floor. In just a few years, I will know if they have MLB in their future. At 21 or 22 or 23, they are unlikely to improve or grow or fill out remarkably, like the raw teenagers.

[OutS|der]

Turn on ghost players and only keep players that will make my team, or be used as trade bait. Everyone else gets cut