Players getting drafted and never joining their teams in historical play

JohnCena · 03-12-2025, 06:46 AM

Maybe something has changed regarding historical play, drafting, and when players join their teams? But I am so confused about how this is supposed to work, maybe someone could help?

Babe Ruth was drafted in 1913 by the Washington Senators, and it is now 1919, and he has still yet to join the team, even though he is listed as the best pitcher in the MLB. I see something called Draft Eligible in his profile screen that keeps changing to the following year, even though he's already been drafted.

I go to the player rankings screen and see a ton of high rated players that were drafted years ago that are still not on a team. 28 year old Dave Robertson was drafted in 1911 and has yet to join a team, 21 year old Rogers Hornsby who is ranked as the 2nd best hitter in the league is not on a team.

The top 4 rated pitchers in the MLB are all without teams, including 27-year-old Joe Boehling.

Anyone know what gives??

LansdowneSt · 03-12-2025, 07:36 AM

What historical mode and what, if any, settings were adjusted in the Wizard or through the game/league setting menus? I have not encountered this in any of my runs so trying to get more info so someone can replicate it.

JohnCena · 03-12-2025, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LansdowneSt

What historical mode and what, if any, settings were adjusted in the Wizard or through the game/league setting menus? I have not encountered this in any of my runs so trying to get more info so someone can replicate it.

The only thing I did was start in 1903, select career mode as the play mode and then put injuries on normal. That was the only thing I changed

I've attached a photo showing how many top players have never joined their teams..

David Watts · 03-12-2025, 08:03 AM

Is Ruth just in limbo period? Not on a team at all? Are you using the rule requiring teams to sign their top draft picks prior to the signing deadline? If so, I wonder if something isn't working properly with that feature.

JohnCena · 03-12-2025, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

Is Ruth just in limbo period? Not on a team at all? Are you using the rule requiring teams to sign their top draft picks prior to the signing deadline? If so, I wonder if something isn't working properly with that feature.

If you look at my screenshot in the previous post, all of those guys not on a team were drafted to a team, they just never joined for some reason.

I changed no settings except for putting injuries to normal. Everything else is at default

David Watts · 03-12-2025, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnCena

If you look at my screenshot in the previous post, all of those guys not on a team were drafted to a team, they just never joined for some reason.

I changed no settings except for putting injuries to normal. Everything else is at default

That's why I'm wondering if it has something to do with the draft pick signing feature. That would be on by default and it would definitely involve the best players. If it's working properly, Ruth could be drafted by Senators, but if they fail to sign him, he would return in the following years draft. It could be that something is wrong and instead of returning in the following years draft, the player is simply going into limbo land.

JohnCena · 03-12-2025, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

That's why I'm wondering if it has something to do with the draft pick signing feature. That would be on by default and it would definitely involve the best players. If it's working properly, Ruth could be drafted by Senators, but if they fail to sign him, he would return in the following years draft. It could be that something is wrong and instead of returning in the following years draft, the player is simply going into limbo land.

Ironically, he was drafted by the Senators and never joined the team. His profile screen kept saying he was draft eligible for each year going forward but he or any of the other players never entered the draft again.

All options are on by default so I can only assume this is some weird bug I’ve never seen before

David Watts · 03-12-2025, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnCena

Ironically, he was drafted by the Senators and never joined the team. His profile screen kept saying he was draft eligible for each year going forward but he or any of the other players never entered the draft again.

All options are on by default so I can only assume this is some weird bug I’ve never seen before

You may want to post this in the bug forum.

LansdowneSt · 03-12-2025, 09:56 AM

I can move the thread.

EDIT: Moved.

Devs will see it here when focusing on bugs - which they are doing atm

Lukas Berger · 03-12-2025, 10:17 AM

I think we need league file to be able to check this out. If you can upload those somewhere and post here, it would be a big help.

JohnCena · 03-12-2025, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

I think we need league file to be able to check this out. If you can upload those somewhere and post here, it would be a big help.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i4gsc...=8smp58ty&dl=0

Hope a dropbox link is okay!

Lukas Berger · 03-12-2025, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnCena

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i4gsc...=8smp58ty&dl=0

Hope a dropbox link is okay!

Fine, thanks!

JohnCena · 03-16-2025, 05:04 PM

Any progress on this issue? I’ve started another historical sim and it’s happening again.

I just posted this in the impressions thread on the main forum

Every time I play a historical sim starting in 1903, once I get to around 1908, there are so many top draft picks who never sign with their teams, even when it says they sign with the team that drafted them minor league organization. Their entire careers just stay in limbo and they never play an inning of baseball within the game universe

Perfect example: According to the game, Vin Campbell is the best player in baseball with an 80/80 overall rating. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 1907 and signed a minor league contract with their organization with a signing bonus of $1,430

However, it is 1912 and Vin has still never played an inning of baseball. He’s certainly not the only example of this either. Vic Saier, Jack Dalton, Ray Collin’s and Al Klawitter are more examples of top 20 players NEVER playing an inning of baseball in their careers

This is my second historical sim this is happening and I can’t believe I am the only one seeing this.

Matt Arnold · 03-17-2025, 06:55 AM

Thanks, what might be the issue are teams without minor leagues over-filling their reserve roster, so they have no place to put the new draft picks. We'll investigate some ways to avoid that.

tayloraj · 03-18-2025, 07:23 AM

I've also noticed this issue in my historical career mode game. I've also seen players traded also to never appear on their new team's roster and instead become free agents.

David Watts · 03-18-2025, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnCena

Any progress on this issue? I’ve started another historical sim and it’s happening again.

I just posted this in the impressions thread on the main forum

Every time I play a historical sim starting in 1903, once I get to around 1908, there are so many top draft picks who never sign with their teams, even when it says they sign with the team that drafted them minor league organization. Their entire careers just stay in limbo and they never play an inning of baseball within the game universe

Perfect example: According to the game, Vin Campbell is the best player in baseball with an 80/80 overall rating. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 1907 and signed a minor league contract with their organization with a signing bonus of $1,430

However, it is 1912 and Vin has still never played an inning of baseball. He’s certainly not the only example of this either. Vic Saier, Jack Dalton, Ray Collin’s and Al Klawitter are more examples of top 20 players NEVER playing an inning of baseball in their careers

This is my second historical sim this is happening and I can’t believe I am the only one seeing this.

Do you have the option on that requires teams to sign their top draft picks? It's in the rules section, below where you chose how many rounds your draft is. If you look at your screenshot above, Ruth and Hornsby aren't on teams. Can you look at Ruth's or Hornsby's player history page and see if under the news of him being drafted, if there's another line about him failing to sign? Could the bug be that the game isn't returning these players the following season so they can be drafted again. Instead, they are just hanging in limbo. I don't have 26, or I would test this.

Seems like if this was a problem of teams having too many players on their reserve rosters, these players would be released and immediately signed by another team as free agents. Seems like teams would drop Tom Veryzer and sign Ruth or Hornsby.

tayloraj · 03-18-2025, 07:10 PM

Advanced draftee signing doesn't appear to be the issue. I tried a test league with it turned off and there are still superstar players (Shoeless Joe, Zack Wheat, etc.) who are drafted and then stuck in some sort of limbo where they just never get assigned to the active or reserve roster of their drafting team.

David Watts · 03-19-2025, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tayloraj

Advanced draftee signing doesn't appear to be the issue. I tried a test league with it turned off and there are still superstar players (Shoeless Joe, Zack Wheat, etc.) who are drafted and then stuck in some sort of limbo where they just never get assigned to the active or reserve roster of their drafting team.

This is a real head scratcher. Has anyone checked to see if this is only happening in the deadball period?

Rain King · 03-19-2025, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Thanks, what might be the issue are teams without minor leagues over-filling their reserve roster, so they have no place to put the new draft picks. We'll investigate some ways to avoid that.

The issue Matt references here was addressed in the patch, so I would recommend downloading that and re-trying.

Matt Arnold · 03-19-2025, 07:38 AM

FYI, it won't correct players who are already messed up, but the aim is to prevent it going forward. Basically if a team's overall roster got full, they had no place to assign the player, and then they do end up in this limbo state where they think they're on the team, but the team doesn't see them.

We can look down the road at other ways to reconcile those.

03-12-2025, 06:46 AM	#1
JohnCena Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2023 Posts: 27	Players getting drafted and never joining their teams in historical play Maybe something has changed regarding historical play, drafting, and when players join their teams? But I am so confused about how this is supposed to work, maybe someone could help? Babe Ruth was drafted in 1913 by the Washington Senators, and it is now 1919, and he has still yet to join the team, even though he is listed as the best pitcher in the MLB. I see something called Draft Eligible in his profile screen that keeps changing to the following year, even though he's already been drafted. I go to the player rankings screen and see a ton of high rated players that were drafted years ago that are still not on a team. 28 year old Dave Robertson was drafted in 1911 and has yet to join a team, 21 year old Rogers Hornsby who is ranked as the 2nd best hitter in the league is not on a team. The top 4 rated pitchers in the MLB are all without teams, including 27-year-old Joe Boehling. Anyone know what gives??

03-12-2025, 07:36 AM	#2
LansdowneSt Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: From Duxbury, Mass residing Baltimore Posts: 7,172	What historical mode and what, if any, settings were adjusted in the Wizard or through the game/league setting menus? I have not encountered this in any of my runs so trying to get more info so someone can replicate it. __________________ Complete Universe Facegen Pack 2.0 (mine included) https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi...k_2.0.zip/file Just my Facegen Pack: https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi..._Pack.zip/file

03-12-2025, 09:56 AM	#9
LansdowneSt Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: From Duxbury, Mass residing Baltimore Posts: 7,172	I can move the thread. EDIT: Moved. Devs will see it here when focusing on bugs - which they are doing atm __________________ Complete Universe Facegen Pack 2.0 (mine included) https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi...k_2.0.zip/file Just my Facegen Pack: https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi..._Pack.zip/file

03-12-2025, 10:17 AM	#10
Lukas Berger OOTP Developments Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Nice, Côte d'Azur, France Posts: 21,249	I think we need league file to be able to check this out. If you can upload those somewhere and post here, it would be a big help. __________________ lukas@ootpdevelopments.com PreOrder Out of the Park Baseball 26! Need to upload files for us to check out? Instructions can be found here

03-12-2025, 08:03 AM	#4
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 9,609 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Is Ruth just in limbo period? Not on a team at all? Are you using the rule requiring teams to sign their top draft picks prior to the signing deadline? If so, I wonder if something isn't working properly with that feature.

03-16-2025, 05:04 PM	#13
JohnCena Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2023 Posts: 27	Any progress on this issue? I’ve started another historical sim and it’s happening again. I just posted this in the impressions thread on the main forum Every time I play a historical sim starting in 1903, once I get to around 1908, there are so many top draft picks who never sign with their teams, even when it says they sign with the team that drafted them minor league organization. Their entire careers just stay in limbo and they never play an inning of baseball within the game universe Perfect example: According to the game, Vin Campbell is the best player in baseball with an 80/80 overall rating. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 1907 and signed a minor league contract with their organization with a signing bonus of $1,430 However, it is 1912 and Vin has still never played an inning of baseball. He’s certainly not the only example of this either. Vic Saier, Jack Dalton, Ray Collin’s and Al Klawitter are more examples of top 20 players NEVER playing an inning of baseball in their careers This is my second historical sim this is happening and I can’t believe I am the only one seeing this.

03-17-2025, 06:55 AM	#14
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,718	Thanks, what might be the issue are teams without minor leagues over-filling their reserve roster, so they have no place to put the new draft picks. We'll investigate some ways to avoid that.

03-18-2025, 07:23 AM	#15
tayloraj Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 165	I've also noticed this issue in my historical career mode game. I've also seen players traded also to never appear on their new team's roster and instead become free agents.

03-18-2025, 07:10 PM	#17
tayloraj Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 165	Advanced draftee signing doesn't appear to be the issue. I tried a test league with it turned off and there are still superstar players (Shoeless Joe, Zack Wheat, etc.) who are drafted and then stuck in some sort of limbo where they just never get assigned to the active or reserve roster of their drafting team.

03-19-2025, 07:38 AM	#20
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,718	FYI, it won't correct players who are already messed up, but the aim is to prevent it going forward. Basically if a team's overall roster got full, they had no place to assign the player, and then they do end up in this limbo state where they think they're on the team, but the team doesn't see them. We can look down the road at other ways to reconcile those.