[JohnHoward]

I hesitate to jump in here and I will probably regret it but here goes. OOTP does give exactly what it claims, real transactions and real lineups. It does not give real roster moves, since those are not "transactions", which by definition involve more than one party (team, in this case).

I play with 30 man limits on my rosters but usually with 25 players available per game (sometimes 24 or 26, or weirdly for the Cubs in the 60's as few as 22) determined to the best of my ability. I keep a roster move/mini-calendar for each team that I construct myself for each season, along with a pitching spreadsheet so I can keep track of reliever roles as they evolve. It takes a lot of work but I love it and get more out of it than by paying $$ for a DMB season where it is done for me.

I like the OOTP set-up because I like DOING something and working through the season set-up and making the right roster changes is FUN (if you like that sort of thing; I do). The game helps tremendously by auto providing the lineups and trades.

Yes, DMB makes this easier, but thereby assigns the gamer a very passive role. Doing it the OOTP way, with my own contributions, helps me learn more about the history of baseball, so I prefer it the OOTP way.