Quote:
Originally Posted by FuzzyDarkness
At the end of the first season I ran into the problem of the Rule-5 and I knew about it but didn't want to lose all my progress that I made through the season. So I disabled the Rule-5-draft, went into Commisioner Mode and released the 4 players that were claimed by other teams so they come back to me.
From now on I'll just play this save without the Rule-5-draft and I'm happy with it.
So you can always disable certain things you personally don't like.
Some people might think this is cheating but I want to have fun playing this game and I have A LOT OF FUN!! I just adjust it to my liking
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You can also learn some ways to deal with the rule 5 draft. I never have a problem with it because I prepare for it. And I like the pressure it puts on you to use those eligible prospects or lose them. It helps force me to keep a clean house instead of hoarding any and all prospects freely. It helps poor teams get some free players from the rich teams that never have interest in rule 5 players since they are able to pay out lots of contract money to have better options already on their teams.
So if you want to protect a prospect, you need to put them on your 40 man roster. That will give you 3 full option years to keep the player in the minors at minimal costs, allowing you to develop him without him accumulating ML service time that would move him toward eligibility for arbitration and eventually free agency, both of which mean higher salary costs. And in this time, he can be a backup player you can call up in case of injury.
The AI seems to only draft rule 5 players if they are good enough to play in the ML for a team right now, since the player must be kept on the active roster. So if your prospect still has a current overall rating of 20, you shouldn't need to worry about protecting him. Nobody should want him. And if somehow they did draft him, there would be a good chance they would release him back to you before the season is over once they have someone else available that they want on the active roster.
If you don't have a space in the 40 man roster, why? Who don't you need there? I mean, you have 25 active roster players. That leaves 15 slots for backups on the 40 man. Are they some veteran backup players there you don't really need? Or some other prospects you will probably never use for you own team, but that you keep there just to protect them? Then trade them to make room.
Another thing that sometimes happens is that you have a bunch of relievers that seem to have a decent overall rating, but you never found a good trade for them, so you hang onto them. Well, low stamina relievers that are incapable of being starters have very little value in the game. That is, pitchers with less than 25/100 stamina are generally worth a lot less than all other pitchers and position players. There's barely any interest in even a 40/80 rating reliever, so don't hoard these players. You can easily get one like that if you need one later for next to nothing in a trade, or for free off of waivers. I often have low rated backup relievers in AAA that I don't keep on the 40 man, and they don't get drafted in rule 5. And if I need the player in the ML because of injuries, I can move him up (since 60 day DL opens up a spot on the 40 man roster), and he can usually be moved off the 40 man roster later by passing through waivers without being claimed.
Or maybe you have a lot of prospects eligible for rule 5 who are good enough to be picked. Then you probably don't need all of them. Trade away the ones that aren't in your future plans and let the other teams deal with the rule 5 issues. Maybe get yourself a fresher prospect in the deal.