[Pelican]

Here is a question. When you expand MLB to add two new teams, what is the best way to populate the minor league affiliates of those teams?

I have successfully gone through an expansion draft, and (acting temporarily as GM of the expansion franchises) I have signed a few free agents. In order to be compatible with the established franchises, I gave my two new teams a full farm system, with AAA, AA, A+, A-, and rookie teams. Once we hold the amateur draft, there will be two or three more Florida or Dominican teams for those guys.

So, I have maybe ten guys sent down to AAA. That's it. With rosters of 25, I need fifteen more guys in AAA, and a hundred at the other four levels. So, where do I find 115 x 2 teams = 230 players to fill out the minors - without fictional players?

I have made numerous offers to minor league free agents ditched by other teams. Most of those offers are still pending, even though most of the players (understandably, with no alternative) favor the offer. (Is there no way to speed up this process?). Should I plunder the independent leagues for players? Look overseas?

I should note this is my 2022 Season sim. Wanted to do something different. Ordinarily I would build up to expansion over a couple years, by creating lower minor league teams and drafting amateur players. (IMHO this is how expansion should be done by MLB.). Maybe, doing it all at once, the answer is these franchises will have to wait to fill out the minors.

What have others done?

BTW adding minor league teams at multiple levels is not easy. I got warnings that I was screwing up the schedules. I chose cities based on cool places I have been that could support a team at various levels. Some had stadiums already; most I had to create a new stadium. And uniforms!