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Well, for an undertaking like this one, there's no good way to set it up lol.
I started it off with the 32-team USBF as one major league, while gradually adding minor leagues. All minor leagues were 100% independent for about 40 years, then some became affiliated. I gave each MLB team one minor league affiliate for simplicity. The independent teams all allow contract purchases at reasonable prices (in 2003, these range from $20,000-50,000 depending on league)
As the game evolved, I eventually split it off into four separate major leagues joined by a league association for the National Championship. This is definitely messy from a record-keeping perspective and I'd be hesitant to recommend it by any means. With that said, if you go by country, it probably would be fine, unless guys change leagues/countries.
As thing stand now, here's how I have it:
-4 major leagues (52 total teams)
-1 independent "tweener" league (16 teams; not quite MLB, not quite minors. I'll move teams up/down between MLB and here)
-8 affiliated minor leagues (68 total teams, all classified as Triple-A)
-10 independent leagues (86 total teams, all classified as Single-A or Double-A)
I have no amateur draft and no Rule 5 draft. All new players are created free agents. I did set up each league to create its own free agents to ensure a sufficient player pool and set the age parameters to 18-22 (a couple minor leagues I have at 24-25 so you get the handful of older rookies).
Trading is set up so you can trade with any league, so we sometimes see MLB teams trade with independent teams. I have no great way to stop this since I have multiple major leagues.
My tweener league has arbitration every year and free agency after 8 years. My major leagues have arbitration every year, but no free agency, though arbitration allows expensive/not worth it players to hit FA more often than you'd think. All independent minors have players hit FA every year (with extensions on).
I think this covers the nuts and bolts of it! Good luck!
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