Problem with importing historical players

RCarr · 12-10-2025, 09:50 PM

I set up a historical "fantasy" league with my friends.

25 round draft where everyone drafts a player and what year from history they want them.

I got all the players ID numbers from baseball reference, made a document listing them with their year (Ex: bondsba01, 2001) for 2001 Barry Bonds.

However, when I import them, their stats in the player editor in game are wildly different, usually tanking their ratings.

Why is this? Isn't the whole point of specifying the year in the import document to carry over that year's stats/ratings?

Even when I manually change all the stats in the player editor, and click "Create current rankings based on stats", it just defaults back to whatever stats were there before I changed them, and therefore the rankings never change.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Garlon · 12-10-2025, 10:34 PM

Set up your league and clear all the rosters of all teams. This makes all players in your created league a free agent. Go to MLB>Transactions>Free Agents>Actions>Delete all free agents. You then have an empty league.

You could add the team ID to your text file so that the players will load directly to their destination team. For example, say that the owner of Yankees will get 2001 Barry Bonds. You can set up the file with a third column so that it is bondsba01,2001,NYA. You can find the team abbreviations for each team by selecting the team then Home>Settings. You want the Historical Team ID, not the Historical Franchise ID. If you made up your own team names, just put a unique abbreviation in the settings for each team and have that correspond to your text file.

To load your text file (not a csv file), go to MLB>Transactions>Free Agents>Actions>Import historical players. Then click the option that says Click here to select file. Navigate to your text file and load it.

I suggest when creating the league that you go to Create New Game>Historical then Select the season in history you want for the league and keep it set to Default Mode as the play mode. You may need to create additional teams if the year in question does not have all of the franchises you want.

RCarr · 12-11-2025, 07:56 AM

Thank you for the response. I have already done all this. I had no problem importing the players and getting them on the correct teams.

The issue is that the players’ stats (that their ratings are based off of) are waaaay off. For instance if I import 2001 Barry Bonds, then look at the player editor, it shows him having 45 home runs. If I go in and manually adjust his stats to the correct 2001 stats, it just reverts back when I exit his profile.

I picked current season and real stats for the options when I imported them. (Instead of 3 year period and neutralized stats)

Garlon · 12-11-2025, 08:12 AM

What historical year are you using for your season for the game?

I tried 2001 Bonds and it showed 70 HR in the editor upon import and I was using 1991 as the season for the league.

I think it may do an adjustment when you move to opening day though in order to calibrate the entire player set to the year you are using. Otherwise you will end up with a league that generates 10 runs per game with all of those superstar seasons for every player on every team.

RCarr · 12-11-2025, 08:57 AM

I have 2014 set for the historical league.

RCarr · 12-11-2025, 09:35 AM

I just don’t understand why they even let you choose what year you want a player to be imported from if they just make up random stats for him anyway? And why have an editor that just reverts back to default after you use it to edit?

Very frustrating.

Garlon · 12-11-2025, 09:44 AM

I think the editor should stay and the resulting stats you see below that will change. M

Can you attach your text file with the players for your league to this thread so that I can see what is happening?

RCarr · 12-11-2025, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garlon

I think the editor should stay and the resulting stats you see below that will change. M

Can you attach your text file with the players for your league to this thread so that I can see what is happening?

The adding team abbreviations to each player did not add them to their corresponding teams either, which is annoying.

Aaron Judge is rated 20 when imported

Lots of players are busted like that.

Garlon · 12-11-2025, 03:13 PM

It might be that you have a space after the comma: bondsba01, 2001.

Try eliminating that space and make it bondsa01,2001 and see if that helps.

RCarr · 12-11-2025, 03:48 PM

That got them on the right teams, thanks!

The stats are still all janky, though. They have Judge at 1 home run for his 2024 season. Other players are more accurate, but not one had the stats come over correctly.

RCarr · Yesterday, 11:44 AM

No one knows a way to correctly import a single season of a player?

Garlon · Yesterday, 12:32 PM

Your file worked for me yesterday. I set up a league in 1991 and the players looked fine in the editor.

RCarr · Yesterday, 05:54 PM

So it’s because mine is set to 2014? Should I try a new league set to 1991? Not sure why that would matter. What was 2024 Aaron Judge’s imported stats showing for you if I can ask?

Rain King · Yesterday, 06:09 PM

Can you screenshot what your League Totals page looks like? I would guess your modifiers have gotten messes up somehow. Maybe Auto-Calc ran after you cleared everybody out or something. Maybe try re-adjusting the year to something else and then back to 2014 and then re-checking the editor.

Garlon · Today, 12:58 AM

For Aaron Judge in the editor:

AB: 550
H: 149
2B: 26
3B: 0
HR: 42
BB: 112
HBP: 0
SO: 151

I set my league in 1991 when there was 130 HR per team. Judge is coming from a 2024 season in which there were 182 HR per team. In 2024 he had 58 HR in 559 AB, which is 57 HR per 550 AB. When this gets translated to 1991 that 57 roughly turns into 57 * (130/182) = 41 HR per 550 AB. The game is doing adjustments to scale the player to the new environment.

12-10-2025, 09:50 PM	#1
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	Problem with importing historical players I set up a historical "fantasy" league with my friends. 25 round draft where everyone drafts a player and what year from history they want them. I got all the players ID numbers from baseball reference, made a document listing them with their year (Ex: bondsba01, 2001) for 2001 Barry Bonds. However, when I import them, their stats in the player editor in game are wildly different, usually tanking their ratings. Why is this? Isn't the whole point of specifying the year in the import document to carry over that year's stats/ratings? Even when I manually change all the stats in the player editor, and click "Create current rankings based on stats", it just defaults back to whatever stats were there before I changed them, and therefore the rankings never change. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

12-10-2025, 10:34 PM	#2
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	Set up your league and clear all the rosters of all teams. This makes all players in your created league a free agent. Go to MLB>Transactions>Free Agents>Actions>Delete all free agents. You then have an empty league. You could add the team ID to your text file so that the players will load directly to their destination team. For example, say that the owner of Yankees will get 2001 Barry Bonds. You can set up the file with a third column so that it is bondsba01,2001,NYA. You can find the team abbreviations for each team by selecting the team then Home>Settings. You want the Historical Team ID, not the Historical Franchise ID. If you made up your own team names, just put a unique abbreviation in the settings for each team and have that correspond to your text file. To load your text file (not a csv file), go to MLB>Transactions>Free Agents>Actions>Import historical players. Then click the option that says Click here to select file. Navigate to your text file and load it. I suggest when creating the league that you go to Create New Game>Historical then Select the season in history you want for the league and keep it set to Default Mode as the play mode. You may need to create additional teams if the year in question does not have all of the franchises you want. Last edited by Garlon; 12-10-2025 at 10:45 PM.

12-11-2025, 07:56 AM	#3
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	Thank you for the response. I have already done all this. I had no problem importing the players and getting them on the correct teams. The issue is that the players’ stats (that their ratings are based off of) are waaaay off. For instance if I import 2001 Barry Bonds, then look at the player editor, it shows him having 45 home runs. If I go in and manually adjust his stats to the correct 2001 stats, it just reverts back when I exit his profile. I picked current season and real stats for the options when I imported them. (Instead of 3 year period and neutralized stats) Last edited by RCarr; 12-11-2025 at 08:10 AM.

Yesterday, 05:54 PM	#13
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	So it’s because mine is set to 2014? Should I try a new league set to 1991? Not sure why that would matter. What was 2024 Aaron Judge’s imported stats showing for you if I can ask? Last edited by RCarr; Yesterday at 06:08 PM.

12-11-2025, 08:12 AM	#4
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	What historical year are you using for your season for the game? I tried 2001 Bonds and it showed 70 HR in the editor upon import and I was using 1991 as the season for the league. I think it may do an adjustment when you move to opening day though in order to calibrate the entire player set to the year you are using. Otherwise you will end up with a league that generates 10 runs per game with all of those superstar seasons for every player on every team.

12-11-2025, 08:57 AM	#5
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	I have 2014 set for the historical league.

12-11-2025, 09:35 AM	#6
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	I just don’t understand why they even let you choose what year you want a player to be imported from if they just make up random stats for him anyway? And why have an editor that just reverts back to default after you use it to edit? Very frustrating.

12-11-2025, 09:44 AM	#7
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	I think the editor should stay and the resulting stats you see below that will change. M Can you attach your text file with the players for your league to this thread so that I can see what is happening?

12-11-2025, 03:13 PM	#9
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	It might be that you have a space after the comma: bondsba01, 2001. Try eliminating that space and make it bondsa01,2001 and see if that helps.

12-11-2025, 03:48 PM	#10
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	That got them on the right teams, thanks! The stats are still all janky, though. They have Judge at 1 home run for his 2024 season. Other players are more accurate, but not one had the stats come over correctly.

Yesterday, 11:44 AM	#11
RCarr Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Posts: 8	No one knows a way to correctly import a single season of a player?

Yesterday, 12:32 PM	#12
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	Your file worked for me yesterday. I set up a league in 1991 and the players looked fine in the editor.

Yesterday, 06:09 PM	#14
Rain King Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,122 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Can you screenshot what your League Totals page looks like? I would guess your modifiers have gotten messes up somehow. Maybe Auto-Calc ran after you cleared everybody out or something. Maybe try re-adjusting the year to something else and then back to 2014 and then re-checking the editor.

Today, 12:58 AM	#15
Garlon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 4,263	For Aaron Judge in the editor: AB: 550 H: 149 2B: 26 3B: 0 HR: 42 BB: 112 HBP: 0 SO: 151 I set my league in 1991 when there was 130 HR per team. Judge is coming from a 2024 season in which there were 182 HR per team. In 2024 he had 58 HR in 559 AB, which is 57 HR per 550 AB. When this gets translated to 1991 that 57 roughly turns into 57 * (130/182) = 41 HR per 550 AB. The game is doing adjustments to scale the player to the new environment.