[tswedalla]

I have started a major league, ran it from 1915-1950, then decided to add a 10-team independent league in Europe in 1950.

I made the league reputation a 4, because I didn't want them to interfere with taking players from the majors. I figured this would mean that the players in the league would be about 40% as good as major leaguers and only a small handful would make the jump to the majors. I've come to find out that that's not what league reputation does.
After a few seasons, some of the better European players started being drafted by the majors and one has broken the single season homerun record in his second season (1954). In fact, the european players have much better power numbers than the major leaguers.

How can I make the players in this european league less good right now?

Eventually I would like to increase the reputation and the quality of the players in Europe, but I wasn't planning on having players come over for a generation or two.

Also, how do I keep these players from being drafted until they are a certain age (28 or so). I thought I had that turned on in the leagues, but I guess not as these free agents are as young as 21.