[thehef]

Just trying to clarify...

Originally Posted by thehef

1. All players would import in the year they started pro ball Spritze replied: They already do beginning in 1919. Not all players do, AFAIK. For example, players who debuted in the American Associated from 1919 thru 1931 would not import the year they started pro ball because they have no team in which to import. (Or do they import as free agents?) I believe you indicated a few posts above that these players are not currently available in OOTP, although you have them ready for OOTP to include.
2. Players who started pro ball with an MLB affiliate would import to that MLB organization. Sprize replied: They already do. Right. I just included this for completeness because it's part of the overall suggestion, even though this particular item doesn't represent a change from what the game currently does.
3. Players who started pro ball with an independent or negro league team would import to that particular independent or negro team. Sprize replied: They already do. Independent teams (if in a league that has no teams affiliated with MLB - the International League thru 1926; the American Association, Southern Association, Middle Atlantic League, and New York-Penn League thru 1931, as examples) and Negro League teams are not currently included. So there's no way these players could import to those teams... I could be misunderstanding.
4. Transactions in the historical transactions file would move players, via trades, releases, and signings...
   • to and from MLB organizations
   • to and from independent and negro league teams
5. Transactions in the historical transactions file would NOT move players up and down within an MLB organization (although this could be an option). Rather, AI (or Human GM) would decide on which minor-league level/team the player belongs.
6. Exact transaction dates for most minor leaguers isn't known. However,
   • for minor leaguers who spent an entire season with an independent team (or negro team) and then moved to another indy (or negro) team the next season, precise dates are not necessary; the first of the year - which is used as a catch-all for unknown MLB transaction dates - would work just fine.
   • for minor leaguers who moved from one indy (or negro) team to another during a season, approximate dates - based upon number of games played with each team - could be used in the historical transactions file (some time ago in another thread, BigRod said that this is possible by using stints, which - apparently - are already known, to a degree).
7. An option could then be to play full historical for MLB organizations and the players associated with them, and fictional player movement for all of the independent teams and non-affiliated players. In other words, MLB organizations would use real historical txns. Independent teams, however, would not use real transactions. Rather, all non-affiliated minor-leaguers would move to and from independent minor-league teams at the whims of the AI GM, etc... Might be a cool way to play.