[NoOne]

Use Service Time Limits, not age.

it will handle the varying age of draftees better. there are threads with suggestions. think of being forgiving so as to not lose late bloomers. if they are a late bloom at any tier, make sure they have enough time to still progress.

don't use them on AAA - even age limits. not sure if it affects rehab assignments, but other reasons too. AAA is alot of mlb depth players not just prospects.

This player would have likely retired as his ability regressed as opposed to filtering down the minor leagues until he hit rock-bottom.

Yes, it's normal to have a lot of players in your Rookie league. make sure the setting on League settings->Rules? has Potential not current ability selected for how the AI handles the depth charts.

there's still a minor problem even with that setting invoked. scouting for Rookies and 2nd-3rd year guys in Rookie are even more unreliable than you expect from your scouting settings (unless 100% accurate). it should significantly reduces the likelihood that a decent player gets "lost."

R - 3 or 4 years, i go with 4
SA - 4 or 5ish
A - 6ish
AA - 8-9ish
AAA - none.

that's mostly based on an 18-year-old. college kids typically start at higher levels and won't run into service time road blocks, but they will get screw^d over by age limits in A-ball quite often, if used.