[progen]

Originally Posted by Pelican

I would disagree that expansion teams in my scenario benefit after their first year. I don’t necessarily see that happening. Sometimes they regress, particularly if they opted for older veteran players whose skills are declining.

What really matters going forward is how those expansion teams set up their organizations, minor league coaches, drafts, finding minor league free agents. Beyond the players taken in the expansion draft, and their first amateur draftees, expansion teams will have a void at the A and AA levels and lack depth at AAA. The only option is to fill these teams with players let go by the other major league organizations. These players will not be very good.

It would be more realistic for new teams to start out with lower minor league teams, a year or two or three before the first season for the MLB expansion club. That way, they could gradually add younger players and begin to develop them. It is laborious in OOTP, but I have at least managed to field one minor league team (technically unaffiliated) for each expansion team, one year early. It helps.

Absent this “early start” to a minor league organization, it will take years for expansion clubs to develop a strong organization through drafts and free agent signings. That means help will not be on the way for years, and the team will have little depth at the highest levels. That should effectively prevent these teams from being winners for years, even after a successful draft.

It’s quite a challenge, even with decent players, because the deck is still stacked against you.

Ok, I will try this on my next save, or if I expand again in my current save, take over one of those clubs, and see how things go. Always good to get a different perspective.