Getting rid of roster expansion - your thoughts

[ra7c7er]

I've been mulling over getting rid of roster expansion in my indy league world. I'm not sure what this will do to player development. The issue I'm trying to curtail is good teams (AI and myself) go into a big slide after roster expansion because the reserve roster guys aren't very good and putting those bad players on the better teams hurts them worse then adding bad players to the already bad teams. I know teams can slide at any time but it's nearly like clockwork that the top 5-6 teams slide after expansion and the lower half of the teams do better after expansion.

My thought was extending spring training an extra couple of weeks to give the players the same amount of games a year but again I don't know if it would help or hurt.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[sprague]

I don't use it and there is no problem for development.

I don't like different rules at different times of the year so my roster limits are always the same.
With all the injuries players come up enough anyway.

[Fyrestorm3]

Posted in the "Maximizing AI" thread:

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

One of my personal favorite rule changes I've made was to lower the expanded roster size down to 30 (on a standard 25-man roster).

I've always found that the computer doesn't handle the expanded rosters very well; when the rosters expand, a whole bunch of guys get called up, and then the computer re-evaluates its team based on the personnel it now has. So on occasion, you'd see some weird roster configurations or in-game moves. Scrub players getting starts in important series, for example, or minor league pitchers coming into a stretch game and blowing the team's playoff chances. Basically, the game can sometimes have trouble distinguishing the difference between the original 25-man roster and the September Call-Ups. It's not really a problem for the top or bottom teams in the league, but it's really disconcerting to see a team fighting for a playoff spot in the last week of the season, yet fielding a lineup with two AAA outfielders.

A smaller expanded roster not only reduces this effect (the only way to completely eliminate it would be to take out the rule altogether), but it also provides a little bit of strategy in deciding which 5 players are worth bringing up to the majors. You've got one spot left; do you go with the lefty arm you could really use, or the speedy outfielder for a pinch runner?

[ravinhood]

I'm of the mind if you're going to play REAL baseball you should go by the rules of REAL baseball. So, I leave everything alone. I don't even set it up for future changes of baseball because the game can't know the future.

Now, I'm also a firm believer it's your game you can play it any way you want to. But, if you ever made an online league this way I'd never join it. It has to be REAL or I can't DEAL.

Also a 30 man roster will effect your trade deals with the AI because it picks from the usual 40 man roster.

[Anyone]

I use a 27 man roster all season in my OOTP league and a 30 man roster after expansion, and considered eliminating the expansion rule entirely. I certainly think its entire removal is reasonable (and would be reasonable for MLB as well).

[Le Grande Orange]

If you wanted to go the other direction, you could implement early season roster expansion, something which existed in baseball up until 1968. That means you start the regular season with a larger roster limit then trim down to your normal active roster limit after a month or so.

[ra7c7er]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

Posted in the "Maximizing AI" thread:

That post is the one that made me drop it to 30 in the first place thanks.

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

If you wanted to go the other direction, you could implement early season roster expansion, something which existed in baseball up until 1968. That means you start the regular season with a larger roster limit then trim down to your normal active roster limit after a month or so.

I thought about that too. How do I set the end date for it?

Originally Posted by ravinhood

I'm of the mind if you're going to play REAL baseball you should go by the rules of REAL baseball. So, I leave everything alone. I don't even set it up for future changes of baseball because the game can't know the future.

Now, I'm also a firm believer it's your game you can play it any way you want to. But, if you ever made an online league this way I'd never join it. It has to be REAL or I can't DEAL.

Also a 30 man roster will effect your trade deals with the AI because it picks from the usual 40 man roster.

Indy leagues already don't have a reserve roster and they don't have roster expansion. So ..... yeah REAL BASEBALL. Plus this isn't "real" baseball it's baseball I made up with MY rules. Also this isn't a online league and I didn't ask you to join. I remember now why I ignored you before.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by ravinhood

Also a 30 man roster will effect your trade deals with the AI because it picks from the usual 40 man roster.

I usually don't respond directly to ravinhood, but I feel like I have to clarify this for the sake of other readers:

Dropping the expanded rosters to 30 does not affect the 40-man roster. All 40-man roster rules remain in full effect; the only thing that changes is that the September call-ups are now limited to 5 players instead of 15.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by ra7c7er

I thought about that too. How do I set the end date for it?

You have do it manually, of course. Set the active roster to the expanded size you want for the start of the season, then when the date comes to reduce it go in and make the change in the settings. The AI should respond to the new lower limit once you advance to the next day.

As to the timing of the reduction, in real life the dates most frequently used in MLB were June 15, May 15, and the 31st day of the regular season. Pick which one you like, or go with a custom date. (For a listing of the real-life roster limits sizes, see this web site.

[ra7c7er]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

You have do it manually, of course. Set the active roster to the expanded size you want for the start of the season, then when the date comes to reduce it go in and make the change in the settings. The AI should respond to the new lower limit once you advance to the next day.

As to the timing of the reduction, in real life the dates most frequently used in MLB were June 15, May 15, and the 31st day of the regular season. Pick which one you like, or go with a custom date. (For a listing of the real-life roster limits sizes, see this web site.

Thanks I'm going to this out.