International Leagues: My take

andyhdz · 06-29-2016, 02:54 PM

I'm about to start the fifth year trying to take the Monterrey Sultans (Sultanes de Monterrey) of the 16 team Mexican League to LMB (Liga Mexicana de Beisbol) glory and man I'm having a rough go. When I first took them over they were a mediocre team but had some talent and 5 years later they are a team that's only made the playoffs 1 time since I took over. Mind you this is a league that has 5 playoff teams out of 8 in each of it's subleagues!

Here are some quick pointers if you plan on playing an international league:

1. Create a minor league if it doesnt' have one. It's more fun to see stats of players rather than a reserve setup. However a 1 team minor league or reserve system setup makes things VERY tough because...

2. International teams have a dearth of talent because well they are supposed to have a dearth of talent. Yes they are some good players and only a few great ones but the pool is so small so it's hard to find a lot of good FAs to quickly build your team like the majors so it's more a slow go. There is no minor league FA or rule 5 draft so there is not a lot of turnover of talent. I have my FA set at 6 years. You have to be more careful on who you sign because you don't have a big budget to begin with and a few big time players quickly maxes you out.

3. Foreign team limits SUCK. LMB has a 6 player limit and even that severely hamstrings me in the players I want to sign that are not Mexican. I have a big universe so I salivate at some of the American and Asian FA talent but I have to focus on the older players or the so-so players who will take less in salary. I can quickly write off the top players because they demand saleries 4 times greater than my entire budget and this is even having a team that's on top of the revenue food chain in the league. When I try to move my non-Mexican players that don't make the cut I get trade offers of...non-Mexican players from what I assume are teams in the same boat as me. It makes each foreign slot worth it's weight in gold and you have to be very careful and strategic on who is going to be filling in those slots for you.

4. The foreign limits and very shallow minor league system which leads to a small draft pool makes it very challenging to build a winner. I had to turn down my injuries to classic because a few injuries can quickly ruin your season and even turn off moral because you have few options on solving team infighting because of the shallow pool.

So I would conclude that international leagues are not for everyone but they can be fun because I had a blast signing some of the older American talent that I saw come up in my majors when I first started my universe and were winding down in their career. I also have a big universe where all my international leagues and a couple of indy leagues that I created meet in a yearly International Series. It's nice to watch the teams battle it out and maybe one day the Sultans will make it there. But then again maybe the Perth Heat of the Aussie League needs me more.

06-29-2016, 02:54 PM	#1
andyhdz All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Fresno, CA by way of Texas Posts: 1,754	International Leagues: My take I'm about to start the fifth year trying to take the Monterrey Sultans (Sultanes de Monterrey) of the 16 team Mexican League to LMB (Liga Mexicana de Beisbol) glory and man I'm having a rough go. When I first took them over they were a mediocre team but had some talent and 5 years later they are a team that's only made the playoffs 1 time since I took over. Mind you this is a league that has 5 playoff teams out of 8 in each of it's subleagues! Here are some quick pointers if you plan on playing an international league: 1. Create a minor league if it doesnt' have one. It's more fun to see stats of players rather than a reserve setup. However a 1 team minor league or reserve system setup makes things VERY tough because... 2. International teams have a dearth of talent because well they are supposed to have a dearth of talent. Yes they are some good players and only a few great ones but the pool is so small so it's hard to find a lot of good FAs to quickly build your team like the majors so it's more a slow go. There is no minor league FA or rule 5 draft so there is not a lot of turnover of talent. I have my FA set at 6 years. You have to be more careful on who you sign because you don't have a big budget to begin with and a few big time players quickly maxes you out. 3. Foreign team limits SUCK. LMB has a 6 player limit and even that severely hamstrings me in the players I want to sign that are not Mexican. I have a big universe so I salivate at some of the American and Asian FA talent but I have to focus on the older players or the so-so players who will take less in salary. I can quickly write off the top players because they demand saleries 4 times greater than my entire budget and this is even having a team that's on top of the revenue food chain in the league. When I try to move my non-Mexican players that don't make the cut I get trade offers of...non-Mexican players from what I assume are teams in the same boat as me. It makes each foreign slot worth it's weight in gold and you have to be very careful and strategic on who is going to be filling in those slots for you. 4. The foreign limits and very shallow minor league system which leads to a small draft pool makes it very challenging to build a winner. I had to turn down my injuries to classic because a few injuries can quickly ruin your season and even turn off moral because you have few options on solving team infighting because of the shallow pool. So I would conclude that international leagues are not for everyone but they can be fun because I had a blast signing some of the older American talent that I saw come up in my majors when I first started my universe and were winding down in their career. I also have a big universe where all my international leagues and a couple of indy leagues that I created meet in a yearly International Series. It's nice to watch the teams battle it out and maybe one day the Sultans will make it there. But then again maybe the Perth Heat of the Aussie League needs me more. Last edited by andyhdz; 06-29-2016 at 03:10 PM.