How to rebuild the minors?

[jimpx131]

Hi all, how do you rebuild your minor league systems? I took over the Mariners with great minors (was in the top 5), now 6 seasons in I rank in the 25-30 ranks. I'm not that much familiar with minors to be honest, though I understand generally how they work, just have issues getting players to my organisation (apart from the draft and trades).

For example, my Dominican Rookie team had 110 players at one point, so I took over control and got it to a more manageable size. Then I did the same with other levels. Now it happened that my AAA team has 3 batters and 6 pitchers and I have to get some players in. When I dropped players I didn't see developing to reach majors, my org dropped to 28th overall in MLB. AAA team had a score of 21-113, something like that and all but one player had negative WAR.

What am I doing wrong? Any tips to managing the minors from the GM perspective? Any tips on getting players into the system, albeit just as filler roles?

[billyray1984]

I'd suggest reading this : https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=316759

It's a really great post and it's become kind of my bible when it comes to the minors.

[jimpx131]

That's extensive, thanks!

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by billyray1984

I'd suggest reading this : https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=316759

It's a really great post and it's become kind of my bible when it comes to the minors.

Amen. Read that post, agreed with most of it, learned some new helpful things, reinforced things I thought I picked up, challenged me to do a thorough job handling the minor leagues. Anybody doing this the first time should read it. And those of us who have muddled through the process can also benefit. It can be time-consuming; but. I equate it to MLB in terms of the commitment a team makes to scouting, nurturing, refining, developing players. It is so worth the effort to watch a prospect develop to the point of joining the MLB roster and making a real contribution. And those of us living in minor league towns totally appreciate the grind to move up and how often the dream escapes solid but unspectacular players.

[PSUColonel]

Wish that post could be sticked or put in some sort of comprehensive strategy guide. I am thinking we could all work on some sort of formal strategy guide...might be a fun project. We could have a written one, as well as one broadcast on YouTube also.

Anybody on board?

[CH1MA3RA]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

Wish that post could be sticked or put in some sort of comprehensive strategy guide. I am thinking we could all work on some sort of formal strategy guide...might be a fun project. We could have a written one, as well as one broadcast on YouTube also.

Anybody on board?

I've actually been working on a flowchart for minors promotions based on that linked post, with some modifications to adjust for not having both a Rk+ and SSA setup. When it's in a good spot I can share it here.

[omg_pwnasaurus]

I didn't notice it in the linked thread referenced but was there any mention of if a coach (pitching/hitting) that has a good relationship/tendency aligned with a pitcher or hitter with the same tendency helps at all.

ie) High end groundball pitching prospect with groundball pitching coach at the minor league level?

I typically like to promote my high end guys through the system along with certain coaches that have those relationships, not sure if it really helps or not though.

[CH1MA3RA]

Originally Posted by omg_pwnasaurus

I didn't notice it in the linked thread referenced but was there any mention of if a coach (pitching/hitting) that has a good relationship/tendency aligned with a pitcher or hitter with the same tendency helps at all.

ie) High end groundball pitching prospect with groundball pitching coach at the minor league level?

I typically like to promote my high end guys through the system along with certain coaches that have those relationships, not sure if it really helps or not though.

From my understanding of the coaching system, yes a good relationship between a coach and a player added to that player having a good work ethic/intelligence/adaptability and that coach having good development/mechanics skills, SHOULD positively impact that player's ratings.

[CH1MA3RA]

First time trying to share on image on this forum. But here is the flowchart I made. I was heavily inspired by the content in the shared link about managing your minors. I made some changes, most notable being the change from having a Rk+ and SSA to having just a SSA that is labeled as Rk+. This general structure means that you can start a MLB based league that consists of Rk, DSL, A-, A+, AA, and AAA and add a SSA league into as your Rk + league.

Hope this helps anyone that might need it.

[cohimbra]

Up

[tomkmb]

Originally Posted by CH1MA3RA

First time trying to share on image on this forum. But here is the flowchart I made. I was heavily inspired by the content in the shared link about managing your minors. I made some changes, most notable being the change from having a Rk+ and SSA to having just a SSA that is labeled as Rk+. This general structure means that you can start a MLB based league that consists of Rk, DSL, A-, A+, AA, and AAA and add a SSA league into as your Rk + league.

Hope this helps anyone that might need it.

This is a great visual resource, thanks for making it.

[BBGiovanni]

Wow, great! Sticky this badboy (at least until the cartel/guild change all the rules!)

[Pelican]

Again thanks for the flow chart diagram. I like them. Here's a question. I find that many (but not all) of my organizations have a glut of players at the lowest levels - typically one of their rookie league teams has as many as 70 players. This makes no sense, as it is impossible for everybody to get playing time. Most teams already have one or two Florida or Arizona rookie teams, and one or two in the Dominican. So creating a new team or two does not seem like a solution to this glut of players. Most of them are very young and have very low ratings and very limited prospects. Do teams really do this IRL? It seems like a waste of money. Is my solution to release fifty or so players, to get down to 25-man rosters? How should I determine which among young, untested, not yet fully developed players should be let go? In the future I am going to target older players (except in the International Draft), and let the colleges sort them out, so they are closer to being ready to advance. I know I'll miss a few prep gems that way; but the exceptions prove the strategy works. Am I wrong? Help on the overloaded roster issue, anybody?

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Again thanks for the flow chart diagram. I like them. Here's a question. I find that many (but not all) of my organizations have a glut of players at the lowest levels - typically one of their rookie league teams has as many as 70 players. This makes no sense, as it is impossible for everybody to get playing time. Most teams already have one or two Florida or Arizona rookie teams, and one or two in the Dominican. So creating a new team or two does not seem like a solution to this glut of players. Most of them are very young and have very low ratings and very limited prospects. Do teams really do this IRL? It seems like a waste of money. Is my solution to release fifty or so players, to get down to 25-man rosters? How should I determine which among young, untested, not yet fully developed players should be let go? In the future I am going to target older players (except in the International Draft), and let the colleges sort them out, so they are closer to being ready to advance. I know I'll miss a few prep gems that way; but the exceptions prove the strategy works. Am I wrong? Help on the overloaded roster issue, anybody?

You need to set roster size limits. There's no reason for a team at any level to have more than 30 players. Hoarding kids with no chance to ever advance is a waste.

[tomkmb]

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

You need to set roster size limits. There's no reason for a team at any level to have more than 30 players. Hoarding kids with no chance to ever advance is a waste.

I’ve seen people mention they set limits by service time, as hard capped roster limits can sometimes cause the AI to cut players who are high potential. I take it if you’re managing all the minutiae of the MiL yourself then you just get a notification that stops you from proceeding to the next day if you’re over your roster cap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by tomkmb

I’ve seen people mention they set limits by service time, as hard capped roster limits can sometimes cause the AI to cut players who are high potential. I take it if you’re managing all the minutiae of the MiL yourself then you just get a notification that stops you from proceeding to the next day if you’re over your roster cap?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use service time and age to set roster limits. If you try to move a player to a level for which he is not eligible the game won't let you. If the AI releases guys with good potential that's their problem. It means the scouts for that team don't think the guy has a future. Sometimes they're right, sometimes their wrong. I've released guys I thought couldn't go any further and was proven wrong. No one is perfect, mistakes happen.

[tomkmb]

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

I use service time and age to set roster limits. If you try to move a player to a level for which he is not eligible the game won't let you. If the AI releases guys with good potential that's their problem. It means the scouts for that team don't think the guy has a future. Sometimes they're right, sometimes their wrong. I've released guys I thought couldn't go any further and was proven wrong. No one is perfect, mistakes happen.

Yeah, I meant more for people who set those roster and age limits and then let the AI manage their Minor Leagues, at least that's what has been highlighted as the pitfalls on the OOTP subreddit.

[Dave Stieb II]

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

I use service time and age to set roster limits. If you try to move a player to a level for which he is not eligible the game won't let you. If the AI releases guys with good potential that's their problem. It means the scouts for that team don't think the guy has a future. Sometimes they're right, sometimes their wrong. I've released guys I thought couldn't go any further and was proven wrong. No one is perfect, mistakes happen.

I've always used the RL service time limits but have never been sure what age limits to use and that's especially true now that there is no Short Season A level. If you don't mind me asking, could you share what age limits you use?

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by Dave Stieb II

I've always used the RL service time limits but have never been sure what age limits to use and that's especially true now that there is no Short Season A level. If you don't mind me asking, could you share what age limits you use?

I have SSA in my universe. I simply recreated them. I went the other way with the low minors compared to real MLB, I expanded them. I have Rookie, Rookie + which per the development modifiers is halfway between Rookie and SSA, SSA then Low A and so on. Every team has the same number of minor league teams (1 Rookie, 2 Rookie+, 2 SSA then the usual up from there).

My age limits are: Rookie 21; Rookie+ 22; SSA; 23 Low A 24 High A 25; AA 25; AAA no limit.

Rookie + was done so I'd have a bridge for kids drafted out of high school not yet ready to move from Rookie ball to SSA, but forced off the one Rookie ball roster by the next draft class. As for the modifiers, Rookie has modifiers that are either .500 or .600 depending, for Rookie + they're .550 and .650. It also gave me a reason to make a lot more fictional uniforms

[Dave Stieb II]

Thanks for this ^