Possible reason for AI releasing prospects

[Paul Reuschel's Mustache]

Many people have commented about the AI occasionally releasing decent to good prospects (mostly pitchers). I also see it happening, even with the latest 26.6.73 patch. I've tinkered with all of the settings to stop it from happening, but nothing works. That includes no restrictions whatsoever on roster rules (roster size, age and service time).

Question for the Devs: Does OOTP use the MLB domestic reserve list (DRL) limits? As of 2024, the in-season DRL limit is 165 players. During the off-season, teams can have 175 players on their DRL. Players in the Dominican Summer League don't count against the DRL. Players on the 60-day DL also don't count against the DRL.

If a team's DRL is full, is the AI releasing prospects because a player from the team's Dominican League was promoted stateside or because a player on the 60-day DL was activated?

[tejdog1]

What I've noticed is, if a player gets hurt in September, that player gets released.

[ChrisG]

It's definitely still happening. The Dodgers AI released Charles Davalan. My AGM released Slater de Brun and immediately released some 2026 draftees.

[Baseballman2K5]

I've never wanted a new patch more than now. I'm addicted to my current save but I'm tired of seeing this problem

[Karl Pagel Blues]

A lot of us use our own custom settings. The number of settings and things we can fine tune are almost endless. That's one of the great things about this game, but something that also causes problems. I haven’t started a long-term save with this version due to time constraints. From comments on the forum, there still seem to be some bugs that need to be ironed out. Hopefully, those will be sorted before I find the time to start a new save game.

I just ran a quick 2025 test season using the standard out-of-the-box settings and noticed the following:

1. The AI (still) releases a lot of minor league players over the course of the season. Only 2-star and lower players were cut. And the AI also (still) signs a lot of minor league free agents who are no better (and often older) than those it released. I don’t have that much of a problem with the players who were released. But replacing them with older players who are no better doesn’t make sense. There’s just too much unnecessary releasing and signing of minor leaguers, in my opinion.

Additional fine-tuning is needed here so that the AI only signs a minor league player if there is a) an unmet need for his services, and/or b) he is better (or younger) than players already in the system.

2. AI trading is working pretty well. Nothing to complain about here.

3. Players drafted in 2025 were not released.

[Pdubya64]

Normally I have been pretty patient with releases, but I backed away this year in July- too many issues that seem to flummox the devs, too much wonkiness and irritation.
No thanks. This is the first year in a long time I never started a standard game, perhaps next year?

[JRRose]

Originally Posted by Pdubya64

Normally I have been pretty patient with releases, but I backed away this year in July- too many issues that seem to flummox the devs, too much wonkiness and irritation.
No thanks. This is the first year in a long time I never started a standard game, perhaps next year?

I’ve been wanting to start a long term save for months now, but there’s always a major issue!!

[kidd_05_u2]

There are no major issues. There haven't been major issues for the last four months. You guys are letting yourself get influenced too much by the forums.

[kosmos412]

Originally Posted by kidd_05_u2

There are no major issues. There haven't been major issues for the last four months. You guys are letting yourself get influenced too much by the forums.

Nah I'm giving the dev's their grace, but I've stopped all of my saves because prospects keep getting released.

[Paul Reuschel's Mustache]

Originally Posted by kidd_05_u2

There are no major issues. There haven't been major issues for the last four months. You guys are letting yourself get influenced too much by the forums.

I guess that settles it. Those of us pointing out issues with the game these past months are suffering from hallucinations. Thanks for the diagnosis, Doc!

I change a lot of the default game settings to create my own custom MLB/MiLB (and "partner league") universe. I can live with most of the wonky AI responses. But the hallucination that bothers me the most right now is when the AI releases organizational minor league players (Double-A and lower leagues) and then immediately signs new minor league free agents to replace them.

Sure, some of those 1 to 2 star players deserved to be released. If you're 23 to 25 years old and still floundering in Single-A or a Rookie League, you should probably polish your non-baseball resume. But then the AI just goes and signs replacement 1 to 2 star players to fill those empty roster spots. These hallucinations are not conducive to an immersive game experience.

Normally, I'd be in charge of these transactions for the Cubs, and I wouldn't release these players. I was running tests before starting a long-term save because of the myriad of comments (hallucinations) about issues with this version of the game. But obviously, if the AI is doing this with the Cubs organization, it will do the same thing with the other teams. Which is one of the reasons I still haven't gotten into a long-term save at this late point.

Release---sign, release---sign, release---sign.

I agree with the hallucinations expressed by KPB:

Originally Posted by Karl Pagel Blues

There’s just too much unnecessary releasing and signing of minor leaguers, in my opinion.

Additional fine-tuning is needed here so that the AI only signs a minor league player if there is a) an unmet need for his services, and/or b) he is better (or younger) than players already in the system.

And so it goes. The game is improving. But in some areas of gameplay, the AI is just as bad as it was 4-5 versions ago. Although, that might just be my hallucination. YMMV

[BarneyRubble]

Originally Posted by kosmos412

Nah I'm giving the dev's their grace, but I've stopped all of my saves because prospects keep getting released.

I'm waiting to start a new save myself. I'm afraid it might be a waste of time to do otherwise.

[Karl Pagel Blues]

Sign and release is one problem. Another problem I see is the AI signs too many late 20 to early 30 scrub players who get stashed at Triple A or Double A. Seems like that's hardwired into its programming for some reason. In my Cubs tests, these roster filler vets blocked real prospects such as Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara, Porter Hodge, Luke Little, and Cade Horton, who got demoted to Doube A or even Single A as soon as a scrub was signed. I even changed the Cubs focus to "Rebuilding" and ran a few tests, but the same thing happened.

Would be great to at least get some setting that allows me to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of the AI falling in love with these journeymen players.

[90sball]

We just had this happen in an online league for a human owned team - truly disappointing. It's a historical league with not many minor leaguers so there was no reason for the player to end up in free agency. He was the #2 ranked prospect.

[BarneyRubble]

Originally Posted by Karl Pagel Blues

Sign and release is one problem. Another problem I see is the AI signs too many late 20 to early 30 scrub players who get stashed at Triple A or Double A. Seems like that's hardwired into its programming for some reason. In my Cubs tests, these roster filler vets blocked real prospects such as Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara, Porter Hodge, Luke Little, and Cade Horton, who got demoted to Doube A or even Single A as soon as a scrub was signed. I even changed the Cubs focus to "Rebuilding" and ran a few tests, but the same thing happened.

Would be great to at least get some setting that allows me to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of the AI falling in love with these journeymen players.

Thanks for this post. I need to pay closer attention to the AI. Those AAAA players are necessary when prospects aren't ready to fill yet. But if the AI doesn't grasp that these players are expendable at anytime, that's an issue.

[millhousebc]

Originally Posted by BarneyRubble

Thanks for this post. I need to pay closer attention to the AI. Those AAAA players are necessary when prospects aren't ready to fill yet. But if the AI doesn't grasp that these players are expendable at anytime, that's an issue.

Isn't this suppose to prevent this from happening in the minor leagues.

"Base Depth Chart and Pitching Staff AI on"

[Baseballman2K5]

Originally Posted by millhousebc

Isn't this suppose to prevent this from happening in the minor leagues.

"Base Depth Chart and Pitching Staff AI on"

How come I don't have that feature (Base Depth Chart and Pitching Staff AI on)?

[millhousebc]

Have to go to minor leagues in players tab.

[Karl Pagel Blues]

Originally Posted by millhousebc

Isn't this suppose to prevent this from happening in the minor leagues.

"Base Depth Chart and Pitching Staff AI on"

Yes, it is. I'm using "Potential Ability" for "Base Depth Chart & Pitching Staff AI on" across all minor league levels. I'm on "Do not disturb" and the AI has full control over the Cubs organization. "Prevent any AI roster changes" has been un-checked. What I'm seeing is that the AI is still signing too many journeyman "4A" players and assigning them to Triple and Double A. And then top prospects get demoted a level or two as a result of the roster crunch.

There's no justification for demoting 2025 Cade Horton, Moises Ballesteros, Porter Hodge, Luke Little, Kevin Alcantara, and others to make room for 4A players that shouldn't have been signed in the first place since there was no need for them.

This is a separate issue from the AI minor league roster churn and the AI releasing legitimate prospects.

And I understand that these are not major issues for some people.

[kidd_05_u2]

Originally Posted by Karl Pagel Blues

What I'm seeing is that the AI is still signing too many journeyman "4A" players and assigning them to Triple and Double A. And then top prospects get demoted a level or two as a result of the roster crunch.

There's no justification for demoting 2025 Cade Horton, Moises Ballesteros, Porter Hodge, Luke Little, Kevin Alcantara, and others to make room for 4A players that shouldn't have been signed in the first place since there was no need for them.

And I understand that these are not major issues for some people.

This has been happening for at least a half decade in OOTP. I've been talking about this issue a lot with Lukas, and the next patch will have some tweaks to Milb roster management.

I couldn't get him to agree that the organizations shouldn't sign so many players though. He says OOTP teams are signing 3-4 players a month, which matches real life. I argued this doesn't apply because real life signings are injury or trade replacements 95% of the time.

[Baseballman2K5]

Originally Posted by millhousebc

Have to go to minor leagues in players tab.

Thank you