Minor League Roster Limits

[Sully]

I think I only had to release 4 people to get to the limit.

I saw some teams maxed out at 30, and another 10+ guys on their DFA. Actually, it was just one. What's going to be done about that? Should we be at 25 max, and only a couple on the DFA (with good reason)? I thought we already went through this?

[spot]

Not sure why, but OOTP recommends that your lowest level of minors not be below 35. This might only be for solo however.

[Andrew]

Not sure why, but OOTP recommends that your lowest level of minors not be below 35. This might only be for solo however.

Yeah I think that's for solo to prevent the AI sign and release issues.

[Riverman]

This is what I'm thinking. I'd rather have the draft set up to create players for 15-16 rounds, but maybe we only draft 10-12 rounds worth. This way we get to keep a deep draft, and the only guys that get left out are the scrubs at the end.

The way the game handles progression, we will still have the same number of guys make it and the same number wash out. We just wont waste as much time drafting scrubs at the end of the draft. If we only create guys for 10-12 rounds, the number of players that make it to the BLB will drop. So, unless anyone feels that we have to many impact players reaching the BLB, I think we should keep the created players set for whatever we have now.

Those leftovers that dont get drafted will then go to the FA list and give us more guys to fill out our minors, assuming they sign for Minor League deals, which history shows, they wont. But, I'd rather give 18-20 year olds a chance than washed up 26-29 year olds.

I am not sure that you can do that but if you can it might work OK. I don't see any problem leaving the draft at 15 rounds though unless it creates too much work for Andrew and he wants to cut it back. If you are not interested in the last few rounds just do the auto pick option or add a few guys to your list without any research.

It seems strange that all these scrubs want major league deals in this league. In the solo league I play with once in a while, guys who washed out in their first crack or two at pro ball virtually never insist on a major league deal.

[Riverman]

I think I only had to release 4 people to get to the limit.

I saw some teams maxed out at 30, and another 10+ guys on their DFA. Actually, it was just one. What's going to be done about that? Should we be at 25 max, and only a couple on the DFA (with good reason)? I thought we already went through this?

Hmm, I can't imigine who that was since Diesel has indicated he had stopped keeping the extra minor league roster on his DFA.

It does seem like we need some kind of enforcement mechanism and specific rules about DFA if that is still being abused.

[Clay]

I'm fine with whatever... hell... I think my Single A is at 27 right now and I have 3 injuries so I actually have room to wiggle...

My statement still goes back to the 15 round draft. 15 players coming in every year and a 25 man limit at Single A means there is going to be cases where you are forced to move guys up sooner than they should be moved in order to not lose them. Thus, potentially, hurting development and causing frustration.

I'm totally fine with whatever. I would work with a hard cap of 25 if need be. I like having the wiggle room with the spots for IR... especially since I go through Single A pitchers faster than Sully goes through Father's Day cards.

(Editor's Note: Had some good Diesel joke lined up for the payoff there... but wanted to go a little old school "Sully has a lot of kids" for a change of pace.)

[Riverman]

There is no rule that you have to keep all 15 guys that you draft. The whole point of the rule is to create more minor league free agents, which leaving the draft at 15 rounds will accomplish. If we reduce it to less than that and, assuming that the draft class is then proportionally smaller, it won't have the same affect.

[Lintyfresh85]

Is there a way to have less rounds... but still create the 15 rounds of talent? Would anyone be against a 10 round draft with 5 rounds of talent dropped to FA? I know I wouldn't.

[Sully]

What it boils down to is what makes things easier for Andrew. It's a shame if we're having to cut back to 25 because one, or a select few, can't follow a simple rule. Andrew's the one that has to police it, so it's understandable if he just wants to go with the limit of 25.

I was carrying 4 extra guys, I believe, and I think I had 2 or 3 that are injured. Now, I'm going to have to risk other players getting injured because they'll be forced to play more than I would probably want them to. So, yeah, for a guy like me that's housing around 80 guys in his minors, this rule sucks. But it also sucks for the guys that can't find anyone to sign because there's another guy housing over 100 players in his minor league system.

[Sully]

I like the draft as is, to be honest.

[Delandis]

I agree with Sully.

[Clay]

What it boils down to is what makes things easier for Andrew.

I think that's the long and short of it. Whatever is easiest for Andrew.

Maybe the solution is this easy. Here is the limit... here is the DFA rule... if you mess up... you get the infamous "AI set up minor leagues". Period. Done.

[Jistic]

I don't believe I even have 25 at any level.

[Riverman]

I think that's the long and short of it. Whatever is easiest for Andrew.

Maybe the solution is this easy. Here is the limit... here is the DFA rule... if you mess up... you get the infamous "AI set up minor leagues". Period. Done.

This new rule is going to be far harder to enforce than one with hard roster limits since to do so would require figuring out who was injured at the beginning of the sim and who got signed during the sim. I don't think enforcement is planned since no one in this league, I'm sure, would try to take advantage of anything like that.

Good idea regarding the "AI set up minor leagues" suggestion. Another possiblity is to release guys from the offending party's BA top 10 list starting at number 10 and working down until the correct roster limits are reached.

[Spectre]

Here's my .02

I had a ton of trouble the last couple offseasons filling out my minor leagues but I don't think it will be a huge problem in upcoming years. The people that are affected by the status quo structure are essentially just the new teams. I know for me, the problem is becoming less and less significant with each passing draft. I don't have a single non-draftee on my A roster and my AA roster will be populated by a good chunk of my "own" players soon.

Did any of the established teams have serious difficulties filling out their minor squads, just curious. I think the lack of previous draftees is what makes the problem hard for Batavia and Morgantown (and myself and Indy the couple years before).

I like the system the way it is, despite the difficulty it's given me. Yeah it was annoying when I was trying to fill out my minors and I was losing guys to teams that had full minor systems, but it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. I do like having extra roster flexibility though on the farm (even though all my players down there stink!).

I like Clay's idea for the AI set minor leagues rule for people who go over 30 though :). Whatever is best for Andrew, though, is what's best for me in the end.