Minor League Systems
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Minor League Systems
I was just curious to see how everyone handles their minor league system and how you decide when to promote.
Do you look at their ratings? Do you go by age no matter what? Do you look at how they are dominating their current league? or do you listen to the game when it tells you a player is ready to move up?
I am currently going by ratings and age. If they flat line on their ratings I will promote by age to keep the younger guys playing more.
Here is my age limits
17-20 Rookie ball
19-22 SA
20-23 A
22-25 AA
23-27 AAA
Obviously ratings is more complicated and I don't know if there is a consistent way to do it. How they perform in that league has some sway but let's say a guy in R ball with a 4 Contact jumps to a 5 Contact and is in the upper third in the league i would consider a promotion to keep him progressing.
I like to get other ideas and just thought it woud be a good topic as well.
Do you look at their ratings? Do you go by age no matter what? Do you look at how they are dominating their current league? or do you listen to the game when it tells you a player is ready to move up?
I am currently going by ratings and age. If they flat line on their ratings I will promote by age to keep the younger guys playing more.
Here is my age limits
17-20 Rookie ball
19-22 SA
20-23 A
22-25 AA
23-27 AAA
Obviously ratings is more complicated and I don't know if there is a consistent way to do it. How they perform in that league has some sway but let's say a guy in R ball with a 4 Contact jumps to a 5 Contact and is in the upper third in the league i would consider a promotion to keep him progressing.
I like to get other ideas and just thought it woud be a good topic as well.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I think most of us probably use some combo of age, ratings and performance. Like you, I weigh ratings and age more heavily. Probably ratings one, age two, and performance third. Your ages look a bit old to me. IRL, a 22 year old in SA is more or less a bust on his last legs or someone who was injured. Mine look more like
Rookie: 16-19
SA: 18-20
A:19-21
AA: 20-22
AAA: 21-24
There's the occasional phenom that moves up faster, slow developer that moves more slowly, underdeveloped college kid (usually Defense is lagging behind), or roster filler "vet" that is outside those bounds, but for the most part my system matches those ages.
By comparison, look at your AAA. Players develop early in this league compared to MLB (although MLB is trending younger as well recently). So if your AAA is 23-27 year olds, your entire top level is either fully developed big leaguers or you're wasting valuable development playing slots on 15-20 guys who will never play in the bigs. Heck, most guys who are 24 and not worth playing in the bigs are never going to make it, so your AA seems to have a lot of dead wood too. I'll admit AAA turns into a AAAA holding ground for most of us, but if a dude has AAAA or lower potential and is 25, cut bait. Give the PT to someone much morel likely to bump.
Rookie: 16-19
SA: 18-20
A:19-21
AA: 20-22
AAA: 21-24
There's the occasional phenom that moves up faster, slow developer that moves more slowly, underdeveloped college kid (usually Defense is lagging behind), or roster filler "vet" that is outside those bounds, but for the most part my system matches those ages.
By comparison, look at your AAA. Players develop early in this league compared to MLB (although MLB is trending younger as well recently). So if your AAA is 23-27 year olds, your entire top level is either fully developed big leaguers or you're wasting valuable development playing slots on 15-20 guys who will never play in the bigs. Heck, most guys who are 24 and not worth playing in the bigs are never going to make it, so your AA seems to have a lot of dead wood too. I'll admit AAA turns into a AAAA holding ground for most of us, but if a dude has AAAA or lower potential and is 25, cut bait. Give the PT to someone much morel likely to bump.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I use ratings to initially place players out of the draft and then performance for promotions. Age never comes into it except when I cut everyone above age 22 in my SA/RL every year and everyone above 25 in my A/AA.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I use ratings for my main guys. Promote them when I think the ratings deserve a promotion.
For the fillers, I use age. Once you get to 25 years old, if you aren't in AAA I typically cut you loose.
For the fillers, I use age. Once you get to 25 years old, if you aren't in AAA I typically cut you loose.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I base my promotions primarily on stats, then ratings.
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Re: Minor League Systems
There's a triangle made of ratings, age, and stats for me. There was a podcast some time back where I said I play a lot almost as if I'm playing stats-only, and this is one of the areas. Yes, I start with ratings and I bracket levels by age most of the time, but I don't feel great compelling need to move guys up who are not putting numbers down. Age-wise, I'm looking at:
R - 16-19
SA - 18-21
A - 20-22
AA - 22-24
AAA - Whatever
It's an unusual situation where I have guys at these levels outside these age bands. It happens, but not often (and usually because I need warm bodies in places).
Then there's also playing time. I'd rather a guy play all the time at a lower level than part time at a higher level.
There are also a few players who I like to match up with coaches...so sometimes I leave a guy in place who I would normally promote--or promote a coach along with a player.
Mostly I just liked Alan's discussion about how he's focused on his minors.
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I also admit that I just enjoy watching guys play in the minors. I have quite a bit of fun managing even those guys who will never make the majors---or if they do it's just for a sip of coffee. Occasionally I'll bring one of those guys up for a final sim or two of the season just for the feeling of knowing they had the chance to play major league ball.
Bottom line: as a rule, though I don't get the opportunity every sim, I'm trying to manage deep into my organization every sim.
When I'm on my game, I literally track development of ratings in my own system every sim.
R - 16-19
SA - 18-21
A - 20-22
AA - 22-24
AAA - Whatever
It's an unusual situation where I have guys at these levels outside these age bands. It happens, but not often (and usually because I need warm bodies in places).
Then there's also playing time. I'd rather a guy play all the time at a lower level than part time at a higher level.
There are also a few players who I like to match up with coaches...so sometimes I leave a guy in place who I would normally promote--or promote a coach along with a player.
Mostly I just liked Alan's discussion about how he's focused on his minors.
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I also admit that I just enjoy watching guys play in the minors. I have quite a bit of fun managing even those guys who will never make the majors---or if they do it's just for a sip of coffee. Occasionally I'll bring one of those guys up for a final sim or two of the season just for the feeling of knowing they had the chance to play major league ball.
Bottom line: as a rule, though I don't get the opportunity every sim, I'm trying to manage deep into my organization every sim.
When I'm on my game, I literally track development of ratings in my own system every sim.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I love hearing these discussions. It's a great learning experience and there is usually something that can be picked out of others approaches and used yourself.
Age wise, I usually stick to...
Rookie= 16-18
A/SS-A= 19-21( I view them as the same level with my better prospects generally going to A and fringe players in SS-A
AA=22-23
AAA= The best team of minor league free agents I can possibly put together(injury depth) + near BBA ready prospects
As I'm about to implode my team and do a large scale rebuild, I'll probably use AAA more as a developmental level. But when I'm thinking win now/neutral I like to keep as many capable bodies as I can under control to step in just in case my team gets leveled with injuries.
Age wise, I usually stick to...
Rookie= 16-18
A/SS-A= 19-21( I view them as the same level with my better prospects generally going to A and fringe players in SS-A
AA=22-23
AAA= The best team of minor league free agents I can possibly put together(injury depth) + near BBA ready prospects
As I'm about to implode my team and do a large scale rebuild, I'll probably use AAA more as a developmental level. But when I'm thinking win now/neutral I like to keep as many capable bodies as I can under control to step in just in case my team gets leveled with injuries.
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Re: Minor League Systems
I don't have a set rule for my minor league ages, but I generally use ratings to first place a player when I acquire him, then promote/demote based upon stats. If two players are close in those areas, I'll promote the older player. If a player is stagnating, that is when I generally cut him, or let him walk. I'd say my AA and AAA are skewed older than most, but that is mainly because I treat my AAA as a stash of potential replacements, which means some guys who are good/old enough for AAA wind up in AA.
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Re: Minor League Systems
And checking the age page in StatsPlus, I guess my guys at the top aren't as old as I thought.
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Re: Minor League Systems
Having read some more responses, I'm more like this with three exceptions. 1)If the performance is great, but the ratings don't make sense to promote, I won't do it. 2) Sometimes if I have a guy that is old for his level and developed enough for the next level, I'll move him up even if his performance doesn't warrant it. More than half these guys actually improve with the promotion. 3)I generally won't put a 17 or 18 year old above A ball, regardless of performance. I feel like I've had some bad luck with lumping by pushing super talented youngsters.
As far as ratings for levels, this is where I start each year, though by the end of the year players are often one level higher
R: up to 3's
SA: batters 4's, pitchers 4-5
A: batters 4-5, pitchers 5
AA: batters 5, pitchers 5-6
AA: batters 5-6 and up, pitchers 6-7 and up
Frankly, I'd be more aggressive than this with the ratings, but I don't want my minor league teams to lose every game. Way too many teams have guys with all 6's playing in A ball for me to move anyone up more.
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Re: Minor League Systems
On the whole I agree with your ratings breakouts...though AA and AAA are maybe a little higher for me. I should go do another "league average" rating calculation sometime. Our league has some wonky rating tiers, which is fine as long as you're aware of them.
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Re: Minor League Systems
And my R-level guys are a little higher than 3s most of the time. At least in things not Power and Eye. That's a thing about ratings. The various categories come in at different rates--which I admit is kind of annoying in ways.
Re: Minor League Systems
It’s ALL about stats here. If you’re a 23-year-old prospect with good ratings but your ERA is 6.84 in AA, you’re not getting moved up. I have never ever had a guy who was awful in the minors get called up and start tearing it up.
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Re: Minor League Systems
Generally, yes. But if they have the ratings and haven't had great stats, I'll still give them a shot. Ivan Castillo had about a career 100 OPS+ in the minors, yet he's been over 100 in OPS+ in his 500-ish plate appearances in Jacksonville. And it's only 42 innings, but Raúl Chavarría has been pretty good this year despite only 10.2 innings above SA ball before this year
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Re: Minor League Systems
I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't given my minors much attention at all. I've shortlisted my top prospects and I'm managing their progress, but that's it. I'm waiting for the off-season to take the deep dive into the rest of the minors. My system falls in line with age/ratings/stats a bunch of you have mentioned, but I don't put much credence in stats at the minor league level, especially in AAA. My thinking is that some players will underperform in AAA because they're angry they haven't been called up to the bigs yet. But it's always good to see stats back up the ratings rationalization to move somebody up or down.
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