Do you ever park a young player in the low minors as opposed to releasing him?

[johnd2442]

Say you have a 25 year old who just isn't cutting it in Double or Triple-A. But he did decently just a year or two ago. Still, when you look at his ratings, they really aren't very good and you don't see a future for him. Instead of releasing him to allow another team to take a chance on him, do you ever park a guy like this in Single-A since you may have the room and forget about him until year's end and then release him quietly?

[jiminyhopkins]

I always keep my minors full. Usually I have 50 or 60 guys sign minor league extensions every season.

[shoeless.db]

I’ll keep anyone I feel has the potential to either bump or make the players around him better. Also, if they’re 16, I’m legally obligated to keep them in my organization by order of the state Fire Marshall.

[RonCo]

If I understand the question, the only time I put a 25 year-old in A ball or lower is if I just don't have anyone at all I can move in. That happens, but is pretty rare. I'll promote guys from SA first, and then fill in...including taking guys out of the IC to play filler roles in R ball if needed.

As far as I can tell, there is no value in having a 25 year old in A-ball or SA when I can put a 19-21 year-old there instead.

[johnd2442]

..including taking guys out of the IC to play filler roles in R ball if needed.

As far as I can tell, there is no value in having a 25 year old in A-ball or SA when I can put a 19-21 year-old there instead.

I probably could have written it more clearly. What I was trying to explain was that I don't want to release the player midseason in fear of another team snapping him up. I'd rather let him walk at the end of the season when it could be more likely that he just fades away into the UMEBA free agent ether.

I admit, I don't know what "IC" is. And is R ball, Rookie ball? Unfortunately, the UMEBA doesn't have Rookie ball, so that is not relevant to a UMEBA franchise.

I can't put a 19-21 year old in single-A instead without signing a free agent who already has minimal to no value. I think this could be an apples to oranges thing between BBA franchises and UMEBA franchises. And in any case, the 25 year old won't play in single-A - I'd be playing others instead. Likely, other 16-21 year old players that I'm curious about.

[johnd2442]

I always keep my minors full. Usually I have 50 or 60 guys sign minor league extensions every season.

Yup, my minors are full too. But I have 35 spots in my Single-A squad, and have open spots there. At Triple-A and Double-A I only have 30 roster spots, so that allows me a bit more leeway with Single-A.

[RonCo]

Yes, Rookie Ball or International Complex.

There could well be some differences in BBA/UMEBA environments, but in the BBA I would put any 21 YO in A ball and any 19 YO in SA-ball over a 25 YO who couldn't cut in in AA or AAA unless I just didn't have anyone quite ready. I mean, on rare occasions I've had 25 YO in A-ball, but it is rare. The kids might bump, at least.

[johnd2442]

Yes, Rookie Ball or International Complex.

There could well be some differences in BBA/UMEBA environments, but in the BBA I would put any 21 YO in A ball and any 19 YO in SA-ball over a 25 YO who couldn't cut in in AA or AAA unless I just didn't have anyone quite ready. I mean, on rare occasions I've had 25 YO in A-ball, but it is rare. The kids might bump, at least.

Let me try to explain further. I don't plan on playing the 25 year old in single-A a lick. Again, I'm putting him in the low minors only so that I don't have to release him. Also, so that he's not taking any at bats from another player at a higher level in a platoon situation. I suppose I could just stick him on the bench as the 30th man on a Triple-A or Double-A franchise and just never play. But I do have some utility guys who serve a purpose in those levels. Sticking him in Single-A gets him out of the way and serves that first purpose but it doesn't take away a roster spot from someone else as I'm not using several roster spots in Single-A.

[RonCo]

If I need to stash a guy just to hold onto him ... in the BBA anyway ... I throw him into DFA for a week or two. IF he goes into DFA a couple times I';ll probably release him.

Again, though, I might do something different if I was running a UMEBA team. I dunno.

[johnd2442]

I think that's probably where my lack of understanding of OOTP and regular baseball rules fails me. I should look into exactly what DFA is. I am pretty sure I previously tried, but couldn't really make sense of it.

[ae37jr]

If I need to stash a guy just to hold onto him ... in the BBA anyway ... I throw him into DFA for a week or two.

I do this as well. Usually I keep 5-10 guys of various positions in DFA. This way if I get ransacked with injuries I'll have enough bodies to keep my rosters stocked. These players are usually just run of the mill defensive catchers, captains, and players on the release bubble.

Sometimes I do get sentimental with failed projects and end up moving them down the minors rather then releasing them.

[johnd2442]

I tried reading about DFA again and it made more sense this time. I had no idea you could just put a guy in DFA as many times as you want for about seven days each time.

Now I'm trying to make sense about openers and followers and that's making my head spin.

[Fat Nige]

I always keep all my five minor league levels full or at least 29/30 so I rarely have any room to drop a 25-yr-old down the levels and if I did I probably wouldn't. I'd have that feeling that I was taking AB's away from some youngster that might improve, chuck him in thee higher level and let him sink or swim. If he fails, well there's always another 25-yr-old in free agency to take his place

[johnd2442]

I always keep all my five minor league levels full or at least 29/30 so I rarely have any room to drop a 25-yr-old down the levels

I think that might be a key difference between UMEBA franchises and BBA ones. I have 35 spots in my Single-A squad, so that is a slight luxury.