Quote:
Originally Posted by koohead
Suggestion
Add configuration options so that minor leagues can have roster restrictions. For example, Rookie leagues should not have 25 year old players that have played multiple seasons. Same for short A. Beyond age restrictions, this suggestion is more for "experience" restrictions by league or level.
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Just to expand on the above, service limits are how the minor leagues, going back a very long way, have handled the kind of players on their rosters. There have been three kinds of player classes in the minors over the years: rookies (those in their first year of service or who are below a certain service threshold), veterans (those with more than a specified number of years of experience), and general players (those who are neither rookies nor veterans).
In most minor leagues today, it's such player classes via service limits which determine the distribution of players on the roster. In the Midwest League, for example, the roster rules state that clubs can carry no more than three veterans (defined as a player with more than five years of service). The independent Can-Am League uses roster rules which state that clubs must carry a minimum of five rookies (defined as those playing in their first season) and a maximum of four veterans (defined as players with four or more years of previous service).
Such service limit usage would do much to reduce the number of older players in the lower level of the minors since in the real world those leagues don't allow players on the roster to have more than two or three years of previous service. Age limits could be included also, but mixing age and service limits in one league I expect might be too much for the AI to competently handle. Service limits on their own seem quite doable to me though.
So, to turn all of the above into a specific suggestion...
Suggestion:
Allow leagues to have specified service limits in terms of the players clubs must carry on their rosters during the season.
Reason:
This is how the minors work in the real world, and have for a long time.
The options involved would look something like this:
Minimum number of rookie players to be carried on roster: (select number)
Definition of rookie player: (select years of previous experience)
Maximum number of veteran players to be carried on roster: (select number)
Definition of veteran player: (select years of previous experience)
So, for example, you could choose to have a league require clubs to carry a minimum of four rookies, with a rookie then defined as a player with 1 or less years of experience, and carry a maximum of five veterans, with a veteran then defined as a player with 6 or more years of prior experience. The rest of the roster would consist of players who are neither rookies nor veterans — bearing in mind that since the minimum number of rookies to be carried is four, clubs could of course choose to carry more than that.
Or, you could choose to require clubs in a league to carry a minimum of six rookies, with a rookie defined as a player with 0 years of prior service (in other words, he's playing in his first pro season), and carry a maximum of three veterans, with a veteran defined as a player with 5 or more years of previous service. The rest of the roster would then consist of players who are neither rookies nor veterans (and as before, clubs could choose to carry more than the minimum number of rookies if they wanted).
Or, of course, you could set both the number of rookies and veterans required to zero and the league would operate without any service restrictions. And so on.
Priority
HIGH.