How does the AI handle MY minor league rosters?

Mike Lowe · 11-13-2009, 01:54 PM

It gets a bit tedious to monitor over everything going on at the minor league level and to be honest, lately I've just let the AI handle everything from minor league promotions all the way down to lineups, depth charts, and pitching.

The lineups and stuff like that I'm not too worried about, but what about the call-ups and send-downs; how does the AI do handling this sort of thing from what you've all seen?

AndrewG · 11-13-2009, 02:26 PM

I dont mind leeting AI handle most of what it does for me in the minors.

I tend to go through the line ups at the beginning of the year and the only changes I do is to often reassign a p[osition to soem of the kids on the farm. Drives me nuts sometimes how a guy drafted as 2B actually has better SS ratings (As an example) so I fix this or modify as needed.

Otherwise the AI does a decent job for what I need...

EXCEPT: I dont like how it handles call ups to ML levels. I dotn care hwo it handles A to AA or Rookie to Short A.. ect ect. I just wish I could take care of the AAA to ML level myself and the AI the rest.

In fact the AI may be doing the right thing for call ups AAA to ML, but I do often like to have old vets on my roster who did well for me and who I dont mind on the roster. EXAMPLE: I signed a 39 year old back up catcher who used to be my starter years back. I wanted him to finish up his career with one more season on my team, but the AI keeps putitng him in the minors.

SteveP · 11-13-2009, 02:41 PM

My only comment on this question is that the AI has a tendency to bounce borderline players from one level to the other in the minor league structure quite often. Some OOTPers get quite incensed about this and I think end up managing promotions/demotions for this reason alone. Also, many OOTPers are frustrated by the fact that the AI does not always accord the same value to some players that they themselves would. However, it is useful to consider that:

1. These are borderline players at the time. They could arguably be at either level.

2. The AI is incapable of carrying out a long-term strategy for developing specific players. Players develop or they don't.

3. A certain amount of churn (more than we would see IRL) is useful to the performance of the AI. The AI "learns" by trial-and-error. If something seems to be working out OK, the AI will continue it. Otherwise, it makes a change. It will keep making frequent changes until things are working out OK. The AI doesn't have the ability to do any analysis of all this. It just keeps trying different things until it gets better results.

If you can live with all of that, then you can save yourself a lot of time and effort by letting the AI manage things. Otherwise, you have to do it yourself.

RandyTiger · 11-13-2009, 03:05 PM

After several frustrating years with using the AI to manage the system, I decided to do it myself. With the AI managing, I was getting very few prospects fit to play at the ML league level, and all of the teams were in the bottom half of their respective leagues, win-wise.

After I took over everything, I started getting better development and more talent from the farm system, and every single team improved on their W-L levels.

The AI cannot judge talent very well, and if you want better development in your system, you'll have to do it yourself. The borderline players, if you leave them alone long enough, you'll see where they work out and where they don't. Saves a lot of frustration that way.

Basically, I control the system on a global basis:

1) Promote/demote only on a yearly basis whenever possible. I WILL promote from AAA to ML if it's warranted (injuries, etc), and promote up to fill empty spots if I don't have enough players, but in the main, I leave 'em alone to play. Along with good coaching, that makes the biggest difference in a player's development.

2) Check every minor team weekly for injuries, usually on a Sunday, and DL those that need to mend. Afterward, I use "ask manager for lineups and depth charts". Usually, it works out pretty good, but I wind up having to tweak position changes now and then, or force starts via the "strategy" choice in the menu. (The AI has an irritating way of setting up relievers as starters and vice versa. Strategy is a good way of dealing with with that error in coding.)

I get more successes than busts, and I'm happy with the results using the above rules. The AI can't do a good job. The human can.

Think globally, let the AI do the in-game micromanaging. Give it a try for a few years, and you'll be happier with the results. Sure, it takes time, but this isn't a console game. It's a strategy game. Take the time to play it right, and you'll do well. End of the year, in December, is the time when you decide whether to promote/demote, based on a rescout, stats, and any bad indicators from the player development report.

Just my

, but the system works well for me.

jmknpk2 · 11-13-2009, 03:49 PM

I think the AI manages the minors to win, rather than develop players. I think you should be able to manage the minors better than the AI. But in solo leagues where I don't have trouble putting together winning teams, I let the AI control it. In on-line leagues where it's really a challenge to win, I micro-manage the minors myself.

11-13-2009, 01:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mike Lowe All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 1,108 Thanked 15x in 6 posts	How does the AI handle MY minor league rosters? It gets a bit tedious to monitor over everything going on at the minor league level and to be honest, lately I've just let the AI handle everything from minor league promotions all the way down to lineups, depth charts, and pitching. The lineups and stuff like that I'm not too worried about, but what about the call-ups and send-downs; how does the AI do handling this sort of thing from what you've all seen? __________________ I write ambient/electronic music for personal and commercial use. Check out my work here. Thanks for listening!

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11-13-2009, 02:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
AndrewG Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Pointe Claire, PQ, CANADA Posts: 313 Thanked 25x in 11 posts	I dont mind leeting AI handle most of what it does for me in the minors. I tend to go through the line ups at the beginning of the year and the only changes I do is to often reassign a p[osition to soem of the kids on the farm. Drives me nuts sometimes how a guy drafted as 2B actually has better SS ratings (As an example) so I fix this or modify as needed. Otherwise the AI does a decent job for what I need... EXCEPT: I dont like how it handles call ups to ML levels. I dotn care hwo it handles A to AA or Rookie to Short A.. ect ect. I just wish I could take care of the AAA to ML level myself and the AI the rest. In fact the AI may be doing the right thing for call ups AAA to ML, but I do often like to have old vets on my roster who did well for me and who I dont mind on the roster. EXAMPLE: I signed a 39 year old back up catcher who used to be my starter years back. I wanted him to finish up his career with one more season on my team, but the AI keeps putitng him in the minors.

11-13-2009, 02:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,768 Thanked 260x in 197 posts	My only comment on this question is that the AI has a tendency to bounce borderline players from one level to the other in the minor league structure quite often. Some OOTPers get quite incensed about this and I think end up managing promotions/demotions for this reason alone. Also, many OOTPers are frustrated by the fact that the AI does not always accord the same value to some players that they themselves would. However, it is useful to consider that: 1. These are borderline players at the time. They could arguably be at either level. 2. The AI is incapable of carrying out a long-term strategy for developing specific players. Players develop or they don't. 3. A certain amount of churn (more than we would see IRL) is useful to the performance of the AI. The AI "learns" by trial-and-error. If something seems to be working out OK, the AI will continue it. Otherwise, it makes a change. It will keep making frequent changes until things are working out OK. The AI doesn't have the ability to do any analysis of all this. It just keeps trying different things until it gets better results. If you can live with all of that, then you can save yourself a lot of time and effort by letting the AI manage things. Otherwise, you have to do it yourself.

11-13-2009, 03:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
RandyTiger All Star Reserve Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 976 Thanked 246x in 174 posts	After several frustrating years with using the AI to manage the system, I decided to do it myself. With the AI managing, I was getting very few prospects fit to play at the ML league level, and all of the teams were in the bottom half of their respective leagues, win-wise. After I took over everything, I started getting better development and more talent from the farm system, and every single team improved on their W-L levels. The AI cannot judge talent very well, and if you want better development in your system, you'll have to do it yourself. The borderline players, if you leave them alone long enough, you'll see where they work out and where they don't. Saves a lot of frustration that way. Basically, I control the system on a global basis: 1) Promote/demote only on a yearly basis whenever possible. I WILL promote from AAA to ML if it's warranted (injuries, etc), and promote up to fill empty spots if I don't have enough players, but in the main, I leave 'em alone to play. Along with good coaching, that makes the biggest difference in a player's development. 2) Check every minor team weekly for injuries, usually on a Sunday, and DL those that need to mend. Afterward, I use "ask manager for lineups and depth charts". Usually, it works out pretty good, but I wind up having to tweak position changes now and then, or force starts via the "strategy" choice in the menu. (The AI has an irritating way of setting up relievers as starters and vice versa. Strategy is a good way of dealing with with that error in coding.) I get more successes than busts, and I'm happy with the results using the above rules. The AI can't do a good job. The human can. Think globally, let the AI do the in-game micromanaging. Give it a try for a few years, and you'll be happier with the results. Sure, it takes time, but this isn't a console game. It's a strategy game. Take the time to play it right, and you'll do well. End of the year, in December, is the time when you decide whether to promote/demote, based on a rescout, stats, and any bad indicators from the player development report. Just my , but the system works well for me.

11-13-2009, 03:49 PM	#5 (permalink)
jmknpk2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 664 Thanked 96x in 54 posts	I think the AI manages the minors to win, rather than develop players. I think you should be able to manage the minors better than the AI. But in solo leagues where I don't have trouble putting together winning teams, I let the AI control it. In on-line leagues where it's really a challenge to win, I micro-manage the minors myself.