I think ghost players are important

[SittingDuck]

Just realized that ghost players - and not using a full minors squad in historical leagues - are pretty important.

I could have this wrong, but if I don't use ghost players, couldn't the AI trade fictional minor leaguers (with good ratings) as part of a trade involving true historical players?

I have the league set so no fictional players advance to the majors, but at the same time, it seems that things could get screwy with fictional players factoring into trade talks.

Someone correct me if I am missing something here, please.

[SittingDuck]

errr?

No comments from vets of historical leagues?

[Kelric]

I always use ghost players, so I have no idea if fictionals will get traded by the AI.

[clamel]

Sorry if a newbie cuts in, just setting up my own hist-sim.

I got a bit confused first with ghost and fiction players. Firstly I thought of setting up minors with , what I believe ghost players, but then I thought that many trades involved prospects of the future in baseball.
So involving ghost players in trades is something oneself can´t do.
The AI perhaps not even "him".
This restrain the game huge I believe, so fictional players with no chance to reach the majors was my call. Don´t know if I am barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps it will result in funny trades, since I know (I think) who is the fictional players, and so forth they can´t ever be a new HR king like McGwire. The AI might be fooled into this, or is this wrong.

Anyone with knowledge of this issue during a hist-sim please set me right.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by SittingDuck

Just realized that ghost players - and not using a full minors squad in historical leagues - are pretty important.

I could have this wrong, but if I don't use ghost players, couldn't the AI trade fictional minor leaguers (with good ratings) as part of a trade involving true historical players?

I have the league set so no fictional players advance to the majors, but at the same time, it seems that things could get screwy with fictional players factoring into trade talks.

Someone correct me if I am missing something here, please.

Whether you're using ghost players or not makes no difference. If you have fictional players in your league, then yes it's possible the AI will use them in trades.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by clamel

Sorry if a newbie cuts in, just setting up my own hist-sim.

I got a bit confused first with ghost and fiction players. Firstly I thought of setting up minors with , what I believe ghost players, but then I thought that many trades involved prospects of the future in baseball.
So involving ghost players in trades is something oneself can´t do.
The AI perhaps not even "him".
This restrain the game huge I believe, so fictional players with no chance to reach the majors was my call. Don´t know if I am barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps it will result in funny trades, since I know (I think) who is the fictional players, and so forth they can´t ever be a new HR king like McGwire. The AI might be fooled into this, or is this wrong.

Anyone with knowledge of this issue during a hist-sim please set me right.

Ghost players can't be traded period, by you or the AI. They don't exist, thus the reference to them as "ghost" players.

Not sure what you mean by "restricts the game".

[SittingDuck]

I have no fictional - simply because I did not want any trades being made between AI teams involving fictional players.

[clamel]

Originally Posted by BruceM

Ghost players can't be traded period, by you or the AI. They don't exist, thus the reference to them as "ghost" players.

Not sure what you mean by "restricts the game".

Well restricts the game was an overkill. I mean restricts the trade, since less players from minors to involved in the trade.
Many minors over the years that was included in trades never got into the majors I believe.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by clamel

Well restricts the game was an overkill. I mean restricts the trade, since less players from minors to involved in the trade.
Many minors over the years that was included in trades never got into the majors I believe.

There aren't many players in the minors when you first start out, but after a few seasons they begin to build up.

There are hundreds of thousands of minor league players who never made it to the majors, traded or not.

[Charlie Hough]

People forget that historical players can end up in the minor leagues. Once your historical game gets going, many historical rookies will come along and will be one or more years away from having an impact. So they will end up in the minor leagues with considerable potential but not a lot of immediate talent. And they can be used by the AI in trades.

So I don't see how using ghost players limits trades. Sure, you're not going to see as many minor leaguers involved in trades as you would in real life, but it's not as if ghost players will eliminate any possibility of teams trading minor league prospects. Those prospects are simply going to be historical players who are not yet on a 25-man roster and are still developing.

In fact, you may end up seeing some prominent historical veterans relegated to the minors because trades have made them expendable. I once saw this happen with Yogi Berra The Yankees traded for a catcher right before what would have been Berra's breakthrough season. So he got stuck platooning at catcher and ended up being used more in the outfield. His prime years were wasted platooning, although he did have a couple of years where he was a starter and made it the All-Star game.

But, soon enough, the Yankees brought in another star outfielder, and Yogi was left as a backup at two positions. Eventually he ended up in the minors and his abilities deteriorated too far, even with ratings recalculation. Berra never lived up to his full potential because he couldn't get traded to another team, and he was a classic case of how the AI can have a dramatic impact on historical play, even when you're using recalculation and trying to stay close to reality.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Charlie Hough

Once your historical game gets going, many historical rookies will come along and will be one or more years away from having an impact. So they will end up in the minor leagues with considerable potential but not a lot of immediate talent. And they can be used by the AI in trades.

There's something else to note in regards to trades: prior to 1986, the rules restricted the ability of teams to conduct interleague trades. OOTP, however, only uses the rules post-1986 rules, which allows for much easier trading between leagues.

The older MLB rules regarding trading were specifically written to make trading between the leagues difficult.