Minor League team management

[Andy]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but will the minor leagues be managed better than in 2006? What I mean is if you manage a minor league team, it seems like the roster gets shuffled everyday, and you have to adjust your lineups, which gets tiresome. I know players get promoted and demoted, but it seems a little extreme the way it currently is. The reason I would like to know now is if I should continue my current league, or start in the minors with the new game. Thanks.

[Markus Heinsohn]

You now get emails when players are removed/added to your team, and you can be promoted through the system as well if you do good

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

You now get emails when players are removed/added to your team, and you can be promoted through the system as well if you do good

That sounds good, but there aren't still going to be 5 players getting promoted everyday is there?

[No Pepper]

Markus, I think he's directing his concern at the frequency of roster changes, not necessarily if he's going to be notified of them.

Andy, I have this question too, and it has somewhat kept me from managing at the minors. Does the "everyday roster shuffling" occur more often in the league's first year as opposed to its 5th or 10th have you noticed (in OOTP'06?)

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by Andy

That sounds good, but there aren't still going to be 5 players getting promoted everyday is there?

This has been improved...

[Andy]

Originally Posted by No Pepper

Markus, I think he's directing his concern at the frequency of roster changes, not necessarily if he's going to be notified of them.

Andy, I have this question too, and it has somewhat kept me from managing at the minors. Does the "everyday roster shuffling" occur more often in the league's first year as opposed to its 5th or 10th have you noticed (in OOTP'06?)

You're right about the first part. And I haven't made it past the first season in the minors because I grew tired of all of the roster moves. I really hope this isn't the case for 2007 because I want to start out in the minors and work my way up.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

This has been improved...

Sounds great! I will be first in line to pre-order.

[silvam14]

Any chance for a feature where if you are a minor league manager and you are left with 3 1st basemen and only 2 other infielders, that you could request more middle infielders or something? What about the possibility of offering a temporary contract (like a 10 day or two week contract) to free agents? I know this isn't done in real life, but could be a welcome addition to fictional leagues.

[battists]

Originally Posted by silvam14

Any chance for a feature where if you are a minor league manager and you are left with 3 1st basemen and only 2 other infielders, that you could request more middle infielders or something? What about the possibility of offering a temporary contract (like a 10 day or two week contract) to free agents? I know this isn't done in real life, but could be a welcome addition to fictional leagues.

Neat ideas, but similar ones have been tabled until 2008, I believe.

We do have a beta team that is focused exclusively on looking at the "manager experience," and I think it's a little more immersive this time around, especially for a minor league manager.

However, the game is trying to make the best decisions for the big league club, so having your players shuffled around is definitely part of life as a minor league manager!

We've also worked to make sure the "big boss" does a better job of at least giving you a reasonable roster that you can use to put a squad on the field. (No 20 pitchers and 5 position players, for example.)

[silvam14]

Originally Posted by battists

Neat ideas, but similar ones have been tabled until 2008, I believe.

We do have a beta team that is focused exclusively on looking at the "manager experience," and I think it's a little more immersive this time around, especially for a minor league manager.

However, the game is trying to make the best decisions for the big league club, so having your players shuffled around is definitely part of life as a minor league manager!

We've also worked to make sure the "big boss" does a better job of at least giving you a reasonable roster that you can use to put a squad on the field. (No 20 pitchers and 5 position players, for example.)

fair enough, thanks for the response!

[chimanbj]

If the AI is smarter about who is left (or not left) on the minor league rosters, then starting out as a rookie league manager is not a bad way to experience the game. I'll definitely have to play around with it before I move over my in-process leagues, as I want to experiment with AI roster management...

[battists]

Originally Posted by chimanbj

I'll definitely have to play around with it before I move over my in-process leagues...

Honestly, with a game as complicated and option-filled as OOTP, I feel this is the best route no matter what kind of league you're doing...

[1998 Yankees]

I'm glad to hear the responses to Andy's and No Pepper's concerns about frequent, up-and-down roster moves in the minors. Definitely not realistic, and fun-draining for those who want to manage in the minors. I can attest to that from experience.

However, I can also live with and even welcome the occasional situation of being left with "3 1st basemen and only 2 other infielders" as long as there is evidence that the AI GM is doing it for the benefit of the big league club or the whole organization. This seems realistic to me; I don't think a minor league manager would gripe to the GM about being shorthanded at certain positions. He would be expected to make do, possibly training young players to learn new positions (depending on the minor league level, of course).

[zekester91]

I'd be happy with that situation as long as I'm not expected to win at all cost. it's was super anoying having to put up with players bouncing every day and still be expected to win. The goal should be more along the lines of get X numbers of players ready for the next level, or something like that.

[waltwa]

i'm a little confused on this issue. I have 2006 but played it very little- hated the game. In 6.5 the game will make certain suggestions about who should be moved. As the gm and manager i would check the player and decide myself who should be promoted or demoted. If i decide to be GM and Majors manager am i still able to make the moves myself or will the game make the moves in the minors for me and result in this constant shuffling that some seem to be complaining about.

In addition as the GM and MAnager i also immediately got rid of all deadweight in the minors so the rosters were easier to manage. Will it be possible to play with fewer than 25 players on each team in the minors

[BruceM]

Originally Posted by waltwa

i'm a little confused on this issue. I have 2006 but played it very little- hated the game. In 6.5 the game will make certain suggestions about who should be moved. As the gm and manager i would check the player and decide myself who should be promoted or demoted. If i decide to be GM and Majors manager am i still able to make the moves myself or will the game make the moves in the minors for me and result in this constant shuffling that some seem to be complaining about.

In addition as the GM and MAnager i also immediately got rid of all deadweight in the minors so the rosters were easier to manage. Will it be possible to play with fewer than 25 players on each team in the minors

The answer to question #2 - ghost players are back.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by zekester91

I'd be happy with that situation as long as I'm not expected to win at all cost. it's was super anoying having to put up with players bouncing every day and still be expected to win. The goal should be more along the lines of get X numbers of players ready for the next level, or something like that.

Very good point. I forgot about that aspect in my earlier post. All of the roster moves made it difficult to win, and then you found your reputation suffering and job offers falling off accordingly. Frustrating.

Originally Posted by waltwa

i'm a little confused on this issue. I have 2006 but played it very little- hated the game. In 6.5 the game will make certain suggestions about who should be moved. As the gm and manager i would check the player and decide myself who should be promoted or demoted. If i decide to be GM and Majors manager am i still able to make the moves myself or will the game make the moves in the minors for me and result in this constant shuffling that some seem to be complaining about.

When you are the ML GM (I'm talking about 2006 here, probably 2007 as well), you can control the entire organization from soup to nuts if you want, or you can delegate control to minor league managers. Andy was talking about when you take a job as minor league manager. You are only in control of daily lineups and such, not your roster. Your AI GM boss handles that for you. What you would see is almost daily roster moves, players coming and going, being released after good performances, etc. You would see the same player promoted from your team one day and then promoted to your team the next (the old round trip to Palookaville and back). That's what they are talking about here and hopefully it's been improved in 2007.