Rookie League Rosters

I wanted to post a reminder about the rules about the new rookie league we have this season. It was designed, along with the new 35-man minor league roster limits, to have a place to evaluate recently drafted players. As we discussed, and then voted, the league is specifically for these players:

1. Players drafted in the most recent amateur draft.
2. Players who signed minor league contracts after not being drafted
3. International complex players who were "aged up" after turning 20

In other words, players with 0 years as a professional. (You can check this on the Contract page for your players.) As we approach the season, Zev and I have been talking about how to enforce this. There is no way in game to enforce it, like the 35-man roster rule change. While we have discussed having an age limit of 22 on this league, that's not what we decided on.

As part of our internal discussions on how to enforce this, I went to look and see how many teams were presently in violation of the roster limits on their rookie league teams, and for the most part, teams are in good shape. I did some mangling of data exported from Wednesday night's sim and found this:

• Kihei Keikis (MAU) - 1 player
• Mojave Mustangs (ANT) - 12 players
• Ely Loons (APP) - 3 players
• Lexington Kings (BRI) - 3 players
• Delaware Valley Vagabonds (SHK) - 1 player **
• Fosson Fighting Pike (LON) - 23 players *
• Fremont Soviets (HOU) - 75 players
• New Orleans Thunderbears (HIG) - 2 players

* We haven't determined yet how we're going to enforce the rule with the computer-run London franchise. We're open to suggestions.

** Yes, even I was in violation when I ran the data, but the one player was a minor league free agent I signed during the sim. He has since been promoted to AAA.

As minor league players acquired via trade, waivers, or free agency are automatically dumped in the lowest minor league level, which now is the rookie league, we need to have some flexibility on how the roster rules will be enforced.

Nothing's official, but Zev and I are leaning towards a softer hand with this. While the game will enforce the 35-man roster limits for us, owners will be left to their own devices to make the decisions to place their minor league rosters. I know I spent an agonizing hour or two last night making cuts and releases within my franchise, and I've had a pretty good idea all along (thanks to my top-secret in-depth spreadsheet that contains all of my franchise's secrets) what I was going to do to trim my rosters.

So, any questions? In short, we're going to turn on the 35-man roster limits in the next sim, and start gently encouraging owners to adhere to the agreed-upon roster rules for the rookie league.