To begin, the structure of our league currently is to not limit the minor league rosters, or to allow minor league free agency. As such, the only check on minor league rosters is the Rule 5 draft. I think this needs to change. Here's the current roster count for each team in the league, listing their AAA / AA / A rosters:
- Antelope Valley - 32 / 38 / 40
- Atlanta - 37 / 22 / 44
- Brick - 24 / 27 / 39
- Brooklyn - 26 / 26 / 46
- Highland - 44 / 19 / 98
- Houston - 27 / 28 / 104
- London - 22 / 27 / 30
- Maui - 37 / 38 / 52
- Norfolk - 45 / 27 / 50
- Ohio - 31 / 38 / 63
- Seattle - 23 / 27 / 40
- Shackamaxon - 33 / 32 / 35
I highlight the single A roster counts for Highland and Houston. Between those two teams there are over 200 single A players, which is at least 100 too many. No one is served having that many players on a roster. Players develop faster when they get a chance to play. Sitting on a bench just makes a player age, losing value. Having (for example) seven catchers means that four or five of them will never see action. Ditto for having 20 relief pitchers. We need to put checks into the game to force owners to manage their rosters properly.
I don't know what the "right" number should be, but my thinking is that it should taper down as the rosters are more advanced, so maybe 30 / 35 / 40 for AAA / AA / A? We're open to suggestions.
Additionally, there is no minor league free agents. If never promoted to the majors, or never selected in the Rule 5 draft, then a player will only leave a team's minor league system via retirement. I think we should turn on the Minor League Free Agency setting (more information about that here).
Finally, and leading to the discussion about the draft, one of the reasons why so many teams have oversized A-level teams is that there are so many new players coming onto them each year via the draft, and they may need more than one year to progress to AA level. This is especially true of 18-19 year old kids drafted out of high school. We can, and should, set up a short-season low-A team for drafted rookies to develop in. Perhaps we should age-limit it to under 21 years old? Set the roster limit to 25? I don't have a firm idea on how it should be regulated, but the general gist of this discussion is to give minor league players the right environment to develop.
While we have already discussed (and voted down) the idea to limit the trading of first round picks, there are many more draft-related discussions we should have. This post is already getting long, so I'll write about those on Tuesday night.
These are my proposals:
- Enable minor league free agency
- Set roster limits for the minor league teams
- Set up a short-season low-A level rookie league
Comments?
i love the idea to add a rookie league i think that well aid in developing players. like you said too many players are not getting to play...and with the extra league the totals should be reduced to 30/30/30/30 that is still 120 players per team
ReplyDeleteI found the sweet spot for minor league rosters to be 34:
ReplyDelete3 catchers
16 position players (2 for each position + DH; each plays about 1/2 time except for high potential guys who play more)
15 pitchers (you need a couple extra for injuries)
I might carry a few extra players at A. Any more than that and you can't get them the playing time they need.
I agree with Bill - ~35 seems to be a good number for roster sizes in the minors, since it's hard to get people playing time otherwise. Anything between 30 and 40 should be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of age limits on low-A. I think the international complex ages players out at 20, so maybe we could say 22 for low-A? I think somewhere between 30 and 40 for roster limits there would be good, too.
I agree with minor league free agency.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a cap between 30 and 40 players per minor league team.
I am happy to add a low-A league team, but don't feel strongly about it. I also don't care either way about an age limit on low-A, but I would strongly recommend making any low-A team a full-season league. My perception is that the minor league players develop more with more playing time they get. Based on that belief, I would prefer that low-A have a full season of playing time, rather than a half-season.
Although this isn't raised by Michael's post, I'd also like to see all of the minor leagues play into September, for the same reason.
Well, Mack, one of the draft-related items that will go in the next thread is to move the draft back to June 1, so that amateur players aren't idle for 10 months after their seasons end before they are drafted. If we have the low-A rookie league season start immediately, the drafted players would have a full "season"'s worth of playing.
DeleteBut, I do agree that the current minor league seasons end too soon. I think adding another 20-24 games to their schedules would be ideal. That will also affect the expansion of major league rosters in September, as teams may not want to disrupt a AAA pennant race.
If we do have a mid-season draft, then I agree a season lasting only from the draft to September for low A makes sense.
DeleteI also recommend we call it something other than low A. Maybe rookie league, if we adopt Zev's one-season idea.
Thinking about it some more, I do vaguely recall some issue in the game mechanics about having roster limits on the lowest-level team. Something about needing to have enough room for all of the newly drafted players, lest they get converted into free agents. I just raise that for Zev and Michael to look into.
ReplyDeleteTo address that point, I was thinking about having a one year limit on the short season team (in other words, by their second pro year, all players have to be in A or above). This would help ensure that there is space for the newly drafted players.
DeleteInteresting. While researching the next discussion thread that I am writing now, I see a note in the League Settings for the minor leagues that states:
ReplyDeleteNOTE: Do not set the roster limit of the lowest minor league level below 35.
And, we currently have it set (obviously) as No Limit, but the user-selectable limit goes from 15 to 50 players.
I agree with everything in this thread. We should limit minor league sizes and make there be a one year max on Rookie or Low-A stays.
ReplyDelete