MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

[Ghost Of The Year]

How do you guys handle your minor leaguers at the Triple A and Double A levels? Like specifically, do you put your players with MLB service time at AAA and players or do you sometimes put them in AA? As an example, you have a 21 year old SS who is a 64 Overall and a 24 year old SS who has major league playing time but has a lower overall, lets say a 61 or 62 Overall. Would it stunt the 21 year old prospects potential to throw him into tougher AAA competition? What if that 24 year old SS who has major league playing time has an Overall of say 55 or 56, do you still play him at AAA over the 64 Overall 21 year old? Or is the difference in AAA and AA negligible and doesn't matter which way you do it?

Hope that makes sense.
And don't get me started on who goes to Single A. Injured players? 23 or 24 year old players who aren't injured, but who have so low of Overall they are ineffective in higher levels?

[NewNapkin]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

Lot of different factors. I mostly handle it based on age.

25+ go to AAA. Mostly filler MLB players and fringe prospects who need to perform at this level if they want a chance as an injury call-up.

21-24 go to AA. I usually call up top prospects straight from AA to the big leagues.

18-20 stay in A unless they're really promising and good enough to start in AA. They still develop despite not accumulating stats.

While those are the base rules, I adjust based on playing time. I don't want any players who could develop into MLB talent sitting the bench, so I separate prospects who play the same position. I also make sure I have at least two catchers on each team, four outfielders, and the appropriate amount of starters/relievers/infielders.

[jcar0725]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

If I have a young player with what I feel is a very high upside, he goes to AA where he has the best chance to play really well. AAA is for either a player I don't care as much about but I need him for depth, or young player who's rating is well above 70 but I don't have room for him at the MLB level.

"A" ball is for the rest of the group, either very young players with very low ratings or depth guys that aren't very good.

[mattynokes]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

In my experiences, players in A-Ball do not progress. Hopefully (as NewNapkin said) that has changed on MLB 23/24. Primarily, I try to get any prospect with C or better Potential on at least a Double-A roster. Then, if I have two Triple-A capable top prospects at a position, one of them will most likely still be at Double-A to get consistent at-bats. However, I'll keep the low rating players (even with A or B potential) in A-Ball this year.

Both AA and AAA
- 14 Position Players and 12 Pitchers

- 2 C, 2 1B (DH), 1 2B, 2 SS, 2 3B, 2 COF, 2 CF
- When it makes sense, I will Platoon the heck out of my Lineups in an attempt to get as many players guaranteed at-bats as possible.

- 6 SP, 5 RP, 1 CP
- Bullpen Alignment: CP at Closer, #1 RHRP at LR, #2 LHRP at LR, #3 RP at SU. #4 RP at MR1, #5 RP at MR2, #6 SP at MR3
I will move my #1 or #2 RP to SU if I suspect that I'll need them soon, since SU tends to be used much less than the other spots.

AAA
- Any player that is on my 40-Man Roster and any others that I figure has a shot to make the majors in that given season.
- Filler Depth on the Bench, Bottom of the Rotation, and Mid Relief.
- Primarily, I strive for 65+ overall players, but 60+ are still tolerable.

AA
- Any promising prospect that is "blocked" by another AA, even if 65+.
- The best of the rest not in Triple-A.
- Primarily, I strive for 55+ overall players, but 50+ are still tolerable.

A-Ball
- The leftovers.
- If I have enough true prospects to fill out Double-A, I will have some D Potential 60s Overalls stashed in A-Ball that I dub as my injury/callup Triple-A replacements.
- 15 Players = 4 SP, 2 RP, 2 C, 1 1B, 1 3B, 2 SS, 1 LF, 1 CF, 1 RF

[countryboy]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

I don't have a definitive way of deciding which level guys play at. Its mostly how they have performed and where they can get regular at-bats.

The only steadfast rule I have is that draft picks typically start in Single A, but no higher than Double A for their first season. Single A can get to Double A due to injuries/roster management, but that's it.

Outside of that, its where can a guy that I'm high on get regular at-bats and time in field. For example, the way my roster is constructed, Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II are currently in Memphis due to getting regular at-bats. I've called up Walker due to injury when he was able to DH and field everyday, but I don't want him sitting the bench as a role player.

So yeah, thats how I approach players and which level they play.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

In my experiences, players in A-Ball do not progress. Hopefully (as NewNapkin said) that has changed on MLB 23/24. Primarily, I try to get any prospect with C or better Potential on at least a Double-A roster. Then, if I have two Triple-A capable top prospects at a position, one of them will most likely still be at Double-A to get consistent at-bats. However, I'll keep the low rating players (even with A or B potential) in A-Ball this year.

Both AA and AAA
- 14 Position Players and 12 Pitchers

- 2 C, 2 1B (DH), 1 2B, 2 SS, 2 3B, 2 COF, 2 CF
- When it makes sense, I will Platoon the heck out of my Lineups in an attempt to get as many players guaranteed at-bats as possible.

- 6 SP, 5 RP, 1 CP
- Bullpen Alignment: CP at Closer, #1 RHRP at LR, #2 LHRP at LR, #3 RP at SU. #4 RP at MR1, #5 RP at MR2, #6 SP at MR3
I will move my #1 or #2 RP to SU if I suspect that I'll need them soon, since SU tends to be used much less than the other spots.

AAA
- Any player that is on my 40-Man Roster and any others that I figure has a shot to make the majors in that given season.
- Filler Depth on the Bench, Bottom of the Rotation, and Mid Relief.
- Primarily, I strive for 65+ overall players, but 60+ are still tolerable.

AA
- Any promising prospect that is "blocked" by another AA, even if 65+.
- The best of the rest not in Triple-A.
- Primarily, I strive for 55+ overall players, but 50+ are still tolerable.

A-Ball
- The leftovers.
- If I have enough true prospects to fill out Double-A, I will have some D Potential 60s Overalls stashed in A-Ball that I dub as my injury/callup Triple-A replacements.
- 15 Players = 4 SP, 2 RP, 2 C, 1 1B, 1 3B, 2 SS, 1 LF, 1 CF, 1 RF

This is simply not true. Players will progress in single A with zero regression because games are not actually played. I use single A a lot for young prospects or to sometimes “game” the system with younger prospects I don’t think are quite ready for Double A.

So there is basically a trade off to single A. Players will progress slowly in single A without the chance of any decline whatsoever. The pro is They will automatically progress anywhere from 2-4 points in each attribute category depending on what skill you are training. For example if I train my player in contact while he is in single A he will get around +4 in contact and anywhere from +2-3 in every other attribute I am not training. The con of course is they won’t progress as quickly because their is no performance boosts for playing well since single A is essentially simulated. The max an attribute can increase in single A seems to be +4 points. I like to stick my 18-20 year olds who are 55-64 in single A who might not be quite ready for double A because I don’t want them to regress.

The single A progression is hard to see because it is more evident at the end of the season. I sim alot to get through multiple years and play multiple franchises through out the year so I discovered the single A trick years ago. Those who play all 162 or play one franchise season the whole year don’t really notice it, since single A progression is a lot slower and not as evident until the end of the year. Next time you finish a season go look at your single A roster and you will see +2-4 attribute progression across the board.

So in short. Single A is very valuable in franchise if you know how to use it right.

[mattynokes]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

This is simply not true. Players will progress in single A with zero regression because games are not actually played. I use single A a lot for young prospects or to sometimes “game” the system with younger prospects I don’t think are quite ready for Double A.

So there is basically a trade off to single A. Players will progress slowly in single A without the chance of any decline whatsoever. The pro is They will automatically progress anywhere from 2-4 points in each attribute category depending on what skill you are training. For example if I train my player in contact while he is in single A he will get around +4 in contact and anywhere from +2-3 in every other attribute I am not training. The con of course is they won’t progress as quickly because their is no performance boosts for playing well since single A is essentially simulated. The max an attribute can increase in single A seems to be +4 points. I like to stick my 18-20 year olds who are 55-64 in single A who might not be quite ready for double A because I don’t want them to regress.

The single A progression is hard to see because it is more evident at the end of the season. I sim alot to get through multiple years and play multiple franchises through out the year so I discovered the single A trick years ago. Those who play all 162 or play one franchise season the whole year don’t really notice it, since single A progression is a lot slower and not as evident until the end of the year. Next time you finish a season go look at your single A roster and you will see +2-4 attribute progression across the board.

So in short. Single A is very valuable in franchise if you know how to use it right.

Yeah, I shouldn't have said that they don't progress. There's just not a lot of reliability and in my experiences in past versions you can get more out of them by having them in Double-A. The decline in A-Ball is certainly a thing. I have a guy on MLB 22 that started the season a 61/63 and has now dropped to a 59 overall with consistent 2-3 point drops across the board. It's no big deal, since he's just a depth filler, but it has still happened.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: MiLB Depth Chart, AAA/AA questions?

Yeah, I shouldn't have said that they don't progress. There's just not a lot of reliability and in my experiences in past versions you can get more out of them by having them in Double-A. The decline in A-Ball is certainly a thing. I have a guy on MLB 22 that started the season a 61/63 and has now dropped to a 59 overall with consistent 2-3 point drops across the board. It's no big deal, since he's just a depth filler, but it has still happened.

Yeah, I got you brother. Thats crazy you saw someone decline in A ball. Were they older? Or was their potential lower than their current overall?