Out of the Park Baseball Tutorial - Thoughts on Setting Up Minor League Teams

We walk through some thoughts on how we set up our minor league teams, getting into some of the excruciating details we don't normally bore you with in our play-through episodes. If you have ideas on how to do it better, please share them below!

[@DododudeDM]

You know, I was just scrolling through your channel earlier today to see if you had anything like this. 😅 Great timing

[@oldschoolsports]

Hope something in it is useful, and thanks for watching!

[@Juan-rz6gx]

Love your channel, just found it great information.

[@oldschoolsports]

Thanks, appreciate you watching, and glad you found us!

[@yungchris6044]

Awesome vid! I do a lot of what you show here. I hope you can create another video as a sort of “what it should look like after”. Possibly a video of a minor league system you’ve already had multiple years to influence and the effects to the major league roster.

[@oldschoolsports]

Thanks for watching and appreciate your thoughts... I'll keep that in mind for a future video!

[@Pep8691]

Good vid and I learned a few things to do with minor leagues. One question: You mentioned you have a setting somewhere turned on so that minor league managers will start higher rated prospects moreso than the lower rated ones. Where is that setting choice located in the game?

[@oldschoolsports]

Go to League Settings > Rules then scroll down on the left side of the page to Minor League Settings. Make sure Base Minor League Depth Charts and Pitching Staff... is on "Potential Ratings" and not "Current Ratings"

[@Pep8691]

Must be default to Potential as mine is already there. Thank you

[@Juan-rz6gx]

Great video. One question how do you decide when to demote players from AAA on down ?

[@oldschoolsports]

Great question! To me it's more of an art than a science when making that decision, but I focus mainly on three things. One, the little green promote arrows for players on the Organization Overview page can be a sign some guys are ready to be promoted, but I don't think they are 100% accurate. Two, I look at the stats of the player at the current level... a guy hitting .380 is probably more ready to be promoted than a guy hitting .180. Third, and most importantly, I use the Ratings Relative to: dropdown on the top right of the Organization Overview page (or the Player Summary page) to change the ratings relative to the league I am considering promoting a player to. If most of the player's batting or pitching ratings are 45 or higher relative to the new league, I'll usually promote them. If most of their ratings are 40 or lower relative to that league, I'll usually given them some more time at the lower level. But even with that, I don't have any hard and fast rules that always apply... sometimes if a guy doesn't look quite ready for A ball but has already spent three years in Rookie ball and is, say, already 22 years old, I'll just promote them to the higher level and see whether they sink or swim with a new coaching staff and greater competition. Thanks for watching!

[@Juan-rz6gx]

@@oldschoolsports Great analysis I agree with all your points, one time of the season do you evaulate your AAA to Rookie rosters to demote or promote players ?

[@oldschoolsports]

@@Juan-rz6gx I usually do it a few times a season... right out of spring training, around the draft, and around the trade deadline at a minimum. In the interim periods, the green arrows can be a sign to take a look at someone who might be ready to promote...

[@Juan-rz6gx]

@@oldschoolsports I have my draft set for June 1st. What I love about OOTP is the General Manager aspect of it scouting, demoting and promoting, player development, signing/firing staff, signing of free agents and also contract extensions. I don't enjoy in game stuff like when pinch hitters/runners and relievers have to be used that's why I only play in General Manager mode. Right now I am doing a historical save with one of my favorite teams the 1991 Texas Rangers. Also thinking of doing a second save of Jackie Robinson's first season in the majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers and one of my favorite players, Pee Wee Reese. I tried Football Manager but I gave up on it, didn't enjoy the coaching aspects of that game and it doesn't have GM mode. I do play every game of the season though, I try to play 3-4 games a day and 1 season I can get done less than 2 months. I am thinking of doing an expansion team save like you have done. I am going to pickup Franchise Hockey Manager 9 next month and do a GM mode save with it with an expansion team. My current games on my rotation are American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and OOTP. But OOTP is a great game and very addicting. Thanks for your videos I've learned alot.

[@oldschoolsports]

@@Juan-rz6gx Thanks for watching, and glad you have found the videos helpful. I much prefer GM-only mode as well, but am currently doing a GM/Manager game on the channel.

[@MEH-xn7yb]

Thanks for the minor league review.. I was interested to see how your teams compared to some of my own leagues.. go Pirates

[@gastonmannlicher8077]

In my case I use ghost players. Makes minors management so much more enjoyable.

[@oldschoolsports]

I have never tried that, but it does seem like it could make things much simpler!

[@three-quartersbadger2929]

You have, I believe, the 4th pick this year. I think that you should definitely spend that on an SP unless there is a generational bat available, and that's unlikely.

[@oldschoolsports]

As you know, I always tend to lean towards pitching when there's an option... we'll see how the draft breaks. Should be some talent at #4 regardless!