Does any have any idea why my AAA position players only got 4 regular season development cycles instead of 5 like pretty much everyone else? Specifically: Ugueth Padilla ( http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4902999 ) and Rod DeJean ( http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4732256 ) are the ones I'm most concerned with.  If you look at Brad Green ( http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4290466 ), he is the only one who got 5 cycles and he had less playing time than anyone.  Can I just promote my other AAA guys to ML and then demote them right back down to get them a promotion bump instead of their last regular season development cycle, or will they take a demotion hit when I demote them back?

Not all players get 5 dev cycles. Some don't even get them in their first couple of pro years, but in general they're pretty rare for players once they have 4 or 5 years of experience. Yeah, I know your guys have less experience, but they aren't outliers: The 5th cyle isn't guarenteed.

Regarding the promote demote idea ... you're more likely to lose points than gain that way.

The guy is improving, its just isn't reflected until the regular season update line.  those improvements will show up in his spring training line next offseason.