If you wait until next season, there is a slight chance that he could retire.  Why take the risk, as small as it might be?

This should be a no-brainer, at least for your potential ML prospects.

The only time you should hold off on a promotion is if you're planning to bring him up to the majors next season.  Then you should wait until AFTER spring training to promote him to the ML roster.  In the event that he receives a serious and lengthy injury during spring training, you don't want him accruing his initial ML service time on the disabled list.

I always promote at the end of the season, while the ML playoffs are going on.

Another reason I do it at the end of the season is say my Stud Prospect is currently at LoA but the LoA team is not making the playoffs, but my HiA team is making the playoffs, I'll promote him and get him the extra playing time in the HiA playoffs, then just keep him there for the following season.

Posted by mannytanner on 3/8/2013 11:03:00 AM (view original):
I always promote at the end of the season, while the ML playoffs are going on.

Another reason I do it at the end of the season is say my Stud Prospect is currently at LoA but the LoA team is not making the playoffs, but my HiA team is making the playoffs, I'll promote him and get him the extra playing time in the HiA playoffs, then just keep him there for the following season.

Yep, I do the same thing.  You want to keep your potential ML prospects playing as long as they can.

So far, the voting reflects the comments above... 19-4 in favor of End of Season promotion.

I'd like to hear some comments/ reasoning from the guys that like to do it the beginning of the next season if possible.  I suppose if you're at the extreme ceiling of your player's salary budget, you might not have the cash to promote all the guys you want at end of season, but that's probably only a rare occurance.

They don't affect your cap at the end of the season because all their paid days are done.

And if they are promoted at the end of the season, the $1M or so in promotion costs will already be allocated when you set a budget.

Two good points jonas!!  

The majority see it that way, as nobody has posted any sound reasoning yet that there is any benefit by waiting until after roll-over.  I had wondered if there is any advantage either way in regard to ratings progression based on your coaches and other variables which may be different between the two seasons, but nobody seems too concerned with those differences.

Voting is now at 26-5 in favor of End of Season.

I just came across a minor problem with promoting guys at the end of season.  My Rookie team won the WS at their level, so the entire Rookie season is over.  However, I went to promote about 20 guys to Low-A, leaving about 8 behind for next season.  It gave me the "too few players at Rookie Level",  Sooo... even though the season is over, I had to keep 20 guys at Rookie Level in order to process any promotions.

That is a problem.  They should remove the roster limits for Rookie League after the season ends.

I usually backfill RL with tryout camp guys to meet the roster limit.

I promote late when it gets my prospects extra games, early otherwise.

The very small amount of money may seem trivial, but I've NEVER had a legit prospect retire.  I have, however, had players suffer critical injuries in spring training, and I also have come within $16,000 of my budget cap.  My feeling is every dollar counts, and burning $16K can cost you.  I understand why others don't feel that way.

What about in regards to coaches? If you promote a guy in rookie for example, after their season, will said players benefit from better coaches that late in the season? Assuming I have better Low A coaches. 

I wonder about that too, ramonshaw. Nobody has given a strong opinion on that aspect yet. In fact, my main reason for posing the question is trying to determine if there is a higher chance for a significant ratings cycle boost in one situation over the other.