I have not played in a while, and I just noticed that AAA players are gone. To help me draft a team, has anything replaced the AAA players? Any kind of "farm system" at all? In other words, am I basically stuck with the 25 players I draft, barring a waiver transaction?

For the record, I am disappointed by the change. I enjoyed playing GM (making trades, moving players up and down, etc). Without the AAA players, this will likely be my last season.

For Open Leagues what you say is correct.

In it's place you have $1.6m in cash for ww. This gives you more control in who you have and can either spread it around for multiple players, grab 1-2 more impactful players, or upgrade a player you drafted.

I was opposed to the AAA change originally, but have found I much prefer to be able to just draft my team and then use the WW to add additional players.