OK....Another Newby Question! And thanks for the help.

I have a AAA OF with fair Batting #'s (76-58-73-62) who has hit terrifically well at each minor level..one season at each. I could use an OF and move my CF to 2B to solve a problem there. So..when do you move a guy up after only one AAA season?

And...Do you ever jump a guy from AA to the MLB, skipping AAA.

I have a 90-77-90-76 fielding guy who has been very successful in two AA seasons. Is it worth making him my MLB 2B?

I know that minor league #'s are to be taken with a grain of salt...but I'm tryin to figure out how to improve a MLB team that was in the playoffs last year...but certainly has an infield hole...SS and 2B, fielding-wise.

I already have an 86-89-90-93 guy who will become my SS. He has two seasons of MLB experience, not many AB's (was kind of of a utility guy, I think) but hit .300 last year in about 200 AB's.)

HBD isn't like real life-- if a guy is ready to come up after rookie ball, you can bring him up and he won't struggle just because he's skipped a bunch of levels. It's not like Alex Gordon or something where a guy will struggle because he wasn't eased up through the system. All you need to use the levels for is making sure guys get periodic promotions if they need time to develop (because they'll stagnate if at one level for too long) and making sure players get good coaching on the way up.

You're right that minor league stats don't mean too much, but the players' current ratings should be taken as gospel. If a guy's current ratings look like they would fit on your ML team, bring him up. But be forewarned that he will actually have to play-- having him sit on the bench at the ML level will only serve to stunt his growth.

The 90/77/90/76 fielding guy will be a potential Gold Glove second baseman. The 76/58/73/62 outfielder probably should not be starting on a playoff-caliber team unless he's a good fielding CF-- LF's and RF's are a dime a dozen so you should look to put top offensive guys there. The 86/89/90/93 fielder will be a very good SS.

Keep in mind that all teams and worlds are different. We can't really say "probably should not be starting on a playoff-caliber team" with any certainty.

I tend to think when a player can start for me in the bigs, he's BL-ready. Doesn't really matter if he played 1 season each in LoA, HiA, AA and AAA. Once I add a player to the 40, he's either BL material or emergency BL material and subject to be called up when I need him.

Always keep in mind arb/FA. The sooner a player is added the BL roster, the sooner you'll have to pay him and possibly lose him to FA.

If you are ready to win now, and there is not a large gap between actual and potential ratings, make the move. I will only jump a level to ML if the player will help me win at least the division, and other options have failed.

Make sure the CF you are considering moving to 2B throws right-handed.

Search the forum for threads dealing with ML service time and waiting until after the season has begun for promotions so you can make an informed decision about whether you want to start the season with the guys in the ML or wait and delay the arb/service clock. Opinions on this vary, and it's ultimately up to you (there isn't a "right" answer).

My personal style is to start a player in Rookie (only exception would be an IFA signed early in the year before RL starts in which case he starts in LoA) and advance them one level each year. So they spend one year in RL, one year in LoA, etc. Every prospect will also start AAA for a second season (usually on the inactive list for position players to save AB's) and move them up after 25 games to gain an extra pre-arb year. The only exception to this is with a lower-level prospect who needs to fill in for the first 25 games while I am waiting to call somebody else up. Or if an injury happens or whatever. But even in that case, you can usually find a decent stop-gap off the waiver wire or free agent heap.

My logic for this strategy is this:

By bringing a player up early, you are basically trading in a year at the back end of your team control (when they are 30 or 31) for their season now, when they are 20 or 21. Generally speaking, a player is going to be better when they are 30 or 31 than when they are 20 or 21. Sure, bringing him up now might help you this year, but you also might wish you had an extra year of that player when he hits free agency.

It's personal preference, but for a newbie, I would definitely recommend you be somewhat conservative with promoting prospects to ML.

Quote: Originally posted by jtrinsey on 12/29/2009My personal style is to start a player in Rookie (only exception would be an IFA signed early in the year before RL starts in which case he starts in LoA) and advance them one level each year. So they spend one year in RL, one year in LoA, etc. Every prospect will also start AAA for a second season (usually on the inactive list for position players to save AB's) and move them up after 25 games to gain an extra pre-arb year. The only exception to this is with a lower-level prospect who needs to fill in for the first 25 games while I am waiting to call somebody else up. Or if an injury happens or whatever. But even in that case, you can usually find a decent stop-gap off the waiver wire or free agent heap.

My logic for this strategy is this:

By bringing a player up early, you are basically trading in a year at the back end of your team control (when they are 30 or 31) for their season now, when they are 20 or 21. Generally speaking, a player is going to be better when they are 30 or 31 than when they are 20 or 21. Sure, bringing him up now might help you this year, but you also might wish you had an extra year of that player when he hits free agency.

It's personal preference, but for a newbie, I would definitely recommend you be somewhat conservative with promoting prospects to ML.

very much agreed on the last part, trading in a year now for a year well in his prime is usually not worth it...

Dittos on Jtrinsey's and Schuyler's point.

Regarding your 90-77-90-76 AA prospect, I'd move him to AAA right now -- especially if his Glove and Arm Accuracy projections are in the 80s. He could be an allstar shortstop for several years but he needs to play that position to improve his defense as fast as possible. With his current ratings, you might get 50+ errors from him for the next year and that's a lot easier to accept in the minors than with your Big League club.

Another thing to consider when you contemplate jumping a prospect to the Bigs early is that he might stink at the ML level after the promotion. You can't bench him because he needs to play to improve his ratings. If you elect to ride it out with him in the lineup and he's still doing poorly, your ML team suffers. Demoting him brings with it the possibility of a "demotion hit" (a drop in ratings), especially if he is low in Patience.

Not really on-topic but I think people get too caught up in the whole "demotion hit" thing. It's a point, occassionally two, in a category or two. An 89 contact guy doesn't become useless if he drops to 87. And, if that point or two makes a difference in whether he's a BL player, he isn't a BL player and, therefore, not worth worrying over.