Low minors

[Oakland Athletics]

Hey guys I wanted to go ahead and get a jump on this before we get to the off-season. We have to make some slight adjustments going forward due to having to expand low minors roster because of COVID. There has been some discussion on this front that has taken place, but I want to create a separate thread to get a gauge on what makes the most sense.

Before this season we had 5 man low minors. We expanded to 10 man low minors due to having no minor league season last year allowing players to remain on low minors for 1 more season.

Going into next season teams should have had a chance to evaluate their players on low minors so I would like to go ahead and force teams to clear their low minors before the draft next season as we have done in the past.

If everyone is comfortable with that the question would remain do we keep 10 man low minors or reduce the low minors roster. My personal suggestion would be to actually eliminate a cap on the low minors roster which would also effectively end the post draft adds to low minors. So essentially the only way to acquire a player to low minors is via draft or through trade. This might would add a little more value to 4th and 5th round draft picks. And keep in mind you can always still add players to your MiLB roster so if there is a player that didn’t get drafted that you really like you can still add them after the draft to your MiLB roster it just wouldn’t be to your low minors.

Alright let’s get your thoughts on this?

[SDP - Jere]

I really agree that only players that are drafted should be in the lower minors.

[Deleted]

Jun 26, 2021 19:51:23 GMT -5 Oakland Athletics said:

 which would also effectively end the post draft adds to low minors. 

Wait, you can add players to the low minors post draft? lol

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In terms of this rule change, I guess I would be in favor of just keeping it as we have it now and reducing it back to 5 players.  I don't really see a reason we should be changing it.  I would also be in favor of making it so that only draft picks can be in low minors if that wasn't a rule before 

[Oakland Athletics]

If we allow infinite number of slots on low minors it allows rebuilding teams to acquire draft picks and be able to use all of them evaluate their players after a year and make a decision on promoting them to Milb roster. (This of course would mean low minors only acquired through the draft or via trade)

If we reduce back to 5 and keep rules intact it makes it difficult for rebuilding teams to acquire more than 5 picks because they won’t have a ton of room for. Maybe they can move some guys to MiLB roster but they may have to drop some players to allow that to happen.

If we stay at 10 and keep the rules intact it would allow for plenty of wiggle room for rebuilding teams to acquire picks and use them, but 4th and 5th round picks would be devalued slightly due to allowing post draft waiver adds.

[Baltimore Orioles]

I don't think we should allow post draft wavier adds and prefer to keep the low minors at 10, but that is my opinion.

[Oakland Athletics]

Jun 26, 2021 23:19:44 GMT -5 Baltimore Orioles said:

I don't think we should allow post draft wavier adds and prefer to keep the low minors at 10, but that is my opinion.

The thing about this that wouldn’t make sense is you have 100 picks in the draft each year and you would have 200 low minors slots. So if you didn’t allow post draft waiver adds their is almost no point in staying at 10 which is why I would suggest not putting a cap on it. Unless y’all think it’s a good idea in ensuring no team had more than 10 picks or acquire a lot of low minors through trade. But one way or another those players have to move up to their milb roster the next season or dropped so I think that controls the number a little bit.

[NY Mets]

My point of view is that we have to timit the size of the lower minor (I'd prefer 5 than 10).
And I'd like to have the capability to have waiver adds.

[Oakland Athletics]

Jun 27, 2021 6:40:43 GMT -5 NY Mets said:

My point of view is that we have to timit the size of the lower minor (I'd prefer 5 than 10).
And I'd like to have the capability to have waiver adds.

Just to be clear…we will still have that capability but it would be for your MiLB roster.

Low Minors was designed to allow space for new draftees and better evaluate prospects as before moving them up

[Deleted]

I’m confused. With the rules we have right now; are post draft waiver adds on the low minors or not?

[SDP - Jere]

I’d prefer to have unlimited Lower Minors. Allow post draft waiver adds but cap the number of waiver adds id also suggest that if the player plays one MiLB game they have to be moved up the following offseason. I like the reasoning you have for the lower minors but if you draft an import or an injured player you sometimes don’t get that year to evaluate them.

I’d also like to see a change to the way you can just sign an undrafted player at anytime in the season. I personally think there should be a limit to the number you can sign during the season. I think we should add all minor league players to the draft not just recently drafted players it makes draft picks more valuable. But that is just my opinion.

[Oakland Athletics]

Jun 27, 2021 7:58:59 GMT -5 @braves said:

I’m confused. With the rules we have right now; are post draft waiver adds on the low minors or not?

Yes you can add to low minors after the draft

[Oakland Athletics]

Jun 27, 2021 8:16:01 GMT -5 SDP - Jere said:

I’d prefer to have unlimited Lower Minors. Allow post draft waiver adds but cap the number of waiver adds id also suggest that if the player plays one MiLB game they have to be moved up the following offseason. I like the reasoning you have for the lower minors but if you draft an import or an injured player you sometimes don’t get that year to evaluate them.

I’d also like to see a change to the way you can just sign an undrafted player at anytime in the season. I personally think there should be a limit to the number you can sign during the season. I think we should add all minor league players to the draft not just recently drafted players it makes draft picks more valuable. But that is just my opinion.

I kind of like this idea, about allowing a player to stay in low minors if they haven’t played an milb game yet.

As far as adding milb players during the season; I definitely get that point of view that it devalues the draft a little bit, but that is the way this league has always been so that would be a fairly drastic change. It’s one of the things that makes this league unique. That IMO would have to be a unanimous decision by the league.

[Texas Rangers]

Jun 26, 2021 22:34:36 GMT -5 Oakland Athletics said:

If we allow infinite number of slots on low minors it allows rebuilding teams to acquire draft picks and be able to use all of them evaluate their players after a year and make a decision on promoting them to Milb roster. (This of course would mean low minors only acquired through the draft or via trade)

If we reduce back to 5 and keep rules intact it makes it difficult for rebuilding teams to acquire more than 5 picks because they won’t have a ton of room for. Maybe they can move some guys to MiLB roster but they may have to drop some players to allow that to happen.

If we stay at 10 and keep the rules intact it would allow for plenty of wiggle room for rebuilding teams to acquire picks and use them, but 4th and 5th round picks would be devalued slightly due to allowing post draft waiver adds.

I agree with this

[Deleted]

I prefer to stay with 10 Low minors.

[San Francisco Giants]

My opinion, low minors should only be for the draft. Should be cleared before the draft, made room for in regular minors or otherwise on the roster if eligible.

I dont have a problem making low minors unlimited if that is the case. Would make it tougher to accommodate the next season if you've got too many as they'd need to be cleared out before the next seasons draft but that's the managers job to work within those parameters.

Low minors shouldnt be to stash extra prospects or add prospects throughout the season.