MLB Showdown League -- MINOR LEAGUES REPORT

The MLB Showdown league's offseason is in full force (played with 2017 set), and it's FINALLY time for the most ambitious/creative addition to our league play -- the prospects!!  The premise is simple.  We took the top 10 ranked prospects going into 2018 for each team, and based on the scouting grades for those prospects, made a "peak potential," "likely," and "disappointing" chart for each prospect.  Yes, that means we created 3 charts for 300 prospects... and yes, it took as long as that sounds!

As an example, here's the peak potential card for Ronald Acuna.  Obviously there's a reason Acuna

 is compared to Trout, as his peak card is similar to some of his monster years.  Acuna's ratings were:

60 hitting, 65 power, 65 speed, 60 field, 60 arm

At the beginning of our season, we allowed trades.  Some teams dealt away all or most of their prospects in an effort to win now, while other teams sacrificed their chances this year to load up on potential prospects.  Teams already at the top, like the Indians and Yankees, made aggressive moves, as did other potential contenders like the Brewers, Angels, and Rockies.  Meanwhile, teams that were likely to struggle like the Padres, Royals, and White Sox dealt every useful major leaguer they had in an effort to bolster their minor league systems.  While this created a real "have/have not" feel to our first season, the parity is about to come in full force from teams that do well now!

Here's the way the prospects will work:  

Step 1: Roll on each prospect

Step 2: If that roll is a 1-4 -- the prospect busted and is done, out of the game

            If that roll is a 5-9 -- the prospect is "disappointing"

            If that roll is a 10-16 -- the prospect is "likely"

            If that roll is a 17-20 -- the prospect hits his "peak" potential

Step 3: Depending on how bad a team performed last season, they have a certain amount of re-rolls on prospects that they another chance at.  A player cannot be hurt be a re-roll (so a disappointing cannot bust, etc.).  No playoff teams get re-rolls, and the re-roll allocation is as follows:

Honestly, it's too many screenshots to provide all the information, so here's a sample of the how it went for Acuna's team, the Braves (who got ridiculously lucky rolling):

Atlanta Braves
Atlanta is going to be LOADED next season (and led by Acuna, who's an instant MVP frontrunner).  Their re-rolls helped with Kyle Wright, who went from busting to being an instant ace! Sneaky good will be Austin Riley, who provides elite power from 3B.  Overall, this group of prospects revolutionized the entire Atlanta rotation (basically) and sets them up to contend with the Nationals!

You probably recognize players from other farm systems in real life among the Braves prospects, and that's because they tanked -- selling off nearly all their assets for prospects! For the Braves, this strategy worked well thanks to how (basically everyone) panned out! However, if you look at a team like the Marlins on the google doc that's linked below, you'll see the downside of tanking!

If you want to check out the rest of the prospects, they can be viewed on our google doc, accessed by clicking here

We've got all the teams on the google doc, complete with prospects!  Some results people are probably interested in:

I hope y'all enjoyed this "Minor League" twist to Showdown! Let me know what you think and if it's a fun idea -- obviously it can be improved, but it's fun and has been interestingly accurate so far (we first did it in 2014 and it's sad/shocking how our "busts" tended to reflect reality.... poor Dylan Bundy and Byron Buxton).  Moreover, before saying everyone is too overpowered, look at the google doc and check out how many guys (a) don't have All Star level peak potentials and (b) how rare peak rolling actually was. Bad teams got re-rolls, so a lot of the BEST prospects were saved/brought up to at least likely through that.... and if you think Vlad Jr has a crazy peak potential, check out his scouting grades!! Dude got an 80 hit tool and 70 power tool, he basically broke the system!

Next up -- the preview for Year 2 of our Season, with free agency and prospects added into the game as every team gets below 5500 points and goes for another title!!!