We used to be able to see development patterns and budgeted amounts.  No more.    It's a little too early to fully understand how the draft and IFA is working.   So the "He was picked fourth" or "IFA signing for 19m" just doesn't cut it now.

I'm still formulating how I'll be able to figure out how good a player could be when developed but I've been messing around with minor league stats.   For the most part, they're useless.   However, if you compare them to players on the same team, the guy who hit .400 while his "now in the bigs" teammate hit .285 for the same team, you might be able to figure something out.    But you have to understand how the other guy manages his minors.    Does he use AAA-quality in HiA?    Is he in a heavy hitter's park?   Does he play a lot of games in hitter's parks?   Is anyone in HiA actually managing their team?    There's just a lot to it.

So in other words, for someone fairly newer, would we be better off spending some in ADV until we understand things better?

My recommendation to newer owners is to not trade prospects in either direction.    But, if you insist on doing so, I'd recommend 20m in ADV until you're more experienced.

So...tell me about player improvement.  When does it happen (are there cycles within the season...is it predominantly offseason...)?  Also, is it just so slow that player potential is essentially meaningless?

There will be 5 or 6 development cycles during the season in which skills will improve (or regress, for old players).  The first one will be at the end of spring training.

Physical attributes only improve (or regress) during the offseason.

Injuries and injury recovery can affect both during the season.

Skills would include contact, batting splits, batting eye and baserunning for hitting, glove and arm accuracy for fielding, and control, pitching splits, GB and pitches for pitchers.

Physical skills would include power and speed for hitters, range and arm strength for fielding, and durability, stamina, and velocity for pitchers.

Hi, I've been wanting to do Hardball for awhile now and I've been reading the forums for a couple of months. I have a few questions.
1. What is the process for the Hall of Fame?
2. Is there a team Hall of Fame?
3. Can I retire numbers?

I've read about this somewhere but I can't remember if it was in the game or someone did it outside the website, like on a phone or something

Posted by d_rock97 on 7/30/2015 11:45:00 AM (view original):
Hi, I've been wanting to do Hardball for awhile now and I've been reading the forums for a couple of months. I have a few questions.
1. What is the process for the Hall of Fame?
2. Is there a team Hall of Fame?
3. Can I retire numbers?

I've read about this somewhere but I can't remember if it was in the game or someone did it outside the website, like on a phone or something

1. Owners can nominate players that have played for them (some are automatically nominated) before spring training and owners can vote for five candidates during spring training. Players with 20 votes or more make it.
2. Nope
3. No players have numbers, unless you just make them up in your head

The Great Jimmy Powell has always worn #31.  Even in Little League.  He was so good they made a special jersey for him.  None of that 1-15 crap.



Of course, that's just in my head.   So there's that.

What happens if there are no coaches available to sign?  I need a Hi-A BC and have money to sign someone, but no one is available to sign.  There are a few more HBD days left to sign.  What happens if I don't have one or do I have other options?

more ALWAYS rules: 

-Always add your top prospects to the spring training squad and get them as much playing time as possible. I've forgotten to do this before and felt like an idiot. The spring training ratings bump is bigger than the regular season bump, at least in part because your best coaches are at the ML level.

-Always promote your elite prospects to ML after ~25 games, it gets you an extra year of that player at the league minimum (unless they've changed this recently). The only possible exception is if your current ML starter is so bad in comparison that it is likely to cost you a playoff spot

-Always leave enough of a payroll buffer (at least $2 million I'd say) to sign minor leaguers and promote players to ML. Otherwise at least one of your teams (hopefully not the ML squad) becomes a mess of 0(0) pitchers and you either get yelled at or made fun of by your leaguemates scoring 30 runs a game on you. The only way out is by begging others owners to trade you cash and hoping they don't ask for too much in return.

 

ALWAYS is never right.

I agree that you should play your top prospects in ST.   But there is injury risk.   Ideally your top guy(s) get the majority of the playing time.  UNLESS, of course, he's a low health guy.   Maybe you don't want to risk him if you're planning to use him in the bigs.

No, a thousand times no.  That is the most misused strategy in HBD.   There are countless threads with me explaining why that isn't ALWAYS the best strategy.  I won't explain it here.

Meh, if you properly staff all levels, you don't need nearly that much.   You'll want enough to sign your top draftees but that can be as little as 40k. 

Posted by ham00020 on 7/31/2015 11:42:00 AM (view original):
What happens if there are no coaches available to sign?  I need a Hi-A BC and have money to sign someone, but no one is available to sign.  There are a few more HBD days left to sign.  What happens if I don't have one or do I have other options?

You can sign a LoA or RL BC to a HiA contract.    Otherwise, you'll be assigned one when coach hiring ends.

FWIW, I ALWAYS play the hell out of my top prospects in ST.   But I run 20 medical so a potential soulcrushing injury doesn't bother me. 

Thanks for pointing that out Mike, I'll look into it. On the others call it "usually" if you prefer.

Not having a payroll buffer has hurt me in the past. Yea $2 million is usually more than you'll need, but trying to spend literally every last cent of your payroll is the thing to avoid. One ML injury and you might want an additional $300K to promote a replacement.