My First Season Topic

rnewsom
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I noticed that a lot of people here give a lot of great advice, but for someone just making the jump to HBD, I was wondering if anyone could point to a forum post or mentor that I could lean on as I start up my team. I know I am going to make a lot of rookie mistakes, but I want to avoid the ones that you just cannot recover from. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, I am excited to see how this simulation works. 
11/28/2011 6:01 PM
stevedotdec
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It's my first season too.  A lot of people have been very helpful with answering specific questions about the basic mechanics of the game, but obviously they aren't going to give away their "secrets" that they've learned through trial and error.

I found this thread in the fourms and it's helped me a lot with understanding the basics...though I still have a LOT to learn.

http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=152203&TopicsTimeframe=180&TopicsPage=7 (WKRP Radio (or How to Rebuild a Disaster))
11/28/2011 6:36 PM
deanod
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you can hit me up.

for starters i would get acclimated with the value of ratings.  for players with multiple full years of ML experience, always pay more regard to historical performance   it's easy to get wrapped up in ratings, but if a guy has performed at a certain level over 5 years, you can expect him to do the same going forward.  Don't get seduced into giving out contracts to guys that look like they have good ratings but haven't done much on the field.

Try to meet or exceed the suggested fielding ratings for each position, ESPECIALLY at SS (even though you'll have to settle for a terrible hitter in all likelihood).

Don't make any big trades or FA signings off the bat.  Play it conservative while you get a hang for the game.  You can still make moves, I would just avoid giving out 5 year deals to free agents and/or trading away any of your elite players/prospects.

And max out your training budget, thank me later.
11/28/2011 7:07 PM
greeny9
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Posted by deanod on 11/28/2011 7:07:00 PM (view original):
you can hit me up.

for starters i would get acclimated with the value of ratings.  for players with multiple full years of ML experience, always pay more regard to historical performance   it's easy to get wrapped up in ratings, but if a guy has performed at a certain level over 5 years, you can expect him to do the same going forward.  Don't get seduced into giving out contracts to guys that look like they have good ratings but haven't done much on the field.

Try to meet or exceed the suggested fielding ratings for each position, ESPECIALLY at SS (even though you'll have to settle for a terrible hitter in all likelihood).

Don't make any big trades or FA signings off the bat.  Play it conservative while you get a hang for the game.  You can still make moves, I would just avoid giving out 5 year deals to free agents and/or trading away any of your elite players/prospects.

And max out your training budget, thank me later.
+111111111111111111

most important piece of advice is not doing any trades until you get the opinion of at least 2 competent owners like deanod.  And even then dont do any trades where you are giving up 1 great player for 3 mediocre players.  This is what many unscrupulous owners do to noobs.  And dont give up any young good looking prospects.
11/28/2011 7:37 PM
MikeT23
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If you're not sure, don't do it.  First rule for n00bs.

11/28/2011 9:32 PM
toddcommish
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And people who propose trades to noobs DO NOT have your best interests at heart.

11/28/2011 10:02 PM
travisg
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Posted by toddcommish on 11/28/2011 10:02:00 PM (view original):

And people who propose trades to noobs DO NOT have your best interests at heart.

That's not necessarily true, but you should assume that.
11/29/2011 7:12 AM
MikeT23
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Yeah, it probably is true.   "I was just trying to help him out" fits right up there with "The check is in the mail" on list of lies.
11/29/2011 7:44 AM
tecwrg
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I've never subscribed to the idea of "Don't make any trades in your first season", because trading can be an important part of the game and a big part of building your team.

But I would strongly recommend that you enlist the help of a mentor (or two) to help guide you through the trade process and evaluate any deals that you may be considering.  Evalating the deal not only on the merits of the players involved, but also on the short-term and long-term implications of the deal.  Then, you can make a moe informed decision.
11/29/2011 7:59 AM
hatfieldms
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Try and find a couple of guys in your league willing to help you along the way for the first couple of seasons.  I had one who got me into this  help me out a ton, which is the best way to go about it
11/29/2011 10:46 AM
rangerup
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"Try to meet or exceed the suggested fielding ratings for each position, ESPECIALLY at SS (even though you'll have to settle for a terrible hitter in all likelihood)."

This is pretty true, and also one of the tricks you will learn through time.  There are a few positions on the field where you will need to concentrate on adding value.  While it is a must to get average to great defense out of a few positions (SS, CF, C mainly) a good way to add value is to look for players that provide this while also providing offense.  These players will be highly valued of course, but when shopping the draft prospects and/or the free agent wire or international free agents, think closely about lobbing your resources at the 1B that can hit a ton.  Why?  Because there are likely to be about 20 other 1B in the world that can hit a ton, and while you do need that, they are not nearly as valuable as the SS that can also hit.

There may be 20 1B, 15 3B and 12 RF in the world that are worthy players......but there is likely to be only 4 SS, 5 C and 2 CF that are far above the average.  If you can make savvy acquisitions to get these guys, the old axiom applies.  Solid up the middle means a lot.
11/29/2011 11:14 AM
tecwrg
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Posted by hatfieldms on 11/29/2011 10:46:00 AM (view original):
Try and find a couple of guys in your league willing to help you along the way for the first couple of seasons.  I had one who got me into this  help me out a ton, which is the best way to go about it

NO, NO, NO!!!!

You don't want to enlist the help of other people in your world.  You want to get a completely independent opinion of somebody who's not in your world.  If you go with somebody in your world, there's always a chance that they'll mislead you or take advantage of you to try to hold you down for their benefit.

Look for an experienced mentor from the mentor list, somebody who has absolutely no stake in your world.

11/29/2011 11:23 AM
rnewsom
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How realistic is this game? I just ended up taking the last spot in Ryan to fill that world (sorry to the Alexander league) and I am going to attempt to rebuild what seems like a historically losing franchise. I was wondering if it is possible to rebuild a franchise in three seasons or so, or am I kidding myself? 
11/29/2011 5:25 PM
MikeT23
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It shouldn't take more than three seasons to be competitive.   We all start with the same budget. 
11/29/2011 5:31 PM
deanod
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Posted by rnewsom on 11/29/2011 5:25:00 PM (view original):
How realistic is this game? I just ended up taking the last spot in Ryan to fill that world (sorry to the Alexander league) and I am going to attempt to rebuild what seems like a historically losing franchise. I was wondering if it is possible to rebuild a franchise in three seasons or so, or am I kidding myself? 
really depends on how fast you learn and how competitive your world is.

some people can turn around teams instantaneously, others get mired in 70 win land forever.

imo it's not realistic in a few ways

1) the elite basestealers are unreal.  it's not rare to see a guy who can go like 100/103 stealing bases in a season, and there are plenty more 50/56 types
2) RP's are unreal because there's an abundance of guys that can give you 100+ IP out of the pen.  150+ IP relievers aren't even that rare.
3) player performance is incredibly predictable.  players will have up years or down years, but for the most part you can estimate exactly what you're going to get out of a guy and aging and development patterns are pretty similar across all players too.

once you master the aspect of predicting player performances (which is like 90% just looking at historical stats) and learn how to value them appropriately, you can turn around teams rather quickly and easily.
11/29/2011 5:33 PM
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