Posted by tufft on 10/19/2011 6:33:00 PM (view original):
I'm pretty sure most businesses make a budget every year.

In the real world that isn't the final decision.  The budget is a plan that can be changed based on new information.  That's how I think it should work in HBD.

Money in trades is a different topic. I got on a rant why I think there should be no limit on money in trades in a different post the last time I had time to kill in this forum.

If you think there's ANY random guess, then you haven't grasped the strategy.

Respectfully.

If you think there's an issue now with $28M payrolls and $50M in prospect, you go ahead and implement that little thought of yours and let me know how 'tarded up worlds get.

Here's how to take the "blind guessing" out of coaching, payroll and prospect budgeting:

1)  Coaching: you know who wants to return and what their demands are.  You have the capability to evaluate each one prior to (or on) budget day to determine which ones you plan to rehire and how much they are going to cost  That's half the battle.  The other half is planning how much you are willing to spend on each remaining coaching role.  Add it all up and round up to the next highest million, and voila!  There's your coaching budget.

2)  Payroll: you know your current payroll commitments.  If you've got departing FA's, you know what their demands are and (hopefully) have an idea which ones you plan to resign.  For arb guys, you know their arb demands and the long-term demands.  Again, you hopefully know which ones you plan to keep, and you can decide whether or not to arb or LT them.  For guys with mutual or team options, the same.  You should have an idea of what you are looking for in the FA market this season, and can budget how much you plan to spend for each role you are trying to fill (e.g. RF, SP3, backup cather, etc.).  Add up all the numbers, throw in a couple extra million for slush, and voila!  There's your payroll budget.

3)  Prospect: you know where you're drafting this year, and have a ballpark estimate of what your first rounder's will be looking for, based on experience.  If you have departing type A/B FA's, ditto.  You should have an idea of which ones are likely to be resigned, and which ones may not be.  If you want to play in the IFA market, pick a number you want to allocate towards IFA.  Add it all up, and voila!  There's your prospect budget.

Posted by deathinahole on 10/21/2011 9:59:00 PM (view original):

If you think there's ANY random guess, then you haven't grasped the strategy.

Respectfully.

If you think there's an issue now with $28M payrolls and $50M in prospect, you go ahead and implement that little thought of yours and let me know how 'tarded up worlds get.

Posted by deathinahole on 10/21/2011 10:01:00 PM (view original):
To put it another way; if you really really really want it to be like MLB, then let's have a luxury tax, the top two teams will pay the bottom 16, and those teams will pocket the money and go 65-97 for 15 straight seasons, hoping that all these 25 year olds catch lightning in a bottle.

Posted by MikeT23 on 10/21/2011 10:44:00 PM (view original):
"Will sign for slot" picks always sign for the same year to year.   I think I had 1,000 left in Mantle even though I had a bunch of comp picks because I knew this sort of thing.

No one is "stuck" with their first estimate.  You can think less and transfer more.  You just have to pay a penalty for thinking wrong.  

 

Posted by tufft on 10/20/2011 11:07:00 PM (view original):
>>Budgeting is strategy. <<

Respectfully, the way it works now, I don't fully agree. It's part strategy, part random guess.

It's strategy for Scouting, Health, Training. For Coaching, Salary, & Prospect it's mostly a blind guess.

You have no way of knowing what you're going to get for the money you set aside. In the real world, you'd have a good idea if  you had a shot at on of the the top FAs or if they were going to resign with their original team. If you had a stud P prospect, you could be sure to get top coach for him by throwing money at one. In HBD, you could offer millions to a MinL coach and they might turn you down at the end for a fraction of the salary and a promotion.

Even if your better information went bad, or if someone was crazy enough to turn down $3.5M to coach at AA for 240K at AAA, or if Lee signed with Philly for less money, you would not lose half your money if you had to go with Plan B, C, or D.

I think there would be more strategy if you could change tactics based on new information without substantial penalties that seriously limit your options.

I don't see any benefit to the game, or scam that is prevented, by the transfer penalty as it works now.