As a newbie I'm curious what the experienced guys thoughts are on hiring coaches. It seems to me that you gain the most in the minors as most players are close to maxed out by the time they hit the majors, so seems it's better to spend that extra 50-75k to get the top minor league coaches rather then spend the extra 500k needed to get the top major league coaches. What are experienced coaches thoughts on that approach?

Once a player is "maxed out", it's all about staving off decline from that point on. I would assume that better ML coaches help with that.

I try to sign quality coaches up and down in the minors. But that doesn't mean overspending.

Two things to remember:

1) You can promote a coach. For example, there may be 5-10 pitching coaches listed among the Low-A choices who are as good or better than the bulk of the High-A coaches. Offer one of them a contract at the High-A minimum, and there's a decent chance you'll land him without overspending.

2) If you are getting into bidding wars to fill, say, your AAA coaching positions, withdraw your offers and then wait until the end of the coach signing period. There are usually a few quality major-league coaches who go unsigned. Some of them will be willing to go down a level at a significant discount to what they were originally seeking. You may not be able to sign someone for the $240,000 minimum, but you might not have to pay a ton more for quality. And that coach may then be interested in staying with your franchise the following year -- as a major-league coach -- for a reasonable price.

I dont spend mine.

My wife does.

Story of my life.

Personally, I hate all the promotions of coaches during hiring. Sure it gives you a slightly better coach short term. But long term, it does nothing but insure that there are no quality coaches at the lower minor league levels of your world, and a glut of coaches in the majors that no one wants.

I think they should put in some fix that lowers a coaches demands once most or all are signed. I see unsigned ML coaches in every world that would be really good AAA coaches and they just won't take the money to coach in AAA. I offered a few guys twice what they were seeking in ML to coach at AAA and help my pitchers but they turned it down and are now jobless as a result. I don't of many people who would turn down double the salary to take a lesser position.