How many minimum IP total should I try to keep to for a 1960s era progressive league team ? The team plays in a pretty neutral park - Candlestick. In an OL I would tend to keep to below 1400. But I have the sense that in a progressive league the situation is very different, though this I don't have any experience in a progressive season yet. 

I also know that how many a team carries will involve other factors in a progressive: keeping pitchers on the roster that will be good in the near future, or who you are looking to trade, among other factors. So I am just asking about a rule of thumb for the minimum you don't want to go below. In an OL except for the daring vets here who play chicken with fatigue, it is something over 1,200 with around 850 or so in the rotation. I am pretty sure that will not work at all in a progressive league. 

Is 1400 + enough ? Is even that more than enough ?

Single-season progressive? Then your average cap will probably be around 70mil. Maybe less in the 60s, I'm not sure. You could probably get by with 1250. I'd say 1300 is definitely enough. Even 1200 might be good enough.

How many teams?  

If it's a 24 team progressive you can probably get away with 1100 quality IP and 200 more fill in types and be competitive.

If it's a 16 team progressive the definition of quality goes up and you'll need an extra 100 or so in that category. 

Thank you both Trentonjoe and jfranco77. I am glad I asked, because I did not expect the answer you are both giving me: that the number of team is a factor I had not even considered. 

It is 16 teams. Single season 1960s and my team salary comes to around $65 million, though it was a last place team, so the league average is probably as you suggest jfranco77. 

Ok. I was asking because I had started with only one real asset - an enormous (1,800 - !!) number of IP and started trading IPs for players and draft choices to rebuild a team that literally had no 1B or 3B and no SS or 2B with more than 400 PA, (a whole new spin on the "$100,000 infield - but 50 years later), no OF with more than 3 years remaining before retirement etc.   

So I had whittled the staff down to a reasonable 1,500 IP still with 10 pitchers, and replenished the shelves, but was deciding on whether I could risk trading one more pitcher with a good 150 IP in the soon-to-start season for a full-time SS which I still badly needed. I went ahead with the trade when the other owner threw in a good quality starter with 200 IP in exchange for me including a 4th round draft pick. 

So, in the end I have a whole team on the field - not great, but a legit big-league ball club, a great rotation of 4 starters with more than 200 IP each that is the equal of all but the best 3 or 4 teams in the league, and actually increased the overall by 50 IP in the trade. 

But it is good to know that even had it been pitcher for SS and dropped the team to 1,400 or a little under I was not risking disaster. I would consider that high in an OL but did not know for a progressive. Thanks for advice from two of the best players here I know ! 

I typically aim for 1200IP...if i can get there I know I will be ok with a little managerial tweaking throughout.  If I get between 1250 and 1300 I don't even sweat it.

Thanks also chargingryno. What I am finding, in practice, is that there are two realities not entirely under your control as owner: one is that there are not a lot of good IPs to go around sometimes in a progressive league depending on the year, so you working to ensure that, if not this year, in a future year you project a shortfall of innings in, you are covered. So in that scenario you are working to ensure 1,200 IP in as many years ahead of time as possible. Not always so easy since you also need to use draft picks, or trades, to have all 8 positions covered and ideally, with good players that help you win.

The second scenario arises from the first - because it is, let's stay, 1966 and you are going to need 1,200 IP minimum in 1968 and 69, you get pitchers now. Unless they are on the DL/IR you have their IP as well, so often you find you have 1,600 or 1,700 IP this year, maybe 300 of which you don't nor want to use particularly, because you need pitcher X and pitcher Y for two years from now when they are good and in the meantime they warm up the bullpen bench and flirt with fans.