(Introduction: I coached a couple seasons in the past, quit, and just returned to try it again.)

1. Trying to sign minor league free agents . . the only option it gives me is to offer the league minimum for the player's level. But then I get a message saying other teams offer more, what am I missing?
2. What does advance scouting do specifically? does it apply during trades when I am looking at other players? When I look at the player being offered to me, do I see the same projected stats the current owner sees, or different?
3. A few years ago, I commented that there didn't seem to be an observable affect of coaching (ie., I didn't see how all the various coaches improved development.) At that time, there was speculation that the coaching was not 'plugged in' - we went thru the motions of building a coaching staff, but it had zero actual affect on the game or on player growth. Any further insight to this anyone?

FWIW I love the idea of coaches, I really want them to work and to matter . .

1. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the only way to raise an offer MiLB FA is to offer a BL contract.

2. Advanced scouting tells you a players projected ratings. The higher your budget in that column, the more accurate they'll be. A trading partner will see different projections than you. They'll see projections based on their advanced scouting budget.

3. I'm not sure how much of an impact coaches have on development, but they definitely have an impact. An owner in a league of mine signed a pitching coach as his fielding instructor by accident. The guy had a fielding rating of 7. The guys PP decreased across the board in defense by about 10 points.

1) The messages are a little confusing. There is no one offering more money because it is impossible to do so. What you CAN offer that MAY help is to offer a ST invite. What these minor league players are actually evaluating when contract offers are the same (they usually are) is the depth chart of each organization. They want to play for the team with the least amount of depth at their position so they may get more playing time.

2) Advanced scouting affects ONLY the "projected ratings" you see for players in season. So if you are looking to trade for a prospect and your advanced scouting is very high you can be more confident in the projections you are seeing. They are never 100% accurate even at 20M, and no, everyone does not see the same projections.

3) Adequate coaching at each level is sufficient. Really highly rated coaches may improve development some, but not a great deal. Really bad coaching can definitely stymie growth and even hurt players. I've seen players actually regress under very poor coaches.