Okay since my HBD team just rolled and there are some who have asked, here is a step by step process to setting up my team for the season.

If you wish to look at just how bad my team is check out the Wichita Wingnuts in Minor Leagues.

Budget settings
My team has virtually 0 locked up in payroll. I have one player under a long term contract, then a bunch of arbitration guys (some of which I am going to release) and a bunch of guys in their first 3 years.

My estimated payroll (current contracts + Max arbitration + departing FA demands) is 51 Million, but I do not intend to sign my own FAs this season.

I have the first pick in the draft so I have to put a decent amount in my HS and College scouting.

I am going to look further at it this evening before making any final choices. Then I will show my numbers and my reasoning behind each.

This is the first worksheet they give you with the numbers filled in.

Returning Coaches Salary Demands : $ 17 M
Current Player Payroll : $ 15 M
Max Arbitration Payroll : $ 25 M
Departing Free Agent Demands : $ 11 M
Promotion Allowances : $ ??M
Prospect Salaries : $ ?? M
Other Acquisitions : $ ?? M
Player Payroll Total : $ 51 M

Then here is the second I can maneuver. (Note some categories can only go up or down by $4 million a year) In a new world you can not max out at 20 on any of those things in the first year.

Player Payroll : $ 66 M
Prospect Payroll : $ 12 M
Coaches Payroll : $ 16 M
Domestic College Scouting Dept. : $ 18 M
Domestic High School Scouting Dept. : $ 17 M
International Scouting Dept. : $ 10 M
Advance Scouting Dept. : $ 18 M
Training : $ 14 M
Medical : $ 14 M
Total Allocated (of $185,000,000):

This is now my final budget. A breakdown of what each means and why I went the way I did.

Player Payroll : $ 66 M
This gives me about $20 mil to add FAs which I desperatly need.

Prospect Payroll : $ 12 M
This will be enough to cover my draft picks bonuses. I do not plan to be too active in the International market.

Coaches Payroll : $ 16 M
My previous years coaches are asking for 17 M. I am fine with making a few cut backs.

Domestic College Scouting Dept. : $ 18 M
With the + or - $4 this was as high as I could go this year. The closer to 20 you are the more College guys you scout and the more accurate they are.

Domestic High School Scouting Dept. : $ 17 M
With the + or - $4 I could have got to 18 M. I chose to put the extra mill into payroll instead.

International Scouting Dept. : $ 10 M
With the + or - $4 this was as low as I could go. Again I decided the extra cash for FA would be better spent. The closer you are to 20 the more IFAs you see and the more accurate their ratings are.

Advance Scouting Dept. : $ 18 M With the + or - $4 this was as high as I could get. The closer to 20 you are the more accurate your projections on players in the league are.

Training : $ 14 M

Medical : $ 14 M
Total Allocated (of $185,000,000):

We did coach re-hiring last night. Generaly hiring of coaches is my least favorite part. Because of this I tend to follow this theory:

Bust my *** hiring the best possible coaches in year 1. Then I simply re-hire everyone I possibly can each year in an effore to minimize my work the following years.

I was also able to start talking to my departing free agents. 4 pitchers and a Catcher. Listed next to them is their demands.

Alex Acosta P 3.4 mil
Eric Hernandez P 3.4 mil
Olmado Santos P 1.0 mil
Rodrigo Acosta P 3.0 mil

Fausto Batista C Spring Traning Invite

I gave Batista the ST invite because it costs me nothing and he is a solid defensive backstop. I am working on a deal for another Catcher but we will see how it goes. My guess is Batista does not make the opening day squad.

Of the pitchers the only 2 that have any sort of decent ratings are Santos and R. Acosta. Santos however has a durribility of 22 and a stamina of 27 making him unusable. R Acosta could possibly fill a bull pen roll for me but no one will give him 3 mil so if I decide I do want him I can wait him out for his demands to drop.

Knee - Thanks for the insight, trying to follow along somewhat.

Why did you go with $10 million in International scouting when you said you were not planning on being to active in signing internationals?

Wouldn't you have been better off going like $6-$8 million and use the savings elsewhere?

Also, curious as to why you feel coach signing is your least favorite part. I personally love signing coaches, as I feel it will help my minors and wanted your thoughts there. I know fielding coaches have gotten out of hand, but I spent over $4 million on my last FI coach. Made up for it by only going 600k on pitching coach. (got a 77 pitching AA guy there)

Today is the day for arbitration hearings. I already arbitrated twice and am 0-2 so far. I have some border line guys I need to decide on before I go and offer.

For arbitration the player submits a salary, you can see it then you submit a salary and the arbitrator decides on one or the other. He must pick one of those numbers. Once he diecides you are on the hook for that amount. You can also release your person ahead of the hearing and owe him nothing. He becomes a free agent.

Quote: Originally Posted By FishNasty on 5/16/2010
Knee - Thanks for the insight, trying to follow along somewhat.

Why did you go with $10 million in International scouting when you said you were not planning on being to active in signing internationals?

Wouldn't you have been better off going like $6-$8 million and use the savings elsewhere?

Also, curious as to why you feel coach signing is your least favorite part. I personally love signing coaches, as I feel it will help my minors and wanted your thoughts there. I know fielding coaches have gotten out of hand, but I spent over $4 million on my last FI coach. Made up for it by only going 600k on pitching coach. (got a 77 pitching AA guy there)

Because you can only go + or - $4 mil from the previous season $10 mil was as low as I could go in the IF market.

I know that coaches make a difference but I wish that I could see a tangible result. Because I cannot see that I tend to get bored/frustrated with the coach hiring.

What did you offer in arbitration?

I seem to do this: Either release the guys I don't want, or offer about 80-85% of demands for guys I do want. Offering that high a % I seem to always win, and save a small chunk of money and don't seem to lose.

Curious to the rough % you offered.

If a player loses in arbitration a time or two, he is more likely to become bitter toward ownership and refuse to sign when free agency comes along (or at least wait and test out the market). At least that's the operating theory. You save a little cash now but increase the chances of losing a valuable player later.

Josh - have you personally found that to be true? I feel if you beat a player in arb yr 1, and then agin in yr 2, as long as you sign him to a long term before yr 3 then no harm done.

I agree if you wait until yr 4 and beat him 1-3 times, he will be much more likely to bolt. But only your team can sign to a contract going into yr 3 of arb so he should sign........

There was one guy who wanted something like 3.3 mil I offered 3. Another wanted 2.2 mil I offered 2. Not a big deal.

I also just released 5 Arb eligible guys. All are easily replaceable with similar crappy guys who would be making the league min this year. However I hope to upgrade a spot or two via FA.

I am currently putting my team together to see what my ML roster will look like.

ALSO PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT DOING THIS SO MUCH TO SO STRATEGY OR TELL YOU THE BEST WAY TO RUN A FRANCHISE BUT RATHER SO EVERYONE CAN SEE WHAT GOES INTO EACH STEP OF THE OFFSEASON. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO COMPLETLY REBUILD A FRANCHISE I WOULD LOOK AT WKRP THREAD IN HBD. YOU MAY HAVE TO SEARCH FOR IT.

The following player was arbitration eligible in his last year of arb. He wanted 5.7 mill. Or I could sign him for 3 years at 5.3 mil a year. I took him to arbitration and won at 5 mil.

I am willing to take the risk of having him walk at seasons end. Honestly 5 is a bit high for him but I dont have a huge number of prospects in my system who will play 3rd and he had a decent year or two in the past with lesser ratings.

Tommy Eaton

Quote: Originally posted by FishNasty on 5/16/2010But only your team can sign to a contract going into yr 3 of arb so he should sign.

I'm just referring to the chances of signing him when he becomes a free agent.

I'm just going by the posts of experienced owners in the forums, but since I haven't seen anyone dispute that theory -- and most every opinion is usually hotly disputed -- I believe it enough to avoid testing it with players I want to keep.

If there are guys who have stopped improving and are marginal major leaguers, I'll try to save money with them in arb. But if it's a player I see helping my team in the future, I either sign him long term or offer what he wants in arbitration to give myself another season or two before deciding on a long-term deal.