If you could choose between one great international or the draft, what would you do?

My situation: We have a current prospect limit of $25 Million. There's an international prospect that will be better than anyone I draft. I draft with the 25th pick but have a comp pick at 42. The bidding for the international is up to $24 Million and he is about to sign with the other team. I have $35 Million in High school and college scouting. The Amateur draft list came out today.

So, in this situation, what's better? Bid $25 Million and not draft anyone or pass on him and have a solid draft and pray for another good international down the road?

I've had legit top 5 pick talent fall to me as low as the 65th pick in the draft. You've got near max scouting. If it were me, I may roll the dice and wait for the next IFA unless this one is a future HOF'er.

My problem is I have a lot of good players in my system but not many great players. I have a ton of depth but after a few ML guys, not many great prospects. With $15 million in International scouting, this guy is

100

82

85

98

100

hitting projections with 100 speed

Yeah, I'd pull the trigger on that IFA.

Same.

Cool thanks! That's what I was leaning towards too.

How do you get more than 20M in prospect budgeting? I can't get more than 20M with my teams.

Posted by jaggedendz on 4/15/2017 1:48:00 PM (view original):
How do you get more than 20M in prospect budgeting? I can't get more than 20M with my teams.

You have to transfer money from player and coaches budget into prospect budget after the season starts.

An IFA just signed in my league that reminded me of this thread and the prospect mentioned above. That's on top of a SP that signed earlier in the season that will be a HOF'er and about 4 other guys that will be all star level talent. Ridiculous IFA class.

Oh wow 83 already and only 20.

Projected 100 OVR with $20M in scouting...

Posted by brianplath on 4/15/2017 11:04:00 PM (view original):
Projected 100 OVR with $20M in scouting...

This is meant to be honest question, not snarky - is committing approx 35% of budget for 1 player "worth" it?

Posted by jt2xTTU on 4/16/2017 10:43:00 AM (view original):

Posted by brianplath on 4/15/2017 11:04:00 PM (view original):
Projected 100 OVR with $20M in scouting...

This is meant to be honest question, not snarky - is committing approx 35% of budget for 1 player "worth" it?

This is honestly a really good question that we all constantly debate over. It's why some owners love giving players that are worth if max contracts (30 million followed by 4 years of 20 million) and some say it is not worth it.

If you draft late and you can get a superstar, I'd say for sure. Realistically, after the first 10 picks you aren't going to see players with these sort of stats. So the only other way to get a player is a max contract when they are a free agent (still a lot of money) or a trade and that is very unlikely.

That being said, you don't need expensive superstars to win. I've never spent that much on a player and have done well. Its all according to taste and strategy.

A better question would be: Is it worth it to pay $25 a season to play in that world where it's possible for two other players to go for more than he did in IFA? Probably not...

For me, my budget is pretty much the same every year. I never sign free agents unless they're on my team so I'm never really spending more than $8 million on each player so I'm able to spend a lot on internationals and college scouting. Last season in this league I spent 20/20 in college scouting and had a very solid deep draft. I think my top 5 picks could all be ML players. I also got a decent international SS which I needed one and he'll probably end up like a 78 OVR. So I got a lot of good players last year. But, none of them will be great. This season I spent all my prospect money on one international and I think I would rather have him than all that I got last year, even though I can't sign any more prospects or draft this year.

About 5 seasons ago I did the same thing and spent all my prospect money on one international SP. He's been my best SP for 4 season and is only 26.

So, I think it just comes down to if you need depth or not. I have a lot of good players in my system. But not many great ones. So if I do what I did last year I'll have another solid draft and a decent international, and I have another group of good players. Since I have depth, I'll be happy to spend 35% of my budget on one great player every year.

But I think if you're rebuilding, you need depth first because 3 superstars and a bunch of 65 OVR players isn't going to do you much good.