Essay One: Knowing your team and having a plan.

When you took over a team in HABLA you were not able to build a team from the ground up. There are only a handful of the original owners remaining from the initial draft, and there are more than a few teams that have had more than two owners. That means that you inherited a team having some weaknesses or strengths that you need to address. This team is not yet of your own making, and you have yet to put your own stamp on this team. Maybe you were lucky and have gotten a team with rich talent, competitive, and with a bright secure future. That is certainly the exception and not the norm. Most likely your team is in a state of disarray, and has gaps large enough to drive a truck through, and certainly more than adequate to allow hard line drives to fall in. The first thing that you have to look at is the make up of your team.

There are three levels of players on your team, the active roster, the AAA, and the low minors system. Each of them playing a certain role and need for your club. Certainly, the most important is the active roster. These are your "day to day" players, and the tools you have on hand to work with. Second in importance are your low minors players. These players are your prospects and they are your future. Last in importance are the players in your AAA system, which probably consist of moderate prospects, aging veterans that are not quite up to the rigors of everyday play, and role players who could fill in for a main player in an emergency. A careful look at your team should answer the question if the previous owner did a good job, or a poor one in running the squad.

You probably will want to make some early adjustments and minor tweaks. Possibly, a player in the AAA will get a shot in the big leagues as you like his ratings more than another. One trend that is generally not advisable is to make sweeping changes immediately. A look at the ratings or the stats is not always enough to see who your player will perform, as there is the possibility that there were mitigating circumstances that effected play of this player. However, you should be able to reach a general understanding of your team in a fairly short time. You will need to use BBEdit to determine the potential value of your players. Don’t forget to look at some of the minor ratings such as monthly adjustments.

Okay, you’ve gotten a grip on what you possess, now what do you do? The first thing is to make a depth chart of some sort. Using a simple spread sheet program you list the various players and any information that you feel should be added. Then you list your players and prospect and categorize them. Find out the areas where you possess an abundance of strength and where you are weak. Another thing to do is to make a spread sheet that lists your players by age and experience. You can then determine your position in regard to free agency. This will better help you evaluate trade possibilities, whom to cut or offer in trades, and who to advance from the low system. By doing these two things you will have a visual display of the physical talent strength of the team. You have rated the abilities of your players, and have also set up a visual source of information for analysis of your team. The importance of setting up some type of depth chart cannot be underemphasized. It is the best way to get to know your players.

This leads to the second part of the essay, making a plan. Now that you are familiar with your players you can begin to make an overall team plan. You may be limited at first by the players that you possess. Another important consideration is the stadium model that you possess. You may view each of the stadiums, or get the information from the internet about any of the stadium models that are used. If you possess a stadium that has certain quirks, a short right field porch, a large gap, larger foul ground, artificial surfaces, you need to plan accordingly. If the New York Yankees do not possess lefty power hitting their home run totals will likely be down. Boston should have right-handed bats with low Ground to fly ratios. Some stadiums, such as Oakland have vast areas of foul ground that if the corner players have high FA and SP ratings they may get to a ball. Of course there are stadiums that are artificial turf, and that will increase the need for speed on your team. While there are only a few stadiums that dictate a style of play, those fields should be identified, and you should staff your team accordingly.

There are two types of plans that you should formulate. These are a short-range plan with goals for the end of the season, and it can’t be as general as I want to win the World Series. The key here is picking substantive and specific goals that will also be incorporated into a long-term plan. A goal that is typical of this would better be, I will decrease my ERA and increase my fielding percentage by implementing players with better defensive ratings on my team. The two work hand in hand, as the better defense will lead to better team ERA. Short term goals can be met by movement of players, trade, picks, free agents and of course promotion. The short term goals should be so specific as that a particular action will effectively produce the desired result. Typically, I try to have between three to five short term goals in a season.

The second type of goal is a long term goal, which means advanced planning. This part is a little trickier than the short term goal in that the results probably won’t be seen for at least a few years after you implement the plan. The most important step of setting your long term goals is to know your players. You need to look over that roster you made that listed your player depth. Many teams are caught in the trap of having a poor team and not analyzing their whole team. Of course your philosophy will come into view here. You may feel that you can get by with average pitching and tremendous hitting. This will probably effect your draft selection. Maybe you prefer using veterans that are proven than developing your farm. This is not an invalid solution, but you have to be in a position that you a strong enough team to make playing for the moment a valid idea. Most teams when they get into a strong position if they have carefully planned out their free agent situation can make a run for about three to five years. This may be the time that you forego draft picks that are high ranked and get specific players that meet your need now. The reason is simple; if you are in a strong position to make a run you will not likely be getting an impact player even in the first round. Your team is in their early thirties, and you have a few years left. This is not the time to rebuild. It is the time to take the initiative and play for the moment. Of course you may be in a situation that a few teams are that you are very young, and very strong. Here you can fill specific holes with careful trades, or continually draft the youngest player possible, and continually retool. Once you have reached this position you could be set for a very long time, as long as your core of players can be replaced in due time.

Another common situation is the older team that is on the verge of falling apart. There reaches a point where your team has made the valid playoff run and is a respectable team, but you have come close to having it all fall apart due to either free agency, player ratings decreasing with age, improvement of other team, or just retirements. The line between a team that wins one run games, loses one run games, and habitually loses is not that clear. Your team can be like a cube of sugar that still has the basic structure, but is close to the point of dissolving. You may be in a situation that it is not time to refit, but time to tear down and rebuild. If your low minors system is weak you could be in for a very rough road.

Many teams find themselves in the situation that they are a mixture of prospects, average and poorer players. This is most often the case a new owner will find himself in. What you need to do is make a plan and base it on certain players, and then don’t retreat from that plan. Players that do not fall within your long term goals of creating depth should be dealt away for as much as possible. Find a nucleus of players that you can build around and who will be there when your long term plan, probably three to five seasons is finished. Hopefully, by that time you will have developed a strong system through and through. You’ll have younger players in your lineup, and some depth to fall back on for the future. The key here is patience. It is too easy to make quick deals that go against the plan. Stick with the plan for at least a few seasons. Yes, it is difficult to endure very poor seasons, but the payoff is down the road. The fact that most real life teams take at a minimum three to five seasons to turn things around is testimonial to the patient planning, and implementation of your plans.

In summary the basics could be listed in these few points

1. Make a depth chart of your players.
2. Make a chart that shows your teams status in regards to free agency and potential retirement
3. Decide on the future makeup of your team.
4. Make three to five short term goals for your team. Be as specific as possible, and take the proper steps to see them to successful completion.
5. Develop a long term plan. Which will be general, but more specific than I want to win 100 games by the year blank.
6. Assess your team each season at the end and at the time after Spring Training. Redo your depth charts, and free agency charts.
7. Don’t turn back on your plan until you’ve given it three to five seasons. It will probably take that long to come about.
8.Remember that this league is for fun, and that it should be recreational. However, a few hours spent on your team will pay huge dividends

Step Three: Correctly Using the New Draft System

Well, my big wish for one big draft rather than two smaller ones that interrupt the flow of the league, and also produce mountains of paperwork and inputting countless amounts of data has been reached.  It can be argued that this could hurt the weaker teams, and that is true to some extent IF the new system is not used properly.  The temptation many teams will have will be to draft a proven veteran player that has a track record and hopefully will be able to give your team a shot in the arm and start to pay immediate dividends.  This temptation is also increased greatly by the adoption of not utilizing the Spring Training .dat file.  Now that you have to allocate FA to position players they will develop significanly more slowly.  Countering that is the general tendancy that the new amateurs have of coming along a little bit more developed, generally speaking, than in the past.

When deciding whether or not you wish to pick up that crafty veteran there are a number of considerations that you need to investigate.  First you really need to look at the state of your team, and the state of your rivals.  Remember the essay that mentioned the importance of having a plan?  Did you read it?  If you haven't I can't urge you strongly enough to read this essay and then to devise some type of plan for running your team.  You will find that while it may take you a few hours, your enjoyment of this league will be greatly enhanced by seeing your team grow toward your stated goals.  Write them down, and save them in your BBPro Directory, and then you can see how well you did in meeting your goals.  If you don't have clear goals you'll find that you are always running your team in an "ad hoc" fashion, and have limited successes.

Now, on to the look at your team. Generally speaking I'm going to break the teams into a few categories.
Situation One, Your Team Stinks
The first is a poor team (under .400 winning percentage).  Almost universally you should NOT invest your first round pick on any free agent.  There are none that are under 27, and if you are that bad, that you've only won no more than 70 games it is not realist for you to assume that any one player is going to make that large of a difference, even a pitcher.  Remember, we're also talking about long term planning.  That is not to say that adding a veteran to your team is a bad idea, but not with an early pick.  You probably have a great deal of holes to fill, so you might want to get that younger amateur who will help you with your long term plans.  You may ask, what difference does one player make.  Not a whole lot, but the idea is to build from the bottom floor up, and give you team some anchor players that you can build around.  There is another philosophy which is also very valid.  Suppose that you have so many needs, or that your specific needs are not covered by the available amateurs.  Don't draft a free agent that would fill that hole.  Instead, trade the high pick for a few picks or a combination of picks, players and prospects.  This is particularly true for the teams that are really awful.  While this is risky, it is also not any fun to see a team that loses over 100 games, has no really good players on the roster, and a poor farm system.  The only thing is that you can't undervalue your pick, particularly if it is in the top five.  There is a tremendous drop in the level of talent after the first five to ten picks.  If you have a top five pick generally speaking it would not be worth a late first and a late second.  The players you are liable to get there are possibly sound players, but are not even guaranteed to be a good player.  Hold that overall high pick ransom, and get the most value you can for it.  An example would be this: The Bums have the #1 overall pick and decide to trade it for, A late #1 amateur pick, a late #2 amateur pick, two proven middle career (28-32) players that fill a specific team need, and a sound looking prospect or young player.  This would be a sound case for dealing the pick, but you could probably get a bit more.  Be greedy.  Your team is bad, and being soft in the trade will only make the sharks come back to pick your carcass again next year.  Make the GOOD teams pay blood for the next superstar of HABLA.  Remember, top five picks are all potential All Stars, even Hall of Famers.  I would heartily advise to TRADE that pick away (for a very steep price of course) if your stated NEED is not met by the amateurs in the Draft pool.  I would advise the really poor team to use the first two picks to get amateur players.  However, I would not be shy at all to pick Free Agents with any extra second round picks, or any pick after round two.  How many of these players are going to have a long term impact?  Generally speaking, after the first forty players it's garbage time.  Now you may want to grab that guy who is either an upgrade or provides you with needed depth.  One important quality that owners overlook is defense and speed.  No player with a defensive potential under 50 is going to be a good player for your team in the field.  Are your ERA's high, and do your pitchers have good ratings but give up 10+ hits per nine innings?  Well, your defense is probably the reason why.  Look at the ini file.  IF your middle defense is UNDER 60 your in serious trouble, and a lot of balls that could have been caught are going through. Any middle infielder with defense under 60 is not a good player, regardless of how well he hits.  While he may not make as many errors as even a player with FA 70, there is a reason.  He's not even getting to the ball.  If you look at the teams that have consistently won 55% of their games for a few years, you'll find that 2b, SS, and CF are all probably above 70 in FA.  When I evaluate players I use different formulas for their rating.  Fielding ALWAYS is a part of it, but most notably for SS and 2b.  You are probably better off with a SS/2b with these ratings 65-53-70 FA of 80 than this one 65-65-65 FA.

Situation 2 The Middle of the Road Team
This is the team that wins between 70 and 85 games consistently.  Your position is possibly the toughest to improve of any in the league, because your competing against the studs of the league, but are not gathering that impact player of the future.  The first thing is to know your team and look over your plan.  Where is your team going?  Are you a younger team with a rich farm system and are ready to put them out to the field?  Are you a team that is mediocre, but getting a bit long in the tooth?  Knowing your team will help you with your choice.  Generally speaking if your farm is average, and your talent is average you should keep your pick, don't trade it, and use it to fill a need.  This doesn't have to be as specific because by your pick you may only be able to get depth, or that decent prospect who will be ready in two to four years.  This would be true certainly of your first round pick and possibly your second pick.  However, you may want to use any extra first or second round pick to get that one anchor for your team.  Is there a star player who is 34 years old?  Now the temptation is even stronger, but the reward is also stronger.  For your situation if you are generally young and developing that player or two could put you into the 90 win territory, and once you are there anything can happen.  This is very risky.  You are playing with the future of your club, but you also do have some margin of error if you know your team, and the state of the competition.  The rule of thumb would be to take the best amateur player in the first round, and then possibly pick a free agent only if he fills a specific need, and is a major upgrade.

Step Four: It may have become Dog Eat Dog.  Using the Bid System Correctly

The new system will put a higher level of competition and chance for gain or loss for every club.

The key rule in my mind is the need to maintain FULL Rosters.  Without this rule the system will break down.

As a GM the most important thing you can do for your team is to keep close tabs on your roster and make sure that you will not lose many players to free agency.  How do you do this?

1.  If you have a potential free agent that is not part of your short term goals, and is not playing CUT HIM.

Why?  Every body you lose you MUST replace.  Every signing costs money.  Most teams will be very cautious about trading for a potential free agent.  This will really devalue players in their walk year.  Thier trade value has been drastically reduced.  A team that loses 10 or more players to Free Agency has to spend $10 of their money just to have enough bodies on the team.  This does not take retirements into consideration, and combined with heavy Free Agent loss the results may be devastating to your budget.  If you have an older stiff who is a potential free agent and is not playing, and your free agent situation is not good, (8 or more potential FA's) cut the old guy and sign a warm body.  This year it costs no money, in the future it will cost $1.  The younger the better.  Even if he doesn't play very much he's filling a slot that must be filled.
 

2.  Make sure your Prop Five players qualify unless you are willing to cut them now.

Why? Losing players to Prop Five rules is throwing away money.  All a player needs is to get a few starts as a pitcher or play one sim a month through a season.  If you are in a pennant race that is tight, you may have to lose that player, but you'd be better off cutting him and finding a similar warm body that is under 27 from the FA pool.  Again, the idea is to maintain a FULL Roster so you don't get creamed by walk outs.  If you are not in a race, play the kid.  See what he can do.  Many players do much better (or worse) than they should.  But, if you're not vying for a title you have the freedom to be a little on the young side.  This is NOT throwing games, this is managing your resources effectively.  Losing a player to Prop Five should NEVER happen.
 

3.  Cut older players that may retire for younger players.  This is especially true of older bench jockey who don't play often.  Unless he is filling a real need, go with a kid who is 27 and under, let him qualify as a rookie, or if under 27 keep him for a while.  I see teams with Old Farts that don't have game.  Get rid of them.
 

4.  Make sure you pace the timing of your upcoming rookies.  You may want to bring up five kids in one season.  Just remember four years down the road you are going to lose them possibly to Free Agency.  A good strategy is to qualify players BEFORE they are 23.  This way you get to have them until they are with eight years experience.  Even if the player is not quite ready have him play and get that year in when he's 21 or 22.  You'll have him for four more years.
 

The key to this system not killing your team is to make sure you constantly are restocking your system eihter this year while it is free or during the regular season when it only costs $1 per player.  If you are careful you will find that you have only to fill four or five slots and have your full $50 to draft, resign players, and make attacks on other teams systems.

This system is only as good as the owner.  A poor owner will not do well in this system.  They will get killed worse than before, but good owners can take a poor team and make them a competitor within two years if they are good planners and aggressive bidders.