Post by Spencer on Jul 11, 2013 14:43:09 GMT -5
Lets focus on the upcoming expansion draft. Well talk about the new GMs, their teams and the difficulty is compiling a 15 man list!
1. We have 2 new GMs joining us, Mark and Darrell. Based on their moves and activity thus far who do you think will have more success overall? Who will succeed more quickly? Who will be more active?
Ashes - If I'm basing it on their moves and activity, Darell is the clear winner. He has been the most consistent new guy we've had in awhile, and his team doesn't even exist yet. I mean with the wording of this question, Darell is the answer to all the questions asked. If I consider reputation and my own experience, then it tips to Mark's favor. I believe both will be successful, but if I had to guess, I'd say Mark will probably be more successful overall, Darrel will have success quicker, and Darrel will be the most active of the two.
Shale - Darell has obviously been here longer and has been rather active for someone who hasn't been able to field a full team yet. Furthermore, the NL West is a lot weaker than the AL East, so I think that Darell will be both more successful and more active. If he isn't active, I can just go on Vent and yell at him and he will check on things.
No knock on Kellman. I'm sure he will do his thing and find success at some point, but the NC clique doesn't have the best track record with being active, posting a ton and making a shit ton of moves generally speaking. Thus, my money would be on Darell.
Royals - So far I think Darrell has an advantage simply because he's around all the time. In this league you have to be involved daily to take advantage of rewards, trade opportunities and even TWITTER !
This is a very active league, and if you can keep up, you have a good chance to have success.
Me - I think theyre pretty even, but should be two of our better GMs to start. Darrell is more active, Mark is extremely focused. Great additions.
2. Looking at the prospects of both the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks who do you think has the better base to build on? Which spects from these teams do you like the most?
Ashes - I love the combined prospects both teams have, but if I had to pick a team with the better base, it'd be Arizona for now. They have the advantage in hitting prospects, and they're harder to come by. Don't get me wrong, Tampa Bay is in pretty good shape with Haren and Shields, but Adrian Gonzalez is a beast. He's 19, has pretty solid ratings already, and has amazing talent ratings after that nice PD. He looks like he'll be one of the top hitters in the league if he continues to develop on this pace. Gotta give the edge to a team that has a guy like that.
Shale - I think the Diamondbacks are more balanced, with A-Gone and Anibal Sanchez leading the way for Darrell. The Rays have the better pitching, with Shields and Haren, but are lacking the big bat to build their lineup around. I think the Diamondbacks have the better base for now, just because their top 2 guys are more balanced than the pitching-heavy Rays.
Royals - I like Arizona's young core at the moment, but it's too early to project who will be in better position. My take on prospects is that they are suspect until they are near ML ready. You can count on them as assets, because someone will always value them, for their potential. The problem is that in baseball, especially OOTP, performance is everything. I've seen well "rated" players not perform, and in some cases, players that shouldn't produce results, do so.
If I had to choose a prospect, I like Adrian Gonzalez, because he looks like he's going to be a solid run producer.
Me - Id probably choose TB. I love young SP and with a couple of modifications both Haren and Shields should be nasty.
3. Financials are a huge part of OOTP. Its important to increase revenue. This is done by competing. Based on the new teams starting financials...
Tampa Bay Rays
Cash: $25,000,000
Market: Average
Loyalty: Average
Arizona Diamondbacks
Cash: $20,000,000
Market: Big
Loyalty: Average
which team has the upper hand as far as long and short term success goes?
Ashes - Another pretty clear advantage here for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's going to be an uphill battle for the Rays. They are in a similar situation to my team. Decent size stadium, average market. They're going to have to build up their success slowly and hold lesser payrolls. The Diamondbacks, however, are really set up for success from the start. Phoenix is a very large city, so naturally they have a Big market. They'll be able to carry a larger payroll than the Rays, but one thing not mentioned is the Diamondbacks have a huge stadium, one of the largest in the league. From a financial standpoint, Arizona is going to have a big time advantage, and the Rays are going to have to put in some extra work.
Shale - The Diamondbacks have the bigger market and will likely draw more fans, based on real life history. That is, if Erbes keeps that aspect as realistic as possible. Thus, I'll take the Diamondbacks on this.
Royals - Well obviously Arizona having a big market helps them. More people to pull from if the team does well on the field. General Managers are like glorified accountants in ways. If you can field a deep system and continually build a core from within, finances shouldn't matter. It's all about building a stable system, in case a player prices himself out of your market or financial situation.
Me - I give the edge to ARI because of the market size. Win ASAP and gain FI and it'll blow up fast.
4. If you ran one of these teams what types of players would you target? Would you not look at salary? Or would salary be of primary concern? Or does it depend on who is available?
Ashes -
Rays: Going to have to build success slowly. I'd be targeting Loyal players for sure and try to assemble a good team with a low payroll. My main focus would be to string some winning seasons together to boost my market size. Salary would be a huge concern at all times for me. Like I said earlier, Rays are in the same position as the Marlins. The one time I carried a huge payroll, I had to lose a lot of money to do so. I think the financial side of things may keep the Rays at bay (haha get it?) for awhile. I'd be trying to maintain a modest payroll while obtaining Loyal players and not losing so many games that my market or loyalty drops. Going to be a challenging road for sure.
Diamondbacks: I'd be looking to succeed a lot quicker. Last thing I'd want is my market or loyalty dropping, considering I'd have such a good advantage with that Big market. With the huge stadium and big market, I'd be able to handle larger payrolls, similar to the Giants. I wouldn't go balls to the wall right away, but I'd definitely be targeting major league talent with larger salaries should the right player become available. Definitely wouldn't have to worry about the financials as much as Tampa Bay, so Arizona is in a very good position. I'd be looking to assembling a winner within the first few seasons, to be honest.
Shale - If I were the Diamondbacks, I would load up on pitching because the hot air in Phoenix makes Chase Field a hitter's park and will lead to a lot of home runs and scoring in general. Of course, it would always be nice for them to have some big hitters putting up monster numbers.
For the Rays, they should go for a more balanced approach, especially because they already have some great pitching spects to build around.
I think the Diamondbacks will have more financial flexibility, so salary would probably be more of a concern for the Rays.
Royals - I always try to have a very deep pitching staff, from top to bottom, because even if my team doesn't score a lot of runs, I can buy some wins with good pitching, until I can find the right type of hitters. Salary wouldn't be a huge concern, but If I'm building a new team from the ground up, I want to ensure that I don't overspend, so that in year two I could add a young free agent piece to build around. Players like that will be available in this league, due to the way some of the young players came into the league with big contracts.
Me - Overall Id try and build a base of youngsters with attractive talents. I would not draft large salaried players unless I saw them as long term fits or I thought I could flip them for spects.
5. How much difficulty have you had putting your 15 man list together? Do you protect youngsters before older guys? Cheaper guys before high salaried players?
Ashes - I think I have the perfect mix for my expansion list. All my top talent will be protected by the list or auto-protected. In general, yeah, I protect the younger guys over the older ones. As for higher salaried folk, I'll protect guys like Randy Johnson even though he'll be due 8+ million and be pretty old, just because I think he'll either retire or still be a serviceable arm one way or another. No sense in giving him up for free in the draft when some team would probably take him for free in a trade if necessary. I think if I were still in financial trouble, I might've left a guy like Kent or Walker unprotected, but even then, it seems it's much smarter and easier to just trade those guys.
Shale - I didn't much difficulty at all because most of the major league players I have during my rebuild are cheap scrubs that I will have no use for in the future. Only Alfonzo and Gibson are the major leaguers that are part of my future. My top pitching spects are obviously part of my future as well, but if you see my protection list, only half the guys there are even worth keeping to be honest.
Being that my team is in the middle of a rebuild, I can't really answer the last 2 questions particularly well because they are irrelevant with the state that the Rockies are currently in.
Royals - I hate having to decide who to keep and who to expose. I think with my situation I had to protect all the young players, or as many as possible. I want to have a young core, all contributing at the same level for as long as possible. I think that at some point you need to commit to bigger salaries, but I always try to ensure I have that "core" making it worthwhile to commit big contracts.
Me - My team is relatively thin. I did this on purpose though. Eventually I will rebuild and have a nice deep system. Because my team is thin I have not had trouble compiling a list.
6. Are there any players that you are scrambling to deal because they might not be protected on your list? If so who, and what are you looking for?
Ashes - No, not at all. I'll throw some more words down so my answer looks longer. I have been planning for the expansion for awhile now, so I've already made the moves I needed to make in order to avoid this type of proposed situation. I purposely traded for and assembled my team to include 10-15 players I'd protect and 99/00/01 prospects. If I did have to trade someone that I could not or did not want to protect, I would probably be looking for a 99/00/01 prospect or cash.
Shale - None really to be honest. I have a lot of crap in my major league roster and my minor leagues has some real good prospects, but also some crappy ones.
Royals - I really haven't spent a lot of time on it to be honest. I think it's probably going to come down to some relievers I have buried in AAA. Guys like Kiko Calero and Felix Heredia. They both have a good makeup to them, but they aren't quite elite. I would hate to let them leave and they reach their potential with someone else.
Me - No. I am being cautious with the players I acquire though.
7. Do you think running a new franchise is exciting? Did you consider giving up your team to run one of these squads?
Ashes - The more I look at it, the more exciting it seems. I love the opportunity Arizona has with a big market, large stadium, and weak division. I didn't consider dropping my team because I really loved what I built here in Florida. I would rather continue that legacy than jump over to a new team. Now if I was a team like Toronto, Anaheim, St. Louis, Minnesota, etc. then I probably would've considered taking a team like Arizona for the mix of better opportunity and expansion excitement.
Shale - Running an expansion team would probably require a lot of patience at first, but it would be fun eventually. I didn't consider giving up the Rockies because I've already done a lot with them. Furthermore, competing in the AL East would be tough and the Diamondbacks will be in my division, so there wouldn't be much sense in jumping to them as well.
Royals - I did consider it. I live in Arizona so I guess it would be fun to run the DBacks. Overall though, I wanted to stay the course with KC and try to win a title. It's very hard to win when your market doesn't allow for 100 million dollar payrolls. I just have to keep building from within and then strike in free agent or via trade when I feel I have enough in place to win, long term.
Me - If I had any other team besides the Giants I probably wouldve wanted TB. I love the idea of expansion and the allure of a horrible market. It would be interesting trying to make them competitive.
8. Now that expansion has arrived should we consider re alignment with MIL going to the NL and Houston going to the AL? Pros and cons to this idea? Should we wait until things actually switched in MLB?
Ashes - I'm a bit torn on this. The unbalanced divisions will bother me aesthetically, but I doubt it affects the game that much. I don't know how I feel about sending Houston over to the AL right now, but I guess I wouldn't be opposed to it. I do think sending MIL to the NL and DET to the AL Central will be beneficial to both the teams and the league. So I'd like to at least see that re-alignment happen. Sending HOU to the AL West now might extend HOU's window a bit giving them the option to DH one of their aging hitters, and give OAK more of a challenge. Could help with the parity as well. Fuck it, let's do it.
Shale - I thought only the Brewers would be moving to the NL, with the Tigers replacing them in the AL Central. But whatever, I'm indifferent to what happens with the Astros, although it would be weird to see Piazza and Bagwell in the AL.
No matter what happens though, the Tigers logically should be in the AL Central.
Royals - I think we should go with the MLB. I think it's the right way to do it. For competitive balance an accuracy.
I am AGAINST having the DH in the National League.
Me - Id love to see BBSBL mirror real life. I want the MIL switch and the HOU switch eventually. Id also love to see an unbalanced schedule and compensatory picks for FA!
9. This expansion process will once again lower the overall talent pool. Probably for the better. Do you prefer lower rated players playing important rolls, or would you rather see more higher talents and ratings? Should draft classes continue to remain more reasonable or do you want more BRILL talents?
Ashes - I love how the drafts are now. I don't see an inflation problem. Brilliant talents should be at a premium, especially in crucial categories like Hits for batters and pitchers, Walks for pitchers, and HRs for batters. I like how things have been going with guys having to spend a few years in the minors before coming into the league then for the most part taking another season or two to become a very good player. That's how it should be for the majority of prospects. I don't think the pitchers are a problem, but if you want to tone them down a bit, that's fine with me. I think restricting the MR to SP changes and then knocking off the E Starter Duration MRs in the drafts will help a lot.
Shale - A nice balance of both highly talented players and a good number of role players would be best to have in my opinion. As for the draft class, the Brilliant in home runs for hitters should be 40+ avg in one's career and not 45. Other than that, I like the other benchmarks for the other talent ratings.
Royals - Giving Brilliants to players gives those players the opportunity to become something that they aren't in real life.
I think I prefer a lower rated system, players playing important roles, so people can't just stick their Brilliant across the board pitcher in and cruise control.
We take a lot of the thinking out of running a baseball team when the ratings are all cookie cutter.
The challenge is to rack up as much board cash and improve those players, GM's who can't keep up, fall behind and then parity is lost.
Me - I think talents need to be watched and lowered in drafts. Too many TIAs and too many reversed PDs mean that there are more talented players then ever. This trend will continue unless the drafts even it out.
10. Please give some words of advice to our newest members. Tell them what to do, what not to do. Who to trade with, who to avoid. One big secret or method youve learned that has helped you.
Be very active in trades. You're going to have to PM GMs yourself, don't wait for others to contact you. Trading here can be very easy if you actively pursue it. Talking trade with guys like twinsgm, bosoxi, royals, styro, play, shale, waldo and Steve the pirate is very easy. They always respond. I say avoid jmich and game, they're pretty hard to deal with. Bravesgm, habes, nanz, Spencer, and bigbuhner tend to value their guys too high, but at least Spencer will eventually break down and trade people for pennies on the dollar. Don't trade with me, broph, Bravesgm, or break. Wait until the draft starts to deal for picks. Easier dealing, quicker responses, and you usually can pick up picks cheaper than you could have during the season and snag the guy you wanted all along. Get relievers with 2nd and 3rd round picks and stash them. Don't overpay for major league relievers. Watch your finances! Earn money while losing but don't lose too much. If you have to lose money while winning, tread carefully. In-game cash for board cash ratio is 5:1 or 6:1, nothing lower. Good luck!
Shale - Darell already knows myself, Break, D Rowe and Stutter. As for Kellman, he has known Dan, James, Habes and Nanz since childhood and Erbes over the last 5 years or so. So it's not like Darell or Kellman are completely strangers up in here.
Both of them are OOTP vets so I'm sure they know what they're gonna be doing. I'm guessing both will try to tank and draft and trade for some really good spects in order to build a great team for the future. So yeah, don't try to win right away with all the expansion draft crap you will get.
I haven't had too many problems with trading with others. I know others though have mentioned problems trading with certain others, but I'm not gonna name names because it's not my business is one GM has had trouble negotiating with another GM. I only focus on my own negotiations with other GM's.
Oh yeah, learn from Break, D Rowe and myself. Don't keep trading with the same people consistently or you WILL get called out for it.
Royals - I won't give up any secrets, but I will say that WALKS are the most important.
Don't trade with Spencer.
Don't help veteran, winning teams shuffle out dying, veteran bums for young players so they can keep winning.
That is all.
Me - Ill give two tips. Pitchers with 5 and under or FAIR talent are useless. Also, I do not prefer hitters that K too much. Wasted outs.
1. We have 2 new GMs joining us, Mark and Darrell. Based on their moves and activity thus far who do you think will have more success overall? Who will succeed more quickly? Who will be more active?
Ashes - If I'm basing it on their moves and activity, Darell is the clear winner. He has been the most consistent new guy we've had in awhile, and his team doesn't even exist yet. I mean with the wording of this question, Darell is the answer to all the questions asked. If I consider reputation and my own experience, then it tips to Mark's favor. I believe both will be successful, but if I had to guess, I'd say Mark will probably be more successful overall, Darrel will have success quicker, and Darrel will be the most active of the two.
Shale - Darell has obviously been here longer and has been rather active for someone who hasn't been able to field a full team yet. Furthermore, the NL West is a lot weaker than the AL East, so I think that Darell will be both more successful and more active. If he isn't active, I can just go on Vent and yell at him and he will check on things.
No knock on Kellman. I'm sure he will do his thing and find success at some point, but the NC clique doesn't have the best track record with being active, posting a ton and making a shit ton of moves generally speaking. Thus, my money would be on Darell.
Royals - So far I think Darrell has an advantage simply because he's around all the time. In this league you have to be involved daily to take advantage of rewards, trade opportunities and even TWITTER !
This is a very active league, and if you can keep up, you have a good chance to have success.
Me - I think theyre pretty even, but should be two of our better GMs to start. Darrell is more active, Mark is extremely focused. Great additions.
2. Looking at the prospects of both the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks who do you think has the better base to build on? Which spects from these teams do you like the most?
Ashes - I love the combined prospects both teams have, but if I had to pick a team with the better base, it'd be Arizona for now. They have the advantage in hitting prospects, and they're harder to come by. Don't get me wrong, Tampa Bay is in pretty good shape with Haren and Shields, but Adrian Gonzalez is a beast. He's 19, has pretty solid ratings already, and has amazing talent ratings after that nice PD. He looks like he'll be one of the top hitters in the league if he continues to develop on this pace. Gotta give the edge to a team that has a guy like that.
Shale - I think the Diamondbacks are more balanced, with A-Gone and Anibal Sanchez leading the way for Darrell. The Rays have the better pitching, with Shields and Haren, but are lacking the big bat to build their lineup around. I think the Diamondbacks have the better base for now, just because their top 2 guys are more balanced than the pitching-heavy Rays.
Royals - I like Arizona's young core at the moment, but it's too early to project who will be in better position. My take on prospects is that they are suspect until they are near ML ready. You can count on them as assets, because someone will always value them, for their potential. The problem is that in baseball, especially OOTP, performance is everything. I've seen well "rated" players not perform, and in some cases, players that shouldn't produce results, do so.
If I had to choose a prospect, I like Adrian Gonzalez, because he looks like he's going to be a solid run producer.
Me - Id probably choose TB. I love young SP and with a couple of modifications both Haren and Shields should be nasty.
3. Financials are a huge part of OOTP. Its important to increase revenue. This is done by competing. Based on the new teams starting financials...
Tampa Bay Rays
Cash: $25,000,000
Market: Average
Loyalty: Average
Arizona Diamondbacks
Cash: $20,000,000
Market: Big
Loyalty: Average
which team has the upper hand as far as long and short term success goes?
Ashes - Another pretty clear advantage here for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's going to be an uphill battle for the Rays. They are in a similar situation to my team. Decent size stadium, average market. They're going to have to build up their success slowly and hold lesser payrolls. The Diamondbacks, however, are really set up for success from the start. Phoenix is a very large city, so naturally they have a Big market. They'll be able to carry a larger payroll than the Rays, but one thing not mentioned is the Diamondbacks have a huge stadium, one of the largest in the league. From a financial standpoint, Arizona is going to have a big time advantage, and the Rays are going to have to put in some extra work.
Shale - The Diamondbacks have the bigger market and will likely draw more fans, based on real life history. That is, if Erbes keeps that aspect as realistic as possible. Thus, I'll take the Diamondbacks on this.
Royals - Well obviously Arizona having a big market helps them. More people to pull from if the team does well on the field. General Managers are like glorified accountants in ways. If you can field a deep system and continually build a core from within, finances shouldn't matter. It's all about building a stable system, in case a player prices himself out of your market or financial situation.
Me - I give the edge to ARI because of the market size. Win ASAP and gain FI and it'll blow up fast.
4. If you ran one of these teams what types of players would you target? Would you not look at salary? Or would salary be of primary concern? Or does it depend on who is available?
Ashes -
Rays: Going to have to build success slowly. I'd be targeting Loyal players for sure and try to assemble a good team with a low payroll. My main focus would be to string some winning seasons together to boost my market size. Salary would be a huge concern at all times for me. Like I said earlier, Rays are in the same position as the Marlins. The one time I carried a huge payroll, I had to lose a lot of money to do so. I think the financial side of things may keep the Rays at bay (haha get it?) for awhile. I'd be trying to maintain a modest payroll while obtaining Loyal players and not losing so many games that my market or loyalty drops. Going to be a challenging road for sure.
Diamondbacks: I'd be looking to succeed a lot quicker. Last thing I'd want is my market or loyalty dropping, considering I'd have such a good advantage with that Big market. With the huge stadium and big market, I'd be able to handle larger payrolls, similar to the Giants. I wouldn't go balls to the wall right away, but I'd definitely be targeting major league talent with larger salaries should the right player become available. Definitely wouldn't have to worry about the financials as much as Tampa Bay, so Arizona is in a very good position. I'd be looking to assembling a winner within the first few seasons, to be honest.
Shale - If I were the Diamondbacks, I would load up on pitching because the hot air in Phoenix makes Chase Field a hitter's park and will lead to a lot of home runs and scoring in general. Of course, it would always be nice for them to have some big hitters putting up monster numbers.
For the Rays, they should go for a more balanced approach, especially because they already have some great pitching spects to build around.
I think the Diamondbacks will have more financial flexibility, so salary would probably be more of a concern for the Rays.
Royals - I always try to have a very deep pitching staff, from top to bottom, because even if my team doesn't score a lot of runs, I can buy some wins with good pitching, until I can find the right type of hitters. Salary wouldn't be a huge concern, but If I'm building a new team from the ground up, I want to ensure that I don't overspend, so that in year two I could add a young free agent piece to build around. Players like that will be available in this league, due to the way some of the young players came into the league with big contracts.
Me - Overall Id try and build a base of youngsters with attractive talents. I would not draft large salaried players unless I saw them as long term fits or I thought I could flip them for spects.
5. How much difficulty have you had putting your 15 man list together? Do you protect youngsters before older guys? Cheaper guys before high salaried players?
Ashes - I think I have the perfect mix for my expansion list. All my top talent will be protected by the list or auto-protected. In general, yeah, I protect the younger guys over the older ones. As for higher salaried folk, I'll protect guys like Randy Johnson even though he'll be due 8+ million and be pretty old, just because I think he'll either retire or still be a serviceable arm one way or another. No sense in giving him up for free in the draft when some team would probably take him for free in a trade if necessary. I think if I were still in financial trouble, I might've left a guy like Kent or Walker unprotected, but even then, it seems it's much smarter and easier to just trade those guys.
Shale - I didn't much difficulty at all because most of the major league players I have during my rebuild are cheap scrubs that I will have no use for in the future. Only Alfonzo and Gibson are the major leaguers that are part of my future. My top pitching spects are obviously part of my future as well, but if you see my protection list, only half the guys there are even worth keeping to be honest.
Being that my team is in the middle of a rebuild, I can't really answer the last 2 questions particularly well because they are irrelevant with the state that the Rockies are currently in.
Royals - I hate having to decide who to keep and who to expose. I think with my situation I had to protect all the young players, or as many as possible. I want to have a young core, all contributing at the same level for as long as possible. I think that at some point you need to commit to bigger salaries, but I always try to ensure I have that "core" making it worthwhile to commit big contracts.
Me - My team is relatively thin. I did this on purpose though. Eventually I will rebuild and have a nice deep system. Because my team is thin I have not had trouble compiling a list.
6. Are there any players that you are scrambling to deal because they might not be protected on your list? If so who, and what are you looking for?
Ashes - No, not at all. I'll throw some more words down so my answer looks longer. I have been planning for the expansion for awhile now, so I've already made the moves I needed to make in order to avoid this type of proposed situation. I purposely traded for and assembled my team to include 10-15 players I'd protect and 99/00/01 prospects. If I did have to trade someone that I could not or did not want to protect, I would probably be looking for a 99/00/01 prospect or cash.
Shale - None really to be honest. I have a lot of crap in my major league roster and my minor leagues has some real good prospects, but also some crappy ones.
Royals - I really haven't spent a lot of time on it to be honest. I think it's probably going to come down to some relievers I have buried in AAA. Guys like Kiko Calero and Felix Heredia. They both have a good makeup to them, but they aren't quite elite. I would hate to let them leave and they reach their potential with someone else.
Me - No. I am being cautious with the players I acquire though.
7. Do you think running a new franchise is exciting? Did you consider giving up your team to run one of these squads?
Ashes - The more I look at it, the more exciting it seems. I love the opportunity Arizona has with a big market, large stadium, and weak division. I didn't consider dropping my team because I really loved what I built here in Florida. I would rather continue that legacy than jump over to a new team. Now if I was a team like Toronto, Anaheim, St. Louis, Minnesota, etc. then I probably would've considered taking a team like Arizona for the mix of better opportunity and expansion excitement.
Shale - Running an expansion team would probably require a lot of patience at first, but it would be fun eventually. I didn't consider giving up the Rockies because I've already done a lot with them. Furthermore, competing in the AL East would be tough and the Diamondbacks will be in my division, so there wouldn't be much sense in jumping to them as well.
Royals - I did consider it. I live in Arizona so I guess it would be fun to run the DBacks. Overall though, I wanted to stay the course with KC and try to win a title. It's very hard to win when your market doesn't allow for 100 million dollar payrolls. I just have to keep building from within and then strike in free agent or via trade when I feel I have enough in place to win, long term.
Me - If I had any other team besides the Giants I probably wouldve wanted TB. I love the idea of expansion and the allure of a horrible market. It would be interesting trying to make them competitive.
8. Now that expansion has arrived should we consider re alignment with MIL going to the NL and Houston going to the AL? Pros and cons to this idea? Should we wait until things actually switched in MLB?
Ashes - I'm a bit torn on this. The unbalanced divisions will bother me aesthetically, but I doubt it affects the game that much. I don't know how I feel about sending Houston over to the AL right now, but I guess I wouldn't be opposed to it. I do think sending MIL to the NL and DET to the AL Central will be beneficial to both the teams and the league. So I'd like to at least see that re-alignment happen. Sending HOU to the AL West now might extend HOU's window a bit giving them the option to DH one of their aging hitters, and give OAK more of a challenge. Could help with the parity as well. Fuck it, let's do it.
Shale - I thought only the Brewers would be moving to the NL, with the Tigers replacing them in the AL Central. But whatever, I'm indifferent to what happens with the Astros, although it would be weird to see Piazza and Bagwell in the AL.
No matter what happens though, the Tigers logically should be in the AL Central.
Royals - I think we should go with the MLB. I think it's the right way to do it. For competitive balance an accuracy.
I am AGAINST having the DH in the National League.
Me - Id love to see BBSBL mirror real life. I want the MIL switch and the HOU switch eventually. Id also love to see an unbalanced schedule and compensatory picks for FA!
9. This expansion process will once again lower the overall talent pool. Probably for the better. Do you prefer lower rated players playing important rolls, or would you rather see more higher talents and ratings? Should draft classes continue to remain more reasonable or do you want more BRILL talents?
Ashes - I love how the drafts are now. I don't see an inflation problem. Brilliant talents should be at a premium, especially in crucial categories like Hits for batters and pitchers, Walks for pitchers, and HRs for batters. I like how things have been going with guys having to spend a few years in the minors before coming into the league then for the most part taking another season or two to become a very good player. That's how it should be for the majority of prospects. I don't think the pitchers are a problem, but if you want to tone them down a bit, that's fine with me. I think restricting the MR to SP changes and then knocking off the E Starter Duration MRs in the drafts will help a lot.
Shale - A nice balance of both highly talented players and a good number of role players would be best to have in my opinion. As for the draft class, the Brilliant in home runs for hitters should be 40+ avg in one's career and not 45. Other than that, I like the other benchmarks for the other talent ratings.
Royals - Giving Brilliants to players gives those players the opportunity to become something that they aren't in real life.
I think I prefer a lower rated system, players playing important roles, so people can't just stick their Brilliant across the board pitcher in and cruise control.
We take a lot of the thinking out of running a baseball team when the ratings are all cookie cutter.
The challenge is to rack up as much board cash and improve those players, GM's who can't keep up, fall behind and then parity is lost.
Me - I think talents need to be watched and lowered in drafts. Too many TIAs and too many reversed PDs mean that there are more talented players then ever. This trend will continue unless the drafts even it out.
10. Please give some words of advice to our newest members. Tell them what to do, what not to do. Who to trade with, who to avoid. One big secret or method youve learned that has helped you.
Be very active in trades. You're going to have to PM GMs yourself, don't wait for others to contact you. Trading here can be very easy if you actively pursue it. Talking trade with guys like twinsgm, bosoxi, royals, styro, play, shale, waldo and Steve the pirate is very easy. They always respond. I say avoid jmich and game, they're pretty hard to deal with. Bravesgm, habes, nanz, Spencer, and bigbuhner tend to value their guys too high, but at least Spencer will eventually break down and trade people for pennies on the dollar. Don't trade with me, broph, Bravesgm, or break. Wait until the draft starts to deal for picks. Easier dealing, quicker responses, and you usually can pick up picks cheaper than you could have during the season and snag the guy you wanted all along. Get relievers with 2nd and 3rd round picks and stash them. Don't overpay for major league relievers. Watch your finances! Earn money while losing but don't lose too much. If you have to lose money while winning, tread carefully. In-game cash for board cash ratio is 5:1 or 6:1, nothing lower. Good luck!
Shale - Darell already knows myself, Break, D Rowe and Stutter. As for Kellman, he has known Dan, James, Habes and Nanz since childhood and Erbes over the last 5 years or so. So it's not like Darell or Kellman are completely strangers up in here.
Both of them are OOTP vets so I'm sure they know what they're gonna be doing. I'm guessing both will try to tank and draft and trade for some really good spects in order to build a great team for the future. So yeah, don't try to win right away with all the expansion draft crap you will get.
I haven't had too many problems with trading with others. I know others though have mentioned problems trading with certain others, but I'm not gonna name names because it's not my business is one GM has had trouble negotiating with another GM. I only focus on my own negotiations with other GM's.
Oh yeah, learn from Break, D Rowe and myself. Don't keep trading with the same people consistently or you WILL get called out for it.
Royals - I won't give up any secrets, but I will say that WALKS are the most important.
Don't trade with Spencer.
Don't help veteran, winning teams shuffle out dying, veteran bums for young players so they can keep winning.
That is all.
Me - Ill give two tips. Pitchers with 5 and under or FAIR talent are useless. Also, I do not prefer hitters that K too much. Wasted outs.
