Point to owners picking up bad teams - you can check on "options" status before doing your budget and take that into account. You do have to have enough in the player budget to cover all existing salaries, including the option salaries you intend to decline. But you can decline the options before resigning any of your free agents or doing arbitration. This potentially allows you to cut the player budget right to the necessary minimum knowing you can generate some ca$h by declining the options after the budget is finalized.

It would be preferable if the HBD schedule was 1) decline/accept options 2) hold arbitration, 3) set budget, 4) negotiate own free agents, 5) open free agents, but it isn't. We can dream.

yeah. I normally check on options but must have had a brain cramp that day. Good advice though.

STEP 3 (A) -- EVALUATING THE MINORS, POSITION PLAYERS

I spend a ton of time working on my team during the offseason (from budget day until the end of free agency). The majority of that time is spent working on my minor leagues - evaluating the talent, ranking it, getting my players set to the appropriate level, and finally filling out the minor league rosters with the right mix of players. This is time I consider well spent because if I put my minor league teams together properly, they will need very little time commitment during the regular season from me.

With projected ratings out, I will of course first take a look at any major leaguers that are younger than 27 and get a good idea of where they are. In Cincinnati, we only have one position player under 27, outfielder B. Balboa. He proves to be a borderline prospect at best and I follow my initial instincts before projected ratings came out and mark him for a demotion to AAA. Perhaps if he fully develops he can one day be back in the big league.

My next step is to go through each player on every minor league level one at a time. I use the GM Office screen to do this so I can edit their positions. I use the recommended based on projected ratings button here, but will occasionally edit it myself if I do not agree with the projections.

At the same time, in a spreadsheet program that I have created to track my team, I rank each prospect with one of 6 different rankings. The top 4 rankings are all potential major leaguers from my top ranking which will be future stud players down to longshots - guys that might make a major league bench/bottom of the bullpen if they develop fully. My last two rankings are for career minor leaguers. One is guys worth keeping, the other is guys that are not even worthy of keeping around - the total trash. I don't release the trash because I find that it actually takes me several season with a team to get enough career minor leaguers into my system to not need to have a few trash players just to fill out my rosters (and how I distribute players on my roster will be the subject of a future post).

As expected, the majority of the players on Cincinnati are career minor leaguers. However, I do discover a few very nice gems in the minors. I also find a few serious problems. The bad news first: 95% of my minor leaguers seem to be filled with guys who, after their position is fixed, are outfielders. I am going to have to sign a lot more minor league free agents then I anticipated to fill rosters this season, and at 54K apiece it may end up being taxing on my already tight budget. Also, the prior owner apparently did not understand what a fielding coach was. Every player has regressed defensively, so even those that project to be infielders have current ratings that are so low they will take an extra season or two before they can make the bigs (unless I stick them in the outfield).

I evaluate position players first -- pitchers will come tomorrow.

On my AAA team I do find a decent catcher, 23 years old, who I pencil in for my big league squad. I also find a pair of serviceable outfielders that are 28 years old. Odds are they will play for my big league squad too during my rebuilding season. The best find at AAA is a shortstop with great defensive projections (but low current due to fielding coach issues). He projects for decent speed and to 91/44 L/R splits. I like this kid, but it will take a couple years for him to get his defensive problems fixed. He is already 24, so I hope he can get straightened out quickly or he may be a second baseman at best.

On my AA team, I find a very solid field prospect with solid hitting numbers across the board. His glove is down to 21 unfortunately so I need him to continue to develop even though all his other ratings may be ready for the bigs. But even more important than the fielder is Roosevelt Abbott. A second base prospect if and when I get his defense fixed, he projects offensively to 93-65-79-78-67. this guy can hit big time and gets my top rating.

At High A, I only find one legitimate prospect, but he is a top rated one again. parker Bennett is a center fielder (though barely projecting into the 70s for range and glove, he is only borderline for that position) with offensive projections in the 80s and high 70s across the board.

At Low A, I find noone. One catcher gets a rating as a longshot, the rest of the team will never make it out of the minors.

Finally, at rookie league I am elated to find that my predecessor did sign his draft picks. And he drafted well. First a center field prospect with decent offensive ratings except for contact -- which projects to a perfect 100. Throw in a 98 speed projection and I think we have a combo that can be very successful and he gets a top rating. Second, a right fielder with a 92 power and 41/96 splits. He should absolutely crush right handed pitchers and gets a high rating as well. Finally, I find a third baseman with decent ratings (81 power, splits in the 60s). He should be a solid player, though probably not an all star. He gets rated as a fairly high prospect as well.

In all, I am pleased with what I find in the minors. I found half a dozen or so legitimate prospects when I had expected none. However, there was a complete lack of mediocre prospects. My third rating for prospect (one better than longshot) had NONE in my entire organization -- and on most teams I have a ton of these guys. This means my minors have no depth.

With my position players fully evaluated, next I need to go through my minor league pitching staffs. I have also had some contact with other owners about trades, but would prefer to have my team's full picture in hand before I start dealing. For now, I will simply evaluate any offers that come in. After I get through my pitching staff tomorrow, I can start sending out offers and tying to build a team to gt me through this season.

Very interesting thread so far. Good luck with this project.

TRADE UPDATE

The deal to unload Baez and his huge 3 year deal went through. Clearly, he knew there was no hope of winning anytime soon in Cincinnati. My other deal, moving reliever Standridge and his ugly contract, did not go through. That one involved a bad contract that was in its final year coming to me. The bad one year deal I was getting had a no trade and the player exercised it. I will attempt to rework that deal if I can. I do believe that Standridge has value and I hope to be able to move him.

FYI: http://cgi.ebay.com/WKRP-The-Complete-First-Season-DVD-NEW_W0QQitemZ290102730350QQcmdZViewItem

Seemed relevant. :)