Small Market Teams?

[shawnlucas76]

I'm controlling Pittsburgh in Beta 37. First year of simming just ended and my team was rancid, 62-100 (No surprise there :). I guess what I'm trying to ask is what strategies have been employed by other small market owners. My payroll budget for this year is only 230 points or something like that. I went a bit crazy in the free agent market to shore up my line-up and a pitching staff that made me want to puke, and therefore my payroll is actually a "whopping" 311 points. I put whopping in quotes, because in another league, I am Boston and I make more than that on attendence alone. Payroll for that team is an obscene 644 points with a budget of 848. Yikes! I can only imagine the frustration of the guys who are playing with real $$$. So yeah, does buying the (small) farm to put asses in the seats actually work, or does the team just eventually go bankrupt? If so, are there other methods out there? I'm not really in a rush, so if I have to dump salary and build from within, I could do that too. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a bunch,
Shawn

[marlinsfans]

as a small market team, you cant afford the big free-agents in the 40-50 point range. Im still climbing back from a computer controlled florida marlins team I grabbed one season into the league. I have found some success in jacking up my farm system expenditures, grabbing free agent pitchers in the 5-15 point range, and trying to win with young guys that come up through the system. Keep the payroll low, your team in the .380 to .420 range and wait for reinforcements at 1 point a year from the minors. in two years or so you can get 2-3 all-stars from your farm system. Thats the way ive done it, but hey, i havent won a whole lot either....

[Galatine]

Here's my 2 cents.
Take it for what it's worth.

1) Spend wisely and spread it around: 9 solid no-names are better than one super-star playing with 8 bush leaguers.

2) Defense, defense, defense- A good glove man's salary costs a fraction of a sluggers or an ace starter. But good defense can make Hideki Irabu look like Roger Clemens. Or vice-verse! Especially at SS and CF.

3) Pitching- 'A' Movement with Infield defense can be better than 'A' Power. Sometimes bad contact by a batter, is better than a totally whiff. Doubleplays- the pitchers best friend.
A hurler can get by without throwing smoke but NOT without movement and control. Ex- Greg Maddux v. Mark Wohlers of last season.

4) Read the Stats- Scouting grades are good for gauging potential but the best way to predict a players future performace is from his past. Theres a ton of information avalible if you take the time to use it.

5) Be patient, look for small victories and take pride in having done it all with less.

[Hyped31]

Thanks Galatine, I just reead what you wrote and that was good advice , not only to the who posted asking about it but for other users like me to keep in mind. I am going to test out some of your strategies in another league and see how they work out. Thansk and good luck to you in your leagues. Join beta 57 its kicks.

[kohut]

This may sound silly to some but at the end of the season go through your contracts and see if any players going into their final season want less.
I had the chance to re-sign Gwynn for 4 points but since i had a younger clone of his I held off. Now he is asking for 20 points as a FA. So if you see a player who makes say 30 points who is still good but asking 15 or 20 or 5 points re-sign them that will save you lots of money.

[Farsight]

It also should become much more fun to play small-market teams when the game adds better communication tools, to make trading easier. Currently, I can't dump my high-priced aging stars because it's just too difficult to find interested parties and work out deals in a fast-paced league.

As the communication tools improve, you should be able to "sell high, buy low" much more efficiently, and stockpile a larger number of promising prospects, which is the only way to succeed on a limited budget.

[Hyped31]

That is exactly what the Marlins did after there championship year. Traded good players for young talent, hen there payroll was too high.

[shawnlucas76]

Thank you, one and all, for your input on this question. I'll take all your ideas into consideration. Baseball Mogul fans are some of the best in the world! Keep up the great work on this game, guys.

Shawn

[daedalus]

Thanks for the excellent suggestions, Galatine and kohut. :)

[wbricks]

If you start winning, the fans will slowly come back. I've made some shrewd deals with my Chicago Wheat Sox in FastSim 7 and finished last year at 90-72 and actually made money. Unfortunately I was ***29*** games out of first and ***21*** games out of the wild card - the big market teams in the AL are killing us right now.

You have to trade smart, and sign young guys with good potential to long term deals.

And, I agree that defense is the way to go for a small market team. Looks at the Twins of this year in MLB. No real top notch hitters and the pitchers look a lot better than they are because of an awesome defense.

[marc]

I dpnt want to sound Negetive or anything, But the advice
that is being given, I think applies more when you are playing
against the computer.

All the advice about Defense, and resigning players, is a sound strategy, however the big market teams can do that as well, and they have the money to back it up.

The Big market teams can get the best players in the league, If the best player is a Defense wizard, then the big teams in the end will get them.

If everything is equal the big market teams shold win the league all the time, and the small market teams should be at the bottom of the standing, and the medium size teams well they should be in the middle.

So how can the small market teams win, You have to be able to do
something that a big market team might not want to do, and that is to put time into the game and scout the players and get to know them.
This does not mean puttng money in to your scouting system, although you can.

Instead it means personal time on your part. The only chance
that a small market team has against a larger market club is to for
you the owner to outwork the big market team owner.

This of course is if everything is equal, their is always the
chance the big team, owner does not understannd the game and
makes a lot of bone head moves, and well that another way
for a small market team to win.


BTW What teams are consider small market teams?

[wbricks]

In this game there is only small market and large market. Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Atlanta have a huge advantage over every other team. Other teams in the A.L. East have very little chance of winning.

Although Chicago is the 3rd largest market in the U.S., they make very little money in this game (that applies for the both the A League and the N League). I guess everyone is watching the Bears or something.

I think the markets such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Arizona, etc. can generate more revenue after a while, but initially the blessed cities above will stomp a mudhole in everyone if run properly.

[Hyped31]

I am Milwaukee in Fast Sim 4 and with a little help from this post i put togheter a decent team. And still rack in the dough. Right now i am winning in the wild card and have a ver y solid defensive team with a very young pithing staff. I think that if you spend time at it , you can oyut together a solid ball club with some hard work

[drew]

I am the New York National team in Beta 95. I have a good, young farm system and when my veterans were slumping- Todd Zeile .159 Average and others slumping such as Ordonez and Cam Bishop, I started three different prospects- Escobar, Toca, and Timo Perez. My team now has a better batting average and is collecting alot more wins than with the veterans. My team is now above .500 because of the three prospects.

[kohut]

I got Timoniel Perez in one of my leagues with the Mets and he is really good.

[drew]

Yah, I'm indeed surprised that the rookie has an A- contact rating, I think Clay overrated his ability to hit because of how he wasn't scouted before he came up to the MLB. He sure could bunt over the third baseman's head. But now that he's been scouted, you could tell he is not that great of a hitter and was demoted to the minors. Maybe in the future.