Suggestion: Budget Discussion

[aaronweiner]

This is really just throwing out to the league the idea that something might need to be done about the disparity in budgeting in the league.

My first thought is that there should exist some maximum spread between the highest budget and the lowest budget. Right now, the highest budget in the league is New Orleans, at $138 million. The lowest budget is currently Huntsville, at $82 million.

Some budgets are projected to go below the $82 million next year.

It occurs to me that even with extremely shrewd management it's pretty hard to overcome a $56 million spread in budgets.

I'd be interested to hear what ideas people have.

[Ted]

I actually disagree with changing this. The budget often directly reflects a team's recent success/managment. If you put a poor product on the field, you can expect fans to leave. If you trade stars away and don't bring anything back, fans leave, marketing and media contract money is lost. MY budget has dropped from the 120 mil range to 88 this year and projects to 77 next year, and I have a charitable and tolerant owner. Had I been the owner of my team for the last 5 seasons, this would be my fault.

I have no doubt that in 4-5 years, when I have had a winning team for several seasons, my budget will push north of 100 mil again. My budget is where it is because of bad FA signings, poor management, and frank neglect. This is how it should work. There is more to being a GM than signing FA contracts and making trades. Managing the finances, putting a product on the field that appeals to fans, among other things, are all part of it.

I think leveling the budget playing field would reward owners for making bad decisions. Would not force them to learn from the mistakes of signing players to bad contracts. And if you manage to stay on top for 10 straight years, you deserve to have a huge budget. You earned it.

Low budgets do not keep a team from competing. I have a 30 million dollar player payroll right now to wipe out my team debt. I guarantee you that if you gave me 30 million worth of players well spent, I could compete for the division.

[recte44]

Nailed it. Finances working as intended now...please don't mess with it.

[aaronweiner]

Okay.

[crobillard]

Yup

[Cliche]

I don't like the system but I think it's achieving it's intended affect.

[avery]

i think it's fine except for the stadium fees. You can also convert PPs to cash and convert cash to budget (up to a certain amount--maybe this amount could be upped).

[aaronweiner]

i think it's fine except for the stadium fees. You can also convert PPs to cash and convert cash to budget (up to a certain amount--maybe this amount could be upped).

I wonder if we still need the stadium fees, or should cut them in half at this point. A lot of our teams are way in the red.

[Cliche]

Stadium fee removal/reduction is probably a more realistic question.

They were perhaps a necessary tool in older versions of the game where cash was plentiful. But now between larger contracts and IFA spending, I'm not sure that it's as needed.

[c-mitch]

If I had one thing I'd change in this league, it would be eliminating the stadium fees.

Wait...2 things....I would also add draft pick trading. I get we like to mimic reality, and MLB doesn't trade draft picks, but we really aren't reality when we have a team called the Yellow Springs 9, had a team in Marquette, MI, and draw players from a European feeder league.

But hey, why change tradition? Just my thoughts.

[crobillard]

I care so little about this topic. Basically because finances are not my strongest interest in game or in real life.

I'm against draft pick trading though.

[aaronweiner]

If I had one thing I'd change in this league, it would be eliminating the stadium fees.

Wait...2 things....I would also add draft pick trading. I get we like to mimic reality, and MLB doesn't trade draft picks, but we really aren't reality when we have a team called the Yellow Springs 9, had a team in Marquette, MI, and draw players from a European feeder league.

But hey, why change tradition? Just my thoughts.

Draft pick trading is tradition. Stadium fees are about ten years old now, I think.

[recte44]

i think it's fine except for the stadium fees. You can also convert PPs to cash and convert cash to budget (up to a certain amount--maybe this amount could be upped).

I wonder if we still need the stadium fees, or should cut them in half at this point. A lot of our teams are way in the red.

We could discuss this.

[recte44]

No draft pick trading, ever. I already bent on the DH several years ago, won't do this.

[nerfHerder]

I'm not a fan of draft pick trading. Very happy that Recte is against it. I would however love to see the whole stadium free thing go away. Less outside the game the better in my opinion.

[aaronweiner]

In this particular case, we have to see what's good for the league as a whole. A vote's a bad idea here, at least at first, until we can come up with a comprehensive proposal.

[recte44]

Agreed. I'll do some math tomorrow and see what it does for us to get rid of or modify stadium/bonus funds.

[agrudez]

The fact that people are wanting to discuss removing stadium fees because finances are hard to manage instead of swimming in giant in-ground pools filled with surplus cash (like, you know, they used to) is proof that they are working. I mentioned, though, in another thread that the calculations to derive them did not factor in some of the nuances that are currently taking cash - asst. GM salary, WL coach salaries, etc - that should probably be taken out of the base equation.

[crobillard]

The fact that people are wanting to discuss removing stadium fees because finances are hard to manage instead of swimming in giant in-ground pools filled with surplus cash (like, you know, they used to) is proof that they are working. I mentioned, though, in another thread that the calculations to derive them did not factor in some of the nuances that are currently taking cash - asst. GM salary, WL coach salaries, etc - that should probably be taken out of the base equation.

Not enough of us are as great at buying and selling people as you are (poor Brad Welsh).

[aaronweiner]

The fact that people are wanting to discuss removing stadium fees because finances are hard to manage instead of swimming in giant in-ground pools filled with surplus cash (like, you know, they used to) is proof that they are working. I mentioned, though, in another thread that the calculations to derive them did not factor in some of the nuances that are currently taking cash - asst. GM salary, WL coach salaries, etc - that should probably be taken out of the base equation.

Except we have people $30 million in the red who really have no way of getting out other than, say, what Yellow Springs and California are doing this year.

There's got to be a middle ground between those two extremes.