http://www.baseballslant.com/sim/hsl/
Part 1- Lineups
Any player traded or acquired goes directly to AAA, so don't assume they are on the 25 man roster. Also some teams have more than 25 men due to the expanded rosters in September, make changes accordingly and be aware like always, not everyone will accept demotions.
Demotions:
{Position Name then from current level to....whatever the level he is being demoted to}
SP Sydney Poundson MLB-AAA
LF Todd Linden MLB to AAA
Promotions:
{Position Name then from current level to....whatever the level he is being promoted to}
MR J. Broxton AAA-MLB
3B E. Munson AAA to MLB
LF L. Nix AAA to MLB
SP R. Freierbend A to AA
C I. Lincoln A-AA
The point here is that players should be grouped on the following:
1a. Whether it's a promotion or demotion or releases.
2a. The level they are going from and to.
3a. Listed going down from SP to MR to CL to C and the positions that follow as listed. The game lists players in this manner and be it any type of transaction, a bulk one especially, this will make it SO MUCH EASIER for me.
If you do your promotions and demotions correctly, there really is no need to write up a 25 man roster. It's a pain for me to check and like mentioned, if the promotions and demotions are done correctly everything should be fine.
Rotation:
{If you want your rotation to be a strict order rotation or a start the most rested, please specify and the changes will be made}
1) R J. Foppert
2) R J. Beckett
3) R J. Bonderman
4) L D. Willis
5) L E. Threets
Spot Starter
{If wanted, please specify the percent you would want him to start, IE 10%, 25% etc}
1. NONE
Mop-up
1) R B. Baisley
2)
Middle Relief
1) R D. Kolb
2) L J. Beimel
3) R B. Baisley
4)
Set-up
1) R F. German
2) L A. Burnside
Closer
1) R M. Koplove
Lineups
{If you want for instance vs. LHP and RHP to be the same, specify that to make it easier and quicker for me to do.}
Everyone plays a DH every game!
LINEUP VS RHP+DH Pos
1) A. Soriano 2B
2) J. Mauer C
3) J. Crede 3B
4) A. Dunn LF
5) C. Ross DH
6) X. Nady RF
7) J. Stokes 1B
8) M. Cabrera SS
9) C. Snelling CF
LINEUP VS LHP+DH Pos
1) A. Soriano 2B
2) C. Snelling CF
3) X. Nady RF
4) C. Ross DH
5) J. Crede 3B
6) A. Dunn LF
7) J. Phillips C
8) M. Cabrera SS
9) J. Stokes 1B
No more depth charts. Everyone gets either an auto-depth chart or a depth chart that is autoed based on your lineups, you can specify if you like, otherwise I will auto based off your lineups. If you do not have a 1B backup, you can tell me to auto your dept charts and then manually load a OF or another position player into the 1B slot. This should be kept to a minimum.
No more custom setting of minor league lineups, if you want the best to play, release some players with no future with your team (ie +26 scrubs with no significant talent to reach.) You have two options when handling your minor leagues. 1. Tell me to auto manage your minors. This means the AI will promote and demote as it sees fit between A and AAA. 2. Tell me to individually auto each staff and lineup at each minor league level. This allows you to promote and demote individually between minor league levels.
Any additional small changes
{IE, position changes}
Change AAA LF Todd Linden's position from LF to RF.
Other then Section I, which everyone needs to look at, the rest is just general information and help for new GMs or GMs who have trouble in trading
I. Format. This is a new format for trades to make it easier on the trade council to judge trades, especially big ones. This format may get trades approved faster and may get some of your to realize your mistakes. OK, the new format is like this
Team X gives
Player 1 (Salary1, Position, Overall/Prospect Star Rating)
Salary Subtotal: (Salary 1)
Team Y gives
Player 2 (Salary2, Position, Overall/Prospect Star Rating
Player 3 (Salary3, Position, Overall/Prospect Star Rating)
Salary Subtotal: (Salary 2+3)
For instance
Philadelphia gives
Chase Utley (830,000, 2B, 2.5 stars)
Salary Subtotal: 830,000
New York (N) gives
Kenny Kelly (439,714, RF, 2.0 stars)
Heath Bell (MLD, RP, 1.0 stars)
100,000 dollars
Salary Subtotal: 539,714 (KK's salary +100k given)
That is the basic format that we want, it will make our lives easier.
II. There are a few trading rules as always (unless overruled by the TC)
A. There are no three team trades. If you want to do a three team trade, do the trades seperately
B. There is a maximum amount of players that can be in a deal: 10. No more then that
C. You cannot trade a draft pick that is more than one season away. For example: In 2005 you can trade a 2006 pick, but not a 2007 pick.
D. A limited amount of money may be included in a deal
i. 1/3 of a player's annual salary may be included for a player under 10 million dollars in annual salary (for a 9 million dollar player, you can give 3 million per year)
ii. 2/5 of a player's annual salary may be included for a player 10 million or more in annyal salary (for a 10 million dollar player, you can give 4 million)
Considerations in making a trade:
A. Financial: This is simple, if the amount of money you receive in player salary in a trade outnumbers your FA available money, you can't do the trade. For instance
PHI has 5 million in FA money, and he receives a 7 million dollar player in a trade without getting 2 million, giving a 2 million+ player(s), or a combination of both, he cannot do said trade
B. Deception. If a player is injured or has a serious problem, and the person is deceived into doing a deal without them knowing, we will stop the trade to make sure the person receiving the problematic player knows.
C. Talent discrepency. This is easily the most touchy subject, and I think we are pretty strict on trades that are horribly unfair. If one guy gets a 5 star prospect for a 2 star player, we won't pass it unless there are circumstances for said situation. We are picky, and I don't know how I will explain this, but we use our common sense.
Not that anyone looks at this anymore, but if you spell a player's name wrong to the extent that I cannot search for him on a team's name list, I may be annoyed enough to veto on that. Hah.
IV. Hints when you are trading
A. Consider the financial consequences. A trade is not only based on talent, money is a very big factor in trading. Always be sure to consider whether trading your 3.0 SP making 350k is worth upgrading to a 4.0, but absorbing 12.5 million in salary. Some times are in dire straits because they did not consider salary problems. Sometimes, finances can be more important then talent.
B. Be reasonable. GMs don't like to deal with other GMs who make ridiculous offers. If you want my SP with a 4.0 star rating who I put on the block, offer something good up, either a similar pro player or a great prospect, or maybe a lesser version of each.
C. More often then not, if a team has a trade block, and x player isn't on that block, he is either difficult to get or not available. If you make an offer for him, make it good or don't make it. Even better, inquire if said player can be gotten at all.
D. Make sure your trade has an upside for both teams. If I am going to trade a 2.5 SP for your 2.5 SP who has the exact same everything or who is very similar, what is the point unless I asked for such a thing?
V. Financials
OK, here is how to judge if you can do a trade financially. With the new format, it is easy.
The team that takes on less salary has no problems, so this is only to the team taking on more salary.
Look at the format, specifically the subtotals of annual salary. Take the higher subtotal and subtract the lower subtotal, and compare it to your available FA money. If the subtotal amount is more then your available FA money, you cannot do a trade, if it is less, you can do a trade, for instance
PHI gives:
Player X (9,000,000, SP, 4.5)
HOU gives:
Player Y (1,000,000, 2B, 3.5)
OK, HOU receives the 9m dollar SP, so they take on 9 million dollars (SP) - 1 million dollars (2B), meaning they have to take on 8 million dollars.
HOU total FA money: 4,584,403
In this case, 8 million is more then the 4.5 million and change, so they could not make this trade.
If you release a player, your available free agent cash remains at what it was prior to the release of a contract, upon releasing a player of substantial salary (1 mil or over), you must note your current FA cash listed on the OOTP site. This is done as a preventive measure against a glitch in the game as it takes the money charged to you and puts it against FA expenses while lowering payroll and thus adding more to your available FA funds.
VI: Value of Players
OK, the value of a player is different for everyone and I cannot tell people how to play. If anyone wants to submit their ideas of values, be my guest and I'll put them here.