Quote:
Originally Posted by Qeltar
Is that what others have experienced as well?
I thought as a rebuilding team I should spend as much on development as possible.
If spending $28m (this year) yields almost no appreciable difference from spending $6m (last year) then that's pretty disappointing. It shouldn't create miracles, but if I am investing a lot in this aspect of things I'd hope for a real tangible benefit.
It also seemed to be more like what a rebuilding team should do. But maybe I need to cut back and spend more on FAs or something.
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I find myself thinking about a few teams I pay some attention to who are in the midst of rebuilding this year (IRL, I mean): the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox. And what I see both of those teams doing at present is stockpiling as many young prospects as possible at multiple levels of their organization, pushing some youngsters into major league service (perhaps even a bit prematurely) while also holding onto a few veterans (whether out of choice or lack thereof). But it seems to me that this stockpiling of young talent is exactly because of the knowledge that likely just a small handful of them end of having basic major league talent, and at best 1-2 are legitimate major league starters (and if they are really lucky and chose well, maybe even stars). And even then, these kinds of results often don't become clear until about 3 years into a rebuild (again, IRL, I mean.)
So, none of this seems out of line with reality to me. As far as OOTP gaming strategies go, well, I am not one of the more experienced here, but in my short time playing the game I have found things like minor league coaching and development budgets to be important, but only as a small part of the much larger package. I tend to think that a balanced approach is best. And with a rebuilding team that has a small budget, I wouldn't pour too much of my money into development. I wouldn't ignore it completely either; wouldn't starve it of resources. Each situation requires different calculations. But also measured expectations. And the very best prospects are likely to flourish in spite of less than stellar minor league coaching or an organization not capable of pouring vast sums of money into development.
I think an approach emphasizing developing young talent is a sound one for a rebuilding team. But again, with cautious optimism regarding their development. And once you see signs of that paying off, I would advise some modest FA spending as well. And judicious trading. And best case scenario, you end up with more young talent than you need and you can parlay some of that into advantageous trades as well.