How does that one owner always seem to have $30M in payroll to prospects for a $30M signing of a future Hall of Fame IFA? Budget planning. How does that division rival (you know the one) always have payroll to trade for a stud player with a bloated contract? Budget planning. How does that other owner always seem to draft an all star with the 25th pick? Budget planning.
Of course there is nuance to each of those scenarios. Who do you trade for? Where are you ranking certain draft prospects? What kind of IFA do you max out your bid for? But each of those requires a foundational budget decision first.
My take on HBD is budgeting IS the game. There are countless aspects to HBD but nearly everything strategic depends on a thoughtful budget decision. For first-time players, budget setting comes immediately and without any context. First timers likely end up making uninformed decisions they would like to take back. I know I did.
When a season starts, I look at my coaches first. Who's staying? What middling BC wants to be promoted to ML and paid $1.7M? Do I need a FI? If you're thoughtful with coaches, you might be able to effectively extract an extra million or two to allocate elsewhere.
I then look over departing free agents. Who will I want to re-sign? Who will I want to let go for a comp pick? What prospects do I have coming up? Do I have high priority for the R5 draft that might get me a workable ML piece?
Next, I review my arbitration cases. I likely already know if I want to hang onto a particular player. Does some mediocre AAAA guy want $5M? Odds are good I release him. Depending on the market, I could try re-signing him as a FA at a discount if I'm patient enough.
With a good concept of where I want my coaching to be and what I will NEED for my payroll, I start looking over the budget.
In the previous season, I've left myself notes on the budget page. Those notes are where I previously thought my budget should be for the coming season. It's not always accurate, but it's a good north star to use as a starting point. And critical to have when real life gets in the way of deeper-dive preparations when a world rolls.
When I approach my budget, I start with aspirational numbers and work backward. Ideally, I want my Medical and my Training both at $20M. If I'm not there, I am moving my budget numbers in that direction. We could talk about the why, but that's a different conversation for a different day.
With Advance Scouting, I am conservative. I'm aware many vets have Advance at $0M. I'm not ready for that, so I typically leave myself a lifeline of $10M. If I think I won't be making any trades for a player under 27, I could go lower. But I tried that once and learned I can't be trusted not to make trades.
What can I say? I like to make trades.
Next, time to think about draft scouting. I'm still pathfinding for optimal settings but am inclined toward the all-in-one camp. I want High School or College at $20M. Depending on other investments I want to make, I might have the other as low as $0M. It's a tough call, as one crop of prospects could be better than the other. Veterans in the forums suggest $20M in one is the way to go, and I'm inclined to take the advice of those more experienced than I am.
Life continues.
Ideally, I have a pretty spot-on idea of what I want to do with coaches from the earlier recon. That should be an easy set and likely doesn't fluctuate a great deal.
Now, we're to Prospect and International. Do I have a low-enough payroll to play in the IFA market? To get a franchise-changing IFA, you've got to be able to transfer payroll to prospects. If I think I'm legitimately going for it in the international market, I've got to have $20M in prospects. And my International scouting needs to be high. I've never managed to swing a $20M investment there, but that would be ideal.
If I'm not in that market, Prospect investment depends on where I am drafting and if I have a ton of compensatory picks. You can get away with $10M in prospect even with a comp pick or two if you set your draft conservatively, but I typically have more allocated just in case.
At that point, I look to see where Payroll is and compare it with my previous season's projection and what I learned from looking at my team's free agents and arbitration cases.
Do I have enough to do what I want to do? If I am speculating that other teams might be rebuilding and wanting to dump salaries, do I have the Payroll to take on contracts? If I plan to transfer to Prospect to sign a stud IFA, do I have enough Payroll to make that work? If I think I want to sign a number of free agents, will the money be there in Payroll for me to be competitive with the players I want to get?
If the answer to those questions is no, time to tweak. Can I make draft scouting work with $18M? Sure. Do I sometimes fudge Training/Medical to $19M? You bet.
At that point, I put some new notes in where I think I want my budget to be next season and hit Save.
And BLAZZOW! Budget!
Of course there is nuance to each of those scenarios. Who do you trade for? Where are you ranking certain draft prospects? What kind of IFA do you max out your bid for? But each of those requires a foundational budget decision first.
My take on HBD is budgeting IS the game. There are countless aspects to HBD but nearly everything strategic depends on a thoughtful budget decision. For first-time players, budget setting comes immediately and without any context. First timers likely end up making uninformed decisions they would like to take back. I know I did.
When a season starts, I look at my coaches first. Who's staying? What middling BC wants to be promoted to ML and paid $1.7M? Do I need a FI? If you're thoughtful with coaches, you might be able to effectively extract an extra million or two to allocate elsewhere.
I then look over departing free agents. Who will I want to re-sign? Who will I want to let go for a comp pick? What prospects do I have coming up? Do I have high priority for the R5 draft that might get me a workable ML piece?
Next, I review my arbitration cases. I likely already know if I want to hang onto a particular player. Does some mediocre AAAA guy want $5M? Odds are good I release him. Depending on the market, I could try re-signing him as a FA at a discount if I'm patient enough.
With a good concept of where I want my coaching to be and what I will NEED for my payroll, I start looking over the budget.
In the previous season, I've left myself notes on the budget page. Those notes are where I previously thought my budget should be for the coming season. It's not always accurate, but it's a good north star to use as a starting point. And critical to have when real life gets in the way of deeper-dive preparations when a world rolls.
When I approach my budget, I start with aspirational numbers and work backward. Ideally, I want my Medical and my Training both at $20M. If I'm not there, I am moving my budget numbers in that direction. We could talk about the why, but that's a different conversation for a different day.
With Advance Scouting, I am conservative. I'm aware many vets have Advance at $0M. I'm not ready for that, so I typically leave myself a lifeline of $10M. If I think I won't be making any trades for a player under 27, I could go lower. But I tried that once and learned I can't be trusted not to make trades.
What can I say? I like to make trades.
Next, time to think about draft scouting. I'm still pathfinding for optimal settings but am inclined toward the all-in-one camp. I want High School or College at $20M. Depending on other investments I want to make, I might have the other as low as $0M. It's a tough call, as one crop of prospects could be better than the other. Veterans in the forums suggest $20M in one is the way to go, and I'm inclined to take the advice of those more experienced than I am.
Life continues.
Ideally, I have a pretty spot-on idea of what I want to do with coaches from the earlier recon. That should be an easy set and likely doesn't fluctuate a great deal.
Now, we're to Prospect and International. Do I have a low-enough payroll to play in the IFA market? To get a franchise-changing IFA, you've got to be able to transfer payroll to prospects. If I think I'm legitimately going for it in the international market, I've got to have $20M in prospects. And my International scouting needs to be high. I've never managed to swing a $20M investment there, but that would be ideal.
If I'm not in that market, Prospect investment depends on where I am drafting and if I have a ton of compensatory picks. You can get away with $10M in prospect even with a comp pick or two if you set your draft conservatively, but I typically have more allocated just in case.
At that point, I look to see where Payroll is and compare it with my previous season's projection and what I learned from looking at my team's free agents and arbitration cases.
Do I have enough to do what I want to do? If I am speculating that other teams might be rebuilding and wanting to dump salaries, do I have the Payroll to take on contracts? If I plan to transfer to Prospect to sign a stud IFA, do I have enough Payroll to make that work? If I think I want to sign a number of free agents, will the money be there in Payroll for me to be competitive with the players I want to get?
If the answer to those questions is no, time to tweak. Can I make draft scouting work with $18M? Sure. Do I sometimes fudge Training/Medical to $19M? You bet.
At that point, I put some new notes in where I think I want my budget to be next season and hit Save.
And BLAZZOW! Budget!
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