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November 1, 2014 - The Off-Season Begins
Key dates:
November 10-14 – Award announcements
November 21 – Salary arbitration hearings
November 24 – Eligible players file for free agency
December 1 – “Rule 5” Draft
December 14-18 – Winter Meetings
February 5, 2015 – Preseason begins
First Day of the Off-Season
The following items are on my “To Do” list today.
• Address open personnel positions
• Make decision to exercise or decline team options
• Offer arbitration (or not) to potential free agents
• Submit arbitration offers to eligible players or decide not to tender them
• Consider offers to potential free agents, including minor league free agents
• Offer long-term contracts to young stars, avoiding future arbitration
The first order of business is to find a scout that I trust. GM Chris Porter hired Dwayne Smith, former scout of the Los Angeles Vipers, when Carlos Villa retired in 2012. Smith has a “highly favors ability” focus but I prefer a scout that will find more stars with lots of skill in the area of international scouting.
In the meantime, I must use the information at hand to evaluate my roster. My first report on the state of the team follows while I still have Smith’s ratings to study, and then I will proceed with the important tasks of the first day on the job.
Budget Constraints
The budget is $130 million, way down from the $148 million that was in place when I left. The only way to get the budget increased is to under-spend it. Weird, I know, but that’s how owners operate. I need $25 million for operating expenses if I am to restore the player development and scouting to acceptable levels. That leaves $105 million to spend including personnel. I have $97 million committed for next year without signing any of my own pending free agents, so there is no room to pursue expensive free agent upgrades. I mention this now to establish parameters for upcoming contract decisions.
Next: Roster analysis
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