Finances Question

[Helton17]

Having trouble getting a clear answer on this, would appreciate any clarification. I'm trying to understand the relationship between budget and projected profit. Here's the number from my current season:

My projected profit was around negative 6M, therefore I had to cut my scouting and development budgets to get out of the red and avoid those being cut to half the league baseline. Meanwhile my projected budget room is $25M, which the game tells me I can spend on contracts this year.

How does the budget relate to profit? What would be the effect on the final balance if I were to spend that $25M? Thanks

[snepp]

Your available budget space controls your ability to set your scouting and dev spending, projected profit plays no part.

[Helton17]

Thanks snepp. As long as you're under budget, is there any downside to a negative profit for the year?

[kidd_05_u2]

Originally Posted by Helton17

Thanks snepp. As long as you're under budget, is there any downside to a negative profit for the year?

It depends a little on your league settings and your owner, but generally, it can affect the cash balance for the following year and the medium-term budget projection. Under the settings of a 2023 MLB save, I wouldn't worry too much about the overall balance unless it is negative by more than 15-20 million.

[snepp]

Originally Posted by Helton17

Thanks snepp. As long as you're under budget, is there any downside to a negative profit for the year?

I typically don't care if I run in the red or black at the end of the year. If the owner gives me the budget space to work with I'm usually going to find a way to spend it one way or the other, within reason. I like to leave myself some budget flexibility for a late-season trade if I expect to be competitive.

If you run a nice profit, they end up pocketing a bunch of it, if you run a big deficit they infuse cash out of their pocket instead. Your revenue will drive your future budgets, not how efficient you were with the money you had.

That's all in general, there may be specific times you really want to carry a bunch of excess cash over to the next year for making a big one-year push or something. Going a little cheap one year and carrying a maximum cash balance into the next season could mean signing a really nice 1-year deal for someone that you may not have been able to afford otherwise.