How am I doing? Noob needs tips...

[Javaslinger]

So I've watched a lot of YouTube playthroughs where they're taking a cellar dweller and rebuilding. They don't seem to have a lot in common with taking a competitive, established team like the NYM. I'd love to hear some thoughts on what do do with this team initially. I feel like I should do 'something' before the season...

So what I did was a comedy of errors I suppose... Was any of this a good pre-season move? What kind of things should I be looking to do pre-season with the Mets?

1)Fired the Asst. GM and Scout and hired . I also bumped the scouting budget up to $12m

2) I was offered a trade for Ian Kennedy from the Royals who seemed like an upgrade in the Bullpen. I got them to take 70% of his salary and throw in Omar Hernandez, a 40 pot catching prospect. I gave up SS Jake Hager in the deal. So I guess it was a salary dump.

3) Then came my first brush with the realities of how a MLB roster works. There appeared to be no one with options in the Bullpen to demote. So I Waive/DFA'd Brad Brach who was not claimed by anyone in order to make space on the 26 man roster.

4) Well, then ol' Brad refused to go to AAA so I put him on the trading bloc and he seemed to have a decent value. But the rub is I don't really have any idea what a good value trade is. I gave him and C Rene Rivera up to the Padres for Austin Hedges (upgrade?) and a CL prospect Javy Guerra... The took 75% of Hedgey's salary. So he seems to be a better backup defensive catcher over Rivera.

5) Javy, however, seems to also not have any options.... So I waive/DFA him and no one claims him. I guess he wasn't much of a value over Brad.

6) Finally, I picked up some high potential free agents. I was surprised to find that they were apparently unsigned minor leaguers. Devin Watts shows a 70 potential by OSA and Luis Arrieta was a 50 potential by OSA. My scout thinks less highly of them, but they were both a steal. I signed Arrieta to a minor league contract and bought Watts contract from a minor league team for $250K. No idea if they were playing in some kind of independent league or something.

7) Question, when offering a minor league contract, can you sweeten the deal? I couldn't seem to offer anything more than 0$ but Watts took a 'better deal' from Windy City something or other...

[WyattGOAT]

Seems like you're exploring different parts of the game which is great! I'd recommend if you're trading for a player to check their options so you know if you have to waive them or not if you want to demote them.

For your last question, you can sweeten the deal by adding a signing bonus on top of the minor league contract

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by Javaslinger

3) Then came my first brush with the realities of how a MLB roster works. There appeared to be no one with options in the Bullpen to demote. So I Waive/DFA'd Brad Brach who was not claimed by anyone in order to make space on the 26 man roster.

4) Well, then ol' Brad refused to go to AAA so I put him on the trading bloc and he seemed to have a decent value. But the rub is I don't really have any idea what a good value trade is.

The first check for a good value for a player you need to send down but can't is someone close in talent who you CAN send down. Then he needs to pass the tests of salary, age, and possible usefulness (either as a player you can call up when there are injuries or as trade material). But if shopping you'll be able to trim most of the offer list on the talent and salary criteria.