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Post by David_ExposGM on May 6, 2015 7:51:54 GMT -5
As we are into OOTP16 now and I was involved in a rigorous discussion about finances in one of the daily sim threads (thanks again Tim_GiantsGM for your input) I thought I would start a thread to track the process of my team in 2034 - the LA Angels - from that perspective. This should highlight, at least in my opinion and limited knowledge of what I am seeing in OOTP16, where my franchise is currently and where it is going. But, more importantly, it will hopefully explain why I will pretty consistently answer inquiries with "sorry, I am watching my finances closely this season" when asked about taking on any more payroll. And I freely admit to having some pangs of guilt regarding the appearance of "tanking" with this team. When I first joined PBL I assumed control just after the Angels had made the FIRST OVERALL pick in the 2032 DRAFT. In that draft I was lucky enough to have several more high picks (most likely from this neglected team not signing any previous picks and having them just carry over). And I was also able to trade the remaining pieces of value on the team for a few more decent picks, all planning for the long, slow future! By the end of that season I had assured myself of another very high, if not TOP, pick. Unfortunately the DRAFT LOTTERY pushed the Angels from FIRST overall to FIFTH overall (can NOT catch a break). I did honestly however pick the same player at five as I targeted had I picked first, so I am OK with that. This season it would appear that the Angels currently hold the FIFTH overall pick. Of course that may change (maybe I'll actually bounce to first this season). And, based on what you're about to read, I could very well be looking at another high pick by the end of the 2034 season. But, trust me, I am not purposely "tanking", I am trying to be fiscally responsible, while fielding the best team possible within those constraints. So, because I am certainly not going to be winning a World Series Championship this season, I am going to reveal everything financial about my team - the stuff you can NOT see in the game about my team (only your own). It will help me work my way through this and maybe learn something about OOTP16 and the LA Angels financial picture. And it might help you too? I'll update as warranted information comes up! The present picture: I am tracking the "Projected 2034 Budget". The number we can ALL see, which used to be remaining player payroll in the HTML reports online/in-game, but which is now "Season Profit/Loss" is near the bottom of the projected, in my case $3,065,224 but you can also see that the end of year balance, the one that will carry over into next season, is only $1,372,396, so the Angels MAY barely make a profit this season, in spite of my cutting left and right to get there. That number will eventually be transferred to the PREVIOUS BALANCE for the 2035 season. Here's the important info, in my mind, down that entire column of projected 2034: - Opening team budget of $108M - Starting balance of MINUS $1.7M (So I am behind already - and my owner gave me some cash and I received some revenue sharing) - Revenue projected of $86M (And you can see what is included) - Expenses subtotal of $82.9M (I'll explain the RED stuff in a second) And that gets the Angels to the number I first mentioned, the $3M and $1.37M profit numbers * All of that in green boxesZooming in on the RED boxes now, to show the drastic cuts I have made to get to my tiny profit (NONE of which will help my team I'm sure, aside from a bit financially). You can see my current player expenses/payroll (not actually in a red box). - Staff expenses $1.9 (This is my Scout - FOOLISHLY I re-signed him, thinking Scouts meant something in PBL and they really don't, only for "international discoveries" which are a crap-shoot at best). This is wasted money currently on my team! - The EMPTY red box below that is the scouting budget. I reduced that to ZERO, to save money, which makes the scout useless. - The draft expenses are not boxed and it's interesting to note that even thought my owner has deemed our team "rebuilding" I have roughly $2M LESS with which to draft players compared to the previous season. I'm not sure if that's just a new number in OOTP or because my owner is holding out on me until I show more profit? Either way, there's $7.5M in there! - Player Development Expenses have been DRASTICALLY reduced to $2.5M for this season so that I can show my tiny profit. That hurts my team and players, but it gets me to green and starts to build for the future, which is the POINT of this year and thread in Los Angeles! You can also see, to the right of the projected 2034, my early projections for 2035 and 2036. NOTE that my TEAM BUDGET for next season will DROP dramatically to $81M. It was to be $80M if I had left all my financials alone and took another bath in RED ink. By getting to my tiny green profit, the number did bump to $81M, so there is some effect from manipulating finances after all. All things being equal (and they are subject to change of course), you can see my REVENUES and lower EXPENSES for next year (which means NO trading for big contracts and certainly NO BIG MONEY FREE AGENTS in LA) and you can clearly see the result as being a $16M profit potentially at the end of NEXT season. The year after, again all things being equal (and the team probably still drafting FIRST), we start to get on a roll and show a $46M profit. This is how I am planning to financially get things back in order in LA for the Angels! Just so you know... Here are my Owner Goals by the way: As you can see, the immediate goal this season is to try and stay near .500. I will try, but it will be a challenge! By NEXT season, the owner would like me to reduce payroll to $65M! Again, no going nuts with trades and free agents! And you can see some stretch goals for years out. * Personally I view this as completely logical for where this team isAnd finally, the somewhat misleading financial page, unless you process the information above along with it! You can see that if I ONLY looked at this page I would see that I apparently have $23M for free agents and $12.8M for extending players on the team right now - in the panel upper left. Not truly the case IF you're concerned about getting out of the hole. You can also see that if I ONLY tracked the "projected budget room" I would see $25M, which you would read as being able to go out and have a time with free agents? NOT truly the case IF you're concerned about getting out of the hole. * That said, THAT is the number that has a PBL RULE attached to it and I am clearly in the GREEN and within the rules for this season, so there's thatAnd you can also see the revenue and expenses panels (I moved the expenses in there to make it easier to screen shot - you can select what goes where on this page) which shows basically what is on the Accounting page. So, long story longer, THAT is where the Angels stand as of TODAY! That is a snapshot of MY plan to guide them for the next few years and hopefully get into a better situation financially...soon. And WHEN my draft picks start to reach the major league level I REALLY hope to be in a position to WIN, or get to the POST-SEASON at the very least. Please review your own team and see where you stand?!?!? Unless you're floating in dollars (like say, the YANKEES) it's really eye-opening!And, dare I say, you will rarely find a team that is swimming in RED competing in the World Series Championship. So, some short-term pain hopefully negates long-term pain, and hopefully translates into a chance to COMPETE! And that's why we're here.
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Post by NickP_Marlins GM on May 6, 2015 8:08:25 GMT -5
Rooting for your Angels David.
The Angels and Brewers have to be good before this great league rides off into the sunset.
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on May 6, 2015 9:56:22 GMT -5
Very compelling stuff. I was a bit concerned with my finances prior to the trade until I looked deeper into it and noticed I was in position to make a profit, even keeping all my contracts but its fun to look at an analyze and I feel comfortable we can build a powerhouse and make money which is a good boat to be in. I root for underdogs too so can't wait to see the Angels turn it around...
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jun 8, 2015 11:26:16 GMT -5
Because I exposed all my numbers prior to the season in my "PBL Headlines" article, I don't mind showing them again. And please understand I am not an expert, not trying to be an expert and will defer to an expert. I am simply trying to figure out what the numbers now mean and trying my best to work with them to put my team in a better position. And I fully realize that they do limit ME in a lot of ways (right now) but know that will change down the road if I stay within them - at least that's the plan. There was talk recently around the signing of both DRAFT PICKS and INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS (both occurring at basically the same time) and the budgets, or lack there of, some teams are encountering and trying to make the numbers work. Instead of posting in a thread, I'll add to my financial thread and keep it all in one place. Here's the current snapshot of the LA Angels July 3, 2034. My current financial window: And my current accounting window: Around these I will base my observations. First some genera observations, updates and discoveries. With respect to tickets, prices and season tickets. I noticed that the per game revenue (seen in the first window) ONLY measures the game day attendance. In my case last season it was 24,734 and per game $643K. This season it's only 17,665 at this point (and we're actually doing slightly better as a team - but not much) and $441K per game. With season tickets removed, of course that will be down substantially. The ACTUAL per game attendance for the Angels is 27,890, which is UP over last season. I did lower my ticket prices a dollar, hoping to encourage more attendance. We'll see. Therefore the revenue lines now associated with that (just to the right) $55.7M down to $38M, show we will be down year over year because of the combination of things. All those numbers will make much more sense next season when it's purely apples to apples. And, while we're on the page, I noticed something else that's interesting. Just to the far right of that there is a STAFF payroll number. Mine contains both my scout (he'll be gone when his contract is up and not replaced as I am quickly finding it a useless exercise finding international rookies - budget already gone this season) BUT MY SALARY as GM is also included in that number - HA! And there must be something else in there too, because my scout and I only pull down $1.83. Curious - haven;t found that yet! Also note the number in the top middle of that page. Everybody's favourite is the Projected Payroll Budget. You can see my Angels "technically" have $23.7M available. BUT we don't really have that because of other numbers. For example, my "starting cash" was negative -$1.69M, so my total money available is actually $22M. But I contend even that number is not a real number. I think that also might be at the root of the draft pick, international free agents (and maybe even other) money issues...but just a guess on my part. I'll explain.
The second page above is my Accounting page and it tells a very different story. Here are some key numbers: First (especially in my case) PLEASE look at the top right. That shows the current team budget of $108M and my projected team budget for next season, currently sitting at $80M! That is a $28M DROP year over year. To live within that and to try and actually make the $80M higher (it has been as high as $83M this season), I am cutting costs left, right and centre!!! And I would cut more if I could move some contracts to improve things (without sacrificing my farm and future talent by including them in trades, of course). But, unless others are in a similar situation (and I can only guess some are) I will have the LOWEST BUDGET in the LEAGUE next year in PBL! Fun!!! The DRAFT expense is a separate line. I am convinced that money can ONLY be used to sign draft picks and if you save it, I am not 100% sure that is simply moves elsewhere. I could be wrong. The MONEY AVAILABLE, I'm pretty sure, IS added to the draft expenses IF you choose to spend more on draft picks, BUT I really think that is also influenced by other factors (like your profitability) so you cannot simply spend yourself into oblivion merely because there is money on a budget line. In my case, you see $7.7M as my draft expenses. I will end up spending slightly more than that (I don't have the total at my fingertips, but let's say it's $7.8 or even $7.9M) by slightly dipping into my cash. BUT note the consequences... Because I have had to call up a couple of minimum salary players. Because I have gone slightly into my cash. I now show an actual LOSS in my TOTAL BALANCE of -$36K at the present time. That may recover based on the number right above that (the one shown in the HTML for all of us to check out), the $1.6M. We'll see. But I suspect the teams that are showing a LOSS on that line might actually be in worse shape than the Angels? That's for each other GM to interpret of course (along with his/her owner). As a result of ALL of this, I know, as GM of the Angels, that I will only sign my top to draft picks, using pretty much all of my draft expenses, and maybe anotehr much lower priced pick - or maybe NOT. I will have several more picks that will simply go unsigned. They are not top picks, but I simply cannot afford them right now.
I also know that I simply will NOT be participating AT ALL in the IFA spending. I do not have the money, based on the accounting page. Would I like to spend on both AND some free agents next off-season AND pick off some decent players from waivers AND make some key trades to improve my team. Sure! I'd love to do all of that. Can I, as the Angels - NO! And I choose to live with that right now, knowing (hoping) things will eventually get better. But that takes years in-game. There is no quick fix for this team and undoubtedly others! If you want an unlimited supply of cash to do with as you please, take the YANKEES next time they're open! Otherwise live with the fact that choices simply have to be made. And that may or may not EVER produce a winner. But not everyone can have a Yankees or White Sox or Red Sox, etc. Somebody has to be the Angels (or the Rockies, etc.) in PBL. In the off-season I have several expiring contracts. They will not be back and that WILL improve my finances. I may do nothing more than that and simply put pieces on the field that will be placeholders (and hopefully win even more games) until my farm produces and hopefully takes us to another level. It's a slow and steady pace, not a Yankees immediate return. And I know and will live with that. As you review your own team finances and accounting pages, I hope this helps a little bit. Again, I certainly am not an expert but I am very interested in trying to manipulate these numbers to make something out of LA. Time will tell if it works?!?
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Post by Sean_RedsGM on Jun 8, 2015 12:24:34 GMT -5
Because I exposed all my numbers prior to the season in my "PBL Headlines" article, I don't mind showing them again. And please understand I am not an expert, not trying to be an expert and will defer to an expert. I am simply trying to figure out what the numbers now mean and trying my best to work with them to put my team in a better position. And I fully realize that they do limit ME in a lot of ways (right now) but know that will change down the road if I stay within them - at least that's the plan. There was talk recently around the signing of both DRAFT PICKS and INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS (both occurring at basically the same time) and the budgets, or lack there of, some teams are encountering and trying to make the numbers work. Instead of posting in a thread, I'll add to my financial thread and keep it all in one place. Here's the current snapshot of the LA Angels July 3, 2034. My current financial window: View AttachmentAnd my current accounting window: View AttachmentAround these I will base my observations. First some genera observations, updates and discoveries. With respect to tickets, prices and season tickets. I noticed that the per game revenue (seen in the first window) ONLY measures the game day attendance. In my case last season it was 24,734 and per game $643K. This season it's only 17,665 at this point (and we're actually doing slightly better as a team - but not much) and $441K per game. With season tickets removed, of course that will be down substantially. The ACTUAL per game attendance for the Angels is 27,890, which is UP over last season. I did lower my ticket prices a dollar, hoping to encourage more attendance. We'll see. Therefore the revenue lines now associated with that (just to the right) $55.7M down to $38M, show we will be down year over year because of the combination of things. All those numbers will make much more sense next season when it's purely apples to apples. And, while we're on the page, I noticed something else that's interesting. Just to the far right of that there is a STAFF payroll number. Mine contains both my scout (he'll be gone when his contract is up and not replaced as I am quickly finding it a useless exercise finding international rookies - budget already gone this season) BUT MY SALARY as GM is also included in that number - HA! And there must be something else in there too, because my scout and I only pull down $1.83. Curious - haven;t found that yet! Also note the number in the top middle of that page. Everybody's favourite is the Projected Payroll Budget. You can see my Angels "technically" have $23.7M available. BUT we don't really have that because of other numbers. For example, my "starting cash" was negative -$1.69M, so my total money available is actually $22M. But I contend even that number is not a real number. I think that also might be at the root of the draft pick, international free agents (and maybe even other) money issues...but just a guess on my part. I'll explain.
The second page above is my Accounting page and it tells a very different story. Here are some key numbers: First (especially in my case) PLEASE look at the top right. That shows the current team budget of $108M and my projected team budget for next season, currently sitting at $80M! That is a $28M DROP year over year. To live within that and to try and actually make the $80M higher (it has been as high as $83M this season), I am cutting costs left, right and centre!!! And I would cut more if I could move some contracts to improve things (without sacrificing my farm and future talent by including them in trades, of course). But, unless others are in a similar situation (and I can only guess some are) I will have the LOWEST BUDGET in the LEAGUE next year in PBL! Fun!!! The DRAFT expense is a separate line. I am convinced that money can ONLY be used to sign draft picks and if you save it, I am not 100% sure that is simply moves elsewhere. I could be wrong. The MONEY AVAILABLE, I'm pretty sure, IS added to the draft expenses IF you choose to spend more on draft picks, BUT I really think that is also influenced by other factors (like your profitability) so you cannot simply spend yourself into oblivion merely because there is money on a budget line. In my case, you see $7.7M as my draft expenses. I will end up spending slightly more than that (I don't have the total at my fingertips, but let's say it's $7.8 or even $7.9M) by slightly dipping into my cash. BUT note the consequences... Because I have had to call up a couple of minimum salary players. Because I have gone slightly into my cash. I now show an actual LOSS in my TOTAL BALANCE of -$36K at the present time. That may recover based on the number right above that (the one shown in the HTML for all of us to check out), the $1.6M. We'll see. But I suspect the teams that are showing a LOSS on that line might actually be in worse shape than the Angels? That's for each other GM to interpret of course (along with his/her owner). As a result of ALL of this, I know, as GM of the Angels, that I will only sign my top to draft picks, using pretty much all of my draft expenses, and maybe anotehr much lower priced pick - or maybe NOT. I will have several more picks that will simply go unsigned. They are not top picks, but I simply cannot afford them right now.
I also know that I simply will NOT be participating AT ALL in the IFA spending. I do not have the money, based on the accounting page. Would I like to spend on both AND some free agents next off-season AND pick off some decent players from waivers AND make some key trades to improve my team. Sure! I'd love to do all of that. Can I, as the Angels - NO! And I choose to live with that right now, knowing (hoping) things will eventually get better. But that takes years in-game. There is no quick fix for this team and undoubtedly others! If you want an unlimited supply of cash to do with as you please, take the YANKEES next time they're open! Otherwise live with the fact that choices simply have to be made. And that may or may not EVER produce a winner. But not everyone can have a Yankees or White Sox or Red Sox, etc. Somebody has to be the Angels (or the Rockies, etc.) in PBL. In the off-season I have several expiring contracts. They will not be back and that WILL improve my finances. I may do nothing more than that and simply put pieces on the field that will be placeholders (and hopefully win even more games) until my farm produces and hopefully takes us to another level. It's a slow and steady pace, not a Yankees immediate return. And I know and will live with that. As you review your own team finances and accounting pages, I hope this helps a little bit. Again, I certainly am not an expert but I am very interested in trying to manipulate these numbers to make something out of LA. Time will tell if it works?!? So long story short, the rich get richer .
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jun 8, 2015 13:11:39 GMT -5
Because I exposed all my numbers prior to the season in my "PBL Headlines" article, I don't mind showing them again. Time will tell if it works?!? So long story short, the rich get richer . That is one way to look at it. Getting from poor to rich is certainly a challenge, but once there you will reap the benefits! There are many, many, many other ways to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each team.
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jun 17, 2015 11:05:23 GMT -5
Just a quick thought or two at the trade deadline. Naturally, the LA Angels really did not participate as we simply don't have the trading chips (at least from my perspective - I guess I could have traded all my prospects, but that would run counter to my plan). And I did have an inquiry about one player but it was quickly evident that my trading partner and I evaluated the value much differently, which is absolutely fine. You just end up not doing a deal. Once again I thought about posting a comment in the deadline thread but they just get lost (either physically or sometimes in the noise of all the other posts that happen around important dates and decisions), but instead decided just to add to my own little discussion here in this thread. Here's a table I will be anxiously watching evolve in the off-season: Here's where each team's "team budget" stands as of the trade deadline. Again, I am hyper-focused on finances right now as I work with the Angels. You can see we sit currently at #27 in the league with a $108M budget. I may or may not actually break even this season, but regardless my budget for next season currently is projected to be $80M. At that level I would find myself at the very bottom on this list, #32, which is perfectly fine. It's a challenge I accepted and will work with. And it will feel much better, eventually, when things do in fact head int he other direction (and they most certainly will). My point/observation in this post is that while I am watching every cent, and (this is important) without the behind-the-scenes knowledge of where other teams stand financially, I am quite curious about a few teams that, based only on what ALL of us can see, seem to be taking on much, much more than they should be able. I can only base this on what I see in my own financial picture, but if your team is negative (some substantially) in several areas I do not see how you can take on additional salary, for example, in a trade. I won't quote the rule about trading while in, or to go further into, the red because it's now pointless to do so now because we cannot all view that information, just tossing this on the table (more like talking to myself essentially) so that I can compare the impact when the off-season hits. There could be any number of things that might actually be at work here that I simply do not see. - Budget actually being available in column "A" even while ignoring column "B"
- Cash somewhere that is not easily discerned
- Leeway in recognizing that contracts may be coming off the books next season, so being flexible instead of black & white
- A very different interpretation of what is going on with a team financial page (it is accounting, after all, and people view the numbers differently)
But it should be very interesting to see where several teams sit when the financial calendar clicks over. I will be anxious to compare the list above with the list in the off-season and also interested in all of the discussion that will undoubtedly arise from the changing financial status of teams in PBL. Not all of it (in fact very little of it) will be "game related". Some will be totally unaffected or, as has been pointed out, "rich becoming even richer". The problem lies not with them, I feel it lies with the teams that will be so hamstrung financially that they may actually not be fun to play (unless you have an interest in digging the team out from rock bottom). When the Yankees have a budget of $220M and the lowest team is in the $80M range, that is a big disparity and it becomes a monumental challenge. One solution suggested by another GM elsewhere for my own situation was simply to field a better team and win more. I could not agree more. That indeed would immediately start solving things. But that is easier said than done when you have to manage the resources you have currently without trading away your future to "win more" right now. That is another comparison I am doing internally right now. We'll see if that plan bears fruit in two or three seasons too!I will post another list at the end of the season for the sake of comparison to the one above. It will be interesting to see if I am reading the numbers correctly...to me at the very least.
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Post by Sean_RedsGM on Jun 17, 2015 12:50:49 GMT -5
Just a quick thought or two at the trade deadline. Naturally, the LA Angels really did not participate as we simply don't have the trading chips (at least from my perspective - I guess I could have traded all my prospects, but that would run counter to my plan). And I did have an inquiry about one player but it was quickly evident that my trading partner and I evaluated the value much differently, which is absolutely fine. You just end up not doing a deal. Once again I thought about posting a comment in the deadline thread but they just get lost (either physically or sometimes in the noise of all the other posts that happen around important dates and decisions), but instead decided just to add to my own little discussion here in this thread. Here's a table I will be anxiously watching evolve in the off-season: View AttachmentHere's where each team's "team budget" stands as of the trade deadline. Again, I am hyper-focused on finances right now as I work with the Angels. You can see we sit currently at #27 in the league with a $108M budget. I may or may not actually break even this season, but regardless my budget for next season currently is projected to be $80M. At that level I would find myself at the very bottom on this list, #32, which is perfectly fine. It's a challenge I accepted and will work with. And it will feel much better, eventually, when things do in fact head int he other direction (and they most certainly will). My point/observation in this post is that while I am watching every cent, and (this is important) without the behind-the-scenes knowledge of where other teams stand financially, I am quite curious about a few teams that, based only on what ALL of us can see, seem to be taking on much, much more than they should be able. I can only base this on what I see in my own financial picture, but if your team is negative (some substantially) in several areas I do not see how you can take on additional salary, for example, in a trade. I won't quote the rule about trading while in, or to go further into, the red because it's now pointless to do so now because we cannot all view that information, just tossing this on the table (more like talking to myself essentially) so that I can compare the impact when the off-season hits. There could be any number of things that might actually be at work here that I simply do not see. - Budget actually being available in column "A" even while ignoring column "B"
- Cash somewhere that is not easily discerned
- Leeway in recognizing that contracts may be coming off the books next season, so being flexible instead of black & white
- A very different interpretation of what is going on with a team financial page (it is accounting, after all, and people view the numbers differently)
But it should be very interesting to see where several teams sit when the financial calendar clicks over. I will be anxious to compare the list above with the list in the off-season and also interested in all of the discussion that will undoubtedly arise from the changing financial status of teams in PBL. Not all of it (in fact very little of it) will be "game related". Some will be totally unaffected or, as has been pointed out, "rich becoming even richer". The problem lies not with them, I feel it lies with the teams that will be so hamstrung financially that they may actually not be fun to play (unless you have an interest in digging the team out from rock bottom). When the Yankees have a budget of $220M and the lowest team is in the $80M range, that is a big disparity and it becomes a monumental challenge. One solution suggested by another GM elsewhere for my own situation was simply to field a better team and win more. I could not agree more. That indeed would immediately start solving things. But that is easier said than done when you have to manage the resources you have currently without trading away your future to "win more" right now. That is another comparison I am doing internally right now. We'll see if that plan bears fruit in two or three seasons too!I will post another list at the end of the season for the sake of comparison to the one above. It will be interesting to see if I am reading the numbers correctly...to me at the very least. Thanks for the write up, always a good read!
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jun 23, 2015 10:10:37 GMT -5
We are into September in the 2034 season and the Angels have yet to be saddled with the "e" int he standings (as in "eliminated" from playoff contention). It's only a matter of time of course, but still a small victory. I kind of chuckled when I saw the attendance graphic for the past week or so: The way I read this, and without going to search for any great detail, we had a few games recently where ONLY our season ticket base was actually in attendance. And even that might be a stretch as those tickets are sold regardless of whether there are actual bums in seats. Eek! It will all turn around soon! At the risk of dwelling on my finances yet again, the one by-product of the graphic above is that no money comes in from walk-up sales and all related to that, there for our "season profit/loss" (the number everyone can see in the html reports), which was riding in the $1.5M range most of the season, has now dropped off considerably to only $341K. That, in turn, means that our "total balance" for the season has really dropped off to -$1.4M. THAT, in turn, is very significant because this year we started with an initial deficit of about -$1.7M and it has been a huge challenge. Plus, our team budget for next season has now dropped from $80M to $79M (again from $108M this season), so the belt-tightening will continue in LA. While we run a season profit/loss of $341K presently, I still cannot help but notice that others in the PBL are running substantial losses (-$25M, -$30M, even 1$39M) and will be quite interested to see how that plays out when the season clicks over, as I have said previously. Of course every team is different and the accounting page has plenty of factors to weigh before rendering it's budget for the next season. The Angels situation is that we do not have gobs of cash flowing into the organization, which might allow a team to float a huge loss. Ours is razor thin, also as I have mentioned repeatedly, so any loss we sustain goes straight to the bottom line and has a huge effect (like the budget of $79M, if we're lucky, for next season). As we're in September and a couple of call-ups, along with our bench players, are a big part of the scenario, it's actually encouraging to see us have an above-.500 week! Next year will mean "opportunity" in LA. A chance to let the older guard go (whether expiring contracts or voiding team options) and a chance for young talent to work their way into a spot on this team. September means a lot here! I will also be curious about three Angels as this season comes to a close. I think I know where this will go, but...
1B Mathis Mailhot, 2B Alejandro Castaneda and SP Bartolo Sostre all have "player options" at the end of the season. ALL of them have a "High" "desire for winner". Castaneda is hitting .282 currently and playing everyday at 2B (and will if he decides to stay). By the way, I traded for his contract and he actually has this next year and the following as player options. Mailhot is hitting .244 and playing everyday at 1B (even though he has been a 3B). He too will play there next season if he decides to stay. I negotiated his extension with Zevin a few seasons ago, after acquiring him as one of my better assets. The idea at the time was to give him an "out" of sorts. Sostre has been a disappointment, plain and simply, with 5-18 and 5-9 records in his two LA seasons after being signed as a free agent. He's simply average, at most, and I signed him as another left-handed starting arm and was obviously expecting more from him. All of them are relatively team-friendly deals (Mailhot will make $9M, the rest much less). Logic, at least in my opinion, might dictate that Sostre, by under-performing considerably and even with a HIGH desire for winner trait, will almost certainly take the "bird in the hand" option to remain in LA for $5M. But one might argue that both Castaneda and Mailhot would be in a position to test the market and try to find a winner that would pick them up in free agency instead of picking up their options??? That said, I expect them ALL back in LA. But would be pleasantly surprised, on several levels, if they weren't!
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jun 28, 2015 7:55:26 GMT -5
The Angels finished up their season on the field with a 64-98 record (.395 winning percentage - wished it could have cracked .400), which is only slightly better than the previous 2033 season of 62-100. A key, late season, goal was met when we did NOT hit the century mark. We can build on that. Let's see how we did off the field and in the boardroom however as we again focus on the LA finances. Here's how the season ended up for Los Angeles, as told by our ACCOUNTING page: The key numbers on which I chose to focus all season are at the very bottom of the "Projected" column. The $84,117 is a number everyone can see for each team in the html reports. That shows that we ended up losing just under $100k on the season. It was tight all along, but in the end - red. The number below that, also visible to everyone else, is out total balance on the season. Again we ended in the red (and frankly, that might be the highest it was all season), losing $1.77M. That is the number that will be pulled up to the top of the next column over to start 2035. I am hoping we will benefit again from revenue sharing (last season that was slightly over $1M - thank you all teams that overspent the previous season and hopefully have again this past) and hopefully my owner will appreciate the work I have done and kick in some more bucks (last season he coughed up just over $1M). Should that happen, we might actually start in a positive position and that will make every number below it look that much better! Also of note, and I may have mentioned this several hundred times this season already, is our "team budget" dropping from $108M this season to, it would now appear, $82M next. It was down to $79 at one point, so my frugality bought us another $3K in the end. As you can see near the bottom of the 2034 column, our player expenses will drop off nicely next season (we may not be much better, but we will be cheaper) and that, in turn, will produce much more of a projected profit to start the season, already projected at $12.5M. Compared to others, it's still pocket change, but it's a GREEN number and that is what counts in the short-term in LA! For comparison sake, here's how the financial page ended the season: As you can clearly see the Angels have "projected budget room" of $23M and "money for free agents" of $21.6M. If you only paid attention to those numbers then you would "think" that you could go out and obtain, via trade, or sign some free agents to improve this team. That would be a huge gamble because it would immediately crash the numbers I talked about on the accounting page and unless the player acquired instantly produced "pay back" in the form of many more wins and far more people int he stands, we would be in a far deeper hole at year end, essentially spinning our wheels in red ink and never really getting over the hump. Rebuilding from the ground up and developing from within will hopefully set us on a far better, more profitable and easier to manage course. It just takes time! Again you can spot the team budget for next season of $82M, which I neglected to mention above, with be among the lowest in PBL, which is fine as our team will be built around a couple of moderately priced veterans and up-and-coming, minimum contract players. We'll be fine - maybe not post-season calibre yet, but fine! And the other numbers I highlighted in the financials are the money for "extensions" which I will not utilize this off-season because a) it's only a pittance really, and b) if I don't spend it, it just stays on the books for the future. The last number is the "player development" number. I dropped that SUBSTANTIALLY this past season just to try and make some cash (and miscalculated slightly in the end it turns out). That number will rise to as high as I can get it to hopefully produce some talent bumps on my young and growing team next season. And, I have officially and completely given up on Scouts in PBL. They are useless to me at this point! The scouting budget, as a result, will remain zero forever and (because I initially did not completely understand things in PBL) my error in extending my scout will only remain for one more season then I plan to never hire another. If you're a fan of the occasional sub-par discovery joining your international complex, good for you, but I am done with this in PBL (as others have already done). Just sayin'... Already we have started in on cleaning out the dead wood on this team, to set things up for next season. I have released 10 players off the roster that will not be part of our future. None of them cost me anything as they were either expiring contracts, auto-renewals of entry level or arbitration eligible this off-season. One more vesting, that will not, will also come off shortly. That amounted to almost $24M that will now be available for either better use or to prop up our bottom line (and with little impact on actually how good we will be next season as they were, I repeat, "dead weight"). So, we're off and running!! I think the only thing that might be left for this 2034 study of the LA Angels financial situation will be to do a quick comparison and reset when the off-season clicks over.
I am extremely curious to see the team budget list for next season (that's noted in a previous post above) to see where everyone ends up. I know my financials of course and can see the impact of the numbers. With due respect some teams look to be in FAR worse condition (if not impossible) financially at least, so I'll compare my challenge to theirs shortly.
And I'll do a quick review of what the NEW Angels numbers look like (compared to the two pages in this thread) just to see where we'll start 2035. Then I'll likely leave things alone as "hopefully" the situation will not be as dire going forward.
It has been fun, for me at least, sharing this throughout the 2034 LA Angels season! Good luck to everyone with their financial status as we click over to 2035 in PBL!
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Post by David_ExposGM on Jul 1, 2015 9:20:39 GMT -5
As a final installment to The 2034 LA Angels Story, just a quick update on how our financials shake down after moving past the World Series and into the off-season. It would appear that our being incredibly frugal this past season paid off a bit as our team budget did not actually drop to lowest in the league, but settled at $99-Million for the coming season. That's still down $9M from last years $108M, but far better than the $80 range projected throughout last season. We can work with that - We HAVE to work with that! We ended the year with a Total Balance of -$2.3M (and I hope that is the last time we see red on that line). That's carried over to the start of the coming season of course. Added to that was our portion of revenue sharing (thank you to those that contributed), which amounts to $876K and then Owner Arturo Moreno Jr. dug deep, with his "T-Rexian limbs", past the moths in his pockets, and shelled out $550K. That lets us start 2035 with a Starting Balance of -$850K. Still red, but manageable I hope. Provided we are smart about our money again this coming season, possibly shed a few contracts that are worth something to other teams in PBL looking for fills some holes, and then slot both developing players and some inexpensive bridge free agents into our rotation and lineup with the absolute intention of winning more than the 64 games we pulled off in 2034, then we will be on our way! As of today (and of course it will change): - we have been able to significantly bump our Player Development budget line, which was almost non-existent - and if it had been zero we would have made a profit - last season
- our team has actually changed from "rebuilding" to "neutral" as a team focus (which means we have less draft expense money in the budget, but still enough to get some more picks signed of course)
- and early projections suggest we could have a $7-Million dollar profit by year end (provided we do not do a thing of course, but even calling up some youngsters, or any free agent signings at all, will cut into that)
And once the fruits of draft & development over the past few seasons begin to make it to the Angels...look out! Fingers crossed for '35! I hope you've enjoyed just a tiny peek behind the curtains in LA this past season? I'm certain OOTP will be tweaking the finances and accounting pages as they go along with either patches in 16 and into the development of 17. As I have repeatedly said, if you are into "this" part of the baseball management experience, it is fascinating. If you aren't of course, it's pretty much a PITA. And one last graphic, as promised, the NEW team budgets for 2035! Red = down from 2034 Green = increased from 2034 Blue = the one team that actually remained the same Good Luck this off-season and in 2035!
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