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Preseason Checklist
What Do I Do During the Preseason?
The preseason is one of the most important and most active times of the season in BaseHit. Not only does hope spring eternal for all 24 teams, but there are a lot of tasks that are best handled in the preseason.
Here’s a list for easy reference:
Sign Free Agents
Quality players are often being cut during the preseason. A great way to add talent and fill holes is to scoop up the salary cuts from other teams. Keep checking back to your league’s "Transaction" page to see who recently got dropped. It is important to remember that there is always a signing frenzy during the first 10 days of April so don’t expect to get every Free Agent you want to sign with your team. For more details on how free agency works, read this >> Free Agents*HELPFUL TIP* - In the preseason, Free Agents sign at regular intervals. For 8 sims a day leagues, Free Agents sign every 4 game days, starting with March 8th. So you want to get your bids in quickly and pay close attention. Unlike in the regular season, in the preseason you can put in a bid on someone and have him sign with your team at the next sim. For example, If you place a bid any time between 2/28 and 3/7, he will sign on 3/8. Unless the player is over-bid, then he may sign even sooner!
Trade
Trades happen all season, from the minute Spring Training starts to the trade deadline on August 31st. However, many leagues experience the most trade activity in the preseason. Teams looking to maximize allocations may be more willing to trade that veteran all-star to clear up salary and pave the way for a youngster to come up. Many owners are eager to trade veterans for draft picks or prospects, while other owners are eager to acquire major league ready talent and are willing to trade their picks and prospects. The preseason is a great time for these parties to come together. For more details on how trading works, read this >> Trade System*HELPFUL TIP* - Go to your league’s forum and post your trade block, and post what you are looking to acquire, or to trade. Let people know what you need and what you are offering and you will get people beating a path to your trade window. If someone has 2 good shortstops eating up salary space, they might be willing to trade one.
Adjust Your Stadium Dimensions
Note: This is only relevant for leagues that allow stadium changes. Stadium dimensions lock at the start of the 4/2 sim, so if you want to do any “construction”, you need to do it before then. Take a look at your team's strengths and weaknesses. Do you have strong defense? Ground ball pitchers? Lots of sluggers? Maximize your home field advantage by adjusting your stadium to the dynamics of your team. For more details on how stadium setting works, read this >> Stadiums and Stadium Models*HELPFUL TIP* - There are no magic tips for setting stadium dimensions. The same change that will help your hitters is likely to hurt your pitchers and vice versa. The same change that is likely to help your pitchers is also likely to help your opponents’ pitchers too. So translating stadium dimension to wins can be tricky to say the least. Tinker with stadium dimensions. Pay attention to the changes you see. You also might want to look at leagues that have fixed settings to see the impact. For example, CSFBL Justice is a max stadium league … all stadiums are maximum size. Triples are super high. Homers are relatively lower. ERA's tend to skew higher.
Ask your commissioner to move a prospect back to Low Minors
This does not necessarily have to happen in the preseason, we will add it to the list regardless. Commissioners and admins have the ability to move any player that has NEVER played a single game, back to Low Minors. So if you called up a 19 year old for salary reasons or any other reason, and you want them moved back to Low Minors, ask your commissioner. Just keep in mind...not all leagues allow these moves. So check your league rules or ask your commissioner to see if its allowed in your league. For more details on player reassignment, read this >> Player Reassignment Tool*HELPFUL TIP* - If a player is age 17 to age 22 and has never appeared in a single Major League game, they will develop better in Low Minors than they would in AAA or on the Active roster. It is an easy request to fulfill, so don’t be shy … reach out to your commish! If it's not allowed, he'll let you know. However, if the player is 23 or older, there is no advantage to being in Low Minors, so 23+ can stay in AAA and enjoy the same development that they would have in Low Minors. (26+ will actually develop better in AAA than in LM)