This is just a bit pretentious, I think. But a lot of owners have asked me what I look for when I build a team. Here, I'll try and quantify how I go about doing things.

Here's a few tips that will be explained further on: (note that these are generalities)

1. Forget defensive ratings, except maybe as a tie-breaker.
2. CH is the primary rating for offense.
3. The bullpen is the most important facet of your team.
4. CO and CL are the primary ratings for the bullpen.
5. Active trading and scouring of the FA wire is a must.
6. Small trades to begin with, then as the team grows in depth make deals for studs.
7. Make a plan and stick to it!
8. Deviation from your plan is only acceptable when you've reached the "success plateau"
9. Don't worry about other teams-- make them chase you. Trade with whomever it takes to improve your team.
10. Pitching beats hitting any day.

Here's an explanation of the bullet points above. Note that I ramble sometimes in trying to explain something, so bear with.

1. Forget defensive ratings, except maybe as a tie-breaker.: Note that 50 FA is "average fielding ability." Unless a player has <40 at FA, it is safe to discard FA as a factor in making trades. Melbourne RF Jack Bass is not a wizard with the glove, but his offensive production is high. He hit .292 with 25 HR and 78 RBI in 2009, and made only 7 errors. This is with a 49 FA. Sure, we all want to have 99+ there, but defensive ratings are not going to make or break you. Rome is heading into 2010 with Billy Whitney as LF. Whitney has a 45 FA at that position, but his offensive capabilities more than make up for any perceived defensive shortcomings. Always field the best offensive team you are capable of.

2. CH is the primary rating for offense.: There are some owners that would disagree with me on this-- and they have had success doing so. But I stand by my guns. You want contact hitters-- especially if you're going into this trying to build a team from nothing. You want players that will put the bat on the ball squarely. More contact == more hits == more run scoring chances. There are low-CH hitters out there that have found success and maintained it throughout a successful career (Melbourne LF Joe Lemon, for one) and there are high-CH hitters that have failed (recently-retired 2B Felipe Tiburon, for example) but those are the chances you take. I would rather have a high-CH guy like Tiburon than a low CH guy like Lemon on the team. All else being equal, of course. Right now, it's just stupidity to say that, but if we were starting from scratch, Tiburon would have a place in the Roman lineup, whereas I'd let someone else take Lemon on. The odds would be in my favor (hindsight is 20/20, and it would be a foolish thing to have Tiburon rather than Lemon-- but I would be more comfortable with high CH than low CH)

3. The bullpen is the most important facet of your team.: The bullpen is where most teams run into problems. A lot of teams out there have really strong closers. But how to get to the closer remains a problem. There are a few relief pitchers out there that are in demand trade-wise, and the owners are asking a lot for them. Don't be fooled. A good bullpen can (and has) been built strictly from the FA wire. You don't need "name" pitchers in the bullpen. You just need pitchers that can A) get ground balls, B) have high Scoring Position rating, and C) have high Close and Late ratings. "High" in this case is a misnomer. Over 50 is stellar in all three of these ratings. It goes without saying that you avoid any knuckleball or screwball pitchers. They can have a good outing every now and then, but they will get rocked. And if you're trying to build a franchise with sustained success, you want to avoid getting heartbreaking losses. When you have acheived a "success plateau" then you can experiment with KN or SC pitchers-- the talent around them will tend to pick them up.

4. CO and CL are the primary ratings for the bullpen.: Like that 99 AS flamethrower with 50 CO and 45 CL? I probably do as well-- but not for a steady job as a bullpen pitcher. You want pitchers that can hit their spots, that pay attention to baserunners, that keep their concentration with the game on the line. And you want them in every slot you can get them into in your bullpen. It does no good if you have a pitcher with 53 CL but <50 CO. Sure, he keeps his composure, but at his best, he's only going to hit his spots seldom. Walks are anathema to a winning team. You never want more walks than strikeouts for any pitcher. You see a pitcher on the FA list or in someone's AAA team with good numbers at CL and CO, you grab him as soon as possible. Even for the Long Relief/Spot Starter slots. Worst case scenario is they are thrust into the starting rotation for a game or two, and they've got the control to handle it. EN is a good tertiary stat to look at, but that is according to the slot. You want higher EN in your LR roles, and less in your Closer role. However, both Benemont Fordham (now MEL) and Andy Stewart (ROMA) have decently high EN ratings-- so that would only be used as a tiebreaker by owner's choice. I personally hardly ever look at EN outside of my starting rotation.

5. Active trading and scouring of the FA wire is a must.: Nobody in the UBL that has reached a semblance of the "success plateau" has built through the farm system alone. Atlanta, Berlin and Melbourne have all done really good jobs of building through youth, but it has been active trading that has pushed them over the edge from upper mediocrity to year in year out contenders. (Might be too early to say in Melbourne's case, but the team is strong) You cannot expect to sit on your hands all season and see drastic improvements. Note well that in the pb.ini file, experience is a factor in how well a player hits. You can build a team of youth, but it would behoove you to mix in a few well-rounded veterans (or even a few studs) for the proven performance. Personally, I shun rookies as much as possible. They are too streaky to sustain any kind of team success, and it make take 2-3 seasons for them to mature into well-rounded players. So you look at other teams constantly for that C, 3B, SS, whatever you need improvement at. And you always check the Free Agent Pool, because there are gems out there. The 2009 season saw Tony Verducci and Bobby Biggio claimed by Rome and Seattle respectively. There is no excuse for this, especially when you have teams losing 100 games and starting players whose talent level falls far below the players on there. The object is to win as many games as possible, right? Then why would anyone not improve their team by claiming a player for nothing off of the FA list? Not even a third-round pick do you need to give up. Just takes a roster slot, and a lot of teams are carrying a lot of dead weight on their rosters.

6. Small trades to begin with, then as the team grows in depth make deals for studs.: Not every deal needs to be a blockbuster. Make small trades. Team has a backup 2B that is better than your starter? Make a small deal with that team to pick him up. Don't be afraid to trade for other teams' backups if they improve your team. What you do not want to do (until you have reached the "success plateau") is give up a lot of your youth and draft picks for one stud. One player cannot turn a team around from mediocrity to greatness. Yes, we all want a "franchise player" but it's not necessary to win. Harbor should be a guide. HAR hasn't traded for any world-beater players, just solid players that the team could count on improving day in, day out. Improving the team immensely, without having to give up what the team believed to be "core" players. It is a cycle, however. As your team improves, and assuming you are not content with second-place, you must still strive to improve your team. So deal from strength. If you have a lot of really good-but-not-great starting pitching, try packaging a few of those with another player or two to a non-contending team for that one stud. Never pay too little for a player, however. If the players you offer can improve the other team, wonderful. If not, try to find a combination that will make the other team better as well as yours. Do not worry about overpaying, unless your team can't afford the deal. And if your team can't afford the deal, then why are you trying to make it?

7. Make a plan and stick to it!: Rome's plan is simple, every season-- Win. Do what it takes to win and improve the team to where everyone else is chasing Rome. This may not be a viable plan at the point of building your club is at. So modify it. "Goal: Less than 100 losses." "Goal: Second place in the division." those are goals to be set-- but not as a be all end all of team development. Every goal you set should be a stepping stone to the ultimate prize: Winning the World Cup. Don't settle for a "race well run" or "we'll get 'em next year" -- only settle for having the Cup in your trophy case. To get your goals, you should be willing to do whatever is necessary for team improvement. On your time frame, not the other teams'. That is important. You may be the owner that is trying to buck the odds and build exclusively through a farm system. That's great. But remember: the game matures players differently depending on what level of your system they are at. If you've got 10 stud prospects sitting in LOW and maturing, there's absolutely NO need for prospects in AAA. Those players will be handicapped. It is much better to trade the ones in AAA for players that can help now, then accept the fact that when your LOW players are ready to move up a level there will be no room-- and then their growth will be stunted. It is far better to trade the AAA prospects (high potentials, under 27 years old) then to have to release them and get nothing in return.

8. Deviation from your plan is only acceptable when you've reached the "success plateau": The "success plateau." I've mentioned it a few times. Right now, only one team is at the plateau-- Norfolk. Why? Because they won the Cup. Rome is there in theory-- very few positions need to be improved. Or can be improved without hurting the core of the team. That is important. Identify some players that you are going to build around. In Rome's case, they are: Alphonse Gotti, Dick Marion, Harvey Giuliani. Would I trade any of the three? Yes. But only if it substantially improved my team in regards to team records. Gotti is a great hitter-- average and power-- but if I can improve my shaky 2B/LF situation as well as make substantial improvements in other areas, he would go. Deviation from my plan? Perhaps-- Gotti is a "core" player. But that hasn't stopped me from trading him in the past. Masto Davidovich was a "core" player from Rome, but I saw a chance to improve what was a shaky rotation and got Bud Gonzales in the deal for him. I could not pass that up. And now London has a great "core" player to build around for their return to contention. The success plateau is only reached when a team has no players that can be achieved without hurting the team as it stands. Rome is close, but Rome will always try to be active on the trade market. Why? Because as both owner and commissioner, I'm in a different spot. Talent distribution around the league is a goal that I have as commissioner. It tends to be at odds with Rome's "Win Now" mantra, but I try and make sure to not hoard talent.

9. Don't worry about other teams-- make them chase you. Trade with whomever it takes to improve your team.: Morocco and Rome trade a lot. Morocco is probably Rome's most frequent trading partner-- for a reason. Morocco's ownership has the same idea as Rome: "Who cares about the other team, improve mine." If my job is done well-- building Rome -- then it doesn't matter what Morocco does, or how they improve through my trades with them. And vice-versa in Morocco's mind. If you exclude 3 or 4 other teams from your "trading base" then you are needlessly crippling your team. Trading within the division? Why not? As long as your team improves, who cares about the other? I'm not saying give up your stud pitching ace who is 22 years old for a couple 36-year old outfielders, but if you make smart and team-improving trades, it doesn't matter who the other team is. Meet your goals, and don't worry about the other teams.

10. Pitching beats hitting any day.: A staff of five ace pitchers will beat a team that hits .300. Great pitching will beat great hitting. Pitchers have the advantage. This is a baseball true-ism, and it has carried over into Sierra's game engine. Always improve your pitching before your offense, and immediate dividends will be seen. Don't be scared to trade for a 34 year old pitcher. Odds are there's 2-3 more seasons in him. Take chances-- don't rest on your laurels, because other teams are out there improving and trying to beat you.

Any questions not answered by this treatise? Email me and I'll add them here.