Biggest Mistakes

Here are some common mistakes made by new owners:

1. Drafting a single-season player in the first round (in this sim you have to plan for the long haul). It is currently 2018, OF Aaron Judge just hit the draft pools. He has ONE season under his belt, albeit a great season, there is no discount on a single season contract. My advice on this is to try to draft said player lower in the draft rounds (maybe 8-20 on your draft card). Let's say you end up drafting a single season phenom like OF Aaron Judge and want to keep him on your roster for the coming season. You should consider a Type 3 contract, as Judge has the possibility of hitting quite a lot of HR for your team, thus doubling the income from those potential multi HR games and/or 40 HR season (or more, considering the size of your ballpark).
2. Signing mediocre players to long-term contracts. Especially a Type 1 for a player off the draft, as you will have to either renegotiate the contract to a Type 2 or 3 (recommended because of no release fee) for the ability to release the player who isn't playing up to what you thought they would. Another mistake is a Type 6 contract (long term from your Auxiliary Roster), as you have no option but to retain said player until the season is over.
3. Calling up a highly-ranked Auxiliary player on a short-term contract or at the wrong position. This is a mistake you will have a hard time forgiving yourself for. In your Auxiliary Roster, you have two options of contracts, short term (Type 5, 15 to 120 days) and long term (Type 6, open ended and retain the right to sign to long term contract after season is over). You've been handed Ty Cobb on a platter, he's in your Auxiliary Roster, and doesn't want a bonus of any sort to join your team, but he's not listed as an OF, but he's listed as an OEB (this is all the utility players baseball has ever had or any time a superstar has that injury plagued year and ends a season with insufficient appearances to qualify for a full season). Calling up Ty Cobb on a Type 5 or as an OEB are two of the biggest mistakes a franchise owner in NSB can make when it comes to the use of the Auxiliary Roster in NSB. Call Cobb up on Type 6 as soon as you see his name as an OF, keep him through the off-season, sign him to Type 1 contract for 6 seasons, and enjoy having a quality franchise for seasons to come.
4. Not monitoring the financial state of your franchise. Plain and simple, this is the checkbook. You can go all out and spend like crazy until your franchise is bankrupt and every player on your roster is replaced with the likes of unknowns and never-heard-ofs. The majority of owners in your particular league may not be willing to bail you out, as they know you've put together a decent team that looks very competitive and would or could be for many seasons to come.
5. Making bad trades can hurt a franchise for many seasons. There are a multitude of mistakes that can be made, such as trading away top 10 draft choices, paying too many units for players or draft picks you are acquiring from another owner. The AI of the League Owned Teams has pretty much tamed the 'Wild West' trade days of multiple draft picks and players changing hands every off-season, but we still have our own values we put on certain players. Back to the point, bad trades are still possible from any team. Let's say a team wants to pay you a number of units for RP Joe Nathan, one of the games most prolific closers. When selecting his contract, I hope you consider a Type 3, because when he gets 30 or 40 saves for your team, the performance units the league pays out will double! Now, how many units did that team offer for your closer? Your Closer and Set-up man can make you a hundred or so units per season, thus paying for themselves. How many units were offered again? See the point?