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Scouting Budgets
As GM, you are responsible for defining the direction of your scouting organization, and this consists of two parts: setting a Scouting Budget, and defining the Scouting Budget Distribution. These settings are on the Scouting page:
The Scouting Budget can only be set during the preseason. Once Spring Training begins, the budget is locked until the preseason of the following season.
Note: The scouting director's salary is considered part of the team's "staff payroll" and is not part of the Scouting Budget.
The distribution is set by dragging the sliders until you reach the desired levels. The more money you spend on an area, the better the information your scouting department will be able to provide. However, just as in real life, spending the most money doesn't necessarily result in the best results! Scouting director ratings can have a big impact here. For example, if a team pours a huge amount of money into amateur scouting, but their scouting director has a poor rating for scouting amateurs, then it is possible the results won't be as good as those for a more frugal team with a better scouting director.
Upcoming opponent reports include information about your opponent, such as ballpark data, projected pitching matchups, and a list of their top players, to help you plan your strategy for the series.
Scouting Budget
The Scouting Budget defines how much money your team spends on scouting per year. This money is used to pay scout salaries, travel, and other administrative expenses, but all of this detail is hidden to the GM. The Scouting Budget can only be adjusted during the preseason. Even if you fire your scouting director mid-season, your new scouting director will have to make due with what he has been given for the remainder of the season. OOTP also informs you of the league average Scouting Budget, for comparison's sake.The Scouting Budget can only be set during the preseason. Once Spring Training begins, the budget is locked until the preseason of the following season.
Note: The scouting director's salary is considered part of the team's "staff payroll" and is not part of the Scouting Budget.
Scouting Budget Distribution
Now that you've set your budget, you need to decide where to spend it. The Scouting Budget is divided by percentage across four different categories that align with the scouting director ratings:| Category | Description |
| Major League Scouting | Money spent on scouting major league players. This includes players from any parent league in your game that are in the same nation as this Scouting Director, as well as all free agents that have at least one day of professional service time. |
| Minor League Scouting | Money spent on scouting minor league players. This includes players from any child leagues in your game that are in the same nation as this Scouting Director. |
| International Scouting | Money spent on scouting players at any level who are in a different nation from this Scouting Director. Note, however, that for purposes of scouting, all free agents that have at least one day of professional service time count as "major leaguers," while free agents with no professional service time count as "minor leaguers." |
| Amateur Scouting | Money spent on scouting amateur players, such as those in an upcoming first-year player draft. This includes any players with no professional service time. |
The distribution is set by dragging the sliders until you reach the desired levels. The more money you spend on an area, the better the information your scouting department will be able to provide. However, just as in real life, spending the most money doesn't necessarily result in the best results! Scouting director ratings can have a big impact here. For example, if a team pours a huge amount of money into amateur scouting, but their scouting director has a poor rating for scouting amateurs, then it is possible the results won't be as good as those for a more frugal team with a better scouting director.
Upcoming Opponent Reports
On the Scouting page, there is an option to request scouting reports on upcoming opponents during the regular season. If this is turned on, then you will receive a personal message in the Manager News page before every series:Upcoming opponent reports include information about your opponent, such as ballpark data, projected pitching matchups, and a list of their top players, to help you plan your strategy for the series.