Description: Trainers are 100% optional for teams in Franchise Baseball. In fact, trainers are considered a luxury. They offer bonus' to training and off-season increases, but, also have detractions as well.

Topics

Salary
Contract Length
Evaluation Strengths
Training Efficiency
Training Inefficiency
Skill Expertise
Skill Weakness
Off-Season Increases
Availability

Salary: Trainers are paid by the day (not game). For each day that a team employs a trainer, they will be responsible for paying his salary. If a team cannot afford the salary, the trainer is released back to the trainer pool. There is no warning that a trainer is going to leave. If there is not enough money to pay him, he becomes available for other teams. Revenue for a team is calculated before a trainer is paid, so, ticket sales, merchandise, concessions, etc. will be credited before the trainer is paid. It is not a good idea, however, to rely on variable revenue to pay a trainer. To make sure that a team has enough money to retain the services of their trainer it is suggested that a team has enough money to pay him in cash or the bank. Please note that if a team is in violation of the salary cap on a game day or if they have a salary cap excess balance remaining, that will be taken out before the trainer is paid. In other words, if you can't cover the cap penalty, the team is going to lose their trainer. Trainers are paid before managers. If you only have enough money to keep one or the other, the trainer will be kept.

Contract Length: Trainers are all signed to a contract. That contract may be 0, 1 or 2 seasons. 0 seasons is just until the end of this season, 1 season is this season and next season and 2 seasons is this season, next and the season after that. Non-subscribed teams may only offer 0 season contracts to trainers. All contracts expire at the end of the season. Teams may release a trainer at any time, this will save you the salary that you have agreed to pay the trainer. Teams may not, however, sign more than one trainer in a single season, even if you release your current trainer. Exception: When a new user joins the game, their trainer will be released back to the pool of trainers and they are allowed to sign a trainer, even if that franchise has already signed one this season. Trainer contracts may not be re-negotiated. All trainers leave their team at the end of their contract.

Evaluation Strengths: Each trainer has three skills for which they have an evaluation strength. An evaluation strength means that the trainer can tell how big the gap is between a player's actual skill and that player's potential in that skill (see Player Potential for more on skill gaps). When you go to train a player or when you view a player, you will see text under the evaluation strength skills. That text will be a gauge of the gap between actual and potential skill for that player. The text is High (H), Mid (M) or Low (L).

Training Efficiency: Each trainer has two skills that he has a training efficiency in. When a trainer has an efficiency in something that means that is costs less to train the skill. The actual cost reduction is between 5-10% of the cost that it would be without a trainer. For example, if a skill would cost $8,000 to train and you have a trainer with an efficiency in that skill, it will cost between $7,200 and $7,600 to train the point.

Training Inefficiency: Each trainer also has two skills that he has an inefficiency in. Since the trainer was concentrating on his two efficiency skills, his abilities in other areas have slipped. These two skills cost more to train than they would if you didn't have a trainer. The actual cost increase is between 5-10%. For example, if a skill costs $5,000 to train normally, it would cost from $5,250-$5,500 if your coach has an inefficiency.

Skill Expertise: In addition to efficiencies, trainers also have skill expertise's which increase the probability that a training session with a player will be successful and the player will gain a point in that skill (if he has not reached his potential yet). Skill expertise bonus' range from 10-15%. For example, if your player has a 50% chance to increase normally when trained and you are currently employing a trainer with the skill expertise in the skill you are training, he would have between a 55% and 58% chance of increasing in that skill.

Skill Weakness: Just like the training inefficiency, trainers also have skill weaknesses. Each trainer will have two weaknesses. Training players in those skills will be 5-10% less likely to succeed. For example, if the player a team is training has a 50% chance of success without a trainer and the trainer that they have has a weakness in the skill being trained, then the player will have a 45%-48% chance of success.

Off-Season Increases: Trainers provide teams with off-season increases for their players, including a particularly high bump in the trainers "hidden skill". The hidden skill is one skill that the trainer is particularly good at helping players with in the off-season. Since it is not publicized, no one knows what that skill is (unless you watch your players extra careful). You must have the trainer on your team at the end of the season (the end of the season is after the playoffs are over-not when you are out of the playoffs) in order to get the benefits of the off-season increases that the trainer brings. Releasing the trainer after you are eliminated from the playoffs will not allow your team to get the benefit of these increases.

Availability: Trainers are a luxury. There are not enough trainers for every team. Having a trainer is not a guarantee. You may even want one and not be able to get one. If you want a trainer and there are none available, keep checking the news and trainer pool. Some may become available as teams can't pay for them or trainers decide to leave their team and test the free agency market.