What would you do if you ran the Mets?

Every offseason, almost immediately following the World Series, Max Rieper and the rest of the amazing staff at Royals Review run an offseason simulation league. What makes this so special though? You’re against 29 other teams of folks running their own team as well. And it isn’t just writers that get involved; you’re competing against fans as well. It’s a really special project they run, and we thought, this time, let’s share the exploits with you.

For the most part, it will be Matt Goldman and myself—Michael Bradburn—running the MLB Daily Dish contingent, but our entire staff will weigh-in from time-to-time. What’s more important though, is that you weigh in. Sure, we could share what we’re doing—and that will happen—but the point of us sharing this experience with you is so you can help, have your voice heard, and, just maybe, win the New York Mets a fake World Series.

First, though, some housekeeping. From participating in previous years, we know that this is extremely fast-paced. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to share everything with you. Here is the schedule:

Sunday, November 6, 7:00PM ET - Simulation begins

Sunday, November 6, 10:00PM ET - Options must be decided on

Monday, November 7, 9:00AM ET - Qualifying Offers must be made

Tuesday, November 7, 9:00AM ET - Non-tenders must be made

Wednesday, November 8, NOON ET - Simulation ends

In total, that’s just 65 hours to simulate the entire offseason. Last year, I received somewhere in the neighborhood of 591 emails in that time. Without accounting for sleep, that’s over nine per hour.

For a full list of the rules, you can check at Royals Review. But here are a few to keep in mind:

According to the sim, and even though we are starting on November 6, our starting point is as if the Cubs just won the World Series. I mean, they did just win the World Series. But I mean, we rewind all the way back through all of the options that have already been exercised or declined.

You can not extend players that are already signed. It would just be too much work for the fine folks at Royals Review to act not only as the every free agent available on the market, but every baseball player. This is an important one to keep in mind as the Mets because there are plenty of players that we would like to extend.

Okay. Let’s get to the fun bit. Our recommended budget is set at $149 million, while we are expecting for a bit more than that because of the insurance on David Wright’s contract.

That being said, let’s turn it over to you. We have a rough plan ahead of us, but what should we do according to you? Is re-signing Yoenis Cespedes our top priority? What would Jay Bruce fetch in a trade? Do you think Tim Tebow is ready for his promotion? Let us know in the comments below or draw out your entire gameplan in a Fanpost of your very own.