Being a baseball nerd means knowing the intricacies of the game and knowing the most minor stats about obscure players. I'm not the biggest baseball nerd around, but I could certainly be classified as one. And that's why I was pretty excited to get my hands on MLB Front Office Manager. Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane even makes an appearance in the game and serves as a mentor, providing you with tips and advice along your way to GM greatness. I've always dreamed that I'd make a pretty good General Manager, and with the help of Billy Beane, how could I go wrong?

But just how much fun is that prized GM job anyway? Do Billy Beane and Brian Cashman and all those guys really enjoy all the stat-crunching, prospect-hunting and contract-negotiating? Well there's no way to know for sure, but MLB Front Office Manager (MLB FOM) should give us a pretty good idea. After all, it holds pretty true to the job, even to some pretty minor details like the Rule-5 Draft.

The first step towards creating a GM is actually physically creating him. You can pick a face, body type, even what clothes your GM will wear. This is somewhat pointless, but a little customization never hurt anyone. Next you can decide on your GM's background. This is an important step, because your background determines your GM's starting abilities. For example, if you choose "Ex-Player" your GM will be good at keeping player morale up, but not necessarily good at other aspects, like contract negotiation. These stats will increase as you play through the game and become more experienced, but it's nice to be able to choose a strength at the outset.

Finally, you'll choose a team to represent. Different teams come with different budgets, just as in real life. And, just as in real life, the New York Yankees have the largest budget, at well over $150 million. This makes them arguably the easiest team to play as, as you will have the budget to sign even the most expensive free agents. And since the game picks up after the 2008 season, there are some enticing free agents out there... namely Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, and C.C. Sabathia.

Once you've customized and created your GM, and chosen a team, you are thrust right into the mix. The game starts right after the end of the World Series, aka the beginning of the offseason, which is anything but downtime for the GM. You'll begin immediately with contract negotiations for pending free agents on your team. Soon after this comes arbitration, which is another form of negotiation based around an arbitrator. Basically, prepare for an offseason of managing and rearranging your roster. Within a month or so, the Free Agent period begins, and you are able to make offers to any players who were not re-signed to their previous team. This was exciting at first, but I soon realized that there's not much negotiation to speak of. The players make contract requests, and if you fail to meet their dollar amount or contract length, they generally reject the offer. Some players even rejected my offer when I had met their requests. After offering Bobby Abreu a deal and being subsequently rejected on five different occasions, I finally gave up on signing him. Andy Pettitte also seemed determined to move on, and eventually signed with the Cubs. Correct me if I'm wrong but sometimes players don't get everything they ask for in a contract.

All of this interaction with players is done through the game's main interface, a series of menus. There is not really any visual/graphical representation of the events or occurences, so you'll find yourself staring at the same menus most of the time. Communication with other GMs, including your mentor, Billy Beane, occurs through your email inbox. GMs will propose trades, and you'll be informed of important activity in your league, such as major signings and negotiations with players. But again, it's just another menu, which adds to the feeling that MLB FOM is not so much fun, but more like having a real job.

MLB FOM is remarkably deep in terms of accurately representing the tasks of a baseball GM. It goes so far as to let you determine your scouting budgets for countries all over the world, and even different regions of the US. There are rosters for your MLB team's minor league affiliates that need to be managed. There are depth charts to give visual representations of your roster, Active Rosters and 40-man Rosters which need to be organized and managed. Basically, this depth comes with a lot of baggage. You have to be either really determined, or extremely knowledgable about the inner workings of the front office to remain interested with the complexity presented here. I can't really say that depth and complexity is a bad thing, but I can say that it was difficult to remain enthusiastic when I was confused most of the time. I actually ended up unintentionally designating Phil Hughes for assignment out of sheer confusion while trying to add him to my Major League roster.

Once the actual season starts, you'll have some respite from the menu system, as the game offers you the ability to manage your team's games. It's not the deepest simulation, but you'll have the opportunity to make certain decisions such as pitching changes, and when to steal/bunt. There's not really much of a point to this, but at least its a break from staring at menus.

After playing MLB FOM, I've definitely been rethinking my dream to someday be the decision maker of a real MLB team. The game is simply unable to turn the tedious and overwhelming task of being a GM into anything resembling fun. This is certainly not a game for the faint of heart, or even the casual baseball fan. You'll need to be hardcore and devoted to baseball and its accompanying statistics and inner workings. If that's you, give this title a try; otherwise, look elsewhere.

Gameplay: 6.3
Gameplay is primarily menu-driven, leading the game to feel stale pretty quickly. Of course, in a title like this, gameplay is not the primary focus.

Graphics: 6.9
The presentation is generally well done, but the graphics are far from top notch. The inclusion of player headshots is a nice touch for browsing through stats.

Sound: 7.2
Decent music, nothing special, but nothing to complain about either. I was a little disappointed at the lack of voice-overs, which could have made the tutorials a bit more palatable.

Difficulty: Medium
The first thing you need to do is learn how everything works. Free Agents, Roster Management, Trades, Drafts, Scouting... the list goes on. Once you have that basic knowledge under your belt, you'll be able to handle the game, but this learning curve may prove too steep for many to endure.

Concept: 8.8 
While I think the game could have been executed in a more enjoyable manner, I do credit 2K Sports for the concept. I was genuinely excited to try my hand at running an MLB team. I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to get much fun out of it, but I applaud the attempt. If there is a sequel, my fingers are crossed that there are at least better tutorials.

Overall: 6.8
This game had great potential, but unfortunately it fails to deliver. Only the most hardcore baseball fanatics are going to be able to stomach the breadth and depth of this title. I'm a pretty big baseball fan, and it was even too much for me. But hey, if the concept of this game excites you, give it a go. You might find your true calling as a MLB Front Office Manager!