Scouting Nations

[KBLover]

About how long should I expect my scout to take before he reports that he didn't find any talent (or reports on talent he found).

Example:

I sent a scout to Japan on Jan.1 in a small fictional league of 16 teams (first thing I did was send a high pitching grade scout because my roster sucked for pitching, and since I like Japanese players - there you go ). It's now a few months later and the season is underway - still no report either way, success or failure.

Should I expect a response anytime soon or not until next year/offseason? Does ability of the scout matter on how fast he reports back? The level of the talent he finds? The type of player he brings back?

[KBLover]

Just got my first two international players via scouting. Both came in the offseason. One from Japan and one from Mongolia. The Mongolia was an interesting case because the scout was there for like a week and turned up a (rather weak) player. Even more interesting was that he was from the U.S.A.! That was surprising. Didn't think there'd be many Americans in Mongolia

The scout I sent to Japan took all season and through the Winter Meetings before reporting the player, but the guy was far better. Signed him, put him in S.T. and he did well and is starting for me this year.

So now I wonder:

1) Do the result come back only in the offseason and never during the regular season?

2) Does the time it takes help generate a better player being presented to you? I know the baseball level of the nation matters a lot - just wondering if the time the scout takes also matters.

3) Still wonder if I had sent the solid scout I had to Mongolia instead of Japan, would the better scout have landed me a better player brought back.

4) I noticed for the first time that scouts have strategy settings, including the Favor OBP and such sliders. Do those affect what players they bring back?