[subtle]

^^^Edit: I was writing this post before the one above me was posted which makes a good case for allowing an exemption for cash on hand so that it doesn't affect the market so violently.


The point is that we're trying to ask how a system that generates absurd demands for free agents (too much money from the start) and then does not seem to negotiate those demands in an effective way (players get left out in the cold or they just magically accept and offer without giving any feedback for 2 or 3 weeks) could be adjusted?

The solution to me would be to allow the game to understand that owners/GMs aren't going to part with 100% of their money just because they have it (Remember those Pirates' financial records that were leaked a season or two ago?) and to scale the demands of players to what's out on the market rather than some estimation of what a team could afford to pay for any given player. It would be up to a good commissioner to decide how to prevent GMs from abusing cash on hand by adjusting that amount in the game.