[Northernsky]

Originally Posted by malichai11

I find the contact demands now painful, ridiculous, and almost certainly realistic. I am 13 years into a Kansas City Royals career right now and have had to make a LOT of difficult financial decisions because of how well I draft and how strong my farm system is. I never, EVER try to acquire high end talent in free agency. Not ever. If I have a superstar, I sign him to a long term contract a year before he hits Arbitration, and ONLY do it if they're durable.

edit - save for right at the beginning of spring training, that's when you go bargain shopping for high-end relievers with no offers (never get in a bidding war though because they'll end up wanting a TON), a decent starting pitcher, and sometimes a really good bat with awful injury history that's still sitting there unsigned.

Same here and I totally agree with the bargain shopping.