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Fronzizzle · 05-28-2020, 10:06 AM

I'm finding that in some instances, salary demands and negotiations are a bit wonky, and I'm wondering how others proceed, specifically in this situation.

I had a 31-year old 2B that is one of the top players in the league. Just above average on D, but a 9-WAR player three straight years (around 6-WAR each of the three years before that).

He was coming up on free agency and said he was interested in an extension, but his demands were a 9-year contract at around $50M per. I tried bringing the number and years down (adding options, vesting years, etc.) but he wouldn't come down from over $42M per year. That didn't come close to fitting in my budget, so I made a qualifying offer and let him walk.

Once free agency started, his demand listed on the main screen was $53M. A week into free agency and he signed with Cincinnati - for a six-year deal that averages $26M a year, the final year being a vesting option.

The player doesn't have high or low Greed, and this is after the 2040 season. My team (the Tigers) have won the division 8 straight years, we've won 4 WS during that time and the reputation of all of the personnel is Legendary or Excellent. No bad relationships, great team chemistry, etc.

I could have fit the $26M into my budget pretty easily, and I wanted the player back so I'm a bit bummed to see how this turned out. I'm wondering what I could have/should have done differently? I'm also a bit confused when the Demand listed on the main page is literally 2x as much as what he signed for. You can watch the Demand change over time, but not sure what good it does if it's nowhere near what the player is actually willing to settle for.

05-28-2020, 10:06 AM	#1
Fronzizzle Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 177	How do you handle contract negotations? I'm finding that in some instances, salary demands and negotiations are a bit wonky, and I'm wondering how others proceed, specifically in this situation. I had a 31-year old 2B that is one of the top players in the league. Just above average on D, but a 9-WAR player three straight years (around 6-WAR each of the three years before that). He was coming up on free agency and said he was interested in an extension, but his demands were a 9-year contract at around $50M per. I tried bringing the number and years down (adding options, vesting years, etc.) but he wouldn't come down from over $42M per year. That didn't come close to fitting in my budget, so I made a qualifying offer and let him walk. Once free agency started, his demand listed on the main screen was $53M. A week into free agency and he signed with Cincinnati - for a six-year deal that averages $26M a year, the final year being a vesting option. The player doesn't have high or low Greed, and this is after the 2040 season. My team (the Tigers) have won the division 8 straight years, we've won 4 WS during that time and the reputation of all of the personnel is Legendary or Excellent. No bad relationships, great team chemistry, etc. I could have fit the $26M into my budget pretty easily, and I wanted the player back so I'm a bit bummed to see how this turned out. I'm wondering what I could have/should have done differently? I'm also a bit confused when the Demand listed on the main page is literally 2x as much as what he signed for. You can watch the Demand change over time, but not sure what good it does if it's nowhere near what the player is actually willing to settle for.