Signing drafted players and shopping players

[italyprof]

Hi,

I have been playing OOTP for about a week, and that after a few years of playing at What if Sports, which I continue to do. OOTP is great and I love it.

I have been playing a custom league beginning in 1961 in which I had an inaugural draft (I let the auto function select for all other teams and I picked for my own).

We are now about to start 1965. I have so far only had two things befuddle me:

1. I understand that there is no guarantee of signing drafted players, and that even some top picks will be lost, but I am signing almost no very good players that I draft. At first I thought clicking "meet demand" would work along with a ML contract. Later, rereading the manual it appeared that top picks needed three times the suggested amount for a bonus so I did better than that and offered what seemed to be well over average salaries with an ML contract.

Catfish Hunter, Steve Carlton, Cleon Jones, even Ed Kranepool have said no and broken off negotiations. Losing 2 out of 4 would even be reasonable, but at times I am granted 6 additional (largely useless since the better players never sign) picks for the following draft because none of my picks signed a contract.

I think Clay Carrol is the best player I was able to sign and that after the first round of negotiations. Who knows why he went for it?

I am sure that I am missing something and I also wonder if when the scout suggested Jim Lonborg (another great pitcher to be sure but compared with Carlton?) and I did not go for him that this indicated that my chances of signing Lonborg were better for some reason (?)

2) Paradoxically, while it is a bit more difficult to sign players than it should be and while it is not exactly easy to carry out normal trades and get what you want (though at moments I seem to get better deals than I should really), it is WAY too easy to shop players one for one. I keep getting great deals doing that. There is a setting for making trading more difficult, but I am not sure if it only affects initiating trades and negotiations, but not that one for one shop player function.

So if it were a little easier (again 50% of the time would be enough) to sign new first year players drafted, and a little harder to get Frank Robinson in exchange for Bill White, or to get Bob Gibson for Al Downing (?) - I did not go for it as it seemed unseemly when I already had Marichal and picked up Larry Dierker instead - it would be more enjoyable.

I fear both not enjoying drafts, which I ordinarily love for their unpredictable natures (I mostly play progressive leagues at WIS in part for the drafting and team building) because I never get a single player I have strategically made a priority, and on the other hand feeling like it is too easy to build a pennant winner because hitting "shop player" with Luis Aparicio (I had obtained Fregosi by shopping someone or other previously) I find I can get some super pitcher.

Any advice on either front?

Thanks and thanks in advance to those here whom, already in surveying the forum threads, I see are very forthcoming with great advice and help. I love the game, will eventually explore the online leagues, but for now want to get the hang of it. Please, Cleon, it's an $80,000 bonus (you only asked for $20,000 !) and an MLB contract ! Just sign it...

[Déjà Bru]

For your first question, unfortunately I cannot come up with much. Do you have the setting on to use real historical transactions (see below)? I don't have enough experience playing historically to tell you if that would make a difference in your setup. I do know, however, that you can turn off draftee signing bonus negotiations in League Setup, Rules, if you continue to be frustrated.

I can be more definite in answering your second question. The trading difficulty setting certainly affects how easy it is to get good deals when you shop players around. Try bumping that difficulty setting up a notch.

[TGH-Adfabre]

1) Are they listed as Difficult to Sign when you draft them? I have played a little bit of Historical and have not run into this.

2) Are they going back into the draft? becoming free agents?

[italyprof]

Thanks to both of you for the answers. Dejà Bru, I will play around with the historical settings, but I took off the "historical transactions", so that should not be it.

Yes, I set difficulty in trading up a notch, and am still able to make trades (have an injured starting Shortstop - Leo Cardenas - in 1967 now and a team agreed to C Dave Duncan for Gene Michael. I decided not to trade but it means you can still trade but are not offered Ernie Banks for Dave Duncan anymore !

Anyway TG Adfabre, that was the perplexing thing - some were "easy" even very easy, others "extremely difficult" (why? I had, at the time by far the biggest budget in the league with a world champion, who knows?) but they were all saying no.

However, it all worked itself out when I finally ran into the financial wall - no more money to sign anyone, so I had to totally change to team, streamlining it - so while it is a great team still, the only superstars are Aaron, Rose and McCovey, and there is an excellent staff led by Marichal and G. Perry. But the rest of the team is mostly very good players and things are more competitive, more OBP oriented play, and I now check to see how much payroll I am adding when I trade, and the fire sale was not really so bad: Mazeroski Leon Wagner and Tony Oliva had to go, and I got or drafted for good, but less expensive players - Glenn Beckert, Cardenas, Matty Alou, and am developing a great bullpen that is some years away but will dominate the mid-70s.

Thanks again, seems like there is just a learning curve at this, which is a good thing.