Question about payroll hit for mid-season free agent signees

hefalumps · 08-24-2023, 12:29 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm still playing OOTP23 but imagine the logic applies for 24 as well...

I am at the end of July in my current season and just lost my starting 3B for the year.

There's a replacement free agent 3B I want to sign. He's willing to sign a minor league contract with a $20K signing bonus. But I'm planning on promoting him straight to the majors, so I was thinking I'd just offer him the major league minimum ($166K in my league). Why waste the $20K signing bonus if I'm promoting him anyway?

But I was trying to figure out - if I offer him a 1-year, $166K contract, do I end up paying only the pro-rated part of that $166K (basically August and September), or do I pay him all of it since I'm offering a guaranteed $166K? My "money available" when I offer him the $166K goes down by $166K in the contract offer screen, making me think I'm on the hook for the whole amount.

If I instead sign him to the minor league contract with the $20K bonus and then promote him, would I then only be responsible for the $20K and the prorated salary for August and September?

I'm trying to keep as much available money as possible for my draft that is coming up in mid September - so every penny counts! Does anyone have any idea how this will work and which option would save me the most money?

Thanks!

Rain King · 08-24-2023, 12:58 PM

The major league contract will be pro-rated.

hefalumps · 08-24-2023, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain King

The major league contract will be pro-rated.

So you're saying I should just sign him to the ML $166K contract and the amount taken from my "available money" should be prorated for the last two months, despite what the contract offer screen says?

Thanks!

BIG17EASY · 08-24-2023, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hefalumps

So you're saying I should just sign him to the ML $166K contract and the amount taken from my "available money" should be prorated for the last two months, despite what the contract offer screen says?

Thanks!

Yes

Rain King · 08-24-2023, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hefalumps

So you're saying I should just sign him to the ML $166K contract and the amount taken from my "available money" should be prorated for the last two months, despite what the contract offer screen says?

Thanks!

I honestly don't know how the Available Money works (I generally don't play with financials), but I do know your "Player Expenses" go up on a "per day" basis according to the pro-rated Salary. So, if you sign a guy to a yearly contract after the season has begun you won't be paying them for the calendar days that have already passed.

kidd_05_u2 · 08-24-2023, 02:38 PM

It's weird that the game doesn't know to pro-rate the contract when you offer a free agent but knows how to do it when you are trading for a player.

hefalumps · 08-24-2023, 05:16 PM

Oops - my bad - the available money on the contract offer screen *is* prorated - I did the math wrong in my head. Sorry to bother everyone!

hefalumps · 08-31-2023, 05:19 PM

So to follow up on this with a related observation...

I was able to make it to the draft with about $1.5M to sign my draft picks, which should have been just about enough. Except that one of my picks was demanding a ML contract of $332K/year in addition to his $290K signing bonus. I went ahead and met his demand since his signability was "Hard", and the hit to my draft budget/remaining money was $622K - the sum of the bonus plus the first year of his contract.

My question - why is the first year of his contract getting counted toward my draft expenses? It is the end of September - am I paying the full amount for his first year even though I'm not going to get anything out of him? Or maybe the expenses will adjust to the prorated amount of the contract once he signs?

Curious to see how this turns out - I'll report back once he signs.

I guess this is a side effect of having my draft happen in the regular season instead of the offseason. If I was negotiating in the offseason that part of the payroll hit would be on next year's payroll.

hefalumps · 09-02-2023, 12:16 PM

OK - once he signed - the money for the first year of his guaranteed ML contract did indeed get prorated - my available money went back up by $332K once he signed.

Hope this helps anyone else who is pinching pennies and gets stuck in this situation!

Pembroke · 09-07-2023, 10:38 PM

08-24-2023, 12:29 PM	#1
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,371	Question about payroll hit for mid-season free agent signees Hi everyone, I'm still playing OOTP23 but imagine the logic applies for 24 as well... I am at the end of July in my current season and just lost my starting 3B for the year. There's a replacement free agent 3B I want to sign. He's willing to sign a minor league contract with a $20K signing bonus. But I'm planning on promoting him straight to the majors, so I was thinking I'd just offer him the major league minimum ($166K in my league). Why waste the $20K signing bonus if I'm promoting him anyway? But I was trying to figure out - if I offer him a 1-year, $166K contract, do I end up paying only the pro-rated part of that $166K (basically August and September), or do I pay him all of it since I'm offering a guaranteed $166K? My "money available" when I offer him the $166K goes down by $166K in the contract offer screen, making me think I'm on the hook for the whole amount. If I instead sign him to the minor league contract with the $20K bonus and then promote him, would I then only be responsible for the $20K and the prorated salary for August and September? I'm trying to keep as much available money as possible for my draft that is coming up in mid September - so every penny counts! Does anyone have any idea how this will work and which option would save me the most money? Thanks!

08-24-2023, 12:58 PM	#2
Rain King Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,072 Infractions: 1/1 (1)	The major league contract will be pro-rated.

08-24-2023, 02:38 PM	#6
kidd_05_u2 Major Leagues Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 475	It's weird that the game doesn't know to pro-rate the contract when you offer a free agent but knows how to do it when you are trading for a player.

08-24-2023, 05:16 PM	#7
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,371	Oops - my bad - the available money on the contract offer screen is prorated - I did the math wrong in my head. Sorry to bother everyone!

08-31-2023, 05:19 PM	#8
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,371	So to follow up on this with a related observation... I was able to make it to the draft with about $1.5M to sign my draft picks, which should have been just about enough. Except that one of my picks was demanding a ML contract of $332K/year in addition to his $290K signing bonus. I went ahead and met his demand since his signability was "Hard", and the hit to my draft budget/remaining money was $622K - the sum of the bonus plus the first year of his contract. My question - why is the first year of his contract getting counted toward my draft expenses? It is the end of September - am I paying the full amount for his first year even though I'm not going to get anything out of him? Or maybe the expenses will adjust to the prorated amount of the contract once he signs? Curious to see how this turns out - I'll report back once he signs. I guess this is a side effect of having my draft happen in the regular season instead of the offseason. If I was negotiating in the offseason that part of the payroll hit would be on next year's payroll.

09-02-2023, 12:16 PM	#9
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,371	OK - once he signed - the money for the first year of his guaranteed ML contract did indeed get prorated - my available money went back up by $332K once he signed. Hope this helps anyone else who is pinching pennies and gets stuck in this situation!

09-07-2023, 10:38 PM	#10
Pembroke Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Netherlands Posts: 30