Free Agent Contract Negotiation Issue

WrightWing · 03-26-2007, 01:17 PM

In a fictional league game, I was interested in a 21 year old FA 1B with 4/4.5 star rating. He asked for a 2 year deal at 2.2 million per year. I offered the following:

Year 1 - 2.2
Year 2 - 2.5
Year 3 - 2.75
Year 4 - 3.0
Year 5 - 4.0 (Team Option)

I submit the offer and wait. 7-10 days later I get a message that my offer isn't enough and at the same time receive a message that he has signed a 1 year deal for 1.67 million with another team. Not only has he signed for far, far less than I offered but I didn't even have a chance to counter-offer. My team is ranked 15th out of 16 in the power rankings, but he signed with the 16th ranked team of course.

Now, I rarely play fictionals anymore, I'm just doing this to find my way around the game and will delete the league soon anyway. I just wanted to throw this out there as a potential problem or else I'm missing something I just can't see. I do the league file if need be...

Getch · 03-26-2007, 01:41 PM

This is probably the reasoning. My guess is that the prospect was not fully developed. I logged many TT's around this area where you could sign prospects that haven't fully developed to long term money for little $$... For instance, a 8 year contract at 1 mill per. You may be overpaying him now, but when he develops into a uber-player, he'll be vastly underpaid.

Obviously, I do not know the potential/overall of the player, but I'd check that and see if, in 4-5 years and the player develops, the 3.5/4 mill salary would be way under his value. If so, the player probably took the correct contract offer.

Also, loyalty, greed, hometown location compared to your team's city all factor into player's choices during FA.

If you still think it was a bad choice by the player, give us all the details of the player and we can log a TT.

WrightWing · 03-26-2007, 01:53 PM

Thanks for the response. Your reasoning sounds solid in that he could possibly make a lot more later. Actually though, I'm not nearly as concerned with the numbers as I am these facts:

1) His message told me to up my offer. My offer was way beyond what he signed for. If he meant something else, he should have said something else.

2) I had no opportunity to counter-offer even though he told me I needed to if I wanted to sign him. I received the message he had signed elsewhere at the very same time I received the "up your offer" message.

3) If he was just going to sign with someone else with no opportunity for me to counter, than there shouldn't have been an initial message to up my offer.

That's where the real problem lays, IMO...

Getch · 03-26-2007, 02:01 PM

I remember issue #2/#3 from Beta testing, although I did not log a TT. My guess is that the "end of day" AI goes like:

1. Process all requests, find the one the player likes the most and send out emails to the teams
2. Random chance that player accepts the contract he like the best.

The emails about the contract offer go out before the AI to accept the contract.

As for #1, in Beta testing I remember players usually messaging me saying "The contract is not what I am looking for" when I try to "take advantage" of prospects with long-term contracts. However, I did most of my testing in this regard in contract extensions, and not in the FA market. I'll look into these issues tonight when I get home from work, and I'll log TT's with what I find.

03-26-2007, 01:17 PM	#1
WrightWing All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 709	Free Agent Contract Negotiation Issue In a fictional league game, I was interested in a 21 year old FA 1B with 4/4.5 star rating. He asked for a 2 year deal at 2.2 million per year. I offered the following: Year 1 - 2.2 Year 2 - 2.5 Year 3 - 2.75 Year 4 - 3.0 Year 5 - 4.0 (Team Option) I submit the offer and wait. 7-10 days later I get a message that my offer isn't enough and at the same time receive a message that he has signed a 1 year deal for 1.67 million with another team. Not only has he signed for far, far less than I offered but I didn't even have a chance to counter-offer. My team is ranked 15th out of 16 in the power rankings, but he signed with the 16th ranked team of course. Now, I rarely play fictionals anymore, I'm just doing this to find my way around the game and will delete the league soon anyway. I just wanted to throw this out there as a potential problem or else I'm missing something I just can't see. I do the league file if need be...

03-26-2007, 01:41 PM	#2
Getch All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 868	This is probably the reasoning. My guess is that the prospect was not fully developed. I logged many TT's around this area where you could sign prospects that haven't fully developed to long term money for little $$... For instance, a 8 year contract at 1 mill per. You may be overpaying him now, but when he develops into a uber-player, he'll be vastly underpaid. Obviously, I do not know the potential/overall of the player, but I'd check that and see if, in 4-5 years and the player develops, the 3.5/4 mill salary would be way under his value. If so, the player probably took the correct contract offer. Also, loyalty, greed, hometown location compared to your team's city all factor into player's choices during FA. If you still think it was a bad choice by the player, give us all the details of the player and we can log a TT.

03-26-2007, 01:53 PM	#3
WrightWing All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 709	Thanks for the response. Your reasoning sounds solid in that he could possibly make a lot more later. Actually though, I'm not nearly as concerned with the numbers as I am these facts: 1) His message told me to up my offer. My offer was way beyond what he signed for. If he meant something else, he should have said something else. 2) I had no opportunity to counter-offer even though he told me I needed to if I wanted to sign him. I received the message he had signed elsewhere at the very same time I received the "up your offer" message. 3) If he was just going to sign with someone else with no opportunity for me to counter, than there shouldn't have been an initial message to up my offer. That's where the real problem lays, IMO...

03-26-2007, 02:01 PM	#4
Getch All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 868	I remember issue #2/#3 from Beta testing, although I did not log a TT. My guess is that the "end of day" AI goes like: 1. Process all requests, find the one the player likes the most and send out emails to the teams 2. Random chance that player accepts the contract he like the best. The emails about the contract offer go out before the AI to accept the contract. As for #1, in Beta testing I remember players usually messaging me saying "The contract is not what I am looking for" when I try to "take advantage" of prospects with long-term contracts. However, I did most of my testing in this regard in contract extensions, and not in the FA market. I'll look into these issues tonight when I get home from work, and I'll log TT's with what I find.