Dumbest FA contract?

Rockpile · 11-21-2002, 09:35 PM

I'm in couple of leagues that just had their first free agent period after their first years. And I saw some REALLY strange contracts being signed...

One league has a 30 million dollar cap and a closer was offered 15 million for 6 years (by a major contender)

Another league an owner offered and signed four guys over 32 for deals worth between 8 and 15 million for the next 6 years.

Do these rank amongst the craziest moves in an online league? What are the dumbest moves you guys have seen?

(As a Rockies fan I realize just how much crazy contracts can hurt a team. Bye, bye Hampton and Neagle!!!)

SoxWin · 11-21-2002, 09:51 PM

I don't know all the details but my brief take. Especially in the first example, the commish shouldn't have let that happen, 50% of payroll to one guy???????????? That's more obscene then ARods contract.

15mil/24 guys = $625,000 per guy. Once the owner realizes he has no hope in hell of competing he'll drop out. I mean, in a couple of years (or maybe now) how will he fill out his roster? Who in their right mind would take a team that hamstrung by one ludicrous deal?

They both sound like excellent ways to ruin a team and possibly a league to me.

Rich

IamIowa · 11-22-2002, 12:01 AM

$25 million for 1 year to Jack Cust at age 24. The guy has an "E" rating in LF and is in the NL, so no DH spot. He does have very good batting ratings though (G,F,P,B,B,G).

Total Nirvana · 11-22-2002, 12:16 AM

Someone made a deal with pitcher roy oswalt in the now disfunct "new" XBL. It was around the line of 21 million dollars for 6 years. Simming the same season, he went 14-19 with a 5.79 ERA

CBL-Commish · 11-22-2002, 07:54 AM

In my attempt to destroy the Yankees I signed Mark McLemore (at age 37) to an 11-year, $25 million per season contract.

Gastric ReFlux · 11-22-2002, 11:48 AM

Poor Mark, he never gets paid enough.

CommishJoe · 11-22-2002, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoxWin
I don't know all the details but my brief take. Especially in the first example, the commish shouldn't have let that happen, 50% of payroll to one guy???????????? That's more obscene then ARods contract.

15mil/24 guys = $625,000 per guy. Once the owner realizes he has no hope in hell of competing he'll drop out. I mean, in a couple of years (or maybe now) how will he fill out his roster? Who in their right mind would take a team that hamstrung by one ludicrous deal?

They both sound like excellent ways to ruin a team and possibly a league to me.

Rich

I don't think the Commish should have stopped that signing. However, if the owner quit, I don't see it being unfair if the commish relieved the new owner of that contract.

Bluenoser · 11-22-2002, 01:54 PM

For your second example I don't see the problem with that at all. Of course it depends on the player and his abilities.

I just traded for eric Milton in NBSL. He's making $5M this year and is FA eligible at end of season. He wants $13.5 x 6 Yrs for an extension.

Am I going to sign him? You bet. He puts up good numbers every year. He's competitive and a winner.

If I don't sign him for that money, someone esle will during the off season, quite possibly one of my division rivals. When that season ends and I finish 4 games out of first and go look at the stats and see Milton won 3 starts against me, I'll be kicking myself in the ass for not signing him.

I guess it depends on a lot of things, such as how competitive your team will be, is the player worth the money, etc etc.

Being 32 or over doesn't mean a whole lot. I've seen a lot of good pitchers in this game still winning 18 a season with Era's under 3.50.

I'll take one of those guys any day.

Rockpile · 11-22-2002, 07:05 PM

I guess I should clarify about my second example. These players were no where near Milton's level (I dont think Milton is worth 13 million...I would think he would accept 9 or I would trade him). These monster contracts were given out to guys I wouldnt even look at as the GM of a certian North of the border team.

Bluenoser · 11-22-2002, 10:25 PM

I don't think he's worth 13.5 either, but he won't take less, and I'd be a fool to let him go to a division rival.

There's many players in this game that sign for a lot more than they're worth. That's something we have no control over. Either you sign em or you don't.

Rockpile · 11-23-2002, 10:13 AM

Like I said, I think I would trade him if he wouldnt sign for less. I am guessing that's why the other team traded him to you...

I think there is a time and a place for big spending and yours sounds like it makes sense. Both of my leagues have caps and believe me these deals did not make sense from any perspective.

Anyways, I started this thread more as a way for people to post insane contracts that they've seen rather than discuss economics.

What's the most insane contract that you've seen?

What are these owners thinking?

ChicagoCobrasGM · 11-23-2002, 11:02 AM

About that Cust signing, I'm not sure if this was the plan, but I can see the logic behind it.

Suppose you have tons of money with not much to do with it. Say, 50 million under a given league's salary cap. Instead of offer Cust a high offer to outbid everyone for 6 years, he puts an outrageous number to take the hit in one year. At the end of this season, he can try to re-sign him for something more reasonable (not sure what he'd ask for), maybe around 5-7 million per season. For a talented youngster like that, I doubt a contract offer like that would have won the bidding... Just a thought from what could be that guy's perspective.

In another note, I just signed an aging Sammy Sosa in kind of a similar circumstance. I signed him for nearly 15 mill for 1-yr while remaining 20 million under the cap. He has 730 career home runs, still has some good pop in his bat, and wanted him to go out on my team. There's something to be said for loyalty!!

cougar · 11-23-2002, 02:17 PM

In my dynasty I signed Roy Halladay (who's blowing it up) to a 3 year $10 mil contract. Three years later I gave him a $13 million extension for 6 years. I'll see if it works out. I also gave future-stud Asastacio Martinez $18.5 million over 3 years after I got in a bidding war for him. He's worth it so far I guess since I can afford it.

Rockpile · 11-23-2002, 04:52 PM

Yeah those monster money / 1 year contracts do have some amount of thought behind them. That is almost a loophole /bug in the FA process.

I guess my question now is: is it common for owners to blow their money like this in online leagues? Why do they do it?

JWay · 11-23-2002, 04:56 PM

its like risk free. you try to win but you dont have much to much investment in it other than time.

bigphesta · 11-23-2002, 07:10 PM

that's why most of the 'good' leagues have rules to prevent this (either a max on the amt of a 1 year deal or a rule stating that players must be signed for at least what they're currently making until they reach a certian age)

CommishJoe · 11-24-2002, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rockpile
Yeah those monster money / 1 year contracts do have some amount of thought behind them. That is almost a loophole /bug in the FA process.

I guess my question now is: is it common for owners to blow their money like this in online leagues? Why do they do it?

It's common enough that I created a rule preventing them.

CDL Commish · 11-25-2002, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoCobrasGM
About that Cust signing, I'm not sure if this was the plan, but I can see the logic behind it.

Suppose you have tons of money with not much to do with it. Say, 50 million under a given league's salary cap. Instead of offer Cust a high offer to outbid everyone for 6 years, he puts an outrageous number to take the hit in one year. At the end of this season, he can try to re-sign him for something more reasonable (not sure what he'd ask for), maybe around 5-7 million per season. For a talented youngster like that, I doubt a contract offer like that would have won the bidding... Just a thought from what could be that guy's perspective.

In another note, I just signed an aging Sammy Sosa in kind of a similar circumstance. I signed him for nearly 15 mill for 1-yr while remaining 20 million under the cap. He has 730 career home runs, still has some good pop in his bat, and wanted him to go out on my team. There's something to be said for loyalty!!

In the CDL we added a rule about 8 or 9 seasons back to eliminate this loophole. The maximum 1 year deal a team can sign a FA to is $8 million. It's a good rule and really eliminates this problem.

Cuss16 · 12-07-2002, 04:10 AM

i had a dumb deal once signing one guy to a 3 yr deal worth 20 mil/yr
cool huh

)

webspinnre · 12-07-2002, 05:59 PM

Just out of curiosity, why on earth would you have a 30 million dollar cap? Thats way too low, no one will ever be able to resign their good players, and their demands arent going to change, just because of the cap.

11-21-2002, 09:35 PM	#1
Rockpile All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 620	Dumbest FA contract? I'm in couple of leagues that just had their first free agent period after their first years. And I saw some REALLY strange contracts being signed... One league has a 30 million dollar cap and a closer was offered 15 million for 6 years (by a major contender) Another league an owner offered and signed four guys over 32 for deals worth between 8 and 15 million for the next 6 years. Do these rank amongst the craziest moves in an online league? What are the dumbest moves you guys have seen? (As a Rockies fan I realize just how much crazy contracts can hurt a team. Bye, bye Hampton and Neagle!!!)

11-21-2002, 09:51 PM	#2
SoxWin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Blissful ignorance Posts: 3,315	I don't know all the details but my brief take. Especially in the first example, the commish shouldn't have let that happen, 50% of payroll to one guy???????????? That's more obscene then ARods contract. 15mil/24 guys = $625,000 per guy. Once the owner realizes he has no hope in hell of competing he'll drop out. I mean, in a couple of years (or maybe now) how will he fill out his roster? Who in their right mind would take a team that hamstrung by one ludicrous deal? They both sound like excellent ways to ruin a team and possibly a league to me. Rich __________________ It's called partying. When you do a lot of it, you're bound to be places where the police show up. I smoke a lot of pot and drink a lot of beer. I also graduated Suma Cum Laude. ****ing sue me. - Luis Rivera

11-22-2002, 12:01 AM	#3
IamIowa Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 216	$25 million for 1 year to Jack Cust at age 24. The guy has an "E" rating in LF and is in the NL, so no DH spot. He does have very good batting ratings though (G,F,P,B,B,G). __________________ Boston Redsox - Baseball Maelstrom Co-Commish, 1995 runner-up Iowa Stormraiders - New World 1984 Champion, 1986 Champion, 1987 runner-up, 1988 champion, 1993 runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers - DBLC

11-22-2002, 12:16 AM	#4
Total Nirvana All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 750	Someone made a deal with pitcher roy oswalt in the now disfunct "new" XBL. It was around the line of 21 million dollars for 6 years. Simming the same season, he went 14-19 with a 5.79 ERA __________________ Total Hockey Commissioner Your Off-Topic Nightmare. Free Agent OT Player - Plays 1B/3B/OF, hits for power on all fields, great fielder, can hit .330 a season!

11-22-2002, 07:54 AM	#5
CBL-Commish All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,999	In my attempt to destroy the Yankees I signed Mark McLemore (at age 37) to an 11-year, $25 million per season contract. __________________ For the best in O's news: Orioles' Hangout.com

11-22-2002, 11:48 AM	#6
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	Poor Mark, he never gets paid enough.

11-22-2002, 01:54 PM	#8
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 14,477	For your second example I don't see the problem with that at all. Of course it depends on the player and his abilities. I just traded for eric Milton in NBSL. He's making $5M this year and is FA eligible at end of season. He wants $13.5 x 6 Yrs for an extension. Am I going to sign him? You bet. He puts up good numbers every year. He's competitive and a winner. If I don't sign him for that money, someone esle will during the off season, quite possibly one of my division rivals. When that season ends and I finish 4 games out of first and go look at the stats and see Milton won 3 starts against me, I'll be kicking myself in the ass for not signing him. I guess it depends on a lot of things, such as how competitive your team will be, is the player worth the money, etc etc. Being 32 or over doesn't mean a whole lot. I've seen a lot of good pitchers in this game still winning 18 a season with Era's under 3.50. I'll take one of those guys any day.

11-22-2002, 07:05 PM	#9
Rockpile All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 620	I guess I should clarify about my second example. These players were no where near Milton's level (I dont think Milton is worth 13 million...I would think he would accept 9 or I would trade him). These monster contracts were given out to guys I wouldnt even look at as the GM of a certian North of the border team.

11-22-2002, 10:25 PM	#10
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 14,477	I don't think he's worth 13.5 either, but he won't take less, and I'd be a fool to let him go to a division rival. There's many players in this game that sign for a lot more than they're worth. That's something we have no control over. Either you sign em or you don't.

11-23-2002, 10:13 AM	#11
Rockpile All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 620	Like I said, I think I would trade him if he wouldnt sign for less. I am guessing that's why the other team traded him to you... I think there is a time and a place for big spending and yours sounds like it makes sense. Both of my leagues have caps and believe me these deals did not make sense from any perspective. Anyways, I started this thread more as a way for people to post insane contracts that they've seen rather than discuss economics. What's the most insane contract that you've seen? What are these owners thinking?

11-23-2002, 11:02 AM	#12
ChicagoCobrasGM Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 8	Re: Jack Cust contract About that Cust signing, I'm not sure if this was the plan, but I can see the logic behind it. Suppose you have tons of money with not much to do with it. Say, 50 million under a given league's salary cap. Instead of offer Cust a high offer to outbid everyone for 6 years, he puts an outrageous number to take the hit in one year. At the end of this season, he can try to re-sign him for something more reasonable (not sure what he'd ask for), maybe around 5-7 million per season. For a talented youngster like that, I doubt a contract offer like that would have won the bidding... Just a thought from what could be that guy's perspective. In another note, I just signed an aging Sammy Sosa in kind of a similar circumstance. I signed him for nearly 15 mill for 1-yr while remaining 20 million under the cap. He has 730 career home runs, still has some good pop in his bat, and wanted him to go out on my team. There's something to be said for loyalty!!

11-23-2002, 02:17 PM	#13
cougar Bat Boy Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: TEXAS Posts: 9	In my dynasty I signed Roy Halladay (who's blowing it up) to a 3 year $10 mil contract. Three years later I gave him a $13 million extension for 6 years. I'll see if it works out. I also gave future-stud Asastacio Martinez $18.5 million over 3 years after I got in a bidding war for him. He's worth it so far I guess since I can afford it.

11-23-2002, 04:52 PM	#14
Rockpile All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 620	Yeah those monster money / 1 year contracts do have some amount of thought behind them. That is almost a loophole /bug in the FA process. I guess my question now is: is it common for owners to blow their money like this in online leagues? Why do they do it?

11-23-2002, 04:56 PM	#15
JWay Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,031	its like risk free. you try to win but you dont have much to much investment in it other than time.

11-23-2002, 07:10 PM	#16
bigphesta Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Des Moines, Iowa Posts: 1,366	that's why most of the 'good' leagues have rules to prevent this (either a max on the amt of a 1 year deal or a rule stating that players must be signed for at least what they're currently making until they reach a certian age)

12-07-2002, 04:10 AM	#19
Cuss16 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: BC, CANADA Posts: 2,994	i had a dumb deal once signing one guy to a 3 yr deal worth 20 mil/yr cool huh ) __________________

12-07-2002, 05:59 PM	#20
webspinnre Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Spokane, WA - At School Posts: 59	Just out of curiosity, why on earth would you have a 30 million dollar cap? Thats way too low, no one will ever be able to resign their good players, and their demands arent going to change, just because of the cap.