"Testing Free Agency"

[Seviien]

Do players who refuse to ever open negotiations and have decided to test the market by playing out the last year of their contract ever reconsider?

[rknauber]

Originally Posted by Seviien

Do players who refuse to ever open negotiations and have decided to test the market by playing out the last year of their contract ever reconsider?

I have seen it once with Matt Holliday. The team was on a roll late in the year. I went to offer and he was open to negotiations.

[wlight1]

Yes. I have the impression that those changes of mind are usually due to morale changes.

[t-bone shuffle]

In a fictional league, I had my star SS refuse to negotiate with me all season. Then, two days before the trading deadline, he indicated that he would consider my offers. I made him an offer immediately, but he didn't respond and on the last day before the deadline, when he still hadn't responded, I traded his fickle self away.

[kcroyalgm]

Originally Posted by Seviien

Do players who refuse to ever open negotiations and have decided to test the market by playing out the last year of their contract ever reconsider?

My experience is that they often change their minds, especially if the team is doing well. My MO in my on-line leagues (the only way I play) is to check every player eligible for an extension after every sim. Players refusing to talk often change their minds. What's more interesting is that players will sometimes inexplicably drop the amount demanded if they go through a slump. If you feel confidant it's a slump and not an overall deterioration of ability, then jump in and make the offer for the lowered demand. On the other hand, hot players will similarly raise their demands.

[wlight1]

Originally Posted by kcroyalgm

What's more interesting is that players will sometimes inexplicably drop the amount demanded if they go through a slump.

Inexplicably? Extension negotiations are pretty heavily weighted towards current performance, so if a guy has a bad month, I'd expect his demands to go way down.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by wlight1

Inexplicably? Extension negotiations are pretty heavily weighted towards current performance, so if a guy has a bad month, I'd expect his demands to go way down.

And vice versa. A pitcher of mine who won 8-10 starts in a row went to $12M from $8M from the start of a season.

On the original post, quite a few players who say they are testing FA will take offers after the season is finished. I've had a couple who go through 4 stages;

Initially refuse offers in season
Take offers after the season
Won't sign even with several offers. I let them walk.
Will sign a compromise contract several weeks/months into FA

Although there are some bizarre contract demands, the FA AI is much improved on the human GM side. I wish that could be said for the computer teams.

[kcroyalgm]

Originally Posted by wlight1

Inexplicably? Extension negotiations are pretty heavily weighted towards current performance, so if a guy has a bad month, I'd expect his demands to go way down.

Yes, inexplicably. One wouldn't expect in real life to have a multi-year all-star in his prime drop his demand by 30% after a two week slump. But I see it happen in OOTP.