How to know whether a player will be a free agent?

manduck · 05-24-2011, 02:33 AM

How can I tell for sure whether a player is eligible for free agency? I have just finished the playoffs in my fictional league (won the championship

), and now I'm looking through my players to see who to offer extensions to. Several of my players have contract info that looks like this:

Code:

Contract Type      Major League Contract
Contract           Exp. after 2015, 1 year(s) left, $5,976,000 pa.
Service Time       5 Year(s), 0 Days (179 days this year)
Arbitration Status Eligible, but pos. FA after season! (Est. $5,976,000)

It's currently Oct 2 2015 in the game - the season and playoffs are over. So the player can't possibly accrue more service time before the FA date, right? But the arbitration status seems to imply that there's some change the player could become a FA. So what is it that determines whether he will become a FA or go through arbitration? Is it something under my control?

Carplos · 05-24-2011, 02:37 AM

Assuming the defaults are the same as MLB, he will be a FA as he reached 172 days of service this year, so he'll be at 6.

manduck · 05-24-2011, 02:40 AM

I think that 179 days this year is included in the 5 year, 0 days, though right? Otherwise wouldn't it say 5 years, 179 days?

Carplos · 05-24-2011, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manduck

I think that 179 days this year is included in the 5 year, 0 days, though right? Otherwise wouldn't it say 5 years, 179 days?

Not necessarily since only 172 days will count.

On the PC version it lists the total time and days this year on separate lines, though.

Pretty sure it won't change to 6 until the next pre-season begins.

manduck · 05-24-2011, 02:50 AM

Okay I'll take a chance then and assume these guys will take arbitration. I have about 12 of them and can't afford to offer them all extensions

phillupi · 05-24-2011, 08:13 AM

Let us know the outcome.

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manduck · 05-24-2011, 02:00 PM

It turned out that none of those players became FA - they all got arbitration. That's what I expected because there is no way they could accrue any more service time before their arbitration date, since the season was over. I think we have to consider it a bug that it says they could possible become free agents after the season, when actually they couldn't.

I've played a little way into the next season, and their service time now says "5 year(s), 4 days (4 days this year)" and their arbitration status says "Eligible, but pos. FA after season". This makes sense, because now they could possibly get another 179 days of service before the season ends, which would take them to 6 years service time which would make them FA.

phillupi · 05-24-2011, 05:10 PM

Thanks for the update.

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Nighthawk42 · 05-27-2011, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manduck

It turned out that none of those players became FA - they all got arbitration. That's what I expected because there is no way they could accrue any more service time before their arbitration date, since the season was over. I think we have to consider it a bug that it says they could possible become free agents after the season, when actually they couldn't.

I've played a little way into the next season, and their service time now says "5 year(s), 4 days (4 days this year)" and their arbitration status says "Eligible, but pos. FA after season". This makes sense, because now they could possibly get another 179 days of service before the season ends, which would take them to 6 years service time which would make them FA.

In the real MLB, a season consists of 182 days of service, for which a player can be credited (at most) 172 days. So, if you wanted to be a really mean GM, you could send those guys down to the minors for 15 days or so to keep them under 6 years and get another year of arbitration out of them.

Sadly, this exact thing happens in the real MLB than you might expect... but it's usually masked better. Case in point recently were the suggestions around the Web that the Phillies may try and hold Domonic Brown back long enough so that down the line they could get another year out of him. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

phillupi · 05-27-2011, 04:18 PM

I think the Rays did that a few years ago with Longoria.

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05-24-2011, 02:33 AM	#1
manduck Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 37	How to know whether a player will be a free agent? How can I tell for sure whether a player is eligible for free agency? I have just finished the playoffs in my fictional league (won the championship ), and now I'm looking through my players to see who to offer extensions to. Several of my players have contract info that looks like this: Code: Contract Type Major League Contract Contract Exp. after 2015, 1 year(s) left, $5,976,000 pa. Service Time 5 Year(s), 0 Days (179 days this year) Arbitration Status Eligible, but pos. FA after season! (Est. $5,976,000) It's currently Oct 2 2015 in the game - the season and playoffs are over. So the player can't possibly accrue more service time before the FA date, right? But the arbitration status seems to imply that there's some change the player could become a FA. So what is it that determines whether he will become a FA or go through arbitration? Is it something under my control?

05-24-2011, 02:37 AM	#2
Carplos Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,868 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	Assuming the defaults are the same as MLB, he will be a FA as he reached 172 days of service this year, so he'll be at 6.

05-24-2011, 02:40 AM	#3
manduck Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 37	I think that 179 days this year is included in the 5 year, 0 days, though right? Otherwise wouldn't it say 5 years, 179 days?

05-24-2011, 02:50 AM	#5
manduck Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 37	Okay I'll take a chance then and assume these guys will take arbitration. I have about 12 of them and can't afford to offer them all extensions

05-24-2011, 08:13 AM	#6
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	Let us know the outcome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05-24-2011, 02:00 PM	#7
manduck Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 37	It turned out that none of those players became FA - they all got arbitration. That's what I expected because there is no way they could accrue any more service time before their arbitration date, since the season was over. I think we have to consider it a bug that it says they could possible become free agents after the season, when actually they couldn't. I've played a little way into the next season, and their service time now says "5 year(s), 4 days (4 days this year)" and their arbitration status says "Eligible, but pos. FA after season". This makes sense, because now they could possibly get another 179 days of service before the season ends, which would take them to 6 years service time which would make them FA.

05-24-2011, 05:10 PM	#8
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	Thanks for the update. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05-27-2011, 04:18 PM	#10
phillupi All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 814	I think the Rays did that a few years ago with Longoria. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk