Is It Worth It?

[Klew1986]

So I am playing a fictional game I created. I am currently in the off-season following the 2013 season. I expanded from 24 to 26 teams, then took over one of the expansion teams. I am at the start of free agency and there is a stud 26-year-old OF. He is a Type A free agent, but wants a ton of money.

I figure I'm a few years away from even thinking about contending, so my question is, do I sign this OF and just have him be the veteran leader when some of the prospects reach the majors?

My payroll for 2014 will be $19 million and my budget is 114 mil, so I have 69 mil in budget room.

I am in the top half of the draft order for 2014 draft, so I wouldn't lose my 1st round pick.

[ezpkns34]

Yep, I'd grab him

[sc_superstar]

If he is a make the all-star team very other year kind of stud, then pass, if he is a HoFer in the making then do it, but I would consider a few things

A) What OF position does he play?
B) Is he the best at his position, if so by a little or by a lot cause you may be able to do better when your ready to contend
C) Are there some specs in your system or can be traded for that will be studs when your ready to contend

[Klew1986]

Originally Posted by sc_superstar

If he is a make the all-star team very other year kind of stud, then pass, if he is a HoFer in the making then do it, but I would consider a few things

A) What OF position does he play?
B) Is he the best at his position, if so by a little or by a lot cause you may be able to do better when your ready to contend
C) Are there some specs in your system or can be traded for that will be studs when your ready to contend

Here is a screenshot of his player page. I am only a year into my expansion teams history, so I don't have much in the way of prospects as the draft in 2013 was pretty weak. I took a stud SP #1 overall.

[ashantewarrier]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

So I am playing a fictional game I created. I am currently in the off-season following the 2013 season. I expanded from 24 to 26 teams, then took over one of the expansion teams. I am at the start of free agency and there is a stud 26-year-old OF. He is a Type A free agent, but wants a ton of money.

I figure I'm a few years away from even thinking about contending, so my question is, do I sign this OF and just have him be the veteran leader when some of the prospects reach the majors?

My payroll for 2014 will be $19 million and my budget is 114 mil, so I have 69 mil in budget room.

I am in the top half of the draft order for 2014 draft, so I wouldn't lose my 1st round pick.

I would stay away from signing him as your expansion team may be years away from contending.
You will have to surrender a supplemental round pick in the following draft since he's a type A agent.
You need to build your farm system which will provide a foundation long term success as opposed to a quick fox ala George Steinbrenner.

Just my

[Kronos]

I'd pick him up, he's young enough to be a building block, besides, you want to get your new fan base excited

[ezpkns34]

The dude is 26 & you clearly have the budget room. The goal with a draft pick (and you'd only be surrendering a 2nd rounder it sounds like) is that you hope they turn into a player like this. Well, there's no hoping here, he's already there

With your budget situation, you could even frontload the contract so that when you are ready to compete then he's not costing as much as he should be. Combined with his fragile injury history, this gives you a small form of insurance as well

[BusterKing]

Will he ever be part of your team when it is a team that can contend?

If not, then don't waste your money.

[Lukas Berger]

Why wouldn't you? It's just money, which you have too much of anyway. And you can always trade him for far more value in prospects/picks then you'll lose to sign him.

[Klew1986]

Decided not to try to sign him. Just not a good idea to sign a player who would account for 1/2 the team payroll.

[ashantewarrier]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

Decided not to try to sign him. Just not a good idea to sign a player who would account for 1/2 the team payroll.

Good move! As an expansion team you do not want to put much of your resources into one player. You should invest that money into scouting & development. If you have a good farm system you can put together a young talented roster without spending the big $$$ as you would for FA talent. Also you can lock up your young talent through arbitration years and gain a compensatory pick if you they leave via FA.

My philosophy is to develop a good young core of talent and use FA to fill a need once my team is contending.

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by Klew1986

Decided not to try to sign him. Just not a good idea to sign a player who would account for 1/2 the team payroll.

Consider this.

You're not signing a Free Agent. You are buying a house. Live in the house two seasons and then flip it. You have more money than you can shake a stick at. You gain nothing by being frugal, because you won't be tight against your budget allotment for years. You need to obtain as many assets as possible to be a winner in 4-5 seasons. One way to obtain assets is to spend liberally on Free Agents and trade them well before their talent declines.

Otherwise, the only thing you accomplish by being so far under budget is buy your owner a new Learjet.

The dude is a 1%er. Spend freely!

[ezpkns34]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

Consider this.

You're not signing a Free Agent. You are buying a house. Live in the house two seasons and then flip it. You have more money than you can shake a stick at. You gain nothing by being frugal, because you won't be tight against your budget allotment for years. You need to obtain as many assets as possible to be a winner in 4-5 seasons. One way to obtain assets is to spend liberally on Free Agents and trade them well before their talent declines.

Otherwise, the only thing you accomplish by being so far under budget is buy your owner a new Learjet.

The dude is a 1%er. Spend freely!

Exactly. And like I said, with all that budget space & your inherent aversion to signing FAs as an expansion team, you can liberally frontload his offer as well (dunno how frontloaded OOTP will let you make a contract), but you could conceivably give him $40M in year 1 so as to help him be in the $10M range in future seasons when you'll need said budget space (or if you do want to flip him later, he'll be at a much easier salary to move)

Also, if your payroll is $19M & your budget is $114M, how do you only have $69M in budget room? I know OOTP finances can be a bit wonky at times, but that doesn't seem close to right unless you already heavily funded your player development &/or scouting

[Kronos]

Yeah there is really no benefit to not spending the money, you don't get to roll it over.

[ohms_law]

I'd have signed him too. A good player now is definitely worth a draft pick who is a potentially good player.

[Lumber-n-Lightning]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

Consider this.

You're not signing a Free Agent. You are buying a house. Live in the house two seasons and then flip it. You have more money than you can shake a stick at. You gain nothing by being frugal, because you won't be tight against your budget allotment for years. You need to obtain as many assets as possible to be a winner in 4-5 seasons. One way to obtain assets is to spend liberally on Free Agents and trade them well before their talent declines.

Otherwise, the only thing you accomplish by being so far under budget is buy your owner a new Learjet.

The dude is a 1%er. Spend freely!

Agree wholeheartedly about flipping assets down the line.

Heavily front loading his contract provides insurance against later injury, allows you to keep him longer if warranted, and makes him attractive trade bait in later years.

Also, his popularity will help fill a few seats while the rest of the team struggles.

[DrSatan]

I would've signed him and traded his butt for a bunch of players and/or prospects. Guys like that increase attendance, but not enough to make it worth the money you're paying him. Some other team would surely give you a ton in exchange for a superstar like that.

[PhillieFever]

Never Mind, I read it wrong.

[ashantewarrier]

Originally Posted by DrSatan

I would've signed him and traded his butt for a bunch of players and/or prospects. Guys like that increase attendance, but not enough to make it worth the money you're paying him. Some other team would surely give you a ton in exchange for a superstar like that.

Signing free agents then immediately trading them away is kind of cheesy IMO. As a (house) rule, when I sign a free agent or trade for a player I hold on to that player for at least 90 days of the regular season.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by ashantewarrier

Signing free agents then immediately trading them away is kind of cheesy IMO.

In real life a free agent signed prior to the start of the season cannot be traded until June 16th unless he gives his permission.