Bryce Harper FA Deal

[fredjstanley]

So I've reached the 2018 off-season in my standard MLB game with the Phillies, and with plenty of dough in the bank I've signed Bryce Harper on the richest deal in MLB history. At age 26 he's coming off an MVP season, and with nearly half the league boasting enough money to sign him he was positioned to do very well for himself. What I want to know is, purely out of intrigue, how do you rate the contract from both the player's POV and from the team (my Phillies) perspective.

Contract details:

10 years, $40.25m per year, opt-out after 6th year, 10th year player option, $1m MVP bonus, $220k all-star bonus

It's a lot of money (clearly), but as possibly the best player in MLB entering the prime of his career I thought Harper was worth the outlay. Thoughts? I'd also be interested to hear how other OOTP players approached the bumper 2018 FA class. In my game the headline FA's were Harper, Kershaw, Bumgardner, Donaldson, Jose Fernandez, Altuve, Liriano, Rosenthal and Brantley.

[NoOne]

alot of this depends on financial environment.

for example, if you don't have a cap on cash maximum, that contract will look cheap at the end - most likely. it's a setting that will cause some bloat to contracts... it probably takes ~50yrs to level off to a new equillibrium.

i don't see contracts above 30-35M, and 35M is really rare. so, if 35-40M is the normal high-end in your league, i'd say you did fine on that at his age. i would have tried to reverse the option in the 9/10th year - that's worth an extra 500k/year.

also, as far as value, i think 220k does more for you in salary than a bonus for asg. i'd just lump that into salary and zero out that bonus on a player who will likely make it every year that he is healthy.

if you were close to the original offer (less than 5m/yr off at 40ish million, i'd guess), you could have bought the option years at the end and nixed the player opt-out. if you were very close to the initial request, you can do that instead of low-balling on money... flexibility is priceless.

[SMPatin]

Originally Posted by NoOne

alot of this depends on financial environment.

for example, if you don't have a cap on cash maximum, that contract will look cheap at the end - most likely. it's a setting that will cause some bloat to contracts... it probably takes ~50yrs to level off to a new equillibrium.

i don't see contracts above 30-35M, and 35M is really rare. so, if 35-40M is the normal high-end in your league, i'd say you did fine on that at his age. i would have tried to reverse the option in the 9/10th year - that's worth an extra 500k/year.

also, as far as value, i think 220k does more for you in salary than a bonus for asg. i'd just lump that into salary and zero out that bonus on a player who will likely make it every year that he is healthy.

if you were close to the original offer (less than 5m/yr off at 40ish million, i'd guess), you could have bought the option years at the end and nixed the player opt-out. if you were very close to the initial request, you can do that instead of low-balling on money... flexibility is priceless.

NoOne, what do you suggest for a cash maximum in a modern MLB league? What type of effect(s) does one have vs. setting none?

[DustinthePOWERHOUSE]

I actually just signed him to a contract in my game last night with the Padres. Just won a world series too (in your face AJ Preller)

I signed him to what I thought was kind of a ridiculous contract. But he was actually injured basically all of last year and the year before played only 77 games so it's a big risk on my part.

I signed him to:
20,22,22 (player opt) 32,32,32,32,32 (TO with buyout of 5mil)
no trade and also MVP award win: 3mil PA bonus 550: 2mil

It's a huge contract but I get a deal for those first three years. And if there's any way that he opts out after the first three (he;s only 26 and if he stays healthy) there's a real chance I'll make out like a bandit for that kind of value.

Or...I'm stuck with the "second best" hitter in the game for 7 years. Oh no.

[ChrisThough]

I signed him to an extension worth 405 million over the span of ten years. Always seems worth it imo.

[wallewalls]

Bryce always seems to do well in my saves. I don't think he's ever finished outside the top 3 in the mvp voting, minus 1 season where he only played 100 games or so

[jholland57]

Playing as the Padres, I signed him to a 8 yr/260 mil contract with an opt out after 3 yrs. (which he didn't exercise). We've won 2 WS with him so far. I'm very pleased with the deal, no matter what happens in the future.

[Bucky Ball]

I am somewhat similar to the above posted deal.

8 years, $274 million. With an opt out after year 3. But the 3 highest paying years are the 4th/5th/6th years at $37.5 each... so i'm betting he'll stick around.

The first year is a respectable $26 million which helped keep everything else together on the roster.

Currently doing well in his first season, though he missed a few weeks with a minor injury, and my Jays are 8 games up in the AL East with only September to play.

[NYYANKS98]

I have OOTP 16 and he almost always seems to underperform IMO, even if I mess with his ratings to make him a 1.000-1.100 OPS guy