Relief Pitcher Talent & High Free Agent Demands

[Trav876]

I'm 5 years into a sim and have a salary cap set to try to even the playing field. I set the contract demands (superstar, star, average, etc.) at what I thought would be a reasonable amount.


2.2M for superstars
1.5M for stars
400K for average
Etc.



But I've noticed during free agency, the best players are asking for WAAAAY more than the "superstar" estimate. For example, A-Rod after having a good year (didn't even win MVP though) was asking for over 7M per year.



With the salary cap, it's killing whichever AI team ends up taking those guys on. Some also don't get signed at all because teams can't afford it, so they sit out a year or more, even though they're high star/talent. All interesting stuff, however is there any way around this to make it more realistic? Do the initial settings for contract demands (2.2M for Superstar, 1.5M for star, etc.) even matter as an estimate? It doesn't seem like it.


Additionally, is it common to have a super influx of relief pitchers? Every draft, and every free agent pool, has tons of really good RP.

[Fronzizzle]

I'm far from an expert on the salary settings, but note that they all say "typical" in them - not absolute or maximum. In my game, the Superstar is set to $20M, and I very frequently get players asking for $35M or more.

I've also found that very rarely do their demands get met or even close. Just as an example, my stud 28-year old LF just became a free agent and I didn't have money to sign him. His initial demand was $51M. He ended up signing for an average of $35M per year.

What is your salary cap? Maybe the relationship between the amount of your cap & your typical salaries need to be adjusted.

As for RP, generally I think this is true since more relief pitchers are needed than any other position. Just looking in MLB, each team employs 7 or 8 relievers. And realistically, there are probably more good relief pitchers since a failed starter can often become an above-average reliever.

Without knowing anything about your other settings (scouting accuracy, stats only, your scout, AI evaluation settings and all of that), I would also say don't get too caught up in just their ratings. My game has tons of highly rated RP in terms of stars, but many don't perform well in the games.

Finally, come draft and free agency it often pays to dig into some of the relief pitchers. You may find some that are labeled as RP but really might make a good 4th or 5th starter, or some young ones may have a crappy 3rd pitch that, if develops, turns them into a top SP. I like taking chances on those sort of guys, if they develop (which doesn't happen often, but does happen) then you get a stud in the 5th or 6th round.

[Trav876]

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

I'm far from an expert on the salary settings, but note that they all say "typical" in them - not absolute or maximum. In my game, the Superstar is set to $20M, and I very frequently get players asking for $35M or more.

I've also found that very rarely do their demands get met or even close. Just as an example, my stud 28-year old LF just became a free agent and I didn't have money to sign him. His initial demand was $51M. He ended up signing for an average of $35M per year.

What is your salary cap? Maybe the relationship between the amount of your cap & your typical salaries need to be adjusted.

As for RP, generally I think this is true since more relief pitchers are needed than any other position. Just looking in MLB, each team employs 7 or 8 relievers. And realistically, there are probably more good relief pitchers since a failed starter can often become an above-average reliever.

Without knowing anything about your other settings (scouting accuracy, stats only, your scout, AI evaluation settings and all of that), I would also say don't get too caught up in just their ratings. My game has tons of highly rated RP in terms of stars, but many don't perform well in the games.

Finally, come draft and free agency it often pays to dig into some of the relief pitchers. You may find some that are labeled as RP but really might make a good 4th or 5th starter, or some young ones may have a crappy 3rd pitch that, if develops, turns them into a top SP. I like taking chances on those sort of guys, if they develop (which doesn't happen often, but does happen) then you get a stud in the 5th or 6th round.

Interesting points. Thanks


As for my cap, I think I have it pretty sound given the other financials. I have it at $12.5M ... so with many players asking for much more than the superstar typical recommended (2.2M) it sometimes ends up near or more than 50% of the entire team's cap.