Free Agency: Best Offers

Mr. Baseball · 02-09-2014, 07:37 PM

This might be somewhat hard to follow, but please, stay with me because I think this is a great idea...

Situation: Say for sake of example we have a stud starting pitcher that becomes a free agent. The online league you're in sims 10-days at a time. You look at the file, make your offer to the starting pitcher, and then proceed to export your changes. With the next sim, you discover that the stud pitcher you made the offer to has decided to sign with another team for more money. You look at the contract details and say to yourself 'I would've offered more than that if I had a chance to respond'.

Problem: For those of us that do online leagues, we've all experienced this. We would have gladly given players more years or more money if we knew another team would be outbidding us. The problem is, we never KNEW the team would outbid us. We have to offer more money than we think is fair for fear of other clubs topping it during the sim (because we cannot immediately respond). This leads to ridiculously inflated contracts. In real life, if I'm the GM of a team and I'm pursuing a player who wants more money than I'm willing to offer, I have time to top the other teams offer before that player will officially sign with the other team. While this works in solo play, it doesn't for online leagues.

Solution: When submitting contract offers, allow us to submit a 'maximum' amount of money that we'd be willing to pay to obtain a players services. That way if another team is going to bid more than us, our contract will automatically go above theirs. It's like a hidden auction for that player that goes on during the sim.

Have the 'maximum' bid invisible to the player though. Just have it to avoid the initial problem.

Bluenoser · 02-09-2014, 08:02 PM

Irl you don't always know what another team is offering. A player agent will just say the same as OOTP does - I've got a better offer on the table from team X.

Solution - Slow down your off season FA sims from 10 days. Especially at the beginning when the best players are available.

I know, it's a catch 22 - some leagues don't want to slow down and drag out the off season. But it's fair to all owners. Sometimes you just have to compromise.

Mr. Baseball · 02-09-2014, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Irl you don't always know what another team is offering. A player agent will just say the same as OOTP does - I've got a better offer on the table from team X.

Solution - Slow down your off season FA sims from 10 days. Especially at the beginning when the best players are available.

I know, it's a catch 22 - some leagues don't want to slow down and drag out the off season. But it's fair to all owners. Sometimes you just have to compromise.

But you need to understand...if you're doing solo play, OOTP always sends you a message from the player that says they have a better offer and that player lets you counter it. Why not the same thing for online leagues? If a player thinks he can get more money from you, then realistically, he's going to contact you about it.

bazeall · 02-23-2014, 04:15 PM

"Irl you don't always know what another team is offering. A player agent will just say the same as OOTP does - I've got a better offer on the table from team X."

Sometimes they don't really have better offers. I've offered a guy, say, 5 years at $15M per year, only to see him on another team with a 3 years at $3M per year contract.

It makes it tougher to sign FA, which is a good thing.

02-09-2014, 07:37 PM	#1
Mr. Baseball All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Mequon, Wisconsin Posts: 1,020	Free Agency: Best Offers This might be somewhat hard to follow, but please, stay with me because I think this is a great idea... Situation: Say for sake of example we have a stud starting pitcher that becomes a free agent. The online league you're in sims 10-days at a time. You look at the file, make your offer to the starting pitcher, and then proceed to export your changes. With the next sim, you discover that the stud pitcher you made the offer to has decided to sign with another team for more money. You look at the contract details and say to yourself 'I would've offered more than that if I had a chance to respond'. Problem: For those of us that do online leagues, we've all experienced this. We would have gladly given players more years or more money if we knew another team would be outbidding us. The problem is, we never KNEW the team would outbid us. We have to offer more money than we think is fair for fear of other clubs topping it during the sim (because we cannot immediately respond). This leads to ridiculously inflated contracts. In real life, if I'm the GM of a team and I'm pursuing a player who wants more money than I'm willing to offer, I have time to top the other teams offer before that player will officially sign with the other team. While this works in solo play, it doesn't for online leagues. Solution: When submitting contract offers, allow us to submit a 'maximum' amount of money that we'd be willing to pay to obtain a players services. That way if another team is going to bid more than us, our contract will automatically go above theirs. It's like a hidden auction for that player that goes on during the sim. Have the 'maximum' bid invisible to the player though. Just have it to avoid the initial problem. __________________ Duluth Danger (HBL) Dynasty Report -- Online League Franchise Duluth - 1985/1989 North League Champions!

02-09-2014, 08:02 PM	#2
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 13,684	Irl you don't always know what another team is offering. A player agent will just say the same as OOTP does - I've got a better offer on the table from team X. Solution - Slow down your off season FA sims from 10 days. Especially at the beginning when the best players are available. I know, it's a catch 22 - some leagues don't want to slow down and drag out the off season. But it's fair to all owners. Sometimes you just have to compromise.

02-23-2014, 04:15 PM	#4
bazeall Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 190	"Irl you don't always know what another team is offering. A player agent will just say the same as OOTP does - I've got a better offer on the table from team X." Sometimes they don't really have better offers. I've offered a guy, say, 5 years at $15M per year, only to see him on another team with a 3 years at $3M per year contract. It makes it tougher to sign FA, which is a good thing.