Unsigned Free Agents - Page 2

Chicagofan76 · 08-12-2011, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by endgame

But I'm wagering you didn't also have a very limited payroll cap, did you?

I'm still on 11 not 12. I have 5 guys making over 10 mil per. In the other league where i had seen the 2 bil I made a post about that 1. I had just increased team cash from $259,000 approx to $25 mil highest paid player on my team made 76k.

conception · 08-13-2011, 04:32 AM

One thing that really works for me in keeping the best players in the game is having a second, lesser major or indy league around that scoops up the fringe players while the stars re-sign with the big clubs. I've done this in my last two fictional leagues, and while you have to set the financials of the second league incredibly strict, so they can't afford to even bid on one star player, it works out well.

endgame · 08-13-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conception

One thing that really works for me in keeping the best players in the game is having a second, lesser major or indy league around that scoops up the fringe players while the stars re-sign with the big clubs. I've done this in my last two fictional leagues, and while you have to set the financials of the second league incredibly strict, so they can't afford to even bid on one star player, it works out well.

Maybe for another thread, but let's take a swipe at it here. I've used this concept in a previous leauge and I like the idea for a couple of reasons: it does provide a semi-retirement and fringe refuge as you've indicated and I found, on occasion, it even competed with those AAA-quality players with offers that appealed to them over lesser bench roles at the ML level. The disadvantages, for me long term, were that I obviously didn't implement a strict control process like you have and salaries for 'some' starters who'd switched leagues were out of synch with average players at the ML level, and maybe more a reflection of my own limitations, I tended to lose track of that league and familiarity with any of its players, with the exception of those outliers making big money that looked out of line.

Here, or another thread, could you expand on your strict controls? I may consider adding that league again in a couple of years. Thanks.

abneo3sierra · 08-13-2011, 11:33 AM

FWIW, I did alter the financials of a few teams that I noticed were NOT signing as many free agents as they do in reality..teams such as the Yankees, Redsox, Dodgers, etc.. Then, I went in, and just added some money to ALL the teams, and now, midway through the season, when I pull up free agents, there is only one page..so yes, I am pretty sure it seems to be that if you give the teams money, they will use it.

rdomico · 08-13-2011, 12:04 PM

I do know that I never had this problem in OOTP 11. Great free agents never went unsigned. Teams seemed to be running out of money in OOTP12. Not sure if it has to do with some of the new things like a development budget, but I hope it gets fixed. It should work well with default settings. I shouldn't have to monkey with all the financial settings to get it to work.

Chicagofan76 · 08-13-2011, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conception

One thing that really works for me in keeping the best players in the game is having a second, lesser major or indy league around that scoops up the fringe players while the stars re-sign with the big clubs. I've done this in my last two fictional leagues, and while you have to set the financials of the second league incredibly strict, so they can't afford to even bid on one star player, it works out well.

I have the 12 team American League as part of my 16 team ML ABF. I still have major Free agents out there. The AL has signed a ton of fringe players the last 4 sns. and have produced some guys that have made the transition from AL to ABF notably Babe Ruth.

Cinnamon J. Scudworth · 08-13-2011, 03:04 PM

Is this something that people are noticing more in MLB/historical leagues? In my fictional 24-team league, which uses default 2011 financials (simmed from 1960 for history) there are about 1,100 free agents but only 68 of them are over 1 star (and only 22 over 2 stars). All but 3 of these 22 are MRs (1 SP, 1 C, 1 LF), and all three are over 35 years old. Most of the MRs are over 30 as well.

Chicagofan76 · 08-13-2011, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinnamon J. Scudworth

Is this something that people are noticing more in MLB/historical leagues? In my fictional 24-team league, which uses default 2011 financials (simmed from 1960 for history) there are about 1,100 free agents but only 68 of them are over 1 star (and only 22 over 2 stars). All but 3 of these 22 are MRs (1 SP, 1 C, 1 LF), and all three are over 35 years old. Most of the MRs are over 30 as well.

Of my 489 FA's (btw this is a fictional league) only 21 are 2 stars or greater for OVR 51 have POT of 2 stars or greater.

rbux · 08-14-2011, 12:05 AM

I was too was interested in this thread because in my F.L. it is now June 15 and I have over 25 unsigned FA's who have all star abilities (and another 25 that could be contributors). Future HOF'ers are unsigned. So am I to understand there is no cure/fix for this using the default financial settings? I wasn't able to glean that from this thread. Been playing OOTP for years and have never had this problem.

HH20xx convert · 08-14-2011, 11:31 AM

I am running some tests on this using the MLB quickstart and default everything.

Using a 500 million cash max for teams, and running five years out, observing the free agents remaining at the start of each season, here is what I have found:

1- Free agents are signed before the start of each regular season in good fashion. Only one or two players per year, max, were valuable free agents were waiting for jobs on Opening Day. Most years no really good free agents are sitting--very realistic.

2- Teams don't hoard cash, despite the big cash max setting.

3- Top free agent salaries don't balloon. Five years out, three players have yearly contracts higher than ARod's 2011 number.

4- 16 of the 30 teams are in the red at the start of 2016, none by dramatic amounts. Teams in the red didn't start to be an issue until the end of 2014. None of the 16 would be shut out from signing extensions during the year, although a few would be restricted.

I'm going to try a couple of things-- run this sim for at least five more years and see if the problem with teams running deficits self-corrects, or perhaps gets worse. If it gets worse, I'm going to run another sim and tweak average salaries down in the mid to upper range and see if that helps. Top end salaries don't seem to be the problem, maybe slightly too high salaries across the middle range are causing problems.

When I get results, I will post. Right now, I don't think high cash max settings should be disregarded. At least free agents don't sit and nobody is making 35 mill a year, at least in my one test.

HH20xx convert · 08-17-2011, 12:42 PM

Ran the sim discussed above for an additional six years (11 total). At the end of the span, 19 teams were in the red at the start of the season--this balanced out at about year 9 and actually decreased a bit by year 11. No team was deeply in the red and no team had hoarded cash. Only three teams in year 11 had budgets projected in the red -- all by small amounts. No teams would be shut out from signing free agents or extensions in any of the 11 years. All good free agents had signed before the season, except in two instances about year 8 and 9, and both of those had signed by May 2 of the season.

Median total salaries balanced out at about 119 million by year 7 and didn't move after that. Top salaries didn't get out of whack, either. In year 11, no player had a contract bigger than ARod right now. A few years in there was one wacky contract (Lincecum) and he renewed later at a more normal rate.

Just one sim, but I think a high cash max helps the AI balance out the highs and lows of contract cycles without free agents going unsigned--and I saw no instances of cash hoarding and only one marginally wacky free agent contract in 11 years. You could argue real baseball has one wacky contract per decade, too.

luger · 08-17-2011, 01:03 PM

To me though, it does sound concerning that 19 teams would be in the red at the start of the season. I'm a big fan of being able to do trades when needed and this would force those teams to be unable to do any trading due to budget constraints. The fact that there are no unsigned major free agents is definitely a plus though. I wonder if the high cash max but also with a salary cap would help or hurt the situation of so many teams being in the red though.

Do you also have revenue sharing in this sim?

HH20xx convert · 08-17-2011, 01:36 PM

No revenue sharing. There are 19 teams who start the year in the red, none dramatically, but only three teams had projected current year budgets in the red. If I understand the financial system correctly, these are the only teams significantly restricted in trades, as teams will be working with their current budget, not their starting year cash balance. Might be wrong on this, but only a couple of teams have had seasons with huge salary reductions (one or two in 11 years), and median team salaries have stayed pegged, so teams are signing and extending players despite starting the year in the red.

luger · 08-26-2011, 10:43 AM

Does anybody know if this will be something that will be addressed in the next big patch? I've been holding off on playing because it really messes things up for me and hope that it's something that's been recognized as an issue.

rdomico · 08-26-2011, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luger

Does anybody know if this will be something that will be addressed in the next big patch? I've been holding off on playing because it really messes things up for me and hope that it's something that's been recognized as an issue.

I haven't touched the game in weeks because of this problem.

PSUColonel · 08-26-2011, 12:00 PM

It is indeed a huge issue

HH20xx convert · 08-26-2011, 12:11 PM

And the silence from Markus and Co is deafening. This is my big hot button issue, but other long-time customers have others--just peruse the message boards, yet not a word from OOTP as to whether these issues will be addressed in the last big patch. It takes very little time to compose a brief post, but apparently its too much time for the OOTP brain trust. Very disappointing, in my opinion.

MizzouRah · 08-28-2011, 04:10 PM

I'm seeing this in my first offseason with v12. I've never had this issue in v11.. so I'm thinking it has to do with the player development budget.

Anyone have a fix for this yet?

luger · 08-28-2011, 09:13 PM

The fixes I've seen suggested involving altering financials (salary caps, high cash max, etc) haven't worked for me yet. I decided to stop wasting days trying to fix it with something that would give me different financials than I desire. So, for the past week, I've metaphorically set aside OOTP until the next patch comes along that hopefully addresses all of this funny business. Eagerly waiting...

MizzouRah · 08-28-2011, 09:23 PM

This is a game killer for me.. started in 2010 with v11 and haven't had an issue until v12 and my first offseason - I'm assuming it has to do with player development?

There is NO WAY all of these great players should be sitting in FA on opening day.. teams all of a sudden don't have the cash to sign big time FA and it's depressing.

This is my favorite text sim to date.. and I don't know if I can continue my universe at this point in time.

08-13-2011, 03:04 PM	#27
Cinnamon J. Scudworth All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 1,119	Is this something that people are noticing more in MLB/historical leagues? In my fictional 24-team league, which uses default 2011 financials (simmed from 1960 for history) there are about 1,100 free agents but only 68 of them are over 1 star (and only 22 over 2 stars). All but 3 of these 22 are MRs (1 SP, 1 C, 1 LF), and all three are over 35 years old. Most of the MRs are over 30 as well. Last edited by Cinnamon J. Scudworth; 08-13-2011 at 03:06 PM.

08-28-2011, 09:23 PM	#40
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Troy, Mo Posts: 6,251	This is a game killer for me.. started in 2010 with v11 and haven't had an issue until v12 and my first offseason - I'm assuming it has to do with player development? There is NO WAY all of these great players should be sitting in FA on opening day.. teams all of a sudden don't have the cash to sign big time FA and it's depressing. This is my favorite text sim to date.. and I don't know if I can continue my universe at this point in time. Last edited by MizzouRah; 08-28-2011 at 09:25 PM.

08-13-2011, 04:32 AM	#22
conception All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,149	One thing that really works for me in keeping the best players in the game is having a second, lesser major or indy league around that scoops up the fringe players while the stars re-sign with the big clubs. I've done this in my last two fictional leagues, and while you have to set the financials of the second league incredibly strict, so they can't afford to even bid on one star player, it works out well.

08-13-2011, 11:33 AM	#24
abneo3sierra Bat Boy Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 10	FWIW, I did alter the financials of a few teams that I noticed were NOT signing as many free agents as they do in reality..teams such as the Yankees, Redsox, Dodgers, etc.. Then, I went in, and just added some money to ALL the teams, and now, midway through the season, when I pull up free agents, there is only one page..so yes, I am pretty sure it seems to be that if you give the teams money, they will use it.

08-13-2011, 12:04 PM	#25
rdomico All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Monaca, PA Posts: 824	I do know that I never had this problem in OOTP 11. Great free agents never went unsigned. Teams seemed to be running out of money in OOTP12. Not sure if it has to do with some of the new things like a development budget, but I hope it gets fixed. It should work well with default settings. I shouldn't have to monkey with all the financial settings to get it to work.

08-14-2011, 12:05 AM	#29
rbux Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Edmonds, Wa Posts: 50	I was too was interested in this thread because in my F.L. it is now June 15 and I have over 25 unsigned FA's who have all star abilities (and another 25 that could be contributors). Future HOF'ers are unsigned. So am I to understand there is no cure/fix for this using the default financial settings? I wasn't able to glean that from this thread. Been playing OOTP for years and have never had this problem.

08-14-2011, 11:31 AM	#30
HH20xx convert Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 225	I am running some tests on this using the MLB quickstart and default everything. Using a 500 million cash max for teams, and running five years out, observing the free agents remaining at the start of each season, here is what I have found: 1- Free agents are signed before the start of each regular season in good fashion. Only one or two players per year, max, were valuable free agents were waiting for jobs on Opening Day. Most years no really good free agents are sitting--very realistic. 2- Teams don't hoard cash, despite the big cash max setting. 3- Top free agent salaries don't balloon. Five years out, three players have yearly contracts higher than ARod's 2011 number. 4- 16 of the 30 teams are in the red at the start of 2016, none by dramatic amounts. Teams in the red didn't start to be an issue until the end of 2014. None of the 16 would be shut out from signing extensions during the year, although a few would be restricted. I'm going to try a couple of things-- run this sim for at least five more years and see if the problem with teams running deficits self-corrects, or perhaps gets worse. If it gets worse, I'm going to run another sim and tweak average salaries down in the mid to upper range and see if that helps. Top end salaries don't seem to be the problem, maybe slightly too high salaries across the middle range are causing problems. When I get results, I will post. Right now, I don't think high cash max settings should be disregarded. At least free agents don't sit and nobody is making 35 mill a year, at least in my one test.

08-17-2011, 12:42 PM	#31
HH20xx convert Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 225	Ran the sim discussed above for an additional six years (11 total). At the end of the span, 19 teams were in the red at the start of the season--this balanced out at about year 9 and actually decreased a bit by year 11. No team was deeply in the red and no team had hoarded cash. Only three teams in year 11 had budgets projected in the red -- all by small amounts. No teams would be shut out from signing free agents or extensions in any of the 11 years. All good free agents had signed before the season, except in two instances about year 8 and 9, and both of those had signed by May 2 of the season. Median total salaries balanced out at about 119 million by year 7 and didn't move after that. Top salaries didn't get out of whack, either. In year 11, no player had a contract bigger than ARod right now. A few years in there was one wacky contract (Lincecum) and he renewed later at a more normal rate. Just one sim, but I think a high cash max helps the AI balance out the highs and lows of contract cycles without free agents going unsigned--and I saw no instances of cash hoarding and only one marginally wacky free agent contract in 11 years. You could argue real baseball has one wacky contract per decade, too.

08-17-2011, 01:03 PM	#32
luger Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 221	To me though, it does sound concerning that 19 teams would be in the red at the start of the season. I'm a big fan of being able to do trades when needed and this would force those teams to be unable to do any trading due to budget constraints. The fact that there are no unsigned major free agents is definitely a plus though. I wonder if the high cash max but also with a salary cap would help or hurt the situation of so many teams being in the red though. Do you also have revenue sharing in this sim?

08-17-2011, 01:36 PM	#33
HH20xx convert Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 225	No revenue sharing. There are 19 teams who start the year in the red, none dramatically, but only three teams had projected current year budgets in the red. If I understand the financial system correctly, these are the only teams significantly restricted in trades, as teams will be working with their current budget, not their starting year cash balance. Might be wrong on this, but only a couple of teams have had seasons with huge salary reductions (one or two in 11 years), and median team salaries have stayed pegged, so teams are signing and extending players despite starting the year in the red.

08-26-2011, 10:43 AM	#34
luger Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 221	Does anybody know if this will be something that will be addressed in the next big patch? I've been holding off on playing because it really messes things up for me and hope that it's something that's been recognized as an issue.

08-26-2011, 12:00 PM	#36
PSUColonel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 12,990 Blog Entries: 37	It is indeed a huge issue

08-26-2011, 12:11 PM	#37
HH20xx convert Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 225	And the silence from Markus and Co is deafening. This is my big hot button issue, but other long-time customers have others--just peruse the message boards, yet not a word from OOTP as to whether these issues will be addressed in the last big patch. It takes very little time to compose a brief post, but apparently its too much time for the OOTP brain trust. Very disappointing, in my opinion.

08-28-2011, 04:10 PM	#38
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Troy, Mo Posts: 6,251	I'm seeing this in my first offseason with v12. I've never had this issue in v11.. so I'm thinking it has to do with the player development budget. Anyone have a fix for this yet?

08-28-2011, 09:13 PM	#39
luger Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 221	The fixes I've seen suggested involving altering financials (salary caps, high cash max, etc) haven't worked for me yet. I decided to stop wasting days trying to fix it with something that would give me different financials than I desire. So, for the past week, I've metaphorically set aside OOTP until the next patch comes along that hopefully addresses all of this funny business. Eagerly waiting...