Virtual Kelly Johnson has no shortage of confidence in his own abilities

[D-Ray Billy]

So there I was, running the San Diego Padres.

We're playing just under .500 ball. We're hanging in the wildcard race. When all of a sudden, Arizona offers us a trade for a slumping Kelly Johnson.

I take the bait. AND I get them to pay the rest of his salary for the year (Wouldn't want the old payroll to crawl past $30M, after all).

Things were going great until I started talking contracts with Mr. Johnson:




If Billy Beane's scouts were discussing Mr. Johnson, I'm sure they'd mention how hot his girlfriend is.

The nerve!

[IlliniCubs]

I had a nearly identical situation with Kelly Johnson in my game. I received and offer (as the Cubs) for Kosuke Fukudome in exchange, plus some assorted minor leaguers, and pulled the trigger, but he was only around for three months before demanding a crazy contract on the level of yours.

He ended up signing with the White Sox for ridiculous money, and has been productive, but nowhere near justifying that kind of salary!

My guess is that it has something to do with a lack of quality second basemen in the game, so the better ones are overvaluing themselves. I had a similar issue with Blake DeWitt, and this was the only conclusion I could draw from two data points. It'd be worth looking to see what Dan Uggla, Robinson Cano, etc sign for.

[Chicagofan76]

Originally Posted by IlliniCubs

My guess is that it has something to do with a lack of quality second basemen in the game, so the better ones are overvaluing themselves. I had a similar issue with Blake DeWitt, and this was the only conclusion I could draw from two data points. It'd be worth looking to see what Dan Uggla, Robinson Cano, etc sign for.

I would love if that were true, that way LHP SP like Buehrle could demand 20 mil per yr since there so few LHP SP that have had his success.

[D-Ray Billy]

Originally Posted by IlliniCubs

My guess is that it has something to do with a lack of quality second basemen in the game, so the better ones are overvaluing themselves.

I bet you're right about this. My jaw dropped when he proposed the nine-year deal. I actually grabbed my cell to make a few angry calls to friends before I realized, oh yea, they won't give a damn.

I'm thinking about trading him back to a team in the division (Colorado?) and hoping they agree to his ridiculous demands. He's a good player, but he's not a game-changer. I'm barely floating around .500, yet my manager thinks I should only bat him seventh. How great can he be?

Then again, maybe Bud Black thinking Kelly Johnson should bat seventh is the reason why I can't seem to climb above .500.

[J P Falcon the 3rd]

Remember though that it is a shoot for the moon first response...I had Brandon Belt ask for ridiculous wages as well but I managed to sign him for a little over half of what he wanted, plus making the last two years team options! (I include team options in all my contract offers, and I cannot recall a single instance when the AI refused on that count.)

[JMDurron]

Taking a look at his 2010 numbers, his defensive ratings, and the position that he plays, if it is early enough in the season that his 2010 stats are driving his contract demands instead of his 2011 stats, then I can actually understand that kind of response. Project out his 2010 numbers and he *could* be worth that much for a few years, and he's old enough to know that this is his only shot at a big contract. It's still ridiculous, but slightly less ridiculous when you factor in 2010 performance, age, and positional scarcity.

[D-Ray Billy]

Originally Posted by JMDurron

Taking a look at his 2010 numbers, his defensive ratings, and the position that he plays, if it is early enough in the season that his 2010 stats are driving his contract demands instead of his 2011 stats, then I can actually understand that kind of response. Project out his 2010 numbers and he *could* be worth that much for a few years, and he's old enough to know that this is his only shot at a big contract. It's still ridiculous, but slightly less ridiculous when you factor in 2010 performance, age, and positional scarcity.

I think you're right on with this one. I also think my scouts aren't that great and might be underrating his actual abilities, which may account for some of the disparity between what I think he's worth and what he thinks he's worth.

As a quick follow-up to Johnson's ridiculous demands, I decided to shop him around on July 31. Kansas City, who was a game above .500 at the time, offered me Eric Hosmer straight up.

Eric Hosmer!

So now I have Hosmer and Rizzo both in AAA. I don't really know what I'm going to do from here, but it's better than talking Johnson down from $190M.

[J P Falcon the 3rd]

Originally Posted by D-Ray Billy

I think you're right on with this one. I also think my scouts aren't that great and might be underrating his actual abilities, which may account for some of the disparity between what I think he's worth and what he thinks he's worth.

As a quick follow-up to Johnson's ridiculous demands, I decided to shop him around on July 31. Kansas City, who was a game above .500 at the time, offered me Eric Hosmer straight up.

Eric Hosmer!

So now I have Hosmer and Rizzo both in AAA. I don't really know what I'm going to do from here, but it's better than talking Johnson down from $190M.

Did you try negotiating with him at all? If so, how did it go?

[D-Ray Billy]

Originally Posted by J P Falcon the 3rd

Did you try negotiating with him at all? If so, how did it go?

Honestly, no. My payroll is legitimately $27M for 2011. I've negotiated some small extensions with solid players like Mike Adams ($3.5M) and Clayton Richard ($4M).

With $17M as a starting point with Johnson, I didn't even want to pretend. There was no point in offering him $9. I have three minor league second basemen coming up in the next year or two who'll all produce similar numbers for the league minimum.

So why blow out my payroll?

[J P Falcon the 3rd]

Originally Posted by D-Ray Billy

Honestly, no. My payroll is legitimately $27M for 2011. I've negotiated some small extensions with solid players like Mike Adams ($3.5M) and Clayton Richard ($4M).

With $17M as a starting point with Johnson, I didn't even want to pretend. There was no point in offering him $9. I have three minor league second basemen coming up in the next year or two who'll all produce similar numbers for the league minimum.

So why blow out my payroll?

Ok, if you really were keen on not wanting to keep then I can understand that. You should have done it though to have some fun torquing him off...