Is there an optimal time to sign contract extensions?

[Slammer]

Do players' demands change depending on what point of the season you are in? When is too late / too early to start negotiating?

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Slammer

Do players' demands change depending on what point of the season you are in? When is too late / too early to start negotiating?

Yes, they change often depending upon their performance mostly. It is always good to negotiate when the player is in a prolonged slump, and not so good when he is on a hot streak. It's never too early if they are willing to talk. It's probably never too late either, although they need time to respond before they file for free agency.

I usually have good luck toward the end of spring training, and right before arbitration.

[Fyrestorm3]

It has very little to do with the time of year. Players demands only change based on how well they're playing. If you've got a bench guy who's over-performing, it's in your best interest to wait him out and hope he falls back to earth.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

It has very little to do with the time of year. Players demands only change based on how well they're playing. If you've got a bench guy who's over-performing, it's in your best interest to wait him out and hope he falls back to earth.

I respectfully disagree. In the offseason player demand is high. I sense that Markus may have programmed something that modifies demand based on FA contracts. Like Orcin said end of ST and just before arbitration seem to be good spots.

It's not definitive though.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by RchW

I respectfully disagree. In the offseason player demand is high. I sense that Markus may have programmed something that modifies demand based on FA contracts. Like Orcin said end of ST and just before arbitration seem to be good spots.

It's not definitive though.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "time of year" but rather "time of season". You're totally correct, demands are higher in the offseason, but the question was about extending players during the season (at least, that's how I read it), and I've never seen a difference between the start, middle, or end of the season in that regard.

[BaseballAddict32]

I've always found when they contact you it a good time to talk deal. You get messages from guys wanting to be re-signed. Outside of that just follow what these guys said. There points are right on. Before arbitration or during a slump.

[Mister_G]

For in-season signings I try to sign guys when they look like they're about to get out of a slump.

My belief would be that players will sign for less if they're having a bad season, but I don't want to re-sign them if they're having a really bad season because they're skills may be declining.

So I try to sign them when it looks like it's just a slump and not an ongoing thing.

This is just my logic though, and is probably completely off from the actual game AI.