Resigning your young players..

checkyoursixx · 07-18-2009, 12:34 PM

Hello All..

I am currently playing the Cleveland Indians in an online league. We are in our first season and it will be coming to an end soon. I decided in the first year to trade away some of my good players for prospects. Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez and Raphael Betancourt are all gone as I've stocked my minor league system. In hopes to be a threat in the AL in 2 - 3 seasons, I may find myself in a bad situation soon. The Indians start with a real nice bullpen of young players, Jensen Lewis, Raphael Perez, Jonathan Meloan and Joe Smith are all under 26 years old and 4-5 star prospects.

I'd like to keep these guys around for as long as possible!. Meloan and Lewis are entering their first full seasons in the Majors while Smith and Perez had some previous experience under their belt already. Exactly how long do I have on guys like Perez and Smith, before they decide they want to test the free agency market. I'm not to familiar with baseball rules but I've heard something about players being able to walk away from a team after 5 years of Major League service time. Is this true?. What steps should I take to make sure this doesn't happen. Should I try and get these guys signed to contracts a year or two before they hit that 5 year mark?.

I have another guy in the minors by the name of Adam Miller who is also a 5 star prospect. He's 24 years old now with a minor league contract. When I go to offer him a major league contract he is asking for well over 2 million a season. This for a player who hasn't played an MLB game yet. How come guys like Meloan, Perez, Smith.. etc have contracts of $400,000 that automatically get renewed once the season ends. I'm very confused on what to do here!.

Any help would be appreciated!.

adamj · 07-18-2009, 12:40 PM

I'll take the easy one...

You don't have to offer contracts to your guys on Minor League contracts. When you put them on the active (Major League) roster, they will automatically be given a Major League contract at the league minimum salary. This salary will be renewed each season until they have three years of major league service time under their belts.

Once they exceed three years of major league service time, they become eligible for arbitration. I haven't gotten to the end of a season in OOTPX yet, so I don't know exactly how that works. It's very different from OOTP9, where the player was simply assigned a new contract each year, based on the game's evaluation of his ratings and stats. This would go on until he surpassed 6 years of major league service time, at which point, he would be eligible for free agency.

checkyoursixx · 07-18-2009, 01:12 PM

Alright thanks for the quick response. In the case of Adam Miller, he is currently playing AAA ball. When I look under my "possible free agents" tab, he is listed there. In other words, his "Minor League Free Agency Eligibility" says Eligible after this season. Does this mean I need to call him up to the majors to avoid him from leaving?.

adamj · 07-18-2009, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by checkyoursixx

Alright thanks for the quick response. In the case of Adam Miller, he is currently playing AAA ball. When I look under my "possible free agents" tab, he is listed there. In other words, his "Minor League Free Agency Eligibility" says Eligible after this season. Does this mean I need to call him up to the majors to avoid him from leaving?.

No, I don't think you need to call him up. Just offer him an extension, and if he's never been in the majors, it will most likely say, "The player would accept a minor league contract." Change your offer at the top of the screen in the Contract Type drop-down box to Minor League Contract. Assuming he accepts, that will get you another year.

07-18-2009, 12:34 PM	#1
checkyoursixx Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 282	Resigning your young players.. Hello All.. I am currently playing the Cleveland Indians in an online league. We are in our first season and it will be coming to an end soon. I decided in the first year to trade away some of my good players for prospects. Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez and Raphael Betancourt are all gone as I've stocked my minor league system. In hopes to be a threat in the AL in 2 - 3 seasons, I may find myself in a bad situation soon. The Indians start with a real nice bullpen of young players, Jensen Lewis, Raphael Perez, Jonathan Meloan and Joe Smith are all under 26 years old and 4-5 star prospects. I'd like to keep these guys around for as long as possible!. Meloan and Lewis are entering their first full seasons in the Majors while Smith and Perez had some previous experience under their belt already. Exactly how long do I have on guys like Perez and Smith, before they decide they want to test the free agency market. I'm not to familiar with baseball rules but I've heard something about players being able to walk away from a team after 5 years of Major League service time. Is this true?. What steps should I take to make sure this doesn't happen. Should I try and get these guys signed to contracts a year or two before they hit that 5 year mark?. I have another guy in the minors by the name of Adam Miller who is also a 5 star prospect. He's 24 years old now with a minor league contract. When I go to offer him a major league contract he is asking for well over 2 million a season. This for a player who hasn't played an MLB game yet. How come guys like Meloan, Perez, Smith.. etc have contracts of $400,000 that automatically get renewed once the season ends. I'm very confused on what to do here!. Any help would be appreciated!.

07-18-2009, 12:40 PM	#2
adamj Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 101	I'll take the easy one... You don't have to offer contracts to your guys on Minor League contracts. When you put them on the active (Major League) roster, they will automatically be given a Major League contract at the league minimum salary. This salary will be renewed each season until they have three years of major league service time under their belts. Once they exceed three years of major league service time, they become eligible for arbitration. I haven't gotten to the end of a season in OOTPX yet, so I don't know exactly how that works. It's very different from OOTP9, where the player was simply assigned a new contract each year, based on the game's evaluation of his ratings and stats. This would go on until he surpassed 6 years of major league service time, at which point, he would be eligible for free agency. Last edited by adamj; 07-18-2009 at 12:42 PM.

07-18-2009, 01:12 PM	#3
checkyoursixx Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 282	Alright thanks for the quick response. In the case of Adam Miller, he is currently playing AAA ball. When I look under my "possible free agents" tab, he is listed there. In other words, his "Minor League Free Agency Eligibility" says Eligible after this season. Does this mean I need to call him up to the majors to avoid him from leaving?.