The Zach Britton travels.. how many for you?

dtizzle · 05-14-2018, 10:12 PM

I know this has been mentioned but Zach Britton has become the king of the one year closer contract. Maybe he is a turd and hard to negotiate with. I am starting 2023 and he is about to play for Houston. This is after one year stops in Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and the Dodgers. He has won reliever of the year twice, but every year he seems to be the top ranked free agent asking for some exuberant cash. He eventually gets signed for some good Millay and usually to a one year contract and poof he is gone from the club house ready to go somewhere else. Maybe he likes travel?

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BoomerSoonerAMH · 05-14-2018, 11:06 PM

I traded for him in 2018 at the deadline as the Rangers due to several injuries to my bullpen. We were 2 or 3 games out of the WC and 10 out in the AL West behind the Mariners and Astros. I ended up coming back to win the West but lost in the WS. I was so pleased with his performance that I probably overpaid to get him on a 2 year deal. I flipped him for prospects and to dump his salary at the deadline in 2019.

Calvert98 · 05-14-2018, 11:08 PM

He's a ramblin man. He has become a bit like that in my current game.

Reminds me a little of Andrew Miller in real life: One of the best and I think he has been with 5 teams in 4 years, but two of those were trades.

Calvert98 · 05-14-2018, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoomerSoonerAMH

I traded for him in 2018 at the deadline as the Rangers due to several injuries to my bullpen. We were 2 or 3 games out of the WC and 10 out in the AL West behind the Mariners and Astros. I ended up coming back to win the West but lost in the WS. I was so pleased with his performance that I probably overpaid to get him on a 2 year deal. I flipped him for prospects and to dump his salary at the deadline in 2019.

I have the Orioles, and had to let him walk, because of his contract demands. However, he signed for a pretty good amount of money with someone on a short term deal.

dodger300 · 05-14-2018, 11:12 PM

2017 -18 Baltimore, 19 St Louis, 20 New York Mets, 21 Astros.

MizzouRah · 05-15-2018, 12:16 AM

He wants like a 6 year deal from me, not going to happen even though he's been money the past two seasons.

Calvert98 · 05-15-2018, 10:12 AM

I might be wrong, I’d need to check, but it seems like he is being picked-up in my game by relatively big-budget teams, that are positioned well to make a run at a playoff spot. This last season, he ended-up with the Los Angles Angeles.

And yea, he has been and still is a lights out closer.

As an aside, this is an MLB game that started in 2017 (imported from OOTP18); Sohei never took an MLB deal, and is not with the Angeles, so he is still with the Ham Fighters.

Qeltar · 05-15-2018, 10:43 AM

Haven't seen this behavior, but saw something weird with Miller.

The entire off-season he wanted a 4-year deal, I think for $11m a year? Nobody bit at all. Even though at the top of his game, I guess the GMs (wisely) didn't want to commit to that for a 33yo reliever.

As soon as ST started he dropped his demand all the way down to $7.5m for one year. And then several teams (very unwisely) got into a ridiculous bidding war. It didn't end until the start of the regular season (which itself seems a bit specious) and he ended up with $28m or something for one year, which is a bit ridiculous. The icing on the cake is that he was signed by Atlanta, which already had arguably the best LH closer in the game.

And I bet the whole thing repeats next year.

Hopefully the GM AI logic will be tweaked so that they have a rough idea of a cap on what they're willing to spend on any player. IMO there's no reliever that's ever worth in the neighborhood of $30m -- they are just too unreliable, and they don't contribute enough to wins even in a good year to be worth that much moolah.

My guess is the aversion to multi-year deals for veteran relievers is why you see all the churn with Britton.

Calvert98 · 05-15-2018, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qeltar

My guess is the aversion to multi-year deals for veteran relievers is why you see all the churn with Britton.

I think that's the case.

In addition, there are likely other factors that also are impacting it, like his personality in the game, and the basic market environment at the time of FA, and that in of itself has a number of factors impacting it.

Which is interesting, because it feels much more real and provides you a number of things to consider when going into the marketplace.

wallewalls · 05-15-2018, 01:04 PM

this was supposed to be something that was fixed in the last patch but it hasnt really. top relievers like britton are unsigned, sometimes at opening day, and they sign for a huge discount and only for one year. he's been with arizona, dodgers, pirates and some others in my my save

malor · 05-15-2018, 01:24 PM

Since the issue has not been fixed in any of the patches, I've assumed it is working as designed by the developers.

I sign two of these RP/CLs to one year deals each for the total price of one when the price drops, making my team stronger for the same amount of money. If the AI starts a bidding war with me, I move on to another. At the end of the season, they go back to FA and I start looking for two more. With the AI not doing anything with them early in FA, it is easy to do. Sometimes, if you lose a RP/CL to DL early in the season, these stars are still available into late June/July for an even better deal.

It is a nice feature for the human and I thank the OOTP Team for adding it.

3RunHomer · 05-15-2018, 07:26 PM

Britton is on a different team each year in my sim. SF, ATL, TOR and LAD so far.

In 2022 on the Dodgers he wasn’t the closer (only 1 save) and only pitched 18.2 innings in 26 appearances before rupturing his UCL on June 8. $13.7 million salary. The most expensive left handed one out guy in history!!

PS I just noticed that the Dodgers signed him through 2024. Smart move.

dtizzle · 05-15-2018, 08:26 PM

The chronicles of Britton! Exciting!

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dtizzle · 05-15-2018, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtizzle

The chronicles of Britton! Exciting!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I almost want to negotiate with him this offseason and see what he does with a 2 year contract. He might combust!

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dtizzle · 05-16-2018, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtizzle

I almost want to negotiate with him this offseason and see what he does with a 2 year contract. He might combust!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Houston just signed him to a 3 year extension. No more nomadic life for Zach

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MizzouRah · 05-16-2018, 11:57 PM

Funny... he sat there all FA and I got him for another year at $13M.

geisterhome · 05-17-2018, 05:41 AM

this needs to be tweaked, the pattern happens way too often: demanding an ace contract, nobody wanting to commit, slowly lowring the contract demand way down till the end of the offseason, teams start offering to reduced terms, bidding war starts, ends up with big money short term deal.

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Calvert98 · 05-17-2018, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geisterhome

this needs to be tweaked, the pattern happens way too often: demanding an ace contract, nobody wanting to commit, slowly lowring the contract demand way down till the end of the offseason, teams start offering to reduced terms, bidding war starts, ends up with big money short term deal.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G955F mit Tapatalk

I'm not sure that it does. Others above have noted longer term deals.

And if players in that situation you described, are faced with that type of thing, based on the market at the time and other factors, well, that's the market and he is allowed to adjust his terms and expectations. In addition, it's probably being impacted a bit by their personality in the game and changing market conditions at that time.

Also, keep in mind that we are not always privy to what is being discussed; just like real life, the FA market can be tough to read. The media in Baltimore was taken aback by the Alex Cobb deal, and had no idea that serious discussions were going on for such a long time. Too long candidly, so he entered the season without ST, and has really struggled as a result. The situation you describe above, actually makes more sense than what went on with Cobb and the Orioles.

And the opposite has happened as well, as we have even seen in real life this off-season. Even for certain "types" of players. The market sort of "crashed" in real life a couple years ago for that Big DH/can't really field masher.

Qeltar · 05-17-2018, 09:12 AM

I think some tweaking is in order.

For example, in my game, Andrew Miller sat and rotted through the offseason. Before ST he wanted a 4-year deal worth $40m. Nobody would give him the time of day.

As soon as ST started, he dropped all the way down to a 1-year deal for $7.5m. Suddenly a bunch of teams got into a bidding war for over a month that pushed up near $30m for a single year. I can't imagine any real team paying that.

Perhaps a bit more gradual adjustment in player demands would help. As would some limits on the bidding war stuff. There was one good (not great) RP who was in a bidding war that went weeks into the regular season, a few teams nickel-and-diming each other. I am not sure an RP would really want to sit on the shelf for over 2 months waiting for that to play out (he didn't end up getting a lot extra for his trouble).

Calvert98 · 05-17-2018, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qeltar

I think some tweaking is in order.

For example, in my game, Andrew Miller sat and rotted through the offseason. Before ST he wanted a 4-year deal worth $40m. Nobody would give him the time of day.

As soon as ST started, he dropped all the way down to a 1-year deal for $7.5m. Suddenly a bunch of teams got into a bidding war for over a month that pushed up near $30m for a single year. I can't imagine any real team paying that.

Perhaps a bit more gradual adjustment in player demands would help. As would some limits on the bidding war stuff. There was one good (not great) RP who was in a bidding war that went weeks into the regular season, a few teams nickel-and-diming each other. I am not sure an RP would really want to sit on the shelf for over 2 months waiting for that to play out (he didn't end up getting a lot extra for his trouble).

Ok, yea, in that example with Miller then rocketing-up to that $30 million for one year, seems a bit loopy.

But that sounds like it's less related to the player, than the teams. If this is occurring often, it would seem that the team's are losing focus once they get into a bidding war, as in that situation. There should be a sort of limit that each individual team would at some point based on the normal factors that would be taken into account in such a situation.

So, for example, let's say their "disposition" limits the last two teams in such a bidding war to $15,000,00. So, "we are not going any higher", but of course they don't know that.

Then perhaps at that point, the secondary factors or "soft" factors would start to come into play, and that would switch back to the player's makeup. Things like market size, team competitiveness, coach relationships, past history, did he play there, is he well liked in that market, no trade clause for longer term, if that's an issue for him.

05-14-2018, 10:12 PM	#1
dtizzle Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 284	The Zach Britton travels.. how many for you? I know this has been mentioned but Zach Britton has become the king of the one year closer contract. Maybe he is a turd and hard to negotiate with. I am starting 2023 and he is about to play for Houston. This is after one year stops in Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and the Dodgers. He has won reliever of the year twice, but every year he seems to be the top ranked free agent asking for some exuberant cash. He eventually gets signed for some good Millay and usually to a one year contract and poof he is gone from the club house ready to go somewhere else. Maybe he likes travel? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05-15-2018, 10:43 AM	#8
Qeltar Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2018 Posts: 382	Haven't seen this behavior, but saw something weird with Miller. The entire off-season he wanted a 4-year deal, I think for $11m a year? Nobody bit at all. Even though at the top of his game, I guess the GMs (wisely) didn't want to commit to that for a 33yo reliever. As soon as ST started he dropped his demand all the way down to $7.5m for one year. And then several teams (very unwisely) got into a ridiculous bidding war. It didn't end until the start of the regular season (which itself seems a bit specious) and he ended up with $28m or something for one year, which is a bit ridiculous. The icing on the cake is that he was signed by Atlanta, which already had arguably the best LH closer in the game. And I bet the whole thing repeats next year. Hopefully the GM AI logic will be tweaked so that they have a rough idea of a cap on what they're willing to spend on any player. IMO there's no reliever that's ever worth in the neighborhood of $30m -- they are just too unreliable, and they don't contribute enough to wins even in a good year to be worth that much moolah. My guess is the aversion to multi-year deals for veteran relievers is why you see all the churn with Britton. Last edited by Qeltar; 05-15-2018 at 10:59 AM.

05-15-2018, 07:26 PM	#12
3RunHomer Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 23	Britton is on a different team each year in my sim. SF, ATL, TOR and LAD so far. In 2022 on the Dodgers he wasn’t the closer (only 1 save) and only pitched 18.2 innings in 26 appearances before rupturing his UCL on June 8. $13.7 million salary. The most expensive left handed one out guy in history!! PS I just noticed that the Dodgers signed him through 2024. Smart move. Last edited by 3RunHomer; 05-15-2018 at 07:28 PM. Reason: Additional info

05-16-2018, 11:57 PM	#16
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Troy, Mo Posts: 6,252	Funny... he sat there all FA and I got him for another year at $13M. Last edited by MizzouRah; 05-17-2018 at 11:38 AM.

05-14-2018, 11:06 PM	#2
BoomerSoonerAMH Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 111	I traded for him in 2018 at the deadline as the Rangers due to several injuries to my bullpen. We were 2 or 3 games out of the WC and 10 out in the AL West behind the Mariners and Astros. I ended up coming back to win the West but lost in the WS. I was so pleased with his performance that I probably overpaid to get him on a 2 year deal. I flipped him for prospects and to dump his salary at the deadline in 2019.

05-14-2018, 11:08 PM	#3
Calvert98 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 579	He's a ramblin man. He has become a bit like that in my current game. Reminds me a little of Andrew Miller in real life: One of the best and I think he has been with 5 teams in 4 years, but two of those were trades.

05-14-2018, 11:12 PM	#5
dodger300 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 268	2017 -18 Baltimore, 19 St Louis, 20 New York Mets, 21 Astros.

05-15-2018, 12:16 AM	#6
MizzouRah Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Troy, Mo Posts: 6,252	He wants like a 6 year deal from me, not going to happen even though he's been money the past two seasons.

05-15-2018, 10:12 AM	#7
Calvert98 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 579	I might be wrong, I’d need to check, but it seems like he is being picked-up in my game by relatively big-budget teams, that are positioned well to make a run at a playoff spot. This last season, he ended-up with the Los Angles Angeles. And yea, he has been and still is a lights out closer. As an aside, this is an MLB game that started in 2017 (imported from OOTP18); Sohei never took an MLB deal, and is not with the Angeles, so he is still with the Ham Fighters.

05-15-2018, 01:04 PM	#10
wallewalls All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 774 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	this was supposed to be something that was fixed in the last patch but it hasnt really. top relievers like britton are unsigned, sometimes at opening day, and they sign for a huge discount and only for one year. he's been with arizona, dodgers, pirates and some others in my my save

05-15-2018, 01:24 PM	#11
malor Major Leagues Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 303	Since the issue has not been fixed in any of the patches, I've assumed it is working as designed by the developers. I sign two of these RP/CLs to one year deals each for the total price of one when the price drops, making my team stronger for the same amount of money. If the AI starts a bidding war with me, I move on to another. At the end of the season, they go back to FA and I start looking for two more. With the AI not doing anything with them early in FA, it is easy to do. Sometimes, if you lose a RP/CL to DL early in the season, these stars are still available into late June/July for an even better deal. It is a nice feature for the human and I thank the OOTP Team for adding it.

05-15-2018, 08:26 PM	#13
dtizzle Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 284	The chronicles of Britton! Exciting! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05-17-2018, 05:41 AM	#17
geisterhome Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 286	this needs to be tweaked, the pattern happens way too often: demanding an ace contract, nobody wanting to commit, slowly lowring the contract demand way down till the end of the offseason, teams start offering to reduced terms, bidding war starts, ends up with big money short term deal. Gesendet von meinem SM-G955F mit Tapatalk

05-17-2018, 09:12 AM	#19
Qeltar Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2018 Posts: 382	I think some tweaking is in order. For example, in my game, Andrew Miller sat and rotted through the offseason. Before ST he wanted a 4-year deal worth $40m. Nobody would give him the time of day. As soon as ST started, he dropped all the way down to a 1-year deal for $7.5m. Suddenly a bunch of teams got into a bidding war for over a month that pushed up near $30m for a single year. I can't imagine any real team paying that. Perhaps a bit more gradual adjustment in player demands would help. As would some limits on the bidding war stuff. There was one good (not great) RP who was in a bidding war that went weeks into the regular season, a few teams nickel-and-diming each other. I am not sure an RP would really want to sit on the shelf for over 2 months waiting for that to play out (he didn't end up getting a lot extra for his trouble).