How do you handle FA Compensation? Here's how I do it.

[nutt]

In OOTP19, I came up with a formula but modified it for OOTPXX, just adding a few things. Here is how I handle competitive balance, Luxury Tax Penalties, draft pick compensation for unsigned players, and draft pick compensation for Comp Free Agents.

• I handle the Supplemental Round the same as MLB: Revenue Sharing ballclubs and players who sign for more than $50 Million, and Competitive Balance Round A.
• Same for teams who don't receive revenue sharing, after Competitive Balance Round B (which in game for me is the end of Round 2) at the end of second round.
• Teams who lost a Comp FA that paid Luxury Tax penalties receive their compensation pick after Round 4 (same as MLB)
• Teams that are $20 Million above the Luxury Tax threshold drop their first pick five spots unless in Top 10. If in Top 10, 2nd round pick drops by five. If a team forfeits their second round pick do to signing a Comp FA, then the next pick would drop five or ten spots, pending on the penalty.
• Teams $40 million over threshold drop their first round pick by ten spots (same as MLB) but forfeit their second round pick. If pick is in the Top 6, it reverts to the second round.
• Teams who repeat the $40 million phase on their second offense forfeit their first and third round selections, with their second round pick dropping ten spots. This and the two below are known as the Draft Penalty Phase.
• Teams who are third-time $40M+ offenders forfeit their selections in the first three rounds, 4th Round pick drops ten spots.
• Any team who repeats more than three times will follow that previous phase with forfeiting their next round pick (4th, 5th, so on) and dropping ten spots in the first round they pick in (5th, 6th, etc.).
• If a team is still in the Luxury Tax penalty phase but drops below the $40 million dollar penalty and returns to it while still in the penalty phase will immediately go to their second offense phase. Example: Red Sox were $40 million over for 2018. If they are over the threshold (which they currently are) for 2019, but return to over the the $40 million penalty phase for 2020, they go to second offense.
• Luxury Tax is followed by current MLB and MLBPA guidelines, with 2022 seeing an increase from $210M to $215M with a $500k increase every two years. Process will be reviewed in five-year cycles.
• Teams will forfeit a comp FA draft pick if it is under the guidelines currently (i.e. next pick for non-revenue sharing teams who sign comp FAs). This rule is already in effect.
• Players can be offered compensation more than once, however, any team signing a player who is not a first-time compensation free agent will ONLY be penalized if the team exceeded the luxury tax threshold the prior season. Luxury tax teams will forfeit ONLY their fifth round pick or next pick available.
• All competitive balance, compensatory picks, and compensation picks for unsigned drafted players within Rounds 1-3 will be protected, much like it currently is.
• Teams who fail to sign a player who received compensation for an unsigned player from the previous draft will be penalized by receiving that compensation at the end of the round that pick was scheduled for. Example: Braves failed to sign 8th overall pick Carter Stewart in 2018. They drafted Shea Langeliers with the 9th pick this year. If in game, they drafted Shea Langeliers and failed to sign him, the Braves would pick at the end of the first round in 2020 as compensation for failing to sign Langeliers. Multiple teams who have this issue in the same round and draft will get higher pick based on previous draft (2019) selection for following year (2020). An example for that would be if two or all of the Braves, Diamondbacks, or Dodgers failed to sign their compensation picks.
• Compensation Picks after Round 4 who are unsigned are also protected. I'm not sure if this is currently a rule but I do know that the first three rounds you receive compensation for. This guarantees you having protection for a protected pick.
• With me expanding MLB to 32 teams in 2020, the Montreal Expos and the unannounced 32nd franchise (either Nashville, Charlotte, Austin, or New Orleans) receive competitive balance picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. The team who wins the coin toss gets the first overall pick in 2020, a pick in Competitive Balance Round B, and the second-to-last pick in Round 2 and the last pick in Round 3. The team who doesn't win the coin toss gets the first pick in the expansion draft, the 2nd pick in the 2020 draft, a pick in Competitive Balance Round A, and the last pick in Rounds 2 and 4. Both teams will flip order in Rounds 3 and 5 (Montreal picking second in each round), but the coin toss winner will pick first from Round 6 onward.
• For the 2021 and 2022 drafts, both expansion teams will receive additional bonus picks. Each team will receive additional picks in Rounds 3 and 6 for 2021 and 2022, based on how they finished the previous season on which one picks ahead of the other.
• Expansion teams who sign comp free agents will be penalized as a revenue sharing team for the 2020 and 2021 drafts. The 2022 MLB Draft and Competitive Balance will be reviewed at the conclusion of the 2021 season to adjust accordingly. These teams may or may not be included after the 2021 season for competitive balance picks if they are not in the bottom ten in revenue or market size (Montreal excluded from market size based on large market status but can be in bottom ten of revenue).
• Both expansion ballclubs will pick in Competitive Balance Round A in the 2021 draft. This will give both CB rounds eight picks, compared to the 9/7 for A/B in 2020.

Thoughts are welcome.

[andyhdz]

I'm assuming this is all manual? Sounds like a lot of time to track and maintain this.

[nutt]

Originally Posted by andyhdz

I'm assuming this is all manual? Sounds like a lot of time to track and maintain this.

It adds more fun to the game playing it. The way I see it is I review revenue sharing and payroll at the conclusion of the World Series. I will track all comp FA's and who they sign with because you still get the email notification of the signing. I edit the draft order before opening day or after the last Comp FA signs.

Seems like a lot but in reality, maybe 15-20 minutes.

[quillenl]

I always end up turning off Comp FA as I find it too abusable. I find I can throw Revenue Sharing at 60% and avoid a whole lot of other micromanaging. Sounds like an interesting system, but I probably already have too many house rules to add another 20 minute choke point

Not knocking your system, I often spend over an hour in the offseason going through my own routines. I'll bet everyone who has played a bit has there own system for avoiding crushing the AI and I am curious to hear what others do as well.

[nutt]

Originally Posted by quillenl

I always end up turning off Comp FA as I find it too abusable. I find I can throw Revenue Sharing at 60% and avoid a whole lot of other micromanaging. Sounds like an interesting system, but I probably already have too many house rules to add another 20 minute choke point

Not knocking your system, I often spend over an hour in the offseason going through my own routines. I'll bet everyone who has played a bit has there own system for avoiding crushing the AI and I am curious to hear what others do as well.

For the longest I would wait a couple seasons, expand the league, add a team in Brooklyn and take over from there. The problem for me is, I would end up going on some 10-12 year run of playoff appearances appearing in the NLCS every year. It did get boring after awhile and watching what others do with their house rules, I decided to implement my own.

We know the 14 teams for the CBA and which groups are cycled from A to B annually. I just use a list generator for their order sequence. I'm not real sure how to change the revenue sharing to 60%, although I wouldn't set it at that.

[NoOne]

i just don't see rev sharing helping the poor teams much. i generally avoid it.

i leave compensation on,but i don't abuse it. i can usually get more (=rate) by trading them before i lose them. when i can't find a good deal, then i take the comp pick as a plan B. i don't think the ai is doing anything abusive there just play by myself

[jaguar8311]

Originally Posted by NoOne

i just don't see rev sharing helping the poor teams much. i generally avoid it.

i leave compensation on,but i don't abuse it. i can usually get more (=rate) by trading them before i lose them. when i can't find a good deal, then i take the comp pick as a plan B. i don't think the ai is doing anything abusive there just play by myself

It does help, alot, actually.

Each game, I change the revenue sharing model from luxury tax to % income to 50%. You will have some stingy owners (Marlins) who simply take the extra revenue sharing $$$, but then you have other teams/owners (particularly after a few seasons and owners have died) who use that cash to invest in their teams, either in salary or in dev/scouting/coaching budgets.

I also implement a salary cap which starts at $220M then gradually declining to $180M