AI signs a player long term then DFA's shortly after

[WarningTrakPower]

More often then I enjoy, the AI will sign a player long term (either in free agency or extend a player) only to DFA them shortly there after.

Here is one example that bothers me.

Alex Reyes was signed to a 3 yr extension during the 2022 season


He is then DFA'd during the next season


Not sure why they wanted to put Jake Woodford back on 40 man so badly, he isn't even healthy yet ...


And Reyes isn't even having a bad season


I probably would have DFA'd this catcher first since they have 4 on the 40 man.


And if you would rather DFA a pitcher, I'd pick this guy (they used his last option this season).

[WarningTrakPower]

Update - Reyes was claimed by Red Sox.

Also, he was an NL All Star this year, then they DFA'd him ...

[WarningTrakPower]

Another guy signed long term being DFA'd.
He's now "wrecked" and not having a great season (small sample), so a little more understandable.

[WarningTrakPower]

So... Miami DFA'd Caleb Smith. He had already been optioned this season, so if they needed room on the 26 man roster, he could have been sent to minors.



He's been pretty decent for them and is arb eligible again this offseason.

The weird thing is the DFA'ing was done to add an injured played to the 40 man roster who is still out like 8-9 months.



Nasim Nunez was injured in July and put on 60 day IL.



Here is being added back to 40 man roster in August.



Miami only has 17 pitchers on 40 man (now) and 23 batters.
This includes 10(!) outfielders.



If you asked me who should be DFA'd (if there truly was a need), it would be Harold Ramirez.



He hasn't been on MLB roster since 2021 (where he got in to 11 games, 0 starts) and will be out of options come next season. He is also "fragile".

Or, they also have Nick Neidert as a candidate. He too will be out of options and is down in AA for Miami (soon to be 27 year old with zero MLB experience).

[Lukas Berger]

I wouldn't call any of this a bug. Even in real life baseball, teams make puzzling 40-man decisions (puzzling to outsiders that is) all the time.

Also remember, the AI sees different ratings than you do and bases its decisions on those, since it has different scouts.

[WarningTrakPower]

Can you explain why a player who is out for 8-9 months still is added back to 40 man roster? This is where I am perplexed.
The real roster move was recalling a reliever from AAA to replace Caleb Smith (who had already been optioned this season and wouldn't need to be DFA'd since the pitcher recalled was already on 40 man).

Also, I still think that it is abnormal for the AI to DFA a MLB pitcher with better ratings (using OSA to remove my scout bias) and stats opposed to a pitcher who is struggling in AA (and will be out of options next season).

[WarningTrakPower]

Here is a picture showing that Caleb Smith was already optioned in 2023.

[Matt Arnold]

Yeah, adding back to the 40 when a player is hurt is a problem, and we will look into that for sure.

[WarningTrakPower]

As you will see above, it was similar type occurrence when Cardinals DFA'd Reyes (who they lost on waivers) to add Woodford back before injury was healed.

Marlins just ended up releasing Caleb Smith eventually (for whatever reason).

[WarningTrakPower]

Here is an example of the AI signing a free agent then losing him on waivers (didn't add him to 40 man in time?)

[WarningTrakPower]

Here is another recent example.

Yankees signed Cody Allen on Dec 6 for 2.08m then DFA'd him on Dec 15.
They signed Martin Perez to a 2yr deal, but he is still on DFA list because 40 man is still full.



Also, the added a very good prospect (#52 in MLB) to 40 man and DFA'd him the same day (I went in to commish mode and put him down on their A+ team).

[WarningTrakPower]

Another one. Yankees signed Mike Montgomery (who is hurt for another 9-10 months) then released him.

[Lukas Berger]

What kind of roster limits do you have set for the minor leagues in this universe?

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

What kind of roster limits do you have set for the minor leagues in this universe?

None. This is just standard game mode and never changed any setting for MiLB roster limitations.

Yankees have 8 guys in AAA now who are 2.5* overall (by my scouts ratings, and yes I know that doesn't mean everything, but just for example).

[WarningTrakPower]

No one else is experiencing similar issues? Relief pitcher free agent market and subsequent AI handling of these signings needs work.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

No one else is experiencing similar issues? Relief pitcher free agent market and subsequent AI handling of these signings needs work.

From what we've seen, this sort of stuff doesn't happen too often in league with default settings. It's typically in leagues that have some specific roster limits or other custom rules that can create some weirdness with the AI.

That's not to say it can never happen in other league types, but it typically doesn't seem as common as what you're experiencing, so it does lead me to wonder if something may not have gotten changed with some of the roster limit settings or other settings that limit the ai.

At any rate, this is always something we take a look at and do some work on improving each year, and this year won't be any different. We'll definitely make some adjustments here where needed for 22.

[Timofmars]

I'm playing OOTP18. In my manager-only mode, my team will often DFA a good 45 overall rated player instead of the two overpaid 20 and 23 rated players (all infielders), even when the 2 are in their last year. And the DFA'd guy gets taken on waivers. When I know the AI is going to have to demote someone, like when someone is due to return from the disabled list, I have to trick them into demoting the right guy by switching the unwanted guy to pitcher if he's a position player, or to DH or whatever if he's a pitcher. I guess this makes the AI think he's really too terrible to keep even as a backup.

I get the feeling that the AI wants a good starting lineup, but then tries to make sure the "backups" are low rated, like so that they don't bring up prospects to accumulate service time unnecessarily, or maybe it's a kind of AI logic so teams don't go seeking out high paid stars (or giving up prospects for stars) just to have them to sit on the bench. Ideally, the AI would have some more flexible logic regarding their specific situation, particularly regarding not having option years for a quality player they already have on the active roster who hasn't cleared waivers.

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

It's typically in leagues that have some specific roster limits or other custom rules that can create some weirdness with the AI.

Hi Lukas,

In thinking about this some more, one thing I did change in this sim was the frequency of AI trading (down to very low I believe). Do you think changing something like this could be causing this oddness?

I still think that some AI teams are offering more contracts then they can handle. So if the AI team needs to add two RP and offer 5 contacts, once they sign two guys they should withdraw the other offers.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by WarningTrakPower

Hi Lukas,

In thinking about this some more, one thing I did change in this sim was the frequency of AI trading (down to very low I believe). Do you think changing something like this could be causing this oddness?

I still think that some AI teams are offering more contracts then they can handle. So if the AI team needs to add two RP and offer 5 contacts, once they sign two guys they should withdraw the other offers.

I wouldn't think so, no.

You may be right there. For sure this sort of thing seems to always need to be tweaked and looked at, because anything dealing with AI always has a bit of a cascading effect, where changes in one area affect other areas. So like I mentioned, we will take a closer look at it for 22 and see if we can balance things a bit more.

[WarningTrakPower]

Here is another example. Angels have Chris Sale showing on their 40 man, even though he is on 60 day IL.





He was injured on June 18, but added back to 40 man on June 30.



The other two guys on 60 day IL are not on their 40 man.