Well that backfired.

SirSaab · 12-10-2020, 03:25 PM

I’m very new to the game, about two weeks in now. I’ve settled on the type of experience I want, so I started a live game, and expanded by two teams for 2021. I took over one expansion team as GM and Manager.

During the winter meetings prior to the start of 2021, I was able to leverage a couple of my expansion draft picks for Dustin May. I’m a very happy camper. Right?

Well, it turns out that Dustin is UTTERLY dismayed at having been traded (presumably because going from WS champs to an expansion club was not high on his to-do list). I tried to offer him a comparatively lucrative long-term deal, for 5 years, and a 6th team option. Basically, I took his arbitration figures and doubled them, then for the first year multiplied that figure by .80, year two .83, three .85, four .95, and 5 100%. For the sixth team option year, I simply tripled his (estimated by me because it doesn’t exist yet) arbitration number. Also included various bonuses.

Dude flat out rejected me, and is now a big, fat, red unhappy face in my clubhouse because “transactions.” Sigh. So I think I just traded two pretty promising expansion picks for two years of Dustin May.

Ultimately, my question is, in veteran OOTP players’ experience, is this situation a lost cause?

rudel.dietrich · 12-10-2020, 03:32 PM

See if it improves and offer him contracts every so often.
If it comes down to it, trade him in year two and get something of value back and don’t let him walk for nothing.
And embrace being bad, expansion teams are supposed to be bad and build for the future.

Déjà Bru · 12-10-2020, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

And embrace being bad . . .

This made me chuckle at first - it still does

- as the least you can do when your team positively stinks. But I thought a bit more about it and now it seems to me like the key to a philosophy. You should embrace being bad at times because that is the Cycle of Baseball. It happens to every team; some more, some less, but all eventually. I'm not saying to enjoy it and be happy, but accept it as part of the realism of this game. Good thought.

Charlie Hough · 12-10-2020, 05:05 PM

Players often have extremely aggressive and unrealistic contract demands when you're trying to extend their contract. Try again later when your player's mood has improved significantly. But keep in mind that he may continue to have extremely high demands until he actually gets to free agency. When that happens, you'll often see his demand decrease dramatically, although it's no guarantee. That's when you can often re-sign a player for much better terms, but first you have to take the risk of allowing him to become a free agent.

Usually I can re-sign players, even if they get upset and don't want to negotiate for a while. Later I try again, and I try to find the right balance between the number of years and the money. One thing that seems to help is to use team options, sometimes for multiple years. You can use this to make the contract look much more attractive and lucrative while minimizing team financial risk. You have to offer buyout terms for those years, but you can win them over with this tactic.

Otherwise, you might need to wait until they file for free agency to get a much better deal. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense. If you want to re-sign a player without him having any chance to go onto the free market, he's going to demand a premium for that. Not all players do, but stars will almost always do that in OOTP. At least that's my experience with game more recently.

If you can't sign them and they become free agents, then they'll go on the market, and the offers they receive will often determine their true value. And often it will be considerably less than they were demanding while they were still under contract.

12-10-2020, 03:25 PM	#1
SirSaab Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 283	Well that backfired. I’m very new to the game, about two weeks in now. I’ve settled on the type of experience I want, so I started a live game, and expanded by two teams for 2021. I took over one expansion team as GM and Manager. During the winter meetings prior to the start of 2021, I was able to leverage a couple of my expansion draft picks for Dustin May. I’m a very happy camper. Right? Well, it turns out that Dustin is UTTERLY dismayed at having been traded (presumably because going from WS champs to an expansion club was not high on his to-do list). I tried to offer him a comparatively lucrative long-term deal, for 5 years, and a 6th team option. Basically, I took his arbitration figures and doubled them, then for the first year multiplied that figure by .80, year two .83, three .85, four .95, and 5 100%. For the sixth team option year, I simply tripled his (estimated by me because it doesn’t exist yet) arbitration number. Also included various bonuses. Dude flat out rejected me, and is now a big, fat, red unhappy face in my clubhouse because “transactions.” Sigh. So I think I just traded two pretty promising expansion picks for two years of Dustin May. Ultimately, my question is, in veteran OOTP players’ experience, is this situation a lost cause? __________________ “Lady, I’m not an athlete. I’m a professional baseball player.” - John Kruk

12-10-2020, 03:32 PM	#2
rudel.dietrich Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Zürich, Switzerland Posts: 8,608	See if it improves and offer him contracts every so often. If it comes down to it, trade him in year two and get something of value back and don’t let him walk for nothing. And embrace being bad, expansion teams are supposed to be bad and build for the future.

12-10-2020, 05:05 PM	#4
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,644	Players often have extremely aggressive and unrealistic contract demands when you're trying to extend their contract. Try again later when your player's mood has improved significantly. But keep in mind that he may continue to have extremely high demands until he actually gets to free agency. When that happens, you'll often see his demand decrease dramatically, although it's no guarantee. That's when you can often re-sign a player for much better terms, but first you have to take the risk of allowing him to become a free agent. Usually I can re-sign players, even if they get upset and don't want to negotiate for a while. Later I try again, and I try to find the right balance between the number of years and the money. One thing that seems to help is to use team options, sometimes for multiple years. You can use this to make the contract look much more attractive and lucrative while minimizing team financial risk. You have to offer buyout terms for those years, but you can win them over with this tactic. Otherwise, you might need to wait until they file for free agency to get a much better deal. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense. If you want to re-sign a player without him having any chance to go onto the free market, he's going to demand a premium for that. Not all players do, but stars will almost always do that in OOTP. At least that's my experience with game more recently. If you can't sign them and they become free agents, then they'll go on the market, and the offers they receive will often determine their true value. And often it will be considerably less than they were demanding while they were still under contract.