Struggling with Contracts

[KGrob]

I'm really confused here. Thought I understood it. Didn't. Thought I understood it. Didn't. I think I may be giving out a lot of contracts to players that don't need them, not sure. I really need to nail down exactly who needs a new contract and who doesn't.

Just got through reading the manual pages and that helped, but I'm still not 100% certain.

Several times during a season, I look to see which players I'm going to lose. I look at the "Roster" page and use the "Financial Info" filter.

I'm trying to confirm the following:

If the "Years Left" says "1 (auto)" then his contract will ALWAYS be automaticallly renewed at $390,000??? Thus, I don't need to worry about losing these guys??? I've been giving everyone contract extensions, even these guys...I think I'm so scared I'm going to lose someone and I just give everyone what they want. As a result, I'm losing money like crazy and I always get fired.

If the "Years Left" says "1 (arbitr)" then his contract will ALWAYS be automatically renewed at the arbitration amount??? Thus I don't need to worry about losing this guy either????

Which guys do I need to worry about???

What happens when I "Offer Extension" to a player? I've been doing this to everyone, giving them pretty much what they want, maybe a little less. Does this extension CANCEL the contracts above and replace them with my extension amounts? Or does it simply add on to the end of the minimum or arbitration amounts?

Basically, I don't know who to give contracts to, who to ignore, and so forth. I'm always running out of money, not getting enough new good players, and I end up getting fired. Bummer. That's me: "Mr Fired." As sure as the sun comes up, I'm going to get fired after a year or so...if it even takes that long.

Anyway, any help anyone can give me here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[CecilCooper]

The easiest way to see the guys you are in danger of losing is to go to your Front Office Page and click on the tab that says "Upcoming Free Agents".

These are the people you might lose. (Make sure you clear all filters to make sure you are seeing everyone)

Everyone else will either still be in their league minimum stage or their arb years. (You can look at the Salary Report to confirm this).

[KGrob]

Whoa. Too Kool.

I just found that, with your help. Never even knew it existed. That will save me an enormous amount of time. I've been doing all that research manually, taking notes on 3x5 cards, stuff like that. LMAO.

You, Sir, are a hero to me.

[KGrob]

Sometimes it's amazing how one little thing like that can make such a difference but that will help me tremendously.

I'm pretty new to the game still. I've probably even seen that screen before. Just didn't know what it was telling me at the time.

Thanks again.

[Kelric]

One of my favorite screens is the Salary Report that Cecil mentioned. It is an easy way to see who you have and for how long. It shows how longer a guy will be on the minimum salary, how long on arbitration (all the years with (A) behind them) and gives a nice overview of how your payroll looks going forward.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Kelric

One of my favorite screens is the Salary Report that Cecil mentioned. It is an easy way to see who you have and for how long. It shows how longer a guy will be on the minimum salary, how long on arbitration (all the years with (A) behind them) and gives a nice overview of how your payroll looks going forward.

Agreed. I use this screen and the upcoming FA tab regularly.

To KGrob

Look at the Contract and Status tab on the Player profile. To the side check ML service time. As you pass 5 years and approach 6 years you need to decide if you are going to offer a decent contract. Some players will be receptive earlier but most will not. If you have a player you want to keep, sign him early in that 5th year (edit should be 6th year). The price goes up as the season goes on, especially if he has a good year. Watch for slumps, an otherwise good player that is in a prolonged slump can be signed at a discount.

Some of the players that are past 6 years will sign early, that is with 1+ years left on an existing contract. Same principles apply as above.

Watch player personality ratings. Loyalty and greed will affect some contracts in a huge way, but it is not completely consistent. Playing for a winner will affect you big time when starting out with a bad team. I believe that Markus confirmed that birthplace can also have some affect. How much is unknown.

[KGrob]

Thanks guys. Very helpful tips. This stuff will save me a lot of time too.

Maybe I can actually assemble a team that can win games now.

[jmknpk2]

When you are signing contract extensions, keep in mind if you hit them early in the season they will sign for less than they are asking. I almost always get a discount on what they are asking. This is not true for free agents, though who frequently sign for more than they are asking.

[WarFisch]

OK, if on the contract page under abitration status it says: "Eligible, but possibly a fee agent after this season!" How do you know. They don't show up on the salary report as possible free agents.

Do I have to count days?

Will they suddenly become ineligible and free agents on the day after the end of the play-offs?

[CecilCooper]

Originally Posted by WarFisch

OK, if on the contract page under abitration status it says: "Eligible, but possibly a fee agent after this season!" How do you know. They don't show up on the salary report as possible free agents.

Do I have to count days?

Will they suddenly become ineligible and free agents on the day after the end of the play-offs?

On that same contract page take a look at "Major League Service Time" that number is most likely near 5 years and 172 days (172 days = 1 year of service time). Once the player hits that magic number of 6 years (unless you changed the default arb time) he is no longer an Arb player and is a free agent.


If he is not at 5 years and XX days and your arb time is the default give us the details.

It should work this way....

Once you make the ML your clock starts and you get the league min. for 3 years.

The next 3 years you get arbitration.

Once you roll over 5 years and 172 days you have a FA player after that season.

[WarFisch]

I have 5 players currently at 5 years and XX days. The XX is different for each (I assume depending on if they were demoted or on the 60 DL during that time). My question is, do I need to count the number of days left in the season and add it to the XX to figure out whether they will become FA's at the end of the year or has the game already done this. (2 of these guys were on the Possible FA report, the other 3 weren't; but they all says "possibly FA's after the season")

[Kelric]

Start counting. The game says 'possibly' because it doesn't know if they will get hurt or demoted. If you're planning on keeping all of them at the big league level through day 172, then you have some extensions to work on.

[WarFisch]

Hmm... pardon my confusion here, but how can I offer extensions when the game is calculating next years arbitration estimate for these players into the budget. The money is already tied up on estimates for money they will never get. (Did that make any sense?)

[Kelric]

I know what you're trying to say, but don't worry about it. You can work on extensions without an issue.

Edit - Or should be able to as far as I know. I never really exceed budget or play with a hard salary cap, so I don't know how that will really affect things. Still, I've never had a problem with extensions.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by WarFisch

Hmm... pardon my confusion here, but how can I offer extensions when the game is calculating next years arbitration estimate for these players into the budget. The money is already tied up on estimates for money they will never get. (Did that make any sense?)

Is the game saying you have no money for extensions?

Offer an extension and the offer page will tell you what dollar amount you have available for extensions. Like Kelric says, this has never been an issue I noticed before.

You can also check on the team financial page, LH column.

[Afino]

You can always turn off being fired as well

"Options", and click the box "Cannot be fired".