Restriction on Bonus to International Ammy FA

byzeil · 03-12-2014, 01:06 AM

In our online league we have just reached the International Amateur Free Agent draft pool and a team attempted to offer a bonus an it says "you do not have enough money available!"

We have a hard salary cap of $85 million and the league is set to allow all revenue available. This team is $456k under the cap but they also have $24 million in cash. The team has no restrictions from signing International Ammy FAs last season.

He is unable to offer any single signing bonus of more than $456k (remaining space under salary cap). But he can make multiple $456k offers to multiple International Ammy FAs, so total bonus $$ well over the salary cap.

The $85mil hard salary cap applies to Major League contracts and he has $24mil in cash so why is he being limited on the amount of any single signing bonus he can offer (<= cap room)?

What am I missing? Is bonus money supposed to be charged against the cap?

eriqjaffe · 03-12-2014, 08:28 AM

I don't think the bonus money comes out of the salary cap, I believe it's a separate budget.

That said, I know for a fact that if a goes over their International FA budget in a year, they will be limited in terms of the size of a bonus they can offer an International FA the subsequent year - and that amount is pro-rated based on how much over budget they go. That's kind of what this sounds like, since they can make offers, but they're limited in terms of how big each individual offer can be.

byzeil · 03-12-2014, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

I don't think the bonus money comes out of the salary cap, I believe it's a separate budget.

That said, I know for a fact that if a goes over their International FA budget in a year, they will be limited in terms of the size of a bonus they can offer an International FA the subsequent year - and that amount is pro-rated based on how much over budget they go. That's kind of what this sounds like, since they can make offers, but they're limited in terms of how big each individual offer can be.

That was my first thought but the team shows as having no restrictions on bidding on International Ammy FA. Plus those restrictions are based on a set max, either $250k or $500k, that they can offer players. This team is being restricted to room left under the hard cap.

byzeil · 03-12-2014, 08:49 AM

I just tested it with my team in that league. I have $8,761,250 available under the hard cap. If I offer $8,761,251 ($1 over that available cap amount) my owner rejects the offer saying I don't have enough money but if I offer the exact amount ($8,761,250 cap space) the offer goes through. My team has $33mil in cash available. And actually the message says I don't have enough money and I'm projected to be over the salary cap in one of the 2 future years.

Rejected

Accepted

Edit: And here is the same test for the original team. No restrictions on signing International Ammy FA but only $456,000 left under the salary cap.

Rejected

Accepted

johnhannibalsmith · 03-12-2014, 12:18 PM

I've had this same issue in a league and barked a little bit about how the cap was constraining these offers and asked whether that was intended. I started to think maybe I was just nuts since everyone else seemed to think that I was.

snowymagician · 04-03-2014, 05:55 PM

Anyone else who has encountered this want to chime in, share your experiences, or offer recommendations? Doesn't matter whether you have encountered this in offline or online leagues. Your input would be greatly appreciated!

mikezone13 · 04-03-2014, 09:49 PM

Yes we just encountered this too..

I had $952k available in cap space, yet $13m + in cash. I could not make a single offer over $952k, however I could make multiple offers that totaled more than $952k.

The example I had was I offered $3m for a player, was not allowed to (which I expected to happen), however I then made 7 separate bids that totaled $3m with no single bid being above $952k.

This was in an online league.

mikezone13 · 04-03-2014, 10:22 PM

I've isolated this to being an issue ONLY when the league has a salary cap.

The "team financial Info screen" when offering a contract doesn't take your "offered contracts" out of the $ for free agents when a salary cap is on, however it does take it out fo the "available for FA" when there is no salary cap on.

This definitely smells like a bug to me.

03-12-2014, 01:06 AM	#1
byzeil Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: NJ, US Posts: 2,002	Restriction on Bonus to International Ammy FA In our online league we have just reached the International Amateur Free Agent draft pool and a team attempted to offer a bonus an it says "you do not have enough money available!" We have a hard salary cap of $85 million and the league is set to allow all revenue available. This team is $456k under the cap but they also have $24 million in cash. The team has no restrictions from signing International Ammy FAs last season. He is unable to offer any single signing bonus of more than $456k (remaining space under salary cap). But he can make multiple $456k offers to multiple International Ammy FAs, so total bonus $$ well over the salary cap. The $85mil hard salary cap applies to Major League contracts and he has $24mil in cash so why is he being limited on the amount of any single signing bonus he can offer (<= cap room)? What am I missing? Is bonus money supposed to be charged against the cap? Last edited by byzeil; 03-12-2014 at 01:12 AM.

03-12-2014, 08:28 AM	#2
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,485	I don't think the bonus money comes out of the salary cap, I believe it's a separate budget. That said, I know for a fact that if a goes over their International FA budget in a year, they will be limited in terms of the size of a bonus they can offer an International FA the subsequent year - and that amount is pro-rated based on how much over budget they go. That's kind of what this sounds like, since they can make offers, but they're limited in terms of how big each individual offer can be. __________________

03-12-2014, 08:49 AM	#4
byzeil Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: NJ, US Posts: 2,002	I just tested it with my team in that league. I have $8,761,250 available under the hard cap. If I offer $8,761,251 ($1 over that available cap amount) my owner rejects the offer saying I don't have enough money but if I offer the exact amount ($8,761,250 cap space) the offer goes through. My team has $33mil in cash available. And actually the message says I don't have enough money and I'm projected to be over the salary cap in one of the 2 future years. Rejected Accepted Edit: And here is the same test for the original team. No restrictions on signing International Ammy FA but only $456,000 left under the salary cap. Rejected Accepted Last edited by byzeil; 03-12-2014 at 10:31 AM.

04-03-2014, 09:49 PM	#7
mikezone13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 533	Yes we just encountered this too.. I had $952k available in cap space, yet $13m + in cash. I could not make a single offer over $952k, however I could make multiple offers that totaled more than $952k. The example I had was I offered $3m for a player, was not allowed to (which I expected to happen), however I then made 7 separate bids that totaled $3m with no single bid being above $952k. This was in an online league. __________________ AFBL New Jersey Athletics FOD Boston Shamrocks GLBL Milwaukee Eagles HRBL Toronto Stags PBF Commish only ABL (old SBC) Commish only

04-03-2014, 10:22 PM	#8
mikezone13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 533	I've isolated this to being an issue ONLY when the league has a salary cap. The "team financial Info screen" when offering a contract doesn't take your "offered contracts" out of the $ for free agents when a salary cap is on, however it does take it out fo the "available for FA" when there is no salary cap on. This definitely smells like a bug to me. __________________ AFBL New Jersey Athletics FOD Boston Shamrocks GLBL Milwaukee Eagles HRBL Toronto Stags PBF Commish only ABL (old SBC) Commish only

03-12-2014, 12:18 PM	#5
johnhannibalsmith Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 29	I've had this same issue in a league and barked a little bit about how the cap was constraining these offers and asked whether that was intended. I started to think maybe I was just nuts since everyone else seemed to think that I was.

04-03-2014, 05:55 PM	#6
snowymagician Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 45	Anyone else who has encountered this want to chime in, share your experiences, or offer recommendations? Doesn't matter whether you have encountered this in offline or online leagues. Your input would be greatly appreciated!