2019 Free Agency SIM 4 Complete - Next SIM Sat 11/12

[Carlos]

Zhao finally made up his mind!

I have no idea who you're talking about. ;)

[Pat]

I have no idea who you're talking about. ;)

I don't think there is any middle ground on that signing.

[Guest]

I don't think there is any middle ground on that signing.

Not at all. Seemed like a few teams were after him, so I'm hoping our scouts are right, but I think it's a decent gamble to take.

[Spear]

I had some discussions with him but never made a formal offer.

I was surprised to see that, according to my view, he was asking for a 6-year deal at $11M per on the Top Free Agents page. That seemed like a steal in terms of salary. But this past SIM when I would go to make an offer he told me that he would want a salary for $23M per year. Quite a bit different than the $11M, so I figured your offer must have been in the high teens or low 20s. Which, priced me out.

Had I known he would have signed $14.5M per, I might have tried to top it slightly. Well done. According to my scout, who sucks by the way, his control bumped up to an "8" in November and has stayed strong. He turns 32 soon and might see a velocity dip during the deal but it probably won't hurt him that much as he's never been a strikeout guy anyways. Iron man. High intelligence/work ethic. I think it's a great signing.

Well I was offering in the low 20s but with different scenarios, I tried a 3 year deal then a 5 year. I threw a team option in there. He kept saying no!

I finally got fed up after the last SIM and just boosted his salary demands of $11M and left the term of the deal as he requested, which was the 6 year deal with a player option. So I said what the hell, it's cheaper. I was surprised today when he signed.