SIM COMPLETE - Offseason #2

[Jistic]

LOL, I didn't even know we were in free agency. Oooops.

[Andrew]

Here are my comments:

1) I am a little surprised that the bidding was not a little more spirited for these two; I know there were several teams that could easily have afforded these players.

Definitely agree here. I didn't get into the Lacour bidding because his demands were a little out of my price range, but I offered Joyce similar money for fewer years. He's a guy I would have loved to have. It's a gamble but with that pitching staff you could potentially gain enough extra revenue by winning that you'll still turn a profit next year. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

In future years, I think I'll do shorter sims for the start of free agency and hopefully get some offers and counteroffers going back and forth. It seems like the major guys decided within a week and a half so maybe we can split that period into 3 sims, then pick up the pace after that. Anyone have thoughts on this?

[mahoney2]

I offered a deal for Lacour but he's old. He doesn't fit into our teams plans. Also I had a bug last night where I couldn't view anyone in the Transactions screen so i had to do a full reinstall today.

[Jistic]

I thought we weren't doing F/A in game?

[Andrew]

I thought we weren't doing F/A in game?

No we are... only thing we don't do in game is signing coaches and scouts.

[BradleyB]

It definitely would have been nice to try and counteroffer, so I'm all for shorter sims to start the offseason next year. I don't know if it would have done much good though, no matter how much $$ I have available to me right now, I'm not gonna make a bad deal just to say I spent it.

Personally, I don't like the idea of dishing out 7 year contracts, especially to a pitcher. Much like Stu said, I made a comparable offer for Joyce, just not as many years. I just hope it doesn't turn into a trend where we won't be able to sign a big name free agent without giving him a lengthy contract.

I still can't get over the contract that was offered to Lacour though. He was asking for 16-17 million a year and he's getting over 23. I don't even think the Yankees would have made that deal.

[Acid]

Sorry for not getting an export in for this sim, I was busy with school and work.

Looks like I missed out on some FA time, talk about a bad time to miss a sim.

[liquidcrash]

I don't have a problem with Davenport's strategy. With that pitching staff he has now (don't forget the IL Pale Ale Pitcher LaRochelle is on that team), they look to be very tough next season. A championship season and the moves are genius.

I also offered Lacour a big contract, so the Tobs would have been in a similar situation financially if that had been accepted. I'm happy with the guys I did sign, they should help. I didn't think that Joyce was worth the money he was asking, we'll see how that works out.

[liquidcrash]

In future years, I think I'll do shorter sims for the start of free agency and hopefully get some offers and counteroffers going back and forth. It seems like the major guys decided within a week and a half so maybe we can split that period into 3 sims, then pick up the pace after that. Anyone have thoughts on this?

I think that's a good idea. I pretty much got everyone I wanted (with the exception of Lacour), but with only one sim you have to offer pretty much everyone you might want. Luckily I had already offered a contract to my backup option to Lacour and got him. Adding in a sim or two allows for counter options and backup plans. Plus, if someone misses a sim during that time, they have another week of free agency to come up with something.

[Z]

In future years, I think I'll do shorter sims for the start of free agency and hopefully get some offers and counteroffers going back and forth. It seems like the major guys decided within a week and a half so maybe we can split that period into 3 sims, then pick up the pace after that. Anyone have thoughts on this?

I think that's a good idea. I pretty much got everyone I wanted (with the exception of Lacour), but with only one sim you have to offer pretty much everyone you might want. Luckily I had already offered a contract to my backup option to Lacour and got him. Adding in a sim or two allows for counter options and backup plans. Plus, if someone misses a sim during that time, they have another week of free agency to come up with something.

Definitely agree. I lost out on everyone I wanted and had no chance to make counter offers or to extend offers to my backup plans.

[Andrew]

Thinking more about it, this should be an area of improvement for OOTP2007. Big name FA's usually wait awhile before making a decision, allowing teams to work against each other and raise the stakes. In this, everyone signed within a couple weeks.

Seems like they should hold off on their decision until teams stop upping their offers.

[robster1225]

I agree it was very strange that these guys signed so soon. I wanted both, but I obviously didn't offer them the money that they recieved.

I don't have a problem, however, with what Davenport did, because if it proves to be a success, then they will have the money, and if it is a total failure, then they will pay for the consequences in the off season.

This being my first OOTP 2006 online offseason, I'm really surprised at how fast the FA's signed. But, it was a learning experience, and hopefully it is better next year.

I think the players should have sent a message to each team, saying if they liked the offer or not, allowing teams a few trys to sign a player. It is strange that being the Brewmaster Champs that the top FA's didn't even send me a counter offer. I guess they are all greedy, lol.

[Jim]

I was just thinking about these big FA signings and wondering what came of them. Turns out LaCour has had a good season (I remember I also made a pretty good offer for him) but Joyce has only played in 2 games and pitched a total of 3 innings all season. The ironic part is LaCour's picture is Kerry Wood....so you would've expected him to be the one to end up hurt!

[Sully]

Take a look at Harcourt. He was demanding an insane conract, but he's having a great year in Philly. I still don't think he's worth what he's making, but he's much improved over last year offensively.