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[Deleted]

New question with the Options and Free Agency period upon us:

Once a team and/or player exercises an option, that option is now part of the initial contract that we sign a player off (that part is easy and obvious).

BUT, what about the player whose option has been declined. Is he now a free agent for the purposes of our inaugural draft? Or can we sign him to the 1-year option that he had at the outset of our draft process?

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2013 20:22:27 GMT -5 @david said:

New question with the Options and Free Agency period upon us:

Once a team and/or player exercises an option, that option is now part of the initial contract that we sign a player off (that part is easy and obvious).

BUT, what about the player whose option has been declined. Is he now a free agent for the purposes of our inaugural draft? Or can we sign him to the 1-year option that he had at the outset of our draft process?

e.g. Derek Jeter?

[Deleted]

Jeter was re-signed at a higher salary than his original option, so he'd be another case in point. Let's add Mark Ellis and James Shields as examples. Both had their options turned down. If we draft them is it on their option salary or now do we wait until their free agent contract comes out?

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2013 20:37:53 GMT -5 @david said:

Jeter was re-signed at a higher salary than his original option, so he'd be another case in point. Let's add Mark Ellis and James Shields as examples. Both had their options turned down. If we draft them is it on their option salary or now do we wait until their free agent contract comes out?

You would wait until they receive a new contract, as the option is not an official contract.

Basically, if it's accepted, then that is the player's contract for the season. If it's declined, then they are a FA and have no contract (yet)

[Deleted]

But for the purposes of our league the option is "official" - we have the option to take it or not when it comes up, regardless of the real life status.

I'm not trying to be difficult - and I don't care either way - but I think it's worth setting the precedent now b/c all these options are being picked up and declined this time of year.

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2013 22:09:42 GMT -5 @david said:

But for the purposes of our league the option is "official" - we have the option to take it or not when it comes up, regardless of the real life status.

I'm not trying to be difficult - and I don't care either way - but I think it's worth setting the precedent now b/c all these options are being picked up and declined this time of year.

I see what you're saying. I would lean towards waiting until their contract becomes official for next season and then taking that contract. I'll let Jimmy make the decision because he is the rules guy, but I'm confident that what I said should ring true

[Sand Gnats (Matthew)]

It is whatever contract the players signs first. The point will be moot tomorrow when options are finalized. Jon Lester you know will be $13M next year, Ubaldo you know is a FA.

[Rawhide GM (Jimmy-LM)]

Nov 1, 2013 23:10:38 GMT -5 @bubbashrimp222 said:

Nov 1, 2013 22:09:42 GMT -5 @david said:

But for the purposes of our league the option is "official" - we have the option to take it or not when it comes up, regardless of the real life status.

I'm not trying to be difficult - and I don't care either way - but I think it's worth setting the precedent now b/c all these options are being picked up and declined this time of year.

I see what you're saying. I would lean towards waiting until their contract becomes official for next season and then taking that contract. I'll let Jimmy make the decision because he is the rules guy, but I'm confident that what I said should ring true

You would have the option of accepting the option, or letting the player go to FA. You could not extend accept a renewed contract in this league in place of the option you would currently hold. (I think I understand your question David) Again once you hold a player to a contract here, real life contracts will not interfere with what you own.

Now if we are speaking fro the draft, then the way I interupt what your asking David is that the club declined the option, and then resigned them to a new contract. Per the draft, you would accept the new contract as the option was never official (unless the option has been picked up by the team since).

[Rawhide GM (Jimmy-LM)]

NO CLOCK ON SUNDAYS. Enjoy the family, football, have some fun. If youre around just check in and make your pick if your OTC or leave a list if your in the hole.

[Deleted]

3 Qs

1) Will Masahiro Tanaka go through the prospect bonus process or the free agent bid process post-draft? The FYPD draft mentions that the 24yos go to free agency.  However, all the IFAs are technically minor leaguers which go through bonus signings.  I mostly want this answered regarding Tanaka, but it applies more broadly to how we deal with IFAs in future seasons too.

2) If the answer to no1 is prospect bonus, which will occur first after the draft prospect bonus signings or FA bids? This doesn't matter to me at all unless Tanaka goes the prospect bonus route.  If he does go the bonus route, though, it matters because I might consider saving funds for a bonus bid if it happens before FA signings, but probably won't if it happens after.  That's because his bid is likely to be the highest annual bid (at least by season) after the draft, but if he goes after the FAs, it's not worth it to me to save space for him because that'd prob mean forgoing signing FAs while I wait for him.

3) Will we have to pay PP guys their $500K even if they are not on our 25man MLB roster? The way it's currently set up the rules, prospects costs you nothing until 50ip/150ab.  I'm sure some teams will eventually get very close to the cap so I'm wondering what happens when mid-season their prospects get IPs/ABs in real ball and all of the sudden cost $500K.  Eventually, someone will go over the cap mid-season because of it.

[Deleted]

If at anytime a team goes over the cap during the season how long do you have to get under the CAP?
And what's the penalty for going over the cap?

[Deleted]

Serge, I think what your looking for is under section (12) of the rules where it states, "If the GM exceeds his roster limit of 55 players and/or exceeds the salary cap during the season (or if he exceeds either offseason limitation), there will be a 72 hour remedy period. Until the illegality is remedied, the newly acquired players will not be added to your ESPN roster. Failure to remedy the illegality within 72 hours will result in suspension of scoring in ESPN and all free agent bidding."

[Sand Gnats (Matthew)]

Tanaka I believe will go to the prospect signing bonus round, but I could be wrong that is Jimmy's ultimate call.

Usually prospect bidding is the last round of FA bidding after all MLB positions have been bid on.

A PP player or prospect who has recently gone over the 150/50 still counts against your cap if he is in the minors and not on your active 25 man roster.

Going over the cap in season, you will have 72 hours to get under the cap. Failure to do so will result in one of a few things depending on the situation.

Competing teams will not accrue any stats until they get under the cap.

Non-competing teams could be forced to lose an upcoming draft pick.

Or what may happen is the move that put a team over the cap is reversed. You sign a player that puts you over the cap, you have 72 hours to get under the cap, if you fail to do so, the player that you signed can be ruled as null and void and put back into FA.

The penalty for going over the cap or roster limit will be a case by case basis, unless Jimmy has decided on a different structure.

If you go over cap or roster limits and it is noticed you should be given a warning to remedy it. But there are going to be times when stuff slips through the cracks and if it is determined that the GM tried to game the system by putting a false salary cap number or whatever the case may be a the severity of the punishment will increase and could result in the removal from the league. There are 30 teams and it is nearly impossible to police them all. It is your responsibility to maintain an accurate team page with all transactions updated ASAP. Thats trades, draft picks, FA signings, waivers or whatever. Cheating or gaming the system will not be tolerated. Though mistakes can happen and will happen, the best way to avoid them is update your team page the moment you make a move, then you'll never forget to do it. It is not difficult and is a must for every GM.

Anyways this is how I run it in my league Jimmy may have a slightly different overall answer.

[Rawhide GM (Jimmy-LM)]

Nov 5, 2013 7:31:21 GMT -5 @muspelle said:

3 Qs

1) Will Masahiro Tanaka go through the prospect bonus process or the free agent bid process post-draft? The FYPD draft mentions that the 24yos go to free agency.  However, all the IFAs are technically minor leaguers which go through bonus signings.  I mostly want this answered regarding Tanaka, but it applies more broadly to how we deal with IFAs in future seasons too.

2) If the answer to no1 is prospect bonus, which will occur first after the draft prospect bonus signings or FA bids? This doesn't matter to me at all unless Tanaka goes the prospect bonus route.  If he does go the bonus route, though, it matters because I might consider saving funds for a bonus bid if it happens before FA signings, but probably won't if it happens after.  That's because his bid is likely to be the highest annual bid (at least by season) after the draft, but if he goes after the FAs, it's not worth it to me to save space for him because that'd prob mean forgoing signing FAs while I wait for him.

3) Will we have to pay PP guys their $500K even if they are not on our 25man MLB roster? The way it's currently set up the rules, prospects costs you nothing until 50ip/150ab.  I'm sure some teams will eventually get very close to the cap so I'm wondering what happens when mid-season their prospects get IPs/ABs in real ball and all of the sudden cost $500K.  Eventually, someone will go over the cap mid-season because of it.

1) Tanaka will go the Signing Bonus route, as he has never held a major league contract before.

2) MLB free agents will be bid on first, considering they will command top dollar and will provide more flexibility for owners to fill out their mlb rosters first. Tanaka is the exception to the signing bonus period, not the rule. So if you really want him you will have to reserve some funds.

3) ANY PP player that is owed $500k has to be paid 500k, regardless of being on the 25 man roster or not. It is a requirement, not an option.

[Deleted]

Want to clarify that player opt-outs are also treated as team options. There was some question about this on the shout box.

I just assumed player opt-outs were treated like other options. They are the functional equivalent of traditional player options, the only difference is you hand in a piece of paper to say you wanna get out instead of handing in a piece of paper to say when you wanna stay in. There's a reason the root is "opt" it's because it is a player option. But traditional player options were always opt-ins. It was suggested we only treat player options that are opt-ins as team options and we don't treat player options that are opt-outs the same way. I didn't see that distinction in the rules between opt-ins and opt-outs, since they are both player options. I don't actually care either way to be honest, but I'd just like it clarified before I draft a guy thinking I've got a player opt-out I can use as a team option (like Greinke).

[Deleted]

Are there any minimums for games played or innings pitched? I know the question about maximums was answered that there are none so I assume the answer is the same for minumums since its a somewhat similar thing and no mins are mentioned in the rules. Let me know if thats wrong?

[Deleted]

For future reference I have two questions.

1/ What is the procedure for assigning a tag, be it Franchise or Restricted, to a player?

2/ What is the procedure for claiming back a player who has a Restricted tag assigned to them?

I imagine the answers are somewhere but I can't find them on the league threads.

[Winston-Salem Spirits (Brad)]

1) We had to designate who was tagged and which type by the end of the day on Jan 3rd. Your choice as to which tag to use. Also, when trading a tagged player the choice of franchise or restricted is up to the new owner.
ruthianrotobaseball.proboards.com/thread/8/7-restricted-free-agency
Note that the date in the rule was pushed back to Jan 3rd


2) Come Friday night the 16th, Jimmy will cut off the RFA bids on hitters and inform all the restricted tag holders what the highest bids were. At that point the owners will have until the end of the day on the 19th to decide whether to keep the player or receive compensation (assuming the offer is large enough)
ruthianrotobaseball.proboards.com/thread/1542/updated-schedule-all-bidding-activities

[Winston-Salem Spirits (Brad)]

Reading your questions differently...

1) There is a thread located under Free Agency > Tag Tracker titled Tagged Players. This is where you designate what players your tagging and which type of tag. There is also a thread in the same location where we keep up with traded tags.

2) All communications regarding player bids or whether you accept or decline a tag are PM'd to the MLBPA profile.

[Deleted]

Thanks.