So, I'm trying to sign a free agent 34 year old pitcher and I am, apparently, in a bidding war with another franchise.  On the sixth cycle of free agency (not the last...not even close to the last), the pitcher signs with a team who is paying him slightly more than I offered.  I figure it has to do with the structure of the contracts and all and, whereas, I ain't exactly angry, I thought I would solicit an opinion or two about why he would jump at that offer.

The winning offer was

18 x 3, plus a bonus of 10, which equals 64

Mine was 13, 12, 12.5 x 2, and a player option for 11, which equals 61

Anyone know why he jumped, since my last offer was a PM2, cycle 2 increase over the PM2, cycle 1 and he signed in AM cycle 1

The other guy offered him $64m over 3 seasons, which averages to a little more than $21.3m a season.

You offered him $61m over 5 seasons, which averages to $12.2m a season.

So the two contracts were not even close, because they look at average per season, not necessarily total contract value.

Yeah thats a no brainer... 

Posted by tecwrg on 12/5/2011 3:51:00 PM (view original):
The other guy offered him $64m over 3 seasons, which averages to a little more than $21.3m a season.

You offered him $61m over 5 seasons, which averages to $12.2m a season.

So the two contracts were not even close, because they look at average per season, not necessarily total contract value.

Thanks, tecwrg.

I thought the FA looked at total contract value.  Makes perfect sense they would look at the average, since at the end of the 3 years, he can always sign another, but, even with a 99 make-up, he probably ain't signing after at age 39.

Oh, well, I get to keep my A level pick!

Don't listen to tec, total contract value is all that matters.

 

Some players (I think low patience ones, mostly) will snap accept a slightly better offer sometimes without giving the other bidder a chance to counter.

Posted by deanod on 12/5/2011 5:01:00 PM (view original):
Don't listen to tec, total contract value is all that matters.

 

Some players (I think low patience ones, mostly) will snap accept a slightly better offer sometimes without giving the other bidder a chance to counter.

+1 the don't listen to tec.

Posted by tecwrg on 12/5/2011 3:51:00 PM (view original):
The other guy offered him $64m over 3 seasons, which averages to a little more than $21.3m a season.

You offered him $61m over 5 seasons, which averages to $12.2m a season.

So the two contracts were not even close, because they look at average per season, not necessarily total contract value.

Lol just proffering advice he doesn't really know the answer to.

This is a new one on me...in all the FA bidding contests I've lost, it was because the other team offered a higher total amount

Yeah, adding a year or two at lesser dollars is a good way to win bidding matches.