I used to hate the IFA market before the update where all of the ratings became 'fuzzy'. It may have just been because the main world I am in is cutthroat but I often found that to get any decent IFA you needed at least $12 million in prospects and for the really good ones upwards of $25-$30 million. The worst part was, there were some good players every year, like top 10 draft guys, but I think it would only be once every 4-5 years when a true superstar came along or a guy that could be considered a top 3 draft pick.

Now with the new fuzzy ratings (though we'll see what the new update holds) I'm seeing guys bidding $18+ million on guys that are AAAA quality players because they have no idea what they are getting. IMO its just too much cash to put into such a risk-reward.

Has anyone had success (true success, not just, I got lucky with this guy) with the IFA market since the first fuzzy update or is it all just a crapshoot now?

Think I'll just stick to the draft where I can put $20 mill into scouting, $8-10 mill into signing prospects and hope to make up the difference in rounds 2-5.

I've never spent big on IFA. It seems any that are worth anything go for ridiculous amounts.

Yep, draft >>> IFA since the big update. The days of $30 million IFA buys ($40M units because of transfer penalties) are a thing of the past. Budget tanking $100M player payroll into $40M is dead, waste of money. Pay for medical instead, pay for better draft scouting, pay for ML free agents, etc. There are still excellent IFAs here and there but in many leagues the cash is being wasted on AAAA guys like you commented on. Normally there are 1-5 $20-30M IFAs, but last season in the Show II the maximum IFA sale (Player Profile: Jair Oliva 90 current OVR on signing day) was only $15.5M which was a record low for that league (any league?), so the market is adjusting.

That is the other thing I'm noticing now too. The market is shifting to free agents. All that big IFA money is going into 29-31 year old guys.

My one league is going through FA right now and I learned an expensive lesson. Bought out a boarderline SP5-LRA guy because I wanted to upgrade. To get a SP3-4 who wasn't even a type B cost me $60 million over 5 years. Another guy I was in on, an SP2 went for $95 mill. I couldn't believe it! There were 6 good pitchers and all of them are going to make $50+ million on this contract

Isn't this just another version of "I had a lot of money in scouting and the 2nd pick. Why didn't I get a HOFer?"

IMO, it's still too early to tell. I got a guy who I signed to be my future SS. That won't happen. But he'll be a GG-quality 2B/3B and hit the position. He was 28m and, sure, I'd have loved a SS but I'll take it. Just signed a 1B for 11m and I like him too.

This is 'I've never liked IFA and I think it got worse. I'm bored and at the office. Lets hear from people who think otherwise.'

This is also 'Is BJB's reign of terror over since IFA's was how he always managed to replenish his farm system'?

Well, my point is that it's no longer guaranteed. You can still get a Hideki but it might be Matsui or Irabu.

$30M IFA don't appear to be a thing of the past. Anyone with big $ left after the first round of FA will still bid big on whatever IFA appear to be most worth it. I'm in 3 worlds and 2 have had $30M IFA signings, one of them 4 days ago. A low-salary team that doesn't get top FA can take the leftover money and spend it on IFA or not use it. One of those options is risky and the other has no value at all. Most will probably choose the risky option. If there is a swing away from IFA toward FA and owners are faced with paying $100M for a #2-3 SP, the pendulum will swing back.

Posted by MikeT23 on 6/29/2016 2:16:00 PM (view original):
Well, my point is that it's no longer guaranteed. You can still get a Hideki but it might be Matsui or Irabu.

This is a good thing for the sim (discourages tanking to a degree) and coincidentally mirrors real life. See Castillo, Rusney.

The odds that this means the Red Sox never bid big on another Cuban are zero.

Leagues ebb and flow. It's up to you to see where the money is flowing into and buy low in the areas the league is underspending on. The scouting updates definitely made high budgets in HS/Col more valuable and therefore underbought. But I'm still seeing league average budgets for HS and Col at about the same levels as pre-update (roughly 10M/10M). Most of my leagues before the update had ~5 owners with $15M+ budgets in HS and Col. (back when you could see everyone's budget numbers). If that's still the case for the most part, then there's a lot of value to be had for those few owners with high budgets.

First, I think this mirrors how I feel about the changes to draft scouting. We used to be able to take one from column a, one from column b, two from c. You could get fill holes with FA, replenish with the draft, AND maybe score a decent IFA. Now, to get return on investment for your budget choices, you have to evaluate your team's direction more critically, and commit your budget dollars more fully. You can't have a little bit of everything anymore. And that redistributes the talent pool, because anyone who's making a killing in one area is missing out in another.

Second, as for the guy who keeps winning IFA in Riley every season, just go look at his entire trade history to see how he replenishes his farm system.