Time for another rant... Topic

Jtpsops
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Just one example:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-philliessignlee121310

In case you aren't aware, "shocking" means "unexpected".
8/30/2011 2:33 PM
MikeT23
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Texas was his most recent team.  The Yankees offered the most money.   This was ridiculously easy to find:

"Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has a policy against speaking about free agent negotiations and somehow managed to remain under the radar until tonight, when rumors began swirling that the Phillies were the “mystery team” Jon Heyman of SI.com had been speculating about without knowing (or at least revealing) their identity."

Being an Orioles fan living in Canada, I can understand why you had no idea that Philly was in the mix.   But, as a Yankee fan, I knew a third team was talking.   It doesn't take long to figure out which teams can offer up the big bucks, which teams can contend and which teams he might choose.   It really came down to the "mystery" team being Anaheim(unlikely), Boston(hard to keep quiet) and Philly.   No one else had the money or the balls to pull the trigger.

8/30/2011 2:45 PM (edited)
Jtpsops
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Perhaps, but A) it wasn't confirmed, and B) it was completely unexpected.  Even if it had been revealed it was Philly, they still would have been a distant third behind the Rangers and Yankees in the media and public opinion.

Which is basically what your original question was getting at.  When was the last time people were shocked at the final destination of a big-name FA.  And once again (since you missed it the first few times), the answer is Cliff Lee.
8/30/2011 2:48 PM
MikeT23
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It didn't have to be confirmed by Lee(and he's the only one who'd confirm such a thing).   There was a reason he delayed signing with TEX/NY.    He wasn't thrilled to have been traded to TX and, apparently, somebody spit on his fat wife in NY.  There had to be a third option and, if you believed Lee, they had to be a contender.     In case you forgot, he pitched in Philly.   Had he confirmed a third team, I'd have picked Philly as the favorite.    

Your answer is Cliff Lee.  Anyone familiar with the situation thinks you're a moron.
 
8/30/2011 2:54 PM
AlCheez
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Being a Phillies fan, it was definitely as close to a signing coming completely out of left-field as you're going to get on a big-name guy these days, but Mike is right, there was still some evidence.   There was the talk of the "mystery team" out there, and the day before the signing speculation was starting to center around Philly.  And here's the other fact that is more relevant to HBD - regardless of whether all the actual teams in the mix were known, everyone knew the ballpark of the offers that were being thrown around.

And the information available to the public in real life isn't all that relevant, since in HBD, we're the GMs, and I remember seeing one if not both of the Texas/Yankees GMs saying after the fact that they were pretty sure Philly was in the mix - maybe not immediately, but well before he signed.
8/30/2011 3:12 PM
Jtpsops
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But that goes back to the original point then.  In HBD, as GMs, we are not privy to the info that GMs have in real life, and we should.  An agent would at least let a GM know how many teams are in the running for a FA - and maybe even reveal speficic teams if it helps start a bidding war for his client.  There's too much uncertainty in HBD, which is why there's frantic bidding for certain guys that two or three owners end up with...a handful more end up with the second-tier guys with last minute offers, and everyone else is SOL.
8/30/2011 3:16 PM
deathinahole
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I believe this has been brought up about 3 times in suggestions, and for the reason that you can just throw bids on everyone, dismissed as a bad idea.

If you're going with the real life argument, I'll have these fake players' agents call your home at 4 in the morning to negotiate with you via a conference call, then the multiple bid argument holds some water.
8/30/2011 3:20 PM
deathinahole
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But, I'm all for saying it's a bad idea a 4th time.

8/30/2011 3:21 PM
MikeT23
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Posted by Jtpsops on 8/30/2011 3:18:00 PM (view original):
But that goes back to the original point then.  In HBD, as GMs, we are not privy to the info that GMs have in real life, and we should.  An agent would at least let a GM know how many teams are in the running for a FA - and maybe even reveal speficic teams if it helps start a bidding war for his client.  There's too much uncertainty in HBD, which is why there's frantic bidding for certain guys that two or three owners end up with...a handful more end up with the second-tier guys with last minute offers, and everyone else is SOL.
On the other hand, I know exactly how much you have committed to payroll and how much you budgeted for payroll.    Do real-life GMs have this info?   If it's a big $$$ HBD FA, you can figure out who has how much if you take the time.    THAT'S something that should be fixed.
8/30/2011 3:31 PM
Jtpsops
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Well there aren't many owners who go into free agency without at least $10-20mil in payroll available, so that's not terribly helpful anyway unless the bidding is up over $15mil per season.
8/30/2011 3:47 PM
MikeT23
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Doesn't matter.  You were comparing what we know as opposed to RL GMs.   I think knowing the financials of a team is far more important than Scoff Boras telling me that 4 other teams are offering multi-year deals. 
8/30/2011 3:52 PM
Jtpsops
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In RL it doesn't matter.  There's no cap...so technically every team can afford the top level free agents.  90% just don't want to pay that much for their players.
8/30/2011 3:58 PM
MikeT23
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Exactly.   We have way more info than we need wrt FA in HBD.  
8/30/2011 4:05 PM
Jtpsops
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Having more information doesn't mean it's useful information.  I'd give up knowing other team's financials to be able to know what teams I was bidding against for FA.
8/30/2011 4:12 PM
MikeT23
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Again, we should have the game changed just for you?
8/30/2011 4:14 PM
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