What should you do if your own departing FA says, "Unless you really surprise me with a great offer, I'm filing for free agency?" Is there like a rule-of-thumb percentage above his asking price that you should offer?

Update: He's asking 4 years @ $5.4 million per, and I offered 4 years @ $7.4 million. He came back with, "Let's work together and get this done; we're real close to a deal."

sounds like $8 might do it, which would be a 50% bump, right?

My first offer was a 27 percent raise over his asking price, and an $8 million offer would be a 32 percent raise. I think I'm going to offer $8.1 million – one-third more than his initial asking price – unless someone tells me otherwise.

$8.1M is 50% more than his initial asking price.

Posted by deanod on 9/15/2010 8:26:00 AM (view original):
$8.1M is 50% more than his initial asking price.

Your are correct. I am dumb at math.

I've gotten players back just by adding a year at their asking price.

I've been rejected when doubling their asking price.

Posted by iain on 9/15/2010 8:32:00 AM (view original):
I've gotten players back just by adding a year at their asking price.

Good idea. I'm going to try that first.

Let us know how it goes.  I've always gotten the guy back doing that, but it has only come up 2-3 times, so it's hardly a good sample set from which to work.

I offered my dude 5 years @ $5.4 million (his initial asking price per season, but with an additional season on a mutual option) and a no-trade clause to sweeten the deal. (He'd get 10/5 rights in the second year of the deal, anyway.) He replied: "Come back with another zero or two and we’ll talk. Otherwise I’m filing for free agency."

I think I'll counter with 4 years @ $8.1 million and see how that goes. Glad I woke up early and made my first offer before the 7 a.m. cycle, to give myself some extra time to negotiate.

I am going to be facing this situation with my ace soon.  I am interested to know how this situation plays out for you.

FWIW, I went to arbitration once with him and then signed him to a four-year, $5.4 million deal that just expired. He refused to renew last season, and his patience/temper/makeup ratings are 38/68/84. He's a closer.

He's not signing.  He wants to play for the Muskies . . . we hope.

Sorry to disappoint you, hutch, but he signed his 4-year, $8.1 million offer. I gave him a mutual option, but not the no-trade clause.

Final verdict: A 50 percent increase over his asking price did the trick. But I'm nearly certain, given his low patience, that he would not have signed anything if I had taken him to that second year of arbitration.