Is this accurate? -

Looking to sign. Will sign for slot money.   
    Openly Signable   

May sign if the deal is right. Has been offered several scholarships to play college baseball at a DI school.   
    Questionable   

Looking to be drafted in the first five rounds. If not, he'll probably accept a scholarship to play DI college baseball.   
    Openly Signable    If top 5 rounds

Looking to be drafted in the first round. If not, he'll probably head back to college for his senior season.   
    Openly Signable    If 1st Round

Probably won't sign. He's determined to finish out his college career.   
    Doubtful   

Undecided. He is also being scouted to play professional football.   
    Questionable   

Undecided. He has scholarships on the table to play DI college basketball.   
    Questionable   

Looking to be drafted in the first round. If not, he'll probably accept a scholarship to play DI college baseball.   
    Openly Signable    If 1st Round

Undecided. He has scholarships on the table to play DI college football.   
    Questionable   

Probably won't sign. His dream is to play pro football, not baseball.   
    Doubtful   

Probably won't sign. He's got his heart set on going to college.   
    Doubtful   

May sign if the deal is right. If not, he'll head back to college for his senior season.   
    Questionable   

Undecided. He is also being scouted to play professional basketball.   
    Questionable   

Undecided. He is also being scouted to play pro hockey.   
    Questionable   

Looking to be selected in the first five rounds. If not, he'll probably head back to college for his senior season.   
    Openly Signable   

My experience:

Looking to sign = will sign right away if you offer their demand.  (I have been told by another owner that they may sign for slightly less than demand, but I haven't tried it myself.)

May sign / Looking to be drafted in Round X = player may take time signing.  Offer his demand and he MAY sign right away, but more likely will sit on offer.  After one week (real life) may accept, or more likely counter asking for something higher.

Undecided = offer demand, player will definitely sit on offer for one week at least.  May reject offer.  However, I have managed to talk one of these guys into taking a deal by offering (a lot) more money, after he rejected twice.  (I wanted the player, not the comp pick.)  That's not a guarantee, just saying I did it once.

Probably won't = doubtful.  However, I've seen one of these guys sign without even countering, so I suppose anything is possible.  I'm sure other owners have seen other examples.

 

Most players will sign for give or take 85% of asking price.  Of course, you might not want to do that if they're type D eligible.  I still offer less to guys who are "looking to sign", knowing that they'll take the full price offer if it comes to it.

I once saw a guy who was "looking for a guaranteed ML contract. If not, he'll probably play a year of Indy ball and enter the draft next season."

Thanks all! We'll see how I do.

I've never had a problem with 'undecided guys'. Just keep your budget high. They always come back after a week and either sign or ask for more money. Every 'undecided' guy has always taken the second offer but I have found it costs me 3-6 million more. A guy in Damag and my league picked up a monster player late who probably wouldn't sign. My best advice, set up your draft board in order of the guy you want, don't worry about signability and hope for the best. Doing that you can really steal some top level talent. Especially in picks 15-30.

Since the IFA sucks up most people's draft money, is a possible, I dunno, strategy to load up on prospect and go after difficult (but not impossible) to sign guys?

Depends on the world. I thought that strategy would work too but in Reily everyone just drafts the best guy and then 'punts the pick' and gets a type D the next year if they can't sign him.

Posted by sjpoker on 3/6/2015 7:13:00 AM (view original):
Since the IFA sucks up most people's draft money, is a possible, I dunno, strategy to load up on prospect and go after difficult (but not impossible) to sign guys?

If someone has a pick higher than, say, 15th, he'd have to be an idiot to waste all his money on the IFA market before the draft. Even if you draft at the end of the first round, it makes sense to save a few million bucks to sign your first pick.

I've never been in a world where most players spend their money on IFAs and have nothing left for the draft. I mean, at most, there are going to be 3-4 IFAs before the draft who are worth spending big money on anyway.

But yes, if you have money, it is possible to get a good pick or two by targeting hard to sign players.