So I signed a FA pitcher less than halfway through the season and was scrolling through his ratings and noticed that upon signing he lost a point in some of his pitching categories. Losing 1 on his RH Split was the worst. I noticed he had dropped a few points between his release at the beginning of the season until the point where I signed him but was a little puzzled at him losing another point when I signed the contract. He's 33 years old and has a 91 Makeup rating and I have a pitching coach rated at an 89 so I was wondering what might have caused the loss. Also on his ratings page it posts my signing as a "promotion" and I thought it would have said "signing" or at least something else. Any ideas?

A player's ratings are changing a very small amount every day, either up or down. If a player is not signed, his ratings will be going down internally every day. It's just that the ratings are updated on the player card only a few times a season. So if it was awhile since the last ratings update on the player card, the up to date ratings will be reflected when you sign or move a player.

Posted by bjschumacher on 10/19/2022 4:37:00 PM (view original):
A player's ratings are changing a very small amount every day, either up or down. If a player is not signed, his ratings will be going down internally every day. It's just that the ratings are updated on the player card only a few times a season. So if it was awhile since the last ratings update on the player card, the up to date ratings will be reflected when you sign or move a player.

This is accurate. Think of it like a free agent in real life -- he may or may not be working on his craft while not under contract. Whereas, a player under contract is working out, meeting with coaches, stretching, getting work in with the boys, etc.