When can I resign one of my own players whose in the last year of his contract. He is my #1 pitcher and when I try to do so it is blocked off and the only comment is, "This close to free agency, I am going to atleast test the waters." Is there a time when I will be the only one able to negotiate with him? Is it at the end of the year? I really don't want to loose this guy, but I probably won't be able to afford what he will command on the open market.

he's probably gone.

the only situation where you have a shot is if he gets hurt or regresses and loses 1+ overall points

if you're referring to miguel vazquez, he's as good as gone. with a 79 overall and 38 patience, i wouldn't bank on him change his mind by losing a point or two.

You can still try to get him back during the regular FA signing period, but he's gonna cost you....a lot! I always try to lock up guys like that earlier if possible so that doesn't happen.

wasn't anyway to lock him up earlier. I signed him as a FA 5 seasons ago and this is the first time I could offer him an extension. Thanks for the responses even though it wasn't the good news I was hoping for.

OK, I need some help here. I had a pitcher signed long term with a mutual option for this season. End of last season he wasn't listed as a FA. I re-signed my only other pitcher out there. We roll to this season and suddenly he wants a 3 year contract, I though ok. Well suddenly he says he's going straight to FA and when I try to re-sign him (this is the only time I've seen) his response was "You had your chance last season to sign me". But I didnt have the chance. Did I screw up somewhere?

That's a stock answer.

Quote: Originally posted by themudhen on 1/10/2010OK, I need some help here. I had a pitcher signed long term with a mutual option for this season. End of last season he wasn't listed as a FA. I re-signed my only other pitcher out there. We roll to this season and suddenly he wants a 3 year contract, I though ok. Well suddenly he says he's going straight to FA and when I try to re-sign him (this is the only time I've seen) his response was "You had your chance last season to sign me". But I didnt have the chance. Did I screw up somewhere?

If you signed him to the mutual option, then yes, you screwed up.

With mutual options under the current engine, there is no way to extend a player if he chooses out of the contract. And, if he's good enough to choose to opt out of the contract, he's good enough to want to test the FA market, in my experience.

Well I didnt sign him to it but traded for him a few years ago with that contract, same thing though. Thanks for the answers.

Bart

Quote: Originally posted by themudhen on 1/10/2010Well I didnt sign him to it but traded for him a few years ago with that contract, same thing though. Thanks for the answers.

Bart

Yea, I recently did the same thing a few seasons ago, without realizing that the mutual option precluded the option to re-sign. I've since learned the lesson the hard way and now despise mutual options (for good players, at least).