I need help with a strategy.  I am coming over from GD where I had the recruiting strategy of allowing a cycle or two pass before jumping of the guys I wanted.  Any similarities?  I have 23m to spend and need 2 SPs, a LR, and would like to bring in a young 1B

Any help is greatly appreciated

It's not like GD.  It won't tell you if a FA is considering someone else.  If you wait, some players will drop their demands if they don't have an offer.

Ok...what is the usual contract growth for a top FA?  Are there bidding wars?

$20M for 5 years with a $10M signing bonus and player option is the max contract.  Elite players will go for that.  If two or more people have offered max (or equal) contracts, tiebreakers are used to determine who has the top bid.  Tiebreakers can be found in FAQ, or a search of the forums.  If you have the top bid it will show up as a 1 in a bubble next to the guy's name.  If your bubble doesn't have the 1, you don't have the top bid.

There is no telling what a bidding war might produce.  I have seen guys go for $12M for 5 years who started out at $5M for 3.  There are also some guys that will start at $6M and go for $6M or less if their value drops.  It really can vary from league to league, so it's hard to say how your league operates.

One thing to take notice of is whether a player is a Type A free agent or not.  If you sign a Type A free agent, the previous franchise will be awarded your first round pick if it is above 16, or your second round pick if you are picking 1-16.  A lot of teams don't want to give up picks, so even though a Type A might be a better player than a Type B guy, the Type A guy will get less money, or not signed at all (until draft prospects come out at which point you no longer lose a pick).  Draft picks/International signings are key to building your franchise long term, and there is little talent (usually) below the first round.

What jonas said, with two comments:
 
1)  A max contract would also include a no-trade clause.

2)  If you set your draft scouting budgets high enough and rank your prospects appropriately, you can draft decent major league talent through the second and possibly the third rounds of the amateur draft.

I will reiterate that it really does vary from world to world, and from season to season

If a guy is truly elite (OVR near the 90s), there is probably one or more people in the world who will offer a max contract

but for the rest of the FA pool, I've seen All-star talent go for just their initial asking price (or less) due to the Type A cost ... but I've also seen marginal guys go for 3 times their initial asking price because more than one team has a need and both have money to spend. All it takes two people to drive up a contract. And the other 30 owners are glad it is happening.

My personal strategy is that I don't get into bidding wars. I will offer a guy what I think he's worth, and if I'm not top offer, I move on to another option. Using this strategy I rarely get the superstars in FA, but I also don't end up with albatross contracts either

One other note from a strategy standpoint is say you have $10m of budget you have designated for a FA (just for simpicity). You target a high caliber player and offer $10m x3. You don't get that guy. I would move on to a $4m caliber player, offer him $1m x3 plus a $10m signing bonus. You "spend" your $10m (so it isn't wasted), but you now have the next two seasons of a $4m player for $1m per, giving you flexibility in coming seasons and/or a really good trade chip

as far is "when" to bid, that too is personal preference and strategy

If you bid early, you may be able to chase away guys like me that don't like get into wars. But you also might be paying more than you need to if you are the only one bidding (because FA demands come down over time if there are no offers)

If you bid late, you have a chance to see if anyone else has been bidding (i.e. if you make an offer at demand and you are #1 when the offer processes, you are the only bidder). If you bid even later, you can benefit from the demands coming down. But different guys sign at different stages in FA. If a guy gets only one offer, he might wait only a few cycles before signing. If you wait too long, a guy you want may sign before you get an offer in.

Guys that are getting multiple offers (the Type A studs) tend to not sign until the very last cycle of FA. Those guys will and do sign early if there aren't multiple offers, but from a strategy standpoint, if you commit to chasing one of those guys, you might end up losing and by then some of the alternative options may have already signed.

Thanks for the help!

Make sure you understand what you will lose, if you sign a type A free agent.

Try to save a little money for the last day or two of FA, when decent veterans can be had for fairly cheap (especially Type A guys). Given your budget ($23 million to spend) and needs, I'd try to save about $7 million or $8 million to fill that LR spot and either one of your SP slots or find a stopgap veteran to plug in at 1B.

It's also a very good idea to keep at least a $2 million payroll cushion as you start the regular season. You'll need to pay for players' increased salaries as they're promoted and to cover any unanticipated needs once you get started.

Posted by MikeT23 on 3/3/2011 9:06:00 AM (view original):

FA advice for a first-timer:

DON'T get into a bidding war.    A)  You're probably not sure what works, what doesn't.    Getting into a bidding could mean you're being led by the blind.   B)  If you commit a big pile of money, and years, to a player and he isn't what you thought he'd be, you're still stuck with the contract.

This is good advice, but just to expand upon it a bit: Even if the guy is everything you expect, it's harder to project, as first-timer, where this player will fit on your team, and in your payroll, by the time his deal is over. The money you're comfortable paying him now may be very different from what you're comfortable paying when your core group of young players hits their arbitration years.