I screwed up and neglected to offer a pitcher a LT contract before arb kicked in. This is his 3rd arb, so I figured he's going FA next year. Much to my surprise, I find in next years FA screen that he's willing to sign LT, with the contract starting next season. Now my question is, do I sign him now or wait until near the end of the season? What I mean is, will he change his mind about signing sometime during the season, or will his decision remain the same all year. Because if he's not gonna change his mind I'd obviously rather wait until near the season's end to hedge my bet in case he was to suffer some kind of bad injury this year.

i don't believe it will change until after the conclusion of the world series and rollover

Depends on whether his ratings are going up. If so, he might cross some sort of threshold, potentially making him more expensive or even declining to sign altogether. I'd probably still wait, but it'd depend on just how much I need him.

Are you saying the salary demands sometimes fluctuate during this final season under contract--and maybe the number of years as well?

Since salary demands are based on a player's ratings, sure. A major injury hit will reduce contract demands, sometimes even transforming a won't-sign to a will-sign. Don't know about number of years, but I suppose that's all tied in with whatever the formula is.

I've waited until the end of the season to resign these types of players. The big concern is of course an injury that have a player under contract that I'd rather not have. I usually finalize it before the end of the regular season with only a handful of games .

i'm with grissom...one time i got lazy and decided to get the extension out of the way midseason and the guy got 60 day DL'ed. the ratings hit made him not worth the money, and i regretted not waiting.

The downside being what jsturgis is saying.. if they continue to progress, the opposite of the injury might take place. They will improve and become unsignable.

If it's someone you want to keep, sign them.

If they're worth having around, they'll be worth having around following an injury, too.

Isn't there also the potential that if the team has a bad season, the player will be more likely to opt for free agency?

I would sign him now. I have had MANY cases where they said they would sign and then didn't. If he wants to sign now, SIGN HIM NOW.

Quote: Originally Posted By sermonauthor on 12/06/2009Are you saying the salary demands sometimes fluctuate during this final season under contract--and maybe the number of years as well

The money he want per year is the same, but now he want 4 years instead of 3.

Quote: Originally Posted By sanderbear on 12/07/2009Isn't there also the potential that if the team has a bad season, the player will be more likely to opt for free agency?

This is a solid team that has won 90+ games for the past 3 seasons and should do so again this year. This scenario should not be a problem.

Victor Colome

98 patience and 71 overall- that guy is always going to be willing to re-sign. 4.40 ERA but 1.50 WHIP due to his 50 control, i would definitely at least wait until the end of the regular season- one big injury and he's worthless.

And really, unless you're super thin at SP next season, i would consider letting him test the FA waters and see if you can re-sign him for $3-$3.5ish mill/year. there's a good chance he's a type B FA so you'll probably get a pick if he goes.

In one of my worlds, at the start, my 87 rated SP, was willing to resign. I signed him to a LT contract right away in fear he'd tell me to fk off when the time came.

I'd normally wait until seasons end in case of injury but somehow I thought he'd change his mind. Since players like that always tell me, no go.