Ok, so FA with multiple max contracts will have a few tie breakers introduced.

What the hell are they?

Tie breakers are determined by the player's ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.

First and foremost is probably recent record. Top FA's don't want to play for the Orioles when the Yankees are offering the same money.

I'll update the thread with this info.

The tiebreakers for any contract that is the same value are as follows:

Playoff Contention (based on last seasons winning %)
Coaching Staff
Ballpark

Q: by ballpark would a hitter be more inclined to go to a hitters park and a pitcher more inclined to go to a pitcher's park? if so kjd's quest for Yamil might be hindered by Santa Fe!

Yep, pitchers will always favor the best pitchers park and hitters will always favor the best hitters park.

cool

I wonder who is going to be the first owner to move their team every year to sign the FAs they want...

So neutral parks receive no benefit? Or maybe the really average guys will lean towards Rochester and Vancouver now? Awesome.

Coaching staff plays a much larger role than ballpark.

Are pitching FA's repelled by crazy hitting parks (and similar with batters with pitchers parks)?

The parks are compared to all of the franchises that are offering contracts, so the best fit for the player is where he will choose to go.

patrick-- since coaches are hired during the same period as competitive FA signings, will teams whose coaches are rehired have a huge advantage over those trying to hire new coaches during the negotiations?

This is very interesting. Maybe Ill just stay in San Antonio, don't want kjd grabbing it.

Quote: Originally posted by dedelman on 11/04/2009patrick-- since coaches are hired during the same period as competitive FA signings, will teams whose coaches are rehired have a huge advantage over those trying to hire new coaches during the negotiations?

It wouldn't be a huge advantage since it will take around two days to sign an FA. That period of time should be enough for everyone to hire their primary ML coaches.

This probably goes without saying but, just to clarify, if the contracts are the same, position player's will look at the hitting IQ of the hitting coach and the fielding IQ of the fielding coach and pitchers will look at the pitching IQ of the bullpen coach and the pitching coach.