Extending contracts - wiggle room and negotiating Topic

davis
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My closer will be a free agent next year; he is demanding $3.2M (he currently makes $2.3M).  I offered $2.6M and got back a message where his agent said the fax machine must have screwed up because the offer was so ridiculously low.

So, two questions about contract extensions:

1. Is it possible to extend contracts for amounts lower than demanded, or will I just have to pony up the $3.2M to keep him?

2. If negotiating is really possible: do players get annoyed and stop negotiating if you try to "climb the ladder" by making dozens of offers, with each one just being $100K more than the last one, in order to find out where their "salary floor" is?  I don't want to alienate this player through such negotiations because I do ultimately want to keep him - I just want to do it as cheaply as possible.

Note: I'd also be curious about negotiating tactics with free agents during the preseason FA signing period, but I guess that is a separate topic.

7/31/2015 3:21 PM
MikeT23
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In my experience, an offer of $1 less will be rejected. 
7/31/2015 3:54 PM
davis
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OK - guess it is time to sign that $3.2M check.
7/31/2015 4:06 PM
rogelio
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Very little experience here, but I do believe that, if it's a multi-year deal, you can present an unbalanced payment.  You only have to follow the contract limitation rules in the game.

My question is: what do the players think about *team* or *mutual* options?  Does it work intuitively?  If I offer a 4th year *team* option, the player discounts it?  Is it exactly the same with a *mutual* option?
7/31/2015 4:32 PM
MikeT23
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Season - This is the actual season salary that you would like to offer the player. Season 1 refers to the first season in which the player is not already under contract with your franchise. So, if the player is currently arbitration eligible and has not gone through an arbitration hearing, season 1 means this current season. If the player is in the final year of his contract with your team and will soon become a free agent, season 1 indicates the next Hardball Dynasty season. In a two-year contract, neither season can comprise more than 60% of the total value of the contract. In a three-year contract, no season can comprise more than 40% of the total value of the contract. In a four-year contract, no season can comprise more than 30% of the total value of the contract. In a five-year contract, no season can comprise more than 25% or less than 10% of the total value of the contract. There is a maximum allowable offer of $20 million for any season. The minimum for any season is the minimum annual salary at that level. For the big leagues, this is 325K. To change the offer for any season, please click in the box next to the season and enter an integer value. For a three-year contract, you must enter in values for the first three seasons, but you may leave seasons 4 and 5 blank. The total value of the contract will appear at the bottom of the page.

Player options are deemed "more valuable".    I've had players reject team option contracts but not mutual options.

7/31/2015 4:36 PM
wylie715
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I've offered 10% less to a free agent and had it accepted, but it was while ago. Lately, if I offer anything less than they request, they won't sign.

I
7/31/2015 6:42 PM
tufft
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I'm fairly certain -

(1) They don't change demands or refuse to negotiate further if you give them 1 or 100 low ball offers.

(2) You have to meet or exceed the total of their demands.  You can use the bonus and rules Mike posted above to vary how much they are paid each season.

(3) They may or may not take extra season at the same amount or even slightly less.  Less if they are getting old.

8/5/2015 10:34 PM
Extending contracts - wiggle room and negotiating Topic
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