I have a guy who has a mutual option for next season and I don't want to keep him. If I were to demote him to AAA, would he be more inclined to decline his option the following season so I don't have to buy him out?

If it’s mutual, you can just decline next season. Not sure if demotion would help get them to decline a player option.

I know I can decline, but I am hoping to force him to do it so it doesnt cost me anything next season

TBH I'd actually question whether demoting him would make him more likely to stay with his guaranteed contract.

Interesting take. I thought of it as he wants to play in the big leagues and would need to leave to find that spot.

I understand that, but everything I've seen about the logic of this game is that the player will almost always take the most money. So I wonder if the logic says that if he's getting big league money in AAA, he stays put. It could actually be completely independent - my experience has been that the decision to accept or decline an option is pretty much a coin flip,

Does anyone know if the Patience rating plays into this player decision?

My best guess is that if the player's ratings and age would get him a larger contract in free agency, the player will opt out. However, if the player's rating and age will net him a smaller contract, he will stick around. I would also guess that patience rating has a bit to do with it as well -- if he has a high patience rating, he will stick around even if he can get more money.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. He has a 77 patience rating and I don't think he will get more on the open market. So I may be fighting a losing battle. Season is winding down, so I have a few days to figure out what I want to do, but I am leaning towards demoting him just to test the theory!

Link the player

Posted by scoop015 on 3/5/2020 3:49:00 PM (view original):
Thanks for all the ideas guys. He has a 77 patience rating and I don't think he will get more on the open market. So I may be fighting a losing battle. Season is winding down, so I have a few days to figure out what I want to do, but I am leaning towards demoting him just to test the theory!

Make sure to demote him after the season ends to avoid any demotion penalty. There have been many vet owners on this board that state that when you demote after the season is over, there is never a demotion penalty.

Posted by tlowster on 3/5/2020 8:31:00 PM (view original):

Posted by scoop015 on 3/5/2020 3:49:00 PM (view original):
Thanks for all the ideas guys. He has a 77 patience rating and I don't think he will get more on the open market. So I may be fighting a losing battle. Season is winding down, so I have a few days to figure out what I want to do, but I am leaning towards demoting him just to test the theory!

Make sure to demote him after the season ends to avoid any demotion penalty. There have been many vet owners on this board that state that when you demote after the season is over, there is never a demotion penalty.

As a disclaimer to cover my butt, I have never said that there is never a demotion penalty. I said that I have done it 100's of times and never received one. I don't want someone to do it and get hit with a penalty and say "well, Strikeout said you can't get a demotion penalty once the BL playoffs have started."

I may be wrong, but isn’t arb ask at least partially tied to overall rating? Maybe option is too. If that were the case, you might demote early to try to get the penalty, if you really don’t want him anyway.

Can't speak about options, but arb is now entirely tied to overall. It used to be tied to performance, but that was changed.

Posted by strikeout26 on 3/6/2020 12:00:00 PM (view original):
Can't speak about options, but arb is now entirely tied to overall. It used to be tied to performance, but that was changed.

Right. This is what prices out my backups nowadays.

Blame Opie. Lol. Just kidding. But for real, blame Opie!