Post by Nationals GM (Preston - Old) on Dec 27, 2012 10:41:26 GMT -8
Q: I'm new to the league or otherwise unsure of what contracts are used here. Can you help?
A: The league started with all players inheriting their real life contracts. Since, however, many players have new contracts either real through the franchise tag process, or "fake" - generated by actions in the league, such as free agency.
For players that have real contracts, consult Cot's Contracts (www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/) for specifics. We do NOT recognize options, under any circumstances. The only time an exercised option may be a player's salary is when their normal contract expires and you, the GM in the league, choose to use your franchise tag, and the real life team exercises their option.
For players with non-real contracts - contracts they've acquired through free agency or other factors in the league - utilize the search function for specifics if it's unclear.
Short story, players signed to specific contracts are free agents at the end of their deals, while minor league players have five years of protection before they potentially reach free agency. If the player doesn't have a qualifying year - >30 IP for SP/RP, >10 starts for a SP, >50 games for a batter - they do not lose a protected season (sometimes their contract will still change from year to year in real life even if they do not use a qualifying year. For example, a player hurt during his arbitration years may not use a qualifying year, but will still see a change in salary from one year to the next).
For more specifics, please refer to the official rules - pbfantasybaseball.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=officialrules
Q: What is the league minimum salary? What is the longest term contract I can offer?
A: The minimum salary is at least $700,000. No salary can go below this amount, including minor league players. The longest contract that can be offered is 7 years.
Q: What happens when a minor league player is called up to the majors and appears in a game?
A: Once a minor league player appears in a MLB game, the following season they are no longer eligible for the 12-man salary exempt roster, and will have their salary count against the salary cap.
If the minor league player was signed to a MLB deal, their contract will not be affected, and they weren't eligible for the 12-man salary exempt roster in the first place.
Q: You mentioned minor league players with AAS deals and MLB deals. What's the difference?
A: An AAS deal is an "Average Annual Salary" deal, in which you offer the player a specific salary figure they will be paid until their debut and subsequent loss of protection. This is the "smart" contract for a minor league player. The team will pay the AAS figure they offered every year the player is in the minor leagues, while the player is subject to the same protection rules. Note that once a player has already had a qualifying year, they are not eligible to be offered an AAS deal, it is for minor league players only, or players who are in the process of their first MLB season. If the player has not appeared in the MLB at the time of the signing, they are eligible to be placed on the 12-man salary exempt list, as long as their salary does not exceed $1,000,000 (the maximum AAS figure allowed for the 12-man).
A MLB deal is exactly what it sounds like - a specific contract with specific salaries for each season. Even if you sign a minor league player to a MLB deal, they are not eligible for the 12-man; any player signed to a MLB deal is treated the same.
Another note on AAS deals: If a guy is signed to an AAS deal, that is simply his salary for that season. If he does not have a qualifying year, his salary remains the one originally offered next year. If he DOES have a qualifying season, his salary is now his real life salary, and he enters the protection process. Sometimes, this may result in a cheaper salary for the first couple years, but when the player hits arbitration, the cost will likely be higher down the road. These players are eligible to be non-tendered after any season, however.
Q: What if a player under protection signs a long-term contract extension?
A: If a player under protection signs a long-term contract extension, you do not automatically inherit the entire contract, but rather, the salaries are now set for each protected season. Any years in his extension that exceed the amount of protection years are not added on to the player in this league, and would require the use of a franchise tag to gain the extra years, once the player has used their five years of protection here.
Q: In the offseason, I may not know the salaries of players under protection, such as players who are about to go through arbitration. What salaries should I use in the mean time before I get specific salaries in the spring? Also, how do I know if a player is going through arbitration?
A: MLB Trade Rumors has been an excellent and pretty reliable source with arbitration estimations. Use the salaries in the projected arbitration salaries thread to estimate your players' salaries so you don't exceed the cap or mislead anyone: www.mlbtraderumors.com
That thread should also be useful to see what players may be arbitration eligible as well and may see greater salary spikes than expected.
For all players in the protection process, make it clear that the salary is an estimate (with an asterisk - *) since these salaries are not yet official. Same goes for players not yet arbitration eligible - use $700,000 in the mean time unless Cot's already had a higher salary from last year. It's better to overestimate than underestimate.
Q: In the case of a death, e.g. Nick Adenhart, what becomes of the contract in context of our league? Thanks in advance.
Death falls under the "Career Ending Injury" category, which you would therefore be no longer responsible for the player's contract.
Q: I just want to make sure i get this straight...billy butler has played 3 years. each year he had 92 games, 134 games and 145 games. does that mean he is eligible for FA in 2 years no matter whether he is going to be in arbitration or not?
He is a protected prospect. If he plays 50+ games in both of the next two yrs, yes.
Q: It says that minor leaguers will be signed with flat AAS and protected til they lose minor league status. It also says that MiLs "CAN" be signed to ML contracts. When would they be signed to ML contracts? I don't see why a GM would prefer a ML contract for a Minor Leauge player?
Lets say, you sign a minor leaguer to an AAS contract for $2,000,000. Once that player appears in a major league game, the players contract transforms into a protected prospect contract and you must pay that player what he makes in real life. You only have a player for a total of 5 years of protection. This usually works well. The first 2 or 3 years the player only makes the real life league minimum or just a bit more. After that, in real life, these players will be eligible for arbitration. If the player is very good, he may make a lot of money those last couple of years while he is protected on your team. This also makes it hard to plan for future salary caps. If you had signed this player to a major league contract for 7yrs at $1,000,000 per year, you could possibly save money and have the player under contract for a longer period of time.
Q: Some free agent players are still within the 5 year protection time frame. Can these players get signed with AAS contracts for the remaining duration of protection?
If any free agent has had a qualifying season at any time prior to the current season, then that free agent no longer has protection and must be signed to a major league contract.
Q: I have a prospect player that left for Japan (Wladimir Balentien). When I drop him, do I have to pay half his salary?
If a player signs a contract overseas (ie. Japan), you may release that player for free here.
Hopefully this helps people. If you still have general questions/hypotheticals, please post them here, and hopefully I can answer them.
A: The league started with all players inheriting their real life contracts. Since, however, many players have new contracts either real through the franchise tag process, or "fake" - generated by actions in the league, such as free agency.
For players that have real contracts, consult Cot's Contracts (www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/) for specifics. We do NOT recognize options, under any circumstances. The only time an exercised option may be a player's salary is when their normal contract expires and you, the GM in the league, choose to use your franchise tag, and the real life team exercises their option.
For players with non-real contracts - contracts they've acquired through free agency or other factors in the league - utilize the search function for specifics if it's unclear.
Short story, players signed to specific contracts are free agents at the end of their deals, while minor league players have five years of protection before they potentially reach free agency. If the player doesn't have a qualifying year - >30 IP for SP/RP, >10 starts for a SP, >50 games for a batter - they do not lose a protected season (sometimes their contract will still change from year to year in real life even if they do not use a qualifying year. For example, a player hurt during his arbitration years may not use a qualifying year, but will still see a change in salary from one year to the next).
For more specifics, please refer to the official rules - pbfantasybaseball.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=officialrules
Q: What is the league minimum salary? What is the longest term contract I can offer?
A: The minimum salary is at least $700,000. No salary can go below this amount, including minor league players. The longest contract that can be offered is 7 years.
Q: What happens when a minor league player is called up to the majors and appears in a game?
A: Once a minor league player appears in a MLB game, the following season they are no longer eligible for the 12-man salary exempt roster, and will have their salary count against the salary cap.
If the minor league player was signed to a MLB deal, their contract will not be affected, and they weren't eligible for the 12-man salary exempt roster in the first place.
Q: You mentioned minor league players with AAS deals and MLB deals. What's the difference?
A: An AAS deal is an "Average Annual Salary" deal, in which you offer the player a specific salary figure they will be paid until their debut and subsequent loss of protection. This is the "smart" contract for a minor league player. The team will pay the AAS figure they offered every year the player is in the minor leagues, while the player is subject to the same protection rules. Note that once a player has already had a qualifying year, they are not eligible to be offered an AAS deal, it is for minor league players only, or players who are in the process of their first MLB season. If the player has not appeared in the MLB at the time of the signing, they are eligible to be placed on the 12-man salary exempt list, as long as their salary does not exceed $1,000,000 (the maximum AAS figure allowed for the 12-man).
A MLB deal is exactly what it sounds like - a specific contract with specific salaries for each season. Even if you sign a minor league player to a MLB deal, they are not eligible for the 12-man; any player signed to a MLB deal is treated the same.
Another note on AAS deals: If a guy is signed to an AAS deal, that is simply his salary for that season. If he does not have a qualifying year, his salary remains the one originally offered next year. If he DOES have a qualifying season, his salary is now his real life salary, and he enters the protection process. Sometimes, this may result in a cheaper salary for the first couple years, but when the player hits arbitration, the cost will likely be higher down the road. These players are eligible to be non-tendered after any season, however.
Q: What if a player under protection signs a long-term contract extension?
A: If a player under protection signs a long-term contract extension, you do not automatically inherit the entire contract, but rather, the salaries are now set for each protected season. Any years in his extension that exceed the amount of protection years are not added on to the player in this league, and would require the use of a franchise tag to gain the extra years, once the player has used their five years of protection here.
Q: In the offseason, I may not know the salaries of players under protection, such as players who are about to go through arbitration. What salaries should I use in the mean time before I get specific salaries in the spring? Also, how do I know if a player is going through arbitration?
A: MLB Trade Rumors has been an excellent and pretty reliable source with arbitration estimations. Use the salaries in the projected arbitration salaries thread to estimate your players' salaries so you don't exceed the cap or mislead anyone: www.mlbtraderumors.com
That thread should also be useful to see what players may be arbitration eligible as well and may see greater salary spikes than expected.
For all players in the protection process, make it clear that the salary is an estimate (with an asterisk - *) since these salaries are not yet official. Same goes for players not yet arbitration eligible - use $700,000 in the mean time unless Cot's already had a higher salary from last year. It's better to overestimate than underestimate.
Q: In the case of a death, e.g. Nick Adenhart, what becomes of the contract in context of our league? Thanks in advance.
Death falls under the "Career Ending Injury" category, which you would therefore be no longer responsible for the player's contract.
Q: I just want to make sure i get this straight...billy butler has played 3 years. each year he had 92 games, 134 games and 145 games. does that mean he is eligible for FA in 2 years no matter whether he is going to be in arbitration or not?
He is a protected prospect. If he plays 50+ games in both of the next two yrs, yes.
Q: It says that minor leaguers will be signed with flat AAS and protected til they lose minor league status. It also says that MiLs "CAN" be signed to ML contracts. When would they be signed to ML contracts? I don't see why a GM would prefer a ML contract for a Minor Leauge player?
Lets say, you sign a minor leaguer to an AAS contract for $2,000,000. Once that player appears in a major league game, the players contract transforms into a protected prospect contract and you must pay that player what he makes in real life. You only have a player for a total of 5 years of protection. This usually works well. The first 2 or 3 years the player only makes the real life league minimum or just a bit more. After that, in real life, these players will be eligible for arbitration. If the player is very good, he may make a lot of money those last couple of years while he is protected on your team. This also makes it hard to plan for future salary caps. If you had signed this player to a major league contract for 7yrs at $1,000,000 per year, you could possibly save money and have the player under contract for a longer period of time.
Q: Some free agent players are still within the 5 year protection time frame. Can these players get signed with AAS contracts for the remaining duration of protection?
If any free agent has had a qualifying season at any time prior to the current season, then that free agent no longer has protection and must be signed to a major league contract.
Q: I have a prospect player that left for Japan (Wladimir Balentien). When I drop him, do I have to pay half his salary?
If a player signs a contract overseas (ie. Japan), you may release that player for free here.
Hopefully this helps people. If you still have general questions/hypotheticals, please post them here, and hopefully I can answer them.
