Player Contracts Overview

For most general managers, the biggest financial worry is player contracts. Sure, it doesn't hurt to know your way around the front office, and keep an eye on your staff payroll, but let's face it, player contracts are sink-or-swim propositions for many GMs. Thisscreenwill take you through the basics of OOTP's player contract model. On subsequent pages in this section, we will cover the following:

• Building a contract offer
• After the contract offer

Contracts upon League Creation

At the start of a league, whether you have an inaugural draft or not, all players are given contracts. The majority of the starting contracts will be for one or two years, although some might be longer. To calculate initial contracts, the league calculates the average player quality at each position. Then it compares each player to that baseline, and based on the difference assigns a contract that is based on the salary steps (above average, good, star, and so on) in the league financial rules. Also factored in are service time (which is generated randomly), age, and a certain amount of randomness. Arbitration-eligible players get less money, and players who are eligible for the league minimum get that amount.

Warning! Due to the flexibility of the financial model, player contracts might be structured differently from what is written here, depending on which financial options are enabled.

Minor League Contracts

There are just two types of player contracts in OOTP: major league and minor league. Minor league contracts have no set duration. A player with a minor league contract remains under the team's control until one of the following events occurs:

1. The player attains minor league free agency
2. The player is added to a team's secondary roster. When this happens, the player's contract immediately changes to a one-year major league contract for the league minimum salary.
3. The player is traded, retires, or is given a major league contract extension.

Note: In OOTP, minor league contracts do not cost the team any money. They are effectively $0 contracts.

Major League Contracts

Major league contracts run for a fixed number of years, and have a specific salary amount for each year in the contract. Major league contracts can also include no-trade clauses or incentives. A player with a major league contract remains under the team's control until one of the following events occurs:

1. The player's contract expires.
2. The player is traded or retires.

If a player's major league contract ends, one of the following three things will occur:

1. He will become a free agent.
2. He will undergo salary arbitration.
3. If he has less than three years of major league service time, he will be automatically signed to a contract for the league minimum.

Major league contracts are guaranteed. If you choose to release a player from his contract, you must immediately pay all of the remaining salary due on the contract, even if it spans multiple years. Players who retire void the remaining portion of their contracts.

Split Contracts

In professional baseball, there exists a concept of a split contract, that dictates how much a player will make for playing in the majors, and how much he will make for playing in the minors. Split contracts do not exist in OOTP. You are either on a major league contract, or a minor league contract.

Contract Expiration

Player contracts expire on the day after the last day of the playoffs.

Factors Affecting Player Contract Decisions

Money talks, and the configuration of your contract offer has the biggest impact on whether or not a player will accept a contract offer. However, above and beyond the contract terms, players are affected by a number of factors when considering a contract, including:

• the distance of the franchise from the player's hometown
• the level of the league (good players might not be interested in playing in a low-level league)
• your team's reputation
• your manager reputation
• your team's recent performance
• the likelihood of playing time
• the player's morale (especially with contract extensions)
• the player's personality

Money Available for Contract Signings

Before you go offering contracts left and right, it's important to understand how much you can afford to spend. The Finances sub-screen of the Front Office page will give you a better sense of your overall financial position, particularly the $ for Free Agents and $ for Extensions values in the Available Funds section on the lower left of the page. This information is also visible in the Contract Offer page.

It's important to realize that your ownership views free agent contracts and extensions differently from a financial standpoint, so those two numbers can be very different! Check the Finances sub-screen of the Front Office page for the detailed calculation involved in each.

Previous page: The Team Financial Model
Next page: Offering Contracts