Post by Chicago D'backs GM (Greg) on Aug 28, 2012 21:23:53 GMT -5
Each off-season, there are always a number of players who have had their contracts expire. These players naturally become free agents and, as such, are available to accept contract offers being made by other GMs in the league.
We currently use Cot's as the official source for contract and salary information.
Cot's- mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/
To protect against the loss of all free agents in a particular calendar year, a GM will be granted to ability to name Franchise and Restricted Players. Please refer to the "Salary Cap" section to know how many of these tags your team owns. You will also be able to protect all qualified "minor league" players and also be allowed to protect your qualified "prospect" players as well. Prospect players are defined as players who are engaged in the 4 year Prospect status.
Franchise Player:
You will have the ability; at the end of the year to name a “franchise player(s)” (see below). This player will not be eligible for free agency within our league and will be forced to sign with the same team. In this specific case ONLY, the franchise player will have to assume the real life contract he receives (including 1 year deals or holdouts). In this case, "real-life" acts as an arbitrator of sorts in determining a fair market value for the player. This can either improve or hinder your team depending on how much the player signs for. If the new "real-life" contract puts a franchise over the salary cap maximum, the GM will receive a notice from the commissioner’s office after which time he/she will have 72-hours to correct the problem.
Restricted Player:
A team will also have the ability to name a restricted player each season. Restricted players will, in effect, be treated just like free agents with one BIG difference. Once "Winter Meetings" begin in early December, restricted players can be made contract offers like every other free agent. However, at the end of the contract offering period, the team who restricted the player will have 48 hours to match the winning offer. If a GM chooses to match the winning contract offer, then he/she will be allowed to restructure the "matching" contract so that it best fits their team's salary structure and then re-sign the player. The "restructured" contract must, however, still have the same average annual salary, but may not add additional years to the contract. If a GM fails to respond or chooses not to match the best contract offer made to their player, then the auctioned player will be required to sign with the highest bidder, whose bid then becomes that team's obligation.
Prospects:
Major League players may be deemed "prospects" and are able to be retained by their owner without using a franchise or restriction tag.
A prospect is a player who has lost his "minor league" status.
Retiring players:
Should a player that is under contract retire due to old age, the team that owns that contract is still obligated to pay him that contract. He will no longer take up a roster space, however half his contract must be counted against the cap. This will prevent GM's from offering long and backloaded contracts to older players so they can acquire their services at a very cheap rate. In contrast, should a player's career be tragically cut short due to injury or death, his contract will come off the books immediately following the season in which the injury occurred or immediately if in the offseason. If there is any doubt about making a distinction between tragic career ending injuries and death or old ballplayers simply retiring, the League Office reserves the right to make the final call. We ask that all GM's respect the final word of the Commissioners.
We currently use Cot's as the official source for contract and salary information.
Cot's- mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/
To protect against the loss of all free agents in a particular calendar year, a GM will be granted to ability to name Franchise and Restricted Players. Please refer to the "Salary Cap" section to know how many of these tags your team owns. You will also be able to protect all qualified "minor league" players and also be allowed to protect your qualified "prospect" players as well. Prospect players are defined as players who are engaged in the 4 year Prospect status.
Franchise Player:
You will have the ability; at the end of the year to name a “franchise player(s)” (see below). This player will not be eligible for free agency within our league and will be forced to sign with the same team. In this specific case ONLY, the franchise player will have to assume the real life contract he receives (including 1 year deals or holdouts). In this case, "real-life" acts as an arbitrator of sorts in determining a fair market value for the player. This can either improve or hinder your team depending on how much the player signs for. If the new "real-life" contract puts a franchise over the salary cap maximum, the GM will receive a notice from the commissioner’s office after which time he/she will have 72-hours to correct the problem.
Restricted Player:
A team will also have the ability to name a restricted player each season. Restricted players will, in effect, be treated just like free agents with one BIG difference. Once "Winter Meetings" begin in early December, restricted players can be made contract offers like every other free agent. However, at the end of the contract offering period, the team who restricted the player will have 48 hours to match the winning offer. If a GM chooses to match the winning contract offer, then he/she will be allowed to restructure the "matching" contract so that it best fits their team's salary structure and then re-sign the player. The "restructured" contract must, however, still have the same average annual salary, but may not add additional years to the contract. If a GM fails to respond or chooses not to match the best contract offer made to their player, then the auctioned player will be required to sign with the highest bidder, whose bid then becomes that team's obligation.
Prospects:
Major League players may be deemed "prospects" and are able to be retained by their owner without using a franchise or restriction tag.
A prospect is a player who has lost his "minor league" status.
Retiring players:
Should a player that is under contract retire due to old age, the team that owns that contract is still obligated to pay him that contract. He will no longer take up a roster space, however half his contract must be counted against the cap. This will prevent GM's from offering long and backloaded contracts to older players so they can acquire their services at a very cheap rate. In contrast, should a player's career be tragically cut short due to injury or death, his contract will come off the books immediately following the season in which the injury occurred or immediately if in the offseason. If there is any doubt about making a distinction between tragic career ending injuries and death or old ballplayers simply retiring, the League Office reserves the right to make the final call. We ask that all GM's respect the final word of the Commissioners.