[PhysicsTeacher]

OOTP 17: I'm playing the Yankees, starting in 2016 and now in 2024.

Before the season, I budgeted $50,000,000 to spend on international amateur free agents, using the Player Development page. I also budgeted $18,000,000 for the draft, in which I was going to receive two 1st supplemental picks. Hal Steinbrenner did not have an issue with my plans.

Hal would not allow me to sign any regular free agents before the season began, as I was, in his opinion, over budget. No problem.

We reached the amateur player draft, and it proceeded as expected. I signed my top 5 picks, many of whom were either difficult or impossible, for a total bonus of $11,440,000, leaving 6,560,000 unspent of my draft budget.

Then we reach the International Amateur FA signing period. There are lots of attractive prospects, and I'm glad that I budgeted $50,000,000. I select a 5-star recruit, click on Offer Contract, and he wants $2,600,000 to sign. Great, I think, and I click on Ask for Response. I get, "Your owner does NOT approve this deal, you do not have enough money available! Your projected payroll exceeds your budget by $31,368,224."

Here's the deal: That is only correct if you count the unspent $50,000,000 Intl Amateur FA budget item. In other words, the game is counting that money as spent, but won't allow me to spend it.

If I had budgeted zero for International Amateur FAs, I'd have almost $20,000,000 available to spend. This is very frustrating.

Bob Breum