[NoOne]

to some extent the ai is given an advantage here... but only relative to effort and patience and no real repercussion or advantage from it.

early in FA if oyu try to low ball you only upset negotiations. the ai cna submit lower values and just wait it iout.. a human does not get to do this. probably a good thing, really. simple and doesn't have a negative effect.

you have to measure the info you have about those teams competiting in bids and guesstimate what they are even capable of offering.

you also have to guesstimate how long that guy is going to wait -- mostly based on disparity between the previous guess and current demand.

learn how much you can low ball an offer without upsetting them, and wait until that is in a viable range.

i have a set number i'm willing to pay.. if it doesn't get there, i let other GM's make a poor financial choice with a big grin on my face. just better for my future FA negotiations.

if it's my 1 target in the offseason for a needed position/role, i'm not losing that competition, of course. i am not up against a payroll constraint if i do something like that. (rarely am) but, in this context you cannot afford to pinch pennies in a maximized way... i won't wait as lng and if i pay a few more million a year, so be it.

oh, the quality of your team matters too.. or anything related back to various personality traits. - need for a winner? bad team? not a good mesh and you likely need to pay more than the average bidder to get that player.