Signing for league minimum or minor league deal?

[Libid21]

I want to sign this player for his popularity, basically to use him to garner more fan interest this year where I will hopefully start closing down in my rebuilding process. He isn't that good though and didn't post terrific numbers in an international league, but I was wondering if I should sign him to a minor league deal or just sign him for a league minimum? I don't really want him past this season, so I figured I'd sign him to a one-year deal, right? Because I don't want his contract being renewed automatically or what not. And I know he won't be good but he's a popular player.

[statfreak]

The thing with popularity is that it will give you a boost when you sign a player, but you will also lose fan interest when that player is released or allowed to become a free agent (sometimes more than what he gave you when he signed). Your best bet would be to sign him to a minor league contract (if he will agree to that) and then just keep renewing him with a minor league deal (again, if he'll accept that) until he retires. That way you won't lose any fan interest due to letting this player go.

[Syd Thrift]

I'm not sure that's true, actually.

1. When you sign a player to a minor league contract and later call him up to the bigs, the day he's called up he gets a major league (minimum) deal. That also means that if you dump him, regardless of the original deal he signed, if he's in the majors at the time of the dumping you're going to take a popularity hit. I've seen nothing to indicate that the size of that hit is affected by anything other than player popularity.

2. I'm also not sure that you get the pop bump from signing a guy to a minor league contract because you're not really signing him to the team, are you? I haven't ever seen a team get a pop bump from a minor league contract, although in fairness most of the minor league free agents I've seen have little to no popularity.

At best, it would be a wash - positive popularity when you get him, negative when you lose him (although playing poorly can, I think, reduce a player's popularity as well, mitigating the effect, and of course a guy can be less popular with your team than he is overall). At worst, this strategy might only get you the negative portion. I think that overall a minor league deal to a vet might be a good idea if you want to see if he's got anything left in the tank before you call him up, but the whole Ken Griffey Jr. situation this year demonstrates how even a really crappy player who is still popular in a city can make the fans mad when he's let go.

[statfreak]

Sorry Syd, but it is absolutely true. I do it now and then when I need a fan interest boost. The fan interest increase happens as soon as the player joins your organization, not your major league team. If you can get a popular minor league player, just sign him to a minor league deal and keep him stashed in the minors until he retires. You'll get the fan interest boost.

If the player is released or becomes a minor league free agent, the fan interest will take a hit.

[Jaxxvain]

Originally Posted by statfreak

If the player is released or becomes a minor league free agent, the fan interest will take a hit.

but they often lose their popularity rating while toiling in the minors, so it can be a net gain over the long haul.

[Nutlaw]

Originally Posted by statfreak

Sorry Syd, but it is absolutely true. I do it now and then when I need a fan interest boost. The fan interest increase happens as soon as the player joins your organization, not your major league team. If you can get a popular minor league player, just sign him to a minor league deal and keep him stashed in the minors until he retires. You'll get the fan interest boost.

If the player is released or becomes a minor league free agent, the fan interest will take a hit.

Right. There's no benefit to signing a player to a major league contract when he'll sign for a minor league one instead. If you don't want a minor league player's contract to be renewed, release him instead. There's no difference.