Why are players retiring and dealing with options ?

italyprof · 05-14-2016, 11:24 AM

I am playing in 1962 in a random debut league I set up to have a roughly .500 team to start out - the Newark Bears - we went 75-79 so the plan worked. But at the end of the season a ton of players are retiring - some who had very few Innings pitched or Plate Appearances this season-age but will have better ones and so were in AA or AAA but now have retired. Others, like Jesse Orosco at 36 - he should have 7 more years of pitching - retired from my major league team.

Further, I have "options decisions" to make on some players and others that are exercising or not exercising their options - I set the global setttings so that there are no options years but it is happening anyway - why can that be?

I have never understood options - I noticed that Bill James a while back admitted he doesn't really understand the rules entirely either - so I definitely don't want them.

I get that it may just be bad luck in a random league that player retire, but some were drafted precisely because they weren't ready but would be useful later on - no superstars, players like Mike Ryba - some starts for the future given that I don't have an all-star team. Now, the team is gutted - losing half our bullpen, some of the future starting pitchers, not even great ones, and having options issues.

Have I set something that I am not aware of that is making this options story possible despite having set it to disable options? and has anyone else had this experience of mass retirements of your roster? - MLB, AAA and AA all told about 10 players some of whom I had expected to be useful sooner or later.

Thanks.

Matt Arnold · 05-14-2016, 11:42 AM

There are 2 types of options, that are very different from each other: minor league options, and contract options.

Minor league options are what are referred to in the settings page. They are essentially the number of years that you can send a player to the minors, once they have been placed on the 40-man roster. So if a player has 3 options, they can basically be sent down to the minors this year, next year, and the year after that, but after that point, you're not allowed to send them to the farm anymore without them clearing waivers or being DFA-ed.

Contract options are totally separate, and are simple decisions on whether to bring back players at a certain salary.

As for the players retiring, I always forget what options are allowed in random debut modes, but I know in historical mode, you can either have players retire according to history, or have them retire according to the game development engine. If you have the game engine control them, then yeah, some guys who had one or two down years later before a late career blip might decide to retire, since they never "look ahead" to see how they will be in the future.

italyprof · 05-14-2016, 06:09 PM

Thank you for the lucid summary Matt. I get the last part and can live with it, though the team is going to take more time to rebuild now. But yes, if I play a single season historical league I usually do want players to retire when they did in history, but with random debut leagues that creates real chaos, so I just let the game engine do it.

As to options, since I turned options off I am not sure why either of the two types should be happening, but I also turned off the 40 man roster rule, so that makes this problem doubly odd.

Anyway thanks. None of it is beyond what the league can bear - mostly players retiring at 36 and a couple of player deciding to stay with the team (I have reserve-clause on by the way) so maybe it is treating contract options as a formality? Anyway I can live with it, as I really am enjoying this league and team. But will watch to see what happens after next season.thanks again.

RchW · 05-14-2016, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by italyprof

As to options, since I turned options off I am not sure why either of the two types should be happening, but I also turned off the 40 man roster rule, so that makes this problem doubly odd.

The options you turned off have nothing to do with contract options.

BigRed75 · 05-14-2016, 08:14 PM

Indeed. Contract options can be very useful for you as a GM to get away from bloated expensive contracts for underperforming players. Of course, they can also help talented players get out from under below-market-value deals signed when they were younger.

05-14-2016, 11:24 AM	#1
italyprof All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,032	Why are players retiring and dealing with options ? I am playing in 1962 in a random debut league I set up to have a roughly .500 team to start out - the Newark Bears - we went 75-79 so the plan worked. But at the end of the season a ton of players are retiring - some who had very few Innings pitched or Plate Appearances this season-age but will have better ones and so were in AA or AAA but now have retired. Others, like Jesse Orosco at 36 - he should have 7 more years of pitching - retired from my major league team. Further, I have "options decisions" to make on some players and others that are exercising or not exercising their options - I set the global setttings so that there are no options years but it is happening anyway - why can that be? I have never understood options - I noticed that Bill James a while back admitted he doesn't really understand the rules entirely either - so I definitely don't want them. I get that it may just be bad luck in a random league that player retire, but some were drafted precisely because they weren't ready but would be useful later on - no superstars, players like Mike Ryba - some starts for the future given that I don't have an all-star team. Now, the team is gutted - losing half our bullpen, some of the future starting pitchers, not even great ones, and having options issues. Have I set something that I am not aware of that is making this options story possible despite having set it to disable options? and has anyone else had this experience of mass retirements of your roster? - MLB, AAA and AA all told about 10 players some of whom I had expected to be useful sooner or later. Thanks.

05-14-2016, 08:14 PM	#5
BigRed75 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,430	Indeed. Contract options can be very useful for you as a GM to get away from bloated expensive contracts for underperforming players. Of course, they can also help talented players get out from under below-market-value deals signed when they were younger. __________________ Mainline team SPTT team Was not a Snag fan...until I saw the fallout once he was gone and realized what a good job he was actually doing. - Ty Cobb

05-14-2016, 11:42 AM	#2
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 16,192	There are 2 types of options, that are very different from each other: minor league options, and contract options. Minor league options are what are referred to in the settings page. They are essentially the number of years that you can send a player to the minors, once they have been placed on the 40-man roster. So if a player has 3 options, they can basically be sent down to the minors this year, next year, and the year after that, but after that point, you're not allowed to send them to the farm anymore without them clearing waivers or being DFA-ed. Contract options are totally separate, and are simple decisions on whether to bring back players at a certain salary. As for the players retiring, I always forget what options are allowed in random debut modes, but I know in historical mode, you can either have players retire according to history, or have them retire according to the game development engine. If you have the game engine control them, then yeah, some guys who had one or two down years later before a late career blip might decide to retire, since they never "look ahead" to see how they will be in the future.

05-14-2016, 06:09 PM	#3
italyprof All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,032	Thank you for the lucid summary Matt. I get the last part and can live with it, though the team is going to take more time to rebuild now. But yes, if I play a single season historical league I usually do want players to retire when they did in history, but with random debut leagues that creates real chaos, so I just let the game engine do it. As to options, since I turned options off I am not sure why either of the two types should be happening, but I also turned off the 40 man roster rule, so that makes this problem doubly odd. Anyway thanks. None of it is beyond what the league can bear - mostly players retiring at 36 and a couple of player deciding to stay with the team (I have reserve-clause on by the way) so maybe it is treating contract options as a formality? Anyway I can live with it, as I really am enjoying this league and team. But will watch to see what happens after next season.thanks again.