Opt outs

[claphamsa]

how often do people opt out?

[Coop]

I've only had one experience with this, and it wasn't good.  My first season as a GM, my #2 starting pitcher, Dalmr Mazi, was a 3-star guy who had a good year and was under contract for another year at $5.5 million.  He had an opt-out clause, but I figured he'd stay since he was making quite a decent salary for a 3-star performer.  However, he chose to opt out (which was actually a dumb decision on his part since he ended up getting less than $5.5 million as a free agent).

I've got another key player with an opt-out clause at the end of this season, and I'd like to come up with a way to keep him, but I offered him a contract extension and he said he didn't want to talk about it until the end of the year.  Which sounds like a "see you later" to me, though I certainly hope it isn't.  I'd be curious to know what factors OOTP uses in order to determine how likely a player is to leave when he has an opt-out clause.

I'm also making sure that all future contracts I offer do NOT have an opt-out clause.  It's hard enough to build a team without adding this extra layer of uncertainty.

[claphamsa]

yeah, its not a see you later, its a league settings dont let us negotiate contracts until the last year.

Ekstein has an opt out...but i would rather pay him his 28M

[Claybor]

I have not and will never use the opt out clause.

[claphamsa]

did we discuss removing the option?

[Coop]

I would be in favor of that.  Opt-outs don't add any enjoyment to the game; they're a nuisance, really.

[Txhorns]

I do think we agreed to remove the option.  There are still probably some contracts with the options in them though.

[Coop]

Can we get rid of them?

[sumhzrd]

We have not gotten rid of option years, to the best of my knowledge.   The constitution still includes an amendment that stipulates that club-offered option years must include a buyout clause of 25% or more.

I would not be in favor of an amendment to eliminate them.  If you find them to be a nuisance, don't offer them, as some owners have indicated.  But they are a typical part of contracts in professional baseball, which we are simulating.

[squaredrive]

I agree that there is no need to eliminate them but their game utilization seems slightly flawed to me. Opt-outs are generally something a player would want in negotiation for a smaller value on overall contract terms.  Not sure how the engine works or whether players accept less money due to inclusion of opt-out but I've never seen a player request this in the game so there is really no incentive to use it. As a GM there is no apparent upside.