Free Agency Calculators

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

This tool will be your guide to all free agent bidding, whether that be during the initial auction or free agency three years down the road.

Basically, you input the designated terms in the INPUT TABLE. The age, current bid points, annual salary, # of years on contract, if it's a major league contract, and the choice of three options.
Reminders:
1. Contract Restrictions
2. Major League/Minor League Contracts
3. Contract Options

Once everything is inputted, paste the table on the right directly into the bidding thread. For example, here is an imaginary bidding war on Jeremy Guthrie.

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Opening Bid
Contract Terms 2016
Annual Salary $600,000
Total Bid Points 1.2.
Is Contract and Bid Valid Yes

Next Bid
Contract Terms 2016
Annual Salary $1,000,000
Total Bid Points 2
Is Contract and Bid Valid Yes

Next Bid
Contract Terms 2017
Annual Salary $1,400,000
Total Bid Points 4.2
Is Contract and Bid Valid Yes

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The FA Calc will tell you if the contract is correct but make sure the current bid points input is correct.

I will share a personal copy of the google sheet with each of you.

Please ask any questions below and I'll be happy to answer.

[Rockies GM (Jeff Bridich)]

I'm not understanding the "bid points" concept. Could you please clarify how these are calculated? Where do I get the bid points value for the input section of the sheet? And then, what does the bid points in the output section mean?

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

Bid points determine the current highest bid on a player. They're calculated based on a formula inside the calculator - no need to worry about that. When bidding on a player, input the current bid points (the most bid points determine who is currently in the lead for the bidding) into the input table.

In the example on the original post, bid points begin at 0.
The first bid had 1.2 bid points.
The second had 2.
The third had 4.2.

[Braves GM (Dave)]

I understand that bid points are used to determine which offer has a greater worth during the initial auction, but I don't know how to calculate them based on what you have listed above. Are you saying that you'll share a Google sheet with us where we just enter the basics (amount, length of a contract, age of player, etc) and it will generate the bid points?

Also, I am somewhat confused with how the Team/Player/Mutual Control contract options are set. Do we choose one ahead of time as part of our bid, and does this also affect the bid points?

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

Yes to the first question. Since you just joined, I will send you one shortly.

The options are chosen by you, the owner, as part of the bid.
The calculator will have toggles for the different option types.

[Padres GM (Steven)]

The email I got with the calculator won't open. Can you send it in Excel?

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

Yes. Will do.

[Padres GM (Steven)]

Thanks. That looks like it's working

[Rockies GM (Jeff Bridich)]

I understand how a team option would work, but how does a player option or mutual option work?

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

Player options basically mean that the player has the "option" of accepting or declining the option. The decision of the player will be based on if the player's performance (per ESPN Player Rater) was better than the salary he would receive ---> turning that option down.

If the player's option year salary would be greater than his performance, then he would accept the option. It is entirely up to the statistics - no owner decision.

Mutual options are basically player options but if the player turns the option down, the owner then has the ability to keep them.

For a better explanation, see this part of the constitution.

[Indians GM (Scott)]

I still do not have access to the calculator. The link I received forces me to log into a gmail account. I had to create one and it still wouldn't work.

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

I will send you an excel version of the calc.

[Marlins GM / jigokusabre]

How long will the initial draft take?

[A's GM (Justin - Commissioner)]

That all depends on how quickly everyone makes their picks. If I had to guess, anywhere between 2 months to 4 months.

Definitely aiming to finish it before the season starts.

[Cardinals GM (Phil)]

I have a suggestion that might help speed up drafting. These long drafts can be managed effectively by drafting one round a day. You could give each team a 30 minute time slot. The first time slot is 8:00am Eastern, the last is at 10:30pm Eastern. That equals 30 time slots a day.

Before we had time slots, some teams would hold up the draft and slow things down. Other teams started to grumble. People had to keep logging in to see how close it was to their turn to pick. The time slots solved these issues and allowed teams to pick at the same time every day.

You can't pick early. But if you miss your time slot, simply pick as soon as you can. If someone was not going to be available to make their pick, they could send a short list of 2-3 players to another member, so that person could make the pick for them.