2059 – Options (Vesting)

[RonCo]

I figured that with the pre-season happening in v25, it was time to focus on how the game is processing options. By this, I mean player options (both opt-ins and true options). So I started gathering up some data. Then I figured that before laying down player option data I should be a bit more comprehensive. There are essentially five kinds of options that exist in OOTP: Player opt-outs (that can happen anytime in the contract’s run time), team options and player options that happen at the end of a contract’s span, vesting options that are dependent upon some milestone of participation, and then the kludgy “mutual option” that is really just a mix of player options and team options aligned in the same year.

Once I got to looking at them all, and separating them apart to study I figured I should do the same here. If nothing else it will make Sean envious of my ability to gather more points, and that’s worth the process all by itself.

Once I decided on that path, I figured I might as well start with the simplest and easiest—Vesting options. These are always interesting to me because I think the league as a whole often thinks of teams giving vesting options as a safety valve since they can pretty much ensure that said option is met or not, depending on the team’s desire. What’s real, though? Meaning what is actually happening?

To get a better picture, let’s look at actual players and results in the BBA.

The league had four such contracts in existence at the end of this year, the most famous, of course, was Bikini’s $12.4M albatross that required Wilson Andrade to make 490 plate appearances before it kicked in. Needless to say, Andrade “missed it by this much.” But what about the others? How did the players fare, and what’s on the agenda for them now?

Here are the four:

Team	Pos	Name	Age	Type	Notes	2058	2059
BIK	3B	Wilson Andrade	37	V	490 PA	$12.4m	$12.4m(V)
TWC	C	Pepe Prieto	37	V	400 PA	$3.8m	$3.8m(V)
OMA	SS	Logan Niles	35	V	75 Games	$975k	$975k(V)
RMO	RP	Micheal Dixon	34	V	50 IP	$3.5m	$3.6m(V)

As noted, Andrade is out there on the market, and since he’s asking for only $1.8M for one year (by my screen, anyway), there’s a reasonable chance he’ll get it. The guy can almost play a little as long as you can chain him to third. Bikini clearly held Andrade back, but mostly because that arrival of Puckett slugger Napoleon Mellott meant we could play Run-ming Gui at his more natural position. Keeping Andrade a ten-foot pole away from $12.4 M was just an added benefit.

Pepe Prito’s deal with Twin Cities required him to make 400 PA to net $3.8M. Since 330 is less than 400, he’s out there on the market again, and his $1.5/1 year ask makes him an interesting candidate for a team that literally has no backup catcher at all in their organization. I’d put his chances of finding a BBA team at low to middling. Maybe he’ll latch on with the GBC?

Rocky Mountain’s Michael Sixon and Omaha’s [Logan Niles both met their vesting criteria, and returned to their teams for next year. But then the 35-year-old Niles did the unthinkable for an old guy with a contract and decided to retire. Interesting, right? I kind of like that. It makes me wonder if v25 will have a bit more of a strongarm approach to retirees. As the Magic 8 Ball says, check again later.

[Trebro]

i used to use vesting options in my offline leagues back when i did them. other online leagues I've been in banned them because they can he manipulated and i think i just got out of the habit of using them.