I would like to see this with a team with a much smaller budget... That's when contracts become a pain in the butt trying to keep your team together.

If you front load and then choose to move on, the Lower salary will be easier to move.

A couple things about the player opt-out. I think it does genuinely have its uses and also in my time playing I'd never really noticed a significant increase in demand whenever I did happen to take out the opt-out. Generally their initial demand AAV is high as is. A player opt-out could be used in a very frontloaded contract where you expect them to opt-out after a certain time (because of market inflation). It's great for 30-something year old pitchers who tend to value their long term success a lot more than what tends to be the case, due to how pitchers age. You want those guys for 3 years and sometimes the only way to beat your competition on the market is by making them believe they'll have 7 Another thing I think you could have covered is how unbelievably exploitable it is to give ludicrously cheap deals to prospects who are going to make the majors next year. I'm in an online league where one GM signed his 8 WAR a year CF to a 53M, 7 year deal and we're all still kicking ourselves over it (even eventually set a rule where a player had to hit arbitration before you could extend them). OOTP only seems to care about the guaranteed contract value, so you can really go nuts with frontloading and backloading. The game has a measure to not allow you to go too extreme, but it lets you get away with almost anything (I've only seen it pop up for my most ridiculous ideas). Because of this also, it's pretty easy to add team options at the end, just because OOTP only really cares about guaranteed value. Really solid video though, especially when you covered that the vast majority of young players just aren't worth extensions which I think is very vital. Sometimes the only value a player will give you is during those 6-7 years of team control, especially since arb years are basically team options due to nontendering. They aren't going to be valuable for 10 seasons, there's no reason to keep them around that long.

Philadelphia Checking in. This is very helpful I usually just hit meet the demand and pay especially in the negotiating with first year player draftees. Off topic have you tried the hockey game through the creators of ootp? Also I am looking forward to the new game 👍👍👍

Philadelphia checking in again. I was wondering if you would do a franchise as the Phillies and if you have ever played as the Phillies. I always have issues hiring pitching coaches and such I get frustrated and I just let the computer handle it. Some of this is tedious I just like controlling the lineup pitching staff and drafting.😂🤷‍♂️

Do you subject yourself to house rules not to overpower your team? I don't want to have a team that wins 120+ games just to say I have a winner. For me it is the journey as opposed to just exploiting to win the WS. I am a little hesitant to learn all you know and be tempted to unleash that on my little league.

does this strategy not leave you a little at risk to big injuries at smaller market teams?

I can't get any of these younger players to accept a contract over 3 years

I'd like to ask, how do you deal with international prospects? For me that process is the MOST aggravating thing, it's like trying to find a PS5 at retail or something you can never secure the guys you want, and the best ones (ie the only ones that will likely turn into big league material) go for WAY more than your even allowed to spend! And again not to mentiion it's SUPER agravating I mean I don't have time to go day-to-day for an entire season so I just automate the whole thing (let my GM do it) but the AI is incredibly stupid and never goes over budget to actually sign the good guys right? Is there a better way to do this? what's your thoughts on the cluster-f^. I compare it with ebay auctions... you think you got it till the last second and some joker outbids you by 1 cent. :/